Wednesday, April 26, 2017

"Waiting On" Wednesday #28: Flame in the Mist

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


Title: Flame in the Mist
Author: by Renee Ahdieh
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Expected publication: May 16th
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy


Lara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the New York Times bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.

The daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has long known her place—she may be an accomplished alchemist, whose cunning rivals that of her brother Kenshin, but because she is not a boy, her future has always been out of her hands. At just seventeen years old, Mariko is promised to Minamoto Raiden, the son of the emperor's favorite consort—a political marriage that will elevate her family's standing. But en route to the imperial city of Inako, Mariko narrowly escapes a bloody ambush by a dangerous gang of bandits known as the Black Clan, who she learns has been hired to kill her before she reaches the palace.

Dressed as a peasant boy, Mariko sets out to infiltrate the ranks of the Black Clan, determined to track down the person responsible for the target on her back. But she's quickly captured and taken to the Black Clan’s secret hideout, where she meets their leader, the rebel ronin Takeda Ranmaru, and his second-in-command, his best friend Okami. Still believing her to be a boy, Ranmaru and Okami eventually warm to Mariko, impressed by her intellect and ingenuity. As Mariko gets closer to the Black Clan, she uncovers a dark history of secrets, of betrayal and murder, which will force her to question everything she's ever known.


 
What are you waiting for this Wednesday?  Let us know in the comment section below.

-Shon







Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday #68: Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly NOT Want To Read A Book





Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly NOT Want To Read A Book -- tell us all your book turn offs!



Tina's Picks - Book Turn Offs

Weak Characters
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29519514-broken-prince

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23299513-the-shadow-queen


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30183.Marked


Weak Story

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6186357-the-maze-runner?ac=1&from_search=true

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17399160-snow-like-ashes

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6487308-fallen?ac=1&from_search=true

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10507293-the-selection

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10637748-the-pledge

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11614718-delirium?ac=1&from_search=true


What are some of your bookish pet peeves?



Friday, April 21, 2017

Friday 56! April 21, 2017



The Friday 56 is a weekly blog meme hosted by Freda’s Voice

1. Grab a book, any book.
2. Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
3. Find any sentence, or few, just don't spoil it.


4. Post it.

"I tell myself, as sternly as possible, that is how things work here. We do dangerous things and people die. People die, and we move on to the next dangerous thing. The sooner that sinks in, the better chance I have at surviving initiation." 




Have a great weekend!

Xo,

Wendy

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Thursday Thrills 4/20/2017

TGIT
This week was a pretty tough week, and all I want is pizza and Netflix for the weekend. I'm also going to be honest and say that I'm not making any progress on my TBR. ahhhh. Don't Judge Me. I've been sucked into binge watching multiple shows, which brings me to today's Thursday Thrills! I'm going to share a few of my favorite binge worthy shows and in no particular order because they're all great. So hope you enjoy :)

1. Game of Thrones: Nine noble families fight for control over the mythical lands of Westeros; A forgotten race returns after being dormant for thousands of years.

Image result for game of thrones wallpaper

2. The Client List: Riley is a single mother living in a small Texas town and leading a shocking double life.



3. Nashville: A fading country music star comes into conflict with a rising young star.

Nashville Poster

4. 13 Reasons Why: Follows teenager Clay Jensen, in his quest to uncover the story behind his classmate and crush, Hannah, and her decision to end her life.



5. Big Little Lies: Tells the tale of three mothers of first graders, whose apparently perfect lives unravel to the point of murder.

Big Little Lies Poster

Xo,
Wendy 

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

"Waiting On" Wednesday #27: Always and Forever, Lara Jean

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


Title: Always and Forever, Lara Jean
Author: by Jenny Han
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Expected publication: May 2nd
 Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance


Lara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the New York Times bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.

Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding.

But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind.

When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?


 
What are you waiting for this Wednesday?  Let us know in the comment section below.

-Shon







Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday #67: Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want To Read A Book





Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want To Read A Book (any topic or theme or ANYTHING (ie if X person recommends it) that will make you instantly want to pick up a book.)





