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’m pretty much fucked. That’s my considered opinion. Fucked.

Did the quote pique your interest? View this book on Goodreads!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lee (@darkestwings)

]]>/2018/11/13/book-haul-november-13-2018/feed/0darkestwingsreads/2018/07/04/t5w-july4-2018//2018/07/04/t5w-july4-2018/#respondWed, 04 Jul 2018 17:00:20 +0000/?p=11249Continue reading Top 5 Wednesday: July 4, 2018]]>Best Books You’ve Read So Far in 2018

To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, head over to their Goodreads Group!

Alrighty, I’m going to do this in the order that I read them, not in the order that I liked them (because that would be way too hard).

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

This was my first Gillian Flynn novel and I was honestly nervous to read it. I liked the movie and was worried that the book wouldn’t be as good. But a fellow blogger assured me Flynn was an excellent writer and Gone Girl did not disappoint. In fact it kind of blew me away how much I loved it. I went online and bought it before I had even finished reading it. I look forward to reading it again sometime.

Tales of the Kingdom series // Cynthia Voigt

Oh come on, you knew this series had to be on the list somewhere, right? I reread them earlier in the year and loved them just as much as always, maybe even more. As always, this is a loosely-connected, non-magical, fantasy series, set in a medieval-esque world.

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

This is one of the best autobiographies I’ve read ever, and definitely the best this year. Anna is funny and pithy and pleasantly verbose. What made it even better was listening to the audiobook version where Anna reads you the book herself.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

This book was recommended to me from another reader because I said I wanted to branch out of my genre comfort zone and I have to admit I didn’t expect to like it. But the prose was engaging and beautiful and I found myself falling into the mind of the protagonist quickly and easily. I definitely want to read more by Janet Fitch in future.

The Martian by Andy Weir

I had one main issue with this book (mentioned in this post), but everything else about it was excellent. It was funny and the format was interesting. If you liked the movie you will most likely like the book as it is extremely similar. I found it really hard to put down.

What are the best books you’ve read in 2018 so far? Leave me a comment or link me to your own post.

The Martian by Andy Weir
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  May 1 – 5
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Sarcastic!
Least Favorite Thing:  “The lunatics at NASA have me doing all kinds of rape to the MAV. . .” Rape? Really? Jackass.

Well the internet was right, the book was funny, I’m glad I read it. Aside from that one sentence, it was a really good book. I would have quoted it a lot more, but I’m fairly certain if you added up all the ‘Martian’ quotes on Goodreads you could reprint full half of this novel (at least).

My Posts About The Martian

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  May 11 – 13
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I just can’t think of anything I liked enough to say was my favorite thing.
Least Favorite Thing:  So many…

I just… This wasn’t a bad book by any means. But I just expected to love it and I barely even liked it… I actually preferred the film, which is something I never say.

My Posts About Practical Magic

Undiscovered Gyrl by Allison Burnett
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review:  Yes
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  May 7 – 15
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  I literally didn’t like any part of it.
Least Favorite Thing:  Been a long time since I read a book with so many racist comments. I wasn’t missing it.

I read this because I had seen the movie version and found it tolerable enough that when I saw it was based on a book I decided to try the novel. This was a poor choice on my part.

My Posts About Undiscovered Gyrl

In Progress

The worst moments in life are heralded by small observations. The tiny lump on your side that wasn’t there before. Coming home to your wife and seeing two wine glasses in the sink. Anytime you hear “We interrupt this program . . .”

– Andy Weir, The Martian, page 225

Version:
Hardcover, US / CAN Edition, 369 pages
Published February 11th 2014 by Crown

My asshole is doing as much to keep me alive as my brain.

– Andy Weir, The Martian, page 14

Version:
Hardcover, US / CAN Edition, 369 pages
Published February 11th 2014 by Crown

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

View all my ratings on Goodreads

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lee (@darkestwings)

]]>/2018/05/02/dedication-spotlight-the-martian-by-andy-weir/feed/0darkestwingsreads/2018/05/02/wayrw-may2-2018//2018/05/02/wayrw-may2-2018/#commentsWed, 02 May 2018 23:00:09 +0000/?p=10913Continue reading What Are You Reading Wednesday: May 2, 2018]]>

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 Martian by Andy Weir
2. I’ve now grown accustomed to hearing the alarms blare at all times.
3. UHM . . . No thank you I would prefer not to be stranded alone on Mars.

I’m writing this log to you, dear future Mars archeologist, from Rover 2. You may wonder why I’m not in the Hab right now. Because I fled in terror, that’s why! And I’m not sure what the hell to do next.

– Andy Weir, The Martian, page 35

Version:
Hardcover, US / CAN Edition, 369 pages
Published February 11th 2014 by Crown

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.