Blogger Recognition Award

I'd like to thank Cindy @The Chronicles of a Book Maniac for nominating me for the Blogger Recognition Award.  This award was created by Eve @Edge of Night.

Rules:
1. Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to. Do some digging if you must! Find those blogs. You cannot nominate yourself or the person who has nominated you.

2. Write a post to show off your award! Give a brief story of how your blog got started, and give a piece or two of advice to new bloggers. Thank whoever nominated you, and provide a link to their blog. List who you've nominated in the post. 

3. Make sure to also attach the award itself! (You can do this by right-clicking, saving, and uploading the image above).

4. Comment on each blog and let them know you've nominated them. Provide a link to the award post you created.

5. Provide a link to the original post on Edge of Night. That way, anyone can find the original guidelines and post if needed, and we can keep it from mutating and becoming confusing! (It happens LOL).

How My Blog Got Started

I am going to go into a lot of depth for this (and I might ramble a bit), so please bear with me.  Several years back, I discovered the world of book blogging when I found Fiction Freak, Nikki's book blog.  Right away, I loved how she introduced me to books I would have never originally picked up, and just shared her opinions on all things bookish in general.  Then about a year and a half ago, I discovered Goodreads, and made a bunch of good friends there, and as more and more of them began blogging (like Rachel of A Perfection Called Books, Cass and Belle of Fangirling Misses, and Tia of Read It Write Now), I really wanted to make a blog of my own.  In addition, I have always been a huge book "nerd" and have never had much of an outlet for expressing my love for books because most of my friends are not bibliophiles like I am.  Those blogs were created about a year (or more) ago, but I did not create my blog until two months ago because I was unsure of myself.  Then when I mentioned my dream of becoming a blogger, one of my friends told me I couldn't handle it.  If anything bothers me, it's when someone thinks I can't do something because I am too shy or socially awkward.  Yes, I am both shy and an introvert, but when it comes to voicing my opinions (at least in writing, anyway), I like to think I am more open and eloquent.  And thus Literary Legionnaire was created.

Some Tips for New Bloggers

1. Don't give up.  This may sound very generic, but it's true.  I wanted to give up several times toward the beginning of my blogging, but I realized that's not what I ultimately wanted in the long run, and I'm so glad that I didn't quit.  Once you get into the flow of things, you'll start to realize how much work it is, but also how much FUN it is.  Especially once you start reaching out to people and making friends.  (Which leads me to my next advice.)
2. Reach out to other bloggers!  I was originally scared to reach out to some blogs since they seemed so much better (well-written, better designed, etc.), but by making connections you can make friends who understand your love of blogging (and other common interests) and learn from them too!  And everyone may seem intimidating because their blogs are so fantastic, but so far from experience everyone is so nice.
3. Just be yourself.  It's better to be genuine and it will be more satisfying and fun if you're not trying to impress everyone else, but aren't being yourself.  It will feel more like work if you force yourself to be someone you aren't when you blog.  (Although I do admit I do cringe sometimes at how formal and not laid-back I sound when I write my posts.  Or maybe that's just me.  I don't know.)  Anyway, just be yourself because everyone may not love you, but it's better if many like you for who you are than everyone liking you for someone you aren't.

Nominations - Since I am still pretty new to the blogging world, I couldn't think of 15 blogs to nominate, but I tried my best.  (Most of these people I mentioned above, but some of them I didn't.)

1. Rachel @A Perfection Called Books (and her new co-blogers Mishma and Julia Anne!)
2. Cass and Belle @Fangirling Misses
3. Tia @Read It Write Now
4. Julia Anne @Peach Print
5. Mishma and Jillian @Chasing Faerytales
6. Emily @Forever Literary

~ Alexandra

Physical Books vs. eBooks - Pros and Cons

Hey everyone!  Today I'd like to share some pros and cons when reading physical books and eBooks.  I am a girl who loves being able to turn the pages of a book and just hold a copy of a book in my hands.  I feel like that is the general feeling of many bookworms, however I find that I do occassionally jump between reading the physical and eBook formats.  I always prefer the physical book, but depending on the e-reader (Kindle, Nook, iPhone, etc.), I can read at a much slower or quicker pace than a physical book.  For instance, when I had a Kindle (it broke and I never replaced it), my reading productivity dropped significantly compared to reading a physical book, but I just finished reading a book on my iBooks app on my phone yesterday, and found myself unable to pull my eyes away from the eBook.

