Waiting on Wednesday #64

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

Publication Date: June 3, 2014

Summary-

I want someone who will talk to me honestly about things. You're the only person who ever has. Maybe you don't know this, but when you're disabled almost no one tells you the truth. They feel too awkward because the truth seems too sad, I guess. You were very brave to walk up to the crippled girl and say, essentially, wipe that sunny expression off your face and look at reality. That's what I want you to do next year. Tell me the truth. That's all.

Amy and Matthew didn't know each other, really. They weren't friends. Matthew remembered her, sure, but he remembered a lot of people from elementary school that he wasn't friends with now.

Matthew never planned to tell Amy what he thought of her cheerful facade, but after he does, Amy realizes she needs someone like him in her life.

As they begin to spend more time with each other, Amy learns that Matthew has his own secrets and she decides to try to help him in the same way he's helped her. And when what started out as a friendship turns into something neither of them expected, they realize that they tell each other everything--except the one thing that matters most.

This book sounds really unique. I'm excited for it :)

What are you waiting on?

Top Ten Tuesday #6

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week' topic is:

This week we are talking about sequels we can't wait to get our hands on!

Here's my list: 

Some of the sequels I have on my list might already be out, but I haven't read them yet and I sure am waiting to get my hands on them so I'm having them up. Also, because my Goodreads isn't loading, I can't give any links so it's only book covers this time. Here we go! 

  

  

Link me up to your posts and happy Tuesday! 

Review- If He Had Been With Me by Lauren Nowlin

Goodreads Summary:

If he had been with me, he wouldn't have died.

Throughout their whole childhood, Finn and Autumn were inseparable—they finished each other's sentences, they knew just what to say when the other person was hurting. But one incident in middle school puts them in separate social worlds come high school, and Autumn has been happily dating James for the last 2 years. But she's always wondered what if...

The night she's about to get the answer is also one of terrible tragedy.

REVIEW:

When I first came across If He Had Been With Me, I loved the title, the cover and the sound of it and I had a feeling I'd love the book as well. I finally read it and although I didn't love it as much as I thought I would, I still liked the book a lot. Like most books that deal with sadness and death, If He Had Been With Me gave me mixed feelings. The title really tells everything there is to know about the story but the summary makes the story sound hard hitting and deep which it wasn't, not much at least, and after reading the book, the title itself seems inappropriate but so beautiful. 
If He Had Been With Me is the story of Autumn who is actually very awkward, disturbed and depressed. In so many ways, I could relate to Autumn. She lives her life in her own head and at the same time, she lives her real life as well. She finds sadness beautiful and for me, that was it. That made me like Autumn. I admired how she carried herself differently from others and in her own way, she was an amazing person. There were many aspects about her that I didn't like. Her need to stay in her group of friends, which seemed more like a cult to me, and her need to have her boyfriend take care of her didn't really sit down well with me. I hated what happened with her, but I feel it was needed for her to grow up as a person. 
For me, her story was more coming of age and it was shown really well. Autumn's thought process was simply beautiful and reading from her point of view was sadly beautiful. Her confused feelings made it very easy for me to relate with her. Author Lauren Nowlin's writing is so beautiful that I purposely went slow with the book to be able to devour it for as long as I could. 

I loved reading about how Autumn was in love with Finny, her best friend from childhood but she loved her boyfriend Jamie. I had a feeling there was something off about Jamie since the beginning and I loved Finny, who was just as amazing as Autumn. Even though I loved the dedication that Autumn and Jamie shared, their relationship was way too good to last. From the relationship point of view, Autumn and Finny together were so crazy and cute but life is cunning. 

I am finding it very difficult to put my feelings for If He Had Been With Me in place. I really liked the book but I did have some problems with it. I thought it was beautiful overall but at the same time- and even though I love such books- it was extremely sad. What mattered most to me in the end even when Finny sadly died was that Autumn and Finny got the chance to express their love for each other. For very personal reasons, I've been thinking about this a lot, and I was happy that the two- even though I wish they had more time-  at least knew they loved each other before they parted forever. This was a beautiful and sad story about family, friendship, love and life. 

RATING:

Review- Winners by Danielle Steel

Summary-

Acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel delivers her most moving, emotionally charged novel yet, in which lives are transformed after a series of heartbreaking accidents, and healing is achieved through the redemptive power of hope and love.

When a horrific chairlift accident leaves 17-year-old competitive skier Lily Thomas paralyzed, she must come to grips with the fact that she'll not only be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, but will never fulfill her lifelong dream of winning Olympic gold. Meanwhile, her wealthy father, who has doted on Lily since her mother died when she was three, is devastated as he watches his only child lose all she once cherished and suffer through the arduous road to recovery. But just as all hope seems lost, Lily meets Teddy, a young man even more badly injured than she, but as doggedly determined to live an enriching life. Danielle Steel is at her best in this powerful story of a father and daughter triumphing together over unthinkable tragedy, creating new lives for themselves and providing hope for others along the way.

Review-

Winners by Danielle Steel is my first Danielle Steel book. I had seen a lot of Danielle Steel books in book stores and libraries since I was a kid and I so wanted to know what a Danielle Steel book would be like. I got my chance with Winners. It was a good read but it didn't blow me away.

