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Friday, April 29, 2016

Weekend Reads: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

It's Friday, it's Friday, OH YES!!! The weekend is HERE, well maybe I should be too, too happy about this weekend, it's a really busy weekend for me.  My son has a ATA Karate tournament and Sunday I have a First Communion party, so weekend is booked, but besides those two things I'm planning to spend the rest of the weekend in my pjs reading :)

And here are the book/s that I will be reading:

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare


I have been taking my time with this book because even though I want to finish this trilogy so bad, I also don't want it to finish it; but it's time to see how it all it's going to end, right?

What will you be doing this weekend?

XOXO,

Nelia

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Book Review: This Girl by Colleen Hoover

Alright guys, time for another book review and this book will complete a trilogy so let's get to it and review it?  Okay...

This Girl by Colleen Hoover


This book completes the Slammed trilogy and it follows Layken and Will as newly married and totally in love and this is their first day as husband and wife so everything is lovey dovey and should be perfect, right?  Well, everything is perfect except Layken isn't totally happy, she wants to know more, she wants to know everything about Will, and everything he has ever felt since meeting her.  So, Will starts to tell their love story in his point of view and beginning from the first day he met her.

Will, tells Layken his most intimate feelings and tells her the good and even the bad times they have shared together, he even shares some confessions shocking both Layken and himself.  At the end will all this sharing and confessions bring them more together or will it hurt their relationship?  That's what this book is all about.

This is the only Colleen Hoover book that took me time to get to it and that I really felt it really wasn't necessary on this trilogy, it was the retelling of everything that happened and I wanted new stuff and I wasn't getting it and it bothered me. So at the end I gave it 3 stars, I still loved Colleen's writing style and I still loved the characters but I just wasn't interested in a summary of the first two books...

Do I recommend it?  Well, if you like that kind of book, go for it and read it; if not skip it.

XOXO,

Nelia

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Book Review: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Time for another Book Review and today I'm bringing you a Classic, I enjoy reading classics but I have been really lost on reading YA for the last few years and hadn't picked up a classic for a while so the end of 2015 I knew that I had to read a classic as I had promised myself to read at least one a year and I hadn't yet.  So, the choice was made and I picked up:

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

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I have heard so many great things about this book and I couldn't believe that I hadn't read it yet, so I was ready for it, even though it was a pretty big book, I was determined to read it before the year was over and I did!  Let's get to the review:

This book follows four sisters; Meg, Amy, bet and the our main protagonist Jo.  The book follows their lives, the ups and downs as they are growing up with their mom while their father is away at war.  They are a poor family but rich in love and character and you see that in their daily lives.

The family lives in Massachusetts (where I am from eheheh) and let's not forget that this story is set in the 1800s and the culture is a lot different from what it is now, but what never changes is the love of a family, especially sisters' friendships.  And oh do we get do see how these sisters get along, and fight and get along again, I loved that perspective of the book, I personally have sisters and was so good so read a book about sister relationships.

Another relationship that I really enjoyed reading was Jo friendship with her neighbor, who was a boy, friendships should always be appreciated and Jo was always an amazing friend and that relationship?  She really appreciated and made some really tough decisions.

Boys and marriages?  Oh well, things have changed throughout the years and centuries, haven't they?  Love stories will always be love stories, but wow, things are definitely not the same as they were back then and I'm so glad they are not and I will leave it at that.

And talking about things that have totally changed?  How about Jo wanting to write books and stories in the paper?  She wouldn't have that much trouble now, would she?  But back then, things certainly were different and I really enjoyed reading about that in the book.

I'm not going to lie, it book me a little bit of time to read this book, you can say that I was a slow read for me, for the first half at least but then it picked up and I started to enjoy more and more and love those characters more and more also.

I ended up giving this book 4 out of 5 stars.  I loved the characters, Jo and Beth been my favorite for sure.  The writing was what probably took me a little bit to time to read, it was different and slowed me down a little, the setting?  I live in Massachusetts and I just could not picture anything that was describe, so that was a let down.  But other than that I really enjoyed the story and the characters and I would still recommend it.

