Top Ten Tuesdays [3]

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by the lovely folks at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list and everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

September 30: Reader suggested --> Top Ten Books That Were Hard For Me To Read (because difficult of book, subject matter, because it was cringeworthy-- however you want to interpret)

Kristen's List: 
1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (I am sorry to all those Russian literature lovers out there but this was just paINFUL) 
2. Looking for Alaska by John Green (I just can't deal with this book, and I don't really know why.) 
3. Requiem by Lauren Oliver (This would have been a perfect book if there was another one following it. Too many questions left unanswered for my liking)
4. Flawed by Kate Avelynn (Touch subject matter, but definitely worth the read) 
5. Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Too reminiscent of Requiem)
6. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (do I really need to explain?)

7. The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard (just... meh) 

8. Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire 

9. Blood Red Road by Moira Young (don't throw tomatoes, pleeeease! I beg of you)

10. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (I liked the movie better)

Kelsey's List:

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 

2. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

3. Looking for Alaska by John Green

4. Animal Farm by George Orwell

5. 1984 by George Orwell

6. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

7. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

8. No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod

9. Wicked by Gregory Mcguire

10. Taken by Storm by Angela Morrison

Review: Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 358
Rating: 7 out of 10

Summary (Goodreads is my back BONE): Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.

Thoughts: When Kristen first got this novel, I don't think she was sure whether or not she would like it. Actually, I'm almost positive that she wasn't sure. She might have even told me so. When I picked up this novel I was a little leery. I wasn't sure if this would be my kind of book. It looked a bit too...magic for me. I actually loved it.

The beginning really does start at the beginning. We are given just enough background so as to understand the characters and their motivation. We know what scares them and why. We know who is close and why they care so much for each other. All of these things turned out to be very important for the rest of the story. How could it not be? I love how the author wrote the beginning and the end, giving a sort of an outside perspective. 

The world the author made in this story was incredible. I loved it. I loved the feel of it. There wasn't just one town that the story was confined to; it was an entire world. The characters could and did travel often. They saw things that were outside of their experience so that the reader learned right beside them. I loved that there was a language even though it was only a few words. It adds another dimension. I love words and languages so that could just be me that enjoyed that. The world the author created was literally magical.

Also, who doesn't wish that they had magic, I mean, really? I wish I did. I'd like to leave out all the other stuff though, you know, the war and crazy deadly bad creatures and all that fun (not) stuff. 

I must admit, however, that this novel would easily disappear into the mix that is YA literature. It's similar to so many other books. There are some unique elements but if you read this kind of YA all the time, this novel might not stand out for you. I was lucky enough to be away from fantasy novels for just long enough to be into this story. Even then, I think that it was more for the characters than for the story line. I fall in love with characters so easily. Plus, I always need to find out how stories end.

Basically: I enjoyed this novel more than I thought I would. I'm definitely going to finish this series with great anticipation. If you are into fantasy, magic kind of stuff and are tired of vampires and werewolves (are those still a thing, I avoided them the whole time and now I feel out of the loop) then I think you'll like this novel.

Life of a Blogger [2]

Life of a Blogger is a weekly feature that I found through the amazing Rebecca at Vicariously! ,  hosted by the lovely Novel Heartbeat. Each week a subject will be chosen and we get to talk about it. The topics will be non-bookish so that you can get to know each other on a more personal level! Make sure to add your link on the linky list! 

This week's topic is: Clothing

Hobo chic? Is that a thing? Because that is what I am if you minus the chic and boldface, underline the hobo part. Keep the hobo, add some yoga pants and you've got the perfect equation to make a Kristen of your own! Lol, don't do that though, you'd regret it. For the most part, I'm in yoga pants, but I love me some jeans. Especially in the fall. Which is what the weather is like where we live already (okay, there was already snow is some parts of the country and I'm just NOT ready for that yet) and I'm very excited by this! So, clothes are basically completely off my radar... so long as I'm, you know, wearing them. 
- Kristen

I rock the hobo look most of the time though I am beginning to put forth an effort for school and work since college-student-esque isn't really a good look in the work place. Work out clothes (yoga pants and tank tops) are my go to but jeans and sweaters are perfect too. Fall weather is perfect and, although we are already dangerously close to coat weather where I live, the weather right now is exactly as it should be for comfortable clothing. P.j. pants are code for leave me alone today...either that or it's Christmas morning.

