Welcome All Book Lovers

Welcome All Book Lovers

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo (Shortest review ever!)

She will become one of the world’s greatest heroes: WONDER WOMAN. But first she is Diana, Princess of the Amazons. And her fight is just beginning. . . .

Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law—risking exile—to save a mere mortal. Even worse, Alia Keralis is no ordinary girl and with this single brave act, Diana may have doomed the world.

Alia just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer—a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery.

Together, Diana and Alia will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. If they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war. @goodreads 

















One of the shortest reviews to what I thought would be a long review of one of my favorite comic book characters.



Wonder Woman and the Hulk were my favorite characters of all time when I was growing up. I watched and own the shows. I just love them still. Superman followed shortly after and then several more as I got older. Soooooo, I was really disappointed that this book didn't blow me away. I thought it would have all of the stars. I love old school Diana.

All the stars goes to Wonder Woman and I liked Alia well enough but it just didn't hit me the right way. I didn't care for anyone else in the book. Don't get me wrong, I love Leigh Bardugo and her Six of Crows duology but I just didn't love this one.

I don't understand why books have to be changed around to some weird different stuff and I don't even know how to explain what I mean. Lol

I'm glad so many loved it to death because this is the way of the new world. I'm hoping that someone will write a more adult Wonder Woman book down the road and have it more to the real story line then bending to the world all young adult books are taking. I'm glad that Diana wasn't seen as stupid at least. It wasn't great, it wasn't bad, it was okay.

Mel ♥ 


GOODREADS REVIEW:

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1623457578

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

The Female Of The Species by Mindy McGinnis

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.

While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.

But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.

So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.

Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.
@goodreads 

















Be prepared



I just wasn't going to read this book. I just wasn't. I bought it because I thought it was going to be something I liked. Then I saw some warnings about things in the book and I thought, if I pick up this book I'm going to throw it across the room. I almost did a few times.

BUT

I didn't

and I loved it

All of the animal abusers and rapists of any sort should burn. It's just that simple.






and I really don't care if no one feels the same as I do. I just don't care any more.

I loved Alex Craft. I wish she was my best friend. She's my role model. She's a murderer. She hurts evil people and she cares for animals. I love her.



This is how I kill someone.
I learn his habits, I know his schedule. It is not difficult. His life consists of quick stops to the dollar store for the bare minimum of things required to keep this ragged cycle going, his hat pulled down over his eyes so as not to be recognized.


Alex had a sister once. She was raped, tortured and killed. Yes, it is graphic, the telling of what was done to her and how they found her in pieces. The b@stard was not sentenced. But he was killed. They let that slide.

This story is about Alex, Peekay (Preacher's Kid, real name, Claire) and Jack. There are some other people in the book, their friends, but it's mainly about them.

Alex and Peekay work at the animal shelter together and they become friends. Alex calls her by her real name. Alex is different and I like her. Alex takes care of the animals with a tender heart. Once again, I love her. They had to go and pick up some puppies that were thrown out of a window by some piece of sh*t. Peekay has thoughts of bodily harm herself but they are only thoughts. I can understand what she means. 



I imagine a rusted-out truck, a guy wearing a T-shirt with ripped-out sleeves. I think about how he'd roll down his window, a casual question on his face until I opened the door, drag him out, and kick him in the gut over and over until he's making the same noises those puppies probably made.

Jack is just a guy at school that sleeps around but starts to fall for Alex. Alex has never had a boyfriend. She's too damaged and dangerous, but that doesn't mean she can't love. And they do, for a time.


The books didn't help me find a word for myself; my father refused to accept the weight of it. And so I made my own.

I am vengeance.



This story has so many things going for it. I love the author's writing. You feel every little thing these kids go through. Even the few times the parents are in the book. All of these kids learn to be friends in one sense or another. I love that they can put all of the things aside and just be friends.

I love that Alex is so tough and never backs down from taking up for her friends. For someone that never really had any, she's a damn great one to have. Peekay thought so too.


No, I didn't know. Everyone else wants to talk about the Alex who tore Ray Parson's nose off when he tried to hurt me, the Alex who tortured the man who killed her sister, the Alex who burned a child molester alive and blew a rapist away with a shotgun blast. Nobody wants to talk about the girl who held kittens in the palm of her hand, humming to them while they fed, or the girl who would pick fleas off a dog for hours. Because nobody knew her.


This book truly got to me. I loved everyone and hated many. It made me rage and cry. It tore my feels into a million pieces. It is one of my favorites.

READ THIS BOOK!



The ending broke my heart =(

Mel ♥


GOODREADS REVIEW:

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2107371972


Sunday, August 27, 2017

The Doll House by Phoebe Morgan

You never know who’s watching…

Corinne’s life might look perfect on the outside, but after three failed IVF attempts it’s her last chance to have a baby. And when she finds a tiny part of a doll house outside her flat, it feels as if it’s a sign.

But as more pieces begin to turn up, Corinne realises that they are far too familiar. Someone knows about the miniature rocking horse and the little doll with its red velvet dress. Someone has been inside her house…

How does the stranger know so much about her life? How long have they been watching? And what are they waiting for…? @goodreads 




















I couldn't put this book down! And I thought I had it all figured out, but NOPE. I got it all wrong.

The story is about Corinne and Dominic who are trying to have a baby. Corinne is a nervous wreck all of the time. Then pieces of her and Ashley's (her sister) old dollhouse start to appear in different places for her to find. That's not creepy or anything.

Ashley is married to James and they have three kids, Lucy, Benji, and Holly. Ashley works one day a week at a cafe just so she can have some peace for a little bit. James has been working a lot more lately. They don't need the money, but it's what it is. Ashley has a lady watch Holly on the days she is at work.

The girls father died not that long ago and they go visit their mother for a little weekend holiday with the family and kids. There is something strange going on in their mothers house as well. What is going on with everyone?

The book switches back and forth between the characters and there is a character that we don't know, also telling their story. Duh, duh, duh!

The story gets crazier and crazier as this person seems to be involved in everyone's lives.

I thought it was great, although, I kept feeling I have read this same book before and I can't put my finger on it.

That ending though!

Mel ♥


*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.*

GOODREADS REVIEW: 

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2104541748

Portrait of Vengeance by Carrie Stuart Parks

An unsolved case. A tempest of memories. The future’s at stake—and time is running out...

Gwen Marcey has done a good job of keeping the pain of her past boxed up. But as she investigates the case of a missing child in Lapwai, Idaho, details keep surfacing that are eerily similar to her childhood traumas. She doesn’t believe in coincidences. So what’s going on here?

No one knows more about the impact of the past than the Nez Perce people of Lapwai. Gwen finds herself an unwelcome visitor to some, making her investigation even more difficult. The questions keep piling up, but answers are slow in coming—and the clock is ticking for a missing little girl. Meanwhile, her ex-husband back home is threatening to take sole custody of their daughter.

As Gwen’s past and present collide, she’s in a desperate race for the truth. Because only truth will ensure she still has a future. @goodreads 




















This book is about a double murder and a missing little girl. The Nez Perce Tribal Police in Lapwai, Idaho are looking for the killer. Gwen Marcey is forensic artist who pushed to be sent out to help. She as going to go regardless because something about the murders has triggered some memories from when she was a child.

Gwen sets out to help Chief Seth Kus in finding the little girl. Gwen has to get help from her best friend Beth when her car is stolen. It seems someone doesn't want Gwen on the case. They know who she is, they know about her past. She's in danger herself. I must note that Gwen's Great Pyrenees, Winston, helped out as well. I'm always going to give credit to the animals =)

Anyway, Gwen is being shot at, attacked in all kinds of ways, trapped in places, etc and so on. BUT, this doesn't stop her and she actually finds out things from her past. She finds the murderer and another murder from years ago, more missing kids, it's like a free for all.

This is actually the first book I have read from this author. I noticed it was the 4th book in the series but it was fine as a stand alone. The book is also a quick read and a nice little mystery. 



*I would like to thank BookLookBloggers for a print copy of this book.*

GOODREADS REVIEW: 

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2105313003

Thursday, August 24, 2017

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Boy In the Striped Pajamas, a sweeping, heartfelt saga about the course of one man's life, beginning and ending in post-war Ireland

Cyril Avery is not a real Avery -- or at least, that's what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn't a real Avery, then who is he?

Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community and adopted by a well-to-do if eccentric Dublin couple via the intervention of a hunchbacked Redemptorist nun, Cyril is adrift in the world, anchored only tenuously by his heartfelt friendship with the infinitely more glamourous and dangerous Julian Woodbead. At the mercy of fortune and coincidence, he will spend a lifetime coming to know himself and where he came from and over his many years will struggle to discover an identity, a home, a country, and much more.

In this, Boyne's most transcendent work to date, we are shown the story of Ireland from the 1940s to today through the eyes of one ordinary man. The Heart's Invisible Furies is a novel to make you laugh and cry while reminding us all of the redemptive power of the human spirit. @goodreads 















The first paragraph of the book is what grabbed me:


Long before we discovered that he had fathered two children by two different women, one in Drimoleague and one in Clonakilty, Father James Monroe stood on the altar of the Church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, in the parish of Goleen, West Cork, and denounced my mother as a whore.


Pretty powerful stuff, that. Little Cyril is telling the story as a babe not even born yet and the story he told, whew. I was appalled at what that priest did to his mom. Threw her out of town and hit her. I really can't stand those priests of old.

Catherin Goggin is a 16 year-old-girl who is pregnant and kicked out of the only home town she has known. But she makes it in Dublin with the help of some wonderful people. Some that didn't have a happy ending themselves.

Cyril is adopted to another couple who are very strange. I guess they loved Cyril in their own way and was never hurt but all of his life he seemed to miss out on something. A little clueless to things in the world.

The story is told in different times of Cyril's life, from birth until old age. It is all very bittersweet and there are some really funny moments. I really enjoyed Cyril. I thought he was funny and sweet and as an adult he had some hard times. Friends dying or being killed.

Cyril was a gay man living in a time where you could be put in jail for it or killed and nothing done about it. Some of the things are just too horrific to even think about.

I loved how the story connected so many people in the book over the years. Cyril even meets his real mom at one point and neither of them even know it. I wanted to scream at someone, but that's the way it goes.

The ending made me very happy, some sadness, but mostly happy

Mel ♥


*Thank you to bloggingforbooks for a hardback copy of this book*

GOODREADS REVIEW:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2100899700

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and she would do it alone.
Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.@goodreads 


















Re-Read on Audio 2017 ~ Just going to tweek my old review as I still feel the same about the book and movie.

** 2015 ** Review

I just recently watched the movie "Wild." I have actually watched the movie several times now. When I saw that it was based on a true story I immediately logged onto Amazon and ordered the book. I am so glad I did as this is a wonderful book.



Of course there are different things in the book than in the movie, but that just made it better, it was liked I was learning more about Cheryl's life.

I have always wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail when I would see the signs to it not far from where I live. But I got sick and that never happened. If you get a thought to try something, don't wait, DO IT, because you never know what is going to happen.




I never even knew anything about the PCT. I want to get books on it and read about it. I want to see in a book the actual places that Cheryl was in the book. I want to recognize some of the places.

I can't state enough how much I loved the book. It was so moving and hard. I can't imagine the things she went through, what anyone that hikes like that goes through. I love hiking but this is beyond hiking in my opinion.




Cheryl found out a lot of things about herself while on the trail. She met a lot of nice people along the way as well.

Sometimes a person's life is so sad and seems so horrible and then something wonderful comes along. Cheryl eventually found that in her life and I'm happy for her.

