Holiday AdventureAThon: What I’m Reading

 

Hey guys! I didn’t join the readathon until a bit after I was supposed to, but I still picked out a 7 book TBR and I’m gonna give it my best shot to get through them all! If you don’t know about the Holiday AdventureAThon, here is the post: Holiday AdventureAThon

I’ll be reading for Team Holiday Snowman, incase anybody was wondering! So here is my TBR based on the prompts.

Presents: A book you got as a gift: The Magician’s Nephew by C.S Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia)

My mom bought me the set years ago and I have yet to read them. Oops. This is my chance!!

Santa: A book with red on the cover: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

I actually finished this book and this challenge yesterday, and the book was soooooo good!! I loved it. Can’t wait to read the next one. Although I fear that they are going to add a love triangle, which always, always gets me worked up.

Wonder: A book based on a holiday: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Okay, so I have a serious lack of holiday books on my shelves!! I have been told that this one does happen around Christmas so I’ve decided it counts…. If I decide I can justify going to the bookstore to get myself in the holiday spirit, I’m going to buy A Christmas Carol and swap these out. Not sure if that is going to happen though, so for now, this counts in my eyes!

Candles: Read a book by candlelight:  The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell

I feel like candlelight will give me the perfect atmosphere to read this book. I know, I know, it looks more like a Halloween book than a Christmas book, but I’ll be reading it next to a Christmas candle!

Nice: Read a book that a friend or family member recommended to you: The Merciless by Danielle Vega

I am kind of unsure about this one, but my brother loves it and really thought I should read it, so I got it off of Book Outlet for like 3 dollars, and it will work perfectly for this prompt.

Jack Frost: Read a book with the word “snow” on the cover: Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

Ta da! The one and only holiday book I could find on my shelf. Which I own only because… John Green.

Snowman: Read a Historical Fiction Book: Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Started this one last night.. So far so good. 🙂

Let me know if you are doing any readathons for the holidays and what you’re reading!

 

 

 

The Christmas Song Book Tag

Hey guys! Haileyinbookland made this tag on Youtube, and I decided it would be fun to do the tag here!

You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch : A villainous character that you couldn’t help but love:

For this one, I chose Catherine from Heartless! I knew going into the book that she was the Queen of Hearts, but I couldn’t not love her!

All I Want For Christmas is You: A book that you would like to see under the Christmas tree:

I really, really want to read A Darker Shade of Magic, but I don’t have a copy and it’s kind of expensive! Also, my bookstore was sold out except for one 30 dollar copy which I couldn’t justify that day. I would also really like to start collecting the illustrated versions of Harry Potter. 🙂

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: A character who overcomes some obstacles and comes to believe in themselves.

At the beginning of ACOTAR, Feyre really doesn’t believe in herself at all, but by the last of the 3 books out, she definitely starts to.

Santa Clause is Coming to Town: A character that would be on the naughty list and a character that would be on the nice list:

Have I ever done a tag without including Looking for Alaska in one way or another? Probably not, so why start here? Alaska goes on the naughty list.

I’d say Lara Jean was pretty well behaved… Her only mishap being kissing in a hot tub, I think she deserves to be on the nice list.

Frosty the Snowman: A book that melts your heart:

All the relationships in this book melted my heart. I loved this book so much.

Feliz Navidad: A book that is set in a country other than yours:

Outlander, set in Scotland. I love it, it makes me want to go to Scotland.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Which book do you use to spread the Christmas cheer?

I haven’t read a lot of Christmas books, but when I think Christmas book, this is what I think of.

Sleigh Ride: A fictional character that you would like to spend the holidays with:

I will always want to be friends with Hermione Granger

Baby It’s Cold Outside: Which book would you sacrifice to fire to keep yourself warm?

I thought this book looked so good from the snippet I read in the bookstore, but I got more than half through and DNF’d it, which I very rarely do.

Do You Hear What I Hear? A book you want everyone to read:

I love this book and it is so relatable for me.

Where Are You Christmas? A book that you want immediately but it isn’t out yet:

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas, out in May 2018! The cover isn’t released yet, but I cannot wait for the book!! It will immediately go to the top of my TBR.

Last Christmas: A book that you started off loving but ended up not liking very much:

I loved it and then I didn’t.

Blue Christmas: A book that made you cry:

I bawled the whole book, almost.

