Gosh, I can’t believe summer is passing us by so quickly! I hope everyone is having an amazing and busy summer. I’ve been hard-working with my summer course and helping a dear friend of mine with her wedding planning so it’s been quite hectic at my end! I haven’t been able to read too much but I always make time for book club and I am so excited to announce our August pick! It’s a book that I’ve been dying to read for a while now and with the new movie trailer that came out for its release in 2018, I am thrilled to read it this month! Our genre for this month turned out to be Dystopia and so we all agreed on reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline! In the near-future, the world isn’t so pretty so everyone escapes to this wonder of a virtual reality called the OASIS. Wade Watts’ life is all about this game and its puzzles that are based off of 1980s pop culture. The creator of the game promised a great fortune to whoever can unlock these puzzles and Wade can’t believe his luck when he stumbles upon the first clue. You guys really need to check out this trailer! Seeing the Iron Giant really brought back memories! And that song gave me shivers!
Book of the Month!
Gosh, I can’t believe summer is passing us by so quickly! I hope everyone is having an amazing and busy summer. I’ve been hard-working with my summer course and helping a dear friend of mine with her wedding planning so it’s been quite hectic at my end! I haven’t been able to read too much but I always make time for book club and I am so excited to announce our August pick! It’s a book that I’ve been dying to read for a while now and with the new movie trailer that came out for its release in 2018, I am thrilled to read it this month! Our genre for this month turned out to be Dystopia and so we all agreed on reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline! In the near-future, the world isn’t so pretty so everyone escapes to this wonder of a virtual reality called the OASIS. Wade Watts’ life is all about this game and its puzzles that are based off of 1980s pop culture. The creator of the game promised a great fortune to whoever can unlock these puzzles and Wade can’t believe his luck when he stumbles upon the first clue. You guys really need to check out this trailer! Seeing the Iron Giant really brought back memories! And that song gave me shivers! “‘Fear can’t hurt you,’ she said. ‘When it washes over you, give it no power. It’s a snake with no venom. Remember that. That knowledge can save you.’” – The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson Rory chose the wrong year to transfer to a boarding school in London. There’s an eerie string of murders occurring close by that have a likeness to the horrible Jack the Ripper murders a long time ago. No one ever sees the mimic and he never leaves a trace of evidence. The many cameras all over London don’t even catch him. There’s never a witness until Rory. The only problem is, she seems to be the only one who CAN see him. How will she protect herself now that she’s his next target? This book was SO good. I was wary at first since it sounded like it could be quite the ghost story and I’ve never been too good when it comes to reading something scary but this book was so easy to read and so quick to get into. This page-turner really grasps your attention and makes you question who is real in a world where she’s just discovering her ability. The cast of characters is just perfect too; there’s a strong-willed main character and a great group of friends I couldn’t help but fall in love with. What made this book so good to me is how the writing style is so smooth and solid. You could picture everything with no difficulty and you can just tell that writing comes naturally to her. If you’re looking for a page-turning, murder-solving, overall-amazing read, this is it guys. It definitely needs more recognition! This one is easily a 5 out of 5! (I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.) Lacy Dawn is a gifted ten-year-old human girl with a dysfunctional family, an android boyfriend and a difficult life. She lives in a place called the Hollow where she converses with the trees and with her best friend’s ghost. Lacy has witnessed many traumatic events in her young life; her father is a veteran of war with severe PTSD, her best friend was a victim of various types of abuse and her mother suffers from depression. She’s got one thing going for her though: she’s going to save the universe. I must say that this book is unlike any other story I’ve ever read. It’s unique in so many ways! It’s the first time I’ve read an adult novel that was written from a child’s perspective. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of another! We also get to see into the thoughts of other characters like Dwayne (her father), Jenny (her mother), DotCom (her android boyfriend) and even their dog, Brownie! It’s super neat. There are a lot of touchy subjects that are brought up in this novel such as violence, substance abuse, sexual abuse, and self-harm but the use of satire and the interesting narrative help keep things less negative and more on the lighter side. I really enjoyed reading Rarity from the Hollow. It’s so different and so well-written. I also love that it creates awareness in readers about mental health and different types of abuse and that it’s told in a way that isn’t too heavy. There wasn’t a single dull moment and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something out of the ordinary. I give this novel 5 out of 5 feathers! AMAZON.CA AMAZON.COM AMAZON.CO.UK BARNES & NOBLE CHAPTERS Proceeds help maltreated children: www.childhswv.org Interview with Robert Eggleton!
