Graphic Novel Review: Above the Timberline by Gregory Manchess

Read for: This Stunning Art & Graphic Novel Challenge

Synopsis: "From renowned artist Gregory Manchess comes a lavishly painted novel about the son of a famed polar explorer searching for his stranded father, and a lost city buried under snow in an alternate future.

When it started to snow, it didn’t stop for 1,500 years. The Pole Shift that ancient climatologists talked about finally came, the topography was ripped apart and the weather of the world was changed—forever. Now the Earth is covered in snow, and to unknown depths in some places.

In this world, Wes Singleton leaves the academy in search of his father, the famed explorer Galen Singleton, who was searching for a lost city until Galen’s expedition was cut short after being sabotaged. But Wes believes his father is still alive somewhere above the timberline.

Fully illustrated with over 120 pieces of full-page artwork throughout, Above the Timberline is a stunning and cinematic combination of art and novel."

My Review: As soon as I saw the cover of this book I knew I had to have it. The artwork inside did not disappoint at all, it is absolutely stunning! And the story is also quite an adventure. It is a little outside of my normal reading genres and is an interesting combination of adventure, dystopian and a touch of futuristic steampunk. It took me a bit to get into the story itself, it is told using narration and several journals of characters and it does jump around a bit in the timeline so that was a bit confusing. Once I started putting the pieces together it was really a page turner. I enjoyed the setting and the way the world is built with a variety of belief systems and societies all woven together in a rather believable way. Definitely a book I am happy to have on my shelf!

My Rating: I was all for the art in this book when I started but was unsure of the story but it ended up being a pretty engrossing story that I was happy to enjoy.  I give it a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag!

Bedtime Story: Early Reader Review of Snow Dance by Erica Farber

Read for: Early Reader Challenge & Snow is what Munchkin wishes for

Synopsis: "Down comes one flake.

Down come some more.

See the snow, snow!

Huckle has a shiny new red sled—but what he doesn't have is snow. After many funny attempts to find a solution to his problem, Huckle and his pals decide to do a “snow dance.” And guess what? It works! This Level One story will delight beginning readers even as it teaches them to sound out simple words."

My Review: This is a great book for this time of year (at least here in the US) and it had Munchkin dancing for snow, which works I guess since we are currently snowbound. I love the classic characters in this book and Munchkin loved the story. It was also a great level one book for us because it wasn't overly simple but it was still easy enough for a young reader to be able to recognize several words and sound out the others.

My Rating: Munchkin really enjoyed this one and telling Huckle that snow and ice are not the same thing.  It was a fun book to read this winter.  We give it a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag!

Good Night! Sweet Dreams!

Note:  Since Munchkin is growing older and beginning to read more and more on his own I have decided to change my bedtime stories slightly.  I will now be alternating between early reader books and picture books for Bedtime Stories.  I know that Bedtime Stories are some of my most viewed posts and I hope that this is still okay with all of you.  If you would prefer something else or if you like what you see, please don't hesitate to let me know!

Books of 2017: Stats, the Disappointing, the Surprises and the Best of the Best (& Giveaway)

I guess it is about time I wrap up my 2017 reading year since we are well into 2018 already (like I said I need an unassigned week between the years to wrap things up and get set for the new year).  So you can see my Stats , Least Favorite Books and Favorite Books of 2016 in those three posts, but since I am behind schedule this year, I thought I would cram them all together in one post.

2017 Reading Stats:

In 2017 I read a total of 330 books (give or take a couple that aren't on Goodreads)

broken down that is 51,233 pages and

335:13 hours (13 days, 23 hours and 13 minutes) of audio book time

of those books:

28 earned 5 star ratings

156 earned 4 star ratings

116 earned 3 star ratings

27 earned 2 star ratings

and 

3 were DNFed

68 were Children's Books

54 were Early Reader Books

28 were Middle Grade Books

62 were Young Adult Books

30 were Graphic Novels

46 were Romance

75 were Fantasy

35 were Audio Books 

26 were by local Rhode Island Authors

Biggest Disappointments:

For this I am not including the 3 DNF books (Neverwhere, The Book of Bera and The Mating).  This does not mean that these books were terrible, it just means that they did not hold up to my expectations.

