Listmaniac: Hidden Gems

So, today's listmaniac is about those books that I love that just never got any popular, or at least not popular on a large scale like, say, John Green's books or Sarah Dessen, or Meg Cabot or Lisa Kleypas - authors like that. 

That's not to say that you haven't heard me talk about these books before, because I probably have pimped them... and often, but still, I tried to dig into the obscure recesses of my reading lists. So, here we go, in no particular order. 

Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Storhm 

Why Do I Love This Book? It's funny, plain and simple. Libby, the protagonist, loves history and she thinks it will be super awesome to spend the summer working at a reenactment museum in Maine, even if she has to hide her bright pink cell phone within her "era appropriate undergarments", and she often crashes with a local reporter trying to figure out if the museum is haunted. 

And there might or might not be a ghost lost in the museum. And Libby's best friend is really funny. 

Best Time to Read? In summer, it's non-beachy summery read. 

The Bard Academy Books by Cara Lockwood. 

Why Do I Love This Book? Because it takes the authors (and some characters) of many literary classics and puts them as teachers in a reform school set in an island called Shipwreck Island; where everything and anything that has ever happened in a book can happen for real. 

It's a smart book too, without talking down to readers, it trust them to have enough general culture to get the jokes and the personalities of the many authors and characters that populate the island, along with the students. 

Plus: boarding school theme!

Best Time to Read? During the fall, it's a great back to school book. 

Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande

Why Do I Love This Book? Well, this one is a bit personal. I went to a seventh day adventist school for many, many years (just because it was really close to my Grandma's place), and I identified with a lot of the stuff Mena went through having to navigate her faith and deeply held beliefs with the word around her; and how cruel organized religion can be on people who don't agree with it. 

It was a very interesting book about faith and science and it had some very funny characters and a cute, age appropriate romance and PUPPIES!! Lots of puppies!

Best Time to Read? Another back to school book. 

The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume by Lisa Rumsey Harris

Why Do I Love This Book? It's different, and it's pretty different to what I usually read. Treasure Blume in the inheritor of a family curse that makes anyone over the age of six and under the age of sixty dislike her when they first met her, like really dislike her (and be really rude to her). 

Which is why she loves her job as a First Grade teacher since her young students just take her in. Other people grow to like her but very few people care to get to know her beyond the first impression. There is a dash of romance, but for me it's all over the other types of love that people get to have in their lives. 

Best time to Read? Anytime really, but it's also kind of a cozy book, so maybe when the weather turns cold. 

Persuade Me by Juliet Archer

Why Do I Love This Book? Because it's a modern tale retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion and it actually gets it pretty right. And Persuasion is one story that I love, this whole idea of giving love a second chance, even if there was some hurt involved. 

Plus, in this version, Wentworth is a marine biologist which is speaks to many of my wheelhouses as a hidrobiologist. Other than that, it's a very sweet story and I like Anna and Rick and reading their story gives me warm fuzzies. 

Best time to Read? I would say this is more of a holiday book, definitely wintery, anyway since it's when the book takes place (late fall, early winter). 


Well, that's me! Please let me know if you got some hidden gem you want to share! I'm alway looking for out of the box books ;)

Book Review: Hidden by Catherine McKenzie

The Deal: Three lives collide when Jeff Manning decides to walk home from work after having to fire his mentor from the company they both worked for. Jeff is distracted, reflecting about his life when he's blindsided by a car and dies. 

At home, his wife Claire waits for him, and is shocked when police officers come to her door to let her know about the accident.

She now has to comfort their grieving son and deal with the neighbors and with the sudden reappearance of Jeff's older brother whom she used to date back in college, and with the many unresolved feelings she still has about the Manning brothers and the turns her life has taken. 

Miles away and in another city entirely, Tish's world is rocked by the news of Jeff's passing. As far as anyone knows, they have only talked to each other once or twice at company-wide events. But unbeknown to everyone, even their spouses, Tish and Jeff talked every day, several times in fact, sustaining a complex long distance relationship.

My Thoughts: Told in alternating points of view between Tish, Jeff and Claire, Hidden tells a very complicated story that goes back and forth between past and present of these characters and how they related to each other.

Catherine McKenzie is an author that writes unusual stories and I've always enjoyed that about her books, but I'll admit that I had to go on faith a little with Hidden because it took me a while to get into the story.

While Claire, Tish and Jeff's voices were distinctive, I found it hard to connect with any of them, as they often tended to reminisce about the past - how Jeff met both Claire and Tish, the trials of Claire's marriage - and Tish often sounded whiny and... unappreciative of the life she did have (with a husband and kid who loved her).

