My Reading Goals In 2016

As I have mentioned in previous blog postings, I desire to experience a different kind of reading during 2016. This year I am only reading for me. No longer will I feel the pressure to keep up with the trend in the book communities, no longer will I gravitate towards the hyped up books that everyone is talking about, and no longer will I be reading children's books and young adult books (other then a few select young adult authors that have earned my respect). Some of the most disappointing reads this year involved books that were randomly picked up at the library, but the majority of disappointing books were those that are categorized in the young adult genre and were chosen based on talk through the BookTube community. No more. I have a carefully planned out array of books for my reading material during the year 2016. All books were carefully selected by research and cater to my newly developed tastes.

In the new year I will be reading a large amount of fantasy. Adult fantasy. Epic fantasy, high fantasy, they are all wonderful. And this brings me to my next reading goal for 2016. I will no longer be reading for quantity, rather for quality. Once you set that Goodreads reading challenge you begin to feel pressured to read in order to make that goal. That is not always a good thing. I myself have noticed that I shied away from some of the larger and thicker fantasy novels on my shelf because they would take too long to consume, instead opting for the smaller books so that I could read more in less time. That's absolute silliness. This year I will be setting my reading challenge to a more manageable amount so that I don't feel like I have to cram in those empty book calories. Who doesn't want to read 100 books over the course of a year, but what if you feel disappointed and unsatisfied with a large portion of those books? Was it really that great of a goal? No, instead I am going to read the books that I want to read, even if some of those books do have over a 1,000 page count. Maybe less books will ultimately be read, but if I enjoy a large majority of those books then it will make me happier then a larger book count ever did.

Another goal of mine is to reread some favorites. It has been a really long time since I have reread some of my favorite books and I am just itching to do exactly that. I always feel like I need to continue to tackle my TBR pile, and that rereading a book will get me no where. I will be doing as I please this year. Those unread books aren't going anywhere, and reading is a activity meant for enjoyment. Don't make reading into a job, or some kind of chore.

I am going to contradict myself here, but another goal of mine was to try to read the majority of the unread books on my bookshelves this year. I'm not going to stress out about it, but since I did a vast book unhauling earlier in the month I now feel like this goal is a little more realistic then what it formerly was.

2016 is going to be a good reading year!

January TBR | 2016

It felt very odd to put that 2016 up there in the post header.

Okay guys, I'm keeping it a little more realistic this month. My goal for the month is four books. Yes, just four books. 2016 is going to be a different year of reading, which I will be discussing shortly in a different blog post. So my first book is "Golden Son" by Pierce Brown, which I am actually currently reading. This is the second book in the Red Rising trilogy, and the third and final book in this trilogy will be published in February. Next I have "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor, first book in a trilogy. I am unsure what my thoughts will be concerning this particular one since it is a young adult book, and I am trying to steer clear of young adult here in the new year. Next are two very well known books from the adult fantasy genre that I have just been dying to read. "The Final Empire" by Brandon Sanderson, book one in the Mistborn trilogy. And "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin, first book in the Song of Fire and Ice series.

December Wrap Up | 2015

December was not a great reading month, having only read two books. December was a busy month filled with Christmas preparations, baking, and spending time with family. Honestly two books was a decent amount of reading, all things considering. I have actually unhauled a book or two that I had featured in my December TBR, and some of them will also be carried over into January.

My Year Of Reading | 2015

At the beginning of 2015 I set my Goodreads reading challenge at 65 books, and I surpassed that quota by reading 88 books, 23 books beyond my original goal. Granted, I did shelve 14 of those books onto my did not finish shelf.
I read 18 classics, 6 fiction, 58 young adult, 5 adult fantasy, and 1 non fiction.                

 My Year Of Reading | 2015

My reading goals for 2016 are going to be drastically different.

Authors That I Want To Explore In 2016

The year 2015 went too quickly, and I was unable to read all of the books that I desired to read. I also have a ever expanding list of authors that I wish to explore. With that, this is a list of the authors that I wish to read during the year 2016. All of them are authors that I have not previously read, all of them are books that I purchased throughout 2015.

George R.R. Martian | A Song of Fire and Ice - I actually had these book on my bookshelves as a teenager, but I never read any of them. I have seen the television show, and now the desire to read them has returned. I own books one through five (all published ones currently in the series). 
Brandon Sanderson - Sanderson is considered the king of fantasy, and I cannot believe that I have never read any of his books. I own a lot of his works, and I desire to make my way through them all during the course of 2016.
Patrick Rothfuss | The Kingkiller Chronicles - I hear so many good things about this author and plans are underway to read the two books that he currently has published in this trilogy, both of which I own.
Robin Hobb - I own the first book in her Farseer Trilogy, and if I enjoy her as a author I desire to purchase and read more of her books.
Michael J. Sullivan | The Riyria Revelations - I own the first volume in this series.
Diana Gabaldon | Outlander - I own the first book in this series and I am really curious to give it a try.
Miles Cameron | The Traitor Son Cycle - I own the first book in this trilogy.
Brent Weeks | Night Angel - I actually own all three books in this trilogy.
John Gwynne | The Faithful and the Fallen - I own book one in this series.
Mark Lawrence | The Broken Empire - I own book one in this trilogy.
Anthony Ryan | Raven's Shadow - I own books one and two in this trilogy.
Scott Lynch | Gentlemen Bastard - I own book one in this series.

2016 is going to be a good year of reading!

Favorite Authors Discovered During 2015 - And My Favorite Books Of 2015

Since joining the Goodreads and BookTube communities, I have certainty discovered a wider range of authors, many of which I would now consider as new personal favorites. Below I have constructed a list of the authors that I have read during this year that fit that category.

Favorite Authors Discovered This Year
V.E. Schwab - I first read V.E. Schwab's "A Darker Shade of Magic" back in June, which I immensely enjoyed. Since then I have read her "Archived" and "Unbound" books written under Victoria Schwab, her young adult works. I didn't care for them, but I continue to be a huge fan of her adult novels, having since read her book "Vicious". V.E. Schwab has several books due to be released in 2016.
Pierce Brown - I read Pierce Brown's "Red Rising" back in June and became a instant fan of his. I am actually currently reading the second book in this trilogy "Golden Son", and his third and final book in this trilogy is being published in February of 2016. I look forward to reading any books that he may write in the future.
Victoria Aveyard - "Red Queen" was Victoria Aveyard's debut, being her first book. I read this back in July and really enjoyed it. The second book in this series is to be published in February of 2016. I am unsure if she is a author that will continue to impress me with all of her written works, but I have really enjoyed her thus far.
Sarah J. Maas - I first read "Throne of Glass" back in August, the first book in the Throne of Glass series, and have since read all of the books in that series. I also read her newest trilogy "A Court of Thorns and Roses", and was equally impressed with it. Sarah J. Maas has since become a fast favorite of mine and I eagerly look forward to all of her book releases.
Naomi Novik - I discovered Naomi Novik when I picked up her book "Uprooted" at my local library. It was delicious. I currently have the first book in her "Temeraire" series and I am really looking forward to reading more by her.
Neil Gaiman - I can't believe that I haven't explored this author before now. I am slowly making my way through his books, and so far really enjoying each one that I have read.

