S.I. Mathews

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

This blog has moved to simathews.wordpress.com.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

[Review] Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

From Goodreads:
Can a text message destroy your life?

Carver Briggs never thought a simple text would cause a fatal crash, killing his three best friends, Mars, Eli, and Blake. Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident and even worse, there could be a criminal investigation into the deaths.

Then Blake’s grandmother asks Carver to remember her grandson with a ‘goodbye day’ together. Carver has his misgivings, but he starts to help the families of his lost friends grieve with their own memorial days, along with Eli’s bereaved girlfriend Jesmyn. But not everyone is willing to forgive. Carver’s own despair and guilt threatens to pull him under into panic and anxiety as he faces punishment for his terrible mistake. Can the goodbye days really help?

When I read a contemporary YA novel, I usually go into it with mild expectations because contemporary is such a broad category, and each book can be completely different from the next. If anyone follows me on Twitter or Goodreads, you probably saw me freakout over Jeff Zentner's debut novel The Serpent King. It was set near my hometown in Tennessee (with a few mentions of my hometown, no less), and it was hopeful, tragic, atmospheric, and I loved every minute of it. It also made me cry, which is a feat for any book to accomplish. It easily became one of my favorite contemporary YA novels of all time.

So when Stefani of Caught Read Handed sent out a general invitation to join an ARC tour for Zentner's next book, Goodbye Days, on her Twitter (thank you Stefani!!!), I jumped at the chance to read it. Like TSK, Goodbye Days is set in Tennessee and sounded even more tragic. Now knowing the quality of Zenter's writing and storytelling abilities, I knew that even if it didn't reach instant-favorite level, it would still be a good read.

But Zentner delivered again. I honestly don't know which book of his two I prefer more. Goodbye Days didn't make me cry, though it came close, and it book spoke to me in a different way than TSK. The Serpent King had a distinct, almost claustrophobic atmosphere made up of small-town life, the weight of hopes and dreams, the potential to live beyond the life we are born into, and senseless loss. All of those factors made the otherwise completely realistic story feel ethereal at times.

Goodbye Days differs in that there is no hazy distance between you and the stark reality of the tragedy in the book. The reality of heavy emotions starts on page one and never lets up. While grief and loss fill each chapter, Zentner also skillfully layers in laughter and hope. As we follow Carver through his coping, and not coping, with the loss of his best friends, we get to see flashbacks of him with the boys. Those moments were electric and alive, and even more than that, they were raw and mesmerizing in their simplicity and joy.

Just like in The Serpent King, Zentner's writing feels effortless but makes an impact. I flagged several lines in the text, many feeling like gut punches. The dialogue is on-point, and I loved how he integrated the setting of Nashville into the story. One of my favorite things about this book is how well Zentner represents what grief, anxiety, and panic attacks can feel like. Some of Carver's thoughts felt like they were pulled out of my own head, and his experience with panic attacks mirrored my own. Zentner also shows that getting professional help for mental issues can be helpful and useful, not stupid and pointless like a lot of YA books posit, and I'm glad Zentner included this purely positive representation.

When it came to the characters, I felt like I could relate to almost every one of them in some way or another. I highly identified with Carver and his struggles with mental health in the face of grief. All of the main characters and many of the side characters felt fully formed. The only exception for me was Jesmyn because she just didn't stick with me the way all the others did. Carver was definitely the closest to my heart, but my favorite character was his sister, Georgia. Some of her lines were laugh-out-loud worthy, and I loved her fierce love for her family and her confidence and wisdom. She is who I wish I was back when I was in college.

The only slight drawback of the book was a subplot revolving around Carver and Jesmyn. It wasn't bad, I just didn't feel that it fit perfectly into the story, and the resolution of it wasn't as satisfying as the emotional journey Carver experiences with the other characters and with himself. But due to the many, many wonderful lines and feelings-inducing scenes, this was just a blip in an overall amazing story.

My words do barely any justice in describing the experience of reading Goodbye Days. I can't express how much this book made me feel, and I'm not a re-reader, but I'll be picking this up again and again because it is that wonderful. Goodbye Days is an experience unto itself, and despite it being all about tragedy and grief, the ultimate feeling of hope and recovery make every potential tear worth it.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Obvi-ACE-ly

If you've read any number of young adult books, it comes as no surprise to find that there is often some kind of romantic plot/subplot within the text. Since I write YA books, there is some expectation of that in my stories as well. I plan to have (at least) one in my current project. I have my main character, A, and she is eventually going to wind up with boy Z.

