Books and Ladders: 2017 reading challenge

Showing posts with label 2017 reading challenge. Show all posts

5 Feb 2017

#52wks52bks: Week Six Recommendations + #Interview with Patty Blount!

Jamie @ Books and Ladders 05 February 1 Comments

You may or may not know, but this year I am hosting a 2017 reading challenge! Every week for the whole year there are different themes and the idea is to read a book that fits the theme within that week! It will help you keep on track for your Goodreads Challenge as you will be at least thinking about a book for a whole week even if you don't quite get to it.

But don't worry, if you don't finish a book or skip a week or start late, that's okay! This is just to make you think more about the types of books you are reading and to broaden your horizons.

If you didn't see the original post with all the challenges, click HERE.

If you are participating (or want to without checking, that's cool too), you can keep track of your reads with my Handy Dandy Charts.

This week's theme is...

Book With "Some" In the Title

Here are some books that you can check out to read for this week's challenge!

I'll be reading...

SOME BOYS

Author: Patty Blount

Series: N/A

Source: Purchased from Kobo

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: August 5th, 2014

Summary:

Some boys go too far. Some boys will break your heart. But one boy can make you whole.

When Grace meets Ian she's afraid. Afraid he'll reject her like the rest of the school, like her own family. After she accuses the town golden boy of rape, everyone turns against Grace. They call her a slut and a liar. But...Ian doesn't. He's funny and kind with secrets of his own.

But how do you trust the best friend of the boy who raped you? How do you believe in love?

A gut-wrenching, powerful love story told from alternating points of view by the acclaimed author of Send.

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

I also have the wonderful Patty Blount here for an interview so you can learn more about the book I am reading this week!

Describe SOME BOYS in 10 words or less.

Patty Blount: Grace won't back off. No matter what people say.

How long does it take you to write first drafts?

Patty Blount: The first draft literally took seven weeks to write. But there were several months of thinking, playing around with ideas, and research that also went into that first draft. I first got the idea in February and finished writing the first draft in October.

29 Jan 2017

#52Wks52Bks: Week Five Recommendations + #Interview with BECKY CHAMBERS!

Jamie @ Books and Ladders 29 January 1 Comments

But don't worry, if you don't finish a book or skip a week or start late, that's okay! This is just to make you think more about the types of books you are reading and to broaden your horizons.

If you didn't see the original post with all the challenges, click HERE.

If you are participating (or want to without checking, that's cool too), you can keep track of your reads with my Handy Dandy Charts.

This week's theme is...

Book You've Heard A Lot About But Haven't Read

Here are some books that I highly recommend that I *have* read that I think you guys should read! This way you have some books to choose from ;)

I'll be reading...

THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET

Author: Becky Chambers

Series: Wayfarers #1

Source: Purchased from Kobo

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication Date: August 13, 2015

Summary:

Somewhere within our crowded sky, a crew of wormhole builders hops from planet to planet, on their way to the job of a lifetime. To the galaxy at large, humanity is a minor species, and one patched-up construction vessel is a mere speck on the starchart. This is an everyday sort of ship, just trying to get from here to there.

But all voyages leave their mark, and even the most ordinary of people have stories worth telling. A young Martian woman, hoping the vastness of space will put some distance between herself and the life she‘s left behind. An alien pilot, navigating life without her own kind. A pacifist captain, awaiting the return of a loved one at war.

Set against a backdrop of curious cultures and distant worlds, this episodic tale weaves together the adventures of nine eclectic characters, each on a journey of their own.

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

I also have the wonderful Becky Chambers here for an interview so you can learn more about the book I am reading this week!

Describe THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET in 10 words or less.

Becky Chambers: A wormhole construction crew goes on a space road trip.

Which character from your book would you most like to be friends with?

Becky Chambers: That is a really tough call. I’m going to go with Dr. Chef. I just want to garden and eat snacks with him all day.

How is writing a sequel different to writing the first book in the series?

Becky Chambers: The biggest challenge is figuring out how much worldbuilding stuff to reiterate, and how much to let the reader remember on their own. I was constantly reminding myself that the only reason the lore is obvious to me is because I wrote it, and someone who read the first book a year or more ago will have forgotten things. That was an especially tricky thing to consider, given that A Closed and Common Orbit doesn’t follow the main characters from the first book and can be read as a standalone. I wrote it with the assumption that the reader’s read the first one already, but it had to work on its own as well. In the end, I decided not to repeat myself. I gave a few subtle reminders -- Aeluons don’t move their mouths when they speak, Harmagians use carts to get around, that kind of thing -- but for the most part, I trusted folks to follow along.

Have you learned anything in the process of writing that you wished you'd known when you first started?

