Tell Me Tuesdays #1!

Welcome to my first time joining Tell Me Tuesdays!

Tell Me Tuesdays is a meme/feature created by the awesome ladies of Please Feed The Bookworm and La La In The Library where we can share how we choose the book we are currently reading from our TBR pile!
I'm always curious about that, cause as much as I tend to make myself a rough schedule for books to read and the like, I'm quite a mood reader and sometimes I just HAVE to ignore my schedule and read something else!

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin!

A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger - and a possible murderer - to inherit his vast fortune, one things' for sure: Sam Westing may be dead... but that won't stop him from playing one last game!











The Westing Game is June's book at The Midnight Garden's Classics readalong. I decided to pick it up yesterday cause I was having a rather stupidly brought upon emotional meltdown (the weirdest things can trigger me nowadays it seems) and I wasn't feeling like any of the books that I was supposed to be reading, and I wanted something without romance and I thought "I know! Let's start a middle grade classic murder mystery!" and so far it's proving a very good choice!

So what are you all guys reading and how and why did you decide to pick up that book? Shiny new ARC? Comfort read? Scheduled for review? Must have new release? Tell me!!

Showcase Sunday #38!

Showcase Sunday is a weekly feature hosted by Vicky of Books, Biscuits, and Tea where all book lovers can share with others what bookish goodness we got this week, be it purchased (physical or eBook), won, gifted or for review!

This week was a bit more quiet on the book front, but that doesn't mean that I didn't get any books, just not as many as the past weeks! Still, I got some really cool books!

I finally got my preorder of Hexed by Michelle Krys that I had won in a giveaway (THANK YOU NOVA)!! I really cannot wait to read this one, hopefully soon!

And I also got myself a signed copy of Threats of Sky and Sea by Jennifer Ellision after reading and loving an ARC for the blog tour!

Jennifer also sent me some amazing swag! That cover is gorgeous and that blue is my favourite colour! Thank you so much!

Purchased (via Kindle app)

Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo

As You Turn Away by Molli Moran

For Review (via NetGalley)

Thank you so much Harlequin Teen for the approvals on these!

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

Rain by Amanda Sun

And that's all for this week! Quite a nice haul after all!
What all did you guys get this week?

Saturday Pages: Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo!!!

Hello everyone! I'm hoping the weekend is starting right for you all! I'm gonna be trying to sleep some before getting ready to attend the wedding of one of my co-workers, but I'm leaving you all with the review of a wonderful and heartbreaking book as this week's Saturday Pages entry!

As many others this year, it is also the final book in a trilogy and thankfully is one of those that has not disappointed at all! This book very much makes the series once again for me! And it also counts for my 2014 Book Blogger Summer Reading Program challenge!

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ruin and Rising was one of those highly awaiting books of the year for me, and really there seems to have been a few already. But when so many amazing series end this year, how can you not be dying to read them all!?

I was a bit concerned about spoilers for this one since many bookstores seemed to be putting it up on their shelves early and my Kindle copy was the one releasing on Thursday instead of Tuesday, but luckily everyone in my Twitter feed was awesome and I didn't get the book spoiled! I have also to give a big thanks to Kristen from My Friends Are Fiction for being there for me while I was reading and DMing her like mad on Twitter!!

I will try my very best to keep this review spoiler free for the book, but you can expect some spoilers here and there for the previous books. Still, if you want to enjoy Ruin & Rising properly? Just go into the book as blind as possible! It's a brilliant book, with plenty of unexpected twists and revelations and the less you know about it all, the better! You've been warned!

Ruin & Rising starts where Siege & Storm left us, and the pacing at first seemed as unhurried as the one in Siege & Storm. I thought that Siege & Storm had a bit of a middle book syndrome since it was more of a slow book, but after finishing the series... all the build up done in Siege & Storm was necessary and I'm sure that when I do the re-read of the whole series I see in my future, I'll think differently about that book. Even with the slow pace of the first third of the book we were treated to plenty of surprises, character development and plot progression. Then everything changes as we near the middle of the book and I can only say... brace yourselves for Chapter 11! I just couldn't read fast enough! And then the final part of the book... prepare yourself for having your heart broken and fixed and broken and... well, it's a rollercoaster of emotions! I loved the ending even if my heart was left aching for a few characters.

Alina really shines in this book. She has to recover from the battle and the events at the end of Siege & Storm, and she has to find a way to wield her power and not lose herself to it. Her journey is quite a tough one, but luckily she learns that she doesn't have to undertake it alone.

