Read-a-Thon: Bout of Books 5.0

It's that time again! Time to participate in my second Bout of Books read-a-thon! July was pretty much a reading flop for me, as I was spending the month with family and overcoming jetlag once I returned. I plan to make up for this in August by reading as much as I can from August 13-19th. Below you can find out my goals and how to follow my progress.

Time Devoted to Read-a-Thon

As of right now I have a fairly open schedule, though I do most of my reading in the evenings.

My Goals

- To read at least 3 books and try to start a 4th.
- To network with some new bloggers!

The Books

- Finish City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
- Read The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke
- Read Fated by Alyson Noel
- Start The Gathering Dark by Leigh Bardugo
- The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore (?)

My Updates

I will post my daily updates and page counts on my Goodreads page, which is also connected to my Twitter, the best means of following my reading. I will also update the template below everyday for the previous reading day. At the very end, you will see a summary post!

My Daily Progress

Monday

Books Read: Finished City of Lost Souls

Pages Read: 223

Total Read-a-Thon Pages: 223

Tuesday

Books Read: Started Fated

Pages Read: 283

Total Read-a-Thon Pages: 506

Wednesday

Books Read: Finished Fated, started Obsidian

Pages Read: 233

Total Read-a-Thon Pages: 739

Thursday

Books Read: Read Obsidian

Pages Read: 104

Total Read-a-Thon Pages: 843

Friday

Books Read: Nothing read! Such a stressful day. Sorry, guys!

Pages Read: 0

Total Read-a-Thon Pages: 843

Saturday

Books Read: Finished Obsidian, Started The Assassin's Curse

Pages Read: 124

Total Read-a-Thon Pages: 967

Sunday

Books Read: Continued The Assassin's Curse

Pages Read: 40

Total Read-a-Thon Pages: 1007

This post inspired by the Bout of Books template found here.

Waiting on Wednesday: Crewel by Gennifer Albin

UK Cover

Crewel

by Gennifer Albin

To be published October 4, 2012 by Faber and Faber (UK)

To be published October 16, 2012 by Farrar, Strous and Giroux (US)

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.
That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.
Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.
Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.
Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.
Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back. -Summary from Goodreads

Crewel just seems to be one of those books that takes a popular genre, in this case dystopia, and puts a really incredible twist on it. I can't wait to read it as there have been some really rave reviews published recently! I've also included the US cover below. Which cover is your favourite?

US Cover

Top Ten Tuesday: Posts That Give You The Best Picture of Me

Welcome to the weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. This week we were to create a showcase of the posts that give you the best picture of me. I'm such a new blog that I don't think I have too many posts that really showcase who I am as a blogger, especially because I leave most of my personal life out of it. Nevertheless, here are some good posts that might tell you more about me!

1. My Top Ten Facts About My Reading Life: This is a totally silly post that will give you a great picture into my crazy reading habits.
2. My Review of Insurgent by Veronica Roth: This review was such a hard one to get my feelings under control, as it was my most anticipated book release of the year!
3. My Review of Glitch by Heather Anastasiu: I highly anticipated reading this book and it was a difficult review to write because of my slight disappointment.
4. My Feature and Follow Friday #5: This post asked me about my favourite literary mother, and I wrote a little ode to my momma in it.
5. My Review of Bloodlines by Richelle Mead: I think this one shows that I'm not afraid to be an honest book reviewer.
6. My 'About Me' Page: This may be cheating, but have you checked it out? You'll find out quite a lot about me. *nudge nudge*

So that's it for now! I think all of the posts I make are a reflection of myself, whether I'm giving my honest opinion or letting you know the quirkier side of me. Let me know what posts reflect you!

Review: A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburton

Series: Winter Trilogy #2

Genre: Paranormal, Romance

Format: Paperback

Published July 5, 2012 by Hodder Children's Books

More about the author: Website // Twitter // Bio

Find the book: Goodreads // Amazon UK

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Anna still finds it hard to believe that Seth loves her and has vowed to suppress her powers, no matter what. But magic - like love - is uncontrollable and soon, Anna is being hunted. Abe wants Anna to embrace her power, while Seth is pushing Anna to accept that his feelings are real. She finally does ... a moment too late. Suddenly, it's like the Salem witch trials all over again: burnings, torture and faceless judgements. In the face of the ultimate betrayal, who will save her?
The second novel in the Winter trilogy, this follows the critically acclaimed debut A WITCH IN WINTER. - Summary from Amazon

My Review

A Witch in Love is an amazing follow up to A Witch in Winter, a book that had me begging for more. I had high expectations for this second installation and I'm glad to say they were blown away! After the ending of the first book, Anna has sworn off using her magic for good. With Anna being hunted down, however, how long will she be able to keep her magic at bay? Well, she'll try to. In a book full of magic and sweet romance, this book has the 'wow' factor.

