Month: June 2015

Blog Tour Review: Jesse’s Girl

Posted June 17, 2015 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments

I love Miranda Kenneally’s books. I just binge read the middle few books in the series (since I previously read Catching Jordan and Breathe, Annie, Breathe out of order) before getting to this one. Although a couple of them (Stealing Parker and Things I Can’t Forget) are more religion-based than I personally enjoy, I still always love and appreciate the characters she writes. The romances are real and fun, the characters have distinct personalities, and the supporting characters also have complexities that get some attention. So, I’m happy to report that THIS BOOK made me so happy and hit the mark for me in nearly every possible way. I never really consider myself to be a big music buff; I don’t spend time seeking out new music or exploring artists. I stick to what I know and love, which is classic rock or 90’s music nearly 100% of the time. I’m not a big 80’s music fan (sorry, everyone!), but Maya still made me extremely happy with all of her musical referenes and her entire personality. I have to say, reading the countless comments about Queen made me incredibly gleeful. I LOVE QUEEN. FREDDIE MERCURY FOREVER. If she was going to be an 80’s girl and I’d be hearing about 80’s music, I’m so glad it was Queen. I do like a bit of country music too, so I was really excited about this book. Maya is Sam Henry’s little sister (so there was a LOT of Sam and Jordan, one of my […]

Musical Memories ft. Just Listen

Posted June 16, 2015 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

When Cristina and I discussed our new mini feature, Book Buddies Ask, we decided to start with the Sarah Dessen novels we both planned on reading or rereading this summer. Our first question debuted over on my review of Saint Anything (and hers!). I decided to reread Just Listen when she told me she was on the blog tour, but am still working my way through it. This post was inspired by the strong musical elements of the novel, as well as some general thoughts about it. “A song can take you instantly back to a moment, a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in you or the world, that one song stays the same, just like that moment.” When I read Hannah’s post last week about memories tied to music, I thought it would be a great way to discuss Just Listen. I started spiraling through Spotify and making my own memories-related playlist. I listened to it all day at work and reflected so much on different memories in my life. I don’t think I got much work done, but what else is new. Like her, I don’t really consider myself to be a crazy music person. There are actually plenty of days where I don’t listen to music at all, thanks to my addiction to audiobooks. I will say that there will always be songs that make me crank up the volume when I catch them on the radio. (Namely, most classic rock songs.) Check […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #44: Summer TBR

Posted June 16, 2015 / TBR Lists, Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 12 Comments

Ten Books on my Summer TBR for 2015 Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. The TTT from a few weeks ago included books I plan to throw into my beach bag this summer, so I’m going to give you a brief recap of what those books were (series/duologies represented by the first book’s cover): Aaaaand as usual I have more than 10 here, but I couldn’t resist… Everyone knows my extreme love for Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke, so obviously I am VERY excited to get my hands on Resonance when it comes out! I absolutely love that world and can’t wait to see how it all ends up. Even though I wasn’t super thrilled with Get Even by Gretchen McNeil, I DEFINITELY need to know what happens next with that ending. Get Dirty comes out this summer and I want it. And, last but not least, Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkis Reid sounds phenomenal. I have Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler for review, so I plan to read that and its predecessor (Behind the Scenes) at some point this summer. I’m excited for Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius as well, despite some of the early reviews. I’m on the blog tour for Never Always Sometimes by […]

