Waiting on Wednesday (140)

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: Even When You Lie to Me
Author: Jessica Alcott
Hitting the Shelves: June 09, 2015

Charlie, a senior, isn't looking forward to her last year of high school. Another year of living in the shadow of her best friend, Lila. Another year of hiding behind the covers of her favorite novels. Another year of navigating her tense relationship with her perfectionist mom.

But everything changes when she meets her new English teacher. Mr. Drummond is smart. Irreverent. Funny. Hot. Everyone loves him. And Charlie thinks he's the only one who gets her.

She also thinks she might not be the only one with a crush.

In this stunning debut, Jessica Alcott explores relationships-and their boundaries-in a way that is both searingly honest and sympathetic.

Why I want this: I would have to say that Even When You Lie to Me is one of my most anticipated contemporary releases this year! A girl in high school and the forbidden relationship of a teacher. I think this story just sounds so interesting and I can't wait to eat it up! I'm definitely interested to see how this story plays out and how much scandal is actually written into it! I can't wait to get my hands on it! 

Top Ten Tuesday: 2015 Debut Novels

 

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme of lists hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

I haven't really been keeping my ear to the wall when it comes to debut novels for 2015. I'm usually all about the new releases, whether they're debuts or not, so I really had to do a lot of research to come up with a good variety of debut novels. In the end, I didn't even come up with ten but I think this list is sufficient. 

1. The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

2. The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker

3. Even When You Lie to Me by Jessica Alcott

4. In a World Just Right by Jen Brooks

5. The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

6. The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

7. The Girl on the Tran by Paula Hawkins

8. The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer

The 10 Best Books I Read in 2014

The end of the year is here and I read a lot of good books over the course of 2014. Even though I'm so excited for all the great books that are being released in 2015, I thought I would take the time and highlight the ten books that I think were especially great!

So there you have it, the ten best books that I read this year! I also wanted to give a few honorable mentions: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider, Blackmoore by Julianna Donaldson and Horns by Joe Hill. Here's to looking forward to another great year of awesome book and Happy New Year! 

Top Ten Tuesday: 2015 Releases I'm Most Excited For

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Brooke and the Bookish.

I know that this week's top ten Tuesday is the ten books I wouldn't mind if Santa brought me this year but I really wanted to talk about the books I'm most excited for in 2015! I guess I missed this topic a few weeks back so I'm going to do it now since the end of the year is close and all.

I probably say this every year but I think 2015 is going to be a great year for books, especially sequels or books continuing in a series!

 

 

 

 

1. Fairest by Marissa Meyer: I'm pretty sure every single fan of the Lunar Chronicles is really excited about this book. Even though I'm sad that we have to wait even longer for Winter, I'm really glad to get a glimpse into Queen Levana's life and see how she became the way she is!

 

2. The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead: I'm so sad to be reading the ending of another Richelle Mead series! I will probably cry big fat tears at the end of this book! It almost feels like the end of this series is like the end of an era.

 

3. The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski: The Winner's Curse was one of the best books I read this past year and I cannot wait to see where this series goes! I was totally left on a cliff hanger and I'm so excited to dive back into the beautiful world that Rutkoski has created!

 

4. Half Wild by Sally Green: Half Bad was also one of the best books I read this year and I can't wait to continue the series! I love the world of the witches and I'm really interested to see where Nathan's journey takes him.

 

5. Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews: I kid you not, I read the entire Kate Daniels series in about two month this past year and I was absolutely blown away with how good it is! So, naturally, I'm chomping at the bit to get my hands on the next book! Kate and Curran forever!!!!!

 

6. Get Dirty by Gretchen McNeil: Gretchen McNeil has become one of my favorite authors and I loved everything about Get Even, the first book in her new mean girls revenge series! Since I love all the mystery and intrigue and the who done it storyline, I can't wait to get back into it.

 

7. Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: I cannot believe this fantastic author has time to write a new fantasy series on top of continuing her Throne of Glass series! She must have no free time at all, haha! Court of Thorns and Roses sounds absolutely wonderful!

