June Reading Roundup {2016}

Reading Roundup #6: June 2016

Heeeere are the books I read in June!

Yes, I am seeing a 4 books per month trend lately… *cough*

Also, oddly, I read mostly historical fiction with a touch of modern this month. o.o Which is strange for this fantasy-addict. 😉 Buuut they were mostly also retellings, so apparently that’s close enough. 😛

(Titles all link to Goodreads.)

1. Lost Lake House – Elizabeth Grace Foley

Reviewed this. A cute, sweet, kind of elegant short read, which I enjoyed falling into for an afternoon. It kind of made me happy, so. ^_^ Also, Twelve Dancing Princesses (ish) — so there’s that. 😉 I wasn’t even going to review it, but I just started typing some thoughts out and then… there was a review. o.o

2. The Golden Braid – Melanie Dickerson

Really enjoyed this one! I wrote a review for it too… I don’t think I’ve read any other Rapunzel retellings, and while Tangled will probably always be the definitive version for me, this one was really cool too. 😀 I loved how it linked in with bits of the other Hagenheim books, especially The Princess Spy… AND THAT PLOT TWIST!!! 😀 *flails around in happiness*

3. Drover’s Secret Life – John R. Erickson

D’awww! *huggles book* Loved this! The Hank the Cowdog books are so much fun — especially the audio editions, narrated by the author. This one was really fun, narrated by Drover. Loved it! Getting to hear the history of Drover… It’s great. Not to mention hilarious. XD Listened to this on audio, read by the author, which is the best. So much fun! Nothing like a Hank the Cowdog book to make you laugh. These books… so fun to have an unreliable narrator, who’s a DOG… And having Drover narrate it this time instead of Hank was so fun. Hilarious. 😀 Just one more thing to say now, of course… “OH MY LEG!” XD

4. Defying Shadows (Rising Shadows, #3) – Ashley Townsend

WOW, this book. So many feeeels. It’s wrapping up the Rising Shadows trilogy and EVERYTHING happened in it! O_O JUST WOW. A couple bittersweet things and many feels, but overall so so good. Time travel and all of the mind-bendingness that involves? Check. Robin Hood retelling? Check. Adorable romance and loveable characters with enormous character-arcs? Check. ALL OF THE REVELATIONS AND PLOT TWISTS OF EVER? BIG CHECK. If this was a chess game, this book would have me in checkmate apparently… ANYWAY. I was privileged to beta-read it, and it’s coming out sometime this July I believe. It made me happy, and I’ll be doing an actual review of it at some point, likely on my other blog. But it was super fantastic! 😀 I don’t usually read such enormous books so I’m also proud of myself a little. XD

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So those are my reads for June. I have SO MUCH I want to read this month but we’ll see how much I get to. 😉

How about you? What’s your favorite read of June? What are you reading next?

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer

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The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson

Title: The Golden Braid

Author: Melanie Dickerson

Another excellent read from Melanie Dickerson! *huggles book*

I think it was the least standalone-ish of her books I’ve read so far, simply because it had so many delightful tie-ins to other books in the Hagenheim series. I loved that! 🙂 It was also so so cool how it tied in with The Princess Spy and the events going on in that and even some of the things behind the scenes we hadn’t seen before! So awesome. (Though a couple times it seemed like it was summarizing a bit too much and I would have liked more details/scenes sometimes. But that may also be because I don’t remember The Princess Spy all that well since I read it awhile ago. *shrug*)

I also loved how the Christian theme was so well-woven into the plot–it was just a really strong part of it, more-so than usual in these books, and I just thought it was super lovely and incredibly well-done.

And I loved the retelling, how it had so many nods to Rapunzel (and maybe even Tangled…?). Awesome retelling! But also rearranged and different and unique enough that I never knew what was coming, which was really cool. 🙂

The romance, as always, was adorbz and awesome and I loved both the characters. Rapunzel was super likeable, and Sir Gerek was, naturally, fantastic. I loved his grouchyness. XD And just… yes, he was awesome.