Favorite Books Of 2015
The Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These books were fantastic.
Dracula by Bram Stoker.
The Monstrumologist books by Rick Yancey. I loved, absolutely loved, this series, but I would not consider Rick Yancey as one of my favorite authors as I hated his 5th Wave series.
The Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness. This series was awing, but I also would not consider Patrick Ness as a favorite author of mine since not all of his books appeal to me.
Favorite books of 2015 also include all books by the above mentioned authors in the favorite author category.

Book Hoarder Versus Book Collector

How To Go From Book Hoarding To Book Collecting

What defines whether you are a book hoarder, or a book collector? I feel like there is a very clear difference between the two.

In Japan, they have a word for it: Tsundoku. It's a noun that describes a person who buys books and doesn't read them, and then lets them pile up on the floor, on shelves, and assorted pieces of furniture.

That is one very big indicator of a book hoarder, however there are also smaller indicators. For instance, you have the book hoarder that actually reads the books that they acquire but they are unwilling to ever remove a book from their hoard, regardless of whether they actually enjoyed that book or not. 

There is a large difference between having a book hoard and a book collection. A book hoard is a chaotic mess of disorder, excessive acquisition. A book collection has order, discernment, the careful selection of that of which is desired to own and that of which is not.

I am guilty of book hoarding. When I first started this book blog, and first stumbled upon BookTube, my biggest desire was to read all of the books, own all of the books. I still had the ability to unhaul books that I found myself disliking, but I also wanted to hang onto the books that I thought of as just being okay simply for the fact that I wanted to own a massive library. I noticed that most of the BookTuber's shelves looked like mine. A lot of books, not a very strong attachment to most of those books. My tastes in books has drastically changed throughout this year, and therefore I was no longer content with my personal library. I have finally gotten my library to a place that makes me happy. All of the books on my bookshelves are books that I have either already read and loved, or books that I have not yet read, but am excited to read.

It's not about how many books you own, it is about owning the books that mean something to you.

I don't desire to own books now purely for the sake of owning books. What brings me the greatest joy is owning books that I love.

"Queen of Shadows" by Sarah J. Maas

"Queen of Shadows" by Sarah J. Maas is book four in the "Throne of Glass" series. Book five is to be published in 2016, exact date is currently unknown, and the title and cover have yet to be revealed. This will be a six book series, with the final book being published in 2017.

I feel like the magic system in this particular book is the strongest out of all of the previous books in the series, and I love how it is quickly becoming a part of the epic fantasy world. Strong magical elements, magical creatures, and a solid good vs. evil plot line.

This series has become a favorite, and I eagerly await each new book release.

My Rating: 5 Stars

My Most Anticipated Book Releases Of 2016

With the year 2016 quickly approaching, I eagerly await the release of some much anticipated book releases from some of my favorite authors.

 Earlier this year I read "A Darker Shade of Magic" by V.E. Schwab, book one in a will be trilogy. This February the second book is being released, "A Gathering of Shadows".
I also read "Red Rising" by Pierce Brown this year, book one in a trilogy. I will be reading the second book, "Golden Son", before the year is up, and the third and final book, "Morning Star", is due to be released this February.
A book that was also read earlier this year was "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard, book one in a will be series. This February the second book, "Glass Sword", will be released.
Also are all Sarah J. Maas books being released in 2016. I read "A Court of Thorns and Roses", as well as all current books in her "Throne of Glass" series this year. In May the second book in the "A Court of Thorns and Roses" trilogy will be released, "A Court of Mist and Fury". Book five in the Throne of Glass series will be released in 2016, exact release date is unknown.

Sarah J. Maas, and Victoria Aveyard, are a few of the young adult authors that I will continue to read (the others are all writers of adult fantasy). Otherwise I really don't read the young adult genre any longer.

February is going to be a very big month for book releases, and I can't wait!

Massive Book Unhaul | December 2015 ~ 89 Books

I had become unhappy with my library. Unhappy in the sense that I had a lot of books on my shelves that I no longer had the interest in reading, no longer felt that I would ever re-read many of ones that I had read, and as my taste in books has shifted drastically over this past year, I also had a lot of books that I felt lacked the maturity level that I now desired. About two weeks ago I begun to go through my bookshelves, book by book. I took each one off of the shelf, flipped through them, and made the ultimate decision of whether or not I wanted to keep it. It took me nearly two weeks to complete this project. The end result? I had unhauled 89 books total. My bookshelves are cleaner, more organized, and they now contain only those books of which I dearly love, and books that I am excited about reading. I have never really been one to want to own massive amounts of books purely for the sake of owning massive amounts of books. If I don't love a book, I don't want to own it. If I am not excited about reading a unread book, I don't want to own it. With that mindset I eliminated the following books from my library. Some of them are too childish for my tastes, some of them I actually owned multiple copies of, Some of them I enjoyed but didn't love, some of them I can't foresee myself ever reading again, and some of them I just simply lost all interest in reading.

I will shortly be featuring a updated shelfie of my bookshelves, which are looking a little bare at the moment but which are more suited to my tastes. Sadly there are too many books in this certain unhaul to name them all and give my reasons as to why I am unhauling it.

2016 is going to be a good reading year! I am eager to read all of the unread books on my shelves.

Half Price Books Book Haul | December 2015

In celebration of my birthday last week my mom and I made a day of it, which of course included some book shopping at Half Price Books. I hauled six books. This first one is one that I actually already own, but my edition was a mass market paperback and this edition is a much nicer soft cover. And that is "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke. Then I got "Storm Front" by Jim Butcher, soft cover edition, book one in "The Dresden Files". I hear a lot about this series and so I desired to try at least the first book. I also got "Shadow's Edge" and "Beyond the Shadows" by Brent Weeks, paperback editions, book two and three in the "Night Angel" trilogy. I just recently hauled the first book. Then "The Innocent Mage" by Karen Miller, paperback edition, book one in the "Kingmaker, Kingbreaker". Lastly I got "The Sword of Shannara" by Terry Brooks. I don't expect much from this book, but since it is being made into a television series it has caught my interest.

