Totally Should've Book Tag| CarenzaOnBooks

I know I've already done a book tag this month, but I was in the mood to do another one and after searching through BookTube I found the "Totally Should've" book tag, created by EmmaBooks. I've wanted to do this tag for a while and so I thought why not do it today?

1)Totally should've gotten a sequel

Last year I read Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu and I loved it. I would love to read more books from that world. It was such an empowering read and I wish there were more books like it.

2)Totally should've had a spin-off series

The obvious answer here is the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. I think that myself and the rest of the Harry Potter fandom would love as many spin-offs as possible. I would particularly love a series about the Marauders- I need more Lupin and Sirius in my life.

3)An author who totally should write more books

Hands down, Angie Thomas. I loved The Hate U Give so much and I can't wait to see the movie adaptation. I know she has another book coming out next year, but I would happily read anything she publishes.

4)A character who totally should've ended up with someone else

The only one I can think of is from the Harry Potter universe and that is that I would have loved Luna and Neville to end up together. They did it beautifully in the films, but I would have loved them together as a little pair of adorable oddballs. Also from the Harry Potter universe, I would have loved from Albus and Scorpius to end up together. They were so cute and clearly meant to be. 

5)Totally should've ended differently

I think quite a few people will agree with me on this, but I didn't like the ending of Allegiant by Veronica Roth. Without spoiling it, a certain character shouldn't have died. 

6)Totally should've had a movie franchise

Any book Adam Silvera writes should become a movie. I would love to see all of his current releases (and any future ones) on the big screen. 

7)Totally should've had a TV show

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern would make an incredible TV show. I would love to see someone turn it into a TV show at some point in the near future. 

8)Totally should've had one point of view

Allegiant again. The multiple perspectives made it obvious that that one character was going to die at the end. Also, the two voices were far too similar, half the time I didn't know which was which. 

9)Totally should have a cover change

I genuinely can't think of any books where I would change the cover. I love all the covers I have and none of them needs changing in my opinion. 

10)Totally should've kept the original covers

The Wrath and the Dawn duology by Renee Adieh. I loved the original covers, but the new ones, in my opinion, aren't great. 

11)Totally should've stopped at book one

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. I've read the first two books, and probably won't be continuing with the rest as I really didn't like the series.

Carenza x

A Very Potter Day- December 2017| CarenzaOnBooks

This is a post I've wanted to write for a while but never got around to until now. Back in December of last year, my mother and I went to London for the day to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (part one only) and subsequently, made a day trip out of it. We did so many amazing things and I really wanted a way of remembering this day, besides the photos I took and the merch I obviously bought.

We started the day with two exhibitions; one at the Courtauld Gallery and one at the National Gallery. Although I can't remember the specifics of the exhibitions, I knew I really enjoyed them. We had to go them fairly quickly as we wanted to get to the Palace theatre for about 1 pm (an hour before the show started).

We ended up at the theatre an hour and a half early, thankfully ending up under the sheltered part as it was raining on and off. At the time, I didn't know that the House of MinaLima was around the corner and as a part of a promotion, they were handing out leaflets for it. Mum and I decided that we would head there after the show.

Once we had been let inside, my first point of call was the shop. I had been saving this money since my birthday in August and I planned to spend it. I have a whole video about it on my YouTube channel, which documents what I got. But to put it simply, I bought almost everything I had had my eye on.

The interior of the theatre was beautiful. We were sat at the very top of the theatre and my fear of heights definitely kicked in as the seats were very sloped. The performance was incredible and I can't wait to go again in August. I've been going to the theatre since I was six years old, but some of the tricks they used to make it look like magic left me with my mouth wide open.

Once the show had finished, we did a final bit of shopping in the theatre and then we went to the House of MinaLima. I'd never been before as I thought it had closed down for some reason. If you are a Harry Potter fan, then I highly recommend going. It's free to go in and has an amazing gift shop. It's so interesting learning about how they designed all the props for the Harry Potter movies. I bought three postcard packs and a badge. I plan on going back in August as it was wonderful.

Our final shopping destination was Tottenham Court Road Primark. I'd walked past it on several occasions, but had never been in. I managed to get some of the items, such as the Potion Bottle fairy lights and the house bunting, that I had been wanting for ages. Primark is a great place for getting cheap merch and their homeware section (my fave) is amazing.

We had tea at GBK and then headed to the train station via Waterstones as we're both huge bookworms and had time to kill. I think we ended up buying six books between us. We didn't get home till quite late, but it was such a magical day.
Carenza x

The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag| CarenzaOnBooks

As we are already over halfway through the year, I thought it would be interesting to look back at my reading year so far. This year has been the best reading year I've had in a while as I've been pushing myself to read more. I've seen this tag floating around the book community and thought that I would do it myself.

