Jen's Long Overdue June Book Haul

Wow. I can't believe how late this one is going up, but life happens. Better late than never.

Falling Kingdoms & Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes
I already have these two in paperback but I own the rest of this series in hardcover so I bought the first two books in hardcover to match. I loved these books so much when I read them that I don't mind having two copies at all.

Morning Star by Pierce Brown
I hauled the first two books in the Red Rising trilogy recently so I needed the third book to complete the series.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
This book has been on my radar for such a long time but I never bought it because it was too pricey. So when I saw it cheap one day I couldn't pass it up!

The Leaving by Tata Altebrando
This is a YA mystery that I first heard about from Mel. It sounded so intriguing to me that I immediately wanted to grab a copy for myself. I have already read and reviewed this on Goodreads.

The Special Ones by Em Bailey
This is another YA mystery that I picked up on a whim one day because the synopsis intrigued me. I have also already read this one and reviewed it on Goodreads.

Black by Fleur Ferris
After reading Risk by this author last year, Black was one of my highly anticipated releases for 2016. I have already read this and it definitely did not disappoint!

The Loneliness of Distant Beings by Kate Ling
I was initially drawn in by the beautiful cover of this book but the synopsis sounded interesting as well so I decided to pick this one up.

Broken Sky by L.A. Weatherly
This was another random find and is the first book in a trilogy and the premise was enough to convince me to buy it.

Akarnae by Lynette Noni
This is the first book in the Medoran Chronicles series which I've heard some good things about lately. I love fantasy and magic so when I saw this at a cheap price I snatched it up.

Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff
This is another first book in a new series where the premise sounded great and I've heard some good things about it so I decided to pick it up.

Dream A Little Dream & Dream On by Kerstin Gier
I absolutely loved the Ruby Red trilogy by this author and I've been waiting for her new Silver trilogy to be completed. The third book won't be out in English for some time but when I saw the first two at a cheap price I had to get them.

Graceling, Fire & Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
I have heard a lot of great things about the Graceling Realm trilogy and I've wanted it for a while but I could never decide on which covers I wanted until now!

Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull
I have been wanting to get more into middle grade fantasy lately and everything I've heard about Brandon Mull has been fantastic so I decided to start by picking up his Fablehaven series.

The Luxe, Rumours, Envy & Splendour by Anna Godbersen
This an older historical fiction series that I have heard a lot of people talk about and I have been wanting to try out some more historical fiction so I went ahead and bought these.

Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I absolutely love the contemporary and mystery novels that I've read by this author but I've never read any of her paranormal books. There are just so many of those books and series that I thought a good place to start would be with this one. It is an adult spin off from her Lux series, but it is a stand alone and I'm told that I don't need to have read the Lux series to read this one.

Can You Keep a Secret, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

I was in a contemporary mood one day and decided that I really wanted to read a Sophie Kinsella book. I do own most of her Confessions series, but I really wanted to read a standalone so I went ahead and grabbed these four as the descriptions sounded appealing to me.

Jessica Darling's It List & Jessica Darling's It List 2 by Megan McCafferty
The Jessica Darling series is one that I've heard quite a lot about recently and it's on my 'Want to Read' list. However I found out that there was a middle grade prequel series that takes place before the YA series. I decided that rather than reading in publication order, I wanted to read in chronological order instead, so I went ahead and picked up the first two books in the prequel series.

Review: Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Publication: October 7th 2014 by Simon & Schuster

Source: Purchased

Goodreads description:

Britt Phieffer has never been that adventurous, but that's about to change. Wanting to impress her ex-boyfriend, Britt convinces best friend, Korbie, to take a trip with her and go trekking through the Grand Teton Mountains in Wyoming. But when a freak storm leaves the girls stranded they seek shelter in a cabin, and find two knights in shining armour, Shaun and Mason, who are also hiding out.

