May Wrap Up

I can't believe May is over already.  I had a pretty good reading month.  I didn't get to everything I planned to, but I read some things I hadn't planned on reading at all, I'll call that a win.  I read 3 ARCs, 3 E-books, 2 physical books, and listened to 8 audiobooks.  I haven't had time to write up reviews for eveyrhting this month.  I'm hoping to get caught up eventually.

Ebooks/ARCS

• Bad Boy Brody by Tijan (ARC)
• Review
• I got an ARC of this to review before it came out but it was pretty good.  Definitely an Adult Romance for the 18+ crowd.  It features two fairly broken main characters who find peace in each other.  
• Furyborn by Claire Legrand
• Review
• I really enjoyed this one.  This features angels, magical powers, action, assassins, what more could you want from a fantasy adventure?  I really liked the mythology Legrand created to go with the world
• Beard Science by Penny Reid
• I'm slowly getting caught up on the Winston Brother Series.  I only have one more to go. I've been dying to read Cletus' story, and it not disappoint.  I loved getting to know Jennifer and Cletus, and I always love seeing the rest of the Winston clan.  
• Moonlight Seduction by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Review
• This is another ARC I was able to review.  I really enjoyed this.  Is suspenseful, got a good romance, and the characters are interesting.  I love that the de Vincent house is almost a character of its own.  You aren't quite sure what to make of it.  I really enjoy this series.  
• The Oracle Queen and The Young Queens by Kendare Blake
• Review
• I recently read One Dark Throne, the 2nd book in the Three Dark Crowns series and was able to pick up the companion novellas.  I recommend them for fans of the series, neither really spoils anything

Physical Books

I do most of my reading on my kindle because its convenient, but I have lots of physical books.  Most of them I've read already, but I do have a large stack that I need to get to some day.  With baseball and soccer season in full effect now that spring is cooperating, I tend to read actual books this time of year.  I don't have one of those cool kindles that you can read in the sun, so my physical books come out during the spring and summer.

• The Martian by Andy Weir
• I picked this up at my library's annual used book sale.  I started it got a couple of chapters in and put it down.  I just couldn't get into it.  I picked it back up and wasn't able to put it down.  I loved all the science and Mark Watney's humor.  I always wanted to be an astronaut but I'll have to settle for vicariously living through books.  I recently purchased the movie so I can continue my enjoyment of the book, I hope the movie is just as good as the book.
• Oblivion by Kelly Creagh
• I read the first two books in this series quite some time ago, but my libary didn't have the 3rd book.  On a whim I checked to see if they had a physical copy, one of the other branches had it and I was able to get it sent to me.  While it was confusing at times, I think partly because it's been so long since I was in this world, and partly because there is so much going on, its a good ending to Isobel and Varen's story.  I really enjoyed all of the dark world building and Poe references.  Overall I really liked the series.

Audiobooks

I didn't have much on my to listen to list for May, but as usual I still got through a ton of audiobooks.  I just kind of went with whatever was available this month.  I normally have a ton of items on hold or on my wishlist.  May was just kind of adhoc.

