Top Ten Books That Have Been on My Shelf (or TBR) From Before I Started Blogging That I STILL Haven't Read It Yet

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Well, this isn't a very pleasant topic, only on my physical TBR I probably could find more than 10 so on my overall TBR, yeah... Okay, it's true that I didn't started blogging until 2013 so it isn't that much time and my TBR did grow much more after it than before, anyways, let's get to it.

1. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien: I started reading Tolkien with The Hobbit around 2009 I think, and to this day still haven't managed to finish the LOTR trilogy, probably because I keep meaning to re-read them all because I don't remember a thing and I know this will take forever, someday...

2. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey: this one was right before I started blogging I think, I saw it all over booktube and it was must have it now, I pre-ordered (something I never ever do) and when I did got it, started reading and them kind of forgot about it (weirdly this is something I do a lot), never got around to finish it, now I'm not so sure I want to actually read this series anymore since the other two aren't that well rated.

3. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: I already read the first one of this series of 5 back in 2013 or 2012, but I didn't enjoyed all that much, mostly because I don't think I got it, everyone has this series in such a high praise that it was a bummer, but I still own all of them and plan on re-reading the first to see if with those years apart I manage to enjoy it more.

4. Stardust by Neil Gaiman: the movie adaptation of this one is one of my favorites from when I was a child, every time it was up on the tv I would watch it, but them I read another Gaiman novel (The ocean at the end of the lane) and didn't enjoyed it all that much so now I'm scared and have been putting it off reading this one, please be good.

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: I know the horror! I haven't read P&P yet, it's a big negligence on my reader experience, I even bought a pretty edition a few years ago, after watching The Lizzie Bennett Diaries, but never got around to reading it, soon.  

6. The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith: I started reading TVD because of the tv show, back in 2012 I think, but there is so much books in this series, after a while I just stopped buying them, as of right now, from the ones I own I need to read still 5 books of this series. 

7. Inferno by Dan Brown: went down the rabbit hole that is Brown's book and read all of them in like a month or so, but until Inferno was released the high had passed and I never got around to it, still don't know if will get to it.

8. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld: after reading his Uglies series (still not over Specials) I wanted to read more from this author and this was his most know series, and it's so pretty with illustrations, one day... one day...

9. Gemma Doyle by Libba Bray: every book/series published by this author comes with high praise but I still need to read something by her, the Gemma Doyle trilogy got on my radar even before I entered blogging, soon I'll get to you.

10. Secret Society Girls by Diana Peterfreund: this is from my days of Gossip Girl, this series was sold as similar to it, don't know if that is true but it definitely put it on my TBR. 

That's all for me, let me know if you have read any of those titles above!

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit - Jaye Robin Brown

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown
Published on August 30, 2016 by HarperTeen
[This book was given to me by the Publisher, this has in no way affected my opinion.]

Joanna Gordon has been out and proud for years, but when her popular radio evangelist father remarries and decides to move all three of them from Atlanta to the more conservative Rome, Georgia, he asks Jo to do the impossible: to lie low for the rest of her senior year. And Jo reluctantly agrees.

Although it is (mostly) much easier for Jo to fit in as a straight girl, things get complicated when she meets Mary Carlson, the oh-so-tempting sister of her new friend at school. But Jo couldn’t possibly think of breaking her promise to her dad. Even if she’s starting to fall for the girl. Even if there’s a chance Mary Carlson might be interested in her, too. Right?

This book you guys, it was so so good, fluffy and everything I want from a contemporary read. I read, and loved, Brown's debut so it was a non-brainier that I would read her sophomore novel, it was a bonus when I found out it was going to have a lesbian main character AND a cute f/f romance, I was so in for this.

Jo starts the story seeming to have everything figured out, at least for a teenage girl, she has her group of friends, where she is out and accepted but when her fathers marries again she has to promise to her dad that she will pretend to not be gay and open on her senior year of a very small, southern city. Jo having to change her exterior to pretend something really trows her into a discovery journey and she finds a lot about herself while at it, it seems a bit weird right, but while pretending she needs to let go a lot of her comfort zones and try to do different things than what she is used to, letting herself find out more about herself.

A good part of this self discovery journey of Jo involve her new group of friends, B.T.B. and a few girls from her church and high school. I first want to say how much I enjoyed Jo and B.T.B friendship, he is introduced to her as she comes to school, to show her around and they instantly bound exchanging facts about elephants, B.T.B. biggest passion - he's part of a class for special kids on their school and most of the kids from church and school talk to him, the way that he fits into this community is show in a very positive and supportive light, I really appreciated that.

