New This Weekend

Here are a few of the new books I've been sent or picked up along the way this weekend:



Synopsis

Two warring ghosts drive Spencer Markham to seek a ghostbusting wife. He has one week to convince Kailyn Baker to marry him, but she has a bad attitude, wants nothing to do with marriage, and refuses to believe ghosts exist. Can he convince her to join him in defeating the specters before the ghosts’ violence turns deadly?



Synopsis

The Grimoire turns its own pages and can answer any question asked of it, and Kara Magari is its next target. She has no idea what she's getting herself into when she stumbles across the old book while hiking a hidden trail. Once she opens it, she's thrown into Ourea: a beautiful world full of terrifying things that all want the Grimoire's secrets. Everyone in this new world is trying to find her, and most want to control her.

Braeden Drakonin grew up in Ourea, and all he’s ever known of life is lying. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. He has one question to ask the book – one question that can fix everything in his broken life – and he’s not letting Kara out of his sight until he gets an answer.

There’s no escaping Ourea. There’s no going back now



Nine-year-old Nicholas Benedict has more problems than most children his age. Not only is he an orphan with an unfortunate noes, but he also has narcolepsy, a condition that gives him terrible nightmares and makes him fall asleep at the worst possible moments.

Now he's being sent to a new orphanage, where he will encounter vicious bullies, selfish adults, strange circumstances – and a mystery that could change his life forever. Luckily, he does have one thing in his favor: He's a a genius.

On his quest to solve the mystery, Nicholas finds enemies around every corner, but also friends in unexpected places – and discovers along the way that the greatest puzzle of all is himself.

Screen-Free Week

This week is Screen-free Week, where people are encouraged to turn off their tv and spend time in other ways. What better way than to discover a great read. Whether you like a good comedy or horror or you are a kid at heart . Maybe you like a good chick lit or something a little more steamy . Whatever your preference, take a look at your bookshelf or visit your local library. You'll be glad you did.

Insurgent being released May 1

I've been greatly anticipating the release of the second in the Divergent trilogy. Therefore I thought it would be a good idea to repost my review of Divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I absolutely loved this book! It was awesome! It is a dystopian young adult novel set in a future Chicago after war. Society is divided up into five factions and those that don't fit are factionless. Beatrice comes of age at the begining of this novel and its time for her to choose which faction she will belong to. Will she choose the faction she is born to or will she choose a different faction and forsake her family? We see how the forming of the factions was an attempt at peace, each faction taking care of a section of society in their own way. But things have changed and revolution is never peaceful. The human race has a tendency to revert back to an ugly side even under the best of conditions.



This book will grab you from the begining and when its over you want more. And its definitely one that I plan to re-read. My only problem with this book was the time-line. It wasn't clear how long they spent in each stage of the initiation. It seemed like it was only a few days for each stage, but was it really? I don't see someone learning to fight or shoot like a marksman in only a few days. But putting this point aside, I loved the book and look forward to the next one.



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I can't wait to continue the story in Insurgent

Synopsis

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

Happy Poem In Your Pocket Day!!

In honor of Poem in Your Pocket Day I'm reposting a couple of poetry collections that were definitely a little on the different side but enjoyable.

The Macabre Masterpiece: Poems of Horror and Gore by Justin Bienvenue

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.



I'm not usually a big reader of poetry, but the concept of horror poetry intrigued me. This is a book of poems that ranged from dark and gruesome to evil and creepy with the occasional bit of humor thrown in. The very first poem "Buried Alive" and "Zombies" in chapt 3 were my favorite two poems but I enjoyed nearly all of them in the collection. These are definitely unique and not for the feint of heart as some are a bit gorey. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that enjoys the horror genra. This is a collection that I will definitely re-read!



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The New Death and others by James Hutchings

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I appreciate the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.



This is a collection of short stories and poetry all relating the macabre or to death in general. Many I found very funny and some were a little on the bizarre side, but most I really enjoyed. They aren't gorey or dark instead this collection is more on the fun side and some have an interesting underlying message. A Date With Destiny and also The God of the Poor were two of my favorites, but all of them were enjoyable. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys short story collections especially if you are looking for something humorous and a little off the beaten track.



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New This Week

I have had a few additions to my To Read list this week:



Synopsis

Minutes before she died Grace Cahill changed her will, leaving her decendants an impossible decision: You have a choice - one million dollars or a clue.



This is a collection of short stories and I've loved all that I have read by this author so far.



