I’m back!

Hello loyal followers! Though I stopped posting on this blog a while ago, due to a renewed passion for blogging, and a desire to further my writing abilities (practice makes perfect) I would love to try to resurrect this blog. I’m not sure how often I will be able to post, especially because I have so many other commitments and blogs right now, but I don’t want this blog to disappear because I really enjoyed curating content for it. So if you stuck around, thanks, and you should be hearing form me again soon! (Also, please ignore the little bio at the bottom, that applies to my study abroad blog, but I’m not sure how to customize it to be different for this blog.)

“Wield your assets like a blade, Cousin. No man has invented a corset for our brains. Let them think they rule the world. It’s a queen who sits on that throne. Never forget that.”
― Kerri Maniscalco, Stalking Jack the Ripper

 

Book to Movie Adaptations

While I enjoy a well done book to movie adaptation, there’s no denying that the books are always better. Furthermore, there have been SO MANY terrible book to movie adaptations that it makes me wonder why they decided to waste their time and money. Below are all the books turned into movies that I have both read and seen (theres many that I’ve either just read or just seen, but I choose not to include those because obviously I have no way to compare the two!) This is basically my opinions on the adaptations, and if they’re worth watching!

The Hunger Games– It’s pretty common knowledge that this was a great adaptation of the novels that remained truthful to the book. I was so excited that they only made minor changes and stayed true to the story line of the book, making it a true adaptation. Every adaptation should be this well done! Definitely worth watching for everyone, especially lovers of the books.

Harry Potter– Absolute classic. Probably the best done adaptation in my opinion (despite the annoying glitch that was Harry not actually having his mothers eyes which was really really annoying). If you haven’t already seen them, but honestly what rock do you live under if you haven’t, go read the books and enjoy seeing them come to life in these wonderful films.

The Chronicles of Narnia– This series was very weirdly done. First of all they skipped the first book and the third book opting instead to only adapt the second and fourth books, which I somewhat understand, but still find weird. Luckily this is another adaptation that stays truthful to the books for the most part, but I honestly just recommend reading these books and maybe just watching the first movie!

Percy Jackson– This movie is hands down THE WORST book to movie adaptation in the history of adaptations. The amount of hatred I have in my heart for this loathsome movie is unquenchable. If you know what’s good for you, read the books and avoid the movie like the plague.

The 5th Wave– This adaptation was a shit show, not as bad as Percy Jackson, but in the same realm. I was especially upset because it had so much potential in the beginning, but it quickly went down hill and I have no idea how people who didn’t read the book had any idea what was going on. Personally I really enjoyed the book and recommend it, but I wouldn’t waste your time on the movie.

Me Before You– While I didn’t absolutely love this book because of the subject matter, I really enjoyed how different it was and how it explored topics that most books don’t. I though this movie remained very faithful to the book, and the casting was perfect. Honestly, I may have enjoyed the movie slightly more than the book. If I could go back, I’d still read the book, but I wouldn’t say it should be #1 on your tbr list.

Shadow hunters (TV show)– I watched the first season, and then gave up because I couldn’t stand this awful adaptation. While it kept the essence of the  book, kinda, it was just too much of a hot mess with a terrible script, awful special effects and weird af “plot twists” that I’d say you’re safer just enjoying these books and not bothering with the series. Maybe I would have liked it if I haven’t read the books, but these do not blend well together.

City of Bones– This movie tried so so hard to be good and honestly failed epically. It just didn’t work for me and as with the other adaptation of this book, I’d say just stick to reading the books.

Twilight– Ah the infamous Twilight. Personally, as someone who read the books and enjoyed them in my middle school days (though probably wouldn’t enjoy them as much now) I really enjoyed these movies. They stayed faithful to the book and it was fun to watch everything I had read about come to life. I’d say unless you are young and naive, don’t bother with either of these, but if you’re interested go for it because I really enjoyed my time with this series.

Ella Enchanted– So I read this book/watched the movie a million years ago and I really enjoyed both. I grew up on Ella Enchanted and have a special place for it in my heart, but I really enjoyed how in the book we are able to really explore her world and get so many details about her life that aren’t included in the movie. While the movie’s pretty different from the book, I’m not mad at it (maybe because I watched it first). 10/10 recommend both!

Holes– Who doesn’t love this movie! The book is basically the same story just takes longer and goes more into the characters heads. If you enjoy this movie, you’ll like the book, I just remember it being kinda slow at times.

The Help– I really really love this movie and I really enjoyed the book as well. The book had some added details as per usual and I highly recommend reading it. Both worth your time to enjoy.

Ink heart– I honestly read/watching this way to long ago to really write much here. Honestly watch/read it for yourself and form your own opinion. I seem to remember really liking them.

Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children– This is another one of those where they changed the story line a lot in the movie, especially the ending, but I actually understood why they did it. Now that’s not to say I liked it, but I honestly didn’t really enjoy the book that much either, so I wasn’t too invested. That being said, a lot of people love the book so I’d say give it a chance but honestly I wouldn’t waste your money on the movie.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Like, comment and follow,

Dani

My Dream Bookstore Trips

These are the top 15 bookstores I would love to visit (in order). The stores on this list made it because they’re gorgeous and/or unique and interesting!

10. Shakespeare and Co., Paris

9. Libreria Acqua Alta, Venice

8. Ler Devagar, Lisbon, Portugal

7. Cafebreria El Pendulo, Mexico City, Mexico

6. Selexyz Bookstore, Maastricht, Holland

5. Baldwin’s Book Barn, West Chester, Pennsylvania

4. Barter Books, England

3. The Last Bookstore, LA

2. Livraria Lello, Porto, Portugal

1. Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Thanks for reading 🙂 you can follow me on the bottom of the home page!

Love,

Dani

Laptop Case

I have gone two laptops now, almost 5 years, having a caseless laptop, so I’m very excited that I FINALLY got a case for my laptop. Of course I had to make my case book themed, so I decided to do it through the laptop case sticker trend that’s big right now. This post basically explains each of the stickers that make up my laptop case. Confession: I’ve had them for a couple months but I’m just now getting around to this post so some of the stickers are a little beat up!

So this sticker is the centerpiece of my laptop and I thought it would perfectly tie together all my stickers and kinda set the theme for my laptop case. I bought this at The Strand bookstore in NYC and I’m obsessed with this quote.

This sticker is a tribute to The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. It’s Tessa’s clockwork angel and I bought it on Red Bubble. This also was just kinda my nod to all of Cassandra Clare’s book because they were so important to my teenage years, they were the books that got me super invested in Fantasy again and I quickly became obsessed with both of her series!

This sticker is obviously from the bible and is also from Red Bubble. My faith is really important to me so I though it was important to have a bible quote on my laptop just to remind me each day to pray and devote time to God.

This quote on this sticker is from Jane Eyre and it’s my absolute favorite quote. This book was really important to me because it’s the first classic novel that I genuinely enjoyed and I read it during one of my favorite classes, senior year AP English. This class was so important to me because it’s the reason I have decided to become an English major in college! Also I’m obsessed with cats so the cat outline was perfect. (Red Bubble)

I also got this sticker while in NYC at The Strand, and I obviously got it because I’m a proud Slytherin! Harry Potter was an important book for me and so many others, and it’s amazing because almost everyone has read them or at least seen the movies, so it really brings people together (especially at William and Mary).

So this was also from Red Bubble and it’s Game of Throne’s themed! Confession I haven’t actually read the books, but I’ve been watching the TV show and am currently on Season 5 and loving it.

This sticker is from (you guessed it) Red Bubble and it’s an image of Aslan from Narnia. The Chronicles of Narnia are such a special series for me because I grew up having my mom read them to me and they were one of those books that helped jump start my love of reading. I also really appreciate now that I’m old the biblical analogies and the greater message of this story. Definitely a series I want to reread soon.

I know this stickers looking a little sketchy but it is what it is. This one’s from Red Bubble but it was originally square shaped. Something about the aesthetic wasn’t doing it for me, so I cut it into an octagon which I wish had been a little more even but I’m a fan of my decision regardless. This is from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas, and it’s one of my favorite series of all time! This sticker pertains specifically to the second book and it’s one of those iconic images that only people from the fandom would recognize 😉

Big surprise another SJM book sticker, but she’s one of my favorite authors. This is from her Throne of Glass series that I have been reading for the past 5 years, so it has been a really integral part of my high school/college years and honestly has helped shape me as a person. (I’m not saying I wanna be Celaena Sardothian, but I wouldn’t complain). This stickers from Red Bubble.

Lastly, (sorry I know it’s kinda blurry) I have this cute little sticker of Belle that I actually got in one of my book boxes. Belle has always been the Disney princess that I have identified with the most, so she was the perfect finishing touch to my laptop case. (Side note: Get pumped for the Live Action Beauty and the Beast move it’s gonna be lit)!

