Booking Into Spring: Mini Challenge #2

Mini-Challenge #2: The Name Game

The Second Read-A-Thon Mini-Challenge is The Name Game! It works like this; we are given a specific category and we have to choose book, either released or not yet released that fall under the category. The hard part? We can only use books with titles that spell out our name. This sounds fun and definitely challenging! Luckily I don't have any Q's or Z's in my name, otherwise I'd be in trouble!! Thanks again to the ladies at  Novel Ink and Latte Nights Reviews for hosting these great mini-challenges :)

 

Booking Into Spring: Mini Challenge #1

Mini-Challenge #1: Scattegories

  The first Read-A-Thon Mini-Challenge is Scattergories! A game in which a certain letter of the alphabet will be chosen for us to use. We are then given book related categories and we must list a book that relates to each category, the book title must start with the pre-chosen letter. This sounds fun AND challenging, thanks Novel Ink and Latte Nights Reviews for hosting these great mini-challenges :)

If I Fall, If I Die

Released: 01-20-15

Book Bits:

Rating: 4 out of 5  Stars

Author: Michael Christie

Formats Available: eBook, Paperback, Hardback

Pages: 337

http://www.amazon.com/If-Fall-Die-Novel

A heartfelt and wondrous debut about family, fear, and skateboarding, that Karen Russell calls "A bruiser of a tale . . . a death-defying coming-of-age story."

Will has never been outside, at least not since he can remember. And he has certainly never gotten to know anyone other than his mother, a fiercely loving yet wildly eccentric agoraphobe who drowns in panic at the thought of opening the front door. Their world is rich and loving, full of art, experiments, and music—but confined to their small house.

But Will’s thirst for adventure can’t be contained. Clad in a protective helmet and unsure of how to talk to other kids, he finally ventures outside. With the help of an artistic loner who introduces Will to the high-flying freedom of skateboarding, Will is pulled far from the confines of his closed-off world and thrust headfirst into the throes of early adulthood and the dangers that everyday life offers. 

In buoyant, kinetic prose, Michael Christie has written an emotionally resonant and keenly observed novel about mothers and sons, fears and risks, and the lengths we’ll go for those we love.

Booking Into Spring Read-A-Thon

While cruising my favorite blogger pages today I came across this awesome Read-A-Thon, I've been desperate to try one of these and this one sounded like the perfect one to start with! Booking Into Spring Read-A-Thon is hosted by the fabulous girls at Novel Ink and GenGen's Book Blog. They've teamed up to bring us this Read-A-Thon where mini-challenges, Twitter chats, and giveaways will be hosted! Now this is my kind of challenge :) 

Breath of Scandal

Released: 03-31-15

Book Bits:

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Author: Sandra Brown 

Formats Available: eBook, Paperback, Hardback & Audio

Pages: 468

http://www.amazon.com/Breath-Scandal 

 

On a rainy Southern night, Jade Sperry endured a young woman's worst nightmare at the hands of three local hell-raisers. Robbed of her youthful ideals and at the center of scandal and tragedy, Jade ran as far and as fast as she could. But she never forgot the sleepy "company town" where every man, woman, and child was dependent on one wealthy family. And she never forgot their spoiled son, who, with his two friends, changed her life forever. Someday, somehow, she'd return, exact a just revenge -- and free herself from fear, and the powerful family that could destroy her

House of Echoes: A Novel

Released: 04-14-15

Book Bits:

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Author: Brendan Duffy

Formats Available: eBook, Hardcover, Audio

Pages: 402

http://www.amazon.com/House-Echoes-Novel 

A young New York City couple with a boy and a baby in tow, Ben and Caroline Tierney had it all…until Ben’s second novel missed the mark, Caroline lost her lucrative banking job, and something went wrong with 8-year-old Charlie. When Ben inherits land way upstate from his grandmother, the two of them began to believe in second chances. But upon arriving in Swannhaven, a town that seems to have been forgotten by time, they’re beset by strange sights and disconcerting developments…and they begin to realize they might have made their worst mistake yet. But what dark secret is buried in this odd place? And will Ben and Caroline figure it out soon enough to save their young family?

