Pretty Books (4)

This week I am celebrating some beautiful books on my bookshelf. These are all titles one my TBR that I am anxious to read and anxious to see if their stories are as beautiful as their covers. Next time I'll try to include some books I've already read!

Friday Reads

This week has been a little rough, but I am working on a couple of great books whenever I get the chance. I hope this weekend will have even more free time so I can keep reading! Fingers crossed!

Review - Romancing the Inventor by Gail Carriger

Series: Supernatural Society #1

Genre: Science-Fiction

Age Group: New Adult

Source: Purchased

Published: November 2016

Paperback - 200 pgs

Add it // Buy it

Rating: 4/5 

Imogene Hale is a lowly parlourmaid with a soul-crushing secret. Seeking solace, she takes work at a local hive, only to fall desperately in love with the amazing lady inventor the vampires are keeping in the potting shed. Genevieve Lefoux is heartsick, lonely, and French. With culture, class, and the lady herself set against the match, can Imogene and her duster overcome all odds and win Genevieve's heart, or will the vampires suck both of them dry?

Delicate Sensibilities? This story contains women pleasing women and ladies who know what they want and pursue it, sometimes in exquisite detail.

After I enjoyed the Parasol Protectorate, I was anxious to read more Gail Carriger and I adored this novella.  While this short story does include a few characters to the PP series, you can easily enjoy this short romance without reading that series. If you have read the PP you will appreciate, as I did, how Carriger has an amazing ability to grow and develop her characters between series.

This lesbian romance was light and fluffy. I had a lot of fun reading it and enjoyed Imogene as a character very much. Though she wasn't as confident as some of Carriger's other lead characters, she was feisty and fought back as best she could in her situation. Genevieve Lefoux was one of my favorite characters in the Parasol Series and I was hoping for a happier ending for her in this short story than she had in the series.

Overall I wish a few of the transitions had been smoother and, of course, I wish it was longer!  I've said before this world incorporates all my favorite things and that hasn't changed. I'm anxiously awaiting more of these novellas! 

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Books I want to Read in 2017

While we are almost a month into the new year, I am still concentrating on my goals for reading. This year I really want to read a lot of the books I already own since I'm trying to reduce my TBR. However, there are a lot of exciting releases coming out this year as well and I'm anxious to read them as well!

  

  

  

My Last TTT ----> Top Ten 2016 Releases I Didn't Get to 

Goodreads Tag

Questions: 

1) What was the last book you marked as read

2) What are you currently reading?

3) What was the last book that you marked TBR

4) What book do you plan on reading next?

5) Do you use the star rating system?

5) How are you doing on your reading challenge?

6) Do you have a wishlist

7) What do you plan to buy next?

8) Do you have favorite quotes on GR?

9) Who are your favorite authors?

10) Have you joined any groups?

Review - Goldenhand by Garth Nix

Series: Old Kingdom Series #5

Genre: Fantasy

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Purchased

Published: October 2016

Hardcover - 368 pgs

Add it // Buy it

Rating - 4.5/5

Lirael is no longer a shy Second Assistant Librarian. She is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, with Dead creatures to battle and Free Magic entities to bind. She’s also a Remembrancer, wielder of the Dark Mirror. Lirael lost one of her hands in the binding of Orannis, but now she has a new hand, one of gilded steel and Charter Magic.

When Lirael finds Nicholas Sayre lying unconscious after being attacked by a hideous Free Magic creature, she uses her powers to save him. But Nicholas is deeply tainted with Free Magic. Fearing it will escape the Charter mark that seals it within his flesh and bones, Lirael seeks help for Nick at her childhood home, the Clayr’s Glacier.

But even as Lirael and Nick return to the Clayr, a young woman from the distant North braves the elements and many enemies in a desperate attempt to deliver a message to Lirael from her long-dead mother, Arielle. Ferin brings a dire warning about the Witch With No Face. But who is the Witch, and what is she planning?

It's great when your anticipated releases don't let you down. Goldenhand was one of my most anticipated releases of the fall of 2016 and it delivered!

