To Buy or Not to Buy?

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they provide a Top Ten topic for you to create your list, then you share it on their post so others can find you. :)

♥ Top Ten Authors I'd Auto-Buy ♥
As I'm sure I'm in the same boat as most of you, I love buying books. I love the new book smell, I love the idea of having a book that I loved on my shelf to visit again and again if I want. I also love the excitement that comes with a book I haven't read. Sometimes I'm okay not buying them, other times, when it comes to a particular author, I have no qualms buying them, mostly without even knowing what they are even about. Some authors I trust that much. Who are they?

In no particular order...

Maggie Stiefvater

The wonderful Maggie Stiefvater. I love her writing, her stories. Despite the fact that it makes me a little scared to read the ones I haven't read (what if by chance I don't love them as much as previous ones???  How could I survive it!?!?), I will buy them and have no regrets. Why? I realize that I'm a drop in the bucket when it comes to sales. That she'll most likely never know just how much I love her books and recommend them left and right. But I want to continue to support her and encourage her writing by doing what I can do. Plus, I want to live in her books. That's enough for me.

Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is, I am pretty sure, the first author whose books I ever fell in love with. I have yet to read a disappointing one. I started with Vanishing Acts and made my way through all of them, the last one being when I was pregnant with my first child. That would have been... Handle with Care. After so many heart wrenching and emotional roller coasters, I did need a break from the stories for a bit, but I have still bought all but the last one (Lone Wolf). I will definitely be reading them sometime.

John Green

Oh, John Green, my fellow Hoosier. Such an amazing writer... he could write about golf and I would probably still read it. Because you probably don't know, my husband *loves* golf and I find it quite boring... to watch on tv or live. I don't think he can do any wrong.

David Levithan & Rachel Cohn

 Anyone who wrote Dash & Lily's Book of Dares deserves a spot on my auto-buy list. I do have Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist on my shelf, which I will read eventually, and I definitely will not turn down any chances to buy more. 

Sarah Dessen

Ah, the amazing Sarah Dessen. I love her take on life, love, relationships. When I first started reading her books years ago, I told my mom that she reminded me Jodi Picoult, just without the heavier issues that Jodi deals with. However, this is not true. She deserves a category all her own. So she gets it from me. And she also gets a spot on my auto-buy list. ;)

Elizabeth Wein

 

She wrote Code Name Verity... need I say more? I mean, as much as I loved it, as much as I breathed it, I want more of her. I think I could buy them with no regrets.

Lauren Oliver

Such wonderful writing... I get so lost in her books that I can't imagine my home without them on my shelf. 

Brenna Yovanoff

I'll admit, I may just buy these for the covers. Seriously, have you seen them? I own all three of them... well, one is in eBook format, so I still need to the hardcover edition... and I will continue to buy them until I tire of it. I don't see that happening though. I love the Gothic sense I get from the covers that matches perfectly with the feel in the books. I am so curious what she'll come up with next. (And I love that they have all been standalone novels so far). 

Stephanie Kuehnert

Ballads of Suburbia is one of my favorite books. It's not a nice book, it's not a fluffy book. It's not even a happy at all book, really. But it's life. It's real. And I loved it. She has one other book, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, that I look forward to reading. And as soon as I can get it I will definitely be adding it to my shelf. I'm not even sure what it's about. But since she wrote it and all...

Jennifer Donnelly  

 

The author of Revolution, another of my all-time favorite books. I figure if an author can sway me in my aversion to historical fiction then she must be good and worthy of owning her books. I will definitely be adding more of her to my shelf at home.  

Whew! That took some work. ;) Not really, but I did have to think hard... and I almost didn't do ten of them this week. But here they are. 

What about you? What authors would you or do you auto buy?

Smiles,

B 

Memorable Monday ♥ Splintered

Memorable Monday is a meme hosted by Escape in a Good Book.  I'm excited to join in on this one because I love quotes, which was the driving force behind the creation of Memorable Mondays.  I thank the ladies at Escape in a Good Book.

So... how do you participate?  It's simple ~

1) Share a quote that has captured your interest lately in a Memorable Monday post on your blog.

2) Come back here and leave the link to your post in the comment box below.  If you don't have a blog, I'd still love to hear read your quote.  Leave it in the comment box instead of a link to a non-existent blog.  :)

3) Visit other participants if you have time.  It's always nice to have visitors.  There's no overstaying your welcome this way, and they don't have to offer the obligatory drinks.  Or clean.

4) If you tweet your posts, feel free to use the hashtag #MemorableMonday.

This week's choice:
"The scent reminds me of spring, outdoor hikes, and happy families. But winter is all I feel inside, and my family is more screwed up than we've ever been."

Splintered by AG Howard



I am loving this book and am anxious to get to the end... 

Anything strike you lately?