But as the story unfolded and the layers began to be peeled back, I was intrigued by the links between these people and the choices they had made.

While not my favorite Catherine McKenzie book (That would be Forgotten); Hidden is interesting and made for a good read at the end, though it had a slow start.

Book Review: Suddenly Last Summer by Sarah Morgan

At First Sight: Dr. Sean O'Neil is the go-to-guy orthopedic surgeon in Boston, and perhaps the world, he's good at what he does and specializes working on athletes; and he's pretty darn good at putting things back together and making them work... except when it comes to his family.

When his father died a couple of years prior, Sean lost it and had a big row with his grandfather, which he hasn't told anyone about, but which has kept him more-or -less away from the family's Snow Crystal Resort in Vermont.

But when the call comes that his Grandfather has been rushed to the hospital after collapsing with a possible heart attack, he drops everything and rushes home... not that he things it will do much good, plus he'll be stuck in a place he never loved as much as

Elise Philipe has made her life at Snow Crystal over the last eight years, adopting the O'Neil family as her own and forming deep connections to everyone there, specially Grandpa O'Neil, who is old and ornery and likes to do things his own way.

Having escaped from a bad situation years before with the help of Jackson O'Neil, Sean's twin brother, Elise is in no rush to ever leave Snow Crystal, the only place she has ever been happy since her mother died. And she can't quite understand why Sean keeps away, at least not at first.

But as the summer wears on and Sean sticks around, she begins to understand, even if she's not quite ready to share all of her secrets herself

Second Glance: Suddenly Last Summer was a lovely book, I really enjoyed it and I liked it more than I liked the previous book Sleigh Bells in the Snow, which to me felt very much like a set up book, plus I didn't like the Grandfather in that one.

In this one, the world of Snow Crystal is already more or less stablished so we spend less time in the whole setting things up part and now we are just expanding on the characters we met before... for the most part. There is this bit of the story that keeps getting brought up over and over and over - about how much the Grandfather, whose name eludes me right now, loves Snow Crystal and how much Sean's father hated running the business (But mostly the first part).

And, like, that was a big part of the plot of the first book, we already knew that, but even if we hadn't known, with the first two or three times they said it was enough to make a point, yet it was brought up almost every other chapter.

Other than that, I really enjoyed spending time with Sean and Elise and figuring out why they were they way they were. Sean hated feeling tied down because he saw what that did to his father; and Elise had gone through a really bad relationship in her early twenties and felt adrift since losing her mother, so for her Snow Crystal and belonging there was wonderful.

UK Cover

Aside from the romantic relationships, there is a lot of how important connection is in this book; Elise loves that she feels like part of the O'Neil family and that she has great friends in Kayla and Brenna and that they trust her and love her. Sean on the other hand feels the burden of his family history and expectations, but loves them to death anyway.

Bottom Line: Like I said, I enjoyed Suddenly Last Summer, it was a lovely contemporary Romance and I believed the relationship between Sean and Elise, its also a book about family and I really enjoyed spending more time with the characters from the previous book and I'm really looking forward to book three Maybe This Christmas. 

Why does NA even exist? But I ask again, why? - A Book Rant

Hello my lovelies!!

So, I finally put together all my thoughts on why I don't believe in New Adult as a thing that should be happening... and I did it on vlog format!!

So, yeah, I did this all in one take, sorry if I rant a little too long. And if I say "A lot of these books..." quite a few times. And please let me know what you think down in comments.

Also, yeah... that's the pretty bad haircut I'm rocking right now... can't wait for my hair to grow out of it :P

And, as always, this is just my opinion on a book classification I don't like, it says nothing of the authors or readers who do like to write it or read it.

Okay, so here we go:

Feel free to leave comments!

What's Making Me Happy...

Hello!
Sorry, I didn't get a chance to post last week, it was nuts as it usually is at work during exam days. *sigh*

But, this week I do have stuff that made me happy:

1. Made brownies from scratch and they were actually pretty good!! Chocolate-y as hell but good!! Also made cookies and they turned out all right!

2. Almost done with evaluations and relatively few of my kids got low grades or flunked their first evaluation. This makes me happy as it means less time arguing with them over homework they never did. One down, 2 more to go.

3. Got a moment of pride when my kids - most of which I had last term - did these awesome cards detailing the characteristics of each ecosystem we studied last term. I love when my kids surprise me with top quality work.

4. New projects: So, I started a blog with my friend Sofia so we can review books in Spanish! I'm thinking we are going to do mostly video blogs but who knows! :) I'm just excited.