Already I've got several little scenes of them falling for each other, but the more I thought about them riding off together at the end of the series, the more my gut was telling me something was off. I didn't question if they would remain together (they definitely will), but I couldn't see what their lives would be like at all.

I'm not one of those authors who knows the entire future of my characters post-book. I don't really feel a need to know, but I do need whatever conclusion I give them in the book to feel right, to feel true. When I started digging through my own brain, I realized the problem I was having with A and Z wasn't what was missing after the action of the books, but what was missing within the books.

I've never pictured A and Z kissing.

When I figured that out, other things became clear to me. They prefer to be touching if they can be, and hugging is their favorite. The love to laugh and banter, they help each other through trauma and pain, and by the end of the series they are deeply in love.

So why no kissing?

And then it was like a lightening bolt struck me on the head: A and Z are asexual. Everything fell into place when I used this word to describe them.

In case you don't know, I am gray-sexual or gray-ace, which is under the umbrella of asexuality. (If you want more detailed info on what all of that means, click HERE.) But it had never, not once, occurred to me that my main character and her final love interest could possibly be ace. I'd considered it with other characters, but not them.

I had been taking the sexuality (implied or explicit) found in the majority of YA love stories and applying it to A and Z, expecting them to fall in line. But why should they?

It seems like such an easy and obvious conclusion to come to, considering I'm ace myself, but it took me a while. I'm glad my characters, or my inner ace, put up enough fuss to show me where I was going wrong with A and Z's love story.

Hopefully I'll get to share them, in all their ace glory, with you eventually.

For more information on asexuality, please visit

The Asexual Visibility and Education Network.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

In the Shadow of Doubt

I don't know anyone who isn't touched by the political and social turmoil going on in the country right now. For me, the disappointment and anger at the election, the subsequent awful things happening within our government, and the continual worry that marginalized people are not going to be protected have weighed heavy in my mind for months.

I've tried to be proactive about my worry: protesting, making calls and writing letters to my representatives, joining organizations that help marginalized people, donating when I can, being present at events to show support to people who need it.

The work of pushing back at all the bad I see is not that exhausting because being with other people who are also working to those ends is encouraging and invigorating (being an ambivert does have its advantages). But the worry, the mental strain, and the necessary constant vigilance is like air drying out clay, making me brittle and crumbly all around (shout out to Mad Eye Moody - no wonder he was a little cracked). All of this is in addition to my personal life, which has seen its fair share of extra stress lately. I already deal with anxiety, panic attacks, and depression, and the combined strain of everything near and far is making it difficult to keep it (me) together.

So how in the world am I supposed to write? This is a question I've seen many writers struggling with. And like many, I am in a valley, not on a mountaintop, when it comes to my relationship with writing. Which leads me to a scarier question:

Am I cut out to be a writer at all?

This valley that I mentioned, I feel like I've been in it for a while. If you name a method of writing, of ways to get words on the page, I've tried it. Nothing, literally not one of them, has stuck. Even in days of less stress and worry, I'm terrible about actually doing the work. Maybe it's just that my life and my brain are too scattered and messy for anything resembling discipline, plans, and good habits.

Or maybe...maybe I just can't hack it.

Maybe I'm not supposed to be a writer.

And that, my friends, is a terrible thought. If I'm not supposed to be a writer, why do I have stories and characters and scenes filling my brain when they get a chance? I may not have a great process that helps me fill blank pages, but planning what I'm going to write and creating characters and settings and plot lines is something I do all the time.

So I don't think I could ever stop being a writer, even if I tried to quit. Knowing that is nice, but it doesn't help me with my main problem: the physical act of writing, specifically, finishing a novel. It is quite possible that I'm not cut out to write novels. It is a lot, a lot, a lot of work, and as I said before, my life and brain are not wired to do anything that requires good habits and personal discipline. But I still love doing it, even if I'm not great at getting it done.

When I dug deeper, I realized I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to conform to this idea that I have of what being a writer is, and that by not living up to that imagined standard, I've opened up this floodgate of guilt and doubt. I've structured my life in such a way that the things that I believe need doing, for both the wider world and the people in my life, should take the top priority, not writing.

