Gretchen C. Hohmeyer's Blog, page 66

Top Ten Words/Topics That Will Make Me NOT Pick Up a Book

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

Alright, this topic is an interesting one, because I like to think that I am fairly open to all sorts of literary devices and themes. In my mind, anything can be good if the writer handles it well. Still, I have a few things that tip me off to the book not being for me…

1. LOVE TRIANGLE

Since this is so prominent in ya right now, this doesn’t mean that I won’t pick it up, but gosh darn it if it isn’t done supremely well I’ll murder the book with fire. I hate love triangles. I think there are only 3 books where I’ve ever thought it was okay: Cassandra Clare’s Will/Tessa/Jem, Rae Carson’s Alejandro/Elisa/Humberto and Sarah J. Maas’s Chaol/Celaena/Dorian.

2. THRILLER/HORROR

I’m not into scary books. I like laughing and action and sometimes crying, but never being scared. I don’t watch scary movies, either. I don’t have the tolerance for them.

3. IN VERSE

I’ve tried a couple of books written in verse, but I’m really not a fan. Even the phrase “lyrical prose” can set me off. I read ya a lot for the straight forward writing style, not to have my mind boggled.

4. BOARDING SCHOOL SETTING

With few exceptions, I am so completely done with the idea that the main character goes off to a school where magical or otherwise chaotic plot points ensue. Even books that center around high school can set me off. I’m bored by it at this point, and most of the characters that come about with this plot are cliched and trite.

5. ROMANCE-CENTRIC

Except for times in certain moods, I’m trying to move away from books that center around romance as the main plot pusher. I’m looking for action and adventure, not swooning and mooning over the first guy they see. This includes problems with insta-love and stuff like that. I’m just done with being told that teenage girls commonly meet their soul mates, and that these soul mates are often the first guy they ever show an interest in/that is interested in them. Especially since the actions of male leads has gotten sketchier as of late.

6. GIRL IS INEXPLICABLY DRAWN TO EMO DUDE

Alright, no, I’ve never seen it phrased like this, but you know what I mean. This is connected to #5, but it’s own thing. If there is no reason for the girl to be into a guy AND he acts creepy as crap, she should be AVOIDING him, not fawning over him. Give me relationships with a real base, PLEASE. And give me some healthy, sexy guys to swoon over.

7. THE ANTI-HERO

Again, this is mostly related to bad boys, but it can be bad girls too. I can’t stand it when the main character(s) are being portrayed as such a heavy anti-hero that they have no redeemable qualities. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I like my main character to have at least a small streak of good ol’ righteousness.

8. ZOMBIES

I did not buy into the zombie craze, and at this point I avoid it like the plague. (Pun intended.) I don’t know why, but I’m just not into zombie stories.

9. MERMAIDS

I also couldn’t get into this one. I read one of these books and liked it (Of Poseidon by Anna Banks), but other than that I can’t get excited about them. No, I didn’t even like The Little Mermaid.

10. OLD, OLD CLASSICS

I don’t really like classic books. And I’m an English major. Sue me. If it’s not on a required reading list for school, I’m more likely to be reading wacky, post-modernist texts then a new translation of Beowulf of something.

ARC Review: “Love Disguised” by Lisa Klein

Love Disguised by Lisa Klein

Goodreads | Amazon

Will Shakespeare is about to meet the girl who will change his life forever. After a mixed-up courtship with the Hathaway sisters ends badly, Will jumps at the chance to go to London, where he can pursue his dream of becoming an actor. There, Will meets the unusually tall (and strong) Meg who has earned the nickname “Long Meg” for her height. She’s also fleeing her own past as an orphan turned thief. Disguised as “Mack,” Meg was once a member of a band of boy thieves who betrayed her. When Will is robbed by those same villains, Meg disguises herself as “Mack” again–telling Will that Mack is her twin brother–in order to help Will recover his money. As Mack, she finds true friendship with Will. But is there more? And who is Meg really fooling with her disguise? 

What ensues is a tale involving love triangles, mistaken identities, and the pursuit of hapless villains, as Shakespeare becomes a key player in a lively drama that could have sprung from his own pen.

Two stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books for this eARC! This title will be released on July 30th.

