April Wrap-Up... AKA I Read a Shit Ton of Books This Month!

Hello all!

I hope you had an awesome April! It seems like it lasted so long, but it's over so soon too! I have read a whole bunch of books this month. Honestly, I thought I read some of them last month, but my GoodReads page says otherwise. I guess I'll stick to what that says!

Anyway, I read a total of 11 books and an essay this month. So, let's get on to the Wrap-Up.

The first book I read this month, or rather finished, was Wicked by Gregory Maguire. This book honestly did not live up to my expectations. It is a very seldom instance when I enjoy an adaption over the book. This is one of those instances. I prefer the Broadway adaption rather than the book. I think this may be because of the explicitness of the book, but I'm not sure. I have the second book, but I think I'll hold off on reading it for a little while. I gave it three stars.

The second book I read was Cinderella's Dress by Shonna Slayton. This was one of my favorite books that I read this month. I honestly thought it was going to be a fairytale retelling of Cinderella. But it wasn't. Basically, it was about this family who is the protectors of the three Cinderella Dresses (the ACTUAL dresses). It takes place during WWII and the main character's great aunt and uncle comes to the states from Poland with these dresses and are handing them down to the next generation. It was a really enjoyable book. I gave it four stars.

Next, I read The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. I also watched the movie and did a joint-review of the two which you can find under the tags Silver Linings Playbook and Matthew Quick for easy access to them. See that to learn my thoughts on the book! I gave it a four star rating.

After that, I read, or rather finished, Macbeth by William Shakespeare. I had to read this one for school. It was honestly one of the better Shakespeare plays that I read in my school career. Either that, or I've just grown to like Shakespeare more as I've gotten older. I gave Macbeth a three star rating.

Next, I picked up the Hush Hush Series by Becca Fitzpatrick. This consists of Hush Hush, Crescendo, Silence, and Finale. Honestly, I don't think the titles go with the story at all. It's basically a twilight-esque love story between a fallen angel and a mortal. Don't get me wrong, Hush Hush was one of the best books I've read so far this year. But the rest of the series (and especially the last book) got too much like Twilight for my taste. Twilight is an okay book, but the similarities were there.... to the point where the main love interest has lots of money, several expensive cars, overly eloquent houses, and takes it upon himself to see that the main protagonist is safe. During the last book, I rolled my eyes several times. I gave Hush Hush a five star rating, but Crescendo and Silence got four, and Finale got three.

This was the time that I was admitted into the hospital to have my appendix out. That was an experience in itself, let me tell you. But in the three days I was in the hospital, I read two full books. They were just simple ones with easy to follow story lines, but they kept me occupied whilst there. I read Wicked Little Secrets and Deadly Little Sins by Kara Taylor. These are the last two books in the Prep-School Confidential books and they are actually pretty good. If you like the Gallaghar Girls Series by Aly Carter, I think you would enjoy these as well. I'm not going to go into the books, since they are at the end of a series, but I gave them four and three stars, respectively.

It was then that I was forced to pick up A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. This is the man that wrote Gulliver's Travels, so I thought this piece of satire would be an okay read. No, it was not. He is writing that to control the population problem in Ireland, that people EAT BABIES. What has the school system come to? I gave this one star.

Lastly, I read Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman. I thought this book was very insightful. I, as someone who has never encountered the Prison or Legal System, thought that we are shown how women can come together as a family and become protectors of secrets and each other. Now, the book is slightly different than the Netflix Original Series. They use different names and there is A LOT less sexual content. Aside from using the F-Bomb a gazillion times, the most sexually explicit scene was when she explains how these two inmates were bringing in contraband, which turned out to be a box full of Dilldos. *shrugs* It wasn't bad. I gave it four stars.

As for Dewey's Read-A-Thon, I'm marking it as a fail. When I was awake that day, I ate and took medicine, and then went back to bed. Oh well. I'll try again in October. :)

And my appendix? I'm recovering quite well. I'm still a slow mover and can't bend over yet. But I'm mobile and am walking around much easier. I get my staples out next Thursday.

And one last thing.......... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEST FRIEND BROOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beginning of the Week Update!

Hello all! I hope you've had a great weekend! My school has the day off today, so I decided I would work on a couple of posts for you guys!! Here is my Beginning of the week Update!

So, this weekend, I was able to finish Wicked by Gregory Macguire. It was not at all what I expected it to be. I will have a full discussion up on it either later today or tomorrow.

But, that's all I read. I had about 100 pages left. But, I am one step closer to finishing my goal of reading 10 adult books this year! Woo hoo!!!

I'm going to dive into Cinderella's Dress by Shonna Slayton next, because I already started it. It's actually pretty good, but I'm only about 50 pages in. I'll keep you updated!

Type at you later!

Shea

End of the Week Update

Hello all!

This week, I didn't read as much as I was hoping to. I had so much to do between school and appointments. It was just a really long week for me. But, I was able to read some more of Wicked! I'm up to page 300 or so and the story is still really good. I'm hoping to be able to see the play on Broadway soon *crosses fingers*.

I also started Cinderella's Dress. I'm only about 20 pages in. But I'll keep you updated there as well!

How about you? What has your reading week been like?

Type at you later!

Shea

There's No Shame in Buying Books.....

Hi guys! So today, I went book shopping. Nothing too drastic. Just finished up a few series that I have random books of. :)

Our closest book store is a Books-A-Million. I must say it doesn't have the best choices for older releases. It mainly has new releases, books that are movies, and popular titles. I have no problem with that, but sometimes you can get lucky!

Okay, so, here are the books I got.

I already owned Cinder by Marissa Meyer, and I wanted to update that collection, so I bought Scarlet and Cress.

I also finished my Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. I had the first three and the last one, but was missing books four and five. So I picked those up!

The only thing about these books is that they are a different cover than what I already have. My other books are the ones with two people (who I can only assume are Rose and Dimitri! :P) on the cover. But, it's still the same story. So, I'm okay with that.

Next, I FINALLY finished my City of Bones series by Cassandra Clare. When I first ordered them, they were all paperback, same editions, ect., ect. But for some reason, the whole collection never came. So, I have been patiently collecting the remaining books in the series. Today, I picked up book number 1! It's kind of weird that I didn't have book number 1, but I checked that one out from the Library originally. So now, I have them all! Except The Bane Chronicles, but I will be picking that up ASAP! :D

The next two books I picked up, were by a total stroke of good luck. I was walking up and down random isles of BAM and the cover jumped right out at me. I found Wicked and Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire  WITH THE SPRAYED EDGES. FOR SEVEN DOLLARS. I don't think you realize how exciting this is for me. I'm obsessed with the play and soundtrack, so I'm interested in reading the story that inspired that!

I couldn't find a picture of Son of a Witch with the sprayed edges but above is the edition that I picked up!

The last book I picked up was not from BAM. It's from a library stand in my town. I'll have a post up soon about these library stands (most likely tomorrow because we are expecting more snow *rolls eyes*). :P

Anyway, I was able to find a first edition signed copy of The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. It was a great surprise. 

I'm still planning on finishing the Harry Potter series before I pick any of these up, but as soon as I'm done with Harry Potter, I will be picking up Wicked! 

I hope you guys are having a great week! 

Type at you later!

Shea