Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.
Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I was not expecting the twists and turns that this book took, it was quite a ride. I really enjoyed the format of this book where you get a chapter in present day and a chapter from the book that Maggie’s father wrote. Sometimes the extreme of Maggie’s anger towards her parents was a bit much, but I suppose in most instances it was appropriate considering she had been made a public figure by the book her father wrote. This was crafted incredibly well and I have to say there was only part of the twist I guessed, and only at the last minute, which was pretty extraordinary. While I didn’t like Final Girls, after reading The Last Time I Lied and this one, I’m definitely looking forward to reading the others Sager has out!
Perfect for fans of Small Spaces and Nightbooks, Ally Malinenko’s middle-grade debut is an empowering and triumphant ghost story—with spooky twists sure to give readers a few good goosebumps!
Zee Puckett loves ghost stories. She just never expected to be living one.
It all starts with a dark and stormy night. When the skies clear, everything is different. People are missing. There’s a creepy new principal who seems to know everyone’s darkest dreams. And Zee is seeing frightening things: large, scary dogs that talk and maybe even . . . a ghost.
When she tells her classmates, only her best friend, Elijah, believes her. Worse, mean girl Nellie gives Zee a cruel nickname: Ghost Girl.
But whatever the storm washed up isn’t going away. Everyone’s most selfish wishes start coming true in creepy ways.
To fight for what’s right, Zee will have to embrace what makes her different and what makes her Ghost Girl. And all three of them—Zee, Elijah, and Nellie—will have to work together if they want to give their ghost story a happy ending.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I was not expecting to fly through this one as fast as I did, but it was definitely a one sitting read. I really have a soft spot for Zee as she tries to navigate school, friendships, bullies, the death of her mother and absence of her father and more. Elijah was also a wonderfully crafted character as he dealt with the pressure he experienced at home and with expectations that are laid upon him. A lot of the characters in this story had clear voices and were able to be seen easily in the mind’s eye as they went about their daily lives while also trying to figure out what was happening in their little town. There are a lot of real issues that kids deal with featured in this book and honestly I think a lot of people in the target audience would be able to see themselves in at least one of the characters.
Malinenko’s writing is easy to read and flows really well, while there are clear breaks between chapters and scenes, everything flows together really well. I also felt that the three main characters she put together played off each other really well, even if they struggle to be friendly at times. This is definitely a great spooky middle grade that is fun for young readers while still having depth and real world issues woven in.
Ally Malinenko is a poet, novelist, and librarian living in Brooklyn, New
York, where she pens her tales in a secret writing closet before dawn each day. Connect with Ally on her website at www.allymalinenko.com.
Thanks so much to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book for review. Make sure to check back on release day, August 10th, for a Q&A with Ally!
Happy release day to 21 Questions by Alexandria Rizik! To celebrate its release I’m excited to bring you all a Q&A I was able to have with Alexandria about the book and her writing experience/process. If you haven’t already make sure you check out my review for 21 Questions. Also, huge thanks to Alexandria for answering my questions and thank you to Sparkpress for reaching out to me about reviewing this title!
Alexandria Rizik is an award-winning filmmaker and the author of two books, the poetry collection Words Written in the Dark and the children’s book Chocolate Milk. She was born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, where she was brought up by a large Armenian family. She received her bachelor of arts in English literature from Arizona State University. Alexandria’s love for writing began when she was a young child: her aunt bought her a journal and told her to write her a story, and the rest is history. Her favorite part about writing is being able to write the happily ever after that doesn’t always happen in real life. Besides writing, Alexandria loves yoga, wine, and family time. She lives in Scottsdale, AZ. Learn more at https://www.alexandriarizik.com.
Now, let’s get to the questions!
It says that this book is based on some of your own experiences, could you share a little bit about that?
Yes, this story was inspired by my first real relationship and breakup when I was seventeen. The only way I could get through it was by writing. It started as a screenplay that I wrote. I love film and cinema and was just getting into screenwriting when I was going through this breakup. But eventually I adapted it into a book. A lot of the scenes, like the haunted house scene, movie theater, the drive-in theater are based off of real events (obviously I exaggerated them to an extent). My ex-boyfriend’s family was kind of odd and being a writer with a very vivid imagination, I concocted this story that they were drug dealers and using him to deal to a high school clientele. Looking back, I sound crazy and they were probably just reserved, private people (as opposed to my crazy Armenian family). But that’s where the plot of the story stemmed from.
How long did the writing process for this book take?
So, I started writing the screenplay at seventeen. I even submitted it to a few contests. But, a few years later I adapted it into a novel. It’s evolved so much since the first draft. So overall, it’s been a ten year process from beginning to end.
What are your five must haves while writing?
My five must haves while writing are either coffee or wine, (depending on the time of day), a nice fall-scented candle, obviously my computer to write on, sometimes headphones to listen to music, and I also love using Pinterest. It draws inspiration.
Do you have any upcoming books in process?
Yes! I’m always writing something but what I’m focusing on mostly right now is the sequel to 21 Questions, titled 21 Confessions and also another book I’ve been working on for a while titled Mi Amor. I also just finished a screenplay titled, Cigarettes & Other Toxic Loves.
What is your dream project?
Oh my gosh, this is a hard one. My dream project would be adapting 21 Questions and its sequel into a Netflix series. It’s going to happen, I’m manifesting it.
What are your favorite writing tools?
My favorite writing tools are my iPad or computer (or my typewriter if I’m working on poetry) and my copy of The Emotion Thesaurus.
If you could describe Kendra and Brock in 5 words each, what would they be?
Five words to describe Kendra would be independent, determined, forgiving, awkward, and innocent. For Brock, I would say fearless, misunderstood, hot, charismatic, and infamous.
How do you deal with writer’s block?
I don’t really believe in writer’s block. I believe that whenever we struggle to write it’s due to our own inner self critic judging our words. To avoid “writer’s block,” it’s important to just keep writing, even if what you think you’re writing sucks, it can always be edited. But writing something is better than nothing.
Who would you recommend this book to?
I’d recommend this book to any girl who knows what it’s like to be in love for the first time and how your heart shatters when it ends because you never thought it would. And to any girl whose ever known what it’s like to try and fix a person they care about. Sometimes people don’t want to be fixed and sometimes it’s just the wrong timing.
Lastly, do you have anything you want to share with readers regarding this book?
21 Questions is a story of two teenagers with young hearts and old souls. They’re beautifully flawed and I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Again I want to give a huge thank you to Alexandria for taking the time to answer my questions. I hope you all had as much fun reading her answers as I did. Make sure you check out 21 Questions!
Seattle may not be as old as some would expect from a haunted city. But it has a large number of haunted sites and stories. Spooked in Seattle will lead readers on a journey through Seattle’s neighborhoods and reveal the city’s public locations, history, and tales of strange encounters. For those who love to venture off into corners in search of ghosts and the unknown, this book will set readers forth in the right direction.
Spooked in Seattle features more than 150 haunted locations, historic and contemporary photos, top ten questions about ghosts, Seattle’s top ten most haunted places, location maps and addresses, Seattle history and haunted facts, Seattle cemeteries and tombstone symbols, and more.
Spooked in Seattle presents many locations throughout the city that are believed to be haunted, claim to have ghosts, or have undergone investigation. All of these stories are broken down into sections based on the city’s neighborhoods with corresponding addresses to make finding them easier for the ghost enthusiasts. Maps and photos help bring to life the locations, making the Seattle ghosthunting experience easy and enjoyable.
As someone who loves reading ghost story collections, I was really excited to dive into this one. Some things that I really enjoyed about it were how in depth some of the history was, there were some really great passages about the city’s beginnings and some of the historical figures associated with the city. The haunted facts sections at the end of chapters, with information on hauntings in general, were fun to read.
That being said this book was in dire of one thing – a proofreader. There were so many instances where the author clearly meant a different word, but the word in place of it was spelled correctly, so it wasn’t something spell check would catch. Some examples were “foots steps” instead of footsteps or “leather jack” instead of leather jacket. This is something that happened many many times throughout the book that always took me out of my reading enjoyment. A second pair of eyes looking over the book before it went to publication could have fixed it – and honestly could have bumped it up to 3-4 stars for me (yes, the history and stories were that interesting). I had a really hard time though because these errors stood out to me and would slow down my reading.
If you’re looking for a book with a lot of great background information on Seattle, this is a solid pick, but be aware of the errors.
A new season leads to a new beginning in New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne’s latest heartwarming romance!
Will the secrets of her past…
Prevent her from having the future she’s always wanted?
Rosa Galvez’s attraction to Officer Wyatt Townsend is as powerful as the moon’s pull on the tides. But with her past, Rosa knows better than to act on her feelings. When Wyatt and his adorable son become Brambleberry House’s newest tenants, Rosa finds her resolve slipping. Her solo life slowly becomes a sun-filled family adventure—until dark secrets threaten to break like a summer storm.
