Hey guys! Anyone else thinking that this month is just flying by? I was just thinking earlier that it's almost time for a favorites post since the last day of February is next Wednesday. One of these days, I will no longer be surprised at how quickly time seems to go by. Although, I will say that I am ready for warmer months and no more snow!
In my last post, I had mentioned that I just started listening to Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman in preparation for the release of Obsidio next month. I am still so excited for it being released and there is only about three weeks left before I have it in my hands. I have loved listening to the audio of these books the second time around. I will have to listen to it after reading the physical book since it is bound to be no less than amazing than the first two books in the trilogy. This was a 5 out of 5 stars for me.
After finishing that on audio, I wanted just a quick book to listen to while grocery shopping this last Sunday, so I ended up choosing The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. I thought it was cute and it was just what I needed for that day. This copy was just little snippets of Mowgli's childhood. I ended up rating this one 3 out of 5 stars.
The only physical book I finished (and started) since my last post was The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert. I got it first in my OwlCrate (if you get OwlCrate and haven't received your box, I didn't mean to spoil it for you), which came with an exclusive cover and it was signed! Little did I know that when my Fairy Loot came in (which it did today), it would have the same exact book (again, I apologize if it's a spoiler), which again has an exclusive cover that's different from OwlCrate's and it was also signed. The Hazel Wood follows a 17 year old named Alice and her mother. Bad luck follows them where ever they go, which Alice's mother, Ella, seems to believe stems from her mother, Althea Proserpine. Ella gets a letter stating that Althea has passed away and she then believes that the bad luck is over and resolves to make things better for Alice and they can relax. Some time later, Ella is kidnapped and Alice is told several times over to stay away from her grandmother's estate, the Hazel Wood. And I don't want to say too much more than that to avoid possible spoilers for the book. I enjoyed it quite a bit and gave it a 4 out of 5 stars.
I am still slowly but surely making my way through Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett. I'm still liking it and whatnot but I've just been dragging my feet about reading it. I'm now 55% of the way done with it now and I'm hoping that I'll be done with it by the end of the month. There have definitely been some interesting bits to it and I'm interested to know how it all plays out. However, at this point, I'm not sure I'll be picking up book two when it comes out since it's taken me so long to get through this one.
As for audio books, I've started listening to West Cork by Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde. I'm 49% of the way done with it and it's a fascinating listen. It goes through what is known of a murder that occurred right before Christmas in 1996 in West Cork, Ireland. I think the mystery as to who did it 20+ years ago is still a mystery (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). I'm fascinated by stuff like this and have enjoyed listening to this quite a bit.
Hopefully what you're enjoying what you're reading!
Cassie
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Weekly Check In #6!
Hey guys!
I don't have a ton to update from my last post. I've finished an audio book, made some progress in the same physical book, and just started an audio book today.
The audio books I finished and then started were in the same series. I finished Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman's Illuminae. I loved listening to it just as much as I loved reading the physical book. The full cast of 1haracters made it even better. It's definitely getting me excited for the release of Obsidio when it comes out next month. Even though I know the ending is going to devastate me. And it almost goes without saying that I gave Illuminae 5 out of 5 stars.
I just started listening to Gemina right before starting this post. I'm only a couple of minutes into it and I'm enjoying it so far. The full cast adds to this book just as much as it did it's predecessor in the series. The Illuminae Files is such an amazing series and I will end up rereading these books over and over again in both the physical format and audio. It quickly became a favorite after starting it a year ago. Gemina picks up not too much longer after Illuminae ends. We follow a different set of characters, although we do meet Kady and Ezra, main characters of the first book, a little bit later in the book.
I'm still working my way through Heather Fawcett's Even the Darkest Stars. I read 50 or so pages last night before bed and that's the most progress I've made since last Thursday. I was hoping to make some progress on Sunday since my schedule shifted a little bit and now have Sundays off but ended up watching shows on my laptop and working on my resume to hand in at work for a different position. I'm hoping to do a reading binge of it either later today or tomorrow to finish it. It's not that it's a bad book or anything I just either have been at work or doing other stuff. I'm only hoping to get it done either today or tomorrow due to my being off work. I need a distraction anyway since I don't want to focus on whether or not I'm going to get an interview for the position I applied for.
