10 Cities that Books Made Me Want to Visit | Top Ten Tuesday

Hi everyone! When I started blogging I participated in Top Ten Tuesday regulary and I loved the fact that it allowed me to interact with so many people from the community, because I miss that, I decided to start participating again!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018!

Today, the topic is places mentioned in books that I’d like to visit, so I decided to write about 10 cities that are the setting of some amazing books and that play such an important role in the story that after reading the books I can’t help but want to go visit them myself.

*If you click the title of the books, it will take you to the Goodreads page for the book

Without further ado, here are the 10 cities that books made me want to visit:

If The Dress Fits by Carla de Guzman-—> Manila, Philippines

Honestly, all the #romanceclass books I have read made me want to visit the Philippines, but If the Dress Fits is my favorite #romanceclass book and it’s the one that mentions more especific places from Manila like the Dangwa flower market and the Manila Metropolitan Theatre, as well as different types of food that sounded delicious.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan —–> Taipei, Taiwan

I really want to go to Taipei, and especifically, the food markets that are constantly mentioned in this book, I’m just so excited to try delicious food! Also, the observatory inside Taipei 101 sounds so cool, I really want to see the city from that height.

Darius the Great is not Okay by Adib Khorram —-> Yazd, Iran

Iran is the most recent addition to this list, I read Darius the Great is not Okay in January and I fell in love with the way Darius talked about Iran.  I would love to go to Yazd and see the Jameh Mosque, the Towers of Silence and the Atashkadeh.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan —-> Singapore

While reading Crazy Rich Asians, I couldn’t help but be incredibly intrigued about Singapore. I can’t wait to visit the food markets and the impressive buildings, especially the Marina Bay Sands and the gardens by the bay.

Idyllic village Oia (Ia) on Santorini island, Greece with famous church with blue domes. Click for more images: [url=http://www.istockphoto.com/file_search.php?action=file&lightboxID=6413055][img]http://santoriniphoto.com/Template-Greek.jpg[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9724165][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9724165[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9701552][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9701552[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9701515][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9701515[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9701504][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9701504[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9701472][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9701472[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9701450][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9701450[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9701281][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9701281[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9697520][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9697520[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=2637803][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=2637803[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9751572][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9751572[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9749064][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9749064[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9728858][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9728858[/img][/url] [url=file_closeup.php?id=9728820][img]file_thumbview_approve.php?size=1&id=9728820[/img][/url]

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares —-> Santorini, Greece

I’ll confess that my desire to visit Greece is due to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books and the movie, as well as to the Mamma Mia movies. But, even if the Mamma Mia made me want to go to Greece even more, it all started with Lena and her trip to Santorini in the first book of the series.

City of Ghost by Victoria Shwab —-> Edinburg, Scotland

There are so many European cities that I want to see and to be completely honest, Edinburgh wasn’t one of them until recently when I read City of Ghost. Now I can’t wait to go to the Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile and the Edinburgh Vaults! Also, I’m so excited by the fact that book 2 is taking place in Paris and especifically in The Paris Catacombs, which I have been to.

View of a small crescent beach hidden away among green hills and forests. Punta Islita Beach, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Long Way Down by Krista & Becca Ritchie —-> Costa Rica

Ryke and Daisy are my favorite couple in this series and they talk so many times about Costa Rica that it put this country at the top of my list. I’m not sure which city or region they were in, but I would love to go to Cahuita, which is supposed to be a place to relax and find peace.

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo – Los Angeles

I have wanted to go to L.A. for as long as I can remember, but the last few years, it had been slipping further and further donw the list of places I wanted to visit, until I read this book and it made me want  to go to L.A. so badly! As I said on my review this is a love letter to Los Angeles, there’s commentary on different neighborhoods, who primarily lives there, what type of activities are done and what types of food are sold in them. It simply made me feel excited about going to L.A. again.

Like Us  Series by Krista & Becca Ritchie – Philadelphia 

I already was interested in going to Philadelphia thanks to the original Addicted/Calloway Sister series, but if I’m being honest, the Like us series was the one that really made me want to go to Philly. It’s just that the bodyguards talk about their city with so much love that I can’t help but being curious!

The Bean

Knitting in the City Series by Penny Reid – Chicago, United States

I loved this series, I have already read like 10 books in this series between novels and novellas and I have spent so much time with the ladies of this knitting group that I can’t help but want to visit their city!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – Prague, Czech Republic

I had never thought about visiting Prague before this book, but then I read this and soon after I met a dear friend who is from Czech Republic and so I knew the universe was telling me that I needed to visit this beautiful city. It’s being almost five years and I’m happy to say that I’m visiting my friend in April in Prague and I’m so excited!

What books do you want to visit because of a book or series? HAve you ever visited a city because I book was set in it? 

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November 2018 Wrap Up (+Tome Topple Wrap Up)

Hi everyone! There’s no life update this month because not a lot happened in November for me, but December is gonna be so incredibly busy that I guess it compensates. So, without further ado, here are the books I read in November:

What I read 

to make monsters out of girls by Amanda Lovelace

This collection was full of relatable and evocative poetry about heartbreak, abusive relationships and the heart’s ability to heal. My review will be up tomorrow!

Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie (3,8 stars)

I have discovered that Agatha Christie books are perfect to get me out of reading slumps, because they are really fast reads. This book was definitely not my favorite Hercules Poirot book, I didn’t find it memorable or particulary captivating, the main characters were detestable and  we didn’t get as much of Poirot as usual.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (3,8 stars)

This is a eerie and spooky book told from the pespective of an unreliable narrator that will make you feel unsettled and doubt what’s real and what isn’t. Here’s my full review.

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab (4 stars)

This spooky story full of lovable characters, ghost, history and a captivating setting. I had a lot of fun reading it! Here’s my full review.

The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera  (4 stars)

This is an adult fantasy with an f/f relationships between star-crossed lovers, it’s slow paced and character-based and it’s wonderful. Review coming soon!

Snow in Love  (3,7 stars)

I loved Kasie West’s story, which was a road trip with great characters. I loved the story by Nic Stones, which was about two girls doing a scavanger hunt in an airport, it was cute and it was told in an interesting format using text messages.  Amiee Friedman’s story was okay, it was about a girl working in a department store during christmas, I didn’t like that we got almost no time with the love interest because the plot went in a weird direction for such a short story. Lastly, I really disliked the story by  Melissa de la Cruz, which was about a couple in a small town, I thought the characters actions and motivations were so dumb.

American Panda by Gloria Chao  (4 stars) 

I really liked this story about a Taiwanese-American girl that has to straddle two cultures. I loved the characters, the female friendship, the romance and the development of the mother/daughter relationship. Review coming soon!

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan (4 stars)

I really liked the way this books portraits how different ways girls react to impossible situations, I think it was my favorite part of the book, but I had a bit of trouble immersing myself  in the story. Review coming soon!

Anatomy of  a Player by Cindi Madsen (3,7 stars) 

This book is based on the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and it was a really fun and fast read, it had a likable main character, the guy was alright and they had chemestry. Also, I really liked the female friendship in the book.

Crazy Pucking Love by Cindi Madsen (3,7 stars)

Another entertaining and fast read. The characters had so much chemestry. I would have liked a bit more character development, but this book gave me exactly what I needed at the time. And the female friendships keep getting better and better with each book of the series.

Tome Topple Wrap Up 

I accomplished my goal of reading two books for this readathon and completing three of the challenges! YAY! 🎉 The challenges I completed were: read more than 1 tome, read a tome that is part of a series and buddy read a tome. The books I read were:

 

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (5 stars)

I loved Amani and I loved the relationship between the characters and I loved this world and basically I LOVED EVERYTHING! It’s one of the few five star books I read this year and the review is coming soon!

 

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare ( 4 stars)

This is definitely a slow paced book, a lot of planning and scheming take place and I feel like this was a set up book where all the pieces fell into place. It was still really entertaining, I got to know all the characters a lot more, this dealt with some very serious topics really well and THAT ENDING (even if someone had spoiled it for me).

 

On the Blog 

• September & October 2018 Wrap Up
• Spooky Books I Didn’t Read in October, But I Still Want to Read
• Most Anticipated Book Releases of November 2018
• If You Like This YA Book, Then You’ll Like This Adult Book
• Book Review: Daughter of The Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller
• 6 Diverse Fantasy Books I Want to Read
• Tome Topple TBR
• Book Review: City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
• Book Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
• Let’s Put Music to the Book: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
• Anticipated Book Releases of December 2018
• Queer Lit Readathon TBR

Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Did you enjoy them? Do you want to read any of them?

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Book Review: City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Book: City of Ghosts

Author: Victoria Schwab

Publisher:  Scholastic

Release date: August 28th 2018

Pages: 272

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy

Cassidy Blake’s parents are The Inspectres, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.

When The Inspectres head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn’t sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn’t belong in her world. Cassidy’s powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.

Goodreads | Amazon 

I want to start by saying that I don’t read that much middle grade so I was a bit hesitant to read this, but I’m gald to report that I ended up loving this spooky little story.

