Tag: reads

Review: The Case of the Missing Bubble Gum Card

DeAnne3 Comments

Jarvis Mann is a private detective, whose business thrived on the mundane: paying the bills by shadowing cheating spouses, getting in the middle of messy divorces and working for the fat-cat insurance companies running down false claims.

On a Winter’s Sunday afternoon, a young man graces his office steps. His words coaxing with the simple declaration of “Please” convincing Jarvis to help find a valuable missing Ernie Banks rookie baseball card.

With a dry sense of humor, Jarvis tours the Denver neighborhood with the lad door to door, friend to friend, until a clue leads to a surprising discovery. A young man’s personal pain revealed witnessing a friend’s act of self-sacrifice both teenagers teaching Jarvis a life lesson that will shape him with new hope and resolve.

I’d never read anything by this author in the past, but had the opportunity to pick this one up and it sounded intriguing so I thought I would give it a try. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a beginning or prequel of a series. It provided a great way to get to know the main character, Jarvis Mann, and some of his motivations in life.

Though it was brief you gain a great image of Jarvis in the way he thinks and the way he interacts with other characters. The mystery itself is pretty simple and more of a story of morality and doing what is right than a true mystery, but it was still super enjoyable and fun.

Happy reading!

Review: You Have Arrived at Your Destination

DeAnne1 Comment

Nature or nurture? Neither. Discover a bold new way to raise a child in this unsettling story of the near future by the New York Times bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow.

When Sam’s wife first tells him about Vitek, a twenty-first-century fertility lab, he sees it as the natural next step in trying to help their future child get a “leg up” in a competitive world. But the more Sam considers the lives that his child could lead, the more he begins to question his own relationships and the choices he has made in his life.

This one was probably my least favorite of the Forward series so far, but I didn’t dislike it. It certainly has a valid discussion regarding genetic manipulation and just what corporations may be doing (or may do in the future) with genetic material they receive from individuals; however, I feel it could have benefited from being a little more fleshed out and longer.

The writing was interesting and compelling, which I really enjoyed and the characters had true personalities, but the main character’s decisions were sometimes not truly explained or perhaps a little unbelievable. Still, when he was talking with other characters, or talking to those at Vitek, the internal dialogue he has with himself was engaging and some of the best parts of the story.

Overall it was still a valuable premise and conversation to have and if it were a little longer and more fleshed out I think it would have had a much higher star rating.

Happy reading!

Review: Aru Shah and the End of Time

DeAnne1 Comment

Twelve-year-old Aru Shah has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off to family vacations in exotic locales, she’ll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from her latest archeological trip. Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur?

One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru’s doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don’t believe her claim that the museum’s Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again.

But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it’s up to Aru to save them.

The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that?

Anyone who knows me knows that anything based on mythology will pique my interest, so when Rick Riordan started the Rick Riordan Presents line I was super excited. I finally got around to picking this one up and was not disappointed.

Chokshi’s writing is beautiful and the personalities she creates for her characters are very individual. Aru grows a lot in this book, but she still has flaws and still has things she needs to work on. This is something I really appreciate as it keeps her more human and easier to identify with.

I can’t wait to get to the second book and see how the characters grow even more. I have a feeling even more backstory will be revealed and we will learn more as the series goes on.

Happy reading!

Five Books I’d Like to Read Before 2019 Ends

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Let’s face it, my TBR is massive, but there’s no way I’m going to finish everything anytime soon. It’s hard to narrow down my selection to what I’m going to accomplish this year , but here’s five I’m pretty sure I’ll get to.

  1. Trail of Lightning – I know I’ve mentioned this one before, but I still haven’t gotten to it and I really wish I would. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it and am super excited by the premise.
  2. Dead Voices – I loved Small Spaces, so I made sure to pre-order this one when it came out, but I haven’t picked it up yet. I partially blame it on my slump, but also one just the massive pile of books I have. It’s set in the winter though, so I’m hoping to pick it up soon.
  3. His Hideous Heart – I love retellings based on an author’s work, so when this one came out I was super excited. I’m also excited for the Shakespeare one coming out soon.
  4. Call Down the Hawk – I’m in the camp of people who absolutely love The Raven Cycle, so a spin off with some of the same characters? Yes, please.
  5. Rules for Vanishing – This was one that I heard nothing about and then suddenly everyone was saying how great it was. I picked it up shortly after it came out, but have yet to start reading it.

