Just Another Girl and her Books

Friday, March 31, 2017

Platypire Read-A-Thon March Results

Photo Courtesy of Platypire Maribel

March is over which means that it's time for me to give you an update on how I did sticking to my list reading this month. Now, I did make a serious dent in the books that I needed to get reviewed (that list is almost non-existent now!), but I don't feel like I got very many other books read. But getting all those reviews written will free up my time for reading in April, right?

R - Read

C - Currently Reading

T - To Be Read
NR - Needs Reviewed

Read

R - The Initiation by Jena Cryer - Review
R - George Carlin Reads to You by George Carlin (Feb) - Review
R - Down the Rabbit Hole by Holly Madison - Review
R - Messenger by Lois Lowry (Feb) - Review
R - Bond to Break by Ginna Moran (Proofread)
R - If This Was a Movie by Ginna Moran (Proofread)
R - Mary Ting Proofread (Not yet listed on Goodreads)
R - Alexandrea Weis Proofread (Not yet listed on Goodreads)
R - Bicycle Thieves by Mary di Michele (March)
R - Duck and Hippo in the Rainstorm by Jonathan London (March)
R - Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Katana by Mike W. Barr (March)

Reviewed
*Book titles link to reviews

Sexiest Dad Alive by M. Clarke (Proofread)
Blackwell by Alexandrea Weis and Lucas Astor
Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage and Manners by Therese Oneill (Feb)
Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham
Fluffy Strikes Back by Ashley Spires
The Traveler by Mary Theriot
O Unholy Nights by Ginna Moran
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (Jan)
Politically Correct Holiday Stories by James Finn Garner
Sorry Not Sorry by Naya Rivera
True Souls by Michele Gantz (Proofread)
Scorned by Ginna Moran
Give Me Chaos by Jillian Ashe (Proofread)
The Waiting Room by Leah Kaminsky
Awakening by D.M. Earl
Revived by Ginna Moran

Needs Reviewed

NR - Something Wonderful by M. Clarke

Currently Reading

C - The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (2015)

C - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2015)

C - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (2016)

C - Sweetwater: The Kihn by Rivi Jacks (2015)

C - Give Me Your Answer True by Suanne Laqueur (2015)

C - The Voyage by Tammie Painter (2015)

C - Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning by Timothy Snyder (2015)

C - The Road Home by Kathleen Shoop (2015)

C - Troll by Ashley C. Harris (2015)

C - The Sanctum of Souls by R.K. Pavia (2015)

C - The Travelers by Chris Pavone (2015)

C - Back of Beyond by Neeny Boucher (2016)

C - The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen (2016)

C - Letter's From Paris by Juliette Blackwell (2016)

C - An Exaltation of Larks by Suanne Laqueur (2016)

C - River of Ink by Paul M.M. Cooper (Jan)

C - The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (Jan)

C - Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (2016)
C - My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni (Feb)
C - Everything Belongs to Us by Yoojin Grace Wuertz (Feb)
C - Eleanor Roosevelt: The War Years by Blanche Wiesen Cook (Feb)
C - Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (March)
C - Ginna Moran Proofread (March)

To Be Read

T - The Devil's Prayer by Luke Gracias (Feb)

T - Courage to Soar by Simone Biles (March)
T - In Such Good Company by Carol Burnett (March)

I only managed to get eleven books read in March, and 4 of them were quite short, but I did get almost all of my backlist reviews written, and only added 4 new books to the list of books I need to get reviewed (I have reviews already written for a few of the books I proofread, but I can't publish them yet as the books are not yet released.) I'm hoping to get more books read in April, but we shall see. - Katie

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Review Revived by Ginna Moran

Genre: YA Paranormal

Published: March 30, 2017

Pages: 229

Goodreads

Synopsis

Straddling the line between Heaven and Hell, seventeen-year-old Cami Anders never thought she’d find herself in Purgatory again. As demons rise to rule humanity, Cami faces a seemingly impossible task—to right the balance in the world before the most powerful demons create a new Hell on earth, one that they want her to be a part of.

Now faced with the ultimate decision, Cami must decide if the world that has wronged her is worth fighting for. Because saving humanity could not only mean she’ll lose her chance at the eternity of her making, but it could also mean that she must give up those she loves. Is she strong enough to take a stand against both Heaven and Hell, or is she doomed to make the most devastating sacrifice?

Review

I was hired to proofread this book. The only aspects of the story that I influenced were the spelling and grammar. If you feel that my connection to the book makes my review untrustworthy, so be it, but this is my honest review.

This book left me wanting more, but it's the end of the series. I'm trying to talk Ms. Moran into writing a spin-off to delve more into the lives of some of the secondary characters just so that I can spend more time living in this world. Don't get me wrong, the story arc was absolutely resolved by the end of the book, but I just need more from these characters. I just want a couple more seasons, I promise. (That's probably a lie. I'll never be satisfied.)

Being the last book in the series, Revived wrapped up a lot of loose threads (thank goodness). There were a lot of minor details that all came together in the end, woven together seamlessly to complete the tapestry. These were things that don't seem like a really big deal on the surface, but the caused the most continuous anxiety in me, because I want everything wrapped up into a neat package.

I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. It took a turn that I had not anticipated, that I had not even allowed myself to hope for. But it was also done in a way that I never would have thought possible to begin with, which made it that much more perfect. This was just a great culmination for the series, and it allows me to believe that these events actually happened in the real world and I just wasn't privy to the insider information about it (because I'm not supposed to know about the Veiled Realm).

Overall I give Revived 5 out of 5 stars and would highly recommend the series to YA paranormal fans. - Katie

Buy the Book

Amazon

About the Author

Ginna Moran is a writer living in Austin, Texas but originally from Southern California. She started writing poetry as a teenager in a spiral notebook that she still has tucked away on her desk today. Her love of writing grew after she graduated high school and she completed her first unpublished manuscript at age eighteen.

When she realized her love of writing was her life's passion, she studied literature at Mira Costa College in Northern San Diego. Besides writing novels, she was senior editor, content manager, and image coordinator for Crescent House Publishing Inc. for four years.

Aside from Ginna's professional life, she enjoys binge watching television shows, playing pretend with her daughter, and cuddling with her dogs. Some of her favorite things include chocolate, anything that glitters, cheesy jokes, and organizing her bookshelf.

Ginna Moran loves to hear from readers so visit her online at www.GinnaMoran.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest.

Ginna Moran is currently hard at work on her next novel.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday Ten Authors I'd Love to Meet

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Joood - Hooligan of Platypire reviews bossed me into doing this, so I guess this is a thing I do now.

This weeks theme is author's we'd love to meet/have met. Since I've met a grand total of one author, and she wasn't an author yet when I met her so I feel like she doesn't really count as an author I've met, I'm focusing on authors that I would love to get the chance to meet some day.

Stephen King

My ultimate author unicorn is Stephen King. I absolutely love horror novels, and he is the king of creepy. I have been a big Stephen King fan since middle school at least, although I must admit that I first became interested in his books because of The Langoliers, the movie, which came out when I was in 5th grade, so it's not like King's books would have really been age appropriate for me at that time anyway, even though I often read above my age level, even at that point. My parents weren't big King fans though, so the books were not readily available in my home library, and I was already becoming anti-borrowing books by 5th grade. And it's not like my parents were averse to buying me books that weren't considered age appropriate. My exposure was just at a minimum because I was still shopping either through book orders at school or in the young readers section at the book store.

Now, however, I own just about everything King has ever published, both as himself and as Richard Bachman, and my parents typically buy me the newest King book as a Christmas present (because it's the one I'm least likely to own, and I tend to wait to buy print books until they're available as mass market paperbacks because I'm a cheapskate and can fit more paperbacks on my bookshelves than hardcovers.) So while I'm sure that I wouldn't be able to get out two words, let alone a full sentence, if I were to ever meet Stephen King, that is my ultimate dream.

J.K. Rowling

Next up on my list is J.K. Rowling. My love for her started with Harry Potter (and I haven't actually read anything she's written outside of the Harry Potter universe yet), but has grown because of her Twitter presence. I realize that when authors engage with trolls online, it can hurt their reputations, but I also think that it kind of needs to be done, and Rowling is in a position to do it without suffering as much financially as say an indie author would. I imagine the royalties from the Harry Potter series and movies will be sufficient to live off of for the rest of her life, even if she never publishes anything else. (I could be wrong about that, but the Harry Potter books are STILL regularly in the top 100 on Amazon.)

So J.K. Rowling is my idol both for the amazing world she created in Harry Potter and for her wit and tenacity on Twitter. It would truly be an honor to meet her.

This is where I'm going to get a little bit self-serving (or at least seem that way) because the next few authors on my list are people who hire me to proofread for them. I genuinely do want to meet them though, because who wouldn't want to meet the people they work with face to face at some point.

Alexandrea Weis

First up on that list is Alexandrea Weis. She was the first author to hire me, so I've been working with her the longest (truth be told, I was a beta reader for her before I started freelance proofreading.) But I don't just want to meet her under any old circumstances. No. My desire to meet her is under very specific conditions. You see, almost all of her books are set in or near New Orleans (and the ones that aren't tend to mention it) because that's where she lives. I have always wanted to be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras at least once, and going with a local would be even better. To have that local be an author that I admire and adore would just be divine. So I really want to meet her on her home turf during Mardi Gras.

Now that doesn't mean that I'm opposed to meeting her under other circumstances, but since this post is all about my dream meetings, I might as well dream big right.

Mary Ting/M. Clarke

Next up is Mary Ting, who also writes NA under the pseudonym M. Clarke. This lovely lady kept me quite busy last year working on re-proofing her backlist titles, and I don't think I've even done all of them yet (but it's close).

I don't have a dream meeting scenario for Ms. Ting (although I believe she lives in California, so maybe Disneyland, you know, because I'm dreaming big here), but I would genuinely like to meet up with her, even if it's just at a book signing.

Ginna Moran

I only just recently started working with Ginna Moran (like six months ago or something, but that feels very recent), but I was acquainted with her work before that. I reviewed Destined for Dreams here on the blog years ago, and was really drawn to Ms. Moran's writing style, so when she wanted to hire me to proofread for her, I was a bit ecstatic.

Having recently proofread her soon to be released YA contemporary romance, If This Was a Movie, I really want to meet Ms. Moran in LA so she can show me the boardwalk and some of the other fun sights from the book (that I'm assuming are real places.) Even though I currently live rather close to France where I can get authentic macarons, the tasty treats from the bakery in her book just sound so good that I want to go there instead.

Jillian Ashe

Next up is Jillian Ashe, who writes my favorite genre, science fiction. Now I happen to know that Jillian Ashe likes to play Pokemon Go, or at least she did when the game first came out, so I would love to meet up with her to just go Pokemon hunting, even though she's Team Mystic (I think, she might be Valor now that I think about it, but I know for sure she isn't Team Instinct, which is obviously the best team.)

Mary Theriot

Like Alexandrea Weis, Mary Theriot is also from Louisiana, although I don't think she lives quite as close to New Orleans. I would love to spend a weekend (or a week, it might take that long) with her just tasting all the different foods she has described in her books, which I shouldn't find so appetizing since the books themselves are about horrific torture. But it's very clear to me that I need to get myself to Louisiana at some point to try all the food because it all sounds so good.

D.M. Earl

And finally, D.M. Earl. I don't know what we would do because we don't really seem to have much in common aside from a love of books, but she seems to be a lovely lady with a heart of gold, so if nothing else we could probably just chat over a cup of coffee and a scone or something (and since I love to eat, that would be awesome.)

So that's my list of authors I'd love to meet. There are many, many more that I could add, but I won't for now, because I'm kind of busy at the moment with a deadline for one of the lovely ladies mentioned above. Who are some authors you've met or would like to meet? - Katie

Monday, March 27, 2017

Deja Revu 27 March 2017

Déjà Revu is a weekly review round-up that is open to all book review blogs.

Original

Should Giveaways Go Away? - Katie @Just Another Girl and Her Books

Meme

Contemporary

Dystopian/Post Apocalyptic

Messenger by Lois Lowry - Katie @Just Another Girl and Her Books

Fantasy

Paranormal

Romance

Fantasy

Lore Master by Robbie Cox (Satire) - Czar Fancypants @Whose Review is it Anyway

General Fiction

Horror

Ghosts of King Henry's Past by Matt "Grumpybritches" Schiariti (Satire) - Czar Fancypants @Whose Review is it Anyway

Non-Fiction

Romance

Science Fiction

Give Me Chaos by Jillian Ashe - Katie @Just Another Girl and Her Books

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Review Awakening by D.M. Earl

Genre: Romance

Published: January 26, 2017

Pages: 258

Goodreads

Synopsis

I’m safe.

And so is my family. All because of the sacrifice Stone made to save us. I don’t know what has happened to Stone or Walker, but I believe in my heart that Stone will do everything he can to make sure Walker never comes near us again. I know he’s out there, and I cannot allow myself to think otherwise. He will come back to me, to us.

So until that happens, and knowing that, I need to work to make my family and myself whole again. Life can bring unexpected joys and sorrows, and it’s up to me to begin the healing process for us all. I need to be strong, and that’s what I plan to do.
I'm no longer a victim because Stone showed me that I was so much more.Life is worth living.

My name is Quinn, and as I awaken from my dark past, and violent present, I will start to truly live. The future has never been so bright.

Review

This is the third and final book in The Journals Trilogy and it was definitely a satisfying conclusion to Quinn's story. Loose ends were snipped off and things seem to finally be at a point where things will settle down for Quinn and what's left of her family in the end. I strongly recommend that you read this series in order (if you don't you will very likely regret it and feel quite lost at times.)

Awakening was so so full of action that it seems Quinn and Stone just can't seem to catch a break at all for most of the story, which made it a bit hard to swallow at times. I realize that action keeps a story moving, but I would have really liked to have a bit more down time between crises to regroup.

I'm also not sure exactly how I feel about the way Quinn and Stone's relationship seemed to run so hot but then cold and back to hot again throughout the story. I was not prepared for that rollercoaster ride, and at times the twists and turns just left me reeling and baffled. Again, a lull in the action would have been appreciated.

My other issue with the book is more personal. I'm not really a big fan of MC romances, and while this isn't technically an MC romance, it has very much the same feel as one, so that detracted from my enjoyment of the story a bit.

Overall I give Awakening 3.5 out of 5 stars because it was a decent book, but I failed to connect with it on a personal level. - Katie

Buy the Book

Amazon

About the Author

D. M. Earl lives in Northwest Indiana. She is an avid reader and will devour a book usually in a day. She reads anything from romance, contemporary, erotica and dark reads. Loves to rider her Harley next to her hubby. Also D.M. likes being outdoors either working in her veggie or flower gardens or just hanging with her 9 four legged fur "kids."

Please visit her:
Author Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/DM-Earl/685360821541217?fref=photo
Twitter
https://twitter.com/dmearl
Email
dmearl14@gmail.com

Enjoy this Ride we call Life!!

Friday, March 24, 2017

Stacking the Shelves 25 March 2017

(Titles link to Amazon via Amazon Affiliate links)

Stacking The Shelves is a feature/weekly meme created by Tynga’s Reviews in which you share the books you are adding to your shelves, both physical and virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Now, I already have a monthly post I do featuring the books I get in the mail (and it's a lot because I have a serious Goodreads First Reads giveaway addiction), and I'm going to try to start posting my monthly Read-A-Thon posts again too (even if none of the Platypires will be joining me), which will cover the books I receive through Netgalley. But I also go to my thrift store at least once a week, and often leave with a bag full of books. It's such a common occurrence that I'm known as The Book Lady to the frequent volunteers (and I suspect that they've started scheduling their $1 bag of books sales for Thursdays simply because that is the day I usually visit.) So my Stacking the Shelves posts are going to focus on my thrift store hauls, because this is my blog and I do what I want.

On that note, here are the books I picked up this week.

The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes - Like I've said in the past, this is an author that I know at least one of my friends likes, so I buy all her books when I see them...This one is apparently the 5th in a series. Hopefully they can be read as standalones.
What If? by Randall Munroe - This is a book about scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions, which sounds kind of amazing if you ask me.
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd - Even though I've never read anything by Sue Monk Kidd, I've been meaning to for years, so I buy all of her books when I see them. I also have a feeling that this particular book may come in handy for a future #BeatTheBacklist Instagram challenge.
Because I'm Worth It by Cecily von Ziegesar - This is the 4th book in the Gossip Girl series, and I enjoyed the show so I'm interested in reading the books to see if they're similar.
All I Want is Everything by Cecily von Ziegesar - This is book 3 in the Gossip Girl series, which means that I actually have the first four books of the series! That almost never happens in my thrift shopping when I find the books at drastically different times (I've had the first book for over a year.)
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo - You're probably all familiar with what this book is about. I'm not particularly optimistic about seeing results from putting it to use myself, but I need to try something because I'm a bit of a pack-rat and I need more room in my house for books.
Settle For More by Megyn Kelly - Ever since Kelly got the boot from Fox News, I've been interested in reading this book (almost makes me wonder if that was just a promotional trick to try to lure in liberals). I wasn't particularly interested in her making money off my purchase however (but I refuse to resort to book piracy.) When I saw a copy at my thrift store, I snapped it up right quick.
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides - This book is by a Pulitzer Prize winning author, and the literary snob in me likes to read those, just to say I have. (I got home and discovered I already owned a copy of this book. So what do you think, should I give this copy away on the blog or just return it to my thrift store?)
The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie - So this book came with excerpted pages separately to help you try to unravel the mystery before the main character does...I mean, I may be missing some pages because I bought it used, but that sold me on buying it.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole - This book is a Pulitzer Prize winner, and as I mentioned before, the literary snob in me is drawn to those sorts of things.

So that's all the books I picked up at the thrift store this week. I really can't decide which one I'm most interested to read because there are several that have me really intrigued. It was kind of a grand slam week at the thrift store for good books. And all this cost me just $3.75.

Which of these books sounds most interesting to you (it might help me decide what to read first)? - Katie