But if writing isn't my most important thing, does that mean it is just my hobby? Does that mean I don't take it seriously enough? Does that mean that because I don't treat writing like a job, I won't ever "make it" (whatever that means to me)?

These questions bothered me until I removed the self-imposed pressure. And once removed, the answer I discovered was: Who cares! So what if my writing looks like just a hobby on the outside; I know I take it seriously, even if I can't devote as much time to it as I wish I could. I also know that I'd rather my novel take me way longer to complete than to give it up all together.

So I've decided to stop pressuring myself to be the kind of writer that I am not and to stop feeling guilty when things aren't happening as quickly as I would like them to. I know what kind of outcome I would like to see when I finish my novel, and I've set goals for myself, but I have also made peace with the fact that this valley may be all I experience for a while.

I've decided to enjoy the journey instead of fretting about when it will end. I will do what I set out to accomplish, even if it takes longer than my doubt tells me it should.

Doubting myself is okay, but I won't allow my doubts to tell me who or what I am.

I am a writer, one thought, one word, at a time.

Monday, September 5, 2016

Reading Challenge Update [July-August 2016]

Moving right along! I'm almost at my goal for my GoodReads challenge, but I've got some catching up to do on the others. ^_^

These Months: 26 books
Total: 73/80

The Books:

July
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1) by Douglas Adams

These Months: 2 books

Total: 14/40

The Categories/Books:

July

a book recommended by someone you just met: Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk

August

a book from the library: Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty by Christine Heppermann

These Months: 11 TBR books

Total: 21/30

The Books:

July

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1) by Douglas Adams

14 (Taylor Jackson #2) by J.T. Ellison

The Fall of the Hotel Dumort (The Bane Chronicles #7) by Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson
What to Buy the Shadowhunter Who Has Everything (The Bane Chronicles #8) by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan
The Last Stand of the New York Institute (The Bane Chronicles #9) by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Maureen Johnson
The Course of True Love (The Bane Chronicles #10) by Cassandra Clare
The Voicemail of Magnus Bane (The Bane Chronicles #11) by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Maureen Johnson
The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Maureen Johnson
August
Seraphina (Seraphina #1) by Rachel Hartman
Before the Fall: Arrival (Embassy Row #0.5) by Ally Carter
Bitter Sweet Love (The Dark Elements #0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

These Months: 1 book

Total: 2/12

The Categories/Books:

July
a book you've already read at least once:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1) by Douglas Adams

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

ANDROMEDA by Meg Trotter REVIEW TOUR!

Now available! Buy the ebook of ANDROMEDA for $2.99 HERE!

Title: Andromeda ~~ Author: Meg Trotter

Series: God-Haunted ~~ Release Date: 07/12/2016

Source: publicist

FTC Disclosure: I accepted this review copy free of charge and received no compensation for my fair and honest review.

From Goodreads:

For as long as she can remember, seventeen-year-old Princess Andromeda has done what was expected of her. She consented to a political marriage to a hateful older man. She became a quiet, obedient housewife. After her husband’s death, she agreed to be united in yet another political marriage for the sake of her country’s stability.

However, when the Greek goddess of the sea disrupts this second wedding ceremony, jealous of the pomp of the celebration, she places a curse on Andromeda and her home: either sacrifice the princess to a sea beast or let the creature destroy her country. A visit to the Oracle reveals that Andromeda needs four ancient weapons of the Greek gods to fight off the beast and the goddess who controls it.

Now Andromeda must find the strength and the cunning to do what she has never done before — to fight for her own life — while keeping the well-meaning “hero” Perseus out of her way.

PREFACE:

I am extremely excited to be writing this review. If you've been around this blog for a while, you've seen many mentions of my bestie Meg of Myth-illogical. This is her book! Yay! I'm so glad to be able to share with you all my love of this book. I've loved it for years, but next month (NOW! IT'S OUT NOW!) it will finally be available for all to read. Meg isn't my friend that just happened to write a book - she is a (great!) writer that became my friend (we met at a creative writing group of which we two were the youngest and instantly bonded over our love of Harry Potter and love/hate of Twilight).

So let's get to the business where I tell you how awesome Andromeda is!

WRITING:

From the get-go, information, description, dialogue, and voice are all balanced to paint a vivid picture of every scene. It felt like I had a movie playing in my head, a movie that was funny, interesting, and exciting. No dialogue or description felt extraneous, I felt the tension of the action scenes, and I simply did not want to put it down (and considering I had read many previous versions, that's saying something!).

