Daisy Talks About Venturing Into the World of Manga

So, you guys remember how our Jana asked for YA manga recommendations? I basically stalked that post because I'd been interested in starting to read manga myself, but had zero clues as to where to start and which series should definitely be on my list.
And you guys were AWESOME! I added a decent amount of manga series to my TBR list and then blissfully dived in. And I'm loving it! The ones I've read so far have been a refreshing change from the usual books I read, the storylines are quick, it's fun and I love having a visual along with the dialogue.

Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba
I've read the first two volumes and I'm REALLY enjoying this! I love the worldbuilding and seeing how Light uses the notebook, it's very intriguing! Obviously it's a little darker as it deals with a Death Note, but it's also funny and it makes me think about what it would be like to actually have the power over life and death at your fingertips, there are a lot of moral dilemma's attached to it.

Maid-sama! by Hiro Fujiwara
This series came highly recommended by my friend Debby @ Snuggly Oranges and it is SO MUCH FUN! It's light and quirky and I love Misaki in all her I am woman, hear me roar-ness and she definitely is a force to be reckoned with! I love the idea of a maid café and it's fun to see Misaki navigate everything that comes with working there. And then there's Usui. And I totally ship it.
It's a lucky coincidence that my interest in this series developed at a time when they're re-releasing the volumes, so YAY!

The Demon Prince of Momochi House by Aya Shouoto
I came across this one in an Edelweiss catalog and the main thing that attracted me to it in the first place are the beings that are on the back, which you sadly can't see on the cover, but they remind me of Pokemon. And I LOVE Pokemon, I used to watch it religiously and have spend hours and hours playing the games, and the little things on the back just looked SO CUTE. So yeah, I totally bought the first volume and it was really fun! There's a lot of build-up and then the first volume leaves us with a cliffhanger that makes me itch to read the next one, which should happen soon cause it's sitting on my shelf :)



So basically what I'm saying is THANK YOU for all your enthusiastic recommendations and I'll definitely be reading more manga this year. Also, if you have more recommendations for me, please feel free to tell me, cause I love adding this to my TBR pile :)

Daisy's Review of The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May

Title/Author: The Vanishing Throne (The Falconer #2) by Elizabeth May
Publisher/Date published: Gollancz, November 19th 2015
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley, thanks!

Goodreads summary: My name is Lady Aileana Kameron.

First the fae murdered my mother. Then they destroyed my world.

Now I’m fighting for more than revenge.

Aileana took a stand against the Wild Hunt, and she lost everything: her home, her family and her friends. Held captive by her enemy, and tormenting herself over her failure, escape seems like only the faintest possibility. But when she gets her chance, she seizes it... to rejoin a world devastated by war.

The future is bleak. Hunted by the fae, running for her life, Aileana has only a few options left. Trying to become part of a society scarred by – and hiding from – the Wild Hunt; trusting that a fragile alliance with the fae will save her; or walking the most dangerous path at all: coming in to her own powers as the last of the Falconers...

***SPOILER FREE FOR THE FIRST BOOK IN THE SERIES***

So I totally adored The Falconer, the first book in the series. If you haven't read it, you really should be doing that instead of reading this post. You can also see some of my fangirling over it here. But really, just go on and read it and then we'll talk some more about this sequel.

For some reason fae books and I don't normally seem to click, which is a shame, cause in theory I should love them. But Elizabeth May makes it work for me! I feel like this series doesn't get nearly enough attention and A Court of Thorns and Roses (though admittely amazing) steals all the spotlight, I think that if you like ACOTAR, you will also really like The Falconer and The Vanishing Throne, but I might be biased as they're basically the only fae books I've liked so far.

I was totally going GAAAAAAAH at the ending of The Falconer, because OMG CLIFFHANGER!! And then I had to wait for what felt like FOREVER for The Vanishing Throne, but you guys, the wait it totally worth it! I loved that Aileana is still her amazing ass-kicking self, but with a little extra something because of everything she's experienced. I love seeing how the relationships shift and how we meet new characters like Kiaran's sister, who fast became of my favourites, along with Derrick, who is still adorable while also being more than a little dangerous.

I also really liked tat Elizabeth May gave us more of the backstory of all the major players and how the Falconers came into being and while I did kinda see what happened at the end coming, I'm SO intrigued to find out how Elizabeth May will make this work in the third book! And also: I totally can't wait to read it because these characters are part of my heart and I think I loved The Vanishing Throne even more than I did The Falconer. This is one of those novels that absolutely did NOT suffer from second book syndrome, like so often happens in a series (and which never fails to annoy me).

