Reading Recap and Plans for 2016

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The last two weeks of 2015 flew past me without a moment for blogging, and I’m only now beginning to catch up on the massive list of things I want to do around here. There are books to read, author interviews to post, exciting blog tours coming up, and of course, more books than I could possibly hope to read!

Coming Soon: Books I’ve Read to Review

To start, here are the books I have read but haven’t posted reviews for yet:

read_to_reviewI’m super excited about posting my review of Eleanor & Park. Rainbow Rowell is an author I’ve been meaning to read for a while. I had started Fangirl last summer, but just didn’t get into it. In E&P, she had me at the first line. Wowza. And I felt like I held my breath until the last line. If you haven’t looked at the fan art for the story, it’s definitely worth checking out, too. There are some really clever/cute images.

I also LOVED Paradox of Vertical Flight. I read it after being selected for a blog tour to promote Ostrovsi’s sophomore novel Away We Go. After the amazing ride that was his debut, I can’t wait to read his next. (Also… he’ll be here on TSS in the form of an author interview! *insert hyperventilating and hoarse star-struck sputtering*)

So all those lovely titles will be reviewed here in the next couple of weeks as well as a couple of shorter pieces. I recently read both a short story (“Reprieve” by Tessa Elwood, author of Inherit the Stars) and a novella (Never Never part 1 by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher) that I thought deserved a post. So those will be appearing as well.

But, Wait. There’s More! (Books I Meant to Read Last Year)

Curious about what’s coming after that? In taking stock of my 2015 To Read List, I noticed some books I wasn’t able to fit in. I haven’t accepted many new reviews for Jan-March. My plan is to work back through that list and catch up on those first. Here’s the list:

Every Blogger Has a Mammoth TBR List. This is (part of) Mine…

I’ve also got quite a towering stack of books sitting on shelves and next to my bed that I need to read. Nightingale’s Nest, Shouldn’t You Be In School, Across a Star-Swept Sea, All the Bright Places, Belzhar, and Feuds are among those. Also worth noting (translation: can’t believe I didn’t list these on my TBR list) are Brown Girl Dreaming, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Isle of the Lost, and Embers in the Ashes. Here’s the full stack:

And those are only the actual physical copies of books that I have. Doesn’t include the lists of ebooks filling up my tablet. More reading for me! So it’s already shaping up to be a busy season for reading in my house. My daughter is most excited about the Descendants book and the finale to the Lemony Snicket series All the Wrong Questions.

I also accumulated several really cool nonfiction books that I’m eager to crack open. I’ll save those for another post, though.

How about you?

So how about you? What are you reading now? What did you plan to read last year that you haven’t managed to sit down with yet?

Review: Protector by Jennifer Tubbiolo

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

Protector (The Narthex Academy Series, Book 3)
Jennifer L. Tubbiolo
Relevant Pages Press

Amazon | Goodreads

The last thing Asher Haynes expects is to be drawn into another battle for his life. But when servants of the Dark Prince show up in Charleston looking for a powerful artifact, Asher finds himself caught in the center of the conflict. If the Dark Prince finds the artifact and his servants use it, they will unlock terrible power. Asher and the Seer Team are the only ones who can stop them.

I think my favorite thing about this story was the way Tubbiolo set up the story framework—the Seer Team and Dark Prince and the whole conflict that translated really well in terms of being a Christian parallel. I liked that it felt paranormal but true to its roots at the same time, if that makes sense. I’ve read Christian fantasy that somehow felt contrived or like the Christian elements were just laid on top of an existing fantasy landscape. In this story, the elements felt really well integrated with each other.

One thing that I struggled with was that the narrative sometimes switched from present to past tense and back. It didn’t seem consistent, and my internal editor kept wanting to flag each change, so it really disrupted my ability to stay in the story.

I enjoyed Asher as a narrator and liked the rest of the cast of characters. The story felt like its own complete tale while also raising enough unanswered question to create some curiosity about the other books in the series. Fans of Lisa Bergren and Lynn Rush will probably find Jennifer Tubbiolo to their liking.

Language Content
No profanity or crude language.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The story centers around an artifact called the matteh, or “rod of Moshe.” (From the Biblical story of Moses, the staff he used to challenge Pharoah and lead the Israelites to freedom.) Men who represent an ancient Egyptian god want the staff as part of a ritual that will grant them great power from the Dark Prince (Satan). Asher and his friends are part of the Seer Team, a group who believe in Elohim (God) and are aided by God-given supernatural gifts (prophecy, dreams, etc) as well as angelic warriors.