Synopsis

Daughter of a legendary warrior who left the mountains before she was born. Brave. Strong. Tempered by her struggle to survive in the hostile, craggy Keturan mountains. And plagued by moments of enormous and puzzling clumsiness.

This book I found free on Kindle.

Wanted: Ghostbusting Bride

This book is an author requested read. I haven't able to locate it on GoodReads or Amazon so I have no cover art to show you, maybe soon.

Synopsis

Two warring ghosts drive Spencer Markham to seek a ghostbusting wife. He has one week to convince Kailyn Baker to marry him, but she has a bad attitude, wants nothing to do with marriage, and refuses to believe ghosts exist. Can he convince her to join him in defeating the specters before the ghosts’ violence turns deadly?

Ghost Writer

Ghost Writer by Tom C. Underhill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this short story for my honest review.


This short story begins with the unknown author asking for your help with vengenance against someone who has murdered his family and mentor. As you read on he explains that just reading the story to the end will be enough for him to be revenged altho how this is to happen is never explained only implied. If you didn't want to participate all you had to do was quit reading but once you started this story you felt compelled to finish it. This was a very unusual and original story however I did find it to be quite dark. Another reviewer had mentioned that they wished Underhill would expand this story into a novel and I tend to agree. I would love to know more about what happened before and after but then again it would take some of the mystery away which is one of the most intriguing aspects of it. Overall I loved it and would recommend it to any fan of a good ghost story.



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Free On Amazon One Day Only

I've just heard that for one day only The Zombie Pinocchio will be free on Amazon. Thursday April 26 is the only day this will be offered for free. Its definitely worth the read if you like horror or zomibies.





Synopsis

The gentle but lonely toymaker Geppetto builds the perfect companion from the corpses of children: a son who will never die. But when his creation revolts and begins a campaign of debauchery and murder upon the town's children, he fears he may have unleashed a force of evil beyond his control—The Zombie Pinocchio.



My Review

This is the third installment of the Zombie Fairy Tales series and so far its my favorite. Its more like Pinocchio meets Frankenstein. Gepetto mourns for his lost wife and unborn child and decides to makes himself a son using the parts of children that have died from the plague. Altho tragic and gory like the rest we see the underlying theme of unconditional love for our children and that family is more than those related to us. If you love a good horror story with just a touch of blood and gore give this one a try.

White Seed

White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke by Paul Clayton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fictional account of what could have happened to the lost colony of Roanoke. I really enjoyed this story and found it very hard to put down. Clayton really brought to life the time period as well as the characters and I enjoyed the flow of the story very much. I felt like I was right there with them through the voyage and all of the hardships. I could feel their fear after being left behind as the soldiers started descending into madness and became more savage than the so called savages. It was easy to understand how being left with little provisions and being attacked frequently by Powhatan's people would cause them to lose their sanity. Things slowly began to spiral out of control year after year of being left on their own. The sadness over the loss of the children and how disheartening it would be to have your only food sources destroyed time and again. These people had some very tough choices to make in order to survive at all. It would be a natural assumption that they would be taken in by friendly natives or killed by those that were hostile. I could also understand the frustration of John White as time and again he tried to make his way back to the colony with provisions only to be stopped at every turn. His financial backers only concerned with profit and there being no profit in simply saving the lives of the colonists. Not to mention being stopped by wars and storms and privateers. I honestly really enjoyed this book and would recommend this to lovers of historical fiction.

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Blood Red Riding Hood

Blood Red Riding Hood by Kevin Richey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this book for my honest review.

This is another installment in the Zombie Fairytales series and it definitely fits in well with the theme. I would actually give this one 3.5 stars if possible because it is so bloody and gorey and my personal reading tastes don't run that way. But due to originality I rounded up to four stars and not down to three. This story is a twist on the Red Riding Hood fairytale with the main casts of zombies actually being wolves. Apparently the zombie epidemic isn't isolated to humans but instead has spread to the forest animals. The woodsman in this tale isn't the hero that saves Red but becomes some kind of wolf-zombie hybrid that terrorizes the family because of his undying love for Red. But I loved how grandma handled things in the end. This tale is definitely bloody and gorey and full of horrors and if you like that type of read this is definitely for you.



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Happy Earth Day!!

