Writings of a Bibliophile

Hey everyone! Here's my October to be read! Halloween is thirty days away and I am more than ready for it!














The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson. I read the first book The Name of the Star about a year and a half ago. It was INTENSE so I took a little break from this series and then I never really felt like it was the right time to read it. Now that Halloween is upon us, I feel like this is just the right creepy time for it. For those of you who haven't read the first book it's basically about three things, a boarding school in London, ghosts, and Jack the Ripper. I highly recommend picking it up because it is so worth it. Though if you're easily scared like me, don't read it after dark. ;)















Shades of Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon. OH MY GOSH IT'S FINALLY HERE. Shades of Doon came out last month and because I'm going to be seeing these lovely ladies at a book convention later this year, I haven't bought it yet. Thankfully my library is getting it in so that's how I'll be getting my hands on it. I'm so excited and if you haven't already read Doon or Destined for Doon (in that order, mind you) do because you will love it and fall for hot fictional Scottish princes, I mean what?
















The Diviners by Libba Bray. I have heard SO many good things about this. I just need to read it already. I bought it at a Books a Million back in June and it's been sitting on my shelf for months. It's supposed to be really creepy kinda like the Shades of London trilogy (the Name of the Star series) so I'm super pumped. I don't know a whole lot about it and I'm not usually the type to read a book without knowing even the full plot but what they hay!


Those are the books I want to try and read this month. If you guys had any suggestions on creepy books to read this month, leave them down in the comments. If you guys want me to do a joint review of both Shades of London books that I own let me know. See you guys next time!

Marisa

Oh hey... guys... look at me being a great blogger. Also look at me who has 80 million (no not really) posts drafted and halfway written but decided instead to start a brand new post! Yes that's right. Go me!

So my July TBR. We're about halfway through but who cares right? I'm still seeing booktubers upload theirs in the last couple days, so why can't I?


 Okay first up is Frostbite by Richelle Mead. Yes I finally finished Vampire Academy and have dented about half of Frostbite in the last week or so. I should have it finished soon. I'm loving how the story is developing.










Next is Shadow Kissed by Richelle Mead so I can flipping finally make my way through all of Vampire Academy. I'm not setting the bar too too high so I'm only going to plan on finished Frostbite and then starting and finishing this book by the end of July.









Then we have another book in a series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I'm doing a summer Harry Potter re-read with me, myself, and I, and this is where I am presently. I'm about a third of the way in.










 Then if that all goes well I'll be starting to re-read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I'm sure these two books are very very self explanatory. I didn't even say the author's name after them because you all probably immediately know that it's J. K. Rowling because let's face it she pretty much rules the fandom world.






I think that's about it. I'm not trying to set the stakes to high for myself especially with it being mid-July.

Hey y'all! I'm here to bring you my Friday reads. I figured I'd let you guys know what I'd be specifically trying to read this weekend before I go back to school on Monday. My spring break is slowing coming a close and I'll have to once again be both a college student and an avid reader. Oh the horror!


First up is Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. I've already started this and am about fifty pages in. I've already seen the movie so I've been moving through this first book pretty quickly. I'll probably finish it tonight or early tomorrow. I am so far just loving it. I haven't fell this hard for a series since the Mortal Instruments. Rose is such a hoot and I can't wait to continue on with this series.






Next is Frostbite by Richelle Mead if I manage to finish the first book this weekend I'll be moving on to the second book. I don't know a whole lot about this next book so we shall see!










Switching some seriously drastic gears, I'll also be reading Where Courage Calls by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan. This is based off the TV show When Calls the Heart on Hallmark Channel and I'm really having major withdrawals from this show so I'll be picking up this book from time to time if I need to take a break from vampires and royal bloodlines.




That's it for my Friday reads! I'll catch you guys tomorrow with another post!

