[WAITING ON WEDNESDAY] Golden Son

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming can't wait to read.

Series: Red Rising #2
Author: Pierce Brown
Genre: young adult, adult, dystopia, science fiction, fantasy, space
Expected Publication: January 6, 2015

With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game, and Game of Thrones, debut author Pierce Brown’s genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation.  

Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within. A life-or-death tale of vengeance with an unforgettable hero at its heart, Golden Son guarantees Pierce Brown’s continuing status as one of fiction’s most exciting new voices.

[TOP TEN TUESDAY] 2015 Goals and Resolutions.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and The Bookish.

I guess it's that time of the year when we write down things we'd like to accomplish for the upcoming year. I'm honestly excited for 2015 because I'm looking forward to personally accomplishing a good amount of things for myself :)

I'm crossing my fingers I'll be able to accomplish these things. These goals are a mixture of bookish, anime fan, frustrated artist, and blogging goals.

(1) Start my portfolio blog. This is more on my creative goals. Since I'm now starting with my majors, I want to show my works and progress. It's a way of both keeping track and showing what I can do for future purposes (you know, so I can freelance occasionally or for extra-credits when I'm applying for work).

(2) Read at least 70 books. I initially set 50 this year but I was able to get pass it after half the year so I extended it to 70 and somehow I think I'm sticking to that goal. I finished 83 books this year, bytheway.

(3) Consistently post at least 3 reviews a week. I won't be able to do it immediately but I'll do my best.

(4) Meet new bloggers and gain more followers. Whenever i get too preoccupied with my studies, I tend to neglect my blog so this upcoming year, I'd like to not just do some comment-to-comment stuff with other bloggers, I'd like to connect with them :)

(5) Attend book signing events. I was going to attend last October's Claudia Gray signing event but something very unfortunate came up. THEN I was going to attend Marie Lu's November book signing event but it falls on a Sunday which won't happen. Ever. But seriously, this year, I want it to happen. I want to attend and experience a book signing event (#PierceBrowninPH please?). If you're from the Philippines and wouldn't mind bringing me along when you go to a book signing event, just message me on my IG, facebook page, or twitter (all links can be found at the end of the blog post) :)

[RELEASE DAY EVENT] Meet Your Baker

Series: A Bakeshop Mystery #1
Author: Ellie Alexander
Genre: adult, mystery
Published: December 30, 2014
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | IndieBound | Book Depository | Kobo

Welcome to Torte—a friendly, small-town family bake shop where the treats are so good that, sometimes, it’s criminal… 

After graduating from culinary school, Juliet Capshaw returns to her quaint hometown of Ashland, Oregon, to heal a broken heart and help her mom at the family bakery. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is bringing in lots of tourists looking for some crumpets to go with their heroic couplets. But when one of Torte’s customers turns up dead, there’s much ado about murder… 

The victim is Nancy Hudson, the festival’s newest board member. A modern-day Lady Macbeth, Nancy has given more than a few actors and artists enough reasons to kill her…but still. The silver lining? Jules’s high school sweetheart, Thomas, is the investigator on the case. His flirtations are as delicious as ever, and Jules can’t help but want to have her cake and eat it too. But will she have her just desserts? Murder might be bad for business, but love is the sweetest treat of all…

*             *             *

  Welcome to Ashland, Oregon, home of the world-famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the setting for Ellie Alexander’s debut mystery MEET YOUR BAKER.

MEET YOUR BAKER is a culinary mystery centered in the fictional bakeshop, Torte, with a mother/daughter pastry duo. It includes original handcrafted recipes. Meet Ashland!

[REVIEW] My Little Monster, vol1

Series: My Little Monster #1 (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun)
Author: Robico
Translator: Joshua Weeks
Lettering: Kiyoko Shiromasa, Mugwump Design
Genre: manga, shoujo, romance, comedy
Published: March 11, 2014 (first published January 13, 2009)
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository | Eiwa Manga (PH)

OPPOSITES ATTRACT… MAYBE? 

