Tuesday Top Ten – Favorite New Releases of 2014!

January 6, 2015Leave a comment

I seriously hate writing these lists. Seriously. Because the segment is called the Tuesday Top Ten. I’ve read 120-something books this year and, sale yeah, sick sure, a good number of them were either re-reads or books that were released previous to the year 2014. But I would say a majority of those books were brand new releases.

And I’m just supposed to narrow them down to the ones that I liked the most. I mean, come on. That’s just mean. And hard. I’ve read so MANY great and fantastic books this year. It just blows my mind how authors can just continue to write amazing stories over and over and over again.

And yes, I’m the brains of this operation which means, technically, I could make a whole huge list of books that came out this year that I loved but they legit would all make the list and the point of this is to highlight the ones that really stood out to me this year.

So that’s just what I’m going to do! Check it out :)

**10. All Lined Up by Cora Carmack**

I was looking forward to this book because it has three of my favorite things in the world: romance, hot boys with abs and football. I hadn’t been massively impressed with Cora so far but this book completely changed my mind and I loved the second one as well. I definitely could use more Rusk boys in my life.

**9. Cress by Marissa Meyer**

I was DYING for this book and when I finally got my hands on it, I was in the worst slump ever. Took me about a week and a half to read this book, but when I finally did, I was just blown away. Cress is an incredible character and I absolutely love this book. I couldn’t believe how long I had to wait (and am still waiting) for the final book.

**8. Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson**

Oh Morgan Matson. Please never stop writing. The closeness I felt to this book, the inability to remember how to do things, live life, make friends, have fun without your best friend…I totally understand that. Plus she’s just such a fun writer. Reading her books is easy, you just get sucked in and suddenly you realized hours have passed and you haven’t even moved.

**7. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch**

This book completely blew my mind. I needed a really good fantasy book in my life and this one completely and totally delivered. I was just blown away by the incredible world building that Sara created in this novel and I loved every character that we meet, even the villains because I can appreciate a really well written villain. And I loved the surprises. I love when I’m reading and I feel like I have a handle on the story and something completely throws me off. Its beautiful and I absolutely love it. Get this book.

**6. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins**

I LOVE Anna and the French Kiss. I LOVE Lola and the Boy Next Door. I literally ADORE and am OBSESSED with Isla and Josh and this story. I read this just a week before I broke up with my boyfriend and when I knew things weren’t good, and that’s kind of why I like this novel. This book is about romance, about how we get caught up in it and we forget that it can be hard work and that things aren’t always easy and they aren’t always sunshine and rainbows. That hit me hard, and the beautiful reality of love in this story just broke my heart. I love love love this book. It has a happy ending, which is fantastic, but I loved seeing the struggle to get there.

**5. Alienated by Melissa Landers**

I am sure you are all so tired of me putting this in your face but guess what? Nope. Not at all. Because I truly love this book. I seriously seriously love this book. I am so glad I ran into Melissa at ALA and brought this book into my life! Its so beautiful. Great science fiction, awesome humor and the romance is just…ugh, I’m fangirling.

**4. Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead**

Dear Richelle Mead, Can I be your daughter? Love, Sara. I really liked The Fiery Heart but The Indigo Spell is my favorite so it was hard to follow that. Silver Shadows is now just below The Indigo Spell, because it just blew my mind. I loved the dual point of view and I loved the build up to the incredible climax and omg that cliffhanger broke my heart. A month until the end of it all!

**3. The One by Kiera Cass**

I am so glad I got into Kiera Cass this year. I read The Selection at the very beginning of the year, at the urging of…someone. I can’t remember who. But I hadn’t really had a desire to. And now, I’m just stoked that I did because its such a good book. The Elite is a bit of a struggle to get through BUT The One was just a beautiful book. I was so emotional and I cried and when I met Kiera, I fangirled way too hard.

**2. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo**

Dear Leigh Bardugo, please teach everyone in the world how to end a series. Seriously. So many series enders have been so disappointing, so lacking but this book just blew my mind. I sat down and just consumed it. It was absolutely fantastic. Everything came to an end, and it was heartbreaking, utterly heartbreaking and surprising and just…ugh. It made me so happy. I wish I could have even just a fraction of the talent that Leigh has.

1. Grasshopper Jungle and 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith

I cheated ;) I put two books for my number one but that’s just because I legit could not choose between these two. They are both so different but so unique and just brilliant. Andrew Smith is such a one of a kind author that just blows my mind. 100 Sideways Miles was incredible and Grasshopper Jungle was unlike anything I’ve ever read in my life. I literally have never read a book like GJ and it just was….it was about everything and it was bizarre and funny and all of that. He’s truly brilliant. He might just end up on my top ten at the end of every year haha!

