Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Book Review ; The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash by Candace Ganger








Title ; The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash
Author ; Candace Ganger
Genre ; Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary 
Pages ; 320
Publisher ; St. Martin's Griffin 








Synopsis ; Birdie is a sweet girl, she's only snuck out once in her life to go to a party where she didn't stay for long but there she met a guy. Bash has his struggles and although he has good intentions, his life doesn't always go the way he plans but one night at a party he meets this girl. They only talked for a little while and they didn't even exchange information but somehow fate brings them together with a tragedy. Will this tragedy be the beginning of a relationship or a heartbreak?

First Impression ; I received an arc of this book from a Goodreads giveaway and I was happy to receive it but I figured the story would be predictable.

Rating ;

Review ; I absolutely loved this book, it's definitely one of my top reads for this year. This book was everything I love in a book and more. It had romance and heartbreak. Candace had me sitting on the edge of my seat with every page wondering what would happen with each character. I couldn't put this book down, I literally carried it everywhere I went. The tragedy in this book had me full of emotions and it really was a tear jerker. I felt every emotion while reading this book. I liked almost every character and even the ones I didn't like, I still felt for them.


Cover Rating ;

Judging a Book by it's Cover ; When I first saw this cover I thought it was cute but I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. I assumed this book would be a sappy love story about meeting at roller-skating rink and although I do love a good romance I figured this book would be typical and predictable. The cover get's 3 stars because it's a little misleading.

Friday, July 21, 2017

Book Review ; Glass by Ellen Hopkins | Book Two in the Crank Series





Title ; Glass 
  Author ; Ellen Hopkins
  Genre ; Young Adult, Poetry, Fiction 
  Pages ; 681
  Publisher ; Margret K. McElderry Books









Synopsis ; This book continues to follow Kristina's downward spiral with addiction but now Kristina also has to deal with the fact that she's had a baby, a baby that was conceived from her being raped. Can Kristina turn her life around and be the mother her baby needs or will the monster take over again?



First Impression ; I didn't have a first impression of this book because I remembered some of it from school.

Rating

Review ; So little words and yet a story unfolds in Ellen Hopkin's Glass. I was excited to start this book after finishing Crank and this book did not disappoint. I like getting to see more into Kristina's life and how things worked out after having a baby. I found myself hoping that Kristina would be the mother that she wanted to be but to also find happiness. I couldn't put this book down and finished it in just a few days. I can't wait to continue this story with the last book in this series, Fallout. 

Cover Rating

Judging a Book by It's Cover ; I knew a bit about this book before starting it so I didn't really get to judge it by it's cover. I do like the basic cover designs of all Ellen Hopkins books so five stars will do. 







 
 

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Book Review ; My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen | by David Clawson










Title ; My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen
Author ; David Clawson
Genre ; Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Retelling, GLBT
Pages ; 257
Publisher ; Sky Pony Press      







Synopsis ;  This is a modern retelling of Cinderella, starring Chris Bellows. After his fathers death, he's left with his step family. With his fathers demise the family's fortune is also gone and Chris is left taking care of his step family and feeling more like a maid than a member of the family. His life turns upside down when he meets Coco Chanel Jones who becomes his modern day fairy godmother, helps him feel more comfortable in his own skin ,and shows him everything isn't always what it seems. Then stepsister starts dating Golden boy J.J Kennerly and problems arise when Chris and J.J fall in love. To make matters worse the media is watching their every move. 

First Impression ;  I was excited when I got the emailing saying I won this book from Goodreads, the synopsis drew me in and this is my first LGBT book so I didn't know what to expect. 



Rating ; 

 



Review ; When I first started reading this book I couldn't put it down, the story captivated me within the first few chapters. I found myself rooting for Chris and J.J but at the same time I was feeling bad for Kimberly. At first you think evil stepfamily but as the story goes on you see where they're coming from. I really enjoyed the story however this book is only getting 2 stars from me because although I liked this book I couldn't get past the fact that this book is about LGBT and acceptance but at the same time it was stereotypical towards African Americans and had some fat "jokes" shaming, I guess the author meant these in a light humorous way but I personally don't find it funny. Also the fact that Kimberly would sneak drugs into her mothers drinks to "calm" her down which I  find wrong on so many levels. If you took all that away this book would be getting a better rating
   


Cover Rating ; 


Judging a Book by it's Cover ; The cover is made to look like blue glitter, the font is adorable, and I like the town building/bridge silhouette. 




