Zmeyette's Books for 2012 #48: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

It's time for my sporadic blog post! Hahaha seriously though, I would really love to blog but I just keep getting overwhelmed by stuff, especially school stuff. And I'm also lazy. I really need to develop more discipline.

Anyway, to breathe a bit of life into this blog again, I'm posting about a book I just finished. And since you already know it's been quite a while since I posted, don't be surprised at the book number jump. Oh well.

But before that, can I just say how disappointed/frustrated I am that I did not finish any book last month? And I only finished this book right before July ended! So sad.

Here it goes!


The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I'd forever be biased in favor of the Vampire Academy series, so everything stems from that. Rose will forever be my favorite dhampir heroine and Dimitri will forever be the hottest, most badass dhampir. VA to me, is always quite the fast-paced, rollercoaster ride.

Sydney's a very different character, which is probably why this was quite a more "chill" read for me. It was no page-turner for me, and honestly, it can bore me sometimes. But I do live for the Dimitri moments (though it hurts when he's getting a bit bashed-understandably, because we're more focused on everything from an outsider's POV, and a lot of Adrian's, at that), some Roza-Dimka sweetness, so I still read on.

I do like Sydney, though she really pales in comparison to Rose's narration and well, to Rose herself.

This is a nice book, though, and I did enjoy some of the romantic side of it all. And knowing Richelle Mead, Sydney Katherine Sage's world will probably fall apart even more in the next few books. I expect worldviews shattering, comfort zones obliterating, and a lot of new stuff and experimenting.

I'm a bit sad that Dimitri was said to be leaving in a while (please refer to a few paragraphs above to know why), but oh well, this is Sydney's tale. Darn.

And, (spoiler! spoiler!) I was right! Looks like RMead really went there. She. Went. There. Hello, forbidden human, and not just any human, but Alchemist-Moroi romance! And I'm sure she's just getting started. But I kinda like this. I think they're well-suited. They need each other. Someone that crazy and someone that rational. Perfect combination. They'll balance each other out. (On another note, referring to something Adrian said about wanting to better because of Sydney, See? Rose was right! She usually is! Just wanted to put that here. I love Rose so much, obviously)

Oh, I also like Sydney's passion for cars. Brings out some life in her. Kinda cute, too.

Anyway, on to the next book!  (And thank goodness, I thought I'd never finish another book with the way my life is going these days! XD)


View all my reviews

Zmeyette's Books for 2012 #13: Inescapable by Amy A. Bartol

Ok, so I don't know if I have some sort of subconscious need to redeem myself, because I've been devouring books lately. Maybe it's because I have an iPad now. It seems to unleash the reading monster within me. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I have studies, and with the pace I'm going, it might be a bit unhealthy. Note to self: self-control is the key. It would be nice to develop it sometime this century.

Anyway, again, it will be noted that this is a jump from the last book I posted about. That's just because sometimes I don't feel like writing about the book or I don't have the time, and when I do write something about a book, sometimes I just don't feel like cross-posting it here, especially when it's not that long.

If you want to see the other books I've read, just click my Goodreads widget.

This next book is not about faeries anymore. Also, it contains a lot of spoilers, because even though I restrained myself from revealing anything, with the way the book was written, you'll have been spoiled already by what bits I gave away. So read at your own risk (if you even want to read it at all).

Inescapable by Amy A. Bartol
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

By the time I started to read this book, I either did not take note of what kind of story this is, or I simply forgot, or maybe it just was not mentioned, but the point was, I practically had no idea. This meant that I was in the dark the whole time as to what the mystery was really all about at the beginning of the story. However, that did not annoy me at all. I was actually enjoying being in the dark for that one, and thinking about it. It was also a pleasant surprise when the reveal finally came.

