Waiting on Wednesday – Spotlight on Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

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New WoW“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.

My “Waiting On” Wednesday selection for this week is Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert. I’m always interested in coming of age stories and in stories that show how mental illness can impact an entire family, and Little & Lion caught my eye because it sounds like it has both and that it will also be a diverse read. I also like the focus on the sibling relationship.  Books about families always appeal to me, so yes, I’m really excited about this book.

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

Publication Date:  August 8, 2017

From Goodreads:

A stunning novel on love, loss, identity, and redemption, from Publishers Weekly Flying Start author Brandy Colbert

When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn’t sure if she’ll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.

But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new…the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel’s disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself–or worse.

 

Advance Praise for Little & Lion

“Little and Lion is beautifully insightful, honest, and compassionate. Brandy’s ability to find larger meaning in small moments is nothing short of dazzling.”  ―National Book Award Finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicola Yoon

“Brandy Colbert further establishes herself as one of contemporary YA’s biggest talents in this thoughtful and thought-provoking examination of identity, loyalty, and what it means to live with integrity. Little & Lion is a stunningly good novel.”  ―Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken

“Brandy Colbert takes us on an emotional and gorgeous journey with a protagonist who is trying to figure out where she fits in with her family as well as in the world. A book full of overwhelming love and courage.”―Sara Farizan, author of Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel

“This superbly written novel teems with meaningful depth, which is perfectly balanced by romance and the languorous freedom of summer.”―Booklist, starred review

*”Colbert sensitively confronts misconceptions about mental illness, bisexuality, and intersectional identity….A vibrantly depicted Los Angeles.”―Kirkus Reviews, starred review

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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your WoW selection for this week. 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday: My Top 10 Favorite Book Moms

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top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Mother’s Day related Freebie: favorite moms in literature, books about motherhood, best mother/daughter or son relationships, books to buy your mom, worst moms in literature, etc.”

My list might come across as a little weird because while yes I love badass moms who are willing to sacrifice everything to keep their children safe and happy like the ladies from Harry Potter, Marmee from Little Women, Lena Younger from A Raisin in the Sun, and Momma Carter from The Hate U Give, I’m also attracted to those problematic moms you love to hate like Mrs. Bennett from Pride and Prejudice and Cersei Lannister from A Song of Fire and Ice series.  I think Bernadette Fox from Where’d You Go, Bernadette? probably falls in the middle of the spectrum. She’s kind of a hot mess, but at the same time, she is a refreshingly honest character. Anyway, so I’d say my list of favorite moms is basically a list of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

My Top Ten Favorite Book Moms

 

1, 2, 3.  MOLLY WEASLEY, NYMPHADORA TONKS, & LILY POTTER from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

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4. MA from Room by Emma Donoghue

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5.  MARMEE MARCH from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

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6. LENA YOUNGER from A Raisin in the Sun

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7. MRS. BENNETT from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

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8. MOMMA CARTER from The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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9. BERNADETTE FOX from Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

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10. CERSEI LANNISTER from the A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R. R. Martin

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Question:  Who are some of your favorite moms from books?  Do we share any favorites?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana

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New WoW“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.

My “Waiting On” Wednesday selection for this week is The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana.  The absolutely gorgeous cover of this book is what first caught my eye.  Isn’t it just stunning?!  Then once I got past that, the story itself just sounds so moving that I’m dying to read it.  Plus it’s steeped in Indian folklore, which I’m not too familiar with but would love to learn more about.

The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana

Publication Date:  July 18, 2017

From Goodreads:

A romantic coming-of-age fantasy tale steeped in Indian folklore, perfect for fans of The Star-Touched Queen and The Wrath and the Dawn

No one is entirely certain what brings the Emperor Sikander to Shalingar. Until now, the idyllic kingdom has been immune to his many violent conquests. To keep the visit friendly, Princess Amrita has offered herself as his bride, sacrificing everything—family, her childhood love, and her freedom—to save her people. But her offer isn’t enough.

The unthinkable happens, and Amrita finds herself a fugitive, utterly alone but for an oracle named Thala, who was kept by Sikander as a slave and managed to escape amid the chaos of a palace under siege. With nothing and no one else to turn to, Amrita and Thala are forced to rely on each other. But while Amrita feels responsible for her kingdom and sets out to warn her people, the newly free Thala has no such ties. She encourages Amrita to go on a quest to find the fabled Library of All Things, where it is possible for each of them to reverse their fates. To go back to before Sikander took everything from them.

Stripped of all that she loves, caught between her rosy past and an unknown future, will Amrita be able to restore what was lost, or does another life—and another love—await?

Advance Praise for The Library of Fates

“[R]ich, beautiful worldbuilding and thought-provoking questions on the power of experience, stories, and fate…”  —Kirkus Reviews

“Khorana’s dazzling second book features a sweeping quest, sumptuous romance and complex heroines. This is the kind of book that lingers in your dreams.”  —Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen

“The Library of Fates transported me to a magical kingdom where troubled oracles, irreverent goddesses, and megalomaniacal kings battle for control of love and fate. With a rich, real mythology and a stunning twist, it’s basically everything I ever wanted in a book.”  —Heidi Heilig, author of The Girl from Everywhere

“I was swept away by this unique, tantalizing tale. The Library of Fates spins a spell that breaks the heart and utterly enchants. An essential addition to any library—magical or not.”  —Jessica Khoury, author of the Corpus Trilogy and The Forbidden Wish

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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your WoW selection for this week. 🙂

My Reading Wishlist – Ten Things I Really Want to See More of in Books

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top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Ten Things On Our Reading Wishlist  (things you want to see more of in books — tropes, a time period, a specific type of character, an issue tackled, a certain plot, etc. All those things that make you think I WANT MORE OF THIS IN BOOKS!). This was a tough topic for me because pretty much any book I read and enjoy, I want more just like it.  After giving it some thought though, I finally narrowed my reading wishlist down to these ten items.  

Ten Things I Really Want to see More of in Books

 

1. BOOKS THAT FOCUS ON FRIENDSHIP – I’m all about bromances and sisterhoods, so bring on the friendship novels!

2. STANDALONE BOOKS – I love a good series as much as the next person, but I have so many half-finished series sitting in my TBR right now that I’d love an influx of standalone novels so that it’s just one book and done.

3.  BOOKS THAT FOCUS ON FAMILIES AND WHAT THEY GO THROUGH – I’d love more of these stories because they’re almost always relatable and compelling.

4. BOOKS SET OUTSIDE THE U.S. – As much as I adore books set in my favorite city,  NYC, I also love books that take me to places I’ve never been to before so I’d love to see more books set outside the U.S. If I had to make a wishlist of specific countries I’d love to see more of in my books, I’d pick Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland, India, and China.

5.  BOOKS THAT FEATURE MORALLY AMBIGUOUS MAIN CHARACTERS OR ANTI-HEROES –  Aren’t these just some of the most fascinating characters to follow through a story?

 6. LESS LOVE TRIANGLES – Enough said.

7. REALISTIC ROMANCES – I’d love to see more romances that mirror relationships you see in everyday life.

8. RETELLINGS THAT ARE BASED ON LESSER KNOWN FAIRYTALES AND FOLKLORE – One of the best books I’ve read in the last few months is The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, which is based on Russian folklore. The folklore was totally new to me and it just made for such a unique and beautiful read. I’d love to read more books like this one.

9. BOOKS WITH BADASS FEMALE CHARACTERS WHO DON’T NEED TO BE SAVED OR ROMANCED – Actually how about badass female characters who save men in distress?

10.  BOOKS WHERE THE PROTAGONISTS ARE ARTISTS – I read several great books this past year where the main characters were either painters, writers, musicians, or actors and I just love that added layer of creativity that threads its way through the storyline.

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Question:  What are some of your biggest reading wishlist items? Do we have any in common?

Waiting on Wednesday – Spotlight on SAINTS AND MISFITS by S.K. Ali

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New WoW“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.

My “Waiting On” Wednesday selection for this week is Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali.  This book first caught my eye when I saw that it had been awarded a Kirkus Star, which is awarded to books of exceptional merit.  Reading the description and especially the advance praise convinced me that this is a book I really need to read.  I think it has the potential to be a best of 2017 read.

Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali

Publication Date:  June 13, 2017

From Goodreads:

Saints and Misfits is an unforgettable debut novel that feels like a modern day My So-Called Life…starring a Muslim teen.

How much can you tell about a person just by looking at them?

Janna Yusuf knows a lot of people can’t figure out what to make of her…an Arab Indian-American hijabi teenager who is a Flannery O’Connor obsessed book nerd, aspiring photographer, and sometime graphic novelist is not exactly easy to put into a box.

And Janna suddenly finds herself caring what people think. Or at least what a certain boy named Jeremy thinks. Not that she would ever date him—Muslim girls don’t date. Or they shouldn’t date. Or won’t? Janna is still working all this out.

While her heart might be leading her in one direction, her mind is spinning in others. She is trying to decide what kind of person she wants to be, and what it means to be a saint, a misfit, or a monster. Except she knows a monster…one who happens to be parading around as a saint…Will she be the one to call him out on it? What will people in her tightknit Muslim community think of her then?

Advance Praise for Saints and Misfits

“Set in a multicultural Muslim family, this book is long overdue, a delight for readers who will recognize the culture and essential for those unfamiliar with Muslim experiences…readers will be glad to make space in their hearts—and bookshelves—for Janna Yusuf.”  Kirkus, starred review

“An amazing, heartfelt, gorgeously written, deeply meaningful book…there was so much wisdom in it, so much truth, so much heart. I want to hug it to myself.”  Ausma Zehanat Khan, Author of The Unquiet Dead, Language of Secrets, Among the Ruins and The Bloodprint

“SAINTS AND MISFITS is a beating heart inside a book…[It] takes us on a powerful journey as we watch our heroine find her place in her community and find herself in the process.”  Aisha Saeed, Author of Written in the Stars

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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your WoW selection for this week. 🙂

Drift Away: My Top Ten Favorite Water-Themed Book Covers

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top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Cover Theme Freebie: “literally anyyyything about covers….top ten covers that scream Spring, ten books with ice cream on the cover, ten books with blue covers, etc.”  I decided to go with covers that feature water imagery. I don’t know what it is about covers with water on them, maybe it’s because I grew up with a waterfront view and so they remind me of home or maybe it’s just all of those vibrant blue and green hues, but whatever the reason, I’m always drawn to them.  Below are some of my favorites – some are simply beautiful and serene, some are more surreal, and some are even just plain creepy, but I find them all equally enchanting.

My Top Ten Favorite Water-Themed Book Covers

 

1. LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel

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2. THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE by Neil Gaiman

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3.  ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr

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4. SALT TO THE SEA by Ruth Septys

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5. THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain

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6. BEAUTIFUL RUINS by Jess Walter

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7. DREAMLAND by Sarah Dessen

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8. FEAR THE DROWNING DEEP by Sarah Glenn Marsh

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9. SHE’S COME UNDONE by Wally Lamb

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10. BEACH MUSIC by Pat Conroy

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Question:  Are you attracted to covers that feature water imagery?  What are some of your favorites?

Waiting on Wednesday – Spotlight on Calling My Name by Liara Tamani

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New WoW“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.

My “Waiting On” Wednesday selection for this week is Calling My Name by Liara Tamani.  I first saw this book listed on Edelweiss and what caught my eye and got me really excited about it was that it was described there as being “ideal for readers of Jacqueline Woodson, Jandy Nelson, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Sandra Cisneros.”  These are all authors that I enjoy so I definitely want to see what Calling My Name is all about. I also love a good coming of age story and it sounds like this will fit the bill on that front as well.

Calling My Name by Liara Tamani

Publication Date:  October 24, 2017

From Amazon.com:

Taja Brown lives with her parents and older brother and younger sister, in Houston, Texas. Taja has always known what the expectations of her conservative and tightly-knit African American family are—do well in school, go to church every Sunday, no intimacy before marriage. But Taja is trying to keep up with friends as they get their first kisses, first boyfriends, first everythings. And she’s tired of cheering for her athletic younger sister and an older brother who has more freedom just because he’s a boy. Taja dreams of going to college and forging her own relationship with the world and with God, but when she falls in love for the first time, those dreams are suddenly in danger of evaporating.

 

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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your WoW selection for this week. 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday – My Top 10 Biggest Book Turn Offs

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top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly NOT Want To Read A Book.  I actually struggled with this topic because there aren’t too many things that will guarantee I won’t even attempt to read a book.  There are a few though so here’s my list.  

My Top Ten Biggest Book Turn Offs

 

1. CHILD ABUSE – I just can’t bring myself to read a book if I know in advance that a child will be abused.

2. ANIMAL CRUELTY – Same thing here. If I’ve heard there is animal cruelty, I’m going to pass.  I just finished reading The Female of the Species this past weekend and I wish I had known up front about the scene with the puppies so that I could have skipped over it.  Thankfully it was a small scene and it wasn’t graphic, but it still broke my heart.

3.  HORROR – I don’t do horror. At all.  Not movies or TV shows and especially not books. I enjoy a good mystery or psychological thriller, but no thanks to all of the super scary and gory stuff.  I read as an escape and being terrified is not an escape for me.

4. BIOGRAPHIES – Sometimes I’ll make an exception, but typically biographies not for me because I find them such a dry read.  I do enjoy autobiographies though because I do like hearing about someone’s life in their own words.

5.  WOMAN NEEDS A LOVE INTEREST TO FEEL COMPLETE –  I don’t know if this is classified as Chick Lit or  if it’s something else altogether, but the turn off for me are those books where the main character is so obsessed with either the man she is involved with or she’s focused on nothing but finding her next big romance.  Life is just horribly incomplete because she’s not involved with someone romantically.  Or maybe she even starts out as a strong, independent female character but then she suddenly turns into a puddle of goo because she thinks she has met Mr. Right.  Those kinds of stories just drive me crazy.

