Hello fellow Bibliophile! My name is Sarah and welcome to my blog!
Talk Nerdy Book Blog has been a work in progress, surviving many iterations and many partnerships. The journey has been a learning curve but filled with passion for my love of books and storytelling.
I am definitely an avid reader, however, my reading ‘type’ falls under both the re-reader and the binge reader. If I’m really into a book, I usually finish it within one seating, even if it means staying up all night. However, I didn’t always like reading. In fact, only when I was 11 when I started The Mortal Instruments series did I begin to like reading. City of Bones was the first book that I stayed up reading until morning. It was also the first book that I could discuss, rant and rave about to my friends and family.
As a reviewer, I can be quite nit-picky. If you’ve perused some of my reviews, you’ll see that I love to unpack the details and discuss what parts of the book annoyed me and why. I do this, even if I rate the book four or five stars.
My other hobbies besides my blog are: reading, writing, playing basketball and watching TV (if that’s a hobby).
A random fact about me: I love tea. I do not drink coffee but will have hot tea, all day, and all seasons.
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Favourite Books
I’m sure any avid reader can relate: the most dreaded question is the, what’s your favourite book? I’m definitely the type of reader that has a favourite book *for that moment*. Depending on my mood, what my life currently looks like and how life is going, my answer changes. I’ve noticed that my “favourite” books are ones that I’m constantly re-reading, or they’re books that have left a lasting impression on me.
Books I Re-read
My constant re-reads are books that I know will make me feel good, and pick me up when I’m feeling down. They’re a warm cup of tea at the end of a long day: soothing. Even, if it’s an angsty, high fantasy, the characters are so familiar to me that I feel right at home.
Books That Have Left A Mark
The other type of favourite books are ones that leave an impression. They’re the kind of books where I’m in awe of the world-building and character development. I go on and on and on about these books to anyone who will listen–I love discussing the minute details and the realization at the end that all the tiny little details have significant impacts on the resolution of the plot.
These books are, perhaps, the most satisfying books to read.
Here are a few of my go-to re-reads (in no particular order):
• Kulti by Mariana Zapata
• Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin by Mariana Zapata
• Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks
• Highlander Most Wanted by Maya Banks
• A Sorceress of His Own by Dianne Duvall*
• Rendezvous With Yesterday by Dianne Duvall
• Beauty and the Blitz by Sosie Frost
• Waking Olivia by Elizabeth O’Roark*
• The Friend-Zone by Kristen Callihan
• Radiance by Grace Draven
• A Pound of Flesh by Sophie Jackson
• Leave a Mark by Stephanie Fournet
• Paladin by Sally Slater
• Theirs to Keep by Maya Banks
• Archangels MC by Ivy Fox
• Be My Hero by Linda Cage
• Last Kiss by Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick
• All Grown Up by Sadie Grubor
• Sugar & Gold by Emma Scott
• Chosen Series by Stacy Jones*
• King Arthur and Her Knights series by K.M. Shea
• Godhunter series by Amy Sumida
• The Kingsman Chronicles by Amanda Bouchet
• The Phoenix Pack Series by Suzanne Wright
• The Mercury Pack Series by Suzanne Wright
• The Dark In You Series by Suzanne Wright
• Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas
• A Court of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J. Maas
• The Dezian Empire Series by Crista McHugh
• The Soulbearer Series by Crista McHugh
• The Tainted Accords Series by Kelly St. Clare
• The After Trilogy Series by Kelly St. Clare
• Elemental Paladin Series by Montana Ash
• The Veil Diaries Series by B.L. Brunnemer
• The Searchers Series by Ripley Proserpina
• Legion of Angels Series by Ella Summers
• Curse of the Gods Series by Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington
• Their Vampire Queen Series by Joely Sue Burkhart
*Books on the above list I’ve reviewed:
- Chosen by Stacy Jones
- A Sorceress of His Own by Dianne Duvall
- Waking Olivia by Elizabeth O’Roark
- The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
Favourite TV Shows
Similar to my books, my TV favourite TV shows demonstrate my love of storytelling–even better if the show includes fantasy, magic or the paranormal. Despite how cheesy some will think these shows are, I simply love them because of the world-building and character developments.
Shadowhunters
- In The Mortal Instruments book series, Alec actually scared me. I think it was partly because I was 12 reading it, and 16-year-old Clary didn’t really understand how to contextualize Alec’s rage.
