2015 Yearly Wrap Up!!!!

I was somewhat afraid to look back at last year's bookish resolution because I know I didn't do to well, but I also know I managed to accomplish a lot of other bookish related stuff so all in all, I am not too disappointed.  Let's have a quick look back:

1.  Meet my Goodreads Challenge of 66 books - COMPLETED!  I read 118 books last year - probably because I discovered graphic novels.
2. Read and review 15-20 ARCS - COMPLETED!  I managed to read and review 48 ARCS.  I am thrilled with this one
3. Set up a TBR Jar and pick/read one per month - NOPE, didn't get past February.
4. Read and review on dog related title each month - COMPLETED!  This was easily accomplished and it was fun to allow Booker T and sometimes Cassius to give their thoughts as well.
5. Complete at least 3 series - NOPE, but I did finish the Sookie Stackhouse series.
6. Participate in "Hail to the King!" challenge - NOPE.

I guess I didn't do too badly.  I upped this year's Goodreads Challenge to 100, added several more challenges and still want to read/review one dog related title each month.  I am doing away with the TBR jar and if I complete any series, so be it.  Here is a break-down of what I read so I can honestly say I read a variety of different things in 2015 which I want to maintain that as well.

ADULT BOOKS READ: 51
YOUNG ADULT BOOKS READ: 26
MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS READ: 6
GRAPHIC NOVELS READ: 25
NON-FICTION BOOKS READ: 10

As mentioned, I accomplished several things which weren't part of my goals.

1.  Made some new friends through blogging.
2.  Commented more on other blogs.
3.  Did my first author interview.
4.  Received my first physical copy ARC in the mail.
5. Was asked to co-host a reading challenge in 2016.
6. Did my first blogging/book Christmas exchange.

Gee, I was kind of dreading doing this post but now that I finally bit the bullet and did it, I am so glad.  I actually didn't do too shabby.  How did you guys do this past year?

Waiting on Wednesday (37)

"Waiting on" Wednesday" is weekly meme hosted over at Breaking the Spine which spotlights upcoming anticipated releases. 






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March 22, 2016

FROM GOODREADS:  Jen Noonan’s father thinks a move to Harmony House is the key to salvation, but to everyone who has lived there before, it is a portal to pure horror.

After Jen’s alcoholic mother’s death, her father cracked. He dragged Jen to this dilapidated old manor on the shore of New Jersey to “start their new lives”—but Harmony House is more than just a creepy old estate. It’s got a chilling past—and the more Jen discovers its secrets, the more the house awakens. Strange visions follow Jen wherever she goes, and her father’s already-fragile sanity disintegrates before her eyes. As the forces in the house join together to terrorize Jen, she must find a way to escape the past she didn’t know was haunting her—and the mysterious and terrible power she didn’t realize she had.

A classic horror story finds a terrifying home in Harmony House, drawing on favorite tropes and edgy, modern characters to create a chilling tale of blame, guilt, and ghostly revenge.

WHY I'M WAITING:  That cover looks really creepy and my love of horror really came back in full force in 2015 so I can't wait to pick this one up.  I will admit it sortof reminds me of  the Asylum series by Madeleine Roux but they don't really sound anything alike.  I'm interesting in giving it a chance at least!

Top Ten Tuesday - I Promise to Read These Books Next Year!

This top 10 weekly meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and can be found HERE.  Each week they focus on lists which cover various topics related to books and reading. This week is all about New Year's Resolutions so I am making a list of the Top Ten Books I Promise to Read in 2016!

Sure I will...seems it was on some list last year as well!

No excuse since I now have my own copy.

I've owned this one for years - don't know why I haven't read it yet.

I think I bought this the same time I bought The Night Circus - years I tell ya!

Do I really have to add an explanation?  This probably won't even be opened if I am being truthful.

Wanted to read this for years.  Never have watched the Netflix series.

Plus the other last 3 in the series.  I LOVE this series but hate to see it end. 

No words....simply no words.

Great series - I just need to read this last one.

Always wanted to start this series - why not make this year the year?

I can't resist this one...it's been on the TBR forever!

OK, so apparently I can't count count.  Guess you are getting a bonus selection.  So, what kind of bookish resolutions are you making this year?  Have you read any of these?  Leave a comment so I can be sure to stop by your blog!

Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers #1)

TITLE: Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers #1)
AUTHOR: Brenda Drake
PUBLISHER: Entangled Teen
PUBLISHING DATE: January 5, 2016

FROM GOODREADS: Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels—magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books—rescue them from a demonic hound.

Jumping into some of the world's most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren’t busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik's world and her own, before both are destroyed.

MY THOUGHTS: 
This is the second book which has been sent to me by Entangled Teen in exchange for an honest review and I can say that so far I am impressed. This book has been highly anticipated in the blogging/booktube community for months, primarily because everyone sees the plot centers around "library jumping" and let's get real, most book lovers love books about books.

Suddenly one day Gia learns she is a "sentinel." In other words, it is basically her duty to travel to an magical universe where she plays a huge part in saving the land since she is allegedly the key to some ancient prophecy. The Sentinels' mode of transportation is though various books in libraries scattered all over the world, which is a unique and not always easy way to travel. Throughout the book Gia discovers that she is not an average teen and learns more than she ever wanted to know about family and other long-lost relatives.

I liked Gia, but didn't love her. It is nice have a MC who is a teen who is witty, snarky and stronger than she believes. Gia is also a smart individual and it is fun for the reader to travel alongside of her as she learns about her history, a new magical land, and her abilities. The main problem I have with the book is the love triangle. I have come to expect them with many YA books and while they don't stop me from picking a book up, they do somewhat hinder my reading enjoyment. I will add though that while Gia tends to be torn between two guys - Arik and Bastien - in this setting, Sentinels are betrothed to the noble class and have no choice when it comes to matters of the heart, which is where Bastien enters. Making the reason for the triangle part of the plot was a smart move by Drake and in my honest opinion, lessens Gia's fickleness to some degree.

There is plenty to like about this book including wonderful side characters, an interesting magical system, unique supernatural/magical species and don't forget, libraries and books. I am definitely interested to see what happens in the next installment and this is a fast-paced,action book which I think many people will enjoy.

As mentioned, a review copy was provided by Entangled Teen via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Since I have really good look with their titles, I am definitely curious to see what else Entangled Teen offers in the future.

RATING: 4 PAWS

 

Cloak & Dagger Challenge Is Up and Running

Welcome to month one of the 2016 Cloak and Dagger reading challenge! We will be posting link-ups on the first Saturday of each month for you to link your reviews.  If you're new to the challenge, you can see the guidelines and sign up HERE.

JANUARY LINK UP

(Hopefully this will take you to Stormi's blog so you can link up all your wrap-ups and reviews.)

Stacking the Shelves (47) The Christmas Haul

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves or TBR piles, may it be physical or virtual.  This means you can include books you buy in a physical store, online, books you borrow from the library or friends, review books, gifts and of course, ebooks! The original meme was started over at Tynga's Reviews.  Clicking on the book should take you to the Goodreads page.

I hope everyone has had a great holiday.  I have to head back to work on Monday, but it has been fun hanging with family, especially the hubby and the pups.  We were all very blessed and I was provided with plenty of things to read while husband fought zombies over the past few days on his new PS4 (I don't think I surprised him but he loves it anyway!)

I received some money from my wonderful 94 year old grandfather which was earmarked for new books so here's what I managed to snag:

The New illustrated Harry Potter.  I have wanted it since it was released and I will probably reread it in 2016.  I will always think of Grandpa when I enjoy this beautiful book!

I really enjoyed the first book in The Retired Witches Mysteries and when I saw this, couldn't resist grabbing it.

I read this years and years ago and don't remember much except that I love it.  I don't reread very often, but really do want to pick this one up again.  Plus, I never owned my own copy and Joe Hill deserves to sit on the same bookshelf as his father.

Guess it's about time I jumped on this bandwagon along with the rest of the universe.  I don't know that I will love it as much as everyone else does, especially since ACOTAR fell short for me, but I will give it a go!









 And my wonderful husband, Booker T and Cassius hooked me up with the following:

One of the few King books I never owned or read.  Somehow the family managed to find the cutest hardback edition.  It's the size of a mass market paperback but is hardback.  I still can't get over how cute it is.  I may have to hunt down more editions like it if there are any to be had.  Anybody know anything about them?

