Link up at Tynga's Reviews

Only 2 books this week! I'm so proud of myself. It would have been 1, but my husband surprised me with a trip to a fancy bookstore on the other side of town. I rarely go there, but I can always find signed books when we do go.

So, here are the two books I bought this week

 

The Skylighter by Becky Wallace - I recently read the first book in this series and I really loved it. So, I went ahead and preordered this book. I cannot wait to read more in this series!

Winter by Marissa Meyer - I was going to wait until this came out in paperback... but I found it signed by Meyer at the bookstore. It was the last one too. Obviously I had to buy it. Now I just need to finish the rest of the series so I can read it.

What did you get this week?

Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows
Leigh Bardugo
Series: Six of Crows (#1)
Published: September 29, 2015
My Rating: ★★★★★

Summary:(Taken from Goodreads)
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. 

Kaz's crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.

Cover Thoughts:
This cover is beautiful, one of thse boks you must own in hard cover on your shelves. I always love the covers of Leigh Bardugo's books. They are just gorgeous, and so different from most other high fantasy novels... and the pages, guys, the ends of the pages are black... it is so pretty!

My Thoughts:
You know what, I'm not even going to tell you about this book... I think it is best to go in fairly blind like I did. I have avoided reviews about this book like the plague, and I'm glad I did. All I'm going to say is ths book was beautiful, and action packed, and I couldn't put it down, and I love it just as much (maybe more) as I love the Grisha trilogy. 

I will admit that the first 50 or 60 pages were a little slow. As is common in high fantasy, you have to get to know the characters.. and with 6 main characters it takes a little time. But, once I got past the introduction, I couldn't put the book down. My poor son kept trying to get me to build blocks with him, and I'm sitting there with a book to my nose reading while also accidentally knocking his towers down. Oops! 

I also love that this was not just the initial heaist story. There is the heist story... but each of our main characters is dangerous, and we get to learn how they have ended up in the unfortunate situation that they are currently stuck in. I really liked the back story for Nina and Matthias... I think I could have a read a whole book alone about their story... and Kaz'z was just heartbreaking. Poor guy.

So I'll finish this off with just read it, go read it, this book is grea you need to read it! Yep, that's all I'm putting in my review. But, I will make it a little bit longer with some gifs that show my reading experience.









If You Enjoyed This Read...

  

Top Ten Books that I Love, but Never Talk About

Link up here

Guys, I love this week's theme! I read a lot of books, and I'm generally a glass is half full type of girl when it comes to rating. This means I have a lot of 4 and 5 star books. Honestly, even a 3 star rating isn't very good for me. But, I don't talk about a lot. Mainly because a lot fo them don't fit with the normal theme of my blog. So here are some great books that I rated 5 stars, but never get to really talk about.

    

1. Just Listen - by Sarah Dessen. When I was in high school, I was a HUGE Dessen fan and this one was my favorite. It is just so beautiful. I just don't talk about it much because it has been forever since I read it (and reread it, and reread it again). 

2. Born at Midnight - by C.C. Hunter. I have no idea why I don't talk about this book... like at all. I love this series. It is seriously one of my favorites. I devoured every book as soon as they came out... Honestly, no reason for me not to talking about this series more.

3. The Negotiator - by Dee Henderson. This is a book that just don't fit with my blog. But, I love this series so much. This is a Christian suspense series about the O'Malley family. They're all orphans that just adopted each other when they grew up. This is one of my favorite book families. They love each other unconditionally. Each of them has a dangerous job that impacts their life and their siblings. It's just a great series. Even if you are not a Christian, you should read these. The family dynamics are so worth it.

4. Snow Like Ashes - by Sara Raasch - There is no reason for me not talking about this book more. I read the first book as soon as it came out and loved it. But, I haven't touched the series since then. I think my memory of it is sarting to fade though, so I'm probably going to wait and marathon read the whole trilogy when the 3rd book comes out this fall.

5.  Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson - I loved this duology! I did. It was so much fun. This is another one I don't have a big excuse for not talking about. I need too... more people need to read these books.