1. What was the initial moment for you when you realized writing was what you wanted to do? Thanks, Melanie, for providing an opportunity to tell your readers a little about myself and my debut novel, Rarity from the Hollow. I grew up in an impoverished family. My father was a WWII Vet who suffered from PTSD and who self-medicated with alcohol. He couldn’t hold down a job. There was no money for recreation or toys for me or my three siblings. Perhaps as an attempt to escape a harsh reality, I began writing short stories as a child, sometimes using paper grocery bags before plastic became the norm as the medium. I would read them to my family, and then began sharing them with peers and neighbours, including clerks in stores and gas station attendants…. Feedback encouraged me to continue to write. In the eighth grade, I won my schools short story competition and that’s when I began to dream of becoming a rich and famous author. 2. I absolutely love that the author proceeds of your book are donated to help prevent child maltreatment. What inspired you to write a book that addresses social issues? I blame my mother for my interest in social issues that affect the disenfranchised. It is part of the Appalachian culture. As a side note, for example, my wife’s mother used to feed hoboes riding on trains who would come up to her close-by house – a couple of eggs and a cup of coffee. My own mother was an advocate of racial justice, an antiwar activist before the term became popular, and would do anything that she could to help the more downtrodden. I learned that the gift of life is love and caring for others, even if one is poor. I was involved in the Civil Rights movement, the anti Vietnam War movement, and went into the field of children’s advocacy because that population is the least heard: homelessness, failures within the juvenile justice systems, institutionalization of great kids that destroyed their futures, and, of course, child maltreatment that affects so many. Except for a few poems and short stories, my fiction writing took aside for most of my over forty year career. I wrote nonfiction in my field, including nationally published models and dozens of investigative report that were covered by the local news. In 2002, I accepted a job as a children’s psychotherapist for our local mental health center. Part of my job was to facilitate group therapy sessions. One day in 2006, in a session that I was facilitating, I met a skinny little girl, a victim of horrific abuse. Instead of just disclosing the horrors, she spoke of her hopes and dreams of the future – finding a loving family who would protect her. I was inspired, as were everybody else that she touched. I name her Lacy Dawn as the protagonist of Rarity from the Hollow. 3. Are the characters’ personalities in your book loosely based on people you know and/or relate to yourself in some way? Yes, the characters in Rarity from the Hollow are based on real-life people that I’ve known over the years. Lacy Dawn, the protagonist, is a composite of hundreds of maltreated kids that I’ve been involved with during my career. Her best friend, Faith, is based on one of our former foster kids who was involved in teen prostitution before she came into our home. Sadly, after getting her act together for over a year, doing great in school…, she was tricked into getting into a truck with a stranger who murdered her. I just had to make that character more hopeful, so I turned her into a ghost. The Stoners in my story, although each is unique in real-life, are like a million others in that particular respect. Lacy Dawn’s mother and father are based loosely upon my own parents. 4. What is your writing process like? Do you plan it all out before you write or do you let the story take over and see where it goes? I began with a general outline that I adjusted with progress. Each scene was planned. Looking back, I would make further modifications, of course. For example, the complicated “Rules of the Game” chapter in the story was intended to mimic the complicated tax laws of the U.S. that require an accountant to understand, the role that the android played at that point. I’m not sure that most readers “got it” because, like the actual tax laws, it was a boring. I now wish that I had made that point more succinctly, but such is life. 5. What book would you highly recommend to your readers? Charles Dickens believed that a novel must do much more than merely entertain. Books have changed so much in a brief period of time – the last couple of decades. As perpetuated by Goodreads, wonderful book bloggers who most often feel overwhelmed by the number of review requests and feel pressured to produce quickly, the concept of “like” has become dominant in book reviewing. I recommend a book that respect and admiration are more important – Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guinn. Further, if the reader doesn’t “get it” the first time, I recommend a second or third read until it sinks in. This novel is a masterpiece that will contribute to literature for many generations, much more significant than a quick entertainment-type-read within any genre. I’m not saying that I enjoyed this book more than any other. But, I believe that once a reader fully consumes this novel it will increase the enjoyment of all other fine novels. Thank you so much for your wonderful answers and really interesting recommendation! I quickly added Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guinn to my TBR list! Once and for All by Sarah Dessen
