Review- Ripples: A Novel In Stories Of 9/11 by Linda Oatman High

Goodreads Summary:

9-11 connected people in ways we never imagined.

Eight teenagers with very different lives find they have something in common after all: their lives were horribly affected 9-11. Like ripples in a pond, the pain and tragedy spread far beyond the events of that terrible day. But some good things happened too—people reached out, helped someone else, gave to people who needed it more, and shared the most precious gift of all—simple human kindness in the face of unspeakable human cruelty. Those things spread like ripples in the lives of these unique teens, and in their turn, they keep the ripples going. Their lives will never be the same, but maybe they can make something good come out of it. Maybe they can be touched by the Ripples.

REVIEW:

Ripples was a very emotional read. It revolves around 9/11 and how the incident affected the lives of people and how they coped up with their loss and grief. 
Ripples is the story of eight people whose lives get inter-connected and merge with one another after the huge 9/11 fiasco. It was very touching to read these stories. Every person is trying their best to move on in whatever way possible and that's when they stumble upon somebody else, who helps them get by with life. These guys are just young adults and it was a little disturbing to read about the difficulties they face and raw emotions that they express. Throughout the book, souvenirs and little pieces of memories and attachment are exchanged between all these people. It was beautiful to read about that sort of connection and value. 
A very short and gentle read, Ripples is one of those books that makes you think and feel at the same time. I could sympathise with the characters and I felt for them all. At times, I didn't know what I was feeling, it was so emotional. Sometimes I found myself crying for the victims deep within. Ripples definitely leaves an impact. 
Though a deep read, author Linda Oatman High writes in a simple, systematic and completely genuine manner. I would definitely recommend Ripples for the impact that it leaves and for the glimpse that it gives into the lives of the hard hurt victims of 9/11. 

RATING:

X 3.5

Sarika

Teaser Tuesday #10

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• 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!

Here's My Teaser-

" Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.

Most people live and die with their music still unplayed, they never dare to try, but if music be the food of love, play on. "

- I Love You To Death by Natalie Ward

Summary-

When Ash loses her boyfriend, she is consumed by grief, loneliness and an overwhelming sense of guilt for her role in not only his death, but the deaths of everyone she has ever loved. Refusing to let anyone in for fear of losing them too, she becomes withdrawn, spending her days reliving the nightmares from her past. 

Until she meets Luke. 

Initially scared by his intensity and interest in her, Ash tries to push him away. But as Luke slowly starts to chip away at the walls she’s built, Ash finds herself doing the one thing she swore she’d never do again — falling in love. 

When the familiar feelings Ash had hoped were long buried with her past begin to resurface, she is forced to ask herself if falling in love again is really worth the risk.

What's your teaser this week?

 Janhvi

Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway- My Favorite Mistake by Chelsea M Cameron

Summary-
Taylor Caldwell can't decide if she wants to kiss her new college roommate or punch him.

On the one hand, Hunter Zaccadelli is a handsome, blue-eyed bundle of charm. On the other, he's a tattooed, guitar-playing bundle of bad boy. Maybe that's why Taylor's afraid of falling in love with him, or anyone else. She doesn't want to get burned, and even though her other roommates adore him, she wants him gone before it's too late.

Hunter himself has been been burned before, but the fact that Taylor calls him out on his crap and has the sexiest laugh ever make him decide maybe love isn't a lost cause. They make a bet: if she can convince him she truly loves or hates him, he'll leave the apartment--and leave her alone. The problem is, the more time they spend together, the less she hates him, and the more she moves toward love.

But when the man who holds the key to Taylor's fear of giving up her heart resurfaces and threatens to wreck everything, she has to decide: trust Hunter with her greatest secret, or do everything in her power to win that bet and drive him away forever.

Review-

My Favorite Mistake is a book from the New Adult genre which are books who have protagonists in college. I am so loving this genre and am happy to say that we are getting to see more and more books coming up. The New Adult books just seem more realistic and fun to me and My Favorite Mistake was no exception.

