ABC Challenge – D

I saw this over at Thrice Read.

Previous posts: A B C

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Remarkable book

This time, I’m giving a shout out to A Dance With Dragons by G. R. R. Martin. This is by far my favourite of the series. So many things going on, so many questions to be answered! I want the next one already!

Book on my TBR

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor. I really need to finish this series. It’s getting ridiculous. It’s been over 2 years since I read the first two books and I really loved the series. So I have no idea why I haven’t read this one yet.

Top 5 Auto-Buy SFF Authors – Top 5 Wednesday

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Thoughts on Tomes. This week’s topic is auto-buy science-fiction & fantasy authors.

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First, a couple of honourable mentions:

Laini Taylor

Her writing is so beautiful and magical and poetic and her ideas always so creative, sign me up. I’ve only read 3 of her books, but I definitely plan on reading all of them and whatever new she comes out with.

Patrick Rothfuss

The only books he has out as far as I’m aware are The Kingkiller books and I don’t know whether he has any plans of putting out books once that series is completed. Having said that, if he does, I will definitely read them.

5. Cassandra Clare

She’s mostly an auto-buy for Shadowhunter books. I have read The Iron Trial and enjoyed it, but that is to date the only non Shadowhunter book of hers that I’ve read. I might read more of them in the future, but I haven’t bought every book of hers as it came out, which is why she’s number 5.

4. Sarah J. Maas

I have loved both of her series and will still automatically buy anything she comes out with, however I’ve been a little disappointed with her last couple of releases, which is why she’s lower on the list than would be expected considering how much I love particularly ACOMAF.

3. Rick Riordan

I love his books so much. I still have a lot of them to read, but they’re all on my list and his new ones are all on my list. Everything that has his name on it is on my list, really. Including the books in his new imprint thing.

2. Leigh Bardugo

I still have to catch up with the Grisha trilogy and admittedly, I didn’t love Shadow and Bone as much as I’ve loved all her other books, but… I’ve loved all her other books and she can only grow as an author. So anything that she comes out with is on my list.

3. Victoria Schwab

Honestly, she’s probably my favourite author at the moment. I have not read a single book by her that I haven’t loved and the few I still need to read, I have no doubt I will love as well.

Down the TBR Hole #23

This meme was created by Lia @ Lost in a Story

Stats:

Previous post

Books: #221-230

Last week’s final number: 330 | Current number: 335 | This week’s final number:  331 | Total books removed so far: 95| Total books kept so far: 141 | Books added since I began: 118 | Books read from my TBR: 37

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Noted From the Underground, White Nights, The Dreams of a Ridiculous Man and Selections From the House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I only added this book because a friend of mine gave me a copy of Notes From the Underground and The Double. But I really don’t see myself reading is anytime soon, and this isn’t even the anthology that she gave me so…

Verdict: Goes

The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

See above.

Verdict: Goes

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

One of these days, I’m going to finish this series, gosh darn it!

Verdict: Stays

Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor

Zuzana is such a great character and I really like her in the series, even though we don’t get to see her much. So I definitely want to read this.

Verdict: Stays

The Queen’s Army & Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky by Marissa Meyer

These are two Lunar Chronicles short stories that I want to read, but I also have the bind-up of all the short stories in the series on my TBR, so I will remove these.

Verdict: Go

The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer

The next four books are novels and novellas all from the Lunar Chronicles which is a series I definitely want to continue with, so to save myself some time, I’ll group them all together.

Verdict: Stay

 

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor – Book Review

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: Ya, Fantasy

First published: 2017

Author: Laini Taylor

Synopsis: The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

Book Depository | Goodreads

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I had high expectations of this book and it sadly disappointed me. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to.

My main issue with it was the romance. I didn’t really enjoy it. I din’t care about it much, it felt insta-lovey and I know that Daughter of Smoke and Bone is also kind of insta-lovey, but it just works in that one I guess. And there was quite a lot of focus on the romance. There was again that theme that I guess Laini Taylor loves of love bringing peace between two peoples, or at least trying. Which I really enjoyed in Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but not so much here.

Other than that, I really have nothing to complain about. The writing was beautiful as always, the world was vibrant and magical and very creative and very Laini Taylor and I loved it. I loved the initial premise of the story, of the mystery of Weep. Actually, that’s another thing I was a little bit disappointed with. Just the explanation for what happened to Weep. And more specifically, the explanation about the name of the city. That’s all I will say.

I enjoyed the characters, although I would personally have loved a bit more time spent on developing them and a little less time spent on the romance. Still, overall I liked the characters, but I didn’t actually love any of them. I didn’t really care deeply about them, but they’re good characters.