And also, this quote:
"Your scars aren't flaws, Galloway. They're not imperfections. They're stories written on your skin."

LOVE.

Mostly, what I'm trying to say is: if you like your fantasy filled with fae (and even if that's not usually your thing), a kickass heroine, a ship that is very much worth shipping, BANTER, lots of characters to love, worldbuilding that is beautiful mixed with a historical setting, you definitely need to pick up this series!

My rating: 5 stars

Tahleen reviews: Audiobook "Ghosts of Tupelo Landing" by Sheila Turnage

Title: Ghosts of Tupelo Landing
Author: Sheila Turnage
Publisher: Listening Library, 2014 (print available from Puffin Books)
Narrator: Lauren Fortgang

Rating: 4 stars

Mo and Dale, along with all of our other favorite characters from Three Times Lucky, Newbery Honor winner in 2014, are back with another mystery to solve. A decidedly ghostlike mystery. Miss Lana, along with Grandmother Miss Lacy Thornton, find themselves the new owners of an old inn and, as it turns out, a ghost that was in the fine print. Determined to get the inn back up and running in order to sell it to someone nice (gotta have nice neighbors, after all), Miss Lana and the gang sets to work—only to find out that ghost might not just be a footnote after all. Mo, along with a reluctant Dale, seize upon the opportunity to interview said ghost for their history assignment. But can they 1) get her to talk to them, 2) figure out what old Red Baker is doing and why he's sneaking around everywhere, and 3) possibly figure out what happened to their ghost all those years ago? Mo is no coward, and along with Dale and new friend Harm Crenshaw, set out to do it all.

I really, really love this series. And I'm so glad it's a series. I was very impressed with Three Times Lucky, as some of you might remember, and this is a great continuation. Turnage still deals with the tough realities of life in a gentle subtle way, without sugarcoating anything. There is an illegal moonshine still, poverty, bullying, and hints of past abuse and neglect, yet it's all very age-appropriate and well done. And Turnage adds in a hefty dose of humor. Mo is never fazed and generally seems to be a fantastic human being, though she does of course make mistakes and poor judgment calls now and then. It is nearly impossible to ruffle the girl, even when arch-nemesis Anna Celeste (aka Attila) continually brings up Mo's unknown origins to be spiteful (Mo was adopted by Miss Lana and the Colonel when she was washed downstream during a storm).

**Possible spoilers for book 1 follow**

Dale's father is now in jail, and Mo is pretty vocal about her opinion of him. She can't understand the complicated feelings Dale and his mother Miss Rose have about him; because at the end of the day, he's still Dale's father, and as Dale says, "you only get one Daddy." It is very clear that the whole situation is very hard for Miss Rose, who is trying to get on with her life despite not having much experience in not being in an abusive relationship. The whole situation was portrayed very well, and I thought Mo's child's understanding of it added much. Lots of showing instead of telling.

I did think it was slightly strange that this volume went into the paranormal realm, but I like a ghost story now and then. This one was good; just surprised it veered into this genre after the first book was strictly realistic fiction/mystery.


As for the narration, Lauren Fortgang was great. I was sad that Michal Freidman passed away shortly after narrating the first, but Fortgang was a worthy choice. Her matter-of-fact tone brought out the humor of Mo's inner dialogue and conversations with others, not to mention the vocal differences between characters was very well done.

Anyway, would I recommend this book? You bet I would. It's a great middle-grade mystery series with a quirky cast of characters in a small-town setting.

Disclosure: I got a copy of this audiobook from OverDrive through my local library.

Daisy Reviews Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson

Title/Author: Rebel Mechanics (Rebel Mechanics #1) by Shanna Swendson
Publisher/Date published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, July 14th 2015
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "It’s 1888, and sixteen-year-old Verity Newton lands a job in New York as a governess to a wealthy leading family — but she quickly learns that the family has big secrets. Magisters have always ruled the colonies, but now an underground society of mechanics and engineers are developing non-magical sources of power via steam engines that they hope will help them gain freedom from British rule. The family Verity works for is magister — but it seems like the children's young guardian uncle is sympathetic to the rebel cause. As Verity falls for a charming rebel inventor and agrees to become a spy, she also becomes more and more enmeshed in the magister family’s life. She soon realizes she’s uniquely positioned to advance the cause — but to do so, she’ll have to reveal her own dangerous secret."

