Tag: Crooked Kingdom

Hype or Like Friday – We’re All Beautiful

This meme and Goodreads group were created by myself, Jill @ Rant and Rave Books, and Britt @ Geronimo Reads. To join our group and find out more information about what it’s all about, please go to our Goodreads page HERE.

The November BOTM is City of Saints & Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson.

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RULES:

  • Answer the weekly discussion topic.
  • Optional: Discuss your chosen hyped book of the week.
  • Optional: Talk about your progress on the BOTM.

TOPIC OF THE WEEK: We’re All Beautiful… What are some of your favorite diverse reads?

These are just a few my favorite diverse reads covering everything from sexual orientation to racial identity and even physical/mental disabilities. I noticed that I haven’t read as many diverse books lately as I would like, but luckily my TBR bookshelf is definitely full of them and I can’t wait to dig into all of them soon!

What are some of your favorite diverse reads? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your Hype or Like Friday post in the comments below!

 

 

 

September Wrap-Up: Reviews, Reading Challenges, etc.

September saw the end of a crazy reading slump and a renewed urge to gobble up every book in sight. Woohoo!

Books Read

  • Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo – 5/5 stars
  • Lost Stars (Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens) by Claudia Gray – 5/5 stars, REVIEW
  • Hunted by Meagan Spooner – 4/5 stars, REVIEW
  • American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse – 4/5 stars, REVIEW
  • Artemis Awakening (Artemis Awakening, #1) by Jane Lindskold – 3/5 stars, REVIEW

Total Books Read: 5

Overall in 2017: 59

Reading Challenge Updates

POPSUGAR

  • A Book with a Subtitle – American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land
  • A Book with a Cat on the Cover – Artemis Awakening (Artemis Awakening, #1)

Beat The Backlist

  • Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)
  • Artemis Awakening (Artemis Awakening, #1)
  • Lost Stars (Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Goodreads Challenge

  • Total: 59/100
  • Previous Total: 54/100

Blog Posts

WWW Wednesday

Discussions/Misc.

How many books did you read in September? Did you have a good reading month? How are you doing with all of your reading challenges? Which book was your favorite read?

WWW Wednesday – September 27th, 2017

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

  • Artemis Awakening (Artemis Awakening, #1) by Jane Lindskold – physical book
  • A Face Like Glass by France Hardinge – audiobook

I just realized that I had 2 credits available on Audible, so I decided to start up listening to audiobooks again. I loved Hardinge’s The Lie Tree, when I first read it last year, so when I saw that they had another one of her whimsical fantasies available, I jumped at the chance. I’m really enjoying it so far too, if it is a little strange (which I’ve realized is Hardinge’s M.O.).

Artemis Awakening is fairly interesting so far. It’s very easy to read and I’m really enjoying the characters so far. The story is a little predictable so far, but I’m hoping that’s only the case because it’s still very early on in the book.

What did you recently finish reading?

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Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo – 5/5 stars

I don’t think I’ll be writing a review for this book, as I never did write one for Six of Crows. However, I will say that I had a bit of an interesting relationship with it. Mostly, this book put me into the worst reading slump when I was about 75 pages into it. The beginning just took too long to really engage me and I finally just had to toss it aside. But once I made it through my slump, I was able to dive back into it and really ended up loving it. I do think I may end up docking a star from this one, just because the pacing was really rough there for a while.

What do you think you’ll read next?

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The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

I read the first 20 pages of this book for the Try a Chapter post I did yesterday, and it has really left me wanting more. I honestly can’t believe I’ve had this book for about a year now and am just now finally picking it up. The last few books that I’ve read from Book of the Month Club have really been amazing, so maybe I should stop being such a procrastinator and actually read them when I get them! Here’s hoping, right?!

What are you currently reading? Did you finish any good books this week? What do you have next on your TBR? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!

WWW Wednesday – September 20th, 2017

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

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Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo

That’s right, y’all! I have finally decided to be brave and pick this book back up. It’s the book that put me into a reading slump last month, but I think I’m finally in a place where I can try it again. I’m really in the mood to read right now, so I think it should be alright. I read a few chapters last night and I was actually interested in what was going on. YAY!!!

What did you recently finish reading?

  • American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse – 4 stars, review tomorrow
  • Lost Stars (Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens) by Claudia Gray – 5 stars, review to come

So I had a really good reading week, not going to lie one bit. My first dive back into non-fiction started off with a bang with American Fire. This story was so engrossing and written in such a way that you actually feel a part of the community. If you’re a fan of true crime or real stories set in rural America, I really recommend this one. I should have a full review up tomorrow, too!

By now, I should just realize that Claudia Gray is a science fiction goddess. She was made to write novels set in the Star Wars universe. Y’all, if you have never really been interested in reading Star Wars, weren’t sure where to start, or just plain love science fiction in general, READ THIS BOOK! It’s so well-written and is a great story built around two amazing characters. Just do it.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I’m actually not sure what I’ll be reading next. I think I’m going to be doing this really fun tag/post that I have done once before when I couldn’t choose what book to read next. It was such a great idea and really helped me from picking up something that I wasn’t really interested in. You can read about my first experience with The Try A Chapter Tag, HERE.

What are you currently reading? What books have you finished reading recently? How do you decide what book you’ll read next from your TBR? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!

WWW Wednesday – August 30th, 2017

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

  • Heartless by Marissa Meyer
  • Parker by Jillian Quinn
  • Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) Leigh Bardugo

Still going through a bit of a reading slump, but I did read over 100 pages in Heartless last night and can’t wait for my lunch break to get back into it. I’ve kind of put aside Crooked Kingdom at the moment because I’m pretty sure it’s what put me into the slump in the first place. Uh oh, controversial opinion time!… It’s boring. Sorry to everyone who is just obsessed with this book but I’m not particularly enjoying it at the moment.

What did you recently finish reading?

Nothing….. yet again.

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • American Fire by Monica Hesse
  • Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Going to dive into some non-fiction with American Fire next. It’s been a while since I’ve read any and this book sounds so intriguing. I’ve been terrible about reading the books I’ve received from Book of the Month Club, so this will be my push to finally get into those. Due to my reading slump, I didn’t read either Hype or Like Friday August BOTM choices and so I’m going to finish the second one. Fingers crossed!

What are you currently reading? Have you finished any good books lately? How do you get out of reading slumps? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!

WWW Wednesday – August 16th, 2017

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

 

  • Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo
  • Parker by Jillian Quinn

I’ve barely read any since last Friday. I had a busy weekend with family in town and then had a migraine all day yesterday. I do hope to get back to reading tonight though, so fingers crossed that that works out. I worry that I’m still in a bit of slump…. **GASP!**

What did you recently finish reading?

Six-of-Crows

Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) by Leigh Bardugo

After a slow start, this one really picked up and I loved how it ended. I will admit that I’m still not as obsessed with Kaz and Inej like everyone else is. I will forever and always ship Matthias and Nina! Those two kill me and I love how she just teases him constantly. But Nina is my favorite Dreg anyways. We would be best friends, I can tell.

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • Lost Stars by Claudia Gray
  • Heartless by Marissa Meyer – Hyper or Like Friday August BOTM

Hopefully I can get out of this mini-reading slump and finish up my Tome Topple TBR and move on to the BOTM for this month for Hype or Like Friday. August always seems to be a slow reading time for me and I never know why. Maybe I’m just gearing up for the fall? Wishful thinking?

What are you currently reading? Have you finished any good books lately? Do you find yourself having a slow reading month in August?

#TheReadingQuest Introduction & TBR

You’ve probably seen this new readathon/bingo around that was created by Aentee @ Read at Midnight. It looked like so much fun (plus, I love me some video games!) that I decided that I had to join! The quest will be running from Sunday, August 13th until Sunday, September 10th. You can learn more about it and sign up by clicking on Aentee’s name at the top. There are quite a few different ways to earn XP & HP to become the top character and win the grand prize, so be sure to read the entire information post!

All of the amazing artwork for this fun reading quest was created by CW @ Read, Think, Ponder. It’s just so cute and perfect!

The Quest

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My Character

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Each participant will choose one of the above characters to follow their reading quest. And the character I have chosen is….

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The Mage!!!

MAGE: As wielders of spells and witchcraft, these players will conjure and summon their way through the First Down path on the quest. Their tomes contain magic and whispers of alternate lands.

I typically play as a rogue or mage in most video games, so I thought I’d stay true to my gaming self by choosing to be a mage. It also doesn’t hurt that the mage path focuses on fantasy, my fave! And yes, I was too lazy to make my character profile. It happens, you know?

My TBR

  • A book with a one word title – Hunted by Meagan Spooner
  • A book set in a different world – Heartless by Marissa Meyer
  • A book that contains magic – Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo
  • A book based on mythology – The Last Days of Magic by Mark Tompkins
  • The first book in a series – Daughter of the Pirate King (Daughter of the Pirate King, #1) by Tricia Levenseller

As luck would have it, some of the books that I had already planned to read this month, were able to count towards the reading quest. I may have to change up the rest of my TBR but it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I do that anyways usually, haha!

Can’t wait to get started on this fun quest!

