Tuesday, May 27, 2014

We Are The Golden Review by Dana Reinhardt

Title: The Golden
Author: Dana Reinhardt
Source: E-Galley for review
Series:  Standalone
Rating: 4/5








Goodreads Summary: 

Nell knows a secret about her perfect, beautiful sister Layla. If she tells, it could blow their world apart.
When Nell and Layla were little, Nell used to call them Nellaya. Because to Nell, there was no difference between where she started and her adored big sister ended. They're a unit; divorce made them rely on each other early on, so when one pulls away, what is the other to do? But now, Nell's a freshman in high school and Layla is changing, secretive. And then Nell discovers why. Layla is involved with one of their teachers. And even though Nell tries to support Layla, to understand that she's happy and in love, Nell struggles with her true feelings: it's wrong, and she must do something about it.


Nell believes that her older sister, Layla is apart of her and that her older sister is perfect, but when Laya starts to keep a secret that could destroy her family, Nell is at a loss for what to do.

The main character Nell has always looked up to her older sister and felt like her and Layla were connected and nothing could separate them, but as Layla gets older she starts to pull away from Nell and she starts to keep secrets from not only Nell but her friends and family. I really liked Nell, she starts off as this sweet innocent girl, but as she gets older, more things start becoming apparent to her and she grows as a person and she knows what she needs to do to help her sister.

The story is told in second person tense. Nell is explaining how things with her and her sister came apart and what it led to. The story sort of abruptly ends without a real resolution. I would have liked to see where things went with Nell and Layla. I went into this book not knowing much and I think it is the best way to approach this book. I highly recommend this book. 

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Stacking the Shelves (119)/ Unhaul #3

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

I had my bachelorette party last weekend which included a trip to the BookCloseOuts store which was amazing and since I came home with a lot of books I unhauled a few to make room. 


Bought New


Forgotten- Catherine McKenzie
Fire with Fire- Jenny Han
Texas Gothic- Rosemary Clement-Moore
Through to You- Emily Hainsworth
Madapple- Christina Meldrum ($1!)
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There- Catherynne M. Valente
City of a Thousand Dolls- Miriam Forster
Teeth- Hannah Moskowitz
American Born Chinese- Gene Luen Yang
Fall For Anything- Courtney Summer

SYNC Audio (Free)

The Time Machine- H.G. Wells

Borrowed from the Library

Fly on the Wall- E. Lockhart
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life- Bryan Lee O'Malley
Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong- Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks
The Enchanted- Rene Denfield
The Prince and the Guard- Kiera Cass

Unhauled
The Madman's Daughter- Megan Shepherd
When You Were Here- Daisy Whitney
Barefoot Gen- Keiji Nakazawa 
Delirium- Lauren Oliver
White Cat- Holly Black (Found the gorgeous cover for $4 at BookCloseOuts so I am changing out my original cover copy)
My Last Kiss- Bethany Neal (really liked it, but passing it along to a friend who wants to read it)

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Bout of books Wrap Up

Bout of Books


My List
Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend- Katie Finn
The Girl with All the Gifts- M.R. Carey
Hungry- H.A. Swain
My Last Kiss- Bethany Neal (currently reading)

I only finished the one book during the bout of book read a thon and I didn't keep up with my updates since my week got soo busy. I am currently catching up with my YouTube then hopefully I will finally finish My Last Kiss. I am really liking it but my schedule is not liking me too much.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Unboxing #2 (Bookstore/Charity Shop)

This is the last part of the giant spring cleaning un -haul. I also cleaned a little bit of the basement while the fiancee was gone for the weekend, but the rest of basement is up to him. These are the last of my books in my unhaul. I did give a few of these away to friends :).

419- Will Ferguson
Jessica Z- Shawn Klomparens
Warm Bodies- Issac Marion
The Man Who Listens to Horses- Monty Roberts
Invisible Darkness- Stephen WiIlliams
An Empty Death- Laura Wilson
Broken Ground- Jack Hodgins
The Black Echo- Michael Connelly

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Bout of Books Day 2-3 Update

Bout of Books


My List
Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend- Katie Finn
The Girl with All the Gifts- M.R. Carey
Hungry- H.A. Swain
My Last Kiss- Bethany Neal (currently reading)

Day 2: I read only 20 pages yesterday sadly. I was super busy after work and once I got home I was too tired to do anything productive.

Day 3: I have not read any today but I am going to do so now and hopefully get a little reading done. I would like to read to at least page 100 tonight.

