NetGalley Newness: Books I can't wait to read and review

Love the cover of this book and it looks like an interesting story.

Looks like quite the interesting book and kind of reminds me of the TV show Dark Angel with the whole electromagnetic pulse that pretty much destroys the world.

Reread this book and it's still really entertaining even though the ending is kind of crazy.

Weekend Reads

Here's what books I'm finishing reading or starting this weekend:

About halfway through this book, it has an interesting concept but I don't know if I love it yet.

This book's intrigued me since I heard about because of it's mythological connections.  I hope it's as good as some recent books based upon myth have been.

Masterful Makeup

*Read this ARC via NetGalley

This death defying book gets a fresh 4 out of 5 gnomes for having a sympathetic main character who's flawed yet great and for taking place in and exploring a very unique profession.

Donna has been mourning her father for four years and can't seem to get over his loss.  He seems to have been the glue that was holding the family together.  Her family has dealt with this loss each in their own different ways.  Her brother got out of the house asap, her sister has gone a little emo/goth and loves to dye her hair different colors and her mom seems to be holding together pretty well but there are indeed signs that show how much she misses him.  Donna on the other hand has withdrawn into herself and just isn't the same person that she used to be.  This begins to change in the first chapter when Donna gets the first inkling of what she might like to do with her life.  

There is of course lots of death in the story.  Instead of being depressing though all the death ends up being a really insightful window into the world of these characters and shows the myriad of ways that people react when a loved one dies.  I especially love the information sheets that are sprinkled throughout the book that talk about certain characters and what they were like like and then seeing how their funeral is planned and what people said at the funeral.

Donna's friends are a mixed bag.  I feel like she's one of those people that just sits at a certain lunch table because that's what's expected of her.  Then a new girl shows up at school and seems to pull Donna out of her shell.  She gets really close to Liz and through Liz she starts to see that there are lots of choices out there in the world.

Everything that takes place at the funeral home really makes you think of how you would act in the same situation.  It shows that death and everything that comes with it needs someone to put everything together and make arrangements for/with those that are left behind.  Hearing about all the different processes that it takes to make a body ready for a funeral are extremely intriguing.  Of course the reader gets a look at as the title says, putting makeup on dead people.  

The story encompasses a lot of themes like finding the right person, mourning, being true to yourself, and it also demonstrates some interesting family dynamics.  Donna goes through an awful lot in this book and at the end I think the reader is left with the impression that she's on her way to being a better person.

Sentence Sneak Peek - Putting Makeup on Dead People

Putting Makeup on Dead People by Jen Violi

The first sentence from each chapter of Putting Makeup on Dead People, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.
* Read this ARC via NetGalley
* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

Prologue: “I’m mixing a can of tomato soup with a can of two-percent milk for dinner that no one will eat. ”

“Lila Cardoza is dead and wearing my earrings.”

“I’m sitting in my senior Span-ish class, whispering to myself, “Cuerpos.”

“In the morning, I eat a bowl of cereal and tell Mom I’m driving to the library to do some research in quiet.”

“Sunday night, B drives back to his house on the UD campus.”

“What’s the matter with you?”

“On Tuesday at lunch, Patty and Becky are working on a presidential history handout they forgot about that’s due this afternoon, Charlie’s still reading his herb garden book and making notes, and Jim has crafted a paper football he’s shooting through vari-ous invented goalposts, like Becky’s lip balm and lipstick tubes and the salt and pepper shakers.”

“Late Holy Saturday morn-ing, the kitchen smells like vinegar and rain when I tell Mom I need to go out.”

“I tell Liz about B and Gwen when she drops me off after school on Monday.”

“The day before graduation, I'm home alone when I see the mailman pull up outside.”

"On Friday night, Becky calls me while I'm watching a made-for-TV movie with Linnie."

"When I get home on Sun-day, I'm exhausted, but the thought of Tim makes my heart start beating fast and I don't feel so sleepy anymore."

"Come Friday night, since Mom has decided to sit on the front porch to read, I can't avoid telling her I'm going on a date."

"Two weeks later, Liz is ready for our Celtic Adventure."

"That weekend, I get to Car-illon Park early and walk past the pioneer house and the Wright brothers building, which houses a replica of the world's first airplane, and up to a patch of grass right under the Carillon, which has fifty-some bells in it."

"The next morning, I tell Mr. Brighton I've decided to move into the yellow room, if it's still okay—to get settled before school starts."

"Even though I've been work-ing at a funeral home all summer, and even though I live there now, my first day at Chapman feels big."

"Examining the three-tiered Simple Elegance wedding cake at Bella's Bakery, I can't help but think how the champagne icing looks like the nude cosmetic JB will probably have me order in bulk from the Coffin Cosmetics catalogue."

"On the way to dinner, I stop at the Kroger, thinking I should bring something."

