Bout of Books 18 - I'm participating!

 I'm not sure how much reading I'll be able to get in that week since that's the first week that I'm starting my new job, but I have been wanting to participate in a read-a-thon for a while now and I've done this one in the past and loved it, so figured I'd give it a go again. Here's the official blurb from the Bout of Books Blog - be sure to check it out so you can sign up as well!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 2nd and runs through Sunday, January 8th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 18 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team


I'll be keeping track of my progress >>here<<, so feel free to stop by and leave me some encouragement!

Wrap Up/Haul: November 2016

Physical Books Read:

Audio Books Read:

None

EBooks Read:

None

November Book Haul:

Purchased/For Review:




November OwlCrate (Alice in Wonderland Theme):



Reviews Written:
Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

ARC Review: Highly Illogical Behavior

TITLE: Highly Illogical Behavior
AUTHOR: John Corey Whaley
PUBLISHER: Dial Books
PUBLICATION DATE: 5/10/2016
FORMAT: ARC
PAGES: 256
SOURCE: Amazon Vine/Publisher
MY RATING: 🦄🦄🦄🦄

BACK COVER SUMMARY: Sixteen-year-old Solomon hasn't left the house in three years. Ambitious Lisa desperately wants to go to the second-best psychiatry program for college (she's realistic).

Lisa figures if she can treat Sol's condition and publish her findings he could be her ticket to a scholarship. So Lisa ingratiates herself with Sol and his parents, introduces him to her boyfriend, Clark, and tells him her secrets. Soon, Solomon begins to expand his universe with the help of his new friends. But when their facades come crashing down, their friendships threaten to collapse, as well.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I had my eye on this book ever since I first heard about it. Before this book I had never read anything by John Corey Whaley before, but I was anticipating good things because I've heard rave reviews about his work. I was not disappointed. I was hooked from page one of this book. The way the story line came to be was a little weird for me, but the way that it was written and they way the characters interacted with each other made this such an enjoyable read.

CHARACTERS: All of the characters in this book are great, but my favorite has to be Solomon's grandmother. She was hilarious and so much fun and I loved the relationship that Solomon had with her.

I also like Solomon. Even though his condition is something that I don't hear about often, I felt like he was such a real character and a real person.

COVER: The cover is great and I love it even more now after having read the story and seeing how it ties in.

**I received an ARC of this book from Amazon Vine/The Publisher for my honest review. All opinions are my own and have not been influenced in any way.**

Wrap Up/Haul: October 2016

Physical Books Read:

Audio Books Read:

Ebooks Read:

October Book Haul:

Owlcrate:


ARCs from work:


I couldn't resist picking up this magazine:


I won this coloring book in a giveaway:


Some of the books I picked up at the library in October:

Reviews Written:

Replica by Lauren Oliver (3.5/5)

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi (4/5)

Review: Furthermore

TITLE: Furthermore
AUTHOR: Tahereh Mafi
PUBLISHER: Dutton Books for Young Readers
PUBLICATION DATE: 8/30/2016
FORMAT: Hardcover
PAGES: 416
SOURCE: Library
MY RATING: 

SUMMARY (FROM GOODREADS): There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn't miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it's been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she's about to embark on one to find the other.

But bringing Father home is no small matter. In order to find him she'll have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. Her only companion is a boy named Oliver whose own magical ability is based in lies and deceit--and with a liar by her side in a land where nothing is as it seems, it will take all of Alice's wits (and every limb she's got) to find Father and return home to Ferenwood in one piece. On her quest to find Father, Alice must first find herself--and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of loss.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Adventure. This book is just filled to the brim with adventure, color and magic. It was such a joy to read this book. Tahereh is amazing at creating these magical worlds. While I was reading, I could picture all of these colors and textures everywhere. She came up with so many imaginative pieces of the story and she was able to describe everything in a way where I had no problems whatsoever recreating the visions in my mind.

CHARACTERS: I loved Oliver and Alice's relationship. Are they friends, are they not friends, do they get along, do they not get along? It felt like a real relationship that would actually happen between two kids their age.

COVER: The cover is stunning. It's so bright and colorful and has so many tie ins to the story.

Review: Replica (ARC)

TITLE: Replica
AUTHOR: Lauren Oliver
PUBLISHER: Harper Collins
PUBLICATION DATE: 10/4/2016
FORMAT: ARC
PAGES: 544
SOURCE: Publisher/Amazon Vine
MY RATING: 

SUMMARY (FROM GOODREADS): Gemma has been in and out of hospitals since she was born. 'A sickly child', her lonely life to date has revolved around her home, school and one best friend, Alice. But when she discovers her father's connection to the top secret Haven research facility, currently hitting the headlines and under siege by religious fanatics, Gemma decides to leave the sanctuary she's always known to find the institute and determine what is going on there and why her father's name seems inextricably linked to it.

Amidst the frenzy outside the institute's walls, Lyra - or number 24 as she is known as at Haven - and a fellow experimental subject known as 72, manage to escape. Encountering a world they never knew existed outside the walls of their secluded upbringing, they meet Gemma and, as they try to understand Haven's purpose together, they uncover some earth-shattering secrets that will change the lives of both girls forever...

OVERALL IMPRESSION: As I'm sure most of you know by now, this book is a unique reading experience. The story is told from two different perspective, Gemma and Lyra. You can start on one side and read all of Lyra's story, then flip the book over and read all of Gemma's story, or you can flip back and forth reading one chapter of each girls' story alternating. I chose to alternate chapters. For me, this was pretty annoying. I wish the story had just been written in alternating chapters as it was frustrating to have to keep flipping the book over and try not to lose my bookmark and then when I set the book down, I had to remember which side of the story I was on. But that might just be me nitpicking.

The book itself was great. The further I got into it, the more desperate I was to keep reading to find out what was going on and what was going to happen next. The mystery involving this story was interesting to me. There were some things that were a little predictable, but it was still exciting and shocking all the same. I think the next book in the series will clear up some questions I have and give more insight into Haven and Gemma's parents.

CHARACTERS: I really enjoyed the group of characters that we follow in this book. I enjoyed learning about all of them and finding out who they were.

COVER: This book essentially has two covers. Both of them are nice. I like that they are the same but different.

Wrap Up: September 2016

Physical Books Read:

Audio Books Read:

September Book Haul:

September OwlCrate:


Also, I went to DragonCon this month and got to see Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) and Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone from NSYSNC:

Wrap Up: August 2016

Physical Books Read:

Audio Books Read:

E-books Read:

August Book Haul:

I received my copy of the newest Harry Potter book on August 1st!

I forgot to take a picture of my August Owlcrate before I put everything away, but this was the book that included:



A Half Price Books opened close to me so I had to go check it out and this is what I picked up:


Reviews Written:
Famous In Love by Rebecca Serle
Gemina by Amie Kauffman & Jay Kristoff
My Girl by Patricia Hermes