top ten tuesday: new-to-me authors

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at the Broke and the Bookish, and this week's theme is " December 6: Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read For The First Time In 2016!" I recently did a post where I talked about some pretty awesome new to me authors, but it was only three so I will include them here as well :)

1. Mindy McGinnis– The Female of the Species 

review here

I'd heard about Mindy McGinnis before, about her Not A Drop To Drink series and also about last year's A Madness So Discreet, but I had just never gotten around to reading anything by her, despite the amazing things that I was hearing about her and her writing. So you can imagine my sheer delight when I read The Female of the Species and was utterly blown away by it. One of the best books of the year, imo, and super important as well.

 

2. Anna Marie McLemore– When the Moon Was Ours 

review here

UM!!! Okay. So I received this book as an arc, and I definitely did not have very many expectations for it at all. Not that I wasn't excited, I just hadn't heard much about it and didn't really know what to expect. BUT HOO BOY!! This book was a gorgeous adventure into the world of magical realism, and it looked at contemporary issues through that lens, which ended up being super effective. I definitely applaud Anna Marie McLemore for this novel. 

3. Susan Dennard – Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1) 

review here

I know, I know... how had I never read Susan Dennard before this year?? I had heard so much about her Something Strange and Deadly Series, but I'm not a big fan of zombies, and so I just held off. But Truthwitch? Truthwitch was ex-act-ly what I was looking for in a high fantasy. Best friends and magical powers and political intrigue and cute boys? YES. All of the above!! I absolutely cannot wait for the second book to come out in January!

4. Heather Demetrios – I'll Meet You There

review here

I had heard about Heather Demetrios, both from her contemporary and fantasy stuff, but even though Exquisite Captive has been on my TBR for what feels like forever, I had never read anything by her until I picked this book up on a whim in the spring. I was absolutely in love with this story from page one, and I think it took me about a day to read. One of my favorite contemporaries from the year for sure, will definitely read more of Demetrios in the future!

5. C.S. Pacat – Captive Prince Trilogy (book 3, Kings Rising, pictured) 

review here

Y'all do not even know how deep my love for Captive Prince is. I feel like I've talked about it so much on here, but let me just go deeper into my love for it. It is a high fantasy m/m story and I just have no words for how amazing it is. The two main characters are my precious cinnamon rolls, the supporting cast is all kind of awesome, and book three in its entirety is just like everything amazing that you want to happen, happening all at once. I am planning on rereading this series first thing in 2017!!!

6. Alwyn Hamilton – Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1) 

review here

This was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me, because I honestly do not have a lot of interest in westerns, and this book was described to me as western meets middle eastern. BUT I picked it up because the first chapter grabbed me, and I barely put it down until I finished. Y'all this book is so much fun, it is just nonstop action with some awesome character development, magical powers, and a little bit of romance thrown in. Absolutely LOVE.

7. Carrie Firestone – The Loose Ends List 

review here

This was my favorite contemporary that I've read this year. I absolutely adored it. I got it in arc form, completely fell in love, then bought two copies of it when it came out because that is how much I loved it. I have a couple of posts where I just gush about how much I love this one, so I'll keep this brief: This book is heartwrenching and heartwarming all at the same time. It talks about family in a way that just got to me, and I loved the settings. Would be a great Christmas read, IMO, but that's because I think it would be a great anytime read!

8. Adam Silvera – More Happy Than Not 

review here

 I'd honestly followed Adam Silvera on twitter even before I thought about picking this book up, just cause I really like his tweets, so I felt like I had already read something by him, then when I picked this up I realized... no. But in the best way!! This book is so emotional and timely, it made me think a lot about big ideas about society and culture, while also keeping me 100% hooked on the story here. I would highly highly recommend this one!

9. Claire Legrand – Some Kind of Happiness

review here

Again, as with a lot of these authors, I had heard about Legrand, and wanted to read both her Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls and Winterspell, but I never got around to it. This book, however, completely clicked with me when I picked it up. This is a truly amazing depicting of what mental illness looks like in a child who has no words to describe what they are feeling. Magical and important, and I would like to erase it from my memory so I could read it again for the first time.

10. Colleen Hoover– November 9

review here

Okay, before you say anything, I know that it is odd that I've never read Colleen Hoover before! I honestly don't read that much NA, but I'd heard so much about her from so many people, I had to pick one up. People have told me this is not her best by far, but I really enjoyed it and will definitely read her again! 

what is on your lists this week?

xx 

Caroline

top ten tuesday: ten reasons I love the loose ends list

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish! This week's theme is: "June 7: Ten Reasons I Love X -- could be a certain book, character, author, your indie bookstore, a fandom, a tv show, reading, a hobby, a genre. Honestly anything you want to gush about."

So, for this week, I wanted to talk about a book that is near and dear to my heart. Recently, I read The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone, and it was absolutely one of my favorite things ever. Since it is releasing today(!!!!!), I figured I would tell you ten reasons why I absolutely loved it. And if you think that it sounds like something you'd like, I would definitely encourage you to BUY IT!!! Because it truly is incredible. 