 Her new group of girlfriends is very different from the ones she was used, first of all they are straight (or at least that is what seems) and think Jo is too, so that leads to some funny/awkward conversations, but the more Jo gets to know them more she realizes that having girlfriends to do pajama and dance parties, friends that share her belief on religion are actually a good thing. Not to say that her friends from Atlanta aren't important, her best friend Dana is a present figure of the story and I was a bit wary at first, because she seems to be bad news, but they work together, have each others back and have fun, which is basically what you need on your friends.

But back to her friends of Rome, her new town, there is a special friend in that group that is Mary Carlson, she is B,T.B. sister and Jo has an instant crush on her, which only turns harder to contain when they become friends. At the start of their interactions I was giggling a lot because Jo keeps re-passing their conversations and their touches, and it was just like with any other friend? Was it not? And if it's not what the hell does that mean? It was all very feelsy and it give each of their interactions  and little touches much more meaning, I can't say much more about the romance without spoiling it but I do warm you, that it does contain drama, not over the top but there is teenager angst, but it was still fluffy and fun and my favorite part of the story probably.

My second favorite part was the family dynamics. At the start things are kind of strained between Jo and her father and stepmother because their marriage made Jo move and hide who she was, there was a few moments where I got teary because I can't imagine how hard it must be to hard it must be to the entire LGBTQ+ community that has to face this sort of prejudice every day. I liked that through the book we get to know Three/Elizabeth and actually see her not just a stepmother, but as a possibly friend and even maternal figure that Jo didn't had for a very long time on her life. It was good to see this small, new family coming together and really trying to work things out to become a family, things don't start out great, but the three of them care about each other (or at learn to care about each other) and in the end of the day the best you can do is try to make things better for those you love.

Last, but definitely not least, the religious aspect of this novel was really good, I'm not part of any formal religion or religious community but it was great to read about Jo's faith, how her father being a reverend affected her and to see how it can be a amazing place to find yourself support - of course, there is the ugly too, not everyone is accepting and loving of a (or multiples) lesbian girls, but the biggest message is that you can find faith and be yourself at the same time. I specially liked Jo's idea for a youth radio program, on her fathers church, it's a great idea to propagate messages that will be directed to young people so that they can find support and acceptance while maintaining their faith.

Phew, I don't know if I ever wrote such a long review, at first I didn't even knew if I would be able to say much about this book but it seems the opposite actually. I really enjoyed reading this and would recommend it to everyone, especially readers that are looking for a positive light on sexuality and religion working together and those who loved Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (so basically everyone, as I said before).

A Court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #2
Published on May 3, 2016 by Bloomsbury USA Children

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

Last year I read and absolutely hated ACOTAR, but this being a series by Maas I knew that once ACOMAF was published there would be major fangirl screams of how this is THE ! BEST ! BOOK ! EVER ! and that I wouldn't resist because well, it IS a Sarah J. Maas book. Anyway, I waited for a few reviewers that also hated ACOTAR to confirm that this was an improvement and decided to finally try it, I'm so glad I did because I loved this one.

So, for those who are Tamlin fans and shipped Feyre and him pretty hardcore this book will probably be shit, specially the start will be hard to digest because the narrative seems set on making you hate him and their relationship and show how wrong these two are about each other, and it's really SHOUTING AT YOUR FACE this, it's plain obvious what is doing, not subtle at all and yeah, it can bother a lot of fans but I never particularly enjoyed Tamlin and his relationship with Feyre was super abusive since day 1 for me. I heard a lot of people saying that Tamlin changed a lot from the first book, only to suit the love triangle, I honestly can't say if that is true, I cared very little (to nothing) about him in ACOTAR and I basically erased that book from my memory, but if it wasn't explicit on book 1 that Tamlin is a controlling asshole than on this one it will be.

The other side of the love triangle (idk if I would call it a love triangle really, but anyway) is Rhysand and the reason I picked up this book in the first place - he was the only one that seemed to have an actual personality before and I was interested in seeing what was behind all those layers. At first, I wasn't all that sold on him as a love interest because well, he can be an asshole too, a sarcastic one sure but still asshole, but of course *things* happen that force Feyre to get to know him and I was totally won over by him. Now, I'm the first to admit that the romance on this one is basically wish-fulfillment (all of this book could be called), towards the end there was some sap as fuck shit but I didn't care one bit, I was 100% wanting this since the first book so it was like this was my wish-fulfillment dream come true.  Also, Feyre and Rhysand have banter and sarcastic come-backs like there was no yesterday and I'm all over this shit. I'm also really scared since Maas seems to not like to stick with a couple for very long (her record in the ToG series so far has been two books, that series has had 4 love interests for Celaena in 4 books + 1 prequel, seriously) and now ACOTAR is not a trilogy anymore but a 8 books series and this is only the second !!!!! I don't want to pass through another Celaena/Chaol heartbreak, one of those was enough, please spare me this time Sarah and keep Rhysand and Feyre save.

