Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Reasons I Love To Crochet

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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers share their own bookish top ten lists based on the topic of the week.  You can check out Ten Tuesdays here.

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Top Ten Reasons I Love To Crochet

Crochet is one my favorite things to do (besides reading, of course), and there are a lot of reasons why I love it so much, especially now.  The internet has opened up a lot of options/resources, and has made crocheting a lot easier!

  1. Ravelry.  I mentioned it last month, in another TTT post about favorite non-bookish websites.  I love it because there’s so many patterns and a lot of filters I can use to find what I’m looking for.  That (and Pinterest and blogs) have made finding patterns really easy!
  2. It’s pretty calming and relaxing, and it’s a good way to relieve stress!  Except for when a pattern/project stresses me out, and the project goes into time-out, but other than that, it’s a really good way to relieve stress.
  3. It keeps my hands busy.  Instead of just watching t.v., I can do something with my hands while the t.v. is on in the background.  It’s something to focus on and it also manages to keep my mind busy too!
  4. It can also be really meditative, depending on the pattern you’re using.  Like this blanket.  I’ve made several of them, and since I’m doing the same stitch for the entire blanket, it’s easy to get into a groove.
  5. Speaking of stitches, I love that I can YouTube stitches and techniques I don’t know how to do.  And that I can watch as many different videos as I need to in order to find one that actually clicks and explains it in a way that makes sense.
  6. Petting yarn!  It’s a thing, and sometimes, I just need to hug and pet the baby alpaca yarn I have because it’s insanely soft and it makes me feel better.
  7. I get to make awesome stuff!  It would probably be easier to buy a version of Luna Lovegood’s scarf, or a scarf in Hufflepuff colors, but when I wear it, I remember the work I put into it, and it’s much cooler wearing something I put a lot of time into.  Plus, giving people something that’s handmade is pretty cool too.
  8. Design Seeds is helpful if I need a color palette for anything, but especially with blankets.  I’ve seen some pretty good color combinations, and if I ever need one, I know where to go.
  9. Being able to buy crochet books online…mostly because it’s hard to find books that are about crochet in your average bookstore.  A local yarn store might be the better option, but since I get so distracted by yarn…online is the place to go for crochet books, should I need/want one.
  10. And the same goes for buying yarn online.  It’s not something I do often, but if there’s a color I need and I can’t find it anywhere else, I’m glad I can buy it online!  And with places like Etsy, I can get something spun/dyed by a real person!

Book Review: Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

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Stars Above CoverBook: Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

Published February 2016 by Feiwel & Friends|369 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Lunar Chronicles #4.5

Genre: YA Fairy Tale Re-Telling/Dystopia

Blog Graphic-What It's About

The enchantment continues…

The universe of the Lunar Chronicles holds stories—and secrets—that are wondrous, vicious, and romantic. How did Cinder first arrive in New Beijing? How did the brooding soldier Wolf transform from young man to killer? When did Princess Winter and the palace guard Jacin realize their destinies?

With nine stories—five of which have never before been published—and an exclusive never-before-seen excerpt from Marissa Meyer’s upcoming novel, Heartless, about the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Stars Above is essential for fans of the bestselling and beloved Lunar Chronicles.

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Since this is a short story collection, I thought I’d talk about each story.  I’m going in the order that they appear in Stars Above.

