The Next Nine

Books Read

1. The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks (Paul Boehmer)     4 Stars

2. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (Xanthe Elbrick)     4 Stars

3. Hex Hall by Rachal Hawkins (Cris Dukehart)     3.5 Stars

4. Failure is not an Option by Gene Kranz (Danny Campbell)     3.5 Stars

5. Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins (Cris Dukehart)     3 Stars

6. Sabriel by Garth Nix (Tim Curry)     4 Stars

7. 101 Dalmations by Dotie Smith (BBC production)     4 Stars

8. Nerve by Jeanne Ryan     2 Stars

9 Dancing Barefooot by Wil Wheaton (Wil Wheaton)     4 Stars

Average Rating: 3.56

Audiobooks: 8

Re-reads: 1.3

Indy/self-published: 0, I believe

Number Reviewed on blog: Also 0, and none really planned and I’m behind on Goodreads reviews…

Number of my owned books read (for my personal reading goal): 1

Comments:

Obviously a lot of audiobooks!  I am a convert.  Since I have roughly an hour of walking commute time to work every day I can get a lot of reading done, so that is where the majority of my reading has occurred and will for the foreseeable future until I learn to manage my time outside of work better and have to start biking to work.  However, considering the changes in my life the past month and a half, I consider this a great amount of books read!

I’m also well ahead of my semi-randomly picked Goodreads goal, which implies I can up it to another semi-randomly picked goal, however, I predict based on past experience a lull in reading starting in about a month, so I will wait for now. 

The books I read this round were good, as evidenced by the decent ratings and average, but nothing really amazed me of blew me away.  I hope the next group of books will have some of those.

Finally, I ‘read’ one of the unread books on my self, though I did it by audiobook not reading the physical book I own….  Since I have also bought another book I have not read and discovered a few others when moving that I didn’t want donate, my reading goal to reduce the number of unread books on my self by half of the starting number at the beginning of the year (aka have max of 6 unread books on my shelf by the end of 2017) is going quite terribly.  However, I have a hold on the audiobook for another book on my shelf for commute reading and once I finish off the last library book I have had forever and want to read, there is another I want to immediately start on my shelf.  After that my plan gets a little fuzzy…

What’s next:

I think I answered this nicely, if rather non-specifically.  So as a shameless plug, you can find out my what’s next if you follow or friend my on Goodreads!  Link is in my about page. 

 

This Is My Genre, Tell Me Yours- Tag

I WAS TAGGED BY A PERSON!! This is only the second ever time I have been tagged in a thing, and this time I managed to get to it a lot sooner then the last tag I was tagged in.  I saw this tag as it started and wanted to do it, and then got actually tagged.  And promptly didn’t actually do the tag because I thought I would have the same answer to every question.  Then I said, screw that, if it’s all the same I might get people to read books by this amazing author!  Also, can I use the word tag in this post any more then I already have just now? Tag, tag, tag!

*Anyway*

The rules to this tag:

>Credit the badass Drew @The Tattooed Book Geek as the creator of the tag, either use the created tag name graphic or create your own and link back to his blog

>Answer the questions

>Tag as many people as you want

Special shout out to Heather at The Sassy Book Geek. For tagging me! Some great content over on her blog, please check her out! A favourite post of mine that she wrote discussed the never-ending debate of ebooks versus physical books.

1) What’s your favourite genre?

Fantasy!  The high and the low stuff, particularly those that have a medievalesque feel to them.  However, Scifi is starting to creep in and is duelling for favourite genera this year! 

2) Who’s your favourite author from the genre?

My tied favourite authors are Tamora Pierce for young adult/middle grade books (still good for adult readers!) and Sherwood Smith for adult readers (she has some young adult books as well).  

Attempting to creep in to my favourite authors is Maria V Snyder. 

3) What is it about the genre that keeps pulling you back?

Escapism.  I read to leave my reality for a while and to have fun with what I read.  Fantasy does that for me!  Also I love reading about the types of things that show up in fantasy: sassy horses, dragons, wizards and magic, griffins….

4) What’s the book that started your love for your favourite genre?

First Test (and the rest of the Protector of the Small Quartet) by Tamora Pierce.  These were read way before Harry Potter and were my true childhood. 

5) If you had to recommend at least one book from your favourite genre to a non-reader/someone looking to start reading that genre, what book would you choose and why?

The Protector of the Small series for sure, for those younger readers looking to make in roads in the genera.  It’s more low fantasy so it very easy to get into the world and it’s so so good with great themes throughout. 

