The Proper Choice

This month I decided to read the first book in both of Gail Carriger's series.

Finishing School - Etiquette and Espionage
The Parasol Protectorate - Soulless


At first I wanted to read Soulless first only because I have owned it for so long, but then I heard everyone comparing the two novels. Overall what I got was that E&E was poor in comparison to Soulless. Surely it was just the jump from Adult fiction to YA that caused the change in style, but either way hearing this changed my decision. Maybe I am just weird that I did not want to read the better of the two novels first, I don't know what other people would have done honestly.

Here was my thought process: If I read the weaker of the two novels first, it might not seem so bad. If the novel was a strong novel on it's own, but only weaker in comparison to Soulless, then I would be satisfied with it. Having not read Soulless yet, I would have nothing to compare the novel to. If the novel were in fact a weak novel all on it's own then I would have the stronger novel to look forward to. I would just have to make my way through E&E to get to the novel everyone enjoyed.

I think I was right to make this choice. E&E was not poorly written by any means, it was just slow. The story was there even if it did drag at the beginning and go too quickly at the end. I will be picking up the second one when it is released, but I was definitely glad to get to Soulless. Now I am only about a third of the way through Soulless, so I can't say much just yet. So far though I am much more satisfied with this novel, just as everyone said. I will wait to see how it finishes out before I make my final judgement though.

Number Fifteen (Audiobook)

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak
Publication Year: 2006
Publishing Company: Knopf Books
Number of Pages: 550
Part of a Series: No
Read for Pleasure or School: Pleasure
Would Recommend: Yes
Rating: 5 out of 5

Number Fourteen (Audiobook)

Title: The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

Publication Year: 2009
Publishing Company: Putnam
Number of Pages: 451
Part of a Series: No
Read for Pleasure or School: Pleasure
Would Recommend: Yes
Rating: 4 out of 5

Number Thirteen (Audiobook)

Title: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Publication Year: 2011
Publishing Company: Doubleday
Number of Pages: 387
Part of a Series: No
Read for Pleasure or School: Pleasure
Would Recommend: Yes
Rating: 4 out of 5

Including Audiobooks

I have decided that I will include all the audiobooks I am listening to in my 50 Book Challenge.


Today I will add all of the audiobooks I have completed so far (there are three) to by book posts.

Sorry for the overload, I just made the decision.

Number Tweleve

Title: Etiquette and Espionage
Author: Gail Carriger
Publication Year: 2013
Publishing Company: Little, Brown Books
Number of Pages: 307
Part of a Series: Yes - book one
Read for Pleasure or School: Pleasure
Would Recommend: Yes
Rating: 3 out of 5

Supergirl Vol. One

Let me start off with the fact that I loved this!

Once again I had no prior knowledge of Supergirl. Honestly, I am not very familiar with Superman either, so the back story of Krypton was new as well.

This Vol. One is probably one of the best I have read in regards to back story and forming a solid foundation for a series. Most of this trade was in fact just Supergirl's background information. That can turn some people off, especially those already familiar with the character, but for me it was a true selling point. I feel like I learned everything I need to know in order to appreciate the story arc that will come with the next volume.

Let's get on to the emotions of this volume. Supergirl wakes up on a new planet with no real memories of how she arrived there. She then bumps into her cousin, finding him a man when only yesterday (or so she thinks) he was a baby. Superman informs her that her planet is gone and all of her family is dead. These are some pretty heavy things to wake up to. Her emotions are just right to make the whole story believable. The reader almost goes through all five stages of grief with her. This realistic portrayal only made the story stronger.

Then there was Superman. I thought that when he came into the story near the beginning he might overshadow Supergirl, but that was not the case. Superman was used almost as a tool. He informed Supergirl about where she was and what had happened to her family, but he did little else. He tried to explain his beliefs on humans, but he did not push Supergirl towards any one path. I appreciated this because sometimes in comics the more popular characters can overshadow lesser known ones.

Supergirl herself feels like a well founded character. She acts appropriately for her age and situation. More than that though, she is just likable. I wanted to follow her story, because I wanted to know what happened to her.

Overall I give this one a five out of five stars. I read the entire thing in one sitting because I just did not want to stop at all. This is definitely something people should go pick up.

Trying Really Hard

I think I ruined my reading month by doing so well last month...

As of right now, I am still 2 books ahead in my reading challenge. I'm not worried about that, I'm just bummed about not reading much this month. Shame on me.


Hopefully, I will get back into it now that I am on my spring break (aka week of reviews). Talking about a bunch of books should get me excited about reading again.

I'm trying... I am.

Organizing Books

Here's the deal, the majority of my books have not been with me recently. They have been living in storage in a number of locations just waiting for me to have the space for them. It's not that I haven't wanted to keep my books close, I have. It's just that there is no room for them.

Well, it finally got to the point where all of the new books I have gotten recently have no place to go either... In fact, they have been sitting on the floor mostly. So I sucked it up, did some creative rearranging, and bought a bookshelf. Now, this shelf will not completely fix the problem, but it will help. Also my boyfriend is finishing some wall shelves he is making for our room. Hopefully between all the new shelving I can fit most of my books. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

In hopes that I can now house them, I brought a laundry basket full of my books to my new place. So that is another thing I will be doing this coming week. I will organize my books. I will do it. I will.

There will be pictures to follow. Get excited for pictures.

Week of Reviews

My spring break is this month and I decided I would spent my free time doing book reviews... Who wants to go to the beach, right?

Starting March 18th and going through Sunday March 24, expect a book review every day. I am going to film video reviews that are brief, and then I will also do a written reviews that will be more inclusive.

I don't want to give away too much about any of the books I will be choosing, but you can probably look forward to reviews about the books I read last month as well as some I am currently reading. Do leave a comment if there is a specific book you want me to review.

Hopefully you are as pumped as I am.

Number Eleven

Title: Cellar Doors
Author: Lance LaCoax
Publication Year: 2012
Publishing Company: Morehouse Media Group
Number of Pages: 246
Part of a Series: Yes - book one
Read for Pleasure or School: Pleasure
Would Recommend: Yes
Rating: 4 out of 5

Wonder Woman Vol. One Blood

Let me start of by saying that I did not get into DC Comics until the New 52. So this volume was my very first introduction to Wonder Woman. Well, I did read the Wonder Woman Issue Zero, but that doesn't really count.

The artistry should be noted first, I think. The cover to the trade is what first caught my attention. There is a timeless quality to Wonder Woman, but at the same time this cover seemed to show the current time period as well. The actual issues themselves do not disappoint either. Cliff Chiang did the concept art, cover art, and the first 4 issues. I have no complains about any of his art work. Honestly, I did not enjoy the fifth and sixth issues as much. They were illustrated by Tony Akins. Don't get me wrong I have no real complains about Akins work, those issues just didn't catch my eye as much as the earlier ones.

As for the storyline, I don't want to get into it too much. What I will say is that I thought it was a thorough introduction to the character of Wonder Woman. The addition of Greek Gods into the storyline was also a good choice. Most importantly though, I wanted to pick up Vol. Two after I finished this one.

Over all this was one of the better trades I have read recently. I don't know about DC previous to the New 52, but I am enjoying what I am reading of DC currently.