August 2015 Wrap Up!

Second wrap up post! This month was a very busy month and not just in the book variety! A little announcement to make: I'm no longer on night shift! I am now the full time RN Supervisor, a switch that happened this month. I'm very excited about this, but it's been a big change. There are a lot more people to interact with, and family members and doctors to work with, but I love it and I'm so much happier now, although the sleep adjustment situation means I fell back to impulse reading, and just read what I felt like and not what I planned to... I also have not been posting as much this last few weeks because... I got my wedding dress! What an experience! Stressful but amazing! Which brings me to the books!

This month I read 12 books!

1. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

2. Frostfire by Amanda Hocking

3. Once by Anna Carey

4. Fire by Kristin Cashore

5. Dawn of Eden by Julie Kagawa

6. Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay

7. Transformed by E.V. Fairfall

8. Deep Dark Fears by Fran Krause

9. Throne of Glass by Sara J. Maas

10. The Wretched of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler

11. The Blight of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler

12. The Scourge of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler

Statistics!

I read a total of 12 books and 4,105 pages in August!

I gave a total of 49 stars out of a possible 60.

3 books received 5 stars, 7 books 4 stars, 2 books got 3 stars and no books were below 3 stars. 

I posted reviews for 6  of the 12 books so far. 

7 of the 12 books were part of a series, 3 were stand alone books, and 1 was a graphic short. 

3 of those were first books in the series and 3 were second books in series. 

1 book was a comic short, and 1 book was a novella. 

2 books were advanced reading copies.

My favorite book from August was:

Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay

This has been on my to read list for a while and I finally just read it and it was beautiful. It was fairy tale retelling story which is one of my favorite genres. On top of that it was still young adult, but it was on the higher (as far as age/maturity goes) of young adult to the point where I almost didn't classify it as such, and that was a nice change of pace. 

Least favorite book in August:

Once by Anna Carey

It was't that this book was bad, it just wasn't great and there was a lot of really great books this month. If there had been some books that I didn't like this book would have fallen solidly in the middle of the pack, but there weren't any I really did not like, so what can you do?

Currently Reading

You know me, there's never just one book I'm reading at a time!

1. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

2. Inferno by Dante Alighieri
3. Justice Buried by Hilary Thompson

   

Crown of Midnight is the second book in the Throne of Glass series, which I know I'm behind on, but is wonderful non the less! I started Inferno thinking I'd knock it out before reading Inferno by Dan Brown only to find it was harder than I expected and it's taking longer I planned. Justice Buried is an ARC I received, which I am really enjoying so look for a review next month!

Project Brad

Brad and I are still working on Revan by Drew Karpyshyn. I am pleased to report that Brad seems to be enjoying this book much more than previous ones. We are reading slowly, but steadily which is nice. There's a really good chance we will finish this book this fall. 

Wrap it up!

That's August! I'm really glad that I not only maintained, but increased my reading from last month! Even with life getting in the way and work being very busy, I've been really enjoying the books I've been reading! Exciting news too, I completed my 2015 goal! I actually finished out August with 40/40 books for the year. That being said I am going to be raising my goal because I was able to read a lot more than I expected to be able to this year! My new goal for 2015 is: 75! I know that's almost double the goal I had, but it's a challenge, and it maintains last year's goal! It put's me 9 books behind schedule but I am hoping to make that up next month!

How did everyone else do in August? Did anyone get some beach reads done?

Review: Beautiful Creatures

Title: Beautiful Creatures
Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Genre: Yong Adult
Series: Book 1 in The Caster Chronicles
Pages: 563
Release Date: December 1, 2009
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Summary: Is falling in love the beginning . . . or the end?

In Ethan Wate's hometown there lies the darkest of secrets . . .

There is a girl. Slowly, she pulled the hood from her head . . . Green eyes, black hair. Lena Duchannes.

There is a curse. On the Sixteenth Moon, the Sixteenth Year, the Book will take what it's been promised. And no one can stop it.

In the end, there is a grave.

Lena and Ethan become bound together by a deep, powerful love. But Lena is cursed and on her sixteenth birthday, her fate will be decided. Ethan never even saw it coming.(via Goodreads)

My Rating:

| Goodreads | Amazon | My Goodreads Review | 

This review was originally posted on my Goodreads, and may contain spoilers to this book. 

I picked this book up because I saw the trailer for the movie. Not because the trailer 'wow'd' me but because if it is good enough to be made into a movie I'm willing to give it a chance (plus I have seen so many books destroyed when they are made into movies that I do not judge books by their movies). To be honest, though, this book did not wow me. there were a lot of things that had potential but it just did not follow through. 

