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’m reading the Princess Diaries (The Princess Diariesn#1) by Meg Cabot.
Goodreads Synopsis:v
What? A princess??
Me??? Yeah, right.
Mia Thermopolis is pretty sure there’s nothing worse than being a five-foot-nine, flat-chested freshman, who also happens to be flunking Algebra.
Is she ever in for a surprise.
First Mom announces that she’s dating Mia’s Algebra teacher. Then Dad has to go and reveal that he is the crown prince of Genovia. And guess who still doesn’t have a date for the Cultural Diversity Dance?
Title: Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe Author: Melissa de la Cruz Genre: Romance Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Source: Library Format: Ebook Release Date: October 17, 2017 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe, from New York Timesbestselling author, Melissa de la Cruz, is a sweet, sexy and hilarious gender-swapping, genre-satisfying re-telling, set in contemporary America and featuring one snooty Miss Darcy.
Darcy Fitzwilliam is 29, beautiful, successful, and brilliant. She dates hedge funders and basketball stars and is never without her three cellphones—one for work, one for play, and one to throw at her assistant (just kidding). Darcy’s never fallen in love, never has time for anyone else’s drama, and never goes home for Christmas if she can help it. But when her mother falls ill, she comes home to Pemberley, Ohio, to spend the season with her family.
Her parents throw their annual Christmas bash, where she meets one Luke Bennet, the smart, sardonic slacker son of their neighbor. Luke is 32-years-old and has never left home. He’s a carpenter and makes beautiful furniture, and is content with his simple life. He comes from a family of five brothers, each one less ambitious than the other. When Darcy and Luke fall into bed after too many eggnogs, Darcy thinks it’s just another one night stand. But why can’t she stop thinking of Luke? What is it about him? And can she fall in love, or will her pride and his prejudice against big-city girls stand in their way?
Review:
This is an amazing retelling of Pride and Prejudice for the holidays!
Darcy Fitzwilliam is a successful New York business woman, who no longer has time for her family back in Pemberley, Ohio. I loved that the Darcy character was a woman in this story. It put a twist on the original story of Pride and Prejudice, because the story is told from Darcy’s perspective.
Though this is a retelling, some parts of the story are slightly different from the original. Both Darcy and Luke had other partners at certain points in the story. Some characters played different roles from the original story, and some parts were removed from the story but it still headed in the same direction.
I also loved the holiday elements of the story! There were Christmas parties, mistletoe, and lots of eggnog.
This is a great holiday story! I already know it will become a classic that I will read every year!
What to read next:
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick
Have you read Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
I received 5 books from HCC Frenzy:
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe
Since We Last Spoke by Brenda Rufener
Other Words for Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin
The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes
Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
Thank you HCC Frenzy for sending me a book this week!
Title: Kevin Keller Author: Dan Parent Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel Publisher: Archie Comics Source: Library Format: Ebook Release Date: February 8, 2012 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Read all about Kevin’s introduction to the world of Riverdale! Journey into the mind and heart of Riverdale’s newest resident.
You’ll see how Kevin first met Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica; how he came to love journalism, and what drives him to want to follow in the footsteps of his father, a retired Army Colonel, and serve in the military!
Experience what it was like for Kevin growing up and how he learned to deal with all kinds of issues ranging from schoolyard bullying to discovering who he is and who he wants to be.
Writer and artist Dan Parent brings to life a brand new character for a bright new world!
Review:
This book is a great introduction to Kevin Keller in Riverdale. His first appearance in Archie Comics is in this book.
Kevin plays a funny role in the group. He is Jughead’s equal when it comes to eating. They have many eating contests. Veronica was very attracted to him at first, even ditching Archie to go after Kevin. But that was before she knew he was gay! It turns out he is the one guy in Riverdale who doesn’t want to date Veronica.
This book also showed a lot of Kevin’s family life. He traveled around the world with his family growing up because his dad was in the military. Kevin even wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps and be a reporter in the military.
I loved this book! I can’t wait to read more Kevin Keller comics!
What to read next:
Kevin Keller: Welcome to Riverdale by Dan Parent
Kevin Keller: Drive Me Crazy by Dan Parent
Have you read Kevin Keller? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“On the morning we are to leave for our Grand Tour of the Continent, I wake in bed beside Percy. For a disorienting moment, it’s unclear whether we’ve slept together or simply slept together.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee.
Goodreads synopsis:
Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.
But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.
Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.
Have you read A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue? What did you think of it?
