Booking Through Thursday 30/01/14

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Booking Through Thursday and a different question is posted every week.

Do you do other things while you read? Watch TV? Cook? Brush your teeth? Knit?
(For the record, I’m guilty of all of the above.)
Or is it a quicker question to ask when you DON’T read? (Please tell me you don’t read while you’re driving.)

Honestly...no.  When I read, I like it to be the only thing I'm doing.  I don't have music in the background.

Waiting On Wednesday 29/01/14 "Prince of Shadows"

 Waiting on Wednesday is all about sharing the books that I'm eagerly waiting to be released.

 This week the book I'm waiting on is Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine.
I'm a fan of Rachel's Morganville series, but this sounds like something a little different from her, and I LOVE the sound of it.  It's set around Romeo and Juliet, but instead of focusing on them, it's set around Benvolio, with a paranormal twist.

Released 4th February.

A thrilling retelling of the star-crossed tale of Romeo and Juliet, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Morganville Vampires series.

In the Houses of Montague and Capulet, there is only one goal: power. The boys are born to fight and die for honor and—if they survive—marry for influence and money, not love. The girls are assets, to be spent wisely. Their wishes are of no import. Their fates are written on the day they are born.

Benvolio Montague, cousin to Romeo, knows all this. He expects to die for his cousin, for his house, but a spark of rebellion still lives inside him. At night, he is the Prince of Shadows, the greatest thief in Verona—and he risks all as he steals from House Capulet. In doing so, he sets eyes on convent-bound Rosaline, and a terrible curse begins that will claim the lives of many in Verona…

…And will rewrite all their fates, forever.

W...W...W...Wednesday 29/01/14

To play along, just answer the following 3 questions…



• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?
My current read this week is Cress by Marissa Meyer.

 

I recently finished reading Your Love Is All I Need by Marie Force.

 

As always I'm not sure what I'll be picking up next, but at the moment it looks like it will be Beautiful Addictions by Season Vining.

Teaser Tuesday 27/01/14 "Cress by Marissa Meyer"

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
  Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

This week my current read is Cress by Marissa Meyer.  Random Page turned to334.

"He found himself hoping the hallucination was true and she was not his daughter.  That his daughter had been killed by Sybil Mira as he's been led to believe so many years ago."

 

The 100 by Kass Morgan

Received for review
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks (29 Aug 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1444766880
ISBN-13: 978-1444766882

In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.

Cover:  When I first saw this cover online, I skipped over it.  It didn't grab my attention in any way.  But when a copy turned up as a surprise for review, I fell in love with the cover.  I was totally converted.  It reminds me of the artwork and movie posters for Star Wars: The Original Trilogy.  I love the images in the text, and then the bright white background.

I really enjoyed this book.  As I've said before, dystopian novels are not normally my 'go to'.  Of course there have been dystopian novels I've loved - including Divergent and Acid.  But I'm always a little wary of picking up a dystopian.
This one had the premise of Across The Universe in that the humas race has evacuated Earth and taken up residence on a space ship for the past three hundred years.
I really liked that we had so many different character points of view- Clarke, Wells, Bellamy and Glass.  This was definitely more a character driven story, than an action one.  There's actually very little action.  You have these 100 convicted young adults being dropped onto Earth to test if the humans can go back, a corrupt system and a slowly deregrading ship should lead to intense, action filled adventure.  But it doesn't, the action is always just poised- ready to happen but nothing really comes from it.  Of course it should develop in the next book.  But this one really focuses on introducing us to the main characters and giving us their interesting back stories- Glass had to give up the boy from a lower class she loved or he'd die, Clarke was tried for treason after her scientist parents were executed, Bellamy risks everything to save his sister, and Wells would do anything to protect Clarke.
This book should be boring.  But for sme reason I just loved it.  I loved reading about these characters, and I'm really interested to see what happens to them next (talk about your cliffhanger ending).
Over all I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It won't be everyone's cup of tea because of it's lack of action, but it hit the spot for me.  I sped through it in just a couple of days.
4/5 stars.

[YOUTUBE REVIEW] Written In Red by Anne Bishop

Booking Through Thursday 23/01/14

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Booking Through Thursday and a different question is posted every week.









If there was one book you could make sure nobody ever read again … what would it be? And why?
This is a really difficult one because I can't honestly say I would say to someone 'Don't read this book' because I realise that liking or hating a book is subjective.  There have been books I've disliked that others have hated and vice versa.  On this blog, when it comes to reviewing books I haven't liked I always try to include something I liked, because at the end of the day, an author put hard work into producing it.
If I didn't like it,  I say so, but I also try to balance it out by giving my opinion of who might like, 'if you like, you might like this' kind of thing.

W...W...W...Wednesday 22/01/14

To play along, just answer the following 3 questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?


This week my current read is Rome by Jay Crownover.

 

I recently finished reading (last night) Losing It by Cora Carmack.

As you guys probably now by now, I always change my mind when it comes to what I'll read next.  But as it stands, I could read The Flight of Gemma Hardy next.

 



Teaser Tuesday 21/01/14 "Losing It by Cora Carmack"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
   Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•  BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

This week my current read is Losing It by Cora Carmack. 

Random page turned to was 220.                                                   

 1)"He said, "Can you say that one more time? So That I can be sure it's not the sickness addling my brain?"

 

2)"It was shocking how not scared I was."



Teacher's Pest (Lovecraft Middle School #3) by Charles Gilman

Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Quirk Books (7 May 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594746141 

“Two-headed monsters, giant tentacles, angry demons—Lovecraft Middle School is great creepy fun!”
—Ransom Riggs, author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

DON'T BE FOOLED by his friendly smile, his perfect manners, or his shiny red apple. Student council president Howard Mergler is actually a sinister bug-monster in disguise—and he's summoning swarms of roaches, wasps, fleas, and head lice into the corridors of Lovecraft Middle School! Twelve-year-old Robert Arthur is the only student who can stop him--but he'll need help from his best friends: the school bully, the school ghost, and an extremely courageous two-headed rat.

This third novel in the Lovecraft Middle School series begins right where Professor Gargoyle and The Slither Sisters ended—with more action, more adventure, and more outrageous monsters!

Cover:  The covers for this series are amazing.  A great blend of creepy and just plain cool.  Currently the only series I have that have these holographic/transitioning cover designs that definitely appeal to the targeted middle grade audience.


I really enjoy this series.
This third installment is just as good as the first two books.
A really nice, fast paced, interesting read- chock-a-block with creepiness, adventure and humour.
Book one saw a Garoyle professor, book two gave us serpent sisters and book 3 gave us a giant insect taking over the body of the student body president, trying to build up a giant bug army.
This book is definitely creepier if you have a distinct fear of critters, but even then, it's nothing too scary, as after all, this is a middle grade series.
As always, the illustrations are wonderful!

This is such a fun series, that I highly recommend for all middle grade fans, or those looking to give it a try.
5/5 stars.

My Top 13 Books of 2013

Booking Through Thursday 16/01/14

 

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Booking Through Thursday and a different question is posted every week.



All other things (writing quality, story, etc), which would you rather read?

This is a tough one because for me at least, there isn't really a straight answer, so here goes.

1. Something written by a man or a woman?

I won't pick up something to read just because it's written by a man or a woman, I have no preference.  But just as the way it falls, with the genres I read, the majority of them I read ARE written by women.  For example paranormal romance and New Adult novels.  But then I also love John Green.  It's a mix.


2. Something with a male or female protagonist?

Again, my favourite is a mix.  I tend to read a lot of romance, so I like to have both the guy's and girl's point of view. For example Pushing the Limits or Perfect Chemistry.


3. Something funny or something tragic?

I don't tend to like books that make me depressed or really bring me down.  So I would sway twoards something light hearted and funny.


4. Something short or something long with many parts?

While I don't mind long books per say, but with work, etc I sway towards average-to-short books because of blogging and vlogging I want to make sure I have content to post, so I don't always want to get hung up on a particularly large book.


5. Something simple or something layered?

Again this is a 'depends-what-I-feel-like reading' one.  Sometimes I really fancy the layers and intricacy of a fantasy novel such as Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes, sometimes I really want to reading something simple that I don't have to think too much about, such as Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines.

W...W...W...Wednesdays 15/01/13

 

To play along, just answer the following 3 questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?


My current read is The Witness by Nora Roberts.

 

The book I recently finished reading was Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire.

 

 

 

Once again, I have no idea what to read next.  It might be The Queen of Dreams by Peter Hamilton.  But as always, it's subject to change.

 





Teaser Tuesday 14/01/13 "Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire"

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

 

This week my current read is Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire.

 

Random page turned to was 217.

 

1) "I've never hit a girl in my life," he said, surprised at my words.
 

2) "I couldn't stop thinking about Travis and whether or not I would call him, wondering if he was awake as well."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opal (Lux #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout



Paperback: 452 pages

Publisher: Entangled (11 Dec 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1620610094 

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.


Cover:  I really love the covers for this series.  I love the vibrant colours, and the cover models are the perfect Katy and Daemon.

I read Obsidian and Onyx back to back not long ago, and absolutely fell in love with the series, and couldn't wait to delve into the next book. 
I wasn't disappointed.
Ahhh the feels.  
Obviously as this is book 3 in the series, I don't want to spoil anything for anyone.
But this series is just getting better and better, more intense, more action.
Daemon is of course a huge part of why I love this series so much.  He's is so HOT!  You can't but love an arrogant, yet sweet guy.  How are we meant to resist that?!?!
The romance between Daemon and Katy is one of my favourites.  Their chemistry- sparks just fly between them, and I'm hooked on reading about them.
The ending of this one was absolutely evil.  I'm so pleased that I have the next book on my shelf ready to go.  If I'd had to wait for the release I don't think my heart could have taken it.
5/5 stars!
Highly recommend this series to everyone and anyone!

Book Haul/In My Mailbox 10/01/14 ~Christmas Edition~

Written In Red (The Others #1) by Anne Bishop

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 1410 KB
Print Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Roc; 1 edition (5 Mar 2013)

Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
The Others #1

No one creates realms like New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop. Now in a thrilling new fantasy series, enter a world inhabited by the Others, unearthly entities—vampires and shape-shifters among them—who rule the Earth and whose prey are humans.

