Waiting on Wednesday (43)

Synopsis:

When Callie's life is cut short by a tragic accident, she expects to find nothingness, or maybe some version of heaven.

Instead, her spirit travels to the Prism, an ethereal plane populated by the ghosts she thought were fictional. Here she meets a striking and mysterious ghost named Thatcher, who is meant to guide her as she learns to haunt and bring peace to the loved ones she left behind.

However, Callie uncovers a dark secret about the spirit world: The angry souls who always populate ghost stories are real, dangerous, and willing to do whatever it takes to stay on Earth, threatening the existence of everyone she ever cared about.

As she fights to save them, Callie will learn that while it may no longer beat, her heart can still love-and break.

SQUEE! This one looks GREAT! And it being compared to If I Stay by Gayle Forman and the movie Ghost? Yes, please! Got awhile to wait for this one but it sounds like it could be well worth the wait! YAY! Details:

Expected publication date: December 23, 2013. Enjoy! *XOXO*

Summer Favorites

Summer for an educator means many weeks of summer vacation which translates for me into lots of opportunities for summer reading. Since my summer vacation started mid-June, I have read 15 books. Of those 15 books, 2 of them stand out and deserve to be highlighted as my personal "Best Books of Summer 2013"...

The first book was so amazing, it hooked me on page one and I could not put it down! It's not an exaggeration to say that I INHALED it:

SQUEEEEE! Love this series! Was a little worried the second book would be a letdown after the amazingness of the first but Gena Showalter does not disappoint her fans with this one. Amazing, amazing book. Check out my review of it here.

The second book that rocked my socks this summer:

To be fair, I also ranked the first and second books of the A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin as 5 star books as well but A Storm of Swords, the third book, takes the cake! This book was incredible! MAJOR characters die left and right in shocking and insane ways. Even though the book is uber-long, I got through it pretty quickly because it was just so engaging and entertaining. Martin knows how to weave a tale, that's for sure. For fans of the TV series who haven't read the books, you get ready for the next season! More shocks are coming your way!

Hope you all enjoyed your summer reading as much as I did. Now bring on Fall! Enjoy! *XOXO*

*REVIEW* Once We Were

Synopsis:

"I'm lucky just to be alive"

Eva was never supposed to have survived this long. As the recessive soul, she should have faded away years ago. Instead, she lingers in the body she shares with her sister soul, Addie. When the government discovered the truth, they tried to “cure” the girls, but Eva and Addie escaped before the doctors could strip Eva’s soul away.

Now fugitives, Eva and Addie find shelter with a group of hybrids who run an underground resistance. Surrounded by others like them, the girls learn how to temporarily disappear to give each soul some much-needed privacy. Eva is thrilled at the chance to be alone with Ryan, the boy she’s falling for, but troubled by the growing chasm between her and Addie. Despite clashes over their shared body, both girls are eager to join the rebellion.

Yet as they are drawn deeper into the escalating violence, they start to wonder: How far are they willing to go to fight for hybrid freedom? Faced with uncertainty and incredible danger, their answers may tear them apart forever.

Woohoo! Back in the fabulous world that Kat Zhang created in the first book of The Hybrid Chronicles, What's Left of Me. I LOVED the first book and jumped at the chance to read an ARC of the second and it did not disappoint. While it wasn't quite as amazing as the first (and doesn't that happen quite often with sophomore books?), it was still a SOLID book that was packed full of all the wonderful things that had fans falling in love with this world.

Once We Were picks up where we last left Addie and Eva, recently escaped from a life-and-death situation for Eva. Addie and Eva find themselves with the hybrids and their underground resistance. The girls meet new and interesting fellow hybrids who are near in age to them and they start experimenting with disappearing on purpose, giving the other time to be alone in their body. Both girls have experiences with very different boys and begin for the first time in their lives to have some independence.

Their new friends are unhappy with the slowness of the adults leading the resistance and Addie and Eva find themselves part of shocking plans to make a difference. When they realize how far their new friends are willing to go, will they be able to stop things in time, or will they make a choice they will regret forever? Danger, betrayal, love and friendship collide in this next installment of The Hybrid Chronicles.

This book was really good, 4 of 5 stars. It wasn't as mind-blowing as the first but I really enjoyed this installment and cannot WAIT to see where the next book takes our favorite hybrids. It's good to see Addie and Eva starting to have some true independence from each other, independence that allows them to form separate relationships and attachments. I also really liked the addition of the new characters, some more than others of course! All in all, this book will engage readers much like the first book did. And it comes out one month from today! Enjoy!! *XOXO*

Expected publication date: September 17, 2013 by HarperCollins

Game of Thrones

I finally got around to reading A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, after MUCH prodding from my husband and brother-in-law who are hardcore fans, and let me tell you... this book did NOT disappoint. I dreaded reading it mainly due to the length cause these books are MASSIVE. Over 800 pages of teeny, tiny writing but I found that it was so engaging, the pages flew by much quicker than I thought possible. It also helps that I had already seen the show on HBO.

So how do the two compare? I am so impressed by the job that HBO and creators did with the first season of the show because it caught ALL of the major plot points of the book. There wasn't anything vital that was missed and it was great to see these amazing characters brought to life. There was one scene with the direwolves that was left out that was incredible in the book, Grey Wind is a bad*ss!! It would have been near impossible to pull off that scene without CGI wolves though. Another thing that is different for me is my like for Jon Snow. On the show, I wasn't that drawn to his character but I really like his chapters in the book. I also find Ghost more interesting in the book, especially how silent he is which is not depicted on the show.

My verdict? Read the books, then watch the show. They are both fantastic and are sure to please. There's more sex in the show, and lots of full frontal nudity by both sexes, but it's great entertainment that will leave you wanting more. Enjoy! *XOXO*

The Dread of August...

The beginning of August marks a time of dread for me... the end of summer. Stores are full of back to school deals, flyers are arriving in the mail, and stay-at-home moms are posting all over Facebook about how happy they are that school is almost back in session. And that last one really gets to me. Isn't the whole POINT of being a stay-at-home mom to spend time with your kids? I don't think they realize how many people would LOVE to stay home with their children (like me!) but can't financially afford to do so. So when they start spouting off that nonsense, I can't help but get a little bitter.

And I know, I know... having two months off in the summer is GREAT. But I can guarantee you this... every time a non-educator tells you that you shouldn't complain about summer ending because "at least you get all that time off!", you strongly desire chopping them in the throat. Yes, you get time off but being an educator is HARD work with long hours, not much appreciation, and dealing with other peoples' "babies" all day leads to some uncomfortable and interesting conflicts with parents. By the time summer rolls around, you NEED that time off or you will go insane.

So I'm in full-on dread mode, trying to avoid stores because each time I see a colorful and excited sign about back to school, I want to punch or kick it down. Once I'm back in the swing of things, I'll be happy to be there, happy to be back helping kids graduate high school and hopefully move on to bigger and better things. But knowing that a long week of pointless training and team-building activities, not to mention some 11-hour days, starts off the school year? UGH. That's enough to make ANYONE dread the return.

Here's to enjoying the last couple weeks of summer... hope you all have built some wonderful memories and have made some time for yourselves. Fall will be here before we know it! *XOXO*