2014 Book Releases I'm Excited For

While I love reading classics alongside tried-and-true favorites, it's always enjoyable to keep up with what's new in the book world. So rather than do what I did last year and provide a dry list of books I want to read in the upcoming year, I'm going to list new 2014 book releases that I'm excited for.

Some of the following books are sequels to ones I haven't even read the first installments of. That aside, sometimes I like putting off books until the release date of its sequel is nearer so I don't have to wait. So, in my mind, it's still exciting to remember these dates.

As I'm aware I have the tendency to ramble on, I'll stop here.

Links are provided (as usual). All photos are courtesy of Goodreads. Some books I mention don't have their covers and/or titles released yet.

And finally, here is my list of most highly anticipated book releases of 2014, ordered by release dates.

March 2013 Reading Update

March was another good month for books. I found I had more free time to read than February, and got to make it through many books. My overall reading list remains infinite, but I'm happy with my progress. Every month should be like this.

If February was the month of new beginnings, I'm not quite sure what March is. I continued 3 series (Gone, Delirium, Ruby Oliver), and returned to adored authors (Austen, Green, Valente). Maybe it'll be the month of comfort and familiarity.
Instead of new beginnings it's like an old friend.

As usual, I'll list the books in the order finished, followed by a few sentences on my feelings toward each book. I won't summarize all of them, since that will take up a lot of time. So, instead, I provided links for you to read the summaries yourself in you're interested.

And without further ado, here is my reading update for March!

Requiem: A Book Review

There will be NO SPOILERS in this review.* Enjoy! (:

*Though there will be no spoilers for Requiem, there WILL BE SPOILERS FOR DELIRIUM (BOOK 1) AND PANDEMONIUM (BOOK 2).

If you are completely unfamiliar with this series, I recommend you read my review for the first installment, Delirium, here.

I finished Pandemonium (Delirium Book 2) a little less than a month ago. At that point, I wasn't sure if I would read Requiem immediately upon release. My main reason for doing so anyway was because I didn't want to forget everything I had read previously. So, I picked up Requiem soon after it's release. In addition to my thoughts on Requiem I will summarize my thoughts on the whole Delirium trilogy as well. 

(taken from Kindle iPhone app)

Title: Requiem
Author: Lauren Oliver
Series: Book #3 in Delirium Trilogy
Preceded by: Pandemonium
Genre: YA dystopian
Pages: 432
Release date: March 5, 2013
Links: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads














First, here's the synopsis straight from Amazon:

"Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has transformed. The nascent rebellion that was underway in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven. Pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels.

As Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain of the Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena and Hana's points of view. They live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

With lyrical writing, Lauren Oliver seamlessly interweaves the peril that Lena faces with the inner tumult she experiences after the reappearance of her first love, Alex, the boy she thought was dead. Sophisticated and wide-ranging, Requiem brings the Delirium trilogy to a thrilling conclusion."

February 2013 Reading Update

Hi again!

It's the end of February. And for such a short month, it felt incredibly long.
I found myself increasingly busy this month, and as such, my reading update will be shorter as a result. However, I do still have fun books to talk about. I feel like all of February was about exploring fun new books. I started 3 different series, and continued two from last month.


Like I did for the January Reading Update (which if you haven't seen and are curious about you can find here), I will do a brief summary of my reaction to each book. I won't provide an actual plot summary for each one. If you want that, just utilize the links I provide. 

So, in the spirit of keeping introductions light, let's go into the reading update!
Here are the list of books I read in February in the order finished.

Pandemonium: A Book Review

This book review contains NO SPOILERS.* Enjoy! (:

*I also wanted to add that though this review will contains no spoilers for Pandemonium, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR BOOK 1, Delirium. (If you haven't read Delirium, you can find my full review here).

After I read Lauren Oliver's Delirium I was left fairly intrigued for the sequel. The third book in the trilogy, Requiem, is also due for release early March. I figured I should read Pandemonium before I forgot everything from Delirium. I picked it up as soon as the (cheaper) paperback copy became available earlier this month.

Title: Pandemonium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Series: Book #2 of Delirium series
Preceded by: Delirium
Followed by: Requiem
Genre: YA/Teen dystopian
Pages: 384
Release date: February 28, 2012
Links: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads









Back-cover description:

"The old life is dead.
But the old Lena, is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flames.