Smiles,
B   
 

Friday Finds

Friday Finds is a weekly post by MizB at Should Be Reading that showcases the books you 'found' and added to your To Be Read list.  It can be books your have purchased, but mostly it's about the books you have discovered and added to your TBR list - whether it be from browsing Goodreads, Amazon, Book Blogs, your local library... it doesn't matter.  Just share the books you've recently added to your list.

I haven't done this one in a while. I've been participating in Parajunkee's View & Alison... Follow Friday. I decided today to take a break from that one this week and do this one. :)

I have added a gazillion thousands hundreds a ton of books to my TBR list since I've done this one. I will narrow it down to the last month. That way no one gets too bored or just leaves. *waves to the ones who already left*

What books have I added recently? To keep this simple, I will only add six of the books I added in February.* (I think I have a problem. Do they have meetings for this?)  A couple of these I really thought were on my TBR list sooner, but, alas, I discovered they were not. I guess that's what happens when you add so many books to your list that you want to read. :) 

ONE

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Description:

Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

 ***

I really thought I had this one on there earlier, but apparently not. I love this cover and it sounds so intruging.

TWO

 

The Lost Sun by Tessa Gratton

Description:

Fans of Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Holly Black's The Curse Workers will embrace this richly drawn, Norse-mythology-infused alternate world: the United States of Asgard. Seventeen-year-old Soren Bearskin is trying to escape the past. His father, a famed warrior, lost himself to the battle-frenzy and killed thirteen innocent people. Soren cannot deny that berserking is in his blood—the fevers, insomnia, and occasional feelings of uncontrollable rage haunt him. So he tries to remain calm and detached from everyone at Sanctus Sigurd's Academy. But that's hard to do when a popular, beautiful girl like Astrid Glyn tells Soren she dreams of him. That's not all Astrid dreams of—the daughter of a renowned prophetess, Astrid is coming into her own inherited abilities.

When Baldur, son of Odin and one of the most popular gods in the country, goes missing, Astrid sees where he is and convinces Soren to join her on a road trip that will take them to find not only a lost god, but also who they are beyond the legacy of their parents and everything they've been told they have to be.  

***

I follow Maggie Stiefvater's reviews on Goodreads and she posted a review for this one. If you don't know, she, Tessa, and Brenna Yovanoff are critique partners, so I imagine her review is not a completely unbiased opinion. However, I do tend to like the books she has raved about, so I was definitely adding this one.

THREE

  

Indelible by Dawn Metcalf

Description:

Some things are permanent.

Indelible.

And they cannot be changed back.

Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same.

Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future...and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.

Somewhere between reality and myth lies…

THE TWIXT 

***

I ran across this one on a blog (if I could remember which one I would totally link back here... I will try to find it... :) ) and I just LOVED that cover. I read the synopsis and it seems like one I might really enjoy. 

FOUR

 

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Description:

I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.

Josh Bennett’s story is no secret: every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of an enigma she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances. 

FIVE

Dear Cassie by Lisa Burstein

Description:

What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do?

You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.

You’d be wrong.

There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.

What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?

But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.

And yet I can’t help but wonder…what if? 

SIX

  

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

Description:

Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question.

It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").

But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.

Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be. 

Six seems like a good number to leave off on. These are ones that I don't see myself getting to them and being all "meh", maybe I don't want to read it. Some of the others I noticed on my Goodreads to-read shelf I already have that feeling about... like maybe I'll just never get to them. Do you ever do that? Unfortunately I do that a lot. 

What books have you been adding?

Smiles,
B

*I posted the books with a description from Goodreads. If you haven't already and you want to add that book to your TBR list, then just click on the picture and it will take you to the Goodreads page.

WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesdays was started by MizB over at Should Be Reading,

To play along, simply answer the following three (3) Questions:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

Currently Reading

 

Splintered by AG Howard

I am about halfway thru this one and loving every word of it. I swear, it's like it's seeping into me as I read.

Recently Finished  

 

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver 

I love Lauren Oliver. Ever since I was thrust into Lena's world in Delirium. This one was no exception. She is a great author and I can't wait to read more by her. :)  (If you're interested, you can my review of this here.) 

Might Read Next

 The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

I have had this one for a while; I received a NetGalley copy of it. I keep putting it off for some reason, even though I did really enjoy Name of the Star. Others just grab my attention quicker, I guess. I'm sure no one everyone else can relate.

OR

 

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I got this as a fantabulous Christmas present from my bookish secret Santa - Gillian at Writer of Wrongs. So it's been gathering dust on my shelf for almost two months. TWO MONTHS. Now, given my literary love affair with Maggie, one would think I would have picked it up and devoured it immediately instead of lovingly pulling it off my shelf, caressing the cover, and putting it back. But I can't lie. I'm scared. What if I crack that spine and I don't love it as much as I did the others? I need to just bite the bullet and read it. 

