Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Ruin and Rising (The Grisha #3)
Author: Leigh Bardugo (website, Twitter)
Pages: Kindle version, 432
Rating: 5 enthusiastic stars!

Shadow and Bone (Grisha #1) - my review
Siege and Storm (Grisha #2) - my review

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If you've ever read my fangirling about Leigh Bardugo before, you know what a huge fan of this trilogy I am. So why did it take me so long to read the 3rd one? I. Didn't. Want. It. To. End. 

Seriously.

I wanted to read it the minute it came out and yet didn't want to read it at all. This past weekend was Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon and I had this one in the pile to be read. When I saw a tweet that the Kindle was on sale, I grabbed it. Forget the fact that I had just downloaded 10 ebooks from the library to go with the approximately 700 already in my Cloud - (I went a bit crazy with all the free ebooks there for a while - really need to do some cleaning out of the Kindle). Anyway, I bought it and immediately started reading it.

I wasn't as big a fan of Siege and Storm as I was of Shadow and Bone but Ruin and Rising was right back to the top. I loved it. I'd read a few reviews that sort of slammed how it was all wrapped up but I actually enjoyed it. I think she did a good job of bringing all the characters full circle.

Bardugo's world building is top notch. Feeling as if you are with the characters, that you can see what they see, brings story telling to a whole other level and she pulls this off like a boss. The story opens with them being in an underground world. I am claustrophobic and let me tell ya, those scenes were creepy for me. I so wanted them to leave that place.

 There was non stop action and plenty of swoon - as evil as the Darkling is, he is still hot. The character development within this trilogy is amazing. I love that they grew so much. The plot was well paced and the ending was well done.

I can't fangirl enough over this trilogy. If you haven't read it yet, do yourself a favor and run to the nearest bookstore to get your own copies. As sad as I am to leave their world, I own all three and know that I'll be doing a re-read very soon.

Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who _______

Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly event hosted at the Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is top ten books which feature characters who ______. I chose who are strong female characters. Of course, these are only my opinion and I know that not all of you will agress with me.

1. Nancy Drew

2.  Matilda

3. Lisbeth from the Millennium trilogy 

4. Hermione Granger

5. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games trilogy

6. Liesel from The Book Thief

7. Celaena from Throne of Glass series

8, 9 and 10. Cinder, Scarlet and Cress from the Lunar Chronicles

Just pick one already!

I originally started blogging way back in 2007. That original blog is no longer available for public viewing since I've password protected it, but I remember how much I loved to write. I wrote about all things - books, my kids, the weather, music, scrapbooking, and anything else that came to mind. Several years ago I decided to start a book only blog and Little Lovely Books was born. I intended to have it as a part of a larger lifestyle blog so I loved the name.

When I decided that I wasn't going to have a "general" blog but was going to focus on books, I started to dislike the name. Mostly I read darker books and almost no romance or chick lit and the like so the name didn't really make sense.

About a month ago I made the jump to a new Wordpress site and created Zombie Chaos. I love the name and it's just about perfect for what I read - lots of zombie tales. Lots of dystopians. Once I'd posted a few times I remembered how much I hate the interface - I just prefer blogger. Problem was that zombiechaos was taken on blogger so now I had no name. I could switch back to Little Lovely Books but I just didn't like it anymore.

I participated in Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon but I didn't do as much commenting and things as I usually do because I didn't want people going to the wordpress blog - the one that I was pretty sure I was going to delete.

After thinking about a bunch of different possible names, All the Reads was born and I am finally home! I love it and think that it suits me nicely since I want all the reads. Of course, if you looked at the packed shelves in my house you'd think that I already had all the reads!

So I hope you'll join me in my new blogging adventure. I probably won't be around every single day but I'll be around quite a bit. Thanks for stopping by.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon - All the Stuff Post

In an effort not to post a whole bunch of different updates throughout the day, I'm trying something different this year. I'll post to this one post every 4ish hours or when I complete a book. 

