Library of Mallory

This week has been absolutely crazy busy for me. So I did not read much at all and that is why I haven't posted all week either. I finished Dark Reunion by L.J. Smith and that is it for the week. I didn't end up going in to work today because the roads were horrible, so that gives me an extra long weekend, bonus reading time woop woop!

So I am still reading Shades Of Earth by Beth Revis.

I only have a few chapters left of this book. So I should finish within the next hour or so.

The next I want to go on to is Burn For Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

This is our monthly friend read/discussion for the month of November. So if you would like to join us, you are very welcome to do so!

And once I finish that I will either be reading Requiem by Lauren Oliver (finishing off the Delirium trilogy) or Monsters Of Men by Patrick Ness (finishing off the Chaos Walking trilogy). 

What are you reading this weekend? Have you read any of these books? Let me know what you thought of them if you have!

I decided to dedicate November to finishing up some series, rather than going on the big dragon kick that I wanted to. I am constantly starting series but never finishing them. So I think in the new year I will have to make that one of my reading resolutions.

So this weekend I will be finishing up these:

Shades of Earth by Beth Revis, finishing the Across The Universe trilogy.

As well as:

Dark Reunion by L.J. Smith, the fourth and final instalment in the Vampire Diaries series.

I hope to get both of these finished up tomorrow and then I still have quite a long TBR left for the rest of November. 

Title: The Shining
Author: Stephen King
Published in 1977 by Hodder & Stoughton
512 pages (paperback)



So I'm sure most of you will know what this story is about, but if not, here is the goodreads synopsis:
Danny was only five years old but in the words of old Mr Halloran he was a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father became caretaker of the Overlook Hotel his visions grew frighteningly out of control. 

As winter closed in and blizzards cut them off, the hotel seemed to develop a life of its own. It was meant to be empty, but who was the lady in Room 217, and who were the masked guests going up and down in the elevator? And why did the hedges shaped like animals seem so alive? 

Somewhere, somehow there was an evil force in the hotel - and that too had begun to shine...


Okay, so let me start out by saying Stephen King really knows what he is doing with his narration. The story is told in third person, yet he really lets you get inside of each characters head to see what they are thinking and how they are feeling. You really get to know each character this way and you can slowly see character development throughout the book. 

The story progressed so nicely and at a great pace. It is so very different from the movie (which I had watched before reading the book). It was not as scary as I thought it would be, but if I had read it when I was younger I'm sure I would have thought differently.

I will definitely be trying out more of Stephen King's novels to see how his writing progressed, and I cannot wait to read Doctor Sleep (which is the sequel to The Shining and was just released this year) to find out what happens to little Danny. 

I gave this book a 4.5/5 stars. 

Have you read any Stephen King? If so, which books do you think I should check out next?

The authors were very kind and generous and sent us a copy for review.

Title: Codename: Chimera
Author: Jake & Kate Persy 
Published: Published July 5th 2013 by J.K. Persy (first published November 3rd 2012)



Synopsis (from Goodreads):
A famous millionaire dies under mysterious circumstances in the Brooklyn ghetto. What it was that made him go to such a dangerous place at night remains a mystery. The only clue is a book, Mythical Creatures of Ancient Greece, left on his body and opened at a page on Chimera. Private detective Kevin Kris takes on the case, helped by Penny, his trusty assistant, and Michael, his best friend. They soon uncover a chain of bloody events shrouded in mystery from the past. Little by little the private detective and his friends discover the real truth hidden by the Man With No Face.

This book was a really quick, fun and easy read. I always love to read a good murder mystery and see if I can figure out who the killer is before the book tells you...I didn't succeed this time. 

The writing style and plot outline were very basic, not that this is a bad thing. It just makes it quick and easy to get through as it is not a heavy or dense read. It was strange to me that there was no filler writing. Everything was written for a reason. I always feel like authors add useless writing and paragraphs just to fill or increase length, but not with this book. Everything moved along and progressed nicely. The authors also added some riddles to a few chapters which were really neat and it made me want to get through it faster to find the answers.

The only problem I had with this book was the characters. I felt like there was not enough information about them to get to know them well enough to establish any emotion or connections.

I gave this book 3/5 stars.

Thank you so much to Jake and Kate Persy for sending this my way!

I read nowhere near as much as I wanted to in the month of October, so in November I'm going to really try and step it up. 

1. Destiny (Rogue Angel #1) by Alex Archer. I gave this one a 3.5/5. It was a fun, easy read and I will continue on with the series, but I will be in no rush. 

2. Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris. I gave this a 3/5 and I have already posted my review of this one.

http://malloryallain.booklikes.com/post/575901/book-review-living-dead-in-dallas-by-charlaine-harris

3. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke. I gave this a 3/5. This was my friend read book choice of the month and our discussion review has already been posted. 
http://malloryallain.booklikes.com/post/675200/book-discussion-between-the-devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea-by-april-genevieve-tucholke

4. The Shining by Stephen King. I gave this a 4.5/5. This was my first Stephen King novel and I cannot wait to read more of his works. My review is written and will be posted within the week.