But all is not as it seems, and Britt quickly discovers that the guys are there for reasons other than hiking…dangerous reasons that mean they need to get off the mountain, fast. In exchange for her life, Britt is forced to guide them down, and as they set out on a harrowing journey through the cold and snow, Britt realises the only way to get out of this alive is to pretend she is on their side.

But playing nice is hard, especially when Britt is unsure whether Mason, gorgeous and sexy, is the enemy or an ally. And as she begins to lose track of who is in control it is only a matter of time before things turn deadly…

---

This was a book that I kept putting off reading because I hadn't heard the greatest things about it. However the synopsis did grab my attention and kept me interested in reading it. I went into it not expecting too much and while the book wasn't particularly spectacular, I did really enjoy it. I loved the setting and the author did an excellent job of creating the terrifying situation where if the psychopathic murderer doesn't kill you, then the harsh and unforgiving weather will get you instead.

The plot was fairly predictable and I had the plot twists worked out well before they were revealed. However I liked the mystery and suspense and the way that the author still managed to make me second guess myself at times. There were points where the book felt like it was dragging but it was still captivating enough that I didn't want to put the book down because I needed to know what was going to happen next and if my suspicions were correct.

I wasn't really a fan of the characters either. The main character Britt was likeable enough, and I really admired her survival instincts but she just did and said some stupid things at times which was frustrating.

The romance aspect also could have been handled better so that it was more believable. While I was okay with the epilogue and how things ended, the romance was just one of the most ridiculous instances of instalove that I have read.

Not everything about the plot was entirely believable and there were some unanswered questions I had at the end, but overall I really enjoyed this book and I gave it a 4/5 rating. Pick this one up if you’re looking for a good YA mystery thriller. 

Mel's MASSIVE May & June Book Haul

I finally got around to photographing all of my books for the past two months. There's been a lot of poor weather lately and getting a day with decent lighting is difficult, but basically, I got tired of waiting for a clear day and just made do with what I had.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas - Sarah is an auto-buy for me. I love everything about her writing!

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes - I saw this and liked the sound of it. I have never read a book from the perspective of the Queen of Hearts, so it should be interesting!

Ruined by Amy Tintera - This book sounds really interesting and It's my favourite genre, so I'm looking forward to reading this.

Soldier by Julie Kagawa - I already have the first two books in this series, so I picked this up to complete the set.

Desolation by Derek Landy - I have Demon Road and I've already started it, but I'm loving it so much I had to get the sequel!

 

The Crown and Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass - I recently read the first 3 books in The Selection series, so these were an auto-buy so that I can complete the series.

The Lost Sapphire by Belinda Murrell - This is a teen mystery based in Melbourne, Aus. I bought it because I liked the sound of it. And that cover is gorgeous!

 

Cress and Stars Above by Marissa Meyer - I've almost completed buying the whole of the Lunar Chronicles! I only need Fairest now.

 

Doon and Destined For Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon - I bought these after wanting them for about a year now because I was approved to read the Forever Doon ARC.



 

 

The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas - because I wanted them in hardcover! Sooo pretty!

Black by Fleur Ferris - Having loved Fleur's first book Risk, I was very excited for this book to be released! I have read this already, but the review will be coming later, after Jen has a chance to read it.

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith - I waited to get this because the larger format released earlier didn't match the other Cormoran Strike novels I own.

Conjuror by John and Carole Barrowman - Okay, so I might have bought this because I recognised John Barrowman from Doctor Who and Torchwood, but the description of this book does sound interesting!

The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L Armentrout - I don't often buy YA contemporary, but I've heard a lot about this one. I've not yet read a book by Jennifer, so I think I'll wait to read this until after I've read her Dark Elements trilogy.

The Loneliness of Distant Beings by Kate Ling - I saw this cover and had to see what this is about! Luckily, it sounds just like something I'd read!

Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff - I debated buying this, but after seeing a few people haul this and talk a little about it, I caved.

 

Bleach by Tite Kubo - I've been enjoying Bleach in the manga format, so when I saw my local store had restocked, I grabbed them while I could! Here are volumes 7-15.