  1. The Keeper: This is the first story in the book, and it’s about Scarlet’s grandmother and how Cinder came to be under her care.  I really liked it, because we only get a glimpse of her grandma in Scarlet, and we get to know more about her.
  2. Glitches: This story is all about how Cinder came to live with Garan and his family.  I feel like this story gives some insight into why Adri treats Cinder the way she does- not completely, but enough to not really like Adri.
  3. The Queen’s Army: This story is about the army Levana built, and we see Wolf and how he became Wolf!  I liked it, but it’s not one of my favorites.
  4. Carswell’s Guide To Being Lucky:  It’s not one of the more memorable stories, and it’s not one of my favorites, but I did like seeing Carswell at a young age.
  5. After Sunshine Passes By: I loved it, mostly because it’s about Cress, and how she came to live on the satellite at such a young age.  I also really loved Cress- I can’t decide if I love Winter or Cress more, as far as the main series goes, so it’s no surprise this was one of my favorites!
  6. The Princess And The Guard: This is another one of my favorites, because we see how Winter got her scars, and why she stopped using her gift.  I really felt for Winter!
  7. The Little Android: This is my least favorite of the group.  Even though it’s set in the same world as the other stories, we only briefly see Cinder, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the other stories.  It is a really good re-telling of The Little Mermaid, though.
  8. The Mechanic: I’m sort of in the middle on this one.  It’s a scene we see in Cinder, where Kai stops by Cinder’s stall to have her fix Nainsi, but from Kai’s point of view.  Which was nice to see, but at the same time…I don’t know, I’m feeling neutral about it.
  9. Something Old, Something New: After The Princess And The Guard and After Sunshine Passes By, this is my favorite.  It’s an epilogue of sorts, to the entire series, but especially Winter.  I loved catching up with all of the characters and seeing what they were up to.

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4 stars.  I ranged from not liking a story (The Little Android) to loving a couple stories (After Sunshine Passes By and The Princess And The Guard), with everything else falling somewhere in the middle.  It’s a pretty good addition to the Lunar Chronicle series, and most of the stories (except for Glitches) was new to me, so it was nice to have new stories for one of my favorite series.  It’s also nice to have all 9 stories in one volume, and it’s a great book for any fan of the series.

Book Review: Surviving Santiago by Lyn Miller-Lachmann

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Surviving Santiago CoverBook: Surviving Santiago by Lyn Miller-Lachmann

Published June 2015 by Running Press Kids|312 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

Blog Graphic-What It's About

Returning to her homeland of Santiago, Chile, is the last thing that Tina Aguilar wants to do during the summer of her sixteenth birthday. It has taken eight years for her to feel comfort and security in America with her mother and her new husband. And it has been eight years since she has last seen her father.

Despite insisting on the visit, Tina’s father spends all his time focused on politics and alcohol rather than connecting with Tina, making his betrayal from the past continue into the present. Tina attracts the attention of a mysterious stranger, but the hairpin turns he takes her on may push her over the edge of truth and discovery.

The tense, final months of the Pinochet regime in 1989 provide the backdrop for author Lyn Miller-Lachmann’s suspenseful tale of the survival and redemption of the Aguilar family, first introduced in the critically acclaimed Gringolandia.

Blog Graphic- What I Thought

I’m not sure what to think about Surviving Santiago!  I wanted to like it, and parts of it were interesting, but I had a hard time getting into it.

I didn’t like Tina’s dad at all.  I didn’t get why he wanted to see her, when he’s always off working or drinking.  For someone who would only divorce his wife if he could see his daughter, he didn’t seem to care (at all) about spending time with her, and it didn’t make sense, especially since it’s been almost a decade since they’ve seen each other.

And even though it takes place during the last months of the Pinochet regime and all of these things are happening, I felt like we were told what was happening, instead of seeing it.  I know Tina visiting Chile from the U.S., and she’s naive and not at all aware of what’s going on in Chile, but I wish we saw, through her eyes, what was going on.  Well, more of what was going on, because we do get a glimpse towards the end of the book.  Which wasn’t really enough for me.

She seemed selfish at times (more than I would have expected) and she seemed to care more about the boy and listening to Metallica and smoking weed than anything else, and the relationship that she does have with her dad at the end of the book…it didn’t work for me.  Her actions did change their relationship, but it also put them in a lot of danger. Granted, her dad’s work probably put him in danger, but her actions definitely made it worse.

Overall, it felt like something was missing.  I admit that I know nothing about Pinochet- I just recognize the name, so for me, the things her dad went through, and everything that happened with Frankie…I think I needed more of what his regime was actually like.  It seemed like she drew on her previous book, which is fine, but maybe I should have started off with that one before reading this one, just to have that context.

