That's All Folks 2. Fae Magic and Nazi Firearms

Inspired by the blog The Daily Prophecy, That's All Folks is a new series of posts where I'll give short reviews on books I want to review but don't have enough content to write a full review for.

Book Review 36. A Doll's House

Book: A Doll's House
Author: Henrik Ibsen
Translator: Michael Meyer
Genre: Historic Fiction Play
Pages: 122
Published: December 21st, 1879

Synopsis: A Doll's House is a masterpiece of theatrical craft which, for the first time portrayed the tragic hypocrisy of Victorian middle class marriage on stage. The play ushered in a new social era and "exploded like a bomb into contemporary life."

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

“You have never loved me. You have only thought it pleasant to be in love with me.” 

Top Ten Tuesday. Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year

Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish

My family always gets me gift cards to Barnes and Nobles for Christmas, and these are the books I want to get/buy with the generous gift cards. Reminder, this list is in no real order.

Top Ten Tuesday. Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Can't Wait to Read More From

Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish

To be honest, I didn't read a lot of truly stunning new-to-me authors this year. A lot of the authors I honest-to-God love I had already discovered them years ago and by now I've devoured most of their books. Still, 2015 proved to supply a few great new pens for me.

I decided to do a bit of a different thing on this week's prompt. Instead of doing the top 10 new-to-me authors that I read in 2015, I'm doing the top 10 new-to-me authors that I want to read more from. These authors aren't necessarily the best new authors I read this year, but they are the ones I'm most excited to see more books by. I also included a possible next read for that author for me.
Reminder, this list is in no real order.

Next Up On Base 1. December 2015 TBR

You guys won’t know this, but last year I used to make these TBRs monthly on a different website. Lately I’ve been in a massive reading slump, so I’m hoping making these lists might encourage me to read more!
I’m also trying to upload more content onto this blog, and this seems like an easy way.

So, in no real order, here are the 5 books I want to try and read during this month!

Book Review 35. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Author: Mark Haddon
Genre: Young Adult Mystery
Pages: 226
Published: May 18th, 2004

Synopsis: Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.
Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. He lives on patterns, rules, and a diagram kept in his pocket. Then one day, a neighbor's dog, Wellington, is killed and his carefully constructive universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favourite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes. What follows makes for a novel that is funny, poignant and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing are a mind that perceives the world entirely literally.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

“I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them” 

Top Ten Tuesday. Top Ten 2016 Debut Novels I Want to Read

Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish

I've read several YA debuts this year, but these are the ones I'm most psyched for for next year! Please tell me which ones you're most excited for in the comments. (Also, sorry it says this was posted on a Sunday. I accidentally posted it last Sunday, took it down, and put it back up on Tuesday. Apologies.)

Book Review 34. Red Queen

Book: Red Queen
Series: Red Queen (#1)
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Pages: 320
Published: February 10th, 2015

Synopsis: The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the center of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.
But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

“Once, I was afraid of these walls, frightened by such beauty. But I see the cracks now.” 

Book Review 33. Everything, Everything

Book: Everything, Everything
Author: Nicola Yoon
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Pages: 320
Published: September 1st, 2015

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

"There are entire worlds that exist just beneath our notice of them."

Book to Movie 2. The Book Thief

This is a new little series on this blog, where I read a book and watch the movie based on it, then review, compare, and contrast! This time I'm doing The Book Thief.

   

Book: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction
Pages: 550
Published: March 14th, 2006

Top Ten Tuesday. 10 Fairytale Retellings On My TBR

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week I'm telling you the 10 retellings of fairytales I most want to read! I was very flexible with what counts as a fairytale, since I included retellings of more recent novels like The Island of Dr. Moreau and The Wizard of Oz. Regardless, this is my list and I will write what I want. I also tried to only put down one retelling for each fairytale so this list didn't turn out to be 7 "Little Red Riding Hood" retellings or something.

Book Review 32. Ignite

Book: Ignite
Series: Ignite #1
Author: Erica Crouch
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Pages: 346
Published: June 11th, 2013

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: Penemuel (Pen) fell from grace over a millennium ago, yet there are still times she questions her decision to follow her twin brother, Azael, to Hell. Now that the archangel Michael has returned, threatening Lucifer’s vie for the throne, she begins questioning everything she has always believed.
As Hell prepares for war - spreading a demonic virus and pilfering innocent souls to build an army - the lines separating the worlds blur. Fates erase and the future is left unwritten. Azael is determined that he and his sister will continue to serve as demons together, but for the first time in her life, Pen is not ruled by destiny. She has the freedom of choice.
With choice comes sacrifice, and Pen must decide which side she’s willing to risk everything fighting for: the light, or the dark.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

"Being good is hard. It takes a conscious effort to do the right thing, especially when doing the wrong thing is so simple."

Book Review 31. Mary Hades

Book: Mary Hades
Series: Mary Hades #1
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Pages: 286
Published: May 4th, 2014

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: Not many seventeen year old girls have a best friend who’s a ghost, but then Mary Hades isn’t your average teenager.
Scarred physically and mentally from a fire, her parents decide a holiday to an idyllic village in North Yorkshire will help her recover. Nestled in the middle of five moors, Mary expects to have a boring week stuck in a caravan with her parents. Little does she know, evil lurks in the campsite…
Seth Lockwood—a local fairground worker with a dark secret—might be the key to uncovering the murky history that has blighted Nettleby. But Mary is drawn to him in a way that has her questioning her judgement.
Helped by her dead best friend and a quirky gay Goth couple, Mary must stop the unusual deaths occurring in Nettleby. But can she prevent her heart from being broken?
The first in a series of dark YA novels, Mary Hades follows on from the bestselling Kindle Single 'My Daylight Monsters'. A spine-tingling tale with romance, readers will be shocked and entertained in equal measure.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

"Where does the story end? That's what it's all about. It's what we all want to know."

Book Review 30. Every Last Word

Book: Every Last Word
Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Pages: 368
Published: June 16th, 2015

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.
Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.
Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.
Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

"It wasn’t enough. But they heard every last word."

That's All Folks 1. Hippies and Debate Class

Inspired by the blog The Daily Prophecy, That's All Folks is a new series of posts where I'll give short reviews on books I want to review but don't have enough content to write a full review for.

Tag 1. Disney Book Tag

1. The Little Mermaid (character who is out of their element, a “fish out of water”)

Recently I read I'll Give You the Sun, and I have to pick Jude from it! She goes to an art school where she doesn't have any friends, and she doesn't have a very strong passion for art. She feels like she's literally haunted, and makes no effort to fit in. I could also include her twin brother, Noah, for this one. I didn;t though because he has issues being an outsider during his early teen years since he's a quiet and gay, he fits in once he gets to high school. Plus, I like Jude better.

Book Review 29. Cress

Book: Cress
Series: The Lunar Chronicles (#3)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Pages: 550
Published: February 4th, 2014

Synopsis: In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.
Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

"You can help me pick out a tiara when we’re done saving the world.”

Book to Movie 1. The Spectacular Now

This is a new little series on this blog, where I read a book and watch the movie based on it, then review, compare, and contrast! First up is The Spectacular Now.

   

Book: The Spectacular Now
Author: Tim Tharp
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Pages: 294
Published: November 1st, 2008

Wishlist Wednesday. The Ables

Hosted by Pen to Paper

THE ABLES BY JEREMY SCOTT

Book Review 28. Only Ever Yours

Book: Only Ever Yours
Author: Louise O'Neill
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Pages: 400
Published: July 3rd, 2014

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: In a world in which baby girls are no longer born naturally, women are bred in schools, trained in the arts of pleasing men until they are ready for the outside world. At graduation, the most highly rated girls become “companions”, permitted to live with their husbands and breed sons until they are no longer useful.
For the girls left behind, the future – as a concubine or a teacher – is grim.
Best friends Freida and Isabel are sure they’ll be chosen as companions – they are among the most highly rated girls in their year.
But as the intensity of final year takes hold, Isabel does the unthinkable and starts to put on weight. ..
And then, into this sealed female environment, the boys arrive, eager to choose a bride.
Freida must fight for her future – even if it means betraying the only friend, the only love, she has ever known. . .

WARNING: This book and it's review may contain triggers including bulimia, various other body image issues, bullying, and suicide. Reader discretion is advised.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

"This is not my fault. I'm just doing what we have been trained to do. This is who we are, frieda. This is who we were designed to be."

Book Review 27. Righteous

Book: Righteous
Author: Kim Lehman
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Pages: 317
Published: June 1st, 2013

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: A story about friendships, love, and self-discovery.
Quick witted, sharp-tongued Righteous Andrews is troubled by a broken past, fed up with her present circumstances, and resolved to a hopeless future.
On the first day of her senior year of high school she gets in trouble, landing in the principal’s office . . . again. There she meets Colt Jackson, the new kid with a troubled past of his own. Despite her attempts to avoid him, Colt seems to show up everywhere she doesn’t want him to be, and soon they strike up an unexpected friendship. Righteous is wary. Friendships aren’t her thing. But something about Colt is different; something about him makes her curious, makes her wonder . . .
Is Colt Jackson really different from everyone else? Does happiness and love truly exist? Or will every relationship in her life always end in lies and heartache?

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

"You can't define yourself based on who you think you are. You need to define yourself based on who you want to be."

Book Review 26. A Magic Dark and Bright

Book: A Magic Dark and Bright
Series: The Asylum Saga (#1)
Author: Jenny Adams Perinovic
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Pages: 321
Published: April 28th, 2015

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: She meant to help a ghost...not unleash a curse.
Amelia Dupree hasn’t seen the Woman in White since the night her brother died.
The ghost seems to have disappeared from the woods surrounding Asylum, Pennsylvania—that is, until Charlie Blue moves into the creepy old MacAllister House next door. Amelia can’t help liking him, even though she spent her childhood thinking his grandmother was a witch. And she definitely can’t ignore the connection between his arrival and the Woman in White’s return.
Then Amelia learns that the Woman in White is a prisoner, trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. Devastated by the idea that her brother could be suffering a similar fate, Amelia decides to do whatever it takes to help the Woman in White find peace--and Charlie agrees to help her.
But when Amelia’s classmates start to drown in the Susquehanna River, one right after another, rumors swirl as people begin to connect the timing of Charlie’s arrival with the unexplained deaths. As Charlie and Amelia uncover the dark history of Asylum, they realize they may have unleashed an unspeakable evil. One they have to stop before everything they love is destroyed.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

"A woman haunted the woods behind my house....But that was before. I hadn't seen her in six months, not since the night she'd watched Mark die." 

Book Review 25. Miramont's Ghost

Book: Miramont's Ghost
Author: Elizabeth Hall
Genre: Paranormal Fiction
Pages: 336
Published: February 1st, 2015

Synopsis: Miramont Castle, built in 1897 and mysteriously abandoned three years later, is home to many secrets. Only one person knows the truth: Adrienne Beauvier, granddaughter of the Comte de Challembelles and cousin to the man who built the castle.
Clairvoyant from the time she could talk, Adrienne’s visions show her the secrets of those around her. When her visions begin to reveal dark mysteries of her own aristocratic French family, Adrienne is confronted by her formidable Aunt Marie, who is determined to keep the young woman silent at any cost. Marie wrenches Adrienne from her home in France and takes her to America, to Miramont Castle, where she keeps the girl isolated and imprisoned. Surrounded by eerie premonitions, Adrienne is locked in a life-or-death struggle to learn the truth and escape her torment.
Reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, this hauntingly atmospheric tale is inspired by historical research into the real-life Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs, Colorado.

WARNING: This book and it's review may contain triggers.

★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

"Having family does not ensure that one won't be lonely."

Wishlist Wednesday. The One

Hosted by Pen to Paper

We haven't done any of our weekly events in so long (I'm so sorry), but I hope this will make up for it a little.

Book Review 24. These Broken Stars

Book: These Broken Stars
Series: Starbound (#1)
Author: Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Pages: 374
Published: December 10th, 2013

Synopsis: Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive -- alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a cynical war hero. Both journey across the eerie deserted terrain for help. Everything changes when they uncover the truth.
The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“But who names a starship the Icarus? What kind of man possess that much hubris, that he dares it to fall?” 

Book Review 23. The Vanishing Girl

Book: The Vanishing Girl
Series: The Vanishing Girl (#1)
Author: Laura Thalassa
Genre: New Adult Science Fiction
Pages: 338
Published: March 15th, 2014

This ebook was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: Every night after Ember Pierce falls asleep, she disappears. She can teleport anywhere in the world—London, Paris, her crush’s bedroom—wherever her dreams lead her. Ten minutes is all she gets, and once time’s up, she returns to her bed. It's a secret she’s successfully kept for the last five years. But now someone knows.
A week after her eighteenth birthday, when frustratingly handsome Caden Hawthorne captures her, delivers her to the government, and then disappears before her eyes, Ember realizes two things: One, she is not alone. And two, people like her—teleporters—are being used as weapons.
Dragged off to a remote facility where others like her live, Ember’s forced to pair up with her former captor, Caden, to learn how to survive inside until she can escape. Only Caden’s making escape seem less and less appealing.
But even as Ember falls for the boy who got her into this mess, she knows that she is running out of time. Because the government has plans for those like her, and those plans might just cost Ember her life.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

“Because you are just a pawn. And a pawn can’t help but get played.”