30 Day Disney Challenge #16

Hello lovely readers! Another day means another challenge (at least until Day Thirty). Today’s Disney challenge is to choose my favourite classic. When I saw that, the first thing that came into my head was, “What constitutes as a classic?” I had to look it up on Wikipedia, which listed the Disney movies considered classics. That made it a whole lot easier to choose what classic I preferred. So the Disney classic I picked for today’s challenge is The Sword in the Stone. It’s such a funny movie and I loved this retelling of King Arthur! 😉

Have a favourite classic? If so, mention it in the comments below. Until next time… keep reading!

-Sumaya

30 Day Disney Challenge #15

Hey everyone! So excited because I’m halfway there! It’s day fifteen and I’m ready to go! As I’ve said yesterday, the challenge is to name the first movie that you’ve watched. To be honest, I don’t really remember which movie I watched first, but I have a hunch that it was The Lion King, just because it seems like something my siblings and I would watch together. Oh well! Well, if it was, then it was a great first movie! To The Lion King! 😀

If you remember your first Disney movie, comment about it below. That’s all for today! Take care and keep reading!

-Sumaya

30 Day Disney Challenge #14

Hey everyone! I’m back with another Disney Challenge! OMG, two weeks into this challenge and I’m almost halfway done; I wouldn’t believe it if not for the fact that I remember doing this every single day! Anyway, today’s challenge is pretty nice. The challenge of the day is to name your favourite kiss. For this, I think Aladdin and Jasmine’s carpet-balcony kiss is my favourite. It’s just too cute! 😉

Have a favourite Disney kiss you’d like to share? Feel free to mention it in the comments below!        Tune in for tomorrow’s challenge about first Disney movies and such. Until next time…  😀

-Sumaya

30 Day Disney Challenge #13

Hello fellow bloggers! It’s me again with another Disney Challenge! Today’s unlucky thirteen which means pick your least favourite Disney song. To do that, I really had to think about it, because all the songs I dislike are usually unmemorable and forgotten. So the song I’m going to pick is Be Prepared from The Lion King. Other than Scar giving me the creeps, it also warned us what was to happen.

Now I have a question for you readers: did Disney do you wrong with a song? That’s all for now! Until next time…. keep reading!

-Sumaya

30 Day Disney Challenge #12

Hey! It’s the Disney Challenge again! This time, it’s all about the villains! What I mean is that today, I have to pick my favourite Disney villain song. Funnily enough, my favourite villain song is Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. I found it really comical, especially when I saw it on Broadway.

Do you have a favourite villain song, Disney or not? Feel free to share it in the comments below. That’s all for now. Keep reading!

-Sumaya

Which Cover Wednesday 5

Good evening! Well, it’s Which Cover Wednesday again! For those of you who do not know, Which Cover Wednesday is a weekly meme I host. What happens is that I compare two different covers of a book and give my opinion of which wore its’ cover better. Feel free to give your opinion of these covers as well! Here are today’s contenders:

1.Switched by Amanda Hocking

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This one’s an easy choice: the first cover. Not only does it have the protagonist front and centre (well, almost front and centre), it has a wonderful background, including a castle, some lovely flowers and nice font art. Also, the second cover doesn’t seem to relate to the story’s content.

2. Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow (English and Italian)

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Again, first cover! As a cover, the Italian one looks great and really Gothic. The problem is that I don’t remember any angels in the novel, Strange Angels (weird right?). I think it’s actually a reference to a vampire’s appearance in the novel: beautiful as an angel. Plus, the first cover looks grungy, which is a better match for the novel.

3. The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller (English and German)

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This time, my cover love goes to the second cover! The German cover takes in the fact that the book has to do with comics and overall nerdiness. If you look closely, you can see the comic pattern in the background.

4. Nicola and the Viscount by Meg Cabot

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For this book, I’m going with the second cover. It’s not that I hate the first cover. It’s just that I like that there are two figures, representing Nicola and her love interest, on the second cover and not one. With that, the book seems to be more romantic than childish.

5. Ten Things We Did (and probably shouldn’t have) by Sarah Mlynowski

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I end this Which Cover Wednesday by choosing the first cover of Ten Things We Did (and probably shouldn’t have). To be honest, this particular choice was a hard one for me to make. This is because both covers appear generic enough to apply to most Contemporary YA novels. At least to me they do. I went  with the first one because I liked it better than the second one, which seemed to have less effort involved in its making.