PROS OF READING AN eBOOK / CONS OF READING A PHYSICAL BOOK:

1. Night Reading

eBook Pro: Something about reading on my phone makes it seem like a smaller deal if I stay up late reading it.  It seems to happen a lot when I'm reading books on my phone, whether actually published on iBooks/Kindle/etc. or even on a website like Wattpad.  I guess what I'm saying is that since my phone is so small, the "pages" of the eBook are smaller, so I always make excuses to read "just one more chapter" (which always leads to me pretty much finishing the book).  And as an added bonus, it's easier to sneakily read books late at night when it's way past my bedtime if I'm on my phone.

Physical Book Con: Having all the lights in my room on or trying to read discreetly with a flashlight under the sheets is a pain.  You'll either be caught or extremely uncomfortable.  I prefer not to be trapped and all claustrophobic under the sheets trying to juggle a book and a flashlight.

2. Travel

eBook Pro: You can travel with dozens upon dozens (or hundreds upon hundreds, if you prefer) books at once without breaking your back.

Physical Book Con: I often do hurt my back from all the books I try to carry while on vacation.  I just want to read, and expect to read more than I actually do.

3. Bookmarks

eBook Pro: You don't have to worry about damaging your book and dog-earing the pages if you have no bookmark in sight -- the program often saves your place for you, or you can digitally dog-ear the page and then un-dog-ear it without harming the "page".

Physical Book Con: The fear of forgetting a bookmark and having to either use some random other inanimate object to mark your page (an unused tissue, a pencil/pen, etc.) or *gasp* dog-earing the page.

CONS OF READING AN eBOOK / PROS OF READING PHYSICAL BOOKS:

1. Feelings and Appearance

eBook Con: Physical books are more comforting and relaxing than a piece of technology.  eBooks are so… flat.  You can't experience them the way you can a physical book.  An eBook is all just one texture, and you can't admire it as much as a physical book.

Physical Book Pro: You can cuddle with a physical book, and are less likely to drop it on your face if you're reading while lying down.  Or apparently some people like to caress book covers (that can be all sorts of lovely textures: glossy and smooth, soft, etc.), strip hardcovers of their dust jackets and admire their inner beauty, turn the pages with their own hands instead of with a click of a button or swipe of a finger… even smell it if you're into that kind of thing. If you're into any of those things, cool.  I won't judge.  And the covers are usually so much prettier in real life than on a screen!

2. Font Size

eBook Con: Squinting.  Reading from a tiny phone screen is absolutely horrendous and can really hurt the eyes.  I know it hurts mine.  And I know that you can usually adjust the size of the text, but then there's only like, what? A paragraph per "page"? No thanks.

Physical Book Pro: For the most part, physical books' text are big enough to read without getting a headache.

3. Bookmarks

eBook Con/Physical Book Pro: Although it is nice to not have to worry about forgetting a bookmark (as noted earlier), it's also really fun to collect bookmarks.  Bookmarks are so fun -- they can be all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors, etc. and just express who you are.  There are tons of amazing bookmarks that show fandom pride or just have a quote that speaks to you on them.

4. Reading Sad Books (okay, this one might be a bit of a joke, but I thought I'd include it anyway)

eBook Con: If you're reading a sad book you can't ugly cry without worrying about damaging the technology you are holding in your hands.  (If a book is sad enough, my tears will flow like a waterfall and my phone may be in danger.  Maybe.  Probably not, but you get the idea.)

Physical Book Pro (sort of, not really): Obviously it is bad to drench book pages in tears too, but the water stains adds character and show that the book has been loved.

What are your thoughts on reading physical books vs. eBooks?  Are there any pros or cons to reading a certain format that stand out to you?  Which format do you prefer?
~Alexandra

Waiting on Wednesday (9)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Steampunk/Fairytale Retelling
Page Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication Date: August 25, 2015

Via Goodreads: Nicolette’s awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica” to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother’s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have turned her into a servant in her own home. 

But on her sixteenth birthday, Nicolette discovers a secret workshop in the cellar and begins to dare to imagine a new life for herself. Could the mysterious books and tools hidden there—and the mechanical menagerie, led by a tiny metal horse named Jules—be the key to escaping her dreary existence? With a technological exposition and royal ball on the horizon, the timing might just be perfect for Nicolette to earn her freedom at last.

Gorgeous prose and themes of social justice and family shine in this richly imagined Cinderella retelling about an indomitable inventor who finds her prince . . . but realizes she doesn't want a fairy tale happy ending after all.

