It's Monday What Are you Reading?

It's Monday What are you Reading? Is a weekly bookish meme where we get together to share what books we've read in the past week, what books we're currently reading and what new books we're planning on reading in the coming week along with any reviews or interesting posts. It's hosted by Sheila @One Person's Journey through a World of Books

Just Finished Reading: 

Simay: 

Currently Reading: 

Up Next To Read: 

Check back next week to see what I'm reading and what I get accomplished.

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Wildthorn by: Jane Eagland

Title: Wildthorn
Author: Jane Eagland
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Pages: 359
Format: Kindle
Source: NetGalley

Description:

Seventeen-year-old Louisa Cosgrove longs to break free from her respectable life as a Victorian doctor's daughter. But her dreams become a nightmare when Louisa is sent to Wildthorn Hall: labeled a lunatic, deprived of her liberty and even her real name. As she unravels the betrayals that led to her incarceration, she realizes there are many kinds of prison. She must be honest with herself - and others - in order to be set free. And love may be the key...

My thoughts: 

I'm sure by now most of you are aware of my love-hate relationship with the YA genre. My biggest problem with YA is that most of the stories are disturbingly alike, and the writing is way too simple for my taste. In addition, after the Twilightblowout, YA books about vampires and werewolves and angels are rapidly increasing. Even though I'm a huge fan of the supernatural, it does get boring after a while.

Wildthorn had attracted my attention with its subject matter. It takes place during Victorian times. 17-year-old Louisa Cosgrove hits the road thinking she's going away to work for a family, but she finds herself at the Wildthorn mental hospital. In the first part, the book goes back to the previous years of Louisa's life where we get to know more about her and her family. We see whether she's really crazy and why she found herself at a mental institution.

What I enjoyed most about this book was that unlike most YA books, it doesn't only focus on teen problems and love stories. It's a striking story about how the society viewed/views women. There are many women who've been institutionalized because they didn't behave the way society wanted them to. Wildthorn is a story about a girl's story of how she ended up there, the ignorance of the people who put her there, the torture she had to go through while there and how she manages to escape. Writer Jane England, too, was inspired by a true story she read in the book called Against Therapy.

If you enjoy YA books and the subject interests you, I definitely suggest you read Wildthorn. If you're interested in reading true stories, I strongly recommend the book you see on the left, Women of the Asylum: Voices from Behind the Walls, 1840-1945.

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Retro Demonology by: Jana Oliver

Title: Retro Demonology
Author: Jana Oliver
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 32
Series: The Demon Trappers #.5

Description:

Before Riley Blackthorne can take on Grade Five demons, she has to trap her very first. Her debut solo trapping experience should be a breeze, just a harmless Grade One after all. But throw in some dippy hippies (whose peace signs and Patchouli really aren’t driving any demons away), one mischievous demon, and a run-in with the police, and Riley might not be able to pull it off...

My Thoughts: 

Riley Blackthorne is out to take on her newest Demon all on her own after being trained by the great Demon Trapper and her father Paul Blackthorne.  She ends up at a house with a 60's hippy couple who have a demon destroying their vintage stuff, it's up to Riley to secure the sneaky demon before he makes things worse.

She uses the thing the Demon bores them more than anything Moby Dick, which seems to do the trick of putting the Demon to sleep or so she thinks.  

This was great full of humor and adventure.  Hoping that the young apprentice will succeed.

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Masque of the Red Death by: Bethany Griffin

Title: Masque of the Red Death
Author: Bethany Griffin
Publisher:  Greenwillow Books
Pages: 319
Format: ebook
Source: Purchase
Series: Masque of the Red Death Bk #1

Description:


Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population, and those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery makeup . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club--in the depths of her own despair--Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club, and Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find not just something to live for, but something to fight for--no matter what it costs her.

My Thoughts:

Araby Worth is quiet and depressed to say the least blaming herself for her brother's death.  The world Araby lives in is infected with deadly plague.  The only thing protecting the people is a special mask that people buy.  Araby tries to hide her sadness and guilt over her brother's death by going to The Debauchery Club, with her friend April.  They are able to enter the club as long as they are "clean".  It's there that Araby meets Will a young man and during the course of their various interactions does she learn about his younger sister and brother who are parentless with only Will to raise them.  

