December 16, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books of 2014


Ah, my now annual tradition of breaking the top ten rule by many. There is no way I can limit myself to just ten books. Note: if I just read the series for the first time this year, I only included either the first or my absolute favorite of the series.
 But, without further ado, here are my favorite books of 2014.

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Pivot Point by Kasie West
Splintered by A.G. Howard
Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
Cress by Marissa Meyer
Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen
Torn Away by Jennifer Brown
The Espressologist by Kristina Springer
Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
Wish You Were Italian by Kristin Rae
Searching for Sky by Jillian Cantor
Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett
On the Fence by Kasie West
The Things You Kiss Goodbye by Leslie Connor
The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes
Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
Free to Fall by Lauren Miller
One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne
The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson
Like No Other by Una LaMarche
Dissonance by Erica O'Rourke
All Four Stars by Tara Dairman
Wildflower by Alecia Whitaker
Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers
Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch
When by Victoria Laurie
Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick
The Young Elites by Marie Lu
Maid of Deception by Jennifer McGowan

Well. That's 46 books.
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December 15, 2014

Review: I'll Meet You There

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I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
Grade: D
Release date: February 3, 2015
This e-galley was provided by Henry Holt and Co. and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line. Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: I really don't understand myself sometimes. I was very excited for Heather's debut, Something Real, a year ago. But it ended up being a bit of a let-down. I loved the family dynamics and the different side of reality TV. But I didn't enjoy the swearing, alcohol and drug content, or the romance one bit. And I'm pretty sure I should've realized I'll Meet You There would have all of those things in the same amount - or perhaps even more. And it did. I will tolerate a certain level of foul language and other foul content in my books to some extent, but there reaches a point when it's gratuitous and adds nothing to the story. Such is the case here. When the f-word and s-word are used practically on every page, I start to skim. And then I start to lose interest in the characters and plot. So overall, the majority of this book is unmemorable. I liked the concept of the motel where they work. And that was about it. I'll Meet You There was too dismal otherwise for my tastes.

 The Verdict: So, if you don't mind a bunch of swearing and other inappropriate content, give this book a chance. Otherwise, it's very much a miss.
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December 14, 2014

Rewind & Review #27

Rewind & Review

The week after Thanksgiving break was absolutely insane. I read a grand total of one and a half books (two, if you count the e-novella). I had two papers due and there was a ton of other craziness going on. The highlight of the first week was probably scoring Taylor Swift tickets. She's coming to Lexington next fall, and I'm going with three of my favorite people, even if our seats aren't the absolute best.
This past week was finals, and boy was that a blast. (Not.) I'm pretty sure I'll be passing all my courses, though, and hopefully I'll be getting A's and B's!
And now, once again, as you can see in the haul video below, I'm finally home! I get to spend a month in my own house, my own room, my own bed. It's going to be delightful baking, and dancing around the house when my parents are at work and not worrying about being too loud for anyone, and spending time with so many books. (As of typing this post, there are 10 books in my reread stack, 10 in my library haul, and 6 in my bought/ARC stack. And I aim to finish all of them by January 9th, the day I leave to go back to school.)

Books I Received
Down from the Mountain by Elizabeth Fixmer (via NetGalley/Albert Whitman & Company)
Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton (via NetGalley/Delacorte)
Emeralds & Ashes by Leila Rasheed (via Disney-Hyperion

Books I Bought
From Me to You by Elizabeth Eulberg (free e-book)
Famous Last Words by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Deception by C.J. Redwine
Smart Girls Get What They Want by Sarah Strohmeyer
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Books I Read
Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White (3 stars)
The Young Elites by Marie Lu (4.5 stars)
From Me to You by Elizabeth Eulberg (3 stars)
Autumn Falls by Bella Thorne with Elise Allen
Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers
Maid of Deception by Jennifer McGowan (4.5 stars)
Escape Theory by Margaux Froley
Bramblestar's Storm by Erin Hunter (3 stars)
Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer (DNF)

Blog Posts You Might've Missed
   (From 12/1-12/6)
   (From 12/7-12/13)
Upcoming Blog Posts in the Next Few Weeks (subject to change)
  • Review: I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
  • Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books of 2014
  • So You Like... #9
  • Random Friday: Best Movies of 2014
  • My Extra Special Collection
  • Review: Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick
  • Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want Santa to Bring
  • 2014 End-of-the-Year Survey: the Books
  • Merry Christmas to the Book Characters: the Sequel
  • If You Take Me to a Bookstore
  • Mini Reviews: Autumn Falls and Escape Theory

