192 replies to this topic

[Chompyzilla]

So that was 50? Did you do the challenge?

[SweeneyxxTodd]

No. I'm at 49 right now. I need to finish the book I'm currently reading, and fast.

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Best of luck, Mary!

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Thanks! I think I'm gonna grab a snack and tea, grab a heatpack for my sore back, and get comfy with my book (The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater). And I don't intend to take a break until I read 100 pages. Then I'll be just under halfway done. I think I can finish this book fairly easily in a few sittings.

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Rootin' for ya!!

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Only about 130-ish pages left. This book is way better than Shiver, which is by the same author and I read earlier this year.

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

You go, girl!!!

[SweeneyxxTodd]

REVIEW:

 

 

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

 

4.5/5 stars

 

Well.

 

Well.

 

This was certainly not what I was expecting from this book. Especially since I read Shiver earlier this year and had a lot of mixed feelings about it. I was expecting something similar this time around: a boring female protagonist, fascinating male characters, two hundred pages before anything interesting happens, but a fantastic ending that doesn't quite make up for the slow start. But wow. This book was stunning, from beginning to end. It did take a little while to get started, but unlike with Shiver, there was enough going on and the characters were compelling enough to keep me interested. I am glad that this book has the honors of being the final one I read in 2015. What a way to end a reading year.

 

Let me try to compose my thoughts into something constructive.

 

The atmosphere of this book was top-notch. It was magical and thrilling and all sorts of creepy, especially once Blue and Gansey made their discovery outside the churchyard. Things slipped right into place that had seemed only slightly connected at first glance, and as I became more and more entangled in the mystery of just what was going on, I found myself growing ever more attached to these characters and this world. I am very excited to continue reading this series. I'd recommend it to just about anybody, especially people who like their books to surprise them.

[SweeneyxxTodd]

I DID IT!!!

 

I have read 50 books this year. According to Goodreads, I read 12,787 pages this year. I don't know if that's counting the audiobooks page length in their print version or not, but I'm impressed anyway. Wooooo! *dances*

 

 

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

W000000T!!!!! Way to GO, Mary!! You're AWESOME!!!

[Chompyzilla]

Well done!



Also, audiobooks have pages?

[SweeneyxxTodd]

No, but the physical books the narrators read from do.

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Since I had so much fun with this topic last time, I decided to make another for 2016.

 

This year, I'm only aiming for 40 books, since I intend to start writing again and want to give myself more time for that.

 

EDIT: Since we're only a week into March and I had already read a full quarter of the books I pledged, I upped my goal back to 50.

 

So here we go!

 

Books read:

1. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

2. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

3. Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

4. Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard

5. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

6. Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

7. Dipper's (&Mabel's) Guide to Mystery (and Non-Stop Fun!) by Rob Renzetti, et. al

9. Firelight (Amulet vol. 7) by Kazu Kibuishi

10. Explorer: The Hidden Doors, edited by Kazu Kibuishi

11. Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

12. The Tale of Azula by Michael Teitelbaum

13. East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales From the North

14. Monstress #1 by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

15. Lumberjanes vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen, and Maarta Laiho

16. The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

17. A Call to Arms by Shiriluna Nott and Saja H

18. Lumberjanes vol. 2: Friendship to the Max by Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, Brooke A. Allen, and Maarta Laiho

19. Angelfall by Susan Ee

20. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

21. Lumberjanes vol. 3: A Terrible Plan by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis

22. The Tale of Aang by Michael Teitelbaum

23. The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clark

24. Red Rising by Pierce Brown

25. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

26. The Lost Boy by Greg Ruth

27. Reached by Ally Condie

28. Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

29. Jackaby by William Ritter

30. Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

31. Calamity by Brandon Sanderson 

32. Journal 3 by Alex Hirsch

33. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

34. Lumberjanes vol. 4: Out of Time by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis

35. Lumberjanes vol. 5: Band Together by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis

36. ApocalyptiGirl: An Aria for the End Times by Andrew MacLean

37. The Old Testament (The Great Courses lecture series) by Amy-Jill Levine

38. The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

39. Copperhead Vol 1 by Jay Faerber and Scott Godlewski

40. 

41. 

42. 

43. 

44. 

45. 

46. 

47. 

48. 

49. 

50. 

 

Current Reads I need to finish this year:

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen (started Dec 5)

The Enceladus Crisis by Michael J. Martinez (started June of 2014 lol)

2/4 current reads finished *halfway through!!

 

Series I plan to finish this year:

Splintered (I've had the first book for a year, last one came out a year ago...still need to start it....)

The Myst tie-in books

4/6 series finished *2/3 through!!

 

Other goals of this year:

Read at least 3 non-fiction books. Fairy Tales/Mythology counts, as does The Great Courses audio lectures.*2/3 through!!

Reread The Lunar Chronicles

Reread Harry Potter

no rereads started yet this year

 

Goals achieved:

*Finish The Battle of the Labyrinth (started in 2015 read)

*Finish Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

*Actually read at least one of my fairy/folk tale books from cover to cover.

*Finish The Raven Cycle series

*Finish Angelfall by Susan Ee (started in 2015 read)

*Finish Matched Trilogy

*Finish The Reckoners Trilogy

[SweeneyxxTodd]

REVIEW:

 

 

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

(Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4)

 

This one was really fun--the first since The Lightning Thief that I've given five stars. Although that isn't because books two and three weren't as good as this. It's just that so far, I've enjoyed this and the first book the most. Percy had a lot of great stealthy puns in this book (the one about Apollo's "holy cows" was beautiful, partially because of its simplicity and partially because Annabeth completely missed it), and the claustrophobic feel of the labyrinth kept me on edge the whole time. And the growing obviousness of Percy and Annabeth's can't-spit-it-out romantic feelings helped lighten up the book somewhat. I also loved getting to know Rachel and the unique role she played in everything. I'm glad I got to start out the year with such a great book.

 

I am a little sad that I'll have to say goodbye to this series soon, though. Five books suddenly doesn't seem like enough Percy.

[SweeneyxxTodd]

REVIEW:

 

 

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

 

This was a fantastic finale to the series. Everything I wanted and then some--along with the requisite heartbreak that is to be expected in a finale. I was on the edge of my seat during the Battle for Manhattan. There were no dull moments, and the falling action post-climax helped heal a few of those cracks in my heart that the battle left behind.

 

I'm so glad I gave this series a second chance. It was worth every minute, and is definitely among my favorites.

[SweeneyxxTodd]

REVIEW:

 

 

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

 

3.75 stars

 

This book was very good. A looser retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses than other books I've read, with some good old-fashioned Transylvanian vampire and fair folk mythology thrown in, along with another fairy tale that I can't name due to its slightly plot-spoiling nature. I loved the main character Jena a lot--she was opinionated, and strong-willed, and determined to look out for her sisters and step up to her responsibilities, and she didn't take shit from people. I loved that she continued to confront Cezar even after she started to become afraid of him. It really showed true courage on her part, as well as her strong love for her family and the workers under her care. Jena was great. So was Gogu, her curious little frog companion whose thoughts she could hear whenever he wanted her to. His wry commentary on the goings on was the main, and probably only, source of comic relieve in an otherwise very serious story. He was also a big source of forshadowing throughout the book. I was able to predict one of the plot's biggest surprises probably less than 100 pages in by paying close attentiont to what he said and how he acted around certain characters. As the two primary characters, Jena and Gogu were great.

 

Cezar, on the otherhand, was despicable. I wanted to reach through the pages of this book and strangle him myself every time he opened his damn mouth. How anybody in his family put up with his bullshit as long as they did is a complete mystery to me. But because of all this, he made a great human-world antagonist. In fact, I was more afraid of him and what he could do than I was of the Night People (basically vampires), or any of the other possibly dark creatures of the fairy realm. Cezar was always the bigger threat, because there was little Jena or the others could do to stop him, because of the strict gender roles and expectations of the society. It made me very glad I do not live in a time or culture like that.

