Review/ Courtney Crumrin The Witch Next Door Vol 5

Review/ Courtney Crumrin The Witch Next Door Vol 5Courtney Crumrin, Volume 5: The Witch Next Door Series: Courtney Crumrin #5

by Ted Naifeh
Format: Hardcover
Published by Oni Press on May 14th 2014
Pages: 148
Goodreads
Genres: Comics & Graphic Novels, General, Young Adult

The first five issues of the full-color Courtney Crumrin comic series are collected for the first time in a special hardcover edition! Holly Hart is new to Hillsborough and witchcraft. When her family moves in next to Courtney, the two girls quickly become friends. But as Courtney watches Holly making the same mistakes she once made, she begins to have second thoughts about teaching the girl magic. And when Holly sees the aftermath of the other children's

One of the good things about getting back into the library is being able to catch up on some graphic novels that I discovered last summer and imagine my surprise when I discovered that the next three volumes of Courtney Crumrin  were out. I quickly borrowed them because I wanted to catch up.

The Witch Next Door is volume 5 and they are super quick reads. It picks right up from where volume 4 left off which is really nice.

In this graphic novel a new girl (Holly) moves in and its right across from Courtney’s uncle’s house. Courtney is thrilled to finally have a friend and things are going really good until magic steps in between their friendship. Courtney and Holly get along so well because they both are deemed as outcast and appear to be exactly alike in manner and style of clothing. I think Holly is thrilled to finally have found a friend.

I don’t want to say much more about the book because I can literally give it away. Its a really good read and if your a fan of dark graphic novels then I have to recommend this. It was nice to see how much Courtney has grown emotionally, mentally and magically.

 

Sundays In Bed With…….. May 17th Edition

SundaysInBedWithSmall

 

Welcome to my Sundays In Bed With… Meme! The meme that dares to ask, what book has been in your bed this morning?  Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

I was really hoping that I could spend a little time reading this morning but sadly I can’t as I have to meet my assistant manager (of our sons hockey team) at Costco because we are going their to buy food for the hockey party this afternoon.

If I am able to I would love to dig into this book:

 

Review/ Buzz Books 2015 Spring/Summer Edition

Review/ Buzz Books 2015 Spring/Summer EditionBuzz Books 2015 Spring/Summer Format: eARC
on January 2015

Our sixth Buzz Books edition evokes all the excitement of Winter Institute with substantial pre-publication excerpts from nearly 40 adult titles. Extensive publishing information, including promotion plans and publicity contacts, are included in this NetGalley version. At the end of most excerpts, you will find a link to the full galley on NetGalley! Enjoy access to the newest voices the publishing industry is broadcasting for the upcoming season as you discover breakout books from established authors, sparkling debuts from soon-to-become literary stars, and fascinating memoirs and inspirational nonfiction.

Familiar names include Paolo Bacigalupi, Ian Caldwell, Dennis Lehane, Ann Packer, Matthew Pearl, and Neal Stephenson. From inside the book world itself, there’s Farrar, Straus and Giroux publisher Jonathan Galassi’s debut novel Muse, and former editor George Hodgman’s memoir Bettyville, about going home to care for his irascible mother.

Iowa Writer’s Workshop graduate Leslie Parry (Church of Marvels), Erika Swyler (The Book of Speculation), J. Ryan Stradal (Kitchens of the Great Midwest), Christopher Robinson and Gavin Kovite (War Of The Encyclopaedists), and Jessica Knoll (Luckiest Girl Alive) are among our dozen new authors.

Rounding out this generous sampler are books from well-known personalities including actor Maria Bello, TV host Mika Brzezinski, NPR/Weekend Edition’s Scott Simon, and even a novel from Hunter S. Thompson’s former assistant Cheryl Della Pietra.

I received this book for free from publisher/pr firm in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Its hard to believe that this is the third year for Buzz Book sneak peeks that Publishers Lunch has put out and I am pretty sure that I might have read all of them with the exception to the first one.

I am always on the look out for them on Amazon/NetGalley and as soon as I see it I instantly download it to my kindle app and slowly read through it.

This Buzz Books 2015 includes a sneak peek into 39 top new titles coming out this spring and summer season. Its nice to see what is coming out and read snippets of the books and for me I love discovering that new summer read and what I need to be on the look out for.

Its quite possible that some of these books might be available at BEA. I know I will be on the look out for certain titles and if not well they have been added to my every growing wishlist of books.

The book is broken down into three parts and they are Fiction Books which showcase 17 titles, Debut Fiction which showcases 12 and finally Non Fiction which showcases 10 titles all from various publishing houses.