We also meet Elliott, April's brother who wants to rise up against the Prince to free people from the disease.  Make masks for the kids, with Araby's help they are able to make new masks, and turn the Prince's army against them.  

Both Elliot and Will have secrets from Araby and both seem to be in love with her.  This was a great story of a very horrible situation and what happens when people are desperate for saving.  When everyone believes they know what is right from the town.  I really loved reading about Araby, Elliot and April rising up against their ruthless Uncle the Prince.  I can't wait to see what happens next!

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Dark Moon by: Maggie Tideswel

Title: Dark Moon
Author: Maggie Tideswel
Publisher: All Things That Matter Press
Pages: 205
Format: ebook
Source: Author Request Review

Description:

Set in the romantic city of Cape Town, Storm tries to force a proposal from Trevor, and instead, she meets Jarred. Trevor has been preparing himself for what he plans for Storm, which is not quite what she expects. When she tells Trevor that she is carrying Jarreds baby, she releases true evil in Trevor. Storm, feeling that he ruined her life, refuses to have anything to do with Jarred, but he pursues her relentlessly. Donna, Storms roommate, bears the brunt of Trevors anger. Elle, Trevors sister, a fact unknown to them, makes it her mission to catch Trevor and bring him to justice, but he draws power from her for his evil purposes. Their mother senses what Trevor is doing and she uses her considerable knowledge and experience as a witch to curtail him. For a while it works, but he soon gathers his power, which he uses to his unfair advantage on Storm. Would Sybil and her helpers get through to Storm before she makes the mistake of her life.

My Thoughts: 

This book takes place in Cape Town, we meet Storm who wants a commitment from Trevor her boyfriend. Who is a mysterious character in the beginning.  He has plans for Storm that she knows nothing about.  When she ends up having a liaison with Jarred while sunning on beach naked.  Jarred trying to find the mysterious woman he fell in love with that one day on the beach.  In this story we learn alot about witchcraft and Satanism and Cape Town where the book takes place.  This book was full of adventure and mystery.  As someone is killing women for over a year with only one survivor Elle who is connected to a family or witches and Trevor.  Trevor turns out to be the true form of evil and it was such a great read seeing what happened to him.  Definitely an author I would read again and again!  I loved Dark Moon and it's characters!

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Book Reviewer Spotlight

As everyone knows I run the blogging buddies.  Well i collected names from the last time I ran it and recently I sat down with Gina @Gina's Library and ask her some questions so everyone here can learn more about her. Gina has been running her site for almost two years.  When she isn't book blogging she is raising her daughter who will graduate high school this year.  So without further adiu here come the questions and answers:

What Type of Books Do You Read?
I don't have a set genre I read.  If the book sounds interesting I'll give it a try.  Sometimes though I'm in the mood for a romance, and sometimes mysteries.  It varies.

How did you come to do a book blog
I saw a very good friend of mine mention having to read a book for review.  I asked her what she meant and we discussed reviewing books for other people.  The rest is history.

What is your favorite part of running a blog?
Sharing my love of books with other people.  I think it's interesting to share my views on a book and see how other people.

Random Questions:

Coffee or Tea?
Iced Tea

Ebook or Physical Book?
ebook

Kindle or Nook?
I have a kindle currently.  I want the nook simple touch with glo light though.

Favorite Color?
Purple or sky blue pink *the color of the sky before the sunset when one half of the sky is blue, one half is pink

Favorite Food?
Italian

If you could meet a character from a book who would it be?
Stephanie Plum, I'd love to see how much of a hot mess her life really is.

What is you next book to read or are currently reading?
The Girl on the Stairs--It's about the JFK Conspiracy

Thank you for taking the time to sit with me and sharing things about yourself and helping the world to get to know you better feel free to check out her blog!  Check back with us for the next round of Blogging Buddies to see if you can get picked to promote your blog and share things about yourself.

Gina's Blog: Gina's Library

Sign up below to get your chance to be promoted.

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Incarnate by: Jodi Meadows

Title: Incarnate
Author: Jodi Meadows
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 374
Format: Hardcover
Series: New Soul (#1)

New soul

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

No soul

Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

Heart

Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

My thoughts:

This book has recently been published in Turkish, and I picked it up as soon as it came out. The people in the world Meadows has created are very old people. They might be in a young body, even a baby's body, but they're very, very old souls. When someone dies, they reincarnate in a different body. Until, that is, our main character Ana is born. 

