Top Ten Tuesday: Top Bookworm Delights

Another week has gone by which means it's time for another Top Ten Tuesday. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the ladies at The Broke and the Bookish. As you can tell from the title of this post, this week's theme is the Top Ten Bookworm Delights. I'm sure there are more than what I have listed but these are the first one I thought of. Let's just get into the list.


1. Getting recommendations that I actually enjoy: I ask for recommendations all the time but I know I can get really picky while reading. So it's amazing when I like something as much, or even more, than someone said I would.

2. Bookmarks!: I'm one of those people that will pick up pretty much anything I have around me to use as a bookmark but I still absolutely love actual bookmarks. I just got a gold foil set from aureateargent on Etsy and they are beautiful. I can see myself have a big collection in the future.

3. Beautiful cover under the dust jacket: I love a book that has a nice cover but I love it even more when the hardcover is equally as nice. Not only does it let know the publisher (or whoever is in charge of that) put in the extra effort but it also gives me something else to look at since I take the dust jacket off to read my hardcovers.

4. Reorganizing my bookshelf: For the longest time I didn't have a bookshelf. My books were either in piles on my dress or on the floor in my closet. Now that I have a shelf I love reorganizing it whenever I get new books. Now I just need more because I'm ran out of room.

5. Being able to read without being interrupted: Currently I do most of my reading at work and of course I'mg going to have interruptions then. It's more rare now but there are days when I just sit around at home and read but it seems like every time I get interrupted for something. I love those times when I can sit down with a book and some instrumental music (I have 3 younger brothers so I need something to block them out) and just read until whenever I feel like getting up.

6. Connecting with people over books: For most of my life reading had been a private thing, mostly because I didn't have anyone to talk to about what I was reading. I love being able to discuss books and bookish things with people.

7. Maps: I love having maps, especially when there's a brand new world I know nothing about. I appreciate having something to reference when characters are traveling through that world. Also, they are always beautiful.

8. Reading a book that was exactly what I was looking for at that moment: I am a mood reader! There have been times where I ended up not really liking a book because I wasn't in the mood for it. I feel so satisfied after finishing a book and realizing it was exactly what I wanted to read.

9. Getting book mail: I like getting any non-bill related mail but I especially like getting book/bookish mail. Even when I know it's coming, I still get excited. It's even better when I don't know when it's coming!

10. Extra stories from my favorite books or series: When I grow to love characters in a book or series, I'm always sad to see the end. I just love when authors release novellas or even just a couple of pages about those characters.

What are some of your bookworm delights?

The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2) by Rick Yancey | Review

The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2) by Rick Yancey
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 16, 2014
Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Dystopia, Aliens
Pages: 300
Source: Purchased
Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.

My Thoughts

I will admit I was worried going into this book. When I finally decided to start reading The 5th Wave I had heard so many mixed review about this books. Honestly most, if not all them were bad. A lot of the complaints were that the story was slow, confusing, or there just wasn't much going on. As you might be able to see from my rating I don't agree with everything that was said. I picked this book up a couple days after I finished The 5th Wave and because of that I was still fresh on the characters and the general story line. I think this helped me to remain invested in what was going on. However, there were some things that I didn't like about this sequel.

The story picks up right after the end of the first book. All of the main characters that we followed that escaped from Camp Haven are currently hiding out until they decided what they are going to do next. The Infinite Sea is split into two parts (Book 1 & Book 2). Book 1 follows the same style of The 5th Wave in terms of the way the story is being told. The main change is there is a shift in the POVs being used to tell the story. In this book Ringer becomes one of the main point of views we read from and I was a little disappointed by this because I had really become attached to Cassie and the story she told. Book 1 was action packed and had me quickly flipping through the pages.

Book 2 was slower in pace but it brought in a whole new thought process that I found extremely interesting. Pretty much all of this section of the book is told in Ringer's point of view and once again I was disappointed because not only are Cassie and Evan my favorite characters, Book 1 ended on a cliffhanger so I wanted to know what happened to all the other characters. Book 2 still had some exciting parts. This is where I really started thinking about everything I already knew and trying to fit all this new information in that was given to Ringer.

There were moments where I would stop reading just to try to put information together and honestly it didn't even work. I felt like I was in the book and every new piece of information made me question my instincts. Not only was I questioning my instincts, I questioned if I could trust in anyone else if I was in the same position. If you can't trust in anyone what do you do? I just kept asking myself question I couldn't come up with the answers to which I'm sure was the point. For that alone I think Rick Yancey is brilliant!