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What were some of your favorite new releases of 2014? Share in the comments

Tuesday Top Ten-Best Books I’ve Read So Far This Year

June 10, 2014Leave a comment

Today I have stolen my topic idea from The Broke and Bookish blog, sales which hosts the Top Ten Tuesday meme. I usually get ideas from them, tadalafil but I call mine something different…honestly because I didn’t know theirs existed when I started mine haha. And I do more than books, physician so there is that.

Today’s topic though…its June, near half way June, so we are basically at the halfway mark for the year of 2014. So what a perfect time to talk about the best books that I have read so far this year.

Let’s get to it.

And yes, I did a top 15…don’t attack me haha. It was SO hard to narrow it down!

Remember, clicking the title will take you to the book’s GoodReads page and clicking the author name will take you to their webpage!

15. Rebel by Amy Tintera

Amy’s conclusion to her novel, Reboot, was incredible. I was so excited that I managed to get my hands on an e-galley of it, and I whipped through it so fast. Reboot is a major influence for The Awakened. Though they’re totally different spectrums of sci-fi, I love her writing, her style and the fact that she accomplished it in two books. I LOVED this book and my friend Mina just got me a signed copy so yay!

14. All Lined Up by Cora Carmack

I was massively impressed by this release of Cora Carmack. I think she’s a great writer but her stories honestly haven’t caught me quite yet but this one totally did. Football, hot boys and romance? You have me totally sold on that one. I can’t wait to read more in the Rusk University series.

13. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

This book kept popping up on my radar and the cover was so pretty that I am so glad I finally buckled down and bought this and read it. Harper is such a fun main character, all sass and attitude and hilarity, with these new, almost superhero like powers, and its just a great book. I loved every single bit of this novel.

12. Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I honestly don’t think that there has been a book yet that I’ve been disappointed in when it comes to Jennifer L. Armentrout. This book was so different from others that I’ve read from her in the past but it was just so good. It was scary! Every time the main character saw something in the mirror or got a note tucked into her backpack or something like that, I was just so scared. Such a great book.

11. Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn

Katie Finn is awesome, basically because its a lighter version of Morgan Matson, who I love…and its the same person. LOL. But I absolutely loved seeing a lighter, summer-y version of Morgan as Katie Finn and this book was SO much fun, and so delicious and…it just literally made me so excited for summer. Its the perfect summer read.

10. A Girl Called Fearless by Catherine Linka

What a beautiful, beautiful debut novel. I love it for so many reasons. Catherine Linka is SUCH a doll, and I love that its set in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. I love the main character, and I love the bad guys for being so creepy and scary. I love what she brings up in this novel. I love that it reminds you that girls have to fight for their rights, every day, in every single country. Its just SUCH a great book.

9. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Look, yes, I was massively disappointed in the end of this book. I honestly thought it was way too incredibly safe and that Cassie could have made much bigger sacrifices than she did. That being said…I still liked the book a lot. I wasn’t a fan of the “second” trilogy of TMI to be honest, but this book really brought it to a close and I was pleased with many parts of it. So it definitely makes the list.

8. Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

YES! This book is so absolutely beautiful. Thank you Stephen Chbosky and Emma Watson for talking this book up, because then I got my hands on it and loved it. And I’ve met Ava several times, and become friends with her and she’s just the sweetest. This book is beautiful and wonderfully written and just heartbreaking. I absolutely love this book. Its a MUST read. And its going to be a movie, penned by Ava herself!

7. Cress by Marissa Meyer

The Lunar Chronicles blows my mind and they honestly get better with every single book. I LOVED CRESS. I feel bad because it took me so long to read it but I was in a massive slump back then and it was awful. But when I got caught up in this book, I couldn’t put it down and I just love it so much. I even wear a “Thorne is my captain” pin on my apron at work every single day. Such a great book and leaves me panting for Winter!

6. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

Jenny Han is awesome. And yes, it took me reading this book to figure that out, but that’s okay. This is the book that made me a fan of Jenny Han. It was fun, and written so well, and I love the main character, and I love all the boys that make an appearance in this novel and I’m so excited for the sequel because this book was just so good. Jenny Han has contemporary YA romance in the palm of her hand, and she does it so well.

5. The One by Kiera Cass

Oh, Kiera Cass. Only you can take something like this and make it so wonderful. She creates basically a story that puts The Hunger Games with the Bachelor, and a bunch of girls fighting over the hand of one prince, and a love triangle (a big one), and just makes it work. It sounds like something I would never read in a million years but this is SUCH a great trilogy and The One is an amazing ending to it. I am so glad I got to meet her and tell her how this blew my mind.