-- Kelsey

Top Ten Tuesdays [2]

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by the lovely folks at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list and everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

September 23: Top Ten Books On My Fall To-Be-Read list

Kristen's List: 

1. What If by Rebecca Donovan (I need more Rebecca Donovan in my life ASAP)

2. Wicked by Jennifer L Armentrout (okay so this is technically a winter read, but I'm just too excited)

3. I Was Here by Gayle Forman 

4. We Were Liars by E Lockhart (Because I'm so incredibly behind) 

5. Happenstance by Jamie McGuire 

6. Screwdrivered by Alice Clayton 

7. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (because I still haven't read this and I don't have a good reason as to why not... maybe I don't want to say bye yet... Yeah, that's it.)

8. Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L Armentrout

9. Stay With Me  by Jennifer L Armentrout (YES PLEASE I FORGOT ABOUT THIS IM SO PUMPED OK)

10. Rooms by Lauren Oliver

Fall 2014 is shaping up to be pretty awesome looking! Do we have any of the same TBR's? What are you looking forward to most?

Kelsey's List:

1. Opposition by Jennifer Armentrout

2. The Descent by Alma Katsu

3. Bones Never Lie by Kathy Riechs

4. Paper Towns by John Green

5. Elegy by Amanda Hocking

6. Vitro by Jessica Khoury

7. Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons

8. White Hot kiss by Jennifer Armentrout

9. Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

10. Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

Review: Where She Went (If I Stay #2)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Gayle Forman
Format: ebook
Pages: 264
Rating: 8 out of 10

** This is the second to If I Stay. Read the review HERE**

Summary (Where Goodreads went): It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future-and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

What I thought: It's been a while so bare with me. I really liked this novel, like a lot. I thought it was amazingly well-written. It took If I Stay and made it something so much more. If I Stay really leaves the audience wondering where they will go from here and this explains just that. I've got to be honest with you, I didn't see all these twists and turns coming. I don't think that anyone who read If I Stay really saw exactly where the author would be dragging these two main characters. It was heart-breaking.

No, you know what was heart-breaking? Adam. Adam destroyed me in this novel. I could feel everything he was feeling. I have anxiety and I can attest to the fact that it was written properly in this story. The poor guy is so broken, so screwed up after the events of the last novel. It only makes sense that he would be suffering now. He was written perfectly. I felt his pain. I understood everything behind it. I also wanted to punch him in the face at times. Anyway, I actually cried while reading this novel and that counts for a lot to me.

I don't know what I was expecting at the end but this novel is full of twists that keep your interest and keep you guessing right up until the very end. I'm okay with how it all turned out. I was both surprised and not. I'm not sure how to explain it to you so you should just read it.

This author is fantastic. You become part of the stories. You need to know what happens. You feel what the characters are feeling. These things are the most important things to me. These novels are authentic. They are real. They also rip your heart out and stomp on it until it dissolves into minuscule pieces but that's okay because by that point you want it, all of it. These novels really give you it all.

So: I recommend this novel. To everyone. If you read If I Stay, you should read this novel. You don't really need to but I found that it didn't continue on how I thought it was going to. I think Adam's point of view does the story perfect justice. Read it.

Read Kristen's take here: Where She Went

Review: Afterworlds

Reviewer: Kristen
Author: Scott Westerfeld 
Pages: 608 
Format: Paperback (ARC sent by Simon & Schuster)
My Rating: 8 out of 10

Summary (thanks Goodreads): Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings… 

Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.

My Review: So, let me just start out by saying that once you start reading this, you aren't going to be able to put it down. It's addicting and has been my latest obsession (seriously - I can't stop talking about it). I really enjoyed both Darcy (particularly Darcy's because hello, she's a writer and that's awesomesauce and apparently I love reading about writers) and Lizzie's storyline (but I mean, don't get me wrong Lizzie's storyline was fascinating too), they were both so different but they were woven together perfectly. I thought that the dual POV's and essentially the dual story-lines would drive me crazy, but Scott Westerfeld pulls it off seamlessly. 

I think what excited me most about this story was seeing how Darcy and Lizzie's chapters weren't independent of each other. You could see how what was happening to Darcy directly affected what happened to Lizzie. Nothing happened by accident, and I don't want to spoil anyone, so that's all I'll say on that. 

This story is very obviously satirical in nature, and I'd love to discuss it with any of you who have read the book - I found the topics and how Lizzie's story played out one of the best parts of the novel. It made you think, and it made you question, and it kind of made you laugh too. This story was exceptional - it was unique and definitely one of those stories you'll remember - and think about - for a long time coming. 