So I haven't really gotten into the steampunk genre all that much, mostly just because the ones I did read didn't really work for me all that much. BUT I'd read the Enchanted Inc. series by Shanna Swendson and really enjoyed her writing, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give steampunk another try.

And guys, it was a good life decision! I love the combination of this alternate history US and the steampunk! I mean, what if the US never became independant because the magical British overlords remained in power? That is a question I had NEVER asked myself before, but it's really interesting to think and read about and I love that Shanna Swendson did come up with this question.

I really liked Verity, she's intelligent and while she isn't all that enthusiastic about getting involved with the Rebel Mechanics at first (it's a scary thing when you could lose your job and all the security you have through that), she does believe in the cause and I liked seeing how she slowly works out how she feels about all of it, complicated by the feelings she has for the people involved in it.
So I'm just gonna come out and say that there's a bit of a love triangle in Rebel Mechanics, and it didn't bother me in the slightest. I already knew that I enjoy Shanna Swendson's way of writing a romance and she really does it very well in Rebel Mechanics as well. Mostly I felt that while Verity develops feelings for two men, it never felt like the love triangles in paranormal romance that have irked me so in the past. There's a natural flow of things and no insta-love, but there is attraction that feels real. Also, I have a big preference for one of the guys, but that's just because I love gentleman pirates/Robin Hood type of characters and he's AWESOME.

As a bonus to this gentleman pirate, there are also the children that Verity is a governess to, and I just adore the little girl and the boy was great too in all his boyness. The eldest girl was a bit ditzy and elitist and I do appreciate her as a character, but she's not much my type of person.

Mostly, I just really enjoyed the worldbuilding and the characters and it's a high stakes kinda plot that I liked. I could definitely sympathize with Verity in the things she does and the restrictions society puts on her and how she is an awesome lady spy. So yeah, I'm very much recommending Rebel Mechanics and looking forward to the sequel!

My rating: 4,5 stars

Tahleen's thoughts on the last Three Pines mystery

So, over the past year, I've been working on finishing the Three Pines series by Louise Penny. I mentioned this before. But I didn't mention why I was working through them--it was sort of a mission of mine. You see, my library's director was the person who got me started on the series, as she was a big fan. Then she read the tenth book, The Long Way Home, and told me she was completely turned off by the entire series because she was bothered so much by this book's ending. But she wouldn't tell me why, since it would reveal a major plot point, so of course I had to read all of them to figure it out. And I finally did.

Heads up, small spoilers for those of you who haven't read the series through book 9.

In this latest book, Clara asks Gamache for help in a personal matter. Her husband, Peter, and she separated and agreed to get together exactly one year later to discuss their marriage. The only problem is, Peter never showed up. Clara is worried, and after some hemming and hawing, asks for some help from the professionals. And so the search for Peter begins.

I won't reveal too much about this final book, as I don't want to give anything too big away, but I wanted to see what others who've read it thought. I wasn't as big a fan of it as the other books, as I felt actions for many characters were out of... well, character. Especially Gamache and Clara. Things just didn't feel the same as in the previous book, and though I read it quickly, I didn't really enjoy it as much as the others. I was annoyed that Gamache allowed Clara so much control of the entire search, and I am still annoyed by the ending. Not upset, just... annoyed. The whole thing felt like a cop out and too quickly wrapped up. (My director felt more strongly than I did; she really didn't like it.)

That said, I still do like the books, and I am anticipating the eleventh book this August. I'm very curious to see where Penny plans on going with everyone's stories, since the major plot lines have all been resolved. But it looks like poor Gamache will never get to enjoy his retirement, in any case.

Have you read this series? What did you think of the last book?

Daisy's Review of The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall

Title/Author: The Conspiracy of Us (The Conspiracy of Us #1) by Maggie Hall
Publisher/Date published: Putnam Juvenile, January 13th 2015
How I got this book: bought it

Goodreads summary: Avery West's newfound family can shut down Prada when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. Part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead.

To unravel the mystery putting her life in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle — beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But as the clues expose a stunning conspiracy that might plunge the world into World War 3, she discovers that both boys are hiding secrets of their own. Now she will have to choose not only between freedom and family - but between the boy who might help her save the world, and the one she's falling in love with.

So this was a book I read with my book club, which is awesome, but this book was a HUGE disappointment. I mean, wow, it was one of my most anticipated books of 2015 and it was just... BAD.

I mean, I still gave it 2 stars on Goodreads, but honestly, that's mostly because it's just hilaribad. It was so bad at times that it was hilarious and endlessly entertaining (though not in the way it was meant to be if I might guess) and it was fun to rant aobut it with my book club girls ;)

Where to start? There are just so many cliches/mistakes/just plain weird stuff that will make people cringe:
-PURPLE EYES. I mean, honestly, haven't we moved past this? And also, if purple eyes aren't speshul snowflake enough, she's the only GIRL with purple eyes. I mean. UGH.
-She has multiple boys chasing after her and doesn't know why, cause 'she's not beautiful'. I. Wow. Please show this girl how to work a mirror.
-A very disproportional body on one of the guys, whose feet touch the floor when he's sitting on a barstool. If he's not a giant, this doesn't work.
-Obviously you're not going to be recognized when you're on the run and you wear a big hat. Or start making out. I mean, OBVIOUSLY.
-Also, at one point it's mentioned that there are 12 hours in a day. *headdesk*
-Being soaked through after standing in the rain for all of 5 seconds.

I could seriously go on. And on. Which is what we did when discussing this at book club, but the point is: while these things were cringe-worthy, Maggie Hall did make me keep reading. I just kept hoping this would get better and the writing STYLE isn't the problem, but mostly the plot and the clichés that had been overused before this book came out.
Aside from one pretty steamy scene, I wasn't much rooting for the romance either, but wow, Maggie Hall is very much able to create the sexyness, but I would have liked to swoon for the boy before getting to this part. To be fair: there's not much happening beside maybe a kiss, but it was VERY sexy.

Basically what I'm saying is that this book was a bit of a hot mess, but it did have entertainment value. Just don't expect it to be the YA Da Vinci Code or anything, like it was originally marketed.

My rating: 1,5 stars

Daisy Does an Early Spotlight on The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon

Title/Author: The Mime Order (The Bone Season #2) by Samantha Shannon
Publisher/Date published: Bloomsbury, January 27th 2015
How I got this book: borrowed it from my friend Debby, as she was lucky enough to get an ARC!

Goodreads summary: Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal penal colony of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the fugitives are still missing and she is the most wanted person in London.

As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on Paige, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city’s gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take center stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner.

Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided. Will Paige know who to trust? The hunt for the dreamwalker is on.

Ok, first off: have you read The Bone Season? If not, why not? Cause you should. You should probably stop what you're doing right now, including reading this post and go read it. Just go. Go and be blown away by the awesomeness of Samantha Shannon's writing.

So now that we've got that established. Let's move onto me telling you exactly why you should be hovering around your mailbox on January 27th or stalking your bookstore or whatever method you decide on to get your hands on The Mime Order:

-While The Bone Season had a whole lot of info-dump in it (which I was ok with, because hello amazing worldbuilding!), The Mime Order doesn't and it just builds and expands on this knowledge we've gathered in The Bone Season and it was AWESOME. I love re-immersing myself in this world and the characters and just gloriously revelling in Samantha Shannon's beautiful words.

-Paige grows and grows as a character and she's just this strong, badass person who isn't afraid to make hard choices and fights for what she believes in and actually has a LOT of common sense and just, I love her ok?

-WARDEN! I can go all caps on him because he's AMAZING and just LOVE! We read The Bone Season with our book club and all three of us who were there to discuss the book just went *sigh* after someone mentioned him. He's very swoonworthy and he becomes even more so in The Mime Order. Also, the chemistry he and Paige have is just wow. It is SO good.

-THAT ENDING!!! Basically I have ALL THE FEELS and I had some serious book hangover after finishing this and even though I slightly saw it coming I was still like WHATTTT??

So go forth and covet this book. I'm DYING for the next one!

My rating: 5 stars

Daisy's Review of The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Title/Author: The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
Publisher/Date published: Orbit, June 19th 2014
How I got this book: bought the audiobook

Goodreads summary: NOT EVERY GIFT IS A BLESSING

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class.

When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite. But they don't laugh.

Melanie is a very special girl.

Let's start of by saying that I hadn't realised this was a zombie book before I started it. And zombie books are not my thing. But this is an interesting variety of zombies, and since I am conv65nced that one day an infectious disease will conquer mankind, this was actually a pretty scary concept to me. But because the summary isn't very clear on this, let me clarify for you: even though it's an interesting sort of zombie, it's still a zombie book.

All the things that give me nightmares are in this book: eating of people, apocalypse is near and just basically the scary thing that is a fungus spreading all over the planet infecting people. Also, you don't want a fungus to infect you, cause it's just plain nasty. But if this whole thing works for you, than you'll probably enjoy The Girl With All the Gifts. I have once again discovered that it's not really for me.