Like I said, I don't really have much of an update for this week. Other stuff getting in the way happens to all of us. Even if we would prefer to sit and read all day, maybe something to drink and/or snack nearby.at hand.
Cassie
I don't have a ton to update from my last post. I've finished an audio book, made some progress in the same physical book, and just started an audio book today.
The audio books I finished and then started were in the same series. I finished Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman's Illuminae. I loved listening to it just as much as I loved reading the physical book. The full cast of 1haracters made it even better. It's definitely getting me excited for the release of Obsidio when it comes out next month. Even though I know the ending is going to devastate me. And it almost goes without saying that I gave Illuminae 5 out of 5 stars.
I just started listening to Gemina right before starting this post. I'm only a couple of minutes into it and I'm enjoying it so far. The full cast adds to this book just as much as it did it's predecessor in the series. The Illuminae Files is such an amazing series and I will end up rereading these books over and over again in both the physical format and audio. It quickly became a favorite after starting it a year ago. Gemina picks up not too much longer after Illuminae ends. We follow a different set of characters, although we do meet Kady and Ezra, main characters of the first book, a little bit later in the book.
I'm still working my way through Heather Fawcett's Even the Darkest Stars. I read 50 or so pages last night before bed and that's the most progress I've made since last Thursday. I was hoping to make some progress on Sunday since my schedule shifted a little bit and now have Sundays off but ended up watching shows on my laptop and working on my resume to hand in at work for a different position. I'm hoping to do a reading binge of it either later today or tomorrow to finish it. It's not that it's a bad book or anything I just either have been at work or doing other stuff. I'm only hoping to get it done either today or tomorrow due to my being off work. I need a distraction anyway since I don't want to focus on whether or not I'm going to get an interview for the position I applied for.
Like I said, I don't really have much of an update for this week. Other stuff getting in the way happens to all of us. Even if we would prefer to sit and read all day, maybe something to drink and/or snack nearby.at hand.
Cassie
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Weekly Check In #5!
I think these weekly check ins are definitely helping me keep up with regular reading. Even if I don't have a ton of opportunity to read the days I work since I work 10 hour days but I at least try to get some audio book listening in while getting ready for work. It gets me just that much closer to goals and, for the most part, I've had a good reading year so far.
Goodreads says that I'm 33% done with my goal of 40 books and that I'm nine books ahead of schedule. And I have audio books to thank for that. I've found so much more time to read because of them from while cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Just today, I went to the mall to get out of the house since I haven't done much lately other than work, read, sleep, and watch the occasional show or movie. I am probably going to up my goal here soon. I think if I get to 75% of the way to go by my birthday in June, I'll up it to 50 or 60 books, to be determined closer to my birthday.
Since the last update, I've finished not one, not two, not three, but four books. Three of those were audio books and the fourth was a physical book. I started with Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. And that book has found its way to my least favorite books list for the year. The "so it goes" became annoying very quickly. I understand why it should it up when it did but it didn't change the fact that I found it annoying. I think this book had potential to be better than it actually is. The audio book was alright. Part of me wants to try again with this book as a physical book and see if I like it that way better. I ended up giving this 2 out of 5 stars.
After listening to that, I wanted to move to something a little more mindless. So I started listening to Aesop's Fables by Aesop. There were some fables that I have grown up with and was fun to listen to over again. I was also introduced to fables that I hadn't heard before. I ended up giving it a 3 out of 5 stars.
Keeping with the audio book theme, the last one I finished was Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. I remember reading this years ago. It follows a man who is mentally delayed named Charlie Gordon. He's physically 32 but mentally a child. The story is told through diary entries as Charlie undergoes an experiment that shows promise of turning Charlie into a genius. The experiment has been successful with a mouse named Algernon. This book had left enough of an impact on me that I could remember most of it when I was a kid reading it the first time. I enjoyed having this story read to me this time around. I ended up giving it a 3 out of 5 stars.
