Do you ever find yourself totally not liking a book, but continuing on so that you can say you read it? Maybe it’s a book EVERYONE has read, and you were feeling left out about. Or maybe it was a required read in school and you’re proud of yourself for reading it even though you didn’t want to. Or maybe it was a book club read and you’re glad you could actively participate in the discussion. Whatever the reason may be, I think we can all say that we’ve read books we didn’t like just so we could say we read them. I could only come up with eight this week!

The Shivering Sands by Victoria Holt
My mom grew up loving Victoria Holt, and as a lover of Gothic romance myself, I’d been intrigued for ages. I finally read this one, which has pretty good reviews overall, and it was just a little slow and meh to me. I liked the setting and the writing, but I felt like not a lot happened. I’m so glad I finally gave her books a chance, though, and I’m not giving up yet.

A Study In Scarlet by Sherlock Holmes
I think I read this for bragging rights. It was ok, and I’ve even read the next one… but they are not what I would call gripping and entertaining reads. I’ve always wanted to read the books by that have taken pop culture by storm, and now I can say I have. And honestly, I know I’m going to read the rest of them for more bragging rights.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
I LOVE Marissa Meyer. Her books are some of my favorites, and her writing is wonderful. That’s why I’m glad I read Heartless. I like reading all the books my favorite authors have written. And really, Heartless was very well done. I just hate Alice In Wonderland. lol

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
I read it so I can say I read it. I hate sad/cancer books and I am really not interested in any of John Green’s work. But at least now I can say I’ve read this famous book that so many people have connected with.

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle
I think it’s safe to say that A Wrinkle In Time kind of set the world of YA lit on fire. Millions of children and adults have read and loved this book across the generations. It’s the kind of book a young person fell in love with in the 1930’s and then recommended to their child and their grandchild, and they loved it too. It teaches reaers some great lessons. It’s beautiful and timeless and influenced so many of today’s great YA authors. I think my problem with it is that I wasn’t a kid when I read it. I found it to be kind of weird instead of magical. It was a chore to get through. I’m so glad I read such an iconic piece of literature, though, because I feel like a part of history for it.

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto
Haha. This book is horrendous. It’s SO bad on SO many levels. I’m really glad I read it, though, because I have never had more fun writing a rage-filled review before.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Bragging rights. Completely and totally. I read this as a kid in school and hated it. It upset me and traumatized me and made me hate reading. But I can say I’ve read every stinkin’ page. So there.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Umm… ditto to the above statements about The Outsiders. I feel very lucky that I eventually (at age 19) found my love of reading again after years of crappy/boring/upsetting required reads in school took it from me.

Which books did you not like,
but are happy you can say you’ve read them?

This week’s topic surrounds your favorite color. It can either appear on the cover or in the title itself. I have a ton of favorite colors, and my Favorite changes all the time depending on my mood. Does anyone else go through phases with their favorite colors? I also like different colors for different situations, such as colors I wear versus colors of things I own. Anyway, I’ve chosen to showcase purple covers today!

That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston
Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Popović

A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Goldeline by Jimmy Cajoleas
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft by Various Authors

Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton
A Dance of Silver and Shadow by Melanie Cellier

The Library of Light and Shadow by M.J. Rose
Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan

I haven’t read any of these, but I want to!
Tell me which ones to prioritize and which ones I should pass on.
Which color did you choose this week?

I’m blessed with the opportunity to read many advance reader copies (ARCs) of books, but some of them are tricker to get or just never release as ARCs because the publisher doesn’t need them in order to sell books (or they’re the last book in a series and ARCs don’t happen in order to minimize spoilers). The following books are titles I’d really love to get my hands on early.

1. Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco (Out 9/18/19)

Everyone who knows me knows I won’t shut up about how much I loved Hunting Prince Dracula last year. I cannot WAIT to read the next installment in Audrey Rose’s and Thomas Cresswell’s story. And this one takes place on an ocean liner! I couldn’t have asked for a better setting.

2. The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely (Out 7/10/18)

I love a good fake romance, and this one sounds fun and flirty, not to mention the fact that it has all the right ingredients for a hilarious string of events. April needs a date for her family’s summer reunion, so what better place to look than Craigslist? I can’t wait to read it!

3. The Governess Game by Tessa Dare  (Out 8/28/18)

Tessa Dare is my favorite historical romance author, and I can’t wait for her new book!

