Thankfully Reading Weekend Day Three: My Life In Books

Today's challenge as part of the Thankfully Reading Weekend is hosted by Jen over at Jen's Book Thoughts. The goal is to use the titles of books read this year to complete ten sentences. Here are mine:

Pre Pub Book Buzz: Persona by Genevieve Valentine

So the good folks over at Simon and Schuster added not one but two new SF/F imprints recently: Simon451, whose first titles released just last month, and Saga Press, which will begin releasing titles in the spring. And there are exciting things going on at Saga Press, indeed! Just this week it was announced that they'd signed a two book deal with Kat Howard and last month they announced a deal with Chuck Wendig that involves not only continuing the Miriam Black series but also new editions of the first three titles.

But before we heard tell of all of that news, Saga Press released their list of launch titles, which includes a new book by Genevieve Valentine. You may recall I was particularly impressed by her contribution to Robot Uprisings, and I've been planning to read her latest, The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, for quite some time now.

Persona is a bit different but no less worthy of a place in my TBR, so of course it's in the wish list until it hits shelves in March. Here's a bit about the book from Goodreads:

When Suyana, Face of the United Amazonia Rainforest Confederation, secretly meets Ethan of the United States for a date that can solidify a relationship for the struggling UARC, the last thing she expects is an assassination attempt. Daniel, a teen runaway-turned-paparazzi out for his big break, witnesses the first shot hit Suyana, and before he can think about it, he jumps into the fray, telling himself it's not altruism, it's the scoop. Just like that, Suyana and Daniel are now in the game of Faces. And if they lose, they'll die.

I expect this to be AMAZING!

Thankfully Reading Weekend Day 2: Book I'm Most Thankful For

This is a tough one. There have been so many great releases this year but I think I'm going to have to go with Katie Crouch's Abroad for my pick.

Why? Well, for one because I seemed to have been going through a bit of a slump when this one crossed my path. Whenever this happens I find that I have a really hard time deciding what to read and nothing hits the spot.

Abroad was my first time reading Crouch and it was amazing. Really dark but also gorgeously written. It was not only the perfect slump buster but it introduced me to a new-to-me author!

To see my full review of Abroad you can check out my post here. I do highly recommend this one to anyone looking for a dark psychological thriller with an exotic setting and a bit of a slower pace (it's one you can really get lost in!).

I'm off to tackle more Thankfully Reading Weekend books. Hope you all had a fabulous turkey day yesterday!

2014 Thankfully Reading Kick-Off Post

Good morning, everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I've decided to officially take part in Jenn's Thankfully Reading Weekend. First, I kind of hate everything Black Friday is about. Sorry. Second, I'm not hosting Thanksgiving this year! This is the first time I don't have to cook a turkey or clean the house. Well, clean the house for guests anyway.

Since we weren't able to travel home to spend the holiday with family, we will be celebrating with friends this evening. But that means I've got most of today to relax! And actually, I'll have ALL WEEKEND to devote to my TBR pile! I'm so nerdy excited.

I haven't set an official TBR for the weekend. I may set some titles as my reading progresses but for now I think I'll just read where the mood takes me. I will, however, be trying to peck away at the mountain of to be read physical books as well as the amassed collection of eArcs waiting for review on my eReader.

If you want to sign on to participate, here's the link to Jenn's sign in page. I'll be updating this post with titles read throughout the weekend. (I've finished my first already, but I started reading it yesterday so it half counts.)

Books read:

Deadly Little Sins by Kara Taylor
Orbs by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Burning Paradise by Robert Charles Wilson
The Burning Girl by Lisa Unger
The Kill List by Nichole Christoff

Currently Reading:
The Vault by Emily McKay

TBR:

Wicked Little Secrets by Kara Taylor

Readers, I'm facing a real dilemma this week. I have time off! This means I have an ample amount of time to read. Why is this a problem, you might ask? Because it means I have to pick what to read - and I have lots to choose from!

Considering I have a ton of series and trilogies partially started and unfinished currently waiting in my TBR, I decided one of those would be a good place to start. Kara Taylor's Prep School Confidential was quite a pleasant surprise last year. It was well plotted and featured a cast of characters that I kind of adored. And yet, when Wicked Little Secrets and then Deadly Little Sins released in March and August (respectively) I didn't immediately devour them. Ugh. I hate when I do that.

Wicked Little Secrets picks up immediately after Prep School Confidential. Having solved the mystery of her roommate's murder, Anne finds herself now focused on that of Matt Weaver. He's a legend at Wheatley Prep and - before her murder - Isabella had been digging up dirt on his disappearance. Anne's discovery of a crew team picture with the words "they killed him" penned on the back is enough to pique her curiosity. Learning that her boyfriend's father could have been involved in the decades-old missing persons case causes tension in Anne's budding relationship and her tendency to poke her nose into sticky situations soon lands her in hot water... again.

While the relationship issues/love triangle do get a bit more heavy handed in this second of the trilogy, overall it's a perfect follow up to such a fabulously fun kick off!

I love these books because Anne is so feisty and stubborn. And I like that Anne's not a typical outsider looking in or unpopular girl, as one would probably expect with a boarding school setting. She's amongst her peers, she has good friends, and she's reasonably well adjusted. In other words, she's a pretty normal, average teen. She's just a bit of a troublemaker. Or it might be better stated that she's often caught getting in trouble.

These are also fun because the mysteries themselves are so well thought out and believable. Anne has to go to class. She has to pass tests. She does get caught sneaking out. She is limited by her age and she does have to rely on outside - adult - help (i.e. the cops). Taylor manages to do all of this without getting overly cheesy or contrived.

I'll be jumping into the third and final title shortly - both to avoid my usual procrastination in completing series and to see what's up with the big reveal Taylor dropped on her character at the end of Wicked Little Secrets.

Rating: 4/5

Top Ten Tuesday: Books in my Winter TBR

I've decided to jump on board with Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week the topic is: top ten titles in my winter TBR. I'm going to limit this to books that I currently have on hand, just to make this a little easier on myself (so no wish list titles or books I plan to buy).

New Releases 11/25/14

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Betrayed by Lisa Scottline

Symbiont by Mira Grant

Wild Cards III: Jokers Wild ed by George R. R. Martin
(reprint)

Superheroes Anonymous by Lexie Dunne

The Whispering by Sarah Rayne

The Darkest Touch by Gena Showalter

Wicked Ways by Lisa Jackson & Nancy Bush

We All Go Down Together  by Gemma Files

Knife Fight and Other Stories by David Nickel

Hope to Die by James Patterson

Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell

Endsinger by Jay Kristoff

Captive by Aimée Carter

New on DVD:
What If
The Giver
The November Man
Expendables 3