Howl's Moving Castle

Title: Howl's Moving Castle
Author: Diana Wynne Jones

Publisher: Greenwillow
ISBN: 0-06-441034-X

Why Read?: Book Club
Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendation

Thoughts: I had read Jones's Dalemark Quartet and was not really impressed with it, but I absolutely loved Howl's Moving Castle.  It is such a fun, whimsical read that feels like a fairytale retelling although the story is wholey original.  A definite must for fans of older children's fantasies.

Rating: 5 stars

2013 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge Recap

Challenge:  Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge
Host:  Reading with Tequila
2013 Level:  Level II (10 books)-FAILED
Thoughts:  There were not as many books on the list this year, and I am not sure if that is what caused the fail or if I do need to drop back to Level I.
1. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
2. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
3. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
4. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
5. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10.

Ender's Game

Title: Ender's Game
Author: Orson Scott Card

Publisher: Tor
ISBN: 0-812-55070-6

Why Read?: Book Club
Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendation, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: Everyone has told me how awesome this book is, but for me, it was just meh.  I wanted it to be more of a mindf*ck than it was.  It did have a slight twist, but it really only related to the second to last chapter.  Also, never once did I believe Ender was really six.

Rating: 2 stars

Ready Player One

Title: Ready Player One
Author:  Ernest Cline

Publisher: Broadway
ISBN: 978-0-307-88744-3

Why Read?: Book Club
Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendation, Dystopia, New Adult, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This did start a little slow, but once Wade, aka Parzival, finds the first key, the action never stops.  The cover reviews make a lot of comparisons to other works, but really, Cline has come up with a completely novel...novel.  Gamers and 80s fans alike will find tons to love about Ready Player One.

Rating: 4 stars

Fahrenheit 451

Title: Fahrenheit 451
Author:  Ray Brandbury

Publisher: Del Rey
ISBN: 0-345-41001-7

Why Read?: Book Club
Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendations, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: The start of this was good, but then it got a little slow after Clarisse disappeared.  However, after Part 1, it really took off and the ending was not at all what I was expecting.  Bradbury expresses some amazing view through some very poetic prose.

Rating: 4 stars

Cinder

Title: Cinder
Author:  Marissa Meyer

Publisher: Macmillian Young Listeners
ISBN: 9781427215000

Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Audio Book, Book Blogger Recommendation, Dystopia, A to Z, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I am not a fan of cyborgs, but I am a fan of stories based on fairy tales, so I thought I would give Cinder a try. I am so glad I did. This was a wonderful twist on Cinderella set in a future Earth much different but still similar to our own. Aside from excellent world-building, the characterization was also phenomenal. The ending definitely left me wanting to run out and buy the sequel.

Rating: 5 stars

2013 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge

Challenge:  Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge
Host:  Reading with Tequila
2012 Level:  Level II (10 books) - FAILED
2013 Level:  Level II (10 books)

1. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
2. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
3. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
4. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
5. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10.

Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge

Challenge:  Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge
Host:  Reading with Tequila
2012 Level:  Level II (10 books) - FAILED
Thoughts:  I love trying to read what other recommend.  I can close this year, but didn't hit the mark, but I will try again next year.
Books:

1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. Wither by Lauren DeStefano
4. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
5. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
6. The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz
7. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
8. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
9. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
10.

Anne of Green Gables

Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery

Publisher: Kobo
ISBN:n/a
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendation, Why Buy the Cow

Thoughts: This was a really cute story. Anne is so likeable, but I wish she would have kept a little more of that child-like imagination as she grew.

Rating: 4 stars

Life of Pi

Title: Life of Pi

Author: Yann Martel
Publisher: Harcourt
ISBN:  0-15-602732-1
Why Read?: Book Club
Challenges:  Book Blogger Recommendation, Free Reads, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I really did not want to read this, but I am so glad I did.  It captured my attention and read much faster than I thought it would.  At the beginning, Pi says it is a story to make you believe; I'm not sure about that, but it does really make you think.

Rating: 5 stars

The Eye of the World

Title: The Eye of the World

Author: Robert Jordan
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
ISBN: 9781593974329
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Audio Books, Book Blogger Recommendation, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I can see why Jordan's Wheel of Time series has endured through so many novels.  This is one of the best epic fantasies I have read.  The only problem I had was with the narrators - why was a female narrator needed when she only read a couple of chapters (in a 50+ chapter book)?