In this electrifying followup to her accalimed New York Times bestseller DELIRIUM, Lauren Oliver sets Lena on a dangerous course that hurtles through the unregulated Wilds and into the heart of a growing resistance movement. This riveting brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite."

January 2013 Reading Update

Hey everyone!

I originally noted in my 2013 Reading List post that I would do quarterly reading updates, but as you can guess from the title of this post, I decided to change it to monthly. My decision to do this stemmed primarily from the desire to proclaim a "favorite book of the month." I found that I was reading at a decent pace and came to the conclusion that if I didn't update until the end of March, it would be difficult to give a fair amount of the books any spotlight. Even doing weekly book reviews can't accommodate for all the books I want to talk about. So, without further ado, I want to get into what books I read in January, which book was my favorite, and possibly some books that I wanted to add onto my reading list.

This post would turn into a painfully long read if I tried to do a mini-review on every book so I'll allow myself a maximum of 4 sentences on each.

Also, I won't be posting full book reviews on all these books (simply because there are still so many books I read last year that I want to do reviews for as well), so as you're reading through this post, if you come across a book you would like me to do a complete review on, then request it and it shall be done!

And without further ado, here are the books I have read so far in January 2013, in the order completed:

Delirium: A Book Review

There are NO SPOILERS in this book review. Enjoy! (:

Book review #2 of 2013!

Those of you who continue to read my book reviews know that I always begin with lengthy intros that often deal with how I discovered/decided to read said book more than about the actual content. Though I understand that that may be boring for some of you, I actually find it rather fascinating how people come across the material they read- whether it's through word of mouth, or because you saw the movie trailer and you want to read the book before seeing the film, or if it's through browsing a bookstore completely at random. Those little tidbits fascinate a book lover like me, so I will continue to share them. If they bore you, I won't even notice if you skip it and go straight to the review.

With that said, Delirium is a book I discovered through simply reading many books of the same genre. When you've read Matched (Ally Condie), the Uglies Series (Scott Westerfeld) and similar YA dystopian novels, you get accustomed to seeing them surrounded by familiar books. So though I never really got a personal recommendation for this book, I suppose I heard it through book association. If you read my 2013 Reading List then you probably saw it listed there. I came into reading this book with relatively no expectations whatsoever. I had no glowing (or any actually) recommendations from anyone, but also no one discouraging it either. So, without further ado, let's start on some actual content!

Title: Delirium
Series: Book #1 in Delirium series
Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre: YA/teen dystopian fiction
Pages: 480
Release date: February 1, 2011
Links: Amazon  | B&N | Goodreads










As usual, let's start with the back-cover description:

"They say that the cure for love will make me happy and safe forever. And I've always believed them. Until now.

Now everything has changed. Now I'd rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie."

2013 Reading List

I read 50 books in 2012, a goal set in early March of that year. Knowing that many New Year Resolutions don't make it past January/February, that makes me feel very accomplished. In my New Year Resolutions, I set the new goal of reading 60 books in 2013.

Sometimes I feel as if reading goals such as this are necessary for someone like me who feels like their reading list is never ending. It's overwhelming to think you may possibly never get to all the books you want to. Hopefully, by the end of 2013, 60 will get me through a lot of them.

Though I have listed only 22 books, many of these books were either series (The Maze Runner Series, Lauren Oliver's series) or general suggestions to read more works by a particular author (Austen, Murakami) so the reading list actually totals ~33. Though this is only about half of my reading goal for 2013 of 60, I am a very spontaneous reader (meaning I want to immediately read whatever I'm in the mood for regardless of how long books have been on any list- hence my love for browsing bookstores AND why it seems like I can never get to certain books) and loading up this list with books I really don't care for just for the sake of reaching 60 is senseless. There's a very good chance that ~25% of these books won't even get read by the end of 2013, but are instead replaced with books that I find completely at random.

That leads me to my next topic. I'm considering doing an updated reading list every quarter of the year to update on my progress through this list as well as new additions. So expect an updated reading list/progress by the end of March!

So, without further ado, here is my introductory reading list!