Wednesday 14 March 2012

Desperately Wanting Wednesday


Desperatly Wanting Wednesday, hosted by Parajunkee's View
This is a weekly feature hosted by Parajunkee over at Parajunkee.com where she lists some books she is wanting to read. I won't be participating in this every week, but I wanted to make a post about this for this week, because I am desperately just wanting to be READING right now!! I have a very big stack, and a lot of ebooks ready to go, and just no time to get to them. I wanted to highlight some older books that I missed when the hype was hot that I'm still dying to read, and also some new-ish ones that I can't wait to get my hands on!
Of course, no particular order :)
**warning, some of these are VERY old, but I may have recently gotten into the series, or am recently absorbed in a genre that I hadn't read much of for quite a few years**


I recently finished with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and I am dying to get to this book. It is on my night table, and I look at it every day, but I have papers to write, and tests to study for, and OMG it's killing me, I need to read this book!

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #1) 

This book was all over blogs a few months ago, and I love the sounds of it, but just haven't gotten to it. I have the ebook which a friend sent me, along with a recommendation, but I haven't even loaded it onto my Kobo yet, I have no idea why.

Before I Fall 

This book is one I am still seeing many bloggers do reviews of, even now. I recently finished Delirium and am a fan of Oliver's writing from that, so I definitely want to get to this one soon.

Pandemonium (Delirium, #2) 

And speaking of both Oliver and Delirium, I am seriously drooling over starting to read this book. I even pre-ordered it, and it came about 2 weeks ago, and I haven't touched it (except to gawk at the cover for a few minutes, and then put it back on my night table). I'm so excited for it, but I know I will need to READ it once I start, and I've only had time to pick recently. Boo.

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) 

With Season 1 of the TV version of this being recently released on Blue Ray, and I ring in so many people buying it (I work part-time at Best Buy) my interest has been re-sparked for this series, and I'm really excited to get it started. It has like 4 big books already though, so I think that's why I have been putting it off.

Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #3) 

With True Blood's next season already starting to be promoted, and the newest book having been recently on people's blog's, I'm reminded that I have only read two of these books so far. I like them, but I don't love them. However, I am a very faithful reader, and I want to get back onto this series, if only so that I see it thorough. I owe it at least 2 more books before I make up my mind though. I had a hard time getting into The Vampire Diaries books, but when I finally started separating the books and the show, I enjoyed them A LOT more. I'm hoping for the same thing with this series.

"...Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers" (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, #6) 

I love this series for a light, hilarious read. I want to finish them up though, I have been reading them on and off for years. I'm looking forward to starting the new Tallulah series she has similar to these.

Modelland (Modelland, #1) 

I have no idea why I want to read this so bad, but I do. I'm not a big Tyra fan or anything, but something about this book is really calling my name. Hopefully I will get to it (this year...)

Glass Houses (The Morganville Vampires, #1) 

Huge series in the blog world. I may be a little vampire-d out, but this one (and the next one) are series that I think sound really awesome, and I want to get into. There are a few other vamp series that I want to try too, but I have been reading a lot lately. Any recommendations for the best ones???

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1) 

This is the other big vamp series' I want to get into. Again suggestions? 

Others are 
-Clockwork Angel (Cassandra Clare)
-Blue Bloods (Melissa de la Cruz)
-Jessica's Guide (Beth Fantaskey)
-Mortal Instruments (Cassandra Clare)
-Bloodlines (Richelle Mead)
-Vampire Chronicles (Anne Rice)
-House of Night (P.C. Cast)
-etc

How does one chose the best vamps??

Beauty Queens 

This was another book very popular around the blog world a little while ago, it intrigued me, but I didn't buy it for quite awhile. Now that I have it, it seems lower on my priority list, but I should change that.

