Angela's December Wrap-Up

Goodbye December you will be missed! But I wont lie, I'm ready for January. December was a massive slack month. Don't let my list fool you. I basically started the month out so strong that by the time it hit the two week mark I was so over it. I wanted to read a different book every other day for the entire month, but it just didn't happen. I only got to do some of my "Angela does December" list. Looks like it'll be an "Angela rolls this TBR list into the new year" list now. It's okay though. It'll give me something to go off of for the New Year. Also think I spent more time buying books then I did reading book... Like that's a problem! AM I RIGHT!!! I'll more than likely do a post in January of all my Owned-TBR books, because it's kind of insane right now. Speaking of TBRs PopSugar put up a list of their 2016 Reading Challenge and it looks amazing! Pretty sure it'll be the one I'll be doing. Also posted my 2015 favorite covers. Anyways, on to my reading list and favorites.

Soundless- Richelle Mead

Glass Sword- Victoria Aveyard
Before, During, After- Richard Bausch

The V Girl- Mya Robarts

Harley's Little Black Book Issue 1- Amanda Conner

Harley Quinn Hot in the City- Amanda Conner  

The Elfstones of Shannara- Terry Brooks

Suicide Squad Volume 3- Adam Glass

Green Arrow #46- Benjamin Perry

Six of Hearts- L.H. Cosway

Complicit- Stephanie Kuehn

The Scorpion Rules- Erin Bow

Love in a Time of Global Warming- Lia Block

The Infinite Sea- Rick Yancey

Deathstroke #12-Tony Daniel

Wolf by Wolf- Ryan Graudin

Low Volume 1- Rick Remender

Manwhore- Katy Evans

Children of Men- P.D. James

My favorites of December are... *Drum Roll*: Childern of Men, Harley's Little Black Book, Wolf by Wolf, The Infinite Sea. Those were all my five (10) star reads. I also want to mention my four (9) star reads because they were both super close to being perfect. Those are: Manwhore and Six of Hearts. Children of Men is a book that freaked me out in the best way possible. A world where children are no longer born. Harley's Little is a new start in a series and I'm loving it so far. They come in these mystery bags and you don't know what cover you're going to get. The Infinite Sea is obviously a book I've read several times before, but decided to pic up again because the movie comes out so soon. Lastly of my five star reads I have Wolf by Wolf. Which was AMAZING! A girl escapes a Nazi death camp. After she enters a motorcycle race where the winner gets an audience with Hitler. If she wins she plans on killing him. This book was amazing, unique, and a complete page turner.

Six of Hearts is like a smutty version of Now You See Me. Manwhore is like a smutty version of Never Been Kissed. Both are excellent picks if you're looking for a fun-fluffy NA read.

My fail picks for this month are: Soundless, Before During and After, The Scorpion Rule, and Love in a Time of Global Warming. I'm sure by now you've heard about Soundless. The new standalone book my Richelle Meads... Well sorry to announce but this book was so boring! Struggled so hard to even finish it. The Scorpion Rule, well I don't even know where to start with this one. It was so freaking weird! And it was all about goats, which is also weird. Lastly, Love in a Time of Global Warming. Again another book that was so boring. The title of this book is so stunning I thought this read would be a knock out. It wasn't.

Yup, that's it. That was my entire December. Wasn't very thrilling. I spent way to much money and not enough time reading. Just so excited for 2016!

-Angela

Angela's Favorite Covers of 2015

The phrase "don't judge a book by it's cover" is one of the best... but it can be so much fun! So, I went through my 2015 reading list and chose my favorite covers. Most of these were published this year, but there are a few that are from other years. I only based this list off what I read during the year not off what year they were published. This is the first year I've done this, but I liked it so much that I'll probably make it a tradition. Also keep an eye out for our complete 2015 choices.

 

  

I have reviews posted on almost all these books on our site. For any title

A-L click here and for titles M-Z click here.

-Angela

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

"The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule the world. To commemorate their Great Victory over Britain and Russia, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor's ball. Yael, who escaped from a death camp, has one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler." -Goodreads synopsis

"She-wolf. An interesting choice."
"I didn't choose it," she told him. "It chose me."

In the 1940's Yael was living in a Nazi death camp where she was selected for an experiment. She starts receiving injection that are suppose to help erase her Jewish traits. They wanted to turn her into the perfect Aryan specimen. What they didn't expect was that it would turn her into something more.

Yael is now someone she doesn't even recognize. A girl who can't even remember her own face. She goes from living in the camp to living on the streets. Pick pocketing to survive, until she is recused by the resistance. Once she's with them she is 100% committed to the cause. She starts studying, training, and preparing. All of this so she can join a motorcycle race, in hopes that she'll win, so she can get in the presences of Hitler, and kill him.

Yael is one of the most unique females I've ever read. She is the perfect balance of all things. She is vulnerable but strong. She is smart but has moments of doubt. She is wild but knows when to be tamed. You'll feel like you know her without ever really knowing her at all. It's wonderful. She is as unique as the storyline. She is a character that has known true torture, has been willing to be patience, and is now ready to seek revenge. We get to go on the journey from her from start to finish. The side characters in this book do a good job of adding angst without overshadowing the true message of this story. Felix is the kind of brother most wish for and Luka is the mysterious hooded bad boy that we all love to read about.

