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.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Infected by Sophie Littlefield (COYER Challenge #1)

First, thanks to Edelweiss and Delacorte Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read an e-galley of this.  It was a good read, I was just disappointed that it wasn't another zombie book.  I first found this author, Sophie Littlefield with an ARC of her book, Aftertime, which was a zombie story.  And when I saw the title of this, my first thought was, oooh, YA zombie story, I mean isn't that what the word infected brings to mind for you these days?  No?  Just me?  Oh well.  Overall it was still a good story, even it it wasn't what I'd expected.  That's what I get for not reading the synopsis.  I just saw the title and the author's name and requested.

The main character in this book is Carina.  Her mother passed away, suicide, about a year ago. She'd been living with her uncle until just before the book starts, when he is in a car accident on his way home from a business trip.  As the story starts Carina is getting ready to go to his memorial service.  But some strange things are going on.  As far as she knew her mom and uncle had been working on some kind of nutrition scientific research.  But at the memorial service there is security, two bodyguards following her around. She's getting ready to go live with her mom and uncle's friend Sheila.  But first she finds a code of some sort in a ring that her mother had given her. And when she tries to get some alone time with her boyfriend Tanner, Sheila and the bodyguards start getting really weird about not letting them hang out.  So she and Tanner decide to get out of there and sneak away.  Carina has an envelope that she found under the trash can at her uncle's house, and in it, he says to not trust Sheila and gives a location for her to go to in order to be safe and find out what is going on.

Both Carina and Tanner enjoy code breaking, or other computer programming type of things.  And together they are able to find this apartment along with the code to get into it and then figure out how to get into the encrypted files her uncle left her.  There is a virus that was being developed to help make stronger, faster soldiers.  Only it caused them to die from the side effects.  They had finally come up with an antidote, but before they could attach it to the virus, they began to have trouble, someone had sold the info to Albanians. So not only are Carina and Tanner running from Sheila, but also these Albanians.  And somehow they've both been infected.  Well, first Carina, and then the night before the memorial, when they spent the night on the roof of the school, Tanner got the virus from Carina.

I liked the science, and the intrigue, and even the code breaking.  For the most part it didn't get too technical at any part in my opinion.  And there were twists and turns throughout the whole book.  Some I didn't see coming.  And the dangerous moments were all really edge of your seat, and also unique.  There were drones used at one point, and I loved how they were worked into the story.  Once again Sophie Littlefield has written a great story.  I was lucky enough to get to meet her this past summer at BEA, and here is my picture with her:

Waiting on Wednesday - Infected by Sophie Littlefield

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  I've chosen a book this week that is by an author that I've enjoyed other books by, Sophie Littlefield.  She had a zombie series that I liked, Aftertime, and from the title of this book, I assumed it might be set in the same world, which now that I read the description below, I'm not sure that it is.  I did get to meet the author at BEA this year, unfortunately the book that I got at the time was not my type of book, but I passed it on to someone who I think would enjoy it.

The race-against-the-clock feel of TV’s popular show 24 meets the action-packed romance of the film Run Lola Run. This high-concept teen thriller sends readers on the race of their lives.

Carina’s senior year is spiraling downward. Fast. Both her mother and her uncle, the only two family members she’s ever known, are dead. Their deaths were accidents, unfortunate results of the highly confidential research they performed for a national security organization. Or so she’s been told.

She’s not buying it.

After finding a unique code hidden beneath the stone in a ring her mother left to her, Carina goes straight to the only family she has left: her boyfriend, Tanner.

The people Carina loved kept dangerous secrets. Secrets that make her question the life she’s been living up to now. Her life is on the line, but more importantly, so is Tanner’s. And if she fails? He dies.

Here I am with the author at BEA:

 

Sophie Littlefield and me

 While you're here, there's still time to enter my 5th Blogoversary Giveaway by clicking on the button below:

 

And you can clear your shelves of those sequels you've been sitting on by signing up for my September is for Sequels Challenge, which will also have prizes for those who participate.  Just click on the button below to go sign up.

Hanging by a Thread by Sophie Littlefield

First, thanks to Netgalley and Random House Children's Book Division for letting me read the egalley of this.  I saw the author's name, and knew it from reading the Aftertime series by her.  In the Aftertime books, the main character is a really tough, kind of bad girl.  So I wasn't sure how that would translate into a teen book.  But no need to fear, Sophie Littlefield is a good writer in my opinion, because she can write different types of characters, they don't all seem the same.  While Aftertime was a zombie story, this is a little bit different.  It's still got a paranormal edge, the main character Clare can sense things about people by touching clothing.  She's moved back to the town her mother grew up in, and that she lived for awhile when she was younger.  It's a little different now, there have been 2 murders, or a murder and a disappearance in the past two years.  Both on the same day of the year.  It's now coming up on the anniversary of that day, and the town is getting nervous and hoping that another tragedy doesn't occur.  Clare has gotten back to her friend, and it seems like nothing has changed in their friendship, other than her friend seems to be a little different.  Clare's big thing is taking old pieces of clothing, and giving them new life.  Cutting them apart, putting new trim, different parts together, etc.  One of the things she finds, a denim jacket from a consignment store, gives her a very, very strong vision, and she thinks it is a clue to the death or disappearance of the second kid, Amanda, a girl who Clare's best friend used to be friends with.
This talent Clare has is one that has been passed down from generation to generation.  In fact, the reason Clare's mom moved away in the first place was because of something Clare's grandmother saw.  Clare's mom has always tried to tell her to stop doing it, and told her it wasn't a good thing.  But it seems this jacket wants Clare to solve the mystery of Amanda's disappearance.  In the mix is the town bad boy.  But is he really a bad boy?  Or does he just not conform to the small town way?  Clare feels an attraction to him, but tries to fight it.
This was a good story.  I enjoyed finding out what happened, although I began to suspect something like the actual answer.
I hope there will be a sequel, although this was a totally good stand alone novel if that is all it will be.  I will be looking up other books by this author now that I know the wide range she can write.

Rebirth: An Aftertime novel by Sophie Littlefield

Rebirth by Sophie Littlefield
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book kept up with the first in the series. Although I found it a little slow to get into. There was a big event at the beginning that got you hooked though, you found out that the library Cass had first arrived at in the first book had been burned and people killed by the Rebuilders. Which meant that Dor's daughter had been kidnapped. Cass thinks she could just stay at the Box with Smoke, but Smoke is so angry about the Rebuilders that he goes to infiltrate them for Dor. It's basically a suicide mission. And Dor is going to go too, it is his daughter. Cass wants to go as well to find Smoke, although she feels that Smoke has betrayed her and her daughter Ruthie by just leaving like that. Cass really just wants to find a safe, normal place for her daughter Ruthie to have a chance to grow. So after a trip filled with danger to the Rebuilders, Cass feels she might have found a good place. As an Outlier, someone who has the immunity to the disease that has caused the zombies, she is highly valued, and would live a life of "comfort" in the Rebuilders' colony. However, it turns out all is not as great as it seems. What the scientist in charge of the rebuilders wants the Outliers for is a bit creepy, and Smoke has gotten himself into a situation that must be saved, and then they do find Dor's daughter Sammi, and she also is in a precarious situation, although being Dor's daughter, she feels she can take care of herself. It definitely leaves off on a huge cliffhanger, and I know the 3rd book is out. I may have to actually buy that one, as I got the other two as an ARC and the first came with the 2nd ARC to introduce to the series. I got both from the Barnes and Noble store I work at.
Personally, some of Cass's decisions I don't quite know that I would be like that, so at times it is hard for me to connect to her. But the story is one that is interesting and keeps you reading on. I just think it'd be nice to have a little more zombies in it.  Although, we do learn that the zombies seem to be evolving.  So that could make for some interesting events in the 3rd book.
To count this in my A-Z Challenge I'll have to go with it as the "L" book for the author's last name.  It also counts on my TBR Pile Challenge.

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Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield

Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I got this book as an ARC from the bookstore I work along with the sequel, which I haven't read yet. But I will soon, because I really did enjoy this book. This is another zombie story. But I like that we have started in after all of it has started and it is the "after time". I like that because the story still goes back and explains why we have zombies, so you're not just left wondering how it all came about. As a science person that is important to me. Our main character is Cass, who has just woken up and is not sure exactly why she is where she is, or why she is alive. The surprise in why she is alive is that she has the tell-tale marks of having been attacked by the zombies on her back, and the strips of flesh missing on her arms tells that she was a zombie. Yet now she's not. The only thing on her mind now is finding out where her daughter Ruthie is. Her daughter who she last saw the night she was taken by the zombies.
The zombies in this story are a little different, they just want to eat the skin. And they do drink blood, or at least when they see blood it hypnotizes them. These aren't the slow, shuffling zombies really, but they are pretty stupid. At least that's what everyone thinks, although they are beginning to do things that makes people wonder. Cass meets a man named Smoke at the first settlement of people she finds. Smoke agrees to take her back to the library where she was taken to try to find her daughter.
She finds out her daughter was taken by a group of women, kind of a cult. And she must find out how to get in to see if her daughter is okay and to rescue her. So that's where the book kind of leaves off for the sequel. And it's a big cliffhanger, so I'll be ready to pick up part two pretty soon.
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