Dinara Tengri

Last week I went through a list of best books, movies and TV- shows that I had the pleasure of discovering in 2016. This week, I'm going in the opposite direction. But rather than making a list of the worst books etc, I want to list all the pop culture stuff that left me disappointed. For instance, there's only one book on this list that I gave a one star rating. It's also why you won't find the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie on this list. Sure, the movie was a piece of bubble gum garbage, but I didn't expect it to be anything else. The titles featured on this list I did have high hopes for. Books 1. Dawn of Rebellion , by Michelle Lynn Here's an example of a great premise that has been poorly executed. 2. Hurricane Moon , by Alexis Glynn Latner And here's another one. 3. Binti , by Nnedi Okorafor Here's an example of when a book doesn't live up to its hype. 4. Lords of the Sith , by Paul S. Kemp Wh...

Merry Christmas! I hope you're all having a great holiday season. My holiday season consists of long hours spent in my school library, reading up on stuff like oral mucosa, tooth eruption and a cute little germ called S. streptococci. That doesn't mean that I don't get my fair share of Christmas joy. Just last night I watched Home Alone again for the hundredth time and, turns out, I still love it. Despite the fact that this movie is basically torture porn. And now it's time for some annual lists. Some of the best and some of the worst stuff that I read and /or watched this year. We'll start off with the Best list. Now, some of these picks may seem confusing, because they're definitely not from 2016, but I'm listing the best books, movies, and TV-shows that I discovered in 2016. Some of these titles have links to my reviews. You can also check out my list of Top Ten New to Me Authors of 2016 for some of the great books that didn't make the ...

Title: Red Rising (Red Rising, #1) Author: Pierce Brown Year of publishing: 2014 Publisher: Del Rey (Random House) Source: I bought this book at a discount price. So I just finished reading author Pierce Brown's debut novel, Red Risin g, and I feel like a bloodydamn fool (that's a term from the book, pun intended) for having committed to this 400 page piece of fiction right in the middle of the super busy exam/holiday season. Yeah, starting such a big project in the midst of all the studying, gift buying, and holiday planning was definitely not one of my smartest moves. I just missed reading books. And I wanted to try something new. Of course, this project would not have felt like a giant waste of time had I finished the book and said to myself " Wow! This is a very good story! It feels so honest and sincere, and I like all of the characters. This book was definitely worth my time! " Yes, that was sarcasm and I'm not making any attempts at being subtle ...

First things first: I'm done with NaNoWriMo, and I won!  With a total of 51,186 words. And that's the end of that chapter.  The year is drawing to a close, which means it's time for summaries, and some "best" and "worst" lists. The Broke and the Bookish (who host this meme), are listing top ten new to them authors of 2016, and I'm doing the same . This year, I've decided to put the authors in two categories - fiction and non-fiction - and write a few words about what makes them so special. Non-fiction 1. Rebecca Skloot The author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks , the only book that the school is making us read. With the risk of spoiling the upcoming review, Skloot does a fantastic job balancing all sides of the story behind the HeLa cells, and the people who were affected by it. This was one of the most informative and engrossing books I have read in my life, so the author definitely deserves a spot on my...