NaNoWriMo begins! | Update #1

So NaNoWriMo starts in less than two hours. I think it is safe to say that I am most definitely freaking out. It is like pure excitement and pure panic at the moment. No cold feet though. I refuse to back down or give up.. (ask me mid-month and let's see how motivated I am then).

I have been ~prepping~ a little, and playing around with characters names, profiles, plots, etc etc. I don't really know a lot of the middle of my story, but I have a starting point and an end point. I don't know how I'm going to proceed with time either, because my story will take place roughly in a span of two years.. so time jumps will have to happen of course.

Anyways.. the purpose of this post? I guess this is my first update post.. so you can expect a ton of these from me. I will write about my current process, update you all on the word count, etc. So yeah, if you are interested, sit tight and wait for these writing updates to start rolling in.

There is still time to sign up for NaNoWriMo if you haven't already. If you do, please add me as a writing buddy. I am also trying to raise money as well during the month of November, so if you can donate at all, please do! You can track my progress on my page, but the best place to see it all will be on twitter!

I'm going to now make a big cup of coffee in my new NaNo mug and get the laptop charged so I can start right when the clock strikes 12! ;)

Ransom Riggs Signing | October 12, 2014

Hi everyone! Hope you are doing well. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :D I can't believe it is already the end of the month.. time really flies. I went to so many book signings this month so that is incredibly exciting. I keep forgetting to post about them though, so my apologies for that. I will start tonight off with the signing I went to on thanksgiving weekend for Ransom Riggs! 

Ransom was so incredibly sweet and charming. It was great listening to him talk about his overall process of writing and what inspired Miss Peregrine. He spoke at great length about how in the beginning, it was a relationship with the pictures that he built his story around, but now writing book three of the series, he has gotten a lot more comfortable with his writing. That is wonderful to hear and you can really see and hear in his words, how far along he has come as a writer. Some audience questions asked about the film adaptation that Tim Burton is doing, and it was so exciting to hear about some of the casting news! Lastly, someone asked him how Tahereh and him met and she was there with him and she came on stage to tell us the story. They are both so incredibly cute! 

Overall, it was a great way to spend thanksgiving this year. I got my books signed, even the graphic novel. I was actually the first person to get my books signed so that was awesome as well ;) 

Have you read any books from Ransom Riggs? If so, let me know what you thought of them in the comments below!

Books You'd Recommend for Halloween | Top 5 Wednesday

So for this week's topic, it is the top 5 books I'd recommend for Halloween. I'm not really a big scary/spooky person to begin with in terms of films and literature, so this list was quite hard for me to come up with, but I hope that you will enjoy my choices anyway!

1. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

3. The Ocean at The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman

4. Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

(Full review coming soon on the blog ;))

5. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Well that's it for this week's Top 5 Wednesday. Let me know in the comments the top 5 books you would recommend for Halloween - I am always looking for more reads to add to my library!

Favorite Marvel Comics

Hi everyone. I hope that you are all doing well on this Sunday evening. I have written about comics a few times now on the blog and I thought I would start sharing with you some of my favorite series. That way, you can catch up on them (since most of them are probably about one trade paperback in and the issues should be easy to locate)! I am starting off with MARVEL first and then my next post will be IMAGE comics. I still haven't ventured into the world of DC just yet, so I hope to do that soon, but that will require some research. Anyways, enough rambling.. onto the comics yes?

Marvel produces a lot of comics yearly, and most of the time - you will see a lot of intersection and mini series. Mini series are comics that are produced only in about a few issues to help provide a side story along with the main series, such as Original Sin: Thor & Loki and the Tenth Realm was in addition to the Thor comics and the Loki: Agent of Asgard comics. I tend to pick these up since they are short anyways and also it allows for intersection between characters in the marvelverse that you would find interesting. I am currently reading one called SIXIS and it combines Avengers and X-men, which is really awesome.

I thought I'd start off mentioning my currently 5 favorite series that I follow from Marvel:

1. Black Widow

The series is up to issue #11 now, with #12 coming out later in November. I absolutely adore this series and it is definitely my favorite EVER. I love following Natasha's story and learning more about her. You also see some crossover with characters like Hawkeye from time to time which is awesome as well. I really enjoy the art in this one specifically, it is just stunning. The story is also quite face-paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat when you are reading, wanting to know more and more. It is also very easy to follow as well and does not get confusing. I actually have a review up for the first volume which includes the first six issues here!

