Friday Reads December 21, 2018

Happy Friday! It is officially the shortest day of the year (at least in the northern hemisphere) and I plan on doing as much reading as I can now that I have a four day weekend!

After last week's rapid reading of No Exit (full review here) I actually have not been able to finish another book. Holiday festivities and work have had a lot going on lately so not as much time or energy to put into reading. Hopefully that will change this weekend and I'll be able to break out of my mini slump.

Over on the channel I posted two videos since last week. The first was my November book haul full of the books I bought because of the crazy holiday deals going on around Thanksgiving. You can check that out here. I can already promise that my December book haul is going to be even bigger than that one. The next video I posted was my spoiler free review of Malice. You can see me gushing over that tome here. And then of course today my Friday Reads video will be going up in which I talk about the two books I am definitely going to be reading and the one that I am angrily rereading because I can't get my hands on the sequel for another month. Oh the woes of being an avid reader. You can watch that here. My dog is definitely present in this one. A bonus for you, if you skip ahead to 3:55 you can see her making filming a bit more difficult and cutting me annoyed looks. Dogs

are the absolute best.

This Sunday's video will be covering five books that I have been reading for an embarrassingly long time and should really probably finish soon. Tuesday's video is not quite done yet but I am thinking about doing an unhaul video. Don't worry. I'm not getting rid of any books just moving 20-30 of the ones I've read in the past couple of months to storage. Other than that I will be creating a most hated books of 2018 list and a favorites list as well as most anticipated releases of January 2019. I have not decided if those will strictly be on the blog or if I will also make videos. I also plan on doing my straight forward reading goals for 2019 (nothing elaborate).

A quick remark on a comment I recently saw on one of my videos that made me pause. I won't call out the person that wrote it, but I am happy when people are excited to read a book that I enjoyed. It's a great joy to spread the knowledge of these works as I come across them. What is not okay is someone asking for a free PDF of a novel or any other work. Authors and everyone else involved in the publishing industry work really hard on these things. I've worked for an indy publisher as an editor and formatted manuscripts for print. It isn't easy. Don't steal their hard work. I encourage browsing thrift stores and used book stores for less expensive copies or checking out material from the library or borrowing from a friend. Just don't illegally consume the material via pirated PDFs.

That's all I have for you guys right now. This weekend and next week I will have some older reviews that never got publish going live on the blog (all fantasy related). Check out the books I'll be diving into this weekend below and happy reading!

Title: Nos4a2
Author: Joe Hill
Page Count: 686
Progress: 259
Format Read: Paperback
Genre: Horror
Keywords: Christmas, Evil, Children
Kid Appropriate: No

Synopsis from Goodreads:

NOS4A2 is a spine-tingling novel of supernatural suspense from master of horror Joe Hill, the New York Times bestselling author of Heart-Shaped Box and Horns.

Victoria McQueen has a secret gift for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, she makes her way to a rickety covered bridge that, within moments, takes her wherever she needs to go, whether it’s across Massachusetts or across the country.

Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing – and terrifying – playground of amusements he calls “Christmasland.”

Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble—and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx’s unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He’s on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s own son.

My thoughts so far:

Okay, I'll admit I was a little apprehensive going into this one. Excited, but nervous. I had heard that Joe Hill was Stephen King's son. Honestly, this could be really great or I could be horribly disappointed. The expectations are just too high.

Like I said last week, there are style similarities between the two. So similar if you covered up the

author's name and said I was reading King I might even have believed you.

Aside from that, I am having no issues getting into this book. Usually I take at least a hundred pages to warm up to a story and find the beginning slow. With this one I am flying through the pages, devouring every detail. If you are easily disturbed by criminal activity involving kidnappings and people being held against their will then maybe avoid this one.

In short: I like the cast of strange characters, the pacing is great, and the story is intriguing.

Title: City of Brass
Author: S.A. Chakraborty
Page Count: 533
Rating: A
Format Read: Kindle/Hardcover
Genre: Fantasy
Keywords: Jin, Love, Magic
Kid Appropriate: Teens and older

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles.

But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass, a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for...

My thoughts:

So I read this back in July and if you want to read the review I wrote back then you can click here.

I don't plan on doing a full reread of this book right now but I am definitely planning on skimming some of my favorite moments. I actually decided to do this after about half way through this week I realized I was moody and could not figure what it was that I was wanting to read. Several hours later it dawned on me the reason I couldn't find the book I wanted to read was because it was Kingdom of Copper which comes out in a month. So I am doing the next best thing, rereading parts of City of Brass.

My reread is going to be from the hardcover edition because I recently bought it off Book Outlet. Yep...I loved it enough to buy it twice.

Title: One Day in December
Author: Josie Silver
Page Count: 393
Progress: 23
Format Read: BOTM Hardcover
Genre: Chick Lit
Keywords: Love at first sight, Friendship, Fate
Kid Appropriate: No

Synopsis from Goodreads:

A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick

“Get ready to be swept up in a whirlwind romance. It absolutely charmed me.” —Reese Witherspoon

“Josie Silver writes with a warmth so palpable her characters sneak their way into your heart and stay for a long time.”—Jill Santopolo, New York Times-bestselling author of The Light We Lost

Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.

Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic...and then her bus drives away.

Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.

What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.

My thoughts so far:

Yep...I'm remembering why I generally don't like chick lit. This one is not the cute romance I was hoping for so far. The girl is too obsessed with this mystery guy. She has literally nothing else going on at this point. The guy is bland and in love with the best friend. I'm going to try to finish it but something tells me it's going to be a struggle.

Title: An Anonymous Girl
Author: Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Page Count: 384
Progress: 2%
Format Read: Galley
Genre: Thriller
Keywords: Makeup artist, psych department, Paranoia
Kid Appropriate: No
Expected Release: January 8, 2019

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.

When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking…and what she’s hiding. As Jess’s paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what is one of Dr. Shields’ manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

My thoughts so far:

I've barely started this so I don't have too many thoughts on it so far. Overall it seems like it'll be an easy read. Not sure if anyone else thinks this but I keep picturing Jessica as Olivia from Michelle Khare's recent YouTube video. If you're curious what I'm talking about you can watch it here.