book – Page 4 – Dee’s Reading Tree

Monday Cleaning Day

May 27, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

I’m so proud I’ve kept my TBR this week at a steady 64 books when it used to be more than 100. I’ve been adding only the first book of a series, because really if I haven’t read the first book in the series yet how do I know I will like the rest? Also, mostly all the books that have less than a four star rating are gone, unless something or someone convinces me to put them back on there. In case this is your first time reading my Monday post, I usually order my Goodreads TBR list in reverse chronological order, I skip the books I kept on other Mondays, and then I pick the first five books. I then decide whether to keep them on the list, or delete them.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely (A Curse So Dark and Lonely, #1) by Brigid Kemmerer

I actually read a sample of this book and loved it, so I bought a hard copy of it. You may have seen it on my Mother’s Day book haul post on my bookstagram. I can’t wait to read it since it seems to be a Beauty and the Beast re-telling and this is my favorite fairy tale of all time, except instead of the prince I always yearned for the giant Library.

Keep 🙂

Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle, #1) by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

I’ve heard a lot of great thing about this one, and I hope it’s not one of those over-hyped books that end up being disappointing. I’ve never read a book by these authors, although the Illuminae Files have also been highly recommended and I recently bought the first one. I will keep this one until I read the Illuminae Files and then make a more educated decision.

Keep 🙂

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

I have a paperback copy of this book I really need to read. Everyone has recommended this to me. The reviews on Goodreads are a bit mixed when it comes to my friends, but the overall rating is a 4.26/5 stars which is great. I liked the sample I read, and I am interested in this unique story about a girl who lives her life mostly online and must choose to face the real world.

Keep 🙂

Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1) by Amie Kaufman

I don’t know why I added this book after Aurora Rising and not the other way around, but I will definitely read this one before I read Aurora. This book comes highly recommended by all YA/Fantasy fans I’ve met, and I should really get to reading it soon.

Keep 🙂

Skyward (Skyward, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

A ship with a soul, a teenager who wants to be a pilot, and alien starfighters, all set in a post-apocalyptic world. Sign me up! This book has great reviews on Goodreads, an impressive 4.55/5 stars, and I can’t wait to read it.

Keep 🙂

I’m so happy I didn’t have to delete anything this time, and I am excited to dive into all of these books soon. Have you read any of these? What are your opinions on them?

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Top Five Additions to my TBR

May 25, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

It’s Saturday, and therefore I don’t have to worry about cleaning up my TBR until Monday 🙂 So here are my favorite latest additions to my never ending, ever changing TBR list.

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

Someone mentioned this on my bookstagram. Thank you to whoever it was, and sorry I don’t remember you. To those of you who don’t have a bookstagram your TBR probably thanks you as well. It is so hard not to add all these books to my list after seeing people talk about them and how much they loved them, and looking at all the pretty pictures they post. Anyways, back to the book. I love fairy tale retellings, and with the new Aladdin movie coming out I couldn’t help myself. It has great reviews on Goodreads. Also, look at that awesome cover!

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1) by Mark Lawrence

This one was recommended by a friend from work who is also into Fantasy/ Sci-fi books. It also has good reviews on Goodreads, and it is part of a series. I love stories with strong female characters and this seems to be one of those.

Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern, #1) by Anne McCaffrey

I’ve found myself in a bit of a dragon withdrawal phase ever since Game of Thrones ended. I haven’t read a good dragon book since the Eragon series by Phillip Pullman more than six years ago. Also, I’m waiting for George R.R. Martin to finish writing the series before I even attempt to read it. This book promises to scratch my dragon itch. It is pretty old, but it has great reviews on Goodreads and it was recommended by a friend who has similar tastes in books.

Cinder and the Prince of Midnight by Susan Ee

Susan Ee is the author of Peryn & The End of Days series. I loved this series, and I cannot wait to read another book by this author. This new book seems to be a Cinderella fairy tale re-telling which is another plus, as I mentioned above I love these. It releases soon on June 3, 2019.

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

I recently had an audio book credit on my Audible App, and I decided to spend it on this book. It had good reviews, and I learned from my mistakes and listened to a sample of it before purchasing to see if the narrator’s voice would annoy me. It seems like a great book with a strong female character, and I can’t wait to listen further.

Have you guys read any of these? Would you recommend them?

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My TBR Basket

April 24, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

Who else has a never ending TBR (To Be Read) pile?

Mine currently includes:

~The Lord of the Rings (#1 and #2, I still need to get #3) by J.R.R. Tolkien

~Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

~One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns, #2) by Kendare Blake

Am I the only bookworm who has never read “The Hobbit” or “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy? I’m so ashamed to have those on my basket.

Daughter of the Pirate King was a new acquisition while on vacation. I’ve heard it has a strong female character, and those are my favorite.

Finally, I really need to get to One Dark Throne, the third one of the series is already out and it’s getting really hard to avoid the spoilers.

And these are only the real books I have yet to read. I still have a long list of e-books I haven’t gotten to, and a huge “To Read” shelf on Goodreads.

How about you?

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The Wicked King by Holly Black

April 23, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold on to”
Madoc

In this sequel to “The Cruel Prince” by Holly Black. We continue the story of Jude Duarte, a human in the realm of Elfhame, who is struggling to hold on to her newly acquired power over its high King Cardan and his subjects.

We get power by taking it”
Madoc

The graphics on this cover were amazing, and I loved the little drawings of dragonflies throughout the book along with the drawings at the beginning of each chapter.

The dialogue between Jude and Cardan was so entertaining to read. I could just read about those two talking forever.

For a moment,” he says, “I wondered if it wasn’t you shooting bolts at me.”

“And what made you decide it wasn’t?”

He grins up at me. “They missed.”

I have said that he has the power to deliver a compliment and make it hurt.
JUDE AND CARDAN

As we read on, we see Jude become a pawn in this “game of kings and princes, of queens and crowns,” as Locke puts it, all while she tries to resist her growing attraction to Cardan. By the way, I know everyone loves Cardan, but I kind of fell in love with Jude. She is brave, witty, and strong. She is everything I love in a female character.

It occurs to me that maybe desire isn’t something overindulging helps. Maybe it is not unlike mithridatism; maybe I took a killing dose when I should have been poisoning myself slowly, one kiss at a time”
Jude

This book is fast paced, and full of plot twists. I admit to staying up reading until 3am a couple of nights. I kept telling myself I would stop at a neutral point in the story where my mind wasn’t racing and reeling with questions, but these points were few and far between. Any book that makes me voluntarily lose sleep is an automatic five stars for me, because as a mother of two, sleep is not easy for me to come by.

Fear is terrible, but the combination of hope and fear is worse”
Jude

After all my years of reading, I give props to Holly Black for surprising me with this ending. Of all the endings I ever imagined, this one never crossed my mind. I remember posting on Twitter that I needed therapy right after finishing “The Wicked King.” If you haven’t read “The Cruel Prince” yet, which is first in the series, go ahead and catch up and then read this one. I promise you won’t regret it!