Monthly Archives: November 2015

November Recap||December TBR.

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It kind of feels like November just started, but here we are at the end. I know I sound like a broken record here, but it’s crazy how fast this year flew by. It’s hard to believe that December is almost here! November was a pretty bad month for me as far as reading goes. It was almost non-existent. I actually did not even listen to any audiobooks that I actually finished all the way through! I was in this huge reading slump and that really affected my reading.

Let’s get into the recap! You can find a full list of these books and the other books I read this year over here. All will be linked to Goodreads below and I will also link to individual blog posts for them if I did a review.

DNF (did not finish) Books:
These are the books I started, but did not end up finishing throughout the month of November.

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Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
I got half way through the audiobook, but then decided to not finish it. My mind was just not into it at the time and I had no idea what was going on. I do plan to pick it up again, but I’ll probably read it myself versus doing audiobook again.

Physically Read Books:
These are the books that I read by myself (aka not audio) throughout the month of November.

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Fablehaven by Brandon Mull – 3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS – REVIEW.
I borrowed this one from my sister, because she loved the series a lot. I also seen the cover floating around on Goodreads as well. It was enjoyable, but it didn’t blow me away. Check out my review for more!

Butter by Erin Jade Lange – 4 OUT OF 5 STARS – REVIEW.
I enjoyed Butter a lot and even though at times it was hard to read, it was a really well written book. I was rooting for Butter the entire time and I really enjoyed his character. Check out my review for more!

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer – 3 OUT OF 5 STARS
I liked this book, but I didn’t like it better than Cinder. I really enjoyed the new characters Wolf & Thorne, but I was not sold on Scarlet. I could not connect with her. I found it a little difficult to get through her scenes in the book versus the scenes with Cinder. It took me almost the entire month just to finish it, because I was bored the majority of the time.

December TBR:
These are the books that I hope to read in the month of December.

I am not very good at sticking with TBR lists when I make them. I usually just grab what I feel like reading and see what happens. In November I was hoping to finish the Lunar Chronicles series, but with this reading slump I was in, I sadly didn’t not get to do that. Looks like they will be working their way into my December TBR then!

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Cress by Marissa Meyer
Fairest by Marissa Meyer
Winter by Marissa Meyer

Some others on my TBR aside from the Lunar Chronicles:

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Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom
Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

The Novl sent me an ARC of Wolf by Wolf, so I want to read it. I know the book is already out there in the world though, but I still would like to read the ARC and put up a review since they were kind of enough to send it to me. They also sent me Not If I See You First, so I want to read that as well and get a review up. Firsts is released the first week of January, so I want to get that read in December and get my review up. If I have any time left over to read more then I will hopefully read Carry On, which I am dying to read!

I am being pretty optimistic here, to be honest. I do really want to read all of these books, so hopefully I can make it happen. I still feel kind of slumpish, which is why I didn’t (and won’t) be finishing Cress this month. I started it on Tuesday, but only read 60 pages since then. I am going to try not to be hard on myself if I don’t read all of these books though. I always feel guilty if I don’t read and that takes the fun out of it!

What did you read in November? What do you plan to read in December? Have you read any of these? Let me know and link me to your recaps and TBRs!

Here are some of my recent posts linked below:
November Book Haul.
Friday Finds.
Seasons of Book Blogging.

I hope you have a great day! 🙂

ashleybrown

 

Friday Finds #38.

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FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased). Hosted by A Daily Rhythm. *All linked to Goodreads*

Hi 🙂

It’s the day after Thanksgiving and OMG I may slightly regret eating so much! I was able to go to Thanksgiving at the boyfriend’s parents’ this year and that was nice! We don’t always get to make it over there for holidays or very much at all, because our work schedules are complete opposites, so we don’t have days off together. 😦 It was nice getting to go this year! If you celebrate Thanksgiving in November, I hope you had a great time! If you don’t, I really hope you had an awesome Thursday!

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I was able to meet and hangout with Shelbie from Lu-Lu’s Rants & Reads while I was in town visiting the boyfriend’s parents! That was a lot of fun! We had a Target/Starbuck’s date. We both really love Target, so it was perfect meeting up there! I’m glad we’ve been able to become really good friends this year! I definitely can’t wait to see her again soon!

Target Selfie. Shelbie & I.

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Onto my Friday Finds! I actually have some books to share that I added to my Goodreads TBR this week. I know I haven’t been adding that many books the last few months.

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The Return of the Witch by Paula Brackston
Riders by Veronica Rossi
Love and other Alien Experiences by Kerry Winfrey
November 9 by Colleen Hoover
Troublemaker by Leah Remini
The Coming of the Terraphiles by Michael Moorcock

I am so stoked that there is a sequel to The Witch’s Daughter! I loved that book so much and I can’t wait to get my hands on The Return of the Witch. I never liked The King of Queens show, but I love Leah’s reality show on TLC. She and her family are so hilarious and I can’t wait to read her book. The others all sound so good as well! 😀

Have you added any new books to your TBR? Let me know and link me to your posts! 

Sunrise on the way home this morning.

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I may do a picture post of other pictures I took while I was gone and over the last month soon. I haven’t shared any in awhile; if you have me on Instagram, then you’ve seen them all. 😛

I hope you have a great weekend! ❤

ashley2

Tag||Seasons of Book Blogging.

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Hi! 🙂

I was tagged by Joey from Thoughts and Afterthoughts and Aimal from Bookshelves & Paperbacks to do the Seasons of Book Blogging tag. Thanks for tagging me! It was originally created by Jordyn from J. Bookish. It defintely looks like a fun tag, so before I start, here are the rules!

  1. Thank the creator and the individual who tagged you
  2. Begin with the month in which you have been tagged and move forward from there
  3. State the best gift you’ve received after answering the prompt on your birthday month
  4. Tag anyone

November.
…is the month when we’re reminded of how much we have to be thankful for. Choose one book you’re grateful for having read and give a shout-out to the person who recommended it!

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I am going with The Hunger Games for this one, because it’s the one that jump started my love for reading. I used to only stick to non-fiction, but once I read this book I started to read everything and anything! I don’t think I would be this big into reading had I never given this book a chance.

