Monthly Round-Up: June 2012
Ahh, June has come and gone. It's been a big month for me for two reasons: 1) I had my convocation ceremony and officially graduated (with cum laude! booyah) and 2) I got accepted into grad school!! I don't think I've mentioned it before, but if you look on my "About Me" page, I mention that I "hope to enroll in graduate studies in MLIS" -- looks like that's going to have to be changed, because now I *am* pursuing my MLIS (Master of Library and Information Studies) degree in September. I'm really excited, but really scared: I've never moved out and I've lived in this city for my entire life, so the thought of going to a completely new city where I don't know ANYBODY gets me a little anxious, but I'm so incredibly excited at the same time.
Reading-wise, the month was a little meh for me. I seriously thought I'd be reading much more this summer than I have, but I've getting SLOWER, despite all the extra free time. Weird.
Anyway, here's what I read and reviewed this month; the links will lead you to the book's goodread page.
Books Read and Reviewed:
1. The Ghosts of Ashbury High (Ashbury/Brookfield #4) by Jaclyn Moriarty ( review)
2. Treasure Hunters (Bone #8) by Jeff Smith ( review)
3. Ship Breaker (Ship Breaker #1) by Paolo Bacigalupi ( review)
4. The Drowned Cities (Ship Breaker #2) by Paolo Bacigalupi ( review)
5. Crown of Horns (Bone #9) by Jeff Smith ( review)
6. God's War (Bel Dame Apocrypha #1) by Kameron Hurley ( review)
7. Green Lantern vol. 1: Sinestro by Geoff Johns ( review)
8. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein ( review)
9. Animal Man vol. 1: The Hunt by Jeff Lemire ( review)
10. The Demon's Lexicon (The Demon's Lexicon #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan ( review)
11. Batman: Detective Comics vol. 1: The Faces of Death by Tony S. Daniel ( review)
12. The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns #1) by Rae Carson ( review)
13. The Demon's Covenant (The Demon's Lexicon #2) by Sarah Rees Brennan (review to come!)
14. Ender's Game (Ender's Saga #1) by Orson Scott Card (review to come!)
15. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon vol. 5 by Naoko Takeuchi (might review this? I still haven't done one for volumes three and four though.. hrmm..)
Total Books Read This Month: 9 novels; 5 graphic novels; 1 manga
Total Books Read This Year: 78 novels (1 DNF); 17 graphic novels; 3 manga
Nine novels in one month is okay, but I'd like to do better next month if I can. :) I've been trying to not push myself too hard with reading books though; I want it to be fun, not something to do because I HAVE to meet certain goals. This month was also a little slower because God's War ended being a much heftier read than I had initially anticipated, and it took me a lot longer to read than I thought it would.
Favourite: This is tie between Code Name Verity and The Drowned Cities. They were both so so so good (and both received five-star ratings from me on Goodreads -- they will definitely be end-of-the-year favourites.) The Girl of Fire and Thorns comes very close as well.
Most Disappointing: I'm not too sure where to even begin -- I read so many books this month that were "meh"; I honestly don't remember the last time I gave so many two-star ratings in one month. The Demon's Lexicon was a let-down, as I really wanted to like it and felt really indifferent (and at times downright annoyed) with it. I've already the sequel and it was better, but this isn't going to be a series I'm ever going to fawn about. Ender's Game ended up being super blah as well. I guess I can sort of see where the cultish following comes from, but it didn't do it for me at all. Detective Comics and Green Lantern were also super disappointing. Sailor Moon was just as campy and ridiculous as ever, but was also ridiculously confusing and stupid; I normally like it despite its flaws, but not this time around. I didn't give a very high rating to God's War either, but that was because of my personal experience with the book along; I actually think it's a GOOD book in a lot of ways, but there was too much that threw me off and didn't work for me.
Books Bought and Recieved:
So I did something completely different this month for this section: I made a video. Normally, I HATE making videos of myself; I'm awkward and have stupid verbal ticks ("uumm") and just ugh. But guys: I BOUGHT SO MANY BOOKS THIS MONTH!! And the thought of formatting 45 pictures of book covers made me want to cry, so I thought this would be quicker and (potentially) more entertaining. A few things before watching though:
1. Sorry for the awful lighting. I filmed this in the afternoon, so I thought there was enough light, but apparently not.
2. Sorry for the horrible buzzing sound you can hear throughout the entire video (and gets worse at the three minute mar); I recorded this on my laptop, so I'm pretty sure the noise is my fan going, and I because I was recording a video, my computer freaked out and the fans started going like CRAZY!!
3. Sorry I don't really talk about the books much, or why I got them. There's a fifteen minute cap on youtube when uploading videos (unless you get so many views) and I didn't want to run over my time.
