Stacking The Shelves: September

What is Stacking The Shelves all about?

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga 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!

 

Welcome to my monthly shelves update! I've been abstaining from buying so many ebooks and focussing on reading so a smaller stacking the shelves this month!

 

Actual Shelf!

For The Darkness Shows Stars by Diana Peterfreund~ After reading the prequel I had to read this!

 

Review Shelf!

NetGalley

 Sweet by Erin McCarthy~ I liked True so I knew I'd like Sweet!
Made of Stars by Kelley York~ sounds intriguing!
Pawn by Aimee Carter~ 2014 new series which sounds awesome!
The Rule of Thirds by Chantel Guertin~ YA Contemporary which sounds good.

Blog Tours

Unspoken by Jen Frederick~ I loved Bo and AM's story!
The Only One by Magan Vernon~ I'm looing forward to more of John Boy!
Riptides by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt~ Love the Lengths series and Enzo is a great lead character.
Left  by T.R. Graves~ Spotlight post down already.
Without You by Brooklyn Skye~ Follow up to Stripped!
 

What joined your shelves in September?

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx

Confessions: Reviewing Middle books

Confession~ I'm awful at reviewing 'middle books'!

This is a problem I've only really noticed this year as I read a lot of new series last year which means I've had a lot of sequels to read this year!
For example I read and loved The Elite by Kiera Cass and Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi months ago but I haven't been able to review them yer!
I've tried to figure out why I find it so hard and hopefully you can help me get better!

What type of books are 'middle books'
These 'middle books' tend to be the second book released in any series but particular in trilogies. The second book regardless of the length of the series is usually full of twists, surprises and revelations to keep people interested in the series
I find 'middle books' are more prevalent in Dystopia or Fantasy books as contemporary books tend to either have companion books or much less complex plots.

Why do I find it hard to review these books?

• I always try to keep my reviews spoiler free but this is much harder with middle books. I don't want to spoil the first book just incase and middle books tend to be drama heavy so it's hard to talk about the book without spoiling anything!
• I also find it hard to review if big plot points like a character death or a revelation has impacted my perception of the book. For example I love Harry Potter but the death in Half-Blood Prince and the ending made me dislike the book until I read Deathly Hallows and saw the death in a wider context. If I'd reviewed Half-Blood Prince prior to reading Deathly Hallows it would have got a much more negative frustrated review than it deserved.
• Some middle books exist solely to build the tension and plot for the conclusion of the story. This usually results in less dramatic climaxes and produces more questions than answers. Obviously this is frustrating and normally leaves you slightly annoyed at having to wait for a conclusion.

What do you think?
Are middle books hard to review or am I alone in my struggle?

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Blog Tour: Left by T.R Graves

 

Your own two feet are all you have when you've been left.A naive Baylee loves Colt, her boyfriend of four years, more than she ever thought possible. After a little snooping, she's convinced she's well on her way toward hearing an once-in-a-lifetime proposal and starring in the wedding-of-the-year event. Instead, she's blindsided by a very public breakup and the crushing news that Colt is marrying someone else… someone more befitting him and the role his father expects him to take in his law firm.
Baylee may have spent years resenting Ariana, her mother, and her suicide, an intolerable show of weakness in Baylee's opinion, but after Colt leaves her just short of the altar, Baylee sees the world through her mother's eyes. She sympathizes with Ariana's actions and realizes that some things—soul-deep aches—can irreparably damage you and make moving on nearly impossible.
At least that's how she feels until she meets Ryker. With his help, Baylee discovers there is life after Colt, and she prepares to move on by pulling herself up by the bootstraps, holding her head high, and standing on her own two feet. Unfortunately, a new jealous and hateful Colt has his own plans for her, and they are plans no one—especially Baylee—ever saw coming.

About T.R Graves
T. R. Graves, the author of The Warrior Series and The Secrets Series and The Underwater Series, is a 2012 NaNoWriMo Winner. 
She lives along the Texas coast with her husband. Together, they raise T. R.'s beta reading daughter and their football-loving son. Besides being blessed with a supportive family, she counts her career as a registered nurse in not-for-profit hospitals high on her list of fulfilling accomplishments.
Links:thewarriorseries.blogspot.com |twitter.com/WARRIORSSERIES
 
Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

After serving out a year of hard labour in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.
Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another.
Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.
Why?
Many years ago I saw this story on FictionPress but never got around to reading it! I was so excited to see it published and to get a second chance to read it!

