New Year, New Start

Welcome to 2016! We're one week in and I've already finished a book. What a start to the year! I'm excited to enjoy some great books this year. I don't know what I'll read yet, but I hope that by the end of the year I can look back on everything that I read in 2016 and have more good reads than bad ones.

That being said, it's 2016 and I'm looking to direct this blog into a bit of a new direction. I'll still have book reviews, but I'm also planning to throw some personal challenges out there each month. I don't expect anyone else to join me in my personal challenges, but I'd like to present them for myself so that I can reach my yearly goal.

What is my yearly goal? Well, this year I plan to read 60 books. I'm really hoping that I'll read more than that, but considering I only read 45 books in 2015, I figured I'd set a conservative goal for myself.

I'll definitely read one new release each month, so as to keep up with what's being released into the world this year.

So, here's to a great new year and a new focus on my books.

First Book of the Year - Blood Witch

So, as I said in my last post, I have already finished my first book this year. That honor for 2016 goes to Blood Witch, the third book in the Sweep series by Cate Tiernan.

I must say, I am enjoying this series. Morgan, the main character is a typical teenage girl until Cal comes into her life, introducing her to Wicca and magic. By Blood Witch, she's tapped into her power as a blood witch, and her life is kind of in turmoil.

She's found out she's adopted, that her birth parents were murdered by being burned in a locked barn, and there's a new player in town who has made her instincts go a little crazy.

By the end of the book, I'm having some serious issues with certain characters. One in particular is raising some major red flags and I'm wondering if this particular character is who they say they are. I'm honestly worried about Morgan and what might be happening in her future. I hope that she can straighten herself out with regards to this and a few other relationships in her life because I'm worried it will be her downfall.

I have to stop getting so emotionally attached to fictional characters. Morgan doesn't exist, but I worry about her as if she were related to me. Must be a bookworm thing.

The Children of Men

I don't think I enjoyed this as much as I wanted to simply because it was an audiobook and I found the narrator to be kind of dull. That being said, I liked the dystopian nature of the story, and it makes you think what would happen if everyone in the world did suddenly become infertile. How would you react if you learned you couldn't have a child?

The way that Theo has to go through this time is interesting, but I didn't really enjoy his story until the second half of the book. The first half is more Theo meeting with a radical group that doesn't like the way the government is being run and wants to change it all. While this group has a point, it's five people coming up against the government and there really wasn't much that could be done.

Maybe I'll read this book again at some later point and actually read it as opposed to listening to it as an audiobook.

The Coven

This series is rather interesting. I just have this fascination with Wicca, and this series is just completely reigniting that interest.

Poor Morgan though. She discovers, suddenly at 16 years old, that she was adopted. Not only that, but she's a blood witch (which is kind of how she discovers that she's adopted). She lost her best friend because a guy they both liked chose Morgan instead. She just has a lot of ups and downs, and there is a lot for her to learn regarding her abilities as a witch.

I hated that it ended on a cliffhanger the way that it did, but it has definitely kept me interested so that I can't wait until I get the chance to enjoy the next book in the series.

Dandelion Wine

I don't think I've fully figured out how I feel about this book. I think it's some sort of coming to age story, but I'm not entirely sure. I do understand the title, since Doug and Tom's grandfather makes dandelion wine in the summer and the boys are able to point to a bottle and remember what happened on that day in the summer.

It was an ok book, but I didn't love it. I just couldn't get into it the way I really wanted to. I think it also bothered me a little that the story kept going off to other characters for their stories, but I really wanted to know more about Doug and Tom.

All in all, I didn't hate it, I just don't know that it's a book I'd come back to.

Dream Home

This series remains a pleasant ride. Even with this book having less of a mystery "whodunnit" storyline, it was a rollercoaster.

Sara and family move to a small town in New York so Sara can be the chief of pediatrics at the tiny hospital that is there. But her new coworkers are dreaming about her and basically despise her coming in and "taking over".

Not only that, but someone in the town is dreaming about a coming winter storm but nobody else in the town believes it will happen.

The book is slow to start, but it has an exciting conclusion.

I hope to continue to enjoy this series.

Book of Shadows

I have to admit, at the beginning of this book I was feeling rather ambivalent. The writing style seemed a little amateur compared to what I normally like. But I soon managed to completely overlook that in my enjoyment of the actual story.

It was an engaging story and I became increasingly interested in Morgan's journey from normal teenager to someone special as she learns about the wonders of Wicca. The ending was a tease that left me wanting more, so I look forward to getting into the next book in this series.