75 Books...More or Less! discussion

I haven't picked a number just yet, but I have set a few personal challenges:

2017 Classic Read:

2017 Shakespeare Read:

Read the last three of The Dark Tower series:


Read 10 out of all the series/trilogies/duologies on my TBR (*Already completely released or will be in 2017):

*Update* I have come to the conclusion that I'm not big on marathoning series. Plus, I need my standalones. My series challenge was a hefty one and it's starting to bog down my reading and interfere with what I actually want to be reading. I'm going to concentrate instead on finishing The Dark Tower and the ABC challenge for this year.

*Update* I've settled on 50 for my 2017 challenge. See how I do.

I love your challenge! Although we are called 75 books we let members pick what they like if they have a different idea.

Andrea wrote: "I love your challenge! Although we are called 75 books we let members pick what they like if they have a different idea."

I do participate in the GR yearly challenge, but so far I've never hit 75 with my schedule. I like setting yearly personal challenges, and I've been pretty good at meeting them so far. I've discovered I tend to read standalones more than books in a series, but there's a bunch that have been on my TBR for ages I want to get to next year!

Shelby wrote: "Andrea wrote: "I love your challenge! Although we are called 75 books we let members pick what they like if they have a different idea."

I do participate in the GR yearly challenge, but so far I'v..."

I need to do something like that, I need to finish series that I've started and are now completed writing.

I've been very good so far about not starting too many series and leaving them (out of those that I intend to continue with, anyway). I don't let myself start new ones if I have several open that could be finished. 10 feels like a good number, to me. It's a bit of a tall order, but I can still pick what I want and I definitely have more than 10 on my tbr.

is my first book of 2017! Wahoo!

I don't think I'll be reviewing this one, but I'll just make a note of it here at least. I'm so glad I was able to find so much more animal fiction by joining GR. I listened to the audiobook, and if you're at all interested, I definitely recommend that format. It's basically like a documentary-style story of this Utahraptor's life starting with her loosing her mate. The audiobook has the sound effects and music to really enhance it. On to the next one!

That sounds like a strange book! lol!

Elyse wrote: "That sounds like a strange book! lol!"

I really enjoyed it. I tend to flee to the animal-fiction genre when I get sick of human characters and their human problems, TBH. After a while it all starts to sound the same if I don't get a break from it now and again. Even the good books.

I didn't know there was an animal fiction genre! Learn something new everyday! :)

Elyse wrote: "I didn't know there was an animal fiction genre! Learn something new everyday! :)"

It's a version of xenofiction, which is basically anything either without humans or instead with a perspective that isn't human. Thes can include robots and aliens and such, but animal fiction is basically animal point of view stories. They an be any type of story, and in film it's popular in cartoons, but not so much live action. I tend to think there's 3 types of animal fiction: stories that are basically human stories with human lives (but just happen to be animals), stories where they're animals with animal lives but they have their own society and they talk amongst themselves, and third, where they're just plain animals like we have in real life. My favourite would be the animals-with-their-own-society, but I enjoy the others too.

Huh. That's cool! Thanks!

Elyse wrote: "Huh. That's cool! Thanks!"

:)

Loving this trilogy so much! Behemoth is the second book in the Leviathan trilogy. It's a steampunk re-imagining of WW1 where the war is not only between countries, but rival technologies as well. There are the Clankers, who use robotics technology, and the Darwinists, who use biologically engineered creatures. We get to see different countries in the war throughout the books, and this version of real events in WW1 as they unfold. Plus, the author's note at the end tells you how the events actually happened if you're not familiar. 5/5 Stars!

I think I have Leviathan from Audible. Haven't listened to it yet!

Elyse wrote: "I didn't know there was an animal fiction genre! Learn something new everyday! :)"

Oh wow! I had never heard of this genre either.

Elyse wrote: "I think I have Leviathan from Audible. Haven't listened to it yet!"

Highly recommended! I was originally going to listen to the audiobooks but the library only had book one so I ended up with the ebook set instead. I'll probably listen to them when I eventually reread them!

Andrea wrote: "Elyse wrote: "I didn't know there was an animal fiction genre! Learn something new everyday! :)"

Oh wow! I had never heard of this genre either."

When I was a kid, I hated reading because books were never as good as my favourite movies (namely, Lion King), and I couldn't find anything like it. Then I quite randomly noticed a classmate reading and the rest is history. It's still my all-time favourite book, and it's written for all ages (doesn't talk down to audience the way some junior fiction does), so I still recommend it for anyone curious about the genre.

Shelby wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Elyse wrote: "I didn't know there was an animal fiction genre! Learn something new everyday! :)"

Oh wow! I had never heard of this genre either."

When I was a kid, I hated reading ..."

Adding to my TBR! :) Thanks for the rec!

Annnnd already had it in my TBR! Added it in 2014!

My favorite in the genre is . I'll have to look into Silverwing :)

Stacie wrote: "My favorite in the genre is . I'll have to look into Silverwing :)"

I FINALLY got to Watership Down last year, after having it sit on my THR for like 7 years (before I was on GR). Everything in the genre is compared to that book so I really wanted to read it. I listened to the audiobook last Easter (because bunnies lol) and it was great! I know there's a remake in the works that's supposed to be more faithful. It's a BBC & Netflix co-production.

