Review/ Midnight at the Electric

Review/ Midnight at the ElectricMidnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Format: Hardcover
Published by HarperTeen on June 13th 2017
Pages: 272
Goodreads

Divided by time. Ignited by a spark.
Kansas, 2065.
Adri has secured a slot as a Colonist—one of the lucky few handpicked to live on Mars. But weeks before launch, she discovers the journal of a girl who lived in her house over a hundred years ago, and is immediately drawn into the mystery surrounding her fate. While Adri knows she must focus on the mission ahead, she becomes captivated by a life that’s been lost in time…and how it might be inextricably tied to her own.
Oklahoma, 1934. Amidst the fear and uncertainty of the Dust Bowl, Catherine fantasizes about her family’s farmhand, and longs for the immortality promised by a professor at a traveling show called the Electric. But as her family’s situation becomes more dire—and the suffocating dust threatens her sister’s life—Catherine must find the courage to sacrifice everything she loves in order to save the one person she loves most.
England, 1919. In the recovery following the First World War, Lenore struggles with her grief for her brother, a fallen British soldier, and plans to sail to America in pursuit of a childhood friend. But even if she makes it that far, will her friend be the person she remembers, and the one who can bring her back to herself?
While their stories spans thousands of miles and multiple generations, Lenore, Catherine, and Adri’s fates are entwined.

This was a book I picked up to read on summer vacation and I actually did read it on vacation. As I was reading this I realized that I have never read anything by Jodi Lynn Anderson before this and I don’t know why considering I have a few of her books sitting on my bookshelf. This will be another author that I will have to make sure I read in 2018.

Midnight at the Electric is told in three perspectives ( Adri, Catherine and Lenore) and three different time periods (Kansas 2065, Oklahoma 1934 and England 1919).

As I was reading this I was always wondering how each of the girls would play a part in the book and how it would all join together at the end and I was happy to see Jodi Lynn managed to connect them all together.

The book begins in the year 2065, and one of our main characters, Adri has been selected to be one of the colonists living on Mars. How neat would that be? Adri is sent to go live with a distant cousin in Kansas that she had no idea she had, while she completes her final training. Its there that  Adri discovers the journal of Catherine, a girl living during the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma, and letters from Lenore, an English girl coming to terms with the loss of her brother in World War I,  hidden away in her closet and curiosity gets the better of her and she starts reading the letters and journal.

With Catherine we discover that she is a young girl growing up in Kansas during the great Dust Bowl, which is something that actually happened and was also known as the Dirty 30s. Something that I never knew actually happened and I have to say that I found Catherine’s chapters interesting and horrifying. She is finding first love who just happens to be someone who is helping taking care of the family land and  she is also watching her farm be buried in dirt and her sister’s cough not going away. How scary would that have been in that time?

It is through Catherine’s story, that we learn about her mom and how she left England during the war and how  her best friend, Lenore stayed behind. Even though the friends were separated they never lost touch and wrote letters to each other.  With Lenore we learn what the war was like and how she struggled with the losses her town had suffered and her need to want to flee England and go to America so that she could be with her friend.

Having not read anything before I wasn’t sure what to expect but I am happy to say that I really enjoyed the book and the roller coaster of emotions that I would feel. Seeing as I was reading this on vacation I didn’t get to read it in one sitting but over a few nights. I would definitely continue to read Jodi Lynn’s previous and future books.

 

October 2017 Books Bought

Since starting my blog back in August of 2008 I always try to share what books I get with you so that you can see what I will be reading and I am always looking for a place to link them so that others can see them so from now on I will be sharing my links on Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. As Marlene has offered to co-host Stacking The Shelves with Tynga’s Reviews. Marlene is a new to be blogger and I look forward to checking out her blog.

Good morning everyone I hope your having a great weekend. By the time this goes up I am hopefully still curled up in bed sleeping but you never now as some mornings it feels like I have been awake half the night and other times I sleep in.

online only, some exclusions apply

Needless to say October didn’t start out the greatest with Chapters having this promotion and you all know I had to take advantage of it because there was a few new books that came out that were on sale that I wanted and this was the time to get them.

  1. Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Own King (this will be my first Stephen King book)
  2. The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo
  3. Things I’m Seeing Without you by Peter Bognanni
  4. Ash and Quill by Rachel Caine (book 3 in series) this one was my free book
  5. Without Merit by Colleen Hoover
  6. The Midnight Star by Marie Lu (3rd book in The Young Elites series)

 

Total books bought this month: 6
Total books bought this month (Michael): 0

Total books read from this months haul: 1

Total books bought in 2017:  112

Total books read in 2017: 34

Review/ There’s Someone Inside Your House

Review/ There’s Someone Inside Your HouseThere's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
Format: Hardcover
Published by Dutton Books for Young Readers on September 26th 2017
Pages: 289
Goodreads

Scream meets YA in this hotly-anticipated new novel from the bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss.

