Magic Study

Author: Maria V Snyder
Series: Study #2
Publication Date: October 1, 2006
Source: Purchased

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Summary from Goodreads: YOU KNOW YOUR LIFE IS BAD WHEN YOU MISS YOUR DAYS AS A POISON TASTER...
With her greatest enemy dead, and on her way to be reunited with the family she'd been stolen from long ago, Yelena should be pleased. But though she has gained her freedom, she can't help feeling isolated in Sitia. Her Ixian background has changed her in many ways—and her newfound friends and relatives don't think it's for the better....
Despite the turmoil, she's eager to start her magic training—especially as she's been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia's throne for a lost prince—and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians.
If that wasn't bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with all her new enemies...

This book was quite different from Poison Study. Yelena is in her home land and is attempting to learn to control her magic - the whole feel of the book is different from the first. Since the book takes place in Sitia, the world building from book 1 is essentially gone.

The plot didn't feel as riveting and I found myself shaking my head as the protagonist made foolish decisions. Yes, she was always true to her character by consistently being brave and caring for other, but she was quite foolish.

In this book we are introduced to a number of new characters. Unfortunately, I didn't really care for any of them. None of them felt as well developed to me as the characters in the first book. I also felt like Valek has changed a bit - I understand that his relationship with Yelena developed and so naturally the way he interacts with her would be different but he just seemed far too different to me.

It was an OK read and I'll continue the series simply because I purchased the bundle.

Assassin Study

Author: Maria V Snyder
Series: Study #1.5
Publication Date: March 1, 2008
Source: Purchased

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Summary from Goodreads: Yelena, the heroine of Maria V. Snyder's stunning debut novel Poison Study, is on her way to her ancestral homeland of Sitia to be reunited with her family and to learn more about her magical powers. An order of execution hangs over her head should she ever return to Ixia. But her true love, Valek, quickly learns that an assassin has taken it upon himself to make sure Yelena doesn't reach her destination.
As Ixia's chief of security, and a highly skilled assassin himself, can Valek track down the killer in time to save Yelena's life?

This short story is told from Valek's perspective, but it doesn't really add to the series - it is straight forward and there is no character development. In terms of timing the novella takes place right in between books 1 and 2, however it seemed kind of pointless. The quality of the writing was not nearly as good as Poison Study. Honestly, it was a bit of a let down.

Important Note: After looking at the Author's website (where you can read this short story for FREE, it is apparent that the reader's were given the opportunity to vote on Valek's actions, which might explain some of the problem with the character development.

Poison Study

Author: Maria V Snyder
Series: Study #1
Publication Date: October 1, 2005
Source: Purchased

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Summary from Goodreads: Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison...About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.
And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.
As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

This book has been on my Goodreads TBR shelf since my first day on the site in 2012! Since I have been in a reading/blogging slump, I went into this book without reading the summary, so I didn't exactly remember what I was in for.

At first I thought the book had a clear cut plot - Yelena is the Commader's new food taster. I had no idea that the book would flesh out in so many directions: magic, political elements and a subplot. I was pleasantly surprised and loved every minute.

I liked Yelena - she is strong and smart, but not overly cocky. I particularly liked her survival instinct and her personal growth. Her back story was interesting and I really liked the way it revealed to the reader. The book is told from Yelena's perspective which I think helped me connect to her so instantaneously.

Valek, is easily on of my favorite male characters. He is deep, reserved, and dedicated. I loved Rand and felt like he was exactly what I expected in a chef and D was exactly what I expected for a seamstress. The Commander surprised me - I am still not sure if we truly know him yet.

The world building was phenomenal. I felt like I was given information as it was needed for the story - there were NO info dumps. Considering the fact that this book was more complex than I initially thought, the world building was really well done.

The romance was well done, initially not obvious and once it was clear it was a slow build. The plot was pretty thick and the multiple layers to the story really kept me guessing.