I hope everyone enjoys Silverwing!

Watership Down is still in my TBR. Never read it in high school like some others did.

Shelby wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Elyse wrote: "I didn't know there was an animal fiction genre! Learn something new everyday! :)"

When I was a kid, I hated reading ..."

Shelby, I loved reading as a child! I would sit down and read an entire book in one sitting and then be so disappointment when it was over.

This is one of two books I found last year on Scribd that came from the same company that produced Sarah's Scribbles. I really liked the characterization of the organs and the social commentary. It was much sweeter than I expected, but still funny.

Andrea wrote: "Shelby wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Elyse wrote: "I didn't know there was an animal fiction genre! Learn something new everyday! :)"

When I was a kid, I hated reading ..."

Shelby, I loved reading as a ..."

I grew to love it after reading Silverwing, but before that I hated it. I wasn't a fast reader (never have been), and most of the books there were to read were JR and beginning reader contemporary, and I could never really relate to the characters or care about the situations they were in. It was mostly small middle-class first-world kid problems, and for a kid that had real stress issues, I found it mostly pointless. Books were not exciting like movies. They weren't grand, or adventurous, with epic battles and fascinating characters. Plus, a lot of it (especially what was aimed at girls) was about crushes and I hated that. To this day, I don't have much patience for contemporary and will generally only try it if I've read and trusted the author beforehand.
When I got to high school, I was again turned off by romance being in any YA thing I read, and my reading life turned back down to a few books a year by authors I know. I don't hate romance, but I want it to be well developed and not just there because we have to have a romance in everything. Again, I could only relate to very little of it (didn't know at the time I was asexual, so the need for it to be in everything baffled me), but I've learned to relax around it. During the years I nearly stopped reading I would go around the bookstore and read the back covers of books, and often find the description interesting at first, but as soon as the love interest was mentioned, I'd put it right back on the shelf and move on. I only got back into reading because I started picking up Stephen King.

100 YA Books with Little or No Romance :)

Thanks :) I'm always on the lookout for more lists like that.

This was a fun little book. I picked it up on a whim. 4/5 Stars

Shelby wrote: "

This was a fun little book. I picked it up on a whim. 4/5 Stars"

I love that book :)

I can't believe I'm done this trilogy! :'( It was so good! I'm going to miss these characters so much! Great, sweet ending too. I loved it.

I read the ebook set for this one, and I plan to post a review for the trilogy as a whole there. I'll share it here too.

5/5 Stars!

I'm getting so much reading done this month!

My review of the Leviathan trilogy:

This is one of those trilogies that I wish I'd gotten to so much sooner.

The Leviathan trilogy takes place in a steampunk alternate history of World War 1, and much of what happens is inspired by the real-life events and the political upheaval as it unfolded during The Great War. It's not exactly the way it unfolded in our world, plenty of events play out differently, and that's in large part due to our main characters and the advanced steampunk technologies. Really, it's more like the war of the two opposing technologies. You have the Clankers, with their advanced mechanics and machines, and the Darwinists, who used genetically engineered creatures. And if you aren't as familiar with World War 1 history, fear not. There's an author's note at the end of each book that highlights the differences.

Personally, I think the steampunk genre, like the fantasy genre, lends itself especially well to adventure epics. When I read these genres, I like to go out, I want to see the world we're in! I want to explore everything! In the Leviathan trilogy, we never stay in one place more than once. We get to see so many countries and settings as the books continue. The war is a global event, and we get to see the effects globally.

Our main characters are Alek and Deryn. Alek is the fictional son of the real-life Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, who was assassinated, bringing the start of the Great War. It was interesting to read a YA novel where one of the main characters is a prince, but with no princess character in sight. Usually there is only a princess, or you have one of each. It was something new I hadn't seen before, like many things in this book.

Deryn, meanwhile, is a girl who longs to spend her life in the skies like her deceased father, and joins the British Air Service as a midshipman, playing the role of a boy named Dylan during a time when women's rights were especially slim. In a way, it's a bit of a Mulan story, if Mulan was a Scottish airman.

One of the things I enjoyed most from this trilogy was watching the characters develop over the course of three books. Alek and Deryn are very different at the conclusion from when we first meet them, and their relationship, and all the different forms it takes, is really the heart of the series.

If you are a fan of steampunk, or maybe if you're interested in reading something set during an alternate version of World War 1, give this a read!

Great review, Shelby! Can't wait to start listening to my audiobook!

Elyse wrote: "Great review, Shelby! Can't wait to start listening to my audiobook!"

:) Enjoy!

