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Friday, November 30, 2018

#Book #Review: 4 out of 5 stars for Triple Trouble by Michael J. Pellowski #MichaelJPellowski #WillowispPress

PUBLISHER: Willowisp Press
PUBLICATION DATE: December 28, 1988
FORMAT: Paperback
LENGTH: 112 pages
GENRE: Childrens
ISBN: 0874063051
In this all-new version of the popular 1987 book, twins Randi and Sandi are at it again, but this time, their identical cousin Mandy is part of the shenanigans.



MY REVIEW:

The Daniels twins are back! I read this book aloud to my younger daughter, and we both really enjoyed it.

Mandy, the twins' cousin from California, stays with the Daniels family for a visit. Although she may look like the girls, she tries to act much more mature than she really is. She cares far too much about her looks, wearing make-up that she really doesn't need at her age and expensive clothes. Mandy does not make a very good impression when the Daniels family picks her up at the airport. She gets mad at the twins' little brother, Teddy, when he touches her pretty dress with his chocolate-coated fingers. When the girls tell Mandy to chill out and that they will pay to have her dress cleaned, she has a snotty response to the effect that they are too poor to afford it! To top it off, Mandy's luggage is delayed and she has to wear clothes from the twins instead of her designer duds (oh! the horror!). Later, Teddy gets into Mandy's make-up set and ruins it. He is definitely on Mandy's bad side!

Dressed down and with her unpainted face, Mandy can pass for one of the twins...and she does! One of the boys from school, Chris, mistakes Mandy for Randi. She continues the charade, but the twins overhear her and realize that Mandy is pulling one of their old tricks...the switcheroo! The twins decide to get back at her to teach her a lesson.

This was a very enjoyable sequel to Double Trouble, and we like the addition of Mandy who created more drama. It was a fun read, and we are continuing on with A Double Trouble Dream Date.

MY RATING:

4 stars!! It was really good, and you should put it on your TBR if you enjoy middle-grade fiction!


This book qualifies as:

Thursday, November 29, 2018

What's In A Name 2018 Wrap-up Post #whatsinaname2018


This is my Wrap-up Post for the What's In A Name 2018 challenge hosted by Charlie @ The Worm Hole.

#Book #Review: 3 out of 5 stars for The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender @AimeeBender @doubledaybooks

AUTHOR: Aimee Bender
PUBLISHER: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
PUBLICATION DATE: June 1, 2010 
FORMAT: Hardcover
LENGTH: 292 pages
GENRE: Magical Realism, Fantasy
ISBN: 9780385501125
The wondrous Aimee Bender conjures the lush and moving story of a girl whose magical gift is really a devastating curse.

On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents’ attention, bites into her mother’s homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the cake. She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother—her cheerful, good-with-crafts, can-do mother—tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose.

The curse her gift has bestowed is the secret knowledge all families keep hidden—her mother’s life outside the home, her father’s detachment, her brother’s clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up she learns to harness her gift and becomes aware that there are secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a luminous tale about the enormous difficulty of loving someone fully when you know too much about them. It is heartbreaking and funny, wise and sad, and confirms Aimee Bender’s place as “a writer who makes you grateful for the very existence of language” (San Francisco Chronicle).


MY REVIEW:

This one is definitely a little out there!

Just before her ninth birthday, something unusual happens to Rose. As she samples her mother's homemade lemon cake with chocolate frosting, she tastes an emptiness in her mouth that makes her ask whether her mom is okay. Her mom just brushes it off, but then later her mom admits that she wants to quit her job because she wants to do something creative with her hands.

Unfortunately for Rose, this was not just a weird fluke. When takes a bite of food, she can sense the emotions of the person who made it. She can even break down the ingredients and discern where the eggs came from and if the chickens were happy when they laid them and where the beef came from. She finds this unusual gift too overwhelming and, instead, tries to eat as much processed food as possible that has been made in factories and untouched by human hands for the most part.

When Rose can taste her mother's deception and affair, that made me feel really sad for Rose. That would just be plain torture for a child to be saddled with such a big secret. I really hated Rose's mom for that. While Rose's dad is a little self-absorbed and totally hands-off in terms of raising his own children, his role as a provider for the family is one that he is good at. He isn't so good at the nurturing part.

Where the book got REALLY weird was with what was going on with Rose's brother, Joseph. At times, he would disappear for days or longer and come back malnourished. No one knew where he went or what happened to him during these periods of absence, but that is revealed at the end of the book.

What bothered me about the format of the book is that there are no quotation marks. It drove me batty!! Instead of: "Or a toaster oven?" Carl said, making sparky sale motions with his hands; we get: Or a toaster oven? Carl said, making sparky sale motions with his hands. For me, I found that it slowed down the pace of my reading because I had to sometimes read sentences over twice to figure out whether or not someone was actually speaking.

I really enjoyed Rose's storyline, but I have to admit that I could have done without the even stranger one concerning Joseph. I just didn't get that!

MY RATING:

3 stars!! It was good, and I enjoyed it.

This book qualifies as:

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Color Coded Reading Challenge Wrap-up Post


This is my Wrap-up Post for the Color Coded Reading Challenge hosted by Bev @ My Reader's Block.

9/9 prompts completed
42 "color" books read
CHALLENGE COMPLETE!



3.     A BOOK WITH ANY OTHER COLOR IN THE TITLE/ON THE COVER: (A) Silver in the title - Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop (The Others, Book #3); (B) Purple cover: Pushing Up Daisies by M.C. Beaton (Agatha Raisin, Book #27); (C) Orange cover - Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel






9.     A BOOK WITH A WORD THAT IMPLIES COLOR: (A) Tartan Candy by K.C. Burn (Fabric Hearts, Book #1)

#Audiobook #Review: 3 out of 5 stars for Tartan Candy by K.C. Burn @authorkcburn @dreamspinners

TITLE: Tartan Candy
SERIES: Fabric Hearts, Book #1
AUTHOR: K.C. Burn 
NARRATOR: David Ross
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press. LLC
PUBLICATION DATE: October 10, 2016
FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook
LENGTH: 7 hrs and 21 mins
GENRE: Contemporary, Romance
ASIN: B01LY3TQ03
Finlay McIntyre (aka Raven) is a successful adult film star with a penchant for kilts, until an accident cuts short his stardom and leaves him with zero sexual desire, lowered self-esteem, and no job. He knew his porn career wouldn’t last forever, but he wasn’t prepared for retirement at twenty-eight. While trying to figure out the rest of his life, Raven agrees to attend a high school reunion. That’s when a malfunctioning AC unit in his hotel room changes everything.

Caleb Sanderson, an entrepreneur with his own HVAC business, has no idea what to expect when he steps into Raven’s hotel room to fix his AC unit. They’re attracted to each other, but Caleb, closeted, can’t afford a gay relationship, not with his mom pressuring him to produce grandchildren. If he wants to keep Raven—who no closet could hold—he’ll need to tell his family the truth. But Raven has a few secrets of his own. He refuses to reveal his porn past to Caleb, a past that might be the final obstacle to Caleb and Raven having any kind of relationship.

MY REVIEW:

A prompt in one of my reading challenges is to read a LGBT romance. I don't ordinarily read contemporary romances, and I also have never read one that features LGBT characters. So, this is a first for me!

Finlay (aka Raven) is a young, good-looking guy. After having been involved in a serious accident, he could no longer work as a gay porn star so he works as an escort minus the sexual services. His "date," Jeremy, hired Raven to accompany him to his high school reunion. The air conditioner in Raven's hotel room is not working, and Raven goes gaga over the repairman that shows up. Actually, the feeling is mutual. Caleb is also attracted to Raven but neither makes a move. Later, Raven busts the air conditioner on purpose so that Caleb has to return and he can make the moves on him.

