In My Mailbox 84

I've heard good things about both books. Hopefully I'll get to them both this week!

Top Ten Favorite Books I've Read Since I Started Blogging

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 This list isn't in any particular order:

1.     Wicked lovely

This is still my favorite series I've read since I started blogging. It's dark and twisted. And I love how intricate the story is between each book.

2.     John Green books

Paper Towns is my favorite book ever! And The Fault In Our Stars and Looking for Alaska made me cry. I just love all things John Green.

3.     The Summer I Turned Pretty series

This feels like a simple story. But as I'm learning in my screenwriting class, have a simple plot and complex characters.

4.     The Ghosts of Ashbury High

This is one of the first books that stood out as different to me. I'm astounded, because I still haven't read anything like it. 

5.     The Hundred Thousands

I don't really read adult books, so I was very unsure about this book. But then I basically inhaled the book, it definitely helped me be open to reading other genres.

6.     Allison Hewitt Is Trapped

People say this book confused them but I LOVE it. So much happens! And whether good or bad things were happening in a particular scene, it was all wrapped in mixture of comedy and action.

7.     Daughter of Smoke and Bone

The writing is sooooo beautiful, and the story is mysterious and entrancing.

8.     Under the Never Sky

This book basically had all the plot devices that I love in this genre. And the writer used them all very well.

9.     The Scorpio Races

THIS is the book I'd been waiting for from Maggie Stiefvater! It was harsh and real. I just couldn't put the book down.

10.  The Song of Achilles

Read my review!

The Song of Achilles review

Description: Greece in the age of Heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. Here he is nobody, just another unwanted boy living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles.

Achilles, 'best of all the Greeks', is everything Patroclus is not — strong, beautiful, the child of a goddess — and by all rights their paths should never cross. Yet one day, Achilles takes the shamed prince under his wing and soon their tentative companionship gives way to a steadfast friendship. As they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something far deeper — despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel and deathly pale sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.

Fate is never far from the heels of Achilles. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate.

Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart.

My thoughts: I’m still struggling to explain how I feel about this book. I really haven’t read a story this stunning since The Fault in Our Stars came out. It reminds me that there are two ways I read a book. One way or one type of book causes me to feel my head with questions. What’s going to happen? Why would he/she do that? How did they pull that off? In this case I’m trying to be a part of the world. And these types of questions come from anticipation or frustration. I’m either excited about what’s going to happen, or annoyed about what’s already happened (or not happened) and confused about what’s going to happen.

The Song of Achilles isn’t in this category. It’s one of those books that I just let immerse me. I have no questions (or at least no questions I really need answered), and nothing specifically stands out because none of the aspects of the book are lacking. The writing is exquisite yet harsh, the story vivid. And the characters are multifaceted (except for Agamemnon, he’s just a straight up jerk). And this book also made me look at a lot of characters (especially Achilles) differently. Except for the first time I saw the trailer for Troy (with Brad Pitt), I’d really never given him too much thought. Not to mention Patroclus.

In fact, this book has made me want to give other characters from Greek mythology another look, because everyone has a story to tell. We might not get to hear it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important or that the person wasn’t (once) important to someone at some point. The world is filled with people like Achilles and Patroclus, and only time will tell who will be remembered and uplifted, and who will be unappreciated and misunderstood.

Also, JUST GO READ IT!... Thanks.

My Top Ten Series I Have Yet To Finish

1. The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward

 

2. The Chemical Garden series by Lauren DeStefano

 

3. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

 

4. The Summer I Turned Pretty series by Jenny Han

 

5. Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan

 

6. The Inheritance Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin

 

7. Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

 

8. Divergent series by Veronica Roth

 

9. The Forest of Hands and Teeth series by Carrie Ryan

 

10. Gone series by Michael Grant

 

 Some of these series (1, 3, 4, and 7)  include books I haven't started (or finished) because I was tired of reading the newest book in one or two days, then having to wait another year for the next one to come out. But I finally decided that I'd rather devour a book than never read it.

The other ones are just books I haven't gotten to because I've been trying to catch up on review books. But I'm DETERMINED to catch up on every series on this list before the end of this (school) year.

What are you reading on Mondays?

I've been away a long time, so the books I've read are just the more recent ones:

Book(s) read lately:
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
War Dances by Sherman Alexie
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Currently reading:
 Adaptation by Malinda Lo
 We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

Upcoming read(s)
 I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

In My Mailbox 83

I'm pretty excited about all of these books. I loved (loved!) Scorpio Races, so I can't wait to read The Raven Boys. And I've already finished The Song of Achilles which was AMAZING!!

The Storyteller review

Goodreads: Anna and Abel couldn’t be more different. They are both seventeen and in their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a big, prisonlike tower block at the edge of town. Anna is afraid of him until she realizes that he is caring for his six-year-old sister on his own. Fascinated, Anna follows the two and listens as Abel tells little Micha the story of a tiny queen assailed by dark forces. It’s a beautiful fairy tale that Anna comes to see has a basis in reality. Abel is in real danger of losing Micha to their abusive father and to his own inability to make ends meet. Anna gradually falls in love with Abel, but when his “enemies” begin to turn up dead, she fears she has fallen for a murderer. Has she?

Award-winning author Antonia Michaelis moves in a bold new direction with her latest novel: a dark, haunting, contemporary story that is part mystery, part romance, and part melodrama.

My thoughts: It’s been pretty hard to understand all the feelings I have for this book. The writing is fantastic, which seems to happen often when the author is not from the United States. And there was a story within a story, which should have made things difficult, but it actually made everything more appealing and exciting. Plus, I’m impressed that not only can this author write one story well, but two. The confusion as far as my feelings comes from all that happens in between all that wonderful writing. So many unthinkable things happen. Things I would have never imagined that left me with my jaw dropping to the ground. 

I actually feel like a passage from the YA book Anna and the French Kiss expresses how I had to look at this book. There’s a part in the book when a teacher is discussing the meaning of words in a book, and specifically talks about foreign books. The teacher says that “foreign novels are less action-oriented. They have a different pace; they’re more reflective. They challenge us to look for the story, find the story within the story.” This is exactly what I had to do, except I had to look for the story within the story within the story (within the story). And all those stories meshed together almost impeccably, but sometimes that meant heartbreaking moments were more… um… heartbreaking because something similar happened in both stories. It was gritty, and sometimes the characters did things I couldn’t believe happened. They did some things I didn’t agree with on a personal level that bothered me to the point that it once again made me reassess my feelings regarding the story. With that said, it’s unique, deep, and thought provoking (obviously since I’m still trying to figure some things out). And I’d actually be interested in seeing what others thought about this novel.