To start things off, let me explain my bookshelf a little bit. It's organized by color. Ish. I have way more red, blue, and black books than any other color (especially yellow), so it's not as pretty as some of the ones you can find online, but I still think it looks nice.
Section #1: Red
Here we've got all of my red books, kind of organized from darkest to lightest. We also have a glass sculpture thing of a wolf, a Littlest Pet Shop ferret (my two favorite animals), and Dean and Castiel bunnies from Supernatural. The book I'm going to point out here is... currently not on my bookshelf, because my sister is reading it. But if it were there, it would be right in between The Night Circus and How Evan Broke His Head, and it would be The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith.
This book was adorable. Adorable. I was extremely skeptical when I picked it up because I do not believe in love at first sight. But it was adorable. It takes place over the course of 24 hours and it's about this girl who misses her flight by only a few minutes, and ends up on the plane next to this guy. They spend the next several hours of the flight talking and eventually go their separate ways... or do they? Dun-dun-dun. Anyway, it was also a pretty fast, easy read, so if you're looking for a cute contemporary for some summer reading, you should pick up this one.
Section #2: Rusty orange/red-ish... thing.
Fall of a Kingdom by Hilari Bell. This is the first book in the Farsala Trilogy, and it's been a while since I read it so I can't give too much of a summary... because I don't remember that much, but anyway. It takes place in this realm called Farsala and there's a war brewing, and the people that are going to attack Farsala are kind of reminiscent of the Roman Empire, in that they've hardly ever lost a war. This story follows three different characters (I think it's three, it might be four) who all play very different roles in the story, and along with that it intertwines this ancient legend of the land, and it was just a really cool read. It does focus a lot on war strategy, rather than actual fighting - at least in the first book - but I didn't find it to be dry or boring like that kind of stuff can be. There was still plenty of action, and the world-building was pretty solid. If you like high fantasy (especially Tamora Pierce), you should check it out.
Section #3: Orange
More wolves! (You're going to be seeing a lot of those). Ok, I actually have two books I want to point out here.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. I can't go by this book and not point it out. This book. This book, man. It changed my life. It blew my mind. It changed how I view literature. I can't actually describe how much I loved this book. It's so action-packed, so riveting, and the characters are so fantastic, and the whole story behind it is amazing and complex and beautiful. To summarize: it takes place in the future, but I'm not sure I'd call it dystopian. There was this guy, this mogul in the engineering, technology, etc etc world, and he's just recently passed away at the start of the book. He was a huge fan of vintage things - bands, video games, books, anything from the 80's, this guy loved. So, in his will, he announces this scavenger hunt that will be taking place in this video game that he created, and the winner will inherit his company, his money, everything. This video game isn't your average video game - you slip on a visor and you are actually in the game, like the game becomes your reality. There's just so much action, it's so intense, and if you like video games or pop culture at all, you will love this book.
Prophecy of the Stones by Flavia Bujor. I just had to give this book a shout out. It's a middle-grade novel, but it is still one of my favorite books ever. I first read this book after my friend raved about it when we were in fourth grade. And then I re-read it. And re-read it. And re-read it. I think I've read it about ten times. This is the book that got me interested in writing and becoming an author, and in reading more fantasy novels. The book. I think the author herself was fourteen or so when she wrote it. I haven't read it in a few years, mostly because I'm afraid I won't like it as much. Anyway, it's basically about these three girls who live in this land that I believe does not have any magic. Each girl is given a stone for her birthday, and these stones I think end up having magical powers or something. They meet up, as was prophesied thousands of years ago, and end up teaming up to defeat this evil being. It's your basic children's fantasy plot, but there are so many details and nuances that make it so unique and definitely worth a read.
Section #4: Yellow
Oh, look, another wolf! Wait... nope, that's just a husky napping on top of my Ayn Rand book.
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. I would be remiss if I didn't mention this book here, on my book blog. My blog about books. I read this book in March, but I'd been wanting to read it for about a year before that. I am so glad I finally did, because it was really good. It's about this guy living in California who gets this job at Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, working for an old man of course named Mr. Penumbra. At first it seems like a normal-enough job - he's working the night shift, so there's usually not that much activity. Sometimes, however, these people will come in, and they will request a book from the back of the bookstore. These books all have really weird names and are really old, and the people take them out are rather strange as well, and there's just a lot of strange stuff going on at this bookstore, and so of course our protagonist decides to get to the bottom of it. It was really entertaining and kept me guessing until pretty much the last second. Also, the cover glows in the dark. Like, whaaaat?
