Favorite Genre Tag

QUESTIONS:

1) What is your favourite genre?

2) Best of the best: Your favourite book in this genre is...

3) The book that started it all: Which book started your love for this genre?

4) Hype: Name one book that is worth the hype it gets, and name one book the deserves more hype.

5) Biggest Pet Peeve: What is your biggest pet peeve about books from you genre.

6) Name the authors/series that are on your must buy list.

7) What places would you love to travel to and/or what characters would you love to meet?

8) What do you want to see more of in this genre?

9) Recommend 3 of your favourite books from this genre!

Looking back on July

read

Well I'm again very late with my monthly wrap up. Probably I should start working on my August one, because otherwise it won't get done. Last month I had an alright reading month, though I haven't read anything that I added to my favourites. (I loved the Assassin's Apprentice, gave it five stars, but..) I was in a bit of a reading slump, maybe because nothing I read was amazing. I've read 10 books, 2 short stories and 5 graphic novels. My favourite of the month was the Assassin's Apprentice and Fire & Flood. 

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb - ★★★★★

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews - ★★★

Amazonia by James Rollins - ★★★

The Deal by Elle Kennedy - ★★★

Gyógyír északi szélre (Gut gegen Nordwind) by Daniel Glattauer - ★★★★

A hetedik hullám (Alle sieben Wellen) by Daniel Glattauer - ★★★

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson - ★★★★

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling - ★★★★★

Fire&Flood by Victoria Scott - ★★★★

Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant - ★★★★

Please Do Not Taunt The Octopus by Mira Grant - ★★★★

Bird Box by Josh Malerman - ★★★★

Chew, Vol. 5 by John Layman - ★★★★

Chew, Vol. 6 by John Layman - ★★★★

Alex + Ada, Vol. 1 by Jonathan Luna - ★★★★

Alex + Ada, Vol. 2 by Jonathan Luna - ★★★★★

The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1 by Kieron Gillen - ★★★

watched

I've seen a few films in July, okay, I've seen three, but it is a lot for me.
Interstellar was a waste of my time. I did not enjoy this movie at all and I have nothing else to say about it. Bleh. 

Jurassic Word was SO GOOD. I'm so happy they did not ruin it. I've watched it twice already, I loved it that much. (I love Chris Pratt!) 

I've seen Inside Out with my cousin and we both enjoyed it very much so. It was the dubbed version and I want to watch the original as soon as it comes out on dvd. 

And I also watched my two summer tv shows. Melissa & Joey ended in August and it was time, to be honest. I'm not even sorry about it, the last seasons weren't great and this ending.. What was this? Seriously, they ruined a cute and funny show. Rizzoli & Isles is still great thankfully.

everything else

This month I discovered SnapChat and I'm obsessed with it, though I'm not sure why I'm using it so much, it's ridiculous.

Nintendo Book Tag

I just saw this tag on Sam's youtube channel and I wanted to do it, it seems fun.

1. NES (Nintendo Entertainment System): A Classic you want to read
Anna Karenina because it's just ridiculous that I still haven't read it.
2. SNES (Super Nintendo): A Sequel you liked more than the 1st 
Wintertide by Michael J. Sullivan!!!!!!! This book was mind blowing, I did not expect it to be so awesome and now I can't wait to read the last one, and it's way longer then this was! YES! (Can you tell I'm obsessed?)
3. Nintendo 64: A book that revolutionized the way you look at the world
Harry Potter? I don't have a better answer for this question.
4. Gamecube: A popular book that did not go over so well with you
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover, that book should not exist.
5. Wii: A new favorite book
Riyira Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan
6. Nintendo Power: Favorite Graphic novel series or a series you want to start
Y: The Last Man!!! The best I've read so far.
7. Super Mario: A Character that you'd love to squish like a Goomba
Rose from the Vampire Academy series (SORRY).
8. Zelda: A newer fantasy that you consider to be a modern classic
The Gentleman Bastards series by Scott Lynch
9. Samas-Aran: Favorite Sci-fi novel or one you want to read
The Old Man's War series is one of my favorites. I want to read Influx by Daniel Suarez.
10. Pokemon: Book editions that you want to collect
All the Harry Potter editions ever.
11. Donkey Kong: A book with original characters
Soulless by Gail Carriger
12. Nintendo Fandom: Favorite Nintendo game(s) or game you really want
I want a 3DS so much so I can play again! I hope Santa heard me.