1) Best Book You've Read So Far

I'd have to go with Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman. There was so much hype around this book with the movie coming out and so I decided to read it. I read it in one day because it was so beautiful and I was engaged in the story so much. I really want to watch the movie so badly to see how accurate it is.

2) A New Release You Haven't Read, But You Want To

I've been really strick with my book buying this as I've been trying to be responsible with my money (trying being the key word), but a new release I was really excited about but haven't bought is Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. I've heard so many good things about this book and I think I'll really enjoy it.

3) Most Anticipated Release For The Second Half Of The Year

Obviously, it has to go to Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare. I've already pre-ordered two copies and am probably going to get another two. I have been waiting for this book ever since I finished Lord of Shadows. I'm dying to read it!

4) Biggest Disappointment Of The Year

I know this book is a bit like marmite; you either love it or hate it and for me, I fall into the latter. I was very excited for Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsey Cummings, but oh boy did this book fall flat. I gave it 1.5 stars. I really did not like it and will 100% not be continuing with it. To be nice to it would be to say it was dull. There were very few redeeming qualities to this book (the only one I can think of is the ending).

 

5) Biggest Surprise Of The Year So Far

Hands down, the biggest surprise of the year was Let Me Tell You About A Man I Knew by Susan Fletcher. This book was beautiful. The only reason it wasn't my favourite of the year so far was that I didn't like the ending. But, her writing is beautifully poetic and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

 

6) New Favourite Author

I struggled with this as I've read a lot of new authors this year, but I wouldn't call any of them my favourite. But if I was to choose, I would say Neal Shusterman. I picked up the Scythe series and have read both the books that are out. I really enjoyed this series and was pleasantly surprised by finding a good dystopian novel.

 

7) Your Newest Favourite Character

Honestly, I find it very hard to pick favourite characters as I tend not to get too attached to them. But Simon Spier does hold a special place in my heart. I've yet to see the movie, but I flew through Simon Vs the Homosapiens Agenda in one day. He's a good egg, in my opinion.

8) A Book That Made You Cry

The only book I have cried it is a reread of Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. I don't cry that easily at books, but there's one scene that gets me every time. It might have also been because I read this scene at about 3am when I couldn't sleep.

9) A Book That Made You Happy

I would say that reading The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed made me happy. This book was so inspiring due to its feminist content. I would love to read more books by Amy Reed as The Nowhere Girls was fantastic.

10) The Most Beautiful Book So Far

Cover wise, I would say The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (I didn't like the actual book though), content wise, I read A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway and that book is good. I love the 1920s and so reading about so many great authors in Paris makes my heart sing. I really want to go back to Paris now I've read this book.

May and June Favourites| CarenzaOnBooks

Once again, I've fallen behind on posting on here. Exams were life-consuming and I've been slowly adjusting to not being in college. I'm hoping to get better at posting on here, but I won't make any promises as I don't know what the future has in store. But as I've missed posting on here, I thought I'd come back with a favourites post as I love favourites. I'm going to combine May and June as I haven't posted a favourite post for either.

Books

My favourite books I read in the months of May/June were the Poldark books by Winston Graham. I've only read books 1-5, but I'm loving them. It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the TV show, so I decided to give the books a go. I'm currently taking a break from them as books 6-7 cover the most recent series and I want to watch the series before I read the books. 

Culture

I finished my rewatch of Merlin in June and it was amazing. I cried at the final episode and I know at some point I'll rewatch it. I still can't believe that the first series came out ten years ago. 

I also continued watching Mad Men and I'm definitely more invested in the storyline now. Series 3-4 have been my favourite so far, but I am loving the direction the series is going in. I'm hoping to finish it before I go to university in September.  

Poldark series four started in June and so far I'm loving it. It's not my favourite series of the Poldark franchise, but any excuse to watch Poldark is good for me. I'm looking forward to seeing how it ends. 

I saw The Happy Prince in June and I really enjoyed it. Oscar Wilde is someone I'm interested in, but I know very little about his life. It was a beautiful film and if you are interested in Oscar Wilde, then I would highly recommend it. 

Bits'n'Bobs 

It will probably come as no surprise that I have got new Pop Funkos on this list. I'm always adding new Pops to my collection and with the newest wave being announced, it will continue to expand. I don't know what I'll do when I go to university as I'm not sure if I'll be able to afford them.

shop

While in Liverpool, I bought some new earings for the first time in ages. I'm allergic to anything but gold or silver, which makes getting earings expensive. Thankfully, these were about £13, which for one pair is still expensive. Nevertheless, I think they're beautiful and they were a bit outside of my comfort zone fashion-wise.

So that concludes my belated favourites posts. I'm slowly trying to get on top of my posting schedule again, but it may take some time for me to get back to posting once a week on here.

Carenza x