Truthwitch

Author: Susan Dennard
Series: Witchlands #1
Publication Date: January 5, 2016
Source: Purchased
Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Summary from Goodreads: In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.
Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.
Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.
In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

Witch books are typically hit or miss for me; I am happy to say that Truthwitch was a hit. This book started out exciting and really held my interest. It was one of those books that made me look forward to going to bed early just so I could read it. The world building was great, I could easily envision where we were. I did struggle a teeny tiny bit with understanding some of the terms and the magic system, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.

I LOVED the characters! They are extremely well done, not only the main characters and secondary characters, but even the supporting characters. I felt like they were real people with real personalities. I also loved seeing the growth of certain characters – this felt genuine, like they are still themselves but have grown into better versions of themselves.

The relationships in this book are probably my favorite. I mean it’s a book about Threadsisters (which I like to think of as the best friends that are as close as sisters and even sort of soul mates). I LOVE LOVE LOVE that this book focused on a positive female friendship – it was beautiful. There are also Threadbrothers – and I loved seeing just how deep this thread-person bond was. There was some romance, I personally loved seeing the power of heartthreads with Ryber and Kullen. I am definitely looking forward to the development of a certain romance in the second book.

Typical to fantasy books, there is an epic journey with lots of action. I absolutely loved it! This was the perfect dose of the thrill when you ride a rollercoaster and edge of your seat suspense in a movie. It was perfection. There is a dash of political turmoil too. 

This book was everything I love about a good book and I can't wait for Windwitch!

Where's Emily?

Hi Everyone,

You may have noticed that things has slowed down significantly around here. Well - life happens and things just haven't slowed down for me. Work has been busy and family obligations have taken up lots of my time. I've also fond myself in a bit of a reading slump -  just don't have the interest in reading the way I used to. So, I am riding the waves right now. Reading when I can, blogging when the desire hits. I'm sorry, I've neglected my readers, but I appreciate your understanding. I have no idea how often I'll be blogging, but I am definitely not quitting.

See you around! 

Guest of the Month #3

Have you ever wished you knew more bloggers? Do you want to have the chance to guest post on other people’s blogs? Would you love to have a break and have a post written for you? You are in the right place!

What is Guest of the Month club?Guest of the month club is a monthly opportunity to collaborate with different bloggers! Every month you will be paired with a different blogger. You will each plan a guest post for the other’s blog (topic suggestions will be provided every month!). Then all of the club members will post on the same day of the month to make blog hopping easier. This event is hosted and organized by Emily @ Emily Reads Everything.

This Month's Guest is Cyra from Rattle the Pages

Beyond the Blog: Top 5 Books I Want to Read in 2016

Hello everyone! I’m Cyra (Sear-ah) from Rattle the Pages! I’m happy to be hosted today by Emily for the Guest of the Month Club! Today I’m going to be talking about the top 5 books I can’t wait to read in 2016!

First of all, this topic really isn’t fair because there are SO many amazing books coming out this year, I don’t know how I’m supposed to pick just five! So I cheated a little bit!

First, here are the top five books that I want to read this year that are NOT debuts!

1. The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson - I absolutely adored The Kiss of Deception! I really liked The Heart of Betrayal as well! After the ending of HOB, I think that things were as bleak as they could possibly be for Lia and things can literally only go up from there. I can’t wait for this one!
2. Remembrance by Meg Cabot - I was SO excited when I heard about this book! I used to have EVERYTHING by Meg Cabot, but when I was running out of bookshelf space, I gave them to the used bookstore. So I can’t even reread this series in anticipation of this book! I need to get these books again because these were my absolute favorite of her books! Even if I can’t get them soon, I heard that this one can be read as a standalone so that’s awesome!
3. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard - After that HEARTBREAKING betrayal that SUNK MY SHIP TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN, I need to know what happens next. I am SO excited for this book!
4. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas - I loved A Court of Thorns and Roses. I loved Feyre and Tamlin. I’m excited to read this book, but also scared because if there’s going to be a love triangle and Rhysand is one leg of it, this is quickly going to become a book that I really don’t care for. I HATED Rhysand!
5. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys - I love WWII historical fiction! This one sounds like it’s gonna be really sad, but really good! I can’t wait to dive into this one!

