Top Ten Tuesdays: Favorites Series

 This week's topic is all about finished favorite series. Here are some YA series.

For me a series is five books or more. 

We did this topic 15 years ago, take a look at my thought then. I have a number of series I'm still reading.

Princess Diaries 

The Selection

Throne of Glass series 

Gallagher Girl series 

Vampire Academy and the spin-off Bloodlines 

Angus Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging 

Grave Mercy 

I feel like I'm missing some. There are so many great trilogies and 4 book sets, but not as many finished series that I've read.

Middle Grade:

Canterwood Crest

Lightning Thief 

What kinds of series books do you read?

Top Ten Tuesday: Secondary Characters

 This week's topic is secondary characters. To be honest, many of the secondary characters get their own books in romance, which is wonderful.

 However, I have a major group of characters that I would LOVE to have their own book. 

I know I'm not alone when I say, I need to book about Manon and the Thirteen. 

Embers of Memory Game

I was super excited about this game because I'm a HUGE Sarah J Maas fan.

I love that there's a card game because of a book series.

The art work in the cards is amazing.

It took us a little bit to get into the game.

We lost the game - with the way we shuffled the cards, winning was impossible.

How cool is it that a series of books became so popular that there's a game because of them?

I was surprised that the game was set before the Kingdom of Ash. I assumed it would be during Throne of Glass to hook more people into reading the book series.

I loved that it was a cooperative game, even though you're not allowed to speak about strategy. 

I really enjoyed played this game. Fans of the book will be interested in playing.

* Game sent for review

Top Ten Tuesday: All Time Favorite Series

This week's topic is  Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Books Of X Genre , and I pick series...

I love series, so this is a bit tricky for me. Series is anything more than 3 books! There are SO many more that I adore, but these came to mind first and I don't want to overwhelm anyone with 80 more!

- meme from The Broke and the Bookish 

Adult:

Mini Review: Queen of Shadows

 * Throne of Glass Book 4 *

Celaena Sardothien returns to reclaim her throne, save her friend, and avenge her friend's death. It won't be easy, it won't be pleasant, and it might not save her future. But revenge must be taken and order must be restored.

The Good:
Revenge plots - double crossing - the plot twists
I like how Aelin had to confront her past
I grew to love Manon and her story line
I ADORED Lysandra - her snark made me laugh and tear up in places
The big battle
That ending
ALL the feels reading this one

The Bad:
Waiting for the next book

Final Thoughts: I seriously Love this series and would read it until the end of time. I can't wait to see what happens next!!

Review: Assassin's Blade

* Prequel to Throne of Glass * 

I'm so in love with this series. I found it fascinating to see Celaena's life before Throne of Glass - her dealings with Sam and Arobynn.

Here's what I loved:

1. Seeing Celaene rise to power

2. Her Consciousness - and how it didn't matter, she was going to do the right thing

3. The feelings - especially at the end. 

4. Her banter with Sam

5. Her love for girly material things - made her a bit more human

6. Her time in the desert.

If you haven't read this series yet - what are you waiting for? Run to your library/bookstore and grab it.

Review: Crown of Midnight

  * sequel to Throne of Glass*

Celaena battled in the tournament of assassins in the previous novel. Now she has a contract with the King. If she doesn't do his bidding, her friends will forfeit their lives.

The King believes there's a plot against the throne.  He's giving Celaena names, asking her to take care of the situation in three months time. The newest name is someone from her past.

Celaena gives Archer three months to feed her information - information that could be useful. As she gathers intelligence, she becomes aware of something going on inside the castle -something to do with Wyrdmarks and forbidden magic. Will the plot against the King cost Celaena everything she holds dear?

My Thoughts: This book is hands down in my top books read for the year. I adored Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight was better (if possible). It was full of moments that were sweet, heart wrenching, and fierce. My heart ached for Calaena - for her past, her present, and for what must come in the future. The ending makes me long for the next book immediately. 

I loved Celaena's small rebellion. I liked the multiple perspectives - especially those of Chaol and Dorian. I feel as though all the characters became more rounded and complex during this installment. I loved the winter setting and the danger around every corner. A fantastic world, strong characters, and emotions that pull at your heart strings. I don't ever want to leave this series.

Cover Thoughts: Fierce
Source: ARC from BEA
Book comes out August 27th - Be SURE to grab it!!!