- Therefore, despite the first season of Shadowhunters being quite cheesy, I adore the show because it made Alec one of my favourite characters. Malec <3
Once Upon A Time
- I’ve seen OUAT probably 100 times. It’s 7 seasons. It’s definitely my favourite show. I love fairytale retellings, so when this came out in 2011–I was 13–it made my year.
- The show is also underpinned by the theme: Evil is made not born. The redemptive character arcs were so amazing; it really grounded the fairytale part of the story into reality.
- I also loved seeing the flashbacks to the Enchanted Forest. The imagery of Vancouver is stunning.
The Vampire Diaries
- I was late to the fandom with TVD. I started watching Season 1 when Season 7 was premiering on TV. But, once I let myself get into the show–and the love triangle–it was riveting.
- I think the funniest memory of TVD is that when I first watched the show I didn’t like Stefan–at all. I was Team Damon from the first moment Damon and Elena met. But, then I re-watched the show and totally loved Stefan. Now, I love both of them, but I truly think Damon was Elena’s soulmate.
- I will say though, now that I’ve read RH romances, I think Elena should’ve entertained the idea of having her own harem.
The 100
- The 100 feeds the part of my soul that loves political intrigue, discussion of moral ambiguity and doing whatever it takes to survive.
- I’ve loved every single season. And, I know this is controversial but I really do enjoy Clarke as an MC (Bellarke *fingers crossed*). Octavia is my other favourite character.
Grey’s Anatomy
- I was super late to the fandom with this show. I started watching it on random when I realized it was free with Amazon Prime when I went to university. I just needed something to binge.
- And binge it did. I caught up to Season 14 in one month. My list of all the books I read in June has bolded and italicized the month of Grey’s Anatomy, so I’ll understand, for future reference, why my total book count for that month was seven.
How to Understand My Goodreads Shelves
My Want To Read shelf contains books I obviously want to read, but also books I do not own.
My Up Next shelf contains my TBR books which I own.
My Investigate shelf contains books that I’ve seen or heard about in passing that I think I’ll like, but I need to do more research to know whether or not I will add it to my Want To Read or Up Next shelf.
My DNF shelf is my ‘did not finish’ shelf. I’m trying to be more candid–which means to actually report which ones I don’t finish.
My Unread shelf is comprised of the books I own, however, I’m unsure if I’ll read them. Many were purchased years ago and my reading preferences have changed since then.
My Favourite shelf has all the books I re-read. Some–or even most–won’t even be 5-stars. It also contains books that have greatly impacted me, even if I don’t re-read them.
All of my Best Of shelves include my favourite books in each category. To access these shelves you can go to my Best Of… page on my blog to see the categories.
For simplicity, I bundled High Fantasy, Urban Fantasy and Sci-Fi Fantasy under the one umbrella of Fantasy.
Also, the Best Of shelves include only the first book in a series when series must be read in consecutive order (i.e. none of the books in the series are standalone). For example, only Throne of Glass will appear in my Best Of Fantasy shelf despite my love of all of the books in the series (and my favourite in the series is probably Queen of Shadows).
There are three Best Of genres that can be a bit confusing:
- Erotica
- The book simply has very descriptive sex scenes
- Erotica-smut
- The book is primarily sex. It’s “smut” because the relationship is mainly about sex.
- HEA-Erotica
- I cite author Alexa Riley as my criteria for this genre. The relationship has a lot of sex but is also completely Safe (Safety Gang). This means either both MCs are virgins, or one is a virgin and the other has been celibate for a long time. There’s no pushing away, separation or OW/OM drama. There’s no angst. It’s just sweet, lovey-dovey, super insta-love, and super unrealistic. But, it’s a fun read when you just want something you know won’t make your heart hurt.
- The HEA is a sure thing, and there are always an epilogue and (sometimes an) extended epilogue with kids and the kids grown up.
My Quirky Review Tag
I’ve realized that with some genres I’m very particular. Therefore, anything with a Paranormal Romance tag typically includes anything that goes bump in the night which takes place in our current world (i.e. this version of Earth).
If the book includes things that go bump in the night (or magic) but happens in any other world than this world (our Earth) the book will be sorted into either High Fantasy, Urban Fantasy or Sci-Fi Fantasy.
If the book has no magic or things that go bump in the night but does feature an alternate Earth, the book will usually be sorted as Dystopian, Retelling, or Historical Fiction.