I probably won't be purchasing anymore books during the month of December, and quite possibly not until February when there are several anticipated book releases that I am eagerly awaiting. I want to take on some of these fantasy series that I have been purchasing, plus, I did something really scary over the past week ... I purged my library. Stay tuned for a massive book un-haul feature. This is the most books that I have ever un-hauled at any given time.

Book Depository and Book Outlet Book Haul/Unboxing | December 2015

I have a small book haul from both Book Depository, and Book Outlet, to feature today. Book Outlet was a two book purchase. First up is "Tower Lord" by Anthony Ryan, hardcover edition, book two in the "Raven's Shadow" series. I am unsure why I bought this considering that the first book in the series that I own is a paperback edition. Then "Prince of Fools" by Mark Lawrence, hardcover edition, book one in "The Red Queen's War". Then I bought "The Red Knight" by Miles Cameron from Book Depository, soft cover edition, book one in "The Traitor Son Cycle".

Much as I like Book Outlet I probably won't be purchasing books from them any longer. They have great prices, the shipping process is quick, and my books have always arrived in good condition. The problem being that I usually end up purchasing impulse buys, and impulse buys are something that I no longer desire to have in my library.

Barnes and Noble Book Haul/Unboxing | December 2015

This package from Barnes and Noble actually arrived several days ago but I waited to do a book haul feature in order to have some better lighting. It is dark outside by the time that I get home from work every night. This haul is from a bunch of well known fantasy authors that I want to read in the year 2016. I have never read any books by any of these authors previously, but I have heard a lot about them and so I desire to give them all a try.

We have "Blood Song" by Anthony Ryan, paperback edition, book one in the "Raven's Shadow" series. "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch, paperback edition, book one in the "Gentlemen Bastard" series. "Prince of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence, paperback edition, book one in "The Broken Empire" trilogy.

And then we have "Malice" by John Gwynne, soft cover edition, book one in "The Faithful and the Fallen" series. "The Way of Shadows" by Brent Weeks, paperback edition, book one in the "Night Angel" trilogy.

Winter time feels like the perfect time to undertake a lot of these larger fantasy books, and that is just what I plan to do.

"The Assassin's Blade" by Sarah J. Maas

"The Assassin's Blade" is a Throne of Glass novella.

Although I did enjoy getting a glimpse into Calaena's past while she served under Arobynn Hamel, king of the Assassin's Guild, this book did fall a little flat compared to the actual series. We haven't really been shown the assassin side of Calaena until now, and I must say that I was rather disappointed. She claims to be the best of the best, and is so sure and cocky of herself and her abilities, and yet, she really is a rather terrible assassin. Constantly making mistakes and getting caught. I suppose that it makes her a little more believable as a character, but I don't exactly find myself entirely impressed by her. Her character continues to be a little full of herself in the series, but I am glad that she isn't quite as snarky as she was portrayed here. You really start to get a feeling on what shaped her as a person.

My Rating: 4 Stars

December TBR | 2015

December is upon us, and with December comes the Christmas season as well as the conclusion to the year. The less logical part of me desires to read as many books as possible in order to end this years reading on a high note, but the more logical part of me knows that this month is going to be busy ... and this TBR might not happen. I am carrying over two and a half books from my November TBR that I did not complete. The first being "The Assassin's Blade" by Sarah J. Maas, a Throne of Glass Novella. I am currently about half way through this one. Then "Queen of Shadows" by Sarah J. Maas, fourth book in the Throne of Glass series. This will bring me up to date on the Throne of Glass series. Book five will be released in 2016. The other book that I am carrying over from last month is "Golden Son" by Pierce Brown, book two in the Red Rising trilogy. The third book is being published in February of 2016 so I want to read this one so that I can jump into the third one. Then the next three are maybes for this month. I want to start a few new series and trilogies by some new authors that I have never read before. "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor, "Shadow and Bone" by Leigh Bardugo, and "The Final Empire" by Brandon Sanderson. All authors that I have desired to try.

November Wrap Up | 2015

The month of November was certainty a disappointing month of reading. Of the seven books that I had on my November TBR only four of those books were read, and a attempt was made on a fifth but as I'm only currently about half way through it at the time I won't be able to finish it in time for it to be featured here in this months wrap up. The two and a half books will be carried over into December's TBR.

It may of been a slow reading month, but all of the books that I did read were excellent.

5 star rated books - Favorite books read in November
"Crown of Midnight" by Sarah J. Maas - Book review for "Crown of Midnight"
"Heir of Fire" by Sarah J. Maas - Book review for "Heir of Fire"

4 to 5 star rated books -
"The Isle of Blood" by Rick Yancey - Book review for "The Isle of Blood"
"The Finale Descent" by Rick Yancey - Book review for "The Finale Descent"

Writing Book Reviews For A Book Series

There has been a issue during this month. This month was my month of conquering book series. How does one write a book review on a book that is a part of a series, without spoiling the said book for someone? You can't, not really. Not in the in depth fashion that you can with a stand alone or with the first book in a series or trilogy. One of my biggest pet peeves in the world of reading is when someone includes spoilers in a Goodreads reading status, or in a book review. I will not be one of those people. Those people deserve to be hung up by their toes over shark infested waters, that'll teach them! So, sadly my book reviews have suffered during this past month as a result of this. Bear with me.

Black Friday Shopping

How many people were brave enough to face the black Friday shoppers?

How many people chose to instead stay dressed in their pajamas all day and browse the specials online in the comfort of their own home?

*Shows hand*

I didn't really have any plans for shopping, but it has been quite a while since I have placed any book orders, and there were some black Friday sales happening today ...

Book Depository didn't have any deals that I was interested in but I did purchase one paperback book through them. Free shipping and I preferred the UK version over the American one.
Barnes and Noble had a few deals today, but the only one that I ended up using was the 30% off one item. I purchased five paperbacks through them.
Book Outlet has 30% off their entire website and I managed to find three books through them.

All books are by new authors that I have never read but am eager to try.

"Heir of Fire" by Sarah J. Maas

Book three in the "Throne of Glass" series.

I am unsure why this book took me so long to read, it certainty shouldn't be a reflection on the book itself. This one was actually the better one in the series out of the three that I have currently read. More magical elements, more characters being introduced into the story, and we are even shown some of Calaena's childhood which I thought was immensely interesting.

