Book fair & Scotland trip - Bookish Hauls

Part 2 for yesterdays book fair post: the Haul


The books:
The Engineer's Cookbook, Kari Ojala
Shakespeare vasta-alkaville ja edistyville


WSOY, Tammi & JohnnyKniga meet-up:
Pallokala, Heikki Valkama
Tristania, Marianna Kurtto
Osuma, Roope Sarvilinna


Also I made a weekend trip to Scotland a week ago and bought:
There's Someone Inside Your House, Stephanie Perkins
The Boy at the Top of the Mountain, John Boyne
Stay Where You Are and Then Leave, John Boyne


And along the way, since my last haul I have accumulated:
The Knickerbocker Jane Austen bind-up
The Agatha Christie book: Kuolema ilmoittaa lehdessä
Artemis, Andy Weir (e-ARC)
&
Eliza and Her Monsters, Fransesca Zappia

Other things from the fair:
Various totes and candy
Christmas cards and little DIY elves
A color changing necklace
5 rolls of yarn
Two little dishes and an oil dispenser
(Also fell in love with some of the mugs, but resisted)

Read on lovelies,

S

Kirjamessut / Book fair 2017 part 1

As I mentioned in a previous post (link), I received a blog pass for the Helsinki book fair (kirjamessut).

So how did it go?
I will have a separate post tomorrow about all the things I bought there...






Thursday:
On Thursday I toured the fair as a whole, first with only touring and then buying (this way I didn't need to lug everything around with me all day). This year there were 2 huge sections with everything 2 euros (a treasure I got last year from there was the Night Circus, and they had it this year as well).

Bigger publishers had 10-20% off of everything, and Adlibris (one of my absolute favorite online stores in Finland for books) had 3 books for 10e and 5 yarn rolls for 10e.

There was definitely a theme of Finland turning 100 this year, and also the fact that Dan Brown came was made a big factor. There was also a Harry Potter themed bus (picture below) and other bits and bobs which made the whole experience, yet again, amazing.











Saturday:


Saturday was my second, and last, day at the fair and it started off with a WSOY, Tammi and Johnny Kniga blogger brunch, which I loved. Food, books, authors talking and bloggers meeting - what else do you need? The people were lovely & I also got books signed for the first time, so that was something else to remember!

The authors there:

Heikki Valkama (Pallokala), - so excited for this one!
Marianna Kurtto (Tristania),
Roope Sarvilinna (Osuma),
Joonas Konstig (Vuosi Herrasmiehenä),
A. W. Yrjänä (Joonaanmäen Valaat)
& Tuomas Kyrö (Mielensäpahoittajan Suomi)



Lastly for the day I attended the Teos blogger meet-up with various of their authors telling us about their books:

Juha Hurme (Niemi)
Juhani Känkänen (Ilo irti, Apo Apponen!)
Marjo Niemi (Kaikkien menetysten äiti)
Maria Peura (Tunkeilijat)
Mikko Rimminen (Maailman luonnollisin asia)
Heikki Reivilä (Onnettomat Roomassa)
& Jarkko Volanen (Hiekankantajat)

Read on lovelies,

S

Revamping an Old Post

[TAG]

Revamp an old post: The Beginning, four years later


I looked at my first post and I felt like I needed to add to it and go through what I started out with.

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Out With the Old (link)
Oct. 25th 2013

The Start of Booksonal

Dear you,

I started this blog to write about books. Shocker, since the title is there...

Anyway, so as you can assume I love reading books. I don't have that many, but I read loads. I decided to make a blog for writing about them. About what I have read, how much I loved them (if I even liked them), overall about books and I'll maybe make some book tags.

I'll try to post every Saturday, but probably I will be delayed sometimes...

So hope you will like my posts,

and as always read on.

Love,

Sally

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In With the New
Oct. 21st 2017

Booksonal Four Years Later


This blog has brought me good & bad times, new perspectives & people, long nights & lots and lots of notes and ideas.

I started out with Word documents, post-its and full notebooks about what I've read. I took the jump to a blog in 2013 (I wasn't always as active though), so it's been four years next week!

I didn't start so that people would read it - it was actually not something I wanted. Let me explain that with this:

            About the name Booksonal. Well I started this blog more like a journal that was               therapeutic in a way. My thoughts are always mine and so they feel personal and so -               hence the name.

So no I wasn't looking for readers, I wanted - still want to - express my thoughts and people who read it and can relate are just a bonus. But to all of those who have been reading, for a shorter or longer time, thank you.

If you've never written down why you like or don't like a book it can really organize your thoughts and your star ratings. And if you've been reading the blog for some time you know I love being organized.
               The point is try it out - you might be surprised.

Read on lovelies,

S

Totally Didn't Book Tag

As I wrote this, I realized that I'm not exactly answering the questions. I'm just talking about problems I have surrounding said questions, so this tag ended up a bit of a rant.