Still, I liked the author’s note at the end, and I liked that she had a few recommended titles to read.  I felt like that’s something you don’t see a lot in YA.  And I do like that we see the beginning of the end, because it could have very easily been during his regime.

Blog Graphic- My Rating

2 stars.  I do like what Surviving Santiago deals with, and I wanted more context for what was going on in the book, because I didn’t fully understand some of the more political stuff going.  I’d still recommend it, though, because it is about something that people might not be familiar with.

Currently Obsessed With: May 2016

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Currently Obsessed With is a once-a-month (but sometimes more) feature where I talk about about my favorite things from the last month!

Currently Obsessed With

May was a really good fun month!  I went to my cousin’s wedding up in Oregon, which I talked about here (and I shared a bunch of pictures too).  And, of course, I had my birthday, and it was pretty nice, even though I didn’t really do anything.  I don’t really get why people freak out about turning 30, because it really wasn’t a big deal to me.  If anyone has thoughts on that, I’d love to hear it, because it seems like people seem to freak out about turning 30 more than any other birthday, and it just confuses me as to why…

Crochet:

It’s been a good month for crochet!  Partially because when I went up to Oregon, I needed something to do in the car, and it was a good chance to work on stuff.  Like a cowl!  I love that it’s bright pink, and it’s pretty warm, but it was hard to do as a capelet.  As it turned out, it was a quite a few inches off in terms of circumference, so while it was good as a cowl, the capelet didn’t quite work.  But I’ll still wear it, and if I make one from this pattern again, I’ll either need a slightly bigger hook, or I need to do more chains to make it work as a capelet/cowl.  I do like it, though, because it’s really simple, and you just keep going until you’re done!

May 2016- Collage

I also started this shawl, and I really like the pattern.  It started off going pretty fast, but now it’s big enough that each row does take a little bit longer.  It’s taking longer than I thought, partially because it’s getting a little bigger, but I also think it’s because I’m using a small hook and a fairly thin yarn.  I’ve never worked with fingering weight before, and I’m still getting used to working with it.  It’s pretty yarn (and squishy, which makes it fun to work with) and I love that’s self-striping.  I’d definitely buy more of the yarn, but next time, I might do something that involves using 2 strands of it.  That could give it an interesting look.

And I’m still working on the blanket.  The yellow is done, and blue is next!  I’m not sure if I’ll keep adding colors after the blue is done, or if I’ll start on the border.  Maybe measuring the blanket is in order…it is big enough to keep me warm and sit under, and it’s going to get really hot soon.  Once that happens (and if it’s not done), it will definitely have to be put aside until it’s cool enough to work on.

Books:

I’ve been busy reading a lot, but I did buy a few books this month too!  I got The Cage by Megan Sheperd, The Girl Of Fire And Thorns by Rae Carson, plus the rest of the books in the Throne Of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas. I already had Throne Of Glass, and after reading Crown Of Midnight and Heir Of Fire, I knew I liked them enough to actually buy the e-books.

I also got The Daughter Of Smoke And Bone by Laini Taylor from audible.  I also bought Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto from audible.

I’ve read Daughter Of Smoke And Bone, and I’ve tried reading the 2nd book in that series a few times, but always put it on hold because I can’t get into it, so I’m hoping I’ll like the audio book more!  It helps that I really like the narrator they have for the series.

I’ve also been getting audio books from AudioBook Sync, which I did last summer too.  I still haven’t listened to those (I really should get them on my iPod to listen to when I’m driving to work), but I love that they have such a wide range of books.  And I love that they’ve paired classics with newer books.  Some I already have, and there’s a couple I either have on audio already, or it’s one I’ve read, and didn’t like.  But there’s a bunch I haven’t heard of, and I’m looking forward to actually listening to some of them.

T.V./Movies:

I saw Captain America, and I thought it was completely awesome!  I don’t always get to the theaters for the other Marvel movie they do, but the main ones are getting better and better in my opinion…I think this one is my favorite so far!

I also saw X-Men: Apocalypse, and for me, it was entertaining but just okay.  But maybe that’s because the last X-Men movie I saw was the first one- I haven’t seen any of the others until this one, so it stands on it’s own pretty well…but I was probably missing things from the previous movies.

As for t.v., I’ve been catching up on stuff (mostly Nashville and Agents Of Shield since I’ve been way behind on both of them), but it seems like t.v. is winding down until the fall.  At least for me, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll actually start something new this summer.

Around The Internet:

These fish tacos are really good!

I love these diagrams of family trees in Greek, Norse and Egyptian mythology.  It makes them seem more clear somehow.

The kitchn has a really good guide to storing tea.  I drink tea, but not the way I drink coffee…but I think it has some pretty good tips.

And on another tea-related note, is loose-leaf tea really better than tea bags?  Which reminds me, I do need to get some more loose-leaf tea.  I have a place here in San Diego, but I’m always looking for more places.

I thought this article about wellness and healthy eating was interesting.

This Jane Austen Bingo makes me wonder how it would work as a drinking game.

I need a reading nook.  These make me want one so bad.

This post about whitewashing in The Hunger Games movies made me think a lot, as did this post about things to keep in mind when talking about books with LGBT characters.  And from The Huffington Post: 4 myths about reverse racism that need to stop.

This post about movie adaptations: a million times yes!

Should we stop worrying about spoilers?  Maybe, but it probably depends on the person.  Either way, this article was a pretty interesting read.

You can find all that and more over on pinterest!

Music:

I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve done an actual, official playlist, but I’ve been listening to quite a few songs lately, so I figured it was warranted!

Have a great day!

ARC Book Review: And I Darken by Kiersten White

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And I Darken CoverBook: And I Darken by Kiersten White

Expected Publication is June 28, 2016 by Delacorte Press|Expected Number Of Pages: 496

Where I Got It: I got a digital ARC from netgalley.com in exchanged for a fair and honest review

Series: The Conqueror’s Saga #1

Genre: YA Historical Fiction/Alternate History

Blog Graphic-What It's About

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwyla likes it that way.

Ever since she and her brother were abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman sultan’s courts, Lada has known that ruthlessness is the key to survival. For the lineage that makes her and her brother special also makes them targets.

Lada hones her skills as a warrior as she nurtures plans to wreak revenge on the empire that holds her captive. Then she and Radu meet the sultan’s son, Mehmed, and everything changes. Now Mehmed unwittingly stands between Lada and Radu as they transform from siblings to rivals, and the ties of love and loyalty that bind them together are stretched to breaking point.

The first of an epic new trilogy starring the ultimate anti-princess who does not have a gentle heart. Lada knows how to wield a sword, and she’ll stop at nothing to keep herself and her brother alive.

Blog Graphic- What I Thought

And I Darken is such a cool book!  I don’t even know where to begin…this book just pulls you in, and you can’t stop reading until you’re actually done with the book!

What I like the most about And I Darken is that it has an alternate history feel to it, which I think is why some people tagged it as fantasy.  Even though there are no fantasy elements in And I Darken, it does have a fantasy feel to it. And who knows, it might become more of a fantasy later on in the series!

It was a lot more political than I expected- not in a bad way, because you really see the politics of the time.  It’s definitely based on history- Dracula is a teenage girl in this book- but I’m not completely sure how historically accurate it is.  Either way, you really get a good feel for what it might have been like when Lada was alive.

Speaking of Lada, she is resilient, cold and calculating.  She knows what her role is in this world, and she doesn’t want to play along.  And it was really interesting to see, because Lada struggles with Lada’s dislike of women and her feelings on her own femininity.  Yet she comes to realize that power comes in a lot of different forms and women have their own power, though it might be different than the power that the men in their world have.

Her relationship with her brother is really different than what we see in a lot of YA.  Her brother, Radu, is a lot more delicate than Lada, and that both frustrates her and draws out a protectiveness she has for her brother. They are everything that the other is not, and it makes for an interesting relationship between them.

