Tag: reading

Blogging · Young Adult · Young Adult Books

Choosing Your Next Great Read

byjehunterLeave a comment

Last Friday I spent all day absorbed in a book. it was so good that I just could not put it down. I mean, I did have to actually put it down now and again, but i picked it up immediately as soon as I was able. That book was The Girl on the Train. I loved it, but I’m not going to review it on here, because it is out of the norm for what I do review. What I am going to talk about is how to choose your next great read after having an epic-ly good time reading something else. Or rather, how I choose my next great read. Especially on a snow-bound weekend.

IMG_0261

Every reader is familiar with that post-good-book lull. The, ‘that was fun but now what’ blues. I find they always leave me floundering. How do I choose my next book? I have an easier time choosing my next read after finishing something okay or so-so. I have a really easy time choosing my next read after reading something I didn’t particularly enjoy (because anything seems entertaining after that). But after reading a really great book…. SIGH… I flounder.

IMG_0149

After finishing The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, I picked up about five different novels, read a paragraph or two, flipped through the pages and debated. What did I want to read now? I already had a stack of books next to my bed, the ‘read-next’ stack, which I order and rearrange on a regular basis. In the stack was, The Invasion of the Tearling, Steelheart, Seven Dead Pirates, Jane Eyre (which has been waiting half finished for over a year now), Fate of Flames, Splintered, and What Light. So I bounced, from book to book to book attempting to find something to hold my attention.

IMG_0249

It might have been easier to just toss a coin. But it probably wouldn’t have been as fun. I read the first chapter of Fate of Flames, and enjoyed it, but it’s an e-book, and I decided I felt like reading a paper book. I read a few pages of The Invasion of the Tearling, but discovered I needed something faster paced following The Girl on the Train. I read a little bit more of What Light, which I’ve been slowly reading on my phone whenever I’m on the move, but couldn’t commit to it fully. I continued to ignore my beautiful copy of Jane Eyre because no matter what, I always just seem to feel too tired to pick it up. Then I picked up Steelheart and was like I FOUND IT.

IMG_0260

So, how do you choose your next great read?

JEH

Covers · Self-Publishing · Young Adult · Young Adult Books

Novel Title Reveal!

byjehunter1 Comment

Alright, I’m finally ready to tell you all the title of my new project. This is a Young Adult Science Fiction Mystery the I’ll be releasing in Late April or Early May of 2017. I has a few rounds of rewrites to go through yet, but I look forward to sharing tidbits with you each week as the launch gets closer.

So, here’s a mock cover I did when I drafted the book a number a years ago (yes, years). The actual cover is still being worked on by the amazing Leah Keeler. But don’t worry, I reveal it sometime before the launch.

So for now, the title: Under Jupiter

It’s going to be awesome.

under-jupiter

JEH

Blogging · Self-Publishing

Writing 365,000 Words in a Year Update #19

byjehunter1 Comment

Ah, let’s just start this post off with a nice cup of tea, shall we?

img_5130

Ah, that’s better! *refreshed*

Right, well. What have I been up to lately? Writing, writing, writing. Though I still haven’t got up to my target word count. I’m almost exactly halfway through this personal challenge, and I’m feeling pretty darn good about what I have accomplished so far this year. As you can see from the table below, I’ve begun tracking which projects I’m working on when. Hopefully this will help me develop more consistency with projects, and not jump around so much. I’m supposed to be focusing on UJ, which is a rewrite, which means that somedays I have to write other things to get my 1,000. The good thing about my rewriting process is that I tend to add words. I write clean, plain first drafts, and fill things up with detail on the second go around. I started rewriting UJ at around  63,000 words, and already I’m up over 67,700 words.

screen-shot-2017-02-24-at-3-46-21-pm

As for the gym, I know I haven’t updated that one in a while, but I have been going more regularly, usually at least two times a week. I’m still listening to audiobooks when I’m there, and I love it. I’ll have an audiobook review up this weekend.

As for my GoodReads goal, I set it for 60 books this year and I’ve so far finished 9 books, and GoodReads tells me I’m one book ahead. Yay, me! I’m also nearly finished two other books so I should be at eleven books soon.

Going back to the abbreviations above, I’m sure you’re all dying to hear the name of my new novel. Well, it’ll be here on the weekend, too. I can’t wait to reveal it.

JEH

book review · Covers · I love books

What I’m Reading: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

byjehunterLeave a comment

Earlier in the year I mentioned that I’d be blogging more about the books I read that aren’t Young Adult, so long as I think they are a reasonable match to the YA books I know and love. I think Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman fits this bill.

Dovekeepers is an historical fiction about the persecution of the Jewish people by the Romans. I hadn’t ever read anything about this period of time before and Hoffman did a great job at inspiring my interest in both her characters and this specific piece of history. One of my favorite pieces of the novel was the touch of magic. The magic was never written about as ‘real’ magic, but it was written as real as the people of the time would have believed. Or maybe it was real, who knows? Sometimes I think that magic are the little things that happen that are overlooked by our modern sensibilities.  There was a strong romantic element in this book, and also quite a bit of violence, as it is depicting a true and brutal time, but it is never over the top.

img_0090

This book is written in four parts instead of chapters, and it took me until the second part to get into the book, but I was glad I did. Each part features a different character. This was really refreshing to me, reading something that didn’t follow the usual novel conventions.

If you enjoy historical fiction, especially about strong women, then I recommend checking out this book.

4/5 Stars

JEH

 

book review · I love books

What I’m Reading: Spirit Animals Vol 1. Wild Born by Brandon Mull

byjehunterLeave a comment

The title is kind of a lie. I actually listened to this on audiobook and didn’t read it. But I did enjoy it. I haven’t read the books, so I can’t compare the reading experience to the listening one, but I really enjoyed the audio book of this children’s fantasy adventure.

Spirit Animals: Wild Born by Brandon Mull follows four eleven-year old kids who call The Fallen as their spirit animals. There is quite a bit of set-up in this book, but there are seven books in the series, so I appreciate all the time taken to give the story a good base. Even with the set-up, there was a good amount of action. The story had me longing for a spirit animal of my own, and I keep hoping one will just appear any day now.

fullsizerender-25

Spirit Animals Wild Born is definitely children’s fiction, not young adult, but I think for any fan of the fantasy genre, the Spirit Animals world would be an enjoyable one, especially if you have a secret longing to be a veterinarian, like I do. This is the kind of book that I would like to read to my children one day—maybe once they are old enough to sit through more than on sentence from a board book. This is the kind of fiction that is uplifting, and good to read on a stressful day.

As for the audiobook, it was read by Nicola Barber and I thought she did a wonderful job with all of the varying voices and accents and characterization. Though I think she actually did a better job of the male voices than the female voices, which I find to be a problem with a lot of audiobooks. Or maybe it’s just me.

Have you read or listened to this book? What did you think?

4/5 Stars

JEH

book review · I love books · Young Adult · Young Adult Books

What I’m Reading: As I Darken by Kiersten White

byjehunterLeave a comment

One of the books I fininshed reading while on vacation was As I Darken by Kiersten White. This is an ‘alternate’ history, taking place during the time of the Ottoman Empire and Mehmed the II. The ‘alternate’ comes from the fact that White has made Vlad the Impaler a girl. This bring such an interesting dynamic to this story. The whole book was well written, rich with detail and character and raw emotion.

img_4733

There are really three main characters in this book, Lada, her brother Raul, and Mehmed. Lada is just what I love in a heroine, she is fierce, fiery, and needs no one (or likes to think she does). It makes me wonder what other histories would sound like if famous males were females. It’s an interesting concept to say the least. I’ve never read any of White’s other books, but I’ve heard from other people that they are great reads as well. As I Darken has definitely encouraged me to seek out more of White’s work.

5/5 Stars.

JEH

Nature · Photos

Back From the Beach and Other Things…

byjehunterLeave a comment

I have to say, Mexico in January was a great place to be. Now I’m back in the snow, though the temperatures have been surprisingly pleasant. I was happy to learn that it was -40 C while I was away, plus there was a blizzard. I’m glad I got to spend time on the beach reading instead of dealing with snow. It’s taken me a few days to readjust to winter and work and regular life. I think it would be all to easy to live on a resort where you ever have to cook clean or worry, except maybe worry about if it’s going to rain. Here are some picture from around the area we stayed in, it was gorgeous.

I finished reading two books on vacation and read parts of a couple others. I never read just one book at a time, but read whatever suits my mood. GoodReads tells me I’m 1 book ahead of my reading goal, which is excellent because I think reading 60 books in a year is going to be quite the challenge, especially since I have a couple long books on my shelves.