Becky Chambers: You will always, always, always think your work is terrible when you’re in the middle of getting it done. It doesn’t matter how many book deals you get or how many people tell you they like your stuff. All of us are our own worst critics. I’ve yet to meet an author who isn’t.

What's your favourite thing about being an author?

Becky Chambers: Creatively, I love being able to take something from inside my own head and put it into someone else’s. I think that’s kind of magic. And honestly, one of my favorite things is hearing how people interpret things differently than the way I imagined them. I get such a kick out of that.

On the practical side, being my own boss is the best thing in the world. Yes, there are deadlines and whatnot, but for the most part, I’m on my own. I work when I want to work, I don’t have to stress about taking sick days or asking for vacation time, and I don’t have to sit around and look busy when I’m done for the day. It’s totally worth the quarterly taxes.

Why do you write Science Fiction novels?

Becky Chambers: Because I love real science. And yeah, I’ll be the first to tell you that my stories are not hard science fiction, so that may sound like a funny thing for somebody writing character-driven stuff to say. But science and science fiction have a symbiotic relationship, regardless of whether you’re drawing diagrams or not. It’s hard to find people working in STEM who weren’t inspired by books and TV shows when they were young. So I see myself as kind of a support class for the people who are doing what I view as the real important work. If all you get out of my books is a fun escape, then I’ve done my job, and I’m good with that. There’s value in taking your brain elsewhere for a while. But the hope that my stuff will spark an interest in space and exploration for someone out there is what keeps me working. And that doesn’t mean I want my readers to go for a career in science (though I’d consider that a huge achievement). Just an interest. A spark. I want people to care about space exploration. I want people to see the universe as something we’re a part of, something that belongs to us all equally. I want people to think about how small and fragile and precious our species is, and what we’ll need to prioritize if we want to keep existing. That’s why I write.

There was a lot of science involved in your book. What kind of research did you do?

Becky Chambers: I grew up in a family that works in science and aerospace, so a lot of it I just absorbed through proximity. My mom’s an astrobiology educator, so she’s usually my first stop when I have questions about whether or not something works the way I’ve written it. I like to keep things plausible, even if they’re unlikely. For The Long Way, I did spend some time in the library reading up on wormholes. The explanation I give in the book on how they work is pretty user-friendly, but I wanted to have a clear understanding of what I was riffing on. That’s true of most of the tech and physics in my books. If you’re going to mess with something, you have to know what you’re messing with.

Becky Chambers is the author of the award-nominated science fiction novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and its stand-alone sequel, A Closed & Common Orbit. She also writes nonfiction essays and short stories, which can be found in various places around the internet. In addition to writing, Becky has a background in performing arts, and grew up in a family heavily involved in space science. Having lived in Scotland and Iceland, she is currently back in her home state of California. She can be found online at otherscribbles.com and @beckysaysrawr.

17 Jan 2017

ARC #Review: HISTORY IS ALL YOU LEFT ME by Adam Silvera

Jamie @ Books and Ladders 17 January 2 Comments

HISTORY IS ALL YOU LEFT ME

Author: Adam Silvera
Series: N/A
Source: ARC via B&N
Publisher: Soho Teen
Publication Date: January 17, 2017
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary:
When Griffin’s first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, his universe implodes. Even though Theo had moved to California for college and started seeing Jackson, Griffin never doubted Theo would come back to him when the time was right. But now, the future he’s been imagining for himself has gone far off course.

To make things worse, the only person who truly understands his heartache is Jackson. But no matter how much they open up to each other, Griffin’s downward spiral continues. He’s losing himself in his obsessive compulsions and destructive choices, and the secrets he’s been keeping are tearing him apart.

If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life.

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion.

I feel like this is one of those books that is hard to not like but at the same time I wasn't over the moon about it? I liked the plot, the pacing, the way the story was told via flashbacks, but I wasn't a fan of the characters at all. I'm definitely in the minority even though I definitely enjoyed it because I don't think this is one that I would recommend to everyone like I do with some other books. It does make me more interested in reading MORE HAPPY THAN NOT because I liked the writing style and the overall storytelling which I hope will translate into every book that Silvera writes.

15 Jan 2017

#52wks52bks: Week Three Recommendations!

Jamie @ Books and Ladders 15 January 0 Comments

But don't worry, if you don't finish a book or skip a week or start late, that's okay! This is just to make you think more about the types of books you are reading and to broaden your horizons.

If you didn't see the original post with all the challenges, click HERE.

If you are participating (or want to without checking, that's cool too), you can keep track of your reads with my Handy Dandy Charts.

This week's theme is...

