It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's designed to let readers know what books you have just finished reading and what books are next on your TBR pile.
Two weeks of school left, peeps!!! I can't wait to get out of school and catch up on some reading!! Yes!!
So, my reading has been sort of slow this week because the end of the school is insane for me. But this is what's going on:
I really liked this one. I can't wait to get my hands on the next one! I was pleasantly surprised because I didn't think I would like this one quite so much. It is narrated by a guy too, which was a nice change of pace.
When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.
Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?
Initial reaction
Oh, how I love chick lit when it’s well done!! And this one was sooooo well done!
Cover story
Love, love, love it!
The title is cute and catchy and the cover is cute and catchy. Just perfect for a book that is cute and
catchy!
What’s the Story?
Ellie lives in a small town in Maine and one day, she
accidentally receives an email that got sent to the wrong address. To make a long story short, she starts
emailing the boy (they do figure out that they are a boy and a girl pretty
quickly!), never knowing that he is really a very famous teen movie star. When he sees an opportunity to move his current
film on location to Ellie’s town, he does it because he really likes talking to
her in emails and wants to see what could happen in person.
This is where the story picks up and then moves into the ins
and outs of dating a celebrity. There
are some rather unusual complications in this story, however. I won’t give them away, but just let it
suffice to say that nothing about this relationship is easy.
The story and the characters however, are easy……easy to
love!! I really liked Ellie. She felt very down-to-earth and she dealt
with the complexities and hardships of her life without letting them get her
down or make her jaded. In fact, it was
probably the hardships she had growing up that prepared her for the hardships
of a relationship with a celebrity.
I loved Graham as well.
He wasn’t conceited at all and he complimented Ellie very well. I felt sorry for him a lot. He was just a guy who liked to act and had to
deal with lots of other crap in order to do what he loved.
One thing that was nice about this book was seeing glimpses
of how Ellie and Graham built their relationship over months of emailing one
another. And even so, it wasn’t
insta-love when they first meet. It was
a gradual getting to know one another all over again. But that was the best part! You know those books that give you flutters
in your tummy because you feel exactly what the girl is feeling? This was one of those books! I just wanted to stay in this world
forever.
Just to give you a hint of how much I loved this book, there
are only a couple other contemporaries that I have loved this much. For me, this book ranks right up there with
Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill, Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson and
Ditched by Robin Mellom. I loved those 3
contemporaries and this one is now in that group.
If you want a fun contemporary with a beautiful love story
and 2 really down-to-earth characters, this one is it. And now I have to run read The Statistical
Probability of Love at First Sight.
The Soundtrack
A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton
Dreams by The Cranberries
Oh, Is It Love? By Hellogoodbye
Kiss Me by Six Pence None the Richer
I Knew I Loved You by Savage Garden
When You Say Nothing at All by Alison Krauss
The Final Grade
My final grade for this book is an A. It’s been a week and a half since I read it
and I’m sitting here writing this review with a huge grin on my face because of
how much I enjoyed this book. If that’s
not a good reason, I don’t know what is!
There’s an island off the coast of Maine that’s not on any modern map.
Shrouded in mist and protected by a deadly reef, Trespass Island is home to a community of people who guard the island and its secrets from outsiders. Seventeen-year-old Delia grew up in Kansas, but has come here in search of her family and answers to her questions: Why didn’t her mother ever talk about Trespass Island? Why did she fear the open water? But Delia’s not welcome and soon finds herself enmeshed in a frightening and supernatural world where ancient Greek symbols adorn the buildings and secret ceremonies take place on the beach at night.
Sean Gunn, a handsome young lobsterman, befriends Delia and seems willing to risk his life to protect her. But it’s Jax, the coldly elusive young man she meets at the water’s edge, who finally makes Delia understand the real dangers of life on the island. Delia is going to have to fight to survive. Because there are monsters here. And no one ever leaves Trespass alive.
Initial reaction
I liked this twist in the story elements. Plus, I like mythology!
Cover Story
I like the title and after reading the book, I understand
it, which is always a plus. I also like
this cover. It has the water, which is
important and it has the girl, but luckily, there’s no girl in the water in a
prom dress!!!
What’s the Story?
Delia is an orphan.
Her mother passed away and she doesn’t know who her father is. She goes from foster home to foster home
until finally, she decides to search out her grandmother on this mysterious
island off the coast of Maine called Trespass Island. She has a bit of trouble getting there
because no one ever goes there, but she finally makes it. Her Gran is anything but happy to see her at
first and tries to send her back to the mainland. This is when all hell breaks loose and the
story takes off.
I really enjoyed this one.
