October 2015 TBR

Jen

A Dance with Dragons Part 2: After the Feast by George R.R. Martin 

(I started this in September after finishing Part 1 and I am so excited to finish this book and finally be all caught up with this series.)

Elixir by Hilary Duff 

(I started this book in September but I put it down to read other books and just never got back to it so I really want to finish it in October.)

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon 

(This was actually one of the September picks for the Readalongs with April group on Goodreads, but I couldn’t get my hands on a copy until now so I will be reading it this month instead.)

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin 

(This is one of the October picks for Readalongs with April and I am so excited because I have been wanting to start this series for some time now. It’s actually been on some of my past monthly TBR lists but I just didn’t get to it.)

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 

(This is the October pick for the Read-a-Long with Priceiswong Goodreads group and yet another book that I’ve been really wanting to read.)

Four Seconds to Lose by K.A. Tucker 

(This is the third book in the Ten Tiny Breaths series. The second book wasn't great but I do want to continue on so I will be reading the this book.)

Between the Lines & Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer 

(It has been one of my goals this year to read all of my unread Jodi Picoult books and these are the last two on the list. Hopefully I can get to both of these this month and it will feel like such an accomplishment when I finish them!)

Harry Potter: The Character Vault by Jody Revenson 

(I pre-ordered this one and it just arrived in the mail. So excited to read this!)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: The Illustrated Edition by J.K. Rowling and illustrated by Jim Kay 

(I also pre-ordered this one and I cannot wait to finally get my hands on this book! I don’t think I will be reading it fully as I completed a re-read of the entire series earlier this year, but I will definitely be devouring all the beautiful illustrations.) 

Mel
I might go with whatever I feel like this month, instead of trying to read the books on my currently reading list on Goodreads. But I'm definitely in the mood for:

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - I would love to finish the audiobooks (I'm almost done with Order of the Phoenix) before my copy of the illustrated edition of Philosopher's Stone arrives. I can't wait to see all of the gorgeous illustrations! I'm waiting to see if I'm in the mood to read the whole thing though. I just might!
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas. I am 1/3 the way through so far (impressive since September was a reading slump) but I will be speeding up progress through the book by skipping or skimming the witchclan chapters. I don't like those characters and I get bored reading them. If it becomes necessary to read them fully, I'll set aside some time specifically to focus on those chapters.
Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan. I am up to the third book in the series and I have the Heroes of Olympus series on laybuy (I picked up over $100 worth of books, hence the laybuy) and I'm really looking forward to catching up both series before moving onto Riordan's new book.
 The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson. I finally bought this book! So I can't wait to continue the series.
Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier. I finally bought this one too! Yay!!
Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch. I've been seeing people review this series on Booktube lately, so now I'm in the mood to start it. 

September 2015 Wrap Up

Jen

September turned out to be quite a varied reading month for me. There was a mixture of physical books, ebooks, graphic novels and audiobooks. In terms of genre, I ended up reading fantasy, survival, contemporary, mystery/suspense and science fiction. While there were some disappointing reads (including one I didn’t finish), there were also some fantastic books that may end up being added to my favourites list.

Thirteen by Shannon Peel → 4/5

Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes → 5/5

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder → 3.5/5

The Ellie Chronicles by John Marsden (all on audiobook)

- While I Live → 5/5

- Incurable → 3/5

- While I Live → 3.5/5

If I Stay by Gayle Forman → 4/5

Where She Went by Gayle Forman → 2.5/5

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart → 3/5

The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham (audiobook) → 5/5

Mr. Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham (audiobook) → 5/5

Frigid by Jennifer L. Armentrout → 4.75/5

Scorched by Jennifer L. Armentrout → 5/5

Grey by E.L. James → 4/5

One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker → 2/5

Saga graphic novel series by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

- Volume 1 → 4.5/5

- Volume 2 → 5/5

- Volume 3 → 4.75/5

- Volume 4 → 4/5

- Volume 5 → 4/5

A Dance with Dragons Part 1: Dreams and Dust by George R.R. Martin → 3/5

The Martian by Andy Weir → 5/5

Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham → did not finish

I tried, but I just couldn’t get into this book. I couldn’t connect with the characters and the plot just wasn’t interesting enough to hold my attention. Rather than force myself to read it, I decided to put the book down so that I could focus on other books instead. 


