Books Via Ashley

What a year! I read SO many good books in 2017! There were many series that I started or continued or finished, plus some wonderful stand-alones. Honestly, I could probably list a top 20 or 30, but there were some that really stood out to me this year which made it slightly easier to narrow it down to the top 10. Again, these are my favorite books that I read this year. I think almost all of them were also published in 2017, but many were not! I also did not include any rereads of books. So, without further ado, here they are, in order! Top 10 Books I Read in 2017 A Conjuring of Light - V. E. Schwab Oathbringer - Brandon Sanderson Strange the Dreamer - Laini Taylor No Good Deed - Kara Connolly When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzie Lee Moxie - Jennifer Mathieu Daughter of the Pirate King  - Tricia Levenseller Illuminae  - Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman Honorable...

I hit my goal of reading 100 books this year! And of course read a few more beyond that ;) My month was mostly taken up by work and then travel for the holidays, but I still got a good number in! They were all great books too! A Perilous Undertaking - Deanna Raybourn (4 stars) The City of Brass - S. A. Chakraborty (4.5 stars) Tropic of Serpents - Marie Brennen (4 stars) The Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan (4 stars) The Titan's Curse - Rick Riordan (4 stars) Vengeance Road - Erin Bowman (4.5stars) I finally renewed my library card and I was able to check out the last three books from there. I'm loving the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan! I've got the rest on hold at the library! Vengeance Road was the last book of this year, and it was a fun and exciting Western adventure! The City of Brass was a wonderful historical fantasy set in a world inspired by Eastern cultures, filled with djinni's and magic. What were your favorite books of Dece...

Living between Europe and the US has some perks... and some drawbacks. For instance, all my books are in the US (and I have a LOT of books). Plus for many sites where I find good deals, the shipping to Europe is outrageous. So, basically, over the last year I've occasionally ordered books when I've found some great deals and had them sent to my address in the US. This means that I got to open ALL of them at once when I got here for Christmas! I also had a friend get me five ARCs of various books, totally as a surprise!! So without further ado, my book haul: The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer This includes Cinder , Scarlet , Cress , Winter , and Fairest . BookOutlet had the whole series for massively cheap for Black Friday! A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi Totally a cover buy (also BookOutlet)! And I've heard great things about the story ;) A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab I have this series in Kindle format and I NEEDED it in hard...

A Treacherous Curse  by Deanna Raybourn * I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.* Synopsis (from Goodreads) London, 1888 . As colorful and unfettered as the butterflies she collects, Victorian adventuress Veronica Speedwell can’t resist the allure of an exotic mystery—particularly one involving her enigmatic colleague, Stoker. His former expedition partner has vanished from an archaeological dig with a priceless diadem unearthed from the newly discovered tomb of an Egyptian princess. This disappearance is just the latest in a string of unfortunate events that have plagued the controversial expedition, and rumors abound that the curse of the vengeful princess has been unleashed as the shadowy figure of Anubis himself stalks the streets of London. But the perils of an ancient curse are not the only challenges Veronica must face as sordid details and malevolent enemies emerge from Stoker’s past. Caught in a tangle of conspiracies a...

What the... November went by WAY too quickly! I swear it was just the beginning of October, and now Christmas is approaching! Well, let's just jump right into it! In November I read eight books! And considering that two of them were over a thousand pages each, which is equivalent to three normal books, that's a pretty good number! The New Dark - Lorraine Thomson (2 stars) The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan (4 stars) Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur (4.5 stars) Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson (5 stars) [reread] Oathbringer - Brandon Sanderson (5 stars) Gone Viking - Helen Russell (3 stars) A Curious Beginning - Deanna Raybourn (3.5 stars) A Treacherous Curse - Deanna Raybourn (4 stars) So, obviously the highlight of the month was OATHBRINGER . Oh. My. Goodness. This book blew my mind in so many ways... It definitely fulfilled and exceeded expectations. And rereading Words of Radiance beforehand was also great. This series is just incredible. If you h...