So what are you trying to finish before the end of the year? Happy reading!

Review: Emergency Skin

DeAnne1 Comment

What will become of our self-destructed planet? The answer shatters all expectations in this subversive speculation from the Hugo Award–winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy.

An explorer returns to gather information from a climate-ravaged Earth that his ancestors, and others among the planet’s finest, fled centuries ago. The mission comes with a warning: a graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind—hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out eons ago. After all this time, there’s no telling how they’ve devolved. Steel yourself, soldier. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare.

Well this one was quite a ride! It hit really close to home considering the current state of our planet both climate wise and economically. It discusses earth and what could happen if people cared more about others and the planet then their own gain.

This story follows a ‘being’ who’s been promised skin in exchange for a supposedly dangerous mission of going back to Earth to get something their superior society needs. What they find surprises both them and the AI that is within them to keep them in check. What follows is a tale of dual perspectives, deception and important lessons about humankind in general.

Happy reading!

Top Five: Autobuy Buzzwords

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We all have those buzzwords or tropes that are autobuy for us, those concepts that we just have to dive into when we read about them. This could be just about anything depending on the person, a certain plot construct, certain type of retelling, certain storyline trope. So here’s some of the ones that are highest up on my list.

  1. Ghosts/Ghost stories – Anything that has ghost stories woven in will immediately draw me in. I love reading real ghost stories and legends, so when it is included in fiction I just grab it up.
  2. Secret Societies – Ok, many people are intrigued by secret societies. There’s just something about the mysticism and darkness of it that provides intriguing story lines and drama. It doesn’t have to be paranormal, even something about societies such as the Freemasons are interesting to me.
  3. Mythology – I love reading about different mythologies and also re-imaginings that are inspired by those stories. It doesn’t matter which culture it is, I will give pretty much anything a shot.
  4. Asian inspired – I have a deep love for anything and everyone Asian inspired, especially if they dive into the culture, mythology and are own voices.
  5. Retellings – Ok, this is super broad and I know some people are sick of retellings, but there are certain ones I love such as Beauty and the Beast retellings. I will pick those up pretty much everytime. I also love retellings that are based on a certain author’s writing.

So those are just my top buzzwords/concepts, but there are a ton more. What are some of the things that will make you pick up a book immediately?

Happy reading!

Review: Ark

DeAnne1 Comment

On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy.

It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond.

Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection. As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.

Ark is another installment in Amazon’s Forward series where we’re facing the end of earth. In this one, a asteroid is about to hit earth and destroy life as we know it. Those that are left on earth are scientists who are frantically working to catalog as much flora and fauna as they can before they leave a couple days before it hits.

Since this is a really short story I’m not going to say much about it because pretty much anything would be a spoiler, but this is an interesting perspective on the different decisions people may make if they know the world is ending. The main character we follow is Samantha, whose perspective and feelings change based on things she discovers and people she talks to.

It’s a great look at what different people may do when facing the destruction of everything they know. I’m eager to read the rest of the collection and see what other stories these authors have come up with.

Happy reading!

Review: The Way You Make Me Feel

DeAnne1 Comment

Synopsis: Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn’t so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind?

With Maurene Goo’s signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look.

I’ve wanted to pick up one of Maurene Goo’s books for quite a while, so I was glad to finally get to this one. While it was often pitched as a contemporary romance, I feel it is so much more than that. It explores aspects of all different types of relationships whether they be friendships, romantic relationships or family relationships. The characters on the surface are simple, but Goo gives them depth and individuality that is refreshing. The way they play off each other and the ways that different characters grow and change, Clara especially.

Clara is a little unlikable at the beginning, but as the book progresses her motivations and reasons for her behavior become more apparent. She’s been very careful to distance herself from things to keep from truly getting hurt and watching as she slowly lets more people in and changes is wonderful.

There were a ton of moments that made me laugh and the banter between the characters were priceless. It’s own voices for Korean representation, which I love (my partner is Korean so anything featuring Korean characters, culture, history or mythology is pretty much auto-buy for me). Overall it’s a wonderful story that I thoroughly enjoyed. Also as a sidenote, how gorgeous is that cover? I’m in love with pretty much all her covers.