Here’s a final picture of my laptop case!

Follow my blog for updates when I post, see y’all next week 

 Dani

Red Bubble Website

Why I love Sarah J Maas

Young Adult Genre

September Book Box

Reading in College

Hey y’all it’s gonna be a short post this week because I’m so flooded with schoolwork right now I can barely see straight! Speaking of school work, I often get asked how I am able to continue reading while balancing my college schedule, so here are 5 tips from my personal experience:

1. Audio-book: Audio-booking is great because you can do it at the gym, while you do laundry, walking to class, ect. and its a great way to get some reading in while still getting done what you need to do. Yay multitasking! 
2. Take an English Class: While this may seem like an obvious one, I read five books in my english class this past year and really benefitted from making myself read more classic, adult literature. Reading for an english class is the best of both worlds because you don’t feel like you are wasting time by reading because it’s required for your class. The only downfall is if the book your reading is awful, the fact that you you don’t get to read what you want and the stress of a class can take away the pleasure of reading.
3. Set aside time each night: Whether it’s 30 min or a chapter, setting aside some time each night before you go to sleep to read is both a great way to unwind from the day, and keep reading in your life despite a busy schedule.
4. Read on the weekends: The weekends are the best time for reading because there’s a lot less pressure to focus on homework and you have much more free time. Instead of watching a movie or going to a party, choose to spend a day/night or both reading! I promise you won’t regret it 🙂
5. Don’t stress yourself out: At the end of the day, if you can make these tips work for you great, if not THATS OK! I know I have months where reading just has to take the back burner because schools is piling up and I know I can’t beat myself up about it. Remember at the end of the day your mental health is a priority and whether that means setting aside time each day for yourself to read or cutting back on reading for a while to ease your stress, it’s your life and reading is supposed to be no pressure! During college my advice for getting in as many books as you want to read if you’re having trouble reading at school is read read read during breaks when you have free time and no responsibilities!

Follow my blog for updates when I post, see y’all next week 🙂

❤ Dani

I’m Back

So I have been completely MIA for about a month which is absolutely terrible, but it was necessary. I said I was going to be posting over the break, but honestly I needed to recharge and take a full break this month and I guess that ended up including my blog! However, I haven’t taken a break from reading and I even had a book club during the break, so I still have plenty of new things to post and talk about. I’m going to try to post on here more regularly instead of a million things sparadically throughout the semester, so my current goal is to post once a week. If you have any suggestions for content you want to see on here let me know in the comments, but for now I’m just going to keep posting whatever suits my fancy! Don’t forget to follow my blog below and my insta at danisbookshelf22 for updates on my posts and reading.

Most Anticipate Releases

So as an avid fantasy reader, most of the books I enjoy reading are series. Unfortunately, this means I often have to wait a year for each new book in a series. This post is about the books that are coming out at the end of this year (November/December), and next year (January/February) that I am most looking forward to!

Heartless- November 8th

This is Marissa Meyer, author of The Lunar Chronicles, newest book and it’s a standalone retelling of the Queen of Hearts. I’m excited to read it (I bought it the day it came out) because I really enjoyed Marissa’s other series and her way of reinventing classic fairytales!

 

Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy- November 15th

So I’ve had Lady Midnight for forever and have wanted to read it, but I wanted to wait to read this book first because I heard there are spoilers and that it’s important for the plot of the new series to read this book. However, it was only released as a bunch of online stories originally and I didn’t want to pay individually for each story because that was hella expensive. So I’m hopefully going to read this book and then Lady Midnight very soon.

 

Scrappy Little Nobody- November 15th

I have actually already read this book by this point, and I really enjoyed it. I was looking forward to it because Anna Kendrick is super cute and feisty and I knew her book would be hilarious. It was so interesting getting an inside look at her life, the girl has done some incredible stuff, and I was able to get a sighed copy so that’s super cool.

 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Script- November 19th

Ok so who wasn’t So FrEaKiNg ExCiTeD for this movie to come out! I saw it the other day and loved it, though it was somewhat confusing at times. I hoping that by reading this book, maybe the movie will be a little clearer. I will definitely be seeing this movie again asap!

 

Crystal Storm- December 13th

This is the 5th book in the Falling Kingdoms series which I marathoned last year and ever since have been anxiously awaiting this book. Funny enough, while I didn’t initially like the first book, by the end of the second I was hooked and by the end of the fourth I was in love. SSSOOOO I’m very excited for this book!

