Bloggin 'Bout Books Blog

Cress by Marissa Meyer is the fantastic third installment in The Lunar Chronicles. Here's a gif of how I felt reading the last 100 pages or so... UGHHHH. WHY DO WE HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG FOR WINTER????  As Meyer demonstrated in the last Lunar Chronicle book (Scarlet), she's fantastic as incorporating new characters into this story line without losing track of the others. I love Cress and I think Cress reacts to situations very in character aka like someone who's spent the last seven years of her life on a satellite.  And I love how Meyer used the foundations of the original Rapunzel tale but morphed them to fit into the universe she's been building. I can't wait for Winter to come out. In 2015. Sigh. I know there are people who don't enjoy this series, but I can't think of a reason why they wouldn't. I've been recommending it to everyone.  Prequel / Sequel Challenge Points: 52 points + 2 = 54 points!

Hello Lovelies!! Yes, I recognize that it's no longer Tuesday, but I wanted to participate in this week's TTT because it's a pick your own, and I had already decided on my theme and then didn't get around to posting. So, here we are. Top Ten Books I HAD  to own, but still haven't read 1. The Casual Vacancy. I mean come on, I had to get this asap. But it's been sitting on my shelf for about a year and a half and I haven't read it. EEEEP.  2.  The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao. I was so excited to see this at a yard sale that I picked it up immediately. But I haven't read it two years later. 3. A Discovery of Witches. This book sounded so good that I just had to get it! But I've had it for two years and still haven't read it. 4. A Visit from the Goon Squad. Another great find that's been sitting on my shelf for two years. 5. New York by Edward Rutherford was technically a gift, but I really wanted it. And I got it...

Hello Lovelies! I just realized that by this time next week we'll be starting month 6 of 2014 aka the beginning of the half way point! It's insane. I can't believe 2014 has gone by so quickly. I mean, part of that is preparing for the biggest move of my life but I don't even know. 2014 is just clipping along. But I thought I would take a moment to check in with myself and my blogging goals for the year. I know I haven't been hitting all of them, and I'm hoping taking this time to remind myself will encourage me to jump back on my goal train.  So here's my original post if you'd like to see what I'm referring to.  1. Commenting hasn't been going super well. I definitely read a lot of other blogs, but my commenting needs to get back up. Something for me to keep in mind. 2. I haven't done much design work. I have several saved ideas, but I haven't actually done anything. I need to work on that. 3. I've failed pre...

Specials by Scott Westerfeld is the third book in the Uglies series.  According to my Goodreads (uhmmm friend me ? if you want?), it took me over four months to finish this book. It's 384 pages. It's not a hard read. So why did it take me so long that I could have read 3 pages a day and finished it in the same time? I mean, it talks about self-harm and it talks about consent regarding one's own body, I should be crazy about this book! But I'm not. I actually don't really like this series much at all. But I'm determined to see it through at this point. I don't think it addresses being female well. I think Tally has a huge case of special snowflake syndrome. By this time in the series, I'm sick to death of her going back and forth on whether she wants the cure or doesn't want it. I'm sick of her and Shay's relationship. I don't think it's an accurate view of female friendships. I'm sick of Tally and her boy of the ...

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer is the equally excellent sequel to Cinder. Now, you might know that I generally don't like second books in series that much, but Scarlet was fantastic. Maybe it's because Meyer introduces a new set of characters while simultaneously following the story line that she introduced in the first novel. Maybe it's just because Meyer is a fantastic writer. But no matter which way I spin it, I just know that I devoured Scarlet almost as quickly as Cinder and enjoyed it almost as much (if not--eep!-- more). Scarlet follows Cinder's escape attempt from prison. In France, we meet Scarlet (the titular character) who is searching for her missing grandmother while trying to keep their farm business afloat. She meets a stranger in town who goes by the name of Wolf and might have some clues as to where Scarlet's grandmother is at. I was just as enthralled by the universe in this novel. Meyer fleshes out that space travel more, and she allows us more ...

Hello Lovelies! It's Tuesday again, and The Broke and the Bookish 's prompt for this week is Top Ten Books About Friendship. I'm not going to lie. I had a hard time this week. I could think of one, no problem, but the rest, I really had to scour my bookshelves (both digitallly and physically) to come up with some answers.  So in countdown style (from hardest to think of to the biggest duh)... 10. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld : Now I might not be super enthusiastic about the rest of the series, but I can't deny that Shay and Tally's friendship starts off super strong. Tally follows Shay into the wild world alone. That seems like a pretty strong foundation for friendship.  9. The Selection by Kiera Cass : I really enjoyed America and Marlee's friendship. I wish they'd been more open with each other, but I think it's obvious that they care for and support each other. 8. Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery : Paloma and Ozu ...

