March Wrap-Up + April TBR

Well. 

This month was wild. 

I can't believe how much the world has changed in such a short amount of time. In my province, everything non-essential has been shut down. Schools are closed. And most of us are now trapped at home, with nothing to do. 

Well.

Except us readers. We have the advantage of being able to go places without leaving the comfort of our living room couch. Or our beds.

I hope you all have been staying safe and practicing social distancing! And washing your hands. *shakes finger* That is very important.

Photo by BENCE BOROS on Unsplash

Alright, but enough about that. I'm sure you've heard more than enough on the news and social media to keep you occupied and anxious for a good long while. So instead, let's talk about books! Get our minds off of the craziness of the world right now for a minute. 

~ Read of the Month ~

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer 

★★★★★

I have so many feelings about this book. It's a beautiful, heartbreaking, and hopeful book that deals with grief, guilt, and not judging people by their appearances. I highly, highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great read!

~ Other March Reads ~

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson 

★★★

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro 

★★★★

Because You Love to Hate Me by Various Authors, edited by Amerie 

★★★

The Best of March Discussions

🕮 Unpopular Opinions [Book Tag]

🕮 Fantasy Books That Will Give You All the Feels

🕮 Books I Bought for the Cover

🕮 The Rapid Fire Book Tag

🕮 Books That are 200% Worth the Hype

🕮 Best Books with One Word Titles

April TBR

I only managed to read two of my five March TBR books. I am disappointed in myself. I'm currently reading both Throne of Glass and Thirteen Reasons Why (both on my March TBR) but I highly doubt I'll be able to finish them before the end of the month, and so they'll be included in next month's wrap-up.

What am I planning to read this April? Let's get into it.

The Archived by Victoria Schwab

I'm so excited to read this book. Partially because it's written by Victoria Schwab, and partly because it looks so delightfully creepy.
I don't know a lot about it, but I do know that it has something to do with a library... where human bodies are cataloged and stored on shelves. So yeah. Very creepy, but I have a feeling it's going to be good!

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

I've been meaning to read this book for a while, and I'm putting it on my TBR to give me a much needed prod to actually get around to it.
This is the first in a YA fantasy series that I believe is loosely based on the Roman Empire. 

There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool

I totally cover bought this one. It's beautiful, and I really hope that the inside lives up to the outside. It's another YA fantasy series (a duology, I believe?) that has something to do with the end of the world.

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodie Meadows, and Brodi Ashton

This book looks funny, and funny is what I need right now. Though since this is a reimagining of the history of Lady Jane Grey, maybe it won't be quite as funny as I was anticipating.

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

A creepy looking book by one of my favourite middle grade authors! Jonathan Auxier has a way with words, and I'm looking forward to reading another one of his books. 

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

If you've been following my blog for a while, it's probably pretty obvious why I have this book on my list. I'm a huge fan of Brandon Sanderson's work, especially the Cosmere, and so I'm trying to read every Cosmere book that is currently released. Elantris is next on my list!

And that about wraps it up! What have you read this March? Any recommendations? And what are you planning to read in April? Let me know in the comments!

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February Wrap-Up + March TBR

Hi all!

So this is a new sort of post I wanted to try out. Monthly wrap-ups. Talk about the books I read this month, maybe the movies, TV shows, stuff that happened, etc...? Sure, why not?

So, February. I don't know about you guys, but for me, February just... disappeared? I mean, it feels like Valentine's day was three hundred years ago and also like March shouldn't quite be here yet, so I have no idea what happened to the normal progress of time over this month. It's all wibbly-wobbly.

I've been busy, what with reading and not writing, and obviously the crazy day-to-day of being a public librarian. I also reorganized my bookshelf and unhauled a bunch of books I can't see myself reading again, and it's nice to see some new space opened up on my shelves!

~ The Books ~

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

My first ever Christie novel, and the first mystery I've read in a long time where I haven't guessed the ending. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style, but the mystery was A+, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of Christie's novels in the future. I was slightly (okay, more than slightly) annoyed by the fact that my copy (bought second-hand) had a page ripped out, but hey, things like that happen. Still not happy. 

Havenfall by Sara Holland

I freaked out when I found out that I'd gotten approved to read this book on Netgalley. It was a fun, light fantasy novel that reminded me a lot of some of the fantasies I used to read when I was younger, so it was nice and nostalgic. I've had mixed feelings about Holland's books in the past, but I'm glad I read this one.  

