Tuesday, May 19, 2015

2015 Reading Challenge Update: 17-20:

It's been a little while since I updated, so I'm sure you have passed me up on this challenge: Congrats! 

17. A Book with a One Word Title: Unleashed by Sophie Jordan              
This sequel to Uninvited was well worth the wait for publication. Davy is a strong female character that doesn't yet know how strong she is. She is still letting herself be defined by what society feels is her character based on her genetics but will she learn to see who she really is? Can she look beyond definitions and really see who the people she cares for are? Check it out!


18. A Book with Magic in it: Wonders of the Invisible World by Christopher Barzak
Ok, so this is a little bit of a stretch but a lot of the setting is from our area, so I'm counting it. If you know me, you know I LOVE Chris Barzak: I love his eloquent writing style, his ability to keep a book moving with the rhythm of the language he uses, his smile... trust me, he's got it all going on!  (Stop blushing, Chris- you know you do!) Seriously, he is the only author I've ever read that causes problems in my real life because I'm stuck in his imaginary world... i.e., I twisted my ankle falling off a sidewalk during a street fair so I could finish reading the last two chapters of One for Sorrow and I burnt a cake reading this one (Sorry, Sam! I bought you a pretty one, though!)  The book itself is stunning. I loved being caught up in the way Aidan's mom could recreate the past with a story but it could all come undone because Jarrod wasn't woven in to it. Jarrod brings Aidan clarity in more ways than one...love brings truth and frees a family...This one won't be released until September 8, 2015, but you definitely want to add it to your TBR list.


19. A Book from an Author you Love that you Haven't Read Yet: Another Day by David Levithan               
YES! Rhiannon's side of the story!! If you've read Every Day then you know exactly Rhiannon is. If not, it's OK! This book was written to be able to stand alone or accompany Every Day. I don't want to give too much away because you really need to experience these characters on your own to understand what they are going through and how they develop. Rhiannon learns acceptance, how to see the driver and not just the car (read the book- it makes sense) and learns that sometimes you do have to walk away from the only thing you thought was holding you together to find out you can do it on your own and you deserve better. This book is just twisted enough that you will make everyone you know read it just so you can talk about it. This one will be released August 25, 2015... good luck waiting for it!


20. A Book Set Somewhere You've Always Wanted to Visit: The Heir by  Kiera Cass
Book Four of the Selection Series was a complete surprise to me. We find out if the first born is a girl or boy, obviously the heir to the throne. We discover that the caste system has been removed in an effort to allow the villagers become who they dream of becoming, but no method for that is really put into place so we still see uprising as we did 18 years earlier. So what does the royal family do to distract everyone and try to bring about peace? A Selection, of course! It is a very good story with some wonderful characters and, yes, I would very much love to visit a castle. I don't think I'm very much the princess type, but it would be fun to pretend to be a princess for a day...  Read this one and let me know what you think about the end...check it out!

I also read A.S.King's As I Crawl Through It but I don't have any idea how it fits into the list for the challenge, so I'm not counting it. I guess I will have to make sure for every book I read because the author is one you MUST read when she/he has something new, I should get out the list and pick a book based on the categories to balance it out. It's not really about reading 52 books total, it's about expanding your reading world. Mine is expanding but so is life, so I'm a little behind. I look forward to finding out what you are reading! 


So, how is your challenge going? Let me know amy@beyond-books.org.
 Missed what the challenge is all about? Click to read the original blog post.  Follow the links within the post to get to the list of categories for the reading challenge. EMAIL ME and let me know if you are going to do the challenge with me!