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