I did enjoy the first part of the book, where we meet Melanie and the whole class and everyone. I liked Melanie, she's smart and brave and pretty much a good little girl. And she's definitely special and different. I never really got to like Helen Justineau and dr Caldwell is the scientist villain, who also resembles a war criminal, I really hated her. I did respect Sergeant Parks, he's no-nonsense and falls back on his military training, and in the end he's a hero in my book, though I'm still not sure if I necessarily like him all that much. But I could respect him and sometimes that's enough.

I was never sucked fully into the story, while I cared in the beginning what was happening to Melanie, I just couldn't see her the same way anymore after one particular scene.
SPOILER ALERT! LIGHT UP TO READ:
The scene where she's gnawing on the kitty and eating it alive was just horrible. Since we recently got a cat of our own, I seriously could not find myself caring about what happened to her after that, cause she frigging ATE A KITTY. Which is described pretty graphically. I just cannot.END OF SPOILER
I also felt that there were a couple of too-stupid-to-live moments from more than one of the characters, who are supposed to be pretty smart, so that was off-putting for me.

About halfway through I found myself a bit bored and I know so many people have loved The Girl With All the Gifts, but honestly, I'm feeling a bit meh about it. I considered DNF-ing it, but because I'd heard such good things about it, I made it all the way to the end, but I'm not sure if it was worth the time I put into finishing it. Everything felt so bleak, that I never had any hope at all and was constantly thinking 'well, this really can't end well', which somehow made it not as scary as it should have been and just a bit me waiting for things to start going south. Which I'm obviously not going to tell you about if I was right or not cause if this is your kinda book you should probably read it as lots of people did like it.

This basically just wasn't the book for me, and if you're not into zombies, then you probably won't like it either. This could be a case of 'it's not you, it's me', but with me really meaning it. Be warned that there are some pretty gruesome things in it.

My rating: 2 stars

Tahleen talks about the Three Pines series by Louise Penny

Most of you know I mostly review young adult literature on this blog, mostly because I am a young adult services librarian and need to keep up with what is being published, or at least be familiar with it. However, I also need to be familiar with adult titles, as I also work on the reference desk for adults. My favorite genre has got to be mystery, and I gravitate toward the cozy subgenre.

Enter Louise Penny. I had heard the Three Pines series was good, the first of which is titled Still Life, and I decided to try it out. It was a good decision.

The whole series has a coziness around it, despite the murder and underlying sense of dread threaded throughout the books. I love reading about the little village of Three Pines, with its quirky characters and homey feel. I want to eat at Olivier's Bistro, where one can order things like open-faced melted goat cheese and arugula sandwiches on warm baguette, red lentil and curried apple soup, and fresh-baked croissants with a café au lait, warm cider, or glass of wine. I want to browse through Myrna's Livres, Neufs et Usagés, and find some mysteries like this one on a well-worn shelf surrounded by comfy chairs. (Oh by the way, it's set in Quebec, Canada, hence the French.) I want to be friends with all the people in this town, a town of people who found their way here when they most needed to. Louise Penny is just wonderful with description and imagery, and I always just want to jump into this place.

And Chief Inspector Armand Gamache! I want him to be my grandpa. Though he is probably too young for that, but still. He is just the best, which makes that dread I talked about earlier all the more sinister. If you've read the first few books, you'll know. If not, watch out for Arnot.

I've only read the first three in the series, and I am so glad that I don't have to wait for most of them to be published. Each book gets deeper and deeper into conspiracy and sabotage, and I worry for the inspector.

I listened to the first book in the series, and  Ralph Cosham fits the tone of the books perfectly. It took me a little while to warm to his narration, but as I progressed through the book I knew he was perfect. I hear his voice now when I'm reading the print copies I take home from the library.

To sum it up, if you're a mystery fan, especially Agatha Christie, this series is for you.

Paula Reviews The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro

Published 2009 by William Morrow & Company 

Got it from a Library Sale

4 Stars

So this book has been on my radar for a long time and I finally got my hands on it last fall at a library sale (for the longest time I could only find the 2nd & 3rd books in the series) and it was such a refresh to read a good book because I had been stuck on a really slow kinda boring book for the last month...

