Tome Topple Readathon TBR (Round 6)

Once again we are ready to jump into Tome Topple and read some BIG books! I can't wait to start this readathon since it has been a while since we had a round. I'm excited to read the books I've picked out for my TBR, but since I rarely stick to TBRs, we shall see if this one sticks.

T5W - Books I want to Read Before the End of 2018

Sometimes picking five books can be really difficult. I want to read a lot of the books on my shelves so picking these should not have been difficult. Instead it was almost impossible because I wanted to put so many on my list!

TTT - 7 Series I’ve Given Up On/Don’t Plan to Finish

There are so many series out in the world. I've started a lot and I haven't even scratched the surface. Finishing them is another whole problem in itself. There are so many that I've started and decided I didn't love enough to keep going. There are a few on this list that I'm still on the fence about, but overall I've decided to give up on these series.

1) Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick - This one was something I picked during my Twilight faze and the romance is too problematic for me to continue.

2) Kay Scarpetta Series by Patricia Cornwell - After years of suffering through these novels, I finally gave up. My best friend in my neighborhood loved these books so I thought I should too. Once we stopped hanging out I figured out I loved fantasy and paranormal mysteries more than real ones. (Though I still get my fix for normal mysteries, I just go to a different author for that)

3) The Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa - Another series a friend pushed on me! One of my coworkers pushed this series on me, but she quit! I never felt like buying or borrowing these books once I didn't have her lending them to me.

4) Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl - The second book did not live up to the first and even though these are pretty I'm not interested in reading the rest of the series.

5) The Hangman's Daughter Series by  Oliver Pötzsch - I have these on ebook if I ever decide to go back to it, but I've given away my physical copies. The first book was interesting, but I read it over five years ago and I cannot remember anything.


  

The next two series are ones I'm not 100% decided on. I have conflicting feelings about both of them. If you have any advice on if I should keep or DNF these series, let me know! 

1) The Madman's Daughter Trilogy by Meghan Shepherd - Book one disappointed me a lot, but I already have books two and three. I'm on the fence if I want to give them a try.

2) Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness- While I've heard a lot of amazing things about this series, I wasn't impressed with book one. (I gave it a three stars) These books have been on my shelves for years already and I'm fairly sure I won't continue with the series.

 

My Last Top Ten Tuesday ⇒ Books with My Favorite Color on the Cover

Reading Vlog - Four Day Weekend!

June has been a bit of a reading disaster. I'm a firm believer in doing things other than reading when you don't feel like reading. However, this month I just haven't had time to read even when I feel like it. In the middle of the month I decided enough is enough and I was going to make some time for reading! I took a couple of extra days off work and made myself do all my chores and make time for reading. Check out how it went!

Anticipated July Releases

In July there are quite a few books I'm anxiously awaiting. Even though I am trying to read my own books and wait to buy books until the fall, I'm still excited to see what other have to say about these titles.

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

First up is a little mermaid retelling, but it is from the Sea Witch's point of view!

Expected Release: July 31st

Everyone knows what happens in the end.
A mermaid, a prince, a true love’s kiss.
But before that young siren’s tale, there were three friends.
One feared, one royal, and one already dead.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ever since her best friend, Anna, drowned, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. A freak. A curse. A witch. 

A girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears offshore and, though the girl denies it, Evie is convinced that her best friend actually survived. That her own magic wasn’t so powerless after all. And, as the two girls catch the eyes—and hearts—of two charming princes, Evie believes that she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after.

But her new friend has secrets of her own. She can’t stay in Havnestad, or on two legs, unless Evie finds a way to help her. Now Evie will do anything to save her friend’s humanity, along with her prince’s heart—harnessing the power of her magic, her ocean, and her love until she discovers, too late, the truth of her bargain. 

Hullmetal Girls by Emily Strutskie 

Next up is a Science Fiction space story featuring a f/f romance. I loved Strutskie's first novel An Abyss Surrounds Us

Expected Publication: July 17th

Aisha Un-Haad would do anything for her family. When her brother contracts a plague, she knows her janitor's salary isn't enough to fund his treatment. So she volunteers to become a Scela, a mechanically enhanced soldier sworn to protect and serve the governing body of the Fleet, the collective of starships they call home. If Aisha can survive the harrowing modifications and earn an elite place in the Scela ranks, she may be able to save her brother.

