Tag: Maggie Stiefvater

10 books to read before the end of the year

I set my reading goal at the beginning of the year to be 70 books. As of right now, I have surpassed that number beyond my wildest dreams. I reset my goal for 100, but I’m currently sitting at 90 and I think I’ll easily be able to hit that new number. However, I’m going to make another goal to at least read these 10 books before the end of the year:

Legendary by Stephanie Garber – Sitting on my shelf…mocking me. I will get to it this year!

Order: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – This was on my year TBR so I better finish it before the end of the year!

Order: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook

Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell – Just got this one from B&N. I’ve loved all of Gladwell’s books so I’m especially excited for this one!

Order: Hardcover | eBook

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern – Preordered! So pumped. I LOVED The Night Circus and this book just sounds AMAZING. I never preorder (because $$$) but I made an exception with this one (and I had a gift card).

Preorder: Hardcover | eBook

Bad Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett – I’m hoping to get to this one next month! I’ve got it on my Kindle ready to go.

Order: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook

Queen of Nothing by Holly Black – I read a ton of Holly Black when I was in junior high and I’ve reinstated my status of Holly Black trash recently (see below). No one does faeries better!

Preorder: Hardcover | eBook

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black – **Shrugs**

Order: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater – I started this one so long ago and haven’t gotten around to finishing it. I want to finish it before the end of the year!

Order: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook

The Umbrella Academy vol 3: Hotel Oblivion by Gerard Way – SO PUMPED FOR THIS.

Preorder: Paperback | eBook

Runaways vol 4: But You Can’t Hide by Rainbow Rowell – I recently got back into Runaways. I read the originals way back when they came out and I’ve been pretty happy with this reboot. The Hulu show is trash though.

Preorder: Paperback

What are some books you’re hoping to read before the end of the year?

19 Best Book Deals for 9/21/19: Fat Girl Walking, Reaper Man, Strange the Dreamer, and more

Book Deals

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

The Accidental Life Swap by Jennifer Joyce

Less than $2

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

Fat Girl Walking by Brittany Gibbons

Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation by John Freeman

The Noble Servant by Melanie Dickerson

Revolution Sunday by Wendy Guerra

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount

Talon by Julie Kagawa

Less than $3

Chaos by Patricia Cornwell

A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead

The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt by Eleanor Roosevelt

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Loving vs. Virginia by Patricia Hruby Powell

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Recommended from this post:

22 Best Book Deals for 9/12/19: And the Mountains Echoed, Anna Karenina, Sadie, and more

Book Deals

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

Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau

Pines by Blake Crouch

The House by Christina Lauren

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

The Light Between Worlds by Laura E Weymouth

How to Be Second Best by Jessica Dettman

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Talon by Julie Kagawa

The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Less than $3

Mud, Sweat, and Tears: The Autobiography by Bear Grylls

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert

The Heartbreak Cure by Amanda Ashby

Sadie by Courtney Summers

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Archenemies by Marissa Meyer

The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

Heartburn by Nora Ephron

Recommended from this post:

Not as bad as April, but still so busy | May Wrap-Up & TBR Update

Today is my last day working at the library. It’s super bittersweet. On one hand, I’m looking forward to living in a new place and spending more time with my baby, but on the other hand, I’ve really loved my job. As we get ready to actually move, I probably won’t be on here a ton, but I hope to still be reading in between packing boxes. Hopefully the rest of this Summer is a little calmer!

monthly tbr

Also read/reading:

Books finished this month: 9
Books currently reading: 1

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of May = 466
Books added to TBR = 14
Books read/deleted from TBR = 20
Total on TBR now = 460

How did your reading go this month?

Here’s hoping this month is a little less hectic | May TBR

As most of you might have seen, April was pretty rough for me. I have one more wedding tomorrow, but after that the rest of the month should hopefully be pretty clear. Theoretically that should be the case, anyway.

monthly tbr

So there we go. Let’s see how May goes!

What books are you planning on reading this month? Link your May TBRs in the comments!

April: the month that almost killed me [Monthly Wrap-Up & TBR Update]

Okay, so my title is a little dramatic, but this month was seriously ROUGH. I’m not quite done with everything (I’ve got one more wedding this Saturday), but I’m hoping after that I’ll have even just a millisecond to relax. My reading went completely off the rails this month. I discovered a free game on my phone so…there went that free time (it’s called Two Dots if you’re wondering). I just read a bunch of random stuff and almost nothing that I’d planned on. Oh well.

monthly tbr

Also read/reading:

Books finished this month: 7 (3 DNF)
Books currently reading: 3

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of April = 449
Books added to TBR = 22
Books read/deleted from TBR = 5
Total on TBR now = 466

How did your reading go this month?

April TBR

March was an AMAZING reading month for me and I’m not expecting to have the same thing happen this month. There are, however, a few things that I NEED to read this month, so I’ll be prioritizing those things.

monthly tbr

Honestly, I doubt that I’ll get to all of these, but I’m going to try!

What books are you planning on reading this month? Link your April TBRs in the comments!

March Wrap-up & TBR Update

YOU GUYS. I had such a good reading month! I’m blown away by how much I was able to read. Not only did I complete my entire TBR (which never happens) but I read other books in addition! Now, a lot of these were graphic novels which read much quicker, but even with all of those, this has still been my biggest reading month for a while!

monthly tbr

Also read/reading:

*I didn’t review each of the Lumberjanes volumes individually, instead, I wrote this Lumberjanes overview.

