Monday, July 13, 2015

JoLee's Second Quarter Review

I'm linking up with Janssen of Everyday Reading and Dana of Something Good again to give a quick(ish) recap of last quarter's reading. I read 33 books in April, May, and June. Only 4 audio books this time, but I had the whole month of June off, so that helped. You have already seen many of these books on this blog. Others are slotted for upcoming posts (any guesses what the topics will be), and some you may never see on the blog again.


April

  • A Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman (featured here)
  • This sequel to Prisoner of Night and Fog has a "don't go back into the haunted house" quality to it.
  • All the Rage by Courtney Summer (featured here)
  • Summer's books are always gritty and tough.
  • The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathyrn Holmes  (featured here)
    A good survival book.
  • Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (audio) (featured here)
  • Finally joining the Throne of Glass party.  
  • Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson (book club)
  • My first Sanderson. I know. 
  • The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows (featured here)
  • A dethroned queen, a spy, a stuck-up prince, a handsome guard, a masked vigilante.
  • Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby (featured here)
  • Return to Me with teenagers. And surfing.
  • Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff (featured here)
  • A great debut about a teen whose best friend commits suicide.
  • Love, Lucas by Chantele Sedgwick (featured here)
  • A girl mourns the death of her brother. And surfing. 
     

May

  • The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury (audio) (featured here)
  • What an interesting fantasy setting. And the audio version is great. Loved the reader.
  • Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge (featured here)
  • Best Red Riding Hood retelling I've ever read. I gave it 5-stars.
  •  The Fine Art of Pretending by Rachel Harris (featured here)
  •  Love romances that navigate that tricky bridge from friends to more-than-friends.
  • Material Girls by Elaine Dimopoulos
  • I loved this Project Runway-inspired dystopia.
  • Made You Up by Francesca Zappia (featured here)
  • The beautiful cover houses an equally lovely interior.
  • Illusionarium by Heather Dixon (featured here)
  • It was worth the 4-year wait for Dixon's second novel.
  • An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (audio) (featured here)
  • Loved the dark and violent Ancient Rome-inspired setting.
  • Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (featured here)
  • A stunning book about mental illness.
  • Maphead by Ken Jennings (audio) (book club)
  • After finishing this book I started playing geography trivia games. 
  • Time's Edge by Rysa Walker (audio) (featured here)
  • Wow. So intense. I am on pins and needles waiting for book 3.
  • Tiny, Pretty Thing by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton (featured here)
  • I have mixed feeling about this one. So cutthroat and lots of classic ballet stereotypes.
  • Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures by Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater
  • Picked this up at BEA and read it before I read any others.
  • 84 Ribbons by Paddy Eger (featured here)
  • The life of a ballerina in 1957. Compelling plot but stilted dialog. Still, I kind of want to know what happens next.
     

June

  • Phantom's Dance by Lesa Howard (featured here)
  • The Phantom of the Opera in a ballet setting works really well. 
  • The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West (featured here)
  • Every Kasie West novel is an absolute delight.
  • Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone (featured here)
  • This book had me silently wiping away tears.
  • The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman
  • A world where spells can solve your problems but not without side effects.
  • Remember by Eileen Cook
  • Truly some of the worst parents in all of YA.
  • The Edge of Forever by Melissa E. Hurst (featured here)
  • This time travel novel has some pacing issues, but I liked the futuristic Denver setting.
  • The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (audio) (book club)
  • The story of the rowing team that won in the Olympics in 1936 is 5-stars good. 
  • Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider (featured here)
  • Extraordinary Means is extraordinarily beautiful.
  • The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi (featured here)
  • Disappointed by this one. I thought it was kind of boring.
  • Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway (featured here)
  • Absolute perfection. A kidnapped boy returns home. The girl next door. And surfing.
  • 99 Days by Katie Cotugno (featured here)
  • A summer with the two boys she hoped to never see again.

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