From the Sea - April 29, 2015

Undertow by Michael Buckley
Pub. Date - May 5, 2015
4 stars



I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical going into this book based on the premise.  Creatures coming up from the sea floor to infiltrate Coney Island?  However, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by this series premier.  The Alpha came up from the bottom of the ocean floor three years ago so the story is mostly told from the perspective of those dealing with the ongoing issues (with some flashback to the actual day they arrive).   Lyric is a seventeen year old girl that was living a teenage life full of friends and parties until life in the humorously named "Fish City" upends normal life.    Lyric is asked by a mysterious school principal to befriend the regal Prince of the Alpha which predictably leads to romance.  The romance may be the weakest part of this book and I almost wished that it didn't even go there, at least yet. There are a number of other more common place issues going on that make this even more compelling, such as domestic violence, bullying and family secrets. This is a surprisingly tense book and the form of vigilantism that takes place horrifying... yet strangely realistic.  I am interested to see what direction this series follows and also how other readers rate it.  I received this an electronic galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest rating. 

Weekend Reading Wrap-Up - April 27, 2015

Love and Other Ways of Dying: Essay by Michael Paternity
Pub. Date - March 3, 2015
4 stars



Michael Paterniti's essay collection includes a visit to an Ukrainian giant, a powerful account of a youthful accident seared into the author's consciousness, an elderly man living in an airport terminal, a heartbreaking account of a plane crash and a world famous chef whose oeuvre includes the strangest foods.  Essay collections are sometimes hard to rank because they normally include such a wide array of topics and writing style.  This is no different but I did find myself enjoying most of these.  There was an extra long essay concerning Albert Einstein's brain that I skimmed over but overall I enjoyed the topics and the  sometimes experimental writing style that made some of these essays read like short stories.  I recommend reading this collection slowly and savoring the writing over time.  I received an eGalley of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 


The Unlikely Lady by Valerie Bowman
Pub. Date - May 5, 2015
4 stars



My first piece of advice in picking up this Historical Romance novel would be to read the other two books in the series first.  I did not, and I feel like I may have missed some terrific set up for these two characters.  Jane is a bluestocking, which apparently means she likes to read all the time and quotes Mary Wollstonecraft often.  This annoyed me at first but eases up as the book progresses.  Garrett is a bachelor with no plans to marry and his relationship with Jane is antagonistic at best.  They love to parry back and forth and argue constantly.  Thrown together at the wedding party of their friend Cass, they begin to discover that there is much more to the other person than they originally thought.  Once I got to the midpoint of this book, I could not stop reading and finished the entire thing in one night.  It was funny and romantic with very great characters.  The ending was a bit farcical but overall, I really liked this book.  I received an eGalley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Friday Reads - April 24, 2015

The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey
Pub. Date - April 28, 2015
4 stars



In this strange tale, birdlike creatures and dragonlike creatures have been immersed in a centuries long war in an underground, magically protected world apart from humans.  Echo, is a human girl, discovered by the Avicens and raised by one of their species.  She seamlessly travels between worlds while thieving her way through life as an orphan.  During the course of her thievery, she gets caught up in a desperate search for the powerful Firebird which grants power to the one who discovers it and has the power to end the violent war.  The start of this story is so much like Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor that I almost put it down, however, the storyline and the dynamic relationships between the characters kept me enthralled to the end.  I received an early EGalley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest rating. 


Pieces of My Mother by Melissa Cistaro
Pub. Date - May 5, 2015
5 stars



Memoirs about missing parents seems to be a mainstay in the genre and while I normally find them sort of melodramatic, I found this book moving, beautifully written and at times very profound.  The author's free-spirited and alcoholic mother decided that she just couldn't raise her three young children and left them when the author was just four years old.  Now as a mother herself, the author looks back at the reasons her mother left while trying to determine if she could repeat the act herself.  As a mother, I found many really true statements in this book about the wish that all mother's have at some point to just leave for a while.  And while most mother's have this thought and realize that they couldn't even imagine actually leaving their children, the author's mother did just that.  It was heartbreaking but in a way that I didn't find overwrought.  This is a book that I could see myself re-reading certain passages of in the future, which is not a statement that I normally make about memoirs.  I received this an EGalley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest rating.

Survive Until Sunrise - Monday, April 20

The Wrath & the Dawn by Renée Andieh
Pub Date - May 13, 2015
4.5 stars



Well!  This young adult book certainly took me by surprise.  Loosely based around the classic The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, this book explores Middle Eastern storytelling and culture while telling a whopper of a romantic tale.  Khalid, the young Caliph of Khorasan, has been marrying young women of the city of Rey and then killing them at dawn.  Known and feared as a monster, he has at last made a formidable enemy in Shahrzad.  Shahrzad's best friend was killed by Khalid and she plans on taking revenge by becoming his next intended victim.  I am really impressed by the beautiful writing and the sophisticated storytelling of this book.  All of the characters are well developed, including really interesting side characters.  There was action, magic, wit and incredibly well written romance.  Probably one of the best starts to a young adult series that I have read in a very long time.  I received this book from Penguin's First to Read Program in exchange for an honest review. 

