Author: Carey Corp and Laurie Langdon
Goodreads Rating: 4.15
Pages: 368
Format: ARC from ALA13
DOON…
Veronica
doesn't think she's going crazy. But why can't anyone else see the
mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes? When her
best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland,
Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind
for a few months.
But the Scottish countryside holds other plans.
Not
only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and
Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from
Mackenna's great aunt—and when the girls test the instructions Aunt
Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that
defies explanation. Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete
with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks
suspiciously like the boy from Veronica's daydreams. But Doon has a dark
underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they've longed
for...or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves
trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.
DOON is loosely
based on the premise of the musical Brigadoon, with permission from the
Alan Jay Lerner Estate and the Frederick Loewe Foundation. Follow the
journey at http://www.DoonSeries.com
~Destiny awaits!
Author: Lisa McMann
Goodreads Rating: 4.34
Pages: 233
Format: ARC
If what you see is what you get, Jules is in serious trouble. The suspenseful first of four books from the New York Timesbestselling author of the Wake trilogy.
Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that.
What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode...and nine body bags in the snow.
The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more she sees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.
In this riveting start to a gripping series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa McMann, Jules has to act—and act fast—to keep her vision from becoming reality.
Author: Paula McLain
Goodreads rating: 3.72
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 314
Reviewed by: Nicole
I've wanted to read this book since I last summer, but I'm not a huge fan of hardcover books, and so I didn't want to purchase it. I saw that I could get it on e-files this winter and so it was one of the first few books that I added to my list. I can't way I've ever read anything by Hemingway, but I couldn't wait to read it all the same.
Goodreads synopses:
A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wifecaptures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill-prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.
A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.
My review after the jump.
Author: Erik Larson
Goodreads Rating: 3.92 Stars
My Rating: 2.5 Stars
Pages: 447
Reviewed by: Nicole
I was drawn to this book because of the serial killer aspect, and I have to admit that I thought that the book was going to be mostly about the killer, Holmes, and his actions and victims. I was seriously mistaken though since the book talks all about the fair and the building the fair, and the events and people surrounding it.
Goodreads Synopses:
Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that 'The Devil in the White City' is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor.
Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison.
The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims.
My review after the jump.
