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I was given a copy of the e-book in exchange for an honest review. Come check out my full review!
The Watchmaker’s Doctor by G.M.T. Schuilling
https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=114&t=104589
Tag: books
Monday Cleaning Day
Monday is cleaning day in my household. My goal is always to get all the deep cleaning done in one day so I can spend the rest of the week doing other things, and only needing to touch up here and there.
This week I decided to do the same on my Goodreads TBR list. I have 70 books on there right now and it’s getting a bit out of control. I started by organizing the list in reverse order, filtered by the date the book was added so that the older books show up first. Then, I went through the first ten books. For each one I read the reviews of those who’s opinions I trust on my friends list, I also read the synopsis again, and finally I made a decision. Keep or delete.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
I’m not even going to pretend I thought about deleting this one. I will always read anything Maas writes, even if it’s a narrative about watching water boil. This book is highly anticipated and I cannot wait for the cover reveal. I know it’s going to be epic.
Keep : )
Imagine Me (Shatter me, #6) by Tahereh Mafi
I’ll admit I was a little disappointed with the last book. I felt like it was more like a filler book, and it could’ve just been a novella. That said, I definitely want to finish this series and I hope Mafi will redeem herself with this one.
Keep 🙂
Catwoman: Soulstealer (DC Icons, #3) by Sarah J. Maas
Please refer to book one on this post.
Keep 😉
Circe by Madeline Miller
I have never read a book by this author before which made me a bit hesitant. But, I currently have seventeen of my Goodreads friends who gave this book a good review. I also love books about Gods. It reminds me of the book Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor.
Keep 🙂
One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns, #2) by Kendare Blake
I really liked the first one of this series, and I am really curious to know what happens next. Her books do start out a little slow, but once they pick up they’re great.
Keep 🙂
La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust, #1) by Philip Pullman
I really liked the whole Eragon series. But I think I have outgrown these type of books.
Delete 😦
Shadow of the Fox (Shadow of the Fox, #1) by Julie Kagawa
I love most of her books, except the Talon series, so this could be a hit or miss. I decided to read a sample before making a decision. The first sentence reads “It was raining the day Suki came to the Palace of the Sun, and it was raining the night that she died.” Well now I have to read it.
Keep 🙂
Untitled (Oxygen, #2) by Shelly Crane
I loved the first book called The Other Side of Gravity, but I have lost hope that she is ever going to write a second one. She wrote the first one back in 2016. I’ve been holding on to hope for too long and it’s time to let go. If she ever does write one I am sure I will find out.
Delete 😦
The Seeker and The Soul (The Host, #2 and #3) by Stephenie Meyer
Meyer wrote The Host in 2008, once again I’ve lost all hope. I’m starting to think she never really announced these for real and it was all made up by the fans.
Delete 😦
Hold on to Me and Melt for Me (Against All Odds, #2 and #3) by Elisabeth Naughton
I really liked the first book in this series Wait for Me, but I feel like it should’ve stayed a stand alone book. I was happy with the ending, an it looks like a lot of other reviewers felt the same.
Delete 😦
Okay, so really I ended up deciding on twelve books instead of ten, but only because some were part of a series. In the end I deleted six out of twelve books and it feels right. Like spring cleaning.
Were you sad or surprised I deleted any of these? Which ones would you definitely keep? Leave me a comment!
My Guilty Pleasures
Do you have a certain genre that is not your usual cup of tea, but once in a while you just feel like reading one of those books? For me, it’s any book by Nicholas Sparks or J.R Ward. I know those two shouldn’t even be in the same sentence together, but hear me out.
And though you may call me a dreamer or fool or any other thing, I believe that anything is possible”
Noah -The Notebook
The last Nicholas Sparks book I read was Every Breath, and I was just in a light romantic mood. These are the only times I can read his books. Honestly, I don’t like how every main character always has daddy issues, but I do like the beach settings and I always find meaning in his work. My favorite books of his are The Notebook and The Longest Ride. Both movies were also great, but of course never as good as the books. By the way, The Notebook has been one of the only movies that made my husband cry (that and Marley and Me .p.s. if you love dogs just don’t put yourself through that). We are both hopeless romantics at heart, and this is why I have a soft spot for Nicholas Sparks books.
