Down the TBR hole #14

This meme was created by Lia @ Lost in a Story

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Books: #131-140

Last week’s final number: 362 | Current number: 367 | This week’s final number: 361 | Total books removed so far: 54 | Total books kept so far: 84 | Books added since I began: 92 | Books read from my TBR: 22

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Dawn Study by Maria V. Snyder

I mentioned in my previous down the TBR post that while I do want to read this entire series, I will only leave the next one that I have to read on my TBR just for decluttering purposes.

Verdict: Goes

Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder

This one’s technically a different series from the Study one, although it does take place in the same world and has some of the same characters. I’ll keep this one on for reference though.

Verdict: Stays

Sea Glass by Maria V. Snyder

I will delete this again, for decluttering purposes and will re-add after I’ve read the first book.

Verdict: Goes

Spy Glass by Maria V. Snyder

Same as above.

Verdict: Stays

Mortality by Christopher Hitchens

This is a nonfiction book about the author’s last days struggling with Cancer and life and religion. While it does sound interesting, I really don’t see myself reaching out for it anytime soon.

Verdict: Goes

Hard Time by Charles Dickens

I love Charles Dickens. Definitely keeping this.

Verdict: Stays

The Illiad by Homer

I do want to read this eventually. But I don’t see myself doing so anytime soon and it’s not like I’m going to forget of its existence, so there’s no point in keeping it. I really want to get rid of as many books as possible from my TBR.

Verdict: Goes

Beowulf

I really do want to read this. I should probably find myself a version that isn’t in verse though cause I might not be able to tackle it in verse.

Verdict: Stays

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

I’ve seen the film and it was beautiful and heartbreaking and scary and i definitely want to read it.

Verdict: Stays

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

I honestly have no recollection of ever even reading the title of this book before. I have no idea why I added it, or if I was even paying attention when I did, or it was just an accident.

Verdict: Goes

 

Down the TBR Hole #13

his meme was created by Lia @ Lost in a Story

Stats:

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Books: #121-130

Last week’s final number: 357 | Current number: 366 | This week’s final number: 362 | Total books removed so far: 48 | Total books kept so far: 80 | Books added since I began: 84 | Books read from my TBR: 15

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Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

This sounds like a very cutsey contemp romance collection that I feel like sooner or later around one Christmas, I’ll be in the right mood to read.

Verdict: Stays

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

This is a book that I am interested in reading, however I haven’t yet read To Kill a Mockingbird, and since this is a sequel to that, I don’t see the point of crowding my TBR with it until I’ve read the first book.

Verdict: Goes

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

This book has very mixed reviews and I was never really that bothered about it anyway. So I don’t think I’ll be reading it.

Verdict: Goes

Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Michael Ward

I think I just added this book because I saw Narnia and C.S. Lewis. But it’s literary analysis, which is not something that I’m particularly interested in. So I doubt I’ll read this book anytime soon.

Verdict: Goes

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

This sounds pretty cool.

Verdict: Stays

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I feel like I won’t pick this up anytime soon, but I do want to read it at some point.

Verdict: Stays

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

I don’t know. I’ve read some of the reviews for it and as far as I can tell, people either hate it or love it. I kinda want to make my own mind about it, and it’s not very long. So I’ll give it a try at some point.

Verdict: Stays

Ice Study by Maria V. Snyder

I kind of want to re-read the entire study series because I feel like it’s really underrated and even I didn’t appreciate it as much when I first read it as I would now.

Verdict: Stays

Shadow Study by Maria V. Snyder

As I said before, I don want to re-read this entire series before continuing on.

Verdict: Stays

Night Study by Maria V. Snyder

Although as I said, I intend to continue with this series, I think I’ll only leave the next one to be read on my TBR list, just for decluttering purposes and then subsequently add the books one at a time, as I read.

Verdict: Goes

Ten Books With Characters Who are Assassins – Top 10 Tuesday

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is “Top 10 Characters Who ________”.

I haven’t participated in this meme for ages and it’s Wednesday. But whatever. I love books about assassins!

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Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

I mean, this one was probably really obvious! I love this series, I love Sarah’s books. I’ve always had a vague fascination with assassins, but this series put fuel on that fire big time and I just cannot get enough! I don’t know what that says about me.

I think I only have a review of Empire of Storms, so unfortunately, if you’re new to the series, I don’t have a review for you, but it’s a good series.

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

This has become another one of my favourite series. Not only is it about assassins, it’s about a school of assassins! It’s so funny and so well written in my opinion and I loved everything about it. The second book came out earlier this month and I can’t wait to read it! I really need to find some time to read, cause I’ve been reading almost nothing lately.

I have a review of Nevernight, if you’d like to know more.

Graceling by Kristin Kashore

Another really cool book about an assassin. It’s a cool series, really but only the first one is really about the assassin. I found this to be a rather unique book among YA novels. I know a lot of people find the book and the series in general, a bit slow, but I really loved it.

The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

This is an underrated series in my opinion. Nobody talks about it and it’s so cool and unique in a way. It’s a duology and it brings together two of the coolest things: assassins and pirates. Why would you not want to read this?

