- Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
- Order on ascending date added.
- Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books (or 20 if you keep adding like I do!)
- Read the synopses of the books
- Decide: keep it or should it go?
1. Nightmare City by Andrew Klavan:
As a reporter for his high school newspaper, Tom is always on the lookout for an offbeat story. But from the moment he woke up this morning, his own life has been more bizarre than any headline could ever tell.
The streets of his town are suddenly empty and silent. A strange fog has drifted in from the sea and hangs over everything. And something is moving in that fog. Something evil. Something hungry. Closing in on Tom.
Tom's terrified girlfriend Marie says the answers lie at the Santa Maria Monastery, a haunted ruin standing amidst a forest blackened by wildfire. But can he trust her? A voice that seems to be coming from beyond the grave is warning him that nothing is what it seems.
Only one thing is certain: with his world collapsing around him, Tom has only a few hours to recover the life he knew--before he, too, is lost forever in this nightmare city.
My thoughts:
I want to read something by this author, and this one sounds like a good enough place to start.
Verdict: Keep
2. The Night After I Lost You by Sarah Rees Brennan:
Set the night after the end of Unspoken, before all the action of Untold. You have to keep moving in a Gothic mystery. But sometimes you can take a night to be sad.
My thoughts:
Because I love this series and this author, I know that I need to read this short novella at some point, and I forgot about it till I saw it here, so I will keep it. Maybe I need to make a special TBR list for novellas? That's a 2020 thing I guess.
Verdict: Keep
3. Raw: A Love Story by Mark Haskell Smith:
One of the blogosphere's most respected critics, Harriet hears the host of her favorite, high-brow, radio show gush about Sepp’s abdominal muscles on-air and fears the end of civilization is upon us. She takes matters into her own hands and sets off to reveal the truth behind the bestseller and to show Sepp as the buff fraud he really is. But then Harriet reads Totally Reality, Sepp’s novel, and it’s totally great. Now she needs to find Sepp’s ghostwriter and find out why he’s wasting his talent.
She finds him, appropriately enough, at the Playboy Mansion, where he’s supposed to be interviewing Sepp’s former television love Roxy Sandoval for his next, highly lucrative, project. Reality and "reality" collide, and a tragic accident sends Sepp and Harriet off on a sex-fueled roadtrip through the southwest. The mind meets the body, and both will be changed forever. Raw: A Love Story is Mark Haskell Smith at his best, dangerously sexy and wickedly funny.
This actually still sounds kind of good.
Verdict: Keep
4. Precious Blood by Tonya Hurley:
What if martyrs and saints lived among us? And what if you were told you were one of them?
Meet Agnes, Cecilia, and Lucy. Three lost girls, each searching for something. But what they find is Beyond Belief.
My thoughts:
Eh, not sure if it sounds that great.
Verdict: Toss
5. Allure by Lea Nolan:
Emma Guthrie races to learn the hoodoo magic needed to break The Beaumont Curse before her marked boyfriend Cooper’s sixteenth birthday. But deep in the South Carolina Lowcountry, dark, mysterious forces encroach, conspiring to separate Emma and Cooper forever. When Cooper starts to change, turning cold and indifferent, Emma discovers that both his heart and body are marked for possession by competing but equally powerful adversaries.
Desperate to save him, Emma and her twin brother, Jack, risk their lives to uncover the source of the black magic that has allured Cooper and holds him in its grip. Faced with the horror of a soul-eating boohag, Emma and Jack must fight to resist its fiendish power to free Cooper long enough to join their strengths and face it together, before it destroys them all.
My thoughts:
I haven't read the first in the series, in fact, it's not even on my TBR.
Verdict: Toss
6. Manor of Secrets by Katherine Longshore:
Lady Charlotte Edmonds: Beautiful, wealthy, and sheltered, Charlotte feels suffocated by the strictures of upper-crust society. She longs to see the world beyond The Manor, to seek out high adventure. And most of all, romance.
Janie Seward: Fiery, hardworking, and clever, Janie knows she can be more than just a kitchen maid. But she isn't sure she possesses the courage -- or the means -- to break free and follow her passions.
Both Charlotte and Janie are ready for change. As their paths overlap in the gilded hallways and dark corridors of The Manor, rules are broken and secrets are revealed. Secrets that will alter the course of their lives. . . forever.
My thoughts:
Makes me think of Downton Abbey, but will I ever read it? Probably not.
Verdict: Toss
7. Neverwas by Kelly Moore:
At the end of AMBER HOUSE, Sarah made a choice that transformed everything--and now she must choose it all again.