1. Totally didn’t need to have a sequel/sequels.
The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

2. Totally didn’t need to have more than one point of view.
To be honest I don't read a lot of books with more than one POV, and usually I'm not a fan of it.
It makes me distanced from the characters, if not done well, and I never like that feeling.

3. Totally didn’t need to change cover art through the middle of a series.
Across The Universe is one change I never understood. The original ones were so much more aesthetically pleasing! I understand the want to change some covers, but finish with one and the revamp them all. An Ember in the Ashes is one also

4. Totally didn’t need a love triangle.
I tend to hate this trope so pretty much any book with one. It creates tension and awkward situations, and usually the reader knows how it'll end up so it's a waste of time - in certain cases

5. Totally didn’t need this book to be included in this series. 
I've talked about the second book syndrome that happens when a book might me intended as only one but they add on another one without really having a proper plot from the beginning which unfortunately brings boredom. For example the second book in the Matched series.

For this reason I am always really apprehensive towards books that have later been added books to. An Ember in the Ashes was supposed to be one book, then two and now four books. The first one was great and then I got a bit scared would the second one be? It was but will the rest be?

6. Totally didn’t need a cliffhanger.
Using cliffhangers is a fantastic way to get the reader to buy the next book since their curiosity has peaked. But that works only if you are invested in the characters and in learning what will happen to them. So they need to be balanced; don't write a cliffhanger in each chapter. Make the readers go to the edge of their seat and wonder, anticipate and then, and only then, have said cliffhanger.

TV series often get this upside down. Yes after each episode you need something to make the watchers come back, but instead of a cliffhanger in each episode prove to the watchers that it's a show worth watching. Develop the characters, enrich the world, play with our emotions and when everything is at it's peak - have a cliffhanger. See the problem with having too many of them is that each one need an answer. One. So when a conclusion is reached regarding that one cliffhanger, what is keeping the watchers or readers still there? Usually it would be the characters and plot, but have you delved into those enough on the side of all the cliffhangers?
For the former a bad episode is a deal breaker, but in the latter the fans will stick with the characters like intended.

7. Totally didn’t need to have just one point of view.
TFiOS would have been great with both Hazel and Augustus' POV

8. Totally didn’t need that much hype.
I try to read books also from outside my comfort zone, and by hearing people whom I trust their opinions on really like a book I wouldn't have picked excites me. But I hesitate and try to not get my hopes up, which helps because then I don't get disappointed if it was "only" good.

9. Totally didn’t need a relative book reference. (Eg, For example: Hunger Games fan would love Divergent.)
Sometimes this is the only way to get my attention towards a book, but it needs to be well done because it can make people that would like the book walk away because they didn't like the one book it was referenced towards. Comparing books can be fun, but having that idea on the back burner of your head while reading the book can be distracting.

10. Totally didn’t deserve my time.
I've been getting better at not finishing books if I feel like I'm wasting my time. I used to just stick to it til' the end and hate it. So why do it? We say too much to read and too little time, then why spend some of it on books we don't like. Sure the book could pick up pace, but I personally read enough to know whether I like it or not. And I encourage you to learn that for yourselves.

Read on lovelies,

S

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns : review

Julie C. Dao

*ARC kindly provided by Penguin through NetGalley for an honest review!*

Part of the Penguin Teen Game-Changers, with a tag line of:
Breathtaking fractured fairy tale


Release: Oct. 10th 2017

Goodreads' link to the book!

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So what did I think?

Stars: 3/5

The idea and premise is so intriguing and sounded so perfect for me:

An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl's quest to become Empress--and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.
-Goodreads

It is entertaining with a rich world and lyrical writing. The intricately thought out main character is an anti-heroine which made a refreshing read.
I don't want to say too much about the plot so I shall just urge you to pick it up!

The usual likes and dislikes, relating to the star rating:

+1 | idea
+1 | writing
+1 | world
- 1 | characters
- 1 | pace

Read on lovelies,

S

Info

The regular post for today will be up on Monday.



In the mean time since #TurtlesAlltheWayCountDown is almost at its end with the release of John Greens new book next week, I have linked my review of The Fault in Our Stars from 3 years ago for you:

          The Fault in Our Stars : Book vs Movie



Secondly I received a blog pass for the Helsinki book fair!
I am especially excited since Finland is turning 100 this year and I think it'll be reflected in the event as well.



Thirdly, I hope you guys like what I've done to the outlook of my blog - there are a few more changes that will be up soon.

Read on lovelies,

S

Read This Month

September

1. An Abundance of Katherines  REVIEW
2. Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Data:

Male/Female author:
         100 % male
Genre:
         100 % contemporary,

Pages:
        515 p
Format:
         100 % physical books
Average:
         3.0
Arcs:
          100 % sent to me (for honest reviews)

Read on lovelies,

S