Waiting on Wednesday: ETERNAL ECHOES by Angela Corbett!

The lovely Jill (a fellow Alabamian!) over at Breaking the Spine created the Waiting on Wednesday meme for us bloggers to showcase books we're waiting on. 

The first book in this series was great, so I know the second installment will be, too. My WoW this week is...

ETERNAL ECHOES
by Angela Corbett
pub date: Nov 19, 2013

product description from goodreads.com

She thought she stopped the evil.

She thought she was safe.

Everything she thought was wrong.

Almost four months have passed since Evie Starling learned she was a Tracker and helped defeat a Daevos Clan that was taking others like her—but that wasn’t the end of the abductions. As an unknown evil emerges, Evie vows to help solve the mystery of the missing Trackers, regardless of the risk.

With new powers she doesn’t understand and can’t control, she turns to Alex and Emil, her two soul mates, for help. But her feelings for them both are tearing her apart. She knows she has to decide between them; however, her memories are only making that choice more difficult.

As the world around her is thrown into chaos, Evie is confronted with what could be a destiny-altering truth. Will she accept her history, her memories, and her role in this life, or choose to ignore the echoes of her past?
Sounds good, huh? Only one more week!

Be sure to visit Angela online:

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Top Ten Tuesday: Cover Redesigns!

I'm super excited to join in the Top Ten Tuesday weekly feature meme created by the fabulous The Broke and the Bookish! It looks to be a fun time on Tuesdays now!

This week: 

TOP TEN COVERS
I WISH I COULD REDESIGN

1. PANDEMONIUM by Lauren Oliver -- This cover is beautiful, don't get me wrong, but it's missing the uniqueness of the DELIRIUM cover that I just loved. This one just doesn't seem to fit IMO, though I do actually like it. Weird, huh? 

2. BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver -- I promise I don't have a vendetta against Ms. Oliver, really. But this cover just...I don't know, it just doesn't work for me. It seems so generic and odd for the story inside.

3. HALF-BLOOD by Jennifer L. Armentrout -- Okay, I have to start by saying that I love, love, love Jennifer L. Armentrout. Seriously. Her talent is amazing. Truly. But this cover--and subsequently, all the covers in this series--just doesn't do it for me. It's a beautiful photo, but the font and placement just doesn't work. And the image doesn't really convey the true nature of the story, either. Another one that would do well with a remake.

4. THE BOYS NEXT DOOR by Jennifer Echols -- Anyone that knows me knows how much I adore Jennifer Echols. Seriously. And not just her writing, but the author as well. And this book (as well as its sequel) is one of my faves by her. But this cover is just all wrong on so many levels. If I could, I'd toss all of it and start fresh--maybe with some real models instead of cartoons? 

5. WITHER by Lauren DeStefano -- This is another cover that I love in pieces, but that just doesn't work as is. I don't really know how to explain it, but everything from the vintage feel to the weird graphic lines and circles--it doesn't say anything to me. Another I'd completely redo if given the chance. 

6. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis -- Okay, so I've yet to jump on this trilogy bandwagon, so I can't say as to the story inside, but this cover doesn't wow me in any way. I mean, I get that there's obviously a romance and the setting is space, but the tagline asks what it takes to survive on a spaceship fueled by lies--and I just don't get that from the images here.

7. THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater -- Is it just me, or does this cover remind you of the cheesy romance novels from the eighties? Oh, just me? Nevermind, then.

8. LAMENT by Maggie Stiefvater -- Someone call my high school computer teacher. Tell him I've found our missing final exam.

9. BAD TASTE IN BOYS by Carrie Harris -- Um, you got a little something on your lip, there, missy. 

10. UNRAVEL ME by Tahereh Mafi -- This cover is beautiful. Truly. But I don't get the "unravel" part, so it doesn't feel like it works with the title to me. But gorgeous nonetheless. 

It's been a while...so here's a review!

Yes, it has. Been a while since I've blogged, I mean. That gnarly little thing we call life gets in the way of all our fun sometimes, and things have to be put off and put off until we can come back around to them. My blog, unfortunately, has been one of those things. But fret no more, for I intend to get things moving again. And I'm gonna start with a review of a book coming December 3rd from a superbly talented author that you need to get to know if you haven't already. 

SHELF LIFE
by Stephanie Lawton
pub date: December 3, 2013
IJP Press

product description from goodreads.com

It’s impossible to focus on college biology when your family believes doomsday is imminent and the government is out to get you.

All Pete Wilson’s ever wanted is to become a veterinarian, but those dreams are going up in flames. Commuting to an urban college and helping his parents with their apocalyptic prepper crap is more than he can handle.

Worse, Pete’s asshole neighbor is stirring up trouble, his family’s stockpile has been destroyed and farm animals are turning up dead.

Lindsey Linger is the tomboy sister of his best friend. Now a sexy spitfire, she and Pete are liable to set the barn ablaze as their romance finally heats up. But she’s hiding a terrible secret, and rural life isn’t all bonfires and hayloft romps. That becomes clear one icy winter night when the survival of everyone Pete loves hangs in the balance.

Can Pete be the hero they need, or will this be the end of the world as he knows it?

My Review:

Oh, what can I say about SHELF LIFE. Just as Lawton's other works, this novel is written with such expert precision and talent, woven together with just the right amount of pacing to keep you flipping pages (or frantically tapping that little arrow on your e-reader) til the very end. 

Let's start with the meat of SHELF LIFE (and all Lawton's novels): the characters. Pete Wilson is the MC here (a male, yay!), and he's a damn good one. Flaws, both internal and external ones, plague poor Pete from the very beginning, and it's truly a pleasure watching him strive to overcome each and every one over the course of this story. He's born into pragmatism in some respects, having parents who are religious when it comes to preparedness, but even with that sort of rigid, stoic upbringing, Pete isn't afraid to dream, to look beyond his life toward possibility and change. That alone is enough to love this guy, but Lawton takes Pete even further by making him a good, honest boy who truly does want to make everyone in his life happy. That's not something you see much of in today's NA/YA males, so it's refreshing. (note: SHELF LIFE is definitely more New Adult)

Pete's love interest and counterpart, Lindsey, is, in my mind, the polar opposite. But not because she chooses to be. Where Pete is optimistic about having a future of his own, outside the realm of his parents' sometimes Mad World, Lindsey seems to have given up on any sort of "pipe dream" life beyond the walls of the one she's currently living. It's sad, really, to see her so broken and defeated, but it's inspiring to watch Pete fight to make her see the possibility her life holds. And the relationship these two share? Let's just say it's a roller coaster if ever there was one.

Second to Lawton's outstanding characters is the overall plot of SHELF LIFE. As told in the description, Pete's family is known as the Doomsday Preppers by pretty much everyone in town. This is such a unique take on what I see as social outcasting. Much like gays and blacks and various religious sects are shunned and treated as "less than" just because they're different, Pete's family is looked upon that way by those around them. Even by one of Pete's college classmates, who although polite and in no way derogatory, shows disdain for their eccentric way of life. Even while reading this novel, I couldn't help but imagine how I myself would react if the Wilsons were real and lived next door. I'd like to think I would be accepting just as I am in real life, but you never know. That's one of the many, many things I love about SHELF LIFE, how it burrows in and makes you think. Ah, such a great book!

* * * * *

I happily give Lawton's latest novel 5 stars, and urge you all to pick it up and devour it when it comes out December 3rd!

And be sure to visit Stephanie Lawton all over social media:

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Monday Must Reads: GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn!

Not familiar with this little feature? It's simple, really. Monday Must Reads! is a feature I created to showcase books that I think you, well, Must Read (ha!).

This week's selection is of the Adult fare (I like to shake things up from time to time; I'm crazy like that). It's by an author that truly knows how to build something out of words, and one that I always enjoy. If you haven't already, trust me when I say that you simply Must Read...

GONE GIRL
by Gillian Flynn
pub date May 2012

product description from goodreads.com

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick Dunne’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick Dunne isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but hearing from Amy through flashbacks in her diary reveal the perky perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister Margo at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was left in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

Oh man, that blurb just doesn't do this book justice. I will admit that it begins a tad slow, plot-wise, but the writing is so beautiful and spot-on that you're easily swept into the story and are comfortable for the ride once it takes off like a rocket. Enjoy!

Be sure to visit Gillian online:

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Waiting on Wednesday: ISLA & THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

The lovely Jill (a fellow Alabamian!) over at Breaking the Spine created the Waiting on Wednesday meme for us bloggers to showcase books we're waiting on. 

I simply adored this author's first two novels, and cannot wait for the third in this companion series! My WoW this week is...

ISLA & THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER
by Stephanie Perkins
pub date: May 2014

product description from goodreads.com

From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.

May 2014?! But...that's so far away! Okay, I can wait, I can wait...

Be sure to visit Stephanie online:

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