And finally, the only physical book I finished over the last week: Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones. I absolutely loved this book! This was the second book in the Wintersong duology. This book picks up 6 months after the end of Wintersong and it was one of my most anticipated reads for 2018. It was released on the 6th of this month. I had preordered it and it came in that day. I couldn't pick up any other book and started and finished it within 12 or so hours. This duology is amazing. Especially if you loved the movie Labyrinth.
Right now, I'm reading Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett. I'm only 19% of the way done with it. I like it so far. However, I don't know if I will want to continue with the duology. But I'm still in the beginning, so we'll see.
As for audio books, I have decided to reread the first two books of the Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. Book three comes out next month and some of the details are a bit hazy. I read the books a year ago. And I'm 40% of the way through Illuminae right now and I'm loving it. It has a full cast. It's a sci-fi trilogy set in space and I have a feeling that it will kill me to finish the trilogy next month. After this, I am going to start Gemina and I cannot wait to revisit those characters as well.
I hope your week has been going well. If you've read any of these books or want to read any of these books, let's discuss them in the comments. Also, feel free to mention which book(s) you're reading now as well so we can talk about those!
Your kindred bookmate,
Cassie
Goodreads says that I'm 33% done with my goal of 40 books and that I'm nine books ahead of schedule. And I have audio books to thank for that. I've found so much more time to read because of them from while cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Just today, I went to the mall to get out of the house since I haven't done much lately other than work, read, sleep, and watch the occasional show or movie. I am probably going to up my goal here soon. I think if I get to 75% of the way to go by my birthday in June, I'll up it to 50 or 60 books, to be determined closer to my birthday.
Since the last update, I've finished not one, not two, not three, but four books. Three of those were audio books and the fourth was a physical book. I started with Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. And that book has found its way to my least favorite books list for the year. The "so it goes" became annoying very quickly. I understand why it should it up when it did but it didn't change the fact that I found it annoying. I think this book had potential to be better than it actually is. The audio book was alright. Part of me wants to try again with this book as a physical book and see if I like it that way better. I ended up giving this 2 out of 5 stars.
After listening to that, I wanted to move to something a little more mindless. So I started listening to Aesop's Fables by Aesop. There were some fables that I have grown up with and was fun to listen to over again. I was also introduced to fables that I hadn't heard before. I ended up giving it a 3 out of 5 stars.
Keeping with the audio book theme, the last one I finished was Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. I remember reading this years ago. It follows a man who is mentally delayed named Charlie Gordon. He's physically 32 but mentally a child. The story is told through diary entries as Charlie undergoes an experiment that shows promise of turning Charlie into a genius. The experiment has been successful with a mouse named Algernon. This book had left enough of an impact on me that I could remember most of it when I was a kid reading it the first time. I enjoyed having this story read to me this time around. I ended up giving it a 3 out of 5 stars.
And finally, the only physical book I finished over the last week: Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones. I absolutely loved this book! This was the second book in the Wintersong duology. This book picks up 6 months after the end of Wintersong and it was one of my most anticipated reads for 2018. It was released on the 6th of this month. I had preordered it and it came in that day. I couldn't pick up any other book and started and finished it within 12 or so hours. This duology is amazing. Especially if you loved the movie Labyrinth.
Right now, I'm reading Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett. I'm only 19% of the way done with it. I like it so far. However, I don't know if I will want to continue with the duology. But I'm still in the beginning, so we'll see.
As for audio books, I have decided to reread the first two books of the Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. Book three comes out next month and some of the details are a bit hazy. I read the books a year ago. And I'm 40% of the way through Illuminae right now and I'm loving it. It has a full cast. It's a sci-fi trilogy set in space and I have a feeling that it will kill me to finish the trilogy next month. After this, I am going to start Gemina and I cannot wait to revisit those characters as well.
I hope your week has been going well. If you've read any of these books or want to read any of these books, let's discuss them in the comments. Also, feel free to mention which book(s) you're reading now as well so we can talk about those!
Your kindred bookmate,
Cassie
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