I promise I haven't just poofed again. I do mean to really keep up with my blog this time around. I actually have two posts in development right now. I decided that it was pretty confusing to update the actual post over and over so this time I plan on just posting the whole thing. However, I do intend to actually keep the dates so it will keep up more with me as I read the book. I'm definitely not in a reading rut I just have actually been a little busy so my books have been pushed to the back burner unfortunately.
I will do a little bit like a book haul because I might have bought some books today and yesterday. I mean it is Cyber Monday and Amazon isn't kidding around with their kindle book sale. I will most definitely tag as many of the sales to the book along with Goodreads link. But for the Books a Million books I'm going to tag the edition I got to one of the books because it is pretty cool but I can't really tag the other book to the website because I was able to get the book while it was on sale in the store, but I will have Goodreads links to all of the books below. So let's just go ahead and start with today's purchase and work my way back to last night.
Amazon Book Haul
So first up is Far from the Tree by Robin Benway. This book was on my TBR pile since hearing about it on BookTube. It sounds really interesting.
Synopsis (From Amazon): Being the middle child has its ups and downs. But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including - Maya. her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she's quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family's long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can't help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs. And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he's learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept in close to the vest, where they can't hurt anyone but him. Don't miss this moving novel that addresses such important topics as adoption, teen pregnancy, and foster care.
Like I mentioned earlier I have been interested in this book pretty much since I heard about it from one of the BookTube channels I follow. I would mention or tag their video but I have been obsessed with watching their videos, literally it's all I've been watching since probably Friday, and immediately add the books that interest me into my TBR pile on Goodreads. I also can't remember if it was one of their books they liked or didn't like. I have really been using their videos to learn about authors and books that I wouldn't actually buy on my own mainly because books are expensive and I like to keep with the authors I know I love versus branching out.
I'm pretty sure this is one of the books I found from Goodreads books of the year poll. I love how they let us vote on books and then they take a portion of the votes and then take it to the second round, and I believe there is another round before we actually get to the finalists. The synopsis of this story sounded really interesting to me, and as you can clearly see I really jump around different genres I typically like a little bit of everything. But saying that I don't normally like thrillers. I usually get bored with them because they are predictable. It wasn't until I read The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen that I really started giving thrillers the chance the really do deserve.
Synopsis (from Amazon): She went missing. He moved on. A whole world of secrets remained - until now. Finn and Layla are young, in love, and on vacation. They're driving along the highway when Finn decides to stop at a service station to use the restroom. He hops out of the car, locks the doors behind him, and goes inside. When he returns Layla is gone - never to be seen again. That is the story Finn told to the police. But it is not the whole story. Ten years later Finn is engaged to Layla's sister, Ellen. Their shared grief over what happened to Layla drew them close and now they intend to remain together. Still, there's something about Ellen that Finn has never fully understood. His heart wants to believe that she is the one for him....even though a sixth sense tells him not to trust her. Then, not long before he and Ellen are to be married, Finn gets a phone call. Someone from his past has seen Layla - hiding in plain sight. There are other odd occurrences: Long-lost items from Layla's past that keep turning up around Finn and Ellen's house. Emails from strangers who seem to know too much. Secret messages, clues, warnings. If Layla is alive - and on Finn's trail - what does she want? And how much does she know?
I think this book is going to have a lot of different twists and turns. I hope it kind of has the same feel as The Wife Between Us did, even though it is written by completely different people. I'm really excited to read this book.
Shatter Me has been a book I've been drawn too but never really wanted to branch out. I've actually heard some things from multiple different BookTubers. The synopsis of the book was also really interesting. I love that it was part of the Cyber Monday deals. I can't wait to read it the synopsis sounds AMAZING!
Synopsis (from Amazon): One touch is all it takes. One touch, and Juliette Ferrars can leave a fully grown man gasping for air. One touch, and she can kill. No one knows why Juliette has such incredible power. It feels like a curse, a burden that one person alone could never bear. But The Reestablishment sees it as a gift, sees her as an opportunity. An opportunity for a deadly weapon. Juliette has never fought for herself before. But when she's reunited with the one person who ever cared about her, she finds a strength she never knew she had.
I've really heard a lot about this whole series, the cover looks amazing, and I've been debating on whether to try this story or not. I'm so glad it was on sale during the Cyber Monday special. I can't wait to see what this story holds.
