13 Best Book Deals for 1/28/20: The Invention of Wings, The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, and more

As of this posting, all of these deals are active, but I don’t know for how long!
Less than $1

The Love Solution by Ashley Croft

Less than $2

The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith

Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

My Mother, a Serial Killer by Hazel Baron & Janet Fife-Yeomans

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Less than $3

Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

Less than $4

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova


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MINI-REVIEW: How to Build a Heart by Maria Padian [ARC 1/28]

I didn’t really know what to expect from this book and in some ways I was really pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed some of the characters and felt that they were mostly more than just cardboard stereotypes (as is so often the case). There were definitely some characters that could have used more development, but it wasn’t too bad. I did have a big issue with Roz, though. She’s clearly not a good friend even from the very beginning and I felt like the author was sending us mixed messages about what Izzy should do about her. First, Izzy’s mom is telling her to cut Roz loose because she’s dragging Izzy down. But then Izzy’s cousin comes along and is trying to tell Izzy to help Roz out. It was just a little confusing (but I was on the dump her side). I also felt like Izzy didn’t always make the most thought-out decisions. She clearly should have thought a little more about hanging out at the Shackelton’s house when she KNOWS that Roz regularly spies on them. Overall, I thought this book was pretty good. I definitely think there were ways it could have been better and tighter, but it wasn’t bad. 3.5/5

Preorder: Hardcover | eBook

Note: I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

The Starless Sea is Morgenstern’s second novel coming after the success of her first novel, The Night Circus. I’d read The Night Circus a while ago and remembered loving it, but didn’t know if it would hold up to a reread. Recently, I tried the audio book for The Night Circus (read by Jim Dale!) and it was AMAZING. Highly, highly recommend. Le Cirque des Rêves was just as captivating as I remembered it. All of that is just to say that my expectations for this book were already HIGH, but then the synopsis of this book comes out including secret societies and underground libraries and quests… If it was possible, my expectations rose even higher.

Now, you may have heard some conflicting things about this book. I’ve read some reviews that strongly disliked this book. Let me just say, this book is very different and it’s not one that can be zoomed through (as I typically zoom through books). If I’m really enjoying a book (300-400 page range) I can usually finish it in about three days max (usually less). This book is around 500 pages, so a little longer than my average and it took me almost four WEEKS to read (26 days to be precise). Caveat: I wasn’t reading this book exclusively or reading every single day, also we were in the process of moving house to another state for some of that time. With that being said, however, this is a book that DEMANDS you take your time to read it. If you don’t, you’ll get confused and you’ll miss out on all of the wonderful complexities that this book holds.

The story is made up of several different sections and multiple perspective shifts with interwoven short stories. It’s confusing, especially at the beginning, but after a while I found that I liked the variation of the chapters. It’s amazing to me to think about Morgenstern writing this book. There are just so many pieces to it and I feel that she really masterfully weaves them together into a cohesive tapestry of deliciousness.

There has been a lot of criticism calling this book “boring” and “plotless”. A lot of people have especially had a problem with the main character, Zachary Ezra Rawlins, feeling like he just purposelessly drifts through the story with no development. I strongly disagree on both of those points. First, no this book isn’t what I would call fast-paced, but I wouldn’t call it boring by any stretch of the imagination! The short stories are beautiful, well-written, and frankly not that long compared to Zachary’s chapters. I, personally, was sucked into Zachary’s story immediately. There’s mystery and magic(?) and even a little action thrown into the mix as well. I think that Zachary’s character makes a lot more sense if you remember that he’s a grad student studying video games. He often views his journey as a video game and I think that informs some of the decisions that he makes. He’s not delusional or anything, he doesn’t think he’s ACTUALLY in a video game, but the “aimless wandering” that a lot of people have a problem with makes more sense if you view it from that lens. A lot of exploring type video games have a main quest, side quests, and then a bunch of other random stuff that you can explore. Zachary does a lot of exploring that I guess some people found to be boring, however, I did not.

As a character, I think Zachary undoubtedly develops. He’s not the same boy that he was when he first encountered a door painted on the side of a wall. He starts the book as a 2D character, but ends as a fully fleshed out being. There are decisions that he makes towards the end of the book that he simply would not have made at the beginning. Zachary does not finish the book as the same person that he was.

I’m finding it really hard to put into words EXACTLY what I loved so much about this book. It’s just so cozy. I loved all of the little stories and I loved when the pieces started to overlap and click together. Some people had a problem with the ending, but I thought it was perfect and right and fit the book precisely. The writing was beautiful and whimsical and the setting of the Harbor was just as magical as Le Cirque des Rêves, in my opinion. And then The Kitchen. Oh how I loved The Kitchen. This is the kind of book that you want to start over immediately after finishing because now you finally get it and can pick up on things that you missed the first time.

