Waiting on Wednesday: The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass

I cannot BELIEVE I am posting this.  Does anyone remember my earlier binge on the first two books in this series? "Basically Hunger Games meets the Bachlorette."  

I am almost embarrassed but god damn I want to know who he picks. And the covers, still beautiful.

The Selection changed the lives of thirty-five girls forever. And now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.

America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.

From the very first page of The Selection, this #1 New York Times bestselling series has captured readers' hearts and swept them away on a captivating journey... Now, in The One, Kiera Cass delivers a satisfying and unforgettable conclusion that will keep readers sighing over this electrifying fairy-tale long after the final page is turned.

Publication- May 6th, 2014

What made your Waiting on Wednesday this week? As always, cheers to Jill at Breaking the Spine for hosting WoW.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books That Will Make You Cry

This week's Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Will Make You Cry.  Other then sad country songs and commercials for the Olympics that show parents of Olympians, books top the list of tear-inducing material.


1. The Fault in Our Stars.  Does this even need explanation?  The movie is also going to wreck us I am sure, the trailer did....

2. The Book Thief.  Again, a given.

3.  Harry Potter Book 8.  Not only an end of an era, but the ends of our character's lives were not all butter rum and quidditch practice.

4.  Allegient.  Tears for Four always.

5. Similarly, tears for Gale in Mockingjay

6. Just One Day- GS's review is coming and it made her sad. (ADDENDUM: it made her happy said, she reports, but tears nonetheless)

7. Code Name Verity.  I cried so hard at the end of the book, which was terrible because I was on the metro on the way to work....

8. Jellico Road.  (and here, we really loved this) We have gone on about those one before, but the relationships just hurt in a real way.

Cheers to the Broke and Bookish for hosting as always!  What's on your list?

Review: Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin ( Masque of the Red Death #1)

Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population, and those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery makeup . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club, in the depths of her own despair, Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club, and Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find not just something to live for, but something to fight for, no matter what it costs her.

GS read and reviewed this what seems like forever ago, and over Christmas I read this story in about two days. No great literature here, but lots of tattered corsets and steamy looks from boys. This is a Poe/Steampunk mashup, and what the heck, why NOT.

Originality. 9. Plague, corsets, disparity of wealth/class struggles and love.  

Absurdity. 10- I agree with GS about the eye rolling at the goth/punk ripped Victorian dresses  and glittery eye shadow.  This with the dead brother and Prince story line?  Sheesh, a lot is happening here.  Nevermind the dangling above the croc scene!

Level of Paranormal Romance: 7.  Totally disagreed with GF- there is a lot of love for Will over here.

Level of Harry Potterness- 4- I like to set reasonable expectations, in my books, boyfriend, and new years resolutions.   Just for with it for the story, the originality, and the boys.   I am 87% going to continue with the next book in the series!

Stacking the Shelves: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Its been a while, but I finally have a great Stacking the Shelves! This week I got an ARC of  We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Its not due out until May, but people, I have read the first 15 pages and its pretty fabulous. Its romantic and moody and slightly dark. I think its going to be a rocking book!


A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
 
We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE (GoodReads).

This reminds me of the The Romantics by Galt Niederhoffer- did you ever read it? Its a movie, too:

What's new to your shelf this morning? As always, a big cheers to Tygna's Reviews for hosting Stacking the Shelves- happy weekend!

Review: Allegiant, by Veronica Rother (Divergent Series # 3)

Greatly Anticipated! Much loved series (cough cough Four Forever).  I was EXCITED to get my hands on this after months of library lists!

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. 

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love. 

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

Originality:  6.  For the last in the series, we made big jumps to the world outside the fence, though I kinda just wish we had stayed inside.

Absurdity: 8.  LOTS of revolutionary ideas here, LOTS of them, some of which were highly absurd, and brainwashy.  Why did the peoples from inside the fence ever fall for the GP/GD schpeal?  Four, you are better then that!  I just found that hard to believe, which had cascading effects for the storyline.

