Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far In 2015

This feature is hosted by the ladies of The Broke and the Bookish

This week, I had to compile my list of the top books I’ve read in 2015. It was pretty easy since I haven’t had a lot of amazing reads this year.

I divided up my list by genre, because I’m really detail oriented.

Go see what books I listed this week!

Contemporary

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga 

-This book surprised me in the best way possible. I loved it and gave it 5 stars-

Paperweight by Meg Haston

-This book is a book that will stay with me for a very long time. I gave this book 5 stars-

The Revenge Playbook by Rachael Allen

-Girl power! I loved this book so much. It enraged me, it made me laugh and it made me cry. I gave this book 5 stars-

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli 

This book may be my favorite LGBT book of the year. So adorable & nerdy. I gave this book 5 stars-

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

This book broke my heart into a thousand teeny pieces. I loved this book so hard and I gave it 5 stars-

The Devil You Know by Trish Doller

-This book utterly terrified me. It was so different than Doller’s previous books, but so awesome. I gave it 5 stars- 

Fantasy

The Orphan Queen (The Orphan Queen #1) by Jodi Meadows

-It started off slowly, but I began to fall in love with it right around page 60. I gave it 4.5 stars-

The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh

-THIS BOOK, GUYS! Oh my goodness, I adored this book. It was gorgeously written and had a swoon-worthy guy. I gave it 5 stars-

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J. Maas

-Is there such a thing as heart eyes? Because this book, and particularly Lucien and Rhysand GAVE ME ALL THE SWOONS! I gave this book 5 stars-

Science Fiction

NIL Unlocked (NIL #2) by Lynne Matson

-So freaking fabulous. I adore this series and it just keeps getting better. I gave this book 5 stars-

Let me know if any of the books on my list are also on your list. Don’t forget to leave the links to your TTT list this week.

Holiday Greetings, Lists & Reading Slumps

Hi guys! 

If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you are able to spend some time with loved ones this year. If you don’t celebrate Christmas, I still hope you’ve been able to spend time with loved ones during the month of December. If not, I hope you’ve been able to read a ton of books in December, and feel free to tell me all about what you are reading in the comments below. 

I’ve been dealing with a bit of a genre specific slump. It figures that just when I got A Court of Thorns and Roses by S. J. Maas, I ended up with a serious fantasy slump. So I had to put it down and return to my first love, contemporary. So I’m currently reading and enjoying Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby. I am eagerly awaiting that moment when I am desperate to pick up ACOTAR again.

I also wanted to do some lists. A few top 5 lists in this post for categories I was thinking about. Plus I love making lists.

Top Five Favorite Female Characters I met in 2014

Adelina- The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Joise Moraine- Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Lia- The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Lara Jean- To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

Joy- Stronger Than You Know by Jolene Perry

Top Five Favorite Male Characters I met in 2014

Max- The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Alex- Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

Ignifex- Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Bodee- Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

Rafe- The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Top Five Hidden Gems of 2014

Pointe by Brandy Colbert

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Taley

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Beware the Wild by Natalie C, Parker

17 First Kisses by Rachael Allen

I don’t know how much I’ll be around in the next week or so, and I’m not sure how much action the blog will have on it. Next week is also my birthday, so I’ll get double the family time, so YAY. My brother’s birthday is tomorrow, so we will not only be celebrating Christmas, but my brother’s 14th birthday as well.

Feel free to comment on my lists and tell me if there are any that you agree or disagree with.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

TTT: Top Ten Books on my Fall 2014 TBR List

This feature is hosted by the ladies of The Broke and the Bookish.

Since I had something else scheduled for last Tuesday, I decided to do this one today since I had an open spot on the blog. Unlike the last few TBR lists I’ve made, this one will be comprised of only review books. I have a lot of them to read and I really need to catch up on them.

There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake

This Side of Home by Renee Watson

Soulprint by Megan Miranda

Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Stone of Destiny (The Danaan Trilogy #2) by Laura Howard

Lailah (The Styclar Saga #1) by Nikki Kelly

The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1) by Mary E. Pearson

Dissonance (Dissonance #1) by Erica O’Rourke

Winterspell (Winterspell #1) by Claire Legrand

Loop (Loop #1) by Karen Akins

So let me know if you did a TTT this week and if we have any of the same books on our Fall TBRs. I am hoping I have better luck with the list this time around.

ARC’s, e-ARC’s and Me

I struggled a lot with a topic for this week’s discussion. I had covered a lot of topics in recent weeks but, after I made another review log last night (because I had accidentally deleted the first one) I realized that I wanted to do one on ARC’s, e-ARC’s and how I deal with them. I am a big fan of lists. I make lists of books I want to read, lists of books I have to read and lists of books that I’ve read.

Yet the only formal lists I make have to do with ARC’s & e-ARC’s. When I initially started blogging, I focused only on the books I already owned. I had no idea what ARC’s were and more to the point, I didn’t want to have ARC’s. I’m not a greedy person and it’s not in my nature to be grabby with things, even things I love, like books.

Acquisitions of ARC’s & e-ARC’s started off slowly. Since I have such an eclectic taste in books, I was getting a variety of review requests from indie authors and publishers. Many of them, I accepted because I was running out of books to read. The whole concept of “running out of books” suddenly became foreign to me. Things only got unmanageable when I discovered first Netgalley and then Edelweiss.

As a newbie blogger, the ratio of approvals to denials for both of these systems were pretty lopsided for awhile. I was still keeping up with my books for the most part until I was six months in and Edelweiss decided to auto-approve me for multiple publishers. Then, I’m mortified to say, I got overwhelmed and yes a bit greedy. Of course I’m embarrassed about that.No one wants to be called greedy. It’s a terrible thing to be called.

I tried to use Excel spreadsheets to organize things, but it just didn’t work for me. I ended up using just a straight up Word Document. I wrote the title of the book and the date it was scheduled to be reviewed on my blog. Whenever I finish reading the book, writing the review and scheduling it, I cross it off of the list.

So how do you keep your review pile organized?

Top Picks of 2013

So I know I already took part in this for another blog, but I also wanted to make a best of post for my own blog. So look at my choices for books that were published & that I read this year. In the comment section, let me know what you think of my choices.

Best debut novel(s)

OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu was in my opinion one of the best debut novels. It was written wonderfully and the characterization of OCD and it’s variables was quite accurate.Splintered was also one of the best debut novels. It was definitely a “dark” book but so, SO good.

Best start of series

The Program by Suzanne Young. I adored this book more than I ever expected to. It was beautifully written and the characters were amazing.

Best series finale/ Continuation.

So I haven’t read any series finales this year so I decided to pick the best 2^nd book in a series. For that, I go with Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi. It was amazing and left me desperate for the final book in the trilogy.

Best standalone

There are not enough words in my vocabulary to accurately describe my love for If You Find Me. It was beautifully written and the characters were wonderful and enjoyable. It had all of those feelings that are so important to the enjoyment of the book.

Best unexpected favorite

My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi. It was one of my favorite YA contemporaries of the year. I bought this one after a friend recommended it to me. I had no clue how much I would love it.

Best all around

The Program by Suzanne Young. I had heard some iffy things about it prior to purchasing it but I went ahead in purchased it anyway. It had romance, action and all the feels that a reader could ever want.

Most anticipated 2014 book

My most anticipated 2014 book is definitely Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi. I am dying to see what happens to all of the characters.

Cover Love

The cover of Splintered is absolutely gorgeous. I drooled over the cover for ages after I unwrapped it on Christmas morning. The pictures absolutely do not do it justice.