Meanwhile, during the reunion, Jeremy is all hands and Raven regrets having agreed to this arrangement.

While Raven is out and flaunts his sexuality, Caleb is not. Caleb worries how his ailing mother will react, especially since all she talks about is wanting to become a grandmother and Caleb's family members are constantly setting him up on blind dates hoping that he'll meet the woman of his dreams. They have no idea that he wants to settle down with the man of his dreams! The only one that Caleb can be honest with is his gay cousin, Jaime.

I really felt for Caleb in this story, who clearly was torn between wanting to please his parents but also wanting to be able to be honest with them. That's a hard line, and I get how difficult it would be for him to come out of the closet. I really enjoyed the relationship between Caleb and Jaime, and how nice it must have been for Caleb to have at least one family member that he didn't have to pretend with. I also really enjoyed Caleb's friendship with Francesca, one of his blind dates who saw right through him.

Raven is used to his body being on display, so he obviously had loads of self-confidence and didn't have a problem with that. However, the accident did a number on him and he is very self-conscious of his scars. 

The romance between Raven and Caleb was both hot and sweet, but there was a big showdown when Caleb found out from Jeremy about Raven's porn past. This was my main issue with the story. In this day and age of STDs and HIV, Raven never should have been sexually involved with someone without revealing his sexual past! Caleb had every right to know who he was climbing into bed with, so that part about Raven bugged me.

So, this was my first M-M romance. While I did enjoy the story and it pushed me out of my comfort zone, I probably wouldn't reach for another book in this genre unless I was again trying to fulfill a reading challenge. If that was the case, then I would likely read the next one in this series, Plaid versus Paisley.

David Ross' narration was good, and he was pleasant to listen to. He's very soft-spoken, and he seemed a good fit for the characters.

MY RATING:


3 stars!! It was good, and I enjoyed it!

This book qualifies as:

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Seven Days by Patrick Senécal #PatrickSenecal @SimonSchusterCA #CanadianAuthor

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Find out more here.


Here is this week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection:

TITLE: Seven Days
AUTHOR: Patrick Senécal 
TRANSLATORS: Howard Scott and Phyllis Aronoff
PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Canada
EXPECTED PUBLICATION DATE: January 1, 2019 (first published 2002)
FORMAT: Paperback
LENGTH: 320 pages
GENRE: Horror, Thriller
ISBN: 9781982102616
For fans of Stephen King’s Misery and Jo Nesbø’s The Snowman comes an engrossing thriller about a monster who becomes a victim and a victim who becomes a monster. From Patrick Senécal, the Quebec author who has sold over a million books worldwide.

One sunny fall day, Dr. Bruno Hamel’s life changes forever.

His beloved seven-year-old daughter, Jasmine, is the victim of a tragic crime. Grief-stricken, Hamel sets in play a meticulous plan. He will kidnap the man responsible for his daughter’s death and make him pay horribly for what he has done. He manages to ambush a police transport and disappear with his target.

But Hamel hasn’t accounted for Hervé Mercure, a detective with a troubled past who becomes certain he can track down Hamel by studying clues in his past—and in the increasingly unsettling phone calls Hamel makes to his partner, Sylvie.

Both riveting and provocative, this daring thriller is an enthralling meditation on what it means to be human—and to battle the monster within and without.

Who isn't in for a bit of vigilante justice? It also sounds like a plan gone wrong so, yes, count me in! It looks like this book was originally published in French in 2002, so this appears to be the English release. Perhaps this is why I've never heard of this French-Canadian author? I'm always excited to find new Canadian authors to enjoy and I'm adding this one to my list.



What are you waiting on? Please leave a comment in the section below. If you participate in this meme, please leave a link so I can visit your blog!

