Jen's Crazy Huge August, September & October Book Haul

It's been a long while but I'm finally back with another huge book haul. Work, inclement weather impeding my natural lighting for photos, laptop issues and just life in general meant that it has been several months since my last haul so I decided to just combine all the books that I bought over multiple months for a ridiculously large haul.

Quite a few of these books are continuations or conclusions to series, some were impulse buys and the rest were ones that I'd had on my wishlist for a long time that I just splurged on when I saw them for a good price.

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas - 5th book in the incredible Throne of Glass series

The Darkest Magic by Morgan Rhodes - book two in A Book of Spirits and Thieves series

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard - book two in the Red Queen series

Forever Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon - 4th and final book in the Doon series

Frost Like Night by Sara Raasch - 3rd and final book in the Snow Like Ashes trilogy

The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson - 3rd and final book in The Remnant Chronicles trilogy

The Black Key by Amy Ewing - 3rd and final book in the Lone City trilogy

United by Melissa Landers - 3rd and final book in the Alienated trilogy

The Dragon's Return by Stan Lee, Stuart Moore & Andie Tong - book two in the Zodiac Legacy series

The Ever Never Handbook by Soman Chainani - a companion to The School for Good and Evil trilogy

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff - 1st book in the Nevernight Chronicle series

The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee - book one in the Thousandth Floor series

The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan - book two in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series

Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell - second book in the Twisted Tales series

Replica by Lauren Oliver - the first book in the Replica duology (Also, I couldn't decide which cover I liked best, so I decided to include both!)

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Nerve by Jeanne Ryan

Frayed by Kara Terzis

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz

The Distance Between Us, On The Fence & The Fill-in Boyfriend by Kasie West

Disruption & Corruption duology by Jessica Shirvington

Reckoners trilogy (Steelheart, Firefight & Calamity) and the novella Mitosis by Brandon Sanderson

Lux series (Obsidian, Onyx, Opal, Origin, Opposition & Oblivion) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

 River of Time series (Waterfall, Cascade, Torrent (books 1-3)) by Lisa T. Bergren

The Next Together duology (The Next Together & The Last Beginning) by Lauren James

A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & other Badass Girls edited by Jessica Spotswood

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson

Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

November 2016 TBR

Jen

I am super excited for the books that I have chosen to read this month! November seems to be a great month for new book releases and there are a bunch that I am excited for!

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

I still have yet to read the Lunar Chronicles series by this author but this book has been so hyped up in the book community and is one that I have been highly anticipating! I absolutely love fairytale retellings and I haven’t read one in a good long while!  

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

After reading and loving Everything, Everything last year, I immediately wanted to get my hands on her new book.

Girl Online Going Solo (Girl Online #3) by Zoe Sugg

The Girl Online series doesn’t always get the greatest reviews but I read the first two books earlier this year and really enjoyed them. At the time I thought it was only going to be a duology, but now that there is going to be a third book I definitely want to continue the series. Although, the title of the book doesn’t exactly fill me with hope for the main characters and their romance…

Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham

I would love to branch out into reading memoirs and more non-fiction. The problem is that there aren’t too many people whom I am interested enough in to want to read a book about them. However, Lauren Graham is one of those people! Gilmore Girls will always remain one of my favourite TV shows and I love Lauren Graham as an actress so I was ecstatic when I found out about this book (and about the Gilmore Girls revival that is airing later this month)! The book isn’t being released until the very end of November though, so it will most likely become a December read.

Summer Days & Summer Nights (Twelve Summer Romances) Edited by Stephanie Perkins

This one isn’t a new release but it is one that I’ve been wanting to read and have been saving to read until it gets to the right season. November isn’t quite Summer yet here in Australia (especially with the cool Spring weather we’ve been experiencing lately), but I don’t want to wait until December to read this, so the last month of Spring is close enough for me!

The Making of Outlander: The Official Guide to Seasons 1 & 2 by Tara Bennett

I started reading this in October but put it down to read other books. I definitely want to finish this in November and become obsessed with the Outlander series all over again!