If you’re looking for a fun and easy read for the summer this is definitely a good one. It’s very much a low angst story and is really light and heartwarming. There are certainly some moments of tension, but nothing that is extreme. I really liked the relationship between Rosa and Wyatt, but also the one between Rosa and Wyatt’s son. I also love that it was set in Oregon, as it’s a beautiful state, so it’s pretty much an auto buy location for me. Thayne’s writing in this book was light and refreshing and made this story a perfect summer read.
New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains where she lives with her family. Her books have won numerous honors, including six RITA Award nominations from Romance Writers of America and Career Achievement and Romance Pioneer awards from RT Book Reviews. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.
In Laguna Beach, California, sixteen-year-old Kendra Dimes is preparing for the 2010 USA Surfing Prime West. She’ll be competing this year in honor of her brother, who was a surfer too, but who died from a drug overdose. Kendra has suffered anxiety attacks ever since her brother’s death, and surfing is what’s been helping her heal.
Brock Parker is the new bad boy at school; he deals drugs to the high school clientele for his parents, who work for a Mexican drug lord. Though Brock and Kendra come from two different worlds, sparks fly when they meet at the homecoming dance—their attraction is magnetic. When they start a game of 21 Questions one night, they begin to learn more about each other—and, surprisingly, about themselves too. But some questions aren’t answered with the whole truth; after all, Brock can’t tell Kendra what his parents do for a living.
As Kendra and Brock experience all of life’s most exciting firsts, they prove that even when life throws you the perfect storm, you can make it through and come out stronger than before. 21 Questions is a coming-of-age journey packed with passion and heartbreak, risk and romance.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I was not expecting this one to hit me in the feels the way it did, but it did. Don’t let the summery beach cover fool you, this is a book containing some very real and heavy issues, mostly in the realm of drug use and selling. While the romance between Kendra and Brock is very much at the forefront, it is not the only focus. We get to see both of their points of view, which I felt really added to the story and all the different aspects of subjects that were included. Being someone who actually lost their older brother to drugs Kendra’s story hit especially hard – including her coping mechanisms, internal dialogue and specific memories of her brother. So much of the events and actions of people based on past experiences (especially Kendra’s) were so spot on in those situations.
Rizik’s writing flowed really well in both viewpoints and I really enjoyed the characters she crafted. There were a couple characters that I didn’t enjoy, but even they had some redeeming factors (and all teenagers can have moments of cringiness…so realistic). There were also characters who I really felt for and wanted to know more about, which is a sure sign that they are well crafted. Keep in mind that there are definite trigger warnings for death of a loved one, drug use, drug dealing, grief and more.
Alexandria Rizik is an award-winning filmmaker and the author of two books, the poetry collection Words Written in the Dark and the children’s book Chocolate Milk. She was born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, where she was brought up by a large Armenian family. She received her bachelor of arts in English literature from Arizona State University. Alexandria’s love for writing began when she was a young child: her aunt bought her a journal and told her to write her a story, and the rest is history. Her favorite part about writing is being able to write the happily ever after that doesn’t always happen in real life. Besides writing, Alexandria loves yoga, wine, and family time. She lives in Scottsdale, AZ. Learn more at https://www.alexandriarizik.com.
A huge thank you to SparkPress for sending me a copy of this book so I could review it! Come back on release day (8/3) for a Q&A that I was able to have with Alexandria!
Hello everyone! Time to talk about what I plan to read in August. I may be taking on more than I can handle, but I not only did my card draws but also am going to do the Trope-ical readathon!
For my cards I drew the following:
3 of Diamonds – Wheel #3: The Proposal
6 of Diamonds – Horror/Thriller: Home Before Dark
5 of Diamonds – YA: My Best Friend’s Exorcism
Jack of Spades – Under 300 Pages: Kamisama Kiss #18
5 of Hearts – BotM: The Guest List
6 of Hearts – Random Kindle: The Folcroft Ghosts
For the Trope-ical Readathon I tried to have as much crossover as possible with these picks as well as previous card picks. I’ve made a graphic to show my TBR for this readathon. If you want more information on it make sure to check it out on JenJenReview’s Blog post.
Who knows what I will be able to complete, we’ll just have to see. For the most part I just want to have some fun! Are any of these books on your TBR?
