July & August Wrap Up

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up, as July was a slow month for myself I decided to hold of the post and double it up with August. Thanks to everyone who stuck with us through our slow patch and to everyone else who encourage myself through Bought of Books, enjoy.

July:
Challenges:

Outdo Yourself Challenge:

1. Zelah Green

Total: 35 / 36

A-Z Book Challenge: 

Z - Zelah Green

Total: 18 / 267

Millionaire Challenge:

35. Zelah Green 250 - 11.07

Jan - Jun Subtotal: 9,750

August:
Challenges:
Outdo Yourself Challenge:

1. Enthralled [1 | 2]

2. Paper Towns

3. Troll or Derby

4. Switched

5. The Vittra Attacks

6. Section 132

Total: 41 / 36

A-Z Book Challenge:

E - Enthralled

V - The Vittra Attacks

Total: 20 / 26

Millionaire Challenge:

36. Enthralled 443 - 13.08

37. Paper Towns 305 - 14.08

38. Troll or Derby 262 - 16.08

39. Switched 335 - 19.08

40. The Vittra Attacks 10 - 19.08

41. Section 132 460 - 22.08

Jan - August Subtotal: 11,565

Shelf Stacking:
Books Bought:

Torn

Dancergirl

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Books Won:

Starters

H.I.V.E series

Witch Eyes

Tangled

Ink Exchange

eBooks Bought/freebies:

Entangled

44

The Mayfair Moon

The Fallen Star

Once Bitten

Dead[ish]

Thirst

Draykon

The Book of Deacon

Veiled Eyes

Death Drop

Deja Vu 

Kimi's Secret

Vampire Apocalypse

Nocturnal

Song of the Fairy Queen

Madly

eBooks Won:

The Strangers Outside

Carina Press Presents Editors Choice Vol 2

Gifted:

Insurgent

Brightly Burning

For Review:

Peldged

Follow Friday (21)

Q. Best Cover? What is the best cover of a book you didn't like?

Lauren's Answer: Hands down The Lovely Bones. Its not the worlds most beautiful cover but its simple and pretty and for once relates to the story but I absolutely hated the ending with every ounce of myself. I'd be happy to sit here all day and rant about how wrong it was to include that scene for now, if its in high demand I'll make a post about it, I think this is also the only book where I will say the movie is better for simply changing the ending.

Nia Jones: The best cover of a book I don't like . Wow that's a hard one these days I try my best not to choose a book buy its cover, but if I had to choose one it would probably be I am Number 4. The cover screams space and Sci-Fi both of which I love and when I opened it i just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought. 

Review: The Paladin Prophecy

The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost 

Published: 25th September 2012

Publisher: Random House books for young readers 

Page Count: 560

Synopsis: Will West is careful to live life under the radar. At his parents’ insistence, he’s made sure to get mediocre grades and to stay in the middle of the pack on his cross-country team. Then Will slips up, accidentally scoring off the charts on a nationwide exam.

Now Will is being courted by an exclusive prep school . . . and is being followed by men driving black sedans. When Will suddenly loses his parents, he must flee to the school. There he begins to explore all that he’s capable of—physical and mental feats that should be impossible—and learns that his abilities are connected to a struggle between titanic forces that has lasted for millennia.

 

Review: I absolutely loved this book, I requested it for review from NetGalley and I'm so glad I did. The book has a wonderfully well written plot, and its paced very well so your always jumping from one situation to the next without the usual pile of annoying filler. One of my favorite things about the book is the fact you know as much as the main character does, you learn things as Will does which I think always makes a book more fun to read.

I didn't think I was going to like Will, I usually don't like the overly intelligent characters unless they're extremely well written like Sherlock Holmes, but I enjoyed reading Will. Although he was clever I didn't get that cocky "I'm better than everyone" feeling from him. The other characters are a bit underdeveloped because I think the main point of this book is plot development, but I could find bits in every character that I really enjoyed and a books always a better read when you enjoy the characters.

Recently i haven't been able to get into most of the books I've been reading, I was honestly gutted every time I had to put this down, and that's a serious complement because if I'm not interested in reading further after the first chapter then I find it hard to pick up that book again. 

Recommend: Hell yes I absolutely loved this.

GR

Amazon: US | UK

Mark Frost: Website | GR | Twitter

Wishlist Wednesday (13)

Wishlist Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Pen to Paper where we can share books that are on our wishlist.

Again The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare is another series I have yet to start, I really want too! I'm kicking myself I still haven't gotten to it.

GR: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy? This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . . Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

I've been wanting to read a Neil Gaiman book for awhile and The Graveyard book sounds like the one to begin with.  

GR:After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family . . . 

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.