Shelf Love: Perils of Book hoarding

The perils of book hoarding. Oh man. I am guilty of this. Especially when I visit thrift stores. Why, you ask? Because that is the moment when I realize that "OMG, I need this book in my life now". I've bought tons of books from thrift stores. Not because I'm cheap or anything, but because I find really good books there, books that I either can't find in bookstores or books that I never thought about buying. And usually the thrift stores from my town are associated with charities.

Another book hoarding habit that has been growing and growing and growing recently... Freebies. You know how we had that topic about where you get your freebies a while back? Well, bargains and freebies are so easy to hoard.

I, however, don't like to think of it as "hoarding". It's a slightly ugly word. I like to see it more as "building my own live-in library". See? Much better this way! There is one...problem here. I don't think I'd ever make enough money to buy a house big enough for all of the books I want to have to fit in. Which is why I thank every day for having an e-reader! Also, each new book means one step closer to a new visit to the furniture store for yet another book shelf.

So how about you? Do you hoard books?

Early Book Review: Breakaway by Kat Spears

Author: Kat Spears
Series: N/A
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: September 15th 2015
My Rating: 4 cups
Source:Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

From Kat Spears, author of Sway, comes a new novel that asks the question: when a group of four best friends begin to drift apart, what will it take to bring them back together?

When Jason Marshall's younger sister passes away, he knows he can count on his three best friends and soccer teammates—Mario, Jordie, and Chick—to be there for him. With a grief-crippled mother and a father who's not in the picture, he needs them more than ever. But when Mario starts hanging out with a rough group of friends and Jordie finally lands the girl of his dreams, Jason is left to fend for himself while maintaining a strained relationship with troubled and quiet Chick. Then Jason meets Raine, a girl he thinks is out of his league but who sees him for everything he wants to be, and he finds himself pulled between building a healthy and stable relationship with a girl he might be falling in love with, grieving for his sister, and trying to hold onto the friendships he has always relied on.

A witty and emotionally moving tale of friendship, first love, and loss, Breakaway is Kat Spears at her finest.

*Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book from Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin in exchange for an honest review

I was browsing Netgalley a few weeks ago and I saw this book. I have to say I'm quite glad that I gave this book a chance.

I liked Jason. I was sorry for him for a lot of reasons. His little sister died, his mom was clearly depressed. He had his best friends, but then life happened. I liked how mature he was at times. I also liked that although it seemed that some of his friends forgot about him, he didn't forget about them and he was there for his buddies when they needed him.

Speaking of his friends... Mario was the one guy who I didn't see drifting apart from Jason. Jordie, yes. It made sense, because he always gave me the impression that he was very controlled in a way by what other people thought about him. Mario, however, got into a bad crowd and made bad decisions. Although it was sad, especially since you can actually see since the very start of the book that he and Jason were really good friends. The type of friendship that you find once in a lifetime if you're lucky. Chick broke my heart a lot. He just broke me. I was so sad for him, especially knowing that he was having some really serious problems. In all of this, I felt like he was the innocent one and also the one who suffered the most.

Raine is the type of girl one can easily misjudge. I was glad she wasn't the cliche rich, but shallow girl. She was a good influence on Jason. Unlike the girls that suddenly started paying attention to Jason just because his sister died, she gave me the idea that she wasn't with him because of that.

The story, in my opinion, is about friendship and how sometimes, even the best of friends can drift apart. How sometimes a word can make or break a person, how it's easy to be mean to others. There's no happy ending in this book. Actually, the book is open-ended. I was left with some questions, some worries. I'd like to think that in the end, although some things can't be changed, things get better and the characters find a way to be happy.

Sunday Book Soundtrack: Somebody Up There Hates You by Hollis Seamon

Sunday Book Soundtrack is a weekly feature at Ruby's Books, where I share some of my bookish soundtracks. Since I discovered my passion for reading years ago, I've discovered that more and more of the songs I loved remind me of certain books. So I thought I'd share my playlists with you. If you want to listen to the songs, I'll post a link to a Youtube videos for each and every title. No copyright infringement intended! I'll try to find the official videos for each song. There's no set number for each playlist, sometimes I might have 10, sometimes 5, sometimes if I'm one of my moods I'll have 15. If you want to read more about this feature, click the "show more" button below. 