Review: Throne of Glass

Celaena Sardothien used to be the world's best assassin - until someone betrayed her. She's spent the last year working in the salt mines. She assumes she'll be there a long time - until someone makes her an offer she can't refuse.
The King needs a new assassin. He's holding a tournament to fill his new position. Prince Dorian makes her a deal - win the tournament and serve the King for three years. After that, she'll have her freedom.
Celaena leaves behind her old life and settles into the palace under a false identity. She's not allowed to socialize with the other ladies of court and they assume she's closely connected with Prince. To fill her days, she reads and starts getting her body back into shape. 
She's going against 24 men - all of whom underestimate her and her skills.  The captain of the guard, Westfall, oversees her training sessions. At first he tells her to stay in the middle of the pack - never let them see her true abilities. That doesn't work out exactly. Still, she holds her own against the men during the various tests to weed out the weaker contestants. The tests aren't the only thing killng off these men, there's something prowling around in the castle, something dark, magical, and deadly. Will Calaena survive to the final test?

My Thoughts: I DEVOURED this book. It's my new favorite book and I'm telling EVERYONE to read it. Especially if you liked Grave Mercy, or Graceling or Poison Study.
I adored this book. I liked reading about the training regiments, figuring out the court intrigue, and the dreams Calaena dreamt. The training sessions and the tests were brutal, but I loved how everyone underestimated her skills. She reminded me a little of Katniss with her knives.   Calaena was opinionated, determined, strong, and best of all, snarky. She wasn't afraid to share her thoughts and she didn't sugar coat them. 
I loved her banter with both Prince Dorian and Westfall. The romance triangle works well, although of course I have my favorite all picked out.
While it didn't end on a cliff hanger, more questions were raised than answered. I can't wait for more in this series!

Cover Thoughts: I like the castle in the background and Calaena in front with a knife strapped to her arm. She looks  young and vulnerable, but the knife makes her stand out.

Source: Netgalley/BEA (I got the ARC signed at BEA and read it while waiting in lines)

Keep your eyes peeled for this book, which comes out August 7th. You don't want to miss this amazing debut!!

BEA recap: Wednesday (part 3)

I'm still trying to remember everyone I met and everything I saw that looked awesome - it's pretty hard. BEA is my favorite book moments of the year. I look forward to it each yet. I love meeting people who love books as much as I do! 


I love meeting bloggers, who's blogs I read. I love meeting new to me bloggers. I love seeing librarian friends and meeting new librarian friends. I like chatting with the publishers and finding out more about their upcoming books.  I love looking at the book covers on the walls of the booths. 


On Wednesday, I got to the center around 8:15. The tickets for the events I wanted were all taken.


It was a day of lines. After going to a few favorite booths, I headed to the autograph table to meet Sarah Maas and get a copy of Throne of Glass. The line had already started and it got HUGE.

 After meeting her, I went to the Harlequin teen line, which was also really long. But I started reading Throne of Glass (and it's AWESOME! Seriously - you want to keep your eyes out for this book in August!!!!)

Harlequin had some great authors:

After the Harlequin Line, I went over to the Penguin booth and got in line for Marie Lu. While waiting I saw this cover -

which looks awesome! I missed the ball which you can stand inside, but from the pictures, it looked really cool. 

I met Marie Lu at the Penguin party the night before. I can't tell you how happy I was to get Prodigy. I seriously loved Legend. 

 I walked around checking out various booths. I ran into Sarah MacLean - who I adore. She was signing
11 Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart. I got a copy for the library's collection.

Then I headed to the autograph table where I met Jon Sczieska and Tim Green. They were both really nice. Then I stood in line for Tim Green's sports book. He was super sweet.

After that, I waited in line for Keep Holding On and to see Susane Colasanti one last time. 

After that, it was time to leave. I really loved talking to so many people about books, learning about books, and having books to take back to the library for summer reading prizes. I was tired, hungry, and my feet hurt badly. It was nice to get home to my husband and puppy. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Here's the books from Day 2:

 Books I can't wait to read

 Books I can't wait to read

 Books to be added to the library collection

Summer Reading Prizes that will delight our patrons!

Book Trailer:Throne of Glass

Doesn't this book look AMAZING? I can't wait to read it!!

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