Waiting On Wednesday #17

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Accidental Reader and it features upcoming book releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

We can't wait to put our hands on:

Expected Publication: January 6th 2015

Publisher: Gallery Books Pages: 208

From NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY bestselling author Alice Clayton, known for her “deliciously addictive” (The Book Vixen) novels, this Cocktail series novella reunites readers with Caroline and Simon from the wildly successful Wallbanger.

Simon and Caroline are back for another round of baking, banging, and big life changes. Settling in, but never settling down, Caroline has finally struck a balance between the professional and the personal. As one of the top interior designers in San Francisco, she travels all over Northern California between nook time with Simon.

Perpetual globetrotter Simon has cut his frequent flyer miles in half over the last year, preferring to balance his professional and personal life, as well.

The next step in their lives seems preordained—toasts, veils, and the aisle of rose petals. But when an accident on a photo shoot in Southeast Asia brings Caroline the most terrifying phone call she could ever imagine, she has to ask whether “till death do us part” is a more realistic prospect than faces most couples.

Challenge #4: Agatha Christie's Miss Marple

Agatha Christie's books were one of the first mystery books I ever read, and even today they remain close to my heart because they are amazing. The characters are beautiful and there is always some humor in their pages. Miss Marple remains one of my favorite mystery characters, thus this year I plan on reading all of the 12 books dedicated to her. You can find the list in the link below. You can find this challenge under our Challenges tab on our menu above. All progress will be posted here.

Miss Marple Series

Waiting On Wednesday #16

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Accidental Reader and it features upcoming book releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

We can't wait to put our hands on:

Expected Publication: January 13th 2015

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Adults

Pages: 336

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

2015 Book Challenge #3: The Jessica Sorensen Project

This year I read two books by Jessica Sorensen and I intasntly fell in love. I loved the writing, the realistic characters and of course the plot, the way her stories came to be. For 2015 I plan to read all of her series and yes it is not a challenge, more like a proect because it can take a lot more than a year to read all her books. 

These are her series and books I intent to read:

1. The Coincidence Series
2. Unbeautiful Series
3. The Secret Series
4. Nova Series
5. Sins Series
6. Unraveling You 
7. Fateful Alure
8. Shattered Promises
9. Death Collectors X 

Waiting on Wednesday #15

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Accidental Reader and it features upcoming book releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

We can't wait to put our hands on:

Expected Publication: January 27th 2015

Publisher: Viking Juvenile Pages:288 

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss. 

2015 Book Challenge #2: Paperbackville Pop.50

Bookstores are in decline, Amazon and ebooks in general on the other side are on the rise. Reading the Bookshop Book made me realize that actual books and bookstores were and are and hopefully will continue to be an important part of my life. So, because of this book I was inspired to read at least 50 paperback or hardback books this year out of my goal of 150 all bought from my local bookstore.

You can participate by doing the same and emailing your progress at theaccidentalreader@hotmail.com or by commenting below. There is only one rule and that is to read as many actual books as possible. No ebooks. Because we can all help our local bookstores. Progress will be posted here and also you will be able to find this post under the Challenges tab on our menu.

2015 Book Challenge #1 : The Peculiar Case of The Unfinished Series

This challenge is dedicated to all those who start new series but are unable to finish them. For 2015 one of my challenges will be exactly that: Finish the series that I left hanging from the year before and the year before that. 

The rules are simple: Just read the remaining books in the series you never finished (with or without the novellas), whatever format you like. You can comment below your progress or email it under the title challenge at: theaccidentalreader@hotmail.com

You can find our unfinished series under the Book Series Archive tab on our menu. Completed series will be displayed here. You can also find this post under the Challenges tab on our menu bar.

Book Review: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Author: Gillian Flynn
Release Date: June 10th 2010
Publisher: Phoenix
Pages: 424
Format: Paperback
Buy on: Waterstones, Barnes and Noble
Add to: Goodreads, Leafmarks

Rating: 5 stars

Libby Day was just seven years old when her evidence put her fifteen-year-old brother behind bars.

Since then, she had been drifting. But when she is contacted by a group who are convinced of Ben's innocence, Libby starts to ask questions she never dared to before. Was the voice she heard her brother's? Ben was a misfit in their small town, but was he capable of murder? Are there secrets to uncover at the family farm or is Libby deluding herself because she wants her brother back?

She begins to realise that everyone in her family had something to hide that day... especially Ben. Now, twenty-four years later, the truth is going to be even harder to find.

Who did massacre the Day family? 