Gone Viking by Helen Russell * I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * Synopsis (from Goodreads) Frazzled mum Alice Ray likes to think she’s on top everything – she has FOUR bags-for-life in the boot of her car for heaven's sake. But after spectacularly embarrassing herself at work, she finally gives in to her sister’s pleas to take a much needed break. But this is not the luxury spa holiday Alice hoped for – instead, she finds herself in Denmark, in the middle of nowhere, on a ‘How to be a Viking’ getaway. Can the two sisters finally learn to get along or will learning to embrace their inner warrior just make them better at fighting? Review This book had zany characters and hilarious situations, but also some tender, heartfelt moments. It also made me want to craft a sword and build a boat and be a Viking! Alice is a very uptight woman who has a tragic past. Her way of dealing with that--with anything really--is to...

Artemis by Andy Weir * I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * Synopsis (from Goodreads) Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first. Review I always feel a little sorry for an author when their debut becomes such a runaway hit. The Martian was amazing, and I mean, MATT DAMON starred in th...

The New Dark by Lorraine Thomson *I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review* Synopsis  (from Goodreads) Sorrel lives a quiet life in the tiny settlement of Amat. It’s all she’s ever known... Until a gang of marauding mutants destroys the village, snatching her brother Eli, and David, her boyfriend. Sorrel sets out after them, embarking on a journey fraught with danger. Can she survive? The only thing that keeps her going is Eli and David. They are out there somewhere. They must be alive. And if she has her way, she will find them. Review The premise is very interesting: it's a post-apocalyptic world, only a couple generations after whatever events happened Before to turn it into the Now. Sorrel is a girl whose entire life has been changed and she sets out to save her little brother and her kind of boyfriend. Along the way her worldview expands; she makes enemies and unexpected friends, and she finds that not all humans are good ...

October! What a busy month for me! My sister visited and then I had a couple very busy work weeks, but I still got a LOT of reading done! Though I guess this is actually becoming fairly average for me. All in all, I read 10 books this month! I've now read 90 out of my goal for 100 for the year! Let's take a look: Invictus - Ryan Graudin (4.5 stars) The Tiger's Daughter - K. Rivera Arsenault (2 stars) The Last Namsara - Kristen Ciccarelli (4 stars) Even the Darkest Stars - Heather Fawcett (3.5 stars) House of Shadows - Nicola Cornick (4 stars) Artemis - Andy Weir (4.5 stars) Angelfall - Susan Ee (4 stars) World After - Susan Ee (3 stars) End of Days - Susan Ee (3 stars) Forest of a Thousand Lanterns - Julie C. Dao (3.5 stars) I read a lot of ARCs from NetGalley this month (most of which were October releases), including The Tiger's Daughter , The Last Namsara , House of Shadows , and Artemis .  Angelfall and the subsequent two books were a ...

House of Shadows by Nicola Cornick *I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review* Synopsis (from Goodreads) London, 1662: There was something the Winter Queen needed to tell him. She fought for the strength to speak. ‘The crystal mirror is a danger. It must be destroyed – ‘ He replied instantly. ‘It will’. Ashdown, Oxfordshire, present day: Ben Ansell is researching his family tree when he disappears. As his sister Holly begins a desperate search, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to an ornate antique mirror and to the diary of Lavinia, a 19th century courtesan who was living at Ashdown House when it burned to the ground over 200 years ago. Intrigued, and determined to find out more about the tragedy at Ashdown, Holly’s only hope is that uncovering the truth about the past will lead her to Ben. Review I really enjoyed this story. It's refreshing to read a well-researched historical fiction that also has an intriguing pl...

