Waiting For Wentworth

August Recap and September TBR

Time is really flying! September is here already. This is my favorite time of the year. What's not to love? Apple picking, fall festivals, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, cooler weather, leaves, leaves everywhere... and my absolute favorite thing, Pumpkin Spice Latte! And both of my kids' birthdays are in September, so Hooray!!!!!

Books Read in August:

1. Back to Bataan by Jerome Charyn
2. Through To You by Emily Hainsworth
3. Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1) by Anna Banks
4. Small Damages by Beth Kephart
5. Amplified (Amplified #1) by Tara Kelly
6. The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee
7. The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
8. Waiting by Carol Lynch Williams

Total pages read: 2453

Favorite book read in August:
The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater. She better be heading someplace spectacular with this series. After the craptacular ambiguous ending (was that an ending???) of Forever, I have somehow decided to read another book of Maggie's. She better not let me down.

Least favorite book read in August:
Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1) by Anna Banks. It wasn't that bad, it just didn't float my boat.

Reviews Posted in August:

1. Back To Bataan by Jerome Charyn
2. Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross
3. Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry
4. In Honor by Jessi Kirby
5. Small Damages by Beth Kephart

These are some of the books that are being released in September 2012 that I am looking forward to reading:

Sept. 4
Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr
34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodrigues
Dangerous Boy by Mandy Hubbard

Sept. 11
Personal Effects by E.M. Kokie
Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan
Toxic (Denazen #2) by Jus Accardo

Sept. 18
The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater (Already read and loved this!)
Glass Heart (Cold Kiss #2) by Amy Garvey
Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Sept. 25
Covet (The Clann #2) by Melissa Darnell
A Fractured Light (A Beautiful Dark #2) by Jocelyn Davies

Review Copy Cleanup hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea and Nyx Book Reviews was a month long challenge to read your review copies and ran from August 1 - August 31, 2012.

Well, I wasn't sure how I was going to do with a month of review books to read. Trying to keep my expectations real, I only had 6 books to begin with, but I still only managed to read 4 of them for the challenge. I must admit that I could have read 2 more, but I decided to read something else instead. Because I like to make myself happy - that's how I roll.

Here are my final results for this challenge:

1. Personal Effects by E.M. Kokie

2. Through To You by Emily Hainsworth Read 8-05-12

3. The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater Read 8-29-12

4. Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful #1) by Jamie McGuire

5. The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee Read 8-21-12

6. Back to Bataan by Jerome Charyn Read & Reviewed 8-02-12

(1168 pages read)

Welcome to my stop on the Back To The Books Giveaway Hop, which is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Buried In Books.

I am giving away a $10.00 Amazon eGiftcard (for U.S. winner) OR one book of choice up to a $10.00 U.S. value from The Book Depository (for international winner).

Contest Rules:

The hop runs September 1 through September 7.
Giveaway is International as long as The Book Depository ships to your country.
Must be 13 years of age or older to participate.
Fill out the Rafflecopter entry below.
Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email or a new winner will be chosen.
Be sure to check out the linky below and visit all of the participating blogs.
Have fun!

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Small Damages by Beth Kephart

Published July 19th 2012
Hardcover, 304 pages
Philomel
Source: Borrowed From Library

Synopsis From Goodreads:

It’s senior year, and while Kenzie should be looking forward to prom and starting college in the fall, she is mourning the loss of her father. She finds solace in the one person she trusts, her boyfriend, and she soon finds herself pregnant. Kenzie’s boyfriend and mother do not understand her determination to keep the baby. She is sent to southern Spain for the summer, where she will live out her pregnancy as a cook’s assistant on a bull ranch, and her baby will be adopted by a Spanish couple.

Alone and resentful in a foreign country, Kenzie is at first sullen and difficult. She begins to open her eyes and her heart to the beauty that is all around her and inside of her.

Small Damages is beautiful and very descriptive. The writing is very different, and I know it won't appeal to everyone. I almost want to compare it to novels written in verse. It has that same sort of flowy, free form feel to it. It was very easy to lose myself in the story and imagine I was in Spain and experiencing everything right along with Kenzie.

The only downside for me was that I thought it lacked something by not having enough direct dialogue. Some conversations were not well defined, and sometimes they were a little hard to follow. Several times I had to re-read parts to figure out who said what. But that was minor and didn't take away from my overall reading enjoyment.

