Wicked Wildfire Read-A-Thon Wrap-Up

My goal for the Wicked Wildfire Read-A-Thon was very simple. I wanted to read four books in one week. I started off strong as usual and slowly waned by the challenge's end. Overall, I finished two books and started one more reading about half-way through before I put it down.

My first book that I picked up was Corregidora by Gayl Jones, which was one of my African-American/African book selections for the week. I got about 50-54% done with this book before I was notified that Wonder by R.J. Palacio was available for me to download from the library. Currently,  I have 94 pages before I am done with Jones' book.

I picked up Wonder by R.J Palacio from my library's eBook collection since I had seen so many BookTubers haul this book. I absolutely adored this story and have added it to my favorites of 2013 list. I plan to review this book very soon.

Next, I read Heist Society by Ally Carter, which I got in eBook form as well. I personally expected a bit more than I actually got from this book. It was a good read, but not a great one. I will be doing a series review for this book along with its two companions so I won't have an actual review for at least another month.

Other books that I picked up last week included: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamed, The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, Our Souls To Keep by Gary A Caruso, and Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter, which is the second book in the Heist Society series.

Ruby Red Trilogy Review

I gave this series a solid 5 stars and also added these two books onto my favorite of all times list.

The Ruby Red Series by Kerstin Gier took me by surprise. When I initially picked up Ruby Red, the first novel in the series, I was expecting a quaint story about a teenage girl who time traveled and a few historically relevant scenes that made for just another angsty teen fantasy novel. However, what I got was a fun and witty story about a girl named Gwyneth who inherits her family's "time traveling" gene instead of her cousin, Charlotte who was believed to be the apparent heir for sixteen years. Unlike Gwyneth, Charlotte was thoroughly trained to handle being a time traveler and was initiated into the society's secrets through private lessons since the time of her birth.

Ill-prepared for her new job Gwyneth makes up the rules as she goes along. From falling in love with her time traveling partner, Gideon, to being introduced to the infamous Count Saint-Germane, leader of the secret time traveling society (who has long been dead), Gwyneth proves that she is not just an accessory to anyone else's agenda. Instead, she searches for clues in the past and the present with the help of her best friend, Leslie and the ghost and demons who follow her around.

To make matters even more interesting, Gier has stretched the cast of the series across different time periods, which gives the story a Clue like feel. Each characters' motives come off as suspicious and it seems that Gwyneth can only trust herself, which causes the series' plot to be full of suspense.

The first book in the series is geared more toward character formation and unraveling who Gwyneth is and what role she plays in the time travelers' mystery. However, Sapphire Blue has a bit more action than Ruby Red. In this second installment readers get to see Gwyneth travel back in time more and converse with her ancestors, which allows her to obtain more answers to her questions about why she must time travel.

Also, in Sapphire Blue, the love connection between Gwyneth and Gideon becomes more apparent. Gier constructs this weird dynamic between these two characters in her first book and it only gets
more complicated as the series goes on. At first, it seems like Gideon likes Gwyneth. Then, it seems like he hates her. THEN, it's like okay, maybe he does, maybe he doesn't...in short, his character holds a lot of secrets. None of which, are really revealed until the end of Sapphire Blue.

Gideon's character seems to be good however, my actual feelings toward him changes continuously throughout the first two books. When he's first introduced, I just assume that he is a sort of secret bad guy. Later on, it's revealed that he was mostly raised by the secret society and was unable to

actually spend time with other kids besides Charlotte. Therefore, the fact that Gwyneth is his new untrained time traveling sidekick is a little much for him to bear. Yet, he outwardly warms toward her, but still gives multiple hints that he would rather work alone. This places him on the potential bad guy list along with like 50 other people.

This series is definitely one that I would recommend. I personally am highly anticipating the third and final installment of this series, Emerald Green which comes out on October 8, 2013. Sadly, with this new installment comes a new cover design. Gone are the beautiful original jeweled covers and instead, readers will see a dark-haired girl in various colored ball gown standing next to a clock-tower. I am hoping that I can find a copy of the final book with the original cover since these books are translated from German into English.