We also see both Christianity and Islam explored, but it’s done in a way that’s not preachy.  And we Islam presented in a way that’s not judgmental, which is really refreshing, because it easily could have gone in that direction. Instead, it’s seen as a religion in it’s own right, and it’s not seen as good or bad…it just is.  There’s something very neutral about how religion is presented in this book, and I really like that.

As for Mehmed: both Lada and Radu think about him a lot.  He does change their lives, and we see how much he changes their relationship.  I think I’m just going to leave it at that, because I’m not completely sure how I feel about Mehmed.

As much as I liked this book, it did feel dense, and partly why it took me a while to get through it was because I needed to take random breaks to let everything sink in.  And Lada, Radu and Mehmed seemed so young to be in the positions they were in.  I really forgot that they were around 14 or 15 at the end of the book, and even though it probably wasn’t unusual for that time period, it still seems so foreign.  Then again, I think a re-read is in order, because there’s so much in this book that I’m sure I’ll see some things I missed the first time around.

Blog Graphic- My Rating

4 stars.  I really liked it, and I love the take on Dracula!  I can’t wait to read the next book.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Beach Reads

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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers share their own bookish top ten lists based on the topic of the week.  You can check out Ten Tuesdays here.

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Top Ten Beach Reads

It definitely summer, and it’s also time for another beach reads post!  It seems like most days of the year could be a beach day for me (and yet, I can’t actually remember the last time I actually went to the beach), but these are definitely the books I want to read outside this summer!

  1. Perfect Lies by Kiersten White.  I’ve wanted to read it for a while, but I have yet to do that.  I will have to re-read the first one, since I don’t remember what happened, but that’s not going to stop me!
  2. The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick.  This seems like a good beach read!  I loved The Boy Next Door (which is also a good beach read), and I’m positive the same will go for this book.
  3. Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler.  In general, Sarah Ockler seems like a good author for a beach read, and this one seems like an especially good choice.
  4. Mouse Guard: Spring 1153 by David Petersen.  Mouse Guard is absolutely adorable, and this graphic novel series is a good choice for a beach read.
  5. UnEnchanted by Chanda Hahn.  Fairy tale re-tellings scream beach read to me, and this book (which is about the descendent of the Brothers Grimm) seems like a good book to have at the beach!
  6. The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Gilbraith.  Mysteries are good beach reads!
  7. Imprudence by Gail Carriger.  Generally speaking, Gail Carriger books are good beach reads, and even though this book doesn’t come out until mid-July, it will make for a good beach read.
  8. Midnight Bites by Rachel Caine.  This Morganville Vampire short story collection is going to be a very good beach read.
  9. The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West.  Kasie West in another author who’s books are good beach reads.  This one seems like no exception.
  10. Red Hot Rain by Rachel Caine.  I know I’ve included another one of her books, but it’s another Weather Wardens book, and those are perfect beach reads.

ARC Book Review: The Art Of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

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The Art Of Being Normal CoverBook Review: The Art Of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

Expected Publication is May 31, 2016 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux|Expected Number Of Pages: 352

Where I Got It: I got a digital-ARC from netgalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

Blog Graphic-What It's About

David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth: David wants to be a girl.

On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal: to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in his class is definitely not part of that plan. When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long, and soon everyone knows that Leo used to be a girl.

As David prepares to come out to his family and transition into life as a girl and Leo wrestles with figuring out how to deal with people who try to define him through his history, they find in each other the friendship and support they need to navigate life as transgender teens as well as the courage to decide for themselves what normal really means.

Blog Graphic- What I Thought

I really liked The Art Of Being Normal!  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s a book I’d recommend to anyone!

I haven’t read many books featuring a trasngender character, but I liked seeing David struggle with telling his family that he’s transgender.  You see how he’s bullied because of this time, when he was little, and said he wanted to be a girl.  You see how people assume he’s gay (or suspect he his) because he’s interested in boys, when, in reality, it’s because David is really Kate.