AND THE TWIST. OH MY GOODNESS THE TWIST. Okay, so I was picking up on little subtle hints and totally guessed it before it came to light, but that only made the revelation even BETTER because I pieced clues together and came to the conclusion myself and was hoping and hoping and then it WAS and just ASLKDFJLDKJF it makes me so happyyyy! ^_^ I only wish :: SPOILER (highlight to read) :: that there could have been a scene featuring Gabe and Rapunzel. I WAS SO HOPING THERE WOULD AND THEN THERE WASN’T. *cries* That was my only disappointment though. I just… it would have been so wonderful seeing a scene like that after what Gabe was thinking in The Fairest Beauty. *sniff* But oh well, I can imagine it, so that’s okay I guess. 🙂 :: END SPOILER ::

I also got a little teary-eyed there at one point, at a certain beautiful scene, so gotta give it credit for that. 😉

Anyways, aside from a couple little things, I absolutely loved it and just THE TWIIIIST!!! *flails around* So so so awesome and automatically made it twice as wonderful as it could have been. 😀

Overall, great book! ❤

From Goodreads:

The one who needs rescuing isn’t always the one in the tower.

Rapunzel can throw a knife better than any man around. And her skills as an artist rival those of any artist she’s met. But for a woman in medieval times, the one skill she most desires is the hardest one to obtain: the ability to read.

After yet another young man asks for Rapunzel’s hand in marriage, Mother decides they need to move once again, but this time to a larger city. Rapunzel’s heart soars—surely there she can fulfill her dream. But Mother won’t let her close to a man. She claims that no man can be trusted.

After being rescued by a knight on the road to the city, and in turn rescuing him farther down the road, Rapunzel’s opportunity arrives at last. This knight, Sir Gerek, agrees to educate Rapunzel in order to pay back his debt. She just has to put up with his arrogant nature and single-minded focus on riches and prestige.

But this Rapunzel story is unlike any other and the mystery that she uncovers will change everything—except her happily ever after.

Genre/Category: Christian YA Romance / Historical Fiction / Fairy Tale Retelling (Rapunzel)

Age Group: YA

Published: 2015

Pages: 471 pages (Large Print Hardcover)

Series?: Book #6 of the Hagenheim/Fairy Tale Romance series

When Read: June 4 – 5, 2016

Favorite Character: Sir Gerek

Source: Library

Other Notes: Read a large print version because it was what my library had, and I for some reason really liked reading it like that. XD It was relaxing somehow. *shrug*

{Goodreads} • {Amazon} • {Barnes & Noble}

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Thanks for reading!

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer

 

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

 

Title: Northanger Abbey

Author: Jane Austen

I’m in a bit of a conundrum, as it’s perhaps a 3-star book, but Henry Tilney is by all means a thoroughly 5-star fellow… So my 4-stars is an (unsatisfactory, no doubt, to all parties…) attempt at consolidating the two thoughts…

I read this for the Northanger Abbey Read-Along held by Amber Stokes @ Seasons of Humility, and I’m so glad I did! (Of course, I had been quite diligently reading a chapter per day, give or take; but quite failed in drawing it out over the last few days and had to finish early. ;))

My general lack of patience with (read: loathing for) Isabella, Mr. Thorpe, and at points General Tilney, coupled with poor Catherine’s being rather trodden upon in “friendship” with the poisonous lacy cupcake known as Isabella, prevented my specifically “enjoying” most of the story. I can’t really read about characters being used in that way, or about nasty people, without my blood boiling and ending up greatly disliking it. It’s just a kind of story I can’t read, personally. Definitely a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” (Unfortunately, this accounts for most of the book?)

But every instance which involved Mr. Tilney, as well as those parts with him and Catherine and Eleanor Tilney as a trio, were a delight and well worth the reading!

Tilney must rank up there with my favorite of the Austen heroes, methinks, following after Mr. Darcy but for quite different reasons! Henry is a delightful character, I loved his lines of wit and humor, and the part where he was frightening Catherine with his fabricated tales of horror concerning her arrival to the abbey, was hilarious. XD

Henry and Catherine make a sweet pair, and adding in Eleanor, make a very delightful set of companions, whom it would be a joy to hang out with!

