Talking As Fast As I Can Blog Tour: 5 Reasons to Love Lorelai Gilmore & Giveaway

Hello everyone and welcome to my stop on the Talking As Fast As I Can blog tour! I'm a huge fan of Gilmore Girls and Lauren Graham in general, so today I wanted to share with you the top five reasons I love Lorelai Gilmore and give you the chance to win Lauren Graham's new book Talking As Fast As I Can, an essential read for any Gilmore Girls fan!

1.) She understands the importance of junk food

2.) She's weird, awkward and relatable

3.) She always has the best advice

4.) Her witty comebacks are serious goals

5.) She's fiercely loyal to those she loves

Don't miss your chance to win Talking As Fast As I Can over on Twitter!

⭐️GIVEAWAY⭐️
Win a copy of Talking As Fast As I Can by @theLaurenGraham
Follow @JessHeartsBooks &RT to enter
UK only https://t.co/rHaJD87G5u pic.twitter.com/7keNYTUYmx

— ❄ Jess ❤'s Books ❄ (@JessHeartsBooks) December 5, 2016

Six of Crows Blog Tour: Six signs you have what it takes to join Kaz's crew!

Today I am so excited to be hosting "Six signs you have what it takes to join Kaz's crew" as part of the Six of Crows blog tour. I'm sure a lot of you know that I am a massive fan of the Grisha trilogy and Six of Crows and it is always a pleasure to have Leigh on the blog! This is a joint tour so make sure you check out Reading Teen as well for the sister part to this post!

Here is a special message from Six of Crows author Leigh Bardugo herself about today's post...

"Hey, Jess! Thank you so much for being a part of the Six of Crows blog tour. I've been living with the members of Kaz's crew for so long that it's hard to remember exactly how they all came into being and developed their particular skills, but I can at least tell you who arrived first: Matthias, Nina, and Kaz. 

A few years back, my agent Jo and I were on a bus in Ireland (long story), discussing possible bonus content we could offer fans of the Grisha trilogy. I realised that I really wanted to write something from the point of view of a Fjerdan drüskelle, one of the deadly witchhunters who pursue Grisha. Because as frightening and brutal as they are, I could still understand the fear that would drive them. I wanted to put a Grisha soldier and drüskelle into a survival situation and see what might happen. But was it a short story? A novella? I wasn't sure. Then I got the idea for Six of Crows and I had my answer: Nina and Matthias, two people with some serious history and plenty of prejudice between them, would be part of the team forced to band together to pull off an impossible heist. 

As for Kaz, the leader of the crew, his story began with an idea for a character known as Dirtyhands, a boy for whom no deed was too low, no job too dangerous. He's the criminal you go to when you're out of other options, the person you don't want to be indebted to, the guy you never want to hear knocking on your door. As soon as I knew who would be leading the team, the rest of the characters began to take shape."

Six Signs You Have What It Takes To Join Kaz's Crew 

To join Kaz's Crew you need to be...Resilient 

A big theme throughout Six of Crows is resilience and to be part of Kaz's crew you need to have it in buckets. The crew is made up of characters with horrific pasts but what's important is that you bounce back from the horrors of the world time and time again and be stronger for it.
Most Resilient Crow: Kaz 

To join Kaz's Crew you need to be...Cunning

This crew has an impossible heist to pull off so you need to be ruthless and willing to do anything to see the mission through. Each crew member needs to be cunning enough to make sure that nothing stands in their way.
Most Cunning Crow: Jesper 

To join Kaz's Crew you need to be...Calm 

With all the craziness that comes with being a crow crew member you need to be able to keep your cool in situations where chaos is going on around you. You need to be able to stay calm and focused to complete what needs to be done.
Most Calm Crow: Nina 

To join Kaz's Crew you need to be...Intelligent

To be part of Kaz's crew you need to think outside of the box. Heist's take a lot of planning beforehand but you also need to be somebody who thinks on their feet to save yourself and your crew from tricky and unexpected situations.
Most Intelligent Crow: Wylan 

To join Kaz's Crew you need to be...Courageous 

Being a crow means willingly putting yourself in dangerous situations as part of the job but as well as risking your life daily you're also going to have to face and overcome some of your most personal demons.
Most Courageous Crow: Inej

To join Kaz's Crew you need to be...Strong 

Whilst it's good to have physical strength, as a crew member it's more important that you're mentally strong. To live life as a crow you need to have incredible inner strength in order to face a life of trickery, deceit and risk.
Most Strong Crow: Matthias 

Giveaway 
From 24/9 - 29/9, bloggers in the US and UK will be paired up to share their own Six of Crows-inspired lists, such as six tips for surviving the Grishaverse, six signs you do/don't have what it takes to join Kaz's crew, and more.

But wait. There's more! Enter to win a Six of Crows prize pack full of US AND UK swag by commenting on all 12 blog posts by 11:59pm EST Friday, October 2.

See Leigh on Tour!

For more of my thoughts on Six of Crows check out my review here.

What Kind of Book Buyer Are You?

As a book lover I tend to visit a lot of bookshops regularly (as we do) and I’m also friendly with a few booksellers. Over time I’ve come to find that there are six (to my knowledge) types of people who buy books from a book shop. I thought that it would make a fun post to share with you my findings today.

