52 Reads | A Book A Week

52 Reads | Betrayals In Spring (The Last Year, Book 3)

December 12, 2012 By Kayla Aimee

Betrayals In Spring (The Last Year Series, Book 3)
by Trisha Leigh

I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is, if you haven’t read the other books in this series you’re going to want to skip this post for fear of spoilers. The good news is, if you haven’t read the other books in this series, the first one is FREE for kindle today so go download it and get started asap.

I picked up this series because I saw Whispers In Autumn for free on my kindle and as soon as I finished I promptly bought the sequel. Then, as I sat in eager anticipation of Betrayals In Spring, I signed up for the author’s newsletter so that I could read the bonus scenes she writes from different character perspectives. And then I followed her facebook page so I’d be the first to know when the next book came out. I’m nothing if not thorough. And slightly obsessive compulsive.

So when I saw her ask if anyone wanted an advance copy of the book to review I was all “PICK ME RATNAO!” And then I read the whole thing in one sitting.

Here is an excerpt from the book description

After being left alone last season with only his Element father for company, Lucas has started to question whether their rightful place isn’t with the strange alien race as opposed to humanity. When an emergency forces Lucas to aid the Others so they can remain on Earth, Althea worries that she’s lost him once and for all.

Even if she can convince Lucas their side is the right one, the Prime Other holds Deshi captive and shrouds any knowledge about their fourth in clouds of secrecy. What they discover deep underground is a roadblock they didn’t expect – and one that could steal their last hope of saving humanity.

I was a bit nervous going in because I feel as though the third book in any series is always the weakest because it has to do a lot of work to move the plot forward towards the conclusion. And while I definitely liked books one and two the most, Betrayals In Spring does a great job of being the middle child of the series. What I didn’t like? I think it’s geographically a bit hard to follow. They move around a lot. Although this *might* have something to do with my complete lack of geographical knowledge and the fact that I am nearly thirty and still can’t read a map.

But that’s my only nit-pick. All of the reviews I’ve seen so far have been four to five stars and I am quick to agree. One of my favorite things about it is that while there is a bit of a love triangle (it IS a YA novel) it is swiftly resolved here. There is no “I love the vampire! No! I love the werewolf! Oh noes, I love them both!” like we’ve seen in other novels that I won’t name. You know the ones.

I also like that the love story stays a sub-plot. They have a big mission to save the world from the Others and that storyline stays central throughout the book. I loved learning more about the characters of Greer and Griffin. There are a lot of good reveals in this book, such as what happens to the Broken – something I was really glad to see addressed. And the twist concerning Deshi was something that I didn’t see coming. I love it when I am surprised by a book (because honestly, I read so much that it’s hard to surprise me) and I am even more anxious for the final book of the series because of it.

Trisha Leigh is a good writer. I love finishing a book and thinking “THAT was well written.” Her dialogue is good, her character development is good, her research is on point and the story she tells is captivating. I’ll be a bit sad when this series ends, because I really love these characters.

*Amazon Affiliate Link included. Please see my disclosure page for more info. Thanks!
** I’m reading 52 books in 52 weeks. Want to see all the books I’ve reviewed so far? Click here.

1 Comment Filed Under: 52 Reads | A Book A Week, Books Tagged With: book reviews

Five For Friday | Favorite Places For Finding Free E-Books Online

October 19, 2012 By Kayla Aimee

So it’s no secret that I love to read. I am what they call a “voracious reader” which actually is a phrase that I am not incredibly fond of because I think it sounds like weird, as though I like to eat books. I mean, I know that’s not what it means but I can’t help but have that mental picture when I see those words set in type.

I never thought that I would want an e-reader because I like the feeling of holding a book in my hands and turning the thin pages in anticipation of whatever is coming next. But then Scarlette was in the hospital and my mother gave me a kindle (I have this one) for Christmas, which lightened the load of my tote bag each day as I carted all the things I would need for a 12 hour day back and forth. And I discovered that whether the words are printed on creamy paper or a flat screen doesn’t really matter to me. I just like to read.

And also, I am really cheap so mostly I check books out at the library. And I don’t like to pay for e-books either. So here are my favorite resources for finding free e-books!

Pixel Of Ink – this site posts several new free kindle e-books each day. They have a great variety and a short overview of each book. They also post bargain bin books, which are about 99 cents. Their sister site, Inspired Reads, lists free books that are in the christian genre every day as well. You can also follow them on facebook so that you get updates on freebies in your newstream.

Overdrive – this is your local library’s e-book lending system. My library just got onboard with this and I could not be more excited. Some libraries have a different system so lookup your local library online and see what type of e-book lending they offer.

BookLending - this site matches you with other users who want to share books. It’s currently for kindle users only but it’s a great way to get free books- you list the books you have that are available to “lend” and look for books that you want to borrow from other users. You can also just do this on your social media sites- typically if there is a book I want to read, I’ll ask around on facebook or twitter to see if anyone has it available to lend to me before I purchase it.

Christian E-Books Today – I just recently found this site, they list several free fiction and non-fiction books in the christian genre each day for both kindle and the nook.

Pinterest - Visit Pinterest.com and type “free ebooks” in the search bar. This is a great way to find free ebooks from crafty authors, fun cookbooks, and more. And typically these are ebooks put out by bloggers so they are different than the books the aggregators find each day.

(And for kindle users, you probably already know this but Amazon lists it’s top 100 free e-books each month. To see them, just go visit the Kindle Books page on Amazon.com and click Best Sellers - the second column are all free! I normally find about 3-4 decent books this way each month.)

If you know of any other great resources for free e-books, leave a link in the comments!

*Some amazon affiliate links included, because that is where I get the majority of my e-books from.

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16 Comments Filed Under: 52 Reads | A Book A Week, Books, Tutorials

Five For Friday For Real: Feedback About Feedback & Other Books I Just Read

October 5, 2012 By Kayla Aimee

Probably you’re thinking about how that title is so clever that I don’t even need to write the rest of this post. But I will because I’m a giver, y’all. I’m a giver. And because I like talking about books I read. This is why I would really like to join a book club in real life but seeing as how I got all denied entry to our local mom’s club and stuff, I just don’t think I can handle that sort of rejection again. Just kidding, I could totally handle it. You learn things like that when your mom decides to cut your hair into a bowl cut and then give you a perm when you are eight years old, which results in you starting third grade with an afro.

You think I am exaggerating and to that I say, I shall find photographic evidence of this and display it on the internet, where it belongs. Also, I’d like to thank my awkward youth for giving me an unlimited amount of topics to write about.

Anyhow, here are my thoughts on five books I read recently. And by recently, I mean “over the course of the past few months but forgot to blog about.”

Book One: FEEDBACK by Robison Wells
This is the sequel to Variant, a YA dystopian/sci-fi novel that I really liked. I was anticipating the release of Feedback but I wouldn’t say anxiously. Like how I didn’t sleep so I could snag the sequel to Divergent at midnight and read the entire thing before daybreak. I was looking forward to it though, because the cliffhanger at the end of the first book was so unexpected and unpredictable. I’m sadly disappointed in Feedback. It starts off really well, answering questions, holding my interest, telling a well constructed story. Somewhere around the middle it feels a bit stale: another fight? Really? The ending though, is where it all falls apart. It’s as though the author thought “I really have no idea what to put here. INSERT CLICHE! No one will even notice that they spent all this time building up to a totally anticlimactic reveal!” Except that, yeah, we did. Bummer.

Book Two: GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn
I picked this book up on recommendations from friends and the New York Times best sellers list. Why am I not on that list? I mean, other than the fact that I’ve never written a book.Anyhow, it’s good. It’s very good. It totally deserves its NYT spot. I got to the middle of the book and I was incredibly confused. Did he do it? Didn’t he do it? And then I turned the page and I was all “I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING. WELL PLAYED, GILLIAN FLYNN. WELL PLAYED.” And the further I read, the more twisted the story became but in a good way, in a way that I couldn’t untangle as I went, mysterious without being a complete mystery. Although I will say that it made me pine for my Amish fiction novels because it definitely got a bit uncomfortably graphic for my taste. Which is admittedly conservative.

Book Three & Four: WHISPERS IN AUTUMN & WINTER OMENS by Trisha Leigh
I found the first book in the kindle lending library, which meant it was free and we all know how much I love free things. I actually wasn’t sure I’d like it based on the description but it had great reviews so I figured “in for a penny, in for a pound” except I don’t actually even know what that means, plus it was technically less than a penny. I was pleasantly surprised. It’s another YA dystopian sci-fi novel, which seems to be all that YA is marketing right now. It’s the new vampires, apparently. It was a bit confusing and slow to start but it fell together quickly and was a good, interesting read with an intriguing premise. And a bit of a cliffhanger ending that was good enough for me to purchase the second book immediately after I finished.

Book Five: INTERRUPTED by Jen Hatmaker
Y’all know that 7 is pretty much one of my favorite books ever, right? I mean, I’ve said it about four times too many. Interrupted tells the story of the Hatmaker’s new church plant in Austin, Texas. It’s a good read, but not the same type of read as 7. If you are involved in church ministry or looking for a church home, I think there is a great premise (pretty much the same one as the Bible so you really can’t go wrong there) and worthwhile insights in this book. In fact, I think it should probably be required reading for church staff members. That said, it’s a bit slow and it’s more of a challenging, weighty read than a fun “throw in the beach bag” book.

Now that I have done my literary duty, I am off to indulge in some birthday cake ice cream. In a cone. Because it’s the weekend. Or because I’ve had one every night this week and I don’t want tonight to feel left out.

*those are my amazon affiliate links because that’s where I buy my kindle books, please see my affiliate disclosure for more information or if you’re just incredibly bored

4 Comments Filed Under: 52 Reads | A Book A Week

Choose Joy Blog Hop: Day Four

June 16, 2012 By Kayla Aimee

I’m doing something a little different for this week’s book review! Instead of posting my review, I’ll be participating in a blog hop that gives you a chance to read selected passages from the book Choose Joy by Kay Warren.

Here’s a list of the posts you can look forward to reading from myself and other bloggers this week.

6/13- post from Suzanne Woods Fisher
6/14- post from Renee Swope
6/15- post from Holley Gerth
6/16 post from Kayla Aimee
6/17- post from Stephanie Howell

When selecting the excerpt I wanted to share with y’all, I asked for the chapter titled “Laugh And The World Laughs With You” because, well, humor is where I find joy in the tough places. Most of y’all know that our birth experience was terrifying and the days following were much the same. I remember lying in my hospital bed and a nurse brought me some nursing pads…in a HAZMAT bag. I was all “Really? Did she just hand me something that I’m supposed to put against my chest in a bag labeled BIO HAZARD? I do not feel safe.” And Jeff and I laughed together and that moment felt light in the middle of the darkest thing we’ve ever experienced.

Click CONTINUE READING to read the full excerpt from Choose Joy! [Read more...]

2 Comments Filed Under: 52 Reads | A Book A Week, NF

52 Reads | Abram’s Daughters

May 17, 2012 By Kayla Aimee

Abram’s Daughters (The Series)
by Beverly Lewis

This is actually a series of five books: The Covenant, The Betrayal, The Sacrifice, The Prodigal and The Revelation. If you can’t tell from the cover, it comes from my beloved genre of Amish Fiction.

Here is an excerpt from the book description:

Set against the backdrop of post-World War II, this compelling saga spans three generations of a Lancaster County Amish family. Each of Abram’s daughters, choosing her own path, must come to terms with the Old Ways of thinking and living. And sometimes that path has detours and forks in the road with unknown destinations…

I had to wait two weeks for my library to get the final book of this series in and I was on pins and needles. Related: My library has two shelves of Beverly Lewis books and zero Veronica Roth novels. This is unjust. Anyhow, this series is very well written. There are a couple of mysteries that span over the course of the books. A few played out just how I thought that they might but the biggest one had some good twists and turns that kept me guessing. One I was a bit unhappy with the resolution of, mostly because after five books of investing in the characters it felt hurried and unrealistic to me. But overall this series is a good read, one of my favorites thus far. I wish my grandmother was still alive because she would have really enjoyed this one. That’s not me being sarcastic, my grandmother loved her some good amish fiction. Maybe it’s genetic.

The books are long and the exposition gets to be a bit much. And of course, there are a couple of times where you’re all “STOP KEEPING SECRETS OBVIOUSLY IT HASN’T DONE ANY GOOD OVER THE PAST FOUR BOOKS!” but the the way each character’s story intertwines is intriguing enough to make up for all of that. Beverly Lewis is one of my favorite authors in this genre so I figured it was bound to be a good read and it definitely was.