Well, I hope ever one is enjoying their reading. I'm still participating in the Wicked Wildfire Read-A-Thon and would encourage everyone to join. If not, I hope you're getting in hordes of reading this weekend. Happy Reading!

Cheers!

Sweet Redemption: Wicked Wildfire Read-A-Thon

After my last disastrous results with the Bout of Books Read-A-Thon, I feel that I need to redeem myself. Therefore, I have decided to partake in the Wicked Wildfire Read-A-Thon book challenge. 

The Wicked Wildfire Read-A-Thon is a time when the book community gets together to dedicate the days of June 7-14 to getting as much reading done as possible. Each participant reads as much as they can in order to get themselves through their TBR piles or just for the sheer enjoyment of reading. Of course, we all know that real life gets in the way of reading, but that shouldn't stop anybody from participating. Everybody should read as much as they can.

In the meanwhile, the sponsers of the Wicked Wildfire Read-A-Thon will be hosting book-related challenges where participants can win cool prizes through participating in a Twitter party and using the hashtag #WWReadathon! You can posts updates on your blog, Twitter, Goodreads or Facebook — as long as the profile is public and your reading progress can be seen.

Since my last go-round in the Bout of Books book challenge, I hav elearned that I don't necessarily know how to stick with a TBR pile therefore, I shall now only set myself a number goal of four books. Also, I will review all books after June 14 so, I can read as much as possible. I hope you all are getting lots of reading done. New reviews are coming tomorrow.

Cheers!

Through The Voice of the "Other": Book Review on Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 “I think you travel to search and you come back home to find yourself there.”  - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I've been struggling to write a review for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's book, Americanah for the past week due to mixed feelings about it. Upon finishing it, I was equal parts content and frustrated with the book. While it met my expectations in a way, I was also let down by certain aspects of the novel. I end up giving this book 4 stars due to a lackluster ending and the general feeling that Adichie only meant her characters to be mouthpieces to voice her feelings on different cultural and political topics.

At its heart, Americanah is a book about various immigrants who are trying to work their way through discovering what it means to be a part of the countries they've immigrated to while also holding on to their original cultures. For the most part, Adichie's story is told through the perspective of Ifemelu, a Nigerian blogger who has lived in America for thirteen years and Obinze, a wealthy Nigerian business man who still lives in Nigeria. From Ifemelu and Obinze's perspective, the reader learns about different race issues that go on in America, the way the Nigerian government works, and hears the stories of different people who have settled abroad or come home to live in Nigeria after living abroad.

As the novel begins, Ifemelu is set to return home to Nigeria after her hiatus in America and decides to reconnect with her childhood sweetheart, Obinze. The two previously lost contact once Ifemelu went to America to finish college. By the time that Ifemelu reaches out to him, Obinze has moved on with his life and is married. Adichie makes it very obvious to the reader that the two characters have built separate lives from the ones that they once lived as carefree children who were oblivious to the ups and downs of Nigerian politics.

The pacing of this story was fairly good. The author was able to say a great deal about the Nigerian culture while also providing adequate details about each of the main characters' lives. There were times in the book where the background history about Nigeria became long winded, but it never got to the point where I felt the need to put the book down. One thing that also hindered the overall pacing of the story was Adichie's habit of adding different blog post from Ifemelu's race blog at different intervals in each chapter. While some of the post were interesting and thought provoking, others just seemed awkward in their placing or unnecessary.