SETTING:

There is a lot of YA involving Greek mythology out there, but I've not come across many that are set in the original time period, probably because it's hard to get right. I know how much research went in to this novel because of this, and it was 100% worth it. I was blown away by how easily I could imagine every place.

A lot of the time, setting is something that is just in the background that I don't pay much attention to, but in Andromeda the settings almost felt alive. As I mentioned before, the amount of description was just right and made me feel like I was right there with the characters. I have a hard time picking which setting was my favorite, but it's probably between the Underworld, Medusa's island, Delphi. I also loved the scenes at the Parthenon, but I've been to the replica Parthenon in Nashville many times so I feel like it has an unfair advantage.

CHARACTERS:

Speaking of characters, I love this cast so much. Andromeda is right at the top of favorite YA heroines for me. She is stuck in a terrible situation, and once she breaks free of it, she does absolutely everything in her power to keep that freedom. She refuses to wait around on the "heroes" to save or help her. I loved every moment when she gave a man what-for because she wasn't being proper, pointing out that she had bigger things to worry about than proprieties. And while being a grade-A bad-ass, she is also caring and compassionate.

Perseus is a character made of more quiet strength than Andromeda. He tries to do what is right, is respectful and sensitive, but when someone he cares for is hurt, watch out! I loved how ready he was to jump into any fray and how, despite being doubted by everyone around him, rose to each occasion. I loved that he was both physically and morally strong without being a macho-tough-guy.

Zeth was probably the most surprising character for me. He comes across as typical of the time-period, valuing heroes and dismissive of anything a woman could offer on something like a dangerous quest. He's also a poet and his attempts at recording the trio's adventures were hilarious and so very wrong. I loved his buddy relationship with Perseus and how he and Andromeda bickered every chance they got. He also had the most growth of the characters, and that was really nice to see.

The villain of the story, Amphitrite, is a little on the typical side for a bad guy, but considering she is a Greek goddess, she was right on par for what you'd expect of that lot. But my favorite thing about her was her physical description, which sounds weird, but it was one of the coolest ways to present a character that I've ever seen and I loved it.

Beyond the main cast, all of the other characters felt fully-formed, from Andromeda's friends and family to the various gods and goddesses and monsters. But there is one other character that I can't go without mentioning because my love for him knows no bounds: Hades. He only has a very small part in this story, but from my very first glimpse of this novel, I have loved Hades. I've literally been saying I HEART HADES for years because of this book. I cannot wait to read more of his snarky wit in future novels.

DOWNSIDE:

The only minor thing I found while reading this is that Andromeda gets hurt. A lot. Granted, a lot of the injuries happen while she is fighting or something like that, but she's also very jumpy. Thinking a bit more on it now, it could be because of her life with her first husband, which if so, is really sad and further goes to show how strong she is.

COOL STUFF:

Beyond Hades being the coolest of the cool, I absolutely loved every little wink to Greek mythology, especially when the characters would say something off-hand that referenced the original Perseus myth. Between that, the humor, and the many well-thought out actions scenes, I was giddy while reading this book. It was just so much fun while still being surprising in how it differed from the source material.

VERDICT:

If you couldn't tell by my gushing all over this review, I love this book. The great writing, fantastic settings, action aplenty, and fun twists make this a book not to miss. Andromeda is the epitome of an amazing heroine, being cunning, kind, and feisty simultaneously, and the dynamics between her, Perseus, and Zeth make them a trio I want to adventure with again and again and again.

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Reading Challenge Update [February - June 2016]

I got a little preoccupied with life and forgot to post my reading updates. I feel like I haven't read all that much, but somehow, I'm still on track with my overall goal for the year. The other challenges . . . not so much.

