The Whimsical Mama

<3 Such is the life of a stay at home mommy and Army wife (:

Top Ten Tuesday #100: Top Ten Books With X Setting (Settings I Want to Visit) August 16, 2016

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Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Books With X Setting (Settings I Want to Visit)

1.Russia – Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

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2. Edinburgh – The Falconer by Elizabeth May

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3. Ireland – Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

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4. London – Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

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5. Paris – Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

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6. Prague – Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

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7. Romania – And I Darken by Kiersten White

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8. Middle East – The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

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9. San Diego – Waterfell by Amalie Howard

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10. China – Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

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Top Ten Tuesday #99: Top Ten Tuesday REWIND – Villains/Criminals/Other Nasties August 9, 2016

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Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Tuesday REWIND – Villains/Criminals/Other Nasties

Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas 

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Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter by JK Rowling

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Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter by JK Rowling

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Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter by JK Rowling

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Loki, God of Mischief from Thor

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Black Knife from The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

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Khalid from The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

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Arin from The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

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The Darkling from Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

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Sturmhond from Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

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Top Ten Tuesday #96: Top Ten Books Set Outside the US July 19, 2016

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Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Books Set Outside the US

I decided to go with actual locations other than fantastical realms for this week.

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  1. Die for Me by Amy Plum. Oh, Paris. I love you.

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2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. This book only strengthened by desire to visit Prague!

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3. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. Historical (fantasy) England, but England nonetheless!

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4. Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz. Various locations around Europe, South America, and even Tartarus.

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5. The Falconer trilogy by Elizabeth May. Victorian Scotland!

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6. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. England and Scotland (with visitors from other nations too)

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7. Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. Ireland, England, Russia, and some other locations too!

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8. Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Scotland and France!

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9. His Fair Assassin trilogy by Robin LaFevers. Duchy of Brittany and France.

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10. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. Beijing, France, Africa, the Moon.

 

Where have books taken you?

 

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday #94: Top Ten Books I Enjoyed That Have Under 2000 Ratings On Goodreads July 5, 2016

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Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Top Ten Books I Enjoyed That Have Under 2000 Ratings On Goodreads

This isn’t a pure list as I skipped books from the same series.

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  1. The Prophecy by Erin Rhew (all the books in this trilogy are under a dollar on Amazon!) My reviews for The Prophecy, The Outlanders, and The Fulfillment.

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2. Waterfell by Amalie Howard (This duology is a great quick beachy read!) My reviews for Waterfell and Oceanborn.

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3. Napoleon & Josephine The Sword and The Hummingbird by Gerald & Loretta Hausman. I read this back in high school and fell in love with it!

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4. Burning Kingdoms by Lauren DeStefano. The other series I started with book one, but it has over 2k views. Books two and three don’t. This series is fantastic!

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5. Rite of Conquest by Judith Tarr. I stumbled across this at our used bookstore in high school. I absolutely loved it! I should do a reread soon!

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6. In Defense of the Queen by Michelle Diener. While this is the third book, it can easily be read as a standalone. My review of In Defense of the Queen.

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7. The Hidden Prince by Jodi Meadows. Plus the other Black Knife novellas! I would suggest reading The Orphan Queen first though. SPOILERS and all that. (;

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8. Artemis Fowl The Arctic Incident: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer. My love for Artemis Fowl goes deep and I finally read the graphic novels last summer.

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9. Wolf Pact by Melissa de la Cruz. Companion to the Blue Bloods series. My review for Blue Bloods

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10. A Tale of Two Centuries by Rachel Harris. I adore Rachel and her books. The My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century series is so cute and a quick read. My reviews for My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, A Tale of Two Centuries, and My Not So Super Sweet Life.

 

What are some of your under 2k rating reads?

 

Top Ten Tuesday #53: New Series I Want to Read October 21, 2014

 

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Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten New Series I Want to Read

affiliate links used – book titles; covers lead to Goodreads

  1.The Orphan Queen
The Hidden Prince: An Orphan Queen Novella (HarperTeen Impulse)

2.

the cage megan shepherdThe Cage

3.

The Winner’s Curse (The Winner’s Trilogy Book 1)
The Winner’s Crime (The Winner’s Trilogy)

4.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

5.

A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)
Rebel Angels (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy Book #2)
The Sweet Far Thing (Gemma Doyle, Book 3)

6.

Perfect Ruin (The Internment Chronicles)
Burning Kingdoms (The Internment Chronicles)

7.

Sabriel (The Old Kingdom)
Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr
Abhorsen (The Old Kingdom)
Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen (The Old Kingdom)

8.

Atlantia

9.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

10.

The Shadow Queen by CJ Redwine

 

Top Ten Tuesday #52: Places I Want to Visit October 14, 2014

 

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Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Places I Want to Visit

affiliate links used

I have been to lots of places. Literally and metaphorically. I have been blessed with chances to travel the world. These are places (real & fictional) that I would love to visit/visit again!

1. Scotland. I’ve been to Scotland. I would go back in a hot minute. The Falconer by Elizabeth May DOES NOT HELP THIS DESIRE. OH MAN. I can haz Edinburgh plz?

2. Hogwarts. Um. DUH. I’m STILL convinced my Hogwarts letter got lost in the mail. Definitely being carried by an owl as unreliable as Errol.

3. Russia. The Grishaverse isn’t *technically* Russia, but c’mon. As heavy as the Russian theme is, I want to go. *FYI, Russia has loooooong been on my to travel to list, but now I have a series to say influenced it too!*

4. Cinque Terre & Florence, Italy. I’ve been to Italy. It’s awesome. Every time I read Blue Bloods though, I want to go back to Europe. Especially Cinque Terre & Florence. Yes.

5. Manhattan. Again, I’ve been to NYC, but after every Blue Bloods reread, I want to go and thoroughly explore NYC/Manhattan.

 

6. Cair Paravel. Seriously. What kid doesn’t want to go to Narnia?

7. Rivendell. Hubby would agree with me on this one. (: He does judge me for liking the movies over the books though. Read them once. Never again!

8. Tara. I’ve been to Ireland, really don’t remember it cause I got sick. /: However, I ADORE Artemis Fowl and want to go back to Ireland and see Artemis & Holly’s stomping grounds.

9. Prague. Honesty moment. I haven’t read Daughter of Smoke and Bone yet. It’s on the immediate TBR. I know it takes place in Prague, and I’ve always wanted to go… SO. It’s a legit want to go cause of a book. (;

10. La Jolla/San Diego/Waterfell. Yes, please. Thank you, Waterfell! A major plus would be if Lo is there too. (; Amirite, Amalie?

 

Top Ten Tuesday #47: Authors I Own the Most Books By July 29, 2014

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Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Tenish Authors I Own the Most Books By

I was surprised by this week’s results! I knew one author would dominate, but some of the others surprised me!

37 JK Rowling books (duh. Knew she was gonna top the list! Harry Potter: I have all 7 American books in physical, audiobook, and ebook format. 4 British English, 3 French, 1 Spanish, and 1 German. Plus the extra books from the HP realm. Plus her three adult books – 1 audiobook as well )

28 Cassandra Clare books (physical, audio, ebook)

27? Melissa de la Cruz books (I can’t remember which audiobooks/ebooks I have!)

26 Robert Jordan books (Hubby has physical & audio)

22 CS Lewis books (Two complete sets of The Chronicles of Narnia in physical from plus audiobooks. Audio of Mere Christianity)

22 Eoin Colfer books (ebooks, physical, audiobook, ARC)

19 Stephenie Meyer books (ebooks, audio, physical)

15? Jerry B Jenkins books (I can’t remember which Left Behind books I have on ebook!)

10 Lemony Snicket books (really need to complete my set…)

10 HB Gilmour & Randi Reisfeld books

10 George RR Martin books (physical & audio)

9 Charlaine Harris books

8 Anne Rice books

7? Shakespeare book (could’ve sworn I had more)

7 Ann Rinaldi books

6 Jane Austen books

Holy wow! No wonder I just needed a new bookcase! What authors do you own the most books by?  Thanks for stopping by! (:

 

Hello July, Goodbye June 2014! Plus a giveaway! July 1, 2014

No way is it already July. No. Way. June was a hectic month in our household. Hubby was gone to school 90% of the month. That left me juggling all the household things plus the blog. I thought I’d gotten far enough ahead that I was okay, but it ended up being not quite far enough. No worries. I am working hard to get a good amount ahead. I have reviews scheduled through the middle of September. Of those books, I’ve read through the middle of August. There are a few release week reviews I have scheduled. Now to transition that from paper to computer! July. I still can’t believe it. Wow. I’ve hit it. Well, in a week, but I’ve done it. I’ve been blogging for a solid year now! (Bookwise, this blog is actually about 3 1/2 years old!) This has been an incredible year. Full of ups and downs for sure, but I’ve had a blast on this journey. I’ve made some great friends and met a lot of awesome authors! Here’s to another year of blogging! Cheers! Make sure you check out the giveaway at the end and keep an eye out for LOTS of upcoming giveaways! (:

 

Books I read in June (in order of completion)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling (audiobook)

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Cinderella’s Dress by Shonna Slayton

Mind GamesPerfect Lie by Kiersten White

Taken & Stolen by Erin Bowman

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (audiobook & paperback)

Frozen by Erin Bowman

Shadow and Bone, The Tailor, & The Witch of Duza by Leigh Bardugo

 

Books with the kiddos: (I mostly kept track!)

Pete the Cat Play Ball! by James Dean

Pete the Cat Pete’s Big Lunch by James Dean

Pete the Cat Pete at the Beach by James Dean

Pete the Cat Too Cool For School by James Dean

Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses by James Dean

Pete the Cat a Pet for Pete

Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes

Pete the Cat Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Pete the Cat Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Pete the Cat and His Four Buttons

 

Coming up in June

17 First Kisses Blog Tour

Punk’s birthday party

Trip to VA

BLOGOVERSARY!

 

Reviews posted

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Cinderella’s Dress by Shonna Slayton

Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols

Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore

My Not So Super Sweet Life by Rachel Harris

The Selection by Kiera Cass

The Elite by Kiera Cass

 

Most visited

Top Ten Tuesday: Beach Bag Reads

Top Ten Tuesday: Summer TBR

Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

 

Goals for July
Work on commenting and visiting other blogs

Read more with the kiddos

Stay ahead of schedule

post everyday this month

 

 

July releases I’m excited for:

Oceanborn by Amalie Howard (Oh hells yeah! I need MOAR Lo!)

On the Fence by Kasie West

Accidentally Married on Purpose by Rachel Harris

July TBR:
Oceanborn by Amalie Howard 

Accidentally Married on Purpose by Rachel Harris 

Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo

 

Challenge Update:

I’m involved with four challenges officially.

Edelweiss & Netgalley challenge: 15/25 (Perfect Lies, Cinderella’s Dress, Frozen)

TBR Pile challenge: 45/11-20 {I can and most likely WILL be increasing my level on this. I’m also not including ARCs in this unless I complete them after the book is released} (City of Heavenly Fire, Mind Games, Perfect Lies, Taken, Stolen, Frozen, Shadow & Bone, Clockwork Angel)

Series challenge: 13/4-6 {I can and most likely will increase my level on this as well} (The Mortal Instruments, Taken)

Real” Book challenge: 33/21-30 (City of Heavenly Fire, Mind Games, Perfect Lies, Taken, Frozen, Shadow & Bone, Clockwork Angel)

How was your June? What’s up for July?

 

GIVEAWAY NEWS!!!

I’m kicking off my blogoversary celebration now. I’ll have giveaways going up constantly on the blog and on Twitter so make sure you keep your eye out! (:

GIVEAWAY!!

Up for grabs in this first giveaway is an ARC of Infinite by the lovely Jodi Meadows.

This giveaway is open to US only (Sorry international readers! I promise I will one day have giveaways for you too!) Entrants must be 13 years old to enter. Those entrants under 18 MUST have parental consent. Giveaway is open July 1st 2014 (12am EST) through July 31st 2014 (12am EST). I reserve the right to disqualify entries in violation of my giveaway policies. All entries WILL be verified. Good luck. May the odds be ever in your favor! (:

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