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The remaining part of my TBR may as well be my ‘end of the year TBR’ since they’ll be all the series that I want to finish by the end of the year. And what I don’t get to in November I will roll over into December.

The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus #5) by Rick Riordan

The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan - This one is a companion to the Heroes of Olympus series and it is tiny so it’ll take me no time at all to finish.

Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine’s #3) by Ransom Riggs  

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs - This is the book that is referred to within the Miss Peregrine’s series and it is a collection of short stories so it shouldn’t take too long to read.

Anne’s House of Dreams (Anne of Green Gables #5) by L.M. Montgomery

Anne of Ingleside (#6) by L.M. Montgomery

Rainbow Valley (#7) by L.M. Montgomery

Rilla of Ingleside (#8) by L.M. Montgomery

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia #5) by C.S. Lewis

The Silver Chair (#6) by C.S. Lewis

The Last Battle (#7) by C.S. Lewis

The Magic of Oz (Oz #13) by L. Frank Baum

Glinda of Oz (Oz #14) by L. Frank Baum

The Royal Book of Oz (Oz #15) by L. Frank Baum

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (#5) by J.K. Rowling - I’m actually mad at myself because I still haven’t finished my re-read of this series! I have had this book in particular on my TBR for the past few months now and I still haven’t gotten to it because I keep reading new unread books instead!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (#6) by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (#7) by J.K. Rowling 

Mel
My TBR is on hold for the month! I will read if I can, but I'm very busy because I'm participating in NaNoWriMo!

October 2016 Wrap Up

Jen

October seemed to be a pretty mixed month for me. I read some pretty average books but there were some fantastic books as well. I also made some good progress on my currently reading series. I didn't end up sticking too closely to my TBR and the themed books that I wanted to read in October, but I'm okay with that!

The Tin Woodman of Oz (Oz #12) by L. Frank Baum → 3/5

Sex Criminals Volume One: One Weird Trick by Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky → 4/5

Sex Criminals Volume Two: Two Worlds, One Cop by Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky → 3/5

Sex Criminals Volume Three: Three The Hard Way by Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky → 3/5

Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia #4) by C.S. Lewis → 3.5/5

Finale (Hush, Hush #4) by Becca Fitzpatrick → 2/5

Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Green Gables #4) by L.M. Montgomery → 3/5

Frayed by Kara Terzis → 4/5

Trick by Natalia Jaster → 4.5/5

The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus #4) by Rick Riordan → 4.75/5

No Virgin by Anne Cassidy → 3/5

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (#1) by Ransom Riggs → 2.5/5

Hollow City (Miss Peregrine’s #2) by Ransom Riggs → 3/5

Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff → 5/5

Gemina in particular deserves a special mention because I have been eagerly anticipating reading that book since I first read Illuminae almost a year ago and it was definitely my favourite book for the month! 

Mel
I definitely didn't end up sticking to my goal of as many Goosebumps books as possible. I only read one and it wasn't even part of the Goosebumpsalong! Oh well. I did have a big slump, so audiobooks helped there, but I did manage to squeeze in a few books at the last minute.

Welcome To Dead House by RL Stine → 3/5
Doctor Who: The Runaway Train by Oli Smith → 3/5
Doctor Who: The Ring of Steel by Stephen Cole → 3/5
Doctor Who: The Jade Pyramid by Martin Day → 4/5
Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff → 5/5
Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven → 4/5
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling → 4/5

Review: No Virgin by Anne Cassidy

Expected Publication: November 3rd 2016 by Hot Key Books

Source: I received a free copy of this book from Hot Key Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads description: A raw, powerful, moving tale about a girl attempting to deal with the aftermath of a sexual attack.

My name is Stacey Woods and I was raped.

Stacey is the victim of a terrible sexual attack. She does not feel able to go to the police, or talk about it to anybody other than her best friend, Patrice. Patrice, outraged, when she cannot persuade her to go to the police, encourages Stacey to write everything down. This is Stacey's story.