December.
…is a time when friends and families come together and celebrate. Name one book you would give as a gift.

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I would give The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness as a gift. I am always trying to get everyone to read that book. It makes both a not so good gift (omg the emotional rollerc oaster) and then it makes it an good gift, because the book is hands down amazing.

January.
…begins a new year. Name a resolution you made this year and if you’ve kept it or not!

Honestly, I never make any resolutions. I don’t want the pressure of having to accomplish them and then the big let down at the end of the year if I don’t. I am mostly an in the moment type person and just live my life accordingly. I try not to dwell on things or let things get me down. I’m a lot happier for it, so no resolutions for me. I did tell myself that I would start actually making stuff (food, crafts, etc.) that I pin on Pinterest, but that rarely happened this year, haha.

February.
…is the month for relationships. Name your favorite book relationship: romantic, platonic, or familial, your choice!

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Maddy and Olly from Everything, Everything. I love Maddy and Olly’s characters, especially them together. They are so cute together and I am so glad I was able to read this book and experience the amazing-ness of the book, Maddy, and Olly!

March.
…is the month for luck and new beginnings. Name a book/series you would like to re-experience as if you’d never read it.

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Hands down the Jasper Dent series! I loved the series so much. It was so different, insane, and so much fun to read. I would love to re-experience again as if I never read it. Constantly being on the edge of your seat, trying to guess what is going on, and constantly being shocked and surprised!

April.
…is a spectacularly ordinary month. Name a book that was so over-hyped that it just could not live up to your expectations

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Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass. Everyone loves that book so much, but I just did not get why at all. I was bored to death the majority of the time. It took me almost a month to finish it and I didn’t start to actually enjoy it until it was almost finished (last 150 pages). I may try to read the next book in the series though, because everyone SWEARS it gets better. We’ll see about that…

May.
…is the month when the flowers start to bloom. Name a book that was a pleasant surprise to you.

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After the End by Amy Plum. I honestly had no idea if I would like this book and I was kind of nervous about it, because it didn’t have the best Goodreads rating. I ended up loving that book SO SO much and it got a 5 out of 5 stars from me! I can’t wait to read the second book.

June.
…is the time to take a break. Name a book or genre that you like to read when you just need to check out.

Honestly, if I need to check out…I go to the television. I have a TON of TV shows that I watch and my DVR is always full, because I usually read or mess around on my phone and don’t watch them. So I will usually go to the TV. Some of my favorite TV shows are Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sleepy Hallow, Orphan Black, and of course gotta love Judge Judy and Judge Mathis. 😛

July.
…is the time to celebrate your independence! Name a book that made you see fireworks.

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I am going to go with Shattered Blue by Lauren Bird Horowitz. I read that book this year and loved it so much. That ending was a complete shocker! One minute you’re like this is cool and then BOOM! OMG craziness! It was definitely a WOW moment for me in the book and when I look at fireworks I’m always thinking “wow”!

August.
…is the hottest month of the year. Pick an up-and-coming author that you think will be the next hottest thing.

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I think Victoria Aveyard will be the next hottest thing. I loved Red Queen so much and I was so surprised by it. I think the next book in the series is going to be just as amazing and I am so stoked about it!

September.
…is time for students to go back to school! Pick a book you read for school that you actually enjoyed.

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Lord of the Flies! I wasn’t that big into reading when we had to read this for school, but I actually really enjoyed it so much and I always aced all my tests and homework on it! I really want to do a reread of that book next year.

October.
…is time to celebrate Halloween! Pick one character that you would love to dress up as.

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I’ll go with Feyre again from A Court of Thorns and Roses. That outfit she has on on the book cover is pretty freaking amazing!

I tag:

Shelbie @ Lu-Lu’s Rants & Reads
Maren @ The Worn Bookmark
Yvo @ It’s All About Books
Amy @ Book Enthral
Kayla @ Bookedsolid1989
Josie @ Josie’s Book Corner
Claire @ Art and Soul

And of course YOU, if you want to do this tag! 😀 Feel free to ignore if you have already done it or you’re not interested! Link me to your posts, so I can check them out if you do want to do it.

Check out my November book haul linked down below in case you missed it! 🙂

Book Haul||November.

I hope you have a great day! ❤

ashley

Book Haul||November.

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Hi! 🙂

I can’t believe November is almost over! This month came and went pretty fast, which is so sad! In happy news though, I am here with my November book haul! To be honest though, I actually got a lot of these in the last few days of October, but since I had already done my October book haul I decided to include in November’s. I think I will get right into my haul post!

Target.

I was planning on reading the entire Lunar Chronicles series in the month of November (more on that in my recap post next week). In order to do that, I had to buy the rest of the series! So that brings me to my Target book haul!

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Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Cress by Marissa Meyer
Winter by Marissa Meyer
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

I still need to pick up Fairest, but at the time that I bought Scarlet and Cress back in October; there weren’t any copies left. I also seen Illuminae at Target and I could not (would not) leave the store without it! It was staring at me and calling my name. The minute I let my hands touch it, I knew I was taking it home with me!

My copy of Winter has some awesome fan art on the inside cover!

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Book Outlet.

My Book Outlet order wasn’t expected to arrive until a few days into November, so when I received it on Halloween it was a nice little treat for me! No tricks for me that night!

I had a 15% off coupon and I honestly wasn’t even going to use it because I didn’t see too much that I was dying to have, but with seven hours left before it expired I ended up just doing it and got 6 books (five hardcovers, one paperback signed) for $20 including shipping. That is pretty amazing!

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Tandem by Anna Jarzab
Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay
Gated by Amy Christine Parker
The Midnight Witch by Paula Brackston
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

I did such an amazing job with this Book Outlet haul and it helped that I had that coupon. None of these books (besides Steelheart) was over $2.99 I believe! Steelheart was a little bit more because it was signed. I figured why not spend the $1.00 more for the signed copy versus the regular paperback. I read The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston and loved it, so I had to get The Midnight Witch. I also just recently found out a sequel to The Witch’s Daughter is coming out in March 2016! I am super excited about all of these others too, especially The Bone Season!

Gifted||OwlCrate.