This book might be one of the most beautiful to hold in your hands, the cover is stunning, the synopsis sounds amazing and those deckled edges! But it just didn't hold up, the story was blah, the romance was blah, the imagery was blah.

I have heard so many people rave about this series and how it is a great tale of sisterhood and not romance.  I really had to push through this one and even though I had also purchased the second book in the series I ended up unhauling both books! The world, characters and magic system were all underdeveloped and confusing. 

Yup, I had to put this up there.  I cannot believe I wasted so many hours on this series to have such a anti-climatic ending. Someone significant needed to die in the end and not he who should not be named. 

On that trend this one also needs to be listed, but I did enjoy this book for the most part. The bits thrown in to appease the crowds and the lack of consequences of epic battles just left me feeling cheated.

And speaking of pandering to the masses, this book was so hyped, a standalone fantasy (which is now a trilogy) with a female/female love story.  To me it ended up falling short on the world building, character development and story line to cash in on the sexual diversity push.

Biggest Surprises:

These may not be in my favorites but these are ones I picked up not expecting anything in particular but finding I held a gem in my hands.

This book sat on my TBR shelf for over a year after receiving it in a subscription box, I finally picked it up when I saw the cover for the second book. This is such an awesome high fantasy with great world building and story to it. I cannot wait to read the second book this year!

This was quite the surprise at the end of the year, a unique magic system and a not so happy hunky dory relationship between the characters makes it so much more multi-dimensional.

 

I was so disappointed in the Throne of Glass series that I was really hesitant to pick these books up but I am so glad I did! I absolutely loved the way the inspiration (Beauty and the Beast & Hades and Persephone) was interwoven into the story and of course like everyone else I completely fell for Rhys (but I must say that Azriel might have the bigger part of my heart).

  

I have heard some really great reviews and some really ranting reviews of this series but when I found it available from the library I thought why not give it a shot.  It started out really rough and I almost didn't continue but I am glad I did, I ended up loving the mental games played and both the Laurent and Damien wormed their way into my heart.

and finally

The Best of the Best Books in 2017:

Here are my absolute favorite books that I read in 2017! This is entirely my opinion, I pick my favorites not only in my enjoyment of them at the time but also on how they have stood out to me in the mix of 330 books from this year.

You would think that one of the first books of the year would be easily forgotten, but Cat and Griffin have haunted me all year waiting for their conclusion (Heart on Fire was just released yesterday). I love this second story in the series, especially Cat's spunky attitude and Griffin's solid determination.

When I saw the cover of this book I knew I wanted to read it and was approved on Netgalley, but then I saw the synopsis and that the main character was gender fluid and I got really nervous that it would be a disappointment like Of Fire and Stars. Thank goodness I decided to read it anyway! It was an intense story full of plots, brutality and a main character that you can't help rooting for, I seriously can't wait for the next book in this Duology!!

 

Again, The Reader is a book that sat on my shelf for nearly a year. I finally got the urge to pick it up and good gordy am I glad I did! If you read my review earlier this year, you know that this may not be a book for everyone but if you have the patience for this slow building and super intricate story, it will be so worth your time! The Speaker definitely continued to build on the first without that second book slump and more pieces are put together but still some don't quite fit yet. I am anxiously awaiting the next book and hoping it will come out this year!

And finally the best book I read this year, A Man Called Ove! I had seen a few people raving about this book and on a whim decided to pick it up even though it isn't in my usual reading genres. Wow! I was raving about this book even as I was currently reading it.  I could see so much of myself in Ove and I ended up adoring everyone in the neighborhood. You will laugh, you will cry, you will probably end up loving this book too!

