Musing Mondays (47) Random Weekly Questions & Short Stories

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Jenn at Books and a Beat, that asks you to muse about something book related each week.

**Quick note: Musing Mondays is still being hosted by Jenn, but not at A Daily Rhythm, instead, it's now over on Books and a Beat.**

My Musings for the Week...

Before I move on to my other musings for the week, I'm going to get caught up on some of the random weekly questions I missed...

From February 22: How do you choose which books you read?

I mostly pick books at random, which solely depends on what I want to read at the time. However, if I have books that I'm required to read like ARCs that I have a blog tour for, then I'm more likely to read those first--just to get them out of the way and have the post done early.

From February 29: What was the last book you didn’t finish? Why?

The Love that Split the World was a book that just didn't turn out to be for me. I was really disappointed. If you want to know my full thoughts, check out my review here: ARC Review: The Love that Split the World.

Other Musings...

Today, I want to talk about short stories. No, this won't be a post about some of my favorite ones. Although, I could have done that, only, I haven't read enough of them to give me a reason to write a full post about them, well, yet anyway. Instead, I want to talk about how the stories are being published.

I don't know about anyone else, but I do like short stories when they're collected into just one edition--this is especially so when all the stories are by a single author (such as Untamed by A.G. Howard). For me, it's convenient, plus, I do enjoy paperbacks/hardcovers more than I do ebooks. So, really, this works out well for me.

Of course, I also enjoy anthologies like Guys Read: Terrifying Tales, because it gives me a chance to sample the writing styles of author's I'm unfamiliar with. Which is great, because if I like the stories enough, I'm more likely to be interested in potentially buying or checking out full length novels from my local library.

So, how do you feel about short stories being collected together in print format? Do you prefer having them in one print edition, or do you like to buy them separately as ebooks?

The Friday 56 (53) The Night Has Teeth by Kat Kruger

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

There’s a darkness that lurks in the City of Light...

Seventeen-year-old Connor Lewis is chased by a memory. On his first day of kindergarten he bit a boy hard enough to scar the kid for life. Since then he’s been a social outcast at a New York private school. Through an unexpected turn of good fortune, he lands a scholarship to study in Paris, where everything starts to look up. On the first day he befriends two military brats, and he may finally get a taste of what it’s like to be a normal teenager.

It doesn’t last.

His host family — an alluring young tattoo artist and her moody, handsome boyfriend — inadvertently introduce him to the underworld of werewolves where there are two types: the born and the bitten. Those born to it take the form of elegant wolves, while the latter are cursed to transform into the half-man, half-beast creatures of horror movies. The bitten rarely survive. Unfortunately, Connor is on the wanted list of a four hundred-year-old bitten human who’s searching for both a cure and a means of wiping out werewolves for good. Connor’s loyalties are tested as he becomes embroiled in a conflict where werewolves, mad science and teen angst collide...

"Arden scrutinizes me for a long minute before releasing me. I make a big show of shaking him off and straightening myself out again. Well, as best as I can with a drink in each hand."--The Night Has Teeth by Kat Kruger



Do you have any favorite werewolf novels?

Review: Untamed by A.G. Howard

Title:Untamed
Author: A.G. Howard
Source/Format: Won, Hardback
More Details: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling 
Publisher/Publication Date: Amulet Books, December 15, 2015

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Alyssa Gardner went down the rabbit hole and took control of her destiny. She survived the battle for Wonderland and the battle for her heart. In this collection of three novellas, join Alyssa and her family as they look back at their memories of Wonderland.

In Six Impossible Things, Alyssa recalls the most precious moments of her life after Ensnared, and the role magic plays in preserving the happiness of those she loves. Alyssa’s mother reminisces about her own time in Wonderland and rescuing the man who would become her husband in The Boy in the Web. And Morpheus delves into Jeb’s memories of the events of Splintered in The Moth in the Mirror, available in print for the first time.

This collection expands upon Ensnared's epilogue, and includes some deleted scenes to provide a “director’s cut” glimpse into the past and futures of our favorite Splintered characters...

After finishing Untamed I had to carefully think about what I wanted to say. It took me a while to find the right words that fit with what I thought about it. Untamed was one of my most anticipated books back in December of 2015. So, I was really excited to get my hands on a finished copy.

Did I like it?

Well, yeah, sort of. Untamed did have some great content to add to the Splintered series, but I also found myself a little disappointed by some of the stories.

This collection includes Six Impossible Things, The Moth in the Mirror, and The Boy in the Web. Out of the three, I was most excited for Six Impossible Things since it was set in a time after the end of Ensnared. That expanded epilogue was my main reason for getting Untamed. I never really liked Jeb as a character, and I had some problems with the way he treated Alyssa back in Splintered. But I was willing to tolerate some mention of him in Six Impossible Things. The story, for me, was just alright, which kind of reflects how I felt about the whole collection. It wasn't bad. I liked it.

For me, Wonderland was still the best part. I liked Howard's take on Lewis Carroll's classic story, specifically the changes she made to the well-known characters and setting of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Untamed ended up just being okay for me. I liked it well enough, but I did have a few issues with it. Even so, I still want to check out A.G. Howard’s next novel, Rose Blood.

The Friday 56 (52) Untamed by A.G. Howard

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Alyssa Gardner went down the rabbit hole and took control of her destiny. She survived the battle for Wonderland and the battle for her heart. In this collection of three novellas, join Alyssa and her family as they look back at their memories of Wonderland.

In Six Impossible Things, Alyssa recalls the most precious moments of her life after Ensnared, and the role magic plays in preserving the happiness of those she loves. Alyssa’s mother reminisces about her own time in Wonderland and rescuing the man who would become her husband in The Boy in the Web. And Morpheus delves into Jeb’s memories of the events of Splintered in The Moth in the Mirror, available in print for the first time.

This collection expands upon Ensnared's epilogue, and includes some deleted scenes to provide a “director’s cut” glimpse into the past and futures of our favorite Splintered characters...

"He hesitates. There are other stories, too, about the fairy-kind. That some are tricky and deadly."--Untamed by A.G. Howard


What are some of your favorite fairy tales or retelling's? Or what are you reading this week?

Review: The Marvels by Brian Selznick

Title: The Marvels
Author: Brian Selznick
Source/Format: Won, Hardcover
More Details: Middle Grade, Historical
Publisher/Publication Date: Scholastic Press, September 15, 2015

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Two seemingly unrelated stories--one in words, the other in pictures--come together. The illustrated story begins in 1766 with Billy Marvel, the lone survivor of a shipwreck, and charts the adventures of his family of actors over five generations. The prose story opens in 1990 and follows Joseph, who has run away from school to an estranged uncle's puzzling house in London, where he, along with the reader, must piece together many mysteries...

I read two of Selznick’s books before I finally got to the last one I had on my shelf, The Marvels. Following Selznick’s previously established style, The Marvels is told half in pictures and half in words. Thus, the book was a delightful, thoroughly engrossing story from beginning to end.

Half the story belonged to Billy Marvel, the sole survivor of a shipwreck. And the other half belonged to Joseph, a young boy in 1990 who has run away from school. Part of the intrigue with Selznick’s books, for me, is seeing how the stories will eventually connect. And with The Marvels, that was one of my primary reasons for reading the book. Joseph was a good character. I liked his story. He was a boy who caused some trouble even if that wasn’t what he intended. Billy’s story was equally enjoyable and just as integral to the plot. To understand Joseph’s story, Billy’s had to be told as well. The other characters were delightful as well, and their stories tied in with Joseph’s. Their interactions were some or my favorite parts.

The illustrations perfectly conveyed the characters emotions, and were effective at telling a story on their own. The setting was, again, historical, and developed in a way that showed that Selznick knew what he was doing and had done his research. In the end, I am glad that I read The Marvels. It’s easily become one of my favorites.