GoodReads Reading Challenge

These Months: 38 books
Total: 47/80

The Books:
February

Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story by John Berendt

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day

The One-of-a-Kind Cat Book by Ciye Cho

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
March

The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co #1) by Jonathan Stroud

What's the Opposite? (The Hueys) by Oliver Jeffers

The Whispering Skull (Lockwood & Co #2) by Jonathan Stroud
The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith
The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith
The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium #2) by Stieg Larsson
April
When the Bough Breaks (Alex Delaware #1) by Jonathan Kellerman
Stars Above (The Lunar Chronicles #4.5) by Marissa Meyer
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millennium #3) by Stieg Larsson
Blood Test (Alex Delaware #2) by Jonathan Kellerman
Over the Edge (Alex Delaware #3) by Jonathan Kellerman
Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3) by Robert Galbraith
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
Silent Partner (Alex Delaware #4) by Jonathan Kellerman
Time Bomb (Alex Delaware #5) by Jonathan Kellerman
Private Eyes (Alex Delaware #6) by Jonathan Kellerman
May
Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare
Devil's Waltz (Alex Delaware #7) by Jonathan Kellerman
Sandry's Book (Circle of Magic #1) by Tamora Pierce
All the Pretty Girls (Taylor Jackson #1) by J.T. Ellison
Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson
Tris's Book (Circle of Magic #2) by Tamora Pierce
Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini
June
Andromeda (The God-Haunted Saga #1) by Meg Trotter
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright
That's Not My Penguin... by Fiona Watt
That's Not My Dinosaur by Fiona Watt
The Future Collection: Science Fiction Short Stories by Beth Revis
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Daja's Book (Circle of Magic #3) by Tamora Pierce
Where's My Nose? by Susan Ring
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh

These Months: 6
Total: 12/40

The Categories/Books:
February
a book written by a celebrity: You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day
a book written by a comedian: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
March
a book translated into English: The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium #2) by Stieg Larsson
a New York Times bestseller: The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith
April
a book set in your home state (Tennessee): The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
June
a book that is under 150 pages: The Future Collection: Science Fiction Short Stories by Beth Revis

These Months: 7 TBR Books
Total: 10/30

The Books:
February
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story by John Berendt
March

The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co #1) by Jonathan Stroud

The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith
The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith
The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium #2) by Stieg Larsson
April
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millennium #3) by Stieg Larsson
June
The Future Collection: Science Fiction Short Stories by Beth Revis

These Months: 0
Total: 1/12

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Andromeda (God-Haunted #1) by Meg Trotter

Title: Andromeda ~~ Author: Meg Trotter

Series: God-Haunted ~~ Release Date: 07/12/2016

Source: publicist

FTC Disclosure: I accepted this review copy free of charge and received no compensation for my fair and honest review.

From Goodreads:

For as long as she can remember, seventeen-year-old Princess Andromeda has done what was expected of her. She consented to a political marriage to a hateful older man. She became a quiet, obedient housewife. After her husband’s death, she agreed to be united in yet another political marriage for the sake of her country’s stability.

However, when the Greek goddess of the sea disrupts this second wedding ceremony, jealous of the pomp of the celebration, she places a curse on Andromeda and her home: either sacrifice the princess to a sea beast or let the creature destroy her country. A visit to the Oracle reveals that Andromeda needs four ancient weapons of the Greek gods to fight off the beast and the goddess who controls it.

Now Andromeda must find the strength and the cunning to do what she has never done before — to fight for her own life — while keeping the well-meaning “hero” Perseus out of her way.

PREFACE:

I am extremely excited to be writing this review. If you've been around this blog for a while, you've seen many mentions of my bestie Meg of Myth-illogical. This is her book! Yay! I'm so glad to be able to share with you all my love of this book. I've loved it for years, but next month it will finally be available for all to read. Meg isn't my friend that just happened to write a book - she is a (great!) writer that became my friend (we met at a creative writing group of which we two were the youngest and instantly bonded over our love of Harry Potter and love/hate of Twilight).

So let's get to the business where I tell you how awesome Andromeda is!

WRITING:

SETTING:

A lot of the time, setting is something that is just in the background that I don't pay much attention to, but in Andromeda the settings almost felt alive. As I mentioned before, the amount of description was just right and made me feel like I was right there with the characters. I have a hard time picking which setting was my favorite, but it's probably between the Underworld, Medusa's island, Delphi. I also loved the scenes at the Parthenon, but I've been to the replica Parthenon in Nashville many times so I feel like it has an unfair advantage.

CHARACTERS:

The villain of the story, Amphitrite, is a little on the typical side for a bad guy, but considering she is a Greek goddess, she was right on par for what you'd expect of that lot. But my favorite thing about her was her physical description, which sounds weird, but it was one of the coolest ways to present a character that I've ever seen and I loved it.

DOWNSIDE:

COOL STUFF:

VERDICT:

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Reading Challenge Update [January 2016]

Another year, another set of reading challenges! I'm doing four this year: Goodreads Reading Challenge, my own TBR Take-Down, the Popsugar Reading Challenge, and Modern Mrs. Darcy's Reading Challenge. Thankfully Popsugar's challenge is forty books instead of fifty this year, so that's helpful, and I'll be trying to read books that can apply to multiple lists. Here's to another year of books!

This Month: 9 books

The Books:

The Guild (The Guild #1) by Felicia Day, Jim Rugg and Dan Jackson

A Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren

Go the F--k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach and Ricardo Cortés

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #1) by Jenny Han

The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh

T-Rex Trying by Hugh Murphy

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

This Month: 6 books

Total: 6/40

The Categories/Books:

a YA bestseller: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

a self-improvement book: Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

a book you can finish in a day: T-Rex Trying by Hugh Murphy

a political memoir: A Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren

a graphic novel: The Guild (The Guild #1) by Felicia Day, Jim Rugg and Dan Jackson

a book about a culture you're unfamiliar with: The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh

This Month: 3 TBR books

Total: 3/30

The Books:

To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #1) by Jenny Han

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

This Month: 1 book

Total: 1/12

The Categories/Books:

a book you can finish in a day: T-Rex Trying by Hugh Murphy

Friday, January 1, 2016

2015 Reading Challenge Summary: Goodreads Reading Challenge

Challenge: Read 75 Books

Total: 90

Status: Completed

The Books:

Shalena's bookshelf: read-2015

The Prince of Mist

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

tagged:
read-2015, ya, historical, from-library, magic, pub-before-2010, pa...

Blue Lily, Lily Blue

by Maggie Stiefvater

tagged:
ya, ghosts, creatures, from-library, historical-elements, immortals...

Emerald Green

by Kerstin Gier

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, ya, fun, ghosts, historical-elements, magi...

My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

by Stephanie Perkins

tagged:
from-library, ya, fun, read-2015, pub-2014, new-adult, and short-st...

The Midnight Palace

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

tagged:
read-2015, ya, from-library, creatures, ghosts, historical, gothic,...

Paper Valentine

by Brenna Yovanoff

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, ghosts, ya, mystery, own, pub-2013, parano...

The Watcher in the Shadows

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, creatures, ya, gothic, historical, magic, ...

Anatomy of a Misfit

by Andrea Portes

tagged:
contemporary, read-2015, from-library, ya, pub-2014, tough-subjects...

Sinner

by Maggie Stiefvater

tagged:
read-2015, paranormal, from-library, ya, pub-2014, series, shifters...

Allegiant

by Veronica Roth

tagged:
read-2015, dystopian, from-library, ya, futuristic, own, pub-2013, ...

Rebel Belle

by Rachel Hawkins

tagged:
read-2015, fun, from-library, ya, historical-elements, magic, pub-2...

Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Brontë

tagged:
read-2015, adult, adult-ya-crossover, boarding-school, classic, fav...

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

by J.K. Rowling

tagged:
read-2015, creatures, fantasy, ya, fun, historical-elements, magic,...

Quidditch Through the Ages

by Kennilworthy Whisp

tagged:
read-2015, fantasy, ya, historical-elements, mg, magic, own, pub-be...

The Tempest

by William Shakespeare

tagged:
read-2015, classic, mythology, magic, own, supernatural, witches, p...

Certain Girls

by Jennifer Weiner

tagged:
read-2015, adult, adult-ya-crossover, ya, contemporary, pub-before-...

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

by Erik Larson

tagged:
historical, read-2015, non-fiction, from-library, own, and pub-2011

Warm Bodies

by Isaac Marion

tagged:
read-2015, adult-ya-crossover, from-library, fun, futuristic, ya, n...

The School for Good and Evil

by Soman Chainani

tagged:
read-2015, creatures, boarding-school, ya, fairy-tale, fantasy, fey...

The Bell Jar

by Sylvia Plath

tagged:
read-2015, adult-ya-crossover, ya, adult, classic, favorites, from-...

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

by Neil Gaiman

tagged:
read-2015, adult-ya-crossover, fairy-tale, creatures, fantasy, horr...

Brown Girl Dreaming

by Jacqueline Woodson

tagged:
read-2015, ya, from-library, mg, non-fiction, travel, historical-el...

