Confessions of a Bibliovore

Title: The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone Author: Adele Griffin Publisher: Soho Teen Release date: August 12th 2014 Pages: 256 Genre: Young Adult contemporary Source:  I received a free advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks! Add to Goodreads  |  Puchase from Amazon National Book Award-finalist Adele Griffin tells the fully illustrated story of a brilliant young artist, her mysterious death, and the fandom that won't let her go. From the moment she stepped foot in NYC, Addison Stone’s subversive street art made her someone to watch, and her violent drowning left her fans and critics craving to know more. I conducted interviews with those who knew her best—including close friends, family, teachers, mentors, art dealers, boyfriends, and critics—and retraced the tumultuous path of Addison's life. I hope I can shed new light on what really happened the night of July 28. —Adele Griffin My rating: 4 out of 5 stars To be honest, I...

Title: The Tragic Age Author: Stephen Metcalfe Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Release date: February 16th 2016 Pages: 320 Genre: Young Adult contemporary Source:  I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks! Add to Goodreads  |  Puchase from Amazon This is the story of Billy Kinsey, heir to a lottery fortune, part genius, part philosopher and social critic, full time insomniac and closeted rock drummer. Billy has decided that the best way to deal with an absurd world is to stay away from it. Do not volunteer. Do not join in. Billy will be the first to tell you it doesn't always work- not when your twin sister, Dorie, has died, not when your unhappy parents are at war with one another, not when frazzled soccer moms in two ton SUVs are more dangerous than atom bombs, and not when your guidance counselor keeps asking why you haven't applied to college. Billy's life changes when two people enter his life. Twom Twomey is a...

Title: The Secrets of Lake Road Author: Karen Katchur Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books Release date: August 4th 2015 Pages: 309 Genre: women's fiction/mystery Source: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks! Add to Goodreads  |  Puchase from Amazon Jo has been hiding the truth about her role in her high school boyfriend’s drowning for sixteen years. Every summer, she drops her children off with her mother at the lakeside community where she spent summers growing up, but cannot bear to stay herself; everything about the lake reminds her of the guilt she feels. For her daughter Caroline, however, the lake is a precious world apart; its familiarity and sameness comforts her every year despite the changes in her life outside its bounds. At twelve years old and caught between childhood and adolescence, she longs to win her mother’s love and doesn’t understand why Jo keeps running away. Then seven-year-old Sara Starr goes missing ...

Title: The Weight of Feathers Author: Anna-Marie McLemore Publisher: Thomas Dunne Release date: September 15th 2015 Pages: 308 Genre: Young Adult magical realism Source: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks! Add to Goodreads  |  Puchase from Amazon The Palomas and the Corbeaus have long been rivals and enemies, locked in an escalating feud for more than a generation. Both families make their living as traveling performers in competing shows—the Palomas swimming in mermaid exhibitions, the Corbeaus, former tightrope walkers, performing in the tallest trees they can find. Lace Paloma may be new to her family’s show, but she knows as well as anyone that the Corbeaus are pure magia negra, black magic from the devil himself. Simply touching one could mean death, and she’s been taught since birth to keep away. But when disaster strikes the small town where both families are performing, it’s a Corbeau boy, Cluck, who saves La...

Title: Trauma Author: Michael Palmer & Daniel Palmer Publisher: St. Martin's Press Release date: May 12th 2015 Pages: 384 Genre: Adult mystery/medical thriller Source: NetGalley - I received a free eGalley of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks! Add to Goodreads  |  Puchase from Amazon Dr. Carrie Bryant's is a much-admired neurosurgical resident at an esteemed Boston hospital. But when her first unsupervised brain surgery goes horribly wrong, she loses her confidence-and, after another fateful misstep, Carrie decides to quit her residency and move back home. Her new life's purpose: To help her combat-vet brother, Adam, recover from a crippling case of post-traumatic stress disorder. At first, the experimental program at the VA Medical Center-one that could forever cure the ravages of PTSD-seems like best option for Adam. But Carrie has her doubts when one of her patients goes missing...and then another. Carrie turns to local investigat...

Title: Defending Taylor Author: Miranda Kenneally Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Release date: July 5th 2016 Pages: 304 Genre: Young Adult contemporary romance Source: NetGalley - I received a free eGalley of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks! Add to Goodreads  |  Puchase from Amazon Captain of the soccer team, president of the Debate Club, contender for valedictorian: Taylor’s always pushed herself to be perfect. After all, that’s what is expected of a senator’s daughter. But one impulsive decision—one lie to cover for her boyfriend—and Taylor’s kicked out of private school. Everything she’s worked so hard for is gone, and now she’s starting over at Hundred Oaks High. Soccer has always been Taylor’s escape from the pressures of school and family, but it’s hard to fit in and play on a team that used to be her rival. The only person who seems to understand all that she’s going through is her older brother’s best friend, Ezra. Taylor’s had a crus...

Like I mentioned in my last Literary Fashion post, the outfits I've created no longer match the character, but instead, match the covers of the book. November 9 was one of my favorite books last year, so I definitely wanted to create an outfit that matched. I've used dresses really often, though, so in order to change it up a bit, I added some colored pants and a cute lace top. This one was fun to create and I wanted to incorporate most, if not all, the colors on the cover. November 9 by Colleen Hoover  “When you find love, you take it. You grab it with both hands and you do everything in your power not to let it go. You can’t just walk away from it and expect it to linger until you’re ready for it.” The Merciless by Danielle Vega This one was tough to create, to be honest, because while I wanted to match the cover, I also wanted to add some of the books themes as well, but also include sort of a Mean Girls theme to it. The Merciless is about a group of popular high school ...

Title: Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between Author: Jennifer E. Smith Publisher: Poppy Release date: September 1st 2015 Pages: 246 Genre: Young Adult contemporary romance Source: NetGalley - I received a free eGalley of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks! Add to Goodreads  |  Puchase from Amazon On the night before they leave for college, Clare and Aidan have only one thing left to do: figure out whether they should stay together or break up. Over the course of twelve hours, they retrace the steps of their relationship, trying to find something in their past that might help them decide what their future should be. The night leads them to family and friends, familiar landmarks and unexpected places, hard truths and surprising revelations. But as the clock winds down and morning approaches, so does their inevitable goodbye. The question is, will it be goodbye for now or goodbye forever? My rating: 3 out of 5 stars Jennifer E. Smith's books...

I know I stumbled across Goodreads on a lifestyle blog, it was a widget on the side and I clicked and became a part of Goodreads immediately because books are my life a huge part of my life. It also kickstarted my whole book blogging life. I started over on the website vox.com and then wandered around in different places before I landed on Blogger.com and my blog took off from there. Fast forward to now (8 years later) and I still love Goodreads. Here are my top ten reasons why: It's a social network for books/readers: I have found so many books, so many friends, so many blogs. I can share what I've read with people in real life: my book blog life and my real life have never really connected, so I like that little feature that when you finish a book, you can post it on your Facebook wall. I just like people I know in real to know what I'm reading too LOL. The Goodreads challenge: I always set a certain number of books and even though I have mostly failed to complete the ch...

Title: A Little Life Author: Hanya Yanagihara Publisher: Anchor Release date: March 10th 2015 Pages: 832 Genre: Adult contemporary/literary fiction Source: Gift Add to Goodreads  |  Puchase from Amazon When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their center of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of traum...

Title:   One True Loves  by Taylor Jenkins Reid Series: N/A Genre: Adult - Romance Publication: June 7th 2016 by Washington Square Press Format: e-ARC Source: From publisher for review Rating: ★★★★☆ Synopsis: From the author of Maybe in Another Life—named a People Magazine pick and a "Best Book of the Summer" by Glamour and USA Today—comes a breathtaking new love story about a woman unexpectedly forced to choose between the husband she has long thought dead and the fiancé who has finally brought her back to life. In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure. On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever. Emma quits her jo...

When I started this feature three years ago, I was planning on making it a regular feature. Of course, I leave and come back to the blog so often it's hard for me to regularly post anything. Now that I am newly inspired to post regularly, I took some time to create a few new sets on my Polyvore account, and I am really excited to share them. The outfits no longer match the character, though, but match the cover instead. I realized that by waiting so long to post these, that I'd forgotten most about what the character wears and such, so I decided to coordinate my outfits to the cover. I liked this a lot better, but I might switch it up, depending on how well I remember each character. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven “You are all the colors in one, at full brightness.” The One that Got Away by Bethany Chase “Even these last few, terrible days, he’s been my first thought in the morning, my last thought at night. Eamon—not Noah.”

Title:   Saint Anything  by Sarah Dessen Genre: YA - Contemporary Publication: May 5th 2015 by Viking Format: Audiobook Source: Library Rating: ★★★★★ Synopsis: Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident? Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time. The uber-popular Sar...