Author: Olivia Chanel

Top Ten Tuesday #4 Top Ten All Time Favorite Diverse Books

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. If you want to read more about their blog feature and join the fun, you can do it here.

This week the theme for Top Ten Tuesday is Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Books Of X Genre. Even though this theme is almost like torture, picking favorites is really hard, this list just had to be made. However, I’m putting a twist on it. Instead of picking my all time favorite books in a specific genre I’m choosing my top ten favorite diverse books. These books have amazed me and mesmerized me. I want everyone to know of these books so they can read them too.

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What books did you pick this week for Top Ten Tuesday? What genre did you pick? Or did you put a twist on the theme like I did?

ARC Review of Assassins: Discord by Erica Cameron

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Assassins: Discord by Erica Cameron

Publication Date: September 5, 2016.

Publisher: Triton Books (Riptide Publishing).

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, and LGBT.

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Selling points: Badass and dangerous girls, girls kissing and explosions.

Purchase here: Amazon | The Book Depository 

Synopsis: Kindra’s moral compass has never pointed north, but that’s what happens when you’re raised as an assassin and a thief. At sixteen, she’s fantastic with a blade, an expert at slipping through the world unnoticed, and trapped in a life she didn’t chose. But nothing in her training prepares her for what happens when her father misses a target.

In the week-long aftermath, Kindra breaks rank for the first time in her life. She steals documents, starts questioning who their client is and why the target needs to die, botches a second hit on her father’s target, and is nearly killed. And that’s before she’s kidnapped by a green-eyed stranger connected to a part of her childhood she’d almost forgotten.

Kindra has to decide who to trust and which side of the battle to fight for. She has to do it fast and she has to be right, because the wrong choice will kill her just when she’s finally found something worth living for.

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Thank you Erica Cameron for my e-arc of Assassins: Discord. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review; this does not affect my opinion. Any quotes mentioned below are taken from the ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Assassins: Discord is like those action movies you watch on TV where there are guns, explosions, and car chases. Only in this book, there are more girls than guys. The girls are complex, the girls are kissing and they’re more badass than anyone else. In other words, this book is like those action movies you watch on TV, only a thousand times better. I love Assassins: Discord not only because it’s refreshing and features a storyline that isn’t that often explored in YA but because these teenage girls are flawed, they’re lethal and yet they are just that, teenagers with raw and complex emotions. I also love how inclusive this book is. There are bisexual, asexual, intersex and gay characters and some of them are also of color. Erica Cameron really nailed this book in every aspect there is, it’s sassy, it’s filled with action and once you finish it you’ll literally be begging for more (very much like I am, please when’s the next one coming out *grabby hands*).

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Welcome To Olivia Chanel’s Book Café

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Welcome back my fellow readers, pedestrians, and foodies!

For those of you who don’t remember, a while back my book restaurant Olivia Chanel’s Book Restaurant opened, where depending on what you were in the mood to eat got a few book recommendations. Since the restaurant went so well, the company has decided to expand and Olivia Chanel’s Book Café was born.

The first week of September has just passed, fall is slowly but steadily approaching, and with that comes colder weather and warm sweaters. Otherwise also called sweater weather. With this comes the need to sit down somewhere warm, such as a café, and grab a piece of cake and something to drink. Is it a cup of coffee you’re looking for or perhaps a calming tea, we have a lot you can choose from. If you’re feeling a little bit hungry, take a sandwich or a salad but if it’s something sweet and yummy you want then look no further. We serve donuts, pastries, and even cakes.

We at Olivia Chanel’s Book Café have everything you could dream of, take a sit and look at our menu before you order. Is a bite of romance or maybe a sip of thriller something you want? Pick and choose from the menu below.

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Waiting on Wednesday #3 The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig

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Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. This week I’m anticipating the release of The Ship Beyond Time, which is the sequel to The Girl From Everywhere. A book I really love. I loved Heidi Heilig’s storytelling and writing in the first book and her characters really swept me away. I can’t wait to see what they’ll do in the second book.

a1176f21272b19faa8c7e0ce2bae7dcdThe Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig

Expected publication: March 28, 2017

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Time Travel and Historical Fiction

Add to your To Be Read shelf on Goodreads.