4. Unforgotten by Jessica Brody

I was SO excited to finally get my hands on the sequel to Unremembered because I had questions that needed to be answered and then…and then! Jessica goes and leaves it on the biggest cliffhanger since Unremembered (haha), and leaves me literally dying for Unchanged. I can’t handle it. But being back with Sera and Zen, and in so many different time periods, and the action and the tension and the kissing…all of it was just so great and I am not kidding when I say I literally can’t wait to get my hands on Unchanged :)

3. Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

Okay, talk about a book that literally came out of left field, and just knocked me down. I watched a live cast of Jessica Brody and Victoria Scott, and I thought Victoria was super cool so I had to get my hands on her book, and I did. I read it in literally about 2 hours. I LOVED it. I seriously…oh, god, don’t get me started. I just loved the whole thing of it. It has this epic survival story going on, and a race full of action and tension, and a hot guy (because we need hot guys and kissing, duh!) and the Pandoras. I won’t reveal what those are but the Pandoras are the coolest things in the entire world. I’m just saying.

2. Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Great summer book. Great book about friendship and breaking out of your shell and going out of the norm and falling in love and making new friends. Just such an amazing, great book. It reminds me that Morgan Matson has yet to disappoint me, and that she remains one of my favorite authors, period. She is just SO great, and I loved this book. I felt so close to the main character, and she felt so familiar. I could re-read this book again and again and again.

1. Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

I have never read a book like this in my life before GJ and I doubt I’ll ever read a book like this again. Its literally a book about everything, and it made me laugh and it made me shake my head and raise my eyebrows and so many other things. This book is absolutely incredible because it takes so many bits and pieces and manages to fit them together in such a crazy good book. Every time I see it, I just shake my head and smile because I’m just reminded of how much it blew my mind, and just…its amazing. Its the weirdest book I’ve ever read but its so good. You need to read this book. You just have to.

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Well, there you have it, folks. The top 15 books I’ve read so far this year. What are some of the best books you’ve read this year? Share in the comments!

May Book Wrap Up

June 1, 2014May 31, 2014Leave a comment

Books Pledged to Read in 2014: 150 Books

Am I On Track: I am actually 2 books ahead right now. This is the first time I’ve been on track all year haha.

Books Read So Far: 63

Total Books For May: 20

Remember, viagra buy as always, try to click the book title in order to read the review!

A Girl Called Fearless

Summer State of Mind

Rebel Belle

Since You’ve Been Gone

The One

Open Road Summer

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

All Lined Up

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Re-Read)

In Honor

Free to Fall

The Prince and the Guard

Noggin

Don’t Look Back

The Truth About Forever (Re-Read)

City of Heavenly Fire

(You can also watch my spoiler FILLED vlog here)

Shadow and Bone (Re-Read)

Rules of Summer

Just One Night

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Book Review: The One by Kiera Cass

May 20, 2014May 20, 2014Leave a comment

Genre:

Young Adult, order Dystopian, cialis 40mg Romance

Pages:

323

Part of a Series?:

The final book in The Selection Trilogy

Release Date:

May 6th, 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

The Selection changed the lives of thirty-five girls forever. And now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.

America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon’s heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she’ll have to fight for the future she wants.

From the very first page of The Selection, this #1 New York Times bestselling series has captured readers’ hearts and swept them away on a captivating journey… Now, in The One, Kiera Cass delivers a satisfying and unforgettable conclusion that will keep readers sighing over this electrifying fairy-tale long after the final page is turned.

My Review:

Please be aware that while there will be no spoilers in this review for The One, there will be spoilers for The Selection and The Elite. You can read their respective reviews by clicking on their titles.

Two books came out on May 6th that I needed to read: Morgan Matson’s Since You’ve Been Gone and this novel. I picked them both up that day, but got caught up in going to Jamie Campbell Bower’s acoustic show in Venice Beach and a book event at Barnes and Noble to meet Tammara Webber and Abbi Glines. I wasn’t able to start until the next day.

As soon as I finished Morgan’s book, I immediately had to read The One. What is really powerful about this is that I barely read The Selection back in early January and immediately read The Elite after. The fact that I was dying to dive into this book on release day, merely four months after getting into the series is incredible.

And I definitely think that this book delivered. Finales to a series can be sort of nerve wracking and you want it to end well, but you also know that the right ending might not always be the ending that you want it to be. What is so great about The One, at least in this reader/blogger’s opinion is that it had both. I felt like the ending was incredibly right and it was the ending that I was so hoping for.

What I think really jumped out at me with this book was that it was a love story, more than anything. The book starts with the idea of the prince trying to choose a wife out of a pool of a couple dozen girls. America goes reluctantly, torn between her love for Aspen and her desire to help out her family. Meeting Maxon only makes her that much more confused, and its not too much of a surprise that a love triangle ensues.

BUT this is what makes me love this story so much. Kiera approaches a love triangle in the most real and beautiful way possible. I can’t really say much more than that because its sort of spoiler-ish and I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone who has yet to read it. But I really think that she approaches the idea of loving two people very well and I love the way it turns out.

In the end, Kiera Cass has told a fantastic love story and it made me incredibly happy, the way it ended. There were doubts, times where I wanted to cry and shout and throw my book across the room and there were times where I was jumping up for joy and laughing and loving it all. I’ve been in a very romantic kind of mood and this book was absolutely perfect for that.

Rating:

4.5 out of 5 Stars