Some other good ones are Graceling by Kristen Cashore, Green Rider by Kristen Britain, Crown Dual by Sherwood Smith and Poison Study by Maria V Snyder. 

6) Why do you read?

Again, Escapism.  Life is heavy, hard stuff.  Reading is my relaxation. 

Tagging peoples:

Teacher of YA

Christy at Christy Luis reviews

Nil at The book Window

Kim at By hook or by Book

Hopefully none of you have done this yet and you would like to!

Books I want to read before the end of the year

Now that I have around 10 books left for my reading challenge for 2016 and there is only about 2 months left in the year, I though it would be a good idea to list out a few of the books I really want to read before next year.  I’m not one to make monthly want to read lists so this is a bit of a new thing.  I’m also not one to push myself to start something I’m not in the mood to read (though I will push myself to finish a thing so that I can move on from it…) therefore I won’t be sad if I don’t get to these books as that likely means I’m just not ready for them.  But these are a few of the books I want to attempt to strike off my to be read list before the start of 2017.  Slightly more then 10, but why not dream big and smash my challenge?

Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas

Kiss of Deception by Mary E Pearson

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johanson 

Touch of Power by Maria V Snyder

The Thousandth Floor by Katharine Mcgee

Re-reads I’d like to accomplish:

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder

Fire by Kristin Cashore

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Others that I am hopeful to read but would need the library to step up it’s game:

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Books I want to finally finish:

Wizards of Mars by Diane Duane

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks (this one is very unlikely, but I can dream, right?)

Wishfull thinking books (because they aren’t out yet, damnit!)

Dawn Study by Maria V Snyder

Anything Tamora Pierce

Firebrand by Kristen Britain 

 

Top 5 Wednesday: Gateway Drugs Books to Your Favorite Genre

The usual spiel: Top 5 Wednesday can be found on Goodreads and is currently hosted by Sam at Thoughts on Tomes.

My favourite genera is no secret: fantasy.  And this list is likely going to be my top 5 favourite books, but they got me into reading and have stood the test of time, so I think it fits. 

1. Anything Tamora Pierce – great fantasy reads that are easy to start with and get into.  They are generally low fantasy which is arguably easier to start with than high fantasy. 

2. Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith – same as above.  

3. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer – good for younger readers, this is a very interesting, funny and easy to get into read.  

4. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner – another book for younger readers that will get them hooked.

5. Green Rider by Kristen Britain – great book to transition from YA to Adult books as it’s an adult fantasy book that is very similar to YA books.  

Other goodies: Graceling by Kristin Cashore, The Naming by Alison Croggan and Eon by Allison Goodman

Relation’ships’ I actually really really love

Again, generally speaking, I like the who the main character of a book ends up with in whatever form of relationship they choose by the end of the book.  However, there are some relationships that I love more than others.  

Disclaimer: Sorry guys, I don’t think I can do this one without spoilers.  It’s just not the same.  However, in most of these books it’s obvious who the main character will end up with, so that is my justification.  When it take until the 4th book, I will be more vague.  

Books/series mentioned: Song of the Lioness and Protector of the Small (Tamora Pierce), Graceling (Kristin Cashore), Throne of Glass (the novellas, Sarah J Maas), The Mediator (Meg Cabot), The Wake trilogy (Lisa McMann) and Inda (Sherwood Smith).

1. Katsa and Po in Graceling by Kristin Cashore – A book I need to re-read since the end I thought was sad at the time (due in part to their relationship) but I think I will like it more now.  

2. Keladry of Mindelan and [SPOILERS STOP IF YOU DON’T WANT THEM] herself/the refugees/animals – I Love how Kel does not end up with someone, instead she has her duty and her responsibilities.  And animals.   

3. Alanna and who she ends up picking – She picked the right person in the end and the character I loved from the first introduction.  They are perfect for each other and he was my first book crush and they my first book couple that I loved.   

4. Celaena and Sam in The Assassins Blade – Whoops spoilers!  They are amazing while they lasted.  Not sure where Celaena will go from there. 

5. Susannah and Jesse in the Mediator series by Meg Cabot – major spoilers since it takes a while, but come on, we all knew it was going to happen from book one. 

6. Janie and Cabel in the Wake trilogy by Lisa McMann – Love them together.  

7. Inda and Tdor in Inda by Sherwood Smith – their friendship to relationship through growing up and the adversities they face was beautiful. 

8. Fox with himself in Inda by Sherwood Smith – Fox is not really shown with anyone else and I do think he might be on the ace spectrum.  