Each three of the guys in this book, each three of plausible love interests can also be seen as each of the three different faces of Alina. Mal is her human side, the orphan that was unsure of herself but still didn't bow down easily and loved fiercely and loyally. Nikolai is power and responsability, the need to do what's right and lead the people of Ravka, he might be rakish and fun and a bit of rogue, but he would be bound by duty and honour. And the Darkling, well he's the siren song of her power and the lure of giving into it, letting it rule you instead of letting your human side win. If you want to know who wins... read the book, my lips are sealed! I'll just let you know I felt the Darkling at his most alluring and he's a fantastic villain, Nikolai was as sarcasting and amazing as ever, and Mal... I had disliked Mal in Siege & Storm, but he does redeem himself in this one, in spades!

All the other secondary characters are also present and important, and quite a few of them are also part of bigger or smaller revelations that shape the plot. I continue to be blown away by the way Leigh Bardugo makes us fall in love with not just the main characters but the secondary one. I simple adored Genya and David and the twins!

I'm gonna stop babbling now, I still have a massive book hangover with this one, and I feel like re-reading the entire series once my hardcovers arrive, cause I ordered them all once I finished this one! 5 shiny and well deserved stars!!




View all my reviews

Friday Reads: Dreams of Gods And Monsters by Laini Taylor!!!

Hello everyone & happy Friday! This week we're gonna welcome the weekend with the review of a most wonderful book as my Friday Reads!

This book is yet another final book in a series, and this series is one that I started earlier this year. I'm glad that only had to wait a few months till this book was released, cause otherwise it would have killed me! Those cliffhangers were of the very evil quality! As it is, this one is part of my 2014 Series Challenge and it counts as another finished series, woohooo!

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Dreams of Gods and Monster is the last book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy and it is a worthy ending for it. It might have affected me emotionally more than other people due to personal circumstances, but it is a book full of wonderful epic writing, tension and our very beloved characters and a few new ones.

As with any final book review I will do my very best to keep it as spoiler free as possible but there might be some spoilers for the other two books in the trilogy.

After the quite cliffhangery ending of Days of Blood & Starlight we are facing quite dangerous odds, from enemies within and without and if the stakes weren't high enough, we're introduced to some new characters which was a bit surprising. Who are these people and why are we getting to know about them only now? How are they gonna be relevant to the story?

The story is told through various different POVs and although some weren't as central to the bigger picture, they all gave us some insight or other, and they all started or took part of the action and moved the plot along.

Through Morgan and Eliza we see how people on Earth and the bulk of humanity react to the arrival of the angels, and we also get much more than I would have expected at first, even if I suspected something big was afoot. Nope, THAT I was not expecting! And that's all I will say about them, anything else would risk spoilers cause once I start talking about what a weasel Morgan was but how in the end it was the starting point of something for the best... I might end up spoiling something!

Akiva and Karou are still finding their footings as new allies, and it's painfully amazing seeing them work through the differences of their races and search for that hope of a better world for everyone and a chance at love and a future for themselves. My heart was hurting with every interaction, full of hope, joy, sadness, mourning... A bit of everything really!

Zuzana and Mik have to be my favourite characters in this series. Being human they might lack the magic and the powers to make big contributions, but trust me, they are not useless at all! Not only they provide a bit of comic relief, but they also provide a different perspective and a different support for Karou. These books wouldn't be as wonderful as they are without the rabid faery and the violin boy!

Liraz and Ziri are two secondary characters that really come into their own in this book, and that take charge of themselves and their lives. Not only that, they are instrumental in the changes and battles to be fought and in the outcome of not only the battles but also the whole course of the war!

The world building has always been extraordinary in these books, but now it takes on a bigger dimension. Magic and science mix in an epic way and show us that knowledge lost can be utterly dangerous and that Earth and Eretz are not the only places out there, and that the portals are more dangerous than we knew.

The ending is more open than I had expected but it is a perfect ending. Full of hope and beginnings and middles and with a lot of not exactly dull moments to image. It left me bawling like there was no tomorrow, but it was just perfect. Very much deserved 5 stars for this final book, and all the stars to the whole trilogy. Thank you, Laini Taylor, for these wondrous books!



View all my reviews

Ink & Batter #7: Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins!!

Hello everyone! Happy Thursday and welcome to a new edition of Ink & Batter!

This week, I'm sharing the cupcakes I did inspired by a book I hadn't read yet (at the time I made them and wrote this post) but since then, it was selected as Read Discuss Repeat Virtual Bookclub's book for May: Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins!
I was quite inspired by its lovely cover and I asked Wendy from The Midnight Garden and Stephanie from Inspiring Insomnia for decoration ideas, since both had read and loved the book! Thank you ladies for your ideas!

I went for the orange and pale pink cupcake liners since they matched the cover colours, and used my mango lassi recipe for the mini cupcakes since I already had to do the test run for the recipe for my friend's wedding!

Dagger, orange ribbons and pearls, I got from the cover. Then on Stephanie's suggestions I did the lipstick/lipgloss, tiara, newspaper and grade's report!