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli * I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * Synopsis  (from Goodreads) Asha is a dragon-slayer. Reviled by the very people she's sworn to protect, she kills to atone for the wicked deed she committed as a child - one that almost destroyed her city, and left her with a terrible scar. But protecting her father's kingdom is a lonely destiny: no matter how many dragons she kills, her people still think she's wicked. Even worse, to unite the fractured kingdom she must marry Jarek, the cruel commandant. As the wedding day approaches, Asha longs for freedom. Just when it seems her fate is sealed, the king offers her a way out: her freedom in exchange for the head of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard. And the only person standing in her way is a defiant slave boy Review “ Asha lured the dragon with a story. ” Such a great first line! Right there you get the tone for the whole...

The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera * I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * Synopsis This is the story of a Qorin warrior, Barsalayaa Shefali, and a divine empress, O-Shizuka, two young women and warriors, raised together across borders since their prophesied birth, who must work together to save the world from the threat of demons. Review Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t really my cup of tea. While the writing was lovely, I found the manner of story-telling a bit jarring and unusual. First it is told in third-person present, then told in letter form, with first-person directing the narrative to a specific person, referred to as “you”. It drove me crazy that basically the entire book was a "letter", and it was about events the person reading it had already lived through. The plot meandered… I guess there was really no “plot”, no specific direction the story was headed. It was mostly an info-dump. The ...

September was a busy month for me! We took a trip at the beginning of the month to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary (yay!) and then we had TWO weddings to attend! A month full of love! All these trips meant I was able to get a fair amount of reading in though! In total I read nine books! Burning Glass - Kathryn Purdie (3 stars) Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng (4.5 stars) Tower of Dawn - Sarah J. Maas (4 stars) Moxie - Jenniefer Mathieu (4.5 stars) Godsgrave - Jay Kristoff (4 stars) 4:50 from Paddington - Agatha Christie (4 stars) Hanna Who Fell From The Sky - Christopher Meades (3.5 stars) Wicked Like A Wildfire - Lana Popovic (4 stars) Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein (4.5 stars) A few books really stood out this month. Moxie was incredible and awesome! I finally ready Wicked Like a Wilkdfire , which I received in the August FairyLoot box, and I really really liked it! I got an ARC of Little Fires Everywhere and it was just as beautiful as Celeste ...

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu Synopsis  (from Goodreads) Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with her small-town Texas high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes and hallway harassment. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules. Viv’s mom was a punk rock Riot Grrrl in the ’90s, so now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. Pretty soon Viv is forging friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, and she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution. Review Where do I even start? I picked up this book while wandering around Waterstones while waiting for my train in London. I had heard of it before and my interest was piqued. I ended up reading this book in less than a day, on the flight home. Basically, ...

Hanna Who Fell From The Sky by Christopher Wreade *I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review* Synopsis (from Goodreads) Hanna has never been outside her secluded community of Clearhaven. She has never questioned why her father has four wives or why she has fourteen brothers and sisters. And in only one week, on her eighteenth birthday, Hanna will follow tradition and become the fifth wife of a man more than twice her age. But just days before the wedding, Hanna meets Daniel, an enigmatic stranger who challenges her to question her fate and to follow her own will. Then her mother tells her a secret--one that could grant Hanna the freedom she's known only in her dreams. As her world unravels around her, Hanna must decide whether she was really meant for something greater than the claustrophobic world of Clearhaven. But can she abandon her beloved younger sister and the only home she's ever known? Or is there another option-...

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas *This is the sixth book in the Throne of Glass series. Mild spoilers if you haven't read the rest of the series!* Synopsis  (from Goodreads) Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered, since his men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken. His only shot at recovery lies with the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica-the stronghold of the southern continent's mighty empire. And with war looming over Dorian and Aelin back home, their survival might lie with Chaol and Nesryn convincing its rulers to ally with them. But what they discover in Antica will change them both-and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined. Review I could see how this was originally a novella, and also how it developed into a full-b...

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng * I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * Publishing date: 12 Sept 2017 Synopsis "In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned - from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. "Enter Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother - who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. "When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a C...

