January 2016 Wrap Up
It's that time of year again. Getting sick in the most inconvenient day of the week. This week as a whole has been insane. I've gotten four to five hours of sleep each night, thought I had a presentation yesterday (apparently not); having to cancel a conference today, homework and everything under the sun. I was sitting on the couch, trying not to puke my guts out and I realized that I never posted my January wrap up. I am slacking on so many levels. I am usually on time with these. I'm sorry.
January was an interesting reading month. I will say that it was pretty much a success compared to the other January Wrap ups. I have two new favorite books which is wonderful.
1. Outlander, Diana Gabaldon 5/5
Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743. Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, Claire learns her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.
I never thought that this book would be one of my favorites. When I started this book I didn't think that I would like it that much. It was one of those books that many people were reading and I wanted to try it out. I felt all the feels while reading this book. I laughed, I cried, I was furious, I felt sick near the end. (That only makes sense if you've read the book.) Diana Gabaldon has written a beautiful historical novel and I will be telling everyone about this book. The writing was so descriptive that I felt like I was actually there with Claire and Jamie. I basically took a trip to Scotland in 1743. I started talking like I was from Scotland. Without even knowing it. I got a few weird looks. The characters were people that I felt that I could meet in real life. If I did I would probably scream. I would dive right into the next book but I can't control my emotions right now.
I just can't.
Read this book.
2. An Ember In The Ashes, Diana Gabaldon (Outlander #2) 3/5
Axi Moore is a "good girl". When Axi invites her best friend, Robinson--with whom she's secretly in love--to come with her on a cross-country road trip, she's finally breaking all the rules. But they soon find that, however far they run, they can't escape the heartbreaking troubles that brought them together in the first place. In this madcap adventure full of love and loss, Axi realizes that her romance with Robinson might not have the happy ending she was hoping for....
I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. The only reason that I read this is because of that sweet letter in the front of the book. I felt like a lot of things happened to fast. Not a lot was explained in the beginning and I didn’t feel that I learned much about the characters enough to fall in love with them. Especially the main character which was a big disappointment for me. Again everything was happening so fast with the story that I couldn’t enjoy it as much I wanted to. The ending was also very predictable and for me it’s tough because when I’m reading I am usually so emersed in the story that I can’t think about what is going to happen next. The whole time I was thinking about how the book was going to end. So why give it a four out of five? It’s mostly a 3.5. It is such a great concept for a story but the writing was not the greatest. Even though the ending was predictable it was still a good ending. Not cheesy and overdone.
January was an interesting reading month. I will say that it was pretty much a success compared to the other January Wrap ups. I have two new favorite books which is wonderful.
1. Outlander, Diana Gabaldon 5/5
Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743. Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, Claire learns her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.
I never thought that this book would be one of my favorites. When I started this book I didn't think that I would like it that much. It was one of those books that many people were reading and I wanted to try it out. I felt all the feels while reading this book. I laughed, I cried, I was furious, I felt sick near the end. (That only makes sense if you've read the book.) Diana Gabaldon has written a beautiful historical novel and I will be telling everyone about this book. The writing was so descriptive that I felt like I was actually there with Claire and Jamie. I basically took a trip to Scotland in 1743. I started talking like I was from Scotland. Without even knowing it. I got a few weird looks. The characters were people that I felt that I could meet in real life. If I did I would probably scream. I would dive right into the next book but I can't control my emotions right now.
I just can't.
Read this book.
2. An Ember In The Ashes, Diana Gabaldon (Outlander #2) 3/5
This
book as well as the first ripped my heart out. I had a lot of anxiety while reading
this book. This book was definitely slower than the first book. I think that’s
what kind of took away from the book. Of course the book ending broke my heart
and I don’t know how I’m going to feel about the next book.
3. Hopeless, Colleen Hoover 4/5
Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies… That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried. Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.
When I heard that there was a free Colleen Hoover book on Itunes I was beyond exciting. When I started reading this book I didn’t have high hopes for it. The story seemed creepy and the characters were not that enjoyable and I could not see where the story was going. When it got to the middle and everything came together that my mind was blown. Colleen Hoover has one of the most beautiful writing styles that I have ever read. Her books are always a quick read and if you ever have a reading slump her books are the books to read. You feel like you could be the characters because they are that relatable. None of them are perfect which is amazing.
4. First Love, James Patterson 4/53. Hopeless, Colleen Hoover 4/5
Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies… That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried. Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.
When I heard that there was a free Colleen Hoover book on Itunes I was beyond exciting. When I started reading this book I didn’t have high hopes for it. The story seemed creepy and the characters were not that enjoyable and I could not see where the story was going. When it got to the middle and everything came together that my mind was blown. Colleen Hoover has one of the most beautiful writing styles that I have ever read. Her books are always a quick read and if you ever have a reading slump her books are the books to read. You feel like you could be the characters because they are that relatable. None of them are perfect which is amazing.
Axi Moore is a "good girl". When Axi invites her best friend, Robinson--with whom she's secretly in love--to come with her on a cross-country road trip, she's finally breaking all the rules. But they soon find that, however far they run, they can't escape the heartbreaking troubles that brought them together in the first place. In this madcap adventure full of love and loss, Axi realizes that her romance with Robinson might not have the happy ending she was hoping for....
I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. The only reason that I read this is because of that sweet letter in the front of the book. I felt like a lot of things happened to fast. Not a lot was explained in the beginning and I didn’t feel that I learned much about the characters enough to fall in love with them. Especially the main character which was a big disappointment for me. Again everything was happening so fast with the story that I couldn’t enjoy it as much I wanted to. The ending was also very predictable and for me it’s tough because when I’m reading I am usually so emersed in the story that I can’t think about what is going to happen next. The whole time I was thinking about how the book was going to end. So why give it a four out of five? It’s mostly a 3.5. It is such a great concept for a story but the writing was not the greatest. Even though the ending was predictable it was still a good ending. Not cheesy and overdone.
5. Winter, Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles Book 4) 5/5
Synopsis for Cinder:
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
This series as a whole was amazing. One of the best that I have ever read. If you love fairytales and dystopian books this series is for you. I enjoyed reading all these books. The characters were unique and different. The plot and everything was perfect. I was worried about reading this book because it is over 800 pages and I thought that it would be drawn out and get boring. Overall I am glad that it was 800 pages. The book was so fast paced that you couldn’t even notice that it was 800 pages. Everything was tied up and the ending was perfect. When I read a dystopian book I always think that every character that I love is going to die because normally my prediction is accurate. I’m happy to say that my favorite character didn’t die. I wish that there could have been more of ending but overall I am happy with how it ended. This was an epic series and I am so glad to have read it.
DFTBA
-AB
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