ARC Review: Emmy & Oliver

Posted June 15, 2015 / Book Reviews / 12 Comments

I can’t lie when I say I was a bit hesitant going into this one. I enjoyed Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway but wanted a little more. I LOVE how unique the concepts of her books are. She takes a cool plot idea, adds great characters, and gives it a great contemporary feel without being too predictable. Sometimes love isn’t something you say, it’s something you do.” (pg. 75, ARC) This book blew me away. I was utterly addicted to it and needed to know how things turned out. If I could have stuck with Emmy and Oliver (the main characters, obviously) forever, I would have. There were so many endearing moments that just killed me with feels. The main premise is that Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, was kidnapped by his father 10 years ago and the family/neighborhood never really moved on. Suddenly Oliver is found and returning home to his mom, who is now remarried and has two kids. Naturally everything takes some getting used to. Oliver doesn’t remember everyone as much as they remember him, but he does end up falling back into his old crowd of friends: Emmy, Caro, and Drew. The minute Oliver was introduced, I fell in love. Seeing him and Emmy fall back in together had me so anxious and full of love; I just NEEDED them to get together immediately. Emmy was an interesting character because she was constantly hiding things from her parents, like the fact that she applied to college and enjoyed surfing, because […]

Review: Between the Lines

Posted June 12, 2015 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments

This was my book club’s pick for May, which was really the only reason I was motivated to read it! (And even then, I only picked it up a couple of days before the meeting… YOLO). I started a YA book club because there weren’t any near me, and this is what we agreed to read for the first meeting! We thought it would be good for those who aren’t experienced YA readers, since Jodi Picoult is a popular and recognizable adult fiction writer. Soooo, about this book. I have somewhat mixed feelings. I didn’t actively want to sit down and read it that often, but I did find myself pretty engaged as I was actually reading it. The concept itself is probably my favorite part. It’s like Toy Story for books! What happens to the characters in a book when you close it? In this case, they’re all essentially “actors” in the book and lead regular (very different) lives when the book is shut. Delilah reads this book and starts to fall for the main character, Oliver, and he finds a way to communicate with her. The two of them spend the book trying to get him out of the story so they can be together. Pretty cool, eh? Otherwise, the book felt suuuuper young to me. The writing definitely didn’t feel Picoult-esque, and that’s probably because she wrote it with her young daughter, but there were some parts that had me majorly rolling my eyes. A lot of it […]

Burn, Rewrite, or Reread

Posted June 11, 2015 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 16 Comments

I’ve seen this tag floating around and thought it looked fun! I decided to do 5 rounds with 3 books per round. You use a random number generator to pick the books off of your Goodreads “read” shelf. For each round, you compare the three books: which would you burn? which would you rewrite? and which would you reread? It’s like a bookish version of Kill, Bang, Marry 😉 Round 1 BURN | L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad | There’s nothing too bad about this book, but it’s probably my least favorite of the three, at least! I don’t remember being overly impressed with it (and that’s probably why I never got around to finishing the series. Oh well. REWRITE | Reckless (It Girl #3) by Cecily von Ziegesar | I actually really enjoyed Gossip Girl and its spin-off, It Girl. I don’t remember much about it but I do remember liking it a bit. Like most books in a long series, there was a love triangle. Maybe I’d rewrite that part? I don’t remember! I just know I’d rather keep this one around than L.A. Candy. REREAD | The Distance Between Us by Kasie West | NO-BRAINER. I absolutely loved this book and will definitely reread it at some point. Kasie West is definitely an auto-buy for me and this was the first book of hers I read. Much love. | Review Round 2 BURN | A Rose for Melinda by Lurlene McDaniel | Another kind of easy one. […]

Review: The Disenchantments

Posted June 10, 2015 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Sometimes books are just nothing like you hoped or expected them to be. I saw this one at the library, fell in love with the cover, and decided to give it a shot. I didn’t realize at first that Colby, from the synopsis, was a male, so that was a surprise right from the beginning. A pleasant one! The gist of the story is that Colby is travelling the West Coast with his best friend Bev and their friends Meg and Alexa. They’re in a group called The Disenchantments and are going on a mini-tour for the summer. The plan is that after the summer, Bev and Colby are going to travel Europe for a year instead of going to college. Colby’s in for a surprise when Bev informs him she isn’t going to Europe; she’s going to RISD in the fall. He has to try to manage his hurt feelings (and love for Bev) while continuing with the tour… and she refuses to tell him why she’s not going. Along the trip, they meet some interesting characters and do lots of random things. This summary is pretty much all that happened. I really like books with flawed, realistic characters. If I don’t like them that much, that’s okay with me. I don’t have to like the character to like the book. In this case, though… I didn’t like anyone. I couldn’t relate to anyone. The characters and the plot were not realistic to me; it’s like they were a […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #43: Anticipated

