The Heavenstone Secrets

The Heavenstone Secrets
V.C. Andrews
438 pages
Publisher: Pocket
Source: Borders sale
★★★☆☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

This book sucked me in right away with its pure evil.  Cassie and Semantha have just learned that their mother is pregnant!  While it's a joyous time for everyone else, Cassie is angered by the news.  When tragedy befalls the household, Cassie takes over and forces Semantha into a roll that she is neither comfortable with, nor ready for.

Even though I knew just about everything that was going to happen before it happened, I was still drawn in by the intensity of the plot and the character of Cassie.  I knew whatever Cassie was going to say next was going to be deceitful but I still hung onto every word she said.  The only problem with Cassie was how redundant she was:  everything she said to Semantha was ended with the phrase, "We are Heavenstones, after all."  Cassie was a bit of a broken record by the end of the book.  An evil, deceitful, conniving, broken record.

Then there was the character of Semantha who was in every way the opposite of Cassie: quiet, reserved, and unsure of herself.  On the one hand, I feel terribly sorry for Semantha and all she had to put up with with her sister.  She was never allowed to be herself.  But on the other hand, Semantha is the naivest fourteen-year-old I've ever read about.  While there were times I wanted to give her a hug, more often there were times I wanted to scream at her and tell her to stand up to her sister and tell her father the truth.

Overall the book gets three stars from me, because I liked the plot and how the book wrapped up, but it lost stars for its predictability and repetitiveness.

There is a sequel, but this book stands totally on its own.  V.C. Andrews' novels are a unique breed and even though this was just published in 2010 (and thusly written by her estate and not actually by V.C. Andrews) I felt it kept the tradition alive and I recommend it if you're looking a book with purely evil character.
















PS: Don't forget to enter my giveaway!  It ends September 14th, so time is running out to enter.  Enter here.

Hereafter

Hereafter
Tara Hudson
404 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: library
★★★☆☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Amelia is dead, but she doesn't know who she is or how she got that way.  All she knows is she died in the turbulent waters under the infamous High Bridge and she's still trying to get a handle on being a ghost.  When Joshua is tossed into the river and very nearly drowns, it awakens his Seer abilities and now the two are on a journey together to find out what the deal is with Amelia.  And why is that guy Eli so keen on, well, owning her?

The first thing that struck me about Hereafter was the the writing - Tara Hudson does a wonderful job at creating and setting up scenes and then describing them.  I was immediately drawn into the book by that, and then by the immediate romance between Amelia and Joshua, which had such a sense of urgency that I quickly turning the pages when I should have been asleep.

And then I noticed something - there was a lack of plot.  Sure we knew Amelia was a ghost and we were trying to figure out what her connection with Joshua and Eli was, but there wasn't much of a real plot until nearly the end of the novel when Joshua's sister must be saved.  So I would have liked to have seen more plot from the beginning, and I would have liked to have learned more about the grandmother and her group of church ladies who perform exorcisms.  Their role was too minor.

I get that it's a YA book and as such was focused on the young characters, but just because the book was written for teens doesn't mean we can't focus on some of the older characters.  And I mean this as a criticism of YA in general, not just Hereafter.

So three stars because I liked it.  It drew me in, but for no real reason.  If you're a YA paranormal romance junkie, this will be right up your alley and I recommend it.
















PS: Don't forget to check out my current giveaway of a signed copy of Anna and the French Kiss plus some swag here.  It's super easy to enter.

DBF GIVEAWAY!

It's my first giveaway on my blog!  I picked up some neat swag this weekend, as well as a shiny new copy of Anna and the French Kiss, which I had signed for one lucky winner.  Swag includes a few bookmarks, a Beauty Queens pin, two DBF pins, plus the first five chapters of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, which will be released at the end of September.  The book has raving reviews on Goodreads.

To enter, fill out the form HERE.  Winners will be chosen on September 14th.  You must be a follower to win.

Decatur Book Festival Recap

BOOKZILLA!  RWAR!

I had the greatest weekend ever, all thanks to the Decatur Book Festival.  As I mentioned in my previous post, my tentative schedule was bound to change and it did.  Here's what really happened:

SATURDAY:

• Left home around 9:15am, later than I wanted.  After hitting up the ATM, our first stop was the Library Book Sale, which was swamped.  Didn't see any of the books I donated and that made me happy (because I assume they had already sold, not that they never made it out).  Spent nineteen dollars and got...

Four books for me...

and eight books for hubs.

