Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan Book Reveiw

  
Title: Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer

Author: Rick Riordan

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure

Pages: 497

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 5/5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother’s mysterious death, he’s lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers. One day, he’s tracked down by a man he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god. The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years. When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision. Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . . 

My Thoughts: (I would advise you not to read this if you haven’t read The Sword of Summer) I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was everyhing I was hoping it to be. It was great to dive into another Rick Riordan book, I love the way he writes and the way he intertwines mythology into the story. I was really excited to read Magnus Chase, especially because it revolves around Norse mythology. I think Rick did a really good job of seperating Magnus’s story from the Percy Jackson or the Heroes  of Olympus series. I really enjoyed Magnus as the main character, especially his sarcatic humor. I also liked the bit of diversity that some of the other characters added to the story such as Sam being Arabic-American and Hearth being deaf adding the concept of sign language into the story. I also really liked how Annabeth randomly poped up every now and then and I am really hoping that she’ll be in the next more because I really can never get enough Annabeth! I quite enjoyed the final action scene with Fenris the Wolf, it was definitely a page-turner, I counldn’t even put the book down. Overall I give Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer 5/5 stars and I can’t wait to see what the second book, The Hammer of Thor, coming out next fall has in store!

Used Book Sale Purchases

Today I went to a huge used book sale close to where I live and since it was the last day of the sale everything was on for 1$! I wasn’t expecting there to be as many amazing book there as there was and I came home with 10 books all hardcover in perfect condition, and I have decided to share what books they were with you.

I got myself a second copy of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins because my original copy isn’t in the best shape and I couldn’t pass it up for 1$!

I also got a second copy of New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer. I got these because I have a copy of the Twilight 10th Anniversary Edition/ Life and Death cming for me in the mail so I decided to get the rest of the series for 3$ so I’ll have the complete series in hardcover and paperback. 

I also picked up The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, both by Dan Brown. I’ve heard nothing but good things about both these books and I’m excited to read them!

I got Remember Me? and Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella. I read Finding Audrey this past summer and it was absolutely amazing so I decided to pick up two other books by her and give them a shot.

I also bought The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I’ve watched the movie adaptation of this book and it was really good and thats what intrigued me to buy the book.

  Lastly, I picked up The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was when I saw The Bone Season on one of the tables! I’ve been debating on whether or not to buy it for a while and now I finally bought it, and for an amazing price also!

The used book sale happens every year and I now can’t wait to go next year! And I do have to say, the new additions to my book shelves look amazing with the rest of my books.😂👌🏻

Unpopular Opinions Book Tag

Lately this book tag has been going around YouTube a lot and although I haven’t been tagged to do it I thought it would be fun to share some of my unpopular bookish opinions with you!

1. A popular book or series that you didn’t like.

For this one I am going to have to say The Maze Runner by James Dashner. It’s not that I hated it, I just didn’t really love the writing style and I didn’t connect with the characters at all. I have not continued with the series because of this and to be honest I don’t know if I ever will.

2. A popular book or series that everyone else seems to hate but you love.

The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer is what I am going with for this one and I know that a lot of people love this series (as I do) but there is quite a large group of people who have read the series and don’t like it but an even larger group of people that haven’t read the series and just judge it off of what they heard or the movies. I love this series so very much and I am waiting for my copy of Life and Death to come in the mail, I honestly can’t wait to read it!

3. A love triangle where the main character ended uo with the person you did NOT want them end up with.

I have read about quite a few love triangles but the main character has always ended up with the person I wanted them to end up with!

4. A popular book grenre you hardly reach for.

For this one I have to go with horror or thriller. The reason I hardly ever read books from this genre is because I get scared really eaisily and I also read a lot before bed so scary books + sleeping =  me being scared and I would rather spend my time reading books that I want to read and that’ll make me happy.

5. A popular or beloved book character that you do not like.

I have to say Aspen from The Selection series and I do know that there are quite a lot of people who also don’t prefer Aspen but there are also quite a few people who love him. I despised Aspen throughout reading The Selection series and I can’t say that I like him any more now. I am hoping to read Happily Ever After soon because I have heard that a lot of people who didn’t like Aspen before reading it felt sorry for him and ended up liking him by the end of the companion novel. I am interested to see if my opion will change.

6. A popular author you can’t seem to get into.

For this one I have to go with Jennifer E. Smith, I have read two of Jennifer’s books, This is What Happy Looks Like and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sitght and enjoyed them both but they weren’t 5/5 star books or mind blowing so I don’t feel like I need to read every one of her books. I have The Geography of You and Me but I don’t feel particularly rushed to read, even though I know some people loved it, because of my thoughts on the other two books I’ve read by Jennifer.

7. A popular book trope that you are tired of seeing. (exaples: “lost princess” or “corrupt ruler” or love triangles)

I don’t hate love triangles although I am a little bit tired of seeing them in books when they are totally irrelevant. I don’t like it when another male character is thrown into a main characters face when they already have a love interest for no apparent reason. But I do have to say, when love triangles are done in a good way I can’t help but love them. 🙂

8. A popular book series that you have no interest in reading.

Its not that I’ll never finish this book series it’s just after reading the first book in The Maze Runner series I don’t feel as though I will be continuing the series any time soon.

9. The saying goes “The book is always better than the movie” but what movie or TV show did you prefer over than the book?