• A Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
• Review
• After waiting forever for this audiobook, I was surprised to find out that it was less than 4 hours long.  It is a delightful, strange story about one of the side characters in The Kingkiller Chronicles named Auri.  Auri is a strange character and we meet her in The Name of the Wind, she is odd and her strangeness is explored quite a bit in this short story.  I quite enjoyed it.
• The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare
• I loved this.  Magnus is such a great side character in both The Infernal Devices and the Mortal Instruments, but we only get to know a little about the real Magnus.  I love that this is dedicated to him and we get to see his backstory and his true nature.  Part of this are laugh out loud hilarous and the one liners are great.  I really liked getting to know not only Magnus but we also get to know Raphael better as well as some of the other side characters that make appearances throughout the series but may have only had small mentions or minor parts.
• Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
• It has been a while since delving back into the Shadowhunter universe.  I needed a book with a time of day in the title for my reading challenge and I've been wanting to read this anyway.  It fits right in with the series.  It has the same feel as the Mortal Instruments series, forbidden love, murder, paranormal characters, teen angst.  If you are a fan of the original series you'll enjoy this as I did.  
• The Prophecy by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• I've been waiting for this to come out on audio forever.  The book has been out for a while,but I loved the audio of The Power so much I wanted to finish up the series on audio.  This one focuses heavily on the romance between Seth and Josie, so it is heavily contemporary while still maintaining the mythology plot line with the Titans and the action we've come to love that follows the Army of Awesome.
• The Hooker and the Hermit by L.H. Cosway and Penny Reid
• If you read any of my posts, you know I'm a huge fan of Penny Reid, she co-authors this series with L.H. Cosway.  The 4th book in The Rugby Series comes out in mid-June and I still haven't picked this up.  I have a copy in ebook, but I have more time to listen than I do to read so I grabbed it from Hoopla.  I didn't love this, its not bad, it just doesn't fit my taste.  I am going to use this for another challenge prompt for a book written by 2 authors.
• Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
• I picked this up as a challenge prompt for a book made into a move I've already seen.  The movie was pretty funny, and this is the rare time that I liked the move adaptation better.  I really didn't care for the book at all.  The movie was more of a comedy where this was more gruesome and dark.  I think I was expecting it to be more like the movie and because my expectations were different than what I got it really impacted my enjoyment of the book.  Plus I really don't enjoy most zombie books or movies.  Its just not my preferred genre.
• Chainbreaker by Tara Sim
• This is a continuation of the Timekeeper series.  It follows Danny and Colton on another adventure.  Their romance is a bit more intense in this one, and they both are trying to uncover the secret behind clock towers falling in India.  There is quite a bit more action in this one.  
• Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
• I'm working on this one right now.  Its pretty short so I'm going to count it as completed in May because I'll likely finish it before the month is out.  So far its pretty strange, but I think that is part of the appeal.  I think I'm might be able to use this for another challenge prompt.

Review: The Slow Regard of Silent Things

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a delightful, pecular story about a strange character named Auri. We meet Auri in The Name of the Wind, and I found her fascinating. I loved getting to know her a little better. While we don't really get may details as to why she is doing what she is doing in The Underthing or how she came to be there, we get to see her interacting there and just doing her thing. Though I would love to get more of her origin story at some point, she is a truly unique character and I'd love to know more about her. It is an odd tale, but I found it to be beautifully written and I loved the narration by the author himself. It was very poetic.

This story is not plot based whatsoever. Honestly I don't even think there is a plot, it is purely character driven and we just follow Auri around as she goes about her business in her particular way. Each day has a purpose and each item she finds has a place. Sometimes she is driven by something that is going to happen or a thing she needs to put somewhere. Mostly she is just driven by her unique personality and drive to just be herself and do what she does to survive and keep herself occupied.

I really enjoyed that Patrick Rothfuss himself narrated the audio.  It really lent something to the listening experience.  I enjoy his writing style.

I will say that if you prefer plot based works with character development and world building, this might not be for you.  This is more poetic and nonsensical.  I enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

View all my reviews

May TBR

I have a couple of things I want to get to in May.  I'd like to get caught up on all of the things I didn't read last month, and maybe knock out some of the ARCs I have for June and July to review.

