Month: October 2016

ARC Review: If I Fix You

Posted October 17, 2016 / Book Reviews / 16 Comments
ARC Review: If I Fix You

God I have so many thoughts on this book and no idea where to begin. I feel incredibly conflicted because there are some things I really loved about this book. But, unfortunately, there were MANY more things I was not a fan of. AT ALL. It definitely left a lot to be desired and way more angst than expected. Overall, ugh. The Good Main character who works on cars with her dad. I loved the father-daughter dynamics in this story. If all of the rest of the things in my “bad” section didn’t exist, this relationship alone would have made this a much higher-rated book. Jill works on cars with her dad nonstop in his shop. They have a really good relationship that was awesome to read about. Her mom left them after some THINGS went down that I won’t spoil. They had to try to move on and live their lives without her, which wasn’t easy, but they always had each other. I’ve always been close to my dad so I just love these kinds of relationships in books. No filter when it was needed. I know it’s never a great idea for a teen to mouth off at their parent, but I was rooting so hard for Jill when certain things happened.  That conversation made me so angry I was literally gritting my teeth while reading. The Bad Terrible romantic prospects. Just… terrible. I don’t want to get into some of the nuances here because very spoilery, so […]

Short and Sweet

Posted October 14, 2016 / Book Lists, Features / 20 Comments
Short and Sweet

As I started to compile my TBR for the week I went on vacation, I wanted to have a few shorter books that I could realistically finish in a couple of hours. I knew I had a lot of time to get reading done, so I COULD read something a bit longer, but I was determined to actually sit down and finish books quickly/easily. I did some research to see some shorter books I read in a really short period of time and wanted to put together a recommendation list for you guys. If you’re in the mood to sit down and just blitz through a short and fairly easy and/or fluffy book, look no further! All of these are less than 300 pages (most closer to 200-250). The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events) by Lemony Snicket /// I recently reread this entire series as audiobooks and it was a game-changer. I loved it when I was a kid and a lot of it still held up for me in the reread. The first book is super short (and many others are just as short), so the audiobooks take anywhere between 2-8 hours at most. The first one had fun sound effects! It’s an easy series to binge quickly. TTYL (Internet Girls series) by Lauren Myracle /// I read these books back in high school and loved them. They’re formatted in IM/chat conversations, so it’s SUPER quick to read. A new installment came out as a follow-up to the original series […]

Review: Cruel Beauty

Posted October 13, 2016 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments
Review: Cruel Beauty

Initial Excitement I was really intrigued by this book when it was first released, but I hesitated on reading it for a while. Cristina and I chose Crimson Bound by the same author for one Book Buddies month but I ended up DNFing it (so we chose another book). That made me nervous for this story. However, it was randomly picked by my book club using our new book selection method and I was ready for the push to read it finally. I was cautiously optimistic because I know a lot of people loved this one compared to Crimson Bound or really any others by Hodge. Summary in a Second Nyx has been set to marry the Gentle Lord, Ignifex, since she was a baby. Her father made a selfish deal with him and Nyx’s plan is to kill him to set her people free. (It’s kind of a long, complicated story, so I’ll let you investigate that on your own.) It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling so there are definitely similar elements woven through – the castle, being kind of a prisoner, the non-human man thingy keeping you hostage, etc. Storytelling & Setting I have to say, I’ve never read a story quite like this one. The world was so vast and explored piece by piece. The writing was gorgeous and somehow way more interesting than Crimson Bound‘s prose. The plot itself was unveiled slowly as Nyx uncovered new secrets and opened hidden doors throughout the castle. She found herself falling for a […]

Adult Fiction Reads on my Radar

Posted October 12, 2016 / Book Lists, Features / 15 Comments
Adult Fiction Reads on my Radar