She's a "new soul," and her being born means an old soul is gone forever. Li, who gave Ana birth, moves somewhere outside the city because she's ashamed of having given birth to a new soul. She treats Ana terribly, and when Ana turns 18, she decides to go to the city to find out where she came from, why and whether or not she'll come back when she dies. At the beginning of her journey she gets in trouble and meets an old soul, Sam, whom she later falls in love with.

The rest is Ana's search for herself, filled with mythical creatures like fairies and dragons. I was most interested in the old souls. Once one's born in a male's body, the next time they might be in a woman's. Everyone remembers what they've learned and experienced. We're talking 3000+ years of knowledge and memories! This also means that if you're not getting along well with someone, there's no getting rid of them because you'll both be coming back, remembering why you hated one another in the first place. As a fan of fantasy stories, I'm used to immortal characters. But I never thought immortality would be handled like it is in Incarnate.

Whether she did it knowingly or not, the author also emphasizes something important: even though people might live 3000+ years one way or the other, some things do not change. The characters in the book haven't changed or really 'grown up' over the years. They can all say "he was always like that" about one another, and when you think about how long that "always" has been for them, it just blows your mind.

If, like me, you like to wreck your brain with this kind of thing, I believe you will very much enjoy Incarnate.

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Wake by Abria Mattina Book Tour and Giveaway

Title: Wake
Author: Abria Mattina
Publisher: Primrose Publications
Format: ebook
Source: FMB Book Tour

Description:

Eighteen isn’t too young to run your life into the ground, but it’s not too old to fix it, either. The desire for change drives Willa Kirk from St. John’s, Newfoundland back to hometown of Smiths Falls, Ontario, away from her mistakes and the place where her sister died. She’s looking for a place to settle and rebuild, but Jem Harper just wants to get out of town, back to the life he knew before cancer. By letting the tragedies in their lives define them, they are both dying a little more every day. Welcome to the wake.

My Thoughts: 

Willa Kirk is  returning back home to Smith Falls after leaving for St. John's and she winds up in class next to Cancer Boy Jem Harper.  Willa came home to Smith Falls after helping her family deal with her sister's illness.  Willa having her own dark secrets having to do with her sister, thought she was making a clean break when she is connecting to Jem Harper who's in remission and still fighting through a transplant from his sister.

This was a raw look at what it can look like from a teen's point of view.  We see the anger and sacredness of Jem Harper has he deals with the crappy hand he received getting diagnosed and treated for Cancer.  He's very self conscious and hates what the Cancer has done to him.  The reader learns alot about what Jem was like pre-cancer. We also see the strong bond he has with his young sister.  Jem seems to have trouble connecting with his brother and father.  His father is a typical father who wishes he could wave a wand and make it better especially considering he works in the medical field.  His mother is a architect and insomniac and spends some nights up talking to Jem about different things, during this he learns alot about his mother and the life she had prior to Smith Falls.

We learn that Willa has used boys to get what she wants.  She left Smith Falls with a last chance situation with her brother.  Her parents are at a loss of what to do with Willa.  A very much wild child, now it's up to Jem and her brother to try to control the wild girl inside Willa.  With Jem you get to see past the Cancer and the boy inside and what he wants in life, and how he regains his life from his illness.  This wasn't like your typical illness story, reading it felt more raw and emotional.  This was a great book from Full Moon Bites for a honest and fair review.

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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I'm joining Bloggiesta, Are You?

The Event description:

Fall is a busy time of year with school starting and with a number of other blogging events going on, including Book Blogger Appreciation Week (don’t miss this!), but we wanted to give everyone some time to focus on those small tasks that fall by the wayside during busy times. Bloggiesta is the perfect event to check off those to-do lists and also get inspiration going into the wintry months! It’s also a great opportunity to connect with other bloggers you may have not met before or haven’t talked to in awhile. We’d love to have anyone interested to join in the fun!

Read more: http://www.theresabook.com/2012/09/bloggiesta-participants-welcome-lets-get-signed-up/#ixzz26HqtlApF

I'm going to jump in on this one to work on my blog and cleaning up areas of the pages, add some reviews and overall just maintenance to this site I haven't done in like forever.  So please feel free to stop by and see how I'm doing.