I am a longtime lover of Greek mythology, from the first time my grubby
little elementary school hands picked up a copy of D’Aulaire’s Greek
Mythology. That book was my constant
companion throughout elementary school and I think I still have parts of it
memorized. So, I love books that have
Greek mythology and I especially love books that have good twists on the Greek
mythology. Revel is one of those books.
Now, my husband just laughs out loud when we show up in the
YA section of the bookstore and he sees “Paranormal Teen Romance” followed by
“Vampires”, “Werewolves” and “Fairies”.
But he about busted a gut when he saw “Mermaids” added to that on the
shelf one day. And I know why. People imagine Ariel and Prince Eric in book
form. Let me assure you that Revel is
not The Little Mermaid. In fact, it was
pretty creepy in some parts and pretty grotesque throughout. It utilizes a lot of sea lore mixed in with
the mythology and I really like the novel’s take on the siren mythology.
In fact, one of the only things that took away from this
novel’s storyline for me was the dreaded…….(drum roll, please)……LOVE
TRIANGLE!!! I am so over that,
people! I just don’t like them any more
and I didn’t like this one either. A lot
of books are starting to either not have a second love interest or they have
one that is so overwhelmingly better that it doesn’t matter anymore. Not this one.
Stop doing this to me! My heart
is too old for this!
Other than the 2 love interests that I liked for different
reasons, this book felt like it had a pretty solid story line. There was adventure, conflict, self-discovery
and a huge calamity to overcome. Even
though it wrapped up rather nicely, there’s room for the story to continue and
I have to say that I would be happy to read some more in this world. So, if you like Greek mythology and stories
that offer a little something different, this is a good novel to pick up.
The Soundtrack
Silence by Sarah MacLachlan
Mystery by Beth Orton
Home by Jack Johnson
Beyond the Sea by Celtic Woman
Crystal by Stevie Nicks
The Old Ways by Loreena McKennitt
Mermaid by Woodland
The Final Grade
My final grade for this is B+. It lost some points for a terrible love triangle, but other than that, I really enjoyed this book. I hope there is another planned.
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's designed to let readers know what books you have just finished reading and what books are next on your TBR pile.
I haven't done one of these in a few weeks, so I'm trying to get going again!
Right now, I'm reading:
Moonset (Legacy of Moonset #1)
Scott Tracey
Moonset, a coven of such promise . . . Until they turned to the darkness.
After the terrorist witch coven known as Moonset was destroyed fifteen years ago—during a secret war against the witch Congress—five children were left behind, saddled with a legacy of darkness. Sixteen-year-old Justin Daggett, son of a powerful Moonset warlock, has been raised alongside the other orphans by the witch Congress, who fear the children will one day continue the destruction their parents started.
A deadly assault by a wraith, claiming to work for Moonset’s most dangerous disciple, Cullen Bridger, forces the five teens to be evacuated to Carrow Mill. But when dark magic wreaks havoc in their new hometown, Justin and his siblings are immediately suspected. Justin sets out to discover if someone is trying to frame the Moonset orphans . . . or if Bridger has finally come out of hiding to reclaim the legacy of Moonset. He learns there are secrets in Carrow Mill connected to Moonset’s origins, and keeping the orphans safe isn’t the only reason the Congress relocated them . . . I just finished reading these books:
There are some things you can’t leave behind… A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.
Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.
Initial reaction
I’m not sure any review can adequately sum up this novel.
Cover story
While the title and cover are perfect for this novel, I’m
not sure that anything so trite should matter when it comes to this book.
What’s the story?
How to do justice for this book with one of my silly
reviews??? I don’t know if I can,
actually. I struggled first of all with
a grade. How can I give an A+ to such a
horrifying novel? But how could I give
it any less? This is one of those books
that is so powerful and, dare I say it, life-changing that it feels wrong to
give it a grade. But because of that
very thing, it deserves nothing less than the highest grade possible.
First, I need to warn you, that this is not a book to be
picked up lightly. This story was
heart-wrenching at the very least. This
book will make you both rejoice in the resilience of the human spirit and weep
at the atrocities that humans are capable of committing. This is a book that will haunt me for
years…..
I grew to love Carey and Nessa so, so much. As a mother, I just wanted to grab them up,
hug them and never let them go again. I
wanted to show them that people could be kind and good to them and shower them
in all sorts of wonderful, good things.
It broke my heart as a reader and as a mother that I couldn’t do
that. It was all the more horrifying for
me as I discovered more and more about just how terrible their ordeal really
had been. (I also wanted to make my own
15 year old sit down and read this so that she could understand just how lucky
she is to have a wonderful family and home, but that’s a whole other story…)
The descriptions in this book of Carey and Nessa’s life in
the woods are so realistic that it is disconcerting. The narrative is gritty and raw and doesn’t
really cover up any of the ugliness they endured. I felt as if I could even smell what their
life was like. It was amazing, actually,
that Emily Murdoch was able to so realistically describe this world that the
girls lived in. Amazing and
horrifying…..