Level of Paranormal Romance:  9.  O Tris and Four, your love and bickering in the middle of a revolution was an uphill battle, but I felt pretty swoony towards Four the whole time.  

"I fell in love with him. But I don't just stay with him by default as if there's no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.” 

Staying spoiler free, but this book knocked me on my heels and left me with a lot of emotions.

Level of Harry-Potterness: 6.  I really loved Divergent, and happily plowed through Insurgent.  Allegiant was not the same, and I think it took on too much outside the fence and never had enough time to build the plot, but just raced through with character choices that just weren't thought out or explained.   I think I will stay back in book one, with the training, the meeting of Four, and the learning of the world that was Divergent.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Wicked We Have Done

Evalyn Ibarra never expected to be an accused killer and experimental prison test subject. A year ago, she was a normal college student. Now she’s been sentenced to a month in the compass room—an advanced prison obstacle course designed by the government to execute justice.

If she survives, the world will know she’s innocent.

Locked up with nine notorious and potentially psychotic criminals, Evalyn must fight the prison and dismantle her past to stay alive. But the system prized for accuracy appears to be killing at random.

She doesn’t plan on making friends.

She doesn’t plan on falling in love, either (GoodReads).
Due out in mid-March, The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian has a cool cover, a sci-fi + prison break feel., Plus romance? Okay, I won't say no! I hope its a fun read 

What made your Waiting on Wednesday this week? As always, cheers to Jill at Breaking the Spine for hosting WoW.

Review: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare is the first book in the Infernal Devices trilogy, which recently wrapped up. Aka- the perfect thing to binge on! Who doesn't love to read a series that is already done. It encourages late night reading sprees and even later-in-the-same-night digital purchases of the next book in line.
In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them.... (GoodReads)

Clare's books suck you in. The writing is easy, the plot flies forward, and stories unfold in a short period of time. 

Originality: 4 Steampunk!  automatons and corsets, and some eye-roll inducing posturing, when convenient for swoon, of victorian mores. Girls who don't now who they are, why they are valuable, why they are the key to saving the world, and unaware of their beauty. Overall, we have seen this all before.

Absurdity: 9!!! Steampunk = absurd to me. I can't help it!

CC: Lots of eyerolls for the references by Tessa to what heroines in books do... blargh.  How can this be the same girl who quotes Dickens/Shakespeare?

Level of Paranormal Romance: 7.  Will and Jem, you will realize by the end of page 4, are going to be two points of a love triangle. One is good, one is a badboy. Both are handsome (because, obviously), mysterious, and best friends. But guess what? I expect most readers are ok with it,  because woooooowwweeee these two are equally, if differently, smoldering.

CC- did anyone else think Will was VERY similar to Jace with his moody/brooding/charming self?  Cant say he wasnt swoony just like, pull it together man.

Level of Harry Potterness: 2. I am not reading these books for their literally effects, but for fun. 

CC- agree with GS.  For sure, it was an easy read, and you kinda know plot twists are coming when the characters think they have solved the puzzle halfway through the book- if there wasn't a twist, what happens in the next hundred pages?  

Tournament of Books X

As I try to read more smart books, per my 2013 New Years Resolution that has received an extension for 2014,  the Morning News is stepping it up and offering me some great choices!

"In case you’re new to all this, the ToB is an annual springtime event here at TheMorning News, where a group of the best works of fiction from last year enter a March Madness-style battle royale.

 In March, these novels will be seeded and paired off in an NCAA Tournament-like bracket. For each pairing, one of our esteemed judges will read both novels and advance one, with a transparent explanation of how they made their decision. Along the way, our ToB Chairmen, authors Kevin Guilfoile and John Warner, will weigh in with commentary, and you, the readers, will add your own.