 


Thursday, March 2, 2017

How I Got JoJo Moyes Autograph for Me Before You Book


Most people have heard of Me Before You because not only is it a popular book but it was made into a movie. If you go through my older blog posts you'll see that I read Jojo Moyes books Me Before You and After You and I loved them, they now sit on a shelf with my favorite books.  I've also began collecting autographed books for my favorite books/authors. This is hard for me because I live in a small town with one local used bookstore that doesn't really have signings. So I looked online, I found some reasonably priced books but none of my favorites so I did my research and found that you can email certain people and they will send you an autograph photo/book plate. So I emailed JoJo Moyes.


I sent the email on January 8th and I received her autograph today, March 2nd.  I never got an email back so I really wasn't expecting it. When I got a medium sized envelope in the mail from the UK I was a little confused but I opened it and found a photo and bookplate and it literally made my day.


I've already stuck the bookplate into Me Before You as you can see from the photos but I thought I would blog about this incase someone else wanted to get her autograph for their favorite book by her.


Wednesday, February 22, 2017

BookOutlet Book Haul #1 | 6 Books for $20!


I placed an order on Book Outlet on Valentine's Day and I was pretty excited, I got 6 books for $20 and that's counting shipping. This isn't my first BookOutlet order but it's the first one I've decided to post and I'll probably start posting book hauls more often. I need to post a Watch My Library Grow update because I've added so many new books to my shelf.

     

I got Anna and the French Kiss and Isla and the Happily Ever After both by Stephanie Perkins. I've been wanting to read these books for quite some time, now I just have to get Lola and the Boy Next Door.


 I also got Very Bad Things by Susan McBride, I randomly found this book on Book Outlet and the synopsis drew me in so I wanted to pick it up.


This is another book that I stumbled upon on Book Outlet and the synopsis held my interest. It's called Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas.


 and the last books I got were Silence and Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick the last two books in the Hush Hush series, now I need to get the first two books.

All in all I'm happy with this order, a few of these books were "Scratch and Dent" copies so I was expecting a few flaws, the only flaws that really bothered me is Dangerous Girls has a huge fold on the back and Finale is cut on the cover and a few pages but for the prices I really can't complain.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

February Goodwill Tiny Book Haul |Thrifting for Books

I've always been a thrifter, I love going to Goodwill for clothes, décor, and of course books. Lately I've been seeing some pretty good books at Goodwill and Sunday I picked up three books for my collection.


I got A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaleed Hosseini, That Summer by Sarah Dessen, and Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen. All three books are in great to like new condition so I couldn't pass them up.



Even better the purple tag was half off, so I got all three books for $1.49! Such a great deal.

I have to admit Goodwill is one of my favorite places to get books, most of the time they're super cheap and in pretty nice condition. I've never read A Thousand Splendid Suns but I did read the Kite Runner and liked it so I wanted to read this book. I'm also a huge Sarah Dessen fan so I couldn't pass up on these books to add to my ever growing collection. I actually think all my Sarah Dessen books have been purchased from Goodwill.

Do you thrift shop for books? If so what is your best book find?
So far my favorite find was a huge bundle of Jane Austen books.


Monday, February 20, 2017

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith | Spoiler Free Book Review








Title ; The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Author ; Jennifer E. Smith
Genre ; Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Pages ; 236
Publisher ; Poppy / Little Brown







 Synopsis ; Do you believe in fate? How about love at first sight? The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight follows two stories, Hadley and Olivers within 24 hours. Both are on their way to London but for two very different reasons. Hadley is heading to London for the first time for her dads wedding to a woman she's never even met before and she's not happy with the fact that her father has left her mother for another woman. Oliver is from London and is on his way back to his family for a visit. Hadley misses her flight and ends up on the same flight as Oliver and they end up striking up a conversation but once they land in London they lose track of each other, will fate bring them back together?



First Impression ; I've been wanting to read this book for years. I'm a hopeless romantic and this book draws me in, not only because of the title but because of the cute cover as well. This book screams "romance novel, right here, pick me up, and fall in love with me".



Rating

Review ; To some people this book might seem mushy, I mean you have

a girl, Hadley, and you have

a British boy with nice hair, Oliver,

and they meet at an airport because she misses her flight

they end up sitting next to each other and getting to know each other.