My Rating: 5 Stars

A Monster Calls Official Teaser Trailer #1 (2016) - Liam Neeson Movie HD

I didn't realize that "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness was being adapted into a movie

Snow Day

Iowans are now officially in the midst of winter. With Thanksgiving not even yet upon us we are currently under a winter storm warning, nine to twelve inches of snow in the forecast (we just happen to be in the path of the heaviest band of snow), several inches already on the ground and still more falling. It will continue to snow through the night and into Saturday. It started to snow earlier this afternoon while I was on my lunch break at work. I watched in wonder as the very fine snowflakes begin to drift downwards, melting soon after touching the ground. By the time that I got off of my work shift and prepared to head home those very fine snowflakes had developed into the large, soft, and lazy snowflakes that seem to just float downwards before coming to rest on the nearest surface with a gentle caress and a soft whisper of a sigh. The green grass from earlier today was no more, instead a clean blanket of white had been draped over it. After the somewhat nerve wrecking trek home I was able to just relax and enjoy it for what it is. I have the entire weekend off with no need to leave my house tomorrow, and other then the shoveling that will be happening tomorrow, no responsibilities. And there is something magical about that first snowfall. The dramatic transformation, the quiet and stillness surrounding it all, the fresh and crisp air, the soft crunch of snow beneath your shoes, and the soft snowflakes settling all around you as they lazily drift downwards. Snow days also seem to get my creativeness flowing. Whether that just involves reading books, or something more along the lines of drawing, painting, or crocheting. Winter is a time to enjoy the simple things. Home comforts, or just the activity of playing in the snow with ones dogs (which they loved by the way, but I wonder how they will feel about it in three or more months from now?).

Snow days aren't always bad.

Goodreads Stat Page - A Brief Entertainment

I aimlessly wandered over to the stat page on Goodreads, first out of boredom but then I stayed out of sheer amazement. Apparently some people's long time goals in life are to make it onto the stat page of Goodreads.

Top 50 Users This Week

People who added the most books on Goodreads this week

Beiza added 8,639 books this week, and has 49, 324 books on their shelf.

More modestly is Liz Swan at the bottom of the stat page with 814 books added this week.

Good job everybody, you earned that top 50 users badge. I just hope that you didn't also develop carpal tunnel syndrome from all of that clicking.

Top 50 Readers This Week

People who read the most books on Goodreads this week

Kelli read 493 books this week, and even more astounding is the 4987 books that she has read for the entire year.

At the bottom of the list is Nyrmita Rivera with 54 books for the week.

These people are putting my reading to shame. I am truly impressed.

Top 100 Reviewers This Week

People with the most reviews on Goodreads this week

Kat Stark has written 465 book reviews this week. At the bottom of this list we have Rachel with 32 written book reviews.

Most Popular 100 Reviewers This Week

People who wrote reviews that got the most votes on Goodreads this week

Jesse with 1299 votes.

When your book reviews typically consist of one sentence fan-girl gushing do you really deserve to have the title of most popular reviewer? This is a on going theme with the BookTuber's on Goodreads. They have a large fan base because of their BookTube videos, so they simply have to post a book review of "Me likely a lot" and that review suddenly receives hundreds of likes by these fans of theirs. It's a little ridiculous. We do have a lot of well deserving book reviewers mixed in with these not so deserving ones. The people want what the people want.

Top 50 Reviews This Week

The most popular reviews on Goodreads this week

Jesse's review of "IDK WHAT TO SAY OTHER THEN I LOVED IT. IT WAS SO GOOD. GO READ IT IF YOU HAVEN'T" ... Yes, because that book review was both well written, and thought out!

Ah well, it briefly entertained me.

"Crown of Midnight" by Sarah J. Maas

"Crown of Midnight" by Sarah J. Maas is the second book in the Throne of Glass series.

This one started off a little slower, and initially it was going to receive a lower rating, but towards the half way point things really started to pick up and get good. There was more character development, plot twists, magic, and epic revelations within this book. I enjoyed where this series started, but I am loving where this series is taking us. This is the first real glimpse that we have seen of this truly big picture that Maas is painting here.

My Rating: 5 Stars

Brick Books

I saw this art project on Pinterest last year and spent several months leading up to Christmas making many of these to give away as gifts to family members. I got some odd looks when I told co-workers that I was making brick books as Christmas gifts and had to explain several times what exactly a brick book was. A brick painted to resemble a book. Well, what does one do with a brick book? You can arrange them on a porch or deck, you can place them in a garden or flower bed, you can line your walkway with a outdoor library. Brick books are awesome. Now the ones that I saw were a little less detailed then the ones that I ended up painting, mine were designated to be presents so a little more time went into the detailing. These two featured in the pictures are the two that I recently made my mom for her birthday. My mom is a author and these are actual titles from her own published books. How many people own brick book versions of their books?!

I used to sell these painted brick books through a local greenhouse but the profits weren't justifying the time that I was putting into them.

Great British Bake Off Tag

Hey guys, this is the great British bake off tag. A book tag with questions inspired by the great British bake off television show.

Great British Bake Off Tag

The cake has sunk in the middle, pick a book that didn't rise to your expectations

A few of Rick Yancey's books fell flat for me. I consider his Monstrumologist series as one of my favorites but his 5th Wave series severely disappointed me. I picked the 5th Wave up after reading the first book in the Monstrumologist series and so I had very high expectations that were not met. The final book in the Monstrumologist series also disappointed. I could say the same for Victoria Schwab's Archived series. Love the former two adult books of hers that I have read, was let down by this particular series.

Once you've eaten one you're hungry for more, and each time you eat another they get more and more delicious. Pick a book series or trilogy that got progressively better

At the moment I have started a lot of book series but have not progressed very far into those series, something that I am aiming to fix during this month of my conquering book series TBR. However I must say that the Sherlock Holmes books by Arthur Conan Doyle fit the bill here, as does the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness.

Kneading dough requires hard work and determination, pick a book that you had put off for ages and needed a lot of determination to pick up

I actually have several of those on my bookshelves. Some books I actually really desire to read but have been putting it off for now due to the sheer size of them, Patrick Rothfuss's King Killer Chronicles, many of Brandon Sanderson's books, and George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series. I will be reading these very soon but I wanted to get some of my other books read first before tackling these massive ones. I also have several behemoth classics that I'm trying to get the courage to read. Les Miserables or The Count of Monte Cristo, anyone? Books of that description that I have actually read however, The Grapes of Wrath. Of which I loved, by the way.

Foreign desserts such as crambolay and spanishwingtort are on the menu, pick a book set in a foreign country

Does fantasy count? I have read some books that take place in the United Kingdoms (Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, etc), but since a large majority of the books that I read are fantasy ... the worlds often are not replicas of our own.