 Eventually, only two books will remain, to be judged by our entire panel, and one will be crowned the Rooster of 2014." via

Here they come in all their glory- if you need a book to read that is somewhat above the normal insta-love werewolf/angel romance, this is a good place to start!

Finalists for the 2014 Tournament of Books

• At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcón
• The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
• The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto
• The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
• How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
• The Dinner by Herman Koch
• The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Long Division by Kiese Laymon
• The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
• Hill William by Scott McClanahan
• The Son by Philipp Meyer
• A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
• The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara
• [Winner of the Pre-Tournament Playoff Round]

Pre-Tournament Playoff Round

• Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
• Woke Up Lonely by Fiona Maazel

Waiting on Wednesday: Toxic Heart (Mystic City #2) by Theo Lawrence

Remember how much Crazy Camper liked Mystic City by Theo Lawrence? (see said happy review here!). Good news is, this week we can share Toxic Heart, book two in Lawrence's series, as our Waiting on Wednesday. What made your Wow? P.S.: Cheers to Jill at Breaking the Spine for hosting WoW every week!
                                         

A city in flames. A trust betrayed. A perfect love destroyed.

Has Aria lost Hunter, her one true love?

Ever since rebellion broke out in Mystic City, pitting the ruling elite against the magic-wielding mystics, Aria has barely seen her boyfriend. Not surprising, since Hunter is the leader of the mystic uprising, and he'll do whatever it takes to win freedom for his people—even if that means using Aria.

But Aria is no one's pawn. She believes she can bring the two warring sides together, save the city, and win back the Hunter she fell in love with.

Before she can play peacemaker, though, Aria will need to find the missing heart of a dead mystic. The heart gives untold powers to whoever possesses it, but finding it means seeking out a fierce enemy whose deepest desire is for Aria to be gone—forever (GoodReads).

Review: Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchev (Book 2 Théâtre Illuminata)

Act Two, Scene One 
Growing up in the enchanted Thèâtre Illuminata, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith learned everything about every play ever written. She knew the Players and their parts, but she didn't know that she, too, had magic. Now, she is the Mistress of Revels, the Teller of Tales, and is determined to follow her stars. She is ready for the outside world.

Enter BERTIE AND COMPANY 
But the outside world soon proves more topsy-turvy than any stage production. Bertie can make things happen by writing them, but outside the protective walls of the Thèâtre, nothing goes as planned. And her magic cannot help her make a decision between - 

NATE: Her suave and swashbuckling pirate, now in mortal peril.

ARIEL: A brooding, yet seductive, air spirit whose true motives remain unclear.

When Nate is kidnapped and taken prisoner by the Sea Goddess, only Bertie can free him. Bertie's dreams are haunted by Nate, whose love for Bertie is keeping him alive, but in the daytime, it's Ariel who is tantalizingly close, and the one she is falling for. Who does Bertie love the most? And will her magic be powerful enough to save her once she enters the Sea Goddess's lair?

Originality: 10.  This is a YA book in it's own genre, so imaginative and unique.  Even in Book 2 of the series, I loved the originality.

Absurdity: 9.  The originality is also a bit bonkers... but what can you do.  There are gods, creatures, and fantasy abound, all wrapped around some teen romance.  Absurd but also just great.

Level of Paranormal Romance: 10.  This is the whole point of the book, Bertie's love for Nate and Ariel.  TEAM ARIEL over here.  I couldn't remember enough of Nate from book 1, but Ariel steals the show with his devotion:

“A blind man could see that man would die for you, but that doesn't mean you won't die alongside him.” 

Level of Harry Potterness: 7. While a totally different type of the story, the writing is lyrical and at times beautiful. There were some sentences that stopped me in my tracks.  So nice to read a book where you can tell the author spent time crafting paragraphs to make the most of the words, even if many of them are about how hungry the fairies are!

"There should be more to love," said the earth, "than 'it did not kill me.' More than 'I survived it.” 

“There is a Beatrice who exists beyond the obligations of a daughter, outside the object of man's affections.”