#TheReadingQuest Sign-up Post w/TBR

So, I found out late in the game, (in bed when I should have been sleeping before work and not on twitter) about a fun reading challenge called The Reading Quest.  In this challenge you can choose a character, and much like an RPG game, you follow that character's path, reading books as its quest earning points along the way.  I know I am explaining this poorly, but DO check out the site to see the rules and how the quest runs.

I have chosen the path as Mage:

(artwork by CW of Read, Think, Ponder )

1 word titled book -  Nyxia (ARC) by Scott Reintgen

Magic book - The School of Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

Book based off Mythology -  The Lightning Thief by Rick Roirdan

1st in a series - Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

In a different world - Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll  

After this I will try to move to another character or try the mini quests. I’ll edit this post if I get that far.

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Review: Subway Stops and the Places We Meet

Title: Subway Stops and the places we meet (#2)
Author: Mindy Hayes and Michele C Miller
Release: February 26, 2017
Rating:★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Pages: 405
Where to find it:  Amazon | Bookdepository
Series: Yes
Format: Paperback
Summary: On June 18, 1992, Flight 397 crashed off the coast of Long Island, claiming the lives of all on board. Cole and Samantha, two strangers who randomly meet one year later at a memorial for the crash, both lost loved ones that day.
There are over seven million people in New York City.
One random encounter is called chance.
Two is coincidence. Three? Well, baby, we call that fate.(goodreads)
Thoughts: I really love this series. I feel it's different from contemporary books. Because like the first book in this series the relationships take it's time. The love interest in the book don't start dating right away. It first begins as a friendship. This is something I wish more contemporary romance would do (maybe some do and I am yet to read them. If you guys have any recommendations please leave them in the comments). This series is something I just stumble on goodreads and was happy about that.
The story follows two individuals that lost someone in a tragic event and develop a friendship that eventually becomes a romance. Even though it's the second in the series. It does give itself to read as a stand alone. There is a few inserts from the previous book but you don't really have to pick it up. However, I highly recommend to pick up the first book in the series. Because it's such a gem. I loved it so much. I also did a review for Paper Planes and other things we lost if you would like to read.
This is also a great friendship book between both female and male characters. It doesn't feel force at all. Which is something I really enjoyed.
I can't wait for the story to continue in Chasing Cars and the Lessons we learned.

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YallWest 2017 - Mel

It's a week late but it still counts. Been a crazy week. Another successful year at YallWest. It felt a lot bigger this year than the previous years. It also can be the factor that it was only just one day this year. It was excited to see so many people excited about books. It's events like this that as a reader you feel welcome. You see other people talking about books in person that make you love the reading community even more. Is something I wish more in my day to day life.

I had lot's of fun. The even did have it's issues at the beginning but the overall day was fun. Got to see friends that I don't see much during the year, which is always a plus.

I did get a lot of books this year compare to other years. I am excited to dive into them and discover new worlds. I am hoping to start reading them soon. Slowly getting back to reading again and I love it. We all need a break from reading every once in a while.

Any suggestions in to which books I should read first? Is there any reviews you guys would like to see?

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Em's Read-O-Rama Round 6 TBR

This will be the first Read-a-thon I have done, so my goal is to get as many books read more than check off all the challenges. That said, I have picked some books that DO cover some, if not most, of the challenges. 

I am trying to read 7 books (or more) 

The Union by S. Usher Evens

While this doesn't cross off anything on my challenges, it does finish out the series I have been wanting to do since I started reading The Island as a ARC. 

The Owl Keeper by Christine Brodien -Jones

This also checks off the animal AND the going in blind boxes (although I have a few that covers the going in blind) 

Song Quest by Katherine Roberts

This checks off the blind read AND the main character with the same initial, AND first in a series. 

 Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

, 

Nothing special but I do enjoy this author's work for a fun quick read

Starflight by Melissa Landers 

This checks off the first in a series, R.A.M.A. in the author's name, AND my own challenge - finish a bloody ARC that has been collecting dust. This is not Pokemon. The goal in not to catch them all and then keep them in balls and never do anything with them.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Something I have been wanting to read. And now I can!