Are you participating in #thereadingquest? Which path did you decide to follow? What books are on your TBR?

WWW Wednesday – August 9th, 2017

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

  • Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) by Leigh Bardugo
  • Parker by Jillian Quinn

I’ll be honest and admit that I haven’t picked up Parker in a couple of weeks. It’s unfortunately it’s been pushed to the wayside, but I hope to pick it back up in the next few days. I’m finally over halfway through Six of Crows and really getting into it now. It did take a while to get into and so I was a little afraid that the hype might have been too much for me. Luckily, things are starting to get interesting so there’s still hope!

What did you recently finish reading?

I haven’t finished any books in the last week because I was taking a bit of a reading break/slump. But I think I’m finally coming out of it. WOOHOO!

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo
  • Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

Hopefully by Friday I’ll be able to finally start on my Tome Topple Readathon TBR. I’ve heard great things about both books so I cannot wait to get to them!

What books are you currently reading? Have you finished any good books this past week? What’s up next on your TBR?

August TBR: Where I Try Way Too Hard

Well it’s that time of the month again… And by that, I mean that a new month is starting which means a whole new monthly TBR! Obviously. I’m a little late getting out my TBR this month but I’ve just been really busy between work and all that jazz to sit down and formulate what my reading plans were for August. I was also in a bit of a mini reading slump this past week which affected my blogging plans. But I’m finally here, right?! So let’s get to it!

August Tome Topple Readathon TBR & Announcement

Yes, I am participating again this round! I’m joining in a few days late because of my stinking reading slump which has pushed me back just a tad. However, I have full plans to catch back up and finally start on my two book picks for this round!

Tome Topple is a readathon hosted by Sam @ ThoughtsOnTomes. She’s one of my favorite booktubers, in case you don’t recognize the name. This readathon is all about reading those big books on your TBR that you’re usually too scared to grab. The only rules is that the books must be over 500 pages and cannot be an anthology of short stories. Sounds easy, right?! This readathon is running from August 4th – August 17th. You can visit the Goodreads Group to learn more about the readathon.

And the choices for my readathon TBR are….

  • Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo
  • Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

I’m aiming for only two books during this readathon, as I will be starting late due to the fact that I’m still reading Six of Crows at the moment. So the logical first book for the readathon should be its sequel, Crooked Kingdom. Then I want to finally pick up Lost Stars so I can check another Star Wars canon novel off of my list. I’ve also had both of these books since they were published, so you know, just a little behind on reading them. OOPS!

August TBR

  • Hunted by Meagan Spooner
  • Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) by Leigh Bardugo – currently reading
  • A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
  • Heartless by Marissa Meyer
  • Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
  • Fuse (Pure, #2) by Julianna Baggott
  • American Fire by Monica Hesse
  • The Child Thief by Brom
  • The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1) by Trenton Lee Stewart

I think I might be a little ambitious with my TBR for this month, especially after not really reading at all during the first week. However, if I can even get through half of these books then I will be satisfied. I think I have a really good mix of genres this month, which should help keep me from getting too bored. At least I hope so.

What books are on your TBR for this month? Are you participating in Tome Topple? If so, what books did you choose to pick up for it?

WWW Wednesday – July 26th, 2017

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

  • The Song Rising (The Bone Season, #3) by Samantha Shannon
  • Parker by Jillian Quinn
  • The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley – audiobook

I’m still chugging along with The Winter Sea, but this audiobook is over 15 hours long so I expect it’ll be a while before I finish it. I’ve finally moved on to the third book in The Bone Season trilogy and so far it’s really good. There’s a map of Ireland in this one, which gives me hope that Paige and the gang will be heading there at some point. AHHHHHHH!!!

What did you recently finish reading?

  • The Wicked & The Divine, Vol. 2: Fandemonium by Kieron Gillen –  4/5 stars, graphic novel
  • The Bone Season (The Bone Season, #1) by Samantha Shannon – 5/5 stars
  • Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman – 3/5 stars
  • A Million Junes by Emily Henry – 5/5 stars
  • The Mime Order (The Bone Season, #2) by Samantha Shannon – 5/5 stars

You can thank the 24in48 Readathon for why I had such a good reading week. I really enjoyed all of the books that I read this past week, though I was let down by Gaiman’s newest novel. I think my expectations were just too high.

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) by Leigh Bardugo
  • Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo

Yes, that’s right – I have not read this extremely well-loved duology! But you know, better late than never, right? And if you’re wondering if I had these books on my shelves since their release…well, you might be right. Oops?

What books have you read this week? What are you currently reading? Do you have anything exciting up next on your TBR? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them?