Tuesday 5 June 2018
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
Listen to Your Heart by Kasie West.
Show of hands who has either serious summer vacation longing and/or a certain song by Roxette stuck in their head right now. My hand is practically tied to the ceiling.
Kasie West has delivered solid and cute YA contemporary high school love stories before, but this one got me in a way I didn’t expect. Not because the others before weren’t entertaining and relatable, but because this one was all of that and then a little more. Kate has a very clear view of what she wants to do with her life, whom she likes and dislikes, what her strengths and weaknesses are, and so on. Until she finds herself almost literally out of her element and has to re-evaluate her perceptions and ideals. Of course, there is a boy involved. But I immensely appreciated how he is so not the centre of attention. Kate is, and her relationship to her home, her people, and her best friend. Even though she is the focal character we actually get to see why she is such a great girl whom someone might want to be friends with … or fall for. She also has flaws, not too few of them, and you’ll possibly end up wanting to shake her for several short-sightedness reasons. It’s all worth it in my opinion for the cuteness and realistic-factor. No romantic solution without a little frustration – in literature. A fun and summery read with all the right ingredients for friendship, family, and love. With the added bonus of character-depth and surprise-emotional-insight. I wish all contemporary love-story-writers took so much care to construct well-rounded and complete character casts.
Summer is officially upon us (apologies for my northern-hemisphere-centric worldview, happy winter to you?). Are you reading more or less during this time of year? Share your reading habits and teasers in the comments!
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Listen to Your Heart by Kasie West.
 |
| Listen to Your Heart – Point |
If she called me Kat one more time, there would be no mystery as to what my fist would do to her face. Okay, fine, there would be because I’d never punched anyone in my life. My thoughts talked a big game.
— Chapter 7
“I just never thought of him as a guy who held grudges.”
“When pride is involved, people can hold on to a lot of things.”
— Chapter 35
Show of hands who has either serious summer vacation longing and/or a certain song by Roxette stuck in their head right now. My hand is practically tied to the ceiling.
Kasie West has delivered solid and cute YA contemporary high school love stories before, but this one got me in a way I didn’t expect. Not because the others before weren’t entertaining and relatable, but because this one was all of that and then a little more. Kate has a very clear view of what she wants to do with her life, whom she likes and dislikes, what her strengths and weaknesses are, and so on. Until she finds herself almost literally out of her element and has to re-evaluate her perceptions and ideals. Of course, there is a boy involved. But I immensely appreciated how he is so not the centre of attention. Kate is, and her relationship to her home, her people, and her best friend. Even though she is the focal character we actually get to see why she is such a great girl whom someone might want to be friends with … or fall for. She also has flaws, not too few of them, and you’ll possibly end up wanting to shake her for several short-sightedness reasons. It’s all worth it in my opinion for the cuteness and realistic-factor. No romantic solution without a little frustration – in literature. A fun and summery read with all the right ingredients for friendship, family, and love. With the added bonus of character-depth and surprise-emotional-insight. I wish all contemporary love-story-writers took so much care to construct well-rounded and complete character casts.
Summer is officially upon us (apologies for my northern-hemisphere-centric worldview, happy winter to you?). Are you reading more or less during this time of year? Share your reading habits and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday 29 May 2018
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro.
You know how some readers complain that they have to wait a whole year between books in a series while the time going by in books is not nearly as long? I won’t go into the other complaint how authors dare to take this long to write the next book, because … let’s just say that wouldn’t end well. Apart from the fact that a) in most cases it’s not up to the author at all when their book is published and b) have these complainers ever written anything of quality that has more than 60k words that needs to be checked for continuity, accuracy, and a whole bunch of other things? Right, zipping it for now. Just know that when I complain about waiting, I’m not out to blame anyone but want to appreciate the writing of the present book. And I’ll also try to do it in a more constructive way in the future. I might be compelled to write a little more about the process and thoughts on quality at some point though. End of PSA.
For now back to my favourite detective descendants Jamie and Charlotte. Or Jamie. And Charlotte. Because at the start of the book they haven’t seen each other in over a year (ha!). What is also new is that we now get regular chapters from Charlotte’s point of view, which is at the same time exhilarating and also terrifying. While Jamie is a somewhat known entity with a certain way of telling things and in general observing and recognising things, Charlotte has up until now mostly been unknowable and idolised by Jamie. That obviously had to change after the events of the last book.
Charlotte’s mind is at the same time a very clean and analytic yet also complicated and dark space. She’s rather taken the manic-pixie-dream-girl to town and twisted her into something even more self-destructive but also tortured. Her flashbacks about how she became who she is, which she will possibly never allow Jamie to know about had me understand her in a whole different way and I can now see how she arrived at the actions she thought she had to take and I also feel how and why she’s so conflicted about her emotions.