Know all the books sound pretty good but I thought for today that I would showcase some of the titles that stood out for me.

Release Date: May 26th, 2015 by Alfred A. Knopf
WATER IS POWER

Paolo Bacigalupi, New York Times best-selling author of The Windup Girl and National Book Award finalist, delivers a near-future thriller that casts new light on how we live today—and what may be in store for us tomorrow.

The American Southwest has been decimated by drought. Nevada and Arizona skirmish over dwindling shares of the Colorado River, while California watches, deciding if it should just take the whole river all for itself. Into the fray steps Las Vegas water knife Angel Velasquez. Detective, assassin, and spy, Angel “cuts” water for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and its boss, Catherine Case, ensuring that her lush, luxurious arcology developments can bloom in the desert and that anyone who challenges her is left in the gutted-suburban dust.

When rumors of a game-changing water source surface in Phoenix, Angel is sent to investigate. With a wallet full of identities and a tricked-out Tesla, Angel arrows south, hunting for answers that seem to evaporate as the heat index soars and the landscape becomes more and more oppressive. There, Angel encounters Lucy Monroe, a hardened journalist, who knows far more about Phoenix’s water secrets than she admits, and Maria Villarosa, a young Texas migrant, who dreams of escaping north to those places where water still falls from the sky.

As bodies begin to pile up and bullets start flying, the three find themselves pawns in a game far bigger, more corrupt, and dirtier than any of them could have imagined. With Phoenix teetering on the verge of collapse and time running out for Angel, Lucy, and Maria, their only hope for survival rests in one another’s hands. But when water is more valuable than gold, alliances shift like sand, and the only truth in the desert is that someone will have to bleed if anyone hopes to drink.

Release Date: June 9th, 2015 from Harper Collins

From the New York Times bestselling author of Before I Go to Sleep, a sensational new psychological thriller about a woman with a secret identity that threatens to destroy her.

How well can you really know another person? How far would you go to find the truth about someone you love?

When Julia learns that her sister has been violently murdered, she must uncover why. But Julia’s quest quickly evolves into an alluring exploration of own darkest sensual desires. Becoming involved with a dangerous stranger online, she’s losing herself . . . losing control . . . perhaps losing everything. Her search for answers will jeopardize her marriage, her family, and her life.

A tense and unrelenting novel that explores the secret lives people lead—and the dark places in which they can find themselves—Second Life is a masterwork of suspense from the acclaimed S. J. Watson.

Release Date: August 25, 2015 by Mira Books

An unexpected journey leads one woman to discover that life after loss is possible, if only you can find the courage to let go…

One minute, Tegan Lawson has everything she could hope for: an adoring husband, Gabe, and a baby on the way. The next, a patch of black ice causes a devastating accident that will change her life in ways she never could have imagined.

Tegan is consumed by grief—not to mention her anger toward Gabe, who was driving on the night of the crash. But just when she thinks she’s hit rock bottom, Gabe reminds her of their Jar of Spontaneity, a collection of their dream destinations and experiences, and so begins an adventure of a lifetime.

From the bustling markets of Thailand to the flavors of Italy to the ocean waves in Hawaii, Tegan and Gabe embark on a journey to escape the tragedy and search for forgiveness. But they soon learn that grief follows you no matter how far away you run, and that acceptance comes when you least expect it. Heartbreaking, hopeful and utterly transporting, Come Away with Me is an unforgettable debut and a luminous celebration of the strength of the human spirit.

release date March 2015

“The truth is I hurt people. It’s what I do. It’s all I do. It’s all I’ve ever done.”

He lives in your community, in a nice house with a well-tended garden. He shops in your grocery store, bumping shoulders with you and apologizing with a smile. He drives beside you on the highway, politely waving you into the lane ahead of him.

What you don’t know is that he has an elaborate cage built into a secret basement under his garage. And the food that he’s carefully shopping for is to feed a young woman he’s holding there against her will—one in a string of many, unaware of the fate that awaits her.

This is how it’s been for a long time. It’s normal…and it works. Perfectly.

Then he meets the checkout girl from the 24-hour grocery. And now the plan, the hunts, the room…the others. He doesn’t need any of them anymore. He needs only her. But just as he decides to go straight, the police start to close in. He might be able to cover his tracks, except for one small problem—he still has someone trapped in his garage.

Discovering his humanity couldn’t have come at a worse time.

release date: May 2015 by Simon & Schuster

HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE.

As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve.

But Ani has a secret.