This is what leads me to what was truly amazing about this book... A plot that is unlike any other. It was so unique. I usually hate stories that bounce back and forth from the past to the present. I always feel like they never flow well. This wasn't a problem for Wolf by Wolf. It flows back and forth seamlessly and always transitioned at the right time. I also thought that I was going to love the action packed race moments (I really enjoyed those moments), but I found myself looking forward reading about Yael's youth. Those moments were so heart-wrecking and real. Truly heart-punching. We get a look into how could have continued and would be if Hitler would have stayed in power.

"Not everything was gray ashfall, yellowing weeds, withered blue hands, crimson rivers of blood....There was still beauty in this world. And it was worth fighting for."

Wolf by Wolf surprised me. This was a slow burn of a book with so many twist and turns. With the ultimate betrayal that will come out of nowhere. It was suspenseful, gritty, and intriguing. All these things combined together bring for on a powerhouse jaw dropping ending that I did not see coming!

Wolf by Wolf has a writing style all it's own. Soul gripping metaphors. A tale like nothing I've read before. And brings something new and original with it's characters. I don't know where this story is headed, but I'm very excited to find out.

10/10
-Angela

Six of Hearts by L.H. Cosway

"The world thinks I killed a man, but I didn't. Bear with me. It’s all a part of the plan.

Revenge is what I want. I want it for me and I want it for her.
I want it for all six of us." -Goodreads

"Do your worst, for I will do mine"

Yeah Imma say it.... Magic hasn't been this hot since Harry Potter. It also feels like forever since I've really been excited to write a review! Mark your calendars folks! Today Magic hotness was brought back and a full review will be written!

Six of Hearts was a huge surprise to me. When I read the synopsis I remember hollerin' "HA, CHEESE!". I'm happy to announce I was correct! Because SOH is a fine aged cheese, the kind you find in the fancy cheese case in the deli section of at Harris Teeter. So yummy. This book was unique, fun, and wasn't too heavy on the romance. I know that sentence might be hard seeing, being this book revolves around romance... I stick to what I just said though the alluring pull of the plot and the lusty romance are very well balanced. 

This book will have me leaving a lot plot wise to your imagination. Luckily we can talk about characters. Matilda and Jay; oh how I loved these two. Matilda is working as a receptionist for her father's tiny law firm when Jay, an illusionist, comes in seeking him out to be his attorney. He is wanting Matilda father to represent him in suing an entire newspaper company. Matilda is instantly drawn to this strange bad boy... I mean who wouldn't be with his confident mysterious charm (I know I was). These two of course have an instant bond, that only grows more teasingly good when Jay takes residence in Mat's father's house. I want to just do an entire review where I just quote these two, but then that wouldn't really be a review, but I PROMISE it would be amazing. These two are guaranteed to have you grinning and giggling the entire book. Not only are these two so lovey they are both incredibly charming. They both have such unique character traits and talents that give the both such life. It did take me a little longer to get into Matilda's character than it did Jay's. This has more to do with me than it does with her. I usually like male characters first... and with Jay being so cunning, fine, and hilarious there was really no way around it. Also didn't hurt that ya boy is book smart. Kept imagining him with the attitude of Jesse Eisenberg, but with the face of Alex Pettyfer*schwing*.

The side characters in this book too. Be still me heart! Loved them. Jay's best friend Jessie is great. She funny, blunt, and a good time. But Matilda's best friend, Michelle.... Just killed me. Everything she says had me rolling. I knew as soon as she said "TOLO- Tits Out Legs Open" I was completely sold. Then the drunken scene where they dance and talk in British accents, amazing! The plot of Six of Hearts is good, but it has nothing on it's characters.

Six of Hearts' plot will drag you in as soon as you read the prologue. Right away I was pulled in and was  frantically flipping too get to the end. I had to know how things would end. I was also finding myself excited for something other than romance. I was waiting around for the moments when Jay got to preform and for the two of them just to be talking. I usually hone in on the romantic pacing of a book, but when I realized I wasn't I was actually set back. The romance and big secrets are revealed in the perfect manner. The only reason I couldn't give this book a perfect rating is because I knew what was going to happen at the end. I was hoping for something a little more jaw dropping (the ending is in NO way bad!), but found it a little predictable. That being said there was one thing that I didn't see coming that did shock my socks off a little. Oh and in case you were wondering the same thing I did, this does have the same feel as the movie Now You See Me, yeah which means it's great.

I wish I would have read this book during the summer because I think it'd be the perfect beach read. Not only did this book win me over, but the cover did too. At first glance I thought I hate it, but once I got deep into reading I realized how much I love it. If you're just getting into NA books I think this one would be a good fit and the perfect place to start. I really look forward to picking up more books by L.H. Cosway.


9/10 Stars 
-Angela