Have you guys read the book? Do you think I did a good job on these cupcakes?

Stay tuned for more book inspired cupcakes on the next edition of Ink & Batter!

Waiting On Wednesday #47!!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted at Breaking The Spine  that spotlights those can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-them books that we are eagerly awaiting!

What book I'm excited to get my hands on this week? Landline by Rainbow Rowell!

Goodreads Summary:

"Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.

Maybe that was always besides the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

Is that what she’s supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?"

Why am I eagerly awaiting Landline? Well, Rainbow Rowell is one of my auto-buy list after reading and loving both Fangirl and Eleanor & Park! Though given my emotional state & situation right now, I'm not so sure this will be the right book for me right now!

What are you all (im)patiently awaiting this week?

Xpresso Book Tours Book Blitz & Giveaway: Her Secret Inheritance by Jen McConnel!

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Book Blizt for Her Secret Inheritance by Jen McConnel hosted & organized by Xpresso Book Tours!

Her Secret Inheritance by Jen McConnel
(Isobel Key #2)
Released June 12th 2014

Five years after the trip to Scotland that changed her life, Lou is back in the misty, magical country. But this time, she’s not on vacation. When Brian, her old Highland fling, turns up at the scene of some depressing family business, tension mounts between the former lovers. But dealing with Brian is only part of the problem; something wicked is stirring in Scotland. Lou must use all her strength to handle the increasingly desperate situation, but will she be strong enough to battle both a vengeful ghost and her heart? Lou may have thought that she was finished with the witch Isobel Key, but some secrets can’t stay buried forever.

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Audible

 About the author:

Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. A graduate of Western Michigan University, she also holds a MS in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches college writing composition and yoga. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time. Her debut NA novel, THE SECRET OF ISOBEL KEY, is out now from Bloomsbury Spark. She also writes YA and nonfiction. Visit http://www.jenmcconnel.com to learn more.

  Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Facebook | Blog | Website 

Giveaway

Open INTL - Ends June 24:

One mounted black and white print of Claire Heminsley’s artwork, “A Snippet of St. Andrews”. (image attached)
The Prints are black and white. Mounted with an acid free, antique white mount. Size of image:- 18x40cm, Size of mount:-29x52cm.

Artist Contact:
website:- www.incahoots.org.uk
twitter:- @incahootsclaire
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/incahoots/256765432501

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of Where Silence Gathers by Kelsey Sutton!

Hello everyone! How's Monday going? Mine gives the start to a fairly busy week, where I'll have to juggle reading and blogging with a very full week of work and quite a few errands, appointments and a co-worker's wedding on Saturday! I'm feeling tired already! I foresee a VERY lazy Sunday this week!

I'm starting the week and my Mark This Book Monday with a book that I got for review on NetGalley and that's been one of my quite awaited books of the year. Thanks for the approval Flux Books! As an eARC it counts for my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge!

Where Silence Gathers by Kelsey Sutton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I loved Kelsey's debut novel last year, Some Quiet Place, so when I saw the companion novel on NetGalley I requested it, and was super happy to get approved by Flux once again!

I have to say that I didn't manage to enjoy the book as much as I did the previous one. It's not that the story wasn't compelling or the writing fantastic but I just couldn't connect with Alexandra, the main character.

Alex's story is quite opposite from Elizabeth's on Some Quiet Place. Where Elizabeth can see emotions but doesn't feel anything, Alex can see AND feel the emotions. She lost her parents and her brother in a car crash where she survived and since then she's twisted herself around her grief, holding on to it as if that was all that's left. Combine that with getting attached to an Emotion like Revenge, and you can see what a twisted character she is.

The story follows Alex to all her mistakes and her inability to face or deal with her grief, her search for information about the truth about her father and her godfather, and her infatuation/love for Revenge and her confusion when Forgiveness enters the picture.

Even if I can understand how grief can consume us and shape who we are, no matter how long ago a loss has happened and I've seen quite a lot of loss in my line of work, and even if I could see how much Alex was suffering and how wrapped up was in it and how nearly impossible it can be to break from it... I just couldn't connect with her. I kept feeling more for the family and friends she kept pushing away and hurting than for Alex herself. She felt so removed from everyone around her that I ended up feeling removed from her too.

This book gives us a bit more of glimpse into a world where some people can see Emotions and Elementals when the majority can't, and although we don't get too many clear explanations, we get a few glimpses that can help us draw our own conclusions.

I'm giving this book 3 stars, it could have been 4 or more easily if I could have connected with Alex, and it's a brave risk that the author has taken, to write a character like her. I will surely be keeping an eye on whatever Kelsey writes next, cause she's an author to watch!



View all my reviews