I read with music. If there's no music, I can't read. And not just read, but almost anything, like studying of cooking or doing chores around the house. The only time I don't have music is when I sleep. And during exams, but that's a different story.

Sometimes it happens that a certain song and a book or a scene from the book I'm reading sort of... click. It's like they were made for each other. At least for me. And so I will almost always think of that particular book when hearing that song. I thought I'd share my book soundtracks with you.

Keep in mind that I have a very... weird taste in music. You'll find mostly rock music, country or the 80s-early 90s music in these lists. I might use some "contemporary" songs from now and then, but don't bet on it being something other than those particular genres. Also, not always the songs will be in English. If I have a link to a translation for the lyrics, I'll post it. If you like a song I'm using, that's fine. If not, that's fine too, just don't say I didn't warn you.

The songs aren't always on a book's playlist for their lyrics. Sometimes they're there for an instrument or for a feeling I get when hearing them. Also, I won't always mention what scene I used them for. If it's not a spoiler, I'll share the scene, if it is a spoiler, I'll let you guess.

Anyway, I hope you like my playlists :)

This week's book soundtrack is Somebody Up There Hates You by Hollis Seamon. (read my review here)

1. Song For Someone - U2 - I think this song fits Richard and Sylvie perfectly. The entire story actually could be represented by this song.
2. Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side 
3. Birdy - Skinny Love
4. Elton John - Your Song

Liked this list? Want more? Click here for previous Sunday Book Soundtrack posts.

Release Blitz: Breakout by Ann Aguirre

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Release Week Blitz for Ann Aguirre's BREAKOUT! BREAKOUT is an Adult Romantic Science Fiction novel set in the Jax Universe and is a part of Ann Aguirre’s Dred Chronicles, published through Ace. Grab your copy of BREAKOUT today!

Amazon ** Barnes and Noble ** BAM ** Indiebound ** Vroman’s ** Book Depository ** iBooks

BREAKOUT Synopsis:  

All hell is breaking loose in the edge-of-your-seat follow-up to Havoc and Perdition from New York Times bestselling author Ann Aguirre…

The prison ship Perdition has become a post-battle charnel house with only a handful of Dred’s soldiers still standing and now being hunted by Silence’s trained tongueless assassins. Forging an uneasy alliance with mercenary commander Vost—who is their only chance at escape—the Dread Queen will do whatever it takes to end her life sentence on Perdition and keep the survivors alive long enough to cobble together a transport capable of getting them off station.

If Dred and her crew can win the deadly game of cat and mouse, the payoff is not only life but freedom—a prize sweeter than their wildest dreams. Yet the sadistic Silence would rather destroy Perdition than let a single soul slip from her grasp…  

Praise for the Dred Chronicles: "There's so much action, so much adventure, and more than that, it's great writing."—USA Today

"Sirantha Jax fans may be intrigued to see what befell Jael after his ill-considered actions there, and new lead Dred is a strong linchpin for a promising new series."—Publishers Weekly

"Spectacularly and spell-bindingly perfect with high octane action that keeps you on the edge of your seat and a romance that is surprisingly sweet and tender in a harsh and unforgiving setting...This is honestly one of the best SF romance series I have read." —Book Pushers  

And don’t miss the previous books in the Dred Chronicles!
  PERDITION


















HAVOC

















 
About Ann Aguirre:

Ann Aguirre is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author and RITA winner with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. Ann likes books, emo music, action movies, and she writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults and teens, published with Harlequin, Macmillan, and Penguin, among others.      
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Early Book Review: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

Author: Liz Braswell
Series: Twisted Tales #1
Publisher: Disney Press
Release Date: September 1st 2015
My Rating: 3 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Welcome to a new YA series that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways. Each book asks the question: What if one key moment from a familiar Disney film was changed? This dark and daring version of Aladdin twists the original story with the question: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie?

When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from Disney Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


When I first heard of this book, the 5 year old in my did crazy happy dances. What could be better than a Disney movie retelling where the bad guy wins? So I was ecstatic to read this book.