Jamie’s, as always, has been a comfortable perspective to occupy although I also have to say that he has changed quite a bit in this book and matured about a lot of things. Even if I still think that he is too quickly too dependent on whichever company he keeps. Guy should be more comfortable to be on his own. Or more observant in who he chooses to surround himself with. Nevertheless, I’d still like to read his tortured prose.
This book has a sort of closing and the series could comfortably end here, but I’m more than happy to report that there will be a fourth book out next year. I just hope that in-book-time won’t also be a year in-between because I’d really like to see the next couple of weeks/months unfold after how this book ended.
Have you had time-jumps in books which you’d rather have read in real time than hear about after the fact? Share your thoughts on those books and your teasers in the comments!
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro.
 |
| The Case for Jamie – Katherine Tegen Books |
Only follow the rules that are reasonable.
The issue with this axiom is that very few rules are reasonable when examined closely.
— Chapter 2
I was seventeen years old. I was dating-or-not-dating another girl who was right now questioning the campus dealer about a crime I hadn’t committed, and I was in love with my best friend, who I hadn’t seen for a year but who lived on in my day-to-day like a splinter in my goddamn heart.
— Chapter 17
You know how some readers complain that they have to wait a whole year between books in a series while the time going by in books is not nearly as long? I won’t go into the other complaint how authors dare to take this long to write the next book, because … let’s just say that wouldn’t end well. Apart from the fact that a) in most cases it’s not up to the author at all when their book is published and b) have these complainers ever written anything of quality that has more than 60k words that needs to be checked for continuity, accuracy, and a whole bunch of other things? Right, zipping it for now. Just know that when I complain about waiting, I’m not out to blame anyone but want to appreciate the writing of the present book. And I’ll also try to do it in a more constructive way in the future. I might be compelled to write a little more about the process and thoughts on quality at some point though. End of PSA.
For now back to my favourite detective descendants Jamie and Charlotte. Or Jamie. And Charlotte. Because at the start of the book they haven’t seen each other in over a year (ha!). What is also new is that we now get regular chapters from Charlotte’s point of view, which is at the same time exhilarating and also terrifying. While Jamie is a somewhat known entity with a certain way of telling things and in general observing and recognising things, Charlotte has up until now mostly been unknowable and idolised by Jamie. That obviously had to change after the events of the last book.
Charlotte’s mind is at the same time a very clean and analytic yet also complicated and dark space. She’s rather taken the manic-pixie-dream-girl to town and twisted her into something even more self-destructive but also tortured. Her flashbacks about how she became who she is, which she will possibly never allow Jamie to know about had me understand her in a whole different way and I can now see how she arrived at the actions she thought she had to take and I also feel how and why she’s so conflicted about her emotions.
Jamie’s, as always, has been a comfortable perspective to occupy although I also have to say that he has changed quite a bit in this book and matured about a lot of things. Even if I still think that he is too quickly too dependent on whichever company he keeps. Guy should be more comfortable to be on his own. Or more observant in who he chooses to surround himself with. Nevertheless, I’d still like to read his tortured prose.
This book has a sort of closing and the series could comfortably end here, but I’m more than happy to report that there will be a fourth book out next year. I just hope that in-book-time won’t also be a year in-between because I’d really like to see the next couple of weeks/months unfold after how this book ended.
Have you had time-jumps in books which you’d rather have read in real time than hear about after the fact? Share your thoughts on those books and your teasers in the comments!
Tuesday 22 May 2018
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan.
Rick Riordan has forever earned a bump up on my reading list whenever his books are published because I implicitly trust him to deliver a story that I’ll enjoy … even if enjoy mean that my nails won’t survive the encounter and I’ll probably have some angst-issues for the foreseeable future. But what else is new, you know of my slightly destructive reading/favourite authors habits.
So this book is dedicated to the muse of tragedy, which should be warning enough, but sometimes even the dedication is part of the deception or already part of the story. And well … let’s just say this dedication is warranted and I’m still not really okay with the why and how and the circumstances. There better be a very good reason and/or solution. Because tragedy in its Greek origin (and I’ll hold the author to that) means that the thing that happens is the only way and couldn’t be prevented as opposed to the popular use of the words tragic and tragedy, meaning that something is very sad/dramatic and catastrophic. And frankly, I don’t (yet?) see the inevitability of the thing that happens. Nor it’s function apart from that confused, angry sadness. I suppose that’s one way to instil terror and anxiety in readers.
