Goodreads Monday (2/26/2018)

Goodreads Monday is a meme hosted by Lauren @Page Turner,  and the idea is to post a book that’s on your TBR pile and show it off. This is a great way to show off books I have not yet managed to read!

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This week I have chosen:

Title:  Because You Love To Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy

Author: Ameriie (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Renee Ahdieh (Goodreads Author), Soman Chainani (Goodreads Author), Susan Dennard (Goodreads Author), Sarah Enni (Goodreads Author), Marissa Meyer (Goodreads Author), Cindy Pon (Goodreads Author), Victoria Schwab (Goodreads Author) , Samantha Shannon (Goodreads Author), Adam Silvera (Goodreads Author), Andrew Smith, April Genevieve Tucholke, Nicola Yoon (Goodreads Author), Sasha Alsberg (Goodreads Author), Whitney Atkinson, Tina Burke, Catriona Feeney, Jesse George, Zoë Herdt (Goodreads Author), Samantha Lane, Sophia Lee, Raeleen Lemay, Regan Perusse, Christine Riccio, Steph Sinclair, Kat Kennedy, Ben Alderson (Goodreads Author) 

Published: July 11th 2017 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Goodreads Summary:

Leave it to the heroes to save the world–villains just want to rule the world.

In this unique YA anthology, thirteen acclaimed, bestselling authors team up with thirteen influential BookTubers to reimagine fairy tales from the oft-misunderstood villains’ points of view.

These fractured, unconventional spins on classics like “Medusa,” Sherlock Holmes, and “Jack and the Beanstalk” provide a behind-the-curtain look at villains’ acts of vengeance, defiance, and rage–and the pain, heartbreak, and sorrow that spurned them on. No fairy tale will ever seem quite the same again!

Featuring writing from . . .

Authors: Renée Ahdieh, Ameriie, Soman Chainani, Susan Dennard, Sarah Enni, Marissa Meyer, Cindy Pon, Victoria Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Adam Silvera, Andrew Smith, April Genevieve Tucholke, and Nicola Yoon

BookTubers: Benjamin Alderson (Benjaminoftomes), Sasha Alsberg (abookutopia), Whitney Atkinson (WhittyNovels), Tina Burke (ChristinaReadsYA blog and TheLushables), Catriona Feeney (LittleBookOwl), Jesse George (JessetheReader), Zoë Herdt (readbyzoe), Samantha Lane (Thoughts on Tomes), Sophia Lee (thebookbasement), Raeleen Lemay (padfootandprongs07), Regan Perusse (PeruseProject), Christine Riccio (polandbananasBOOKS), and Steph Sinclair & Kat Kennedy (Cuddlebuggery blog and channel).

I’ve been on a Valentine’s related anthology kick this month, and what better to end the last Monday of February with an anthology from the villains perspective! This has been on my TBR list since I discovered it in December, and finally bought a copy for myself in January!

What is on your TBR shelf this week?

Waiting on Wednesday (2/21/2018)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by  Jill from Breaking The Spine that shows the upcoming books that many of us are anticipating! This week, I’m waiting for…

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Title:  This Heart of Mine

Author: C.C. Hunter

Expected Publication: February 27th 2018

Publisher:  Wednesday Books

Goodreads Summary:

A new heart saved her life—but will it help her find out what really happened to its donor?

Seventeen-year-old Leah MacKenzie is heartless. An artificial heart in a backpack is keeping her alive. However, this route only offers her a few years. And with her rare blood type, a transplant isn’t likely. Living like you are dying isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But when a heart becomes available, she’s given a second chance at life. Except Leah discovers who the donor was — a boy from her school — and they’re saying he killed himself. Plagued with dreams since the transplant, she realizes she may hold the clues to what really happened.

Matt refuses to believe his twin killed himself. When Leah seeks him out, he learns they are both having similar dreams and he’s certain it means something. While unraveling the secrets of his brother’s final moments, Leah and Matt find each other, and a love they are terrified to lose. But life and even new hearts don’t come with guarantees. Who knew living, took more courage than dying?

I’ve read a few books by C.C. Hunter and while I haven’t loved them, I did really enjoy reading them. This book sounds a lot different from the books that I typically read from this author, and who knows this might be the book that end up really loving!

What are you waiting for this week?