Page total:197

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Review of Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn

Title:  Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend 
Author: Katie Finn
Source: From the publisher
Series: Yes
Rating: 3/5








Goodreads Summary:
Gemma just got dumped and is devastated. She finds herself back in the Hamptons for the summer—which puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friend that she wronged five years earlier. Do people hold grudges that long? When a small case of mistaken identity causes everyone, including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh, to think she’s someone else, Gemma decides to go along with it. Gemma's plan is working (she's finding it hard to resist Josh), but she's finding herself in embarrassing situations (how could a bathing suit fall apart like that!?). Is it coincidence or is someone trying to expose her true identity? And how will Josh react if he finds out who she is? 

The premise of this book sounded interesting. It is about a girl named Gemma who is trying to make an amends for a wrong she committed when she was 11.  She hurt her best friend and she has not spoken to her since then. Gemma never planned on going back to the Hampton's, but circumstances cause her to have to go back and face what she ran away from.

The novel starts when Gemma's summer starts going downhill. Her mom tells her that she will be spending the summer with her dad in the Hampton's which she has avoided since she was 11.

Gemma is a hard character to like. She seems so naive, and there was so many things that I think someone else would pick up on the things that were going on but she was completely oblivious. This was my biggest issue with the book. I could not connect with Gemma at all. I found her to be such a frustrating character. The second big issue I had with this book was how she treated her ex-best friend Hallie. She decided when she sent to the Hampton's for the summer that she is going to make amends with Hallie, but when she see's her at the bus station she lies immediately about her name and things go downhill from there. Gemma has a lot of chances to make things right with Hallie and every time she blows it.  The love interest Josh, turns out to be Hallie's brother which was a little predictible. Josh is a super sweet guy who really treats everyone so well and I am looking forward to see how the story is going to play out between him and Gemma and between himself and his sister.

There is a lots of hints towards a book that everyone seems to be reading which makes me curious if it is going to play out in the future novels. I think I know what where the book is going to come in but I could be completely wrong and there is no connection with this novel and Gemma just notices a lot of people reading it. The plot twist was pretty obvious, I was hoping for more from this novel which I feel it sadly lacked. I liked it, but it took me quite awhile to get through it.

I think I will read the second book in this series. I liked the ending, I am really interested to see where things are going to go from here. I think that Gemma is going to become a much more interesting character in the next novel in the series.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Day 1 Bout of Books Wrap-up

Bout of Books


My List
Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend- Katie Finn
The Girl with All the Gifts- M.R. Carey
Hungry- H.A. Swain
My Last Kiss- Bethany Neal

Day 1: I did a little bit of reading, I actually finished Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend before the read a thon started and I picked up The Black Echo and I finished it . I picked up My Last Kiss and I read 24 pages.

Page total:177

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Unboxing #1 (Bookstore/Charity Shop)

I did some spring cleaning and I decided to clean my bookshelves out and I got rid of a pile of books since I told the fiancee he had to clean the basement with his stuff in it is only fair. I am going to take some of these books to my local bookstore for credit and some to a charity shop.

My Unhaul
It Looked Good On Paper- Bill Fawcett

Harriet The Spy- Louise Fitzhugh
Walk Of Fame- Sharon Krum
Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales- Brothers Grimm
Prada and Prejudice- Mandy Hubbard
My Life Next Door- Huntley Fitzpatrick
I Capture the Castle- Dodie Smith
Treasure Island- Robert Louise Stevenson
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children- Ransom Riggs
A Fine Balance- Rohinton Mistry
Inaccurate Realities Volume 1: Fear- Multiple authors
Ophelia- Lisa Klein
Bloodlands- Timothy Snyder
Graveminder- Melissa Marr
The Judas Strain- James Rollins
Evening Class- Maeve Binchy
Tara Road- Maeve Binchy
Circle of Friends- Maeve Binchy
The Copper Beech- Maeve Binchy
The Book of Fate- Brad Meltzer
The First Counsel- Brad Meltzer
Sanibel Flats- Randy Wayne White
Heart Sick- Chelsea Cain
Dirty Laundry- Tori Carrington
A Beautiful Mind- Sylvia Nasar
The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical- Shane Claiborne
Roots- Alex Haley
Witch Hunt- Ian Rankin
War and Peace- Leo Tolstoy 
Hangman- Michael Slade
Firebird- Janice Graham
Half of a Yellow Sun- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
One Fifth Avenue- Candace Bushnell
Lipstick Jungle- Candace BushnellPressure Point- William P. Wood
The Stone Diaries- Carol Shields
When God was A Rabbit- Sarah Winman
Redeeming Love- Francine Rivers
The Coming of the Third Reich- Richard J. Evans


Thursday, May 8, 2014

Bout of Books Read a Thon 10.0

Bout of Books
 
This is going to be a super short list for the read-a-thon since I really need to finish everything up for the wedding but I wanted to participate because I absolutely love this read a thon. I have a few review books I really need to get through so my list is review books only this time.