My List:

• Clean Up My Author and Publisher Page
• Clean Up My Reviews for 2012 and previous years
• See about getting a new button for the blog
• Add some reviews that I'm missing
• Work on promoting site for more traffic

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Glazed Murder by: Jessica Beck

Title: Glazed Murder
Author: Jessica Beck
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 320
Format: ebook
Series: Donut Shop Mystery #1

Description:

Meet Suzanne Hart, owner and operator of Donut Hearts coffee shop in April Springs, North Carolina. After her divorce from Max, an out-of-work actor she’s dubbed “The Great Impersonator,” Suzanne decided to pursue her one true passion in life: donuts. So she cashed in her settlement and opened up shop in the heart of her beloved hometown.

But when a dead body is dumped on her doorstep like a sack of flour, Suzanne’s cozy little shop becomes an all-out crime scene. Now, everyone in town is dropping by for glazed donuts and gruesome details. The retired sheriff warns her to be careful—and they’re all suspects. Soon Suzanne—who finds snooping as irresistible as donuts—is poking holes in everyone’s alibis…

My Thoughts: 

This book was fun and a great cozy mystery, it is the story of Suzanne Hart who owns a Donut shop in North Carolina.  While starting work one day at 2 a.m a body is dumped infront of her Donut Shop, she recognizes it as a local donut lover.  

She can't help but want to solve the murder and restore her donut shop's reputation.  While digging into the murder she meets Jake Bishop a state police inspector sent to solve the crime of the banker dumped at the donut shop.  The two make a connection of sorts during this story.  We also meet Suzanne's mother a true southern woman who worries about her daughter getting herself into jams during this story, and is always waiting for her daughter to start dating after a bad divorce.

Max Suzanne's ex-husband is desperate to win his wife back regardless of his cheating heart.  Suzanne does her best to get it through his head that there is no way no how.  Which brings out Max's temper wanting Suzanne for himself, and a jealousy over Jake.

There are no shortage of suspects, even some cops are suspects.  There is the crazy ex-wife, the cheating girlfriend, some business associates who even raise a red flag in Suzanne's head.  In the end it takes Suzanne and Jake and the donut shop to bring the villain to justice.

The Next one is: 

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City of Fallen Angels by: Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Fallen Angels
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderly Books
Pages: 434
Format: Kindle
Series: Mortal Instruments (#4)

The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And - most importantly of all - she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side - along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. At the same time he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls - neither of whom knows about the other one.

When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: She herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

My thoughts:

City of Fallen Angels is the 4th installment of the Mortal Instruments Series. So I must warn everyone that this review might contain spoilers for those who haven't yet read the previous books...

Mortal Instruments is my favorite series of YA novels so far. I really like Cassandra Clare's creativity and writing style. I'd read in one of her interviews that at first she meant for Mortal Instruments to be a trilogy, but then, with her publisher's support, it was extended. I unfortunately remembered this while reading City of Fallen Angels because it was obvious that she had to work some magic for the story to continue. Simon is pretty much in the center of the fourth book. But I was a little bit bored while reading even though I really like Simon.

When I say I got bored, I must say that this boredom happened during the middle parts of the book. Toward the end of the book, the excitement and curiosity I love so much about the story arises and surprises. Isabelle has always been a fun character, and she made me laugh out loud in this book as well. Simon is always the same Simon, and even though he's with two girls at the same time at the beginning of the book, there is NO such thing as 'vampire mojo,' guys, okay? I also liked the new character, Jordan, who made his first appearance in this book and looks like he's going to stay around. I am indeed curious about what will happen next in the story. Also, Magnus and Alec, as always, were swoon-worthy. I just love them as a couple.

Jace's sarcasm never fails to amuse me, and that was present in this book as well. i.e.

Jace: "You and your name-dropping. 'I knew Michael.' 'I knew Sammael.' 'The angel Gabriel did my hair.' It's like I'm with the band with Biblical figures."

However, I must also add that Jace and Clary are starting to annoy me. Clary's "he doesn't want me around him, he doesn't love me, why doesn't he tell me anything?" kind of whining is getting really old. At first I thought I must be getting annoyed because the main characters are 12 years younger than me. But then I remembered people around my age do the same thing, and I got even more mad. Anyway....