I did watch the movie and I enjoyed it too, it was a little different from the book as movies tend to be; but I got engaged watching it and I got my kids to watch it me which was a plus.

XOXO,

Nelia

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Weekend Reads: The Winner's Crime and Clockwork Princess

Let me start on a positive note for once lol: it's 79 degrees today...WOOHOO.  For the past couple days it has been beautiful, in the 70s and sunny and I can't really complain too much.  And, I'm just glad that is Friday, this week even though it was gorgeous out it was a roller coaster for me, it started off okay but on Wednesday I got to see a Pain Doctor because of my Brain Injury headaches and I ended up getting Trigger Point Injections, 12 of them...yeah not fun.  My head and neck are still sore from the injections, however I gotta say the pain level in the back of my head has decreased, so hopefully those TPI will work?  We will see, for this weekend I just want to rest and read and read some more, sounds good right?

Here are the books that I will be reading:

The Winner's Crime by



I started this Wednesday night but didn't get that far because of the injections but now?  I'm pretty far and loving it and will be done really soon with it.  And once I'm done with that I will be reading:

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare



I gotta say, I really, really excited about this one; I have heard NOTHING but amazing things about it and how it will break your heart and I'm so ready to get my heart broken and finish this trilogy.  I love The Mortal Instrument series but The Infernal Devices?  OMG, it has became one of my all times favorites.  I'm going to stop.

What are you guys doing and reading this weekend?

XOXO,

Nelia

Book Review: Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover

Alright I'm back with another book review and no surprise when you see which book it is.  But, first things first, this is book two of a trilogy so check out my review on the first book and don't read this review if you don't want to be spoiled don the trilogy.

Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover


Layken and Will are together after many obstacles and having proven that their love can get them through anything.  But of course things can't never stay in peace forever, right?  And when someone from Will's past comes back into their lives it leaves Layken questioning everything .  And she decides she needs a break from it all, especially Will, so she can think.

Will is left with the biggest challenge of all, he needs to prove now how much he loves Layken and he needs to do it quick and prove it the right way, but which way is the right way for a girl that can't stop 'carving pumpkins'.

I enjoyed this book,  it was nice to get back into Layken and Will's life and find out what was happening to them and their families.  There were some parts that I got frustrated  with Layken but after everything she had gotten through I kind of understood her.  I ended up giving a 4 out of 5 stars and I actually was happy with the ending of this book and the whole thing.

XOXO,

Nelia

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Book Review: Yes Please by Amy Poehler

It's book review time, well...more like an Audiobook review and my first audiobook that I actually enjoyed to tell you the truth.  It took me a while to finish it but I loved it, maybe because it was Amy reading it?  Anyways let's get to the review.

Yes Please by Amy Poehler


Yes Please is Amy Poehler's autobiography and this audiobook is read by Amy herself and that totally makes the difference, in my opinion.  In this book you get stories from Amy's childhood right outside the Boston area (and been from there myself; it was great hearing her talking about the same places that I drive by).  Amy also tells stories about her early days in New York City, about Hollywood, "the bizz" and everything in between.  

In this audiobook Amy invited quite a handfull of stars to tell some stories about her and them of course and that was amazing; loved hearing Tina Fey, that was hilarious.  I was crying and laughing non stop while listening to this audiobook.  I loved getting to know Amy more and so will you; even if you don't know much about her now, after listening to this audiobook you will want to find out more about her, trust me.

I gave this audiobook 5 out of 5 stars of course and totally recommend it to everybody.  

