Bookish Weekly Wrap-Up: 1/23 – 1/28/18

Happy Sunday bookworms!

I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend thus far.  I had a wonderful weekend that was full of late nights and early mornings, so I am in rough shape today.  It is the perfect sort of day to curl up on the sofa and have a movie marathon with my daughter.  So far, we’ve watched Hercules & The Land Before Time., neither of which she had seen before.  I love sharing movies with my kids that I enjoyed watching myself as a child.

Enough about my lazy Sunday, let’s talk books!

*Bookish Weekly Wrap-Up is a weekly post where I feature what posts were published on the blog for the past week, any bookish/blog happenings, what I recently finished reading, what I am currently reading, what I will be reading next, noteworthy posts around the bookish blogosphere, and any interesting bookish articles I came across.

Wednesday 1/24

Book Review: Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend

*Book titles link to Goodreads

Recently finished reading:

» The Queen of Blood (The Queens of Renthia #1) by Sarah Beth Durst

*4.5 stars*

Feelings in a few thoughts:

• I loved the world in The Queen of Blood: the idea that humans & spirits (water, earth, air, fire, etc.) have to coexist despite the fact that spirits desire the eradication of all humans.  The setting was also intriguing: people colonizing in trees together to form villages & cities… very whimsical
• Daleina was such an awesome main character.  I admired her level-headedness, cleverness, dedication, work ethic, and bravery.  I also really appreciated that she was not the best, in fact she struggled, with controlling the spirits.  It was refreshing to see someone who had to make up for things that do not come naturally with hard work and cleverness.
• I was worried at first that this book was going to be cliché, but it wasn’t like anything I had read before.  Some things were not a big shock, but I was still surprised a fair amount of times.
• Positive female friendship – zero girl hate!
• The ending was on point!

» The Hatching (The Hatching #1) by Ezekiel Boone

Feelings in a few thoughts:

• I stepped WAY outside of my comfort zone with this one… I tend to avoid books that have to do with things I am terrified of, like man-eating spiders.
• If I had no idea who the author was before reading this, I could have told you it was written by a man.  This book definitely feels like a book that would appeal to the “man’s man.”  This is not a criticism of the book, just that you should not expect “flowery writing.”
• I would describe this book as being a little “rough around the edges.”  It has foul language and is crude at times, which doesn’t bother me, but if you are easily offended this probably isn’t your book.
• Despite the fact that this book terrified me, it was very readable – I had to know what was going to happen next.
• Loved that Boone had so many female characters in positions of power in this story: the president, a marine squad leader, a leading scientist in the field of spiders…
• While I understand why the author chose to tell this story by introducing us to multiple characters, it was almost too much.  I would have preferred for the story to have been told through 3-4 main POVs, and leave the others off.  We were introduced to a new character every chapter up until the 30% mark before we cycled back around to some of the past characters.
• The Hatching leaves us with a HUGE cliffhanger, enough of one that I am throwing around the idea of reading the next book.

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Currently reading:

» The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne

Status: Just started

» Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Status: 80%

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On deck:

» Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

 

Introducing an instant classic—master storyteller Neil Gaiman presents a dazzling version of the great Norse myths.

Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales. In Norse Mythology, Gaiman fashions primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds; delves into the exploits of the deities, dwarves, and giants; and culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and the rebirth of a new time and people. Gaiman stays true to the myths while vividly reincarnating Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki, the son of giants, a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator. From Gaiman’s deft and witty prose emerges the gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to dupe others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.

» Evelina @Avalinah’s Books  talks about how to get blog comments → Book Blogger Etiquette: How To Get Comments?

» Chelsea @The Suspense is Thrilling me talks about rating bad books → Discussion: Rating “Bad” Books You Love

» Marie @Drizzle & Hurricane Books talks about why she doesn’t make TBR lists →Why I Don’t (Really) Do TBRs

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» Bookish Bling: A Book and Jewelry Giveaway

*The title doesn’t mention that the book they are giving away is The Cruel Prince!

» 17 Authors on the Children’s Books That Still Make Them Weepy Today

*I ugly cried reading Little Women & Where the Red Fern Grows

» The Best Cliffhanger Endings of the Past 15 Years

* The ending of Life of Pi messed with my head big time

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week & happy reading