First of all it ended up being a romance, but the narrator is a male. This is something I found interesting because most of the times these type of books are from a female perspective. Second the actual basis for the plot was interesting, not the best I've read, but interesting non the less. Unfortunately I felt like it was not handled well. 

Overall I thought that it felt like another post-Twilight mess. (Please do not mistake me, I loved the Twilight series -minus the first book- but in the wake of Twilight's popularity there were a lot of books with basically the same plot put out and they are mostly a mess.)In fact I found myself seeing parallels to the Twilight series the entire way through. The main difference being that the role of Bella was filled by Ethan. 

Example: Ethan meets Lena who he is instantly drawn to. He cannot get him out of her head even though she insists that she is dangerous. He finds out he is a supernatural Caster(much like a witch) from a family of Casters who all have different gifts and who might hurt him, but accepts this overly easily. He doesn't care and they spend a short period of time together at their high school happy. Then a bad supernatural Caster comes along and tries to kill Ethan. Luckily Ethan’s Amma(?) is easily deceived even though she is constantly said to be very powerful. Ethan loses a fight with said villain and almost dies but luckily due to what Lena is she saves him. 

Which sounds a lot like:
Bella meets Edward who she is instantly drawn to. She cannot get him out of her head even though he insists that he is dangerous. She finds out he is a supernatural vampire from a family of vampires who all have different gifts and who might hurt her but accepts this overly easily. She doesn't care and they spend a short period of time together at their high school happy. Then a bad supernatural vampire comes along and tries to kill Bella. Luckily Bella’s well meaning father is easily deceived even though he is the Chief of Police. Bella loses a fight with said villain and almost dies but luckily due to what Edward is he saves her. 

It wasn’t bad enough that I will read the second book in the series, and the last few chapters were pretty good, but it was mostly a disappointment. 

What book did you feel got a lot of hype but ultimately fell short?

Review: Princess of Thorns

Title: Princess of Thorns
Author: Stacey Jay
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 400
Release Date: December 9, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Summary: Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne. Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago. Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love? (via Goodreads)

My Rating:

| Goodreads | Amazon | My Goodreads Review | 

The Princess of all fairy tale retelling stories! This book was astounding from cover to cover! This is everything I want in a book! Excitement, action, romance -but not too much- bravery, flaws, loyalty! I absolutely love it! Did you love Arya in Game of Thrones? How about the Alana series? Fairy tales? Then you will love this book!

The main character is a young girl who disguises as her brother in order to rescue him - and her kingdom! She teams up with Niklaas, the eleventh son of a king to help her. Stacey Jay writes a beautiful romance for them that feels so natural you can't help but love it!

I will say, I was a little bit resistant to it at first because of how much I loved their relationship as friends! Every character was beautifully written, and the story never lets up! Each new adventure follows right behind the previous!

I particularly enjoyed that this was not a typical retelling story. This was about Princess Aurora's (Sleeping Beauty) children, although that took a moment for me to figure out because in this story Sleeping Beauty's name is actually Rose. Bit confusing, but once you get that down it's fascinating. 

This is a stand alone book with no sequel, and although I am disappointed because I would love to keep reading about theses wonderful characters, I thing I am actually glad. So often anymore, we have authors pumping out trilogies, and 7 book series there are very few stand alone books in fantasy anymore (or at least that I can find!). I did notice while poking around Goodreads that Stacey Jay has written about 14 books to date and one of them is called Of Beast and Beauty so I think I know what I'm looking into next!

Basically I have nothing whatsoever to complain about for this amazing piece of literature and everyone ever should pick this book up! Do it yesterday because you need to read this book!

What is your favorite retelling story?

Review: Transformed

Title: Transformed
Author: E.V. Fairfall
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 273
Release Date: January 1, 2014
Publisher: Silver Stag
Summary: Thea, all-mighty Mother Earth, only had one rule to follow above all else, one promise to keep to her brother: never take a human form. She would've kept that promise if it weren't for Brice. He's handsome and confident, but above all he's merciless.

He's also a hunter who has tormented Thea for years. She believes if she could teach Brice compassion, she might finally be able to save her creations and herself from his savage ways. Then she meets Chamber: another hunter.

She soon finds herself fascinated by−and torn between−the two boys: Brice and Chamber. Lost within a torrent of human emotions, Thea starts to lose who she is as she falls in love with the one thing that she's always hated: a hunter… a human.(via Goodreads)

My Rating:

| Goodreads | Amazon | My Goodreads Review | 

I received this book as a free ebook from the author in exchange for a honest review, so a big thank you to E.V. Fairfall for this opportunity!

