2017 Reading Resolutions/Goals

I love this time of the year, time to make new Goals for the coming year.  I am not good with short term goals like TBR’s. But I love making long term goals like these.

These are my Goals/Resolutions of the year 2017:

Read at least 5 Tomes (books with more than 500 pages)

Last year I set a goal on pages read in 2016 instead of an amount of books, because I noticed that I was only picking up small books and the big once remained on my shelves unread. Last year I was picking up more big books because of this. I want to keep this up by picking at least 5 big books this year.  

Read at least 4 classics

Last year my goal was to pick up 2 classics I succeeded this goal by reading 5 classics. This year I wanted to keep up the good work. Because I don’t know what this year will bring for me I didn’t want to put the bar to high, so that’s why I pick 4.

Read at least 4 poetry collections

I never like poetry, but in 2015 I found a Lullaby by Leng leav and I fell in love with it. In 2016 I haven’t read any poetry that I liked so I want to at least try and find some more poetry that I like.  With this goal I make sure that I’m trying. I hoop I find something good. If you have any recommendations please let me know.

Read from the first 30 titles on my goodreads to-read shelf.

My goal is to read the books that are the longest on my to-read shelf on goodreads. I’m allowed to have 10 to 15 of these books left at the end of the year. So, if I don’t read 15 to 20 of these books I have to remove them from this list. I just have to come to terms that I won’t read them. Why did I choose my goodread list? Well, I read mostly from my e-reader and if I can’t decide what to read next, I look at goodread instead of browsing through my e-reader. I don’t own all the 30 books that I have the longest on goodreads, so I didn’t want to remove them all at the end of the year in case I didn’t get a chance to get the book. That’s why I’m allowed to have 10 to 15 books left at the end of the year.

The first 30 books on my to-read list on goodreads are:

1. Falling kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

2. Taken by Erin Bowman

3. Toch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

4. Mystic City by Theo Lawrence

5. Scarlet By A.C. Gaughen

6. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

7. The Vow Jessica Martinez

8. For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

9. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

10. Rush by Eve Silver

11. Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman

12. The Rules by Stacey Kade

13. Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill

14. 20 Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak

15. Winter Town by Stephen Emond

16. Blueprints of the Afterlife by Ryan Boudinot

17. The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston

18. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

19. Mistwalker by Saundra Mitchell

20. Under Different Stars by Amy A. Bartol

21. The Art of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar

22. Talented by Sophie Davis

23. Escapement by Ciara Knight

24. Missing Royal by Konstanz Silverbow

25. Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn

26. Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen

27. Blue Notes by Carrie Lofty

28. Thief’s Covenant by Ari Marmell

29. A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn

30. Branded by Abi Ketner

Continue writing reviews

Before I started this blog I wanted to write more reviews. This didn’t went so well until I started this blog. So I want to continue with writing these reviews. I don’t need to write a review for every book that I read but I want to write more than 4 review per year (that’s how many I write per year before this blog). I train my English with writing review because I know my English could be better. I hoop I get better by doing it often. And if you see that I'm saying things wrong. Please feel free to correct me. but please stay nice. I'm not perfect 😇

Read more divers genres (different than YA fantasy and YA contemporary romance)

Almost all the books I read are YA fantasy or YA contemporary romance. I really want to branch out, try new things. I want to try to read more classics, poetry, historical fiction, sci-fi, paranormal, adult fiction and maybe some non-fiction. I’m a bit stuck in what is comfortable for me, but there are so many great books outside this comfort zone that I really want to give a chance.   

Read at least 10 writers from my really good writers list

I have a list of writers that I hear great things from, but I never read anything from them. So I want to read from at least 10 of these authors. I think I wouldn’t be able to read from them all because this list has 30 writers on them. Every year I stripe though the names of the authors that I read that year and at new once at the end of the year, to fill up the holes. This way I have 30 authors were I can choose from every year. 

You may have noticed that I don't have a goal for how many books or pages I want to read this year. I don't know how my year is going to look like, and I don't want to put myself under any pressure to read a certain amount of books of pages. I just want to read what I want to read. And if that is just 10 books than I will read 10 books, but if that is 50 books than I read 50. I just don't want to look all year at this number and feel like I have to read this amount or I failed. I just want to read for the fun of it. 

What are your reading Goals for 2017? Let me know in the comments.

Top 5 Wednesday: Series That Got Worse with Each Book/Season

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Lainey @ GingerReadsLainey on YouTube and hosted by Sam @ ThoughtsOnTomes. Every Wednesday there is a new topic, and you list your top 5 related to the particular topic. For more information on top 5 Wednesday and the Goodreads group click HERE.

