Book Badger Read-a-thon: Character Personality Challenge and Read-a-long

This one was to choose 5 characters whom I share a personality trait with.

Cinder from Cress: The practicality thing. I can be awful to go shopping with, as a result of this. Also, I can be pretty deadpan sometimes.

Persis from Across a Star Swept Sea: I'm terrible at taking other people's advice. Seriously. People: "Kelly, you should take less than four classes" Kelly: *takes 5*

Moria from Sea of Shadows: I have a temper. Though I don't think that I quite have her tenancy for flying off the handle with it, though.

Harper from Rebel Belle: Sarcasm, even at bad times. I also have her tendency of avoiding cursing (though for me it just isn't my personal style, I have try to avoid taking with other people throwing in the occasional swear-word).

Mary from Rivals in the City: I have a habit of both over-thinking and acting on impulse. It is possible and I do it.


In an update for the read-a-long, I'm listening to the audiobook of Doll Bones, by Holly Black, and it's quite a fun story, so far. The cover is neat too- kind of gothic.

Update: Finished listening to Doll Bones. Overall it was enjoyable. It is middle grade, so the style of it worked (slightly more simple). I always appreciate the imagination of middle grade novels, though bits of it seemed a bit far-fetched, even for a middle grade novel.

Top Ten Books I'd Give To Readers Who Have Never Read Post-Apocalyptic

Top Ten Tuesdays are a weekly feature over at The Broke and The Bookish

Because I often sit people down and say "you need to read more about the end of the world". Of course. None of these are really "blockbuster series" like the Hunger Games, but I still really recommend them.

1. & 2. Dark Life and Rip Tide by Kat Falls: They're both fast, engaging reads. They are, to be honest, more of an adventure set in a world dramatically altered by climate change. Points for being Climate Fiction (cli-fi, a term I stumbled on today and am a huge fan of), a story with climate change at it's centre.

3. & 4. For Darkness Shows the Stars and Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreud: Again, fairly light on the post-apocalyptic aspect, in these the stories are very much character driven. Both are retellings of classics.

5., 6., & 7. Legend, Prodigy and Champion by Marie Lu: Fast-paced and clever. And look at those covers. I was trying to avoid recommending trilogies (since this is meant to be for new readers, and that might be a bit too much investment) but these are really quick reads.

8. ACID by Emma Pass: We need at least one stand-alone on here (at least, I think it's a stand-alone, I kind of felt like there was room for another book). This one is dystopia/ deconstructed utopia.

Those are all I can think of at the moment. I'm drawing kind of blank.

Review: Taste Test

Title: Taste Test
Author: Kelly Fiore
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: August 27, 2012
Goodreads

A Quick Introduction: Nora knows anything and everything barbecued, smoked or fried. She was practically raised in her father's barbecue restaurant, so when she gets a chance to take part in a reality-television teen cooking contest, she takes it. But things on set are far from simple, and she has to juggle conflicts with the other contestants and the rash of vandalism that has been taking people out of the show, all while trying to remain in the running.

Out of Ten: 2/10

Review at a Glance: While the TV show aspect was fun, this story suffers from a poor plot and frustrating characters.

Review: This wasn't for me. I don't usually read contemporaries. I just don't like them, though I still try to read a couple every year, just in case something has changed (so far that hasn't really happened)... I have a soft spot for anything about cooking, and I liked the idea of a story that takes place on the set of a cooking contest. Don't ask me why, I don't watch the television shows, but somehow I was interested.

Taste Test is narrated in first person by the main character, Nora. She was often a little exasperating. Or a lot exasperating. I sometimes found her overly judgmental (or prejudice, maybe?) The cooking part was enjoyable, but sometimes Nora's personality got on my nerves a little. Christian was obnoxious. I think that's the best term I can come up with to describe him, and I didn't really find him growing on me. The relationship development didn't really ring true for me- possibly in part because I didn't really find either of the characters enjoyable or connect to them. Not to mention the kind-of sort-of love triangle which was unnecessary. None of the characters really grew at all, either.

