Tidbit- Music I'm loving

Hello all! It's been a few days since I've posted anything, so it feels a little strange updating with something non-book related! But anyway, I don't know about you but I feel that having soft, quiet music on in the background while reading is so relaxing. So I thought that because it'll be a couple of days before I review the new book I received yesterday, I'd share some of my favorite songs and artists right now. My taste in music changes sometimes, but I always adore ''indie'' bands and music that really comes from an artist's heart. So these are a few songs that I can't get enough of lately.

"Fall" by Ed  Sheeran

"Helena Beat" by Foster the People

 

"Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men

Those are just a few songs that I'm adoring right now but there are so many more exceptional artists out there. What are you listening to lately? I love finding new music so let me know! 

Have a good night.. or day depending on where you are! 

~Kristy

What do you think? The Infernal Devices- Cassandra Clare

Hey guys! I've been attempting to start reading ''Clockwork Angel" by Cassandra Clare, book 1 of the Infernal Devices, but I just can't seem to start it! I think it's because I prefer reading books written in 'first person' rather than 'third person' but I'm usually able to get through that. Now, I know it says it is the prequel to 'the Mortal Instruments' series, but should I read those first? I'm more than willing to give 'City of Bones' a try, because I really want to like these books! Please comment below if you've read these books and let me know what you think! I have heard so many different opinions on these books, both good and bad.
Also, I'm going to try and rearrange my book review formats a little bit, so that'll be starting up when I begin my "series" of 'Vampire Academy' reviews.
I know I don't have many followers, but I'm really excited about the fact that it's been a week and I already have five!


Talk to you soon!
~Kristy

Destined by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

I literally JUST finished 'Destined' and I'm happy to say I really enjoyed the second half of the book. I'm so glad I decided to pick it up again! Although I didn't re-read the first half, I did remember most of it once I started reading it again. I hope you don't mind but I won't be doing my own personal summary on this one, because so much happens at the end of the book that I just can't describe the plot without giving away a TON!

Here's what I found on the HON website: 

"In Destined, the forces of Light and Dark collide as their epic struggle focuses on Tulsa’s House of Night. Zoey is home where she belongs, safe with her Guardian Warrior, Stark, by her side – and preparing to face off against Neferet. Kalona has released his hold on Rephaim, and, through Nyx’s gift of a human form, he and Stevie Rae are finally able to be together – if Rephaim can truly walk the path of the Goddess and stay free of his father’s shadow.
But is Zoey really safe? Does she truly know those who are closest to her? And will love win when it is tested by the very soul of Darkness? Find out what’s destined in the next thrilling chapter of the House of Night series"

So like I said before in my HON post, it's taken a while to get through this book, because so much has happened in the last books that it's hard to keep track of where they are, who's alive and who's good and who's evil. I was totally confused about some of the stuff with Eric in the beginning and with the new girl Shaylin. They really only made one or two appearances if I recall correctly. But all-in-all it was once again a great book by the Cast team. Zoey reminded me of my BFF and Stevie-Rae reminded me of myself once again, so that was something to put a smile on my face. I'm now extremely excited for the next book to come out, because I want to Neferet getting her butt kicked!

Let me know what you thought of this book and if you're excited for the next one to come out, or if you're getting tired of all of it. And would you like me to do reviews for all of the books or just certain ones?

Have a great day!
~Kristy
Buy it online: Destined by P.C. & Kristin Cast
House of night website: http://www.houseofnightseries.com/

Tidbit! EXAMS!!!

      For those of you that are going to be doing your finals for this semester I thought I'd share this totally true Calvin and Hobbes comic to cheer on those 'math atheists' out there. 

For all other subjects... All I've got are my 'Good Lucks' and 'You can do it's'! Have many of you already done them? I don't know how it is in different parts of the country.. nor the world.



Comment below with helpful study tips, even if you're taking exams for high school or college, or not! They'd be greatly appreciated by me and anyone else who could use them probably! I personally love making cue-cards. How about you?

~Kristy
(P.S. Tomorrow's only 150 days to Golden Lily! I'm so ecstatic!)

What do you think? House Of Night - P.C & Kristin Cast

Visit the website~ http://houseofnightseries.com/

Yay or nay? What do you guys think of this series? I fell in love with it at first, but now that I'm trying to get through the NINTH book, it's getting a little long in my opinion... what do you think? As I'm trying to get through 'Destined' I'm becoming more and more confused about what's happened in the last few books.. I think I need to re-read!! :I'm sure that then I'll fall back in love with it. I hope! I'll try and do a review once I'm done Destined though.

That's all for today!
Let me know what you think about this series! Love it or not so much??