There is so much to this story than your typical YA Sci-Fi story. While this might not be the type of story for everyone, I really enjoyed this and I'm highly anticipating The Last Star.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Will Make You Laugh (or at least chuckle)

Happy Tuesday everyone! As usual Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the ladies at Broke and Bookish. While I was making this list I realized that I haven't really read any books that mainly meant to be humorous. Even though this is true, there are some books that I actually laughed at. I think it's best to go into these without knowing exactly what I found funny so you can decided if you think those moments are funny too. I'm also being really lazy and don't feel like writing about the funny moments of each book (lol) so I'm just going to include the books that I could think of when I was making this list.

What are some books that make you laugh?

Waiting on Wednesday | Saga Volume 6 by Brian K. Vaughn

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature created by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

Saga Volume 6 by Brian K. Vaughn
Publisher: Image Comics
Expected Publication Date: July 5, 2016
Pages: 152
Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description

After a dramatic time jump, the three-time Eisner Award winner for Best Continuing Series continues to evolve, as Hazel begins the most exciting adventure of her life: kindergarten. Meanwhile, her star-crossed family learns hard lessons of their own.
Collects SAGA #31-36

Why I'm Waiting

If you are friends with me on goodreads (if you aren't you should add me!) know that I recently finished reading all the volumes of Saga that are currently out. I wasn't blown away by the first volume but after that the story just took off. As soon as I finished volume 5 I was upset that I didn't space it out reading  them. Although there is a main focus throughout the series, there are so many sides stories that follow the different characters. Since I've already finished all the others I have to wait another 3 months before this comes out. If you haven't already, I suggest checking this series out!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Books Every Paranormal Romance Lover Should Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at Broke and Bookish. Lately I've been making more of effort to expand my reading. Looking back, I realized I mostly read paranormal romance. So for this week's semi-freebie theme I decided to go with books paranormal romance readers should check out if you haven't already. I tried to pick a variety of paranormal "creatures" but somehow I still ended up with almost half being about vampires. This aren't in any special order.

Lux Series - Who was surprised by this? If you've been following some of my blog posts you would know this is one of my favorites and it involves aliens. I love Katy and Daemon! 

The 5th Wave - I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. This is another story involving aliens. Not only that, this book made me question trusting my own instincts and belief of other people. As for the romance, there's just something someone going against what's expected of them for someone else always gets me.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians - This is a bit of a cheat since I'm still reading the series and I'm not sure if there's really any romance in it. There is such as sense of humor and adventure that I'm sure most people of any age can enjoy. I'm sure you already know but there are gods/demigods along with all types of creatures.

A Court of Thorns and Roses - I'm sure everyone has heard about this book by now. There's fae and all kinds of romance!

Blood of Eden - This has vampires and zombie like vampires. Obviously there's romance but I don't want to give anything away if anyone hasn't started this series yet.

Vampire Academy - Another vampire series and I'm sure everyone has heard of this series. This is another one of my favorite series. There was such a different take on vampires and there was more added to the story. If you haven't read this series and don't mind vampire books I highly suggest checking it out.

Saga - There has been a lot of talk about this series and now I understand why. You can tell just by the cover that there are some paranormal characters (even if they might be considered more fantastical. I'm honestly considering anything that's not human paranormal for this post). Definitely think it's worth checking out!

A Shade of Vampire - As you can tell this is another vampire series. I was surprised by how much I ended up liking this series. Sometimes I had some problems with the romances but I feel like more people should check this out. Just a warning though, this series has continued on way longer than I thought it would and I'm not sure when it will finally finish.

Blue Bloods - This is another vampire series but this one is unique because the vampires are actually reincarnated fallen angels. And of course there is the swoon worthy boy who goes against what expected of him to be with the one he loves ( I told you that always get me).

Those are top books/series I think any paranormal romance lover should check out. I could only think of 9 so leave me any suggestions you think I might like.

The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave #1) by Rick Yancey | Review

The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave #1) by Rick Yancey
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Dystopia, Aliens
Pages: 457
Source: Purchased
Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother-or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

My Thoughts

This is one of those books that sat on my shelf for at least a year before I picked it up and I really think that's a shame. I heard pretty good things about it but I still didn't pick it up for a while. The book started to get more talk when the movie was about to be released and since I did want to see the movie I decided to finally read it. I'm glad I did!

The beginning was a little slow going for me. I think that was mostly because, the current state of life on earth was being explained and I wasn't fully connected to any of the characters yet. I think it also had a lot to do with our main narrator in the beginning switching between the past and what was currently going on. There were moments of action that helped speed up the plot but for the most part it moved at a steady pace. 

