Piper Perish by Kayla Cagan (with giveaway)

Piper Perish
by Kayla Cagan

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Just released: March 7, 2017
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Genre: YA, Art, Contemporary
Hardback: 416 pages
Rating: 4

Piper Perish inhales air and exhales art. The sooner she and her best friends can get out of Houston and get to New York City, the better. Art school has been Piper's dream her whole life, and now that senior year is halfway over, she's never felt more ready. But in the final months before graduation, things are weird with her friends and stressful with three different guys, and Piper's sister's tyrannical mental state seems to thwart every attempt at happiness for the close-knit Perish family. Piper's art just might be enough to get her out. But is she brave enough to seize that power when it means giving up so much?

Debut author Kayla Cagan breathes new life into fiction in this dynamic, utterly authentic work featuring interior art from Rookie magazine illustrator Maria Ines Gul. Piper will have readers asking big questions along with her. What is love? What is friendship? What is family? What is home? And who is a person when she's missing any one of these things?

My two-bits:

This novel takes a look at the tumultuous life of a popular teen, Piper, in her senior year in high school. In particular, a student who is talented in art, primarily painting. Piper's creative process and influences come to play. I liked these parts as I find it fascinating to learn about people's creative side in general including inspirations.

Piper's family relationships play a big unsettling part in the story. She suffers growing pains while contending with family dynamics.

Piper's friends are artists as well and represent other forms of art and experiences. One is particular is into fashion design. It was a treat to read about the various outfit ensembles and "looks" he created for Piper.

The story is told mostly by way of journal entries with lists and emails. Also, quotes from contemporary artists (especially from Andy Warhol) along with black and white doodles, sketches and brush strokes are sprinkled throughout these pages to pull you into an artist perspective.

Excerpt: chapter 1

1/1 1:04 pm

It was official: I was blind.

At least that’s what I thought until Kit rolled over and helped me pluck my puffy eyes apart. “I told you not to wear false eyelashes in bed,” she said.

I started crying all over again and pouted at her.

“Just help me unstick my whole face. My eyeballs hurt!”

“It’s not your fault,” she said. “It’s freaking Enzo.” (That’s why she remains my best friend and I will love her forever and ever because she always knows just what to say and also she saw the whole freaking thing happen.)

“I have eyelash glue on my eyeballs.”

“That’s impossible, and even if you did it would be dry by now, not wet. Does it feel like glitter?”

I nod.

“Your eyes are all big and gluey and have gold glitter stickered on ’em because New Year’s Eve sucked, except for I finally made out with French Marcel, until we like, almost passed out. But,” she added, “that was before I saw the very worst breakup of all times.”

I couldn’t even begin to talk about it because my eyes hurt and my heart hurt and I refused for it to be true. Because this is not how my senior year will end. I’m not going through spring semester or the rest of my life without Enzo. Did he completely forget about New York? Is he really assuming Kit and I will go without him?

Andy Warhol said, “Everyone winds up kissing the wrong person goodnight.”

About the author:

Kayla Cagan is a writer and dramaturge who has run social media and content for events like the LA Times Festival of Books and The Taste. She has several published plays in Smith and Kraus anthologies, two award-winning comic books, and various essays. Her work is also included in a One on One anthology from Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, as well as 25 10-Minute Plays for Teens. She and her husband, who wrote the screenplay for the popular 2015 movie THE DUFF, live in Los Angeles.

--~ Blog Tour Giveaway ~--

WIN a copy of Piper Perish + a cool tote bag, pencil and bookmark!

Open to US only.

Offer ends: March 19, 2016

TO DO:

1. ADD this book to your Want To Read list on Goodreads (here).

2. LEAVE a comment with your email.

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Contest has ended - (winner is here)

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~*~
* review copy and excerpt courtesy of tour

A Separation by Katie Kitamura

A Separation
by Katie Kitamura
narrated by Katherine Waterston

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Just released: February 7, 2017
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Genre: Literary, Thriller
Hardback: 240 pages
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
It began with a telephone call from Isabella. She wanted to know where Christopher was, and I was put in the awkward position of having to tell her that I didn't know.

This is her story. About the end of her marriage. About what happened when Christopher went missing and she went to find him. These are her secrets, this is what happened...

A young woman has agreed with her faithless husband: it's time for them to separate. For the moment it's a private matter, a secret between the two of them. As she begins her new life, she gets word that Christopher has gone missing in a remote region in the rugged south of Greece; she reluctantly agrees to go look for him, still keeping their split to herself. In her heart, she's not even sure if she wants to find him. As her search comes to a shocking breaking point, she discovers she understands less than she thought she did about her relationship and the man she used to love.

A searing, suspenseful story of intimacy and infidelity, A Separation lays bare what divides us from the inner lives of others. With exquisitely cool precision, Katie Kitamura propels us into the experience of a woman on edge, with a fiercely mesmerizing story to tell.