One-by-one, the students of Osborne High are dying in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, the dark secrets among them must finally be confronted.

International bestselling author Stephanie Perkins returns with a fresh take on the classic teen slasher story that’s fun, quick-witted, and completely impossible to put down.

I had to admit before getting into my review that I have not read Stephanie Perkins first books and I am not quite sure why because I have them sitting on my tbr but after reading this I really think I want to haul them off and binge read. I know those first books are a completely different genre but still I am now  curious to read them.

I really enjoyed reading this one, I was hooked right away and had a hard time putting the book down at times.

This is completely outside my normal reading genre as you may notice and the reason I don’t read horror is because I have an over active imagination so these kinds of books I don’t usually gravity towards because I am up half the night being paranoid and worried. I do have to say that this isn’t a really horrifying book, I mean yes there was blood and killings but it wasn’t like watching Scream.

I am going to try and be careful with my review because I don’t want to give too much away but if you read the description you get a good feel for what the book is about.

Our main character, Makani, has moved from Hawaii to live with her grandmother in a small Nebraska town. She has no real relationship her parents and I was always wondering why and why did she move to live with her grandmother and that is slowly revealed as you read the book because you know there is a secret there. This secret still haunts her to this day and she has kept in guarded.

We are introduced to quite a few characters such as Alex, Darby, Ollie, Haley, Caleb, Rosemarie and a few others. At first I thought it was going to be too much to keep track of but it was easy to keep track of who was who and the part they play in the story. With the kids that are killed it would have been nice if they had a little more of a story line apart from when they were being killed if that makes sense. It was almost like characters were quickly introduced then killed. I think I might have enjoyed it a lot more had this been the case and they had a stronger storyline.

As for the killer I liked how it was built up because you didn’t really have an idea who it was (I had no idea who it was as there was no introduction of this character before hand) and I wish it would have lasted a bit longer or at least offered a few clues as to who it could be before hand. As for the reason why the killer killed was a bit of a let down. ‘

Over all it was a good book and I had no idea what to expect when I started to read it and I did enjoy reading it and its actually made me think about hauling her other books off my TBR to read.

Have you read this? What did you think?

 

 

September 2017 Books Bought

Since starting my blog back in August of 2008 I always try to share what books I get with you so that you can see what I will be reading and I am always looking for a place to link them so that others can see them so from now on I will be sharing my links on Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. As Marlene has offered to co-host Stacking The Shelves with Tynga’s Reviews. Marlene is a new to be blogger and I look forward to checking out her blog.

Good morning everyone I hope your having a great weekend. By the time this goes up I am hopefully still curled up in bed sleeping.

The first two books were actually bought at the every end of August so they weren’t included in that haul so I thought I would put them in here. As for the rest ya no excuse #sorrynotsorry LOL

  1. The Party by Robyn Harding
  2. The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
  3. Wonder Woman Warbringer #1 by Leigh Bardugo
  4. It’s A Mystery, Pig Face by Wendy McLeod MacKnight
  5. Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover (book 2 in the Slammed series)
  6. This Girl by Colleen Hoover (book 3 in the Slammed series)
  7. Dating the Undead by Juliet Lyons (book 1 in the series)
  8. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardogu (book 1)
  9. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardogu (book 2)
  10. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardogu (book 3)
  11. Warcross by Marie Lu (book 1)
  12. There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
  13. Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine (book 2)
  14. Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore
  15. The Taming of the Shrew (No Fear Shakespeare) [this is for Michael as he needs this for school]

Total books bought this month: 14
Total books bought this month (Michael): 1

Total books read from this months haul: 3

Total books bought in 2017:  105

Total books read in 2017: 33

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha) by [Bardugo, Leigh]Siege and StormRuin and Rising (The Grisha Book 3) by [Bardugo, Leigh]

I finally spotted the newer versions of Leigh’s books so I had to pick them up. Chapters literally only had one copy of each. This has been a series I have been wanting to read since it came out. I will be binge reading them over the thanksgiving weekend.

July 2017 Books Bought

Since starting my blog back in August of 2008 I always try to share what books I get with you so that you can see what I will be reading and I am always looking for a place to link them so that others can see them so from now on I will be sharing my links on Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. As Marlene has offered to co-host Stacking The Shelves with Tynga’s Reviews. Marlene is a new to be blogger and I look forward to checking out her blog.

As you can see I switched this up and will be posting monthly because  I have to say since doing this instead of posting the books in my weekly haul I am much more aware of the books that I am buying.

I am trying to get better with my book buying and trying to stick to sales, bargain books or reward plum bonus point events. As a book lover its hard not to buy books.

As you can see this month is much calmer in books that I bought and I have to say that I am quite impressed. Most of these are going to be my vacation reads.