So there you have my final wrap up of my 2017 reading year. As you may know, in previous years I have given away my top favorite books.  I am still planning to do that but I am trying to line up interviews and guest posts with some of those authors for a little extra treat for all of you.  In the mean time, I will have a giveaway for A Man Called Ove to hold you over.

As always there are some rules:

~Open internationally (you are responsible for customs fees beyond shipping)

~ Must be 18 or over (or have your parent's permission as I will need your shipping address)

~ Must give me a mailing address to send them to (believe it or not I have had winners in the past who didn't want to give an address so was unable to claim their prize)

~ Giveaway runs from now through January 11th at 12:00am EST

~Rafflecopter will randomly select the winner

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top 5 Wednesday: 2018 Reading Resolutions

Top 5 Wednesday is a group on Goodreads hosted by Sam from Thoughts on Tome on Youtube.

Well this couldn't have come at a better time since I haven't even thought about what I will be reading in the new year.  I need a week between last year and the new year to wrap things up and plan because 2018 started way to quickly! I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing that I haven't planned my year to a T yet.  Anyway, I am really letting my control go this year (we will see how long that lasts) and going with the flow for a change.  I do have a few reading resolutions though . . .

1. Read Less Books! I know I said this last year but I want to slow down on my reading and take my time to enjoy each book that I pick up.  (2016 I read 398 and 2017 340, so progress) 

2. Be more aware while reading.  This works with the previous goal, I want to be able to absorb what I am reading better. I want to be able to note favorite quotes and recall characters and plot twists after reading.

3. Read my chunky books.  I have so many big chunky books sitting on my shelves and I have had the itch to reach for adult fantasy lately so this will go hand in hand. I plan to read at least 12 books over 450 pages this year.

4. Use my library/overdrive more.  I purchased far too many books last year, and often books that I could have borrowed from the library. So while I have used my Overdrive app for several audio and ebooks this last year, I hope to use it more throughout this year.

5. Purge & reorganize my shelves.  Not really a reading goal but my bookshelves are a mess even after having re-organized them a little over a year ago.  I have even purged a bit in this last year but I plan to go through my shelves more thoroughly. Any book that is questionable that I want to keep and read will get a 1 chapter try to be added to the TBR shelf or be donated to the library.

So I know these are a little different for me and not really set in any definite numbers but I think this is the direction I want to go this year. How about you? What are some of your reading goals for 2018?

It's Not Monday Reading List

Its Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Shelia at Book Journey. Share what books you have finished in the last week, are currently reading and what might be coming up next!

Reviews Posted Last Week:

Links will take you to my review

Mistletoe Kiss by Marie Landry (Mini Review)
Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum (Mini Review)
I Want to Hold Your Hand by Marie Force (Mini Review)
I Saw Her Standing There by Marie Force (Mini Review)
A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet (Mini Review)

 Books Finished Last Week:

Reviews will be posted at a later date

I Saw Her Standing There
Above the Timberline
My New Friend is So Fun
Snow Dance

Currently Reading:

Scythe by Neal Shusterman - Print - on page 265 of 435
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - Kindle - on page 39 of 313
Breath of Fire by Amanda Bouchet - Audio - 35%

Pages Read/ Time Listened
335:13 Hours (about 13+ Days) Listened (11:30 listened this week)
51,233 Pages Read (360 this week)

Books Added to Shelves Recently TBR



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope that you had a safe holiday celebration and that this new year brings you all the happiness, health and love!   This is really my final wrap up of 2017 as all this reading happened earlier in last week.  I didn't get nearly as much reading done as I had hoped, we were shockingly busy in the office last week and due to animal health (my cat eats the fake christmas tree) I had to scramble to pack up all the holiday decorations last week.  With that said it is really nice to start off the new year with a clean house all ready for the new year.

Believe it or not I haven't even really thought about my plans for 2018, the year came up out of no where for me.  I will be working on my final wrap up of 2017 and plans for next year over this week.