Kenzie's pregnancy is not romanticized or glossed over, and she faces a lot of really tough choices. As the narrator, Kenzie never lets the reader forget that she was shipped off to Spain by her mother to hide her pregnancy. Kenzie feels no shame in being pregnant, but isn't strong enough to stand up for herself and what she wants. Kenzie's boyfriend, Kevin, seemed to be a likable character in flashbacks. However, he is not supportive of Kenzie. All he can say is "We should have been more careful". Then he has the nerve to ask her "What are you going to do?" He really has no care about Kenzie going off to Spain to have the baby and give it up for adoption.

I loved Estella, the cook that takes Kenzie under her wing in Spain. She comes off very gruff, but she has a huge heart. Family is everything to her, and she is fiercely loyal. Estella really helps Kenzie open her eyes, mind, and heart to new possibilities. Because of Estella, Kenzie realizes that her decisions and actions affect the people around her.

I think I have a small crush on Esteban. He has a very strong presence, and Kenzie is drawn to him over and over again. He's just there. Quiet and steady and dependable. He listens, he never judges, and he gives Kenzie the space she needs to decide her future.

Being in Spain completely changes Kenzie's outlook on life and what could be. I felt that she experienced so much character growth. She really came into her own started to take charge of her own life. It was as if she had finally woke up to her reality and decided to make her own decisions, rather than having someone else decide everything for her. I loved seeing her 'grow up'.

I really, really liked the ending. Didn't see it coming at all. I was surprised - in a good way - and I found it very fitting.

Small Damages was full of beautiful scenery and wonderful characters. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves pretty language and imagery. It probably won't appeal to anyone who is looking for tons of action since this is really a character driven story.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

My choice for this week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Hardcover, 370 pages
Expected publication: September 11th 2012 by Random House Books for Young Readers

Synopsis From Goodreads:

Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

Why I Want To Read It:

At first, I thought I wouldn't be interested in reading this. But I have read so many reviews recently that now I really (REALLY!) want to read it. What are you waiting on this week?

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Hardcover, 408 pages
Expected publication: September 18th 2012 by Scholastic Press

Blue had two rules: Stay away from boys, because they're trouble, and stay away from raven boys, because they were bastards. ~ page 81

"Thanks for coming, Jane," Gansey said.
Blue shot him a dirty look. "You're welcome, Dick." ~ page 265

There is a seriousness in The Raven Boys due to the dire warnings about Blue causing her true love to die. (That is not a spoiler - it's in the book's synopsis.) But we also get a bit of cheeky humor, inside jokes, and one-liners that keep the story from being too heavy.

*Quotes are from the eARC and are subject to change.

Inspired by features from The Sunday Post from Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Sunday Summary from Book Twirps.

Received For Review:
Refuge by Carole Rummage
Crewel (Crewel World #1) by Gennifer Albin

Borrowed From The Library:
Rivals and Retribution (13 to Life #5) by Shannon Delany

Won:
Hardback copy of Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn from YA Books Central.

Books Read:
Of Poseiden (Of Poseidon #1) by Anna Banks
Small Damages by Beth Kephart
Amplified (Amplified #1) by Tara Kelly

eBooks Read For Review Copy Cleanup:
Through To You by Emily Hainsworth
The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee
Currently reading The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater. I am enjoying this immensely, but I am wondering where it's heading... At first I had a hard time getting into the feel and mood of the book. I quickly realized that I need to read this book with no distractions and really immerse myself since it's very wordy and atmospheric.

Thank you all so much for participating in the Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop. I really enjoyed finding out what your favorite book of the summer was. I added so many great books to my virtual tbr!

The winner of the $10.00 Amazon Giftcard is Entry #733 Candace.

The winner of the custom eReader/iPad zipper case from Pink Lady Designs is Entry #166 Jenny S.

Both winners have been emailed and have 48 hours to respond.

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Pages

August Recap and September TBR

Review Copy Cleanup Challenge - Updates

Back to the Books Giveaway Hop

Review: Small Damages by Beth Kephart

Waiting On Wednesday (41) Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Teaser Tuesday (5)

Sunday Updates (8)

Winners! Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop