TOP 5 WEDNESDAY // August 30th: Favorite Bromances

Published on August 30, 2017August 30, 2017 by MiRakelBooks6 Comments

Top 5 Wednesday is created by Gingerreadslainey. Each week there is a new bookish topic, where everyone can join and create their top 5 list. You can find more information on the Top 5 Wednesday goodreads group. This week’s topic is:

– I think we have done this topic before in the distant past, but who doesn’t love a good bromance? Bromance = platonic relationship between two characters who identify as male.

I’m sorry that I couldn’t find more than 3 picks this time. All of these bromances are truly some of my favorite friendship from some of my favorite books of all time.

Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen from The Gentleman Bastards series

Locke and Jean are my favorite characters from my favorite book series of all time. They grew up together like brothers even though they are not blood related. They care and have so much love for each other. I’m not talking about romantic love, even though they fight and bicker like an old married couple, haha. I had to pick this bromance first, because it’s my ultimate favorite.

Link to artist: HERE

Nakata and Hoshino from Kafka on The Shore

They didn’t know each other for very long, but they grew very close on the little journey they had together. Kafka On The Shore is one of my favorite reads this year, and that is because the book has some great characters. I love them all, but I especially love Mr. Nakata.

This is exactly how I pictured them in my mind. Link to source: HERE

Darrow and Sevro from the Red Rising trilogy

Darrow and Sevro grew so close in this series. Just like my first pick, this duo would have done everything for each other. I ❤ Sevro and his Howlers.

Link to artists: Darrow & Sevro

-Did You Participate In This Weeks T5W? I Would Love To Read Your Post.

❤ -Rakel

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TOP 5 WEDNESDAY // August 16th: Characters’ Fitness Routines You Want

Published on August 16, 2017 by MiRakelBooks16 Comments

– This can be interpreted a bunch of different ways! Fitness comes in many different packages. This can be about characters who are super fast, strong, agile, good at dancing, good at climbing, athletes, or foodies! Whatever it means to you. This is inspired by those routines you see in magazines for actors, but with more of an open mind and less body shaming 🙂

Even though I couldn’t work out for 5 min because of my chronic illness, a girl can dream. It was fun to put together this list and dream away to something that can never happen.

Shadowhunters

The fitness and training routine to become a good Shadowhunter always intrigued me. It sounds like fun and so much work to become a skilled Shadowhunter. I wan’t to be bad ass in a leather suit, and train with swords and other fancy gear that they use.

I haven’t watched the show, so the training I’m referring to is what I see in my head when reading the books.

Mistborn

It would be so incredible awesome to be a Mistborn. It’s a lot of hard work behind mastering the Allomancy metals.

Quidditch

I put this on the list, not because I want to be a pro quidditch player, but because it looks so much fun (and so scary) to fly with a broomstick.

Katnis Everdeen/Archery

This is actually something I wan’t to do in the future. I wan’t to try and shoot with a bow. It has been on my bucket list for many years. I just need to get more strength in my arms first. I don’t think I even could hold a bow with the arms I have now. Hopefully in a couple of years when my health is even better and my arms have more strength.

-Did You Participate In This Weeks T5W? I Would Love To Read Your Post.

❤ -Rakel

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TOP 5 WEDNESDAY // August 9th: Second Book is Best

Published on August 9, 2017 by MiRakelBooks7 Comments

-We’ve talked about series that went downhill, and series that are worth it, but which series were best in the middle?

Speaker for the Dead (The Ender Quintet #2) by Orson Scott Card

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

This weeks topic was so hard to find books for, since it is very similar to the one that was a couple of weeks ago.

The Winner’s Crime (The Winner’s Trilogy #2) by Marie Rutkoski

This book was on my T5W list a couple of weeks ago when the topic was: Series That Got Better. This series is a fantastic YA fantasy series, that I highly recommend. My favorite was definitely the second book, I just loved the setting and the intrigues in it.

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi

Now I’m going to sound like a broken record, because this book was also on the Series That Got Better post. I disliked book 1, liked book 2, haven’t read book 3 yet.