~

I actually just recently found out about this book, but since then, I have been completely obsessed with the idea of this book.  I read a review of the book and it sounds like an awesome retelling that focuses less on romance and more on finding your place in the world and being true to yourself.  I can't wait for this one, and am super glad I only have to wait a few more weeks!

BookTubeaThon Wrap-Up

Well, BookTubeaThon is officially over, and I only managed to read 2 books within the past week.  I am a bit disappointed, but it's all good!! I was rather busy during the week, and I did manage to complete 3 out of 7 challenges, so I am rather pleased with that outcome, at least. (That's almost half the challenges done! Yay!) Here are the books I read:

Challenge 6 - a book that you really want to read:

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Challenge 1 - read a book with blue on the cover

Challenge 5 - finish a book without letting go of it

So that wraps up BookTubeaThon 2015… I am planning on participating on more readathons in the future, and reading even more great books!

~Alexandra

Ten Things About Me

It has been two months since I started blogging at Literary Legionnaire, and I just realized that I never really shared much about myself, so I figured better now than never.  As you probably already know, my name is Alexandra.  I am an avid reader who also loves writing, photography, music, movies and poetry.  I thought I would share ten random facts about me:

1. I don't have an *official* nickname.  I allow others to call me Alex (if they ask), on the blog my profile says A.J., and I go by Xandra (and derivations of that) on Goodreads, but I do not have an nickname that everyone calls me.  I always used to go by Alexandra, and lately so many people have just forced a nickname on me, so I guess I'm just experimenting with different ones at this point.  Because if I'm stuck with a nickname, I want one I like (and will actually respond to).

2. The only music genre I am unwilling to listen to is opera (although I have willingly seen an opera in the past).  I pretty much like all music, but lately I've been listening to a lot of Fall Out Boy and Green Day.

3. My favorite ice cream/frozen yogurt is Ben & Jerry's, and my favorite flavors are Phish Food and Half-Baked.  (Sooooo good!!!)

4. I have not read The Mortal Instruments series yet, but have been meaning to for several years.

5. I love watching anime and reading manga, but I have yet to follow many popular anime/manga series.

6. I enjoy learning, especially when it comes to history or science.

7. I am a huge fan of crime shows (like Law and Order, CSI, NCIS, Bones, Castle, etc etc.) but I get paranoid and freaked out by the crimes very easily.

8. My biggest pet peeve is bad grammar.  If a book (or anyone or anything) has bad grammar, chances are I won't like it.

9. My favorite TV show is So You Think You Can Dance.

10. Sky-diving is an activity on my bucket list, and it's only there because I am extremely afraid to do it and want to step outside of my comfort zone.

So that's just a little bit more about me!
~Alexandra

On Reading in Order (Whether It is a Series or Not)

This was originally going to be a review of Looking For Alaska, however I struggled to write the review.  Perhaps I will write that review one day, but let me just explain a bit… My eyes were opened to the wonderful books of John Green when The Fault in Our Stars was published.  I quickly fell in love with Green's eloquence and fluidness in his writing, but what caught my attention most was the way he wove philosophical ideas and big (often unanswerable) questions into the novels. His stories are always woven beautifully, and I look up to him as a true artist of the written word.  Discovering John Green's books those years ago truly opened my eyes to the beauty of writing (and reading).  I have always loved reading and writing, way before reading Green's books, but his books were different.  They seemed… magical.  Green is a true wizard with words.  (If by the end of my life, I somehow write a book that is as good as John Green's, I would feel accomplished.)  After discovering the beauty of TFIOS, I only recently began backtracking, reading both Paper Towns and Looking For Alaska within the past few months.

Although my love for John Green grew more after reading Paper Towns, I will admit I was just a tad disappointed by Looking For Alaska.  Don't get me wrong, Looking For Alaska is a true masterpiece and deserves the praise and awards it has received.  However, something about it was a bit… stale for me.  And it has nothing to do with the fact that the book is indeed 10 years old, it had to do with the fact that the characters, although unique and interesting in their own right, had similar flaws to those of Green's Paper Towns, that I already read.  Let me explain a bit:

Protagonists, Pudge (Looking For Alaska) and Quentin (Paper Towns), both are in love with/pining for a girl (Alaska and Margo, respectively) that they cannot have.  Pudge and Quentin proceed to believe they really know who said girl is, when in fact, they don't.  Yet they still think they love them and can somehow make the girls change their minds and stay with them.