Not usually used but surprisingly good, pick a book from a genre that you wouldn't normally read but ended up loving

I don't read romance, contemporary, non fiction, mystery, and chick-lit. I have read some, but of those I can't really recall ever having more then a 'meh' feeling about it. That's why I don't read those genres. Sadly I cannot think of a answer for this one.

Short crust pastry can crumble easily, pick a character who you initially liked but as you read more and more your relationship with them crumbled apart

This wound is still fresh, so I am going to go with the characters from the Monstrumologist series by Rick Yancey.

Recipes from the past that still taste delicious today, pick your favorite classic novel 

The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Your eating a chocolate eclair but there is barely any filling inside, pick a book that lacks substance and falls flat

I have read a lot of these ... most recently was "Queen of the Tearling" by Erika Johansen, and "Armada" by Ernest Cline.

Chocolate is the comfort food for many people, pick a book that you can read again, and again, and still find comforting 

The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. These are the books that I come back to time after time. In fact it has been a while since I have re-read any of these and I am itching to return to them once more.

Everyone is out to impress with extravagant showstoppers, pick your favorite book of the year so far that really impressed you

I have read a lot of impressive books so far for this year, it would be difficult to chose just one. "The Monstrumologist" by Rick Yancey, "Vicious" by V.E. Schwab, "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik, and "Red Rising" by Pierce Brown, just to name a few.

"The Final Descent" by Rick Yancey

The final book in the four book series, and the conclusion to the Monstrumologist. It was just as finely crafted as the former three books. It was dark, it was twisted. It gave me plenty of feelings, most of those being of sadness, disbelief, shock, and doubt. However, I did not like where the story took us nor where it ended. I have grown to love these characters and I fear that this book may have tainted those feelings. I see where the story was going with it all, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it. Truthfully I feel betrayed and full of confusion right now. I may very well just look upon this series as a trilogy and allow my version of the characters to live on.

My Rating: 4 Stars

"The Isle of Blood" by Rick Yancey

The third installment in "The Monstrumologist" series may have a slower pacing then the previous two, but it does contains more character development and depth. So, although less satisfying on one level it was in a sense more satisfying on a completely different level.

I enjoyed the fact that Arthur Conan Doyle made a appearance here, and was so in awe of Doctor Warthrop upon meeting him that he later based one of his characters on him, the Sherlock Holmes. That gave me a chuckle.

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

November TBR | 2015 - Conquer That Series Edition

For the month of November my reading plans involve conquering some book series that I have started over the course of the year. First I plan on reading the final two books in "The Monstrumologist" series by Rick Yancey, "The Isle of Blood", and "The Final Descent". This will complete the series for me. Then I plan on catching up on the "Throne of Glass" series by Sarah J. Maas. "Crown of Midnight", "Heir of Fire", "The Assassin's Blade" novella, and "Queen of Shadows". This is going to be a six book series, with four books and one novella currently released. I read the first book in the series earlier in the year and I really need to read the rest of them. Then I plan on reading "Golden Son" by Pierce Brown, second book in the "Red Rising" trilogy. The Third book is due to be released in February. I will also probably try to fit "Winter" by Marissa Meyer in there somewhere. It is being released on November 10th and is the final book in "The Lunar Chronicles".

October Wrap Up | 2015

I didn't really exceed my quota this month, and I didn't really bypass my reading of last month either, which, to be truthful, was a disappointing month of reading. I had roughly thirteen books on my TBR for this month and I read seven of them (minus the one that I did not finish). I will be carrying two of those books over to November but I already have November's TBR all planned out so the rest of them will be put on the sidelines for now.

Most of the books that I did read during this month were four to five star books, but there were one or two disappointments within this small stack.

5 Star rated books - Favorite books read in October 
"The Curse of the Wendigo" by Rick Yancey - The Curse of the Wendigo
"Vicious" by V.E. Schwab - Vicious

4 to 5 star rated books - 
"Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere
"Ink and Bone" by Rachel Caine - Ink and Bone
"The Archived" by Victoria Schwab - The Archived

Disappointments 
"The Unbound" by Victoria Schwab - The Unbound
"Armada" by Ernest Cline - Armada - Did not finish

"The Curse of the Wendigo" by Rick Yancey

"Outiko is not hunted; Outiko hunts, the Ogimaa had said. You do not call Outiko. Outiko calls you."

The Wendigo, embodiment of gluttony. Never is the appetite satisfied, always hungry and in a state of starvation even after having just gorged. It was believed that one could be turned by a Wendigo, or that one would be made a Wendigo through the act of cannibalism. The Wendigo possessed speed, strength, agility, and the ability to mimic voices in order to lure their victims to their doom.

Despite Warthrop's lack of belief in the existence of the Wendigo, he cannot refuse when he is asked to look for his friend whom has been missing for over a month. His friend was on a mission to prove the theory of the Wendigo but was reported missing and is now presumed dead.

This book was just as good as the first book in the series. Just as gory, just as exciting, just as thrilling, just as scary. It reminds me of a clash up of Dr. House meets Supernatural. I have fallen hard for Dr. Warthrop as a character, and for these books in general. Superb character development, writing, and story telling.

One aspect that I really enjoyed was how Yancey incorporated real people into his story, and gives the impression that the events of this story inspired the creation of other works of fiction. Algernon Blackwood, and Bram Stoker make a appearance.

My Rating: 5 Stars

Book Unhaul | October 2015 ~ 7 Books

After my last book haul I cleaned up my bookshelves and did some purging. Some of these books have been read and I decided that I didn't desire to own them, and some of them I did not read but I find that I no longer want to read them. Seven books total are being released back into the wild.

"Armada" by Ernest Cline.
I really enjoyed "Ready Player One", but this one really disappointed me. I actually didn't even bother to finish reading it. I will be keeping "Ready Player One" as I did really enjoy it, but I will not be reading anymore books by Ernest Cline.
"Falling Kingdoms" by Morgan Rhodes.
I wanted to like this one but I wasn't the biggest fan of the plot, the writing, or the characters. the maturity level was just not there, and I have found that I just cannot relate to a young cast of characters any longer. This one has been compared to "A Game of Thrones", and I choose to just read that series versus continuing on with this one.
"The Archived" and "The Unbound" by Victoria Schwab.
Letting go of these two hurts more then I would like it to. I adore Victoria Schwab's books, but these two young adult books just didn't do it for me. One of my biggest issues with it being the maturity level. I do not know if this is because of it being a young adult book (The other two books of hers that I have read were her adult books), or if it is because of being some of her earlier works, but whatever the issue is they left me feeling unsatisfied.
"The Young Elites" by Marie Lu.
I lost all desire to read this one. It feels directed towards a much younger audience then me, and I feel like I ultimately wouldn't enjoy it, so I don't wish to waste any of my time reading it.
"The Drowned World" by J.D. Ballard, and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" by Jack Finney.
 I looked these two books over, and ... I wasn't too impressed by the little that I did read.

