Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

                Hey everyone!  I'll jump straight into it today, I am sharing with you my thoughts and feels on Miss Peregrine's Home forPeculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.  This is the first book in the trilogy, which is now finished the last book came out at the start of the month.  I had the great fun of going to one of the 5 book launch/release parties and the theme for it was a Peculiar Ball.  So many people showed up in costume, I admit I was drawing a blank on what to do to dress up but seeing so many it all made perfect sense.  At this event as well were my three favorite Booktubers, one of which the reason I finally started this series *cough* Jessethe Reader, with Katytastic and Polandbananas.  So much fun.  Questions and talking plus I made some new friends who booktube, Sanaa at InkBonesBooks and Sara at SarawithoutanH.  I also got to meet the author and get my books signed plus a cool tote bag (and who doesn't love tote bags), a peculiar calendar and poster so this event was a huge win in my book.  I'll post pictures throughout post, sorry for the quality I was using my phone and well it's hard to focus and laugh at the same time.

Rating: 4 Stars

                Okay for those of you who don't know what this series is about I'm going to try and explain the idea without ruining the story.  This series is based around a bunch of old photographs, some of which are kind of creepy.  They also include the images in the book (I've been told they don't work as well on e-reader though) which really adds an extra element into the book.  Modern day sixteen-year-old Jacob grew up on tales of his grandfathers adventures and of a home full of peculiar children.  He grows to not believe the tales of course but after a tragedy, Jacob finds himself going to the isolated island in Wales where this home of peculiars was said to live.  He finds the abandoned and crumbling home he finds there may be truth to his grandfathers old tales, and even stranger, these peculiar children may still be alive. 

                Basically this book has a lot going for it, especially for October.  It has the whole creepy mood going for it with old photographs that seem hard to explain some of, monsters, time loops, and children with peculiar powers!  I went in a bit unsure, knowing after hearing Jesse the Reader gush about this series and push it so often I'd have to give it a try but then when Bogdana at Bogdana The Booknerd said she wanted to read them as well and gave me more information, that peculiar meant powers, I was ready to check them out.  Then Ransom coming to the area for the release of the third book I had to be on top of things, so we read them with our Goodreads group. 

                The book starts out moving pretty quick, drawing you in.  Then for me it had a bit of a slow moment where I was questioning if I'd finish but then right as I thought that it drew me right back in.  The story was well written and seemed to go quickly with the design of whole pages taken up by pictures here and there.  Also the book itself has one of those old school feels under the cover and it is beautifully done design wise. The cast of characters are so unique in their peculiarity but also their distinct personalities were fun to get to know.  I think Mildred might be my favorite, though I have a special place in my heart for each of them.

The Costume winners!  OMG I just adored little Addison!

                 I will say the biggest suggestion I can make is to go into it without much information and be surprised.  Also don't over think the time loop aspect, just go with it.  Just know you're going to meet some peculiar children, do some peculiar things, have some monsters to deal with, and lots of interesting learning about the world.  

My new friends!

                That's all for now.  I hope you check it out.  Also don't forget tomorrow I am posting my spot on the blog tour for Quanta and I'll have goodies like an excerpt from the story, hilarious one that doesn't spoil, an author interview, my review of course, and they are hosting a giveaway as well so check back tomorrow for that.  Also despite my wanting to quit having 8 books going at once I am still reading several at once and plan to have some good reviews heading your way.  Share your thoughts and comments below please.

Xtinemay, Jesse, and Kat!  

                Until next time…

What type of book are you?

               I’ve been a bit MIA this week and a slow reading week too.  School came back in session and work is picking up a bit and I’m learning more and more information and dealing with different situations.  In the last few weeks I’ve been pondering a few things.  One of those things is that people are horrible drivers/parkers in parking decks; seriously there is no need to act like Indy 500 meets Tokyo Drift.  The other is about my reading patterns and preferences.  I think the majority of the reason is that there have been a lot of recommendations for some light breezy contemporary books; some summer beach reads I guess you'd call them.  I have nothing against them, I had a few I really rather enjoyed and a few others I haven’t gotten to yet.  I never seem to pick them up right away; always leaning towards the other choices.

                I have been hearing about some newer ones lately; some I’ve purchased others and others I have not.  As the contemporary genre is not a section I've been drawn to in the past I think twice before dishing out my hard earned dollars.  That realization made me take a harder look at my book shelf.  I have a healthy selection of books but they are generally in the same categories and mostly supernatural or fantasy.  It was never intentional and I always prided myself on being eclectic.  So I have set out to try and diversify my collection and have purchase a bunch of new books, both series I have read good things about in my fantasy side and several contemporary types and I'm excited for them to arrive.   I did splurge and go on a bit of a book spree, had to even buy another shelf to house them on.  However, I found several at a fantastic price.

                The ones I have received and read, were a great break from the more supernatural, paranormal, fantasy worlds I've been in and out of.  I recently read a handful of books by Hailey Abbot to go along with my handful by Alyson Noel that I read a few years back.  I enjoyed them, quick and refreshing and down to earth.  Reading through them quickly I decided to start checking out the other books, newer ones people recommended in the contemporary field.  I have several that vary in their themes and topics but all seemed different and interesting.  I currently am looking forward to the Rainbow Rowell books Fangirl and Eleanor & Park and Stephanie Perkins Lola and the Boy Next Door and Anna and the French Kiss which I heard rave reviews from a few booktubers I've started to follow recently.  If you'd like to check them out, some of my favorites thus far are polandbananasBOOKS, Katytastic, abookutopia, and jessethereader to name a few (note some have more than one channel to check out). 

                The Hailey Abbot books I’ve read the last month include Boy Crazy, Flirting with Boys, and Forbidden Boy.  I have one more that arrived 2 days ago The Other Boy that I look forward to reading this week, hopefully.  They were all quick reads I finished in a shift at work and made me smile.  They were light and airy and had a good dose of sweet summer fun and romance with enough going on elsewhere to keep it interesting and make each one different.  I can’t really give much about them without spoiling the summer fun so if you need a quick little contemporary story to bring a few hours of summer romance to your day check them out.

                So please share with me your thoughts about books.  Do you only read one type of book?  Are you like me and do it unknowingly or do you simply have a preference?  Also book recommendations?  Any contemporary stories you think I should add to my list to complete my collection?  Have a booktube channel you think I might like share that too, I have started to really enjoy them and considering doing one myself but that means being in front of the camera and I've always been behind so it might take some time to build up the courage there.  Comment below and let's discuss books!