Frost Bite (Vampire Academy Book #2) - Richelle Mead

Date Started - 2/19/14
Date Finished - 2/24/14

I wasn't going to read this entire series back to back to back. No way. I've got to keep rotating other books in. That said, after purchasing all of these books on a daily kindle deal, they're all just staring at me begging to be read, so I went ahead and gave in to book two.

As is generally the case when I wait to summarize, I'm going to do a pretty bad job, so I'll be cutting and pasting spoilers on the next page (along with some brief thoughts, of course).

The Luminaries: A Novel - Eleanor Catton

Date Started: 1/14/14
Date Finished: 2/14/14

Let me start by saying: wow, what an amazing accomplishment for this author. Reading this book is like stepping back in time, both stylistically as well as in subject matter. The writing is so convincing that it's hard to believe this wasn't written in the time it takes place (1860s New Zealand gold rush).

That said, this is like Game of Thrones - there is no way I am going to attempt to summarize the grand arc of the story other than to say it is about a group of men (13) who come together to solve a mystery in which they have all played a part.

Read on for my thoughts (as usual, spoilers ahead):

Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead

Date Started - 1/9/14
Date Finished - 1/13/14

I was hesitant about this one. VERY hesitant. I mean vampires are kind of overdone, right? Like, really overdone. So why did I go there? Well, because the movie is coming out in February and I saw a preview that made it look interesting (read: titillating). It seemed different enough from Twilight (yikes, a Twilight reference! How passé!) so I thought, "why not?".

A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket

Date Started - 1/4/14
Date Finished - 1/7/14

I realized that I haven't read any middle-grade books in….I don't know how long. And, as someone trying to write as much as possible these days, I thought I might try MG at some point and had better read some more recent publications before doing so. Hence my somewhat odd choice to read this book.

These Broken Stars - Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner

Date Started - 1/2/14
Date Finished - 1/4/14

Off to a good start in 2014! I swore I wasn't going to read this book in such close proximity to "The Fault in Our Stars" just because the titles are so similar. But, what can I say, this is the first book I've been convinced to read solely by Twitter (so, yay, first Twitter recommendation - it was good!). Side note: you can follow me on twitter @BStBibliophile.

As usual, spoilers ahead.

Timebound (The Chronos Files) - Rysa Walker

Date Started - Early December 2013
Date Finished - A Few Days Later

Ugh, I hate when I don't have time to do an entry because then it ends up being a crappy one. Anyway, I got this book for free as part of the Kindle Prime First deal (you get to pick one of four pre-selected books for free I guess - this was my first time trying it out). This one looked the best so I thought why not, and I have to say, I really enjoyed this book.

Spoilers ahead…

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

Date Started: 12/2/13
Date Finished: 12/8/13

Wow. Amazing book. I mean this one really lived up to the hype. Serious hype, too, taken from the author's website:

Nice Things That Have Happened

#1 New York Times bestseller
#1 Wall Street Journal bestseller
#9 The Bookseller (UK) bestseller
#1 Indiebound bestseller
New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
Starred reviews from Booklist, SLJ, Publisher’s Weekly, Horn Book, and Kirkus

The Movie Rights

…have been optioned by the nice people at Fox 2000.

Spoilers will be ahead so if you don't want to know, don't click the link to read on!