This is the last of my Cyber Monday deals. I'm so flippin happy that this book was on sale. I actually had it in my hands while I was shopping at Books a Million last night and I eventually put it down because I didn't want to spend so much money on one book, which it was only like $17 so it was pretty normal price range for an adult book but I had a $20 limit last night so that alone was my challenge. So I was pretty bummed about putting the book back because I've been wanting to read it since hearing about it. It sounds very interesting to me.
Synopsis (from Amazon): Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow - and Reds like him - are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and very future civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies.....even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
Books-a-Million Book Haul
So I only ended up leaving with two books last night. I had a budget, and it was SO hard to stick to it. I'm definitely one of those people who will go into the store with a 'budget' and say over and over I'm only going to spend $20 and that is it. I at least try my hardest to stick within this budget! However, if this budget is on any type of card and I also have cash in my wallet then that budget is the $20 PLUS the cash. Or if I have a $5 off of $25 coupon to use I will make sure I use it. But it is pretty much impossible for anyone to spend exactly $25 and then use that coupon and only spend exactly $20 at BAM! All of that being said I was DETERMINED to stick to a budget because money has been really tight lately so it was pretty nice to even have that money to spend at the bookstore. I went down the discount aisle first, which is always what I do because even though I don't stick to a budget I make sure whatever books I do buy is the cheapest version of that book. I honestly didn't really find much that I wanted in the discount aisle. I really only found two books that I thought I would like and one of them was actually a part of a series that I've already read but the books are all eBooks. It wasn't until I started exploring the different aisles throughout the stores that I actually started having to decide between the books. I went to the comics first because I really want to start Saga, I haven't read any comics since Walking Dead and I'm really behind on the series. I've honestly heard nothing by good things about Saga, but my bookstore was sold out of the first volume so that was knocked out of the running. I then walked down the YA aisle and that was where I really started getting in trouble. I was carrying around one book I really wanted but it would've meant it was the only book I was getting because it was an expensive book. But this girl right here put the expensive book back along with the copy of the book I already head and got the two following books. I even SAVED $5, which I get probably doesn't sound like a lot but to a person who has a serious shopping addiction was a pretty epic book shopping adventure.
I've never read anything by Rainbow Rowell but I've heard a lot about her books. I kind of wanted to buy this book before but again if I'm shopping for books I'm more likely going to go with authors I'm already comfortable with and know I'm going to enjoy this book. I will go a little nuts and get whatever sounds good when there is a sale, I'm a discount store, or I'm like 100% sure I'm going to love this book. I was kind of at the 80% sure I was going to enjoy this book but you want to know what went ahead and pushed me over the I NEED IT ledge. It was the book. The copy I was able to find at BAM! was this beautiful edition, it has the beautiful colored edge pages (which I'm obsessed with and I only have a handful of these books) and amazing illustration in the front of the book and in the back. I think it is going to be amazing! I can't wait to read it. I tried to make sure I tagged the same edition in the Books a Million link.
Synopsis (from back of the book): Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life - and she's really good at it. She and her twin sister. Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got the through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like characters for every movie premiere. Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to. Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a Fiction-Writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world; a hadnsome classmate who only wants to talk about words...and she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone. For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
This is definitely one of the books that I have been wanting since it came out. I never actually picked it up because I guess the price. I think it is more of the combination of the price along with kind of forgetting to actually buy the book. I'm one of those people who was completely OBSESSED with 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I loved this book, and I loved it pretty much right when it came out. It is one of the books I do actually have a couple editions because I couldn't get rid of my original copy and I really wanted the 10th anniversary edition of the story. But I was definitely on the boat before it really exploded. Anyways back to this book, it really sounds interesting to me and the fact that Asher wrote it was just a bonus to me. I can't really tag the book on Books a Million website because I actually bought the book from the discount rack so the prices would be completely different I actually got it for $5, which makes it even better and a I need it book. Plus I mean look at that cover! It's gorgeous!
Synopsis (from book cover): Sierra's family runs a Christmas tree farm in Oregon. It's bucolic setting for a girl to grow up in, except that every year, they pack up and move to California to set up their Christmas tree lot for the season. So Sierra lives two lives: her life in Oregon and her life at Christmas. And leaving one always means missing the other. Until this particular Christmas, when Sierra meets Caleb, and one life eclipses the other. By reputation, Caleb is not your perfect guy: years ago, he made an enormous mistake and has been paying for it ever since. Sierra sees beyond Caleb's past and becomes determined to help find forgiveness and, maybe, redemption. But as disapproval, misconceptions, and suspicions swirl around them, Caleb and Sierra can't help but wonder if love really is enough to overcome every obstacle.