I’ve decided to participate in the “Tis The Season A Thon!” It sounds like a great holiday reading challenge! It takes place from Dec. 3-9, so I’ll do my best to get the challenges done in time!
Title: ttyl (Internet Girls #1) Author: Lauren Myracle Genre: Young Adult Publisher: Harry N. Abrams Source: Library Format: Ebook Release Date: February 18, 2014 (first published April 1, 2004) Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
On the first day of tenth grade, best friends Maddie (mad maddie), Angela (SnowAngel), and Zoe (zoegirl) vow not to let school stupidness get them down… or split them apart. But as the weeks pass and the instant messages accumulate, it’s clear that tenth grade will be a roller coaster ride of boy temptation, math torture, donut emergenices, and Queen Bee encounters.
Then a jerky boy sends peppy Angela into the dumps, tough Maddie makes a mistake that has the whole school talking, and good girl Zoe gets in over her head with a flirty teacher. Will the winsome threesome make it through the year?
Review:
I remember seeing this book in the bookstore when it first came out, but I never read it. After reading the book Upside Down Magic, which is coauthored by Lauren Myracle, I decided to give this series a try.
Since I knew this book was published 14 years ago, I was shocked at all of the current references. The girls watched Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy. These references actually really confused me at first, until I read that it was actually an updated version if the book with current popular culture references! This makes the book relevant for today’s teens.
I really enjoyed this story. It is told in a unique format, because it is only told through texts between three friends. They have to summarize some things they do outside of the texts so the reader knows what’s happening.
The subject matter of the story was very serious at times. One of the girls has an inappropriate relationship with a teacher while another is bullied once an explicit video is posted online. These are realistic issues that can come up in any high school.
This is a great book! I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
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 Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure from a spectacular debut author.
One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction…
Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities. Most recently, she and her enigmatic assistant Kai have been sent to an alternative London. Their mission: Retrieve a particularly dangerous book. The problem: By the time they arrive, it’s already been stolen.
London’s underground factions are prepared to fight to the death to find the tome before Irene and Kai do, a problem compounded by the fact that this world is chaos-infested—the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic to run rampant. To make matters worse, Kai is hiding something—secrets that could be just as volatile as the chaos-filled world itself.
Now Irene is caught in a puzzling web of deadly danger, conflicting clues, and sinister secret societies. And failure is not an option—because it isn’t just Irene’s reputation at stake, it’s the nature of reality itself…
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
Title: Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (Pottermore Presents #1) Author: J.K. Rowling Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Publisher: Pottermore Limited Source: Purchased Format: Ebook Release Date: September 6, 2016 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
‘Minerva was the Roman goddess of warriors and wisdom. William McGonagall is celebrated as the worst poet in British history. There was something irresistible to me about his name, and the idea that such a brilliant woman might be a distant relative of the buffoonish McGonagall.’ – J.K. Rowling
Pottermore Presents is a collection of J.K. Rowling’s writing from the Pottermore archives: short reads originally featured on pottermore.com with some exclusive new additions. These eBooks, with writing curated by Pottermore, will take you beyond the Harry Potter stories as J.K. Rowling reveals her inspiration, intricate details of characters’ lives and surprises from the wizarding world.
These stories of heroism, hardship and dangerous hobbies profile two of the Harry Potter stories’ most courageous and iconic characters: Minerva McGonagall and Remus Lupin. J.K. Rowling also gives us a peek behind the closed curtains of Sybill Trelawney’s life, and you’ll encounter the reckless, magical-beast-loving Silvanus Kettleburn along the way.
Review:
This is a great collection of stories from Hogwarts. It is part of an ebook series created by Pottermore. This book gives some details of characters, which do not appear in the Harry Potter series.
The book begins with Minerva McGonagall’s life story. It wasn’t until I started reading it, that I realized we don’t know much about her past from the series. She faced many hardships in her early adult life, but they shaped her into the strong woman she was as professor and headmistress of Hogwarts.
The second part was about Remus Lupin, so it was definitely a tear jerker. J.K. Rowling even said it was an emotional story to write. He is one of my favourite characters in the series, and he had a tragic life.
The book ends on a lighter note with stories about Sybill Trelawney and Silvanus Kettleburn. They were minor characters, and Kettleburn doesn’t even appear in the original series, but their stories were entertaining.
This is a great start to the Pottermore series, which is a must read for Harry Potter fans!
What to read next:
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists by J.K. Rowling
Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide by J.K. Rowling
Have you read Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies? What did you think of it?
Jill's Book Blog 