July 2015 Recap

I haven't done a monthly recap in forever, so I thought maybe I'd do one this month.

Life

I've had tons of free time lately, which I've been spending doing the obvious things, like sleeping reading and watching movies. For example last night I watched  Evil Dead 2 Which was pretty good, and I also watched Pacific Rim. Honestly I don't understand why that movie never took off and got tons of hype and a huge fanbase and action figures and posters because honestly that was a fantastic movie. As you guys can tell. I don't have a very exciting life. But other than watching movies, I also got the cartilage on my ear pierced which I've wanted to get done since I was like, 10 so hey, I accomplished a goal. Yay me.

Blog

I haven't posted that many reviews this month. Only one, actually,

They Call me Alexandra Gastone

I also posted a Top Ten Tuesday

Hyped Books I've Never Read

And two Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesday: The Lonely

Teaser Tuesday Emerge: The Awakening 

I also posted an updated A-Z Bookish Survey

Books

I read three books this month.

Burn Girl by Mandy Mikulencak

BOOST by D.A Paul

Emerge: The Awakening by Melissa A. Craven

All three books were very awesome and the reviews will be posted from early to mid August. Other posts you can expect in August are a spotlight post for The Suffering by Rin Chupeco and I believe a book blitz for the book Lumiere by Jacqueline Garlick. So all in all, July has been a very busy month for this blog as I've been trying to get everything set up and organized for August. It was a very good month and I hope that August 2015 is just as great!

Teaser Tuesday (6): Emerge by Melissa A Craven

    Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading.
Anyone can participate in Teaser Tuesdays. Just do the following:
• Grab your read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers!
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your 
teasers!

       This week my teasers are coming from Emerge: The Awakening by Melissa A. Craven. I am enjoying this book so far and I should be finished it soon so stay tuned for the review some time this week!

My teasers from pages 131 and 132    

"“It was a difficult adjustment, but once I accepted it, I was able to move on. I finally knew who I was. The revelation was an immense relief for me.”" (page 131)

"“I know we’ve had you hit the ground running and not given you much time to breathe, but I promise you are doing exceptionally well"" (page 132)

       I chose two pages instead of just the one, because when I randomly opened a page (131) It was an end of chapter page so it only had about 2 sentences on it to begin with. Please do forgive my bending of the rules.

Teaser Tuesday (5): The Lonely by Ainsile Hogarth

        Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading.
Anyone can participate in Teaser Tuesdays. Just do the following:
• Grab your read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers!
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your 
teasers!

       Currently I'm reading The Lonely by Ainsile Hogarth. I borrowed it from somebody I know a few weeks ago, and to say the least, this book is very, very odd.

       My teasers (from page 127):

"When I told Julia about it she was sitting upside down on the couch, her legs over the backrest and her head hanging and bloating with blood"

"I wanted to tear her hair out, fist it with my hands and then with my teeth and not stop till her brains were showing."

       These teasers do not correctly encompass the the oddness of this book. But trust me. It's odd.

They Call Me Alexandra Gastone by T.A Maclagan

*This review is very small as the book is only 188 pages

Author: T.A Maclagan
Pages: 188
Date Published: May 20. 2015
Publisher: Full Fathom Five

Introduction

       Milena Rovka spent 5 years training in a spy facility. Her mission is to become Alexandra Gastone, be a normal high school girl with normal high school relationships, infiltrate the CIA and when the time comes, do whatever needs doing to best serve her country of Olissa, and under no circumstances become attached to her life as Alexandra Gastone, but that's easier said then done when you start to question everything you believe.

Cover

       The cover is very beautiful and truthfully is what drew me to look at the summary to see if it looked interesting or not. I know that people say not to judge a book by its cover, but this cover is lovely, and as far as first impressions go? This book cover nailed it.

Story-line/action

       This book started out very slow and I honestly didn't think it was going to get better. But it did...slightly. I hoped for more action, more spy-like activities but there wasn't much. Even the spy-like activities that did happen were very subtle and not intense like I hoped they would be.

Milena Rovka a.k.a Alexandra Gastone

     I found "Alexandra" very, very boring and I lost interested in her inner conflict very quickly which is a shame because a very large portion of this book is that of her inner conflict of weather she will stay faithful to the missions that she is assigned. I found her annoying and whiny, which to sometimes I can understand because the situations she's been put it aren't always the easiest to deal with, but it got to the point where I was tired of reading about it

Conclusion

       I had very high hopes for this book, but I was sadly let down. The book started out pretty slow, and uninteresting, and even as it progressed, it didn't get much better. I found this book to be boring. The ending is set up so that a sequel could be published, but honestly, I'm not interested in reading it if it does happen. The good news is that either gender could enjoy this, even though I didn't enjoy it doesn't mean that somebody else may. It's a bit of a light read, short, with a little bit of action sprinkled in here and there,

Top 10 Tuesday: Hyped Books I've Never Read

         Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by the wonderful people over at The Broke and the Bookish

       This weeks topic is books that have been hyped about but I have never read. Who knows. I might actually finish this list, since I haven't read a lot of the books that I hear people rave about constantly.