A Marshmallow World: A fluffy book:

I had a hard time thinking of a fluffy book, so even though some parts of this were kinda deep and then very end was a little messed up, the romance was fluffy in my opinion.

If anybody wants to do this tag, let me know and I’d love to read it!!

I’m going to tag confessionsofayareader, cupofbooksblog, bionicbookworm and dragonwaffles

What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard: Review

Title: What I Lost

Author: Alexandra Ballard

Pages: 400 (Hardcover)

Rating: 5/5 Stars

What I Lost was by far one of my favorite reads this year. It follows a 16-year-old girl named Elizabeth who suffers from Anorexia and as a result, is admitted to an inpatient care center for eating disorders. The story shows her struggle to cope with her disorder, bonding with the other girls in the center, and eventually on her way to recovery. There is a lot of accurate information about the medical problems that can come about from eating disorders such as Osteoporosis and other bone problems, loss of periods, unusual growth of hair called Lanugo, etc. I have never personally suffered from any sort of eating disorder, so I can’t speak for the accuracy of the representation, but I have heard from people who have gone through it that the book was relatable to their own experiences. If you suffer from any eating disorders, just know that there is a lot of content that may be triggering including anxiety about eating, calorie counting, and talk of weights and sizes.
I really liked that this book was focused on recovery. So many mental health books end as soon as the characters are getting help, but this book begins as soon as Elizabeth goes for help. I feel like I learned a lot of things that I did not know in regards to eating disorders, which I am glad about.
I do wish that the ending would have given information about what happened to the other girls at Wallingfield. An epilogue would have been nice to end the book and show the reader how everybody is doing a few years later.
Overall, I loved this book and I highly recommend it.

The Young Elites Review

Title: The Young Elites

Author: Marie Lu

Pages: 355

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The Young Elites is about a girl named Adelina Amouteru who was affected by a fever that plagued the nation. A lot of the people who got sick died, but the ones who didn’t die were left with markings and some of them were also left with powers. The society hates these powerful survivors and aims to destroy them. Adelina was one of the many who was given powers after the fever. When Adelina accidentally uses and reveals her powers, she is hunted by a leader of the “Inquisition Axis” (Which is basically the government in Kenettra, where the book takes place). Through this hunt, she finds a group of other people with powers from the fever and they group together to try to stop the Inquisition Axis from trying to kill people like them.

This book was awesome! I loved Adelina and I thought it was an interesting twist for Marie Lu to make her somewhat evil. Adelina borders on good and bad and it’s hard to say at some points whether she is a hero or a villain. Even at her villainous moments, I was rooting for her. Enzo was my favorite character in the book, his power was super cool and sometimes a bit disturbing. I liked the relationship between his character and Adelina. I’m a reader who never gets sick of seeing romance in my books.

Marie Lu’s writing style always grabs me so I can’t stop reading and I love it! I don’t feel like there is a lot more I can say without giving away some of the twists and turns, but I would definitely recommend reading this! I think if you liked her Legend series, you will like this one as well. They’re completely different but they are both action-packed with similar writing style and easy to get through quickly.

 

 

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!! I’ll try to keep the details minimal incase someone accidentally happens across this.

 

What do you guys think of the ending with Enzo? I think he’ll be back in the next books, especially after reading the epilogue. I don’t have the second book yet, but I’m definitely going to go pick it up ASAP.

Let me know if you’ve read The Young Elites and what you thought of it. If you haven’t read it, does it sound like something you would be interested in or not really?

November Book Haul

I was struggling to think of 10 book settings that I would like to visit for Top Ten Tuesday. (Most book settings are pretty dangerous, and I’d rather just read it from the safety of my own couch!!)  So instead of that, I decided to do my November book haul before we get too far into December.

1 The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Mass

This is a prequel of novellas to the Throne of Glass series. I haven’t read the series yet, so I thought I would pick this up and get going with Throne of Glass.

2 Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Following suit of the last book, I got Throne of Glass! I loved ACOTAR so much and I’m hoping I’m not disappointed by this series! I don’t know much about it other than that it follows a female assassin which sounds awesome to me.

3 Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

I read Fangirl a few years back and I only realized this year that Carry On is basically the story that Cath writes fanfiction of! So I’m pretty excited to give this one a shot.

4. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

This is the second book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy. I read the first book last month and I LOVED it.

5. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Of course if I read the 2nd book I’m going to need the 3rd and final book!

6. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

This book is about 3 sisters who are in line to the throne, but in order to get the throne, one must kill the other 2. I’ve heard this has a slow start but I’m super excited to read it.

7. The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell

I don’t normally love Middle Grade novels as much as I hope to, but I have big expectations for this one! The illustrations are really cool and a bit dark. This book is all about magic and fantasy and adventure and it sounds like a good time.

 

Let me know if you’ve read any of the books that I picked up this past month and which ones I should put at the top of my TBR!

 

Top Ten Tuesday; Winter TBR

It’s Tuesday, which means another week of Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the  Bookish ! This weeks topic is top ten TBR for winter.

I’ve only just begun to stick to a solid TBR. The reason I decided to do this is because I buy SO many books that I don’t end up reading the old books I’ve bought because I have so many new ones being added to my shelf each month. So far it’s been helping a lot and I’ve found a lot of great books that I thought I may have lost interest in.

1. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

I’m currently reading this book, so I’m planning to finish it in December. I put off reading this book for SO long because the size of the book intimidates me. (this is where the solid TBR comes in) I’m glad I finally started it because I am loving it.

2. The Young Elites by Marie Lu

I loved the Legend series, so I hope that I love this one as much.

3. Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Emmmabooks convinced me that I needed to read this one in her review video of it. Plus, if Amy Poehler thinks it’s a must-read, I will definitely read it.

4. Kill the Boyband by Goldy Moldavsky

My sister sent me a picture of this awhile back and we giggled and thought it seemed like an interesting idea, and then I forgot about it until I was walking through Barnes and Noble and found it on the shelf! The title interested me and I’m excited to see if it is any good.

5. What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard

This is another book that Emmmabooks got me excited about. The cover is pretty, as well.

6. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

I heard of this book through PeruseProject on Youtube. The description sounds really interesting and different and I cannot wait to get to this one.

7. Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

I first heard of this book on Abookutopia’s channel. Do you see a theme here? I’m easily influenced by booktube!

8. Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Look at this cover!! I’m obsessed with the cover, I’m excited to read a YA western and PeruseProject liked it, so I think I will too!

9. Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa

I picked this one up when I saw it at the bookstore just because I saw Joey Graceffa wrote it. I was not aware that he was writing novels, but I used to watch him on Youtube years ago (back when he was making Winterspringpro parody music videos). Although I haven’t watched him for a very long time, I’m happy to be able to support him by buying his book.

10. Carve The Mark by Veronica Roth

I bought this the week it came out and still haven’t gotten to it!! This is because of all the new books I buy, and again, this is where the solid TBR helps. Divergent was one of my all-time favorite series and even though Veronica Roth absolutely shattered my heart with the end of the Divergent series, I will gladly read anything she writes.

 

Let me know what you guys are planning on reading next and if you’ve read any of the books on my TBR/ what you thought of them!

 

 

November Reading Wrap Up!

Hello everybody! I got through a ton of books this month! Between audiobooks, ebooks and hard copies, I was reading something most of my spare moments this month.

Here are the books I finished this month, starting with the ones I read at the beginning of the month, to the one I finished today!

1. Turtles All The Way Down by John Green (Hardcover)

I wrote a whole review on this book, so if you’re interested in my thoughts, go check it out! I loved it, 5/5 stars.

2. Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohen & David Levithan (Ebook)

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. It was cute and I had fun reading it, but it didn’t blow my mind. I would recommend it for a fun easy read, though. Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares follows 2 teenagers, Dash and Lily, who meet through a Moleskin notebook with “dares” that Lily leaves on a bookstore shelf for someone to find and return.

3. Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow (Audiobook)

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. The book follows a girl, Charlie, who leaves a mental institution and tries to live a better life outside. I enjoyed the book, but I do want to mention trigger warnings for self harm, depression, drugs, alcoholism, and suicide. (there very well could be more triggers that I don’t remember off the top of my head!!) Girl in Pieces was definitely a dark book, but I always appreciate reading mental health books.

4. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #2) paperback

5/5 Stars, loved this book! So glad I stopped putting it off and just read the book.

5. Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh (hardcover)

5/5 Stars! This book reminded me of Mulan! It is definitely a lot different, but if you like Mulan, I think you’ll like this book. It’s full of action and adventure and I loved it.