Things are very different--better--for Sarah and her family: her Aunt Maggie grew up; her parents are happily married; her grandmother died after a long, productive and respected life. But other things are different too, and not for the better.
After growing up in the free country of the Pacific Northwest, Sarah Parsons has settled in at Amber House, the stately Maryland home that's been in her family for generations. But the world surrounding the House feels deeply wrong to Sarah. It's a place where the colonists lost the 1776 Insurrection, where the American Confederation of States still struggles with segregation, and where Sarah is haunted by echoes of a better world that she knows never existed.
Her friend Jackson shares these visions of a different world--and together, they manage both to remember the way things ought to be, and to plan a daring mission that will reset the universe once again. Sarah must figure out what has changed, and why, and how she can fix it--how she can find her way to another otherwhen.
My thoughts:
I really liked the first book, and I might even have a copy of this one. If I do, I need to switch this over to my TBR-owned list.
Verdict: Keep
8. Submerged by Nicole Sobon:
When Troum took control of the state, he told the residents that the other states had fallen to the virus and that he wouldn’t allow the same thing to happen to them. But Taylen doesn’t believe it. She insists that there is still life outside of the state, and she is going to do whatever it takes to prove it… but her actions will cost her more than she ever expected.
Troum kidnaps Taylen’s sister, Penelope, in hopes of coaxing her into behaving – into being a submissive resident, much like the others. But Taylen isn’t one to give in that easily.
Eager to rescue her sister, Taylen will set out on an adventure that’ll force her to open her heart to the unexpected and to uncover secrets that will change everything.
My thoughts:
Doesn't sound that original.
Verdict: Toss
9. The Day Zombies Ruined My Perfectly Boring Life by Jen Naumann:
It’s senior year. Emma should be looking forward to escaping her mundane small town, and going on to college—finally. Her biggest worries should be the fact that she’s feeling something more for her life-long best friend Finn, and how she’s going to make things happen between them. But all her plans for a less-sucky future go out the window with the discovery of a seriously creepy woman in her backyard.
As it turns out, zombies are real.
In the first book of the Boring Life Series, Emma’s life is turned upside down as she’s forced to leave everything behind, running off with Finn and a group of extremely odd misfits that include Finn’s jackhole brother Cash, and his unorthodox girlfriend Marley. In an instantaneous journey across the Midwest, they’ll learn horrifying secrets, trust the wrong people, and make deadly mistakes. As they do all then can to try and survive the impending apocalypse, Emma will realize that maybe her painfully boring life hadn’t been such a bad thing, after all.
My thoughts:
Not really interested anymore.
Verdict: Toss
10. Cyber Dawn by M.L. Adams:
After losing his leg to cancer and spending six years as a prototype in a top-secret cybernetic research program, seventeen-year-old Ben Raine is ready for a normal life. Now a junior in high school, it seems as though normal is just what he’s going to get. He’s met new friends, made the varsity football team, and even scored a date with the school’s head cheerleader. But just as life is starting to look up, Ben hears four words that will change everything -– you never had cancer.
Determined to find out why, Ben hires Sarah -– a classmate who moonlights as a hacker -– to help him hunt down the truth. But when they get too close, they soon find themselves on the run from the police, the FBI, and a team of ruthless assassins. Caught in the middle of a murderous conspiracy, Ben and Sarah tap into the one thing that may save them –- Ben’s cybernetic brain. But will it give them the advantage they need? Or cost them both their lives?
My thoughts:
Probably not
Verdict: Toss
11. The Collection by Shannon Stoker:
Mia Morrissey has escaped: America, the Registry, and the role she was raised for— a perfect bride auctioned to the highest bidder. She’s enemy number one to the world’s largest power, and there’s no turning back now.
From the moment she and her friends Andrew, and Carter cross the border into Mexico it becomes clear their troubles are only beginning. The young men are immediately picked up by a violent and omnipotent militia—The Collection—and it’s Mia’s turn to rescue them.
With time running out, her ex-fiancé’s henchman on her trail, and a dangerous tide shifting back in America, Mia will do whatever she has to. Even if that means risking everything and putting herself back on an auction block. The price of freedom is never too high…but what if the cost is her life?
My thoughts:
I haven't read the first book yet, so I'll wait on this one.
Verdict: Toss
12. The Life Beyond by Susanne Winnacker:
Soon they realize that life beyond the fence is nothing like they had hoped it would be.
As they struggle to survive against brutal military forces, their strength won't be the only thing put to test. Can love survive in a hopeless world?
My thoughts:
Read the first one, and while I didn't love it, I like the author enough that I would like at some point to go on and read this as well.
