I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

Published September 16th 2014 by Dial Books (first published January 1st 2014)

371 pages

Goodreads Summary: Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah’s story to tell. The later years are Jude’s. What the twins don’t realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

Review: I grabbed this book on a sudden impulse at the library.  I had seen a few people posting about how much they liked it so I was eager to read it.  However, when I started reading it I wasn’t sure I was going to like it.  I even thought about DNFing it.  The storyline is broken up by 3 years.  Noah’s sections are from when he and Jude are 13.  Jude’s sections are from when they are 16.  At first I wasn’t really liking that division but as the book went on and the connections started being made, I thought it was perfect.  As I got closer and closer to the end I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen!  I had grown to love the characters and the way the book was written.  Some of my favorite parts were seeing Jude and Noah with their twin telepathy.  I always thought it would have been so cool to have a twin that I could have that kind of relationship with.  I really wish I could see both of their works of art because they were described so beautifully in the book.  I am very glad that I stuck with this book til the end because it turned out to be an incredible story.  I will be recommending this book to people.

4/5 stars

WWW Wednesday – June 10, 2015

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words.
Each week we answer the following three questions:
-What have you recently finished reading?
-What are you currently reading?
-What are you reading next?

I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson started out really slow to me.  I was having a hard time getting into the writing but once I got into it, I didn’t want to get out!  I’ll be posting a review sometime soon.  A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray was awesome.  I already posted my review of that.  I grabbed that one from the library solely based on the cover and I’m glad I did.  If I had read the jacket I may not have decided to read it because I’m not really into the whole multiple dimension/time traveling type thing.  I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!  I just finished Wild by Cheryl Strayed yesterday and I really enjoyed it.  I felt similar when I read A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson’s account of hiking the Appalachian Trail – in that I wanted to immediately go out hiking!  It was pretty perfect timing because I’ll be heading up to the North Shore for a long weekend tomorrow and we get to do some hiking.  Nothing like what they did but hiking nevertheless.  Wild also checks off the 2nd book from my 20 Books of Summer list.

I started Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon at the beginning of May but only made it 30 pages in.  After finishing Wild last night I grabbed that one to get back into it.  It is one of my 20 Books of Summer and it’s over 1000 pages so I really need to get moving on it.  The Felix Chronicles: Freshman by R.T. Lowe is a review request I received from the author and I’ve been slowly making my way through it.  So far it is really interesting and I can’t wait to see where the author takes the storyline!

As for my next book from my 20 Books of Summer list, I have no idea.  Drums of Autumn will take some time to get through and I have no idea what mood I’ll be in after I finish so I can’t really pick a book right now.  For sure I will be reading this novelette that I was asked to read by the author – Unknown Sender by Ryan Lanz.

What have you been reading lately?

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Published November 4th 2014 by Harper Teen (first published October 7th 2014)

368 Pages

Goodreads Summary: Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

Review: I have to admit, I chose this book based solely on the cover.  I didn’t even read the jacket cover.  I saw it at the library at the checkout and it called to me.  I’m not really into the whole time/dimension traveling thing so I’m really glad I didn’t read the synopsis beforehand or I might have passed up on it.  I really really liked this book!  I loved the main character, Marguerite.  I thought she was easy to relate to strong and funny.  I was completely engrossed in the storyline from the first chapter on.  The author created awesome characters, each unique and they all worked really well together.  I really enjoyed the way the author wrote the multi dimension universe.  That would be so crazy if it were real!  There were many intricate details surrounding the mutli dimension plot line and it was written wonderfully.  There is some romance and adventure so it can appeal to multiple audiences.  I cannot wait until the next book comes out!

4/5 Stars

WWW Wednesday – June 3, 2015

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words.
Each week we answer the following three questions:
-What have you recently finished reading?
-What are you currently reading?
-What are you reading next?

I really enjoyed reading the ARC of Summer Secrets by Jane Green!  It comes out towards the end of this month and it is definitely worth checking out.  I’ll be posting a review in the next couple of days.  Where the Moon Isn’t by Nathan Filer (aka The Shock of the Fall) I did not enjoy so much as I had hoped.  It was the June pick for book club and I got it from the library.

Still haven’t made any progress on Drums of Autumn.  I’ll start working on that again in a week or two.  I just started A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray yesterday and I am really enjoying it which is not necessarily something I would have thought for a book about other dimensional travel.  I also got this book from the library.  The Felix Chronicles: Freshmen by R.T. Lowe is a book I’m reading for a review requested by the author.  I haven’t gotten very far into it but it is proving already to be a great read!

My third library book this month will be I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson.  When I first went to the library I was only planning to get the book for book club but when I was about the check out they had this one and A Thousand Pieces of You by the front desk so I had to get them!

What have you been reading lately?

WWW Wednesday – May 27, 2015

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words.
Each week we answer the following three questions:
-What have you recently finished reading?
-What are you currently reading?
-What are you reading next?

I really enjoyed reading both of these ARCs.  Eight Hundred Grapes was a lighter read which I was really in the mood for.  There was family drama with splashes of romance.  The Library At Mount Char was a dark and twisty, yet humorous fantasy.

Still no progress on Drums of Autumn.  I’ve been a little preoccupied working on various projects.  Technically I haven’t started the ARC of Summer Secrets yet but will be tonight after work so I put it on here anyways.

And up next I am really hoping to read Mosquitoland and Where the Moon Isn’t.  They were both contenders for this month’s book club read – Where the Moon Isn’t (aka The Shock of the Fall) was the winner.  My library has both so I will be stopping in after work today to pick those up.

What are you reading?

UPDATE: Well, I was too late on Mosquitoland.  I just went to my library website to put a hold on both books and someone had already checked it out since I looked yesterday… Should have put a hold on it while I had the chance 😦  I did manage to put a hold on Where the Moon Isn’t though so I’ll be able to pick that up tonight.