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

An impactful, honest historical fiction about a dark period of World War 2 that is often overlooked. This book didn't sugarcoat anything, and the horrors that these people faced during the war was heartbreaking to read about. But I'm very glad I read this book, and I will definitely be checking out Sepetys's other novels.

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Boys; The Dream Thieves; Blue Lily, Lily Blue; The Raven King; Opal) 

And I spent the rest of the month reading the entire Raven Cycle from beginning to end. This series was absolutely amazing, and has definitely made its way onto my list of all-time favorite books. The characters and the writing, especially, made me fall in love with this series. I'll be posting my series review for all of the books (excluding Opal) in the next couple of days, so keep your eyes peeled!

~ The Movies ~

It was kind of an all-over-the-place sort of month for movie watching. I finally watched The Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace this month, both for the first time, which concludes my watch-through of all the Skywalker Saga movies (excluding Rise of Skywalker, which I have no intention of ever seeing. 

Unpopular opinion time: I've come to the realization that I am not a Star Wars fan. I'm sorry. I know it's a really popular movie franchise, and I gave it my best try, but... it's just not for me. 

I also re-watched both Les Miserables (2012) and Newsies (1992), two of my all-time favorite musicals (and movies.) Les Mis had me in literal tears this time, which honestly was not surprising in the least. 

~ TV Shows ~

Doctor Who: Season 12 

I'm not quite finished with the series yet (still a few more episodes to go) but my Whovian heart is crying. While this season is far, far better than Series 11 (which I have permanently erased from my personal Who canon) it still lacks the Who-ness that I came to love so much in the first ten seasons. Much sadness. 

The Mandalorian

On the upside, I watched a Star Wars thing I actually liked! Along with Rogue One and Solo, The Mandalorian is one of the few Star Wars projects brought to screen that I actually genuinely enjoyed. The Child is adorable, and the Mandalorian's character is excellent. 

Locke and Key Episode One

And I don't think I'll be watching any more of this one! This show is apparently really popular right now, as it ranks number 6 on Netflix's top TV shows. And honestly... it wasn't very good. At least not for me. I mean, if you like it, that's perfectly cool! But it just... wasn't for me at all.

~ March TBR ~

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
I've heard so many good things about this book, and I'm really excited to finally get around to reading it!

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
A fantasy standalone that features a library and magical books? Yes please! I'm actually currently reading this, and so far, the library aspect is really fun and interesting, though the main character is... less than awesome at present.

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
A modern Sherlock Holmes retelling with a female Sherlock! I'm really interested to finally read this book. Hopefully the mystery isn't as predictable as some of the mysteries I've read lately.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Ha. Ha. Ha.
So this book is super popular, and people seem to either love it (as in, a little weirdly obsessed with it) or loathe it (as in, I would set this book on fire). Am I interested to see which camp I fall into? A little bit.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
I smell controversy.
This book is on several banned books lists, and is the subject of intense controversy over its subject matter -- people seem very divided on whether this book handles the topic of suicide well or not. I'm interested to see my own thoughts on it.

Will I read more than this in March? Very likely. But those are the ones I have planned for sure, so expect reviews in the next few weeks!

~ Best of February Discussions (In Case You Missed Out) ~

Best Fictional Couples

Romance Tropes That Need to Stop (Part 2)

Overhyped YA Novels

Some Thoughts on "Clean" Fiction

Most Anticipated Reads of 2020

Quick disclaimer thingy: not all of the books I'm talking about here are set to be published in 2020. They're just books that I haven't read yet, that I'm super excited to read, and that I probably won't get to this year (because life and Words of Radiance happens.)

So, with that out of the way, here are my top ten most anticipated reads for 2020!

1. Oathbringer and The Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson

Starting off with the next two books in The Stormlight Archive series, because am I excited for these! Oathbringer released in 2017, and in 2020 The Rhythm of War will be published. This series is the best epic fantasy series I've ever read, better than The Lord of the Rings, in my honest opinion. I'm currently halfway through book 2, and I already love the characters and the world and the story so, so much. I'm definitely looking forward to reading these two in 2020. 

2. Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim

I enjoyed Spin the Dawn a lot, and now that Unravel the Dusk is set to be released, I'm so ready for it! The ending of book one makes me excited to see where the plot will go from here. And have you seen that cover?! I know the saying that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but when a book is this pretty? No way I'm not getting it for my collection. :)

3. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

I know I'm really late to be jumping into this series, since most everyone who reads YA has read these, but... I'm going to read it now, okay? I'm waiting until I finish up with the series I'm currently working on (Mistborn Era 1) before I jump into any new series commitments. But my brother tells me that he's loving book one already, and so I'm really excited to see what I think of it!