6. This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (audiobook)

4/5 Stars. It took me a little while to understand the world, but once I did, I flew through this one and really enjoyed it. I have never really read any books with “monsters”. Of course I’ve read the vampire and faerie books, but in all of the books I usually read, the creatures are romanticized and not shown as a dangerous thing. I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the duology.

7. History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (Hardcover)

4.5 out of 5. This book made me cry like a baby from the first chapter to the last! I have a full review if anyone is curious!

8. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (paperback)

5/5 Stars, loved this book. First Leigh Bardugo book I’ve read, and I’m so glad I did!! I picked up the other 2 books in the trilogy earlier this month and I can’t wait to get to them!

9.  Lemony Snicket A Bad Beginning (Audiobook)

4/5 stars. I read this when I was a kid and loved it, so I decided I’d like to read them again and finish the series to see if I still like them like I used to. It’s definitely easy reading and the books are super fast to get through, but I’m enjoying them!

10. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding (Ebook)

3/5 Stars, fun, fast and easy read! Similar to Confessions of a Shopaholic if you like those books. I also like that it is in a diary format. Different formats are always fun for me to read.

11. Lemony Snicket The Reptile Room (Audiobook)

4/5 stars These books are so dark for kids! But they are fun to read.

12. Spiderwick Chronicles Book 1 &2 The Field Guide and The Seeing Stone by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi (Audiobook)

3/5 Stars- just going to group these 2 together because they are so, so short. This is another series that I loved when I was younger, but it isn’t quite as engaging as I remember. Granted it is written for a younger age group. It is still nice to read, but I definitely preferred it when I read it the first time.

 

I’m still reading a few books, but I don’t think I’m going to get any more finished this month, so those will be included in next month’s wrap up! I’m very proud of what i finished this month, hopefully I can out do myself next month, but I can feel a reading slump coming on! 😦  Let me know what you read this month and what you think of any of the books I read.

 

 

Down the TBR Hole #2

If you didn’t see my last Down the TBR Hole post, this post was created by Lost In A Story.  I’m sure everybody can relate to the TBR getting a little out of control. In this post, I will go through the last 5-10 books on my Goodreads TBR and decide if I still have any interest in these books or if they can go.

I’ll be starting where I left off on the last one!

6.  I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

I saw this movie years ago and I remember liking it but I cannot remember a single thing about it. The description of the book really doesn’t tell me much of what it’s about. I have so many other books I’d rather get to first, so I think I’ll take this one off the TBR!

Verdict: Go

7. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Although I think I’ve only seen bits and pieces of the movie adaptation for this book, I enjoyed what I saw of it. The description says that it’s about a girl who finds out she is a princess and has to take lessons from her grandmother to learn to act as such. Sounds like a good, easy read that would get me out of a reading slump if need be.

Verdict: Keep

7. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

This book sounds funny and easy to read. Description on Goodreads says it is “in the spirit of Bridget Jones’s Diary” Which I actually finished last night and really quite enjoyed.

Verdict: Keep

8. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

I think this one is on here because I really liked some of Jerry Spinelli’s other books when I was in about 5th-6th grade. I don’t doubt that this is a good book for someone in middle school, however, I think I’ve outgrown my interest in this one.

Verdict: Go

9. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

I don’t know much about this one, but it doesn’t sound very interesting to me anymore. Gonna take this one of the TBR for now. (Probably forever if I’m being honest).

Verdict: Go

10. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

I’m torn on this one. Although the book doesn’t sound terribly intriguing to me, Reagan from PeruseProject on Youtube gave it 5 stars, so I feel like I should give it a shot.

Verdict: Keep; for now. If I still haven’t gotten to it next time I purge my TBR, I will probably take it off.

Yay, I’ve made it through 5 more books on the list! I don’t know why it’s so fun to go through and purge, but I’m really enjoying it 🙂 Let me know what books you could take of your TBR in the comments.

 

Top Ten Books I’m Thankful For

This post is from the Top Ten Tuesdays hosted by The Broke and the Bookish . In celebration of Thanksgiving in The United States, the topic for this Tuesday is “books I’m thankful for”.

1 Looking For Alaska by John Green

Looking For Alaska has been my favorite book for years. I absolutely love the way that John Green writes. He creates the most beautiful quotes and his characters are some of my favorites. I have “The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive” tattooed on my shoulder from this book. I’m thankful for this book for introducing me to John Green as my favorite author and for giving me quotes that have stuck with me for years.

