Jump Into Books

Say Her Name James Dawson June 5th 2014 Hot Key Books Roberta 'Bobbie' Rowe is not the kind of person who believes in ghosts. A Halloween dare at her ridiculously spooky boarding school is no big deal, especially when her best friend Naya and cute local boy Caine agree to join in too. They are ordered to summon the legendary ghost of 'Bloody Mary': say her name five times in front of a candlelit mirror, and she shall appear... But, surprise surprise, nothing happens. Or does it? Next morning, Bobbie finds a message on her bathroom mirror... five days... but what does it mean? And who left it there? Things get increasingly weird and more terrifying for Bobbie and Naya, until it becomes all too clear that Bloody Mary was indeed called from the afterlife that night, and she is definitely not a friendly ghost. Bobbie, Naya and Caine are now in a race against time before their five days are up and Mary comes for them, as she has come for countless others before... A truly sp...

Natalya knows a secret. A magical Faberge egg glows within the walls of Russia's Winter Palace. It holds a power rooted in the land and stolen from the mystics. A power that promises a life of love for her and Alexei Romanov. Power, that, in the right hands, can save her way of life. But it's not in the right hands. Best Bits: I love a good historical fiction novel, and if it involves any popular writing/film/tv names (The Tudors, The Romanovs, etc) I'm there. When I found out that J. Nelle Patrick was actually the pseudonym for Jackson Pearce, I was even more excited. I can't say that it was a perfect read, but for the most part I really enjoyed it. The fantasy element was an interesting twist throughout the book, and I was kept on the edge of my seat until things were resolved.  I found it realistic that Natalya didn't really understand the purpose of the revolution. She can't understand why people are targeting those who are rich, and believes that the Romano...

Murder Most Unladylike Robin Stevens  June 5th 2014 Random House Children's Books Deepdean School for Girls, 1934. When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up their very own deadly secret detective agency, they struggle to find any truly exciting mysteries to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia's missing tie. Which they don't, really.) But then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. She thinks it must all have been a terrible accident - but when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now the girls  know  a murder must have taken place . . . and there's more than one person at Deepdean with a motive. Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove a murder happened in the first place. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime before the killer strikes again (and before the police can get there first, naturally), Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects a...

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga at  Tynga's Reviews ! It's a way to highlight the books that everyone got throughout the week. Purchased:  A World Without Princes (The School of Good and Evil 2) by Soman Chainani In the epic sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel, The School for Good and Evil , Sophie and Agatha are home, living out their Ever After. But life isn't quite the fairy tale they expected. When Agatha secretly wishes she'd chosen a different happy ending, she reopens the gates to the School for Good and Evil. But the world she and Sophie once knew has changed. Witches and princesses, warlocks and princes are no longer enemies. New bonds are forming; old bonds are being shattered. But underneath this uneasy arrangement, a war is brewing and a dangerous enemy rises. As Agatha and Sophie battle to restore peace, an unexpected threat could destroy everything, and everyone, they love-and this time, it comes from within. From my B...

What is teaser tuesday? It's a meme hosted by  Should Be Reading  and here are the rules:  • Grab your current read • Open to a random page • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page •  BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!  (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!  "A man in his mid-twenties was edging his way into the tiny cafe. He was short, slight, and extravagantly good-looking."  -The Cuckoo's Calling, Page 98, by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)

Jeeze, I leave for a little while and amazing things go down! Fairest (The Lunar Chronicles .1) by Marissa Meyer Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who is the fairest of them all? Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.   Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series. Published by Feiwel & Friends Release Date: January 27, 2015 Okay, I just need to take a second to stop jumping up and down! It's 256 pages, so it's n0vel-length. I cannot wait to read about her descent into a need for power and control! This will also tide me over until November when Winter is released. 

So! The Fault in Our Stars. That's a thing now. Kind of a big thing, which you know if you are a person who lives on the planet and has access to the internet. I was really lucky in that I got to go and see it about a week early thanks to Penguin (seriously, thank you!) which was kind of a new thing for me. I never get invited to stuff like that so I was very excited, and it was such a fun experience to get to go and see the film with a bunch of people who were all fans of the book, and who had been waiting for ages to see it. Honestly, the sound of other people's tears has never been so comforting or hilarious. And I enjoyed the film a lot, but it isn't a new favourite or anything. Since I read the book two and a half years ago, I feel like my opinion about has changed a bit. I still think that it's a good book, obviously, but it doesn't stand out to me in my memory. I feel like the only reason I give it special consideration in my mind is because it's a John G...

My computer is down for the count (hold me while I openly sob, Internet)! I'm still here planning and reading! I've got winners to get in to he with, too! I've also got a pretty big announcement that I'm hoping will happen soon :) I'll be back with everyone ASAP In the meantime, happy reading!

Rooftoppers Katherine Rundell March 7th 2013 Faber & Faber  Everyone thinks that Sophie is an orphan. True, there were no other recorded female survivors from the shipwreck which left baby Sophie floating in the English Channel in a cello case, but Sophie remembers seeing her mother wave for help. Her guardian tells her it is almost impossible that her mother is still alive, but that means still possible. You should never ignore a possible. So when the Welfare Agency writes to her guardian threatening to send Sophie to an orphanage, she takes matters into her own hands and flees to Paris to look for her mother, starting with the only clue she has - the address of the cello maker. Evading the French authorities, she meets Matteo and his network of rooftoppers - urchins who live in the sky. Together they scour the city for Sophie's mother before she is caught and sent back to London, and most importantly before she loses hope. This book came to my attention because of the fact th...

Some of you may have recently read an article on Slate.com titled "Against YA" by Ruth Graham. It was certainly an interesting read, but I can't get on board with it. The overall message of the article is that if you're an adult who still reads YA, there is something wrong. As an adult, we should eschew anything that isn't written for the intelligent adult (and, if I'm guessing based on tone, there is a subset of fiction that is still less-than). I'm an adult, I have a full-time job, and I read a variety of literature. That includes a love of YA books. Why is it that I have to be judged for enjoying what I read? Why does this author feel the need to force emotions upon me. How does it benefit anyone to shame me into giving up a genre I connect with, and enjoy? The author asserts that the reason I, as a twenty-something, read YA falls into three categories. The author believes that it's either nostalgia, escapism (isn't all reading some form of esca...