Days of Blood & Starlight

September 2021 Reading Wrap-Up

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Neon Gods by Katee Robert
(Dark Olympus, book 1)
Rating:  N/A – DNF
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates: Aug 19 – Sept 7
Read Count:  0.5
Favorite Thing:  Interesting premise
Least Favorite Thing:  This book made me feel oogy?

I tried to read this for Katesbookdate‘s patreon book club and… I swear this was almost porn-without-plot, it was barely not that. I felt so uncomfortable the whole time, not about the sex, but about how every single thing – good or bad – brought on a new sex scene. Also…the way he talked to her was shudder inducing.

My Posts About Neon Gods

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 5)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Audiobook
Reading Dates:  Sept 7
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  The oracle!
Least Favorite Thing:  Why can’t people just tell other people things?

I probably won’t ever read these books again, but because I feel like I’ve really aged out of them. But it was a nice little throw-back.

My Posts About The Last Olympian

All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
(The Southern Vampire Mysteries, book 7 )
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 1 – 7
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Telepath Teamup!
Least Favorite Thing: I can’t even think of anything, I take these books as they are lol

So I’ve read this before, physically, but I listen to music or audiobooks while I work now and I needed something fluffy so of course I went for the Sookie Stackhouse books. I’ve been trying to slowly work my way through, but once I start one I just can’t turn it off!

My Posts About All Together Dead

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 8 – 9
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: I love the way everyone talks. No the accents, but like the word choice and the…cadence maybe?
Least Favorite Thing: She’s so painfully selfish, the movie definitely took some of that out.

I love this movie so much, and I have listened to a different audiobook version in the past, but I think this one was better.

My Posts About Brooklyn

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
(The Southern Vampire Mysteries, book 8)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 10 – 11
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: I like that a major real life event was included, makes a fantastical story feel more real.
Least Favorite Thing: Stop, I’m never going to have a least favorite am I?

These books are so relaxing for me. And occasionally quite funny.

My Posts About From Dead to Worse

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
(The Southern Vampire Mysteries, book 9)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 12 – 13
Read Count: 2
Favorite Thing: Shifters out!!!!
Least Favorite Thing: How many times is Jason going to be accused of some kind of horrific murder? Examine your life, bro.

Ok, fine, I picked a least favorite thing. Except it’s not even really a least favorite thing, because it’s kind of hilarious?

My Posts About Dead and Gone

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 1)
Rating: ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 15 – 17
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: TEETH!
Least Favorite Thing: Special girl is so special.

I had been wanting to reread these, specifically via audiobook, for so dang long! I finally broke down and joined audible just for the time it would take to listen to these books.

My Posts About Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 2)
Rating: ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 17 – 20
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: Ziriiiiiii
Least Favorite Thing: Mr. White Wolf himself obviously.

You know I’m just now realizing how little the covers have to do with the story…

My Posts About Days of Blood & Starlight

The Singer of All Songs by Kate Constable
(The Chanters of Tremaris, book 1)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 22 – 23
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: I just love the magic style!
Least Favorite Thing: Does she have to love the first man she’s ever met?

Don’t ask me why, but I suddenly became convinced that this was the book I needed to listen to ASAP… Anyway I bought it and I listened and the background sounds were strange…

My Posts About The Singer of All Songs

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review: No
Format: Print
Reading Dates: July 23 – Sept 28
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Uh….I….can’t think of one…
Least Favorite Thing: SHE’S SO INCREDIBLY STUPID I CAN’T HANDLE IT

Could it have taken me any longer to finish this book? Gawd! I honestly did not enjoy it at all. I wanted to, I tried really hard…. Blah.

My Posts About Lock Every Door

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 3)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: Sept 20 – 28
Read Count: 3
Favorite Thing: Things finally happen!
Least Favorite Thing: I wish I could care at all about the main characters’ romance, but the only romances I give a shit about are side characters lol

WHAT DOES THIS COVER HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING??

My Posts About Dreams of Gods & Monsters

In Progress

September 2017 Wrap-Up (Part 2)

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Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan
(The Lynburn Legacy, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  September 15 – 17
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Rusty. Perfect Rusty.
Least Favorite Thing:  Rob Lynburn is so skeezy I need 10 showers every time he talks…

Welp, I’m not mad about the thing I was mad about at the end of the first book anymore because it was explained and resolved in a very satisfying manner. However! I am frustrated because I have made several connections based on information Kami has already that she has not made and I have no way of climbing into the book to tell her!

My Posts About Untold

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  September 17 – 20
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  That fucking fruit basket/note thing!
Least Favorite Thing:  Thiago. Obviously.

The close second for favorite thing was the trio of Akiva, Liraz, and Hazael. Sweet murder siblings.

But it was deeply infuriating waiting for Karou to figure out that Thiago and Ten were playing her! It seemed so damn obvious!

One thing that bugged me about the book though, there was a mention when explaining the whole “Angel-lover” insult where it says “in all Karou’s human languages, there was no insult so loaded with disgust and contempt, no single word that cast such a pall of filth” and I actually had to stop for a minute because I was annoyed. I mean… It’s really obvious what real life insult it resembles and yet it’s supposedly worse than anything in any human language. Ok Laini. Sure. (To clarify, I by no means think this was some intentional slight intended by the author, it’s just something that really bothered me personally.)

My Posts About Days of Blood & Starlight

The Runner by Cynthia Voigt
(The Tillerman Cycle, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  September 20 – 21
Read Count:  3  (Pretty sure I’ve read it more than that, but only 3 that I can be sure of.)
Favorite Thing:  Reading him running, of course.
Least Favorite Thing:  The Phone Call. I’m still crying even though I always know it’s coming.

I want to warn potential readers, for a good half of this book Bullet is a racist. Not a “death to all black people” kind of racist, you won’t have to read depictions of him committing violence against black people, but an “I don’t mix with them” sort of racist, and you will see his thoughts about it several times. Part of his journey in this book is him learning that he’s wrong to just arbitrarily dislike people who are black. I didn’t want anyone getting blindsided by that in the beginning of the book.

My Posts About The Runner

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★★★
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  September 23 – 27
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  We Haven’t Been Introduced
Seriously this is easily my favorite part of the whole book. I grin like an idiot and squeal internally just thinking about it. Like just now, I briefly recalled parts of the book I enjoyed to evaluate them for a favorite and when I came to this one I actually hid my face and giggled so I feel like it’s really no contest.
Least Favorite Thing:  Morgan Toth’s pillowy lips…

I actually raised my rating of this book from 4 stars (from back in 2014) to 5 because it’s definitely the best of the trilogy for me.

My Posts About Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Come A Stranger by Cynthia Voigt
(The Tillerman Cycle, book 5)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  September 28 – 29
Read Count:  3  (Pretty sure I’ve read it more than that, but only 3 that I can be sure of.)
Favorite Thing:  Mina’s laughter.
Least Favorite Thing:  Racist teachers, blech.

I learned so much from Mina back in middle school when I first read this book. So much was changing for me and reading a book where that was happening to a character who was dynamic and strong was so helpful at that time.

My Posts About Come A Stranger

In Progress

Musing Monday: September 25, 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 like book clubs or not?

I blogged about ____ this past week…

  • Monday, September 18 – Musing Monday, showing off a new book I got & talking about background noise, and a review of Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan.
  • Tuesday, September 19 – A progress update for Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor, then Teaser Tuesday (also using DoBaS).
  • Wednesday, September 20 – A rating post for Days of Blood & Starlight, a belated WWW Wednesday, WAYRW, then a bookstagram for The Runner by Cynthia Voigt.
  • Thursday, September 21 – Thursday Quotables, using The Runner, and then a rating post for the same novel.
  • Friday, September 22 – As usual, First Lines Friday & Friday 56 (the latter using Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor).
  • Saturday, September 23 – I managed two chapters of Persuasion this week, and I posted my usual progress update for that.

Do you like book clubs or not?
Uh… In theory?

I’ve never actually been in a book club, so I can’t say for sure. I like the idea of being in one, but I’ve never seen a book club of adults who read a ridiculous amount of YA novels!

WWW Wednesday: September 20, 2017

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Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:  The Runner (The Tillerman Cycle, book 4) by Cynthia Voigt
This is one of my favorites of the Tillerman Cycle books. It focuses on Bullet Tillerman, the Tillerman Children’s late uncle, back before he left for the war in Vietnam.

I can’t wait to get back in Bullet’s head, honestly; he’s such a defiant little shit. Plus, it’s interesting to see how Gram was back when her husband was still alive and she wasn’t “crazy Abigail Tillerman” yet.

And as always, I’m also still working my way through Persuasion by Jane Austen. It’s not quite as torturous as it was originally, but I don’t know if that will last… I hope it will.

Recently Finished:  Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 2) by Laini Taylor
I literally just finished this book 5 minutes ago… This was my second time reading it.

I had a little trouble halfway through the book because Karou’s situation feels so hopeless that I started feeling hopeless too. Luckily, all I needed was a short break and I was able to get right back into the story.

I have forgotten a few things from last time I read it though. Like the whole bit with the White Wolf towards the end. I won’t get into details because it’s spoilery, but damn.

Untold (The Lynburn Legacy, book 2) by Sarah Rees Brennan
I finished Untold just before DoBaS. I was a little nervous about Second Book Syndrome, but that didn’t happen and I enjoyed Untold quite a bit. Especially the banter between characters. I really am such a sucker for funny, sassy banter in novels and Sarah Rees Brennan excels at it!

I reviewed it too.

It looks like I will have to wait a while to read the third book though, because I have to get it through an Interlibrary Loan to get it. My local library only has the first two books in the trilogy for some unknown, but deeply annoying reason. (They do that a lot actually.)

Reading Next:  Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 3) by Laini Taylor
Try as I might…. I’m not sure I really remember anything specific from this book?? Which I didn’t realize until just now…

So I guess it’s a good thing I’m rereading the series, huh?

I never bothered to read the novella for the series, but I think I might this time around? But I still haven’t quite decided if I should read it before DoGaM where it fits chronologically, or read it after I finish the whole series the way it was published.

Teaser Tuesday: September 19, 2017

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From beyond, the Eretz stars glimmered visible-invisible, visible-invisible, and he did the same.

– Laini Taylor, Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 2), page 6

Version:
Hardcover, 517 pages
Published November 6th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Friday 56: September 15, 2017

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The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda’s Voice and the rules are simple:

  • Grab a book, any book (I, personally, prefer to use my current read.)
  • Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that’s ok.)
  • Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it)
  • Post it

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 2)

One beat followed the sound, a single beat of stillness, and then chaos leapt in.