Find my review of THE LOOSE ENDS LIST here!

 1. The Cover!! It is literally so adorable, I can't take it. And though it doesn't have anything to do with the plot other than that it takes place on a ship, I think it captures the spirit of this novel :)







2. *Character Development!* *throws confetti at you* This story revolves around Maddie Levine, who is looking forward to a normal summer between her senior year of high school and her freshman year of college. This all changes when her young-at-heart grandmother tells her family that she has terminal cancer, and invites them all on a fabulous "death with dignity" cruise around the world. Maddie starts off anxious, a little stuck-up, and unwilling to try new things. By the end, she is a completely different girl. I loved how she blossomed when she was forced out of her comfort zone, and I thought that it is definitely something realistic, especially if you are someone who is moving or going off to college or experiencing a life change. Maddie's story will tell you that change is good, is healthy, even if it comes out of circumstances that are tough.

3. Amazing Locations! You probably already guessed this if you just read "cruise around the world," but I really really loved reading about the different places in this novel. And not just your typical places, like London or Rome or Paris, but really cool and obviously well researched places, from New York to Jamaica to Brazil to Iceland to Taiwan. I just had such a blast reading about what the O'Neill-Levine family got up to all across the globe, and it was especially exciting, because I had no idea where the story could go to next. This book is armchair traveling at its best!

4. Cute Italian Boy! Enzo, the love interest, could have fallen so easily into a million different tropes. Instead, he ends up being well characterized and realistic, and I ended up really liking the way that he and Maddie's relationship progressed. It also doesn't hurt that he is a beautiful soccer-loving Italian... you know?

5. All Types of Relationships! Basically any relationship that you can think of, it is present in this novel. Parent-child (when the child is a child and when the child is an adult), sibling (when the siblings are children and when the siblings are adults), romantic (straight and not), friendships (between family members and non-relations), grandparent-grandchild, step-grandparent-step-grandchild, etc, etc. I loved seeing the way these characters interact with each other. Maddie is part of a big, crazy family, and there is a lot of complicated things going on there, but at the end of the day, they all love each other. Then, throw in the secondary characters and it is just one big party of mixed up relationships. And I loved it.

6. Different Ways of Dealing with Grief! So, you know pretty much from the get-go that everyone present in the story is going to be impacted by grief in some way. They're on a freaking death with dignity cruise, you know? I was able to kind of forget about the impending death for most of the story, but when it hits, there is a lot of sadness going around. And there are a lot of characters, all dealing with this sadness in their own ways. Some are handling it okay, some are completely debilitated, but they're all in the same boat. (literally... okay that was bad but I couldn't help it!) I love how Carrie Firestone showed all different types of grief, without showing one as more "healthy" than another.

7. Zany Cast of Characters! So so many characters in this novel, it took me awhile to get them all straight. I ended up being emotionally attached to every single one of them, though, so bravo to Carrie Firestone for her awesome characterizations of every single one of these characters. It may seem a little daunting at first, but in the end, you will know all of the people in this book like the back of your hand, no problem.

8. SO MANY EMOTIONS! like I said.... death with dignity. This book made me cry from a place of real emotion. Instead of just being sad for the characters, this book made the sadness personal, which was totally amazing even if it did hurt my emotions.

9. Strong Voice and So Many Quotable Moments! I had an egalley of this and my physical copy has not come in yet, so I can't give specific examples of how beautiful the writing in this one was, but you're just going to have to trust me on this one. There were so many moments where I just sat back and wanted to bask in the amazing writing in this novel. I was so impressed by the strength of Maddie's voice, as well. I loved how it got stronger as she grew as a person.

10.  A Kickass Grandma! I am really close with my own grandmother, and she reminds me a lot of Maddie's grandma in this book. So I loved reading about Grandmother O'Neill and all of her adventures. I think that the relationship between our protag and her grandma (and really her family in general), is what makes this book so special.

so basically, that was ten reasons why you should DEFINITELY get the loose ends list!! :)
x
Caroline

the loose ends list: stardust arc reviews

The Loose Ends List
Carrie Firestone

☆☆☆☆☆

goodreads/b&n/amazon

Seventeen-year-old Maddie O'Neill Levine lives a charmed life, and is primed to spend the perfect pre-college summer with her best friends and young-at-heart socialite grandmother (also Maddie's closest confidante), tying up high school loose ends. Maddie's plans change the instant Gram announces that she is terminally ill and has booked the family on a secret "death with dignity" cruise ship so that she can leave the world in her own unconventional way - and give the O'Neill clan an unforgettable summer of dreams-come-true in the process.

Soon, Maddie is on the trip of a lifetime with her over-the-top family. As they travel the globe, Maddie bonds with other passengers and falls for Enzo, who is processing his own grief. But despite the laughter, headiness of first love, and excitement of glamorous destinations, Maddie knows she is on the brink of losing Gram. She struggles to find the strength to say good-bye in a whirlwind summer shaped by love, loss, and the power of forgiveness.




full review under the cut!