Goodreads Monday (2/19/2018)

Goodreads Monday is a meme hosted by Lauren @Page Turner,  and the idea is to post a book that’s on your TBR pile and show it off. This is a great way to show off books I have not yet managed to read!

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This week I have chosen:

Title:  Three Sides of a Heart

Author:  Natalie C. Parker (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Rae Carson, Brandy Colbert (Goodreads Author), Katie Cotugno, Alaya Dawn Johnson(Goodreads Author), E.K. Johnston (Goodreads Author), Tessa Gratton(Goodreads Author), Garth Nix (Goodreads Author) , Veronica Roth (Goodreads Author), Sabaa Tahir (Goodreads Author), Brenna Yovanoff (Goodreads Author), Renee Ahdieh (Goodreads Author), Julie Murphy (Goodreads Author), Justina Ireland (Goodreads Author), Lamar Giles (Goodreads Author), Bethany Hagen(Goodreads Author) 

Published: December 19th 2017 by HarperCollins

Goodreads Summary:

You may think you know the love triangle, but you’ve never seen love triangles like these.

These top YA authors tackle the much-debated trope of the love triangle, and the result is sixteen fresh, diverse, and romantic stories you don’t want to miss.

This collection, edited by Natalie C. Parker, contains stories written by Renee Ahdieh, Rae Carson, Brandy Colbert, Katie Cotugno, Lamar Giles, Tessa Gratton, Bethany Hagan, Justina Ireland, Alaya Dawn Johnson, EK Johnston, Julie Murphy, Garth Nix, Natalie C. Parker, Veronica Roth, Sabaa Tahir, and Brenna Yovanoff.

A teen girl who offers kissing lessons. Zombies in the Civil War South. The girl next door, the boy who loves her, and the girl who loves them both. Vampires at a boarding school. Three teens fighting monsters in an abandoned video rental store. Literally the last three people on the planet.

What do all these stories have in common?

The love triangle.

I do not typically enjoy love triangles, but if they are done correctly I think I can enjoy them! So an anthology based on love triangles is a bit different from what I normally like to read, but since it is February I added it to my TBR list. What is your stance on love triangles? What is on your TBR list this week?

Book Blogger Hop: Week of 2/9-2/15

Book Blogger Hop

This weekly hop is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer, featuring a question about books each week. The purpose is to bring bookish bloggers together, basically. To participate, write a post about the question for that week and add your link.

This weeks question: 9th – 15th – What authors have you met and where? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews)

In 2016, I went to my very first book festival in Austin, Texas. While there I met some amazing authors for the very first time!!! Let’s see if I can remember them all:

• Leigh Bardugo
• Sabaa Tahir
• Roshani Chokshi
• Kendare Blake
• Laini Taylor
• E.K. Johnston

I feel like I am missing a few, but that’s all I can remember right now off the top of my head.

I wish I could have gone last year, but having a newborn kind of determined that that wasn’t going to happen. So this year, I plan on taking my one year old and introducing her to book festival life early! 😉

Who have you met?

Here is a little throwback pic to when I met Bardugo and got my duology signed!

Oh, and happy day after Valentine’s to you!

 

Goodreads Monday (2/12/2018)

Goodreads Monday is a meme hosted by Lauren @Page Turner,  and the idea is to post a book that’s on your TBR pile and show it off. This is a great way to show off books I have not yet managed to read!

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This week I have chosen:

Title:  Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet

Author:  Jennifer L. Armentrout (Goodreads Author), Sona Charaipotra (Goodreads Author), Dhonielle Clayton, Katie Cotugno, Jocelyn Davies (Goodreads Author), Nina LaCour (Goodreads Author), Emery Lord (Goodreads Author), Katharine McGee , Kass Morgan (Goodreads Author), Meredith Russo (Goodreads Author), Sara Shepard (Goodreads Author), Nicola Yoon (Goodreads Author), Ibi Zoboi (Goodreads Author), Julie Murphy

Published: January 2nd 2018 by HMH Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary:

Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. MEET CUTE is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of “how they first met” from some of today’s most popular YA authors.