The Iron King (Iron Fey, #1) 

Another popular one in blog-land, and a series that sounds so good, I just haven't found the time. Much is the case for the following books:
Water for Elephants The Luxe (Luxe, #1)Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #1)Twenties GirlShatter Me (Shatter Me, #1)Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1)Bumped

Glory in Death (In Death, #2) 

This series was a big choice for me, I wanted to start it, but it is such a behemoth that I wasn't sure trying to catch up was even worth it at this point, BUT I read the first one, and it was pretty good, so I will have to keep going with it now. Book 37 just came out, so maybe in 5 years I'll be caught up?! haha

Anyway, I could seriously go on for days with this list, so I will stop here, but thinking about how much there is to read, and things that keep coming out (another I could add is Sophie Kinsella's new book) I actually get stressed about how much I want to read. I need to quit my job and blog/read full time. Sounds like a happy life!!

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Bitten (Women of the Otherworld #1) by Kelley Armstrong

Goodreads Summary: Elena Michaels seems like the typically strong and sexy modern woman, She lives with her architect boyfriend, writes for a popular newspaper, and works out at the gym. She's also a werewolf. 

Elena has done all she can to assimilate to the human world, but the man whose bite changed her existence forever, and his legacy, continue to haunt her. Thrown into a desperate war for survival that tests her allegiance to a secret clan of werewolves, Elena must recon with who, and what, she is in this passionate, page-turning novel.

Why I Read This Book: This book was recommended to me by a friend (who isn't a big reader) and then confirmed as good by another person who does read a lot, so I wanted to pick it up soon after that.


Review: I enjoyed this book from the beginning. Some books that are a part of a larger series can take a little longer to get into, but that wasn't the case with this. I didn't love it, but the book had all the right ingredients: hot boys, paranormal activity, some steamy love scenes, and an exciting plot. I can't actually pinpoint exactly why I didn't love it, but it took me over a week to read, so it wasn't calling my name at all hours of the day. I actually had times where I felt more in the mood to read the less exciting book I was reading at the same time. So, I;m not sure what the book was missing, but it was still really good, and I will definitely be picking up the next book very soon!
Any other opinions on this one would be appreciated!

Rating:

Monday 5 March 2012

Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell


Goodreads Summary: Summer is a magical time in New York City and Carrie is in love with all of it—the crazy characters in her neighborhood, the vintage-clothing boutiques, the wild parties, and the glamorous man who has swept her off her feet. Best of all, she's finally in a real writing class, taking her first steps toward fulfilling her dream. 

This sequel to The Carrie Diaries brings surprising revelations as Carrie learns to navigate her way around the Big Apple, going from being a country "sparrow"—as Samantha Jones dubs her—to the person she always wanted to be. But as it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile her past with her future, Carrie realizes that making it in New York is much more complicated than she ever imagined. 

With her signature wit and sparkling humor, Candace Bushnell reveals the irresistible story of how Carrie met Samantha and Miranda, and what turned a small-town girl into one of New York City's most unforgettable icons, Carrie Bradshaw.

Why I Read This Book: I really liked the first book in this series, so I continue with it.

 *caution - small spoilers*


Review: I don't normally do this, but I actually revised my rating of this book down a star on Goodreads after I took a little more time to think about it. It went from being a book I thought I really liked, to being only a book that I liked. I enjoyed the story, and since I'm planning a NYC trip in 2 months, I enjoyed the setting, and I think I got caught up in the meeting of Miranda, and the Carrie/Samantha friendship, that at the time I didn't notice how much teenage Carrie, well, kinda sucked. I couldn't really picture the older Carrie making some of these decisions, and I also couldn't picture a 17 year old being the way that Carrie was in these books. I was also sorely disappointed that there was brief mentions of the Castlebury crowd, if they were mentioned at all. I know that at 17, I wouldn't have completely left my friends in the dust for an entire summer without thinking about/talking to them at all. I still enjoyed the book, I just didn't like some things.


Rating: (Because I still did like it, even if it doesn't sound like it above)