Category Feature Posts

May 3 2014
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Stacking the Shelves – April 2014 Edition!

Stacking the shelves

Hosted by Tinga’s Reviews

Considering how many books I bought last month (as seen in March’s STS) I think a serious cutback in book buying was definitely called for. I’m pleased to say that the only books I acquired this month were either purchased last month during my spend-a-thon or bought under my personal read 4, buy 1 challenge. Here’s a look at what I got: 

Hardcopies:

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Most of these I’ve already read. I’m at the point where I’m only adding the best of the best to my collection. I think all of these qualify. :)

Ebooks:

All of these I snagged for under $3.00 – killer! I’ve been hearing awesome things about both Red Rising and Archived, and who doesn’t love Robin Hobb?

Library:

Turtlebomb!!! I’ve read about half of the books I’ve borrowed (thank goodness for online renewals), and have, for the most part, enjoyed them all. My favorite read in this category was the Girl of Fire and Thorns – which you may have noticed is also in the “purchased” category… it was AWESOME!

ARCs:

Thief’s Magic by Trudi Canavan
May 29, 2014
Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb

Thank you Penguin Random House! Having the chance to review an early copy of The Immortal Crown is like a blogging dream come true for me. Be on the lookout for the review of it near the end of the month!

 Also, you may have noticed I’m doing a great job sticking to my new resolution to stop requesting so many titles from Netgalley and Edelweiss. I’m reserving that for the best ones – like a new Robin Hobb and a new Trudi Canavan!

So that’s it for my haul! How did YOU do this month? :)

by Niki Hawkes

Apr 28 2014
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Top Ten Books You Might Like If You Enjoyed Throne of Glass – Revamped!

top ten tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Yup, I have finally jumped aboard the Sarah J. Maas fangirl train, and not a moment too soon! As high-fantasy YA novels are my favorite things EVER, I’m thrilled that Throne of Glass has had such an impact on the reading community. Most of the bloggers I follow have read it, the same holds for the many YA readers in my own community. After recommending it constantly to customers, I quickly realized that I needed to be prepared for when they came back with “Ooooooh! I loved it so much! What can I read next?” From that question was born this list:

Top Ten Eleven Books You Might Like If You Enjoyed Throne of Glass!

If you liked:

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

You might like:

girlBook Info: Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Reason for Recommending: setting, story, and genre – this is my favorite book from this list. While I love reading about Celaena and think she’s a cool character, I don’t find a single thing about her relatable. Elise, however, from Girl of Fire and Thorns is exactly the kind of heroine that makes me fall in love with a book. Her relatability is what allowed me to fully immerse myself in the story, whereas ToG always seem to keep me at arms-distance. I’m not saying you will also like this one more, but there’s definitely a good chance you will enjoy it.
                                                                                                                                                                    

Grave Mercy by Robin LeFevers

Book Info: Grave Mercy by Robin LeFevers

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Reason for Recommending: story, romance, character – and assassins! Granted the main character is a lot more timid than Celaena, but progression of the story in the romance feels really similar to ToG. I haven’t read the second or third book in this series, so I can’t speak to its ongoing similarity, but I think ToG readers will definitely at least enjoy the first one.

                                                                                                                                                                     

The Midnight ThiefBook Info: Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Reason for Recommending: character, atmosphere – this book offers another kick butt heroine who shows a lot of skill in her profession (thieving) right from the start. The city she lives in and the conflicts also remind me of ToG and I thought the general atmosphere both books were incredibly similar. This one definitely takes its own unique turn, but I felt it was just as entertaining along the way.
                                                                                                                                                                     

The winner's CurseBook Info: The Winner’s Curse

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Reason for Recommending: character, genre, setting– of all the female protagonists on this list, actually view the main one in The Winner’s Curse as the most similar to Celaena, yet I can’t quite put my finger on exactly why. She’s an interesting character with a lot of strong convictions, so that might be why she resonated with ToG for me. I am really confident about the recommendability of this one to ToG fans – everyone seems to be raving about it with the same enthusiasm.
                                                                                                                                                                      

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Book Info: Young Elites by Marie Lu

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Reason for Recommending: character, setting, and genre – the main character for this book reminds me a lot of Celaena, only she wears the scars of what she’s been through on the outside as well as the inside. There is also a real darkness to her character that mimicked some of the low points of Celaena’s journey. Add in a secret guild and magic-users and you’ve got yourself a fairly comparable novel. I really liked it.
                                                                                                                                                                      

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Book Info: The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Reason for Recommending: all the things – okay, I realize how stupid it is to say “if you like this author, you should read more of this author” but not everybody takes the time to read prequels and novellas, so I have to tell you this book makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE! If you haven’t read it yet, drop everything and read it now – it turned to me from a casual admirer of the series to a ToG super fan overnight… possibly because it gave me the insight into Celaena’s character that I’d been needing.
                                                                                                                                                                       

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Book Info: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Reason for Recommending: genre, character, romance – this is the teen fantasy book that got me hooked on the genre. It has a wonderful adventure and a beautiful love story. I’m recommending it for ToG fans because I think they will like the main character and enjoy the journey. I don’t have any specific similarities between the two series, but chances are if you liked the genre in general you’ll enjoy this book. That being said, the third book, Bitterblue, has a TON of similarities…
                                                                                                                                                                      