Tatiana and Alexander (The Bronze Horseman #2) by Paullina Simons

I have read book 1 and 2 in this series, and I love them both. I liked book two, Tatiana and Alexander, a tad bit more than book one, that’s why I had to include it on this list.

If you are interested I have a review on the book, click HERE.

Speaker for the Dead (The Ender Quintet #2) by Orson Scott Card

I liked book 2 The Speaker for The Dead so much more than The Ender’s Game. The sequel is very different from the first book, and it follows Ender when he is an adult. Book one was fast paced and a *we need to win this war* type of a book. The second book was a slower story about a strange new alien race, and finding out how they live their life and about their society. It’s also about Ender’s journey as The Speaker for The Dead. I really need to read book 3 since I own it, but I have heard so many negative things about the author that it’s keeping me from picking up his books.

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (Guide #2) by Mackenzi Lee

This book isn’t out and it doesn’t even have a cover reveal yet. But I’m putting it on the list because it sounds so awesome! This is the sequel to The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. I just finished it and I thought it was fantastic, but I might love this even more since it follows Felicity’s perspective.

-Did You Participate In This Weeks T5W? I Would Love To Read Your Post.

❤ -Rakel

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Top 5 Wednesday August 2nd: Book Covers You’d Live In

Published on August 2, 2017 by MiRakelBooks11 Comments

– We all love a good cover but what are some covers you’d like to be transported into?

I love this weeks topic, it was fun to find covers that I would like to be transported into. I first went to my bookshelf and Goodreads shelf to find some covers, but I couldn’t find 5 books there so I had to search the interwebs to find the ones I like.

A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1) by Claudia Gray

Ten Thousand Skies Above You (Firebird #2 by Claudia Gray

A Million Worlds with You (Firebird #3) by claudia gray

Firebird series by Claudia Gray

I LOVE the cover’s of these books. I haven’t read the books and I don’t know much about the series other than the main character jumps from different dimensions. I would like to get transported into the different places shown on these covers.

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1) 2

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1) 3

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1) by Scott Lynch

This is my favorite book of all time! I would love to visit Camorr, it sounds so beautiful since it is inspired by Venice. The towers you can see on these covers are the 5 Eldergladd towers that are in the city.

The Five Towers are five ancient Elderglass structures in the center of the port city of Camorr. –Camorr Wiki

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire

I just finished this book, and it was very interesting. I would love to be transported into another world like the kids in this book, minus the big psychological factor of not be able to go back etc. Or just be transported into the nature that is shown on the cover.

-Did You Participate In This Weeks T5W? I Would Love To Read Your Post.

❤ -Rakel

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Top 5 Wednesday July 26th: Series That Got Better

Published on July 26, 2017July 26, 2017 by MiRakelBooks11 Comments

– We’ve talked about series that went downhill with each book, but talk about series that are worth pushing through the first (or first few…) books to get to the good stuff!

shatter-me-by-tahereh-mafi-shatter-me-1-2

Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) by Tahereh Mafi

I couldn’t find 5 series for this weeks topic, sorry for that.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I haven’t read the 3rd book in this series yet, but I have read book one and two. I liked the second book so much more than the first book, and I hope and think that I will like book 3. Even though this series isn’t my favorite, and I don’t think they are the best written books of all time, they are pretty fun to read.

The Winner’s Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski

This is a YA fantasy trilogy that I’m loving. I really liked the first book, but I’m picking this series because book 2 is my favorite.

-Did You Participate In This Weeks T5W? I Would Love To Read Your Post.

❤ -Rakel

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Top 5 Wednesday July 19: Children’s Books

Published on July 19, 2017July 19, 2017 by MiRakelBooks8 Comments

-This can include Middle Grade (but try to recommend more than just Harry Potter and Percy Jackson!) Feel free to talk about your childhood faves or more recent reads.

the-bad-beginning-by-lemony-snicket-a-series-of-unfortunate-events-1

This post was supposed to be out last Wednesday, but I didn’t manage to post it in time. I’m posting it this week instead because I’m unable to write a post on this week’s topic. I’m currently in the car on my way home from west Norway.

Astrid Lindgren

I want to start this post with my favourite children’s author. Astrid Lindgren’s books are a staple read for every Scandinavian kid. Her books are very famous and have been translated into many languages around the world.