In honor of Earth Day I pulled this review out of the archives as it is a perfect look at how we affect our planet. The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a wonderful book. It is so interesting to see what would happen if for some reason humans suddenly vanished from the planet. You realize how nature takes back the spaces that we invade. And you come to think about the footprint that we leave behind. Everything from plastics that never degrade to nuclear power plants that need us to take care of byproducts, this book covers it all. There are no religious or hypothetical speculation as to why everybody vanishes it only deals with what would happen if we were no longer here. What would happen to our pets? or domesticated livestock? What about vermin that live in the cities that we keep under control? It also looks at manmade structures that need constant upkeep like our bridges and highway systems. It really makes you think about the impact that humans have had on our planet. An awesome book that is perfect for Earth Day or any day.

View all my reviews I hope everyone has a happy Earth Day and remember: Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle

New Today

Received this as a win in a giveaway hosted by Paranormal Wastelands blog. I appreciate the chance to read and review this one as it sounds like a great read.

Synopsis

Alone in snowy, remote Whistler village, Ana tries to build a new life since losing her parents. With a cozy condo, a sweet-faced bulldog and an evening job to leave the days free for the slopes, life slips into a great routine. If only she could shake the guilt for not remembering anything about her parents and banish the night terrors that haunt her every dream.
On a whim, Ana goes out with Athen, a guy she's just met in the Grizzly Pub... The only problem is that she feels like she already knows him.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I expected to enjoy this more than I did, I guess because of all the hype surrounded it. If I could give half stars I would give 3.5 because I liked the characters so well. Its an interesting premisis that sometime in the future after the fall of our country as we know it that the gladiator type games of the Romans will be resurrected. Humanity does have a thing for bloodlust from those days to the days of public executions people seem to want a show out of watching people die. But it seems like things in the Hunger Games world was so mismatched. How could a small 12yr old girl hope to compete with a much larger older teen? And why would anybody want to see it? It just seems so brutal. And the districts seem more like a communist state than part of this country, but I guess the way the rich stay rich and get richer has always been by keeping the poor down and in their place. Its all about conrol of the masses. Ok, down off my soapbox. As for the characters, they were believeable and endearing and I even tho the story was told primarly from the point of view of Katniss I tended to like all of the characters. I will probably finish this series altho I've heard that the last one could have been better. Overall, I thought it was a good read.



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Zombie Pinocchio

The Zombie Pinocchio by Kevin Richey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this short story for review.



This is the third installment of the Zombie Fairy Tales series and so far its my favorite. Its more like Pinocchio meets Frankenstein. Gepetto mourns for his lost wife and unborn child and decides to makes himself a son using the parts of children that have died from the plague. Altho tragic and gory like the rest we see the underlying theme of unconditional love for our children and that family is more than those related to us. If you love a good horror story with just a touch of blood and gore give this one a try.



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The Scorch Trials

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the sequel to and it picks up where the first one leaves off. Just when we think things are going to improve and be explained for the Gladers everything is turned upside down again. I must say I didn't quite like it as good as the first but still well enough for 4 stars. I just kept thinking thru most of it that these things that are described just arene't plausible. I don't want to give spoilers so I shall leave it at that. Like so many of these YA dystopias anymore, there is the love triangle that's thrown in and after getting to the end I couldn't help but wonder if that's one more aspect that was planned by the powers that be. In any case, as with the first book, this one was full of all the twists and turns and unaswered questions that make the final book a must read. I can hardly wait to start it just because I've GOT TO KNOW!!!!!! TOO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!! Ok, tantrum over lol. If you liked the first one you should like this one just know it ain't over yet. Am hoping for explanations to come with



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Recieved Today

This is a FirstReads win that I received in the mail today. I look forward to reading and reviewing this one.

Synopsis

The legend is foretold, from the writings of the Ars Goetia, he who bears the name of Dantalion, hath fallen from grace. ... who wears the mark of a demon...

Dantalion, a beautiful 'Incubus' demon of the Goetia, once an immortal angel of God, has fallen from grace and is now condemned. He seduces a young girl named Laurel, A Religious Studies student at Yale, and a practitioner of the occult who resembles his mortal love, Lilith. Laurel's obsession with him turns from seduction to salvation when she evokes his true demonic form in the Courtyard of the Undead and he must choose between saving her mortal soul, stolen by Satan, residing in the third heaven, over his immortal redemption and rightful place within the first heaven.

Member of the Banned

Member of the Banned by Jack Ewing

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this short story for review.