The story is so creative, I just wonder how Laini Taylor comes up with these things. Particularly the back-story of Weep, because the ‘present day’ narrative unfortunately spends way too much time focused on the romance, but I loved hearing the backstories of all the characters. So creative, so… aesthetic. Laini Taylor gives her book this dream-like, magical quality that I love, I am here for it. It’s a joy to read her books even if only for the atmosphere. There could be absolutely nothing happening and I’d still probably give the book 3 stars just for delighting me with it’s aesthetic.

I will say that even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the romance plot, I’m quite curious how it’ll play out after the ending. I will definitely be continuing with the series and hopefully I’ll come to love the characters more in the next ones.

#NotAll Book Tag

As per usual, I stole this tag from Thrice Read.

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#NOTALL COVER CHANGES – A COVER CHANGE YOU LIKED

I’ll have to go with Caitlynn’s answer and say Throne of Glass. I mean there’s no comparison.

#NOTALL TROPES – A TROPE YOU’LL NEVER TIRE OF SEEING

Probably bad boy with a tragic past and a soft chewy centre. Don’e ask why, I just eat that shit up like nothing else. *coughs* Herondales *coughs*

#NOTALL INSTALOVE – YOU INSTALOVED THIS INSTACOUPLE

Hmmm… this is a pretty tough one. I really don’t like insta love. But I guess my answer is also Caitlynn’s answer. Because I liked Karou and Akiva and while I guess you could say their relationship is insta love-y… it makes sense once you read the second book.

#NOTALL LOVE TRIANGLES – AN EXAMPLE OF LOVE TRIANGLE DONE WELL

Will-Jem-Tessa. The only love triangle I’ve ever read that I genuinely loved.

#NOTALL PARENTS – BOOKISH PARENTS THAT, YOU KNOW, PARENT!

Hmm… I’m gonna go with Mrs. Weasley.

#NOTALL VILLAINS – A VILLAIN YOU LOVE

I mean… I love a lot of villains. Sebastian from TMI, Viktor from Vicious (I know he’s kind of the protagonist of that book, but really everyone’s a villain in that one), Severus Snape (more of an anti-hero, I suppose, but still), Cardan from The Cruel Prince (I just finished that book and honestly I don’t know what to do with myself). Though I don’t really think he was the villain of that story. They’re kind of all villains. AIDAN from Illuminae; The Darkling from The Grisha books… I could go on. I love me some villains.

#NOTALL CHOSEN ONES – A CHOSEN ONE YOU CAN GET BEHIND

Harry Potter.

#NOTALL HYPED BOOKS – A BOOK THAT LIVED UP TO THE ACCLAIM

There are quite a few, but I’m going to go with the most recent. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. I LOVED this so much I want the next one NOW.

#NOTALL *INSERT FAVOURITE GENRE* – A BOOK YOU’RE NOT KEEN ON FROM YOUR FAVOURITE GENRE

Fantasy. And really there are plenty. Most recently read, Everless by Sara Holland. I enjoyed it because I was just in the mood for mindless entertainment, but it wasn’t very good.

Then we’ve got my two most hated fantasies ever: Caraval by Stephanie Garber and Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige. We all know how I feel about these books. If you don’t, then click on the titles and you’ll find out.

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Rasch. I didn’t hate this one, but it was just meh.

#NOTALL *INSERT LEAST FAVOURITE GENRE* – A BOOK YOU LIKED FROM A GENRE YOU DON’T OFTEN READ

Adult contemporary romance. And for this, I have two of them:

Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid, which I liked so much I read it twice. And Tangled by Emma Chase which I also really enjoyed.

 

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Meant to Read in 2017 but Didn’t Get To

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. And yes, it’s Wednesday, but whatever.

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The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

I bought this book early in 2017 and was totally planning to read it. But I just never got to it for some reason. I need to.

The Bat by Jo Nesbo

Got this about the same time I got The Miniaturist and still haven’t read it. I’ll get to it this year. I hope.

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

I honestly thought I’d have read the whole series by the end of 2017. But I didn’t even get to the second one.

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

I really thought I’d finish this series, but I just keep not picking it up. I don’t know why cause I love the series. 2018’s the one.

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

I thought I’d read this right away. I even pre-ordered it. But here we are 4 months after its release and I still haven’t read it.

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

A new John Green book? I was sure I would read it as soon as I got my hands on it. But nope. It’s been sitting on my shelf for months now.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

I thought I’d have read this book two years ago. But I still haven’t continued with this series and I need to do it already.

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

Any Victoria Schwab book, really. How have I only read 2 of her books last year, when I love her so much? I just need to get on with it.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Another one that I have been meaning to read for ages and I keep saying I’ll do it and then I never do. Let’s hope this is the year.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

How have I not read this yet? I love this series so much, it’s one of my favourites. I think it’s just that once I read it, I’ll have no more Kingkiller books to read until the next one comes out.

