After wanting to read this book for years, but a little daunted by its size, I bought this from Audible to listen to on my commute. I thought it was wonderful! The story sucks you right in and I just loved the characters. It lost half a star for going a bit overboard on the details in some parts (especially at the end! I didn't want to know all about what happened there). A note about the audio-book, it is awesome! The narrator does an amazing job at switching between the two accents and I would have never known how to pronounce all the Gaelic without it. I can't imagine how someone reads it without knowing. It would be distracting to me. Well, now I can't wait to read about the further adventures of Claire and Jaime, not to mention watch the TV show out this year!

I bought this book based on the new edition having a chapter based on the Gezi Park protests of the last year. I live in Istanbul and was out with my husband and friends the night the protests began. We were in a bar off of Istiklal (the main street in the Taksim area) and had tear gas canisters rocketing down the street outside for hours. We were choking on gas and were too afraid to step outside since the one time we did a gas canister flew inches away from my head! We got caught in a trouble area only one other time but visited the park often during the 17 days of police silence. The chapter was short but interesting.
Witold does a superb job at talking to people on both sides of every issue he covers. I found the chapters on honour killings (yes, it still goes on here), views about sex (eastern vs western Turkey differences), the PM Erdogan, the wife of Ataturk (Latife), and Mehmet Ali Agca (the man from Malatya, or apricot city, who tried to kill the Pope)to be the most interesting. Witold asks the tough questions and gets interesting answers. Having learned much about my home country for the last seven years I can honestly say that very little in the book surprised me though. It was more a confirmation of what I already know and have grown to love, and dislike, about this wonderful place.

You guys asked for it and the Audiobook Challenge back for 2014! Join The Book Nympho and Hot Listens for the 2nd year of great audio books.

Audiobooks are great for those times you want to read but can’t for some reason like driving, doing chores, working out, or if you’re one of the lucky ones like me, listen to them at work.

I know some of you are thinking, audio books? Pass. I thought that once too. But when you find a great narrator they can make the story even better. There are some series I will only listen even if I can get the Arc I’ll wait until the audio is available because the narrator does such a great job bring the book to life.

Reading Challenge Details:

• Runs January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2014. You can join at anytime.
• The goal is to find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2014 than you did in 2013.
• Books must be in audio format (CD, MP3, etc.)
• ANY genres count.
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, Shelfari, Facebook, LibraryThing, etc.
• If you’re a blogger grab the button and do a quick post about the challenge to help spread the word. If you’re not a blogger you can help by posting on Facebook or Tweeting about the challenge.

Levels:

• Newbie (I’ll give it a try) 1-5 
  
• Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10
• Stenographer (can listen while multi-tasking) 10-15
• Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20
• Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30
• My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30+

To sign up visit the original post at  http://thebooknympho.com/2013/11/sign-up-2014-audio-book-challenge/

I really enjoyed this book. I think I liked it better than the first book. It had a lot more going on and it focused a lot on Ronan, who I find to be the most interesting of the bunch (dare I say favourite). I listened to this book since I really loved the narrator after  listening to The Raven Boys. You can really hear the little differences in Ronan, Neil, Blue, Persephone, Noah, Kavinsky and the Gray Man's voices. Just the perfect amount of dark and light for a story such as this. The book ended nicely and the cliffhanger was a good twist, but I am not freaking out waiting for book three. I will wait patiently, and happily, to read it when the time comes. 

I loved this book the first time I read it but never got around to reading the sequels. Two years later now, I have decided to read the whole series back to back and thought a re-read was in order. This book is not serious at all unless you consider it seriously fun! I really enjoy steampunk books but vampires and werewolves are generally not my favourite cup of tea. I never got into Ann Rice back when she was all the rage and I missed the Twilight boat completely. Only recently with the Mortal Instruments and this book have I begun to warm to them. This book is a super fast and fun read. Full of light wit, action, and a cast of likable characters. While this book can actually stand alone quite well, I am interested in seeing what kind of trouble Alexia will get in to next.

Definitely not my favourite of the series so far. Let's see... The end really annoyed me and while I like Jace a lot, his sulky behaviour has started to annoy me as well. I liked Simon's character more in this book and really liked Kyle (hope he is here to stay). Not sure if I will read the next book right away or wait until the sixth book is released. It might take some time for me to get over the disappointment of this one. So disappointed I don't even feel like writing about it.

I have really enjoyed my forays into the Abarat, and I don't think Barker's YA novels get as much attention as they should. The Abarat is a place of wild creatures, fantastic adventures, larger than life characters, and unique islands that exist at each hour of the day. Towards the middle of this book I got mentally exhausted by the names and new characters and put this book on the back burner for a time. Mr Barker sure does love his odd names and you do not learn just one at a time but 7 or 12 or 25! It can get quite tedious if you ask me and hard to follow after a time. For example here are some of the island names and he often talks about many of them at a time: Xuxux, Efreet, Obadiah, Qualm Hah, Yzil, Hobarookus, Nonce, Soma Plume, Scoriae, and the Yebba Dim Day. But all names aside, the story is fantastic and exciting, and the world Barker has created is one I would love to see for myself if only the waters of the Isabella would come to the Hereafter and take me away.

This is my first book by Maggie Stiefvater (though I have a few of her other books on my kindle). I was immediately hooked by the story and the characters. There was a wonderful and consuming atmosphere about this book. I happened to listen to this book and the voice of the narrator was great for the characters. I loved all of the Raven Boys, Blue, and the psychics. It would be difficult to choose a favourite as they are all special in such different ways. I really enjoyed the mythological element and found myself googling ley lines and sleeping kings to find out more. Plan to read/listen to book two as soon as I can get my hands on it!

I am working my way through the Mortal Instruments series and liked this book the best (so far). I loved getting to finally be in Alicante, and seeing so many plot lines wrapped up. New questions were raised and the characters grew so much in this book. So much action as well. I could barely put it down except for while I was working. I am immediately starting the next book, City of Fallen Angels.

While this was not my favourite Neil Gaiman book (that honour is still reserved for Neverwhere), I loved its simple complexities. The characters who you felt you knew so well but knew nothing about in reality. The things experienced in a familiar way in childhood but so foreign at the same time. The writing was intriguing and It took me no time at all to be sucked into the ocean-of-a-story and come out the other side a little bit different.

Sooooo, I was lucky enough for a friend to lend me her ARC copy of this and I devoured it! My guts are all tied up in knots after this one! How can I wait a whole other year for the next book?! The world building is superb and so much Jeb and Morpheus that I can't stand it. I rarely finish books and want to go back and re-read but this is definitely one. I might wait until the new year and give it some time to sink in. It was also great to really get to know more about Alyssa's parents as well and I like how important a role they are given. I really want to beg Howard to write more than 3. Maybe a prequel trilogy or just keep adding more and more and more... Just. That. Good.

This is my first post on Booklikes and I am excited. I have been keeping track of all my books on Goodreads for a few years now but never bother to write many reviews since I am pretty sure mine get lost in all the other ones on there already. Nothing may change on this site but it is more of a blog and I like that. So here goes...

I just finished reading Splintered by A.G. Howard and absolutely fell in love with it. I have loved the story of Alice in Wonderland since I was a child and have read as many retellings as I could get my hands on. This is by far the best. With subtle twists of language, that even Carroll would approve of, Howard makes Wonderland come to like in a whole new way. And the chemistry between the characters is smoking hot. Usually I have a definite favourite (like Peeta over Gale any day) but I can not choose between Jeb or Morpheus at all! Both are great in different ways. You won't be sorry to immerse yourself in this world (except for maybe the wait until the next book comes out!).