Inside Out Book Tag

Kristina Horner created this tag on her youtube channel.
This movie was amazing, I loved it and so did my niece. :)

The book that brings me the most joy is The Martian by Andy Weir. This is my favorite book of the year (still) and it makes me smile every time I think about it. I think I need to reread it soon. 

A Song of Ice and Fire grossed me out the most, not just the first book, but all of them. I marathoned the first four books 4 years ago, but I had to take breaks and read Sophie Kinsella in between each one. 

I haven't even finished my first ever Stephen King book I was so afraid of it. Seriously I had to take the book downstairs, because I wasn't able to sleep in the same room with it. 

The book that pissed me off the most is The Great Zoo of China. OMG that book was awful. It had so much potential, but no it was ridiculous. I thought it was going to be like Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, which I adore, but I was mistaken. So if you want to read a book like Jurassic Park don't pick up this book. 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows made me cry the hardest ever. I don't even have words for it. J. K. Rowling broke my heart and I'll never be the same again. 

BookTubeAThon WRAP-UP

So this readathon was alright I think. I haven't completed all the challenges, but I've read pretty great books.
I've read three books, a graphic novel and a novella during last week.

The first book I've listened to on audio was You by Caroline Kepnes. Everybody loves this book, but it was just okay in my opinion. It was pretty crazy and scary, but nothing that will stay with me. ★★★
The second book I've completed was Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews, the fourth book in the Kate Daniels series, and I ADORE THIS SERIES SO MUCH. There, all caps. ★★★★★
Right after finishing it I had to pick up the 4.5 in the series, Magic Dreams, which is a short story following two side characters I love very much and it was the cutest thing, I couldn't put it down if I wanted to. ★★★★
Then I wasn't in the mood to read Rachel Vincent (I started Stray, but right now I'm not interested), so I've picked up the third volume of Alex+Ada (actually I read the single issues), because one of the author's name is Vaughn. It was a nice ending to the story, but I liked the first two volumes better. ★★★★
Lastly on Saturday I've read Salt&Stone by Victoria Scott and I don't even know what will I do if we don't get a third book. This book was so great, I couldn't stop reading, and I was so anxious I didn't want to continue/wanted to read ahead, which I never do. ★★★★★

BOOKTUBEATHON 2015 ~ TBR

The BookTubeAThon is a week long readathon. Ariel is one of the hosts and she made an announcement video and also a challenges video.
Dates: 3 August - 9 August
#BookTubeAThon

The challenges
1. Read a book with blue on the cover
I've wanted to read The Raven Boys for years now, so it's time.
2. Read a book by an author who shares the same first letter of your last name
This was the hardest to find, my last name starts with a V and I couldn't find any author whose name also starts with a V. I almost gave up, then found Stray by Rachel Vincent and Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. I'll see what I'm in the mood for.
3. Read someone else's favourite book
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, if I feel like reading something sad.
4. Read the last book you acquired
I'll read Salt&Stone by Victoria Scott, because I can't wait any longer.
5. Finish a book without letting go of it
I think I'll read the next volume of Chew or some other graphic novel, maybe the last five issues of Alex+Ada (I adore that series).
6. Read a book you really want to read
You by Caroline Kepnes, because everyone talks about this one.
7. Read seven books
That's probably not going to happen.

#TBRTakedown 2.0 ~ Wrap-Up

This readathon started out awful for me. I didn't have the time and when I did I wanted to do anything other than reading. So I decided the #TBRTakedown lasted Monday to Friday. I'm not exactly happy with myself, but it's better than the previous weeks. I'm still in a reading slump and I just can't get out of it for some reason.

