Showing posts with label top picks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label top picks. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Angela's March Wrap-Up

The Glittering Court- Richelle Mead
Killing Sarai- J.A Redmerski
The Assassin's Blade- Sarah J. Maas
Taking Chances- Molly McAdams
Mad Women- Kat Savage
When We Met- a bind up
The Wrath and the Dawn (re-read)-Renee Ahdieh
Allegiant- Veronica Roth (re-read)
Essential Maps for the Lost- Deb Caletti
A House in the Sky- Amanda Lindhout
A Thousand Boy Kisses- Tillie Cole

I would definitely say that my March reading went way better than my February. I doubled the number that I read last month, but most importantly the quality of my reading was better as well. I don't think that my reading in April will be as vast. I have a lot of hefty books I'm taking on in this upcoming months so wish me luck. However, in March books either fell on the great side or the none side.

My top picks for March are: Killing Sarai, The Assassin’s Blade, The Wrath and the Dawn, and The House in the Sky.
Killing Sarai was a book I didn’t think I would favor, but the Savages style book took me by surprise. I don’t know why I liked it so much, it is something I would usually end up bashing. Guess it was a case of right book right time. The Assassin’s Blade a bind-up of novellas for The Throne of Glass series. Sarah J. Maas is no stranger to my favorite list, and these short stories all leading up to the capture of Celaena Sardothien, had me falling more in love with this series (didn’t even know that was possible). The Wrath and the Dawn was a re-read for me this month. I remember loving it the first time, but the second time I ended up crying. Forgot how poetic and beautiful Renee Ahdieh’s writing was. And lastly A House in the Sky... This is without a doubt my top pick of March. This is a book that will forever stick with me. Amanda’s recount of her time being held captive in Somalia broke my heart. This is a novel I would recommend everyone to read, even if it is hard to get through, the message behind it is so powerful.

My fails for March are: The Glittering Court, Taking Chances, and Essential Maps for the Lost. The Glittering Court was so boring! TGC is being compared to The Selection and I can’t seem to figure out why?! I liked The Selection, I hated this. Taking Chances, oh God was this bad! Everything about this book pissed me the F off. By everything I mean everything! And that ending! UGH! Essential Maps for the Lost is a book I wish I could talk more about, but sadly I never finished it. For now it’s on my fails list, but I might in some future date seek to read this again, and give it another go. The cover is still stunning.

See yall in April.
-Angela

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six dangerous outcasts and one impossible heist. Kaz is offered a chance at a heist that could make him rich beyond belief. To pull it off he'll need an incredible crew.


Side effects of reading Six of Crows are, but not limited to: Shortness of breath. Heart palpitations. Nausea. Weak knees. Dehydration. Dizziness. Headache. Heartache. Constant sweating. High blood-pressure. Congestive heart failure.

“The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.”   

Six of Crows is 185th book I've read this year. Yes, that means this is the book that put me at my goodreads reading goal this year. I am so happy that this is the book that made me hit my mark. It was the perfect book to reach my goal with. The world has been shouting, praying, and calling for diverse reads... Leigh Bardugo has answered. I liked but didn't love the Shadow and Bone trilogy, but it has nothing on this novel. With how much hype is surrounding this book I was oh so worried about reading it. However if Six of Crows isn't my top pick for the year, it will without a doubt at least be in the top five. It was amazing.

SoC is a novel with six main characters, depending on how you look at it five plus perspectives, breath-taking flashbacks, seamless world building, and twists that will make your tits drop. 

"A gambler, a convict, a wayward son, a lost Grisha, a Suli girl who has become a killer, a boy from the Barrel who had become something worse."

A direct quote and the most perfect sum up of the characters. Each one is so different from the other. Each one is a different race, different background, and has so many layers. Each one has a handful of amazing different aspects, and things about them that will constantly surprise you. I can't believe I'm about to say this but... Squad goals! We have Nina this wild-loud-in your face-curvy firecracker who will have you in stitches. Matthias who is this perfectly wounded warrior who will surprise the crap out of you. Wylan who is this lovable nerdy cutie-pie that had me blushing for days. Jesper the comic relief. And then there are my two favorites... Kaz and Inej. Ahh just loved these two so much. These two gave me everything I wanted in characters and more. Inej background story is lovey, her physical appearance sounds both breathtaking and unique, and her set of skills are completely bad-ass. She is basically a freaking ninja. Oh God, and the stories and quotes from her father!!! Break my heart why dontcha.

“Many boys will bring you flowers. But someday you'll meet a boy who will learn your favorite flower, your favorite song, your favorite sweet. And even if he is too poor to give you any of them, it won't matter because he will have taken the time to know you as no one else does. Only that boy earns you heart.” 

Kaz though. Oh Kaz! He was my favorite of favorites. His thought, his flashbacks, his story, his composure, his street smarts, his everything. I have none-zero-zip-nada complaints about him. How did Leigh managed to give us such a naughty character, make him have a limp, "force" him to wear gloves all the time, and still managed to have me swoon over him was beyond me. I want to have his babies. His bad-ass babies. I really have no complaints character wise. All these characters and their personal stories will shock and then steal your heart. Each will give you a taste of who they are and what they have become and it is truly stunning. I need to shut up about them before I spill all their secrets (which I really want to do right about now). I do really want to comment on my favorite part of this book. This is something that others might have over looked, but it is something that meant a lot to me. That's Inej and Nina's friendship. They aren't two girls that hate each other then become friends. They aren't two women who see each other as fierce competition or having to fight over a man. These two women see each other as equals AND THAT is how all women should see each other. Real women pick each other up not tear each other down. I don't think people realize how important that truly is. This needs to be highlighted in more books.

Even if the characters would have faltered (they don't) it wouldn't have mattered because the plot and world building are so solid. I heard a few people/reviews say the "middle of the book is kind of slow"... WHAT THE F ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?!?? Every part of this book is flawless and demands your respect. There wasn't a moment I wasn't on the edge on my seat. Leigh gives you all these twist and turns without leaving you guessing on what your surrounding look like. She's built a world with so many stunning features. SoC is go go go, nonstop action novel that wont let you up for air. It is a roller-coaster ride of emotions and Wtf just happened moments. The first three parts of this book set the bait out, parts four and five has you snapping for the treat, and part six hooks and pulls you in. My jaw was on the floor for 99% of this book.


You might think you know what coming, BUT YOU WILL BE WRONG! So many well planned out plot  twist. So many ground shaking moments. So many heart crushing scenes. And that ending!!!! YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO PEOPLE!!! You can't leave us hanging like this!!!! OMG and I didn't even get to mention the romance!!!! I want to talk about it. Oh goodness do I want to talk about it! But I wont, and if you've ever read any of my review you know this is unheard of. I love love and not wanting to talk about it must only mean one thing... That it's really really good! Even with the massive amount to sexual tense and stolen glances it still doesn't even overshadow the plot. I'm not just talking about the romance with a certain pair, I'm talking romance among several. Like I can't even believe how much gooey lovey dovey moments she gives us and yet didn't drown us in it. Perfect just perfect. 

This book was EVERYTHING it was hyped up to be. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love, and I have been left a mess.   

This review was a lot longer than I ever imagine it would be. It is filled with cut off and run on sentences... I don't care either. I just had to get my jumbled thoughts down. This book is epic and everything. I already want to re-read it and I could quote it all day long. If Arrow wasn't coming on in a few I would just keep going on about it. If you read Six of Crows and didn't like it then there's only one thing to say about you... You have bad taste. 


10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Angelas 2014 ReadCap

This is my 2014 end of year Read-cap! I'm pretty sure I forgot a few and that I might have added 1 or 2 from mid-end of last year, it was really hard too keep up with everything. I swear I'll do better next year with keeping track of  everything.  

We have a full post of our top picks, along with the years biggest let downs. 
Click here to see them all. 

Overall 2014 was an amazing year for books, book events, and book to movie adaptions. I'm so excited to start 2015. January first we will have a post up about what's to come for SBSR in 2015. Thank you all so much for making our first year such a success. 


If I have done a review for the books all you'll have to do is click the title and it'll take you straight to the review.

Shatter Me- Tahereh Mafi
Unravel Me- Tahereh Mafi
Ignite Me- Tahereh Mafi
Unite Me- Tahereh Mafi
Half-Blood- Jennifer L Armentrout
Pure- Jennifer L. Armentrout

Deity-Jennifer L. Armentrout 
White Hot Kiss- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Stone Cold Touch- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Obsidian- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Onyx- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Opal- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Origin- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Opposition- Jennifer L. Armentrout

Don't Look Bank- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Wicked- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Wait for You- Jennifer L. Armentrout   