• Furyborn by Claire Legrand
• I started this but I haven't finished it.  It is much longer than I anticipated.  It is really good.  There are angels, elemental powers, spies, assassins, prophecies, so there's alot going on.  This comes out on May 22nd.
• Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson
• I'm still working through this.  I'm learning alot and hoping to figure out my exective skill strengths and weaknesses as well as those of my 2 boys so we can figure out how to work together instead of against each other.
• Lucky Charm and Charmed by J.A. Armitage
• I need to to get to both of these in May.  I enjoyed the first one and I'd really like to see how the story ends up.  It is an interested reverse fairy tale about Cinderella.
• Beard in Mind and Beard Science by Penny Reid
• These are rolling over from last month.  I've been wanting to get caught up on this series for a while now.  I finished the Knitting in the City series a few weeks ago, and I need to get back to the Winston's.  The next one in the series is coming out in July and I want to be caught up by then.
• Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi
• I keep extending my hold on this.  I really want to get to it.
• The Fragile Ordinary by Samantha Young
• I received an ARC of this via Edelweiss+.  Sam is one of my favorite authors, and while contemporary isn't my favorite genre, I'll read it if she wrote it.  I just love the way she writes and develops her characters.  This will be out in June, but I'm anxious to get to it.
• Moonlight Seduction by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• I received an ARC of this and I'm anxious to continue the series.  I really enjoyed Moonlight Sins, it was a romance, a thriller, a mystery, and had a little bit of paranormal mixed in.  I expect the same from this installment which follows Gabriel another of the de Vincent brothers.  This comes out in June so I'm hoping to get it read and reviewed well ahead of it's release.
• Bad Boy Brody by Tijan
• I just received an ARC of this, it comes out May 7th, so I'm going to read and review that first then back to the regularly scheduled reading program.  I've only recently discovered Tijan, but I really like her writing style.  This one is about a grieving Hollywood starlet turned bad boy.  

Audiobooks

I have a couple of things on hold at the library, the only two I really want to get to is A Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss and Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare.  Lady Midnight is for my reading challenge prompt for a book with a time of day in it plus I've been meaning to get to this book for a while now.  Everything else would just be a bonus.  I'm hoping my library or hoopla gets the last book in the Titan Series by Jennifer Armentrout on audio, it supposed to be out in May I think.

I'm always looking for audio recommendations.  Who are your favorite narrators?  What are your favorite audio books?

April Wrap Up

I set out to read a bunch of stuff in April, you can see my TBR post here if you like.  I did pretty well.  I didn't get to everything, but I got to most of the stuff I intended to, plus a couple of things I didn't plan on reading.  I read or listened to 10 books total and started 2 that were on my list to read.  And I reviewed almost all of them, which is more of an accomplishment than actually reading the books.  Reading is the easy part, finding time to post reviews is the hard part.  I have a few more to review, but I'm almost caught up.  I'll update the links when I'm done.

Ebooks/ARCs I did read, I've put their goodreads links and links to all of my reviews below so you can go check them out:

• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
• My review
• I finished this and it was fantastic.  I highly recommend it.  I hear the audio version is fantastic as well.  
• Unbreakable by Sara Ella
• My review
• This took me almost a month to finish.  I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy it as much as the first 2 books.  
• Kissing Tolstoy by Penny Reid
• My review
• This popped up randomly as an auto checkout from my library, which means they bought it on recommendation and I was next in line for it on the holds list.  This was really short and cute and I read it in a couple of hours.
• Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas
• My review
• This was a surprise release by Pen Douglas.  It just came out mid-April, and I was lucky enough to win a copy in a giveaway hosted by The Lovely Books.  I really like her work, and I've read most of her books but I don't think I've reviewed any of them, yet.  I think I read them before I started on this blog journey.  I joined the blog tour so I had to squeeze this in to April's list.

Things I meant to read but will move to May:

• Furyborn by Claire Legrand
• I started this but I haven't finished it.  It is much longer than I anticipated.  It is really good.  There are angels, elemental powers, spies, assassins, prophecies, so there's alot going on.
• Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson
• I started this, but as I mentioned in my TBR, I didn't plan to finish it in April.  My goal was to start it.  I've read the first few chapters and I've learned quite a bit.  It has already give me some good insights into parenting.  I have 2 very intellegent children, but they both lack what I consider basic human skills.  I'm hoping this book can teach our whole family how work on those things and face the world more effectively.  So far so good.
• Lucky Charm and Charmed by J.A. Armitage
• I need to to get to both of these in May.
• Beard in Mind and Beard Science by Penny Reid
• I know I'm going to love these and I fly through them so they will happen very soon.  The next one in the series is coming out in July and I want to be caught up by then.
• Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi
• I keep extending my hold on this.  I really want to get to it.