I've managed to read two books and three graphic novels and completed four out of the five challenges. So it's alright I guess. I hope I'll do better in BookTubeAThon next week. I'll post my TBR for that tomorrow.

I continued the Kate Daniels series with the second book (Magic Burns) which I wasn't the biggest fan of, still liked it, just the mystery wasn't something I was interested in and the story was kind of confusing in my opinion.
Than I started two graphic novel series, The Wicked and The Divine, which was okay, but I think I will enjoy the second volume more, and then Alex + Ada, which was amazing and I loved it so much I had to pick up the next volume right after finishing the first. The second one was my favourite book of the week!
I wanted to read a Stephen King book for the out of your comfort zone challenge, but it felt too long so I chose Bird Box instead, which I thought was going to be scary. I was wrong, this book was my kind of book and I liked it very much, so it wasn't out of my comfort zone at all. I don't know if it's cheating or not and I don't care.

August New Releases

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff 

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews

You're Never Weird on the Internet by Felicia Day

The End of All Things by John Scalzi

Fool's Quest by Robin Hobb

Reawakened by Colleen Houck

Court of Fives by Kate Elliott

ZerOes by Chuck Wendig

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman

Mid-Year Book Freak Out

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2015. 
It's easy, The Martian by Andy Weir! I've read it in january, but I'm pretty sure no other book I'll read this year can beat it. It's awesome.
2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2015.  
Timeless by Gail Carriger. I love this whole series, but the books just get better and better and the last one is my favourite I think!
3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to. 
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year. 
I've written a post about my most anticipated pre-orders for the rest of the year, check it out.
5. Biggest disappointment. 
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (I don't even know why anyone would love this..)
6. Biggest surprise. 
Fire&Flood by Victoria Scott was such a huge surprise. I was hoping I will like it a little at least, but it was a great book and I can't wait to read the second one soon (like tomorrow).
7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you) 
I can't choose between Scott Lynch and Michael J. Sullivan, both of them are amazing writers.
8. Newest fictional crush. 
Harry Wilson from the Human Division by John Scalzi
9. Newest favourite character. 
Locke and Jean from the Gentleman Bastards series
10. Book that made you cry. 
The book that made me cry the most is Still Alice by Lisa Genova.
11. Book that made you happy. 
Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (such cuteness)
12. Favourite book to film adaptation you saw this year. 
Jurassic World, does this count? I didn't think so. Still I loved it and I haven't seen any book to movie adaptation in 2015. What should I watch?
14. Most beautiful book you've bought/received so far this year. 
Three Souls by Janie Chang (just look at it!)
15. Books you need to read by the end of the year.
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (it's on every list I make, I have to get to this book already)

#TBRTakedown 2.0 Readathon TBR

Finally another readathon! I loved the first one, so of course I'm participating.
Shannon's announcement video.
Dates: July 25 - July 31
Follow me on twitter for updates: @itsrozz 
Use #TBRTakedown on social media.

Challenges:
1. A book that's been on your TBR shelf over a year!
2. An unread sequel sitting on your TBR shelf.
3. A first book in a series on your TBR shelf.
4. An "out of your comfort zone" book on the TBR shelf!
5. A book from your most recent book haul!

 

 

Looking Back on June

I'm a little late posting my wrap-up, but it's summer, I have a lot of free time, so of course I'm lazy.

read

• Slammed by Colleen Hoover - ★★★★
• I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson - ★★★★★
• P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han - ★★★★
• The Summer Girls by Mary Alice Monroe - ★★
• The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot - ★★★★
• Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan - ★★

• Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen - ★
• Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff - ★★★★ 
• The Girl in 6E by A. R. Torre - ★★★★
• The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde - ★★★★

• The Emerald Storm by Michael J. Sullivan - ★★★★
• Wintertide by Michael J. Sullivan - ★★★★★
• Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews - ★★★★
• Elantris by Brandon Sanderson - ★★★★
• The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson - ★★★★

• Chew, Vol. 3: Just Desserts by John Layman - ★★★★★
• Chew, Vol. 4: Flambé by John Layman - ★★★★★
• Nimona by Noelle Stevenson - ★★★★★ 

My favorite books of the month were Wintertide and Nimona. I think Wintertide was by far the best in the series and I'm hoping the last book will be even more awesome.

watched

This month I've rewatched the first Jurassic Park movie. My plan was to see all three movies before Jurassic World, but that didn't happen. Still I'm glad I watched Jurassic Park, because it is one of my (two) favorite movies of all time. I love it so much.

