Ash Reads Stuff

I was getting super excited to post my recap for April and then I discovered that I completely dropped the ball with reading this month. The end of the school year is upon us and apparently I'm too tired to read. My Goodreads Challenge is set for 200 books. I'm currently fourteen books behind schedule, but I'm a teacher so...SUMMER IS COMING.  Bummer. Also, as I type this I recall that I also binge-watched four seasons of Arrow this month. That might have something to do with my lack of reading.  Can you blame me?  Oh, well. Let's get on to the measly recap for April shall we?  Four Star Reads:     Three Star Reads :      Up Next: I've got a couple of ARCs coming up as well as a stack of library books. Hopefully things will calm down a little and I'll get to pick one (or all of them) up!   I guess that wasn't too bad. What I did read this month was pretty quality st...

Down with the Shine by Kate Karyus Quinn Publication Date: April 26, 2016 Pages: 368 (kindle) Genre: Young AdultFantasy My Goodreads Rating: 3.5/4 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: There's a reason they say "be careful what you wish for." Just ask the girl who wished to be thinner and ended up smaller than Thumbelina, or the boy who asked for "balls of steel" and got them-literally. And never wish for your party to go on forever. Not unless you want your guests to be struck down by debilitating pain if they try to leave. These are things Lennie only learns when it's too late-after she brings some of her uncles' moonshine to a party and toasts to dozens of wishes, including a big wish of her own: to bring back her best friend, Dylan, who was abducted and murdered six months ago. Lennie didn't mean to cause so much chaos. She always thought her uncles' moonshine toast was just a tradition. And when they talked about carrying on the...

The Library at Mount Char  by Scott Hawkins Publication Date:  March 15, 2016 Pages: 400 (paperback) Genre: Adult Fiction/Fantasy My Goodreads Rating: 3 Stars Goodreads Synopsis:  A missing God. A library with the secrets to the universe. A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away. Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts. After all, she was a normal American herself once. That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father. In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned ...

Leave Me by Gayle Forman Publication Date: September 6, 2016 Pages:  352(kindle) Genre: Adult Fiction/Contemporary  My Goodreads Rating:  4.5 Stars Goodreads Description: International bestselling author Gayle Forman's trademark humor and insight abound in this masterful adult debut, showing us that sometimes you have to leave home in order to find it again. For every woman who has ever fantasized about driving past her exit on the highway instead of going home to make dinner, for every woman who has ever dreamed of boarding a train to a place where no one needs constant attention--meet Maribeth Klein. A harried working mother who's so busy taking care of her husband and twins, she doesn't even realize she's had a heart attack. Afterward, surprised to discover that her recuperation seems to be an imposition on those who rely on her, Maribeth does the unthinkable: She packs a bag and leaves. But, as is so often the case, once we get to where we're going,...

The Unseen World  by Liz More Publication Date: July 26, 2016 Pages: 416 (kindle) Genre:  Adult Fiction My Goodreads Rating: 3.5 Stars NetGalley Description: A heartbreaking and moving story about a daughter’s quest to discover the truth about her father’s hidden past. Ada Sibelius is raised by David, a single father and head of a computer science lab in Boston. Homeschooled, she accompanies her loving father— brilliant, eccentric, socially inept—to work every day. By twelve, she is a painfully shy prodigy. The lab begins to gain acclaim at the same time that David’s mind begins to falter and his mysterious past comes into question. When her father moves into a nursing home, Ada is taken in by one of David’s colleagues. She embarks on a mission to uncover her father’s secrets: a process that carries her from childhood to adulthood. Eventually, Ada pioneers a type of software that enables her to make contact with her past and to reconcile the man she thought ...

Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall Publication Date: August 30, 2016 Pages: 224 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 3.5 Stars NetGalley Synopsis: Gideon always has a plan. It includes running for class president, becoming head of the yearbook committee, and having his choice of colleges. It does NOT include falling head over heels for his best friend, Kyle. It’s a distraction, it’s pointless—Kyle is already dating the head cheerleader, Ruby—and Gideon doesn’t know what to do. Kyle finally feels like he has a handle on life. He has a wonderful girlfriend, a best friend willing to debate the finer points of Lord of the Rings, and social acceptance as captain of the basketball team. So when both Ruby and Gideon start acting really weird, just as his spot on the team is threatened, Kyle can’t quite figure out what he did wrong. Sandy Hall, the author of A Little Something Different , is back with her signature wit in this quirky and heartfelt LGBT YA novel. ...

Heartsight  by Kay Springsteen Publication Date: February 7th, 2016 Pages: 222 (kindle) Genre: Contemporary Adult My Goodreads Rating: 3 Stars Goodreads Synopsis:  On a secluded beach in North Carolina, three lonely people find hope in each other. Trish Evers is an artist and single mother, who has inherited her grandmother's Bed and Breakfast in a North Carolina coastal town. Though she must sell the house, she decides to bring her daughter to the beach for one last summer vacation in her childhood town. Bella is a six-year-old girl who has Down syndrome. Rejected by her father, Trish, is the only parent she's ever known. Bella likes to explore the beach and has a tendency to wander off. One day, Bella goes exploring on her own, and Trish finds her in the company of an intriguing stranger. Dan Conway is a U.S. Marine, who had been born into a family of Marines. Now blind as a result of combat injuries and unable to "suit up," he feels he no longer ha...

With Malice  by Eileen Cook  Publication Date: June 7, 2016 Pages: 320 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult Thriller My Goodreads Rating: 3.5 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: A read about a teenage girl who wakes up in a hospital bed and cannot remember the last six weeks of her life, including the accident that killed her best friend--only what if the accident wasn't an accident? Eighteen-year-old Jill Charron wakes up in a hospital room, leg in a cast, stitches in her face and a big blank canvas where the last 6 weeks should be. She comes to discover she was involved in a fatal accident while on a school trip in Italy three days previous but was jetted home by her affluent father in order to receive quality care. Care that includes a lawyer. And a press team. Because maybe the accident...wasn't an accident. Wondering not just what happened but what she did, Jill tries to piece together the events of the past six weeks before she loses her thin hold on her once-perfect lif...