Audio Books

I finished all of the books but one.

• The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
• I just checked this out today, so it is next up.
• Timekeeper by Tara Sim
• My review
• I really enjoyed this one.  I was expecting it to be about time travel, but there is no time travel involved.  Time control perhaps, but no travelling.  This has an LGBT male main character who fixes clocks and can feel and see time unlike us regular people.  I liked the premise and I'm anxious to continue.  My library just purchased Chainbreaker, and I'm currently listening to it now.
• One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake
• My review
• This was another random checkout.  I forgot all about this series until I saw the cover in the available now section and I grabbed it.  I really liked the first book, but you know how it goes waiting a year for the next book to come out.  The 2nd book was a great follow up to Three Dark Crowns and I loved being back in the world and getting to know the Queens better.  I put the 2 novellas on hold as soon as I finished but it looks like I'll be waiting a while until we find out what happens to the sisters.
• Every Little Thing by Samantha Young
• My review
• Sam is one of my favorites, but this isn't my favorite book.  I haven't loved her books on audio.  I think I prefer to read them on the page.  It was still good, but the romance in this lost some thing for me in the translation.  I think I'll stick to reading her books in print.  This is still a good hate to love romance, and still recommend it.
•   Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
• My review
• This isn't my normal type of book but I really did enjoy it.  It hits on just about every problem facing today's society.  I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.  
• Walk on Earth a Stranger, Like a River Glorious, and Into the Bright Unknown by Rae Carson
• My review
• I picked this up randomly because I heard Regan from Peruse Project talk about it and she said it was good.  I needed a new audio book an this was available so I took a chance.  I really ended up liking it and checked out the next 2 books.  The books aren't terribly long, but I really liked the Oregon Trail vibe.  The series follows Leah a girl who can sense gold during the California gold rush.  I really enjoyed the series.

Review: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not sure what to say about this book. It has taken me several months to finally finish this book, partially because I had checked it out of the library and I had to wait on the wait list between requests and partly because it is extremely long. While I liked the journey, the ending left me wanting. I felt like I read all that and you leave me with that ending?  Huge cliffhanger!  I'm glad to have finished it finally and I can check off unreliable narrator from my reading challenge list.

The story finds Kvothe or Kote as he is known today in an inn where he has been an upstanding citizen of the town when a stranger enters the picture. This stranger is a chronicler and he is looking for the famous Kvothe and wants to write his story. Kvothe is a famed hero, but he's hiding out undercover as an inn keeper and the chronicler wants to know why and wants to document all of Kvothe's adventures. After some persuading, Kvothe agrees, but his terms are specific. He begins his tale in his childhood and we learn about his family, how he came to discover magic, and his many other adventures as a youth. We then hear about his trials and tribulations as the University, where he learns to hone his magic craft, but his is always finding mischief. His story is not one of fame, fortune, or heroism. Kvothe has had a terribly sad life, and he is on a mission to right the wrongs that were done to him and his family.

The story of his time at the university was interesting but it was long. It was slot at times, and not so slow at others. It picks up about halfway through the book, and the pace is steady from about the 50% mark to the end. There is more action happening at that time as well. I didn't find the story boring at all, just long. This was not a book I just couldn't put down, and even when I read for long stretches of time I didn't make much progress which was discouraging. I felt some of the plot lines were unnecessary, while other's could have been more explored. Kvothe himself doesn't seem to be doing anything for long stretches of time except going to classes or hanging about one place or another for long periods of time. I did like alot of the side characters, Kvothe's friends and instructors had great personalities, and his apprentice Bast who we meet at the end has proven to be more than what he appears.

I'll continue on with the series, as I did like The Name of the Wind and I do like Rothfuss' writing. I am anxious to hear about what happens next in the tale and some of the more action packed adventures that are hinted at during the telling of Kvothe's life story.