Always Me

Welcome to The Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by  Freda's Voice . These are the rules: 1. Grab a book, any book. 2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader. 3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. 4. Post it. 5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post. I'm also taking part in Book Beginnings, a weekly meme hosted by  Rose City Reader .  The rules are pretty simple - you share the first sentence or so and your initial thoughts, impressions, or whatever else it inspires.  Don't forget to link up your post's url with Rose City Reader. This week I'm spotlighting one of my next reads, Blur  ( Blur Trilogy #1) by Steven James . A library coworker recommended this YA Mystery/ Suspense novel which was released last year.  She said it's one of the better lesser-known novels she's read recently and she had me interested right away.   It sounds like it could be fasci...

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋   ❋ Cas Lowood works in the family business just like his dad did before he died a gruesome death - Cas kills the dangerous dead. He travels the country with his mother, a witch, their cat, which has the ability to sniff out spirits, and his mystical athame, a blade that puts ghosts down for good. Cas expects the usual when they're are on the trail of a ghost called Anna Dressed in Blood. Instead, he finds a ghost bound in curses and rage like no other he has ever encountered. This ghost has killed everyone foolish enough to step foot inside her home since her brutal murder in 1958, except one. For some reason, she spares Cas's life. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake is perfect for fans of television's Supernatural . There's a high chance you'll like it if you are a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer , too. This is pretty high praise coming from me seeing as those are a couple of my favorite tv shows. I mean, the main character is named Cas (shor...

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋ Gene isn't like everyone else. He can't run at lightning speed, sunlight doesn't bother him, and he doesn't have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene isn't a vampire, in fact he's one of the few surviving humans living in a dystopian world ruled by vampires. And, he's actually doing a fair job of disguising himself and living unsuspected among them. Things begin to go downhill when he is randomly selected by lottery to participate in the last Heper Hunt, captured humans that will be released and properly hunted by a select few. His carefully crafted ruse begins to fall apart as some of the hunters begin to become suspicious of this true nature. From the moment I heard about this series, I wanted to check it out. I mean, it's been billed as The Hunger Games with vampires, and to a degree that comparison holds. Either way, this novel is an intense thrill ride of a dystopian horror story. One of my favorite parts of this novel was seeing ...

❋  ❋  ❋ Mackie Doyle is a Replacement, a Changeling left in a baby's crib sixteen years ago. Usually, Replacements don't live through infancy due to allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, but somehow he did and he's still fighting to survive in the human world. Mackie would give anything to live a normal life, but when his girlfriend's baby sister goes missing he finds himself drawn into his town's dark underworld of magic and mayhem. It's time for Mackie Doyle to take his place in the world as one of us, or one of them. The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff has a lot of potential, but unfortunately not all of it is realized. I liked the eerie and creepy tone of the story and of course seeing how Mackie navigates the world. I was also interested in how the town tries its best not to talk about what they know of the fairy courts. In regards to the characters themselves, my favorites were Roswell and Emma. Those two were definitely people I would a...

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋   ❋ It's been twenty years since Elmbridge High burned down, killing three and leading to the disappearance of a student named Carly Johnson. The main suspect is Kaitlyn, "the girl of nowhere". Kaitlyn's charred diary was found in ruins and it reveals a sinister version of events leading up to the fire, plus a seriously disturbed mind. Kaitlyn appears to be the center of everything, but some claim she doesn't exist at all and that she is just the alter ego of Carly Johnson. Carly has the days, while Kaitlyn gets the nights. Dawn Kurtagich's debut novel entitled The Dead House is one of my favorite reads of 2015 and I was incredibly lucky to have won my copy through a giveaway hosted by Teenreads . This darkly imaginative story is unique, varied, and chaotic. Fortunately, these elements work well in the found footage format and it keeps the reader on the edge of their seat wondering at truth behind the mystery of Kaitlyn and Carly. I particul...

Happy Tuesday everyone and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish .  This week's theme is Debut Authors Who Have Me Looking Forward To Their Sophomore Novel or Sophomore Novels That I Loved Just As Much If Not More As The Author's Debut Novel.  I elected to go with the first option.  Below are 2014 or 2015 debut authors that I'm excited to see more from in the future.  Here we go, in alphabetical order: Courtney Alameda  - I loved her foray into horror and I'm really looking forward to Pitch Dark . Victoria Aveyard - While I wasn't 100% thrilled with Red Queen , I'm still hoping to continue the series with Glass Sword . Moira Fowley-Doyle  - I haven't heard of anything upcoming from this author yet, but I need more of her writing after The Accident Season . Robin Herrera  - There hasn't been any announcements of forthcoming work, but based on the strength of the above pictured MG n...

Happy Monday everyone and welcome to my third Music Monday! Let's share some songs we've been enjoying lately! If you would like to play and I really hope you do, please see the rules and link up below. Rules:  Every Monday share one or two of songs you've been enjoying lately.  It doesn't have to be a specific genre, new, or one of your favorites - just something you'd like to share with others.  If possible, share a music or lyric video of the song and your thoughts on the song(s), artist(s), and/or music video(s). If you would like to participate in Music Monday, please join the link up at the bottom of this post by sharing your post's url.  Finally, have fun sharing and discovering new to you music! This week I'm spotlighting a couple of songs that I've really been enjoying for the past few weeks.  Looking forward to hearing more by Firekid.  And listening to all of the covers of "The Peanut Vendor" that I can find. "Ma...