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Not If I see You First by Eric Lindstrom
Soundless by Richelle Mead

I received Not If I See You First from The Novl and that was a nice little surprise! This is the second time in a row that I won a book from them! This (and the other from them) will probably be making it onto my December TBR. The book I got in my OwlCrate this month was Soundless. It’s a little hard to tell in the OwlCrate picture, but also included in the box are the following things:

Fairytale tea from Adagio Teas.
(this tea smells AMAZING & it’s the Sleeping Beauty one)
Castle locket necklace from The Geeky Cauldron.
Camp Half-Blood bracelet from The Colorful Geek.
Pocket mirror (mermaid) from My Clockwork Castle.

Here’s a slightly better picture of everything from my OwlCrate.

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Goodwill.

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Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

I was so excited when I found Eldest at Goodwill! A few months ago I was able to find Eragon at Goodwill too. So it’s nice that I now have books one and two! I also found the Order of the Phoenix and decided to get it. I don’t own the HP books, but I’m trying to collect the hardcovers from Goodwill (or any other thrift store). So far I just have the Sorcerer’s Stone and this one now. I really enjoyed the HP series this year, so I definitely want to own them and finding them randomly at Goodwill is always exciting and I only have to pay $1.50 a book versus getting them for so much more money brand new.

Have you read any of these books? What new books did you get this month? Let me know and link me to your book haul posts!

I did pretty good with not buying so much this month. Only six of these books I actually got in the month of November. The rest were left over from October, because I ended up buying more books after I posted my October haul, lol! I posted my e-book haul last Friday, so feel free to check that out! I’ll link it down below! 😀

E-Book Haul.

I’ll have my November recap post coming up soon and my December TBR. That’s all for this post! I mentioned in my last post that I might be a little bit silent since I’ll be gone for a few days and not have a computer with me. After work today I am off to Cape Coral for Thanksgiving! 😀

I hope you have a great day! ❤

ashley2

Thoughts||Butter.

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Butter by Erin Jade Lange
4 out of 5 stars.

“If you just stop expecting perfection from everyone and everything, you might see the good stuff outweighs the bad.”

Goodreads Description: A boy everyone calls “Butter” is about to make Scottsdale High history. He’s going to eat himself to death live on the Internet – and everyone will watch. He announces his deadly plan to an army of peers and expects pity, insults or even indifference. Instead, he finds morbid encouragement. When that encouragement tips the scales into popularity, Butter has a reason to live. But if he doesn’t go through with his plan, he’ll lose everything.

I’ve been in a bit (actually more than a bit) of a reading slump throughout this month, so I decided to give another book a chance and I actually flew threw this book in just a couple days! I never heard of this book, but I seen it floating around on my Twitter feed and it was only $1.99. The description instantly made me buy it, because it just sounded like something that was so out there and pretty insane.

I am first going to start off by saying that this book was downright sad and at times a little hard to stomach. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to like it or question it or how I was supposed to feel. Suicide is a really serious topic and this was so different. I was sad, I laughed, I smiled, I cried. I felt so many emotions while reading this book. I was rooting for Butter the entire time, because I felt like he deserved happiness. He was constantly struggling throughout the book, with his weight, and especially with this new “popularity” and with whether or not he was going to go through with this plan of killing himself on camera for everyone to see.

It was really sad and so morbid a lot of the time, especially with all of these supposedly “new friends” encouraging it. Butter was so wrapped around the fact that he had friends and was getting invited to things that he didn’t really take notice that the things going on really weren’t okay. There were some happy moments for Butter too, but when you really look at the bigger picture…they weren’t really that happy. In the moment they were, for him. It gave him something to want to live for, but then in the end he knows if he doesn’t go along with his plan to kill himself live for all to see, that none of those “friends” will be his friend. It was basically a lose/lose situation and the book was just so freaking sad!

Overall, as sad as this book was and as weird as it is to say this, I did enjoy it. I enjoyed Butter’s character, I was rooting for him the entire time. I felt like he deserved the world and some. I would recommend reading this book, but keep in mind that it isn’t completely the happiest book. I did cry quite a bit in different parts throughout the book.

“I came through the looking glass, but they were all still going mad at the tea party.”

Have you read Butter? If so, what did you think? Do you think you’ll be giving this book a chance?

I mentioned it quite a few times how this month hasn’t been good for me, but I was still able to do a few blog posts this last week! I’ll link them below and feel free to check them out! 🙂

Tag||Dim Sum. – A fun book tag! Feel free to do the tag too!
Friday Finds E-Book Haul. – My e-book haul for the month of November.
Top Ten Tuesday||Book Quotes. – Some of my favorite quotes from books that I read this year.

I may be a little bit silent this week, because I’m going away for a couple days for Thanksgiving. I won’t have a computer and just my cell phone. I’ll still be able to read blog posts and everything from my phone when I’m not too busy. I also have a couple more posts done already to post throughout the week. I’m leaving Tuesday night and it’ll be like a mini vacation, which is exciting! And hopefully I’ll be meeting Shelbie from Lu-Lu’s Rants & Reads! 🙂

I hope you had a great weekend and have a great Monday! ❤

ashley2

Tag||Dim Sum.

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The Dim Sum Book Tag is the brainchild of Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts and Jenna @ Reading With Jenna. Dim sum is a style of Chinese cuisine whereby food is served in small (tapas-like) portions and is common during yum cha (which literally means: drinking tea). This tag is inspired by good company and good eats.

Here are some rules to devour this tag:

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site
  2. Devour dim sum and answer the tag questions
  3. Tag five others to join your round table for some dim sum fun
  4. Food coma

Hi 🙂

I was tagged by Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts to do the Dim Sum Book Tag that he and Jenna created! Defintely check out both Joey and Jenna’s blogs! They two of my favorites! 🙂 I must make a little confession right now, I don’t believe I have ever had Dim sum before or if I did, I didn’t know what it was. BUT…that’s not going to stop me from doing this tag or going out and finding me some Dim sum afterwards! Shall I get started?

Tea: A book that started off hot but quickly turned cold

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City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I was really enjoying this book at the beginning and thought it was a lot of fun. It did get pretty weird at times though. It slowly started to go downhill for me. I believe I rated this 3 out of 5 stars. I thought it could have been a lot better. I did enjoy books 2-4 (with it slightly getting worse in book 4). I could say this entire series started off hot, but quickly turned cold. It went on three books too many.

