Friday Meme: Things Coming Out This Month That I Want To Read/See/Play # 128

Books: Week of 9/3

Movies: Week of 9/3

Review: The Museum of Heartbreak by Meg Leder

Summary from Goodreads:

In this ode to all the things we gain and lose and gain again, seventeen-year-old Penelope Marx curates her own mini-museum to deal with all the heartbreaks of love, friendship, and growing up.

Welcome to the Museum of Heartbreak.

Well, actually, to Penelope Marx’s personal museum. The one she creates after coming face to face with the devastating, lonely-making butt-kicking phenomenon known as heartbreak.

Heartbreak comes in all forms: There’s Keats, the charmingly handsome new guy who couldn’t be more perfect for her. There’s possibly the worst person in the world, Cherisse, whose mission in life is to make Penelope miserable. There’s Penelope’s increasingly distant best friend Audrey. And then there’s Penelope’s other best friend, the equal-parts-infuriating-and-yet-somehow-amazing Eph, who has been all kinds of confusing lately.

But sometimes the biggest heartbreak of all is learning to let go of that wondrous time before you ever knew things could be broken.

My Review:

Waiting on Wednesday # 200 and Wishlist Wednesday # 200

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, where you pick a book that is coming out soon that you want to read.

Teaser Tuesday #63 and Top Ten Audiobooks I Want to Listen to by End of the Year #196

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #217

The Meme Comes From The Book Dare

Books I Read Last Week: 

Review: Compulsion (The Heirs of Watson Island #1) by Martina Boone

 Summary from Goodreads:

Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.

All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead—a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.

Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn't what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead. 

My Review:

Stacking the Shelves/Weekly Update #208

 Stacking The Shelves

Reviews:

Review: Anne of Green Gables (#1) by L.M. Montgomery

Review: Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone

Friday Meme: Things Coming Out This Month That I Want To Read/See/Play # 127

Books: Week of 8/27

Movies: Week of 8/27

Review: Anne of Green Gables (#1) by L.M. Montgomery

 Summary from Goodreads:

Everyone's favorite redhead, the spunky Anne Shirley, begins her adventures at Green Gables, a farm outside Avonlea, Prince Edward Island. When the freckled girl realizes that the elderly Cuthberts wanted to adopt a boy instead, she begins to try to win them and, consequently, the reader, over.

My Review:

Waiting on Wednesday # 199 and Wishlist Wednesday # 199

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, where you pick a book that is coming out soon that you want to read.

Teaser Tuesday #62 and Top Ten Favorite Books to Pull Me Out of a Reading Slump #195

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #216

The Meme Comes From The Book Dare

Books I Read Last Week: 

Review: Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone

Summary from Goodreads:


Next-door neighbors and ex-best friends Hannah and Emory haven’t spoken in months. Not since the fight—the one where they said things they couldn’t take back.

Now, Emory is fine-tuning her UCLA performing arts application and trying to make the most of the months she has left with her boyfriend, Luke, before they head off to separate colleges. Meanwhile, Hannah’s strong faith is shaken when her family’s financial problems come to light, and she finds herself turning to unexpected places—and people—for answers to the difficult questions she’s suddenly facing.

No matter how much Hannah and Emory desperately want to bridge the thirty-six steps between their bedroom windows, they can’t. Not anymore.

Until their paths cross unexpectedly when, one night, Hannah finds Luke doubled over in his car outside her house. In the aftermath of the accident, all three struggle to understand what happened in their own ways. But when a devastating secret about Hannah and Emory’s argument ultimately comes to light, they must all reexamine the things they hold true.


In alternating chapters, a skeptic and a believer piece together the story of their complex relationship and the boy caught somewhere in the middle. New York Times best-selling author Tamara Ireland Stone deftly crafts a moving portrait of faith, love, and friendship.

My Review:

Stacking the Shelves/Weekly Update #207

 Stacking The Shelves

Reviews:

Review: Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Review: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori (Translator)

Friday Meme: Things Coming Out This Month That I Want To Read/See/Play # 126

Books: Week of 8/20

Movies: Week of 8/20

Review: Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Summary from Goodreads:

The one guy Bailey Rydell can’t stand is actually the boy of her dreams—she just doesn’t know it yet.

Classic movie fan Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online as Alex. Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new archnemesis. But life is a whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever it is she’s starting to feel for Porter.


And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately. 

My Review:

Waiting on Wednesday # 198 and Wishlist Wednesday # 198

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, where you pick a book that is coming out soon that you want to read.

Teaser Tuesday #61 and Top Five Favorite Bookish Websites #194

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #215

The Meme Comes From The Book Dare

Books I Read Last Week: 

Review: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori (Translator)

Summary from Goodreads:

Keiko Furukura had always been considered a strange child, and her parents always worried how she would get on in the real world, so when she takes on a job in a convenience store while at university, they are delighted for her. For her part, in the convenience store she finds a predictable world mandated by the store manual, which dictates how the workers should act and what they should say, and she copies her coworkers’ style of dress and speech patterns so that she can play the part of a normal person. However, eighteen years later, at age 36, she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only few friends. She feels comfortable in her life, but is aware that she is not living up to society’s expectations and causing her family to worry about her. When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko’s contented stasis—but will it be for the better?


Sayaka Murata brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the familiar convenience store that is so much part of life in Japan. With some laugh-out-loud moments prompted by the disconnect between Keiko’s thoughts and those of the people around her, she provides a sharp look at Japanese society and the pressure to conform, as well as penetrating insights into the female mind. Convenience Store Woman is a fresh, charming portrait of an unforgettable heroine that recalls Banana Yoshimoto, Han Kang, and Amélie.

My Review:

Stacking the Shelves/Weekly Update #206

 Stacking The Shelves

Reviews: 

Review: Etched in Bone (The Others #5) by Anne Bishop

Review: The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman

Friday Meme: Things Coming Out This Month That I Want To Read/See/Play # 125

Books: Week of 8/13

Movies: Week of 8/13

Review: Etched in Bone (The Others #5) by Anne Bishop

Summary from Goodreads:

After a human uprising was brutally put down by the Elders—a primitive and lethal form of the Others—the few cities left under human control are far-flung. And the people within them now know to fear the no-man’s-land beyond their borders—and the darkness…

As some communities struggle to rebuild, Lakeside Courtyard has emerged relatively unscathed, though Simon Wolfgard, its wolf shifter leader, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn must work with the human pack to maintain the fragile peace. But all their efforts are threatened when Lieutenant Montgomery’s shady brother arrives, looking for a free ride and easy pickings.

With the humans on guard against one of their own, tensions rise, drawing the attention of the Elders, who are curious about the effect such an insignificant predator can have on a pack. But Meg knows the dangers, for she has seen in the cards how it will all end—with her standing beside a grave

My Review:

Waiting on Wednesday # 197 and Wishlist Wednesday # 197

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, where you pick a book that is coming out soon that you want to read.

Teaser Tuesday #60 and Top Ten ARCS I Want to Read in August #193

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #214

The Meme Comes From The Book Dare

Books I Read Last Week: 

Review: The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman

Summary from Goodreads:

Not since Good Grief has a book about a young widow been so poignant, funny, original, and utterly believable. A compelling debut novel about loss.

Give grief a chance ... 

Lilian Girvan has been a single mother for three years - ever since her husband died in a car accident. One mental breakdown and some random suicidal thoughts later, she's just starting to get the hang of this widow thing. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work, and watch TV like a pro. The only problem is she's becoming overwhelmed with being underwhelmed. 

At least her textbook illustrating job has some perks - like actually being called upon to draw whale genitalia. Oh, and there's that vegetable-gardening class her boss signed her up for. Apparently being the chosen illustrator for a series of boutique vegetable guides means getting your hands dirty, literally. Wallowing around in compost on a Saturday morning can't be much worse than wallowing around in pajamas and self-pity. 

After recruiting her kids and insanely supportive sister to join her, Lilian shows up at the Los Angeles Botanical Garden feeling out of her element. But what she'll soon discover - with the help of a patient instructor and a quirky group of gardeners - is that into every life a little sun must shine, whether you want it to or not… 

My Review:

Stacking the Shelves/Weekly Update #205

 Stacking The Shelves

Reviews: 

Review: An Offer You Can't Refuse by Jill Mansell

Review: The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

Friday Meme: Things Coming Out This Month That I Want To Read/See/Play # 124

Books: Week of 8/6

Movies: Week of 8/6

Review: Furyborn (Empirium #1) by Claire Legrand

Summary from Goodreads:

Follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.


As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.

My Review:

Review: An Offer You Can't Refuse by Jill Mansell

Summary from Goodreads:

Nothing could tear Lola and Dougie apart, except his mother...


Seventeen-year-old Lola has no intention of accepting when her boyfriend's snobbish mother offers her a huge bribe to break up with him. Then Lola discovers a secret that makes her think again, and the only way she can help one of the people she loves most in the world is to take the money and break Dougie's heart.Ten years later, when Lola meets Dougie again, her feelings for him are as strong as ever. She'll do almost anything to get him back, but she can never tell him the truth. Can she overcome his bitterness and win his heart? She's attractive, persuasive, and endlessly optimistic, but even Lola's got her work cut out for her this time.

My Review:

Waiting on Wednesday # 196 and Wishlist Wednesday # 196

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, where you pick a book that is coming out soon that you want to read.