WWW Wednesday #6

WWW Wednesday is a weekly MEME hosted by Taking on a World of Words. The three W’s are as follows:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

And I’m adding my own section to this list:

What have you recently reviewed?

Click the book titles for more information about each!

 

Recently Reviewed

• The Emperor’s Soul (Elantris Universe) by Brandon Sanderson (5/5 STARS!)

  • Brandon Sanderson’s award-winning novella is a great place to start if you’ve never read Sanderson before. I read it as part of his collection, Arcanum Unbounded.

• Shattered Blue (The Light #1) by Lauren Bird Horowitz (5/5 STARS!) & Renegade Red (The Light #2) by Lauren Bird Horowitz (4.5/5 STARS!)

  • I love both of these ya paranormal romances. The author’s writing is pure poetry and the twisty romance surprised me again and again.

• Portal of a Thousand Worlds by Dave Duncan (4.5/5 STARS!)

  • This Chinese fantasy made me laugh on almost every page. Political, crude and hilariously clever!

• Bookburners (Bookburners Season One) by Max Gladstone &… (4.5/5 STARS!)

  • I love this new take on the demon hunters trope. Max Gladstone’s humor, unique magic systems and religious diversity make him one of my favorite authors, and this collection showcases not only his talent, but that of several other great authors.

• The Valiant (The Valiant #1) by Lesley Livingston (4/5 STARS!)

  • Female gladiators, anyone? This alt history unquestionably lives up to its enticing premise.

• Autumn Princess, Dragon Child (Tale of Shikanoko #2) by Lian Hearn (4/5 STARS!)
  • This literary Japanese fantasy series continues to be a deeply satisfying story.

• Moon Called (Mercy Thompson #1) by Patricia Briggs (4/5 STARS!)

  • The start to a beloved adult urban fantasy/paranormal romance series. I really enoyed it!

• Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (4/5 STARS)

  • Who hasn’t heard of Illuminae? When I heard rave reviews about the audio version, I knew had to check it out. Fabulous production!

• Midnight Curse (Disrupted Magic #1) by Melissa F. Olson (4/5 STARS)

  • Although I had a few problems with this adult urban fantasy, I was quite impressed with the mystery, worldbuilding and characters, and I definitely want to read more by Melissa F. Olson.

• Just Another Judgement Day (Nightside #9) by Simon R. Green (3.5 STARS)

  • Urban fantasy with more action and just as much humor as the Dresden Files.

• The Hunted (The Darkest Hand Trilogy #0.5) (3/5 STARS)

  • This prequel intrigued me and I definitely want to read more in the series at some point.

• Extracted (Extracted Trilogy #1) by R.R. Haywood (3/5 STARS)

  • This adult sci-fi kept me glued to the page, despite its lack of forward plot movement. I’ll definitely consider reading book two, if reviewers indicate better plotting.

• The Immortals (Olympus Bound #1) by Jordanna Max Brodsky (DNF)

  • I couldn’t get into this popular adult urban fantasy. But if “Percy Jackson for adults” sounds  like a good story to you, I definitely recommend checking it out.

• Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts #1) by Vic James (DNF)

  • This ya fantasy shifted perspectives too many times for me, and I couldn’t get into the characters anyway; but a lot of readers really enjoyed the British feel of the worldbuilding.

 

Recently Finished

• Lord of the Darkwood (The Tale of Shikanoko #3) by Lian Hearn

  • After enjoying books I and II so much, I had to continue reading the third installment of Lian Hearn’s latest Japanese fantasy right away. RTC!

• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, Kirsten Potter (audiobook)

  • This literary post-apocalyptic won my library’s 2017 Big Read poll, which was thrilling because I voted for it 😉 RTC!

• The Thief (The Queen’s Thief #1) by Megan Whalen Turner (audiobook, reread)

  • I love this series and I’ve been wanting to reread it since I heard about book V coming out this year. Predictably, I still loved it. RTC!

 

Currently Reading

• Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (audiobook, reread)
  • As soon as I finished The Thief, I put a hold on the audio of book II and got it a few days later. I’m loving it much more, this time around; the twisty foreshadowing is much more apparent than it was when I was a younger reader.
• The Hero and the Crown (Damar #2) by Robin McKinley
  • Ever since enjoying McKinley’s The Blue Sword last year (5 STARS! You can check out my review right here!), I’ve been eager to read this “sort of prequel.” I’m loving it even more than The Blue Sword, amazingly!
• The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency #1) by John Scalzi
  • I’ve been wanting to read this ever since I heard of it, as John Scalzi has been on my tbr for a long time. I won it in a giveaway from the terrific spec fic blog, Book, Bones & Buffy. (Thank you so much! :D) So far, it’s just as hilarious and compelling as I’d hoped it would be.

 

TBR Next

• Shadow’s Edge (Night Angel #2) by Brent Weeks

  • I completely loved The Way of Shadows last year and I’m finally getting a chance to read more of Kylar Stern’s story, thanks to my newfangled “2017 tbr” Goodreads shelf.

• Full Fathom Five (Craft Sequence #3) by Max Gladstone

  • The first two Craft Sequence books ranked among my favorite books of 2016, so it’s high time to enjoy book three.

• Arslan by M.J. Engh

  • Open Road Integrated Media has distinguished itself by republishing digital versions of older works, and I’ve enjoyed a few of them in the past. This 1970s dystopian sci-fi has a big reputation, so I’m excited to dig in during the next few weeks.

 

And that’s all for this roundup! Have you read or heard of any of these? What have you been reading lately? Link up to my post if you’ve done a roundup recently so I can see! 🙂

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Waiting on Wednesday #1: The Girl With the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to spotlight upcoming exciting new titles.

I recently decided to request fewer titles from Netgalley, and removing some of that pressure also seems to have increased my anticipation for these upcoming titles; so I also decided to hop on the WoW train!

And then I saw Katherine Locke‘s The Girl With the Red Balloon on Netgalley, forthcoming from AW Teen in September 2017 ahhhh! It immediately tested my “requesting resolution”!

I need 😍

Publisher Description:

When sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum accidentally time-travels via red balloon to 1988 East Berlin, she’s caught up in a conspiracy of history and magic. She meets members of an underground guild in East Berlin who use balloons and magic to help people escape over the Wall—but even to the balloon makers, Ellie’s time travel is a mystery. When it becomes clear that someone is using dark magic to change history, Ellie must risk everything—including her only way home—to stop the process.

!!!! Can’t wait to get my hands on this one! Historical/Alt Historical YA is possibly my favorite thing on the planet!

What book are you anticipating this Wednesday?

WWW Wednesday #5

WWW Wednesday is a weekly MEME hosted by Taking on a World of Words. I got the idea from Socially Awkward Bookworm. The three W’s are these:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

And I’m adding my own section to this list:

What have you recently reviewed?

Click the book titles for more information about each!

Recently Reviewed

Detecting a theme? 😉

• The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1) (5/5 STARS!)

• Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive #2) by Brandon Sanderson (5/5 STARS!)

• Elantris (Elantris #1) by Brandon Sanderson (4/5 STARS!)

• Shadows of Self (Mistborn #5, Alloy Era #2) by Brandon Sanderson (5/5 STARS!)

• The Witch Of Portobello by Paulo Coelho (4/5 STARS!)

• Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer (4/5 STARS)

• The Snow Queen (The Snow Queen Cycle #1) by Joan D. Vinge (3/5 STARS)

• Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs (3/5 STARS)

• The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (3/5 STARS)

• Crossroads of Canopy (Titan’s Forest, #1) by Thoraiya Dyer (DNF at 47%)

Recently Finished

I just finished up my review of Gilded Cage by UK author Vic James and I’ll be posting it tomorrow!

I got Brandon Sanderson‘s Arcanum Unbounded for Christmas, and I just got the chance to sit down and enjoy the first novella, The Emperor’s Soul. I should be posting the review next week

I picked up Shattered Blue (The Light, #1) by Lauren Bird Horowitz after DNFing Crossroads of Canopy and devoured half of it in one day. I had to set it aside until this weekend, to finish Gilded Cage…which I also ended up DNFing, sadly! It’s a good thing Shattered Blue came in the mail for my library because after two bad ARCs, I needed something really fun. Review coming soon!

