Tag: booknerd

Something Old, Something Read, & Something New

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So today started off a bit nerve racking, not sure if anyone else feels this way, but I get extremely nervous/anxious when i’m sent for ultrasounds. Thankfully, It went well & I just need to follow up with my doc but it left me rattled enough to go running to my favorite place. Yup, a bookstore! and while there I realized I had not gifted myself a wedding present…lol yea a gift to myself for getting married, its a thing…right? Anyways, Something Old (Graceling), Something Read (More Happy Than Not), and Something New (With Malice). I remixed the tradition to fit a booknerd’s lifestyle 🙂

 

Graceling by Kristin Cashore- I’ve heard so many good things about the Graceling series & have been dancing around the idea of ordering it off of Amazon. I found it today in hardcover for $8 in Strand and knew it was kismet. Blurbed by some pretty impressive ladies like Tamora Pierce, i’m pretty sure Graceling will be right up my alley.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight – she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po’s friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace – or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away…

 

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera- I read this book in the beginning of 2016 along with the bff of 18 years who i’m slowly converting into a bookworm AND his partner. All 3 of us enjoyed this book to the point where we now follow (stalk) Adam Silvera on all of his social media platforms (no shame-the day he liked my GR review was a good day!) waiting for him to drop a crumb our way for his next book (History Is All You Left Me). More Happy Than Not is an LGBTQ YA that felt very familiar to me because of it’s setting and the characters you meet throughout the neighborhood. It stirred up nostalgia of my old Brooklyn block. This book really tore my heart out & I never saw that ending coming, i’ll leave it at that.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the months after his father’s suicide, it’s been tough for 16-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again–but he’s still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he’s slowly remembering what that might feel like. But grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist prevent him from forgetting completely.

When Genevieve leaves for a couple of weeks, Aaron spends all his time hanging out with this new guy, Thomas. Aaron’s crew notices, and they’re not exactly thrilled. But Aaron can’t deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends. Since Aaron can’t stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound feelings for him, he considers turning to the Leteo Institute’s revolutionary memory-alteration procedure to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.

Why does happiness have to be so hard?

With Malice by Eileen Cook- it’s not often that we get a thriller-suspense in YA & after reading the Goodreads synopsis I found myself wanting to know the outcome. Hoping it’s a good one.

Goodreads Synopsis-

Eighteen-year-old Jill Charron wakes up in a hospital room, leg in a cast, stitches in her face and a big blank canvas where the last six weeks should be. She discovers she was involved in a fatal car accident while on a school trip in Italy. A trip she doesn’t even remember taking. She was jetted home by her affluent father in order to receive quality care. Care that includes a lawyer. And a press team. Because maybe the accident…wasn’t an accident.

As the accident makes national headlines, Jill finds herself at the center of a murder investigation. It doesn’t help that the media is portraying her as a sociopath who killed her bubbly best friend, Simone, in a jealous rage. With the evidence mounting against her, there’s only one thing Jill knows for sure: She would never hurt Simone. But what really happened? Questioning who she can trust and what she’s capable of, Jill desperately tries to piece together the events of the past six weeks before she loses her thin hold on her once-perfect life.

Top 5 Wednesday

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Lainey from Gingerreadslainey & is now moderated by Sam from Thoughts On Tomes. Each week there’s a different bookish related topic (this varies & isn’t always strictly books) & you get to list your top 5 books or bookish answers related to the topic.
This week’s topic is Favorite Literary Fathers/Father Figures, chosen in celebration of Father’s Day. I seriously had a small pool to choose from and it’s because we don’t really see much positive representation of the “Parentals” as I like to call them, (include myself as a mommy of two) much less father figures. I count myself blessed for having an AMAZING relationship with my father & wish there were more positive father figures in our books, especially LGBTQ.Here are my top 5:

1- Mr. Mendoza (Aristotle & Dante Discover The Secrets of the Universe)

It’s hinted that Mr. Menzoa suffered from PTSD after his time in Vietnam which affected his relationship with Ari. Mr. Mendoza however, realizes that Ari has an internal struggle going on & steps up to help him come out. Mr. Mendoza plays a key role in getting Ari to follow his heart & go after Dante. I loved seeing these two come together in the end & that Ari got the support he needed from his father.


2- Arthur Weasley aka Mr. Weasley (Harry Potter)

Although I also love Sirius Black because he always looked over Harry from afar & made sure he was never in need, I have a special place in my heart for Arthur Weasley. Mr. Weasley took Harry in as one of his own brood (a not so small one at that) & never treated him less than any of his sons. Seeing Mr. Weasley advise Harry & take care of Harry was heart warming. Even when Harry & Ron got him in trouble with his job for stealing his flying car to get to Hogwarts, Mr. Weasley did not come down hard on neither one of the boys.


