Wednesday, February 4, 2015

W.O.W. & Wishlist Wednesday 2/4/15

    
Wishlist Wednesday, hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper & Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine to post books that you have been really wanting for a long time.

Ink and Ashes


Title: Ink and Ashes
Author: Valynne E. Maetani
Publisher: Tu Books
Release Date: May 15th 2015

Claire Takata has never known much about her father, who passed away when she was a little girl. But on the anniversary of his death, not long before her seventeenth birthday, she finds a mysterious letter from her deceased father, addressed to her stepfather. Claire never even knew that they had met.

Claire knows she should let it go, but she can’t shake the feeling that something’s been kept from her. In search of answers, Claire combs through anything that will give her information about her father . . . until she discovers he was a member of the yakuza, the Japanese mafia. The discovery opens a door that should have been left closed.

So begins the race to outrun his legacy as the secrets of her father’s past threaten Claire’s friends and family, newfound love, and ultimately her life. Ink and Ashes, winner of Tu Books’ New Visions Award, is a heart-stopping debut mystery that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page.


(Click on the picture of the book to go to it's Goodreads page)

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday

  Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke & The Bookish
Top Ten Books I Can't Believe I Haven't Read Yet Fantasy

The Selection (The Selection, #1)The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #3)
The Selection by Kiera Cass
-I'm kind of hesitant to start this series-
The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin  
-I'm waiting for it from the library, still!- 

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1)The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone 
 -I know, I know. I plan on reading it- -Another book that is hugely popular-
 The Name of the Wind
-Another book that is hugely popular-

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1)
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
-I don't know why I haven't started this one yet, it sounds fantastic!-
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi 
-Everyone loves this book and I have them all on my kindle, I guess the reason I haven't read this book yet is because of the hype.- 

The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden, #2)J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa 
-I loved the first book, I just haven't got around to reading this one.-  
The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
-I loved the movies, I know I should of read the books before I watched the movies.-


The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds, #1)Legend (Legend, #1)
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
-I was going to start this book in January but I didn't get the chance to- 
Legend by Marie Lu  
 -I don't have the last book yet so I don't want to start this series yet.-




Monday, January 12, 2015

December 2014 Wrap Up & January 2015 TBR

For December I read a total of 3 books and they were all great books.

Princess of Thorns The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #2) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)
Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay ~Review~
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2) by Rick Riordan  
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) by J.K. Rowling   



December book of the month was:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)


Challenge Progress:
2014 TBR Pile: 0/11
Debut: 0/12
Dystopia: 0/13
"Real" Book: 1/11 
Goodreads: 0/100

 January to-be-read list. 
The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #3) The Winter People (The Winter People, #1) Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1) 
City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2) Beastkeeper
The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3) by Rick Riordan
The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy
Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee  
 City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare ~Re-read~ 
Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen


Wednesday, January 7, 2015

2015 Reading Goals/Challenges

It's 2015 already, 2014 went by so fast. I hope everyone had fun and safe New Year. In 2014 I read a total of 87 books, not too bad. There are a few things that I want to change for this year.  

Blogging- 
~ Try to be more active on the blog. I have been very busy and I know that that is not a good excuse, there are a ton of people that have jobs and other responsibilities and update their blogs often. 

-I might get a blogging partner, or have a guest blogger. Maybe.-

~ I might review manga and or anime. I love anime but don't watch it as often as I used to but with Netflix and other websites I might get back into them. 


Bookish-   
~ I want to read 100 books this year, I have tried the past two years now and have failed. This year might be different.

~ Cut my To-Read books down. More than half of the books that I own are unread. I am not going to go on a book buying ban this year because I only buy books once a month unless it's an e-book.

~ Read more e-books. I just have so many, and they just keep piling up with all the deals and free kindle books, I can't help myself. 

~ Finish series. I have started so many series that I really need to finish. I did finally finish the Harry Potter series! 

~ Don't request as many books, I already have about thirty books from NetGalley.

~ Branch out. I feel like I've been stuck in YA, even though I love YA, I think I really need to try new genres. Classics in particular. 
-Read one book a month that not in my comfort zone.

~ Re-read. Just relive some of my favorites or give some of my not so favorite books another chance. See if I still feel the same way about them.

~ Purge books. Like I already said, I have too many so many books, I need room. I have a box of books that are ready to go out and a new shelve forming. I might have a giveaway for them or just recycle them to my local library or Goodwill.