Through the Woods

by Emily Carroll

tagged:
read-2015, adult-ya-crossover, adult, ya, creatures, fantasy, fairy...

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary, ya, adult-ya-crossover, favorites, from-li...

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future

by A.S. King

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, contemporary-with-a-twist, ya, historical-...

Gabi, a Girl in Pieces

by Isabel Quintero

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, contemporary, ya, pub-2014, tough-subjects...

Columbine

by Dave Cullen

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, non-fiction, favorites, tough-subjects, pu...

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

by Tom Franklin

tagged:
read-2015, adult-ya-crossover, adult, contemporary, mystery, pub-be...

Wanderlove

by Kirsten Hubbard

tagged:
read-2015, ya, diverse-characters, contemporary, from-library, fun,...

Belzhar

by Meg Wolitzer

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary, ya, boarding-school, from-library, contemp...

Impulse

by Ellen Hopkins

tagged:
read-2015, boarding-school, ya, from-library, own, pub-before-2010,...

A World Without Princes

by Soman Chainani

tagged:
read-2015, ya, boarding-school, fairy-tale, fantasy, from-library, ...

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

by Becky Albertalli

tagged:
read-2015, diverse-characters, ya, contemporary, favorites, from-li...

Faking Normal

by Courtney C. Stevens

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, contemporary, own, religion-spirituality, ...

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

tagged:
contemporary, ya, diverse-characters, lgbtq, read-2015, from-librar...

Bellweather Rhapsody

by Kate Racculia

tagged:
read-2015, ya, adult, adult-ya-crossover, contemporary, diverse-cha...

Dancing Barefoot

by Wil Wheaton

tagged:
read-2015, short-stories, non-fiction, memoir, pub-before-2010, wri...

The Girl on the Train

by Paula Hawkins

tagged:
read-2015, mystery, contemporary, adult, scribd, thriller, and pub-...

Haunted

by Meg Cabot

tagged:
read-2015, fun, ghosts, ya, mystery, paranormal, pub-before-2010, s...

How to Write Fiction Without the Fuss

by Lucy McCarraher

tagged:
read-2015, pub-2013, reference, scribd, and writing

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

by Susanna Clarke

tagged:
adult, read-2015, alternate-universe, fey-faeries-fairies, from-lib...

Halloween Rain

by Christopher Golden

tagged:
read-2015, ya, angels-demons, creatures, fun, magic, own, paranorma...

The Goldfinch

by Donna Tartt

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary, adult-ya-crossover, adult, from-library, h...

Mosquitoland

by David Arnold

tagged:
read-2015, ya, contemporary, diverse-characters, from-library, toug...

Speak

by Laurie Halse Anderson

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, own, pub-before-2010, ya, contemporary, an...

Twilight

by Meg Cabot

tagged:
read-2015, fun, ya, favorites, ghosts, historical-elements, mystery...

Foundation

by Isaac Asimov

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, futuristic, classic, own, pub-before-2010,...

A Long Fatal Love Chase

by Louisa May Alcott

tagged:
classic, read-2015, historical, own, pub-before-2010, religion-spir...

4 to 16 Characters

by Kelly Hourihan

tagged:
ya, read-2015, contemporary, netgalley, pub-2013, tough-subjects, a...

Wuthering Heights

by Emily Brontë

tagged:
read-2015, adult-ya-crossover, ghosts, classic, gothic, own, pub-be...

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

by Avi

tagged:
mg, own, historical, read-before-2010, pub-before-2010, read-2015, ...

Attachments

by Rainbow Rowell

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary, from-library, adult, fun, and pub-2011

Boundless

by Cynthia Hand

tagged:
read-2015, college, ya, angels-demons, paranormal, religion-spiritu...

Jekel Loves Hyde

by Beth Fantaskey

tagged:
read-2015, ya, mystery, own, creatures, shifters, paranormal, super...

The Emperor's Edge

by Lindsay Buroker

tagged:
read-2015, creatures, fantasy, adult, fun, high-fantasy, magic, mys...

A Million Suns

by Beth Revis

tagged:
read-2015, ya, futuristic, mystery, own, pub-2012, series, and scie...

Racing Savannah

by Miranda Kenneally

tagged:
read-2015, ya, from-library, contemporary, fun, pub-2013, and series

Wither

by Lauren DeStefano

tagged:
dystopian, from-library, ya, read-2015, own, pub-2011, futuristic, ...

