Weekly Wrap-Up – May 7, 2016

 

Welcome to my weekly wrap-up! Here is where you can see my books read during the past week, books to be read next week, books I have added to my shelves, any bookish happenings and the like. I have linked to Stacking the Shelves, the Saturday Situation, the Saturday Review of Books, Talk of the Town, Bought, Borrowed & Bagged, The Sunday Salon, Caffeinated Book Reviewer’s Sunday Wrap-Up,  It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday. So check out what I’ve been up to this past week.

 

 

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Books Added This Week

 

From NetGalley

 

 

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson – In an idyllic community of wealthy California families, new teacher Molly Nicoll becomes intrigued by the hidden lives of her privileged students. Unknown to Molly, a middle school tragedy in which they were all complicit continues to reverberate for “her” kids: Nick, the brilliant scam artist; Emma, the gifted dancer and party girl; Dave, the B student who strives to meet his parents’ expectations; Calista, the hippie outcast who hides her intelligence for reasons of her own. Theirs is a world in which every action may become public—postable, shareable, indelible. With the rare talent that transforms teenage dramas into compelling and urgent fiction, Lindsey Lee Johnson makes vivid a modern adolescence lived in the gleam of the virtual, but rich with the sorrow, passion, and beauty of life in any time, and at any age.

Detached by Christina Kilbourne – Anna is not like other people. For one thing, she’s been an accomplished artist since she was a preschooler. For another, she’s always felt like she didn’t belong: not with other kids, not with her family, not in her body. It isn’t until her grandparents are killed in a tragic accident, however, that Anna starts to feel untethered. She begins to wonder what it would be like if she didn’t exist, and the thought of escaping the aimless drifting is the only thing that brings her comfort.
When Anna overdoses on prescription painkillers, doctors realize she has been suffering from depression and start looking for a way to help her out of the desperate black hole she never thought she would escape. It’s then that rock bottom comes into sight and the journey back to normal begins.

 

From Edelweiss

 

 

Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger – Twenty-year-old Finley Montgomery is rarely alone.  Visited by people whom others can’t see and haunted by prophetic dreams, she has never been able to control or understand the things that happen to her. When Finley’s abilities start to become too strong for her to handle – and even the roar of her motorcycle or another dazzling tattoo can’t drown out the voices – she turns to the only person she knows who can help her: her grandmother Eloise Montgomery, a renowned psychic living in The Hollows, New York.
Merri Gleason is a woman at the end of her tether after a ten-month-long search for her missing daughter, Abbey.  With almost every hope exhausted, she resorts to hiring Jones Cooper, a detective who sometimes works with psychic Eloise Montgomery.  Merri’s not a believer, but she’s just desperate enough to go down that road, praying that she’s not too late.  Time, she knows, is running out.
As a harsh white winter moves into The Hollows, Finley and Eloise are drawn into the investigation, which proves to have much more at stake than even the fate of a missing girl.  As Finley digs deeper into the town and its endless layers, she is forced to examine the past, even as she tries to look into the future.  Only one thing is clear: The Hollows gets what it wants, no matter what.

Harmony by Carolyn Parkhurst – How far will a mother go to save her family? The Hammond family is living in DC, where everything seems to be going just fine, until it becomes clear that the oldest daughter, Tilly, is developing abnormally–a mix of off-the-charts genius and social incompetence. Once Tilly–whose condition is deemed undiagnosable–is kicked out of the last school in the area, her mother Alexandra is out of ideas. The family turns to Camp Harmony and the wisdom of child behavior guru Scott Bean for a solution. But what they discover in the woods of New Hampshire will push them to the very limit. Told from the alternating perspectives of both Alexandra and her younger daughter Iris (the book’s Nick Carraway), this is a unputdownable story about the strength of love, the bonds of family, and how you survive the unthinkable.