Legend- Marie Lu
Prodigy- Marie Lu
Champion- Marie Lu
The Young Elites- Marie Lu
Hex Hall- Rachel Hawkins
Demon Glass- Rachel Hawkins
Rebel Belle- Rachel Hawkins 
Days of Blood and Starlight- Laini Taylor 
Black City- Elizabeth Richards
Phoenix- Elizabeth Ricahrds
Wings- Elizabeth Ricahrds
Reboot- Amy Tintera
Rebel- Amy Tintera 
Taken- Erin Bowman
Frozen- Erin Bowman
The Hunt- Andrew Fukuda
The Prey- Andrew Fukuda
The Trap- Andrew Fukuda
The Retribution of Mara Dyer- Michelle Hodkins
The Evolution of Mara Dyer- Michelle Hodkins
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer- Michelle Hodkins 
If I Stay- Gayle Forman
Where She Went- Gayle Forman
Throne of Glass- Sarah J. Maas
Crown of Midnight- Sarah J. Maas
Heir of Fire- Sarah J. Maas
City of Ashes- Cassandra Clare
City of Glass- Cassandra Clare
City of Fallen Angels- Cassandra Clare
City of Lost Souls- Cassandra Clare
City of Heavenly Fire- Cassandra Clare
Nowhere- Jon Robinson
Anywhere- Jon Robinson
Altered- Jennifer Rush
Erased-Jennifer Rush
Hush Hush- Becca Fitzpatrick
Crescendo- Becca Fitzpatrick
Silence- Becca Fitzpatrick
Finale- Becca Fitzpatrick

The Scorch Trials- James Dashner
The Death Cure- Jmaes Dashner
Matched- Ally Condie
Crossed- Ally Condie
Reached- Ally Condie
The Raven Boys- Maggie Stiefvater
The Dream Thieves- Maggie Stiefvater
Blue Lily, Lily Blue- Maggie Stiefvater
The 5th Wave- Rick Yancey
Infinite Sea- Rick Yancey
Never Fade- Alex Bracken
In the Afterlight- Alex Bracken 
Enclave- Ann Aguirre
Cinder- Marissa Meyer
Poison Princess- Kresley Cole
A Thousand Pieces of You- Claudia Gray
The Selection- Kiera Cass
The Elites- Kiera Cass
The One- Kiera Cass 
Panic- Lauren Oliver
Delirium- Lauren Oliver
Pandemonium- Lauren Oliver
Requiem- Lauren Oilver
Before I Fall- Lauren Oilver 

In the End- Demitria Lunetta
In the After- Demitria Lunetta 
Rush-Eve Silver
Push- Eve Silver
The Winner’s Curse- Marie Rutkoski
The Winner’s Crime- Marie Rutkoski 
Siege and Storm- Leigh Bardugo
Ruin and Rising- Leigh Bardugo
Shadow and Bone- Leigh Bardugo 
The Lover's Dictionary- David Levithan
Every Day- David Levithan
Dust Lands- Moria Young
Rebel Heart- Moira Young
Rising Star- Moira Young
Filthy 1-Megan D. Martin
Filthy 2-Megan D. Martin
Filthy 3- Megan D. Martin
Filthy 4- Megan D. Martin
Pawn- Aimee Carter
Captive-Aimee Carter  


The Chaos of Stars- Kiersten White
Beautiful Bastard- Christina Lauren
Under Different Stars- Amy Bartol
Fire in the Woods- Jennifer M. Eaton
The 100- Morgan Kass
Wallbanger- Alice Clayton
Unteachable- Leah Raeder
The Ring and the Crown- Melissa de la Cruz
Mystic City- Theo Lawrence
The Program- Suzanne Young
These Broken Stars- Amie Kaufman &  Megan Spooner
Beg- C.D Reiss
The Black Mage- Rachel E. Carter
The Jewel- Amy Ewing
Born at Midnight- C.C Hunter
NIL- Lynne Matson
All Our Yesterdays- Cristin Terrill
Taboo Unchained- C.M. Stunich 
The Bodies We Wear- Jeyn Roberts 
Take Me Tomorrow- Shannon A. Thompson
So it Goes- Grace Elizabeth Collins 
Moon Tortured- McKenzie Hunter
Falls the Shadow- Stefanie Gaither
Unremembered- Jessica Brody
The Kiss of Deception- Mary E. Pearson
Gravity- Melissa West
Forbidden- Tabitha Suzuma
The Beginning of Everything- Robyn Schneider
Snow Like Ashes- Sara Raasch
Say Her Name- James Dawson
The Girl in Between- Laekan Zea Kemp
Midnight Thief- Livia Blackburne
Vault of Dreamers- Caragh M. O’Brien
Forsaken- Lisa Stasse
Rot and Ruin- Jonathan Mayberry
Unwind- Neal Shusterman
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea- April G. Tucholke

