Books Via Ashley

The Martian by Andy Weir Synopsis The Ares 3 Mars mission is forced to abandon their 31-day mission on day six due to a huge sandstorm. Unfortunately, a flying piece of debris hits Mark Watney as the crew makes their way to the ship. He's lost in the storm, and the five other members leave him behind, thinking he's dead. Well, he's not. Instead, he's stuck on Mars. By himself. With only thirty days of food and limited supplies and no way to communicate to back home. And the next Mars mission won't be there for four years. Plus, if anything breaks down, he's dead. So he'd better get to work on figuring out how to survive. Review I first heard about this book about six months ago, saw the thousands of five-star ratings on Amazon, and bought it. It joined my "To Read" queue, but was repeatedly pushed back by library books with more immediate due dates. Finally, with the movie release coming up soon, I moved it to the top of my list a...

Redshirts by John Scalzi Winner of the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novel Synopsis Andy Dahl has just arrived the galactic ship  Intrepid . But things aren't... quite normal. For one thing, people seem to die a lot, especially on away missions, and especially newer people who come on board. People act weird too, suddenly saying things or having knowledge and skills they never mentioned before, along with incredible technology that has no explanation. And it all seems to center around the Captain and four of his closest crew members, who manage to survive every away mission. So Dahl and his friends decide to do some investigating to figure out what's going on, and potentially save their own lives. What he discovers isn't at all what he was expecting. Review This is one of the more clever and humorous books I've read. It's great satire on the tropes and stereotypes of science fiction shows *cough*Star Trek*cough* (before anyone gets on my case, I was raised ...

BBC's Pride and Prejudice mini-series turned 20 years old today! One of my mother's favorite books was Pride and Prejudice, and she passed that love onto me. Jane Austen was not only a talented and witty writer, but she captured the different social aspects of the time (the balls, the etiquette, and the romance) and provided comedic commentary. She also created unique, clever, and memorable female characters in an age where women were not at the forefront. For those of you who love Jane Austen and all things Regency, here are five books that you are sure to enjoy. 1) Austenland - Shannon Hale At 32, Jane is obsessed with everything Austen, but especially Mr. Darcy. Unfortunately, that has had repercussions on her real-life relationships. Then her elderly relative provides a three-week vacation to Pembroke Park, a discreet British resort where guests live like they're in an Austen novel. Jane vows that she will go as one final hurrah, and afterwards leave her ...

Ungodly by Kendare Blake Ungodly  is the final installment of The Goddess War trilogy. I was lucky enough to win an Advanced Reader's Copy. This book comes out TODAY! (Sept 22, 2015). ( Warning: Minor spoilers ahead. I would HIGHLY recommend the rest of the trilogy, beginning with Antigoddess) Synopsis The gods of Olympus are dying, and now they're at war with each other. Athena is determined to find a way to stop it. In Antigoddess , her search leads her to Cassandra, a human, who holds a special power that can determine the final outcome. In Mortal Gods , they finally find the source for the weird and unique illnesses that are killing the gods. But disaster and betrayal strike, and Athena and her gang of gods and mortals are split up. In Ungodly , Athena and Odysseus have to battle through the underworld to escape back to life.  Cassandra is literally chasing down Death (the god of it, that is) to aid her. The rest of the gang--Henry, Andie, Hermes-...

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah Synopsis Two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, live in France at the outbreak of WWII. Vianne's husband goes off to war, leaving her and her young daughter to fend for themselves as the German's occupy their town and a Nazi officer comes to live in their home. Isabelle, reckless and outspoken, knows she can't sit still. She falls in love with a rebel soldier, who betrays her and leaves her heartbroken, so she runs off to join the Resistance, risking her life for the freedom of France. As the war gets worse and worse and the lines between right and wrong become even more blurred, they both learn what bravery truly is, how strong they actually are, and the limits to which they'll go for the people they love. Review I bought this book because it was recommended to me by Amazon, based on previous books I've read, not to mention I'd seen it sitting on the Bestseller list for quite awhile. When I looked at the Amazon listing,...

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie Synopsis The Radch Empire stretches across the galaxy, expanding over the last two thousand years. They consider themselves superior to all other humans, and conquer other planets by "annexation", where people can either submit to rule, or die and have their bodies used as ancillaries, which are essentially corpses with an artificial intelligence downloaded into them. Justice of Toren is a starship with a self-aware AI system, thousands of years old. Justice is also manifest as an ancillary named  One Esk , sometimes other ancillaries. There is a division within the highest ranks of the Empire, and treason and betrayal rip everything away, leaving Justice of Toren  with only one human body/ancillary. Going by the name of Breq, she seeks revenge for what was done to her and those she cares about. While she is tracking down a person necessary to her plan, she comes across someone from her past, Seivarden, a captain who she supre...

Welcome to Books Via Ashley ! Here I will share my reviews of many of the books that I've been reading. As of today, I've read 58 books this year. Some were okay, some not so much, and other were incredible. I always have friends asking for book recommendations (or I find myself recommending books even when unsolicited), and I decided to put them in one place. On this blog, you can expect some fun things: -Reviews posted twice a week (Tuesday and Saturday) -A "Thursday Themes" post, where I pick 3-5 books with a common theme. -Author highlights, a monthly post where I talk about an author I really enjoy and their work. -Fun quotes, thoughts, news, random stuff, etc. about reading. I hope this blog will help you to find more books you love, and also inspire you to branch out and try something new! Thank you, and read on! ~Ashley

I read a total of 62 books in 2014.  This list was moved from my old blog and posted here for record keeping. Outlander - Diana Gabaldon Raising Steam - Terry Pratchett The Thief - Megan Whalen Turner Life After Life - Kate Atkinson Uglies - Scott Westerfield Partials - Dan Wells And The Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini Fragments - Dan Wells The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson (reread) Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson The Golem and The Jinni - Helene Wecker The Maze Runner - James Dashner Etymologicon - Mark Forsyth Ruins - Dan Wells Legend - Marie Lu The Elements of Eloquence - Mark Forsyth The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt Delirium - Lauren Oliver Hyperbole and a Half - Allie Brosh The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern Horologicon - Mark Forsyth Gulp - Mary Roach Wild - Cheryl Strayed The Fault In Our Stars - John Green The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Gailbraith (JK Rowling) The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden - Jonas Jonasson Eleanor & Pa...