• Then we walked around the booths and saw some sights and picked up some cool t-shirts.

I'm totally wearing this shirt tomorrow.

• After that, we headed over to the church and heard James Swanson talk about his books Manhunt and Bloody Crimes.  It was a really interesting talk about what most people don't know about what happened to Lincoln after he died and about Jefferson Davis on the run.  I knew a lot of the facts he mentioned because I have a degree in history, but it was still interesting to rehear.  Got Bloody Crimes signed.
• Lunch at Sammiches N' Stuff.  Mediocre but fast, as usual.
• Then it was over the library where I listened to Libba Bray crack hilarious jokes during her talk.  I couldn't even get into the overflow room and we left early to get in line for the signing.  It's a good thing we did because that line lasted hours.  I haven't read Beauty Queens yet, but it sounds great.

Libba Bray and me!

• After that we had a bit of time to kill to it was off to Starbucks for sugar.  While hubs took a load off, I headed over to the emerging author stage and heard Anne Riley chat about her new YA book The Clearing and I had her sign a copy for me.  I didn't see anyone else around with a book for her to sign and that made me sad.  I believe it was the only YA book from the "emerging authors" that day, which is why I picked it up.  Eventually a review will show up here.
• Then it was back to the library to hear the Zombie/Apocalypse chat with Jeff Hirsch and Jonathan Maberry.  It was a very interesting chat, even hubs enjoyed it.  I'd never heard of Maberry before, but I will definitely be checking out his books in the future.  Then I got my ARC signed like I wanted.

Hirsch and Maberry before the discussion

Didn't get a picture with Hirsch, but here are the three signed books.

• After that we went back to the church for a discussion my husband wanted to see with Amanda Kyle Williams and Louise Penny called "Making a Great Murder Mystery."  It was because of the title he wanted to attend the talk and he decided to buy one of the books after.  When we went to have his copy of The Stranger You Seek signed, he realized he'd sold the author a TV last week!  Small world, huh?

The two books hubs got signed.

• After that it was around 7pm and we were both ready for dinner.  We splurged and went to Ted's Montana Grill.  After that we went to Little Shop of Stories where I picked up a signed copy of Shine by Lauren Myracle because I had missed her chat/signing earlier in the day.

• When we came home I took a shower (it was a hot, sweaty day and somehow my legs got covered in dirt) and reorganized our bookshelves.  The following are my new three whole shelves (74 books) of TBR.  But at least my TBR is all in one spot now.

SUNDAY - I spent the day by myself because hubs had to pull a shift at work, but I still had a fabulous day.

• Went and saw Diana Gabaldon at Eagle Eye Bookshop.  Got there half an hour early and was lucky to find a parking space!  It was packed!  I bought a copy of The Fiery Cross (I own the first four books in the series but have only just started the third) and a copy of the 20th Anniversary edition of Outlander.  She had a great talk about how she got started writing her series, she read two excerpts from upcoming books, and then held a signing.  The lady in front of me in line was kind enough to take a picture for me.

I met Diana Gabaldon!  Squee!

• It was 4:30pm by the time I left Eagle Eye, so I high-tailed it over to the Decatur Library where I had completely missed the panel Stephanie Perkins was participating in.  It was just letting out when I arrived.  I bought a softcover edition of Anna and the French Kiss for my giveaway and later heard that they'd had early, finished copies of Lola and the Boy Next Door!  I was so sad to have missed that.  It probably wouldn't have helped me, but I think they should have limited it to one per person - I saw girls in line with five copies of Lola to get signed.  Anyway, I met two really cool girls while I was in line and one was kind enough to snap a picture after the signing.

Stephanie was so great to chat with;
turns out she's a fan of Diana Gabaldon, too!

And then the day was over and I met my husband at home and we headed out to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner.  Whew, what a weekend!

My giveaway of book + swag will be posted at 8am tomorrow, so stay tuned!  It will run for about a week and you must be a follower to win.

DBF Post and Run

I'm on my way out the door, but I wanted to let you all know that I just got home from Day 2 of the Decatur Book Festival.  And I got some swag and a signed book...

FOR YOU!!

Stay tuned for a super awesome giveaway that I'll announce tomorrow along with pictures of DBF and the awesome authors I met.  I also met some cool people waiting in line and did a tiny bit of networking for this here ol' blog.

So come back tomorrow!

Decatur Book Festival Prep!

Bookzilla photo stolen from the DBF FB page.
Note the grass,  we're in the midst of a drought here.

I'm so excited to be going to the Decatur Book Festival this year!  I've never been to a book festival before and I hadn't even heard of DBF before we moved here in January.  When the schedule was released I sat down with it and plotted out my day (we're only able to go Saturday, not Sunday) and found out that I would have no problem holing up in the Decatur Library from 11am to 4:45 pm.  

Needless to say, my husband was not okay with that.  So here's my current plan, which will undoubtedly change once we're in the thick of things:

9am.  Arrive, get a great parking space, attend library book sale and double current TBR pile.

10am.  Start wandering amongst booths, maybe score some cheap swag and buy a book or two.

Noon-ish.  Lunch.  Anywhere.  I'm hungry.

12:45pm.  Funnel cake?  Starbucks?  I need quick sugary energy because I got up early for a Saturday.

1pm.  More booths and heading over to the library when we get sick of walking in the heat.

4pm.  Talk with Jeff Hirsch and others.  Get ARC of Eleventh Plague signed.

You can click on that picture to make it bigger.  This is what I'm taking with: 

• My road salt covered backpack from college.  I was going to take a really cute tote bag, but when I get sick of carrying it, my husband would prefer the backpack over the adorable tote bag.  Please note the Kermit the Frog keychain.  I love the Muppets!
• DBF insert from the AJC which includes the schedule.
• SmartWater!  Water + electrolytes = exactly what you need on a hot, sweaty day.
• My ARC of The Eleventh Plague to get signed.
• Coconut Mango sunscreen from Bath and Body Works.  There's no reason you can't smell good while fighting the rays.
• Camera if I can find the missing SD card.
• Tiny wallet - the less bulk I need to carry the better.  Just some cash and my Starbucks card.  Note to self: get cash before Saturday.  Last library book sale the ladies had to hold me as collateral while my husband sprinted (er, actually, walked) three blocks over to the nearest BoA ATM.
• Some incidentals in the front pocket: tissues, chapstick, etc.
• Note: the cat will not be attending DBF.  She just likes to be in every picture I take.  And finally...

• See, I told you the cat is a photo whore.  This is the box we acquired at the last library book sale in May.  We weren't anticipating on buying so many books last time, but the Decatur Library book sales are always so awesome.  The box will be going with us!

That's all I'm planning on taking.  I've seen some people blog about the books they're taking with - up to twenty-five books!  Even if I had twenty-five books of authors attending, no way would I cart all that around in the heat and humidity!  That makes for one crabby Panda.  If you're going to be one of those people, please keep your slow moving rolling suitcase of books out of my way.

So that is the plan for Saturday.  If you see me and my backpack (I'll be the one with the cute red-headed husband) say hello!

Finally, some AWESOME NEWS!  I know a lot of people were disappointed to find out Diana Gabaldon was not on the author list for DBF this year, but guess what!?  She's going to be in town!  She'll be at The Eagle Eye Bookshop at 3pm on Sunday.  Eagle Eye is my favorite bookstore and in if you're in town for DBF and a Gabaldon fan, you should definitely stop by.  I'm hoping I can make it and get a 20th Anniversary signed copy of Outlander.

August Recap

Eh, it was a pretty decent month for reading; some ups, some downs.  I finally caught up on all the books I promised to review for people/Netgalley/Goodreads wins.  I also caught up on my library books (when it rains, it pours when it comes to library holds!) and now I'm back into reading books that have been stuck on my TBR pile for a year.  That makes me happy.  Of course, last night I added eight more books to my hold list at the library and two of them should be ready for me to pick up Saturday, which is good since I'll be there anyway for the Decatur Book Festival!  Squee!!  But more on that tomorrow.  Here's a list of the twenty-six books I read in August.

Still Missing by Chevy Stevers
Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz
Shoe Strings by Christy Hayes
How to Wash a Cat by Rebecca M. Hale
Kissing Comfort by Jo Goodman
Coffee at Little Angels by Nadine Rose Larter
Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
It Is Said by Edward Medina
The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade
Becoming Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey
Town in a Blueberry Jam by B.B. Haywood
Possession by Elana Johnson
Starstruck by Cyn Balog
I Loved You First by Reena Jacobs
Matched by Ally Condie
Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay
Bliss by Lauren Myracle
Rae by Chelsea Rae Swiggett
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Radiance by Alyson Noel
Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
21 Proms 
Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo
Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm


YTD books: 179
YTD pages: 58,816

On to September!