David’s story is a really interesting parallel to Leo’s story.  As with David, you see bullying and how people treat him because Leo is also transgender, and what happened to Leo was heartbreaking.  It makes me so sad that people treated Leo the way they did, and that Leo had to transfer schools for his own safety.  You have David, who wants to transition, and Leo, who is in the process of transitioning, and I like how their stories come together.  I did like the dual narration, since you see how both teens are struggling, and what their lives are like.

Even though it worked fairly well, it was also hard to form strong attachments to both Leo and David.  I do love the connection they have with each other, though, and I’m glad they have each other for support.  Something about it the dual narration didn’t quite work for me, and I think it’s because we don’t focus completely on one character.  Like, David kind of gets pushed off to the side because of Leo’s search for his father, and it seems sort of random and I’m not sure it completely fits with the rest of the story.

It also starts a little slow, and you’re not really sure where it’s headed at first, but as you get into the story, you get a better idea of where things are headed.  Still, there were times where it seemed like it might be a little darker than you’d expect, and it didn’t really get there.  Yes, you see some of the prejudice that transgender people face, but it didn’t have a big emotional impact, and I guess I just wanted something more.  It did seem unevenly paced, and a little all over the place, and looking back, I think I wanted something a little more evenly paced.

More than anything, The Art Of Being Normal is about class and poverty and making friends and communicating with family.  It’s about growing up and dealing with family.  David doesn’t feel like he’s normal, and you see how hard it is for David to communicate that.  He was a character I think we can all relate, because we all feel like we’re not normal, and we’re all dealing with our thing.

Williamson captures what it’s like to be a teenager really well, and it was really easy to relate to some of the things the characters were dealing with.

I did want to see more of David’s friends, who are there, but not in an important way.  I wish we see them more than the random appearances they make.  Going in, I knew Leo was transgender, but it’s a while before it comes up in the book that Leo’s transgender, and it was frustrating to see the hints that Leo had a secret, but it not being revealed. I get that Leo’s not open because of what happened to him at his old school, but the hints got to me, and I just wanted to know what happened.

Blog Graphic- My Rating

3 stars.  I liked it, and I think it’s a book everyone should read, but for me, I wanted a little more than what we got in the book.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Feel Differently About Now That Time Has Passed

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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers share their own bookish top ten lists based on the topic of the week.  You can check out Ten Tuesdays here.

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Top Ten Books I Feel Differently About Now That Time Has Passed

This is an interesting topic!  It was a little hard, though, because for the most part, it seems like my feelings on books haven’t changed that much.  Still, I have ten books that I feel differently about now that some sort of time has passed!

  1. Harry Potter.  The more that time passes, the more I love it, and the more glad I am that I read it as it was coming out.
  2. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han.  The more I re-read it, the more I fall in love with the series.
  3. Take A Chance and One More Chance by Abbi Glines.  Even though there hasn’t been a lot of time between me finishing these books and me writing this post…the more I think about these two books, the more I hate them, which makes me not want to read more New Adult, because I’ve read some NA I’ve really liked, and these 2 books just make me hate the genre.
  4. What We Left Behind by Robin Talley.  I think I like it even less now than I did when I read the book.
  5. Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot.  I used to love this series in high school, and now I’m sort of indifferent.
  6. The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.  Every time I think about this book, I feel so many different things, and it just makes me wish everyone read this book.
  7. Winter by Marissa Meyer.  I love it more now than I did when I first read it, and that reminds me, I never posted a review of it, and maybe I should do that.  But the point is, I love Winter, and it’s easily my favorite book in that entire series.
  8. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.  I wasn’t a big fan of the series when I read the first one, but after seeing the movie, I re-read it, and liked it a lot more than I did when I first read it.
  9. Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine.  I miss this series so much!  I have yet to read the short story collection, but I’m so excited for more Morganville and I can’t wait to revisit it!
  10. Basically anything Shadowhunter, by Cassandra Clare.  I’m feeling very fatigued by the sheer number of Shadowhunter books out there, and while I liked the Mortal Instruments series (which is also the only books I’ve read by Clare), I don’t know if I like it enough to read Infernal Devices, even though that’s a series I want to read.

