I Promise I'm Not Dead

Wow.
Been a while, hasn't it?
I promise, though, I'm not dead or anything. I also haven't forgotten about this blog, although it looks like I have. I've read a lot in the past several months, actually, I just...haven't really gotten around to posting. At all.
Oops.
But anyways. November is over, or nearly so, and I'm approaching the end of the first draft of the book I worked on for NaNoWriMo, which you can see a bit about here, and here.
So anyways, here I am! I return! Semi-prepared, very much alive, and with a too-big stack of books from the library waiting to be tackled.

[February TBR]

    Oops. This is a little late. :P But at least I'm posting it, right?

February 2015

• Steelheart, Brandon Sanderson. 
• Les Misérables, Victor Hugo*. 
• Let's Get Lost, Adi Alsaid. 
• Throne of Glass, Sarah J. Maas. 
• Crown of Midnight, Sarah J. Maas. 
• Heir of Fire, Sarah J. Maas. 

*I've actually been reading this since September of last year, but I'm hoping to finish it this month. :D

     I have a few less books than last month, so hopefully I'll do better! I've got two road trips coming up this month, also, so hey. Lots of reading time. :P

    Till next book!

[The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy] Kate Hettemer

“I was sitting in a plastic desk-chair contraption in an English classroom in Minnesota, tapping out the meter of lines from Pound's Cantos, wearing a baseball shirt with a small hole in the armpit. But I was also roiling with feelings and thoughts and doubts and conjectures and worries and layers of complication...If so much happened in my head, didn't I have to conclude that it was the same way with everyone else? I had to look down again. The world was too big.” 

The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy

Genre: Contemporary, friendship

Author: Kate Hettemer

Content: Several curse words, some characters make out offscreen (er--page? o_O)

Memory: “When you die I bet you want real life, pure real life, eulogies that are unpoetic and messy, smeared with tears and truisms, cliched as hell, the kind of stuff a person means.” 

Recommended to: Fans of Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson, if you're alright with a bit of revolution thrown in. :P

Rating: 4 stars. 

Overview: 

The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy (being known as Vigilante Poets from this point) is one of those books I want to live in. Like, crawl inside, shut the flaps, and let myself absorb the storyworld. It is also dorky, funny, and full of literary and musical references that make my fangirl soul happy. 

Witty, sarcastic Ethan and his three friends decide to take down the reality TV show, For Art's Sake, that is being filmed at their high school, the esteemed Selwyn Arts Academy, where each student is more talented than the next. While studying Ezra Pound in English class, the friends are inspired to write a vigilante long poem and distribute it to the student body, detailing the evils of For Art's Sake. But then Luke—the creative force behind the poem and leader of the anti-show movement—becomes a contestant on the nefarious show. It's up to Ethan, his two remaining best friends, and a heroic gerbil named Baconnaise to save their school.

Okay, did that convince you to read it? No?

Well. Um. It convinced me, so. HOWEVER. Look at (another) amazing quote from this book:

“Everyone knows how to love, but not how to love well. The mistake is too easy. You call her a goddess and you think he's perfect and suddenly they're not people anymore. You've betrayed them. Instead of being in awe of their complexity, you've swept it away. ... Once you've recognized a person as a person, you can start to love that person well. It's an awful thing to learn, but it's the best thing in the world to know.” 

Characters:

I'm resorting to the list style I used in All Fall Down again? So don't judge. :P

• Ethan. He's dorky and awkward and funny, and his obsession with tricolons is maybe one of the best things in this book. Also, I'm really hoping he and Elizabeth ended up together after the end of the book, alright?
• Jackson. If you've read Heist Society, think Simon. And Liz from Gallagher Girls. I feel like, if you combined them, you'd have an almost complete picture of Jackson, tech genius, sarcastic gerbil-owner, and driver of the Applevan. 
• Elizabeth. This might sound bad but I don't actually remember much of her? I remember her dreadlocks (because of that lovely scene where Ethan ponders how he's missed how beautiful hers really are) and I remember her snarkiness, and the scene where they confront Luke. But other than that, my mind draws a blank.
• Luke. Lukelukeluke. I have so many mixed emotions. He was so amazing, and then he was...well, not...but I still like him? I think?

Buy it?

Um...maybe? If I found it on a good sale or something, probably.

[All Fall Down] Ally Carter

     Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things:

1. She is not crazy.
2. Her mother was murdered.
3. Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay.

***THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE***

Genre: Suspense, YA, Mystery

Author: Ally Carter

Content: Things get the tiniest bit violent at a few points.