Here are some of my favourite books from her:

Pippi Longstocking (Pippi Långstrump #1)
The Brothers Lionheart
Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter
Mio, My Son
Emil i Lönneberga (Emil i Lönneberga #1)

Matilda by Roald Dahl

I remember reading Rolad Dahl’ s books as a kid. Especially the book Mathilda. I loved both the book and the movie.

Tow-Truck Pluck by Annie M G Schmidt

My mom read this book for me and my brother several times when we were young. I really loved this book, it was funny and weird.

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

I didn’t read this book as a kid. I read the 3 first books in this series last year, and loved them.

-Did You Participate In This Weeks T5W? I Would Love To Read Your Post.

❤ -Rakel

Top 5 Wednesday July 5th: Books Without Romance

Published on July 5, 2017July 4, 2017 by MiRakelBooks16 Comments

– A few (very, very few) people complained about the “shipping” topics lately, so I thought it would be good to talk about books that don’t have a romantic subplot! This is a really hard one, so if you can’t find any, you can talk about some where the romance is super super minor. Like barely mentioned… at all…

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

My last T5W was in April, before my long blog pause in May. I liked this months questions, so I thought it would be fun to do this blog meme again. I didn’t think it was hard to find books for this week, I actually found a lot more than just the 5 books I choose for this post. I like when books don’t always focus around romance, it can be a bit repetitive sometimes. This week I chose some of my favorite books that I don’t always talk about, and of course without or barely mentions romance.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

This book is a fantasy novel set in a different world. It follows a group of thieves called The Gentleman Bastards. The stories alternates from their childhood, and their adulthood.

This the first book in my favorite series of all time. This series do have romance, but the first book is romance free as far as I remember. You have to read this book, it’s fantastic! I will definitely re-read it this year.

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

This is a fantastic zombie book. I haven’t read anything like this story, not before or after finishing this book. The story is just so interesting and intriguing. I know that zombie books sometimes can be a bit ridiculous or “tacky”, but this story was heartbreaking and wonderful. The prequel just came out, and I’m dying to read it. There might be a really small romance between two of the characters. I don’t remember exactly what happens, but it was barely mentioned.

The Martian by Andy Weir

This book is probably familiar to you. It was very popular a few years ago and everybody raved about it. I really liked this book as well. This book is a story about an astronaut that got left behind on Mars when the rest of his team evacuated from a storm without him, because they think he is dead. Stranded alone he has to figure out how to survive until the rescue comes. This book is also fantastic. No romance (I think), just a story about hope and survival.

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

I would describe this book as an anti romance story. This is a story about hate. This book is so incredible fascinating. I read this book with a friend, and we kept discussing the story and the characters all the time, and still there is so much more to talk about. If psychology and human behavior/emotions interests you, or just find the synopsis intriguing, I highly recommend this book. Even though I didn’t like the authors writing style.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

This is an incredible heartbreaking and beautiful world war 2 story. It follows two children, a girl living in France and a boy living in Germany. The two stories also gets connected at some point in the book. A really good and emotional read.

-Did You Participate In This Weeks T5W? I Would Love To Read Your Post.

❤ -Rakel

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Top 5 Wednesday April 19th: Favorite LGBTQ+ Reads

Published on April 19, 2017April 21, 2017 by MiRakelBooks16 Comments

-Talk about your favorite books that feature LGBTQ+ characters or are by LGBTQ+ authors.

simon-v-s-the-homo-sapiens-agenda-by-becky-albertalli

I’m embarrassed that I only have 3 LGBTQ+ books to recommend, and all of them have m/m romances. I know that there are so many great LGBTQ+ books out there, I just need to get my ass in gear and order some.

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

I have talked about this book so many times now. It was one of my favorite reads of last year, and definitely one of the saddest. This story will break your heart! The main character of this book is gay, and the story is about him struggling with that. I don’t want to say too much about what happens in this book, other than that it is highly emotional, heartbreaking and so so GOOD.

The author Adam Silvera is an LGBTQ+ author. He also has another LGBTQ+ book that came out earlier this year, History Is All You Left Me. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m really looking forward to.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

This is another LGBTQ+ book that I read last year and LOVED. This book is very different from the book above. It is light hearted, adorable and fun to read, and I had butterflies in my stomach the whole time I was reading it.

