Ash Reads Stuff

Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara Publication Date: December 3, 2013 Pages: 342 (paperback) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating:  3.5 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: Wren Wells is trying to outrun the accident that killed her boyfriend and wrecked her plans to live a normal life. Instead of going to college, she retreats to her father's isolated art studio. There, in the remote northern woods of Maine, she meets Cal Owen, a boy who wears his own hurt like a badge. But when their connection threatens Wren's hard won isolation, she has to choose: open up her broken heart or join the ghosts who haunt her. My Review:  This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while and, in an effort to actually read some of the books I already own, I picked it up.  Wren (also known as Mamie, to some) has suffered a tragedy and has separated herself from her old life. She's off in the woods of Maine, sleeping and running and not doing much else. At first glance W...

Hi again! I'm still playing around with titles and graphics for this place. (I don't happen to be very tech-savvy, oops.) Anywho, it's the books that count, right? I'm pretty excited that I remembered to do this post, actually. There wasn't a lot of reading done in the month of March, but I read some good books- in my opinion, of course.  Five Star Reads: Four Star Reads:   Three Star Reads :      I also discovered Blogging for Books this month and had ARCs from NetGalley and LibraryThing . I love all these sites that basically let me do what I love for free! Here's a look at what I'm currently reading and what I'm looking forward to read this month! Currently Reading: This one is pretty heavy. It's taking me a while to get through.  (I'm also alternating between reading this and watching Arrow and Daredevil.)  Next Up: What are you reading?  This guy.

I love a good Top Ten Tuesday , a weekly feature brought to you by The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is "Top Ten of Your Latest Five Star Reads" so only the good stuff in this post! Apparently I don't give out a lot of five star reviews, so some of these were read within the last year. Enjoy! I love watching a family work its way back together.  So sweet.  \ Will forever be one of my favorite YA books. The swoons.  So much truth.  Autum is a must read author for me.  #1-#21 were pretty awesome also.  This one broke me.  Make sure you read the first two!  So beautiful.  Well, there it is. What are some of your favorites? 

Where the Stars Still Shine  by Trish Doller Publication Date: September 24, 2013 Pages: 352 (hardcover) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: Stolen as a child from her large and loving family, and on the run with her mom for more than ten years, Callie has only the barest idea of what normal life might be like. She's never had a home, never gone to school, and has gotten most of her meals from laundromat vending machines. Her dreams are haunted by memories she’d like to forget completely. But when Callie’s mom is finally arrested for kidnapping her, and Callie’s real dad whisks her back to what would have been her life, in a small town in Florida, Callie must find a way to leave the past behind. She must learn to be part of a family. And she must believe that love--even with someone who seems an improbable choice--is more than just a possibility. Trish Doller writes incredibly real teens, and this searing story of love, betrayal...

Not If I See You First  by Eric Lindstrom Publication Date:  December 1, 2015 Pages: 310 (hardcover) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: The Rules: Don’t deceive me. Ever. Especially using my blindness. Especially in public. Don’t help me unless I ask. Otherwise you're just getting in my way or bothering me. Don’t be weird. Seriously, other than having my eyes closed all the time, I’m just like you only smarter. Parker Grant doesn’t need 20/20 vision to see right through you. That’s why she created the Rules: Don’t treat her any differently just because she’s blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart. When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after being gone for years, Parker knows there’s only one way to react—shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind already, like trying out for the track team (that’s right, her eyes don’t work but her l...

Keep Me Posted  by Lisa Beazley Publication Date:  April 5, 2016 Pages: 320 (kindle) Genre:  Women's Fiction My Goodreads Rating:  4 Stars NetGalley Synopsis: Two sisters share the surprising highs and cringe-worthy lows of social media fame, when their most private thoughts become incredibly public in this fresh and funny debut novel. Sisters Cassie and Sid Sunday have not done a bang-up job of keeping in touch. In their defense, it hasn't been easy: life veered in sharply different directions for the once-close sisters. Today, beautiful and big-hearted Sid lives an expat's life of leisure in far-off Singapore, while harried, iPhone-clutching Cassie can't seem to make it work as a wife and a mom to twin toddlers in Manhattan. It doesn't help that Sid spurns all social media while Cassie is addicted to Facebook. So when Sid issues a challenge to reconnect the old-fashioned way—through real, handwritten letters—Cassie figures, why not? The experiment e...

Wreck and Order  by Hannah Tennant-Moore Publication Date: February 9, 2016 Pages: 304 Genre: Fiction My Goodreads Rating: 2 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: Decisively aimless, self-destructive, and impulsively in and out of love, Elsie is a young woman who feels stuck. She has a tumultuous relationship with an abusive boyfriend, a dead-end job at a newspaper, and a sharp intelligence that’s constantly at odds with her many bad decisions. When her initial attempts to improve her life go awry, Elsie decides that a dramatic change is the only solution. An auto-didact who prefers the education of travel to college, Elsie uses an inheritance to support her as she travels to Paris and Sri Lanka, hoping to accumulate experiences, create connections, and discover a new way to live. Along the way, she meets men and women who challenge and provoke her towards the change she genuinely hopes to find. But in the end, she must still come face-to-face with herself. Whole-hearted, fiercel...