Just remember that someone's killing Shadowhunters, and you'll be very surprised when you find out who and why.

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Daughter of Smoke and Bone by: Laini Taylor

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Author: Laini Taylor
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 432
Format: Kindle
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Description:
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

My thoughts:
I get super-excited when a book I expect nothing from makes it right into my favorites! Suggested by a friend, Daughter of Smoke and Bone was one of those books, and it was a great surprise. When I saw that it belonged in the YA genre, I hesitated for a minute, but I'm glad I didn't let my prejudgement get in the way.

 I really liked how author Laini Taylor brought together her imagination, mythology and reality, and very vividly passed that onto the reader. In addition, I loved that the book takes in a magical place like Prague instead of a forgotten town in the US. The main character even goes to Morocco and Istanbul is also mentioned as one of the places she visited.

The main character is a blue-haired girl called Karou. She goes to art school in Prague. One of the things that makes her different from her peers is that she has to disappear once in a while to take care of mysterious errands. I don't want to ruin the surprises of the book, which is why I'm having a hard time summarizing what happens. In short: chimera (in mythology, they're monsters that have the body parts of different animals) and seraphim (the meaning of the word is 'burning ones') have been in war for a very long time. As the war gets to yet another boiling point, the angel names Akiva whom Karou meets in a deadly situation follows and finds her.

In the first part of the book, we read about Karou discovering herself and her powers. Later, we find out her past as she does, and we learn about why the chimeraand seraphim went to war in the first place, and why Akiva is so obsessed with Karou. Even though a certain amount of light is shed to certain events, the war still continues as the book ends, and we'll be reading more about Karou and Akiva's adventures in the upcoming books. I'm going to be very impatient waiting for this one, but Taylor's imagination tells me it will be worth it.

The second book of the series Days of Blood and Starlight will be out in 6 November 2012, published by Little Brown & Company. The book covers are very pretty, no?

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Die for Me by: Amy Plum

Title: Die For Me
Author: Amy Plum
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 341
Series: Revenants #1
Format: ebook

Description:

In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.

When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life--and memories--behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.

Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.

My Thoughts: 

This is the story of Kate who is living in Paris with her sister Georgia and their grandparents after their parents die in a car accident.  Kate starts out keeping mostly to herself she is the opposite of her wild sister. Georgia is out clubbing meeting all the wrong people but loving every minute of it.  

Kate finds herself drawn to this boy who she has seen a few times, the times they do talk start out rocky.  Neither one sure what they are looking for.  When Kate finally decides to give the boy Vincent a shot she learns so much about who he is and where he came from.

This isn't your typical zombie book, as we learn the Revenants don't eat brains, or limp around.  They lay dormant for 3 days to which they are in a ghostly form and can talk to other Revenants.  While Vincent lays dormant trouble is around his body.  Kate tries to protect him best she can even willing to sacrifice herself to save him.

This book was an up and down roller coaster while riding through their story.  Some people I've read compare it to Twilight series, I can say no way.  Die for Me stands on what it is about.  I can't wait to read the next book.  And the cover work on these are so beautiful!

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I Heart You, You Haunt Me by: Lisa Schroeder

Title: I Heart You, You Haunt Me
Author: Lisa Schroeder
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 227
Format: ebook

Description:

Girl meets boy.
Girl loses boy.
Girl gets boy back...

...sort of. 

Ava can't see him or touch him, 
unless she's dreaming. 
She can't hear his voice, 
except for the faint whispers in her mind. 
Most would think she's crazy, but she knows he's here.

Jackson. 
The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. 
He's back from the dead, 
as proof that love truly knows no bounds.

My Thoughts: 


Ava is suffering after the death of her boyfriend Jackson, she carries tremendous guilt around with her.  Her friends try to comfort her, but Ava finds herself being haunted by her dead boyfriend Jackson.  He has unfinished business with Ava.  It takes Ava a while to come to terms with what happened to Jackson and how he doesn't blame her and she shouldn't blame herself either.  This book was gripping on what happens when someone you love dies by accident.  I felt my heart being torn for Ava for what happened to her.  I really enjoyed this and couldn't put it down, it pulled at my heart feeling her loss and her self blame.  What an incredibly moving story.

