Top Ten Tuesday #8: To Read or Not to Read?

Top Ten Tuesday is an weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Each week participants list their Top Ten choices for a weekly theme. This week's theme is: Top Ten Books I'm Not Sure I Want to Read!

I have two different lists:  Books I will probably never pick up or need serious convincing to pick up and books that are on my TBR that I really need opinions on!

Books I Might Not Pick Up

1.  Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.  While it seems like the first book is all the buzz, the next books in the series are kinda drags on?  To be honest, I've heard too many mixed reviews about this book for me to be interested in reading it.

2. Evermore by Alyson Noel.  The synopsis makes it look like an interesting read that will be sure to capture my attention, my friends' goodreads reviews say otherwise.

3.  Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L.  James.  Never ever will I read these kinds of books.  I don't care if there is a movie coming out.  No one can make me even think of reading this. 

4. The rest of The Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.  The first book was good!  But I tried reading the next book and it was just too boring.  Come to think of it, I'm not really sure I want to read the rest.  I'm just not that interested in that really.

5.  The Island of Excess Love by Francesca Lia Block.  I received an ARC of this book, but after reading the first in its series, which didn't excite me at all, I'm pretty sure that reading this would be a waste of my time.

6.  The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith.  Yes, I own the books, but too much Vampire drama for my taste.  Maybe one day I'll read it.  But then again, there's other books I could be reading right now.

7. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan.  I just really don't think I would like this book.  Plus, there's a lot of mixed reviews from my friends on goodreads.

8.  Marked  by P.C.  Cast & Kristin Cast.  Too many negative reviews for me to be interested.  Sorry.

9.  Panic by Lauren Oliver.  I hear the book is great but it's missing depth.  I like depth in characters and backstories and plot & from what I hear, there is a lack of that.

10.  Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer.  Tried reading this once before and was bored out of my mind.  But then again I own 5 books in the series so I guess you never know.

Books I Need Opinions On

1.  Landline by Rainbow Rowell.  I know you guys will hate me for this one, but honestly I can't get into NA or Adult these days.  Sometimes there's exceptions and this is most likely one because Rainbow wrote one of my all time favorite books.

2.  The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings.  The author seems so sweet and my friends have given awesome reviews, but I need some extra advice!

3.  I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore.  I was told that this was a Full Fathom Five book and there have been mixed reviews, but I still really want to read it.  Worth it?

4.  Leviathan by Scott Westerfield.  I don't really like the Uglies series and I'm wondering if all of Scott's writing is similar to that.  I've heard nothing but praise about this book but I'm pretty skeptical.

5.  The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.  I've heard bad and good things and I'm not sure what to believe.

6. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater.  Same as the previous.

7.  The Clique series by Lisi Harrison.  I've already read the first who knows how many books from this series.  Is it even worth it?

8.  Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.  It's adult fiction, but it seems super interesting.  Good reviews all around, but would a YA lover love it? 

9.  The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.  I was recommended this book once.  Read part of it, didn't like it, but I heard it gets better?

10.  Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken.  Of course I want to read this, cause I like The Darkest Minds but I have some doubts...

Let me know!  And link me to your TTT as well!

Book Review: Throne of Glass

Title/ Author:  Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Publisher/ Year:  Bloomsbury USA Childrens, 2012 (new cover in 2013).
How I Read It:  Hardback (Library)
Why I Read It:  I needed something different from contemporary, and people have recommended me this, and all my friends have rated this book either 4 or 5 stars on goodreads.
Rating: 5+++ stars out of 5

This is the first book in its series and I'm excited to know that there's 3 other books out there plus novellas for me to read after this one.  HOLY GEEBUS THIS WAS GOOD.

Summary from Goodreads:  
In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. 