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Book Info: Poison Study by Maria Snyder

Genre: Fantasy

Reason for Recommending: character, story, pretty much everything – this is the single most similar book to ToG on my list, down to the introduction of our heroine being led from her prison and being made an offer. From there, the love story, the setting, the conflicts, and the plot all resonate with the things I loved about ToG, which is why I am highly recommending this title. If you only choose one book from my list to try, I’m most confident about this one.
                                                                                                                                                                      

The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan

Book Info: Magician’s Guild by Trudi Canavan

Genre: Fantasy

Reason for Recommending: setting, atmosphere – this is another one of those titles that reminded me of ToG because of the general setting and atmosphere of the story. It takes place in a school for magicians, and the castle, city, and world all reminded me of where ToG took place. I also found a resonance with the magic system, particularly the dark magic. This wouldn’t be my first recommend on the list, but if you’ve read most of the others this one will definitely help hold you over.
                                                                                                                                                                         

Medalon by Jennifer Fallon

Book Info: Medalon by Jennifer Fallon

Genre: Fantasy

Reason for Recommending: story, setting, character – I’ll admit it has been a really long time since I’ve read this book, but the overall essence of what I remember reminds me a lot of what I like in ToG, especially as the series progresses. It’s one of the books I’ve been itching to go back and reread, and now might be a great time while I’m waiting for the next ToG book to come out…
                                                                                                                                                                        

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Book Info: Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Genre: Fantasy

Reason for Recommending: setting, atmosphere – I’m including this book on my list because there are several parts within the story that evoked the same regal atmosphere as in ToG… And that’s kind of where the similarities end to be honest with you. This is one of my all-time favorite series, but it comes with several disclaimers – sexual content, violence, and slow pacing. Read it at your own risk…
                                                                                                                                                                        

I hope you find this list helpful and enjoy these titles as much as I did! I’ve added all of them to a shelf on my Goodreads page if you’d like to go read more about them. Happy reading! :-)

Have you read any good books similar to Throne of Glass?

by Niki Hawkes

Apr 22 2014
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Top Ten Female Characters That Inspire Me!

top ten tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

 I have been so eager for this post that I started putting it together weeks ago. I just couldn’t wait to pay homage to my all-time favorite female characters, and thought it would be fun to figure out what I admired most about each of them. I’ve summed it up into a single attribute that represents what each of these characters inspired in me. Enjoy! :-)

Top Ten Female Characters That Inspire Me!

While I picked the attribute that most represented these amazing literary ladies to me, by no means are any of them limited to just one. :-) If you’d like explanation as to why I chose an attributes, or want to know which books they are from, let me know in the comments section and I’ll be sure to respond.

Which female characters inspire you?

by Niki Hawkes

Apr 8 2014
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Top Ten Most Unique Books I’ve Ever Read!

top ten tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

  I’ll admit I had a little more trouble than normal compiling this particular top ten. In my opinion, the uniqueness of a book strongly depends on how many other books you’ve read within that genre. So one book that I found unique may be just like another one that you’ve read and vice versa. Although, I guess all of these posts are subjective, so I don’t know why I am taking exception to this week, haha. Anyway, here are the ten awesome books I landed on:

 Top Ten Most Unique Books I’ve Ever Read

All of these I found unique one way or another, whether they had a different writing style, point of view, setting, or plot, each one stood out to me as fantastically atypical. If I’m not mistaken, I rated all of them at least four stars or higher, and some of them are among my all-time favorites… Quite possibly because of the uniqueness.

 What’s the most unique book you’ve read and loved?

by nikihawkes

Mar 31 2014
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Top Ten Gateway Books of My Reading Journey!

top ten tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I was really excited for this week’s TTT because it allows me to pay homage to the books that sparked my love of speculative fiction (and reading in general)! Each of these titles introduced me to their relative genres, and to this day, many of them remain my #1 in those categories.

The Top Ten Gateway Books of My Reading Journey!

And the book that started it all:

1

 Many of these have a special place in my heart because I would not be the reader I am today without them.

What book sparked your love of reading?

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 29 2014
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March 2014: Review Recap!

Review Recap

So, evidently I’ve fallen a little more behind on book reviews than I thought I had. Normally, I average about seven book reviews per month and this month have barely gone over half that. I have excuses, of course. Most of which involve me having a lot more fun than normal. :-)

In any case, here’s a look at the books that were reviewed this month:

The Lascar’s Dagger by Glenda Larke
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Salvage by Alexandra Duncan

The Lascar’s Dagger by Glenda Larke – 5/5 stars!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas – 4/5 stars

Selvage by Alexandra Duncan – 4/5 stars

and my favorite:

Dragon Haven

Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb – 5/5 stars!

It was, all things considered, a killer month in reading… Possibly my highest review average ever. Although, when you take into account that there’s only four of them, that’s not really an impressive sample size.

Waiting on Wednesday Features:

Invaded by Melissa Landers
Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb
June 17, 2014

 Even though I am dying to read Invaded, I am most excited for the new Robin Hobb book!

A Q&A with Dan Wells:

dan-wells-01

That pretty much sums up my month of posting… I’m earnestly hoping for something a little more robust for next month, but will see what happens. Although, the Dan Wells interview was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever featured on my blog… So there’s that. :-)

by Niki Hawkes