More Mini-Reviews!

Because what better to do when you're procrastinating on finals than update a blog you haven't touched since July! But hey, I'm a college student now, it's what we do.

Here's a list of the books I'm reviewing in this post:

• City of Thieves by David Benioff
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• If I Stay by Gayle Forman
• Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

4.5 stars. This is a book that should be labeled as a modern classic (though I'd be surprised if it isn't already). The beginning was a bit slow, but it did get better. I didn't find myself caring for the main character too much, but I did find I cared for Kolya more than I'd anticipated. Do not pick up this book expecting a light, easy read. If you want to fully enjoy this book, you have to work for it. Definitely worth reading if you're up for the challenge, though. Also, Ron Perlman is the god of audiobook narrators. 

EDIT: I originally posted this review on my goodreads account (see here) when I first read it at the end of July. Now, at the beginning of December, i am remembering just how good this book actually was. I think now that I've had some time to think about it, 've formed a more concrete opinion and that opinion is that if you are looking for a book that will make you think, what are you waiting for go check it out of the library or buy it from your local bookseller right frikkin' now. 

(Minor spoilers? Maybe?)

5 stars. I read this book at the perfect moment. I was starting college soon, and so I related extremely well with Patrick and Sam, but also with Charlie because I was also (about to be) a freshman. This book was a godsend - it helped me freak out a little less about college. (edit: haha haha hah)

I think my favorite thing about this book, besides how ridiculously well-written and relatable it is, is that the thing about Aunt Helen at the end was not the point of the book. It was just another (albeit awful) thing that happened. Personally, I think it would have been much harder to enjoy the book if that had had a stronger presence throughout the book.

3.5 stars. I got pretty much exactly what I expected from this book. It was a very good read, but it didn't completely wow me. The plot was pretty straightforward, but at the same time well-crafted to suit the story. I don't think this is one of those stories that's going to stay with me forever, but it was still worth the read. Also, it definitely takes an emotional toll, especially if you're a college freshman trying to get over homesickness. 

EDIT: I read this book in early September, if you couldn't tell by me lamenting about homesickness. I was right. This book did not stick with me at all. 

First of all, this cover. Can we just - can we just. Second, I can't really say much about this book because it's the third book in a trilogy but I wanted to mention it on account of how much I frikkin' love it.

So that's it for now. I'll be posting more mini-reviews in a few days, along with a full review of an amazing book that I just finished (TBA) and quotes from that book. 

Mini Reviews!

This post will be brought to you in three parts: Part one, a mini review on a book. Part two, a mini review on another book. Part three - wait for it - a mini review on a third book! I figured I would try this style for a change, since I'm not the best at writing full reviews and I think most of what needs to be said about these books can be said in a paragraph or two. So without further ado, let's get into it!

How a book about superheroes (or rather, anti-heroes) should be. Fast paced, reads like an action movie. Other than the intense action scenes, though, I found it to be a bit tedious to get through. Lots of dialogue, and I feel as though the whole background for this post-apocalyptic world could have been explained in more detail. All in all, though, it was a solid read. The twist at the end makes it all worth it. I'll definitely be picking up the sequel. 4/5 stars.

It's been a very long time since I've read a book that not only has a compelling story and characters, but prose so amazing that I didn't want it to end. I wanted to keep reading, to stay longer in Patrick Ness's writing and the masterful world he'd created, and I was pretty much heartbroken when it ended. Not because of the ending, but because it had ended. Novels like this are very rare. 5/5 stars, I will recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

Decent story, but I felt that I knew so much about the characters' disabilities and not enough about the characters themselves. That being said, I think (as someone who knows someone with OCD and had a classmate with CP) that the author did a decent job accurately portraying the disabilities, even if it was a bit overbearing at times. If you're considering it, it's definitely worth the read. (Be warned, though, it may be triggering for someone with OCD or something similar). 3/5 stars.

So that's that for this post. Let me know if you've read any of these books, what you thought of them, or if you're planning on reading them in the future!

First Sentences!

This is a response to kimberlyreads's video on youtube. She's the creator of the First Sentence Challenge, and recently she made another video about some of her favorite first sentences. I thought it would be fun to do the same...

How do you choose??? I went through my entire bookcase(s) and ended up with a stack of about twenty books. Eventually I narrowed it down. Ish. Well. Let's get started. (These are not in any particular order).

I'm going to assume The Fault in Our Stars goes without saying. "Late in the winter of my seventeenth year my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I ate infrequently, read the same book over and over again, and spent most of my abundant free time thinking about death." How did I do? I didn't look at my book(s) (I'm lazy), so that's probably off by a bit, but you know the one.