Currently Reading

I’m currently re-watching Brandon Sanderson‘s original BYU SFF writing lectures (check it out the whole video roll by Write About Dragons here!), so I’ve been slacking on my audiobooks, lately.

However, I have also been slowly listening to Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1)by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. In fact, I was listening to it during a quick store run the other day and suddenly PLOT TWISTS HAPPENED and I ended up listening to it for like an hour while I made and ate lunch, haha. Anyway, I should be finishing that up tomorrow or the next day and reviewing that in a week or so.

I’m currently at 20% of the way through my eARC of Portal of a Thousand Worlds by Dave Duncan and I’m totally loving the humorous, intelligent voice and Chinese atmosphere. Major thanks to Dave Duncan, Open Road Media Science & Fantasy and Netgalley for this imaginative Alternate History eARC!

TBR Next

Next up for ARCs are Autumn Princess, Dragon Child (Tales of Shikanoki #2) & Lord of the Darkwood (Tales of Shikanoko #3) by Lian Hearn. I’ve been majorly anticipating the time when I could sit back and relax with these binge-worthy Asian fantasies. I hope they’re as good as the first installment!

For my freereading, I’m planning to listen to The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1) by Robert Jordan (epic fantasies are officially in, on this blog) and enjoy The Two Georges by Richard Dreyfuss and Harry Turtledove for my bedtime reading. I’m writing an alternate history, at the moment, and this one sounds right up my alley. When I have spare moments, I plan to savor more stories from Arcanum Unbounded, as well.

And that’s all for this roundup! Have you read any of these? What are you reading right now, or what are you excited to read next? Link up to my post if you’ve done a roundup recently. I’m always excited to see what blogger buddies are reading!

New Year Update & Book Haul

Hello friends! After a two-week blogging break, it’s time for an update! Over the holidays, I spent a lot of time working on my own writing project, which involves a lot of research about Mesoamerican civilizations. But I also finished reading several novels!

Upcoming Reviews

I made a goal to read the two published volumes of the Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson over the holidays. While I only finished  The Way of Kings completely [Review coming next week!], I am about 200 pages into Words of Radiance and will be happily enjoying the audiobook as the blog returns to our regularly scheduled programming.

Other Books I finished: 

• Elantris, Sanderson’s debut
• Shadows of Self (Mistborn #5)
• Winter by Marissa Meyer

I actually finished Winter before the blog break, but I never posted the promised review! It really will be coming this week 🙂

Book Haul

Next, I wanted to share the gorgeous books I’ve gotten recently. My husband actually bought me the original Mistborn trilogy a while ago, but I hadn’t ever posted pictures of them. Arcanum Unbounded (!!) and The Exiled Queen (The Exiles #2) by Cinda Williams Chima were Christmas presents!

I also recently picked up three pocket paperbacks at used book sales: Fiddler’s Fair by Mercedes Lackey (foreground), Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb (bottom of stack) and Doomsday Book (top of stack) by Connie Willis, who authored my second favorite book of 2016, Crosstalk). A friend also loaned me my first Baen book, called Once a Hero by Elizabeth Moon (middle of stack). Which looks awesome.

Netgalley Digital ARCs

And last but certainly not least, this year’s Netgalley haul (so far)! This should carry me through February, at which time I plan to settle down to some backlist reading and perhaps binge read a series.

• The Bear and the Nightingale by Katharine Arden, Del Rey Jan 10th, 2017. I’m reading this one right now and really enjoying the atmosphere and setting.
• Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs, Albert Whitman & Company. This book was actually published in 2016, but the sequel will be available soon and AW&C is offering this first volume on Netgalley. I was so excited to get access because I’ve been eyeing it for a while!
• Crossroads of Canopy by Thoraiya Dyer, Tor Jan 31, 2017. “At the highest level of a giant forest, thirteen kingdoms fit seamlessly together to form the great city of Canopy. Thirteen goddesses and gods rule this realm and are continuously reincarnated into human bodies.” <-How could I possibly resist a description like that? And when I saw’s Tamora Pierce’s praise, I couldn’t request this one fast enough.
• Gilded Cage by Vic James, Del Rey Feb 14th, 2017. I think I requested this one largely based on the author’s amazing bio, but the description sounds none too shabby: “For readers of Victoria Aveyard and Kiera Cass comes a darkly fantastical debut set in a modern England where magically gifted aristocrats rule—and commoners are doomed to serve.”