The Fire Queen by Emily R. Queen * I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * This book will be out 26 September 2017! This is the sequel to The Hundreth Queen , which was published in June, so mild spoilers ahead! Synopsis With the rajah dead and the rebels invading the city, Kalinda flees with her guard, and lover, Deven. Their goal is to seek Prince Ashwin, who has taken refuge in a neighboring kingdom. In order to win the freedom she so desperately desires for herself and Deven, Kalinda must compete in yet another tournament for the throne. As her people become refugees and suffer awful conditions, she finds herself conflicted over her duty to protect her kingdom and those she loves, and also struggles with how to master her fledgling powers. Review One of the best things about this book? That I didn't have to wait an entire year for it! I love that King is pushing them out every four months. Please that become ...

August started off slow. I was kind of in a book slump--nothing really caught my interest and I went through a lot of first chapters. Plus, we were moving for the first week and then unpacking the rest of the month, so I was tired from that. But towards the end of the month things picked up again! It helped that I got some good ARCs via NetGalley! In total, I read eight books this month! And one that I mostly read but could not bring myself to finish... The Tiger's Watch  - Julia Ember (2 stars) The Jane Austen Project  - Kathleen A. Flynn (4 stars) The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue  - Mackenzie Lee (5 stars) Howl's Moving Castle  - Diana Wynne Jones (5 stars) [reread] Book of a Thousand Days  - Shannon Hale (5 stars) Nyxia  - Scott Reintger (4 stars) The Fire Queen - Emily R. King (4 stars) Into The Dim - Janet B. Taylor (3.5 stars) A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars - Yaba Badoe (0 stars - DNF) Quite a few 5 stars! In truth,  Ho...

The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A Flynn Synposis ( from Goodreads ) "England, 1815: Two travelers—Rachel Katzman and Liam Finucane—arrive in a field, disheveled and weighed down with hidden money. They are not what they seem, but colleagues from a technologically advanced future, posing as a doctor and his spinster sister. While Rachel and Liam aren’t the first team of time travelers, their mission is the most audacious yet: meet, befriend, and steal from Jane Austen." Review Time travel and Jane Austen. I mean, what's not  to like? I was swept up in this story from page one. The writing is great, plot is pretty straightforward: They need to infiltrate Jane Austen's circle, first by befriending her brother, then steal a manuscript and some letters between her and her sister, Cassandra. But of course things don't go as planned.  The story is told from Rachel's point of view. She's a doctor, an independent woman, and in her early thirt...

Nyxia by Scott Reintgen * I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * Synposis ( from Goodreads ) "Emmett Atwater isn't just leaving Detroit; he's leaving Earth. Why the Babel Corporation recruited him is a mystery, but the number of zeroes on their contract has him boarding their lightship and hoping to return to Earth with enough money to take care of his family. Forever. Before long, Emmett discovers that he is one of ten recruits, all of whom have troubled pasts and are a long way from home. Now each recruit must earn the right to travel down to the planet of Eden--a planet that Babel has kept hidden--where they will mine a substance called Nyxia that has quietly become the most valuable material in the universe. But Babel's ship is full of secrets. And Emmett will face the ultimate choice: win the fortune at any cost, or find a way to fight that won't forever compromise what it means to be human." Re...

Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh Synopsis ( from Goodreads ) "At just seventeen years old, Mariko is sent to the imperial palace to meet her betrothed, a man she did not choose, for the very first time. But the journey is cut short when Mariko’s convoy is viciously attacked by the Black Clan, a dangerous group of bandits who’ve been hired to kill Mariko before she reaches the palace. "The lone survivor, Mariko narrowly escapes to the woods, where she plots her revenge. Dressed as a peasant boy, she sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and hunt down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she’s within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she’s appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love—a love that will force her to question everything she’s ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires." Review I received this book in my May FairyLoot box. I'm conflicted. I liked lo...

