Aug 7 2013

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Coming Soon: Burn by Julianna Baggott

Waiting on Wednesday is a feature hosted by Breaking the Spine. I’ve always loved seeing which books people are looking forward to and am happy to finally be participating. I have been doing a similar feature for about a year now, but somehow it seems more official, haha. This week I am anticipating:

February 4, 2014

Title: Burn

Author: Julianna Baggott

Series: Pure #3

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Release Date: February 4, 2014

The Overview: The fate of the world is more fragile than ever as Pures battle Wretches and former allies become potential enemies. Inside the Dome Patridge has taken his father’s place as leader of the Pures. His intent had been to bring down the Dome from the inside with the help of the secret resistance force led by Partridge’s former teacher Glassings. But from his new position of power, things don’t seem quite as clear. Perhaps his father had been right. Perhaps if the world is to survive it needs the Dome—and Partridge—to rule it. Outside the Dome Pressia and Bradwell continue piecing together the clues left to them by their parents from the time before the detonations. Soon they will be able to help heal the Wretches, freeing them from their monstrous fusings and the Dome’s oppression once and for all. But their success also depends on Partridge. Can they still trust their friend and ally to see their plan through? Or will a new war begin?

Nik’s Notes:

Having just finished Pure, the first book in this series, I am eager as ever to read the second book (Fuse) and will likely be doubly eager to read Burn by the time it comes out. I enjoyed the world building, the characters, and the layered plot and think anyone who loved the edgier dystopians like The Fifth Wave and Divergent should definitely check this series out! :-)

Pure was July’s Your Pick for Nik! – check out the review by clicking the cover below:

#1 Pure by Julianna Baggott

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 5 2013

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Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Sequels I’m Eagerly Awaiting! (8/6/2013)

This is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where many of us book bloggers gets together to geek out about our favorite books! This week’s topic is:

Top Ten Sequels I’m Eagerly Awaiting!

It was supposed to be top ten books I wish had sequels, but I thought it would be more fun to showcase the books we are actually going to get to read, rather than the nonexistent ones I wish had been written!

: August 27, 2013

: September 10, 2013

: October 22, 2013

: October 29, 2013

: Champion by Marie Lu

: November 19, 2013

: January 21, 2014

: January 2014

: February 4, 2014

: February 4, 2014

Shocker – all but one are teen books. I guess you can see which genre I’m more current in, lol. I actually haven’t read Cinder or Everneath, but all of your stellar reviews have convinced me that I’m going to love them. The sequel I am most excited for is The Fiery Heart, with Allegiant as a close second.

What books made your list? :-)

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 5 2013

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Out This Month – Noteworthy Releases August 2013

There are oodles of releases this month, and I am particularly excited about Perdition by Ann Aguirre (It is a spin off of her Grimspace series, which I absolutely loved).

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Which books are you waiting for? :-)

Aug 4 2013

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Book Review: Spartan Frost by Jennifer Estep

Title: Spartan Frost

Author: Jennifer Estep

Series: Mythos Academy #4.5

Genre: Teen Paranormal Romance

Rating: 1/5 stars

The Overview: Professor Metis and Nickamedes say that I’m fine, that Loki and the Reapers don’t have a hold on me anymore, but I can’t risk it. I can’t risk hurting Gwen again. So I’m leaving Mythos and going somewhere far, far away. I know Gwen wonders what’s happening to me, whether I’m safe. I can’t tell her, but this is my story. . .

The Review:

It’s always fun to read from the love interest’s point of view, and I think Estep picked a great time to introduce Logan’s perspective – the events that happened in book four were incredibly pivotal for his character. While the storyline for this novella was entertaining, it left me wanting more… a lot more.

Spartan Frost was repetitive. I’d say about 75% of it was recap and reflection of what’s happened in the series so far. As this is a novella four books into this series, I think it would’ve been safe to assume that only fans of the series would be reading it (especially since it’s labeled book #4.5). Also, throughout all that recap, there was very little talk about what Logan went through. It might’ve been his voice, but the story was still centered around Gwen’s experiences.

Logan has been a great side character up to this point, but after reading this novella I get the impression he’s not as well-rounded as he could be. His struggles and thoughts were thin and often focused outward rather than inward. I was hoping to gain some insight to his character, and what I got was reflection and recap – and very little growth. Overall, I don’t think this short story added anything to Logan’s development – at least, no more than was added from reading the rest of the series from Gwen’s perspective. I think it actually revealed more to me about Sergei and Inari then it did Logan (and as those two are incredibly minor characters, it wasn’t a good thing for them to outshine the “hero”).

Recommendations: Take out all the recap, and what happened in a few dozen pages here could have been summed up in a two-page conversation in book five. It didn’t really add anything to the series and in fact detracted from my impression of Logan as a whole (from a characterization standpoint). I am disappointed and wish the author had taken the time to develop it into something deeper. I likely won’t be recommending this anytime soon.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book.

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 3 2013

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Stacking the Shelves! (8/3/2013)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. I’m not sure why I haven’t participated in this feature before now – I love to to collect books, show them off, and see what other people are interested in. A lot of the other book blogs I follow do this every week and I find myself geeking out on their behalf that all the cool stuff they get.

Many of you know that I’ve been a bookseller for almost eleven years. Imagine how many books you would accumulate if you went to a bookstore five days a week and were handed a paycheck before you left the building on Fridays… A lot – that’s how many. Let’s put it this way, my friends and family have informed me that I am not allowed to move ever again because they got tired of lugging my books around. Anyway, I thought I would start this first feature with a look at a section of my library (those of you on Facebook have likely seen this already):

This makes up about two thirds of my adult collection. There are a couple more bookshelves on the opposite wall with more, and then four more shelves in another room with all my teen and young adult books. I seriously could just sit on the floor and stare at my collection all day.

So now that you’ve had a chance to see the shelves I’m stacking (don’t ask me where I’m going to put the new ones) let’s take a look at the books I’ve accumulated over the month of July:

Purchased (both hard copy and e-book):

: Legend by Marie Lu

: The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold

: Leviathan Wakes by James Corey

ARCs (Thank you, NetGalley!):

: Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

: Count Down by Michelle Rowen

: Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

: Wyrmweald by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

: Broken Forest by Eliza Tilton

: Spartan Frost by Jennifer Estep

: The Companions by R.A. Salvatore

and Giveaways (Thank you, The Polished Page-Turner for hosting such an amazing giveaway!):

Now that I’m adding it all up, July was a really expensive month, but I can see I’m in for some really great reading! [sorry, husband! ;)]

What books filled your shelves this month?

Aug 1 2013

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July 2013 Review Recap!

I read a lot of really great books this month! Ever since I started my “reading what I want to” instead of “reading what I feel like I have to” lifestyle my average rating has increased significantly. I cannot remember enjoying books this much since I was a kid! So, let’s take a look at the books that wowed me this month:

(click on the covers for full reviews)

Demon Glass by Rachel Hawkins – 5/5 stars!

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins – 4/5 stars

School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins – 4/5 stars

Storm Front by Jim Butcher – 4.5/5 stars

Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep – 3/5 stars

Pure by Julianna Baggott

#1 Pure by Julianna Baggott

and my favorite:

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb – 5/5 stars!

A lot of great reading happened this month ( – so much so that I didn’t even have a chance to post reviews for all the books I read. For the first time since I started the blog, I feel like I am ahead of schedule, and that is a great feeling. :-)

What awesome books did you read this month?