Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books For The Second Half of 2017

These Top Ten Tuesday topics are always hard for me to narrow down.

Here are the top five books I already have preordered and am anticipating their release on an almost daily basis. All the Cooked Saints is Maggie Stiefvater's newest book and I cannot wait. All I know about this is it is set in Colorado in the 1960's and involves coyotes and miracles. The Tiger's Daughter is a fantasy novels that I've heard amazing things about. I'll be honest though the real draw so far is the cover. One Dark Throne!!! This one is the sequel (and possibly final book) to Three Dark Crowns. The first book ended on such a crazy note that I can't wait to get my hands on this one. That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston has a beautiful cover and a really interesting premise. I'm anxious to get my hands on it just so I can devour it with my eyes. Last, but definitely not least at all, is The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee which sounds delightful and I've heard nothing but good things thus far.

All the Crooked Saints The Tiger’s Daughter (Their Bright Ascendency #1) One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns, #2)

That Inevitable Victorian Thing The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue


Then there is the group of books I am also very very intrigued about but I haven't preordered these as of now. All very interesting but I am waiting for more reviews to trickle in before I decide which ones I want. 


Mask of Shadows (Untitled, #1) Royal Bastards The Library of Fates 

Friday, May 26, 2017

Review - Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon


Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2)
Series: Outlander #2
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance
Age Group: Adult
Published- August 2001 
Trade Paperback

Rating 4/5

For nearly twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland’s majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones... about a love that transcends the boundaries of time... and about Jamie Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his.

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire’s spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart... in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising... and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves. 

Finishing one of these is like finishing a Song of Ice and Fire book. This has been a marathon and a lot happened during this installment that I will try to keep straight when I read Voyager. Though I'm left with more questions than answers at the end of this one.

Unlike Outlander that started off with a bang, this book takes forever to get going. We spend an annoying amount of time following a new character who ogles Claire and her daughter in the "present" while Claire tries to find answers about the past. When we finally flash back to pick up where we left off at the end of Outlander, the story had my attention. I did find it hard to keep track of all the characters at times because everyone has at least two names and they show up in so many different places.

I wish I was invested in the plot and what was happening as I was in the character. I care a lot about Jamie and Claire, but sometimes we lose sight of them in the tumult of things happening around them. 

Overall I have a lot of mixed feelings, and generally a lot of FEELINGS, about this book. Jamie and Claire's story is very raw at times and I felt their pain, sadness, and fear throughout this book. Gabaldon is great at getting emotions to come through strongly, but I do feel like this could have been trimmed down. We go on a lot of tangents and the forward progression of the story is slowed down so much.


At the end of the book I am left with a lot more questions than answers. I have no idea where we will go from here and I am burning with curiosity even though the story ended on a strange note. I'll be checking out Voyager soon. 

My Last Review---> Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Top Ten Books I'm Putting in My Beach Bag this Summer

This week I do not have summer recommendations. Instead, I have books I really want to read this summer. These are ten different books I want to try to read before August. However, I've limited myself to one per series and I'm anxious to marathon many of these series. 


Curtsies & Conspiracies (Finishing School, #2) Spies and Prejudice  

 The Girl from Everywhere (The Girl from Everywhere, #1) Blackhearts (Blackhearts, #1) Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, #1)

 The Abyss Surrounds Us (The Abyss Surrounds Us, #1) The Throne of Fire (Kane Chronicles, #2)  

 Code (Virals, #3)

Friday, May 19, 2017

April/May Book Haul (2017)

Two posts in one day? I am coming back in force today! I hope it lasts. It is time for a haul because I havnen't filmed one for quite a while and, of course, I've picked up some new books!



Books Mentioned:


Life Update and My Currently

Should I say oops? Hello? Welcome back? I've missed you? It has been a while since I posted anything here. Its been even longer since I wrote anything to post because I had so many posts scheduled in advance. I don't know if it was laziness or my reading blues that brought me down, but I've been away for a while. I'm writing this exactly a month after my last post went live and I think I'm finally ready to jump back into this.

So what have I been up to for the past few weeks? To give you an idea I'm using an idea from Jamie at Perpetual Pageturner who made a "Currently" post of her own recently. This seemed like a nice easy post to update you all on what I'm up to and an easy post to write after being completely unfocused for so long.

Currently Reading: Just started A Court of Wings and Ruin and I'm working on Traitor's Blade as well.

Currently Listening to on audiobook: Emma by Jane Austen. I failed to finish this for my book club so now I want to finish it before I start our next read. 

Currently Listening to: Panic! at the Disco. I've rediscovered this old favorite for running and it is working out really well. (Get it? Working out.) 

Currently Eating: Chocolate ice cream. Mmmmm

Currently Drinking: Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy - My favorite beer is finally back in season!