2 History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

Any book that can make me cry as much as this one did is a well written book. Sometimes I have a hard time feeling attached to the characters in books, and even when sad things are happening to the characters, I don’t necessarily feel that bad. This book was a completely different story! I loved the characters and I was absolutely gutted reading the sad bits. (Which was most of the book tbh) I loved it though, I always appreciate it when an author can make me feel such strong feelings.

3 Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

I had no idea what this book was about going into it. I picked it up because Emmmabooks said it was so good in one of her videos. This turned out to be a book I didn’t even realize I needed. It reminded me so much of Mulan, which was one of my favorite movies growing up. Flame in the Mist had just the right amount of action (a lot), as well as a romance that I really enjoyed reading about!

 

4 Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Another appearance by John Green! I’m obsessed, okay? I loved this book, it meant so much to me personally. The representation of mental illness was so relatable I found myself crying just out of pure understanding. It’s a surreal feeling to find someone who understands things about you that nobody else has ever been able to understand.  For that, I am grateful.

5 A Court of Thorns and Roses Trilogy by Sarah J. Maas

Heres a 3 in 1! I did not think I would like this book/series when I started it. It did not sound interesting to me, but I was soo wrong. I loved this series, the second one was my absolute favorite. I am so glad I gave it a chance.

6 Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

This book is the only book I have read so far from Leigh Bardugo. I almost didn’t read it because I’d heard a lot of reviews saying that they were disappointed by the book. I on the other hand, loved it. I picked up the next two within a week of finishing this first one and I cannot wait to get into those.

7 I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

This book was just fantastic. The characters were excellent and it blew my mind the way the author connected everything and everybody in the end. Loved it.

8 Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson

Another book I didn’t expect to love when I started it. My mom recommended this book to me, so I read it. Ride the Wind is based on a true story (although I don’t know how very accurate it is, the characters were real people). The book follows a girl who was kidnapped by Comanche and raised with them. The insight into their culture was an experience I am grateful for. Warning though, it is a sad story.

9 Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

Picked this book up several years ago because I though that the cover was pretty. The story is glamorous for awhile, but follows a few successful women who ruin themselves with a pill addiction. I did love this book, and considered it my favorite for quite some time.

10. The Harry Potter Series

I don’t think I even have to explain this one! I will forever and always be grateful for the Harry Potter Series. My brother and I used to read them together when we were little. Now that I am grown up, I appreciate the writing even more. J.K Rowling is an amazing author.

Let me know what books you’re grateful for and what you think of the books I chose if you’ve read them or would like to!

 

Down The TBR Hole #1 Conquer Your TBR

This post was created by Lost In A Story.  I’m sure everybody can relate to the TBR getting a little out of control. In this post, I will go through the last 5-10 books on my Goodreads TBR and decide if I still have any interest in these books or if they can go.

So, here we go!!

1. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Based on the Goodreads reviews, this book is a must read for a lot of people. The synopsis says that The Princess Bride is about fighting, love, hate, revenge, giants and much more. I am always down for an action packed fantasy/love story.

Verdict: Keep

 

2. The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires by Molly Harper

This book sounds like a fun vampire romance sort of book. I will always love vampires, but I’m not as into them as I once was, nor do I typically go for “romance” novels. I may be wrong, but the cover makes me think this book would be a cheesy romance! Correct me if I’m wrong.

Verdict: Go

3. Killer by Sara Shepard

Okay, so I do still want to read this book; however, I’m only on the 4th book and this is the 6th. I think I’m going to remove this one and add the one that I actually need to get to next!

Verdict: Go

4. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

This one is tough! I’ve owned this book for years, and I tried to read it when I first got it, but I could not get into the story! I hear such great things about this series, and I really did enjoy the movie. I think I’ll remove this book for now, but keep it on my bookshelf and hope that it sounds interesting to me again some day in the future.

Verdict: Go

5. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The reviews of this book are very mixed on Goodreads. I absolutely loved the movie when I watched it quite a few years ago and I do own this book, so I’m going to give it a try.

Verdict: Keep

 

I’m super excited to purge through my TBR like this. I think it’s going to be a great way for me to get to books I’m still interested in without feeling guilty about skipping a ton of other books on my list.