September Wrap Up

I decided very last minute to do a wrap up for this month. Even though I just started this blog about 3 weeks ago, I figured it was still a good idea to post more content on my blog. It also doesn't hurt to start getting some ideas that I can you use later on. Since I'm coming out of a reading slump that lasted most of the summer I didn't read as much as I normally could in a month.

Books I Read

Paper Towns by John Green

My Review

Trespassers by Todd Wynn & Tim Wynn

My Review

Currently Reading

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

2015 Reading Challenge

For this year, I have set a goal to read at least 50 books. As of now I have read 29 books so I'm a little over halfway done. I think I actually read a few more books that I didn't add to goodreads but I'm not going to worry about those. According to goodreads I'm 8 books behind schedule to finish on time but I still think I can do it!

What are some of the books you read during the month of September?

Top Ten Tuesday #3

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at Broke and Bookish. Each week there is a topic and we list off our top ten items based on that topic.

Books/Series to Read If You Liked the Twilight Series (And If You Didn't!)

I'm pretty sure by now everyone has heard of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer either by reading the books or watching the movies or both. A lot of people were on one extreme or the other when it came to this series but I was in the middle. It wasn't my favorite series but for the most part I still enjoyed it. As I check out more blogs, I realize that I haven't read that many books compared to some others, at least that I can remember, so I wanted to pick something that I remembered and that I was sure a lot of people were familiar with. If you liked the Twilight Series, and even if you didn't, here are some recommendations to other books or series you may enjoy. Just a precaution, I'm really bad at explaining what a book is about but I will try my best.

*Pictures link to book page on Goodreads

The Host by Stephenie Meyer - I hear a lot of people talking about the Twilight series but I don't hear too much about this one. I read this right after I finished the Twilight series and I loved it. This is basically about aliens who come to take over the earth by inserting themselves inside human bodies. For those who did not like the Twilight series I would still recommend you check this out.

Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout - I have been hearing about this series a lot more lately but I only discovered it within the last year. This series was so fun and action packed I got through each book in about 2 to 3 days. I loved this series so much that I would like to reread it, even though it hasn't been that long since I finished it! 

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - This is another popular vampire series and was one of my favorite series. I started this series when the first 2 or 3 books were out and the rest as they came out. This series took a different approach than the Twilight series. One group of vampires in this series is similar to Twilight series vampires while still having a more traditional form in the other group of vampires. The Moroi are the vampires that are alive and use dhampirs, like the narrator and our main heroine, for protection from the Strigoi, the undead vampires. This series kept me interested from the beginning to the end, and even when it ended I wanted more.

Blood of Eden by Julie Kagawa - This is a vampire series that I don't hear too many people talk about. Like the Vampire Academy series, there is a strong heroine. She claims to only be looking out for herself but she is always willing to help out others even if puts herself in danger. Her morals are even carried over when she becomes a vampire and has to fight her instincts. I haven't finished this series yet but I definitely recommend this, especially since I flew through the first two.

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz - This was another series I grew up with but never actually finished. I think I actually have all the books now so I plan to reread and finish this series. This is another series about vampires but this one was different from all the others. One of the most interesting things is that the vampires were not made but came from the recycled bloodlines of fallen angles, the Blue Bloods. This series was full of certain family expectations and forbidden relationships. Honestly, I think I mostly stuck around for one of the main relationships. Although one of my favorite parts was the romance between certain characters the overall story that I read was entertaining.

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest - I wondered if I should even include this series in this list. I wouldn't say this is my favorite series, not even my favorite about vampires. However, this series was fast, entertaining, and kinda addictive. I would finish one and since they were so cheap for the kindle I would just go get the next one and immediately start reading it. For the price I think it would be worth it to at least check at the first book in the series and make your own opinions from there.

These are the books/series that stick in my mind that readers that enjoyed the Twilight series might enjoy. Let me know if you have any recommendations of your own!

Trespassers by Todd Wynn & Tim Wynn | Review

Trespassers by Todd Wynn & Tim Wynn
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication Date: October 18, 2014
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 344
Source: Received Amazon credit from authors to purchase
Find on Goodreads



I would rate this more of a 2.5

Goodreads Description

When four alien visitors arrive on Earth and disappear into the cornfields of Indiana, it is Stewart Faulkner’s job to find them. Who they are, where they’re headed, and what’s important enough to make them jump from a moving spaceship are all questions that Stewart must uncover. And he will have to do it all while

1) training a new team member named Mindy—who is developing a crush on him;
2) flying under the radar of his boss to make sure he’s not removed from the case; and
3) staying one step ahead of a government agent named Karl Bruner, who is determined to expose the presence of aliens on Earth.

My Thoughts

Non-Spoiler

I'm trying to think of the best place to start with this review. I have so many thoughts going through my mind but when it comes to putting them down in actual words my mind goes blank. I guess the best place to start would be with the reason for the rating. The summary was interesting enough for me to add it to my pile of books I wanted to read, and when I was contacted by one of the authors offering a free digital copy since I had it on my Goodreads "to read" list I figured it was worth it to give it a try.