Chiu Chow Dumpling: A book that features elements of land and sea

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Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo. This book has both land and sea, which I thought was really cool. I really enjoyed the beginning of the book with the little battle scene on the sea. That was really fun! Then they get back on land and things are about to go down….kind of. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Siege and Storm. It was still a pretty good book and it had both sea and land, so that was nice.

Rice Noodle Roll: A favourite multilayered character you’ve read (i.e. traits? skills? morally ambiguous?)

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Jasper from I Hunt Killers. He is very multilayered and sometimes hard to figure out, but he can read you like a book. He is definitely one of my all-time favorite book characters. He was raised by a serial killer, so he thinks like a serial killer. He’s also trying not to become a serial killer himself; so much going on with him and so much to uncover.

Shrimp Dumpling: A book with a transparent blurb that gives the story away

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I was really struggling with coming up with an answer for this book, so I am just going to go with The Selection by Kiera Cass. The description is pretty spot on with what exactly happens in the book. Girls compete in the hope to win the Prince’s heart and that’s pretty much exactly what happened. I did actually enjoy the series, aside from the main character America. I’m sure I have said a million times how much I didn’t like her though haha.

Steamed BBQ Pork Buns: A book that is fluffy on the outside but packs a punch of flavour (e.g. message? depth? controversy?)

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Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy. I thought Dumplin’ was definitely going to be a really fluffy read, but it ended up being quite different! Don’t get me wrong, it did have it’s cute little fluff worthy moments, but it really wasn’t overpowering. It really stayed true to being about Willowdean, her self-doubt in herself, and over coming it. There were times when I was looking at myself and even feeling a little bit like Willowdean. Hands down one of my favorite reads this year.

Chicken Feet: A book with divided opinions

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We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I’ve seen that pretty much everyone has loved this book so much and I really don’t understand why. I actually did not really like it much at all. It was a little too boring for me and for being so short, it could have actually been shorter and probably be a better book.

Lotus-Wrapped Sticky Rice:  A book you’ve received/given that was nicely packaged

I actually recently just received a hardcover of Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom from The Novl on Monday! It was definitely a surprise. 🙂 I believe this book is released December 1st.

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Egg Custard Tart: A book that uses simple ingredients and clichés but executes it perfectly

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Shadow and Bone by  Leigh Bardugo. The protagonist finding out they have a special power and having to be taken away from their normal life that they know and thrown into a whole other life. A little bit of a love interest/love triangle going on. I felt Leigh Bardugo did an amazing job with writing this book. Even though there were some cliches in it, it wasn’t torture to read like some others tend to be.

Mango Pudding with Evaporated Milk: Any book recommendation + beverage/snack that’s a winning combination

I’m going to have to go with Jenna and say Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. The snack being Oreos! Seee….I had Oreos when I read it too. 😛

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Fried Sesame Balls: A book cover with embossed text/design you just love to run your fingers over

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Hmm, so after going to my bookshelves and feeling all my books; I’ll have to go with Starters by Lissa Price. It has a embossed design in the background and title. I can’t wait until I finally read that one. I’m sure I won’t be able to keep my hands off it. 😛

Dim Sum Steam Cart: The type of carrying bag you use to bring books around (take a picture!)

I actually don’t use a bag to carry my books in, since I usually just have one book with me. I did recently get this awesome Divergent tote back in my September OwlCrate that I would use if I did use a bag to carry my books.

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I tag:

Maren @ The Worn Bookmark
Shelbie @ Lu-Lu’s Rants & Reads
Yvo @ It’s All About Books
Kayla @ Bookedsolid1989
Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books
Cristina @ My Tiny Obsessions

I also tag anyone else that wants to do this tag! I am now off to go find some Dim sum! 😀

ashleybrown

 

Friday Finds E-Book Haul.

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FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased). Hosted by A Daily Rhythm. *All linked to Goodreads*

 

Hi! 🙂

This isn’t the “typical” Friday Finds post for me, but I didn’t find any books this week to add to my Goodreads TBR, BUT I did find lots of e-books to add to my Kindle this month! Some of these I had on my Goodreads  TBR already and some I didn’t have on my Goodreads  TBR, but couldn’t pass up the good deals on them. All of these I got for $2.99-free.

Here is my e-book haul for the month of November.

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The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner
The Thickety: A Path Begins by J.A. White
Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly
Nowhere but Here by Katie McGarry
3:59 by Gretchen McNeil

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The End Games by Michael T. Martin
The Last of the Firedrakes by Farah Oomerbhoy
Mind Games by Kiersten White
Gone by Michael Grant
The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

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The Straw King by Danielle Paige
Butter by Erin Jade Lange
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I am really excited about all of these and I am even more excited that I got them all when they were on sale! I’m sure this won’t be the end of my e-book buying this month (lol), but I’ll save the rest for my November book haul post, which I will probably do next week.

Have you read any of these books? Have you added any new books to your TBR this week? Link me to your Friday Finds posts or let me know in the comments! Also, feel free on letting me know of any e-book deals going on that I don’t know about! 🙂

Sorry for my lack of posts and book reviews this month. I’ve had a pretty bad month when it comes to getting reading done. I only actually finished one book and half through three others, sigh. It has been tough getting into them this month and I don’t really want to force it and end up hating the books. Like with Scarlet. I mean, it’s okay, but I’m not blown away with it right now. I don’t want to completely hate it though, so I put it aside for now. Hopefully I’ll get it finished before the end of the month.

That all for this post. I hope you have a great Friday! 😀 Bye!

ashley

Top Ten Tuesday||Book Quotes.

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Quotes I Loved From Books I Read In The Past Year Or So.

Hi 🙂

I really don’t like the changes when creating a new blog post. It’s so annoying and the other one was so simple. Ugh. I’ve been pretty sick since Sunday night and it’s been the worst. I actually stayed home from work and that never happens. I’ve had this job for three years and I have only taken off one day out of three years of working there! I’m feeling slightly better, so that’s good. ANYWAY! Top Ten Tuesday time…

Here are the ten quotes from books that I read this past year that I love! This was not an easy post to do, because there are SO many quotes from books that I have loved so much!