(Sorry to repeat this again) but I have to go with The Maze Runner movie. As you can tell I didn’t prefer the book but the movie was really good. I liked how it was fast paced and action filled and in the book I didn’t enjoy James’ writing style but I found the story translated to the big screen perfectly. 

So those are some of my unpopular bookish opinions! None of these are meant to offend anyone I just simply wanted to share some of the opinions that us as readers don’t normally share. If you have a blog or booktube I highly recommend that you do this tag because it was very fun and I find that reading people’s unpopular opinion very interesting too!

Popular YA Books I Haven’t Read Yet

Although I am an avid reader and tend to reach for the more popular and highly recommend YA novels when I am looking for a good book to read there are still quite a lot of popular young adult books that I have yet to read. Here are just a few. 🙂

The Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas. This one is just a result of the fact that I don’t own these books. I know that if I did I would be marathon reading the whole entire series (and The Assassin’s Blade, the collection of novellas) because I am just so intrigued by how the series is described. I know that as soon as I get my hands on these books I will dive right into them!

The Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Trilogy by Ransom Riggs. I actually own both Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Hollow City, (I need to get Library of Souls) but I am just a little nervous to read this trilogy. I have read the first few pages of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and I can already tell that I like Ransom’s writing style but it is just the fact that I get scared really easily that is making me hold off on reading these books. The pictures in the books that I have looked at so far have just mad me a little uneasy and that is the only thing holding me back.

The Outlander Series by Diana Gabadon. I think that one of the main reasons that I haven’t read this series ( because I have all the books) is because they are awfully intimidating. Some of those books are over 1300 pages long with very tiny print and I fell like to start that series is a hugecommitment and is perfect for a time like summer break or Christmas break where you can marathon read the whole entire series. 

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson. I honestly have no clue why I haven’t picked this up yet considering I could easily walk over to my bookshelf, pick it up and start reading it right now and Since You’ve Been Gone is also acontemporary and one of my favourite genres is contemporary. It was on my tbr (to be read) list this past summer but I never got to it I guess. I know it’ll be a book I pick up soon when I’m in the mood for a light, summery contemporary.

That’s my list! There are obviously a ton more such as The Darkest Minds Trilogy and Anna and the French Kiss but these are the ones that stand out most to me when I look over at my shelf and think about the books I haven’t read. Are there any super popular books that you haven’t had the chance to read yet or have you read them all?

Helpful Ways to Read More!

So now that school has been up and running for a few months, I don’t know about you but I always have a ton of homework every night and also things like extracurricular activites and school events can make life pretty jam packed and make it hard to find time for reading but I’ve got some tips and tricks to help you read more!

Tip #1: You have to make time for reading! Yes I know it’s hard but if you don’t set any time aside for reading you probably aren’t going to get any reading done. Even if it’s 10 or 15 minutes a day that is still good and you are doing what you love to do for at least a little part of your day.

Tip #2: Always have a book with you. It doesn’t matter if its a physical book or a book on your phone, you should always have something to read with you. You never know when you will have an extra 15 minutes to read at the bus stop or if your teatcher gives you 20 minutes of free time at the end of a class, reading is always a good way to spend that extra time on!

Tip #3: Read more than one book at a time. I know this doesn’t work for a lot of people but if you can juggle two or more books at once than I suggest you do this! This is helpful for when you are reading something like a long, high fantasy novel and need to have a small break and read a bit of a contemporary. Instead of putting that fantasy book aside and forgetting about it (it happens) then you can just read both. It also helps if the books are each in different forms (physical, audio, ibook) so then you can read one on your phone at school if you have extra time and then when you read at your house like before bed you could read a physical book. 

Tip #4: Don’t force it. If you don’t feel like reading then don’t. Forcing yourself to read just forces you into a reading slump and makes your experience reading that book not as good as it could be if you were in a better reading mood. If you are struggling with a reading slump right now, don’t worry, go watch some Netflix or go shopping, the right book or series will come around at the perfect time and pull you right out.

I hope these tips will help you in the future to read more. If you know any tips and tricks that help you read more, leave a comment to let me know! 

October 2015 Book Releases

There are quite a few good book being released this month, here are a few to look forward to:

Magnus Chase The Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan, in stores October 6th. If you are a fan of any of Rick’s other books such as The Percy Jackson series you might want to pick this one up!

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, in store October 6th. If you’ve read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell you are probably highly anticipating this tie-in novel about Cath’s Simon Snow fanfiction.

Harry Potter and the Philosophors Stone: The Illustrated Edition by JK Rowling and illustrated by Jim Kay, in stores October 6th. If you are a Harry Potter lover you are probably dying to get your hands on this beautifully illustrated edition of JK Rowlings first novel in the bestselling Harry Potter series.

A Thousand Nights by EK Johnson, in store October 6th. If you are a fan of the A Thousand and One Nights story then you should probably pick up this retelling. Its said to be a little slow paced but beautifully written. 

The Rose Society by Marie Lu, in stores October 13th. This is the sequal to Marie’s other novel The Young Elites a fantasy novel with kids who have cool kinds of powers.

Secrets in Pheonix by Gabriella Lepore, out October 13th. This is a fantasy novel about a girl and her brothers who get sent to a boarding school that holds some magical surprises for them.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, in stores October 20th. This is said to be a mysterious book told through a dossier of hacked emails, documents and more!

I don’t know about you but I am definitely going to be picking some of these new releases up when they come out. Leave a comment about any other new releases you are excited for this month!