The K-Pop Book Tag

Hello-Hello, fellow readers! Today is a perfect day for a book tag, a K-Pop inspired tag. I was tagged a while back by the amazing creator of this tag, Savannah, from @TheBookProphet. Thank you!  If you are curious to check out her answers and blog, you can just click the link I put above.

As many of you know, K-Pop has entered the western culture and it becomes more popular each day. This book tag combines two amazing things Korean culture and books. Some of you might be newbies or you never heard of K-Pop. Now, there is a chances to experience something new. I, myself, am a Korean drama lover. If you are interested, here is the link to my Korean Drama Top Favorites post.

Without further ado, let us start this tag!

But first, here are the rules.

The Summer Book Tag

Introduction

Hello-Hello! Right now my life requires a hero so, of course, I had to take out my superhero costume from the dusty attic. The moment real life decides to diminish its flirting with me I will return on the world wide web with more posts. ^_^

Scout's honor! (Although, I was never a scout... Oops! ^^')

Also, thank you Abi (What Makes A Good Book) for tagging me eons ago! 

Now, let's return to the actual post 'cause "Winter is coming!" (Yes, I just binge watched GoT.)

Summer

1. Lemonade: Pick a book that started bitter but got better.

Hmmm... I actually love Lemonade. The less sugar the better!
I will bend the rules a bit for this category and I am going to choose the Cormoran Strike (<- link) by Robert Galbraith - aka J.K. Rowling. The first book was so slow I was so close to not finish it and give up on the series. Blame the author for keeping me hooked. What can I say? I was biased when I took that decision and I am so glad I did. The series only gets better with each book.

image source: my Instagram.

2. Golden sun: Pick a book that made you smile beyond compare.

Why LA? Pourquoi Paris? by Diane Ratican is a book I am currently reading. It is an entire laughing session every single time I am opening it for a read. Why? Half of it is written in French while the other half is written in English. And both are not my mother tongue. Despite my fluency in English, it is an amazing challenge to relearn and read French while my brain is set to operate in English mode.
The graphics, the story and the way it is written offer an unique experience especially for bilinguals and multilingual. You get to experience translation barriers and differences first hand.
(Yes, I speak French at a very basic level. ^_^ )

image source: Goodreads (link above, book title mention)

3. Tropical flowers: Pick a book set in a foreign country.

Does another planet count? Kidding! (But just in case, check out Return Once More by Trisha Leigh. Shhh!)

I see London, I see France by Sarah Mylnowski is another book I am currently reading. It takes place in multiple countries across Europe (e.g. France and U.K.) and U.S.A. So far, it is... alright. A tad of too much teenage - even though the protagonists are in college - drama for me. I shall see. ^^

 images source: Goodreads (link, books title mention)

4. Tree shade: Pick a book in which a mysterious or shady character was first introduced.

I am bending the rules again and I am going to pick two characters: Raffe from Angelfall (<-link), and Seth from The Red Pyramid (<-link).
Well... Seth is Seth the Egyptian god of... violence, disorder etc. etc. So no more introduction there although there is more to him than it seems.
Raffe, on the other hand, is more mysterious and secretive, and less shady than Seth. At least that is what I think.

5. Beach sand: Pick a book that was grainy and the plot barely developed.

Vernal (<-link) by Randi Cooley Wilson. For a detailed explanation feel free to check my full review by clicking the book link.

image source: Goodreads  

6. Green grass: Pick a character(s) that were full of life, making you smile.

Sadie and Carter from The Red Pyramid.
 Kaia and Levi from Exist Once More.

7. Watermelon: Pick a book that had some juicy secrets.

Exist Once More by Trisha Leigh. Time Travel. History. Secrets? Well, duh! Obviously! Wink-Wink. Warning! This is the second book in a duology. Read the synopsis on your own risk.

image source: Goodreads (link, book title mention)

8. Sun hat: Pick a book that had a vast, big universe/setting.

It looks like this is a Rick Riordan post. The Red Pyramid  by Rick Riordan and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay  by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Universe, duh! Pretty Big. Quite H-U-G-E, I will like to say. Wink-wink!)

images source: Goodreads (links, books title mention)

9. BBQ: Pick a book where a character was portrayed as a hunk.

Can I say every single romance - historical romance to be precise - book I ever read?

