Bout of Books 12 Wrap-Up!

This past week I took part in Bout of Books 12, for no other reason than that I wanted to get 2015 off to a great reading start! I didn't read as much as I wanted, but I did manage to read four books and considering I didn't really set myself any goals other than 'READ', I think I did rather well!

White Ravens

by Owen Sheers

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Based on the fable of Branwen, Daughter of Llyr, this interpretation revives one of the most action-packed stories in the whole myth cycle. Moving this bloodthirsty tale of Welsh and Irish power struggles and family tensions into the 21st century, this retelling retains many of the bizarre and magical happenings of the original. After being wounded in Italy, Matthew O’Connell is seeing out WWII in an obscure government department, spreading rumors and myths to the enemy. When he is assigned the bizarre task of escorting a box containing six raven chicks from a remote hill farm to the Tower of London, he soon finds himself ensnared in an adventure that leaves him powerless.

As part of the 2015 Fairytale Challenge I read my first retelling of the year this past week. White Ravens is a retelling of one of the tales from The Mabinogion, old Welsh Celtic folk tales that are thought to be the oldest written stories in Britain. I enjoyed this retelling, though it was certainly a lot less epic and much quieter than the blurb had me believe!

Saga: Volume 1

by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

My Rating: 5 Stars

When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe. 

From New York Times bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina) and critically acclaimed artist Fiona Staples (Mystery Society, North 40), Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults. 

I've been meaning to start Saga for so long, and after I received some money for Christmas I headed straight into Waterstone's to buy the first three volumes. I've since acquired the fourth after finding it over on the Book Depository! I loved this so much; the dialogue is so fun and the character designs are fantastic. This kind of plot has been done so many times before - star-crossed lovers pop up everywhere nowadays! - and yet Vaughan and Staples have managed to create a story that really stands out.

Saga: Volume 2

by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

My Rating: 5 Stars

Thanks to her star-crossed parents Marko and Alana, newborn baby Hazel has already survived lethal assassins, rampaging armies, and horrific monsters, but in the cold vastness of outer space, the little girl encounters her strangest adventure yet... grandparents.

After reading Volume 1 I jumped straight into Volume 2 and, again, I loved it. I don't know what else to say: this series is amazing.

Saga: Volume 3

by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

My Rating: 4 Stars

Searching for their literary hero, new parents Marko and Alana travel to a cosmic lighthouse on the planet Quietus, while the couple's multiple pursuers finally close in on their targets.

Naturally, after finishing Volume 2 I jumped straight into Volume 3, and I would have read Volume 4 immediately afterwards if I hadn't been as sleepy as I was. Again, I love this series. I didn't like this volume quite as much as the previous two, but it was still fantastic; I think I felt a lot of this volume centered around Gwendolyn and I'm still waiting for her to grow on me. 

So Bout of Books 12 was pretty successful for me! I read 4 books, and while 3 of them may have been graphic novels I enjoyed everything I read. 

I also read 70 pages of A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf, but I haven't finished it yet. That means all in all I read 710 pages this week. Hooray!

What did you read this week?

TBR | #UnderHypedReads

Tomorrow marks the start of the Underhyped Read-A-Thon - and if you're not too sure what that is I wrote a blog post about it here! - so I figured I might as well share with you the books I'm going to try and read. I say 'try' because I'm in the middle of working on my portfolio so I might not have much time to read, but I think this is such a good idea for a read-a-thon that I at least want to try!

It's up to each individual how they define a book as 'underhyped' - I've decided to try and get through some of the books on my shelves that have less than 1,000 ratings on Goodreads.

Witchstruck

by Victoria Lamb

Number of ratings on Goodreads: 620

Meg Lytton has always known of her dark and powerful gift. Raised a student of the old magick by her Aunt Jane, casting the circle to see visions of the future and concocting spells from herbs and bones has always been as natural to Meg as breathing. But there has never been a more dangerous time to practise the craft, for it is 1554, and the sentence for any woman branded a witch is hanging, or burning at the stake.

Sent to the ruined, isolated palace of Woodstock to serve the disgraced Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and half-sister of Queen Mary, Meg discovers her skills are of interest to the outcast princess, who is desperate to know if she will ever claim the throne. But Meg's existence becomes more dangerous every day, with the constant threat of exposure by the ruthless witchfinder Marcus Dent, and the arrival of a young Spanish priest, Alejandro de Castillo, to whom Meg is irresistibly drawn - despite their very different attitudes to her secret.

Burn Mark

by Laura Powell

Number of ratings on Goodreads: 807

In a modern world where witches are hunted down and burned at the stake, two lives intersect. Glory is from a family of witches, and is desperate to develop her 'Fae' powers and become a witch herself, though witch-activity carries a threat of being burned at the stake. Lucas is the son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition with a privileged life very different from the witches he is being trained to prosecute. And then one day, both Glory and Lucas develop the Fae. In one fell stroke, their lives are inextricably bound together.