Now for top five debuts that I want to read this year!

1. Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie - I have heard nothing but good things about this one and fantasy is my favorite genre. So I think that this one will definitely be a hit with me!
2. Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan - I don’t think that this is the author’s general debut, but I think it’s her YA debut. Not sure if that’s right or not, but that cover is literally the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever been fortunate enough to lay my eyes on.
3. The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye - This one just sounds really good. I just really want it. I don’t even really have a reason except that it sounds fantastic.
4. The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi - This one sounds so good! The idea of a fantasy inspired by Indian Mythology really excites me! 
5. After the Woods by Kim Savage - The summary of this book reminds me of an episode of a crime drama like Criminal Minds or something! Crime dramas are my favorite so I’m really excited for this one!

Those are just a few of the many, many books that I am anxiously awaiting this year. I need them all like, yesterday!!

Poison Tour

Poison by Lan Chan
(Wind Dancer #1)
Publication date: September 1st 2015
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult

Amazon | B&N | Smashwords

Synopsis: Since the night her mother was murdered, sixteen-year-old Rory Gray has known one truth: There are no good Seeders.
In post-apocalyptic Australia, the scientists known as Seeders have built a Citadel surrounded by food-producing regions and populated with refugees from the wars and famine. To maintain their control, the Seeders poisoned the land and outlawed the saving of seeds.
It’s been six years since Rory graced the Seeders’ circus stage as the Wind Dancer and still the scars on her body haven’t healed. Even worse are the scars on her heart, left by a Seeder boy who promised to protect her.
Now the Seeders are withholding supplies from Rory’s region for perceived disobedience. Utilising the Wanderer knowledge she received from her mother, Rory must journey to the Citadel through uninhabitable terrain to plead for mercy.
However, the Citadel isn’t as Rory remembered. The chief plant geneticist is dying and rumours fly that the store of viable seed is dwindling. The Seeders are desperate to find a seed bank they believe Rory can locate, and they will stop at nothing to get it.
To defy the Seeders means death. But Rory has been close to death before–this time she’s learned the value of poison.
Recommended for fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent, strong protagonists, minority characters, circuses and nature!

AUTHOR BIO:
Lan Chan is a writer, gardener and professional procrastinator based in Melbourne, Australia. She is still waiting for her super powers to manifest but until then she writes young adult novels featuring strong female protagonists, minority characters and has a particular interest in dystopias and urban fantasy. Lan’s debut novel POISON, the first in her WIND DANCER series is due for release in September 2015.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

This is a unique dystopian, I loved that the focus was on seeds and genetic modifications to plants. I also really liked that it was set in Australia.

This book takes off at a fast pace that does not let up. There were a few graphic/violent scenes that were a bit much for me. While the plot moved at an exiting pace, there were times when I felt like Aurora lost her focus on her journey. But there were plenty of plot twists that kept me on my toes. The world building was OK, but could have used more details. A few details seemed unrelated, but later in the book they came together. I felt like this could have been executed a little better. Unfortunately, the book lacked character development. I did, however like that there was not a heavy focus on romance. I was a little let down by the ending because the story felt unfinished. All that being said, I did enjoy reading the book, it was exciting and I am really interested in reading the next book in the series.

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Orphan Queen

The Orphan Queen
Author: Jodi Meadows
Series: The Orphan Queen #1
Publication Date: March 10, 2015
Source: Purchased
Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Summary from Goodreads: Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.
She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.
She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.
She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others.
Jodi Meadows introduces a vivid new fantasy full of intrigue, romance, dangerous magic, and one girl’s battle to reclaim her place in the world.