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Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
“He talked about the ocean between people. And how the whole point of everything is to find a shore worth swimming to.”

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
“Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after.”

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
“This is why I forgive, but I don’t forget. When you forget someone, the forgiveness doesn’t mean anything anymore.”

After the End by Amy Plum
“Doubt everything at least once. What you decide to keep, you’ll be able to be confident of. And what you decide to ditch, you will replace with what your instincts tell you is true.” 

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
“Here’s what I think, I think maybe everybody falls. I think maybe we all do. And I don’t think that’s the asking. I think the asking is whether we get back up again.”

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Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
“I think you gotta be who you want to be until you feel like you are whoever it is you’re trying to become. Sometimes half of doing something is pretending that you can.”

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
“Life might be easier if you give in a little, but it’s better if you hold onto something so hard you can’t give it up.”

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
“Sometimes you do things for the right reasons and sometimes for the wrong ones and sometimes it’s impossible to tell the difference.”

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
“I do know enough to realize you cannot control the actions of others. You can only control what you do with yourself afterwards.”

Mosquitoland by David Arnold
“You spend your life roaming the hillsides, scouring the four corners of the earth, searching desperately for just one person to fucking get you. And I’m thinking, if you can find that, you’ve found home.”

What are some of your favorite quotes from books you read this year? Let me know and link me to your TTT posts! 🙂

I am going back to work today and it’s going to be super busy because I wasn’t there yesterday. I hope you have a great day! 😀

ashley2

Friday Finds# 36.

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FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased). Hosted by A Daily Rhythm. *All linked to Goodreads*

Hi 🙂

I haven’t really been finding too many books to add to my TBR so far this month and I honestly have been so busy with things going on in my life that I haven’t really been looking too hard. I’m also in this pretty big reading slump, which we all know is one of a bookworm’s worst nightmares! We’re almost halfway into the month of November and I only finished one book! UNACCEPTABLE! sigh. Let’s hope I can get rid of this reading slump ASAP!

Even though I haven’t been going book adding crazy to my TBR list, I was still able to add a couple to my TBR. Some is better than none, of course! Here are the two books that I added to my TBR this week.

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The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry
GOODREADS DESCRIPTION: Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves. Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start… until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau. Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.

22663633Hello? by Liza M. Wiemer
GOODREADS DESCRIPTION: One HELLO? can change a life. One HELLO? can save a life.

Tricia: A girl struggling to find her way after her beloved grandma’s death.
Emerson: A guy who lives his life to fulfill promises, real and hypothetical.
Angie: A girl with secrets she can only express through poetry.
Brenda: An actress and screenplay writer afraid to confront her past.
Brian: A potter who sets aside his life for Tricia, to the detriment of both.

Linked and transformed by one phone call, Hello? weaves together these five Wisconsin teens’ stories into a compelling narrative of friendship and family, loss and love, heartbreak and healing, serendipity, and ultimately hope. Told from all five viewpoints: narration (Tricia), narration (Emerson), free verse poetry (Angie), screenplay format (Brenda), narration and drawings (Brian).

Have you added any new books to your TBR this week? If so, let me know in the comments and link me to your posts! With my failed attempts at reading and adding books to my TBR, I would love to know what you’re reading and what you have added to your TBR! 😀

I am so stoked that it is Friday, because HELLOOOO WEEKEND! I hope you have a great Friday and so sorry that this wasn’t the greatest Friday Finds post! Reading slumps ruin everything for me and it’s also been so busy at work and other life things, sigh. Hopefully all this changes soon!

ashley

Random Happenings.

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Hi 😀

First off, I reached over 400 followers!

I am so thrilled by this, because I honestly had no idea what I was doing when I first started this blog. I am so excited that you enjoy reading my blog! I am always looking for new things to post too, so please feel free to let me know anything you’d like me to post about! THANK YOU SO MUCH! ❤ I am definitely looking forward to continuing with this blog and making more new friends!

I received this awesome letter and picture all the way from France from Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books in the mail yesterday! Thank you so much, Marie! I loved them so much! I am so glad we have become awesome friends this year!

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I am in this horrible reading slump! It’s already the 10th day into the month of November and I feel like I am failing at reading this month already, sigh. Everyone is SO excited about Winter and I am still on chapter two of Scarlet. I planned to binge read the series this month. I still plan to, but my progress is A LOT slower than I thought it would be!

I added all my new books to my book jar, so I am definitely going to get back to using that. I have gotten so many books this year and they just keep piling up and getting forgotten for others. I want to start reading those, so I think maybe once or twice a month I will use my book jar to determine one of the books I read. That way I can still read whatever I am in the mood for at the time and also read something that has been sitting on my shelves for awhile.

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There is this awesome statue type thing (it’s huge) being built near me and it’s a scene where Pegasus is stomping a dragon and it’s pretty much the coolest thing ever! I really can’t wait to see what this will look like when it’s complete. Maybe Percy Jackson isn’t too far behind? 😛 Here is what it looks like right now.

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Can we please talk about how ridculously fast this year went by? I can’t believe I am already seeing Christmas themed things EVERYWHERE. I’m not complaining too much, because I love this time of year. The weather is still ridiculously hot, but THANKSGIVING and CHRISTMAS! And food, and lights, and music, and Christmas trees! I do have a funny picture to share with you guys, but I’ll post it in December. THE SUSPENSE. 😛 Here is another funny picture though. Coca-Cola has been doing this “share a coke” thing where their soda bottles and cans have names on them. They are doing it again with Christmas themed things.

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This blog post wouldn’t be the same without furbaby pictures. I am obsessed with those guys. Dax is currently at the dog groomer getting a spiffy new haircut! He was in desperate need of one. ColbyJack is probably at home crying, because he’s always lost without his big bro Dax.

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I am super behind on all of my TV shows, which is kind of sad. I finally caught up with Doctor Who and OMG, this is seriously one of my favorite seasons. The Doctor is mentioning all these things that happened in so many past seasons and mentioning past companions too. ALL THE DAMN FEELS! Twelve is easily becoming my number one favorite, sorry Tennant…I STILL LOVE YOU LOTS! I still need to catch up on Sleepy Hallow and Once Upon A Time.

