Books I Did Not Finish (4)

Every so often there is a book that I dedicate a significant amount of time to and I don’t get very far. For some reason these certain book just can’t hold my attention. My general rule of thumb is that if I really, really don’t like the book after at least one hundred pages, I allow myself to set it down and never read the rest of it. I consider these books “did not finish.” I don’t come across these books too often and as of October 2014 I have only had five. So let’s talk about those.

1. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein- I wanted to like this book so much. In fact I wanted to love this book! I had heard mostly wonderful reviews and most everyone seemed to love it. The synopsis sounded absolutely fantastic! I gave Code Name Verity a whole lot more than just the one hundred pages because it was a book club book and I tried my hardest to finish it. But the story was just too choppy and most of the time I didn't understand who’s perspective I was reading from or even what was going on in general. I understand that I was supposed to be like that because it’s a book about a spy, but I thought it was just way too confusing.

2. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly- I didn't know much about Revolution when I started listening to the audio book so maybe this would have gone differently if I had read the synopsis. But I didn't. Based on how the cover looks (mind you, the cover is not the best way to guess at the books contents), I believed the book to be about a girl who time travels to two centuries in the past in France. Boy was I wrong! I kept thinking to myself, “when is she going to find herself in the past?” but of course that never happened. I got a least a third of the way through Revolution and ended up putting it down because, unfortunately, it never met my expectations.

3. Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker- This book is the perfect example of why I don’t read books by indie authors. The writing is bad, the editing is bad and for me, the overall experience is just not great. I cannot tell you how many times the main character said to herself that she has built steel walls around herself so that she would never let anyone get close to her again but that one touch of this really hot guy is threatening to bring them all down. I get it! You don’t have to say it over and over again! With Ten Tiny Breaths I couldn't wait to get to page one hundred so that I could give up on this book.

4. The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings- I remember when I read the synopsis of this book for the first time and I thought I couldn't wait over a year for it to be released. So glad I didn't buy it. I got it from the library and immediately started devouring it. The story line read pretty good until she met the guy. It went downhill very quickly from there. I can only roll my eye so many times before it’s time to put the book down. When I got to page 124 she had only seen this guy maybe twice and then this happened: “I start to pull away, but not before he squeezes my hand, just once. ‘Meadow, huh?” he whispers. ‘Well, at least I know your name.’” DONE! I’m out.

5. Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder- Touch of Power probably does not deserve what I’m about to say about it. I few months ago I was so sick of reading YA that I literally could not even look at the stack of YA books in my room that I had yet to read. I started reading Touch of Power during this time and it clearly clouded my perception. Normally this is the type of book that I would just eat up, but I found it boring, the characters annoying and I still have absolutely no desire to finish it. Some books just get lost in reading slumps.

Every book that I do not finish is given a star rating of 2 or 1 on Goodreads depending on how much I didn't like it. For example: Ten Tiny Breaths is definitely a 1 because I didn't like it from the beginning but Code Name Verity gets a 2 because even though I liked it, it was confusing and hard to read (not because of the content but because of the jumping around). I generally only give books this low of a rating only if I don't finish it.

Waiting on Wednesday (131)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: Get Dirty
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Series: Don't Get Mad #2
Hitting the Shelves: June 16, 2014

The members of Don’t Get Mad aren't just mad anymore . . . they’re afraid. And with Margot in a coma and Bree stuck in juvie, it’s up to Olivia and Kitty to try to catch their deadly tormentor. But just as the girls are about to go on the offensive, Ed the Head reveals a shocking secret that turns all their theories upside down. The killer could be anyone, and this time he—or she—is out for more than just revenge.
The girls desperately try to discover the killer’s identity as their personal lives are falling apart: Donté is pulling away from Kitty and seems to be hiding a secret of his own, Bree is under house arrest, and Olivia’s mother is on an emotional downward spiral. The killer is closing in, the threats are becoming more personal, and when the police refuse to listen, the girls have no choice but to confront their anonymous friend . . . or die trying.

Why I want this: I am on the edge of my seat waiting for this book to be release or at least put on Edelweiss so I can get my grubby little hands on it! I must, must, must know what happens next! The suspense is killing me! If you haven't read Get Even yet, you need to get on that! 

Review: Get Even by Gretchen McNeil

Title: Get Even
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Series: Don't Get Mad #1
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Source: ARC
Find it Here: Amazon, Goodreads

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars in Gretchen McNeil’s witty and suspenseful novel about four disparate girls who join forces to take revenge on high school bullies and create dangerous enemies for themselves in the process.

Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot have nothing in common—at least that’s what they’d like the students and administrators of their elite private school to think. The girls have different goals, different friends, and different lives, but they share one very big secret: They’re all members of Don’t Get Mad, a secret society that anonymously takes revenge on the school’s bullies, mean girls, and tyrannical teachers.

When their latest target ends up dead with a blood-soaked “DGM” card in his hands, the girls realize that they’re not as anonymous as they thought—and that someone now wants revenge on them. Soon the clues are piling up, the police are closing in . . . and everyone has something to lose.

My thoughts: 

Let's be honest, I love a good mean girls book when it's done in the right way and Gretchen McNeil does it absolutely perfect. What's not to love about revenge, payback for those who have been bullied and a murder mystery to boot. I was on the edge of my seat and I couldn't figure out what was going to happen next or who done it. 

The four main characters Margo, Olivia, Bree and Kitty all run in different groups of friends and the school has no idea that they are the members of the DGM club that has been responsible for the "paybacks" that have been happening for the past year.  They all met out of coincidence and decided to become the school's vigilantes and righting the wrongs.  The anonymity of the group has cause the school to become restless and on top of the recent murder, the students are demanding answers. Now it seems that someone is on to them as they have all received anonymous envelops filled with threatening messages.  They start to get suspicious of each other and they all have to watch their own back because they have no idea who or what is lurking behind them.  

Gretchen McNeil is one of my favorite authors and she has done it again with another book that is sure to become a hit series. I for one am definitely looking forward to reading Get Dirty and the rest of the trilogy.  It's a fun, quick read and so much fun! I would definitely recommend it to those who love mystery and intrigue.

What Does the Bookworm Say? Scary Books

Hey readers! Welcome to this week's special edition of What Does the Bookworm Say! If your new to this blog What Does the Bookworm Say is a twice monthly discussion post that I put together with a few of my other blogger friends where we spill our deepest darkest secrets on the most controversial book topics! And this week is a special edition because it's Halloween themed! It's our Halloween button just the cutest! Thanks Thuy! 

This week we are talking about what makes a book scary and some of our all time favorite scary books! This topic is just perfect for me because I love scary books! I especially love reading scary books in the winter and around this time of year.  

It's almost hard to nail down the elements that make a book scary but let me see if I can nail down a few.

1. Atmosphere: For me as a reader, the atmosphere is the foundation to a well done scary book. Most of my favorite scary book are set in small towns with a lot of run down houses where they hardly get any sunshine (not to sound like Twilight).  A place where it rains a lot, has a constant layer of clouds and a vast forest area where creepy things lurk in the night.  And not just a small town, but a small town that has a lot of deep rooted history that goes back hundreds of years.

2. The Plot: I love a scary book that has a plot that starts way back in the past in like the seventeen or eighteen hundreds. It's always good when some horrible, unspeakable act occurred all those years ago and something in the present wakes the ghost that is now going to take revenge on the decedents of those who wronged him or her (usually her). Now these present characters have to search through old creepy libraries to read old newspapers and try to find out what happened to make this ghost so mad.  I really like stories like that!

3. The Characters: I also like scary books that feature really bad paranormal characters. Maybe a bloodthirsty vampire that is a serial killer and speaking of serial killers, I love books about serial killers! Or maybe a guy who is a good person is his regular life but he is actually a werewolf and he does really bad thing that he can't remember while he is in werewolf form (like kill people).

I know these are all really random things but I really love scary books EXCEPT books about demon possession. I can't handle that shit.  Fall and Halloween are two of my favorite times during the year (even though it still feels like summer sometimes) and they just set the perfect atmosphere for reading a creepy book. 

Here are a few of my favorite scary books:

If you want to know more about what we think make a book scary, stop by Nite Lite Book Reviews, The Windy Pages and The Reader's Antidote! Do you guys like scary books as much as I do? Do you have a topic that you want us to discuss in an upcoming What Does the Bookworm Say? Let me know in the comments. 

Waiting on Wednesday (130)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: The Winner's Crime
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner's Trilogy #2
Hitting the Shelves: March 03, 2015

Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

Why I want this: I'm pretty sure everyone loved The Winner's Curse and I was no exception. The Winner's Trilogy is one of my favorite new series out right now and I can't wait to continue the story with The Winner's Crime! 

After Party Blog Tour-Deleted Scene

I am very excited to be a part of the blog tour for Afterparty by Ann Redisch Stampler. Although this book has been out for some time now, the creators of this blog tour wanted to give it the extra promotion that it deserves.

About the book:

Emma is tired of being good. Always the dutiful daughter to an overprotective father, she is the antithesis of her mother--whose name her dad won't even say out loud. That's why meeting Siobhan is the best thing that ever happened to her… and the most dangerous. Because Siobhan is fun and alluring and experienced and lives on the edge. In other words, she's everything Emma is not.