5. Codename: Chimera by J.K. Persy. I gave this a 3.5/5. The authors were very kind and sent me a copy of this for review. This review is also written and will be posted within the week. 

Have you read any of these books? Let me know what you thought of them. 

Don't forget that everything I post here can also been seen at www.bibliophilesisters.wordpress.com where you can also see everything that my sister Allison posts. 

This month, myself, Marissa, and Maria (www.mariacag.wordpress.com) decided to start our own little friend read, book club. Our theme for October/Halloween was a creepy read, and the book we ended up choosing was Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke. We each read the book and then had some discussion points on it. If you would like to participate in the month of November, we will be reading Burn For Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Caution, minor spoilers ahead!

Mallory: Do you think that the story feels a lot more unbelievable since all three characters are 17, yet they are living on their own? For me, I just really couldn’t wrap my head around these kids living and surviving on their own.
Marissa: I felt like these characters should have been older, especially for living on their own.
Maria: Yes, this made the story all the more unbelievable for me. It was just odd… kids living is this huge house, having no friends and having parents that don’t even check in on them. Oh, and then letting a stranger move in, this is just another reason why the book was a little weird for me.

Mallory: Would you rather that the characters were a bit older to make the story feel more true? I think that had they been in their 20′s it would have felt a little more believable for me.
Maria: I don’t think that their age really made a difference, besides the fact that they were living on their own. Even if the characters were older, the story would probably still feel “young” for me. The book seemed like a ghost story that I probably would have enjoyed more a few years ago.

Mallory: Did you notice that the author used a lot of colors for names? (ex: Violet Whitem, Blue Hoffman, Sunshine Black, River Redding). I kept noticing and wondering why she couldn’t have used normal, more original names.
Marissa: I never took into account that the author used a lot of colors, but now that I realize it, it is a little bit annoying.
Maria: I actually never noticed the colors, except for Violet White. And I thought that Sunshine was an odd name.

Mallory: What do you think of the authors writing style? I felt that there was no build up or anticipation with her writing, nothing to be excited about. Everything was quite plain and mediocre. The book didn’t even feel creepy of scary at all because it was not descriptive enough.
Marissa: I didn’t enjoy the authors style of writing. I found myself getting annoyed because she used the same word over and over in one sentence. (ex scream scream scream or mad mad mad).
Maria: I was expecting more. I heard a lot of good things about the writing style, especially when it came to the setting. But for some reason, I didn’t get the gothic feel I was hoping for. It’s not that the writing was bad, it just did not keep my attention – at all. I had to push myself to finish this one. And if I wouldn’t have decided to read through it for a few hours straight, it would have sat there for a long time. Even with all the creepy scenes, like the kids at the graveyard, I felt like it could have been better. It didn’t get to me like I wanted it to.

Mallory: Did River give you the creeps? Did you enjoy the romance that he and Violet had? I felt absolutely no affection for River. I despised him through about 95% of the book. Although he started growing on me in the end. I still couldn’t forgive him for the things he had done throughout the book. And the romance/relationship they had was the weirdest thing I might have ever encountered in a YA book. Napping together after just meeting and waking up basically naked? Just no.
Marissa: River was a bit creepy. Especially since he asked Violet to take a nap with him as soon as he met her. He grew on me a little near the end.
Maria: What romance? If some strange boy showed up at my house, I don’t think I would instantly be in love with him. Especially if he was as creepy as River. And the fact that one minute Violet hated River and thought he was such a liar, and then the next minute they were making out, sleeping next to each other or taking their clothes off… what was that about? I know sometimes it wasn’t her fault because of Rivers weird power, but once she understood what was happening, she still didn’t do anything about it. So I found the romance part of the book a bit weird. It was definitely lacking something, even though River couldn’t be trusted. I didn’t find this book romantic at all; however I did start liking River more towards the end. At this point I was more understanding when it came to what Violet saw in him.

Mallory: What did you think of Violet as a main character? I could not stand her throughout the whole book. In my opinion she was a stupid, extremely selfish and a huge pushover. I felt as though any of the characters could have talked her into doing anything. And what did you think of the scene where Sunshine’s parents were trying to murder her and instead of trying to help, Violet ran away? I couldn’t believe how much of a coward she was!
Marissa: Violet was a stupid main character. She was kind of ignorant and selfish. She could have tried harder to help Sunshine, instead of instantly running away. She made me roll my eyes a lot.
Maria: I don’t know if I would go that far, but I know that I personally didn’t connect with her at all. Actually I feel the same way about most of the characters in this book. I almost like Luke more than Violet. I thought she was pretty boring. She just wasn’t a strong main character in my opinion. Sunshine was even more annoying than Violet. She was so busy flirting and trying to be a slut the whole time. It was just dumb. That specific scene made no sense to me. I felt that Violet, as the main character, should have at least tried to do something about what was happening to her best friend Did she even care? She knew it had something to do with River, but it seemed like she just ran away to save herself. She wasn’t a very brave character.