Mini Reviews: A Re-Read, Butler Vermont/Green Mountain & Last Minute Christmas Books

So with reading and reviewing so many books, I am running out of days in which to share them with you.  I am going to start posting Mini Reviews of books that I read through out the month but couldn't find the time to post on the last Sunday of each month.

So here are a few of the books that I read this last month, I really wanted to share some of these Christmas books with you but know I will forget before next year!

A sweet little fairy tale romance for the holidays. Four Paws

Full Review

A great classic Santa origins story that I can't wait to share with Munchkin in years to come. Four Paws

Full Review

Probably one of the most emotional books  I have read this year, I bawled numerous times! Four Paws and a Stump Wag!

Full Review

Great continuation of the series, though is a little dull after reading the second book! Three Paws and a Stump Wag

Full Review

Book 3 comes out on January 2nd so I am re-reading my much beloved books again! Oh how I am going to miss Cat & Griffin when it all ends in a couple of days :( Four Paws and a Stump Wag!

Full Review

2017 Audio Book & Trilogy Challenge Wrap Ups & Favorites

Here are my final Challenge wrap ups of the year! I have definitely been reading a lot more series, start to finish, in recent years and decided to focus on trilogies this year since there were so many on my shelves waiting to be read.  I also have been listening to a ton more audio books since becoming and audible member.  So here are my full challenge lists and my favorites from each.

Audio Book Challenge:
In the past few years I have read around 2 audio books a month and have thoroughly enjoyed it, so this year I thought I would push myself to listen to 3 or more a month with a goal of 30-40 audio books. I darn near did read 3 a month even with many of these books being 15+ hours. 

1. Snow Like Ashes

2. Ice Like Fire
3. Frost Like Night
4. Winner's Curse
5. Winner's Crime
6. Winner's Kiss
7. The Siren
8. Watersmeet
9. Centaurs Daughter
10. The Keeper
11. Pippi Longstocking
12. A Man Called Ove
13. The Princess Diarist
14. The Simplicity of Cider
15. Pax
16. American Street
17. Heir to the Shadows
18. Queen of the Darkness
19. Under a Painted Sky
20. Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian
21. The Madman's Daughter
22. Her Dark Curiosity
23. A Cold Legacy
24. Dragon's Teeth
25. Every Little Thing
26. A Christmas Home
27. All You Need Is Love
28. Angels at the Table
29. Fire
30. A Christmas to Love You
31. I Want to Hold Your Hand
32. The Christmas Promise
33. A Promise of Fire (re-read)
34. I Saw Her Standing There
35. Breath of Fire (re-read)


Favorite Audio Books of 2017:
 Some of the audio books I listened to this year were re-reads and some of them were all new books. It is really amazing the difference of reading an audio book as opposed to reading a print or digital book.  Sometimes it works out great and you end up loving the more than if you had read it, other times it doesn't work (especially if the book is in an obscure format).  One of the things it comes down to is having a great narrator or cast.  Anyway, here are my favorite audio books of this year.

While the book itself wasn't a favorite of mine, the narrator of this audio book was simply amazing.  If I had read this one in any other format it probably would have been a DNF but with the accent and the narration style I was able to not only finish this book but also enjoy it.

This was a re-read for me this year, and only just recently but it was the first time listening to it on audio. While I loved the banter of the characters before, listening to it just added a whole other level of entertainment.  There is something great about listening to your favorites on audio.

When you find a book that just works in all ways, it is magic.  I listened to this audio book not knowing that it was the 7th (I think) in the series. Even having come in well into the story, the characters came to life and I am now binging the entire series.

For me the only way to read books with a lot of humor (especially sarcasm or dry humor) is to listen to it on audio.  And not only to listen to it but to listen to it narrated by the author.  This one in particular, while it wasn't what I had expected, there was something truly special hearing Carrie Fisher's voice again, with her quirky and witty sense of humor.

