Monthly Recap: May 2016

Happy last day of May! Hope your May was fun! My month was pretty uneventful albeit SUPER busy. I’m continuing to write IAs (Internal Assessements, which are basically really long essays/explorations) for each subject and study for SAT subject tests, so that’s why I was on a semi-hiatus.

Today, I’m sharing the books I read, updates on challenges, what music I listened to, what shows I watched, and my TBR for May! I’m also including all the guest posts from all the lovely bloggers who were kind enough to help me on my semi-hiatus this month!

How to Choose Your Next Read | Guest Post by Emily @enchntdrose

Greetings, weblings!  Thanks to Ali for letting me do a guest post – let’s get started!

So while I’ve got you all here reading in rapt attention, eyes glued to the screen in excitement to see what this new, mysterious person has to say, I want to take this opportunity to write a discussion post about a question that often plagues me: how do you decide what to read next?

My current method of choosing my next read looks a bit like this:

ARC Review: The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye

The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye

Genre: YA Historical, Fantasy, Magic

Publication: May 17th 2016 by Balzer + Bray

Series: n/a

Length: 416 pages

Format: eARC from publisher

Goodreads

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?

For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.

And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love… or be killed himself.

As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear… the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

After endless promotion and the hype surrounding this book everywhere, I have to admit: it worked! I was super excited and enticed by the lovely cover and intriguing premise. But after everything, it comes down to this: I did like it but I had several problems with it.

An Epic End to a Series + Giveaway! | Guest Post by Amanda @fifthmusketeer

Hi everyone! My name is Amanda, and I’m thrilled to do this guest post for Arctic Books! I blog here: To Live A Thousand Lives, and funnily enough, Ali and I found each other’s blogs through my own giveaway a few months ago.

The Raven King is the fourth and final book in The Raven Cycle, and if you haven’t read this series, you should invest in it! The writing is gorgeous, the characters are amazing, and once you start you’ll want to binge-read to the end. If you follow the author or have checked out the Goodreads summaries, you’ll know this is a hard series to pin down to one genre or one plot, but the basic premise is this: Blue (the un-psychic daughter of a psychic) finds herself drawn into a quest to find a dead Welsh king named Glendower and thus gain one favor.

Would You Ever Sell Your Blog? | Guest Post by Lauren @ShootingStarMag

I’ve been blogging on the same website since 2007, but in that time, I have seen one or two blogs that I read and loved offer up their blog for sale. Now, for book bloggers, this probably sounds really weird because I don’t think we’ve had anyone sell their blog before. For other blogs, it makes sense. If there is a blog that does a lot of product reviews and giveaways, it might not be about the person behind the blog – but rather, what they can offer viewers. If that’s the case, then a blog with a fairly good following might be able to sell their blog to someone else if they decide they no longer want to or have the time to run their blog.

This got me thinking about book bloggers and other type of “niche” blogs. Have you ever thought about selling your blog, even jokingly? Maybe you were burnt out and not sure you wanted to keep it running but you hated the idea of your blog just floating around on the internet with no new content or views. Would you let someone else run your blog for you? I know the idea of selling your blog is likely to make a lot of people upset, and I get what you mean. I’m not sure I could ever sell my blog off. It’s my hours of work, and no matter what I’m posting or reviewing, it’s still very personal to me.

How to Book Convention | Guest Post by Liv @Grangerliv

In April, I attended my first book festival ever. I attended the North Texas Teen Book Festival in Irving, Texas. After the weekend, I have learned several tips and tricks that I will be using next time I go to a convention. I’m going to be sharing them with you today to save you some time at your next bookish event!

1. Be Comfortable

Wear clothes and shoes that are comfortable. I wore black jeans, a black tank top, and red converse. You’ll be standing and sitting a lot and wearing a really fancy dress and heels may not be super comfortable.

TBR + Playlist | Summer 2016

Summer is almost upon us, so I decided to create a new seasonal feature, if you will. This feature will occur every season, and I’ll talk about my very tentative TBR as well as the music I’ll probably be listening to the whole season.

Let’s get started!

ARC Review: Wanderlost by Jen Malone

Wanderlost by Jen Malone
Genre: YA Contemporary, Romance
Published May 31st 2016 by HarperTeen
Format: eARC
Length: 352 pages

Not all those who wander are lost, but Aubree Sadler most definitely is on this novel’s whirlwind trip through Europe.

Aubree can’t think of a better place to be than in perfectly boring Ohio, and she’s ready for a relaxing summer. But when her older sister, Elizabeth, gets into real trouble, Aubree is talked into taking over Elizabeth’s summer job, leading a group of senior citizens on a bus tour through Europe.

Aubree doesn’t even make it to the first stop in Amsterdam before their perfect plan unravels, leaving her with no phone, no carefully prepared binder full of helpful facts, and an unexpected guest: the tour company owner’s son, Sam. Considering she’s pretending to be Elizabeth, she absolutely shouldn’t fall for him, but she can’t help it, especially with the most romantic European cities as the backdrop for their love story.

But her relationship with Sam is threatening to ruin her relationship with her sister, and she feels like she’s letting both of them down. Aubree knows this trip may show her who she really is—she just hopes she likes where she ends up.

ARC Review: Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes

Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes
Genre: YA Contemporary, Romance
Published May 17th 2016 by HarperTeen
Format: eARC
Length: 382 pages

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 rollercoaster 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 meeting 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 is harder than she thought.

From author Paula Stokes comes a funny and poignant novel about accepting the past, embracing the future, and learning to make your own luck.

 

SST Interview: Summer of Sloane by Erin L. Schneider

Hi everyone! Welcome to my stop on SST! Today, in my post, I’ll be featuring SUMMER OF SLOANE by Erin L. Schneider with an interview and a giveaway! Let’s get started!

Summer of Sloane by Erin L. Schneider

Genre: YA Contemporary, Romance

Publication: May 3rd 2016 by Disney-Hyperion

Series: n/a

Length: 304 pages

Goodreads

Warm Hawaiian sun. Lazy beach days. Flirty texts with her boyfriend back in Seattle.

These are the things seventeen-year-old Sloane McIntyre pictured when she imagined the summer she’d be spending at her mom’s home in Hawaii with her twin brother, Penn. Instead, after learning an unthinkable secret about her boyfriend, Tyler, and best friend, Mick, all she has is a fractured hand and a completely shattered heart.

Once she arrives in Honolulu, though, Sloane hopes that Hawaii might just be the escape she needs. With beach bonfires, old friends, exotic food, and the wonders of a waterproof cast, there’s no reason Sloane shouldn’t enjoy her summer. And when she meets Finn McAllister, the handsome son of a hotel magnate who doesn’t always play by the rules, she knows he’s the perfect distraction from everything that’s so wrong back home.

But it turns out a measly ocean isn’t nearly enough to stop all the emails, texts, and voicemails from her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend, desperate to explain away their betrayal. And as her casual connection with Finn grows deeper, Sloane’s carefree summer might not be as easy to find as she’d hoped. Weighing years of history with Mick and Tyler against their deception, and the delicate possibility of new love, Sloane must decide when to forgive, and when to live for herself.