Hi! It is the last Friday of June, which means a Exploring My Bookshelves post is in order! This is a weekly meme created by Victoria @ Addlepates & Book Nerds, adapted into a monthly meme here at Book Snacks following Summer, who originally came up with the monthly idea over at her blog, Xingsings. Make sure to check out both of these lovely blogs, for they are quite wonderful!
Anyway, on to it. The rules for this meme are the following:
1. Post a picture of your bookshelves (preferably literal, but e-book shelves work too)
2. Follow the theme/question about the books on your shelf that Victoria will have set out for us for that week. (Eg. favourite author, cover, etc.)
3. Include the cover and what you thought of it (if it’s read).
4. Link your post!
EMB #8: a book you were gifted (June 5th)
I actually realised that I don’t really get actual books as gifts, I mostly get Indigo gift cards or something. But I do have a few books I was gifted, one of them being The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m planning to!
EMB #9: a book you regret buying (June 12th)
My first answer for this would be Flash Point by Nancy Kress, but since I already used that book for another Exploring My Bookshelves post, I’m going to say Since Last Summer Summer by Joanna Philbin, sequel to Rules of Summer. It’s not that it was a bad book or anything, but I could’ve easily done with reading it from the library or something, instead of actually buying it.
EMB #10: an author you can’t stop reading (June 19)
So many for this one! But I’ll go with three: Cassandra Clare, Jennifer Armentrout & Sarah J. Maas. I absolutely love all the books I’ve read from these authors!
Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments & Infernal Devices series is addicting, and I love both of them, especially the Infernal Devices.
I have yet to read Jennifer Armentrout’s New Adult books, but I love her Covenant series, her Lux series & Dark Elements series! They were all amazing. I also really loved her stand-alone novels, Don’t Look Back & her novel on Wattpad, The Dead List.
As for Sarah J. Maas, I love her Throne of Glass series & A Court of Thorns and Roses, the first book in a planned trilogy. The world-building is just great, and her writing is great!
Author Cassandra Clare
There is technically supposed to be one other EMB post, as there is 4 Fridays in June, but as Victoria is on vacation, there is not another topic set.
So, that concludes this month’s Exploring My Bookshelves! Feel free to comment on the above topics or link your posts!
Yay! Another Top 10 Tuesday (a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish)! 🙂 This week’s theme is Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who _____. I have decided to fill the blank in with “Parental Issues”. I was mostly inspired with this idea since parental issues (dead parents, abandoning parent, abandoned parent, distracted parent, etc.) are over-used in so many popular YA books, I just wanted to point them out. Let’s get started. 🙂
Note: All ‘series/trilogy’ link to the series’ Goodreads page. If I have a review for any of the books in the series, the first book’s review will be linked on the name of the series. Otherwise, the series name will be linked to the Goodreads page of the 1st book in the series.
Note 2: There are a few books listed here that include SPOILERS. You have been warned. (I believe the books guilty of charge would be Divergent, Legend and the Mortal Instruments.)
Percy’s lives with his mother, Sally Jackson, and hadn’t known his father existed (and was a Greek god!) until further in the first book. His parent problem would be an AWOL parent case I suppose.
There are several characters who have parent problems, however I’ll go with Rose’s ones. Rose’s father is dead, and she has a strained relationship with her mother (at least at the start). The dead parent, as well as the abandoning parent (since Rose’s mother has been absent in most of Rose’s life) is the case for this issue.
Katniss’s father is dead, and her relationship with her mother is a bit strained due to the fact her mother became depressed and zoned out when Katniss’s father died (leaving Katniss and Prim to fend for themselves). This strained relationship does get better, however.
Nora’s father is dead, and Nora’s mother works over-time and is often AWOL, leaving Nora lots of free time. This particular type of parent is quite popular in YA I’ve noticed, along with the dead parent.
June’s parents died when she was really young. (SPOILER) Day’s father was killed before the events in Legend and his mother is also killed in the first book.
Harry Potter’s parents were murdered by Voldemort as you all [should] know, and he goes to live with the Dursleys, who hate him. The popular dead parent stereotype is used here.
Kelsey’s parents are dead, and she lives with foster parents who aren’t much involved in Kelsey’s life. Of course, Kelsey is 18 throughout basically the whole series, but still. Even before that, it didn’t seem like they made that much of an impact on Kelsey’s life.
I’m kind of cheating here by putting two series but oh well. Layla has been living with the Wardens her whole life since her mother and father abandoned her. She believed her father was dead but later finds out he was alive and wanted her dead. Her mother’s been MIA.
In the Lux series, Katy’s father died of cancer before the events of the first book, and her mother is kind of the abandoned and distracted parent (which basically lets Katy do whatever she wants).
I’m cheating again, but too bad. 🙂 Tessa Grey’s mother and father (at least the man she thought was her father) are dead. Don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll leave it at that.
Clary Fray has a mother, and the man she thought was her father is also dead. She only found out about her real father later on in the first book I believe. (SPOILER) Her actual father also dies in the third book.
Cath and Wren have been living with their father most of their life since their mother left them when they were 8 years old and hasn’t been present as a mother figure in their lives.
Bella Swan goes to live with her father, who hadn’t remarried since he and Bella’s mom divorced. With Twilight it’s not a case of a dead parent or a parent MIA/AWOL, it’s more of the divorced parent case as well as the distraced parent/parent-who-isn’t-an-active-part-in-child’s-life case.
