noun [kee-smash] a random string of letters and symbols typed out on a keyboard or touchscreen, used to signal intense emotion in written communication:
A young adult dystopian novel with a unique premise: instead of pitching your main characters to rebel against an oppressive government, you have a main character who is guarding it. In The Shadow Of The Citiesby Laurel Solorzano is a fresh take on a much beloved genre.
Thank you Rockstar Book Tours for having me as a tour host for this book. Read on below to get an exclusive sneak peek into In The Shadow Of The Citiesand grab your chance to win a copy by entering the giveaway below.
I am so excited that THE PHYSICS OF GRIEF by Mickey J. Corrigan is available now and that I get to share the news!
If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book, be sure to check out all the details below.
This blitz also includes a giveaway for a $10 Amazon GC courtesy of Mickey & Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, check out the giveaway info below.
I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the IT HAPPENED ON THUNDER ROAD by Susan Antony Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
When Emmy Russo returns to high school in Moncks Corner, South Carolina after summer break, she discovers some changes. First: Mom has a boyfriend. Second: the cute new student, Charlie Fields, is a Rockabilly greaser with a gang who obeys his every command. Third: attractive Keir Harper wants to be more than just her best friend. And fourth: a perplexed Emmy soon finds herself drawn to two extremely different boys. How do you choose between sweet and smoldering?
Then tragedy strikes on desolate Thunder Road. Strange things start happening, with Emmy in the middle of it all. Intent on finding the truth, she must fight for her heart, her life, maybe even her soul. Because someone wants to possess all of Emmy. And they will be together, no matter what the cost. For eternity.
It’s been ages since the last time I wrote a Top Ten Tuesday post…though admittedly, it’s been ages since I have returned to blogging. I either appear once in a full moon or I go off the grid; there is no in between.
Anyway, for those who don’t know already, Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly prompt created by the lovely bloggers at The Broke and The Bookish and now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. And this week’s prompt, submitted by Beauty & Her Books is the kind of prompt that can have me ranting for ages. (Psst she is another great book blogger I just discovered, do check out her site!)
That’s right folks. Today, I am going to give you a list of the top ten books that I hated with such passion, that I would gladly throw them into the ocean…or shoot them into outer space…or feed them to my cats.
It’s good to be back on the blog, but the hiatus was a much needed break because of how stressful things are right now in my life–my mom recently fractured her ankle so I have to do the groceries and take my sister to her classes and pick her up from classes too, none of which would not have been so difficult if only I didn’t have 8-5 classes myself.
(in fact I am trying really hard not to fall asleep on my laptop as I write this post)
(and so this is gonna be a very quick and short post…minus the tbr list below)
I’ll admit that a small part of me still wants to extend the hiatus, but I really didn’t want to miss Blogoween–the book blogger’s version of Halloween which is being hosted by some lovely people I met through #NewBloggers (you’ll get to know them all as I start posting on the prompt dates).
Hi guys! This just a quick heads up that I am taking a very short break from the blogosphere. I have been busy with a few things lately and am finding it really hard to squeeze in posts while also handling other responsibilities. And so I think it’s better if I take a bit of time off until October–in the meantime, I’ll be drafting up posts in advance so there’s less pressure on me when I return again.
I am sorry I won’t be able to read all of your posts, but if there is something you want me to take a look at feel free to send me links! I’ll make sure to read and comment on them when I can <3
Sunday marks the first day of the week for me and my fellow Bangladeshis, and I figured I’d do a weekly wrap every Sunday to take a look back on everything book-related and non-book related things that have been happening in my life. Here’s a short recap of the past week.
Considering how slowly I have been reading the past four months I’m pretty happy that I finished one book in a week, and that book is The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet (link to review posted above). I started it in 2nd August and finished it on 5th August–it was so much fun to read, and so light and easy that I managed to complete it in 3 days without even needing to pull all-nighters. I started reading The Darkest Mindsby Alexandra Bracken this Wednesday, and I think I will be able to finish it by the end of next week even though I have my midterms coming up from Monday.
Managed to squeeze in the time to write 3 chapters of my WIP, and even posted three new chapters of my poetry book on Wattpad. I also wrote 4 new poems this month, and I am really happy with how they turned out.
Erm…I took some photos but forgot to post them. You’ll find out why in a bit.
And now I am going to share something that I have been wanting to share, but was in too much pain to do so. Recently there has been a tragedy in my country. Two weeks ago, three children in my city were killed by a reckless bus driver who was never apprehended for his crimes. In Bangladesh, more than 4000 people die every year because our roads are so unsafe, and because the drivers do not even pass the required fitness certification (forget having a licence to drive). To protest this, the children in my country, 13-year-olds to 16-year-olds boycotted their classes and exams and rallied on the streets to demand safer roads.