Barnes and Noble Book Haul/Unboxing | October 2015

I received my Barnes and Noble book order today. I bought six books and two bookmarks. "American Gods" and "Anansi Boys" by Neil Gaiman in this gorgeous leather bound edition. "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon, soft cover edition. Originally on my list of books that I have no desire to read, but one that I now want to read. "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, soft cover edition.

"The Norse Myths" by Kevin Crossley-Holland, soft cover edition. "Theft of Swords" by Michael J. Sullivan, soft cover edition. Book one in "The Riyria Revelations" series. "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke, paperback edition. 

"The Unbound" by Victoria Schwab

"The Unbound" by Victoria Schwab is the sequel to "The Archived".

Whist I enjoyed "The Archived", I did not find "The Unbound" to be its equal. "The Archived" was by no means perfect, having only formerly read Victoria Schwab's adult books prior to this I found her young adult books to have a much different feel to them, and this certain one definitely suffered on quality. My biggest qualm being that it felt like it decreased in maturity level. I was disappointed. This is supposed to be a trilogy but Victoria Schwab has never gotten around to completing it, and it doesn't appear that she plans on doing so in the very near future. One might think that she herself is disappointed in the books as she has grown and developed as a writer. I adore Miss Schwab as a writer and consider her as one of my favorites, but this series just didn't do it for me as I had hoped it would.

My Rating: 3 Stars

"The Archived" by Victoria Schwab

"Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books."

Sixteen year old Mackenzie Bishop serves the Archive, as a Keeper of the Histories. Histories being the dead, a history of their life preserved within the Archive where they sleep the eternal sleep. But sometimes the more restless ones, the more violent ones, reawaken. A Keeper's job is to prevent these Histories from escaping the Narrow's, the boundaries between the living and the dead, and return them back to the Archive where the History is promptly put back into a state of sleeping and moved to a higher security realm by the Librarians, those who watch over the dead and catalog the Histories. The Crew are those of whom have the task of hunting down the Histories that have managed to escape the Narrow's and have re-entered the world of the living. These Histories are often the most violent and dangerous.

"The fact is, they were people, copies of people, because the only way to truly record a person is not in words, not in still frames, but in bone and skin and memory."

The dead must never be disturbed within the Archive, and yet, someone is deliberately awakening the Histories, altering them, and erasing memories.

This is the first young adult book that I have read by Victoria Schwab. I immensely enjoyed it and found it to be very original and new. But having read two of her adult novels previously to this one I must say that her young adult books just seem to be lacking that extra little ingredient to truly push it beyond the realm of special. This one didn't quite compare to some of her other books. Apparently I am a hardcore fan of her adult books, and just a fan of her young adult ones.

I liked the very real struggle that Mackenzie experienced as a Keeper. She had lost a grandfather and a younger brother, both of whom were shelved as Histories in the Archive. Mackenzie constantly struggled with wanting to see them again, wanting to see if she could prevent them from slipping like the other Histories tended to do the longer that they were awake. If our lost loved ones were within our grasp, would we be able to resist the temptation of seeing them again?

My Rating: 4.25 Stars

Book Depository Book Haul/Unboxing | October 2015

Hey guys, I have a small book haul to show you today from Book Depository. First we have "Elantris" by Brandon Sanderson, paperback edition in this beautiful watercolor edition that I have fallen in love with. "Warbreaker" by Brandon Sanderson, paperback edition. And "Assassin's Apprentice" by Robin Hobb, paperback edition. This is the first book in her "Farseer trilogy". I have never read any of Robin Hobb's books prior to this, but I have heard wonderful things about them and I am excited to dive in and give them a try. These will all make some wonderful fall/winter reading, and that is exactly what I plan on doing.

Books In The News | Cover Reveal For "This Savage Song" by Victoria Schwab

The city of Verity has been overrun with monsters, born from the worst of human evil. In North Verity, the Corsai and the Malchai run free. Under the rule of Callum Harker, the monsters kill any human who has not paid for protection. In the South, Henry Flynn hunts the monsters who cross the border into his territory, aided by the most dangerous and darkest monsters of them all—the Sunai, dark creatures who use music to steal their victim’s souls.

As one of only three Sunai in existence, August Flynn has always wanted to play a bigger role in the war between the north and the south. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate Harker, daughter of the leader of North Verity, August jumps on it.
When Kate discovers August’s secret, the pair find themselves running for their lives and battling monsters from both sides of the wall. As the city dissolves into chaos, it’s up to them to foster a peace between monsters and humans.

A unique, fast-paced adventure that looks at the monsters we face every day—including the monster within. 



The cover design for "This Savage Song" by Victoria Schwab was revealed yesterday, as well as a more filled out book synopsis. 

The Reading Slump

The dreaded reading slump. We as readers are all destined to experience this at least once during our reading life, more logically is to expect to experience it many times throughout.

I have felt myself slowly slipping into a reading slump for the past few months now, and I am sure that you as readers of this blog have also possibly noticed a lag in my reading. Everyone becomes busy and has to cut down on their reading, but when one has the time to read and they chose not to ... that is something entirely different. Looking back on my reading history I have noticed that the books that I was not overly enthusiastic about are the ones that dragged me down the most in my reading (obviously), so the solution is to not read any books that aren't holding my attention, to only read books that I am excited about reading. I can feel this reading slump slowly starting to remedy itself, and I am getting excited about reading again. I already have the next few months reading all planned out and I am feeling pumped up and eager to jump into it. All books in the forecast are ones that I have been dying to read.

So what do you do if you find yourself in a reading slump?

My best piece of advice is that if you are not enjoying the book that you are currently reading, don't read it. There are too many good books out there to waste your time reading books that you are not enjoying. Give it a break while you read a different book, or just completely call it quits and move on. Read what you want to read, reading is for fun and forcing yourself to read a book that you don't want to read is not fun.

The "I just finished this wonderful book, what do I read next?" slump. I don't know about you, but I experience these kinds of slumps as well. It's great when you have another book all lined up and ready to go once the current book is completed, but what if you don't? You can try more books by that certain author if that author happens to have written more books. You can re-read a favorite book. You can try out a few different books by reading the first few pages until you feel a book catch your attention. Sometimes I start to read a book but I instantly feel that it isn't grabbing my attention and I decide that it isn't the right book for me at that time, choosing instead to try one, two, maybe even three other books by reading the first page or two and seeing which one stands out and fulfills that of which I am currently looking for in a book.