"It was a pleasure to burn."

Talk about powerful first sentences. I remember the first time I read this book, that line completely took me by surprise. That's a sentence that just makes you stop and go, "Wait, what?" and then you have to read more. It's simple and powerful. Also it's just a fantastic book in general.

"The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break was blow up another school."

I don't think I need to elaborate. 

"The man billed as Prospero the Enchanter receives a fair amount of correspondence via the theater office, but this is the first envelope addressed to him that contains a suicide note, and it is also the first to arrive carefully pinned to the coat of a five-year-old girl."

Uh...

Translation: "What... that's... intriguing... GIVE ME MORE."

"I AM A COWARD."

If you've read the book, you know why this is such a fantastic first sentence. It's a great first sentence anyway, because it immediately draws you into the story and starts a really important theme that carries through the rest of the book, while at the same time giving a pretty good character detail and also READ THE BOOK.

"The gorilla who clung to the ceiling was wearing a Princeton t-shirt."

Yeah. 

"Not long after I moved with my family to a small town in New Hampshire I happened upon a path that vanished into a wood on the edge of town."

I actually didn't like this book that much, but I do like this first sentence. It's such an over-simplification of the beautiful monstrosity that is the Appalachian Trail, but that's the point, and it works, because everybody (myself included) oversimplifies the AT.

"Motion is impossible."

It's one of those sentences you read and then you keep reading and then you stop and you're like, "Wait, hang on, what?". It's one of those sentences. Also it's a pretty major theme throughout the book, so there's that.

"This is a tale of a meeting of two lonesome, skinny, fairly old white men on a planet which was dying fast."

Classic Vonnegut.

"The future isn't what it used to be."

Again, another one of those, "Wait, what?" sentences.

That's it for now, folks!

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff: A Review (SPOILER FREE)

It's steampunk. It's Japanese. It's fantasy. And HOLY WORLD-BUILDING, BATMAN.

Everything just felt so richly imagined. The setting, the costumes, but also the culture itself, with its Guildsmen and samurai and clans and irezumi and everything in between. The world in this book is called the Shima Empire. It's ruled by the shogun, Yoritomo, who is protected by his ranks of Iron Samurai. Also close to the shogun are the many Guildsmen of the Lotus Guild - a group who's basically monopolized every industry in Shima, putting them to use for the production of everything lotus - lotus fuel, lotus-based drugs, probably even lotus shampoo. They're also the driving religious force in the nation, promoting the worship of the gods and the burning of any citizen deemed "impure". Then of course there are the clans, and the irezumi worn by each clan, and even more complexities within the clans, and even more complexities after that... It's pretty complex.

This world is so rich and imaginative, I can't even... You have your cities, like Kigen, that are so polluted and disgusting and corrupt, and then you have the Iishi Mountains, which are so pure and utterly devoid of human corruption. The contrast between them is so stark, and so beautifully done - Kigen makes Iishi seem all the purer and Iishi makes Kigen seem like the worst place to live on the planet (which it probably is).

The book spends about half its time in Kigen, and the other half in the Iishi, which is fantastic because I felt like I got to completely immerse myself in both settings without becoming bored. And the detail is flawless. The scenes are so rich, all the little details adding together to create such a complex and interesting image. Here's an excerpt from the beginning of the book:

"Yukiko and Akihito made their way through the squeezeways, over the refuse-choked gutters, past the grasping hands of a dozen blacklung beggars and down into Docktown; a cramped and weeping growth of low-rent tenements and rusting warehouses slumped in the shadows of the sky-ships. A broad wooden boardwalk stretched out over the black waters of the bay, hundreds of people shoving and weaving their way across the bleached timbers... Lotusmen swarmed in the air about them like brass corpseflies, the pipes coiled on their backs spitting out bright plumes of blue-white flame."

Time and time again I found myself getting swept up in scenes like that, so completely and utterly imagined that I couldn't believe it was just a figment of some guy's imagination.

And the costumes. Those outfits - I mean, really, people wearing giant brass suits to filter out the poisonous air (with the added side-effect of being basically invincible), chainsaw katanas, and steam-powered armor all alongside traditional Japanese robes and gowns - I'd want to see this book as a movie just for those costumes.

I did, however, have a few issues with this book.

First of all, the clans. I love the idea, and I think it added so much to this world that Kristoff has created. I would have loved to know more about them, though. It's hinted at several times throughout the book that there used to be more clans than the ones currently existing, but it's never mentioned what happened to them. The only kind-of, sort-of history of the Shima Empire we're ever given in this book are a few myths and legends that don't really add much to the story, and I wish there'd been more cold-hard facts.