Reading this was so much fun. Nix reintroduced many of my favorite characters from The Old Kingdom Series as well as bringing in new characters that I became very fond of. All the characters felt complex and developed. I liked how we expanded on Lireal's character even more  and how she recognized her own character development. Seeing her back in the library really emphasized how much she changed since she was introduced. Not only did Nix expand on several of my favorite characters, he also expanded my favorite fantasy world. It was fantastic and I love learning even more about the magic and history of this complex world.

The story was well developed and the pace was very steady until the end. The resolution came together very easily and quickly. After such a well built story, this quick ending disappointed me. More tension before the resolution would have been more interesting. Also while I really enjoyed the story, I did find it frustrating that we changed point of view every chapter. This made it quite difficult to submerge myself in the story. Unlike his other books where point of view changed every few chapter, this constant change was disruptive to my reading.

Though this story wrapped up many of the loose ends from the original trilogy, I hope we will see even more of these characters and this world. 

Star Jar Update for 2017

Over the last year I've been filling a star jar with origami stars with the titles of books on the inside. I use different colors for each rating and I've really enjoyed doing this. I would like to fill the jar then adjust my method a bit. I'm still trying to figure out how. However, I don't love the way I'm doing it now. If you have any suggestions, let me know!  

Monday Bookish Update

Last week was rough...I went into a lot of the reasons why I've been having a bad time lately. Everything seems to go wrong at once!

December Book Haul (2016)

Well folks, welcome to the last book haul for a while. I want to really limit my book purchases in 2017 and reduce my TBR. I know I say this a lot but this time I really mean it! I'm going to be very very selective about the books I purchase in the coming year. If you have any suggestions or recommendations from your favorites, let me know!

Books Mentioned:

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Review - Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews

Series: Kate Daniels #7

Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

Age Group: Adult

Source: Purchased

Published: July 2014

Mass Market - 381 pgs

Add it // Buy it

Rating: 3/5

As the mate of the Beast Lord, Curran, former mercenary Kate Daniels has more responsibilities than it seems possible to juggle. Not only is she still struggling to keep her investigative business afloat, she must now deal with the affairs of the pack, including preparing her people for attack from Roland, a cruel ancient being with god-like powers. Since Kate’s connection to Roland has come out into the open, no one is safe—especially those closest to Kate.

As Roland’s long shadow looms ever nearer, Kate is called to attend the Conclave, a gathering of the leaders from the various supernatural factions in Atlanta. When one of the Masters of the Dead is found murdered there, apparently at the hands of a shapeshifter, Kate is given only twenty-four hours to hunt down the killer. And this time, if she fails, she’ll find herself embroiled in a war which could destroy everything she holds dear…

Originally in my wrap up I rated this a 4/5 but honestly I need to drop a star. The more I think about this book the more issues I have with it. While the action and adventure is as exciting as ever and Kate is still badass, the were quite a few issues.

First of all Kate and Curran go back to normal after the entire debacle from the previous book. They agreed they have trust issues, but now everything it just fine? Seems a little too easy to me. While I want Kate to have someone she can rely on, I find this romance problematic even though I love them. I have a complicated relationship with their relationship. Also the first half of this book really dragged. I like the political problems Kate navigates while on a case, but the Pack problems are getting old and repetitive.

My second big problem was meeting Roland. We built Kate's Father up over six books so I shouldn't be surprised I was a bit disappointed. While I do appreciate he is more complex than just a big powerful bad guy Kate needs to defeat, he didn't wow me. I'm just not impressed with Roland so far? I understand he is powerful, we've been told a lot, but to me that just means if he and Kate really butt heads she will die. I don't want that to happen! Maybe I'm just confused because he didn't seem as terrible as Kate described him?

Overall this installment was good, but so much build up to the big bad guy just let me down. I am still excited to keep reading this series and I'll be moving onto the next book soon. 

My Review of Magic Bites (Kate Daniels #1)

Ten 2016 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn't Get To

Every year so many books are released and I can never get to all the ones I want to read! It is impossible and frustrating and sad! These are the ten releases from 2016 I didn't get to when they were released so I will carry them with me into the new year. I'm excited for them all so I won't bore you with descriptions saying that for every book.

Check out Broke and the Bookish for more topics. 

   

    

My Last Top Ten Tuesday ----> Nine 2017 Debuts I'm Excited For