Mid-Year FreakOUT

Hi Book-Sniffers and Librocubicularists,

The middle of year was actually the first week of July... who cares?! *dances around room* Let's do this.

Total Books Read: 58
Total Pages Read: 21,014
Go here to see my 'Ultimate Reading Challenge' status

Rereads: 5
YA: 35
Adult:23

Best Book so far...
YA - either The Summer Prince (Alaya Dawn Johnson) or The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender (Lelye Walton)
Adult - The Red Knight (Miles Cameron)

Best Sequel
Of Triton (Anna Banks)

New Release Haven't Read
End of Days (Susan Ee)

Most Anticipated Book in the 2nd half of 2015
Queen of Shadows (Sarah J. Maas)

Biggest Disappointment
YA - Summer & Bird (Katherine Catmull)
Adult - The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)

Biggest Surprise
172 Hours on the Moon (Johan Harstad)

New Favourite Author
YA - Leslye Walton
Adult - Miles Cameron

Newest Fictional Crush
Enki from The Summer Prince (Alaya Dawn Johnson) or Tamlin from A Court of Thorns and Roses (Sarah J Maas)

Newest Favourite Character
YA - Enki from The Summer Prince (Alaya Dawn Johnson)
Adult - Laren from Song in the Silence (Elizabeth Kerner)

What book made you cry?
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender - both happy and melancholy tears

What book made you happy?
YA - A Court of Thorns and Roses (Sarah J Maas)
Adult - Song in the Silence (Elizabeth Kerner)

Best Book to Film Adaptation
Admitting, I have yet to see any this year - I do plan on watching Far from the Madding Crowd and The Martian.

Favourite Review
Here, There Be Dragons (James A. Owen)

Most Beautiful Book Acquired
Either The Assassin's Blade (Sarah J Maas) or End of Days (Susan Ee)

What books need to be read by the end of this year?
For a full answer see my Books To Read tab. But the Top 5 I need to read are:
1. The Wise Man's Fear (Patrick Rothfuss)
2. Sheepfarmer's Daughter (Elizabeth Moon)
3. Bitter Greens (Kate Forsyth)
4. Drams of Gods and Monsters (Laini Taylor)
5. Hild (Nicola Griffith)

We Are Not Alone

Earth & Sky
By Megan Crewe

Skylar, 17, is bothered by passing feelings that parts of the world around her are wrong. When it happens, she has panic attacks. Then she meets Win. Suddenly her whole life is explained to her and the answer is both cool and terrifying at the same time.

ALIENS!

No seriously. Aliens. And time travel. This book was such a happy surprise!


Ok, clarification - generic without spoilers, I promise. Our planet is the subject of alien experimentation. Whenever Skylar feels something wrong, that's because they have been interfering. They mess with time.

Win is a part of the rebels who want to end this interference. So yes, he is alien. Having fun yet?

Crewe took this really cool idea and turned it into this crazy, time hopping chase between the rebels, the human Skylar, and the alien scientists. So neat!

How did she manage to create this story and keep it from being off-the wall cheesy? Her characters are believable and very flawed, details of the world are explained slowly (apart from one possible info-dumping section that I'm going to ignore because I loved this book so much), and her world is created with real science. In order to get the reader's mind around the complexities of time travel, Crewe was able to explain it in such a way that felt neither dumbed down nor overly unnecessary.

For the most part, the book focuses on the interactions between Win and Skylar. There's conflict - believeable conflict - between them, but also a mutual push to save the world.

My ooooone complaint. At the beginning of the book, I was pleased to be reading about a girl with anxiety issues. I was loving the way it was explained. Her coping mechanism was real and carried throughout the book. My complaint is that part of her anxiety is explained away by the alien interference. On one hand, wouldn't it be cool if all those with anxiety be given a logical (loosely logical... because aliens) reason as to their paralyzing panic attacks. On the other, it's a real issue that cannot be fixed that easily. The redeeming factor of this thread is that she continues to feel panic, even though now she knows what causes it and she retains her coping mechanism. In the grand scheme of things though, it's a minor complaint.

I'm a sucker for anything time travel related... so this book was right up my ally. AND, Megan Crewe is Canadian. Whoo Canadian writers!!!

Highly recommend for the young adult, sci-fi enthusiast.

4.5/5 STARS

Ugh, Summer

We'll Always Have Summer
By Jenny Han

Belly is now in college! We've grown with her through the high school to college years. She's in the middle of a really great relationship (no spoilers I promise) when he proposes. Then chaos ensues.