Tina's Picks - I absolutely adore retellings.  I don't always pick one up but the story needs to capture my interest and have a new perspective. 

My current reads are Beauty & The Beast retellings:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24485589-hunted?from_search=true
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15839984-cruel-beauty
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16096824-a-court-of-thorns-and-roses?ac=1&from_search=true
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13206760-scarlet
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22544764-uprooted
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8089.Rose_Daughter
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6956621-beastly
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17428643-the-beast-within

Monday, April 17, 2017

Monday Reviews - This Song Will Save Your Life




This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
Published October 10th 2013 by Macmillan Children's Books
Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Coming of Age, Contemporary, Romance, Music, High School, Teen
Page: 276
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Review by: Tina
 

Synopsis 

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, This Song Will Save Your Life is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.



Review / Thoughts

This is such a refreshing fun read! At first, it reminded me of 13 Reasons Why, since my mind is still on the Netflix series I watched only a week earlier, then slowly the story unravels.

--------------------

There is such overwhelming sadness and loneliness in this story. There were several occasions when I looked into my own adolescence and remembered how difficult it was to be a teenager. The lack of self-worth, the struggles of acceptance, all were conveyed heavily in the story.

When Elise discovers she can express herself through her love for music, her world changes. I love the diverse list of songs mentioned in the book. When I heard We Are Your Friends by Justice vs. Simian, bright colors and feelings burst into my mind. I envision the power of music and see the crowd of dancing bodies jumping to the songs Elise plays. I love how the story revolves around music. It gives a magical essence. And Elise sees the fruits of her efforts. Very empowering and uplifting. It doesn't hurt that I'm also reminded of the movie We Are Your Friends starring Zac Efron. Another powerful story about the love of music.



Thursday, April 13, 2017

Cover Reveal : Wild Wood


Wild Wood by Jadie Jones



Tanzy Hightower is not crazy. At least that’s what she tells herself. She also tells herself that the shadows stalking her in the woods aren’t living, murderous beings. 


On the third anniversary of her father’s death, Tanzy revisits the woods and the shadows that took him. She quickly realizes those monsters lurking in the dark now have their sights set on her. Neither Tanzy nor life as she knows it escapes unchanged when she is introduced to a world…unseen. 

Two strangers seem too willing to help her navigate her new reality: Vanessa Andrews, a doctor’s trophy wife with a southern drawl, and Lucas, a quiet, scarred man with timing that borders on either perfect or suspect. But Tanzy has secrets of her own. Desperate for answers and revenge, Tanzy must put her faith in their hands as her past comes calling and the shadows close in.

With wild blood coursing through her veins, will Tanzy’s choices shed light on the shadows of her past, or will they bring forth the darkness within her?

Published by: The Parliament House





Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday #66: Most Unique Books I've Read





Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Of The Most Unique Books I've Read. Some variations: top ten unique sounding books on my TBR, top ten most unique books I've read in X genre, etc





Tina's Picks - These are some of the books I found uplifting.

Books set in high school / Books that deals with bullying

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15777621-this-song-will-save-your-life
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18304322-dumplin?from_search=true
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28686840-holding-up-the-universe
 

Books about empowerment

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26073150-a-court-of-mist-and-fury

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23848559-furiously-happy

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17788681-the-stars-never-rise

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47956.Daughter_of_the_Blood

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16068905-fangirl

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23846013-the-rose-society

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15711341-written-in-red



What are your thoughts of these books?

Friday, April 7, 2017

Friday 56! April 7, 2017


The Friday 56 is a weekly blog meme hosted by Freda’s Voice

1. Grab a book, any book.
2. Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
3. Find any sentence, or few, just don't spoil it.
4. Post it.

" I don't think I realized how true that bullet was until I fired it at my mom. Saying it. I do feel relief. I'm not dying. I'm not dying."

Behold the Bones (Beware the Wild, #2)

Goodreads: Behold the Bones

Have a great weekend!

Xo,
Wendy

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Thursday Book Haul

Calling all booklovers! Happy Thursday and come see what's new in my bookshelf ☺. I managed to get a few books and decided to share since I hardly document my new purchases hehe. All books were bought from BookOutlet and I'm so excited.