Apart from that, this book was as entertaining and well-written as ever and I was again quite taken with the characters (new and old). There were the patent humour and Apollo’s charming self. He’s not exactly beginning to accept his situation but maybe getting more and more used to it. His character arc is definitely one of the most complex ones in this by now massive universe and I look forward to accompanying him on his journey in the following books.
Do you have a word that you notice has a different meaning as used by the public than how you think of it? I still think we should use the word tragedy more sparingly … Let’s hear from you about your words and teasers in the comments.
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan.
 |
| The Burning Maze – Disney-Hyperion |
Before I could argue, she took a flying leap out of the broken window—which was a pretty good metaphor for her general approach to life.
— Chapter 27
Power makes good people uneasy rather than joyful or boastful. That’s why good people so rarely rise to power.
— Chapter 44
Rick Riordan has forever earned a bump up on my reading list whenever his books are published because I implicitly trust him to deliver a story that I’ll enjoy … even if enjoy mean that my nails won’t survive the encounter and I’ll probably have some angst-issues for the foreseeable future. But what else is new, you know of my slightly destructive reading/favourite authors habits.
So this book is dedicated to the muse of tragedy, which should be warning enough, but sometimes even the dedication is part of the deception or already part of the story. And well … let’s just say this dedication is warranted and I’m still not really okay with the why and how and the circumstances. There better be a very good reason and/or solution. Because tragedy in its Greek origin (and I’ll hold the author to that) means that the thing that happens is the only way and couldn’t be prevented as opposed to the popular use of the words tragic and tragedy, meaning that something is very sad/dramatic and catastrophic. And frankly, I don’t (yet?) see the inevitability of the thing that happens. Nor it’s function apart from that confused, angry sadness. I suppose that’s one way to instil terror and anxiety in readers.
Apart from that, this book was as entertaining and well-written as ever and I was again quite taken with the characters (new and old). There were the patent humour and Apollo’s charming self. He’s not exactly beginning to accept his situation but maybe getting more and more used to it. His character arc is definitely one of the most complex ones in this by now massive universe and I look forward to accompanying him on his journey in the following books.
Do you have a word that you notice has a different meaning as used by the public than how you think of it? I still think we should use the word tragedy more sparingly … Let’s hear from you about your words and teasers in the comments.
Tuesday 15 May 2018
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
Royals by Rachel Hawkins.
In anticipation of a certain event next weekend … and because I flipping loved the idea when Rachel Hawkins posted about it way back when. Even if it has a screaming pink cover.
Daddy’s princess, I’m going to be a princess when I grow up, and several other princess dreams of little girls, how wonderful. Unless you’re actually the sister of the girl becoming a princess because then all the press attention and whatnot can quickly become a real nightmare. Exactly what happens to our protagonist Daisy when her sister becomes engaged to the crown prince of Scotland and thus catapults her fairly normal Floridian family into the spotlight of the yellow press all over the world. Bye, bye goes Daisy’s quiet and nerdy summer, hello sudden crash course in aristocratic etiquette and customs. Everything seems to go horribly wrong from the very beginning; good thing that the queen can’t actually order spontaneous beheadings and incarcerations.
To add insult to injury the younger brother of the fiancé and his troupe of friends are not called the Royal Wreckers for nothing. And one of them is ordered to show Daisy the ropes to prevent her from causing (perceived) irreparable damage to the crown. Miles is certainly up to the job in terms of title and knowledge, but if you ask Daisy he more than makes up for that by lacking in the human and social department – or does he? Much sniping and hilarity for the observer/reader ensue.
I’m mostly happy with this book and quite enjoyed Daisy’s and Miles’ antics. In fact, I would have loved more of that as it felt as though their page time together was not quite enough. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Daisy’s misadventures with the problem prince and her best friend … I still hope that those two will reconcile after that club incident. But more #Maisy would have been much appreciated. Even if they mostly used their time to snap at each other. Book two will seemingly centre on other characters, but I really hope we’ll see these two again.
Are you planning on watching the wedding this weekend? My friends and I are planning a group event complete with scones and possibly cucumber sandwiches. Let’s hear about your plans and teasers in the comments!
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Royals by Rachel Hawkins.
 |
| Royals – G. P. Putnam’s Sons |
“What thing with my face?” Miles asks, doing exactly that thing. It’s this lifting of his chin and tightening of his jaw that makes him look like he’s about to oppress some peasants, and I point at him.
“That thing.”
Glaring at me, Miles steps a little closer. “This is just what my face looks like.”
“That is unfortunate,” I say.
— Chapter 24
“Lucky bugger.”
“Because Greece or just because he’s not here, staring at ponies?”
