Queen of the Tearling review

The Basics

Book Title: The Queen of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling, #1)

Author: Erika Johansen

Pages: 434

ISBN: 978-0-06-229036-6

Genre: Fantasy

Defining Quote

"Kelsea shut her eyes and opened them again, an action that seemed to take all of her strength. Her uncle was waiting inside, but she didn't know how she could stand in front of him now. Her bloodline, once a secret source of pride, now seemed little more than a cesspool. Her uncle was filth, and her mother...it was like sliding down the face of a precipice from which all handholds had vanished." - p. 135

Summary

Kelsea has spent her entire life training to become queen and the moment has finally come. She needs to take her place on the Tearling throne, if she isn't killed first, in order to bring the kingdom out of its current misery. 

Thoughts

This book wasn't what I expected it to be. I first heard about this book from Regan and she described it as being focused on the political aspect of a kingdom. In my mind, I associated fantasy and politics-heavy with something similar to A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. Instead, this book starts you off at the very beginning of Kelsea's rule and it gradually builds upon what she has to do for her kingdom, which is in utter ruin. So, the pacing of the book was a lot slower than what I had anticipated, since I was comparing it to a complex, keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat novel. But if you go in, not comparing it to anything else you've read, I think you'll have an even greater experience than I did (and it was a really good one!). 

What I really enjoyed about this story is that you're seeing her take this kingdom that really hasn't had any ruler at all for years and try to make something good out of it. It always seems that when I read a fantasy novel with kings and queens, the kingdom is well established already and we're focusing on some sort of change during that comfort zone. Here, we're starting at the very beginning and are (most likely) going to watch the entire progression from horrible to good. 

Kelsea is a very relatable character and is honestly starting to become one of my fictional role models. She has faults and acknowledges them, but doesn't let them overcome her. She's a lot smarter than people give her credit, but not to a fault. She has compassion for people and wants to do the best she can with what she is given, even if it means putting her life on the line. 

My only questionable thought about this book is whether it needed to be divided into three books or if it could've been more compact. The pace was slower than expected (as I mentioned already) and I'm wondering if the series being a duology instead of a trilogy would've helped with the pace. I've never read this series though, so I may change my mind on this. 

I am planning to continue this series and am even reading the next book, The Invasion of the Tearling, with the same buddy that I read this book with, Nathalie, on Goodreads. 

Pros vs. Cons

• Pros
• Kelsea
• Great characters
• Easy to follow plot
• Seeing the kingdom being built up from the foundation
• Cons
• Slow-paced
• Trilogy probably could've been a duology (may change my mind on this)

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

What do you think? Was the pacing too slow for you? If you haven't read The Invasion of the Tearling and want to read along with me in February, let me know below in the comments!

Travel while reading

I find myself flying back from Iowa to California today. I'm currently at the Atlanta airport, surrounded by chaos and a ton of people waiting for their plane or running to catch their connecting flight. So, this post probably won't be too long XD

When I travel, I ALWAYS have at least 2 (usually 3) books in my backpack, along with my Kindle. I usually have long flights, like this next one I'm going to be on that goes from Atlanta to LAX. It's about a 5 hour flight. So, every time, I tell myself "Sam, that's a lot of time where you can't do anything else. You should use that time to read!" I get all excited, picking what books I want to carry with me. I always make sure to have a variety, in case I'm not feeling a certain genre.

After having everything ready to go, I get situated on the plane, put on my earbuds to tune out other people, and what happens? I get sleepy. I figure "I'll just sleep for a little bit and I'll read afterwards." That almost never happens. Once I'm groggy, there is no chance of me to get any reading done.

Anyone feeling me on this? Do you have a hard time reading on a plane or is it your best reading sprint time on the planet? What is your reading routine: hard copy vs. e-book, multiple options vs. one option, any kind of routine? Let me know in the comments below!


Image source: airplanes-work-1.jpg, http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/airplanes.htm

My Harry Potter Life Book Tag

I always love watching my favorite BookTubers doing book tags and, now that I have a blog, I want to join in the fun! And what better way to have my first book tag be Harry Potter related! *drool*

This book tag was originally created by The Writing Hufflepuff, but I initially found this tag at Escape Life In The Pages.

Here we go!

HOW IT WORKS

Pick four books to predict your future and follow the instructions for each question.