I really liked the main character, Cassidy, with her love for Harry Potter and photography. She is independent, loyal and a little bit reckless. She is a pretty cool main character. The one thing I found odd about her is that Cassidy is able to go into the Veil, so she goes in and sees the ghosts, she has been doing it for a year, but she has never tried to find out anything about her ability, why she has it or what is she supposed to do with it. That doesn’t make much sense to me, but I liked so many things about this book that this one thing didn’t make me enjoy the story less.

Now, going back to the things I liked about this book, Cassidy’s ghost best friend, Jacob, is adorable and I’m a bit worried about where his storyline because I feel like is gonna make me sad. But we’ll have to wait and see. I loved the focus Cass and Jacob’s friendship, they tease each other but at the same time are fiercely protective and loyal. Also, I liked the secondary characters including the very serious Lara, Cassidy’s quirky parents and the friendly Findley.

The setting is another great thing about his book, the descriptions of Edinburgh make it sound like a magical and spooky city that’s the perfect stage for this ghost story. This is one of those books where the setting becomes like another character of the story and in this case it’s a completely captivating character.

The plot in this book is very straight forward, but the worldbuilding is really interesting.  The whole concept of the Veil, how each person has a different Veil depending of how they died, how there’s people called the in- betweeners that can go to the Veil without being dead and the role they have to play there,  is all pretty fascinating.

But my favorite part of the book without a doubt is that there are a lot of ghosts in this story.  Some are friendly, others evil or lonely or scared or suffering and the thing that made this story so compelling is that we get a glimps of the moment in history when these people died and how that affected what kind of ghost they were. All the history of plagues, wars and execusions helped understand the ghosts Cassidy encounters, it grounds the story in reality and it gives it a haunting, spooky feeling. It obviously doesn’t go into full details because this is a story for younger readers, but it still mentions things like people being buried alive or children being murdered.

Overall, I had so much fun reading this spooky story full of lovable characters, ghost, history and a captivating setting.

Rating: 4 stars 

Have you read this book or is it on your tbr? Do you have recommendations for spooky middle grade books? Let me know in the comments! 

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Spooky Books I Didn’t Read in October, But I Still Want to Read

I was planning to read some spooky books in October, but unfortunately that didn’t happen, which doesn’t surprise me, because everytime I make plans related to my reading, I fail to actually go through with them. I was hosting the Latinx Book Bingo until October 15th and my idea was to read the spooky books during the last half of the month, but I had forgotten that Kingdom of Ash was coming out the 23rd of October and that it was 900 freaking pages long, so I spent the last days of the month reading this huge book that was the final installment in one of my favorite fantasy series and there was no time for spooky books 😞

Now, the reason I’m writing this post is because for a lot of people, me included, October is THE month to read spooky books, but I don’t want to wait until next year,  I still want to read the books even if October is over, so here’s a list of some spooky books that I’m hoping to read soon:

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray

This is the third book in The Diviners series, which it’s set in the twenties and follows a group of people with different abilities that have to solve mysteries and face ghosts, curses and evil spirits. 

The Diviners series is one of my favorite paranormal series of all times and I can’t wait to read the next book. The only reason I haven’t read it already is that I’m a bit nervous because we don’t even have a release date for the fourth book yet 😭 WHAT IF THE THIRD BOOK ENDS IN A CLIFFHANGER?!

Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton

Long ago, a village made a bargain with the devil: to ensure their prosperity, when the Slaughter Moon rises, the village must sacrifice a young man. Only this year, the Slaughter Moon has risen early. 

I have been hearing everyone and their mother talk about this book and people seem to love it, so I want to know what all the hype is about. Also, the premise sounds creepy and it has me intriged.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming. 

I have been meaning to read a Gillian Flynn book for years and I always thought that I would read Gone Girl first, BUT I love Amy Adams and I want to watch the adaptation of Sharp Objects where she plays the main character, so it seems I’ll be starting with this one 🤷🏾‍♀️

 

Miss Peregrine’s House for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 

A family tragedy sets Jacob journeying to a remote island, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive.

I never had any intention of reading this book, I watched the movie and thought it was just alright, but I recently met someone who loves this series and it’s their favorite series of all times, so I kind of want to give it a chance.

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Cass can see ghosts and when she goes to Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead and she tells Cassidy that their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn’t sure about her mission, but she knows the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn’t belong in her world.

I’m a huge fan of Victoria Schwab and this sounds like a fun and fast read. Something like Ghostbusters in a middle grade version. I’m here for it!

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 

 It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

I had never heard of this book and I haven’t watched the movies based on it, but the Netflix show was released recently and I want to watch it, so I thought I could give the book a chance as well.

Have you read any of these books? Did you like them? What spooky books would you recommend? What spooky book are you looking forward to reading?  

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