Under the Never Sky- Veronica Rossi
The Onion Girl- Charles de Lint
Chasers of Light- Tyler Gregson Knott
Will Grayson, Will Grayson- John Green
Paper Towns- John Green
Vampire Academy- Richelle Mead
Alienated- Melissa Landers
The String Quartet- Dan Hupalo
Branded- Abi Ketner
Fire & Flood- Victoria Scott
Labor Day- Joyce Maynard
Winter's Tale- Mark Helprin
The Future of Us- Jay Asher
This is Where I Leave You- Jonatha Tropper
Not a Drop to Drink- Mindy McGinnis
The Murder Complex- Lindsay Cummings
The Taking- Kimberly Derting
We Were Liars- E. Lochart
The Spectacular Now- Tim Tharp



The Book of Ivy- Amy Engel
Unbroken- Laura Hillenbrand
Uninvited- Sophie Jordan
Ugly Love- Colleen Hoover
Maybe Someday- Colleen Hoover 
Everneath- Brodie Ashton
The Truth About Alice- Jennifer Mathieu
Rush- Maya Banks
Fever- Maya Banks 
Burn- Maya Banks 
Keep Me Safe- Maya Banks
Outlander- Diana Gabald
Pushing the Limits- Katie McGarry
Love, Rosie-
Josin L. McQuein
Raw- Belle Aurora 
Love Letters to the Dead- Ava Dellaira




Yup, if you weren't counting, and I doubt you were that was 174 books. 
174 books in one year is insane!!!! In 2015 I'm going to aim to pass that mark... I can not wait to kick off my reading... Just need to figure out what book should be honored with the number one spot. mmmmm choices choices.

My most read author this year was (surprise lol) Jennifer L. Armentrout totaling out with 13. Followed by Cassandra Clare and then Lauren Oliver both with 5. 

My most viewed review was Take Me Tomorrow by Shannon A. Thompson. This book was gifted to me from her. She was so sweet to work with so I'm so glad she got a lot of coverage from it. My next most reviewed posts were both tied in view numbers. Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma and the other one was kind of a surprise to me and that was Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater.


My Favorite Series that ended this year were The Mara Dyer Trilogy Series, The Lux Series, The Mortal Instruments Series, The Selection Trilogy, and The Shatter Me Trilogy. My favorite starts to series (only one book currently out) were Wicked and Under Different Stars. My favorite ongoing series were The Throne of Glass Series and The 5th Wave Series. Favorite Duology was the Reboot Duo. And Favorite Stand-Alones were Unteachable, Ugly Love, Maybe Someday, Raw, and Forbidden. 

I was going to just pick my top four favorites but clearly that didn't work out too well. Anyways...

Thanks again for making this year one of the best. Fingers-crossed that 2015 is even better! Thank you to everyone that has followed us and all the authors who were so kind to trust their reviews in our hands...

But most of all I would like the thank my Co-Blo (I know you hate that word), my partner in crime, the only person who understand my fangirl, and twin Leah for everything she does! Without her this blog wouldn't be possible because we all know I have no computer skills! 
I can't wait to see what the New Year bring for us! 

  I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

Love
-Angela

Monday, December 29, 2014

Angela's December Readcaps

December is coming to an end, and I know that we are posting our December Reads earlier than normal but we have a few things that we will be posting in the next couple of days that will really round out our year. As far as December reading went well... IT WAS PRETTY AWESOME! Since it was also this little holiday that you might have also heard of called Christmas I got a few book things from that I will be posting as well! 
This December has been one of the best!

Below are the books I read in December, all which were hard to get too between vacations, holidays, and work. Either way everything I read was so good, barely any fails (sadly when I typed that I did the whoop whoop sound while raising the roof.)  Also below I'm gonna put my top and not so hot choices and some of my Christmas presents. So lets go! (and now I snapped and did gun fingers... Wow I need to stop.)