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass--and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

First of all, I would like to give a standing ovation to Sarah J. Maas for not only writing such a well thought through book with high fantasy and action and romance, but for also writing a book that I have a strong feeling will be one of my favorite series.  This book had everything and much more.  I tried reading this before, back during the school year, but I found myself bored with it, and I was getting worried because AP testing was coming up soon.  This summer, I kept seeing this book everywhere and I knew I needed to give it another chance.  Frankly, that was one of the best decisions I've ever made.  At first, I found this book intimidating because of the size of the page compared to the size of the text but after reading and reading and reading, I was hooked & I actually spent 8 hours nonstop (besides bathroom breaks and eating) reading and finishing this book.  

Celaena Sardothien has to be one of my favorite characters ever.  Not only is she the world's greatest assassin, who if you look bad-a** up in the dictionary, you would see her picture there, but she's also a girl & she never loses sight of who she truly is.  She is literally a strong independent woman who don't need no man.  Just the depth of her character and backstory just really make her character alive and in fact humanizes her and made her feel real.  Also it helps that she's a huge bookworm.  As a feminist, it was refreshing having a female protagonist beat out all these other guys as if it was nothing, but still retain the fact that she is a girl and wants to go to balls and dress up and look nice.

The world building overall was just fantastic.  THERE IS A FREAKING MAP OF THE WORLD IN THE BOOK.  I didn't even realize until after I'd finished but I'm sure glad I noticed it before I returned it to the library.  It really just made what I was picturing in my head much more alive.  Just reading about Terrasen, Endovier, Adarlan, the White Fang Mountains, and Eyllwe, you know what the heck is so important about these places and its significance throughout the book.  The way they were described and the way the characters talked about them, whether they lived in these places or not, you got the gist of what it was like, and it put a better picture in my head.  Kudos to Sarah on this one.  This is one of the few series I've read where the world building is just so on point.  LOVE IT.

Now the plot was amazing and didn't drag like I thought it would.  It was well paced and the plot itself with all the action and fantasy made this story A++.  The idea of the competition to be the King's Champion and the different tests Celaena went through was really entertaining to read.    I loved the villain and the mystery with Elena and the mystery with Nehemia.  These characters were well done and were a great addition to the story, cause you didn't know who was killing the Champions or what was going on with all the magic (even when it's pretty much taboo in this world).  

When it comes to the romance in the book, it wasn't overdone and never overshadowed the action aspects of the book.  Dorian and Chaol are interesting characters and they couldn't be anymore different, yet they're in love with Celaena.  One is more bold and the other more reserved, but both compliment her and I'm really excited to see how the romance plays out in the next books in the series.  These characters have their depths too and it always made me smile when they had their own breakthroughs, and even showed a sign that they were happy or feeling something, especially with Chaol.  UGH I LOVE CHAOL.  Anyway, both their roles in the book are extremely significant (and not just because Dorian is the Prince of Adarlan or Chaol the Captain of the Guard).  I feel like their roles in the book are tested so much and that's really what makes a great book.

I could just ramble on more, but I just love this book so much that my thoughts are all jumbled.  I'm so glad I read this book, and I hope you do too!

Feature & Follow Friday #6 - Social Share

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

If you wish to follow me, I'm on Bloglovin and GFC!  

This week's question:  

Social Share! What is your favorite social network and leave us a link so we can join you!

Well this is a fairly difficult one to answer cause I social network way too much.  But my top 3 in no particular order are Twitter, Instagram, and of course the mighty Goodreads.  My other twitter that I use mostly for posting blog posts is here.  I'm typically more active on the first twitter account that I have linked up.  Feel free to add me on goodreads or follow me on these other sites :)

Don't forget to link me to your FF post so I can check it out and follow you back! :)

Book Review: Open Road Summer

Title/ Author:  Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
Publisher/ Year:  Walker, 2014.
How I Read It:  Hardback (Library)
Why I Read It:  I have gotten multiple recommendations and the reviews were outstanding.  I just had to read it.
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

This is a stand alone novel and the first of many books (I hope) by this author & this was a great surprise by how much I was entralled.

Summary from Goodreads:  After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

I absolutely adored this book and so happy because now I get what the buzz is about this book.  There's so many aspects to it that I loved and it certainly flowed nicely as I was reading.  I was captivated throughout the book and there was no stopping me.  I've always said that when it's a good book it will make your heart melt, but when you get that rollercoaster feeling, the feeling of butterflies in your stomach, you know it's a great book.  After reading it, I told my friends immediately to drop what they're doing and read the freaking book.

