Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is a Books I’d Give Different Titles To. These are titles that I don’t think suited the books. Here’s my list:
1. Come Find Me by Megan Miranda
2. The Field Guide to the American Teenager by Ben Philippe
3. Very Rich by Polly Horvath
4. Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi
5. Mooncakes by Wendy Xu, Suzanne Walker
6. Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
7. Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
8. The Dark Beneath the Ice by Amelinda Bérubé
9. Nancy Drew: The Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson
10. Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell
(All photos taken from Goodreads)
What’s your list of Books You’d Give Different Titles To?
Title: Frogcatchers Author: Jeff Lemire Genre: Fiction, Graphic Novel Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada Source: Publisher Format: Hardcover Release Date: September 24, 2019 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Experience a surreal descent into one man’s psychosis in this haunting and chilling graphic novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Roughneck and Sweet Tooth, “the Stephen King of comics” (Maclean’s).
A man wakes up alone in a strange room with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. The padlocked doors and barren lobby reinforce the strangeness of this place. This is—as he reads from an old-fashioned keychain beside his bed—the Edgewater Hotel. Even worse, something ominous seems to be lurking in one of the rooms.
But when he meets a young companion—the only other soul in this vast, enveloping emptiness—his new friend begs him not to unlock the door. There must be something behind it…but what?
A haunted hotel on the edge of reality, an endless bridge spanning an infinite ocean, and a man and a boy looking for a way out. This is the setting for a boundary-pushing, genre-defying new work of fiction by one of comics’ master storytellers.
Review:
This was a beautiful graphic novel.
The story is about a man who is dying. He relives his youth that he spent catching frogs. He goes back to a hotel that he designed in his mind, all while he is lying in his hospital bed, in his final moments.
I liked the way this old man was contrasted by a young boy. It wasn’t clear at the beginning that the boy was the younger version of him. It only became apparent through their shared memories.
I loved the art in this graphic novel, too. It was mostly in black and white sketches, which are Jeff Lemire’s classic style. The images in colour represented the present time. This use of colour reminded me of the Wizard of Oz movie, where only Oz was shown in colour. In this case, it was the opposite, since their real life was in colour and the parts in the old man’s mind were in black and white.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel!
Thank you Simon and Schuster for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Essex County by Jeff Lemire
Sweet Tooth, Volume 1: Out of the Deep Woods by Jeff Lemire
Have you read Frogcatchers? What did you think of it?
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
What I just finished:
This weekend I finished Frogcatchersby Jeff Lemire.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater.
Goodreads Synopsis:
The third installment in the all-new series from the #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!
Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.
The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost.
Title: Mooncakes Author: Wendy Xu, Suzanne Walker Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, LGBT Publisher: Lion Forge Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: October 15, 2019 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.
Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.
One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.
Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.
Review:
This is a beautiful graphic novel.
There was great representation in this story. Nova wears hearing aids, which isn’t a common thing for characters in novels. She’s proud of wearing ones that are brightly colored so they stand out. Her friend Tam is gender neutral and uses the pronoun “they.” It takes a while to get used to reading that pronoun to refer to one person, but it was a great inclusive addition to the book.
I loved the magical elements of the story. Nova reminded me of Sabrina the Teenage Witch because she lived with her two grandmas, and Sabrina lived with her two aunts. There were also demons, werewolves, and an evil witch. This was an exciting magical story.
I really enjoyed this story!
Thank you Lion Forge for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill
Have you read Mooncakes? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
I received three books from Penguin Random House Canada:
Well Met by Jen DeLuca
Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore
Where the Light Enters by Sara Donati
I was approved for six books on NetGalley from Simon and Schuster Canada:
Chosen (Slayer #2) by Kiersten White
The Tenant by Katrine Engberg
Together We Caught Fire by Eva V. Gibson
Heart of Flames (Crown of Feathers #2) by Nicki Pau Preto
Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon
Follow Me by Kathleen Barber
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Disney Book Group:
Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Skyscape:
The Electric Heir (Feverwake #2) by Victoria Lee
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada, Simon and Schuster Canada, Disney Book Group, and Skycape for these books!
Title: Jackpot Author: Nic Stone Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Publisher: Crown Books Source: Publisher Format: Paperback Release Date: October 15, 2019 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Dear Martin–which Angie Thomas, the bestselling author of The Hate U Give, called “a must read”–comes a pitch-perfect romance that examines class, privilege, and how a stroke of good luck can change an entire life.
Meet Rico: high school senior and afternoon-shift cashier at the Gas ‘n’ Go, who after school and work races home to take care of her younger brother. Every. Single. Day. When Rico sells a jackpot-winning lotto ticket, she thinks maybe her luck will finally change, but only if she–with some assistance from her popular and wildly rich classmate Zan–can find the ticket holder who hasn’t claimed the prize. But what happens when have and have-nots collide? Will this investigative duo unite…or divide?
Nic Stone, the New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martinand Odd One Out, creates two unforgettable characters in one hard-hitting story about class, money–both too little and too much–and how you make your own luck in the world.
Review:
This book was heartbreaking and beautiful.
There was so much tension throughout the story. I kept holding my breath, waiting for Rico to find the ticket. I hoped she hoped she would find it every step of the way. There was the added tension of Rico’s family’s hardships. Their finances were stuck in a downward spiral, and the only way out appeared to be the lottery jackpot.
There were some lighter parts of the story too. The main narrative was narrated by Rico, but there were brief passages narrated by inanimate objects, such as hundred dollar bills or a wood stove. These little interludes were a funny break from the serious story.
This is another great book from Nic Stone! I loved it!
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“Alexa Monroe walked into the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco that Thursday night wearing her favorite red heels, feeling jittery from coffee, and carrying a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne in her purse. She took our her phone to text her sister, Olivia, upstairs in one of the guest rooms.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory.
Goodreads synopsis:
A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance in a fun and flirty debut novel.
Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn’t normally do. But there’s something about Drew Nichols that’s too hard to resist.
On the eve of his ex’s wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend…
After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she’s the mayor’s chief of staff. Too bad they can’t stop thinking about the other…
They’re just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century–or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want…
Have you read The Wedding Date? What did you think of it?
Jill's Book Blog 