Thursday, October 11, 2018

What I've been reading

So I totally missed the big book linkup that happened on Tuesday because honestly my life is just getting away from me. As they say the days are long but the years are short and every day with a baby in the house makes remembering that I have things outside of mom and wife stuff hard to remember. Still I wanted to share what I've been reading lately because I have read some AWESOME stuff lately!

First and Foremost-----

The Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews. OMG you guys. I had vaguely heard about this from other bloggers, had seen people post that they were reading it on GoodReads, and even one of my favorite podcasts mentioned it and it was only just a few weeks ago that I finally gave in and said "Fine. I'll give it a shot." I tend to avoid series lately because I just don't have the emotional capacity to invest in characters at the moment. Also some series just never end and others end without proper endings and I just didn't know what to expect. WELL. I am 3 books in and very impatiently waiting on the 4th to come in at the library and already have the rest of the books available on hold so I don't have to play this waiting game anymore.

These books straight up rock. I love Kate and think she is hilarious and bold and my kind of bad ass female lead. I love that the love story bits are second hand and are taking their time to build instead of just jumping in and being like "HERE! LOVE STORY! ENJOY MINDLESS SEX SCENES!" Oh no we get some anticipation and build up and I am here for it. The world building is done so well without being tedious each book going back and explaining things over and over. Honestly I am hooked and am dying to get my hands on the 4th so I can continue. 10/10 would recommend to anyone that loves modern fantasy and magic settings.

Endling the Last by K.A. Applegate- This is the first in what will be a series or I think trilogy maybe? Anyhow I picked it up because I liked the cover and also I have enjoyed K.A. Applegate since back when she wrote the Animorph series. This book is another high fantasy but for a bit younger crowd who maybe can't get into Lord of the Rings yet. I loved the characters and yay for more strong female leads! Basically it follows Byx who is afraid that she will be the Endling...the very last of her kind left in the world and goes on the quest with her as she meets new friends and enemies. Highly recommend if you like fantasy and are partial to younger fiction books. This isn't really YA as it reads a little younger in my opinion but the story is a great one and I'm excited for the next book.

Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren- Okay so this is a linkup book. I've seen several bloggers post this one and thought it sounded fun and easy which I was ready for after some heavy fantasy reading. This book was brilliant. I laughed so hard I cried. I adore Hazel and her "too muchness". I loved reading from Josh's POV as well and actually really enjoyed him as he wasn't what I consider the "typical" male lead. I mean sure this book is silly and predictable and ties things up in a nice little bow but honestly....couldn't we all use a little happy right now? Lighthearted and fun I would recommend to any hopeless romantics out there.

And my Not So Awesome Pile-

Love and Luck by Jenna Evans Welch- Oh I wanted to love this. I loved Love and Gelato and was so excited to see this book from the same author. I was even excited to see some characters that I knew. However this book just fell flat for me. I didn't like the characters. I felt like the "mystery" was being drug out and ultimately wasn't that big of a deal. I found myself putting this book down a lot and actually dreading picking up again because I felt the need to finish. It was a swing and a miss for me. Such a bummer.