Teenagers wanting to marry. Exactly what I wanted to read *rolls eyes*. This is my least favourite of this series. The whole book I wanted to end sooner rather than later.

Good things:
- characters grow up, mature, evolve
- I really love Belly's mother. She and I would be great friends.
- Return to the beach house and heart-warming memories (present and past)
- Han is great at complex characters. She loves to reveal parts of them that change how you view them. Excellent!

Awful things:
- young people wanting to marry when Han clearly writes that they are not ready
- the drama of the love triangle... I still dislike love triangles. I've only ever read one that worked.
- SO MUCH DRAMA, yuk

Overall, read the first one "The Summer I Turned Pretty".

2/5 STARS

Filed Memories

The Archived
By Victoria Schwab

Mackenzie is a Keeper of the dead. When people die, their memories become Histories and are filed away in a library between worlds. Sometimes, the memories wake and it's Mackenzie's job to return them to rest in the library. When she moves to a new place, her family reeling from her little brother's sudden death, and the converted hotel in which they live in is full of mysteries and waking Histories.

A richly imaginative world. The concept is unique and every time there's an answer, five more questions pop up. Memorable characters and a deep world I'd love to visit.

Mackenzie seems super human - if this could be her only flaw. She is dealing with issue after issue and I wonder how she didn't break down a cry. I don't think she slept much. This girl is go go go and business like. I liked that about her.

Her family dynamics are lovely. The main character switches between present and memories from the past of her Da, her grandfather, who trained her to be a Keeper. For the first part of the book, I could not make the distinction between her Da (grandfather) and Dad (father) - quite a bit of confusion between those two.

Her fellow team mate Keeper, Wesley, is equally likeable if not more so. I liked their ambiguous chemistry. Business like, but possible hinted at romance. Not sure if this was a romance or a great friendship. Either way, the chemistry between these two is tentative and delightful.

The unravelling of the world was done in a delicate manner. The reader is confused for the first few pages, then slowly Schwab begins to explain the mechanics. This is one that takes a bit to get into, but once you do, be prepared to fly away to another dimension.

Would I want to visit the Library? Yes. But I would refuse to see any filed relatives. See people I don't know, for sure. And, hello, I'd love to meet Roland (who Schwab says is based on David Tennant's Doctor). Uh, yes please.

Overall, really cool. Really REALLY cool. Recommend for those wanting a sorta creepy, dimension expanding, library kinda story.

4/5 STARS

Book-Tube-A-Thon ~ Wrap Up

Hi Book-Sniffers and Librocubicularists,

A successful reading week! I hope yours was too.

In all I finished 5 novels, 3 graphic novels, and 6 short stories.

Challenges fulfilled:

1. a book with blue on the cover
 'Here, There Be Dragons' and 'The Archived'


2. an author with the same first initial of last name as you. For me 'P'
'Squire' by Tamora Pierce
 
3. someone else's favourite book
Tricky, I'm sure one of the books I read is a favourite of someones. 'Squire' is one my ALL TIME favourite books... Let's count that.
 
4. last book acquired (library, haul, borrowed...)
'We'll Always Have Summer' and 'Earth & Sky'
 
5. a book without letting go until it's finished (hold it until it's done)
'1001 Nights of Snowfall' or 'Wolves' (both graphic novels in the Fables series)

6. a book you REALLY want to read
Always want to reread 'Squire', currently reading (did not finish within week) 'Swordspoint', definitely 'Earth & Sky', and I challenged myself to read 3 short stories - I read 6.

7. 7 books
Are we counting graphic novels?
Books: Here, There Be Dragons (I); The Archived; Squire (III); We'll Always Have Summer (III); Earth & Sky
Graphic Novels: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Fables); Wolves (Fables); Motherland (Y the Last Man)

Total Pages Read: 2124 

For funsies, I attempted the book tower challenge from Day 3. I even based it off of Orford Castle. Awwwww yeah.

I get my book pics from Pintrest. Check out my board.

A-Thon: Day 7

Day 7

Pages Read Today: 192


Finished overall: 4 books + 3 graphic novels + 6 short stories


Continuing:

Swordspoint
By Ellen Kushner
Pages: 148-190

I don't want this story to end. In hindsight, it's not a good read-a-thon book, but this will easily be on my top list of 2015.



