The Spring Cleaning Book Tag

Hey everyone! I was tagged by Alys at Alys in Bookland to do this book tag, and as it is my first time being tagged for anything (lol) I felt I had to do it. So lets get started!!

The struggle of getting started: a book/book series that you have struggled to begin because of its size

Definitely Game of Thrones. That being said though, I will be starting it at some point this month. At least that’s the plan.

Cleaning out the closet: a book and/or book series you want to unhaul

The only books I’m considering unhauling are the first two in the Vampire Academy series. I thought the first book was just ok, and I’ve had the second one just sitting on my shelf. I’ve had no interest in picking it up, but for some reason I can’t bring myself to unhaul it.

Opening windows and letting fresh air in: a book that was refreshing

I actually just finished The Giver by Lois Lowry. It was a nice and easy read for me.

Washing out sheet stains: a book you wish you could rewrite a certain scene in

The only book I can think of is Switched by Amanda Hocking. The premise of this sounded so good, yet I don’t think the story was written in a way that the synopsis eluded to. So I would rewrite the entire book.

Throwing out unnecessary knick-knacks: a book in a series that you didn’t feel was necessary

I don’t have an answer for this one. Plus it doesn’t help that I start many series, but need to actually continue them.

Polishing the doorknob: a book that had a clean finish

That would Untamed by A.G. Howard. It’s a novella collection that comes after the official ending of the Splintered series. I say this has a clean finish because the novellas shed light on some plot points that either were just mentioned or shortly explored. Plus the final novella, Six Impossible Things, just hit every feeling while wrapping up and expanding on the end of the series.

Reaching to dust the fan: a book that tried too hard to relay a certain topic

There is nothing coming to mind for this one. Like at all lol

The tiring yet satisfying finish of spring cleaning: a book series that was tiring yet satisfying to get through

I can only think of the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. It’s over 20 books and I’m only on number 11. I feel like I will never catch up, but I honestly don’t mind that. He is one of my favorite authors so this is no struggle for me.

Looking forward to next spring: tag 4 people you want to do this tag

I would tag people, but I don’t know how just yet lol So if you would like to do this tag, you are more than welcome!

Have a great day and enjoy your reading!

The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury review

This is the second book in the The Walking Dead Novels series. I believe the first four follow the character Phillip Blake, otherwise known as the Governor from the comics and tv show. The first book, The Rise of the Governor, gave us a look at what the character was doing when the outbreak started, and how he got to the community of Woodbury. This book actually follows a different set of characters, and their journey living on the road during the outbreak before finding Woodbury. We follow Lily, Josh, Megan, and Bob mostly until we get to Woodbury and meet others from there. I can’t really give much of a synopsis since this is the sequel.

I gave the first book 3 stars because I felt it was just alright. The Governor’s backstory that they did in the show was my least favorite little bit during that season. The book however took it a little farther, but it still just barely held my attention. This second one I rated 4 stars. I was way more interested in these set of characters, especially Josh, and their whole storyline kept me intrigued. I did dock a star for some words I could have done without, and it did kind of get stale in some parts where we followed characters i didn’t care for, but overall I liked it. I do have the bind up of books 3&4 to finish up the Governor arc called The Fall of the Governor Parts 1&2. Definitely want to get to that one soon.

Series, series, and more series

Hey everyone! Today I wanted to talk about book series. I love reading series, but I have a bad habit of starting them and not continuing. It’s not intentional. I just keep finding other series to start or just other books in general. So here are the series that I have started in 2019 (except one that I started back in high school) that I would like to finish or at least make progress in.

Alex Cross by James Patterson started in high school- on book 11
The Others by Anne Bishop book 2 has been started
Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews I’m reading the novellas as well so I have 3.5 to read before starting book 4
The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne on book 4
The Edge by Ilona Andrews on book 3
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan I have no clue what issue I’m on since I’ve read the book bind ups and not the single issues. So I can say I’m on book 2
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas On book 2
Fever by Karen Marie Moning on book 2
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas again…on book 2
The Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini do I need to say I’m on book 2?

The two series I should be finishing soon are the Divergent trilogy (plus Four) by Veronica Roth and the Another series by Daniel and Dina Nayeri (brother and sister writing combo). I’m on the last book of both of these series.

What series do you want to start/continue/finish?? Have you read any of these? Have you recently finished a series? I’m hoping to make progress on at least 3-5 of these. Happy reading 💚

The School for Good and Evil: Quests For Glory Review

Oh my 🙊. This book here has me like 😱. That ending has me feeling all type of emotions from shook to frustrated in the best way possible. This series has surprised me in so many good ways.

This is book 4 in The School for Good and Evil series by Soman Chainani. The first trilogy is called the The School Years, and the next trilogy (even though book 6 is not out yet) are called The Camelot Years. This series follows our two main characters Sophie and Agatha, two girls from a town called Galvadon. Every 4 years, a being called The School Master comes through and takes two children, age 14, back to his school with one going to The School of Good and one to The School of Evil. The girls are 14 at the start of the series, and Sophie wants to be taken while Agatha could care less. That first book was a very pleasant surprise with an ending I definitely did not see coming, and I had to keep going with the series.

It is really hard to explain the synopsis of this book since it is book 4 in the series, but oh boy. This is a 500+ page book, and it needed all of those pages in my opinion. The action, the romance elements, the characters, the suspense, just everything unfolds so well. Especially the plot twists. Soman Chainani just has me hooked with his writing, and he will definitely be an auto buy author for me. I mean, cmon, the man thinks like I do (meaning we like villians and wonder what would happen if they won. He actually said in an author’s note in a special edition of the first book that he was actually rooting for Voldemort).

