Tag Archives: City of Stairs

Book Confession: City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

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Name: City of Stairs
Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
Number of Pages: 464 in Paperback
Published: September 9th 2014
by Broadway Books
Genre: Fantasy, Adult, Science Fiction, Mystery

Goodreads

“Years ago, the city of Bulikov wielded the powers of the Gods to conquer the world. But after its divine protectors were mysteriously killed, the conqueror has become the conquered; the city’s proud history has been erased and censored, progress has left it behind, and it is just another colonial outpost of the world’s new geopolitical power. Into this musty, backward city steps Shara Divani. Officially, the quiet mousy woman is just another lowly diplomat sent by Bulikov’s oppressors. Unofficially, Shara is one of her country’s most accomplished spymasters-dispatched to investigate the brutal murder of a seemingly harmless historian. As Shara pursues the mystery through the ever-shifting physical and political geography of the city, she begins to suspect that the beings who once protected Bulikov may not be as dead as they seem-and that her own abilities might be touched by the divine as well.”

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thoughtsThis is not a book review if you’re thinking it is. Book Confession. Yeah. Sort of. I just made it up for the sole purpose of explaining why I’ll have a new book to read. I’ve been reading for God knows when and this is the first time. First. Time. That I haven’t finished a book and not wanting to continue reading it. I must admit that I set aside Shatter Me after reading a couple of chapters, but I’m really finding time to pick it up again, but this? I tried, but failed. This. Is. Not. For. Me. I felt the need to explain why though since a lot of readers loved this. I feel like a villain, but still, I don’t want to go back reading this. I don’t normally read Adult books, but this book pulled me right into it because of the good reviews, book cover and the blurb. Yeah. The book cover is gorgeous. The reviews were promising. To be honest, I’ve mistakenly assumed the blurb for something else and yeah, that’s my fault.

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My Week in a Wrapped #9

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SundayPost

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Another slow reading progress this week so I only posted one review and a bunch of memes. I’m pretty happy about it though. I only wish I could have more time lazing around, check awesome blogs (I want to see my friends’ Teasers, WoWs, etc. I haven’t done that in a while, it sucks!), write snail mails to friends, perhaps watch some TV and read tons. I guess I can have a nickname.. Ultimate Energizer Bunny cause I never slow down. I keep going and going and going. Yeah. Yeah. I know you get the point, but I want to stress it more. 😆 Anyway, I rarely logged in to Twitter and I was so happy (That I want to share this with you guys) when I checked my notifications and saw this:

Seriously? She actually read my review or this is something like “Hey assistant, check Twitter for anything about our book. Make sure to reply to keep readers happy.” LOL! 😛 I usually just received notifications that authors “Favorited Your Tweet” and that’s it. She even did this when I posted my Wow and Teaser Tuesday about Snow Like Ashes so I’m so happy (If this is really her).

Is this normal or I’m reacting like a newbie? I can’t help feeling like a kid on Christmas day while opening presents. 😆 Oh wait aside from Sara, I got this from Alexandra for my Suspicion Wow:

Romina Russel, author of The Zodiac tweeted this when I won her book’s giveaway 😀

And this is from Vicki for my WoW feature for Crown of Ice

That’s about it, the rest clicked “Favorite” or “Retweet” and done with it (Oh! That’s effort there). I’m not mad at them or even irritated. I didn’t expect my blog to be noticed since there’s a zillion bloggers worldwide. We all know how busy they are, but a single tweet of appreciation won’t hurt I guess. Especially if the reader exerted effort to spread the word (Even if it’s just from the assistant or secretary. Lol). Again, I’m not even expecting this. I’m just so happy they had time to reply so I felt the need to share it. Have you received something like this from Twitter or any of your social media accounts? If you did, how did you feel? Can you give me their names? Just curious. 😀

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Last Week On The Blog

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Book Beginning│Currently Reading : City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

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Currently Reading #30

Name: City of Stairs
Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
Number of Pages: 464 in Paperback
Published: September 9th 2014
by Broadway Books
Genre: Fantasy, Adult, Science Fiction, Mystery,

Goodreads

“Years ago, the city of Bulikov wielded the powers of the Gods to conquer the world. But after its divine protectors were mysteriously killed, the conqueror has become the conquered; the city’s proud history has been erased and censored, progress has left it behind, and it is just another colonial outpost of the world’s new geopolitical power. Into this musty, backward city steps Shara Divani. Officially, the quiet mousy woman is just another lowly diplomat sent by Bulikov’s oppressors. Unofficially, Shara is one of her country’s most accomplished spymasters-dispatched to investigate the brutal murder of a seemingly harmless historian. As Shara pursues the mystery through the ever-shifting physical and political geography of the city, she begins to suspect that the beings who once protected Bulikov may not be as dead as they seem-and that her own abilities might be touched by the divine as well.”

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I’m not really certain if this falls under Young Adult so I’ve researched and found out that this inclines more to the Adult genre. A bit hesitant in reading this since I don’t really enjoy adult books (I don’t want to feel an adult really. I want to stay young. LOL), but then again when I’ve read its blurb it triggered my curiosity to get the book. I’ve also checked reviews:

There is a lot of fantasy fiction out there and unfortunately, much of it is just a rehashing of the tired old tropes of wizards and elves and swords and onwards. City of Stairs was like nothing I have ever read before. I could praise Robert Jackson Bennett on his world building alone. I could read a history about the lands and cultures he created in this book and be incredibly entertained. And yet, despite all these new foreign locations and strange sounding character names, the whole fantastical story felt incredibly grounded in real human characters. They were tortured and lovable and funny. Overall, the book definitely lived up to the hype.
— Amanda Steinhoff, author of Lily and the Golden Lute
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My Week in a Wrapped #2

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SundayPost

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Got a three-day leave from work and guess what I did. Vacation? No. I slept all day and tried out recipes I found on Google. Fortunately, they turned out OKAY. Not really perfect, but tolerable. LOL! It was a nice feeling to finally have the time to rummaged the kitchen and threw away things that got spoiled and organized everything again.

It was just so refreshing having to wake up in the morning without worrying about work for a change. Not setting the alarm before I sleep and just snuggle up in bed as long as I want the next morning. A break I really needed. I have also tweaked the format of my blog. Not the entire blog really, but how I post each. Like a post layout. Got a refresher for my rusty HTML skills. If you are a long time reader of this blog, you’ll notice the difference. 😀

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Last Week On The Blog

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