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

#Audiobook #Review: 4 out of 5 stars for Gladiator by Anna Hackett @AnnaHackett

TITLE: Gladiator
SERIES: Galactic Gladiators, Book #1
AUTHOR: Anna Hackett
NARRATOR: Vivienne Leheny
PUBLISHER: Anna Hackett
PUBLICATION DATE: April 26, 2017
FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook
LENGTH: 6 hrs and 21 mins
GENRE: Science fiction, Romance
ASIN: B07169WX7M
Fighting for love, honor, and freedom on the galaxy’s lawless outer rim…

When Earth space marine Harper Adams finds herself abducted by alien slavers off a space station, her life turns into a battle for survival. Dumped into an arena on a desert planet on the outer rim, she finds herself face to face with a big, tattooed alien gladiator…the champion of the Kor Magna Arena.

A former prince abandoned to the arena as a teen, Raiden Tiago has long ago earned his freedom. Now he rules the arena, but he doesn’t fight for the glory, but instead for his own dark purpose—revenge against the Thraxian aliens who destroyed his planet. Then his existence is rocked by one small, fierce female fighter from an unknown planet called Earth.

Harper is determined to find a way home, but when she spots her best friend in the arena—a slave of the evil Thraxian aliens—she’ll do anything to save her friend…even join forces with the tough, alpha male who sets her body on fire. But as Harper and Raiden step foot onto the blood-soaked sands of the arena, Harper worries that Raiden has his own dangerous agenda…

MY REVIEW:

While I do love sci-fi/dystopia, I don't have much interest in anything even remotely space related. One of my reading challenges is to read a sci-fi romance, and I've been dreading it because it really isn't my thing...or so I thought! I saw this author's books featured on another blog, and I made a note of her name because I'm not familiar with this genre. I'm a convert! I really REALLY enjoyed this sci-fi romance and can't wait to read the rest in this series!

Harper Adams is a space marine, who has been working aboard the Fortuna Research Station 600 billion kilometres from earth for almost 18 months. An alien ship travels through a wormhole, and Harper along with two of her friends are captured. She is taken to a gladiator arena, where she must fight to survive. She is determined to escape, but not before she finds and rescues her friends. She forms an unexpected alliance with Raiden, a powerful alien who belongs to the House of Galen. Their chemistry is pretty hot! Who knew that aliens could be sexy?!

I loved this sci-fi world that Hackett created, and I can't wait to learn more about the Thraxians. This book had lots of action, and I loved the fighting that takes place in the ring. The budding romance between Harper's friend, Regan, and Thorin (another alien warrior from the House of Galen) continues in the next book in the series, Warrior.

Vivienne Leheny's narration was great! She gave each character a unique voice which made it very easy to distinguish between characters. I'm planning to continue the series on audio, and I hope Leheny does them all!

MY RATING:


4 stars!! I really enjoyed it, and you should put it on your TBR if you enjoy sci-fi romances!

This book qualifies as:

Books with Great Platonic Friendships


This is a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week, they post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers will answer. Everyone is welcome to join!

Books with Great Platonic Friendships

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
by John Boyne
Oh my gosh, this book!!! The friendship that develops between Bruno, the 9-year-old son of a Nazi commandant, with Shmuel, a Jewish boy in a concentration camp, will rip your heart out. Bruno is deserving of the highest award to Best Friend Ever!!! I wept, and wept, and wept. If you haven't read this one, go right now to the library and pick it up. Seriously, it's one that you'll never forget and will stay with you. A beautifully tragic story.


Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
by J.K. Rowling
(Harry Potter, Book #1)
I adore the friendship that developed between Harry, Ron, and Hermione! Very sweet, and the sacrifice that Ron made during the chess game so that Harry could checkmate the White King - ack! my heart. A very emotional scene.


Wonder
by R.J. Palacio
This should be required reading for every person on how to treat others. The friendship between Auggie and Jack is heartwarming but will also break your heart, as it did Auggie's. His relationship with Summer helps to repair the damage. This is another story that will stay with you.


The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini
A very moving story about Asif and his friendship with the servant boy, Hassan. It's tragic, but there is also a redemption theme.