I will make an admission here: I am an English major who hates Shakespeare. Well, most Shakespeare, except for Twelfth Night and a few others. So when I found out Lisa Klein had written a ya novel about how Shakespeare came up with the plot for Twelfth Night, I jumped on it. Sadly, what I found was mostly a trite and overwrought story that left me laughing at it’s weirdness in the end–and not in a good way.

The book opens up with a LOT of telling. (you know, in the show vs. tell fashion that most writers hear about at some point.) We get the complete background on Meg and Will, which reads more like a bio than a piece of writing meant to engage a reader. True, Meg has a really interesting background, as her father died in prison and her mother went mad with grief, thinking she’d killed him, then killed the priest she was sleeping with to try and relieve his debts before jumping off a warf. Will’s is stitched together from historical fact, all about his father and blah blah blah. I found myself skipping ahead just to get to a point where something actually happened. Then Will falls in love with the younger Hathaway sister, sleeps with the older one by mistake and runs off to London to stand for his soon-to-be-imprisoned father in court. There he meets Meg, once a thief, now a tavern maid, who is unusually large for her age. Will is robbed by some of Meg’s old companions, and Meg becomes “Mack,” Meg’s “twin brother,” in order to help him get his money back. If you’ve read Twelfth Night, you can put together a lot of what happens after that. If not … so much confusion ensues.

I’ve mentioned that the beginning was slow, but even more than that, the language used was overwrought. I can tell Klein was trying to use English as Shakespeare and his companions would have spoken it, but it didn’t work for me. I’ve read a lot of historical fiction, and I’ve seen people use older English in ways that isn’t clunky, but this … didn’t work. I was bored and the characters seemed like cartoons from a melodrama instead of people I wanted to relate to. Because of this, I disliked most of the characters from the start, from the overly dramatic Violetta to the overly boisterous Overby and the overly stereotypical faux-villains, who were more like something out of a dark Three Stooges.

The one shining character in all this, who kept me going through the entire book, was Meg. Her ingenuity got her out of a dark hole when her parents died, her loyalty was fierce and her heart was good and righteous at all times. Sometimes, yes, she did feel a little overly righteous, but I was pretty ok with it all most of the time. Her confusion between her identities of Mack and Meg were more than comical–it was serious and it was real. It was her personality and inner struggles that kept me going, even when all the other characters had me ready to put the book down and DNF it.

This also includes Will Shakespeare. As a main character, he was clumsy, naive and bland. He had moments of genius, but those ideas could only work if Meg was right there, pushing them along. I understand that Meg and Will’s friendship was the main point of this book, but it started seeming like Will was incapable of doing anything unless Meg was secretly pushing it from behind.

All in all, I was not impressed by this book. I thought the plot was crazy and overdone–and in the end got so confusing I wasn’t sure how it even worked out. The characters were mostly irksome, except for the one shining light that was Meg. If you’re a real lover of Twelfth Night, then this might interest you out of parody’s sake, but otherwise I’d suggest getting this one for the library if you’re at all interested.

Weekly Wrap Up + Stacking the Shelves for 7-20-13

Welcome to this week’s wrap up and Stacking the Shelves! Over the next couple of weekends, I probably won’t be doing videos because I’m working like a crazy person and just don’t have time. So here’s the lowdown, in text form!

THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG:

ARC Review: Belladonna by Fiona Paul – I loved this one even more than the first! I’m still strongly Team Luca, even though he wasn’t in this one much. That was ok, though, because it was still amazing!

Cover Reveal: Wings (Black City #3) by Elizabeth Richards + INTL Giveaway - I can’t explain how excited I was to be a part of this cover reveal! I’ve only read Black City so far, but … the covers are TO DIE FOR.

Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition – My list includes favorites like Stephanie Perkins and Courtney Allison Moulton, as well as people who have impressed me outside of their books, like Ellen Oh and Jodi Meadows.

Bibliomancy for Beginners: Hangout Video for The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides – One of our more serious hangouts, but no less awesome! All of us had ALL OF THE FEELS for this book. Well, except for Michaela from The Pied Piper Calls. But she’s weird like that.

