Showing posts with label tbr. Show all posts

Discussion: The Hype it Up Edition



A discussion between P.E. and Mari.

P.E.: It's been a while since we did this, so let's go for it. A new year, new books. What book are you hyped up for?




Mari: Oh gosh that's just evil. How about every book I've spotlighted on WoW for the past year? Somehow I've managed to downsize to 3 so here it is. This Shattered World looks like a fantastic companion to These Broken Stars. I'm very excited to read about a female soldier captured by rebels, yes!! As for The Young Elites, I will literally read anything Marie Lu writes so if this was about Barney getting plastic surgery to be a green dinosaur, I would still read it. Lastly, Mortal Heart is the conclusion to one of my favourite series. This story is so amazing and I can't wait to read Annith's side of things.  Some other titles that I feel deserve a mention are: The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare and The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski.

P.E.: You know my book tastes pretty well. Let's spice this up: guess three books I'm dying to read. (They are sequels to books I've been telling you to read since forever!)

Mari: Lazy, I see right through you. But fine, the biggest, most obvious one is Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. Next up is probably Rick Riordan's next book, which ever book it might be because he is your favourite and lastly I know you liked the The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey & Red Rising by Pearce Brown, so both of the sequels to those.

P.E.: And that is why I have a co-blogger. /endpost

Okay, maybe some more is needed. Mari's picks were all spot-on, and those are probably all the books I'm really dying to read. But, hype is not a finite thing: there is more to go around. For example, The Queen of the Tearling! Mari and I have been drooling over that book for quite some time now. I love epic fantasy with strong female characters that have to deal with politics. The rating on Goodreads isn't as high as I would have wanted (Oh no, a paltry 3.8), but that doesn't diminish my excitement!


Mari: I'm very much intrigued by this one, but I'm worried about some of the negative reviews surfacing. I'll still try it out but I'll have to get it from the library. A book that's been out for a while but I've only recently bothered to read the synopsis and realize that it's the kind of book I wanted to read is: The Kiss of Deception. I love the idea of someone running away on their wedding day, isn't that one of the most filmy scenes? Also, I would love to see the action between, the jilted prince and the assassin all in the process to woo a runaway princess!

P.E.: It reminds me of the first awesome scene in Spy Kids, when the parents are telling the story of their wedding? I loved that movie so much when I was a kid. Who's kidding, I still do. Anyway, another book I'm super excited for is Red Queen. I've had pretty great experiences with books that have "red" in their titles in the past (hehe), and the premise of this one is actually surprisingly close to Red Rising, what with the colour caste system. I guess I'm a sucker for books that promise adventure, intrigue, and seem a bit epic. I haven't read any reviews of Red Queen yet so I don't know if my excitement is warranted.


Mari: OHH, I can't say I've read any reviews but I have seen some buzz on this which is making me quite interested. I'm also super excited about this one.

These Are Our Hype Up Books, What Are Yours?

-P.E. & MARI

Vacation Reading List

Whenever I go for a vacation, books are a travelling necessity. Often I take both physical and electronic copies to keep me company. How would I be a complete book nerd if I didn't? Kidding.

This year I'm going to the United States for my vacation. Visiting New York, Connecticut and Atlantic City. Basically city to small town to beach resort so it's really hard to do a theme read which I'm not a fan of either way. Instead I'm going to compile a list of books that I'm dying to read and will probably dig into on the ride there.



Gilded Ashes - Rosamund Hodge

I got this one from the library so I have to read it soon or the ebook will expire. I think this is a good starter read as it will be light and quick. Also, I adored Cruel Beauty! Update: I actually read and loved this one, review to come.

Crash Into You - Katie McGarry

Another follow up for a book I loved. I actually read Pushing the Limits, Dare You To, skipped this one and read Take Me On. Now I want to give this one a go.

Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin

I've been slowly reading this one for year. I'm almost done the latest season but have yet to build up the courage and make up my mind to finish this.

Looking For Alaska - John Green

(MID-VACATION ADDITION)
I actually bought this one a few days ago and am dying to have a John Green book under my reading belt!

I have my Kobo Ereader with me for the vacation so I might find something else to read if my mood asks for it. Generally, I don't read a lot on vacation because I like to be doing a lot of stuff but I'll try to read through some of these.

What's on or was on your vacation tbr?


While you tell me about your vacation lists, why don't you also help me out. All four look amazing but which to you guys recommend I read first? Leave a comment and vote on the poll. Thanks you!

Which do you recommend?




pollcode.com free polls

-MARI

TBR 2014 - Sequels




One of the best parts of the year end, besides my birthday, is the fact that now we're even closer to the release of some widely anticipated books. There are sequels, debuts, fantasies, contemporaries you name it. Oh the smell of a new year of books. 