In terms of characters, Adichie creates solid ones to tell her story without making them seem overly preachy. Ifemelu's character is pegged as someone who "tells it like it is" and isn't afraid to call others out on their BS. Behind this character, there is also an inquisitive nature that helps give her the initiative to voice her opinion about race relations in America, as well as, Nigeria and confront different issues that plague immigrants and non-white Americans. This determination to gain an understanding of racial groups who are deemed as "the other" in America (i.e., individuals who are not a part of the dominate race) can also cause readers to label Ifemelu as a callused individual yet, Adichie makes it a point to eventually peel back this character's layers and expose her reasoning behind each negative assessment of American and Nigerian culture.

On the other hand, Obinze is a character that is a dreamer at heart and is initially hell-bent on making his way to America to live out his fictional dream of "making it." Mentally, he believes that life can only begin once he makes it to this glorified Mecca.  Obinze is an individual who also scrutinizes the immigrant's life, but unlike Ifemelu, his character makes it a point to do so from the role of an unbiased onlooker opposed to a blunt critic. It would seem that his longing to become a part of the Western world keeps him from being overly harsh in his judgement of "the other's" role in society in places like England and America.

With the building of Ifemelu and Obinze's character, Adichie creates a storyline that holds the potential to be electric once it hits its climax, but it ends up falling flat for me due to its lack of originality. To me, this is extremely sad because for a good 3/4 of her book, Adichie makes powerful statements about race relations in America and politics in Nigeria. However, when it comes time to wrap up the loose ends of Ifemelu and Obinze's love life, she creates a weak generic ending that feels dry and so unlike what her reader's expect of her characters. In this way, I feel as if Adichie did more telling than actual showing in her book. I was truly interested in the cultural topics she spoke about, but by the end of the book, I sort of got the feeling that she could've condensed the actual love story of Ifemelu and Obinze into a mere 150 to 200 pages and written another book about her feelings on race in America/ Immigration laws in America and England/ Nigerian politics.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Nigerian culture or who wants to learn what the American or English culture looks like from a non-white immigrant's perspective. However, if you aren't interested in hearing a lot of back history to either of these culture's, I would recommend reading something else.

Sorry for the wait, I've been a tad busy lately. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Cheers!

Bout of Books Read-A-Thon 7.0 Wrap-Up

This week has been pure CHAOS!

I knew going into this Read-A-Thon that I would not be able to read a huge amount of books. Yet, I did want to try to accomplish reading at least five books by the end of the challenge. Starting my week off with a bang, I finished The DUFF by Kody Keplinger on Monday and promptly reviewed it. Sadly, this was my only reading accomplishment for the week.

Set to read four more books, my plans were interrupted by life, school, and fate. Deaths in my extended family and friend circle along with an airline screw up that landed me in the middle of nowhere and caused me and my family to scramble to drive hours out of our way caused me to put reading on hold. Add to this the fact that I suffered from the minor hiccup of falling into a reading slump on Wednesday and you can see why I was unable to read as much as I wanted.

Yet, with all the bad events that happened, I did end up being able to tick two major accomplishments off my list. I would like to proudly announce that I now hold a Masters from Carnegie Mellon's Literary and Cultural Studies Program. Also, I have successfully spent a year living alone without a roommate in a city that I had never visited before August of last year....and yes I am aware that I have packaged this blog as a book and movie review website HOWEVER, I am sooo excited about these two things I just had to shout them from the heavens \(^0^)/....even in cyber space

Even though I haven't finished any other books this week, I have started Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This book so far has been overwhelmingly good. I've always enjoyed Adichie's writing style, but this book is just beyond what I expected. The subject content covers everything from childhood love to feminism to issues that immigrants in America face daily. Not to mention the book is a blend of chick lit and serious literature. I seriously can't wait to review this book. I would definitely recommend that anyone who can to get this book you most definitely won't regret this choice.

Bout of Books 7.0 Read-A-Thon Progress For Last THREE Days

My reading progress has recently been tapered by two events, one foreseen and one unforeseen.

In a previous post, I stated that I would be graduating this week and that my chances to read would be lessened by the arrival of my family. True to form, this hypothesis came to fruition and I was unable to fully sit down and focus enough to read. Add to this the fact that I fell into a random reading slump and these last couple of days have been the pits.