This book had a really slow start for me. At some point it picked up a tiny bit and because more interesting. I like Wilhelmina and was really intrigued by her world and he story. I struggled with the concept of the wraith - like I just didn't really get it. The middle of the book moved at a decent pace, but was a bit unbelievable. The characters was interesting, for the most part, but none of them stuck out to me as extraordinarily well developed. The plot twists were fun, but a bit predictable. The ending just annoyed me. Overall, I liked the book and enjoyed reading it, but there really isn't much to say beyond that.

2015 Wrap Up

2015 was one of the busiest years for me! I finished my master's degree, planned my sister's wedding shower and bachelorette party, went to my sister's wedding abroad, started a new job, and my mother in law passed away. Unfortunately, all this stuff took away from reading and blogging. I greatly appreciate all the readers and bloggers who continue to read my blog.

Here is an update on the challenges I participated in 2015.

2015 Book Blog BINGO hosted by me 

(I was totally not prepared to host a challenge and not many people participated in this, but to those of you who did, thank you!)

My Goal: A Double Bingo

Status: Met

A book that takes place in a school: The School for Good and Evil

A book purchased in 2014: Shadow and Bone

The second book in a series: Siege and Storm

A book with magic or paranormal characters: Ruin and Rising

A book written by an author that you've never read before: The Donor

A book with romance: A Wizard Rises

A book published in 2015: Bright Fire

A book that made you cry: The Sin Eater's Daughter

A review persuaded you to read it: The Winner's Curse

A book outside your comfort zone: Moneyball

A book that has been on your TBR shelf for two years or longer: Ashes of Foreverland

A book with a dragon: The Girl at Midnight

A book more than 500 pages: Days of Blood & Starlight

A book with a beautiful cover: Daughter of Smoke & Bone

A book with a color in the title: Scarlet

A book you (should have) read in high school: The Book Thief

A book from the New York Times Best Sellers List: Queen of Shadows

A fairy tale retelling: The Wrath and the Dawn

A book that someone recommended to you: Six of Crows

2015 Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge
hosted by Falling for YA

My Goal: 25 books and 80%

Status: half met (9 books, 91%)

1. The Donor by Nikki Rae

2. A Wizard Rises by AJ Nuest

3. Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

4. A Time of Reckoning by AJ Nuest

5. The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey

6. Hidden Huntress by Danielle Jensen

7. Spelled by Betsy Schow

8. Lion Heart by AC Gaughen

9. Hidden Gates by DT Dyllin

2015 Discussion Challenge

hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction 

and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight

My Goal: 1 - 12 Discussion Dabbler

Status: Met (even though I was really hoping to complete one discussion per month)

1. Book Event Etiquette
2. Rereacds and Reviews
3. Book Previews
4. Promoting Archived Posts
5. Adults who read YA

2015 Goodreads Reading Challenge

My Goal: 70 books

Status: Not Met (45 books)

Guest of the Month #2

Have you ever wished you knew more bloggers? Do you want to have the chance to guest post on other people’s blogs? Would you love to have a break and have a post written for you? You are in the right place!

What is Guest of the Month club?Guest of the month club is a monthly opportunity to collaborate with different bloggers! Every month you will be paired with a different blogger. You will each plan a guest post for the other’s blog (topic suggestions will be provided every month!). Then all of the club members will post on the same day of the month to make blog hopping easier. This event is hosted and organized by Emily @ Emily Reads Everything.

This Month's Guest is Heather from Based on a True Story

Beyond the Blog: Favorite Holiday Traditions

Hi! I'm Heather from Based on a True Story. Emily is hosting me today for the Guest of the Month Club. The topic this month is:

Favorite Holiday Traditions

As soon as I read that I knew I was in trouble. My family doesn't have any. We are entirely free-form around the holidays. In fact, we are so flexible that our major holiday tradition is sitting down sometime on Thanksgiving to decide when Christmas is going to be this year. You'd think that would be an easy answer but it turns out that it isn't. I'm lucky in that my husband's family is far away so we only have to visit my family on holidays. Other people in my family have to balance several celebrations. I have a stepdaughter and so if we want her to be involved in my family's Christmas we need to take her mother's family into consideration. To make that easier, we've decided that Christmas can be anytime. This year the get together for my father's family was December 13. That party has been held as late as February in previous years to make it easier for everyone to get there. The celebration for my immediate family is actually happening today (December 26). That's fairly close to actual Christmas day for us and I'm a little disappointed. If you push it back to New Year's you can hit the after Christmas sales for all your Christmas shopping.