4. Vicious and A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

I loved The Monsters of Verity duology by Victoria (V.E.) Schwab, and now I'm going to try jumping in to her adult fiction! Both Vicious and A Darker Shade of Magic are on my tbr, but since my brother actually owns A Darker Shade of Magic... I might be reading that one first. But we'll see. Christmas is coming. *wink*

5. The Screaming Staircase by Johnathan Stroud

This book just looks super quirky and creepy all at once, and that seems right up my alley. I'm a Whovian at heart, so anything that seems even remotely Dr. Who-esque immediately gets shoved onto my tbr. Along the same note, I'm also excited to read Jackaby by William Ritter. Both of these are series, sadly, so both are waiting until next year when I have less series on my plate. :P

6. There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool

So I was in Chapters the other day... and I saw this book... and I picked it up and kinda sorta bought it. It was a super spur of the moment purchase, even though I have read a little bit about it on Goodreads, I usually do a lot more research before committing to a book (especially a brand new hardcover!) But hey, maybe this will turn out to be a new favorite! Needless to say, I'm excited to see what I think about this book. 

7. Mistborn Era 2 by Brandon Sanderson

I'm really hoping to finish Mistborn Era 1 by the end of December. We'll see how that turns out. Regardless... I'm excited to read the second Mistborn series as well! This one is set centuries in the future of Mistborn Era 1, and it looks very cool! Plus, it's a Brandon Sanderson series, so I'm like 99.99% sure it's going to be amazing. :D

9. The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

Another spur-of-the-moment purchase in Chapters (I really need to stop going to stores that are rapidly leaching all of my paycheck. Maybe?) Anyway, this book looks amazing. It's kind of a Norse inspired fantasy by the looks of it, though I know next to nothing apart from that. (I haven't even read the jacket description. Talk about going in blind.) But I'm excited to read it, and I hope it's as great as it looks!

10. Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

And last, but not least, a contemporary YA that I'm interested in reading! (To offset all of the many fantasy books on this list). Letters to the Lost looks like it's going to be a hard-hitting and emotional read, and that's exactly what I like in contemporary fiction (fluffy, romance-only books very rarely sit well with me.) On the same note, I'm finally giving The Fault in Our Stars a read next year! (I know, how have I not read this yet? I'm fixing the problem as soon as possible, okay? Okay.) (See what I did there?)

And there you have it, my top ten (maybe slightly more than ten) books I'm excited to read next year! There are probably way more books that I forgot to add to this list, but I also don't want to make it so long that it gets boring to read about (if it hasn't already, man I tend to ramble.) 

Anyway, let me know your thoughts in the comments! Have you read any of the books I mentioned here, and what did you think of them? What books are you excited to read in 2020? Are any of them new releases? I'm excited to hear your thoughts!

Most Disappointing Books of 2019

I may or may not have been very much looking forward to writing this post. As much as I love to rave about the books I love, my family can testify to how much I like to complain/rant about the books I've hated.
What can I say? I have strong opinions.
That being said, I have nine books that made this list, books that looked interesting or that I was excited to read, that turned out not to live up to my expectations in the least. Alright. Here we go.
Disclaimer: If I mention a book that you love, please don't take it personally. I'm not attacking you. One great thing about reading is that everyone has different opinions! I'm also not trying to mean when I say a book bored me or was awful or anything. The worst I'm trying to be is funny. Which granted, I'm not very good at. XP 
But if you want to talk to me about something I said in this wrap-up, please leave a (polite) comment below. I'm more than happy to discuss! :)

Photo by Jonas Jacobsson on Unsplash

8. Mitosis by Brandon Sanderson

So... I don't really have very strong opinions about this one. I just didn't see the point of it? And it just didn't live up to any of my expectations. You all know that I love Brandon Sanderson's books. But Mitosis just didn't do it for me. 

It didn't really add anything to my understanding to the Reckoners universe or the storyline, and honestly, the way it was written made it way less dark than the main trilogy and more laughable than anything else.  

But this book makes the list because it was written by Brandon Sanderson, and I expected more from him than this.

7. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I watched the movie first. It wasn't amazing. But I heard that the book was so much better than the movie, and decided to give it a go. After all, The Maze Runner has an intriguing premise. 

