Top Ten Places Books Have Made Us Want To Visit

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Daisy's Picks

1. HOGWARTS: Because seriously, who wouldn't? And a real place that's linked to it is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park and The Harry Potter Studio Tour. It would just be epic to be able to wander through all the places that exist in my head and in the movies.

2. London: I did actually visit London a couple of years ago, but all the stories about the Tudors and all the historical romances I love very much made me want to visit this city. And it was awesome. I want to go back there!

3. Nantucket: I've read a couple of books in which the story takes place on this island and it sounds pretty magical, so it's on the WANT list.

Julia's Picks

4. London and England: I am stealing Daisy's answer, because London and pretty much the whole of England has been on my to do list for ages primarily because of awesome steampunk books and all those historical romance novels. I actually popped over for a quick visit this summer and one of the things I had to do was Hyde Park because of how often the leads in historicals take a strole through it. I took a bike.

5. Middle Earth: Oh, if only I could go there! I had a hardcore Tolkien phase in high school and I would have given just about anything to take a stroll through Middle Earth. I loved all things elves so Rivendell would have been my ideal destination. So to tie this to the real world, I'd love to go to New Zealand and visit all of that amazing scenery that was shone in those movies.

6. Russia: For some reason I have always been drawn to Russia. I don't know why that is, but I seek out Russian fictional literature and would love to go visit St. Petersburg or Moscow. I don't know if I will ever get the chance at least in the near future. So I will have to be content reading lots and lots of fiction.

Jamie's Picks

7. Italy: I've been to Italy before but Kristin Rae's Wish You Were Italian made me LONG to go back and also to explore an area I didn't go to. Great descriptions and she nailed the setting.

8. Space: I WANNA GO TO SPACE & These Broken Stars by Megan Spooner & Amie Kaufman made me want to make sure I do it in style...on a luxury spaceliner. I just can't even imagine that view.

9. Lucky Harbor: Lucky Harbor is a fictional place and is a romance series by Jill Shalvis but I SO WANT IT TO BE REAL. It's this fictional small town in Washington state and I don't know...the way she wrote it I just wanted to BE THERE.

10. Wyoming: I have a friend from college who always used to show me pics from her hometown in Wyoming and it looked gorgeous. Then I read Cynthia Hand's Unearthly series -- a kickass paranormal angel book -- and I just HAVE to go there.

Tell us the places books have made YOU want to visit!

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

Broke and Bookish Book Haul for 9/28 - 10/11

Daisy's Book Haul

Bought:
-Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier: I've heard many good things about this series and should really get started on it soon!
-Whisper the Dead by Alyxandra Harvey: I hope this series is fully of witchy goodness! Has anyone read the first book A Breath of Frost?
-Unmarked by Kami Garcia: I should stop buying sequels in a series that I haven't started, but it's SO TEMPTING.
-Not in the Script by Amy Finnegan: these books just look and sound SO cute!

Egalleys for review:
-The Chosen Prince by Diane Stanley: this just sounds like awesome MG fantasy, so I'm totally in.
-A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd: I loved the Madman's Daughter and still need to read the sequel but I'm very excited for A Cold Legacy!
-King by Ellen Oh: I was a bit disappointed with Warrior, but I'm still intrigued by this world and I really want to know how the series will end!
-The Marriage Game by Alison Weir: I have this obsession with Elizabeth I and all things Tudor, and Alison Weir is an amazing writer.
-An Heiress for All Seasons by Sophie Jordan: Sophie Jordan knows how to write amazing historical romances that leave me with tears in my eyes and a happily ever after, so obviously I couldn't resist requesting this novella!
-Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier: so like I said, I've heard REALLY great things about her Ruby Red Trilogy and this sounds really good as well!
-The Gossip File by Anna Staniszewski: I sorta didn't realise this was the third book in a series until I went to add it on Goodreads... Oh well, will just have to get my hands on the first two books, cause it sounds like a fun series.

Kimberly's Review of Deluge by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Book: Deluge (River of Time #5)

Author: Lisa Tawn Bergren

Why I read it: Because it's a brilliant series.

Rating 5+ Stars

It's always very difficult to write a review for the final book in a series. I want to share how much I loved it, and tell everyone about it, but I don't want to spoil anything! So I will do my best to tell you about my reading experience without spoiling anything from the earlier books.

Here is the description from the first book in the series...

Gabriella has never spent a summer in Italy like this one.
Remaining means giving up all she’s known and loved … and leaving means forfeiting what she’s come to know—and love itself.

