It’s Bout of Books season!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

If you are just hearing about this readathon now, there is still time to sign up! Just head over to the Bout of Books sign-up page – just remember, today is the last day!

Goals

I solemnly swear:

• to participate in as many mini-challenges as humanly possible
• to blog-hop!
• to have FUN and read!

I am not going to set myself a bunch of must-dos… as long as I get some books read, I’ll be a happy camper.

Books to Read

In addition to my May TBR, I’d like to tackle some books by authors I know will be in attendance at BEA – namely: Veronica Rossi, Victoria Schwab and Diana Peterfreund. I think I’ll also read some short stories that have been on my TBR list for a while…

Updates

Monday

Although I wasn’t officially signed up for Bout of Books, I was in the readathon mood yesterday. I read Kelley Armstrong’s The Rising cover-to-cover!

Number of pages I?ve read today: 406
Total number of pages I?ve read: 406
Books: The Rising by Kelley Armstrong

Tuesday

Well, I got started on Jaye Well’s Blue Blooded Vamp and am loving it!! She made me break out the Eminem.

Number of pages I?ve read today: 38
Total number of pages I?ve read: 444
Books: Blue Blooded Vamp by Jaye Wells

Wednesday

Not a good reading day at all! I got distracted by Iron Man 3 and the insane about of Tony Stark FEELS to delve into my book. Gah!

Number of pages I?ve read today: nil
Total number of pages I?ve read: 444
Books: Let’s not talk about it…

Thursday

Number of pages I?ve read today:
Total number of pages I?ve read:
Books:

Friday

Number of pages I?ve read today:
Total number of pages I?ve read:
Books:

Saturday

Number of pages I?ve read today:
Total number of pages I?ve read:
Books:

Sunday

Number of pages I?ve read today:
Total number of pages I?ve read:
Books:

It?s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.

She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

Thoughts: I really thought I would love Out of the Easy. I thought it would be an eerie, atmospheric novel, filled with intrigue and southern charm. Let me tell you now: it was none of those things.

Everyone raved about Between Shades of Gray, Ruta’s first book, but it never appealed to me. Out of the Easy sounded like it would have everything I’d want in it – and that was one of its problems. All of the content for a great book was there – New Orleans, a girl fighting the system, murder and intrigue, even a used bookstore – but there was no life in any of them.

Let’s deal with the main source of that lack-of-life: our leading lady, Josie. Ignoring all the upstairs-downstairs crap that was supposed to make this book “insightful”, Out of the Easy is based on two basic premises:

1. Josie is brilliant. She’s a genius who deserves All. Good. Things.
2. Life is so hard for poor Josie. Woe is Josie.

Seems simple, doesn’t it? If only.

Let’s start with that first point. For someone who is supposed to be so smart, she makes many, many stupid decisions. She trusts the wrong people, lies to the wrong people, and rolls over passively when a simple phone call could get her out of a bad situation.

Namely, it’s Josie’s passivity when dealing with her mother that was one of my biggest problems. This is a woman who – at every available opportunity – treats her horrendously. She beats Josie, she lies to Josie, she steals from Josie, she treats Josie like she is beneath her contempt. And it’s not as if Josie even excuses those things… she just doesn’t do anything about it. It’s as if the plot required Josie to do things “because that’s her mother”, and no thought was given to thinking about how Josie should react to her mother’s actions. Not to mention that, though she hates the stigma of being a prostitute’s daughter, she doesn’t seem to connect that stigma with her mother. I don’t think that’s how a

Maybe she has book smarts, because she sure wasn’t gifted any emotional intelligence.

Then there’s the “Woe is Josie” premise. Huh?? So many people in this book treat Josie like an absolute star, like she is the best thing since sliced bread and could well be the second coming. Which is great and everything, but it makes the “Woe is Josie” core of the story virtually impossible to buy into. Yes, her life isn’t what she wants, but whose isn’t? In all honesty, the life of a madam in New Orleans actually didn’t look to bad from where I was, so why was it so terrible for Josie? Other than her mother, Out of the Easy‘s prostitutes and chauffeurs all seemed rather content with their lot in life. Why wasn’t Josie? I have no idea.

Actually, “talking” it out now, I can see what really irked me about this book: Out of the Easy is a book about getting out of New Orleans, but it should have been a book about learning to love the “New Orleans” you’re dealt.

As if that weren’t enough, all the intrigue promised by the summary was not at all delivered. The mystery took a back seat to Josie’s angst and its resolution was met with a shrug. And as for New Orleans? The book could have been set in Harlem for all the effect the city had. Not cool. Not cool.

Bottom line? If you aren’t a reader who spends far too much time nitpicking characters, you’ll probably enjoy Out of the Easy a hell of a lot more than I did.

For Review:

• With All My Soul by Rachel Vincent – Yup, I have 2 copies! That means… giveaway! (It will be up this month along with my review.)
• Follow Me Down by Tanya Byrne – I received Heart-Shaped Bruise for review when it first came out, but still haven’t gotten to it.
• The Hit by Melvin Burgess – Not sure if this one will be my cup of tea, but intriguing premise nonetheless!
• Shipwrecked by Siobhan Curham – I am a wee bit confused by this synopsis… ”Lost” meets “Gossip Girl”? What?! Could be brilliant – guess we’ll find out!
• Angelfall by Susan Ee – Yup – Angelfall!  I bought the e-book of this eons ago but never got round to reading it. But this gorgeous UK printing by Hodder? It has be dying to get started on it. It is really rather shiny.

Read any of these? If so, let me know what you thought of them! I am always looking for first, second, third, fourth opinions.

So this month, I am going to read the final books from the trilogies and series that I’ve loved. A lot of these books are going to elicit the reaction “OMG YOU HAVEN’T READ THAT YET?!” but… don’t judge me! As I mentioned in my resolutions post: I kinda have a problem.

The ones that have been on the shelves… a while:

• Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead – This is one of those series I loved so much I physically couldn’t pick it up. Instead, I checked out spoilers when it came out because the Rose/Dmitri/Adrian thing was too painful to sit through. I should really know better by now!
• Forever by Maggie Stiefvater – Again, stop it with the judging.
• Endgame by Ann Aguirre – I don’t want it to end!!!!
• Blue-Blooded Vamp by Jaye Wells – As above!

The new releases:

• With All My Soul by Rachel Vincent – Why no spin-off? Why??
• The Rising by Kelley Armstrong (not pictured) – I don’t know what my life is going to be like without a Darkest Powers/Darkness Rising release every year. No, really. I am rather at a loss.

Just putting this list together has made me rather emotional. Why must things end?? Why can’t writers just keep going and going and going? Why can’t my book series just continue on forever like Eastenders?? Why??

Michael Fassbender knows my pain.

To be honest, these aren’t even all my last-in-a-series books… I have more that I haven’t gotten to that I’ve left out out of fear of this post becoming a “confessions of book blogger”. On a happier note, if you are looking for a series/trilogy that I whole-heartedly recommend, check out any of these. They are all 5 star reads that deserve all the love they can get!

Most YA readers will probably know Michael Grant from his Gone series or from Eve and Adam, which he co-wrote with his wife. Me? I knew him from the amazing Animorphs and Everworld series. Admittedly, it took me an obscene length of time to realise that those series weren’t only written by his wife, Katherine A. Applegate – but once I did, he shot up onto the “GODly AUTHOR” list pretty quick.

So, the signing.

First off, the bookshop was completely packed. People were queued up outside to meet Michael – most of them kids accompanied by their parents but I also spotted a few teens and people in their twenties (so I didn’t feel too ancient!). The staff was super welcoming and engaged with pretty much everyone in line despite the limited space. To be perfectly frank, I’ve never seen such great hand-selling before. There’s a reason this bookshop is famous: great staff and great shelves.

I got there right towards the end of the signing, so I only waited about 15 minutes in line. Michael spent a lot of time with people in line, answering questions with surprising detail. Hearing him engage with everyone else gave me that extra boost of confidence to open my mouth and overshare.

Sure enough, I started off by telling him that – though I was sure that lots of twentysomethings had told him this before – the Animorphs series ruled my life as a kid, and that I’d read every single one (and still have them all). I’d written papers on the books and had, quite frankly, been completely obsessed. He had, indeed, heard this all before – so he told me about how, when revisiting the books when older, other fans had seen all the juicy extras going on in the background. It was that political vibe with its lovely moral ambiguity was what I had loved about the books when I was younger, though it was hard to spot at the time.

We then talked about how the series was published under his wife’s name, and he made a few really funny remarks about how they are in constant competition. He directed me towards the Reddit that Katherine did back in 2011 about the series (confirming that, yes, he was hovering over her shoulder for the entire time). I hadn’t known of its existence but, WOW. If you’re a fan of the series, take the time and scroll through it. There are so many great details in there!

All in all: a fantastic experience. I was so happy to see so many kids/adults/Yerks in attendance, and meeting Michael was an absolute treat. 7-year-old me is so, so jealous.