What do we do on December 25? Actually, I'm sort of nervous about that day. A few years ago there was a huge ice storm here and all the power was out for several days including Christmas. It highlighted how truly everything is closed on Christmas. You can't buy food except for at gas stations and that was slim pickings. We ended up finding a working movie theater and eating popcorn and nachos for our meals because we couldn't cook anything. Ever since I stock up for Christmas eating like we might starve to death any minute. We also go to movies every Christmas which horrifies my mother because she thinks that everyone should be home with their families on that day but she's going to be going with us this year. Welcome to the dark side, Mom!
 

 I also like driving around on Christmas morning and looking at all the abandoned parking lots. It is so quiet outside that it feels like a scene from a movie about life after an apocalypse.
 
 It is very peaceful.

Does Your Family Have Any Holiday Traditions?

Gone Girl

Author: Gillian Flynn 
Publication Date: May 24, 2012
Source: Purchased
Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Summary from Goodreads: On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

This book had a somewhat slow start and the timeline was a bit confusing. There were alternating points of view; Nick in the present and Amy via diary entries starting years ago. Each character has a unique voice, so the characters felt well done.

At about the halfway point, the story got going and there were some major plot twists. The story was intensely suspenseful and kept my brain spinning. The main characters became unreliable, but in an interesting way. The author clearly understands the thinking of a sociopath. I felt sucked into the story, especially as the plot began to move at a more steady pace. However, I was let down by the ending, it felt like an obvious ploy to write a sequel. I'm not sure that I would read a sequel because things just felt too crazy to me.

December Netgalley Reading Challenge Update

This challenge is hosted by Falling for YA. Basically the goal is to tackle your review books and get your feedback percentage up.

My goal is 25 books and to maintain a percentage of 80% or better. 

Here's a fun update: I finally posted my Netgalley badges on my blog!! 

My current percent is 91%.

Unfortunately, my progress is pretty slow... I have been struggling to find titles that I am honestly interested in reading an reviewing. I just can't bring myself to request books, just to request them.

Here is my progress so far:
1. The Donor by Nikki Rae
2. A Wizard Rises by AJ Nuest
3. Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton
4. A Time of Reckoning by AJ Nuest
5. The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey
6. Hidden Huntress by Danielle Jensen
7. Spelled by Betsy Schow
8. Lion Heart by AC Gaughen
9. Hidden Gates by DT Dyllin

December Book Blog BINGO

Welcome to the December Review and Progress Link-Up for the 2015 Book Blog BINGO Challenge. Before linking up, make sure you signed up for the challenge. Don't forget, you can update or change your goal at any time!

I met my goal!!

My Goal

A Double BINGO (2 traditional BINGOs in any direction)

My Progress

A book that takes place in a school: The School for Good and Evil

A book purchased in 2014: Shadow and Bone
The second book in a series: Siege and Storm
A book with magic or paranormal characters: Ruin and Rising
A book written by an author that you've never read before: The Donor
A book with romance: A Wizard Rises
A book published in 2015: Bright Fire
A book that made you cry: The Sin Eater's Daughter
A review persuaded you to read it: The Winner's Curse
A book outside your comfort zone: Moneyball
A book that has been on your TBR shelf for two years or longer: Ashes of Foreverland
A book with a dragon: The Girl at Midnight
A book more than 500 pages: Days of Blood & Starlight
A book with a beautiful cover: Daughter of Smoke & Bone
A book with a color in the title: Scarlet
A book you (should have) read in high school: The Book Thief
A book from the New York Times Best Sellers List: Queen of Shadows
A fairy tale retelling: The Wrath and the Dawn
A book that someone recommended to you: Six of Crows

Guest of the Month #1

Have you ever wished you knew more bloggers? Do you want to have the chance to guest post on other people’s blogs? Would you love to have a break and have a post written for you? You are in the right place!