OH OH OH! I finished all of the Harry Potter movies for the first time. I don’t think I mentioned that I finished them. OMG, Deathly Hallows had me crying 15 minutes in, haha. Honestly, I loved the movies so much better than the books. The books were great, don’t get me wrong. I loved them, but I just enjoyed the movies so much more.

I’ve been caught up with Supernatural, because I watch that usually the same night it airs. I love my boys too much to abandon them for longer than a day. This season is SO good! I am really glad they are getting back into fighting more monsters and all of that again. Speaking of HP and Supernatural, look what I got!

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Tonight after work I am going to a Knuckle Puck show! This will be the fourth time seeing them! I love this band SO much, obviously LOL! I am excited to see them play some of their new songs! You should definitely check them out, especially if you’re into pop punk. They are playing with Seaway, which is awesome! 😀 super stoked!

I should probably get going now though. Lots to do today! Feel free to check out some of my recent posts I’ve done linked below in case you missed them.

Thoughts||Fablehaven.
Tag||Be Thankful Challenge.

I hope you guys have an amazing Tuesday!

ashley

Thoughts||Fablehaven.

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Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS.

“Smart people learn from their mistakes. But the real sharp ones learn from the mistakes of others.”

Goodreads Description: For centuries mystical creatures of all description were gathered into a hidden refuge called Fablehaven to prevent their extinction. The sanctuary survives today as one of the last strongholds of true magic. Enchanting? Absolutely. Exciting? You bet. Safe? Well, actually, quite the opposite. Kendra and her brother, Seth, have no idea that their grandfather is the current caretaker of Fablehaven. Inside the gated woods, ancient laws keep relative order among greedy trolls, mischievous satyrs, plotting witches, spiteful imps, and jealous fairies. However, when the rules get broken — Seth is a bit too curious and reckless for his own good — powerful forces of evil are unleashed, and Kendra and her brother face the greatest challenge of their lives. To save their family, Fablehaven, and perhaps even the world, Kendra and Seth must find the courage to do what they fear most.

Sometimes Fablehaven came up on my recommended books on Goodreads and I always thought the book cover looked so awesome and a little creepy! My younger sister (she’s really only a year younger than I am) actually has the entire series, so she let me borrow the first book. The book cover is sparkly and has colorful fairies on it! I borrowed this book back in September from my sister, so I decided to finally read it. Fablehaven is more of a middle grade book and it even had some pictures here and there of certain things in the book, which I thought was nice.

It took little bit for me to get into it and I’m sure that had everything to do with it being middle grade. I think if I was younger than I would have been all over it. It didn’t blow me away and I didn’t find it as amazing as my sister said it was. I did enjoy it though and thought it was a really fun read. I loved all the magical things and the fairies. It was written in a way that you could really seen Fablehaven in your mind and all the creatures that live there.

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Seth was a little bit too annoying for me and he was constantly breaking the rules and not listening. I found that super annoying, but to be honest, I find that annoying in real life with kids LOL. I’m SO old, haha. 😛 I liked Kendra and she was pretty much the opposite of her brother Seth. It was interesting that their grandpa left little clues for them in the hopes of them figuring out little things going on in Fablehaven.

There is a few little twists and surprises, which were nice. I was kind of thinking I was going to guess everything going on, because it was a middle grade book and I was sure I would figure it out. I didn’t, so that was nice! Overall, although it didn’t blow me away, I did really enjoy it and I really want to read the next book! I think as the series goes on it’ll get a lot better. I just have this feeling. I think because it was the first book, they were mostly just introducing Fablehaven and the entire mystical creature world. OH YEAH, one more thing…drink the milk.

Have you read Fablehaven? If so, what did you think? If not, do you think you will?

The weekend went by way too fast! Sigh. I am already ready for the weekend again. 😛 Hopefully this week is a good one! I know lately it’s been kind of stressful. I hope you have an amazing Monday! I am honestly not excited that it’s Monday.

The plus side; peppermint coffee!
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Side note: I am not a big coffee drinker, but I love peppermint anything. 😛

ashleybrown

Tag||Be Thankful Challenge.

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Hi! 🙂

I was tagged by Abi from FlickThrough to do the Be Thankful Challenge. Thank you, Abi for tagging me! And I am sorry it took so long to do it! The rules are pretty simple; I get to tell you five people I am thankful for and five things I am thankful for in 2015! With Thanksgiving approaching, this is definitely fitting!

Five people I am thankful for:

Picking just five is going to be hard…so please look past that it’s more than five, lol

Mom. I am forever thankful for my mom. It’s great that she’s always there for me when I need her. It’s fun spending the weekends laying on her couch watching the DIY channel with her. She’s always been there for me and I know she always will be. She is also my next door neighbor, so I can steal her food. 😛

Sisters, Niece, Nephew. I am thankful for my younger sister Stephanie and my older sister Colieta. They definitely mean the world to me. We are all so different from each other, but we always get along. More now that we are adults, lol. I know my younger sister and I had our good fights when we were kids! I am also so thankful for my niece Grace and my nephew Jackson. They can be a pain a lot of the time, but I love them to death.

Andy aka the boyfriend. This boy has put up with so much of my craziness over the last eight years and I am so thankful for him. This month will make eight years that we have been together and honestly, it feels like just yesterday. I know I am really difficult most of the time, but he puts up with it and still loves me. We are complete opposites, but we work perfectly together.

ColbJack & Dax aka the furbabies. These guys are seriously my best friends. I honestly don’t really have any friends and the majority of my time is spent with them. I would probably be even lonelier without them, haha. I do talk to them and I tell them a million times how cute they are and how much I love them. LMAO!

Shelbie. I have to add Shelbie into this post, because this year we have grown really close and I can now say I have a friend! LOL. We are almost the same person and it’s been fun getting to know her and I am definitely thankful for our new friendship! I am super stoked to meet her and hopefully SOON! OH, you should go check her blog out: Lu-Lu’s Rants & Reads.

