Top 5 Books I Want to Read Before 2019

This week’s Top 5 is perfect since I actually wanted to post a similar topic before the year ends and November is a great month to post this.

The topic is very self explanatory, these are the books I want to read before the year ends. You would have seen most of these books on my previous TBRs, but these are books that I’ve been putting off most of the year. I’ve been having a bad reading year and I’m ready to get this year over.

Anyways, here is my list:

So that’s my list of books that I want to get through before 2018 is finished. Most likely this will also be my TBR for December. I want to focus on series that I’ve already started and try to finish as many series as I can. Unfortunately, I started a lot of series this year and wasn’t able to get to books from series I’ve started already. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to check this off from my list this year.

 

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Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Rating: 3.5/5

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: 

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

REVIEW: I decided to pick this book up because I’ve heard nothing but good things about the series, therefore, I had high expectations for it, which I think is one of the worst things I can do to a book. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan of the story. I wasn’t really sure what the book is about, but I know that it’s about children who came back from adventures from another world. I also know that there is a mystery involved. I just didn’t realize that the book was less magical than what I was expecting.

I guess this is the reason why this is the story of those who came back from such magical places. The author really can’t include such magical aspects in the regular world, since the children are trying to “recover” from such adventures. I just wasn’t expecting such magic-less story.

For me, I feel that these children are actually in a ‘special’ house that helps with their psychological problems. Since the magical element is non existent, I felt that that these children didn’t really travel in another world, but rather they experience a traumatic event that made them create a world that would make them safe. I think I’ve been reading too many thrillers.

What I did enjoy about the book is the mystery. It was really interesting and I love how the children solved it. It’s a bit cliche, and the ending is very redundant, but I still enjoyed it. I enjoy how McGuire is able to create such vivid characters and places with such a short story. I did enjoy the characters that she introduced in this first book, and she’s able to make us attached to characters, even those that didn’t have a lot of page time. I’m not 100% sure if I’m going to be picking up the next book, but we’ll see.

*******************SPOILER: THE ENDING WILL BE REVEALED***********************

ENDING: It was Jill. Kinda saw that coming. Did you?

 

Readathons November 2018 TBR

Sorry, I’ve been MIA for the past few weeks, I’ve been dabbling with Youtube and it’s been taking a lot of my time. I think I’m able to manage my time a bit more wisely now, with posting my blogs for Mondays and Wednesdays and posting on Youtube on Thursday. Unfortunately I’m not doing Booktube, but maybe in the future I will.

Anyways, this month I decided to participate in two Readathons, unfortunately they overlap with each other. I will be participating in Lalathon, hosted by Lala and Borrowathon hosted by Rmfickfack. Lalathon will be running from November 1-10 and Borrowathon will be running from November 4-11. Hopefully, I’ll be able to read some books for both readathon.

Here are the specifics for both readathon.

Lalathon: November 1-10

I’m a follower of Kayla from Book and Lala from Youtube. I enjoy most of the books she recommends, so when this readathon came out I thought it was perfect for me. Basically this readathon is reading books from Lala’s favorites. There are a few things that she has on her list that I really want to get into, but still haven’t gotten around to it.

Here is the book I’m planning on reading:

Borrowathon: November 4-11

This readathon is one that I actually try to participate in when it happens. I think it’s a perfect way to encourage people to use their libraries a lot more often. Basically the concept of this readathon is to read books that has been borrowed from your library or anywhere you can borrow books.

Here are the challenges for this readathon.

1. A Book you think you’re going to love
2. A 2018 Release
3. A Book with 150 pages or less
4. A Book with a name of an animal in the title
5. A Book you’ve never heard of
6. Read a book that features a library

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to finish all these challenges, since I am trying to do both readathons. I’ve decided to pick books from Lala’s favorites that I don’t own so that I can borrow it from my library. So it’s a win win situation. Since the challenges are optional I can do either one or two of the challenges.

Here are the books that I’m planning on reading:

I’m also planning on reading a graphic novel for the third challenge.

So that’s it for my TBR for the readathons. I still haven’t posted my wrap-up and TBR but will do so if not this week, maybe next.

Spookathon 2018 Wrap-up

Last week, the annual Spookathon started and Sunday was the last day to finish reading your books for the readathon. I think I did fairly well since I was able to complete most of the challenges. The only thing I wasn’t able to finish was the book that the group read, hence purple book was the challenge I wasn’t able to complete. I was planning on reading Toil and Trouble, the only problem is that my bookstore sold out of the book and it was pretty late for me to order it. Totally bad planning on my part, I just never knew it would be sold out so fast

Anyways, here are the books I read for the readathon.

Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco – Rating 4/5

I enjoyed the first novel of this series, Chasing Jack the Ripper, and decided to pick this up just for the readathon. I’m really glad that I did because I enjoyed this novel a lot more than the first. I love the setting and the whole mystery that Audrey Rose and Thomas had to solve. This was a great read for October and the topic is pretty much on the level of Halloween. I would have enjoyed it more if Maniscalco went into more depth on Dracula’s history, but then I think the novel would have been too long. I can’t wait to see what adventure Audrey Rose and Thomas gets into in the next novel.