My Thoughts:

Dark Places is one of those books that linger in your brain for a while. You keep thinking about it again and again until your brain bleeds from the feeling of: That was fucking amazing.

I think this is my favorite book of the year, highly disturbing and dark with a pitch of macabre and thrilling detailing of the most chilling events.

It all starts with Libby Day a survivor from the Day family massacre back in the 80's. All these year she lived off the money people donated to her because they felt sorry for her, but money run out and she is in need of those, although, not too willing to either hear her lawyer or do something about the situation.

One day she is being contacted by a guy who participates in the Kill Club. A group of people who research various murders throughout time and they believe that her brother – who is in jail for her family's murder – is innocent. At first, Libby seems reluctant enough to go there and see what all this is about, because she is sure that her brother did it but soon enough those people will make interested because they are willing to pay for any information she can provide -and she needs the money- and also because they have some interesting theories about the real killer. And that's where the awesome story takes starts.

I was thrown in a world so complex and twisted and macabre that I could not believe what I was reading. Everyone seemed like the perfect killer. The story was told in alternative points of view, from present day Libby to deceased mother and brother back in the 80's before the murders. What unraveled in front of me was a mystery so mesmerizing that had me turning the pages like crazy.

The book covers everything from Satanism and sacrifices to drugs, to child molestation, to teenage pregnancy. It covers the theme of abuse and how a troubled teen can hide so much rage inside of him but at the same time be the most quiet and shy child out there. How someone can be completely paralyzed from fear that cannot even defend his own self and can easily be manipulated to do things he doesn't want to do or seem right to him. I love the fact that people who are afraid, are not actually afraid to point fingers to people they consider to be somehow weird and turn someone innocent into a murderer, a child molester etc etc, I like how the book shows you that nothing is what it seems to be and judging by fear is the worst one can do.

The characters are all really complex even the supportive ones play a role in the story and while reading this book you need to be really careful of details because they play a huge role in the development of the story. Libby was unique to me. The complexity and development of her character was truly fascinating and the same applies to her brother Ben. I felt like the characters reached their goal in the end and found peace.

The writing was magnificent. I could not put the book down, I felt every agony, every fear and every confusion in this book because every scene was so vivid, like I was in the book. You wont see the ending coming thats for sure, it was so unpredictable and jaw dropping that I was asking where it was coming from and did not see it. It gave a great closure to the book.

If you love mysteries and suspense then Gillian Flynn is the author for you and its sure my new favorite author.

Book Talk: Bookstores vs. Amazon and other online retailers (and the importance of bookstores)

Reading the Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell brought a feeling of warmth and joy but at the same time made me think (again) of all the bookstores out there that they are either closed or they are struggling with sales. Despite the fact that bookstores can actually organize amazing events and host author signings , people still choose to shop online (including myself) rather on said bookstore.

Bookstores were always fascinating to me and I bet to a lot of people as well, they are quiet and promise you the discovery of a great adventure. I worked in a famous bookstore in the States and I had customers from every walks of life coming in the store looking for their next favorite book. As booksellers we did everything possible to sell a book or recommend something new to the customer but despite our efforts and love for books in the end around 60% of the customers decided to buy the books online. It was funny how we dreaded the moment the customer would look at the price in the back and how we would wince. I had a good discount on books working there but I never bought anything from the store and I chose Amazon because of the better prices (yes even with the discount that I had, Amazon was still cheaper).

Moving in England around a month ago, I came to realize that British do it differently. Books here ARE cheaper than in the U.S. and they have exactly the same price as Amazon.co.uk . I think that within this month I bought 30 books (planning a post on that) and it was pretty cheap. I love how bookstores here have great promos like buy one get one half price and seem to antagonize online retailers. People actually shop in store rather online. I understand that America is a vast country and you need a car to go everywhere and the taxes aren't helping either so people prefer to shop online but that needs to change and I plan to change that bad habit myself.

Brick and mortal bookstores are needed. Kids discover great books in there, they go on adventures and lets face it is a lot better to actually browse the books on the shelf rather on a screen. Booksellers and other shoppers can give you recommendations and you can actually feel and even smell the books as you open them to discover whats in there. You can't read the entire book or just open it on a random page online, can you?

So, one of my challenges for 2015 (sneak peak everyone) is to read as many paperbacks as possible and all bought from my local Bookstore.

This Week's Book Releases: December 1st - December 6th

Mai Tai'd Up by Alice Clayton

City of Eternal Night by Kristen Painter

Universal Alien by Gini Koch

French Kissed by Chanel Cleeton

The Road to Ruin by Brownyn Stuart