XOXO,

Nelia

Friday, April 15, 2016

Weekend Reads: Soul Crossed by Lisa Gail Green and Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Woohoo..It's Friday, this week has been pretty stressful and I'm just glad that Friday is here and I'm so ready for the weekend.  This weekend was so stressful that I didn't get much reading done, I know, right?  What is wrong with me???  But here is what I will be reading this weekend; the weather is going to be amazing and I'm going to seat outside and suck up the sun:

Soul Crossed by Lisa Gail Green


I picked up this book yesterday and I'm already half way done, so I'm pretty sure that I will be finishing this one up tonight or early tomorrow.  It's a pretty interesting book, fallen Angel and fallen Demon and a screw up human in the middle.  I like it so far, let's see where it goes from here.

After I'm done with it, I will be continuing to read:

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare


I'm already over 100 pages in and loving, I really, really enjoy this trilogy and cannot wait to finish this book and move on to the third one.

And that will do for this weekend.  What are you doing this weekend?  What books are you reading?

XOXO,

Nelia

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

Today I'm doing a book review on my favorite book of 2015 and I think this book may be a favorite of many people, am I right?  Let's check it out?

The Martian by Andy Weir

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This book follows our main character Mark Watney, Mark is an astronaut (almost every little kids' dream, right?)  well he is in Mars doing a mission when things went down south.  Mark and his team find themselves in the a middle of a dust storm, a storm so bad that forces his crew to evacuate the planet, which doesn't seem so bad, the only bad part is that the dust storm nearly kills Mark and his teammates think that he is dead and cannot locate him and because of that they left him behind while evacuating Mars.  Mark finds himself stranded on Mars', completely alone; with no way to communicate with Earth to let them know that he is alive and the worst of all is that his supplies would be gone years before a rescue could arrive to save him.

He starts to think that he doesn't have a chance, first of all he won't have time and will starve to death and let's not start with the machinery and the lovely environment in Mars is not that friendly that's for sure.  However Mark is not ready to quit on himself and he starts to think of ways to survive and he somehow figures it out.

This book was amazing, the first 100 pages you don't get too much action and you just read about Mark trying to find ways to survive but after that things just starts to pick up and Mark is just so freaking funny, I don't remember ever reading so much about one single guy and laughing out loud A LOT, that's how funny he was.

If you haven't read this book, what are you waiting for?  You need to do it right now and there is a movie about it, I read the book first and then watched the movie and the movie was pretty damn good too.  There were parts that were missing from the book that I wished were in the movie but overall it was a really great movie, and I mean Matt Damon was portraying Mark, so...I will it at that :)

Of course I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars and LOVED the writing.  I'm not going into any more details because you just need to read it and be surprised by the funny parts and the science parts (loved those too).  And I think I'm done gushing about this book, wait one more time, I LOVE IT. lol

XOXO,

Nelia

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Book Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer

OMG, it's time people, time for another Book Review but also time to Finally Review:

Winter by Marissa Meyer


If you haven't started reading the Lunar Chronicles, please do me a favor and go...go, right now to your book store and buy the first Book Cinder and start reading, because trust me you are going to LOVE IT.

And if you have started reading and you are half way through or if you are interested but want to find out more about it, here: read my reviews on the first books: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and Fairest.  But if you are ready for this one, let's get started:

This book follows mostly Princess Winter, but it is told by multiple perspectives, so be prepared to see all your Oldies: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and everybody in between.

Princess Winter is admired and most importantly loved by the Lunar people for her grace and her kindness and despite the scars in her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter hates her stepmother and she knows that Levana would never approve of her feelings for her childhood friend-the handsome palace guard, Jacin.  But Levan is wrong about Winter, about underestimating her, she isn't as weak as she may look and together with cyborg mechanic, Cinder and her allies, Winter is ready to launch a revolution and win a war that's been meaning to come for far too long.

Will Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and Winter defeat Levana?  Will they be able to finally live a happily ever after?

You will just have to read this amazing and long book.  Yes it is long, but once you are done reading; you will probably will want more of it...lol.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars, Marissa Meyer did amazing wrapping up this series, even though I wouldn't mind if she just kept going I would have kept reading more and more books about the Lunar Chronicles.  lol

There is actually a bundle of novellas that just came out and I can't wait to read it, I will be picking up that one, don't you worry.

