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!
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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.