Bout of Books Challenge: From Modern to Classic

From Modern to Classic

Hosted by RANTY RUNT OF A READER

The Challenge: Share one book that you believe will be considered a classic in 100 years time. Simple? I do have a few caveats, the book must have been published in or after 2005 and you need to provide two reasons for why this book will be a classic.

The Books

TTT #38: Ten Authors I REALLY Want To Meet

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I swear that one day I WILL meet these authors. I will find a way.

1. Sarah J. Maas - I only LOVE everything she writes. My favorite of her books has to be Throne of Glass. It holds a special place in my heart.
2. Rick Riordan - I have read and loved all the Percy Jackson books and the Kane Chronicles series. My favorite of his is The House of Hades.
3. Deborah Harkness - I will always love Mathew and Diana from the Discovery of Witches trilogy. My favorite of hers is the first book, A Discover of Witches.
4. Kasie West - She can do no wrong in my eyes. My favorite book of hers is a tie between The Distance Between Us and Pivot Point.
5. J.K. Rowling - This author needs to explanation. My favorite HP book has always been The Goblet of Fire.
6. Victoria Schwab - I would love to meet the author of Vicious!
7. Leigh Bardugo - When I read the first chapter of Shadow and Bone I became hooked. My favorite book has to be the second one, Siege and Storm.
8. Nora Roberts - I have read countless books by Nora Roberts. My favorite trilogy of hers is The Circle Trilogy.
9. Rainbow Rowell - I may have only read two books by her, but I enjoyed them immensely. I LOVED Fangirl.
10. Marissa Meyer - It may have taken me a while to really appreciate this series, but I am now addicted. Cress is my favorite.

Bout of Books: Bookish Survey Challenge

Bookish Survey Challenge

Hosted by Writing My Own Fairy Tale

The Challenge: Meet new people and fill out the bookish survey below to share more about yourself with your readers!

The Bookish Survey

1. How do you organize your shelves? This is kind of a tough question. I mostly organize them by my favorite books. The first few shelves are filled with my favorite books. They get top priority. Then I have a shelf in my bookcase for ARCs and a shelf for my husband's books. I am hopefully moving this summer and I may reorganize my shelves in a whole new away when I do... especially if I have room for another bookcase. *Fingers crossed.*

2. What is one of your favorite books that’s not in one of your favorite genres? I pretty much read all genres but my least favorite genre is probably Sci-Fi... but I LOVE The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.

3. What is the last 5 star book you read? I have to share the last two because I loved them too much not to. Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot and The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon? Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Meyers

5. What book do you recommend the most? This is impossible to answer. I guess everything by Kasie West and Sarah J. Maas. Right now I am pushing for people to read Mosquitoland by David Arnold and The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh.

Bout of Books Read-a-Thon: Sign-Up, Goals, & Updates

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

My Goals

Reading Goals

~ Read 5-6 books. (I normally read 2-3 books a week.)

~ Keep detailed notes as I read so it will be easier for me to write my reviews later.

Social Goals

~ Participate in one Twitter chat.

~ Participate in at least two challenges.
    - Cover Color Challenge
    - From Modern to Classic
    - Bookish Survey

The Books

~ Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins

~ Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Meyers

~ The Dark Dreamer by Heather Topham Wood
~ Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway
~ Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen
~ The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

Updates

Monday

Number of pages/books I've read today: 273 pages

Total number of books I've read: 1 book

Total number of pages I've read: 273 pages

Books Today: Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins

Tuesday

Number of pages/books I've read today: 60 pages

Total number of books I've read: 1.5 books

Total number of pages I've read: 333 pages

Books Today: The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

Wednesday

Number of pages/books I've read today: 120 pages

Total number of books I've read: 2.25 books

Total number of pages I've read: 453 pages

Books Today: The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett & Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen

Thursday

Number of pages/books I've read today: 243 pages

Total number of books I've read: 3.25 books

Total number of pages I've read: 696 pages

Books Today: Beastkeeper by Cat Hellison & Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers

Friday

Number of pages/books I've read today: 283 pages

Total number of books I've read: 4 books

Total number of pages I've read: 979 pages

Books Today: Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers

Saturday

Number of pages/books I've read today: 0 pages :(

Total number of books I've read: 4 books

Total number of pages I've read: 979 pages

Books Today: None :(

**Sunday (FINAL/TOTAL UPDATE)

Number of pages/books I've read today: 222 pages

Total number of books I've read: 5 books

Total number of pages I've read: 1201 pages

Books Today: The Dark Dreamer by Heather Topham Wood

Final Thoughts

This week turned out be a crazy week for me in my personal life, but I still did manage to read five books! I am pretty proud of myself even if they were shorter books. I only participated in three challenges this time around but I had fun with the ones I did do. I also managed to participate in a Twitter chat which was a lot of fun. I was sad I didn't have time to visit a lot of new blogs. Hopefully next time I will. In the end, I did enjoy Bout of Books this time around, but due to my real life I wasn't as into as I have been in the past. I plan on participating in many more in the future.

ARC Review: The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

The Wrath & The Dawn (#1) by Renee Ahdieh (May 12, 2015)
416 pages
Genre: Young Adult/Retelling
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Source: I snagged a free ARC at ALA Midwinter. This didn't affect my honest review. Thanks Putnam!
Purchase: Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon
My Rating:

Goodreads Summary: A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

+ Add to goodreads

My Review

While reading The Wrath & The Dawn my feels kept growing and growing until they exploded and the book became a five star read for me. I LOVED IT. In this case I support all of the hype surrounding this book. It was that good.