December 2017 Wrap Up

I actually had a pretty good reading month in December, with a total of 10 books read.

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Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Beautifully written as always, a beautiful story, I loved it. Unfortunately, I didn’t love it quite as much as I was expecting. I didn’t like it as much as Daughter of Smoke and Bone. But I still really enjoyed it and will most certainly be continuing with the series. I ended up giving it 4/5 stars.

Catching Fire & Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I started revisiting this story on audiobook in November and finished the first one and I got through the final two in December. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the audiobook, the narrator really didn’t do it for me. I found her to be quite annoying, so that took away from my enjoyment of the books. Of course, it’s still an awesome story and I still love it, but because of the narration, I ended up only giving it 4/5 stars for the audiobook.

Vicious by V. E. Schwab

Finally read this, it was about time. I loved her Shades of Magic series and I had heard only amazing things about this book and I want to read all of her books anyway. I was not disappointed. I need the next one asap. It’s so good! So good. I love the characters and the tension and how dark the story is. 5/5 stars.

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

This series flew under my radar for a while, I don’t know why. I discovered it quite by chance as I was browsing Waterstones and it sounded cool and it seemed pretty well praised, so I bought it. I really liked. I had an issue with one part of the book that I just didn’t particularly enjoy, so I ended up giving it 4/5 stars, but the rest of it was A plus and I actually already bought the second book in the series and will hopefully read it soon.

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

This book was so beautifl. The art in it was beautiful, the stories were beautiful. I loved it. I had so much fun reading it. It reminded me of childhood when I would consume fairytales by the bucket. My favourite story was The Soldier Prince and my least favourite was probably Little Knife. Overall, I did give the book 5/5 stars.

A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor

Finally continuing with this series! I don’t know why I waited so long. It’s so much fun,, so fast paced, just all around a good time. I did feel that some things were a bit rushed through in this book, I would have liked a bit more, so I ended up giving it 4/5 stars.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

A pertinent and insightful allegorical story. I found myself nodding along and grinning guiltily as I recognised aspects of my own life in the shepherd’s boy journey. I didn’t quite agree with all the idea presented in the book, but overall, I think it offers a very astute image of what we’re like. I gave it 4/5 stars.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

This book was an experience. I’m so glad I bought it. I’ve never read anything similar to it. I love the art and the way it was interspersed with the writing. I just loved how this story was told so much. 5/5 stars.

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

This book was just beautiful, it made me cry on several occasions. Just the relationship… well there isn’t really a relationship. But the main character did use to have a wife prior to the events of the book and the way that their relationship is described is just beautiful. That’s not even the main focus of the book, and I really enjoyed the story and the characters. It was funny, well written, intelligent. But that relationship just really packed a punch for me. 5/5 stars.

The Christmas Song Book Tag

I stole this tag from Thrice Read (as always). Check out Eden’s post.

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1. “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch”: Name a villainous character you couldn’t help but love

I love me a good villain, so I have quite a few. However, I just finished reading Vicious by V.E. Schwab and Victor is my child ❤ Other notable mentions are Sebastian Morgenstern from The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare,  Holland from the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab, Severus Snape from Harry Potter, Mia Corvere from Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. I could go on, honestly.

 2. “All I Want for Christmas is You”: Which book do you most hope to see under your Christmas tree?

I haven’t got anything in particular.

3. “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”: Name a character that overcomes major obstacles and learns to believe in themselves.

Hmm… I don’t know. Maybe Vin from The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson.

4. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”: a) Which character do you think would be on the top of the naughty list? b) Which character do you think would be at the top of the nice list?

a) I honestly read about so many horrible characters. I’m going to go with that guy from The Schwarzschild Radius because I’m still traumatised by that book.

b) Probably Lazlo Strange from Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. He seems to be pretty perfect. It’s almost annoying.

5. “Frosty the Snowman”: Which book just melts your heart.

Oddly enough, Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It made me cry.

6. “Feliz Navidad”: Choose a book that takes place in a country other than your own.

Pretty much every single book I read. So um… The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, since I’ve been listening to those on audio recently.

7. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”: Which holiday themed book do you use to spread the Christmas joy?

For me, nothing says Christmas as much as Harry Potter.

8. “Sleigh Ride”: Which fictional character would you choose to spend the holidays with (doesn’t have to be a love interest!)

Lila from the Shades of Magic series. We could run away and have an adventure together.

9. “Baby it’s Cold Outside”: Which book that you didn’t like would you sacrifice to a fire to warm yourself up in the cold?

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard. And if it was really cold, I’d also throw in Caraval by Stephanie Garber. Even though it’s a really beautiful looking book on the outside.

10. “Do you hear what I hear”: Which book do you think everyone should read?

The Bible.

October & November 2017 Book Haul

October is my birthday month, so I kinda went crazy with the books I bought… I think only one of these was actually bought in November.

