Ash Reads Stuff

Gilded Cage  by Vic James Publication Date:  February 14, 2017 Pages:  352 (kindle) Genre:  Young Adult/Fantasy  My Goodreads Rating:  2 stars Goodreads Synopsis:  For readers of Victoria Aveyard and Kiera Cass comes a darkly fantastical debut set in a modern England where magically gifted aristocrats rule—and commoners are doomed to serve. NOT ALL ARE FREE. NOT ALL ARE EQUAL. NOT ALL WILL BE SAVED. Our world belongs to the Equals—aristocrats with magical gifts—and all commoners must serve them for ten years. But behind the gates of England’s grandest estate lies a power that could break the world. A girl thirsts for love and knowledge. Abi is a servant to England’s most powerful family, but her spirit is free. So when she falls for one of their noble-born sons, Abi faces a terrible choice. Uncovering the family’s secrets might win her liberty—but will her heart pay the price? A boy dreams of revolution. Abi’s brother, Luke, ...

The Impossible Fortress  by Jason Rekulak Publication Date: February 7, 2017 Pages:  304 (kindle) Genre:  Young Adult  My Goodreads Rating:  3 stars Goodreads Synopsis: Billy Marvin’s first love was a computer. Then he met Mary Zelinsky. Do you remember your first love? The Impossible Fortress begins with a magazine…The year is 1987 and Playboy has just published scandalous photographs of Vanna White, from the popular TV game show Wheel of Fortune. For three teenage boys—Billy, Alf, and Clark—who are desperately uneducated in the ways of women, the magazine is somewhat of a Holy Grail: priceless beyond measure and impossible to attain. So, they hatch a plan to steal it. The heist will be fraught with peril: a locked building, intrepid police officers, rusty fire escapes, leaps across rooftops, electronic alarm systems, and a hyperactive Shih Tzu named Arnold Schwarzenegger. Failed attempt after failed attempt leads them to a genius master plan—the...

Lucky Boy  by Shanthi Sekaran Publication Date:  January 10, 2017 Pages: 480 (hardcover) Genre:  Fiction  My Goodreads Rating:  4 stars Goodreads Synopsis: Solimar Castro Valdez is eighteen and dazed with optimism when she embarks on a perilous journey across the US/Mexican border. Weeks later she arrives on her cousin's doorstep in Berkeley, CA, dazed by first love found then lost, and pregnant. This was not the plan. But amid the uncertainty of new motherhood and her American identity, Soli learns that when you have just one precious possession, you guard it with your life. For Soli, motherhood becomes her dwelling and the boy at her breast her hearth. Kavya Reddy has always followed her heart, much to her parents' chagrin. A mostly contented chef at a UC Berkeley sorority house, the unexpected desire to have a child descends like a cyclone in Kavya's mid-thirties. When she can't get pregnant, this desire will test her marriage, it will tes...

Oh, yay. I love when I remember to do a Top Ten Tuesday (a weekly feature brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish ). This week is fun because it's actually not about books, but your favorite movies. I've got pretty weird taste in, well, everything. So. Here we go. Captain America: The Winter Soldier This is pretty much my favorite movie of the MCU and, in my opinion, the best. Don't argue with me, this is my blog. ;)  Rise of the Guardians Is it okay to be attracted to an animate character? I'm asking for a friend.  Pitch Perfect  Aca-awesome.  Mean Girls Is butter a carb?  Harry Potter Does this count as eight movies? Nah.  The Princess Bride  Swoons. Frozen Sisters Forever.  Tangled Perfection. A Walk to Remember All the feels.  Crazy Stupid Love You can't go wrong with the Gos. There's my list. It's kind of weird, but so am I.  What are your ...