3- Eddard Stark aka Ned Stark (Game Of Thrones)

I know i’m one out of a zillion who felt the loss of our beloved Ned Stark especially after he captured our hearts. Ned Stark loved all of his children including his “love child” (dislike the word “bastard”) Jon Snow equally. The many lessons in honor, loyalty, and leadership that he imparted on his children quickly made him a favorite of mine.


4-Haymitch Abernathy (The Hunger Games)

Ok, so he couldnt hold his liqour! so what! If I lived in their world i’d probably be staring at the bottom of a bottle often too LOL! all flaws aside, Haymitch really took care of Katniss & Peeta and made sure they survived. Haymitch served as a mentor to these kids & truly loved them.


5-Luke Graymark aka Lucian Garroway (Mortal Instruments)

My love for Luke goes back to his history with Jocelyn and how when she told him she was pregnant with another mans baby, he offered to marry her. She declined, but still his heart was in the right place. Afterwards, Jocelyn & Luke do enter a romantic relationship and he was an AMAZING father figure for Clary. How much cooler can it get than having a wolf for a step-dad?

Luke from the Shadowhunter tv series:

Luke from the Shadowhunter movie:

💭 This weeks topic has me now wanting to read more books with positive father figures so I will be on the hunt. If any of you have some suggestions, please let me know & I will def check them out.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! Each week, a new topic is put into place and bloggers share their top ten accordingly. I LOVE lists, they keep me happy…here are my top 10 picks for this weeks topic:

June 14 2016: Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For The Second Half Of The Year

Side note—I can’t even look at Strange The Dreamer without a cheesy smile smh 😆

Stacking The Shelves


Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews in which we share the books that we’re adding to our shelves be it purchased, borrowed from the library, or received for review.

This Sunday I decided to take a trip to Strand to decompress a bit from all of the pre/post wedding blitz. I got married to my love of 7 years this past Friday & it was a day I’ll always cherish. The hubby & I are both bookworms so Strand was calling to us and we complied. While there I found Brandon Sanderson’s Calamity wich is the 3rd book in the Reckoners series. Now that I have all 3, I can start them. Yea, I’m funny that way but Brandon Sanderson has become an auto-buy author. This is his first YA fantasy series & has often been described as having an X-Men feel. This was all I needed to hear for me to say I WANT I WANT I WANT. I won’t add the Goodreads synopsis for Calamity since this is the 3rd book in the series, instead I’ll give the synopsis for book #1…

Steelheart (Reckoners #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics…nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart — the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning — and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.
He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Ruined (Ruined #1) by Amy Tintera

A revenge that will consume her. A love that will ruin her.

Emelina Flores has nothing. Her home in Ruina has been ravaged by war. She lacks the powers of her fellow Ruined. Worst of all, she witnessed her parents’ brutal murders and watched helplessly as her sister, Olivia, was kidnapped.

But because Em has nothing, she has nothing to lose. Driven by a blind desire for revenge, Em sets off on a dangerous journey to the enemy kingdom of Lera. Somewhere within Lera’s borders, Em hopes to find Olivia. But in order to find her, Em must infiltrate the royal family.

In a brilliant, elaborate plan of deception and murder, Em marries Prince Casimir, next in line to take Lera’s throne. If anyone in Lera discovers Em is not Casimir’s true betrothed, Em will be executed on the spot. But it’s the only way to salvage Em’s kingdom and what is left of her family.

Em is determined to succeed, but the closer she gets to the prince, the more she questions her mission. Em’s rage-filled heart begins to soften. But with her life—and her family—on the line, love could be Em’s deadliest mistake.
The hubby who decided to give me some space while I was in my comfort zone lol, found & gifted me 3 magnets he felt I would love…he was right! I married the right man 😉

Review Burying Water by K.A. Tucker

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Burying Water by K.A. Tucker

Series: Burying Water #1

Published by:  Atria

Date of Publication: October 7th 2014

Genres: New Adult; Contemporary

Pages: 354

Format: e-book

Rating: 5 Stars

The top-selling, beloved indie author of Ten Tiny Breaths returns with a new romance about a young woman who loses her memory—and the man who knows that the only way to protect her is to stay away.

Left for dead in the fields of rural Oregon, a young woman defies all odds and survives—but she awakens with no idea who she is, or what happened to her. Refusing to answer to “Jane Doe” for another day, the woman renames herself “Water” for the tiny, hidden marking on her body—the only clue to her past. Taken in by old Ginny Fitzgerald, a crotchety but kind lady living on a nearby horse farm, Water slowly begins building a new life. But as she attempts to piece together the fleeting slivers of her memory, more questions emerge: Who is the next-door neighbor, quietly toiling under the hood of his Barracuda? Why won’t Ginny let him step foot on her property? And why does Water feel she recognizes him?