So anyway, here it is:
Blogs/People Mentioned:
Shara @ Calico Reaction (Theme Park book club)
Shannon @ Giraffe Days
Misty @ The Book RatPlease don't laugh at me too much. ;__;
And here are some linkies, in case you want more info as the goodies I picked up (all links lead to the book's goodreads page):
Nation by Terry Pratchett (I've always wanted to read Pratchett and this seems like a good place to start; it's also a Printz Honour book and was only $6.99)
Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann (bit of an impulse buy, but people seem to enjoy McMann's trilogy that she published prior to this)
Behemoth and Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
Saltwater Vampires by Kirsty Eagar (I'm not usually into vampires, but I really enjoyed Eagar's contemporary novel Raw Blue)
My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
The Year of Secret Assignments, The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie, and The Ghosts of Ashbury High by Jaclyn Moriarty
Team Human by Justin Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan
How to (Un)Cage a Girl by Francesca Lia Block
Just in Case by Meg Rosoff (I've never LOVED anything by Rosoff, but I WANT to; her writing is genius, I just never connect to the stories)
Sister of the Sword by Maya Snow (Ana from The Book Smugglers gave this a good review, and it was so cheap!)
Split by Swati Avasthi
Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson
Rival by Sarah Bennett Wealer (I seriously like this one solely because of the cover -- I know next to nothing about it)
Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham (I looove Fables, so I had to check this out)
Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly
The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Violet and Claire by Francesca Lia Block
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
King Dork by Frank Portman
Madapple by Christina Meldrum
Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan
Surrender by Sonya Hartnett
The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book, The Treasure Map of Boys, and Real Live boyfriends by E. Lockhart
The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
I Know It's Over by C. K. Kelly Martin (I've read Martin before and enjoyed her; a lot of people really love this title because of the convincing male POV)
The Maze Runner by James Dashner (I've owned a finished hardcover copy of The Scorch Trials forever, but never read it because I didn't own the first one -- now I finally can!)
Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd (I've been wanting to read something penned by Dowd since I found out she was the one who came up with the concept for A Monster Calls, one of me favourite books ever.)
Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey
The Poison Throne by Celina Kiernan
Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner (Wizner [hehe] has been on my radar since he released his sophomore novel Castration Celebration a few years ago, which looks hilarious -- Book Closeouts didn't have that, so I settled for this)
AND THAT'S IT!! So much stuff. I probably shouldn't buy any more books for the rest of the year now after that haul... but I know that's very unlikely. Seriously though, I can't resist low-priced books. CAN'T.
Anyway, I hope you guys had an awesome reading month! Happy reading. :DD
Reading-wise, the month was a little meh for me. I seriously thought I'd be reading much more this summer than I have, but I've getting SLOWER, despite all the extra free time. Weird.
Anyway, here's what I read and reviewed this month; the links will lead you to the book's goodread page.
Books Read and Reviewed:
1. The Ghosts of Ashbury High (Ashbury/Brookfield #4) by Jaclyn Moriarty ( review)
2. Treasure Hunters (Bone #8) by Jeff Smith ( review)
3. Ship Breaker (Ship Breaker #1) by Paolo Bacigalupi ( review)
4. The Drowned Cities (Ship Breaker #2) by Paolo Bacigalupi ( review)
5. Crown of Horns (Bone #9) by Jeff Smith ( review)
6. God's War (Bel Dame Apocrypha #1) by Kameron Hurley ( review)
7. Green Lantern vol. 1: Sinestro by Geoff Johns ( review)
8. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein ( review)
9. Animal Man vol. 1: The Hunt by Jeff Lemire ( review)
10. The Demon's Lexicon (The Demon's Lexicon #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan ( review)
11. Batman: Detective Comics vol. 1: The Faces of Death by Tony S. Daniel ( review)
12. The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns #1) by Rae Carson ( review)
13. The Demon's Covenant (The Demon's Lexicon #2) by Sarah Rees Brennan (review to come!)
14. Ender's Game (Ender's Saga #1) by Orson Scott Card (review to come!)
15. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon vol. 5 by Naoko Takeuchi (might review this? I still haven't done one for volumes three and four though.. hrmm..)
Total Books Read This Month: 9 novels; 5 graphic novels; 1 manga
Total Books Read This Year: 78 novels (1 DNF); 17 graphic novels; 3 manga
Nine novels in one month is okay, but I'd like to do better next month if I can. :) I've been trying to not push myself too hard with reading books though; I want it to be fun, not something to do because I HAVE to meet certain goals. This month was also a little slower because God's War ended being a much heftier read than I had initially anticipated, and it took me a lot longer to read than I thought it would.
