June Recap!

June, June, June. Usually I'm NOT a fan of summer months because I can't stand the heat! BUT this month was awesome for one simple reason..... I am NOW officially WORKING FROM HOME! And it is, in a word, magical! It's even more amazing then I dreamed it would be.  The job I have is strictly computer based so it works out well.  I roll out of bed and I'm at work! I can stay in my jammies all day. Maybe I'll take a shower, maybe I won't.  No one has to smell me or look at me so who cares! Then when I clock out, I'm home! WOOT.

ALSO this month, I went to a Neil Gaiman signing in Washington, D.C.!! I'll link my post for that down below.  It ended up being the LONGEST day of my life, but the actual seeing Neil Gaiman part was SUPER cool.  It was crazy crowded! But my book buddy Jessica was there with me so that made it better! 




Lastly, I just got back from spending 5 days at Lake Anna. My dad has a house there and some family and friends of his came down for some of the time.  The weather was perfect. My baby vampire skin got a LITTLE crispy.  Even with several layers of SPF 50.  We saw all sorts of wildlife: beaver, groundhog, deer, squirrels, rabbits, snake, fish, turtles. There's no Internet or cable T.V. so you basically are forced to enjoy the relaxation and the water and I got a LOT of reading done. I read 4 books, and one of those was 600 pages. WOOT.  It's always nice to just GET AWAY from life for a little bit.

Now...ON TO THE BOOKS!

I read a TON this month which is awesome! 

For my TOTAL for June I read 16 BOOKS and 3 Graphic Novels!!
AND I read 9/12 books that were on the TBR list I made at the beginning of the month which is beyond great for me. I NEVER EVER stick to a TBR list, this is the first time. So I'm proud of that!

Books Read:

 

 



1. Love and Other Perishable Items (Laura Buzo) - I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book! Very cute and funny. 4/5
2.Notorious Nineteen (Janet Evanovich) - Nothing special. Same ole same ole. 3/5
3. A Game of Thrones - Graphic Novel, I did not like the artwork for this graphic novel. The people looked too similar.  Wasn't wowed.  3/5
4. That Summer (Sarah Dessen) - My least favorite Sarah Dessen book. 3/5
5. Friends With Boys (Faith Erin Hicks) - Graphic Novel, I really enjoyed this one! Loved the artwork and the story. Will buy a copy for my shelf. 4/5
6. Black City (Elizabeth Richards) - The first half was good and then it all went downhill and I ended up disappointed. I blame the romance.  2.5/5
7. The Madman's Daughter (Megan Shepherd) - Loved this one. Couldn't put it down. The love triangle got a little annoying but I was able to look past that because the story was just so good! 4.5/5
8. Invisibility (Andrea Cremer & David Levithan) - There were moments of beautiful writing, but the story fell flat for me. 3/5
9. The Song of Achilles  (Madeline Miller) - Pretty good, liked the romance and the main characters. But wasn't left satisfied.  3.5/5
10. Blankets (Craig Thompson) - Graphic Novel, Really enjoyed this one. Loved the black and white artwork. Great story. Easy to get through. 4/5
11. Dreamland (Sarah Dessen) - Well written but just not what I wanted. 3.5/5
12. The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern) - One of the most beautifully descriptive books I have EVER read. Incredibly woven storyline. 5/5
13. The Gates (John Connolly)- This one was very disappointing. Didn't like the writing or the story. 2/5
14. Shadow & Bone (Leigh Bardugo) - REREAD, just as amazing the second time around! FANTASTIC read. 5/5
15. Siege & Storm (Leigh Bardugo) - Great sequel! 5/5
16. Forbidden (Tabitha Suzuma) - Conflicted feelings about this one. DEF takes you out of your comfort zone. Liked the male main character. Not a fan of the female main character. HATED the ending. 3.5/5
17. Lover at Last (J.R.Ward) - I have been waiting to read this for SOO long! Blay and Qhuinn FOREVER. However, I feel like the author added too much other crap in that I had to skim through. Because of that it gets a 4/5.  The Blay and Qhuinn parts though...SMOKING HOT!
18. Everneath (Brodi Ashton) - Not a bad read, but I wasn't blown away. I feel no desire to continue the series. 3.5/5
19. Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell) - I didn't love it AS much as Eleanor & Park but I still loved it. The characters and the story were great! 4.5/5

I had 1 DNF this month:



Favorite Read

Even though I didn't give this book 5 stars, this is my favorite read for June because the story was just fast paced and interesting and creepy and amazing. I couldn't put it down and the ending was OH MY GAH! I CAN'T WAIT for the second book to come out!