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I have been reaching for the adult contemporary fiction books lately. I always used to add them to my TBR based on some of my favorite bloggers’ recs but I would never actually sit and read them. I requested some from Netgalley and got in the groove through ARC August, so now I’m itching for more. Here are some adult fiction books I plan to read sometime in the next few months. I’m trying to avoid the same books I always claim I’m going to read and never get around to…    The Secret Ingredient of Wishes by Susan Bishop Crispell /// I don’t read a lot of magical realism, but the recent YA book I enjoyed that dealt with granting wishes definitely helped me add this different adult version to my TBR. Not a lot of people have read this one yet, it seems, but it looks like my friends enjoyed it. The Regulars by Georgia Clark /// Another magical twist? Apparently that’s my new thing. I’m intrigued by the concept: young women in NYC come across something that makes them supermodel gorgeous. I can’t wait to see how their lives change and how they deal with the beauty. (First world problems, right?) The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms /// I love second chance love stories! This book takes place in a small town at an inn, which is another favorite trope/setting of mine. I hope this one is as fantastic as it […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #110: Recommended to Me

Posted October 11, 2016 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 18 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #110: Recommended to Me

Five Books I Read Because of a Recommendation and Five Books I Added to the TBR from Recs Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. This week’s TTT is: All About Books You Read Because of Recommendation — Ten Books I’ve Read Because Of Another  Blogger (Or Book Person) or Ten Books I Read On Recommendation From People Outside Of This Community or you could talk about recommendations of books you read from other sources — a magazine, a podcast, a “because you read this” algorithm.  I love this topic because I really have TRIED lately to read books when they’re specifically recommended to me. If I don’t get to them right away, I still make it a point to add them to my TBR. Because I’m not great about reading them I wanted to split this into five and five.     The Hating Game by Sally Thorne // Recommended by Morgan This book has taken the blogging world by storm, but the biggest influence for me to read it was Morgan. She seems to be leading the pack in terms of early readers 😉  She told our Fantasy Football group to read it ASAP, right on the same day my hold came in at the library. So, yes, it was […]

ARC Review: Gemina

Posted October 10, 2016 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments
ARC Review: Gemina

Initial Excitement Unlike most people, I wasn’t utterly blown away by ILLUMINAE. I definitely REALLY enjoyed it and gave it four stars, but it wasn’t perfect like it was for so many other people. I was pretty excited for GEMINA when I saw some early reviews roll in and the lovely Wendy let me borrow her copy. Summary in a Second This book is a companion to ILLUMINAE and seems to take place right after the events of the first book. There are different main characters, which was sad at first but got much better. GEMINA follows Hanna, the attractive daughter of the ship’s captain, and Nik, a criminal from a criminal family doing criminal things a lot of the time. Their ship (Hypatia) is the next victim of BeiTech’s siege of all the ships and space things I don’t know how to describe. Storytelling & Setting Like ILLUMINAE, this book is told through various documents, files, IM chats, radio transmissions, and video camera footage (transcribed).  Because I read an ARC, there were some final drawings and pictures missing from the book but it didn’t make much of a difference for the actual story itself. The space setting is really fun because it pulls me right out of my comfort zone. I don’t do a lot of sci-fi because I get confused, and honestly this series is no exception, but I just enjoy these more because of the format. The actual plot for this book was incredibly engaging. It featured […]

Five on Fridays #23

Posted October 7, 2016 / Five on Fridays, Weekly Memes / 6 Comments
Five on Fridays #23

Five on Friday displays the the top five things that have been on my mind this week! It could be book-related, but it may be music, movies, TV, personal life, food, etc. Previous posts can be found here!   Like everyone, I was obsessed with Serial recently and wish more than anything that Sarah Koenig could narrate everything with the Serial theme song in the background. Obsessed. Since then, I took a break from podcats (except for the occasional How Did This Get Made? or What Say You?). I started to get burned out of audiobooks so I began Criminal, which basically explores EVERY aspect of criminal behavior, trials, and unsolved or unresolved mysteries. Some episodes are fascinating and it offers a lot of diverse topics! I tend to like the legitimate criminal ones best, but some of the others are interesting too. I hope to also start Accused, which is about an unsolved murder like Serial was. We’ll see! Don’t worry, I have some non-murder/criminal-related ones coming up on the docket but I don’t want to get your hopes up without trying them first. I’ve been wanting to listen to more music since my audiobook burnout as well. When my friend visited last weekend, we listened to a throwback rap/hip-hop playlist I created based on music we loved in middle/high school and college. It was such a fun blast from the past! I had recently purchased Apple Music because I wanted to test out the new Frank Ocean CD and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. We’ll […]