So, angels. Huh. I did not expect that. Well, I actually was not expecting anything (please refer to previous paragraph), but I was kind of hoping it wasn't a vampire story (I don't know why. I got a bit nervous, though, when Reed exhibited all those speed and extra-sensitive hearing and compulsion-like ability, because it almost seemed like vampire to me). I like Unearthly, and I'm not making any comparisons here, because to me, well, they're not comparable. It just didn't occur to me to compare, and I was satisfied with both. A little more in this book than in Unearthly (Tsk, I just said I wasn't going to compare!), but it's not that I don't like Unearthly, I just like this book more. If you get what I mean. Probably because the angels in this story are closer to my idea of angels, with all the warrior thing, and the lack of emotion going on. Sometimes I don't really get myself, because now that I think about it, Unearthly has all the glory and the hallowed thing going for it, but for some reason, Amy Bartol's angels resonate more with me. Maybe it's because Unearthly focused more on angel-bloods, and in Inescapable I had more exposure to actual angels, and got to see their sense of duty and mission. And I don't necessarily connect ghosts with the idea of the existence of angels, so that was a surprising and interesting tie-up, and it actually went together smoothly. I liked that too. She was even able to incorporate the idea of soulmates and reincarnation! I never thought that it could be compatible with the idea of Paradise, Hell and angels, but Ms. Bartol was able to do it.

But I haven't actually touched or mentioned anything about the story, which centered on an angel-blood herself. A very special one at that. An enigma, to use Reed's words. That's probably because I enjoyed that part of the story so much, where I didn't know, just like Evie, what she was, and what was happening to her. Check it out for yourselves.

So, let me just run through the characters and what I have to say about them, since I won't really say anything about the story (although that doesn't mean there won't be any spoilers. There will probably more spoilers this way actually, I think).

Genevieve "Evie" Claremont: I like her; she's really clever, courageous, and I like the emotions she portrays.

Reed Wellington: Hot. I like his sense of duty, and how his smiles are rare and precious things to come by. I also like how his character developed, and how he has his moments of cuteness.

Alfred: A totally heartbreaking character. The guy I should have, but did not, see coming. Whew.

Russell: A precious character, although I'm Team Reed all the way. I really like this guy as well.

Zephyr: Well, I thought I wouldn't like him, the way he was introduced, but I really do! I like how he's all military-like but oblivious to simple human things, and he has his cute moments too.

Buns & Brownie: Yep, they're a package. These two were a pleasant surprise, at first I didn't really care that much about them, but once their reveal happened, their awesomeness shines through.

Uncle Jim: He's a lovely guy, but he shows how this story, even though it's paranormal, still goes with realistic scenarios, and that everything's not perfect and rosy. I like that angle he brings to the story.

I don't know if what I wrote made sense, but those are my feelings on this book. I really like it. Weirdly, sometimes I get Twilight-ish vibes from it, but maybe it's just because stories sometimes have that formula? Although Reed did do that Edward Cullen way of watching the girl sleep, albeit he has a better reason for doing it, and not just for kicks. Anyway, that's not really a bad thing for me since I don't hate on Twilight anyway.

Having said all that, I'm off to read the next book.





View all my reviews

Zmeyette's Books for 2012 #4: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

So, book no. 3 is The Iron King, but I don't feel like giving it a review. Maybe in the future, although I doubt that. Since I'm going with my "no pressure" theme from now on, I'm just posting what I want to, even if that means skipping some of the books I've read, because I'd rather have that sense of being disjointed and that lack of continuity rather than not writing and posting anything at all.

In any case, I shouldn't even be justifying myself. Hahaha.

So, here goes the 2nd installment in the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, 'The Iron Daughter.'


The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ok, I've just finished reading The Iron Daughter and The Iron Queen in quick succession so I might not know which detail is from which book, and I might not be at my most coherent right now.

But I just have to write about this book.

In The Iron Daughter, Meghan Chase is at The Winter Court in fulfillment of her contract with Prince Ash. I got to say, her time her quite annoyed me. Meghan can be really stupid, and that made reading The Iron King difficult for me before. But in The Iron Daughter, I already have an idea of Meghan's character, so I continued on, even if her stupidity annoyed me so much, because looking at it objectively, it's actually valid for Meghan to be emotional and easily heartbroken and believe whatever treatment Ash gives her, since ultimately she's human. And part of what makes her an amazing character is this reality of her, that she's not some perfect character who sees everything for what it really is, who can be deceived and who can fall prey to her emotions, making some wrong decisions here and there because of it.

I just can't help getting annoyed, and maybe that in itself is a sign of the effectiveness of these books.

Moving on, Meghan gets caught up in another predicament, having been in the wrong place at the wrong time, which means being around when the Scepter of Seasons was stolen. This is the starting point for Meghan's new quest, which is to get the scepter back and stop the brewing war between the Summer and Winter courts that the theft has sparked.

Ok, at this point in this review I realize even more how much the details are blurred in my mind, so I'll just go straight to the reason why I just had to say something about this book.

