Wrap Up l August

A lot has happened this month. I don't normally include a lot of personal details in my posts but maybe it is time to change that. I signed up for the Canadian Armed Forces this month so in about 12 months time that might be the new direction of my life. 

1. The Lives of Christopher Chant (Chrestomanci #2), Diana Wynn Jones *audiobook
2. Witch Week (Chrestomanci #3), Diana Wynn Jones *audiobook
3. The Magicians of Caprona (Chrestomanci #4), Diana Wynn Jones *audiobook
4. Party Games (A Fear Street Novel), RL Stine
5. I am Legend, Richard Matheson *audiobook
6. The Deep, Nick Cutter 
7. Heart Shaped Box, Joe Hill *audiobook
8. Salt, Sugar, Fat, Michael Moss *reread *audiobook
9. Alex, Pierre Lamertier 
10. Ashley Bell, Dean Koontz *audiobook
    
11. The Lesser Dead, Christopher Buehlman
12. Irene, Pierre Lamertier
13. The Red Dragon, (Hannibal Lecter #1), Thomas Harris *audiobook *reread

Short Stories / Comics 

1. The Pearl, John Steinbeck
2. , Edgar Allen Poe
1. The Tell Tale Heart
2. The Masque of the Red Death
3. The Black Cat
4. The Raven 
5. Berenice 
6. The Pit and The Pendulum
7. The Fall of the House of Usher 

Started

The Red Pyramid, Rick Riordan *audiobook

Top 5 Wednesday l August 2017

August 9th: Second Book is Best

I have been reading lots of stand-alones lately and I was a little stumped when I saw this question and nothing immediately jumped out at me as an answer. Looking back at goodreads was a little bit of a shock I haven't read a series since May! So older stuff from before 

• Fever, The Chemical Garden Trilogy, Lauren DeStephano
• Scarlett, The Lunar Chronicles, Marissa Meyer
• Finders Keepers, Stephen King - this is less of "best" than they are equally amazing
• The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers, JRR Tolkien - I was the most invested in this book and its characters during the sequel, it had the most action in my opinion as well
• Visions, Kelley Armstong  - the entirety of book one, was setting up book two. 

August 16th: Characters' Fitness Routines You Want

Weight lifting, strength centred training is my style. Grateful that I do have the time and resources to workout regularly. I always get a thrill out of other girl characters fallowing the same kind of routines (as its not uncommon but its not really common either)

• Shadow Hunters, Cassandra Clare
• Camp Half Blood, Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan
• Alanna's Training, Knighthood, The Song of the Lioness, Tamora Pierce
• Brienne's Training, Knighthood,  A Song of Ice and Fire, George RR Martin
• Menolly, Acrobate/Spy, The Sisters of the Moon, Yasmine Galenorm

August 23rd: Books from Before You Joined the Online Book Community

• Firebringer, David Clement Davis
• Redwall, Brian Jaques
• Goosebumps, RL Stine
• Twilight, Stephanie Meyer
• Harry Potter, JK Rowling

August 30th: Favorite Bromances

-- I think we have done this topic before in the distant past, but who doesn't love a good bromance? Bromance = platonic relationship between two characters who identify as male. 

• Harry and Ron, Harry Potter, JK Rowling
• Sam and Frodo, Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
• Sam and John, A Song of Ice and Fire, George RR Martin
• Gem and Will, The Infernal Devices, Cassandra Clare

I am excluding characters where one was gay, just because love/lust motivated half the relationship in many cases and the bromances tend to fall apart once feelings are known (Jace and Alec - Cassandra Clare Mortal Instruments - came to mind right away)

Top 5 Wednesday - August 2016

August 3rd: Books You Feel Differently About
-- Talk about the books that you feel differently about after you've had time to think about them or re-read them. These are books that you gave a low rating, and then thought about it or re-read it and ended up loving. Or a book that you loved when you first read it, but after you've thought about it or you've gotten older, you see how many problems it had. 

1. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer - Like so many people I read it and loved it, I was a little before the curve and was then put off when it ended up being this big deal. It now has a very sentimental place in my heart I will admit that it is flawed but I love it for what it is. Its a great gateway novel to YA, Vampire novels, or if your older Vampire Romance leading to their own full geners 
2. Memoirs of a Giesha, Arthur Golden - I read it in grade 10 and I was so unhappy with the reading list and the way that the whole class was set up. I hated every page of every book I read there, including this one. But it stayed with me and after a re-read I have to say it didn't jump to the top of my favourites list but its a good read. 
3. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkein - I tried to read it innumerable times and its wordy, long and tedious. I couldn't find a plot line or story. I had no sense of time, the characters where confusing who was who and what they were ect. Finally I got the general idea of what the whole plot was (I haven't seen the movies but I know what its about) and then I got the three novels on audiobook. I now love these books and plan on rereading them over and over (on audiobook maybe in print one day). 
4. Odd Thomas - I didn't like the style, tone, rhythm of the writing when I first read them. But they were a recommendation and I felt like I should read at least the first three books before passing judgement on one of my friends favourite series. From the third novel on the books just keep getting better and better. How much I enjoyed 3&4 totally changed how I thought about 1&2. I think if I reread them I will like the books better now.
5. Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins & If I Stay, Gayle Forman & Ruby Red, Kerstin Geir - There are so many new YA's that I loved, they were amazing books, great worlds. And then they added more novels and they brought the first books down from a 4/5 stars to 2/3.

August 10th: Authors You Are Waiting on Another Book From
-- These are your favorite authors who you want to write another book but haven't yet. Or they are writing something, but no title or synopsis has been released and it isn't coming out until 2018. Try to keep this to authors who haven't announced anything concrete about a new book, not authors that have a highly anticipated release coming out before the end of 2016. 

1. Stephen King
2. Tamora Pierce
3. Cathy Glass

August 17th: Favorite First Sentences 

1. "The Nightside is the dark, secret, brooding heart of London; hidden away from the rest of the world, where magic is realer than you can bear, where lives and souls and everything else you can think of are always up for sale and all your worst dreams go walking openly in borrowed flesh" - A Hard Days Knight , Simon R Green
2. "Jack Torrance thought : Officious little prick" - The Shinning, Stephen King
3. “How does one describe Artemis Fowl? Various psychiatrists have tried and failed.” - Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
4. "I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher" -The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
5. "Nobody was really surprised when it happened, not really, not at the subconscious level where savage things grow. " - Carrie, Stephen King.

August 24th: Books You Want to Read Before the End of the Year 

1. End of Watch, Stephen King
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larson
3. Odd Thomas 3&4&5&6&7, Dean Koontz
4. Zoo, James Patterson
5. Throne of Glass, Sara J Maas

August 31st: Books You Will Never Read
--Whether it's from a series that you have outgrown or don't wish to continue, or they are popular books that just don't interest you.

*I know I've done this before (Link Here) so trying to name new books or recent not to read novels.

1. Ps. I Still Love You, Jenny Han
2. Elanor and Park, Rainbow Rowell 

I really don't have any others I can think of that I am for sure NEVER reading but these next three arn't on my TBR and don't really sound appealing

1. The Lux Series, Jennifer L Armentrout
2. The Selection Series, Kira Cass
3. The Winners Trilogy, Marie Rutkoski

Wrap Up - August 2016

Got lots of reading done this month. Had lots of time to read in the airport, travelling is one of my favorite reading times because you don't really have anything else around to distract you. Extended uninterrupted reading time for the win!

1. The Stand, Stephen King
2. Hell, Texas, Tim Miller
3. Bloody Bank Heist, Tim Miller
4. The Fireman, Joe Hill
5. Salem's Lot, Stephen King *I am not going to do a full book review for this book, I just don't have enough to say, It was great, a must read for Dracula fans. Very much a vampire novel, not so much a typical King.
6. Misery, Stephen King
7. I Ripper, Stephen Hunter
8. The Darkest Powers Trilogy, Kelley Armstrong
1. The Summoning 
2. The Awakening 
3. The Reckoning

Favorite Book This Month

Wrap Up - August

1. Fever, Lauren DeStephano
2. Sever, Lauren DeStephano
3. The Island of Dr Moreau, HG Wells
4. Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Tayor
5. The Days of Blood and Starlight, Lani Taylor
6. Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Lani Taylor
7. True Crime : 17 Deadly Women Through the Ages, Stephenie Glover
8. Twisted Imaginings Vol 1-4, Garry Charles
9. Off Season, Jack Ketchum
10. Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
11. The Fellowship of the Ring, JRR Tolkien

My favourite novel this month was : Off Season, Jack Ketchum

TBR - August 2015

TBR
August 2015

So I just moved to New Zealand and things are crazy so I am not really expecting to be reading much this month, setting my sights pretty low, its still 6 books that have been in my TBR pile for a little while now which is good.

1. Divergent Trilogy, Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, 
2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy, Lauren Taylor

Bonus for this month would be 

• one classic
• one horror novel
• AND OR
• Starting the hobbit/ lord of the rings (because the movie sets are here in NZ and I should get around to reading those books soonish)