It starts off by Hunter and Taylor getting paired as roommates. Taylor wants Hunter to leave and so Hunter makes a bet with her that if she can convince him she truly loves him or hates him, he'll leave the apartment. Thus begins the journey between Taylor and Hunter.

Hunter and Taylor as individual characters were really nice and likeable. Each of them have their own obstacles to overcome and they both have a crappy past which makes them hesitant towards the future. It was great to see their independence and how they slowly started growing close to each other. The best part was the time each of them took to getting to know one another in spite of the crazy attraction between them.

The chemistry between Hunter and Taylor was totally off the charts. I loved their banter and the romance. Their other roommates and friends make a great cast of supporting characters. There were just so many times I laughed while reading this book! There were some really cute tidbits in conversations which just made me love the book even more.

Chelsea M Cameron is a wonderful author and I will definitely be looking into more books by her. Her writing is smooth and the story flows perfectly in the whole college atmosphere. Once you start reading My Favorite Mistake, it is difficult to put down. If you want to read a New Adult book which will make you feel happy and satisfied at the end of it, I definitely recommend giving My Favorite Mistake a try.

 X 4.5

                   

Author Info:
Chelsea M. Cameron is a YA/NA writer from Maine. Lover of things random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte and Emily Bronte Fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car and tweeting. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is.

She has two books out now, Nocturnal and Nightmare, the first and second books in the Noctalis Chronicles about a girl with a dying mother who meets an immortal boy. The third book, Numb will be out this August, and the fourth in the winter. Her other book, Whisper, about a girl who is alive, a boy who isn't and the complications that go along with their relationship, released June 16 and is the first in a trilogy. 

Links:
Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

Add to Goodreads:

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

                                                           Janhvi

Review: My Favorite Mistake by Chelsea M Cameron

Summary-
Taylor Caldwell can't decide if she wants to kiss her new college roommate or punch him.

On the one hand, Hunter Zaccadelli is a handsome, blue-eyed bundle of charm. On the other, he's a tattooed, guitar-playing bundle of bad boy. Maybe that's why Taylor's afraid of falling in love with him, or anyone else. She doesn't want to get burned, and even though her other roommates adore him, she wants him gone before it's too late.

Hunter himself has been been burned before, but the fact that Taylor calls him out on his crap and has the sexiest laugh ever make him decide maybe love isn't a lost cause. They make a bet: if she can convince him she truly loves or hates him, he'll leave the apartment--and leave her alone. The problem is, the more time they spend together, the less she hates him, and the more she moves toward love.

But when the man who holds the key to Taylor's fear of giving up her heart resurfaces and threatens to wreck everything, she has to decide: trust Hunter with her greatest secret, or do everything in her power to win that bet and drive him away forever.

Review-

My Favorite Mistake is a book from the New Adult genre which are books who have protagonists in college. I am so loving this genre and am happy to say that we are getting to see more and more books coming up. The New Adult books just seem more realistic and fun to me and My Favorite Mistake was no exception.

It starts off by Hunter and Taylor getting paired as roommates. Taylor wants Hunter to leave and so Hunter makes a bet with her that if she can convince him she truly loves him or hates him, he'll leave the apartment. Thus begins the journey between Taylor and Hunter.

Hunter and Taylor as individual characters were really nice and likeable. Each of them have their own obstacles to overcome and they both have a crappy past which makes them hesitant towards the future. It was great to see their independence and how they slowly started growing close to each other. The best part was the time each of them took to getting to know one another in spite of the crazy attraction between them.

The chemistry between Hunter and Taylor was totally off the charts. I loved their banter and the romance. Their other roommates and friends make a great cast of supporting characters. There were just so many times I laughed while reading this book! There were some really cute tidbits in conversations which just made me love the book even more.

Chelsea M Cameron is a wonderful author and I will definitely be looking into more books by her. Her writing is smooth and the story flows perfectly in the whole college atmosphere. Once you start reading My Favorite Mistake, it is difficult to put down. If you want to read a New Adult book which will make you feel happy and satisfied at the end of it, I definitely recommend giving My Favorite Mistake a try.

