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What Are You Reading Wednesdays: September 27, 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. Dreams of Gods & Monsters {Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 3) by Laini Taylor
  2. Here it was, then, a restoration to the natural order: hostility.
  3. Oh… too late. Back during the first book I decided I wanted to live in that world, but as predicted, I died quickly and now cannot answer this question again.

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

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For fans of fairytale retellings and YA readers seeking #OwnVoices novels, I recommend adding Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao to your TBR!

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (FOTL) is Julie C. Dao’s debut novel and tells the story of the Evil Queen with an East Asian influence, which one imagines will add much needed depth as well as novelty to the story we all know.

The novel is set for release, in hardcover & kindle editions, in just under two weeks, on October 10, 2017, and is the first in a series (a duology or trilogy) entitled Rise of the Empress.

Bustle featured an article back in February with an excerpt from Chapter 1  of the upcoming novel, along with some other tidbits.

Personally, I’ve already submitted FOTL as a purchase suggestion to my local library, and am contriving to get my hands on a copy as soon as possible!

Goodreads | Amazon | Author’s Website

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.

WWW Wednesday: September 27, 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:  Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 3) by Laini Taylor
I’m halfway through this book and I have the worst feeling!

As I admitted previously, I don’t remember much of the goings-on in this book, just a few major plot points. So I can’t actually say that something bad is about to happen, but… I feel it! I feel the bad thing coming, y’all.

As it is, I’m mostly enjoying reading this one, even if I find the Stellians annoying and wish the narration wasn’t always so vague and mysterious!

I’m also, as always lately, working my way slowly through Persuasion by Jane Austen.

Recently Finished:  The Runner (The Tillerman Cycle, book 4) by Cynthia Voigt
Ah, man, it was nice to be in Bullet’s stubborn head again.

I’m still sad from the last chapter though. I’ll probably never get over the need to cry every time I read it. I’ll be rereading this book for the 57th time when I’m 80 and I’ll cry like a little baby over the Phone Call.

I will never understand how Bullet can draw me in so well. He’s not exactly a likeable person, and yet I love him. I’ll credit that to the magic of Cynthia Voigt’s writing. In fact, I give the magic of Cynthia’s writing credit for many things I care about.

Reading Next:  Unmade (The Lynburn Legacy, book 3) by Sarah Rees Brennan
Well, I managed to get this one on Interlibrary Loan, and faster than I expected, too.

I have no idea what to expect from the end of this trilogy… Goodreads promises the ending will be shocking, but that could just be hype to get people into reading it? (Yeah, even I don’t buy that.)

All I really hope for is an ending that makes sense, plenty of that banter I love, and for Jared to not stay where he was at the end of the last book because that would be awful!

I also plan to get to the next book in The Tillerman Cycle and then I’ve been thinking of rereading another series from back in high school. This one, The Gallagher Girls series, I actually can’t remember very well, but I do remember enjoying the two books I read of the series. Some posts on tumblr reminded me of it and I got it from the library in a fit of nostalgia. My only hesitation is wondering whether I will like it as well as I did when I was younger…

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!

What Are You Reading Wednesdays: September 20, 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. The Runner (The Tillerman Cycle, book 4) by Cynthia Voigt
  2. Nobody ever ran cross-country more than one season, nobody except Bullet. It was just too hard.
  3. Honestly I’d live in any of the Tillerman Cycle books I think. And I quite like Bullet.

WWW Wednesday: September 20, 2017

Lee1 Comment

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.

Musing Monday: September 18, 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 something playing in the background while reading?

I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
My husband got me a Color Your Own Wolverine book from our local comic store!

It’s a coloring book so it’s not technically about reading, but I don’t actually care, it’s awesome.

Do you like something playing in the background while reading?
I actually try to keep something playing in the background during literally everything I do. I have a problem with ambient noises (e.g. leaves blowing, water running, etc.) triggering panic attacks so I typically have a tv show or music going at all times for white noise.

In fact, that’s how I know I’m reading a really good book. Because sometimes I’ll get so absorbed in a novel that whatever I have playing in the background can stop and I won’t even notice for quite some time.

So, yes, I like to have something playing in the background, but also reading is the only time I can have silence and not feel anxiety because of it. So I’m an odd duck…

First Lines Fridays: September 15, 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:

No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

During an eventful season at Bath, young, naive Catherine Morland experiences the joys of fashionable society for the first time. She is delighted with her new acquaintances flirtatious Isabella, who shares Catherine’s love of Gothic romance and horror, and sophisticated Henry and Eleanor Tilney, who invite her to their fathers mysterious house, Northanger Abbey. There, her imagination influenced by novels of sensation and intrigue, Catherine imagines terrible crimes committed by General Tilney.

With its broad comedy and irrepressible heroine, this is the most youthful and and optimistic of Jane Austen’s works.

What Are You Reading Wednesdays: September 13, 2017

LeeLeave a comment

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. Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book 1) by Laini Taylor
  2. To her, the human form — plain as it was, and not spliced together with other species — was a missed opportunity.
  3. Ha! In theory, sure, but if I actually was in that world I know I would die.