Author: Lee

October 2017 Wrap-Up (Part 2)

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Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter
(Gallagher Girls, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 15 – 16
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Dem sweet spy skillz!
Least Favorite Thing:  Boys somehow being more important than life-or-death missions???? (Don’t get me wrong, I get why it’s like that, but I still roll my eyes every single time.)

I read this one in one sitting, which should tell you how engaging it was. So far I think it’s the best of the Gallagher Girls series, although I’ve got 3 books still to read, so maybe that will change!

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover

Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter
(Gallagher Girls, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 16
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Overprotective besties.
Least Favorite Thing:  Townsend. Obviously.

I’ve realized something. I could literally never be a spy in this world. Why, you may wonder. Because of the danger? No. Because of the need for super special spy skillz? No. Because it’s fiction? Nope. I could never be a spy in the world of the Gallagher Girls because when people give me cryptic ass responses to more than two questions in a row, I start planning their murders.

I literally don’t even like Zach anymore. Just like answer a fucking question ever you mediocre boy. Ugh.

Other than the fact that no one can just answer a straight question ever, the book was good.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About Only the Good Spy Young

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter
(Gallagher Girls, book 5)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 16 – 17
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  That music trigger thing was coolio. (But obviously, you know, very bad.)
Least Favorite Thing:  Dr. Fucking Steve. Like honestly could I have even said anything else? Screw that guy…

Is this my favorite Gallagher Girls book now? I think it might be? There was a moment in the beginning where I was Not Enjoying It, but that did not last long at all! I think this has got to be my favorite yet. Wow.

Also like, I never liked Dr. Steve because he was annoying, but what the fuck dude… He better die in the next book I swear.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About Out of Sight, Out of Time

United We Spy by Ally Carter
(Gallagher Girls, book 6)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 17
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  “the blow stuff up and run approach”
Least Favorite Thing:  For super secret spies, almost every op they go on is like suuuuper public!

Well, that’s the series done! I’m pretty glad I decided to go back and reread the first book and finish the series. It was worth it.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About United We Spy

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 19 – 20
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I could practically taste everything they ate through my eyeballs. Yummy book.
Least Favorite Thing:  I can’t believe nobody punched that prick Matteo in the face.

I made a separate post about the Mexican knife fight thing because I have Emotions™ about it and because it’s one of the reasons this book is 3 stars and not 4. Not the only reason, but a decent sized part of it.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About Love & Gelato

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
Rating:  ★★★★★
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 21 – 22
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The rhythm of the writing.
Least Favorite Thing:  I literally can’t think of anything I didn’t like. Sorry, not sorry.

I can’t wait to get my hands on more books by Nina LaCour. Reading this book reminded me of reading a Cynthia Voigt novel. Which anyone who has spent any amount of time on my blog would know is the highest compliment I can give anything.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About We Are Okay

Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan
(The Lynburn Legacy, book 3)
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  September 28 – October 30
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Lillian’s favorite story. Ha!
Least Favorite Thing:  Um…why does every male in Kami’s circle that isn’t her father have to profess his romantic feelings for her?

I’m kind of disappointed… I didn’t like this one very well. It didn’t flow as well and didn’t really hold my attention well. It was okay, but only that, in my opinion.

My Posts About Unmade

In Progress

October 2017 Wrap-Up (Part 1)

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Sons from Afar by Cynthia Voigt
(The Tillerman Cycle, book 6)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 2 – 5
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  The way James and Sammy both admire each other, with neither of them realizing it.
Least Favorite Thing:  Not enough Dicey & Gram.

I was right in this post, to expect that I would like this book more now that I’m older. I even rated it higher than I had in the past.

My Posts About Sons from Afar

Seventeen Against the Dealer by Cynthia Voigt
(The Tillerman Cycle, book 7)
Rating:  ★★★★☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  September 5 – 6
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  The way Dicey thinks about things.
Least Favorite Thing:  Cisco. (Please read that name with your lip curled up in disgust, because that’s how I think it and how I typed it.)

