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Friday, January 23, 2015
Weeding the TBR 2015
This could be my biggest cull yet. Who knows? Maybe some of these books will find their way back onto my To Be Read list. But for now, it seems wisest to admit defeat and let these books go - trust me, I've no shortage of other items clamoring to be read. Interestingly, I'm eliminating a lot of these because of a lack of access... I don't have a copy of the book right to hand, and while it's certainly true that with a bit of effort on my part I could eventually procure a copy, it just doesn't make sense to chase after some of these when I have so many other books stacked right next to my bedside table, so...
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Top 10 Bookish Websites
1) Goodreads - my absolute number one go-to. It is the handiest thing for keeping track of my reading.
2) Earlyword - library and publishing oriented bookish news.
3) Netgalley - I haven't read an e-ARC in forever, but I do like to browse their offerings. Great website for book professionals and bloggers.
4) Library Journal - always good for a quick browse of library news.
5) School Library Journal - kid and teen library news.
6) Clerk Manifesto - daily ruminations of an unapologetically type-B library clerk.
7) Stacked - Kelly Jensen and team share thoughts on all things YA.
8) Abby the Librarian - I shamelessly steal her storytime ideas!
9) Small Review - Great middle-grade fantasy reviews and more.
10) Amazon - I use their website as a quick resource for customer book reviews.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Bookish Links du Jour 1/18/15
What caught my eye this week on the internets?
Here's a smattering of news and other tidbits that I thought looked interesting.
Here's a smattering of news and other tidbits that I thought looked interesting.
IKEA's ad for their 2015 catalog spoofs Apple products with its revolutionary "bookbook."
Friday, January 16, 2015
The One review
by Kiera Cass
Harper Teen
January 2014
First line: "This time we were in the Great Room enduring another etiquette lesson when bricks came flying through the window."
As dystopians go this is a fluffy, light-hearted, enjoyable conclusion to The Selection trilogy. America Singer lives in a future with a strict caste system, where once in a generation, the prince of the land holds a televised competition for his bride. As a Five, she and her family scrape by with careers in the arts and a lower-middle class standard of living. She's secretly fallen in love with Aspen, a Six who struggles even more than she does. Meanwhile, her parents are only too happy to see America chosen for the competition, with an opportunity for their daughter to become the princess and for everyone in their family to be catapulted several castes higher.
Gradually, America starts to fall for hunky Prince Maxon, a poor little rich boy, and her own good looks and thoughtfulness begin to win over the public as well.
As the final installment of the trilogy picks up, America really has fallen in love with Prince Maxon, and the two of them announcing their engagement seems like a forgone conclusion. There is some trouble in paradise, however, as America grows jealous of the way Maxon still openly flirts with the other contestants, and she wonders if she can really bear to give up Aspen (who has now bettered his life situation by signing up to be a palace guard.) The main thing that bothered me is the same thing that bothers me about any reality-TV dating show, where the "star" is going on dates with multiple contestants, but the contestants are expected to stay loyal to the star. What a double-standard!
The political situation with the rebels heats up, and there is a dramatic event at the end of the novel which changes quite a lot, but I expected there to be an even bigger twist at the end. Finding out that America's father was secretly a rebel didn't feel that shocking. I thought the monarchy would probably be dissolved, but Maxon hangs on, with a promise to gradually end the caste system, starting with improving the lives of the Eights, those who live in homelessness and total poverty. This is a feel good, fun love-triangle romance, perfect for Meg Cabot readers, or teens ready for The Hunger Games "lite."
Compare to:
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Wither - Lauren DeStefano
Birthmarked - Caragh O'Brien
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
2014 Reading Round-up
I always like to take stock of what I've been reading over the year and see how things look. I had resolved to read more middle-grade fiction, and make room in my reading schedule for more digital ARCs. That didn't really happen. I made my reading goal for 2014 (yay!) which I feel really good about, but just barely. And I do have one re-read I've included in my list this year (so is that cheating?)