The bits that were rather making fun of other books, which was fun, and Tilney (and his sister), make the book worth reading, and I’m quite glad to have (at long last!) read Northanger Abbey. 🙂

Now I need to reread Pride and Prejudice sometime, and I now really hope that Amber Stokes @ Seasons of Humility will hold another readalong for Emma or Mansfield Park someday so I can finally read those too, because I really like this readalong format. 😀

I’m just going to leave you with this fabulous quote from Henry which is further proof of his awesomeness. He and I would get along splendidly. XD

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” — Henry Tilney, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

(Hey, he said it, not me. ;))

(I quite apologize if all that comes out of this attempted review is that Tilney is awesome; I’m afraid I’m shallow like that. *cough*)

Genre/Category: Historical Fiction / Romance / Classic

Age Group: YA/Adult?

Published: 1817 (Whew! Nearly 200 years old!)

Pages: 192 pages

Series?: No

When Read: March 1 – 27, 2016

Favorite Character: Henry Tilney, naturally. 😉

Source: Read in a collection of all of Jane Austen’s novels which I found at a library book sale.

Other Notes: Read for the read-along at Seasons of Humility.

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Thanks for reading!

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer

 

Lost Lake House by Elisabeth Grace Foley

Title: Lost Lake House

Author: Elisabeth Grace Foley

You’ve got to give it to it: that is one gorgeous cover. (I may also be immensely pleased at how well it goes with my blog’s color-scheme. But that’s neither here nor there… *cough*)

This is a historical-fiction novella set in the ’20s, and is a loose retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. It came out this year and when I heard about it from Shantelle, I simply had to try it out. 🙂

Because, ya know . . . Twelve Dancing Princesses. 😉

In this one there’s only one dancer, not twelve (and she’s not exactly a princess either), but there were some great nods to the fairytale which I really enjoyed… It was kind of amazing how well some of it was weaved in with the ’20s setting.

Anyways, it was a quick, sweet read, with lots of elegant description which really captured the setting and time period. (I’m not a huge fan of jazz or the ’20s, but that didn’t get in my way of enjoying it, particularly since I didn’t have to HEAR it. ;))

I liked how we got a few points of view, too. It was neat to see different sides of what was going on. It was a quiet story. A bit mysterious. Some gangster-type stuff showed up to make it a little exciting. There’s a hint at a really sweet friendship that might come out of this story… 😉 And while it’s not the main focus, it also holds a really poignant story about a father and daughter who don’t understand each other, which I thought was really well written and I liked the hope it ends with.

Anyone looking for a romance should look elsewhere, though, because there isn’t really one. That being said, I do ship the hero and heroine and hope maybe in the future they might become a thing. 😉 But I was okay with how it was. 🙂

I almost got really upset for a minute there near the end because I was so looking forward to seeing a certain scene, ::SPOILER (highlight to read):: namely when Marshall and Dorothy show up at her dad’s at the end… loved that bit. 😀 ::END SPOILER:: and then it looked like we were going to skip a week instead! D: Buuuut then I was appeased since we got it in a flashback. So that made me really happy. ^_^

While the overall plot itself wasn’t my favorite, and the heroine was just okay — at least until near the end — (not to mention how I really disliked the other girls), I did really like the hero, and I liked how it all turned out in the end. It might have been a 3-star but… I don’t know, it just ended with me feeling kinda happy and it was fun and cute and sweet and so it got an extra star. 🙂

Anyone who likes that era should definitely give it a shot, and for those obsessed with the Twelve Dancing Princesses, this one is worth reading for a few clever turns of that fairytale being put in a different setting. 🙂 And anyone else… well, it’s enjoyable in its own right as a sweet, short read, and overall I thought it was a pretty swell little story. 😉

From Goodreads:

The Twelve Dancing Princesses meets the heady glamor and danger of the Jazz Age

All Dorothy Perkins wants is to have a good time. She’s wild about dancing, and can’t understand or accept her father’s strictness in forbidding it. Night after night she sneaks out to the Lost Lake House, a glamorous island nightclub rumored to be the front for more than just music and dancing…in spite of an increasingly uneasy feeling that she may be getting into something more than she can handle.

Marshall Kendrick knows the truth behind the Lost Lake House—and bitterly hates his job there. But fear and obligation have him trapped. When a twist of circumstances throws Dorothy and Marshall together one night, it may offer them both a chance at escaping the tangled web of fear and deceit each has woven…if only they are brave enough to take it.

Novella, approximately 26,000 words.

Genre/Category: Historical Fiction / Novella / Fairytale Retelling

Age Group: YA

Published: 2016

Pages: 77 (estimated; Kindle)

When Read: June 2, 2016

Favorite Character: Marshall

Source: Bought from Amazon Kindle

{Goodreads} • {Amazon}

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Thanks for reading!