Wow. I was right to expect it to be different to read when I was older. Not good different or bad different, but different.

The best way I can think to explain it is:  When I was younger and I read it, I was reading it with the kind of optimism about the future that mostly only people under 18 have, even the ones who don’t think they really have it much. Because no matter what was going on I thought pretty much like I always had with all the other books, that everything would fall into place and work out because Dicey deserved for it to. And because that’s what I was reading it for, when Dicey feels satisfied with the way she’s moving forward at the end, I felt like everything had fallen into place and worked out.

Now though, I see it more realistically. Things don’t work out because you deserve for them to or because you want them, but even when things don’t work out the way you dreamed, there’s usually something you can still do to pick yourself up and keep going with your life, whichever way you go. Not that it’s all hunky-dory, of course, but if you look at things with an eye to solve problems and keep surviving, that’s almost always what you’ll do eventually, even if it doesn’t feel good the whole time and even if it isn’t the way you wanted it to be.

I feel like this book was trying to teach me something my whole life, and I got it, but I didn’t get it.

It’s a great book, but it’s a hard one too. Because you only want things to work out the way they ought to and be simpler, and you have to grow your thoughts up right alongside Dicey as you read. And the process doesn’t feel very good most of the time, though there are bright spots, but in the end you feel satisfied with yourself and with the book.

This bit got a lot longer than I usually have it, but I can’t see a single thing I’m willing to take out, so long it will have stay.

My Posts About Seventeen Against the Dealer

Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
(Battle Hall Davies, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 12
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Nic’s insistence on “bisexual”.
Least Favorite Thing:  It’s a tie between everyone else insisting on saying Nic was gay/lesbian and her straight friend Katrina making every single thing about Nic and Battle into something sexual as if queer relationships aren’t about anything except sex.  (Note:  I didn’t enjoy reading those things, but they are totally accurate so I wouldn’t want them removed from the book.)

I read this book once before when I was in middle school or early high school. I decided to reread it because there’s something about the cover art and title that constantly bring me back to it even though it’s not exactly a mind-blowing piece of writing. But I can actually remember clearly the exact moment I first saw this book on a shelf, and if you know anything about me and my terrible memory, you know that’s a huge deal.

I did have a couple of complaints, but they are small:

  • There was something off-putting about the way all Nic’s straight friends kept saying “dyke” all the time… Maybe Yankees use the word more than Southerners and that’s why I’m not used to it, but it practically made me flinch every time.
    (It’s only used as an insult a couple times, the rest are it being used in place of the words “gay” or “lesbian”, but in my life I’ve only ever heard anyone use that specific word on tv, even my queer friends never used it.)
  • It didn’t feel like there was a plot? I’m sure there must have been, and I guess it was that the romance was the entire plot, but honestly it barely felt like it had a plot at all. I’m assuming that I am just not used to novels that are literally about romance and nothing else at all.

Overall it was a decent book and it was nice to see a portrayal of the different ways bisexuality is erased and dismissed by other people.

My Posts About Empress of the World

Persuasion by Jane Austen
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  August 2 – October 13
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  THE LETTER!!!!!
Least Favorite Thing:  Anne’s family…

I no longer hate Persuasion. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either. It’s just as well written as all Austen’s novels, even if I couldn’t get into it, and I’m so glad to have finally read it all the way through.

I finished this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About Persuasion

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
(Gallagher Girls, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 13 – 14
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Mr. Moscowitz during the final!
Least Favorite Thing:  D’Man.

I’m pretty glad I decided to reread this one and see if I wanted to finish the series (which I never did the first time I found this book, back in middle school.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter
(Gallagher Girls, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  October 15
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The suitemates’ friendship makes me happy.
Least Favorite Thing:  Cammie doesn’t question things enough man… Or when she does she forgets them almost immediately.