 

8. The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows: I read about half of her first book, Incarnate, but I wasn't a huge fan so I didn't finish it. But now that she has a new series coming out, I have vowed to give her a second chance and this new series sounds very promising!

 

9. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh: I had to add a book from an author that I haven't heard much about. The Wrath and the Dawn is the first book in a brand new series publishing in May of 2015! I'm really interested to read it because it has a middle eastern vibe and an Arabia nights feeling. It sounds like it's going to be really great!

 

10. Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman: Last week's top ten Tuesday was 2014 releases I was super excited to read but didn't get around to actually reading. One of those books was Prisoner of Night and Fog. I decided to just choose one book from that list, buy it on my kindle and read it immediately. That book was Prisoner of Night and Fog and it was absolutely amazing! Now I can't wait to start reading the next one!

 

11. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell: Of course I had to add Carry On! I am a big fan of Fangirl and Rainbow Rowell in general! Her books are really great! But I really hope they change the cover of this one. I don't like it.

Waiting on Wednesday (137)

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 Proof of Forever
Author: Lexa Hillyer
Hitting the Shelves: June 02, 2015

BEFORE: It was the perfect summer of first kisses, skinny-dipping, and bonfires by the lake. Joy, Tali, Luce, and Zoe knew their final summer at Camp Okahatchee would come to an end, but they swore they’d stay friends.

AFTER: Now, two years later, their bond has faded along with those memories.

THEN: That is, until the fateful flash of a photo booth camera transports the four of them back in time, to the summer they were fifteen—the summer everything changed.

NOW: The girls must recreate the past in order to return to the present. As they live through their second-chance summer, the mystery behind their lost friendship unravels, and a dark secret threatens to tear the girls apart all over again.

ALWAYS: Summers end. But this one will change them forever.

Why I want this: I am such a sucker for young adult contemporaries like this! The Proof of Forever sounds so cute and I love a good book about friendship. I'm on a contemporary kick right now and I think I'm really going to enjoy this one!

GIVEAWAY!!

Don't forget to enter my Big Christmas Giveaway going on now until the beginning of January! I'm giving away 7 ARCs that I picked up this past summer at ALA!

Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Landline
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date:July 08, 2014
Source: Purchased
Find it Here: Amazon, Goodreads

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now.

Maybe that was always beside the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

Is that what she’s supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

My thoughts:

100 page evaluation: I like the book so far even though I definitely don't like it as much as Rowell's other books.  It took me a little while to get into it partly because it's a little slow in the beginning and partly because I don't like when girls have guys names. And the main character's name is Georgie. She's also not a very like able character. So far she is very selfish and she only thinks about herself and her career. I'm hoping that by talking to Neal in the past that she can change some of her ways and think about the needs of her husband and their children.

My thoughts after one hundred pages weren't all that different after I finished the book. Landline was still a pretty good read just not up to the level and enjoyment of Rowell's other books. I appreciated that Landline was a nice change-up compared to all the other YA books that I normally read because it tackled the subject of a marriage that was on the brink of failure which is not something that I normally read.

My problems with the book are actually just problems with the characters themselves. Georgie is the type of girl that I wouldn't really like in real life and I definitely would not be friends with her. She's the type of girl who is usually only friends with guys. As a married woman she has this inappropriate and unreasonable friendship with a guy/co-worker. Throughout the entire book I was thinking to myself that she needed to do her husband a favor and put some major boundaries on her relationship with Seth. Georgie was so selfish throughout the whole book and couldn't even see that her husband had basically given up his life and career to raise their children while she focused on her own career. So I could definitely see why Neil was on the edge of leaving her.

Throughout the whole book, Neil was my favorite character. He was supportive and he tried his best to be understanding. I was totally on Neil's side the whole time and I just wanted to punch Georgie in the face.  But overall the book was pretty good and it ended with closure. If you're a fan of Rainbow Rowell I definitely recommend Landline just know that it's not up to par with her previous novels.