Reflections of September

Goodbye September!

Is it just me, or was September a ridiculously busy month?! The last few weeks I’ve been all MIA from my blog and all of your blogs and I’m so sad about it! School has picked up (got a 94% on my first exam, whoop!), work has been crazy and leaving me drained, I was sick, I had my birthday (I’m 23?! How did that happen?), and I’ve recently been very into yoga.

But seriously, let me tell ya, there have been a few nights this month that I have just needed a bubble bath and a glass of wine. You know? You know. Unless you’re under-aged. And then you can plead the 5th. But hey, it’s Fall! And I LOVE Fall. Lets do dis.

Books I Read:

ERMMM apparently I was really into series this month? Aaaaand Anne Frank is just chillin there in the middle. I’m playing catch-up from my college years so this will probably be a common theme. Plus I FREAKING LOVED the Grisha trilogy!!!!!!! I just. I can’t even.

 

My standings for The Quest No. 1 are as follows:

1. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg
2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
3. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
4. The Disciple by Stephen Koontz

So I decided not to rank The Diary of a Young Girl, so the standings are the same. I am currently working on Team of Rivals, but it is very very very very long! I’m not giving up on this list, never fear, Jordyn is here! Sorry. I had to.

Currently Reading:

Progress: 281/754

OKAY OKAY I KNOW but this book takes about 10x as long as any other book does to read. The pages are huge and the words are small and I don’t want to rush through it because it is actually fascinating. But this is probably going to take another 2 months or so to read if I’m being realistic.

Book Posts:

Percy Jackson: A series recap

Anne Frank.

Thoughts: The Darkling from Shadow and Bone

Tags and Things:

My Reading Habits Tag

Bedtime Book Tag

Top 10: Series I may never finish

Top 10: Characters I just didn’t click with

Other Stuff:

September TBR!! (Pssst. I utterly failed this list)

Favorite Book of the Month:

I was torn between Ruin and Rising and Shadow and Bone, but I ended up just being so amazed by Bardugo and my own feelings in this one so I had to pick it! I don’t want to rave too much here because I’ll be posting a review soon, but I just absolutely loved this book and Six of Crows will be in my hands on Thursday because I will officially read anything that Leigh writes. Like, send me her grocery lists, I’m in. Probably not her grocery lists… I’m not a stalker. I promise.

Least Favorite Book of the Month:

I haven’t posted a review about this one either!! AH I’M SO BEHIND. I’ll get to it. But I did actually like this book. This was a good book month for me. It was just slow compared to The Maze Runner and I am just so frustrated!! Tell me I’ll get some answers in The Death Cure?!

That’s it for this month!

I’ll write again soon. Until then, keep reading.

J. Bookish

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Percy Jackson: A series recap

You know whats really hard to do? Write a review about an in-between book in a series  after binge-reading the series. I officially boycott. Well, maybe. We’ll see.

So now, I’m into series recaps! I figure the Percy Jackson series is a good place to start.

I don’t remember when I first heard of the Percy Jackson books, but I know the kids reading them were younger than I was, so the books were just a teeny blip on my radar. Then I was a camp counselor last year. It was quite a trial to get the kids to settle down for “turtle time” (the name for reading time.. don’t ask, I have no idea why) some days. UNLESS they got to read the Percy Jackson books. I swear, they transported worlds. So 21 year-old me became curious, and then book blogging led me to finally read them!

For all of you who are gasping in surprise that it took me this long, hush. You know you have some secretly unread series in your skeleton closet!

^^Bonus points if you can name the show!^^

I’ve also been reluctant to write this post because I know it’s going to be a million years long. BEAR WITH ME FOLKS. Unless you haven’t read these books, and then 1. There will be tons of spoilers and 2. You will have no idea what I’m talking about. You have been warned.

My Reading Habits Tag

Hellooooo Friends!

I have been so MIA. I’m sorry! I’m sure you didn’t notice. But I’m sorry anyway. I have reasons! Last week I got sick. But because I’m a big kid, I still had to go to work AND keep up with my classes, when all I wanted was to hibernate until my throat stopped throbbing. Why did I have to go to work while sick? Because my job is really weird and the closest replacement for me is 2 1/2 hours away. I know, awesome sauce. ALSO, it was my birthday! Such a fun way to have a birthday. I’m cursed when it comes to being sick at inopportune moments.. I got strep throat the night before my 21st. Tragic. But as soon as I started feeling better, my man took me to a fancy dinner and then my parents came to visit and then I had a surprise party! So I just have had zero extra time. But I’m back! Thank you for not writing me off as a bad job, you’re wonderful.

Now, it is time, for my first OFFICIAL tag! As in, someone actually tagged me! It’s a miracle. Thank you Veda @ Bookzillian Society, you’re the coolest. This tag was originally created by TheBookJazz over in the YouTube labrynth. So if you’re wondering about my reading habits, keep on scrollin’

Bedtime Book Tag

Hello fellow book nerds!

This is my very first tag. I’m quite excited. I totally wasn’t tagged. Well, technically, Zezee with Books tagged anyone who wanted to do it.. so we’ll just pretend I was officially tagged. This tag was originally created by Kellys Bookspill! The video is actually hilarious. Onesies galore.

The Bedtime Book Tag… sounds so nice and reminiscent of childhood days…

Alright. Flashlight under the covers time.

Top 10: Series I may never finish

Happy Tuesday!

Hope everyone in the U.S. had a fantastic long weekend!

As you know, Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s topic is: Top 10 Completed Series I have Yet to Finish. To be honest, most of these I’m also not going to finish. If I read a series that has been completed, I’m either going to read them all as quickly as possible, or I’m just not interested enough to continue them. I mean, come on. Reading a series is a commitment.