I can’t believe someone actually debated who would make a better Gallagher Girl between Buffy and Veronica Mars when the answer is so clearly and unarguably Veronica. Buffy wouldn’t know stealth if it kicked her in the face…

Also I don’t actually remember reading this book before, but somehow I knew about Blackthorne? That is, I knew it was a boys school when Cammie overheard that first conversation and I knew it was specifically “Blackthorne Institute” so….???

I had a short feeling of Second Book Syndrome, but the book was engaging enough that I could just keep reading through it and luckily it didn’t last very long.

I read this book for The Cookie Read-A-Thon 🙂

My Posts About Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy

Part 2

 

First Lines Fridays: October 27, 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:

The self-defense class had been a waste of sixty bucks.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

Storm by Brigid Kimmerer
(Elemental, book 1)

Earth, Fire, Air, Water – they have more power than you dream.

Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her, Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys—all the ones she doesn’t want. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water—just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They’re powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.

And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.

Secrets are hard to keep when your life’s at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who’s hiding the most dangerous truth of all.

The storm is coming . . .

What Are You Reading Wednesdays: October 25, 2017

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What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

  1. What’s the name of your current read?
  2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
  3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

  1. Mind Games (Mind Games, book 1) by Kiersten White
  2. I wish my left arm didn’t hurt so much I wanted to die, because it also means I can’t tap tap tap my leg, and without that fidget I don’t know how to stop the thoughts and feelings flooding through me.
  3. Honestly at this point I don’t know nearly enough about this world to know if I would like it or not… I do like the idea of mind powers. (And do my eyes deceive me or are they exclusive to women? I do like that.) So perhaps I’ll say yes, but I have a feeling I’ve yet to come upon some crucial detail that will make me regret saying yes!

WWW Wednesday: October 25, 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:  Mind Games (Mind Games, book 1) by Kiersten White

I’m not very far in, ~30% according to Goodreads, so I don’t have much of an idea how to feel about this book yet. So far I find it a little depressing, a little intriguing, a little frustrating, in almost equal measure.

I think this is just another example of my over-empathy for fictional characters making a book difficult. One sister has spent all of her time so far feeling mostly anxious and trapped, the other has spent all her time feeling anxious and trapped and mega angry. All this adds up to one anxious over-empathetic reader!

I’m certain once things start happening I’ll be able to enjoy it better. I do already like what of the plot I understand.

Recently Finished:  We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Oh, this book! Thank you, Nina, for this excellent book!

It’s been a long time since I read a depiction of grief and loss and anxiety that so closely mirrored my own symptomatology. Usually it’s prettied up quite a bit, made to seem romantic, but this book was honest. (That isn’t to say there isn’t some poetic turns of phrase, just that it’s not about being pretty, it’s about painting a true picture.)

I read it easily, despite the heavy subject matter, which isn’t something I usually manage to do.

I’ve already got this very thing written in my October Wrap-Up for this book, but I’m going to say it here too:  Reading this book reminded me of reading a Cynthia Voigt book. I’m talking specifically about the way the writing moves the reader through the story, weightless and effortlessly. (I talk about Cynthia a lot in my blog, so if you’ve read more than just this post you already know how much I admire her and love her work, and you know I could give no higher compliment to a novel.)

I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Reading Next:  Unmade (The Lynburn Legacy, book 3) by Sarah Rees Brennan

I started this, but only barely, not enough to count, and then I got kind of slumpy and decided to set it aside till later in the month. Well, it’s later…

I’m going to make it my mission to finish this book and get a review up by the 29th when it is due back via Interlibrary Loan. Should I fail, I will have to re-request it and wait at least 2 weeks for it to be shipped back to us, which is just ridiculous and wasteful. So hopefully I don’t fail.

To be clear, it’s not that I feel the book is bad or boring, I just got a little slumpy and it wasn’t helped by the fact that I didn’t see how they could possibly turn things around at this point.

Perfect Lies (Mind Games, book 2) by Kiersten White

I’ve also got a hold on this one at the library, it should be available for me in 2 days or so, and if the first book, Mind Games, goes as well as I anticipate, I’ll want it immediately!

