Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Red, White, & Blue Cover

Two posts in a row, that's a record! The joke aside, this week's topic of Top Ten Tuesday is more special due to the 4th of July in the USA. Basically, you need to choose books with red, white and blue covers or your country's colours if you prefer. I'll do two editions, the first would be in these colours - red, white and blue since I live in the UK now and the flag has the same colours as the USA. The second one would be with my home country colours which are white, green and red for Bulgaria.

    Books with Red, White, & Blue Covers

1) United Kingdom

2) Bulgaria

 Okay, they aren't fully coloured in one colour but you get the main idea. I love The Selection covers, they're so beautiful! Actually, I selected only favourite books of mine for this tasks. Well, I like the covers and I love the books! Which are the colours of your country?

Book Blogger Hop: 2 July 2018

Hello everyone! Lately, I forgot a little bit about this blog, I have another one in my native language and I was posting there so I ended up being active only on one blog, again. My other blog is older than this one and it's called Melly's Book Blog. I have notes about which topics and dates I'd like to make and I forgot making the topic two weeks ago but never mind, past is past. This week's topic is about Instagram and I really, really wanted to make it because I became more active on Instagram and posting only bookish related things since my profile was too general. I'll show you a screenshot of my profile and give you the link. You can follow me if you want to. 😊

      Do you have an Instagram account? If so, do you only follow book folks?

As you can see, my Instagram is called the same way as my blog - Shattered Shelves, so the easier to find. I'm not the typical bookstagrammer, I can't stick to a specific theme and colours always. If you scroll down you'll see at least several different themes. I like having a theme for some time then change it in a way that every photo suits the one before. I don't know if that sounds strange but I like having a scheme and making everything beautiful. My last theme as you can see is silver and gold. Due to my Instagram, I've bought a bunch of normally not very needful things for decoration so I can use them in my photos.

To answer the second question - no, I definitely don't follow only bookstagrams. I follow some celebrities I'm interested in as well some tennis accounts I like because I'm a huge tennis fan(you can see a few tennis related posts in my profile) and I follow someone I know I'm interested in or like their photos. I don't just follow everyone because of the label (book or tennis folk).

Well, I'd love to know what you think about my Instagram. I quite enjoy making this Book Blogger Hop posts, they're different and I love writing and expressing an opinion, to be honest.

Book Blogger Hop

The Black Dagger Brotherhood: An Insider's Guide by J.R. Ward

   ADDITIONAL BOOK TO "BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD"

  This review might be a bit shorter, I'm not pretty sure. An Insider's Guide is actually a novella of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. However, it contains more than an additional story.

  The book contains cut scenes from the books published till now, interviews with the Brothers(that I enjoyed a lot), short stories, detailed information about the books, funny stuff, and most importantly - writing tips from the author herself, J.R. Ward.

She said how someone can become a writer (like needful qualities for the job) and many useful pieces of advice. One of my favourites which I made into a quote was:

"I kind of believe writers are born, not made - but that’s not specific to writing. I think it’s true of athletes and mathematicians and musicians and artists and engineers and the hundred million other endeavours that humans pursue."

  I couldn't agree more with her. That's why I hate when I'm forced to do something when I know I'm not good at it, I don't like it nor get it, this is like a two-way torture. Also about writing, when people simply say "Hey, I'll write", no nope, it doesn't work like that. You need a talent and a very good language knowledge(trust me, I've seen such horrible pieces of writing that I want to tell the person to stop and write never again because he/she can get a Golden Raspberry Award for his/her work). You can't just decide you wanna be a nuclear physicist, for example, without any clue about Physics. So please, if you have no talent for writing, don't write, if literature was a person she(I think it's a she) would scream!
  I really loved the story Father Mine which is a novella about Zsadist and Bella along with their daughter Nalla. It's mainly about Nalla and it's very soon after the birth. I was so sad for Z, he simply didn't like having her near his past but fortunately, everything sorted out.
The chats with the Brothers were so funny but a bit confusing to follow. Well, exactly like a real chat then. Also, I liked the excerpts from all of the books, some of them are so damn funny! It's so cool to have them at an easy access in the book, certainly, I'm dying laughing at some of them.
  Well, I'd recommend reading the Insider's Guide, it's nice and funny, it's simply a short novella so it doesn't matter if you read it or not. This one is quite different and interesting, there are so many things you can read about. J.R. Ward has made a very amusing additional book. I don't see why not read it; it contains some very juicy and curious things, I think you'll find it interesting even if you don't like reading novellas.
  The Bulgarian edition has a very pretty woman on the cover and I really like how the publishers make their covers, they're so beautiful!

Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward

  BOOK SIX OF "BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD"

The sixth book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood is about Phury, the twin brother of my favourite of the Brothers - Zsadist. The thing I love the most about him is his hair which is tricoloured and is simply amazing! I like his eyes as well, yellow eyes just like Z's sometimes when they turn back to normal. It's such a pity Z doesn't have any hair, it would've been the same as Phury's. Phury isn't a bad character but he has his own demons as well.

Overall, Phury is the complete opposite of Zsadist. While Z is the bad and dangerous one, Phury is always the good one, even his appearance is more handsome than his brother's. Their hairs(if Z had one) must be in three colours - blonde, brown and black but the most unique feature to me is their eyes - yellow ones.

About the book... there's something I really don't like and that's the problem of Phury with drugs. He's addicted and it's a shame. I don't understand how such nice and adorable person can have such a weakness. Honestly, I had no idea about his past as it was always about Zsadist and the kidnapping but I never really thought about what might have happened in his family.

I think Phury's biggest problem is blaming himself for what happened to his twin. It was a fifty-fifty chance which twin would be kidnapped and they were babies, it's not like he could've done anything anyway. It's so sad because it wasn't his fault but still he had to witness his parent's sorrow and their deaths feeling even more guilty. So indeed, despite being home and safe, he was as miserable as his enslaved brother. And now, he's the one who needs help and there's only one person who's able to do it.

Cormia is beautiful and kind, I knew she was perfect for him from the very beginning. But the thing with the Primale... well, it was kind of a huge problem here. Not that I expected him to be with all these females. Hells, he was restraining from sex so that should've been horrifying for him - become a Primale with all the duties... But Cormia was standing out from the crowd; she wanted to be the only one to Phury not share him with her sisters.

The Bulgarian cover on the right is so delicate and I really love it. The girl is very beautiful and has very gentle features. The man isn't bad also, somehow corresponding to my visions of Phury. I'm very intrigued by the glowing pendant as well, it's curious.

It can be said I liked Lover Enshrined. The ending was so cute. Phury did not deserve to suffer anymore due to the past and he found the right woman. Bella wasn't the one for him anyway, she was meant to be with Zsadist and heal him but Cormia... oh, she's so perfectly suitable with Phury! They are completely meant to be!

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Ah, mais n'est-ce pas magnifique? Sorry for the French, I know several languages and I simply like using them all. As I said before in my review of Notre-Dame de Paris, Victor Hugo is one of my favourite classic authors. His books are so incredibly written, they're fully developed and thoughtfully complicated. Even I haven't read this book at once. When I first started it I was too young and so not ready for this. I couldn't comprehend it so I stopped and continued reading it sometime later when I knew I can assimilate it. Victor Hugo's books are very hard to understand and I don't think they're suitable for too young people. You need a bit of maturity to fully comprehend his style and literature. Nevertheless, Les Misérables is a masterpiece. There's hardly any book that can be compared to this one.

  I really like that book and I'm so proud of myself for reading such a classic in world literature. At first, it was a bit boring and I couldn't understand who's that bishop called Bienvenue, aka welcomed(that sounds strange in English). I knew he helps the poor but that didn't seem intriguing enough. But with time you'll see there're many stories in the book and Hugo knew what he was doing - you really get a detailed lifetime. With time I got more and more captured and the plot became clearer to me. I understood as well Victor Hugo liked delaying and killing his characters(I hope it isn't a spoiler) a few characteristics I have in common with him. Well, we're both born in February, I think there's a lot more to it.

  Despite the many, many characters in the book, the very main one I think it's Jean Valjean. He's a noble peasant imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, yeah, the absurdity of past. However, he's nobler than thousands of other people. And everyone who has read this book would see in the end that he's the most miserable person of them all. I liked the relationship father-daughter between Jean Valjean and Cosette, it was so purely described and it melted my heart. À la fin, I was really heartbroken. 

