Lovely Books and Things - 5.7.17

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)


~*~
Got back to some YA reading. I did a binge read of the Jenny Han series, To All The Boys I Loved Before. This is a rarity as I usually read the first in a series and get around to the rest at a later date. It was prompted by a book tour for the new release of the last book in the series, Always and Forever, Lara Jean. Loved it all!

Also got back into some Netflixing. And totally got sucked into Sense 8 which is similar to The Matrix series also created by the Wachowskis. Takes the interconnectedness theme onto another level.

Today, I will start Caroline Leavitt's Cruel Beautiful World which is (per the cover blurb):

"A gorgeous, seductive novel that is also terrifying and pulse-pounding."
-Wiley Cash, author of The Dark Road to Mercy
Ooo, looks like I am in for a wild ride now.

~*~
Author event:

Books Inc. of Opera Plaza, San Francisco and NYMBC presented The Love Panel of YA authors and moderated by Christy, YA blogger for Tales of the Ravenous Reader. Along with a Q&A session, introductions to each of their new novel releases were presented.

Seated above are:
Nina LaCour, author of We Are Okay
Stacey Lee, author of The Secret Heart of a Note
Elizabeth Eulberg, author of Just Another Girl
Jennifer E. Smith, author of Windfall
Rachel Cohn, author of Kill All Happies

Bought:

Just Another Girl
by Elizabeth Eulberg
-YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Elizabeth said the cover illustration is inspired by Rube Goldberg contraptions.

Windfall
by Jennifer E. Smith
-YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Jennifer said the bear and alligator on her book cover are not charms, but little figures painted in gold.

Kill All Happies
by Rachel Cohn
-YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Rachel said she loves the image of the french fries on her book cover as it resembles being flicked "the finger" - LOL.

A History of Loneliness
by John Boyne
-Literary
Amazon | Goodreads
PICKED this up for a book club I am going to try out. Not something I would get on my own. So, yes, expanding my reading palette. Hope I like it.

Into the Water
by Paula Hawkins
-Mystery, Thriller
Amazon | Goodreads
HOT book. Going to also read it for the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge (here). Because I loved Girl on the Train I am looking forward to gobbling this one up.

Kojiki
(Kojiki #1)
by Keith Yatsuhashi
-SciFi
Amazon | Goodreads
HAD to get this after I got Kokoro earlier in the week as this is first in the series.

Kokoro
(Kojiki #2)
by Keith Yatsuhashi
-SciFi
Amazon | Goodreads
IMPULSE buy. Rarely do this, but the cover just GOT me. Also, I want to read some SciFi this year.


For Review:

A Short History of the Girl Next Door
by Jared Reck
-Humor, YA
Release date: September 26, 2017
courtesy of tour -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads
THIS comes out in the Fall and has an interesting premise...

A debut that is perfect for readers who are stuck in that awkward limbo between childhood and adulthood (and those who just barely escaped).


In my mailbox:

GOT some snail mail. A Thank you card. And, a lovely letter in response to my April Writing Month efforts. It is on super cute stationery which has a pop-up character on the page!


AND watched: in theatre

The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
Director: Niki Caro
Screenplay: Angela Workman
Based on book by: Diane Ackerman
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl
-Biography, Drama, History | imdb | my rating: 5
The Zookeeper's Wife tells the account of keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, Antonina and Jan Zabinski, who helped save hundreds of people and animals during the German invasion.

GREAT story based on a true historical account from diaries of Antonina Żabińska.


AND binge watching: on Netflix

Sense 8 (2015)
tv series, season one
Creators: J. Michael Straczynski, Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
Starring: Doona Bae, Jamie Clayton, Tina Desai
Tuppence Middleton, Max Riemelt, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Brian J. Smith, Aml Ameen
Daryl Hannah, Naveen Andrews
-Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi | imdb | my rating: 5
A group of people around the world are suddenly linked mentally, and must find a way to survive being hunted by those who see them as a threat to the world's order.

JUST the right amount of mystery, action, romance, drama and variety of likable characters to get me hooked. You can guess what I will be watching next week...

~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

:-)

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

Always and Forever, Lara Jean
by Jenny Han

Find out more about this book and author:
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Just released: May 2, 2017
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Romance, YA
Hardback: 336 pages
Rating: 5

To All the Boys I've Loved Before series:
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
P.S. I Still Love You
Always and Forever, Lara Jean

First sentence(s):
I like to watch Peter when he doesn't know I'm looking.

Lara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the New York Times bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.

Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding.

But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind.

When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

My two-bits:

Lovely wrap-up to Lara Jean's teen years.

I loved following this sweet character as she navigates through her last year of high school with the pressures of college, dating, family and life's curve balls.

Lara Jean's dreams, reflections and decisions were down to earth with an innocence that was appealing.

The banter and moments between Lara Jean and Peter were amusing and adorable.

A touch of the 80s and 90s references were fun to come across. Made me want to re-watch Sixteen Candles.

The themes of honesty and staying true carries out throughout this series.

~*~
* review copy courtesy of publisher

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

P.S. I Still Love You
by Jenny Han

Find out more about this book and author:
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Published: 2015
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Romance, YA
Hardback: 352 pages
Rating: 5

To All the Boys I've Loved Before series:
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
P.S. I Still Love You
Always and Forever, Lara Jean

First sentence(s):
Dear Peter,
I miss you. It's only been five days but I miss you like it's been five years.

Zombie sighting:
Kitty and I have the whole sleepover planned down to a T. Zombie makeovers. Photo booth with props. Nail art.

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.

She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.

When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of makes it so amazing.

My two-bits:

This story does well in picking up where it left off in book one.

The feelings and experiences of having a crush, liking and then loving a person play out with Lara Jean in a modern day setting.

Lots of heart tugging and cute romantic moments make this book a sweet read.

I love the themes of honesty and loyalty that are portrayed.

PeekAbook:

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I've Loved Before
by Jenny Han

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
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Instagram
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Tumblr
Twitter

Published: 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Romance, YA
Hardback: 368 pages
Rating: 5

To All the Boys I've Loved Before series:
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
P.S. I Still Love You
Always and Forever, Lara Jean

First sentence(s):
I like to save things. Not important things like whales or people or the environment. Silly things.

What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them… all at once?

Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

My two-bits:

Loved this :-)

This story has a great way of putting you in the moment with its cozy feels. There is a dreaminess to the telling which matches the protagonist's personality.

Loved Lara Jean's easy going nature and her sweet interactions with her family and friends.

Thoughts on friendship, sisterhood and love come to mind while reading this.

The Roanoake Girls by Amy Engel

The Roanoake Girls
by Amy Engel

Find out more about this book and author:
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BookExcerpt
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Just released: March 7, 2017
Publisher: Crown
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, YA
Hardback: 288 pages
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
The second time I saw Roanoke was a month after my mother committed suicide.

Zombie sighting:
I called her two, three times a day for weeks. Left messages, begged to see her. I was a zombie at work, barely better at home.
- chapter NOW, page 155

After her mother's suicide, fifteen year-old Lane Roanoke came to live with her grandparents and fireball cousin, Allegra, on their vast estate in rural Kansas. Lane knew little of her mother's mysterious family, but she quickly embraced life as one of the rich and beautiful Roanoke girls. But when she discovered the dark truth at the heart of the family, she ran…fast and far away.

Eleven years later, Lane is adrift in Los Angeles when her grandfather calls to tell her Allegra has gone missing. Did she run too? Or something worse? Unable to resist his pleas, Lane returns to help search, and to ease her guilt at having left Allegra behind. Her homecoming may mean a second chance with the boyfriend whose heart she broke that long ago summer. But it also means facing the devastating secret that made her flee, one she may not be strong enough to run from again.

As it weaves between Lane’s first Roanoke summer and her return, The Roanoke Girls shocks and tantalizes, twisting its way through revelation after mesmerizing revelation, exploring the secrets families keep and the fierce and terrible love that both binds them together and rips them apart.

My two-bits:

I was charmed by the characters and the way this story is told. Despite character flaws and decisions a weird empathy for them comes about. And, I found myself in the same shoes as the protagonist in some instances.

It had the right amount of mystery and thriller to the end. It is one of those mysteries where you can pretty well guess who did it, but you are drawn to the "why" of it.

Got me thinking of charisma.

~*~
* review copy courtesy of publisher

* part of Cloak & Dagger Challenge (here)