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer

 

Bookish Book Lover Tag

I was tagged by the lovely bookish (and author in her own right!) Shantelle Hannu @ A Writer’s Heart for a new fun tag which she created, the Bookish Book Lover Tag. Thanks ever so much, Shantelle! 🙂

So let’s get to it! (I think I took all the covers from Goodreads… and I didn’t feel like linking to them all but if you want to look any of these up — which you totally should — you can find them on my Goodreads.)

Rules

• Use the Banner
• Answer the Questions
• Use Lots of Book Covers *smiles*
• Tag Your Bookish Friends!

Questions

1) What Book Are You Currently Reading?

Defying Shadows by Ashley Townsend, which I’m beta-reading (it’s releasing soon!). It’s excellent so far. 😀

2) What’s The Last Book You Finished?

The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson. I loved it!

3) Favorite Book You Read This Year?

Let’s see if I can keep it down to a handful…

Paper Crowns by Mirriam Neal, Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones, Blood Ties by Hazel B. West, The Beautiful Pretender by Melanie Dickerson, The Map: A Jackaby Story by William Ritter, and The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech. That’s a start. 😉

4) What Genre Have You Read Most This Year?

Definitely fantasy, of all shapes and sizes.

5) What Genre Have You Read Least This Year?

Hmm. Either non-fiction or mystery.

6) What Genre Do You Want To Read More Of?

I’m going to go with Shantelle’s answer and say fairy tale retellings. 🙂

7) How Many Books Have You Read This Year, And What’s Your Goal?

I’ve read 45, and my goal is 60, so… it looks like I’ll make it, yay! 😉

8) What’s The Last Book You Bought?

Just did a post about this. 🙂

9) What Book Are You Saving Up To Buy Next?

Briette by Anita Valle. (Yes, this is one of the few ebook series I’ve gotten addicted enough to that I actually BUY ebooks. *gasp*)

10) How Many Books Did You Check Out Last Library Visit?

Just the one… *sadface* But it was The Golden Braid, which I mentioned, and I really enjoyed it! (I wanted to check out a bunch more, but I’m so busy so I exercised restraint. *gasp*)

11) What’s A Book You Can’t Wait To Read?

Mist of Midnight by Sandra Byrd, which has been waiting on my To-Read-Soon pile for a long time…

12) What’s A Series You’d Recommend to Everyone?

Goodness, I apparently don’t read many series since I’m having a hard time thinking of one! O_O (I start lots but don’t always get around to finishing them… yet.) Umm… I’m going to cheat and just say a book instead of a series. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (you knew it was coming. ;)).

13) Who’s An Author You’re Hoping Writes More?

Heather Dixon! She’s only got two books out (Entwined and Illusionarium) both of which I loved. (Also, gotta be some of THE best covers in the universe. ❤ Amazing how the stories inside are even BETTER — can you believe it??)

14) A Few Books Your Heart Adores?

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Paper Crowns by Mirriam Neal, The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall, Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede, The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall, The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye… and so many more!

15) What Series’s Coming Conclusion Makes You Sad?

Hmm, I don’t usually get sad at series endings because I don’t usually make it there and/or the series are often all published already by the time I read them. But… I think I’ll be a little sad when the Six of Crows series by Leigh Bardugo is over because there’s only two books… There should be more than two. XD (Also because I’m worried to death about Kaz and company. >.> So much worry. Eek.)

16) What Books Are On Your Wish-List?

Oh, so many (particularly some Diana Wynne Jones books…)! But I do keep a wishlist shelf on Goodreads. (There are some I’ve read that I want to own that I haven’t added on there, but still.) At the moment (it seems to change), a few near the top of my wishlist (some of which have yet to be published!) are: Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter, Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, The Silent Songbird by Melanie Dickerson, King’s Blood by Jill Williamson, Briette by Anita Valle, Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson, the third Skulduggery Pleasant book, and Very British Problems by Rob Temple.

Tagging

I tag… Hmm. I’m so bad at tagging people and I never know who to tag. -_- I have no idea if you’d like to do it or not but I tag the following people and if you want to do it, great; if not, please ignore me. XD

Lauri // Mary // Madeline // Lisa // Abi // Tracey // Jenelle // Cait

I also tag anyone who’s reading this and wants to do it! (Either on your blog or in the comments below!)

