Notable Quotable: Agatha Christie (#193)

"The impossible could not have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances."
     --Murder on the Orient Express 

Notable Quotable: Fredrik Backman (#192)

"We always think there's enough time to do things with other people. Time to say things to them. And then something happens and then we stand there holding on to words like 'if'."
     --A Man Called Ove

Notable Quotable: Leigh Bardugo (#191)

"No mourners. No funerals. Among them, it passed for 'good luck'."
     --Six of Crows

Harry Potter Moment of the Week #125

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Favorite moment from the movies.

I really enjoyed the scene when Hermione hits Malfoy in Prisoner of Azkaban. Not only because we get to see it twice, but because it's just so so satisfying. This was still in the early stages of Hermione's character development and honestly I never saw it coming when I read the books. She got to do to Malfoy what everyone wished they could do. So seeing it come to life was awesome. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books Read in 2018 (so far)

The Top Ten Tuesday has a new home. It's hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.'

1. The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro - I love all the books in this series, but I think this one takes the cake.  I LOVE this one: Jamie and Charlotte are just the more incredible characters. I can't wait to get that last book.

2. Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston - This book has everything I love in a good story and I just couldn't stop reading it. I knew I liked Ashley Poston's writing and with this book she's officially been put on the auto-read list.

3. Warcross by Maire Lu - Marie Lu has a super power and it's writing books. This one was full of rich characters and such an intriguing story, that honestly could be our future at some point. I loved the virtual reality bits of the book and the mystery surrounding it.

4. Gone Rogue by Marissa Meyer - I will never grow old of a Lunar Chronicles story. And this second half of Iko's story is such a good one. And I love that it's a graphic novel.

5. Runaways Vol. 1: Find Your Way Home by Rainbow Rowell - Runaways one is of my favorite Marvel comics and this volume felt like coming home.  I love these characters so much and I've missed them.

6. Hawkeye: Kate Bishop, Vol. 1: Anchor Points by Kelly Thompson - Hawkeye is another one of my Marvel favorites. Even though Clint will always have a special place in my heart Kate Bishop has become my #1 Hawkeye.  She's such a great character and I loved the first volume dedicated to her!

7. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - This book I listened to in one day, I couldn't put it down. I just didn't want to stop listening, and if that's not a sign of a wonderful book, I don't know what is.

8. Love Does by Bob Goff - I've heard Bob Goff speak before and really enjoyed his talks, so I was hopeful that this book would be good too. And it was such a lovely book, with such lovely ideas on how love makes all the difference in the world.

9. Trouble Never Sleeps by Stephanie Tromly - This was one of my highly anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint. I fell in love with Digby in the first novel and have been loving his character and the rest of the group since. This last book left me so satisfied. I loved it!

10. Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody - This book was a really good beginning to a trilogy; I enjoyed meeting new characters and falling into a world of mystery and cards.

Notable Quotable: Mackenzie Lee (#190)

"Against the sky, the stars crown him, marking the edges of his silhouette like he is a constellation of himself."
     --The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

Harry Potter Moment of the Week #124

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Which books would you recommend to Neville?

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - There's so much of Percy's life that reflects in Neville's. I mean Percy feels like a screw up, but in reality he is a badass. I think young Neville would have taken comfort in these books. 

Hawkeye Vol 1: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction - So I believe that Neville would enjoy superheroes, specifically superheroes that don't have any special powers. Hawkeye is the epitome of non-powered superheroes. I can totally see Neville flying through these comics and loving them. 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I'm not sure Neville would like this series as a whole, but I do think he'd really enjoy the sections that talk about the plants and herbs. What's poisonous and what plants are medicinal. You don't get to see that in a lot of books and even though these only touch on that briefly, I think he would dig it.

Marvel-A-Thon Wrap Up

The Marvel-A-Thon was such a fun reading challenge for the month of June. I'm glad I found it and even though find a book for each challenge was a little more difficult based on how I limited my options, I still read really well this month. I made updates throughout the month in my twitter. If you didn't see the thread I made, I'll leave it here for you to read.

Let's jump into the recap shall we?!

I made it all the way through Phase One! Only a little set back on the last book, which I ended up DNFing so that wasn't awesome. But I really enjoyed every other book I read in Phase One.

Phase One:
- Iron Man: Read the first book in a series
     Runaways, Vol. 1 by Rainbow Rowell - Finished 6/6  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Hulk: Read a book with a green cover
     The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - Finished 6/12 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Iron Man 2: Read a book that's unpopular (I'm going by number of ratings on Goodreads)
     LumberJanes/Gotham Academy by Chynna Clugston Flores - Finished 6/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Thor: Read a book that involves myth or mythology
     Soundless by Richelle Mead - DNF'd 6/27
- Captain America: Read a book set or written in WWII
     SKIP
- The Avengers: Read a book with multiple perspectives
     One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake - Finished 6/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I started into Phase Two with three days left in the month, so I knew I wouldn't finish this phase but I thoroughly enjoyed getting past the book block. I'm very tempted to continue through the rest of the phases in July just because I can!

