2017 is a very tough year for me. My grandmother passed away last April and I’m not really into doing things after that. After the struggle of adjusting from my unemployed self to the stressful employed individual that I am now in the first quarter of the year. This second quarter was very challenging for many reasons that I would not specify except for what I mentioned earlier about my grandmother.
However, I feel like I’m figuring out my way into working and reading because I managed to read 8 books in three months compared to 4 books from the last three months. Although some of the books that I read are novellas and graphic novel, I feel so accomplished.
I’m excited to share them with you so let’s get into it!
THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien
Rating: 4 out of 5
Thoughts: I love the characters, the plot and of course the story as a whole. This book sets the bar for The Lord of The Rings. If this book is sooooo good, then I expect LOTR to be better. I am looking forward to reading more of Tolkien’s work. Highly recommending this book. Forget about every book that I recommend, this book is the one. ❤
Click here for the full review.
Synopsis:
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.” The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a “little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves.” He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, “looking for someone to share in an adventure,” Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit’s doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure.
LIPS TOUCH THREE TIMES by Laini Taylor
Rating: 5 out of 5
Thoughts: Three stories in one book; 3 sets of characters that have different characteristics. I don’t know how Laini Taylor does it but her mind is wonderful. Her play on different mythological creatures and story revolving around one theme fascinates me. There are unexpected twist and turn plus romance. It’s everything and more. I really enjoy every book that I’ve read by Laini Taylor so far.
Synopsis:
Three tales of supernatural love, each pivoting on a kiss that is no mere kiss, but an action with profound consequences for the kissers’ souls:
Goblin Fruit
In Victorian times, goblin men had only to offer young girls sumptuous fruits to tempt them to sell their souls. But what does it take to tempt today’s savvy girls?Spicy Little Curses
A demon and the ambassador to Hell tussle over the soul of a beautiful English girl in India. Matters become complicated when she falls in love and decides to test her curse.Hatchling
Six days before Esme’s fourteenth birthday, her left eye turns from brown to blue. She little suspects what the change heralds, but her small safe life begins to unravel at once. What does the beautiful, fanged man want with her, and how is her fate connected to a mysterious race of demons?
CINDERELLA: A Real Life Fairy Tale by Jamie Brook Thompson
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Thoughts: I enjoyed this book so much. It is a quick read and highly recommended to those who wants to read a cheesy romance without the fillers to make the story longer. How the author translate a fairy tale in the contemporary setting hooked me into reading this and the other books in the series as well.
Synopsis:
If a dream is a wish your heart makes then Cindee Ellis is in major trouble. There’s no way Henry Christensen will ever notice her under all those oil stains and brake fluid splattered across her shirt. Unless—she’s dead wrong about him. Join her with this real life fairy tale set in the small town of Silver Creek to find out how she’ll work her guts out to make her own happily ever after.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: A Real Life Fairy Tale by Jamie Brook Thompson
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Thoughts: I love this book better than the first one. The characteristics of the characters are more similar to that of the real story from which this book was based, even the antagonist in this story gives the same feel as the real Gaston. I really enjoy this sweet, fun and light read novellas. It is one of those books that you considered as a guilty pleasures.
Synopsis:
There’s a tale as old as time of two people falling in love, but what happens when Belle won’t have anything to do with it. Join her with this real life fairytale set in the small town of Silver Creek to find out how she’ll transform the town’s beast into a handsome prince with her heart, not her beautician skills.
ALIENATED by Melissa Landers
Rating: 3.75 out of 5
Thoughts: I like the overall feels of the book, except the mushy romance and the slow pacing. It is not that solid for a first book, but if the author delivers well, develop the concept more and explore the world deeper, I think this would be an awesome trilogy.
Click here for the full review.
Synopsis:
Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them.
Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.
Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.
But when Cara’s classmates get swept up by anti-L’eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn’t safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara’s locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.
Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she’s fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.
INSTRUMENTAL by Dave Chisholm
Rating: 4 out of 5
Thoughts: Reading this graphic novel gives me a whole new experience in reading not because it is a graphic novel but because there is a background music accompanying the book while you’re reading it. It’s entertaining with a touch of philosophy. I love that I could understand the references in the book but I think people would love it still otherwise. The plot as a whole is a no brainer and it is perfect for a quick read.
Synopsis:
Tom is a solid, but not great, musician. While his bandmates are happy to play gigs for themselves at their own clubs, drinking free beer and shooting the breeze, Tom aches for the next level, whatever that is. And as musicians are wont to do in magical fables, he meets a mysterious stranger with a seemingly simple offer: take a battered old trumpet for free, and just enjoy it, no exchanges and no strings. Whenever Tom plays it, the extraordinary music blows away his growing throngs of fans, and deadly mishaps start to follow. Tom may not have sold his soul for the music of the heavens, but he seems to have bargained away something much more serious.
From the critically acclaimed jazz musician Dave Chisholm, Instrumental is a high-spirited, suspenseful, formally inventive, visually musical graphic novel, an epic yet intimate riff on our longing search for what’s next.
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE by C.S. Lewis
Rating: 4.25 out of 5 star
Thoughts: I’m at a lost for words after reading this book. It’s not only for younger kids but teens and young adults would still love this. Reading it for the first time gives me the understanding of the fandom surrounding this series. The characters and the world building, it makes me crave for more. I’m so glad that I pushed myself to read this.
Synopsis:
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, completed in the winter of 1949 & published in 1950, tells the story of four ordinary children: Peter, Susan, Edmund & Lucy Pevensie. They discover a wardrobe in Prof. Digory Kirke’s house that leads to the magical land of Narnia, which is currently under the spell of a witch. The four children fulfill an ancient, mysterious prophecy while in Narnia. The Pevensie children help Aslan (the Turkish word for lion) & his army save Narnia from the evil White Witch, who’s reigned over the Narnia in winter for 100 years.
PRINCE CASPIAN by C.S. Lewis
Rating: 4 out of 5
Thoughts: This book makes me happy and sad; I’m happy to see the kids go back to Narnia, but sad because as they grow older, they could no longer enter Narnia. It gives me the Peter Pan vibes in the last chapter and realizing that new set of characters would soon appear makes me back off to reading the next books because I’ve been attached to Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edmund.
Synopsis:
How good Prince Caspian and his army of Talking beasts conquered the Telmarines.
And that, my friends, are all the books that I have read in the past 3 months. Hoping to read more books in the coming months! And hoping to review the books that I have read in the last 3 months.
Till next time!
Maria ❤
A Daughter of Parchment and Paper 