Thursday, October 16, 2014

Book Chat #1 (Previously would have been titled: Read and To-Read -> October 2014) { + video}

It's that time again! Time to catch up on what I have been reading, and what I want to read next! Only this time, I've started a video series, which also went up today. If you would like to hear me talk about the 12 books I've read over the last 3 months, then feel free to head over to my video, which I will also embed at the bottom of this post, or else, let's get started!

I'm not going to talk too much about the books I've finished here, since I talked for a long time in my video, but I will of course do a little blurb about whether I liked it and what it's about.

Books I've read:

1. The One by Kiera Cass

For those who don't know, this is the last book in the Selection trilogy, so I clearly wouldn't recommend starting here, but I would recommend this series! This series is a teen post-apocalyptic dystopian romance... kind of. I mean, you have the post-apocalyptic world, and you have conflicts, and you have the obvious teen-romance love triangles... but it's a cool mix of dystopian world and The Bachelor! It sounds really cheesy, but it's really well executed, and a cool break from the teen dystopians which are frankly starting to become pretty formulaic. Hunger Games was fantastic, and Divergent was excellent. Delirium was pretty good. But I love that this series is a little something different!

2. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

For those who are a little nerdy and/or a little awkward and like teen fiction, I would totally recommend this book. It is disappointingly a one-off novel (I'd love so much more of this story!), but really cute and a really quick read. I love the characters in this one so much. Cath isn't your normal teen novel protagonist, she's socially awkward, nerdy, and an extremely talented fanfiction author with a big online following, and this story starts when she and her twin sister Wren go to college, but Wren refuses to room with her sister, since she wants to meet new people. Yeah. Read it.

3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

I'm sure you've all already read Harry Potter, but yes. I'm on my millionth read through, basically. Oddly, because of library books, and class readings and assignments, I stopped about halfway through this book about 2 years ago, and only got around to finishing sometime this summer. I mean, I've read it so many times that I just jumped right back in where I left off, but I can't believe it took me so long to get back to it!

4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Quickly following #4, I moved onto #5, and read it quickly like a crazy person. Much better.

5. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

This was my final John Green book to read (if we only count his solo-authored ones), and it was really good! Nothing may ever beat TFiOS, but this one definitely ties for second with Looking for Alaska! Also, it has footnotes. Heh...

6. Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth

If you read and loved Divergent, and especially if Four/Tobias was your favourite character, I recommend reading this books, assuming you haven't already. It has some really great backstory on Four before we meet him, and before he becomes Dauntless, as well as a couple scenes from the first book from his perspective. Love! I want to own this one so badly to complete my collection!

7-9. 666 Park Avenue, The Dark Glamour, and The Lost Soul by Gabriella Pierce

I meant for this to be a quick, interesting book, but it ended up being a trilogy... which I didn't find out until the end of the first book, which totally doesn't end in an okay place! This one is about witches and magic on the Upper East Side of New York City, which was a pretty appealing premise to me, even though it looks like a cheap, cheesy little chick-lit novel. Which is kinda is, but all the same, throughout the trilogy, I think Pierce manages to do a really good job developing her world's magic system and rules and history, and it ends up being a good story!

10. The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

I first heard of this book from Ingrid (MissGlamourazzi), and it sounded fun and cute, as YA fiction tends to be, so I decided to give it a go. And it was really good, as expected. It's a pretty simple premise that fits in really well with the likes of John Green's first 3 books, but if you want more information on the story, you can find the blurb on GoodReads with the above link or watch my video.

11. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

I also found this book through YouTube, this time from the Vlogbrothers, who I think mentioned it on a couple different occasions, which intrigued me. It wasn't as good in my opinion as the Beginning of Everything, which I read right before this one, but it was still a really good teen fiction novel, and I really enjoyed it.

12. A Clash Of Kings by George R.R. Martin

If you know and love Game of Thrones as a tv series, I would loudly suggest that you read the books, though the show is only up to book three, so don't read any further if you don't want to spoil it. This is the second book in the series, and I'm in looooooove! It's got some plot differences and wayyyyy more backstory and history and characters, and IT. IS. JUST. SO. GOOD!

Currently Reading: (I'm actually reading shockingly few books right now!)

1. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

2. The Silmarrilion by J. R. R. Tolkien

To-Read:

1. The Selection Stories by Kiera Cass

I mentioned this one in my video, when I was reviewing The One, but my boyfriend bought it for me since I filmed that video, so I'm really looking forward to getting to this book next!

2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling

Here follows a bunch of re-reading, because sometimes you just need to! I've already worked my way through 1-5, so it's time to finish up the series with #6 and:

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

...#7! I'll be really glad to finally finish this series all over again, since it's been years, and these last two books are my favourites!

4-7. The Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer

I make no apologies for this one. I've read this series once before (I don't think I've ever re-read any of the books), but not for years, and not since I bought my own copies. I think i started reading these in highschool, when the first three were out, but the last one wasn't yet, because I'm pretty sure I remember waiting for the last book. Also, I read them before the movie. I think... Anyways, yes, I really want to read these books again now that I know that so many people hate them, because I always really liked them, and even defended them in my university classes. And I'll point out I rarely speak in class. So yes, looking forward to experiencing this series a second time.

8. Onward by Howard Schultz

I love Starbucks, and have a weird curiousity about this book and if it's any good... what else can I say?

9. The Intimate Adventures of A London Call Girl by Belle du Jour

I loooooved Secret Diary of a Call Girl, the show inspired by this book, with Billie Piper as the protagonist, so of course I want to read the book too! I believe this is meant to be a true story/diary of real woman's life as a call girl in London, which is pretty cool. If I like it, I'll also look for the second book.

10. Uglies by Scott Westerfield

I've had this book for ages! Probably since middle school? Yeah... and I've never read it..! I know this became a pretty big series, so I want to finally give this one another go. I own it, so I should read it!

All images are from GoodReads.com and can be found on the pages linked for each book.

I'd love to know what you've been reading lately, or if you've read any of the books I mentioned, so be sure to leave me a comment, either here, or on my video!

Video time!:

Thanks for reading!

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