March 17, 2013

A Sunday Retrospective (17)

A Sunday Retrospective is inspired by In My Mailbox at The Story Siren and TGIF at GReads!, where I share the books that I've acquired during the week, last week's posts and interesting links.

It's Sunday again friends, and you know what that means - it's time for my weekly retrospective! One of the reasons that I really enjoy putting these posts together for Sundays is that it gives me an opportunity to share links to posts that I've enjoyed, as well as to thank people who have sent me some awesome books in the mail (or to find out what you guys think of books that I've borrowed/purchased recently!). Without further ado, here's what happened this week:
IN MY MAILBOX
from Macmillan (Thank you Ksenia for the finished copy!)
Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

from the library
Something Blue by Emily Giffin
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta 

ON THE BLOG
Reviews
I kicked off the week with good ol' reliable Nicholas Sparks, who surprised me with something in his novel Safe Haven. I then encountered a bit of difficulty at the beginning of Defiance, but powered through and ended up falling in love a third of the way in. The same thing happened to me with Finnikin of the Rock, though Melina Marchetta's writing was impeccable as always. I finished out the week with my first review for an adult novel in a long time, Me Before You.

Other Fun Stuff
I shared with you guys some of the books that are on my spring to-be-read list, and got a little nostalgic thinking about my grandfather's fifth death anniversary.

AROUND THE COMMUNITY

COMPANION NOVELS CHALLENGE

This month, I've been reading Something Borrowed and Something Blue by Emily Giffin for the challenge. While I have read the series before, it's one that I like to revisit, mostly because I find the stories pretty darn addictive. I finished Something Borrowed and am about halfway through Something Blue. Anyone have any thoughts on either of these books?

Don't forget that next month, we'll be reading Perfect Chemistry, Rules of Attraction and Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles! Vi will be hosting for the next two months (April & May), so we'll all congregate on her blog this time. I'm looking forward to starting this series because I've never read it, but have heard good things about it.

(For more info about this challenge and our planned schedule, please feel free to check out this post.)

A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE READ-ALONG

A Game of Thrones has officially become addicting. On Monday, I picked up my paperback copy from the library intending to read just one or two chapters. Instead, I ended up reading all ten of the chapters slotted for this week. It's just so hard to stop once you start! I do admit that reading it in doses definitely helps me out because I feel less intimidated by the length of the novel. How is everyone else faring?

(For more info about this read-along and the schedule, please feel free to check out this post.)

22 Comments:

  1. You know, I've never read ANYTHING by Melina Marchetta. Not Jellicoe Road or Finnikin of the Rock. I really need to make time for it.

    Enjoy your books. Happy reading :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please oh please take some time to read Jellicoe Road! It's such a wonderful, beautiful, well-written contemporary novel. It's a bit difficult to start with, but it's just so AWESOME.

      Delete
  2. YES YES! Game Of Thrones foreva! Although, I find I tend to read the chapters for characters I like way faster than for ones I don't -- I am at a Catelyn chapter and thus it's taking me weeks to get through.

    AND OMG! Revolution! I freakin LOVE Jennifer Donnelly, like I could read her books over and over. I hope you fall head over heels for Andi. And omg omg the Fireworks Suite. All of it. ALL OF IT.

    Basically I have become incoherent with excitement. :-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure how I feel about Catelyn at the moment. My favorites so far are Dany, Arya and Jon, but it keeps shifting with every week the read-along is going on!

      I'm so excited for Revolution now, because you're super excited in this comment! I've heard good things about it, but I definitely trust your opinion and am fairly certain I'm going to like it.

      Delete
  3. I absolutely loved Out of The Easy, it was an amazing read! I love A Game of Thrones (The TV show), but I'm not sure if I'll be reading the book series. x)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was intimidated by the book series at first, but I'm really enjoying it. I haven't seen the show yet, but I'm preparing to watch the first season just as soon as I finish with the first book!

      Delete
  4. I'm excited to see Froi of the Exiles in your pile. I'm reading Quintana of Charyn at the moment and loving it. Though that's pretty much a given where Marchetta is concerned for me. ;) I thought Out of the Easy was brilliant too. I hope you enjoy your new books!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm actually in the middle of a read-along for Froi, and I'm really loving it. It's even better than Finnikin was, and that has me extra excited for Quintana's book!

      Delete
  5. Aww, that is one much-loved copy of A Game of Thrones! ;) Poor little book! I so love that series, though some character's chapters are more interesting than others.
    Yay for Revolution! I really need to read that book, it sounds so good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's definitely well-loved! I'm trying to be extra careful with it, as it's a library copy, but I do like the fact that it means that someone has really enjoyed this series even before I started it.

      Delete
  6. Oooo thanks a lot for remind me The companion novels challenge. I'm totally in :)

    I can't wait to start April and read Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles. It has been in my TBR pile for a while.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're very welcome! I'm glad you'll be joining. I too have not read this set of novels, so I'm very excited to start and be able to finally cross it off my TBR.

      Delete
  7. Great haul this week. looks like your library is better than my local one. Hope you enjoy your new reads

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The library I borrow from is pretty big, so that's helpful. I hope so too. Thanks!

      Delete
  8. I agree that reading Game of Thrones in small doses makes it a LOT less intimidating. At most, I'm reading 3 chapters at a time, but usually only two. And I take a day off sometimes (since I'm only reading it on my bike). It's working out great! I get excited to go back to it and it's hard to believe I'm almost 200 pages in already. I even bought the second one in the series the other day so I can start it right after. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it's pretty crazy that we're blowing through the book so fast! The small doses do help whet my appetite for it, and I never feel too overwhelmed or pressured to read faster. I like it, and I'm glad it's working out for you as well!

      Delete
  9. Aw, thanks for mentioning the Recaptains and THANK YOU for wanting to help us out <3 It's so crazy that people actually want to contribute (makes me want to hug the entire book blogging community!). I'm terrible with the ASOIAF readalong btw! Still haven't read past week 1 :) But I WILL... eventually. And I'm pretty excited to check out Something Borrowed & Something Blue! I have no idea how similar it is, but I adored the movie :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I loved the movie for Something Borrowed! I thought it was very, very cute. The books are great though. This was a re-read for me, and I found it just as captivating as it was the first time around.

      Also, you're welcome. I'm fairly certain that people will find the Recaptains site useful!

      Delete
  10. That copy of Game of Thrones has gotten so much lovin *so proud* Why are those books so amazing? Oooh and I'm incredibly excited to read Mila 2.0 when it's FINALLY published! Can't wait to read your review of it! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm super excited for Mila 2.0 as well. It sounds like such an incredible book, and some of my trusted blogger friends really enjoyed it.

      Delete
  11. Oh Froi of the Exiles is one that I've been SUPER curious about bc of all the amazeballs reviews but I'm iffy because it's fantasy. It's one of those >.< I also have heard great things about Out of the Easy! Awesome haul this week, muffin!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Giselle! Froi is excellent so far, even better than the book before it - Finnikin of the Rock. It's a bit intimidating for a fantasy, especially with Marchetta's writing style, but I like it a lot.

      Delete

Thanks for leaving a comment! I love seeing what you have to say, and will try to reply (here or on Twitter) as soon as I can :)