2. Loki: Agent of Asgard

This is actually the series that started my interest in the comic book world. I am a huge fan of Hiddleston's portrayal of the trickster God and when I learned that there was a comic series devoted to the character, I knew I had to jump on board and begin reading it. To begin with, I love the artwork. Loki is drawn so beautifully and I really enjoy that there are many different perspectives to Loki. Most of all, I enjoy that it still embodies the world of Asgard and you see Thor every now and then, but also Loki stands alone as a wonderful character engaging in his own shenanigans that doesn't involve Thor. This series is well underway and I have loved every issue so far!

3. Ms. Marvel

I had first heard of this series from thereadables on youtube. She showed some of this and the artwork looked beautiful. The story follows Kamila Khan, who is a big marvel fan herself and on one fateful evening, she gets superpowers and becomes ~Ms.Marvel~. I just love how relatable Kamila is as a character, from her fangirling about the marvelverse, and just how she interacts with her family and friends. I really enjoy this series so much and some cameos have been from Wolverine and the original Ms. Marvel which I really enjoy. I love that it occupies its own space though and that the cameos aren't a requirement for the series. The pace is really picking up in the series and I can't wait to see where it goes!

4. Magneto

Magneto has always been one of my favorite villains in the marvelverse and it was great news when I heard that there was going to be a series devoted to just him. It is so fascinating to learn more about Magneto's background but also see Magneto as someone completely different than the Magneto portrayed in the movies who is the antagonist to Charles Xavier's protagonist. I love getting the inside thoughts from Magneto and learning more about him. The interesting thing about this series is that it intersects with other x-men but not really, and actually includes other people like the avengers which I have been really enjoying so far!

5. She-Hulk

Another series with a lead female protagonist. I love it. The premise of it sounded fantastic, where she is the cousin of Bruce Banner and she is able to help the Avengers but by day, she is a lawyer who is trying to find her place in the world. I really love following this story because most of it is set where she is the lawyer and the characters are incredibly quirky. One thing though, that I must critique about this series is that, the covers and variant covers are stunning, but once you start reading, the actual art of it isn't really that stunning and digresses heavily. I wish that there was consistency between cover and inside, because it dampers the story a little. Besides that, its great!



Well that's it for me for this post. I am still getting into the comic world, and I hope to include more Marvel series to my collection and when I do, I will be sure to have another post like this one up again! I am still debating including mini series done by Marvel, so keep your eyes peeled for that one!

What are some of your favorite Marvel series to read? Let me know in the comments below! ;)

Favorite Titles | Top 5 Wednesday

Hi everyone! So for today's top 5 Wednesday, it is pretty straight forward. List my top 5 Favorite titles. Here we go!

1. Vicious by V.E. Schwab
This title is so simple, but I love it. It basically sums up the entire book for me. I also love that it doesn't really give much away either, and allows for the reader to jump into a mystery and really enjoy it.

2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 
One of my favorite books and this title is perfect for the entire narrative.

3. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks
This title was incredibly intriguing when I first saw it in a bookstore. It really made me want to read it immediately and the book did not disappoint. Made up of clinical tales, it was so fascinating and interesting and it definitely sheds light on some topics that would otherwise by disregarded in popular literature.

4. The Educated Imagination by Northrop Frye
This was an assigned school reading and when I saw it on my reading list, I knew immediately that I was going to enjoy it. Such a lovely read and the title promises that exactly. Frye talks about what it means to have an educated imagination and how to maintain it. 

5. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
How could I have a favorites list of anything and not mention my favorite book of all time? This title is so obvious and simple, but I just love it. I adore that there isn't much else to it, and so you enter the book not expecting a lot, but what Wilde offers you instead is truly a story of wonder. 

Well that's it for me this week folks! What are your top 5 favorite titles? Let me know in the comments below! 

Review: Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini

Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini 
(Book #1 in the Worldwalker series)

Publishing Date: October 2, 2014
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 384 pages
Young Adult Fantasy

The Premise: The story follows Lily Proctor, who lives in the hometown of Salem. She is known primarily as the girl with many allergies which prevents her from doing a lot, including having a social life. She has one best friend Tristan, who she has always loved and on one evening, it seems like everything is falling into place. She and Tristan are somewhat together and she is finally out at a party, like a normal teenager. Something unfortunate happens at the event which leads to Lily wishing that she could disappear and leave her current life. When Lily makes that wish, she is transported to another world, where there is another Lily, regarded as Lillian. Lillian is actually a cruel ruler in the new world and Lily must work with strangers to figure out why she was sent there and why is it that an alternate version of herself is so cruel.