    

6. Vain - by Fisher Amelie - This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I guess when I talk about these deeper, poignant, contemporary books I always go for Colleen Hoover. But, I loved this book. Just loved it.

7. Wesley the Owl - by Stacey O'Brien - I love this book. It just doesn't fit with my normal style at all. This is the cutest nonfiction book about the author who ended up adopting this little baby owl and their lives together. It is just the sweetest book ever. I cried my eyes out. I also love owls... so I might be prejudice about this one.

8. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - I feel like when I talk about my favorite childhood books I talk about Harry Potter and Little House the most. But, I reread this book 12 times in a ow after I read it the first time. This was definately one of my childhood favorites, I just never seem to think about it now.

9. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein - This is not a book I would normally pick up. It is about the life of a dog, told from the dog's point of view. But, I picked it up during one of those 'I need to read more grown up fiction' spurts. It was such a beautiful book. I devoured it. I really recommend this book to everyone.

10. What Happens Next - by Colleen Clayton - My husband bought me this book a few years ago and I really loved it. It deals with a girl that is raped on a school trip and how this affects her life afterwards. It's a sad but great book.

Stacking the Shelves {9}

Link up at Tynga's Reviews

Another week has ome and gone. I had the flu and ear infections going through my house. Not me, thank goodness, but my husband and son. So, I'm exhausted and haven't gotten anything done really this week. It has been slow reading, no working, and a lot of vegging on kids tv with my son. In case you were wondering, big news Doc McStuffin's has a new baby in her family!

Anyways, other than a few deliveries it has been a quiet week this week. I only have a few books to share.

      

The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima
Starflight by Melissa Landers
The Winner's Crime Marie Rutkoski
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
Half Bad and Half Wild by Sally Green
Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier

I also used a couple of my audible credits that I have saved up. With those I got:

 

I bought the series in hardcopies a couple months ago, and realized when I picked up Cinder that I read it way back with it first came out. I am rereading it though before I read the rest of the series... Anyways, I like to have audible on some books as well so that I can listen while cleaning or driving. Then, I can just pick the book up at nights and flip to where I am.

That's all I got this week. What did you get? I can't wait to hear from you!

Book Review: Sparrow by L.J. Shen

Sparrow
L. J. Shen
Published: March 8, 2016
My Rating: ★★★

Summary: (Taken from Goodreads)
Troy Brennan

Every Southie in Boston knows that name. The son of a dead mobster. The heart-throb with steel-blue eyes. "The Fixer" who can make or break you in this city. 

Oh, and my new husband. 

Sparrow Raynes 

That's me. No one seemed to remember my name up until he barged into my life. 
But then he caged me. 
Kidnapped me. 
And killed every chance I had to run away from the place where we grew up. 
Put simply, Troy Brennan clipped my wings. 

I have dreams, big ones, but I doubt he'll ever let me chase them. I have no idea why he decided to take me as his wife. But I do know this: pissing off this man will not do me any good. At all. 


Sparrow is a standalone, full-length novel. It contains graphic violence and adult situations some may find offensive.

Cover Comments: The cover is what really drew me into this book. The premise of a kidnapped and forced marriage kept me. I love the Sparrow wing, I love the fire and I really love the way the colors all work together. Really nice.

My Thoughts:
I'm going to start by saying if you are under the age of 18 this is NOT a book for you. It is an adult book and had some, not very happy adult situations.

I knew going into this book, that it was going to take a lot for me to like it. I don't typically pick up erotica. I will pick up a romance... but when I do, I want it to be romantic... and well, this book is not romantic. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it. Once I accepted that this wouldn't be a sunshine and daisies book I found the writing to be really entertaining and very quickly paced. Did I particularly enjoy some of the book. No. Did some of it really make me sick to my stomach. Yes. However, the author gave me enough of something to give it a 3.5 star rating.. so I will admit that I thought it was a good book.

