Wishlist Wednesday

The reason I chose Myra McEntire's Timepiece is because I'm in the middle of the first book in the trilogy, Hourglass, right now and I'm loving it! Soo much better than I expected!

Top Ten Books that deserve more recognition

The Year of the Great Seventh by Teresa Orts

The Rules by Stacey Kade

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

The Confessions Series by Louise Rozett

The Violet Eden Chapters by Jessica Shirvington

The Tempest Trilogy by Julie Cross

Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Dear Bully (Anthology)

Birthright Trilogy by Gabrielle Zevin

The Cahill Witch Chronicles by Jessica Spotswood

Good Morning Monday #2

Good Morning lovelies, how are you all today?

Time flies by, doesn't it? When I last checked, I was just out of school and there was snow everywhere (that was back in April) and now, half of July is already over - weird, isn't it? I, at least, can't keep up anymore!

Anyway, let's come to the important stuff. Like this.

Let's just laugh a little, shall we? All together, on three!

See? Mondays aren't that bad! And even if you think they're bad, maybe we can try to raise the mood one more time by thinking of all the fantastic things that lie ahead of us, yes? Ok.

So, for me that would be catching up on my reading as I am the laziest person in the world right now.

I did get through Confessions of an Almost Girlfriend last week - which was uh-mazing!! However, since that was the only book I finished last week, I still have Myra McEntires books Hourglass and Timepiece and Amanda Sun's Ink to read. Let's press our thumbs together so that I can actually get through them all!!!

As for this week's topic - it's Indie! And by that I mean all kinds of Indie. Indie books, Indie music, Indie authours  - you get the gist! Just check in from time to time to see reviews of at least one (and maybe two) awesome novels, a discussion post that's not so much a discussion at all, and a book I want on my shelf like crazy!

In other news, although I am ridiculously slow right now (for whatever reason), I start training for my first marathon EVER this week - so that's exciting.

Alongside that I AM DETERMINED (sorry for the shouting....) to do blogilates videos for at least 90 minutes and Nike Training Club workouts for at least 45 minutes this week...should be doable considering it's summer and I have basically nothing else to do!!!

Okay, I guess that's it for me and for today. Now, let me know, what books you plan on finishing this week and - if you're into fitness and stuff - what your favorite workout is! Do you like Running - or Pilates? 

Review: Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick

The Apocalypse does not end. The Changed will grow in numbers. The Spared may not survive.

Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she’d come to love.

But she was wrong.

Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don’t trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive. 

A Long Story Short:

I had a few issues with Shadows and the author made me a bit mad at times, but overall I can only recommend the sequel to Ashes, as well. It's not completely free from second book syndrome, yet one of the most gripping novels I've read in a while.

RATING: 3/3 Smarties

Review for You:

The general opinion seems to be that Shadows, the second book in the Ashes trilogy, can not keep up with the brilliance of the first book.

Being the last one reading it, of course, I was warned and I do think that's why my own disappointment wasn't too harsh. I can't say I loved Shadows as much as I loved Ashes, but it's still one of the best books I've read this year. 

The good thing about the book was Bick's writing, her ability to create suspense, to think in the mind of her characters, to never, ever draw an unrealistic plot line or twist and to keep you on the edge of your seat, wanting to know what happens.

Shadows could still have been amazing for all those qualities - if they hadn't been so familiar already. With Ashes I had the benefit of surprise, I was astonished by Bick's skills and that tied me over and kept me amazed until the end.

Shadows, though, had to score in plot and character development in order to wow me again. And while the latter is totally one of Bick's strenghts, I had my problems with the plot.

I can only agree with the masses when they say that Bick relied on too many points of view. In the beginning, it didn't bother me much that she went from one perspective only, Alex's, to several more. I can't name them all (spoilers), but I think at the end we were at at least five. Which is a lot.

Still, it's not the number of perspectives we had, but what they did to the novel, I think.

Peter's and Alex's plotline were cut short, in my opinion, and then stagnitized throughout the middle of the book. Orange's (substitute for he who shall not be named) perspective kept me entertained, but wasn't enough to stick through the other parts of the book without getting bored.

Jumping to a completely different topic, I think Bick went overboard with her realistic and descriptive writing style. This book, my dears, can hardly be considered YA anymore. That's my opinion, at least. If it was a movie, I'm sure anyone under sixteen (maybe even eighteen) wouldn't be allowed to see it. It's not just the violence that's going on in Shadows, it's mostly just the things the characters do to stay alive.

I mean, I get that in a situation like the one described in the book, people would probably behave that way. But I really do find it problematic to still call Shadows YA.

On a more positive side, the ending was fantastic and the novel left off at a really interestsing point. Also, Monsters is coming out soon, so if you haven't started the trilogy yet (and if you think you can handle it), I definitely recommend you go and pick it up.

Review: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

It could happen tomorrow . . .

An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions.

Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP. 

For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.

Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling novel about a world that could be ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation. 

A Long Story Short:

Amazing. Read it.

RATING: 

3/3 Smarties

Review for You:

It took me a year to start reading this book. And while, yes, my TBR pile is huge and growing, there's still no way to justify my holding off. Despite it's terrible marketing.

Seriously, I don't like to be spoiled by the synopsis of a book, either, but if you don't even have an idea of what you're actually holding in your hands, it's quite difficult to get exited about it.*

Unless, of course, you manage to get to the first page.

Which is just as amazing as the entire rest of this book. Seriously, I was amazed by how much Bick had to offer. 

Ashes was not just excellent writing, it was realistic premise, fast paced plot and fantastic characters all in one huge pile of pages. I don't even know where to start with the praise for Ashes. Or, let me think. I guess now I do know.