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Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch | Letters From a Skeptic by C.S. Lewis | Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis | The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis |The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis

Miracles by C. S. Lewis | The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis | Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis | The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis | Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss | Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes | Uprooted by Naomi Novik | Relativity: The Special  and General Theory by Albert Einstein | Classical Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum by Leonard Susskind and George Hrabovsky

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green | Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

Mid Year Book Freak-Out Tag

I know it’s quite some time past mid year, but… oh well. I did this tag last year as well (timelier then), out can check that out here.

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Best book you’ve read so far in 2017

For this I probably have to go with The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. Although I’ve read a few awesome books so far this year (honourable mentions go to Illuminae, Nevernight and A Conjuring of Light), this one just kept me up at night reading and I was just so excited to talk to everyone about it and that hadn’t happened in a while. I have both a spoiler-free review and a rave review of this, if you’re interested to know more of my thoughts about it.

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2017

This one goes to A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab. It was such a great conclusion to the series. There is so much going on, we lern so many new things. I loved it so much, I felt all the feels and I NEED to get to her other books. I love her writing and her imagination so much. She writes such compelling stories and characters and I just don’t even know why I haven’t read all her books yet! I have a spoiler-free review of this one as well, if you would like to read more of my thoughts on it.

New release you haven’t read yet, but want to

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. Again, another author whose writing I love so much, and yet I still have to finish Daughter of Smoke and Bone and I still don’t have my hands on Strange the Dreamer and I want it because it’s beautiful and I bet on the inside it’s beautiful as well and I can’t wait to read it!

 

 

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff. I loved Nevernight so much, Jay Kristoff is one of my new favourite authors and I want to read this book yesterday! This actually shares a release date with Tower of Dawn, which I’m also quite excited about, but not as much as I might have expected. Was a bit disappointed with Empire of Storms and Chaol is not really my favourite character. So Godsgrave wins this time. And I’m so excited about that cover! It’ll look so pretty along with the first one!

Biggest disappointment

Caraval by Stephanie Garber. That book sucks. If you’ve been following my reviews, you know how much I hated that stupid book. If you haven’t, then you can check out both my spoiler-free review of it and my rant review. The biggest disappointment position is actually a joint one, and Caraval shares it with Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige. I also have both a spoiler-free review and a rant review of that if you want to know more, so I won’t go into too much detail about why I hated it because I don’t want to ruin my day.

Biggest surprise

Hmm… this is difficult. I don’t think I’ve really read any books that surprised me so far this year. Maybe Replica by Lauren Oliver, because I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. it was far more insightful and clever and bold than I thought it would be and I went through it really quickly. So I guess I was a little surprised by it, but I can’t say it was a big surprise. I have a spoiler free review of it if you want to read more of my thoughts on it.

 

Favorite new author (Debut or new to you)

Jay Kristoff. I’ve read two of his books already and loved both. There’s something about the wit of his writing that gets me and I will read pretty much anything written by him. I really have to catch up with his other books. I can’t wait to see what other delights he has set in store.

 

Newest fictional crush

ELEND VENTURE HE’S SO CUTE I CAN’T sfjhsflakjhwryonjdnafihvnrlehen he’s such a precious, clueless cinnamon fluff ball I want to marry him.

Ahem… I’m okay. Ignore what just happened…

 

 

Newest favorite character

This is kind of hard… either Mia Corvere from Nevernight, AIDAN from Illuminae (although… Kady and Ezra as well, if I’m being honest) or Kit Herondale from Lord of Shadows. I’m currently about two thirds through Lord of Shadows and what can I say, I just can’t resist a Herondale. It’s a tough question to answer, because there isn’t any one character that stands out dramatically above the others, there are just a lot of really good characters that I love.

Book that made you cry

I don’t think I have an answer for this. I can’t remember reading any book that made me cry this year. Oh actually, I may have cried when reading A Monster Calls. Like, not properly cried, but I think my eyes got a bit watery. I do have a review of A Monster Calls if you want to know more of my thoughts. It’s a really powerful book, I thought and I do recommend it to anyone.

 

Book that made you happy

Again, I’m not sure I have an answer for this. I can’t think of a book that made me particularly happy. I mean, all books tend to make me happy just because I love books and I love seeing them and having them and arranging them on bookshelves, but beyond that, there wasn’t any specific book that made me happy.

Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare. It’s so pretty! And it looks so nice with Lady Midnight and I’m happy. I have the edition with the dark blue pages and it’s so cool and I love it!

Other honourable mentions for beautiful books are Illuminae, Nevernight and Caraval (even though the book itself sucks, I can’t deny that it’s beautiful to look at).

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I’d like to read The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton and maybe some more Laini Taylor and V.E. Schwab. And I need to continue the Mistborn series.