Posted June 9, 2015 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 17 Comments

Ten Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015 Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I’m doing this list without the books that I currently have ARCs of. Obviously Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is high on my list, but that baby is currently waiting to be read in my stack of books from BEA! Without further ado, here are ten books I’m really excited for. Because I need to know what happens next… Firewalker by Josephine Angelini | I requested this one, so I’m hoping toget my hands on it earlier. After that ending in the previous book, I’ve pretty much been dying to read this one. Get Dirty by Gretchen McNeil | Honestly I didn’t even like the first book that much, but the ending definitely kept me interested. I’m determined to find out who is behind everything. Resonance by Erica O’Rourke | I LOVED DISSONANCE SO MUCH. I had a little sneak peek back into the world through the novella that came out a few months ago, but I am dying for this book. Easily my most anticipated book this year. Because these are read-bait for me… Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid | I haven’t read her other books (yet), but […]

Inside & Out #8: Erin from The Hardcover Lover

Posted June 8, 2015 / Features, Inside and Out / 5 Comments

Admiring book covers and bookmarks, shared by you! Welcome to INSIDE AND OUT. This feature includes two of my absolute favorite book-related things: bookmarks (inside) and book covers (out)! I’ve invited guest posters to share their favorite book covers and bookmarks here on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Sign-ups are always open (see bottom of post)! Check out past posts here. Erin from The Hardcover Lover Twitter: @xerinxlynnx| Instagram: @xerinxlynnx | Facebook Tell me a little about yourself: I’m a twenty-five year old substitute teacher who cannot wait to get her own classroom and start teaching English/ELA. When I’m not reading, I can be found catching up on some of my favorite TV shows or watching hockey. I also like to sew and cross-stitch. I’m a huge fan of knick-knacks, and I probably buy way too many of them. I obsess over all things Disney, and I even have a small collection Disney movies, posters, and figurines. Talk about your blog (what you blog about/kinds of books, features, etc.): I review mostly YA on The Hardcover Lover, with most of the titles being contemporary or romance. Occasionally, and more often now than when I started blogging, I review YA science fiction, dystopia, and fantasy. I also review middle grade books and a few children’s books. I also host Soundtrack Saturday, a meme about creating playlists for your favorite books. Favorite genre: Contemporary Three books you recommend most often and why: Divergent because I loved the world that Veronica Roth built. I was literally on the edge of my […]

Reread Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Posted June 6, 2015 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

I don’t remember if we preordered this one or if I went to the store and bought it. I can’t imagine that I waited to read it for any reason, so I have a feeling it was delivered on release day. I really can’t believe I was 13 when I first read this. I vividly remember sitting around the pool or on our back porch reading this during the summer vacation. UGH OBVIOUSLY I REMEMBER THE ENDING OF THIS. The first very very very sad death in the series. Ugh. Stop reading here if for some reason you haven’t read the series: I was so heartbroken when Sirius died. Harry finally had a family, and maybe even a chance to live with him (because finally the Ministry believed them about Voldemort’s return)… and it got plucked away. You cruel woman, JK Rowling. Otherwise I truthfully didn’t remember that much about this book, except for hating Umbridge and everything she did to the school. My answer stands: because HARRY POTTER! I didn’t think I was mentally ready to reread about Sirius though, so that wasn’t fun. This book is honestly the one that I wasn’t looking forward to rereading as much. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loooove the creation of the Order and Dumbledore’s Army – but everything else (Umbridge, Sirius, etc.) depresses me. It’s hard to read a book with such a vicious antagonist (sometimes I think I hate her more than Voldemort). It goes without saying that I […]