They did not stop there.
These children, these minors, stopped every vehicle on every road in every city in the country to check whether the drivers had legitimate licence and fitness certificates to drive–whenever they found drivers who did not have the necessary papers they politely turned them away.
They did not stop there.
There has never been any order to the traffic in our country, so these kids took matters in their own hands and brought order to the roads. The image given below shows what the roads looked like in my country under the control of traffic police and the government.
And this next image below is what the roads looked like when the children of my country decided they would control traffic. They ensured that every vehicle used appropriate lanes and even maintained an emergency lane to allow ambulances, fire services and other emergency vehicles to travel quickly.
They did not stop here.
They cleaned the roads, and they fixed broken roads wherever they found them. I repeat, these are children, and they showed the government how to do its job right.
All they wanted in return was for the government to accept their 9-points demand that would ensure our roads would be safer. Instead of listening to them however, on the third day of these peaceful protests, the government retaliated violently. Police and BCL members attacked these children, but to this day, the government still denies it, and all the national media except The Daily Star refuses to cover these brutal events. You can read the details of the attacks from the articles by The Daily Star here–I am afraid I cannot reveal too much of what had happened because the government is arresting anyone who is speaking out by accusing them of spreading rumors and anti-government propaganda. (My blog is too small to get their notice, but I am trying to be as careful as I can be).
This was followed by more unrest and violence. To protest against these attacks on our children, students from every university in the country rallied on the streets and protested only to be attacked by law enforcers whose job was to protect us. These law enforcers were aided by BCL who are youth who represent the government, but have no right to take the law into their own hands. Yet they did exactly that, attacking students wherever they found them, invading university campuses, and instead of stopping them our police took their side. Instead of apologizing to the nation and making amends to the innocents who were injured, the government continues to deny all of these atrocities and is arresting anyone who says otherwise.
I have been seeing so much violence in my country growing up that I feel as though I have been desensitized to it all. But last week was different. Last week broke our spirits, broke our hearts, but it also made gave me hope: hope that the children in my country will do great things in their lives even if it is not in their own motherland. Last week made my generation and every generation that will come afterwards hate the ruling government with every fibre of our being. They can try to pretend that nothing had happened, they can lie to us through gritted teeth, but we know the truth and we will never, ever forget.
I hope that wherever you are and whoever you are, if you are reading this, I hope that you never have to suffer the pain of knowing that you are not safe in your own home.
Twenty‑four‑year‑old grad student Lizzie Bennet is saddled with student loan debt and still living at home along with her two sisters—beautiful Jane and reckless Lydia. When she records her reflections on life for her thesis project and posts them on YouTube, she has no idea The Lizzie Bennet Diaries will soon take on a life of their own, turning the Bennet sisters into internet celebrities seemingly overnight.When rich and handsome Bing Lee comes to town, along with his stuck‑up friend William Darcy, things really start to get interesting for the Bennets—and for Lizzie’s viewers. But not everything happens on‑screen. Lucky for us, Lizzie has a secret diary.
This review is part of The Calendar Girls monthly blog event, hosted by the lovelies at Darque Dreamer Reads and Never Not Reading. To know more about The Calendar Girls, click here
I have always been a lover of classics, but Jane Austen’sPride and Prejudice holds a very, very special place in my heart. With a main character who is as witty, charming, and yet flawed as Elizabeth Bennet, the complicated yet strangely relatable family relationships (relatable only if you are a young adult female from a Southeast Asian country such as myself), and Austen’s viciously funny narration style, it’s hard not to love Pride and Prejudice.
And it’s equally hard not to love it’s very clever, very funny and extremely endearing modern-day retelling: The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Noble.
He is Day--the boy who walks in the light.She is June--the girl who seeks her brother's killer.On the run and undercover, they meet by chance. Irresistibly drawn together, neither knows the other's past.But Day murdered June's brother.And she has sworn to avenge his death.
As soon as I had finished reading The Young Elites trilogy by Marie Lu I had made up my mind that I would read EACH AND EVERY book she has ever written because her writing is phenomenal and I look forward to more. I’d heard from a friend that Legend was pretty great as well, so I immediately picked it up once I had bought all the books in that series.
And though I did like Legend, though it is well-written…I am also just a little bit disappointed, perhaps because The Young Elites was so unique in terms of its premise and world-building, that Legend felt like just another Young Adult Dystopia™
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![Release Day Blitz: The Physics Of Grief By Mickey J. Corrigan [Exclusive Sneak Peek + Giveaway]](https://thekeysmashblog.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/mickey-j.-corrigan_physics-of-grief_cover.jpg?w=825 "Release Day Blitz: The Physics Of Grief By Mickey J. Corrigan [Exclusive Sneak Peek + Giveaway] - The Keysmash Blog")