Five things I am thankful for:

Books. DUH! I’ve always loved books, but this year I grew this entirely new love for them. I’ve also read (and listened) probably triple of what I have in past years this year, which is pretty amazing. Books are the perfect escape from your every day life and it’s always fun to live in someone else’s world for awhile.

Blogging. I started this book blog in January and it’s been an amazing journey! I am so thankful for all of the blogging community. It’s been fun sharing my thoughts on my favorite books and books I can’t wait to read. It’s been great reading your posts on your favorite books and books you can’t wait to read! It’s been so nice getting to know so many of you!

Goodwill. Thanks to my new bestie, Shelbie! Honestly, I haven’t went to Goodwill since I was a kid and my dad would drag my younger sister and I on the weekends. I didn’t really even think to go to Goodwill for books. I found some amazing books at Goodwill this year and it helped with not spending even more money on books! You’ll be surprised at what books you’ll find there! 😀

Orange Leaf. There opened up an Orange Leaf (frozen yogurt shop) right down the street from me. It’s literally walking distance. I’ve been going there SO much this year and have fallen in love with it. I think I would be heart broken if I ever had to give it up, hahah. It got to the point that I was going at least 2-3 times a week, LOL!

Music. Some amazing new albums from my favorite bands came out this year and still more to come. I am so thankful for my favorite bands, the music they make, and everything along with it! I am super stoked to be seeing Knuckle Puck for like the fourth time on Tuesday, lol! I am a huge pop punk fan, in case you didn’t know. “You grew from a seed. Forever strong as a pine tree. Always an evergreen.” –Evergreen by Knuckle Puck.

I want to tag everyone single one of you to do this tag, because I want to know who and what you’re thankful for this year! It’s also a nice way to get to know you guys even more! So please feel free to do this tag and link me to your posts, so I can check out your posts!

I hope you had a great weekend! ❤

ashleybrown

Friday Finds #35.

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FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased). Hosted by A Daily Rhythm. *All linked to Goodreads*

Hi!

I haven’t had a post since Tuesday, which is just insane! I’ve been reading slower than usual and I haven’t even finished one book this month yet, sigh. Slumpish? Yes… 😦 I’m about halfway through Fablehaven and it’s starting to get a lot better, so that’s good. It was a pretty slow start, but it’s also a middle grade book, so I’m sure if I was a middle schooler than I probably wouldn’t be feeling that way. I still like it though, especially now that it’s picking up!

Anyway, so that’s basically the reason for my lack of posts. I’m not reading books left and right, so I have nothing to review. I do have lots of tags/awards to catch up on though. I haven’t been adding that many books to my TBR and that brings me to my Friday Finds post. I haven’t added too many books to my TBR, but I do have five to share with you!

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Teen Frankenstein by Chandler Baker
Ruler of Beasts by Danielle Paige
Starflight by Melissa Landers
Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate
The Lost Girl by R.L. Stine

These are the books that I have added to my TBR over the last two weeks. Sad, I know. I seen Teen Frankenstein over on Netgalley and I am crossing my fingers I get approved for it; it sounds so good! Ruler of Beasts is a Dorothy Must Die novella and the cover is amazing! I wasn’t a fan of the last Novella “Heart of Tin“, but I am hoping this story is better! The Lost Girl is the third book in the Fear Street relaunch and I am excited! I have been really enjoying the relaunch of the series this year, so I can’t wait to read this one. Seven Ways We Lie and Starflight both sound like they are going to be really good reads.

Have you added any new books to your TBR? Let me know and link me to your posts! Definitely let me know though, because I am slacking in finding new books to read!

I am hoping to finish Fablehaven this weekend and do a quick post on that. I’m probably going to attempt Scarlet next, but I’ve been staring at my bookshelves and there are tons of books I really want to read and kind of more than Scarlet. We’ll see what happens once I finish my current read! I really do need to stop starting series and not finishing them. I’ve gotten so bad with that! I have a pages of proof on that!

Hopefully the rest of the month gets better, I mean it only just started, so plenty of time. I recently checked out the audiobook Seeing Redd from the library, which is the second book in the Looking Glass Wars series, so I may attempt to listen to that today. <– see another series unfinished haha. I read The Looking Glass Wars months ago. 😛 Well, I am off to work! HOORAY for Friday though!

I hope you have a great day!

ashley

Top Ten Tuesday||Debut Authors.

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Debut Authors Who Have Me Looking Forward To Their Sophomore Novel.

Hi! 😀

I read some really amazing books by some awesome debut authors this year and I can’t wait to see more from them! I don’t quite have 10 authors to share that I read this year, so I will also list a couple that I haven’t read yet, but am DYING to read their first book and hoping to fall in love with them and be looking forward to their sophomore novels.

2015 debut authors I read and loved:

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I am really stoked and looking forward to the sophomore novels from these authors! I know I will be auto-buying anything these authors put out. I enjoyed all of these books so much and can’t wait for more from them! Some are the first book in series, so you know I am dying to know what happens next in those. I highly recommend all of these books to everyone if you haven’t had the chance to check them out!

  • Becky Albertalli – Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda – If every book is as amazing as Simon vs. is then I will be one happy camper. This book had me laughing and smiling non-stop.
  • Lauren Bird Horowitz – Shattered Blue – Shattered Blue was so super amazing and OMG that twist at the end. I need MORE from Lauren as soon as possible!
  • I.W. Gregorio – None of the Above – I finished None of the Above in pretty much a day, because it was just so amazing and hard to put down.
  • Nicola Yoon – Everything, Everything – Everything, Everything was EVERYTHING! I stayed up so late finishing this book, because it just didn’t feel right going to sleep with it not finished. Hands down one of my favorites this year.
  • Victoria Aveyard – Red Queen – HOLY WOW! I loved Red Queen so much and it continued to shock me. I went through the emotions while reading this book.
  • Francesca Zappia – Made You Up – Magic eight ball says YOU NEED TO READ THIS NOW! Zappia did an amazing job with Made You Up and it’s another book that is hard to put down.
  • Sabaa Tahir – An Ember in the Ashes – AHHH! I lovelovelove Sabaa Tahir’s writing style and this story. It was everything I could ever want in a book and I need more ASAP!
  • Stephanie Tromly – Trouble is a Friend of Mine – Trouble is a Friend of Mine is one of the strangest and most hilarious books I have read this year. Digby definitely made this book what it was.

