A New Beginning

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Greetings readers,

This blog is taking a new direction. Some of you may have guessed that since I have yet to update a real post in months. My aim for this blog is an outlet of my daily (or honestly, weekly) routines and overall become a lifestyle blog. It will be a small peak inside to what is going on here with me.

Thank you to all my readers that have stuck with me and I hope you continue on. I have a separate blog for all things bookish that you can follow (if that suits you), which will be my main focus when I’m online until I can find my voice/purpose for this site.

I hope this will help me to be more organized and that way I won’t feel pressured to update. Cheers to a new start and I’ll see you around the blogosphere.

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A New Beginning

December Is Upon Us

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Greetings fellow bloggers! If you’re reading this, thank you for sticking around during a dreary November. I am making a pledge to myself to get back into the habit of blogging regularly.

I have this idea in my head and so much of the past month has been spent brainstorming. Change is lurking in the shadows and I am determined to get more organized.

This month will be all about reading (I have 6 books to read, 15 if I want to really challenge myself). The end of the month, of course, is the holiday which means reuniting with family and friends.

The one thing I am looking forward to most about December is the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next one.

Cheers to a great month.

December Is Upon Us

An Ember in the Ashes, A Review

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An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)
Title: An Ember in the Ashes
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication: April 2015 by Razorbill
Format: eBook (borrowed)
Rating: 4/5 stars

Blurb from Goodreads:

Laia is a slave.
Elias is a soldier.
Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

I knew this book had a lot of buzz surrounding it. For weeks I have seen updates on various social media outlets raving about this book. I finally decided to pick it up and see what all the fuss was about. I wasn’t aware of the premise of the book before I began reading it. I only knew that I should love it. So I dove right in.

While I was reading I found myself curious where the story would go next. The beginning started out slow but the story quickly sunk its claws into me. I wanted to finish the book in one sitting but didn’t need to finish it. Any free time I had was spent with my nose in this book. It was an enjoyable read and I’ll admit I have a bit of a book hangover after reading this.

My ultimate impression of An Ember in the Ashes was favorable. It was worth the time and set up a great opening for the future book(s). Give it a try at least, let me know what you think.

An Ember in the Ashes, A Review

Whatcha Reading: October 2015

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Welcome to WWW Wednesday! The weekly meme formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below to participate:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

My Reading Progress

Currently Reading: Of course I still have Hausfrau and The Jane Austen Book Club on my currently reading shelf because I keep picking up other books to read instead of these. Oh the struggle. I just finished An Ember in the Ashes last night so I haven’t picked up a new book yet. I’m still processing. I think after I write a few reviews I can get moving onto the next read.

Recently Finished: Since my last www update I’ve finished another 6 books (wow! that’s a lot for me):

  • Landline, Rainbow Rowell. I love her writing style so much. Her books are a breeze to read and fun.
  • Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon. This book was really good. The reading experience while reading this was different, in a good way. Hard to explain.
  • Just Breathe, Heather Allen. I picked this up from the Kindle library because one of my best buds has the same name. This book was missing something for me to really like it.
  • Time Between Us, Tamara Ireland Stone. I have had Every Last Word on my tbr pile for awhile now but never pick it up. I found this instead and it really surprised me. Great read.
  • Twenty Boy Summer, Sarah Ockler. I thought I would like this more but didn’t. I’ll try another Ockler novel but will have lower expectations going in.
  • An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir. The hype surrounding this novel almost ruined it for me. I really loved this book but wasn’t “oohing and ahhing” over it like others have.

Up Next/Reading Challenges:

I will be focusing on my alphabet challenge until the end of the year (only two months left!?!?!) hoping to finish on time. I challenged myself to read 52 books on my Goodreads challenge and I’m currently 4 books ahead of schedule. I think I’ll finish that challenge before this A to Z challenge.

WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Thanks for stopping in and perusing my bookshelves. If you want to track more of my reading, find me on Goodreads. Happy reading!

Whatcha Reading: October 2015