Maggie Stiefvater

Top 5 Wednesday: September 27, 2017

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Books You’ve Read Because of Booktube/Blogging/etc.

Discuss the books you’ve picked up because you’ve heard of them in the online book community or platform you use.
To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, head over to their Goodreads Group!

  1. The Raven Cycle // Maggie Stiefvater
    Well I had to put this series first because it’s the one I’m the most grateful to booklr for convincing me to read. I had seen The Raven Boys (book 1) on a shelf before, but had specifically not even picked it up because of the title. Then even when I did pick it up and read the blurb, I remember thinking it would be just a dumb romance about private school boys and setting it back down! (I’m ashamed to even admit that…) So it wasn’t until several posts from booklr peeps and direct cajoling from a reader friend that I finally decided to give it a chance.
  2. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
    This book comes second because I think it’s the second most important in that it taught me not to blindly trust booklr hype! I reviewed it, if you want to know more, but long story short: booklr straight lied to me about this book; it was trash.
  3. The Lunar Chronicles // Marissa Meyer
    I was pretty resistant to reading this one, but now that I have I can’t remember what my reasoning was… I should have known I would enjoy a sci-fi fairytale retelling series!
  4. Snow Like Ashes (Snow Like Ashes, book 1) by Sara Raasch
    Anyone on booklr knows how all over this series the community was for a while there. I bought into the hype of course, because I’m weak, and found this to be a pretty enjoyable book. I was reading it when I went to sign my pre-trial diversion paperwork and my lawyer and I talked about it at length. (Apparently it’s one she recommends all the time.) Unfortunately I couldn’t get into the sequel despite repeated tries and wound up abandoning the series.
  5. Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children // Ransom Riggs
    This is another series I am so grateful to the booklr community for recommending! There’s just so much to love about this series. The first time around, back in 2014, I really liked the story, but I don’t think I appreciated it as much as I did when I went back and reread it at the beginning of this year.

I’d love to know about some books the online book community you are a part of convinced you to read! Comment or make your own post and leave me a link.

First Lines Fridays: September 8, 2017

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First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

I was used to being the hunter. If I saw something I wanted, I stalked it, smelled it, made it mine.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie by Maggie Stiefvater
(Books of Faerie, book 2)

In this mesmerizing sequel to Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception, music prodigy James Morgan and his best friend, Deirdre, join a private conservatory for musicians. James’ musical talent attracts Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. Composing beautiful music together unexpectedly leads to mutual admiration and love. Haunted by fiery visions of death, James realizes that Deirdre and Nuala are being hunted by the Fey and plunges into a soul-scorching battle with the Queen of the Fey to save their lives.

Musing Monday: August 7, 2017

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Musing Mondays is a weekly meme, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Do you ever wish you could go back and fall in love with reading all over again?

I blogged about ____ this past week…

  • Sunday, July 30 – Read-A-Thon! Blogged about my progress reading through The Beast is an Animal (completed) and Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (less progress made than I’d have liked).
  • Monday, July 31 – Finally remembered to post the quotes I liked from The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater and did my July Wrap-Up post, although I wish it had been longer.
  • Tuesday, August 1 – Did my Teaser Tuesday, finished writing my review of The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale, and posted an update on the goals I had set for myself for 2017.
  • Wednesday, August 2 – First came WWW Wednesday, where I determined the book I would read after Sense and Sensibility. Then, I did a belated Musing Monday post, almost entirely for the excuse of talking about food, but also partially to set a plan for meeting my goal of finally finishing Persuasion by Jane Austen. And of course, my #WAYRW post.
  • Friday, August 4 – I got 2 of my Friday book tags done, First Lines Fridays & Friday 56, then later that night an update on my Persuasion progress, which was better than expected, but exactly as painful as expected.
  • Sunday, August 6 – A couple updates on Sense and Sensibility, finally finished answering all the questions on a Book Questionnaire I was tagged in on booklr, then because I needed a break from regency writing I went ahead and started my next book, The Last Little Blue Envelope, and posted both a bookstagram and a little commentary after the first few chapters.

Nothing exactly remarkable, but overall a good past week for me.

Do you ever wish you could go back and fall in love with reading all over again?
I’m sure all readers do in some respect, but lately I’ve caught myself thinking about all the things that contributed to my love of certain books, and I’ve become convinced that if I were able to go back it wouldn’t be the same. And I certainly wouldn’t change my current specific feelings towards reading for anything!

I’d love to know your opinion on the matter. Comment with your answer or a link to your own post about it!

July 2017 Wrap-Up

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Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Rating:  ★★★★★
Reading Dates:  July 6 – 11
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Regency Snark™
Least Favorite Thing:  Lizzie’s mom is even more annoying in the books than she is in the screen adaptations and I had completely forgotten that. That is, she’s just as annoying, but she’s more long-winded in the novel.