Hopefully I manage my time well enough to not let this book interfere with Unmade, but I know myself and my time management skills well enough to make no promises on that front.

I’ve no idea what to expect in this novel, except that the very first line of the Goodreads summary (which I am trying not to actually read since I’m still working on book 1) says in big bold letters: “Annie and Fia are ready to fight back.” So as you can imagine I am hopeful!

 

 

 

Teaser Tuesday: October 24, 2017

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I laugh and laugh and laugh, and I think about stabbing Ms. Robertson with the knife I don’t have in my shoe. Lighting this whole room on fire with the matches I don’t have in my pocket. Hanging myself in my room with the rope I don’t have in my closet.

– Kiersten White, Mind Games (Mind Games, book 1), page 51

Version:
Hardcover, First Edition, 237 pages
Published December 3rd 2013 by HarperTeen

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.

Musing Monday: October 23, 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: Are there any books you really want to see made into tv shows or movies?

I blogged about ____ this past couple weeks…

Okay so this prompt is usually for a single week, but since I just finished up a read-a-thon, I figured I would go back over the past two weeks because I blogged way more than usual and also I just like things to be more even so there it is.

  • Monday, October 9 – Just a little Musing Monday action with a great prompt about books that changed your life.
  • Thursday, October 12 – Thursday everything was about Empress of the World by Sara Ryan. It started with a Currently Reading bookstagram (where I also took the opportunity to show off my delicious food), then once I’d finished that book I posted a rating post for it, and I used it for Thursday Quotables as well.
  • Friday, October 13 – This was the start of The Cookie Read-A-Thon, and a very busy day for me! First Lines Fridays went up as scheduled, then I shared Mary’s tumblr post about her Cookie Read-A-Thon before I started on my own read-a-thon journey with Day 1 of the Kind of Daily Challenge. I intended to read just my weekly chapter of Persuasion, but I managed to enjoy myself so much I kept reading all the way to the end! This resulted in a very long version of my weekly Persuasion update, a rating post, and after some consideration I went ahead and put together a Persuasion Project master post. But wait, there’s more! I started another book, I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter, so I posted a Currently Reading bookstagram for that, then later that night my first daily wrap-up for the read-a-thon.
  • Saturday, October 14 – I finished the first Gallagher Girls book and did a rating post for it, then a Currently Reading bookstagram for the next one (Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy), and that night my second read-a-thon daily wrap-up.
  • Sunday, October 15 – Sunday blogging started with a delicious cup of tea (and more biscuits than would strictly be necessary for just one person) which I posted for Tomes & Tea, then a rating post when I finished the second Gallagher Girls book, followed by Day 3 of the Kind of Daily Challenge. Later, a Currently Reading bookstagram for the third Gallagher Girls book (Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover), which I also managed to finish that day so I posted another rating post, and then my read-a-thon daily wrap-up.
  • Monday, October 16 – Monday started with a Currently Reading bookstagram for the fourth Gallagher Girls book, Only the Good Spy Young, and then Musing Monday, where I talked about my decision to give the new John Green book a chance, and how I felt about memoirs. I finished the book I was reading and made a rating post, followed by a Currently Reading bookstagram for the fifth Gallagher Girls book (Out of Sight, Out of Time), and lastly my daily wrap-up for read-a-thon.
  • Tuesday, October 17 – I finished that fifth Gallagher Girls book (officially my favorite of the series) in the wee hours of Tuesday morning and got my rating post out, and since I had already scheduled Teaser Tuesday I decided to get some sleep! My sleep lasted longer than I intended, but I still managed to get through the sixth Gallagher Girls book and do a Currently Reading bookstagram and a rating post. Then I talked about my favorite genre in Day 5 of the Kind of Daily Challenge, and wrap the day up for read-a-thon.
  • Wednesday, October 18 – Sad, sad, neglected Wednesday. I fully intended to do things, but my body decided my intentions meant nothing and that I should sleep fitfully all day long and completely neglect everything that didn’t have to do with sleeping on the couch and worrying my husband by missing every phone call and text all day long. Whoops!
  • Thursday, October 19 – I got (kind of) back on track Thursday, starting with Thursday Quotables and posted a Currently Reading bookstagram just before I took a long bath with Love & Gelato. Admittedly I didn’t get very far before I fell asleep (and the book thankfully fell on the floor and not into the bath…), but when I woke up I did post a progress update. Before I went back to bed, I did Day 7 of the Kind of Daily Challenge and waxed poetical about all the favorite reading spots I had the privilege of knowing in my life. (I didn’t, I’m not poetically skilled, I just talked about them, but it did earn me the greatest compliment I’ve ever had from one of my favorite book bloggers.) And of course I ended the night with my daily wrap-up of my read-a-thon progress.
  • Friday, October 20 – First Lines Fridays & Friday 56 went up first thing, then a rating post for Love & Gelato, and that night I did my usual daily wrap-up for read-a-thon.
  • Saturday, October 21 – I did eventually get my thoughts in order (after talking to a friend who very helpfully tells me when I’m over-reacting to things and when I’m normal-reacting) and put together a post about some casual racism found in Love & Gelato. I actually managed to pick a book to read pretty easily (We Are Okay by Nina LaCour), which surprised me, and I used it in a bookstagram for Day 9 of the Kind of Daily Challenge, and ended the night with a penultimate read-a-thon daily wrap-up.
  • Sunday, October 22 – I finished We Are Okay, easily one of my favorite books in a while, and posted a rating for it as well as some quotes. Then I picked a new book, Mind Games by Kiersten White, yet another that I have no idea how I wound up with it on my TBR, and used it in Tomes & Tea, then my final wrap-up for The Cookie Read-A-Thon.