What is Guest of the Month club?Guest of the month club is a monthly opportunity to collaborate with different bloggers! Every month you will be paired with a different blogger. You will each plan a guest post for the other’s blog (topic suggestions will be provided every month!). Then all of the club members will post on the same day of the month to make blog hopping easier. This event is hosted and organized by Emily @ Emily Reads Everything.

This Month's Guest is Charlotte from Charlotte's Library 

Beyond the Blog: What do you do when you aren't blogging?

I have been blogging for almost eight years now, and have gotten to a point where blogging, qua blogging, doesn't take up too much time. Which is good, because there are little things like work (I'm an archaeologist for my state's preservation agency) and children (although they are older than they used to be, as is the case for so many of us) and home renovations, which never end, to keep me busy. There is also my hobby, which is "picking up books and trying to find places to put them down again."

At the sane end of the scale, such as one could talk about in public, there's checking books out of the library and getting books in the mail or buying them. But even here, my sanity is stretched fairly thin; I have a bad habit of placing library holds to soothe myself at work, and I seem to require lots of soothing, and they all seem to come in at once, and I end up with more books on hand than I can possibly read. I spend considerable time stacking books at home, or moving books from stacks that have gotten too big, or picking them up to actually read them, and then getting distracted, and gently shedding books wherever I go, only of course to scurry around afterwards looking for them all again!

Recently I read, with great interest, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (the Japanese book that tells you, to gather all your material things in huge heaps by category and keep only what gives you joy). Clearly, the book tidying method suggested in this book is neither prudent or feasible; if I were to put every book I own in one room, the floor would collapse (it is an old and tired house). But I was able to successfully dump the contents of my dresser drawers on to the guest room bed. This freed up considerable drawer space, and at last I have a nice place to keep the books I have on offer at Paperback Book Swap! (Although of course I currently have no nice place for houseguests to sleep....)

But the books I have at home don't seem to offer enough scope for moving them around, so I expanded my range. I run the booksales at my local library, and this involves considerable book moving, up from the donation area, where every day I find more bags of donations, into the sorting closet, and then I must squirrel the sorted boxes away as efficiently as possible...

I am trying to cut down on the number of books I move around. I try hard to find them permanent places to live, like the pantry shelves (the Japenese method of tidying up cleared up lots of good book space there too!). But it just doesn't seem to be happening.....

Thank you so much Charlotte for writing this guest post for my blog, it was super fun being your partner. 

Hidden Gates

Author: D.T. Dyllin
Series: P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy #1
Publication Date: August 31, 2015
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Summary from Goodreads: P.J. Stone was taught to put duty before her heart. But everything changes with a kiss…
As a Seer, P.J. is expected to choose a suitable mate to continue the bloodline. Wanting someone considered off-limits jeopardizes her future, forcing her to question everything she believes in.
As if navigating her love life isn’t complicated enough, P.J. receives a vision of a threat to her world that only she can perceive. But no one wants to believe a fledgling Seer’s warning. With nowhere else to turn, can P.J. trust a stranger with her life, her world, and maybe even her heart?

I can't finish this book. I was immediately put off by the overwhelmingly, heavy focus on romance. Yes, the summary clearly indicates that romance would be at the forefront of this book, but it was listed as sci-fi and I was hoping the Seer's warning would lead to a bit more thrilling plot line. Part of the reason I had such a problem with the romance was that it was poorly executed and annoying. Forbidden romance with a love triangle - UGH.

The world building was poor. I had to reread a few paragraphs that explained the role of the Seers, Speakers, Guardians, and Gatekeepers and the rules of their society, and I still didn't understand. I felt like there was very little plot movement - and so I called it quits.