Say yes to the book! I was so happy to have had the chance to read the first few chapters for free from Netgalley and the last bit that I was able to read had to end at a cliff hanger that made me pre-order this book like no tomorrow. I'm reading it currently and it's incredible so far! Very fast-paced and easy to read. Sarah Dessen has always been a great contemporary writer. When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon This has been a book on my list to buy ever since I heard of it. It sounds like the perfect summer contemporary read! It's said that it's super cute, funny and it's hitting bookshelves by storm. Dimple just graduated and she's on her way to have an amazing summer attending a summer program for web developing. She's ready to break away and be independent but her parents have other plans in store for her. They've agreed on an arranged marriage for her and Rishi, a romantic who just so happened to be going to the same summer program. Romancing the Throne by Nadine Jolie Courtney I've always been a fan of books that involve royalty so I pre-ordered this one fairly quickly as well! Libby just started attending the same boarding school as her sister Charlotte and Charlotte feels it's her sisterly duty to bring her into her inner circle. In said circle, she meets Edward who is not only a prince, but the heir to the throne and they surprisingly get along very well. The only problem is, she's not the only one falling for the prince. Charlotte's been crushing on him too. Is romancing the throne worth it if it means breaking a sisterly bond? Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia Eliza is known as LadyConstellation online where she's famous for her webcomic Monstrous Sea. Everything is perfect online and she can't even imagine a better world in real life until Wallace, a Monstrous Sea Fanfiction writer transfers to her school. To him, she's just another fan. To him, she's Eliza and to her, real life just might be looking better. But what if her secret ruins everything? My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella I heard many great things about this book and I've been more interested lately in reading chick lit novels. This one really caught my attention! Katie Brenner loves to show off envy-worthy pictures of her wonderful life on Instagram but the truth is, life isn't as glamorous as she makes it appear online. When she finally starts to feel like things are looking up, she gets fired and is forced to move back to Somerset with her parents and help out with the glamping business. She can't help but have revenge on her mind when the woman who had her fired books a holiday there. I See London, I See France by Sarah Mlynowski This book sounds perfect for the Summer! It's said to have travel, friendship, some drama and unexpected romance! Sydney plans the perfect summer with her friend but when her friend's cheating ex shows up out of nowhere with his friend, plans start to unravel but maybe in a good way. I love books that involve travel and this one is definitely one I look forward to read very soon. Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau There are so many books this summer that were insta-buys for me. This one had royalty and and sounded super intriguing! It's about twins Carys and Andreus who have never had any worry as they weren't next in line for the throne but when their father and older brother get murdered, the crown has to fall on one of them. Being so close, their family bond is tested when they have to compete in a Trial of Succession. Will they betray each other's secrets for power? What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum This book is said to possibly be one of the best YA contemporaries of this summer and it sounds like it's going to be really good! Kit was always pretty popular but when her father dies, she doesn't feel like sitting with her usual group of friends as they don't really understand what she's going through. David has been going at that school for years and never had anyone sit with him before until now when Kit joins him at his table. An unlikely friendship begins in there journey to seek out what really happened behind her father's car accident. Miss You by Kate Eberlen This book caught my eye at the store and I fell in love with everything about it. The cover, the blurb and the overall general idea of what it was about. It's about Tess and Gus who cross paths as they travel to Florence. In the next sixteen years, life comes in the way when they both face many challenges. They're meant to be but they continuously seem to miss each other. Will they ever officially meet? Secrets of the Tulip Sisters by Susan Mallery Kelly has a busy life working as a tulip farmer. Every day is pretty much the same until one summer when two changes happen at the same time. Olivia, her annoying sister is back in town after a decade and Griffith aims to sweep Kelly off her feet. After being alone for so long, her life takes a dramatic turn when so many long-kept secrets get uncovered and her and Olivia's sisterly bond gets tested now more than ever. Will they ever be able to forgive each other – and themselves? Caraval by Stephanie Garber, the UK Edition Caraval is by far my favorite release of this year and I've always been tempted to buy the absolutely stunning UK Edition! I finally broke down and pre-ordered it. It hasn't arrived yet but I'm really excited to see which design mine will have under the book jacket! I'll keep you guys posted. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, the UK Collector's Edition Red Queen is a book that still has a big space in my heart and there has been every since I read it a few years ago. This is a series where, when a book releases, I don't pre-order it. I show up at the store right when it opens its doors on the book's release day so that I can be one of the first people there to buy it. When I heard there was going to be a UK Collector's Edition, and may I confess how BEAUTIFUL I think the red cover is, I went to Bookdepository.com and pre-ordered it right away. I can't wait to get my copy sometime in August! We've officially begun our annual read-a-thon! For 32 hours, we're going to try our best to read as many books as we can! Wish us luck! We'll be posting updates on our reading throughout the weekend on the Facebook page as well as on Twitter so you guys can keep up with us on our reading experience. Since it's also the 15th today, I will also be posting my mid-month post later on today which will showcase all of my new book purchases in the last few months! It's safe to say that my weekend really is fully booked.