Friday Review - April 17, 2015

The Lie by C.L. Taylor
Pub Date - April 23, 2015
4 stars



When four friends in their mid-twenties start to feel stressed out by jobs and relationships, they decide to visit a retreat in Nepal to refresh.  Thus starts an entirely creepy and compulsively readable tale about lies, twisted friendships and scary vacations.  The story is told from Emma's point of view, maybe the most sane of the four friends (which isn't saying much), and alternates between the vacation five years ago and present day.   In the present, Emma has tried to start over with a new identity but someone keeps bringing up the past in terrifying ways.  I truly enjoyed the suspense and the unlikable characters.  Sometimes the dialogue and character's actions seemed a little bit unbelievable but that almost made it more fun to read.  I received an Egalley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Awkward Essays - April 15, 2015

A Field Guide to Awkward Silences by Alexandra Petri
Pub Date - June 2, 2015
3 stars



I found this collection of humorous writings about the author's inherent awkwardness to be hit or miss.  This is my introduction to Petri's essay writing and I found some of her anecdotes (especially the ones concerning a Pun Competition and her Jeopardy experience) laugh-out-loud funny.  There were probably more, though, that were just plain silly.  So while this was a pleasant book to read, I wouldn't say it was my favorite book of humor.  I received an eGalley of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Good Girl - April 14, 2015

Good Girl by Sarah Tomlinson
Pub Date - April 21, 2015
3.5 stars



After her parents split when she was a young child, Sarah Tomlinson found herself standing by the window for hours waiting for her often absent father to give some of his attention to her.  Most of the time, he failed to show leaving her feeling disappointed and abandoned.  A feeling she carried with her into adulthood and numerous relationships.  This isn't really a new story and I'm sure that there are a handful of neighbors just on my street that have a similar sad story.  What I enjoyed most about this memoir was her unusual upbringing living off the land with her mother and stepfather, her early admittance to college and the insight into her life as a freelance music critic and hopeful novelist.  She did turn tremendously angsty and while that is reasonable as a teenager and young adult, when she was thirty-five with the exact same hang-ups, I just wanted someone to shake her and tell her to get over herself.  That doesn't ever happen but fortunately she does end the memoir with some enlightenment.  Overall, this memoir was incredible readable but not exactly anything new to add to the genre.  I received an eGalley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Friday Reads - April 10, 2015

So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why it Endures
By Maureen Corrigan
5 stars



In the introduction, Maureen Corrigan suggests reading or rereading The Great Gatsby before continuing on with her book.  Taking that advice, I set this book aside and jumped back into Fitzgerald's world (the last time I read the book was about 15 years ago) and I discovered that it really is better the older (and wiser) you get.  Corrigan's book is a fantastic amalgam of criticism, Fitzgerald biography and insight into how a book goes from being a flop to an American masterpiece.  I have read several of these type books in recent years and this is by far the best.  Possibly because Gatsby itself is such a readable yet intricate book.  I am always, always, always fascinated by people who read one book compulsively and normally I don't quite understand it but after this reading experience I do believe I will pick up The Great Gatsby for another read.  I received a free EGalley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 


The Last Bookaneer by Matthew Pearl
Pub Date - April 28, 2015
4 stars



When I first started this book I had a hard time getting the image of Tina Fey's Bookaneers from the Sesame Street skit out of my head (forgive me, I have kids).  Once I settled into this swashbuckling jungle adventure about book piracy, I found in much more sophisticated.  The narration switches between an aging bookseller with fabulous tales of the Bookaneers and a waiter with an unfillable love of literatures.  The Bookaneers are a group of individuals whose illegal maneuverings sought to bring popular titles to America before the copywriter laws went into affect.  The two most famous Bookaneers go one last mission to a Samoan island in order to steal a novel from an ailing Robert Louis Stevenson.  There are beautiful descriptions in this novel of literature, the physical book, passion and the jungles of Samoa.  I definitely highlighted a good number of lovely lines.  I did at times find the actual story to be a bit dull, and I thought that attributing so much danger and adventure to this line of thievery felt a little forced.  Overall, though, this is a great book for book-lovers and it was interesting to think about the time before copy-write laws being a bit of a wild west for the world of literature.  I received an EGalley of this book from Penguin's First-to-Read program in exchange for an honest review. 

Teleporting Teenagers - April 8, 2015

The Decaying Empire by Laura Thalassa
Pub Date - April 21, 2015
3 stars



There is not a whole lot I can say about this book as the first one ended on a pretty big cliff-hanger.  I still enjoy the premise of teenagers specially designed by the government to teleport each night for ten minutes.  This one was action packed and full of romance.  I still am not too sure about the character development and some of the dialogue between the two main characters was so incredibly corny.  Otherwise, it was entertaining.  I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Heartbreaking History - April 2, 2015

Ruby by Cynthia Bond
4.5 stars



I am kind of at a loss for what to write about this dark, depressing, and beautifully written book.  Ruby returns to her hometown of Liberty from New York City for a funeral and gets sucked into a past that drives her to insanity.  Ephram lives under his sister's thumb and has had a fascination with Ruby since childhood.  This novel examines what happens when patterns of evil are repeated through generations and how a person heals from the savagery of the past through strength and love.  This is a hard novel to read and there were times when I thought about setting it down for a while.  It addresses racism, extreme sexism and child abuse and Bond handles this both blatantly and subtly.  At times, I got bogged down in the magical/spiritual aspects of this novel but by the end I see why the author included these parts.  I can't honestly say that I always enjoyed reading this novel, but I think it is important and will stand the test of time.  I received this from Blogging for Book in exchange for an honest review.