Here we are again, for another episode of WIFSY! Also, you'll find at the end of this post some thoughts I wanted to share with you in this last day of 2015! Without further due, let's get into it!

It's been a while since I've participated in TTT hosted by the lovely gals over at The Broke and the Bookish, but this week's theme is pretty awesome and I'm excited to share with you guys the ten best books I read this past year!

For a while now, I've had this book just sitting on my shelf and was hesitating to read it for some unknown reason. Finally, I told myself that it was ridiculous and that I should just pick it up. I did, and while it was still a really good book, it did not match the first one in the series.

Like the first one, this book is pretty hard to resume so here's a copy paste of the back cover.

Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.
She can’t.

She used to think her problems were all in her head.

They aren’t.

She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.

She’s wrong.

Oh boy, where do I even start...

What is When I First Saw You? 

When I first saw you, or WIFSY for short, is a new feature here on Sailing Through Books that consist of writing a synopsis for a book I've never heard of. I will pick a new release and with the cover and the title, come up with a resume to go on the back cover!

YOU CAN PARTICIPATE TOO!

Is that...? A new post?
YES! it is!

Hey guys! I'm back from my NaNoWriMo induced hiatus and I'm really excited because during my break, I did a LOT of stuff and got tons of new ideas for Sailing Through Books that I am going to share with you today!
But first:

WHAT HAVE I BEEN UP TO?

This book was given to me by the lovely Cindy over at Groundwood Books in exchange for an honest review. It does not influence in any way my thoughts on this book.


OMG!!! Guys, this is THE book you have to read this year. I mean yeah, there's Six of Crows that came out and Queen of shadows, but this book is a whole different category and it deserves all the attention it can get!

A TAG! YAY!

Today, I will be doing the Candy Book Tag! The lovely Izel over at A Bookish Flower tagged me earlier this week to do this and I thought it would be the perfect post since, you know, it's Halloween tomorrow...! 

And while I'm at it: THANK YOU IZEL!!! I follow your blog religiously and I was so surprised/happy/excited to see my name at the end of your post! You rock my dear!:D

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First, the rules

- When you are tagged, please thank the blogger who tagged you! -

- No one is obligated to participate, even if they are tagged -

- If you decide to participate, answer the questions and then tag 5 other bloggers -

- Please notify the people you’ve selected when they are tagged! -

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It is the end my friends! NaNoWriMo has arrived and it is time for me to give you guys some last minute advice.

I'm kind of late to the party I know, but today I'm sharing with you guys a list of books that are PERFECT to get in the Halloween spirit! So grab your candy and a blanket because you're about to get chills!

Sorry about last week guys! As I said on Twitter, I was busy finishing my NaNoWriMo calendars and to be frank, I just didn't have a book to review... I know! I've been so occupied in the last two weeks that I only just finished Madly, by Amy Alward.

The end of this series of posts is near guys; next week will be the last one!
Let's  not get too dramatic right away though because today I am sharing with you my plans for this year!

Autobiographies...
I have a hard time with the mere concept of them and here is why.

By definition, a autobiography is the story of someone's life, written by that same person.

Here the first reason why I'm not a fan of biography: it makes the author look like he's full of himself/herself.

 

Why do you have the need to share your life with everyone? What makes you think that you are so extraordinary that everyone is dying to know every single detail of your existence?

I admire a lot of people, but I do not want to know all there is to know about them. I enjoy their work and that's good enaugh for me.

 

 

 

What day is it? It's Tuesday!
And what does that mean? It means another Top Ten Tuesday post!

This week, were talking about the authors we would like to see write a book together!
The experience I've had with co-authors were always positive (Burn for Burn, Good Omens) so I would be totally down with my favorite authors collaborating together to write masterpieces! Here are the duo I would like to see most:

Hello everyone!
How's it going on this wonderful Monday? Great I hope! For my part, I just had an awesome Thanks Giving dinner with my family yesterday and I ate SO much!

Anyways, I am here today to review a book that has got everyone raving; yes, I'm talking about Dumplin', by Julie Murphy!

So here's the deal people, you want to make sure your character isn't flat and so you make him/her evolve through your story. Cool! Perfect even! That's what makes your characters interesting!
But there's a flipping limit to character development.

Let me explain myself.

I'm sure you've all read a book where there was this really dark, mysterious guy with snarky comebacks.
here I'm talking about...