• Portal of a Thousand Worlds by Dave Duncan, Open Road Integrated Media Science & Fantasy 14th Feb, 2017. I’ve never read anything by Dave Duncan, but I can’t resist Asian fantasies, beautiful covers or titles that promise magic. I’m so so excited to try this one!
• Autumn Princess, Dragon Child (The Tale of Shikanoko II) & Lord of the Darkwood (The Tale of Shikanoko III) by Lian Hearn. These were published in quick succession last year, but Farrar, Straus & Giroux kindly gave me access after the fact. I actually meant to access only the second book, but I accidentally grabbed the third. So now I have both! Oh darn. I’ve been wishing I’d gotten to these earlier, but since they were already published when I was given access, I decided to wait for a time when I could sit and enjoy them one right after the other. If the first book is anything to judge by, the temptation to binge-reading will be strong!
• Fata Morgana by Steven R. Boyett & Ken Mitchcroney, Blackstone Publishing 13th June, 2017. “Captain Farley navigates a maze of treachery and wonder—and finds a love seemingly decreed by fate—as his bomber becomes a pawn in a centuries-old conflict between remnants of advanced but decaying civilizations.” The description of this one is tantalizingly vague. I requested it months ago, before that awesome cover was revealed, and I’m growing ever more curious to dive in!

That’s it for this book haul. What did you get for Christmas? I’d love to hear about what you’re excited to read in 2017!

WWW Wednesday #3

WWW Wednesday is a weekly MEME hosted by Taking on a World of Words. I got the idea from Socially Awkward Bookworm. The three W’s are these:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Click the book titles for more information about each!

Recently Finished

I recently reviewed three sci-fis: Larry Niven’s classic novella, “The Magic Goes Away,” a sci-fi lover’s fantasy from the ’70s; the brand new, completely entertaining space opera, Forsaken Skies by D. Nolan Clark; and installment # 3 of the YA Dystopian serial, Remade: Home, Perilous Home. Click the titles to read the reviews!

I listened to these three on audio and I can’t wait to share my thoughts with you!

Scarlet follows Cinder  in Marissa Meyer’s wildly popular YA sci-fi series, The Lunar Chronicles. This second installment re-imagines the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale. I’ll be posting my review tomorrow! (And here’s my review of book I, Cinder!)

I’ve been on a Jim Butcher kick, thanks to some insistent readers friends. The Aeronaut’s Windlass review should be up on the blog next week. I actually started the Dresden Files as a teenager, but I gave up halfway through number three (because I was a romance junkie and I just didn’t find Susan that interesting). So I recently decided to try the audio version of Grave Peril! Review coming soon!

Currently Reading

I’ve been waiting and hoping to fit The Eterna Files into my reading time for weeks and I finally got the opportunity to start it yesterday. Big thanks to Tor for the sweepstakes giveaway of Leanna Renee Hieber’s books! Review coming next week.

I immediately jumped into Jim Butcher’s Summer Knight (Dresden Files #4), after finishing book #3. My car rides to work are fun anyway, since I love my library job; but James Marsters brightens even that sunny commute. Review should be coming in a few weeks.

I recently loved and reviewed Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn #4, The Alloy of Law, and I just started #5, Shadows of Self, for my bed time reading. I’m already hooked!

TBR Next

I’m pretty psyched about this batch of arcs. I mean, who wouldn’t be?

I actually got access to Ibenus on Netgalley, but somehow the arc never made it to my Kindle, so I started the ebook on Hoopla. After realizing I couldn’t take notes on the Hoopla ebook, however, I decided to order a hard copy for my library. *Fingers crossed* that it comes in very shortly!

I heard of Crosstalk thanks to the TeacherofYA and her sweet review blog (which you should totally check out if you’re a YA fan!). I’m so excited to jump in!

I requested Every Hidden Thing the second it became available on Netgalley (because…Kenneth Oppel) and I was just recently granted access. I’m sooo excited to read it! Ditto for The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz!

And that’s about it for my reading list. What about you? Have you read any of these? Are you excited about something on your TBR, too? Please do link your most recent roundup posts to mine so I can read them!