I also continued my marathon of Friends. I watched season 2 and 3 and now I only have to watch one season to get to my favorite of the ten.

Currently reading

I started 6 (SIX) books in the last few days and I don't know, I think I'm not in the mood to read or do anything for that matter. The three I'm actively reading:

The Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
This book is so good! I can't believe I haven't read anything from Robin Hobb yet, because she is amazing! I'm halfway through this book and I'm pretty sure I'll pick up the next book in this series as soon as I finish it.
Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott
A few days ago I had to wait in the car for half an hour and I didn't have a book/my kindle with me, so I browsed through my kindle app and I've read a few pages of this and it sucked me in. Finally a YA book I like.
Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews 
I like this world and I'm in an urban fantasy mood. So far so good.

Tomorrow I'll post my #TBRTakedown 2.0 readathon TBR. YAY!

Series I Won't Finish

There are a lot of series I started because of the hype or I just thought I would love it and I hated/felt meh about them. So here is the list of series I will not finish (probably) ever. You can see almost all of them are YA. I'm more careful with those books now.
I'm not counting contemporary romance companion novel type of books, because we would be here for a long long time then.

• A. C. Gaughen: Scarlet (only read the first book and hated it)
• Sarah J. Maas: A Court of Thorns and Roses (only one book is out and I didn't hate it, but it was so disappointing and I can't take another page with these characters) 
• Brandon Sanderson: Legion (yep, a BS series I don't like. I've read the first two and I'm not even sure there will be other books, but either way I don't care.)
• Joe Abercrombie: Shattered Sea (I've read the first book and wasn't impressed and I'm a little hesitant about this one, so maybe I will continue on this trilogy, I don't know yet.) 
• Mira Grant: Parasitology (I'm so sad about this, because I lovelovelove Mira Grant's Newsflesh trilogy - and it's not even a trilogy anymore, we'll get another book next year!! - but the first book in this series was so boring.) 
• Orson Scott Card: The Ended Quintet (only read the first one and I was disappointed, but I liked it don't get me wrong, just stupid reviews ruined it for me. I haven't even read a review about this book actually, just people telling me what a huge twist there is and come on! that's a spoiler too. so I just don't care about this series that much.) 
• Marie Lu: The Young Elites (me and Marie Lu don't get along, so I won't even try any other books she comes out with.) 
• Carey Corp: Doon (read the first book and it was alright but I think I'm getting too old for these kind of characters.) 
• Wendy Higgins: The Sweet Trilogy (this was just plain bad.) 
• Lindsay Cummings: The Murder Complex (not that interesting to invest more time into this one.) 
• Sarah Rees Brannan: The Lynburn Legacy (I've read Unspoken and hated every minute of it, I had to skim the second half otherwise I would have thrown the book out the window.) 
• Jenny Han: Burn for Burn (I'm not sure about this. I loved the first book except the ending where things went in a weird direction and I don't like it.) 
• Rachel Hawkins: Rebel Belle (the first book was just meh.) 
• Dan Wells: The Partials Sequence (I liked the first book, but it was boring at times and I'm not sure I want to read the other books, because these books are not the shortest.) 
• Morgan Rhodes: Falling Kingdoms (I will get so much hate for this, but the first two books were mediocre and why would I read a series I don't enjoy that much? I will probably try the prequel though.) 
• Samantha Shannon: The Bone Season (only read the first book and it was more than enough.) 
• Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner: Starbound (hated These Broken Stars with all my heart.) 
• Jessica Spotswood: The Cahill Witch Chronicles (I've read the first book, Born Wicked, and it was okay but that's not enough.) 
• Julie Kagawa: Blood of Eden (I've read the first one and kind of liked it, I don't even know why I haven't continued on with this series, but it was so long ago I don't even know what happened, so we'll see about this one, maybe I read a recap of the first book or something.) 
• James Dashner: Maze Runner (wasn't impressed with the first book, rather watch the movies.) 
• Jennifer L. Armentrout: Lux (I've read the first two, but these sexy alien type of books aren't my thing. I'm gettint too old for certain YA books apparently.) 
• Pittacus Lore: Lorien Legacies (I've read the first three books more than 2 years ago and I had no idea about the whole James Frey thing then.) 
• Cassandra Clare: TMI (I didn't care for the first book, so..) 
• E. L. James: Fifty Shades (read the first book and just no.) 
• Gena Showalter: The White Rabbit Chronicles (I've read the first book when it came out almost three years ago and I can't remember a thing. This one is a maybe too.) 