My overall thoughts and review: I did not want to give too much away in the premise, because the evening that kind of spirals the entire narrative is a bit spoilery to begin with. First of all, the setting of Salem and having the foundation of it be the Salem witch trials was incredibly intriguing for me. I really enjoyed the shift from a realistic world narrative to a magical world. It really felt like Angelini brought the reader to a completely different world. Lily was definitely a frustrating character at times, but overall I really enjoyed reading from her perspective. I loved most of the characters such as Tristan, Rowan and Juliet. I am also incredibly happy to hear that this is actually the first book in a series. I think overall it has a lot of promise to be a great series. The story in the first book sets up nicely for future books. What I would have wanted more was Lillian's perspective to understand clearly her choices because I always tend to root for the underdog, and I am reluctant to believe that ~evil~ people in books are completely evil. I'm hoping that Angelini will explore that in future books. Certain things she created in the book such as the willstones, being claimed by witches, the pyres, just the world overall was incredibly fascinating and I really enjoyed it. If you are a fan of young adult fantasy, I think this is definitely the book for you. It reminded me a lot of The Young Elites by Marie Lu.

My Rating of the Book: ✮✮✮✮ (4/5 stars)

Now Available for Purchase at:
Chapters/Indigo - Amazon.ca - Book Depository

Disclaimer: A digital galley of this book was sent to me by Raincoast Books Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own. 

Rick Riordan Event | October 8, 2014

Last week, I attended the Rick Riordan event in Toronto with one of my best friends Alysia. It was an event to celebrate the release of his final book of The Heroes of Olympus series: The Blood of Olympus. It wasn't a regular signing, since 1000 people were in attendance. The books were pre-signed and it was a slideshow and Q&A with Rick.

Blurry picture.. but yes folks. That is the man himself! Rick Riordan!

We arrived about half an hour earlier and we got decent seats. We also got some freebies which was awesome. We both got Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter shirts, bracelets and some tattoos.. and of course our signed copy of The Blood of Olympus. The event was nice. Rick took us through a slideshow of his writing career, answered some questions and of course, hinted towards his next series about Norse. Overall, it was a good night!

Books That You Weren't Expecting to Like But Did | Top 5 Wednesday

So for this week, the topic is Top 5 Books that I wasn't expecting to like but I did. I am going to try and find books that I read recently this past year. Okay, here we go.

1. Crank by Ellen Hopkins

I have walked by this book for years in Chapters, picked it up and read the back and always put it back down. It was not until my bestfriend Michelle told me that she really enjoyed it, that I decided to pick it up. I honestly wasn't sure I would enjoy the subject matter and also the style it was written in, so I really did not know what to expect. In the end, I ended up really enjoying Kristina's story and just learning more about ~that world~ that I myself, will never venture into, but it was good to get a perspective and learn more about it. It was incredibly fascinating and I even went on to read the other books in that series and I really enjoyed them as well.

2. The Selection by Kiera Cass 

When I first heard about this series, all I could think about was the reality tv show The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. It just sounded like it was not my cup of tea. But it genuinely surprised me. America is by far one of the most infuriating protagonists ever! Book two angered me so much.. BUT. It does not take away from the book. The entire series was incredibly addictive and I remember reading it all in a matter of a few days. Overall, I did not think I would like it, but I went on to read the other books and now I am patiently awaiting the mini short stories that will come out soon.
I also have a full review up for the book here!

3. Blood Red Road by Moira Young

I first heard about this novel from booktube and Raeleen from padfootandprongs07 raved about it. I bought it and when I read the first few pages, I was kind of thrown off by the way it was written, so I put it down. I actually had the chance to go to a signing for the book, so I thought I might as well read it so that I know what's going on. It genuinely surprised me and as I read more about Saba's story, I really enjoyed it. I became incredibly invested in the world that Moira Young created and I wanted more of it. It was a great dystopian read that took a different approach. 
I also have a full review up for the book here and I attended the book signing!

 4. Every You, Every Me by David Levithan

The only book I've ever read before this one by David Levithan was John Grayson, John Grayson which he wrote with John Green. I thought it was okay, but I wasn't really a big fan of the sections written by Levithan. I own a bunch of his books, but after that one I didn't really pick up the other ones because I didn't enjoy his writing style all that much. My bestfriend Michelle (second mention!) told me about this which she herself, did not expect to like but ended up enjoying and so I gave it a chance. It includes photographs within the narrative which I really enjoyed and in the end, I really liked it. It made me want to read more of Levithan!

5. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

After the entire Twilight saga.. I wasn't exactly keen to read other vampire novels. I did not know much about this series, except for the fact that it was well-loved and it involved vampires. I decided to pick it up because many booktubers had raved about it. I didn't think anything of it, and the first one, well, it wasn't the greatest.. but I slowly became invested in Rosa and Lissa's story. I wanted to know more about their world and just more about their history as dhampirs and vampires. It was incredibly fascinating to me that they even had a history, compared to the Twilight saga, which actually seemed plausible. Overall, with Mead's awesome writing and kick-ass characters, this series has now become one of my favorites ever, so I'm really glad I took the plunge. I am now hooked on the spin-off series from that world, Bloodlines!


Well that is it. What are your top 5 books that you weren't expecting to like but did? Let me know in the comments below! :D

Book Haul (#1)

I've decided to make actual book haul posts for when I buy books. I don't know how often I will have these up, but sometimes it will be collective! On this long weekend, my sweet boyfriend treated me to a bunch of books. I am so incredibly grateful and lucky!! He basically gave me free reign in the bookstore and I was able to pick out so many books that I have been eyeing for a while. I also picked up a book that we both are going to read together :)

Murder in the Kitchen by Alice B. Toklas

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

How Google works by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg

Let's Get Lost by Alsaid (signed copy btw)

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

If you have read any the books that I have bought, please let me know how they are in the comments below. And of course, if you hauled any books lately, let me know in the comments as well! <3

Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Publishing Date: October 7, 2014
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 368 pages
Young Adult 

The Premise: In a Renaissance-fantasy setting, the story follows three characters: Adelina, Teren and Enzo. In their nation, a deadly illness has swept the lands leaving some children alive with strange markings and powers. These special children are called The Young Elites. Adelina who is one that has yet to discover the true power of her gift is hunted because these groups are looked down upon by the King and Queen. She joins Enzo, who is a member of the Dagger Society and he helps her hone in her skills as a Young Elite. Meanwhile, on the other side of it, there is Teren who is the leader Inquisitor for the King and he hunts the Young Elites, but there is something troubling about him as well. All three character's paths intersect at one point or another and it all comes down to navigating the true strength of these special gifts some children have, the relationships they all form together and why exactly Teren is so determined to destroy them all.

My overall thoughts and review: This was my first time reading anything by Marie Lu. I own the other series which she is mostly known for, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I went into this story, basically knowing nothing about it but except for the fact that it takes place in a Renaissance type setting which I was excited about. The notion of special gifts and those with special markings who survived the deadly illness is incredibly intriguing. I really enjoyed that Lu gave the reader three perspectives to follow from and three very different perspectives. You have Teren who is essentially ~the baddie~ who works for the King and Enzo, who is well, the opposite and is trying to bring justice for those like him with special gifts. Lastly, there is Adelina in the middle of both, who is trying to do right by her family, but also by those who also share the gifts. It is a fast-paced action packed book which focused more on the real root of the problem, and that is why the King and Queen are so against these ~malfettos~ and less on the love relationship which I was thankful for. I am honestly sick of love triangles, so I was really happy that Lu did not go that route. The book does set up nicely for sequels to come, which I am hoping there will be some! Overall, I really enjoyed it. It was action packed, well-written and had a lot of great characters. I am curious to see how the story will unfold however, and I hope that she will look at secondary characters more in depth next time. My favorites were specifically Adelina's sister Violetta and Raffaele. If you are a fan of Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass series, I think you would enjoy this, because it is along the same lines but with supernatural powers involved!

My Rating of the Book: ✮✮✮✮ (4/5 stars)

Now Available for Purchase at:
Chapters/Indigo - Amazon.ca - Book Depository

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Penguin Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own. 

NaNoWriMo 2014!

So.. I'm finally taking the plunge and joining NaNoWriMo this year. I've known about NaNoWriMo for a couple years now since a lot of youtubers that I watch such as Kristina Horner have participated in the past. I have always been intrigued by it, but I've never fully committed to it. Let's be serious for a moment.. 50,000 words in ONE month is pretty darn terrifying. Considering I have NEVER written a book before in my life. I have always wanted to dabble in writing and I own journals full of ideas, but it hasn't gone beyond that. UNTIL NOW. I will say that having my two best friends participate in it really was the final push to encourage me to sign up.

If don't know what NaNoWriMo is.. well in short, it is National Novel Writing Month which takes place every year in November. It is free to register and you can even find events to attend within your city. There are great prizes and you basically ~win~ if you validate at the end that you wrote 50,000 words. You can find out more details here on the main page.

I am participating this year and I have a rough idea so far for a novel. It will be Young Adult and most likely, contemporary romance. I have a few character names, but that is as far as it has gotten. I really need to start prepping soon! You can track my progress over at my participant page :) Please add me as a friend if you are participating as well :) We can encourage each other during the month of November.

Lastly, I am also trying to help raise money for the cause, so if you have the chance, please check out my donation page :) it will keep me encouraged during the month of vigorous writing.

I will most likely have weekly updates on the participant page and the donation page, but I will have blog posts as well on here surrounding it, so keep your eyes peeled for that. I am incredibly excited!

Are you participating? Let me know in the comments below!

Female Characters | Top 5 Wednesday

Hello everyone! *waves* I took a small absence with this series on my blog, which I deeply apologize for, but now it is back!! And the topics for October look amazing! To kick off the return on my blog.. this week's top 5 Wednesday topic is: Top 5 Female Characters! 

1. Hermione Granger from The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

It is no brainer that Hermione would obviously be on this list or that she is my first choice. She is just one of those amazing characters that you just immediately love. She is brilliant, brave, empathetic, and just an all around good person. The series simply would not be the same without her! 

2. Tris Prior from the Divergent series by Veronica Roth

Tris!! She is such an amazing character. From the beginning, you can tell that even though Tris loves her family and would like to do right by them and stay in that faction, she goes beyond boundaries and is still able to demonstrate that love she has for her family by choosing Dauntless. She didn't choose some other faction, she chose the hardest one. She was incredibly brave and resilient and fought hard every single day for her spot. I truly commend her for her bravery because it is something you just can't overlook. She is by far, my favorite female character out of all the dsytopian novels I've read. 

3. Annabeth Chase from the Percy Jackson series and the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan

Annabeth, the daughter of Athena and one of the main protagonists at Camp Half-Blood. She definitely lives up to the fact that she is a daughter of Athena and actually goes beyond that. She is incredibly strong and brave, but also extremely down to earth. Her love for her friends really astounds me and just how hard she works to just be there for him. She is also always trying to see the good in people, especially in the first series which is a character trait I really admire.

4. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

How can you have a list of top 5 female characters and not include Katniss? She is one of those characters who can be incredibly frustrating at times, but I just love her. Like the other female characters I mentioned, I admire Katniss for her bravery and strength because that is truly a testament to her character. What I love most about her, is similar to that of Annabeth and just her commitment to her family and friends regardless of the situation. She never loses sight of who she is no matter what, even when the chips are down and she is faced with a lot of strife. Also, she is amazing with a bow and arrow, so... that counts for something in my books. 

5. Isabelle Lightwood from The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

Were you all thinking that I would pick Clary? Well, for those of you that don't know, Isabelle is my favorite female characters by Clare. She is just amazing. I love the tough exterior that she portrays, but I also love how many layers there is to Isabelle. She loves her family so much and puts them first and that is amazing. She is an incredibly strong shadowhunter and she is just as strong as Alec and Jace and can definitely hold her own. I just really sympathized with Isabelle and I particularly enjoyed moments in the book when she would actually tell certain characters that their behaviour was uncalled for and unnecessary. Her strength and bravery, much like the four previous choices, makes clear why she is in my top five. 

Well that's it for this week. I hope that you enjoyed the return of Top 5 Wednesday. This reminded me of a bout of books challenge I did earlier in the year. It was tough choosing and I know that I opted for mostly YA book characters, so I hope that is alright. Let me know in the comments below who are your top 5 female characters! 

Want to see more Top 5 Wednesdays posts? Be sure to check out previous posts here! 

Review: Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned" by Lena Dunham

Publishing Date: September 30, 2014
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Pages: 288 pages
Non-Fiction

The Premise: Lena Dunham, creator, producer and star of HBO's Girls has written a collection of essays that details her personal experiences and as the title puts it, tells you what she's learned. As a fan of the show, I feel incredibly lucky to have been given a chance to get a copy of this to read. It is comprised of five sections titled: Love & Sex, Body, Friendship, Work and lastly, Big Picture. Each chapter reveals personal experiences from Dunham that are really accessible to any reader. It tackles topics such as body image, falling in love, dealing with death, to name a few.

