Saturday, January 16, 2016

Stacking the Shelves - Some Exciting Sequels

Browsing through some recent STS posts from you guys and realized I had missed getting some sequels that I've been looking forward to.

For Review:

The Capture, by Tom Isbell from Edelweiss

book 2 of The Prey

Banished, by Kimberley Griffiths Little from Edelweiss

sequel to Forbidden, my favorite YA book of 2014!

Girl in the Blue Coat, by Monica Hesse from Edelweiss

not a sequel -- just looked good

How to Disappear by Ann Redisch Stampler book cover

How to Disappear, by Ann Redisch Stampler from Edelweiss

a YA Thriller - those always get my attention

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Book Review: Written in Fire, by Marcus Sakey @MarcusSakey

Written in Fire by Marcus Sakey book cover and review

Written in Fire is the exciting conclusion to the Brilliance trilogy. These books have all been thrilling and are hard to put down.

The premise is that about 30 years ago certain people contracted a virus that gave them special powers. Everyone's powers are somewhat different, and they are genetic so can be passed onto their children.

The world has become a very dangerous and distrustful place. The authorities are wanting all "Brilliants" to have a chip implanted to identify them. The Brilliants have a stronghold and want to secede from the United States and govern themselves. The tensions just keep ramping up and in Written in Fire everything comes to a head and the stakes are very high. We have all the same characters from the previous two books -- good guys and bad ones (and some you can't really decide about.)

Sakey does a good job of reminding those of us who may have forgot some of the details of the previous books. The pace is nonstop, and the ending is very dramatic.

You definitely want to read the books in order. Brilliance is the first one and A Better World is next. Written in Fire is supposed to be the last book, and in the author's notes he says it is. But he sure left an opening to continue the story. The Brilliance stories are great adult books that are totally accessible to teens. And Brilliance, the movie, is in development!

Published by Thomas & Mercer, January 12, 2016
eARC obtained from NetGalley
345 pages

Rating: 4/5

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Book Review: The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian

The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian book cover and review

I totally forgot to write this review! And this book has been released a week ago! Sorry....

I must admit being a bit disappointed in The Guest Room, but it's not really because of the book, it's because of my expectations. I don't really read blurbs very carefully and I had read The Night Stranger by Bohjalian that was a really creepy, macabre book, so I thought this would be more of the same. It wasn't.

Richard is hosting a bachelor party at his home for his younger, very immature brother. One of the friends hires some strippers which was to be expected. But these two women do a lot more than strip, and then all hell breaks loose and they murder their two body guards. Turns out they were kidnapped Russian girls being forced into prostitution against their will. The girls escape, leaving Richard's house in shambles. His wife and young daughter are traumatized as well as the other guys that were at the party. Richard's brother's wedding gets cancelled.

We also get the perspective of one of the sex slaves -- her background and how she ended up in this mess, as well as their attempt to flee.

It's a messed up situation. And the ending is just as messed up. No HEA here, just so you know...

The writing is great and the pace is pretty frantic. It's hard to put The Guest Room down at times as I anticipated how it was all going to turn out. I must admit I was a bit disappointed, but that's just my opinion.

The Guest Room is an adult book that I would only recommend to mature teens.

Published by Doubleday, January 5, 2016
eARC obtained from NetGalley
336 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Stacking the Shelves - A Reread

Only a couple this week, including a children's classic. I'm just in the mood....

For Review:

Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan book cover

Reign of Shadows, by Sophie Jordan from Edelweiss

From the Library:

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White book cover

Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White, eBook

My 3rd grade teacher read this to us. That was almost 50 years ago. Not sure I've read it since.

I hope you got some good stuff this week. Please leave me a link so I can see. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit our hosts, Team Tynga's Reviews.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Book Review: Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken book cover and review

While I enjoyed the premise of Passenger, this book really dragged for me.

Etta wakes up in an unfamiliar place after witnessing the murder of her teacher and friend. It turns out Etta can travel through time and she didn't know it. She and her companion, Sophia, are in the middle of the ocean on a ship that's just been taken over by pirates. The new captain of the ship is Nicholas. He's also a time traveler. He's been commissioned to bring Etta to New York to meet the head of the family, Ironwood.

Etta is very confused, of course, but soon begins to figure out some of what is going on. Her only goal is to return to her original time and save her teacher's life.

Ironwood has other plans. He's in search of a device that can help control time travel. Etta's mother has hidden this device in an unknown time and place. Etta must find this device and return it to Ironwood to save her mother's life. But in doing so, she gives Ironwood power to change the course of history. Nicholas ends up accompanying Etta on her journeys to protect her and also protect Ironwood's interests. Etta realizes that her mother has been giving Etta clues for this journey for her entire life.

The story is a bit jumpy at the beginning (time travel and all) so it took a while to settle in. I felt Passenger to be very repetitive. Too much lamenting by Nicholas about how his brother died and Nicholas feels responsible. Or by Etta about how she is going to save her mother and also keep the device from Ironwood. Or about how their romance is doomed. Over and over, the same soliloquies. It took me forever to read this book because I had trouble wanting to go back to it.