Final Thoughts: This was one of the most anticipated books coming out this fall, and it did not disappoint, not at all! 

Life of a Blogger [1]

Life of a Blogger is a weekly feature that I found through the amazing Rebecca at Vicariously! ,  hosted by the lovely Novel Heartbeat. Each week a subject will be chosen and we get to talk about it. The topics will be non-bookish so that you can get to know each other on a more personal level! Make sure to add your link on the linky list! 

This week's topic is: Languages (i.e the one's you speak) 

Guys, languages blow my freaking mind. Seriously. I'm so enamoured with them. It's just so bizarre to me that people can freaking think in different languages and have different words and different phrases and I don't even know but I'm jealous. I wish I was fluent in a second language. For a while, I was pretty good at understanding and communicating in French but, ya, lost that. I'm hoping (and crossing my fingers and my toes and my arms and my legs) that I'll end up in France in two years to take part in an opportunity to teach abroad. I'd be gone a year, and I'm hoping against hope that in that time I can pick up French. After France, the idea is to then do Italy and Spain for 6 month contracts. So, maybe I can come at you guys from those languages in the future! Think of all the doors having those languages open up! Think of the books! Okay.. I'm done. 
- Kristen

I love languages. I think it's amazing that human beings have come up with so many different ways to communicate so many different things. I find it fascinating that people can use their mouths to form different sounds than are used on the other side of the globe. I wish I could speak more languages. I'm hoping for the return on my French in the next few years and to maybe pick up some Spanish and Italian. I really just think that being able to speak, read, comprehend, write, and think in different languages is just the coolest thing. Also, it's hot. I don't care what anybody says. Languages are sexy and boys, if you've got them, use them. Girls love that. I think I'll force my future husband to take language lessons if I'm not lucky enough to find a guy that already can speak multiple languages.

-- Kelsey

Top Ten Tuesdays [1]

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by the lovely folks at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list and everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

September 16: Top Authors I've Only Read One Book From But NEED to Read More
(We're going to make it so series counts as "one book" because gosh this is hard. 

Kristen's List: 
1. Liesel K Hill 
2. Rebecca Donovan 
3. Suzanne Collins (I need a new YA/NA from her, pleeeeeease!) 
4. Susan Ee
5. S.C Stephens 
6. Stephanie Perkins 
7. Kate Avelynn 
8. Marie Lu 
9. Alice Clayton
10. Tammara Webber 

Okay, so this was much harder than I had anticipated homies. Who are yours? Do we have any of the same?! 

Kelsey's List:

1. Alma Katsu

2. A.G. Howard

3. Amy Harmon

4. Jamie McGuire

5. Rebecca Donovan

6. Liesel K. Hill

7. Aubrie Dionne

8. Susan Ee

9. Kristen Simmons

10. Emma Chase

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss #2)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Format: eBook
Pages: 338
Rating: 7 out of 10

Summary (Goodreads): Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion...she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit--more sparkly, more fun, more wild--the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket--a gifted inventor--steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Thoughts: I'm sorry, can we talk about the hot boy on the cover of this novel? I didn't get to see this hot boy very much (at all) using the ereader but phew...

I've never read a story about an inventor. That was kind of cool. I love Cricket. He has a stupid name and is almost unbearably awkward but he is wonderful with all his little quirks. I think he's delightful, especially with what he does for her right at the end of the novel. Having an inventor around would be handy...

Hearing about where St. Clair and Anna are now was nice. It was a great way to continue that story without actually continuing their story. Do characters still live on after the author stops writing about them? I think they do, no matter what is said in The Fault in Our Stars. 

Lola is...unique. I like her. She is a little bit crazy and has her annoying moments but still. I wouldn't dress like her...I watch TV shows about people like her...but if it makes her happy then she should go for it. Also, this is my first novel with gay parents in it. I liked that a lot.

If you liked Anna and the French Kiss then you should look at this novel too. If you haven't you should go out and buy both of them because they are adorable love stories that make you want to travel and create things and be happy.

Review: The Glass Rainbow (Dave Robicheaux #18)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author:James Lee Burke
Format: Paperback
Pages: 560
Rating: 6 out of 10 (I guess...)

