Confessions of a YA Reader

I recently decided to branch out a bit and read some science fiction.  I generally don't read too many, but The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff had great reviews. I am happy to say that these books live up to the hype.  Both get 5 stars from me and I have individual reviews up on goodreads, too. It took me a little while to get used to reading Illuminae, so don't give up on it.  It gets easier to follow as you continue.  The writing is different.  The book is told through e-mails, chats, transcripts, etc.  There are quite a few characters, ship names, corporations, etc to learn and it did confuse me a bit in the beginning.  It could be the format or just that I haven't really read sci fi in awhile.  The book really picks up pace a couple hundred pages in and I didn't want to put it down.   Illuminae takes place is 2575.  Kady and Ezra had just broken up when their planet was attacked and people had to evacu...

Not a very shocking confession, but I might have an addiction to buying books.  I have so many here to read and had to buy two new bookcases this past month.  And yet I buy more. Luckily we've found a few decent used places, but I still prefer new when I can get them. This was from my two last trips to Half Price Books (multiple locations).  And this was my last trip to Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville.  All new and all are signed. Yep, I have a problem.  As far as addictions go, it could be much worse than books.  I'm sure many of you can relate, too. 

This was one of my most anticipated spring releases and it didn't disappoint me at all.   First, the cover is just gorgeous.  I love the colors and the drawing on the front. Eliza is a high school student that writes a very popular comic series online.  This series is so popular that she's making enough money to pay for college from the things she sells.  Monstrous Sea has a huge following, but Eliza has kept her identity a secret. The new kid at school, Wallace, is a fanfiction writer and he has the most popular fanfiction for Monstrous Sea.  Eliza meets him, but he doesn't really talk much.  At least not in public, so they start writing notes to each other.  Eliza finds out Wallace's online name, but doesn't tell him she writes his favorite series.  Instead, she pretends to draw pictures from the series as a fan art. The artwork really adds a lot to this book.  It's fun to read a bit of a story within a story.   ...

If you are somewhat local to me, you definitely want to check out this event at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, IL.  Becky Albertalli & Angie Thomas.  July 24th, 2017 I've already read both of Becky Albertalli's books (The Upside of Unrequited & Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda) and loved them so much.   Angie Thomas' The Hate U Give has been getting great reviews and I have it at the top of my To Read List. I plan on attending and hope you do, too. http://www.andersonsbookshop.com/event/becky-albertalli-angie-thomas Definitely check out Anderson's Booshop, too.  It's quickly become my favorite bookstore.

Just a welcome post to start this blog.  First, thank you for reading and I hope you will subscribe.  My name is Kristi.  I'm a wife, mom, and grandma who loves to read.  I've been reviewing books for netgalley, a couple publishers,  and a couple authors for awhile now and probably should have started a blog years ago.  I usually review on goodreads and amazon, but wanted to find a place to share even more. I will be sharing reviews of books I've read, lists, giveaways I find that look cool, pictures and other random things.  My goal is to post at least 2-3 times per week.  I'll try to add some older reviews here for now to get the page more active.  My goodreads link is https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/23975663-kristi .  Please feel free to follow me there or add me as a friend.