Showing posts with label richelle mead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label richelle mead. Show all posts

Saturday, 7 June 2014

Book Haul #80

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews where we can share what new books we've picked up this past week be they bought, borrowed or downloaded. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

It looks bad, it really does... There's quite a few books this week but I had a $20 gift certificate which covered some of my spend, honestly! There was also lots of squeeing earlier this week when I  decided to take a risk on clicking request for Heir of Fire and got approved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think that's the biggest title I've decided to see what happens if I request it but it made me oh so happy!

Bought

Eyes Like Leaves | Fangirl | Say Her Name

Feet of Clay | Jingo
Kindle

Bright Young Things | The Immortal Crown | Take Back the Skies
Review - Netgalley

Heir of Fire | The Geography of You and Me | The Stepsister's Tale

From the publisher

Koko Takes A Holiday
Won

Exposure

Tuesday, 13 May 2014

Top Ten Tuesday #53 - Books I Almost Put Down!


Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely people at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is -


Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't

I very rarely put down books without finishing them, the number of books I've DNF'd in the last twenty years is around four! What I have a habit of doing is reading a book, not liking it, putting it down to read a book I do like and then going back to the book I wasn't enjoying and finishing it. Most of the time I end up loving the book in question but every now & then I really wish I could DNF without feeling overcome with guilt.

 Outlander - Diana Gabaldon

I nearly out this down a dozen times, the first time I read it I was not in the mood for a long book but I'd borrowed it from the library so felt obligated to finish and return. Years later my mama and I read the books together, I loved Outlander and the rest of the series - we raced through them all!
Across the Universe - Beth Revis

 I read Across the Universe the year in March 2011, I struggled but I gave it five stars in the end. Rather oddly, even though I own the other two books in the series I still haven't read them and I feel no desperate need to do so.
Stormdancer - Jay Kristoff

Nothing to say but it was the best decision ever not to put this down. Note to self, read book two now!
 Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead

I'd heard both good and bad about this series and I really wasn't interested in reading yet another teen vampire story but a friend in the States sent me a copy, insisting I read it. So I did... It nearly got to join a select few on my DNF list but something stopped me. I've obviously read all of them now, and the Bloodlines series so this turned out to be a good thing!
 The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

I struggled to get into The Historian and did actually put it down for a month but went back to it and I ended up loving it!
 A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray

This was one of those books you borrow from the library and you're not quite sure what it's about. I read this in 2008 and at the time nobody I knew was reading YA (except for sparkly vampires) but I ended up loving this and bought my own copy.
 The Host - Stephenie Meyer

I have nothing against people who liked The Host but it took me four attempts to read/finish and it was this close to joining the DNF list. I'm glad I finally finished it but I can't say I really enjoyed it.
 Shadow of Night - Deborah Harkness

I loved A Discovery of Witches, adored it! I think I went into SoN with too many expectations and so I really found it difficult to keep reading. I did though and finished it, eventually. I'm looking forward to The Book of Life this summer but I've not got my hopes up this time.
Divergent - Veronica Roth

I read Divergent in 2011 and I can't remember why I picked it up but I do remember thinking that it didn't sound like my cup of tea. It's another one I put down for a couple of weeks and went back to, eventually giving it five stars (which would probably be four stars if I read it now) and being desperate to read Insurgent. I obviously wasn't that desperate as I read Insurgent last month, exactly three years after Divergent and only because I bought Allegiant for my Kindle for $4/£3.



Seraphina - Rachel Hartman

This was a classic case of cover love! And 'stories about dragons' love! Started reading it and there was something that I can't put my finger on but it was really off-putting to me. I ended up leaving it at my sister's house for a while and then starting it again. It was like reading a different book and I loved it!

Saturday, 23 November 2013

Book Haul #52


Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews and Letterbox Love is a UK edition hosted by Narratively Speaking. Here we can share what new books we've picked up this past week. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

I didn't think I'd be posting a book haul this week as I was sure I wasn't buying anything before I went away but I forgot about my pre-order of The Fiery Heart, then I thought I'd pick up a copy of Curtsies & Conspiracies so I can finally read Etiquette & Espionage and the icing on the cake? Going to see Susan Ee at Waterstones Piccadilly on Thursday! Although I have Angelfall on my Kindle I picked up a paperback copy and obviously couldn't leave without buying a copy of World After. My one high point of the week is that I requested nothing from Netgalley or Edelweiss therefore not destroying all my hard work during Netgalley November :) I also had a lovely email from Livia Blackburne, author of Midnight Thief (due out from Disney-Hyperion in July 2014), asking if I'd like to review the prequel Poison Dance. Naturally I said yes...