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Now, with this one, the main character is not exactly an assassin. She’s a food taster. However, the love interest is the poison master and while it’s not explored that much, it’s implied that he’s therefore also the court assassin. So I’m counting it because it’s a cool series and also slightly underrated.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

This book was a bit slow to begin, but I did enjoy it and I think it has promise as a series. I’ve only read the first book so far, but I do plan to continue with the series. I don’t have a review of it yet, because I’m super behind, but hopefully I’ll get to it soon.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

The only reason this series is so far down the list is because it doesn’t really focus on assassins. It’s basically about a heist, so still criminals. And one of the main characters is an assassin. It’s just that the book doesn’t really focus on that. But it is an amazing series and if you’ve not read it, what are you doing with your life, go read it!

I have reviews for both books in the series, if you’re interested (SoC; CK)

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

This is a book that a lot of people have issues with. It’s a strange book, a bit confusing. I really enjoyed it though. I actually liked the mindfuck element to it and all the impossible and paradoxical things that happened. And while it’s not so much focused on assassins, the main character does set out on an assassination mission in the beginning of the book, so it counts.

I also have a review of this if you are interested.

Shadow Kin by M. J. Smith

This isn’t the best series ever, to be honest. It’s not bad, it’s just not that great either. But the main character is an assassin and she’s a really interesting assassin in my opinion. She has the unique ability of becoming shadow and I thought that was really cool and is probably the main reason I’m including this on here. This is an adult series and it focuses a bit too much on sex in my opinion, but if you overlook that, it’s not a bad book.

Elemental Assassin Series by Jennifer Estep

Again, not the best series out there. It’s a really long series and I’ve read maybe 4 or 5 books of it. It’s not bad, but it’s not great. They’re really quick to read and the magic system is interesting and there’s a lot of assassin stuff going on, so the books are entertaining. I just wouldn’t say it’s very high quality literature. This is also an adult series.

Top Ten Books With Covers That Don’t Reflect the Inside

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is book covers. I’ve chosen to tell you about 10 books that have covers that are simply discordant to their content. Whether the cover is beautiful and the book isn’t, or the other way around, or the cover simply has nothing to do with the book.

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Caraval by Stephanie Garber

This book is gorgeous. Both the UK and the US editions are just so beautiful, I can’t even! But the actual story is absolute shit. I hated it so much, but it’s so beautiful that I’m never going to get rid of it. I have both a spoiler free review and a rant review of this, if you would like to know more about it.

Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard

Another one where the covers are beautiful, but the books are just not. Well, the first book was okay. I absolutely hated the second one. I obviously haven’t read the third one because I’m not subjecting myself to another book of rage and frustration, but yeah… I hated Glass Sword. You can check out my review of it if you are interested in knowing more.

The Sin Eater’s Daughter series by Melinda Salisbury

This series has such cool covers! And it’s so… boring. I’ve only read the first book, but it was so boring that I cannot imagine what happens in two more of them. I am telling you, this was a 250 page book of nothing happening.

The US Editions of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series by Laini Taylor

These covers don’t do the series justice. The UK covers are stunning, but I would not be interested in these books at all based on these covers. They’re kind of ugly. And they really don’t have anything to do with the plot. What close ups of girls wearing masks or makeup has to do with this? I don’t know. This series is so beautiful and the writing is magical and these covers just don’t reflect that.

Poison Study series by Maria V. Snyder

I know there are some other editions of the books, but these covers make no sense to me. To me, this looks like some period romance/court intrigue series. It’s not. These covers just do not reflect the content of the books at all, in my opinion. Based on these covers, I would never buy these books. They’re not necessarily ugly covers, but they speak to me of a genre that I’m usually not very interested in.

The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer

I don’t think this series has an entire set of matching covers. There are like 5 different cover editions at least and none of them are complete as far as I could tell. It’s so annoying. And what’s even worse is that all those editions are just varying shades of bad. The one in the picture is the edition I hate the most. It’s just so… bad. It does not do the series justice. The series is awesome! I want them re-released in a nice edition where they all match. Is that too much to ask?

The Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid

It’s a really nice cover… I just don’t understand what a butterfly has to do with anything. I suppose the two halves of the butterfly could represent Sidonia and Nemesis, one soft and one sharp and serrated. But… why butterflies? They did that for Replica by Lauren Oliver as well. It’s like they have no idea what to put on the cover, so they just slap a butterfly on it and call it a day.

The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer

Again, very aesthetic covers, just… what do they have to do with the books? I suppose the theme of black, white and red does capture the vampire-y, but why an apple, a petal, a ribbon and whatever else? Could have been some objects that reflect the story somehow? I mean, I like these covers. And they’re so iconic by now, that everyone would recognise them. But I just wonder what the thought process was when first printing this. “Hmm… so this is a book about vampires. It’s called Twilight… let’s put an apple on the cover.”