  1. The Land of Stories Worlds Collide Book 6 in the series by  Chris Colfer
  2. The Break Down by B.A Paris
  3. The Cage by Megan Shepherd (book 1 in The Cage triology)
  4. The Hunt by Megan Shepherd (book 2 in The Cage triology)
  5. That Night by Chevy Stevens (found this in the bargain section)
  6. The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson (found this in the bargain section)

Total books bought this month: 6
Total books bought this month (Michael): 0

Total books read from this months haul: 0

Total books bought in 2017: 73

Total books read in 2017: 23

June 2017 Books Bought

Since starting my blog back in August of 2008 I always try to share what books I get with you so that you can see what I will be reading and I am always looking for a place to link them so that others can see them so from now on I will be sharing my links on Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. As Marlene has offered to co-host Stacking The Shelves with Tynga’s Reviews. Marlene is a new to be blogger and I look forward to checking out her blog.

As you can see I switched this up and will be posting monthly because  I have to say since doing this instead of posting the books in my weekly haul I am much more aware of the books that I am buying. This year I am making it my top priority to read the ones I am buying before buying new ones. I know its easier said then done but that is my goal.

I am trying to get better with my book buying and trying to stick to sales, bargain books or reward plum bonus point events. As a book lover its hard not to buy books.

As you can see this month is a little calmer and thats a good thing. Here is what I bought this month:

  1. Follow Me Back by A.V Geiger
  2. Love Lies beneath by Ellen Hopkins
  3. A Travel Guide Novel Destinations by Shannon McKenna Schmidt & Joni Rendon
  4. Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica
  5. Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders
  6. By Her Touch by Adriana Anders

Total books bought this month: 6
Total books bought this month (Michael): 0

Total books read from this months haul: 3

Total books bought in 2017: 67

Total books read in 2017: 23

Review: Follow Me Back by A.V Geiger

Review: Follow Me Back by A.V GeigerFollow Me Back (Follow Me Back, #1) by A.V. Geiger
Format: Paperback
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on June 6th 2017
Pages: 368
Goodreads

Tessa Hart’s world feels very small. Confined to her bedroom with agoraphobia, her one escape is the online fandom for pop sensation Eric Thorn. When he tweets to his fans, it’s like his speaking directly to her…
Eric Thorn is frightened by his obsessive fans. They take their devotion way too far. It doesn’t help that his PR team keeps posting to encourage their fantasies.
When a fellow pop star is murdered at the hands of a fan, Eric knows he has to do something to shatter his online image fast—like take down one of his top Twitter followers. But Eric’s plan to troll @TessaHeartsEric unexpectedly evolves into an online relationship deeper than either could have imagined. And when the two arrange to meet IRL, what should have made for the world’s best episode of Catfish takes a deadly turn…

Told through tweets, direct messages, and police transcripts.

Follow Me Back by A.V. Geiger is a debut novel that just released last week with the sequel to come out next year. No title or release date has been set yet and this will be a duology.

When I first heard about this book about two weeks ago I knew this would be a book I would want to read when it came out. I have to admit that I was pretty surprised that Chapters actually this book sitting on their shelf when I went looking for it. This was a fairly quick read for me because once I started it I couldn’t but it down. There was so many twist and turns. It literally felt like you were riding a roller coaster because you had no idea what was coming next.

Follow me back is told in a duo point of view and through twitter form, direct messages and police reports. This is a format that I really enjoy reading.

One of our main characters Tessa has severe agoraphia. This all developed when she suddenly left her a summer program in New Orleans and has not spoken to anyone about it. She refuses to speak about the incident even to her therapist. So you really have no idea what happened to her but you will discover this slowly as the story progresses. She is living at home with her mother and since being back has basically stayed in her room 24/7. Her mother and her boyfriend to the best they can but you can tell at times its very trying on them.

To deal with it she starts obsessing over Eric Thorn who is a teen sensation and big in the music world. Through that community she meets fans and forms friendships with something that her therapist thinks is good for her. Being online is her only real escape and something she has complete control over.

Eric on the other hand is not very happy with his lack of freedom, privacy and his fame and I think this has a lot to do with crazy fans killing their idols like we have seen so  many stories in the past few years. Tessa picks up on his unhappiness and voices her concerns on social media but no one really listens to her.

Eric is frustrated how crazy the fans are becoming and it doesn’t help that his management is encouraging him to give them what they want. For Eric it just takes one fan rushing the stage to him and he is set on destroying his image and that means going after his number one fan with the most twitter followers @TessaHeartsEric which by the way is a real twitter account. He is set on trolling her but in the process he begins to form a relationship with her but she doesn’t realize who he really is because he is using another twitter account @Taylor . This is like an episode of Catfish..

Eric needs to come clean to Tessa because he is starting to have real feelings for her. So he sets up this elaborate contest of a private concert on New Year’s Eve in her home town. He convinces her to enter and when she does he picks her.

With his plan in motion things suddenly go wrong and he has to save her before its too late for both of them. How will Tessa react when she discovers who Taylor really is? Will this set her back further?

I really enjoyed the book and that cliff hanger agh its killing me. Hopefully we won’t have to wait long for the second book.