The book is about Simon who is chatting with the mysterious and anonymous boy at his school who goes under the alias Blue.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

This book is tied with the author’s other contemporary book Fangirl. In Fangirl the main character Cath is obsessed with Simon Snow, and she is writing a very successful fanfic of the Simon Snow books. Rainbow Rowell wrote Carry On after Fangirl as a companion novel, and even though both books are tied together you don’t need to read both.

So over to Carry On, because that is the book I’m going to be talking about today. I just needed to mention Fangirl, hehe. This is a fantasy book that follows Simon Snow, his last year at the magical school he is attending. This is a LGBTQ+ book because the romance in this book is m/m romance. The book is a fun and cute read, and even though it is a fantasy novel it has this contemporary feeling about it.

-Rakel

-Did You Participate In This Weeks T5W? I Would Love To Read Your Post.

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Top 5 Wednesday April 12th: Books That Would Make Good Video Games

Published on April 11, 2017April 14, 2017 by MiRakelBooks5 Comments

-Since I’ve been in video game hell (in a good way) for the past year, this topic is timely. Remember, not all video games are action games! The Sims has proven that 🙂

The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson

This week’s topic was really fun to do since it merges my two favourite things in this world, books and video games! I have tried to do different video games genres, so I ended up on including my favorites. This was so much fun to do, I could probably find 5 more books to add to this list.

Sorry that this post is one day late. I didn’t manage to finish this post in time, because we got a surprise visit from my cousin and her family yesterday.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

This was the first book I thought of when I heard this week’s T5W topic. The book would be awesome as a story based game like an RPG, or that the VR game/world, Oasis, in the books was real.

Red Rising series by Pierce Brown

This book would be awesome as a RPG game where you are a member or the leader of the rebellion/Sons Of Ares. The main story/main quest is to take down the golds and the society as it is just like the books. Plus having side quests where you are doing different tasks.

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

I can definitely imagine this book as an interactive story, just like the Walking Dead games by Telltale.

The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

I’m currently reading this book, it is the first book in the Mistborn trilogy. It would be really awesome to play a character who is a Mistborn with all of the allomancy powers. The story in the book could also be included in the game, since the worldbuilding is great and the story is really interesting. The genre could either be a RPG, or be similar to the game Dishonored where you also have abilities and the story is to take down the government.

The Martian by Andy Weir

This book would be great as a mix of both a survival game and a simulator game, where the player has to survive on Mars just like the MC in the book. If you do anything wrong or can’t do what you need in time you die.

-Rakel

-Did You Participate In This Weeks T5W? I Would Love To Read Your Post.

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Top 5 Wedneday April 5th: Top SFF Books on Your TBR

Published on April 5, 2017April 5, 2017 by MiRakelBooks12 Comments

–Talk about the science fiction and fantasy books you want to read ASAP!

In this list I’m only going to put books that I own, and not my Goodreads wish list/TBR.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

This is a series I have heard excellent things about, and because of that I have wanted to read it for the longest time. I’m finally going to read it this month as one of my picks for the Tome Topple readathon. I’m so glad I’m finally picking it up.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

This is another book that I have heard excellent things about. If I have to pick one book that I have heard people rave about the most, it has to be this. I haven’t read it yet because of its size and because of all the hype (I’m scared of the possible let down for me). It is a daunting book to pick up.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Yet again, this is a series that I have heard great things about. Can you see a theme in my picks for this T5W? Haha. I got this book for Christmas, so I haven’t owned it for that long. I want to read it soon, now that the third book just came out. I like to wait until all or more than one of the books in a series is out before I start it.

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

I really enjoy reading Cassandra Clare’s books set in the Shadowhunter universe. I need to get to this soon, because book 2 is right around the corner.

Here are some other SFF books that are high on my TBR:

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers

The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) by N.K. Jemisin

Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel

Replica (Replica #1) by Lauren Oliver

Odinsbarn (Ravneringene #1) by Siri Pettersen

The Black Prism (Lightbringer #1) by Brent Weeks