The Researcher:- 
First off we have the category that I myself fall into. The Researcher knows what they like and what they want from their books. They spend hours reading reviews and have a carefully selected wish list. The Researcher rarely picks up books on a whim and they tend to know an awful lot about a book before reading it. The Researcher goes to a bookshop on a mission with a list of books in mind. Nothing beats the satisfaction of finding the book that they want in stock nor the disappointment on discovering that they don’t carry the book in question.

The Browser:- 
The Browser is my personal favourite kind of book buyer. They treat bookshops as their own personal cave of wonders. They can lose hours perusing the bookshelves, occasionally pulling out books that catch their attention. You can often find them sitting in one of the comfy chairs flicking through their findings before deciding if they want to buy. The Browser loves bookshops and the art of book shopping almost as much as they love reading itself.

The Cover Lover:- 
Whilst it’s true that the cover lover will often fall victim to a beautiful cover design it’s also the marketing on the outside of the book that can catch their attention. I’m talking about a snappy synopsis, a quote from a favourite author and award winner stickers. Cover Lovers can often be found in bookshops near public transport looking for a cover that catches their attention with promises from the press to be a great read. After all, they don’t have time to investigate much further; they have somewhere to be and are looking for a good book to pass the journey with.

The Bargain Hunter:-
The Bargain Hunter is perhaps the most easily recognisable type of book buyer. They are the ones clutching tightly to their smartphones blatantly looking for a cheaper offer online and comparing prices. If they are shopping in a group or with another person you may overhear them say “I think I’ll leave it, it’s cheaper on Amazon.”

The Newbie:- 
The Newbie can be a person of any age who has just discovered a book (or new genre) they love for the first time. Wide eyed they’ll excitedly dash over to the area in the store where they discovered their first love looking for something similar. Booksellers are the newbies new best friend as they ask for more books by the same author or similar titles.

The Wanderer:- 
The Wanderers are a diverse bunch. They usually exclude book lovers altogether and tend to come into a bookshop with their last intention being to buy a book. I’m talking about the civilians off the street looking for free Wi-Fi, coffee, shelter, and a toilet amongst other things. You know the type. They’ll do a full rotation of the shop whilst exclaiming to their friend that they “don’t really read.”

 So there you have it. The six types of people I’ve encountered whilst book shopping. Which group do you fall into? Have you ever come across a different type of book buyer?

The Taylor Swift Book Tag

This tag was created over at The Book Life and I decided to do it because it gave me an excuse to listen to Taylor Swift for an hour, answer questions, look up funny Taylor Swift Gifs and think about books.

1. We are never getting back together: a book or series you were pretty sure you were in love with but then wanted to break up with
A big one that stands out for me this year is Conversion by Katherine Howe. I went into it sure I was going to love it and in the beginning I did but then I just got really bored and even though I stuck with it till the end I wish we had a book break up and I didn't waste my time.

2. Red: pick a book with a red cover
I've gone with one of my favourite covers of the year...

3. The best day: pick a book that makes you feel nostalgic
Last Chance by Sarah Dessen. I got my first copy of this book free with a magazine when I was around thirteen years old. I took it on holiday with me and read it over and over that summer and so I have a lot of fond memories attached to it. It was also the book that sparked my love for Sarah Dessen.

4. Love Story: pick a book with a forbidden love
I'm going to go with my latest favourite book with a forbidden love and that is The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski. Not only did I love this book but I loved the romance here.

5. I knew you were trouble: pick a book with a bad character you couldn’t help but love
This is a bit of a strange pick but I'm going to go with Bloody Mary from James Dawson's Say Her Name. At times, as legend suggests, she was so scary but other times I felt really endeared towards her.

6. Innocent: pick a book that someone ruined the ending of 
Mockingjay. I think this was actually the first time I ever encountered a spoiler for a book on the internet and it was a couple of days after Mockingjay came out. Still not over it.

7. Everything has changed: pick a book that has a character who goes through extensive character development
A character who really stands out in my mind is Sydney from Vampire Academy and Bloodlines by Richelle Mead. I actually didn't care for Sydney that much in VA and when I heard the Bloodlines spin off series was going to be about her I wasn't too keen but now five books into that series she has developed so much and is now one of my favourite heroines.

8. Forever and always: pick your favourite book couple
I have so many favourites and I can't choose an ultimate one so instead I will go for one of my new favourite couples of this year and that is Beast and Sybella from Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers.

9. You belong with me: most anticipated book release
Right now I am pining for Ashes to Ashes the final book in the Burn for Burn trilogy by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian. Luckily I don't have much longer to wait!

10. Come back, be here: pick a book you wouldn’t lend out to anyone for fear of missing it too much
My signed copy of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. It's one of my favourite books and most treasured possessions and it's never leaving my side.

11. Tear drops on my guitar: a book that made you cry a lot
I'm such a crier especially when it comes to books but the book I think I cried the most with both whilst reading and after reading is Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. If you've read it you'll know why.

12. Shake it off: a book that you love so much you just shake off the haters
I almost didn't give this book a chance because it was receiving a lot of bad reviews on Goodreads and I'm so glad that I did because it's actually one of my favourite reads of 2014 and that book is The Rain by Virginia Bergin. A lot of people didn't like the main character but I actually found Ruby's voice to be really different and what made this book so good.

The End