Saturday, February 11, 2017

January Book Haul

Hello everyone! January was a pretty good book buying month for me. I have decided to abandon all pretense of not wanting to buy books or being ashamed of the number of books I buy in a month and instead have just embraced all the books I now have. I can't pretend anymore, I love buying books. I don't care what it does to my bank account, because books are the only thing I want to buy (and I don't have to pay bills or insurance or anything right now). 

I bought a 13 books this month, woohoo. Christmas was at the end of December, and I had gift cards and money to be spent on books. Not to mention the fact that I got a job at the end of January (which I just started this week), which meant I didn't need to save my money as much. So, without further ado, here are the 13 books I bought this month (yes, most of these pictures are from my Instagram as I was too lazy to do a whole additional photoshoot)


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The first book I got this month was Trying To Live With The Dead by B.L. Brunnemer. 
I found this book at the end of December (as an ebook) and read it so fast. I knew I needed the physical edition (if there was one) and by some stroke of luck, I found the paperback. It is one of my favorite books ever (and one of my top books of 2016 as well as the 100th book I read last year). The sequel just released in January (I read it in a day) and I'm excited to get the physical edition of that one as well.

For anyone wanting to know more about The Veil Diaries Series, here are my Book 1 and Book 2 Reviews, along with Goodreads and the Author's Website.

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The next two books I picked up this month were Finding My Pack and Keeping My Pack by Lane Whitt.
These are the first two books in a series that I absolutely adore. Like The Veil Diaries, I owned these two books on kindle before I bought them. I loved them and have read them multiple times, and knew I needed them in physical format, especially with such beautiful covers. Plus, I bought them from the author, so they came signed and with signed swag! 

For more information on this under-rated series, here's my review for both books and the Author's Goodreads where both books are listed.

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Next I bought a completely unnecessary purchase (if you ask my mom) that I had been dying to get my hand's on for the longest time: the box set of the white paperback editions of The Twilight Sage, including Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, and Breaking Dawn, all by Stephenie Meyer.
I'm a huge Twihard. A diehard Twihard. I'm not ashamed, and I've long since stopped caring what other people think about Twilight and their judgements towards me. I understand problems people have with it, but I read this series at a very influential time in my life after going through some tough stuff. I fell in love and I've been in love ever since. I knew I needed to add these editions to my collection, and I'm so glad to finally have them! I think that means the number of Twilight editions I have is at 6. 

I'm pretty sure nobody here needs links to information, so here's a smiley face :)

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Then I picked up a December release, Crystal Storms by Morgan Rhodes.
I read this series back at the beginning of 2016, and Frozen Tides left off on a terrible cliffhanger! I was excited when I was finally able to purchase this book at the end of December. Book Depository took almost 3 weeks to get it to me, though. I'm still excited to continue on in the series, but I may need to reread the last couple books before this one just to refresh my mind on plot points and characters.

Here's my review for Book 2, Book 3, and Book 4 as well as the author's Goodreads page. 

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Next I picked up Jackaby by William Ritter
My school's library got this in about halfway through January, and what first drew me was the cover. And then I read the synopsis and KNEW I had to have it. At first, I bought it on BookOutlet, but they ended up overselling and not having enough, so I went and bought in on Amazon instead (there was a $1 price difference, so I'm not too mad). This book is gorgeous and sounds amazing. One of my dear friends read it and LOVED it. It was pitched as Doctor Who meets Sherlock Holmes, so I'm excited to dive into this book (hopefully soon).

Here's the Goodreads page if you want more information.

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Then I picked up The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles. 
January 31st was the DAY of book releases (I had 5 that I wanted immediately, but could only get 3). I heard about this book from Christine on PolandbananasBOOKS YouTube channel, and it sounded so good that I preordered it. I'm still not 100% sure what the premise of this book is, but I'm excited nonetheless. 

For more information, here's the link to Goodreads :)

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Next I snagged Caraval by Stephanie Garber, which also came out Jan 31st.
When I first heard about this book, I wasn't super interested in it, but about halfway through January, I reread the synopsis and a few spoiler-free reviews on the book, and made the decision that I NEEDED it. So I preordered it and then found out I could send in my preorder for some swag (also pictured). I could have been at a signing for this book less than 2 hours away from home (as I write this, actually) but I had training at work and had to make the executive decision not to fill my day with travel stress. I'm a little disappointed, but nevertheless, I"m still extremely excited to read this book soon!