My two-bits:

Said to have a Gone Girl vibe. It certainly does. But takes on its own unique identity.

I liked doing some arm-chair traveling to Greece.

The introspection and gradual mystery reveals makes this thriller stand out.

The protagonist is not very likable. However, her actions and motives were a draw as well.

Got me thinking of the dilemma the main character found herself in. One of those, what would I do if in that predicament.

~*~
* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Cloak & Dagger Challenge (here)

Stacking the Shelves & Sunday Post - 3.11.17

Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
AND
Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer (details)
~*~
I have been in a mystery, thriller mode with my recent reading. Nothing like a nail biter story to keep you on your toes.

I am also sneaking in a page or two a day from Wonder Women by Sam Maggs and Bad Girls Throughout History by Ann Shen for a dose of Women's history for this month.

My audiobook listening is going steadily which is compiled of titles from the Tournament of Books list (here). The discussions started last Wednesday (here). I know I will not have completed reading/hearing the lot before the end of the month, but I am so excited to read the dailies.

Although I have a kindle, I am considering getting a nook e-reader. Would love to hear any comments on the nook if you have one.

Going to work on organizing my shelves to pull out candidates for the TBR Pile challenge. MUST create a donation pile while I am at it.

~*~
For Review:

A Contrary Wind
by Lona Manning
-Romance, Jane Austen theme
courtesy of author -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads

The Roanoake Girls
by Amy Engel
-Mystery, Suspense
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads

Missing
by Kelley Armstrong
-Mystery, Thriller, YA
courtesy of tour -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads

AND watched: in theatre

T2 Trainspotting (2017)
Director: Danny Boyle
Screenplay: John Hodge
Based on book by: Irving Welsh
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner
-Drama | imdb | my rating: 5
After 20 years abroad, Mark Renton returns to Scotland and reunites with his old friends Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie.

I loved Trainspotting and its characters (Ewan!) style and music. And this sequel, T2, was more of the goodness. And, there is a cameo of author, Irvine Welsh ;-)

I was treated to a preview screening of this sequel which included a guest appearance and interview with director Danny Boyle afterwards. Loved hearing his thoughts on finally getting this sequel created.


AND watched: special screening

Girl Rising (2013)
Director: Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri, Richard Robbins
Writers:
Marie Arana - Peru
Doreen Baingana - Uganda
Edwidge Dantical - Haiti
Mona Eltahawy - Egypt
Aminatta Forna - Sierra Leone
Zarghuna Kargar - Afghanistan
Maaza Mengiste - Ethiopia
Ranjan Nautiyal
Vipul Rathore
Sooni Taraporevala - India
Manjushree Thapa - Nepal
Loung Ung - Cambodia
-Documentary, Drama | imdb | my rating: 5
This film follows 9 girls from Haiti, Nepal, Ethiopia, India, Egypt, Peru, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan on their journey to education.

SAD to know the status of girls and women in other countries due to the lack of education. This film does well in presenting the importance of education in order to change things for the better all-around the world.


AND watched: on DVD

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)
Director: Jake Szymanski
Writers: Andrew Jay Cohen, Brendan O'Brien
Starring: Zac Efron, Adam Devine, Aubrey Plaza, Anna Kendrick
-Adventure, Comedy, Romance | imdb | my rating: 4
Two hard-partying brothers place an online ad to find the perfect dates for their sister's Hawaiian wedding. Hoping for a wild getaway, the boys instead find themselves out-hustled by an uncontrollable duo.

BECAUSE sometimes something silly and funny is needed.


Currently flipping through: from the library

In the Company of Women:
Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs
by Grace Bonney
-Art, Business, Feminism
Amazon | Goodreads
Across the globe, women are embracing the entrepreneurial spirit and starting creative businesses. In the Company of Women profiles over 100 of these influential and creative women from all ages, races, backgrounds, and industries. Chock-full of practical, inspirational advice for those looking to forge their own paths, these interviews detail the keys to success (for example, going with your gut; maintaining meaningful and lasting relationships), highlight the importance of everyday rituals (meditating; creating a daily to-do list), and dispense advice for the next generation of women entrepreneurs and makers (stay true to what you believe in; have patience). The book is rounded out with hundreds of lush, original photographs of the women in their work spaces.

THIS gem has present day women who inspire with color photos and a Q&A format per profile.

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

Excerpt: The Good Dictator by Gonçalo J. Nunes Dias

The Good Dictator
by Gonçalo J. Nunes Dias
-SciFic, Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads -giveaway offer ends March 21
An unidentified object parked on the moon - and no one seems to know where it came from. Gustavo, a middle-aged computer programmer with a comfortable and grey life, decides to make a list of what he would need to survive a hypothetical attack. He becomes obsessed with the list, spends a fortune, robs a drugstore: his own family thinks he is going insane. However, after the attack, it’s the insane who are well prepared for a new era in society. First book of a trilogy.