Really, it's to pay homage to one character that really stood out to me throughout the entire book.

But before that, I would just like to note that since the end of the first book up to this book, I've been liking Puck's wit more and more.

And now to that character: Ironhorse.

This character, ever since he appeared in this book and till the end, all I kept saying about him as I read, was that he's such a precious one. He's a big giveaway, and just by observing how he acts around Meghan and how he treats her confirmed my suspicions that the successor to the throne of the Iron realm is, indeed, Meghan. But I love how Ironhorse never revealed it until the end, and how he chose to just support Meghan in any and every way he could, even beyond his death (but that's for the next book). I am awed by his loyalty, and even his actions against Meghan in the first book are justified because he's just like that, loyal to whoever is the Iron monarch.

Also, I just love how Puck never seems to get tired of calling Ironhorse various names.

I also enjoyed seeing Meghan and her new powers, and how she knows her priorities, and despite all of her shortcomings knows her values and will fight for the people she loves. Even if it is against another person she loves.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I also see how disjointed this "review" is. But suffice it to say that with this book, the Iron Fey series has really started to grow on me.

The ending was also quite heartbreaking but lovely, and was quite the twist, but you'll have to see it for yourselves, I guess. I'm not spoiling it here.



View all my reviews

Zmeyette's Books for 2012 #2: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Yes, yes, I haven't posted about what happened to the other books I've read last year. But I'm posting this now, to keep myself from stopping completely from posting anything. I am not going to stress myself too much about blogging, since the physical world is already stressful enough as it is. And this is book no. 2 because the first book I finished this 2012 was The Hunger Games, which was a reread. Anyway, enough of this, let's see about my latest read!


Delirium by Lauren Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amor deliria nervosa.


From the very start, the premise of this book has intrigued me, which is why I was so glad to have finally been able to read it. In the world Delirium, love, instead of being a "many splendored thing" is deemed to be a disease, and one that can actually be cured. This has led to a lot of changes in society and government. And this is the world Lena Haloway grew up in. In her world, upon reaching the age of 18, you get "cured," are paired off with someone suitable, and then assigned your place in the world. Good music, poetry, and art are not allowed. Sounds kinda boring, a bit sad, but then this is peace, this is order, and this is definitely better than the alternative: the chaos and the other dreaded effects of the disease called love, which can actually lead to death. So yeah, this is better. Here, all is well.


But of course not. Because Lena's world, and all her beliefs and core values are about to be shattered by that winking boy with amber eyes. Nothing will be the same again.


I really enjoyed reading this book. As I've mentioned, I was intrigued by the premise of this book, and I wasn't disappointed when I got to read the book. I enjoyed the way Lauren Oliver narrated the book, especially giving glimpses of the society Lena's in by starting every chapter with snippets from books and other such material  in that world, especially from The Safety, Health, and Happiness Handbook or The Book of Shhh). The way the people interacted, and how their worldview is really different, with the central premise of love being a disease, and it being unsafe, was really an interesting and refreshing thing to see.


All in all, I can't wait to see how the events will unfold, and I'm sure Lauren Oliver has a lot of twists up her sleeve. Excited for the next book!


I love you. Remember. They cannot take it.


View all my reviews

Zmeyette's Book #6: The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan

The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**Spoiler alert** (To be safe)

It's been a week since I finished this trilogy, so this post will be more blah than usual. I usually write these posts right after I finish a book, so usually it comes with the I-just-finished-the-book emotions and everything I felt about the book, whether it be giddy or annoyed. And there's the part right now where I might confuse the details of the three books in the trilogy because I read them one after the other, finishing it all off in two days.

Anyway, I guess that's one positive thing that should be attributed to this book: it made me want to read the rest of the books. I just originally planned to check it out since it seemed to be interesting based on the summary I found on Goodreads, but I really didn't think it would catch my attention like this.

The Magicians' Guild is the first in the Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan. It is set in the city of Imardin, in the kingdom of Kyralia. Every year, an event occurs, which is called the Purge, in which the people are sent out from the city into the slums. The story begins on one such Purge. Sonea, sent out from their house within the city because of the Purge, gets caught up in the antics of her friends in the slums who are showing their defiance against those who are in charge of the Purge, including the magicians who were sent out by the King. In a moment of rage, Sonea joins in throwing a stone against the magicians, who are comfortably shielded by their magical barrier, as nothing but magic can penetrate it. However, Sonea's stone goes past the barrier and hits a magician, to the great surprise of the magicians, and of Sonea herself. This starts in the hunt for Sonea, as the Magicians' Guild becomes interested in her, since someone like her who's had no training and yet was able to use magic is powerful--and dangerous. Not just to others, but to herself as well.