Readers will experience Nina LaCour’s beautifully written piece about two Bay Area girls meeting via a cranky customer service Tweet, Sara Shepard’s glossy tale about a magazine intern and a young rock star, Nicola Yoon’s imaginative take on break-ups and make-ups, Katie Cotugno’s story of two teens hiding out from the police at a house party, and Huntley Fitzpatrick’s charming love story that begins over iced teas at a diner. There’s futuristic flirting from Kass Morgan and Katharine McGee, a riveting transgender heroine from Meredith Russo, a subway missed connection moment from Jocelyn Davies, and a girl determined to get out of her small town from Ibi Zoboi. Jennifer Armentrout writes a sweet story about finding love from a missing library book, Emery Lord has a heartwarming and funny tale of two girls stuck in an airport, Dhonielle Clayton takes a thoughtful, speculate approach to pre-destined love, and Julie Murphy dreams up a fun twist on reality dating show contestants.

This incredibly talented group of authors brings us a collection of stories that are at turns romantic and witty, epic and everyday, heartbreaking and real.

This was one of my purchases during my birthday last month, and since it is the week of Valentine’s figured it was appropriate to feature this week!

Speaking of Valentine’s do you have any plans?! Tomorrow, I’m doing Galentine’s with a couple of my girlfriends and we’re going to go to the movies. The hubby has been told that he will be on Baby S duty, and the girls and I are going to have some fun! For Valentine’s, we will probably do something as a family or just hang out at home and cook dinner. It’s still up in the air so it could completely change in two days!

What is on your TBR shelf this week?

The Architect of Song Book Review

The Architect of Song (Haunted Hearts Legacy #1) by A.G. Howard

Published: August 15th 2016 by Golden Orb Press

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

A lady imprisoned by deafness, an architect imprisoned by his past, and a ghost imprisoned within the petals of a flower – intertwine in this love story that transcends life and death.

For most of her life, Juliet Emerline has subsisted – isolated by deafness – making hats in the solitude of her home. Now, she’s at risk to lose her sanctuary to Lord Nicolas Thornton, a mysterious and eccentric architect with designs on her humble estate. When she secretly witnesses him raging beside a grave, Juliet investigates, finding the name “Hawk” on the headstone and an unusual flower at the base. The moment Juliet touches the petals, a young English nobleman appears in ghostly form, singing a song only her deaf ears can hear. The ghost remembers nothing of his identity or death, other than the one name that haunts his afterlife: Thornton.

To avenge her ghostly companion and save her estate, Juliet pushes aside her fear of society and travels to Lord Thornton’s secluded holiday resort, posing as a hat maker in one of his boutiques. There, she finds herself questioning who to trust: the architect of flesh and bones who can relate to her through romantic gestures, heartfelt notes, and sensual touches … or the specter who serenades her with beautiful songs and ardent words, touching her mind and soul like no other man ever can. As sinister truths behind Lord Thornton’s interest in her estate and his tie to Hawk come to light, Juliet is lured into a web of secrets. But it’s too late for escape, and the tragic love taking seed in her heart will alter her silent world forever.

International and NYT bestselling author, A.G. Howard, brings her darkly magical and visual/visceral storytelling to Victorian England. The Architect of Song is the first installment in her lush and romantic Haunted Hearts Legacy series, a four book New Adult gothic saga following the generations of one family as – haunted by both literal and figurative ghosts – they search for self-acceptance, love, and happiness.

Recommended for ages 16+

I actually got this in one of my LitCube’s in 2016, and I finally just finished it last month. Oops. This is probably one of my first New Adult historical romance book with a paranormal element, and I hope it’s not my last!

“Love enters a man through his eyes, a woman through her ears”

The Architect of Song did take me a little bit to get into, but once I did I did not want to put it down! This story centered around Juliet who became deaf after a sickness as a child that also took her dad. A ghost who doesn’t remember anything except the name Thorton, and the viscount who wants to marry Juliet for reasons we don’t know. Somehow, Howard weaved in a love triangle that just worked for this story. I was a little skeptical about how that would turn out, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Looking back, my main problem with this book is how Juliet is portrayed. I think I am used to fantasy books with a strong female lead, and Juliet is a bit more on the damsel side. She constantly views her deafness as a reason that she can’t have a normal life or normal relationships. And she is constantly quick to believe the ghost over the viscount even though she just met both of them.

Although it was very different from books that I normally read, I was able to pick up the plot twist about halfway through. Once I figured it out, I spent the rest of the book wondering when Juliet would figure it out. It took her awhile, but Howard did a wonderful job of slowly revealing everything.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot even with the few aspects that bothered me. The writing was excellent, and the plot moved very well (in the second half). The ending did wrap up pretty neatly, so I wonder how the rest of the series will go.