Pre-order on Amazon or Book Depository.

Synopsis: The breathtaking sequel to the acclaimed The Girl from Everywhere. Nix has escaped her past, but when the person she loves most is at risk, even the daughter of a time traveler may not be able to outrun her fate—no matter where she goes. Fans of Rae Carson, Alexandra Bracken, and Outlander will fall hard for Heidi Heilig’s sweeping fantasy.

Nix has spent her whole life journeying to places both real and imagined aboard her time-traveling father’s ship. And now it’s finally time for her to take the helm. Her father has given up his obsession to save her mother—and possibly erase Nix’s existence—and Nix’s future lies bright before her. Until she learns that she is destined to lose the one she loves. But her relationship with Kash—best friend, thief, charmer extraordinaire—is only just beginning. How can she bear to lose him? How can she bear to become as adrift and alone as her father?

Desperate to change her fate, Nix takes her crew to a mythical utopia to meet another Navigator who promises to teach her how to manipulate time. But everything in this utopia is constantly changing, and nothing is what it seems—not even her relationship with Kash. Nix must grapple with whether anyone can escape her destiny, her history, her choices. Heidi Heilig weaves fantasy, history, and romance together to tackle questions of free will, fate, and what it means to love another person. But at the center of this adventure are the extraordinary, multifaceted, and multicultural characters that leap off the page, and an intricate, recognizable world that has no bounds. The sequel—and conclusion—to the indie darling The Girl from Everywhere will be devoured by fans of Rachel Hartman and Maggie Stiefvater. Includes black-and-white maps.

What book are you waiting on this Wednesday? Are you also anticipating The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig?

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Six Bookish Confessions

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Every reader and book collector is different, just as we are all different people. However, communities tend to be united in their ways or at least have a certain pattern to things. A lot of the stuff we do, we do without giving it a second thought, but sometimes if you really think about it, you realize you do certain things differently from the majority. Or so you think. That’s why I thought I’d confess to a few bookish things I do that I don’t think the majority of the book community does. But maybe I’m wrong, if I am, I’d love to hear it!

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I hereby confess to the fact that… 

  1. I buy books with my eyes on the price, everything else is secondary. When buying books I’m all about the cash and that’s just the way it is. I’m a student, I live at home and I can’t buy all the new hardcover books every month. So my tactic is to buy books during sales (Amazon kindle deals please and thank you) and to mostly buy paperback books, which I actually prefer. For international readers, such as myself, I have come to realize that when buying a physical book there are few stores with as good prices as The Book Depository. You looking for a book? That’s where you should go first. The way I usually go about buying books is that I look up the books I’m dying to read and those with reasonable prices (reasonable is different from person to person) I buy.
  2. I really like paperbacks better than hardbacks. This is partly because of price, which has been discussed above, but it’s also because I just prefer that format. I hate that with hardback books the cover isn’t attached to the book. It makes the book harder to read (do I take the dust jacket off or do I leave it on seriously) and I think it’s easier to accidentally hurt a dust jacket than it is to hurt a paperback.
  3. When reading I often prioritize shorter books over longer ones. This confession I’m almost ashamed of but I honestly don’t know how not to do it. I think it has something to do with me being stressed a lot but finishing a book during a short period of time just feels better which is why I tend to lean towards picking shorter books. Do I never read long books then? Of course, I do, I read after what the story is about but I love short books. Maybe it’s a bit weird, but that’s just how I am.
  4. The act of rating books is one I have not yet mastered. Rating books? How do you even do that? For the majority of my life I have rated almost all books five stars because if they made me fangirl a bit I loved them, and if I loved them they were getting five stars. I have evolved a bit from that, but I do think that rating a book is the hardest thing ever. Four stars (cake slices in my case) doesn’t necessarily mean the same for one book as it does for the other. However, I like to rate books, it gives me direction but in the end, my thoughts will tell you what you need to know about what I thought about a book.
  5. I act all cool around authors on social media but in reality, I’m fangirling. Why you may ask? Well because their beautiful and magical words have touched my heart and soul, and now they’re talking to me. I know they’re just human, and I’d never think or treat them as anything else but we all have people we look up to and admire. My favorite authors are just that, people who inspire me. So yes, I act cool but honestly, I’m probably smiling like a big goof behind my screen. Also, among my friends, I am known to just get very excited by things, and my favorite authors talking to me is a fabulous thing.
  6. I buy books secondhand. I know some people buy secondhand and others don’t but honestly, I love it. Unfortunately, I live in Sweden which means that people don’t read that many young adult (and new adult) books in English and even less actually end up in secondhand shops. However, that won’t stop me from searching. A book that has a little history outside of the story itself is pretty cool, at least in my opinion.