Recommended for: Anyone who wants to have their soul brutally ripped apart, pureed, and then served back to them on a spoon.

Kidding.

(Mostly).

Fans of Ally Carter (le duh), suspense, fast pacing, geeky sidekicks and international intrigue. 

Memory: "I stare back and then something occurs to him. "Oh, you need me to turn around? Here. I'll turn around.""

Rating: Five. Freaking. Stars. 

     Overall:

     I am a big Ally Carter fan. I have been for almost three years now. She's one of those authors that I trust will always give me a good story. I don't have to spend time deciding if I want to buy her book when it comes out or not because it's been preordered since the option was available.

    So, going into this, I knew I would love it. 

    I just didn't know that I would love it this much. 

     Gosh, I don't even know where to start with this. There's so much I love about this book, honestly. I love love love the setting - Embassy Row is so fun to read about. I also love the way that Ally sets up the plot - I won't go into great detail because SPOILERS, but it's...

      Well.

       Remember what I said about plot twists galore? 

       They're in here. Trust me. 

        GAAAH. I really don't even know how to describe this book without spoiling the entire thing or being too vague. D: You know what? I'm going to be lazy and make a list. Because reasons. 

• GRACE. I love Grace. I love how it feels being in the mind of someone who cannot even trust herself - it makes you think twice about everything that you're told. 
• The fact that real-world relations between countries affects relationships between the Embassy Kids (does that sound like a band? I think it sounds like a band.) Particularly the Noah/Iran situation, and the whole relationship between Alexei and Grace. 
• The mystery. It was impossible to follow, but in a good way. The moment I started to feel like I knew where things were going, Ally gave out a new bit of information that completely changed everything I knew. And the end is explosive. Did not see that coming. 

     Speaking of the ending...you wanna know where, exactly, I finished this book?

     In Rooms-To-Go. 

     While one of the employees was helping my mom. 

     Just picture this, okay? I'm sitting on a couch (because why not), reading, blah blah blah...and then I'm maybe five pages from the end. I lower the book in horror. I squeak. I'm pretty sure I grow pale. I pull the book closer and read the last few pages and then just kind of...flop. 

     My grandma asks, "What's wrong? What happened to her?"

     Ally Carter, Grandma. Ally Carter happened. 

Characters:

     Obviously I am a sucker for characters. It's usually my favorite part of a book. 

     This is no exception. 

     And I'm resorting to lists again. Oops?

• Grace. Grace. GRACE. Grace is mean at times, maybe crazy, slow to trust, and a wreck, and she's one of the best protagonists I've ever read. Because on top of all of those other things, she's loyal, and she really does care, and she's heartbreaking. 
• N O AH . Easily one of my favorite parts of the book! Noah is a dork, really. He's part Israeli and part Brazilian, a footballer, and just an all around cool guy. The quote in the Memory section is actually from him - and it was the exact moment I realized he'd become a favorite. 
• Megan: I have mixed feelings about you, Megan. You kick butt. You are pretty darn cool. But I'm also, somehow, not sure you can be trusted? Hmm. 
• Rosie. AKA the most adorable 12-year-old girl to grace (ha. Grace.) YA history. Really, though. The first thing you hear her say is that she was going to be a gymnast but now she's too big, and that she likes to take tours of the Roman tunnels beneath the city. 
• Alexeiiiiiiii. You're a darling. And I eventually am going to need you and Grace together, 'kay? My ship must sail. I think, somehow, we're going to get a lot of his backstory - something probably very sad that will make everyone collectively aaaawwww and D: at the same time - next book. 
• Ms. Chancellor. This lady, okay? Imagine a combination of a female version of Uncle Eddie from Heist Society and Aunt Abby from Gallagher Girls, with a bit of Julie Andrews in The Princess Diaries thrown in. Then you have an almost-complete picture of Ms. Chancellor. Imagine. The. Sheer. Awesome. 

     TL;DR: I love this book. Please go buy a copy and read it and sob and laugh and fall in love with it.

      I need book 2. 

    

[January 2015 Wrap-Up]

     Hey guys!
     So, I've not posted in a couple of weeks, but I have been reading.
     I mean. It's not necessarily what was on my TBR list. But I've been reading. If you look on my Goodreads, you'll be able to see what I've been up to this month, literary-wise.
      And while it isn't the end of the month yet, I'm slowing down on reading (with the exception of two FABULOUS NEW RELEASES COMING OUT THIS WEEK) to make some headway in my writing (you can read about that here). So, here's what I've done this month:

      From My TBR List:
      Guys. This is really pathetic. I finished Maisie Dobbs, The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, and most of Only Yesterday. *blinks* Oops. Try again next month, I guess. xD

       Other:

• All three books in The Raven Cycle by the fabulous Maggie Stiefvater! I read The Scorpio Races right after Christmas and loved it. Also loved these. GANSEY. <3
• Perfect Scoundrels (Ally Carter). (And okay, this was a reread, sssshhh)
• The Impersonator/Silent Murders (Mary Miley). These were so much fun! You can read about her research and writing on her blog. I really enjoyed these two--mysteries set in 1924-1925? Heck yes. Gimme. 
• Don't Touch (Rachel M. Wilson). This was good. Not what I was expecting, but really good. 

And that's all I read this month. :3 However. There are two more books I can guarantee I'll read before January's up, and they are (you guessed it) All Fall Down and Fairest! I am so excited for these, guys. I might just explode.
     Till next book,

[Maisie Dobbs] Jacqueline Winspear

Finally catching up on my January reads! I'm closer to finishing Only Yesterday and half-way through The Girls at Kingfisher Club. Also, my Goodreads challenge isn't telling me I'm behind anymore. That was kind of annoying.

Maisie Dobbs (#1)

Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery

Author: Jacqueline Winspear 

Content: Description of battle wounds, etc, in the trenches of WW1. A girl sneaks out of school to attend parties. "The Retreat" is slightly disturbing. Probably would be a mild PG13 if it were a movie.

Memory: Billy Beale being adorable. Simon Lynch and Maisie Dobbs saving lives in the middle of a war. "Assume nothing, Maisie."

Rating: 4 Stars.

Overall: 

     This book was a lot of fun. It took some getting into (I picked it up three or four times before sitting down and telling myself I was finishing it no matter what), but I really did like it. 

     Normally I'm not a fan of a few of the author's techniques--namely, the huge break from the current plot to give backstory--but I felt like it was done well. I think the story would've lost something if you didn't know Maisie's past.

     That being said, I adored the WW1 setting. I really don't read enough hisfic set during that era--I mean, my favorite season of Downton Abbey is season 2 for goodness' sake! I need to read more of this stuff!

     Maisie as a nurse was interesting. It brought out a side of her we hadn't got to see before. Although I will say, it was not fun meeting characters, falling in love with characters, and finding out BAD THINGS happen to them afterword. D:
     Also, the plot. I did not see the ending coming. At all. My idea for what the retreat was was way off. (That seems to be the case with me lately. D: Darn it. I'm not secretly Sherlock Holmes as I thought.)

     There were some things that were not-so-good, but they were small. Mostly character problems (which I'll discuss below). 

Mariesa screenshotted me finishing Maisie Dobbs. I may or may not have been squeaking angrily.
(This is what I get for videochatting while reading).

Characters:

     Ooooh boy. Here we go. I really did like this book.

My relationship with Simon Lynch,

But. 

     There were maybe three characters I really cared for the entire story. 

     I mean, I liked everyone okay (except Maisie's dad....he annoyed me), but they were just...there. I loved Maisie, even if she was a bit flat at times, and I adored Billy Beale (can there please be more of him in the next book??) And of course I LOVE Simon. 

But other than that, I can't really name a character that I was really rooting for on the sidelines, besides maybe Maurice Blanche. He was pretty cool.
Buy It?
     Maybe. If I found it at Chamblin's for a really good price.

     There are 12 books, I think, in this series.  Hopefully I'll get around to reading the rest of them soon? As always, if you've read this, feel free to talk about it in the comments!

[Book Release] Fairest and All Fall Down!

     A few updates!
     Number one being that I am almost done with Only Yesterday. This book has been super fun to read, guys. Like, it's a history book and I'm cracking up reading it. More on that in the review. ;)
     Number two...I am ashamed. I completely forgot to mention Fairest and All Fall Down in my TBR post!
     I've been looking forward to these since they were announced!