Given To The Sea by Mindy McGinnis Synopsis Khosa has the dancing sickness that will one day carry her into the sea as a sacrifice, but first she must produce an heir. However, human contact makes her sick. Vincent is the prince of a kingdom Khosa must save, but can he save her instead? And from the other side of the land, an enemy marches on the kingdom. Review I received this book in the April FairyLoot box. I really wanted to like this one because I LOVED McGinnis' book last year, The Female of the Species . But I think her forte is in contemporary and not fantasy. I just don't even know where to begin... The world was super confusing. I had no idea what was going on half the time with the various peoples on this... Island? Continent? There's this race or species of people whose skin changes color and there's only two of them left. Then there's another people who send their citizens out to sea to die, then a group of people who are all disabled in ...

The Tiger's Watch by Julia Ember * I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * Synopsis  ( from Goodreads ) Sixteen-year-old Tashi has spent their life training as a inhabitor, a soldier who spies and kills using a bonded animal. When the capital falls after a brutal siege, Tashi flees to a remote monastery to hide. But the invading army turns the monastery into a hospital, and Tashi catches the eye of Xian, the regiment’s fearless young commander. Tashi spies on Xian’s every move. In front of his men, Xian seems dangerous, even sadistic, but Tashi discovers a more vulnerable side of the enemy commander—a side that draws them to Xian. When their spying unveils that everything they’ve been taught is a lie, Tashi faces an impossible choice: save their country or the boy they’re growing to love. Though Tashi grapples with their decision, their volatile bonded tiger doesn't question her allegiances. Katala slaughters Xian’s s...

Wow. I felt like July was reaaaallllyyy   long this year. Anyone else feel like way? It's probably because for once I wasn't  traveling! We had a lot of big changes though, including getting a new apartment and packing everything! But I still found the time to read TWELVE books! Roar - Cora Carmack (4 stars) Always and Forever, Lara Jean - Jenny Han (3.5 stars) Hunted - Meagan Spooner (4 stars) A Natural History of Dragons - Marie Brennan (5 stars) The Summer of Impossible Things - Rowan Coleman (4.5 stars) No Good Deed - Kara Connolly (5 stars) The Crowns of Croswald - D. E. Night (4 stars) The Fifth Doll - Charlie N. Holmberg (3.5 stars) Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins (4.5 stars) Skullsworn - Brian Staveley (4 stars) Daughter of the Burning City - Amanda Foody (3.5 stars) Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (4 stars) [ reread ] It was a really good month for books! As you can see, I have a few 5 stars from this month! Five st...

The Fifth Doll by Charlie N. Holmberg * I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * This book releases 25 July 2017 from 47North Synopsis  (f rom Goodreads ) Matrona lives in an isolated village, where her life is centered on pleasing her parents. She’s diligent in her chores and has agreed to marry a man of their choosing. But a visit to Slava, the local tradesman, threatens to upend her entire life. Entering his empty house, Matrona discovers a strange collection of painted nesting dolls—one for every villager. Fascinated, she can’t resist the urge to open the doll with her father’s face. But when her father begins acting strangely, she realizes Slava’s dolls are much more than they seem. When he learns what she’s done, Slava seizes the opportunity to give Matrona stewardship over the dolls—whether she wants it or not. Forced to open one of her own dolls every three days, she falls deeper into the grim power of Slava’s ...

The Crowns of Croswald by D. E. Night * I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * This book releases 21 July 2017 from Untold Stories Press. Synopsis ( from Goodreads ) For sixteen years Ivy Lovely has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary that separates the mundane from the magical. When Ivy crosses the border, her powers awaken. Curiosity leads her crashing through a series of adventures at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical blood and the power of Croswald’s mysterious gems. When Ivy’s magic—and her life—is threatened by the Dark Queen, she scrambles to unearth her history and save Croswald before the truth is swept away forever. Review An imaginative new world filled with magic, dragons, dwarves, royalty and mystery! I loved the creative new way that the magic works. For royals, they get magical stones on their 16th birthdays that have certain powers. For others who aren't ro...