Book Review: One More Chance by Abbi Glines

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One More Chance CoverBook: One More Chance by Abbi Glines

Published September 2014 by Atria Books|272 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: Chance #2, Rosemary Beach #8

Genre: NA/Contemporary Romance

Blog Graphic-What It's About

The unforgettable story of Grant and Harlow from Take a Chance continues in this brand-new novel in the Rosemary Beach series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Abbi Glines.

She was it. His one. His only. Then he made the mistake of letting her go.

After fighting his way into Harlow Manning’s heart—and revealing a side of himself no one had ever seen before—Grant Carter destroyed his own heart by giving in to his greatest fears and doubts. Months later, he’s stuck in a miserable routine. Work relentlessly. Beg his best friend Rush for news about Harlow. Avoid all other friends. Leave nightly voicemails for Harlow, pleading with her to come back to Rosemary Beach. Fall asleep alone. Repeat.

Miles away, on her brother’s Texas ranch, Harlow can’t bring herself to listen to Grant’s voicemails. Though she wants to be with him, and knows he regrets letting her go, she doesn’t know if she can trust him. When he discovered the truth behind her sheltered upbringing, it shattered their relationship, but the secret she carries now has far greater consequences. Can she risk giving Grant one more chance, or will the gamble ultimately destroy her?

Blog Graphic- What I Thought

Even though I didn’t like the first Harlow/Grant book, I still wanted to see what would happen.  I think I hated this book more than I did the first one.

It’s mostly because Harlow is a selfish idiot.  Even though she has a heart condition AND HAVING A BABY CAN LITERALLY KILL HER, she insists on going through with her pregnancy, even though everyone around her wants her to have an abortion.  I did hate that people were trying to force her to change her mind and get an abortion, because it is her decision, and if she wants to keep a baby that could kill her, it’s her decision, as much as everyone doesn’t like her decision.  I felt like Mase’s mom was the only one who seemed supportive of Harlow’s decision. Grant seemed to come around a little bit but not completely.  At the same time, though, I felt like it was incredibly selfish for Harlow to insist on going through with the pregnancy.

I know it’s Grant’s baby, and she wants the baby, and he made her want things she could never have, but I felt like she cared more about the baby and sacrificing herself for the baby than living.  I felt like she was either too stupid to realize SHE was more important to people than her baby, or she realized it but didn’t care that SHE was important to people and that they didn’t want to lose her.  I don’t understand her decision, and I’ve never had to make that decision, but I also feel like it’s her decision to make…and Grant’s too, being the father.  We never see her talk with Mase or his family about it, and we’re just told what her decision is.  Grant’s opinion doesn’t seem to matter either, and I feel like she doesn’t want to take into account what other people think, because all that matters is what she wants.  Which is true to a point, but…it just bothered me that she didn’t care if she lived or died.

I also hated that Mase called Rush, knowing that he’d tell Grant, who’d go running to find her.  His voice mails were pretty pathetic, and I am utterly clueless as to why Harlow is in love with him, and why she’d give him a chance after everything he did.  And after the way he treated her after finding out about her heart condition. She really should have made him work to get her back.

I did like that Nan donated blood, and I felt like I understood Nan a lot better.  I still don’t completely get why people dislike Nan and why the other characters treat her the way they do, but what she did for Harlow did was really nice. I didn’t like how everyone suspected she was up to something, and unable to do anything nice for anyone.  And that she was trying to manipulate someone or something by donating blood.

The letters Harlow wrote to her unborn child were really morbid, and I didn’t like them at all.  And Harlow thinking she live just based off wanting to be there for her child…hope can go a long way, but again, her pregnancy could very will kill her, and hope can’t overcome that.  Plus, it’s something that she can pass on to her child, so I am having a hard time understanding why she’d want to keep this baby.

Something I thought was weird was her grandma.  Early on in the book, Harlow’s thinking about her grandma (who didn’t believe in abortion), and what her grandma what think if it were Harlow getting an abortion.  And then Kiro mentions her grandma, and wants to know if it’s a religious thing and if it’s something her grandma taught her. I am confused about what religion has to do with it, because someone not wanting an abortion doesn’t necessarily have to be because of religious beliefs.