XOXO,

Nelia

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Book Review: Slammed by Colleen Hoover

I'm back with another book review and I'm back with another Colleen Hoover book (oh well).  Let's get started?  Ok let's do this.

Slammed by Colleen Hoover


Layken is 18 years old and after her father's unexpected death her month forces her and her little brother to move from her childhood state and home to a totally different cold state.  She has also become the rock for both her mom and her brother, but inside?  She is losing hope.

Then there is Will Cooper, he is the 21 year old neighbor who is passionate about slam poetry and a contagious sense of humor.  Within days of meeting each other, Will and Layken form this connection that gave Layken hope, hope for a future.

But of course things don't always go as planned and not long after their first date a shocking revelation forces them to stop their relationship before things get out of hands.  But daily interactions and their little brother becoming best friends are making everything harder and painful; because while their secret keeps them apart their feelings pulls them together.

I really enjoyed this book, it was different from her latest books that I have been reading but her writing is the same one, the one that pulls you in from the beginning.  I loved the poetry part of this book, that was a plus and everything there was a new poem I was so happy and dying to see what it was going to be.

I gave a 4 out of 5 stars, once I was done I wanted more answers, there were just too many things left answered and I know there were other books but...I just wanted a little more in this book, do you know what I mean?  Totally recommend it of course.

XOXO,

Nelia

Monday, April 11, 2016

April 2016 TBR

Happy April!!! I can't believe that it's April already, where is 2016 going so fast, calm down, right?  And let's not talk about how late I am with this TBR list.. so let's just get to the list and post this, right?

I'm having a hard time deciding what to read.  I kind of know what I want to read, but at the same time, I'm kind of afraid of the commitment, because these books are pretty big and I want to read all of them and be done with them, but not sure if I should do it or not.  I'm going to start babbling and get to my TBR list for April:

First of I know for sure that I want to read this whole Trilogy:

1.  Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare-read it already and love it



2. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare-currently reading



3. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clara-last one and hoping to get to it


4. City of Fallen Angels (I want to finish the rest of TMI series, but it may be too much this month so I'm only going to read this one and finish it off next month, that sounds better, right?)


5. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir- I just got this one last month and I'm finally ready to see what the hype is all about.



We will see how this month goes, but so far so good.  :)

What are you reading this month?  Let me know...

XOXO,

Nelia

Friday, April 8, 2016

Weekend Reads: Awake and Clockwork Prince

This has been a very long week and I'm just REALLY glad that it's Friday and the weekend is upon us!!! I'm not even sure what I'm going to be doing this weekend and at this moment I just don't care.  I have a couple books that I want to read and that sounds great, right?  Okay, here are the books:

Awake by Natasha Preston


I started reading this one yesterday and will probably finish it tomorrow.  The beginning started off okay, but now that I'm always half way through it?  I'm not so sure how I feel about it anymore. We will see...


And once I'm done with that one?  I will be reading:

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare


I cannot wait to read this one, I finished reading Clockwork Angel this week and LOVED it and cannot wait to read and finish this trilogy, but I want to drag a little bit longer if you know what I mean, so I will read a different book in between books. hahaha.

What are you reading this weekend?  Have you read The Infernal Devices?  What did you think of it?

XOXO,

Nelia

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Book Review: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Well, hello to another Book Review and today we are going to review another great book that has had a lot of hype on Booktube, here let's get to the review:

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski


Kestrel is 17 years old and she is the general's daughter in an empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers.  But Kestrel doesn't have must choice either, her father has given her only 2 choices: get married or join the military.  But Kestrel has other intentions.

Then one day while she is out; she finds herself in the middle of an auction and ends up buying a kindred spirit slave, Arin.  Kestrel buys him and soon finds herself falling in love for Arin.

But Arin has a secret, one that Kestrel will learn that the price that she paid for him is much higher than she ever imagined.  She couldn't ever imagine what Arin was hiding, never mind what he was planning.