It's disguisting. You really must be prepared for that. As I stated, it's also great, but it has a lot of violence, a lot of despair, a lot of death and ugliness in it and if you told me before I would never have picked it up. Which would have been a big mistake.

Going along with how disguisting Ashes was is Bick's writing. That woman has got skills, people! Her writing is descriptive, to the point and - unique in every aspect of the book.

It doesn't matter if we're talking Alex, the main character with her strong personality and voice, or Tom and Ellie, all three of them, by the way, come with extraordinary background stories that shaped them into the people you meet on the pages.

In general, Bick is a genius when it comes to letting the reader get to know her characters. All the sidekicks in this story, no matter how important their role for the plot was, were introduced in such a way that at the end of the page I felt like I knew them personally.

Bick's writing also gives the pace of the novel something mindblowing. She manages to put those little words and phrases at the end of her chapters that make it impossible to put the book down - and I didn't have to, anyway. The author's choice of words seems to be random , yet totally fitting, which gives Ashes a poetic touch without ever being slow and dragging. Cornelia Funke, Lauren Oliver and Maggie Stiefvater, for example, are all writers with beautiful language skills - but their books often suffer from slow pace and a lack of action whereas I'd compare Ashes with The Lunar Chronicles (Marissa Meyer) or Under the Never Sky (Veronika Rossi). 

These three novels all made me fall in love from the first page because I could just breeze through the book and still enjoy every second of it.

Overall, you have got to read Ashes to find out about the true beauty of it yourself. I could give you more information about how great Bick handled the romantic aspects, how much feelings this book conveyed, how I was still thinking about it long after I'd finished, but that would turn out to be repetitive and maybe even spoil the book for you, so I recommend you just go and read it yourself, because it's amazing!

*On the back of my edition they only provide the reader with a paragraph taken from the book which leaves you in the blue as to what the book is actually about. The Goodreads summary has a lot more details.

Top Ten Things I have to say about movie adaptions

Harry Potter

The movies were wonderful, no doubt about that. I had my problems with them and I like some more than others and I'm still not over them splitting part seven in two, but at the end of the day I still enjoy watching those movies.

The Devil Wears Prada

I am not even entitled of an opinion as I haven't read the book yet, but I loved the movie. Like...loved it!! The actors were amazing and the setting was caught brilliantly and if the book is even better, I can't wait for it!

The Hunger Games

This is a difficult one, in my opinion. I wasn't obsessed with the movie, but then, I'm also not the biggest fan of the books, either. I enjoyed them enough, but I never really got the hype. Same with the movie. I totally get all the love for Jennifer Laurens and the rest of the crew, but...the enthusiasm didn't come...

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

This movie is SO cute! The actresses for the four girls were pretty unknown back then - and real superstars nowadays (well, to me they're superstars, anyway). So, go watch that movie. I still haven't read the last book of the series (and I do find it kind of slow at times), but the movie is really, really nice.

The Princess Diaries 

I only saw this one two times. The first time I was in...second grade, I think - and I loved it. Because it was an ordinary girl finding out she was a princess. Finally, I had proof for my theories. The next time was about a month ago - and I hated the movie. After reading and loving all the books, I realized that it just can't compare. Sorry. Even Anne Hathaway can't make up for that. I like her as an actress now, but back then...not so much.

The Lucky One

I loved the book and I'm obsessed with Zac Efron, but the movie didn't make it for me. I remember being so disappointed by it when it came out last year. Then again, I went to see it with my mom and spend most of the time hiding in my seat because there were SO much more steamy scenes than I remembered. Awkward!

The Last Song

Loved them both, book and movie. I read the book first and it brought me to tears and the movie has come out really great, too!

Twilight

Most of you already know Twilight and I don't go together really well. One contributing factor was, I think, was that I saw the movie first. And I had to sit through it and hated every second. It was SO boring. I mean, I get why some of you like it. I also get why one would like the books. It's just not for me.

Ruby Red Trilogy

Yup, this is, in fact, a movie. Here in Germany the trilogy has long come out, the hype was fading and then - the movie came out. And I'm afraid, I haven't even seen it. I saw pictures of the costumes and the setting and everything - and I'm too afraid to try it. Seriously, I don't want this trilogy ruined for me.

Good Morning Monday! #1

Good Morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Bookish Universe!

First of all, don't worry, I'm not crazy. Even the Booksmartie, early raiser by birth, has got her problems with waking up at 5AM on a Monday to go to work.

So, admittedly, I am not typing this in the morning, but on a sunshin-y sunday afternoon near my window, with a good book and a balcony right in side. So, I might as well start this post with something to cheer you up a little:

Let's skip book and balcony for a second, though, and talk about the week ahead. I personally sincerely hope it's going to be an awesome one.

Tomorrow, we'll start of with a Top Ten Tuesday that is all about the movies...but I'm going to have to alternate the topic a bit to fit my needs (and abilities).

Wednesday and Thursday is for reviews - this time, though, on books that I really don't want to see in movie version. The pictures that are still in my head give me nightmares, I'm telling you!

Friday is for following, of course - and a big surprise for everyone, as always. 

On Saturday, we will discuss movies, duh! - but from a different point of view.

Also, 45 Pounds is coming out this week and I would get my head chopped off to read this book. 

Sadly,though, I'm still desperately trying not to drown in my TBR pile these days...

Instead, I'm looking forward to reading Myra McEntires Hourglass and (maybe) Timepiece (shhh, the last book is coming out next month!) and the new Confessions book by Louise Rozett. Oh, and despite the so-so reviews for Amanda Sun's Ink, I'm hoping to get my own taste of it somewhere in the middle of this week, too.

With this, I'm going to leave with the one question burning in my mind:

What are you reading this week?