ARC Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas – I FINALLY GET TO SHARE THIS REVIEW WITH YOU *STARTS SINGING* I’M SO EXCITED, AND I JUST CAN’T HIDE IT.

ARC Review: Indelible by Dawn Metcalf – Topping off a week of great ARC reviews is this one, a surprise favorite of mine! No book this week got less than 4 1/2 stars!

FROM EDELWEISS:

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott – Goodreads

WON:

Daimones (Daimones Trilogy #1) by Massimo Marino – Goodreads

FOR BLOG TOUR:

By Blood (By Blood #1) by Tracey E. Bangheart – Goodreads

BOUGHT:

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen – Goodreads

ARC Review: “Indelible” by Dawn Metcalf

Indelible (The Twixt #1) by Dawn Metcalf

Goodreads | Amazon

Some things are permanent.

Indelible.

And they cannot be changed back.

Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same.

Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future…and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.

Somewhere between reality and myth lies…

THE TWIXT

Four and a half stars

Thanks to NetGalley and HarlequinTeen for this eARC! This title will be released on July 30th.

At about the same time, I requested and received Ink by Amanda Sun and Indelible. Both of them had similar tones, and I was excited about each for different ways. I read Ink first, because I was more excited about that one at the time. The experience went very badly, as you know if you saw my post. Needless to say, I was terrified of starting Indelible because I didn’t think it would go well either. Boy, was I surprised.

Joy Malone has recently been abandoned by much of her family, her older brother going off to college and her mother running off to California with an much younger man who is not her beloved father. Desperate to get out of the stonily silent house her and her father now occupy, she escapes to a local club with her best friend. There, she catches the gaze of a boy with all black eyes. But the fact that she can see him is a problem. The boy attacks her, attempting to cut out her eyes, but only succeeded in scratching her. In doing so, he accidentally marks her as his servant, drawing Joy into the realm of the magical creatures of the Twixt and all their dangers. A door has been opened to a world Joy has never realized existed, but going through it might just cost her everything she has left.

From the first page, I found Joy to be a very interesting character. Her family problems give her depth, which is explored and then expanded upon as the book goes on. Just what she goes through in the normal world could be a contemporary ya novel of it’s own. She just quit the gymnastics team, too, which gives her unique skills–which I wish had been used a little more, but I keep the faith! Her normal best friend  and father was also quite real and likable.

I will admit I was a little put off when the boy from the club introduces himself as Ink, and his sister as Inq. Word play doesn’t usually amuse me. But as the characters got their chance to shine, I took a real liking to both of them. Ink snuck up on my feelings, especially as he tried to explain all the human things he was feeling while just trying to understand humans at all. It was great to watch Ink and Joy learn to love each other just as much as the people around them.

The world itself is ridiculously interesting. Each new creature from the Twixt was cooler than the last. Like Joy, I was thrown for a loop every time something new was introduced, but not always in a good way. The reason I don’t go all the way to 5 stars for this one is because of all the info dumping. There were so many different things introduced and so much time taken to explain them that the explanations clogged up the narrative in places. I started skipping ahead in order to get back to the action, but that was a problem when I didn’t understand things later.

The plot itself never stopped moving. Unlike some other novels, where the problems Joy is having in keeping her two worlds separate could have been a problem, I thought that they complimented each other nicely. The fact that things never stopped moving was nice, as well. Joy has a certain knack for trouble, and trouble always finds her even when she’s trying hard to stay away. I read this entire book in one sitting, since there wasn’t a good place to put it down!

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I loved the fantasy setting, the real characters and the fast plot. I’d like to applaud those characters again, because they were some of the more realistic that I’ve read in a while. Also, no love triangle, just two people trying to figure out the complications that arise just between them! The info dumping aside, I didn’t have problems with much of anything. I really recommend giving this one a go, especially if you’re looking for a new fantasy world with ties to our reality.

ARC Review: “Crown of Midnight” by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas

Goodreads | Amazon

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king’s contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king’s bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she’s given a task that could jeopardize everything she’s come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon — forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice. 

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children’s for this eARC! This title will be released on August 27th, 2013. 

WARNING: This review WILL have spoilers for the first book, Throne of Glass. Read my review HERE or watch my book club discuss this book with Crown of Midnight vague-spoilers HERE. 