Summary (Goodreads version): James Lee Burke’s eagerly awaited new novel finds Detective Dave Robicheaux back in New Iberia, Louisiana, and embroiled in the most harrowing and dangerous case of his career. Seven young women in neighboring Jefferson Davis Parish have been brutally murdered. While the crimes have all the telltale signs of a serial killer, the death of Bernadette Latiolais, a high school honor student, doesn’t fit: she is not the kind of hapless and marginalized victim psychopaths usually prey upon. Robicheaux and his best friend, Clete Purcel, confront Herman Stanga, a notorious pimp and crack dealer whom both men despise. When Stanga turns up dead shortly after a fierce beating by Purcel, in front of numerous witnesses, the case takes a nasty turn, and Clete’s career and life are hanging by threads over the abyss.

Adding to Robicheaux’s troubles is the matter of his daughter, Alafair, on leave from Stanford Law to put the finishing touches on her novel. Her literary pursuit has led her into the arms of Kermit Abelard, celebrated novelist and scion of a once prominent Louisiana family whose fortunes are slowly sinking into the corruption of Louisiana’s subculture. Abelard’s association with bestselling ex-convict author Robert Weingart, a man who uses and discards people like Kleenex, causes Robicheaux to fear that Alafair might be destroyed by the man she loves. As his daughter seems to drift away from him, he wonders if he has become a victim of his own paranoia. But as usual, Robicheaux’s instincts are proven correct and he finds himself dealing with a level of evil that is greater than any enemy he has confronted in the past.

Set against the backdrop of an Edenic paradise threatened by pernicious forces, James Lee Burke’s The Glass Rainbow is already being hailed as perhaps the best novel in the Robicheaux series.

...Why is that so long? Does it really need to be that long? Come on people, get it together!

Anyway: I'll keep it short since the stupid blurb takes up so much space. This is the second (third?) novel I've read in this series. I like the series. I don't know why but I do. It's different than a lot of other stuff I read. By that I mean that the characters are waaaaaaaay different than in other books I read. It's not bad, just a fact.

This novel made me very angry at the end. I threw it because I had to reread it so many times than do some googling. This may be because my cousins were goofing around in the truck while I was trying to read, the hooligans!

Dave is always so certain that he's right. It bugs me because you can't really see where all this certainty comes from. It's not like the bad guy gives a lot of signs in the beginning. I'm going to chalk it up to my not reading the entire series and reading the ones I read not in any sort of order. Heck, I don't even know where this book came from. I swear they just appear on my shelves.

Not bad, not bad at all. Probably not reread material but I may look into the rest of the novels in the series when I've got some money...

Follow Friday

Are you also a writer? If so, what genre? If not, have you ever considered writing?

Do I count as a writer if I basically never write? I mean, I'd like to say I am, but I haven't written anything in a long while. I've got some ideas though, and I'm excited about them. I've finished 6 novels (just looked at my folder, and like whaaaaat when did that happen?), and hope to finish many many more. My genre? Definitely young adult/new adult! - Kristen

In fact, I am. I write whatever I feel like at the given time. There isn't really one genre I stick too. I guess young adult in general but, even then, most of my characters are a little older than the normal young adult age. I don't know what to call it. I would love to be able to do it for a living one day because I feel like books can do so many things for people and touch people in ways other jobs can't. I want people to live exciting lives through my work. I don't know if this dream will ever be realized or not but what can you do except work at it, right? Kristen and my family are behind me so they help a lot. 

~ Kelsey

Review: Her Mother's Keeper

<-- This looks like the wrong cover but it's not, I promise.
Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Nora Roberts
Format: Paperback (2 in 1)
Pages: Heck if I know...
Rating: 4 out of 10

Summary (Kept by Goodreads, edited by me...thanks for nothing): Gwen may have left Louisiana a starry-eyed innocent, but now she's returned successful and accomplished.

And with enough sense to deal with her mother's maddening boarder, Luke Powers. But once Gwen meets Luke, a man reputed to be an expert in both words and women, her composure disappears. Now she has stars in her eyes but isn't so innocent.

You know what? Two of these novels is actually far worse than one of them! If you are confused about what I mean, check out my review for From This Day. See what I mean now? This "novel" was exactly the same as the last. The guy still took what he wanted after knowing right from the beginning that he would and the whole time thinking that the main character is some innocent little flower. Of course, the girl needed the guy. I wanted to vomit. Again, destroying feminism. I just... I just can't with these novels. This was my second try with this author and it will sadly be the last. There is so much potential but I don't think I would survive another guy like this or girl like that.

The only redeeming quality (why it got a 4 not a 3 or lower) was because the guy was an author and was entertaining because of it. I connected with a character in this novel, who knew that was possible! The dialogue and plot was slightly better than that in From This Day.

Anyway, just no. No, thank you. Not again. No good for Kelsey. Bye.