Now, the actual plot of the book (yes, this series does have more than the battle between ships, I know it seems so hard to believe) it was an improvement than the first one in my opinion, since ACOTAR was basically a romance, in this one we have a clear plot and the characters working to achieve that towards the entire story. There was some major LOL moments on the plot still, because things they needed would totally surge out of nowhere and everything would be fine but I didn't care, honestly I was so invested on the story that I enjoyed this monster of 600+ pages from start to finish. There is much more world building too, with the courts rebuilding themselves we get a glimpse at the Summer Court and a lot of the Night Court for obvious reasons, which was my favorite parts because of well, obvious reasons.

I do liked that Feyre has a lot of character arc through this one, I didn't care much for her on ACOTAR and she starts this one pretty fucked up after what happened to her, what she did to survive Under the Mountain, with some serious PTSD and plus her shitty relationship with Tamlin, she wasn't at her best at the start of the story, but along it she grows, in physical strength as well as emotional and I really like her now. It was really a story of finding herself now that she is a Fae, what she wants and needs, and I enjoyed the fact that this time around she didn't waited for anybody to get it from her.

One last thing, a lot of people seemed surprised by the graphic sex scenes on this one, but I think we had some on ACOTAR too so I don't know if people just forgot or idk, anyway I thought this was market as NA and not YA - at least for me, it fits that category better, since Feyre is 19 turning 20 (from what I remember), so she wouldn't "fit" the YA age for main character and the other faeries have like, 500 years so yeah.

In the end of the day I'm glad I give this series another shot and listened to the fangirls, I was super happy to turn myself into one of the shouting fangirls. I can see why a lot of people won't enjoy this one and I guess it's a matter of whether of how much you care about the ships and/or if you can let go of analyzing things too close and too through - this is the definition of a brain candy read for me, despite its size it was easy to read it and that ending left me wanting for the third book like crazy (I may or may not have started re-reading this one right after I finished it).

Waiting on Wednesday: Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby #3) by William Ritter

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week's pick is: 

Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter

Series: Jackaby #3

To be published on August 23, 2016 by Algonquin Young Readers

Jenny Cavanaugh, the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, has enlisted the investigative services of her fellow residents to solve a decade-old murder—her own. Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, Detective R. F. Jackaby, dive into the cold case, starting with a search for Jenny’s fiancé, who went missing the night she died. But when a new, gruesome murder closely mirrors the events of ten years prior, Abigail and Jackaby realize that Jenny’s case isn’t so cold after all, and her killer may be far more dangerous than they suspected.

Fantasy and folklore mix with mad science as Abigail’s race to unravel the mystery leads her across the cold cobblestones of nineteenth-century New England, down to the mythical underworld, and deep into her colleagues’ grim histories to battle the most deadly foe she has ever faced.

Why I'm waiting:

• The books in this series are always fun and quick to read, so I'm pretty sure that I'll enjoy this one as well.
• In the last book I thought there was some clues to a bigger plot arc for the series, and not just separate cases, so I can't wait to see if I was right (or not).
• I don't know if this is a trilogy or not, so probably gonna find out this time around.

Are you waiting for this book? Have you read it yet? Let me know!

Top Ten Books Set In Europe

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Today's TTT is for books set on whenever place you would like, I chose Europe, is a pretty large continent and it has so many wanderlust settings that I would like to visit someday, so let's get to it.

1. Wanderlost by Jen Malone: Fun, quickly read, filled with wanderlust settings that made me wish so hard that I could pack and go to Europe right this second, plus for cute romance.

2. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi: this graphic novel (and later movie) is set part on Iran and part on France, is one of my favorites GN because shows us a different POV on the religious and political conflicts of her country (Iran).

3. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling: I mean duh, this one has England plus magical setting. 

4. The Falconer by Elizabeth May: Historical Edinburgh with steampunk inventions and fairies, gimme!

5. Da Vinci's Tiger by L.M. Elliott: this book is a must to lovers of history and art, it has amazing descriptions of Florence at that time period, if only I had a TARDIS... Also, will forever ignore the cover change.

6. Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge: this one starts of in a magical version of Rocamadour, France, and after that I don't really know where it goes but let's pretend is all a fantasy version of France that I would most definitely wish existed for me to visit (except for the forest).

7. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins: from NYC to Paris to Barcelona this book is a must for those who love to get that wanderlust feeling from their stories, it all comes together with a cute romance and a coming of age story.

8. Geek Girl by Holly Smale: this series is so much fun! And the second one is also set in  Japan so yay, it may be a little juvenile at times but is a sure garante of a good laugh and a quick read. 

9. Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging by Louise Rennison: if you still haven't read Georgia Nicholson, please remedy that soon, this series is so much fun and will definitely make you feel like a England teenage girl.

10. Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan: if you still aren't reading this series please change that, pretty please, this is one of my favorite series and is set on Sorry-in-the-Vale, in the Cotswolds, countryside of England, it makes you wish to make a trip to these little towns and find out all about their folclore.

That is all for me, let me know which books set on Europe do you recommend me!

Girl Against the Universe - Paula Stokes

Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes 
Published on May 17, 2016 by HarperTeen

Maguire is bad luck.

No matter how many charms she buys off the internet or good luck rituals she performs each morning, horrible things happen when Maguire is around. Like that time the roller coaster jumped off its tracks. Or the time the house next door caught on fire. Or that time her brother, father, and uncle were all killed in a car crash—and Maguire walked away with barely a scratch.

It’s safest for Maguire to hide out in her room, where she can cause less damage and avoid new people who she could hurt. But then she meets Jordy, an aspiring tennis star. Jordy is confident, talented, and lucky, and he’s convinced he can help Maguire break her unlucky streak. Maguire knows that the best thing she can do for Jordy is to stay away. But it turns out staying away may be harder than she thought.

I read The Art of Lainey last year and it was a pretty meh read for me overall, not bad but the characters didn't connected with me so the story wasn't all that memorable but when I heard that the next contemporary by Stokes was going to tackle mental health I knew I had to check it out and am so glad for it, this is an amazing contemporary and it was automatic to my favorites shelf.

Maguire, our main character, thinks she is cursed because of a string of bad things that happened on her life, hurting everyone around her except for her so she closed herself from the world, keeping her family away, not having friends and avoiding any situation that could potentially harm anyone, this obviously isn't healthy but with the help of her therapist, new friends and family she finds the strength to start to rebuild her life. I have to praise the writing on this one, the voice of Maguire jumped out of the page and all her fears and emotions got to me, I honestly starting feeling like something bad were really going to happen whenever she engaged on an activity, it was so easy to get into those vicious thoughts and fell her guilt, I cried in so many passages of this story because I've already felt like this and knew how hard it was to Maguire to have to life with these thoughts, how hard it's to get out of your comfort zone (that in this case it isn't really comforting) and do something to change that, the fear, the guilty, the anxiety that it comes from it, it all touched me so much.

Through the story Maguire faces her fears and I loved her character arc, it is showed in a realistic way and as with any mental disorder it's a work in progress that doesn't end with the end of this book. I also have to say that I admired her so much, there was a lot of times where she would have to do something that had her uncomfortable because it triggered memories or that could hurt others because of her curse (or so she believed) and yet she went ahead and face it, I was like wow, because I don't think I would have the guts most of the times, it was such an inspiring book in this way, it made me wish to take a few more risks and face more things on my therapy. 

Talking about therapy, this was my favorite aspect of this story by far, it was so so so amazing, I can't praise it enough, in this story we read the sections between Maguire and her therapist and I think this is something so unique and necessary - a lot of people don't search help because they are afraid of what is gonna be like, the tabu revolving around it, and having a book that is target for teens to show it, I'm sure this is gonna serve of help to someone out there. I loved the author's note too and I suggest everyone to read it, it talks a bit about places that you can search for help, the different methods of therapy and telling that it's okay to ask for help.

What helped Maguire on her journey, besides the therapy, was the great supportive system that she found on her family and friends. Her family had a few touching moments with her mother and step-siblings, but what really touched me were her talks with her step-father and how he understood her and was glad to help her to do her challenges for therapy, there were tears involved (yes, I know, we already established that this book made me a crying mess). Making new friends was a big step for Maguire and I was so happy with it, she found two girlfriends on the tennis team that just made my heart so happy with all the support they gave and how they never judge her, only trying to understand and make things better. 