It has taken me a week or so to write this review. Why? Because I CANNOT HANDLE ALL THE FEELS I AM FEELING. STILL. EVEN NOW. Sarah J. Maas, someday I will meet you and cry at your feet because alksfkasdjbfsdfb. Erm. Anyways…

The book picks up a little while after the competition that named Celaena the new royal assassin, and alerted her to goings on in the castle that were magical and dangerous. She has gone on numerous missions for the king, each time bringing back the head of the person she’s slain. This is having an impact on her relationship with both Chaol and Dorian, but she doesn’t dare tell them the truth—that she isn’t actually killing the people, and the heads are from corpses already dead. But when Celaena’s next target is someone she trained with as a young girl, someone who is in deeper than it seems with people she never would have suspected, the lines begin to get cloudy. It seems that everyone is lying and everyone is hiding something, something world changing. Even Celaena herself.

To start, let’s talk world building. Let’s talk about Sarah has such a concrete grasp over not just the city, but the entire world that her characters inhabit. Celaena doesn’t do that much travelling, but the new sorts of people and lands that are talked about are so well fleshed out, yet explaining them never interrupts the story. If I could just have a speck of Sarah’s world building talent, I’d be a god.

If you were worried that this book would be any slower than the last … don’t be. If anything, Sarah upped the ante. I read this book all in one sitting because I was physically incapable of putting the book down. There is always one thing after another after another after another.

The characters were once again spot on spectacular. Celaena is kick-ass-amazing, as always, and Dorian and Chaol are still … *bats eyelashes furiously*. I appreciated Dorian and Celaena’s friendly, respectful relationship, but all my energies went into what happened between Chaol and Celaena. You can get annoyed if that sounds spoilery, but trust me—it isn’t what you think. The only other love triangle I’ve been this invested in on ALL THREE points is Cassandra Clare’s Will/Tessa/Jem. After what happens between all of them and what is revealed about all of them, I honestly cannot tell which one Celaena will end up with—or which one I want her with more. Either way, I take the loser for her affections because *drool*.

Also, this book let me in on the fact that no character is safe. Chomp on that one for a bit.

In the end, I’m still fantastically amused on how I react to these books. Right from the get-go, I can always predict what’s going to happen in the end. However, what happens in between A and Z throws me for three dozen loops and by the time what I expected to happen happens, it doesn’t mean what I thought it meant at all and I have no idea what’s going to happen next. I know that doesn’t make sense, but … well, I can’t go spoilering y’all, so it’ll have to do.

Though I love to read, I have a very small number of authors whose every word I hang on, whom I would follow over a cliff, who I stalk on every social media and whose fandoms I invest myself in on a hourly basis. Sarah J. Maas is one of those few authors. She was there after Throne of Glass, but Crown of Midnight just cemented her place there for eternity.

Bibliomancy for Beginners: Hangout Video for “The Virgin Suicides” by Jeffrey Eugenides

Welcome to this week’s (late) Bibliomancy for Beginners hangout! This week we’re talking about The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. It is what it sounds like, so be prepared for all of the feels and possibly tears. Some of us will also be discussing the book to movie reaction that they had when they read the book and then watched the movie. Check back next Tuesday when we read Mansfield Park by Jane Austen!

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Goodreads | Amazon

The five Lisbon sisters are brought up in a strict household, and when the youngest kills herself, the oppression of the remaining sisters intensifies. As Therese, Mary, Bonnie and Lux are pulled deeper into isolation by their domineering mother, a group of neighborhood boys become obsessed with liberating the sisters. But what the boys don’t know is, the Lisbon girls are beyond saving.

Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

Okay, so, this is a really hard topic for me. I tend to spend most of my time dying over authors inside my own head, so I don’t really know who’s getting a lot of recognition and who’s not. So … this list is my attempt to help boost some signals without knowing exactly what I’m doing. Some authors I like because of deep reasons, others are debuts I want to raise a glass to, etc. This list is in no particular order.

1. Ellen Oh

you might know her as the author of The Dragon King Chronicles. I reviewed her first book, Prophecy, a while ago, and am hoping to get my hands on the second one, Warrior. However, I really put her here because of all the stuff about authors of color on her Tumblr. I’m as white as snow, but I really respected every single post she made and read each one thoroughly. It’s some good stuff.