The cover is what initially caught my eye with this book, but it was the plot that drew me in! This was a very unique idea that I've never seen before in young adult books. It's a story of a not-so-young girl: Mother Earth.

I was initially a little bit frustrated with Thea because she went from being this ancient being who has seen so much, to being a stereotypical teen with a crush, but as the story plays out I saw that it was very much part of the character development. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, because dress it up however you like, she was very typical of YA protagonists, but it helped the story along and set up for a delicious plot twist!

I loved the way the romance was handled between Brice and Thea. I was, again, a bit concerned but the wonderful way it was written I feel like when things went bad, I could feel it just as though I was being hit with a bag of bricks, much as I imagine Thea did. It was a nice illustration of how things can go bad so fast. 

I did have one complaint, the time did not seem to flow quite right. I found myself flipping back to see if I had missed something, or feeling like I had missed a chunk of time. Nothing huge, but enough that I noticed it a few times. 

I particularly enjoyed the mythology, can I call it that, in this. The back story of Thea and her brother and how they interact with a sentient Earth. Even though they are titled 'Mother Earth', 'God', 'Earth' I got more of a 'God' feel from the Earth. I liked the fluidity of the whole thing. 

It was a wonderful, well written, interesting book that kept me on the edge of my seat on more than one occasion! I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys books with spiritual fiction in it, or someone who enjoys light fantasy and contemporary books. 

What is your favorite fictional religion or religious mythology?

Review: Deep Dark Fears

Title: Deep Dark Fears
Author: Fran Krause
Genre: Comics
Pages: 144
Release Date: September 29th 2015
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Summary: A charmingly creepy collection of 100 illustrated comics based on idiosyncratic and universal "deep dark fears." We all have weird fears, from getting sliced to ribbons in subway station revolving gate to getting turned around by the wind while swimming and going too far out to sea. Based on the wildly popular eponymous Tumblr, Deep Dark Fears explores our odd, creepy, and hilariously singular fears. Animator, illustrator, and cartoonist Fran Krause brings these fears to life in vividly illustrated comics based on real fears submitted by readers (plus a few of his own). These "deep dark fears" run the gamut from unlikely but plausible to completely ridiculous, highlighting both our deeply human similarities and our peculiar uniquenesses. (via Goodreads)

My Rating:

| Goodreads | Amazon | My Goodreads Review | 

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley from Ten Speed Press, so thank you very much to everyone involved!

This was quite a lovely book about all the, you guessed it, deep dark fears that people have. I can'd decide if the book was terrifying because there were things I never thought to be afraid of, or comforting knowing that I am not the only crazy person out there with this fear. 

The illustrations were wonderful and the layout was great! I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the Gashlycrumb Tinies because it has that same lovely dark humor to it!

Review: Once

Title: Once
Author: Anna Carey
Genre:Dystopian
Series:Book 2 in the Eve Series
Pages:354
Release Date: Jan 1, 2012Date
Publisher: HarperCollins
Summary:When you're being hunted, who can you trust?

For the first time since she escaped from her school many months ago, Eve can sleep soundly. She's living in Califia, a haven for women, protected from the terrifying fate that awaits orphaned girls in The New America.

But her safety came at a price: She was forced to abandon Caleb, the boy she loves, wounded and alone at the city gates. When Eve gets word that Caleb is in trouble, she sets out into the wild again to rescue him, only to be captured and brought to the City of Sand, the capital of The New America.

Trapped inside the City walls, Eve uncovers a shocking secret about her past--and is forced to confront the harsh reality of her future. When she discovers Caleb is alive, Eve attempts to flee her prison so they can be together--but the consequences could be deadly. She must make a desperate choice to save the ones she loves . . . or risk losing Caleb forever.

In this breathless sequel to "Eve," Anna Carey returns to her tale of romance, adventure, and sacrifice in a world that is both wonderfully strange and chillingly familiar.(via Goodreads)

My Rating:

| Goodreads | Amazon | My Goodreads Review | 

Part two in a pretty typical YA dystopian series.  I enjoyed this book marginally more than Eve but it still did not really wow me. I expected something more, although like book one, I'm not sure what that was. 

It was a pretty typical second book, like I said. I still enjoyed the unique setup for the first book of schools where girls are groomed to be breeding stock, but that's where the uniqueness is pretty well over. Even the fact that in book one Eve was pretty useless in the wild and it was not one of the unbelievable stories where the girl is all of a sudden able to do all manner of things, doesn't follow through to this book. The straight forward love interest morphs into a love monster (that's what I'm calling it. I do not apologize. It's not exactly a love triangle but it's something where everyone inter connects). 