I recommend this book to anyone that loves hiking, to anyone that loves stories about finding yourself, to anyone that loves stories about the hardships of life. And Cheryl made it. ♥



Totally awesome!


Lady Mechanika Volulme 2


After a young friend shows up unexpectedly on her doorstep, Lady Mechanika immediately drops everything to come to her aid. They embark on a globe-spanning trek filled with ancient artifacts, secret societies, and scientific curiosities, but Lady Mechanika is eventually confronted with an impossible decision: the life of her friend, or the fate of all humankind.

Set in a fictionalized steampunk Victorian England, a time when magic and superstition clashed with new scientific discoveries and inventions, LADY MECHANIKA chronicles a young woman's obsessive search for her identity after a mad scientist's horrific experiments left her with mechanical limbs and no memory of her past.

This volume collects the entire second LADY MECHANIKA story, The Tablet of Destinies, along with a gorgeous cover art gallery. @goodreads 



















The only reason it wasn't a 5 star for me is for something I didn't like in the beginning of the book.

Lady Mechanika ends up with a visit from little Winifred. She thinks something has happened to her grandfather. He's in Africa trying to find a treasure. Made me think of Indiana Jones for some reason. Then some evil people come on the scene and you know how that goes.

Mechanika and Winifred set out to find her grandfather and these evil people keep kidnapping Winifred and Mechanika keeps having to get her back. It was crazy. They have some help from friends.

On the way to Africa they get blown down by said evil people and end up stuck in the Sahara Desert. Then they meet some people and make new friends. Then Winifred gets kidnapped again and so forth and so on. Things finally work out and we all live happily ever after =D

I will leave you with some art from the book but they are in no order.























Fin 


Friday, August 18, 2017

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil

Sam is a geek movie-buff with a ragtag group of loser friends who have been taking abuse from the popular kids for years. But when the super-cool Camilla moves to town, she surprises everyone by choosing to spend time with Sam's group. Suddenly they go from geek to chic, and find that not everything boils down to us and them. With their social lives in flux, Sam and Camilla spend more and more time together. They become the best of friends, and Sam finds that he's happier and more comfortable in his own skin than ever before. But eventually Sam must admit to himself that he's fallen in love. If he confesses his true feelings to Camilla, will everything change again? @goodreads
















I loved this book so freaking much!




I start Monday by falling flat on my arse. A normal guy might think his day could only improve from here. I seriously doubt this is going to be the case. I hear laughter and clapping. Someone cheers.

Above me, a giant sign hangs precariously from the corridor ceiling: a pink and purple, glitter-encrusted symbol of doom, handmade by the Spring Dance Committee.

Justin Zigoni takes a flying leap over me and slaps the sign with his hand. A shower of glitter descends from the ceiling and a piece lodges itself in my eyeball.


I loved it from the first few paragraphs.



Sam, Mike, Adrian and Allison are all best friends. They are the nerds of the school with Sam actually being the smartest book wise.

They have this great life together. Sam writes screenplays or at least he's trying to because that's what he wants to do with his life. He's always a horror movie buff. YES! And one of his favorites is the original Halloween, like me ♥ Plus, he's just a movie buff in general. I love all of the old school movies that are incorporated into the book.

Adrian is a dork. Allison is the quiet female friend and Mike is a black belt in karate.

Then

Camilla transfers to their school. She becomes super popular because her dad is someone and knows people. But she finds her way into the little group and I just love her. She gets them to do things they never would have done and I love it. She doesn't try to bully them like the other kids and everyone likes her.

She even gets them to go to the beach over in Brighton with the mean kids. And some of them turn out to be nice. Although, Sam almost freaks out just going. I love him =)


Adrian skips ahead, Camilla threads an arm through Allison's, and Allison smiles at her gratefully. The two of them follow Adrian.

Mike drapes his towel around his neck. "Dude, are you gonna pass out? Cos I'm not sure unconsciousness will be your best defense.

