Ramblings and the Week to Come 30MAR14

Update:
Whoa-another post already! I'm still working on getting back into blogging but thought I could at least put up another "checking in" post. Yesterday I posted my first review in a while (Evertrue by Brodi Ashton) and boy was it hard to get back in the groove. I really struggled to form sentences and it's a bit shorter than I expected it to be. Oh well-I know that I am forever a work in progress...

Fun, Fun, Fun:
Last month, the gals at Rather Be Reading notified me that I was featured in the blurbs for Tiffany Schmidt's Send Me a Sign in paperback. I knew I'd want a copy but I only finally got around to buying one and snapped a picture to share below. I've never seen my pseudonym used before for praising a book. For my full thoughts, be sure to check out my review!

What I've Been Reading:
I started Marissa Meyer's Cress and am working my way through this behemoth. I am also reading Maximize Your Potential edited by Jocelyn K Glei, which is really speaking to me as I think about my career aspirations. I doubt that I'll be reviewing it as I usually struggle to write coherently about non-fiction but at least I'm getting some reading done. I was at the library today and also picked up the latest Rhys Bowen mystery and some Mercedes Lackey books. I think I partly overwhelmed myself with too many e-ARCs. I loved seeing them accumulate on my reader but then it was just too much. Expect to see far fewer in general moving forward as I attempt to regain my equilibrium.

Week to Come:
As many as three reviews if I get my act together so we'll see :)

What have you been reading?

Evertrue

by Brodi Ashton
3/5 stars
Balzer + Bray, 2014
355 pages
YA Paranormal

Source: Library

I'll admit that I didn't start this book in the best mood, being somewhat mired in a blogging/reading/real-life funk. However I was sure this would be just the book to pull me out of that due to how much I enjoyed its predecessors Everneath and Everbound. However as you can see from my rating, such was not the case. It's not that the book left me upset or wanting to throw it against the wall (which has been the case with some conclusions to trilogies); it just seemed to fizzle out.

How do I mean? Whereas I found the plotting engaging in the previous books, here everything seemed to move at a glacial pace. Though Nikki and Jack basically retain their characters, with Jack pumped up more aggressively than before due to events in book two, Cole has an abrupt personality change that completely threw off the tone of the book to me. While I was never a fan of Cole (and kind of wanted to throw book two against the wall after what he did), I felt he was really done a disservice by the events of this book. I've seen some fans of his decry this direction so I don't feel the need to add my voice to that chorus but when even a Jack fan finds Cole's treatment egregious...

Something I did really like was Nikki and Jack's plotting to destroy the Everneath. They narrow it down to three steps, three incredibly difficult steps, and spend much of the book attempting to discover if these three things can be accomplished before mounting an effort. Their explorations into these different facets of the Everneath were fascinating even though I still struggled sometimes with picturing everything-this has remained constant throughout all three books.

Overall: A bit of a disappointing conclusion to me-whatever initial fascination this series held wore off early on in this book and I never recaptured that feeling to my disappointment :( I'm glad I completed the trilogy for sure but I'm not sure it was entirely worth the wait.

Where has Bookworm1858 been?

Hi all! I know it's been a long time (in fact this is the first post I've made in March!) There are two main reasons for this:
1. My work stuff continues to be crazy. It was supposed to die down after March 1 but we're pushing ahead through April 1. Then everything is supposed to become more settled-I'll believe it when I see it!
2. Some personal things have happened as well-not anything I want to discuss with the whole world but very impactful on me.

Consequently I haven't had much free time so I haven't read much-I think I've read three books this entire month, all of which I do plan to review...eventually. When I do have free time, I have tended to either play Freecell or stare at a wall. It's been tough for me but even just writing this post has me more excited about giving blogging more time. I have still been reading posts and comments for me though I haven't commented very much.

I thank everyone who has reached out to me-it means so much to me! I am *hoping *to get up a review later this week and then two more next week plus another check-in post. I also want to stop by your posts and get caught up on your life. I miss you all and I'm sorry I haven't been as present as I've been in the past.

Much love,

Waiting on Wednesday: Don't Call Me Baby

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

Got another contemporary title for y'all here, one that deals with something very of our time:

Don't Call Me Baby by Gwendolyn Heasley

Published by HarperTeen

Releases April 22, 2014

Goodreads | IndieBound | Barnes and Noble | Amazon

All her life, Imogene has been known as the girl on THAT blog.

Imogene's mother has been writing an incredibly embarrassing, and incredibly popular, blog about her since before she was born. Hundreds of thousands of perfect strangers knew when Imogene had her first period. Imogene's crush saw her "before and after" orthodontia photos. But Imogene is fifteen now, and her mother is still blogging about her, in gruesome detail, against her will.

When a mandatory school project compels Imogene to start her own blog, Imogene is reluctant to expose even more of her life online...until she realizes that the project is the opportunity she's been waiting for to tell the truth about her life under the virtual microscope and to define herself for the first time.

Don't Call Me Baby is a sharply observed and irrepressibly charming story about mothers and daughters, best friends and first crushes, and the surface-level identities we show the world online and the truth you can see only in real life.

I remember seeing Heasley's debut Where I Belong but never getting a chance to read it so this will end up being my first exposure to her writing. Of course, I have a longtime love of contemporary stories but the mother/daughter relationship and technology angle are really appealing to me from the synopsis above. Nowadays this is how a lot of people are growing up! I'm super grateful that my mom took loads of pictures of me and is filled with stories about my childhood but I'm even more grateful that they haven't been shared online with strangers because I would find that super embarrassing.

Does this sound interesting to you? I was able to download a copy from Edelweiss and will be publishing a review closer to the release date so we can discuss :)

Ramblings and the Week to Come 23FEB14

Softball:
This will probably be a pretty short ramblings but I have exciting news to report. Yes, you guessed it: we won our first softball game. Though I did not score any runs (or even get on base), I did catch the ball at 2B for an out. I've never caught the ball in that position and it was a huge triumph for me. The rest of the team played amazing as you might guess, leading to a final score of 9-1. I hope we continue to play strong defensively as that is what really won the night for us.

Blogging:
Meanwhile I seem to have gotten some of my mojo back. I'm much more excited about reading and I can see the end of the tunnel in regards to my crazy work schedule. Next week, I expect to feel much more relaxed. I'm still a bit behind in my reading goal but I don't fear that I will never catch up. I think that March and the rest of the year will have plenty of opportunities to do so. Plus I've still managed to keep this blog active even in my toughest days so that's a blessing. I am a bit behind on commenting but I've managed to peek out a bit at what everyone else has going on.

Week to Come:
The Shadow Prince by Bree Despain-this is interesting so far. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to finish but hopefully I will be able to post something this week. It's up in the air though with work and other commitments taking my attention.

I do have a Waiting on Wednesday post scheduled though so you can see what other titles I have on my mind.

The Week in Rewind: Early reviews of some anticipated YA titles
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski *recommended*
Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas
Death Sworn by Leah Cypess
Panic by Lauren Oliver

 Sharing the cover again because I highly recommend this book and because it's super pretty :)

What is everyone else up to? How is your reading going?

ARC Review: Panic

by Lauren Oliver
3/5 stars
Harper, 2014
416 pages
YA Contemporary Suspense
Scheduled to release March 4

Source: Received an e-ARC from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Another tricky review to write. This was a flowing read that kept me engaged but didn't demand my attention when I had to put it down. I think I spent one whole day not reading it and didn't mind. So that gives you some insight into how I felt. When I love a book, I can barely put it down and I push other things in my life aside just to luxuriate in the world a little bit longer. And that was just not the case here.

In this book, we have the alternating perspectives of Heather and Dodge, two recent high school graduates in the town of Carp who embark on the game Panic, a tradition for the summer after high school. The high stakes jackpot draws the attention of all but the increasing danger also attracts adult attention to prevent the tragedies of previous years. Still determined youngsters with few prospects are dogged and will see the game through to the bitter end.

I guess there were several problems for me with this book, which can be summed up simply: characters, plot, and the end. These are all pretty big problems to have with a book so I think you can see why I was less than impressed.

First are the characters. Heather and Dodge are not particularly close but as participants in Panic (and with him having a crush on her best friend Natalie), their paths soon cross. I didn't have any specific problems with either but we never clicked. I always felt very distanced even though both have reasons for me to feel sympathetic toward them. Even now as I write, I have no strong opinions about them. They're practically ciphers to me. If you've read my blog for a while, you may know that I tend to have a very strong reaction to depictions of the relationship between sisters. So when I tell you that Heather is a protective older sister and it still didn't register with me may give you some insight into how little I cared for these characters.

The second element is the plot. I have no problem with this game of Panic overtaking the young people of this small town. But I do wonder about the adults that so many didn't seem to care what was going on despite tragedies in previous years and the fact that knowledge about it seemed to be disseminated pretty easily. I feel like more adults could have stepped in to stop the game.

Now don't worry, I'm not going to spoil the end, or at least I hope not. I thought the book was building to a big explosive finish but I thought it ended more with a whimper. Am I glad there was some optimism to end since there are many down moments in the book? Yes but it wasn't very exciting nor was it quite what I was expecting.

So that's how I feel about Panic-what about you? Have you read this yet? Are you looking forward to the newest release from Oliver (keep in mind I did not like her Delirium trilogy so this might still please fans of that series.)

ARC Review: Death Sworn

by Leah Cypess
3.5/5 stars
Greenwillow Books, 2014
352 pages
YA Fantasy
Scheduled to release March 4

Source: Received an e-ARC through Edelweiss from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a hard review for me to write because I liked this book but I didn't love it. I think there are a lot of cool ideas played with here and I read it pretty easily but I'm not left dying for the second book and I don't feel motivated to make people in my real life read it (the sure sign of a winner.)

The basic concept of this book is super cool. Ileni, the main character, is a sorceress whose power is diminishing and is basically sent as a sacrificial lamb to an underground tavern of assassins. She fulfills a treaty between their people, attempts to minimize the knowledge of magic that the assassins gain, and can investigate the death of the previous two wizards sent there. BUT, it's more complicated than that (isn't it always?) as Ileni comes to question her very upbringing, seeing the different philosophy of the assassins and how they are working to slowly chip away at an oppressive empire.

How can I describe Ileni? She's tough for sure with extensive reserves of inner strength. Her life has been dedicated toward increasingly complex magic but as she loses that ability, she loses the very essence of herself and she's not entirely sure what to do now. She's also flustered by a certain handsome assassin and his life, based around the Master's long-term plan and his ease at always facing death. She's clever, coming up with different strategies to compensate for her loss of magic and she's not afraid to ask questions as necessary. But she was a little tough to connect with for me-I don't know that I've ever had such a great talent as hers and thus have never had to lose such a thing. The other characters have some defining characteristics but do not receive the same definition.

I liked seeing the plot come together as answers were given while still setting up tension for the second concluding book in this duet. But I'm just feeling overall lackluster about it. You should give it a try if you've liked Cypess' writing before and if you want some fantasy in your life.