Unhooked  by Lisa Maxwell Publication Date: February 2, 2016 Pages:  342 (hardcover Genre:  Young Adult My Goodreads Rating:  4 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: For as long as she can remember, Gwendolyn Allister has never had a place to call home—all because her mother believes that monsters are hunting them. Now these delusions have brought them to London, far from the life Gwen had finally started to build for herself. The only saving grace is her best friend, Olivia, who’s coming with them for the summer. But when Gwen and Olivia are kidnapped by shadowy creatures and taken to a world of flesh-eating sea hags and dangerous Fey, Gwen realizes her mom might have been sane all along. The world Gwen finds herself in is called Neverland, yet it’s nothing like the stories. Here, good and evil lose their meaning and memories slip like water through her fingers. As Gwen struggles to remember where she came from and find a way home, she must choose between tru...

North of Here by Laurel Saville Publication Date: March 1, 2016 Pages:  241 (kindle) Genre:  Fiction My Goodreads Rating: 3.5   Stars NetGalley Summary: The sounds of unexpected tragedies—a roll of thunder, the crash of metal on metal—leave Miranda in shock amid the ruins of her broken family. As she searches for new meaning in her life, Miranda finds quiet refuge with her family’s handyman, Dix, in his cabin in the dark forests of the Adirondack Mountains. Dix is kind, dependable, and good with an ax—the right man to help the sheltered Miranda heal—but ultimately, her sadness creates a void even Dix can’t fill. When a man from her distant past turns up, the handsome idealist now known as Darius, he offers Miranda a chance to do meaningful work at The Source, a secluded property filled with his nature worshipers. Miranda feels this charismatic guru is the key to remaking her life, but her grief and desire for love also create an opportunity for his de...

When I'm Gone  by Emily Bleeker Publication Date: March 15, 2016 Pages: 366 (kindle) Genre:  Women's Fiction My Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars NetGalley Summary: Dear Luke, First let me say—I love you…I didn’t want to leave you… Luke Richardson has returned home after burying Natalie, his beloved wife of sixteen years, ready to face the hard job of raising their three children alone. But there’s something he’s not prepared for—a blue envelope with his name scrawled across the front in Natalie’s handwriting, waiting for him on the floor of their suburban Michigan home. The letter inside, written on the first day of Natalie’s cancer treatment a year ago, turns out to be the first of many. Luke is convinced they’re genuine, but who is delivering them? As his obsession with the letters grows, Luke uncovers long-buried secrets that make him question everything he knew about his wife and their family. But the revelations also point the way toward a future where love goe...

Just One of Those Things  by Mindy Klasky Publication Date:  February 9, 2016 Pages:  330 (ebook) Genre: Fiction/Romance My Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: Matt Dawson has returned to Harmony Springs after ten years of pitching in the major leagues. His father thinks he’s a screw-up who should have joined the Army instead of playing ball. His old buddies think he’s a hero with a bottomless bank account. But Matt knows he’ll never be a hero, not like his brother Jon, who recently died in Afghanistan. Emily Barton once dated Jon but their break-up was brutal, made even worse when Matt tried to intervene. Years later, Emily remains trapped on an emotional treadmill, regularly changing her apartment, her job, and her boyfriend in a futile attempt to regain her earlier success. Determined to give back to Harmony Springs, Matt opens an American Discount thrift store. But Emily recognizes a threat to the downtown shopping district and she organiz...

Life Before  by Michele Bacon Publication Date:  June 7, 2016 Pages: 288 (hardcover) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating:  3 Stars Goodreads Synopsis :  Seventeen years is a long time to keep secrets, and Xander Fife has gotten very good at it. Everyone believes he has a normal life and a normal family. If he can just get through this summer, he’ll start his real life in college with a clean slate—no risk, no drama, no fear. Even better, his plans for summer are awesome: lots of pick-up soccer, relaxing afternoons with friends, and an epic road trip. Xander is banking on some long overdue nights with his ideal girlfriend, the amazing Gretchen Taylor. Instead of kicking off what had promised to be an amazing summer, however, graduation day brings terror. His family’s secrets are thrust out into the open, and Xander must confront his greatest fear. And survive doing so. Armed with a fake ID, cash, and a knife, Xander skips town and assumes...

This week's Top Ten Tuesday , a weekly feature brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish is all about characters I don't like. Hooray! I love hating characters. I mean...well, yeah. That's that I mean. Let's get started. Jacob Black and Bella Swan They deserved each other. (Edward + Leah = 4LIFE) Severus Snape I really don't have any Snape feels. Always? Eh. Theodore Finch I didn't get it.  Amy Dunne I mean, others probably don't like her either, so...  Jason Grace Sorry, I'm a Percy girl.  Gale Hawthorne Meh.  Molly Barlow Take some responsibility, girl.  Naomi Same as above. Seriously.  Winter Save the drama and get over yourself.  Well, there it is. Put your pitchforks away, please!