Tag: Fairytale Retelling Challenge

2015 in Review (& End of Year and Statistics Surveys)

Posted December 31, 2015 in Life, Reading / 10 Comments

Big Things That Happened in 2015

  • I mentioned the school talent show in which the teachers sang Yellow Submarine.
  • I worked at a Catholic summer camp for the summer and had a blast. I wrote about it and shared some pictures.
  • I survived over a week of blinding smoke due to forest fires. It was insane. I talked about that here.
  • I had my very first ever Blogversary which was exciting.

Analysis of Books I Read in 2015

This was the very first year that I ever kept track of the books that I read. My stats have amazed me.

  • I read 141 books.
  • Almost all of the books I read this year were 4 or 5 stars. I must be pretty good at choosing books I know I’ll enjoy.
  • Over two-thirds of the books I read this year were from the library or books I own.
  • Over half of the books I read this year were hard copied (Paperback or Hardcover) while over a quarter were ebooks. Audiobooks made up the rest.
  • About a quarter of the books I read this year were debuts.

I made some pretty nifty looking pie charts in Excel (you can just pretend they are totally awesome).

2015 formats2015 covers2015 star ratings2015 debuts2015 source

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{Review} A Court of Thorns and Roses – Beauty and the Beast and Faeries

Posted December 17, 2015 in Reading, Review / 6 Comments

{Review} A Court of Thorns and Roses – Beauty and the Beast and FaeriesA Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's (2015)
eBook (416 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Also by this author: Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire
Reading Challenges: 2015 Fairytale Retelling, Read 2015

Synopsis

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it… or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

Find the book: Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depository

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November 2015 in Review

Posted November 30, 2015 in Reading / 8 Comments

Month in Review

Is November really over! It seems like this month has gone by so very fast for me. It is crazy!

Things that Happened in November

  • So much has happened it is hard to get it all in words. One of the students at my school suffered a stroke and is hospitalized for now. A counselor at the district high school died from an unexpected heart attack. My grandmother has been hospitalized yet again. It really hasn’t been a great month.
  • My religious education class (4th grade) was enrolled in the Association of the Miraculous Medal. They are all so excited to have miraculous medals.

Books I Read in November

The Heart of BetrayalThe Painter's DaughterSapphire BlueWinter
Emerald GreenA Court of Thorns and RosesEverneathJesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives
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{Review} Daughter of the Forest ~ Retelling a Celtic Tale

Posted October 5, 2015 in Reading, Review / 4 Comments

{Review} Daughter of the Forest ~ Retelling a Celtic TaleDaughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Series: Sevenwaters #1
Publisher: Tor (1999)
Hardcover (400 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2015 Fairytale Retelling, 2015 Re-Reading, Read 2015

Synopsis

Juliet Marillier is a rare talent, a writer who can imbue her characters and her story with such warmth, such heart, that no reader can come away from her work untouched. Daughter of the Forest is a testimony to that talent, a first novel and the beginning of a trilogy like no other: a mixture of history and fantasy, myth and magic, legend and love.
Lord Colum of Sevenwaters is blessed with six sons: Liam, a natural leader; Diarmid, with his passion for adventure; twins Cormack and Conor, each with a different calling; rebellious Finbar, grown old before his time by his gift of the Sight; and the young, compassionate Padriac.
But it is Sorcha, the seventh child and only daughter, who alone is destined to defend her family and protect her land from the Britons and the clan known as Northwoods. For her father has been bewitched, and her brothers bound by a spell that only Sorcha can lift.
To reclaim the lives of her brothers, Sorcha leaves the only safe place she has ever known, and embarks on a journey filled with pain, loss, and terror.
When she is kidnapped by enemy forces and taken to a foreign land, it seems that there will be no way for her to break the spell that condemns all that she loves. But magic knows no boundaries, and Sorcha will have to choose between the life she has always known and a love that comes only once.

Find the book: Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depository

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{Review} A Thousand Nights – Demons, Smallgods and Storytelling

Posted October 1, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments

{Review} A Thousand Nights – Demons, Smallgods and StorytellingA Thousand Nights by E K Johnston
Publisher: Disney Hyperion (2015)
eARC (336 pages)
Via: NetGalley
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2015 Fairytale Retelling, Read 2015

Synopsis

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.
And so she is taken in her sister’s place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin’s court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time.But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.
Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.
Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.

Find the book: Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depository

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