Waiting on Wednesday - The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Michaels

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you're eagerly anticipating.

 Released August 13, 2010

I actually didn't know about this book until recently when the author found my blog and told me about it. I kind of love the cover (if you know me, you know I have this thing with eyes and covers like this are hit or miss), and I think the premise sounds pretty good. Even if I wasn't intrigued, I think I'd still want to read it because Emma is blogger getting her first book published and I want to support her. She was kind enough to offer to do an interview for my blog, so look for that coming soon. I also like that how the number thirteen is in the title of her book and also her release day.

From Goodreads:

No one knew of its existence until it was removed from the attic upstairs.

In a beautiful house that overlooks the sea, an antique clock has the power to change the course of their lives.

The power the clock resonates will not only force Destiny and ex-boyfriend David on a journey into the depths of one man's mind long dead, but into the mind of a man filled with hatred and bent on revenge.

With the only clues to the nature of the clock having disappeared into the sea, Destiny and David must retrace the steps the man had taken into the darkness, before they fall prey to the trap he had set in motion over half a century ago.

Hatred never dies.

What do you think about this book?

Poll

I'm wanting to do another giveaway soon and since I'm going to Kathryn Erskine's signing and the Decatur Book Festival, I have a chance to get a lot of fabulous books signed.

The only issue I have is since I'm having to buy quite a few books for myself, my husband won't be too thrilled if I buy a lot of multiples to giveaway. So here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to let you vote on an author who'd you most like to win a signed book from. I will then pick a book to have signed by the winning author to giveaway. If I'm able, I may try to make it the top two authors.

Voting will start today and end on Thursday. The contest will end at least five days prior to the festival so I can get the signed copy personalized. However, if Kathryn Erskine is the winning author, the contest will be much shorter as her event is in two weeks.

Hate List - Jennifer Brown

As I mentioned in a previous post, I won Jennifer Brown's Hate List from Jessica's blog and I'm glad I did.

Not many books have rendered me speechless when I've finished reading them, but this one did. I feel weird saying this was a good book, but it was in that it made you think and feel. Reading this made me think of past school shootings; especially Columbine and Virginia Tech and it gave you a peek into what the people in these, and other, communities must have felt when this happened to them.

Valerie and Nick are considered losers in school and when Valerie shares her Hate List with Nick, they bond and start dating. The Hate List is comprised of people (family, teachers, classmates, celebrities, etc) and things they hate. One day towards the end of their Junior year, everything changes. Nick comes to school and starts shooting those people on the Hate List. When Valerie tries to stop Nick, she's shot right before he turns the gun on himself.

Valerie then must deal with the aftermath and come to terms about her role in the shooting. Valerie must also deal with all the ripple effects the shooting caused. Her parents are arguing more, her dad seems to hate her, her mom is constantly worried about the possibility of her committing suicide, she's been suspected as Nick's accomplice, she's about to return to a school where most everyone hates her (including her friends), and she must face the everyday reminder of what happened.

Everything in Valerie's world has turned upside down and the only people who seem to be on her side are her psychologist and Jessica, a girl who was listed on the Hate List.

If she had seen that Nick was serious instead of joking about killing, would she have been able to stop it? Is she strong enough to get through her Senior year when everyone blames her for what happened? Have the students at Garvin High really changed?

I cried towards the end of this book. Not just because of the subject matter and all the bad that had happened, but because when Valerie and Jessica are talking to all the victims and/or their families, there was a sense of relief and hope for Valerie. After everything that had happened, she was able to see who she really was. I think part of the reason she had so much guilt was because before the shooting, she defined herself by needing and loving Nick. Afterwards, she was able to see that it wasn't her and that she played up the hate because of who Nick was.

If you get a chance to read this book, do so. It's a serious subject matter but it does make you think about what could happen if you treat the wrong person the wrong way and how when you're close to someone, you may not see what's really there.

In My Mailbox (19)

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren and all you have to do is post about what books you received that week by mail, library, or store.

I absolutely LOVE the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and I'm over the moon about meeting her in September and getting all my books by her signed. In anticipation of the Decatur Book Festival, I'm trying to get all the books in hardback. It took a little bit of planning to get the husband to agree to this (as I already had the MMP's and TPB's versions) but once I told him I would put my MMP's on PaperbackSwap, he agreed to let me get the hardbacks.


Look for a poll tomorrow regarding my next giveaway. Since I have a lot of books to buy that I'm wanting signed for the festival, I'm only going to be able to afford one, maybe two books for a giveaway so I'm going to let you guys vote on which books you'd most like to win.


Have you read Outlander yet?

In My Mailbox (18)

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren and all you have to do is post about what books you received that week by mail, library, or store.

I think this is the first week since I've been doing IMM that I haven't actually purchased a book.

I received an ARC of Meg Cabot's Insatiable courtesy of Around the World Tours. I completely forgot I had signed up for this tour so it was a nice surprise to see it appear in my mailbox.

My participation in Jessica's discussion of The Tension of Opposites helped me to win a copy of Hate List by Jennifer Brown. This book will be July's discussion on her blog and I can't wait to start reading it.

Lastly, I checked out Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on audiobook from my library. With our upcoming trip to Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the movie coming out in a few months, I really wanted my husband to experience the final book. I love reliving it and getting to hear what he thinks (so far, so good).

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

The Dark Divine Book Trailer

I loved Bree Despain's The Dark Divine and now you can watch the trailer for it. If you haven't read it yet, will watching this make you more likely to? What do you think about book trailers?

Also, watching this video will help someone win more books in Bree's blog contest. Interested in entering? Head to her blog by clicking here.

In My Mailbox (17)

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren and all you have to do is post about what books you received that week by mail, library, or store.

This week I decided to do a vlog for IMM. You'll have to excuse me though, I had a terrible headache and wasn't feeling well when I made this. 

A Love Story: Starring My Dead Best Friendm - Emily Horner

Thanks to Around the World Tours, I was able to get on an ARC tour for Emily Horner's A Love Story: Starring my Dead Best Friend.

Cass's best friend Julia was killed in a car accident. In her honor, Cass and some of Julia's drama friends are putting on the musical she had been working on for months titled Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad. However, Cass feels that since the only link to the drama kids, Julia, is gone, that she no longer fits in with them. When Cass finds out that Heather, the girl who picked on Cass throughout middle school, has been cast as the Ninja Princess, she can't take it anymore and embarks on the trip from Illinois to California she and Julia had planned.

Cass takes off on her bicycle and with Julia's ashes, she starts her journey. Along the way she encounters new friends and tough situations. In a last ditch attempt, she calls Julia's boyfriend, Ollie, to come pick her up. When Ollie arrives, she finds a few other friends came along and Cass later realizes that they are still heading towards California. Once the mission to take Julia to California is complete, they all return home and continue with making Julia's musical a reality.

This book was told in alternating parts, Then and Now. Sometimes this format is hit or miss with me and this was one of those instances where I wish it had just started with the Then's and continued into the Now's. I liked this book well enough and I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into when I signed up for the tour, but I'm glad I read it.

I liked being able to figure out with Cass that she was a lesbian. It was something she struggled with without even knowing it herself. I hate that she was made fun of for it but Heather's picking on her made so much sense later because she acted just like a little kid would in elementary school. I also liked how the relationship between Cass and Heather blossomed. It wasn't easy for Cass to forgive and forget about the past but she made an honest attempt and in the end it all worked out.

I did have a problem with Cass's parents though. What parents don't let their teenager drive or wear makeup but they'll let them ride a bicycle from Illinois to California by themselves? This was just a part I couldn't get over.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

This was book #7 in the 2010 Debut Authors Challenge