The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld – Raiting 4/5

I’m quite surprised that I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, considering the topic is really not one that I gravitate towards. I’ve read my fair share of thrillers and none of them has received a rating this high. I think the main reasons why I enjoyed it so much because (1)the author did a great job in switching from one POV to the other, (2)it’s actually written well and (3)we actually get a protagonist that is reliable. I find that most thriller novels, with a female protagonists, are always unreliable and carries excess baggage. Although, Naomi does have few skeletons in her closet, I find that she’s a great protagonist and uses her difficult past to her advantage rather than letting it get her emotionally drained. I actually didn’t know this is going to be a series, but I’m glad because I want to read more from this author.

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So that’s it for this years Spookathon Readathon for me. I was so close, and get no cigar. Hopefully, next year will be my year!

 

Spookathon 2018 TBR

It’s that time of the year again, when Spookathon is happening!

Every year I participate in this readathon and every year, I tend to not ‘pass’, this year, however, It’s my goal to check off each and every challenge in the readathon. If you are not familiar with this readathon, basically its hosted by Kayla, from Books and Lala; Shannon, from Bookerly; and instead of Paige this year, its going to be Peter from Peter likes Books. Basically, the readathon is all about reading thrillers. As usual there are challenges for the readathon, but you don’t necessarily need to do them if you don’t want to.

Anyways, the readathon will be from September 15-21 and the challenges are:

1. Read a thriller
2. Read a book with purple on the cover
3. Read a book not set in the current time period
4. Read a Book with a Spooky word in the title
5. Read a book with Pictures

Every year, they usually pick a book that all three hosts will read and they will have a live discussion about it at the end of the readathon. This year’s pick is:

I’m actually going to be trying to read this book. Since it is an anthology, I think it will be an easy read. It was also brought to our attention that this book basically covers 4 of the 5 challenges, so if you’re thinking of participating, but feel that you won’t be able to finish all the challenges, at least this book will give you four challenges.

As for the rest of my TBR, I’m debating on which one to get to.

I know for sure I will have to read The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld for my Thriller challenge, but I’m still debating on the other three. I really want to get to all of them, but still hesitant to choose for sure what I will be reading. I guess we’ll find out at the end of the week!

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So that’s it for my Spookathon TBR, can’t wait to get started!

 

Top 5 ‘Favourite’ Villains

This week’s Top 5 is all about the villains. I guess its fitting during Halloween, because we tend to think of the ‘bad guys’ during this time of the month.

My favorite kinds of villains are the sickly sweet outer persona, but totally demented and evil deep within. I think that’s why Dolores Umbridge works so well. She has this characteristic of a tame, sweet woman, but really inside she’s just as twisted as Voldemort. These villains are definitely not redeemable, and I really can’t say they’re my ‘favorite’, but these are the type of villains that I feel causes more of an impact.

I won’t go into details on how much of a ‘bad guy’ each antagonists are, but know that they have similar trend of portraying a person of goodwill, but in reality, they are the opposite.

For some of these books, it’s not technically the main antagonist that I talk about, since you know that they’re the villains of the story, but rather I focus more on those characters that passes the majority of the readers scrutiny. In Diabolic, I’m actually referring more to the husband and wife within the emperor’s circle. I won’t really give much away, since it will give too much away of the story. Similarly, I Hunt Killers’  villain is not one that you would expect. One must read the whole trilogy in order to understand fully the extent of its craziness. Definitely one that is worthy of this list. However, these other books does not hold a candle to Far, Far Away. Definitely, the epitome of sickly/sweet/twisted character that you would encounter in a novel (let’s just say modern books, since I haven’t read a lot of classical novels). Such an amazing read, not really the most fast paced, but its a worthy read, especially for those who enjoy mystery with substance.

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So that’s it for my Top 5 this week. Let me know if you have any recommendations on sickly/sweet/twisted villains out there. OH and honorable mention goes out to Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige.

 

Audiobooks I want to listen to + Scribd

I’ve listened to my fair share of audiobooks and even posted about my favorite audiobooks, but recently I’ve been neglecting audiobooks altogether since I have tons books on my TBR and my library takes forever with this form of media, sometimes it would take months for my audiobooks to come. I was thinking of subscribing to Audible, but for $15 a month for one book seems a bit much, especially if I don’t know I will enjoy the book to begin with. Finally, thank goodness for Scribd.

I heard about Scribd from Books and Lala, and I think it’s an amazing idea. Basically, it has similar concept as audible, but for a cheaper price. I admit the selections are not as broad as Audible, but it still does have a lot, and I mean a lot of audiobook (and books as well). Like I said, I haven’t really been with it for that longs, so I’m not 100% sure the ins and outs of the company, but for $8.99 (cdn) and unlimited audiobook (yes, UNLIMITED) I’m willing to check it out. Plus, your first 30 days is FREE. I’m not sponsored by Scribd, just trying to spread the word because I think it’s an amazing deal for readers.

Anyways, here are the top 5 books I want to listen to on Scribd by the end of this year.

Most of these books I actually own, except for Sadie and Thunderhead, but I heard that Sadie has a full cast audiobook and I’m really excited to check it out.

I’m really excited for this concept since I don’t think any book company has ever offered such a great deal. Please check it out and follow the link to Lala’s channel subscribe to Scribd from her channel to help her receive a little commission (No, I’m not being sponsored by her either, just free advertisement for her since she has such a great Youtube Channel).

Please, please let me know if you have any audiobook recommendations so I can check it out!