Haru Yoshida is feared as an unstable and violent “monster.” Shizuku Mizutani is a grade-obsessed student with no friends. Fate brings these two together to form the most unlikely pair. Haru firmly believes he’s in love with Shizuku and she firmly believes he’s insane.

[STACKING THE SHELVES] (Belated) Merry Christmas && (Advance) Happy New Year!

Hello,

First off, I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I spent mine with my family. It was simple and great. We exchanged gifts and for me, the gifts were just a bit unexpected (especially the gift from my parents).

Night Film. I’ve been keeping my eyes out for this book ever since I saw it nominated for best horror (or something like that) goodreads award. It sounds so intriguing. My friend also read it and she really, really loved it!
Life of Pi. Not my usual read. It’s actually a Christmas gift from a friend.
The Beach. Another Christmas gift from the same friend although this sounds more like what I’ll probably read.
The Catastrophic History of You and Me. Christmas gift from my sister. This sounds like a really pretty story :)

[REVIEW] MELT

Series: N/A
Author: Selene Castrovilla
Genre: contemporary, young adult, romance, abuse, realistic fiction
Published: November 6, 2014
Publisher: Last Syllable Books

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

In MELT by Selene Castrovilla, sixteen-year-old “good girl” Dorothy just blew into the small town of Highland Park, where the social headquarters is Munchkinland (Dunkin’ Donuts). Smart, perceptive and sensitive, she’s bored by her cliquey classmates. Then, she meets Joey, a “bad boy” who tells no one about the catastrophic domestic violence he witnesses at home. Joey numbs himself with a combination of drugs and alcohol, terrified of letting his secrets out or anyone else in. But everything changes when he meets Dorothy. For the first time, she makes him feel. Can their love survive peer pressure, Joey’s reputation, and his devastating family secret? 

MELT is written in dual first person, with Joey's words scattered on the page to reflect his broken state, and Dorothy’s orderly thoughts acting as the voice of reason – until something so shattering happens that she, too, may lose her grip. Set against the metaphorical backdrop of The Wizard of Oz (not a retelling), MELT is based on true events. A brutal love story, MELT is both a chilling tale of abuse and a timeless romance. It will hit you like a punch in the face, and seep into your soul. 

[REVIEW] Tin Lily

Series: N/A
Author: Joann Swanson
Genre: young adult, realistic fiction, contemporary
Published: July 14, 2014
Publisher: Cranky Owl Books

Just because you survive doesn’t mean you’re alive. 

One moment fifteen-year-old Lily Berkenshire is sitting in her bedroom, favorite song blaring through her earbuds, history book open on her lap. The next, her alcoholic father is shooting and killing her mother. Then he’s pointing the gun at Lily and pulling the trigger. Click. He’s out of bullets.  

For now.  

When she moves to Seattle to live with her aunt, Lily retreats into peaceful, dissociative trances to escape the shattered nightmare that is her life. Soon, though, she discovers a beautiful boy who wants to take her out, a therapist who wants to help her heal and new friends who believe she can find wholeness again.  

But her father wants something else entirely. He is hunting her and unless Lily confronts and heals the devastation inside her, she’ll forfeit her life to a father determined to end it.  

From the first shot to the final, terrifying showdown, Tin Lily is an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller.

[REVIEW] JUDGE, vol3

Series: JUDGE #3 | Prequel: #1, #2
Author: Yoshiki Tonogai
Genre: manga, mystery, thriller, horror
Published: February 18, 2014 (first published January 1, 2010)
Publisher: Yen Press
Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository | Eiwa Manga (PH)

THE (COURT) HOUSE ALWAYS WINS. 

In the abandoned courthouse, to trust is folly. Is that the only strategy to staying alive in the twisted game underway within? When the time for the second judgment arrives, a ruthless decision is made to shocking effect. The sinners must accept reality… for idealistic notions have no place within these halls of cruel and swift justice… 

[STACKING THE SHELVES] this is my I'm-Not-Dead-Yet post

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted at Tynga’s Reviews.