"Mike-assuming we're not killed on sight-are we actually expected to talk to these people?"


I love how everyone sort of falls all over themselves when Mike decides to take his shirt off and of course, Sam's commentary. Lol

My best friend might live in a uniform of thick hoodies, but he has also spent the majority of the last four years doing push-ups and sit-ups and whatever other stuff they get yelled at to do in karate classes. Maybe I look like a prepubescent girl with my shirt off. But Mike-well, Mike looks exactly like he has spent the last four years at the gym.




Sam and Mike are the closest in the group and there is something up with Mike during the whole book. He quits karate and won't tell anyone what is going on even though they keep bugging him about it. They think it might be over a guy but that's not it at all. I love how Sam rallies everyone together to find out what's wrong and how he helps Mike.

Sam and Camilla get close and they play Warcraft together, they learn about each others family, they learn a lot of things. I think they are so cute!

There is so much laughter in the book and I loved it so much. I need more laughter and I found myself laughing out loud many times. I want to have friends like this damn it!

They all seem to help each other out when the other has a problem. I love that so much. I mean there are things with parents not really being there for some of them. Parents splitting up and depression trying to set in but the friends don't let that happen. It's just wonderful.

Then some stupid stuff happens as it always does and they are not talking. Then there is an apology and Sam finds Camilla sick at her home all alone so he brings her to his house where his mom can take care of her while he's at school. It helps him come out of his depressed mood over some things that happened.


I change out of my feral depression clothes. I shower and brush my teeth, put on clean track pants and an old T-shirt, and then I stare at my face in the bathroom mirror until Mum taps on the door and asks if I've drowned.


Oh, this book was amazeballs. I love when I can find a book that makes ME happy. That's what it'a all about peeps.

Mel ♥ 


GOODREADS REVIEW:

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2096614296

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Before I Die by Candy Chang

After losing someone she loved, artist Candy Chang painted the side of an abandoned house in her New Orleans neighborhood with chalkboard paint and stenciled the sentence, "Before I die I want to _____." Within a day of the wall's completion, it was covered in colorful chalk dreams as neighbors stopped and reflected on their lives. Since then, more than four hundred Before I Die walls have been created by people all over the world. This beautiful hardcover book is an inspiring celebration of these walls and the stories behind them. Filled with hope, fear, humor, and heartbreak, Before I Die presents an intimate portrait of the dreams within our communities and a chance to ponder life's ultimate question. @goodreads 

















I have had this book for awhile. I got it from Book Outlet and I'm so glad I did, it made me feel so good to read about what this lady started all over the world.



The front and back cover of this book is beautiful. It looks like the walls that are out there in the world.

While looking for photo's from the book, I freaking found that we have a wall here in Chattanooga! YES! It's down the interstate toward downtown though. =( Most of my good friends on here know I have agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house) and my panic disorder causes all kinds of problems being in a car. It takes all I can to ride to my doctor's appointments. Luckily they are all about 5 minutes away. But, this wall will not be something I can handle to go and write on. Maybe that should be one of my goals, to make it to that wall. Here is a woman in Chattanooga getting ready to write on the wall.




From the link I read, our wall was revealed in June of this year (2017) and it was set up by Hospice and some others.

I decided I'm making my own wall, but inside a notebook. I think it is a wonderful thing to have and I want to write down any and everything. I thought about talking to dad about making one and putting it right in our front yard!

Here are a few pictures of some other walls.










This book was put out in 2013 (at least my edition was) so there are probably millions of these places that haven't been documented yet. I think they might have a website too. I would think so.

In this book is says there are over 200 walls created on 6 continents & 40+ countries. I think that is amazing.

Well, I was looking for an inspirational book and I found it ♥

Here is a little thing I made of a few of the comments on the walls.



Also, at the end of the book it gives you instructions on how to make your own wall. Getting permission, materials, stencils etc. I think it's perfect, just perfect.

Mel ♥


GOODREADS REVIEW:

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2094292426