123/65 (189%)
DREAD NATION by Justina Ireland
Jane McKeene was born two
days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and
Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing
America forever.
Opening line:
"The day I came squealing and squalling into the world was the first time someone tried to kill me."
I loved this story!
And I LOVED listening to it! Bahni Turpin has the best voice for this story!
There is swearing and fighting and zombies.
AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN by Susan Meissner
As Bright as Heaven
is the compelling story of a mother and her daughters who find
themselves in a harsh world, not of their making, which will either
crush their resolve to survive or purify it.
Opening line:
"Morning light shimmers on the apricot horizon as I stand at the place where my baby boy rests."
AS
BRIGHT AS HEAVEN is a story of family, love and death set during WWI. I
became fascinated by WWI and the Spanish Flu a few years ago and I will
be adding this book to my growing WWI shelf.
Told from the
different perspectives of the Bright women, we get a unique view from
different ages and personalities into their lives and what it was like
to live through the worse pandemic in history.
SKY IN THE DEEP by Adrienne Young
Part Wonder Woman, part Vikings—and all heart.
Raised
to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska
clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal
but simple: fight and survive.
Opening line:
""They're coming.""
Eelyn is the
kick butt heroine of the story; she's strong, smart and loyal to her
family and clan. But her character isn't in your face with how awesome
she is. She fights because this is all she knows, because she is
protecting her family and because this fight, or death, will bring
honor.
THE POET X by Elizabeth Acevedo
A young girl in Harlem
discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and
her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet
Elizabeth Acevedo.
Opening line:
"The summer is made for stoop-sitting
and since it's the last week before school starts,
Harlem is opening its eyes to September."
What a great opening to a coming of age story told in VERSE.
Here are a couple of stanzas i LOVED:
...but she took all of the stereotypes
and put them in a chokehold
until they breathed out the truth.
but most importantly,
she should be remembered
as always working to become
the warrior she wanted to be
WARCROSS by Marie Lu
For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life.
Opening line:
"It's too damn cold of a day to be out on a hunt."
Emika
is a hacker and a hunter and so will become a player...in Warcross that
is. Her biggest hack catches the eye of billionaire, Hideo, inventor of
the Warcross game. He's concerned about someone who has been messing up
his game and he wants Emika to find out who it is.
I enjoyed this
story more than I thought I would I started reading it. After about 20%
of the way in, I was hooked. I can't wait for the next book, Wildcard.
I'm trying to get my son to read this book because I think he would LOVE it!
SHADOW OF THE FOX by Julie Kagawa
One thousand years
ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible
wish—and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and
chaos.
Opening line:
"It was raining the day Suki came to the Palace of the Sun, and it was raining the night that she died."
That's
a fantastic beginning though I didn't know or appreciate it when I
started reading. As a matter of fact, I almost quit reading because I
could not figure out what or who or why this book was happening.
I'm glad I stuck it out.
I WILL read the next book to see what happens to our little clan.
FINDING US (Pine Valley #5) by Heather Moore
Opening line:
"Felicity
Miner balanced the steaming cup of hot chocolate and the blueberry
muffin with on hand as she unlocked the door to the bookshop."
Heather has a great way of writing romantic tension in her books! This is another great story in the Pine Valley series.
AS WIDE AS THE SKY by Jessica Pack
Amanda Mallorie wakes to the knowledge that her son Robbie is gone.
Opening line:
"Two hours, forty-three minutes."
AS WIDE AS THE SKY is a heavy, enlightening, hopeful book about a mother and the ramifications of a single act of her son.
VEINS OF GOLD by Charlie Holmberg
Desperate to save her
siblings from poverty, a young woman discovers magic fueled by gold . . .
and a love for the man who wields it.
Opening line:
"To the ears of Gentry's father, gold cried louder than his children did."
Charlie is an exceptionally talented writer. She can write about ANYTHING and it will be amazing and unique.
FROM ASH AND STONE by Julie Daines
Lady Margaret Grey of
Hartfell wants for nothing. The daughter of a knight, she has a loving
family, wealth, and even a secret romance with the blacksmith's son. But
all that is torn from her one fateful night when her home is attacked
and her family killed.
Opening line:
"Margaret laid on the ground with her eyes closed."
Margaret
lives in the time of King Henry VIII and she lives in the path of men,
on both sides of the border of Scotland and England, who raid homes with
no thought to the people's lives they destroy except to take what they
want.
