DISCUSSION: What does the term "diverse" mean to you?

We all talk about reading more diverse novels, but what exactly does that mean? Typically, we use the term diversity to represent groups of people that are underrepresented in novels. I think we all automatically think about race or sexuality when it comes to diversity. While it's important to read about other races and about the LGBT community, diversity isn't just about that. 

Here's a list of other items that can be included in that diversity label.

1. Location

I live in the United States, so I do consider books that take place outside the United States part of that diversity label. And to go one step further, I like to read books that are set in locations other than the United States or Europe because Europe is almost as popular as the United States.

2. Religion

In most of the books I read, if religion is mentioned, the person is a Christian. But what about people who are Jewish or Muslim or even Hindu? I don't read about people who follow other religions very often so I would really consider that part of the diversity factor. And while we're at it, where are the books about atheists? And NOT the ones where they "suddenly" find their faith in God by the end. I am an atheist and I would love to read more books featuring them.

3. Medical condition or disability 

I recently read a book featuring a character with muscular dystrophy. Do you know how excited I was  to see that? I actually have a form of muscular dystrophy, so that was all kinds of awesome. I also recently read a book about conjoined twins and that was a first for me. 

What does the term "diverse" mean to you? Are there any other factors that may lead you to classify a book as diverse?

BOOK REVIEW: Girl In The Shadows (Girl On A Wire #2) by Gwenda Bond

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Eighteen-year-old Moira Mitchell grew up in the shadows of Vegas’s stage lights while her father’s career as a magician soared. More than anything, Moira wants to be a magician too, but her father is dead set against her pursuing magic.When an invitation to join the Cirque American mistakenly falls into Moira’s possession, she takes action. Moira takes off to join the Cirque. If she can perform alongside its world-famous acts, she knows she’ll be able to convince her dad that magic is her future. But when Moira arrives, things take on an intensity she can’t control as her stage magic suddenly feels like…real magic. As tensions mount and Moira’s abilities come into question, she must decide what’s real and what’s an illusion. If she doesn’t sort it out in time, she may forever remain a girl in the shadows. 

I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. I didn't realize it was a sequel until I received the ARC (that happens sometimes with NetGalley), but then I realized this one could be read as a stand alone so I decided to give it a chance. I am so glad I did. 

Moira is the daughter of a famous magician. She longs to follow in her father's footsteps, but her father is adamant that she not have anything to do with magic. When she finds an invitation to Cirque American, she defies her father's wishes and joins the exclusive circus so she can perform. During her audition, Moira is stunned to realize that she has real magic. This book is full of illusions and surprises and I loved the magic of all the performances. Moira is very headstrong and determined and she takes a lot of risks with her magic. There were many times when Moira was performing a trick and I swear that I had to grit my teeth because it was so suspenseful. And Moira was apparently a pioneer because famous woman magicians were unheard of. Loved the girl power! There was also a secret society and a mysterious (but very powerful) villain and some mysterious coin that everyone wanted because it made the owner very lucky. The main issue I had was that the romance part happened a little quickly for my taste. I can see why she fell for Dez and his knife throwing was impressive. Note: if you want to win over a girl, just throw knives at her head. It'll get her every time. He was charming, but I don't feel like Moira knew enough about him to love him. I would have liked more development in that part of the story.

Other than the romance (and a little dragging towards the end), this really was a worthwhile story to read. Very magical.

Buy/Borrow/Skip: This one is worth buying.

BOOK REVIEW: Gemini by Sonya Mukherjee

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The scheduled publication date for this book is July 26, 2016.

Seventeen-year-old conjoined twins, Clara and Hailey, have lived in the same small town their entire lives—no one stares at them anymore. But there are cracks in their quiet existence and they’re slowly becoming more apparent. Clara and Hailey are at a crossroads. Clara wants to stay close to home, avoid all attention, and study the night sky. Hailey wants to travel the world, learn from great artists, and dance with mysterious boys. As high school graduation approaches, each twin must untangle her dreams from her sister’s, and figure out what it means to be her own person.

Wow. What a story. I have never read a book featuring conjoined twins before and this was such a good one. Clara and Hailey have lived all their lives in the same town. They have friends and no one stares at them or makes them feel like a freak. That is exactly why their mom chose the town as a place to live: so no one could make them feel like freaks. But now Clara and Hailey are getting closer to graduating high school and they are realizing that they want different things. Of course, being conjoined means you can't do anything without the other so these differences are an issue.

