Ash Reads Stuff

The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller Publication Date: October 31st, 2017 Pages: 320 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 2 stars Goodreads Synopsis: When the state controls your emotions, how hard will you fight to feel free? In a radiant world of endless summer, the Intercept keeps the peace. Violet Crowley, the sixteen-year-old daughter of New Earth’s Founding Father, has spent her life in comfort and safety. Her days are easy thanks to the Intercept, a crime-prevention device that monitors and provokes emotion. But when her long-time crush, Danny Mayhew, gets into a dangerous altercation on Old Earth, Violet launches a secret investigation to find out what he's hiding. An investigation that will lead her to question everything she's ever known about Danny, her father, and the power of the Intercept. Much like the device itself, The Dark Intercept might get under your skin. My Review:  I...did not like this book. I gave it two stars ...

Mask of Shadows  by Lindsey Miller Publication Date: August 29, 2017 Pages: 384 (hardcover) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 1.5-2   Stars Goodreads Synopsis:  Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class―and the nobles who destroyed their home. When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand―the Queen's personal assassins, named after the rings she wears―Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge. But the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. And as Sal succeeds in the competition, and wins the heart of Elise, an intriguing scribe at court, they start to dream of a new life and a different future, but one that Sal can have only ...

I'd like stop complaining about not having time to read and how these recaps are kind of boring, but I just can't. November was a pretty busy month but I had a couple of great weekends to work on some ARCs I'd received and to pick up some purchased books, too.  I also changed my Goodreads Reading Challenge from 200 to 175. I'm currently sitting at 163 and I know there's no way I can reach 200 by the end of the year. (Unless I count picture books read to my class, of course.)  Okay, enough whining. Here are some of the things I read in November. Five Star Reads: Four Star Reads: Three Star Reads: Two Star Reads:   So, there we have it. The next recap post will probably be my end of the year one. I hope you've had a great year reading! 

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? 

The Secrets We Kept  by Lily Velez Publication Date:  November 8th, 2015 Pages:  366 (paperback) Genre:  Young Adult  My Goodreads Rating:  2.5 stars Goodreads Synopsis: One year. That's how long it's been since childhood sweethearts Sully Graham and Cadence Gilbertson broke up, since one adoption and one out-of-state move turned their worlds upside down. Suddenly, Cadence is back in New York City, but something's different about her. The light in her eyes, the music in her laughter, the warmth in her smile—all of those things have entirely vanished. In their place stand the makings of a girl Sully can't even begin to recognize, much less understand. Still, despite the collective history of heartbreak between them, he’s convinced he can win her trust again, and he’s committed to proving the invincibility of their love no matter what it takes. But Cadence is quietly harboring secrets of her own. Dark secrets. Ugly secrets. Secrets that could br...

The Secrets We Keep  by Deb Loughead Publication Date:  December 10, 2016 Pages:  184 (ebook)  Genre:  Young Adult  My Goodreads Rating:  2 Stars Goodreads Synopsis:  First she blamed herself. Now she doesn’t know who to trust. When Kit disappeared at a party and was found drowned in the quarry the next day, Clem knew who to point the finger at: herself. She was the last person to see him alive, the last person who could have helped. If she had just kept a closer eye on him instead of her crush, Jake, maybe Kit would still be here. She knows she made a mistake, and wishes she could just forget about it — but Clem’s friend Ellie says she’ll expose Clem’s secret if she doesn’t play along with Ellie’s lies. Jake seems to have his own difficult secrets, and when he and Clem start to talk, they make a plan to help themselves move on. But when an unexpected discovery at the quarry makes everyone question what they thought they knew, Clem ...

We Were On a Break  by Lindsey Kelk Publication Date:  January 3, 2017 Pages:  416 (paperback)  Genre:  Contemporary Romance My Goodreads Rating:  2 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: LIV and ADAM are in love. LIV and ADAM are supposed to be getting engaged. Until ADAM accidently suggests they take a break. And LIV starts thinking Friends, family and bystanders all have an opinion and one complication leads to another as Adam and Liv try to muddle through in this hilarious, heartwarming comedy. Are they split up - or are they on a break? What exactly are they allowed to get away with? And, most importantly, what do Liv and Adam really want? My Review:  I went into this one with high hopes of a cute little romance and a getting-back-together story, but it came be a little more than that.  Liv and Adam are having a great time on vacation and Adam is all ready to propose until it gets all screwed up and their night ends in a huge fight....

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...

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson Publication Date: March 22, 2016 Pages: 496 (kindle) Genre: Historical Fiction My Goodreads Rating: 2 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: East Sussex, 1914. It is the end of England’s brief Edwardian summer, and everyone agrees that the weather has never been so beautiful. Hugh Grange, down from his medical studies, is visiting his Aunt Agatha, who lives with her husband in the small, idyllic coastal town of Rye. Agatha's husband works in the Foreign Office, and she is certain he will ensure that the recent sabre rattling over the Balkans won't come to anything. And Agatha has more immediate concerns; she has just risked her carefully built reputation by pushing for the appointment of a woman to replace the Latin master. When Beatrice Nash arrives with one trunk and several large crates of books, it is clear she is significantly more freethinking — and attractive — than anyone believes a Latin teacher should be. For her part, ...