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Introducing Simay aka Zim

I'm sure some of you have noticed a few new reviews from Simay who usually goes by Zim so I thought I'd take the time to introduce our newest reviewer.  Simay comes from Turkey and shares her love of reading.  

I thoroughly enjoy the energy she brings to the blog with her take on books and welcome her as a much needed help with reviewing books.

For publishers and authors if you would like her to review your material please feel free to contact me or pop onto her blog and contact her there.

Welcome to Community Bookstop hope you have as much fun as I do, and can't wait to see what you read next!!

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The Adoration of Jenna Fox by: Mary E. Pearson

Title: The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Author: Mary E. Pearson
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Pages: 187
Format: ebook
Series: Jenna Fox Chronicles #1

Description:

Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers?

My Thoughts: 

Jenna Fox is a young girl who awakens after a terrible car accident left her in a coma.  She spends most of her days at home sheltered from the world.  What really happened to Jenna Fox?  Jenna finds out that what she isn't.  She's not fully human she is created by her father, in his lab after she died.  What her parents did to create Jenna is illegal in the United States.  They used 10% of her brain and skin graphs to create the new Jenna Fox.  

Her grandmother Lily doesn't know what to do about Jenna whether she is the real deal or does Jenna have memories implanted into her to make her life the old Jenna.  Jenna also discovers hidden in a room three computers, one is Locke, one is Kara and one is Jenna.  They are backups of the kids in the horrible accident and her parents kept them going as a precaution about the car accident should charges be filed against Jenna.  But Jenna can't live that way, hearing their voices in her head, a constant reminder that they want to be free.

Finally Jenna begins a special school with few kids all considered freaks in their own way, where she meets Ethan a boy she falls in love with and Allys a girl she considers a best friend, until Allys learns about Jenna's secret and exposes it to her parents.  To what strengths will a parent go through to fix their child.  This was a very intriguing story about science and parenting and how far a parent will go.  A book I couldn't put down.  

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Snow White and the Huntsman by: Lily Blake

Title: Snow White and the Huntsman
Author: Lily Blake, Evan Dugherty, John Lee Hancock, Hossein Amini
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Source: Bookstore

Description:

A breathtaking new vision of a legendary tale. Snow White is the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen who is out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman who was dispatched to kill her.

My thoughts:

For the first time in a very long time, I bought a book at the grocery store, and I felt like it was produced  by the grocery store. I was rather upset that I couldn't see the movie, and now I've decided I'll just wait until it's on DVD so I can just rent it to kill my curiosity.

Yes, the book was a 'darker' Snow White story, but everything happened so fast that if you don't know the original story by heart, you'll have no idea what's going on. If they assumed everyone reading this would know the original, then it's a whole different story. Still, it doesn't justify how bad a job they did with this one.

For me, the Seven Dwarfs are the heart of the story. However, in the book they're barely there. I was very irritated about this. And you know how I said everything happens so fast? For example, after living in the evil queen Ravenna's dungeon pretty much all her life, she suddenly gets all Lara Croft on her ass and kills her. Just like that. And there I am thinking, "Whaaaaaaaaat now?"

Also, since when do young girls prefer hunters over princes? Did they do the movie first and then write the book? I'm too lazy to look up the answers, and it wouldn't change how I feel about the book anyway. I do believe I'll give into curiosity and eventually watch this movie. It might be fun to compare it to the Julia Roberts movie, 'Mirror, Mirror.' Now that was fun.

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Buried by: Linda Joy Singleton

Title: Buried
Author: Linda Joy Singleton
Publisher: Flux
Pages: 257
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley
Series: Gothic Girl Mystery#1

Description:

A new, darker paranormal mystery series from award-winning author Linda Joy Singleton—featuring popular goth girl Thorn from The Seer series

Thorn Matthews is a Finder, a person with the psychic ability to find things just by touching an object. The visions she gets from objects—events and memories—are what guide her to the things that need to be found.

When Thorn locates a mysterious locket, it leads to a shocking and grim discovery. Now she’s implicated in a crime and surrounded by people she’s just met at her new school, any one of whom could be hiding a terrible secret. To clear her name, Thorn reluctantly uses her music skills to enter a school talent competition, which she suspects is part of the killer’s cover. Could one of her new friends be a murderer?