The book follows the point of view of both Sparrow and Troy. Sparrow is an innocent. Sure, she grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. But, she's made a point to stay out of any funny business and instead has focused her energy on her love of cooking. Troy is the opposite. He is tortured and, well, a villian. He's supposed to be the bad guy. The author makes no qualms about it. He is the son of the deceased Mafia boss in Boston. He is bent upon revenge for the death of his father, and feels no remorse for the things he does (and they aren't pretty).

At the beginning of the book, Sparrow is terrified. She is being prepared for her wedding. A wedding she doesn't want, but knows better than to fight. Troy kidnapped her for unknown reasons 10 days ago and is forcing her to become his wife, again for unknown reasons. Sparrow vows to hate this man, but she is too strong to let him see her fear. So, she faces her life changes with strength, wit, and integrity... something Troy never expected from a wife he is none to happy to have been forced to take.

I would say, for the first half of the book the two cannot stand each other... or, Sparrow cannot stand Troy. Troy, meanwhile is fighting the attraction to her because he knows he doesn't deserve her. He spends his days trying to find out who is responsible for the death of his father... while Sparrow slowly falls into a rhythym as his wife. Any progress the 2 made comes to a standstill after Troy makes a few very unfortunate decisions that Sparrow catches him doing. Her anger drives her closer to a man that seems to hate Troy for his own reasons, and is set on revenge himself.

The whole mystery of it all was pretty intriguing. I figured the 'who dun it' out pretty quickly, but I didn't understand the why until the very end. I thought the author did a great job at very slowly leaking out the history of these two and developing their relationship.

One thing I really have to commend the author on, is her ability to really take very evil characters and give them just enough redeemable characteristics to make you like them. She did a great job at really developing that gray spot that many authors struggle to. There is no one character that is all evil, or any one character that is all good. There are characters I'd never want to meet, but they all have something that makes them not 100% evil. Too many times you have the evil character versus the all good hero. I'm so happy to really see that gray area of humans being well, humans, being explored.

I think if you like the darker romances or erotica, you will really enjoy this book. It was really well written. I think the only reason for my rating is that is isn't my style of a book.

If You Like This Book You May Enjoy...

 

Trilogy Review: Penryn and the End of Days Trilogy by Susan Ee

  

Penryn and the Ends of Days Trilogy  by Susan Ee
Book 1: Angelfall  //  Book 2: World After  //  Book 3: End of Days

Summary of Angelfall:

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

My Thoughts:
So, last Friday I was in a mood for something new to me. Sure I have almost 300 books on my tbr and I don't even want to know how many unread books on my bookshelf. But, every now and then I feel like picking up a book I've never really paid much attention to. That was what happened with Angelfall.  Sure, I had heard of the book before, it has been all over my recommendations for years. But, I never paid it any attention. No reason why, but I hadn't. 

Anyways, I picked up book 1 and it completely drew me in. It was fast paced, action packed, really really creepy and had the beginnings of this beautiful romance. It left me needing more. Lucky for me this entire series is on Kindle Unlimited so I was able to immediately move to the second book and since that one was just as crazy as the first one, I went straight into the 3rd. These books are really short. The first is less than 300 pages, and the other two are less than 350 pages. So, if you are looking for a trilogy you can cruz right through over the weekend, this is a great pick.

So, I picked this series up thinking it would be kind of cute, kind of romantic, and kind of fun. It was fun, and it had some romance. The romance is NOT the focus of the story though... and this book was a lot darker than I was expecting. Penryn is a 17 year old girl that is holding her family together after angels have invaded the Earth and begun to take over. It is a scary post apocalyptic world and Penryn is making a desperate attempt to escape with her mother and her little sister before the street gangs that have taken over the towns reach her family's apartment. But, it isn't an easy escape at all. Penryn's sister, Paige is a 7 year old paraplegic and her mother is a paranoid schizophrenic that has been off of her meds foo the past few months making her completely unstable. Anyways, as Penryn and her family make for their escape, they end up in the middle of a angel battle where she witnesses an angel having his wings ripped off by the others. In a desperate attempt to keep her mom and especially her sister safe, she distracts the angels long enough to help our first angel win. However, as retribution, one of the angels captures Penryn's 7 year old sister and flies off with her. This sets up Penryn's desperate search for her little sister.