Short Stories:

Rysn
By Brandon Sanderson
Pages: 7

This was alright.
 


From
Epic: Legends of Fantasy
Edited By John Joseph Adams

A-Thon: Day 6

Day 6

Pages Read Today: 49


Finished overall: 4 books + 2 graphic novels + 5 short stories


Continuing:

Swordspoint
By Ellen Kushner
Pages: 124-148

The writing is so lush. I wanted to read this quickly, but the writing is having none of it. So I'm delightfully savouring the story.


Short Stories:

Bound Man
By Mary Robinette Kowal
Pages: 25

I liked this one. Out of time, alternate historical, fantasy with a compelling main female character.


From
Epic: Legends of Fantasy
Edited By John Joseph Adams

A-Thon: Day 5

Day 5

Pages Read Today: 342


Finished overall: 5 books + 2 graphic novels + 4 short stories

Earth & Sky
By Megan Crewe
Pages: 1-298
Challenge: Last Acquired (most recent library visit)

Whew. Yay. Sci-Fi! Review coming soon.





Continuing:

Swordspoint
By Ellen Kushner
Pages:80-124






Back on the reading traaaaain. All aboard for the weekend!

A-Thon: Day 4

Day 4

Pages Read Today:52


Finished overall: 4 books + 2 graphic novels + 4 short stories



Continuing:

Swordspoint
By Ellen Kushner
Pages: 28-80

The writing is so lush. I wanted to read this quickly, but the writing is having none of it. So I'm delightfully savouring the story.




Today's reading flew way under yesterday's outcome. I spent the afternoon and most of the evening writing - working on my 2014 NaNoWriMo story. I do not mind having read little. It is the middle of the read-a-thon and I didn't expect to go as full-throttle as I have been.

Tomorrow will go one of two ways: read-write-read or write-read-write. Neither way is a loss.

Happy reading!

A-Thon: Day 3

Day 3

Pages Read Today: 516

Finished overall: 4 books + 2 graphic novels + 4 short stories

Finished:

Squire
By Tamora Pierce
Pages: 183 - 380
Challenge: Author who shares same last name initial.

3rd book to the "Protector of the Small" series. Reread for probably the millionth time. Pierce is, hands down, my favourite author. She carries the nostalgia of my teen years and whenever I read the books I think about how much they influenced my life. They contain the best role models. Shall I ever have daughters, I only hope they find role models as strong as the women in these books.


We'll Always Have Summer
By Jenny Han
Pages: 1 - 291
Challenge: Recently Acquired

Review to come. Got this at the library today, therefore, recently acquired.





Started:

Swordspoint
By Ellen Kushner
Pages: 1-28

Not exactly on my TBR, however, this will fulfill one of my "Ultimate Reading Challenge" challenges. Esquisitely written so far.

A Retelling?

A Court of Thorns and Roses
By Sarah J. Maas

Feyre's family has fallen into poverty after her father loses the family's money with a bad financial decision. The youngest of three, and perhaps the most responsible, she teaches herself how to hunt to keep her family fed. On one of her hunting trips she kills a giant wolf. As it turns out, that wolf was a faerie - a fearful creature from beyond the mysterious borders that keep humans out. Because of an age-old truce, Feyre must pay for killing the faerie by going across this border with one of these terrifying creatures.

Sold as a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I immediately picked this book up. I am also a huge fan of Maas's writing style, so I knew this would be good.

Think of a faerie. Now erase that and think of the elves from Lord of the Rings and you'll get the image of the faeries in this book. You might ask: But they are attractive and isn't this supposed to be a retelling of Beauty and the Beast? Yes. It is retold very loosely. The bare bones of the story at least. Instead of being a beast, Tamlin, the elf fae who takes Feyre, is a hot-damn-warrior. The beast part is that fae are considered dangerous, murderous, and terrible.

Maas knows how to write a world that can EASILY be made for fangirls/boys. Much smoldering. Much chiseled abs. Much golden frollicking and sexiness.

And even with this, there's one hell of a story. The first part moves slowly building toward an action-packed, wow-holy-wham-bam-I-did-not-see-this-turn ending.

Is it without flaw? No. It's still incredibly enjoyable. Look past the flaws and find the moments of wonder.

Are the characters compelling? Yes. Feyre isn't your typical protagonist and some might not enjoy reading from her perspective. But her development is compelling. Tamlin is the golden boy - figuratively and literally. Lucien (Tamlin's second-in-command) is as devious and moody with biting humour as he is witty and loyal. There are many more characters of the like.