Verdict: Keep
13. Forgotten Lyrics by Amanda Hocking:
Aggie is a mythological creature on a secret mission. Lydia is a young woman from a magical family with no real powers of her own. And Daniel is a high school boy who’s made it his duty to protect his deeply troubled older brother. Then one fateful night, their lives collide in a terrifying accident that changes them all forever. And beneath the surface, the ripple effects of the accident will have more impact than anyone could ever guess...changing not only their future, but the fate of an entire town.
My thoughts:
I really liked this series, so someday I want to read this novella.
Verdict: Keep
14. Teen Spirit by Francesca Lia Block:
After Julie's grandmother passes away, she is forced to move across town to the not-so-fancy end of Beverly Hills and start over at a new school. The only silver lining to the perpetual dark cloud that seems to be following her? Clark—a die-hard fan of Buffy and all things Joss Whedon, who is just as awkward and damaged as she is. Her kindred spirit.
When the two try to contact Julie's grandmother with a Ouija board, they make contact with a different spirit altogether. The real kind. And this ghost will do whatever it takes to come back to the world of the living.
Francesca Lia Block's latest young adult novel is a haunting work about family, loss, love, and redemption.
My thoughts:
As fun as the title is, I think maybe I've read similar books or seen similar movies.
Verdict: Toss
15. Poor Little Dead Girls by Lizzie Friend:
The first time she is blindfolded and kidnapped, star-athlete and posh boarding school newbie Sadie is terrified. She wakes up in a dark room surrounded by hushed whispers, hooded strangers, and a mysterious voice whispering not-so-sweet nothings in her ear.
But once the robes come off, she realizes it’s just an elaborate prank designed to induct her into the group that’s been pulling the strings at Keating Hall for generations. The circle has it all--incredible connections; fabulous parties; and, of course, an in with the brother society’s gorgeous pledges.
The instant popularity is enough to make Sadie forget about the unexplained marks on her body, the creepy ceremonial rituals, and the incident that befell one of her teammates the year before. So the next time Sadie is kidnapped, she isn’t scared, but she should be. The worst of Keating Hall is yet to come.
My thoughts:
Kind of sounds good, but has low ratings.
Verdict: Toss
16. Turn Down the Lights by Richard Chizmar:
And twenty-two year old college student Richard Chizmar had just published the premiere issue of a horror magazine named Cemetery Dance.
Twenty-five years later, there have been seventy issues of Cemetery Dance magazine. There have been more than 275 signed Limited Edition hardcovers in the Cemetery Dance book line. There have been awards including the World Fantasy Award, the International Horror Critics Guild Award, and the HWA Board of Trustees Excellence in Specialty Press Publishing Award, as well as nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, and the Bram Stoker Award, just to name a few.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of that premiere issue of Cemetery Dance, we're proud to announce Turn Down the Lights, an anthology of authors who helped make the magazine what it is today. These original horror stories by Stephen King, Norman Partridge, Jack Ketchum, Brian James Freeman, Bentley Little, Ed Gorman, Ronald Kelly, Steve Rasnic Tem, Clive Barker, and Peter Straub capture the genuine love of the genre that pushes Cemetery Dance Publications forward year after year.
Now, turn down the lights, flip the page, take my hand, and start the dance…
My thoughts:
As I keep saying, I don't really read anthologies anymore.
Verdict: Toss
17. City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte:
Once a city of enormous wealth and culture, Prague was home to emperors, alchemists, astronomers, and, as it’s whispered, hell portals. When music student Sarah Weston lands a summer job at Prague Castle cataloging Beethoven’s manuscripts, she has no idea how dangerous her life is about to become. Prague is a threshold, Sarah is warned, and it is steeped in blood. Soon after Sarah arrives, strange things begin to happen. She learns that her mentor, who was working at the castle, may not have committed suicide after all. Could his cryptic notes be warnings? As Sarah parses his clues about Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved,” she manages to get arrested, to have tantric sex in a public fountain, and to discover a time-warping drug. She also catches the attention of a four-hundred-year-old dwarf, the handsome Prince Max, and a powerful U.S. senator with secrets she will do anything to hide.
City of Dark Magic could be called a rom-com paranormal suspense novel—or it could simply be called one of the most entertaining novels of the year.
My thoughts:
I don't really read a lot of adult fantasy, and that's what this is.
Verdict: Toss
18. Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi:
As Omega Point prepares to launch an all-out assault on The Reestablishment soldiers stationed in Sector 45, Adam's focus couldn't be further from the upcoming battle. He's reeling from his breakup with Juliette, scared for his best friend's life, and as concerned as ever for his brother James's safety. And just as Adam begins to wonder if this life is really for him, the alarms sound. It's time for war.