As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.

Cover:  When I first saw this cover, I wasn't keen on it, but since reading it, I like it a lot more.  Not my favourite cover ever, but I like it.

I'm so glad my friend pestered me into reading this because I absolutely fell in love with this book.
It's fast paced, thrilling, and quite dark and bloody.  A hidden gem.
It revolves around shape-shifters and humans, the history of conflict between them, and bloodprophets.
Meg is a bloodprophet- a valuable commodity to the man or 'Controller' that owns her like property. Her blood can reveal prophecies people will pay a lot of money for, making him very wealthy, and making Meg a prisoner.
To reveal the prophecies, Meg's skin has to be cut, so that it will scar.
Immediately that's a pretty dark theme right there.
One night she escapes and seeks shelter with the terra indigiene- the shapeshifters. Their 'courtyard' is their territory and human law doesn't apply there- so Meg takes the Human Liason job, accepting mail and deliveries for the courtyard, so she's safe there- if she's not eaten first.
All of the different shifters were great- crows, hawks, wolves and more. At first they're wary of Meg, but it was amazing to see her win them all over and form friendships.
Simon Wolfgard is the leader of the courtyard. He hires Meg and is confused when she doesn't smell like prey. After a rocky start, a fledgling friendship is formed- especially after she helps bring his nephew Sam out of his shell. Sam was just so freaking adorable.
Simon was so interesting- he's never liked humans, even more so after his sister was murdered by them, but Meg starts to change his standpoint.
Meg was such a sweet character, but she had a backbone and had no worries about standing up to Simon.
I loved all the characters in this- even the bad guys in that love-to-hate-you-way.
Romance wise, there isn't any. But, I hope that there's something brewing between Meg and Simon. Fingers crossed.
Highly-HIGHLY- recommend this one. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I can't wait for book 2.
5/5 stars!

W...W...W...Wednesdays 8/1/13

 

To play along, just answer the following 3 questions…



• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My current read is Written In Red by Anne Bishop.

 

The book I recently finished reading (before starting my current read) was Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

 

 

I'm not sure what I want to read next to be honest, and in all likelihood my choice will change, but at the moment I think it will be Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire.



Teaser Tuesday 7/1/14 "Written In Red by Anne Bishop"

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week my current read is Written In Red by Anne Bishop.  A friend recommended it and has kept on at me to read it.
As I'm reading this on on my Kindle, it's harder to flip to a random page, so I'm just going to pick two sentences from my current %.

I'm currently at 16%

1) "The Last person to work as the Liason has been a slob, and she wasn't putting anything she wanted to eat on those shelves until she cleaned them."

2) Since she wasn't sure if they were crows or Others, she stuck her head out the door and said, "Good morning"."

2013 Goodreads Challenge Breakdown

With the end of 2013, brings the end of the Goodreads Reading Challenge.

My goal was 105 books, but I managed to read 131!

Reading a total of 36,061 pages.



Rating 5 books 1 star.
Rating 11 books 2 stars.
Rating 24 books 3 stars.
Rating 41 books 4 stars.
Rating 49 books 5 stars.

Bring on 2014's challenge!!

December 2013 Reading Wrap Up

Booking Through Thursday 2/1/14

 

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Booking Through Thursday and a different question is posted every week

Happy New Year, everyone! Apparently the scheduler didn’t like any of the posts I had ready for the month of December, so we’ll just have to start fresh for the new year.
Although–it’s always good to look back so you know where you’ve been, so the first question for the year is an oldie but a goodie:
“What were your favorite books last year?”

Happy New Year!
I actualy plan to make a YouTube video for my channel with 'My Top 13 Books of 2013', which will of course also be posted here on the blog.
But until I get round to recording that, I can of course share a few of my favourite books I read last year.

The Sullivans series #1 through to #10 by Bella Andre

 

While only the first seven books are shown here, I read up to book 10 in the series.  I thoroughly enjoy this series and it's one I shall continue to read on into 2014.  They're such cute, romantic reads, I love the characters and the big Sullivan family.  Highly recommend for contemporary romance fans.

 

 

One of the stand out books of the year for me was Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes. A YA fantasy about kingdoms heading for war, told from several points of view, a Princess from a prosperous kingdoms, a peasant whose brother was brutally murdered, a Prince from a harsh kingdom.  It was absolutely fantastic.  Captivated me straight away.  I didn't want to put it down.  it's essentially a YA Game of Thrones. 

 

While I could list all day,  the last one I'm going to mention is the Too Far series by Abbi Glines.





 

 I read all three books in 2013.  New Adult was a new-to-me genre in 2013 and I went on a bit if a binge.  Abbi Glines has a massive fanbase, both on BookTube and the Goodreads, so I was seeing her books all the time, particularly her Vincent Boys series, but because of the hype, wanted to start with a differemt series.

I absolutely loved this series.  It's a super cheesy series, but I don't even care.

The romance between Blair and Rush, was just totally addictive, and I did totally root for them.

The end of Fallen Too Far was just evil, and I couldn't wait to start book 2.