"It doesn't matter that she shouldn't, that she never would. What matters is that she could, if she wanted."

This was going to be a Valentines Day post, but fell majorly ill with the flu! Oh well.

Hope you had a lovely romantic day/week -- whether with a special someone or with a special book! Do you have a favourite romance novel?

#romance #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramph #fiction #hardback #everymanslibrary #classics #austen #janeausten

We spend too much time teaching girls to worry what boys think of them. But the reverse is not the case. We don't teach boys to care about being likeable. We spend too much time telling girls that they cannot be angry or aggressive or tough [..] then we turn around and either praise or excuse men for the same reasons.

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#feminism #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #essays #adichie

"My sister is no fool and she is not tender-hearted. My sister fights for her home, and takes what risks she must. That is why I put myself before her today—why I would not let you have her. My sister burns, and she does not burn for you."

Based on One Thousand & One Nights, this YA retelling is completely different from the other, more famous retelling of the same story. No romance here, only fierce love between sisters.
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A book title that describes your current mood -- and this is mine. I've just come back from holidays in the tropics, and I still wish I can watch the waves as they hit the shore, the warmth of the sun on my skin, and the sea breeze cooling it down.

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #thewaves #virginiawoolf #woolf #paperback #britishliterature

My first ever #scifi book which I read when I was in my early teens. I loved it! There was no internet then so I didn't know any better when it came to the sexism and misogyny. It's what was done in movies and TV often, so I just thought it was usual plotting. I'll have to re-read to see how I feel about it now!

(This was unearthed from my book collection under my bed at home in the 🇵🇭)

My favourite leading female(s) from books: Elizabeth Bennet, Anne Elliott, and Jane Eyre.

How about you?

#classics #janeeyre #prideandprejudice #persuasion #janeausten #austen #charlottebronte #bronte #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookblogger #paperbacks #pileofbooks

My #JanuaryTBR pile! I'll be honest and say I started early on 29th of December with The Night Circus, and finished it whilst on the plane 31 December.

Have you got a #TBR or are you winging it this month?

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookblogger #pileofbooks #hardback #paperbacks #YA #ireadYA #fantasy #historicalfiction #fiction

My planned reads while off travelling to get some sea and sun! They sound quick and easy reads, so I'm hoping I can tick them off my TBR and whittle down the pile!

#books #bookpile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookblogger #travellingbibliophile #YA #ireadYA #fantasy #romance

Hope you all had a lovely and golden Christmas! 🎄

This book is on the TBR for 2017. As for when, um...how do y'all figure out TBR's per month?

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookblogger #historicalfiction #faber #paperback

Did you send out any cards this year? Do you tend to make your own or buy them? What do you do with the cards you receive? Do you keep them, turn them into decorations, or something else?

"From a decade of devouring novels, Olive knew charming men were deadly. [...] Be Vigilant and Prize Your Virginity was a subtitle many of these stories could have taken, most of them written by men. Olive knew all this and she didn't care. She didn't give a damn."

"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library."

How's your Christmas shopping? All done? Are you giving your friends/family books? How about giving that book lover that has everything book-related swag instead?

#bookswag #book #books #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookishfeature

"Learning how to be strong, to feel her own emotions and not another's, had been hard; but once you learned the trick of it, you did not forget."

Congratulations to Paul Beatty for winning the 2016 #ManBookerPrize !

If you can be in London on Thursday the 27th and would like to have a chance to ask him a question in person in a group of 30 people, head over to 👉 https://instagram.com/p/BLv6Ad9A1x3/

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookblogger #americanlit #paulbeatty #ManBooker #ManBooker2016

"Sometimes the prize is not worth the costs. The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itself."

I would recommend this for the female hero who has all the typical male hero arc -- saves the day, has a lover, becomes a very effective killer. Even the love story didn't derail the character, which is what I've normally found on YA/new adult books lately.

It isn't the best one out there, but it's not bad. That's a 👍 for me.

Yesterday was #BookshopDay here in the U.K. and I visited three bookshops -- Hatchards St. Pancras, to meet Jim Kay & get my #HPillustrated books signed; Foyles Charing Cross, where I got the free tote & Dracula, When Breath Becomes Air, and We Should All be Feminists; and West End Lane Books, where I bought Hag-seed! 📚

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware."