The biggest issue, however, was with the characters. I loved Yukiko, and I loved Buruu even more, but everyone else was a bit... eh. There's a love triangle, but neither of the two men vying for Yukiko's attention ever really got my attention. They were both a bit predictable and boring, and in fact were remarkably similar.

I think that was the problem with the majority of the supporting characters in this book. They were all a bit too unremarkable, one-dimensional, and... similar. I mean, A+ for branching out from the overly-populated "white guy/white girl" section of YA novels, but you can't stop there, which this author seems to have done, if only a bit. Even Yukiko got on my nerves toward the end, with her cliched struggle of right vs. wrong that was reminiscent of Katniss in Mockingjay, only with much less style and much more predictability.

The only redeeming character in the novel is one I'm shocked I haven't even mentioned yet - Buruu, the thunder tiger. I won't say too much because spoilers, but he is bad-ass. I loved him. He was perfect.

Overall, I gave this book a three out of five stars on Goodreads, and I am planning on reading the sequel because I think Jay Kristoff will probably (hopefully) have improved a lot on some of his weaker elements (like the characters). We'll see.

Quotes from Code Name Verity (SPOILER FREE)

Unfortunately, I didn't mark any in my book as I was reading, so I pulled all of these off goodreads.

"It's like being in love, discovering your best friend."

"A whore, we've established that, filthy, it goes without saying, but whatever else the hell I am, I AM NOT ENGLISH."

"It's awful, telling it like this, isn't it? As though we didn't know the ending. As though it could have another ending. It's like watching Romeo drink poison. Every time you see it you get fooled into thinking his girlfriend might wake up and stop him. Every single time you see it you want to shout, 'You stupid ass, just wait a minute,' and she'll open her eyes! 'Oi, you, you twat, open your eyes, wake up! Don't die this time!' But they always do."

"Nothing like an arcane literary debate with your tyrannical master while you pass the time leading to your execution."

"And I envied her that she had chosen her work herself and was doing what she wanted to do. I don't suppose I had any idea what I 'wanted' and so I was chosen, not choosing. There's glory and honor in being chosen. But not much room for free will."

"Careless talk costs lives."

"Incredible what slender threads you begin to hang your hopes on."

"I don't believe for a minute - that we wouldn't have become friends somehow - that an unexploded bomb wouldn't have gone off and blown us both into the same crater, or that God himself wouldn't have come along and knocked our heads together in a flash of green sunlight. But it wouldn't have been likely."

"We make a sensational team."

"Von Linden really should know me well enough by now to realize that I am not going to face my execution without a fight. Or with anything remotely resembling dignity."

"KISS ME HARDY, kiss me, QUICK!"

Code Name Verity: A Slightly Comprehensible Review

This book.

THIS BOOK.

Where do I even start with this book?

I know. Have you ever read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green? Fantastic book, yes? My all-time favorite. I own six copies. (That is not a joke). Code Name Verity came very, very close to beating it.

Okay, in an attempt to try to get my thoughts together about this book, let me list off the things I liked about it.

1) The setting. World War II, England and France. Also a bit of Scotland. 

2) THE CHARACTERS. Queenie was so, so well-developed and fleshed out as a character and so complex and so real and HER VOICE. 

3) Queenie's voice. The author (Elizabeth Wein) could not have chosen a better format for this story. It's told from Queenie's perspective, as Queenie is writing a journal/document of her life in exchange for not being tortured by her German captors. She is such a unique character - she is raw, she is funny, she is resilient, she is clever, she is broken but still somehow unbroken. 

4) THE CHARACTERS. Women. Who are spies. And airplane pilots. In World War II. Need I say more?

5) THE PLOT TWIST.

6) The friendship between Maddie and Queenie. It's been far too long since I've read a really good YA book with really good friendships - not really good romances, or love triangles, or one night stands - just really, really effing good friendships. Maddie and Queenie's friendship is basically the foundation of this book.

7) THE OTHER PLOT TWIST.

People who should read this book: Literally everyone.

Goodreads tag!

This is going to be brief because I am extremely exhausted. I took a four hour exam today, and this was preceded by a five hour exam on Tuesday, and I've gotten very little sleep. So we'll see how this goes. And before I start, here's the link to my Goodreads page. Feel free to friend me, I accept pretty much all friend requests.

What was the last book you marked as read?

That would be The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

I legitimately fell asleep reading this book. And that doesn't happen. Ever. I understand why it's such a classic and such a big part of early feminist literature, and I think the themes in it are great, but it's so boring.