Violence
Some battle violence. Nothing gory.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Life at the Speed of Us by Heather Sappenfield

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Life at the Speed of Us
Heather Sappenfield
Flux

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

After the car accident that takes her mother’s life, Sovern stops talking. She tries to lose herself in dating the boy she shouldn’t, in the rush of speeding downhill on a snowboard. But when another accident disconnects Sovern from even more of her life, she embarks on a quest outside time with only a strangely familiar boy who doesn’t speak her language as a guide.

There were things about this book that I liked. I thought it was cool that Sappenfield used Sovern’s dyslexia throughout the story. She really hammered home the idea that just because Sovern didn’t recognize letters as they were written did not mean she was by any means less intelligent. I liked the scenes in the Ute tribe.

In the scene where Sovern leaves the tribe behind to go home, I had a really hard time following what happened. It’s possible that it’s an issue resolved between the galley version that I read and the final published version. Sometimes I had a hard time connecting with Sovern’s character. The bad boy boyfriend thing seemed a little cliché. I liked that he turned out to be more than that, but I wanted the revelation of who he really is to involve him more, to give me reasons to invest in him more.

I’m going to break a cardinal rule and make a comparison between this book and a BIG book, which I really cringe to do, but hear me out. I think if you like the type of story that is Slaughterhouse Five, you might enjoy this book. I’m not comparing the quality of the writing in one versus the other, but more the somewhat disjointed, go where the story goes feeling that I had in reading Vonnegut’s novel. If you liked I Crawl Through It for the story, not the writing style, you might also enjoy this book.

The style of the narrative is a lot more straightforward and simple than the books I listed.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used moderately.

Sexual Content
Sovern and her boyfriend Gage share cigarettes and kisses together, but she doesn’t have sex with him. Sovern and a boy from the Ute tribe are treated as a married couple after rumors that they’ve slept together. She holds back from giving herself to him, though, unsure whether they can remain together.

Spiritual Content
The Ute believe that a bear chooses someone who is gifted with an ability to travel to other places. Sovern becomes interested in the ideas about the multiverse and theorizes ways to reach other universes.

Violence
Soldiers come to destroy the Ute village. Two tribe members fight them, one is fatally injured. Sovern is injured in a snowboarding accident and then speared by porcupine quills.

Drug Content
Sovern mentions that she and Gage smoke marijuana together.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Velvet by Temple West

Book Review and Content, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Velvet
Temple West
Swoon Reads

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

After Caitlyn’s mom dies, she moves in with her aunt and uncle to a rural mountainside far from home. Discouraged and alone, Caitlyn wanders in the woods. Then a supernatural tornado-like thing nearly swallows her up. The boy who saves her turns out to be much more than the dark and swoony neighbor all the local girls wish they could get to know better.

But Adrian knows he’s placed Caitlyn in mortal danger. He is a vampire and his father, a demon (no, seriously,) wants to kill her. So the only way to protect her is to pretty much be with her constantly and, well, pose as her boyfriend, of course. Soon Caitlyn is the envy of every girl in school. But being Adrian’s pseudo-girlfriend comes with a high price. And the last thing she should do is fall in love with him.

When I picked up this book, I worried it would be sort of like a weird Twilight retelling. It is in the sense that he’s a vampire, she’s just a girl, and their star-crossed love would be frowned on by all if the truth came out. But West takes a different spin on vampire lore. Rather than vampires being created by bites from other vampires, they are the children of demons and human women. Yeah, it’s dark.

While I liked the twist on the vampire parts, other parts of the story were really a stretch to me, especially where it came to the romance. Things happened more than once that seemed contrived or almost silly rather than romantic. For the most part, I liked Adrian’s character. I felt like Caitlyn was a little tough to get into. She’s angry and distant in the wake of her mom’s death, but it was hard to really see past those feelings into the hurt and loneliness that would have made her easier to connect with.

The ending also felt like it went beyond setting a hook for the next story into introducing several ideas that didn’t connect with the current tale. I like having something to look forward to, but it felt like a lot of things just got thrown in there at the end that could have maybe been foreshadowed earlier in the story or just left out until book two.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used moderately.

Sexual Content
Caitlin’s girl friends tease her about whether or not she’s having sex with her boyfriend. They conspire to purchase lingerie for her as a Christmas present. Caitlin is embarrassed and conflicted about whether or not to show off her gift to her man. She and Adrian begin spending nights together after her nightmares grow worse. In pajamas, they nestle together in her tiny single bed. In one scene they strip to underwear and shower together. Afterward, they kiss and tumble around in his bed together (still in shower-soaked underpants) before falling asleep.

Adrian worries that his father may try to kill or impregnate Caitlyn and warns her to be on the lookout for strange men who may harm or attempt to seduce her. She gets in a dangerous situation with one man who tries to seduce her, but he doesn’t succeed.