Section #5: Green
Because what good bookcase doesn't have a supply of hair elastics?
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. This book is so unique. It's a historical fiction novel, but it's also a science-fiction novel. Whaaat? It's about this girl (I'm blanking on her name), who works for this university in England where they have a time-travel machine. Oh, yes. She's doing a research project on the Middle Ages, so of course she gets to use this time-travel machine to go back in time to the Middle Ages. Only the machine malfunctions, and she ends up getting stranded in the 1300s, in the midst of the black plague epidemic. Woops. This book was so interesting. It was a bit slow at times, but the characters are great and the overall plot so intriguing that I flew threw it, despite it being a bit dense and several hundred pages long. If you have any interest in knights and the Middle Ages and history or anything like that, you should definitely check this book out.
Section #6: Blue
Those two bobble-heads right there are quite possibly my most prized possessions on the bookshelf (aside from the books and my SPN bunnies). My bookcase is actually right by the door to my room, so if I walk into my room without pressing one of the buttons to make them talk when I walk in, you know something is wrong. Anyway, without further ado, waiiit for iiiiit.....
The Glasswrights' Apprentice by Mindy L. Klasky. I don't even actually know if that's the right book on my shelf, it might be one of the sequels, but oh well. I do remember enjoying it and the sequels, but other than that I don't remember much at all, so I'm just going to let Amazon do the talking for the summary:
"Mind your caste... Rani Trader was born a merchant, but now she is an apprentice in the prestigious Glasswrights' Guild. When Rani witnesses the murder of the Crown Prince, she's accused of being the killer. On the run and labeled a traitor, Rani must travel the city streets, masquerading through her kingdom's strict castes as she attempts to discover the actual assassin. Along the way, Rani meets true friends and false leaders. She discovers a secret brotherhood, and she must determine who is her greatest ally... and who is her most bitter enemy. "Mind your caste," Rani is told. But what good will that do, if her caste gets her killed before she can expose the Prince's actual murderer?"
Section #7: Purple
Airhead by Meg Cabot. Yes, I realize this isn't actually on my shelf. Being Nikki is, though, which is one of the sequels, so I'm going to use that as an opportunity to talk about the first one in the series. Basically this series is about this girl, Em, who is not very popular at school, she's somewhat of a nobody, but she just so happens to look exactly like super-model Nikki Howard. So, when Nikki Howard gets into a sort of accident, the company that she works for hires Em to be Nikki. There is so, so much more to this book than meets the eye, but I can't really say much else without spoiling it. It's a much darker read than you would expect, but it is really good and if you think young adult contemporary with a huge twist sounds interesting, definitely pick this up.
Section #8: White
Stingrays are awesome. I once got to hold wild stingrays, best experience of my life to date. It was pretty cool. Anyway.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It's about time I mention a classic. This was the first classic I read that I fell in love with, and it encouraged me to read even more classics, and now I have a whole host of classics that I adore. Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite classics authors, and this is one of his best and most well-known works. If you don't know, it takes place in the future, and it's about this guy named Guy Montag who works for the fire department. However, in this society, the fire department's main job is not putting out fires, it's starting them. Books are banned in this society, and so whenever someone reports a book sighting, as it were, Guy Montag and the rest of the guys at the station ride down in their big fire trucks to burn books. And then, one day, Montag finds some books that they missed in the fire, and he brings them home, and his life spirals out of control from there. If you are planning on reading this book, a word of caution: do NOT watch the movie. It was a worse adaptation than either Percy Jackson or City of Ember. Blegh.
Section #9: Gray
The Sight by David Clement-Davies. If you couldn't tell by now, I love wolves. So, obviously, I love books about wolves. And this is a fantastic book about wolves. I can't remember exactly what happens in it, but I know that there is absolutely stunning world-building and all of the characters are very well-developed. I also remember that this was the first book I ever read that made me cry, and I was like, "Wait, what? Book can do that?" Long story short, you should read it.
Section #10: Black
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. This book is beautiful. It's about the author's experience with war, Vietnam I believe, but it's about so much more than that. It's about stories, and how the stories we tell shape the world around us, how they shape our understanding of events, and how we use them to express ourselves. It was such a deep and moving read, and it's one of my favorite books of all time. I read it about a year and a half ago and I still reference a lot of the ideas the author presents in this book. I recommend this book to anyone who finds war books interesting, but also to anyone who loves really good literature, because that's what this is.
Aaand that's it for my bookshelves! If you're still here, I applaud you. I also reward you with this picture of my full bookcase:
Yup.
No comments:
Post a Comment