Dessert First by Dean Gloster – Sixteen-year-old Kat Monroe’s twelve-year-old brother Beep has leukemia. For the second time. Which Kat learns just as she’s entering Albany High School on first day of her sophomore year. Kat is the family’s friendly liaison to the constant deluge of concerned inquiry: she’s cheerful, thankful and optimistic. Problems are past tense, obstacles are overcome and there’s always a plan to deal with the current situation. Her positive attitude is a huge lie: she can’t tell anyone how afraid she is, and how much she wants Beep to be okay and receive the bone marrow transplant he so desperately needs.
In between combating the mean girls at school, navigating a burgeoning relationship with her longtime best friend Evan, and exploring what it means to be adored by her handsome online Cancer help-group buddy Hunter, Kat finds out she’s a match: her bone marrow can be used for Beep’s transplant. Kat is terrified she’ll kill her brother instead of saving him. And if Beep dies, Kat doesn’t know if she would ever be able to recover. Through sarcasm, despair, hope and love, Kat tries to honor her brother’s wishes and always have fun and eat dessert first.

The Stand-In by Steve Bloom – When Brooks volunteered to be a stand-in for Burdette’s cousin who got stood up for Homecoming, it was with the noblest of intentions-helping a fellow human being, free of charge. But when he gets a tip of more than three hundred bucks, word spreads quickly and Brooks seizes the opportunity to offer his impeccable escort services to super-wealthy parents who want their daughters to experience those big social events of senior year.
Besides, Brooks could use the cash to hire a tutor to get admitted to Columbia University. So what if along the way he goes along with a few minor deceptions and cuts a few moral corners? What could be the harm?

 

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Books Read This Week

 

 

Even if the Sky Falls by Mia Garcia

100 Days of Cake by Shari Goldhagen

B.S. Incorporated by Jennifer Rock and Michael Voss

The Mirror Thief by Martin Seay

 

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 Books to be Read Next Week

 

 

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This Week in Review…

 

I worked around 80 hours this week to get ready to leave for BEA in just a few days! So, not much bookish happened cause I was stupid busy.

I will be hosting the April Wrap-Up Round-Up giveaway starting on May 8th. I love Nicole’s feature and can’t wait to be a part of it. You can check out the Round-Up over at Feed Your Fiction Addiction and you can see how my April went here.

I am taking a break from memes and discussion posts in May. I was posting between 14 and 17 posts a week and cannot continue that with real life, vacation and stuff. I will still continue with my weekly wrap-up, and if you really miss seeing me do something, please let me know. I will be re-evaluating at the end of May.

My blogiversary celebration has sadly ended, but it was a huge success and I want to thank everyone who participated. I had over 3,600 entries for all of the assorted giveaways, 5 amazing guest posts and almost tripled my blog followers and subscribers so I cannot wait to see what next year brings!

 

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Stuff I Enjoyed This Week…

 

Lexxie at (un) Conventional Book Views – On Memes

I don’t know how I missed this when it first started but I am so geeking out! – The West Wing Weekly

 

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United States of Books – This week’s book took us to Vermont with Songs In Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris.

 

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Up Next – May 10 , 2016 – Becky Jerams author of Reasons To Love a Nerd Like Me

May 24, 2016 – Kenneth Logan author of True Letters from a Fictional Life

 

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My Weekly Posts

 

• [1 May] The Outliers by Kimberly McCreight ★★★
• [2 May] United States of Books – Songs In Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris
• [2 May] The Last Good Girl by Allison Leotta ★★★★
• [3 May] Author Tuesday Countdown – Becky Jerams author of Reasons To Love a Nerd Like Me
• [3 May] The Last Time We Were Us by Leah Konen ★★★
• [3 May] Waiting on Wednesday – The Museum of Heartbreak by Meg Leder
• [4 May] Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman ★★★★½
• [5 May] Congratulations On Everything by Nathan Whitlock ★★★½
• [6 May] The Immortal Crown by Kieth Merrill ★★★★
• [7 May] Weekly Wrap-Up – May 7, 2016
• [7 May] Even If the Sky Falls by Mia Garcia ★★★★

 

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So how was your bookish week?

 

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This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

 

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