Random Musings of a Bibliophile

It is time for the Quarterly Review Round-Up where I talk about the best of the best, the one's I couldn't finish, and the adult novels I'm reading that I don't review here. Plus there's a GIVEAWAY. The DNFs (links to my reasons why-if I shared them-on Goodreads): Flirting with Scandal  by Chanel Cleeton Adult Books (links to reviews on Goodreads): Act Like It   by Lucy Parker (contemporary romance) After the Kiss by Lauren Layne (contemporary romance) Because of Miss Bridgerton   by Julia Quinn (historical romance) Chase Me  by Laura Florand (contemporary romance) Chasing Jillian  by Julie Brannagh (contemporary romance) Earth Bound  by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner (historical romance-5 STARS! this is now my FAVORITE romance novel of all time) The Forbidden Rose   by Joanna Bourne (historical romance) The Girls at the Kingfisher Club  by Genevieve Valentine (historical) Her Cowboy Rival  by Genevieve Turner (contemp...

Top Ten Tuesday  is a Meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish This Week's TTT Topic: Freebie (I chose Books Set in Summer or with a Summery Feel.)   What books that take place in summer do you love?

I always enjoy books by Sarah Weeks. She writes heartfelt, fun, quick MG reads. They are universally easy to book talk and sell. Whenever she has a new book out, I try to read it as soon as possible. I was even more excited by Save Me a Seat  due to its synopsis and format. Sarah Weeks wrote this book with Gita Varadarajan and it follows two boys in their first week of fifth grade. Ravi is newly arrived in America from India. He is excited about starting a new school. He was at the top of his class in India and an excellent cricket player. He knows he will impress all of his new classmates and teachers. He will begin to make friends and things will be wonderful. Things do not go as Ravi planned however. His teacher implies he may need help with English even though he speaks English just fine. His Math process is completely different. The one person he thought would be his friend turns on him. Joe is not exited about starting school. After all, he's gone to this school since Kin...

Here are some shorter musings on recent reads. As Brave as You  by Jason Reynolds This is a quiet book about that centers on complicated family dynamics. It is the second book I've read this year where the protagonist spends the summer with grandparents they haven't met so that the parents can try and work on their marriage. (The other is Some Kind of Happiness .) As Brave as You is an excellent addition for any school or classroom library and a good book to recommend to kids looking for a summer read that truly feels like summer. It is not quite as good as Reynolds YA books, and it is also longer. I can not figure out why it needed to be this long either. How to (Almost) Ruin Your Summer  by Taryn Sounders A cute, fun story about summer camp and branching out into things that challenge you. I think MG readers will laugh at a lot of the scenarios that arise. I felt the characterization was a little flat and the character's actions predictable, but most of the targ...

Top Ten Tuesday  is a Meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish This Week's TTT Topic: Favorite Reads of First Half of 2016 (Links are to my reviews.) The MG: Secrets of the Dragon Tomb  by Patrick Samphire Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand Unidentified Suburban Object  by Mike Jung The YA: Burn Baby Burn  by Meg Medina Exit, Pursued by a Bear  by E.K. Johnston A Tangle of Gold  by Jaclyn Moriary When I Was the Greatest  by Jason Reynolds   The Adult:  Earth Bound by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner Masks and Shadows  by Stephanie Burgis Sleeping with her Enemy  by Jenny Holiday 

Emma Shevah's Dream on Amber  was a gem of a book I discovered as a Round One Cybils panelist for MG Realistic fiction last year. It quickly became one of my favorite MG reads of the year. As such, I was excited to get to read her 2016 release, Dara Palmer's Major Drama , early. Dara Palmer has one goal in life: She is going to be a famous actress. A superstar. She will live in Hollywood and everyone will know her name. For now, she is a school girl in England who can't seem to get a part in any of the school plays. It is an outrage. She and her best friend are clearly so much more talented than all of the people who are given starring roles. Aren't they? But the drama teacher says Dara needs work and would benefit from her Drama Class. Dara is horrified, but decides to give it a try. This comes at the same time Dara is beginning to think more about her life in Cambodia before her adoption. She notices that there are no famous actresses that look like her. It feels li...

Top Ten Tuesday  is a Meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish This Week's TTT Topic: Most Anticipated Releases for Second Half of 2016 The Left Handed Fate  by Kate Milford (August 23) Rose &Thorn  by Sarah Prineas (September 13th) Crosstalk  by Connie Willis (September 20) Bright Smoke, Cold Fire  by Rosamund Hodge (September 27) A Little Taste of Poison  by R.J. Anderson (September 27) Foxheart   by Claire Legrand (October 4)  When the Sea Turned to Silver  by Grace Lin (October 4) Spindle  by E. K. Johnston (December 6) What books are you looking forward to in the last half of the year? 

Top Ten Tuesday  is a Meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish This Week's TTT Topic: Reasons I Love X X= The Queen's Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner This is my favorite series containing two of my top ten favorite books and my favorite character of all time. I have never written reviews of these on the blog because sometimes something just means too much to put it coherently in to words, but this format allows me to sort of explain myself without having to find the perfect words for each aspect of all four books. 1. Irene Attolia-The titular character of the second novel in the series, Attolia, is rare for me to find in a book. I don't often get heroines who see the world and interact with it as I do, but she does. (I'm fairly certain if she took the test, her personality type would be INTJ.) I know a lot of people who read these books don't like her (or her actions in the infamous chapter three of the second book), but from my first reading of...

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill of  Breaking the Spine , that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. When the mysterious fog of the Ruining crept over the world, the living died and the dead rose. Only the walled city of Viyara was left untouched. The heirs of the city’s most powerful—and warring—families, Mahyanai Romeo and Juliet Catresou share a love deeper than duty, honor, even life itself. But the magic laid on Juliet at birth compels her to punish the enemies of her clan—and Romeo has just killed her cousin Tybalt. Which means he must die. Paris Catresou has always wanted to serve his family by guarding Juliet. But when his ward tries to escape her fate, magic goes terribly wrong—killing her and leaving Paris bound to Romeo. If he wants to discover the truth of what happened, Paris must delve deep into the city, ally with his worst enemy . . . and perhaps turn against his own clan. Mahyanai Runajo just wants...