Monday, September 1, 2014

August 2014 Wrap-Up



August was a really good reading month for me, especially considering I only really read for half of the month. And a lot of it was very good.
  • The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
  • Say Her Name by James Dawson
  • Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss #1) by Stephanie Perkins
  • Mortal Danger (Immortal Game #1) by Ann Aguirre (had started before)
  • Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss #2) by Stephanie Perkins
  • Unlocked by John Scalzi
  • The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles #1) by Patrick Rothfuss (had started previously)
  • Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss #3) by Stephanie Perkins
  • My Drunk Kitchen by Hannah Hart
  • Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices: Manga #1) by Clare & HyeKyung Baek
  • Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters Manga (PJM #2) by Riordan & multiple others
  • Sex Criminals, Volume One by Matt Fraction & Chris Zdarsky
  • Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices: Manga #2) by Clare & HyeKyung Baek
  • Clockwork Princess (Infernal Devices Manga #3) by Clare & HyeKyung Baek
  • Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
  • Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest by A. Lee Martinez
  • On Dublin Street (On Dublin Street #1) by Samantha Young
  • Wife By Wednesday (Weekday Brides #1) by Catherine Bybee
  • Married by Monday (Weekday Brides #2) by Catherine Bybee
  • Fiancee by Friday (Weekday Brides #3) by Catherine Bybee
  • Ariel: The Restored Edition by Sylvia Plath
  • The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde

I finally finished The Name of the Wind! Finally. And it was amazing and incredible and I'm sure surprised it was a slower read, but I think I might take a break before trying to read the second one. Mostly because it is over 1,000 pages, if memory serves, and also there's no release date yet on the third and that saddens me. 

I read a lot of good things this month, Ariel: The Restored Edition was incredible, but I still think my favorite of the month was the very first thing I read, because I still catch myself thinking about it randomly. The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black, which isn't out until January, so I'll be sitting here waiting to squeal with everyone else, I've always been a sucker for fae things.

This month I'll, hopefully, be putting up more reviews and catching up on the mini-review front. Now - onto what I posted throughout the month!





Reviews:
Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Memes/Other:

Read-A-Thons 
Bout of Books

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Beat the Heat Read-A-Thon: Update Post (2)

So this is going to wrap up the last few days of the read-a-thon. I'm not going to do a while wrap-up, because I already have my final Bout of Books wrap-up and I'll have a monthly wrap-up going up. It's been a great reading month and I had a ton of fun participating in these read-a-thons.

Update Post (1)
Beat the Heat announcement post

First off - I didn't read anything Monday or Tuesday and only  few page Wednesday, so I'm just going to lump in those handfull of pages with Thursday.

Thursday, August 28th:
Number of Books Read Today: 2
Total Number of Books: 22
Pages Read Today: 304
Total Number of Pages: 5,611
Books(today):
The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde (started and finished - 93 pages)
Ariel: The Restored Edition by Sylvia Plath (started and finished - 211 pages)

Notes:
I had a weird amount of fun reading today, considering what I was reading for most of the day, but I've discovered I love Plath's poems!

Friday, August 29th:
Didn't end up reading anything, sadly, was a bit of a hectic, not fun day.

End:
I didn't read much more, just some of The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (I got to mage 289). So I didn't finish anything else, but I think 22 is a very good number, so I'm not too upset about it.
Total Number of Pages Read: 5,900

This was a lot of fun, though, I love read-a-thons. Anyone know of any in September?

August Wrap-Up

Friday, August 29, 2014

Friday Finds (5)

I really like this idea as a meme, which is a meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. It's, basically, books you've discovered during the week, whether you've just added them to the never ending "to-read" list (or shelf on Goodreads, as I do) or if you've actually bought them.

I haven't done this in a while, and I add to the post as I find things, and it was just Bout of Books and I always add a ton of books to my TBR - so this is going to be a long one.

Skulduggery Pleasant (Skulduggery Pleasant #1) by Derek Landy, Tom Percival
I'd heard about this before, at some point. But then it was mentioned in one of the forums in one of the Goodreads groups I'm a part of and lurk around at points - and it sounded really good, and I hadn't added it as 'to read' so maybe I haven't heard of it before and something in my brain is making the wrong connection. Goodreads

Backward Compatible: A Geek Love Story by Sarah Daltry, Pete Clark
This sounds kind of ridiculously adorable. And that's all I can remember from the little plot summer on goodreads.

Dissonance (Disonnance #1) by Erica O'Rourke
This one isn't out yet but is a young adult science fiction novel based on one of my many, many slight obsessions (that started with SG-1): parallel universes and that every small thing creates another one. And someone on my goodreads feed was reading it and fangirling over the world builidng and now I need it. It's not out quite yet, I don't think, but it sounds so freaking good. Goodreads

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran
I've heard about her other book, How to Be a Women, and I bought it off BookOutlet but I've never felt the need to read it. This one, though, for whatever reason (maybe because it's fiction, or because I watched a video interview with her about it), sounds really amazing. (Also - that cover. Do you see that cover). Goodreads

Gates of Thread and Stone (Gates of Thread and Stone #1) by Lori M. Lee
I don't know much about this one besides there's a labrinth, it's YA fantasy, and it got pretty good ratings from a few people I'm friends with on Goodreads. I don't need a lot of convincing about any fantasy book. Goodreads

Ticker by Lisa Mantchev
Steampunk - a girl with a clockwork heart. The cover is the first thing that drew me in, but also steampunk, I'm a sucker for it, and this sounds really good. Goodreads

Sin City, Vol. 1: The Hard Goodbye by Frank Miller
Can we just - talk about the covers of these graphic novels? I got this in the mail yesterday and holy hell it's gorgeous. I'm not sure why I like it so much, but - seriously it's gorgeous, I can't wait to get to it (does anyone else horde graphic novels for read-a-thons?) Goodreads

Seconds by Brian Lee O'Malley
I've never read his highly popular graphic novel series - but this looks awesome. The cover, first off, is bright as hell and if you take off the jacket - it's so cool. I have refrained from buying this so far, but I know it's probably only a matter of time. Goodreads

The Girl of Fire and Thorn Stories by Rae Carson
So I bought the first book in this YA Fantasy series when it first came out - and then never read it. Lately, though, I've been hearing amazing things about it and, correct me if I'm wrong, didn't the last book just come out? These are prequel short stories, I might be a sucker for prequel short stories. I want to read the first book and know I'm going to like it before I binge buy the rest of the series, though. Goodreads (series pages)

Emilie and the Hollow World (Emilie #1) by Martha Wells
I've seen this book a few times, but I finally actually looked into it. And it sounds really good and the cover is gorgeous and Strange Chemistry, sadly, has just been closed by Angry Robot and I decided to buy some of their books (also I'm assuming their titles will be going out of print? Better safe then sorry). Goodreads

Firelight (Darkest London #1) by Kristen Callahan
I've heard good things - this is one of the books I discovered during Bout of Books - and it sounds really good. Goodreads

Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress #1) by Jeanienne Frost
This sounds fun. It's Urban Fantasy with romance and those are always fun, people I'm friends with on GR's (I judge a lot by this, can you tell?) seem to really like it and it has a 4.22 average rating on Goodreads.

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
So there's that show that's based on this book and the show, what I've seen, is weird and really good. It's getting mixed reviews and, at least I think, because the characters aren't really likable, at least a good percentage of them and it's strange. I want to read the book, though, because that's how this works.  Goodreads

Scoring Wilder by R.S. Grey
I still don't know how I feel about "New Adult" as a genre (it's mostly just romance with high school/college characters, I don't get why it's a separate genre but anyway), but this sounds fun? I don't know if I'll buy it, but I try and check it out somewhere. Goodreads

Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky
This sounds really interesting - it's about a twelve year old kid who feels like a girl and the struggles faced with that and such. It sounds amazing, but sadly it doesn't come out until November. Still - sounds incredible, and I've only seen one person talk about it, but they really liked it. Goodreads

I Want It That Way by Ann Aguirre
First - she's had two books come out in the same month. That's just - ridiculous. And I really enjoyed Mortal Danger and this one sounds completely different and interesting. It's contemporary romance with a college girl and a single dad - it sounds cute. Goodreads

Splintered (Splintered #1) by A.G. Howard
I've seen this around - how can you not with that cover - and I finally really looked into it and it sounds strange and amazing. Sounds fairy tale-esque. Basically I'm sold, I just have to get my hands on it. Goodreads

Whew - and that is that. I really enjoy this meme, especially going around to see what others are discovering, but it makes me go back and then want the books more. Ah well.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Book Review: Mortal Danger

Title: Mortal Danger (Immortal Games #1)
Author: Ann Aguirre
Genre: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance - YA
Rating: 4/5
Page Count: 372 (hardcover)
Publication Date: August 5th, 2014

Plot (from Goodreads):
Revenge is a dish best served cold.

In Ann Aguirre's Mortal Danger, Edie Kramer has a score to settle with the beautiful people at Blackbriar Academy. Their cruelty drove her to the brink of despair, and four months ago, she couldn’t imagine being strong enough to face her senior year. But thanks to a Faustian compact with the enigmatic Kian, she has the power to make the bullies pay. She’s not supposed to think about Kian once the deal is done, but devastating pain burns behind his unearthly beauty, and he’s impossible to forget.

In one short summer, her entire life changes and she sweeps through Blackbriar, prepped to take the beautiful people down from the inside. A whisper here, a look there, and suddenly . . . bad things are happening. It’s a head rush, seeing her tormentors get what they deserve, but things that seem too good to be true usually are, and soon, the pranks and payback turns from delicious to deadly. Edie is alone in a world teeming with secrets and fiends lurking in the shadows. In this murky morass of devil’s bargains, she isn’t sure who—or what—she can trust. Not even her own mind.

