Lousy Smarch Weather....
With the weather being so icky in March, I like to whatever I can instead of going outside. This meant that I did a lot of reading this month for the challenge. Sadly, it wasn't overly interesting reading and I often got sidetracked with video games or Law & Order: SVU
But when I wasn't doing those things, here's what I was reading this month:
With the weather being so icky in March, I like to whatever I can instead of going outside. This meant that I did a lot of reading this month for the challenge. Sadly, it wasn't overly interesting reading and I often got sidetracked with video games or Law & Order: SVU
But when I wasn't doing those things, here's what I was reading this month:
by Bailey Cates
324 Pages
Between brewing magically spiced treats at Honeybee Bakery and volunteering with a local conservation group, Katie Lightfoot barely has time to see her firefighter boyfriend, Declan McCarthy, much less delve further into her destiny as a witch. But avoiding her fate won't be as easy as whipping up a new recipe-especially when Katie finds herself once again mixed up in murder.When a fellow volunteer for the conservation group is found dead, Katie's mystical senses tell her that there's more to the death than meets the eye. Her suspicions are confirmed when members of her coven are targeted next. Katie will have to embrace her powers quickly... or she may find herself chewed up and spit out by some serious black magic.
The month started off well with a fun magical baking mystery! I enjoy that Katie isn't actually looking for trouble and doesn't really want anything to do with investigating the murders that keep happening in her small town, but she keeps getting corralled into it by the people in her life; something about being a catalyst or something... However they manage it, it makes for a fun story and I'm always up for some baking magic, especially when it runs in the family (¥). I can't wait to try out a few more of these awesome, if not quite magical, recipes! (@)
by Brent Weeks
636 Pages
Kylar Stern has rejected the assassin's life. The Godking's successful coup has left Kylar's master, Durzo, and his best friend, Logan, dead. He is starting over: new city, new friends, and new profession.
But when he learns that Logan might actually be alive and in hiding, Kylar is faced with an agonizing choice: will he give up the way of shadows forever and live in peace with his new family, or will he risk everything by taking on the ultimate hit?
I wasn't really sure what to read next, so I picked up the second book in this series, which I started last year. I love the characters in this book, they are all really engaging and I'm always left wanting to read more about them, well...except the main character. I don't like Kylar and that fact made the book really hard to read. He's a super typical teenage boy who doesn't really think about anything other than sex. His city has just been taken over by a really terrible army and all his friends are being brutalized (%) and all he can do is leave town with the girl he loves in hopes of getting laid. Sorry, I was incorrect before, I don't like his girlfriend either. She spend the entire book trying to change him into someone she would like better. Sure, I don't like him, but I wouldn't try and change him either. I just simply wouldn't date him if I were her. But despite them both boohooing in their teenage angsty ways, the rebellion that is building without them is really kind of awesome.
by Veronica Roth
501 Pages
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
After the last book, I needed a pick-me-up read and my best friend recommended that I pick up this series. I finished the book in a few days. It was everything I wanted, action packed, not overly complex and fun in the way that only YA can be. Unlike the last book, the teen angst was totally normal and understandable given the situation at hand. It was raw and gritty (%) but also wonderful and fun.
The dystopian society is broken into 5 personality types, very similar to Hogwarts Houses if that meant that they had to live and die by those distinctions that separated them. I'm pretty sure that if I had to pick I would go with Amity (the peaceful) or Erudite (the intelligent). But by not being sure, I might fall into both categories and be considered Divergent (GASP!) Basically that means you have more than one distinction to your personality and don't fit into their societies box. Considering it is a dystopian future, that it could make problems for them, but it still seems a little extreme to want to kill them. Anyhow, it was still totally awesome and I can't wait to read the rest.
The dystopian society is broken into 5 personality types, very similar to Hogwarts Houses if that meant that they had to live and die by those distinctions that separated them. I'm pretty sure that if I had to pick I would go with Amity (the peaceful) or Erudite (the intelligent). But by not being sure, I might fall into both categories and be considered Divergent (GASP!) Basically that means you have more than one distinction to your personality and don't fit into their societies box. Considering it is a dystopian future, that it could make problems for them, but it still seems a little extreme to want to kill them. Anyhow, it was still totally awesome and I can't wait to read the rest.
by Terry Pratchett
495 Pages
It began as a sudden strange fancy . . .
Polly Perks had to become a boy in a hurry. Cutting off her hair and wearing trousers was easy. Learning to fart and belch in public and walk like an ape took more time . . .
And now she's enlisted in the army, and searching for her lost brother.
But there's a war on. There's always a war on. And Polly and her fellow recruits are suddenly in the thick of it, without any training, and the enemy is hunting them.
All they have on their side is the most artful sergeant in the army and a vampire with a lust for coffee. Well . . . They have the Secret. And as they take the war to the heart of the enemy, they have to use all the resources of . . . the Monstrous Regiment.
With the sad news of the passing of Terry Pratchett, I decided that I should finally read one of his books. Adam has been raving about his writing for years, so I asked him to pick out a book for me and he decided this one was the right one to start with. The lack of chapters was the first thing that stood out for me and I have a hard time trying to find a good spot to put down the book. The characters were rather adorable and I loved reading about them as all their secrets unfolded. (%)
It wasn't a very fast paced book, so I found that I enjoyed what I was reading, but was never swept away by it. I did enjoy it enough that it will be the first book of his that I've read, but certainty not that last.
It wasn't a very fast paced book, so I found that I enjoyed what I was reading, but was never swept away by it. I did enjoy it enough that it will be the first book of his that I've read, but certainty not that last.
by George R.R. Martin
1056 Pages
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance — beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.
Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys. But his newest allies in this quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could undo Daenerys's claim to Westeros forever.
Meanwhile, to the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone — a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, will face his greatest challenge. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.
From all corners, bitter conflicts reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.
I am so glad that I have finally caught up with this series. Thank you audio books! Listening to this series is so much easier than reading it and I recommend it for anyone out there who is struggling with these books. Unlike the last book, this one pretty much focused on all the character that I didn't particularly care about. I don't care what people think, John Snow is annoying, Daenerys is boring and I don't think anyone likes Bran. This book took place almost entirely to the east, which was different from any of the other books and that sort of peaked my interest a bit. Mostly I hung in there for the occasional Jamie, Cersie, Arya or a sometimes interesting Tyrion chapter. (%)
Books that I am currently reading
by H.P. Lovecraft
Page 51 of 360
by Robert Jordan
Page 352 of 782
by J.C. Nelson
Page 100 of 312
by Brandon Sanderson
Page 1 of 1258
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