MY FOUR BOOKS

1. The Way of Kings
2. Name of the Wind
3. Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura
4. Stars Above

---

1. YOUR WAND- Open book 1 to a random page. The first noun you see will be what your wand is made of.

My goodness, my first noun is a Horneater O.O (If you haven't read the book, that's a race of people that live in the mountains). Things are getting a little blood-thirsty already!

2. YOUR PET- Does book 2 have animals? One of those animals will now be your pet. If the book doesn’t have any animals, then I’m sorry but your pet-less. 

It's been a while since I've read Name of the Wind, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't have any pets :( Sad day.

3. YOUR HOGWARTS HOUSE- Open book 3 at a random page. Whatever House you’d think the character’s name you first see belongs to, is your House (woah that’s a weird sentence, hope that made sense).

HAHAHAHA! I got Governor Nereus, the Imperial governor of Bakura. He'll be a perfect fit in Slytherin XD I guess it was meant to be since Pottermore also sorted me into Slytherin <3

4. MAKE YOUR GOLDEN TRIO COMPLETE- Open book 4 at a random page. The first two names will be your best friends and complete your squad. If there’s only one name at said page, open another random page.

Awww, I got Winter and Jacin :) Can't go wrong with those two!

5. YOUR HEAD OF HOUSE- Open book 1 at a random page. The first name you’ll see will be your Head of House.

Jasnah would be an awesome Head of House! She's intelligent, cunning, and doesn't take crap from anyone :)

6. YOUR ‘DRACO MALFOY’- Naturally you’ll need your arch nemesis/school rival. Open book 2 at a random page, the first name you’ll see will be your enemy.

I got Ben :( I don't want Ben for an enemy - he knows the name of the wind!

7. YOUR PATRONUS- Open book 3 at a random page. The first living creature you’ll see will be your Patronus.

Looks like I've got a lizard as a Patronus. That's an interesting pick :P

8. WILL YOU WIN THE HOUSE CUP?- How many pages does book 4 have? That’s how many points you’ll House have at the end of the school year. If the book has more than 400 pages it will have won the Cup, congrats!

369 points :( So close to the House Cup! 

I nominate anyone who wants to complete this book tag :)

Do you want a try at this?! Either comment below or post a link to your site with the book tag!

Dune review

The Basics

Book Title: Dune

Author: Frank Herbert

Pages: 794 (not including Appendixes)

ISBN: 978-0-441-17271-9

Genre: Science fiction

Defining Quotes

"There is probably no more terrible instant of enlightenment than the one in which you discover your father is a man-with human flesh."-p. 166

"There should be a science of discontent. People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles." -p.263

Summary

The story follows a young boy named Paul Atreides. His family is moved to the desert planet Arrakis for his father, the Duke, to govern. We follow Paul as his family is betrayed and he starts to become the prophesized one - Muad'Dib.

Thoughts

I first of all what to start this review off by saying I probably didn't give this book the attention that it deserved while reading it. After finishing the book, I'm pretty sure I will come back to this book at a later time and give it the care and nurturing it needs in order to fully appreciate it. Now that we've put that out there, let's move on to my initial thoughts.

For me, this was a form of world building that I haven't really encountered before. There were a lot of terms, beliefs, ways of communicating, and societies that were brand new in a way I haven't read in other fantasy world-building books. I felt that the way everyone interacted with each other was extremely formal, which seemed strange to me. Not turned off by it, just different. My favorite character by far is the Duke Leto, Paul's father. He has a sense of integrity about him, but is also intelligent enough to know others don't play by the rules and thereby counter-attacks their attempts. 

The story is told by multiple perspectives, but not so many that you get confused. My confusion lay in a lot of the terminology, which there is a glossary provided in the back of the book for most of the terms. I feel if I concentrated my attention on this book solely instead of reading multiple books as well, I would've been more immersed in this world. I could see and read the potential, but I wasn't as absorbed in it as I was with The Way of Kings. 

If you're wanting to find a book to introduce yourself into the sci-fi genre, this isn't the book. If you love sci-fi literature and really want to see where the genre built upon itself, this is a great book to choose. Ironically, it doesn't necessarily have a lot of the technological machines that you would usually expect in a sci-fi book, but it is much closer to sci-fi than it is to fantasy, in my opinion. It's a dense book, but I believe it's a book worth reading (and reading again if you don't quite understand it). 