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy this book. It was OK. The back story was pretty interesting, and it was, like book one, a quick read. The change of setting was nice, and I liked seeing the City of Sand. 

To be honest that's about it. I did like it, and will finish the series, but It didn't wow me. I think it would appeal to someone new to YA, who hasn't over read these plot lines. 

Review: Frostfire

Title: Frostfire
Author: Amanda Hocking
Genre: Young Adult - Fantasy
Series: Book 1 in The Kanin Chronicles
Pages: 336
Release Date: January 1, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Summary: The first book in a magical new YA series from New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking that invites readers back to the beloved world of the Trylle.

Bryn Aven is an outcast among the Kanin, the most powerful of the troll tribes. Set apart by her heritage and her past, Bryn is a tracker who's determined to become a respected part of her world. She has just one goal: become a member of the elite King’s Guard to protect the royalty. She's not going to let anything stand in her way, not even a forbidden romance with her boss Ridley Dresden. But all her plans for the future are put on hold when Konstantin– a fallen hero who she once loved – appears to be up to something dangerous, kidnapping changelings. Bryn is sent in to help stop him, but will she lose her heart in the process?(via Goodreads)

My Rating:

| Goodreads | Amazon | My Goodreads Review | 

What a refreshing and exciting beginning to a series! 

I had this on my to read list for a while but didn't start it until I saw the upcoming 3rd book and gave it a chance. I don't see a lot of books about trolls so this was very exciting. I also found that this book barely fell into the young adult category and was more of a fantasy book. Not that I dislike YA, obviously, but it was a nice change of pace. 

The world building in this book was very well scattered into the plot of the novel. I generally love this part the best so it was nice to see it in bits through the whole book. I also liked the way that Bryn is very much an adult, but obviously newly one. She has a job, an apartment, and her own life, but she seems to be new to it all. I am glad it was not the same old 17 year old lives with parents who for some reason let her do really dangerous stuff. 

The intricate political and racial complexities were also very interesting. I really enjoyed hearing about them, who can speak with who and to what degree and who can live with who and where. I think that it speaks to a lot of different situations in today's world. 

I will defiantly be reading the next few books in this series!

Review: 'Salem's Lot

Title: 'Salem's Lot
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Horror
Pages: 631
Release Date: October 17th 1975  Publisher: Pocket Books  Summary: Something strange is going on in Jerusalem's Lot ... but no one dares to talk about it. By day, 'Salem's Lot is a typical modest New England town; but when the sun goes down, evil roams the earth. The devilishly sweet insistent laughter of a child can be heard echoing through the fields, and the presence of silent looming spirits can be felt lurking right outside your window. Stephen King brings his gruesome imagination to life in this tale of spine-tingling horror. (via Goodreads)  

My Rating:

| Goodreads | Amazon | My Goodreads Review | 

I read this book as part of my Stephen King project (AKA I am reading Stephen King). Before I started it I read Dracula because King says that it heavily influenced this book's writing. I'm really glad I did that, and I recommend that everyone read Dracula before they read this because the comparisons are amazing. This was the story that Dracula is hyped up to be! Where Dracula failed, King has managed to succeed spectacularly!

I love the way that the town it's self is a major character in this book. King spends a lot of time, arguably even too much time, setting the tone of the book by taking you through the town, but I thought it was just right. I enjoyed the other characters as well, particularly Matt, although somehow I missed that he was older initially! Once I realized that he was, I loved him more because, well, I love old people that's why.

I was told that this was one of Stephen King's scariest books, and I'm not sure where I stand on this. While I don't think that the actual plot scared me at all, King did a great job of setting a tone. The descriptions of how the characters themselves were feeling was so well written that it actually made me a little jumpy (...scared...) particularly walking in to work. In the dark. At night. At the full moon. 

I will say that one of the big reasons that I did not give this book a 5 star is that it stuck a little too close to the Dracula story. It was better written, more readable, more enjoyable, with a better pace and written in a more believable way, but it was essentially Dracula. Where it did stray was the parts about the house, and the fires.

I think that the ending leaves it open for a sequel, or mentioning in another book (I'm told King likes to do that) so here's hoping! Basically if you're thinking about reading 'Salem's Lot do it and just skip Dracula!

What book do you think is just a better version of something else? Happy reading! 

P.S. Check out the new layout for reviews! 

August 2015 TBR!

As promised here is my TBR post for August 2015!

If you missed my July 2015 wrap up post, I'll recap just a bit here. This is my first TBR post (following my first wrap up post). I'm not sure what people usually post on book blogs because I have just started looking at them! I started out as a lurker in Booktube but am just much more comfortable (not to mention more able financially and time wise) with a blog than a blog. So I'll jump right in!