Dead Girls Society by Michelle Krys


Dead Girls Society

Hope is sick of everyone treating her like she’s breakable. Sure, she has cystic fibrosis (basically really bad lungs), but she’s tired of being babied by her mom and her overprotective best friend, Ethan, not to mention worrying about paying for her expensive medication and how she’s going to afford college. And she’s bored with life in her run-down New Orleans suburb.

When an invitation arrives from a mysterious group that calls itself the Society, Hope jumps at the chance for some excitement. This could be her ticket out. All she has to do is complete a few dares and she might win some real money.

But the Society isn’t all it seems . . . and soon Hope finds that playing the game isn’t a choice—it’s a requirement.


Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Drink, Slay, Love

Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast—as the entrees.

The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?



The Gilded Cage by Lucinda Gray

The Gilded Cage

After growing up on a farm in Virginia, Walthingham Hall in England seems like another world to sixteen-year-old Katherine Randolph. Her new life, filled with the splendor of upper-class England in the 1820s, is shattered when her brother mysteriously drowns. Katherine is expected to observe the mourning customs and get on with her life, but she can't accept that her brother's death was an accident.

A bitter poacher prowls the estate, and strange visitors threaten the occupants of the house. There's a rumor, too, that a wild animal stalks the woods of Walthingham. Can Katherine retain her sanity long enough to find out the truth? Or will her brother's killer claim her life, too?


Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins


Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3)


Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.


Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

Tell Me Three Things


Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.

In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?

Julie Buxbaum mixes comedy and tragedy, love and loss, pain and elation, in her debut YA novel filled with characters who will come to feel like friends.


Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1)



Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.  




Twelve Days of Dash and Lilly, The by

The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily

Dash and Lily have had a tough year since they first fell in love among the shelves of their favorite bookstore. Lily’s beloved grandfather suffered a heart attack, and his difficult road to recovery has taken a major toll on her typically sunny disposition.

With only twelve days left until Christmas—Lily’s
favorite time of the year—Dash, Lily’s brother Langston, and their closest friends must take Manhattan by storm to help Lily recapture the unique holiday magic of a glittering, snow-covered New York City in December.


Vassa in the Night

Vassa in the Night

In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on cute shoes, go to parties in warehouses, drink on rooftops at sunset, and tell themselves they’ve arrived. A whole lot of Brooklyn is like that now—but not Vassa’s working-class neighborhood.

In Vassa’s neighborhood, where she lives with her stepmother and bickering stepsisters, one might stumble onto magic, but stumbling away again could become an issue. Babs Yagg, the owner of the local convenience store, has a policy of beheading shoplifters—and sometimes innocent shoppers as well. So when Vassa’s stepsister sends her out for light bulbs in the middle of night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission.

But Vassa has a bit of luck hidden in her pocket, a gift from her dead mother. Erg is a tough-talking wooden doll with sticky fingers, a bottomless stomach, and a ferocious cunning. With Erg’s help, Vassa just might be able to break the witch’s curse and free her Brooklyn neighborhood. But Babs won’t be playing fair…
 


A Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody

A Week of Mondays

Sixteen-year-old Ellison Sparks is having a serious case of the Mondays. She gets a ticket for running a red light, she manages to take the world’s worst school picture, she bombs softball try-outs and her class election speech (note to self: never trust a cheerleader when she swears there are no nuts in her bake-sale banana bread), and to top it all off, Tristan, her gorgeous rocker boyfriend suddenly dumps her. For no good reason!
As far as Mondays go, it doesn’t get much worse than this. And Ellie is positive that if she could just do it all over again, she would get it right. So when she wakes up the next morning to find she’s reliving the exact same day, she knows what she has to do: stop her boyfriend from breaking up with her. But it seems no matter how many do-overs she gets or how hard Ellie tries to repair her relationship, Tristan always seems bent set on ending it. Will Ellie ever figure out how to fix this broken day? Or will she be stuck in this nightmare of a Monday forever?

And that is all folks, Happy Thursday!
Xo,
Wendy