White Sand by Brandon Sanderson

New author to me. (not a challenge) Start of a series.  Umm buddy read with Mel??? Any way you look at it, it's on the list.

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January Wrap-Up + February TBR

My goal was to try and do a review for every single book I would read this year. I come to realized that I wouldn't be able to do that. I have been reading to many books lately that it has been hard for me to write up a review for them. I think what I will be doing instead will be to write a review to books that I really enjoyed during the month. Also, I am hoping to start posting other bloggish things during the month.

January Wrap-up: 

1. Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes ★ ★ ★ ★ 
2. The Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 
3. The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey ★ ★ ★ ★  1/2
4. Ghosted Haunted Heist by Joshua Williamson ★ ★ ★ ★ 
5. Star Wars Lost Stars by Claudia Grey ★ ★ ★ 
6. Room by Emma Donogue ★ ★ ★ ★ 
7. Preacher Book One by Ennis Garth ★ ★ 
8. Off the Record by K.A. Linde ★ ★ 
9. The Circle by Dave Egger ★ ★ ★ ★ 
10. A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab ★ ★ 
11. This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab ★ ★ ★ 
12. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab ★ 
13. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones ★ ★ ★  1/2
14. Lisey's Story by Stephen King ★ ★ ★ ★ 
15. Daredevil Yellow by Jeff Loeb ★ ★ 
16. The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by John Joseph Adams ★ ★ ★ 
17. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 
18. Commander in Chief by Katy Evans  ★ ★ ★ ★

I did ended up reviewing some of the books in the list. Ended up getting half way through my reviews after it got a little to crazy for me. This was the most I have ever read in one month. Which I am very proud of my self. 

February TBR:

1. White Sand by Brandon Sanderson
2. Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
3. The Cabin in the Woods by Tim Lebbon
4. The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
5. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
6. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie 
7. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
8. The Sight by Chloe Neill
9. The Green Mile by Stephen King
10. Legion Skin Deep by Brandon Sanderson
11. Different Seasons by Stephen King
12. Fantastic Beast and Where to find them by JK Rowling
13. The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
14. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
15. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
16. Station Eleven by Emily St. John
17. Misery by Stephen King
18. East of West Vol. 2 by Jonathan Hickman
19. East of West Vol. 3 by Jonathan Hickman
20. Ghosted Vol. 2 by Joshua Williamson
21. Maus I by Art Pantheon
22. Maus II by Art Pantheon

Yeah I know. I am insane but let's see how it goes I do listen to a lot of audiobooks that is a good thing. Also, so far I have already finish 4 books so not that bad. Some of the books I selected are also comic book trades and graphic novels so that is something else that help out. I am just in such a mood to read that I just want to take advantage of it. Hopefully I don't burn my self out in the reading area. 

What did you guys ended up reading in January and what are your plans to read in the month of February? 

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Wrap-Up | January 7-15 2017

Another week in reading gone great. I also did a review of A Gathering of Shadows. I really need to put my self in a posting schedule. I am hoping to getting that down by the beginning of this week. So far I have been review all the books I have reading. Which that is a good thing. I just need to try and not put too much of a gap between review. I will hopefully be posting different types of post during the upcoming weeks. I have been doing really good in my reading so far which that makes me happy. Hopefully I don't fall of the wagon. Here are 4 more books that I read the previous week. Hoping to get my review up from this passing week soon. Don't want to fall to behind schedule. If you guys have any ideas of what you guys would like me to post let me know.

Title: Lisey's Story

Author: Stephen King

Release: October 24, 2006

Rating:★ ★ ★ ★

Pages: 513
Where to find it:  Amazon | Bookdepository
Series: No
Format: Hardcover

Summary: Lisey Debusher Landon lost her husband, Scott, two years ago, after a twenty-five-year marriage of the most profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, bestselling novelist and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey had to learn from him about books and blood and bools. Later, she understood that there was a place Scott went -- a place that both terrified and healed him, that could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it's Lisey's turn to face Scott's demons, Lisey's turn to go to Boo'ya Moon. What begins as a widow's effort to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited. Perhaps King's most personal and powerful novel, "Lisey's Story" is about the wellsprings of creativity, the temptations of madness, and the secret language of love. (goodreads)

Thoughts:
I really like this story. I enjoyed the format that it was written. This could be one of the top Stephen King books I have read so far. If you like his writing I recommend this book because it also gives you another aspect of his stile. It doesn't completely feel like his normal books (horror) but at the same time it still leaves his mark and you see how it is his book.
As we follow Lisey in the story we feel her lost and the struggle of living without her husband. As a reader you are thrown into her world and the mystery behind her life and her husbands. I really enjoyed it and I recommend it.

