November Wrap Up

I had a pretty good reading month.  I read 9 books and 4 audiobooks.  I am finally caught up on all of my ARCs that I needed to review.  And I knocked out 5 reading challenge prompts.  

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
• Review
• This came out October 2nd.  I got super backlogged in October.  This was fairly long, and it took me a while to read.  This wasn't scary at all, and it was a bit slow paced.  Overall I liked it.  It had decent diverse representation and good character dialogue.
• Lies by TM Logan
• Review
• This came out on September 11th.  The plot was pretty good, and there was a great plot twist at the end.  Overall, I thought the main character kept doing really idiotic things to get himself in trouble, which played into the twist eventually.  It was certainly not the scariest or best reads of the year as promised.  It was an OK mystery/thriller and a quick read.
• Evermore by Sara Holland
• Review
• This is the sequel to Everless.  I really like the premise of how time is currency in this story.  This moved a bit slow for me.  There was a long time where not alot happened as the main character tries to remember her past lives.  It is a good conclusion to the duology, but what I was expecting.
• Cranberry Bluff by Deborah Garner
• It fits the prompt for a fruit or vegetable in the title.  It was a quick, cozy mystery type book.  I got it for free and it was pretty cute.
• Blue Water by J.A. Armitage
• Review
• This is a reverse fairy tale/retelling of The Little Mermaid.  It is a fun YA story line with some interesting mythology that I'm enjoying.  Overall I'm liking the series and am looking forward to the third book.  
• Pittsburgh Irish by Gerard F. O'neil
• I read this for the reading challenge.  I really enjoyed learning about the city I grew up in and walk around in everyday.  I learned so much from this and about the surrounding areas of Pittsburgh.  It was really nice reading about places that I know and learning about their namesakes and more about the events that took place there and the people who formed the city I call home.
• Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
• I used this for my time travel prompt book.  I'm so glad I read this.  It was a quick enjoyable read.  I really enjoyed the historical and secret society aspects to the story.  I also like that the main character is not having he male chauvinism and she is speaking up for herself more and more as the story progresses.
• The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Loved this Lux spin-off series.  I always thought Luc was a great character and I'm happy we get to finally know him.  We meet some new characters, and see the return of some old favorites.  I would have liked to see Katy and Dee, but we got Daemon and Archer so...
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• This fulfilled another reading challenge prompt for a book I meant to read last year, though it could have filled several others.  It was a short, but powerful book.  I really loved it and the illustrations were as beautiful as the words.  So glad I finally read it!

Audiobooks

 I did pretty well in the audio department this month.

• Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
• I really enjoyed this.  It was a little heavy on the romance, but it was still great!  I loved the mythological and paranormal element to the story.  I can't wait to read more of Taylor's writing.  This didn't really go where I expected, but I liked where it ended up.
• A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
• I loved this installment of the series.  We finally get to know what happened to Sofos who kind of just disappeared from the story a while back.  It also kind of brings all of the political plotting of the 3 kingdoms together once and for all.  There is still plotting but it seems that finally all of the kings and queens will be united.  This series keeps getting better.
• The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
• Review
• I got an ARC of this from Edelweiss after it was published, so in an attempt to get to clear my review list up I grabbed the audio book.  This was a great mystery with alternating times.  I really enjoy the way Sager tells stories.  If you liked Final Girls check this out.
• Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner
• This surprised me by following a completely new character in the series.  It took me a bit longer than normal to get into the story, but it was just as good as the rest of the books.  The writing is amazing, and now I have to wait patiently for book 6 which doesn't come out until March.

November TBR

I have a couple of ARCs in progress that I need to finish up and review, but for the most part I'm free to read whatever I want for the rest of the year.  I'm hoping to finish up the remaining books on my reading challenge list.  I only have 10 books left, that's not too bad with 2 months left in the year. 

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Everless by Sara Holland
• This is the sequel to Evermore.  This series centers around a world where time is currency and time lives in your blood.  I really enjoyed the first book and I'm looking forward to finding out where the story goes.  This comes out in December but I'm trying to stay on top of my ARCs.
• Vicious by Victoria Schwab
• This book will fulfill my anti-hero prompt.  I've heard great things about this book, and the sequel just came out.  I recently picked this up on Kindle for 99 cents, so I'm excited to finally have time to read this.  I hear it is about mutants or monsters and two completing frenemies, maybe?  I like Scwab's writing and I'm looking forward to reading this.
• Cranberry Bluff by Deborah Garner
• I've had this on my Kindle for a while and I forget what it is about.  I think it is a contemporary.  I do remember it was free and came recommended.  It fits the prompt for a fruit or vegetable in the title so I'm going to give it a chance.  
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• I've wanted to read this forever.  I've heard nothing but good things about her books and this duology.  I was holding out for the audio, but my library doesn't have it on Overdrive or Hoopla.  This will fulfill my challenge for an animal in the title.