The Premise: A plane lands at JFK and goes dead on the tarmac. No lights. No engine. No radio signal. As a crew goes to check it out they realize that something evil has landed in New York... Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the CDC's Canary project (think a long the lines of the Canaries in Coal mines as an early warning system) gets put on the project of what is thought to be a bio-terrorism attack or the beginnings of a new epidemic. As Eph gets more involved- he realizes that things aren't adding up... and the dead passengers of the plane- have left the morgue? 

Without giving too much away- this is an awesome take on the idea of the Vampire. It presents the reader with a vampire epidemic. The vampires in this book can (kind of?) be based on a scientific idea- it's not just magic- it's creepy gross blood borne parasites. (Think of those parasites that attack ants and use them as zombie attack machines but then put them in a human body). Also these aren't your romanticized misunderstood lover vampires who just want a soul again. These are soulless hosts who return home to their "dear ones" just so they can infect them too. Also their jaws unhinge and they have stingers. And they are smart. Yikes! 

My Thoughts: I really really liked it. I'm happy that the whole trilogy is complete so I can go get the second two asap. Also I was excited to see that FX is picking it up as a TV show this summer. Hopefully it will be a good adaptation?

A possible negative (it didn't bother me but I had a friend who put the book down because of it) is the writing style- it's written by Guillermo Del Toro (aka director of Pan's Labyrinth and Pacific Rim) so it reads very much like a movie. The chapters and scenes are short and choppy- just like a movie would be. I didn't mind it because I knew that Del Toro is a director before he's a novelist - so it felt like it fit his style. But my friend who put the book down found it too distracting. 

Other Thoughts: This is neither a positive or negative thing- but just an addition. I found the very similar to The Passage by Justin Cronin(a vampire apocalypse novel that is based on the idea of it spreading like a virus) I'm not sure which came first? But I will say that even though at first glance they may seem like mirror images- there are enough differences in the focus of the stories and the mythos of the vampires that they aren't. And they are both good books and you should check them both out is really what I'm trying to say here...

Elevator speech review: Creepy good vampire apocalypse horror novel. And the whole series is complete so you can binge read! (I haven't read the other two yet though so hopefully they are just as good?)

Daisy Talks About Her Shelf of Shame

So basically, this is me pretty much all the time:

And since I have a paycheck coming in every month, I don't have to go on a book buying ban as often as I used to.

BUT.

But now I have a whole different problem: I keep buying all the books in a series and not actually reading them, which results in me having whole sets of completed series that I haven't started the first book from.

Which brings me to the title of this post: my shelf of shame. It's an actual shelf on Goodreads too, called own-full-series-haven't-started-first-book. Because I noticed it was becoming a thing and I like to keep track of things (if you read this post, you probably already knew this). As of today, I have 15 series that I own that are completed and I'm ashamed to say that I haven't even begun reading the series yet.

I simply can't seem to help myself, it's just that I always intend to catch up with a series and then I like having all the books on hand in case I simply HAVE TO HAVE the next one when I'm done reading the first and if I feel that it will be a me-series, I will just buy the next book when it comes out and so on. Also, The Book Depository tempts me with the 15% off they do on pre-orders. Which always seems like a really good excuse to pre-order EVERYTHING. Cause obviously I'm saving money that way...

So, what I'm really asking you is: do you guys do the same? Tell me I'm not the only one going a little crazy hoarding books sometimes?

Also, if you took the time to click the link to my Goodreads Shelf of Shame, which series would you recommend the most from this list?

Paula Review Beyond The Wall

 Published 2012 by BenBella Books, Inc. 

How I got it: got an ARC copy of it from the publisher at BEA last year

My rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: this might be a short review and have some typos- because I have a very intrusive/insistent creature (a 3 year old corgi/german shepard) sitting here next to me and licking my hands and keyboard and computer while I'm trying to type.

This is the first time I've ever felt the need to read a companion book to a series. No matter how head over heels I am with a series- I've never actively gone out to find essays that delve further into the legend and lore of the series. I am usually of the mind set that sometimes fans reach too far and read too into things that the author never intended. With that being said- I finished the latest A Song of Ice and Fire book at the beginning of the year and I was in such a state of "I NEED MORE" that I was excited to remember that I had picked this up at the BEA last year.

First off if you are going to read this book- make sure you have finished all 5 of the currently released books! It reveals pretty much everything that could be considered a spoiler in the series. I had considered reading it right when I got it last year- and I would have been really bummed because there are a lot of Book 5 details in it.

