October 2013 Reading Update

It's November! I hope everyone celebrating had a safe and fun Halloween. I, personally, had work yesterday. So I came home, did some Halloween-themed reading and watched the vampire episode of Doctor Who.

I didn't get to as many Halloween-themed books as I wanted this month. But the beauty about Halloween is that it comes every year. So when next year rolls around, I'll have a slew of books to choose from.

This month was mostly composed of 3 different elements:

• Halloween reads
• Allegiant!!!
• reading more books off the longlist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature

Keep reading to find out which books I loved, which books I didn't, and which ones fell in between. Oh yeah, and no spoilers.

(all photos below are courtesy of Goodreads)

Shards & Ashes: A Book Review

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

After reading Veronica Roth's Divergent and Insurgent I was craving book 3 (Allegiant). So when I heard she would be releasing a short story in this book of dystopian stories, I got very enthusiastically excited. I wasn't only excited for Veronica's story but the fact that there were going to be 9 short stories all catering to the dystopian theme. The review for this book will obviously be different from that of a novel. I'll make it quick by listing my favorite stories and how I felt about the book as a whole.

(photo source)

Title: Shards & Ashes

Authors:
Veronica Roth, Kelley Armstrong, Margaret STohl, Rachel Caine, Nancy Holder, Melissa Marr, Kami Garcia, Beth Revis, Carrie Ryan

Editors:
Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopian/Paranormal
Pages: 384
Published: February 19, 2013
Links: Amazon | Goodreads

Description (courtesty of Goodreads):

"Gripping original stories of dystopian worlds from nine New York Times bestselling authors, edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong.

The world is gone, destroyed by human, ecological, or supernatural causes. Survivors dodge chemical warfare and cruel gods; they travel the reaches of space and inhabit underground caverns. Their enemies are disease, corrupt corporations, and one another; their resources are few, and their courage is tested.

Powerful original dystopian tales from nine bestselling authors offer bleak insight, prophetic visions, and precious glimmers of light among the shards and ashes of a ruined world."

Book Haul: April 2013

Over the past few weeks I have been going crazy (more than normal) with the book buying. I thought it'd be fun to share my insanity so here's my first book haul post. Hope you enjoy!

I purchased all these books within a span of 1.5 weeks. Unfortunately, since I ordered some online and one was shipped at a painfully slow rate,  I already read a couple (I couldn't help myself).

However, aside from 2, the rest are completely new and have not been opened except maybe to read the first paragraph because that's just something I do with all my new books when I purchase them. 

Let's get into the haul!

Favorite Reads of 2012

My ideal morning is waking up when the sky is gently lit by the sun and going for a morning run. And after jumping in the shower and making breakfast, I enjoy getting back in bed and reading a good book. The feeling is even more amazing when there's heavy rain that can accompany my books. So since 2012 is coming to a close, I thought there would be nothing better than to summarize my 2012 by telling you my favorites reads. 

Back in March, I decided that I wanted to read 50 new books by the end of 2012. Since then, I've changed the contingencies a bit. I decided to allow rereading books since discouraging the act of rereading was a bit ridiculous. With that strict rule, what motivation would I have had to reread The Hobbit, the book I read over a decade ago? Or, Fahrenheit 451 which I probably read about 8 years ago and barely remembered. I realized the rule was slightly too limiting so I changed it to this: books can count towards the 50, as long as they have been unread for at least 1 year. (So despite the numerous times I have read The Fault In Our Stars in the past 12 months, I counted it only once.)

I won't be listing all 50 books since 1.) a list isn't incredibly interesting unless I am able to comment on all the books in some way and 2.) that would take far too much time, and 3.) there were some books I read that I really don't care for and therefore don't want to waste time talking about them.

So the main thing I wanted to accomplish in this post was giving you 10 of my favorite NEW books that I read this year. Keep in mind, this was a difficult list to assemble and there were many books that I wrestled with adding/deleting from this list so if you know I read a book this year and didn't include in on this list (ie: The Casual Vacancy, The Handmaid's Tale) don't assume I didn't enjoy it as well.

But without further ado, here are my favorite books of 2012!

Divergent: A Book Review

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

Even though I said I probably wouldn't be posting book reviews for a few more weeks, I couldn't resist. I stumbled across Veronica Roth's Divergent about 1.5 years ago when I was looking for a book that would satisfy my Hunger Games pangs. In passing, I even mistook the flame on the cover for the mockingjay symbol, but I hesitated and put the book out of my mind- until recently. On a whim, and after reading some Defoe, Austen, Radcliffe, and Burney I was itching for something fun (not that society/manners/British culture aren't fun, but you know what I mean). And by now my Hunger Games pangs have dissipated so Divergent didn't have much space to fill. So, why not?

(photographed: Veronica Roth's Divergent)

And because I'm always wary about giving book descriptions (I often give too little, but fear giving too much) here's the description straight from Amazon:

"In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her."