June 2018 – Page 2 – Jill's Book Blog

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – June 25

It's Monday! What Are You Reading

This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!

What I just finished:

This weekend I finished Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Robert Aguirre-Sacasa.

What I’m currently reading:

I’m currently reading The Showrunner by Kim Moritsugu.

What I’m reading next:

Next I will be reading How To Be a Supervillain: Born to be Good by Michael Fry.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – June 24

Here’s my weekly wrap up!

Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:

A Study in Treason (The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries #2) ★★★★
Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 1: Cosmic Avengers ★★★★
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children ★★★★
Providence ★★★★★
Giant Days, Vol. 3 ★★★★★
The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1) ★★★★★

I did 5 weekly blogging memes:

How was your week? What did you guys read?

Sundays in Bed With… A Court of Thorns and Roses

The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.

This Sunday I reading A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

What book are you in bed with today?

Review: The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1)

Title: The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1)
Author: Lemony Snicket
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Scholastic
Source: Library
Release Date: September 30, 1999
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Dear Reader,

I’m sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.

In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.

It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.

With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

Review:

I can’t believe this book is almost twenty years old! I first read the series years ago, and I’ve wanted to reread the whole series for a while. I’m finally doing it, and I’m going to read them in order this time (when I was little, I had to read whichever one was available at the library).

I love the writing style in this series. The author, Lemony Snicket, who is a character himself, speaks directly to the reader throughout the book. My favourite parts were when he would explain what a word meant. When I was little, I usually knew the word, and sometimes his definitions were funny, depending on the situation. As an adult reader, I still found this meta-narrative funny.

I also love that the Beaudelaire children are very resourceful. As the series progresses, their problems become more and more complex. This first book is fairly short, but I remember being surprised at how they defeated their horrible guardian, Count Olaf.

The new Netflix TV series of A Series of Unfortunate Events is very good. It even has some surprises for fans of the books, though it does stay faithful to the stories.

Have you read this series? What did you think of it?

Review: Giant Days, Vol. 3

Title: Giant Days, Vol. 3
Author: John Allison, Lissa Treiman, Whitney Cogar
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Release Date: October 11, 2016
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Best friends Susan, Esther, and Daisy are rounding out their first semester at university. The girls, along with their male hall-mates Ed and McGraw, find that college is more than academics and bad microwavable meals. Add some pub-hopping, hookups, breakups, and political scandal and this might just be the most eventful first semester ever.

Review:

I liked this volume the best so far. The characters developed and the story moved along quickly.

Ed met a few girls and had hookups that didn’t all work out as planned. Esther’s old friend Lindsay came to visit and made them all party way to hard. Meanwhile, the student union president was kicked out, and Susan was pressured by an unknown person to abolish the student government. They also visit the great outdoors and the dark night world.

I really like the complexity of these graphic novels. There is a lot more that goes on around the main characters, such as drama with their student union or classes.

Have you read this volume or the rest of the series? What did you think?

Review: Providence

Title: Providence
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Random House
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Release Date: June 19, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From the acclaimed author of YOU comes a novel that is part love story, part detective story, and part supernatural thriller.

Growing up as best friends in small-town New Hampshire, Jon and Chloe are the only ones who truly understand each other and their intense connection. But just when Jon is ready to confess the depth of his feelings, he’s kidnapped by his substitute teacher, a discredited scientist who is obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft and has a plot to save humanity.
After four years in captivity, Jon finally escapes, only to discover that he now has an uncontrollable power that endangers anyone he has intense feelings for. He runs away to Providence to protect Chloe while he searches for answers. Across town from Jon, Detective Charles “Eggs” DeBenedictus is fascinated by a series of strange deaths–young, healthy people whose hearts just . . . stop. Convinced these deaths are a series of connected, vigilante killings, he jeopardizes his job and already strained marriage to uncover the truth.
With heart, insight, and a keen eye on human frailty, Kepnes whisks us on a journey through New England and crashes these characters’ lives together in the most unexpected ways, exploring the complex relationship between the powerful and the powerless, love and identity, self-preservation and self-destruction, and how the lines are often blurred between the two.

Review:

This is a great thriller. Throughout the book, I had no idea how it would end, but I was satisfied with the final pages.

This was quite an emotional story. Both Jon and Chloe struggled with the loss of each other. It was heartbreaking to see them apart, because they really were meant to be together.

Jon’s condition reminded me of the main character in the Joe Hill book Horns. In that book, the character grows horns, like the devil, and people tell him their worst secrets. He can’t escape it, just like Jon.

I have never read any Lovecraft stories before, but now I’m tempted to. Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

TBR Thursday – June 21

TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.

My pick this week is The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

I’m planning on starting this series soon.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Quirk
Source: Purchased
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

Review:

I had heard so much about how good these books are, that I had to try it for myself. I loved it!

I really liked the mystery of Jacob’s family history. His grandfather had a mysterious past that Jacob’s father never believed, but Jacob wanted to believe in his grandfather’s stories. He was so drawn to it that he ended up in the ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. But then he learns that their story isn’t finished yet.

One of my favourite parts of this book is the photos that are placed throughout the story. I was curious about whether they were real or if they were staged for the book. At the end, the author talks about how he found these photos over years of going to garage sales and meeting interesting people. Some of the photos may have been created with a trick of the light, or maybe there really are these peculiar children living in Miss Peregrine’s house somewhere.

I loved this book, but I was disappointed in the movie. I wished they had made it into a trilogy. The story is much more than just the first book, so I wish they had made more than just one movie about it.

Have you read this series? What did you think of it?

‘Waiting on’ Wednesday – June 20

This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.

The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she–or anyone–saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings–massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to try to find out what really happened to her friends.

Yet it’s immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by memories from fifteen years ago, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp’s twisted origins. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing threats from both man and nature in the present.

And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.

What book are you waiting on this week?

Review: Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 1: Cosmic Avengers

Title: Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 1: Cosmic Avengers
Author: Brian Michael Bendis, Steve McNiven, Sara Pichelli
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Marvel
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Release Date: August 28, 2013
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

There’s a new rule in the galaxy: No one touches Earth!

But why has Earth suddenly become the most important planet in the galaxy? That’s what the Guardians of the Galaxy are going to find out!

Join Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Groot and–wait for it–the Invincible Iron Man as they embark upon one of the most explosive and eye-opening chapters of Marvel NOW! The secrets these galactic Avengers discover will rattle Marvel readers for years to come! But while London deals with a brutal invasion by the Badoon, the fate of the Guardians may have already been decided millions of miles away! Why wait for the movie? It all starts here!

Review:

The Guardians of the Galaxy movies are some of my favourite Marvel movies. This is the first Guardians of the Galaxy graphic novel I’ve read, and I enjoyed it.

This story is a great intro to the Guardians. It starts with Star-Lord’s parents meeting. They had a different life than in the movie, but it still ended in his father leaving Earth. His father was not a nice person in this story, which is not surprising from the movies.

One change that I didn’t like was Groot! He is adorable in the movie, but he looks like a giant tree monster in this graphic novel. I guess that’s how he was originally drawn, but he is just so cute in the movie that it was a little scary to see this version of him.

I will definitely look for more Guardians of the Galaxy graphic novels! Have you read any? What did you think of them?