Sniffing A Book

Author: Diana Gabaldon Read: 8/9/2017 Pages: too damn long (743 pages = just shy of 39 hours) Rating: 3.75/5 Format: audio Book Description: 20 years later Claire Randall returns to Scotland with her full grown daughter. It's there with Brianna and Rodger, that Claire tells them the truth of the events that led up to Brianna's birth. Including an ancient circle of standing stones, a love that crosses time, and about Jamie Fraser. Her story picks up where Outlander left off, with the Pairs court and Charles Stuart  to contend with, Jamie and Claire are in a race to change history. Response: I picked this book up right after I finished Outlander and was extremely confused about the time jump to the 1960s and how we got there. It's eventually explained after a couple of chapters, but it would've been nice to just continue on from Outlander and save, what could've been a realization that Clarie's telling the story, for the last f...

Welcome to my vacation wrap up! I was really optimistic of what I could get through during my vacation, but alas, I hardly got anything read. I was able to finish The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle*  while I was poolside in Vegas. It was extremely relaxing to drink some lemonade, read, and munch on snacks. On the plane home, I got through about 25% of The Dark Prophecy . When I got home I spent a lot of time sleeping, so I didn't get as much completed as I had hoped. It seems I wasn't able to fully sleep while I was away so I caught up on a lot of that, as well as got a lot of the spare bedroom/library/movie room/office unpacked. I have not been able to get the bookshelves up yet though, which I'm a little sad about. Eventually I'll have those done and I can do a tour. Those are my main excuses for not getting nearly enough reading done this week. I had 11 days , I should've been able to get through more than just 1.25 books. I did just pick up a new book w...

Author: Victoria Aveyard Read: 7/28/2017 Pages: 444 Rating: 4/5 Format: audio Book Description: Hunted by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Newblood fighters to join in the struggle against the crown. But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat. Response: In the first book Mare is trying to figure out what she is, as well as revenging her brother's death. The second book has less uncertainty and focuses on finding Newbloods. It kept me interested like Red Queen, even if it had parts that were slow and felt like they didn't have real purpose at times other than to fill the page. The Mare and Cal scenes had purpose and were perfectly implanted in the story. The ending stabbed my heart with a piece of metal and I'm not sure how the Aveyard will make up for it. The last comment I have is that Maven is more psychotic in this book, and the leash sc...

Author: Anna Kendrick Read: 6/30/2017 Pages: 271 Rating: 4.5/5 Format: physical book Book Description: Even before she made a name for herself on the silver screen starring in films like Pitch Perfect , Up in the Air , Twilight , and Into the Woods, Anna Kendrick was unusually small, weird, and "10 percent defiant". At the ripe age of thirteen, she had already resolved to "keep the crazy inside my head where it belonged. Forever. But here's the thing about crazy: It. Wants. Out." In Scrappy Little Nobody, she invites readers inside her brain, sharing extraordinary and charmingly ordinary stories with candor and winningly wry observations. With her razor-sharp wit, Anna recounts the absurdities she's experienced on her way to and from the heart of pop culture as only she can - from her unusual path to the performing arts (Vanilla Ice and baggy neon pants may have played a role) to her double life as a middle-school stude...

I don't want to say I failed my vacation TBR goals, but I did not do as well as I had hoped. I know I'm *technically* a few days into September already, but I'm not officially starting it until the 6th at 8:30am PST as that's when I'm officially back at work (boo). I'm a little hopeful as a couple of these I'll be listening to at work (no shame).   Voyager by Diana Gabalden: My goal is get this finished by the 10th. I have 28 hours to go. Wish me luck.  The Dark Prophecy  by Rick Riordan: I'm about 25% of the way through it currently. I'm hoping I can finish it up in the next couple of days.  City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare: If only I could actually finish this in September.  City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare: I really just want to finish the series so I can move on with my fiction life.  The Art of Racing in the Rain  by Garth Stein: It's really not that long of a book, and it's one I can finish while at work. I only...

Author: Victoria Aveyard Read: 6/20/2017 Pages: 383 Rating: 4.5/5 Format: Audio Book Description: This is a world divided by blood - red or silver. The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power. Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime. But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has ...