If you are looking for a feel good book that's slightly different from your typical contemporary but still has a swoony boy who will steal your heart, this is the book for you.  I absolutely enjoyed it from cover to cover and appreciated all the different themes throughout the book, like the value of friendship, love, hardships of fame, and so much more.  Maybe the idea of roadtrip across the country because your best friend is a country popstar isn't quite relatable, but the issues that the main characters face are very relateable.

The main characters all had unique personalities and their own issues that they constantly struggle with, and I appreciated that diversity.  I found myself relateable to each character in a way, but Reagan was definitely similar to me, attitude and mindset wise.  She's the kind of person who won't take crap from anyone and isn't afraid to playfully tease and torment anyone.  She makes fun of people to show affection, which is exactly how I am with my friends.  They act insulted by it, but they just insult me back but we're pretty much the best of friends.  Another thing that defines Reagan is her fear of putting her trust in someone or something.  She's been hurt before in the past by her ex-boyfriend, and her mother leaving, and of course her father marrying another woman who she can't really seem to get along with.  Dee is pretty much her family, and while their personalities are different, they're a perfect match.  

Dee is quirky and friendly and is and incredibly strong character.  She and her ex-boyfriend Jimmy broke up because he didn't want to be involved in the fame, and while they still love each other, Dee is heartbroken over it.  Just listen to all her songs about him.  But though tabloids and paparazzi seek to find a way to ruin her, she keeps her head up.  I sympathize with Dee, because she really can't do anything she wants without having to be Lilah Montgomery to someone else.  She can't live a normal life.  Now I understand Miley Stewart's dilemma.  Regardless of it all, she puts her family and the people she love before her, and she refuses to let the fame get to her head or the fame destroy her.

Then we have Matt Finch.  MATT FREAKING FINCH.  If you just look at my goodreads updates for this book, you would probably laugh:

The majority of those updates are about Matt Finch.  He's a character that has so much hidden depth to him that you just can't help but love him.  One of the things I love about him is that while he's not good with showing people how he feels about them, he sure knows how to put his feelings into a song.  While he's been famous since childhood, he doesn't ever let that get to his head.  He's a strong independent character and it was so great to see his development throughout the book.  I loved his relationships with Dee and Reagan:  the brotherly/sisterly relationship & the romantic kind.  Regardless of the consequences, he couldn't help his feelings for Reagan and I don't think she could have helped it either.  In a way they're good for each other, no matter how messed up they both were or how much secondhand embarrassment I felt.

What I really enjoyed is that it didnt' have the cliche ending I was expecting, and I honestly loved it.  It ended the way I think it should have and now that I have had a few days to reflect, there's no doubt that there could not have been a better end for the book.  Not only was the plot just perfection, but the writing was incredible.  The introduction and delivery of the different themes was absolute perfection.  Anyone who reads this book is sure to be satisfied and feel lifted off their feet.  Nothing was overdone; it was the perfect blend of anything and everything.  I really enjoyed this book and it demands to be read.

The Contemporary Curse

For a while now, mostly this past year, I have fallen into the Contemporary Curse.  It's a term I coined on my own (unless someone else made it before me and I have no prior knowledge) and basically it means, "I can't get into any other books right now except for contemporary YA novels."  

Now, this is a huge struggle for me, because while I just adore contemporary and it's one of my favorite genres, I feel like I've been neglecting the books that got me into reading, or the books that I remember staying up all night to finish.  For example:  The Hunger Games series or Legend.  These books have meant to much to me, and they're not even close to contemporary.  Sure, they do have romance, but they're more action and plot and conspiracy and dystopian...and I LOVE THEM.  

 

Last year, all the books I did read were mostly action/ adventure or urban fantasy or dystopian.  I read 81 books my junior year.  Only 21 of them were contemporary.  And most of the books I read were series like Maximum Ride, The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, Delirium, Matched, Legend, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, The Maze Runner, or Across the Universe.  And for series like these, I read them one after the other.  I didn't read books in between.  I just kept going and going until there was nothing left to read, and I was forced to find another series or stand alone to read.