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December 13, 2014

I'm Emma and I'm a History Geek

God is my first love. Books, writing, and Taylor Swift are tied for second. But coming in third is history. It's a subject that thoroughly interests me, as long as it doesn't involve memorizing dates or facts. I don't like school, but I like learning and discussing. I like learning about the past and different systems of government, and cool people (especially women) in history, and the French Revolution and the Cold War are interesting time periods. 

There's a Tumblr post that makes me laugh every time I scroll by it. It talks about how amusing history is. Case in point:
  • Three different guys declared themselves pope all at once and they all excommunicated each other.
  • Lichtenstein sent 80 men to Italy to fight and came back with 81.
  • One Prussian emperor kidnapped tall people because he wanted his armies to be tall.
  • In 1788, the Austrian army attacked itself and lost 10,000 men.
The compilation also includes a post that says:

"on a scale of one to invade russia in the winter

how bad is your idea?

kicking hitler out of art school"

(Please tell me I'm not the only one laughing after all of those.)

Historical fiction (when written well) is one of my favorite sub-genres of YA. Some of my favorites include:
Looking for other good historical fiction recs? Try:
And now some selections that I want to read (both released and yet-to-be-released)!

So why my sudden interest in doing a post about history? Well, if you remember this post, I recently picked a new minor. I'm also starting to already think about what classes I'll be able to take next year, and I need to start taking courses for my minor. I'm super excited for the 6 classes I've picked for the 18 credits I'll need. In high school, I really wanted to take a course on European history, but we couldn't find anything that wasn't just world history. Here at my university, I'll get to take Origins of France and History of Modern Germany, along with History of American Foreign Relations, History of the American South to 1865, The United States in the 1960s, and Survey of Non-Western Cultures (which focuses on the Middle East, China, and Japan). I'm geeking out, just thinking about all those classes.

So are you a history geek, too? Where my people at? ;)
Or is there some other subject you're equally passionate about?
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December 11, 2014

Review: Boundary

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Boundary by Heather Terrell
Grade: C+
Release date: December 2nd, 2014
This e-galley was provided by Soho Teen and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: After surviving the Hunger Games-like Testing, Eva becomes the Aerie’s first female Archon. The second installment of the Books of Eva continue the harrowing struggle between past and present, Aerie and Boundary.

Eva is the first Maiden in Aerie history to train as an Archon: a sacred leader of the New North. All eyes are watching as she prepares to uncover the Relics of the evil past. Wounds remain: both from the harrowing Testing and the murder of her brother, Eamon. But she has learned to feign grace. And although she is betrothed to Jasper, she carries a secret. Lukas, a Boundary dweller and former servant, still visits her in the dead of night. And he alone may know who killed her twin brother.

Her feelings for Lukas are forbidden. Even more troubling is his conviction that she is the Angakkuq, a mystical figure destined to destroy the Aerie. Eva tries to focus on finding Eamon’s killer, but on her very first Archon expedition, she uncovers the Genesis: the legendary ship that brought the Founders to the New North. What they find in the Genesis upsets the fragile balance between the Aerie and the Boundary, and threatens to destroy their entire civilization. Eva’s world is shattered, but she may be the only one who can—as both Archon and Angakkuq—prevent a war that would take everything from her.

 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Y'all know how much I enjoyed Relic, right? (Well, if you don't, here's my review.) Well, unfortunately, Boundary didn't quite live up to its predecessor, and here's why.
This book is short, and I felt like a great deal of it wasn't fast-paced enough. The romance seemed under-developed, and the climax was too brief and resolved too quickly. I was never really worried for Eva, and I think we should worry if a protagonist is going to make it out alive or not. Also, I felt like Eva's voice sounded awfully young in this book and there was a bit too much telling going on instead of showing. 
There's a bit more language (only a few words) and violence than in the last book.

 The Verdict: Uggghhhhhh. I wanted to love Boundary so much and I was extremely excited when I was approved to review it. It's definitely worth the read, but know that it felt very bare and lacking.
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