There are various ways in which I distinguish the three books, but the main one would be: the leading man. In this book, it seems to be Cery, Sonea's childhood friend and thief-wannabe. He helps Sonea to hide from the magicians and actually helps her in any way he could. Well, that's because he likes Sonea, duh. Their relationship is very interesting, and I like Cery's character, because he's fun, daring, and reliable.

Another character that I like is Rothen. (Yes, they have kinda weird names. It's a different world, after all.) He takes Sonea under his wing upon catching her and tries to make her understand that magicians aren't evil by default. It takes a while before Sonea is captured so Rothen's character is introduced and is depicted even as they search for Sonea, which shows his kind nature, which in a way also makes him oblivious to the darker tendencies of his comrades. In this area, Dannyl, Rothen's former student and now his friend, is much more adept. Dannyl is another interesting character, for reasons which are unraveled in the next two books. In this one, Dannyl is interesting because of the methods he used in order to find Sonea. Rothen and Dannyl's banter is also very fun to read.

This is not my favorite book of the trilogy, but I liked it enough to read the next two books. What I like in this book as a part of the trilogy is how it sets up the characters, because this trilogy is amazing in the way it turns my perceptions of the characters upside down. Even in this book alone, at first I am made to hate the magicians, and at the end they're not so bad after all. I even thought Rothen was evil at first, but even that changed. And things change even more in the next two books.

Another way that I distinguish the three books is Sonea's state in relation to the Guild: in this first one she still has not joined the guild. It's interesting how her relationship with the guild transforms over the three books. That, along with the characters, especially Sonea, who I like as well as a heroine, really perked my interest in this trilogy. But maybe I'll say more about Sonea in the next two posts.

So, overall, this isn't my favorite book of the three, but it was a good start.



View all my reviews

Zmeyette's Book #5: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**Spoiler alert** (Sort of)

First off, I just have to say that I like Fanny Price alright. I just had to mention that because the usual complaint seems to be regarding Fanny Price as a character. And that is something that I don't really have much of an issue with. Granted, she's not my favorite Austen heroine, with Anne Eliott and Elizabeth Bennet still my favorites, but I don't dislike her.

Ok, so now that I have gotten that out of the way, what did I think of the book? It was ok for me, I guess. I was a bit uncomfortable with the fact that Edmund and Fanny are first cousins, because, well, in my time and place it's just illegal to get married if two people are that closely related, but since I'm assuming that it was perfectly normal and legal practice during Austen's time, I just went along with it. At times things seemed to be too dragging for me, but overall it was ok.

Mansfield Park is about Fanny Price, a girl who is taken in by her uncle and aunt to live with them, the Bertrams of Mansfield Park. Because of her lower status, she was quite neglected by most of the family who took her in, and though not really abused, their treatment of Fanny wasn't really the best that it could be. Mrs. Norris, Fanny's other aunt, was especially mean to her (I am actually wondering if this is where Rowling got the name for Filch's cat. Mrs. Norris here was certainly annoying.). The only person who really took notice and was kind to Fanny was Edmund, her cousin, and as they grew up, Fanny fell in love with him.

Things are shaken up with the arrival of the Crawford siblings, as Mary Crawford sets her sights on Edmund, and Henry proposes to Fanny (I think I paraphrased what was written in the jacket of the book.). Fanny agonizes with every passing day that Mary Crawford and Edmund might get engaged, while no one can understand why Fanny was so adamant in not accepting Henry Crawford's proposal when it seemed to be very favorable to her, what with Henry's status and connections, because no one knew of Fanny's secret love for Edmund.

I admit, I fell for Austen's trap. At some point in the book, I wanted Henry to win Fanny. Why? Because I think he really fell in love with Fanny, and for all his faults, I think it was sweet how he fell for Fanny and how in love he was. But alas, he's not the main character, and I think it was shown that his flaws really run deep, and so he really isn't fit for Fanny.