I first started off Tuesday trying to finish Divorce Islamic Style since I only had about 80 pages to go, but I was unable to do so due to my growing resentment at one of the characters constant berating of others who were not Muslim in each of her chapters. After this, I tried to read The Golem and the Jinni, but couldn't really get in sync with the plot enough to become invested in the book. Finally, I decided to just give up all reading and spend time packing my apartment and picking my family up at the airport. Once all this was done I figured maybe it wasn't really an actual slump I was in, but the choice of books I was reading that was leading me to want to stop reading.

With this realization, I decided to switch up my TBR list for the Read-A-Thon and put aside Divorce Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  instead. Boy! Was this THE best thing that I could've done. I recently had to reread Adichie's Purple Hibiscus for my Global Literature class and was excited to learn that this author was set to release another novel this year.
Islamic Style and The Golem and the Jinni and read Americanah by

Americanah is a book about two individuals, Ifemelu, a Nigerian blogger who has lived in America for thirteen years after immigrating and Obinze, a wealthy Nigerian business man who still lives in Nigeria. As adolescents, Ifemelu and Obinze were sweethearts. Attending secondary school and university together, the two believed that they would one day get married. However, this does not happen and eventually the two lose contact with each other and start separate lives. Set to return home to Nigeria after her hiatus in America, Ifemelu decides to reconnect with Obinze. Unfortunately, he is married now and this is a tad bit problematic. The overall novel follows the two lovers as they fall in love as children and later cross paths as adults.

I'm really enjoying Adichie's book thus far and can't wait to review it. Hopefully, I will finish it by Sunday. Since I fell so far behind in my reading schedule, I think that I will knock a book off my overall Read-A-Thon goal and just aim for finishing four by Sunday.

I hope everybody else is making great strides in their TBR/Read-A-Thon goals. Happy Reading!

TBR List For Read-A-Thon:

1. The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

2. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

3. So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba

4. Where'd You Go Bernedette by Maria Semple

5. I've Got Your Number by  Sophie Kinsella*

Overall Progress:

Number of Books I've read Finished: 1

Book Goal :4

Total Number of Pages I've Read Tuesday: 10

Total Number of Pages I've Read Wednesday: 25

Total Number of Pages I've Read Thursday: 89

 *Random Quick Read

Bout of Books 7.0 Read-A-Thon Progress #1

I'm excited to announce that I have finished one book off my list and am waaaay ahead of schedule for my five book reading goal for this week. I put a book review for The DUFF by Kody Keplinger earlier and will be continuing to read and report as the week goes on.

Cheers!

TBR List For Read-A-Thon:

1. The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

2. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

3. So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba

4. Where'd You Go Bernedette by Maria Semple

5. Divorce Islamic Style by Amara Lokhous 

Overall Progress:

Number of books I've read today: 1
Total number of books I've read: 1
Books: 5

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger Book Review

 I gave this book 5 stars.

Kody Keplinger's novel, The DUFF is the type of book you could read at any age and connect to. The main character, Bianca is a tough as nails girl who's heart has been hardened by the pains of love. Adamant about never falling in love again, she chooses to enter into an "enemies with benefits" relationship with Wesley, the notorious womanizer of her high school who has problems of his own. Together the two teenagers work through their problems in the form of..ahem...advanced cardio for the grown and sexy. <spoiler>However,  even with their preconceived rules of "no feelings" being involved, Bianca and Wesley learn the hard way that love can infiltrate your heart when you least expect it no matter how hard you plan.</spoiler>

Keplinger's characters are well developed and likable. Even though Bianca does come off as cynical at times, the reader gets shown that her feelings of anger and frustration are justified. The way that this character antagonizes over being "the duff" a.k.a the designated ugly fat friend, is something that is especially well portrayed by the author and made into a relatable point for anyone who chooses to read this book due to the fact that most people have felt like the dud of their circle of friends at one point of their life or another.