If you are in Ireland, you can still catch the tail end of Michael’s tour this week (more details here). Want to know more about Michael, the universe and everything? Check out:

• Michael Grant’s twitter and Katherine A. Applegate’s twitter
• Katherine (and Michael’s) super-detailed Reddit from 2011
• The super-detailed Wikipedia page about the Animorphs series
• My love-letter to the Everworld series

The 5th Wave (The Fifth Wave #1) by Rick Yancey

Goodreads – Dystopian/Sci-Fi YA - May 7th 2013 by Penguin

The Passage meets Ender?s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it?s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth?s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie?s only hope for rescuing her brother?or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

If you haven’t heard about The 5th Wave yet, you’ve been missing out. This novel has generated a tonne of buzz, and for good reason. By the author of the acclaimed Monstrumologist series, The 5th Wave ties together all the dystopian goodness with a healthy dose of Sci-Fi. A lot of people have compared it to The Hunger Games but – while I see what they mean – I am getting Walking Dead feelings from it. (If there is one thing I love more than The Hunger Games, it’s The Walking Dead!)

If you’re looking for more to sink your teeth into than just the blurb, check out the official sampler of the novel on the book’s site – it will have you hooked!

As a child, Gretchen's twin sister was taken by a witch in the woods. Ever since, Gretchen and her brother, Ansel, have felt the long branches of the witch's forest threatening to make them disappear, too.

Years later, when their stepmother casts Gretchen and Ansel out, they find themselves in sleepy Live Oak, South Carolina. They're invited to stay with Sophia Kelly, a beautiful candy maker who molds sugary magic: coveted treats that create confidence, bravery, and passion.

Life seems idyllic and Gretchen and Ansel gradually forget their haunted past -- until Gretchen meets handsome local outcast Samuel. He tells her the witch isn't gone -- it's lurking in the forest, preying on girls every year after Live Oak's infamous chocolate festival, and looking to make Gretchen its next victim. Gretchen is determined to stop running and start fighting back. Yet the further she investigates the mystery of what the witch is and how it chooses its victims, the more she wonders who the real monster is.

Gretchen is certain of only one thing: a monster is coming, and it will never go away hungry.

Thoughts: About a billion years ago (read: 2010), Jenny from Wondrous Reads told me I absolutely had to read Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce. “No way,” I cried. “Wolves suffer from enough stigma already – I’m not supporting an author that villainizes them, even if they are the fairy-tale versions.” I was about to start my Masters dissertation on the non-scientific, fallacious beliefs society has of wolves – and how that has translated into our fairy-tales. “Wolves as bad guys? That’s so 1812.”

Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to understand how skeptical I was about starting Sweetly. As companion-novel-of-sorts to Sisters Red, I went into it with my finger already hovering over the eject button. One sign of iffy wolf-ness and I was off.

There was none… OK, yes, the word “wolf” was used in connection with a few unsavoury characters but it was just slang (albeit, slang I would rather done without). So, in spite of myself, I really, really enjoyed Sweetly. In fact, I thought it was rather brilliant.

Sweetly is a play on the Hansel & Gretel tale – while the inspiration is clear, the plot is not. While there is a lot of “action” in this novel, Sweetly really felt more like a mystery. Instead of there being a clear good-guy/bad-guy plot, most of Sweetly is spent uncovering precisely who knows what, who is guilty of what and wondering just how much Pearce would stick to the original tale. It kept me on tenterhooks, to be perfectly honest.

Along with the fabulous mystery-vibe was the lovely, brilliant, fantastic protagonist, Gretchen. (I quite liked her, in case you couldn’t tell.) Having lost her sister years ago under circumstances so unreal even she doesn’t believe them, Gretchen is an appropriately scarred individual. But while she is full of fear, she doesn’t let that stop her. I absolutely loved how as soon as she got the chance to find out the truth behind what happened to her sister (and other girls) she grabbed it head on. She didn’t shy away or give up, and that’s something I think every YA heroine should have.

Bottom line? This is an utterly unique novel that pulls no punches. It’s got mystery, betrayal, romance, candy and good ol’ fashion shoot outs. Read it!

• Offer Free Worldwide Shipping
• Support Global Literacy Campaigns
• Rescue books from landfills
• Provide good quality books for great prices

Also, for us not living in the US, BetterWorldBooks provides another way to access a lot of US-only titles and hardback editions – instead of worrying about VAT at BookDepository and wondering whether the book you’re buying is really worth the £18 it’s going to set you back, get it at a low price and get the good karma along with it.

A lot of people commented about how they wanted to give the site a shot but were waiting for the right time… well, here it is!

To celebrate Earth Day, BetterWorldBooks are offering 25% when you buy 7+ Used books! I can’t honestly think of a better way to celebrate than with a bit of paperback recycling.

Only thing: you only have 20 hours left to get your shopping done. So get cracking!