NA Reviews: Rebound and The Goal

Posted October 6, 2016 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
NA Reviews: Rebound and The Goal

My thoughts on this book compared to Boomerang could not be more different. I loved the banter of the first book and literally laughed out loud on multiple occasions. I couldn’t put it down and read the book in one day. Unfortunately, Rebound had a lot to live up to. I’m not sure if my expectations were too high or if too much time passed between me reading the books, but it just didn’t have the same witty magic by any means. Adam and Allison were good characters and I sort of felt their spark, but so much of the chemistry was telling instead of showing. I believed it, but only because the two of them kept repeating how attracted to each other they were. I wanted to feel the chemistry through their conversations but it just didn’t happen that much. Much of the plot and conflict was incredibly predictable. I know this happens in a lot of YA or NA books (especially because I’ve read so many of them), but sometimes it frustrates me more than others. The setup of the story is that Allison’s father is looking to invest in Adam’s company, Boomerang, so he sends her out to get some information on him. Meanwhile, Adam is covering up some secret from his past. You can probably see where I’m headed here but I won’t give blatant spoilers. Just too predictable (and too angsty at times) for me. This is really a low three star book for me. There […]

Going Against the TBR

Posted October 5, 2016 / Discussions, Features / 18 Comments
Going Against the TBR

Do you ever just completely randomly choose your next read? I feel like I usually have a GENERAL idea about what books should or will be coming up next for me. I’ll mostly pick from that vague list in my head or on my Goodreads “up next” shelf I (sometimes) use. It could be a library book that’s almost due, an ARC I’ve been planning to get to, a recent release that I’ve been anticipating, or just some other random book I’ve been meaning to pick up. It’s just kind of in my head, waiting to be read next. Every time I reach for a new book, I have some kind of reason for picking it up, or at least the idea of it. There are obviously some exceptions to this. The moments where you’re sitting there with almost no idea what to read and suddenly pick something completely random to start next. Some of these books end up being great choices! Aaaand sometimes not so much. Lately I’ve noticed myself being a little more flexible with choosing my next read. I go with my mood but also keep my TBR in mind. I have some books that need to be returned or read soon for blog tours and buddy reads, but for the most part? I read what I want, whenever I want. I have to keep the hobby fun. Why I’ve chosen some of my random recent reads: Browsing for a new audiobook while in the mood for a specific type of […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #109: Villains

Posted October 4, 2016 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 13 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #109: Villains

Villain Superlatives & Punchable Characters Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. This week’s TTT is: All About Villains – top ten favorite/most compelling villains in books, top ten of the most vile villains/bad guys in books, top ten villains I secretly (or not so secretly) love, favorite tv villains, favorite comic book villains, ten “villains” of contemporary lit. Because I’m not someone who actively looks for villains or likes/hates them I’m going to give out top six villain superlatives! I’ll be giving each villain/book a superlative for what they really excelled at as I read them. I loved how Hannah used superlatives for recent TTTs. I’m also going to share four punchable characters from books I’ve read. Yes, I ran out of villains and needed to fill the space but whatever okayyyy? Six Villain Superlatives    Most Likely to Fall in Love With // The Darkling The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo • I feel like most people loved The Darkling even though he was pretty evil, and clearly the villain of the series. I have such a bad bookish memory but I know I wish he had a different ending (I just don’t remember what his ending was to be honest). I know there were a lot of Darkling-Alina shippers out there, so I know he’s […]