This series (trilogy, more accurately) is a different parent-problem case, since they’re not dead nor divorced, simply estranged from their daughter (Della Tsang). Della is a vampire, and since her parents don’t know that they think she’s become a bad child and distances themselves from her.
Shadow Falls After Dark Books 1 and 2
So that’s it for this week’s Top 10 Tuesday! This one was more of an open-ended question and I’d love to know what you did for yours! Link your post below or comment! As always, I’d love to hear from you.
Happy Tuesday! For more Tuesday fun, check out my Teaser Tuesday.
The time has come for another Top 10 Tuesday! This week’s theme is All-time favourite authors! This REALLY kills me and I just can’t decide so I’m going to narrow it down to authors in the Paranormal/Fantasy genre or Dystopia, mostly YA. (Press the images for a better, larger view of the pictures.)
As usual, in no particular order:
1. J.K. Rowling
Two words: Harry. Potter. ❤ There really isn’t much more to say other than that. Harry Potter was a thrilling ride that I loved, forever captivating me in the wizarding world.
2. Jennifer L. Armentrout
I love Jennifer Armebtrout’s writing! There’s always an awesome plot, with steamy romance and humorous charters which just makes me want to read her stuff more and more. These are only some of her works:
Lux Series #5
Covenant Series
The Dark Elements series
3. Cassandra Clare
She’s another author who’s writing I love. Her character are always alive and useful, and the world she’s created is amazing. Shadowhunters rule! I loved The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, can’t wait ’till The Dark Artifices trilogy comes out! ❤
TID trilogy
Author Cassandra Clare
4. Marie Lu
I’ve read only Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy (although I’m planning on reading Her book The Young Elites as well) but her books have captivated me enough to put her on this list. If you haven’t already, you should definitely read Legend!
5. Meg Cabot
You probably heard of this author through The Princess Diaries, but she has several other works that ultimately made Meg Cabot one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed The Princess Diaires series, however I prefer The Mediator series. I also really enjoyed her Airhead trilogy. Her Heather Wells series was quite enjoyable, as well as her stand-alone novels Pants on Fire and Teen Idol. I have yet to start her Queen of Babble trilogy. I’m looking forward to getting to it! 🙂
Princess Diaries series
The Mediator series
Author Meg Cabot
6. Suzanne Collins
How could I not put the author of The Hunger Games on this list? The Hunger Games was awesome and one of the few movie adaptations other than HP done well. 🙂
Hunger Games Trilogy
Author Suzanne Collins
7. Rick Riordan
I loved Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, as well as The Heroes of Olympus series! I also enjoyed his Kane Chronicles trilogy as well! They were all fast-paced, adventurous, and best of all, involved mythology! I can’t wait for the first book in Riordan’s newest series, Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard, which is named The Sword of Summer. 🙂
Kane Chronicles trilogy
8. Richelle Mead
I’ve read a lot of vampire-themed books, but Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy is the one most worth mentioning for this list. Richelle Mead’s writing is captivating, and I love her Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series (what I’ve read of Bloodlines series, anyway.) Looking forward to reading her other series! Check out my reviews on the first two books of the VA series HERE and HERE. Definitely one of my favorite authors!
Vampire Academy series
Bloodlines Series
9. Kiera Cass
I loved Kiera Cass’s Selection series! Made for a sweet, romance with touches of dystopia flavoring, and an awesome read. Her books were all very well-written. Looking forward to The Heir!
Selection Series
Author Kiera Cass
10. C.C Hunter
C.C Hunter is a wonderful author who I feel is quite unrecognized. I have read all the books released in her two series; Shadow Falls and Shadow Falls: After Dark, and I loved both of them! I definitely recommend her works, one of my favorite authors!
Shadow Falls series
Shadow Falls After Dark Books 1 and 2
There are so many other authors I would love to put on the list, but alas, I must stop there. A few honorable mentions go to: Jane Austen (even though she isn’t a YA fantasy, paranormal or dystopia author), John Green, Veronica Roth, Marissa Meyer, Colleen Houck and Becca Fitzpatrick. They are very good writers and definitely should be recognized.
Anyway, that concludes this list! I don’t know how I would ever have stopped if I did a list on all-time favorite authors! 🙂 So what are your Top 10 All-time favorite authors? Or if you’re like me, All-time favorite authors of YA fantasy, paranormal, etc.? Comment your thoughts below! Or if you participate in this meme, post your link so I can come check it out!
Happy listing!
-A
P.S. For some more Book Snacks Fun, check out this week’s Teaser Tuesday!
I’ve decided to write this quick post since I recently just found out that the amazing Jennifer L Armentrout, author of the Lux series (which I still haven’t reviewed, but will soon) will be releasing a new novella, called Oblivion (which you might’ve guessed from the title of this post) sometime this December! Although I’m super sad that it isn’t coming out sooner, I’m super excited by the prospect of more Daemon Black (obviously) and more Lux drama/romance,etc, you know the deal. 🙂 I can’t believe I didn’t know this before, and so this post is for you Lux lovers out there who didn’t know about it either! And if you did, well, this is some more info! 😉 And if you have no idea who Daemon Black is or what this series is all about, well then I hereby introduce you to the Lux series!
![IMG_1418[1]](https://booksnacksblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/img_14181.jpg)
Book Snacks 