The Leaving by Tara Altebrando - I was so intrigued by this book that I bought it on the spot. I have already read and reviewed this one, so check out my review on Goodreads.

July 2016 TBR

Jen

Mel and I had so much fun with our buddy read last month that we decided we wanted to do it again in July! This time we decided to come up with our own challenges and we are giving ourselves the entire month to complete them. We can also double up on as many challenges as we want, or none at all.

The Challenges

1. Buddy read a book

2. Read a classic

3. Listen to an audiobook

4. Read a book under 300 pages

5. Read a sequel
6. Read a graphic novel/manga  

Jen’s TBR

Challenge #1 - The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - I have never read anything by Tolkien but I have wanted to for such a long time so I’m glad that Mel suggested this one for the buddy read. 

Challenge #2 - It’s so difficult to choose just one book because there are so many classics that I want to read. Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery would be a great choice because I need to continue on with that series. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett is one that I’ve been really wanting to read lately. However, depending on if I’m running short on time or not, I could also just end up going with The Hobbit for this challenge as well.

Challenge #3 - The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy - I had such a hard time deciding on an audiobook for this challenge so I couldn’t believe it when I stumbled across this one! I LOVED the TV series so much as a kid and even now as an adult, I still go back and rewatch it periodically. I don’t even care that the books are for young readers, I still want to read them. And then probably watch the TV show again.

Challenge #4 - Black by Fleur Ferris - I don’t have many books that are under 300 pages to begin with, so I’m happy that Black meets this challenge. I read the debut novel Risk by this author in 2015 and absolutely loved it, so this is one of my most anticipated 2016 releases!  

Challenge #5 - If you’ve seen my mid year reading progress post, you’ll know that I am in the middle of far too many series. I’ve decided to list the book that I am currently up to in each of the series that I’m reading even though there’s no way that I’ll be able to get to them all. But this will give me some choice and also serve as a reminder of the series that I need to complete!

The Patchwork Girl of Oz (Oz #7) by L. Frank Baum

Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Green Gables #4) by L.M. Montgomery

Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia #4) by C.S. Lewis  

The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2) by Rick Yancey

The Assassin’s Blade (Throne of Glass #0.1 - #0.5 novellas) by Sarah J. Maas

The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus #2) by Rick Riordan

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi

Cresendo (Hush, Hush #2) by Becca Fitzpatrick

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5) by J.K. Rowling

Challenge #6 - Another long list. I have not read many graphic novels or manga before so (with the exception of one) I decided that this was a good opportunity to try out the first volume of a few different ones. All the graphic novels I had heard about on booktube and really liked the sound of them. Some of the manga came highly recommended to me by Mel, and some I discovered while perusing the shelves of my library and I just liked the sound of the title.

Saga, Volume 6 by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples - I read the first 5 volumes last year and was super excited when I found out that volume 6 had only very recently been released.

Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham,  James Jean and Alex Maleev

Morning Glories, Vol. 1: For a Better Future by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma

Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona

Sex Criminals, Vol.1: One Weird Trick by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky

Death Note: Black Edition, Vol 1 by Tsugumi Ohba, Yuki Kowalsky and Takeshi Obata

Fruits Basket, Vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya, Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley

Fairy Tail,  Vol. 01 by Hiro Mashima and William Flanagan

Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 1 by Kiiro Yumi, Hiro Arikawa and Kinami Watabe

Kitchen Princess, Vol. 01 by Natsumi Ando and Miyuki Kobayashi

As if that list wasn’t ambitious enough, I still have a few other books that I really want to read this month that don’t really fit in with any of those challenges.

One Was Lost by Natalie D. Richards

This is a review book from Netgalley. I have been loving the YA mystery thrillers that I’ve been reading lately and this one sounded really intriguing to me.

The Leaving by Tara Altebrando

This is one that Mel read in June and introduced me to. It is another YA mystery with a fantastic sounding synopsis and I have just really been in the mood for this genre lately.