While I enjoyed the overall plot I felt the story fell short in multiple places. After taking several creative writing classes and having my own work critiques, I learned one of the biggest things a story needs to have is conflict. This story had it's major problems but there were no conflicts and that was a huge disappointment for me. Everything was just too easy!

I liked that the authors payed attention to details liked one of the characters having bow tie shaped pupils to signify he wasn't from earth, but I also felt like they were trying to pay so much attention to the little details that sometimes it was a bit much. There was a lot of back stories and descriptions of things that I didn't feel were important because they were never mentioned again after.

The ending was another problem for me. I understand that usually you would want the story to wrap up nicely, especially in a standalone. This was too neatly wrapped up for me. Almost every single character gets what they wanted at the start of the book. This brings me back to my point of everything happening too easy.

Summary

Overall the book was enjoyable even though it took me a while to get into it. I gave this book a 2.5 out of 5 because while it was enjoyable it feel a little flat for me. I gave it the extra .5 because it had an interesting concept and it had a different approach then different books about aliens that I had previously read, and I felt a little bad giving it only 2 stars.

Spoilers

There was a moment when the Limestone Deposit Survey Group (the government agency in charge of covering up alien activity on Earth) set up a plan to capture the aliens they are currently after. After what could have only been about 10 minutes book time, the aliens are just let go and that scene is over.

Another scene that could have turned into something more was when Jeremy decides to try out Sara's quorets. There were so many ways this scene could have went, so many things these little blocks of wood could have done. Instead all we see is a small moment between Jeremy and Sara and the moment when they were used on someone else.

Top Ten Tuesday #2

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at Broke and Bookish. Each week there is a topic and we list off our top ten items based on that topic.

Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR

I decided to choose books that I already own as either a physical copy or an ebook. 

*Pictures link to book page on Goodreads

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - As I mentioned in my Top Ten Tuesday last week, I haven't started this series yet and I really want to. I already have the ebook so I can at least get started.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - I picked this up not long after it released but I still haven't read it yet. I kept telling myself I couldn't read it until I finished another book I never picked it up.

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa - I read the first two books in this trilogy months ago when I was avoiding doing school work. They were really good and I flew through them but for some reason I never got around to reading this one. Since The Eternity Cure left off on a cliffhanger, I want to know what happens next.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey - I bought this book at least 6 months ago. At the time I was so busy I never had the time to read it. When I did have a little extra time I decided to read books that were shorter and wouldn't take as much time to get through.

White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout - I heard about this book more recently. A lot of people were talk about the 3rd book in the series but there were still good reviews on this one. I recently purchased an ebook of this one.

Eon by Alison Goodman - I stumbled upon this book one day while scrolling through Goodreads. At the time I had extra money so I immediately got an ebook copy but haven't looked at it since.

Tormented Soul by Dylann Rhea - I won this book through the Goodreads giveaways. Although the summary sounded really interesting, I just haven't picked it up yet and I'm not sure why.

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch - I don't remember when I picked this up but I heard some good reviews and decided it was worth the try.

Alienated by Melissa Landers - I don't know too much about this book. I heard some good reviews about it and I think it was on sale at the time I bought it. I have been thinking about reading it for a while but like a few of the others I never got around to it.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - I will admit I not as excited about this read as the others since I have tried to read it before. I know I didn't give it a fair shot before so I am willing to give it another chance since I really wanted to continue on in the series. 

Any of these books make your list? What are some of the top books on your fall to be read list? Leave the link to your TTT so I can check it out!

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead | Review

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: August, 16, 2007

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Pages: 332

Source: Purchased

First Line: "I felt her fear before I heard her screams."

Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description 

ONLY A TRUE BEST FRIEND CAN PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR IMMORTAL ENEMIES…

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires—the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger…and the Strigoi are always close by.


Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever…

My Thoughts

I don't exactly remember what I first thought about this book when I picked it up since it was so long ago. I do know that I was interested enough in the summary to pick it up. During the summer I got into a bit of a reading slump, and when I was finally coming out of it I wanted to read one of the many books I haven't picked up yet but at the same time I wanted to read something I was sure was going to be good. It was between this one and another series that I got most of the way through but still didn't finish. I decided to start rereading this one first.

I thought this book was amazing! It gave a completely different take on vampires. While the Moroi still need blood to survive they don't fall under the stereotypes of what we typically think of when vampires are brought up. At the same time, the dangerous parts aren't completely taken away because there are also the Strigoi and they follow all the stereotypes of burning in the sun and killing any and everyone.

I appreciate that Rose took it upon herself to protect Lissa no matter what. When St. Vladmir's isn't safe anymore she decides they need to leave. Any moment Lissa was in trouble, Rose did everything she could to help her without any concern for how she would look or the consequences she would later have to face. Sometimes this bothered me because at times Rose acted like she was a servant instead of being Lissa best friend. However, I also understand that Rose was raised to believe that Moroi life was more important than her's and others like her.