Diversity. No matter how much you love a certain genre, I can guarantee that at some point you will get burned out on it. Reading slump. I read several different genres, I read classic literature, fantasy, young adult, science fiction, and horror to a point. I try to switch up genres in order to prevent the genre burn out. I burnt out on the dystopian book genre, and I fear that there may be no relighting of that one.

Happy reading!

"Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman

"Young man," he said, "understand this: there are two Londons. There's London Above - that's where you lived - and then there's London Below - the Underside - inhabited by the people who fell through the cracks in the world. Now you're one of them. Good night."

The first half of this book, and the second half of this book were like entirely different reading experiences for me. The first half, although well written and alluring as to where the story was leading up to, was also dull to the point of sending me into a reading slump. The slowness of the plot left me with no desire to continue reading it in order to see how events were going to play out, and therefore this poor book saw a lot of down time and inactivity. However, the second half of this book was both fascinating and faster paced. It really redeemed the entire book. I realize that I didn't paint a very pleasing description of this book, but I really do recommend it. Just stick with it.

My Rating: 4.25 Stars

Books In The News | Book Deals, Title and Cover Reveals, and More

This is a new feature that will soon be a regular on my blog. Books in the news will be announcing author book deals, title reveals, cover reveals, and more.

Books in the news | Book deals, title reveals, cover reveals, and more

Book deals - V.E. Schwab (Aka Victoria Schwab) has signed a four book deal with her publisher. She will be writing a sequel to "Vicious", a third book in her "Shades of Magic" series, and two new works of fiction that are currently untitled.

I can not even express all of the emotions that this news brings to me.

Stay tuned for the big cover reveal of her Spring 2016 book "This Savage Song".

Title reveal - The sequel in Sarah J Maas's "A Court of Thorns and Roses" trilogy has been titled "A Court of Mist and Fury".

And in TV, the "Throne of Glass" series by Sarah J. Maas is now being optioned for TV.

"Armada" by Ernest Cline

"Armada" by Ernest Cline is a three hundred and forty nine paged book, I made it exactly fifty pages in before I just couldn't go any further with it. Earlier I read Cline's "Ready Player One", of which I immensely enjoyed, but even then I had a few minor problems with the book. Those problems were multiplied by ten fold in this book. Flat, and bland character development being one. I felt that the characters in "Ready Player One" were a little flat, but the characters here in "Armada" are definitely more under developed. Zack didn't even appear to have his own personality, always using references to describe how he was feeling rather then using his own words. That was another issue that I had with this book. We had the music, video game, book, and movie references throughout "Ready Player One", but here in "Armada" that is literally what the entire book is made up of. References. You are hitting at least one on every page, until it feels like you are reading a text book ... or just a very poorly written book that is attempting to disguise itself behind better ones.

I won't be reading anymore of Cline's books. As far as I am concerned, "Ready Player One" is the only book that Cline has produced ... and we will just leave it at that.

My Rating: 2 Stars - Did not finish

"Vicious" by V.E. Schwab

"If Eli really was a hero, and Victor meant to stop him, did that make him a villain?"

We all know the typical story of good versus evil, superhero pitted against villain, good guy defeats bad guy. But what if there wasn't a superhero in our story? What if they were both the villains, and you didn't know if you should even be rooting for one of them?

"Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human."

That's what you will find within this book. A story filled with hate filled characters, full of disturbing emotional and empathy disconnection.

We focus mainly on our two male characters, Eli and Victor. College roommates and friends, later destined to be foes. This book is shown through their two points of views, and split between the present and ten years prior to now. It all begins with Eli's thesis on EO's (extraordinary) and whether or not they actually exist, and how they were able to obtain those supernatural abilities. But when this thesis moves from academic to experimental, things quickly escalate and get out of control.

I loved the uniqueness that Schwab brought to this book. How supernatural abilities are gained, and what determines the powers that are obtained.

My Rating: 5 Stars

Touching On The Subject Of Book Ratings

I didn't use to dwell too long on the all too seemly simplicity of book ratings. Certainly not before joining Goodreads two years ago, and even less so before creating the very book blog that you are currently reading, roughly seven months ago. You as a reader generally knows what agrees with you in the book world and that of which does not, but does one tend to fully digest the books that one is reading, to really think about it and allow that book to freely speak to one, if one is not actively thinking about it? I think so, but I also think that when your next step following the completion of a book is to then rate it and compose a review on it, that you are perhaps subconsciously absorbing more out of that book because you are more actively thinking about it throughout the reading experience, whether aware of it or not. Much like being a part of a book club.

However there are so many things to take into consideration when rating a book. As a general rule I do have a pretty basic method of going about this, however certain things need to be taken into consideration when doing so. What a book seeks out to accomplish, and whether or not it succeeds or fails, plays a large part in my rating. Books can make you think, make you laugh, make you cry, purely entertain you, or scare you. All of these books are very different from each other, but all are possible candidates for a five star rating depending on how well the author executed it. That's one thing to take into consideration. I might rate a classic five stars because of the beautiful writing and the overall story that it has to tell, but I might rate another book five stars because of its entertaining value. So I definitely take into consideration what the author is trying to accomplish, as well as what feelings the book evoke. However, with that being said one thing that probably plays the most part in my rating system is the overall writing. The writing is one of the most important aspects of a book, closely followed up by the story itself. The two cannot exist alone without the other being there to balance them out. I cannot, and will not, read a ill written book. It just brings the whole quality of the book crashing down, and I can't enjoy a book no matter the story line, if I cannot even tolerate the writing. A book can also be beautifully written but the writing may be poorly concealing a weak story. Neither one works for me on a stand alone basis, they need to be equally balanced out. So those three all play a very large part in my rating process.

But then we have the actual ratings themselves. I am a critical rater of books, most people know this. I have a 3.40 average rating on Goodreads. So my star ratings might mean something different from other people's star ratings. I thought that it would be interesting to delve deeper into this subject.

One Star
One star ratings are reserved for those books that I actually hated. Yes, hated. I hated the writing, I hated the story, I hated the characters. There just wasn't anything about this book that I did like. These books are never read fully through, I usually cast them away from me almost immediately. These are the books that fill me with nothing but disgust, distaste, and contempt.

