Monday, August 31, 2015

August Wrap-Up and September TBR

The books I managed to read in August:
-First & Then by Emma Mills
-The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West
-A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano
-Dumplin' by Julie Murphy
-Losing It by Cora Carmack
-Dreamland by Robert L. Anderson
-One by Sarah Crossan
-Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman
-Rome in Love by Anita Hughes

This month was filled with great reads!  My favorites were First & Then, One, and Vengeance Road.

The books I plan to read in September:

Sunday, August 23, 2015

August Book Haul


Won
-Forever for a Year by B.T. Gottfred
(Hardcover, gift card, nail polish and mirror from I'd So Rather Be Reading)

Review
-First & Then by Emma Mills
(ARC from Henry Holt)

-Hunter by Mercedes Lackey
(ARC from Disney-Hyperion)

Bought
-The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

NetGalley


-The Foxglove Killings by Tara Kelly
(eGalley from Entangled Teen)

-Need by Joelle Charbonneau
(eGalley from HMH Books for Young Readers)

-The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
(eGalley from Little, Brown)

Edelweiss

(eGalley from Harper Teen)

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Waiting on Wednesday #100

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, which spotlights upcoming releases we can't wait to get our hands on! 

Title: The Love That Split the World
Author: Emily Henry
Release Date: January 26th, 2016
Publisher: Razorbill

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves. 

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start…until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right. 

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

I've been seeing this one everywhere lately, and the more I do, the more I want to read it!  Not only is the cover incredibly gorgeous, but the story sounds pretty unique too.  

What awesome title are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Review: Another Day by David Levithan

Title: Another Day
Author: David Levithan
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Fantasy/Romance
Release date: August 25th, 2015
Pages: 300 (eGalley)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads | Amazon Author 

Every day is the same for Rhiannon. She has accepted her life, convinced herself that she deserves her distant, temperamental boyfriend, Justin, even established guidelines by which to live: Don’t be too needy. Avoid upsetting him. Never get your hopes up. 

Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person . . . wasn’t Justin at all.

Three years ago, David Levithan's book, Every Day, completely blew my mind.  The idea of someone living their entire life as a new person each day really took a hold of me and wouldn't let go.  This year, readers are gifted with a phenomenal companion to that novel, and as nervous as I was that Another Day would be too repetitive, I am pleased to say that I love this book just as much as the first.  Another Day is told from the perspective of Rhiannon, a character who doesn't seem to realize that she needs change.  "A" is just the person to show her how different life can be.

Being able to get a deeper look into Rhiannon's life was a lot more interesting than expected.  In Every Day, we only saw her through A's rose-colored glasses, but because this is her story, we see how flawed she actually is.  It's clear that she struggles with being able to stand up for herself, especially when it comes to her jerk of a boyfriend, Justin.  One day, Justin seems like a completely different person.  They share an afternoon together that she'll never forget, but what she doesn't realize is that the person controlling his body isn't her boyfriend.

Since I've read many books between the time I read Every Day and Another Day, it was nice being able to remember certain scenes.  They were almost as if I was reading them for the first time, although I was already familiar with the characters and their stories.  Rhiannon struggled to accept A, which is very believable.  I can't even imagine being in her situation.  She's being pulled back and forth between someone who is undeniably in love with her and someone who isn't always there the way she needs them to be.

David Levithan has impressed me yet again, and Another Day has become a new addition to my favorites shelf, right next to its companion.  Not unlike our main character, I was skeptical for the first half of the book, but by the end, I was completely in love.  I can't say that I've read the same exact story told by different perspectives before, and I honestly don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if it were written by anyone else.  It is implied that the story is far from over, and although I'm left with the same bittersweet feelings I had upon finishing Every Day, I certainly wouldn't mind reading more.