 

Top 5 Wednesday: Authors You Are Waiting on Another Book From

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey at gingerreadslainey and is hosted by Sam at thoughtsontombs.  If you want to know more about Top 5 Wednesday, you can check out the Goodreads page.

1. Tamora Pierce – This first one shouldn’t be a surprise if you have read more than like 2 of my posts.  TAMORA PIERCE is an amazing writer and I have been waiting literal years for her newest book to come out, this one tentatively called The Gift of Power following Numair’s journey to Tortall.  Even though it does have a tentative release season, it has been pushed back a half dozen times already and there isn’t a date-date yet.  

2. Sherwood Smith – This one is, again, not really a big surprise as Sherwood Smith is my other favourite author.  Sure, she has about one new book per year released, but the one I’m waiting on, A Sword Named Truth (first in a series), has been in publication limbo for (again) literal years.  No fault of the author as she has told me the publishing house has had the book for (again) literal years but it hasn’t been released.  

3. Kristin Cashore – I really want to see what else Kristin Cashore would write but so far nothing major has come from her since the last of the Graceling trilogy was released years ago, in 2012.  Though I just peeked at her blog and have seen that she is in the middle of the 6th revision of book #4!  

4. Megan Whalen Turner – Her The Queen’s Thief series was excellent and up for a re-read from me.  Since the publication of the last book in 2010 she doesn’t seem to have published another book, but there have been hints of a 5th book in the series.  Even if a 5th one never came to light, I would be interested in knowing what else she would write.  

5. Alison Croggon – She has had a few things released since her Books of Pellinor series wrapped up, but I want something more!  Something that promises to be as big as her Pellinor books!  Which, as a side note, is one of the first books I remember actually ordering in to the closest book store in my area (a whooping 40 minute drive away!!) and buying with my own money thanks to a recommendation by the lovely Tamora Pierce.  Before that point, I only ever bought books at those old Scholastic book fairs held at your school once a year. 

Honourable mentions: Hilari Bell and Jean M Auel. 

Books I want to re-read

These are books that I read years ago and, for various reasons want to give it another try, I want to re-read these books.  Some I liked, others I disliked but want to give another try. 

1. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore 

2. Eon and Eona by Alison Goodman

3. The Naming quartet by Alison Croggon

4. Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner

5. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card 

 

My go-to authors

For me these are authors that I will read any book they put out, if I think I will like it or not and without reading the summary of the book, because I trust them to write amazing books.  Many of these authors are also insta-buy authors as well meaning I would buy their books without knowing anything about their books because, again, I trust them to write good books that I will love.  Insta-buy authors are rare because I don’t like to buy books unless I know I will love them, this making this list an exclusive list.  Some of the authors of my favourite books are not even on this list. 

Tamora Pierce – Of the roughly 30 (THIRTY!!!!) books she has written I have only mildly disliked 2 of them.  That is an impressive score card and her next book coming out sounds SO GOOD.   

Maria V Snyder – A newcomer to the List and one that is a bit of a surprise for me that she became so trusted so quick.

Kristen Britain and Kristin Cashore – Both only have one series out each but that series from each of them is amazing.  Britain is still writing her Green Rider series and I can’t wait to continue it. After 5 books the series is not lacking or slowing down at all.  Cashore has finished her Graceling series after 3 books, of which I loved the first two and need to re-read the third since I didn’t like it the first time but want to give it another try.  Despite this I am really curious to see what, if anything she puts out next. 

Honourable mentions (close but not quite there):

Sarah J Maas – Here Throne of Glass series is epic and I need to continue it, however I have heard mixed things of her Court of Thorns and Roses series and will need to read it and form opinions before I can add her to the List. 

Sherwood Smith – Her Sartorias-deles books are either love them or really dislike them so she likely will not even land a permanent spot on this list.  However her books that I love are so complex, original and interesting that I still check out (almost) every book she writes in this verse.  Though I think I’ve gotten a bit behind in some of them since her less well-known books are harder to find, especially in libraries. 

Eoin Colfer – He was on the List but a recent book of his that I read took him off the list since it was not up to the standards of awesome and funny that I have come to expect from him.  

 

Trilogies that only needed two books

1. Wake trilogy by Lisa McMann

2. Circle Reforged trilogy by Tamora Pierce – This is really three standalones and really only needed the first book: the Will of the Empress)

3. Graceling Realm Trilogy by Kristin Cashore – I admit I need to re-read the third one again, but I was not impressed the first time I read it.

4. The Selection series by Kiera Cass – not really a trilogy but the first three books should have been massively edited into one book slightly longer book.

Alternatively, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins needed a third book but I didn’t like the third book in the series.