 6. GRATUITOUS, GRAPHIC SEX – I’m not a prude by any means and don’t mind the occasional sex scene in books that I’m reading, but I find it a turn off if every few chapters my characters are going at it like bunnies, especially if it adds nothing to the plot and is actually in the way of the plot advancing.

7. LOVE TRIANGLES – Sometimes I’ll make an exception if there’s an unusual twist when it comes to the love triangle, but for the most part, I just find these so cliche and unrealistic.

 8. TOO MUCH DESCRIPTION / TOO LITTLE ACTION – Although I do love gorgeous descriptions in novels, I know that if a novel is more description than it is action, I’m going to end up bored.  I recently experienced this with The Bone Witch, which I found to be filled with endless beautiful descriptions of the clothing the witches wore, but felt like the book was predominantly description and that not much of anything actually happened.

9. MAIN CHARACTER IS TOO PERFECT – I like characters that are messy and flawed and who make mistakes. If they’re too perfect, I just can’t relate to them and so lose interest.

10.  UGLY  COVERS – I feel horrible for even putting this one on here, but just as I have been known to want to read a book simply because it happens to have a gorgeous cover, I confess that I have also been known to shun a book altogether if it has what I consider to be hideous cover.  I know, I know! I shouldn’t be judging books by their covers.  *goes and sits in the corner*

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Question:  What are some of your biggest book turn offs? Do we have any in common?

Waiting on Wednesday: Spotlight on Hunting Prince Dracula

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New WoW“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.

My “Waiting On” Wednesday selection for this week is Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco.  I just finished reading Stalking Jack the Ripper, the first book in this series,  over the weekend and absolutely LOVED it.  (I’ll be posting my review tomorrow so be sure to stop back by and check it out!)  The way that the first book ended had me just dying for more Audrey Rose and Thomas Cresswell, so I was thrilled to see that a second book is already slated to come out later this year and that it focuses on Audrey Rose and Thomas traveling to Romania together. And don’t even get me started on the book being about Vlad the Impaler.  As if Jack the Ripper wasn’t notorious enough!

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

Publication Date:  September 19, 2017

From Amazon.com:

n this hotly anticipated sequel to the haunting #1 bestseller Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer…or has the depraved prince been brought back to life?

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper’s true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe’s best schools of forensic medicine…and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life’s dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school’s forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your WoW selection for this week. 🙂

Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want to Read a Book

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top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want To Read a Book.  This was a pretty easy topic for me this week because there are some key things that if I read them in a book’s blurb, that book is totally going on my TBR no matter what.  I’m definitely a sucker for certain settings and for certain time periods, but there are also certain topics that are guaranteed to attract my interest.  And if more than one of these can be found in the same book, hold me back because that baby is going straight to the top of my TBR pile! 

Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want to Read a Book

 

BOOKS THAT ARE SET IN MY FAVORITE CITIES & COUNTRIES

My favorite places in the world are New York City, Paris, and Italy. These settings are pure magic for me, each in their own way, so I’m drawn like a moth to a flame to pretty much any books set in these locations.  Doesn’t matter if they’re contemporary stories or historical fiction, it’s all about location, location, location for me.

1. NEW YORK CITY

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2. PARIS, FRANCE

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3.  ITALY

BOOKS THAT ARE SET IN CERTAIN TIME PERIODS

Another huge draw for me are books that fall within certain time periods.  If a book is set during World War II, I’m definitely going to read it and same goes for books set during the Jazz Age and during the 1960’s.  As you can imagine, Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale became a must-read for me as soon as I heard that it was set in Paris during World War II.

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4. THE 1920’S

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5.  WORLD WAR II ERA

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6. THE 1960’S

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BOOKS THAT FOCUS ON CERTAIN TOPICS

 

7. FAIRYTALE RETELLINGS

Fairytale retellings are a fairly new interest for me, but I have to say that they have become quite an obsession because they’re always such fun and creative reads. I love the idea of putting a unique spin on a familiar tale.

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8. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

Some of my favorite books are those that deal with families and their day-to-day lives. I love books that explore the parent-child bond, sibling rivalries – basically, you name it, I’m interested if it relates to family.

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9. MENTAL ILLNESS

When I was in college, I double major in English Lit and Psychology, so I think books that explore mental illness appeal to that part of my personality.  I like that there are more and more books that focus on mental illness, seeking to educate people on a more personal level that is so much more accessible than a dry psychology textbook could ever hope to be.

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10. INTROVERTS

As an introvert, it’s a guarantee that I will read ANY book that has a main character who is considered an introvert.  Those are the literary characters that I relate to most in the world so there’s no way I’m passing up a book where I know the character will be totally relatable.

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Question:  What are some things that will instantly make you want to read a book? Do we have any in common?