Soon on Sunday: Crooked Kingdom

This weekly post will feature some books that will be released on the Tuesday of the following week that I’ve either read, pre-ordered, ordered for the library, or will be reading asap. This feature is about books that I KNOW I will read or have already read and I’m excited to share with you. The post might have a mini review included or a link to my review (if I’ve already written one – either on my blog or on Goodreads).

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Release date: September 27, 2016

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of magic in the Grisha world.

YOU GUYS I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS BOOK OMG. Plus, I get to see Leigh Bardugo on release day in Naperville and YAAASSSSS. I’m ready to continue shipping my OTP and to go on another adventure with the Dregs.

Find it on Goodreads.

Any Bardugo fans out there?

Book Review: Summer Days and Summer Nights

Author: Stephanie Perkins (and various others – each listed by their story below)

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Publication Date: May 17, 2016

400 pages, hardcover

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

After reading My True Love Gave to Me, a collection of short stories edited by Stephanie Perkins, last year, I was super excited to hear that she was doing another collection. Everything from the cover to the list of contributing authors had me looking forward to a wonderfully sweet and fun collections of romance-y stories perfect for summer. It wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. There were several stories that I LOVED (Leigh Bardugo’s was probably my favorite) but quite a few that I did not like. I’ve broken it down by story below.

“Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail” by Leigh Bardugo: Pretty cool! I like romantic stories that have a bit of fantasy mixed it. I totally love Eli. Bizarre but in the absolute best way. Just further proves how much I love Leigh Bardugo’s writing. What a perfect way to start the anthology.

“The End of Love” by Nina LaCour: Her writing is so wonderful and sweet. This one was lovely. So good to have LGBTQIAP+ representation, but like LaCour’s Everything Leads to You, it’s not an issue in the story. It just is.

“Last Stand at the Cinegore” by Libba Bray: Meh. I wanted to like it more than I did. Kinda cheesy, and not in a good way. The plot is a bit muddled and the humor didn’t make me laugh.

“Sick Pleasure” by Francesca Lia Block: Not really what I was expecting. Not exactly bad either. You feel like you’re in a daze for the whole story and it’s not really all that happy. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing?

“In Ninety Minutes, Turn North” by Stephanie Perkins: Obviously cute but rather predictable. I adored North and Marigold in the first book, so I was looking forward to seeing them again, but the story was one of those “Will they/won’t they?” kind of stories, which was pointless. I obviously love Stephanie’s writing, but it wasn’t as good as I was hoping.

“Souvenirs” by Tim Federle: Sadder than I was expecting but I liked it. Realistic. I’ve decided that I just really like Tim Federle’s writing style. I know a few people who don’t like the way he writes or his characters, but I’m drawn to them. I’m not sure if I can really articulate why. They have a bit of dry humor and personality that I like.

“Inertia” by Veronica Roth: What an interesting concept. It was the only story in the book that was sci-fi, which was cool. I don’t think I really connected to the characters in the way that I should have, but the idea was too cool to not like it.

“Love is the Last Resort” by Jon Skovron: Super unique. I could see this as a movie in the vein of The Grand Budapest Hotel. I don’t know if you guys have ever watched that movie or other Wes Anderson movies, but the dialogue and plot are kind of…awkward and strange but in this wonderfully funny way that totally works. At least for me.

“Good Luck and Farewell” by Brandy Colbert: Lots of feels in this one. I liked the diversity, families, and love – both romantic and not. I haven’t read anything by Brandy before, but it makes me want to pick up Pointe.

“Brand New Attraction” by Cassandra Clare: I’ll be honest. I didn’t even finish this story. I don’t know why Cassandra Clare has this weird obsession with incest, but it grosses me out. Direct quote from the story: “He reminded me of a cup of coffee: wet, hot, and bitter. I tried to decide if it was immoral to lust after your step-cousin. I figured it wasn’t. We weren’t actually related. No shared blood.” Just…why?

“A Thousand Ways This Could All Go Wrong” by Jennifer E. Smith: Cute and awkward and adorable. I love Jennifer E. Smith’s books, and I could definitely see this one being an entire novel. I wish it was, tbh. I liked that the love interest was different.

“The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” by Lev Grossman: Unique and interesting. The end wraps up too quickly though. Must like Veronica Roth’s, the idea behind this one made me like it so much because of how unique it was. A cute romance too.

Favorites: Leigh Bardugo’s, Jennifer E. Smith’s, Jon Skovron’s.

Least Favorites: Cassandra Clare’s (DNF), Libba Bray’s.

Bookish News from around the Web 1

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been a little MIA on the blog recently. I’ve had a lot of things going on in my personal life that have made it hard to feel motivated and I’ve also just not felt the desire to blog. I’m really sorry about that, but I’ve been trying to think of new, fun ideas for the blog. Posts that would inspire me AND you, that would be fun for you to read and for me to write. One of the things that came to mind was to highlight awesome, interesting, exciting bookish news/posts from around the web to showcase. This could be anything from book deals to movie adaptation trailers to fanart to quizzes to anything that catches me eye. I hope this sounds like something you’d like to read! Let me know what you think in the comments.

YA MOVIE ADPTATION NEWS! Nicola Yoon posted that they’ve cast Amandla Stenberg (who played Rue in The Hunger Games adaptation and will play Starr in The Hate U Give adaptation) as Maddy and Nick Robinson (who was in Jurassic World and The 5^th Wave) as Olly in the film adaptation of Everything, Everything. I’m super excited to see the incredible Amandla Stenberg in more movies! Check out the article about the casting HERE.

WONDER WOMAAAAAN MOVIE! Comic Con is this week in San Diego, and they released the first full length trailer for the Wonder Woman movie which is coming out next year. It look fantastic, and I’m super excited to see a comic book movie about a female superhero! Watch the trailer below.

BOOK DEALS! I’m sure you guys are aware by now how much I absolutely love Becky Albertalli, right? If not, where have you been? Either way, you know it now. I ADORE Becky and both of her books (Simon vs. and The Upside of Unrequited – which is out next year), and this week it was announced that Donna Bray at Balzer + Bray has bought TWO MORE BOOKS by Becky, which will be out in 2018!

HISTORY WAS MADE! It was announced last week that Dr. Carla Hayden was approved as the 14^th Librarian of Congress. Hayden made history because she’s the first female AND the first African American to lead the Library of Congress. How cool is that?!

BOOKISH ART! A few weeks ago, I finally read Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, which I am absolutely obsessed with. The sequel, Crooked Kingdom, comes out later this year, and I’ve got grabby hands for anything that has to do with it. Leigh tweeted out these gorgeous pieces of art with each of the main characters on them that I’m heart eyes over. My favorite is the one of Jesper, which is below, but you can see the ones for Kaz, Inej, Wylan/Kuwei (LOVE THIS ONE TOO), Nina, and Matthias on Twitter. All of the art was done by Kevin Wada, and you can check out his other art on his website.

Okay, that’s a wrap! What do you guys think about this type of post?

Stacking the Shelves: Decatur Book Festival and some new comics!

This past weekend I went to the Decatur Book Festival (check out my recap of the weekend here). I had the awesome opportunity to meet several of my favorite authors and get my books signed. I already owned most of the books I got signed, but I bought a few new ones. 🙂
Here are the ones I already owned that I got signed!

     
Here are three books I didn’t already own but bought at the festival and the ARC I got at the festival!
(This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith; ARC of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli)

I also bought several new comics this week:
(The Wicked and the Divine Issue #3, Bodies Issue #2, Batman and Robin Issue #34, Trees Issue #1)

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Did you get any new books or comics this week? Let me know what you got so I can check it out!