This past year and now I'm looking at my stats:  26 out of 89 book (senior and summer).  And I just so happen to be reading another contemporary right now.  Now, it doesn't seem like it's that bad, but looking back at the books I read, and the books I'm reading now, I haven't been quite into fantasy or historical fiction (which are actually some of my favorite genres) and a majority of the books have been more girly than actiony.  I'm not saying the books weren't good and all, but it just doesn't feel like me.  I don't feel like myself.  

I don't know if other people have gone through this, or if I'm just going through a stage, but I want to be able to read one book in a series after the other again like old times, or not feel the need to read a contemporary between high fantasy or dystopian books.  Maybe I'm just not choosing the right books, but honestly it bothers me, and I want to feel the way I did last year.  Hopefully things get back to normal, but until then, I'm most likely reading a contemporary.

Yet, in other more optimistic news, I should be able to put up a review tomorrow!  I'm almost done with Open Road Summer by Emery Lord and I must say it is very cute and I love it and I'm hoping there's a playlist and actual songs connected with this book.  And after I am reading Throne of Glass which all of my book friends have given 5 stars.  It makes me nervous because I'm afraid I won't like it since I'm living the Contemporary Curse right now, but maybe it will feel like it did when I first read The Hunger Games...and that's a feeling I want to have again.  See ya!

TEA TIME REWIND #70 (1): Opening Lines, Graphic Novels, Book Boyfriends & Amusement Parks?

If you have never heard of Epic Reads, I actually kind of feel a bit sorry for you.  But no worries, you'll be introduced to them and all their glory after this post :) Anyway, Epic Reads is the YA community of HarperCollins publishers and they're just really cool and awesome and if you love YA, you'll love Epic Reads.  

So every Wednesday at 3:45 EST, They have this awesome thing called Tea Time where the wonderful hosts, Margot and Aubry, just talk YA books and ask & answer a bunch of questions and it's just a really great way of connecting with other readers and learning about books you probably should read.

Now, this post is based off of the newest Tea Time which you can watch the full thing here:

Anyhoo for this Tea Time Rewind, we are going to talk about our main topics from Wednesday's Tea Time!

The first topic was based off of a video on the Epic Reads youtube page (which you should subscribe to!) where it talks about Ominous Opening Lines to books!  There's a few that stick out in my mind from ones I've read:

"They took me in my nightgown."
- Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys


"My mother thinks I'm dead."
- Legend by Marie Lu


"'The most dangerous sicknesses are those that make us believe we are well.'" - Delirium by Lauren Oliver

"I've been locked up for 264 days."

 -Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

 Then we transitioned into Graphic novels:  our favorite ones, and books that you wish could be a graphic novel.  PLEASE RECOMMEND ME SOME THAT I SHOULD READ PLEASE.

I have two favorite graphic novels (considering they're the only ones I have read sadly):

 

I love the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson, and after living through the terror and frustration of the last book Nevermore I was happy to find this little thing (plus 6 others) pretty much sitting on my library's bookshelf.  I reminisce A LOT, so naturally, I said "Why not?" and went for it.  I loved seeing the characters in the graphic novel and reliving my feels through there.

Then there's Avatar the Last Airbender which I literally grew up with and I even remember the first time I watched the show and got heavily invested in it in 2005.  Years later, we have a continuation of the series through graphic novels, and I couldn't be happier.  It's great seeing what happens after the final episode and knowing that though it's a lighter issue, the legend of Aang still isn't over.  Plus there's more Kataang so yeah.



And here's some books I wish there was a graphic novel for!  And yes, I do realize that Legend is coming out with one!



Finally, we transitioned into the main event, BOOK BOYFRIENDS/ GIRLFRIENDS (but I am a girl so BOYFRIENDS).  First of all, I have to have a special thank you to my amazing friends, Mally and Emily for photoshopping these pictures for me.  They're kind of great.  Mally took care of one of the pictures for me and dear old Emily spent 5 hours and $.99 just to take care of the other 4.  Either way I love them and don't deserve them.  Anyway, the thing about book boyfriends is that you can't just have one.  So I chose 5 and used my fancasts/ actual actors playing the actual characters.

Mr. and Mrs. Peeta Mellark

Mr. and Mrs. Etienne St. Clair

Mr. and Mrs. Maxon Schreave

Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy

Mr. and Mrs. Will Herondale 

my personal fave really ♥


And the question of the day (or was it week)!  

If you could choose a book series to turn into an amusement park, what would it be?

After much thought, the only one I could think of that would be absolutely brilliant is The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer.  It could have a DisneyWorld or DisneyLand feel to it, like the characters can come out and take pictures with people, there would be Prince Kai's Palace (like Cinderella's castle), Cress's satellite (like Tomorrowland), Scarlet's Grandmother's cottage, maybe one of those live shows where they have Wolf street fighting?  IT WOULD BE SO AWESOME I WANT TO GO THERE SOMEONE MAKE THIS HAPPEN OKAY? OKAY.

Honestly this was one of the most fun posts I've ever put together and I hope all of you enjoyed my rambled thoughts and be sure to follow Epic Reads on twitter and Instagram (@EpicReads) and of course follow me on this blog if you want more rambled thoughts and what not.  And follow Emily and Mally too for their super awesome phot editing skills (@Emilydances5678 & @imfinecas)!  That's it for this week's Tea Time Rewind #70!  How about you?  How would you answer all of these questions?  Favorite opening lines/ ominous opening lines?  Favorite graphic novels?  Book boyfriends/ girlfriends?  Book themed amusement park?  Let me know below!  

And just some blooper pictures my friend sent me while in the process of making these, for your viewing pleasure :)

Until next time :)

Top Ten Tuesday #7: Authors I Own the Most Books Of

Top Ten Tuesday is an weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Each week participants list their Top Ten choices for a weekly theme. This week's theme is: Top Ten Authors I Own the Most Books Of!

The truth is, my bookshelf isn't that awesome, and most of the books I own are either from thrift stores or Half Price Books.  Yet, there are some authors that have taken over my bookshelf one way or another...

UPDATE:  After looking at my entire bookshelf, I have narrowed it down to the top ten (FINALLY).

IN TENTH, NINTH, EIGHTH, SEVENTH, SIXTH, AND FIFTH PLACE...

Melody Carlson, Cassandra Clare, Robin Jones Gunn, Stephanie Meyer, Rick Riordan, and Veronica Roth!

(in order)

Serenity manga

Deep Blue

City of Bones

City of Ashes

City of Glass

City of Heavenly Fire

Clockwork Angel

2 copies of Clockwork Princess

Christy Miller Collection Volume 1 (3 books)

Christy Miller Collection Volume 2 (3 books)

Starry Night

all books of the Twilight  series

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

2 copies of The Host

The Lightning Thief

Sea of Monsters

The Last Olympian

The Lost Hero

The Mark of Athena

The House of Hades

The Serpent's Shadow

2 copies of Divergent
2 copies of Insurgent

2 copies of Allegiant
Free Four

IN FOURTH PLACE...

Suzanne Collins!

5 copies of The Hunger Games

3 copies of Catching Fire

4 copies of Mockingjay

Gregor the Overlander

IN THIRD PLACE...

J.K. Rowling!

4 copies of HP1

2 copies of HP2

1 copy of HP3

2 copies of HP4

1 copy of HP5

2 copies of HP6

1 copy of HP7

IN SECOND PLACE...

C.S. Lewis!

2 sets of the whole series (in addition to)

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

Prince Caspian

AND OUR GRAND WINNER IN FIRST PLACE...

Erin Hunter!

Yeah don't ask me to name all of the books just know that I own 30 of (t)he(i)r books with no duplicates how about that

Go ahead and judge me cause I know I'm a packrat and I know I'm pretty crazy.  What's your TTT?