Hey everyone! Welcome to 2017! I thought it would never get here, but here we are. I'm proud to say that I stuck to my reading goals for the last month of the year. I'm trying to stay realistic when it comes to reading goals for the coming year and I think 40 books is a reasonable goal to set for myself. I'm confident that I'll be able to stick to this while completing my Spring coursework. That being said, here are the books I finished during the month of December.
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Outlander was everything I hoped it would be! I am also glad that I got the next three books in the series for Christmas so I can read the next few books at my leisure. Jamie and Claire's story reads a lot like my favorite YA novels, so I enjoyed the pacing and the conflict. The mixture of science fiction and historical content was absolutely entertaining. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the TV series kept to the same story as the books. I'm looking forward to starting again where I left off and watch the TV series simultaneously.
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Crystal Storm is the fifth book in the
Falling Kingdoms series by Morgan Rhodes. Honestly, I enjoyed the change of pace from the last novel. There was a set agenda and plot line which all of the characters adhered to. I really enjoyed Jonas's story line much better in this book than I had in all the others. I also really liked all the side characters, especially the hired guns accompanying Jonas. I wish their stories were more developed, but maybe we'll learn more about them in the last book. Probably not, but I'm sure the last book in the series is going to be BANANAS.
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A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray was a great read for the beginning of winter. It was dark, paranormal and full of back-stabbing teenage girls which is always a show. As anticipated, I did enjoy the beginning of this series more so than the
Diviners series. It gets a bit confusing at times with the flashbacks and dream sequences, but overall I followed along just fine. I really liked the
Secret Garden-esq beginning of the novel and the Indian setting, which I wish they spent more time on. I'm curious to see how the second novel expands on the first.
January is going to be a good reading month for me I think:
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Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, and Robin Wasserman: I have been waiting to read this for quite some time and I'm happy to say that I'm enjoying it so far! It's been so nice to see not only Simon's journey to becoming a Shadowhunter but also the children of the 1900s, including James Herondale, Matthew Fairchild and the other offspring of the
Infernal Devices. It just gets me even more excited for
The Last Hours series coming out next year! I'm about half way through at this point and I can't wait to see what else is in store for Simon and all the new initiates.
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Passenger by Alexandra Bracken: I believe I've had this series on my TBR before now, but never found time for it. My interests have been restored as of late. I really enjoyed Bracken's dystopian series
The Darkest Minds, so I was very pleased to find that she had a time-traveling series as well. This story follows a young violin prodigy named Etta (LOVE that name) as she ends up on a mysterious ship with the power to plow through time and space like water. Nicholas is a crew member aboard this ship and it will be his help Etta needs to find the mysterious object coveted by the Ironwoods, the notorious family hunting for Etta and her lineage. This synopsis hooked me from the start and with the sequel coming out weeks from now, I can't wait to start this series.
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Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon: After finishing the first book in the
Outlander series, I immediately wanted to pick up the second installment. I'm going to be honest and admit that I don't think I'll finish the book this month, but I can at least put a substantial dent in it in the coming weeks. This book takes place directly after the events of the first where we see Claire and Jamie make their way to France in order to sabotage the Jacobite rebellion and prevent the deaths of many Scots. I will be watching the TV series at the same time to compare and contrast both versions.
There are also two novels coming out in the month of January that I would like to get my hands on:
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Caraval by Stephanie Garber: This new release caught my eye because of its similarities to
The Night Circus, which I loved. This story follows two sisters, Scarlett and Tella, as they make plans to escape their cruel father and attend a once in a lifetime nightly circus. When Tella is kidnapped for the show, Scarlett is forced to find her or risk losing her forever. This story sounds both mysterious and magical, so I can't wait to see if it meets my expectations.
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The Alchemists of Loom by Elise Kova: This new release has a steam punk-fantasy vibe that I couldn't look away from. In this story we follow Ari, a clockwork engineer who specializes in black market organs in a society ruled by the Dragon King. Eventually Ari encounters Cvareh, who is looking to restore his family's honor in the underbelly of Loom. Both of them will have to venture to see the Alchemists of Loom in order to grant their deepest desires of vengeance and justice. This book has a heist vibe to it, so I'm curious to see how the author incorporates the black market/planetoids/ rich-man-poor-man thing into this plot line. Plus, that cover is stunning!
There you have it! I'm hoping to get to either one of the last two books before the end of the month, but we'll see how it goes. This list, as always is subject to change on a whim, but thus is the uncertainty of reading habits. What are you guys planning on reading this month? What were your favorite books of 2016? Let me know in the comments below. As always, I remain your faithful correspondent.
