Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

december wrap-up

Yay for the last wrap-up post of 2015!! I am in some ways sad and in others, really excited that this year is over. It's been a pretty good one, although there were some dips, but who doesn't have that in their lives? The one thing that is for sure is that I read some really amazing novels this year, and I will share them all with you in a 2015 wrap-up post, but for now let's just talk about the ones I read in December.

1. Winter by Marissa Meyer ☆☆☆☆☆

review here!!

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar 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?


2. Arcadia by Tom Stoppard ☆☆☆

Arcadia takes us back and forth between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, ranging over the nature of truth and time, the difference between the Classical and the Romantic temperament, and the disruptive influence of sex on our orbits in life. Focusing on the mysteries--romantic, scientific, literary--that engage the minds and hearts of characters whose passions and lives intersect across scientific planes and centuries, it is "Stoppard's richest, most ravishing comedy to date, a play of wit, intellect, language, brio and... emotion. It's like a dream of levitation: you're instantaneously aloft, soaring, banking, doing loop-the-loops and then, when you think you're about to plummet to earth, swooping to a gentle touchdown of not easily described sweetness and sorrow... Exhilarating" (Vincent Canby, The New York Times).


 
3. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz ☆☆☆☆☆

review here!

A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be. 



I think this is the first time I've ever posted a review of a book that I'm re-reading, but I just felt that it would be appropriate. I never reviewed this one the first time I read it, go figure, so I think its alright to write down everything I love about it this time around. 

4. My True Love Gave to Me edited by Stephanie Perkins ☆☆☆☆

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins. Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or New Year's there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.






 
5. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff ☆☆☆☆

review here!

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

 
6. A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray ☆☆☆☆☆

review here! 

  Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.



7. Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray ☆☆☆☆☆

Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents' invention, to cross into alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse—even hurting the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked and his consciousness scattered across multiple dimensions.

Marguerite has no choice but to search for each splinter of Paul’s soul. The hunt sends her racing through a war-torn San Francisco, the criminal underworld of New York City, and a glittering Paris where another Marguerite hides a shocking secret. Each world brings Marguerite one step closer to rescuing Paul. But with each trial she faces, she begins to question the destiny she thought they shared.

The second book in the Firebird trilogy, Ten Thousand Skies Above You features Claudia Gray’s lush, romantic language and smart, exciting action, and will have readers clamoring for the next book.

 
8. The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman ☆☆☆☆

A thrillingly reimagined fairy tale from the truly magical combination of author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Chris Riddell – weaving together a sort-of Snow White and an almost Sleeping Beauty with a thread of dark magic, which will hold readers spellbound from start to finish.

On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future – and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.

Lavishly produced, packed with glorious Chris Riddell illustrations enhanced with metallic ink, this is a spectacular and magical gift.


what did y'all love in December?

xx
Sunny 

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

bookish christmas tag


Welcome to another installment of bookish Christmas here at Stardust and Words. Seeing as it is Christmas Eve Eve, I have taken it upon myself to post the Bookish Christmas Tag, which I found over at A Novel Glimpse. Take this time to reflect upon the books and bookish things that you have given and received during holidays past, and what you hope to receive in two days. Also, this will most likely be my last post for a week or so, so Happy Holidays to you all!


1. Father Christmas: Name a book you received as a child that you treasure to this day.

Probably my Harry Potter books that I received every Christmas until the seventh one came out! Though I now have three sets of those books, my battered and beaten originals are ones that I will always treasure. :) 

 
2. The Ghost of Christmas Past: Is there a book or series you like to revisit each year at Christmas time?

 Percy Jackson just is a comfortable, cozy thing to read at Christmastime for me. I don't even know why, because nothing about those books really reminds me of Christmas, but the feeling that they give me is something that I associate with this time of year. 


3. Friends and family: Name a book with fantastic characters.

Perhaps it is because I *just* finished it, but I'm going to say Winter by Marissa Meyer. The Lunar Chronicles in general are chock full of amazing characters that I would love to be friends with, but they all developed so much in the last novel, and I'm so proud of them. 


beckisbookshelf.tumblr.com
4. Decorations: Name a book with a gorgeous cover you would proudly display on your shelves.

The Starbound trilogy. I think that these three novels have some of the most gorgeous covers that I've ever seen! 


5. Christmas cards: Name a book that carries a great message.

 All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, because I think it sheds light on a place that a lot of books tend to shy away from. Its brutal and real and sensitive in its depictions of mental illness, which I really appreciate. 

 
6. Ice and snow: Name a book that you were hoping to love but which ultimately left you feeling cold.

Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa. I thought that this was going to be a really nice contemporary read, maybe with a deeper message to it, but the whole thing just gave me weird vibes, and I ended up barely finishing. 


7. Christmas lunch: Name a book that was big and intimidating but oh so worth it in the end.

A Game of Thrones because obviously all of the ASOIAF books are horrendously intimidating, but I ended up really enjoying the first book when I read it two years ago :) 

 
8. Mince pies: Name a book you found sweet and satisfying.

Most recently? First & Then by Emma Mills! I loved the Pride and Prejudice meets high school football aspect of it, and I found the characters to be really engaging, so I was caught up in their stories so much. 


9. Presents: What book do you wish you could give everyone to read?

Obviously my favorite series ever (besides Harry Potter) Throne of Glass! 

Merry Christmas Everyone!! 

xx
Sunny







look at her go: reviewin' reviewin': Winter

Winter by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles #4)

☆☆☆☆☆+

goodreads/amazon/b&n

synopsis: (spoilers!) Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar 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?


full review of this wonderful concluding novel of the Lunar Chronicles is under the cut! 

80% Read the Printed Word!