I loved Rose! She always said what was on her mind and was quick to make jokes but she knew when it was time to be serious and focus. That was usually when she was training with Dimitri. Rose and Dimitri! I just have one word for them. SEXY!! I love that although were attracted to one another it was instant love. It starts from a place of respect and progresses as they learn more about each other.

Overall, I think this was a great start to this amazing series. I would recommend this to anyone look for a fun, fast-paced read.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at Broke and Bookish. Each week there is a topic and we list off our top ten items based on that topic.

Freebie | Series I Haven't Started Yet

This is my first time participating in Top Ten Tuesday. It is a bit late since I found out about it at around 11 pm and decided to just go ahead and put something together. Since it was a freebie I decided to list 10 series that I really want to read but haven't started yet. These series aren't listed in any specific order. I've heard so many good things about all these series, I just haven't taken the time to pick them up yet but I will soon!

*All links lead to Goodreads page for the first book in the series

Harry Potter - I tried reading Harry Potter when I was in about 4th or 5th grade since it was just in my house but at the time I found it a bit intimidating. At the time it was a lot longer than any of the books I was reading and I didn't think I could do it. As the years went by I never tried to pick it up again. Now I'm at a point where I want to know what I missed out on all those years.

Throne of Glass - I didn't find out about this series until the 3rd book came out. I have been hearing amazing this series. I even bought an ebook version of Throne of Glass because the reviews were so good but I still haven't started it yet.

The Lunar Chronicles - This is another series I found heard about later in the series. I even checked Cinder out of my school's library but at the time I was busy so I never got around to actually reading it. I am excited about starting this series.

The Mortal Instruments - I have mixed feelings about this one. I own a copy of City of Bones and have tried to start this series multiple times but could never seem to get into it. However, whenever I tried to pick it up I was usually in the mood for a light fun read and I thought I could just force myself into it. Clearly that didn't work, I've heard so many good reviews of this series that I want to give it a fair shot.

Bloodlines - I read all the Vampire Academy books and I wanted to go on and read these as well but I didn't have any money to buy them. After a while I forgot about them. Since I am rereading the Vampire Academy series to review for the blog, I definitely want to get to these.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians - I didn't know about this series when I was younger. If I did I think I would have definitely read it because I was interested in Greek mythology. So many people seem to like this series, as well as the continuations, so I want to read them soon.

Shatter Me - I first stumbled upon this series on goodreads. The summary sounded interesting but the original cover made me doubt the quality of the book. I put it on my TBR but I didn't think twice about it. Then I started hearing reviews about the series which made me go back to it and push it up more towards the top of my list.

The Darkest Minds - This is another one of those series I heard great reviews about. I don't know too much about this series besides children gaining special abilities. I was really interested from that alone and I plan on picking up this series.

Legend - Honestly I don't really know much about this series. All I know is there was a war and the United States have been split into two sections known as the Republic and the Colonies. Once again, there have been so many great reviews on this series that I want to check it out.

The 5th Wave - I have been wanting to start this series for a while. I even bought a copy and had planned on reading it when I got it but like with Cinder, I got really busy with school so I didn't have any extra time to sit down and get through it.

This isn't all the series I want to read that I haven't started yet, but it's the start of a long and growing list. Which of these series should I pick up first? What are some series you really want to read or continue?

Paper Towns by John Green | Review

Paper Towns by John Green
Publisher: Speak
Publication Date: September 22, 2009 (reprint)
Genre: YA Contemporary
Pages: 305
Source: Borrowed from friend
First Line: "The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle."
Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew... 

My Thoughts

Going into this book, I didn't know too much about it besides the basics. This is surprising considering the movie just came out and everyone was talking about it. Before Paper Towns, I read two other books by John Green, The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska. The two were so different so I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. 

John Green's way of writing makes everything believable. All the characters were unique but still seemed like real people. I felt this was especially true when we see how the different characters saw Margo Roth Spiegelman. Each character's response to the disappearance of Margo was genuine. Quentin, finally coming the closest to Margo since their childhood, is the most invested in finding her no matter how he might find her. In order to help, Q's friends do what they can but aren't as invested as Q. This was another way the characters were more believable. When Margo disappeared, they didn't just drop everything and go searching for her. They continued living their lives and when they finally figured out a new clue or had the time, they went look, and I liked that 

Paper Towns was fun and entertaining while still having serious, thought provoking moments. While Quentin is trying to figure out why Margo left and where she might have gone to, he takes the time to think about who Margo really was compared to how he and everyone else say her.

I was disappointed by the end. There was so much buildup that I felt like I was running full speed ahead. When I got to that final section it was like I ran head first into a wall marked the end. The story just stopped and it definitely felt like there should have been more. However, I appreciate that the story wasn't nicely wrapped up since life keeps going and there is never a definite ending. While I had some mixed feelings about this book, I still enjoyed it

Favorite Quotes

"...Humans lack good mirrors. It so hard for anyone to show us how we look, and hard for us to show anyone how we feel." 

"What a treacherous thing it is to believe that a person is more than a person."

"As much as life can suck, it always beats the alternative."

"I imagine it is hard to go back once you've felt the continents in your palm."