Favorite Cover

 

Other Posts:

Book Haul

 

Book/Movie Haul

 

Personal Challenge Update

 

TTT:Favorite Reads of 2013 SO FAR

 

Neil Gaiman Book Signing Recap!

 

 

 

June OUT!

April Recap!!

APRIL RECAP!
This month I read the MOST books I have EVER read in  a month!! I just can't believe it. I don't know what got into me! But I likes it!!
I read some awesome books and I read some duds.  I've been really slacking with posting reviews the last couple months and hope to improve on that.

Without further adoooo..

In April I read.....  17 books and 4 novellas!! WHAT?!?!  I also had one DNF. WOOT.
Here's all the books I read in April:

 

DNF:

 

1. Second Chance Summer (Morgan Matson) -I didn't love this one AS much as Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, but it was still really good. 4/5

2. Rootless (Chris Howard) - I HATED this book. BIG TIME letdown. 1/5

3. Poison (Bridget Zinn) - This was pretty good, actually pretty funny. 3.5/5

4. Silver Linings Playbook (Matthew Quick) - Really enjoyable, so SYKED to see the movie! 4/5

5. Bunheads (Sophie Flack) - This one was disappointing. Boringly predictable. 3/5

6. Beta (Rachel Cohn) - The world that this author created was fantastically vivid. I really enjoyed it, but didn't completely fall for the characters. Still interested for future books. 3.75/5

7. Butter (Erin Jade Lange) - I shared a lot of the main character's pain. It wasn't completely believable, but it was a quick read. 3.5/5

8. Sweet Evil (Wendy Higgins) - Awesomely surprised with how much I ended up loving this book. 5/5

9. Darkness Becomes Her (Kelly Keaton) - Another book I wasn't expecting to love as much as I did. 4.5/5

10. Firelight (Sophie Jordan) - The first time I read this book it got a 5/5, upon my re-read several years later it gets a 3.5/5.

11. Vanish (Sophie Jordan) - The series takes a serious nosedive with the annoying main characters. 3/5

12. Hidden (Sophie Jordan) - Disappointing series.  2.5/5

13. Easy (Tammara Webber) - Okay, I was not expecting to completely FALL for this book. 5/5

14. My Life Next Door (Huntley Fitzpatrick) - Another great read. 4/5

15. Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets (Evan Roskos) - LOVED. I marked like the whole book as my favorite. I identified very much with the main character's feelings. 5/5

16. The Boyfriend List (e.Lockhart) - Would have liked this more if I was about 15 years younger. 3/5

17. The Maze Runner (James Dashner) - A slow start but once it took off I couldn't put it down! Action-packed! 4/5

 

The 4 Novellas I read are set before the book Throne of Glass. They gave some great background on Celaena and some of the other characters and I developed a deeper connection with Celaena. Definitely worth reading for anyone who enjoyed Throne of Glass. Overall, 3.5/5

 

Favorite Cover of the Month:

(This was a hard choice, there are several covers I love)

 

 

Favorite Read(s) of the Month:

 



 

 

Top Ten Tuesday:

Still Sitting on My Shelf

Disappointments

Words/Topics to Make me Pick up A book

 

Other Posts:

E-Book Woes

Book Haul! Woot!

Know Me Better

Green Valley Book Fair HAUL!

My Thoughts: Sweet Evil (Wendy Higgins)

Dewey's Read-a-thon

 

That's it for April. Overall, a VERY productive reading month! I'm making some progress on my personal challenges. I'll post a mini-update later this week regarding those. 

I've been getting a little stressed out and feeling guilty about all the un-read books I own . I wish that I had been more careful with my buying. Mostly because I want my library to contain all books that I really like/love. Which means I should have visited the library more or been more selective about the books i bought because I def have a bunch that I will NEVER read again and don't even want anymore. I want to get to the point where I only have a very small amount that I haven't read. So I'm doing my best to scale back on the book buying (not a complete ban, just scale back) so I have to read the books I already own. We'll see how well that works out.  I'm starting to make a dent in them though!

 

APRIL OUT!

 

Currently reading: