What Are You Reading Wednesdays (12)

What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate. You can answer the questions in the comments section of the weekly #WAYRW post or link back to your #WAYRW post on your blog in the comments section as well. 

How to participate:

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:
1. What’s the name of your current read?
2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children 3) by Ransom Riggs

"To some it might've seemed callous, the way she boxed up her pain and set it aside, but I knew her well enough now to understand.  She had a heart the size of France, and the lucky few whom she loved with it were loved with every square inch - but its size made it dangerous, too.  If she let it feel everything, she'd be wrecked.  So she had to tame it, shush it, shut it up.  Float the worst pains off to an island that was quickly filling with them, where she would go to live one day."

I think I answered no for the first book but now the world is so much bigger and full of potential and possibilities that in spite of the dangers, I would now say yes.

Blind Date with A Book

The local library hosted "Blind Date with a Book" again this February.

The book is wrapped so you can't see the author or title, only a short blurb on the front that gives a hint about the contents.

The wrapper said it was paranormal romance and historical fiction.

Hmmm sounds more like romantic suspense to me.

I admit I was disappointed.  I read an Amanda Quick book last summer and decided I had no interest in reading another.  However, I will give this one a go and see if it changes my mind.  

January Wrap Up

My reading has really slowed down due to other priorities as well as the end of vacation days and holidays but I managed 4 books in January so that is actually pretty good.

Central Library SciFi book club selection for January:  Ignore the tedious technical and unnecessary prologue and it reads more like an FBI thriller than science fiction.  A nice beach read, entertaining but not seat gripping.  The characters were very likable which made me keep reading.  3STARS

January Buddy Read for the Dogwood Belles Book Club:  A very interesting story told in the most boring way possible.  This book is very fact/statistic oriented and action or character driven.  I was disappointed because the author's Sunday school teacher was one of the women being written about so I thought there would more personal insight.  I ended up finishing the book as audio because I just couldn't get through reading it.  That being said, I did learn a lot and it isn't a bad book, I was just expecting a different type of story.

This is the final book in the Lunar Chronicles series (Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Winter).  To recap, Cinder is a very loose Cinderella retelling, Scarlet is Red Riding Hood, Cress is Rapunzel  and Winter is Snow White).  The final book brings all the individual story lines together for the final conclusion.  I enjoyed this book but not as much as Cinder and Cress.  My one complaint is that it was too long.  The scenes were drawn with details that were unnecessary or repetitive,  I would have preferred it to be more compact and faster paced but I still gave it 4STARS.

This is Book 2 of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series.  I really liked the first book and also the movie but I wasn't quite as into the 2nd book.  Maybe the novelty was gone or the pictures weren't quite as compelling or chill-raising.  I did enjoy learning more about the children and seeing them use their powers outside the loop.  However, not a lot happened between the first couple of chapters where they were escaping the loop and the final cliff hanger chapter.  If you liked the first book then keep reading but if you weren't that into it, this book will reel you in.  3STARS

Bookmarks (10)

Magnetic Rooster Themed bookmark

What Are You Reading Wednesdays (11)

What Are You Reading Wednesdays (10)

What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate. You can answer the questions in the comments section of the weekly #WAYRW post or link back to your #WAYRW post on your blog in the comments section as well. 

How to participate:

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:
1. What’s the name of your current read?
2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs (Book 2 of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children)

"As we ran, I found myself wishing that the fog which had plagued us at sea would return again to hide us.  It occurred to me that it had very likely saved us once already; without the fog those balloons would have spotted us hours ago, in our boats, when we'd had nowhere to run.  And in that way, it was the one last thing the island had done to save its peculiar children."

As much as I have an affinity to the macabre, I would say no.  This world is a bit scary with real monsters and life and death consequences.  Also they are stuck in 1940 (literally stuck in time) in the middle of WWII which added real life danger in addition to the monsters.

Bookmarks (9)

Pretty magnetic garden themed bookmark

I do try to pick a bookmark that matches the theme of the book I am reading.  

Do you do this too?  

Someone should make pretty digital bookmarks for E-books.  On the plus side, you never lose your place in an E-book but on the other hand there is no pretty bookmark to look at and fidget with while you are reading.

End of Year Wrap Up and 2017 Goals

November and December was a slow reading month for me with only 3 books completed and 2 DNF.  I did meet my Goodreads 2016 reading challenge with 56/50 books before slacking off.  

I also joined a book club at one of the local libraries which specifically reads Science Fiction.  I found through Goodreads and attended the first meeting December 17 and received a very warm welcome.

If you are a gamer and/or grew up in the 80's this is a must read.  It is the nerdiest book I have ever read and I loved every minute of the audio book.  5 Stars

This is Book 3 of the Lunar Chronicles series; while I did not enjoy Book 2 very much, Book 3 really delivered on everything I loved about the first book and more! Action, drama, cliffhangers, romance, tears.  Can't wait to read the finale Winter.  4 Stars

As soon as I saw this book, I was interested in reading it.  I love the movie and I thought a memoir about the making of it would be fun.   My library happened to have the audio version.  What a lucky find that turned out to be.  Cary reads it himself, does some fantastic voice impressions, tells kind and humorous stories about the experience and cast members including the magnificent Andre The Giant. 5 Stars

The DNF list 

Jane Steele by Lindsay Faye - It was well written and a unique concept although a slightly uncomfortable one (Jane Eyre as a sociopath serial killer).   I just did not empathize or like the main character enough to accept the premise of the story enough to continue.  I tried really hard and maxed out the renewals at the library and decided I would rather spend the time reading something I love.

The Real James Herriot: a memoir of my father by James Wight - I wanted to read this ever since it came out.  It was the prologue that did me in.  I love the James Herriot books and I want to believe they are true even though I know they are fiction loosely based on real experiences.  I decided after reading the prologue that I didn't really want to lose this illusion because I would never be able to see them the same afterward.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - I have wanted to try this series all year but the first book was always checked out.  However, I only made it through a few chapters.  I really don't care for  angel/demon themes (which I already knew it was) and it felt a bit on the younger side of YA.  I am going to give it another try in audio format before I give up.

2017 Goals

GoodReads Challenge: 50 books

I made it 30 last year and had to bump it up in July.  This should be an easy 2 books a month with book club books.

Happy Reading