Mamamoo Inspired TBR
Remember to stay up to date with the world, listen to those facing atrocities and help spread awareness/donate where you’re able to.
In February I decided to do a Kpop inspired tbr using Mamamoo song titles (you can see that post here~), which I will continue throughout the year – alternating between Booktubers TBR games.
While, being a shorter month, I was somewhat hopeful about completing all the books…
My hopes were dashed😅
I’m still happy with the amount I read and as long as I read at least one book I’m content.
Bleach 3-in-1 Volume 12; Tite Kubo
prompt: Friday Night – read a book on a friday night
rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Ichigo Kurosaki never asked for the ability to see ghosts—he was born with the gift. When his family is attacked by a Hollow—a malevolent lost soul—Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper, dedicating his life to protecting the innocent and helping the tortured spirits themselves find peace. The Soul Reapers have finally joined Ichigo and his friends in the fight against the Espada in Hueco Mundo.
GOODREADS
Volume 12 is still in Hueco Mundo and honestly this arc is kind of too long… we’ve been here for ages it feels like and not much has really happened.
I did enjoy going back into the past and learning about the “origins” of some of the characters, plus it was nice to see a younger Urahara and learning more about his backstory.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read, but I need more plot progression (which to be fair we definitely got more of in volume 36) and more Ichigo!
God is Not Great; Christopher Hitchens
prompt: Open Your Mind – read a non-fiction
rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
With his unique brand of erudition and wit, Hitchens describes the ways in which religion is man-made. “God did not make us,” he says. “We made God.” He explains the ways in which religion is immoral: We damage our children by indoctrinating them. It is a cause of sexual repression, violence, and ignorance. It is a distortion of our origins and the cosmos. In the place of religion, Hitchens offers the promise of a new enlightenment through science and reason, a realm in which hope and wonder can be found through a strand of DNA or a gaze through the Hubble Telescope. As Hitchens sees it, you needn’t get the blues once you discover the heavens are empty.
GOODREADS
I got into the habit of reading a little bit of this every night before I went to bed.
I enjoyed Hitchen’s writing style as it does have the same quality as when he was a speaker/debater. There is a nice balance of personal experiences, with secondary sources to flesh out his arguments.
I did think that some arguments were a little less well developed as they could have been and some aspects were repeated several times. However, overall, it was a very interesting and insightful read, which had me thinking about things I hadn’t previously considered.
CURRENTLY READING
I am entering March with two current reads:
prompt: Destiny – star crossed lovers
I am about halfway through Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi Vol. 1 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. I’m enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would! I was a little worried that it would be confusing as I’m not familiar with the Wuxia genre in literature and I find it a lot harder to remember clans, their members and their relationships to each other when reading rather than watching… but so far we’re mostly just following Wei Wuxian get up to antics!
prompt: You’re The Best – anticipated 5⭐ read
I’m not very far into The Silence of Bones by June Hur (which also is meant to fulfill the girlxoxo’s Monthly Motif Reading Challenge for February: Girl Power). So far the investigation has just begun into the suspicious death of a noblewoman. Our main character Seol is a Damo indentured for one generation. She helps with investigations in the capital, mostly in cases where women are involved as men are not allowed to arrest or perform autopsies on them.
Like I said, I’m not very far into this, but I will definitely have this completed in March.
EXTRA
Princess Academy; Shannon Hale
prompt: New To You – Celebrate the New Year with something new to you – a new genre, a new author, a new book series, a new book purchase, etc.
rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king’s priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year’s time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village. The king’s ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess.
Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.
GOODREADS
Princess Academy was my January pick for the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge and I swear I’m going to read March’s pick in March!
Anyway, this book was good. It was easy to read and we got to see some lovely friendships between the girls, as well as several moments of growth and unity.
I will say that the synopsis is a bit dramatic after having read the book. There isn’t a whole lot of tension in the book as it does move at a relatively gentle pace for most of the novel. In some places it does feel episodic and conflicts are generally easily solved. The scenes with the bandits were interesting, but considering how the book had previously gone I wasn’t too worried about the girls.
The ending was sweet and it was a nice little book to read. And despite it being the first book in a trilogy it works as a standalone.
Did you enjoy what you read in February? Do you have any thoughts on the books I read?
Thanks for reading!
I hope you’re having a lovely day and staying safe ♥
DramaRambles 🌸 