Excerpt:

I’ll ask you something and you may not decline. – Said Rute with a seductive look.

Tell me.

Today, you will have to have dinner with me as a way to repay you for all of your work.

Gustavo gave a little laugh and placed his right hand on Rute's left arm.

You don’t have to repay me; I did it because I like your company.

I won't accept a no, please.At that moment, Gustavo felt like kissing her thin lips, but he thought that perhaps he was misreading her signs and feared being rejected.

I accept the invitation, then. But first, I will go home, take a shower, change, and bring some wine to water the food.

Perfect. – Rute answered with a pleasant smile.

While he dressed up for dinner, Gustavo found himself a little nervous, he liked Rute and felt attracted to her, but he wonder if she felt the same way and it everything seemed so fast and recent that it was best to just have a single peaceful, relaxed night, in good company, and not to try any foolishness. He left home very elegant, with two bottles of red wine and with his hands sweating in anxiety.

When he arrived, Rute was already dressed with one of Marta's beautiful dresses, which was somewhat weird for Gustavo. She was still cooking dinner, and they had an exciting talk which lasted the entire dinner, always watered with red wine, which soon made Rute a little tipsy, since she had not drunk for a long time. They talked about the past and their previous relationships. Rute confessed that she missed her two daughters and her father a lot, but she did not mention her grandson, because she did not want to give the image of being grandmother, she didn't even mentioned having missed her husband, because she actually did not feel that way. Gustavo talked about the list, his obsession with the attack, his idiotic parents-in-law, how they had gotten hold of power and the complicated political situation in which he was involved. He did not know whether or not he should kiss her, if he should make a move, if he was mistaking things; Rute on the other hand, felt like kissing him, but she was afraid he took her as an old woman, that the nine year difference would be too much for him. A little after finishing dinner, there was an uncomfortable silence; Gustavo did not know what to say, nor what subject to bring up, he thought silence was a signal it was time to depart, besides, tomorrow he would have to wake up early for the agricultural tasks. He got up, and when he was ready to speak, Rute got up with him and caught his hand softly; she thought of saying something to keep him from going, but she simply looked at Gustavo’s blue eyes; he was filled with courage and approached Rute’s face and lips slowly. After the first kiss, many others came and their hands ran across both of their bodies with more and more intensity; they got into the small bedroom without stopping their kisses as they took off their clothes as they took off their clothes in a clumsy manner and ended up naked on the old bed that Gustavo had brought a few hours ago.

River Road by Carol Goodman

River Road
by Carol Goodman

Find out more about this book and author:
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BookExcerpt
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Twitter @C_Goodmania

Just released (paperback): January 3, 2017
Publisher: Touchstone
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Paperback: 304 pages
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
She came out of nowhere.

Zombie sighting:
A group of students came out of the diner clutching paper coffee cups and shuffled to the bus stop in a zombie-like trance. -chapter 9, page 80

From the award-winning author of The Lake of Dead Languages comes a chilling new psychological thriller about a professor accused of killing her favorite student in a hit-and-run accident.

Nan Lewis—a creative writing professor at a state university in upstate New York—is driving home from a faculty holiday party after finding out she’s been denied tenure. On her way, she hits a deer, but when she gets out of her car to look for it, the deer is nowhere to be found. Eager to get home and out of the oncoming snowstorm, Nan is forced to leave her car at the bottom of her snowy driveway to wait out the longest night of the year—and the lowest point of her life…

The next morning, Nan is woken up by a police officer at her door with terrible news—one of her students, Leia Dawson, was killed in a hit-and-run on River Road the night before. And because of the damage to her car, Nan is a suspect. In the days following the accident, Nan finds herself shunned by the same community that rallied around her when her own daughter was killed in an eerily similar accident six years prior. When Nan begins finding disturbing tokens that recall the death of Nan’s own daughter, Nan suspects that the two accidents are connected.

As she begins to dig further, she discovers that everyone around her, including Leia, is hiding secrets. But can she uncover them, clear her name, and figure out who really killed Leia before her reputation is destroyed for good?

My two-bits:

Starts off with a protagonist who is unreliable and unlikable in a small college town setting. However, she is forced to pull herself together to figure out the mystery that she has been pulled into. And in so doing slowly had me sympathetic.

Loved learning about some aspects of being a writer and student writers.

Greek mythology plays a part so there are easter eggs to find if you are familiar. If not, you can still enjoy the story for what it is. Or you can enhance this reading by getting quick details from wikipedia.

~*~
* review copy courtesy of publisher

* part of Cloak & Dagger Challenge (here)