~ Manage my time better. I have picked up a few new hobbies, I just recently learnt how to crochet and knit. And if you know me you know I love television shows and series that are coming back on air soon, The Walking Dead comes back in February and Once Upon a Time comes back in March. Just to name a couple of shows that I'm addicted to. So there's that to take up even more of my time. 

 -TBR- 
 This is what I was going to change. Since I am such a moody ready I never seem to stick with the books on my TBR list so I think I'll make a list of books that I might read or that appeals to me at that time for that month, if that makes sense.


Challenges-
I will update the Challenges page in the next few days. As well   
(I might try some of these.)  


 Goodreads Challenges 
-The Young Adult Book Club-

Debut Author Challenge

The Young Adult Challenge

TBR Challenge

Paranormal & Fantasy Challenge

Dystopian Challenge

Contemporary Challenge




 I will be posting my December 2014 & January 2015 TBR list in a couple days.



Saturday, December 13, 2014

Review: Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay


Princess of Thorns


Title: Princess of Thorns 
Series: Standalone 
Author: Stacey Jay
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: December 9, 2014
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Reading Source: NetGalley
Reading Level:  14+    
Grade Level: 9+
Length: 400
Format: e-ARC
  Cover Art: 4/5
 Overall: 5/5



  

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?




Review: 
This is not a retelling of Sleeping Beauty instead it's more of an extension of sorts. It was the story of Sleeping Beauty's daughter, Aurora, and son, Jor. 



I really liked the relationship between Princess Aurora and Prince Niklaas. The humor between them was hilarious. It was NOT instant-love, in fact they hated each other, once Niklaas found out about Ror being a girl. I also loved that there was magic and fairies and ogres in the story, and the other fairy tale characters mashed in the book as well. Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel. There was also a twist of  The Swan Princess.


I had a hard time getting into the story but after the first few chapters it picked up for me. Normally I really dislike multiply POVs but this was different, I found myself flying through the entire book. Aurora was a great heroine, she was strong and goodhearted even if she was a little stubborn. She really cared for her brother and would do anything to take care of him, including give herself up to save his life. And I didn't really like Niklaas at first, he seemed conceited and too-good-for-anybody, but I soon warmed up to him, I found it is just part of his charm. The Ogre Queen and all the ogres, were terrifying characters, how they stole human souls. The ending was wrapped up nicely but it felt a bit rushed.  


Princess of Thorns was my first Stacey Jay book and I will be looking forward to reading her other books. I'm really interested in Of Beast and Beauty. I can see why people love her books, her writing was great.  


Thank you to  Delacorte Press and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
 






Saturday, December 6, 2014

November Wrap Up & (kind of a) December TBR

 I have been in a reading slump since back in September and I haven't been wanting to read. For the last two months I only read four books. Here are the books I read in November.

Amulet, Vol. 1: The Stonekeeper (Amulet, #1)Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Amulet, Vol. #1: The Stonekeeper (Amulet #1) by Kazu Kibuishi  
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See   


November book of the month was:
Amulet, Vol. 1: The Stonekeeper (Amulet, #1)


Challenge Progress:
2014 TBR Pile: 2/20
Rewind: 11/20
Debut: 4/12
Dystopia: 11/13
Standalone: 10/15 
Goodreads: 84/80

as for the December TBR I don't really have any books in mind other than 1 in particular. I reread all 6 Harry Potter book early this year just so I could finally read this one. It's about time that I finished this series. 
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) by J.K. Rowling



Sunday, November 9, 2014

October Wrap Up & November TBR

Here's the books that I read in October. Sorry I'm a little late

Everlost (Skinjacker, #1)Dollhouse (The Dark Carousel #1)
Everlost (Skinjacker #1) by Neal Shusterman 
Dollhouse (Dark Carousel #1) by Anya Allyn   


October book of the month was:
Dollhouse (The Dark Carousel #1)


Challenge Progress:
2014 TBR Pile: 2/20
Rewind: 11/20
Debut: 4/12
Dystopia: 11/13
Standalone: 9/15    


November TBR:
Princess of ThornsRite of Rejection
Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky, #2)Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1)
 Princess of Thorns by Stacy Jay
Rite of Rejection by Sarah Negovetich
Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi
Angelfall (Penryn & The End of Days #1) by Susan Ee