The book is told through alternating POVs and I admit that I had a hard time telling them apart at first. Clara loves looking at the stars and the constellations and she starts to panic at just the thought of going outside her comfort zone and leaving home. Hailey loves art and she dreams of traveling to different cities and going to college outside of their town. Despite the fact that they are conjoined twins, I thought both of the twins were so relatable. They want to grow up and be independent from each other. But the fact that they're conjoined makes that impossible. I really loved their relationship and how much they depended on each other.

As much as Clara and Hailey's mom annoyed me, I loved her because she was so REAL and PRESENT. That is so unique in YA books. Their mom tries to act like everything is normal and they can do anything they want to do while keeping them sheltered in their little town and making sure NO ONE takes any pictures to post them online. She is extremely protective and it seems like she is very sensitive to other parents' of conjoined twins making the decision to separate them because she chose not to do that. Yes, she was annoying in her overprotectiveness, but I got it. There was some growing pains between her and the girls because they wanted to become more independent and their mom was scared that they would suffer on their own. 

I really felt like the author did her research with this one and honestly, I was expecting this one to be way more heavy than it was. But these were just two ordinary girls who just happened to be conjoined and that made their struggle for independence that much harder. And the best part? Even though there was some romance in this book, it was NOT THE FOCUS. The focus of this book was 1000% on the family and that made me so happy. I was so incredibly happy with the ending. I won't give anything away, but I will say that I was scared the author was going to go a certain way with it. But the ending was realistic and I was grateful for that.

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Buy this one!

BOOK REVIEW: Black River Falls by Jeff Hirsch

I received this ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Seventeen-year-old Cardinal has escaped the virus that ravaged his town, leaving its victims alive but without their memories. He chooses to remain in the quarantined zone, caring for a group of orphaned kids in a mountain camp with the help of the former brutal school bully, now transformed by the virus into his best friend. But then a strong-willed and mysterious young woman appears, and the closed-off world Cardinal has created begins to crumble. A thrilling, fast-paced work of speculative fiction for teens, from a bestselling author, Black River Falls is an unforgettable story about survival, identity, and family.

This one was a bit of a letdown. The premise sounded awesome: a town under quarantine because of mysterious illness that wipes away your memory, a mysterious girl . . . it sounded very exciting. The problem was that everything was just blah. I have been saying that about a lot of books lately. Maybe it's them or maybe it's me. Who knows?

First of all, the mysterious girl didn't really move the plot along like the premise would suggest. She was just a girl who showed up and didn't know who she was. Join the club. That was pretty much everyone in town. There was some mystery about how she got to the town or why she was there, but it wasn't super exciting, especially when the author never revealed that information. She was just a girl for the main character (Card) to crush on.

The entire book is basically a letter that Card is writing to his brother, Tennant. I think the problem with this book was that the pacing was so slow and there wasn't much of a plot for the first half of the book. Card looks after this group of kids who live on top of the mountain, separate from the rest of the town. Card has not been infected with the virus so he remembers how bad things got when people lost their memories. Greer is his friend and is infected. Greer is an ex bully who now looks after quite a few of the kids from town who have no family to speak of. Card spends his time not doing much of anything really. I still don't understand his role. They all lived at the top of the mountain, apart from the rest of the town. Card wears a mask and gloves to try and prevent infection and he also spends as little time as possible around Greer and the kids. He keeps himself at a distance from everyone else and spends his time chopping wood or just sitting. Sounds kind of boring, right? It was. I can imagine that the worst thing in the world would be for your parents to completely forget you or for you to forget them. For half of the book, it seems like Card kept obsessing over this fact. When he wasn't obsessing over his mom (who had no memory of him), he was yelling at poor Greer and Hannah (the mysterious girl) for not taking the virus seriously enough. 

A little more than halfway through, the plot and the action starts picking up. The second half focuses on the National Guard pulling out of the town and a new security firm taking over. There was some more explanation about the virus and how it started, but the problem was that this information wasn't given nearly enough attention. I liked the conclusion; I just wish there had been more around the virus and what caused it and even more discord between the citizens and the government. But the whole walking around and moping thing wasn't cutting it for me. In the end, this one did not live up to the premise.

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Skip this one.

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Books Set Outside the U.S.

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 top books set outside the U.S.

1. Only in Naples by Katherine Wilson (setting: Naples, Italy)

2. Daughter Of Smoke And Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor (setting: Prague and Morocco)

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (setting: Germany)

4. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (setting: France)

5. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (setting: Poland)

6. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (setting: France, Germany)

7. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (setting: Japan)

8. Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1) by Lisa See (setting: Shanghai, China)

9. Wolf by Wolf (Wolf by Wolf #1) by Ryan Graudin (setting: Europe and Africa)

10. The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes (setting: Paris)

11. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (setting: Afghanistan) 

12. The Martian by Andy Weir (setting: Mars; okay I know this one was WAY outside the United States. I just couldn't resist adding it to the list because it was so good!)