Yes, I have damn well opened the illustrated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and it is as glorious as the first book! ?

I keep forgetting to post here! Meep 🙈

I finished this lovely novella + the three short stories while casually ambling about in Cannes & doing the requisite meal or wine stops. My ratio of wine:water is severely imbalanced, in favour of the former, and need to rectify that!

This book made me wonder: 1) Does Capote have an obsession with teenagers being escorts & getting it on with older men? 2) What's your favourite story in this collection?

John Sandoe Books is where I bought Adichie's Americanah, but as you can see, there is so much more I could've bought and unearthed in this treasure trove. (I suppose I could always come back)

Such a lovely place. In my daydreams, it'll be in one of the wings of my country cottage estate. 😄 #getindie #indiebookshop #london

"One man can no more see into the mind of another than he can see inside a stone."
- Graeme Macrae Burnet, His Bloody Project

#ManBooker2016 #FinestFiction

While this is advertised a lot with the words "Charles Manson" and "cult", these are only just elements in the book. What it focuses on are the girls, specifically Evie Boyd - young, craving love and belongingness - and how enraptured she was with one of the main girls from the cult. The much maligned overly descriptive writing actually made it colourful and atmospheric. I'd say that I liked it but I didn't love it, hence the rating.

"Somehow, despite her politics and smarts, she had become a wife, and wives, as we all know, are invisible. The midnight elves of marriage. The house in the country, the apartment in the city, the taxes, the dog, all were her concern: he had no idea what she did with her time. It would have been compounded with children; thank goodness for childlessness, then."

"Never flinch. Never fear. Never forget."

#Nevernight was my breakfast read today! How I wish I was back to not worrying about chores, so I can just read all daaaaaay.

"One man's ways may be as good as another's, but we all like our own best."
- Jane Austen, Persuasion

"I do not sigh and yearn for extravagant displays of passion, for the grand affair, the world well lost for love. I know all that, and know that it leaves you lonely. No, what I crave is the simplicity of routine. An evening walk, arm in arm, in fine weather. A game of cards. Time for idle talk. Preparing a meal together."
- Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac

An independently published author, Charlie Maclean weaves a romantic story between a man and a woman filled with what ifs and parallel realities, similar to Laura Barnett's The Versions of Us and David Nicholls' One Day, but from a male perspective.

And may the pretty blooms in the photo give you a smile and a sunny day! 😊

#book #yellowbook #paperback #romance #fiction #bookstagram

"The stories we love best do live in us forever, so whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."
- J.K. Rowling

(A happy, happy birthday to JK Rowling and Harry Potter!)

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

Four parallel Londons ruled by different leaders, with only two individuals who can cross the borders. And of course, trouble is brewing. As with most initial books in a series, ADSoM involved a lot of world building, and it was fascinating to read. The main players, Kell, Lila, and Holland, were just as compelling, although I'm partial to the magicians. 4/5 ⭐️
(Can't say the same of the sequel tho)

"Because I wouldn't want to die alone. Because I'd want someone to hold my hand until the end, and awhile after that. That's something everyone deserves, human or faerie."

#ebook #book #bookstagram #ebookstagram #YAlit #YA

I've been trying to find a hard copy of this book for ages here in the UK, until I finally gave up and went for the ebook. I'm glad I did, because I've just been reading reviews now, and...hmm.

Also -- holler to all the other #bookstagram people on here! Love that hashtags are now go! #ebookstagram #ebooks #YA #ireadYA

This book is halfway between So-So and Pan for me. The premise + elements of occult was very interesting, but it couldn't sustain my attention. Too much build up that ended up more as a 💨 than a 💥

“Choices are made before explanations, whether or not we care to know it."

As a virgin reader of Maggie O'Farrell [..] in this novel, I found her absolutely deft in burrowing, pulling apart, and putting together the seams of personal relationships, without venturing into melodrama, saccharinity, or over grittiness.

"There‘s a belief that to take care of someone else, or to let someone else take care of you—that both are inherently unfeminist. I don‘t agree. There‘s no shame in devoting yourself to another person, as long as he devotes himself to you in return." - Curtis Sittenfeld • 2015, The Borough Press