Phase Two:
- Iron Man 3: Read a book that will challenge you
     SKIP
- Thor: Dark World: Read a book that involves siblings
     The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken - In the middle 
- Captain America: Winter Soldier: Read a book where the main character is a villain or anti-hero
     Heartless by Marissa Meyer
     The Rose Society by Marie Lu
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Read a book set in, written in, or involving the 80's
     SKIP
- Avengers: Age of Ultron: Read a book involving an AI in some way
     SKIP
- Ant-Man: Read a book involving a heist or thieves
     Rook by Shannon Cameron - Finished 7/1

Phase Three:
- Captain America: Civil War: Read a book about a rivalry or enemies
     Renegades by Marissa Meyer
- Doctor Strange: Read a book that involves medicine in some way
     Uncaged by John Sandford and Michele Cook
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Read a book set in or involving space
     SKIP
- Spider-Man: Homecoming: Read a YA book involving secrets in some way
     Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore
- Thor: Ragnarok: Read a popular book
     Dumplin' by Julie Murphey
- Avengers: Infinity War: Read a book that fulfills multiple challenges
      SKIP
- Black Panther: Read an ownvoices book with a black main character
     The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
     Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
- Captain Marvel: Read a book with a female MC
     Hawkeye: Kate Bishop, Vol 2: Masks by Kelly Thompson 
     Giant Days by John Allison
- The Avengers 4: Read a book you don't know anything about
      Monstress, Vol 1: The Awakening by Majorie M Liu

Thank you Jamieson of Jamishelves, for hosting this awesome event. I hope to see it come back in the future!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Red, White & Blue on the Cover

The Top Ten Tuesday has a new home. It's hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Here's to the Red, White, and Blue!

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham
Champion by Marie Lu
Warcross by Marie Lu

Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Paper Girls Vol. 1 by Brian K Vaughan

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Wires and Nerves Vol. 1 by Marissa Meyer

Second Quarter Review

I saw a quarterly stats review on both Geeky Zoo Girl and Curiosity Killed the Bookworm. I really like this idea so I'm going to do my own version!

Second Quarter Books(April-June)
Total Books: 17
Paperback/hardcover: 11 (64.7%)
Audiobooks: 6 (35.3%)
Total pages: 6,039
Yearly Total Books: 39
┉┉┉
Own: 5 (29.4%)
Borrowed: 12 (70.6%)
┉┉┉
New: 17 (100%)
Rereads: 0 (0%)
┉┉┉
Male Authors: 1 (5.9%)
Female Authors: 16 (94.1%)

I had another really good reading quarter; I gave these books an average star rating of 3.7 stars. I DNF'd two books this quarter (which is a lot, seeing as I didn't used to DNF any books!) There were three 5 star books: Nerves and Wires: Gone Rogue by Marissa Meyer, Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston, and Runaways, Vol. 1: Find Your Way Home by Rainbow Rowell

Genre breakdown
No surprises here, I'm still reading lots of fantasy, but I've also read a decent amount of contemporary too. Last quarter I decided to pay more attention to books outside of YA, and I did. I tripled my adult book reading this quarter, which is great and comparatively I read a higher percentage of adult books overall this quarter than the last.

YA: 11 (64.7%)
Adult: 6 (35.3%)
┉┉┉
Graphic Novels/Trades: 3 (17.6%)
Thriller/Mystery: 1 (5.9%)
Contemporary: 4 (23.5%)
Fantasy/Sci-fi: 7 (41.2%)
Memoir: 1 (5.9%)
Nonfiction: 1 (5.9%)

Length
0-150: 1 (5.9%)
150-250: 2 (11.8%)
250-350: 4 (23.5%)
350-500: 9 (52.9%)
>500: 1 (5.9%)

Reading Goals Update!
Goodreads goal: 21/25 books (ahead) - I'm so close to my goal here, I'm trying to decide if I should adjust it or just leave it be and see how many I can read beyond the original goal. (Goodreads counts all the books toward my goal, but I'm only counting books I physically read, which is why this count is different from my official Goodreads count.)

Finish the Series: 5/8 series (on track) - This quarter has been a good quarter for this challenge. I'm going to focus on the long series I've selected for this challenge, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I've read three of the seven books. I'd like to finish this series even if that means I don't complete the challenge.

Read it or Leave it: 3/21 books (way behind) - I'm in the same place I was last quarter, woefully behind. I have a feeling I'm going to extend this challenge, or at least some of the books in this challenge into next year.