Although, don't get me wrong, I don't think Fanny is a perfect quiet girl. She also has her flaws, she's quite stubborn and well, she's in love, so I can see how she might be a bit biased against Mary Crawford, although she was ultimately right about her. Edmund too, obviously, since during the time he was in love with Mary Crawford he was also quite blind to her flaws.

I am just annoyed at the fact that Mary and Edmund's and Fanny and Henry's courtship went far longer than the main love story which was between Fanny and Edmund. I mean, what on earth? I would have liked to see it really develop, and the way I read it, it felt as if it was an afterthought, a blip in the end, a loose knot tied in a rush to end the thing. I would have thought that Fanny deserved better, but in the end it was as if she was still a second choice, or something like that. In that sense, I admire Henry Crawford more than Edmund Bertram. At least Henry was quick to see Fanny for the precious character that she is, it's just too bad that he let go of it. In that, he was stupid.

And again, I must clarify (because I am such a longwinded writer) that I like Edmund alright. He was nice to Fanny when everyone else took her for granted, and I really like those kinds of scenarios and characters. Oh, well...

All in all, not the best for me, but it was a good read. Gotta love Austen.


View all my reviews

Zmeyette's Book #4: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This morning, I was staring off into space, and my mind drifted off into thinking about Atonement (a sort of depressing territory), which led me to say out loud: "Atonement is haunting me." Books can really have such an effect on me. This is why even if I could have started reading another book last night, I couldn't, and wouldn't.


So today, I decided to read Coraline, with the hope that it's lighter than my other options, which are The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Lovely Bones.


It was a light read for me, and since it was pretty short, I had to pause at times because I want to relish the story, and try to make it last longer. But the part of me which wants to devour stories as fast as possible won out in the end, and so it was also a relatively quick read for me.


Coraline is about a girl with the same name, and her creepy-to-the-point-of-scary adventure. I like what Neil Gaiman said about his book:


"It was a story, I learned when people began to read it, that children experienced as an adventure, but which gave adults nightmares."


Based on this, I am in some sort of in-between place, but which shows me that I am indeed stepping into adulthood, because I see the adventure part of it, and while reading it I have this sort of fearlessness and knowledge that everything will be alright in the end, but at the same time it really is quite frightening.


In this story, she discovers a strange world after opening a strange door in their flat, and there she finds her "other parents" along with "other people", and while at first everything was interesting and seemed to be better than her reality, in the end it turned into a mission to save her parents among others, and herself, with the help of a cat.


Somehow, it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland (although I've really yet to read the book), with the main character stumbling into a different world, and well, because of the cat. But I'm not really one to talk, because as I've mentioned, I haven't really read Alice in Wonderland yet. Those are just the elements that I am familiar with, based on what I see around me.


This was indeed, a refreshing read for me. I like it.


View all my reviews

P.S. If this review seems hurried, that's because, well, it is. I was also interrupted while writing this, so my thought process was disrupted. On to the next book! 

Zmeyette's Book #3: Atonement by Ian McEwan

Atonement by Ian McEwan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes what I remember of books, more than the story itself, are the experiences I was going through while I was reading the book. Just like in this instance, where my memories of reading this book evoke the stress of schoolwork which always ended up in me having to put off reading for another day, because there are other things that I should be reading for school.

However, that made finishing this book more than just finishing a book: it came to symbolize some sort of success, a release--freedom, finally. Because since I'm now able to finish Atonement, it means that I'm finally on vacation, and it means that I've really been able to finish my first year in law school. It is some kind of a sweet success, to have been able to finish even just that one year without giving up.

Anyway, on to the book. My thoughts, or thought, right now, some minutes after finishing the book, is this: "There's a reason why I stick to YA or fantasy books." And indeed, there is. I'm an escapist. I read to escape. Sometimes, reality becomes too much, and so I read. But in this book, there is no escape. One mistake can be very fatal, can have such repercussions that even a simple "I'm sorry" cannot undo what damage has been caused. And in a situation like this, indeed, how can one find atonement? Especially if, as Briony Tallis put it, as a novelist, she is also God?

Atonement is a tale that at first made me itch to get the preliminaries done and to finally see the point of the story, the "crime" that has been done. But once I came to that point, it was as if I wanted to go back to that sweet ignorance that everyone was in before that fateful night where imagination became self-delusion and spilled over to reality, wrecking it.