  Les Misérables is so skillfully developed and the story is so wide that you can't understand what exactly is about at the beginning. Well, its more than 1400 pages and trust me, there's a lot to read. That's exactly why I interrupted my reading, I was confused and didn't know what's going on so I decided to stop but I'm so glad I continued later. Hugo is such a craftsman, he tells the stories of so many people and lives... In the end, I understood the meaning of the book. After all, it's called The Miserables(in English) and there's not a single storyline but many, many others telling the stories of so many unfortunate people. In addition, I liked it so much and I fell in love with the book. It's a masterpiece and if you like reading classics you should definitely read that one. It might be difficult and you might not succeed in the first attempt like me but give it a chance; I promise you won't regret it. There're hardly any books with the same value as Les Misérables.

I'd love to share some beautiful quotes from the book.

“He never went out without a book under his arm, and he often came back with two.”
 - Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”
 - Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward

  BOOK FIVE OF "BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD"

  The fifth book in the BDB series is about Vishous. He isn't one of my favourite Brothers because he likes some extravagant stuff which I really don't like. If you know me, you'd know that I hate 50 shades so... I don't see anything erotic in this s**t. It's a pity he's such a genius and likes things like that. I admit I envy him his intelligence because I like learning and I always want to know more. Computers to him are like the Tamagotchi we the kids of early 00's remember. He's familiar with every technology, science, languages... That's pretty impressive. And to add his ability with his hand to burn things... how can't you like him even more?

  The story of V and Jane is different from the other Brothers maybe because V has his own dark secret. I won't comment on the intimate parts of the book, as I said - not my part. Well, at least it's different from the others, it would've been too one and the same if everyone was like the others. Dr Jane isn't my favourite female character also but in the end, I was so angry about what happened to her. She's a good person and she makes the perfect couple with Vishous. She can understand him and she can see that there's a lot more behind the big brain, like a hear and a soul.

  Well, you might be pretty surprised of V's parents. They're pretty... famous, especially his mother. I liked what she did in the end but I would've hated her as well if I was in his shoes. She left him with his so-called father who abused him and hated him. Having in mind Vishous was his only son (that's such a big thing for narrow-minded people in the past) and it's simply irrational to treat him like that! Usually, males are proud of a firstborn male heir but he... No, I don't get it.

  At least, the ending was sufficient and completely in J.R. Ward's style. Lover Unbound meets the expectations and it's fine. I also like the storyline beyond the love story because I'm so into the vampires' world! This is definitely my favourite vampire series, I don't want to read about any other vampires tbh.

  I think the cover is a nice dark red colour. I wanted to ask you for some time, what do you think about the Bulgarian editions I share with you? Do you like them? And do you think they're better than the originals?

Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward

  BOOK FOUR OF "BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD"

  The fourth book in the BDB series is about Butch. I liked it a lot actually. That cover... okay, I don't like orange, at all. But wait 'til you see the BG one, it's awesome. The woman from behind is a brilliant idea and it's so beautiful. Oh, and the cover is purple! Yeah, you can say I like purple(*cough* my whole blog design is so purple haha). Only the man looks a bit too humane but... wait, did I mention Butch is a human? So the cover fits all the way.

  As I said, this is another one of my favourite books in the series. Honestly, I liked the storyline with Butch and his development and not that much their love story with Marissa. At some point, I was getting really annoyed at her and I don't know what would I've done to her if she hadn't come to her senses.

  I like that JR Ward thinks that every character should have its own story and a happy ending(well, most of the time). But it'd be very awful if someone doesn't have one and the others are simply continuing with their lives and he/she is miserable.

  Butch became a very important figure in the war with the Lessening Society and I'm happy about it because he was feeling so useless in this vampire world. I haven't mentioned that but I like how the names of the characters are some specific words, like The Destroyer. Or Wrath, or Vishous... 

  Butch is always a funny character; some of the funniest moments in the series are with him. I didn't like that at some point his friendship with Vishous turned out in another direction. I just... I'm not into this kind of things, okay? I'm not insulting anyone but I'm not supposed to like it either.

  I like the ending, it was so intriguing. I wish there was some more. Butch's story... I don't think it's finished, no, there's a lot more to it. Having in mind his origins... oh, yes, I think it's going to be interesting and I really hope Ward has included something more for him in the future. Because Lover Revealed is hardly enough to satisfy my never-ending curiosity and hunger for knowledge.