Another thing that obviously had a big impact on Maguire (and on me, omg they are so cute) was her friend/love interest, Jordy, they meet at therapy and them latter on because of tennis and every interaction between them had me smiling, they had a banter that made me laugh (see this book didn't make me only cry) and I shipped them pretty much since the first words were exchanged. They start interacting because of the therapy challenges and it's pretty easy to do a romance wrong in a book that focus so much on mental health but this is definitely not the case, neither of them saves and/or cures the others problems, but the way both of them support and help each other with their treatments was amazing. It was also nice to see a good foundation to their relationship, it definitely not just physical attraction (it was actually funny, how Maguire at first nearly dismissed him for his appearance and through the book she starts to notice more and more his traits that she liked) and we still get to see them together for a while, not just that kind of only get together at the very end. 

I'm so glad I give Stokes another change because this book won me over, it had an great character arc, family and friends that are supportive and pretty much amazing, a romance that had me smiling and shipping it like there was no yesterday, all of this topped with a positive picture of therapy and there was no way for me to not love this book. Super recommended to everyone, but especially people struggling with a mental disorder and/or lovers of YA contemporary.

Pokémon Go Book Tag

The Pokémon Go Book Tag was created by Aentee @ Read at Midnight, I wasn't tagged but I want to do it so whatever, who needs rules and all that.

This is a hard one because I always was a reader, when I started reading with about 5/6 years and was obsessed with everything Princess/Disney related I would have multiples copies of the same fairy tale only from different publishers, Meg Cabot introduced me to YA when YA wasn't a thing yet and Twilight definitely was a turning point in my reading life.

The only possible answer for this one is Harry Potter (it already counts as a classic, right? It's definitely iconic), I'll always come back to re-read this series no matter how old I get.

Hmm, this is a difficult one because I usually want to read books that are getting hyped... I guess Collen Hoover books in general, they are pretty popular and everyone reads it when there is a new release but her kind of NA doesn't seem my kind of type. 

I'll have to go with everything by Jennifer L. Armentrout, she always uses YA tropes on her stories but they never play out the way you would expect.

I'm not one to read chunky books, they always scare me away so there are a few for this one like A song of Ice and Fire of George R.R. Martin (read the first two, started the third and never got around to finishing it), Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (read the start of the first one years ago and never picked it back up), The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson (I honestly tried reading this one more than one time and didn't finish the first chapter), these are the ones that I own, if I went looking into my Goodreads for the ones that I wish I would read...

I usually always lose sleep because of books so this is a hard one, to keep it simple I'll have to go with only the last one that kept me up until 3 AM, it was The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson.

HA this is so funny, if I would list ALL my bookish OTP we would stay here for days so I'll go with just the most memorable ones from this year: Zoe/Digby from Trouble, Shahrzad/Khalid from The Wrath and the Dawn, Feyre/Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses, Magnus/Alec from The Immortal Instruments (re-reads count), Agnieszka/Dragon from Uprooted, Simon/Blue from Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (re-reads count x2), Dorian/Jasper from The Girl at Midnight (re-reads count x3).

I only got around to reading All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill this year (I know, I know) and it was definitely fast-paced, I read it in one day and right from the first chapter it was a couldn't put down kind of book.

I know that I lot, like A LOT, of people are tired of all the new Shadowhunters spin-offs but I honestly like them and am always happy to hear about new ones, I can't get enough of this world and will keep reading them. Also, Rick Riordan because I'll never deny a new sight of Percabeth.

I don't really keep track of what is debut or not and never made a conscious effort to read more debuts of said year, but I'm excited for Cherry by Lindsey Rosin that is going to get published this month!

Meg Cabot, J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, Stephenie Meyer, Sophie Kinsella, these authors are solid with me and have been in my auto-buy list for years.

I don't know if this series is hyped outside of the blogspere but His Fair Assassin by Robin LaFevers, I just ordered the third book and it's supposed to get to me this week yet so I'm excited to read it soon. 

Hmm, the sequels that I'm waiting are from books that I read recently and/or already have a date to be released so I know they will be getting to me soon, or the series already have more books released and I only need to catch up. I'll go with The Fallen Kingdom by Elizabeth May that is only going to be released on June 2017 and I read the second one in November 2015 so yeah :((( why so far away 

The Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima, I was expecting to like this one but I wasn't expecting to love it quite so much thought I still need to finish it.

Everything by Harry Potter. I feel like the movies and books have so much different versions and I want ALL OF THEM, so far I only own my original brazilian editions which are pretty used some with fallen pages and their spines don't stand straight anymore so yeah, I need a prettier version of my favorite series.

That was it for this tag, if you feel like doing it feel tagged by me or if you already did leave the link bellow so I can see your answers!