New Releases 9/13/16

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Empress of Tempera by Alex Dolan

Ascension by Gregory Dowling

The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies

An Obvious Fact by Craig Johnson

Red Right Hand by Chris Holm

Sun, Sand, Murder by John Keyse-Walker

Stalking Ground by Margaret Mizushima

The Smoke Hunter by Jacqueline Benson

The Sound of Seas by Gillian Anderson & Jeff Rovin

Nutshell by Ian McEwan

Pirate by Clive Cussler

Death of an Avid Reader by Frances Brody

Fates and Traitors by Jennifer Chiaverini

The Spice Box Letters by Eve Makis

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay by Reed Farrel Coleman

The Littlest Bigfoot by Jennifer Weiner

The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

The Lost Lullaby by Jason Segel & Kirsten Miller

The Reader by Traci Chee

New on DVD:
Captain America: Civil War
The Conjuring 2

The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillan

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Gilly Macmillan's latest, The Perfect Girl.

Zoe seems to have it all - a perfect family and a promising future as a musician -, but appearances can be deceiving. Just a few months ago, Zoe finished serving out a sentence for manslaughter after killing three people in a car accident while driving drunk. And now, on the night of her emergence back into society, a concert meant to help her ease back into the music world, her own mother has been killed. 

I quite liked The Perfect Girl! Macmillan plays with the timeline in a way that builds the suspense steadily while drawing out the story. We meet Zoe, her aunt Tessa, and her solicitor Sam as narrators throughout. And through them we meet Zoe's mother, her stepbrother, and her stepfather. Their home life sends up big blaring warning signals to the reader pretty immediately - the stepfamily, for example, have no knowledge at all of Zoe's crime! And they've got their own secrets, apparently, as we learn pretty early on that Zoe's stepbrother has something he feels is very important to share with his new mom and sister. Something he won't vocalize but instead puts in an email as a screenplay he hopes they'll both read.

Zoe begins our tale on the night of the concert. Yes, she's a pretty well known name but the family has moved and, given there are now new additions to said family, Zoe has a new name to boot. So when the father of one of her victims shows up, it's a pretty big surprise.

And then we cut to the following morning and Sam, Zoe's solicitor from when she went to court at fourteen. Sam has received a phone call from his secretary stating that Zoe is waiting for him in his office - her mother has been found dead.

The story bounces around from there - the concert, the night after the concert, and Sam on Monday morning - but much of the Monday morning chapters serve to set the stage for the crime that occurred  three years ago, giving the reader a chance to see Zoe's full story unfold. As the two timelines begin to converge, it becomes very clear that things even that far back in Zoe's timeline are not as cut and dry as they may have seemed.

I've been on a streak of great, quick reads this week and while The Perfect Girl did have a bit of a slower pace, it was definitely one I enjoyed immensely.

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Gilly Macmillan and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

I got a fair amount of reading done over the holiday weekend, likely do to two big factors: hubs went camping so I had the house to myself AND I chose pretty much all thrillers.

Ruth Ware's latest was my third read of the weekend and, thankfully, it didn't break my stride or my streak of fabulous book choices!

Lo (Laura) Blacklock has been writing for Velocity magazine for ten years and has been waiting all this time for her big break. With her boss currently out of commission, it seems Lo's chance has finally come. 

The Aurora Borealis, a high-end luxury cruise ship built for just twenty passengers at a time, is making its debut voyage and Lo is to be there to represent the magazine. But just two days before she's set to leave, Lo's house is broken into. Lo doesn't want to let the incident rule her life - the invasion was bad enough, but she wasn't physically harmed - so she sets off for the trip as planned. But on her first night on board, Lo believes she witnesses a woman being thrown overboard. 

Lo of course reports the incident, believing the victim is the very girl she met in cabin 10 earlier that day. But cabin 10 is supposed to be empty. What's more, there's no evidence anyone was ever in the room and all of the passengers and crew are accounted for. The head of security placates Lo, but doesn't hide the fact that he believes she imagined the whole thing. It doesn't help when Lo's own attack and her lack of sleep in its aftermath are revealed. Now it's up to her to find out the truth, but even Lo has begun to wonder if she really saw what she thinks she saw. 