My List
Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend- Katie Finn
The Girl with All the Gifts- M.R. Carey
Hungry- H.A. Swain
My Last Kiss- Bethany Neal 

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Review of The Blessings by Elise Juska

Title: The Blessings
Author: Elsie Juska
Source: Book Blogger Meet Up
Series:  Standalone
Rating: 4.5/5








Goodreads Summary:
When John Blessing dies and leaves behind two small children, the loss reverberates across his extended family for years to come. His young widow, Lauren, finds solace in her large clan of in-laws, while his brother's wife Kate pursues motherhood even at the expense of her marriage. John's teenage nephew Stephen finds himself involved in an act of petty theft that takes a surprising turn, and nephew Alex, a gifted student, travels to Spain and considers the world beyond his family's Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood. Through departures and arrivals, weddings and reunions, THE BLESSINGS reveals the interior worlds of the members of a close-knit Irish-Catholic family and the rituals that unite them.

I had not heard of this book, but it came in my goody bag from the book blogger meet up so I was determined to give it a chance. This book surprised me in a really good way. I loved the characters and their story and I hated putting this book down because I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

This is a story about a family called the Blessings. They are a large, tight knit family come to every single even for anyone in the family. They never miss a birthday or holiday, anything involving anyone in the family the entire extended family shows up. The story rotates between different family members. We get an in depth into this complex and beautiful family. The family is very close, but in every individual family unit there is a lot of dark secrets. The story picks up when Lauren finds herself a young widow with two young children. As Lauren learns to leave without her husband, his family surrounds her and helps her heal.

I loved this book so much, I went into it without knowing much about it and I think it is the best way to approach this book. When things are revealed you want to feel that shock and surprise it really adds to the story.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Stacking the shelves (118)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Free on Kindle
Red at Night- Katie McGarry

Borrowed from the LIbrary
Faking Normal- Courtney C. Stevens

Friday, May 2, 2014

April Wrap Up



The List
The Blessings- Elise Juska
Divergent- Veronica Roth (re-read)
Never Fall Down- Patricia McCormick (kindle)
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B- Teresa Toten
Night Film- Marisha Pessel (started-need to finish)
Manor of Secrets- Katherine Longshore
Split Second- Kasie West

The other goals I setting for myself this month:
1) Buy less books than I read
2) Donate at least one book
3) Re-read at least one book

Book I own: 13
Borrowed: 8
E-Books: 7
Total: 21

Night Film- Marisha Pessel 
The Little Android- Marissa Meyer
The Queen's Army- Marissa Meyer
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B- Teresa Toten
Split Second- Kasie West
Divergent- Veronica Roth (re-read)
Manor of Secrets- Katherine Longshore
Never Fall Down- Patricia McCormick
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe- Benjamin Alire Saenz
The Blessings- Elise Juska
The Sound of Letting Go- Stasia Ward Kehoe
Ladle Rat Rotten Hut- Cameron Jace
Mary Mary Quite Contrary- Cameron Jace
Blood Apples- Cameron Jace
Beautiful Bastard- Christina Lauren
Beautiful Bitch- Christina Lauren
Panic- Lauren Oliver
The Kitchen House- Kathleen Grissom
Something Real- Heather Demetrios
We Are the Goldens- Dana Reinhardt (for review)
The Pigman- Paul Zindel

Thursday, May 1, 2014

May TBR

I a keeping the list as short as possible since I have a month to my wedding and I need to do a lot of stuff this month which sadly cuts into my reading time. I am going to read all of the things once this wedding is done :). It is going to be glorious but until then here is my (hopefully) not too ambitious TBR.

The other goals I setting for myself this month:
1) Buy less books than I read
2) Donate at least one book
3) Re-read at least one book

The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho (re-read)
The Black Echo- Michael Connelly
The Girl With All the Gifts- M.R. Carey
Dreams of Gods and Monsters- Laini Taylor
Ignite Me- Tahereh Mafi
Defiance- C.J. Redwine
Hungry- H.A. Swain (for review)
Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend- Katie Finn (for review)
My Last Kiss- Bethany Neal (for review)