Feature and Follow #11 (Top of 2013 list)
What is Feature and Follow?
F&F is a weekly blog hop that consists of book bloggers. It is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. The rules of involvement are simple:
1.) Link up on the blog hop Linky gadget below this post, 2.) follow the hosts via their network of choice, 3.) follow the weekly featured blog via their network of choice (this week is Bookish Findings), and lastly, 4) check out the rest of the blogs on the hop! If you become a new follower of a blog, let them know and they will follow you back.
The F&F is a great way to network, meet other book bloggers, and gain new followers. Even more so, it's a great way to drive discussion on a certain weekly topic.
This week, the topic is:
Your favorite books of 2013!
Our responses:
There are two bloggers for The Book Cove featured and two respective follow sites.
By co-blogger Jessi:
The year has drawn to an end and I can officially put out my "Top of 2013" book list!These are a handful of my 5 "glass" rated books. There are a lot of great books that I've had the pleasure of reading. A majority of those end up as 4s- even though I really really loved them. However, a 5 rating (for me at least) means that the book had a little something extra that pushed it over that edge. Something that left me in awe, or feeling emotionally exhausted (good or bad), or giving me something to think about on a greater level. These books didn't just leave me loving them, but left me with a little something after the fact; whatever that may be.
Without further ado - here is my Top List of 2013:
(Blurb): Blue Echohawk doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know her real name or when she was born. Abandoned at two and raised by a drifter, she didn't attend school until she was ten years old. At nineteen, when most kids her age are attending college or moving on with life, she is just a senior in high school. With no mother, no father, no faith, and no future, Blue Echohawk is a difficult student, to say the least. Tough, hard and overtly sexy, she is the complete opposite of the young British teacher who decides he is up for the challenge, and takes the troublemaker under his wing.
This is the story of a nobody who becomes somebody. It is the story of an unlikely friendship, where hope fosters healing and redemption becomes love. But falling in love can be hard when you don't know who you are. Falling in love with someone who knows exactly who they are and exactly why they can't love you back might be impossible.
The long-short of the review: This is not a typical romance book. First and foremost it centers on the raw emotions of its characters. How would you feel if you knew absolutely nothing about your life? Not a name, a birth date, an ethnicity. Nothing. Imagine a huge hole in your life that you've managed to sidestep around for 18 years and pretend that you really don't care, and then suddenly someone comes into your life and you fall right into that hole? And if that's not enough, some huge life/death/altering/ decisions need to be made. How do you handle it? How do you stay sane? Find the whole review here.
(Blurb): Life sucks. And, as soon as Sidney picks up the pieces something always knocks her back onto her butt. It's never pretty, but this time is different. This time pretty isn't even the right word.
Peter is the personification of perfection. It's like he fell off his angel perch in purgatory, because let's face it--any guy that hot has got to be naughty. He was probably sent here to ruin her life.
Peter is beyond beautiful with his sexy blue eyes, dark hair, and toned body. Add in his charming wit and Peter is everything Sidney ever wanted in a man, but when things get hot and heavy Peter shows her the door. Sidney takes the walk of shame and leaves. It's the end of the worst blind date ever. Her life couldn't possibly reach higher levels of suckage, but it does.
The next morning everything comes crashing down. The insanely hot guy from last night, the one that saw her half naked, is teaching at the front of the class room.
The long-short of the series review: The concept that I really like about Damaged is how well some dark subjects are handled. Many writers attempt to showcase emotion of a character that has been scarred in some way, only to make those various subjects come off as taboo or demeaning. The emotion and empathy H.M. Ward brings to the table with Damaged 2 is absolutely amazing. Very few books have I had my heart repeatedly ripped out of my chest as I struggle through these situations with the characters. Find the whole review here.
(Blurb) Just breathe, Kacey. Ten tiny breaths. Seize them. Feel them. Love them.
Four years ago Kacey Cleary’s life imploded when her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend, and best friend. Still haunted by memories of being trapped inside, holding her boyfriend’s lifeless hand and listening to her mother take her last breath, Kacey wants to leave her past behind. Armed with two bus tickets, twenty-year-old Kacey and her fifteen-year-old sister, Livie, escape Grand Rapids, Michigan, to start over in Miami. Struggling to make ends meet, Kacey needs to figure out how to get by. But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle anything—anything but her mysterious neighbor in apartment 1D.
Trent Emerson has smoldering blue eyes, deep dimples, and he perfectly skates that irresistible line between nice guy and bad boy. Hardened by her tragic past, Kacey is determined to keep everyone at a distance, but their mutual attraction is undeniable and Trent is determined to find a way into Kacey’s guarded heart—even if it means that an explosive secret could shatter both their worlds.
The long-short of the review: Ten Tiny Breaths is one of those books that leaves you speechless
long after you've finished the book. I'm actually having trouble just
putting my thoughts into words without giving the whole book away. I
guess the best way to describe the book is to say that it speaks an all
too real truth about what can happen when a person(s) judgement is
clouded. It gives a powerful glimpse into the lives of victims,
survivors, and perpetrators and provides a powerful example of how
tragedy affects more than the direct victim. It shows how all of the
emotion, fear, and grief spills to the family, friends and community of
the ones involved - and then tells of an exceptionally emotional roller
coaster from denial to acceptance to forgiveness. Find the rest of the review here.
Click here for more "5" rated books!
By co-blogger L.A. Kelley:
L.
A. Kelley is the author of The Naughty List. She’s married
with three kids and lives in Florida where the heat and humidity has driven
everyone slightly mad. She never cleans under her sofa. You can find her at http://lakelleythenaughtylist.