A tautly told and important book, perfect for readers of Asking for It by Louise O'Neill.

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As soon as I read the synopsis I was interested in reading this story. The topic of rape and sexual assault is such an important one that more people need to be made aware of. This is a shorter book so it was a very quick read for me. The pacing was excellent and the story pulled me in to the point where I didn’t want to put the book down.

However, I did find it difficult to relate to the characters, which is where the book was a little bit of a let down for me. While I sympathised with her situation, I just found Stacey to be very unlikeable. She acted childish and immature at times, had a tendency to overreact in certain situations and showed extremely poor judgement in trusting a complete stranger!

I also have mixed feelings about the ending. While a part of me thought that it was probably a fitting ending to this short book, a bigger part of me was left feeling unsatisfied at the end because I still had so many unanswered questions about how things ultimately turned out.

Despite that though, I still feel like it is an important book to read, particularly for teenagers because it depicts just how easily young girls can find themselves in a vulnerable position where they could end up a victim of sexual assault. The aftermath of the assault also felt like a very accurate portrayal of the victim’s feelings of shame, self blame, self doubt over whether it was her fault or not and why so many rapes go unreported to the police.

Overall, I gave this book a 3 out of 5 rating. While I had perhaps been expecting a little bit more from this book, I thought that the author did a great job in giving a realistic portrayal of the difficult but important subject of sexual assault, particularly within the shorter page length.

October 2016 TBR

Jen

Mel had the idea of having a themed month for October. It’s not strict, but I liked the idea of reading some spooky/creepy/paranormal/thriller books during this month, so I have decided to split up my TBR into two parts. The first part being the themed books.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Finale (Hush, Hush #4) by Becca Fitzpatrick

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (#1) by Ransom Riggs

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

In Too Deep by Samantha Hayes
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

If I manage to finish those, or I just feel like something different, the second part of my TBR consists of the many series that I am STILL trying to complete.

The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus #4) by Rick Riordan

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

The Tin Woodman of Oz (Oz #12) by L. Frank Baum

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

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

Mel
This month I'll be participating in Richard Denney's (Books & Bullshit on YouTube) Goosebumpsalong! The way it works is Richard had chosen 3 Goosebumps books to read throughout October, which equates to a book per week between the dates he's chosen (Oct 3 - Oct 21), then watching the corresponding Goosebumps episodes. So the three books he chose were:

The Headless Ghost
The Haunted Mask
The Ghost Next Door

In addition to these 3 books, I'll be reading as many of the original Goosebumps books as possible! I'll hopefully be reading one book per day, but more if I can manage it/I'm in the mood for more.

Of course, I might wish to take a break from these, so I might throw in the possibility of other books, I just don't have any set for the month. I will try to keep within the theme for the month though!

September 2016 Wrap Up

Jen

This is a fairly small wrap up for me and looking at it makes me think that I didn’t read many books at all. I need to keep reminding myself that most of these books were huge chunkers! Also, all the books were ones I’ve been wanting/needing to read so I’m super happy in that regard.

Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4) by Sarah J. Maas → 5/5

Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas → 5/5

The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout → 4.5/5

Rinkitink in Oz (Oz #10) by L. Frank Baum → 3/5

The Lost Princess of Oz (Oz #11) by L. Frank Baum → 3/5

Crescendo (Hush, Hush #2) by Becca Fitzpatrick → 3/5

Silence (Hush, Hush #3) by Becca Fitzpatrick → 3.5/5

The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus #3) by Rick Riordan → 4.5/5 

Mel
I read way less than I thought I would in September, but I should be making up for that in October!

4001 A.D. by Matt Kindt → 3/5
Angel: Cordelia (Angel comic #17) by Christopher Golden → 3/5
Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas → 5/5
Persona 3 by Shuji Sogabe → 3/5
A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty → 4/5

I also DNF one book.
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs → 1/5

I'll just watch the movie ;-)