Saturday 28 November 2015

November 2015 Wrap-Up and Stacking the Shelves



Re-Cap

Is it just me, or has November FLOWN by?! It seems like I just wrote my October wrap-up post, and I can’t believe we’re another month closer to 2016 already. Around here, things have been a bit up in the air the past couple of weeks: we decided to redecorate the kitchen. (For the record, I thought it was a bad idea. I was outvoted.) Let me tell ya, it hasn’t been fun! I’ve discovered that paint fumes and no central heating aren’t really conductive to my creative side, so things have gone a little unmaintained around the blog. The end is in sight (thank God!), so hopefully I’ll have, like, oh, a day of peace before the Christmas mania sets in. Erm… yay?


I’m linking up to both Stacking the Shelves and The Sunday Post memes this weekend.



Books I Bought in November

I showed quite a bit of restraint this month – I bought 4 new books. I’m one of those people that usually binge buys what seems like a truck load of books from Amazon or the like in one huge order, but I’m starting to reconsider this approach. Buying, say, 2 or 3 books a month would be a lot more manageable in the long run. Plus, I’d be able to chip away at the piles of books I’ve bought but haven’t read, while sill managing to buy the shiny new books that are ever so tempting. (Wow, that sounds so adult-like… oh my Lordy Lord, I’m getting old!! *Panics*)


Red Rising by Pierce Brown and Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Red Rising by Pierce Brown // Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Red Rising will be an interesting one – I read Red Queen recently, and I saw a lot of comparisons made between the two books. I’m a little scared, and I kinda regret not reading Red Rising sooner. I’ve had Finnikin of the Rock on my to-read list for a long, long time, and FINALLY I got a copy. I’ve seen a lot of love for the trilogy over the years, and hopefully I’ll love it too.

The Queen of the Tearling and My Soul to Save

Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen // My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent

My fantasy addiction seems to be getting stronger every day, and I can’t wait to read Queen of the Tearling. I think I heard it was optioned to become a movie, and Emma Watson was involved? (Correct me if I’m wrong!) Either way, I’m dying to read the book! I recently did a Top Ten Tuesday post sharing some book series I had considered abandoning, and Jessica @ a Great Read convinced me to continue on with the Soul Screamers series. So! Here we are, I’m gonna give it another go :D (And I hope I love it!)


Books For Review

HUGE thank you to Orion, Penguin/Random House and St. Martin’s Griffin for these!


The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian The Violinist of Venice by Alyssa Palombo

The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May // The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian
The Violinist of Venice by Alyssa Palombo


Books I Read This Month

I’ve read 5 books this month, and being honest, I would have liked to have read a few more. But, all 5 books I read, I rated 4 stars or higher, so… I’ll happily put it down as a quality over quantity, rather than my reading pace being stuck in slow motion! If I had to choose a favourite, it would be The Vanishing Throne, with Ink and Bone a very, very close second.


Unspoken by C.C. Hunter Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride Hollow Pike by James Dawson

Unspoken by C.C. Hunter – 4 Stars // Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine – 5 Stars
The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May – 5 Stars
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride – 4.5 Stars
Hollow Pike by James Dawson – 4 - 4.5 Stars



How was your November? And for those in the US, how was your Thanksgiving? I hope you enjoyed it, and ate lots of yummy food! Thanks for stopping by, and have a fab weekend! Happy Reading!





Wednesday 25 November 2015

WoW #73: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry



This week, I'm waiting on...


The Love That Split the World


by Emily Henry


 The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry book cover


Expected publication: January 26th 2016

Genres: Young Adult; Time-Travel; Fantasy


Add to Goodreads


Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start... until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.


Oooooh, I love the sound of this! If I’d come across this book and read the synopsis a couple of years ago, I would have instantly dismissed it as I never thought time-travel would be “my thing.” But, thanks to a few awesome books I read the past fifteen months or so, I’m starting to get a new obsession! Oh, and I have to mention the cover: just look at it, it’s gorgeous!


What do you think of The Love that Split the World? (I don’t know why, but the title totally reminds me of Soundgarden. *Shrugs*) Do you like time-travel books, and do you have any recommendations? And what new bookish releases are you waiting on this week?

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Reading!


* Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. *




Monday 23 November 2015

Holiday Cram-a-thon Read-a-thon


Holiday Cramathon Read-a-thon

I’ve been hoping to take part in a read-a-thon for a while now, but between one thing and another, I never found the time to fully commit. When I saw the Holiday Cramathon on my Bloglovin’ feed late last night, I thought YES, perfect, I need this! All year long I’ve been flitting between reading and blogging slumps, and I need something to kick me out of this rut once and for all.