F&F is a weekly blog hop that consists of book bloggers. It is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. The rules of involvement are simple:1.) Link up on the blog hop Linky gadget below this post, 2.) follow the hosts via their network of choice, 3.) follow the weekly featured blog via their network of choice (this week is Bookish Findings), and lastly, 4) check out the rest of the blogs on the hop! If you become a new follower of a blog, let them know and they will follow you back.
The F&F is a great way to network, meet other book bloggers, and gain new followers. Even more so, it's a great way to drive discussion on a certain weekly topic.
This week, the topic is:
Your favorite books of 2013!
Our responses:
There are two bloggers for The Book Cove featured and two respective follow sites.
By co-blogger Jessi:
The year has drawn to an end and I can officially put out my "Top of 2013" book list!These are a handful of my 5 "glass" rated books. There are a lot of great books that I've had the pleasure of reading. A majority of those end up as 4s- even though I really really loved them. However, a 5 rating (for me at least) means that the book had a little something extra that pushed it over that edge. Something that left me in awe, or feeling emotionally exhausted (good or bad), or giving me something to think about on a greater level. These books didn't just leave me loving them, but left me with a little something after the fact; whatever that may be.
Without further ado - here is my Top List of 2013:
A Different Blue by Amy Harmon
(Blurb): Blue Echohawk doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know her real name or when she was born. Abandoned at two and raised by a drifter, she didn't attend school until she was ten years old. At nineteen, when most kids her age are attending college or moving on with life, she is just a senior in high school. With no mother, no father, no faith, and no future, Blue Echohawk is a difficult student, to say the least. Tough, hard and overtly sexy, she is the complete opposite of the young British teacher who decides he is up for the challenge, and takes the troublemaker under his wing.
This is the story of a nobody who becomes somebody. It is the story of an unlikely friendship, where hope fosters healing and redemption becomes love. But falling in love can be hard when you don't know who you are. Falling in love with someone who knows exactly who they are and exactly why they can't love you back might be impossible.
The long-short of the review: This is not a typical romance book. First and foremost it centers on the raw emotions of its characters. How would you feel if you knew absolutely nothing about your life? Not a name, a birth date, an ethnicity. Nothing. Imagine a huge hole in your life that you've managed to sidestep around for 18 years and pretend that you really don't care, and then suddenly someone comes into your life and you fall right into that hole? And if that's not enough, some huge life/death/altering/ decisions need to be made. How do you handle it? How do you stay sane? Find the whole review here.
Damaged series by H.M. Ward
(Blurb): Life sucks. And, as soon as Sidney picks up the pieces something always knocks her back onto her butt. It's never pretty, but this time is different. This time pretty isn't even the right word.
Peter is the personification of perfection. It's like he fell off his angel perch in purgatory, because let's face it--any guy that hot has got to be naughty. He was probably sent here to ruin her life.
Peter is beyond beautiful with his sexy blue eyes, dark hair, and toned body. Add in his charming wit and Peter is everything Sidney ever wanted in a man, but when things get hot and heavy Peter shows her the door. Sidney takes the walk of shame and leaves. It's the end of the worst blind date ever. Her life couldn't possibly reach higher levels of suckage, but it does.
The next morning everything comes crashing down. The insanely hot guy from last night, the one that saw her half naked, is teaching at the front of the class room.
The long-short of the series review: The concept that I really like about Damaged is how well some dark subjects are handled. Many writers attempt to showcase emotion of a character that has been scarred in some way, only to make those various subjects come off as taboo or demeaning. The emotion and empathy H.M. Ward brings to the table with Damaged 2 is absolutely amazing. Very few books have I had my heart repeatedly ripped out of my chest as I struggle through these situations with the characters. Find the whole review here.
Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker
Four years ago Kacey Cleary’s life imploded when her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend, and best friend. Still haunted by memories of being trapped inside, holding her boyfriend’s lifeless hand and listening to her mother take her last breath, Kacey wants to leave her past behind. Armed with two bus tickets, twenty-year-old Kacey and her fifteen-year-old sister, Livie, escape Grand Rapids, Michigan, to start over in Miami. Struggling to make ends meet, Kacey needs to figure out how to get by. But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle anything—anything but her mysterious neighbor in apartment 1D.
Trent Emerson has smoldering blue eyes, deep dimples, and he perfectly skates that irresistible line between nice guy and bad boy. Hardened by her tragic past, Kacey is determined to keep everyone at a distance, but their mutual attraction is undeniable and Trent is determined to find a way into Kacey’s guarded heart—even if it means that an explosive secret could shatter both their worlds.
Click here for more "5" rated books!
------------------------------------
By co-blogger L.A. Kelley:
I
love to discover a good book. It’s like getting on the scale and finding you
dropped a few pounds without even trying. You feel all warm and fuzzy inside
and want to tell everyone. Here are two
of my favorite e-books from this past year.
My
cookbook library was seriously lacking until I found The Science of
Good Cooking
by The Editors’ of America’s Test Kitchen and Guy Crosby, Ph.D. At last, a cookbook for geeks! Chock full of
recipes, the authors also explain the science behind what happens in the
kitchen. It’s written for the layman and easy to understand. The maple orange ham glaze was particularly
tasty.
At
over twenty dollars it was pricey for a Kindle book, but I had a gift card so
what the hell. (Can I add a short grouse—publishers have some nerve charging
huge bucks for an ebook. Who’s getting rich on these things? Not the authors. Grrr.)
I’ve
been fascinated by codes and secret writing ever since I learned how to make
invisible ink in the second grade and wrote Tommy is a poophead all over my
brother’s homework. He never found out and I was hooked. The Code Book:
The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh
gives a fascinating overview of code makers and breakers from ancient times to
modern and how they affected war and politics. Makes you wonder how any secret ever
remains hidden. (P.S. Tommy is still a poophead.)
Happy
reading.
Comments
Post a Comment