Of Books and Book Thoughts

It's that time of year again, or end of year, and after long periods of time pouring over my goodreads shelves, I've managed to choose my favorite 14 books out of the 55 I read this year (my goal was 50!).  So come on, let's see what they are! (P.S. All books here are 5 stars, if not 6!)

The more I read from this series, the more astonished I become. It's so engaging and amazing. The more I read, the more I fall in love.

So it’s no question that reading slumps suck, and now, the holidays are here, so it’s time to get out of those slumps and catch up on our reading. Here are a few ways that will (hopefully) help you get out of your slump.

So why do bookworms love the holidays? Basically, book lovers are known for their general liking of the holidays. I mean, who doesn’t like the holidays? Decorations and fun and snow and all that. And we always love reading books, don’t we? But there’s something about reading in the holidays, something I can’t quite put my finger on, but I’m going to try listing a few reasons.

So Rick Yancey. Rick Yancey. Rick Yancey. This book. He’s a genius, I tell you.  So around a week ago, I finished the Infinite Sea, the sequel to The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey. Hear that? “Sequel”. So if you haven’t read this and the first book, I advise you to leave because there will be spoilers.

So I was gazing at my bookshelf, and I noticed I have quite a few completed series, so I thought... why not make a list?

Thank you to Danielle Pearl, the author, who provided me with an egalley of her book in exchange for an honest review.  So, Wednesday, November 19, 2014, I woke up at 1am. I couldn't sleep. So I was like, "What the heck, why don't I start one of the unread books on my kindle?" So I picked up Normal, a NA Contemporary Romance. In my head, I believed returning to sleep while reading a contemporary was easier than while reading an action packed fantasy. Hell no. I was hooked immediately from the first page. And come 6am, when I have to get ready for the day, I realized, "Well, shit. Now I didn't get any sleep." And I was already halfway through the book. It's that good. Trust me. All throughout the day, I kept thinking about it. The finally, at 7pm, that same day, I picked it up again. And I read for four hours straight. And I finished the book. I cried. I smiled. I laughed. It was that good.

Okay, so I know it technically isn't winter for another month, but I guess the weather has become to darken, and book lovers everywhere are pulling up their blankets and mugs and grabbing their books. The time has come. So here are my recommendations for the winter.

Hold up! Hold up. Someone please explain to me why I took so long to read this masterpiece. W. H. Y. 

If you haven't read this series, please leave, as this contains spoilers. Here are my thoughts on the fifth and final book in the Heroes of Olympus series.

Hosted by Total Book Geek  " Music Monday  is a weekly book meme. Everyone can join in, you just have to do the following: Choose a book or a scene from a book. Choose a song that fits said book or scene. Tell us why you paired them together. Don't forget to share the title and author. Be careful  not  to include  spoilers." The song I'm choosing this week is High School Never Ends by Bowling For Soup. It clearly displays the struggles of high school, climbing up a social ladder and how everyone's nosy. And of course, in the end, the band concludes that it never ends. The real world is not devoid of gossip and social issues.  The books I chose to match is Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver and The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu.  Both books are brutally honest about high school and the problems in it, and they are both fantastic 5-star reads. Recommended to everyone.  What is YOUR music monday?

 Hosted by Book Journey " Hey there!  Welcome to It’s Monday, What Are You Reading! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too!  As part of this weekly meme I love to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Fair warning… this meme tends to add to your reading list!  ;)"

In this post, I am going to mention three songs that relate to a certain book and explain why without spoiling anything. Alright, let's start :D

" The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @  Caffeinated Book Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead." This Past Week: For the first half of the week, I didn't really post anything, but on Thursday, I posted my review of Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall. (Let me tell you, I loved that book) Read my review HERE Then, on Friday, Oct 3, I participated in the book meme Five Friday Favorites hosted by  Book Badger  where we were supposed to highlight our five favorite friendships. You can see which friendships I chose  HERE .  That same day, I finished reading Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson and posted my review HERE  on Saturday.  Finally, this morning, I posted my Five Books I Want To Read This Fall where I highlighted the five books I want to read before December 20.  Upcoming Next Week

   So I was thinking, what books do I have to read? We all have those growing TBR piles and all those books for review... but still, aren't there these few books that we just HAVE to read? No one is pressuring us into reading them -we just want to.     So here are five books I want to read this fall (i.e by December 20). I'll check back in on December 21 to see if I managed to read all five books on this list!    Let's get started, then!  

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I gave it 4/5 stars! Here's why.

Hosted by Book Badger

I. Loved. This. Book. Read on to see why!

I cannot fathom how I've missed this book all these years. 

Hosted by Total Book Geek

This is a weekly meme hosted by  Book Journey .

Hosted by Should Be Reading  

I completely devoured this series! Let's discuss, shall we?

Hosted by  Should Be Reading

Cuteness. Overload. *shutting down* Hello bookworms, guess who just finished Isla! Let me tell you, this book was everything I was waiting for. Let's break it down, shall we?

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted on Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

My answers:

If you haven't picked up Winger by Andrew Smith, what are you waiting for? This book was brilliant. 

Hey everyone! Here are the books I downloaded onto my kindle this week for Showcase Sunday:

Let me say this: I did not particularly enjoy The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. I'll get to why in a minute.

Hosted by  shouldbereading 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 ). My find for the week:

We Were Liars -E. Lockhart   Following all the buzz and the hype, I finally picked up We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, and let me tell you: the hype is totally deserved. This review will be split into two sections: spoiler-free and spoilers sections.