My thoughts: There were a mix of essays I liked (an essay about how magic plays its part in Westeros) and essays that either weren't things I'm interested in (such as an essay about collecting the series and how much certain editions of the book are worth). There were also essays I just did not find compelling or agree with at all (one argued that rape or fear of rape plays an essential part in forming the lives of women in westeros- which just raised my hackles in all the wrong ways).

A few of the essays helped me form my own thoughts about characters and events in the series. However, I do not think that all of the essays in it are created equal. If your library has it and you need a little Westeros in your life- I think that this is a good book to read while waiting for the next installment.

Tahleen reviews: "The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches" by Alan Bradley

Title: The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
Author: Alan Bradley
Publisher: Delacourte Press, due out January 14, 2014

Rating: 4.5 stars

Well, I said the last book ended on a cliffhanger, and I'm happy to say this next installment delivers with the answers to all the questions, or at least, all the questions left unanswered in the previous book.

**SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE PREVIOUS FLAVIA DE LUCE NOVEL**

Harriet has finally returned to Buckshaw, to be put to rest. Obviously things are not normal for Flavia at home, as things are finally being brought to a close. Buckshaw has become a place of renewed mourning, with villagers coming for viewings and the de Luce family staying up to watch guard over Harriet. To add to the chaos, some estranged cousins show up at their doorstep on the day it all begins, a Lena de Luce and her daughter. To cap it off, a man falls under the train at Harriet's arrival under mysterious circumstances after giving Flavia a cryptic message. More is at stake than ever for Flavia and her family as she begins to uncover the circumstances leading to her mother's death.

Alan Bradley, you are awesome. I am so happy I got to read this book sooner rather than later, as I've been waiting for it to come out since I finished Speaking from Among the Bones last year. This didn't disappoint. Flavia, through chemistry, luck, and ingenuity, works through long-hidden clues to find out what exactly happened to her mother all those years ago. The answer is buried deep, with plenty of intrigue and espionage going on.

I'm looking forward to where we'll meet Flavia next, as Bradley seems to have decided to move the series in a different direction, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I am hoping for exciting things for Flavia, and I hope I'm right.

Disclosure: I received an e-galley of this book from NetGalley.

Lori Reads--Hopping on the Divergent Train

You guys know me.  I don't read young adult lit.  I stick to the classics, which I love.  But sometimes I just want something different.  So I switch it up with some chick lit or something.  This time I switched it up with a young adult adventure--Veronica Roth's Divergent series.

I have to credit People.com with the decision to read this series.  Last week I saw an article about the first movie, which is coming out in March.  I probably wouldn't have looked at the article if the headline hadn't been "Watch Ashley Judd, Kate Winslet & Shailene Woodley in the Divergent Trailer."  I love Ashley Judd and Kate Winslet!  As I read the article, something just kind of caught my eye and I found myself looking at Goodreads to see which of my friends had read it.  Most of them had and they rated it quite highly.  I asked one of those friends about the series to see if she really liked the book.  Then I found myself at the Barnes and Noble website buying the first book and looking at it on my phone.  At $3.99, I figured that I really didn't have much to lose.

Good choice.

I spent Friday reading the first book.  I spent Saturday reading the second book.  Zach was very surprised and noted that this was the first time he saw my switch from Nook/iPad to phone while we were out.  I read while we were in the Chick-fil-a drive-thru.  I read while we waited in line at the video game store.  I even tried reading at the stoplights (Zach was driving), but they kept turning green too quickly for me to make much progress.

I'm not going to review the book in this post.  A few of the other TBTB-ers have already done so.  Much like Bridget's post, I'm going to talk about my reaction to the books...

I loved the plot of the series.  It was mostly adventure.  There were some things that I saw would happen from a mile away, but there were a couple of surprises.  It was quick and snappy and I blew right through the books, which I like.  I hate wasted space.  Most people have compared it to The Hunger Games, which I've never read, but I can see their point based on what I know about that series.  I want to also add that parts of it remind me of the Harry Potter series--being sorted, each group having a type, massive upheaval of the system, awkward teenage romances, etc.

Speaking of awkward teenage romances, Four was totally hot.  I liked how Tris kept thinking that she was all wrong--what girl hasn't been there?!  Confession, as I read the first two books, I kept expecting some fabulous sex scene...then it dawned on me that there probably wouldn't be a sex scene because this book is written for 14-17 year olds.  So I moved on.

Speaking of 14-17 year olds, there were very few times I wanted to smack the characters for acting like 14-17 year olds.  But there were a couple of times I wanted to just yell at Tris for being annoying.  This was a big plus for me.