What about you all? What are you reading, plan to read, etc? 

Smiles,

B

Teaser Tuesdays ♥ The Space Between

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Anyone can play along!  All you have to do:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page.
4. Be careful... do not include spoilers!!!  Make sure that what you are sharing doesn't give too much away;  you don't want to ruin the book for others.
5. Share the title and author, too, so other Teaser Tuesday participants can add it to their TBR list if they like what you shared.

I'm going to cheat a bit, and use more than two sentences. It is a random page though, I promise (I've read this one, but am not currently reading it), but I can't stop at two sentences. It's four. :)

"His lips feel cracked against mine, but warm, and I move closer. Hunger fills my throat and I can almost taste the complex flavor of his sorrow. I breathe it from his lips and as I do, I know without a doubt that I could drink it if I let myself, draw it out of him like venom. But it isn't mine to take." 

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

 

I read this book over a year ago and I *still* think about it. I love Brenna Yovanoff's writing and her stories. I am excited to read more as she writes them. :)

Any teasers this week?

Smiles,
B

Dream Team: A Middle Grade Review

Title: Dream Team
Author: Lisa Ard
Series: Dream Seekers #2
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication Date: August 2012
Source: Lisa Ard
Format: Paperback
Rating: 4 stars

I accepted this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This will not affect my review in any way... I will still state my true opinion. :)

~The Scoop from Goodreads~

For Patrick, being twelve years old can be challenging. Add to that the unusual ability to experience dreams as reality and you begin to understand, why Patrick never knows what will happen when he falls asleep. When Patrick's voice begins to change, he declares disaster! But one magnificent dream will introduce Patrick to some real-life heroes, who faced far greater adversity. Patrick discovers that his troubles are minor league in comparison. Will Patrick find the courage to face his fears?



I haven't read the first in this series, but I wouldn't mind going back and doing so now. Despite not having met any characters yet, I did not feel as if I needed book one to get connected. Lisa Ard does a nice job of reintroducing the characters to a 'new' reader. It didn't seem too heavy, either, that if you had read book one you would be annoyed by it.

That being said, I really enjoyed the characters. The relationship between them felt true to how relationships work in real life, so it was easy to believe. His sister is available and willing to help him, but also reflects the fickleness of sibling love at that age after she helps him. I loved that. I really liked the realistic portrayal of Patrick going through the voice change, too. He was embarassed and felt that his world was crashing down. At that age, any hiccup in life makes you feel that way. Even as adults that happens.

I also enjoyed the historical theme of well-known baseball players, who help Patrick realize that there are worse things in life than his changing voice. I think everyone, from kids to adults, need reminding of that. I didn't feel the story was bogged down at all by any historical facts, which is really good for the age range the book is aimed toward.

The one thing that distracted me from the book were the pictures. I realize that's a small thing and not a reflection on the story itself, but the pictures tended to take me out of the story a little every time. Another thing I struggled with at first is as an adult reading it, I noticed the message of following your dreams and not to sweat the little things in life very quickly and at first felt it was laid on a little thick. By the end I didn't feel that as much, and I imagine a kid reading it would barely notice it. That being said I could definitely see myself reading this with my son when he gets a bit older.

Smiles,
B

Memorable Monday ♥ Splintered

Memorable Monday is a meme hosted by Escape in a Good Book.  I'm excited to join in on this one because I love quotes, which was the driving force behind the creation of Memorable Mondays.  I thank the ladies at Escape in a Good Book.

So... how do you participate?  It's simple ~

1) Share a quote that has captured your interest lately in a Memorable Monday post on your blog.

2) Come back here and leave the link to your post in the comment box below.  If you don't have a blog, I'd still love to hear read your quote.  Leave it in the comment box instead of a link to a non-existent blog.  :)

3) Visit other participants if you have time.  It's always nice to have visitors.  There's no overstaying your welcome this way, and they don't have to offer the obligatory drinks.  Or clean.

4) If you tweet your posts, feel free to use the hashtag #MemorableMonday.

This week's choice:
"He whispers that last part, maybe in hopes I won't hear. But I do, and the barbed wire tightens once more, until my heart is strangled and broken."

Splintered, by AG Howard

 

Any quotes strike you lately?

Smiles,
B

~ Follow Friday ~

Hosted by Parajunkee's View & Alison Can Read, the goal is to gain new followers and to follow new people yourself! :)

RULES

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

(Taken straight from the hosts)

• (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
• (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
• Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
• Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you.
• If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn’t have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
• Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”
• If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers.
• If you’re new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday!