— Chapter 32
In anticipation of a certain event next weekend … and because I flipping loved the idea when Rachel Hawkins posted about it way back when. Even if it has a screaming pink cover.
Daddy’s princess, I’m going to be a princess when I grow up, and several other princess dreams of little girls, how wonderful. Unless you’re actually the sister of the girl becoming a princess because then all the press attention and whatnot can quickly become a real nightmare. Exactly what happens to our protagonist Daisy when her sister becomes engaged to the crown prince of Scotland and thus catapults her fairly normal Floridian family into the spotlight of the yellow press all over the world. Bye, bye goes Daisy’s quiet and nerdy summer, hello sudden crash course in aristocratic etiquette and customs. Everything seems to go horribly wrong from the very beginning; good thing that the queen can’t actually order spontaneous beheadings and incarcerations.
To add insult to injury the younger brother of the fiancé and his troupe of friends are not called the Royal Wreckers for nothing. And one of them is ordered to show Daisy the ropes to prevent her from causing (perceived) irreparable damage to the crown. Miles is certainly up to the job in terms of title and knowledge, but if you ask Daisy he more than makes up for that by lacking in the human and social department – or does he? Much sniping and hilarity for the observer/reader ensue.
I’m mostly happy with this book and quite enjoyed Daisy’s and Miles’ antics. In fact, I would have loved more of that as it felt as though their page time together was not quite enough. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Daisy’s misadventures with the problem prince and her best friend … I still hope that those two will reconcile after that club incident. But more #Maisy would have been much appreciated. Even if they mostly used their time to snap at each other. Book two will seemingly centre on other characters, but I really hope we’ll see these two again.
Are you planning on watching the wedding this weekend? My friends and I are planning a group event complete with scones and possibly cucumber sandwiches. Let’s hear about your plans and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday 8 May 2018
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
The Season by Sarah MacLean.
This book almost has a double historical feeling to in as it’s not the newest of all with a publication date from 2009 … which in terms of literary development seems like an age ago considering all the great books published since then. But let’s not get into the discussion of when and how a book becomes dated. Especially not when the book in question has a historic setting.
This is a perfectly pleasant read about three Regency Era debutantes who have a decided antipathy against their prescribed societal role and gender restrictions of the time. Added in is also a slight deductive game of crime solving. And sweet blossoming friends to more romance.
This book has all the trappings to be really entertaining and a great read that you can cruise through on a sunny afternoon. Or a rainy one, maybe that would have added a little more atmosphere. That would be my sole point to critique: the fact that I somehow didn’t feel totally transported back to the time even tough the balls and the dances were all there. A little more scenery and props might have gone a long way here. I also would have liked for the story the run a little longer than the moment where it ends now. Just to get more information about the characters further proceedings.
How do you treat books that are a little aged? I realised with this one that I seldom read books that are older than four years or so. Unless they are books that are a lot older. The middle-aged books seem to have a difficult standing on my shelf. Weigh in with your thoughts and teasers in the comments.
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
The Season by Sarah MacLean.
 |
| The Season – Orchard Books |
'Alexandra, there are plenty of young women who would happily assume your position, standing on that platform, 'suffering' through a fitting for that dress.'
'May I suggest any one of them take my place?'
'No.'
— Chapter 1
'Because we have' — Ella ticked off the qualities on her fingers as she spoke them — 'cleverness, a fresh eye for the problem, curiosity, superior instinct — as proven by my hunch that Montgrave was involved from the beginning — and' — She paused dramatically — 'the most important thing of all.'
'Which is?' Alex asked.
'Desire to prove that we can.'
— Chapter 19
This book almost has a double historical feeling to in as it’s not the newest of all with a publication date from 2009 … which in terms of literary development seems like an age ago considering all the great books published since then. But let’s not get into the discussion of when and how a book becomes dated. Especially not when the book in question has a historic setting.
This is a perfectly pleasant read about three Regency Era debutantes who have a decided antipathy against their prescribed societal role and gender restrictions of the time. Added in is also a slight deductive game of crime solving. And sweet blossoming friends to more romance.
This book has all the trappings to be really entertaining and a great read that you can cruise through on a sunny afternoon. Or a rainy one, maybe that would have added a little more atmosphere. That would be my sole point to critique: the fact that I somehow didn’t feel totally transported back to the time even tough the balls and the dances were all there. A little more scenery and props might have gone a long way here. I also would have liked for the story the run a little longer than the moment where it ends now. Just to get more information about the characters further proceedings.
How do you treat books that are a little aged? I realised with this one that I seldom read books that are older than four years or so. Unless they are books that are a lot older. The middle-aged books seem to have a difficult standing on my shelf. Weigh in with your thoughts and teasers in the comments.
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