Tuesday, December 12, 2017

SUYB: Fall Books

Life According to StephFor real reviews, check out my Goodreads.  I'm writing this in real time and that's probably the best for brevity.  You're welcome for small blessings.

Also, Erin has posted her challenge topics.  I'm not sure I'll be participating because skool sucks, but I haven't decided yet.  We shall see.


Rating scale*:

1/5 - Hated it, didn't finish.
2/5 - Tolerated it on principle to finish, didn't like it.
3/5 - Eh, didn't love it, didn't hate it. Had some good parts/kept me interested/finished it on principle.
3.5/5 - I liked parts of it.
4/5 - I liked the whole thing.
4.5/5 - I liked it a lot, but not sure I'd read it again.
5/5 - I LURVED it and I'd read it again.

*Subject to change based on my mood, the phase of the moon, or other unpredictable variables.

Skimmers, stick with the bold text (TL;DR* parts).
PS. Possible spoilers included in reviews.





via GIPHY




Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy  4/5 (hard copy, own)

Ramona is a teenager who takes care of everything in her world.  Poor girl.  A solid coming of age story, even though Ramona needs to figure out the whole "Not my circus, not my monkeys" saying.


Winter by Marissa Meyer 4/5 (library, ebook)

The "Snow White" of the Lunar Chronicles.  I liked this book, but that could be because I was ready to be done with the series.  The ending with Cinder and Kai was weird, but that could have been me.


The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas   4.5/5 (Audible audiobook)

If you haven't heard of this book yet, you're living under a rock.  Solid book that discusses topics that are completely relevant RIGHT NOW.


The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson  3.5/5 (Audible audiobook)

A mabillionty 45 hour fantasy audiobook I purchased because I wanted to get my credit worth.  It took about half the book for me to start getting into it.  Apparently, Sanderson is a world builder, which is cool and all, but it was tedious AF.  I almost considered getting the 2nd book in the series in physical form but I know there's no way I will actually read a tome like that.  Maybe once I get through the mabillionty hours of Outlander I have left, I'll consider it.

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer  3/5 (hard copy, own)

The Lunar Chronicles short stories.  This collection was ok, but nothing to really write home about.  Nothing from the short stories really did anything to enhance the main books, IMO.  If it hadn't been for YALL Fest, I would have probably passed on this one.

Fairest by Marissa Meyer  *3/5 (library, ebook)

This is Levana's backstory and I wasn't sold.  I was so not interested that when the library took this loan back from me when I was only 30 minutes from the end and I didn't even bother to get upset about it.  I would have requested it again, but there's a waitlist (8+ people) and #aintnobodygottimefordat.





In Progress:

Now that the semester is over, I'm hoping to actually make some headway through the non-audiobooks.

  • The Fiery Cross (Outlander, #5) by Diana Gabaldon   */5 (Audible audiobook)
    • It's 55.5 hours long.  I'm trekking along, but it sure feels like I'm also lost in the Appalachian mountains with them.
  • The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood   */5 (ebook, own)
    • This book is written very interestingly but the first half was moderately tedious for me.  Written well enough to keep me interested in though.
  • Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, #1) by Lian Hearn   */5 (hard copy, own, reread)
    •  I read these when I was 16/17ish and loved them.  I'm hoping the love remains.

On Deck:

  • More Outlander
    • I will finish this series, even if it takes me the rest of my life.
  • More Tales of the Otori 
    • I loved this series as a teenager and want to see if it still lives up to my expectations
  • Something from my TBR list (whatever I can find from the library/Audible)

YAY for books!
*TL;DR = too long, don't read


10 comments:

  1. A 45 hour book??? Are you being for real right now? That takes some dedication! I loved Hate U Give and feel like every single person needs to read it.

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  2. I hope to read Winter this winter break - it's fitting, right? lol I also own The Hate U Give and will be reading that soon.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  3. Not my circus/not my monkeys is usually a lesson learned well after the teen years! I liked that one, but not as much as Dumplin.

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  4. I enjoyed Winter and Stars Above but if you were getting tired of the series, I can see how they would fall a bit flat for you. The Hate U Give is on my TBR. I just have to "gird my loins" so to speak and be ready for the wave of emotions that will hit me when I read it.

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  5. Mabillionty is my new favourite word!

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  6. Loved Winter - definitely my favourite in the series, I think. I am dying to re-read it sometime when I don't feel like my TBR is exploding :)

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  7. oh sad face about winter - what about kai and cinder did you not love? i just re-read that series last month and loved it a little too much. it's not healthy. i'm bummed you didn't obsessively love it with me, but hey, least you didn't hate it! woo! i did like stars above, but i read the stories as they came out or before stars above, and then when that came out there was only like 5 new ones. short stories aren't normally my jam anyway. but i loved the one set after winter. it was like a fun extra epilogue.
    if i never read fairest again, i'll be okay with that.
    i haven't read ramona blue, but i did love dumplin. one day i'll get to it i'm sure.

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  8. You didn't miss anything with Fairest... there was really nothing new to learn, I feel there could have been so much more to learn from Levanna, but the story didn't go anywhere.

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  9. I'm not sure I will do the new challenge either-I kind of like having a general direction to weed through my TBR, but there are multiple categories I'd have to find totally new books for and idk if I'm up for that.

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