Favourite: This is tie between Code Name Verity and The Drowned Cities. They were both so so so good (and both received five-star ratings from me on Goodreads -- they will definitely be end-of-the-year favourites.) The Girl of Fire and Thorns comes very close as well.
Most Disappointing: I'm not too sure where to even begin -- I read so many books this month that were "meh"; I honestly don't remember the last time I gave so many two-star ratings in one month. The Demon's Lexicon was a let-down, as I really wanted to like it and felt really indifferent (and at times downright annoyed) with it. I've already the sequel and it was better, but this isn't going to be a series I'm ever going to fawn about. Ender's Game ended up being super blah as well. I guess I can sort of see where the cultish following comes from, but it didn't do it for me at all. Detective Comics and Green Lantern were also super disappointing. Sailor Moon was just as campy and ridiculous as ever, but was also ridiculously confusing and stupid; I normally like it despite its flaws, but not this time around. I didn't give a very high rating to God's War either, but that was because of my personal experience with the book along; I actually think it's a GOOD book in a lot of ways, but there was too much that threw me off and didn't work for me.
Books Bought and Recieved:
So I did something completely different this month for this section: I made a video. Normally, I HATE making videos of myself; I'm awkward and have stupid verbal ticks ("uumm") and just ugh. But guys: I BOUGHT SO MANY BOOKS THIS MONTH!! And the thought of formatting 45 pictures of book covers made me want to cry, so I thought this would be quicker and (potentially) more entertaining. A few things before watching though:
1. Sorry for the awful lighting. I filmed this in the afternoon, so I thought there was enough light, but apparently not.
2. Sorry for the horrible buzzing sound you can hear throughout the entire video (and gets worse at the three minute mar); I recorded this on my laptop, so I'm pretty sure the noise is my fan going, and I because I was recording a video, my computer freaked out and the fans started going like CRAZY!!
3. Sorry I don't really talk about the books much, or why I got them. There's a fifteen minute cap on youtube when uploading videos (unless you get so many views) and I didn't want to run over my time.
So anyway, here it is:
Click to view
Blogs/People Mentioned:
Shara @ Calico Reaction (Theme Park book club)
Shannon @ Giraffe Days
Misty @ The Book RatPlease don't laugh at me too much. ;__;
And here are some linkies, in case you want more info as the goodies I picked up (all links lead to the book's goodreads page):
Nation by Terry Pratchett (I've always wanted to read Pratchett and this seems like a good place to start; it's also a Printz Honour book and was only $6.99)
Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann (bit of an impulse buy, but people seem to enjoy McMann's trilogy that she published prior to this)
Behemoth and Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
Saltwater Vampires by Kirsty Eagar (I'm not usually into vampires, but I really enjoyed Eagar's contemporary novel Raw Blue)
My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
The Year of Secret Assignments, The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie, and The Ghosts of Ashbury High by Jaclyn Moriarty
Team Human by Justin Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan
How to (Un)Cage a Girl by Francesca Lia Block
Just in Case by Meg Rosoff (I've never LOVED anything by Rosoff, but I WANT to; her writing is genius, I just never connect to the stories)
Sister of the Sword by Maya Snow (Ana from The Book Smugglers gave this a good review, and it was so cheap!)
Split by Swati Avasthi
Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson
Rival by Sarah Bennett Wealer (I seriously like this one solely because of the cover -- I know next to nothing about it)
Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham (I looove Fables, so I had to check this out)
Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly
The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Violet and Claire by Francesca Lia Block
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
King Dork by Frank Portman
Madapple by Christina Meldrum
Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan
Surrender by Sonya Hartnett
The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book, The Treasure Map of Boys, and Real Live boyfriends by E. Lockhart
The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
I Know It's Over by C. K. Kelly Martin (I've read Martin before and enjoyed her; a lot of people really love this title because of the convincing male POV)
The Maze Runner by James Dashner (I've owned a finished hardcover copy of The Scorch Trials forever, but never read it because I didn't own the first one -- now I finally can!)
Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd (I've been wanting to read something penned by Dowd since I found out she was the one who came up with the concept for A Monster Calls, one of me favourite books ever.)
Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey
The Poison Throne by Celina Kiernan
Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner (Wizner [hehe] has been on my radar since he released his sophomore novel Castration Celebration a few years ago, which looks hilarious -- Book Closeouts didn't have that, so I settled for this)
AND THAT'S IT!! So much stuff. I probably shouldn't buy any more books for the rest of the year now after that haul... but I know that's very unlikely. Seriously though, I can't resist low-priced books. CAN'T.
Anyway, I hope you guys had an awesome reading month! Happy reading. :DD