The whole mystery with the vandalism did kind of take the a back seat. Nora does make some make sort of attempt at an investigation, but investigation does not mean accusing random people randomly, which is essentially what Nora did. The plot was weak. It was essentially played for drama, and wasn't really the focus of the story. The cooking aspect was enjoyable, for me it was the most enjoyable part and I wish that there had been more of it.

I did enjoy aspects of how the novel was written. I found the TV interview excerpts were kind of fun, as were the recipes. The book had an overall light feel, which didn't mesh perfectly with the mystery aspect- if the mystery were a main focus, some suspense might have been more effective. Other than that, the writing didn't really stand out one way or the other. Basically, I enjoyed the formatting more than the content.

All in all, this is a light read, and I enjoyed the cooking parts and the excerpts from the interviews and judges. However, these were somewhat spoiled by the characters, which were aggravating at times and the weak plot.

July DNF

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

July 20- July 30

I tried. I really did. I got to page 243, and I just couldn't do it anymore. I've had this book for two years now, and I figured I should give it another try. I found the characters to be very flat, and there really wasn't much plot to speak of. I kept pushing through, but I ended up not finding any reason to continue with this one. The photograph tie-in just didn't work for me; rather than contributing to the novel, they interrupted what flow there was, and weren't incorporated well into the story.

Ten Authors I Own The Most Books From

Top Ten Tuesdays are a weekly feature over at The Broke and The Bookish (which I have actually managed to do for two consecutive weeks and counting...)

Oh look, one I can (more or less) put in order. I couldn't really decide if graphic novels counted, so they're seperate.

Eoin Colfer: The Artemis Fowl series. I also own the Airman and W.A.R.P.: The Reluctant Assassin. I'm not sure if I'll continue the series, but we'll see. I would like to get The Supernaturalist eventually.

Rick Riordan: All of the Percy Jacksons, and all of the Heroes of Olympus to date. I have read the Kane Chronicles, I'm just not sure if I'll ever reread them, so they aren't something that I have purchased.

Cassandra Clare: I've said before that I have a kind of strange relationship with these books, but I do have them for when I feel like reading them.

James Paterson: Regret. I almost compulsively finish series, so, even when the Maximum Ride books went into a serious tailspin, I finished the series.

J.K. Rowling: (Though these are kind of the family copies...) Harry Potter, of course. They're in kind of rough condition, and we had to replace Philosopher's Stone after the covers were more or less read off.

Michael Scott: Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. These covers are fantastic. It isn't why I own the books, but it is certainly a bonus.

Lesley Livingston: Wondrous Strange was one of the books that started me reading YA in earnest, I think. They're fun books, and I liked the faery would the Livingston creates.

Y.S. Lee: The Agency/ Mary Quinn Mysteries. If she writes a fifth I will read it. Seriously. The covers don't match because I couldn't wait for the Canadian release of Rivals in the City. I just find these books so fun to read.

Christopher Paloni: The Inheritance Cycle. A teacher read Eragon allowed to us, and I enjoyed it enough that I had to finish it, then the series. While I'm not sure how I would feel about it if I read it now, it was certainly something I enjoyed then.

... the rest are trilogies or below. I have a lot of trilogies, but there simply isn't a point trying list them.

Book Badger Read-a-thon: Twitter Book Recommendation Challenge

The challenge is basically to make four recommendations, each with 140 characters or less, using no character names, major plot points, spoilers, or snippets from the synopsis.

High Fantasy

Dragonfly by Julia Golding

Dragonfly is an adventure set in a vibrant fantasy world. Bonus points for horses.

Science Fiction

Legend by Marie Lu

Legend is a fast-paced dual PoV YA dystopia, compete with coloured font.

Historical Fiction

The Agency by Y.S. Lee

YA mystery series, The Agency, is set in a vivid- and gritty- Victorian England.

Steampunk/ Alt. History

Leviathan Series by Scott Westerfeld

The Leviathan trilogy is a wonderful dual PoV steampunk alternative history.

Wow. I apparently get irrelevant if I have to be succinct. Well, this is not the first time I have said that there is a very good reason that I am not in marketing, nor, I'm sure, will it be the last.

Mini- Reviews

For some reason, I've recently (in June, because that month was a bit mad) read some books that I just don't have that much to say about, or that I don't think I'll write a review for because of how long ago I read the book (travelling really messes with your schedule). So here's some little review snapshots.

