Ash Reads Stuff

A Very Large Expanse of Sea  by Tahereh Mafi Publication Date: October 16th, 2018 Pages: 320 (hardcover) Genre: Young Adult  My Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped. Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother. But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had...

Okay, look. I have a problem with hyped up books. I have issues with people talking and talking about something and telling me to read it. I've been burned before (Allegiant ring a bell to anyone?) and sometimes I'm just not into the book that everyone else loves. No big deal, it's just me. So I never read The Raven Boys or any of the rest of the series. I didn't really even have an inkling that I might want to read the books. Honestly, I don't even know why I picked it up in the first place two weeks ago. I grabbed an audiobook of   The Raven Boys  on my library app because I like to listen to books on my long ass commute to and from work and when I read. I had to wait about a week for the book, so I read some other stuff during that time, including Maggie's All the Crooked Saints , which I didn't love and therefore was wary of TRB. Okay, I also just remembered that because I read All the Crooked Saints  I wanted to try TRB. Great, now we've come...

Little Do We Know  by Tamara Ireland Stone Publication Date:   June 5th, 2018 Pages: 416 (hardcover) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars Goodreads Synopsis:  Next-door neighbors and ex-best friends Hannah and Emory haven’t spoken in months. Not since the fight—the one where they said things they couldn’t take back. Now, Emory is fine-tuning her UCLA performing arts application and trying to make the most of the months she has left with her boyfriend, Luke, before they head off to separate colleges. Meanwhile, Hannah’s strong faith is shaken when her family’s financial problems come to light, and she finds herself turning to unexpected places—and people—for answers to the difficult questions she’s suddenly facing. No matter how much Hannah and Emory desperately want to bridge the thirty-six steps between their bedroom windows, they can’t. Not anymore. Until their paths cross unexpectedly when, one night, Hannah finds Luke doubled over i...

So, I'm struggling. I'm struggling to find time to read, to find books I like, and to write this post. This year has been a horrible year of reading for me. I don't know if it was the stress of last year's class that kept me from starting the year strong, as it did the year before. (Is that mean, blaming it on my class from last year?) Maybe I just got too busy, I'm not sure! Either way, this is my lowest reading year in a long time. I didn't make my goal last year, and this year I challenged myself to read 75 (!!!) books. Right now I'm at 67 and 89% of my goal. Chances are that I'm not going to read seven books (I'm almost done with one now) by the end of the year, but I'm going to push through with this post, just for you. It was kind of hard to even get through this list because there wasn't anything that I just truly loved and wanted to shout about. This year I started listening to a lot of books, which makes my drives to and from...

LIFEL1K3  by Jay Kristoff Publication Date: May 29th, 2018 Pages:  416 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 3 stars Synopsis: On an island junkyard beneath a sky that glows with radiation, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap. Seventeen-year-old Eve isn't looking for trouble--she's too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she spent months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, she's on the local gangster's wanted list, and the only thing keeping her grandpa alive is the money she just lost to the bookies. Worst of all, she's discovered she can somehow destroy machines with the power of her mind, and a bunch of puritanical fanatics are building a coffin her size because of it. If she's ever had a worse day, Eve can't remember it.  The problem is, Eve has had a worse day--one that lingers in her nightmares and the cybernetic implant where her memories used to be. Her discovery of a handsome android named ...

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley Publication Date: June 6th, 2017 Pages: 273 (hardcover) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 5 stars Goodreads Synopsis: Love lives between the lines. Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favorite book in his family’s bookshop. She waited. But Henry never came. Now Rachel has returned to the city—and to the bookshop—to work alongside the boy she’d rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction, and the escape. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can’t feel anything anymore. She can’t see her future. Henry’s future isn’t looking too promising, either. His girlfriend dumped him. The bookstore is slipping away. And his family is breaking apart. As Henry and Rachel work side by side—surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold, exchanging letters between the pages—they find hope in each other. Because lif...

Well, here we are again. Another year, another list of books. I'd love to start this post off by bragging about all the books I've read this year...but I can't. By current count I'm at 101 books. My Goodreads Reading Challenge is set for 120. It was set for 175. But first it was set at 200. This year was rough, y'all. Still! Out of those 101 books I had some pretty great ones. You might know the drill here. I'll post each book with a mini review and a link to my review of it, if you're into that sort of thing. This book is pure magic. Hatfields and McCoys family rivalry, a love story, wit, sarcasm, and magic.  Far From the Tree  is perfection, in my opinion. If you have siblings, even if you aren't a "young adult", you can relate. It's beautiful.  I just realized I never wrote a review for this lovely story so, fail on my part. I know I recommended Graffiti Moon  a while back and this one is just as good. It's about f...