Woo! Busy two weeks for me! So aside from the fact that I feel icky sicky and can’t even remember how it feels to just breathe without suffering, I think I’m doing pretty well.

Are there any books you really want to see made into tv shows or movies?
Yes! Yes! Okay! I’m going to try to put my thoughts in order for this because I can see it so perfectly in my mind and have for a while, but I’ve never tried to explain it to anyone before.

First of all, it would be a miniseries, three or four 90-minute episodes per season, four seasons in all. Each season would cover a single novel in Cynthia Voigt’s Tales of the Kingdom series.

This series is a non-magical fantasy, so it would probably look somewhat like Game of Thrones, except without all the gratuitous rape scenes and dragons.

It’s also important to note that it is a loosely-connected series, meaning it’s all set in the same world, but at different times, so the main characters of each book never meet each other. For example, in book 2 (On Fortune’s Wheel) there is a point where Birle and Orien are shipwrecked on some rocky outcropping and are trapped. They scratch their names on the rocky cliff. Later in book 3, Oriel and Griff are hiding out there and they find the names on the cliff wall, which is how Oriel comes to be called that in the first place. By this time Birle and Orien are long gone of course.

All this is to explain why, in my mind, they use mostly the same ensemble of actors for each season even though the previous season’s characters are gone into history already. This would also be an easy way to show when someone is a descendant of a main character from a previous novel, because they could be played by the same actor.

It would be so amazing! In fact, when I read them I can picture it playing out in my mind so perfectly. If I was loaded I would pay to produce this I swear.

Cookie Read-A-Thon: Day 10

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I finished We Are Okay, and since I felt less terrible than yesterday I even managed to pick a new book and read a little of it. Good job, self.

Books Read Today:

Time Spent Reading Today:  2 H 26 M

Total Pages Read:  2469

Total Time Spent Reading:  29 H 37 M

Books Completed During Read-A-Thon:  9

Read-A-Thon is officially over so I won’t set a goal for tomorrow. I feel pretty good about what I managed to get done over the 10 days of read-a-thon! I can’t wait for the next one!