Pros vs. Cons

• Pros
• Great world-building
• Interesting characters you can get behind
• Great care and detail put into the writing
• Cons
• Can get lost in the terminology
• Somewhat of a dense book
• Needs your undivided attention when reading

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐

What did you think of my review? Is this helpful to you if you haven't read the book? If you have read Dune, do you think this is an accurate description of the book? 

To read or not to read?

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you just can't seem to pick up a certain book after starting it? You're not hating the book, but can't find anything you really love about it either.

I seem to find myself in lulls every once in a while where I start reading a book, but it takes a little too long to finish it and I find myself not picking it up for longer and longer.

What is odd about it is that it may not be a reading slump. I'll find interest in other books and keep reading, but whenever I look at that one book (whatever it may be), I find myself struggling more and more to pick up that book.

So, then you come to the point where you have to make a decision: do you push through it to the point that you either finish it or hate it, or do you give it up to possibly try at a later time (if at all)? I usually find myself deciding on the latter option, but it comes with consequences as well. There have been times I put a book aside that I had started on, then heard from multitudes of other people that it was worth pushing through it. But there have also been times where I pushed myself through a book and those are usually the times where I hated the book with pretty strong emotions.

What do you do when you're in a lull? Would you have any advice on how to push through?

Image source: 365 × 272 - dyslexia.com, https://www.dyslexia.com/about-dyslexia/signs-of-dyslexia/common-characteristics-of-adult-dyslexia/

Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura review

The Basics

Book Title: Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura

Author: Kathy Tyers

Pages: 341

ISBN: 0-553-56872-8

Genre: Science fiction

Defining Quote(s)

"We will never be free from tragedy, Gaeriel. Each of us must be free to pursue her own tragedy." -p. 237

"Light endured, and so did darkness. He would choose daily." -p. 339

Summary

Picking up the story from where Return of the Jedi left off, we join the crew on a mission to Bakura, an Imperial-controlled planet. Bakura finds itself under attack by an alien race outside of Imperial or Alliance control, known as the Ssi-ruuk, wanting to transfer the human mind into machinery. Join the crew as they maneuver to save the Bakurans without getting stabbed in the back by the Imperial forces they have to join up with.

Thoughts

This is my first time delving into the written works of the Star Wars mythos and was pleasantly surprised with this. So many times, you see the conversion from book to movie and become upset with the movie for not holding up to the same standards as the book. In this case, it was the reverse process and provided more than what we could get in the movie. Due to the nature of being a book, we are able to view the thoughts and actions of multiple characters (including Chewie!). By being able to see Luke and Leia's thoughts, we're able to understand the nature of the Force and what needs to be done mentally in order to grow stronger. 

The Ssi-ruk in this story are a formidable villain, but the extent of their actions and deplorability is epitomized in the human, Dev Sibwarra. He is a servant of one of the Ssi-ruk and to see his actions and thoughts is what really makes this story exciting to read. 

My biggest problem with it, which I knew going into it, was the terminology. In the movie, it's quite easy to glaze over all those fancy made-up words and understand the gist of what they're doing/saying through their actions. In this format, you have to create some of these unknown terms from your own imagination and within the context that it is given to you, making it much more difficult compared to the movie format. My husband has read these books probably 100 times and says that it gets easier the more times you read it, which I believe. I'm sure you don't need to read it 100 times in order to understand it. Just be prepared if this is your first time around that it may be difficult to get through at times, BUT the story that is there was very much enjoyable.

I am planning on continuing with this series.

Pros vs. Cons

• Pros
• Follow all your favorite characters 
• Great insight into the Force
• Interesting character development
• Cons
• Difficult terminology at times
• Lots of newly introduced side characters

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Is there an instance you can think of where the movie was better than book? Let me know what you think! 

Stars Above review

The Basics

Book Title: Stars Above (Lunar Chronicles #4.5)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Pages: 369

ISBN: 978-1-250-09184-0

Genre: Fantasy, Short stories

Defining Quote

(Hard to pick for a short story collection, so I decided to pick a quote that stuck with me from one of the stories that wouldn't be a spoiler.)

"Then, so suddenly she almost missed it, space opened up before her. Black and expansive and endless and filled with more stars than she could ever drink in. More stars than she could ever compute."

Summary

A collection of short stories, mostly involving the main characters from the Lunar Chronicles series. The exception is "The Little Android", which is set around an android not introduced in the series. 

Thoughts

As a fan of the Lunar Chronicles, I found this book to be a great companion to the series. All of the stories, with the exception of "The Little Android", filled in information about each character that didn't have a natural place to be explained within the series. 

In "The Keeper", we learn more about Michelle's background before she was united with Cinder. In "Glitches", we follow Cinder shortly after being regenerated and is on her way to meet the Lihn family. In "The Queen's Army", we follow Ze'ev, or Wolf, before he becomes a member of the Queen's army. "Carswell's Guide in Being Lucky" is, obviously, about Carswell Thorne when he's younger. This story mainly focuses on that mysterious Kate Fallow that was mentioned in the series, but we never learned any more about. "After Sunshine Passes By", is one of the short stories detailing how Cress went from being a Lunar shell providing blood to being in the satellite. In "The Princess and the Guard", you follow Winter and Jacin. In this story, Winter is still using her powers and is freely interacting with her best friend, Jacin. As you read, you find out about why Winter decided to stop using her powers and how Winter and Jacin came to be in their relationship when we are first introduced to them in the series. 

"The Little Android" is the outlier in this book because the main focus is an android, Mech6.0. You follow a snippet of her life when her personality chip starts to act up and leads her to more human-like reactions. While these are brand new characters within this story, it stays within the tone of the other stories and brings out tender feelings by the end. 

"The Mechanic" is the only story that is a re-telling from the series, but from a different perspective. Here, we see Cinder and Kai meeting for the first time from Kai's perspective. While it isn't new information like the previous stories, it is nice to see the meeting from his point of view. Finally, "Something Old, Something New" is the aftermath of the series. It takes place two years after the conclusion of Winter with all of the main characters going to Scarlet and Wolf's farm for their wedding. 

Overall, I really appreciated the stories where something new was added that wasn't fully explained within the series. There's nothing especially thrilling or leaving you on the edge of your seat. The exception (if I dare say) being "The Little Android". As I read through this story, I was constantly wondering what would happen because I didn't know how things were going to end. This book didn't blow me away, but I don't think it was meant to do that. It filled in the gaps in the series to make it complete. 

Pros vs. Cons

• Pros
• Fills in info gaps from the series
• Stories are easy to get through
• Involves all your favorite characters
• "The Little Android" adding new material in a wonderful way
• Leaves you with a feeling of completion
• Cons
• With the exception of "The Little Android", you know how each story ends
• Nothing generally surprising

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐

What do you think? If you read this book, which was your favorite story?

The Master Series List

I don't know about you, but I LOVE reading book series. There's just something about getting to know characters over multiple books and going on various adventures with them that makes me all happy inside. So, naturally, there are a lot of book series I would like to read, but keep losing track of them all. Hopefully this will be a safe haven for me to keep track of the series I'm reading/want to read and I'll cross them off as I go.

These series will be listed in alaphetical order by author in order to keep multiple series by the same author together.

If there are any series that you think I should read that are not on the list, leave a comment below and I'll add them on!

Additional Note: After looking at this list again, there are some series that I've lost interest in continuing. So, I will be editing this list as I go and adding more books as they are published :)

• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• Six of Crows
• Crooked Kingdom
• Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
• Three Dark Crowns
• One Dark Throne
• The Great Library by Rachel Caine
• Ink and Bone
• Paper and Fire
• Ash and Quill
• Graceling Realm by Kristin Cashore
• Graceling
• Fire
• Bitterblue
• The Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima
• The Demon King
• The Exiled Queen
• The Gray Wolf Throne
• The Crimson Crown
• The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
• Clockwork Angel
• Clockwork Prince
• Clockwork Princess
• All Souls by Deborah Harkness
• A Discovery of Witches
• A Shadow of Night
• The Book of Life
• The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
• The Queen of the Tearling
• The Invasion of the Tearling
• The Fate of the Tearling
• The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Illuminae
• Gemina
• Obsidio
• The Nevernight Chronicle by Jay Kristoff
• Nevernight
• Godsgrave
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
• A Court of Thorns and Roses
• A Court of Mist and Fury
• A Court of Wings and Ruin
• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
• Throne of Glass
• Crown of Midnight
• Heir of Fire
• Queen of Shadows
• Empire of Storms
• A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
• A Game of Thrones
• A Clash of Kings
• A Storm of Swords
• A Feast for Crows
• A Dance with Dragons
• The Winds of Winter
• Harry Hole by Jo Nesbo
• The Bat
• Cockroaches
• The Redbreast
• Nemesis
• The Devil's Star
• The Redeemer
• The Snowman
• The Leopard
• Phantom
• Police
• The Medoran Chronicles by Lynette Noni
• Akarnae
• Raelia
• Draekora
• Graevale
• Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel
• Sleeping Giants
• Waking Gods
• The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson
• The Kiss of Deception
• The Heart of Betrayal
• The Beauty of Darkness
• Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce
• Alanna: The First Adventure
• In the Hand of the Goddess
• The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
• Lioness Rampant
• Abhorsen by Garth Nix
• Sabriel
• Lirael
• Abhorsen
• Clariel
• The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan
• The Lost Hero
• The Son of Neptune
• The Mark of Athena
• The House of Hades
• The Blood of Olympus
• The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan
• The Red Pyramid
• The Throne of Fire
• The Serpent's Shadow
• The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss
• The Name of the Wind
• The Wise Man's Fear
• Doors of Stone
• Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
• The Final Empire
• The Well of Ascension
• The Hero of Ages
• The Alloy of Law
• Shadows of Self
• The Bands of Mourning
• The Lost Metal
• The Starlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
• The Way of Kings
• Words of Radiance
• Edgedancer (2.5)
• Oathbringer
• Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab
• A Darker Shade of Magic
• A Gathering of Shadows
• A Conjuring of Light
• The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Raven Boys
• The Dream Thieves
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue
• The Raven King
• Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
• Daughter of Smoke & Bone
• Days of Blood & Starlight
• Dreams of Gods & Monsters
• The Lightbringer by Brent Weeks
• The Black Prism
• The Blinding Knife
• (Gunner's Apprentice)
• The Broken Eye
• The Blood Mirror
• Night Angel by Brent Weeks
• Night Angel
• Shadow's Edge
• Beyond the Shadows
• Miriam Black by Chuck Wendig
• Blackbirds
• Mockingbird
• The Cormorant
• Thunderbird
• The Raptor and The Wren
• Vultures
• The Once and Future King by T.H. White
• The Sword in the Stone
• The Witch in the Wood
• The Ill-Made Knight
• The Candle in the Wind
• The Book of Merlyn

About Me

My name is Samantha, but Missy May has always been my favorite nickname. That's probably due to the fact I don't let many people call me by that name. I married my best friend in September 2016 and absolutely love working with children. So far, I've worked with teenage boys, pre-teens, infants, and toddlers. By the time I actually have a child, I'm going to have the mom thing down! I love reading, hard rock/metal music, and dancing in my spare time.

Now, while I'd like to say that the best representation of me would be this:

Most of the time, I'm looking like this: 

Or this: 

Which honestly, describes me the best. I'm weird, I laugh a lot, and count my blessings every moment I can. 

If there's anything else you would like to know about me, you can always e-mail me at: missymaysreadingnook@gmail.com

Reviews

Here I'll provide an overall list of the reviews I've written in alphabetical order. It won't look like much for the first few months, but as I add, I'll change the formatting so it will be easier to find reviews.

$10,000,000 Marriage Proposal by James Patterson and Hilary Liftin
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Bone #8 and #9 by Jeff Smith
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
Dune by Frank Herbert
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers
Stars Above by Marissa Meyer
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Way of Kings review

The Basics

Book Title: The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Pages: 1007
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2635-5
Genre: Fantasy

Defining Quote

"Somebody has to start, son. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right. If nobody starts, then others cannot follow." - pg. 913

Summary

This is the beginning of an epic tale, including multiple voices, but focusing on three overall: a young girl looking to become a ward, a slave, and a highprince. 

Thoughts

I don't claim to have read every fantasy book in the world, but I have read quite a few. This is, in my opinion, one of the best fantasy books I've ever read. Within the thousand pages, Brandon Sanderson gives you the opportunity to get to know the main three characters and the world they live in. I saw myself walking besides each character and seeing their world through their eyes as if it were my own. Sanderson was detailed in much of his world building, but doesn't unload it on you all at once. It's done gradually and with the assistance of sketches drawn by one of the main characters. For all its world building, I flew through this book much faster than I expected. 

What I love most about this book is the characters, by far. Each one is working towards a greater good and trying to do what is honorable. As you live their lives, you begin to see that they come with their weaknesses and make mistakes throughout. Unlike some characters where you don't understand where they are coming from, Sanderson has developed these central characters so intricately that you understand each decision they make along the way, even if it is the wrong one. My heart broke when they fell and it pumped with adrenaline when they fought for their lives. 

Being the first book in the series, it had to do a lot of building because this world is nothing like our world. Everything is from scratch, so you don't expect the story to take on too many twists. I usually pride myself for figuring out the answers to mysteries and plot twists long before they actually happen. With this book, I was left with my jaw to the floor multiple times, especially towards the end. Sanderson wove the details together so well to keep you wanting to know more and then giving that blow of information right when you want it. 

Pros vs. Cons

• Pros
• well developed world building
• characters you identify with and adore
• clever unveiling of plot twists
• not getting caught up in a lot of unknown terms at once
• Cons
• 1000 pages is still a lot to get through
• at times can be frustrating to get so little information at a time
• can be difficult to keep track of all the names, especially in the interludes

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Tell me what you think! Is there anything else you want to know about what I think? Did I leave anything out? If you've read the book, do you agree with my review? 

Don't forget to follow me on:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8152773-samantha-harvey

Twitter: @missymaynook

At the heart of every reader, there is a book sale

While visiting my folks at home in Iowa, my mom took me along to the library for her weekly stop at the book sale. After scanning through the books, I landed on this gold mine of the first eight Terry Goodkind books for $1.00 a piece! The wonderful thing about it is if I love them, I've got the set. If I find I don't love them, I'll just take them back for someone else to enjoy and I won't be out $200 (which is the original price of these 8 books combined).

The other books I found in this treasure trove were:

- Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
- The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
- The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens


What treasures have you found at a book sale?

Every new beginning deserves an introduction

It's the year 2017 and I'm finding that I am making changes in my life in order to focus on the bright side of life. Part of the bright side for me involves reading and talking about books. So, here I am, dipping my toe into the large ocean of bloggers to see what happens. It's quite possible I won't have that many followers, if any, but I'd like to think that there will be some sense of joy or understanding in connection to the content I post here.

Who are you?

My name is Samantha, meaning "listener of God", but I have been called a variety of names: Sam, Sammie (Sammy), Sammerz, Skittles, Amanda, Stephanie, Jennifer, etc. But my favorite name has always been Missy May. It holds a special place in my heart - a place that I intend to share here. 

I was born in 1989 in the lovely Midwest. In 2008, I moved to Southern California to be with my boyfriend, now husband. We were married September 2016 in the most beautiful wedding in the world (I may be a LITTLE bit biased)! I worked at Boys Town with teenage boys for 3 1/2 years before becoming an assistant teacher for infants and toddlers at Childtime Learning Center. My ultimate career goal is to get my Masters in guidance counseling and work with kids in the school setting.

What do you like to read?

My favorite reads are almost always fantasy-based, but I'll delve into just about anything. I struggle with non-fiction and contemporaries, but I have an open mind. There's just something about being transported to another world that gets my heart going. 

My current favorite authors seem to be Brandon Sanderson, Stephen King, Brent Weeks, Patrick Rothfuss, and Marissa Meyer. I'm dabbling in Sarah J. Maas and Neil Gaiman as well. 

I'm definitely open to the comics/graphic novel/manga world and have a few favorites in those categories as well. Currently, my favorites are The Walking Dead, Skip Beat!, Death Note, Rurouni Kenshin, The Sandman, and The New 52 Wonder Woman. 

What's your blog going to be about?

Overall, I just want to share and talk about the books I read. I also dabble in bullet journaling to keep my life in order. I'm always trying to find new or improved ways to track what I'm reading, as well as crossing off the books on my TBR. 

Hopefully, that gives you some insight into what to expect from this blog. I'm currently reading five books and am pretty darn close to finishing four of them, so be expecting reviews soon! If you would like to follow me on other social media, you can find me at: 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8152773-samantha-harvey

Instagram: @sammie.young.333
Twitter: @missymaynook

Are you trying something new for the year 2017? What's your favorite genre to read from?