Fairest (Marissa Meyer) and All Fall Down (Ally Carter): Predictions and Excitement

Fairest
     Back in April, I read the first three books in The Lunar Chronicles (Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress). They were recommended to me by my cousin and her friend, by my aunt, and by various positive reviews I read. So I requested the first one from the library.
     And the second.
     And I begged my friend to loan me the third.
     And I read them all in under a month, only to find out that the third, Winter, wouldn't be released until 2015!
     So like any normal reader, I googled the Chronicles and obsessed over everything. I read theories. I stalked it on Goodreads, Pinterest, Tumblr. I liked all the Facebook pages.
     And then....one fateful day... I read that Winter had been postponed  until December of 2015.
     NO.
     But alas, it was true. Shortly after Fairest was announced, and I was slightly soothed.
     Slightly.
     But anyways.
     I am beyond excited for this book. There's just something about preordering a book, you know? When release day comes around I constantly look out the window, waiting for the mail to come. And when it does I run out the door, meet the UPS man halfway up the driveway, and tear through the house like a madwoman.

     I fully expect this to be the case on January 27th.

     So what am I looking forward to about Fairest? To start, it's a whole book on Levana. One of the most interesting (and possibly complex) characters of the whole series. A villain. A queen. A tyrant. Levana is cruel, heartless (or so she seems), and vicious, but she also held my interest like few of the other characters could. She's intriguing.
     And a whole book about her is definitely something to be excited about. I'm expecting:

• A (possibly dead) love interest
• Lots of secrecy and betrayal 
• SIBLING DRAMA. Channary and Levana were in a constant state of catfight-y-ness and no one can convince me otherwise.
• Exploration of Luna, Lunar customs and government, Lunar society...Lunar everything.

All Fall Down
     I am a huge fan of Ally Carter. Her Heist Society trilogy (hopefully soon-to-be saga?) is one of my favorite series, and Hale is forever my standard of male sidekicks in YA lit. Gallagher Girls is also a favorite (but not quite as high-up as HS).
     So, naturally, I'm excited for a new Carter book! And the premise on this one is super intriguing. Grace, from the preview I read a few months ago, seems like she's going to quickly become a favorite with me. And I'm really looking forward to meeting the other kids of Embassy Row--and getting the other books in this series!
      Given that this is a brand new series, I don't have much to go on and can't guess much about what it'll be like. But here's what I'm thinking so far:

• As always with Ally, a hilarious protagonist and a memorable set of characters (with one Hale-like guy, thank you very much).
• Political drama. Can security guards be imposed upon Grace? I think that would turn out super funny.
• Lots of feels. Going into it, we know that Grace's parents are dead (I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong) and that her mother's death still haunts her. Sounds like a recipe for serious damage to my poor fangirl heart.
• Plot twists galore. Ally Carter always manages to come up with something that makes me go "What?? No way!" and then plow through the rest of the book. I'll avoid spoilers, but there are a few I can think of from Heist Society and a LOT from Gallagher Girls. 

So there it is, guys. We'll see how these two pan out (I'm expecting them to be amazing) on the 27th!
Till next book,

[January TBR]

Hello! Today I've (finally) compiled my To-Be-Read list for this month. Since the photo makes the titles a bit hard to read, I'll put them here too:

• The Girls at the Kingfisher Club
• The Dead of Winter
• Maisie Dobbs (Book 1)
• Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920's
• Jane Austen's England
• Burial Rites*
• The Blood Dimmed Tide
• Debutantes
• The Golem and the Jinni

*I started Burial Rites in December but didn't finish it, so it got moved here too. Here's hoping I get through it this time! :P

And that's what I hope to read this month. Of course, there will probably be more books that I read this month than that. I have an only-slightly annoying habit to grab books off of the library shelf at the last minute, and that usually adds about five books to each trip.

Till next book,

[The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society] Mary Ann Shaffer

     The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

     With a name like that it’s impossible not to be interested. It begs to be read; and once you open it, the begging gets more desperate.

     Read me! It cries. I’m a book of letters! I feature a writer and a loveable farmer and an only-slightly-crazy islander/potion brewer! I’ll make you laugh and cry! You’ll have a peculiar urge to visit the English island of Guernsey after reading me!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Genre: Historical, Epistolary*, and if it were a genre, Home.

Author: Mary Ann Shaffer

Content: Often people talk of the horror that came with living on occupied Guernsey during World War Two. Mentions of concentration camps. A woman has a child before marriage. A Ravensbrück survivor spends a good deal of time in the letters.

Memory: "And then Dawsey, dear Dawsey, swore. He took the Lord's name in vain. "My God, yes," he cried, and clattered down that stepladder, only his heels hit the rungs, which is how he sprained his ankle."

Rating: 5 stars.

Overall

     I love this book. I love Isola Pribby with everything and I adore her parrot. Dawsey Adams has taken up residence in my heart and Juliet Ashton will forever be one of my literary role-models. I want Amelia as a grandmother, or maybe just a good friend.

