November Reads

I read a few books this month not as much as I would like but between Nanowrimo and school not much time to read at all. But I read a lot of good books though.

1. Neutral Zone by Catherine Gayle (5/5)
2. Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zappia (5/5)
3. Love and other consolation prizes by Jamie Ford(3/5)
4. Before the devil breaks you by Libba Bray(5/5)
5. All the crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater(3/5)
6. Strong men armed by Robert Leckie(4/5)
7. Night by Elie Wisel(5/5)
8. The forgotten Elie Wisel(4/5)
9. Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la cruz(3/5)
10.  Citywide by Santino Hassell (5/5)
11. The Mighty Eighth by Gerald Astor(5/5)

December TBR

I am about to be on break so reading marathon will commence. I am doing a themed read of sorts with the fact I have over a dozen books on the Battle of the bulge so I thought I would knock some out. There are a few other books mixed in as well.

1. Caraval by Stephanie Garber
2. Code Girls by Liza Mundy
3. Currahee!: A Screaming Eagle at Normandy by Donald R. Burgett 
4. The Road to Arnhem: A Screaming Eagle in Holland by Donald R. Burgett 
5. Seven Roads to Hell: A Screaming Eagle at Bastogne by Donald R. Burgett 
6. Beyond the Rhine: A Screaming Eagle in Germany by Donald R. Burgett  
7. The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon by Alex Kershaw
8. Once upon a time in war by Robert e. Humphrey
10. No Greater Valor: The Siege of Bastogne and the Miracle That Sealed Allied Victory 
11. by Jerome R. Corsi
12. Alamo in the Ardennes: The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible by John C. McManus
14. A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge
15. by Charles B. MacDonald
16. Behind Hitler's Lines by Thomas H. Taylor
17. D-Day by Stephen e. Ambrose
18. The Victors by Stephen E. Ambrose
19. 11 days in December: Christmas at the Bulge by Stanley Weintrub

Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Rating:5/5
Summar(x)

My Thoughts:

One of my favorite books of the year by far. It is going to be in my top five books of the year for sure. When I first read the summary of this book I was intrigued and excited. This sound like a book I would really love. It ended up being an amazing book that I cannot recommend enough. I loved Wallace and Eliza so much they were so well written. I could see a lot of myself in Eliza as a writer and creator. I love reading about characters who I can relate to.

Plot:

Eliza is the writer of a popular webcomic called monstrous sea. No one knows she writes this web comic except some of her online friends. She meets the new kid at school named Wallace who writes monstrous sea fanfiction. But he does not know who she is online. They develop a friendship and later their relationship turns into more. But when her secret comes out everything is shaken up and she has to deal with the aftermath of her secret being revealed.

Characters:

I love Eliza a lot she was so well written and relatable. So was Wallace. I love both of them a lot and how their friendship was. Her parents were irritating at times but that is how most parents are.

Love and other consolation prizes by Jamie Ford (provided by Netgalley)

Rating: 3/5

Summary: (x)

My thoughts:

Interesting plot and summary but not the book for me. Still enjoyed it but not my favorite book. The premise and the characters were interesting. It just fell flat for me and it was a struggle to get through. If you like historical fiction this book is for you. I love historical fiction a lot so it was not great that I did not like it.

Plot:

The story is set in two different times one in 1909 and the other is set in the 1960s. It revolves around Ernest who is a charity case who gets a wealthy sponsor who changes his life. He ends up living in a brothel living with a noturious madam. There he meets the daughter of the madam and a young Japanese girl. Both are going to change his life. It goes through his life and there are lots of flashbacks in the present part of the story.

Characters:

Ernest was an amazing character who I really liked. I loved the other characters as well. They added so much to the story.

Some of my favorite reads of 2017

It's almost the end of the year and here are some of my favorite books I read this year. I will do it by genre.