Bought

Angelfall - Susan Ee

World After - Susan Ee

The Windvale Sprites - Mackenzie Crook

The Fiery Heart - Richelle Mead

Curtsies & Conspiracies - Gail Carriger

 Kindle



Ember - Kristen Callihan
 From the author



Poison Dance - Livia Blackburne
What did you get this week?



Tuesday, 8 October 2013

Top Ten Tuesday #26 - Best/Worst Series Enders

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely people at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is -

Top Ten Best/Worst Series Enders

This week's Top Ten post nearly didn't happen! I decided to liven up everybody's Monday and ended up being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance after passing out! I never do things by halves... I ended up getting a clean bill of health - sort of - but I've got to see my doctor next week and schedule some tests. Fingers crossed it's nothing worth talking about! Anyway, that's why my post is so late today and why nothing went up yesterday - apologies folks!

This topic was weird for me as I must have started over a hundred different series and only finished a handful, mostly ones listed here. I've split them into three different categories - worst, indifferent and best.

Worst - I demand a re-write!

Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer

The Summer Garden - Paullina Simons

Indifferent - Didn't love the ending, didn't hate it either...

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

Gone - Lisa McMann

The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman

Best - Nearly perfect endings!

Last Sacrifice - Richelle Mead

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling

If I Should Die - Amy Plum

Monsters of Men - Patrick Ness

The Iron Knight - Julie Kagawa
What's on your list? I'm sure I've forgotten a series or two, I can't believe those are among the only ones I've finished!

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

Top Ten Tuesday #4

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely people at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is

Top Ten Books I Thought I'd Like MORE/LESS Than I Did

This is a tough one! My Top 10 is a mixture of both, books I thought I'd like more and books I thought I wouldn't like! We'll start with books I thought I would love but sadly didn't.

Matched - Ally Condie
I thought I would love this but sadly it's one of a handful of books I really struggled to finish, I disliked it enough to never pick up Crossed and Reached which is unusual for me. Even if I didn't get on with the first book in a series I do pick up the next one in case it's better!

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
My sister and I were reading this one at the same time. All the way through we compared notes and constantly asked what the appeal was because neither of us were seeing it! The ending ensured its place on my 'never recommend to anyone' list, sadly the book was a huge letdown for me.

Unspoken - Sarah Rees Brennan
I wanted to love this, the plot sounded like something I would love but I never connected with the book at all and the ending just cemented that feeling. Still not sure if I'll pick up the next one or not...
 
Betrayed - P C & Kristin Cast
I read Marked and liked it so I bought Betrayed when it came out, unfortunately I didn't like Betrayed but for some bizarre reason I still bought every other book in the series when they were released and struggled reading through to book #5! These are all on my 'donate to the library' pile which makes me sad, I don't like not liking books :(

Eragon - Christopher Paolini
Not much to say except that I really didn't like Eragon even though I love dragons and I've never been the slightest bit tempted to even buy/borrow the rest of the series!

5 books that I thought wouldn't appeal but did are -

Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead
 I didn't read this because I just thought it was yet another YA author jumping on the vampire bandwagon. Every time I went to the library it was there and I just walked past it every time! Fast forward two years after it's published, I finally give in and take a copy home - and loved it!

Blood Red Road - Moira Young
 I picked this up by accident when I was looking for something else but I'm so glad I did! I hadn't heard much about it at the time but I remember thinking it didn't seem like my cup of tea. How wrong I was! I loved it, shamefully I've still never read Rebel Heart...

The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake - Aimee Bender
 My librarian friend recommended this to me by saying it was the weirdest book she'd read and I would love it. I started it and thought I really wasn't going to like it but by the end? She was right, it was fantastic!

The First Last Kiss - Ali Harris
 I don't really read 'chick-lit' unless I want to switch my brain of and read something that requires no concentration. This one though, well definitely not 'chick-lit' as I was sobbing my eyes out by the end. Maybe it was too soon to read a book like this but it was heartbreaking and I loved it.

The Knife Of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness
Not much to say about this one except that if I didn't absolutely adore it I definitely wouldn't be handing out copies of this later on today for World Book Night! Thanks to the bookish friend who forced me to read it I've discovered another favorite author.

 
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