Anna is such a relate-able main character with her common sense and stubbornness; I found I only liked her more in this book. Her determination to discover things about her past and bring along her best friend and one of my favourite characters ever, Emmaline, really moved the plot along. The other, and perhaps most important relationship in this story, is the romance with Seth. It was such a refreshing romance to read. It just seems so realistic to read their ups and downs and to read a non-obsessive YA romance.

The secret world of the witches in London was a fascinating addition to Anna's magical world. Readers will definitely develop a love-hate relationship with the wider witch world when their knowledge of them from the first book is added to the knowledge gained in the second. This is also due to the introduction of another antagonistic group of people who really did give me the chills.

Readers who love witches and romance will definitely love this book series. I found this second book to be unputdownable. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book and to find out what else we will discover about Anna's world.

Review: Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Series: Graceling Realm #3

Genre: Fantasy
Format: Hardcover
Released: May 1, 2012 by Dial
Find the author: Blog // Twitter // Bio
Find the book: Goodreads // Amazon UK
Rating: 5/5 Stars

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle—disguised and alone—to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart. - Summary from Goodreads

My Review

I confess. I waited to get a copy of this book from the US to match the other cover art I had from the previous Graceling Realm books. I'm glad I did because the cover art is gorgeous, but I shouldn't have waited so long to read this beautiful story! Bitterblue is a mysterious and strangely elegant sequel to Graceling and companion to Fire and an excellent contribution to fantasy.

Queen Bitterblue herself was one of the pride and glories of this novel. She's been a queen since she was a child and does not want to be sheltered any more. She wants to expose the atrocities caused to her kingdom by her father even if it is something so terrible it causes emotional friction between herself and her advisers. When those old men aren't looking, she sneaks out of the castle in disguise to see the kingdom for herself and meets some really excellent side characters like the adorable Teddy and charming Saf- though I still maintain one of the best gems of this tale is Bitterblue's kooky librarian, Death. Characters from the previous books make appearances in Bitterblue like the ever amazing duo of Po and Katsa. Each character adds a layer to this tale that helps Bitterblue discover the kingdom and herself.

I absolutely loved the mood of this book. While this book isn't chock full of action scenes, it is full of intrigue and discovery. Interpretations, hidden secrets, and messages written in secret code will certainly keep you on your toes. The world is as excellent as ever, even if Monsea is a bit grimy from its horrible past. The uncoverings of Leck's gruesome habits really are just that- gruesome. This book isn't for the faint of heart, though the horrible bits are really just history and not actually occurring in the book's present day. I recommend this book and series to readers who love fantasy, mystery, and a bit of romance. I couldn't put this down and you won't be able to either!

Stacking the Shelves (#14)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Every Saturday I post the books I've acquired throughout the previous week! This week I have two books to show you.

Night of the Purple Moon 

by Scott Cramer

For Review

Throne of Glass 

by Sarah J. Maas

Purchased

Tell me what you added to your shelves this week!

Feature and Follow Friday (#16)

Feature & Follow is a weekly blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and AlisonCanRead. It's set up so bloggers to discover new blogs and gain new followers. Join in! Every week two different blogs are featured. This week's featured blogs are Read It, Read It, Loved It and Reading Between Classes. Here's this week's question:

Q: Do your reading habits change based on your mood? Do you read a certain genre if you are feeling depressed or happy?

A: I haven't branched out in genre in awhile. Occasionally I delve into historical fiction or just plain non-fiction history books, but not because of my mood. I do sometimes make the decision to read books I know are going to be happier and avoid heavier ones because I need a pick-me-up. For the main part, though, my mood dictates how I read a book. Sometimes I give up on a book for a couple of weeks and start another one- not because of the book itself but because of my life! Everyone gets moody now and then and life around us is affected. Yup.

If you are a new follower, leave a comment so that I can follow you back!

Waiting on Wednesday: Shades of Earth by Beth Revis

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine in which bloggers post books they are eagerly anticipating to be released. I can't wait to read what everyone else is waiting on. I know my book wish-list appreciates it! This week, I'm waiting on:

Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #3)

by Beth Revis

To be released January 15, 2013 by Razorbill

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience. But this new Earth isn't the paradise that Amy had been hoping for. Amy and Elder must race to uncover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. But as each new discovery brings more danger, Amy and Elder will have to look inward to the very fabric of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been meaningless. -Summary from Goodreads

Could I be in want of a book any more?! The ending of A Millions Suns had me begging for more. My only gripe is that they have redone the covers for the entire trilogy before the third book has been published! This means that my books will all look different. Not sure I understand their logic. But, yay, less than 6 months!