February 2016 Wrap-Up

Hello everyone! It's the end of the month again which means it's time to talk about the books I've read this month! It was a busy month and I didn't get quite as many in as I did last month, but I also red some very good ones. So let's get going!

Book: Fat Dad, Fat Kid

Author: Shay & Gavin Butler

Genre: Youtube, self-help, weight loss, non fiction

Rating: ★★★★★

Format: Paperback

I have been watching Shaytards for years and had pre-ordered this book a long time ago. Overall I really enjoyed the book. It caused me to think about health and my own personal struggle in a way I hadn't before, and has really helped me a lot. As Shay says is the book, he is in no way a professional on health and weight loss, he is just a person that did things and got results. I enjoyed this book as a fan of the Butler family and as someone looking to improve the way they live their life. :)


 

Book: Glass Sword (Red Queen #2); Steel Scars (Red Queen 0.2)

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Genre: YA fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, distopian

Rating: ★★★★★

Format: Hardcover
Oh god. Oh oh god. So after waiting a year for this book, it finally arrived. So I kind of had the same problem with tis book that I had with the first one. The first half of the book really dragged for me, and I kept fading out of interest. But then at right abiut the half way point shit went cray and I could not put the book down. And that ending. THAT ENDING. WHY. I want more! And I don't want to wait! I feel like I need to post a full review of this book just to get out my feelings. The third book needs to be her, now.
Steel Scars was at the end of the book and was the novella I hadn't read yet. I felt very 'meh' about it, especially after the intense ending og Glass Sword. I found I rally didn't care. (★★★★)

Book: This Shattered World (Starbound #2)

Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Genre: YA fiction, sci-fi

Rating: ★★★★

Format: Audio Book
This book took me forever to listen too, mostly because the first third of it really dragged on. The next third got a little better, and the final third was much better. I didn't like it as much as the first book and I was happy when I got a glimpse of Tarver and Lilac. It's an interesting concept to follow a different couple each book, but it is slso a bit jarring in terms of staying in the story. Not too bad though, good enough tht I'm listening to the third now.

Book: I'll Give You the Sun

Author: Jandy Nelson

Genre: YA fiction, contemporary, lgbt

Rating: ★★★★★

Format: Hardcover
This book was one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read, and was also incredibly heart breaking.



That's it for Feburary! If you have any questions about any of the books I read this month or if you just want to talk about the,, feel free to reach out to me on here or on instagram @drunkbibliophile.

:3

January 2016 Wrap-Up.

So I've decided to no longer do book reviews for every single book I read. (As you can see by how well I've been updating!) Instead I will consolidate most reviews into end of the month wrap-ups, and only post individual reviews for some books.

So to kick it off, here is JANUARY 2016!

In January I read seven books, due to school taking up a lot of my time and the busy season starting at work.

Doctor Who: Deep Time by Trevor Baxendale (4)
This was the only book I gave a full review to (link is in the 4). I've read a lot of Star Wars books but this was my first Doctor Who book. I thought it was enjoyable and a quick read, but it definitely wasn't as good as watching the show.

 

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (4)
Frostbite by Richelle Mead (4)
One day I was bored and flipping through Netflix and I found the Vampire Academy movie. I had the first book sitting on my shelf for a while, and I decided to just go for it. God that movie was terrible but I watched the whole thing. I then read the book which was better. I got pretty into it and ended up buying the next two books. I think I finished the second one in one day and started on the third. Then I made the mistake of spoiling the end of the third book for myself accidently, and completely lost interest in the series. Maybe one day I'll go back, but no time soon. As for a review, it's pretty much what you expect and nothing too extraordinary.

 

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau (3.5)
The Testing Guide by Joelle Charbonneau (-)
I had tried to read The Testing last year and just could not get into it. When this year started I created a TBR jar where I wrote down all the books on my TBR shelf and put them ina jar. I then shook it up and pulled one out to choose a book. So far this is the only book I have used these means to choose and will most likely only do it in moment of terrible indecision. It was very Hunger Games/Divergent and followed the generic female lead dystopian evil government plot. Nothing about it was really interesting and I didn't care enough to continue the series. :/

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider (3)
Cue my sudden need for contemporary, and this was the first book I chose. As my rating suggests I found it pretty 'meh'. As you can see, so far 2016 is a pretty meh year. Nothing much to say about this book.

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed (3)
This was an incredibly stressful book and made me incredibly angry. Not at the book, necessarily, but at the subject matter and characters. Ninty percent of the people in the book are absolutely terrible. I ended up staying up until 5am finishing this, huddled in bed with the lights off so Joe could sleep. The ending made me even more angry, when I thought about all the girls that have to live this as their reality and don't have a prince charming to come to their rescue. Grrr I'm getting angry just thinking about this book.




That was my January. It was a rough month. So far February has been a bit better so we're getting there!

October wrap-up

 

   

I didn't read as much in October, but I did read some good books. A lot of good books came out this month as well so that is awesome. By far my favorite book I read this month was Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. Yes Please and The Time Being were both audio books. Overall not a bad month. I still think I can make 100 books this year, it will just be a busy two months!

September wrap-up

So after a rough July and August I was able to read a lot in September. Having a series helped, and I also read six novellas that were super easy to get through. 

I started out with A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. I listened to this book and ended up buying the paper copy because I loved it, and the book is beautiful. I really enjoyed this story and the world it created. I thought it was an interesting use of magic and dimensional travel, and I'm excited about the second book.

I then started the Grisha trilogy with Shadow and Bone and fell in love. I had a little trouble starting out but once I hit the halfway point I couldn't stop and bought the other two. I took a brief break to read through Claudia's Story, which didn't take very long since it is a graphic novel. I really loved the art and the glimpse into Claudia's screwed up tale. Then back to Ravka! Banged through the next two books and the novellas. Overall I really liked this series. I, of course, loved the Darkling because that's the way I roll. I also loved Nikolai because he is just fantastic. Alina pissed me off a lot, but most female leads in YA do. The last book gave me so many feels. I was crying so much through that book, for almost every character. 

Ended the month with I Am Princess X, which was a quick but thrilling read. It was tense in parts, and I found that fantastic. Then I read the Red Queen novella Queen Song. Meh. It was interesting to learn more about Cal's mother, but I felt the book dragged. It had also been a while since I read the book, so I was a bit lost at first until it came back to me. 

Overall I think it was a good month. I've started off October with Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, but I'm only about 30 pages in. I love that it takes place in the same world as the Grisha trilogy two years later, but has nothing to do with the previous cast. Though, I mean, I kind of wish it did. 

Onward and upward!