13. The Chocolate Thief (Amour et Chocolat #1) by Laura Florand (setting: Paris)

What are a few of your favorite books set outside the United States? Any recommendations? Go on: crush my TBR!

DISCUSSION: Why do I feel the need to apologize?

Maybe you have noticed that I have been a bit absent on the blog lately. Or maybe I am not nearly as important as I thought and you haven’t noticed anything amiss.

In the middle of June, I left Italy and visited my family and my husband’s family and my best friend in the span of almost three weeks. It was a whirlwind. While I did schedule some blog posts for that time period, I put in ZERO effort for my blog during that time. I was part adapting to the time change and part enjoying some quality time with the people I loved.

Last week, I returned and I am still playing catch-up thanks to the exhaustion that comes from jet lag. I actually thought about apologizing for being away, but then I thought: why do I feel the need to do that?

 We all have our own lives. And yes, on the one hand, I feel bad that I didn’t have time to respond to comments or read all of your blogs or write some new discussion posts or about a million other things. But on the other hand, I really don’t feel bad. I wanted to devote myself to relaxing with my family and friends as much as possible and I had a great time. I didn’t even take that many pictures because I was just trying to enjoy the moments.

I am not sure why I feel the need to apologize. Maybe I feel bad for taking a much needed break. Or I feel like you guys are waited with bated breath for me to respond to your comments and I imagine you guys getting angry when I don't and thinking very bad things about me. I have a high opinion of myself, don't I?

In the past, I have apologized if I fell behind with my blogging stuff or if I took a break, but I really shouldn't. Everyone needs a break. Blogging is also just a hobby. It's a pretty awesome hobby and I love doing it, but the last thing I want is for it to start feeling like an obligation. Once it becomes an obligation, it becomes less fun and that's the last thing I want. 

So no more apologies! 

Do you feel the need to apologize when you take a break from blogging?

BOOK REVIEW: Signs Of You by Emily France

I received this ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review. The scheduled publication date for this book is July 19, 2016.

Since sixteen-year-old Riley Strout lost her mother two years ago, her saving grace has been her quirky little family in the grief support group she joined as a freshman. Jay, Kate, and Noah understand her pain; each lost a loved one, and they’ve stuck together in spite of their differences, united by tragedies only they understand. When Riley thinks she spots her mother shopping in a grocery store, she fears she is suffering some sort of post-traumatic stress. Then Jay and Kate report similar experiences. Only Noah hasn’t had some kind of vision, which is perhaps why he’s become so skeptical and distant. When Noah disappears, Riley fears she’s lost another loved one. As they frantically search for him, she, Kate, and Jay are drawn into the mystery and Riley finds herself wrestling with her feelings for both Noah and Jay—which have become clear only in Noah’s absence. If Riley is to help those she loves, and herself, she must set things right with the one she’s lost.

Where do I start with this one? I loved the premise and the beginning held a lot of promise. Riley and her friends were initially drawn together because of one thing: they all lost someone close to them. Riley is still grieving for her mother, Cam's brother committed suicide, Jay's father did as a result of his alcoholism and Kate lost her aunt. One thing that struck me was how amazingly unbelievable Riley's dad was. First of all, he showed his love by FOOD! God I love food. I would love a dad who cooked eggs or bread at 2:00am and spent time on a pot roast for Sunday dinner just so he could show his daughter how much he loved her. Too often in YA literature, one parent's death means the other parent tends to neglect the child. I am so happy that did not happen here. Riley's relationship with her dad and a conversation she had with him about possibly moving on with another woman were the best things about this book.

I loved the possible mystery of Riley and her friends seeing their loved ones and what that could mean. The problem was that the mystery behind it was so BORING. You wouldn't think a book about teenagers seeing the ghosts of their loved ones would be boring, but you would be wrong. There was a lot of stuff about a religious relic and a saint and a possible curse and other spirits trying to cross over and it was all just too boring and too much. This book could have been more about these kids trying to move on and I guess to some extent it was, but there was all this other religious stuff added to it and there was a lot of history about some saint that I honestly didn't really care about. So much potential and absolutely no follow-through. It looks like I am a black sheep on this one though because just about every review on Goodreads is four or five stars. Oh well.

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Skip this one.