Are they frustrating? Sometimes. If characters always did what we wanted them to, they'd be perfect and boring.

How about the world? There are creation holes, however, I am fully on board for the world to expand and be explained in the following books. Yes, there will be two more (at least).

I really REALLY liked this. But it is not for everyone. Keep in mind, Beauty and the Beast is a tale about a beauty falling in love with a beast. There is romance. If you like that, read this. If you like fairy tales with a twist, read this. If you like Sarah J Maas. READ THIS. Otherwise, find something else.

5/5 STARS

A-thon: Day 2

Daaaaaaay 2

Total Pages Read: 574

Finished overall: 2 books + 2 graphic novels + 4 short stories

The Archived
By Victoria Schwab
Pages: 120-321
Challenge: Blue Cover

Totally cool concept. Review here.





Fables, Vol 8: Wolves 
By Bill Willingham
Pages: 1-159
Challenge: Read without letting go

Carrying on with this series. I didn't particularly like this one as much, however, it's a strong installment.




Short Stories:

Strife Lingers in Memory
By Carrie Vaughn
Pages total: 14

Heart-breaking. Real. This story gets you thinking about the heroes after the tale, after the win, after the legendary quests. 



Sandmagic
By Orson Scott Card
Pages total: 17

Exceptional storyteller, of a boy that witnesses a traumatic event and lives his whole life with the darkness of hate feeding his ambition. I didn't dislike the story, but I wasn't ga-ga over it. Card can do no wrong though with skill in writing. The story didn't connect to me though.

Stories from:
Epic: Legends of Fantasy
Edited by John Joseph Adams


Started:

Squire
By Tamora Pierce
Pages: 1 - 183

This is a reread for me. Only to fulfill the shared initial challenge ('P' for me). Seriously, of all the books on my TBR, not one author with a P last name. Apparently, the only 'P' author in abundence on my bookshelf is Tamora Pierce (by design). So of course, any excuse to reread a favourite.

A-Thon: Day 1

Day 1
Quick and dirty.

Total pages read: 399

Finished: 2

Here, There Be Dragons
By James A. Owen
Pages: 220 - 324
Challenge: Blue cover

Review here.






1001 Nights of Snowfall
By Bill Willingham and about a dozen illustrators
Pages: 1-140
Challenge: Read without letting go

Graphic novel. Part of an incredible, 20-something volume series, that takes fairy tale characters and puts them in modern New York City. Please note: Snow White is my favourite character. Definitely check this series out.



Short stories:

The Road to Levinshir
By Patrick Rothfuss
Pages total: 29

Not a short story. A sampling from "The Wise Man's Fear". I guess I should read that now...



The Word of Unbinding
By Ursula K. Le Guin
Pages total: 8

I enjoyed this short story much more than Wizard of Earthsea. A tale of a trapped wizard and what he will do to escape.

Stories from:
Epic: Legends of Fantasy
Edited by John Joseph Adams


Started:


The Archived
By Victoria Schwab
Pages: 1 - 120

This was on last year's TBR. Finally reading it.

Summer Continues

It's Not Summer Without You
By Jenny Han

Belly's summers have always meant going to the cabin that's shared between her family and her mom's best friend's family. Last summer changed forever when a sudden change came to the families (no spoilers because it's book two of the series).

Conrad is now in college, but when he disappears, Belly and his brother, Jeremiah, go in search for him. His disappearance is more than him simply rebelling.

From the first book, this story takes a turn into a somber exploration of the relationships between people. Not necessarily romantic love. The best thing that Han does, is create complex characters with complex feelings. It's never black and never white, always a vast array of gray.

Belly, much like anyone ever, assumes how others feel, sees only how it affects her, and misunderstands cues from other people. It is not a great quality, however, it is a perfectly human quality. Sometimes we get in our own heads and we forget to see the situation from another's perspective. Han does this wonderfully.

Minus one star for the awkward love triangle. I loathe love triangles. However...


The complexness of characters and emotions that this book held encourages me to read the final book of this trilogy.

4/5 STARS

Dragons, Maps, and Quite an Adventure

Here, There Be Dragons
By James A. Owen

A dark and stormy night, three men are brought together, reeling from an unexpected murder. Adventures comes calling when a strange man comes to tell them they are now the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica - a large book filled with maps of imaginary lands. Soon after they are persued by shadowy figures and are forces to board a ship that proves the imaginary lands are anything but.