That was all of my six book related confessions, I bet a few of these are pretty common even if people don’t talk about them much, or am I wrong? I’d love to know what you guys think about my confessions.

What bookish things do you do that you’re unsure about whether others do as well? Do you have anything to confess?

August 2016 Wrap Up

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August has been a great blogging month for me, I posted x posts all together and have gained a lot of new friends in the blogging community. As August is the last month of summer I have tried to enjoy as many day as I can, especially since I just started university again earlier this week and I have to focus on that. On Friday I leave for an 8 day vacation to Mallorca, Spain and I cannot wait to enjoy this beautiful island all over again. Since Sweden didn’t have much of a summer this year then I’ll definitely make the most out of this week. Updating will be a bit slower than usually but I still have a few posts scheduled for you.

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Lets summarize August, now shall we!

Books Read

As you can see I’ve only read two books this month (I think I’m unfortunately in a reading slump) but I have reviewed them both and the reviews are linked below.

Books Reviewed

Other Bookish Blog Posts

First of all, I decided to attempt ARC August and though I did fail tremendously, you can read about the goal I set up for myself here.

Amy and I did another Moody Book Monday with the theme All Good Things Come in Threes,

This month I decided to join the band wagon and started doing Top Ten Tuesday posts. I love lists and a lot of their themes are just so exciting. I knew I just had to do a few of them. You can read my posts here,

When I started doing Top Ten Tuesday I stumbled upon the meme Waiting on Wednesday which is all about books we are anticipating, I knew I had to join that as well so here are my choices this month,

I of course posted several Freebie Friday posts this month. I definitely recommend you check them out. If you missed a week you might be lucky and find a book that’s still free!

I have also published a few book discussion posts, some book recommendations as well as a book tag I loved making,

Lastly, I introduced the Writing Cave part of my blog,

How was your August? Which books did you read? If you posted something you liked in particular then send the post to me, I’d love to read it!

The Hayley Kiyoko Book Tag

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Hi readers, and maybe a few music lovers as well!

Are you seeing what I’m seeing? I created a new book tag! This time it’s all about my favorite artist and singer Hayley Kiyoko. I’m not someone who usually loves all of an artist’s songs but Hayley is the exception, she’s amazing and a real blessing to us all. I’m currently listening to her newest single Gravel To Tempo, which was what made me want to create this tag. The idea is that you should choose a book or a character for the singles that Hayley Kiyoko has released. I’m tagging all of you and I really hope you’ll join me on this fun. Creating this Hayley Kiyoko Book Tag was just the best and I can’t wait to share my answers with you all.

More specifically I’m tagging,

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For Hayley Kiyoko’s song A Belle To Remember you’re supposed to pick a character you’ll always remember. For me that’s Daisy Calloway from the Addicted series by Krista and Becca Ritchie, her bright personality and kind soul is so inspiring. Daisy has never been heard, her voice always forgotten, but throughout the series you see her fighting to find her voice again. I love Daisy because she’s kind and makes everyone else smile even if she’s having a very hard time herself. Listen to A Belle To Remember here.

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For the song Rich Youth you’re supposed to choose a character that keeps on fighting despite the obstacles they’ve faced. For me that has to be Sophie Winters from Far From You by Tess Sharpe. She has been through a car accident, her own drug addiction that followed and the murder of her best friend Mina all while fighting for people to believe her about it. Despite all of this Sophie has always kept on going and never stopped fighting. Listen to Rich Youth here.