Rating: 5 stars 

The Darkest Evening of the Year

Title: The Darkest Evening of the Year

Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 978-0-553-58912-2
Why Read?: Book Club
Challenges:  Mystery & Suspense, Book Blogger Recommendation, Chunkster, Dean Koontz, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: At times the suspense was so great that I didn't want to stop readings.  However, especially at the beginning, the animal scenes were so heart-wrenching, that I had to keep putting the book down.

Rating: 3 stars

The Hunger Games

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 978-0-545-40577-5
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  1st in a Series, Book Blogger Recommendation, Dystopia, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: With the movie coming out, I figured it was type to finally read The Hunger Games, which people have been suggesting to me for years.  I am glad I finally did.  This is a wonderful dystopian with plenty of twists in a world I want to learn more about.  I didn't think it would be my type of book, but I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Rating: 5 stars

Water for Elephants

Title: Water for Elephants

Author: Sara Gruen
Publisher: Algonquin
ISBN: 978-1-56512-560-5
Why Read?: Book Club
Challenges:  Book Blogger Recommendation, Historical Fiction, A to Z, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I am not a fan of animal books, so I was prepared to not like this and cry. However, I am a fan of circus novels, so I was curious about this one. Luckily my curiosity won out. Although I did cry at parts, I loved this story. I was immediately transported to that long ago circus train, but what I liked most, actually, was Jacob in present day—he was a hoot! 

Rating: 5 stars

Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge

Challenge:  Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge
Host:  Reading with Tequila
2011 Level: Level I (5 books) - COMPLETED
2012 Level:  Level II (10 books)

1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. Wither by Lauren DeStefano
4. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
5. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
6. The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz
7. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
8. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
9. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
10.

Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge Recap

The Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge was a ton of fun. I am not sure how bloggers got their recommendations onto this list, but I had a blast looking at all of their recommendations and managed to actually read more than the required amount for Level I (5 books) and that was without even trying. I will definitely sign up again if it is offered in 2012 and up the level. Here's my list:

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

3. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

5. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Outlander

Title: Outlander
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Publisher: eBook
No ISBN
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: E-Book, TBR Pile, Book Blogger Recommendation, Show Me the Free (Borders), Vacation Reads, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: Outlander is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and after reading it, I can see why it has lasted so long. I have never read a romantic time-travel before, but I can see that Gabaldon really knows this genre. The story as well as the characters were highly engaging, although it did drag a little in a few parts, but I honestly think that was due to the fact I was reading an ebook and couldn't really see how much of the story was left. I now what to pick up the rest of the series.
Rating: 5 stars

Vacation Reads Challenge: I have always wanted to visit the Scottish countryside. I think it would be just beautiful. I think, though, I would prefer to visit it now a days, rather than in the time of the clans.

Jane Eyre

Title: Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Publisher: Wordsworth
ISBN: 1-85326-020-7
Why Read?: Bookclub
Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendation, Classics, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: For the longest time, I have had no desire to read Jane Eyre (not really sure why since it is the first Gothic). I really do not know why I waited so long. Yes, as is typical of books from the 1800s, it was a little long in parts, but in others, it read faster than I excepted and the story was simply excellent.
Rating: 4 stars

Before I Fall

Title: Before I Fall

Author: Lauren Oliver

Publisher: Harper

ISBN: 978-0-06-172680-4

Why Read?: Book Club

Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendation, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: Bravo, Oliver, for not taking the expected ending! This book definitely deserves all of the praise it has been getting. It is sort of like Mean Girls meets Groundhogs Day, but it is also much deeper than that. This is a wonderful, unprecedented YA novel that is simply a must read. I do not want to say too much because you need to go read this for yourself.

Rating: 5 stars

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Author: Stephen Chbosky

Publisher: MTV

ISBN: 978-0-671-02734-6

Why Read?: Book Club

Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendation, All-Male Review, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts:I love books that are written in an epistolary style such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Actually, this was closer to a diary as we only get to see Charlie's letters, but Charlie proves to be a very good wallflower, able to observe others and thus I think "his" portrayals of the other characters are rather "true". The twist at the end is interesting and explains so much. Very honest look at growing up, but it does make it seem like everyone in the early 90s was doing drugs.

Rating: 4 stars