Miss Christy's Book Haven

Another month is practically over, and along with it many finished books. I love summer because it allows me to read as many books as I want. During the school year, it isn't always possible to read for fun. I'm trying to make the most of my summer vacation and read as many books as possible! Recently I finished The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare and have started The Infernal Devices series. This past week Chapters/Indigo was having a summer sale that I could not pass up! 

 

 

The main reason I shopped the Chapters/Indigo sale is because my friend texted me saying that the new book in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth was available for pre-order at the low price of $10.99!! That is a steal considering it's in hardback format, and I LOVE me some hardback books!

 

While pre-ordering my copy of Allegiant I came across Cinder by Marissa Meyer for only $5.99, again, in hardback!! I've heard great things about this book so I added it to my cart! To complete the series I also decided to pick up Scarlet, which wasn't on sale, but I couldn't resist! Finally, to be eligible for free shipping I picked up an interesting sounding art book about new gothic art called Hellbound by Francesca Gavin.

 

Cinder

 

 

Scarlet

 

Hellbound

 

After ordering my books on Monday, I received them in the mail on Wednesday. Honestly, this is why I love shopping at Chapters/Indigo online. With every $25 purchase, shipping is free, and the shipping time is really good. When I got my order everything was great, until I opened my copy of Hellbound. I opened the cover page and it literally fell apart! The entire cover page came off! Needless to say I was disappointed. I'm going to try to use a hot glue gun to stick it back together, and hopefully that'll work. Luckily the book only cost about $5 and it wasn't a book I really wanted. 

 

Sad Broken Book :(

 

On Thursday, I was at Wal-mart and wandered down the book/magazine aisle, and noticed they had copies of Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. This is a book a lot of people have been raving about and since the book was in English (I live in Quebec, where there isn't a lot of English options when it comes to anything, especially books!) I decided to pick it up. I'm most excited for this particular book because it has very unique black and white photographs, that apparently go a long with the story.

 

 

And that is my June book haul! I still have two books in The Infernal Devices series to finish, and I'm planning to do a post/review about the series! I find it a bit difficult to do book reviews, but it's something I'm interested in! So hopefully with a bit of practice I'll get better at it!

 

 

For quite some time now there has been a debate over which is better; e-books or actual books. While some of us may be divided, there are many people who are set in their preferences. So what is my opinion? Read on to find out!

 

 

The first e-reader I ever heard about was Kindle by Amazon. I’ve always been a book enthusiast, and I’ve ordered from Amazon countless times. The first time I read about the Kindle, I was intrigued. It claimed to be light-weight, thin, and easy to read from. The best part was that it could store many books in one small package. The price was a bit expensive, and put me off a little. However, the main thing that made me shy away from e-readers was the idea of giving up my beautiful, tangible books that fit so perfectly onto my bookshelf. I’ll admit it! I LOVE collecting books, especially hardcover books! I don’t really collect anything, with the exception of books. The idea of not being able to have an actual copy of a book on my bookshelf was frightening. And I know I am not the only one who feels this way! 

 

There is something very special about reading a good, old-fashioned book! Curling up with a good book, is something a lot of people couldn’t live without! A collection of books displayed for everyone to see is even better! There is no place that fills me with enthusiasm and giddiness the way a library does! My favorite Disney movie is Beauty and the Beast, the main reason being that Beast gives Belle her own library! This has been a fantasy for me every since I was a little girl! Forget Prince Charming and his white horse! I’ll take a Beast that gives me my own library any day!

 

Now, back to e-readers! One year for Christmas, I gave my parents a list of books that I wanted. However, my dad thought it would be better to get me a Kindle. Am I ever glad that he did!! E-books are very convenient for a number of reasons. Firstly, I am a university student and to get to school I have to take public transportation every day! Being in university means I already have a lot of textbooks to lug around. My Kindle is tiny and hardly takes up any room. It’s also makes it a lot easier to read when I’m on a crowded bus! 

 

The next great thing about e-books is that they tell you (in percentage) how far along you are in your book. I find this useful for the books that I don’t like as much. I’m not one to give up on a book, even if I don’t find it that good. With my Kindle, I can see how much longer I have until I’m done. And let’s not forget that e-readers hold a lot of books. This is convenient for people who don’t like the clutter that comes with having your own mini-library.

 

Back to my main dilemma about losing my book collecting ability. Even though I have an e-book, I still continue to buy actual books. Usually, if I enjoy a certain book I’ll repurchase it in order to have a hard copy. This is also useful because it allows me to show off the books I actually enjoyed. If I read a book on my kindle, and don’t absolutely love it, I don’t repurchase. This allows me to display books that have a special place in my heart. Another thing I do is I usually buy the first book in a series and if I like it I buy the rest of the books in hard copy (along with repurchasing the first!). Some of you might find this a waste of money, but I enjoy it and it allows me to get the best of both worlds.

 

Overall, I think e-books and regular books are equally great! If you have the means I really believe you should purchase an e-reader! Especially if you travel a lot or if you don’t like the clutter that comes with collecting books!

 

 

Such a great book! I was apprehensive to read this because it has a sci-fi element. I was pleasantly surprised! While it did have references to Alien-type characters and situations, it was easy to follow. It does start off a bit slow but it's worth it! The character development is exceptional! As a reader, you really fall in love with each and everyone of the characters!

I got this book for a class in college. It's one of my favorites! It's filled with wonderful short stories, that are intriguing and entertaining. I highly recommend this book!

This book started off at a slow pace but once it picked I couldn't put it down. To be honest, I found the first book in the series to be more exciting. But this book was still great! I bought the final book of the series right after finishing this one. The story line is great and I can't get enough. It's one of those series that grabs your attention and sucks you into the world of the characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It has a dark atmosphere and the author does a fantastic job of describing the setting of the book. There are many twists and turns and just when you think you have figured something out..NOPE! Personally, I have an appreciation for "dark" stories. This book is about an old family curse involving the devil. Essentially it is about the battle of good versus evil. If you enjoy dark, fantasy YA novels, this book is for you.

After falling in love with the whole Vampire Academy series, I was excited to start reading Bloodlines. I like how this series is completely different from VA but it still feels familiar. All the characters in this series played minor roles in Vampire Academy and it's great to get to know them better. Sydney Sage is an interesting character. At first she seems a bit pretentious but the more I got to know her the more I liked her. It seems like a lot of readers don't really like Jill Dragomir, but I think she's a decent character. She's young, therefore at times she comes across selfish and immature but her behaviour develops throughout the book. The character Eddie reminds me slightly of Dimitri. He takes his job as guardian very seriously. And of course there's ADRIAN!! He is the best character in this whole book. He comes across as superficial but he is anything but! Adrian is a complex character and I love hearing more about him.I really enjoyed this book but the reason I don't give it 5 stars is because it deals a lot with real world human stuff. The reason I loved Vampire Academy is because how fantastical it is. It brought me into another world where Vampires and magic exist. Bloodlines does have elements of this but it's mixed in with the human world. Either way, this book is a good read and I recommend it for fans of vampire novels.

I want to start this review by saying I have loved every book in the Vampire Academy series. Spirit Bound takes the cake! This is by far the best book in the series (keep in mind I haven't even started The Last Sacrifice yet!). The entire book is full of surprises, and it is really like a roller coaster ride! The best thing (and the most infuriating) about this book is the ending! What a cliff hanger! Richelle Mead does a fantastic job at ensuring that her readers will go out and buy the next book! If I could I'd give this book a lot more than 5 stars!!!