Some of you who won't be participating in NaNoWriMo might start to get annoyed by these posts... But I don't really care if you are because I'm sure some people are actually interested. Or at least I am!
So I'm sorry if this is the case, but you'll just have to deal with the fact that today is another WRIMOS UNITE post!

Ten bookish things I want to quit/need to quit/have quit... Well this one is different!
Let's get right into it!

I wanted to love this book, I really did. But unfortunately, The Sky is Everywhere turned into a DNF.

I was about 75 pages in and just could not bring myself to really get involved in the story. So I read some dialogue here and there till the end and I'm glad I did not spend more time actually reading the whole book because it was really NOT for me.

Hi guys! As you can see, I am taking part in a Blog Tour this week! *start jumping up and down while clapping hands*

Jessica from Bookish Serendipity is starting this amazing adventure and I'm really happy to be part of it. I won't say more and let her explain everything to you guys. Enjoy!

  

It's Thursday today and this means that... it's time for a new WRIMOS UNITE post!
Today, I wanted to share with you my personal NaNoWriMo experience. Let's go back to the beginning, shall we?

Am I the only one really excited about this week's theme!?!?
I just love recommending books to people, especially less-popular ones. So take notes people, the following books are super awesome!

THIS BOOK IS FUCKING AMESOME!

You know, I didn't believe it when people said that Stand-Off was as good as Winger. Winger is one of my favorite book and I could not imagine how anything could top it. But here I am, in awe of this sequel.
Every time I try to review one of Andrew Smith's book, I end up babling because there is just so much to say, sorry in advance guys.

WARNING! SPOILER OF WINGER AHEAD!

As I mention in a previous post, I got a subscription to OwlCrate for my birthday!
For those of you ho do not know what OwlCrate is:

Every month we'll send you a magical box tailored to a chosen YA theme (e.g. paranormal, first love, dystopia.) Each box will contain one new Young Adult novel, as well as 3-5 other bookish keepsakes to help set the mood for your literary adventure. 
from the official website

Yes, I'm back today with another WRIMOS UNITE post to talk about this year's theme.

For those of you who are still new to this NaNoWriMo things, every year there is a different theme and this is really cool because you have the option of buying some AWESOME merch representing the year's you've participated in.

This is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Sweaters, scarves, hot chocolate, boots...

Yes, my favorite season is finally upon us! And this week's TTT is about just that: which books are on my Fall TBR.

I do not have a lot of upcoming new releases on it because I'm trying to finish the books I have at home before buying some more...
But let's be real, we all not I'll end up taking a trip to Chapters sometimes in the next months!
Without further due, let,s get right into it!

"WICKED IS GOOD THOMAS" 

***

"Good" my ass!

Hello everyone! Today I am reviewing Scorch Trials movie that came out last week. 

As almost every book to movie adaptation made in the last few years, I have read the Maze Runner trilogy and I have a lot to say about this new movie.

Before getting into this, I want to advise everyone that this review will contain SPOILERS.

Pantsing VS Planning

This is the ultimate debate when it comes to NaNoWriMo. Today, I will (hopefully) help you pick a method that works best for you.

Before I die...

Today, I'm sharing with you my ultimate to do list, or bucket list if you prefer. Some of the things are related to Sailing Through Books and some are not. But regardless of what it is, I wish to accomplish them in the next few years, or at least before I die (because, you know, it would be much harder if I was lock in a coffin and not breathing and all...)

ULTIMATE TO-DO LIST

Get to 30 followers on my blog

Go study abroad (next year guys!)

Get to 50 followers on my blog

Go to France

Be able to do the split

THIS MEME WAS CREATED BY THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH

This week, it's up to us to decide what we want to do for Top Ten Tuesday so I decided to rent about the ugly translation covers!
It's sad, but most of the translated books get ugly covers. They say don't judge a book by its cover, but sadly, some covers could REALLY use a makeover! It particularly sucks when one of your favorite book has an ugly cover and people you recommend it to turn it down because of it.
Some of the following images will be plain ugly, and others will be there for reasons that will be explained.
To the right you will find the original cover and to the left, the ugly translated version of it. Without further due, here are the ten covers I think could use a serious change!

In case you've misread the title of this post, this is not a review on The Sword of Summer, book one in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. It is trailer review!
This weekend, the trailer for the Magnus Chase series was release and it gave me so much feels that I decided to make a review about it. Change things up a bit you know? Anyways, here's the trailer

TRAILER

Where do I even begin... Let's start with all the technical stuff.

I am not a pro in any of this, but in my eyes, the graphics were AMAZING! I love how they kept the same color scheme as the book cover; all purple and orange and dark red... it's a nice touch! The animation was well done. At 30 seconds, when the wolf appears, I thought that was super cool! Also, the tree at the end was so nice! How it went from the light trailer version of the tree to the dark version we see on the cover!

I shared my blog with my family not long ago and my grandpa was telling me how he read it and really enjoyed it. Then, he asked me about an acronym I had used in one of my post: VA.

This got me thinking that, to the people who are not fan of literature, things like VA might not mean anything to them. So today, I'm making a little guide about the lingo/acronyms that we, booklovers, use, so that new comers or people who are not part of this ''world'', if I may, can understand. Some of them might not be as frequent as others, but I use them, so they're here. Deal.

Without further due...

This is the third post in the WRIMOS UNITE series and today, I want to talk about authors who have published their Nano story.

Some people are anti-NaNoWriMo. They think it's not worth anything, that all you get is a shitty first draft and a lot of stress. Well, I have three things to tell those people:

Here we are, with another Top Ten Tuesday!
This week, I'm sharing with you ten series that are finished but that I have not yet finished reading. This one was hard for me because all the series I was following came to an end in the last year, so I also included series I do not plan on finishing.

What a cool concept!
Seriously, Michael Grant always has the best ideas for books. EVER! The Gone series was A-Mazing and Messenger of Fear was really cool!

Where do I start?
Okay, okay, I got it. Messenger of Fear is the story of Mara, a teenage girl who wakes up surrounded by yellow mist. Then, she learns that she is going to become a messenger of fear and her teacher is Messenger (with a capital M yes). This Messenger guy is kind of creepy and he doesn't want to tell Mara anything. She's pist off but the lessons she learns make her understand more and more what's going on and at the end... Well that I can't tell you because it would ruin the book but at the end, she understands everything.

Last week, I (very quickly I know) explained to you guys what Nanowrimo was. Now, you might be wondering: Sophie, why are you talking to us about it? Do you want us to participate? Why should we?
Well here are some answers:

OF COURSE I want you guys to participate! Why? Here's why!

We all have people with whom we just don't click. You know that classmate that just annoys you? Or that coworker you simply can't stand? Well, for readers, this also happens with characters. And it just so happens that this week's Top Ten Tuesday is about just that! (because I obviously did not write this intro after I saw it...;D)

For me, the characters that I didn't click with are pretty much all part of books I didn't like, because the characters in question are part of the reason I did not like the books in the first place. Makes sense?

Anyways, without further due, I present to you...

THE CHARACTERS I JUST DIDN'T CLICK WITH

Hi guys! I'm starting a new feature on Sailing Through Books called WRIMOS UNIT. Every week until November, I will upload a post on Thursdays concerning NaNoWriMo.
To start things off, let's talk about what is NaNoWriMo.

For those of you who might not be aware if this (says the girl who just learned about it), the last two weeks of August are know (on the blogosphere at least) as Bookstore Appreciation Weeks.

See, now with technology and really cool things like Amazon and online shopping, people tend to buy less from actual bookstores. For myself, I'm only seventeen, or well, I'll be seventeen tomorrow, and I do not have a credit card and thank the gods I don't cauz I would buy way too many dresses, shoes, and books!

I'm the type of person who loves to help others; especially at school. I'm a straight A student and if I can help just one person, I get this wonderful feeling. I got told a few time that I would make a great teacher and honestly, if kids weren't so mean these days, I probably would consider it. 
All of this to say that I'm really excited about this weeks subject: the top ten books that would be on my syllabus if I taught X 101! Also it's perfect with back to school right around the corner, so let's get into it

Class: Contemporary YA 101

Teacher: Sophie Bergeron

Books required:

Hi guys, I'm back! And while I was on vacation, I got through six books! SIX! I don't want to brag or anything, but I'm pretty amazed by myself *does a dramatic hair flip*
Anyways, I still thought about you and I wrote a review about Fight for Power, the second book in the Rule of Three series by Eric Walters. I wrote the good old fashion way, with a pen and a piece of paper. Therefore, I could not go back and edit and I want to tell you that it is not my best review. but I still had fun writing it and I hope you enjoy it!
Oh! And about that awful mistake I made at the end... My brain was thinking in French, it's not my fault so please don't be mad!