Key Tanaka awakens in a Scela body with only hazy memories of her life before. She knows she's from the privileged end of the Fleet, but she has no recollection of why she chose to give up a life of luxury to become a hulking cyborg soldier. If she can make it through the training, she might have a shot at recovering her missing past.

In a unit of new recruits vying for top placement, Aisha's and Key's paths collide, and the two must learn to work together--a tall order for girls from opposite ends of the Fleet. But a rebellion is stirring, pitting those who yearn for independence from the Fleet against a government struggling to maintain unity.

With violence brewing and dark secrets surfacing, Aisha and Key find themselves questioning their loyalties. They will have to put aside their differences, though, if they want to keep humanity from tearing itself apart.

Competence by Gail Carriger

Once more I am anticipating a Gail Carriger release. Though I am not quite caught up on this series, I am still excited for the release and cannot wait for the finale. This is the third book in the series so beware of spoilers!

Expected Release: July 17th

Accidentally abandoned

All alone in Singapore, proper Miss Primrose Tunstell must steal helium to save her airship, the Spotted Custard, in a scheme involving a lovesick werecat and a fake fish tail.

When she uncovers rumors of a new kind of vampire, Prim and the Custard crew embark on a mission to Peru. There, they encounter airship pirates and strange atmospheric phenomena, and are mistaken for representatives of the Spanish Inquisition. Forced into extreme subterfuge (and some rather ridiculous outfits) Prim must also answer three of life's most challenging questions:
Can the perfect book club give a man back his soul?
Will her brother ever stop wearing his idiotic velvet fez?

And can the amount of lard in Christmas pudding save an entire species?

Let me know what books you are excited to get your hands on in July and what you think of my picks! Here's hoping I read a lot this summer so I can pick up all the books I'm excited for this fall.

Review - An Unsuitable Heir by KJ Charles

Series: Sins of the City #3 (final)

Genre: Historical Fiction Romance

Age Group: Adult 

Ebook: 246 pgs

Source: Overdrive

Published: 2017 

Add it // Buy it

Rating: 3/5

On the trail of an aristocrat’s secret son, enquiry agent Mark Braglewicz finds his quarry in a music hall, performing as a trapeze artist with his twin sister. Graceful, beautiful, elusive, and strong, Pen Starling is like nobody Mark’s ever met—and everything he’s ever wanted. But the long-haired acrobat has an earldom and a fortune to claim.

Pen doesn’t want to live as any sort of man, least of all a nobleman. The thought of being wealthy, titled, and always in the public eye is horrifying. He likes his life now—his days on the trapeze, his nights with Mark. And he won’t be pushed into taking a title that would destroy his soul.

But there’s a killer stalking London’s foggy streets, and more lives than just Pen’s are at risk. Mark decides he must force the reluctant heir from music hall to manor house, to save Pen’s neck. Betrayed by the one man he thought he could trust, Pen never wants to see his lover again. But when the killer comes after him, Pen must find a way to forgive—or he might not live long enough for Mark to make amends.

Sadly this last book in the series didn't work as well for me. The first two books in this story were weaker than other books I've read by KJ Charles.

Unfortunately the most essential element, the romance, didn't gel with the rest. Overall the timeline was fast, even for a romance novel, and I wasn't invested in either of the characters before they became a couple. The romance felt slapped together and forced. Unlike so many of Charles' books this romance just failed to really spark my interest and I was left wanting a lot more from it.

Because the romance fizzled I expected the mystery to pick up the slack. Though the pacing and language is as good as ever, this also didn't work for me. The resolution of the story just felt anti-climatic. Charles really tried to split the story between the romance and the mystery. In the end the balancing act took away from both. I would've preferred if we focused more on the characters and the romance than the mystery.

Pen is gender-fluid and Mark has a disability. I cannot speak to the depiction of disability or gender fluidity (Goodreads reviews seem split), but I appreciate seeing both represented on the page. Just like in her other books, KJ Charles creates a great atmosphere and her language transported me to 19th century London. The historical accuracy is one of my favorite parts of her books. 

Overall, this isn't a bad series, but it didn't wow me. Luckily the next thing I read by KJ Charles was an absolute gem.

My Last Review ⇰ The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal

Happy Friday Book Lovers!

It has been a long hard week here at KCWB&C I’ve been really busy unpacking in my new place and I was sick on Monday. I think all the work over the weekend was finally catching up with me. Anyway, I haven’t been reading much, but this weekend I want to change that (maybe?) and sink my teeth into some good books! 