Have spent most of New Year's Day reading this beauty.  May even get it get it finished before the day is complete.

Even though I have this on my Kindle, this is one that I definitely wanted a copy of....though I have no real reason why.

This behemoth now sits on the shelf beside Vol 1 and Vol 2 and maybe someday, I will actually read them.

Now my series is complete!

So what did you guys add to your shelf this week?  Leave a comment so I can make sure to drop by your blog!

"A Criminal Magic" Blog Tour - Definitely Worth the Hype!

TITLE: A Criminal Magic

AUTHOR: Lee Kelly

PUBLISHER: Simon and Schuster

PUBLISHING DATE: February 6, 2016

FROM GOODREADS: 

THE NIGHT CIRCUS meets PEAKY BLINDERS in Lee Kelly's new magical realism, crossover novel.

Magic is powerful, dangerous and addictive - and after passage of the 18th Amendment, it is finally illegal.
It's 1926 in Washington, DC, and while Anti-Sorcery activists have achieved the Prohibition of sorcery, the city's magic underworld is booming. Sorcerers cast illusions to aid mobsters' crime sprees. Smugglers funnel magic contraband in from overseas. Gangs have established secret performance venues where patrons can lose themselves in magic, and take a mind-bending, intoxicating elixir known as the sorcerer's shine.

Joan Kendrick, a young sorcerer from Norfolk County, Virginia accepts an offer to work for DC's most notorious crime syndicate, the Shaw Gang, when her family's home is repossessed. Alex Danfrey, a first-year Federal Prohibition Unit trainee with a complicated past and talents of his own, becomes tapped to go undercover and infiltrate the Shaws.

Through different paths, Joan and Alex tread deep into the violent, dangerous world of criminal magic - and when their paths cross at the Shaws' performance venue, despite their orders, and despite themselves, Joan and Alex become enchanted with one another. But when gang alliances begin to shift, the two sorcerers are forced to question their ultimate allegiances and motivations. And soon, Joan and Alex find themselves pitted against each other in a treacherous, heady game of cat-and-mouse.

A CRIMINAL MAGIC casts a spell of magic, high stakes and intrigue against the backdrop of a very different Roaring Twenties.

MY THOUGHTS:  This is magic for grownups.  I love the world Kelly created an her writing style made it easy to imagine actually being a part of this glamorous underworld.  This book has it all, action, great characters, an interesting and unique magical system and a near-perfect ending.

The story is told from duel perspectives of Joan, who travels to DC in hopes of becoming part of an elite, yet still illegal, magical troupe and Alex, a law enforcement agent who has his own personal grudge to bear with the criminal underworld and all its lackeys.  Both Joan and Alex walk a very thin rope between making morally sound decisions and getting caught up in the magical world which encompasses them.  Kelly did a wonderful job of showing how Joan, a tremendously likable character, walks a fine line between doing the right thing and becoming engulfed in a highly glamorous and profitable world of magic.  It is also especially interesting that in this life, magic can be used to produce a highly addictive after-product called "Shine" which takes over one's mind and produces a high unrivaled by anything else on the street.

I can't recommend enough that you pick up this book and become lost in its world.  I believe it is a stand-alone novel, and that ending!  I totally felt it could have ended one way and I would have been so pleased with the outcome, but then Kelly throws in so many twists in the last 50 or so pages of the book that I actually am happy to say she didn't take the expected way out.  Preorder a copy now because even though I was provided a free galley from Booksparks and the publisher in exchange for an honest review, I HAVE to have my own copy sitting on my shelves! I am also grabbing a copy of her first book, City of Savages, the first chance I get.

RATING: 5 PAWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lee Kelly has wanted to write since she was old enough to hold a pencil, but it wasn’t until she began studying for the California Bar Exam that she conveniently started putting pen to paper. 

An entertainment lawyer by trade, Lee has practiced law in Los Angeles and New York.

She lives with her husband and son in Millburn, New Jersey, though after a decade in Manhattan, she can’t help but still call herself a New Yorker.

City of Savages is her first novel. Visit her at NewWriteCity.com.

WEBSITE: www.newwritecity.com

TWITTER: @leekelly