Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Monthly Recommendations: 1 Year

I'm late to the Monthly Recommendations party, but better late than never.  Monthly Recommendations was started one year by two awesome Booktubers, Kayla Rayne and Trina (from Between Chapters).  This month, the topic was a new recommendation in each of the categories they featured over the past year.  I've never participated before, mainly because it was difficult to come up with multiple books in each category.  One for each I can do.  :)

An underrated book:  Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie
Chick lit at its finest.  Sexy and hilarious.  Why has this book not been made into a movie yet?!

A book set in school:  Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman
A teacher's perspective in the 1960s.  Read it and discover how much things have changed and how much they haven't.

A creepy book:  And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Great if you like creepiness without horror.

A trilogy:  Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins
There are definitely other trilogies I prefer (Hunger Games, Divergent), but you've probably already read them.  Give Hex Hall a try if you like YA paranormal.

A book I think others should read ASAP:  The Progeny by Tosca Lee
Fast-paced genre-bending thriller.

A fantasy book:  Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Enjoyable graphic novel that plays with the concepts of heroes and villains.

A book with little to no romance:  Primary Colors by Anonymous
In honor of election year, check out this book not-so-loosely based on Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign.

A standalone:  We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
You'll probably either love it or hate it.  Personally, I loved it.

My favorite survival story:  Night by Elie Wiesel
Memoir of a concentration camp survivor.  Amazing.

My favorite book friendship:  Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
Bet you're surprised to see this one on my list, if you've read my previous comments relating to this book.  I guess this goes to show that the world needs more friendship stories as opposed to romance plots.

A book set outside the U.S.:  Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Honestly, it's been a really long time since I read this, but I remember loving it.

A book with my favorite empowering female character:  We the Living by Ayn Rand
This would definitely be Katniss in The Hunger Games, but going a bit more obscure, and probably even darker in its own way, I've gotta give props to Kira in We the Living.

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Will Never Read

5.  Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

I finally got around to reading Gone Girl last month (and loved it), but this book looks way darker.  I don't think I could stomach a read dealing with self-mutilation.

4.  The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (or any of his books)

Someone gave me this book in high school and it has sat unread on a shelf ever since.  Sorry, but Tolkien's writing has just never appealed to me.  Can't say why.

3.  The Shining by Stephen King

I've never read a Stephen King book, but I wouldn't rule out picking one up in the future.  Just not this particular one.  I've made it partway through the movie 2 or 3 times and always had to turn it off because it freaked me out.  I think sharing a name with a character probably doesn't help.

2.  Jane Steele by Lindsey Faye

Re-imagining my favorite classic literary character as a serial killer?  Sacrilegious!  The book gets surprisingly decent reviews, but there's no way I will ever be picking it up.

1.  50 Shades Darker by E.L. James

I think I have mentioned in a prior post my distaste for this series on every level, and so the number one slot on my list has to go to this book.



Check out the Top 5 Wednesday group over at Goodreads to see what other people have on their lists!

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Top 10 Tuesday: 10 Books on My TBR for the Longest Time

So...really this week's topic for Top 10 Tuesday by The Broke and the Bookish is 10 books that have been on your bookshelf/TBR from before you started blogging that you still haven't read yet.  I haven't been blogging that long, so I'm picking the 10 books that I've wanted to read for the longest time.










Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Top 10 Tuesday: 10 Books I'd Buy Right This Second If Someone Handed Me a Fully Loaded Gift Gard








































































































Visit the host of Top 10 Tuesday, The Broke and the Bookish, to check out other people's lists and add your own!

August TBR

5 books is ambitious for me, but I've been on a roll lately:

  • I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (Popsugar Reading Challenge #16: A political memoir)

    I'm just starting this one now.  This is a book I probably would not have picked up without the motivation of completing the challenge, but I'm glad to be reading it.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Popsugar Reading Challenge #3: A book you haven't read since high school)

    I've wanted to re-read this for awhile because I don't think I fully appreciated it in high school, and I wanted to refresh my memory before I read Go Set a Watchman.
  • One Plus One by Jojo Moyes (Popsugar Reading Challenge #36: A book about a road trip)

    Again, I probably wouldn't have picked this book up without the challenge.  I've never read anything by Jojo Moyes; contemporary isn't my favorite, but I'm willing to give it a chance.
  • The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chocksi (Popsugar Reading Challenge #12: A book recommended by someone you just met)

    I just picked a video from a random Booktuber to find a book to fill this category.  This category is a fail, Popsugar.  Strangers don't generally come up and introduce themselves and recommend books.  However, if anyone wants to offer me a recommendation for this category, feel free to comment.
  • The Graces by Laure Eve (received from Netgalley)

    I haven't really been in a YA mood lately, but I should make an effort to catch up on some of the books sitting on my Netgalley shelf.  If I'm not feeling it or don't get to it this month, I'm not going to stress about it.  This is a paranormal YA that will be released 9/1/16.