Tag Archives: book clubs

Jan 17 2014
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Introducing: The Escape Reality Book Club!

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That’s right – a book club! Hosted by yours truly and Charlotte over at Apathy and Rhetoric.

Why start a book club?

Well, we decided it would be a lot of fun to read the same book at the same time and geek out about it – doubly so if we can get others to join in the fun!

 What kinds of books will be read?

Even though we both appreciate all categories under the speculative fiction umbrella, this book club is dedicated to Young Adult novels.

How does it work?

Once a month, one of our members will nominate five or six YA titles.

Each of us will vote for our favorite book.

A winner will be announced and we will all read the chosen book over the course of a single, designated week.

Charlotte and I will be hosting a spoiler free Twitter conversation throughout the designated week where those reading the book (and even those who have already read the book) can join in the fun. #escaperealitybc

How do you join?

It couldn’t be easier – just click here to be redirected to Escape Reality Book Club’s official Facebook page and ask to join the group.

Anybody can participate in voting, reading, and Tweeting about the book, but only those who join the Facebook group and participate regularly will have a chance to nominate titles.

January 2014

February 2014

March 2014

April 2014

May 2014

Dec 30 2013
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Dystopian Reading Challenge 2013 – The Yearly Recap Edition!

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Hosted by Blog of Erised (one of my favorite blogs), this feature challenged readers to pick up as many dystopians as they could throughout 2013. Here’s a look at how I did:

The official tally:

25/24

Level 4: Leader!

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Considering I only read about eighty books this year, you can see how much I love the genre. Just think how many I could have read had I been actively working towards a goal all year (although that way of thinking is dangerous, as discussed in my post on Reading Challenges). I will say, as much as I love it, I’m getting a little burnt out on the genre. I don’t think I’ll get anywhere near 25 in 2014.

 How many dystopian’s did you read this year?

Dec 27 2013
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2013 Review Recap!

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 The end of the year is finally here! And I’m celebrating by putting together the post I’ve been most looking forward to: the annual book review recap!

 I started a book blog for a couple reasons, but one of them was because it is a great way to keep track of all the fantastic books I’ve read (one that didn’t involve a journal and printouts of the covers – the method I was using before I discovered the wonders of blogging).

Sharing my love of books has become a passion all its own, and I have discovered some profound things in my own reading habits that I may not have if not for the blog. Most notably, I have come to truly appreciates the idea that life is too short to read boring books. I finally figured this out at the beginning of the year when I had published three posts in a row with 2.5 or lower ratings a week before sharing the top ten books on my spring reading list. It was eye-opening because I realized the books I was most looking forward to reading were getting left on the shelf in favor of books I felt like I was obligated to read (does anybody else have that problem?). Anyway, I made the decision to read the books I was most excited for first rather than last, and it has made for the best year of reading I have ever had!

So without further a do, here’s a look at The Obsessive Bookseller’s year of book love:

 (You can find full-length reviews for all of these titles under the Review Archive tab at the top of the blog)

DNF:

1 Star:

2 Stars:

2.5 Stars:

3 Stars:

3.5 Stars:

4 Stars:

4.5 Stars:

5 Stars:

Look how many are above 4 stars!! Reading the books at the top of your list, rather than the ones you feel obligated to read really does make a difference – here’s hoping 2014 is an even better year!

 I will say this year seemed rather focused on Young Adult. I couldn’t help it, there were just too many great books in that genre and there are many I still have yet to read. Although, because I’ve recently combed through and reorganized my Fantasy novels, I’ve been reminded of how many awesome looking books I still have in that genre and am thinking 2014 could be a great year for a High Fantasy focus…

What awesome books did you read this year?

Dec 20 2013
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Chronicles of an Obsessive Bookblogger: Reading Challenges

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Reading Challenges

This is the first year that I’ve taken part in the Goodreads Reading Challenge, and I don’t know about you, but when I signed up I thought, “this could be a very bad idea.” You see, adding a reading challenge of any sort has the potential to suck some of the fun and spontaneity out of reading. I was worried that the end of the year would come around and I would be really disappointed if I didn’t hit my goal of 100 books.

Sure enough, around August I started paying attention to the little widget tracker as it helpfully informed me I was 8% behind schedule. Then October hit and I knew I was in trouble: I was a whopping 12% (thanks to easy math, exactly 12 books) behind my goal.

That meant I would have had to read 3.5 books per week to reach my goal by the end of the year (I average 1.75). Rationally, I knew it wasn’t going to happen – between family, work, blogging, and everything else that keeps my life so busy there was no way I was going to finish that many books a week. But, like any stubborn reader would, I tried…

I even came up with a game plan – I would read as many YA as I could because, let’s face it, they are the easiest to get through. Almost all of the adult speculative fiction on my shelves are well over 500 pages which take me at least a week to read. As you can imagine, it wasn’t long before I started to get really tired of reading all YA (I was focusing mostly on dystopian because I was doing a challenge for that as well). It felt like I was reading because I had to, and not because I wanted to. That’s NEVER good.

A few weeks ago, I finally threw in the towel. I was so tired of reading books that I knew would help me towards my goal that I randomly snatched an 800 page book off my shelf to reread and concentrated on that for a solid two weeks… it was bliss.

So what have I learned? It’s no fun to read things because you feel like you have to (even if they are really good books) and reading challenges can be stressful if you don’t pick goals that are consistent with your current reading habits.