I’ll just end this review by pleading with you to not let the negative reviews scare you away. Give it a try and if it’s not for you, that’s fine. But where others found this book boring, I found it captivating. Where others found the descriptions to be too long, I found them to be beautiful and evocative. Just one warning: because of all of the interweaving stories I’d probably not recommend this as an audio book–I think it would just be confusing. But as a physical book or an eBook? Magical. You will never find another book like this.

Overall Rating: 5
Language: Mild
Violence: Moderate
Smoking/Drinking: Moderate
Sexual Content: Mild

10 Best Book Deals for 1/21/20: The Kiss Quotient, A Princess in Theory, and more

As of this posting, all of these deals are active, but I don’t know for how long!
Less than $2

The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

The Black Witch by Laurie Forest

Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Less than $3

Caraval by Stephanie Garber


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Book Club Mini-Reviews

The awesome thing about book clubs is that they sometimes help you to read books that you wouldn’t pick up otherwise. These are a couple of those books and were ones that I ended up LOVING.

mini-reviews

Where the Crawdads Sing Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

I knew nothing about this book going into it, and was pleasantly surprised by the plot. The setting is such an amazing part of this book. You really get a great feel for the Carolina marshland. Kya was a really compelling character for me–I just wanted all the good things for her and it killed me every time someone was cruel to her for no reason. My main takeaway from this book is that we all just need to be kind to other people. There are many people in this world who are terrible and mean, but then there are others who are just GOOD. It honestly made me want to go out of my way to be nice to someone. 4/5

Order: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor TowlesA Gentleman in Moscow

I had literally no desire to read this book before book club and I was surprised by how enjoyable I found it. It’s so different from the books I usually read. The pacing is slow–I would describe it as being a really gentle book. It unfolds incredibly leisurely and I felt like it gave me the opportunity to become really invested in the characters. There were times when I felt like the book was a little wordy and I had a hard time keeping track of some of the characters, but overall, I found this book to be so enjoyable. 4/5

Order: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook

My Least Favorite Books from 2019

Least Favorite Reads 2019

I feel like I had a pretty good reading year last year, but there were still some books that I didn’t particularly care for. Note: This list doesn’t include books that I decided to DNF.

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict – I read this for a book club and really did not enjoy it. I didn’t find the main character to be strong or compelling and it made me really hate Einstein.

Sisters of Shadow and Light by Sara B. Larson – I wanted this book to be more about the sister relationship, but instead I felt like we were given two half-baked romances. And the pacing was NOT good.

Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau – I’ve liked some of Charbonneau’s other series’, but this one just didn’t do it for me. I thought Andreus was such a dummy and it felt like this entire book was just a set up for the series.

You Owe Me a Murder by Eileen Cook – This entire plot was just so far-fetched and the main character was incredibly annoying.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – I finally read this classic and I didn’t care for it. I didn’t like Mr. Rochester and didn’t really connect with Jane either.

In the Hall with the Knife by Diana Peterfreund – I’ve really liked some of Peterfreund’s other books! But this one was not a compelling mystery and I didn’t really like any of the characters.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James – I just didn’t get this book? Like, I literally didn’t really understand what was happening–I had to look the plot up on Wikipedia afterwards.

What were some of your least favorite reads from 2019?

 

BLOG TOUR: Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Tweet CuteTweet Cute
by Emma Lord
Release Date: January 21st, 2020
Genres: Contemporary

Goodreads|Amazon|Publisher

SYNOPSIS: Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming — mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account. 

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time. 

All’s fair in love and cheese — that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life — on an anonymous chat app Jack built. 

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate — people on the internet are shipping them?? — their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.

REVIEW: Tweet Cute is a fun update to the “You’ve Got Mail” kind of story. Pepper and Jack are both likable as our main characters and I liked that they addressed the “PepperJack” name coincidence instead of just letting it be a weird unsaid thing (especially with all the grilled cheese drama). Secondary characters were pretty enjoyable too, though I feel like Pooja needed more exploring–I’d read a book centered on her.

There were parts of the book’s premise that I found a bit improbable. It makes sense to me that Jack might be in charge of running their “hole in the wall” Twitter account, but for Big League Burger to be pawning off Twitter stuff on Pepper? Taffy clearly needed to be fired and BLB needed to hire a competent social media person. I just don’t see Pepper runnin ghte Twitter account in the real world. I also found Pepper’s mom to be an enormous piece of work. She really wasn’t likable…ever. It seemed a bit extreme.

With that being said, I quite liked this book. While there was some semi-fabricated drama, I liked that characters had conversations with each other and worked things out quickly instead of the drama dragging on and on and on because no one would talk to each other. I would recommend this book, but be careful because with all the talk of grilled cheeses and Pepper’s baked goods, you WILL get hungry.