I loved that this book made me think. In almost every moment I felt like I was right there with the current character trying to decide who I could trust and the best to handle any situation. This was especially true when reading from Cassie's point of view. For this same reason I found it frustrating when characters dismissed obvious signs that could have saved their lives if they would have trusted their instincts. Honestly, I would like to list off every single moment where the situation could have happened differently if characters had trusted their instincts but I don't want add in spoilers if I can avoid it.

I also really liked the characters. They were all so unique and interesting. This applies to the characters I actually liked. However there were some that I couldn't even try to like, as you would expect. There was one part about a certain character that took me a while to connect and I was a little disappointed in myself about that.

Overall I really enjoyed The 5th Wave. It wasn't my favorite but it definitely had me excited about continuing on in the series.The ending was so exciting and a bit heartbreaking. I've already read The Infinite Sea so I know how the story continues. I should actually have a review up for that next Sunday. I looking forward to the conclusion of the trilogy. I almost wish I would have just waited until the last book came out so I could have marathoned them all together. 

I tried to avoid spoilers in this review but I would love to discuss this with anyone who has read it. If you have already read The 5th Wave, please leave a comment about anything you would like to discuss. If you haven't already read it, go read it and come back and discuss with me! :-)

Waiting on Wednesday | The Last Star by Rick Yancey

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature created by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

The Last Star (The 5th Wave #3) by Rick Yancey
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Expected Publication Date: May 24, 2016
Pages: 352
Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description

We’re here, then we’re gone, and that was true before they came. That’s always been true. The Others didn’t invent death; they just perfected it. Gave death a face to put back in our face, because they knew that was the only way to crush us. It won’t end on any continent or ocean, no mountain or plain, jungle or desert. It will end where it began, where it had been from the beginning, on the battlefield of the last beating human heart.

Master storyteller Rick Yancey invokes triumph, loss, and unrelenting action as the fate of the planet is decided in the conclusion to this epic series.

Why I'm Waiting

I recently marathoned the first two books and this series. Going into it my expectations weren't too high because I had heard so many mixed opinions about them. Since I wanted to form my own opinion I decided to go ahead and read them and I'm really glad I did. 

The end of The Infinite Sea left off on a big cliffhanger. Some questions that were brought up in the first book and most of the second book were answered but by the time the second book was finished, there were more questions that weren't answered or were just beginning to take form. 

I have no ideas how this story might end. Well I have a few ideas but I just want the book in my hands already so I don't have to keep guessing. This last book isn't much longer than the second book so I'm really hoping everything is concluded nicely. I'm going to be posting reviews for the first two books in the series in the next couple weeks. Hopefully discussing them will help shorten the wait time for this. I'm really looking forward to it and I'll probably end up pre-ordering the book so I can get to it as soon as possible.

Anyone else really enjoy The 5th Wave series so far? Are you looking forward to this release?

March Wrap Up

I have been on a really bad schedule. I'm so used to writing my post the same day I post them that now since I work more than two days a week I can't really do that anymore. I keep talking about getting on a schedule but honestly I haven't really made the effort to do so. I've also been getting a little bored with the same type of post each week which is another reason why I haven't really been making that extra effort to write blog posts. Starting this week I'm going to get back into working on blog posts while I'm at work so I'll have my posts up when they're supposed to go up. Also, I'm trying to come up with some new ideas for blog so I don't keep posting the same type of material. Anyway, since I got all of that stuff out of the way, I'm going to go into everything book related for March.

New To My Shelves

Throne of Glass | The Assassin's Blade | Half-Blood

Book Outlet Haul

Books I Read

Wonderland (3.5 stars)

The 5th Wave (4 stars) | The Infinite Sea (4 stars)

Chew Volume 1 (5 stars) | Rat Queens Volume 1 (5 stars)

Currently Reading

I'm reading Harry Potter with my little brother so it might take me a while to get through it.

2016 Reading Challenge

By the end of March I read 13 books towards my goal of 50 books for the year. According to goodreads by the end of March I was ahead one book for the challenge. I'm sure the books that I have read will also be able to counted somehow on the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge and the Around the World in 52 Books Challenge but I haven't gone through them see which challenges I have completed yet. I also read 2 books that will count towards the Finishing the Series Challenge. I will be updating those challenges very soon so check out my link following my challenges for this year at the top of my blog.

What books did you read during March? What were your favorites from those?