Cleaning Up My TBR With a Giveaway (US Only) - Down the TBR Hole #38

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.   Breathe by Sarah Crossan:

The world has no air. If you want to survive, you pay to breathe. But what if you can't? And what if you think everything could be different? Three teens will leave everything they know behind in Sarah Crossan's gripping and original dystopian teen novel of danger, longing, and glimmering hope.

Ever since the Switch, when the oxygen levels plummeted and most of humanity died, the survivors have been protected in glass domes full of manufactured air. Protected . . . or trapped? Or controlled? Alina's a revolutionary who believes we can save the environment. Quinn's a Premium who's never had to worry about having enough air. His best friend, Bea, is an Auxiliary who's never worried about anything but having enough air. When the three cross paths, they will change everything.
 
My thoughts:
I still feel like this one sounds like a good story.  I feel like I need to keep it on my list just in case.

Verdict: Keep



2.  Banished by Sophie Littlefield:

There isn’t much worth living for in Gypsum, Missouri—or Trashtown, as the rich kids call the run-down neighborhood where sixteen-year-old Hailey Tarbell lives. Hailey figures she’ll never belong—not with the popular kids at school, not with the rejects, not even with her cruel, sickly grandmother, who deals drugs out of their basement. Hailey never knew her dead mother, and she has no idea who her father was, but at least she has her four-year-old foster brother, Chub. Once she turns eighteen, Hailey plans to take Chub far from Gypsum and start a new life where no one can find them.

But when a classmate is injured in gym class, Hailey discovers a gift for healing that she never knew she possessed—and that she cannot ignore. Not only can she heal, she can bring the dying back to life. Confused by her powers, Hailey searches for answers but finds only more questions, until a mysterious visitor shows up at Gram’s house, claiming to be Hailey’s aunt Prairie.

There are people who will stop at nothing to keep Hailey in Trashtown, living out a legacy of despair and suffering. But when Prairie saves both Hailey and Chub from armed attackers who invade Gram’s house in the middle of the night, Hailey must decide where to place her trust. Will Prairie’s past, and the long-buried secret that caused her to leave Gypsum years earlier, ruin them all? Because as Hailey will soon find out, their power to heal is just the beginning.

This gripping novel from thriller writer Sophie Littlefield blazes a trail from small-town Missouri to the big city as Hailey battles an evil greater than she ever imagined, while discovering strengths she never knew she had.

My thoughts: 
I want to keep this one on my list because I like the author and it is set in Missouri, my home state. But, don't know that it sounds like one I really am interested in anymore.

Verdict: Toss 



3.  The Third Gate by Lincoln Child:

Under the direction of famed explorer Porter Stone, an archaeological team is secretly attempting to locate the tomb of an ancient pharaoh who was unlike any other in history. Stone believes he has found the burial chamber of King Narmer, the near mythical god- king who united upper and lower Egypt in 3200 B.C., and the archaeologist has reason to believe that the greatest prize of all—Narmer’s crown—might be buried with him. No crown of an Egyptian king has ever been discovered, and Narmer’s is the elusive “double” crown of the two Egypts, supposedly pos­sessed of awesome powers.

The dig itself is located in one of the most forbidding places on earth—the Sudd, a nearly  impassable swamp in north­ern Sudan. Amid the nightmarish, disorienting tangle of mud and dead vegetation, a series of harrowing and inexpli­cable occurrences are causing people on the expedition to fear a centuries- old curse. With a monumental discovery in reach, Professor Jeremy Logan is brought onto the project to investigate. What he finds will raise new questions . . . and alarm.

In the hands of master storyteller Lincoln Child, The Third Gate breaks new ground and introduces a fascinating new protagonist to the thriller world.

 

My thoughts:  
I've read the first two in the series, and if this was a final concluding book I might keep it, but it looks like this series goes on for several more books, and it's not something I'm really reading anymore.

Verdict: Toss



4.  Life Happens Next by Terry Trueman:

Stuck in Neutral, a Printz Honor Book, introduced the world to Shawn McDaniel, a fourteen-year-old kid with cerebral palsy. But what happens next?

Shawn's got a new perspective on life. But no one has a clue. That's because they can see only his wheelchair, his limp body, his drool. What they don't see? His brain, with perfect auditory memory. And his heart, which is in love with a girl. And his fierce belief that someday someone will realize there's way more to him than his appearance.

How do you connect with others when you can't talk, walk, or even wave hello? In the sequel to Stuck in Neutral, which ALA Booklist called "an intense reading experience," Shawn McDaniel discovers a new definition of "normal" and finds that life happens next for everyone.

My thoughts:  So, I really liked the first book, Stuck in Neutral, and I really think I need to read this one as well.

Verdict:  Keep

5.   The Turning by Francine Prose:

A dark house.
An isolated island.
Strange dreams
and even stranger
visions . . .

Jack is spending the summer on a private island far from modern conveniences. No Wi-Fi, no cell service, no one else on the island but a housekeeper and the two very peculiar children in his care. The first time Jack sees the huge black mansion atop a windswept hill, he senses something cold, something more sinister than even the dark house itself.

Soon, he feels terribly isolated and alone. Yet he is not alone. The house has visitors—peering in the windows, staring from across the shore. But why doesn't anyone else see them . . . and what do they want? As secrets are revealed and darker truths surface, Jack desperately struggles to maintain a grip on reality. He knows what he sees, and he isn't crazy. . . . Or is he?

From nationally acclaimed author Francine Prose comes a mind-bending story that will leave you realizing how subtle the lines that separate reality, imagination, and insanity really are.

My thoughts:
Sounds like a movie I've seen?  Don't know when I'll get to it though. 

Verdict:  Toss



6.  Cycles by Lois D. Brown:

When Renee discovers that her neighbor, Dr. Dawson, has bags of his dead daughter's frozen blood stored in his basement, she decides it's up to her to uncover the doctor's mysterious past. What she learns, however, is not what she expects. Now she and her friend Sam Miller are on the run, hiding from scientists who want to use what the two teenagers know to change human life forever.


My thoughts:
Sounds interesting, but probably not one I'm going to get to.


Verdict: Toss



7.  Bayou Myth by Mary Ann Loesch:

As a sixteen year old voodoo queen in the making, Joan Renault just wants to be like all the other girls in the small town of Monte Parish, Louisiana—obsessed with boys and swamped with social lives. If the other kids would quit calling her “hoodoo hag,” she might have a small shot at normality. It would also help if Joan’s weekend outings with her secret crush, Dave, weren’t always being interrupted by her dead Grandmere, the legendary Marie Laveau. After all, it’s hard to make out with your best friend when your grandmother is watching! But when you come from a long line of voodoo priestesses with dried gator heads decorating the wall of their huts, normal doesn’t come easily.

When Joan witnesses the brutal sacrifice of a child to a tree Druid, she learns her Grandmere’s scandalous past has come back to haunt those living in the present. Hera, a vengeful voodoo priestess is determined to use the residual energy of Pandora’s Box to revive a sleeping voodoo god and declare war on the descendants of Marie Laveau, especially Joan. Suddenly, Greek myths are being re-enacted all over town, and Joan has her hands full trying to sort it all out. With the approach of Samedi’s Day—the voodoo day of resurrection—Joan must learn to accept her destiny in order to stop the approaching threat to her family and friends.

My thoughts:  
I'm really, really intrigued by all things to do with voodoo, especially after having visited New Orleans several times.  So maybe I'll keep this one for a while?

Verdict:  Keep - for now


 8.  Dead Things by Matt Darst:

Nearly two decades have passed since the fall of the United States. And the rise of the church to fill the void. Nearly twenty years since Ian Sumner lost his father. And the dead took to the streets to dine on the living. Now Ian and a lost band of survivors are trapped in the wilderness, miles from safety. Pursued by madmen and monsters, they unravel the secrets of the plague ...and walk the line of heresy. Ian and this troop need to do more than just survive. More than ever, they must learn to live.


My thoughts:
Eh, kind of good, but not anything new really. 


Verdict:  Toss


9.  Science Ink:  Tattoos of the Science Obsessed by Carl Zimmer:

Body art meets popular science in this elegant, mind-blowing collection, written by renowned science writer Carl Zimmer. This fascinating book showcases hundreds of eye-catching tattoos that pay tribute to various scientific disciplines, from evolutionary biology and neuroscience to mathematics and astrophysics, and reveals the stories of the individuals who chose to inscribe their obsessions in their skin. Best of all, each tattoo provides a leaping-off point for bestselling essayist and lecturer Zimmer to reflect on the science in question, whether it's the importance of an image of Darwin's finches or the significance of the uranium atom inked into the chest of a young radiologist.
 
My thoughts:
As cool as this still sounds, I don't know that it's one I'll ever get around to reading or even just looking at the pictures.  Gah, the synopsis makes it sound so good though!

Verdict: Keep - for now



10.  The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy by Dean A. Kowalski:

A lighthearted meditation on the philosophical quandaries of the hit television show The Big Bang Theory

Ever wonder what Aristotle might say about the life Sheldon Cooper leads? Why Thomas Hobbes would applaud the roommate agreement? Who Immanuel Kant would treat with "haughty derision" for weaving "un-unravelable webs?" And—most importantly—whether Wil Wheaton is truly evil? Of course you have. Bazinga!

This book mines the deep thinking of some of history's most potent philosophical minds to explore your most pressing questions about The Big Bang Theory and its nerdy genius characters. You might find other philosophy books on science and cosmology, but only this one refers to Darth Vader Force-chokes, cloning Leonard Nimoy, and oompa-loompa-like engineers. Fo-shizzle.

Gives you irresistibly geek-worthy insights on your favorite Big Bang Theory characters, story lines, and ideas Examines important themes involving ethics and virtue, science, semiotics, religion, and the human condition Brings the thinking of some of the world's greatest philosophers to bear on The Big Bang Theory, from Aristotle and Plato to Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Simone de Beauvoir, and more Essential reading for every Big Bang Theory fan, this book explores whether comic-book-wielding geeks can lead the good life, and whether they can know enough science to "tear the mask off nature and stare at the face of God."


My thoughts:
As I've mentioned before, I love these things, but these days I just don't have the time to read them like I'd like to.

Verdict: Toss



Final Thoughts:
Not as good as last week, keeping four instead of three. 

Once again you can see that I may have dropped some, but you can also see how many I've added during the week as well because I'm also pointing out how many books are on my Want to Read list on Goodreads each week.  This week, after taking these 7 off, I have 3,149 books listed now, and last week I ended with 3,156.  So I improved!  A tiny bit.

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:

2017 ARCs:

I'm continuing to add in my early 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.  

And here are the older ones I've cleaned out as I unpack:

2010-2013 ARCs:

2014 ARCs:

2015-2016 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.   Disclaimer:  Unfortunately, while I've only had it happen once, I'm going to have to make a statement like other giveaways I've seen on blogs that I am not responsible for lost mail.

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A to Z April: R Reviews - Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler/Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

My books today are from two opposite genres.  The first is one of two books that draws on the obsession so many people have with Jane Austen books, both readers today as well as those when the books were written.  The second is a science fiction book, the first in a series that I got behind after four or five, but hope one day to maybe get back into them.

First is Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler, and it is actually the 2nd book in the Jane Austen Addict series.  But it fit into my A to Z to do this one, so I'll discuss it today.  The first book in the series had to do with a modern day girl, Courtney, back into time period of the Jane Austen books. This 2nd book takes the girl she kind of replaced in that time period, Jane, and plops her in modern day life in Los Angeles.  Here's the blurb from Goodreads:
While Confessions took twenty-first-century free spirit Courtney Stone into the social confines of Jane Austen's era, Rude Awakenings tells the parallel story of Jane Mansfield, a gentleman's daughter from Regency England who inexplicably awakens in Courtney's overly wired and morally confused L.A. life.

For Jane, the modern world is not wholly disagreeable. Her apartment may be smaller than a dressing closet, but it is fitted up with lights that burn without candles, machines that wash bodies and clothes, and a glossy rectangle in which tiny people perform scenes from her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. Granted, if she wants to travel she may have to drive a formidable metal carriage, but she may do so without a chaperone. And oh, what places she goes! Public assemblies that pulsate with pounding music. Unbound hair and unrestricted clothing. The freedom to say what she wants when she wants-even to men without a proper introduction.

Jane relishes the privacy, independence, even the power to earn her own money. But how is she to fathom her employer's incomprehensible dictates about "syncing a BlackBerry" and "rolling a call"? How can she navigate a world in which entire publications are devoted to brides but flirting and kissing and even the sexual act itself raise no matrimonial expectations? Even more bewildering are the memories that are not her own. And the friend named Wes, who is as attractive and confusing to Jane as the man who broke her heart back home. It's enough to make her wonder if she would be better off in her own time, where at least the rules are clear-that is, if returning is even an option.

Second is Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.  It is a really cool story about a plant that has some kind of mutative powers when ingested.  And it has created a monster.  A monster that is transported to a museum where it creates havoc. Loved this story, and just ignore the horrible movie made from it!   Also this story brings together two people who will be a duo that the series will follow.  Here is the blurb for the first one from Goodreads:
Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human...

But the museum's directors plan to go ahead with a big bash to celebrate the new exhibition, in spite of the murders.

Museum researcher Margo Green must find out who-or what-is doing the killing. But can she do it in time to stop the massacre?


Are you a big Jane Austen fan?  What would you do if you were all of a sudden living in that time period?  What do you think about a mystery in a museum of a killer creature that no one has ever seen before?  Scary?  Have you seen the movie they made of the book, which for the most part was pretty bad?

While you're here, don't forget to enter my month-long giveaway that goes along with the challenge.

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A to Z April - S: Science Fiction

Today I'm going to share some of my favorite science fiction stories.  As a former science teacher, I have problems with some science fiction that is just too unbelievable.  But I also have my favorite areas of science, paleontology, space, biology, etc.  In honor of it being Tuesday, I will list 10 today for Top 10 Tuesday.  Won't give any comments, just show the covers so it will be a quick scroll through post for my fellow A to Z'ers.  Now, I know some people may not consider all of these to be "true" science fiction, but these are the things I consider to be science fiction.  And I will pick some maybe less well known ones in case you're looking for a new read!


1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

4.

 

5.

 

6.

 

 

7.

 

8.

 

9.

 

 10.

 

Wow, and I didn't even include any dinosaur books!  So many more I could share.  Do you read science fiction?  Do you have any favorite authors you think I should look into?

 

 

 

Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child

Another book that was a strip copy. I picked it up because I love the books Lincoln Child writes with Douglas Preston, and I did enjoy Utopia and Deep Storm.

This was a fun science type book as well. There is a creature in it that was flash frozen in ice a long time ago. It is a strange unknown creature. There are many theories thrown around about it. One I wonder if it is a real theory, that scientists say every so often nature creates a creature that is just to weed out some sort of species or something. I'll have to look that up at some point, because it is very interesting. I don't like how it does talk about Global Warming. Yes, maybe the polar ice caps are melting, but once again, as I've posted before, that happens in nature! So anyway.

Another good, quick read by Lincoln Child. I think there is only one other book by Lincoln Child, Death Match. Not sure what it is about, but I'll have to look it up and check it out. I still need to get back to the series he writes with Douglas Preston that started with Relic one of these days. I do have to note, that as I was looking for an image of the cover for this book, I really like the British cover better, so I posted it above as well.

Deep Storm by Lincoln Child

I've been a fan of Lincoln Child since I borrowed the book The Relic from one of my high school students my first year of teaching. I've since read through all the books in that series that he co-wrote with Douglas Preston, and I've moved on to the books each of them has authored on their own. In fact, I think I'm a book or two behind in the Relic or Pendergast series.

Deep Storm is a science thriller. The US goverment has found something buried under the Earth's crust in the middle of the ocean near an oil rig. Peter Crane is our main character, a former Navy medical doctor called in to this top secret mission because of his past experience in a high stress situation. People in this amazing facility are getting sick, but their symptoms don't match, and there is no sign of what could be the cause.

Turns out there is more to what they're looking for, it's an alien artifact, and one they come to find should probably be left alone. And of course, as often happens in this type of book, there is one military person who is not seeing the bad things, and plans to continue for his country at all costs. Good read.