Let me tell you guys. It wasn't good. It really wasn't. I don't know where the hype for this book came from. It has a decent plot (excepting the last chapters, which had so many leaps of logic and plot holes that it was cringe worthy) but that's about it. The characterization? Nonexistent. The writing? Juvenile, at best. 

I do know that this book is hugely popular, and I'm really sorry I didn't like it. If you did: good for you! I'm not trying to put down anyone who genuinely enjoyed this book. It just didn't do it for me. 

6. Splintered by A.G. Howard

This book looked super interesting! A dark, Tim Burton-esque retelling of Alice in Wonderland sounded right up my alley. But it didn't really live up to that description at all. The first portion of the book, set in the main character's hometown, did seem to be setting up a creepy, interesting middle. But once Alyssa stepped into Wonderland, everything went downhill -- the characterization, the plot, the worldbuilding, and most of all, the romance. 

The plot made zero to no sense for most of the book. Alyssa had no reason to actually trust Morpheus, but did so anyway, and it made me question her intelligence. The plot twist at the end kind of reveals why the author chose to do this, but Alyssa's stupid decisions up to that point stretched my suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. 

And the romance was horrible! It's a love triangle, and it's done really poorly, plus a few elements of the romance that were really toxic and disgusting that were portrayed as romantic. 

Overall, not my kind of book, and I will not be continuing with the series. 

5. Carve the Mark and The Fates Divide by Veronica Roth 

I will be really honest here: I didn't enjoy the Divergent series very much. I still read all three books (mostly to see the plot to its conclusion), but I didn't find them as phenomenal as people are always saying they are. However, they are about 300 times better than Veronica Roth's new series, Carve the Mark. These books were really, really hard to like.
At first, I thought that book one was actually going to be decent. The opening chapters were interesting and engaging, and both of the major POV characters were fairly likeable. But then everything just went downhill. Every time I thought the plot had finally started, it turned out to be another random event that added little to the story and just made me angry. There were so many characters that it was hard to keep track of them all, and only a few had actual plot relevance. It ended up really boring me, which makes me sad, because I did genuinely want to love this book. And when the plot actually got started a few chapters from the end, I decided to give the second book a shot.
The second book was even worse. I DNFed after about a hundred pages of absolute boredom. *SPOILERS AHEAD* Literal intergalactic war being declared, and here I am falling asleep. *END OF SPOILERS* At least with Divergent, the plot was enough to keep me awake.
Overall, I think that maybe Veronica Roth just isn't an author that I can really appreciate. I'm glad that so many people enjoy her books, but I for one just... don't.

4. The Final Six by Alexandra Monir

The Final Six in a nutshell: Not what I signed up for.  I was hoping for a really cool science fiction about space travel and the colonization of Europa. What I got was space camp and some weird bacteria. 

The characterization in this book was patchy and even problematic at times, and the beginning really bothered me because of how a certain issue was portrayed. I don't feel like it was done well, and it felt more like a plot device than anything else. I'm not sure if it's counted as a spoiler or not, so I won't go into it here, but feel free to talk to me more about it in the comments!
There were several cases of deus ex machina that definitely took away from my enjoyment of the story. Overall, I just didn't enjoy this book, despite the fascinating premise and beautiful cover. 

3. Evermore by Sara Holland

As some of you may know, I really enjoyed Everless. But Evermore, the sequel, was just disappointing. Jules, the protagonist, seemed to lose most of her intelligence between books one and two, making some really dumb decisions that Everless Jules would never have done. The romance bothered me so much. There was so much insta-love, it was cringey. For more of my thoughts, check out my Goodreads review, which goes into all the spoilers and why this book just didn't do it for me.

2. Storm Siren by Mary Weber

Storm Siren was not a very highly anticipated book for me. In fact, it was a super spur-of-the-moment borrow for me (fortunately, this was a library e-book, and I didn't buy this!) But it looked interesting, and I was excited to read it once I got it. The first few chapters were fine. I didn't hate them, but they weren't amazing. And then the love interest made his appearance. And everything went downhill from there. The plotline was full of forbidden romance, insta-love, one-dimensional characters, shaky worldbuilding, and no stakes. There was a full blown war going on, but I never felt any urgency. The villains were tacked on and cheesy. (My favorite example: one of the villains hisses wordsss like thisss. Because villains can't talk like normal human beings?) I hate to be so negative about a book, but I literally can't find one positive thing to say about it. Except that it ended. 

I do intend to read another book by Mary Weber in the future, so that I can decide if I like her as an author or not (like I did with Veronica Roth's books) and I can only hope that it will be better than this one. 

1. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

And now, for (arguably) the worst book I read this year: The Cruel Prince. I have linked my review for it above. However, my opinions about the book have sunk considerably since I wrote the review, so what I say here may be slightly different than what I say there. This book was awful. The plot was slow, the characters (every last one of them) were horrible people, and the writing didn't really appeal to me. (Note about my "horrible people" comment: I know that this may have been intentional, but when I can't empathize or sympathize with any of the characters, there's a problem.) I believe I mentioned all of this in my review. But one thing I didn't mention was the romance! The major romance of the series (I won't say who the love interest is to prevent spoiling for anyone who wants to read this book), a romance that is super popular with the fans of the books, is toxic. Really, really toxic. It's gross, and I feel that this relationship was glorified in the novel (and definitely has been glorified by fans of the series.) 

So my original rating of two stars dropped to one for that, and I likely won't be finishing the series. 

So there you have it! Nine of the most disappointing books I've read this year. Have you read any of the books I mentioned here? If so, what did you think of them? Do you agree with any of my opinions? Or do you disagree? Let me know in the comments! 

My Favorite Books of 2019

Hi all!
I'm super excited to be sharing this post with you today. Since starting this blog early this year, I've been trying to expand my reading tastes, trying out a bunch of new books and genres that took me out of my normal bookish comfort zone. And I'm so glad I did! I've found a ton of new favorite books and series this year, some of which have made it onto my top books of all time list.

So, without further ado, here's my list of favorites for 2019!

Photo by Syd Wachs on Unsplash

1. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

I usually stick by the mantra "don't believe the hype" because there are so many books out there that just don't deserve it? But The Stormlight Archive? It totally deserves every bit of the hype it's gotten, and far, far more. This book is absolutely incredible. The characters are so well-developed, and the worldbuilding and magic system is phenomenal. And it's so intricate. The book follows a lot of different characters' storylines, but they all come together beautifully at the end and just... oh my word, this book is amazing. 

Seriously. This book is (dare I say it?) better than The Lord of the Rings. I'm serious. Go read it. Right now.

I've also fallen in love with several other Sanderson books this year; namely Mistborn: The Final Empire and Skyward. But The Way of Kings is probably my favorite out of all of them so far, and I don't want to fill this list with Brandon Sanderson books, because that would be kind of boring. :P Sidenote: as of writing this post, I'm well into the second book in The Stormlight Archive, Words of Radiance, which I can also say has been phenomenal so far. 

2. This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

Now, I don't normally read horror... but the description for this book looked so interesting that I had to pick it up. And I'm so, so glad I did. It is definitely creepy, with a good dose of violence (some of it kind of gory) but the characters, the plot, and the themes were all so amazing! This book delves into some of my favorite types of themes -- good vs. evil, what defines being human, etc. And Schwab pulled off the themes so masterfully, it gave me chills at times. 

This definitely isn't a happy book, but it's a good one. I also enjoyed the sequel, though it isn't quite as good, and my brother had some mixed opinions about it. It's definitely not something everyone would enjoy. 

But I definitely recommend giving the first book a shot! For more information, check out my review. 

3. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

This book. This book is so beautiful. The writing style is incredible and atmospheric, perfectly capturing the "feel" of the book and dragging me head over heels into the storyworld. The characters are so well-drawn, and they all feel like real people -- even the random side characters feel genuine. I'm not one for horse stories, usually. But this book? This book is the exception. And I mean, most horse stories don't include flesh-eating, murderous water horses, either, so...
If this sounds like your kind of book, check out my review!

4. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

A Monster Calls is a story about grief and loss and healing, and it's beautiful. It's written in the most simple, and yet utterly heart wrenching way, and I really, really loved it. I want to say more, but because it's such a short book, I'd be giving away spoilers. 

But it really is worth your time! Go read it!

If you're interested, but are still not sure about this book, check out my review. 

5. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

And now for a classic! I read The Outsiders after my brothers read it for school, and I loved it. It's really raw and emotional, with complicated characters and a simple but compelling writing style. I don't have a review for this book up yet, but keep an eye out for it in my collection of mini-reviews that is coming soon. 

And that about wraps it up for now! I still have a month left in 2019, and I really hope I discover a new favorite to add to this list before the year is out. But as it stands, there's my top five favorite books of this year.

Let me know in the comments what your favorite books of this year were! Have you read any of the books I've fallen in love with, and if so, what did you think of them? I'm excited to hear your thoughts! (And also maybe get some new book recommendations... always looking for those. :P)