The idea of the book is great. Although not one of my favorite Disney movies, I always loved Genie (Robin Williams, may he rest in peace, was amazing in this role). And although he was twisted and mean, Iago was my favorite pet sidekick, along with Abu. Though Iago was funnier in my eyes.

Because the book was focused on what if Jafar had gotten the lamp, we don't get to see much of Iago or the Genie. We get to see how life for the Street Rats was, how they go from being just the poorest of the poor to being the bravest of the brave. We see a darker Agrabah and I really enjoyed that. Usually the fairytales we get to read/see nowadays are lighter than this book, so it was a good change to see a darker story. There were some details that I didn't see coming, mostly relating to some characters and how they reacted to magic. I also liked some of the stories that were new to the story, like a little bit of Genie's backstory, or the beginning of the book, with Aladdin as a kid. I also liked the little moments that tied the book to the movie.

There were a few things that I was hoping would be different. For instance, there's an insta-love element that I feel could have been avoided. In the movie it was acceptable, because there is  a limited time frame that filmmakers have to put together a good story. But in a book setting, I feel like the love story of Jasmine and Aladdin could have been built a little bit more. I also would've wanted to see a little bit of growth in the characters. There were new characters used in this book, some of which were great and did feel a little changed by the end of the book. But the well-known characters could have had a little bit more growth in them by the end of the story.

A Whole New World was an interesting take on the story of the magic lamp and Aladdin. I've sometimes wanted to know how the story would look like if the bad guy won, so it was good to see a story like this. I'm curious what stories will be retold in the future.

Early Book Review: Get Real by Tellulah Darling

Author: Tellulah Darling
Series: Get Real #1
Publisher: Te Da Media
Release Date: September 26th
My Rating: 4.5 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Get Real is a New Adult romantic comedy with sass, sex, and swoon, set in the world of “Cadabras"–humans with magical powers.

Francesca Bellafiore is a good Jewish girl, living up to family expectations that she use her magic to heal others. Underneath, she’s a wannabe badass with her heart set on becoming a detective and solving magical crimes. But nice girls don't disappoint their moms.

Party boy Rafael Muñoz does everything possible to publicly disappoint his high profile father. Privately, it's a different story. His carefully crafted bad boy reputation masks the fact he’s a master illusionist, forced into solo covert ops. The role is wearing thin and Rafael longs to be part of a team.

When Francesca meets Rafael at a friend's party, she's taken by the sexy stranger. Until he speaks. Beautiful plumage doesn't compensate for spectacular ego. Rafael finds Francesca's sweetness a turn-on. For about five minutes. Judgmental golden girls are more trouble than they're worth. Then a terrified girl with reality warping powers, locked and loaded on their destruction, whisks the pair to Manhattan. Francesca and Rafael are caught in a web of magic, minions, secrets, and enough sexual tension to power NYC. Desperate to prove themselves, their only chance to save the city and survive is to team up, trust each other–and maybe even fall in love.

Provided they don't kill each other first.

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC from Te Da Media and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's no secret that I love Tellulah Darling's books. So it should not surprise anyone that I adored Get Real.

Francesca was such a funny heroine. I loved her sense of duty. I was so sad for her because she was willing to give up her dreams to keep her family traditions alive, but in a way I also understood her and her reasons. I loved her relationship with her friends. I can't wait to read more about her in the next books and see how other characters perceive her.

Rafael....Oh my. He was cute. It was interesting to see things from his perspective too. It also helped me like him a lot, because I feel like I wouldn't have been too fond of him had the story been told only from Francesca's POV. This way I got to understand his reasons and I really felt bad for him.

What was interesting about this book was how the subject of sexual orientation was approached. It didn't give me the impression that it was something out of the norm and it wasn't taboo or something that needs to be kept a secret. Which was great and I really want to read more books like this. It was also refreshing to see how certain relationships are mended in a way, how sometimes we have the wrong idea about a person really close to us and how we can judge them harshly for something they didn't do. Lots of cold truths in there and I really enjoyed that.

At times the story moved a little too fast, but while a bit confusing, it also helped experiencing a little of what Rafael and Francesca were experiencing. I loved the phrases in other languages. It made the characters feel real in a way. It helped that I knew what the phrases meant, I know, but for me it made it real that these characters have a multicultural background.

I did not expect that ending. I really, really want to know what happens next.