Horse rancher Carson Rivers has his own emotional demons. There’s no place in his life for a divorced single mom pulling at his heartstrings. But when Gabriella Tucker and her adorable children move next door—the place of her favorite childhood memories—Carson’s tempted to help the heart-guarded beauty make more adult memories. Maybe Gabriella and her kids are the healing balm he’s been yearning for…
I really enjoyed this sweet friends to lovers romance. Sometimes it can be hard when a romance includes kids, but I felt the inclusion of Gabriella’s kids and how Carson interacted with them was really well done. The writing style was easy to read and made this a quick and fun read. Though the steam level is relatively low it was still a great story. The characters and their emotional baggage was really well written and their actions were believable as they moved from friends to lovers.
Kathy Douglass came by her love of reading naturally – both of her parents were readers. She would finish one book and pick up another. Then she attended law school and traded romances for legal opinions.
After the birth of her two children, her love of reading turned into a love of writing. Kathy now spends her days writing the small town contemporary novels she enjoys reading.
Kathy loves to hear from her readers and can be found on Facebook.
When a bad boy in need of a second chance meets a good girl who is off limits, sparks fly and forbidden friendship forms in this edgy own-voices romance, perfect for fans of Katie McGarry and Kristina Forest.
They were supposed to ignore each other and respect that fine line between them…
Guillermo Lozano is getting a fresh start. New town, new school, and no more reckless behavior. He’s done his time, and now he needs to right his wrongs. But when his work at the local community center throws him in the path of the one girl who is off limits, friendship sparks…and maybe more.
Regan London needs a fresh perspective. The pressure to stay in her “perfect” relationship and be the good girl all the time has worn her down. But when the walls start to cave in and she finds unexpected understanding from the boy her parents warned about, she can’t ignore her feelings anymore.
The disapproval is instant. Being together might just get Guillermo sent away. But when it comes to the heart, sometimes you have to break the rules and be a little bit reckless…
Having read Whitney D. Grandison’s previous book and enjoying it, I was excited to pick up this one. I did really enjoy it and found it to be a complex read that tackled a lot of very present and modern issues. I really enjoyed Guillermo’s character and felt that out of everyone he was the most three dimensional character. While this book had a little bit of a slow start, once you get invested in the story it really moves along. Not only do the characters pull you in, but the fact that things such as consent, hard past events and more. There were certainly some moments that perhaps were a little frustrating, but they didn’t impact the story in a negative way. All in all I really enjoyed this one and found it to be a great read!
Whitney is dedicated to telling stories about teens of color and teens in difficult but relatable situations. Some of her works can be found on Wattpad, one of the largest online story sharing platforms, where she has acquired over 30,000 followers and an audience of over fifteen million dedicated readers. Outside of writing, she is a lover of Korean dramas, all things John Hughes, and horror films. Whitney currently lives in Akron, Ohio. She is the author of A Love Hate Thing and The Right Side of Reckless. Visit Whitney’s website http://www.whitneydgrandison.com and follow her on Twitter @whitney_dg and Instagram @wheadee.
A small book for anyone in search of hope, looking for a path to a more meaningful life, or in need of encouragement.
Happiness occurs when you forget who you’re expected to be. And what you’re expected to do. Happiness is an accident of self-acceptance. It’s the warm breeze you feel when you open the door to who you are.
Years ago, Matt Haig began writing notes to his future self. These notes were meant as gifts to his future self: offerings of hope to help himself through anything from the darkest periods of his life to a not-so-great day. As time went on, he added new thoughts and stories, and he turned them into The Comfort Book so that everyone could draw on this well of reassurance and encouragement. Each of its short meditations gives a new perspective on life and all of its highs and lows–small islands of hope for anyone looking for a more fulfilling, more uplifting way through life. Incorporating a diverse array of sources from across the world, history, science, and his own experiences, Haig offers warmth and reassurance, reminding us to slow down and appreciate the beauty and unpredictability of existence.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
I’ve loved what I’ve read of Matt Haig’s writing so far, so when I heard about this one I had to pick it up right away. It spoke to me so much – I’m not someone who tabs or annotates (except in poetry collections) but this one now has a ton of tabs because there were so many passages I wanted to go back to at a later time. It’s a collection of vignettes and passages, ranging from a few lines to a couple pages, some discussing Haig’s emotions and experiences and other being more introspective, about the world or about figures in the past. Though this is a book you can read passages from here and there, there is a clear story/journey throughout the book. The theme is mainly on hope, but also encompasses so much more. Keep in mind that Haig talks very openly about his experiences with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts (which he’s talked about in his other nonfiction books), but it’s good to know if these subjects trigger you.
The Wandering Wordsmith 