Favorite 2017 Releases!

Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog! Today, I'll be looking back on 2017 and reflecting on all the books I read that were released in the last year. I read more new releases than ever in 2017, and it's largely because I became more active on Netgalley!

I read 32 books released in 2017, so they accounted for just under a third of my reading for the year! Here are some of my favorite books of those 32, in no particular order!

1) Breath of Fire by Amanda Bouchet
2) Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3) Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
4) Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
5) Nyxia by Scott Reintgen
6) The Empress by SJ Kincaid
7) Run Away With Me by Mila Gray
8) When Dimple Me Rishi by Sandhya Menon
9) Hunger by Roxane Gay

Looking at these nine, all but two (Dear Ijeawele and Hunger) are fiction, which is no surprise to me, considering that's all I read. Of those that are fiction books, 6 are young adult, and one is new adult. Four of them are contemporary, two science fiction, and one fantasy! To be honest, I'm surprised I didn't love more 2017 fantasy releases. I am the most picky when it comes to fantasy though, since I read either fantasy or contemporary. I do have a soft spot for contemporary, and this year was no exception. It does seem like I should read more science fiction though, considering that The Empress and Nyxia were two of the three 2017 science fiction releases I read, and I loved them both.   

If you ask me to pick which one of these is my favorite, I wouldn't have an answer! Dear Ijeawele, Hunger, Breath of Fire, and Alex, Approximately are all up there. However, I would say that Run Away with Me and When Dimple Met Rishi are my least favorite, and yet they still got five stars! At the end of the day, I would recommend every single one of these. :)

Have you read any of these books above? What did you think? What are some of your favorite 2017 releases?

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!

Better Late Than Never? // October Wrap Up!

 Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be going over all the books I read in October! And yes, it's halfway through November, but I still wanted to do a post dedicated to October.

I only managed to read six books, which really surprised me! I read a lot of short stories and textbook excerpts for school though, and I was way too slammed with schoolwork to focus that much on reading or blogging. Without further ado, here are the books I read this past month!

Currently Reading/TBR - Withering Rose, Firstlife, Every Falling Star (June 2016)

Hey guys and welcome back to my blog! Today I'll be showing you the books I am currently reading and planning on reading for the remainder of the month!

Just an hour ago, I finished Withering Rose by Kaitlyn Davis. Withering Rose is a Beauty and the Beast retelling and the second book in Davis' Once Upon a Curse series. I never read the first book, but they can be read out of order, so it was fine! I received it via Netgalley and was surprised at how much I liked the novel. It had a perfect mix between the classic Beauty and the Beast fairytale and originality. A full review will be up soon! :D

As of now, I don't have a set plan on what I am reading next. I just got Every Falling Star by Sungju Lee on my Kindle app. I haven't read a memoir in a really long time, so I'm hoping that I will like it! The memoir is about Lee's survival and escape from North Korea. There is so much that I don't know about North Korea, and I'm looking forward to having my eyes opened. 

Another book that I'm "currently reading" is Firstlife by Gena Showalter. I put currently reading in quotation marks because even though I did start reading it a week ago, I haven't picked it up since. There are several books that I've picked up and never finished, including And I Darken by Kiersten White. I'm not considering them DNF's because I plan on finishing them, but the books aren't holding my attention enough.

In other news, I'm less behind in my goodreads goal! By the end of my school year I was eight books behind in my goal of 100, and now just a week later I'm only five books behind! I hope I can get back on track or ahead by the end of the summer!

What are you currently reading? 

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday: My Latest 5 Star Reads!

Hey guys and welcome back to my blog! Today I will be participating in the weekly meme hosted by the lovely ladies from The Broke and Bookish. This week's topic is to feature our latest five star reads.

So here are my latest five star reads, listed from most to least recent. I don't give out five stars easily (it's becoming harder and harder to do!), so these date back from summer of last year.

1.) Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
This has been my only five star read of this year! It was the final book in the Starbound trilogy, and I absolutely loved it. All the characters finally came together and it was downright amazing.  
 
2.) Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
Ugly Love was amazing. This is tied for my favorite Colleen Hoover book. It tore me apart and I couldn't have wished for anything better. I'm glad that this wasn't the first book I read of CoHo's but instead a later one.

3.) Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Maybe Amie Kaufman is just a magical author. I knew I was going to like Illuminae before I read it, but I didn't realize I would wholeheartedly love it. Gemina, the sequel, is one of my most anticipated reads of this year. I'm so excited to see how the story progresses. 

4.) Winter (Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer
This is another concluding novel to a series. I read this last year, and it was everything I wanted and more. My favorite scene has to be where Cress and Thorne go to the party and she's in her butterfly costume. So. Good. 
 
5.) Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Everything, Everything is everything. It's an excellent contemporary novel and it really spoke to me. I absolutely loved the premise of this story and Madeline's character. The novel itself was beautiful with the artwork and everything!
 
6.) Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover
Maybe Someday is yet another contemporary novel and one from Colleen Hoover. This novel blew me away and cemented CoHo as one of my favorite authors. Sydney and Ridge are one of my favorite fictional couples. 

7.) A Mad Zombie Party by Gena Showalter
Gena Showalter's White Rabbit Chronicles is pure fun! Even though the story wrapped up quite nicely for Ali and Cole in the third book, I really loved this one as we saw Frosty finally get the happy ending her deserved. I appreciated his character a lot more than I did in the previous novels. 

8.) The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Even though I had to read The Glass Castle for school, this memoir hit me hard. I haven't gone through anything like Jeannette has, but her story was truly mesmerizing. I can't imagine having to go through a childhood like hers. You should definitely read it if you haven't yet.  

9.) Angelfall by Susan Ee
Angelfall is the first book in the Penryn & the End of Days trilogy. I haven't read the sequel because I am so nervous that I will be let down. I wasn't expecting much out of this book, which was why I was so taken aback when I absolutely loved Susan Ee's gritty dystopian. 

10.) Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook
 Kristin Halbrook's Every Last Promise is an intriguing tale of sexual assault. Because of this, the novel is dark, but it was very interesting. I don't know if I would give the book five stars now, but it was a five star read back when I read it. 

If you did a TTT this week, link it down below! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!