Most American teenagers want a vacation in Italy, but the Bentarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives with their parents, famed Etruscan scholars, among the romantic hills. In Book One of the River of Time series, Gabi and Lia are stuck among the rubble of medieval castles in rural Tuscany on yet another hot, boring, and dusty archeological site … until Gabi places her hand atop a handprint in an ancient tomb and finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. And worse yet, in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces.

And thus she comes to be rescued by the knight-prince Marcello Forelli, who takes her back to his father’s castle—a castle Gabi has seen in ruins in another life. Suddenly Gabi’s summer in Italy is much, much more interesting. But what do you do when your knight in shining armor lives, literally, in a different world?

An exciting premise, right? Let me also mention the extensive research the author has done to ensure that historical details are accurate. Right down to clothing, the way the country would have looked at that time, how they moved and spoke.

Not only that, the characters are wonderful. They are interesting, have unique strengths, distinct personalities and feel like people you know “in real life”. They also have flaws. But their flaws are real, and make sense. Their flaw isn't that they are clumsy. They also acknowledge their flaws and work through them.

Also, the relationships? Friendship, romance, family? You know when you read a book and you'd like to just smack one of the characters because they won't COMMUNICATE? These characters do! It is SO refreshing!

The entire series is that good. Five books can sound like a lot, but it's actually perfect. Each book is perfectly paced. It never drags, never feels rushed.

This last book.... Oh boy. I did NOT want this series to end. I knew I would miss the characters. I laughed with them, and cried tears of joy and grief with them. I felt proud of the characters by the end. My only “complaint”? I wanted more. But I felt satisfied with the ending as well, I didn't feel like things were left sloppily unresolved. It's not the perfect ending with a nice shiny bow on top (which I will admit, I love those as well). But this ending felt like the RIGHT ending.

Okay, I'll stop babbling about this so that you can go right now and get it! Check your library, the local bookstore. If you're having trouble finding it locally, check a Christen bookstore, the author is Christen and her novels are often sold there. (The books are not really “religious books”)

Has anyone else read this series? OR. What was your favorite conclusion to a book series?

Jana: the Unexpected Library Student

Today I'm getting personal. I talk about my grad school experience all the time on my personal book blog, but I'm not sure I've mentioned it here! I just started my second year of my journey to obtaining my master's degree in library and information science, and I can't believe at the end of this semester I'll be halfway done with the program! It was a long road to get here--with a lot of self discovery, but I'm so glad I did it!

Almost two years ago I was working a really horrible job in customer service. I sat on the phones for 8 hours a day helping people with their family history work and interpreting their DNA test results to tell them where they came from. You'd think this would be an enriching experience (I know I was expecting that!), but it was the complete opposite. The clients I worked with were some of the rudest, most verbally abusive people I had ever worked with. I was yelled at, patronized, and even threatened with bodily harm on a daily basis. I was on such a short emotional chain that my self worth turned into what these people thought of me. I was told I was one of the best in the company and had people asking for me all the time, yet I still dealt with some of the meanest people on the planet. Not only that, I heard all kinds of terrible arguments between family members, I was yelled at by banks whose clients did not want to pay for our service even though they signed up for them, and I even overheard a cat be brutally attacked by a dog. I am scarred for life. It has been about a year and a half since I quit, and I still hurt over these things. My health deteriorated. I gained weight, I developed some new health problems, I had to have surgery, and I grew very depressed. Something had to change.

Two Christmases ago, my mom and I were sitting in the living room by the tree discussing my life. I had had another bad day at work and I was crying over my bleak future. I had a bachelor's degree in graphic design, and was dang good, but work prospects were few. So I ended up chained to a desk doing a job that required only a high school education. I felt like my life up to this point had been pointless. My mom was listening and commiserating with me as I vented. I refer to it as my mini nervous breakdown. She suggested maybe I needed to further my education to get an additional degree in something that I could make more of a career out of. We started thinking about what I should choose. Art has always been my life, and I had never pictured doing anything else. I had considered education before, bu decided I did not want to go to school for it. Then we thought about my blog and my love of books, and my mom thought library school. It clicked. I got very excited and immediately started investigating schools. I wanted to quit my job, but felt like I needed to stay and raise money for school. Three months later, I got the worst call I've ever had. I hung up and ran off the call floor in tears. I submitted my two week's notice a few days later, and got so sick to my stomach that I ended up being home in bed for the entire two weeks. But a weight had been lifted.