I can’t really say that this is a book that anyone will
enjoy, because if you enjoy it, you probably need therapy. However, it is a book that will resound with
readers because of its intensity and its honest brutality. And in the end, it is a book full of hope in
the ability of the human spirit to survive under the most horrific of
circumstances. This is a book that will
leave you a changed person.
The soundtrack
This may be the hardest soundtrack I’ve ever made…..
Full of Grace by Sarah MacLachlan
Deliver Me by Sarah Brightman
Bad Wisdom by Suzanne Vega
Honestly Okay by Dido
This Is to Mother You by Sinead O’Connor
Fire on Babylon by Sinead O’Connor
The final grade
My final grade for this book is an A+. This book will touch you deeply and
profoundly.
Welcome to the Fun House, my stop on the Spring Blog Carnival!
With summer almost upon us, I'm ready for some fun reading, so I'm sponsoring a challenge and giveaway that's funny! You can win your choice of one of these funny YA books:
Beauty Queens Going Bovine
by Libba Bray by Libba Bray
The Absolutely True My Most Excellent
Diary of a Part-Time Year: A Novel of
Indian by Sherman Love, Mary Poppins
Alexie and Fenway Park by
Steve Kluger
Carter Finally Gets It Swim the Fly
by Brent Crawford by Don Calame
Curveball: The Year The Earth, My Butt
I Lost My Grip and Other Big
by Jordan Sonnenblick Round Things by
Carolyn Mackler
So how do you win one of these books? By sharing something funny, of course! I am always looking for funny things from the Internet, so I want some help finding them! In the comments, leave me a link to the funniest thing you've found recently on the Internet. It could be a picture, a story, a youtube video or anything! Then when you've left the link, just enter using the Rafflecopter! Good luck and I hope you have fun in the Fun House!
Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence have made him one of hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple: weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.
Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal-opportunity collector and doesn't want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:
Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within ten days.
Dante doesn't know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of hell. But after Dante meets the quirky Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect, he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector…and uncover emotions deeply buried.
Initial reaction
Oh Dante! Do I love
you or do I hate you? As a teen girl, I
would have thought you were the s**t, but as the mom of a teen daughter, you
really scare me.
Cover story
I really liked this title because I thought it was short,
sweet and to the point. The cover is
so-so. I mean, let’s face it, boyfriend
on the front is easy on the eyes, but this one is screaming bad romance cover,
so I would have to put it inside of a copy of War and Peace if I were reading
it as an actual book instead of on my Nook.
What’s the Story?
So, Dante Walker is a Collector, which means he’s sort of
like a Mafia hit man, but he works for Satan, running around on earth
collecting souls for Hell. And dude
really is like a Mafia hit man. The only
thing he’s missing is an Italian last name, because he has the first name
covered. Imagine Jersey Shore collecting
souls for the devil, and you’ve probably hit it.
Which is why this book so got on my nerves at the
beginning. I hate Jersey Shore. I think those guys are total idiots, so I was
seriously concerned that I just wouldn’t make it to the end. But then, something miraculous happened.
Dante started to experience growth as a human being. Or as a demon. Whatever.
In fact, Dante’s amount of character growth was probably
comparable to the amount of meaningless hook-ups experienced by the whole cast
of Jersey Shore. And suddenly, he was no
longer making me think of Pauly D, which was a very good thing. In fact, I started to actually like him.
He’s been sent to collect the soul of poor, hapless Charlie
Cooper. He’s not sure why, because
Charlie is such a good, good girl. She’s
a little less than average in the looks department, she has frizzy hair and she
limps. But inside, she’s a beautiful
soul.
I loved watching the relationship between these 2
develop. I loved the way Dante started
interacting with her friends. I really
enjoyed watching Dante change as a person.
So by the time I reached the end of the novel, I was so glad that I had
read it. I’m really looking forward to
the next book in this series.
The Soundtrack
All Night Long by Buckcherry
Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf
That Man by Caro Emerald
Echo by Jason Walker
Holding On and Letting Go by Ross Copperman
Can’t Go Back by Rosi Golan
(I feel like I need to comment on the fact that so many Vampire Diaries songs are on my soundtrack. Dante is very much like Damon. I mean, they're like brothers from another mother.)
The Final Grade
My final grade for this book is an A-. Once Dante lost his Jersey Shore-ness, I
loved him and I loved the story.