Now add in some fate,

London,

and a wedding.

With all these you're thinking, this book is pretty predictable, except it's not,
to me this story focuses more on second chances rather than romance, don't get me wrong there is some romance and that's why this book is titled The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, although I do feel like a different title would have fit better, maybe something about fate or second chances? You get to watch Hadley grow so much within 24 hours and learn a life lesson on second chances. You also get to see Oliver's life a bit and see that not everything is as it seems, sometimes we miss obvious things when are mind is crowded with our own problems.

 I've noticed some similarities with Jennifer E. Smith's books; they are fast, cute, and amazing. I love how her books are romantic yet they focus on other relationships as well, so far it's mainly family relationships, and I like how you get to see more in to the characters lives because of this.

Cover Rating ;

Judging a Book by it's Cover ; The book cover fits the book pretty well and in my opinion it's adorable.

Quotes ; “It's not the changes that will break your heart; it's that tug of familiarity.” 

 “Love is the strangest, most illogical thing in the world.”


“That's the thing about flying: You could talk to someone for hours and never even know his name, share your deepest secrets and then never see them again.”  


“Is it better to have had a good thing and lost it, or never to have had it?”  

"He was a professor, a lover of stories, and he was building her a library in the same way other men might build their daughters houses.”  

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Blind Date with a Book | Book Reveal & Review





I stopped by my local book store this month and found they had some "Blind Date with a Book" books out for $1! I've been wanting to try a Blind Date with a Book for awhile but I've only seen them on Instagram. My boyfriend ended up picking one up for me as an early Valentine's Day gift and I couldn't wait to get home and see what I got.

I was intrigued by the hints on this book and another one but the other book was the last book in a series and I wanted something I could read without getting other books. The hints for this book was "Friendship, Crime, and Romance" which seemed like something right up my alley. I am addicted to crime shows and I'm a sucker for romance novels.



Now it's time for the big reveal...

Drum roll please...


I got Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz.



SynopsisNo one does romantic suspense better than Jayne Ann Krentz. Now, the New York Times bestselling author of Trust No One and River Road delivers a novel that twists and turns into a read that will leave you breathless.

Madeline and Daphne were once as close as sisters—until a secret tore them apart. Now, it might take them to their graves.

Nearly two decades after her childhood—and her friendship with Daphne—were destroyed in one traumatic night, a dying man’s last words convey a warning to Madeline: the secrets she believed buried forever have been discovered.

Unable to trust anyone else, Madeline reaches out to Daphne and to the only man she can count on to help: Jack Rayner, a security expert with a profoundly intimate understanding of warped and dangerous minds. Along with his high-tech genius of a brother, the four of them will form an uneasy alliance against a killer who will stop at nothing to hide the truth....

Review for Blind Date with a Book ; I haven't gotten around to reading this book but I'm still eager to read it. My TBR list is so long so I'm not sure when I will get around to reading it but I will. My bookstore is a used bookstore and this was an old library book which I wasn't happy about but it was $1 so it was somewhat expected. I'm happy with the outcome of this book and I will definitely get more in the future if my bookstore continues with this promo. I also noticed my local library is doing the same thing so maybe I'll stop in there and see how their Blind Date with a Book is.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Crank by Ellen Hopkins | Book Review Spoiler Free



Title ; Crank
Author ; Ellen Hopkins
Genre ; Young Adult, Poetry, Fiction
Pages ; 537
Publisher ; Margret K. McElderry Books








Synopsis ; Kristina is an A+ student and she always does the right thing until she visits her dad and meets a boy, then Bree takes over. Kristina's life goes on a downward spiral as Bree makes the decisions. Bree isn't afraid to try new things and ends up getting addicted to the "Monster" and it takes over her life. This book follows Kristina/Bree's life as she deals with the consequences of getting addicted to the Monster.

First Impression ; I don't really have a first impression for this book because I actually read it when I was younger but I love Ellen Hopkins so I wanted to reread this series. I also lost my brother last year to an overdose and I remembered this series being about addiction so I wanted to reread it to maybe get more insight in my brothers life with addiction.

