Tag: t5t

AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Surprising Reads of 2019

Posted on by J.W. Martin

It’s been a while, but I’m excited to be back with a post for the Bionic Bookworm’s Top 5 Tuesday!

Books surprise us all the time. Usually, it’s something that we think we’re going to like and end up LOVING! I guess there’s the other kind of surprise, where we think a book is right up our alley and end up hating it. I didn’t both putting any of those books on this list. Good surprises only.

 

FURIOUSLY HAPPY
by Jenny Lawson

One of those books that I didn’t hear a single bad thing about, but it just didn’t seem like it was for me. I was wrong. Full of insight and hilarity all the way through.

 

11/22/63
by Stephen King

I don’t know why King’s books still surprise me. I always know I’m going to like them, but when I read the synopsis, I never think I’m going to LOVE them. I’m wrong pretty much every time.

 

THERE WILL COME A DARKNESS
by Katy Rose Pool

I believe this was a debut, and there was some fire behind it, so I was relatively confident this was going to be pretty great and it still managed to exceed expectations!

 

THE WAREHOUSE
by Rob Hart

This might have been the biggest surprise of the year. It sounded like a cool premise, but I hadn’t heard of the author and the cover made me think it was self-published (not that there aren’t great self-published books.) However, this delighted me in several ways.

 

A MAN CALLED OVE
by Fredrik Backman

Okay, maybe THIS was the biggest surprise of the year. It’s one of those books that just doesn’t sound like there’s much going on. And there wasn’t in an action, monsters, and spaceships sense. But there’s plenty of meaning and feels in this delightful page-turner.

Fun fact about this post: It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything, but November was crazy and I promise I’ll tell you about it soon.
AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Favourite Audiobooks

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Hello Top 5 Tuesday! How the heck are you? It’s been a minute or two hasn’t it? First I was unavailable, then the I couldn’t think of books for the next week’s topic, then the Bionic Bookworm herself is off on a well-deserved vacay, and now here we are, together, looking at audiobooks. Which, honestly, without audiobooks I couldn’t read half of what I do in the average month. Probably more than half. That being said, narrowing it down to 5 is a special circle of hell for me. Thanks Shanah…

 

 

ANYTHING WRITTEN BY STEPHEN KING AND NARRATED BY WILL PATTON!

I can’t tell if Will Patton makes Stephen King books that much better, or if Will Patton seems so good because he gets to read Stephen King books. I like to believe it’s a combination. King’s books are some of the best out there, but Will Patton’s performance elevates them to a whole other level!

https://gfycat.com/deliciousgenerousamethystsunbird

 

WORLD WAR Z
by Max Brooks

With a full cast and written in the style of recorded interviews, this book was destined to be an audiobook. It’s one of those rare books that might actually be better as an audiobook.

 

SLEEPING GIANTS
by Sylvain Neuvel

See above reasons.

 

Illuminae

ILLUMINAE
by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

This one is a treat for the ears! It’s what I imagine radio plays must have been like. Full cast, sound effects, and of course the killer story that I originally took in with my eyes is just as good with ears.

 

 

SCRAPPY LITTLE NOBODY
by Anna Kendrick

Anyone who has seen Anna Kendrick on a talkshow knows that she’s funny. Not just when she’s in a movie with funny lines written for her. No. She’s funny all by herself. And with this book being narrated by the author, that humour is in full swing and on display for all to enjoy. I’m usually not that big a fan of bios. They usually have some interesting stuff, but usually don’t impress me as a book. This one was an outlier and I highly recommend it!

Fun fact about this post: This is only my second post in all of the October so far. What the hell happened!?
AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 covers of 2019

Posted on by J.W. Martin

This week’s edition of Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday, we’re talking about the best covers of 2019. I’m glad it specified this year, otherwise I probably would have carted out 5 covers that I’ve been talking about since they were first published. Looking into 2019 only made me do some digging, looking at both books I’ve read and haven’t read so far this year. Enough rambling, let’s look at pretty books!

 

VIGILANCE
by Robert Jackson Bennett

Okay, so maybe this one isn’t necessarily pretty, but it’s intense and draws my eye. And I’m not a gun nut. I don’t own gun. I’ve only fired a gun 2 or 3 times on a farm, and only ever at inanimate targets. But still, there’s something about this cover. The background is great, but I think it’s the text that really pulls me in. It’s simple and printed small, which you don’t see that often. It almost looks like it could be corporate branding for a gun company. I just love it.

 

WICKED SAINTS
by Emily A. Duncan

I like the mixed media on this. Blood drip, monotone city scape, and a sky made of crumpled paper.

 

DARK AGE
by Pierce Brown

Yup! Managed to squeeze in Red Rising. To be fair, this is very cookie cutter to the rest of the series, but it’s such a strong design in the first place, and the when you put them all in a row…

 

THERE WILL COME A DARKNESS
by Katy Rose Pool

A feast for the eyes. It’s not of those covers that you can’t actually take all in at once. You need to look at it piece by piece or it’s just all going over your head.

 

DARKDAWN
by Jay Kristoff

Maybe it’s only on this list because it’s my most anticipated read of the year, but LOOK AT IT! A lot of people will say it’s not as good as the UK cover, and while I’m not sure if I agree with that or not, this is still something to behold. Wonderful illustration and you just know that cover is telling you all kinds of things, but we’re just too blind to truly see any of it.

Fun fact about this post: Cruel irony has  Darkdawn sitting on my shelf until I can get through an ARC. WHY?! WHY MUST I PROCRASTINATE SO MUCH!??!?!
AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Books I Don’t Talk About Enough

Posted on by J.W. Martin

There are the books we talk about all the time, endlessly, to anyone who’ll listen (and even some who won’t.) And then there are books that we absolutely loved, but never seem to come up in conversation. They easily slip our minds when coming up with lists of top books, despite great they really are. And those are the books we’re talking about in this week’s edition of Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday.

 

Foundryside
by Robert Jackson Bennett

The characters, the heist plot-line, and the magic system. THE MAGIC SYSTEM! Can’t wait for more from this series and this author.

 

Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel

This book gives some incredible insights to our world and will have you asking yourself some questions about what’s truly important.

 

Grim Lovelies
by Megan Shepherd

There’s me and Meeghan and… that’s about it. We love this book, even though we’re two of the very few people on the planet shouting from the rooftops about it. It’s Cinderella meets Harry Potter and it’s incredible.

 

The Bear and the Nightingale
by Katherine Arden

This book gave me my very first glimpse into Russian folklore and I loved it. Nothing will stop me from returning to read the rest of this series.

 

They Both Die at the End
by Adam Silvera

This is another read that makes you question what’s important in life. Makes you think while feeling all the feels. Simply fantastic.

Fun fact about this post: I chose to write this post over going to bed early. We’ll see if it was the right decision.
AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday – Dystopian Books

Posted on by J.W. Martin

This week’s edition of Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday talks about the best dystopian books. I’ve always had a general idea of what dystopian is, but that wasn’t good enough. What if I left books off the list that should have been on, or included ones that didn’t belong there because my understanding was lacking. So I looked it up, and here’s what I learned.

Dystopian is the opposite of Utopian. Should have been painfully obvious, but never occurred to me.

Great, but still didn’t feel all that clear.

As bad as can be; characterized by human misery.

Okay! This I can work with. Wait. Does that mean the world we live in is closer to being a dystopia than a utopia…….

 

The Warehouse
by Rob Hart

This is one of my most recent reads (just posted a review on it today!) and it blew me away. Hard to say if it’s dystopian by the classic definition, but there’s definitely a butt-load of human suffering in The Warehouse world.

 

Wool
by Hugh Howey

In the world of Wool, everyone lives in massive underground silos and they’re all lied to about the real state of the world. This actually started as a short story and people who read it liked it so much they demanded more of the story.

 

Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel

Most of the world is dead. How much more miserable could that possibly be? Except in Station Eleven people are able to find happiness in one form or another, in a world completely different from the one they were born in.

 

 

Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

Certainly not the first, but it seems to me that The Hunger Games trilogy is the ultimate example of a dystopian novel.

 

 

Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury

 

I think the most interesting thing about this book is how close our world is to this one. Sure, our firemen still fight fires instead of creating them, but we’re surrounded by screens at all times, and it seems like there are less and less readers all the time.

Fun fact about this post: Of course I wanted to include Ready Player One and Red Rising on this list, but I think they might have to be retired from Top 5 Tuesdays….
AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday – Books Starting with U – V – W – X – Y – Z

Posted on by J.W. Martin

This week’s edition of Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday is being brought to you by the number 5 and the letters U, V, W, X, Y, and Z. And yes, I used that exact joke for every single post this month. Deal with it.

HEY LOOK OVER HERE! MORE BOOKS!!

U – United as One
by Pittacus Lore

Again, this one is more about the whole series being great as one thing (and the fact that I haven’t read many books starting with U). Though, to be fair, this is the BEST book of the series. If you’ve tried to start this series before and was scared off by the first one or two, consider persevering. This last book is WORTH IT!

 

V – Vicious
by V.E. Schwab

Over to my TBR for this one, because I haven’t read a single book starting with V. This is one of those books that’s been on my shelf for over a year and I keep telling the world that “this is the month I’m finally going to read it,” but then it still doesn’t happen. I’ve put it off for far too long, but, this is the month I’m finally going to read it.

 

W – World War Z
by Max Brooks

Before I read Sleeping Giants, The Illuminae Series, or Robopacalypse, World War Z made me stand up and take notice of a book written in a unique and really enjoyable format. I’ve read it multiple times, even taking in the audiobook a few times (which stars Mark Hamill among many other voice actors.) Also, you should know this is NOTHING like the movie. The only thing the book and the movie share is the title.

 

 

 X – X-Men: A v X
by Marvel Comics

Okay. This is cheating, big time. But I really didn’t have an X-book. And this is one of the coolest stories out there. The Phoenix is coming back to Earth, and they believe it’s going to take Jean Grey’s daughter and they’ll have to deal with another Dark Phoenix situation (one of the most powerful beings EVER.) The Avengers insist on taking the girl to protect her, and the X-Men insist they’re plenty capable of protecting her themselves. Shouting happens, ego inflate, feelings are hurt, and then… super awesome fights.

 

 

Y – The Young Elites
by Marie Lu

Back to my TBR for this one. Plague, super-powered people, and a society bent on hunting down said people? So in.

 

Z – Zero Sum Game

Imagine James Bond was a brilliant mathematician instead of just having several horseshoes up his butt, and that’s what you’ve got here. Our lead seems to see the world more like the Matrix, with numbers and calculations everywhere. So when she does something nearly impossible (which is all the time) it wasn’t chance. She made it happen.

Fun fact about this post: Almost picked World War Z for Z instead of W, but felt like more cheating…
AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday – Books Starting with P – Q – R – S – T

Posted on by J.W. Martin

This week’s edition of Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday is being brought to you by the number 5 and the letters K, L, M, N, and O. And I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t I use that joke a few times already? I sure did!

HEY LOOK OVER HERE! MORE BOOKS!!

 

P – The Power of Six

Slim pickings for P… The Power of Six isn’t a great book on its own, but the Lorien Legacies series as a whole is pretty worth while.

 

 

 

Q – ????

Speaking of slim pickings, I have nothing for Q. Not a book that I liked, not a book I hated, and not even a book on my TBR.. I guess I’ll just have to pick a few books for the next letter…

 

R – Ready Player One

R – Red Rising

No surprises here. The two books that I try to squeeze into as many Top 5 lists as humanly possible.

 S – Station Eleven

This was a tough one. Six of Crows and Steelheart were up near the top as well, but Station Eleven is not only a great read, but it has a meaning that feels truly important.

T – To Kill a Kingdom

This was one of those books that I wasn’t expecting a lot from and then it floored me. Such a fun read.

Fun fact about this post: I just received an ARC for Alexandra Christo’s new book, and I’m so excited to dig into it!
AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday – Books Starting with K-L-M-N-O

Posted on by J.W. Martin

This week’s edition of Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday is being brought to you by the number 5 and the letters K, L, M, N, and O. And I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t I use that joke last week? I sure did!

HEY LOOK OVER HERE! BOOKS!!

 

K – Kingdom Come by Mark Waid
(Illustrations by the legendary Alex Ross)

What? WHAT?! Are you telling me a graphic novel doesn’t count? How dare you. How DARE you! In a world where none of our superheroes has aged in 70 years, this is one of the few stories out there that explores, what would an aging Superman do? What happens when the Justice League qualifies for the senior discount. Great stuff. 

L – The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

This one is a pretty fresh read, but I found it kicking me in the face with its unpredictability, brutality, and sentimentality with every chapter. It’s a MUST read. 

M – A Man Called Ove

Talk about fresh! This is only a few weeks old in my memory and I’m still smiling. 

 N – Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe

Nevernight

AND Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

This was a tough one. And for those of you screaming that comic books don’t count, picking 2 for N will bring the list back up to 5 books. 

 

O – On Writing by Stephen King

This probably doesn’t seem like a book for everyone at first, but it just might be. For people who are Stephen King fans, or those that just enjoy a good biography, the first half of the book is basically an auto-biography while the rest continues to sprinkle little bits of it here and there. 

Fun fact about this post: my brain is mostly dead. Give me a letter of the alphabet and I’ll tell you I haven’t read any books starting with that letter. Then I go on Goodreads and find I’ve read 25 books starting with that letter. Honestly. SMH
AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Tuesday – Books Starting with F-G-H-I-J

Posted on by J.W. Martin

This week’s edition of Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday is being brought to you by the number 5 and the letters F, G, H, I, and J. And since I missed doing A through E last week, this post is actually going to cover A all the way through J! Enjoy!

A – The Art of Racing in the Rain

By the way, if you haven’t seen the trailer for the upcoming movie based on this novel, take the time and do it right. now.

 

B – Bag of Bones

Whenever I read something from a King (even if that King is a Hill) I don’t feel like I”m going to be that into it, but I end up falling head over heels into the story. This one was no exception.

C – Choke

This is the book that brought me out of a reading slump that lasted years and inspired me to write a book that had been marinating in my head for 5 years.

D – The Dream Thieves

Yup.

E – Ex-Heroes

This book is one of the best examples of pure fun I’ve ever read. If you like either zombies or superheroes, this has both.

F – Foundryside

I think the story was good, but it’s heavily overshadowed by the incredible characters, magic system, and world-building of Foundryside.

G – Godsgrave

Toughest letter so far. Gemina, The Graveyard Book, Game of Thrones, Golden Son… I could have picked one out of a hat and been okay with it.

H – Hex

This book haunted me the whole time I was reading it, and for weeks afterwards.

I – I Am Legend

If you’ve seen the movie, you HAVE to read the book. It’s not just better than the movie (what book isn’t?) It’s required. The book’s ending is so amazing and satisfying and the movie went a completely different and poopy direction.

 

J – Jennifer Government

Well, apparently this is the only book I’ve read that starts with J. It is a fun book, though. Super interesting—and terrifyingly possible—world building.

Fun fact about this post: Yes, for H I really wanted to choose a ‘Harry Potter and the [magical noun]’ but I couldn’t choose just one…
AllMemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Book Dudes

Posted on by J.W. Martin

In this week’s edition of Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday we’re talking male leads. This is a tough one. Instinct has me reaching for my top 5 books that have a male lead, but that would defeat the purpose. The best male leads aren’t necessarily in my all-time favourite books.

Darrow (Red Rising)

Okay. So maybe SOME of the my top male leads are from my favourite books. Darrow is the guy that you pull for every moment you’re reading and he tends to outsmart everyone around him, including the reader. (though he’s nothing without Sevro!)

Neanderthal a.k.a. Cliff Hubbard
(Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe)

I’ve said it before, Cliff is my spirit animal and if he was a real guy, he’d be a best friend, a brother, or maybe an identical twin!

Hans Hubermann (The Book Thief)

Maybe he’s not technically the lead, but he’s close enough for me. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a character so instantly and fiercely likeable.

Ignatius Perrish (Horns)

This poor S.O.B. Every moment was spent either rooting for him, weeping for him, and laughing at his hi jinx.

Mr. Wednesday (American Gods)

At best, he’s morally grey, at worst, he’s downright evil. Either way, he’s entertaining and fascinating at the same time.

Fun fact about this post: Honourable mention to Kaz Brekker, Tyler Durden, and  Kvoth.