 X 4.5

                    Janhvi

Sweet Evil Read Along: Week 3

                                                    This week's topic is :

I am not very fond of playing truth or dare but when we were in school a couple of friends including Sarika and me would play spin the bottle and then who ever would be it would be asked a truth or their thoughts about anything. And I do mean ANYTHING. It was a fun game and though we couldn't finagle out all of each other's deep dark secrets- not that we had any or many -it was interesting and sometimes surprising. It just made us grow that much closer and they were undoubtedly some of my most treasured memories from school. They were good times. But the present is a whole another story. I don't think I'd be comfortable with it. I highly doubt I would be able to play truth or dare with complete honesty now. I'm too shy to take a dare and the truth would have to depend on the question asked.

                        My thoughts so far:

Sweet Evil is not going as well for me as it is for some of the others in the read along. It is good but I'm getting frustrated with Kai and Anna sometimes. I am not liking Kai's continued rejection towards Anna. Anna is really hurting but now things have really started to move. It was interesting that we got to meet Kai's friends. The thing that surprised me the most was the love triangle. I did not see that one coming. But Kope is very intriguing. I loved the whole jealous possessive thing happening with Kai. Hopefully he should come to his senses soon and see what's right in front of him. I hope the book ends on a good note but somehow I doubt that because it is going to be a trilogy.


                                       Janhvi

Book Quotes- Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

We are eagerly anticipating the release of the fourth and final book in the Caster Chronicles series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Redemption, which comes out on the 23rd of October, 2012. *excited* :D

To celebrate this, we are having a Caster Chronicles Book Quotes Marathon, where I'll share my favourite quotes from the first three books in the series.

The Caster Chronicles consist of the following books:

 Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1), Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles #2), Dream Dark (Caster Chronicles #2.5) and Beautiful Chaos (Caster Chronicles #3).

The book for today is book #3 from the series, Beautiful Chaos.

Goodreads Summary:

Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena's Claiming. Even Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals is affected - and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What - or who - will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?

For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He's being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn't by Lena - and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself - forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn't know why, and most days he's too afraid to ask.

Sometimes there isn't just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there's no going back. And this time there won't be a happy ending.

Quotes: 

* While I thought I was learning how to live, I've been learning how to die. 
-Leonardo Da Vinci

* I have been bent and broken, but- I hope- into a better shape.
-Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

* For a few minutes, what e had, we knew. 

* I wondered if wishing was the same thing as praying. If hoping for something badly enough could make it happen. 

* The one thing that doesn't abide by human majority is human conscience. 
-To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee

* I guess some decisions are made before you make them. 

* 'This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. 

* "Do you believe in love before first sight, L?"
"Do you believe in love after last sight, Ethan?"

* The one word that would come anyway, whether or not we said it. Good-bye. 

* I wasn't much of a poet, but I had the truth, and that was enough. 

I will always love you. 

Ethan 

- ♥ Ethan ♥ 

Sarika

Book Quotes- Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

We are eagerly anticipating the release of the fourth and final book in the Caster Chronicles series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Redemption, which comes out on the 23rd of October, 2012. *excited* :D

To celebrate this, we are having a Caster Chronicles Book Quotes Marathon, where I'll share my favourite quotes from the first three books in the series. 

The Caster Chronicles consist of the following books:

 Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1), Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles #2), Dream Dark (Caster Chronicles #2.5) and Beautiful Chaos (Caster Chronicles #3). 

The book for today is book #2 from the series, Beautiful Darkness.

Goodreads Summary:

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Quotes:

* My house was quiet, which isn't what you want a house to be if you're trying to run away from your thoughts. 

* Cuts that run that deep leave scars, no matter what you try to do to heal them.

* There's something about sitting alone in the dark that reminds you how big the world really is, and how far apart we all are. The stars look like they're so close, you could reach out and touch them. But you can't. Sometimes things look a lot closer than they appear. 

* I told myself it was because I was too angry, but that was one of those lies you tell when you're trying to convince yourself that you're doing the right thing. The truth was, I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to ask the questions, and I was scared to hear the answers.

- ♥ Ethan ♥ 

 Sarika