“‘You really want to know, don’t you?’ She looked at me in the mirror without really seeing me, her eyes still glazed in thought. ‘Don’t you? Don’t you just want to know everything?’ We both observed the fire’s light flicker over Wilkie’s soft, vivid colors, trying not to fixate on the robed man behind the woman looking down at his book and writing in it. ‘Sometimes I fear I know too much,’ I said.” – Spellcaster by George Bachman (I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.) Christine Daniel is juggling two worlds. In one hand, she’s making her début in Victorian England with her sister and in the other, she’s suffering high fevers that no one can cure but herself. Her fevers are caused by visions of a man trying to get her attention all while trying to escape another man aiming to do him harm. Christine strongly feels that the only way she can cure herself of these pains is to find this man and save him. What if doing whatever means necessary to save him means betraying someone dear? Is saving her own life worth the pain she might need to cause someone else? I love historical fantasy and the idea behind this one was really interesting. I really wanted to know who the people were that she was seeing in her visions and why there was a connection between them all. When I found out the reason behind it, I thought it was such a neat concept and very well-thought! It was fun seeing her juggle everything; it was like she was living two separate worlds though I will admit I couldn’t wait to get to the more fantastical parts of the book. I’m usually one for the historical fiction side of books but in this case, it felt a bit slow and I wanted it to speed up to see more of the visions and the magic. I would say that the only part I had a difficult time fully grasping was the ending. It felt a bit unresolved for me in a sense where, in my personal opinion, there were some unanswered questions. I’m giving this intriguing novel a 3 out of 5 feathers! I don't know if it's because it's summer but I'm in a huge contemporary fix right now. Every book that I've been buying as of late, short for maybe one or two books, have been summer contemporary reads that sound amazing. I thought with my 32-hour read-a-thon coming up fast this weekend and the contemporary TBR pile that screams summer next to me, I just had to do the Summer Book Tag! This tag was originally created by Kaelyn @ misskaelyn and you can find the video right here! What book cover makes you think of summer? I See London, I See France by Sarah Mlynowski This is my most anticipated release this month and I can't wait to pick it up! It just sounds so perfect for summer. It has romance, a bit of drama, friendship and lots of travelling! What book has brightened your day? My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows This is definitely one that I will recommend everyone to read. It's bright and hilarious and just overall a fantastic book to dive into. If you're into historical fantasy with an emphasis on fantasy and humor that will make you laugh nonstop, read this one! Find a book with yellow on it. Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett I personally haven't read this one yet but it was the first cover I thought of that seemed perfect for this one. It's yellow and it definitely has a summer feel to it. I'd love to read this one someday. I hear great things! What is your favorite summer beach read? The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen You will never go wrong with a Sarah Dessen book if you need a nice summer contemporary fix. They are incredible books and this one in particular was a perfect summer read. What action book had you running for the ice cream man? A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray This book was so fun to read and there was always something happening that kept you glued to the story. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough! Sunburn: What book has left you with a bad and/or painful ending? King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard The end of this book was so heartbreaking and I can't believe I have to wait so long to get my hands on the fourth book! My heart won't be mended until then. Sunset: What book gave you the happiest feelings when it ended? Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover Colleen Hoover's books always find a way to make me cry and when I read this book a few weekends ago, I was surprised to have found myself keeping it together so easily. It wasn't until the very end where I shed so many happy tears. I loved this book. What book cover reminds you of a sunset? Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson This is such a beautiful cover and I thought it fit perfectly with this question. What is one book or series you hope to read this summer? Miss You by Kate Eberlen I saw this book at my local chapters and fell in love with the cover and the blurb. I bought this book with no hesitation and it's one I really look forward to reading. The overall idea kind of reminds me of One Day by David Nicholls and Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern where there could be a great romance but they always somehow miss each other. Tag, you're it!