Rating ;
 

Review ; I'm a huge Ellen Hopkins fan, her books are an auto-buy for me. I love that she writes in verse and tells an entire story. She's very talented to be able to say so much with just one verse. Her books are very moving and I could continue writing the many reasons on why she's my favorite author but let's get back to the book review. Crank follows Kristina as she gets addicted to Crank, aka the Monster. We get to see Kristina/Bree's fight with the monster and I think this book is a little more insight to people that are near people with addiction but never dealt with it firsthand. You see how Kristina struggles, how she continues to make bad decisions while under the influence of the Monster, and how her family/friends are also effected. This book was a fast read because of how it's written in verse but by writing it in verse Ellen made this book more real and brutal, she doesn't sugar coat drug addiction and the consequences that can happen while being addicted to a drug. This book is about very real topics, things that happen to people everyday and it's not just about the drug addiction but other real life struggles that people deal with.


The Crank series is an unforgettable trilogy that you will always remember because of the deep serious meanings behind the books. This book is something I think everyone should read. I know that some schools prohibit this book from being in the library which is ridiculous because drug addiction is real and a lot of kids are peer pressured into trying them, I think by reading this book some kids will think twice before trying drugs, seeing the real life consequences of doing them. In this book you also get to see how people don't just do drugs because they have this terrible life or because they are depressed, sometimes they do it to seem cool or because they are bored and think it will be fun.

Cover Rating ;

Judging a Book by it's Cover ; The cover for this book is another simple cover, its solid black with Crank written in powder. It goes with the book perfectly and I love how Ellen Hopkins books all look, they are short, thick, and simple.

Quotes ;





       

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Library Sale Book Haul | First Time Going | Huge Haul


Today was a pretty great day, I woke up early and headed to the local library for their annual booksale.  This is the first time I've ever been so I was pretty excited but I didn't know what to expect. I assumed it would be old library books that they had too many of but boy was I wrong, there was very few library books, almost every book looked brand new. Hardcovers were $2 each and paperbacks were $1 each. I got quite a few books and I plan on going back. Saturday will be the last day of the booksale and its $3 for a bag of books.

I got 2 hardcover  Harry Potter books
, Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks which is hardcover, and Legend by Marie Lu which was the last hardcover book I got. For paperbacks I got Fever and Burn by Maya Banks, The Black Hand by Will Thomas, Lucky and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, House of Leave by Mark Z. Danielewski, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Me Talk Pretty by David Sedaris, Matched by Ally Condie, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson, Love Walked In by Marissa De Los Santos, The Distance Between by Kacie West, The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, and The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith. A total of 18 books for $22.

I was pretty excited to find House of Leaves because I've been wanting it for quite awhile but since I've heard it's hard to read/follow I never purchased it. I was also excited to find The Cuckoo's Calling, Lovely Bones, and the Harry Potter books. I think this is a pretty good haul especially considering the prices for these books. Hopefully they will still have a good selection Saturday.


<3/Bella

Friday, January 27, 2017

You Are Here by Jennifer E. Smith | Book Review | Spoiler Free



Title ; You Are Here
Author ; Jennifer E. Smith
Genre ; Young Adult, Contemporary, Travel-Road Trip, Romance, Realistic Fiction
Pages ; 251
Publisher ; Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers                          




Synopsis ; Have you ever felt like something was missing? Well Emma feels like that all the time, she doesn't fit in with her family and she doesn't make any friends. One day she discovers a birth certificate for a boy, on the same day she was born, a twin brother, but following that she finds a death certificate. Now Emma knows why she's always felt like something was missing and she sets out to find something she lost years ago that she never even knew she had. For Peter, it's always been his dream to escape his small town, his love for maps doesn't help the urge to leave. His father want's him to stay, go to college here, he never could understand why Peter was so obsessed with maps and travel when his mother had loved their small town. Can Peter escape or will he be stuck there forever? Emma and Peter are complete opposites, so they think, but they end up together on a trip of self discovery but they run in to a lot of problems on the way, will they reach their destination or be sent home before their even halfway there?

First Impression ; I'm a sucker for contemporary novels so I was excited to read this book. The blurb seemed interesting and I've never read a Travel-Road Trip book so I figured this book would be great. From the blurb I figured this book would be pretty emotional.

Rating

Review ; This book was emotional but not a book I needed tissues for. I loved that even though this book was classified as romance, there was very little romance and the story focused more on the two teens discovering themselves while also learning more about each other. I liked the details in their traveling. it made me picture their situations better and long for a trip myself.