I get Kiro is trying to understand why she’s not getting an abortion, but that, combined with Harlow’s earlier thoughts of her grandma made me think that her grandma was religious and didn’t believe in abortions.  I don’t understand the emphasis on her grandma’s beliefs when one, grandma isn’t with us anymore. and two, it doesn’t actually go anywhere.  Given it comes up a couple of times, I thought it would have more of a role, and it doesn’t, so I don’t get why it’s brought up.

After giving birth, it takes her a while to open up her eyes, but, of course, she ends up being fine…it seemed like a major cop-out that she ended up being fine.  Other than people freaking out because she insists on having a child, she ends up fine, with nothing other than a coma.  Why have her have this serious heart condition in which having a child could kill her if she’s going to be fine?  It felt manipulative in the last book, like it was there for drama, but it felt extremely, intensely manipulative for her to be fine.  Because Harlow just can’t be pregnant, she has to be pregnant with a serious, life-threatening heart condition and somehow end up okay. Granted, she was in pretty good health, which probably was a factor, and she was high-risk but at the lower end of high-risk, but I wanted more complications with it.

Blog Graphic- My Rating

1 star.  The only thing I liked was Nan donating blood to Harlow, but overall, this was a frustrating book to read.

Book Review: Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne Valente

Posted in Books, diverse books by

Six-Gun Snow White CoverBook: Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne Valente

Published November 2015 by Saga Press|128 pages

Where I Got It: I own the e-book

Series: None

Genre: YA Western/Fairy-Tale Re-Telling/Novella

Blog Graphic-What It's About

A plain-spoken, appealing narrator relates the history of her parents—a Nevada silver baron who forced the Crow people to give up one of their most beautiful daughters, Gun That Sings, in marriage to him. With her mother’s death in childbirth, so begins a heroine’s tale equal parts heartbreak and strength. This girl has been born into a world with no place for a half-native, half-white child. After being hidden for years, a very wicked stepmother finally gifts her with the name Snow White, referring to the pale skin she will never have.

Blog Graphic- What I Thought

Six-Gun Snow White sounded really good and different, and I was pretty excited about reading it, but I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would.

It’s an interesting take on Snow White, and I like that it’s a western, because that seems pretty rare for YA.  And yet, I felt really distanced from what was going on, which made it hard to get into.  I felt like I was being told what was going on, instead of seeing what was going on, and it felt like it was being told to me by a third party, instead of Snow White herself.

The ending was a cop-out!  It felt very slapped together and like there wasn’t a lot of thought put into it.  Which I thought was odd, because it otherwise felt like a thought of thought went into the story.  It also felt very halting, and it was a little hard to get through.

As a re-telling, it does follow the original story of Snow White pretty well, but in a different setting and time period. How Snow White got her name was sad, and I felt like it was a dig on the step-mother’s part.  There are some differences, of course, but overall, I thought she did a fantastic job re-telling it, with Prince Charming as a horse, and with the dwarves as women.  As a western, though, I couldn’t get into it all.

I can’t speak to how accurate all of the Native American stories we see in the novella are, but Snow as half-white and half-Crow Indian was a different take on the original story, and why Snow White getting the name of Snow White was sad.  There is a lot of abuse and racism in the novella, so it’s probably closer to the Grimm version of the story then any other book out there.  It’s darker than I expected, and given how the story is written, novella length is probably the perfect length for it.

I had a hard enough time getting through it, and at one point, I was dangerously close to not finishing it, even though it’s not that long.  But since it’s not long, I figured I could tough it out and finish it.  Because of the length, though, you don’t get a lot of details, which could have been really interesting.  It does make me wonder what this novella could be if it were novel-length, but not if it were written the way the novella is.

Blog Graphic- My Rating

2 stars.  I thought about giving it one star, but it gets two because the book as a re-telling was really really good, but how it was told didn’t work for me.