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For This Side of Paradise you’re supposed to pick a character with bad luck. I’m picking Jessica Bullock from Anything But Love by Abigail Strom. With her reinvention in high school she lost her best friend and later on in life got engaged to her closeted gay friend. However, as Jessica’s luck would have it, she’s left at the altar. When her old best friend comes back and agrees to go to the Bahamas with her, sparks fly and feelings develop but Jessica is yet again met with bad luck due to terrible timing. Though Jessica gets her happy ending, her luck worked against her. Listen to This Side of Paradise here.

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Hayley Kiyoko’s perhaps most famous song Girls Like Girls is just amazing and here the choice is simple, pick a book with a f/f ship. For me the choice is Riya and Courtney from Keeping Her Secret by Sarah Nicolas, a book that really surprised me by how amazing it is. Riya and Courtney used to be best friends before a secret kiss and Riya moved to another town. Later on they meet each other again at summer camp and old feelings return. It’s complicated, a little bit messy but oh so amazing. Listen to Girls Like Girls here.

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For Cliffs Edge you’re supposed to pick a ship that has had a lot of ups and downs. For me that has to be Kami and Jared from The Lynburn Legacy by Sarah Rees Brennan. Their relationship went from hot to cold all through the series, there was heartbreak, loss and somewhat of a love triangle too. Kami and Jared went through a lot, both together and with other people, but somehow in the end all the angst, plot twists and cliffhangers were worth it. If two people are meant to be, they’ll endure endless ups and downs until they both find the place they where need to be. That’s what happened with Kami and Jared. Listen to Cliffs Edge here.

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For Gravel To Tempo, Hayley Kiyoko’s newest single, you’re supposed to choose a female character who finally embraces who she is. Someone who realizes she can be herself without the approval of others. This fits perfectly for Victoria Dinham from We Awaken by Calista Lynne. She has never really been interested in sex, or kissing, and never really understood why. However, with the help of Ashlinn she begins to understand her asexuality and who she really is. I love how hopeful and amazing this story is, and how Victoria really grows to accept herself. Listen to Gravel To Tempo here.

That was it for my Hayley Kiyoko Book Tag! Will you be doing the tag on your blog too? If you don’t have a book blog, what would you have answered? Comment and let me know!

All the headers are made by me and you’re more than welcome to use them for your own blog post. Feel free to grab them and use them however you like!

Freebie Friday #7

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Hi guys! Don’t you just love Fridays? I know I do. I have a statistics exam tomorrow, on a Saturday yes, but I’m trying to stay calm and just think about all the books I can treat myself with afterwards. Maybe I’ll try one of the following books, they seem just great. This week the two free books I’m recommending are Let Me Be the One by Lily Foster and Six of Hearts by L.H. Cosway. Both are New Adult books about romance.

Remember guys, the books I recommend are free the moment I publish my post but I can never guarantee they’re free for long so once you see it, grab it! That’s what I do.

letmebetheone1Let Me Be the One by Lily Foster

Goodreads. Amazon.

Running away can be a good thing…

From the outside, Darcy Donovan’s life seems perfect. She’s beautiful, intelligent, popular and dating a guy who is every girl’s dream. But nothing that seems perfect ever really is. A year abroad is her escape—a chance to put some distance between them and also a chance to leave behind the shaken, insecure girl she has become.

Tom Farrell has been waiting in the wings, watching as his friend screws up a relationship with the one girl Tom considers out of his reach. An entire year passes with Tom making changes in his life; changes he hopes will make Darcy see that he’s the one worthy of her heart—that he should be the one.

Let Me Be the One is the first book in the Let Me series intended for readers 18 and older due to mature content. The Let Me series is a collection of stand-alone stories. There are no cliff-hangers but the books are inter-connected as characters are introduced that may feature in subsequent story lines. If you are a fan of Happily Ever Afters that come only after the characters struggle, stumble and sometimes fail…then you will laugh, cry, occasionally cringe, and ultimately fall in love right along with them.

sixofhearts1Six of Hearts by L.H. Cosway

Goodreads. Amazon.

