The Books So Far

As you know, I do a lot of reading. I am part of the Goodreads Challenge and have already updated my total 3 times to keep up with all of the titles that I have come across. I have been devouring children’s books over the last couple of months since working more in the children’s wing at my library and am highly enjoying many of them including:

Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham

Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds

Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri

Tea Rex by Molly Idle

Frog Trouble…And Eleven Other Pretty Serious Songs by Sandra Boynton (with musical CD!)

Sparky by Jenny Offill

The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris

I think my total books read to date is around 60, with 82 being my Challenge total and it looks likely that I will have to push that higher. I have been trying to expand my boundaries this year: read more adult fiction, contemporary fiction, murder and government mysteries, graphic novels, and taking recommendations from coworkers and friends. Highlights include:

Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh (already mentioned a few times and worth the read)

The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas (a compilation of the short stories from the Throne of Glass series)

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Fallout by Gwenda Bond

Morning Star by Pierce Brown (final book in the Red Rising Trilogy)

Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown (graphic novel!)

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs (finally a new Mercy Thompson!)

Invision by Sherrilyn Kenyon (the next Chronicles of Nick!)

The Obsession by Nora Roberts

A Tyranny of Petticoats edited by Jessica Spotswood (a set of short stories by authors like Y.S. Lee, Marie Lu, Marissa Meyer, and Andrea Cremer about badass young women)

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses)

The Forgotten Room by Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig

Overall, it’s been a good year for books so far. Not too many disappointing titles were picked up in the couple of months or since the beginning of January. I am excited to see what this next batch will bring. And of course, there are always new titles at the library. I am waiting on The Hidden Oracle and The Crown’s Game as well as The Scorpion Game and Paper Magician. With summer coming, I might not read as much if the weather is nice but it’s always good to keep a book or two handy for a rainy day or chilly night!

For more on what I have read this year or want to read in the coming months, check out my Goodreads page.

What I’m Reading

I was so ecstatic to begin the new Chima that I started the day I got it, which happened to be my birthday. Unfortunately, I haven’t picked it up since because a character I loved met an untimely demise and I couldn’t bear to continue. I understand it is necessary for the continuation of the story but the Seven Realms was just so perfect and this sort of shattered that world for me…no pun intended.

Grave Peril is amazing but it’s taking me awhile to get through as it is in audiobook format. I listed to some of it on CD in the car, some via Audible on the way to and from graduation but I have a hard time concentrating on listening without visual for long periods of time so it’s taken longer than I would like. That being said, I am immensely enjoying the Dresden Files and there could not be a better narrator for the character than James Marsters. Absolutely amazing. And the plot, while a bit convoluted or unexplained in places, such as the intro of a new character with no explanation or backstory, are quite entertaining.

Sleeping Giants is a new acquisition that I am already two-thirds completed. The style is like a McCreight, made up not of simple prose and story-telling but journal entries and interviews. There aren’t any dates but file numbers. And the “narrator” is an unknown person of dubious means and indeterminate interests. It’s a heart-pounding alien sci-fi without a lot of aliens or sci-fi. Bit hard to explain but worth my time so far.

I have yet to begin the new McCreight or Bond books but they are next up on my queue as I have just finished The Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux, a surprising 4-star book. I am excited to see what both of these novels bring as The Outliers is part of a new YA series and Double Down is second in a Lois Lane series which is highly entertaining, well thought out, and enjoyable.

Top Ten Tuesday Update

Nearly six months later and it’s time to give an update for a Top Ten Tuesday I did back in December.

I gave a short list of debuts I was excited to read and have since realized that one of them is in fact not a new series, just a new publication, and that one of them is not a new author but an established one. The series Alcatraz by Brandon Sanderson has been around for nearly a decade and I still have yet to read it this year. The stand-alone, Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield I have in fact read and loved! The only thing I took issue with was the ending and I will be publishing a full review on it soon. The author has several other contemporary fiction pieces and I neglected to do my proper research.

I have only read one other book from the list so far, Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh and I loved it! It was a great work, definitely more sci-fi than I anticipated and well done. I loved the writing style though some characters were flatter than I would have liked, the plot was well paced and enjoyable. Definitely a book work reading.

Two others on the list, The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan and The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye (which has a Kirkus star) are both slated to be read in the coming weeks. I believe Riordan’s work is currently waiting to be picked up at the library. Please Don’t Tell by Laura Tims is also coming due, although I am going to read The Outliers, the first book in a new series by Kimberly McCreight first.

I think I also need to publish a new debuts list for this year because I am rapidly adding more to my TBR every day. I even added a list in my phone, by month, so I would know when highly anticipated books are due out. I am a huge nerd.

Top Ten Tuesdays are brought to us by the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish.

…Three Months Later

I can’t believe it’s been three months since I’ve posted! What a crazy time this has been. And WordPress has just informed me that it’s also been two years since I began this adventure! Even crazier.

First, my life update: I have officially graduated from grad school! Woo! Woo! (Picture courtesy of my aunt.)

I now possess a Master of Library Science degree…and now have to find something to do with it. I have been applying to as many jobs as I qualify for and realize that it might not be as easy as it was when I graduated college the first time. I may have to take a step back and get a full time job in an office again if things don’t pick up. Which wouldn’t be too bad except that I would severely miss my library. I love what I do, I honestly do. So I am looking into other options. And realized that I need to start writing again if I ever hope to become published. I could definitely work at my library part-time and write freelance and work on my novel and pay the bills, I think. At this time, there is only an inkling of a plan and the pressure to settle into one. Mostly from myself as I am my own worst critic. Hopefully that means I will also be able to pay more attention to all of you again. Working six days a week and then dealing with finals did not make it easy on me. But I see that I am almost to 200 followers and I just gained a new one a couple of months ago! That is amazing news to me.

Here’s what I plan to publish in the next couple of days:

1. Updated book lists, i.e. what I have read since the last update, some Top Ten Tuesdays, and what I am currently reading/loving
2. Recipes!! I have been brushing up on my cooking skills and have been really enjoying tweaking recipes I found online and giving them my own twist
3. An original story or poem for your reading pleasure

There are probably some other things as well but we’ll take that as it comes. Thank you for your patience and time. You’re rockstars and I can’t wait to share more with you soon! 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday

Also always, brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish. Because I don’t care for this week’s topic, I’m going to use last week’s for this one – March 1: Ten Books To Read If You Are In The Mood For (fill in the blank)

I’m going to do kickass fight scenes, often interspersed with fantasy elements in the rest of the book and set in another world altogether

1. Night Play by Sherrilyn Kenyon
2. The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
3. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
4. The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
5. The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
6. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
7. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch
8. Red Rising by Pierce Brown
9. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
10. Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Bonus! These are all series which means there are other awesome fight scenes throughout the other books! Kenyon, Chima, Maas, Raash, Brown, Aveyard, and Paolini for sure. Enjoy!

Top Ten Tuesday

I’m going to do a throwback since I missed this one. Here we go – February 23:  Ten Book I Enjoyed Recently (last yearish) That Weren’t My Typical Genre/Type of Book (or that was out of your comfort zone)

1. The Forgotten Seamstress by Liz Trenow (5 stars)
2. Fat Chance by Nick Spaulding (5 stars)
3. Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer (4 stars)
4. Part-Time Princesses by Monica Gallagher (4 stars)
5. Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight (5 stars)
6. The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt (5 stars)
7. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (4 stars)
8. Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen (5 stars)
9. The Incarnations by Susan Barker (4 stars)
10. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (4 stars)

Most of these are either reality based fiction, nonfiction, or styles of fiction I don’t read that often. All are definitely worth a read, some are even laugh out loud funny!

What I’m reading

So far, I am absolutely tearing into Burning Midnight and am 4/5 done with The Assassin’s Blade. Pulling Princes is a nice diversion, light and airy, a little serious, but not fantasy world serious. The Epic Adventures occupies little of my time but I have enjoyed what I have read to date. And The Lies of Locke Lamora is a rather strain to read but is seeming to improve now that I am over 100 pages in so we’ll see how it finishes.

March Update

Greetings faithful readers!

How lovely to see you all again 🙂 I have been remiss in my duties of writing but grad school is taking its toll…and pound of flesh for that matter. Since my last post, I have been working 6 days a week, interning and at my regular job, plus doing homework and writing papers, not to mention fitting in family events and you know, hanging out with my significant other. I have a lot on my plate and hopefully that load will be lightened in a few weeks! I am also applying for jobs, which I’m sure many of you know, can be very stressful. Applying a degree in the real world can be trying. Keeping my fingers crossed that the right opportunity and I cross paths soon.

In other more bookish news, there have been several publications recently which have caught my eye and I feel obliged to update you on, whether I have read them yet or not.

1. Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh (much anticipated and currently am tearing through it)
2. The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky
3. Morning Star by Pierce Brown (waiting for my copy to arrive!)
4. Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

Also, the soon to be released!

1. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (screen play) by J.K. Rowling
2. Demigods & Magicians by Rick Riordan
3. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
4. FROST LIKE NIGHT by Sara Raasch (which just had a major cover release and I’m so excited I can’t stand it!)
5. FLAMECASTER by Cinda Williams Chima (first new book in 4 years and she is giving away signed copies!!! I need this on pre-order, especially since it comes out just before my birthday!!)

Phew…that was a lot of excitement at the end there, I almost didn’t make it. As always, check out my Goodreads for more updates on what I’ve been reading. Post to follow with what I am currently reading next.

 

Top Ten Tuesday

From the Broke and the Bookish – February 2: Top Ten Historical Settings You Love/ Ten Historical Settings You’d Love To See or Top Futuristic Books You Love/Ten Futuristic Societies I’d Love To Read in Books — basically this week is all about the past or the future….spin it however you choose!

I’ve decided to do my top historical and future settings I love to read about.

1. 1850-1900, think bodice-rippers featuring devilish dukes and lusty earls
2. 1914-1948, think historical fiction or fiction with a historical setting, like The Forgotten Seamstress or The Thirteenth Tale
3. Post-apocalyptic with a new world order already set up, think The Lunar Chronicles or Ready Player One
4. Post-apocalyptic with a new screwed up world order, think The Giver or The Hunger Games
5. Ancient Greece/Ancient Rome, think historical fiction or fiction with a historical setting, or any sort of mythology based story from this era
6. Alternative history, think what if we changed this one thing, i.e. adding werewolves to 1880’s London (The Parasol Protectorate) or giving Nick Gautier a demon uncle for a guide (Chronicles of Nick, part of the Dark Hunter world)

Top Ten Tuesday

From Jan 19: Top Ten Books I’ve Recently Added To My TBR

I’m just going to do this list in terms of what I have most recently added to the list, however, as we all know, usually things at the bottom of the list are rarely read in a timely fashion…

The Knockoff by Lucy Sykes

Truth in Advertising by John Kenney

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines

The Circle by Dave Eggers

A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev

The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman

Astoria by Peter Stark

Hit by Delilah S. Dawson

Heartless by Marissa Meyer