 

Wayfarer- January 3rd

So confession, I haven’t actually read Passenger, the first book in this duology (I think?) but I’ve heard nothing but good things about it so I’m excited to read both. Also, the author Alexandra Bracken is coming to Blue Willow in January so I want to read her books and then go to her signing 🙂 (She also wrote The Darkest Minds series of which I have read the first book)

 

Windwitch- January 10th

So I read the first book in this series and it had great potential so I’m glad to see how this story develops. This series is also written by my favorite author’s (Sarah J Maas) best friend so that makes it that’s always exciting.

 

Carve The Mark- January 17th

This is Veronica Roth’s (best know for her Divergent series) new book and this cover is gorgeous. I’m interested to see how this book is and how she has grown as a writer since the Divergent trilogy. This book is also science fiction, so it will be interesting to see how she handles a new genre.

 

The Kings Cage- February 7th

So this is the third book in the Red Queen trilogy and I’m SO EXCITED for it! The previous two books were great and the second book left off with a big cliff hanger, so I can’t wait to see how everything wraps up.

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Bookish Pet Peeves

So as a reader, there are many many things over the years that have come to drive me crazy regarding the book world. While I have more bookish pet peeves than this, and I don’t really talk too much about actual plot issues that bug me in this post (maybe a later post idk?), these are the biggest ones!

Cover Changes:

Cover changes for an entire series are fine, that doesn’t bother me too much UNLESS THEY CHANGE THEM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SERIES. If you change the covers half way through, then my books won’t match, and then my entire book shelf is ruined. I would honestly rather a series continue to have ugly covers than changing to pretty covers half way through.

Stickers:

These are just so frustrating, especially when they don’t come off easily and leave a gross sticky residue. Can we all just agree upon a better system to advertise things on books! Also, don’t even get me started about the “fake stickers” that look like stickers, but when you go to peel them off, they are printed onto the book. WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT’S A GOOD IDEA!!!

Genre Hating:

I don’t think I will ever stop ranting about this one. It’s just so ridiculous that you think its ok to make me feel bad for reading what I want to read. If I’m too old to be reading young adult books, then you’re too old to be judging people what what they love. Like seriously what is this middle school? Why are you hating on me? I’m not bothering you! Just be nice about it, you don’t have to read it or even think it sounds interesting, but understand that I love it so pipe. the. fuck. down.

TV Show/Movie covers:

I just don’t understand why this is necessary. Isn’t that the point of the stickers? Especially with adaptations always being so different from the actual books themselves, it’s honestly offensive. I worry about the kind of person that would go to buy a book and pick the adaptations illustrations cover over the legit cover. It’s just wrong.

Responsibilities when you just wanna read:

Tbh this is just the struggle of my life. Most of the time I get stuck in the hole of not having immediate responsibilities for .5 seconds, so I pick up a book, and then suddenly it’s 3 days later and I’m failing all my classes (yes I’m being dramatic but you get the point). Nothing is more heartbreaking that putting a book down because you have to do homework or go to some mandatory event or sleep (lol what is that?). Can’t wait for winter break when I can get away with reading for an entire day and not have it mess up my entire schedule (one more month).

Being Uncomfortable:

It’s surprisingly difficult to get comfortable while reading. I don’t know if it’s just me, but the number of times I change positions while I’m reading is getting out of control. Especially in college because I don’t have the bed setup I finally perfected at home.

Spoilers:

THERE IS HONESTLY NOTHING WORSE, THIS IS MY NUMBER 1 PET PEEVE. This is especially an issue when you’re like me and lots of your social media revolves around books. During the first month Empire of Storms was out, I couldn’t go on Instagram, Tumblr or Pinterest without narrowly missing a million spoilers. However, there is nothing worse than when someone you though was your friend spoils a book for you. It feels like a knife right through the heart and my trust in you becomes seriously jeopardized. Just don’t do it people. Don’t spoil things for others (of course I know accidents happen, just do your very very best!)

People who hurt my books:

First of all, I buy most of my books with my own money that I have worked hard to get and secondly, as a book collector the appearance of my books is important for the aesthetic of my shelves. So if I loan you one of my books, that thing becomes your freaking baby. I put a lot of trust in people when I give them one of my precious well loved treasures, so just realize that I expect you to take amazing care of my book. Yes, I understand accidents happen, and I’m not unreasonable. If you ruin someones book you should return the ruined book along with a new copy of the book. It’s just the right thing to do. Then after that, don’t assume I will loan you another book, I most likely no longer trust you.

Most Movie/TV Adaptations:

If I had a dollars for the number of times I said “that’s not what happened in the book” I could buy myself my own personal bookstore. That being said, I don’t hate book adaptations. I think it can be really fun to watch well loved book characters come to life on screen, but DON’T CHANGE THE ENTIRE FUCKING STORY IF YOU’RE GOING TO DO IT (at you Percy Jackson). For example, Hunger Games and Harry Potter were both wonderful book to movie adaptations and I thoroughly enjoyed them, those are fine. But for so so many adaptations they just deviate way too far from the original plot/characters and completely lose what made the book so special (at you City of Bones/Shadowhunters). It’s not hard, if you’re going to adapt a book, do it right, and make sure you have the freaking budget for it!

Being Interrupted:

I absolutely hate when people interrupt me when I’m in the middle of a book. If I’m reading, leave me alone. Sometimes, I’m cool with putting my book down and having a conversation, so if I start the conversation that’s fine, or if it’s a really quick question no worries. But please don’t try to have a conversation with me when I’m in the middle of a book, if I wanted to talk, I wouldn’t be reading.

When people say reading is dumb:

These fuckers are the literal worst.

No epilogue:

If I take the time to read the many books that come in a series and go through an emotional journey with a character I WANT TO KNOW THAT EVERYTHING IS FUCKING OK. Is that too much to ask? I don’t think so. I just want to see the months/years later when everyones a happy family and all the shit they were working on throughout the book is all working out. I know that it’s not necessarily “realistic” and some authors love to leave books in suspense of the future BUT IF I WANTED SUSPENSE I’D READ A MYSTERY BOOK. Or they want their books to be like in real life where everything doesn’t just become perfect after a major problem is solved BUT IF I WANTED REAL LIFE I’D READ CONTEMPORARY OR I’D JUST PUT DOWN THE FUCKING BOOK! Just give me the damn happy af ending and we won’t have any problems.

Over descriptive Blurbs:

Few things are more frustrating than when the back of a book ruins the entire plot of the story. If I wanted to know everything that happened, I would just read the damn book! I’m always so worried going into blurbs that they will contain spoilers which is ridiculous. (See spoilers rant) Publishers need to work on giving away the general feel and premise of a book, without giving out too much information, please and thank you.

Not labeling book series numbers:

Sometimes I forget which book is which in a series and I just wish every series had the books numbered on the spines or at least the front. Sometimes this is an issue when organizing my bookshelves, but this is mostly an issue when I’m shopping for books in a series. When I go to a bookstore to buy the first book or the next book in a series, it shouldn’t take five minutes for me to figure out which book I’m trying to buy. Almost every book lover has gone through the struggle of accidentally buying the wrong book in a series and it’s just so frustrating.

The evil sentence:

I’ve talked about this before (see rules of fantasy post) but this is just something that has become progressively more annoying. The evil sentence is some version of “(s)he let out the breath they didn’t know they were holding in”. While this sentence itself isn’t inherently annoying, the fact that it’s used sssooo much in literature has just become ridiculous. Authors, it’s time to stop, you’re done, it’s over, let it die.

Vague Sex Scene:

Oh young adult. While I love you, this is just a little silly. Like I’m not asking for Fifty Shades of Gray or anything here, I just think after reading a sex scene I should know that I just read a sex scene. Like, I get being vague about sex scenes because they need to be appropriate for audiences, but I have read sex scenes before and then not realized till pages later that they had gone any farther than making out. Moral of the story: when writing a sex scene, you don’t have to get too descriptive, but it should be clear that they had sex. I think its ridiculous that this pet peeve is even necessary.

Waiting for pre-ordered books:

You would think I would have learned this lesson by now, but the odds of getting a pre-ordered book in before the next time I can get to a bookstore are like 1/10. So then I have to go to the store and suffer as I see the book mocking me while I’m waiting for it to come in the mail. *Sigh*

When book store are missing a book in the series:

Book stores should just always have at least one of each book in a series at all times. This is your job. You are a bookstore. This is especially annoying if the store has every single book in a series EXCEPT THE ONE YOU WANT! Story of my life…

However, that being said, reading is a wonderful, magical thing so ya…

or two, or three…

Thanks for reading, please follow my blog for more book related content!

Being friends with a Book Nerd

The Rules of Fantasy