 

Now, as far as the sisters are concerned, for the most part they were good characters. Ieulia and Stela didn't contribute much to the story, but were enjoyable nonetheless. I liked Paula quite a lot, but not Tati. I was actually surprised to find that I grew to actually dislike her significantly as the story went on. I found her rather bland, lacking in personality and overall pretty selfish. She completely lost the will to do anything after she met her love interest, and literally starved herself and withered away because she couldn't bear to part from someone she hadn't known very long and had fallen in love with "at first sight." I was glad that Jena's character development brought her to a point where she could support Tati, but I frankly don't think Tati deserves a sister as awesome as Jena. But maybe I'm alone in that.

 

The story itself was interesting, if a bit slow-going at first. This was by no means a detriment to the book--it was well-written and clear from the very start that this was a complex and intricately woven plot that just needed some time to get going, but once I got about 125, 150 pages in, I was able to fly through. I'd definitely recommend this to fans of fairy tale retellings, or even just fantasy in general. It was a very good and compelling read.

[Mara=^.^=]

Yaaaaay you finished reading it

 

Jena was great. So was Gogu, her curious little frog companion whose thoughts she could hear whenever he wanted her to.

I love these two The little spat she gets into with Costi, though, could've been easily fixed by her more clearly explaining that her actions were motivated by a desire to protect her sisters.

 

Cezar, on the otherhand, was despicable.

Wasn't he a giant asshole? And I agree, he is the kind of villain who could exist in real life. Scary stuff.

 

I liked Paula quite a lot, but not Tati. I was actually surprised to find that I grew to actually dislike her significantly as the story went on. I found her rather bland, lacking in personality and overall pretty selfish. She completely lost the will to do anything after she met her love interest, and literally starved herself and withered away because she couldn't bear to part from someone she hadn't known very long and had fallen in love with "at first sight."

Isn't that like, one of the most famous tropes in European mythology though? Love between mortals and members of the fair folk isn't really love at all...it's more of a bewitching. Once the spell is cast, it doesn't matter how much you fight it or how much you try to carry on with your life as you had before. The mortal will waste away if he or she is prevented from returning to the faerie realm. It's one of the "costs" of being in a relationship with a non-human.

I didn't find Tati selfish or bland. I found her to be tragic. Falling in love with a night person or a faerie or ANY mythic creature is a curse. It's an extremely potent magic, and it consumes all aspects of a person's life. I wouldn't wish that on anyone with friends and family in the real world.

 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Sorrow isn't one of the Night People, though. Not really. He's just a regular guy who stares at her and doesn't say much and then she decides she has to leave her entire family behind to be with him. She wasn't even all that interesting before that happened, and I just felt like the tragic side of the whole thing wasn't played up enough. There was quite a lot going on, so I understand not focusing on everything, but something could have been done to make Tati more interesting and likeable.

[Mara=^.^=]

He's still a part of that realm by virtue of being trapped within it, though. I never really got the sense that it was her "choice" to leave her family for him...more like a compulsion. Kind of like a magical illness, almost. It's just one of the dangers that mortals face when they visit the realm of the fae. You take a chance that you might fall in love with someone there, and then your life back on earth is ruined.

 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Eh, maybe. I didn't get that vibe, that's for sure Tati just rubbed me the wrong way right from the start. She never struck me as being particularly bright. I mean, when Jena told her they were broke and had to stop giving coins to travelers, she suggested they just fill up the hosehold money box with funds from their dad's business chest. She's...what, seventeen? She should have enough common sense to know that's not an option by then without Jena having to tell her. I just didn't like her at all, and I honestly don't think any arguments to the contrary are going to change my opinion of her.