ADULT SFF BOOK

I have included some books that I want to read but haven't yet read. I also am linking to a couple lists on Goodreads for where to find these books because there are SO many to choose from!

2016 Adult SFF by Female Authors

2016 Adult SFF by Authors of Colour

9 Jan 2017

#Review: FLYING LESSONS AND OTHER STORIES edited by Ellen Oh

Jamie @ Books and Ladders 09 January 0 Comments

FLYING LESSONS AND OTHER STORIES

Author: edited by Ellen Oh
Series: N/A
Source: Purchased from Amazon
Publisher: Crown Books For Young Readers
Publication Date: January 3, 2017
Rating: 3.75/5 stars

Summary:
Whether it is basketball dreams, family fiascos, first crushes, or new neighborhoods, this bold anthology—written by the best children’s authors—celebrates the uniqueness and universality in all of us.

In a partnership with We Need Diverse Books, industry giants Kwame Alexander, Soman Chainani, Matt de la Peña, Tim Federle, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Walter Dean Myers, Tim Tingle, and Jacqueline Woodson join newcomer Kelly J. Baptist in a story collection that is as humorous as it is heartfelt. This impressive group of authors has earned among them every major award in children’s publishing and popularity as New York Times bestsellers.

From these distinguished authors come ten distinct and vibrant stories.

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

This was such a good anthology of stories and they were all diverse which makes them that much better. I have a love-hate relationship with anthologies in general because I feel like short stories sometimes try to do too much with the little bit of room they have and some of the stories fell prey to that. But I think this anthology is great and has some really fantastic short stories that everyone should read in it. I highly recommend it and am glad that I started my reading year off with this!

8 Jan 2017

#52wks52bks: Week Two Recommendations!

Jamie @ Books and Ladders 08 January 3 Comments

But don't worry, if you don't finish a book or skip a week or start late, that's okay! This is just to make you think more about the types of books you are reading and to broaden your horizons.

If you didn't see the original post with all the challenges, click HERE.

If you are participating (or want to without checking, that's cool too), you can keep track of your reads with my Handy Dandy Charts.

This week's theme is...

SET IN LATIN AMERICA

I have included some books that fit the criteria, but you should know that it can be any book that is set in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela, but NOT Puerto Rico. Even though geographically it fits in the location, it is part of the United States and is NOT included.

Again, I have not read these, so I cannot say if they are either good or not problematic. These are just from looking on Goodreads at two specific lists. If you know of any others, please comment below!

I will be reading...

BRASYL

Author: Ian McDonald

Series: N/A

Publisher: Pyr

Publication Date: May 1, 2007

Summary:

Think Bladerunner in the tropics...

Be seduced, amazed, and shocked by one of the world's greatest and strangest nations. Past, present, and future Brazil, with all its color, passion, and shifting realities, come together in a novel that is part SF, part history, part mystery, and entirely enthralling.

Three separate stories follow three main characters:

--Edson is a self-made talent impressario one step up from the slums in a near future São Paulo of astonishing riches and poverty. A chance encounter draws Edson into the dangerous world of illegal quantum computing, but where can you run in a total surveillance society where every move, face, and centavo is constantly tracked?

--Marcelina is an ambitious Rio TV producer looking for that big reality TV hit to make her name. When her hot idea leads her on the track of a disgraced World Cup soccer goalkeeper, she becomes enmeshed in an ancient conspiracy that threatens not just her life, but her very soul.

--Father Luis is a Jesuit missionary sent into the maelstrom of 18th-century Brazil to locate and punish a rogue priest who has strayed beyond the articles of his faith and set up a vast empire in the hinterland. In the company of a French geographer and spy, what he finds in the backwaters of the Amazon tries both his faith and the nature of reality itself to the breaking point.

Three characters, three stories, three Brazils, all linked together across time, space, and reality in a hugely ambitious story that will challenge the way you think about everything.

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

What book are you reading for this week's theme?

5 Jan 2017

#RockMyTBR 2017 Reading Challenge TBR!

Jamie @ Books and Ladders 05 January 4 Comments

Last year Sarah hosted #RockMyTBR and I epically failed at it so I decided "hey that was fun, I should do it again." So you can read all about it here and sign up yourself and epically fail with me.

Taken from Sarah's blog...

THE CHALLENGE:
To read a minimum of 1 book per month that is currently published (no arcs with future dates). This challenge is totally what YOU make of it! You can do 5 books a month, 10, WHATEVER! Anything you accomplish is fantastic. This challenge is really what you make of it.

So what am I planning to read? I have a potential pile of books to choose from and should probably read more backlist than anything else since I don't want to buy over 20 books this year so reading from my bookshelf is what is important.