The Truth About Alice- Jennifer Mathieu

Rush- Maya Banks
Fever- Maya Banks
Burn- Maya Banks 
Captive- Aimee Carter
Outlander- Diana Gabaldon
The Young Elites- Marie Lu
Filthy 1-4- Megan D. Martin
Uninvited- Sophie Jordan
Everneath- Ashton Brodie (broke up with)
Ugly Love- Colleen Hoover
The Book of Ivy- Amy Engel
Don't Look Bank- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Pushing the Limits- Katie McGarry
Wicked- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Love, Rosie-
Josin L. McQuein (broke up with)
Wait for You- Jennifer L. Armentrout
Unite Me- Tahereh Mafi
Raw- Belle Aurora
Maybe Someday- Colleen Hoover 
Paper Towns- John Green (re-read)
Love Letters to the Dead-
Keep Me Safe- Maya Banks


Now for the best and worst. Feeling jazzy so I'm gonna mix it up and I'm gonna start with my biggest let-downs. Yes I did drop two books this month, Arclight (which I plan to try and revisit later) and Everneath. But I'm not counting those in my choice since they weren't completed. To me the biggest let-downs were... 
  • Captive by Aimee Carter. It's the second in the Blackcoat Rebellion Series/Pawn 2. The first book Pawn was SO amazing one of the best I had read in a long time. I waited so long to get my hands on book two that I was really let down by how much this book didn't bring it. I have the review posted if you wanna see fully why.
  • Filthy1-4 by Megan D. Martin. This is probably the worst book(s) I've ever read. They were disgusting and so aggravating. My review for them are in the links above as well. Can't express how much I hated these books. 
And now to the good stuff... My top pick is... Well actually there are four!!! And yeah I'm refusing to pick just one! They were all just that good. Each one of these I gave 10/10 stars too. Review are up for all of these and the link are in their titles in the list above.

  • Raw by Belle Aurora is my first pick. Girl falls in love with her stalker and their relationship only get crazier from there. This book was shocking moment after shocking moment. The ending alone had me freaking out.
  • The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu. This book in my opinion is the closet depiction of how high-school is. The book is told from several POVs all leading up the the final one which is Alice's. This book couldn't have been better. 
  • Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover. An amazing new spin on a relationship between two musicians completely blew me away. With surprises you wont see coming this book not only is a top pick for me for December but one of my top picks this year.
  • Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. A nurse and Pilot have a rocky relationship built around secrets. This book whoosh... This book was just perfect! One of my favorite stand-alones this year. Colleen Hoover is just simply amazing and never fails to not leave me in tears. If I had to pick just one to be my top pick this would be the one.
To wrap this all up I'll leave you with some of the book-ish things I got for Christmas. I got a lot, A LOT of Barnes and Nobles gift cards, and some of the book I read this month I used the cards to get. I also received lots of cash... Which just meant more books/books to come. I also got a Rune car sticker from Leah but it's also not featured because I need to wash my car before I put it on. I'm really not big on celebrations or holidays so people getting me these gifts was really above and beyond. Everything was so perfectly chosen for me. 

Since I really don't love holidays my husband always lets me open my gifts early... by lets me I mean I always sucker him into giving them to me early... and by early I do mean early like..... November and the start of December. Yup I'm the worst lol. Anyways one of the gift he gave me was a gift cards so I used it to purchase the UK cover editions of The Throne of Glass Series and The Hunger Games Trilogy. For some of you who might not know, I LOVE and collect UK covers for book series. These two series are my favorites so far. The white covers of TOG are so perfect. They stand out from other editions of books. Speaking of standing out The Hunger Games Rebel UK editions are amazing. This picture doesn't do it justice they are so bright. The back and spines of the books have two different and important quotes from that book on it. Loved being able to add these to my growing collection. 

Some of the other things I got were... A signed copy of The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings. Leah got me this book and I was so surprised. Since Lindsay hasn't been able to tour in our area we haven't gotten a chance to meet and have her sign them before so her ordering this for me was amazing. Then my boss got me, probably my favorite gift, a signed and personalize Top Fit Men 2015 Calendar... You're probably wondering why This is in here with all my book stuff, well it's because the cover/main model in it is Nick Bateman. If you follow me on anything than you probably already know who he is, but for those of you who don't he is going to be playing Miles Archer in the movie adaptation of Ugly Love. My sister gave me these amazing Theo James earrings, which I will more than likely turn into necklaces for Leah and I. Then my husband got me a new and HUGE book shelf since my other ones were double stacked some even triple stacked with books. Leah and I will probably do a bookshelf tour sometime in January because people are always asking about them. Plus we just reorganized them this weekend SO be on the look out.


We will be posting our Awards this week along the full list of what we've read this year. We will also have a post about what we have coming up in 2015 dropping on January first.