What I would have liked more of is world building. Nicholas and Etta travel to several exotic, beautiful, and dangerous places. I would have loved to be able to feel those places. Their trips in and out of these times/places were too short. Then back to the complaining and lamenting....

The ending was exciting, if a bit incomplete. Huge cliffhanger here; nothing is resolved. (Another of my pet peeves.) I did like the premise. The time traveling was explained well and the tension certainly (finally) built up. I think the execution could have been improved.

Published by Disney-Hyperion, January 5, 2016
eARC obtained from NetGalley
496 pages

Rating: 3/5

Sunday, January 3, 2016

2015 Statistically Speaking

I like to do these summary posts mostly for me, so I have a record, but if you are interested, here's my reading accomplishments for 2015.

You can see the detailed list of all my reviews on my 2015 Review Archives Page.

If you are interested in favorite books of the year, you can check out my 2015 End of Year Book Survey.

The numbers:

I read 124 books in 2015, which was actually 29 less than the 153 I read in 2014. That's three years in a row I've read less books! What's up with that? Well, this year I kind of have an excuse. In August, I became a grandmother for the first time!

And, in October, we broke ground on a new house. I've never built a house before, and my son is my contractor. It's been a lot of fun, but a lot of work and my mind has been very preoccupied with house plans.

So I'm a bit disappointed in my numbers, but looking at the year I've had, I'm OK with it.

If you look at number of pages, I read 46,874, which is very close to 1,000 pages less than the 56,824 I read last year. Average book length: 378 pages. Last year's 56,824 is my all time record for number of pages.

80 of the books I read were e-books and 13 were audiobooks. Pretty close to 2014 numbers.

Average book rating (out of a scale of 5) was 3.79. This may seem a bit high, but I never give a "1" rating -- if a book is that bad, I don't finish it. I DNF (did not finish) 7 books this year, less than last year. And I rarely give "2" ratings (only 1 this year). I gave several 2.5 ratings, though. 15 books got a 5/5 rating this year. (26 last year -- I must be getting harder to please!) That's about 14% of the books I read.

Here's a link to my 2014 statistics, for comparison.

Reading Challenges:

Here's a link to my 2015 Reading Challenges Summary Page

The You Read How Many Books Challenge, hosted by Book Dragon's Lair: I read 124 books, so did not meet my goal of 150 books.

The 2015 Ebook Challenge hosted right here at Annette's Book Spot: I challenged myself to read 75 Ebooks. I read 80. Completed!

The Library Books Reading Challenge, hosted by Book Dragon's Lair: Even though I failed last year, I once again challenged myself to read 50 library books. And I did even WORSE! Last year 43, this year, 36. Hmmm. Too many review books on my TBR.

I'm hoping that 2016 will be better, but it's going to be another busy year. I would always want to have bigger numbers, but I'm pretty happy with my numbers from 2015, given my life situation. So we'll see what happens in the new year!

How did your year go? Did you meet your goals? Are you surprised by anything? What about 2016? Are your goals the same, or are you making adjustments?

Thanks for visiting and Happy Reading!

Friday, January 1, 2016

2016 EBook Challenge - Post Your January Reviews HERE

Here we go! Get those batteries charged and get reading!

You can sign up for the 2016 EBook Reading Challenge here.

You can see my progress on my 2016 Reading Challenges Page.

Add your January reviews below:

Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 End of Year Book Survey

6th Annual End Of Year Survey – 2015 edition!!

Hosted by Jamie, The Perpetual Page Turner. Be sure to visit and see all the participating blogs.

One more reminder that I'm hosting the 2016 EBook Reading Challenge if you are interested.

Number Of Books You Read: 125
Number of Re-Reads: I think it's zero, and that's kind of sad
Genre You Read The Most From: Probably Fantasy, although lots of historical fiction too.

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?

Hands down, The Martian by Andy Weir. Absolutely incredible.

Second would be The Girl With All the Gifts. Two adult books and both audiobooks. Huh.

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon. Second book in the series and I loved the first (The Bone Season.)

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?

Seeker, by Arwen Elys Dayton. In a good way.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

The Martian. It wasn't that hard what with the movie being released.

5. Best series you started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015?

Started: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Sequel: Polaris by Mindee Arnett

Series Ender: Winter by Marissa Meyer

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?

Brandon Sanderson (Steelheart)

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

I read everything. But, I'd have to say I'm most critical of contemporaries. I really enjoyed When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Blood of My Blood, by Barry Lyga

9. Book You Read In 2015 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Well, as you can see above, I'm not a big re-reader, and if I do reread something it's a classic or something from my history. Like Charlotte's Web, which I plan to read soon.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2015?

I love The Lunar Chronicles covers. So Winter.