In this book you not only find a crazy love story, but also deadly games, war, lots and lots of action and twists that you never saw it coming.  I really enjoyed this book, the beginning took me a little bit to get used to it but it really started to pick up and once it did I was lost in it and once it was done?  It left me wanting more.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 starts, the writing was different and I really enjoyed it, I can't wait to read the second book, the third one is coming out really soon, so I can't wait to just get to the second one and read them probably back to back.  Do I recommend it? Absolutely!

XOXO,

Nelia

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Book Review: Alight by Scott Sigler

It's Tuesday and it's time for another Book Review and today I'm bringing you a book that came out today and that I got the chance to read a eARC of it from NetGalley before today.  This is book 2 in The Generations Trilogy, I read book 1 last year, Alive and love it, it made it to my favorites list of 2015 so this book has been on my most anticipated books 2016.  Ah, let's get to the review?  Let's do it...

I have a review on the first book Alive (click here) so you can read it and get the feeling what these books are about.

Alight by Scott Sigler


Em, Spingate, O'Malley, Bishop and the other youngest have made their way to the planet that was create for them.  But once they get there they need to figure some things out first, most important is to see if they can find food and find out if there are other people living there.  They do find some food in a big building however the food is contaminated, so now they find themselves with a big problem, because there are a lot of them and food is top priority.  They also find some big animals walking around the planet and at first they don't know what they are and they think that those "spiders" are after them and they find ways to escape them while going from building to building while exploring the planet.

While they go looking for other ways of food they encounter other predators in the forest, but more importantly they encounter some living beings there, and they seem to know how to find food.  Em decides to call them living beings Springers, because they are not humans for sure but they need a name, right?  Em realizes that the Springers don't communicate the same way as them and they see Em and the rest of human race as danger to them and war is to come between the two races.

However, Em does encounter a couple Springers that try to communicate with her and O'Malley and together they try to stop war and live in the same planet as a community.  Will it work?

Also while Em and her team are fighting off some Springers, they realize that the spiders have been on their side all along and not against them, which improves their way of transportation and protection big time.

But, just as things are starting to get a little better, some danger is on the way for the birthday children, will they be able to handle on their own?  Will they be able to handle this danger and the Springers at the same time.   What about food and shelter?  Will they all survive?

Ah, if you want to know all these answer you just have to read the book.  But I can tell you to be prepared for a lot of action and heartbreaking, because this book as it all.  I love Em, she is the kind of female character that you want, not afraid to fight for what she wants but she also worries about the well been of everybody else.  These books are full of action and blood and murder and cruel things but somehow Scott Sigler just knows how to write it perfectly that he gets you hooked on it and you just want to read more and more and you just want to know what happens and you don't want to put the book down at all.  And when you put the book down you just don't stop thinking about it.

I gave this book 4.75 stars, I wanted more and my heart is broken because some of characters died, you get attached to them, you know?  WHY did you do this, Scott?  I can't wait to read book 3 and find out how it all ends it.  At the end of this book there was a huge cliffhanger and just thinking about it, it's driving me crazy already.  Can't wait, so if you have started this trilogy please do me a favor and start right away and if you did read book 1, GO and pick this one up right away, because it just as good as the first one.

XOXO,

Nelia

Friday, April 1, 2016

Weekend Reads: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

This has been a very long weekend but it's finally Friday and I'm so glad the weekend it's here because I'm finally ready to dive in to a trilogy that people seem to LOVE it and it's time to find out if the hype is really true.

Here is the book that I will be reading this weekend:

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare


So, I'm so ready to get back to the Shadowhunters' world but before I get back into The Mortal Instruments series I have to read The Infernal Devices trilogy and I have literally heard nothing but amazing things about this trilogy, so this weekend I'm picking up the first book and losing myself in it.

Who else is reading this book?  Who's read it?  Let me know.

Have a great weekend!!!

XOXO,

Nelia