Title: Ghosted, Vol. 1 Haunted Heist

Author: Joshua Williamson

Release: December 4, 2013

Rating:★ ★ ★ ★

Pages: 144

Where to find it:  Amazon | 

Series: Yes
Format: Paperback Trade

Summary: Jackson T. Winters is one of the greatest criminal masterminds to ever live... except he's rotting in jail after his last, doomed score. But when a filthy rich collector breaks him out, he's tasked with putting together an elite team of paranormal experts to do the impossible: Steal a ghost from a haunted house of horrors! Collects GHOSTED #1-5. (goodreads)

Thoughts:
I want to read everything by Joshua Williamson. He is easily becoming one of my favorite comic book writers out there. His stories always have to do with horror and the fantasy realm, which are two of my favorite things. I really enjoyed how his this comic story he incorporates a heist and horror. It really cleaver how he did that. It all felt like it flowed so well together. I was instantly pulled into the story and the mystery behind it all. I really loved it and can't wait to read the next volume of this world.
Really recommend picking up something from him. 

Title: The Girl with all the Gifts

Author: M.R. Carrey

Release: June 19, 2014

Rating:★ ★ ★ ★ 

Pages: 460
Where to find it:  Amazon | Bookdepository
Series: No
Format: Paperback

Summary: Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her "our little genius." Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh. Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children's cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she'll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn't know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad. The Girl with All the Gifts is a sensational thriller, perfect for fans of Stephen King, Justin Cronin, and Neil Gaiman. (goodreads)

Thoughts:
This was a story that I really enjoyed. The world was intriguing to me. Such a different idea of the Zombie lore. I enjoyed the new refreshing idea been seeing a lot of twist in the genre and I am really enjoying it. I love zombie movies and I have really been wanting to read more zombie books. Ended up picking this one and I wasn't disappointed at all. It felt refreshing and brilliant at the same time.
As we follow these character we see the developments and what they had to do to survive in this world and you don't really know who is right and who is wrong when it comes down to finding out how to survive in this new world.
I like that the story doesn't pick up a few years after the world is infected. Haven't really read a lot of books in that point of the outbreak. It was nice and refreshing.
I also ended up watching the movie which I really enjoyed. It was really similar to the book. I like that aspect. They did had to change a few things for the sake of time. But I did wish they showed more aspects of some of the characters.
Overall if you like novels about zombies I recommend you to pick this book up. It also gives you so much more and get's you thinking on accepting what the world has become and what people do to survive.

Title: Preacher Book 1

Author: Grath Ennis

Release: June 18, 2013

Rating:★ ★

Pages: 352
Where to find it:  Amazon | Bookdepository
Series: Yes
Format: Paperback Trade

Summary: Available for the first time in hardcover, preacher Jesse Custer begins his dark journey to find God, in this volume collecting PREACHER #1-12, plus pinups from PREACHER #50 and #66. After merging with a bizarre spiritual force called Genesis, Texan preacher Jesse Custer has become completely disillusioned with the beliefs to which he had dedicated his entire life. Now possessing the power of "the word," an ability to make people do whatever he utters, Custer begins a violent and riotous journey across the country. Joined by his gun-toting girlfriend Tulip and the hard-drinking Irish vampire Cassidy, Custer loses faith in both God and man as he witnesses dark atrocities and improbable calamities during his exploration of America. This new collected edition features an all-new introduction by series writer Garth Ennis. (goodreads)

Thought:
I really didn't like this first book in the comic series and I don't think I will be continuing it. The beginning of it was interesting but as I read more. I felt like it drag. I also don't know how I feel with some issues in the comic book. I usually could read pretty much any topic. But I really don't like the way this series is written.
Really don't have much to say about it but this. 