What do you think of this week’s covers? Are they all awesome or are some more awesome than others? If you have any thoughts you’d like to share, or any suggestions for next week’s Which Cover Wednesday, please leave them in the comments section below! Take care and keep reading!

-Sumaya

30 Day Disney Challenge #11

Welcome back to another Disney Challenge! Can you believe it’s been eleven days? Anyway, the challenge of the day is to name your favourite love song. At the moment, my favourite Disney love song is Hercules’ I Won’t Say I’m in Love, when Megara tries to reject her love for Hercules but fails. The Muses also sing with her, making it even funnier!

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Well, that’s my favourite Disney love song. What do you think? Does it deserve to be up there with the rest or can you think of a better one? If so, then comment about it below! Until next time…. 😉

-Sumaya

The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher

My rating: 

Hello lovely readers! It’s review time and today, it’s focused on Brian Katcher’s The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak. The book is about two teens who seem to be completely different, one is an overacheiver while the other is a slacker, and yet they slowly start to bond over common ground and not-so common ground. When I first got this book from the library, I wasn’t eager to read it as I wasn’t sure if Epic Reads (the site where I found this book) was recommending me a great book. I mean, they promoted Red Queen like it was the best thing ever, but it certainly wasn’t my cup of tea. What got me reading it, other than the fact that it was almost due, was that my cousin read it and said that she liked it. Since my cousin and I have similar tastes in books, I thought why not give it a shot.

And I loved it! I couldn’t put it down at all, unless I was really tired, but even then I wanted to read some more. The characters were so relatable and the setting added to the book’s appeal. I’ve always had a thing for stories with fangirls, fanboys and conventions (like Fangirl, All the Feels and now this book). While the protagonists had their faults, you couldn’t help but sympathize with them or feel their emotions at times. I remember feeling so angry at Clayton for running off and being unrepentant about it. He wouldn’t accept it as his fault, even though he was the reason Ana and Zak came to Washingcon in the first place.

The plot was pretty amazing as well. Lots of shenanigans going on while they try to find Ana’s brother, Clayton. From fighting with people, to destroying property, to finding a certain item in the basement that has consequences. With all that is going on, can you believe that most of this book (about 200 pages) only tells a tale of a day? Their is so much detail put into the plot that you can’t believe it’s been such a short time until the characters mention it. While the protagonists hang around each other, they slowly understood what the other was going through, and finally overcame their assumptions of each other. Like most Contemporary YA novels, the characters that have a romantic connection usually change each other for the better. In the case of this book, it’s a bit different. They don’t become perfect model citizens from knowing each other, but they get better and I like how the book displays that change realistically.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend anyone who likes Contemporary YA to go ahead and read it. That’s all for now! If you have any questions or comments about this book, feel free to mention them! Good day to you all and keep reading!

-Sumaya

Top Ten Tuesday: Syllabus for YA Fantasy 101

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Hi everyone! Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday. Today’s Top Ten is pretty fun: choose books you would teach in a course. The course I would teach would be YA Fantasy, since I have such a deep love for it. Fantasy is an umbrella term for a number of sub genres, such as Epic Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, etc. It’s hard to pick just ten books for a course focused on the topic, but I did choose what I though were great books in YA fantasy and here they are:

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Fey and Humans: combating with speciesism 

2. Eragon by Christoper Paolini

Learn about Dragons, their intense bond with Riders and how they save the world together.

3. The Naming by Alison Croggon

Names and the meanings behind them are important, which is obvious from this title.

4. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

With magic comes the art of illusion, both physically and psychologically.

5. The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

Strongest magic: the bond between those we love.

6. Born at Midnight by C.C Hunter

Come to a world where you leave everything behind, including what you knew about yourself.

7. Shadowland by Meg Cabot

Why do gifts = fighting for the greater good?

8. Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

The challenge of balancing normalcy with your magical legacy. 😉

9. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Werewolves and human cohabitation: how they survive each other

10. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Angels, humans, and the Purpose between them.

Well, that my Top Ten! Recognize any of these books? Do you agree that they should be on the syllabus or not?  Feel free to leave comments about it below. By the way, I would love to hear about your Top Ten this week! Have fun and keep reading!

-Sumaya Musse