What are you currently reading?

A Game of Thrones, no surprise there, and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I'm reading the latter for school and I can already tell that it's going to rip my heart out and smash it to pieces. Laura Hillenbrand, incidentally, graduated from the same college as John Green. Coincidence? I think not.

What is the last book you marked as TBR?

I mark like five books a day, but the most recent one was More Than This by Patrick Ness.

What book do you plan on reading next?

Man in the Middle by John Illig. I'm going to be reading that for the Bout of Books 10.0, which I will be participating in. I'm probably going to put aside GoT for that, just because it's so time consuming.

Do you use the star rating system?

Yup.

Are you doing a 2014 reading challenge?

Yes, I am! It's set for 25 books right now, because last year I did 50 and that was extremely ambitious, but I'm eleven books ahead of schedule so I'll probably up it to 35 once I reach 24-25.

Do you have a wishlist?

Nope. My to-read list kind of doubles as my wishlist, because every once in a while I'll go through it and be like "Do I own that book? Nope! I should go buy it! Do I own that book? Yep! I don't have to go buy it!"

What book do you plan on buying next?

Well, a new copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone for starters (for more info on that fiasco, see my April book haul post). After that, depending on what books I get for my birthday and which ones I don't, I'll probably either buy World After by Susan Ee or The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith.

What's your favorite quote?

Sooo many... I'm just going to pick one from the first page of my quotes.

"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." - Neil Gaiman, Coraline.

Who are your favorite authors?

The ones I've followed/liked/etc on Goodreads are John Green, A.S. King, Patrick Rothfuss, Tamora Pierce, and J.K. Rowling. I think I would add Markus Zusak to that list as well.

Are you a part of any groups on Goodreads?

Yes, but I'm not an active participant in any of them... Oops.

What could Goodreads do better?

Absolutely nothing. Goodreads, you are perfect.

Yup.

Bookshelf tour!

Hey guys! So, I reorganized my bookshelves about a month or so ago, and I've just recently added a bunch of new books to it, so I figured it was about time to give you a tour. This is how it's going to work: I've taken pictures of each section of my bookshelf, and I'll post them here, and then after each one I'll single out one book from that section that I really loved and recommend. So really you're getting two-in-one, bookshelf tour and book recommendations.

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.

May TBR!

So apparently it's May 1st.

I'm not going to bother with an April wrap-up, because it's a little embarrassing and let's just not go there, okay? Okay.

For the month of May, these are the books I am looking to complete. I have no idea how many I'll get to - not many, if last month is any indication. It's also my last full month of school so I have no idea how busy I'll be. We shall see.

Anyway. First book on the list is:

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. Yes, I know it was on my April TBR. I know. Trust me, I know. I'm already half-way through this book, and it is so freaking long. Like, I don't normally complain about how long books are. Name of the Wind? No problem. Harry Potter? Easy. But holy freaking cow this book is long. I stayed up until one in the morning last night reading it, and I ended up reading about 93 pages. Ninety-three. I read less than a hundred pages. And I am not a slow reader. It's a good book, though.

Man in the Middle by John Illig. I just hauled this book in my last post so if you want to know more about it, check it out there. I'm pretty excited for this one.

World After by Susan Ee. I don't currently own this one, but I'm hoping to get it for my birthday (which is this month), because I need to read it before I forget what happened in the first one, which I read in March(?). The first one was pretty awesome, I really enjoyed it, so I'm pretty psyched for this one as well. If you don't know, the series takes place in a post-apocalypse kind of world, because the world was taken over by angels, who are apparently evil. Except for one. We think.

I'm not going to put any more books on here because I hate pigeon-holing myself like that, and also it will be a miracle if I finish A Game of Thrones with enough time to read anything other than the other two I've mentioned before the month is over.

Yup.

April Book Haul!

Those are all the books I got in April! I think... I could be missing a few. I actually was missing a few, I had to retake this picture.

This book haul is actually a lot bigger than I was expecting, so let's get to it! Should I put pictures? Do you guys like pictures? (I say that as if there's anyone actually reading this blog). I'm gonna put pictures.

This first batch of books are ones I ordered from Amazon and other various online sources:

 Half Bad by Sally Green. I haven't read this one yet, but I'm dying to because I've heard such great things about it and it sounds really intriguing. From what I gather it's about witches, specifically black and white witches. Black witches are evil, and white witches are good. The protagonist is a boy named Nathan(?) and he's half black witch, half white witch, and obviously this causes some problems and that's about all I know about it so far. Also, I have the paperback version, which is absolutely gorgeous. The front looks like the picture above, but then you flip it over and it's the same image but with a white background and black lettering. It's just beautiful.

