Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I've Read So Far in 2015


Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, and the theme this week is to list the top ten best books that you've read so far in 2015.  In no particular order, here are some truly awesome books you should definitely read.

Friday, June 26, 2015

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Publication Date:  May 5, 2015
Publisher:  Bloomsbury
Series:  A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Pages:  416
Genre:  High Fantasy

Synopsis:  When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Top Ten Topics We've Done in the Past 5 Years


Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, and the theme this week is to list your top ten Top Ten Tuesday's that have been done in the past five years (in honor of five years of Top Ten Tuesdaying).  Since I just started participating in Top Ten Tuesdays, I'm going to pick topics I wish I had been there to do!

Friday, June 19, 2015

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Publication Date:  September 17, 2013
Publisher:  Scholastic Press
Series:  The Raven Cycle #2
Pages:  439
Genre:  Supernatural
Synopsis:  If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take?

Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps from others. Some he keeps from himself.


One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams.


And sometimes he's not the only one who wants those things.


Ronan is one of the raven boys—a group of friends, practically brothers, searching for a dead king named Glendower, who they think is hidden somewhere in the hills by their elite private school, Aglionby Academy. The path to Glendower has long lived as an undercurrent beneath town. But now, like Ronan's secrets, it is beginning to rise to the surface—changing everything in its wake.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Summer 2015 TBR


Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, and the theme this week is to list the top ten books on your TBR (to be read) pile this summer!  I'm not typically one to plan what I read, I'm more of a spontaneous reader, but there are a few books I have in mind...

Friday, June 12, 2015

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Publication Date:  November 6, 1939
Publisher:  Collins Crime Club (past) and currently published by a wide variety of publishing companies
Series:  Stand Alone
Pages:  264
Genre:  Mystery
Synopsis:  First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.

Friday, June 5, 2015

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Publication Date:  January 1, 2013
Publisher:  Amulet Books
Series:  Splintered #1
Pages:  371
Genre:  Fantasy Retelling
Synopsis:  Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Love to See as Movies/TV Shows


Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, and the theme this week is to list the top ten books I would love to see made into movie/TV show adaptations.  Now, I am a firm believer that not all books need to be made into movies or shows, but there are a few I would honestly kill for (just kidding).  

Monday, June 1, 2015

Recap: May 2015!

All in all, May was a pretty good reading month, which is odd, since it has been so hectic.  I do find, however, that I tend to want to read most when I have less time.  How inconvenient.  Anyway, I finished a total of eight books this month, a Shakespearean play, and three Russian stories.




Rating:  2.5 Keys

Hexed (which I reviewed here) was mediocre.  It had decent writing, but had abhorrent characters.  The plot wasn't as bad, but the book as a whole was a total cliché.  I think it is safe to say that I didn't like this one.



Rating:  2.5 Keys

The Girl on the Train was a disappointment.  It just wasn't what I thought it was going to be.  The mystery was fairly standard and it isn't very exciting, for a thriller.  Again, the writing was enjoyable and the characters were absolutely appalling.  I had high hopes and they fell flat.



Rating:  4 Keys

I had much better luck with my first Gillian Flynn novel, Sharp Objects.  This book is sickening, in a good way.  A brilliantly written murder mystery with rich characters and settings.  The only downfall is the obviousness of the killer.



Rating:  3 Keys

Splintered is an Alice in Wonderland retelling.  While I am happy this book stayed true to the original story while also maintaining a fairly original plot, I felt it was just a little all over the place.  Full review to come.



Rating:  5 Keys

As you can tell, I have really been loving the mysteries this month, so I would finally read a book by the Queen of Mysteries herself, Agatha Christie.  I loved this book, I'm not going to lie.  The writing is very crisp and clear and it keeps you guessing until the end.  My dad actually recommended this to me, and I couldn't be more grateful.  Full review to come.



Rating:  4.5 Keys

I only just finished this book a handful of hours ago, on the last day of May.  I don't understand why I waited so long to read this sequel to The Raven Boys.  It surpassed even the first book in the series, which was quite a feat.  It's no secret that I love Maggie Stiefvater's gorgeous, lyrical writing, and this book did not disappoint.  Full review to come.



Rating:  3 Keys

I'm not generally a fan of Shakespeare, but I have to admit that I didn't hate this one.  I liked the themes presented and the story wasn't horrible, all in all.  I won't be doing a full review of this play, as I don't review the books I read in school.  This is simply because I am already predisposed to dislike anything I am forced to read, and it wouldn't be fair to the books themselves to give full review that would be admittedly biased.

Translated by Meredith Weatherby


Rating:  1.5 Keys

Oh, my, how I hated this book.  Again, I read this for school, so I am not perfectly objective, but I stand by my opinion.  The story was utterly pointless.  Nothing meaningful happened.  I am not sure if this is because of the translation, but the writing was also quite choppy and full of grammatical errors.  If I hadn't had to read it for class, I would have put it down after the first chapter.

I also read A Problem and The Proposal by Anton Chekhov; and How Much Land Does a Man Need?  by Leo Tolstoy for English class, all of which I found perfectly pleasant.  Like I said, May was a pretty good reading month and I hope June will be equally as fantastic.