Top 5 Anticipated Pre-Orders for the Rest of the Year

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey.

5. The End of All Things by John Scalzi
Series: Old Man's War #6
Pages: 384
Pub date: August 11th
Altough all four of the novellas are already out I still want to read them together in book form and I can't wait to know what happens next. I hope we get some Harry Wilson stories too.

4. The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milán
Series: The Dinosaur Lords #1
Pages: 448
Pub date: July 28th
There's going to be dinosaurs in this book, isn't it enough?

3. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #4
Pages: 656
Pub date: September 1st
I didn't like A Court of Thorns and Roses by her but I just love the Throne of Glass series and want all the books already!

2. Winter by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #4
Pages: 824
Pub date: November 10th
I've waited for this book a long time and who knows what will happen in more than 800 pages. That's a lot of pages. I hope it's going to be as great as Cress was.

1. The Thorn of Emberlain by Scott Lynch
Series: The Gentleman Bastard #4
Pages: 512
Pub date: September 17th
My most anticipated release of the year! I know I haven't read the third book yet, but I will this month or next because this is my favorite fantasy series right now and Scott Lynch is awesome.

July New Releases

This month is probably the month when I'll buy the least amount of books all year. Pretty slow, but that's alright, at least this way I'll have time for my other books.

The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson

Queen of Fire by Anthony Ryan

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

Armada by Ernest Cline

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Alive by Scott Sigler

Half a War by Joe Abercombie

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert

Pretending to be Erica by Michelle Painchaud

The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milan

Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica 

Currently reading

I'm currently reading three books actively. I thought last month that it would be great to reread the Harry Potter series, so I'm continuing with the second book, however, I probably won't finish it this month, because I'd really like to finish Elantris and maybe even the novella (The Emperor's Soul) after. Also I decided to reread the first five books in The Princess Diaries series and then continue on, because I want to read the Royal Wedding so badly.

There are a lot more books I put down and some of them I'm not even sure I will ever finish. For example I haven't read a page from A Discovery of Witches since february. I'm 150 pages in and I just don't care about that book. This is also true to Stray, but I should give it another chance, because for my reading challenge I have to read a book by an author who has the same initials as me and I'm not really interested in her other books (yeah, good reasoning). 1984, Amazonia and The Fill-In Boyfriend I'm sure I'll pick up later, I just wasn't in the mood for them, but I know I will love all three. And lastly there's The Gray Wolf Throne. Well, I liked the first two books and I started to read this several times over the last year, but it just can't hold my attention and these books are too long to waste my time if I'm not loving them so maybe I should just DNF it, but I also want to know how it all ends and I really enjoyed the first two. What should I do? 

Summer Reading Plans

Altough I haven't finished everything on my spring reading list yet I still wanted to do a summer one too, because it's fun to look through my books and plan ahead what I'd like to read in the next few months. I didn't include books that are yet to be released, because those are obvious.

The list

Top 5 Books I Read in One Sitting

Usually it takes more time for me to read a whole book, but there are certain cases when I just fly through them. So here's a list of those. 

Yes, almost all of these are contemporaries.