Spiritual Content
Adrian is a vampire. Unlike other traditional tales of vampires, in this story, vampires are created when a demon and a human woman have a child together. The woman is killed at the birth of the child. The demon may try to take the child back to Hell or the vampire culture, who oppose demons, may try to raise the child among their numbers. There’s some hint that Caitlin may have some larger role to play in the battle between demons and vampires.

Violence
Caitlin suffers from violent nightmares. They get pretty gory. Adrian fights a demon in a battle that gets pretty intense. Caitlyn and Adrian also discuss how vampires keep “fed” using bags of human blood.

Drug Content
Caitlyn and her friends go to a party at which they drink alcohol.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

This Is Where It Ends
Marieke Nijkamp
Publisher

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

It begins with the closing of the principal’s speech at Opportunity High. Confusion rustles through the auditorium as students discover the locked doors. Then one door opens, and a boy enters. A boy with a gun.

Four alternating viewpoints, each a student with a connection to the shooter, relate this tense, heartbreaking tale about a community ripped apart by violence. The story spans fifty-four minutes.

This Is Where It Ends includes a diverse body of characters across lines of race, religion, and sexual preference. As a YA reader and reviewer, I’ve commented before that I wish there were more stories featuring Muslim characters in which they or their family members aren’t portrayed as terrorists. I think especially right now, we need those voices. We need those stories. Fareed was probably my favorite character. He was kind, smart, patient, and loyal, but he got things done, too. I loved that he wasn’t defeated by other people’s prejudices.

I really liked that each chapter began with a timestamp. The story unfolds so rapidly, and there’s a lot of chaos and panic, and that minute-by-minute unraveling of the timeline kept things feeling critical. I feel like that high-tension plot is the real strength of the story.

In reading the different points-of-view, I often felt like I wasn’t getting as deep as I wanted to, especially early on in the story. It’s a really tough balance to strike to give enough slow insight into the characters versus keeping the narrative moving to avoid letting the tension slack off, so I think it could just be that I’m used to those slower-paced, more cerebral narratives, or prefer them.

There’s a heroic moment in which one character basically gives their life for another character. I love that gesture and how brave it was, but I felt like because of how it unfolded in the plot, it didn’t have to happen and was kind of just this little pause for, “okay, then this person we like dies, and moving on again.” I wanted it to mean more. However, the truth is, that in situations like this, there often isn’t a big moment that means something for each casualty, you know? I think because of who this character is, I expected it to mean more.

There’s never a good time to read a tragic story, but it is always the right time to be reminded of courage.

It is early December as I write this review. It’s always difficult to review a story about a situation like this in the wake of a real life event like what happened in San Bernandino. I was reading Black Helicopters, a story about a terrorist bombing, when the bombing happened in Boston in 2013. I’ve had This Is Where It Ends in my review queue for some time, but there hasn’t seemed a good time to read it.

I can only say that we need to be reminded that people of good heart, of moral courage come from every background, despite what other voices and what our own fears would have us believe. We need to hold on to the truth that we are all created equal, all worthy of love, all valuable. And Marieke Nijkamp’s brave story, though cloaked in the senseless tragedy of a school shooting, reminds us of these critically important beliefs.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
We learn that a girl was raped, but no details about the incident. Two girls have a romantic relationship. They hold hands and kiss.

Spiritual Content
Sylvia prays occasionally through the story, and remembers sharing in spiritual traditions of her Mexican family. Fareed whispers prayers as well (he is a Muslim.) At the end of the story, survivors gather at a candlelight vigil and pray according to their faiths.

Violence
A teenage boy shoots students, teachers and staff at his high school. One person is killed by asphyxiation. An abusive man beats his children, leaving them bruised. Some of these scenes are extremely violent and some of the descriptions quite graphic. I’d say this one isn’t for the faint of heart or the very sensitive.

Drug Content
Autumn and Tyler’s dad is an abusive alcoholic.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Faithgirlz Best Hair Book Ever!

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Nonfiction, , , ,

Best Hair Book Ever!
Faithgirlz (Kelsey Haywood)
Zondervan

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Best Hair Book Ever! is packed with tips on classic and new hairstyles as well as recommendations for hair care and styling products. Each section shows full-color pictures of various styles and steps that are easy to follow. The book also contains how-to instructions for making hair accessories and DIY hair products. The earlier pages recommend different hair styles for different face shapes and some helpful information on how to blow dry while minimizing heat damage.

Many of the styles are simple enough that an older child can manage them solo. My daughter is ten and has devoured this book almost from the moment I brought it home. She has tried out several of the styles on her own with great success. She also put together a list of hair products she’d like to keep in her bathroom to make it easier to style her hair.

Overall I’ve been impressed with this book. The styles are elegant and fun and incorporate a wide range of simple techniques for a variety of hair types. It’s currently my daughter’s go-to volume for hair ideas and advice.

Disclosure of Material Connection

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”