Marisa

*WARNING: THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR DESTINED FOR DOON BY CAREY CORP & LORIE LANGDON. Please don't read this if you're looking for a spoiler free review*





Destined for Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

Hello readers! I'm coming to you with another review! Today's review is over Destined for Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon. This is the sequel to Doon which I reviewed last week for you all. This picks up a few months after the end of Doon it begins with Mackenna and her doing her thang on stage and then Duncan appears and says that Veronica needs her help. She agrees (eventually) and they are off to Scotland to cross the Brig O Doon once more. With the rings that once belonged to Mackenna's Aunt Gracie and her husband, they are able to cross the bridge whenever they so please (tbh the rings always give me a Wonder Twins feel, anyone else?) An apparent "zombie fungus" has plagued the land of Doon and Veronica as the new queen whose subject have little faith in her, has absolutely no idea how to get rid of it. 

The rest of the book follows the trials of trying to get rid of the fungus, Veronica juggling being queen, her friendship with Mackenna, and her rapidly developing relationship with her betrothed, Jamie McCrae the prince in the kilt. So there's that. This book though, I mentioned in my review of Doon this is more about Mackenna's journey, not Veronica's. This deals with a bit of angsty separation that went on between Mackenna and Duncan. They are working through their issues and trying to realize if they should follow their Calling. Mackenna had denied it at the end of Doon but now she's not so sure. Now Duncan is the one (being an absolute turd in the process) ignoring it.

Poor babies.

I'm happy to report that they do end up together AND THEN. THEN THESE AUTHORS GIVE THE MOST HEART ATTACK INDUCING ENDING EVER. THANKS CAREY AND LORIE. Anyways, I think I'll leave the specific details a secret so you can be AS FREAKED OUT AS I WAS when I read it. 

Honestly, my opinion of the writing hasn't changed since Doon the description of the fungus did freak me out and definitely in a good way. I don't know... these women must have some sort of magical writing juice that upon reading their writing you're immediately engrossed like a 12 year old playing a video game. A+ for that. They make their novels so enthralling that you forget you live in the most boring mundane world.

Alright, my loves, that's what I have for this review! I will talk to you all in my next post, bai!!!

Marisa

You can find Destined for Doon:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Book Depository
 

*WARNING: THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR FANGIRL BY RAINBOW ROWELL. Please don't read this if you're looking for a spoiler free review*












Hi loves! It's me again with another review. This is going to be on Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I read this book originally in about September or October of last year and just did a re-read of it. My thoughts have not changed at all between reads and honestly it's one of the best books I read in 2014. This is for a myriad of reason in which I will tell you in this review.

First off, Cather Avery. Our main leading lady, Cather Avery, is starting her freshman year of college and we're immediately met with Levi a friend/boyfriend of her roommate Reagan. He's just there. In her flipping room. Now, I did mention he knew her roommate so this isn't exactly as creepy as it would seem but I mean, if on move in day my roommate's boyfriend was just chilling and my roommate was nowhere to be found, I'd be just as concerned as Cath was.

The book proceeds to transpire over Cath's first year of college, we meet Wren, her twin sister who is quite frankly the exact opposite of her in this book. They have their twin moments but that's about as far as it goes. This all stems from how they've always dealt with their mother leaving them back in 2001. Cath became more introverted than before and Wren acted out. 

Cath is a writer, she writes this highly popular fanfiction called Carry On this is based off the fictional world of  the Simon Snow series and is basically a tweaked and fictionalized Harry Potter. The eighth and final book was coming out the following May of Cath's freshman year and she puts immense pressure on herself to finish Carry On before the eighth book is released. While I was reading this, I was highly impressed at the amount of words Cath could pump out in one night. From my own personal experience it would take me about twice as long to produce the amount of words as she would in a single chapter of fanfiction so I'm not entirely sure how realistic that was but I still related to it.

In this book we see Cath grow as a person through so much drama. I say that but it's not a bad thing, it's so realistic and I just want to root for Cath to make it through all the drama with her dysfunctional family and for her and Levi to get together (after finding out Levi had not been Reagan's boyfriend for a long time) and actually becoming friends with her roommate and not screwing that friendship up especially after Cath and Levi begin to date. 

We also see an academic side of Cath, she got into a 300 level fiction writing course and as a creative writing major myself, that's quite impressive to do as a freshman. I won't be able to take the equivalent of that class until my sophomore year which is honestly just next semester but that still puts Cath a full year ahead of me. Right off the bat she struggles to find a muse to write things that aren't Simon Snow fanfiction and I know exactly how she feels. Creating your own world is hard, it takes getting to know these random muses that just appear one day and might be gone the next. It's much like moving to a new place where you know no one and just vaguely know about the place you're at. 