Review:
At the beginning of this book the world felt unreal, in some way, and I'm not sure why. After a bit, that passed and I was fully immersed, but there was still something that felt like it was missing. And, this might of been me, but that also felt intentional - the way that you couldn't quite believe what was going on, because the main character wasn't really accepting it all at first, either, and she wasn't being told a lot, almost nothing.

On the other hand - I really loved the writing and the characters, and the very real portrayal of depression, at the beginning, and I really liked Edie as a character because she was flawed and hurting, at the beginning, but I didn't like how quickly that changed. I didn't like how quickly she was no longer depressed, and had all of this confidence that she didn't have thirty seconds ago, and I think that's one of the things that added to the beginning of the book feeling a little off.

Overall, though, I did enjoy this book. I had some problems with it, those listed above mostly, but I also just really enjoyed it. As soon as things started to pick up and we started to learn more, I instantly just wanted to know more about the mythology, about this world, about what the hell is going on and what's going to happen next.

I'd mostly recommend this book to people who like Young Adult urban fantasy that is heavy on the romance side of things.

I was approved for an eARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Bout of Books 11: Final Wrap-Up (And Day Seven)

Day Seven Wrap-Up

Number of Books Completed Today: 2

Books:
Married by Monday (Weekday Brides #2) by Catherine Bybee (started and finished - 285 pages)
FiancĂ© By Friday (Weekday Brides #3) by Catherine Bybee (started and finished - 341 pages)

Number of Pages Read Today: 626

Notes/Thoughts:
These are those kinds of books, where you're not sure if they're good, per say, but you just keep reading them. I don't know what happened. At least it was fun, and it gave my page count a hell of a boost.

Read-A-Thon Wrap-Up (stats and thoughts/feelings)

Total Number of Books Completed:
17

Total Number of Pages Read: 4,413

Books (all):
Mortal Danger (Immortal Game #1) by Ann Aguirre (had started before)
Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss #2) by Stephanie Perkins
Unlocked by John Scalzi
The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles #1) by Patrick Rothfuss (had started previously)
Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss #3) by Stephanie Perkins
My Drunk Kitchen by Hannah Hart
Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices: Manga #1) by Clare & HyeKyung Baek
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters Manga (PJM #2) by Riordan & multiple others
Sex Criminals, Volume One by Matt Fraction & Chris Zdarsky
Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices: Manga #2) by Clare & HyeKyung Baek
Clockwork Princess (Infernal Devices Manga #3) by Clare & HyeKyung Baek
Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest by A. Lee Martinez
On Dublin Street (On Dublin Street #1) by Samantha Young
Wife By Wednesday by Catherine Bybee
Married by Monday (Weekday Brides #2) by Catherine Bybee

Notes/Thoughts:
This is now my new record for a week long read-a-thon and I'm (a little weirdly) super proud about it, and I got a lot of reading done, a lot I'd been meaning to do, one book I should of had a review for up earlier. So it was a great week - also I had fun finding new blogs or just commenting on blogs in general, and of course the twitter chats.

It's probably my favorite read-a-thon, definitely my favorite week long one (Dewey's 24-hour read-a-thon is also up there). And it was a great week. I hope you had a great week, too, as long as you were reading it counts as a success!

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Bout of Books 11: Day Six Wrap-Up

Another day, more books read, a chat that I took part in (that last chat, sadly). It was a good day, though, and I'm weirdly curious about how much I've written on top of reading as much as possible, I'll probably drop that stat in tomorrows seven day and final wrap-up.

Number of Books Completed Today: 2

Total Number of Books Completed: 15

Books:
On Dublin Street (On Dublin Street #1) by Samantha Young (started and finished - 406 pages)
Wife By Wednesday by Catherine Bybee (started and finished - 221 pages)

Number of Pages Read Today: 627

Total Number of Pages: 3,787

Notes/Thoughts:
I really actually enjoyed On Dublin Street more then I expected too. It was much better then I expected and fun.

Wife by Wednesday was - eh, fluff and okay, even fun at points and the writing isn't cringeworthy, but I only give it 2/5 stars.

Goals/TBR
Day One Wrap-Up
Day Two Wrap-Up
Day Three Wrap-Up
Day Four Wrap-Up
Day Five Wrap-Up

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Bout of Books 11: Day Five Wrap-Up

Number of Books Completed Today: 2

Total Number of Books Completed: 13

Books:
Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez (started and finished - 268 pages)
Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest by A. Lee Martinez (started and finished - 340 pages)

Number of Pages Read Today: 608

Total Number of Pages: 3,160

Notes/Thoughts:
Gils' All Fright Diner was okay, fun. I definitely enjoyed Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest more - but they both have the same, very weird, vibe to them - that's fun and strange and weird. I don't know if I could actually explain the plot and not sound completely insane, or if anyone could actually.


What are you currently-reading? How's your Bout of Books going?