Roll over from July!

So there are a few books that I started reading in July that are must finish books of August!



1. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King - I actually finished this yesterday, but since this is for all of August I guess I'll keep it on the list! I was most of the way through it in July, but there was just enough left that it rolled over into August! So keep an eye out for that review.

2. Transformed by E.V Fairfall - I received this book from the author for review and I am really enjoying it! It has quite an interesting story line that I don't think I've ever seen before. I'm half way through this book, give or take. This book right now is my priority so look for a review in the next few days to a week!

General to read!

Now on to books that have been on my to read list for a while that I would like to try and knock out!

1. Fire by Kristin Cashore - This is the second book in the Graceling trilogy. I really enjoyed book one but I'm not really sure where this series is going. That is both exciting and a little bit discouraging, but I did enjoy book one so I'm going to give it a shot.

2. Once by Anna Carey - This is the second book in the Eve trilogy. I didn't love book one, but I did like it and there are only 3 books. So I think I'm going to take it slow and not marathon it. Some series were just meant to take in bite sized chunks.

3. Inferno by Dan Brown - This is the forth book in the Robert Langdon series and to be honest I was ready to just not read anymore. I really did not enjoy The Lost Symbol at all and had to force myself to read it, but I recently talked with a coworker who said that she also found book 3 to be not as good, but really enjoyed this one. So I'm going to give it a try! The description says it has a lot to do with Dante's Inferno which leads me to...

4. Inferno by Dante Alighieri - Well, I was going to pick a classic book to read this month so I guess it'll be this one! I've heard mixed things about this one and I usually have a lot of trouble with classics, so this might be an audiobook I listen to while I'm in the car. I have always heard classics are best read outloud!

5. Frostfire by Amanda Hocking - I've heard a lot of hype for this series, but not much about the actual books, so I'm just going to jump right in and read them. This is book one of the Kanin Chronicles. 

6. Persephone by Katlin Bevis - I just heard about this book and I must read it. Greek mythology, story of Persephone. Need I say more? No! I must read it this month!

ARCs!

I have a nice little list of advanced reading copies that I will be reading this month! Most of my ARCs come from NetGalley, but every once in a while I get them from Goodreads or authors!

1. Justice Buried by Hilary Thompson - This will be the next book that I start, and I'm really excited for it! It seems very interesting, and is about an underground community! 

2. Amarantox by Tam Linsey - This is the prequel book to the Botanicaust series, I'm really excited to read this book because I'm always interested in books about biological stuff, and post apocalyptic stuff! So hopefully this is really good!

3. The Banished of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler - This will be my first Muirwood novel and I'm really excited, I read on graphic novel short and it was really good, so hopefully this is just as good!

Short Stories and Novellas

1. 'Til the World Ends by Julie Kagawa book 0.5 in the Blood of Eden series - This series just ended and I've always wondered how it started, good thing there's a short for that!

2. The Seeds of Wither by Lauren DeStefano book 1.5 in The Chemical Garden series - I'm not really sure what this short is about but I really enjoyed this series so I'm going to read it!

3. Four by Veronica Roth books 0.1-0.4 in the Divergent series - Does this book really even need an explanation? I love Divergent, I love this series, I love Four, hopefully I will love this book!

Projects!

These are the books that I will be reading in August, but I probably will not finish because they are part of a project!

1. Revan by Drew Karpyshyn - This is the book that I am reading with Brad, we only read a few chapters a week so this is definitely a long term project!

2. Song of the Nile by Stephanie Dray - This book is my biggest shame book! It was a copy I received as an advanced reading copy in 2011! Live got in the way and it kept getting pushed back! (Plus I had to finish book 1 first!) But this year if I do nothing else I am reading this book! Why is it a project you say? Well, I loved the first book so much I actually got a few people to read it! Including my college room mate (a history major!). So now everyone is on the second book and even though we don't live together anymore, my roommie and I are reading this together a few chapters at a time! So I won't finish in August but I will finish in 2015!

3. Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm - This is a long term, won't finish this year, please don't forget about me, monster of a project! I haven't made much headway in this book but I'd like to pick it back up this month!

4. The Bible by God? - Yes you did read that right, The Bible. My college room mate who shall from this point on have a name, her name, Suzette, and I. Suzette and I, decided that we should, being that we are in our mid 20's and have been raised Christian, read the Bible. So we are. I'm done with the book of Ruth at this point and again, this is a multiple year project that I'd like to pick up again this year. 




That's 14 books and 3 projects that I'm aiming for this month, I'm not sure how far I'll get but I'm going to try for it! What books are you planning on reading this month? Happy reading!