My Favorite Reads of 2017

Well, reader friends - 2017 is almost over.  So - it's time to share my favorite reads of the year.  This is always hard!  How do you pick the BEST BOOKS you read all year?!  Challenging, eh?  But, I did it - here are my favorite books I read this year:

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings

Hey Y'all!  Happy Tuesday - and welcome to another edition of Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This weeks "theme" is Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings. The Books I am just DYING to get right now would have to be the following: (Yes, there are more than 10.  I just can't help it!)

I love Susan Dennard - if you've ever read any of her books, you can understand why!  If I got copies of Truthwitch and Windwitch, it would be amazing.

The Harry Potter Series Box Set - Okay, you caught me - I technically own all the HP books already.  However, I do not own them all in paperback - AND one of my brothers lost my copies of The Half Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows when I lent them to him.  So, I would not at all turn down a collection of Harry Potter books.

The Song of Ice and Fire series - I've read the first book, and am reading the second one - so of course I am going to continue, and these are books that are so awesome that having them around would not at all disappoint me.

I love Marissa Meyer, so any chance to add one of her books to my collection is great!

December 2017 Young Adult Releases

Plague Land by Alex Scarrow

Series: Remade #1
Release Date: 1 December 2017

Ever the Brave by Erin Summerill

Series: Clash of Kingdoms #2
Release Date: 5 December 2017

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills

Release Date: 5 December 2017

Instructions for a Secondhand Heart by Tamsyn Murray

Release Date: 5 December 2017

Recipe for Hate by Warren Kinsella

Release Date: 5 December 2017

Rules of Rain by Leah Scheier

Release Date: 5 December 2017

Sea of Strangers by Erica Cameron

Series: The Ryogan Chronicles #2
Release Date: 5 December 2017

The Stolen Sky by Heather Hanson

Series: Split City #2
Release Date: 5 December 2017

All the Wrong Chords by Christine Hurley Deriso

Release Date: 12 December 2017

Freed by Flame and Storm by Becky Allen

Series: Bound by Blood and Sand #2
Release Date: 12 December 2017

The Truth Beneath the Lies by Amanda Searcy

Release Date: 12 December 2017

Bad Call by Stephen Wallenfels

Release Date: 19 December 2017

Here, There, Everywhere by Tyler Terrones, Julia Durango

Release Date: 19 December 2017

Prince in Disguise by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Release Date: 19 December 2017

 

Shadow Girl by Liana Liu

Release Date: 19 December 2017

Three Sides of a Heart: Stories About Love Triangles by Natalie C. Parker

Release Date: 19 December 2017

Before Now by Norah Olson

Release Date: 26 December 2017

Breaking the Ice by Julie Cross

Series: Juniper Falls #2
Release Date: 26 December 2017

Love, Life and the List by Kasie West

Release Date: 26 December 2017

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle

Release Date: 26 December 2017

The Mind Virus by Donna Freitas

Series: Unplugged #3
Release Date: 26 December 2017

The Becoming of Noah Shaw - Michelle Hodkin

 Title: The Becoming of Noah Shaw 
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Rating: 3 Stars

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In the first book of the Shaw Confessions, the companion series to the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer novels, old skeletons are laid bare and new promises prove deadly. This is what happens after happily ever after.

Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.

They’re wrong.

Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.

He shouldn’t.

And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.

They’re right.

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 When I heard that Michelle Hodkin was coming out with a book about Noah Shaw, I was like: 

I mean, excited!  After reading the book, I am feeling much more: 

I really wanted to love this book - after all the Mara Dyer trilogy was amazing!  With this book, I got partway through and just found myself thinking: What is actually going on?!  There is NO plot in this book.  None.  Nothing happens.  They visit Stella and Leo.  They drink.  They talk about the people who died.  That's it.  A whole lot of talking, interspersed with brief moments of Noah contemplating his relationship with Mara. 


The best thing about this book was that Mara was still just as dark and twisted as she was in her trilogy.  Other than that, I couldn't really think of much I loved about the book.  I didn't absolutely hate it, but I did find myself wondering why I spent the time reading it.

The characters were the same as they were in the MD Trilogy, there were no other real changes.  The new characters that were introduced were just sort of flat and uninteresting.  I didn't care about any of them at all - and the worst part is that I WANTED to care about them, but there was nothing about them that made me really like any of them.

Many of the details that were discussed in this book were brought up in the MD trilogy as well.  Like, animals are afraid of Mara.  Or Mara is dark and creepy and twisted.  Come with a new angle, author. 


