Monday’s Minutes

MM

Monday’s Minutes is my weekly post where I share what I’m reading and what I’m reading next.

WHAT I’M READING

Take Me On (Pushing the Limits, #4)

Take Me On (Pushing the Limits #4) by Katie McGarry. After reading City of Heavenly Fire, I had major book hangover and I tried starting three other book before landing on this one and being able to read more than the first chapter. So far, it’s very much  like the other books in this series, but that kind of what I expect.

WHAT I’M READING NEXT

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha, #1)  Siege and Storm (The Grisha, #2)  Ruin and Rising (The Grisha, #3)

I think I’m feeling a Grisha series re-read (for real this time!) to get ready for Ruin and Rising on the 17th!

WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Reviewing the Unreviewed: May

I read a lot of books that I don’t end up reviewing for whatever reason. Some because I wasn’t impressed. Some because I didn’t have the time. Some I just wasn’t feeling it on whatever particular day I finished. I thought I’d start doing a post once a month  with just the couple thoughts I shared on Good Reads.

Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits, #1)

Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1) by Katie McGarry. Read May 3-6. 2 stars.

This series seems to be so beloved in the blogosphere, but I didn’t really find it to be my cup of tea. While the characters’ drama was a little to a lot heavier than your standard YA, every other thing about it was a list of clichés. However, it wasn’t all bad and I’ll get to the rest of the series just to see if I find the next books more enjoyable.

 

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits, #2)

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2) by Katie McGarry. Read May 12-14. 3 stars.

I actually liked this book a lot more than the first in the series. Beth – who I hated in the first book – grew on me in this one, though I still don’t love her. I do love Uncle Scott! Like so much. I also really like Ryan. He is basically a perfect boy living in imperfect circumstances. His character was a little unrealistic, but he was sweet and I don’t care.

The pace was a little slow and there were kind of long periods of time where NOTHING really happens. I feel like it could’ve been maybe a little shorter, but overall I enjoyed it and I’ll continue to the next book in the series.

 

Crash into You (Pushing the Limits, #3)

Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits #3) by Katie McGarry. Read May 14-19. 3 stars.
This book was ok for me. Isaiah was not my favorite character in the previous books and he’s still not my favorite, though I liked him a lot more in this book. I enjoyed the chapters from Rachel’s perspective the most. It was interesting to read about her anxiety since I suffer a bit from that myself. This series still isn’t my favorite, but I like it enough to continue it.
Omens (Cainsville, #1)
Omens (Cainsville #1) by Kelley Armstrong. Read May 24-27. 2 stars.
I think this book would’ve been better if it was about 100 pages less. It started strong and then was way slow and kind of boring and then it got exciting and then it ended on an odd note. I didn’t find it satisfying in terms of the mysteries of Cainsville, but I’ll probably end up reading the next book.
**************************************************
RE-READ
Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1)
What can I say? This book is so cute. I was thinking that the third book in the series was coming out in May, but I guess it’s not until August. But I still enjoyed the re-read.
Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2)
I LOVE Cricket Bell. And his stupid name.

 

Wish They Would/Wouldn’t Wednesday

Wednesday

Welcome to my new feature: Wish they Would/Wouldn’t Wednesday. This is where I’ll discuss issues that I wish authors would or wouldn’t do. This could include favorite styles, themes, genres, or pet peeves. And my first topic is………

I WISH THEY WOULDN’T: CREATE SERIES WITH NEW PROTAGONISTS FOR EACH BOOK

So we’ve all been there. We read a book and fall in love with not just the story, but the characters. Even if the plot wraps up in a satisfying way, you still crave more of the characters. And you’re in luck! It’s a series. HOWEVER, instead of focusing on these characters that you adore, a minor character from the first book takes center stage.

Now don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of series like this that I end up really enjoying, but each new book drives me a little bit crazy waiting for my old favorites to show up before I start to like the new characters. And even when I really get into the new protagonists, I still can’t get enough of the characters from the first installment. I wish these types of series at least included more of the previous primary characters in each new book.

Some examples of these series that I read and enjoyed, but was still annoyed with (click on the picture for summaries):

The O’Malley series by Dee Henderson

The Negotiator (O'Malley, #1)  The Guardian (O'Malley #2) The Truth Seeker (O'Malley #3) The Protector (O'Malley #4)  The Healer (O'Malley #5) The Rescuer (O'Malley #6)

The Alaskan Courage series by Dani Pettrey

Submerged (Alaskan Courage, #1) Shattered (Alaskan Courage, #2) Stranded (Alaskan Courage, #3)  Silenced (Alaskan Courage, #4)

Reviews: Shattered, Silenced

Pushing the Limits series by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits, #1)  Dare You To (Pushing the Limits, #2)  Crash into You (Pushing the Limits, #3)

Elemental series by Brigid Kemmerer

Storm (Elemental, #1)  Spark (Elemental, #2)  Spirit (Elemental, #3) Secret (Elemental, #4)

Reviews: Storm, Spark, Spirit, Secret

What do you think of series that change protagonists with each new book? Love them? Hate them? Read them, but are annoyed by them?

Monday’s Minutes

MM

Monday’s Minutes is my weekly post where I share what I’m reading and what I’m reading next.

WHAT I’M READING

Crash into You (Pushing the Limits, #3)

Crash into You (Pushing the Limits #3) by Katie McGarry. So I know I wasn’t planning on continuing this series anytime soon after I finished the first book, but they were already available at the library, so I just went with it. I only have a few chapters left and I’m kind of ambivalent about it. I like the chapters from Rachel’s POV. Isaiah still isn’t my favorite, but he has grown on me a ton in this book.

WHAT I’M READING NEXT

I’m not sure. I think I need to do a re-read of Shadow and Bone and Siege and Storm

 

Monday’s Minutes

MM

Monday’s Minutes is my weekly post where I share what I’m reading and what I’m reading next.

WHAT I’M READING

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits, #2)

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2) by Katie McGarry. Ok. So I had no intention of continuing this series anytime soon, but I found myself faced with a few review titles that are long-ish and serious-ish and I’m just not in the state of mind for serious reading. I also find I’m not in the mood to read anything I really care about it, so this came up at the library and I decided to try it. While it appears to have heavier themes than most YA romance, it’s still, at it’s core, YA romance, which always fills the bill when I need something fluffy to read.

WHAT I’M READING NEXT

Ruins (Partials Sequence, #3)   Undetected

Ruins (Partial Sequence #3) by Dan Wells and Undetected by Dee Henderson. I’ve been putting off Ruins because I was pretty disappointed with book 2 in this series. I haven’t heard great things about the conclusion to the series, either. But I still want to read it. I enjoyed the O’Malley series by Dee Henderson, so I of course had to request Dee Henderson on NetGalley. However, it’s a pdf and not an epub, so reading it on my Nook is super annoying. But I’m still looking forward to it!

What are you reading?

 

Monday’s Minutes

MM

Monday’s Minutes is my weekly post where I share what I’m reading and what I’m reading next.

WHAT I’M READING

Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits, #1)

Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1) by Katie McGarry. The blogging community seems to love this series, so when I saw this book was free this weekend on iBooks (it might still be free, I’m not sure), I thought I’d give it a try. So far, I’m not terribly impressed, but I’m just a couple chapters in. Also, having it on iBooks means I can only read it on my ipod and or phone and not my Nook, so that hinders a bit of my reading enjoyment.

WHAT I’M READING NEXT

Ruins (Partials Sequence, #3)

Ruins (Partials #3) by Dan Wells. I’m reading this book because of my need to finish series I start. The first book was not as good as I had expected it to be and the second book was about 200 pages too long. But, I still want to see how it ends.

What are you reading?