Step right up and meet Jay Fields: Illusionist. Mentalist. Trickster.

I think in triangles. You think in straight lines. I show you a table and make you believe it’s a chair. Smoke and mirrors, sleight of hand, misdirection. I trick and deceive. But most of all, I put on a good show.

The world thinks I killed a man, but I didn’t. Bear with me. It’s all a part of the plan. Revenge is what I want. I want it for me and I want it for her. I want it for all six of us.

She doesn’t remember me, but she’s the reason for everything. She’ll be my prize at the end of all this–if I can hold onto my willpower, that is. Maybe I’ll slip up a little, have a taste, just a small one.

So go ahead and pick a card. Come inside and see the show. Look at my hands, look so closely that you can’t see what’s happening while you’re so focused on looking. I’ll be destroying your world from right here in the spotlight.

You’ll never see me coming until it’s too late. I’ve only got one heart, and after I’ve pulled off my grand deception I’ll hand it right to her. So, sit back, relax, and let my girl tell you our story. You’re in for one hell of a ride.

Waiting on Wednesday #2 Clancy of the Undertow by Christopher Currie

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Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. This week I’m waiting on Clancy of the Undertow by Christopher Currie. This book is Australian which I think is the coolest, it’s sad but the truth still is that most of the young adult books out there takes place in the US which is just sad. This coming of age story seems very intriguing and one I’m dying to get my hands on.

9781925240405Clancy of the Undertow by Christopher Currie

Expected publication: November 16, 2016

Genres: Young Adult, LGBT, Contemporary

Add to your To Be Read shelf on Goodreads.

Pre-order on Amazon or Book Depository.

Synopsis: We’re sitting there with matching milkshakes, Sasha and me, and somehow, things aren’t going like I always thought they would. We’re face to face under 24-hour fluorescents with the thoroughly unromantic buzz of aircon in our ears and endless flabby wedges of seated trucker’s arsecrack as our only visual stimulus.

In a dead-end town like Barwen a girl has only got to be a little different to feel like a freak. And Clancy, a typical sixteen-year-old misfit with a moderately dysfunctional family, a genuine interest in Nature Club and a major crush on the local hot girl, is packing a capital F.

As the summer begins, Clancy’s dad is involved in a road smash that kills two local teenagers. While the family is dealing with the reaction of a hostile town, Clancy meets someone who could possibly—at last—become a friend. Not only that, the unattainable Sasha starts to show what may be a romantic interest.

In short, this is the summer when Clancy has to figure out who the hell she is.

What book are you waiting on this Wednesday? Are you also anticipating Clancy of the Undertow by Christopher Currie?

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Top Ten Tuesday #3 Unread Books from Before I Started Blogging

Olivia Chanel4 Comments

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. If you want to read more about their blog feature and join the fun, you can do it here.

This week the theme for Top Ten Tuesday is Ten Books That Have Been On Your Shelf (Or TBR) From Before You Started Blogging That You STILL Haven’t Read Yet. Considering I just started blogging in April it shouldn’t be that hard to make this list since I have a bunch of unread books on my bookshelf at home. Down below are ten books on my bookshelf that I still haven’t read.

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1. Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson. Add on Goodreads. Buy on Amazon.

2. Legend by Marie Lu. Add on Goodreads. Buy on Amazon.

3. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen. Add on Goodreads. Buy on Amazon.

4. On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. Add on Goodreads. Buy on Amazon.

5. Young, Gifted and Dead by Lucy Carver. Add on Goodreads. Buy on Amazon.

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6. Run by Kody Keplinger. Add on Goodreads. Buy on Amazon.

7. The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen. Add on Goodreads. Buy on Amazon.

8. The Heir by Kiera Cass. Add on Goodreads. Buy on Amazon.

9. Abandon by Meg Cabot. Add on Goodreads. Buy on Amazon.

10. Towering by Alex Flinn. Add on Goodreads. Buy on Amazon.

What ten books did you pick this week? Do you have a lot of unread books from before you started blogging?