Overall Rating: 3.5
Language: Moderate
Violence: None
Smoking/Drinking: Mild. References and secondary characters participating, but neither of the main characters do anything.
Sexual Content: Mild


Tweet Cute Blog Tour



Emma LordABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Emma Lord is a digital media editor and writer living in New York City, where she spends whatever time she isn’t writing either running or belting show tunes in community theater. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in psychology and a minor in how to tilt your computer screen so nobody will notice you updating your fan fiction from the back row. She was raised on glitter, grilled cheese, and a whole lot of love. Her sun sign is Hufflepuff, but she is a Gryffindor rising. TWEET CUTE is her debut novel. You can find her geeking out online at @dilemmalord on Twitter.

Goodreads|Twitter|Instagram


Note: I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

18 Best Book Deals for 1/13/20: The Princess Diarist, The Alex & Eliza trilogy, Year of Yes, and more

As of this posting, all of these deals are active, but I don’t know for how long!
Less than $2

Love, Ellen: A Mother/Daughter Journey by Betty DeGeneres

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

Still Me by Jojo Moyes

Alex & Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz

Love & War by Melissa de la Cruz

All for One by Melissa de la Cruz

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

Any Man by Amber Tamblyn

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi

The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

The Disasters by M.K. England

The Fever King by Victoria Lee

A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs

Less than $3

You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero

Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes


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Reading Stats for 2019

Reading Stats 2019

This is the first year that I’ve really kept a reading log. I’ve done a journal basically ever since I started blogging to keep track of notes, ratings, etc. For my new log I just used a few basic categories: Title, Author, Date Finished, # Pages, Genre, Type (physical vs eBook), Source, Rating, Position in Series, Continue Series?

I liked having some basic reading categories and then the series categories were really helpful for me as well. I have a hard time remembering sometimes if I really want to continue on with a series so I’m hoping this will help in the future.

But now…graphs!

Format

I’m actually really happy with the number of physical books that I read compared to eBooks. I think in the past I’ve read probably 90% eBooks. I’m also surprised by how many audio books I read this year! I didn’t realize it was that many.

Source

I’m so happy with the number of library books I read this year! I think I typically do read a lot of eBooks from the library, but I know a TON of these were physical books that I checked out as well.

Genre

I still read mostly YA Fiction (not surprising) but I’m happy that I’ve started branching out into Adult fiction as well. I’m thinking this year I need to try to increase that nonfiction number too.

Per Month

I’m kind of amazed by how much I read this summer. March was the month I discovered the LumberJanes series, so a lot of those books are those graphic novels. June and December were both moving months so that explains why those numbers are a little lower.

Ratings

Let me tell you, it didn’t FEEL like I had this many 4 star books, but I guess I did? If I had to guess, I would have guessed that most of my reads were 3 or 3.5 stars. Apparently I read better books than I remembered.

So there you go! Making these graphs was really interesting for me and I’m definitely going to keep this same reading log this year as well. I’d also like to give a shout out to my husband who made these graphs for me! Best husband ever.

Did you keep a log of reading stats for 2019? If so, link your post in the comments!

My Favorite Books from 2019

Favorite Reads from 2019

The Witchlands series by Susan Dennard – Really enjoyed this series much more than I thought I would #thehypeisreal. Can’t wait for the next installment!
Reviews: Truthwitch, Windwitch, Bloodwitch

The Library Book by Susan Orlean – This was an amazing read! A must for every book lover.
Review

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill – A middle grade I read for book club and LOVED. It’s definitely middle grade, but I feel like I never would have understood its depths as a kid.
Review

Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos by Lucy Knisley – Sometimes graphic, but a REAL portrayal of conception, pregnancy, labor, and what it’s like to face impending parenthood.

Shades of Magic trilogy by V.E. Schwab – Blown away by this series and can’t believe I didn’t start it sooner.
Reviews: ADSoM, AGoS, ACoL

Vicious/Vengeful by V.E. Schwab – I’m very impressed by V.E. Schwab at this point. This is the best depiction of an antihero that I’ve ever read.
Reviews: Vicious, Vengeful

The Big Year by Mark Obmascik – I read this after rewatching the movie. Just as delightful.
Review

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – I’d been meaning to read this book forever and I finally did it. Amazing. I understand why it has the reputation it does. Zusak is a masterful author.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (reread) – For some reason I started doubting whether this book was as good as I remembered it being. After an audio book reread, I can confirm that it is for sure.

You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn – I didn’t expect much from this book, but was hit hard with unexpected emotion and characters with a surprising amount of depth.
Review

Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno – THIS IS WHAT HISPANIC CULTURE IS. The timing of when I read this book could not have been more perfect.
Review

First & Then by Emma Mills – I love the relationship between the main character and her cousin and that it doesn’t take a backseat to the romance.
Review