This weeks theme is top ten books that I would read with my book club if I had a book club. Now, I've been in book clubs before and when I was younger it was fun and awesome. As a sophomore I tried to get back into it but I didn't a)know anyone b)they weren't too open to new people. So that didn't end well. Technically though, because a lot of my friends are book nerds and love YA fiction we all tend to read the same books and vent to each other so it's kind of like having a book club. So With my non-official book club i'de love to read...

1. Harry Potter books by J.K Rowling.You can never ever fangirl enough over Harry Potter. These books are amazing and I'm sure anyone one would be down to read them again. 
2. The Selection. I have a confession. I've never actually read these or pecked them up. I've heard people rave and recommend this book to me like crazy, yet I still haven't picked up the series. I definitely want to and I'm sure it would make me read them faster if I knew I had people I could talk to and vent to. 
3. The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare. Because this series made me cry. Because these characters are some of my favorite. Because of all the damn feels I get from this book. Ted just about sums it up. I need to share this experience with people. I've done it once on my own, why not have people who understand my fangirl emotions? 
4. Made You Up by Francesca Zappia. I don't think this has come out yet, but I feel like this book would be great for a book club. It's about schizophrenia and a girl who deals with it and continues to have a normal life. I feel like by sharing this book with other people and talking about it, you are also able to talk about mental health and the stigma around it. (Jacksgap made a video I really liked about this). This is an important issue to discuss and I think that this book will allow for people to gauge a whole new, and hopefully more accepting understanding of mental health. 
5. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. Or more accurately the Trilogy.These books are so creepy, so good, so cute, so amazing that it warrants a lot of hypothesizing and fangirling. 
6. Court of Thrones and Roses. This is by Sarah J. Mass. I read Throne of Glass with my last book club, it seems fair to read this one with it as well. I love Sarah J. Mass and I feel like this book wouldn't let us down.
7. Cinder Series by Marissa Meyer. I've only read the first one. (review here) but I already know that i'm going to need people around me who will understand what I am going through and freak out with me. 
8. Vanishing Girls Lauren Oliver. I think this would just be fun to read and see how other people react to it. 
9. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowel. Seeing as my main reasoning for joining a book club now is mainly for fangirling and having people to fangirl with it only makes sense that we read Fangirl.
10. City of Savages by Lee Kelly. Because this looks cool.

Me every time I read. 

Book Talk: The Artful

Release date: May 27, 2014
Book: The Artful
Author: Wilbert Stanton
Source: Netgalley 

The Basics:New York City, 2025: Everything is changed. The city that never sleeps is now a land of death and decay. A rampant virus has taken over and the survivors have become carriers, quarantined from the rest of the world. Twist and Dodger grew up in the streets, the sewers and underground tunnels - their playground. They aren't heroes. They just like attention; and stealing meds from the rich and giving them to the poor is their golden ticket. On their latest raid, they unknowingly steal a cure that puts them square between the ailing Emperor of Manhattan and the war hungry Governor of Brooklyn and forces them on a quest into the darkest shadows of their putrefying world

My Musings:
     Okay so when I first read the summery I immediately thought that this book was going to be really interesting and an overall great read. As soon as I read the first few sentences of the book I began to like it. I loved the high energy and the suspense and the intensity of the first few chapters. The beginning of the novel, I thought, was spot on in terms of it's ability to hook it's reader. The beginning set up the book nicely and introduced the characters in a great way.
     However, as the book went on it lacked the strength and intensity that the initial chapters had. As I continued reading I found myself not really connecting to the character because of the slow moving pace of the novel. I didn't mind the slowness so much as the lack of dialogue and the long internal monologues and descriptions. Because I saw too much over analyzed thoughts and descriptions I lost the initial connection I had with Twist. Furthermore I felt that the dialogue it did have was stiff and awkward at times.
     Despite all that I felt like the plot itself was really well thought out, but it did affect the story negatively. The very idea the novel presents intrigued me and I love how the author spun it into in intricate story. I loved the twins and turns the novel took. I really didn't know what to expect half the time. There's a lot of shocking moments in the book and I loved every singe second of it.
       Romance wise I didn't think the coupling was all that special. They're cute don't get me wrong, I just don't feel passionate about the romance. This is kind of a good thing because this way the story line takes the front seat and is not over shadowed by an overbearing romance.
      I have a confession to make. My favorite character is Dodger. I love his story line and the way he grew as a character. In terms of character development the author did a good job. He presented more than one side of his characters which adds depth to these people we're reading about. That being said, I still didn't feel like these characters were real because I feel they lacked a little bit more depth and more exploration of the different sides of Twist and Dodger etc. But overall I feel like he did a good job making his characters good solid characters.
     I honestly enjoyed the book and thought it was a nice summer read for those of us looking to stay away from contemporary novels. If you like cool, dystopian, books with lots of action this is the book you should check out :)

Note: The fact that I received this book for free did not in anyway alter my thought on the book.

                           My Rating:
                                                     

Cinder Review +giveaway

Release Date: January 3, 2012
Book: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Source: Bought from Barnes and Noble
The Basics: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. 
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future

My Rating: 4/5
My Musings:
I cant even begin to count the amount of people who told me I needed to read this book. That they know I would love it. That it was an amazing book worth fangirling over.
Let me say that they were absolutely right. I thought that this book was not going to live up to the hype around it. That i was going to be disappointed. I'm really happy I was wrong. Its beautifully written. I love Cinder's sarcastic voice, Kai's charming personality, and Iko's funny bursts of humor. This combination made for the perfect book cocktail.
     Characterization was ok. The only characters that were fully developed were Kai and Cinder. Everyone else we just saw shallow characters that only served to play a simple clean role. I wish we could have seen more of Peony, or learned more about her. Or maybe learned more about Cinder's step family. I get that her stepsisters and step mom and inherently evil and have to play the role of the villains but if we can make Cinderella a cyborg we can learn more about her evil family right? Like why is it that Peony actually likes Cinder? Why hasn't her stepmother poisoned Peony against Cinder. I can't help but wonder if this is going to be explored in future novels? However, Cinder and Kai were well developed for the most part. You got to see the Prince as a sarcastic teenager who has to deal with a lot political issues. Cinder just wants to fit in somewhere.
     The plot and world building was absolutely amazing. I loved how fast past the novel was. There was always something around the corner ready to happen. And I loved every second of it. As soon as I started it i was hooked. I needed to learn more about this world and how things worked in this futuristic place. I had to learn more about Cinder's life and about the politics of the Commonwealth. The author did a fantastic job in terms of creating a futuristic world that felt believable. I loved the plot. I loved Cinder's role in it.
*SPOILER: I knew after Cinder found out she was Lunar that she was the long lost princess. I did like this twist though. SPOILER DONE*
      Romance factor of this novel was beautiful done. I liked that the story didn't revolve around Kai and Cinder. It just happened to be a factor of the story not the star if it. I liked how they fell in love and how their relationship developed. It was slow and cute, exactly my type of romance. I loved how they both share their sarcastic humor. Kai is such a gentleman and you can see he genuinely cares about Cinder. He is absolutely adorable. I love him
      Overall this book contained amazing story line within a well created world with really likable characters. Its a great read that I think is worth reading and yes fangirling too :)

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