"A few weeks later, I've suc-cessfully avoided two family dinners, claiming I had plans with Tim, although I haven't actually heard from him since I called him from the parking lot."

"The next Sunday, I wake up like I have every Sunday since I moved into the yellow room—feeling like I should be somewhere."

"Mom calls the day before Thanksgiving and says, "We're doing dinner at four."

"On Friday, Charlie doesn't call."

"After the wedding, in the reception hall, I watch Aunt Selena and Uncle Lou do a shot together at the bar, the rainbow lights from the disco ball playing over their laughing faces, and feel like I must be in an alternate universe."

Wither's Winning Ways

This book was crazy but I loved every second of it.  It gets a wonderful 5 gnomes out of 5 gnomes for having great characters like Rhine and her sister wives and for taking a look at a world where you really have to live like every day was your last.

Wow, I swear Wither was like Little Women on steroids.  I love all the strong characters in this crazy making world.  I think the reader is likely to see at least some aspect of themselves in the very different sister wives.  Rhine, Jenna, and Cecily each have their own ideas about how they should handle the situation that they are now in.

There's a love triangle but it's not bad it's actually one that makes you think too.  She could go for either guy and by the end they both seem to be equally sympathetic and have their reasons for what they do.  It looks like there is more then one bad guy in the book but by the end there's no question as to who the bad guy really is.  

This book has one of those settings where you know there has to be more out their in the world.  I have a feeling that this will be explored in later books because geography and different countries are mentioned a lot by more than one character.

I would have liked to see more of Rhine's life before she was kidnapped so there would have been more to compare it to her current life.  The flashbacks we do get are helpful though and make you more curious about the outside world.

This is also one of those books that differs from its summary.  I know I expected something different from the original summary of the book that I read.  From my impressions I thought that Rhine and Linden's father would be working together and that turned out to be a hundred percent false.  

Overall there are many surprises in this book and the characters are not easy to classify as good or evil. Rhine doesn't know how to feel but knows that freedom is what she wants most. There are questions in the end of course and the next book should be a doozy.  

Sentence Sneak Peek - Wither

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

The first sentence from each chapter of Wither, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

"I WAIT."

"FOR MALES twenty-five is the fatal age."

"IT'S NOT GABRIEL who wakes me in the morning, but a parade of women."

"IT'S MY TURN to keep watch."

"WHEN THE EVENING is at last through, I languish on the bed in my white slip while Deirdre rubs my sore feet."

"I WANT TO PLAY a game," Cecily says."

"I HOLD MY BREATH as they pass."

"THE ATTENDANTS arrive in abundance."

"LINDEN is so delighted about the pregnancy, and the mood of the house is so bright, that he offers all of us the freedom to tour the house and the gardens."

"IT SEEMS THAT leaves are always bursting with new colors."

"THE HOUSE doesn't blow away."

"THE AIR IS STILL."

"LINDEN SEEMS to have no idea that I sus-tained these injuries trying to run away from him."

"ALL NIGHT I dream of rivers, and beneath the water, brilliant sharp-leafed flowers."

"WHEN CECILY finishes playing her song, and the illusion shrinks back into the keyboard, she stretches her arms up over her head and cracks her knuckles."

"I DON'T SEE GABRIEL the next day."

"I'M SICK for the rest of the afternoon."

"LINDEN SAYS, "You and Jenna get along well, don't you?"

"I WORRY for the rest of the evening."

"WE WAIT, and we wait."

"ON THE MORNING of the winter solstice, Jenna manages to steal the lighter from an attendant after he lights the incense in the hall."

"THE BABY will not stop crying."

"JENNA WAS RIGHT."

"WE RETURN from the New Year's party in the early hours of morning, and my bedroom window lets in a smoggy blue light."

"IN THE MONTH before my escape, I spend all of my time outside."

"I TAKE the elevator to the ground floor and cross through the kitchen, expecting it to be empty."

"WE RUN for what fells like all night."

Contagion: Outbreak! - Fabulous Fun

Going to a day of Contagion: Outbreak! was a lot of fun.  I got to meet author Chloe Neill, she had a great panel about the future of Urban Fantasy and I got some books signed (which is always cool :) )  It was quite the interesting experience I saw some very cool props, costumes, and I took a lot of fun pictures.

Here are some pictures from Chloe Neill's panel (as you can see, I think fun times were had by all):

Awesome signed books, also love the Cadogan stamp.  :)

Now for my favorite pictures from just wandering around the event:

Gotta love this Iron Man group, knew I wanted a picture with them, not sure why I made that face though.

Tiny Reverse Vampire posing with a posse of Iron Man people.

Me trying to break into a certain police box. :)

Here's some of the coolest costumes:

Overall it was a really fun time and I can't wait for next year. :)