Soooooo this is my I’m-Not-Dead-Yet and I’m-just-busy-with-school post.

Yes, yes, yes. Let me explain first. I’ve been busy with school. I’m studying quite hard. Sleeping a bit late than usual. Doing a lot of conceptualizing. My Graphic Design class is using up my non-existing creative mind. My Non-Linear Editing class is kind of inspiring me to do a lot of shooting and video editing. My Photography class is motivating me to pursue my life long interest. Since I’m having these great classes, I’m thinking of starting up my portfolio blog (hopefully you guys will follow it as well).

ANYWAY, let me now proceed to my new books and manga :) These are the only books I bought since my last Stacking the Shelves post.

Hand-Lettering Ledge: A Practical Guide to Creating Serif, Script, Illustrated, Ornate, and Other Totally Original Hand-Drawn Styles. Oops. Long title. It’s a guide book. It inspires me but I really hope there were a lot more details on how to do things.
Horrorstör. First time I saw this on instagram, I thought it was furniture catalog until more people started posting it then I saw it. That thing on the picture frames. I’m aiming to write my own take on this book. Hopefully soon :)
Fateful. This book my Claudia Gray had been one of the books I’ve been eyeing. Really glad to finally get my hands on it.
Attack on Titan vols 6-7. Where vol5 left of was at the middle of the 57th expedition outside the wall. I’ve watched it on the anime but the manga really feels different. I’m also aiming to write a review for this series soon (maybe after I read these two volumes).
JUDGE vols 3-4. I ordered up to vol5 but it still hasn’t arrived so yeah… I reviewed the first two and they were being somehow being slow. But these two? They just picked up the pace. Very thrilling! I’m going to post a review over the week.
My Little Monster vols1-3. I ordered up to vol4 but yeah… same as JUDGE. I don’t read shoujo manga but I decided to try this one. It’s rom-com anyway… I’m eyeing another shoujo manga and the English translation is completely published by Viz . Hopefully I’ll be able to get my hands on it soon (it’s around 16vols long, any guesses?).

[REVIEW] The Sham

Series: N/A
Author: Ellen Allen
Genre: young adult, contemporary, mystery, thriller, romance
Published: September 7, 2014
Publisher: Book Baby

When love leads to death, be careful who you trust… 

Eighteen-year-old Emily Heath would love to leave her dead-end town, known locally as "The Sham", with her boyfriend, Jack, but he's very, very sick; his body is failing and his brain is shutting down. He's also in hiding, under suspicion of murder. Six months' ago, strange signs were painted across town in a dialect no one has spoken for decades and one of Emily's classmates washed up in the local floods. 

Emily has never trusted her instincts and now they're pulling her towards Jack, who the police think is a sham himself, someone else entirely. As the town wakes to discover new signs plastered across its walls, Emily must decide who and what she trusts, and fast: local vigilantes are hunting Jack; the floods, the police, and her parents are blocking her path; and the town doesn’t need another dead body. 

WARNING: THIS BOOK IS UNSUITABLE FOR YOUNGER TEENAGE READERS. IT DEPICTS ADULT SITUATIONS, MURDER SCENES, CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SEX AND PROFANITY. 

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: The idea for this book came to me in a nightmare... It was so vivid that I imagined I was 17 again, at school, in the same group of 4 friends that I used to hang around with. We were involved in a murder and cover-up. I started writing partly as a way to get it out of my head and then the characters turned into real people... and Emily and Jack were born. 

As some of the early reviewers have stated, it is quite extreme in chapter one, and necessarily so. This is the incident that sets up the whole book; something awful happens that sets off a train of events for the characters. This book is a mystery in two ways in that we're: 1) trying to find out who killed Emily's classmate; and 2) trying to work out who Jack is. I hope you enjoy it!