It’s strange, I think, the way our lives turn out. Moments of circumstance, when later combined with conscious decision and actions and a boatload of hope, can eventually forge a future that seems predestined”
Ira -The Longest Ride
My next guilty pleasure is J.R. Ward books. I came across my first book of hers when I was leisurely browsing through a drug store book isle for something quick to read. It was the first book from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series called Dark Lover. Being just out of High School and still besotted with the Twilight series, I saw “vampires” in the description and I was sold. It turned out to be an awesome book. It was fast paced and entertaining, albeit full of alpha males and testosterone spilling all over the pages, but I loved it.
From then on I was hooked. Now, every time I am in the mood for something full of humorous dialogue and a lot of action, I pick up one of these. There are currently seventeen of these books by the way, along with a shorter spin off series called Black Dagger Legacy. Also, a warning that her books contain very explicit sex scenes.
What are some of your reading guilty pleasures?
Bookish Bucket List
I have a regular bucket list which includes things like “learn to drive stick-shift” and “help baby sea turtles reach the ocean.” Today, I realized there are many book related things I want to accomplish, and what better way keep track of them than with a Book Bucket List?
So without further rambling or reminiscing here are three things I’m adding:
Read Moby Dick by Herman Melville and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Now I know what some of you are thinking. Half of you are saying: “What do you mean you haven’t read them? The other half are saying: “Why would you put yourself through that?” Because I can that’s why! Also, I have owned those two books forever and I feel that it’s time. I was just out of College when I got them, I attempted to read them and never really finished them. I had an English Lit professor who talked so passionately about them that I had to go and get them. I was probably not in the right frame of mind, but I will try again before I kick the bucket.
Go to London
Both Harry Potter and The Infernal Devices series were set there. I’ve always felt a connection to the gloomy gray streets of London, even if I have never physically been there. I’ve been there in mind and spirit, and I feel like I should come full circle and experience it in person. Also, I think a picture of me inside one of those red phone booths from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix would be fantastic.
Own the rest of the Throne of Glass series
Okay, so for some obscure reason I ended up with only the first book and last book of this series. Once again I know what you’re thinking: Just buy them! No really, please tell me to just buy them so I can justify it to my bank account, and my husband. There are many other series that I need to complete or own, but this one really bothers me. First, because the covers are so gorgeous. And second, I have a big girl crush on Celaena (used this name on purpose not to ruin for others), and how awesome would it be to stare at her on my bookshelf ALL day on six different book covers?!.
Please drop me a comment and let me know what’s on your book bucket list? I would love to hear form you!
My TBR Basket
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?
Mini Beach Vacation
Confession time. I took a little mini-vacation over Easter weekend and went to Fort Myers Beach so…I haven’t gotten down to writing my review of “The Wicked King” by Holly Black yet. Granted, I think a vacation was absolutely needed after finishing that book, so I won’t apologize.
But, I found the nicest little used book store at the beach called “Annette’s Book Nook” (they have a Facebook page if you want to check them out!), which was a definite plus!
Doesn’t it look amazing?! I could’ve stayed there all day. My husband almost had to drag me out.
While in there I bought:
“Daughter of the Pirate King” by Tricia Levenseller (which I’ve been meaning to read forever).
And
“The Lord of the Rings” (The two towers, #2) by Tolkien (p.s. I hate movie covers too, but I couldn’t pass up how cheap it was).
Also, I would have you know that I didn’t totally slack during this vacation. I actually read a lot of “Crooked Kingdom” by Leigh Bardugo. Do you know how hard it is to read from a screen in the sun?! Almost as hard as it is to take a picture of it. The book is great for now by the way, it will be the next book I review.
Stay tuned for my review of Wicked King, I promise I will post soon!