Audiobooks

As usual I've got 7 books on hold at the library, and several more on my wishlist.  I do have 2 checked out currently that I'll definitely get to in November.  

• Must of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
• I've been anxiously awaiting this since reading Strange the Dreamer earlier this year and I can't wait to find out what happens next.
• A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
• I'm really enjoying this series.  This is the 4th book in the series.  It is full of political intrigue, deceit, humor, and war.  I'm interested to see where things go from where they left off in the 3rd book.
• A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
• I won this in a giveaway via Libro.fm, a new audiobook vendor site I recently found.  I'm really excited to get to this.  I love Mafi's writing style and I'm excited to read something a little different from her.

Top 5 Wednesday: Best Books You've Read So Far in 2018

I used to hand out 5 stars just because I really liked a book.  Since I started blogging and reviewing books I don't rate things 5 stars as frequently and I'm much more critical of books.  I give out lots of 3 and 4 star ratings, and I really enjoy those books.  In no particular order these are the best books I've read in 2018, and they really were fantastic and I highly recommend them.

I've linked reviews to all of the books I've mentioned below so you can see what I thought about them.

• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
• If you like Trevor Noah's brand of humor and you'd like a lesson in humility you should check this out.  Everyone should read this and I've heard the audio is wonderful as well.  Noah gives a lesson about how you survive in South Africa during a time when it was illegal for you to be born.  He didn't have a great childhood but he made the most of it.  The book is laced with humor, yet makes you think about what is really important.
• Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
• I thought this was wonderful.  I loved the mythology, the romance, and the characters.  I can't wait for book 2.  
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• This was such and education about how medicine has advanced through the years.  This was heartbreaking and really makes you feel for the Lacks family.  You want them to receive some sort of reparation for the advances made from Henrietta's cells, but unfortunately that just isn't how it works.
• As You Wish by Cary Elwes
• If you love the movie The Princess Bride like I do, you should give this book a go.  I listened to the audio and it is full of the cast speaking about their experience filming.  This is so funny and heartwarming. 
• Sadie by Courtney Summers
• I just finished this and it was awesome!  It is told in mixed media and I loved it.  I couldn't put it down.  If you like YA thrillers go get this as soon as it comes out in September.  There are podcasts live that go with the book and episode 1 was excellent go check it out.

Go check out the Top 5 Wednesday group on Goodreads and see what other people recommended and to check out other topics.  

Review: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a surprise favorite for me. I had heard good things, but I didn't expect to love it as much as I did.  I borrowed the audio from the library on a whim and absolutely loved it.  I'll be purchasing a copy soon so I can reread this.  The story itself was a beautiful fantasy and Steve West as usual did an amazing job bringing the audio book to life. I couldn't stop listening to it and I am patiently waiting for the next installment. This is what books are supposed to be like, this book transports you to the world and you feel like you are there with Lazlo and Sarai (you have to read the book to find out who she is). I hesitate to tell you too much because you just have to experience it for yourself. Just know that this book is well written, the world building is excellent, and the characters are well developed. I don't have one negative thing to say about it, I want to read it again as I write this.

The story follows Lazlo Strange, an orphan who by chance or by accident finds himself lost in the library one day and ends up staying. He has a thirst for knowledge and a talent for dreaming, which is how he has earned his name Strange the Dreamer. Lazlo is a bit obsessed with the lost city called "Weep". Lazlo is sure he once knew Weep's true name, and he clearly remembers the moment he forgot the city's name, but he can't remember it. He's devoted his life to studying the strange city, and he longs to go there one day and actually see the magical place in his books.

Lazlo finds himself on a great adventure surrounding the mysteries of Weep as he has become the foremost expert of the place. There is saction, adventure, mythology, and there's a good romance. The romance is so well written that you are actually invested in what happens to the characters. I care about these characters, I even care about the side characters because they are so well done.

I highly recommend this book, though I do recommend it for more mature YA readers as there is more mature content mentioned. Then again anytime there is mythology involving gods and their involvement with humans you'll have that type of content, if you get my drift. It isn't terribly graphic so most YA readers will be fine in my opinion. 


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