BOOK TAG YAY! It’s quick and fun and easy, I promise. 😀

(Here’s the questions readily copy-paste-able for anyone who’d like to do it! :))

1) What Book Are You Currently Reading?
2) What’s The Last Book You Finished?
3) Favorite Book You Read This Year?
4) What Genre Have You Read Most This Year?
5) What Genre Have You Read Least This Year?
6) What Genre Do You Want To Read More Of?
7) How Many Books Have You Read This Year, And What’s Your Goal?
8) What’s The Last Book You Bought?
9) What Book Are You Saving Up To Buy Next?
10) How Many Books Did You Check Out Last Library Visit?
11) What’s A Book You Can’t Wait To Read?
12) What’s A Series You’d Recommend to Everyone?
13) Who’s An Author You’re Hoping Writes More?
14) A Few Books Your Heart Adores?
15) What Series’s Coming Conclusion Makes You Sad?
16) What Books Are On Your Wish-List?

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer

Start of Summer #BookHaul

I don’t buy a lot of new books, but lately I’ve splurged a bit because so many friends are coming out with books I NEED… plus I won a book and got one for review and went to a library booksale.

SO! I thought I’d share pics of these books because they are so gorgeous and I’m so excited about them. 🙂 Here’s my April/May/June (so far) book haul.

I’ve mentioned King’s Folly by Jill Williamson (and I reviewed it, whaddayaknow) which was a review copy from Bethany House. But I have to show it again because #gorgeous.

I won The Firethorn Crown by Lea Doué in a giveaway from Clean Indie Reads, and it came all the way from from Nova Scotia/Cape Breton in Canada! How cool is that?? ^_^ It’s a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, which I mayyy or may not have a gargantuan small obsession with, so I’m very excited to read it! 🙂

Paper Crowns by Mirriam Neal. I’M STILL BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS THAT THIS IS PUBLISHED AND I OWN IT AAAHH. ❤ ❤ ❤ I know I’ve mentioned it several times already but seriously, this book is one of my FAVORITEST of ever, and everyone needs to read it. Highly recommend. *nodnod* (And by “highly recommend,” I of course mean “YOU NEED THIS MARVELOUS BOOK IN YOUR LIFE GO GET A COPY RIGHT NOW YOU NEEEEED IT!”)

Songkeeper by Gillian Bronte Adams, which I read an e-ARC of before it came out, but simply HAD to get a physical copy! EEEP. Isn’t it lovely with its friends (Orphan’s Song and Out of Darkness Rising)? ^_^ (My review of Songkeeper.)

Aaand as I mentioned, the books by E. Kaiser Writes came out in print and I had to get these gorgeous beauties. THEY’RE SO PRETTY. She illustrated them, inside and out, and while I’ve only read Prince of Demargen so far (review here), I’m really excited about all of them. ^_^

THAW, 1-3:
Winter’s Child
Winter Queen
Prince of Demargen

Five Gems, 1-2:
Jeweler’s Apprentice
Traitor’s Knife

So! I’m really excited about my shiny new books. (I hardly ever get new books so this is really exciting. ^_^)

And then here’s my stack from a library booksale. (I’m noticing a green and gold theme…?)

Sabriel – Garth Nix (Really excited to read this one!)
The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield
The Time Paradox (Artemis Fowl, #6) – Eoin Colfer (Slowly collecting these…)
The Faerie Path – Frewin Jones
A Curse Dark as Gold – Elizabeth C. Bunce
Song of the Sparrow – Lisa Ann Sandel
Tales from Far and Near – Arthur Guy Terry
The Penderwicks – Jeanne Birdsall (I love this book! ❤ )
Conrad’s Fate – Diana Wynne Jones (I love this one too! ❤ )

Also a few picture books (Farmer Giles of Ham by Tolkien with a different illustrator, a Snow White illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, Oscar Otter illustrated by Arnold Lobel), a pamphlet on Scottish history, and a blank journal. 🙂 (I collect journals… it’s a very bad habit of this particular writer…)

I’m curious if you’ve read any of these or want to? What’s a book you got recently you’re excited about? I’d love to hear! Share all, page-dreamers of mine! 🙂

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer