Bookish Bingo: Winter 2018-2019

I'm writing this a few months ahead of time, so I apologize if any information is out of date or weird. If everything has gone according to plan, I had a baby a few days ago! Needless to say, I'm a little busy.

If you don't know, Bookish Bingo is a seasonal feature wherein we try to expand our reading horizons a bit and cover as much of the bingo card as possible. You can only use one square per book, and all books must be read in December, January, or February. To participate, leave a comment below. Here is the card:

As always, here are some ideas for the categories!

Features Technology:
- Cinder by Marissa Meyer
- The Takedown by Corrie Wang
- Warcross by Marie Lu

Winter Release:
- Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers
- The Disasters by MK England
- King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Male Main Character: (can be dual POV with one MMC and one FMC)
- The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
- In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
- Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler

Set in Europe:
- I See London, I See France by Sarah Mlynowski
- Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepard
- The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke 

Co-Authored:
- Undying by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
- Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson
- Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre

Animal on the Cover:
- The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson
- And the Ocean was Our Sky by Patrick Ness
- The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson

Disabled MC: 
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
- Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

Spin-Off:
- Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson
- Slayer by Kiersten White
- Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers

Religious Minority MC: (Muslim, Jewish, etc)
- Our Year of Maybe by Rachel Lynn Solomon
- Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
- Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

2019 Debut:
- We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia 
- Enchantee by Gita Trelease
- Dark of the West by Joanna Hathaway 

Most Anticipated: December 2018

Most Anticipated is a feature here wherein I talk about exciting upcoming releases. It's not an exhaustive list by any means, just the next month's new titles that I personally can't wait to check out. December is a notoriously slow month for book releases. With all the holidays and everything, it's no wonder. There are only four titles to talk about today so let's get to it.

All the Wandering Light by Heather Fawcett [Goodreads]

I really, really enjoyed the first book to this duology, Even the Darkest Stars. It was incredibly original and had the most amazing sense of setting basically ever. I've been dying for this sequel to come out, too, since the first book ended on quite the revelation.

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton [Goodreads]

Every time I see this cover I think it's Natalie Portman lol. Anyway, this is a series of interconnected short stories that examine humanity through the lens of genetic modifications, androids, and things of that nature. It seems a little daunting for this reader; I don't read much hard sci-fi, if any, but it still sounds like a great read.

This Lie Will Kill You by Chelsea Pitcher [Goodreads]

I loved Pitcher's first thriller, The S Word, so I'm obviously pumped for this. The friend who told me about it also says it's in the same vein of One of Us is Lying, which I really wanted to like. I know this author won't disappoint me though, and hopefully I'll have read this before this post even goes live!

The Disasters by M.K. England [Goodreads]

Not gonna lie, what pulled me to this in the first place was the cover. The colors are just striking. Also, it's queer! Like I said earlier, science fiction is not my go-to genre, but this sounds almost reminiscent of a Han Solo type character and obviously I need that in my life.

What December releases are you looking forward to reading?

Blog Tour: How She Died, How I Lived by Mary Crockett

 

Hi guys, and welcome to our tour stop for How She Died, How I Lived by Mary Crockett. I am super excited to be on the blog tour for this book. Sit back, read my review and don't forget to add this book to your Goodreads shelves. Oh, and don't forget to enter the giveaway below!

Book Details
Title: HOW SHE DIED, HOW I LIVED

Author: Mary Crockett

Pub. Date: November 13, 2018

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, audiobook

Pages: 416
🌟🌟🌟🌟

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, TBD

Synopsis: I was one of five. The five girls Kyle texted that day. The girls it could have been. Only Jamie--beautiful, saintly Jamie--was kind enough to respond. And it got her killed.

On the eve of Kyle's sentencing a year after Jamie's death, all the other "chosen ones" are coping in various ways. But our tenacious narrator is full of anger, stuck somewhere between the horrifying past and the unknown future as she tries to piece together why she gets to live, while Jamie is dead.

Now she finds herself drawn to Charlie, Jamie's boyfriend--knowing all the while that their relationship will always be haunted by what-ifs and why-nots. Is hope possible in the face of such violence? Is forgiveness? How do you go on living when you know it could have been you instead?

Book Review
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. It looked interesting and like one I would enjoy, but I wasn't sold on it immediately. My reading has been non-existent this month, so I was worried that the first book I read this month would be a disappointment. I wasn't expecting a book like this. Sure parts of it were dark and sad, but it was also full of forgiveness and realizing that it was okay to live life like normal and be happy that you were still alive.

I've dealt with what is called "survivor's guilt" myself, so I understood our main character and her struggle with it. She was one of a handful of girls the homicidal maniac texted on the day he eventually killed Jamie. How could she not feel so much guilt for still being alive when sweet Jamie was dead? I could not even imagine what she went through, knowing that if she had just met up with Kyle Paxton when he asked, she would be the dead one. Not Jamie.

Our main character goes through a lot of conflicting emotions in this book and Crockett does an awesome job at showing us, rather than telling us. As the reader, I could see our main character going through so much, along with the other girls. The only other one that we get to know really well is Lindsay, and I really liked her. Her home life & parental involvement was a sharp contrast to our main character. Lindsay's mother was barely around and I couldn't imagine going through all of this and not having the parental support. At least our main character had support from her parents.

I was not sure how I'd feel about our main character's romance with Jamie's boyfriend. I was worried our main character was going to be hurt by him. I was also worried that it would be toxic & troubling because both Charlie and our main character had been through so much since that fateful day. I actually really liked them together. Sure, Charlie pulled disappearing acts sometimes, but he always came back.

The only thing I would say this book needed was a bit more character development for the secondary characters. Our main character, Charlie and Lindsay were all developed well, but the rest of them could definitely have had more development. Overall, this book was really good, definitely a "quiet YA" that YA contemporary lovers need to read.

About the Author

A native of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Mary grew up as the youngest of six children in a family of misfits. She has worked as everything from a history museum director to a toilet seat hand model.

In her other life, she's an award-winning poet and teaches creative writing at Roanoke College in Virginia.

If you tweet at her, chances are she will tweet back.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr | Pinterest |  Goodreads

Giveaway

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Tour Schedule

Week One:

11/12/2018- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

11/13/2018- A Dream Within A Dream- Review

11/14/2018- Novel Novice- Excerpt

11/15/2018- Bri's Book Nook- Review

11/16/2018- Pretty Deadly Reviews- Review

Week Two:

11/19/2018- The Desert Bibliophile- Review

11/20/2018- Lifestyle of Me- Review

11/21/2018- Moonlight Rendezvous- Review

11/22/2018- Savings in Seconds- Review

11/23/2018- Cindy's Love of Books- Review