All Fall Down

by Ally Carter

tagged:
read-2015, ya, alternate-universe, contemporary, from-library, high...

Fever

by Lauren DeStefano

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, ya, dystopian, futuristic, own, pub-2012, ...

Afterworlds

by Scott Westerfeld

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary, ya, contemporary-with-a-twist, diverse-cha...

Sever

by Lauren DeStefano

tagged:
read-2015, dystopian, futuristic, pub-2013, own, travel, and ya

Once We Were

by Kat Zhang

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, alternate-universe, ya, pub-2013, own, ser...

Monster

by Walter Dean Myers

tagged:
read-2015, diverse-characters, ya, contemporary, own, poc-author, p...

Dracula

by Bram Stoker

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, own, classic, paranormal, religion-spiritu...

John Ball's In the Heat of the Night

by Matt Pelfrey

tagged:
read-2015, historical, classic, adult, mystery, own, play, tough-su...

Bone Gap

by Laura Ruby

tagged:
read-2015, ya, magical-realism, from-library, pub-2015, travel, and...

Mrs. Dalloway

by Virginia Woolf

tagged:
read-2015, classic, from-library, historical, and pub-before-2010

Saint Anything

by Sarah Dessen

tagged:
read-2015, ya, contemporary, from-library, and pub-2015

A Really Awesome Mess

by Trish Cook

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary, ya, boarding-school, from-library, pub-201...

Walk Two Moons

by Sharon Creech

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary, ya, from-library, travel, and pub-before-2010

Fairest

by Marissa Meyer

tagged:
fairy-tale, aliens, ya, read-2015, futuristic, from-library, pub-20...

Beauty Queens

by Libba Bray

tagged:
from-library, ya, high-concept, satire, pub-2011, read-2015, contem...

Cat on the Edge

by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary-with-a-twist, adult, from-library, fun, mag...

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

by Rachel Cohn

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary, diverse-characters, ya, from-library, fun,...

Book of Shadows

by Cate Tiernan

tagged:
magic, ya, series, pub-before-2010, read-2010, from-library, religi...

The Coven

by Cate Tiernan

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, ya, historical-elements, magic, mythology,...

Marly's Ghost

by David Levithan

tagged:
read-2015, ghosts, ya, lgbtq-author, own, paranormal, supernatural,...

Marcelo in the Real World

by Francisco X. Stork

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary, diverse-characters, ya, from-library, pub-...

The Haunting of Hill House

by Shirley Jackson

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, classic, adult, ghosts, own, horror, paran...

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

by Mary E. Pearson

tagged:
read-2015, ya, from-library, futuristic, own, pub-before-2010, scie...

Shooter

by Walter Dean Myers

tagged:
read-2015, diverse-characters, contemporary, ya, own, poc-author, p...

Winter

by Marissa Meyer

tagged:
read-2015, ya, aliens, fairy-tale, diverse-characters, from-library...

Splintered

by A.G. Howard

tagged:
read-2015, creatures, ya, fantasy, fey-faeries-fairies, from-librar...

Being Sloane Jacobs

by Lauren Morrill

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary, ya, from-library, fun, high-concept, own, ...

The Naturals

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

tagged:
read-2015, ya, from-library, contemporary, mystery, high-concept, o...

The Dear One

by Jacqueline Woodson

tagged:
read-2015, contemporary, ya, diverse-characters, own, lgbtq, poc-au...

Hush

by Jacqueline Woodson

tagged:
read-2015, diverse-characters, ya, contemporary, own, pub-before-20...

Mind Games

by Kiersten White

tagged:
read-2015, from-library, ya, diverse-characters, own, paranormal, p...

Unbreakable

by Kami Garcia

tagged:
read-2015, ya, angels-demons, horror, from-library, ghosts, mytholo...

Pages

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

[Review] Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Obvi-ACE-ly

Saturday, February 11, 2017

In the Shadow of Doubt

Monday, September 5, 2016

Reading Challenge Update [July-August 2016]

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

ANDROMEDA by Meg Trotter REVIEW TOUR!

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Reading Challenge Update [February - June 2016]

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Andromeda (God-Haunted #1) by Meg Trotter

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Reading Challenge Update [January 2016]

Friday, January 1, 2016

2015 Reading Challenge Summary: Goodreads Reading Challenge

Shalena's bookshelf: read-2015

Currently Reading