Mallory: The best YA books are the ones that make you believe the plot could actually come true. Do you agree? Was this plot a little too out there for you? Nothing about this story felt real to me. The characters seemed fake and forced. The plot seemed all over the place. And it was just so strange. I couldn’t let myself enjoy it.
Marissa: This plot was too farfetched. There was so much potential, but when the third brother showed up I was like really? Who’s going to show up next? Also, Rivers power was so cool, it should have had an intense name other than “the glow”. The ending had me laughing by the time Brodie showed up even though it was supposed to be serious or scary.
Maria: Yes, it was a little too out there. Maybe if I connected to the characters a little more I would feel differently. I couldn’t relate to this story or the characters at all. The fast that the plot was so unbelievable did affect my feelings towards this book. It was fast paced, but I felt like things just kept popping up out of nowhere, with very little explanation.

Mallory: Will you continue the series? I’m not very interested in it, but if I change my mind, it will not be very high on my priority list.
Marissa: I don’t want to but I probably will because now I’m curious about Brodie.
Maria: I’m not sure if I will continue with the series. I might pick it up someday to find out what happens, but I’m in no rush for that.

Mallory: 3/5 on goodreads
Marissa: 3/5 on goodreads
Maria: 3/5 on goodreads

Make sure you go check out Maria’s blog! She is awesome and hasn’t been blogging for that long.

Here is the second round of books I bought in October. I accidentally forgot to show you five others that I got, so those will be in the next haul.

Here are the books I bought in the month of October! 

Title: Living Dead In Dallas
Author: Charlaine Harris
Published April 1st 2004 by Orbit (first published March 26th 2002)
288 pages
Second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series

Goodreads blurb: 

Sookie Stackhouse likes living in Bon Temps, Louisiana, and she likes working as a cocktail waitress at Merlotte's. But she is having a streak of bad luck. First her co-worker is killed, and no one seems to care. Then she comes face-to-face with a beastly creature which gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it).

The point is: the vampires saved her life. So when one of her bloodsuckers asks for a favour, she obliges-and soon Sookie's in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She's supposed to interview certain humans involved, but she makes one condition: the vampires must promise to behave, and let the humans go unharmed. But that's easier than done, and all it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly...

So I think by now, most of you know what this series is about. If you haven't read the series, I'm sure you have seen the tv show. 

For those of you who do not know, this series is a typical paranormal romance: vampires and sex. There is no depth to these books, they are just light, fun, easy, corny and kind of cheesy reads. They are super quick to get through and are nice to have in between heavier reads. I have watched three seasons of the tv show, so I went into this one somewhat expecting to know what happened. But no, this was not the case. And this might be one of the only times where I will say this; the tv show is much better than the books. There are most twists and turns in the show, whereas the books are a little dull. 

Okay, so let's move on to discussing the plot. Let's just say, it felt like I was reading a story inside of a story. In the beginning the plot is based on the murder of Lafayette. He was found outside of Merlotte's bar inside of sheriff Andy Bellefleur's car. So Sookie decides that she is going to listen in on people and try to solve the mystery of Lafayette's death. Then all of a sudden, the story takes a weird turn and is completely put off track from the main subject of the murder. It is not until the last few chapters that we return to trying to solve the mystery of the murder. I feel like the plot jumped around a lot and was focused on too many different things. The beginning of the story was so strong, the death was intriguing and I couldn't wait to see if I could figure out who the killer was. But no, instead the story took a turn and ended up utterly boring. And we are not going to even get in to discussing the cough*orgy*cough.

And can we talk about Sookie now? Number one, why on earth can't you pick Eric instead of Bill? Bill is a jealous, needy and greedy man and he annoys me to no end. I could rant about that all day, so I won't bore you with that. Does it bug anyone else how Sookie is ALWAYS right? At one point, she is standing in a room with a bunch of vampires and they had just figured out that the room had been bugged. So what does Sookie do? Gets down on her knees, crawls under the table and finds the listening device. All of this happens within a few sentences. It just seems that she has a solution every time the vampires are needing something. The whole book just seems so illogical, but I guess that's what you should expect going into a book like this.

Overall it was an enjoyable read, I just had some major issues with it. It's not going to stop me from continuing the series, but I won't be rushing to continue on with it.

Have you read this series? What do you think of it? Let me know. 

About two months ago I bought a new shelf, but unfortunately when I bought it I couldn't put it up right away since my boyfriend Adam and I were planning on moving to a new house. Now that we are finally in our house and settled, my shelf is up! While I was out today Adam surprised me by putting up the shelf for me! If anyone is interested in a bookshelf tour, let me know :)