Again, I am an escapist. But when I read, it's as if I am transported into another world, and I feel strongly. I don't become numb. And Atonement has touched my heart, and squeezed, even to the point of crushing, it. What a story.


View all my reviews

Zmeyette's Book #2: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Finally, I finished book number two! This was actually supposed to be the first book I would finish this 2011, but oh well. Yay! Here are my thoughts on the book, which I imported from my Goodreads account.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was recommended to me years ago by a high school friend of mine. I wasn't able to read it then, but around 3 months ago, maybe around four years or so after said recommendation, I was in the mood to buy several books (meaning I was with my mother who was in the mood to indulge me my book purchases). Upon glancing at the shelves, I once again saw Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, along with other books. I have been wanting to read it for quite a while, and felt that it was a good opportunity to finally get the book. So I did.

Unfortunately, at the moment, I don't have a lot of time to read. Which is partly the reason why it took me a few months to finish this book. That doesn't lessen the way I like this book, though.

First, an overview of the story. (Not sure if these will have spoilers for you, so...) The Historian is a story which has layered tales that intertwine and come together in a quest that is ultimately about one character: Vlad the Impaler, more popularly known as Dracula. The story is seen, at first through the eyes of an unnamed young woman. However, as the story goes, and the different layers of the tale unravels, we see through different characters' perspectives, and this is accomplished by the author through letters, conversations, and the like, with all these perspectives tied together by the legend of Dracula.

At first, this style confused me, and in the beginning was quite boring to me, but the deeper I got absorbed in the book the more I appreciated this style.It was also quite a long read for me, regardless of my busy school life, but it was a fresh reprieve from my usual rushed YA reads (or cases, for that matter). I'd quite forgotten the comfort of sinking into a good story, of reading bits and pieces, pausing every now and then, knowing I can go back later, or the next day. I think to complete the feeling in my mind I just need a fireplace, a comfy chair, and a rainy day.

One of the recurring thoughts in my head as I read this book was my renewed and energized dream of traveling throughout Europe. Kostova depicted the locations in The Historian in such a way that I envied the young woman her diplomat father, and their travels throughout different spots in the continent. Even with the terrifying tales that were painted over these places, the beauty of them still shines through and makes me want to see such for myself.

The story also has quite the blend of characters, although, as the title of the book suggests, most of them are historians. Still, the development of the character for me, was done well, and I like how the characters come together. I also enjoyed the twists and turns they presented, which left me pleasantly surprised several times.

All in all, this one was a refreshing read (this is very ironic, given the story that the book actually has) for me, and I really enjoyed reading it.

View all my reviews

P.S. How about you? What's the last book you finished?

Me, the Books I love, and Book Reviews

When I started this blog, I was reading a lot of fiction, and thought that a lot of the entries here would be reviews about the books I read. Indeed, some of the posts are about some books I have read.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, I seem to have buckled. And the problem seems to run deeper than the all-too-easy (even though it's oh-so-real) excuse of real life. Which sucks, but if there's a will, there's a way, right? And it's not as if I haven't been reading books, because I have (even though I'm now practically buried in readings and cases, I am still somehow able to read other happier stuff).

Let me do a bit of introspection (actually, considering that I am already posting this blog entry, it must mean that I already did) concerning this matter.

I remember once posting a blog entry on a blog I was required to do in a class last year. I remember that it was a free-for-all entry, and I had quite the difficulty in thinking of a topic. So, I blogged about it--my difficulties in blogging.

In that entry, I somewhat talked about pressure, about some topics that might not make the cut in some circles of mine. My problem here is somewhat similar. Maybe, like a favorite heroine of mine, Rose Hathaway of Vampire Academy, I have a high expectation of myself, that if I'm going to a write a book review, it better be damn good, and this thought is really scary.

Another is that I fear that if I write, what I write will not be good enough for the book that I'm writing about. This happens especially when I love the book that I'm going to write about. I put a lot of pressure on myself, I know, but I can't help it. Not just because of me, but because of the book. Oh dear.

Lastly, maybe it's just because, well, I'm overthinking. It's not as if I'm a professional blogger nor am I a book critic, but I'm thinking and pressuring myself into expecting a book review of mine to be at par with such.

And so, now that I have vented (and seen how utterly ridiculous my concerns can be), I will proceed to bang my head against the wall and maybe get to finally writing book reviews.

But hey, if you have any advice for me, I could really use it. How do I get over such issues?