All About Books

Hi. I am 25 years old and just recently I found my way back into a love of reading. I wanted to join the community of book-tubers and readers so created this blog. I plan on doing book hauls, monthly TBRs, and reviews. Goodreads Profile: https://www.goodreads.com/keepkalmandreadbooks

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Books Read in 2016

1. The Ocean at the End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman 2. Call Me Princess by Sara Blaedel 3. Disarm: The Complete Novel by June Gray 4. R&R by June Gray 5. Moon Knight, Volume 1: From the Dead by Warren Ellis 6. The Titanic Conspiracy by Vincent McKalin 7. The Girl in the Converse Shoes by Yaritza Garcia 8. Baby Animals by Karen Penzes 9. Mommy by Anne Nowlin 10. Moon Knight, Volume 2: Dead Will Rise by Brian Wood 11. Binge by Tyler Oakley 12. Moon Knight, Volume 3: In the Night by Cullen Bunn 13. Truthwitch        (The Witchlands, #1) by Susan Dennard 14. Arrest by June Gray 15. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Carey Elwes 16. Half Bad by Sally Green 17. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart 18. Half Wild         (The Half Bad Trilogy, #2) by Sally Green 19. The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin 20. Doctor Strange: The Oath by Brian K. Vaughan 21. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling 22. The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye 23. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi 24. Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal by Willow G. Wilson 25. Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event by Mark Miller 26. Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson 27. Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K. Rowling 28. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness 29. Lumberjanes, Vol. 2:  Friendship to the Max by Noelle Stevenson 30. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 31. Get Well Soon        (Anna Bloom, #1) by Julie Halpern 32. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff 33. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Volume 1: Squirrel Power by Ryan North 34. In Real Life by Cory Doctorow 35. The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks 36. Half Lost (The Half Bad Trilogy #3) by Sally Green 37. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick 38. This Raging Light by Estelle Laure 39. Harley Quinn's Greatest Hits by Paul Dini 40. Daredevil, Volume 3 by Mark Waid 41. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick 42. Alex + Ada, Vol. 1 by Jonathan Luna 42. Alex + Ada, Vol. 2 by Jonathan Luna 43. Alex + Ada, Vol. 3 by Jonathan Luna 44. Into White by Randi Pink 45. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman 46. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin 47. Gravitation, Volume 01 by Maki Murakami 48. Gravitation, Volume 02 by Maki Murakami 49. Gravitation, Volume 03 by Maki Murakami 50. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two (Harry Potter #8) by John Tiffany, Jack  Thorne, J.K. Rowling 51. Bird Box by Josh Malerman 52. A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay 53. Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment by Roger Stern 54. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander 55. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein 56.  milk and honey by Rupi Kaur 57. The Lightning Thief        (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) by Rick Riordian 58. Gravitation, Volume 04 by Maki Murakami 59. Gravitation, Volume 05 by Maki Murakami 60. Gravitation, Volume 06 by Maki Murakami 61. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu 62. My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins 63. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan 64. Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore 65. The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft

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My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

Author: Edited by Stephanie Perkins Publisher: St. Martin’s Press       Pages: 321 Released: 2014 Read: December 14-21 Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Overall I enjoyed this for what it was and was the perfect read for this time of year. I feel it's always hard to rate an anthology as each story gets their own ratings. It was nice reading all the different YA authors since I recently got back into YA, and getting a taste of their writing style was a nice way to figure out who I am going to become a fan of. My favorite was definitely Midnights by Rainbow Rowell. It was the first thing I read by her and can't wait to dive into her books. My second favorite was It's A Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins. Again, it was my first time reading anything by her and can't wait to read more.

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My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry

Author: Fredrik Backman Pages: 372 Released: 2015 Read: Sep. 5-15th Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I received a copy of this book for free from LovingDemBooks and Booktube Tours in exchange for an honest review, but opinions expressed in the review are my own.   Elsa, a seven-year-old girl, is the main character in this literary fiction novel. It was written in Swedish and then translated into English. Elsa gets bullied in school because she is different. Her grandmother is her best and only friend. Her grandmother helps her by creating stories about the "Land of Almost Awake." When her grandmother dies, Elsa is left with letters that her grandmother wrote to people who she had wronged and her task is now to deliver them. Through this, Elsa realizes she didn't know her grandma as well as she thought and learns more about her through her adventure. At first I was worried about if I was going to enjoy this book or not. I was in a reading slump and I normally don’t read very much literary fiction. The book was slow starting off, but that all changed once I hit about 50 pages or so. This book was very different from my usual reads, but it was refreshing and can’t wait to read more from Backman. Backman’s writing style was beautiful and the way he wrote his characters showed that he had a lot of heart attached to them. I have heard from a few people that they didn’t feel that the way Elsa is written is not realistic of a 7-year-old. I can see their point, but she is portrayed in the story that way because that’s the point. She does portray some characteristics of someone who is older than 7, but at the same time during certain points she acts very much like a 7-year-old. I think seeing the two sides of Elsa works in the novel. Granny was my favorite character. She is wild and crazy, but loves Elsa to a fault. Granny and Elsa have a very special bond that I think it's relate-able for many people. While Granny’s actions aren’t always the best and probably wouldn’t be done by anyone’s grandma, the way she loves Elsa is portrayed in a wonderful way. Overall I loved this book and I give it 4 stars. It was a little slow starting, but then found that I could not pull myself away. I recommend this book to anyone and don’t let the size of the book, the genre, or the fact that it was translated discourage you.

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Questions: 1) What book have you been unable to finish? What book have you yet to read because... 2) ...you just haven't had the time? 3) ...it's a sequel? 4) ...it's brand new? 5) ...you read a book by the same author and didn't enjoy it? 6) ...you're just not in the mood for it? 7) ...it's humongous? 8) ...because it was a cover buy that turned out to have poor reviews? 9) What is the most intimidating book in your TBR pile? 10) Who do you tag?

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Short Story Reviews Feb. 2016

Title: Baby Animals Author: Karen Penzes Publisher:  Fog City Press Pages: 64 Released: May 1, 2007 Read: Feb. 16, 2016 Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book is great for children to learn about the different species of animals and how they start out as babies just like us. The pictures are great quality and depict real life which makes the experience of reading and learning even better.

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Title: Mommy Author: Anne Nowlin Publisher: Smashwords Pages: 10 Released: Aug. 18, 2012 Read: Feb. 16, 2016 Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

I knew this was a short story, but was not expecting it to only be 10 pages. There was no way to connect to the main character, who was a 10 year old girl, or to get a feel for her personality. All of the actions seemed rushed. I do feel like this could have been more successful if the author could expand on the characters and the story and was made into a short novel or a longer short story.

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Short Story Reviews Feb. 2016

Title: The Girl in the Converse Shoes Author: Yaritza Garcia Publisher: Smashwords Pages: 6 Released: Jan. 10, 2012 Read: Feb. 9, 2016 Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

This was a short story that consisted of 6 pages. It was too short to have any real story or substance, but was the start of a cute story. Could work as a short story or a small book if the author expanded more on the character development and invested more time into a plot.

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Short Story Reviews Feb. 2016

Title: The Titanic Conspiracy Author: Vincent McKalin Publisher: Smashwords Pages: 16 Released: April 15, 2011 Read: Feb. 9, 2016 Rating: 🌟🌟

This was a 16 page short story about why the titanic sank. This was terrible. There were loads of spelling and grammar issues. The writing was something of a young child. I don't even know what this is that I read. I'm glad that it was free. No one should be spending money on this.