On the flip side, Wesley's character while clearly placed into the cliched role of being resident bad boy is endearing opposed to annoying. Even when he makes Bianca feel ashamed of herself by calling her the duff, it's apparent that his character is battling his own set of demons and does so only as a knee-jerk reaction to his pain.

Keplinger's choice to use cliched roles in her work is balanced off by the fact that her storyline is solid. Never does the reader feel as if they are being rushed off into a tidy conclusion. Instead, the author paces the story so that her audience can get the full benefit of watching the character's lives come undone and then slowly pieced back together again. Both Bianca and Wesley's character are funny, interesting, and sarcastic enough to keep readers entertained and willing to stick wound to finish Keplinger's story. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is in need of a good chick-lit book or who just loves a good novel about bad boys and strong opinionated female leads. Yet, I would caution against letting younger readers begin this book being that it is meant for a <b>mature</b> audience due to explicit sex scenes throughout the novel.

Sweet Sweet Freedom/Bout of Books Reading Goals

I am happy to announce that....I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH MY FIRST YEAR OF GRAD SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!...insert ecstatic shouts of joy here and an uncoordinated impromptu break dance.... I would like to thank all my followers who were patient with my inconsistencies in posting as I wrapped up my school work. I greatly appreciate all of your support in this part of my educational journey and promise to give my all to blogging now that school's out.

Now....

Since I am currently participating in the Bout of Books Book-A-Thon and want to read a little bit everyday, I thought it would be nice to have written goals set for what books I want to finish this week. I haven't exactly set up an exact list of books that I want to get read this week, but I do have a few books that I want to read for this month in general. These books include:



The Duff by Kody Keplinger: This is a book about a girl named, Bianca Piper who is seventeen and designated as the "ugly, fat friend" in her circle by her local high school jerk-wad, Wesley. The story basically follows Bianca as she embarks into a love/hate relationship with Wesley as she seeks comfort from personal drama in her life. This book is really popular amongst the BookTube community and comes highly recommended so, I'm excited to read it.



The Golem And The Jinni by Helene Wecker: Wecker's books is one that I picked up from my local bookstore and it seems to be a part-fairy tale/part-immigration story. The Golem is a mystical Jewish creature that comes from clay and in this story happens to take the form of a woman named Chava. Likewise, the Jinni is an Arabic mythological creature that is a well known figure in literature (think Gene from Aladdin). In Wecker's novel, the Jinni is named Ahmad. From the blurb, it would seem that Chava and Ahmad meet and fall in love. I've been looking forward to this novel as well so I'm pretty stocked to have a go at it.



Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple: I recently put this book into my TBR pile for April and was unable to start it do to time constraints and paper deadlines for school however, I reaaally want to start this book this week. The story line is well known throughout the BookTube community, but basically, Bernadette is a woman that goes missing on a family vacation and it is left up to her daughter, Bee to find her. Using clues that her mother left behind, Bee  sets out to find her mother.




So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba: This book is a book that I anticipated reading for my Global Literature class, but never got around to doing so. The story follows Ramatoulaye, a Senegalese woman whose husband takes a second wife and subsequently leaves her and her children to fend for themselves. The story is written in a letter/diary form and is short (about 90 pages). Issues that are prevalent in the novel include adultery, betrayal, and social issues that come from polygamous marriages.



Divorce Islamic Style by Amara Lakhous: I picked this book up on a whim from the library. The story follows Christian, a man who is skilled in acquiring languages and is therefore chosen to infiltrate a supposed ring of Muslim terrorist in Rome, Italy. Christian is forced to change his name and his identity and become a part of this group to determine who is the ring leader. Along the way, he meets and falls in love with Safia, a married Egyptian immigrant who is unhappy in her marriage and with the lack of chances that she as a Muslim woman has in general.