When the story open you see this guy running down the sidewalk. He's got blood on him and you find someone is pursuing him. We later learn that he is being hunted and pursued by police for crimes against society. You wonder what could he have possibly done that was so terrible. He had said he couldn't help his terrible behavior. When the story continued and I had learned what his crime was I was very surprised. Didn't see it coming, and so my review doesn't contain any spoilers I'll leave it at that.



The basis of the story is when government controls too many aspects of our life. And when something that is now socially acceptable changes to being unacceptable and the government steps in to implement change and things go too far. It has a little bit of a 1984 quality where this is concerned. I did like the story, if for no other reason I wasn't expecting his crime to be what it was. It was a fun read with a message behind it. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good short story.



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Books of the Immortals-Fire

Books of the Immortals - Fire by Barbara G.Tarn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received a free copy of this book for review.


I would probably actually give this book 3.5 or 3.75 stars but rounded up because I did enjoy the story. This is the second book in the Books of the Immortals series but its not necessary to read the first one, Air, to enjoy this one. This book, like the first, is full of magical races. Those of the Genn, the Fajrulo, and the Sila were all represented but the Waiora were mostly left out. Several characters were of mixed races trying to comes to term with both sides of their heritage. Falcon, who is half Sila, fails to fulfill his destiny and ends up in a magical sleep that lands him in a time that he doesn't belong. The story switches back and forth between the future with Falcon and the history that is progressing as he is in his sleep. We later see the alternate reality as it happens after hes is returned to the time he is supposed to exist in. The switching back and forth between future and past gets a bit confusing which is why I would have given this read a slightly lower score. But after the time line is corrected its not so confusing. However, there are so many characters its a bit difficult to keep up with them all. I did enjoy this read, and love the originality of the world that the author has created with all the different races. Anyone that enjoys fantasy will enjoy this series. I am definitely looking forward to the next story.



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Comfort Reads

These last few weeks have been stressful for me. I'm trying to move and am starting a new chapter in my life and at times like this I tend to gravitate toward those books that I've read over and over. They are like visiting old friends, I call them comfort reads. Books that bring you comfort, or take you to a place thats somewhere far from stress. Personally I love anything from J.R.R. Tolkein, and being my favorites. And sometimes its nice to read about someone with actually alot more troubles than you have like in or . Whether its fun or serious, fantasy or horror, we all have books or something that brings us comfort in those times of stress. Do you have comfort reads?

The Declaration

The Declaration by Gemma Malley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This story is set in a future world where people live forever making it illegal to have children because of overpopulation. Longevity drugs have made it possible for people to live forever but with this brings a tremendous strain on the world. We certainly get a look at life in such a world. A world where there are not children. Children that have been conceived illegally are taken to facilities where they are raised to be slaves for those that are legal. They are treated as surplus citizen and the cruelty they are subjected to was sometime hard for me to read. Horrible mental and physical abuses at the hands of their captors that were supposed to be caring for them. And once free of such abuse how do you learn to live free? I love one of the final quotes from Anna about this, "I know that we have to live each moment because we won't be here for ever, and that I wouldn't want to be anyway, because knowing something's going to end makes you appreciate it more, makes you want to savour every moment." More people should take this advice.

I tend to really like dystopias and this one is certainly original. Its definitely more than what it appears to be. Its not only a YA novel about the possiblity of eternal life. Its also about child abuse within the system by those that are supposed to be protectors. Its also about differences in society with those that are somewhere legally as opposed to illegally and how they are treated. People are still people and we all deserved to be treated with dignity. Loved this one, it will make you think. I recommend this to anyone that loves a good dystopia.

*Edit*
I keep thinking about this book, I kept thinking that something was missing about this story and I figured out what it was: religion. Most religions have thoughts about the afterlife and that the next world is better than this one. However, in this book that was never addressed. Is this a future with no relgion? Or due to the longevity drugs was religion deemed no longer needed since no one was going to the next world? I'm personally not a religous person, but society as a whole is, but not here. Its certainly a different world from our own.

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Free Copies of Hansel and Gretel Are Dead

Copies of this ebook will be free on Amazon on April 4 and 5. If you like horror or zombies you should check out this series. Its a new twist on an old tale.

Synopsis

After being infected by the zombie pestilence, Hansel and Gretel are left to die in the woods. Sick and hungry, they find their way to the home of a lonely old woman who happens to be a cannibal. But when Hansel and Gretel refuse to stay dead, the old hag finds she may have bitten off more than she can chew.