The Raven King

August Reading Wrap-Up

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Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire
(Beautiful, book 2)
Rating:  ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  July 30 – August 3
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Ha!
Least Favorite Thing:  The fact that I actually read this with my own two eyes.

Honestly, I only read this book because my books were all packed and I had nothing else to read. It was even more trash than the first book!

My Posts About Walking Disaster

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
(The Raven Cycle, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★★★ – loved it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  May 24 – August 4
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  The beautiful friendships. I dream of having a friend group like this.
Least Favorite Thing:  Piper is so annoying… (I know, I know, she’s meant to be obnoxious, but still.)

This was my third time reading The Raven King and I think I loved it even more this time than before.

My Posts About The Raven King

Elske by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★★★ – loved it
Review:  Yes
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  June 9 – August 9
Read Count:  5-ish
Favorite Thing:  Elske’s way of thinking through problems.
Least Favorite Thing:  Beriel’s way of thinking through problems.

I have such a soft spot in my heart for Elske…

My Posts About Elske

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  eBook
Reading Dates:  August 14 – 20
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Interesting pace of the author’s voice.
Least Favorite Thing:  Casual incest… Not even joking.

I read this book because I watched the film (because I love Saoirse Ronan) and I had to see if the book had the same off-kilter quality as the movie. It didn’t exactly, but it did have an interesting pace to the writing that kept it from being a two star book.

My Posts About How I Live Now

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  August 13 – 23
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Interesting take on the Wicked Stepsister’s story.
Least Favorite Thing:  The romance was annoying…

This was a pretty good take on the classic Cinderella story. I liked that the Wicked Stepsisters got redemption arcs and that Ella wasn’t actually just perfect all along.

My Posts About Stepsister

Imposters by Scott Westerfeld
(Imposters, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  August 26 – 27
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Watching Frey grow into her own person.
Least Favorite Thing:  Hello, Insta-love…

I loved the little moments where you saw how they viewed the events from Tally’s books now. And I loved the little sprinkling of pretty-speak.

My Posts About Imposters

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  August 28 – 30
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  TUCK IS PSYCHIC OK???
Least Favorite Thing:  [SPOILERS] That creepy yellow-suit mother fucker was going to make Winnie drink from the spring and then injure/kill her in myriad ways to prove she was immortal like my god can you imagine the trauma! [END SPOILERS]

I decided to reread this book because of my fond memories about it from when I was in school. (And also because I got into an argument about whether the book or film was better. Which was ridiculous because obviously the book is the best one.) I am so glad I reread it because I really got a lot more out of the text than I did when I was a child.

My Posts About Tuck Everlasting

In Progress

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

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!