The Wrath & The Dawn is unique and complex. I'm so glad it made its way into my life. Hopefully I can convince you to welcome it into your life as well. Another plus, it is a diverse book, and we all know we need more of those in our lives!

This book has an amazingly rich setting. The world building is nothing short of incredible. The descriptions the writer used to illustrate the food, clothes, and everything in-between dragged me deeper and deeper into its beautiful open arms. I wish I could visit this place and try some of its wine. I could almost taste it through the pages, but not quite. I basically just freaking loved all the details. I could feel the dark lurking behind all of the beauty. 

Secrets are abound and death is never far away for Shazi, Khalid, and pretty much all the characters. I loved these characters. Some of them had their childish moments, but who doesn't? I am grateful for the chance to witness Shazi and Khalid's relationship grow. It was very intense and interesting. There was always a tricky situation one of them had to overcome. I enjoyed reading about their lives and their vastly different circumstances life has dealt them.

The Wrath & The Dawn is a must read! It was never boring thanks to the flourish of activity always coming in steady waves. I am left wanting more. Now I NEED the second book. This is definitely going to make my favorite reads of 2015 list.

The Struggle Is REAL - To blog or to read?

I have this problem EVERY day. I struggle with deciding if I should read my book or blog about my books. I only have so much free time (as I am sure you all understand) so this is kind of a BIG decision. Did I mention that I am horrible at making decisions? Well, I am. So trying to decide between two things that I love is sometimes always very challenging.

To blog or to read? That is the question.

So how do I choose between blogging and reading? Here is what I consider.

Am I in the middle of a really good book? - I'll read. Hands down.
Am I behind in writing reviews? - I'll blog. I try to stay on top of things.
Have I not posted anything for a couple of days? - I'll blog.
Am I an in a crappy mood? - I will read. (If I am being totally honest I may watch Friends.)
Does it feel like a reading type day? - I'll read. (I know I can't always just go by this since usually I think every day is a reading type day.)
Have I been neglecting my comments on my blog? - I'll blog. I love interacting with my followers.
Have I visited my favorite blogs recently? -  If I haven't that means I probably miss them and therefore I'll blog and catch up with them.
Am I in a weird reading slump? - I should read... but to avoid it I will probably blog.
Am I behind in any of my reading challenges? I read. At least that is what I should be doing.
Do I have to go into work soon? - I usually blog. I hate stopping in a really good part in a book before going in to work. On the other hand... if I am currently in the middle of a really good book I will read and just deal with the consequences.
Do I need to escape from the real world for a bit? I read. Obviously. ;)

Do you ever have this problem or am I just a little crazy? I want to hear what your take on this subject is!

ARC Review: Velvet by Temple West

Velvet by Temple West (May 12, 2015)
416 pages
Genre: Young Adult/Romance/Vampire
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Source: I snagged a free copy at ALA Midwinter. This did not affect my honest review.
Purchase: Barnes & Noble | Amazon
My Rating:

Goodreads Summary: First rule of dealing with hot vampire bodyguards? Don't fall in love.

After losing both her parents before age seventeen, aspiring designer Caitlin Holte feels like her whole world has been turned upside down, and that was before the terrifying encounter with a supernatural force. Then, she learns that her hot bad-boy neighbor, Adrian—who might have just saved her life—is actually a half-demon vampire.

Suddenly Caitlin is stuck with a vampire bodyguard who feels that the best way to protect her is to become her pretend boyfriend. Trouble is, Caitlin is starting to fall in love for real, while Adrian can never love a human. Caitlin trusts Adrian to keep her safe from his demon father, but will he be able to protect her heart?

+ Add to goodreads

MY REVIEW

My First Impression: I'm liking it and enjoying the laughs, but it seems a little too Twilight and not unique enough.

Velvet is more unique than it seems at first glance. I'm not going to lie, Velvet has the same framework as Twilight, BUT as I found out while I continued to read, it is different. So I want you to look past the few opening scenes that remind you of Twilight and focus on the wonderful funny story that actually fills its pages. One big difference that most will like, Caitlin isn't a bumbling weakling and Adrian isn't an overly stalkerish vampire. (Just for the record, I have no problem with Twilight. I have read it and enjoyed it. I'm just saying.)

Velvet started off with some intrigue and managed to get a few chuckles out of me. As I got deeper into this fun story I laughed louder and louder and loved the characters more and more. I am always looking for a new vampire book to read, and I'm glad I chose this one.

Every single character in Velvet was amusing, to say the least. I wish they were real and were my friends. I especially cheered on Caitlin and Adrian and their friendship blooming into something more. I wanted them to have their happily ever after. This makes me none too surprised that this book was chosen to be published by the Swoon Reads romance imprint.

If there is a second book (after that ending there better be) not only do I plan on reading it, but I think it will be even better than the first book based on how Velvet ended. I think it will have more action, the one thing I wish Vevlet had touched more on. I mean, there was evil always lurking in the background, but I wanted more confrontations. (Update: There are going to be two more books! So excited!)

The Bottom Line: Velvet is a good read. A perfect read for anyone looking for romance and laughs with some vampires mixed in. I loved it and I hope you do to.