Penryn is such a strong character, and loyal to the end. She is willing to do anything, and I mean anything to get her little sister back. She is not one of those main heroines that runs from trouble, or lets others handle it for her. In fact, she refuses to let others do much of anything for her, but instead sometimes takes on too much. 

Penryn ends up teaming up with Raffe, the angel she witnesses having his wings ripped off. Even though she hates and distrusts him, she knows he is her best chance of finding the other angels and getting her sister back. Raffe just wants his wings back, and is on a quest to find an angel that can sew them back on.

As the two work together they discover some nefarious plans from an archangel that is basically trying to take over the world with some pretty creepy creations. Think mad scientist angels with a God complex. The books get really downright creepy at times, but in a really great way. Oh, and don't think your angels are going to be this wholesome, God-fearing pure beings. These angels are creepy and evil in every way. Humans are nothing but rats to them, something to look down on and dispose of. Not something seen as a threat to the angels, just something to get rid of.

If You've enjoyed this series, you might like...

  

Life as We Knew It - by Susan Meth Pfeffer
We All Looked Up - by Tommy Walach
The 5th Wave - by Rick Yancey

Top Ten Books on my Spring TBR

Link up here

So Saturday afternoon, my husband came home from work with a fever and sore achy body.. it's only gotten higher and worse (pretty sure he has the flu, but he's a "man" and "men" don't need doctors... or you know, he's scared of them). On Sunday afternoon, my son came down with similar symptoms but worse. Monday afternoon I took him to his pedi and my poor baby was diagnosed with a double ear infection. He's so sore and achy and hot but has chills too. I feel so bad. What I'm getting at is, I've been playing nurse to my family for the past few days.. and toddlers don't sleep through the ngiht when they are sick. So, I'm running off very little sleep. Think maybe 2 hours last night. So, if I say things in this post that make no sense just ignore it. I'm too tired to think, much less type.

Spring is my 2nd favorite season. I love the colors of Autumn, and having the windows cracked as it finally begins to cool down outside. But, by the end of February, I am DONE with cold weather. So Spring is just as wonderful as everything warms up and trees and flowers begin to blossom bringing color back into the world. I can't wait to lace up my hiking boots and get out in the mountains in about a month (when it really starts warming up out there) I love the blossoming trees and the wildflowers blooming. Plus, the sky is so blue after a long gray winter! Just look at the beauty of nature (picture taken from Google)

 

Anyways, on top of hiking there are some great books that I really want to read this spring. A few books are coming out, but quite a few of these are books I just really want to get to soon. Here are some of the books on my tbr that I'm most excited to read in the coming months

    

1. The Great Hunt - Just released last week, and I can't wait to read it soon!

2. Nobody but You - Jill Shalvis is my guilty pleasure. Her books are adorable, romantic, and hilarious. The final book in her Cedar Ridge series comes out at the end of the month

3. Me Before You - I've been wanting to read this one forever. I finally picked it up last week. I can't wait to read it.

4. Dreamology - This one comes out in April. It seems so cute and interesting. I'm excited to read it.

5. A Thousand Pieces of You - Another series I've been meaning to read, but haven't. I'm hoping to get to this one soonish.

    

6. The Raven Boys - I got this from the library a few weeks ago and never read it. I need to, because I want to decide if I should buy this whole series.

7. Wanderlost - I'm so excited for this book that is coming out in May. It looks like such a cute spring/summer read.

8. The Rose & The Dagger - I'm so excited for this to come out in May! I loved The Wrath and the Dawn. May is a pretty big new release month for me.

9. Walk on Earth a Stranger - I don't know how I missed this book, but I'm really wanting to read it now... I keep eying it. I'll probably try to get to it soon.

10. A Court of Mist and Fury - I said May is a big month for me. I'm probably most looking forward to this book. Sarah J. Maas is probably one of my favorite authors.