And here's Goodreads information

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Lastly (also out Jan 31st), I picked up Long Way Home by Katie McGarry.
I found this series back in July, and fell in love. I was so excited for this book to release, as it was the story of two characters we've been seeing since the beginning of the series, and it did not disappoint. I won't go into too much detail, but I was very happy with this book's ending. It's my second favorite book I've read this year so far. 

For my thoughts on this series, here's my review to Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3 (this book) and a link to the Goodreads page of book 1.

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Thank you guys so much for reading (especially if you actually read the whole post and didn't just look at the pretty at the top and called it a day). What books did you see that you want to read? Here's the link to my January Wrap-Up if you want more thoughts on January :)
xoxo
Lauren

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Sunday, February 5, 2017

Let's Talk: Long Way Home

Title: Long Way Home
Author: Katie McGarry
Series: "Thunder Road" #3
Genre: YA Romance
Page Length: 397 pages
Publication Date: January 31, 2017
Date Started: January 31, 2017
Date Finished: February 5, 2017
Rating: 5/5 stars
Goodreads Review

I found this series back in July of 2016. I was instantly interested in it and bought both of the books that were already out. I read them in a week and fell in love. This series, these characters, and this world made me fall in love. This installment was by far my favorite of the series.

If you don't know anything about the Thunder Road series, it is a series of YA MC (motorcycle club) romance companion books. Each book focuses on a different set of characters that we would have seen in the other books. The past two books focused on a guy we already knew with a new girl. This book focused on Violet and Chevy, who we've known since early on in the first book. We've seen into their past relationship. We've seen the growing tension between them. That was part of what made this book so freaking good.

I fell in love with Chevy all over again. We get to see in his head and what his struggles are. There are two paths, but he can't take both. The use of the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost was woven into this story from the first chapter, and was frequently used until the last chapter. I thought it provided something deeper to the story. Chevy's stuck at his fork in the road, struggling to decide to choose Violet or the club. Violet, too, has to choose between two paths. Her struggles are just as hard as Chevy's, but in a different way.

In previous books, it has always frustrated me how the club comes first and you have to always chose the club. Or how women aren't seen as equal in the sense of needing to be protected, taken care of, and owned even. It made me so frustrated in this book too, but in the end, thing seemed to take care of themselves.

I loved how everything turned out. I don't think I could have asked for a better ending, if I'm being honest. I don't know what I wanted going in, but I got it and more. Somehow, Katie McGarry pulled off everything turning out exactly how I wanted.

All in all, this book was a roller coaster ride from start to finish. I laughed, I cried, and I yelled. I loved every second, even if it sometimes gave me anxiety. I was wholeheartedly fulfilled at the end of this book. I loved it.

I'm not sure if this is the last book or not. On Goodreads it has another book listed, but Katie talked about this being the last. So...I'm not sure. Either way, I would be satisfied. But just for fun, I wonder who the next book would be about. Would it be Stone/Brandon, Violet's little brother? Would it be about Addison, Breanna's best friend? Would it be about Pigpen, like a lot of fans seem to think? I'm not sure...but I'm also not sure any book could top this one.

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Thanks for reading
xoxo
Lauren

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Friday, February 3, 2017

Let's Talk: One Hundred Breaths Later

Title: One Hundred Breaths Later
Author: Hayley Stumbo
Genre: Poetry 
Page Length: 84 pages
Publication Date: February 3, 2017
Date Started: January 11, 2017
Date Finished: January 21, 2017
Rating: 5/5 stars

*Disclaimer: I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I'll have to admit, I'm not a big poetry person. At least, all the poetry I read in school I had no connection to. But when Hayley started dropping teasers and snippets of OHBL on Instagram, I was obsessed with the words. I was so excited to read this collection.

From the first page I was drawn into this beautiful world composed entirely of words and feelings. The poems were so raw and full of emotion. I felt so many different emotions while reading this collection. It was, to put it simply, amazing. I fell in love with the emotions and the stories. 

Here are some of my absolute favorites (While I was making the list I just wrote down whichever ones I loved the most and then it ended up being most of the works, so I narrowed it down to my ABSOLUTE favorites...it just goes to show how amazing this poetry collection was...)

Inhale
I Read Like a School Assignment
Oceans and Seas
Summer 2005 (made me feel happy)
Friday Knight Lights (I've read it over and over; definitely in my top 2)
Boys in Blue
North for the Summer (broke my heart)
One Hundred Breaths Later ( it was heartbreaking)
One Fifty One

Exhale
I'm Your Ghost (love!)
Run, Baby, Run (this is in my top 2; I loved it and it broke my heart)
Tangerine
You'll Stop At Nothing

Hold Your Breath
Fri(end)s
Greenhouse
Bite Marks
The Future With(out) You
The Last Time

Hayley has always had a way with words that seems to draw me in from the start. These poems are different than her novels, but I was still entranced from the start. They were romantic and heartbreaking, they made me feel happy at times and sad at others. I fell in love with this girl and her heartbreak.

I'm so glad this was my first foray into poetry. Now that I've read some of the genre, I want to read more! I recommend this book to anyone who loves poetry or is going through a rough time. These words were beautiful, and I'm so glad Hayley shared such a personal part of her with us.

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Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren

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Wednesday, February 1, 2017

January 2017 Wrap-Up

Here are all the books I read in the month of January. I'm pretty proud of the amount I was able to read, and I'm excited to see what February brings for me. Also, if you want to check out my January Book Haul, here's the link :)

1.
Title: Finding My Pack
Author: Lane Whitt
Rating: 5/5 stars
Review: http://laurensboookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/11/lets-talk-keeping-my-pack-finding-my.html

2.
Title: Phoenix
Authors: Autumn Reed & Julia Clarke
Rating: 4/5 stars
This book was pretty good and it was one of the RH books that had been on my wishlist since I started really reading this sub-genre. I was so lucky to get it for free. I enjoyed the story a lot. I enjoyed each character and I'm excited to read the next book and see even more of these vastly different personalities. 

3.
Title: Darkness Descends: A Skye Faden Novel
Author: Alisha Ashton
Rating: 5/5 stars
I LOVED this book! The amount of times I cried was in the double digits (as much, if not more, than the number of times I cried over Empire of Storms). It was intense. I loved so many different aspects of this book. There was Celtic history; a Scotland setting; men with abs, long hair, and accents (I've come out of TV shows speaking in the accent in them but never have I come out of a book speaking an accent...until this book); werewolves and vampires (or faoil and fògaraich); and plenty of action and smut. Everything was just amazing. I seriously hope the author is releasing a sequel (which she should be, I believe) and soon as I'm not sure if I can wait 3 more years. 

4.
Title: An Ember in the Ashes
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Rating: 5/5 stars
Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1874201274
Oh wow. I completely understand the hype behind this book. It was phenomenal. It took me a couple days to get far (due to an influx of homework) but then I read 300 pages in a day and fell in love. I'm so glad I already owned the sequel, as I dove into it right after I wrote the Goodreads review for AEITA. So excited for the rest of the series and I honestly don't know why it took me so long to jump aboard this fangirl train.

5.
Title: One Hundred Breaths Later
Author: Hayley Stumbo
Rating: 5/5 stars

5. 
Title: A Torch Against the Night
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Rating: 5/5 stars
If AEITA was good, this book raised the freaking level! I can't even see the level AEITA was below this level. There were moments where I was like "ok I can do this, this is good" and then the next second everything went to shit (pardon my language, but this book warrants it). There were times I was freaking out to no extent (and my friends were just sitting there laughing at me having an existential crisis in the middle of the cafeteria). This book gave me so much more anxiety than AEITA and I LOVED it. I almost burst out crying when I read a specific line involving Elias. But I'm content with the ending (for now). And I can't wait for the next book.

6.
Title: Charcoal Tears
Author: Jane Washington
Rating: 5/5 stars
It was fun being back in this world. I had been reading little teasers for the fourth book in this series and realized how much I missed these characters, so I decided to randomly reread them. And I reread them in less than three days. It was fantastic, if I'm being honest. The feels were strong, since I knew what was going on and what was going to happen. I could see instances of foreshadowing that were cleverly hidden, and I loved it. I'm excited for the fourth book to come out soon (hopefully March).

7.
Title: The Pants Project
Author: Cat Clarke
Rating: 5/5 stars
My full thoughts can be found in my review, but to keep it short and sweet, I really liked this book and think that it is a very important one that discusses an important topic. 

8.
Title: Watercolour Smile
Author: Jane Washington
Rating: 5/5 stars
It was so fun just to be back in this world. There were times when, even though I knew what was going to happen, I cried. It was such a fun reread and it just made me that much more excited for the last book.

9. 
Title: Lead Heart
Author: Jane Washington
Rating: 5/5 stars
Ooo my heart. This book is probably my favorite of the series just because so much happens and there's so much of the relationships between all the characters that comes out to play. I found myself rereading certain scenes and just "aw"-ing or crying. It was so amazing to reread, and like the others in the series, just made me that much more excited for the last book.

10.
Title: When the Dead Come A Knockin'
Author: B.L. Brunnemer
Rating: 5/5 stars
I loved this book so much. Words cannot describe. More thoughts in my review :)

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Thanks for reading
xoxo
Lauren

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