A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. I found the box set really cheap on Amazon ($30!!) at the beginning of the month, but I had no idea if I'd like it so instead, my brother lent me the first one. I got about halfway through before deciding that yes, I absolutely had to order the box set. I'm still about halfway through. Because I ordered the box set two days ago. It just came in today, I unboxed it half an hour ago and it's just so perfect, I can't wait to put it on my bookshelf.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. This book. This book, man. Everything about it is stunning - the cover, the feel, the content, just yes. So, if you couldn't tell, I've already read this one (I read it for Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-thon). It's told from the POV of this boy named Aristotle (Ari for short) and it's all about his friendship with another boy named Dante. I can't say much more without really spoiling it, this is a very spoiler-ripe kind of book, so you'll just have to go read it for yourself. If I could just sum up my feelings for this book in one gif (I can't), this would be it: 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. I'm going to be honest. I bought this book 100% based on the cover. I had no idea what it was about until I got it in the mail, opened up the package, and read the back. Good thing it's actually right up my alley (angel falls in love with a demon, or something). When I did open the package, however, the first thing I noticed was the awful shape the book was in. The cover was bent, it looked like a cat or something had chewed on the bottom corner, and the pages were so worn and gross it was just... ugh. I'd ordered the book from thriftbooks.com, so obviously it wasn't going to be a brand new copy, but this copy... nope. So I contacted thriftbooks and told them about the quality and not only did they refund me the full price of the book ($5), they let me keep it anyway. A+ on customer service, thriftbooks. I'm going to go out and grab a different copy before I read it, though, because I can barely stand to look it at. Who would treat a book like that?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I had to. I just had to. Look at that cover. I usually hate movie tie-in editions of books, but look at it. I order this one right from B&N's website, even though I already have ahem... five... copies... of it... I can list them, see:

1) My original copy. It has notes and stuff in it. I don't loan this one out anymore, because apparently the notes contain spoilers. (Sorry, Amanda!)

2) The collector's edition copy. It's shiny and silver and has stuff inside it.

3) A signed copy.

4) A Spanish copy.

5) The audiobook, narrated by John Green.

And now, 6) this one.

It's honestly such a nice copy though, it's not super floppy and fingerprint-gathering as most movie tie-ins, it's actually pretty good quality and there are pictures inside. Of the movie.

How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets by Garth Stein. I loved The Art of Racing in the Rain, so I just had to get this book. Unfortunately, the cover I have isn't as nice as this one, but it's not too bad. From what I can gather it's about this guy named Evan who hooked up with this girl in high school and she got pregnant. The book takes place several years later - the girl has just died and now Evan is stuck with his estranged teenage son who wants nothing to do with him. Not as creative as Racing in the Rain, but I'm still pretty excited for this one.

Man in the Middle by John Illig. I love hiking. A lot. I've already read a bunch of books (ok, a couple) about the Appalachian Trail, so I figured it was time to branch out and read some about the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail (together they are the three longest hiking trails in the US, besides the American Discovery Trail). This one's about the author's experiences hiking the CDT, which runs from Mexico to Canada and is about 3,100 miles long. It's the newest one of the three, and I'm pretty sure it's not even done being constructed, so this should be a pretty interesting read. This book is actually the third in a series, because before he wrote this one he wrote two others on the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, which he also hiked. I don't... I don't even know how. 

Now let's move on to books I bought in store. I actually bought all of these books at the same store, a second-hand bookstore that usually has books in decent shape at even better prices. So that's nice.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Halloween Rain, Bad Bargain, and Afterimage by a bunch of people. This book is huge, and it was only $2, and I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I didn't even know there were books based on it until I saw this. Enough said.

BtVS: Chaos Bleeds by James A. Moore. Again, Buffy. $2. Buffy.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I've already read this book for class, but I absolutely loved and I had to get my own copy to make notes and stuff in, because when I really like books I have to make notes about how much I love it. In all honesty, though, this book blew my mind. 

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse-Five blew my mind so far into the stratosphere that I had to get more books by Kurt Vonnegut. This was the only one they had at the store :( .

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The only other book by Dan Brown I've read is Deception Point, and I actually really liked it - more than I thought I would, anyway. So I decided to pick up another one by him, and, well, it's The Da Vinci Code. 

That's it for my April book haul! I did order one more book, but it's not going to be here until May, so I'm going to put it in my May book haul instead. I'll just keep you all in suspense until then.

Yup.