And it may be more than Emma can handle.

Because as intoxicating as her secret life may be, when Emma begins to make her own decisions, Siobhan starts to unravel. It's more than just Dylan, the boy who comes between them. Their high-stakes pacts are spinning out of control. Elaborate lies become second nature. Loyalties and boundaries are blurred. And it all comes to a head at the infamous Afterparty, where debauchery rages and an intense, inescapable confrontation ends in a plummet from the rooftop...

This explosive, sexy, and harrowing follow-up to Ann Redisch Stampler's spectacular teen debut, Where It Began, reveals how those who know us best can hurt us most.

About the Author

Ann Redisch Stampler is the author of young adult novels Where It Began and Afterparty, as well as several picture books, including The Rooster Prince of Breslov. Her books have been an Aesop Accolade winner, Sydney Taylor notable books and an honor book, a National Jewish Book Awards finalist and winner, and Bank Street Best Books of the Year. Ann has two adult children and lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband. Website: annstampler.com / Twitter: @annstampler / Facebook: https://facebook.com/WhereItBegan / Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15751652-afterparty

The Deleted Scene

From Ann: "This is the very earliest version of the chapter leading up to Siobhan and Emma coming up with the Afterparty List. The Afterparty List is still there, and more than slightly significant. The lead-up chapter and all the college-obsession stuff is not.

To understand this, you have to know: i.) Marty is Emma’s father, ii.) Marty’s family has a thriving manufacturing business."

We’re sitting in Siobhan’s room making lists for Miss Palmer. Lists of activities we plan to pursue in college, at least one of which should involve saving the planet (including all the lame activities we plan to drop the second we don’t need them to fill up a college application anymore). Lists of the ten adjectives that best describe our compellingly desirable selves, and ten colleges we want to find out more about.

Siobhan is only just barely cooperating because, if she doesn’t, Miss Palmer will haul her into her office for her own private, personal college chat that everyone is trying to avoid.

“We already know where we’re going,” she says. “Remind me why we’re doing this again.”

The fact that Miss Palmer has spent two full class periods forcing us to watch a power point with bar graphs and pie charts and depressing statistics and is constantly handing out stacks of hand-outs that spell out in excruciating detail just how many people -- no doubt with better lists of self-descriptive adjectives than we’re ever going to come up with -- do not get into their top-choice, single digit acceptance Ivy League college, has no effect.

“Eight people went to Columbia last year,” Siobhan says. “Eight! Can you think of eight people smarter than us in our class?”

The entire robotics team? The kids that got the silver in the National Classics Bowl and are busy learning Greek in their space time? Melinda Lee? It’s not that I’m not a good student (with the amount of time I’m trapped in my house working on it, I’d be sadly deficient if I wasn’t) but I’m getting the distinct impression that unless I quickly start making robots, learn Sandskrit, and get Marty onto the Board of someplace that looks more like a hot college and less like a button, zipper, and hook factory, my chances are quite slim.

But there’s no point trying to dissuade Siobhan, and I’m having to put too much energy into coming up with adjectives that don’t contradict each other to try.

“We could make far more useful lists than this,” Siobhan says. “If you insist on sitting here making more lists, we should at least work on a list that we can get some use out of.”

I’m ready to give up. I hit the wall at six adjectives, and I’m ready to do almost anything else. “Top ten burgers? You want to drive over to Golden State? Eating is one of the ten top things I’d rather be doing than this.”

“Top ten clubs,” she says.

“Top ten forgers who can get you an ID to get into the top ten clubs.”

“You want an ID? I can so get you an ID. Why didn’t you say something before?”

“Because I don’t want an ID. Who in their right mind would think I’m 21? Plus, if Marty found it, I wound’t live to 21. What I want is a burger and sweet potato wedges.”

“You need a list of things to do this year other than feed the poor,” Siobhan says. “You need to start going to parties and see what it feels like to get drunk and smoke a joint and start doing all the stuff you’re supposed to be doing with Jean-Luc with a real guy. Or you’ll be completely unprepared for college. You’re missing the ten top normal experiences of high school.”

“Make plentiful use of red plastic cups? Scam on some guy you’re never going to see again. Throw up in wastebasket. Yeah, get me some of that.”

“Do you see me throwing up in any waste baskets? Think about it: Who has better weekends, you or me?”

The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Tour Schedule:

If you want to follow the whole blog tour you can find the full schedule @ Read Now Sleep Later!  Be sure to check out She Reads She Blogs who did an interview with Ann yesterday! This blog tour continues tomorrow at The Consummate Reader.