End of Event Meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? I didn't stay up the entire time but midafternoon was rough for me. I was a bit bored with my books and tired of sitting at that point. Which is weird.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I don't have any specific titles but keeping them short and action packed works better for me. Wish I had gotten a few graphic novels as well.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Don't think that Heather and Andi could do anything to improve it...Dewey's ROCKS!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Everything, as always. On my end, I didn't stress which is great. Ok lie. I stressed when the person responsible for the hourly mini challenge didn't post it on time during my cohosting hours. That stressed me. I didn't want to drop the ball on my watch!
5. How many books did you read? Read 1, listened to 1 and read part of another.Always jealous to hear how some people read so many but I'm a slow reader apparently AND my boys were home this year.
6. What were the names of the books you read? Ruin and Rising, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and The Peach Keeper
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Ruin and Rising
8. Which did you enjoy least? liked both that I completely finished
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? open multiple tabs and get to work.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Sign me up right now! Same as this one, I'll do a bit of everything. :-)

Update:

I ended up going to sleep a bit after 1 am. I was actually planning to stay up longer but my boys wanted me to lay down with them. I ended up reading for a while later on my Kindle but the darkness got to me and I was just not interested in reading anymore (even though the book I was reading was very good!).

Update:

It's almost midnight here and I've finished only 2 books. I read Ruin and Rising and listened to Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? Not sure that I'll start another one. I just can't decide if I want to stay up or give in. My eyes are not bothering me as bad as I was afraid they would but I'm not sure I want to stay up anymore. We'll see.

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? Ruin and Rising
2. How many books have you read so far? listened to half of one and read half another. I am so slow!
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Undecided on that
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? I have a 6 year old and an 8 year old constant interruption, ya'll. I knew that I wouldn't get much reading done today because they are home AND I am such a slow reader but I've enjoyed it immensely. Oh and I took off 2 hours for my co-hosting duties earlier today.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? No surprises so far. The day has gone basically like I thought it would.

Update:

Am totally loving the day so far. Have listened to over 2 hours of the Mindy Kaling book and have read 28% of Ruin and Rising on my Kindle. The boys and I took a quick break to return a Redbox movie and to get a late lunch. I went to the main blog to do some of the mini challenges but they just stress me out. I'm just going to read instead. Hope everyone is having an excellent reading day!

Update:

Loved this picture that I found on Reading and Running

How's it going so far? Getting some great reading done?

Update:

That is the view from my window. So much for a hot and sunny Florida day. Not sure that this weather is a good thing for the readathon. Makes me want to nap. I've been co-hostessing on the main blog and on Twitter so my eyes are needing a break. Might take a quick nap and let them rest now so I can read more later.

I'm listening to Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. About 2 hours in and it's awesome. She reads it so it's even better than it normally would be. She's hilarious!

Mini Challenge - Classic Words of Wisdom

Allie @ A Literary Odyssey challenged us to share our favorite quote and tell why it means so much to us. I've chosen one from a more recent classic and love it because it is so very true. Treating people well gets you far.

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

-- J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire)

Opening Meme:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Hot and sunny Florida
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? I'm trying a new healthy lifestyle so my snacks are all fruits and veggies this go around. I have a mix of raspberries and blueberries that I'll be getting to soon.4) Tell us a little something about yourself! Single mom to 2 little boys, avid reader (obvi!), nail polish hoarder, entrepreneur, and Walking Dead fanatic 
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? I'm going to do fewer update posts. Instead of every hour like in the past, I'm trying an every 4ish hours update or when I finish a book.

Bookish Meme

I absolutely love funny memes and these bookish ones are great. First there is my newest celeb boyfriend, Theo  James, aka Four from Divergent/Insurgent. I can't believe I'm admitting this but as much as I love the movies, I've never been able to read the books. I have Divergent sitting on my shelf, where it has been for at least 2 years but when I try to read it...I can't.