I've been wanted to read this book for a long time. And by that I mean five years. Why didn't I? Because my need (get it? Need? Ok, I'm done) to read it wasn't great enough for me to spend money to order it online and have it shipped (do you know how high shipping cost can be?). But, thanks to the Bookmarket, the amazing used bookstore not too far from where I live, I got it for five dollars! If you have read my other posts, you'll know that I'm cheap like that; I buy enough books as it is and the more money I can save on them the better!

Anyways! Now that I have read Need, I'm thinking: why the hell did I not read this book sooner?

To be perfectly honest, the story isn't all that special and unique. The ending was predictable and the characters were kind of cliché. But I loved it anyways!

Today is a special day my friends. It's the day our dear Percy Jackson was born!
In honor of his birthday, a very good friend of mine helped me do cupcakes; not any kind of cupcakes... BLUE ONES!

Hi there! My name is Sophie and I work in a bookstore.

Yup, you read that right, I work in a bookstore. Pretty much the best job for a book lover right?

You get to see all the new books, you get to talk to other book lovers, you can read all the time... 

That's pretty much what people think working in a bookstore is, but I wanted to share with you the real deal, an inside scoop as to what this job really is. The best way to do it? Share with you what I do on a regular shift!

Moon Called, book one in the Mercy Thompson series. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did I love it? No. Would I recommend it? Maybe. Am I going to read more books from this series? Probably.

Why did I enjoy it?

Moon Called was a fun read. Starting with the characters, I loved every one of them; well, except maybe Sam, but I'll get to that later.
Mercy was a great MC. She was a strong female lead that new her strength and her weaknesses and she did not let others control her. First off, she owns a garage, which is so badass! I mean, I wish I knew my way around a car. It's useful, it gives you an certain independence and it is, yes I'm going to say it, attractive.
On top of being this kickass mechanic, she's a walker, meaning that she can shift into a coyote. I appreciated the fact that Patricia Briggs made her something other than a werewolf, or a vampire, or any typical supernatural creature.  It gave a little something more to the story.

Now moving on to Adam. I just enjoyed reading about him! He's got this dark vibe, but at the same time this huge heart for the ones he loves! His relationship it his daughter was sweet and the way he cared and protected Mercy...! *melts a little*

Special mention for Stefan, whom I just LOVED! A Scooby-Doo van? Where do I sign up?

This weeks Top Ten Tuesday is regarding the authors we've read the most books from. I have a few authors in my FAV list of which I've read quite a lot of book, so let's get started!

Today, I have Vontae Jones, author of the new release Vigilant, with me on the blog who gladly accepted to answer a few questions for us.
Without further due, let's get to it!

Q. Firstly, thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview! Could you introduce yourself to our reader?

A. My name is Vontae Jones, I’m fifteen years old and I’m from Detroit, Michigan, and simply put, I’m the type of person that will always try to travel a different route compared to everybody else. I’m very creative, and that creativity is one of my most valued traits, because it took me awhile to actually realize that I had such a free spirit inside of me. When I was around ten years old, I started to see a different side of myself, the side that was funny, and the side that could come up with these wild adventures and stories that I would portray through the comic strips that I made by hand. It was this realization that lead me to becoming an author.  I knew taking such a route wouldn’t be easy or even fun when the time came to put my nose to the grind, but I’m always up for a challenge, and I’m always up for a chance to show everybody what I can come up with, to try to bring joy to their life with a story, and I’m always up for a chance to leave behind something that people for generations to come, can enjoy just as much as those who came before. Simply put, this is who I am. The dreamer, the fighter, the creative soul, and the person who will never stop going forward.

If you have good eyes, you might have read on the picture above that this book is ''by the bestselling author of It's Kind of a Funny Story''. Why am I making this remark? Because this is exactly why I picked up this book. It's Kind of a Funny Story is one of my favorite stand alone; for me, Ned Vizzini had the same talent as Andrew Smith : his writing was real.

Since I started my blog, I did two ''top ten'' posts and turns out there's actually a weekly meme that exists. So as of today, I will try to participate in this cool weekly meme, created by The Broke and the Bookish!

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is fairytales retaillings. 

I bought two books yesterday and already started reading one of them : All the Bright Places.
This book... I'm not even halfway and I know it's going to become one of my favorite.

Three men are killed. The only clues are tiny cuts all over their bodies. At the same time, seven students are thrown into an environment that no man had ever dreamed of.

This is Micro.

See this picture? It's beautiful isn't it? You would think a book with such an amazing cover would have an equally amazing story, but no. I made the mistake to judge a book by its cover and I got very disappointed. 


WARNING this review may contain spoilers