Akin to Jennifer McMahon’s The Winter People and Joe Hill’s Heart-Shaped Box, House of Echoes is a debut thriller populated by achingly sympathetic characters, charged with psychological suspense, and rich with a small town’s strange history.

The Lie

Released: 04-23-15

Book Bits:

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Author: C.L. Taylor
Formats Available: eBook & Paperback
Pages: 400
http://www.amazon.com/Lie-C-L-Taylor

This was no accident…
 

Haunting, compelling, this psychological thriller will have you hooked. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl and Daughter.
 

I know your name’s not really Jane Hughes . . .
 

Jane Hughes has a loving partner, a job in an animal sanctuary and a tiny cottage in rural Wales. She’s happier than she’s ever been but her life is a lie. Jane Hughes does not really exist.
 

Five years earlier Jane and her then best friends went on holiday but what should have been the trip of a lifetime rapidly descended into a nightmare that claimed the lives of two of the women.
 

Jane has tried to put the past behind her but someone knows the truth about what happened. Someone who won’t stop until they’ve destroyed Jane and everything she loves . . .

Author Spotlight - Anne Rice

Anyone that knows me knows that I love Anne Rice; like really, really love Anne Rice. I can still remember the moment I discovered her, all the way back in Junior High, 7th grade to be exact. I was going through this scary book phase but authors like R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike just weren't cutting it anymore, what scared me in 5th grade was no longer so and I decided I was ready for more "adult" authors. I remember spending many afternoons in our public library, scouring the shelves in search of some spooking tales. Some were great, others...... not so much! One afternoon I randomly came across this little (ha, ya right!) book called The Witching Hour, from the moment I pulled it off the shelf I knew I was entering new territory. The cover, with it's little peep hole opening that showed a hauntingly beautiful plantation underneath was the most intoxicating cover I'd ever seen (still one of my all time favs). One look at that cover and I just knew I'd struck gold, naturally I rushed right home and devoured all 1,000 pages. That was the moment I fell in love with Anne Rice, New Orleans and her beautiful witches and vampires (although they came a tad latter) and I've read nearly all of her books since, most of them several times. I actually don't re-read many books, I don't have the time too when there's always new books and authors to be found. So for me to re-read a book or a series by a specific author means it's a serious love fest! I've re-read only three author's books in my life; Anne Rice, Stephen King, and Suzanne Collins ( I re-read the Hunger Games trilogy with my kids before the movie came out).

Stolen Child

Released: 03-27-15

When I first began Stolen Child, I thought I was going to be reading a psychological thriller about a stolen baby and the hunt to find her kidnapper. This book was less a “thriller” and more of a psychological character study of two very different women, their families, and the tragedy that shaped all of their lives. I absolutely loved this book and found it utterly fascinating. As a mother, some parts were really hard for me to read; I kept placing myself in Carla’s shoes, wondering how I would have dealt with the kidnapping of my child. My emotions were running so high at the beginning of this book that a few times I actually slammed my kindle down and yelled (to no one in particular), “Enough! I can’t read this anymore!” Of course, a few minutes later I was stealthily sneaking back towards said kindle - I just had to find out what happened next! I love books that can invoke this type of emotion from me and I can honestly say it doesn’t happen very often!

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl

Released: 03-24-15

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie is a terrific YA Horror/Mystery that is perfect for ages 13 and over. It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything in this genre and I will honestly say that it was this book’s amazing cover that drew me in and made me want to read it. Sunshine and her mom have just moved from Texas to WA State for her mom’s new job. From her first glance out the car window Sunshine is convinced they’ve moved to the ultimate creepy house. It quickly becomes clear that the house is haunted and that Sunshine is the only one that can see and remember the strange happenings that are going on. No matter how much physical evidence Sunshine shows her, her mom either can’t see it or remember any of it the next day, definitely something strange going on there! Luckily, Sunshine befriends a very sweet, cute boy at school, Nolan, who not only believes her but also seems to have some experience in researching ghost stories thanks to his grandfather. The two team up together and investigate the strange happenings in Sunshine’s house, they soon discover that Sunshine is no ordinary girl and this is no ordinary haunting.