Having been on my radar for a long while, mainly because of the dragon element, my best friend started reading this and announced I must immediately do so as well.

Every chapter there was a new twist, a new character inspired by age-old stories, and of course, a cliff hanger ending at every end. It is impossible to stop reading this delightful story. Action packed with compelling main characters and hilarious dialogue, I recommend to anyone who wants an old-fashioned, fairy-tale adventure story.

Owen rips off a multitude of stories and, surprisingly, I was bothered not one iota. The author gives us reasons for it and I fully accept them. Because of this reconfiguring of tales I was given that cozy, bed-time story nostalgia feeling the entire time I was reading it. The kind of feeling where you could hear yourself being read to by a beloved family member, curled up under a fluffy blanket, perhaps by a roaring fire.

John, our main protagonist, is fresh from The Great War (WWI) and is plagued by self-doubt and the memories of his fallen comrades. Jack, the youngest, is bright-eyed and energetic ready for any adventure. Charles is our constant - steady and unchanging, quiet and unassuming, but none-the-less important.

Most importantly, this book never lagged. Each chapter was an adventure unto itself. The story is bursting with borrowed and original creativity.

I was lucky enough to read the edition with illustrations, by the author himself. They added that charming old-world element like the old books with illustration plates. 

As I read this I thought, this book is perfect for older readers as much as it is perfect for the younger. The older reader can read this and experience the nostalgic feeling as they encounter much-beloved characters and hints at borrowed plot lines from a host of legendary stories. For a younger reader, this may be the first time they are meeting these characters or stories, thus when they encounter the original they might experience a backward nostalgia for this book from their childhood. That is the magic of this tale.

Bring on book two.

5/5 STARS

THERE ARE DRAGONS!

Book-Tube-a-Thon 2015

!ANOTHER BOOK-aTHON!

Hi Book-Sniffers and Librocubicularists,

The Book-Tube-a-Thon starts tomorrow Aug 3rd and runs until Aug 9th.

The 7 Challenges

Read....
1. a book with blue on the cover
2. an author with the same first initial of last name as you. For me 'P'
3. someone else's favourite book
4. last book acquired (library, haul, borrowed...)
5. a book without letting go until it's finished (hold it until it's done)
6. a book you REALLY want to read
7. 7 books

Instead of giving myself a TBR, which I tend to derail anyway, I've got a stack of book and I'll pull from them as I will. All I've decided on is that for challenge #5 I will read a graphic book. Don't know what one yet though!

Good luck to all participating!!! 

TBR TAKEDOWN 2.0 - Wrap-Up

Hi Book-Sniffers and Librocubicularists,

TBR Takedown 2.0 has come to a close. I am very pleased with my results.

4 books finished, 5-ish challenges completed. Oh yeah!

1. A first in a series.
2. A sequel
3. A book that's been on your bookshelf for more than a year.
4. Out of comfort zone.
5. A book from most recent bookhaul.

Completed books:

Burial Rites
By Hannah Kent
Pages: 314
Challenges: 3, 4
TBR: Yes


Not exactly a happy summer book. This follows the events of the last execution in Iceland. The character who is accused of murder is compelling and it was very VERY good.

I read this during a thunderstorm. Perfect mood weather.

4/5 STARS

It's Not Summer Without You (II) By Jenny Han

Pages: 276 

Challenges: 2

TBR: Yes

Review to come. Also not a happy summer book... hmmmm....

4/5 STARS



A Court of Thorns and Roses
By Sarah J. Maas
Pages: 416
Challenges: 1

TBR: Not for this year, but I wanted to read it.

Yeah, remember when I talked about not following a plan. This book. I had nightmares this book would be awful. It wouldn't let me sleep. I had to read it. Thankfully, it was fantastic. Maas's writing is superb.

Review to come.

5/5 STARS



And Then There Were None
By Agatha Christie
Pages: 300

Challenges: 4, 5
TBR: Bookclub 

From a library haul (totally counts, right?). My first Agatha Christie book! What a fantastic, yet creepy, one to start with. Gripping. I hit a point where I had to finish and find out who dunnit. The creepy part of this book is that people are being murdered as the book is read. *shudders* I stayed up until 2am reading this and then couldn't fall asleep. Whoops.

5/5 STARS