WWW Wednesday #2

WWW Wednesday is a weekly MEME hosted by Taking on a World of Words. I got the idea from Socially Awkward Bookworm. The three W’s are these:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Recently Finished:

I’ve been reading lots of great YA Fantasy, lately! Last week, I posted my review of Keira Drake’s lyrical debut, The Continent, a YA Alternative History that will be published in early January 2017.

I also recently finished an awesome YA Japanese Urban Fantasy, A Mortal Song by Megan Crewe. The Fantastic Flying Book Club’s book tour of A Mortal Song will be stopping here, at Christy Luis Reviews: Speculative Fiction (Mostly) tomorrow morning, September 22nd. Currently, the FFBC is hosting a ~* GIVEAWAY *~ of Asian swag, here on my blog’s “Current Giveaways” tab. Stop by tomorrow to read my review and enter the giveway! [Review now available!]

I resisted The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer for a long time, but my library teens finally convinced me to give it a try. I just finished the audiobook of Cinder and will be posting my review next week. Cinder is a futuristic YA SF/F retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale wherein “Cinder” is a cyborg.

Currently Reading:

I’m 40% of the way through Lian Hearn’s Emperor of the Eight Islands, which was published in April by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. The next three books in the series were also published this year, as the publisher tries out the book binge model on this new Asian adult fantasy series. I should be posting the review either next week or the week after.

I’m also listening to the audiobook of Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer and reading Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn #4, The Alloy of Law, for my bedtime reading. (Don’t you just love the cover for The Alloy of Law? Except that Wayne doesn’t carry guns, of course. Still. Pure awesomeness.) Those reviews should be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

TBR Next:

Forsaken Skies by D. Nolan Clark, published on September 6th by Orbit, will be my next read. Orbit puts out some good stuff, so I though I’d given this adult sci-fi a shot.

Remade by Andrea Phillips, the second installment in a serial YA Dystopia published today, Sept 21st, 2016, by Serial Box Publishing. I loved the first installment, so I’m looking forward to reading #2!

The Eterna Files by Leanna Renee Hieber. Tor did a giveaway on their blog for The Eterna Files, Eterna and Omega (The Eterna Files #2), & Hieber’s earlier book, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Mercy Parker, and somehow I won! I’m pretty excited to review all three of these because they sound awesome.

So, anything strike your fancy? What have you been reading? What’s on your TBR? Share links to your WWW or bookshelf roundup in the comments; I’d love to check them out!

WWW Wednesday #1 & THE BRAND NEW REVIEW ARCHIVES!

I wanted to share a quick bit of news before getting to my WWW’s: I finally created an archive of my book reviews! It’s organized by author last name. You can find it in my blog tabs above this post, beside the “About Me” and “About This Blog” tabs. Okay, on to the MEME!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly MEME hosted by Taking on a World of Words. I got the idea from Socially Awkward Bookworm. The three W’s are these:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone is the second book in his Craft Sequence. I lovedlovedloved the first book, so I have high expectations. (And they’re being met!)

I’m also reading an eARC of The Continent by Kiera Drake, provided courtesy of HarlequinTeen. I won’t be posting the review until the cover is revealed, but the book is coming out in Jan 2017, so I’m hoping that will be soon! [Review now available!]

Recently Finished

Review

I love a good old mystery for my bedtime reading and I just discovered Elizabeth Peters’ delightful Crocodile on the Sandbank (first published 1975). The narrator is just…perfect. Hilarious. Review coming next week. [Review now available!]

And Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. What can I say? I’ll be fangirling about this one next week, as well. [Review now available!] Spoiler I LOVED IT SO MUCH.

Reading Next

The Fantastic Flying Book Club will be hosting a blog tour in September 2016 for A Mortal Song by Megan Crew, and they kindly gave me a copy to review! Look at that gorgeous cover. I can’t wait to dig in. Tune in for more!

After that, I’m planning to read episode two of Serial Box Publishing’s serial YA Dystopia: “Hungry” by Andrea Phillips. I loved episode one, so I have high hopes for episode two!

What have you been reading? I’d love to hear about it in the comments. If you do a WWW post or a Bookshelf Roundup or anything like that, I hope you’ll post it in the comments below so I can read it, too!