I decided to take the topic from 14th of December, because I like that topic a lot and I was sick that week so I didn't get to make it.  

This list is in no particular order.

1. The Sword of Truth series

I've expressed my opinion of this series multiple times on my blog. I think you should stop after book 6 because it goes downhill from there. But the first few books are in my opinion definitely worth your time, just don't continue after that. 

Winter

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) 
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 833
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Fairy Tale Retelling
Published: November 10, 2015
Rating: 4/5 stars
Goodreads link

This review contains spoilers from the first three book in this series!

Description

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mark her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend--the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer's national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.

Stars Above

Stars Above (The Lunar Chronicles #4.5) 
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 401
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Fairy Tale Retelling
Published: February 2, 2016
Rating: 3/5 stars
Goodreads link

Description

The universe of the Lunar Chronicles holds stories—and secrets—that are wondrous, vicious, and romantic. How did Cinder first arrive in New Beijing? How did the brooding soldier Wolf transform from young man to killer? When did Princess Winter and the palace guard Jacin realize their destinies?

With nine stories—five of which have never before been published— Stars Above is essential for fans of the bestselling and beloved Lunar Chronicles.

The Little Android: A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” set in the world of The Lunar Chronicles.
Glitches: In this prequel to Cinder, we see the results of the plague play out, and the emotional toll it takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch….
The Queen’s Army: In this prequel to Scarlet, we’re introduced to the army Queen Levana is building, and one soldier in particular who will do anything to keep from becoming the monster they want him to be.
Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky: Thirteen-year-old Carswell Thorne has big plans involving a Rampion spaceship and a no-return trip out of Los Angeles.
The Keeper: A prequel to the Lunar Chronicles, showing a young Scarlet and how Princess Selene came into the care of Michelle Benoit.
After Sunshine Passes By: In this prequel to Cress, we see how a nine-year-old Cress ended up alone on a satellite, spying on Earth for Luna.
The Princess and the Guard: In this prequel to Winter, we see a game called The Princess
The Mechanic: In this prequel to Cinder, we see Kai and Cinder’s first meeting from Kai’s perspective.Something Old, Something New: In this epilogue to Winter, friends gather for the wedding of the century...

Center Ice

Center Ice  (Corrigan Falls Raiders #1) 
Author: Cate Cameron
Publisher: Entangled Teen Crush
Pages: 252
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published: May 19, 2015
Rating: 2/5 stars
Goodreads link

Description

This Entangled Teen Crush book contains adult language, underage drinking, sexual situations, and crazy squirrels. It may cause you to become a fan of hockey - or at least hot hockey players.

The hometown hockey hero won't know what hit him...

Karen Webber is in small-town hell. After her mother's death, she moved to Corrigan Falls to live with strangers - her dad and his perfect, shiny new family - and there doesn't seem to be room for a city girl with a chip on her shoulder. The only person who makes her feel like a real human being is Tyler MacDonald.

But Karen isn't interested in starting something with a player. And that's all she keeps hearing about Tyler.

Corrigan Falls is a hockey town, and Tyler's the star player. But the viselike pressure from his father and his agent are sending him dangerously close to the edge. All people see is hockey - except Karen. Now they've managed to find something in each other that they both desperately need. And for the first time, Tyler is playing for keeps...

Cress

Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) 
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 560
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Fairy Tale Retelling
Published: February 4, 2014
Rating: 4/5 stars
Goodreads link

This review contains spoilers from the first two book in this series!

Description

In this third book in Marissa Meyer's bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she's just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she'd ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has

November Wrap-up

I read a lot this month. Thanks to all my procrastinating, because I was supposed to work on school but I didn’t have the concentration to work on it. :)

This month I started The Lunar Chronicles and I really got obsessed. I already finished the series but I finished winter on the first of December so you will see that in my December wrap-up. Now I’m kind of in a reading slump, The Lunar Chronicles was so good how can I top that? If you have any recommendations please, apparently I need it.

Here are the books that I read in the month of November and how I rated them. I added links for books I have a review on.

Stats

Read books: 6

Genre: 5 YA Sci-fi Epic and 1 contemporary romance
Pages: 2.318

Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Villains

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Lainey @ GingerReadsLainey on YouTube and hosted by Sam @ ThoughtsOnTomes. Every Wednesday there is a new topic, and you list your top 5 related to the particular topic. This week's topic: Characters you used to love but don't anymore. For more information on top 5 Wednesday and the Goodreads group click HERE.