Pretty early on we know that things aren't going to go well for Lo. Each section ends with correspondence, articles, and theories about where Lo is. Apparently, just a few days into the trip Lo's work and family realize that she's not been in touch and begin to raise warnings. But we do learn that for whatever reason the wifi has been out on the ship, too.

Lo's investigation becomes more and more desperate as each day progresses, with just enough to bolster her conviction that she did indeed witness something terrible. Something she soon realizes she shouldn't have. Because as her investigation progresses, Lo begins to suspect just about everyone on board could have been part of the crime that's being covered up.

I quite enjoyed the book. I expected a twist, some big reveal, and it left me suspicious of everyone just as our main character was, with one caveat - I was, at times, suspicious of Lo! There's a bit of a The Lady Vanishes feel to The Woman in Cabin 10, which I have to say I did greatly appreciate. Mind it is just a bit - maybe an homage to rather than a strictly inspired by. Either way, The Woman in Cabin 10 is a fun thriller and one that's put Ware's In A Dark, Dark Wood on my immediate to read list now too.

Rating: 5/5

The Last One by Alexandra Oliva

Twelve contestants have been chosen for a brand new reality show called In the Dark. They know it's a survival based show. They know they'll be cut off from the outside world. And they know they're competing against one another to win. What they don't know is that the show doesn't end until only one of them is left. 

They also don't know that the world around them is fighting for its own survival as a mysterious illness begins attacking and killing off much of the population. 

Zoo, dubbed so by the production team, is one of ten remaining contestants at this point. She's been following the clues - blue, as per her bandanna color - but hasn't seen any of the others for some time. She also hasn't seen the host, her cameraman, or any other crew, but she knows they have drones for filming. She expects it's all supposed to make the show more dramatic, kind of like the dead body she and Waitress and Rancher came upon on their last team challenge. That one didn't look as real as the one Zoo came upon by herself, though. After coming so far, Zoo is determined to win. And she thinks she knows where she's supposed to head next.

Alexandra Oliva's debut rocked my world, readers!

I loved the concept - reality show contestants stuck playing a game they don't know is essentially over as a viral apocalypse wreaks havoc on the real world. I also loved the execution - chapters alternate between the production of the show, with details like how the editors will cut certain scenes to build the characters their contestants are meant to represent, and Zoo's present chapters as she fights to win.

Of course the game is over but Zoo has to use all of the skills she's learned to survive day to day. We see exactly how the initial misunderstanding occurs and how Zoo convinces herself everything that happens to her is still part of the show. All of it meant to bring in ratings and viewers. All of it spiraling further and further beyond what you'd imagine you yourself would believe in her position. And yet, it's understandable that a person would rationalize the things Zoo sees. How else could she - or anyone - stay sane?

I adored this book. It hit all the right notes for me - it was suspenseful and dark but also had a bit of humor to it as well (I know a little about what goes on behind the scenes of reality tv already, but seeing it in a book is that much more amusing and snarky). And of course it's basically an apocalypse tale, which we all know is right up my alley!

The Last One is going down as a favorite of mine for 2016. I highly recommend to anyone in search of a quick and tense read that's also got a fair bit of emotional depth. Fair warning, it's also pretty dark!