I indulged myself and read lots of adult fantasy! But, I also let myself be pressured into attempting to read some adult literary fiction which is Really Not My Thing, and ended up unable to finish - so I felt like I wasted quite a lot of reading time there. I also picked up some quick and easy to read non-fiction just to boost my year-end book count (for shame, for shame!) which is part of why I decided to change my book resolutions for this year. I'll be looking at page count instead of number of books. Last year, the longest book I read was 650 pages.
I only posted about one review a month! Rats! Hopefully, I'll do much better in the year ahead. I also, for the first time, did not review ANY picture books in 2014.
Here's my round-up from 2014:
I only posted about one review a month! Rats! Hopefully, I'll do much better in the year ahead. I also, for the first time, did not review ANY picture books in 2014.
Here's my round-up from 2014:
1. Days of Blood and Starlight - Laini Taylor
2. Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson
3. The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
4. Written in the Stars - Lois Duncan
February
5. Steelheart - Brandon Sanderson
6. Crucible of Gold - Naomi Novik
7. Library Wars: Love & War v. 1 - Kiiro Yumi
8. Scarlet - A.C. Gaughen
9. Blood of Tyrants - Naomi Novik
March
10. Hexed - Michelle Krys
11. Mother Daughter Me - Katie Hafner
12. More Than This - Patrick Ness
April
13. The Winner's Curse - Marie Rutkowski
14. Small Medium at Large - Joanne Levy
15. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Saenz
16. Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within - Robert E. Quinn
May
17. Sabriel - Garth Nix (re-read)
18. Red Seas Under Red Skies - Scott Lynch
June
19. The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic - Emily Croy Barker
20. Noggin - John Corey Whaley
21. Blackbird - Anna Carey
July
22. Enchanted - Alethea Kontis
23. Double Double - Martha Grimes
24. Good is Not Enough - Keith R. Wyche
25. We Were Liars - E. Lockhart
26. Orange is the New Black - Piper Kerman
27. The Burning Sky - Sherry Thomas
28. My Real Children - Jo Walton
29. Small Apartments - Alejandro Bahamon
30. Akata Witch - Nnedi Okorafor
31. Do You See What I See? - Janice Fenn
32. Bitter Melon - Cara Chow
33. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #8: Hard Luck - Jeff Kinney
33. Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
August
34. Escape from Camp 14 - Blaine Harden
35. Quick Changes: Fresh Looks for Every Room - House Beautiful
36. Landline - Rainbow Rowell
37. Insurgent - Veronica Roth
38. Blackfin Sky - Kat Ellis
September
39. The Lonely Polygamist - Brady Udall
40. Beast Keeper - Lucy Coats
41. Everything Leads to You - Nina LaCour
October
42. I Survived: The Attacks of September 11, 2001 - Lauren Tarshis
November
43. Grave Mercy - Robin LaFevers
44. Eleanor and Park - Rainbow Rowell
45. Hush, Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
46. Lament - Maggie Stiefvater
47. Cinder - Marisssa Meyer
48. Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi
49. Choose Your Own Autobiography - Neil Patrick Harris
50. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul - Jeff Kinney
51. Article 5 - Kristen Simmons
December
52. How to Avoid Making Art - Julia Cameron
53. Jackaby - William Ritter
54. The Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch
55. The One - Kiera Cass
39. The Lonely Polygamist - Brady Udall
40. Beast Keeper - Lucy Coats
41. Everything Leads to You - Nina LaCour
October
42. I Survived: The Attacks of September 11, 2001 - Lauren Tarshis
November
43. Grave Mercy - Robin LaFevers
44. Eleanor and Park - Rainbow Rowell
45. Hush, Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
46. Lament - Maggie Stiefvater
47. Cinder - Marisssa Meyer
48. Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi
49. Choose Your Own Autobiography - Neil Patrick Harris
50. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul - Jeff Kinney
51. Article 5 - Kristen Simmons
December
52. How to Avoid Making Art - Julia Cameron
53. Jackaby - William Ritter
54. The Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch
55. The One - Kiera Cass
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