Due to the enormity of my list, I'm going to split this into short spotlights of a few books I'm most excited for. I’m going to start with my most anticipated sequels as it seems that I can’t stop picking up books in a series.

Lady Thief - A.C. Gaughen

A retelling of Robin Hood and his band but with a twist! I absolutely loved the first book in this series Scarlet, to the point that it ranked among my top 5 favourite reads of 2013. As you can tell, I was very happy to hear that the author was writing a sequel and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Also, I love the covers in this series. They are nothing too extravagant but they are fitting for the time period they depict. 

Erased - Jennifer Rush


Altered was a spontaneous pick. I'd seen it around on my goodreads feed and decided to read the synopsis. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew I had downloaded the book and was halfway through it. The first one in the series was a lot of fun and action so I'm hoping more from this one. This series also reminds me a lot of Kelley Armstrong's The Darkest Powers Trilogy which is another favourite!

The Geography of You and Me  - Jennifer E. Smith


This series has been a bit of a hit and miss with me. I loved The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight but was disappointed by This is What Happy Looks Like. However, I have high hopes for this one. I love how Jennifer E. Smith sets each of her books somewhere else. It makes the read even more interesting. I can’t wait to see all the places she visits in this one. Also, that cover!!!

Mortal Heart - R.L. LaFevers

I'm way too excited to jump back into this world! Mortal Heart is the final book in the His Fair Assassin Trilogy about assassin nuns! I know, go read Grave Mercy! I love strong heroines who can fight and defend themselves. Put them in corsets, give them a dagger, add chivalrous knights and oh man it’s hard for me to avoid them for long!

Throne of Glass #3 - Sarah J. Maas

The ending to Crown of Midnight was a killer; so many possibilities! Chaol and Celaena are quickly becoming one of my new obsessions, so I can't wait to read more about their story.


What Are You Anticipating This New Year?

-MARI

Summer Reading: A Look Back

I'm a person who is always looking towards the future and planning. That being said, planning out my tbr despite the fact that I rarely stick to them is an exciting event. So in the start of the summer, happy Mari enjoying her honeymoon stage on her new blog wrote a Top Ten Tuesday about the book on top of her tbr for the summer. I think it's safe to say I failed miserably and here is why.

Top Ten Tuesday post + reasons why I want to read them

Books On My TBR

Books I Actually Read

 



I'm quite proud of the 2 books on my tbr that I actually managed to read and also write a review on (fist pump!) even though my earlier assumptions were wrong and I was disappointed in both of them. Still, it's an accomplishment. Now as for the number of books I've read this summer or lack there of…. well let's say I'm unimpressed.

Round up: 5 Books, 3 Manga, 1 Novella

Excuses


I've struggled with summer time laze all my life and I have been busy with work so I can understand the low number of books read but it's kind of sad to see that I read more during the busiest months of the year, i.e. exam/summative month than during the summer.

What to blame? I'm blaming the summer and the laze that follows. Once summer starts I get this feeling of it never ending. It's like one those country days mentioned in Jane Austen's books. It feels like it will go on and you have all the time in the world until it ends.

Something else that increases during the summer is videos, movies, and tv shows. This summer it was Asian and Korean dramas in particular. There is a Korean craze going through my school and me being the cool girl who already passed the Asian craze with my Manga addiction a few years earlier thought myself too cool to join the club. Alas, I have joined and I'm quite happy about it, though it has taken away from my reading.

Another reason I want to blame is my sense of disinterest. I can't find books I want to read. It's flabbergasting but it's true. I remember going to Chapters and drooling over all the books I wanted and couldn't have but now I go and I see all the books I loved and can't find anything that I feel will compare. It's a sad reality but one that can be fixed.

Lastly and probably the most accurate excuse is the fact that my Kobo e-reader broke this summer leaving me with a broken bookworm heart. Most of the books I planned on reading were actually on my Kobo as well. So there you have it. 

Goal Setting

So here I'm going to try my hand at this tbr stuff and set one but give no restrictions, seeing as I'm quite a rebel :
I shall forever remember the smug smile I had when I did this.

I've been really into fantasy lately so here goes in no particular order:

Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bordugo
For Darkness Shows the Stars - Diana Peterfreund
Black City - Elizabeth Richards
Finnikin of the Rock - Melina Marchetta (Ed note: P.E. supports this 100%)
Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein
Requiem - Lauren Oliver

I'm going to stop before I get to ahead of myself and start listing like a nut and then never end up reading them and fail once more.

Now to conclude this post, I would like to take this moment to say goodbye to summer with the help of T.O.P!

Until Next Time!

How are you with your summer reading? Do you drift away to lala land or stick around and read away?

 -MARI
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