Help get the Caffeinated Bibliophile back online

For those of you that aren't aware, my beloved computer decided to go ad die on me back in October, which at the time caused a small panic because I spend a good portion of my time online...  Aside from the obvious inconvenience it caused as far as university study is concerned, it has also meant that I've been neglecting my Caffeinated Bibliophile email (so sorry everyone, I promise to check it very soon!).

As it stands right now, I'm limited to either using the Uni computers during open hours (but since it's summer here it wasn't an option for a while) or hitting up my mum to use hers when it's free.  While both are valid options, I really wish to get mine repaired/replaced.

Which brings me to the point of this post... I've added a donate button to the site, in the hopes of saving up enough cash to cover the costs of the repair/replacement, and just for my time in creating this blog in general, and, lets face it, a few more books and cups of coffee would be great too. So if you love what you see and would love to see more, or are just a good samaritan who'd love to help out a fellow book-lover please hit the donate button.

Thanks in advance xox

My now annual post holiday reading slump and this years challenge(s)

I don't know what it is about this time of year, but this is the second year running (that I've actually acknowledged) where I hit a reading slump as soon as it ticks over to January 1...

I don't know whether it's the heat frying my brain, or the kids being home from school, a post holiday slump or just the migraine I had on and off since Christmas eve that's thrown me off, but I'm sure I'll get back on track again soon, no doubt I'll get my reading bug back right when I start uni for the year and wont have the time.

 

On the cards for this year are the challenges I did last year (Goodreads, PopSugar & BookRiot), and a PopSugar spin-off challenge Around the Year in 52 books, but this year I will be overlapping categories within challenges instead of reading a separate book for each.  I just don't have it in me to read another 90+ books on top of Uni and my parenting duties, but I will try and at least read 52 books for the year, I figure one a week is doable, without overtaxing myself. 

 

I did pretty well on the challenges from last year, finished the PopSugar reading challenge new years eve, and had one book left (which I'm plodding through now) on the BookRiot read harder challenge, I also surpassed my Goodreads challenge of 60 by reading a total of 92 books for the year... I don't think I've read that many in a year since I was in high school, many moons ago. 

 

Original post: cafebiblioaus.booklikes.com/post/1322584/my-now-annual-post-holiday-reading-slump-and-this-years-challenge-s

Happy 2016 to you all.  May your year be filled with endless hour spent between the pages of your favourite books, new and old. 

Original post: cafebiblioaus.booklikes.com/post/1315314/post

Holiday round-up

For the first time in a few years I actually received some books for Christmas. My eldest daughter was on the case and managed to pick up a handful of books that we'll both enjoy (she definitely had ulterior motives). Four of the five books I received came from her, and the last came from my mother.

 

Going to have to pick up the remaining two Throne of Glass books too, just so I can complete the series.  Plenty of reading time over the next few weeks while we enjoy our summer break.  But before I get to them, need to finish off the last 2 books for my PopSugar 2015 reading challenge the Silmarillion by Tolkien (A book you've started but never finished) and Storm Dancer by Jay Kristoff (A book by an author with your initials).  Time to get reading!

Original post: cafebiblioaus.booklikes.com/post/1313215/holiday-round-up

The Girl on the Train

Review:

Parts of this book hit a little too close to home, which made it difficult to get through without panic attacks of my own, but I'm very glad I did.  

 

Sometimes I didn't know whether to feel sorry for Rachel, unable to conceive the child she so desired, she became depressed, losing her home, her husband, and eventually her job in the process.  But she was also a pathological liar, lying to herself, to her landlord and friend, her mother, the police, and to entwine herself with the man whose wife disappeared.

 

There's not too much more I can write about this book without giving away the plot twists... I did thoroughly enjoy the story.

 

4.5 stars

Original post: cafebiblioaus.booklikes.com/post/1310059/the-girl-on-the-train

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Review:

Wow, just wow... This is going to take some time to digest.

 

This I chose as my banned book for the 2015 Pop Sugar reading challenge, and after reading it I can see why.  Drugs, sex and conditioning all combine to create a "utopian" stable society, in which test tube babies are the norm, and the idea of birth and family is disturbing.

