The Raven Cycle (re)Readathon

With the release of Blue Lily, Lily Blue approaching, I've decided to participate in a (re)readathon for TRB & TDT. Wee-hee! Here's the post from Readers in Wonderland...  Who is hosting with Books of Amber, who has her own post on it here...

 

From them:

Reading Schedule

For this post I’ll only be sharing The Raven Boys schedule since that’s what we’re reading this month. The Dream Thieves schedule will be revealed September 28th (or you can go take a peek here)

They have lots of fun things going along with this, including a Q&A with Maggie herself (because she is awesomesauce) and some awesome giveaways. Be sure to check it out if you're interested... I'm not going to re-post everything they did... not because I don't care, but because I'm lazy... ;) 

Smiles,
B

Blue Lily, Lily Blue {Waiting on Wednesday}

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that highlights upcoming releases we're excited about.

There are, as you know, books coming out left and right that we all want to read. One I am looking most forward to is...



I can't express my excitement enough. The moment she tweeted it was available for pre-order... this was me:



I went and pre-ordered immediately. I miss Blue and the boys. I'm excited to see what they're up to next, what's going on in their lives. :)

What are you looking forward to?

Smiles,
B

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor {A Review}

Title: Dreams of Gods & Monsters
Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone #3
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Publication Date: April 2014
Source: Own
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4 stars

By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz.

Common enemy, common cause.

When Jael's brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people.

And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love.

But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz ... something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world.

What power can bruise the sky?

From the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond, humans, chimaera and seraphim will fight, strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.

At the very barriers of space and time, what do gods and monsters dream of? And does anything else matter?

  

So during my hiatus from here, I still updated Goodreads as I read. Here's what I wrote there:

While overall I really love this story, this writing, I struggled with this one. It took a while to get into and I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I had before. I could attribute that to the fact that there was such a long time between the reading of the second one and the reading of this one. Or my lack of big chunks of time to dive into the novel. The many different pieces of the story - all the details, the different races/species/etc, the characters, the worlds, the connections to be made... I sort of wished I had taken notes from the start so I could remember it all. All that being said, though, it still adds up to me not loving this as much. I definitely intend to reread this entire series, back to back, and see if that makes a difference. I really think it would. *And*, I imagine I would see so many things I missed before. It's a very richly told story... it's not too detailed by any means, but there's SO much going on and SO much to keep track of.

I definitely look forward to reading lots more by Laini Taylor.

All that definitely still stands. Taylor's storytelling abilities are stellar and definitely love her writing. There was just so much to this story that I wish I had waited until all three were out before reading them, so I didn't have a huge gap between the second and the third. But I'm more of an instant gratification person. I'm not good at the waiting thing if I want it now. I definitely wouldn't have gotten the factory in Willy Wonka... I would've gone down the bad egg chute. Or the juicing room.

Anyway.

Have you read the series? Did you enjoy it?

Smiles,
B

Robert Frost {A Memorable Monday Post}

Memorable Monday is a meme hosted by Escape in a Good Book. I'm excited to join in on this one because I love quotes, which was the driving force behind the creation of Memorable Mondays. I thank the ladies at Escape in a Good Book.

So... how do you participate? It's simple ~

1) Share a quote that has captured your interest lately in a Memorable Monday post on your blog.

2) Come back here and leave the link to your post in the comment box below. If you don't have a blog, I'd still love to hear read your quote. Leave it in the comment box instead of a link to a non-existent blog. :)

3) Visit other participants if you have time. It's always nice to have visitors. There's no overstaying your welcome this way, and they don't have to offer the obligatory drinks. Or clean.

4) If you tweet your posts, feel free to use the hashtag #MemorableMonday.

This week's choice(s):

"The rain to the wind said,
you push and I'll pelt.
They so smote the flower bed
that the flowers actually knelt.
They lay lodged, 
though not dead.
I know how the flowers felt."

~Robert Frost 

One of my all time favorites.  

Landline {A Review}

Title: Landline
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Series: No
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: July 2014
Source: Own
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 5 stars

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now.

Maybe that was always beside the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

Is that what she’s supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

 


Another that I read during my unintentional blogging hiatus. Here's what I wrote on Goodreads:

A-freaking-mazing.

It's no secret that I love Rainbow Rowell. I'll recommend her to nearly anyone. I love her writing style, her characters... everything seems so real. Even when I've never experienced it myself, it feels like I am. Right then. And oftentimes, I've found myself wondering if she has somehow stalked me, gotten into my head, and made my thoughts appear in her books. I realize that's probably not in the realm of possibilities, but still. Sometimes... I wonder.