Oz from the Return Once More.
(Ok, this post is shared between Trisha Leigh AND Rick Riordan. I fell better now.)
Darien from Geekerella.
Hades and Aries (and every single god) from Daughters of Zeus series, Persephone.

10. Tag people!

You just have been tagged! BAM!

I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know in the comments below if you decided to do this tag or if you read any of these books.

PS

I will see you soon!

Until next time you can check out my latest posts about books and music -->HERE and HERE<--

Very Good Lives - A graduation speech by J. K. Rowling

 

In 2008, J.K. Rowling delivered a deeply affecting commencement speech at Harvard University. Now published for the first time in book form, Very Good Lives offers J.K. Rowling’s words of wisdom for anyone at a turning point in life, asking the profound and provocative questions: How can we embrace failure? And how can we use our imagination to better both ourselves and others?
Drawing from stories of her own post-graduate years, the world-famous author addresses some of life’s most important issues with acuity and emotional force. Very Good Lives

My opinion

5/5 stars
I just graduated and I do not remember the words my speaker used in his speech. All I can remember is that he took off his fancy-graduation-ceremonial cap and put on a real cap. Oh, and after that he said some funny stuff, some inspirational things, and some famous quotes. Was it long? Yes. Did it get my attention? Yes, at least 89.999% of it. Did I laugh? Yes.
Basically, J. K. Rowling was right. Graduation speeches are easy to forget. But I got the gist of it: Caps and gowns are expensive and we do not know why we call them caps and gowns because they do not actually look like real caps and gowns.
Let me show you some pictures:

 

Cap (the real meaning if you Google it) vs. Cap?

 



And
 

Gown (the real meaning if you Google it) vs. Gown?

I know, right? Mind blowing!

 

OK! Enough about my graduation speech! Let's continue talking about J. K.'s speech. (And I am not talking about "just kidding's speech". That is a totally different story or acronym.) This piece of writing was truly inspiring and it deserves to be read. Why you ask? Well, J. K. Rowling put her life on a silver plate and served it to us as an inspirational speech. If you read this, you get to know the woman behind the books as a real person and not just a picture and brief bio on a book cover.

I am not going to lie, I was not sure what to expect from this book. Now, I am glad I did not have any expectations. I received a valuable lesson about life and I got inspired.

Are you in a desperate need for a piece of reality? Do you want something to motivate you in life? And, do you want a quick read?

Well then... Very Good Lives is the answer to all of your questions.

 

This is my sole opinion. ^_^

 

Also, feel free to check out my review on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

 



Genre: Nonfiction, Speech
Language: none
Sexual content: none
Violence: none
Drugs/Alcohol: none 

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany (Adaptation), Jack Thorne, and J.K. Rowling

Book synopsis

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.
It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.
While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

 

My opinion

3/5 starts

The story had its flaws. It felt forced in some places and inconsistent in other places. It had some great moments too.
I did not quite care for the main "Potter" characters throughout the story, except at the end. I cared more for Scorpius and other characters. Ron was just there the same as the two Potter kids and Granger-Weasley kids...
I understand that it is a play. It worked overall, although I wished it had more detailed in the characters' reactions/emotion description section. On stage, it might work but, when reading the play itself without the visual, it does not.
I understand why some people see it as fan-fiction. And, I agree with the fact that Harry seemed off and Albus was a - b-r-a-t - brat. :)

This book is not for younger readers due its more mature content (aka heavy on dark themes) similar to the last books in the Harry Potter series (e.g. books 6 and 7).

This is my sole opinion.

 

Original review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Goodreads Review

 

Genre: Play, YA, Fiction, Fantasy,
Language: mild
Sexual content: mild
Violence: moderate to heavy-ish
Drugs/Alcohol: none to mild