I’m not a fan of villains. I prefer the hero’s most of the time. Keep this in mind when you read my list.

This list is in no particular order.

Levana from The Lunar Chronicles
On the moment I’m obsessed with this series. I started Cinder this month and now I’m already reading Winter. In this series she seems like a villain who does evil things just because she is evil, but after reading Fairest I see it is not exactly like that. She grew up in an environment that made her like she is now, but she always did everything for her people. She might not realize she is making is worse for her people, but she had good intentions to start with. She had a messed up family and childhood that made her what she is today.

Scarlet

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) 
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 464
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Fairy Tale Retelling
Published: February 5, 2013
Rating: 4/5 stars
Goodreads link

This review contains spoilers from the first book in this series!

Description

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner. 

Cinder

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) 
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 390
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Fairy Tale Retelling
Published: January 3, 2012
Rating: 5/5 stars
Goodreads link

Description

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. 

Top 5 Wednesday: Characters You Used to Love but Don't Anymore

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Lainey @ GingerReadsLainey on YouTube and hosted by Sam @ ThoughtsOnTomes. Every Wednesday there is a new topic, and you list your top 5 related to the particular topic. This week's topic: Characters you used to love but don't anymore. For more information on top 5 Wednesday and the Goodreads group click HERE.

This list is in no particular order.

1 Edward (twilight)

I was a fan of these books. I don’t know how many times I reread them. But now that I’m more of an adult I think he is kind of creepy and weird. If I would read them now again I wouldn’t have liked him at all.

Polaris

Polaris (Avalon #2) 
Author: Mindee Arnett
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 432
Genre: Young Adult,Sci-fi 
Published: January 20, 2015
Rating: 3/5 stars
Goodreads link

Description

Jeth Seagrave and his crew are on the run. The ITA, still holding Jeth’s mother in a remote research lab, is now intent on acquiring the metatech secrets Jeth’s sister Cora carries inside her DNA, and Jeth is desperate to find the resources he needs to rescue his mother and start a new life outside the Confederation. But the ITA is just as desperate, and Jeth soon finds himself pursued by a mysterious figure hell-bent on capturing him and his crew—dead or alive.

With nowhere to run and only one play left, Jeth enters into a bargain with the last person he ever thought he’d see again: Daxton Price, the galaxy’s newest and most fearsome crime lord. Dax promises to help Jeth, but his help will only come at a price—a price that could mean sacrificing everything Jeth has fought for until now. 

October Wrap-Up

I didn’t read many books this month. A Clash of King is just really big! That took me a while.

Here are the books that I read in the month of October and how I rated them. I added links for books I have a review on.

Stats

Read books: 3

Genre: 2 Epic Fantasies and 1 contemporary romance

Pages: 1.612

A Clash of Kings

A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2) 
Author: George R.R. Martin
Publisher: Bantam Books
Pages: 1010
Genre: Adult, Epic Fantasy
Published: November 16, 1998
Rating: 4/5 stars
Goodreads link

Description

A comet the colour of blood and flame cuts across the sky. And from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk at night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles.

Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment—a tale of pure excitement you will never forget.

Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Spooky Settings

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Lainey @ GingerReadsLainey on YouTube and hosted by Sam @ ThoughtsOnTomes. Every Wednesday there is a new topic, and you list your top 5 related to the particular topic. This week's topic: Favorite Spooky Settings. For more information on top 5 Wednesday and the Goodreads group click HERE.

This list is in no particular order.

1. The Wasteland from Defiance by C.J. Redwine
But I think this whole world is kind of spooky and dark. This is a place where a monster that breathes fire lives. Well the monster lives somewhere under the ground but it comes out from under the ground in the Wastelands. If you are in the mood for a good dystopian, this would be a great pick. I read it 2 years ago when I was really in to dystopians and it didn´t disappoint me.
Click here for my review

2. Abandoned mines in Bitterkingdom from A Girl of Fire and Thorn series by Rae Carson
This series is one of my favorites. In this last installment they travel through a dark abandoned mine that is in some parts full of water. There are more spooky places in this book, but this would be my nightmare, to travel through these mines.

3. Westoros from Geoge R.R. Martin

Westoros would be a spooky place but more because of the gruesome dead’s. Any place beyond the wall would probably be spooky but also Harrenhal and the Dreadford. A lot of the places are scary in this world. But none would be so scary as the people in it. :P
I think I use A Song of Ice and Fire series in almost every T5W post from the last few weeks. I should get more original en use different books, but this series is just so good!