Although Pudge and Questin, Alaska and Margo, and the overall plots of the two novels were EXTREMELY DIFFERENT, the end goal of the protagonists were generally similar in a very generic and broad way, and for some reason I also just kept comparing Alaska to Margo.  I cannot explain exactly why I felt this way throughout the book, but perhaps if I had read Paper Towns after Looking For Alaska, my thoughts would be very different.  Alas, that is not what happened.  So I must pose a question (or two):

Should we be reading authors' earlier works before the newer ones?  Is it right to judge an author's first book based on how far he/she has improved since?


I say this because 1) I enjoyed Paper Towns just a bit more than The Fault in Our Stars (for whatever reason), so in theory we are capable of liking an author's earlier works better, but on the other hand, 2) I truly enjoyed John Green's first novel, however something about it just did not quite work for me.  Everything was told beautifully and I loved the story, however I kept comparing it to his other works.  And the thing is, Looking For Alaska is significantly older than his other works.  It was his first novel, and although it was absolutely fantastic, he has been in the industry much longer now, and has been honing his writing craft further since Looking For Alaska.  I truly feel bad that I felt even the slightest bit disappointed; everything that I wanted in the book was there, yet at the same time something felt like it was missing.

This feeling of something missing happened to me earlier this year with another author as well.  About about a month ago, I started Sarah J. Maas' new series, A Court of Thorns and Roses.  It was brilliant.  Not John-Green-contemporary-brilliant, but brilliant in every way when it comes to fantasy and all that jazz.  You may know of Sarah J. Maas' popular series Throne of Glass.  Well, I am happy to say that I did read Throne of Glass (at least the first book), before reading her newest book.  However, since Maas' Throne of Glass is only the first in a huge series, with a new book coming out about every year or so (and since I am extremely behind on the rest of the series), I wanted to pick up the books again in order to catch up before the newest book comes out.  When I tried to pick it up, however, I felt myself comparing the new ACOTAR series with Throne of Glass.  Unlike Green's books, Maas' two series are written in completely different styles, and I found myself struggling to get back into the groove of Throne of Glass.  To be honest, ACOTAR set such high expectations for me that it makes me wonder whether I should just wait out on reading ACOTAR so I can truly enjoy Throne of Glass properly (since Throne of Glass is Maas' first creation), or try to balance the two series since they are coming out throughout the next few years.  It is not that there is a problem with any of the Throne of Glass books, but I just prefer the writing style of ACOTAR better, and I feel as if it may impact my opinions on the writing in the Throne of Glass series…

So, I will pose the same questions again: Should we be reading authors' earlier works before the newer ones?  Is it right to judge an author's first book based on how far he/she has improved since?  What do you think?
~Alexandra

Beat the Heat Readathon Sign-Up

I am super excited to announce that I am going to attempt another readathon this August!  I have been really behind on my reading for the readathon I am currently participating in, so I really wanted to give myself a second chance and see how well I can do!

The 3rd Annual Beat the Heat Readathon is hosted by Jessi @Novel Heartbeat and Reanna @Phantasmic Reads.

The Rules

• The Beat the Heat Readathon runs from August 24th at 12:00 AM to September 6th at 11:59 PM. What does this readathon entail, you ask? Well, read as much or as little as you want – the main point is to READ! You set your own goal, and for three weeks you read as many books as you can/want to reach your goal!

• There will be mini-challenges throughout the Readathon for participants, along with a grand prize giveaway at the end!

• Sign up here at Novel Heartbeat, or over at Phantasmic Reads. You may join whenever you like, but to be eligible for our grand prize giveaway, you must sign up by August 28th.

• To join, all you have to do is make a sign-up post – even if it’s just a “Let’s do this!” thing – and add your post URL to the linky below! You can put your goals and progress (will be required for the final giveaway) in your sign-up post, or you can make it separate. Totally up to you! (You are welcome to use the template we provide in the kick-off post as well.)

• In order to enter for the grand prize, you must have a post to keep track of your progress so we can see that you participated.

• Follow along on Twitter and share your progress with the hashtag #BtHReadathon!

I am hoping to read a lot for this readathon in order to catch up with some summer reading goals.  My goals (for this readathon) are as follows:
- read 7-9 books total
- read at least one classic
- participate in a few mini-challenges


Good luck to everyone who is doing the Readathon!
~Alexandra