November TBR

My to be read list for November is a jumbled mix of books. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to read this next month. I have a lot of books I want to read, and I am hoping to do a lot of reading in December over my break from school. I got more reading done in October than I thought I would, and I'm excited to get started on my November list.

Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen  I am about forty pages in to this, which is my first Austen novel, although I own many. I am enjoying it so far, but more on that later.

Alright, now for the list,

Splendor, Anna Godbersen
Son of Neptune, Rick Riordan
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
City of Fallen Angels, Cassandra Clare
Papertowns, John Green

I hope to get through these books this month, many of them on the list shouldn't take me very long so I think it is very doable. Splendor will finish The Luxe series for me, Son of Neptune will continue The Heroes of Olympus series, and City of Fallen Angels will continue The Mortal Instruments series.

Recently Read: City of Glass

Since I have reviewed the previous two novels in Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Insturments series I thought I would continue and review the third in the series which is City of Glass.

This was my favorite out of the three books. I heard from a lot of other people that this was their opinion as well. When I read a book, the most important element is the characters and the character development. I can enjoy a book with little or no plot if I am interested in the characters and they are well developed. (Books in this list tend to be stream of consciousness books including Mrs. Dalloway, The Catcher in the Rye, The Bell Jar , and This Side of Paradise.) This book had the most character development and interaction. I felt that I really got to understand Jace in this book as well as Alec and Simon. I really like that characters in this book and I enjoy their stories.

This book was funny, and enjoyable. This was originally going to be the end of the series but Clare has since decided to add three more books, the sixth is to be published in the spring of next year. I plan to read the other two very soon. I am interested in seeing the character's relationships evolve. I am enjoying this series. It is fun to find a series of books that just sucks you in and makes you stay up late and run to the bookstore to buy the next one. The last series I read that did that to me was The Hunger Games so it was fun to find another one. If you haven't started this series I highly recommend it.  

Here is my review of City of Bones
Here is my review of City of Ashes



Classics on the Top of My List

I have been reading a lot of YA recently, which I have really been enjoying. Just recently I found myself to be missing the classics though, so here is a list of classics at the top of my list that I want to read. I am hoping to get to some of these books next month and over winter break in December.

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf
Emma, Jane Austen
The Beautiful and the Dammed, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

Have you read any of these? What classics are on your list? I am currently reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen which is my first Austen novel. I have owned it forever and have always wanted to read it, so I decided to pick it up yesterday and start it. So far I am enjoying it, and I am looking forward to reading more Austen in the future.  

Recently Read: The Diviners

Okay, the last two weeks have been crazy full of midterms and school commitments, and wouldn't you know, that's the time I choose to read Libba Bray's just under 600 page book The Diviners! It took me a while to get through, because I didn't have a lot of time to just sit down and read, but I'm here to share my thoughts on it.

Evie, our main character is sent from her small town in Ohio, where she doesn't seem to fit in, to Manhattan to live with her bachelor Uncle Will. There she is introduced to the world of paranormal and magical occurrences through her Uncle's oddities museum that he runs. Evie has a special power, which seemed to only get her in trouble, until she is given an opportunity to use her power to help solve a series of  murders with her uncle.


It took me a little while to get into this book. I felt that the book's size could have been reduced by about a hundred pages, and nothing would have been lost from the plot. I did have high expectations for this book, though which may be why I'm not feeling blown away by it. It was good though, don't get me wrong, and I do recommend it. I found all the characters to be likable and compelling, and there wasn't a character that I didn't enjoy following for their chapter or two. It took a while for everything to come together, and since this is the first book in the series, there are quite a few things that have yet to come together at all. I think the next books will be very good now that all the setting up of the characters is done. I will be reading the next books in this series for sure, and this was a great book to read in October, for it is quite paranormal and creepy. But it is by no means over the top creepy, so haters of creepy books don't worry!

The second book in this series, Lair of Dreams is set to release on April, 14th of next year. Here is a look at the cover. Hopefully they release a cover to go along with the hardcover version of The Diviners because that cover is very nicely done, and I'm not as crazy about the cover for the second book.

If you're looking for more creepy October reads, check out my list here.

Recently Read: City Of Ashes

I finished City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare about a week ago, and I just now remembered I haven't wrote about it yet. This is the second book in the ever popular Mortal Instruments series. This was another quick read for me, I finished it in about two days. My review for the first book City of Bones is here.

I found this book to be just as exciting and hard to put down as the first one. I loved to see the development of the characters and their relationships with each other. I need to buy the rest of the books in the series so I can finish them as quickly as possible. This book, like the first, contains a few surprises and plot turns. I haven't seen the movie yet, since I hadn't read the book when it came out, but the other day I saw that Jonathon Rhys Meyers, who is Henry the VIII on The Tudors plays Valentine. I was totally unaware of this, and it caught me by surprise. I did not see Henry the VIII as Valentine! What do you think of the casting for the movie?

I recommend this book as well as the whole series. I have heard that the third book is even better than the first two, and that the fourth is everyone's least favorite so I am eager to read them and see what I think of them. Make sure to pick this series up if you haven't yet.

 

Meyers as King Henry VIII

Meyers as Valentine

Most Coveted Classics

This past week has been crazy stressful and next week seems to be even more so! It is midterm week next week. I have a million things to do, but all I want to do is read!! I'm here today with a quick list of classics that are on the top of my list to purchase and read.

A Room Of One's Own- Virginia Woolf
The Age of Innocence- Edith Wharton
We have Always Lived in the Castle- Shirley Jackson
Lolita- Vladmir Vladimirovich
The Crack Up Essays- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Recently Read: Black Ice and The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I'm going to do a double review today of the last two books I have finished recently. Black Ice by Andrew Lane is the third book in his teenage Sherlock Holmes series. You may recall this post where I displayed my love for everything Sherlock Holmes and I mentioned this book series. This is a middle grade series I believe, but it is action packed and Holmes lovers of any age will love this series. Lane is spot on with Sherlock's methods and personality. Everything ties together perfectly with the original Holmes stories, and I get so excited each time something connects. The fourth book in this series is available for pre-order and is set to release very soon.

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky has been popular for quite a while. I have not seen the movie because  I wanted to read the book first, and I am very glad I did. This book deserves the hype. It was a quick read, I read it in two sittings, because I could not put it down. The emotions and thoughts of the main character Charlie are so clear and powerful, and I got attached to him very quickly. Charlie has such an unique and pure way of viewing the world. I would recommend reading this book if you haven't seen the movie, and even if you already have seen the movie. Chbosky adapted his novel into the script for the movie, which makes me think it will be just as good as the book.





 

Recently Purchased: October Book Haul

I'm so excited about my recent book purchases. My shelves are currently overflowing, but that isn't stopping me from buying books every time I leave the house or get on the internet. Most of these came from amazon, one from the used section of my local bookstore, and one from the new section. I bought The Diviners by Libba Bray new at my bookstore because they had an autographed copy.

 

Flappers and Philosophers, F. Scott Fitzgerald (a beautiful Vintage Classics edition)

Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman (short story collection)

A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness (illustrated edition)

Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan

The Darkest Minds, Alexander Bracken

The Diviners, Libba Bray 

 Both the Patrick Ness, and the Libba Bray book were mentioned in my post on good spooky October reads here. 



October TBR

It's October already! hard to believe, but I'm excited to show you my To Be Read list for this month.

Currently reading: The Perks of being a Wallfower, Stephen Chbosky
I am half way through this book right now, and I had a hard time putting it down last night to go to bed. Charlie is such a real character that makes the reader feel his emotions right along side him. I just want to give him a hug and ruffle his hair more than anything! I will talk more about this book when I finish it.

 

Next on my list is City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. Which is book two in The Mortal Instruments series. Then I would like to read Envy by Anna Godbersen the third book in The Luxe series. The books in this series usually go pretty quickly and are a light read. I am eager to finish the series and see how it all plays out for the characters. The last book on my list this month is my creepy pick for the end of October, The Diviners by Libba Bray. I have spoken about this book in this post which features some other good and creepy October reads.

 

Hopefully I will have extra time at the end of the month to get some more reading done. If that happens I would love to continue with The Hereos of Olmpus series by reading book two, The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan.