Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. This is where we talk about the books we have acquired over the week, whether they be physical or ebooks, borrowed, purchased or ARCs.

Thanks to Edelweiss for these ARCs.

1. All We Have Is Now by Lisa Schroeder 

2. It's About Love by Steven Camden 

3. The Wanderers by Kate Ormand 

And thanks to NetGalley for these ARCs.

1. Alice by Christina Henry

2. How to be Brave by E. Katherine Kottaras 

Purchased:

1. Balm by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

2. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

3. Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers

4. Please Remain Calm (This Is Not A Test #2) by Courtney Summers

5. The Song of David by Amy Harmon

6. Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

What books have you added to your shelves lately?

BOOK REVIEW: The Uninvited by Cat Winters

This is a book review for The Uninvited by Cat Winters. I received this ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review. The scheduled publication date is August 11, 2015.

Set during the fear and panic of the Great Influenza of 1918, twenty-five year old Ivy Rowan rises from her bed after being struck by the flu, only to discover the world has been torn apart in just a few short days.  But Ivy’s life-long gift—or curse—remains.  For she sees the uninvited ones—ghosts of loved ones who appear to her, unasked, unwelcomed, for they always herald impending death. On an October evening in 1918 she she learns her younger brother and father have killed a young German out of retaliation for the death of Ivy’s older brother in the Great War. Horrified, she leaves home, to discover the flu has caused utter panic and the rules governing society have broken down. Ivy is drawn into this new world of jazz, passion, and freedom, where people live for the day, because they could be stricken by nightfall. But as her ‘uninvited guests’ begin to appear to her more often, she knows her life will be torn apart once more, but Ivy has no inkling of the other-worldly revelations about to unfold.

Let me say this: this was my first Cat Winters novel, but it will not be my last. The atmosphere in this story was amazing. I was able to picture everything so clearly: the horse drawn carriages on the road, the sick and the dying stuck in their homes, even the ghosts that Ivy sees sometimes. Cat Winters knows how to write historical fiction. I absolutely love historical fiction, but I have read very few books in this era. World War I is being fought overseas and everyone is running scared. Because of the draft, many men are going to war whether they want to or not. But what was even scarier was all the prejudice and bigotry happening towards Germans in the States. I am not sure how much of that bigotry is true or not, but it wouldn't surprise me. German music is forbidden, you are shunned if you do business with a German and Americans are legally able to kill Germans with no provocation. There was so much paranoia and suspicion. In addition to all of that, there is a new epidemic going around of the flu that is killing people. 

Ivy is very sheltered and isolated before she decides to leave her home. She is such an awesome character. This is a woman who had never been on her own, yet she didn't hesitate to attempt to make amends with the brother of the man her family killed. And she didn't hesitate to drive a Red Cross van across town to pick up the sick and dying and take them for treatment. This book started out as kind of a paranormal book because she sees ghosts, but then that took a backseat to the romance. She starts a romance with someone whom you would never expect, but the chemistry is undeniable. It's actually very, very hot. The romance starts very quickly, but I get it. It's not love so much as it is about two people trying to gather comfort from each other and living their lives knowing it could all end. There was so much passion. There was a huge twist at the end. Now I am not sure if others saw this coming or not. I know I didn't. But when the twist was revealed, I got goose bumps. Looking back at it, I noticed signs. But hindsight is 20/20, I guess. This was a wonderfully haunting book.

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Buy this one!! It is such a chilling book. 

BOOK REVIEW: Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin

This is a book review for Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin. I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The scheduled publication date for this book is August 11, 2015. 

At seventeen, Tessa became famous for being the only surviving victim of a vicious serial killer. Her testimony put him on death row. Decades later, a mother herself, she receives a message from a monster who should be in prison. Now, as the execution date rapidly approaches, Tessa is forced to confront a chilling possibility: Did she help convict the wrong man?

This book was seriously creepy from the beginning. At seventeen, Tessa is found buried under a pile of Black Eyed Susans. But she isn't alone . . . she is buried with the bodies of five other girls. At seventeen years old, Tessa doesn't remember anything from her kidnapping or anything about the man who took her. When she wakes up in the hospital, she becomes a media sensation because she is the only survivor of the "Black-Eyed Susan Killer." She is also blind. This author does an amazing job of weaving the two sides of the story: the story of seventeen year old Tessa's therapy sessions leading to her testifying against the man accused of kidnapping her and the story of adult Tessa coming to terms with the fact that the Black Eyed Susan Killer may not be in jail after all. 

As an adult, Tessa can see but she is terrified, both for herself and for her daughter, Charlie. As much as she wants to, it is clear that she has not been able to move on from what happened to her. But how can she? I think if I were buried with the dead bodies of other girls, I would go crazy too. So Tessa doesn't find it very odd that the ghosts of the other girls talk to her. And when someone mysteriously plants black-eyed susans in her yard several times over the course of fifteen years, regardless of where she is living, she is quick to dismiss it as just someone obsessed with her case. I will say that it took a few chapters for me to get into this book, but once I did, I could not put it down. I can't even tell you how irritated I got when my husband tried to talk to me with FIFTY pages left. Come on . . . don't do that! Argh. This book had so many twists and turns, but it is the kind of book you really have to think about. With the different timelines and the different characters and even the forensic science the book throws at you, it takes a bit of brain power. And the ending had such a big twist that I really should have seen coming. There are characters that seem minor that end up having a much bigger impact than you would think. 

Okay, I know I being cryptic. I have to be. If I reveal too much, it will give it away. But seriously this is a great book. Scary stalkers, secrets, beautiful flowers that I will never, ever look at without getting creeped out, a little romance and a crazy, twisty ending. Loved it. The only thing that I didn't like was that the ending was a little anticlimactic. After all the secrets had been revealed, I expected a bit more confrontation. Other than that, I loved this book from beginning to end!

Buy/Borrow/Skip: If you like mysteries, buy this one!

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Fairytale Retellings!

This is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. They feature a different top ten list every week. This week's topic is the best Fairytale Retellings.

I have just discovered the wonderful world of fairytale retellings recently. I don't actually have ten amazing ones that I have read. So I broke this list up into two categories: the best that I have read and ones that I really want to read.

Best that I have read

1. Cinder by Marissa Meyer - An awesome retelling of Cinderella! Love that Cinder is half robot.

2. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer - Is it cheating that I broke up The Lunar Chronicles series into three different ones? I don't even care. This one was a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and a very good one at that.

3. Cress by Marissa Meyer - My absolute favorite of this series, this one was a retelling of Rapunzel.

4. Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell - Yes, there were parts of this story that dragged but I loved this feminist interpretation of Cinderella. Her dreams did NOT revolve around finding her Prince Charming; they actually revolved around being able to support herself on her own. How cool is that? And it had a very refreshing and realistic ending to the whole insta-love thing. It was awesome.

5. A Court Of Thorn And Roses by Sarah J Maas - Best Beauty and the Beast retelling EVER!!!! Okay, I know it's the only one I have ever read but still . . . it's unfreakingbelievable.

6. Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke - This is a contemporary retelling of Cinderella with the roles twisted a bit. In this version, Cinderella is actually the evil one who makes her stepsister's life miserable. The main character (the stepsister) is also struggling with depression. This was an excellent book. 

Retellings I really, really want to read

7. Alice by Christina Henry - I am LOVING this premise of the Alice In Wonderland retelling. The premise makes it sound like a very dark, dystopian type version. And I just got the ARC from NetGalley!

8. Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley - A Beauty and the Beast retelling in which Beauty is the one who grows the roses. Sounds like a magical book.

9. Great by Sara Benincasa - This actually isn't a fairytale retelling; it's actually a contemporary retelling of The Great Gatsby where both of the main characters are women.

10. The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh- I have heard awesome things about this retelling of 1001 Nights.

Bonus:

Heartless by Marissa Meyer - Was anyone else aware that Marissa Meyer has a brand new book coming out in November of 2016?!? It's not so much a retelling as it is a prequel to Alice In Wonderland. According to Goodreads, it is the story of how a teenage girl became the Queen of Hearts. I adore Marissa Meyer so I am sure this one will be amazing!!














What are a few of your favorite fairytale retellings?

DISCUSSION: Some Girls Are Removed From Optional Reading List

Nothing offends me more or makes me madder than when a book gets banned or censored in any way. 

A high school in South Carolina had a summer reading assignment for incoming freshman enrolled in Honors English I. There were two books on this list: Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers and Rikers High by Paul Volponi. After reading PART of Some Girls Are, one parent decided to complain.

This is what she had to say, “I’m not a prude for God’s sake and I understand that these are issues kids are facing – the drugs, the alcohol, the bullying – but there has to be a way to present it that’s not destructive to them. I get they’re trying to find something the kids are interested in, but this book is trash.” —Melanie MacDonald, West Ashley High School parent

Now when this one parent complained, the school board added a third option, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith. But was that good enough? Nope. That parents made such a fuss because she didn't want any of the students to read this book. So the school board relented and replaced it with Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. 

Okay, so let's forget about the fact that this is a freaking amazing book that details issues all teenagers are facing today (read my review here). Here are a couple other issues I have:

• This reading assignment had choices. There were TWO other books Ms. MacDonald's daughter could have chosen.
• This was for an Honors English Class. Surely, these incoming freshmen were capable of understanding the material and having intelligent discussions about it. Also, these are issues that Ms. MacDonald's daughter will likely be faced with anyway. Couldn't reading this book be a great way to actually talk to her daughter about these things? 
• I know this is easy to say because I don't have kids, but I don't believe in telling kids they can't read something. That being said, I do think every parent has a right to decide that for themselves. Why was it so important to Ms. MacDonald that the book be removed from the optional list completely? If I had a kid in that class, I wouldn't have a problem with my child reading that book. My issue isn't with Ms. MacDonald stopping her kid from reading that book. My issue is the fact that she took that choice away from every single other student and parent.
• And what kind of school makes this kind of change because of one parental complaint? Come on South Carolina: grow some balls, for crying out loud.
• Notice the book they replaced Some Girls Are with: Speak. This book is on the list of Top 100 Banned Books from 2000-2009. I do love that book as well, but that just seems weird to me anyway. 

This whole thing just makes me so mad.

Luckily, Kelly and Kimberly from Stacked Books have decided to do something about it. If you want to pay to send a copy of Some Girls Are to them, they are going to deliver them to the West Ashley High School in Charleston, South Carolina. They are coordinating their efforts with the Charleston County Public Library. The goal is to get as many copies of this book to students as possible and it costs very little. Click on their post here to find out more about how you can donate copies of this book. I love it when people take action against censorship!

How do you feel about this issue? 

Sunday Post and July Wrap-Up

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction has also started a new monthly wrap-up post that includes giveaways and games. Check out the details here! It is now time to recap the month of July.

Ahhh . . . am I the only one who is kind of shocked half the year is gone already?? I mean, Christmas is less than five months away. Put in those terms, it is downright scary. 

This month was kind of a high/low kind of month. The high was that my husband and I traveled to Scotland for his birthday. That was an amazing trip. Scotland has some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. I would love to go back there. Fingers crossed I will go back one day!

The low was that Naples, Italy was having serious power outage issues. That, coupled with temperatures over 100 degrees, made for a very miserable time. Apparently, Italians don't typically use the air conditioning this much. But with the heat wave, everyone is using it and the power company hasn't really been able to handle all the usage. So there have been quite a few times where the power went out. The day after we got back from Scotland, the power was out all day long. I was so miserable that I didn't even want to read. Yeah, that's pretty miserable. But the power hasn't gone out at all this week (a first for this month!) so I am really hoping it has been fixed.

I have gotten a lot of reading done this month. I read a total of 21 books this month.

Favorite Book Read This Month:

Without a doubt, it was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Why did it take me so long to read this book? It was one of the most beautiful and most devastating books that I have ever read.

Reviews Posted This Month:

5 word mini reviews for Girl On the Train, In A Handful of Dust, Alice and the Fly and Hollow City
A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery
Serafina And The Black Cloak by Robert Beatty
Hyacinth Girls by Lauren Frankel
Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica
What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi
Awake by Natasha Preston
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
You And Me And Him by Kris Dinnison
Bright Lights, Dark Nights by Stephen Emond

Top Ten Lists:

Top Ten Favorite Books of 2015 (so far)
Last Books That Came Into My Possession
Top Ten Diverse Reads
Top Ten Books with Fellow Book Nerds

Other Posts This Month:

Bedtime Book Tag!
Discussion: ways that I procrastinate
Check out this post for some pictures of my Scotland trip
I put out a request for some beach read recommendations
I talked about some of my favorite books being turned into movies.

How was your month? What was your favorite book read this month?

ARC August Sign-Up

I don't know how it happened, but I have overloaded myself on ARCs that will be published in September. Oh yeah, I do know what happened. I requested way too many from NetGalley. Damn you NetGalley! The summer was kind of slow regarding ARCs, but September is a busy, busy month.  Plus, I still have a few pesky August ARCs to read. 

Luckily, Octavia and Shelly from Read, Sleep, Repeat. are hosting their third annual ARC August!

The rules are very simple:

• It may be a physical ARC or and e-ARC but it MUST be an ARC
• Yes it can be an ARC that has released as long as it’s an ARC I’m not going to nit pick much.
• HAVE FUN WITH THIS! Feeling like you are being “forced” to read is the best way turn a fun event into a yucky obligation.
• Update post! I personally will do a post for each Saturday in August but that’s just me. You can update once a week, every other week or once for the whole darn event. This update can be in the form of a blog or tumblr post, vlog, link to your “ARC August 2015″ shelf or even an instagram pic! I want to make this as easy and low pressure as possible for you.

I am not going to limit myself to reading only ARCs this month, but they will make up the bulk of my reading. 

Here are the ARCs I am hoping to read this month. A few of them will be published in August, but the majority of them will be published in September. 

If you want to join in on the fun, you can check it out here!

Will you be joining this challenge as well? Have you read any of these on my list?