4. Snow in Love by Melissa de la Cruz, Nic Stone, Aimee Friedman, and Kasie West (Out 10/30/18)

I love wintry/holiday romances, and I’ve come to really enjoy YA anthologies. And Kasie West has a story in this one!! I’m sold.

5. A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (Out 1/29/19)

I live for Beauty & the Beast retellings, and this one sounds wonderful. Plus, that cover!

6. Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson (Out 8/7/18)

With the exception of the final book in the trilogy, which went kind of wonky for me, I love the Remnant Chronicles. The world is amazing, the characters are great, and Mary’s storytelling and writing are out of this world. I’m so excited to see where she goes next.

7. King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (Out 2/5/19)

It’s Leigh Bardugo! And it’s Nikolai from the Grisha trilogy! I’ve always wanted him to get his own book, and now he has it!

No covers yet!

8. Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye (Out 1/22/19)

It’s a ninja-inspired fantasy! I love Evelyn’s writing and worldbuilding skills, so I’m counting on this one to be amazing.

9. 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne (10/2/18)

To be honest, I don’t care what this book is about. I just know I want it. I loved The Hating Game so much, and I’m excited for Sally’s next book!

10. Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett (2019)

I am such a Jenn Bennett fangirl. She writes such cute contemporary romances. And this one has some mystery aspects to it, from what I’ve heard!

Which books would you love to read early?
Do we share any of the same picks?

So this fun little topic came through on the TTT topic submission form, and I’ve actually had a lot of fun with this one! We all see the trends that come and go regarding book title structures and word choices. I spent a lot of time searching the books I’ve added to Goodreads and came up with this list of commonly used words in YA book titles. The number next to each word tells how many YA books I’ve added to Goodreads that have that word in the title. And these are just the ones I added. There are like a million others. lol.

1. Girl/Girls (60)
The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Dangerous Girls, New Girl, The Goose Girl, The Coldest Girl In Coldtown, Smart Girls Get what They Want, Geek Girl, Girl Underwater, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, The Lost Girl, Fangirl, Jesse’s Girl, The Girl at Midnight, etc.

2. You (49)
P.S. I Like You, The Devil You Know, A Thousand Pieces of You, Wish You Were Italian, As You Wish, The Distance Between You and Me, What You Always Wanted, Seven Days of You, The Season of You and Me, The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You, etc.

3. Star/Starry (48)
Starry Eyes, Starry Nights, Stars Above, The Fault In Our Stars, Second Star, These Broken Stars, Even the Darkest Stars, For Darkness Shows the Stars, The Name of the Star, The Chaos of Stars, Eyes Like Stars, Across a Star-Swept Sea, The Last Star, etc.

4. Shadow/Shadows (31)
Shadowlands, Shadow and Bone, Dance of Shadows, Shadows On the Moon, The Shadow Society, Prince of Shadows, Shadow Scale, Shadow Study, Shadow Kiss, Queen of Shadows, A Shadow Bright and Burning, The Shadow Queen, Reign of Shadows, The Library of Light and Shadows, etc.

5. Blood (27)
Silver In the Blood, Blood Promise, Anna Dressed In Blood, Days of Blood and Starlight, Blood Passage, Sisters of Blood and Spirit, Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke, Blood Rose Rebellion, RoseBlood, Frostblood, etc.

6. Queen (26)
Beauty Queens, The Queen’s Choice, Red Queen, Queen of Shadows, The Orphan Queen, Queen of Hearts, The Shadow Queen, The Impostor Queen, The Star-Touched Queen, etc.

7. Daughter (23)
Daughter of Deep Silence, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Daughter of Venice, The Musician’s Daughter, The Madman’s Daughter, etc.

8. Blue (22)
Into the Still Blue, Nantucket Blue, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Words In Deep Blue, Everblue, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, The Savage Blue, Blue Eyes and Other Teenage Hazards, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, etc.

9. Bone (13)
Ivory and Bone, Shadow and Bone, Ink and Bone, The World of Shell and Bone, The Bone Witch, etc.

10. Smoke (10)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Curses and Smoke,Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke, Silver Smoke, Bright SMoke, Cold Fire, Riot of Storm and Smoke, etc.

Which genre or age group did you decide to focus on today?
Do we have any words in common?