Click here for my review

4. The Boundary in the Wizard's First Rule from Terry Goodkind
The Boundary is a place where the death tries to lure you in this wall of green light, and when you go through this light you enter the underworld. It is the boundary between Westland and The Midlands and it keeps magic away from Westland. This is an epic fantasy with dark places. This is the book series that got me into reading. And I recommend this first book for every high fantasy fan!

5. The Belgrave in Avalon by Mindee Arnett
The Belgrave is a place in space like the Bermuda triangle. People that go in don’t come back out again, or come out with weird stories of what happened there. I’m not a big fan of space because it goes against nature for people to go there. We won’t survive there without technology that keeps us alive there, and that stuff can break. So don’t sign me up for any space travel. :P

Click here for my review

Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Non-Canon Ships

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Lainey @ GingerReadsLainey on YouTube and hosted by Sam @ ThoughtsOnTomes. Every Wednesday there is a new topic, and you list your top 5 related to the particular topic. This week topic Favorite Non-Canon Ships. For more information on top 5 Wednesday and the Goodreads group click HERE.

So this means ships (romantic relationships) that don't happen in the book. This could also be in series that aren't finished yet. So you don't know if they end up together, but you really want them to. 

Keep in mind that I’m not much of a shipper. So I only have a top 3 for you today.

This list is in no particular order.

1. Bran Stark and Meera Reed in A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin

I’m aware of the age differences, but in this series everything is possible. It is not weirder than most marriages in this world. I think they fit well together, and been through a lot together. The series isn’t finished yet, so who knows, maybe they end up together?

2. Arya Stark and Gendry Waters in A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin

We’re staying in Westeros with this one. My answer why, would be the seem as with Bran and Meera. I think they fit together well, and I can’t wait were this story will end!!

3. Eragon and Arya in The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

I haven’t finished this series so it might be something that will happen in the end, or not. I only read the first 2 books. The second one left me disappointed so I haven’t continued yet. Tell me what you thought, is this series worth it or not? 

Top 5 Wednesday: Books That Took You The Longest to Finish

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Lainey @ GingerReadsLainey on YouTube and hosted by Sam @ ThoughtsOnTomes. Every Wednesday there is a new topic, and you list your top 5 related to the particular topic. This week topic is books that took you the longest to finish. For more information on top 5 Wednesday and the Goodreads group click HERE.

This list is in no particular order. 

I didn’t post a top 5 Wednesday last week because I got so busy with school. But I am back this week so I hope you enjoy this post.

1. The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

I started this book back in March and I finished it last month. So, it took me about a half year to finish this book. I put this book down a lot because this book contains short-stories and essays. So it is perfect for reading here and there a short story.

Check out my review here

2. The Martian by Andy Weir

I started this in January and finished it in the end of March. I read this book because of the hype, but I didn’t enjoy this book. So it took me a long time to finish it.

 

3. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

This book is a big book, that is the main reason why it took me so long to read it. I read the prologue in February 2014, after that I kind of put it down and picked it up again this summer. So on Goodreads it looks like it took me more than 2 years to read it, but in reality I read it in 1 month.

Check out my review here

4. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

This book took me a month to read. That is long especially when you know that this book is just 125 pages. The writing isn’t difficult like most classics. But it was the subject and how the story got told that made it slow. This book made me realize that book about time travel are just not my thing.

5. My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

I started it around Christmas time in 2014 but I didn’t finish it in January, and I didn’t like to read this after the holiday season. So I saved the last 3 stories for Christmas in 2015 and finished it. So, technically this took me a year to read. 

A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1) 
Author: George R.R. Martin
Publisher: Bantam Books
Pages: 837
Genre: Adult, Epic Fantasy
Published: August 6, 1996
Rating: 4/5 stars
Goodreads link

Description

In A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin has created a genuine masterpiece, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill the pages of the first volume in an epic series sure to delight fantansy fans everywhere.

In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes of the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

My thoughts

If I read this book before the TV series it would probably have been a 5 out of 5 stars book for me If I read the book first.

Because I saw the TV series first, I knew which way the story would go. That was probably the reason why I wasn’t blown away by this book. I knew constantly what was going to come, so there were no surprises. The first season of Game of Thrones the TV show is a very faithful adaptation to the first book.

I really like the writing. There were so many quotes that I liked. But there were some slow parts too. I love the parts of Jon, Arya and Tyrion the most. They are my favorite characters. 

I heard that the 2e book differs more from the TV series, so I hope I am more surprised by that book. Still, this book was a really good read.