Hey guys! In an attempt to be a better book blogger, I'm going to start trying to post monthly wrap ups and other fun things. So, since this is my first attempt at a wrap up, bear with me!
So, this month I finished 6 books (7 if you count the book of poetry I read for poetry class, but I'm going to let that one slide). Four of those six I finished this weekend.
Okay, how about some stats:
Six books totaling 1880 pages
One book read in the first week of April
One book read in the second week of April
Two books read in the fourth week of April
One book read in the fifth week of April
Three in paper format
Three in digital format
The books I read:
1. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
2. Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
3. Triangles by Ellen Hopkins
4. The Witches of the Glass Castle by Gabriella Lepore
5. The Duff by Kody Keplinger
6. Nothing Special by Geoff Herbach
I also started reading The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort and am about 110 pages in.
That's about all I've got for you... I have a review up of A Monster Calls, so feel free to check that out and let me know if you'd like to see a review or hear my thoughts on any of the other books I read this month!
Alright guys, well, my Summer of Series begins tomorrow, so I'm going to try my hardest to finish The Wolf of Wall Street tonight (I probably won't...). Check back later tonight or sometime tomorrow to find out what series I plan on kicking off the SoS with. And stay tuned for a MASSIVE book haul in the next few weeks!
Until next time,
xox
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Bout of Books Read-a-thon-- May12 - May18 2014
Okay, so the Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon, was great fun (even if I did get slightly distracted), so I've decided to give the Bout of Books Read-a-thon a try!
If you don't know what Bout of Books is, here's a convenient explanation provided by the Bout of Books team:
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
I'm fairly excited for this, especially since I'll be home from college and working on my Summer of Series. So yes, I can't wait to join in the fun!
Stay tuned for what I plan on reading!
I'll see you all soon!
xox
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon Update
So, I got a little sidetracked earlier and didn't exactly spend the entire day reading (there was a cardboard house building thing going on outside my window and the little kid in me wanted to explore!), but as of 10 minutes ago, I've finished two of the books on my list, The Duff and The Witches of the Glass Castle. So I can't complain to much. Plus there's still some time to add another book at least to the pile! I think I'm going to sway from my original list and try to read Nothing Special by Geoff Herbach.
To everyone else participating, happy reading!!!
xox
To everyone else participating, happy reading!!!
xox
Review #8- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Illustrated by Jim Kay
*WARNING*
Kinda-sorta spoiler-alert! Proceed with caution!
*Goodreads Page*
Goodreads synopsis- The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.
But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...
This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.
It wants the truth.
I went into this book expecting something super creepy and scary. What I got was so much more.
This is the first book I've ever read by Patrick Ness. I've heard nothing but amazing things about his books, so when I found A Monster Calls for really cheap, I had to pick it up. I was not disappointed. When I started it, I didn't really know what the book was about, apart from the fact that a boy is visited during the night by this monster. So when I got further in and realized what this book was really about, I fell even more in love with it.
The book follows a fourteen year old boy named Conor whose mother has cancer. One night, the old yew tree on the hill outside his house comes to life, turning into a monster, and comes for him. Conor, however, isn't afraid of the monster, because nothing, especially this monster, is as scary as the nightmare he keeps having. The monster comes to Conor to tell him three stories, and after the third story, Conor must tell the monster the nightmare, the truth, that Conor doesn't want to admit.
The story follows Conor as he comes to grips with his mother's illness, his isolation and bullying at school, and the truth that the monster is trying to get him to admit.
Even though going into this book, I had heard that is was a scary story, I found that it wasn't so much scary as heart-wrenching. The end of the book is equally heartbreaking, and heartwarming. I won't lie, I balled as I read the final pages. This is one of the best books I've read in a very long time, and I can't wait to read it again.
If you're looking for an amazing book with a wonderful story and a little deeper meaning, this is the book for you. If you aren't looking for any of that, this is still the book for you. I honestly can't recommend this book enough. It is a masterpiece of literature.
Kinda-sorta spoiler-alert! Proceed with caution!
*Goodreads Page*
Goodreads synopsis- The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.
But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...
This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.
It wants the truth.
I went into this book expecting something super creepy and scary. What I got was so much more.
This is the first book I've ever read by Patrick Ness. I've heard nothing but amazing things about his books, so when I found A Monster Calls for really cheap, I had to pick it up. I was not disappointed. When I started it, I didn't really know what the book was about, apart from the fact that a boy is visited during the night by this monster. So when I got further in and realized what this book was really about, I fell even more in love with it.
The book follows a fourteen year old boy named Conor whose mother has cancer. One night, the old yew tree on the hill outside his house comes to life, turning into a monster, and comes for him. Conor, however, isn't afraid of the monster, because nothing, especially this monster, is as scary as the nightmare he keeps having. The monster comes to Conor to tell him three stories, and after the third story, Conor must tell the monster the nightmare, the truth, that Conor doesn't want to admit.
The story follows Conor as he comes to grips with his mother's illness, his isolation and bullying at school, and the truth that the monster is trying to get him to admit.
Even though going into this book, I had heard that is was a scary story, I found that it wasn't so much scary as heart-wrenching. The end of the book is equally heartbreaking, and heartwarming. I won't lie, I balled as I read the final pages. This is one of the best books I've read in a very long time, and I can't wait to read it again.
If you're looking for an amazing book with a wonderful story and a little deeper meaning, this is the book for you. If you aren't looking for any of that, this is still the book for you. I honestly can't recommend this book enough. It is a masterpiece of literature.
Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon
I'm a little late to the party, but I've decided to join Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon. Check out this link for more details! Here's the link for the start times!
Basically, I'm going to read for 24 hours. Yes. Sounds fun! I'm just going to give you a quick list of the books I hope to read during this time.
1. The Witches of the Glass Castle by Gabriella Lepore
2. The Duff by Kody Keplinger
3. Atonement by Ian McEwan
4. The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort
Nothing too heavy, plus I'm kind of cheating because I'm a little over halfway done with The Witches of the Glass Castle, but I just really want to get done with that book, so yes. But I think this will be a fun segway into my Summer of Series, plus, what's more fun than reading for 24 hours straight?
Anyway, I think my timezone starts at 8am, so I'm gonna try to catch a few Zs, then get started! See you all in a few hours!
xox
Basically, I'm going to read for 24 hours. Yes. Sounds fun! I'm just going to give you a quick list of the books I hope to read during this time.
1. The Witches of the Glass Castle by Gabriella Lepore
2. The Duff by Kody Keplinger
3. Atonement by Ian McEwan
4. The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort
Nothing too heavy, plus I'm kind of cheating because I'm a little over halfway done with The Witches of the Glass Castle, but I just really want to get done with that book, so yes. But I think this will be a fun segway into my Summer of Series, plus, what's more fun than reading for 24 hours straight?
Anyway, I think my timezone starts at 8am, so I'm gonna try to catch a few Zs, then get started! See you all in a few hours!
xox
Friday, April 25, 2014
Summer of Series TBR List
Here are the books I plan to read in the coming summer months. I imagine I won't get to all of these (there are a lot, okay!), but I'll try my hardest to get through as many as I can!
In no particular order:
1. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare- City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire
2. The Hangman's Daughter books by Oliver Potzsch- The Hangman's Daughter, The Dark Monk, The Beggar King, The Poisoned Pilgrim
3. A Song of Ice and Fire books by George R. R. Martin- A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons
4. The Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage- Magyk, The Darke Toad, Flyte, Physik, Queste, Syren, Darke, Fyre, The Magykal Papers
5. The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini- Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance
6. The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness- The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, Monsters of Men
7. The Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire- Wicked, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, Out of Oz
8. The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson- Mistborn- The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages
9. Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor- Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Days of Blood and Starlight, Night of Cake and Puppets, Dreams of Gods and Monsters
10. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein- The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King
11. The Robert Landon books by Dan Brown- Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Inferno
12. The Inkworld series by Cornelia Funke- Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath
13. The Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larson- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Okay, so that's roughly 56 books. Think I can pull this off in three months? Let's see how far I can go. I'll keep you updated on the progress, so stay tuned!
