Month: August 2015

Review: Ready Player One

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Ready

  • Author: Ernest Cline
  • ISBN: 9780307887436
  • Genre: Science Fiction

The above ISBN is for the hardcover edition, but I purchased the audiobook.

Ready Player One is the kind of book that has a lot of hype around it, and once again, because it’s classified as YA, I passed it over.  I wrongly assumed that it was another Ender’s Game.  I had also read somewhere that it was Dystopian.  As much as I love The Hunger Games and a couple of other Dystopian stories, I feel like it has become a bit overdone lately.  However, one of my professors recommended it to me, and there was no way I wasn’t going to check this book out.

Yes, technically this a Dystopian novel, but it’s also a whole lot more.  It’s a tribute to my ’80s childhood and involves much of my favorite music, movies, and video games.  At the same time, it shows the reader the horrible ways life as we know it can go to pot, and there doesn’t need to be a super bug or nuclear war for that to happen.  It also doesn’t necessarily have to be far into the future or involve the complete loss of knowledge about how things used to be.

The reason I chose the audiobook over any other edition is because it’s narrated by Wil Wheaton.  All around, Ready Player One is a geek’s Science Fiction dream.  There is a ridiculous number of geek and ’80s culture references throughout the book, but you don’t have to be a geek or have lived during the ’80s to enjoy it.  However, if you are a geek or gamer or you grew up during the ’80s, you’ll probably enjoy this book even more than the intended young adult audience.  At some point, I’m going to buy the ebook and re-read it while listening to all my favorite ’80s tunes.

#COYER Scavenger Hunt #71: Read a book that prominently includes gaming in some way (Book cover is linked to Goodreads synopsis).

Bout of Books 14!

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Bout of Books
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01 am Monday, August 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

 

It’s that time again!  I’m super excited about this Bout of Books because it’s during the week before my final semester of college.  My Summer class ended yesterday, so I don’t have anything, other than laundry and cooking to get in the way of reading.

Time Devoted to Reading

I will be reading every day of the week.

My Goals

  • finish off whatever books I’m currently reading.
  • Read at least one new book off of my TBR shelf.
  • I want to be able to finish at least 3 books, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to finish 4.

Books to Read

This list will likely change by August 17th, so I’ll update it on day one.

  • Abomination by Gary Whitta
  • Uprooted by Naomi Novik
  • Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Updates

I will be posting an update each day with the number of books I’ve read that day, the titles of the books I’ve finished, and the total number of books read.  If I wasn’t able to finish a book that day, I’ll put the number of pages read instead.

#FitReaders Check-In #31

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Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for July 27th – August 2nd.  I completed week two of the 10-Week Mindful Diet Plan for Healthy Eating from Yoga Journal.
  • My cat Dresden freaked out about some random thing while I was holding him, and my hand and arm took the brunt of his frantic attempt to get away.  Even after I was able to type and use my computer mouse again, I couldn’t do most yoga positions.  So, I skipped the yoga this week.
  • Now that my Summer class has come to an end (today is my Final), I’ll be switching to doing yoga at night during the week before I go to bed.  By the time I’ll be getting up in the morning, the Boyfriend will be going to bed, and I won’t be able to use the TV.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/7
  • Steps: 25,047/56,000
  • Miles: 10.29/21
  • Flights of stairs: 43/70
  • Active Minutes: 66/210
  • Total Money Donated: $14.89

Monday’s Minutes #31

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Currently Reading:

  • Abomination by Gary Whitta – a review book.
  • Uprooted by Naomi Novik
  • Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling – for the HP Re-read I’m doing.

Abomination Uprooted Night Chamber

Finished: Manifesta by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, which I won’t be reviewing due to it being over a decade old, and, therefore outdated. I also finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon, both of which I’ll be reviewing sometime this week.

 Manifesta Ready Scottish

Challenges:

S&S Bingo2update11

Total pages read for the week: 929

Total # of books for the year: 50.  I know what you’re thinking.  Rachelle, why are you reading Shadow of Night when you tore A Discovery of Witches apart in your review?!  Well, while there was certainly enough I didn’t like about the first book, a part of me also wanted to find out what would happen next.  I wasn’t curious enough to pay money for the second book, but when I saw it at the library, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to check it out.  I even read the first chapter before I took it home.  It didn’t make me want to scream or roll my eyes, so I will give fifty pages before I make the decision of whether or not to read the whole book.

Top Commenters: This week my Top Commenter was Shaina @ Shaina Reads.

What are you reading this week?

Mini-Review: The Glass Magician

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Glass

  • Author: Charlie N. Holmberg
  • ISBN: 9781477825945
  • Genre: Fantasy

I purchased this book not long after I finished The Paper Magician.

You know how sequels don’t often live up to the first book?  The Paper Magician was so great that I was afraid the sequel would be disappointing in comparison.  However, that wasn’t the case with The Glass Magician.  If anything, it was better since Charlie N. Holmberg didn’t just rewrite the same story with a different scenario.  She also didn’t make the mistake of rehashing all of the details of the first book before continuing the story.  There were short and to the point reminders of past events, which were helpful and always in relation to the current story, and that was it.

There is so much more that I want to say about The Glass Magician, but I have to keep my mouth shut to avoid spoiling anything.  What I can say is that I’m very much looking forward to the final book, The Master Magician.  I need to know what happens, and I’ve been saving up my Amazon credits for choosing the slowest shipping option just so I can buy it.

#COYER Scavenger Hunt #46: Celebrate 2015 – read a book that’s number in the series can be made from only the number in 2015 (This is book 2 of the Paper Magician series).