Deux Lectrices - a book blog by heather and kaniesha: June 2014

As always, I read a lot in the middle of the month but don't read anything the last week of the month. I don't know why this happens. It happened this month because of the Steam Summer Sale but I don't have an excuse for any other time.

But let me tell you guys about the Steam Summer Sale. Steam is this huge platform/program/company that manages games. You install the program onto your PC and from there you can purchase a huge number of games and manage them all from this program. You can also download game demos, add friends, edit your public profile, level up, trade cards, craft badges, etc. So this sale is annually and there are HUGE discounts, meaning I bought many very games for a surprisingly low number in comparison. I'm not really sure about numbers but I believe I spent around $70 for 10+ games. And these are games that are normally $15+ each. So if I disappear from the book blogging world for a while, you know where I've gone. (And I totally want to post up a discussion thread about this. It is so difficult to manage more than one time consuming hobby!) My favorite buy/sent game (my friend bought and sent me some games too) would be Battleblock Theater, 7 Days to Die and Borderlands 2. Please watch this Battleblock Theater gameplay if you're at least 15 years old and not afraid to listen to boys cuss and generally be boys.

As for books, my favorite June read was definitely Of Metal and Wishes and I can't wait to write and put up a review of it for you guys. It is SO good. It hurts SO much. While I was screaming about it on twitter, the author told me there's going to be a sequel! A SEQUEL!!! I thought it was a stand alone, so my heart soars again.

As for the rest of my life, my sister graduated high school on June 14th and I'm really proud of her. I'm also really glad we're all putting high school behind us. GOODBYE, HIGH SCHOOL FOREVER! (Until we have kids but even then that's 15+ years in the future, hahaha).

How was everyone's June? Was it as fantastical as mine?

Monday, June 23, 2014

Heather Reviews: The Radleys by Matt Haig (mild spoiler warning)

Sorry about spoilers, especially if you haven't heard of this book before and it interests you, but there's a lot to talk about that I really can't talk about without mentioning some mild spoilers.

Heather's Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is the creation of The Broke and the Bookish, each week they post a list and one of their writers answers. This week's topic is Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List

Kaniesha Reviews: Coin Heist ARC by Elisa Ludwig

Title: Coin Heist
Series: Stand Alone
Author: Elisa Ludwig
Release date: June 10, 2014
Publisher: Adaptive Studios
Genres: contemporary, action
Goodreads, buy the book

The last place you’d expect to find a team of criminals is at a prestigious Philadelphia prep school. But on a class trip to the U.S. Mint – which prints a million new coins every 30 minutes – an overlooked security flaw becomes far too tempting for a small group of students to ignore.

United by dire circumstances, these unlikely allies – the slacker, the nerd, the athlete, and the "perfect" student – band together to attempt the impossible: rob the U.S. Mint. The diverse crew is forced to confront their true beliefs about each other and themselves as they do the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Elisa Ludwig's Coin Heist is a fun, suspenseful, and compelling thriller, told from the revolving perspectives of four teens, each with their own motive for committing a crime that could change all of their lives for the better—if they can pull it off.

Heather's Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I've Read So Far This Year

Top Ten Tuesday is the creation of The Broke and the Bookish, each week they post a list and one of their writers answers. This week's topic is Top Ten Books I've Read So Far This Year.

Top Ten Tuesday is a book blog meme created and hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. This week we're choosing the top ten books we've read this year.

1. All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terril
2. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

4. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
5. Mind Games by Kiersten White
6. The Diviners by Libba Bray

7. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
8. Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
9. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
10. The Seers by Julianna Scott

Honorable Mentions:
Secret by Brigid Kemmerer
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina
The Shadow Throne by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Split Second by Kasie West
The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
The Iron-Jawed Boy and the Hand of the Moon by Nikolas Lee
Bang by Lisa McMann

I realize I went a little overboard with my honorable mentions but is there a such thing as too many books? The answer is no! Read any of these or interested? I definitely recommend checking them out!

Monday, June 9, 2014

Kaniesha Reviews: Breakshield by J.B. Rockwell

Title: Breakshield
Series: Breakshield #1
Author: J.B. Rockwell
Release date: March 27, 2014
Publisher: The Zharmae Publishing Press
Genres: fantasy, adventure
Goodreads, buy the book

Found at the intersection of life and the afterlife, the Between is a place where science and reason are replaced by magic and violence. It is a place where Typhon and his Huntsman of the Dark Waste spread like a plague and where Talents go to die.

The only thing standing in Typhon’s way is Morgan Quendalen and the people of the Shining Lands. They are sworn to protect the last remaining Talents, a precious few who teeter at the edge of extinction. Morgan valiantly fights, protecting these last remnants of magic in a war he's not sure he can actually win.

When Jamie Aster, a mortal Talent with undiscovered powers, is put under his charge, Morgan weighs his oath against a desire to save the Shining Lands. Could he kill a Talent if it meant saving his people?

Kaniesha Reviews: Divided ARC by Elsie Chapman (spoiler warning)

Title: Divided
Series: Dualed #2
Author: Elsie Chapman
Release date: May 27, 2014
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Genres: dystopia, scifi
Goodreads, buy the book

The hunter becomes the hunted. . . .

West Grayer is done killing. She defeated her Alternate, a twin raised by another family, and proved she’s worthy of a future. She’s ready to move on with her life.

The Board has other plans. They want her to kill one last time, and offer her a deal worth killing for. But when West recognizes her target as a ghost from her past, she realizes she’s in over her head. The Board is lying, and West will have to uncover the truth of the past to secure her future.

How far will the Board go to keep their secrets safe? And how far will West go to save those she loves? With nonstop action and surprising twists, Elsie Chapman’s intoxicating sequel to Dualed reveals everything.

Top Ten Tuesday is the creation of The Broke and the Bookish, each week they post a list and one of their writers answers. This week's topic is Top Ten Books That Should Be In Your Beach Bag.