Cleaning Up My TBR With a Giveaway (US Only) - Down the TBR Hole #18

This meme was started by Lost in a Story.  Here is how it works:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

Because I have so many to do, I'm going to try to do this weekly, and do 10 at a time.


1.  Notes from the Blender by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin:

Declan loves death metal--particularly from Finland. And video games--violent ones. And internet porn--any kind, really. He goes to school with Neilly Foster and spends most of his classroom time wondering what it might be like to know her, to talk to her, maybe even to graze against her sweater in the hallway. Neilly is an accomplished gymnast, naturally beautiful, and a constant presence at all the best parties (to which Declan is never invited). She's the queen of cool, the princess of poker face, and her rule is uncontested-- or it was until today, when she's dumped by her boyfriend, betrayed by her former BFF Lulu, and then informed she's getting a new brother--of the freaky fellow classmate variety. Declan's dad is marrying Neilly's mom. Soon. Which means they'll be moving in together.

My thoughts:
Sounds okay, but not sure it stands out.

Verdict:  Toss



2.  Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper:

WRONGED. HANGED. ALIVE? (AND TRUE!)

Anne can't move a muscle, can't open her eyes, can't scream. She lies immobile in the darkness, unsure if she'd dead, terrified she's buried alive, haunted by her final memory—of being hanged. A maidservant falsely accused of infanticide in 1650 England and sent to the scaffold, Anne Green is trapped with her racing thoughts, her burning need to revisit the events—and the man—that led her to the gallows.

Meanwhile, a shy 18-year-old medical student attends his first dissection and notices something strange as the doctors prepare their tools . . . Did her eyelids just flutter? Could this corpse be alive?

Beautifully written, impossible to put down, and meticulously researched, Newes from the Dead is based on the true story of the real Anne Green, a servant who survived a hanging to awaken on the dissection table. Newes from the Dead concludes with scans of the original 1651 document that recounts this chilling medical phenomenon.

My thoughts:

I'd forgotten this one, but now that I'm reminded, I think it still sounds pretty good!

Verdict:  Keep

3.  Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson:

Once upon a time there was a girl who was special.
This is not her story.
Unless you count the part where I killed her.

Sixteen-year-old Alison has been sectioned in a mental institute for teens, having murdered the most perfect and popular girl at school. But the case is a mystery: no body has been found, and Alison's condition is proving difficult to diagnose. Alison herself can't explain what happened: one minute she was fighting with Tori -- the next she disintegrated. Into nothing. But that's impossible. Right?

When Alison meets Dr Faraday, a visiting psychologist, she feels an instant connection. More, he believes her story. But there's more to Faraday than Alison can possibly imagine ... and the answers he will give her are ... extraordinary ...

My thoughts:

Hmm, don't remember this one.  Not sure it stands out that much.

Verdict:  Toss

4.  Rise of the Corpses (The Undertakers #1) by Ty Drago:

On a sunny Wednesday morning in October, a day that would mark the end of one life and the beginning of another, I found out my grouchy next door neighbor was the walking dead. When you turn around expecting to see something familiar, and instead see something else altogether, it takes a little while for your brain to catch up with your eyes. I call it the 'Holy Crap Factor.'

Forced to flee his home and family, twelve-year-old Will Ritter falls in with the Undertakers - a rag-tag army of teenage resistance fighters who've banded together to battle the Corpses.

My thoughts:

Hmm, not sure.  Sounds pretty similar to other zombie stories.  

Verdict:  Toss

5.  Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick:

There are things in Winter, Wisconsin, folks just don't talk about. The murder way back in '45 is one. The near-suicide of a first-grade teacher is another. And then there is 17-year old Christian Cage. Christian's parents disappeared when he was a little boy, and ever since he's drawn and painted obsessively, trying desperately to remember his mother. The problem is Christian doesn't just draw his own memories. He can draw the thoughts of those around him. Confronted with fears and nightmares they'd rather avoid, people have a bad habit of dying. So it's no surprise that Christian isn't exactly popular. What no one expects is for Christian to meet Winter's last surviving Jew and uncover one more thing best forgotten: the day the Nazis came to town. Based on a little-known fact of the United States' involvement in World War II, Draw the Dark is a dark fantasy about reclaiming the forgotten past and the redeeming power of love.   

