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24 January 2015

Weekly wrap-up: December 28 - January 24

Yeesh. More like a monthly recap than a weekly. First the holidays and then tons of work. I feel like a super slacker for not posting much lately.

Completed:
All Fall Down (Embassy Row #1) - Ally Carter: 4 stars. This is like Princess Diaries had a baby with The Fugitive with a little "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and feminism thrown in for good measure. Honestly, All Fall Down is pretty different than Ally's previous books because Grace is a LOT more fragile than Cammie or Kat, at least at the beginning of their respective series. Full review to come
"The Queen" (The Selection #0.4) - Kiera Cass: 2 stars. Meh. I was really underwhelmed. I like Amberley just fine, of course, but I still think Maxon's dad is a douche. The things he does, how he manipulates Amberley and forces her to change just to see if she'll do it for him. Gross.
Salt & Stone (Fire & Flood #2) - Victoria Scott: 4 stars. Really emotional sequel. I'm still totally into Tella's story. I'm really looking forward to sharing my full thoughts during the blog tour next month!
Beautiful Player (Beautiful Bastard #3) - Christina Lauren: 4 stars. Yep. Will and Hanna are probably my favorite couple in the BB series. I'd skimmed the book before but hadn't read the entire thing yet. Very enjoyable!
A Court of Thorns & Roses (ACOTAR #1) - Sarah Maas: ALL THE STARS. YAAAASSSS! I can has book 2 now, kplzthx? Full review coming when I find words other than OMG TAMLIN I WANT MOAR.
Beautiful Stranger (Beautiful Bastard #2) - Christina Lauren: 4 stars. Like Player, I'd just skimmed this previously. After reading ACOTAR, I really wanted something else swoony and sexy, and this fit the bill!
An Ember in the Ashes (Ember in the Ashes #1) - Sabaa Tahir: 4 stars. Really cool, unique world. Love the development of ALL the characters, not just the mcs. This book is thought-provoking and FEELS-destroying. I'm still trying to unwind my thoughts!
Splintered (Splintered #1) - A.G. Howard: 4 stars. LOVE this retelling. It's classic but totally punk rock at the same time, and that's such a cool tone for the book. I love how Anita really found some amazing twists to the timeless tale. Also, SO MANY SWOONS. Jeb is absolutely delicious!
Landline - Rainbow Rowell: 5 stars. Loved this. Absolutely loved it. Georgie and Neal's story is beautifully heart-breaking, but it's also inspiring and hopeful. Plus...CATH AND LEVI OMG.

Reread:
Boycotts & Barflies - Victoria Michaels: 3 stars. This has always been a favorite book of mine, but I didn't enjoy it as much this time around. I was a lot pickier with the writing, both in style and technique. I have a feeling this might be my last reread, at least for a while. I have no desire to read a book that was a favorite, only to find that I hate it later on. :(
My True Love Gave to Me audiobook - Stephanie Perkins et al : 5 stars. Loved the book; love the audiobook. I think it's awesome each of the authors picked their own narrators, and each narrator gave life to each story perfectly!
Anna & the French Kiss audiobook - Stephanie Perkins & Kim Mai Guest: 4 stars. It's funny how I LOVED Anna and merely liked Lola, and my experience with their respective audiobooks was exactly the opposite. 
Being Sloane Jacobs - Lauren Morrill: 3 stars. I really enjoyed the book (see my full review here), but the audio was fairly unexceptional. It was good, but nothing more.

Currently Reading:
The Young Elites (Young Elites #1) audiobook - Marie Lu. I STILL don't quite know how I feel about this book after I read it last year so I'm hoping the audio will help me clarify some things.
Unhinged (Splintered #2) - A.G. Howard. I haven't started this one yet, but it's next on my shelf when I get off work!

New to my bookshelf this week:
Library:
Working in a library means I have ACCESS TO EVERYTHING!!!!
I Was Here - Gayle Forman
Firefight (Reckoners #2) - Brandon Sanderson
"Moth in the Mirror" (Splintered #1.5) - A.G. Howard
The Young Elites audiobook - Marie Lu

Bought
ummm....please remember this is like a MONTH'S worth of books. Also, I have a TON of events coming up!
B&N:
Perfect Couple (Superlatives #2) - Jennifer Echols
Mistborn trilogy box set - Brandon Sanderson. Don't tell my brother in law; this is his birthday present!
and I have a bunch of preorders

Amazon:
surprisingly, nothing since last time

Half Price Books:
WHERE DO I START?!
The Young Elites - Marie Lu
Steelheart - Brandon Sanderson
The Little Prince & Other Stories - Wordsworth. This is pretty amazing. It has Little Women, The Secret Garden, The Jungle Book, and TONS of other kids classics!
Romeo Redeemed - Stacey Jay
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - April Genevieve Tucholke
Bloodlines - Richelle Mead
Obsidian - Jennifer L. Armentrout
Cursed - Jennifer L. Armentrout
Half-Blood - Jennifer L. Armentrout
The Rules for Breaking - Ashley Elston
Matched - Ally Condie FINALLY. It is surprisingly difficult to find a NICE hardcover of this book!

Book Outlet:
*buys ALL the NTTBF books*
Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) - Sarah Mlynowski
The Dark and Hollow Places - Carrie Ryan
The Dead-Tossed Waves - Carrie Ryan
The Liberator - Victoria Scott
The Warrior - Victoria Scott
To All the Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han
The Year of Shadows - Claire Legrand
The Cloak Society - Jeramey Kraatz
Villain's Rising - Jeramey Kraatz
Shadow & Bone - Leigh Bardugo
Siege & Storm - Leigh Bardugo
Ruin & Rising - Leigh Bardugo
Article 5 - Kristen Simmons
Breaking Point - Kristen Simmons
Three - Kristen Simmons
All These Things I've Done - Gabrielle Zevin
Because It Is My Blood - Gabrielle Zevin x2 oops! I didn't check the quantity!
In the Age of Love and Chocolate - Gabrielle Zevin

Blue Willow Bookshop:
These Broken Stars - Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
This Shattered World - Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner x2 this was intentional

Murder by the Book:
Firefight - Brandon Sanderson x3 also intentional


Events Attended
1/7: This Shattered World tour with Amie Kafuman & Meagan Spooner. I am SO excited to have finally met Amie and Meagan! This stop was so much fun because we all just chatted and celebrated These Broken Stars hitting the NYT bestseller list, which Amie & Megan found out about RIGHT before the event! And how's this for cool: Publisher's Weekly posted a picture of the event on their website!
1/24: Firefight tour with Brandon Sanderson. I am honestly exhausted right now because I got home so late from this. TOTALLY worth the drive!

2 comments:

  1. OOOh nice! Yay for the Jennifer Armentrout books! Hope you enjoy your new reads!

    Here's my STS

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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  2. LANDLINE! Ohmygosh, Landline rocked me deep in my soul. It was beautiful. So, so glad you loved it! And ANNA. Oh, Anna. Also, I can't wait until one of those events you went to is one where I will have seeeeeen yoooooou! HUGS. <3

    Jessica :)
    StuckInBooks

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