So we meet Georgie. We meet Neal. We meet Seth. It goes back and forth, from the past to present, and we get glimpses into the lives of these characters, to how they got from there to here. And it felt so seamless. Rowell does an excellent job of providing back story without taking you out of the current story.

I was barely halfway through it when I got sad that it would end and I would be forced to wait for another book to be published by Rowell. I, for one, cannot wait to see what she does next.

Yeah. I'm a Rainbow Rowell fan, for sure. :)  I definitely feel like her writing has come into its own and I'm super excited to see how it continues to evolve.

Have you read this one? Did you like it?

Smiles,
B

How Do I Love Thee... ???

My daughter is two and a half. Can you guess what she's into? Yep... princesses. Which I don't mind as much as I thought I would. I guess I am girlier than I let myself believe. ;)

I went to look for her one day and found her here, reading "Ariel", aka, The Little Mermaid. :)

So we've been reading a *lot* of fairytales. Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast... and watching some movies, as well (can anyone say Frozen?). But these stories have really got me thinking about my own taste in stories and the books I read. Specifically the love/romance part of stories.

Who doesn't like a good romance in a story? But how many times have we (in general) complained about the lack of buildup, the insta-love? As long as it feels real, is well done, I'm typically okay with it. But so many times, it's not. It's just there and it doesn't make sense. BUT... what do these fairytales have in common?



INSTA-LOVE! Seriously. Snow White's prince saw her at a well and fell in love, and when he kissed her to wake her up - wala! - she's in love with him. Princess Aurora/Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty met Prince Philip in the woods and danced with him, falling in love without even knowing his name. Cinderella danced with the prince at the ball and they fell in love... apparently they never even spoke while dancing, since he didn't know her name, where she lived, or anything about her other than she wore glass slippers. And Jasmine? She falls REALLY quickly for a guy on a magic carpet. I gotta hand it to Belle, though... she, at least, took some time to fall for the Beast.

For real, though. These love-at-first-sight stories have been around for longer than any of us. It's just all about how well (or not) they're done. Apparently, given the time test, some of these can last forever. I just hope that my daughter grows up to understand that that's not typically how love works (not saying it can't happen, just that it's rarer than stories let on...)... and that it's not ALWAYS happily ever after, that it takes work, which equals LOTS of frustration along the way to happily ever after. It's a little more like this ~

We Were Liars {A Review}

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: May 2014
Source: Own
Format: Hardcover
Rating: Five Stars

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

  

So I read this when I inadvertently took a break from blogging. And I loved it. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it all, tho. I closed the book, thinking, "How the hell did I miss it?" Looking back I see it. I see it all. But it was so well done, imo, that it slid right by me. Maybe someone more in tune with these sorts of things would have caught on, but I'm apparently oblivious. Very, very interesting. 

Here's what I wrote on Goodreads right after reading it:

Love this. Definitely worth the hype that accompanies it. I loved the characters, the story.

Cadence is a great narrator. I loved how she was straightforward about things. I hated to see her and her family go through everything they went through. But it was heartbreakingly and awesomely told.

Don't ask me how it ends though... I'll lie.

Have you read it? Did you love it? Like it? Hate it? 

Smiles,
B

WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesdays was started by MizB over at Should Be Reading,

To play along, simply answer the following three (3) Questions:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

Currently Reading

 

I'm definitely liking this one better than I did Shiver. Not that I disliked Shiver, but I think the story is developing better, as well as the characters.

Recently Finished Reading

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Landline by Rainbow Rowell 

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

(And more, since I've not posted one of these in FOREVER)

What I Might Read Next

Probably Forever by Maggie Stiefvater, unless for some reason I'm werewolved-out by the end of Linger. I mean, it's possible, but we'll see. :)

  

To Read, or Not Read? That is the Question {A Top Ten Tuesday Post}

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they provide a Top Ten topic for you to create your list, then you share it on their post so others can find you. :)

  ♥ Top Ten Books I'm Not Sure I Want To Read... For Whatever Reason ♥

Obviously my TBR list is lengthy, just as yours. I add a book and forget about it - why it's there, why it appealed to me in the first place. Unless, of course, it's by an author I really like(d) or has had LOTS of buzz. I came up with a few for this list on my own, but then I ventured over to Goodreads to see my list of books to-read. I tried to choose books that I remember putting on there, rather than the miscellaneous ones I thought "I don't even remember your cover, your title."  :) That being said... 

Anything New by Lauren Oliver

I want to read this one, but I'm scared I'll not like it. :(

Hate that statement. I *loved* the Delirium series... even the last one. But I've also read Before I Fall & Panic, and I didn't love either of those. In fact, I barely liked Panic at all. I only finished it because it was Lauren Oliver and I was expecting it to be/get better.

Anything New-ish by Jodi Picoult

This is one of my favorites of hers.

Guilt. That's what I feel over this one. I fell in love with Jodi's books many moons ago, and devoured them. I couldn't WAIT to get my hands on them. And I still want to own them all. Maybe one day I will read them again. I think the problem may be that they started getting so incredibly heavy and full of such controversial subjects that I just bogged down in them. I still think she's an awesome author, I just stopped wanting to be in her stories. I've read them all up to House Rules, I think. I think that's where I stopped, anyway. ;)

Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling

I, like hordes of others, LOVED Harry Potter. There's a few authors I would read anything they write - even it were a take on the alphabet or a phone book - but this one? It's on my shelf. I might read it. I don't know. I've heard so many things about it. I don't expect it to be anything like HP... I don't know what to even expect. 

The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

I think 13 Reasons Why is one of the best books ever. But I've heard some negative reviews about this one, so, while it sits on my shelf collecting dust, I have yet to make a decision about whether or not to read it.

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

I read The Mortal Instrument Series before it became more than three books. And that felt like a solid ending, really. So do I want to go on? I own this one, so it's definitely a possibility. And I really like Cassandra Clare's writing/storytelling. But I think I would have to re-read or refresh my memory on what happened in the first three.

Flutter by Gina Linko

I won this book in a giveaway a while back. I just haven't "felt" it any time I've picked it up as an option. 

The Archived by Victoria Schwab

This has been on my Kindle for ages. I love the concept, I just can't get into it (and I've tried a few times). Do I need to get past a certain point? That could be the issue. I don't know.

Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

This sounds promising and has great reviews, so why am I wary? I have no clue.

 

 The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Malissa loved this one so I should be all over it. It sits on my shelf, waiting to be read, but I just don't know.

The Selection by Kiera Cass

I have an ARC of this one that I got off the YA Book Exchange. While I think I like the premise, I don't know if I want to read it, despite good reviews.

So... convince me. Do I read these? Or do I let them go? 

Smiles,
B

 

Landline {A Memorable Monday Post}

Memorable Monday is a meme hosted by Escape in a Good Book. I'm excited to join in on this one because I love quotes, which was the driving force behind the creation of Memorable Mondays. I thank the ladies at Escape in a Good Book.

So... how do you participate? It's simple ~

1) Share a quote that has captured your interest lately in a Memorable Monday post on your blog.

2) Come back here and leave the link to your post in the comment box below. If you don't have a blog, I'd still love to hear read your quote. Leave it in the comment box instead of a link to a non-existent blog. :)

3) Visit other participants if you have time. It's always nice to have visitors. There's no overstaying your welcome this way, and they don't have to offer the obligatory drinks. Or clean.

4) If you tweet your posts, feel free to use the hashtag #MemorableMonday.

This week's choice(s):


"I love you more than I hate everything else."

"Nobody's lives just fit together. Fitting together is something you work at. It's something you make happen - because you love each other." 

“You don't know when you're twenty-three. You don't know what it really means to crawl into someone else's life and stay there. You can't see all the ways you're going to get tangled, how you're going to bond skin to skin. How the idea of separating will feel in five years, in ten--in fifteen... She didn't know at twenty-three.” 

~Landline, by Rainbow Rowell 

By far one of my favorite authors. ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Shiver {A Review}

 



Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: Wolves of Mercy Falls (#1)
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: August 2009
Source: Own
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4 stars

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.




I wanted to love this one more than I did. I did like it, but I just felt it was lacking in some ways. I really feel like, since this novel, Maggie's writing and story/character development has really grown. In her more recent novels, which I have loved, I have definitely felt more attached to her characters and more "in" the story. I'm curious to see where the rest of this story goes, though.

That being said, I really liked it. I would have liked to have seen a little more character development for some, though. Like Olivia, for instance. I didn't really truly care one way or the other what happened to her. And Rachel. But Grace, and Sam, the main characters, I was pretty much in. It took a while to really get there, though, which was a little frustrating. I actually picked this up three different times before *finally* getting into it. I would always get about 40 pages in and give up.

Thankfully I got past that wall and was able to enjoy the story. I still feel there could have been more to it, more to the characters themselves, but we'll see where Linger takes us.

And, on a sort of side note, talk about a READING FAIL. So I put Shiver back on my shelf and grabbed the next one off the shelf. Started reading and thought "Wait a sec," and looked more closely at it. Yep. I had picked up Forever, the third in the series instead of the second. Can you say spoiler? Ugh. Such is life, I guess. But, when I started Linger, I discovered it wasn't as much of a spoiler as I thought, so there's that.

Waiting on Wednesday ♥ Isla

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that highlights upcoming releases we're excited about.

There are, as you know, books coming out left and right that we all want to read. One I am looking most forward to is...

 

Okay, I seriously cannot wait for this one. I *loved* Anna and the French Kiss and really enjoyed Lola and the Boy Next Door. I was lucky and got a sneak peek of this one on NetGalley and I was SO disappointed when it was over. Super excited!

What are you waiting on?

Smiles,

B

Let Me Look Into My Crystal Ball {A Top Ten Tuesday Post}

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they provide a Top Ten topic for you to create your list, then you share it on their post so others can find you. :)

  ♥ Top Ten Books I'd Recommend to Someone Who Has Never Read... ♥

 This week's topic is always a toughy for me. While I love recommending books and I often do so at work, I struggle with doing the whole genre-specific thing. I don't know why. I really can't even tell you *my* favorite genre to read. Weird, I know.So anywho. I made a list first, and then I decided what they fell into. Definitely not contemporary, these all have a mystical side to them. Ghosts, other worlds, a supernatural side...

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

 

The book that started my literary affair with Maggie Stiefvater. The waterhorses, the thrill of the race, the love story... it was all woven together masterfully. 

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

 

I read this recently and, like all her other books, LOVED it. It has a mysticism at play, and the story telling is AMAZING. For real. Read it. Love it. Cherish it. ;)

Splintered by AG Howard

 

Oh, the wonders of AG Howard's Wonderland. The detailed writing, the amazing characters... it all has me begging for me.

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

 

Dark and lovely all at the same time. 

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

 

I read this one a while back and really enjoyed the other worldly characters and the mythology involved. And the world Laini Taylor created was so vivid and, despite the darkness of it, I didn't want to leave it.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

 

I love ghost stories. And this one was NO exception. Gritty, dark, and a wonderful story to go along with it.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

 

Ah, Maggie. How I love her stories. They're not dark, like some of the others on this list. I love her writing. The worlds, while they feel safe in some ways, are not safe in others.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

 

Such a beautiful story.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

 

Another great story. Love transcends all. Beautiful.

Hope you found at least one book to add to your ever expanding TBR list. :)

Smiles,

B

A New Beginning

Today marks a new beginning for our family. One that anyone with children has or will experience in some way. I really thought I would be more emotional about this, but so far I'm doing quite well.

I'm really excited to see what his day brings. Did he have fun? What did they do? Who did he befriend or who befriended him? He's a reserved child and sensitive in a lot of ways, so I'm very curious to see how he handled it all. Not the academic part of things, but the "other kid" (you know, that social part...) part of things. How does he handle if a kid doesn't want to hang out with him on the playground? I know not all of this will be answered today, obviously, and it will be an ever evolving thing that changes regularly. But still... these are the things I think about. But, he was excited and happy this morning, so that's a good sign. :)

My big boy... 

Shiver {A Memorable Monday Post}

Memorable Monday is a meme hosted by Escape in a Good Book. I'm excited to join in on this one because I love quotes, which was the driving force behind the creation of Memorable Mondays. I thank the ladies at Escape in a Good Book.

So... how do you participate? It's simple ~

1) Share a quote that has captured your interest lately in a Memorable Monday post on your blog.

2) Come back here and leave the link to your post in the comment box below. If you don't have a blog, I'd still love to hear read your quote. Leave it in the comment box instead of a link to a non-existent blog. :)

3) Visit other participants if you have time. It's always nice to have visitors. There's no overstaying your welcome this way, and they don't have to offer the obligatory drinks. Or clean.

4) If you tweet your posts, feel free to use the hashtag #MemorableMonday.

This week's choice(s):

 


"She waited to change, and I waited to change, and we both wanted what we couldn't have."

~Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater 

Follow Friday: Greetings from Faraway, or Not-So-Faraway, Lands

Hosted by Parajunkee's View & Alison Can Read, the goal is to gain new followers and to follow new people yourself! :)

RULES

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

(Taken straight from the hosts)

• (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
• (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
• Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
• Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you.
• If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn’t have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
• Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”
• If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers.
• If you’re new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday!

This week's question/activity:

What is the biggest city you live near (or interesting landmark)? Show us a postcard picture.

 

Google search. Seriously not a whole lotta good lookin' ones out there (in all fairness, I didn't look for hours. Just a quick one.)

Anywho. Happy Friday and have a GREAT weekend!

Smiles,

B