Here's hoping because it is going to be a busy weekend. Check out what I picked up at the library this week and my plans for the upcoming weekend! 

Top Five Wednesday - Summer Reads

Happy Wednesday!

This week on Top Five Wednesday we are recommending Summer Reads. The definition is a little flexible so this week I'm recommending five reads to myself for this summer. I've turned the topic into a bit of a TBR for myself this summer. Here's hoping I actually listen rather than ignoring it like I normally do with TBRs. 

1) Flash Bones by Kathy Reichs - This is one of the oldest books on my TBR and I really enjoy the Temperance Brennan novels. I'd like to catch up on this series since I am at last four books behind. They are great fast paced read for the summer and I always buy copies second had so I can take them on the beach with me!

2) Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan - I read the first book in this trilogy last year and really enjoyed it. Though, of course, I haven't picked up the sequel! Hopefully this summer I'll listen be able to get my hands on the audiobook because the narrator is one of my favorites. (She also did the first Queen of the Tearling book and was fantastic)

3) Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta - A few years ago I read the first two books in this trilogy and for the life of me I cannot remember what happened. I keep meaning to reread them or find a good synopsis for them. Hopefully this summer I will finish off this emotional series.

4) Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce- I'd like to catch up on all my backlist of Pierce titles by the end of the year. I think I have three on my shelves, but two of them have been there for a LONG time! I always forget how much I adore her books until I read them.

5) The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove - Actually, I've already started this one, but my audiobook expires soon and I hope I can make myself finish it in physical form. It is an adventurous story so far and I'm really enjoying it.

If you have any thoughts on which one I should pick up once I finish The Glass Sentence, please let me know! I'd love to have a recommendation as a starting point!

  

 

My Last Top Five Wednesday → Top Five Books I Didn't Read in 2017

Pretty Book (5)

It has been a long time since I've talked about the beautiful books on my shelves. These videos are all about the beauty of book covers and the beautiful details about books. I'm really excited to share these pretty books with all of you today!

Review - The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by KJ Charles

Series: Standalone

Genre: Historical M/M Romance

Age Group: Adult

Ebook - 232 pgs

Source: Overdrive

Published: 2017

Add it // Buy it

Rating: 5/5

A note to the Editor

Dear Henry,

I have been Simon Feximal’s companion, assistant and chronicler for twenty years now, and during that time my Casebooks of Feximal the Ghost-Hunter have spread the reputation of this most accomplished of ghost-hunters far and wide.

You have asked me often for the tale of our first meeting, and how my association with Feximal came about. I have always declined, because it is a story too private to be truthfully recounted, and a memory too precious to be falsified. But none knows better than I that stories must be told.

So here is it, Henry, a full and accurate account of how I met Simon Feximal, which I shall leave with my solicitor to pass to you after my death.

I dare say it may not be quite what you expect.

After several books by KJ Charles that disappointed me, I was thoroughly pleased with this one. Not only are Simon and Richard incredible characters, Charles' writing style sinks you into their world and their  lives so much that it is difficult to move on after this book. England at the end of the 19th Century is one of my favorite setting and KJ Charles has proven many times she can construct a magical world set in this time period with beautiful precision. The language she uses to describe and the dialogue from the characters are on point.

The novel is set up in a series of short snapshots of our magician, Simon, and his chronicler Richard. The first story is the hook and it does its job well. It is sexy and steamy and totally drew me in. The two of them have fantastic chemistry and when Richard breaks the fourth wall to speak to the reader the story gains a feeling of realness and believably I wasn't expecting. Over the course of the book I became incredibly absorbed in all the characters' lives and stories. I was very attached to our two main characters, of course, and the end of this book wrecked me. It destroyed me. It was incredibly moving and I highly recommend it.

Beyond the romance between our two main characters, are the ghost stories they solve. The cases these two work together are incredibly dark in some instances. I appreciated some of these stories were gruesome while others were dark and twisted in other ways. The stories are short, but all of them are complex and multifaceted. Charles builds up a dark magical underbelly to the world we know just like in her other series and dives even deeper into the grim and gritty side of London in this book.

I could continue to gush. I've picked up a copy of this book for my collection since borrowing it from my library and as soon as I feel emotionally ready, I'm going back to enjoy this again.

My Last Review → An Unseen Attraction by KJ Charles