The US editions of the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

Both the US hardback and the US paperback editions are just hideous. This looks like some shitty comic-book covers. They’re so, so ugly and this series does not deserve such ugly covers. Thankfully, the UK editions are really cool. I’ve only read The Final Empire so far, but it was so amazing, I can’t wait to read the rest of them. I have both a spoiler-free review of it and a rave review if you are interested to know more of my thoughts.

The US covers of the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

These aren’t horrible, but they certainly don’t do the books justice. The UK covers are much better and I feel also capture the essence of the series much better. I absolutely adore these books, it’s one of my favourite series. I have reviews of both The Name of the Wind  and of The Wise Man’s Fear, if you are interested.

A Noob’s Guide to High Fantasy

High fantasy books can be pretty scary. They’re usually massive and part of some massive series with an intricate world that is different from the real world. I’ve heard a lot of people say they don’t like fantasy and I always ask… have you really tried? Are you sure you’re not just intimidated by it? Fantasy is not a genre you can just dive into. You have to ease your way into fantasy.

I think one of the most important things is not to jump right into high fantasy. If you’ve never read fantasy before. Or you’ve read like… Matilda when you were in elementary school, but nothing really beyond that, then the books that I’m about to talk about are not for you. Not yet. If that’s you, then go and read my other post A Noob’s Guide to Fantasy.

If however, you have read at least some of the books on that list, you’ve learnt how to swim in the shallows of fantasy and you kind of want to go off into deeper water, but you’re a little bit scared and you’re not really sure where to begin, then this post is for you. Grab some popcorn and allow me to ease you into the world of high fantasy.

In the interest of not making this post too long, I will not be talking about what the books are about, I’ll just leave a link to the Goodreads page so you can check them out for yourself.

The Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen

This is probably the best series to get you into high fantasy. Particularly if you’re really apprehensive about reading a book that takes place in a different world. This is perfect. It’s classed as a middle grade series, but it is really good. It’s really clever and witty and quite dark for middle grade, I would say it reads a lot more like YA.

It’s an amazing series, really underrated in my opinion. It’s super fast paced, it’s not too long, the world is not that complex. It’s very similar to just… the real world but with a medieval setting. As far as I can remember, there isn’t any magic in it and if there is, it’s really not prominent. So it’s perfect for people who aren’t used to high fantasy and are perhaps a bit apprehensive about it. Although it’s also amazing for senior high fantasy consumers, like myself. It’s just a great series.

Goodreads

The Poison Study series by Maria V. Snyder

This is another excellent series to ease you into high fantasy. This one does have a magic system, but it doesn’t thrust you right into it, I think it only really becomes part of the story towards the end of the first book. It’s really easy to get into, it’s really fast paced. Maria V. Snyder has a great writing style, I really enjoyed this series. I think most of her novels take place in the same world and I think there are 2 or 3 series known as The Chronicles of Ixia. I’ve only read I think 7 of them, but to begin with, I would recommend the first 6 books, which follow the same characters, because I believe the next ones focus more on other characters.

Goodreads

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Another pretty light one, as far as fantasy goes. It has a slightly more complex world than the previous two. It takes place in a desert, Roman-like society and it has some elements of magic and mythology that are a little bit more prominent that in the previous books I mentioned, but it’s still not too dense, you don’t get thrust into it, it’s really not difficult to understand and get into.

I’ve only read the first book so far, but I really enjoyed it and I think it’s a good series for beginners. It’s not too long, it’s not too complicated, and it has a really cool setting and some nice mythology to it. I also have a spoiler-free review of this, if you’re interested to read that.

Goodreads

The Assassin’s Curse series by Cassandra Rose Clarke

If you like pirates and assassins, this book is it. This is a duology, the books are quite short and while there is quite a heavy element of magic and mythology, it’s not dense or difficult to understand. I really enjoyed this series, it’s got quite unique characters as far as the YA genre goes. And I think it’s perfect if you’ve maybe read one of the previous books I talked about in this post and are ready for the next step. It’s a bit more complex a fantasy world, but it’s not too bad.

The Graceling Series by Kristin Kashore

This one is a bit more complex. This is the graduation series of this guide to high fantasy. If you’ve read this, you’ll probably be ready to take on some of the more hardcore fantasy series. The world is more complex, the magic system is more complex and the books are longer, closer to your standard high-fantasy book, around 500 pages. It’s not that fast paced. Some people find it slow, I personally really loved the series and I think the fact that it isn’t very fast paced, is good for people who are not as used to high-fantasy. Because it gives you time to digest the world and how the magic works and so on.

This is a companion series. They can either be read in chronological order, or publication order. I recommend publication order, so start with Graceling, then Fire, then Bitterblue. 

Goodreads

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So, yeah these 5 books/series I think are a very good way to get into high fantasy. I hope this list helps someone get into high fantasy, because it’s an amazing genre and there are so many good stories that people may be missing out on because they’re intimidated by the genre. Let me know if this did help you, or if you’re already a veteran fantasy reader, what books would you recommend for noobs? Also, for fellow veterans, because I’m always on the lookout for some good fantasy recs.