Tumble & Fall, by Alexandra Coutts

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A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings

The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that's left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.

Alexandra Coutts's Tumble & Fall is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.




Let's just look at the cover for a moment, shall we?  It's gorgeous!  I love the font, the cover models, and the bokeh lights.

Sadly, that's the best part of the book.  Awesome premise.  Poor execution.  What kind of father hires a prostitute for his son?  Disgusting.

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

Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell

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In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister Wren ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from the fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t I stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?




I couldn't do it.  I couldn't rush through this book, even though I wanted to devour it the moment I received it (many, many, MANY thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press).  Eleanor & Park is one of my favorite books, and I knew that I was going to love Fangirl just as much.

And I was right.

Rainbow Rowell writes the most amazing characters!  They are so real and perfectly flawed.  Cath isn't the prettiest freshman and Levi isn't the hottest guy on campus, but they are beautiful together.

I am going to purchase both the ebook and hardback copies for my shelves.  And probably the audiobook version.  Okay, definitely the audiobook version. 

Maybe I'll start my own little shrine to Rainbow Rowell in my home library.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

(Blog Tour Teasers): Jenny's Blue Velvet, by Angela Carlie

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Jenny's stuck.

She's tried just about every occupation she can think of and will be digging out of student debt for a very long time, but has nothing to show for it. Her everyday routine feels like a prison. And her marriage? Well, let's just say it's been a little one-sided lately and the money she threw down on the toys from Lover's Erotic Store was well worth it and then some.

Jenny decides her next big step is to become a romance writer. Romance books are flying off the virtual shelves, after all. This will be her big break, her escape from the prison, and a way to freedom. Self-publishing is all the rage these days. She'll be a best seller in no time.

When Jenny makes friends with a woman named Cassandra from the gym, she instantly decides that her new friend will make a perfect main character in her upcoming book. After the first chapter, real life begins to resemble the fiction she's writing. Her friendship blossoms, sex with her husband turns into a daily feast, and her job gets more interesting with each chapter written.

Out of the blue, a person who is a close friend with her husband and who is dating Cassandra disappears. As the mystery behind the missing person unfolds, Jenny wonders if she might be responsible for his possible death. And if she is, what will be the consequence? What has this writing business gotten her into?

Jenny's Blue Velvet is a dark, humorous, romantic thriller for adults only.




Welcome to my stop on the Jenny's Blue Velvet blog tour, hosted by Xpresso Book Tours. 

Ready for some fun Teasers?

I’m going to write a romance novel. I’ve never really read one, but they seem to be selling like bonbons to housewives on a hot summer day. My romance novel is going to be a bestseller. Once I figure out what it’s going to be about.

It does seem like everyone is writing a romance novel these days, doesn't it?

Leo brushed blond strands from her face. His breathing felt warm on her cheek. She could lose herself in those soft blue eyes for an eternity. They held this moment for several heartbeats, just them, alone, staring at each other as though they only now discovered how wonderful it felt to be so close. If they were to move, the world would melt around them.

*sigh*

My life should be filled with blooming flowers, singing birds, and the music of the crashing waves on the shore. I’m meant to be in a place surrounded by these things. Hawaii, to be precise. Not in a vacuum that’s sucking my soul away.

Agreed! Let's hop on a plane and go.

There’s something to say for people who have patience. What that may be, I don’t know because I don’t have it.

Oh, shit. Is she talking about me?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I’ve lived in the state of Washington my entire life. Sure, it rains a lot, but that’s what makes it so beautiful here. I’d like to say it’s the most beautiful place on the planet, but I have yet to travel the world. Someday I’ll know for sure.

I write fiction involving young people. Mainstream publishing would label my writing as YA or middle grade. Since I’m an indie author, I can skip over the labels and tell you that each one of my stories is unique, can be read and enjoyed by all ages, and almost always has a young person as the protagonist. Authors write what they know and I don’t know old yet. I may someday write about older people, but that’s so far in the future that I can’t see it yet.

Waiting on Wednesday #17: Breathless: An American Girl in Paris, by Nancy K. Miller

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that highlights soon-to-be-published books.  This week's selection is...

Breathless: An American Girl in Paris, by Nancy K. Miller
Publication date: November 5, 2013
Publisher: Seal Press
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In the early 1960s, most middle-class American women in their twenties were preparing for marriage, children, and life in the suburbs.
Breathless is the story of a girl who represents those who rebelled against conventional expectations. Paris was a magnet for those eager to resist domesticity, and Nancy K. Miller was enamored of everything French. After graduating from Barnard College in 1961, Miller set out for a year in Paris, with a plan to take classes at the Sorbonne and live out a great romantic life inspired by the movies.

After a string of sexual misadventures, she gave up her short-lived freedom and married an American expatriate who promised her a lifetime of three-star meals and five-star hotels. But her husband turned out to be a con man whose promises were lies, and she had to leave Paris behind. In an era of Vietnam anti-war protests, student unrest, and sexual liberation, Miller returned to New York to become a new woman: autonomous and creative at a time when women were only expected to look pretty and smile.

This stunning memoir chronicles a young woman’s coming-of-age tale, and offers a glimpse into the intimate lives of girls before feminism.



I want!  I want!  I want! 

I love everything that this book represents: Paris; the French; la Sorbonne; and a strong woman defying social conventions.

What are you waiting on?

Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon: Goals!

I am participating in the Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon, hosted by

Colorimetry and Tressa's Wishful Endings.

Does your TBR pile keep growing?  Join the Read-a-thon fun!  The event began on September 8th and runs until September 21st.  You don't have to be a blogger to sign up!
Just use your Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr profile instead. 

Sign up here until September 16th!

My goals:

1. Read eight books
2. Finish the Nest Book Club's 2013 Summer Book Challenge (SuBC)
3. Finish at least three ARCs and submit reviews to their respective publishers
4. Limit the number of books I add to my TBR!

Now the hard part: What am I going to read?

Currently Reading: Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell and Flush, by Carl Hiassen

Munchkin Monday #9: Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type

A quick look at the new books I have read with Boy Child and Girl Child

Farmer Brown has a problem.

His cows like to type.

All day long he hears

Click, clack, MOO.

Click, clack, MOO.

Clickety, clack, MOO.

But Farmer Brown's problems REALLY begin when his cows start leaving him notes....

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We love this book!  It's cute and fun and silly and the kids crack up whenever we read it.

It's one book in our collection that I don't mind reading over and over and over.
And over.

Stacking the Shelves #13

Stacking the Shelves is a book meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that allows book bloggers to share the books they have recently received.

Want to participate?  It's easy!

• Create your own Stacking The Shelves post. You can use Tynga's official graphic or your own, but please link back to Tynga’s Reviews so more people can join the fun!
• You can set your post any way you want: simple book list, covers, pictures, vlog.  The sky's the limit! 
• Tynga's Reviews posts Stacking The Shelves on Saturdays, but feel free to post yours any day that fits you. 
• Visit Tynga’s Reviews on Saturday and add your link so others can visit you!
• Visit other participants' links to find out what they added to their shelves!

This week, I received:

This is what happens when I have no home internet access for nearly a week.  Only two new books!

From the Publisher:

• Burial Rights, by Hannah Kent

Library: 

• Flush, by Carl Hiassen

What did you add to your shelves this week?