White Star

by Robin Llywelyn

Number of ratings on Goodreads: 9

"White Star is the first translation into English of Robin Llywelyn's award-winning novel Seren Wen ar Gefndir Gwyn. A hilarious romp through the fears and fortunes of three unlikely heroes out to save the world." Gwern started the war. By mistake. He and his friends, Pilgrim and Saffron Tinker, are trying hard to put things right. Perhaps a little too hard. Their journey takes them across Sunless Summer to the badlands on a diet of ice locust sandwiches. They get promoted as diplomats and even manage fifteen minutes as fighter pilots. As the evil Empire of the Heartless Bodies threatens to conquer the High Country, Gwern, Pilgrim and Saffron Tinker are learning a lot about allegiance.

This last book I may get out from my local library if I happen to see it there:

The Hunters

by Chris Kuzneski

Number of ratings on Goodreads: 382

The Hunters: a team of renegades - an ex-military leader, a historian, a computer whiz, a weapons expert and a thief - financed by a billionaire philanthropist are tasked with finding the world's most legendary treasures. 

The Mission: recover a vast Romanian treasure that was stolen by the Russians nearly a century ago. Fearing a Germany victory in World War 1, the Romanian government signed a deal to guarantee the safety of the country's most valuable artifacts until after the war. In 1916 two treasure trains full of gold and the most precious objects of the Romanian state - paintings, jewellery from the Royal family, ancient Dacien artifacts - were sent to the underground vaults in the Kremlin only to be lost to the Romanian people forever as Russia severed all diplomatic relations with the country and scattered the treasure to its outlying regions. With a haul valued at over $3.5 billion dollars, everyone wants to claim the vast treasure but its location has remained a mystery, until now.

Are you taking part in the Underhyped Read-A-Thon? What are you planning to read?

J.

The Underhyped Read-a-thon | #UnderHypedReads

I imagine plenty of us in the book blogging world are familiar with our vlogging counterparts over on booktube, and I imagine a lot of you are going to be taking part in the BookTube-A-Thon which starts tomorrow. I love the BookTube-A-Thon and I think it's a great idea, but right now I have a little too much work to do to warrant a read-a-thon with so many different challenges.

Earlier today, however, I came across the announcement for an Underhyped Read-a-thon (which you can find here) and I thought it was a great idea! I'm not really the kind of reader who stays on top of the current trends any more - there are so many popular books I haven't read or tried to read and didn't like, so the majority of my favourite books are books barely anyone else seems to have heard of. Particularly because I haven't come across that many bloggers or vloggers who read historical fiction as often as I do. They must be out there, I just need to find them!

It will be running from the 21st-27th of July, and the challenge is to read as many underhyped books as you can! It's up to you how you classify underhyped, but I've decided to give myself the challenge of only reading books (or book, I don't know how much reading I'm going to get done!) with less than 1,000 ratings on Goodreads.

I'm in the middle of working on my MA portfolio right now so I have no idea how much reading I'm going to get done, so for now I've decided there are three books I own that I'm going to try and read during that week, and they are: Witchstruck by Victoria Lamb, Burn Mark by Laura Powell, and White Star by Robin Llywelyn.

This read-a-thon is being hosted by Charlotte/RamblingsofanElfpire, who you can find here, here and here! There's also a group on Goodreads for this read-a-thon, which you can find here!

I think it's a great idea to spread some love for some of the underhyped books on our shelves.

Will you be taking part?

J.

Bout of Books 10 | Mid-Week Update!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.





When I said this was the first Bout of Books read-a-thon I hadn't been too busy to participate in I obviously spoke too soon.

I've managed to get a little reading done - mainly yesterday, to be honest, because I didn't get any reading done on Monday or Tuesday due to other commitments - but nowhere near as much as I'd hoped to read by this point. I still have the rest of tonight and the next three days to catch up, though, so not all hope is lost!

Contrary to my TBR, I've been reading more of Feed by Mira Grant and I've started Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. I'm really enjoying Feed - in fact I'd love to be reading it now, but I have some uni work to do - it's the first zombie story I've come across in which society hasn't just crumbled, and it's funny, too. Before the read-a-thon I was up to page 47, and now I'm on page 117, so I read 70 pages of Feed yesterday.

I picked up Northern Lights in the early hours of Wednesday morning when I couldn't sleep and I'm enjoying that one too; it's one of those fantasy books I'm always ashamed to say I haven't read. So far I've read 67 pages.

So, in total, I've read 137 pages so far this week which is terrible progress, but I didn't get any reading done on Monday or Tuesday and I'm unlikely to get any done today because I have uni work to do that I'm not likely to finish before midnight.

Hopefully I'll get a lot of reading done over the weekend. I'd love to finish Feed and I think I should be able to; it's a little thicker than the average book but it's so fun and easy to read. It'd be nice to get a good chunk of Northern Lights read too; I'll try and finish it if I can.