 

The reference to Henry Ford being God and the model T being held sacred amused me greatly, though I'm not entirely sure why.  The clash of cultures between civilised London, where promiscuity and drugs are the norm, and the 'savage' reservation, where marriage and childbirth still occur. is interesting.  

 

The lengths the world controllers go to, to keep the peace is quite astonishing. Daily rations of the drug Soma, encouraged promiscuity, ideas of religion (except Ford) abolished, art which does not promote their ideals banned.  Ideals which, in part, remind me of the Nazi ideals of the era in which the book was written.  

 

Stories of human nature and conditioning always seem to leave a mark on me, this one is no different. I gave Brave New World 4/5 stars.

 

 

Original post: cafebiblioaus.booklikes.com/post/1304358/brave-new-world-aldous-huxley

Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas

Review:

I picked up the audio version of this a few weeks ago during an audible sale, figuring I could listen to it during the Christmas/Summer break.  Didn't quite make it last that long...

 

This book really does live up to the hype, I put it on while I did some housework, and just couldn't turn it off when I was done washing dishes.  My teenager daughter, who usually listens to music while doing her chores, was also enthralled, to the point that we both stayed up til 3am (thankfully it was a Saturday) to finish it, instead of coming back to it another day.

 

17 year old, Caleana Sardothien, master assassin, betrayed and thrown to rot in the salt mines of Endovier.  That is until she receives an unexpected visitor, the crown prince of Adarlan, Dorian, and his royal guard captain, Chaol Westfall.  The two offer Celeana a proposition she cannot refuse, compete in a tournament to become the King's new "Champion" and after a few years her freedom, or remain rotting away in her salt mine prison, a prison she would return to if she were to try to escape, to harm her captors, or lose (assuming she wasn't killed in the process) any of the challenges thrown at her.

 

Brash, proud and confident, the young assassin quickly discovered that the prince needed her more than she needed him, for she had nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Knowing this she pushes the limits of her hosts patience and makes outlandish demands or behaves in a way that would otherwise have a person imprisoned, or worse.

 

Over the course of the tournament, several of the other competitors are discovered dead, torn apart by what seems to be a wild animal.  Though Chaol tries to solve the mysteries behind these deaths, Celeana does a little investigating of her own and uncovers a horrifying truth.

 

I just love Celeana, she's strong in mind and body, and not afraid to throw some figurative punches to get what she wants and needs.  She's smart and knows her mind, she's also bilingual, which it seems none of the castle's inhabitants are.  She tries not to dwell on the horrors of her past, finding her parents murdered when she was 8, raised as an assassin by the man who took her in, and the year she spent in the salt mines.  

 

Celeana's bond with Princess Nehemia was nice, Celeana being the only person inside the castle who could speak the princess' native tongue.  Though initially kept apart for fear the assassin would make an attempt on the princess' life, the two were soon spending a fair amount of time together while Celeana taught the princess 'English' (I don't remember whether the language was actually named, but since the book is in English that's what I'm calling it).

 

It was also nice to note that at 18 she was still allowed to have a childish side, the candy incident made me giggle.  It makes me realise that there are so many other YA novels that don't allow young women the chance to still have a childish side, Hunger Games/Divergent/TFioS as examples, even though the female leads are all younger than Celeana.  At a slightly older age, I still love to stuff chocolate in my mouth Christmas morning, breakfast be damned.

 

The romance seems just enough without going over board... Though this is the book I made my love triangle read for the Popsugar challenge, I feel her relationship with Chaol is more of a sibling bond.  While there was definite fireworks between her and Dorian, it was glad to see a character who can use her brain to take a step back from a relationship and not go completely googoo eyed over the first man who shows interest (like so many romance plots before).

All in all, as I said earlier, I was really immersed in this story. It's well written and leaves you guessing, I can't wait to pick up the rest of the series, which I hear is even better.

I gave Throne of Glass 5/5 stars.

Original post: cafebiblioaus.booklikes.com/post/1303595/throne-of-glass-sarah-j-maas