The Devil You Know  by Trish Doller Publication Date:  June 2, 2015 Pages:  256 (paperback) Genre:  Young Adult My Goodreads Rating:  5 stars Goodreads Synopsis: From critically-acclaimed author Trish Doller comes a powerful new psychological page-turner perfect for fans of Lauren Oliver and Sara Zarr. Eighteen-year-old Arcadia wants adventure. Living in a tiny Florida town with her dad and four-year-old brother, Cadie spends most of her time working, going to school, and taking care of her family. So when she meets two handsome cousins at a campfire party, she finally has a chance for fun. They invite her and friend to join them on a road trip, and it's just the risk she's been craving--the opportunity to escape. But what starts out as a fun, sexy journey quickly becomes dangerous when she discovers that one of them is not at all who he claims to be. One of them has deadly intentions. A road trip turns terrifying in this contemporary story tha...

A Monster Calls  by Patrick Ness Publication Date: August 2, 2016 (Originally in 2011) Pages: 240 (Movie Tie-In Paperback) Genre:  Young Adult/Fantasy My Goodreads Rating:  4 stars Goodreads Synopsis:  An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor. At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel ...

Meet Me Halfway  by Kim Carmody Publication Date: December 6, 2016 Genre:  Contemporary Romance My Goodreads Rating:  3.5 stars NetGalley Summary: An ambitious journalist on a fast track to success. A first round draft pick determined to keep his personal life his own. And a story that proves sometimes opposites really do attract. Olivia Callahan is a woman on a mission. Her boss has given her the green light to produce her very own documentary, and she’s not going to let anything get in the way of perfection. After a few setbacks in college, Nate Sullivan is finally on his way to the big leagues as the newest recruit for the New York Warriors. Determined to put his somewhat colorful past behind him, Nate’s all about the straight and narrow as he sets out to prove he’s worthy of his first round draft pick. The last thing Nate wants is to delve into stories from his past. But when his new team directs him to set the record straight, he has no choice but t...

A List of Cages  by Robin Roe Publication Date:  January 10, 2017 Pages:  320 (hardcover) Genre:  Young Adult  My Goodreads Rating:  3.5 stars Goodreads Synopsis: When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he's got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn't easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can't complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian--the foster brother he hasn't seen in five years. Adam is ecstatic to be reunited. At first, Julian seems like the boy he once knew. He's still kind hearted. He still writes stories and loves picture books meant for little kids. But as they spend more time together, Adam realizes that Julian is keeping secrets, like where he hides during the middle of the day, an...

By Your Side  by Kasie West Publication Date:  January 31, 2017 Pages:  352 (kindle) Genre:  Young Adult  My Goodreads Rating:  5 stars Goodreads Synopsis: In this irresistible story, Kasie West explores the timeless question of what to do when you fall for the person you least expect. Witty and romantic, this paperback original from a fan favorite is perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson. When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfr...

All Our Wrong Todays  by Elan Mastaie Publication Date:  February 17, 2017 Pages:  384 (kindle) Genre:  Adult Fiction My Goodreads Rating:  3 stars Goodreads Synopsis:  There’s no such thing as the life you’re “supposed” to have… You know the future that people in the 1950s imagined we’d have? Well, it happened. In Tom Barren’s 2016, humanity thrives in a techno-utopian paradise of flying cars, moving sidewalks, and moon bases, where avocados never go bad and punk rock never existed…because it wasn’t necessary. Except Tom just can’t seem to find his place in this dazzling, idealistic world, and that’s before his life gets turned upside down. Utterly blindsided by an accident of fate, Tom makes a rash decision that drastically changes not only his own life but the very fabric of the universe itself. In a time-travel mishap, Tom finds himself stranded in our 2016, what we think of as the real world. For Tom, our normal reality seems like a...

Last month I vowed to get more reading done and actually have something to share and, yeah, that Ljust didn't happen. Actually, I think I might have even read less than in September. I'm currently 152/200 books. I seriously need to get my butt into gear! This month I added my two star reads, because even though I didn't like them that much someone else might.  Do you ever feel like that? Like all you want to do is read but nothing grabs your attention or you're just too tired? I hate it! Regardless, here are some of my top reads from the month of October. Like always, feel free to friend me on Goodreads here if you want to talk books.  Four Star Reads: Three Star Reads: Two Star Reads: What are you reading?