In 2014, I’m going to start with 80 books as my Goodreads challenge goal and if I read more I’ll just bump it up accordingly at the end of the year. I’m still going to continue with the Dystopian Challenge (hosted by Blog of Erised), although I don’t think I will come anywhere near that 24+ books I read for it this year. Finally, I’m doing a Series Challenge (hosted by Read. Sleep. Repeat.) with the hopes that I can finish out a few of the dozens of unfinished series still hanging over my head. I’m worried about the last one mostly because I don’t want to feel obligated next year and I kind of already do when it comes to finishing what I start.

What about you? How many challenges do you have for yourself in 2014? Does participating stress you out like it does me?

by Niki Hawkes

Nov 18 2013
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Top Ten Books I Recommend to Nonreaders! (11/18/2013)

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Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

 For avid readers like myself, there is no end to the number of great books just waiting to be added to our colossal TBR piles. For nonreaders, however, it can be really difficult finding quality reading if you’re not immersed in the book world. It has been my experience that most nonreaders select their next books based solely on word of mouth and personal recommendations.

 Because they are not familiar with many of the subgenres of speculative fiction, I always try to get them started on “gateway” novels – ones that aren’t too intimidating for the casual reader but are good enough that I can recommend them confidently to a wide range of people. As a side note, I consider anyone who reads fewer than five books a year to be a nonreader. These recommendations also work for avid readers looking to explore other genres.

Top Ten Books I Recommends to Nonreaders!

   Now keep in mind that I wouldn’t hand any of these titles to people who only like creative nonfiction or biographies. They have to be interested in these genres to begin with, and I do a lot of brain picking before I throw my heart and soul into a recommendation. I actually have a list of about five titles per genre that I mention to an interested person, but tried to pick the best from each one to represent here. Would any of these make your list?

by Niki Hawkes

Sep 30 2013
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Your Pick for Nik! – September’s Review: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

psTitle: Poison Study

Author: Maria V. Snyder

Series: Study #1

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Rating: 4/5 stars!

The Overview: About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly’s Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can’t control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear…

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The Review:

From the the very first page, I was hooked. Not only did it begin at a pivotal time in the character’s life, but it also set the stage for a story with endless possibilities for character growth and story development.

Story: My favorite part of the book has to be the ideas behind the basic storyline. Throughout the book, I especially liked how the main character was either learning news skill or showcasing ones she already had. It gave off the same “learning environment” feel you’d get from books that take place in schools (and you all know how much I love school settings). What’s more, the character learned a trade you don’t encounter often in our world – poisons! It was fascinating, and I love feeling like I learned it along with her.

What’s great about this book is that it has multi-genre appeal. The company I work for categorizes it in romance, but it could easily find a home in either the teen section (15+) or fantasy. Because of this, I feel like I could recommend it to a wide range of customers, and that always makes me happy!

Another element of story I think a lot of readers would like is the slow-building relationships and love story. They all felt incredibly organic – again leaving lots of room for growth in the future.

Character: Yelena Is a “take no crap” protagonists who speaks her mind and follows her heart. She is the type of character that’s highly likable because she represents a lot of characteristics most of us wish we had. Not only is she brave enough to stand up for her convictions, she is also incredibly smart and loyal. I love her fire and I love her spirit!

I think it’s safe to say that Yelena stole the show – she was such a strong and dynamic chick that all other characters sort of faded into the background for most of the book. The good news is, that was really only an issue for the first half of the book, and Yelena’s story was more than compelling enough to carry the story until then. Considering it’s a full trilogy, I think there are plenty of side character exploration yet to come.

Writing: Snyder did a great job organizing – revealing just enough information to tell the story and strengthen character, while leaving enough mystery shrouding Yelena’s past (and everybody else’s, for that matter) to keep me turning the pages. She also used several “hooks” at the end of each section, which often had me saying “just one more chapter…”

She also used one of my all time favorite writing tools – when two characters are forced together into small quarters by an outside influence. It creates a great atmosphere where the characters are forced to interact with one another, and it especially works well in furthering a romantic spark. The way it was done here was so subtle that I am most missed it, but it immediately got me excited for where the story could go (not that I wasn’t already hooked).

Finally, I love the voice Snyder used to tell the story. It was incredibly understated (in a good way), letting the focus reside entirely on her main character. It was highly effective at drawing me in, and I imagine it would do the same for most readers.

World Building: The world building was definitely present, but a little low key. You could tell the author has a full magic system and world developed based on everything she alluded to, but she definitely didn’t bring it to its full potential in this first book. This is the only thing that I hope to see improvement on in book two – and I honestly don’t think she’ll let me down. She has a lot of groundwork set for something really amazing.

Overall, this was a fantastic book and I’m thrilled it was chosen for book club. It had been collecting dust on my shelf for over five years and I am seriously kicking myself for not having picked it up sooner! The best news: based on the direction this one took, I am expecting the second book to be just as good, if not better!

Recommended Reading: for anyone wanting great fantasy entertainment with a slow-developing love story!

by Niki Hawkes

Other books you might like:

Discussion Time!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Yelena, hands-down. She is just one of those strong female protagonists that you wish you could be, and I love how unabashed she is when fighting for something she believes in.

What was your favorite part of the book?

The opening! it was one of the best starts to a book that I’ve ever read, and set the tone for one killer story!

Which would you rather learn: poison study, acrobatics, dueling, magic, for self-defense?

I know it was unfair adding magic to the list because who wouldn’t want to learn Magic? Obviously that’s my number one, but my number two is acrobatics – I’ve always admired gymnasts!

The questions are meant to generate conversation, so feel free to answer any or all in the comments area. If you also wrote a review for Poison Study, let me know and I will add a personalized link in this review. 

For more information on this book club feature, click here.