Mel
It was a really slumpy month for me. I was sick for a few weeks (flu + laryngitis) and I actually was reading so slow, progress was non-existant. So I stuck to watching TV shows and eventually picked up where I left off in the Harry Potter audiobooks. Then I dug up some old favourites...

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling (audiobook) → 5/5
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter → 5/5
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin by Beatrix Potter → 5/5
The Tale of Two Bad Mice by Beatrix Potter → 5/5
The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse by Beatrix Potter → 5/5

Review: Confess by Colleen Hoover

 

Publication: March 10th 2015 by Atria Books

Source: Purchased

Goodreads description:

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

---

This book was amazing and without a doubt the BEST Colleen Hoover book that I have read so far (I have also read Maybe Someday, Maybe Not and Ugly Love) and I loved everything about it.

Everything about this book was perfect. The writing was captivating and there were a few plot twists that completely threw me. I did not see them coming at all and I like when a book can shock me like that.

I especially loved the idea of the confessions. That was such a unique concept and it really worked well with this book, as did the paintings that were specifically created.

Colleen Hoover is fantastic at writing believable characters that you just can’t help but love. Auburn was an amazing character. Her situation was heartbreaking and I couldn’t believe how strong and determined she was, especially at such a young age. But then again, she was tough because she had to be.

I also loved the character of Owen. He was basically perfection in every way and usually I have an issue with characters that are too perfect but that wasn’t the case here. The way he was written was believable and it just worked in this book.

I LOVED the romance in this book. Owen and Auburn were so adorable together and I liked that the relationship between them wasn’t forced. Auburn still could not fully let go of losing her first love and Owen wasn’t trying to take his place or make her forget him.

Of course the characters I hated were Lydia and Trey, but even as evil characters they were so well written. Colleen Hoover writes deranged creepy evil sinister psychopath really well! So believable. And even Owen’s father redeemed himself in the end.

The epilogue was perfect. It really did bring everything together and answered every question that I had. I loved how lines and small details that you don’t think mean much in the beginning actually do come back into the story at a later point. Everything was connected and I absolutely loved that. Especially when we finally learn the truth behind Owen and his history with Auburn. I lost it at that point. Colleen Hoover is definitely a master at writing the feels, I was an emotional wreck by the end of this book.

This book NEEDS to be a movie! Ugly Love is already being made into one, so maybe this one can be next.

Overall, this was a superb YA contemporary romance. I gave it a 6 star rating and I recommend it to everyone!

Jen's August 2015 Book Haul

The Cuckoo's Calling and The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

The Syrena Legacy (Of Poseidon, Of Triton & Of Neptune) by Anna Banks 

The Breathing series (Reason to Breathe, Barely Breathing & Out of Breath) by Rebecca Donovan 

Ten Tiny Breaths series (Ten Tiny Breaths, In Her Wake, One Tiny Lie, Four Seconds to Lose & Five Ways to Fall) by K.A. Tucker 

 

Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross & A Breath of Snow and Ashes (books 3-6 in the Outlander series) by Diana Gabaldon 
The Outlandish Companion: Volume 1 by Diana Gabaldon

Mel's August 2015 Book Haul

Very small book haul in August! I thought I bought more, but oh well. 

Top to bottom
The Silkworm and The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)
Risk by Fluer Ferris (This book is amazing! I highly recommend this book!)
Devoted by Hilary Duff (Bargain buy! $2 from a local second hand/op shop.)
Doctor Who Boxed set: Character Encyclopedia & The Visual Dictionary (Another bargain! Total $24, while individually, they were $23 & $18. Not sure which price went with which book, but who cares, right?) 

September 2015 TBR

Jen  
Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes (I read Falling Kingdoms in August and LOVED it and want to continue on with the series.)

A Dance with Dragons Part 1: Dreams and Dust by George R.R. Martin (I am still slowly making my way through this series.)

One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker (This is the second book in the Ten Tiny Breaths series which I started in August and absolutely loved so I want to continue on with the series.) 

The Martian by Andy Weir (I have been hearing some great things about this book and I want to read this before the movie comes out.) 

Other than those books listed above, I don't know for sure what books I want to read but I am in the mood for contemporary so any of the following are possibilities: 

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Frigid & Scorched by Jennifer L. Armentrout
If I Stay & Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Mel
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas (I have been anticipating this book for most of the year, and now I have it!)
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (I have read this book before, a few years ago, but I've really been wanting to continue the series and I decided it was better to reread this one to refresh it in my memory. I'm also just kind of in the mood to read it again because I enjoyed it so much the first time I read it!)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (I really should have already finished this for uni, but every time I sit down to read it, something comes up and I never get much read. I really want to finish it!)
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (I have read this several times, but now that it's on one of my uni reading lists, I might just do a refresher and read it with the gothic genre in mind, since it is for my Gothic Lit class. I honestly don't know which aspects could be considered as gothic, but we'll see how it goes.)

I really want to finish a few books on my currently reading list that I really should have finished by now, so just to clear it up a little, I'm going to try to complete these:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas (It's taking me way too long to get into this book! I love the Throne of Glass series so much and I was hooked from the first page, but I'm just not getting that from ACOTAR.)
Harry Potter - Magical Places (It's a quick read and I'm about half way through, I think. I haven't gotten back to this one because it's currently buried under a stack of books and papers on my desk and I haven't wanted to upset the lot and send them tumbling!)
Doctor Who - The Character Encyclopedia (Updated edition)(I've only had this book for a while - it's due to go into my August haul if I ever get some space to set the books up for a photo.)

August 2015 Wrap Up

Jen

I feel like this was a slow reading month for me compared to the previous months. The 2015 Netball World Cup took place in this month so that was a major distraction and then I had a period where I just didn’t feel like reading anything. My reading did pick up towards the end of the month but a lot were audiobooks.

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes → 5/5 
The Annotated Brothers Grimm edited by Maria Tatar → 4/5  
A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston → 3/5  
The Devil You Know by Trish Doller → 3.5/5  
Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker → 5/5  
In Her Wake by K.A. Tucker → 5/5  
A Feast For Crows by George R.R. Martin →  4/5  
Risk by Fleur Ferris → 5/5  
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult → 5/5  
The Tomorrow series by John Marsden (all on audiobook)  
- Tomorrow, When the War Began → 5/5  
- The Dead of the Night → 5/5  
- The Third Day, The Frost → 5/5 
- Darkness, Be My Friend → 5/5  
- Burning For Revenge → 5/5  
- The Night is For Hunting → 4.5/5 
- The Other Side of Dawn → 5/5 

Mel
I've been busy with essays and readings for uni, so I didn't get as many books read as I'd like, and a majority of the readings for uni didn't actually get finished. I was lucky though, because one of my assignments was a close reading, which means I only had to analyse a passage from one of the books, so finishing the book wasn't really necessary.

Books Finished
Angelfall by Susan Ee → 5/5
The Duff by Kody Keplinger → 5/5
The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe → 3/5
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe → 4/5
The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe → 4/5
Risk by Fleur Ferris → 5/5
Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes → 5/5

Books Not Finished (and why I didn't finish them)
The Monk by Matthew Lewis: This book is really tedious and long winded. I think I reached about a third of the way and virtually nothing had really happened. I didn't like the story, I didn't like the characters and it just really got on my nerves. I was bored reading the portion that I actually read. I'm not going to finish this one.
The Italian by Ann Radcliffe: Really, I didn't even start this one, since I had so much going on, like the presentation due the fortnight after, but just what I heard about it in discussion with the rest of the class, I'm just glad that I never picked it up. I didn't focus my assignment on this book, so it's all good.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: I have almost finished the first part of this book and what I did get through, I have really enjoyed! I have never actually read Frankenstein before or watched anything adapted to film based on the book, so I'm still intrigued by it and I will finish it eventually. As for now, I don't need to do an assignment on it, so it can stay on the back burner for now.
The Rings of Saturn by WG Sebald: In general, the texts that I have to read for my Narrative Analysis class are not texts that I would normally read, and typically for me I haven't enjoyed many of them. I read 18 pages of this book.
The Invention of Solitude by Paul Auster: This book was a little better than The Rings of Saturn, and I managed to make it a third of the way through, but still, not something I'd usually read, so it didn't really hold my interest.