The event is hosted by Jessica @ Let Me Tell You a Story, and you can find out all the official details HERE. The Holiday Cramathon began on the 22nd November, and will run until the 13th December, giving us three weeks to cram in as much reading as possible! If you fancy taking part at any stage, #holidaycramathon is the official hashtag.


For the read-a-thon, I have one main goal, and some side goals I hope to chip away at as well.


My Main Goal:

Read 7 Books. I want to complete my Goodreads yearly reading challenge ASAP, and to do this I need to read, you guessed it, 7 books. It’s a pretty low overall goal, but with my reading pace resembling a snail in slow motion these days, I’ll be delighted if I get this done!


Side goals:

- Tackle some eARCs. The number 7 seems to be haunting me, as I currently have 7 eARC’s I need to get read as soon as I can. And yes. Fate seems to be shining on me right now that I also need 7 books to complete my Goodreads challenge! Since I’m letting my mood take control, I’m not going to force myself to read just those eARC’s, but 3 or 4 seems like a reasonable goal to start with.

- Complete all the yearly challenges I signed up for. I’ll admit I’ve already come to terms that I won’t manage to do this by the end of the year, but I hope to make a little more progress anyway. I’ll need to read 16 books to complete them: 1 Dystopian, 5 Retellings, and then re-read 10 books. All in a little over a month. Yup. This looks bleak.


So, Alma, what are you going to read, I hear you ask. Um, well… I haven’t a clue! But, this might be a really good thing! I’m going to let my mood-reader-self take full control, and hopefully this way I’ll manage to smash my goals without having a meltdown along the way!


One book I’ll definitely finish reading is Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride. I started it on Saturday past, and I LOVE it so far! It’s the most pure Urban Fantasy book I’ve read in a long, long time, and it’s so freaking good.

Since deciding to take part in the read-a-thon, I’ve had my eye on both City of Glass by Cassandra Clare, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. Both are pretty chunky books, so they’re probably not the best choice for a read-a-thon! I don’t have too many thin books on my shelves right now… so we’ll see how things go.


Thanks for stopping by, and let me know if you’re taking part in the read-a-thon! Happy Reading!



Wednesday 18 November 2015

WoW #72: Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace


Waiting on Wednesday Journey Through Fiction

This week, I'm waiting on...


Shallow Graves


by Kali Wallace



 Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace book cover


Expected publication: January 26th 2016

Genres: Fantasy; Paranormal; Zombies


Add to Goodreads


For fans of Holly Black and Nova Ren Suma, a gripping, hauntingly atmospheric novel about murder, revenge, and a world where monsters—human and otherwise—lurk at the fringes.

When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.

Tense, complex, and wholly engaging, Shallow Graves is a stunning first novel from Kali Wallace.


Zombies?? Ooooh so much YES! I’ve been looking for a zombie book that really appeals to me for a while now, and Shallow Graves sounds like it’ll be perfect. Just the thoughts of waking up buried terrify me, so I can only imagine how scary it’ll be to read that part of book :D


What do you think of Shallow Graves? Do you read many zombie books, and if so, which one has been your favourite so far? (I need all the recommendations I can get!) And, what new releases are you waiting on this week?


Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Reading!


* Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. *




Tuesday 17 November 2015

11 Quotes I Loved From my Recent Reads



Honestly, it’s at times like these that I wish I took more time to properly record all the bookish quotes I love! I have a feeling I’ll be nicking her idea following in Jamie’s footsteps and keeping better notes of all my favourite bookish quotes in the future. The quotes I've chosen here are some of the few that I have made note of. I think I might have missed some incredibly obvious ones, though!


An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

If I could quote the entire book, I would. If you haven’t read An Ember in the Ashes yet, please, please, please change that status soon! I don’t think you’ll regret it.


Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after. Such moments are tests of courage, of strength.

All the beauty of the stars means nothing when life here on earth is so ugly.


Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan

Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan


Being able to depend on someone doesn't mean you're dependent on them.


Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

The rest of the world quieted into nothing. In that moment, after ten long years, Celaena looked at Chaol and realised she was home.


Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

There was nothing more painful than hurting someone you loved.


The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

The truth can deceive as well as a lie.


Splintered by A.G. Howard

Splintered by A.G. Howard

I’m going to show a little restraint and not choose a Morpheus quote. I feel quite proud of myself!

I've been collecting bugs since I was ten; it's the only way I can stop their whispers. Sticking a pin through the gut of an insect shuts it up pretty quick.


A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don't feel anything at all.

Don't feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy.


The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

If you expect the worst, you're only denying someone a chance to be better


The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Did he even know what love was? For that matter, did I? […] Maybe there was no one way to define it. Maybe there were as many shades of love as the blues of the sky.


Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you liked the quotes I picked. And, as always, Happy Reading!


*Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish.*



LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...