Two Stars
This rating doesn't actually differ very much from my one star rating other then the writing and/or story being perhaps a mere fraction better then the books thrown into my one star ratings. These are the books that I did not enjoy, did not finish, but that I did not hate quite so severely as the one star books.

Three Stars
This is where my rating changes up a little more. Being a person whom highly believes in not wasting your time on bad books, the books that fall into this category are also very susceptible to not being completed. However a three star rating means that the writing and the story were vast improvements from my one star, and two star ratings. So although this book probably didn't appease the book snob in me, other readers perhaps shouldn't scratch these books off of their future reading based sorely on my judgement, as they just might enjoy them. Especially my 3.5 star ratings. These are books that I just considered as 'okay' reads, not hating them but definitely not liking them either. Stuck in the middle.

Four Stars
For me, there is a huge difference between a 4 star rating and a 4.5 star rating. A four star rating means that I really liked it, however I don't want to own it and I will certainty never be reading it a second time. A 4.5 star rating however means that I actually loved it. This rating was so close to being a five star rating, but there were probably a few small things that slightly held it back from achieving that. These are the books that I actually want to own, and will be reading many times over.

Five Stars
This is the highest possible rating. This rating is reserved for very special books. All things have to add up in this book. Writing, plot, character development. It has to speak to me, it has to entertain me. It has to be special in order to receive this very special rating. You won't often see me rating a book as five stars. These books find a permanent home in my library and are read, reread, and reread again.

So as you can see, my rating system probably doesn't add up to a lot of other peoples rating systems. I wanted to touch on this so that you have a better idea of where my thoughts lay when I do rate and review books on here.

I would be interested to hear how other people rate books, and what those ratings mean as far as their thoughts go.

October Book Releases - Out Now

October is apparently a big month this year for some highly anticipated book releases. These are the releases that are currently in stores now, not necessary all books that I am excited about but rather the books that seem to be receiving the most attention.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling, illustrated edition. Being a big fan of the Harry Potter books I was of course interested in this book when I first heard about it. however I was thinking a children's picture book rather then the full book in illustrated form that it actually is. The illustrations are gorgeous. There is going to be one illustrated book for each of the Harry Potter books, one to be released each year, all full editions of the books. I may have to start collecting these ...

"The Sword of Summer" by Rick Riordan, book one in his new series "Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard". I was originally excited for this book, but my enthusiasm has since waned. I highly recommend Riordan's books, I just find them to be a little too juvenile for my tastes.

"Carry On" by Rainbow Rowell. This book looks like a delicious read, but I feel like in the end I would be very disappointed in said book. It sounds like a chick-lit attempting to portray itself as fantasy. I may very well pick this one up if I happen to run across it at my library, but otherwise I won't be seeking it out.

And lastly is "Life and Death - Twilight Reimagined" by Stephenie Meyer. This book recently shocked Twilight fans. Stephenie Meyer was able to keep this book a secret, and under wraps, up until the book hit shelves and fans started to stumble on it, and then spread the word. This book is almost a exact copy of Twilight but all of the characters have been gender swapped. Am I the only one that thinks that this sounds completely awful, and unimaginative to boot? Then again, I really didn't care for Twilight. I will not be reading this one.

"Ink and Bone" by Rachel Caine

"The truth was what the Library wanted it to be"

"Ink and Bone" by Rachel Caine has been marketed as Harry Potter meets The Book Thief meets Fahrenheit 451, and I really do see all three of those aspects contained within this one book. It makes for a delicious reading experience. Show me one book lover who doesn't enjoy reading a book which is about books!

Imagine a world where physical copies of books are treasured above all else. You can read books using the Libraries 'blanks', a electronic device much like our ebooks of today, but reading or owning a physical copy of a book is illegal. In fact physical books are so rare that book smuggling, selling, and collecting is a problematic thing of the black market.

Meet Jess Brightwell. His father is a book smuggler, and Jess has throughout his childhood been running these books for his father on the streets of London to place them into the buyers hands. This is a extremely dangerous occupation. The high Garda forces are ever vigilant, and if caught your crime is punishable by death. Jess has already lost a older brother. 

The high Garda are the soldiers of the Library. The Library claims to be the preservation of books, and they seek to claim up all physical books in order to archive them and ensure that all readers are able to enjoy them through the experience of blanks.

Book burners burn books to make a statement, and in rebellion against all that the Library stands for.

Jess's father places him into the Library recruitment in order to have a inside source within the society itself. His father being the cruel man that he is, tells Jess that there is no home for him to come home to if he should fail.

I vastly enjoyed this book and the entire premise behind it. It addresses my own fears of books someday becoming the thing of the past. The only thing that confused me was the obvious advancement of the Library through weapons, automatons, etc, but the oddly out of place use of steam carriages ... I was never certain of what time this was all supposed to be taking place.

My Rating: 4.25 Stars 

Graphic Novels - Hate Them Or Love Them

I have noticed a explosion of graphic novel readers lately on both Booktube, and Goodreads. People are reading them, and reading a lot of them. Sometimes reading nothing but graphic novels.

Do you read graphic novels, or have you ever read a graphic novel?

I can't claim to have done either. I have never read one ... and quite frankly I can't foresee myself ever reading one. They just don't appeal to me ... at all. I'm all for people reading any sort of material, as long as it gets people reading, but I also kind of feel like graphic novels have, in a sense, taken over the role of real books for a lot of younger kids and teenagers. Possibly stunting their reading, or eliminating the reading of real books altogether. Yes, real books. Nothing wrong with reading graphic novels but I do have that mindset of them not being real books. Maybe a little close-minded of me considering that I have never actually read one, but come on! Graphic novels are not real books. A horse with a cone taped to its head is not a real unicorn, it is a horse with a cone taped to its head. You can still love that horse with the cone taped to its head, but love it as a horse with a cone taped to its head rather then love it as the unicorn that it is not. Meaning, you can still read graphic novels but treat them as graphic novels and not as books. Never give up your unicorn for a horse with a cone taped to its head. Otherwise you will just have a horse with a cone taped to its head ... and I will have a unicorn.

Spooky Book Recommendations For October

These books will not be on this years October reading because I have already read them. Instead these are recommendations for readers who may be looking for some spooky books to read during this October.

"Bird Box" by Josh Malerman

Guys, I cannot recommend this book enough! I don't easily scare but this book scared me.

"Dracula" by Bram Stoker

A classic horror.

"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

Another classic.

"The Monstrumologist" by Rick Yancey

This book was frightening with a beautiful gothic style of writing.

"The Boy who Drew Monsters" by Keith Donohue 

This is a chilling book, and one that kept me guessing all the way up until the end. Suspenseful.

"The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells

Another classic.