1.The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.

       I haven't read any of the books in this series. I tried reading City of Bones but I got about 70 pages into it and I just couldn't continue. I might try to pick it up again later since I bought the first 3 in a box set, but to be completely honest, it's probably on the very bottom of my list of books to read.

2. The Selection by Kiera Cass

       I am actually interested in reading these books, but I haven't seen it anywhere, not the library, not the bookstore...It's quite sad, really.

3. Paper Towns by John Green

This is another book I tried to read, but couldn't get into, and since the movie is coming out soon I know I'm not going to be able to escape hearing about it constantly.

4. Looking for Alaska by John Green

Yet another John Green book I haven't read. The concept of this one sounds interesting though, so I might get to it eventually, but to be honest John Green's books are kind of hit and miss with me.

5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

I usually enjoy books like this. Ones that put a twist on classic well known stories, like Alice in Zombieland or Dorthy Must Die and Cinder has been recommended to me countless times.

6. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Another book I own but haven't quite got around to it yet... 

7. Prodigy by Marie Lu

 

I would have read this already if I could find it in a library or paperback in a bookstore, because I'm cheap as heck and hardcovers just aren't in my budget, dude #thestruggleisreal.

8. If I Stay by Gale Forman

I should read it, I know.

9. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

I really do want to read this but every time I pick it up to start, I'm always stop for like, no reason

10. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

To be honest with you I'm not that interested in reading this, and I probably won't. 

A to Z Bookish Survey #2

       I've been reading more lately, so I've been posting more reviews, and I'll have more coming up soon, but I felt like doing something more fun today. Back in August of 2013 I did the A to Z Bookish Survey, and I'm going to do it again to see how my answers compare to that of almost 2 years ago.

Author you've read the most books from:

That would be P.C Cast and Kristen Cast who wrote the House of Night Series. I read up until book 8 before I lost interest in them completely. This was also true back in 2013, but the series must have slipped my mind at the time.

Best sequel ever:

I'm still going to have to say Unravel me by Tahereh Mafi. I still haven't read Ignite me, although I've had it since it was released. I keep meaning to get to it, but it keeps getting pushed down the list.

Currently reading:

They Call me Alexandra Gastone by T.A Maclagan. I was wasn't really liking it at first but it's getting better.

Drink of choice while reading

I still drink a lot of iced-tea, regardless of if I'm reading or not. That hasn't changed.

E-reader or physical book:

I'm okay with either but I prefer physical.

Fictional character you probably would have dated in high school:

Probably Cole from the White Rabbit Chronicles, but still would date Four from Divergent. Maybe not so much Adam from the Shatter me Trilogy but Warner, probably.

Glad you gave this book a chance:

The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak. (review here) It isn't something I would normally read but I really did like it.

Hidden gem book:

I'm gonna go with This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers (review here) Not many people have read it without me having to recommend it repeatedly to them, but after they read it, they agree that it isn't something they would normally pick up, but they liked it as well.

Important moment in your reading life:

Uhm. Starting this blog was a really important moment I guess.

Just finished:

The Memory Game by Sharon Sant (review here)

Kinds of books I won't read:

I'm gonna go with erotica. I ain't about that life.

Longest book you've ever read:

Same answer as in 2013. Beautiful Creatures (563 pages)

Major book hangover because of:

I haven't had any super recent book hangovers but I may have gotten a little drunk on Gone Too Far by Natalie D. Richards (review here)

Number of book cases you own:

One. Bookshelf game weak.

One book you've read multiple times:

Shatter me by Tahereh Mafi. (review here) (I feel like I never make a blog post without mentioning something about the Shatter me trilogy or something about Tahereh Mafi) 

Preferred place to read:

I'll pretty much read anywhere. I don't really have a specific spot.

Quote that gives you all the feels/inspires you from a book you've read:

"I am nothing more than the consequence of a catastrophe" (Unravel me by Tahereh Mafi)

Reading regret:

I still don't think I have one. Props to me for staying reading regret free!


Series I started and need to finish: (all the books are out in the series)

I still need to finish the Shatter me trilogy and the Legend Trilogy.

Three of your all-time favorite books:

Unravel me by Tahereh Mafi
Legend by Marie Lu
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.

Unapologetic fangirl for:

Tahereh Mafi as if it wasn't obvious.

Worst bookish habit:

Probably putting off writing reviews sometimes.

X marks the spot: Start at the top left of your bookshelf and pick up the 27th book:

That would be 13 reasons why by Jay Asher. I haven't read it yet, but it's on the list.

Your latest purchase:

Last time I went to the bookstore I bought a bunch of books. One of them being Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards.

ZZZ--snatcher: Last book you stayed up way too late reading:

I haven't really stayed up late reading anything lately.

This was just as fun to fill out as it was in 2013. Who knows maybe I'll do it again in another 2 years.