You never really know what you are going to get with a book translated from it's original language. This one had all the pieces just come together and make something magical! The translation was fantastic, the story itself was fantastic, the crazy cast of characters were fantastic and the narration was fantastic. I honestly don't know if I would have read this one in print or not but am so glad that I did listen to it, even though it was so far outside my normal reading genre. I am definitely going to revisit this one and will be tracking down more by this author!

Trilogy Challenge: 
I had so many trilogies that I wanted to read this year (and still have so many) but I decided to set a goal of 10 to 12 trilogies, including novellas, for the year.  While I did complete 10 full trilogies, I didn't quite finish the last 2, but that is okay because I had some pretty chunky ones on my list this year. I do love trilogies, they are long enough to have a great story with lots of different plot lines and fully developed worlds and characters but they are short enough to enjoy back to back to back and still have time for other books.  Instead of picking my top 5 favorites, I thought I would give a couple of quick thoughts on each series and then pick my favorite trilogy of the year.

1.  Snow Like Ashes Trilogy: Book 1, Book .1, Book 2, Book 2.5, Book 3 
I had pretty high hopes for this trilogy, with interesting descriptions and beautiful covers but unfortunately the lack luster romance really took over and didn't allow for great plot development and I ended up disappointed.

2. Winner's Curse Trilogy: Book .5, Book 1, Book 2, Book 3
This was a pleasant surprise, especially on the tails of Snow Like Ashes. I really enjoyed the world and the enemies to friendlies trope but what really took this series away was the political intrigue and plots. This series was so mentally driven even with the physical battle there was always a mental battle going on under the surface.

3. Sons of the Revolution Trilogy: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3 
I have had this sitting on my TBR for quite a while and I am glad I finally had that push to pick it up. While it wasn't all that memorable, it was set in a interesting time, so different from all the other historical romance books I have read.

4. Watersmeet Series: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3
This is another trilogy that has been sitting on my shelves forever, I was interested solely because of the centaur aspect.  Unfortunately it just didn't work for me, it was agenda driven and it really made be realize that I am not a fan of the "Chosen One" type tropes.

5. A Court of Thorns & Roses Series: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3
I was super hesitant with this series because I wasn't a fan of the Throne of Glass series and actually gave up on it. But I had the first two books signed by the author and the third book came out this year so I thought I would give it a shot. Boy am I glad I did, I absolutely loved it, I became attached to the characters and I love the way the re-telling/inspiration stories were worked into it and into each other.

6. Ralph S. Mouse Trilogy: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3 
I remember these from when I was a kid and had really enjoyed them. While they may still be great for kids, it didn't really hold up to the test of time as an adult. I am sure Munchkin will love them some day but they didn't really appeal to me as much now.

7. Grisha Trilogy: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3 
I have heard such great reviews of this trilogy in the past couple of years but I have been holding back because of the Russian influence, I thought I would have a hard time grasping that aspect.  I ended up completely sucked in and loving the world that was built.  Not so much all the characters but the world was great and I am so looking forward to more books in this world.

8. Dark Jewels Trilogy: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3 
Another series that has been sitting on my shelves for easily 8 years or so.  It was a super rocky start and certainly isn't for everyone, the setting is in a very brutal world and was super unsettling but I am glad I pushed through it, I became very attached to the characters throughout the span of this trilogy.

9. Captive Prince Trilogy: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 2.5, Book 3.5, Book 3.75 
This is a series I have heard people rave about and people rant about and when it came available in my library I figured why not give it a shot. Again like the Dark Jewels trilogy, it was a very brutal start in the world but boy did the characters suck me in. I ended up loving the story.

10. The Madman's Daughter Trilogy: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3
I was so looking forward to this trilogy with re-tellings of some of my favorite classic horror/science fiction books.  It started out really strong but quickly started going downhill as the romance took over the story.


Favorite Trilogy of 2017
This was a super hard one to pick because each had their ups and downs but I have to go with the one that just kept getting better with each book and that was . . .