My overall thoughts and review: Going into this text, I knew immediately that Lena Dunham is obviously not the character that she portrays on tv, but the writing of the novel has the same charm and wit that you would get from an episode of Girls. You can really feel Dunham's style and her voice coming across. I know that the show is mostly often spoken about because of the controversy of how they approach sex and how raw and explicit it can be. What Dunham attempts to do is also translate that into her book, which of course is a difficult task to do it tastefully. I really enjoyed how personal Dunham got with her reader and basically in my opinion, did not hold back. She shared moments which I myself, if I experienced, would be terrified to share. Some passages made me want to just reach into the book and give Dunham a big virtual hug. Her stories of relationship problems were so accessible and so relatable. She is able to empathize with the reader and demonstrate that yes, she is human, and she has made mistakes just like all of us. Through the difficult parts of the text, she also offers the reader extremely important messages which I found to be particularly reassuring such as the one that follows:

"When someone shows you how little you mean to them and you keep coming back for more, before you know it you start to mean less to yourself. You are not made up of compartments! You are one whole person! What gets said to you gets said to all of you, ditto what gets done. Being treated like shit is not an amusing game or a transgressive intellectual experiment. It's something you accept, condone, and learn to believe you deserve. This is so simple. But I tried so hard to make it complicated." (49) 

In contrast to those more serious personal experiences shared, there are of course, some laugh out loud moments. My favorites in particular include the chapters: "Emails I would send if I were one ounce crazier/angrier/braver" and "I didn't fuck them, but they yelled at me." The emails one in particular was just perfect. It has definitely inspired me to well, not go out and send crazy emails, but to have maybe a type of journal and write in an email format to kind of release my stress, which I'm sure Dunham felt when writing out that section. The last section I mentioned is Dunham describing how she will most likely write another memoir like this one but when she is eighty, and of course, she would name names, which sounds incredibly intense and enticing! There are also illustrations might I add which obviously make everything very ~Lena~. It was a good contrast of the super personal experiences that were deep and the funny experiences she encountered. If you are a fan of the show, you can see some overlap in some stories such as Dunham's one time experience of working at an over-priced children's clothing store is similar to in the show where Jessa is seen working in a store similar to that. I really, really enjoyed just how honest Dunham was with the reader and that honesty, well it is incredibly brave but it just really felt like you were talking to a really good friend while reading it. I have read a few memoirs and biographies, but none quite like this one. I just really enjoyed it and I think that even if you aren't a fan of the show or know much about Dunham, you should take a chance on it because it might surprise you. It definitely surprised me.

My Rating of the Book: ✮✮✮✮✮ (5/5 stars)

Now Available for Purchase at: 
Chapters/Indigo - Amazon.ca - Book Depository

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Random House Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own. 

Venturing into Comics.

So if you have been following my blog and/or twitter for quite some time now, you will know that I have recently ventured into the world of comics in the past few months. I have always read mangas before and the occasional graphic novel, but it was only until recently that I started getting interested in comic single issues and following with a series. I will say, it does take a lot of commitment to stick it out with a series, so you have to make sure that you are really enjoying it because it does add up. Paying for single issues is not that bad but if you are following multiple series like I am, then yes it does add up! 

There are so many comics out there and the question is really.. where do you even start? I think determining your interests right off the bat helps and some questions to consider: Is there a particular tv show or movie that you have an interest in? If so, there could be a comic issue series of it. For example, the ball that got rolling for me was the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind mini series. I had recently at the time finished Firefly/Serenity and it was a great little bit for a browncoat fan like me! Also, being Tom Hiddleston's biggest fan, when the Loki: Agent of Asgard comics launched, I knew I had to get into that. So those were my starting points and don't be fussed if a certain comic you are interested in is already a couple issues in - most comic book stores carry many older issues so you can always ~catch up~. And from there it kind of just spiraled and I got into other Marvel comics. 

Another thing to consider is that some series are mini series, and do not go on for like twenty or thirty issues. The serenity one for example was only 6 issues so that was good and I think if you want that one in particular, it is now available in trade paperback. I was really getting into Black Widow and instead of buying the first six issues, I opted for the trade paperback. It was cheaper! So definitely look into trade copies if you want to catch up on a series that is already well underway. 

I would say, start slowly is my biggest advice. You don't want to invest in something you aren't really enjoying. So what I recommend is downloading the Comixology app which offers a lot of preludes for series for free so you can see what you are getting into! 

I will have a post up later this month about my favorite series that I have been following so far so keep your eyes peeled for that. 

Have you ventured into the world of comics? Let me know in the comments if you are following a particular series, I love recommendations!