Non-Spoilery Review
I intentionally posted a partial synopsis from Goodreads because the entire length of it is very spoilery. Burying Water was a roller coaster of emotions for me. Alexandra was very young & poor when she met the man 20 years her senior who would sweep her off her feet. Handsome, successful and yet still managed to set his eyes on her? It all seemed too good to be true…their courtship eventually led to marriage and a life she would pay a heavy price for. A husband who treats her like a trophy wife, physically harms her, an adulterer, and a key player in the Russian mob. Alexandra Petrov found herself quickly drowning with no way out until one rainy night when her life changed its course.

 

“The mind, it can be a deceitful thing. But it is no match for the heart.” 
― K.A. Tucker, Burying Water

 

Spoilery Review

The first half of this book was at times brutal and harsh to get through. I felt a range of emotions & quickly found myself loving Alexandra. A protagonist who was “resilient” and strong underneath all the hurt, I couldn’t help but root for her triumph. Viktor Petrov, a man in a position of power attained through illegal activity in the Russian mob viewed his wife as someone to satisfy him sexually & in all the traditional (old school) ways. Alex however, had dreams of becoming a nurse & was enrolled in courses which Viktor saw as taking time away from him. This alone angered me! Then there were often times Viktor had her dress up in skin tight revealing clothes to accompany him to the night club where all of his nefarious dealings took place. I could FEEL the awkwardness & out of place feelings Alex was experiencing. I couldn’t help but scream YES GIRL!!!! whenever she dished out a bit of anger when answering his questions. I also found it hilarious that Alex continued to have car trouble throughout the book simply because she wasn’t the type to drive expensive cars.

ENTER Jesse who I view as “the BOY next door” type, this should be a thing lol. Jesse aka the mechanic savant, finds Alex on the side of the road & helps her get gas, they exchange a kiss which is the beginning of many more encounters that feel very kismet. Jesse was everything that Viktor was not. He’s only 2 years Alex’s senior, blunt when speaking yet always conscious & caring of who he’s speaking to, and overall laid back. Of course, Jesse had his flaws mostly based off of bad decisions he made when he was a teenager running with the wrong group of friends. His relationship with his father the sheriff was strained because of those bad decisions in his past. Having an affair with a married woman didn’t seem like it would mend that relationship any time soon yet it felt right for both Jesse & Alex. Viktor hiring Jesse to restore/repair one of his most prized cars in his home garage felt like fate. When Alex finally made the decision to leave Viktor (after many brutal beatings), I was over the moon happy only to have that feeling squashed by the events of the night that Viktor tried to kill & leave her body buried in a snowy mountain. Thankfully, Jesse is tipped off to what happened & manages to get her the medical attention needed. When Alex wakes up, she can’t remember anything not even her name. She’s left with a scar from her temple all the way down to her chin. See Viktor wanted to make sure he robbed her of her beauty. He raped her, slashed her face, and physically beat and broke her ribs along with other body parts. I’m glad that at the end of the book she never quite remembers the events of that night in its entirety because it really was a second chance at life.

Alex’s journey leads to an amazing cast of characters, my favorite being the grumpy and recluse little old lady Ginny Fitzgerald. Ginny gave me so many laugh out loud moments but also much heart ache. Alex and Ginny’s stories have small similarities but two stuck out the most to me. The fact that she was raped in her youth by someone she also trusted & that both her rapist and Alex’s killed themselves (inadvertently or not). Ginny’s ability to take in another rape victim & help her heal after so many years of secluding herself makes Ginny hold a special place in my heart. Lastly, I loved seeing the relationship between Jesse and his parents (specifically his Dad) mend. Jesse’s parents were key characters in this book & I can now add them to my very short list of fictional parentals that ROCK!

 

 

Waiting On Wednesday 


Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at @Breaking The Spine, which spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.


Author: Stephanie Garber

Book: Hardcover, 416 pages

Expected Publication: January 10th 2017

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Goodreads Synopsis:

Before you enter the world of Caraval, you must remember that it’s all a game . . .

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their ruthless father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the legendary, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.

Then, Scarlett’s long-dreamt of invitation to Caraval finally arrives. So, Tella enlists a mysterious sailor’s help to whisk Scarlett away to this year’s show. But as soon as the trio arrives, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nonetheless soon becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with her sister, with Legend, and with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.

Why did I choose this book?

Besides that beautiful cover? lol. Caraval gives me such Night Circus feels & I have not found anything like it since leaving that world. It will be interesting to read a YA book of a similar concept. This book promises an invitation to a performance, a game, mystery, kidnapping, and magic. SOLD! since this seems to be book 1 in a series, i’m hoping Caraval sets the stage so well that it captures the magic of it all. I’m also loving the fact that it’s expected publication date is in January, i’m a mood reader & this just seems like the perfect time to pick up what i’m assuming will be a darker read.