My thoughts:

I really like this author, and this sounds pretty original.

Verdict:  Keep

   

6.  Pinch Me by Adena Halpern:

LILY MARRIED THE MAN OF HER DREAMS. THEN SHE WOKE UP.

“Never marry a man unless he’s short, bald, fat, stupid, and treats you badly.” That is the advice that twenty-nine-year-old Lily Burns has heard her entire life from her grandmother Dolly and her mother, Selma. Despite this, when she meets Gogo, the handsome, successful pediatrician who treats her like a queen, she has no choice but to let her heart take over. When she agrees to marry him, Dolly and Selma are inconsolable. They decide it’s time to tell her the truth: their family is cursed. If she marries for love, there will be unimaginable consequences.

Nevertheless, Lily and Gogo elope. Unable to believe her good fortune, Lily asks Gogo to pinch her—to make sure all this isn’t just a dream. The moment he does, Lily finds herself transported back to the house she lived in when she was single. Gogo is gone. When Lily tracks him down, she finds that he’s married to someone else and has no memory of her. In this modern fairy tale, Lily must find a way to break the curse and turn her nightmare back into a dream come true.  

My thoughts:
Well, not sure if this is one I'm interested in anymore.

Verdict: Toss



7.  Frankie the Walk 'n Roll Dog Coloring and Paper Activity Book by Barbara Gail Techel:

Frankie the Walk 'N Roll Dog keeps rolling along in her doggie wheelchair. This paralyzed dachshund's unabashed healing, exuberant spirit, and spunky personality is a blessed gift to everyone she befriends. In this true, inspirational story, Frankie tells how she became a registered therapy dog and shares her visits to Libby's House, a senior facility where many residents have Alzheimer's or dementia. Frankie teaches us that patience, listening, and understanding opens our hearts to what matters most-love. With this lovely book, Frankie will win your heart and inspire children to overcome whatever obstacles they face in life. Told from Frankie's viewpoint, this journey from using a wheelchair (dog cart) to finding her purpose as a therapy dog is not only touching but also shows children how much joy, healing, and hope a dog can bring to this world. Outstanding! ~Linda and Allen Anderson, authors of Angel Animals books www.angelanimals.net 

My thoughts:
It's a dachshund, I need it some day if I can find it.

Verdict:  Keep 



8.  Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry:

A prison doctor injects a condemned serial killer with a formula designed to keep his consciousness awake while his body rots in the grave. But all drugs have unforeseen side-effects. Before he could be buried, the killer wakes up. Hungry. Infected. Contagious. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang…but a bite.

My thoughts:
It's Jonathan Maberry who I love, but I don't read a ton of zombie books, especially not adult, these days.  I think I'd always pick up any book by him though, so not sure I need to keep it on a Goodreads TBR list.

Verdict: Toss for  now   



9.  Ripple by Mandy Hubbard:

Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. The water calls to her, draws her in, forces her to sing her deadly song to unsuspecting victims. If she succumbs, she kills. If she doesn't, the pain is unbearable. To keep herself and those she cares about safe, she shuts herself off, refusing to make friends or fall in love - again. Because the last time she fell in love with a boy, he ended up dead.


Then Lexi finds herself torn. Against her better judgement, she's opening up again, falling in love with someone new when she knows she shouldn't. But when she's offered the chance to finally live a normal life, she learns that the price she must pay to be free of her curse is giving him up.
  
My thoughts:  
Hmm, probably another I won't get to.

Verdict:  Toss



 10.  Lost Voices by Sarah Porter:

What happens to the girls nobody sees—the ones who are ignored, mistreated, hidden away? The girls nobody hears when they cry for help?

Fourteen-year-old Luce is one of those lost girls. After her father vanishes in a storm at sea, she is stuck in a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village with her alcoholic uncle. When her uncle crosses an unspeakable line, Luce reaches the depths of despair. Abandoned on the cliffs near her home, she expects to die when she tumbles to the icy, churning waves below. Instead, she undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid.

A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. The mermaids are beautiful, free, and ageless, and Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: they feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks.