11. Most memorable character of 2015?

It's really Mark Watney from The Martian. But I'm trying to spread it around, and I really loved Marie-Laure from All the Light We Cannot See.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2015?

Ummm....not sure there was one of those this year....

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read?

The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck. Always wanted to read it. Glad I did!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015?

I'm not a good "quoter." Don't have anything this year....

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?

The shortest was Dashing Through the Snow by Debbie Macomber at 125 pages (even though Amazon and Barnes & Noble say it's longer, the ebook says 125!)

The longest was Winter at 824 pages.

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Trust No One, by Paul Cleave

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

Dave & Julia, Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Grace & Tippi, One by Sarah Crossan

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2015 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

The Uninvited by Cat Winter

21. Best Book You Read In 2015 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

The Girl With All the Gifts, by M. R. Carey

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2015?

I guess I'm too old for crushes.

23. Best 2015 debut you read?

The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

Ten Thousand Skies Above You, by Claudia Gray

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, by Alan Bradley. Flavia ALWAYS puts a smile on my face.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015?

The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

One by Sarah Crossan (this one could have answered #26 too.)

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Audacity by Melanie Crowder. A quote from my review: Clara comes from a very traditional Jewish family, so when they arrive in New York she and her mother must find work. Her father and brothers are to spend their time studying God's word. I had a hard time not throwing the book across the room. Her mother is taking in piecework and Clara is working in a sweatshop barely making anything. And the males in the family go to the temple and study all day. I'm all for faith, but how can one justify this in the name of any religion?

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2016?

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2016 (non-debut)?

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2016?

The Last Star by Rick Yancey

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2016?

To read more. Always a goal. Also, I really need to update my blog design. It's been a long time!

6. A 2016 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:

Hmmm. I don't think I've read any. I usually do, but I've not been reading ahead very much lately.

If you are still here -- thanks for taking the time to read. Please leave me a link to your answers so I can visit. Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Book Review: Hit by Delilah S. Dawson

Hit by Delilah S. Dawson book cover and review

Just a reminder that I'm hosting the 2016 EBook Reading Challenge if you are interested.

I loved the unique and troubling premise of Hit. It's definitely a "what would you do?" kind of book.

The country has been bought by Valor Savings. The national debt became so huge, that this company bailed it out and now controls everything. Patsy has been forced to become an assassin to save her and her mother's lives. Her mother built up so much debt that when Valor demanded immediate payment in full, there is no way she can. The only choice is death or for Patsy to become a debt collector for five days.

No one in the country knows this is going on. Patsy poses as a mail person. She gives these victims the same ultimatum that she got. If they refuse, she shoots them with a gun provided by Valor.

The idea that the fine print on a credit application could allow this to happen gets you thinking. How often do you "read the fine print?" Well, none of these people did and now Valor is allowed to basically do whatever they want. Scary.

The premise is intriguing and the book moves at a good pace. There's more to the story, including a romantic interest, but I don't want to spoil anything. You do have to suspend some disbelief, since it seems so easy for Patsy to kill people. I mean, she's upset but she gets over it way to easily. She doesn't consider giving up her own life and her mother's. She pretty much accepts her fate and gets on with it. I don't really think that is realistic. I'm sure there would be much more mental turmoil than is depicted in Hit. There are also a couple places where the violence is pretty graphic and gory, so prepare for that.

But it is a compelling read and a great one for discussion. This was chosen by my kids in book club, and I can't wait to discuss this with them next week at our meeting. Pick this one up if you get a chance. It can't help but make you think.

Published by Simon Pulse, April 14, 2015
Copy obtained from the library
324 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

Monday, December 28, 2015

Book Review: See How They Run by Ally Carter @OfficiallyAlly

Secrets! Secrets! What is happening on Embassy Row now? In See How They Run Grace is still suffering from guilt after the end of the first book, All Fall Down. And she's also determined to find out more about her mother's death.

Her family, of course, just wants to shelter her. Jamie, her brother returns from West Point and Grace knows its only because he's worried about her. He brings a friend along who also has ties to this country, Adria. She is also surprised when her Russian friend, Alexei returns because he is supposed to be back in Russia.

When Jamie's friend is found dead, fingers are pointed and Grace once again feels like she must be the one to find out what happened and save the day. As she digs for answers, she finds out more about her mother's past and how it contributed to her death.The revelation at the end of See How They Run will have you clamoring for the next book.

I continue to be thoroughly entertained with The Embassy Row series. The characters are interesting and are changing. Some of it is a bit far-fetched, and I'm not sure Grace shouldn't be receiving more psychological help, but if you suspend some disbelief these stories are quick and full of action and intrigue.

I think See How They Run could work as a stand alone, but you'll get much more out of it if you start at the beginning with All Fall Down. Ally Carter is very popular in my library, and I'll be sure to add this series for those fans and hopefully some new ones.

Published by Scholastic, December 22, 2015
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
336 pages

Rating: 4/5