City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6)
Out of Ten: 5/10
I fluctuate constantly on how I feel about this book. There were parts that I did enjoy, but I think, overall, the style of the storytelling wasn't for me. These have always kind of been brain candy books for me, something I didn't read for it's stunning literary merit, but for the fact that it they somehow pulled me in despite their flaws. That said, there were a lot of flaws for me in this one. While I enjoyed the cameos from The Infernal Devices, I don't know if they all were necessary. There was a lot of (probably somewhat unnecessary) stuff inserted to tease for the next series in the Shadowhunter world. Some of the relationships seemed a little problematic (put diplomatically), and some issues were treated in a way that didn't really work for me. I didn't particularly care for the ending, just in how it came together a bit too neatly for my tastes. All of this said, I went through this one very quickly, and there were parts that I enjoyed. I keep changing the rating on this one.

Rivals in the City (The Agency #4)
Out of Ten: 8/10
If Y.S. Lee were to suddenly get up one morning and say "I'm writing a fifth story," I would be completely on board. The ending was open enough to allow it, but it was still satisfying enough as a conclusion to wrap up the story. I enjoyed this one a lot. Something Lee does very well is put you in the world of Victorian London- the good, the bad and the ugly of it (and there was a lot of ugly in Victorian-era London). I did kind of miss that banter (there was less in this book, just due to circumstances), but I still really enjoyed this book as a whole. I just wish there was more of the story, both character-wise and mystery-wise. It was so short. I could do with a fifth book, I really could. I wasn't planning to write a full review for this... but now I'm tempted.

Lola and the Boy Next Door
Out of Ten: 3/10
This was possibly more of an "it's not you, it's me" situation. I don't typically read contemporary romance novels, though I seem to keep looking for ones that will change my mind about the genre. This was not one of those books. I didn't like Lola, and I have a hard time with books where I don't like the narrator. Lola was just sort of unlikable for me. I didn't like her, I didn't like how she looked at other people and the world, and I honestly didn't understand her at all despite being in her head. I just didn't enjoy any of the characterizations in this book, and I wasn't a huge fan of how the storytelling played out. Again there was a cameo, which I kind of have mixed feelings about (talk about a clingy couple).

The Lovely and the Lost (The Dispossessed #2)
Out of Ten: 6.5/10
These books are strange in that I just kind of read them casually. I wasn't eagerly anticipating them, but I still read the first and picked up the sequel. They're something I'm not incredibly invested in, but enjoy reading nonetheless. As the second book in a series, this one more or less did what it was supposed to do. That is to say, it carried on the story, introduced more of the mythology that the author has created and built up some of the characters. It was fine. Other thought than that, please tell me we've put that feeble love triangle out of it's misery. This book just didn't really pull me in completely, though I will still  pick up The Wondrous and the Wicked when it is released.

Top Ten Characters I Would Want With Me On A Deserted Island

Top Ten Tuesdays are a weekly feature over at The Broke and The Bookish (which I will one day actually manage to do on a weekly basis).

They seem to come in pairs...

Mau and Daphne from Nation. They've already done this whole island thing.

Kate de Vries and Matt Cruse from Airborn (and the rest of the Matt Cruse trilogy). Again, they've been stranded on an island before. They would probably somehow manage to discover a new, possibly homicidal, species while there.

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from  Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and The Heroes of Olympus series. Water powers, anyone? And Annabeth would just generally get things done.

Kami Glass and Angela Montgomry from Unspoken (and the rest of The Lynburn Legacy trilogy). Angela would hate it, but Kami needs her partner in crime. Kami because a) she's awesome and b) she can use her convenient mental link to tell Jared what's going on. Especially if I could have everyone on the list on the desert island... because Percy can automatically tell what coordinates he's at, provided it's at sea. And then she could basically radio the coordinates.

Katsa and Po from Graceling (and Bitterblue). Katsa has (spoiler) extreme survival skills. Po because I think I would need someone to stop her from killing someone if they annoyed her. They also make an excellent team.

Though I feel like some of them would have competing personalities... hopefully is would be okay?