Fierce Reads Fall 2015 Book Tour

Stop #4: Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA

This Fierce Reads tour featured an amazing group of YA authors: Leigh Bardugo, Josephine Angelini, Leila Sales, and Emma Mills! (read more about them and their new books below! Plus I added a bonus Q&A!)

These ladies are not only fierce but they’re incredibly funny and genuine people. I had an amazing time last night listening to them share about their new books, their experiences, and lots of other fun tidbits. I particularly enjoyed the last question of the night as I felt that each author really had something valuable to share.  Continue reading

Dead Ringer

Dead Ringer by Jessie Rosen (2015)
-eARC Review-

dead ringer

YA Fiction | Contemporary | Thriller4 StarsBlurb:

“From the moment Laura Rivers steps foot into Englewood High, she notices the stares—and they aren’t the typical once-overs every pretty new girl endures. The students seem confused and…spooked. Whispers echoing through the halls confirm that something is seriously off. “That new girl looks just like her,” they say.

It turns out Laura has a doppelgänger, and it isn’t just anyone—it’s Sarah Castro-Tanner, Continue reading

Nirvana

Nirvana (Nirvana Series #1) by J.R. Stewart (2015)
-eARC Review-

nirvana

YA Fiction | Sci-Fi2.5 StarsBlurb:

“When the real world is emptied of all that you love, how can you keep yourself from dependence on the virtual?

Larissa Kenders lives in a world where the real and the virtual intermingle daily. After the supposed death of her soulmate, Andrew, Larissa is able to find solace by escaping to Nirvana, a virtual world where anything is possible – even visits with Andrew. Although Larissa is told that these meetings are not real, she cannot shake her suspicion that Andrew is indeed alive. When she begins an investigation of Hexagon, Continue reading

The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915)

Metamorphosis

Fiction | Classic4 StarsBlurb:

“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes.”  Continue reading

BRN #4: A “Talking Prop”: Friend or Foe?

Banner_babbles rambles and nonsense_4.png

There are times when my thought-streams puddle and pool together and I must babble and type them out to free up some mental space in my head. And yes okay now that I’ve written that sentence I realize how weird it sounds…cool. Onward!

Illustrating an actor as a “talking prop” is both infuriatingly belittling verging on disrespectful but also blissfully grounding.  Continue reading

The Giver

The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1) by Lois Lowry (1994)

giver

Middle Grade Fiction | Dystopian5-starsBlurb:

“Jonas’s world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.”
Goodreads
Continue reading

Flashpoint

Flashpoint (The Sonora Blair Mysteries #1) by Lynn Hightower (1996; 2015)
-NetGalley Review-

flashpoint

Fiction | Crime & Mystery3 StarsBlurb:

“A New York Times Notable Book: Cincinnati homicide detective Sonora Blair hunts a serial killer who’s playing with fire in Shamus Award–winning author Lynn Hightower’s chilling thriller

A single mother of two children and a police specialist with the Cincinnati Homicide Division, Sonora Blair is still awake in the middle of the night when the call comes in. Mark Daniels has been found in Mount Airy Forest handcuffed to the steering wheel of his car, doused with accelerant, and set on fire. As the hideously burned college student lies dying in the ER, he describes his killer: blond, female, and a total stranger.  Continue reading

Sleeping Giants

Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel (2016)
-eARC Review-

sleeping giants

Fiction | Sci-Fi3 StarsBlurb:

“17 years ago: A girl in South Dakota falls through the earth, then wakes up dozens of feet below ground on the palm of what seems to be a giant metal hand. Today: She is a top-level physicist leading a team of people to understand exactly what that hand is, where it came from, and what it portends for humanity. A swift and spellbinding tale told almost exclusively through transcriptions of interviews conducted by a mysterious and unnamed character, this is a unique debut that describes a hunt for truth, power, and giant body parts.”
Goodreads

Expected Publication Date: April 26, 2016  Continue reading

BRN #3: Middle Book Syndrome

Banner_babbles rambles and nonsense_3.png

There are times when my thought-streams puddle and pool together and I must babble and type them out to free up some mental space in my head. And yes okay now that I’ve written that sentence I realize how weird it sounds…cool. Onward!

When it comes to a book trilogy you have a beginning (Book 1), a middle (Book 2), and an end (Book 3). But what I want to discuss this fine overcast morning is Book 2: The middle child of books.  Continue reading

Time Stops for No Mouse

Times Stops for No Mouse (The Hermux Tantamoq Adventures #1) by Michael Hoeye (2003)

no mouse

Middle Grade Fiction | Crime & Mystery5-starsBlurb:

“Hermux Tantamoq is an ordinary, hard-working mouse, living in an ordinary metropolis. But when adventuress and aviatrix Linka Perlfinger walks into his watchmaker’s shop, his life becomes anything but ordinary.”
Goodreads Continue reading