xox
In no particular order:
1. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare- City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire
2. The Hangman's Daughter books by Oliver Potzsch- The Hangman's Daughter, The Dark Monk, The Beggar King, The Poisoned Pilgrim
3. A Song of Ice and Fire books by George R. R. Martin- A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons
4. The Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage- Magyk, The Darke Toad, Flyte, Physik, Queste, Syren, Darke, Fyre, The Magykal Papers
5. The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini- Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance
6. The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness- The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, Monsters of Men
7. The Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire- Wicked, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, Out of Oz
8. The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson- Mistborn- The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages
9. Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor- Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Days of Blood and Starlight, Night of Cake and Puppets, Dreams of Gods and Monsters
10. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein- The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King
11. The Robert Landon books by Dan Brown- Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Inferno
12. The Inkworld series by Cornelia Funke- Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath
13. The Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larson- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Okay, so that's roughly 56 books. Think I can pull this off in three months? Let's see how far I can go. I'll keep you updated on the progress, so stay tuned!
xox
Summer of Series!
Hey guys! So, if you follow me on twitter, you may or may not know that I went a little crazy these last few months and bought a LOT of books. A lot of these books are books in series that I've either started or want to start. I have quite a few completed series now in both physical and e-book form, so I decided what better way to spend my summer than to marathon the bazillion series' I have accumulated!
Beginning May 1 and going on till August 31, I will try my hardest to read all of the series I have accumulated. I encourage you all to do the same! Now, don't go out and buy a ton of book series just because (Unless you really want to). If you happen to have any unread series laying around, why not make this summer the summer you finish them? Or, if you've read all the series' on your shelves, check out your local library! No use spending money when your library has all the books you could want for FREE!
I'll update later the full list of books I plan on reading, so check back!
Until then,
xox
Beginning May 1 and going on till August 31, I will try my hardest to read all of the series I have accumulated. I encourage you all to do the same! Now, don't go out and buy a ton of book series just because (Unless you really want to). If you happen to have any unread series laying around, why not make this summer the summer you finish them? Or, if you've read all the series' on your shelves, check out your local library! No use spending money when your library has all the books you could want for FREE!
I'll update later the full list of books I plan on reading, so check back!
Until then,
xox
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Review #7- Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
*Goodreads Page*
Goodreads synopsis- Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the storyof how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa.
To make matters worse, Austin's hormones are totally oblivious; they don't care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation. He's stewing in a self-professed constant state of maximum horniness, directed at both Robby and Shann. Ultimately, it's up to Austin to save the world and propagate the species in this sci-fright journey of survival, sex, and the complex realities of the human condition.
I kept seeing booktubers hauling this book, and talking about how strange it sounded, and then a few booktubers reviewed this book, and I was like, "I HAVE TO HAVE IT!!!". So I bought it. I purchased Grasshopper Jungle on my Kindle, only because I didn't want to wait for it to be shipped to me. I wanted to read it immediately. All the reviews I read and saw said this book was really weird and strange, and weird and strange books are probably my favorite type of book. And oh man was this book weird.
Okay, so this book is told from 16 year old Austin's point of view. He is a self-proclaimed 'historian', and documents basically everything that happens in his life. He has notebooks full of his 'history', and Grasshopper Jungle is basically a history of the end of the world and how it came about and how he, his best friend Robby, and his girlfriend Shann are involved.
Let me just say that if you are opposed to reading books with quite a bit of swearing and sexual references, this book might not be for you.