Hopefully, I can finish these five novels by NEXT Sunday. I'm really excited for the Bout of Books Book-A-Thon book challenge since this is going to be my first one. I hope everyone is doing well and making massive strides in their TBR piles.

Happy Reading,

Cheers!

I'm Officially Free!...Come Friday

I'm in the final home stretch for my first year of Graduate School and I am Über pumped for the freedom that's going to come from submitting my last paper this Friday. With all my new found free time, I have decided to enter into the Bout of Books Read-a-Thon.

The Bout of Books Read-a-Thon is described as:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books Team

For this challenge, I want to read at least 10 books 5 books. I'm setting my aim pretty low since next week is my school's graduation ceremony and my family is coming to visit  and I don't want to be reading while I should be "socializing"...LOL I'm not really a big socializer especially, when I feel like my time could be better used reading however, I mustn't be rude so I will choose to finish five books by May 19, 2013. I'll have to come up with which books I'm going to read later. For now, I'll just focus on this final paper. (^_^)

Cheers!

The Power of Greed: Book Review On Aravind Adiga's Last Man In Tower

 The point of this review is more to dispense my troubled feelings about this book than to persuade or dissuade anyone from reading it. I felt something akin to word vomit as I wrote this review so please don't get upset if you find the occasional spoiler within this review. Most of my remarks come from personal feelings about the book and my reactions to my class discussion of this novels.

Cheers!


I gave Last Man In Tower by Aravind Adiga  four stars not because I was head over heels in love with it, but because it lead me to have profound thoughts about the condition of humanity. While this book was required reading for me for Graduate School, there were many times when I wanted to throw it clear across the room out of frustration and anger at the characters' actions.

The story's theme focuses around the duty that one has to his/her community. In this novel, Masterji, a retired Physics teacher living in a co-op in Vakola, Mumbai along with his neighbors are offered the chance to sell their shares in their old apartment building for close to $2,900,000. However, the catch is that the group must do so unanimously. For many in the co-op, the idea of having money and being able to move up in the world is enticing enough to sign without much of a hassle, but for Masterji, the idea of leaving a place where his deceased wife and daughter's last memory rest is unthinkable. Therefore, Masterji refuses to sign and rages a one man  opposition to the builder's proposal. ***SPOILER***Frustrated, his neighbors take matters into their own hands and kills him***SPOILER***

Here, is where my distaste for Adiga's novel sets in. For the whole of the novel, Masterji's neighbor's complained of this man's disregard for his community's wishes yet, everyone ultimately betrayed his wishes for greed. It was argued in my class that Masterji was in the wrong for his action's of refusing to agree to abandon his home and go along with the co-op's wishes however, in my opinion, this line of thinking seems twisted. For the first half of the novel, the individuals of the Vishram Society regarded themselves as "respectable" people and prided themselves on living as upstanding middle class Indians that were commited to doing what was right for their community however, as soon as money was presented to them, they each became greedy and intolerable characters who only thought of themselves exclusively. If the individuals in the society had had better reasons for their actions, I would have felt less trepidation at the characters' final actions, but these characters betrayed Masterji for dollar signs moreso than what they claimed was their chance at "happiness." To me, this greed in Adiga's characters hardened my belief that money really is the cause of all evil.

Not one character in the novel actually ventured to hear Masterji out when he said he wanted nothing from the builder. Since the other characters bathed in the anticipation of becoming rich, they assumed that all Masterji wanted was more money. Even this character's son rejected his father's will and focused more on the money than hearing his father out. This tunnel vision by the other characters sickened me and made reading this novel hard. I wanted to believe by the novel's end that one of them would take pity on Masterji and understand things from his point of view however, this act never surfaced.***SPOILER*** Even though one member of the co-op did get cold feet in the end, this character chose to regain his immorality by the novel's end.***SPOILER***

This being said, Adiga's story is well-crafted and worth a read regardless of it's raw portrayal of humanity. My only gripe besides anger at the characters' pettiness and greed is that in some places, the author overwhelmed the reader with too many details and back history/story. This verboseness had me struggling to keep myself invested in the overall action of the novel (I actually found the last 1/4 of the book to be the best part of the novel). Overall, I would recommend this book at least, as a way to have someone else to discuss the themes and topics in this novel with.