My Thoughts: 

 Thorn Matthews is very much a gothic girl with a few secrets from her new friends in Nevada.  Her family moved to Nevada so her mother could become a minister in a local church.  Thorn does her best to fit in with a group of friends at school Rune and Amerie.  Rune is as close to Thorn in the way they dress and things they talk about then twins could be.

When Thorn stumbles across a locket she finds herself wanting to find out more about it and who it belongs to.  The locket leads Thorn all over town from a baby grave to accusing a few classmates of having a baby.  She finds the truth out eventually.

Also going on is the Grin Reaper a local legend never spotted but always there to dish out justice to those who deserve it.  Thorn stumbles across the Grin Reaper and even identifies who it is, he strikes a deal with Thorn to keep her secret about finding the baby grave if she doesn't tell anyone who he is.  He also ends up taking her on a couple of missions of justice.

I enjoyed reading about Thorn, Rune Amerie and Thorn's family.  I found it refreshing to read about a girl not afraid to be who she wants to be regardless of what others think.  Ms. Singleton's ability to share Thorn with the world is so great.  Can't wait to see what is next for the Gothic Girl!

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Anna Dressed in Blood by: Kendare Blake

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Pages: 369
Publisher: Tor Teen
Format: ebook
Source: Kindle Store

Description:
Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

My thoughts:

Anna Dressed in Blood is the story of the 17-year-old ghost hunter, Theseus Cassius Lowood (I can't continue without mentioning that no matter how  big a Shakespeare fan you are, you should never name your child this). When you read the synopsis, you can't help but hear this music in your head. Then you start reading, and it reads very much like a Supernatural episode. I love both these things, so, of course, I didn't have a problem with it.

Anna Dress in Blood was different from the other YA books I've read in many aspects. First of all, I liked that the narrator was male. Everyone calls him Cas for short because he has an impossible name. His father was a ghost hunter, and one can say that Cas is carrying on the family business. His mother knows what he does, and she helps him out, which was another thing that made this book different than many others. I was quite glad that there was no "what if mom/dad finds out?" drama this time. Cas and his mother move from city to city, wherever the dangerous ghosts lead them.

One day Cas goes after Anna Korlov's ghost. However, Anna isn't like the ghosts he's encountered before; she's not stuck in the moment of her death, unaware of what she's doing. In the end, as expected, Cas helps her get rid of the urge to kill, and they fall in love. I'm not sure how a human and ghost can be together really, but I have a feeling we will find out.

My favorite part about the book was Cas being portrayed as a regular 17-year old. Unlike most main characters in YA, he's not the odd-one-out or the most popular, the most lusted-after. He uses a special knife to kill ghosts, and it comes up more often than I like. And sometimes the "am I in love?" parts seem to continue for too long, but overall it's an enjoyable, quick read.

The next book in the series, Girl of Nightmares was released last month. I must admit I'm very curious about how Cas and Anna's relationship will continue, so I will be reading this one as well.

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It's Monday what are you reading?

It's Monday What are you Reading? Is a weekly bookish meme where we get together to share what books we've read in the past week, what books we're currently reading and what new books we're planning on reading in the coming week along with any reviews or interesting posts. It's hosted by Sheila @One Person's Journey through a World of Books

Finished Reading: 

Swim by: Jennifer Weiner

Private #1 Suspect by: James Patterson

Private by: James Patterson 

Storm Front by: Jim Butcher

Currently Reading: 

Order of the Seers by: Cerece Rennie Murphy

Up Next to Read: 

Shadow in the Reflection by: Joe Niehaus and Mary Sikora

Binding Arbitration by: Elizabeth Marx

Roots of Insight by: Breena Puttroff

Curveball by: Jen Estes

What are you reading?

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We are opening up to Reviewers

After much consideration I've decided to open up Community Bookstop to other reviewers who would like to join our team and share their reviews of various books and authors.  If this is something you are interested in please feel free to fill out the form below.  I will be working through the applications to find the right fit.

I'm looking forward to working with anyone who's looking to branch out with their reviews.  Good luck to those that submit the form below.  If under categories I haven't listed one you read please feel free to comment under Authors about it thanks

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