On the battlefield, it seems like the odds are in their favor—but taking down Warner, Adam's newly discovered half brother, won't be that easy. The Reestablishment can't tolerate a rebellion, and they'll do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam has ever cared about.
Fracture Me sets the stage for Ignite Me, the explosive finale in Tahereh Mafi's epic dystopian series. It's a novella not to be missed by fans who crave action-packed stories with tantalizing romance like Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Legend by Marie Lu.
My thoughts:
I'm so far behind on all the new stuff with this series, but I loved it, and I will read this some day!
Verdict: Keep
19. Eat Move Sleep by Tom Rath:
"Well written and scrupulously researched, this breezy guide lobbies for an all-encompassing approach to improving one's lifestyle...Rath's '30-Day Guide'...is clear and actionable." -Kirkus review
From the author of StrengthsFinder 2.0, How Full Is Your Bucket?, Strengths Based Leadership, and Wellbeing comes
a transformative book and online application that will improve your
health for years to come. While Tom's bestsellers on strengths and
well-being have inspired more than 5 million people in the last decade, Eat Move Sleep reveals
his greatest passion and expertise. Quietly managing a serious illness
for more than 20 years, Tom has assembled a wide range of information on
the impact of eating, moving, and sleeping. Written in his classic
conversational style, Eat Move Sleep features the most proven and
practical ideas from his research. This remarkably quick read offers
advice that is comprehensive yet simple and often counterintuitive but
always credible. Eat Move Sleep will help you make good decisions
automatic -- in all three of these interconnected areas. With every
bite you take, you will make better choices. You will move a lot more
than you do today. And you will sleep better than you have in years. More than a book, Eat Move Sleep is a new way to live.
My thoughts:
I read the StrengthsFinder book, and while I'm sure this is good too, I know I won't get around to it.
Verdict: Toss
20. Platform 21 by T.R. Patrick:
But first he has to die.
In the year 2052, high school sophomore Luke Gibson considers himself an average teenager in a world on the brink of monumental change. Joining his parents and sister, Laura, at the first World Energy Initiative Conference, he is among thousands gathered in a Denver arena to celebrate free renewable energy when a massive earthquake strikes killing everyone in the stadium. The last thing Luke sees before his death is a girl reaching out to him--a stranger whose face he remembers from his dreams.
The end, however, is not the end. Suddenly, inexplicably, Luke is back home in Ohio and everything is different. His sister is gone, the victim in an unsolved homicide years before. Angela, his mysterious dream girl, is here also, and the only person besides Luke who recalls the previous reality. And now their determination to uncover the truth about Laura's murder and their transformed world is making them targets--forced to flee for their lives from a nameless shadow organization and a government seeking vengeance for an unthinkable act of terror--as they stand on the threshold of a dark conspiracy that threatens all humankind.
**With Platform 21, a brilliantly inventive and unrelentingly exciting excursion to a troubled near-future, author T.R. Patrick joins the ranks of Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games), Veronica Roth (Divergent), Pittacus Lore (I Am Number Four) and other masters of YA speculative suspense fiction. The first book in the "Beyond the Veil" series, Platform 21 follows teenager Luke Gibson up to and beyond his death in a horrific terrorist attack in Denver in the year 2052. Reawakening in a world strangely transformed, Luke sets out to uncover the truth about his new reality--joining forces with Angela, a girl he had seen previously in his dreams, in a desperate race for survival that will propel them across the threshold of an insidious global conspiracy that threatens the future of all humanity.**
My thoughts:
Not sure why I added it.
Verdict: Toss
Final Thoughts:
It looks like I'm only keeping 7 this week, so that's less than half, which is good.
Have you read any of these? Would you suggest I keep any I'm tossing? And if you're inspired to do this on your blog, please feel free to join in and share a link in the comments, since it will also get you an extra entry into my giveaway at the bottom of this post.
Giveaway:
Once again this is a US only giveaway, unless you are International and see a book here you really want and would be willing to pay for the difference in the shipping through Paypal or some other way. You get to pick any two books from the pictures below, as long as they don't get traded away, or picked by last week's winner, and I will pick a surprise book from the piles to add to your choice. As I mentioned above, unpacking is finding a lot of books to get rid of, so you have even more to pick from this week! Here are your choices:
2018 ARCs:
2013-2016 ARCs (if you pick Zodiac, I kind of want to keep it with Wandering Star):
I'm continuing to add in my 2019 ARCs now. You can pick one of your two choices from the picture below, the other book you pick needs to come from the pictures above.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