Luce’s own talent at singing captures the attention of the tribe’s queen, the fierce and elegant Catarina, and Luce soon finds herself pressured to join in committing mass murder. Luce’s struggle to retain her inner humanity puts her at odds with her friends; even worse, Catarina seems to regard Luce as a potential rival. But the appearance of a devious new mermaid brings a real threat to Catarina’s leadership and endangers the very existence of the tribe. Can Luce find the courage to challenge the newcomer, even at the risk of becoming rejected and alone once again?

Lost Voices is a captivating and wildly original tale about finding a voice, the healing power of friendship, and the strength it takes to forgive.  

My thoughts:
While this sounds like it definitely has a different twist to it than some mermaid stories, I don't know that I'll ever get around to it.

Verdict:  Toss


Final Thoughts:
Look at me, I'm on a roll!  Only keeping three again this week!  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's not really catching on, I'm not going to waste time with the link up this week.  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.  This week I'm upping the prize, 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.  Here are your choices:   

2018 ARCs:

2017 ARCs:

2014-2016 ARCs:

Once again I'm going to let you pick two, along with me throwing in a surprise third book!  Just enter the Rafflecopter below. 

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Hazards of Working at a Bookstore Vol. 2.7

As I was working yesterday, I was so busy at the beginning of the day, working on getting returns ready from the nonfiction part of the childrens section, that I didn't think I'd find any books to share or post about. But then, when it got busier and I had to spend more time helping customers, I found 5. So, another long post, but here we go.



First is Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. The cover caught my eye right way. To me it is kind of creepy, the black and white, a little girl standing all by herself. Looks like the makings of a horror movie poster to me. It's about a boy who goes and explores the island this home is on after a family tragedy. His grandfather was actually once a child in this abandoned home. As Jacob goes searching he learns that the children kept here were more than just "different" there was really something wrong or dangerous with them. There are supposed to be lots of pictures spread throughout to help with the theme and setting. I think I read about this first in Shelf Awareness emails, but seeing it on the shelf at the store really caught my attention.




The 2nd book is Notes from the Blender by Brendan Halpin. The cover of this didn't quite draw me, but the name did. And then, the name of one of the characters. The boy who the boots belong to is named Declan, and when I hear that name, I think Ireland, and my huge love of an Irish accent. Yeah, I know, I can't hear an accent when I read a book in my head, but still, it made me interested enough to pick it up and read the synopsis. Basically Declan is kind of a freak at school, he dresses out there (see the boots in the picture), listens to strange music, but, he has always thought about the other main character, Neilly (how do you pronounce that?) He's watched her in classes and thought about bumping into her in the hall, basically fantasized about her. Neilly is one of the most popular girls at school, until she is dumped by her boyfriend, and betrayed by her BFF. To add insult to injury, she finds out that her dad is going to marry Declan's mom. So now they've got to live in the same house.

The 3rd book is Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper. This is a terrifying tale of being stuck in your body, unable to move or communicate, and everyone thinking you are dead. This is based on a true story back in the 1800's when many people were often buried but not really dead. Her name is Anne Green, she has been falsely accused of a crime and hung. When she is on the dissection table, a young medical student senses something wrong with this body. I guess she survives. This sounds like a really freaky tale, especially knowing that it is based on a true story.

I found the 4th book on my list as I was shelving a v-cart of teen books yesterday. That's why I love when I get to shelve teen books, finding the new things that I may not have heard of yet is great, although it does feed my book addiction. Anyway, the 4th book is The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride. The main characters are Tessa and Noelle. Noelle disappears at the start of 8th grade, and Tessa pulls back from everyone. It sounds like Noelle was kidnapped, and when she escapes her captivity two years later she comes back. Noelle is now going by Elle, and Tessa finds her to be a different girl, changed by her experience. The story is how people change and what that can do to a relationship.

The final book is called Time Riders by Alex Scarrow. I think what drew my eye to this was the book I finally gave up reading, an ARC of the book Map of Time by Felix Palma. But the main characters are kids who should have died at times in history, like on the Titanic. They are Liam, Maddy who should have died in a plane crash in 2010, and Sal who should have died in 2029. So we've got kids from a huge span of time. They have been recruited by a secret agency that is trying to save the world from people using time travel for selfish or evil reasons. Such as going back to make Hitler win World War II. I guess from what I read this is going to be a series, so it sounds like something that would be great to suggest to a lot of kids I know.