There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything.

With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that’s bigger than it first appears.

The question remains: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, will it at long last, set Ani free?

Release Date: May 2015

The diet revolution is here. And it’s armed.

Plum Kettle does her best not to be noticed, because when you’re fat, to be noticed is to be judged. Or mocked. Or worse. With her job answering fan mail for a popular teen girls’ magazine, she is biding her time until her weight-loss surgery. Only then can her true life as a thin person finally begin.

Then, when a mysterious woman starts following her, Plum finds herself falling down a rabbit hole and into an underground community of women who live life on their own terms. There Plum agrees to a series of challenges that force her to deal with her past, her doubts, and the real costs of becoming “beautiful.” At the same time, a dangerous guerrilla group called “Jennifer” begins to terrorize a world that mistreats women, and as Plum grapples with her personal struggles, she becomes entangled in a sinister plot. The consequences are explosive.

Dietland is a bold, original, and funny debut novel that takes on the beauty industry, gender inequality, and our weight loss obsession—from the inside out, and with fists flying.

These are just a few books from the Buzz Books 2015 Spring/Summer edition that peaked my interest what about yours?

Review/ The Tapper Twins Go To War (With Each Other)

Review/ The Tapper Twins Go To War (With Each Other)The Tapper Twins Go to War (With Each Other) Series: #1

by Geoff Rodkey
Format: eARC
Published by Hachette Children's Group on April 7th 2015
Pages: 224
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
Genres: General, Young Adult

Wars are terrible things. I know this because I've read about a lot of them on Wikipedia. And also because I was just in one. It was me against my brother, Reese. That might not sound like a war to you. Trust me. It was. This is the oral history of the terrible war between twins, Reese and Claudia Tapper. It began with a cruel and senseless sneak attack in the school cafeteria on Monday, September 8th, at approximately 8:27 a.m. Or possibly it began in the Tapper family kitchen, earlier that morning, with the greedy guzzling of the last brown sugar cinnamon toaster pastry. What really happened? It depends on who you speak to... This is a hilarious middle-grade comedy that's both totally timeless and completely up-to-the-minute.

I received this book for free from publisher/pr firm in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This was such a fun and quick read. I think I managed to read this in two sittings. As an adult I enjoyed reading this and I think it’s a perfect read for the tweens and older.

Claudia and Reese are twelve-year-old twins. I think that Claudia and Reese were the perfect characters for the book as they were very believable and it makes you think the story is real and it could actually happen.

Claudia and Reese are your typical siblings we have been trying to one up each and to humiliate the other one. It makes you wonder who will get the upper hand?

I love the format of the book. Each chapter has a title which goes along with the dialog. Its sort of like a script which I have to say I enjoyed. Within chapters there is text messages, photos, hand written text, emails and so much more. Its very well done and it makes you want to continue reading it.

Claudia is the main voice of the book but other characters come out such as Reese, Sophie, Mom and Dad, Akash, Ashley and a few others. It was nice to see how each character plays an important part to the story line.

I loved the message behind the book and its one that kids can easily grasp. Even though Claudia and Reese were doing everything they could to humiliate their sibling they both realized that in the end everything they did has a consequence to it. Which kids need to realize.

This was such a fun read and it was nice to take a break in my regular reading. I think tweens and the little bit older ones would enjoy this. I know Michael plans on reading it especially once I mentioned Minecraft was in this.

This is also my first BEA Buzz Book for 2015.

 

February Book Unhauling #2

Its another month and I thought I would share with you the books I am unhauling this month. Have you read any of these?

Books Read:

  • After by Anna Todd
  • New Uses For Old Boyfriends by Beth Kendrick
  • After We Collide by Anna Todd

Those were all the books I have read and enjoyed and with the amount of books on my TBR I know I will never re-read them so why not pass them along to others who will enjoy the books just as much as I did, right?

The following books are books that I didn’t like/enjoy or didn’t finish. The have been sitting on my shelf for the longest time in hopes that I would re pick it up to try again but honestly I think that if I couldn’t get into them the first time I probably won’t get into them again. So its time to take them off the shelf and share them with people who will actually read and enjoy them. Sorry if this list upsets anyone but its only my personal taste and not everyone likes what everyone is reading or has read.

  • Call of the Jersey Devil by Aurelio Voltaire
  • Once Is Never Enough by Mira Lyn Kelly
  • The One-Way Bridge by Cathie Pelletier
  • Help For The Haunted by John Searles
  • My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula J. Freedman

The total unhauled books for Februaru is 8 and the total so far is 54.