My favorite series (after Harry Potter of course)
The Infernal Devices -by Cassandra Clare
Let me start by saying that these book covers are absolutely gorgeous. Each cover has one of the main characters, therefore it is easy to picture them in your mind’s eye as you read. Not that they’re not perfectly described and jump off the page, but it always helps when the covers enhance the reading experience.
Life was an uncertain thing, and there were some moments one wished to remember, to imprint upon one’s mind that the memory might be taken out later, like a flower pressed between the pages of a book…” -Sophie
This series is a prequel to the Mortal Instruments series, also by Cassandra Clare, and even though I really liked Mortal Instruments; this prequel stole my heart. The books are set in the year 1878. Tessa Gray arrives in London after being summoned by her brother and soon finds herself caught up in dark supernatural events involving warlocks, vampires, and demons. Shadowhunters take Tessa under their protection, and she befriends Will and Jem. Together they fight against the Pandemonium Club and its horrible clockwork creatures.
Life is a book, and there are a thousand pages I have not yet read. I would read them together with you…” -Will
Clare’s rendering of London was very real to me. I can picture the dirty cobbled streets under near constant smog and rain, and I can almost smell the smoke and pollution emitted by the nearby factories. I can imagine the beautiful dresses and horse drawn carriages.
One must always be careful of books…and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.” -Tessa
The characters were so real, even the minor character like Sophie, and I of course can relate to Tess the most, since she is a book lover and avid reader. Both Will and Jem are swoon-worthy, and like me, you will surely find your heart split in two directions when it comes to these guys. Will is the broody bad boy who puts up walls to keep people away, except his parabatai Jem.
When two souls are as one, they stay together on the wheel. I was born on this world to love you, and I will love you in the next life, and the one after that.” -Jem
Jem is kind and sweet, and he plays the violin which makes him even more endearing in my eyes. Even though the characters are all sixteen through seventeen, they are all very mature, and their dialogue is memorable and insightful. As you can see here, some of my favorite quotes came from this series. I always highly recommend this whole series to all my young adult fiction and fantasy fan friends.
You want this?” His voice was hoarse.
“Yes,” she said. “Do you?”
His finger traced the outline of her mouth. “For this I would have been damned forever. For this I would have given up everything.”
-Will and Tessa
Leave me a comment and let me know what your all time favorite series was!
How I became a reader
I learned to read before I started Kindergarten. My fondest memories of my mother were made in the late hours of the night, cuddling up in bed, her soothing voice and the smell of a dusty book lulling me to sleep. I remember the books she chose always had a moral to the story, and she would make sure I knew what it was. Not surprisingly, a lot of them were about listening to your mother. I vividly remember the time she read “Little Red Riding Hood,” the wolf gave me nightmares for weeks. I grew up in a very small coastal town in Cuba; since Cuba is a communist country, the general public has very limited options when it comes to reading material. In my small-town Elementary School, the book options were even scarcer. By the time I finished fifth grade I was best friends with the school librarian, and I had read every book inside the library. The poor lady had to resort to bringing me her own books from home in order to keep my reading thirst satiated. These are the people that influenced my love for reading when I was a child.
Right before I turned eleven, my mother, my sister and I came here to the United States to join my dad, who had been here for seven years. It was here in a tiny cockroach ridden apartment, which we shared with another family, that I first got my hands on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone -by J.K Rowling, the Spanish version since I could not read English yet. I cannot begin to describe how I yearned to receive a letter from Hogwarts on my eleventh birthday, but unfortunately my birthday came and went, and no such letter arrived. I then resolved to beg my father to take me to the Library, and I got my very own Library card instead. To me it was my passport into worlds unknown, and it offered the escape I so desperately needed.
By the time I was thirteen I could read and write English at an acceptable level, and I no longer needed ESOL classes (classes in which the teacher spoke Spanish). I breezed through Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in English, and then the rest of the series as it was released throughout the years. These books shaped me into the reader I am today. In books I have found comfort and solace from anything I might be going through in my life, and I am one of those people who believes the meaning of life can be found within the pages of a good book.
Dee’s Reading Tree 