~Kristy

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

I know I didn't do individual reviews for each of the Vampire Academy books, (let me know if you want them though!) but I thought that considering the fact that this IS a new series it would make sense for me to have it's own review. WARNING: This WILL have spoilers for anyone who hasn't read the VA books after Shadow Kiss.
Bloodlines is still set in the Moroi/Strigoi/Dhampir world of Richelle Mead, but instead of following the Dhampir Rose Hathaway, it follows the Alchemist Sydney Sage.
Alchemists are humans that make it their mission in life to keep the secret of vampires from regular humans. They each have a tattoo of a golden lily that is infused with both magic and Moroi blood. These keep the alchemists from revealing anything about the vampires to the human world.

After Sydney  has dealt with the repercussions of helping Rose escape from court, she thinks she is done with dealing with those vampires. But when Jill Dragomir is attacked at Court, they whisk her, Sydney, Eddie and Adrian to Palm Springs so that the princess, Eddie and Sydney can attend boarding school while in hiding. This book follows smaller characters from the books, which is nice, seeing what happens to them.  As you can only imagine, there is a ton of drama that unfolds to make this book just as great as the VA books.

As much as I loved Sydney in this book, I did miss Rose a bit. We get to see her a little, but not much. I will say that if you are on more of the shyer, gaurded side like me, you'll probably be able to relate to Sydney a lot. I loved the little things in this book that were so small but so significant in the long run. It was definetely a book to read if you've read the Vampire Academy series, but I wouldn't suggest reading it if you have not read them. I can't wait for June 19th! The Golden Lily is sure to be AMAZING, as those of you who have read this book will know, considering the ending!

Let me know about the individual reviews on the VA books!
~Kristy

Order it Online: Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

A little tidbit of my life

It's finally snowing!!!! This probably isn't a lot for a ton of you guys but it's been coming down for a few days now and it's supposed to continue until Thursday! This is the courtyard outside my art class.. We usually sit out there but it was kind of hard!

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Alright, I finished "Forever" last night! I'm sort of having mixed emotions about finishing the series because as much as I loved the story and the characters, "Forever" seemed to go on... FOREVER! There were some parts in it that I just couldn't get through very easily because it didn't grab me like the other two did. Did anyone else feel like that? I really did love it but it wasn't my favourite. WARNING: There will be spoilers ahead for those who have not read Linger.

In "Forever" the story revolves around Grace, Sam, Cole and Isabel again. Grace is now a wolf, so she is shifting uncontrollably. Sam and Cole are intent on finding her, Sam because... he loves her and Cole because he is trying to find a cure for the toxin. Isabel's father has gotten the state to approve an aerial hunt on the wolves after there is an attack (thanks to our dear Shelby). As the time passes, Sam, Isabel and Cole rush to either stop the hunt or move the wolves, while finding a cure. Grace has the problems of being 'missing', while Sam is the police's main suspect.

I really did enjoy this book, but it took me some time to get through it. I think my favourite book of the series was "Linger" but I don't know exactly how to classify them all into 1st, 2nd and 3rd. They were all really amazing! I'm so glad I got to read these books. The only thing I will say was that I was quite disappointed by the ending of "Forever". It feels as if there should be another book! Did anyone else feel like that as well? Let me know what you thought of the series and how you enjoyed it! I'm sad to be leaving the world of the Wolves but it's always on my book shelf when I want to immerse myself into them once again!

Does anyone else have a ton of snow!? I'll post a picture of this morning later. :)

~Kristy

Order it Online: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

The Vampire Academy series has 6 books plus a new spin-off series called Bloodlines. I'll totally review Bloodlines soon, but I just wanted to know if anyone wanted individual reviews for each of Richelle Mead's VA books? I was thinking in this I'd just tell you guys about my love for this series in general and in the comments let me know if you want one for every book. :)

• I could tell you everything that goes on in the series but that would take all day. I'll just tell you what you need to know. There are three types of vampires:
• Moroi- Living vampires, does not kill for blood, uses magic representing one of the five elements (Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Spirit- the latter is very rare)
• Strigoi- Undead vampires that are made, not born. They kill for blood and are vicious, soulless creatures of the night.
• Dhampir- Half Moroi-Half human, most grow up to become Moroi guardians, protecting them from the wrath of Strigoi.

Rose is a dhampir sworn to protect moroi princess Lissa Dragomir. They are best friends who escaped their boarding school St. Vladimirs Academy after the death of Lissa's family. When they are dragged back, Rose has to overcome miraculous obstacles to keep Lissa alive while trying to fight her attraction to Dimitri, her insanely good looking instructor. 

These books were one of the most impossible series to put down. I loved them the minute I started reading the first one and afterwards, it took me all of 10 days to read all 6. They are most definitely romantic and extremely suspenseful. Honestly I think that if the right guy wanted to read them, he'd be sure to like them as well. There's a lot of action and adventure and Rose is not the type of character you get bored of very easily. She's determined and strong and not some needy whimpering girl. Honestly I'd suggest these books to anyone who likes fantasy books. Trust me, I was so tired of the vampire fanatics but these are so not sparkly, cold vampires. (I love Twilight, I'm just stating how different they are).

Out of any books I'll review, these are ones that I recommend with all my heart! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did if you do decide to go pick one up!

