June Wrap-Up

June 30, 2015 brittanymariereads5 Comments

I can’t believe June is already over, it flew by. It was a busy month, but every month seems to be these days.

At work I have been settling into my new position. I enjoy the work and it keeps me busy during the summer months. (My primary position at work is considered seasonal and summer is our off season.) At the end of June my co-workers and I went to Baltimore for a work conference and we had a blast! If you want to hear more about Baltimore you can read my post here.

If you read my May Wrap-Up then you know that my best friend’s mom had a health scare last month. We had another little scare that resulted in an overnight hospital stay but since then she has been recovering nicely. In lighter news, I cut ten inches off of my hair. It was actually twice as much as I asked for and I may or may not have cried like a baby but I am slowly getting used to it.

Speaking of babies, two of my favorite ladies are pregnant! My favorite cousin is almost 23 weeks pregnant and earlier this month we found out that she is having a boy! One of my best friends is almost 20 weeks pregnant and she finds out what she is having tomorrow! Did I mention that I work with both of them? It is going to be crazy at work when they both go on maternity leave!

As far as reading goes, it was a slow month. During my work trip I only managed to read one book in an entire week, which put quite a damper on the number of books that I read this month. I only managed to read thirteen books. Below are the books that I read in June. If you want to read the review just click on the cover image.

If you are interested in purchasing any of the books that I read in June click on the title below.

Among the Ten Thousand Things

Lady Susan

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The Little Prince

Confessions of a Queen B*

As White as Snow

As Black as Ebony

Despite the Best Intentions

Loving Day

Everything, Everything

Every Day

Another Day

Legend

Don’t forget there are only two day left to enter the giveaway for a hardback copy of The Book of Speculation!

What books did you read in June? Do you have any goals set for July? Let us know in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday [5]

June 30, 2015June 28, 2015 brittanymariereads8 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far in 2015

The Book of Speculation

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Everything, Everything

Thirteen Reasons Why

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Every Day

11/22/63

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

The Mortal Instruments Series

The Bloodlines Series

What are your favorite books that you have read so far this year? What books are you most looking forward to for the rest of the year? Let us know in the comments!

Legend

June 29, 2015June 28, 2015 brittanymariereads7 Comments

Legend

Written By: Marie Lu

Published By: Putnam Juvenile

Read: June 27-28, 2015

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

You can buy this book here.

Goodreads Synopsis

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

I know what you are thinking, Legend came out four years ago, where have you been?! You are totally right, what was I thinking taking so long to start this series? I have actually owned the series for about a year or so, I have just never been in the mood to read it.

Going on my work conference actually put me in a little bit of a reading slump. I managed to read only one book in the past week, which is terrible for me. (I usually read a book ever day or two.) I decided that I needed a good series to jump start my reading. I had to talk myself out of rereading a couple of my favorites. I currently own about 150 books that I have yet to read and if I keep rereading my favorites I am never going to make it through my never ending TBR list.

So I decided to start the Legend series and I am so mad at myself for taking so long to do it. Legend definitely did the job of pulling me out of my reading slump. I am trying to hurry and finish this review so that I can go start Prodigy. As excited as I am to start the rest of the series I do have mixed feelings about this book. My actual rating is 3.5/5.

There were a lot of things that I liked. It was fast paced and exciting. I enjoyed the story and flew through it. The characters were well developed and I loved that the POV changed between June and Day in each chapter. Marie Lu did a great job with world building. I am excited to read the rest of the series and see how the rest of the story unfolds.

That being said, there are a few things that I didn’t really like. Legend was a good story, but it wasn’t new. There wasn’t anything extremely unique or different from every other dystopian novel. It was fairly predictable. I wasn’t very far into before I knew how it would end. I may not have known the exact details but I had a general idea of where the story was going to take me. I also felt that there was something lacking in the relationship building between June and Day. I can’t put my finger on it but it was missing something. Legend didn’t have any major flaws, it just didn’t blow me out of the water.

I do recommend that you add this to your summer TBR list if you haven’t already read it. It may not be the most original story, but it is still a good read. I plan to finish the rest of the series and I will let you know what I think of them, so keep an eye out for the reviews.

2015 Reading Challenge- A Trilogy

Recommended for Fans of: Young Adult, Dystopia, Fantasy and Science Fiction

Suggested to Read Next: Prodigy

The Book of Speculation Giveaway!

June 28, 2015 brittanymariereads1 Comment

brittanymariereads

In honor of brittanymariereads celebrating its first month I am having a giveaway!

I am giving away one hardcover copy of The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler! I absolutely adored this book and I think you will too! You can read my review here. If you absolutely can’t wait and want to purchase a copy you can get one here.

The giveaway will start June 17, 2015 and end on July 2, 2015. I will reveal the winner in a blog post and on Twitter on July 2nd. Unfortunately the giveaway is only open to U.S. residents at this time. To enter click on the Rafflecopter link below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Book Haul June 2015 [2]

June 28, 2015June 28, 2015 brittanymariereads5 Comments

So many books, so little time.

June was filled with so many books that I wanted to do another book haul post to show you guys what I have added to my bookshelves. If you want to see the first part of my June book haul you can do so here.

If you have been following along with my blog you know that I can’t resist a great deal on books. I check my Amazon wishlist everyday to see if any of the bazillion (rough estimate) of books that I have on it have gone on sale. I am also always entering giveaways on Goodreads, Twitter and blogs. The majority of the books in this book haul were won on giveaways and the rest I bought when they went on sale on Amazon. I paid a total of $6.30 for all of the books in this book haul.

Twitter Giveaways