Happy reading!

Anticipated Releases for the Rest of the Year

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There aren’t a ton of books coming out in the next month and a half that I need to have, which my bank account thanks me for, but there are a few titles I’m hoping to pick up. Here’s what I’m looking forward to and their respective blurbs.

Eight Will Fall by Sarah Harian
Release Date: November 26, 2019

Pitched as Six of Crows meets Suicide Squad, this dark YA fantasy follows eight criminals as they battle their way through a subterranean realm of horrors and certain death.

In a world where magic is illegal, eight criminals led by rebellious Larkin are sent on a mission to rid their realm of an ancient evil lurking beneath the surface. Descending into a world full of unspeakable horrors, Larkin and her crew must use their forbidden magic to survive.

As they fight in the shadows, Larkin finds a light in Amias, a fellow outlaw with a notorious past. Soon, Larkin and Amias realize that their destinies are intertwined. The eight of them were chosen for a reason.

But as the beasts grow in number and her band is picked off one by one, Larkin is forced to confront a terrible truth: They were never meant to return.

Scared Little Rabbits by A.V. Geiger
Release Date: December 3, 2019

We stand in a tight cluster, high above the lake. One-by-one, we made our way up the narrow trail from the edge of campus. Now, we wait shoulder to shoulder behind the police tape. Nineteen summer students.
 
All but one.

When Nora gets accepted into her dream summer program at the prestigious Winthrop Academy, she jumps at the chance to put her coding skills to use. But then a fellow student goes missing—and the tech trail for the crime leads back to Nora. With no one else to trust, Nora must race to uncover the truth and clear her name…or she might be the next to disappear.

Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters
Release Date: December 3, 2019

In this charming, feel-good debut novel, a cynical assistant at a screenwriting agency must reenact the meet-cute scenes from classic romantic comedy movies in order to help her #1 client get his scriptwriting mojo back–but can a real-life meet-cute be in store for someone who doesn’t believe in happily ever after?

After seven years as an assistant, 29-year-old Evie Summers is ready to finally get the promotion she deserves. But now the TV and film agency she’s been running behind the scenes is in trouble, and Evie will lose her job unless she can convince the agency’s biggest and most arrogant client, Ezra Chester, to finish writing the script for a Hollywood romantic comedy.

The catch? Ezra is suffering from writer’s block–and he’ll only put pen to paper if singleton Evie can prove to him that you can fall in love like they do in the movies. With the future of the agency in jeopardy, Evie embarks on a mission to meet a man the way Sally met Harry or Hugh Grant met Julia Roberts.

But in the course of testing out the meet-cute scenes from classic romantic comedies IRL, not only will Evie encounter one humiliating situation after another, but she’ll have to confront the romantic past that soured her on love. In a novel as hilarious as it is heartwarming, debut author Rachel Winters proves that sometimes real life is better than the movies–and that the best kind of meet-cutes happen when you least expect them.

So, do any of these sound good to you? What are you looking forward to?

Happy reading!

Review: Build Yourself a Boat

DeAnne1 Comment
Build Yourself a Boat
2019 National Book Award Nominee

Synopsis: This is about what grows through the wreckage. This is an anthem of survival and a look at what might come after. A view of what floats and what, ultimately, sustains.

Build Yourself a Boat, an innovative debut by award-winning poet Camonghne Felix, interrogates generational trauma, the possibility of healing, and the messiness of survival.

Build Yourself a Boat redefines the language of collective and individual trauma through lyric and memory.

I picked this one up hoping that I would be able to find more contemporary poetry that I enjoyed and I was not disappointed. In this collection Felix explores a wide range of topics that could be very triggering or hard to read. Her writing is very raw and heavy, but in my opinion her voice is clear.

The styles of her poems do vary, but perfectly fit their subject matter and as you progress through the collection you can see the story that she weaves through her words. The content is very charged and speaks of pain and struggle, packed with so much emotion it will take your breath away.

If you’re sensitive to subjects such as sexual assault, self harm, suicide and harsh language, keep in mind that there’s definite trigger warnings for those subjects and more before picking this up. It can be difficult read, but there needs to be more literature and poetry that touches on the hard subjects because they shouldn’t be ignored.

Happy reading!