What I loved:
Celaena- I really like Celaena, she is such a strong female lead! I love her personality and her wit. It was so interesting to see her recovering from her imprisonment while training for the champion competition, I found it very realistic to read. Especially her training sessions and covering up her real talents. Celaena also came across a lot more compassionate than she even seemed to realised from the way she treated servants and the other contestants to the way she was with animals. I did at times find her a bit distant as a narrator and I found it hard to work out what she really felt with regards to certain things! Celaena is definitely one of the most layered and interesting characters I've read in a while and I have a feeling she'll be intriguing me for awhile yet! 
Side Cast- Chaol was another interesting character, he was bar far the most rigid rule follower and how seriously he took Celaena as a danger to. I liked how he grew to like and respect Celaena despite himself, especially their morning training routines. Dorian was a lot of fun to read! I loved how confident he was and how he teased Celaena. It was interesting to see how he interacted and responded to his Dad's extreme politics. I'm looking forward to see how Dorian develops as a character and as a prince! Nehemia added a very different dimension to the book. She served as a reminder of the world outside of the palace and how ruthless the King could be. I loved how she embraced Celaena and their friendship was one of my favourite things about Throne of Glass. Philippa was a great witty addition to the cast, she treated Celaena like anyone else and even teased her! I loved Fleetfoot, she sounds adorable! I also liked lots of the minor characters such as the other competitors etc. who I hope crop up again in the series!
Plot- Throne of Glass had such a clever blended plot. I loved the world building especially the history of Erilea and the magical aspects. The champion competition, which I had my doubts about, was well written and masked a bigger plotline. I liked how the plot is clearly part of a series long plot, I found myself asking questions and making lots of guesses which I think makes for a great first book!
 
What I didn't love as much:
Cain- I found Cain very creepy! I think his size and skill just made the whole character arc a lot more scary!
King- Another horrid character! Apart from being very intimidating and scary, he is also so ruthless! I don't think he'd blink twice at killing his own family if he thought he'd gain land! I'm intrigued by what his end game is going to be.

Rating!

Absolutley adored the plot, the side characters and Celaena! I can't wait for more!

Check out my predictions for Crown of Midnight!
Did you love Throne of Glass?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Behind the Blog: New Rating!

I created my rating system almost a year ago and I definitely feel like it has improved my reviews and made it a lot easy to differentiate between them.
However I do think it's time for a little update and refresh!

In!

4½ Hearts 

~ I love it! It's almost perfect and I keep rereading it over and over!

It's lead me to read similar books or more of the same author.

I often feel like books I've read are more than 4 Hearts but not quite 5 so in comes 4½ hearts!
I definitely feel like 4½ hearts is needed as I always find myself struggling with my ratings, I imagine 4½ will be like an A and 5 like an A*!

Out!

 

2½ Hearts

 I liked aspects of it but something really put me off... 

I rarely use 2 or 2½ as a rating so it makes sense to combine 2 and 2½ into one rating!

 

I'm looking forward to implementing this new rating!

I'm going to do a mini series of posts on ratings and reviewing etc. just to make my new rating system more open and concise.
 

Let me know what you think!

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx

Top Ten Tuesday: Summer TBR Update

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic: Summer TBR Update!

 

Now I've posted my Autumn TBR it's time to see how well I've done with my Summer TBR!

Read!
Near and Far by Nicole Williams. - Loved catching up with Jesse and Rowan
Throne of Glass by Sarah L. Maas.-  Just as amazing as I'd hoped!

Façade by Nyrae Dawn.- Definitely a fan of the Games series!

The Hazards of Skinny Dipping by Alyssa Rose Ivy.- Not quite what I imagined but still a nice read.

Didn't Buy Yet!

About a Girl by Lindsey Kelk.~ I just haven't got around to buying it!

Right of Way by Lauren Barholdt.- Unfortunately this one is a bit pricey atm.

Whoops~ No Excuses!
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.- No excuses here I just need to pick it up! Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan.- I just didn't get around to this one!
Insurgent by Veronica Roth.- I'm trying to hold this one off until Allegiant is available.
Four Summers by Nyrae Dawn.- Not sure why I skipped over this perfect summer read?

How did you do with your Summer TBR?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Bloggiesta Finish Line!

I always enjoy Bloggiesta and this time was no exception! I have actually continued Bloggiesta into my own week long event so I can get a handle on my big To Do list!

 

Completed during Bloggiesta!

• Reviews~ I want to write up about 8 and schedule at least 5!
• Comments~ I have been so rubbish at commenting so I'm hoping to comment on as many blogs as possible! Done! Including commenting back and general commenting!
• Planning~ Make sure my Blog calendar is up to date and think about syncing it with my Google calendar. Done! I have an up to date Blog calendar and I decided not to sync with my Google calendar.
• Pages~ Update my pages!
• Posts~ I have a few post ideas sitting in drafts that I want to type up 2!
• Rating~ I'm planning on adding a new rating so I need a post about that and an updated rating system post!  Done! The post is scheduled for Tuesday!
• Social Media~ Make sure my twitter is linked back up with my blog feed! Possibly!- Just need to see how my new system works out... 

Still working on!

• Reviews~ I want to write up about 8 and schedule at least 5! Scheduled one and in the middle of writing up a few more!
• Pages~ Update my pages! Working on this one atm need to update almost all of them!
• Posts~ I have a few post ideas sitting in drafts that I want to type up 2! Success- scheduled 2 but I'm working on more!

I feel quite accomplished and motivated- Thanks Bloggiesta!
How did you do?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxxx
Xxx