     I want to be a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

     After reading this, I get the same feeling I remember having after finishing the Anne of Green Gables books. I wanted to live in Avonlea more than anything, and I wanted red hair, and I wanted a Gilbert Blythe. Finishing this felt like walking through the doors and into the brisk air conditioning of the Bell Center Lobby this past summer.

     It felt like Home.

Characters

     This isn’t a plot driven book at all, although there was a tiny plot that I was rooting for and seriously flopped back on my bed and laughed when everything tied up with it. No spoilers here though. ;)

     Back to what I was saying. This is not a plot book; it’s a character one. You don’t pick up Potato Peelers to read about the German Occupation of Guernsey or an author’s struggle to find a good plot for her books in 1946, you do it to hear Juliet become pen pals with the members of the Society. To listen to Isola Pribby’s hilarious stories, to hear Dawsey talk about Charles Lamb.

     You read for the characters, and they are amazing. They’re so real, it almost feels like this is a collection of letters from 1946, not a story. I picked this up and was taken to Guernsey even when Juliet wasn’t there yet. I was, for a few hours, a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and it was amazing.

     There’s one character I haven’t talked about yet, and that I don’t want to say much about because I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone. But her name is Elizabeth, and she is one of my favorite characters in any book I’ve read.

Buy it?

     Yes.

      Oh, yes. If I didn’t already have a wonderfully beat up copy from Mariesa, I would order a hardcover from Amazon right now.

     And, finally, this book is so quotable. I think I spy some new canvases on my walls in the future. ;)

*I only just looked up the genre epistolary, because I saw it on Goodreads and thought it looked good. ;) It's a book of letters, in case you couldn't tell from its being put with Potato Peelers. 

[Jackaby] William Ritter and [Black Duck] Janet Taylor Lisle

Okay. These two books though. It's going to be hard to write normally while writing this.

I'm about 99% sure that I looked like this upon finishing both. :P

But really though. I just. 

They're both so good. 

And, oddly enough, both are historical fiction. Well, actually, Jackaby might not be historical...but it's still amazing. 

Anyways. Without further ado....

Jackaby

Genre: Supernatural, historical(ish).

Author: William Ritter (his name seems like one you'd come across in the book, actually.)

Content: Um...none, really, that I remember. I mean, there's the violence that comes with this being a murder-y thing and [SPOILER] the whole Red Cap thing. *shudder* But other than that...there wasn't really anything in it!

Memory: Jackaby, Abigail, and Charlie being awesome investigator buddies. And Mona yelling at them. "We have cake." Douglas the duck. 

Rating: 5 stars. 

I really, really liked this book. A lot. It's just the coolest idea. Like, in the synopsis, there was this line that started with "Doctor Who meets Sherlock". SO. COOL.

And the charactersssssssssss. They're precious. <3

I'm kinda thinking it's a series? Or at least hoping?

Because I need more of Jackaby and Abigail and Jenny the ghost. And supernatural occurrences that crop up in New Fiddleham. <3

Black Duck.

Genre: Historical, suspense, could be mystery? 

Author: Janet Taylor Lisle

Content: Again, this one didn't have anything in it, really. I mean, there was the whole illegal transport of alcohol thing, and it got kinda violent at times, but other than that...

Memory: Tom Morrison's shack by the beach, Marina's clam chowder, and a rolled up fifty-dollar bill stuck inside a pouch and shoved beneath a mattress.

Rating: 5 stars!

This book. I cannot get over this book. It was jarring finishing it and being yanked out of New England in 1929, away from Ruben and Jeddy and Marina and Tom Morrison, and a speedboat called the Black Duck.

Also, can we just TALK about that ENDING?

I think I should have seen it coming? I read the book super fast, so I don't really remember if Ruben ever came out and said what happened in the beginning, but...still? Ow? I was hurt by that? But the bits after were amazing. The whole book was. 

I just really appreciated Black Duck because it's one of the only YA '20s books I've found that doesn't focus on flappers and parties and either Chicago or New York (yesIknowmybookisinNYCbutITSDIFFERENT).
Like, I get all of that was a big part of the 20s, but there's so much more! There's people like Ruben and Jeddy, people like Mr. Riley and the small sleepy New England towns, ships like the Black 

Duck. There's more.

//end rant. 

But yes. Black Duck is amazing and you should read it. So is Jackaby.
The two couldn't be more different, but they're both great. <3