Rating: 5/5

New Releases 9/6/16

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

A Boy Made of Blocks by Stuart Keith

Monticello by Sally Cabot Gunning

The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman

Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart

Chapel of Ease by Alex Bledsoe

Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire

Ninth City Burning by J. Patrick Black

Winter's Child by Margaret Coel

Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah

Downfall by J. A. Jance

Leave Me by Gayle Forman

Dear Mr. M by Herman Koch

Who's That Girl by Mhairi McFarlane

The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillan

Because I'm Watching by Christina Dodd

Mischling by Affinity Konar

The Risen by Ron Rash

Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer

White Mirror by Elsa Hart

Chasing Embers by James Bennett

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Fix by Ferrett Steinmetz

Necrotech by K C Alexander

Prince of Outcasts by S. M. Stirling

Revenge in a Cold River by Anne Perry

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

Karolina's Twins by Ronald H. Balson

The Secret Ingredient of Wishes by Susan Bishop Crispell

The Gate to Futures Past by Julie Czerneda

The Possibility of Somewhere by Julia Day

Empire of Storms by Sarah. J. Maas

Elite by Mercedes Lackey

And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

As I Descended by Robin Talley

New on DVD:
The Darkness
The Ones Below
Now You See Me 2
Love & Friendship
Money Monster

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI

It's September and that means (in Colorado anyway) that fall bite is in the air and I'm craving MORE horror. More and more. Always. So it's a good thing that September also marks the start of R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI!

Hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings, R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril is the perfect excuse to start pulling out darker reads for fall. There are multiple levels you can opt into but the gist of the challenge is to read and share reviews of:

Mystery

Suspense

Thriller

Gothic

Horror

Dark Fantasy

And to have fun. 

I'll be signing on for:

Peril the First - read any four books of any length in the above genres. I don't have a finalized list yet but I guarantee I'll be reading Amy Lukavics's The Women in the Walls and Gina Wohlsdorf's Security.

Peril of the Short Story - which of course is reading shorts in the above genres (I've got my eye on the new teen anthology Scary Out There (edited by Jonathan Maberry).

and Peril on the Screen - which is, you guessed it, watching movies that fall under the above genres. 

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

Libby Strout is famous, and not in a good way. Known as "America's Fattest Teen," Libby became known nationwide when video of her being cut out of her house by emergency crews went viral. But that was years ago and Libby is better now. She's lost weight, enough so that death is no longer imminent, and she's happy. Happy with herself and her body. Happy enough to brave the halls of Martin Van Buren High as a junior. 

Everyone at Martin Van Buren High knows Jack Masselin. He's popular and well-liked, confident, and goofy. But it's all a show. Jack has prosopagnosia, or face blindness. And he's carefully cultivated his persona to cover the fact that he literally can't tell one person from another. It's a secret even his own family isn't privy to. 

But then Libby and Jack are thrown together thanks to an awful prank. And it turns out that the two of them share a connection neither expected. A connection that blossoms into something more as they come to know one another. 

I love Libby. Love her! Teen years are hard enough without being the subject of a viral video. Acne, awkwardness, puberty, confidence issues, bullying... you name it, teens suffer from it. And Libby's problems began when her mother died. Her father tried his best, in spite of what the media claimed a few years later, but for Libby there was a hole in her world that could never be filled.

But Libby is strong and confident in a way that draws people to her. Even on the first day of school, when she has to wonder how many of the classmates remember who she is, she doesn't let it deter her.

Jack is one of the cool kids and all too aware that his problem makes him different. And different is the very last thing you want to be as a teen. He excuses his missteps with jokes and even drinks (the party at the start of the book) and does a good job of not letting his situation slip. It's worse because Jack's dealing with some tough issues at home too - namely the discovery that his father was having an affair. Oh, and that his dad narrowly survived cancer. That's a big deal for Jack. How can he be angry at someone he almost lost?

From the start, though, Jack decides to tell Libby his secret. Yes, it's to smooth the blow of what he's done to her. And yes, their socializing is forced when they have to spend time together in a conversation circle for detention and weekends together doing "community" (school) service. But it's clear that Jack admires Libby and literally sees her for who she is.

Readers, I suspected from the opening letter from the author that Holding Up the Universe was going to be a hard read and a tearjerker. I was convinced. As it turns out, that actually wasn't the case at all. Libby and Jack quickly wormed their way into my heart, and I read the book straight through in one sitting. Sure I misted up a bit - but because it was a sweet story rather than a downer!

Highly recommended - Libby and Jack (and Jennifer Niven) will capture your hearts, I guarantee!

Holding Up the Universe is due out on October 4.