August 27, 2014

Blog Tour Review + Interview: Eternal Night by Carina Adly MacKenzie


And I'm back with another Paper Lantern Lit blog tour (two days in a row - but there won't be a third, much to my dismay). This time I'm here to try and tell you why ETERNAL NIGHT is one of the most addicting bits of fiction I've read in a long while.

But before I do that, here's a quick description of this delightfully dark paranormal tale...

August 26, 2014

Blog Tour Review: Feuds by Avery Hastings


I'm just gonna stare at that cover and blog tour banner while you all read about the latest in dystopian YA fiction, okay?

No, but seriously, I'm thrilled to be kicking off the FEUDS blog tour on today. Thanks, as always, to Paper Lantern Lit for being amazing and, please, everyone, brace yourself for the swoons you're about to encounter in this book...

Teaser + Giveaway: Summerfall by Claire Legrand


Hey, do you guys know about SUMMERFALL by Claire Legrand? Y'know, the prequel novella to WINTERSPELL (also by Claire Legand - duh, Gaby, duh). WELL. It comes out today.

August 23, 2014

Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart


Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Release Date: May 13th, 2014 
Publisher: 
Delacorte Press
Page Count:
240
Source: ARC from ALA
(I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest
review. No favors were exchanged, my opinions are my own.)
First Reaction: O.O >.> OH.
Barnes & Noble | Amazon | IndieBound | Book Depository
A beautiful and distinguished family. 
A private island. 
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. 
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. 
A revolution. An accident. A secret. 
Lies upon lies. 
True love. 
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

[Summary Source: Goodreads]

August 22, 2014

Going to the Movies YA Style

Fact: I don't like coffee. I just like saying Coffee Clutch in my best and deepest New York accent. Considering I'm a New Yorker, I'm pretty freaking good at it. So I've got my tea and I hope you have your heated beverage of choice, because it's time to gab the day away.

Can I be honest with you guys for second?

While I'm really happy about all of these YA books getting made into movies, I don't generally like to go see them.

August 21, 2014

Bout of Books 11.0: Progress Report

Welcome to my Bout of Books 11.0 Progress Report post. Because I am crazy and neurotic, I have separated this post from my Goals post. My Wrap Up post (to be posted in a week, when all of this is over) will also be a separate post. Although, I will be posting any and all of my challenges here, as they are part of my Bout of Books 11.0 Progress Report.

I hope that explanation made sense to you. I feel like it does to me but things often make more sense in my head that out of it.

Anyway, in case you're wondering what Bout of Books is...

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Now, for my progress.

August 19, 2014

Top Ten "Modern" Books People Tell Me I MUST Read (60)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
I say "modern" because if I listed the number of classics everyone always tells me I need to read we'd be here forever. But I'm bad at reading classics so I think I should go with books I'll maybe actually read if you guys get excited enough about them in the comments.

August 17, 2014

Bout of Books 11.0: Goals


The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

August 12, 2014

Top Ten Expired ARCs I Have I'm Not Sure I Want To Read (59)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
DISCLAIMER: I do not, in any way, mean for this post to sound ungrateful. I am incredibly grateful for all of the ARCs in my life. I just happened to have gone to ALAMW14, and BEA14. I also have some generous friends (whom I'm also incredibly grateful for). Between all of this, the ARCs pile up and I'm not a fast enough reader or a dedicated enough blogger to keep to any kind of schedule. Not to mention, between the moment a book is pitched to me or I read the back cover and I actually consider the book for reading pre-pub, I sometimes lose some interest.

I also sometimes forget when publication dates and then they're gone and then it's all confused and my brain melts a little. So there's that too. 

Anyway, now that all of the disclaimers are done with, we can move on to the stack I seem to need to disclaim about...

August 10, 2014

Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins


Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss #3)
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Release Date: August 14th, 2014
Publisher: Dutton
Page Count: 339
Source: ARC from Work
First Reaction: I had many small problems but THE END WAS SO DELICIOUS IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER. REJOICE FRIENDS.
Barnes & Noble | Amazon | IndieBound | Book Depository
From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.

[Summary Source: Goodreads]

August 7, 2014

Exquisite Captive Book Trailer Reveal!

Sometimes, when you hear about a book, you think to yourself: "YES. PLEASE."

One of my "YES. PLEASE." books for 2015 is EXQUISITE CAPTIVE by Heather Demetrios. I so loved Heather's first book, SOMETHING REAL - a contemporary novel about reality TV show - and while I'm very aware of the differences between SOMETHING REAL and EXQUISITE CAPTIVE (as there are many), I couldn't help but be excited. There's just a quality, tone, and purpose to Heather Demetrios's writing that I just have to be a part of - by both reading and spreading the word about it. 

But first, before you watch the TRAILER for this beautiful book, you should probably remind yourself why you're excited about Heather's latest release:

August 4, 2014

Review: Noggin by John Corey Whaley


Title: Noggin
Author: John Corey Whaley
Release Date: April 8th, 2014
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 342
Source: ARC from ALA
(I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest
review. No favors were exchanged, my opinions are my own.)

First Reaction: Well that was emotionally intense.
Barnes & Noble | Amazon | IndieBound | Book Depository
Listen — Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t.

Now he’s alive again.

Simple as that.

The in between part is still a little fuzzy, but he can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is. Despite all logic, he’s still 16 and everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she’s not his girlfriend anymore? That’s a bit fuzzy too.

Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, then there are going to be a few more scars.  Oh well, you only live twice.

[Summary Source: Goodreads]