Title: Off the Record (#1)

Author: Grath Ennis

Release: March 11, 2014

Rating:★ ★

Pages: 445
Where to find it:  Amazon | Bookdepository
Series: Yes
Format: Paperback

Summary: Liz Dougherty has no idea a single question is about to change her life. Her first big reporting assignment for her North Carolina college newspaper has her covering a state senator’s impromptu press conference. Brady Maxwell may have everything it takes to be a politician—a winning pedigree, devastating good looks, a body made to wear suits—but his politics rub Liz the wrong way. When Liz’s hard-hitting question catches the upstart senator off-guard, it impresses Hayden Lane, Liz’s editor who feels she’s headed for a promising career as a reporter. But Liz is also headed into a secret romance with Brady that could destroy both their ambitions. Though he’s a bachelor, potential voters might frown on Brady cozying up to a reporter. And Liz isn’t sure sneaking around is enough for her—especially when things between her and Hayden might be less platonic than she thought. Sleek, sexy, and smart, Off the Record ventures into a high-stakes campaign and an even higher-stakes affair to answer the question: When politics and love collide, can there ever be a winner? (goodreads)

Thoughts:
I have been in the mood of reading New Adult novels. Some of them have been good and some of them haven't been that great. This one wasn't that great. Or it just wasn't what I wanted from the characters. I picked it up because it had such high reviews but I was really disappointed by the characters. There is some New Adult books were the female character are written with confidents and are not allow to be push over by the male character in the story. Although this character is independent she is easily submissive to the male character without question. Even when some of the things he does aren't okay.
I don't know if I will be continuing with this series. It pretty much a straight forward romance novel with the characters being in a secret relationship. I get why some people will enjoy it.  

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Review: A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Title: A Gathering of Shadows (#2)
Author: V.E. Schwab
Release: February 23, 2016
Rating:★ ★
Pages: 509
Where to find it:  Amazon | Bookdepository
Series: Yes
Format: Hardcover
Summary: It has been four months since a mysterious obsidian stone fell into Kell's possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Prince Rhy was wounded, and since the nefarious Dane twins of White London fell, and four months since the stone was cast with Holland's dying body through the rift--back into Black London. Now, restless after having given up his smuggling habit, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks as she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games--an extravagant international competition of magic meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries--a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port. And while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night will reappear in the morning. But the balance of magic is ever perilous, and for one city to flourish, another London must fall. (goodreads)
Thoughts:
I just don't know what I was expecting from this book. I felt that the first book ended in a good place and the characters acted according to their circumstances. However, this book felt like the complete opposite. The characters didn't make sense to me. They were so spoiled and I just don't know how I felt. The plot was weird. It felt all too convenient for the plot line. It didn't feel like there was a lot of surprises in the story.
I like the idea of the world but the characters didn't really make me enjoy the story. Maybe I was trying to hard too like it because I did enjoyed the first book in the series. For example, one thing that thru me off was with Kell's parents, they felt completely bland and just hypocrites from what the first book was trying to say about them. I know that the writer was trying to make a point about an event that happen in the first book in this book and were their priorities stand. But it just felt so wrong to me. It felt like everything the first book was trying to prove wrong about them was completely thrown way. Specially with the Queen's character. I get that the writer did that to drive the story in the end. But it made me dislike the characters.
The book also felt as a filler book. It felt like it was written just for the third book to happen. It just dragged too long for me.
Mostly, the things I really liked about the book was the idea and the character of Kell. He was the only one that really made sense. Of course he would do everything he did in this book. But all the other characters just didn't make sense to me. Lila was just so different from the first book. It didn't feel as if she would do what she did. It was trying to hard to make is believe she was independent. If just didn't flow with me. Rhy's was just a mess to me I felt after what he went through in the first book, it just made me dislike him to some extent. I know that it would push him to do some things to try to cope from the previous book. But I just felt it was over exaggerated. I really wanted to like the book but there was just to many things that made me dislike the it.
I don't know if I will be reading the last book in the series. Maybe one day. What are your guys thoughts about this book if you read it?

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