I know a lot of people find classics dull, and granted there are quite a few incredibly dull classic novels, but this book is worth a read. There are many scenes that had me laughing out loud and calling other people to read a bit to them so they could appreciate it too.

My Posts About Pride and Prejudice

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
The Raven Cycle, book 3
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Reading Dates:  June 29 – July 17
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  “It was 6:21.”
Least Favorite Thing:  Casual racism…yikes.

I should be posting a Raven Cycle post soon to talk about the series as a whole.

As for this one… The Unmaker gives me anxiety, I love all the Pynch, and Maggie really didn’t do Henry Cheng justice. Oh, and I’m proud of the Gray Man.

My Posts About The Raven King

The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Reading Dates:  July 30 (read it in a day for the Read-A-Thon)
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Witchcraft meets midwifery 🙂
Least Favorite Thing:  The freaking elders, like, fuck those dudes AND their bitchy wives…

I’m working on a review, hopefully have it up soon. I do definitely recommend this book. It’s easy to get through, but don’t expect a lot of action.

*** Update: I posted the review! ***

My Posts About The Beast is an Animal

Some quotes from The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

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You know the drill, I liked these quotes, but I didn’t make them into their own posts, so now I’m putting them here:

Calla found him spineless (she was not wrong). Maura thought him misunderstood (she was not wrong). Jimi reckoned he had the longest nose of any man she’d ever seen (she was not wrong). Orla didn’t believe barricading oneself in a supply closet was a sufficient protection against a psychic who hated you (she was not wrong). Gwenllian was, in fact, the psychic who hated him (she was not wrong).

– page 6-7 (Chapter 1)

It looked like a place old ladies might go to die and remain undiscovered until the neighbors noticed a strange smell.

– page 135-136 (Chapter 17)

Adam lived in an apartment located above the office of St. Agnes Catholic Church, a fortuitous combination that focused most of the objects of Ronan’s worship into one downtown block.

– page 140 (Chapter 18)

Greenmantle took a swig of the wine directly from the bottle — when he’d selected it from the kitchen, he had thought it would look more aesthetically pathetic and desperate than carrying a solitary glass, and it did. He wished there was someone here to see just how aesthetically pathetic and desperate he looked.
“Notes of black powder and abandonment,” he told his reflection. He took another swallow; this mouthful he choked on. A little too much black powder and abandonment at once.

– page 181 (Chapter 25)

Version:
Hardcover, 439 pages
Published April 26th 2016 by Scholastic Press

June 2017 Wrap-Up

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A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
(A Court of Thorns and Roses, book 3)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Reading Dates:  June 8 – 9
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Feyre’s extremely satisfying manipulation of the Spring Court in part one OR sassy Azriel.
Least Favorite Thing:  Tamlin’s entire personality….

I may write a review of this book later, but at the moment I’m not sure I can do so coherently, so I’ll just leave a few thoughts here:
Once again Sarah has upped the amount of smut! Overall the book was well-written (and wow I especially loved the fights), but there were some brief instances of iffy stereotypes that rubbed me the wrong way. And as always, Tamlin-heavy scenes gave me anxiety attacks, but Inner Circle banter made it all better.

My Posts About A Court of Wings and Ruin

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
(The Raven Cycle, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Reading Dates:  June 9 – 10 & June 10 – 30
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  Sass sass sass sass SASS!
Least Favorite Thing:  Barrington Whelk.

So I read this book twice this month, once on my own and quickly, and the second time with a friend a little at a time while reading the rest of the series myself.

If you are interested in the magical realism genre, you should definitely try The Raven Cycle books.

My Posts About The Raven Boys

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
(The Raven Cycle, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Reading Dates:  June 12 – 19
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  That entire scene in the Dollar City.
Least Favorite Thing:  Kavinsky is deeply annoying… (Um “substance party”? Ugh…)

I also really loved The Gray Man. I just enjoy the way he thinks about things, it’s so calming to read. And every interaction between him and the Fox Way ladies is just gold.

I have to admit — and I feel terrible about it — I don’t like Adam in this book hardly at all. He’s occasionally frustrating in the The Raven Cycle, but in The Dream Thieves he crosses the line to just plain unlikable.

My Posts About The Dream Thieves

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
(The Raven Cycle, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Reading Dates:  June 20 – 26
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Greenmantle dialogue!
Least Favorite Thing:  Greenmantle actions…

I love Jessie Dittley, I would like to request a Jessie Dittley from the universe, please.

My Posts About Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Thursday Quotables: June 29, 2017

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This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

Her mother’s voice was coming from the house’s single shared bathroom, and when Blue got there, she found her mother, Calla, and Orla all sitting in a full bathtub, all fully clothed and all equally soaking. Jimi was sitting on the closed toilet lid with a burning candle in her hands.

Summary:

The fourth and final installment in the spellbinding series from the irrepressible, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.

All her life, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love’s death. She doesn’t believe in true love and never thought this would be a problem, but as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!