(I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.) If you ask Lucas James, becoming a Rockstar is hard work. His passion and dedication to his musical career seems nothing short of legendary, however not everyone sees it that way. When his long-time girlfriend walks out on him, he’s forced out of his comfortable shell and pushed into a dull and cold world of deadlines and ordinary expectations. Determined to rebuild his life from the ground up, he decides to put his rock-and-roll dreams on hold and get a proper job at a department store. Newly reborn (so to speak), he navigates uncharted territory by charming his way out of trouble and meeting a few unique personalities along the way. Armed with his illogical impulses and eccentric personality, Lucas takes us along for the ride in this hilariously overdue coming-of-age story. This book had me hooked from beginning to end, with many good laughs in between. The strong character development, the laid-back vibe and the ever-present humor are what took this story and made it magnificent. Seeing the world through Lucas’s ludicrous and charismatic child-like lenses was quite amusing. He’s a bad role model — I even grew a little bit frustrated by his lack of morals and deceitful nature. However, these shortcomings added a realistic effect to his personality without making me feel too uncomfortable. In the end, it feels impossible not to root for him, flaws and all. I thoroughly enjoyed the uniqueness of Tom Starita’s satirical novel and will certainly read it again. I definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a light and offbeat comedy. I give this book a 5 out of 5 feather rating! Book of the Month! The chosen genre for this month is supernatural/paranormal! After bringing lots of amazing suggestions to the table during book club last Friday, we've chosen The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson to be our book of the month for July! Rory Deveaux chose an unfortunate time to move to London and start fresh at a boarding school. Murders are happening throughout the city and they're frightening similar to the horror that was Jack the Ripper and his killing spree a little more than a century prior. Rory is the only one that might have seen the person behind it all but there are two problems. No one else can see him but her and she might be next on his list. Check out the book trailer! I love that not only is there a paranormal element to this story, but it's a great transition after our mystery-themed book last month! Come check out the book club review on July 28th and if you read it with us or have read it before, please don't hesitate to comment your thoughts! 32 Hour Read-A-Thon! After seeing a couple of videos on YouTube where people would do read-a-thons and see how many books they can read within 24 hours, I thought it looked incredibly fun! On a good reading spree, I'm able to read a book in maybe a day or two but that would also include other things happening throughout my day. I really wanted to try a similar read-a-thon where for the most part, all I would be doing is reading. I'd like to challenge myself and see how much I can read within a certain time-frame. Now, personally, I feel like 24 hours is a tad too short and I felt like doing a read-a-thon would not be as fun alone as it would be with book-loving friends so I invited a few of my book club friends along! We're not sure on the exact date as of yet but we plan on doing a 32 hour long read-a-thon where I will keep everyone posted on Twitter and on my Facebook page on where we are at on our book-reading goal. Combined together, I'm curious to know how many books we're going to read! “People did strange things in hot weather, unexpected things. It was not unheard of that a person might go a little mad when the temperature sweltered. Constance had never enjoyed Shakespeare –for the most part he was an utter bore– but he had one thing right: Midsummer was a strange and unpredictable time.” – The Lake House by Kate Morton Alice Edevane wanted to be a writer, specifically one that wrote mystery novels. Her family lived in this beautiful estate they called Loeanneth. With the wonders of the party they planned every summer, they never expected to fall into a mystery themselves. Her young eleven month old brother Theo vanished suddenly at the night of the party and no one was ever able to unfold the secrets of such a heart-breaking case. It’s not until Detective Sadie Sparrow comes across the old and long-since abandoned estate decades later, drawn to the case and its secrets, that the truth might find its way to the surface. Will she be the one to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of young Theo? As someone who doesn’t usually read mystery novels, I was a little hesitant to read this book but it truly left me pleasantly surprised! It started out a little slow at first but after a couple of chapters, it really drew me in and kept me on my toes. There are so many theories and possibilities that are revealed and the author really knows how to make sure you draw the right guesses at the right moments. Once you feel like you know exactly what had happened and you see that the characters are closing in on the same path, the whole theory crashes and leaves you with your mind blown. It’s not until the very end where everything starts to truly connect and the puzzle pieces start to fit perfectly into place. It’s a book that really makes you think. It’s one that you will most likely find yourself taking with you everywhere you go so you can dive right back in when you find a few spare minutes in your day. The Lake House wouldn’t let me go and I am so happy that I gave this book a chance. Beautifully written and stunningly woven together in a plot like no other, I highly recommend reading The Lake House by Kate Morton. I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 feathers! |
About MeWelcome to my blog, my name is Melanie. Here, you will find book reviews based on YA and new-adult fiction and other interesting posts along with all things book related. Currently ReadingBook of the Month2018 Reading Challenge
Melanie (Paperback Darling) has
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