2015 authors I haven’t read, but really want to:

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I am really looking forward to reading these books and I have been all year. I’m actually pretty sad that I didn’t get to them at all this year, but hopefully I will soon! I am hoping I fall in love with them and the authors and hopefully be super stoked for their sophomore novels. I’ve heard nothing but good things about them! There are PLENTY more that I am DYING to read as well, so many more! They can be a list all on their own!

What are some debut authors that you have read? Have you read any of these? Let me know and link me to your TTT posts!

I still can’t believe that it’s November! Where did this year go? I’m pretty sure I went to sleep on January first and woke up and it was November. Or it could have been that I’ve had my nose in all of these books that the year flew by without my knowledge! In case you missed it, I put up my October recap post of all the books I read in October. Feel free to check that out over here.

I hope you have an awesome Tuesday!

ashley2

Recap||October.

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I can’t believe how fast October and Halloween flew by, but I am excited for Thanksgiving next! FOOOOD! 😛 I made this awesome Halloween TBR at the beginning of the month, but I only read three books that were on the list and a little bit of another. It was almost a complete fail, sadly! I was in a reading slump throughout the month of October, so I didn’t read as much as I was hoping. I was even slacking on the audiobooks as well! I’ve noticed that at the end of the year I always tend to read less. I think that maybe that has to do with reading so much throughout the year that I just get burned out and everything just starts sounding the same and losing my interest quick.

Let’s get into the recap! You can find a full list of these books and the other books I read this year over here. All will be linked to Goodreads below and I will also link to individual blog posts for them if I did a review.

DNF (did not finish) Books:
These are the books I started, but did not end up finishing throughout the month of October.

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Slasher Girls & Monster Boys

I didn’t get the chance to finish this book in October, but I do plan to eventually finish the book. I have read a few of the stories in the book so far and I have really enjoyed them all. It’s only a DNF, because I haven’t finished it in October and I might not finish it this year. There are a lot of books that I really want to read still this year, so I may put this to the side for a little while and focus on those others. I do want to finish it though, so it’s not at all because I don’t like it.

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Physically Read Books:
These are the books that I read by myself (aka not audio) throughout the month of October.

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siege and storm by leigh bardugo – 3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS.
I liked Siege and Storm and I am definitely a Leigh Bardugo fan. I did like Shadow and Bone a lot more than this one though. Sturmhond definitely made this book really good. I think it wouldn’t have been as good without him. I am really excited to finish the series and move on to Six of Crows!

the dead house by dawn kurtagich – REVIEW. – 2.5-3 OUT OF 5 STARS.
I had a hard time figuring out a rating for this book and honestly, I really didn’t like it that much. It actually put me into quite the reading slump in October, which sucked because I had so many books I wanted to read this month. It was interesting at times, but most of the time I was just soooo bored. It wasn’t as creepy as everyone said it was (in my opinion of course).

the hallowed ones by laura bickle – REVIEW. – 4.5 OUT OF 5 STARS.
The Hallowed Ones was such a great book, OMG! I had no idea what to expect, to be honest. It was a little bit of a slow start, but everything happening in the book definitely made up for that. It was SO good and I can’t wait to read the second book.

asylum by madeleine roux – REVIEW. – 4 OUT OF 5 STARS.
I enjoyed this book SO much! It was definitely creepy and had me creeped out and staying up late not being able to sleep! I loved the way that it was written and that there were pictures included. It’s always nice to have a visual to make things creepier.

cinder by marissa myer – REVIEW. – 4 OUT OF 5 STARS.
I finally got around to reading Cinder after two years of wanting to read it. I loved the book, but I figured Cinder out pretty quickly and that was a bit of a disappointment. I wanted to be surprised and shocked, but I wasn’t. I still really enjoyed the book and can’t wait to binge read the series in November!

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Audiobooks:
These are the books that I listened to the audio versions of throughout the month of October.

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harry potter and the deathly hallows by j.k. rowling – 4 OUT OF 5 STARS.
So sad to be finished with the Harry Potter series. 😦 I really enjoyed Deathly Hallows so much and it was pretty sad as well. I was definitely crying like a baby, haha. Prisoner of Azkaban will always be my favorite though and I couldn’t give this a five out of five stars, because I didn’t love it more than that one. I still have the movies to watch though and hopefully will have them all watched before this year ends; well before November ends.

don’t stay up late by r.l. stine – MINI REVIEW. – 3 OUT OF 5 STARS.
doll bones by holly black – MINI REVIEW. – 3 OUT OF 5 STARS.
stolen children by peg kehret – MINI REVIEW. – 4 OUT OF 5 STARS.
party games by r.l. stine – 3 OUT OF 5 STARS.
I really enjoyed all four of these books. I wanted to try to fit in some “Halloweenish” type audiobooks into the month of October, so these were my choices. They were all really good and I am glad I was able to listen to them. I love that R.L. Stine relaunched the Fear Street series and with new books! Both the books above from him are the first and second books in the Fear Street relaunch. All of these are good books and super short!

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For the month of November I don’t really have a big TBR planned this time. I plan to binge read the Lunar Chronicles series after I finish Fablehaven. I still need to get my hands in Fairest and of course Winter when it’s released. I also might try to squeeze in Carry On by Rainbow Rowell if I can. Other than that, I really have no idea what else I will read yet. I think I want to get back to using my TBR jar like I mentioned before. I’ve had books sitting on my bookshelves and Kindle for such a long time and I want to get to reading those and my TBR jar will help with that.

How was your reading month for October? Have you read any of these books? Let me know in the comments and link me to your recap/wrap up posts! 

I actually failed with my Halloween movie list that I watch every October too, sigh. I plan to watch Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown today though, because I can’t just NOT watch them. A day late, oh well! I planned to watch them on Halloween, but ID Discovery took over my day and then Halloween things with the niece and nephew. OOPS! Here are my niece and nephew in their scary Halloween costumes this year.

Nephew in white and Niece in black.
He’s a bloody skeleton and she’s a zombie.
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I hope you guys have an amazing day!

ashleyhalloween