Books and Sensibility

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4.5 Star

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

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Release Date: 6/2/16

Audiobook Length :  8 Hours 25 minutes

Genre: Contemporary 

Publisher: Soho Press

The expectation to be happy can be overwhelming, but Aaron Soto is going to try. He is going to happily spend the summer hanging with  his friends, nerding out over comics and finally telling his girlfriend he loves her. He won’t think about the things that threaten his happiness like his father’s suicide or Tomas, a neighborhood boy whose friendship could spark something more. Looming in the background of this happy summer is the divisive Leteo Institute, a facility that claims that can make memories go away.

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Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

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  • Release Date: October 2, 2012
  • Pages: 336
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Publisher: Tor Books

Well, it’s time for to me fill my “Reading Outside of My Usual Genre” quota for the year.

I came across this book on NPR books where Amal El-Mohtar discussed how awesome the diverse covers for this book were and how Max Gladstone became one of his favorite authors. I had a Fantasy space in my Summer Book Bingo, so when I saw this was available on Scribd I started reading.


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Book Review : Oryx and Crake

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  • Release Date: March 30, 2004
  • Pages: 400
  • Genre: Dystopian
  • Publisher: Random House

I generally get most
of my Adult literary fiction recommendations from podcasts and one I’ve heard a lot
about is Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. I picked this up at my Indie book
store (shout out to Fountain Bookstore) after the bookseller told me how much she loved  Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale which I have but haven’t read yet….

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Audiobook Review: Noggin by John Corey Whaley

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  • Narrated by Kirby Heyborne
  • Release Date: April 8th 2014
  • Pages: 356
  • Audiobook Hours: 8 hours 45 minutes
  • Genre: Science Fiction ???
  • Publisher: Antheneum Books for Young Readers (Simon & Schuster)

 

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Book Review: I Hunt Killers

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“You won’t even know you’ve crossed the line until it’s way back in your rear view mirror.” ― Barry Lyga, I Hunt Killers

  • Release Date: April 3, 2012
  • Genre: Contemporary/Horror
  • Publisher: Little Brown for Young Readers
  • Pages: 359

Synopsis: What if the world’s worst serial killer…was your dad?Jasper (Jazz) Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. …In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret–could he be more like his father than anyone knows? 

The tagline on the front of this book pretty much tells you everything you need to know.What if the world’s worst serial killer was your dad ? This is the situation for Jasper “Jazz” Dent and guess what ? Bodies are piling up up again. I Hunt Killers is a grotesquely humorous novel that will leave you screaming to the end and then begging for more.

The set up for the novel reminded me a lot of Criminal Minds, so if you are a fan of that show, you will enjoy this novel. As for me ? I stopped watching that show so I could sleep at night. I Hunt Killers is pretty much run on And I Must Scream andHigh Octane Nightmare Fuel. This is especially evident seeing as most serial killer victims are young women and the people who read YA are well….yeah. To soften the impact there is a healthy dose of black comedy thrown in, but the humor peters out towards the end.

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Book Review: Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

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“I was horribly bookish, to the point of coming right out and saying it, which I knew was not socially acceptable. I particularly loved the adjective bookish, which I found other people used about as often as ramrod or chum or teetotaler.” ― David Levithan, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares

Synopsis: “I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

. . . Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Dash and Lily are two very different New York City teenagers whose lives become entangled by a red Moleskine notebook. Together they search for the meaning of family, love and the power of words. Dash and Lily is a quirky, fun contemporary that I think would be perfect for  Christmas time.

Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares is the sophomore contemporary romance from the writing duo best known for Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. I’ve never read any of Rachel Cohn, but from the two Levithan novels I’ve read this is exactly what I expect. A great novel with an interesting premise and a few laughs along the way. …

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