2. Amy Tintera

Her debut novel, Reboot, was really good! I reviewed it a few weeks ago, and I was pleasantly surprised that she could make me like dystopians again. It’s also going to be a movie. So … signal boost about this one!

3. Alex Lidell

I followed Alex’s debut novel, The Cadet of Tildor, from the beginning stages of cover and book trailer reveals all the way to the ARC tour. I gave it five very excited stars. More than that, though, I ended up having a great email correspondence with her that made me love her all the more. Alex is a great person and a great writer who you should all check out!

4. Nina Berry

I have stalked her Otherkin series through NetGalley, snatching up copies of Otherkin and Othermoon the second I saw them. (Hopefully Othersphere is up next, soon!) I didn’t see too many other blogs reviewing these, so let me tell you they are worth reading!

5. Kat Zhang

I still don’t think enough has been said about Kat’s ability to write two characters inside one body. That just gets me every time. It dominated my review of What’s Left of Me. I’m impressed to the nines with her writing ability every time I think about it.

6. Jodi Meadows

I’ve had a few Twitter conversations with her, and through them I have decided she is one of the most awesome people ever. Also, in her Newsoul books, Incarnate and Asunder, what she says about love and how it transcends time and gender seems powerful to me. Sometimes I think that that undertone gets lost because Ana/Sam is SO ADORABLE AND REAL. But it’s there, and it makes me happy.

7. Stephanie Perkins

Stephanie and her books (mostly Anna and the French Kiss) make their way onto almost every TTT I do. Besides the fanatical review of Anna that I posted at the beginning of my blogging career, Anna has also meant more to me than I could say–though I did try in a very personal blog post a while ago. Also, her candid battle with depression went straight to my heart. So, I believe that Stephanie deserves ALL of the recognition.

8. Natalie Whipple

Her debut, Transparent, was released this year, and I LOVED IT! Signal boost for a debut author with a great concept and characters!

9. Robin LaFevers

Her His Fair Assassin books are just … amazing historical fantasy fiction. Like, in my top 5 list. I’ve only read Grave Mercy so far, but Dark Triumph is on my shelf right now and I can’t wait to get to it.

10. Courtney Allison Moulton

I have absolutely adored her Angelfire books, and my conversations with her on Twitter have further cemented my belief that she is one of the most awesome people on the planet. Three cheers for Angelfire, Wings of the Wicked, and Shadows in the Silence! (That’s 9 cheers. Go. I’m counting.)

Cover Reveal: “Wings” (Black City #3) by Elizabeth Richards + INTL Giveaway

Today we are super excited to share the cover to WINGS, the third and final book in author’s Elizabeth Richard’s BLACK CITY series!

Check out this beauty! 


Wings (Black City #3) by Elizabeth Richards




 
Get the first two books in the series! 


OPEN INTERNATIONAL!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ARC Review: “Belladonna” by Fiona Paul

Belladonna (Secrets of the Eternal Rose #2) by Fiona Paul

Goodreads | Amazon

In the second in the stunning Secrets of the Eternal Rose series, Cassandra Caravello is trying to forget Falco, the wild artist who ran off with her heart, as she grows closer to her strong, steady fiancé, Luca. But Luca seems to have his own secrets. When he’s arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night, Cass’s life is once again thrown into chaos. She must save Luca, and that means finding the Book of the Eternal Rose—the only evidence that will prove he’s innocent.

So begins her journey to Florence, a city haunted by whispers of vampirism, secret soirees and clandestine meetings of the Order of the Eternal Rose. And home to Falco, who is working for the Order’s eerily stunning leader, the Belladonna herself.

Can Cass trust her heart to lead her to the truth this time?

Nothing is as it seems in this seductive thriller, where the truth may be the deadliest poison of all.

Four and a half stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Philomel for this eARC! This title will be released July 16th.

WARNING: This review WILL contain spoilers for the first book, Venom. Read my review of that one HERE!

I don’t know what I was expecting when I started this book, but lemme give it to you straight: I was NOT expecting THAT.