Book Blogger Hop: Week of 2/2-2/8

Book Blogger Hop

This weekly hop is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer, featuring a question about books each week. The purpose is to bring bookish bloggers together, basically. To participate, write a post about the question for that week and add your link.

This weeks question: 2nd – 8th – Do you prefer to blog about (a) specific book genre(s), or do you have an eclectic blog? (submitted by Maria @ A Night’s Dream of Books)

I kind of have an eclectic blog. I tend to do a lot of YA fantasy books, but sometimes I like to branch out and read a good contemporary here and there. So I guess, you can say that I do tend to blog about specifically young adult books and hardly ever do any other type of books.

What about you? What genre do you like to blog about?

Waiting on Wednesday (2/7/2018)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by  Jill from Breaking The Spine that shows the upcoming books that many of us are anticipating! This week, I’m waiting for…

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Title:  Sightwitch (The Witchlands, #0.5)

Author: Susan Dennard

Expected Publication: February 13th 2018

Publisher:  Tor Teen

Goodreads Summary:

Set a year before Truthwitch, Sightwitch follows Ryber Fortiza, the last Sightwitch Sister as she treks deep underground to rescue her missing best friend. While there, she encounters a young Nubrevnan named Kullen Ikray, who has no memory of who he is or how he wound up inside the mountain. As the two journey ever deeper in search of answers, and as they brave one close call after another, a tentative friendship forms between them—one that might one day grow into something more.

Sightwitch is told through Ryber’s journal entries and her sketches, as well as through supplementary materials (such as other journals, pieces of songs, clippings from history books, flashbacks, etc.). Though meant as a companion novella, this story serves as a set up to Bloodwitch as well as an expansion of the world.

Susan Dennard is coming to south Texas on the 20th, and she is still 5 hours away from me ='(….why must Texas be so darn big?!

I loved Truthwitch, and I have Windwitch on my TBR….but I am thinking of waiting and start it after I get my hands on this book! Mainly so I can just stay in that universe a bit longer than one book.

What are you waiting for this week?

January Wrap Up and February TBR

January has come and gone and we are in a whole new month of 2018! January went by so quickly, I hope that is not a sign for the rest of the year! I set my Goodreads Challenge to one book a week and I am already failing at it! 🤦🏻‍♀️

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This past month, I read 2/4 books:

These were fairly quick reads, and I still have to write their reviews. It’s on my to do list!

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January was also birthday month!!!! So that means I bought a significant amount of books all thanks to turning another year older and a lot of Christmas gift cards 😂.

I left out Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu, I left it on the shelf with Wonder Woman by Leigh Bardugo and completely forgot about it. The book that I am most excited about to start reading is A Darker Shade of Magic, now that I have the first book I can start the series!!

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Now that brings us to my February TBR:

I need to finish reading Wintersong by S Jae Jones, so that’s on the top of my list.

Followed by in no particular order:

How was your January? What books are you planning on reading this month?

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There is one book that I am very excited about that is releasing later this month. Can you guess what it is?

Check out my post tomorrow on Waiting on Wednesday….;)

Goodreads Monday (2/5/2018)

Goodreads Monday is a meme hosted by Lauren @Page Turner,  and the idea is to post a book that’s on your TBR pile and show it off. This is a great way to show off books I have not yet managed to read!

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This week I have chosen:

Title:  A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3)

Author: V.E. Schwab

Published: February 21st 2017 by Tor Teen

Goodreads Summary:

Witness the fate of beloved heroes – and enemies.

THE BALANCE OF POWER HAS FINALLY TIPPED…
The precarious equilibrium among four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise.

WHO WILL CRUMBLE?
Kell – once assumed to be the last surviving Antari – begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. And in the wake of tragedy, can Arnes survive?

WHO WILL RISE?
Lila Bard, once a commonplace – but never common – thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.

WHO WILL TAKE CONTROL?
And an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown while a fallen hero tries to save a world in decay.

Ah, can’t believe that we are already 5 days into February!!!! I feel like I have been seriously slacking already this year on my blog, and hopefully this month I’ll be able to turn that around!

What is on your TBR shelf this week?