I audiobooked this via my library's Overdrive app. I was actually planning to finish another book first, but this was nearly due, and I wouldn't be getting it back again for a while once my checkout expired because there were several holds on it, so I managed to finish it today with hours to spare.
I usually try to read at least one classic and one Shakespeare play per year, and I've been in a classic mood, plus it fit a few challenges I'm participating in right now. My library has a bingo challenge for I Love To Read Month, so it was many birds with one stone.
I'd say the first half really wasn't what I was expecting. It was only when I'd finished the book that it was clear why that first half happened. Atticus Finch was by far my favourite character, and I thought everything surrounding the trial and small-town prejudice was excellent. I was on the edge of my seat so many times during that section. Particularly the scene with Atticus facing the mob in front of the jail, I couldn't set the book down until I knew how that scene was going to end!
It's not a new favourite of mine, but I still think it definitely deserves 5/5 stars.

This one took me a while to finish. First off, I needed a break from fantasy because I was tired of the genre. It's also a really slow burn, and there were times I was really invested throughout, and other times, not as much. I will say that Cath's transformation is excellent, though.

The first of these two, The R.X. Problem, was my last read of 2016, and I'd been looking to pick this one up since. My review:

These stories are addictive, although I didn't enjoy these as much as the first collection. I think 'An Exotic Murderer' was my favourite story in this one.

FINALLY read this! And FINALLY got started making a dent in my series challenge this year!

The Legend trilogy is a distopian YA trilogy. I didn't know this until I saw it on Wikipedia, but apparently it's inspired by Le Miserables. The first book follows a girl named June, the young prodigy of the Republic (in this future, the US has broken apart and now the Republic and the Colonies are at war), who is tasked by her military superiors to find the vigilante menace known as Day (who is destroying military machinery and is the guardian angel of the poor) after her brother is apparently murdered by Day. There's a lot that June, who grew up rich, doesn't know about her own country.

I really enjoyed this, but there were a few things that kept me from loving it.

Shelby wrote: "

FINALLY read this! And FINALLY got started making a dent in my series challenge this year!

The Legend trilogy is a distopian YA trilogy. I didn't know this until I saw..."

This series is in my TBR. And so many more. lol

Elyse wrote: "Shelby wrote: "

I tried reading it last year already but I had to put it down. This is one of those I missed during the time I wasn't reading.

I read the first book, Mr. Mercedes, last year. I wasn't a big fan of that one, but thankfully I enjoyed Finder's Keepers much more! I picked this up as part of my library's I Love To Read Month Bingo challenge (read a book you chose for the cover), because this book is one of the few on my tbr that really caught my eye with the cover. This is the book that made me pick up Mr. Mercedes in the first place. So I could read this one. And it's good to finally do so.
This is a mystery/thriller trilogy following Bill Hodges, a retired detective who decides to become a private investigator of sorts, with the help of a few friends.
There were a few things I really enjoyed, like the honest portrayal of the struggles of a low-income family trying to make it work against steep odds, and the toll it takes on everyone. I loved King exploring another story about the relationship between a fan, a character, and the character's creator. There's some real palpable suspense here that I didn't feel as much in the first book.
But the biggest surprise is the character of Brady Hartsfield. I wasn't a big fan of the Mercedes Killer (Not a spoiler. The first book tells you this almost immediately.), but the moments we got of him in this installment make me very excited about getting to the third book, End of Watch.

I look forward to seeing what you think of End of Watch. Other than saying I liked it, I'll stop so I don't spoil anything.

Drew wrote: "I look forward to seeing what you think of End of Watch. Other than saying I liked it, I'll stop so I don't spoil anything."

What did you think of the first two?

I liked them very much. It sounds like maybe I liked the first one more than you did but I agree that the second is even better.

I'm just going to be reading whatever for a while. Got a tough situation in my life right now, so I'm just going to go with what I feel with.

Hope all is well, and that you can find a book or two that can provide some escape.

Been doing some reading, and I'll update soon, but I'm pretty sure I won't be continuing on with the Legend trilogy. It was pretty good, but not for me.

Goosebumps Horrorland #7-12

I started this audiobook collection back in 2015 and only got back to it now. If you're familiar with the original series, these books are mostly the same idea, but books 1-12 also include an ongoing storyline where all the main kids and the monsters meet up in Horrorland under mysterious circumstances. The Horrorland series has several more books taking place after, but I believe they follow new kids who take items home from Horrorland and deal with the consequences.

I grew up with the original series, and now and again I'll check out the new stuff, partly because I'm working to be a librarian, so I'm supposed to be familiar with a wide variety of stuff, partly from nostalgia, and partly because I kinda just love that dummy and want to see what he does next.

These later instalments in the Horrorland series were ok, but I remember liking the earlier ones better.

Shelby wrote: "Goosebumps Horrorland #7-12

I started this audiobook collection back in 2015 and only got back to it now. If you're familiar with the original series, these books are mostly the same idea, but boo..."

I was horrified by Goosebumps growing up! My brothers read them and then the TV show came out. Ahhh!! I did read a lot of other R. L. Stine books though. lol.

Finally got to this. I loved the movie when I saw it last year and was really excited to read the screenplay to get a glimpse of the story in a different format.

Shelby wrote: "

Finally got to this. I loved the movie when I saw it last year and was really excited to read the screenplay t..."

Bought it but haven't read it yet!