I began applying for schools, but was worried I had not made enough money to afford the program. I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I was accepted into my number one choice, AND found out I had just enough money to afford it without having to work. What a blessing! I started the program in August of 2013, and while it's a ton of work, I feel like I am finally doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm still healing from some of the health problems that job brought on, but I have also received some diagnoses and am on some natural remedies that are helping me a lot. I'm happier than I've been in a long time. I also have a cumulative 4.0 in the program right now, which means I have received the highest possible grade in each class I've taken. I'm focusing on children's and young adult services, and hope to be a teen librarian one day. I am still so thankful my mom helped me figure out how to change my life. I'm actually excited about my future now. :)

So, tell me! Have you ever made a huge life-changing decision? Have you ended up in a different place than you pictured yourself ending up in? I know I never expected grad school, but this is the best decision I've ever made.

Top Ten Books For People Who Like Character Driven Novels

For future Top Ten Tuesday topics & info on how to participate, click here!

* It's been quite a few months seen we made the linky show names at random just to try it that way. Do we like this or do we like when the list shows based on the time of when you added your link (stays in place)! Let us know in the comments.*

 

Julia's Picks:

1. The Game of Thrones Series by George RR Martin - So this series has plot, and lots of it, but I find myself reading it for the awesome characters that Martin has written. The characters have arc and they really drive the plot along. I think this series wouldn't be nearly as possible without the awesome characters it has.

2. The Name of the Wind and A Wise Mans Fear by Patrick Rothfuss - Both of these are the only two novels completed in Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles. It has a similar path as Martin where there are main characters that drive the plot. In this case the main character is literally telling the story so you get to see him move and change throughout the world.

3. Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Medeiros - Moving away from fantasy, Medeiros rights some amazing historical romance. In fact a lot of her books are more character driven and driven by their actions between each other than effected by outside sources. This one is one of my favorites because it is literally a woman and a man in a house learning to love. It's a sort of modernization (to the Regency era) of Beauty and the Beast. It's a good one.

Daisy's Picks:

4. Golden by Jessi Kirby: I LOVED this book, there's so much character development in it and just so much storytelling goodness that I would totally recommend it to pretty much everyone.

5. Emma by Jane Austen: my second favourite Austen novel, but perfect in its characterization of Emma and Mr Knightley and just all of others. I re-read it for book club last year and it was still amazing and I discovered even more things to love about it.

6. Half a King by Joe Abercrombie: so basically Yarvi, the main character in Half a King, reminds me of Tyrion from The A Song of Ice and Fire series, which is about the greatest compliment I can give any character. And I totally loved this book.

Kimberly's Picks:

7. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta: This story is entirely about the characters' development and their relationships with one another. Everything they learn and do drives the story and the plot. These characters are WONDERFUL.


8. Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard: So much of this story is based on the locations, however much of it is driven by the way our main character, Bria, changes and develops.


9. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: The backdrop of this story is WWII, but it is not the story itself. The story is all about Liesel and the wonderful supporting cast of this book, including it's elusive narrator.

Tahleen's Pick:

10. Breakfast Served Anytime by Sarah Combs: This quiet novel is beautifully written. It takes place at a teen summer enrichment camp on a college campus, and not much happens plot-wise, but it is wonderful to watch the development of each character and the relationships they have with one another. I think that is really where Combs excels; her characters are forced to think about their beliefs and privileges, or lack thereof, but in the end can remain close to one another despite differences of opinion or belief. And the writing is lovely.

What books would you add to this list?

Jamie Reviews Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

Title:  Illusions of Fate
Author:  Kiersten White
Publication Information: HarperTeen - September 2014
How I Got This Book:  Sent for review consideration.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.




I'm so series weary but it breaks my heart that this book is a standalone to be honest. There is SO much that can be explored..I know it. The world was sparsely built but it worked and I think there could be SO much to explore within it and the magic introduced. It's a fantasy world but it feels a lot like London to me. I loved the magic element placed in a normal world and how it was only people with royal bloodlines that had access to it. I think that's something that could be explored even further. YES THIS IS ME BEGGING FOR ANOTHER BOOK. (I promise it's such a complete book but you are going to want more!).

The characters are AWESOME. Jessamin -- she's so badass. She's overcome a lot and she's currently living far away from home, is judged by the color of her skin and is trying so hard to excel in school. She refuses to let anything get in her way. I instantly rooted for her. And then there's Finn. Their path's cross and I enjoyed every moment of it. The BANTER. THE ROMANCE. It went instantly to my swoon-swoon-swoon shelf on Goodreads.  And then honestly? MY FAVORITE CHARACTER. Eleanor. So underestimated but she's a force to be reckoned with. 

The plot went full speed ahead and surprised me at times! I loved watching them try to work together to take down the baddie! 

If you like fantasy and are looking for a standalone (trust me you are going to be wishing you could have more), CHECK THIS OUT. It's soooo underrated and didn't get nearly enough attention -- plus it contains a good romance and the banter is plentiful!

Have you read this one? What did YOU think? Also, tell me any other fantasy standalones!