Again, I liked the style.  There wasn't a whole lot of time wasted in creating this elaborate backstory.  Every detail mentioned in the book was there for a reason.  I hate it when I go into editing mode while I'm reading something because the author said a whole bunch of useless things.

Yes, the first two books went by like a blur.  Then I started the third book on Sunday.  I've read close to a third of it.  But I spent most of the day reading other things.  See, it really bothered me that the first two books were narrated by Tris, but the third book has both Tris and Four narrating.  Consistency!  I like consistency!  I totally want to finish the series--I mean, what IS out there? I have to know--but I am not sure how long it will take me to finish book three.

And, yes, I suppose that now I will have to finally get around to reading The Hunger Games.

Thoughts?

Paula Video Reviews the MaddAddam Trilogy

Hey all - I couldn't quite put all my feelings into a text post... so I made a video review for one of my favorite series: The MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood. Check it out below! Since it is about an entire series- I tried to keep it vague and spoiler free- but I did have to mention one or two things in order to make my review coherent (nothing that can't be found on a back of the book blerb though) - so here is your heads up.

If you don't feel like watching a video- my elevator speech review is: I am a fiend for matching bookshelves... and I ignored my paperback copies of books one and two and raced to buy the hardcover of book three because I was so excited to read it when it came out. Great dystopian and apocalyptic series by the talented Margaret Atwood.

Oryx and Crake  5 stars
The Year of The Flood 5 Stars
MaddAddam 4 Stars

Have you read the series? I would love to hear what you think about it! Happy Reading!

Daisy's Mini-Review of Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon

Title/Author: Doon (Doon #1) by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon
Publisher/Date published: Zondervan, August 20th 2013
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: DOON...

Veronica doesn't think she's going crazy. But why can't anyone else see the mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes? When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months.

But the Scottish countryside holds other plans.

Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna's great aunt — and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation. Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica's daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they've longed for... or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.

Summary sound familiar? The premise of Doon is loosely based on the musical Brigadoon. And while I have never seen this before, I'm guessing some of the more thespian-oriented readers among us probably have. I'm not actually sure whether this would have been better or worse.

I'm a bit conflicted about Doon, because on one hand, I liked the premise and I found myself wanting to keep reading it, but on the other hand there were a couple of things that made me want to throw my e-reader across the room and roll my eyes and make lots of frustrating noises.

What I liked: I liked the storytelling, the overall plot is interesting and fairytale like and it worked.

What I didn't like: I was confused by one of the lovestories, because the prince was being a jerk and I just couldn't see it. Veronica's parental situation was crazy and for me unbelievable, it was a bit of a too conventient absent-parent thing. The constant fangirling of Veronica and Mackenna over each other was really annoying.

I'm not entirely sure this needed to be a series and I'm still debating if I want to read the next book or not. There were too many things that annoyed me and not enough great moments in between to compensate.

My rating: 2 stars

Kimberly Reviews the warrior heir

Book: The Warrior Heir

Author: Cinda Williams Chima

Series: Yes

Angst Level: 1

Rating: 3.5 stars

Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high schoolers. Then one day Jack skips his medicine. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great - until he loses control of his own strength and nearly kills another player during soccer team tryouts.

Soon, Jack learns the startling truth about himself: he is Weirlind, part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. At their helm sits the feuding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game - a magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death. The winning house rules the Weir.

As if his bizarre heritage isn't enough, Jack finds out that he's not just another member of Weirlind - he's one of the last of the warriors - at a time when both houses are scouting for a player.

I read Cinda’s Seven Realm series last year and LOVED it. It’s a brilliant series and I devoured it quickly. I was excited to read more of her writing. The Warrior Heir was good, much of what I like about her writing was present and the plot was intriguing. However… for some reason I just didn’t connect with the characters the way that I did with the Seven Realms. There is still a lot to enjoy about the book. The main character is a teenage boy. It is so rare to come across a YA novel with a male MC, and it’s refreshing.  I always seem to be at a loss when recommending good YA books for a boy, some of them are just too girly for a teen. I like them, but I’m a girl in her mid-twenties. Big difference.  I’m excited to lend this one to my 12 year old cousin, he will LOVE it.

I’d recommend this to anyone who has read Cinda Williams Chima’s other books, fantasy lovers, or someone looking for a male MC.

(The ‘Angst Level’ is borrowed from my blog. It indicates the level of angst in the story, because if you’re like me, I like a fair warning of how much angsty drama I’ll have to put up with in a story.)