Books finished this month: 20 (11 graphic novels)
Books currently reading: 3

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of March = 444
Books added to TBR = 23
Books read/deleted from TBR = 18
Total on TBR now = 449

How did your reading go this month?

Top 10 finished series | Binge away!

Who else loves a good series binge??? One of my favorite things to do is to jump immediately from one book to the next in a series. No waiting, no forgetting who characters are or what happened to them. Just reading. So here are some of my favorite series that you can just BINGE.

Binge-able Series

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys; The Dream Thieves; Blue Lily, Lily Blue; The Raven King

Why I loved it: Great characters, magic, treasure/scavenger hunt, deliciously evil antagonists

Wolf by Wolf duology by Ryan Graudin

Wolf by Wolf; Blood for Blood

Why I loved it: Motorcycle race!, alternate history, STRONG female lead

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Cinder; Scarlet; Cress; Winter

Why I loved it: Strong women in typically “male occupations”, swoony romances, sassy robots, fairytale retellings

Crazy Rich Asians trilogy by Kevin Kwan

Crazy Rich Asians; China Rich Girlfriend; Rich People Problems

Why I loved it: SO MUCH DRAMA, some really likable characters, the food descriptions, depictions of extremely extravagant lifestyles

Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke & Bone; Days of Blood & Starlight; Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Why I loved it: Fascinating magic concept, fantastic world building, star-crossed lovers, beautiful writing, EVIL VILLAIN

Inkworld trilogy Cornelia Funke

Inkheart; Inkspell; Inkdeath

Why I loved it: Super readable, great characters, watching Maggie grow up

Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows; Crooked Kingdom

Why I loved it: Heists!, complicated relationships, great friendships, worldbuilding

Finishing School series by Gail Carriger

Etiquette & Espionage; Curtsies & Conspiracies; Waistcoats & Weaponry; Manners & Mutiny

Why I loved it: Great group of girlfriends, secret floating spy school, Sooties and Picklemen

The Madman’s Daughter trilogy by Megan Shepherd

The Madman’s Daughter; Her Dark Curiosity; A Cold Legacy

Why I loved it: Science-minded female protag, gothic classic retellings

Monsters of Verity duology by Victoria Schwab

This Savage Song; Our Dark Duet

Why I loved it: Monsters, broody violin player, tough-as-nails female protag, not-so-happy ending

What are some of your favorite finished series? Let me know which ones I should binge in the comments!

7 best YA couples of all time (this is completely subjective)

My little brother’s getting married today! Obviously, I’m not writing this on his wedding day, though. Like a good blogger, I have pre-scheduled content for this weekend including yesterday’s review of Bloodwitch. But I’m getting away from myself. In honor of my baby brother’s wedding day, I wanted to post my top 7 (he was born on the 7th) YA couples of all time! (In my opinion). Happy wedding day, B! (He doesn’t read this blog, but whatever).

Best YA Couples

1) Amy and Roger from Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

This is such an ultimate road trip book and I love it! Roger is super respectful of Amy the entire trip and when they finally get together it’s so satisfying. I love all the different playlists throughout and it’s so fun to watch them get to know each other and fall in love.

eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

2) August and Kate from the Monsters of Verity duology by Victoria Schwab

These two never really get together, but I still love them as a couple. I feel like they’re really well-suited for each other–I have a hard time imagining anyone else being able to understand either of them. They just seem really perfect.

eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

3) Blue and Gansey from The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue and Gansey spend so much time in this series not actually together and while it can be frustrating at times, it also makes their inevitable relationship that much more satisfying. We know they’re fated to be with each other right from the beginning and I loved watching their relationship grow over the four books.

eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

4) Dario and Khalila from The Great Library series by Rachel Caine

These two! What a pair! Dario is so ridiculous, but he shows an unexpected tender side whenever Khalila is involved. And Khalila, for her part, doesn’t put up with any of Dario’s crap. She loves him, but she’s not going to let him get away with ANYTHING.

eBook | Paperback

5) Eril-Fane and Azareen from the Strange the Dreamer duology by Laini Taylor

I almost chose Lazlo and Sarai from this book, but then I remembered Eril-Fane and Azareen. While Lazlo and Sarai have a sweet new love, Eril-Fane and Azareen have a deep and tragic love. Reading about their relationship throughout the two books is so heartbreaking. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I love the way this mature relationship is portrayed in these books.

eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

6) Cress and Thorne from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

One of my OTPs. These guys are definitely perfect for each other. They compliment each other so nicely and I love how tender Thorne is with Cress. She needs someone who will be gentle with her, but also acknowledge all the ways in which she is strong–Thorne is able to do that perfectly.

eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

7) Remy and Dexter from This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

You knew there was going to be a Sarah Dessen couple on here, right?!? I wanted to pick Macy and Wes so bad, but in the end I had to go with Remy and Dexter. They are the ultimate example of opposites attracting. I love the way Dexter brings out the less serious side of Remy while Remy does a good job of being an anchor to the relationship.

eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

Any of your guys’ favorite couples make it on my list? Anyone you think I missed?