I’ll post a review of As I Darken tomorrow, one of the books I finished while on holiday.

Till then,

JEH

 

Blogging · I love books

Reading For Christmas

byjehunterLeave a comment

So here’s the thing: every year I ask for books at Christmas. I love books, to me, there is no better present. Only, when I was recently counting the books on my ‘To Be Read’ shelf, I realized I had 67 books stacked up. 67! According to Goodreads, I’m currently on book 39, which I will finish today or tomorrow, along with book 40, which is my Short Story Advent Calendar (one story a day up until Christmas). This means, that to get through my entire ‘To Be Read’ shelf next year, I’m going to have to up my Goodreads Reading Challenge to 70 Books. That’s almost double what I did in 2016. But that’s okay. I can do it. I just need to read more, and I love reading. This also means I get to spend  more time wearing my Christmas socks, which I love. I love them so much I wish it was acceptable to wear them out in public.

My favorite Christmas mug was broken last week, so I’m currently on the hunt for a replacement. Meanwhile, I’m drinking all my coffee with whipped cream, as the Christmas season calls for. Today is my last day at the office until next Wednesday, so I’m hoping for more than a few quiet moments where I can knock off a few books from my list of 67. Maybe if I only have 65 on my list by January 1st things will seem less daunting in the new year.

So, here’s to Happy Holidays, whipped cream, and cats in trees.

JEH

book review · Young Adult · Young Adult Books

What I’m Reading: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

byjehunterLeave a comment

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton a Young Adult Book Review

I found this book browsing around my e-library. It sounded different than a lot of Young Adult fantasy I’d recently picked up so I put it on my wait list, and I loved it. Rebel of the Sands is a fantasy/western Arabian Nights full of Sultans and Djinnis and kick-a** heroines. There were so many unique aspects in this book that I’m not going to get into them all (plus, I wouldn’t want to ruin the story for you).

img_4814

What I enjoyed most about Hamilton’s book is how complete the world felt, from where the story begins in Dustwalk to where it ends (not going to say). And the ending itself. This is the kind of book that keeps a lot of secrets, but reveals them in a well timed manner that makes complete sense and is so fitting for the book. I wasn’t sure if this book was going to be a series, however, so I looked it up, and apparently a second book will be released in 2017. I get the feeling that Rebel was written with the intention that it could be left a standalone book, but it is so delicious that I’m glad it’s not. Though I have to say, I’m not a fan of the cover art for the sequel which can be preview on Goodreads if you’re interested.

If you’re a fan of Aladdin or Sinbad or just want something mystical but a bit different, pick up Rebel of the Sands, you won’t regret it.

5/5 Stars.

JEH

book review · Covers · Young Adult

Books I Love: Queen Of The Tearling by Erika Johansen

byjehunterLeave a comment

Way back in April or May I briefly mentioned that I was reading this book. When I finished it, I didn’t post a review, because I only review Young Adult fiction on this site, even though I read a smattering of other stuff. But lately I’ve come across a few different posts and lists that include Queen of the Tearling under Young Adult fiction.

My own opinion is that Queen of the Tearling isn’t ‘Young Adult’, because to me, Young Adult has a certain voice, a certain sassiness to it that other fiction does not. But I can see where the crossover occurs, and that’s with the 19 year-old Queen herself. Sometimes, books are classified as Young Adult just because the main character is young adult. But that’s not what makes something YA. But regardless of where you find this book shelved, it is a wonderful read, one that will most likely top the list of favourite books I read in 2016, which is a post I’m planning prior to the new year.

       

(Associate Links)

Queen of the Tearling is considerably darker than, say, the Throne of Glass Series, because, for one, there isn’t the same filter. Dark deeds aren’t just hinted at, they are spelled out. The atmosphere itself is dark and dreary, unlike TOG, which always feels fun, somehow. The writing is more immersive in QOTT, which means less reliance on dialogue and more longer, lingering passages of exposition. But QOTT is beautifully written and a pleasure to read. If you love fantasy and YA but want to read a book that is a slightly different pace than what would normally be found on the Young Adult shelves, try Erika Johansen’s work. The last book in the trilogy was just released last week, so if you want to read the whole series in one go, you now can!

5/5 Stars.

JEH