Overall, I won't say I regret reading this book, but I certainly won't be spreading any love around about it. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR

Hey y'all - it's Top Ten Tuesday time again.  Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the ladies at The Broke and The Bookish, and this weeks theme is: Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR. 


This is TOUGH.  But I did it: Here are my top ten books on my winter TBR.

 

 

Autoboyography - Christina Lauren

Title: Autoboyography
Author: Christina Lauren
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 3 Stars

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Three years ago, Tanner Scott’s family relocated from California to Utah, a move that nudged the bisexual teen temporarily back into the closet. Now, with one semester of high school to go, and no obstacles between him and out-of-state college freedom, Tanner plans to coast through his remaining classes and clear out of Utah.

But when his best friend Autumn dares him to take Provo High’s prestigious Seminar—where honor roll students diligently toil to draft a book in a semester—Tanner can’t resist going against his better judgment and having a go, if only to prove to Autumn how silly the whole thing is. Writing a book in four months sounds simple. Four months is an eternity.

It turns out, Tanner is only partly right: four months is a long time. After all, it takes only one second for him to notice Sebastian Brother, the Mormon prodigy who sold his own Seminar novel the year before and who now mentors the class. And it takes less than a month for Tanner to fall completely in love with him. 

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I feel like I am in the minority with this book.  I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.  Mostly, it just drove me wild that there was NO PLOT!  The plot, really, can be summed up as: Tanner pines over Sebastian for 300 pages. 

What I did like:
*Gay and Bisexual characters!  I think it's so important to have visibility for the LGBT community.  I know the community has come a long way over the years, but there are still so many people who genuinely don't believe in equal rights for the community.  There's a long way to go.

*Audrey - I think Audrey was the most well-developed character in the book (and that's saying something, because she's hardly ever in the book, AND she's not even really that well developed.)

What I didn't Like:

*Tanner and Sebastian
- Tanner was the main character and he was just kind of blah.  He didn't really have much substance to him.  He wasn't really well developed either.  He was just flat and didn't seem that endearing. 
-Sebastian was just a jackass.  I certainly appreciate how hard it must be to be gay and Mormon, but that's no excuse to treat Tanner like crap. He broke up with Tanner a couple times, and led Tanner on, jerking Tanner around and making Tanner think that something might happen even if it wouldn't. 

*Tanner's Parents - they were totally wishy-washy and played supportive without actually seeming that supportive.  Like they would say that they totally love and accept him no matter what, but then when they move to effing UTAH, they make him stay in the closet, because hey: Mormon's.  Sure son, we love you so much, we want you to go back in the fucking closet! 

*Plot?!  Where was it?  Seriously, where did it go?  Sometimes reading a book with no plot works, but not here.  It was just Tanner whining the entire time about how he was in love with Sebastian.

*Tanner and Seb's "relationship."  - Okay, so they spent a lot of time hiking, and talking about how Sebastian is Mormon, and how he won't call himself gay because of that.  But did they ever really talk about anything deeper and really get to know each other?  I don't know - and I thought it was weird.  How can you love someone if you never really get to know them?

Overall, the book was just a dud.  It didn't really hit home with me the way I hoped it would.

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books I'm Thankful For

Hey Y'all.  I heard about this thing, ya know ;) called Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish - and you know I just had to jump in and take part.  This week, the theme or topic is Top Ten Books I'm Thankful for. 

GAAAHHH!  How can I pick just TEN BOOKS I AM THANKFUL FOR?!  (I didn't - I picked more than ten!) 

The Harry Potter Series!

 I was 20 when I started reading the Harry Potter series.  (I know, I know, adult reading kids books!  But they're just so good.)  I have always loved reading, but I think it's safe to day that the Harry Potter series is what really started my obsession with reading.  How can you not be thankful for that!

Eleanor Wests Home for Wayward Children Books:

These books are so creepy and weird, and so incredibly well written that you'll find yourself wishing they would never end.  I love that Seanan McGuire packs a punch with these books, and doesn't hold back with the creepiness.  Just. So. Amazing.

A Song of Ice and Fire

The Song of Ice and Fire Series is just so awesome - I love the characters, the story, everything.  (I know, I know, these aren't technically Young Adult books, yet here I am posting them on my YA Book Blog.  That's how much I love these books!) 

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So, reader friends - those are the books I am thankful for (right now...)  Go check out the Broke and The Bookish blog - and tell me what books YOU are thankful for!