CINDER!!!! OMG CINDER!! Seriously guys. Marissa Meye's Cinder is so good. I realize I'm like a trillion years behind on this band wagon (or like two years but that's like a trillion in book land), but if you're like me and you haven't read this one yet, get on it! This is a fantastic retelling of Cinderella, but it's also so much more than that. Let me break it down for you. 1. This is a four book set and although each book appears to focus on a different character, it doesn't leave the other characters behind. In fact, Cinder's story isn't finished in the first book. 2. This definitely veers sci-fi over fantasy. I guess the cyborg part should have given that a way, but I was still struck by how sci-fi it was. Cause I usually don't read much sci-fi, but this one is amazing. 3. This is set in the future in New Beijing. And although Meyer doesn't come out and say it, I think it's pretty safe to say that all (or most) of the...

The One by Kiera Cass is a wonderful ending to The Selection trilogy. I thought Cass did an excellent job of winding up all the loose ends of the series. She made the relationship outcomes believable, and the situations were realistic in the set-up of the universe. I mean, I don't think it was a perfect book. The more I thought about The Elite the more disgruntled I became with the King's sudden personality change. I also think that this book wrapped up a little too neatly. All the strings were tied up in one event that really didn't take that long. I just expect resolutions to occur in stages when there are multiple issues presented. Overall, I think The One gives a satisfying conclusion to The Selection. Favorite Quote: "Bravery hides in amazing places." Prequel / Sequel Challenge Points: 36 + 2 = 38 + 10 for series completion = 48!

Ahhh!!! I just finished The Elite by Kiera Cass and I am so excited. I posted about 50 pages in that I thought this was going to be a long book because of what I presumed would be the obvious back and forth in America's mind between Maxon and Aspen. I was so wrong!  First of all, I was genuinely nervous that this book was going to be all about the love triangle, but I was so wrong! Cass manages to include more on the Rebel attacks occurring, more on the gradually failing state of Illea, and more character development than in the first one. To be sure it's a little bit easier to provide character development when your cast of main or semi-main characters goes from around 50 down to around 20.  Sure, I did still get a little annoyed with America's back and forth, but usually her reasoning behind it made sense. She knows what she wants in a relationship; unfortunately, America has the same problem which most people have of idealizing something that can never ...

Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman was (for the most part) surprisingly thoughtful. This was another book club pick, and I was excited to read it because I love the Netflix show which is based on it. So let me just say that Netflix took some pretty big liberties in turning a memoir into a narrative story line. I mean, I should have seen that coming, but I didn't really so I feel like I should warn other people. Kerman goes to jail for a 10 year old offense of carrying drug money across national lines (or something to that affect). Although she knows intellectually at the beginning of the book that what she did was illegal, she doesn't really believe that she should serve prison time for it. But as she goes through her 13 month sentence she begins to realize the lasting consequences of the small role she played in the drug trade business. Kerman does a good job of pointing out the fact that she had it so much better than most of the ...

Disclaimer: I was given a free ARC of this copy with the understanding that it would not influence my opinion or review of it at all. These are my real thoughts on the book. The Wednesday Daughters by Meg Waite Clayton is an interesting look at the relationships forged through a lifetime and what happens to them when the people involved are recovering from losses. I received an ARC of this through GoodReads probably almost a year ago now. (I am the worst! I shouldn't ever ask for ARCs because it takes me so long to read them.) I've been making my way through it for about two months -- it's kind of been a book that's been hanging around in my bedroom for when I have a couple minutes to read (it's got pretty short chapters for the most part, so it was handy to have to read there). I finally finished it last night.  I really wasn't sure how I felt about this book in the beginning. On the one hand, it had mostly female characters including a mixed-...

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen might just be my least favorite of her novels.  I've read Mansfield Park before. During my junior year of college, I took a class on Miss Jane Austen, and we read all of her novels. Some of them I was surprised to find I enjoyed. Some of them I find that I dislike less now that I've had some distance between us. And some of them I just generally dislike. Mansfield Park falls into that latter category.  So a brief synopsis (with some spoilers if you find Austen's works unpredictable). Fanny Price gets adopted by her rich aunt and uncle. She has two snotty girl cousins and two boy cousins: one who is snotty, one who is the love interest. After she spends six years growing up with the cousins (from 11 to 17) there are a snotty brother and a snotty sister who move in down the way. The brother (Mr. Crawford) toys with Fanny's cousins hearts. The sister (Miss Crawford) originally wants to catch Fanny's snotty boy cousin, but...

Hello Lovelies!! Yes, I know it's Thursday. I was working on a scholarship application for the last two days and my roommate defended her thesis on Tuesday (woot! woot! passed with highest marks, atta girl!!) so I haven't had a chance to write up my post yet even though I did figure out which books would be on it on Tuesday. So without further ado... The Top Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't So I've separated these based on how I feel about them now. First off, let me give you a couple books I almost put down but I'm glad I didn't. 1. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire : I love classic stories from the point of view of other characters, so I sure this would be an instant favorite of mine. But, my goodness, the beginning of this book is soooo sloooooow. I almost put it down a couple of time, but I finally took it with me to my grandparent's cabin where it was the only book I had so I forced myself to finish it. ...

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 Yup! I'm going to do it! I have a scholarship essay due mid-week, so we'll see how this goes, but I'm definitely going to give it a shot! I'm hoping to wrap up a few books I have lying around my house and start and finish The Elite!