Spring Into Horror Read-a-Thon 2014

It's been ages since I participated in a read-a-thon, so I thought I would start with this one since I've enjoyed it in the past.  This year, I am committed to reading 3 books.  Because I'm doing this for fun, none will be review books.  All of these are books I own and have been looking for a chance to read.  I plan to read the following:

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

The Outside by Laura Bickle

Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts

If you would like to participate, follow this link to the sign-up post and use the linky to sign up.  I hope you'll join me!

Stacking the Shelves #4 - April 26, 2014

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and is a meme dedicated to sharing your book hauls and swag.  Please visit this link to find out more.

It's been a pretty good week with lots of nice pick-me-ups that were much-needed in light of some medical problems I am facing.  It was nice to have these pretties to think about and I can't wait to read them all.

The Books

For Review

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck (paperback from Sterling Publishing)

Dirty Wings by Sarah McCarry (eGalley from Netgalley & St. Martin's)
The Stepsister's Tale by Tracy Barrett (eGalley from Netgalley & Harlequin Teen)
Firebug by Lish McBride (eGalley from Netgalley & Henry Holt & Co.)

Purchased

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Steam & Sorcery by Sidney Spencer Pape (eBook)
Photographs & Phantoms by Sidney Spencer Pape (eBook)
Kilts & Kraken by Sidney Spencer Pape (eBook)

What I Read

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

What I Reviewed

House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple
Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

What I'm Reading

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
The Door by Andy Marino

Other Posts

Hannah's Review of Searching for Sky by Jillian Cantor
Feature & Follow Friday - April 25, 2014

Feature & Follow Friday - April 25, 2014

Feature & Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. It is a way for book bloggers to get to know each other better. To join in and make some friends, simply follow the directions listed by Parajunkee on her blog.  This week's question is:

Have any pets? Tell us or show us!

I have 3 wonderful cats to show you.  First, meet Tadhg:

Tadhg was my little writing buddy and my partner in crime.  He was my first cat in 4 years and he was spectacular.  We lost him in January of this year, but he's still with me and I will never forget him.

Meet Widget:

Widget is a handsome boy, a playful cat, and, to be honest, a complete jerk sometimes.  LOL  He's my daughter's cat and he lets everyone know it.  I'm also convinced he's the cat the Friends song is about.  You know the one.

Meet Rochester:

Rochester is my sweet old man.  We rescued him from the shelter in January, where they thought he was a kitten.  Nope.  He's just tiny and, I'm quite sure, a lot older than they thought.  He's an awesome cat, though, and has so much love to give.  Just look at that face!

So, that's my bunch.  Who are your furry friends?

Review - Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

by Ava Dellaira
publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux BYR
date of publication: April 1, 2014
format: ARC
pages: 323
source: publisher
buy it: Love Letters to the Dead

From Goodreads:

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more; though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was; lovely and amazing and deeply flawed; can she begin to discover her own path.

I don't often read contemporary fiction.  I do, however, enjoy epistolary novels a great deal.  When Love Letters to the Dead arrived unexpectedly in the mail, I was intrigued by its premise.  I knew it was going to be a tough, heart-breaking book, but it was one that called to be read.  As it turns out, I was right on both counts.

Laurel is a character caught in the vacuum her sister's absence left behind.  She is unable to move past her idealized thoughts of her sister, unable to break free from the same spiral May was on before she died.  As you read Laurel's story through letters, you can't help but be angry on her behalf.  This is a girl who has been let down so many times, times when she needs support the most.  When you find out why she holds such a rosy view of her sister, however, it will break your heart.  It makes Laurel one of the most compelling characters with one of the most heartbreaking stories I've read in quite some time.

Each letter is filled with Laurel's raw emotions, as well as an account of her further loss of control over her life.  Not only that, but each letter addresses what happens to the recipients of each letter.  She talks of their short lives and their deaths and all that makes their memories live on to this day.  This adds to the emotion of the book and makes for an even more poignant reading experience.  By the end of Love Letters to the Dead, you'll have tears in your eyes as the implications of everything fully hits you.

Love Letters to the Dead was so much more than I had expected.  It's not a comfortable read, but you know what?  It's an important one.  Things like this do happen and there are children and teens that really deal with this in their day-to-day lives.  What's more, Love Letters to the Dead doesn't fear to touch upon other subjects of vast importance today.  In the end, Love Letters to the Dead is a gritty, moving novel about death, guilt, redemption, and healing.  It's a novel that stayed with me long after I put it down.

Searching for Sky by Jillian Cantor: Review

Title: Searching for Sky

Author: Jillian Cantor

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication Date: May 13, 2014

Source: Netgalley

From Goodreads:

Sky and River have always lived on Island, the only world they’ve ever known. Until the day River spots a boat. Across Ocean, in a place called California, Sky is separated from River and forced to live with a grandmother she’s just met. Here the rules for survival are different. People rely on strange things like cars and cell phones. They keep secrets from one another. And without River, nothing makes sense. Sky yearns for her old life where she was strong and capable, not lost and confused. She must find River so they can return to Island, but the truth behind how they ended up there in the first place will come as the biggest shock of all.

 

This type of book is a tricky one to write. Every one of us sees the world as it is. If you are part of my generation and younger ones then you’ve never lived without a cell phone in your hand or a computer to use. I’ve never lived a life without cars or electricity or modern amenities. I’ve never lived a life where I didn’t go to school. I’ve never had to life off of the land or life on my own. So it’s really hard for me to imagine how someone who has never known any of this can see the world and obviously it was also hard for Jillian Cantor. This was a tricky book and while it had heart it didn’t quite get the end result that she (probably) wanted.

The protagonist, Sky/Megan, seems very ignorant and not just because she didn’t grow up in this world. I blame this on the fact that her entire life she has been taught to only know the things that she needs to know and never more. She has been taught to never question, to live life on strict routine. Never stray from the routine or break any of the strict rules that Helmut has put forth before them. Basically don’t use your mind. River on the other hand is referenced as a dreamer throughout the book. He questions everything, thinks of things bigger than himself, and is not afraid to be defiant.

Because of his ability to process things and question and understand the world better than Sky, it was River who should have adapted better to this new world of California, but instead it was Sky who thrived. I understand that this was because she had a “team of professionals” to help her, but even at the end of the book there was hardly any growth from River and that was disappointing.

One of the things that made this book so tricky was trying to figure out how people who have never been in modern society. I found it hard to believe that Petal and Helmut (the parents on Island) never called the rocks leading down or up, “steps”. Or that they never said any words, like “awesome” or “sucks” or whatever the equivalent would have been before they left California. It just doesn’t seem realistic to me that Sky would only know a few words. It’s strange that she would call a light the “sun”. She should have been smart enough to know that the sun emits light. She would have known the word light; therefore she should have known that a “light” on the ceiling was not the sun, but rather something that emitted light. Even if she didn’t know what electricity was she would have known the word light.

I have read other book very similar to this one and yet those other books surpassed this was by far. Like I’ve said, this is a tricky subject to write. A tricky point of view to write from and unfortunately for Cantor it just didn’t come out like she was hoping it would.