September TBR!!

Hey Guys!

I just got a new shipment from Amazon with – you guessed it – new books! Yay! I am very excited and wanted to share them with you, so I decided to do it in TBR form.

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE September. I’m totally a Fall person. I don’t do well in heat. Also, my birthday happens to be in September. So I’d better have some fan-freakin-tastic books to read during one of my favorite months, right? Right.

I’m shooting for 2 books from The Quest, and 4 books that I’ve acquired recently and am too excited about to put off!

From The Quest:

1. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
   I’m going to try really hard to finish this one this month, but as you can see, it’s a rather large book. And the words are itty-bitty. But I have already started it, you can see my bookmark in there, I’m about 3% through ;), and it is very, very well written. Even better than Erik Larson, whose work I really enjoy. Goodwin is unbelievably thorough, she has about 100 pages of references! Just in case you don’t know, it’s the book that the movie Lincoln was based off of. Yes, I own the version with the movie poster on the cover. Bad, bad J. But it’s a pretty badass cover, anyway.

Pages: 757 (The other 200 some pages are annotations and an index. Wow.)

1.  The Racketeer by John Grisham
   I’m going in to this one blind. I’m a little bit nervous because the last time I did that, it was The Disciple, and it really didn’t work out well for me. Wish me luck!

Pages: 382

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Dealer’s Choice:

1. The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin
   I’m still quite excited to read this one. It’s just preeeetty. If you want to see my other thoughts about it, check out this post!

Pages: 468

Also, that giant jack is a bookend!! I love it. It’s from World Market. My new fave. Actually, so is the globe above!

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These just in (!!!):

1. Seige and Storm by Leigh Bardugo:
   WOOOHOOOO. I already fleshed out all my thoughts on this series so far in an unnecessarily long rant-like post, but I’m honestly really really excited to continue them. Even though I have a not-so-sneaking suspicion that they’re not going to turn out how I want them to, I love Bardugo’s writing. I’m officially a fan. If anyone wants to send me their ARC of Six of Crows, I’d love them forever….just sayin….

Pages: 435

1. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo:
   See above. :D

Pages: 417

1. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas:
   I KNOW. I know. Everyone and their mother, grandfather, and unborn child has read these books. In my defense, I’m relatively new to the book blogging community and I didn’t know they existed until I started J. Bookish and Maas’ books popped up EVERYWHERE. So I’m hopping on the bandwagon. I have very high expectations because of all of you! Excitement & nervousness are making me dance around our apartment like a crazy person. Don’t worry, my boyfriend accepts me in all my grand weirdness.

Pages: 404

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Total Books: 6
Total Pages: 2,863

I’m also listening to the Percy Jackson series at work, so the final two of those will probably be wrapped up this month as well. Then I’m going to write a grand Percy Jackson series review post. *Wiggles eyebrows*

I digress. I’m off to read!
Actually, I should probably do my homework….ahh blog post procrastination

I’ll write again soon. Until then, keep reading!

J. Bookish

Anne Frank.

Title: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Author: Anne Frank
Published: 1947

“It’s an odd idea for someone like me to keep a diary; not only because I have never done so before, but because it seems to me that neither I-nor for that matter anyone else-will be interested in the unbosoming of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl. Well, what does that matter? I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart.”

I decided not to rate this book, because it isn’t a book. It’s a diary. Who am I to review the thoughts of a girl who chronicled the harrowing experience that was her life? In all honesty, I didn’t enjoy reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. But my lack of enjoyment isn’t at all the same as disliking a novel; I’m not going to rate the characters, or the plot, or the writing. It wasn’t written for people to enjoy. It was written for Anne to organize her feelings in a place with no escape. Similarly, the purpose of this diary being published is not to entertain, but to honor Anne, and all those who were persecuted under the Nazi regime during World War II.

Thoughts: The Darkling from Shadow and Bone

Guys.

I absolutely loved this book. I read it in two days. I was completely sucked in. At one point, my boyfriend cleaned our entire apartment and I didn’t even notice he was doing it. Or else I would have helped him, of course… Immediately after finishing it, I ordered the rest of the series. Now, with the exception of books that I love because the writing is just astounding, basically all of the books that I adore suck me in because of some idea I get based around a specific character/relationship/conspiracy/you-name-it, and I just have to find out if what I want to happen will happen, so I read like a demon and bark at people who interrupt me until I figure out if I win. Just kidding I don’t actually bark. Demons don’t bark, as far as I know.

**WARNING: this is not even remotely spoiler-free. In fact, it’s riddled with spoilers. So if you haven’t read Shadow and Bone yet, go read it then come back. Go go go!**

Shadow and Bone was no exception, and this time, my obsession was over The Darkling. I have to hand it to Bardugo, she knows how to write an intriguing villain. Since I’m pretty sure my perfect ending to this series has already been blasted to smithereens, I’m going to go ahead and prematurely tell you all of the reasons that I am on the Darkling’s side, and why Alina is a dumb dumb.

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I just didn’t click with

Hello Friends!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish!

I know it’s some kind of miracle, but I’m actually going to participate as-is this week! The topic is: Top 10 Characters you just didn’t click with. I had a little bit of trouble with this because I kept thinking of books I just didn’t like as a whole, and I didn’t think that was quite the point. So I started thinking of books that I do like with characters I don’t, and I thought of about 5 of those. The rest are really just books I didn’t like. See if you can figure out which are which! I’m also disregarding the characters you’re not supposed to like, because I think those are pretty obvious. Although it would be fun to do characters you’re not supposed to like but you like anyway… To keep you enthralled until the very end, I’m going to order these from best of the worst to worst of the worst. In my opinion, anyway.