I'm also finally going to start Fangirl tomorrow! I'm going to be reading it alongside my friend Laura, and I think it'll be nice to have a contemporary novel there for when I want to take a break from zombies and daemons.

How's your progress so far? What are you reading?

J.

TBR | Bout of Books Edition!

Knowing I was going to be taking part in the Bout of Books read-a-thon this month I decided not to do a May Reads post, instead I'm now going to share with you the books I'm hoping to get through next week for the read-a-thon!

Rebel Heart

by Moira Young

It seemed so simple: Defeat the Tonton, rescue her kidnapped brother, Lugh, and then order would be restored to Saba's world. Simplicity, however, has proved to be elusive. Now, Saba and her family travel west, headed for a better life and a longed-for reunion with Jack. But the fight for Lugh's freedom has unleashed a new power in the dust lands, and a formidable new enemy is on the rise.

What is the truth about Jack? And how far will Saba go to get what she wants?

May means that the final book in the Dust Lands trilogy, Raging Star, has been released, which means it's finally time for me to marathon the rest of the trilogy. I read Blood Red Road last year and absolutely adored it, so I'm hoping that the rest of the trilogy is just as good. Given how brutal Saba's world is I have no idea if the ultimate ending will be happy, but I hope it is!

I've owned Rebel Heart for a while now, so it's about time I read it.

Raging Star

by Moira Young

Saba is ready to seize her destiny and defeat DeMalo and the Tonton...until she meets him and he confounds all her expectations with his seductive vision of a healed earth, a New Eden. DeMalo wants Saba to join him, in life and work, to create and build a healthy, stable, sustainable world…for the chosen few. The few who can pay.

Jack’s choice is clear: to fight DeMalo and try to stop New Eden. Still uncertain, her connection with DeMalo a secret, Saba commits herself to the fight. Joined by her brother, Lugh, anxious for the land in New Eden, Saba leads an inexperienced guerilla band against the powerfully charismatic DeMalo, in command of his settlers and the Tonton militia. What chance do they have? Saba must act. And be willing to pay the price.

As mentioned above, Raging Star is the final book in Moira Young's Dust Lands trilogy. I can't wait to get back into Saba's head and see how her story ends.

A Great and Terrible Beauty

by Libba Bray

Sixteen-year-old Gemma has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother's death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls' academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left with the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the "others" and rebuild the Order.

I remember always picking this book up in Borders during my teens, back when Borders was still around, and for some reason I never got around to buying myself a copy. Recently I realised it's about time I got around to reading it - I love historical fiction, and I love historical fiction set in the 19th century that features India in some way - so I managed to find a cheap, hardback edition online and now it's in my possession!

I've heard a lot of people praise this trilogy, so I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it during the read-a-thon!

The Blackstone Key

by Rose Melikan

1795, and a young woman called Mary Finch travels in haste from Cambridge to the Suffolk coast. She has been invited to meet her wealthy uncle - and so end a twenty-year estrangement. But before she reaches her destination she discovers a dying man on the road. He is a stranger, and yet he is carrying an oddly familiar watch bearing her uncle's initials. He also seems to know who Mary is, and hints that she is in terrible danger. His whispered warning soon exposes Mary to a ruthless conspiracy that threatens not only her family's reputation, but her very life. Far from home, Mary must learn quickly how to distinguish friend from foe. Can she trust the two men who want to help her? What is their interest in the mysterious Blackstone Key? Does it guard a secret treasure, or might it have a more sinister purpose...?

I found this book in a charity shop last summer. I'd never heard of it or the author, Rose Melikan, before, but as we all know I love my historical fiction, and I love my historical mysteries, too. 

If nothing else this book sounds like it should be a bit of fun!

The Host

by Stephenie Meyer

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

I have no idea if I'm going to manage to read this book during the read-a-thon or not, but I'm going to try just because I've owned The Host since its release and I still haven't read it. I started reading it when I first got it, but then I think school got in the way and I just ended up never getting back to it because I started to go off the Twilight series.

I've heard a lot of people say good things about this book, however, so I really should read it soon.

So there we have it! I have no idea if I'm going to get through all these books during the read, but if I can through a fair few I'll be pleased.

What are you hoping to read for the read-a-thon?

J.

Read-a-Thon | Bout of Books 10

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team. 

Hello book lovers!

Monday the 12th of May until Sunday the 18th of May will see the 10th Bout of Books read-a-thon, and this time around I can finally participate!

For as long as I've been aware of the read-a-thons they've always come at a time when I've just been too busy to join in, but now that I'm a postgrad I have more time to read for pleasure than I did when I was an undergrad. 

Right now I don't have a specific list of books I'd like to read for the read-a-thon, though I wouldn't mind trying to get through the rest of the Dust Lands trilogy - Rebel Heart and Raging Star - and Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I'm probably going to post a TBR nearer the time!

If you'd like to take part then follow the link to the Bout of Books blog above! Are any of you participating?

J.