The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout

This one was a contemporary that I really wanted to read last month but I didn’t get to it so I’m going to try again this month.

The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

I’ve been reading this since April and big surprise, I still haven’t finished it. I did actually make some progress with it in June though and I would absolutely love to just finish it in July, particularly as season 6 of the TV show has just finished. 

Mel 
Since last month's buddy read was such a fail for me, I'm really hoping that I do much better with this one! I made a suggestion based on what I'm into right now, and that's Tolkien! Luckily Jen agreed, so this challenge looks promising!

Challenge #1 - The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - It's been a long time since I read this (2002!) so I'm looking forward to reading this again! I've been watching the movies recently and they've really messed up what I remember of the book, so I'm going to rectify that this month so my brain can finally take a break from trying to sort it out!
Challenge #2 - The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - Yep, I'm doubling up! I just want to make sure I've not been too ambitious because I need to read other books outside the buddy read too.
Challenge #3 - Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare - I have read the book, but I've only recently purchased the audiobook and have yet to give it a listen.
Challenge #4 - The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - Yep! My edition is the 1991 Grafton edition and has a total of 285 pages, making it perfect for this challenge!
Challenge #5 - The Treason of Isengard (The Two Towers Book #3) by J.R.R. Tolkien - I have been slowly making my way through The Lord of the Rings, and since my edition of the series is a 7 book boxed set, each individual part counts as a book. This makes the challenge a bit shorter, since I don't have to read the whole of The Two Towers all in one go.
Challenge #6 - Bleach 3 in 1 Volume 4 by Tite Kubo - I've been loving this manga so much lately that I hauled 3 omnibuses in one transaction! So it makes sense to read one of them for this challenge.

Since that's quite a small TBR (and one of them requires barely any effort, let's be honest!), I feel like adding a few more books isn't going to hold me back too much.

The Doon Series by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon - I've been looking forward to reading this series for a while now, and since I have the opportunity to read and review Forever Doon before the publication date, I need to get a move on!

June 2016 Wrap Up

Jen

My reading in June was definitely an improvement on how I went in May. I did have some unexpected days off work which allowed me more time to read, but I also participated in several readathons which gave me a little bit of extra motivation to get those books read! The TomeTopple readathon and the TBR Takedown 4.0 readathon were both so much fun and you can go and check out the wrap ups for those if you want the full breakdown of how I did. Mel and I also did a buddy read of our own and I managed to read all the books that I wanted to for that, so overall I'm super happy with what I read in June.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas → 5/5

Harry Potter - The Artifact Vault by Jody Revenson → 5/5

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp → 4/5

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson → 5/5

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling → 5/5

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick → 4/5

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi → 4/5

The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum → 4/5

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick → 4/5

The Special Ones by Em Bailey → 4/5

George by Alex Gino → 4.5/5

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern → 3/5 

Mel 

Uhhh... Where the heck did June go? I feel like I just missed the entire month! I have no idea what happened! Oh well, can't go back now.
This month started off really well, I think. I read a few good books and was right into doing the readathons and the buddy read, but somewhere along the way, I derailed. Anyway...

Tomorrow, When The War Began by John Marsden → 5/5
The Leaving by Tara Altebrando → 4/5
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes → 4/5
Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton → 5/5
Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings → 3/5
Black by Fleur Ferris → 5/5

Okay, so I did manage to read two books from the Readorama readathon, as mentioned in my wrap up, and I might have mentioned being not well and then slumping a bit; well, that slump didn't want to budge, so I had to stick with reading whatever I was in the mood for. Thus, Black. It's exactly what I needed to get me out of the slump, since I've been so excited to read it! Fleur Ferris is officially on my auto-purchase list! I also have been making a little bit of progress through The Lord of the Rings, since I seem to be obsessing over it lately (blame Lego. I bought the game for Playstation 3. Or blame me for buying it to begin with). So, the buddy read for me just didn't happen. I hope next time is a lot better!