Book Publishing Screw Up

While re-deciding what books to read this week I encountered a funny publishing mistake.

For the last year, I have been dying to read All Roads Lead To Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith. I finally broke down and ordered a copy from Thriftbooks.com over winter break as a Christmas present to myself. I didn't get around to actually having time to read the book until this week and was gung-ho to add it to my TBR pile for this weekend until I opened it up....

...It turns out that my copy starts at Chapter 3. At first I thought that this was totally normal and that this book was the type of book where the storyline circles back around. I thought this because the novel is a travel memoir that has been written about Smith's account of spending a year traveling and discussing Jane Austen books with different book groups in Latin America. Sadly, this is an ill conceived thought. According to Amazon First Looks, my book should have started some 30+ pages ago with the Author's Note.

Le sigh...I guess I'll have to write to the company I bought the book from and ask for another copy. I seriously can't wait to read this book. Anticipation is literally swelling inside me and putting me on a book high.

smh...Anticipation is the devil in disguise.

Ammendment to Teaser Tuesday #2

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was in the process of finishing my first year of graduate school and listed the book, Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier as one of this week's pleasure reads.  Unfortunately, I had to rethink this book choice due to it being one of three books in a trilogy. I have learned that once I start a book series of any kind I want to finish it right then and there (hence my frantic search for a copy of Scarlet by Marissa Meyer a month ago after I finished reading Cinder). Therefore, I have chosen to spice things up with two selections from the Chick Lit genre.

The first book is called Goddess For Hire by Sonia Singh. The book follows Maya Mehra who has just discovered that she is the reincarnation of the Hindu goddess Kali. Upon realizing this, she decides to rent her services out for hire with what looks like disastrous results. This book has everything I love in novels that have ties to Indian - match making aunts, Hindu mythology, and a tad bit of romance to tie it all together.

"He'd called once, since moving out, wanting to know if there was a Neiman Marcus in Santa Monica. Before I could inform him the closest was in Beverly Hills, he received another call and put me on hold...After three minutes I hung up."

My  next choice is Sassafrass, Cypress, & Indigo by Ntozake Shange. This book is about three sisters who's names are included in the book title. Each sister is an artists trying to find her way in the world. Sassafrass is the oldest and is a college educated poet who moves from Charleston, North Carolina to Los Angeles. Then, there is Cypress, the dancer, who is only described as "being on a mission to find a new way to move in the world." Finally, Indigo, the youngest is stuck in Charleston. Indigo is also described as a poet however, she is pinpointed as the sister who is "most open to seeing the magic in the world." This books sounds like it's going to be a very creative read for lack of a better word. I know that Shange is notorious for having written for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf and that she deals with very strict subject matter, but I hope this book is more upbeat than her more infamous novel/play.

"I'll eat pork if I want to; I'll paint both my lips red. I ain't goin' to heaven when I'm dead."

Hopefully, this is the LAST book change in my line-up for the week. Hope everybody is having an amazing week.

Cheers!

 

Teaser Tuesday #2

I'm currently in the process of wrapping up my first year of Graduate School (insert loud whoop here---> \^0^/) so I decided to go light in the reading department this week. Both of these books were picked up during my birthday book haul.

The first book I'm reading is going to be a book by Maria Semple entitled, Where'd You Go Bernadette. Semple's novel follows a teenage girl's hunt for her mother, Bernadette who has disappeared. Bernadette is described as being "notorious" and "agoraphobic." I've been looking forward to reading this book and have heard nothing, but good things about it. Hopefully, I'll enjoy it just as much as everyone else has.

"Here's something about Mom: she's bad with annoyances, but great in a crisis. If a waiter doesn't refill her water after she's asked three times, or she forgets her dark glasses when the sun comes out, look out!"

The second book is Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier, which is the first book in a trilogy entitled with the same name. This novel deals with time traveling and a secret society of individuals who jump through time. The main character, Gwen unexpectedly starts leaping through time without being trained and has to learn the finer points of time traveling on the fly. 

"He's not bad-looking," I went on. "And he's filthy rich too-if he's telling the truth about his family. It's just his habit of raising a perfumed lace hanky to his nose that doesn't exactly make me swoon."

Hope you all enjoy your reading materials. Until Friday...Cheers!

Teaser Tuesday #1

This week I'm going to try something new. I recently decided to start doing Teaser Tuesday which is a really cool thing where you post a snippet of the books your currently reading or about to start reading onto your blog or twitter. The snippet should be about one to two sentences long chosen at random from the book you choose. It's important that you remember not to give away any spoilers to your readers tho.

Okay, so...my first book is a book that I'm reviewing for a new up and coming author named, Yuaziiqann. His novel is entitled Me. The novel follows Aaron, a young boy who is an immigrant from Ghana as he is reflecting on his life after he is shot. I've previously started this book, but had to put it down to do my homework. The review for this book should be ready by the end of this week. 
 

"You know I would have if I could, but there was no time. No time and no money, a deadly combination."

 

My second reading book is, Aravind Adiga's Last Man in Tower. This book is another requirement for my Global Literature class. It's a novel about, a group of tenets in a run down apartment building in India. The novel looks at the groups fight against the corporation that tries to take over their apartment building to rebuild. 

 

"He held up his fist; in the weak light of the candle it cast a shadow on the wall. The earth, in infinite space."

Finally, my last book choice I'm choosing a book that I've wanted to read for a while entitled, 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter. The book is coming or age type story about Davie Jones, an "ugly duckling" who grows into a swan and tries to win over her crush from high school. 

 

 "Later, I would review those three days of my life and feel such profound relief and gratitude that I had survived them with my body and soul intact."

Whelp, that's it til Friday! 

Cheers!

April To Be Read (TBR) Pile

This Thursday I returned to the more practical way of sedating my book buying habit a.k.a I got a library card. Therefore, my TBR pile for this month is going to be extremely packed.

These are the books I plan to read in April:

1. The Spook Who Sat By The Door by Sam Greenlee: I'm currently doing a project for one of my graduate classes about this book and need to finish reading this book ASAP.

2. Mr. Potter by Jamaica Kincaid: This book happens to be one that was assigned to me for another one of my classes and takes priority over my would be pleasure reading.

Random fact: I bought this book off Thiftbooks and when I opened up my copy, I found that it was signed. I thought that was the coolest thing ever.

3. The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwab: I've had this on my TBR pile for a while and just recently picked it up at my local library.

4. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa: I saw this book on someone's BookTube wrap up video on YouTube and thought I'd give it a try since I'm a sucker for love and a good magical realm setting. Hopefully this book will live up to its hype.

5. Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Roban Sloan: so....yeah, I picked this book up on my last book binge and started reading it in March only to put it down once my homework beckoned me. Interestingly enough, I put it down on my dresser and when I put it there and turned off lights to go to sleep it started glowing. Needless to say, guess who was freaked out...

I picked this book up after seeing it in a bookstore and hearing other BookTubers rave about it. So far it's good.

6. All Roads Lead to Austen: A Year-long Journey with Jane by Amy Smith: I've been wanting to read this book since forever.  I'm a massive travel lit fan and saw this and wanted however, my local bookstore didn't have it so I got it off Amazon when I bought my school books and had money left over. I'm uber pumped for this book.

Whelp, these are the books I have "planned" for April but, I might pick up some more along the way since it is my \^0^/ birthday month!!!!!!