The Outsiders
by S.E. Hinton
The Curtis boys are orphans, and their friendships with their fellow Greasers are just as strong as blood ties. 


A Man Called Ove
by Fredrik Backman
I loved how the relationship between Ove and his neighbours next door developed! Truly a heartwarming story.

The Christmas Angel Project
by Melody Carlson
You're going to want to put this one on your Christmas TBR. It's about a group of bookish friends who meet for book club. When one of the ladies dies from cancer, she leaves a legacy behind with special gifts that she made for each of her bookish buddies before she died.


So, what are your favourite books with great platonic friendships? Please let me know in the comments, or leave me a link to your blog post if you are also participating in the meme!

Monday, November 26, 2018

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


This weekly meme is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.


I'm reading: 

Something from my dusty bookshelf. I needed a book with stars in the title or on the cover for one of my reading challenges.

SERIES: For Darkness Shows the Stars, Book #1
AUTHOR: Diana Peterfreund
PUBLISHER: Balzer + Bray
PUBLICATION DATE: June 12, 2012
FORMAT: Hardcover
LENGTH: 407 pages
GENRE: Young Adult, Science Fiction/Dystopia
ISBN: 9780062006141
It's been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

Something from the library. I have the regular edition sitting on my dusty bookshelf, but I wanted to read this new edition which I started during Banned Books Week.

AUTHOR: Anne Frank
PUBLISHER: Anchor Books
PUBLICATION DATE: February 1, 1996 (first published 1947)
FORMAT: Paperback
LENGTH: 352 pages
GENRE: Nonfiction, Classics, Autobiography/Memoir
ISBN: 9780385480338
For almost fifty years, Anne Frank's diary has moved millions with its testament to the human spirit's indestructibility, but readers have never seen the full text of this beloved book--until now. This new translation, performed by Winona Ryder, restores nearly one third of Anne's entries excised by her father in previous editions, revealing her burgeoning sexuality, her stormy relationship with her mother, and more.


Something from the library, to fulfill a prompt for a reading challenge which is to read a book of poetry by an author of colour.

AUTHOR: Maya Angelou
PUBLISHER: Random House
PUBLICATION DATE: September 13, 1994 (first published 1986)
FORMAT: Hardcover
LENGTH: 273 pages
GENRE: Nonfiction, Poetry
ISBN: 9780679428954
For the first time, the complete collection of Maya Angelou's published poems-including "On the Pulse of Morning"-in a permanent collectible, handsome hardcover edition.
I completed a nine-week course with a group of people, which featured DVD Study sessions and a Participant Guide with study questions (homework!) for discussion each week. The book is a lot to digest, and I'm still reading it in chunks.

PUBLISHER: Zondervan
PUBLICATION DATE: November 2, 1992
FORMAT: Hardcover
LENGTH: 314 pages
GENRE: Nonfiction, Psychology, Self-Help
ISBN: 9780310585909
Having clear boundaries is essential to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. A boundary is a personal property line that marks those things for which we are responsible. In other words, boundaries define who we are and who we are not. Boundaries impact all areas of our lives: Physical boundaries help us determine who may touch us and under what circumstances -- Mental boundaries give us the freedom to have our own thoughts and opinions -- Emotional boundaries help us to deal with our own emotions and disengage from the harmful, manipulative emotions of others -- Spiritual boundaries help us to distinguish God's will from our own and give us renewed awe for our Creator -- Often, Christians focus so much on being loving and unselfish that they forget their own limits and limitations. When confronted with their lack of boundaries, they ask: - Can I set limits and still be a loving person? - What are legitimate boundaries? - What if someone is upset or hurt by my boundaries? - How do I answer someone who wants my time, love, energy, or money? - Aren't boundaries selfish? - Why do I feel guilty or afraid when I consider setting boundaries? Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend offer biblically-based answers to these and other tough questions, showing us how to set healthy boundaries with our parents, spouses, children, friends, co-workers, and even ourselves.

Another one from my dusty bookshelf, which I am reading aloud to my younger daughter. We are loving this series! It just gets better and better!

SERIES: Warriors, Book #5
AUTHOR: Erin Hunter
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins
PUBLICATION DATE: March 17, 2015 (first published 2004)
FORMAT: Paperback
LENGTH: 368 pages
GENRE: Young Adult, Fantasy
ISBN: 9780062367006
Join the legion of fans who have made Erin Hunter's Warriors series a #1 national bestseller--with new editions featuring a striking new look! More thrilling fantasy, fierce warrior cats, and epic adventures await in Warriors #5: A Dangerous Path.

ShadowClan has chosen Tigerclaw as their new leader, and Fireheart fears that this old enemy still harbors dark plans for vengeance on his former Clan. A mysterious threat has invaded the forest, placing every cat's life in peril. And Fireheart's beloved leader has turned her back on their warrior ancestors. Fireheart can't help but wonder if she's right--has StarClan abandoned them forever?

Another one from my dusty bookshelf, which I am reading aloud to my younger daughter. I had no idea this book was part of the 101 Dalmatians series!

TITLE: The Midnight Kittens
SERIES: The Hundred and One Dalmatians, Book #3
AUTHOR: Dodie Smith
PUBLISHER: Red Fox
PUBLICATION DATE: August 17, 1994 (first published 1978)
FORMAT: Paperback
LENGTH: 122 pages
GENRE: Childrens
ISBN: 0099240602
One night, Pam and Tom put out a saucer of milk for the hedgehogs that live in the orchard, and sit watching at the window. Suddenly, on the stroke of midnight, four kittens appear, drink the milk, and then vanish again. Wherever have they come from? The twins are mystified - and decide to find out the secret behind their magical midnight visitors...

Another one from my dusty bookshelf, which my daughter is reading aloud to me for home reading.

PUBLISHER: Willowisp Press
PUBLICATION DATE: 1997 (first published 1990)
FORMAT: Paperback
LENGTH: 142 pages
GENRE: Childrens
ISBN: 0874068290
Randi and Sandi Daniels are thrilled when the hottest teen singer comes to their town. They find out that they get to be in his newest video--but Randi, who has a voice like a frog's, has to sing to save the day. Will they pull the "double trouble switch" again?

I'm listening to:

Something from my Audible library.
SERIES: Ready Player One, Book #1
AUTHOR: Ernest Cline 
NARRATOR: Wil Wheaton 
PUBLISHER: Random House Audio
PUBLICATION DATE: August 16, 2011
FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook
LENGTH: 15 hrs and 40 mins
GENRE: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780307913142
At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life—and love—in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.

A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?

I just finished:

SERIES: The Queen of the Tearling, Book #1
AUTHOR: Erika Johansen 
NARRATOR: Katherine Kellgren 
PUBLISHER: HarperAudio
PUBLICATION DATE: July 8, 2014
FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook
LENGTH: 14 hrs and 30 mins
GENRE: Young Adult, Fantasy
ISBN: 9780062332288
Her throne awaits . . . if she can live long enough to take it.

It was on her nineteenth birthday that the soldiers came for Kelsea Glynn. They’d come to escort her back to the place of her birth – and to ensure she survives long enough to be able to take possession of what is rightfully hers.

But like many nineteen-year-olds, Kelsea is unruly, has high principles and believes she knows better than her elders. Unlike many nineteen-year-olds, she is about to inherit a kingdom that is on its knees – corrupt, debauched and dangerous.

Kelsea will either become the most fearsome ruler the kingdom has ever known . . . or be dead within the week.

Combining thrilling adventure and action, dark magic, mystery and romance, The Queen of the Tearling is the debut of a born storyteller blessed with a startling imagination.


What are you reading? Have you read any of these books and, if so, what did you think? Please let me know in the comments and, if you are also participating in this meme, leave me a link to your blog post so that I can stop by!
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