The book starts off with a bang: Luca is arrested and sentenced to die without so much as a trial, because the charge is heresy and some powerful nobles have come forward to confirm the charge. Their testimony was bought and paid for, of course, but only Cass believes that—and only she can prove it. All Luca can tell her is that the answer lies with the Order of the Eternal Rose—and she must go to Florence to find it. This is the city that Falco ran off to at the end of Venom, but Cass realizes that she may need to leave her old love behind if she wants to save Luca. In Florence, the Church is regularly drowning victims of alleged vampire attacks, but Cass realizes quickly that all is not what it appears. Falco’s new patroness is hiding more than her true age behind looks too perfect to be true.

If you thought the stakes were high in Venom, you won’t believe their height in Belladonna.

I was excited to see this book take us out of Venice and into Florence, even if I thought that the main reason for this was for Cass to chase after Falco. It wasn’t, and this impressed me. Cass is better at keeping her head in the game than many of the ya heroines I’ve come across as of late, and it made me love her all the more.

But back to the setting. I thought that the location switch might require a bunch of new character development and scene setting that would set back the story, but this wasn’t true. Paul was extremely good at keeping a round of known characters as center points, and not letting any new characters take up too much time. The change in scenery was believable and didn’t cause a hiccup or drag down the plot at all.

That plot, by the way, stays FAST. I’ve seen some second books where the plot seems like filler before the finale, and this was NOT one of those. It stays fresh while keeping you invested and staying interesting. If I had to compare this with Venom, I would say that Belladonna is AT LEAST on par if not better than the first book. (I mean, I rated it a half star higher, so…) Not only was I engaged, but I was also thrown for a loop several times. I thought I had it all figured out, but I was wrong—and that doesn’t happen often. By the end of the book, I was audibly shouting HOW DID THAT JUST HAPPEN? The events of Starling—or at least the general outline of this—is the furthest thing from what I expected and now I’m not sure what’s going to happen to anyone anymore.

Most importantly, I love how the characters were handled in this book. Given the presence of the love triangle, I’m always on high alert for that whole thing to fall apart. Once again, I was impressed on how this was portrayed. Cass makes her decisions without the help of either of them—in fact, often in defiance of both of them. She accepts how she feels about both of them, but realizes that only one of them can be her future. (Vagueness intentional to keep from spoilering.) Given that Luca was locked up for all of this one, we barely get to see him at all, but—and this is a big “but” because I’m so Team Luca—the triangle stayed even and real. Falco may have been around, but Cass never let him let her forget what she was fighting for, and why she was fighting for it. (I still say that the title of the next book is a huge tell for who she ends up with, but I’m still extremely curious about how that’s going to all shake out because these relationships keep getting more and more complicated and not so easy to predict.)

All in all, I’m still a huge recommender of these books. The mystery is real and deep, the characters are well written and the emphasis is on the story/plot/mystery and NOT the love triangle and yet the love triangle still manages to compliment and complicate the plot, not ruin it for those of us (AKA me) who are tired of romance taking over. Anyways, go. Read. I’ll see you in Renaissance Italy.

Weekly Wrap Up + Stacking the Shelves for 7-13-13

Hey guys! In an effort to actually get this post up today, I’m going to forgo the video and just get right to the links and write some stuff about them. Sound good? Good, because here we go!

ON THE BLOG THIS WEEK:

Review: Venom by Fiona Paul - I finally got around to reading this one, and I gave it 4 stars. I have an ARC of Belladonna that I’m reading right now and I’m SO EXCITED! I’m Team Luca!

Top Ten Best/Work Book to Movie Adaptations – Nearly forgot to post for this one, but it wasn’t hard. There was more bad than good, I’m afraid.

Bibliomancy for Beginners: Hangout Video for The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman – Possibly our most combative and nonsensical hangout ever. Actually, I take that back. There’s no possibly about it.

Waiting on Wednesday: Unhinged by A. G. Howard – Do I hear severe cover lust? Because I have it for this cover!

Book Blitz: Rush by Eve Silver- Excerpts + Giveaway! – This post has THREE different book teasers AND a giveaway!

FROM THE LIBRARY:

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides ~ Goodreads

FROM NETGALLEY:

The Woken Gods by Gwenda Bond ~ Goodreads