* For the record, I am in no way affiliated with BetterWorldBooks. I came to think they were awesome all on my own.

Upcoming Author Events – UK/Ireland

Spring seems to have brought with it a whole host of authors here for their tours. Of the many that are making the rounds, I thought I’d highlight the brilliant Michael Grant and Rachel Caine!

Michael Grant is the author of the Gone series and co-creator of the Animorphs and Everworld series. Those latter two series absolutely ruled my childhood/early teens – I even wrote a long love-letter-esque post to the Everworld series on the blog. When I heard he would be in the UK I could not contain my excitement!! He will be here next week – take a look at his schedule and see if you can make any of the events!

• Wednesday 24 April 6.30pm - Waterstones Piccadilly: In conversation with journalist Lucy Mangan
• Saturday 27 April 4pm- 5pm - Signing at Muswell Hill bookshop [I am going to try to make this one! Send me a tweet if you'll be there!]
• Monday 29 April 6.30 to 7.30pm - Talk at Waterstones Plymouth
• Thursday 2 May 6pm – Talk and Q & A at Eason O?Connell, Dublin
• Friday 3 May 4pm ? Public signing at Eason Dundrum, Dublin

Rachel Caine (who I’m a huge fan of, in case the zillion reviews of her books I’ve posted hasn’t given me away) will also be coming! She’s got a lot of events scheduled, but the one I really want to highlight is the Foyles event – which OMG AMAZING. Why? Well, she’ll be in conversation with Sarah Rees Brennan, that’s why! It breaks my blooming heart that I won’t be able to make it, but I strongly urge you all to go!

Tuesday 14 May 2013 6:30pm – 7:30pm

Venue: the Gallery at Foyles, 113 – 119 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0JG

The adventures of Claire Danvers, a teenage girl who finds herself fighting for her life in the vampire-infested town of Morganville, Texas, are known and loved by young readers around the world. In fact, the first of Rachel Caine’s Morganville novels was recently voted number one in a national poll of children’s favourite books. Fresh from publishing Fall of Night, the 14th (and, we’re sad to say, penultimate) in the series, the teen horror sensation joins us for a special London event, to give her fans a glimpse behind the scenes of these wildly popular novels.

Rachel will be in conversation with Sarah Rees Brennan, author of the bestselling Demon’s Lexicon trilogy.

Tickets: £3, redeemable against cover price of Fall of Night on the evening.

Here’s the full list of her UK Tour events (you’ll find additional info about the signings here):

• May 10: Waterstones Bristol Gallery
• May 11: Waterstones Southampton West Quay
• May 11: Waterstones Bournemouth Arcade
• May 12 : WH Smith Exeter
• May 14: Foyle’s Charing Cross Road (London)
• May 15: Talk, Q&A and Signing at Waterstones Leeds
• May 17: Talk, Q&A and signing at Waterstones Nottingham
• May 18: WH Smith Darlington
• May 18: WH Smith Stockton-on-Tees
• May 19: Waterstones Finchley Road O2 Centre (London)

Inhuman (Fetch #1) by Kat Falls

Goodreads – Sci-Fi YA - October 1st 2013 by Scholastic

In a world ravaged by mutation, a teenage girl must travel into the forbidden Savage Zone to recover lost artifacts or her father?s life is forfeit.

America has been ravaged by a war that has left the eastern half of the country riddled with mutation. Many of the people there exhibit varying degrees of animal traits. Even the plantlife has gone feral.

Crossing from west to east is supposed to be forbidden, but sometimes it?s necessary. Some enter the Savage Zone to provide humanitarian relief. Sixteen-year-old Lane?s father goes there to retrieve lost artifacts?he is a Fetch. It?s a dangerous life, but rewarding?until he?s caught.

Desperate to save her father, Lane agrees to complete his latest job. That means leaving behind her life of comfort and risking life and limb?and her very DNA?in the Savage Zone. But she?s not alone. In order to complete her objective, Lane strikes a deal with handsome, roguish Rafe. In exchange for his help as a guide, Lane is supposed to sneak him back west. But though Rafe doesn?t exhibit any signs of ?manimal? mutation, he?s hardly civilized . . . and he may not be trustworthy.

Thoughts: I absolutely loved Kat Falls’ Dark Life and was always rather sad that she didn’t get more attention. Seriously, people: it was a pretty great book. I’d been saving the follow-up to Dark Life for a rainy day, as I wasn’t sure when we’d hear from Kat again. Now I get to read it!

Inhuman is giving me lots of Pure (Julianna Baggott) vibes – which I totally love. Also, the idea of mutated human beings was a topic she explored really well in Dark Life, so I am sure she can pull it off again.

Not in love with the cover though!

]]>