~Kristy

Order them online:
Vampire Academy (book 1)
Frostbite (book 2)
Shadow Kiss (book 3)
Blood Promise (book 4)
Spirit Bound (book 5)
Last Sacrifice (book 6)

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Hey guys! I'm almost done Forever, the third book of this trilogy but I thought it would be a good idea to do my review on Linger before I know all that happens in the end. WARNING: There may be some spoilers in this if you have not already read Shiver.

Linger was really impressive. I normally don't enjoy the 2nd book of a series for some reason, I think it's because they never really truly live up to the 1st. But Linger was so amazing, I almost loved it more than Shiver. It was a lot more suspenseful, but not in a 'scary' way. There was a lot of dramatic events that happened in this book that seemed to tie it together quite nicely considering that now we have four characters we follow, instead of just Grace and Sam. We get to see a lot more of Isabel, Jack's younger sister and we also meet Cole. Cole was one of my favourite characters in the end of this book, but it took me a while to warm up to him. Cole is one of the new wolves Beck created, but for some reason he can't seem to stay a wolf for very long, even though that's what he wants. I loved the tension between Cole and Isabel that started really fast within the novel. It was nice to have a different type of romance in the book, instead of the perfect charming romance of Grace and Sam. (I don't mean to say that their relationship is perfect, because obviously... it's not, considering the events that pass through the book.) There is A LOT of stuff happening with Grace's parents once they start to realise how serious Grace and Sam are, but they don't want to believe it. Plus, there's ever the question of why Grace isn't a wolf.

Linger was definitely great, I don't know how I'll be able to decide which of these books was my favourite! As soon as I'm done Forever I'll post how I liked it and I'll try and decide which one I liked the most! If you've read these books comment below and let me know how you liked them!

Have a great day!
~Kristy

Order it online: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I bought the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy on Boxing Day, along with a bunch of other books. I had heard a lot of good things about them and wanted to read them but because I had also grabbed two books I had been waiting for for a long time, I put them on my bookshelf and didn't look at them until after I had read the two new books plus eight others... then I was finally out of books... so trying to get out of the Vampire Academy mindset, I pulled out Shiver and IMMEDIATELY FELL IN LOVE. I cannot believe I waited to read these as long as I did. Literally, it was Wednesday night that I started Shiver and I'm now halfway through Forever, the third and final book. I'll do separate posts for each book, because they so deserve them, but honestly, it took me less than 24 hours to read these books, because I could not put them down. It's not that Shiver was entirely suspenseful but I was so enthralled in Sam and Grace's relationship. So.. that was a really long intro, but now I'll just get to the gist of it...

Sam Roth is a werewolf, but not one with silver bullets and full moons. The wolves shift in the winter time, when it becomes cold and then become humans again when it's spring. I could go on and on about the way it all works but I'd get carried away. So anyways, when his pack attacks a little girl, he saves her for a reason that can only be described as love at first sight. But the thing is, he was a wolf.. and it's not some freaky mystical werewolf like from Harry Potter or something, but a real wolf. They lose all their human feelings and inhibitions. So something about Grace made Sam become human again. But after she was bitten, she never changed. They suspect it had something to do with her father accidentally locking her in the car on the hottest day of the year shortly after the attack. So Sam then proceeds to watch her while he is a wolf, and in the summers work up the nerve to talk to her as a human. But, of course that always falls through. So one night, Grace is heading home after finding out hunters are trying to kill the wolves in the woods behind her house, she finds human Sam naked on her back porch. His eyes are what tip her off that he is her wolf. They then fall in love almost immediately, while trying to keep Sam human, since it is September and he should be a wolf according to the laws of his kind.

The entire book is really captivating if you like a great love story. The whole time I was reading it I was torn between wanting Sam to stay human for them to have a great long life together and wanting Grace to become a wolf too, as you can tell the author tips towards that angle a little bit. Of course I won't tell you the ending, because that would be rude but I will tell you that this book is incredible and I'm sure that if you like Twilight, you'll love it. If you didn't, but are still a sucker for romance then I'd suggest these anyways.

Order it online: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Hope you enjoy!
~Kristy

Welcome!

Hi! Welcome to "A Little Shelf of Heaven"! I've been wanting to start a bog for a long time now, as I am an aspiring journalist and I thought it would be a great way to start getting my voice out there. I'm an avid reader... no, I'm an absolute book fanatic. In just the past 14 days of January, I've already read 11 books... (Not joking.. at all.) Which, honestly, that number kind of scares me! I absolutely adore almost all the books I've ever read, because I'm just a sucker for an exciting plot or a terribly romantic love story or a confusing mystery. I started this blog for two reasons: for one I want to be able to give  my opinion on the books I loved, the books I liked or even the rare book that I didn't particularly enjoy. I'm hoping not to give away to many spoilers, but I will put a warning at the beginning of each post if there are any.  But mostly, I just want to inspire people to pick up a book, curl up on the couch and escape their lives for a little bit.

~Kristy
"Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book." ~Author Unknown