This week's question:
Write a letter to your favorite character. Rant, rave, or gush... just pretend like they are real and you just want them to know a "few things". [Activity courtesy of author, Kelly Walker]

Aw, sheesh. My *favorite* character? I have to pick one? Maybe I'll draw out of a hat. That might work. So, who shall go in the hat? Puck Connolly, from The Scorpio Races. Sam Kingston from Before I Fall. Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars. Alex from Delirium. Dash from Dash & Lily's Book of Dares. Verity *and* Maddie from Code Name Verity. Hmmm.... Decisions, decisions. Okay. Made.

Maddie,
Your strength and resistance astounds me. I cannot imagine experiencing what you went through and the decisions you had to make. I cannot imagine the heartache, the sheer torment you must have faced. I understand why you did what you did; I don't fault you for it. I only wish it didn't have to be. As do you, I imagine. I still don't know how I finished through my tears and shaking hands. Thank you for sharing your story.
[Don't] Kiss me Hardy,
B

What would you say to your favorite character(s)?

Smiles,
B

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver: A Review

Title: Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: October 2011
Source: Bought
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4 stars

~ The Scoop from Goodreads ~

What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.

The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. Living the last day of her life seven times during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death--and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

What I loved? The writing. Lauren Oliver has a way of sucking me and making me forget my own life. For that alone I will always be willing to read her stories. This particular one had been sitting on my shelf for nearly a year. It sounded sad. Doesn't it sound sad? And it is. But it's so much more than that.

In the beginning, there's a group of stuck up, b*tchy (yes, I really did just asterik that... lol) girls who are best friends. And they are not very nice people. They are mean to people just for the fact that they are different or just because. Honestly, I was almost done with the first day and I was thinking, Why do I care what happens to Sam? I mean, yeah, dying sucks, but I just don't like her. And then, came this:

"Is what I did really so much worse than what anybody else does? Is it really so much worse than what you do? Think about it."

I thought, Whoa. Wait a minute. Did she really just make me rethink it? Here I was judging her and her actions and not liking her... how did that make me much different from her? So I opened my mind a bit and read on. By the time I got near the end I was so anxious. Was Lauren Oliver going to rip my heart out? She had already broken it numerous times... but would she rip out completely and do a Mexican Hat Dance on it or help it get mended? (I won't say which happened...)

Needless to say Sam grows as a character. It wouldn't be a story if she was a complete and total b*tch the entire time. We have various characters throughout the story, some of which I didn't care for and some I cared for very much. Sam's boyfriend, Rob, is a grade-A tool. I mean, she can only be with him for the 'status' that comes with it, and that right there says so much about her state of mind. She doesn't care enough about herself to be with someone who would treat her like she should be and appreciate her for all she is, or all that she could be. Her best friend, Lindsey, isn't the nicest person either. The more I found out about her the less I liked her... until Lauren Oliver started peeling back the layers. Most of the characters in the forefront of the story had more than the superficial facade we first see at the beginning. I started to see them for more of who they really are or who they want to be than who they portrayed themselves as throughout.


As I said, I wasn't sure how my heart was going to feel when I was done, nor was I sure if I was going to need a full box or a half a box of Kleenex. So. Emotional. Heart-wrenching. Unnecessarily necessarily so. It's not action packed, it's not an on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller. It's character driven. It's about evolving and acceptance and friendship and love. And it should make you think... if I were to die tonight have I lived today as I would want to be remembered? Have I shown love, compassion, happiness, or kindness to others? I realize that's dripping with sappiness, so hopefully it doesn't pour out and make your screen sticky. But really. I can guarantee that I don't act the way I probably should every day. But the next day isn't always guaranteed. Not that we don't know that, but it helps to be reminded of that. I think.

Read it. Love it. Or hate it. Personally, I loved it.

Have you read it? If so, what'd you think? If you haven't read it, do you think you will?

Smiles,
B

How Do I Love Thee?

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they provide a Top Ten topic for you to create your list, then you share it on their post so others can find you. :)

♥ Top Ten Favorite Romances ♥

In no particular order...

Sean & Puck ~ The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

 

Hazel & Augustus ~ The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 

Clary & Jace ~ Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

 

Dash & Lily ~ Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan & Rachel Cohn

 

Lena & Alex ~ Delirium series by Lauren Oliver

 

Annabel & Owen ~ Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

 

Katniss & Peeta ~ Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

Remy & Dexter ~ This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

 

Gansey & Blue ~ The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

So, yeah. That's nine. For some reason that's all I got. I have wracked my brain into submission and it refuses to think of more. I keep telling it that it will be okay if it thinks more, but it's balking at the idea of more work, apparently. So I guess I'm ending it at nine, not ten. And I imagine there are tons more out there that I've read and fallen in love with so it's kind of depressing that I'm ending it. :(  Such is life. 

What romances have you loved? I'm sure as I'm visiting others I'll see some I wish I had added. So to those couples I left off, I apologize. Please forgive and know that I don't love you any less simply because I forgot about you. I promise.

Smiles,
B