Then there's this one with my darling Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. My BFF held out on me and didn't share this show until recently. I'm currently 3 seasons in and want Sheldon in my life. He's a hoot.

Tomorrow is the 24 hour readathon and I'm getting so excited!

Readathon, ya'll

Saturday marks the day of a super special event...Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon. It's the Superbowl for nerds, let's be honest. A whole 24 hours set aside just for reading. Heaven.

I know I won't last the whole 24 hours because A) I am old. B) My eyes are old. C) The boys will be home. D) I have nothing to prove because I. Am. Old.

Seriously though I know I won't make the whole 24 hours but I'll do as much as I can. I want to do more cheering this year. I'll be having the boys read along with me and that will be fun. See what I did there?...keep 'em quiet! :-)

Haven't started a TBR but think that I'll probably pick 2 physical copies and get mostly ebooks. I can read longer on my Kindle.

The best part is that I'm returning as a hostess. It's such an honor and so much fun to be on the main blog and Twitter feed throughout my hostess time. Come join me!

Justin McRoberts, Hawk Nelson and The Afters...LIVE!

The boys and I went to a concert at our church last night. What an incredible night with three great acts.

Justin McRoberts, Hawk Nelson and The Afters were all ah-mazing! We were able to meet the bands afterwards and they were all awesome sauce. #FansForever

  

One of the best parts of the night was listening to The Afters sing Light Up the Sky which is one of my all time favorite songs.

Library Loot

 Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

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Like I said yesterday, I decided to take back all the library books I had checked out and start over. I couldn't decide on a book to read. I ended up finding a few books quickly so I didn't browse around for too long.

I ended up with:

Feed by Mira Grant - this will be a reread for me. I absolutely loved this trilogy the first time around so I'm curious to see if I like it as much now.

Symbiont by Mira Grant - the 2nd book in the Parasite trilogy. This is a chunkster but I really enjoyed the 1st book in the series.

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Mayberry - the first of a trilogy, I've tried this one before but have always had too many other books to read to get to it.

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith - Rowling did a good job with the 1st book in this series. It's no Harry Potter but I enjoyed it.

Wandering the Shelves

I seem to be having trouble focusing on one book lately. I have so many that look soooo good. I've been reading a few pages of this one and then reading a few pages of that one. To fix my problem, I'm returning everything that I currently have from the library and am going to check out 1 or 2 new ones.

I have a huge clean out of my house going on right now and that includes the ridiculous amount of books that I own. I know that I'll never read some of these so I'm going to pass them on to someone who'll love them.

I'll post my Library Loot tomorrow! Wish me luck wandering the shelves...

Bloggy Business

My reading life has been up and down over the past few months. Sometimes I'm reading every day and sometimes I am hardly reading at all. This lack of reading consistency is a big reason for my lack of blogging - no new books read = no new books to review.

This time around I'm planning to keep it very low key. No schedule, no goals, just posting as I want, as it is fun. I lost part of the fun on my old blog and I don't want that to happen again. I won't be participating in a large number of bookish events. I won't have a Twitter or Facebook profile for my blog - at least not right now. I won't be requesting or accepting review requests since they tend to completely stress me out. Sure, I love getting books in the mail but tracking what needs to be read and when makes for a grumpy me.

I will be posting reviews of most but no all the books that I read. I will be participating in my favorite bookish events - Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon and Bout of Books - for sure and will add others as they work for my schedule and reading interest. I will be visiting my favorite book blogs again and look forward to commenting and interacting with all the great bloggers out there.

I considered having just a general blog again but decided against it. I like having books separate from the rest of my stuff. I might still post a few off topic things but for the most part, I plan to keep it about books.

The name change was obviously a big one. To go from Little Lovely Books to ZombieChaos is quite different. My plan behind Little Lovely Books changed after I originally started the blog so it ended up not being the best name for the types of books I most enjoy reading - zombie, dystopian and apocalyptic.

I'm back but I've moved!

I'm back and am now at my new home...

allthereads.blogspot.com

Come by and say hi!