If you are okay with all of that, then please, please, please pick this book up. You won't regret it! I swear! It made me laugh, i broke my heart, and it referenced one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors (The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier), three things that alone make a book great, but when thrown in all at once, make a book freaking spectacular! I honestly haven't read another book like Grasshopper Jungle, and I feel like I'll be hard-pressed to find one like it. It's so unique and intriguing and just weird and I really can't urge you to read it enough. So go buy it. Now. :p
xox
Goodreads synopsis- Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the storyof how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa.
To make matters worse, Austin's hormones are totally oblivious; they don't care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation. He's stewing in a self-professed constant state of maximum horniness, directed at both Robby and Shann. Ultimately, it's up to Austin to save the world and propagate the species in this sci-fright journey of survival, sex, and the complex realities of the human condition.
I kept seeing booktubers hauling this book, and talking about how strange it sounded, and then a few booktubers reviewed this book, and I was like, "I HAVE TO HAVE IT!!!". So I bought it. I purchased Grasshopper Jungle on my Kindle, only because I didn't want to wait for it to be shipped to me. I wanted to read it immediately. All the reviews I read and saw said this book was really weird and strange, and weird and strange books are probably my favorite type of book. And oh man was this book weird.
Okay, so this book is told from 16 year old Austin's point of view. He is a self-proclaimed 'historian', and documents basically everything that happens in his life. He has notebooks full of his 'history', and Grasshopper Jungle is basically a history of the end of the world and how it came about and how he, his best friend Robby, and his girlfriend Shann are involved.
Let me just say that if you are opposed to reading books with quite a bit of swearing and sexual references, this book might not be for you.
If you are okay with all of that, then please, please, please pick this book up. You won't regret it! I swear! It made me laugh, i broke my heart, and it referenced one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors (The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier), three things that alone make a book great, but when thrown in all at once, make a book freaking spectacular! I honestly haven't read another book like Grasshopper Jungle, and I feel like I'll be hard-pressed to find one like it. It's so unique and intriguing and just weird and I really can't urge you to read it enough. So go buy it. Now. :p
xox
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Review #6- The Here and Now by Ann Brashares
*Warning: Kinda-sorta-not-really spoiler(s)*
*Goodreads Page*
Goodreads synopsis-An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.
Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.
This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.
Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.
But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.
From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year.
I read a couple of Ann Brashares' Sisterhood books, and I did like them, but I had read anything else by her, so I didn't know what to expect, especially considering I don't think I've ever read a time-travel novel. I did like this book. I didn't love it, but it was good. It kept my attention, and I wanted to find out what would happen next. I also like the fact that the end wasn't the classic kind of ending you'd expect from this type of novel (or, at least, not the kind of ending that I expected). I did find it rather annoying, however, how much Ethan wanted to have sex with Prenna. It made me feel like he didn't really care for her, he just wanted to sleep with her. I just felt that in the time span that their relationship grew, it escalated rather quickly. I don't know, though, maybe it could be explained by the fact that Ethan had liked her since he first saw her 2(?) years ago.
But, anyway, for the most part, I did like this book, and I would recommend it, even though I don't usually like teen YA romance junk. But it was okay. And I liked the end.
*Goodreads Page*
Goodreads synopsis-An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.
Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.
This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.
Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.
But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.
From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year.
I read a couple of Ann Brashares' Sisterhood books, and I did like them, but I had read anything else by her, so I didn't know what to expect, especially considering I don't think I've ever read a time-travel novel. I did like this book. I didn't love it, but it was good. It kept my attention, and I wanted to find out what would happen next. I also like the fact that the end wasn't the classic kind of ending you'd expect from this type of novel (or, at least, not the kind of ending that I expected). I did find it rather annoying, however, how much Ethan wanted to have sex with Prenna. It made me feel like he didn't really care for her, he just wanted to sleep with her. I just felt that in the time span that their relationship grew, it escalated rather quickly. I don't know, though, maybe it could be explained by the fact that Ethan had liked her since he first saw her 2(?) years ago.
But, anyway, for the most part, I did like this book, and I would recommend it, even though I don't usually like teen YA romance junk. But it was okay. And I liked the end.
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