Bloggin 'Bout Books Blog

Charlie, Presumed Dead by Anne Heltzel Published: June 2, 2015 Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers Received: An Egalley from the publisher on Netgalley! Thanks HMH!! Charlie Price just died in a fiery plane explosion, Except all that's been recovered is his bloody jacket. So technically he's missing, presumed dead. But Lena doesn't care about technicalities or improbabilities. As Charlie's girlfriend, she's certain he's still alive, still out there somewhere, waiting for her to find him.  Aubrey had to find out about her boyfriend's death through the internet. He wasn't answering her texts or calls. But he'd encouraged her to sign up for his campus newspaper. And the paper announces the missing student. When she finds out about his funeral service, she heads to Paris. Where she meets Lena, Charlie's other girlfriend who is convinced he's still alive. Aubrey agrees to chase after Charlie. But Aubrey's just looking for...

Hello Lovelies!! As per usual, I've fallen behind on my book reviewing. I haven't been this far behind in a while though, eep! So I'm going to make a couple round-up posts since most of what I've been reading can fall into a couple different categories. This one is about graphic novels I've read recently. While I've always enjoyed Sunday comics or on-line comics, I just started reading graphic novels as a genre within the last few years. And I recently started reading comics in the traditional sense (Marvel, DC, Image, etc.) which was a bad idea because now I have another obsession. So here's a few that I've read recently. El Deafo by Cece Bell Published: Sept. 2, 2014 Publisher: Harry N. Abrams Received: Borrowed from the library, but I need my own copy! El Deafo follows Cece through her childhood, as she loses her hearing as a child then utilizes a very large, very awkward hearing aid at school. Bell does a fantastic job convey...

Four Seconds to Lose by K.A. Tucker Published: November 4, 2013 Publisher: Atria Books Received: Bought for my Kindle! "It's about trying to balance out the good with the bad. I don't believe in second chances" Cain has been owning and running a strip club for years. He takes care of the dancers: makes sure they don't have to do anything more than dance to get money, makes sure they aren't harassed in or out of the club, and never takes advantage of them. Then Cain's bartender Ginger brings a new friend to the club for a job: Charlie.  Charlie is living a lie. She's working for her step-father as a drug runner, but she hates it. She's just trying to make enough money to disappear for good. She never expected to meet someone who could make her want to stay. Tucker once again makes me want to crawl inside her characters. She does a great job of making the characters real and believable. Even though her love stories tend to ...

   Fables Volume 1: Legends in Exile Fables Volume 2: Animal Farm Published: Dec. 1, 2002 and August 1, 2003 Publisher: Vertigo Received: Borrowed from the library "Once Upon a Time..." After the Adversary attacked the land of fables and fairy tales, a few of the characters made it out to the real world. For the last couple centuries, they've been living among mankind. Now, Rose Red has been murdered, and it's up to the Wolf to figure out who did it and why. Then Snow White must check out the Farm--where they send those fabled creatures who are inexplicable to humankind. Something's going on up there, and it's up to Snow White to figure out what it is and put an end to it. I was required to read these two comic collections for a Fairy Tale course. I enjoyed them to a certain extent, but they also frustrated me. I love seeing fairy tale characters in real life situations. I think retellings can be super fun and enjoyable (I'm obse...

I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan was a very nice, heartfelt novel about the different kinds of love.  Emily Bell is 17 years old. She doesn't really like boys or dating or singing. But when her dad forces her to sing in the church choir, she meets eyes with a boy in the back of the church who seems to be able to see into her soul. After that, she becomes devoted to tracking him down.  My book club ( foreveryoungadult -- in case you too are lonely for a book club) is reading this for our March meeting, so I had to quickly find a copy. (I actually borrowed it from the high school library that I volunteer at because my local public library didn't have a copy!) I basically sat down last night and started reading it so I could finish it sometime this week, and I ended up reading it all last night.  Overall, I enjoyed it, but I still had a couple problems with it. First of all, I would probably classify this as a younger young adult novel or (more likely...