Young Adult:

• Before the Devil Breaks you by Libba Bray (5/5)
• The Language of thorns by Leigh Bardugo (5/5)
• Warcross by Marie Lu (5/5)
• The gentleman's guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee(5/5)
• Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch (5/5)
• The Savage Song by Melissa Grey (5/5)
• We are Okay by Nina LaCour (4/5)
• Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin(5/5)
• Tash hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee(5/5)
• The Upside of  Unrequited by Becky Albertalli (5/5)
• You Know me well by Nina Lacour and David Leviathan(5/5)
• When Dimple met Rishi by Sandhya Menon (5/5)
• Frontlines by Michael Grant(5/5)
• Silver Stars by Michael Grant(5/5)
• Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli(5/5)
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe  by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (5/5)
• Long Way home by Katie McGarry (5/5)
• Wait for me by Caroline Leech (5/5)
• Illuminae by Amie Koffman (5/5)
• Gemina by Amie Koffman(5/5)
• I'll give you the sun by Jandy Nelson (5/5)
• 
  

Historical Fiction:

• The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor (5/5)
• The Frozen hours by Jeff Shaara (5/5)
• Defiance by A.L. Sowards (5/5)
• The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill (5/5)
• We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter (5/5)
• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn(4/5)
• Anchor in the Storm by Sarah Sundin(5/5)
• Through Waters Deep  by Sarah Sundin (5/5)

Non Fiction:

• The Mighty Eighth: The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It 
• by Gerald Astor (4/5)
• A Blood-Dimmed Tide: The Battle of the Bulge by the Men Who Fought It 
• by Gerald Astor (4/5)
• Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War II 
• by Robert Leckie(4/5)
• Single Handed: The Inspiring True Story of Tibor "Teddy" Rubin--Holocaust Survivor, Korean War Hero, and Medal of Honor Recipient 
• by Daniel M. Cohen (5/5)
• Shifty's War: The Authorized Biography of Sergeant Darrell "Shifty" Powers, the Legendary Sharpshooter from the Band of Brothers 
• by Marcus Brotherton (5/5)
• You'll Be Sor-ree: A Guadalcanal Marine Remembers The Pacific War 
• by Sid Phillips (5/5)
• Hell in the Pacific: A Marine Rifleman's Journey From Guadalcanal to Peleliu 
• by Jim McEnery(5/5)
• Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, the Man Who Led the Band of Brothers 
• by Larry Alexander(5/5)
• Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich 
• by David Kenyon Webster(5/5)
• The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945 
• by James D. Hornfischer(5/5)
• Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany 
• by Donald L. Miller(5/5)
• A Blue Sea of Blood: Deciphering the Mysterious Fate of the USS Edsall 
• by Donald M. Kehn(5/5)
• The Heart of Hell: The Untold Story of Courage and Sacrifice in the Shadow of Iwo Jima 
• by Mitch Weiss(5/5)
• Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters 
• by Dick Winters(5/5)
• Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific 
• by R.V. Burgin(5/5)
• China Marine: An Infantryman's Life after World War II 
• by Eugene B. Sledge(5/5)
• Brothers In Battle, Best of Friends 
• by William Guarnere(5/5)
• Easy Company Soldier: The Legendary Battles of a Sergeant from World War II's "Band of Brothers" 
• by Don Malarkey(5/5)
• In the Footsteps of the Band of Brothers: A Return to Easy Company's Battlefields with Sgt. Forrest Guth by Larry Alexander(5/5)
• All the Gallant Men: An American Sailor's Firsthand Account of Pearl Harbor 
• by Donald Stratton(5/5)

October Wrap up

Here are the books I ended up finishing this month and their ratings. I did not read half the books I wanted to but college is important.

1. Warcross by Marie Lu (5/5)
2. A blood-dimmed tide by Gerald Astor (5/5)
3. The Language of  Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
4. First and First by Santino Hassell (4/5)
5. Interborough by Santino Hassell(4/5)
6. Concourse by Santino Hassell(4/5)
7. Wolves of  Wrath by Quinn Loftis (5/5)