 This was a pretty fast read, I finished it in around 3 days, it definitely was a sweet and short read. I enjoyed both characters and how different they were yet so much alike, even their lives were different. Emma grew up in a family full of geniuses which she never could relate to so she always felt out of place. Peter grew up with just his father and while Peter always dreamed of traveling his dad just didn't see the point, Peter got along with Emma's family more than his own but both teens still felt alone.

Cover Rating ;

Judging a Book by it's Cover ; The cover is pretty simple and goes with the story. I like that all of my Jennifer E. Smith books look pretty similar minus the fact that this cover is glossy while the others are matte which is why this cover gets a 3 star rating, it's not horrible but it bothers me.



Quotes ;

“But how could she tell him that the reason she always acted so disinterested in everything was because of the worry that she herself wasn't all that interesting?”  

"and there was nothing more to be done except kick herself for always choosing the wrong time to be silent and the wrong times to make a fuss"

Monday, January 23, 2017

The Convenient Escape by Robert Downs | Book Review Suspense Mystery


I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway, while this book was free, Goodreads doesn't expect me to leave a book review although authors do offer books in hopes of getting reviews. My opinion is my own.


Judging a Book By It's Cover ;

I like the look of this book, the cover goes with the book but it is lacking in quality, I'm not sure if they done this on purpose or not but it's nothing major.


First Impression ;

To me this book seemed very interesting, I was wanting to read more suspense/mystery books and this one seemed perfect to read. After reading the blurb I was eager to see how Veronica's story went and how Pete tied into the story.

Rating ;

Review ;

This book follows Veronica Baird's story as she escapes from being held captive for 2 days in an underground dungeon. She doesn't know who took her or why but she knows she has to escape but escaping isn't so easy when the person that abducted you is still at large and you have no idea who they are, you can't trust anyone but you have to run. Upon escaping the dungeon Veronica runs into Pete, a former classmate from high school, even though she's not sure she can trust him she doesn't have much of a choice and so their story begins.

This book started off pretty fast paced with a lot of action and I really liked that but soon to follow I ran into some problems.

1. Some parts seemed unbelievable, after Chapter 4 I started to dread reading the book because I just couldn't believe Veronica didn't go to the police after escaping and I also didn't see this woman overpowering/tricking a grown man that also happened to be in the military. Both of these problem for me were explained way later in the book but it was so close to the end that it ruined the book for me.


2. I didn't like a few characters, mainly the bad guys which makes sense but I found Anthony's character was portrayed quite unrealistically. The fact that he could seduce a woman into being with him just for sexual favors and have her almost kill someone seems completely far fetched. I also didn't see him hiring the hitmen that he hired, they were both pretty dumb and not someone I would see someone hiring for the task.



This book gets 3 stars from me because it wasn't as great as I'd hoped it would be but it was still a good book. The author did an amazing job describing each scenario in this book so that you could literally picture it.

Recommended For ;

Adults that like suspense and mysteries. Also Young Adult but there are some rated X moments I the book, very little but still to be noted.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

After You by Jojo Moyes | Book Review | Me Before You Book 2

 Judging a Book By It's Cover ; My opinion for this book was pretty much the same as for Me Before You, because they are a set and match pretty well. The difference is the colors were switched. So I loved this cover as well.


First Impression ; I was still a little upset with the ending of the first book when I started this book and I knew this was continuing Lou's story which I was both happy and curious about. The blurb made me more interested in her story because of "Reluctantly she joins a support group and meets Sam Fielding" who is this Sam and will he replace Will!? How could she be over him in such a short time!? And then there's this "Then a figure from Will's past appears and hijacks all of Lou's plans, propelling her into a very different future" who is this person!?

Rating ;

Review ; I loved that Lou's story got to continue. I was eager to see how her life changed and I wasn't disappointed. There was so much action in this book and I got to see into everyone's life a bit more after Will. I loved that Jojo tied in the rest of Will's family in this book so that we got to see how they coped with Will being gone. You saw how things ended and how some things began. You also got to see Lou's family grow as well, her sister in college and her mom stepping out of her comfort zone. This book had it all, action, romance, and a bit of mystery. I want to read more into Lou's life, I saw in the back interview where Jojo Moyes talked about leaving room for another book if the readers wanted and yes, yes we do!


The way the book ended I can definitely see this being turned into a trilogy and I'd love to see Lou growing more.