Lily Thomas is a competitive skier. One day she meets with a horrific chairlift accident which leaves her paralyzed from the waist down. Overnight, Lily's life changes and she has to accept the fact that she's going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. I liked Lily. She was a sensible girl and accepting of her situation. She was determined to become the best she could even with her circumstances.

Through this all we get to see the side of Lily's father. Bill has raised Lily on his own since she was three. He is extremely protective of his daughter, like any father would be, especially after her accident. Bill has the power and money to get Lily the best of treatments and he leaves no stone unturned. When there seems to be no other solution, he admits Lily to Craig, a place where she can cope with the wheelchair.

Where Lily and Bill's lives have changed forever so has Jessie's and her children's. Jessie is the surgeon who operates on Lily the night of her accident. But the same night Jessie's life is completely changed through tragic events. Jessie and Lily form a bond which leads to so many new things. New friendships are formed.

I don't want to spoil more of the story, but basically what Winners tries to convey is that how horrible situations can be turned around. How unexpected incidents can bring people together and change lives forever. There are threads binding each one of us together. You just have to be determined and work with what you have and hope for the best.

*Note: A copy of this book was provided by Random House India in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.

Winners: Something Wicked Returns Giveaway Hop!

So, you guys, Something Wicked Returns Giveaway Hop came to an end and we had a huge amount of entries for it. Thank you so much to everyone who participated! We really appreciate you stopping by our blog and there will definitely be several more giveaways in the future.

The winner who won a book of her choice from The Book Depository is:

Karin

Congrats Karin! Karin has responded to the email and she picked Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan. The book sounds awesome. :)

That's all for now.

Happy reading! :)

Review- Aisle Be Damned by Rishi Piparaiya

Goodreads Summary:

A Hilarious Take on just about Everything Associated with Air Travel.
- Getting seamlessly upgraded to Business Class.
- The hows and whys of micromanaging the pilots.
- Action plans to counter the airlines Technical Snag routine.
- Sure shot strategies for winning the affections of flight attendants.
- Awesome icebreakers to start conversations with attractive co-passengers.
- How smart executives deal with the Walk of Shame to the economy section.
- How a water bottle dramatically improves flight safety.
- Breezing through immigration and customs, always making your flight connections and a whole lot more

Rest assured, your flying experience will never be the same again!

REVIEW:

*NOTE: We (The Readdicts) received a copy of Aisle Be Damned by Rishi Piparaiya from Jaico Books in exchange for an honest review. We thank the publishing house for the book! 

I had been seeing Rishi Piparaiya's book, Aisle Be Damned around a lot on social networking profiles of my fellow Indian blogger friends. I was really interested in reading the book since then and in my head, I thought it would be one thing but it ended up being another thing altogether. This is what usually happens when I don't read book summaries and go for a book solely based on it's cover and title or in this case, my own instinct. When I headed over to Goodreads to mark my progress, I came across some really outstanding five star reviews for the book. 
For me, Aisle Be Damned was neither an outstanding read, nor was it trash-able. It was a very well put down book that had many amusing anecdotes which I liked reading along with some really cool information on the airlines industry. Being a student, I am not a frequent traveller, but thanks to family vacations, I can proudly say that I've had a fair experience and share of international travels which made many incidents in the book easy to imagine and relate to. While I did laugh out loud a few times, I, unfortunately, didn't find the book as hilarious as others did or maybe it's just that the silly me didn't quite get the humour. Either way, I don't think it even matters much, unless the book really falls under the humour category. Then I'll need to get my funny bones checked. 
In one of the ending chapters of the book, Rishi Piparaiya asks, on behalf of the bookstores staff, what genre his book would come under and I ask myself the exact same question. I think that the book is perfect for an airport or as an in flight guide as it will probably help one in being aware of one's surroundings and keep the reader entertained as well. It's a very easy and super quick read, thanks to the use of images and illustrations, which for me, are unnecessary, but keeping in account the subject at hand, they did add a kind of fun element to the book. 
Overall, Aisle Be Damned is an absolutely well put down book- for which the author deserves a lot of credit- that's an enjoyable one time read. 

RATING:

Diwali Giveaway (IN & INT)- The Homing Pigeons... by Sid Bahri

It's Diwali and we'd love to celebrate with all you lovely readers and fellow bloggers by having a special giveaway for y'all. Before we get to the giveaway, Janhvi and I would like to wish you all a very colourful, happy, peaceful, prosperous, safe, shiny and sparkly Diwali! 

So what's up for grabs in the giveaway? 

Well, let me tell you that it's four copies of a beautiful beautiful beautiful novel that Janhvi and I love love love. It's the book that's been featured on our blog infinite times and the book that we love to rant and rave about. If you haven't guessed it by now, it's The Homing Pigeons... by our most favourite Indian author, Sid Bahri. 

Since we're too bored to add  in all the links, if you're interested, just type The Homing Pigeons... in the search box (right side bar) and you'll have all the information you need. 
So two Indian readers can win physical copies of the book. 
We're poor but we're kind so we're even offering two Kindle copies for our lovely International readers since they've been telling us how interested they are in the book. 

All you have to do is fill out the appropriate Rafflecopter form below, follow us by any method you like (we're nice that way), show Sid some much deserving encouragement, love and support (see, we're so nice), tweet everyday if you like, keep your fingers crossed, hope to get a winner's notification email in your inbox in some fifteen days and you're all done and set. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much for stopping by. We wish you all the very best and happy Diwali once again!

Much love and peace,