The duality between how Cath struggles with this and adjusting to live at college might even serve as symbolism in this novel. Oops there goes my English major peeking through. Anywho, this book, no matter what age you are (okay it does use the F-bomb quite a bit so I wouldn't really recommend if you're 13 or under) you need to pick up this book. It is one of the most realistic yet entertaining contemporary books I've ever read. I give this 5 out of 5 stars all the way.

You can find Fangirl through these lovely links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Book Depository


**I don't get anything from those links, I just know from personal experience that links like those are always lovely and convenient**

Hi readers! So today I will be bringing you my March TBR.  Two posts in one day, how exciting right? But I really want to put up some new content and do posts ahead of time so I look like I'm a semi-professional book blogger who uploads when she says she will. I realize we're already about a week into March but I have been crazy busy this past week so I won't be doing much reading of any of these books until today and on into the rest of the month.











First up is Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. This is a re-read for me. I am almost finished and will probably finish it by tonight or tomorrow. This book. This freaking book. Being a freshman in college myself who also occasionally writes fanfiction, Cath is literally one of the most relatable characters I've ever read. She is trying to navigate her freshman year with so much change and so much newness that I completely identify with how she is feeling. If you guys haven't picked up this book yet, do it. It's fantastic!








Next is Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I just want finish this book! I've been reading it since probably October and about 100 pages from finishing it. I was told that I needed to read the Infernal Devices trilogy before I finished The Mortal Instruments because of some major spoilery things that go on in the last two books (which I know, I've yet to read, I'm horrible I know) so I've been trying to do that as fast as I can but other things keep getting in the way! I do really like this book, I'm not entirely sure why people like fawn over William Herondale because literally I'm Team Jem all the way but my opinion might as I read the rest of the trilogy. I had a similar opinion of Jace until about City of Glass so who knows!









Third is Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. I literally plowed through both Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight and then I hit a reading slump around the same time I was reading this. I don't know if I got burnt out on fantasy or what but I don't think it was specifically because of this story. Every time I pick this back up and read a little bit of it, I fall right back in love. The world is just amazing and riveting and I just want to be there (maybe as a princess because the rest of the land seems pretty gruesome to be a peasant in). Celaena is just one of the greatest female characters I've read and her discovering herself after all the drama that happened in Crown of Midnight is just perfect. I just really want to dive back into this as I'm typing!









Next we have The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleason. This is the sequel to The Clockwork Scarab which I read back in about October of last year. That book was fantastic and I've read about ten pages of this and it's looking about the same. I am so interested in the Steampunk feel of this book and it's got craziness in the form of time travel and secret societies and a very handsome man from the future who I picture as Chris Hemsworth every time he's in a scene (which is totally not a bad thing either). This book I've heard deals a little more with supernatural elements than the last one so I'm excited to see how that goes, I'm sure it will be executed well and there will definitely be a review on both books once I'm finished so stay tuned for that.








Fifth is Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. This book was a bit of an impulse buy for me. I had heard a lot, and I mean a lot of hype about this book and it seemed pretty interesting. It fit along the same lines of the type of fantasy I typically read so I picked it up one day while I was at Target (but to be honest, when am I not at Target?) Anywho, I'm not too sure what this is about. I've heard like people are born with either silver or red blood which at first made me think that oops all the silver blood people have a bad case of Mercury poisoning or something but apparently they're like the elite class and the red blood people are the peasants. This girl, the main character, has red blood but I think becomes queen anyways? I'm not sure, but it does sound interesting.








Sixth and finally we have Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. I know. I haven't read this yet. To be honest, I read Twilight in sixth grade and it completely ruined vampire books and tv shows for me until now. I rented the movie (I'm a bad reader, watching the movie before the book, I know) and I loved it. I'm not sure how different it is from the book BUT if the book is even better than the film, than that's even more reason to read it. I got the box set off of BookOutlet for like dirt cheap and so I kind of took that as an incentive to start the series. We shall see.



Okay guys, that's it for my March TBR. We'll see how I do. Spring break is all next week so I'll have the time, it's more so getting the motiviation.

Until next time!

Marisa