This is probably not the most coherent review, but I just finished the book like an hour or two ago and needed to get my feelings out. Oh, in case you were wondering, I rated this 5 stars. Just like the other 3 so I have really high hopes for book 5 that just released in March and any other books in series.

June Wrap Up and Book Haul

This is slightly late, but only by a couple days. I didn’t really read much in June since it was month two of my reading slump. However I did managed to read 3 novels, 3 graphic novels, and 1 ARC along with 2 DNFs. I also went a little wild and bought 15 books (three of them have been read). So let’s see what I did.

Books completed:

Fence vol 1 by C. S. Pacat 5 stars
Not Your Sidekick by C. B. Lee 4 stars
The Backstagers vol 1 by James Tyrion IV 5 stars
Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill DNF
Fence vol 2 by C. S. Pacat 5 stars
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz 4 stars
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff 5 stars
Roseblood by A. G. Howard DNF

The Black Mage (ARC) by Daniel Barnes 4 stars

My two DNFs were both by authors I love which sucked but hey it happens. My favorite of the month was Illuminae, and I’m definitely continuing on.

Now on to this haul I spoke of. There is a store in a city near me called 2nd and Charles, which is a used bookstore. They also sell new releases, but I mostly go for the used books since I’m just getting back into reading and want to read past popular books. Plus they are cheap. I went there twice in the month of June. I also bought my first Book Outlet purchase, which was a total of nine books.

The image won’t load for this one, but my first trip to 2nd and Charles resulted in me buying Illuminae and Carry On. I loved both of these.

These are from my second trip to 2nd and Charles. Aristotle and Dante has been read, currently reading Simon, and the other two will eventually be read lol

My Book Outlet order (minus Beautiful Creatures which I already owned and am currently reading). Dangerous to buy the whole series when I’m not even done reading the first book but hey I’m liking it a lot.

Well, that’s all everyone! I know July has barely started yet I already bought 3 books and I’m still waiting on my signed copies of two others to arrive. I will read all of these at some point lol have a great day everyone!

Rapid Fire Book Tag

Hello everyone! Today I bring you the Rapid Fire Book Tag. I first saw this tag on Booktube and decided it was one I would like to do. So without further ado, let’s get into it.

E-book or Physical book?

Physical book with the audiobook accompanying it if possible.

Paperback or Hardback?

I absolutely love my paperbacks!

Online or In-store Book Shopping?

In-store

Trilogies or Series?

Series. I have a hard time letting go.

Heroes or Villians?

Villians. I like it when the bad guy/girl wins.

A Book You Want Everyone To Read

This is a favorite of mine and I just want someone to love it just as much as I do so we can talk about it.

Recommend an Underrated Author

A. G. Howard. This series here is stole my heart this year, and I’m still in love with Morpheus, Alyssa, and Jeb 💚💙❤️ Untamed (the novella collection) is still my favorite book of the year, followed by Unhinged.

The Last Book You Finished

I am so glad I bought this because it was so good. Especially reading it with the audiobook playing.

Weirdest Thing You’ve Used As A Bookmark?

I honestly can not even think of anything. I’m pretty sure I’ve always had bookmarks or at least some type of paper. No wait I think I did use my phone and the remote lol I think my reading got interrupted, and I just picked up whatever was near me.

Used Books: Yes or No?

Definitely yes. Majority of my books are used books. My only critique is that they have to been in good condition, so no cracked spines, water damage, etc.

Top Three Favorite Genres

Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Middle Grade

Borrow or Buy

Buy

Character or Plot

Character. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good plot. However, if I can’t connect with the characters then it’s hard for me to connect with the book. I have to care about the character (whether that’s in a good or bad way) in order to care about the story.

Long or Short Books

Long for sure

Name the First Three Books You Think Of

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and Beautiful Creatures

Books That Make Your Laugh or Cry

Either one to be honest. As long as the book makes me feel something

Our World or Fictional

Fictional. I like to be able to escape.

Audiobooks: Yes or No

Yes. They especially help with long books plus pronunciation.

Do You Ever Judge a Book By It’s Cover?

Not really

Book to Movie or Book to TV

If it’s being adapted, I tend to always want to read the book first (unless I didn’t know it was a book first). As far as movie or tv, I would watch both so I don’t have a preference.

A Movie or TV Show That You Preferred to the Book

I think so far, I’ve always chosen the book. That being said, there could be one coming soon that could change that.

Series or Standalones

Series. As I said earlier, I have a problem letting go.

That is all the questions! I hope you enjoyed this. If so, leave a comment or question about any of my answers and I will get back to you. Have a great day 💚

IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!!

Hello everyone 💚 Sorry I have been away for a few days, but work was hectic all weekend. I’m off this week though, and what better way to kick it off than my birthday!! I’m officially 28 today. Today is also my niece’s 1st birthday so I will be with her later today.

Reading wise, I did get 15% in on Appalachian Book of the Dead, and I am so hooked. I need to get back reading The Exalting since I have to have my review up later this month. I’m also in 4 month long readathons that started today so I will be picking up Quests for Glory by Soman Chainani and also The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang. Should be a good reading month for me.

That is all from me at the moment. I hope you have a great day and a great reading month! 💚