Saturday, July 27, 2019

Book Haul: Your Favorites


Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. I get to show off the books I’ve gotten recently. I saw these books on the “Best Books Of 2018” lists of various bloggers, so I thought I’d give them a shot. I hope I like them as much as you did.


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Your Favorites







A List Of Cages by Robin Roe




When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he’s got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn’t easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can’t complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian—the foster brother he hasn’t seen in five years.

Adam is ecstatic to be reunited. At first, Julian seems like the boy he once knew. He’s still kindhearted. He still writes stories and loves picture books meant for little kids. But as they spend more time together, Adam realizes that Julian is keeping secrets, like where he hides during the middle of the day, and what’s really going on inside his house. Adam is determined to help him, but his involvement could cost both boys their lives.
















The Clay Girl by Heather Tucker



Vincent Appleton smiles at his daughters, raises a gun, and blows off his head. For the Appleton sisters, life had unraveled many times before. This time it explodes.

Eight-year-old Hariet, known to all as Ari, is dispatched to Cape Breton and her Aunt Mary, who is purported to eat little girls . . . . With Ari on the journey is her steadfast companion, Jasper, an imaginary seahorse. But when they arrive in Pleasant Cove, they instead find refuge with Mary and her partner Nia.

As the tumultuous ’60s ramp up in Toronto, Ari is torn from her aunts and forced back to her twisted mother and fractured sisters. Her new stepfather Len and his family offer hope, but as Ari grows to adore them, she’s severed violently from them too, when her mother moves in with the brutal Dick Irwin.

Through the sexual revolution and drug culture of the 1960s, Ari struggles with her father’s legacy and her mother’s addictions—testing limits with substances that numb and men who show her kindness. She spins through a chaotic decade of loss and love, the devilish and divine, with wit, tenacity, and the astonishing balance unique to seahorses.
















Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng



In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned–from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
Enter Mia Warren–an enigmatic artist and single mother–who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the alluring mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
When the Richardsons' friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town and puts Mia and Mrs. Richardson on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Mrs. Richardson becomes determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs to her own family–and Mia's.











Beartown (Beartown #1) by Fredrik Backman



People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.
















The Forgetting (The Forgetting #1) by Sharon Cameron



Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories – of parents, children, love, life, and self – are lost. Unless they have been written.

In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn't written the truth. Because Nadia is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten.

But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence – before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her.
Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories–of parents, children, love, life, and self–are lost. Unless they have been written.

In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn't written the truth. Because Nadia is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten.

But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence–before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her.













Have you read any of these? What did you think?






29 comments:

  1. I never heard anything about The Clay Girl, but it sounds very interesting. I am always on the lookout for books about the 60's.

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  2. Wow the Clay Girl sounds INTENSE. I'll have to check it out!

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  3. Little Fires Everywhere was supposed to be really good- I still want to read that one.

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  4. I haven't read any of these, but I've heard great things about The Forgetting! I hope you love all of these!

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  5. I have not read any of these, but List of Cages has been on my TBR for quite a while. I hope to read that one before the year is over. I read one book by Backman and it was wonderful. I will definitely read more of his books.

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  6. Little Fires Everywhere was such a good read. It sucked me in right away and the writing was just wonderful. Hope you like it.

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  7. A List of Cages and Beartown are on my TBR, too. I hope you enjoy them! 👍✨

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  8. I really enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere. I haven't read any of the others but Beartown has been on my TBR ever since I read and loved A Man Called Ove.

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  9. Little Fires Everywhere still seems to be popular although I think it's last year's book? I've had it recommended to me time and again, so I'd like to read it sometime. Hope you enjoy :)

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  10. I haven't read any of these but have heard lots of good things!

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  11. I haven't heard of any of these books, sorry! Hopefully you'll have a great time with each of them!

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  12. Looks like some good books. I've heard wonderful things about Beartown and Little Fires Everywhere. I'd like to get to those two someday.

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  13. Great book haul. I want to read Little Fires Everywhere and Beartown as well. Enjoy these!

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  14. The Forgetting is one of my absolute favorites ever!!

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  15. I don't think I've heard of The Clay Girl or The Forgetting before, but they both sound good!

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  16. These are all ones I've been meaning to check out. I hope you enjoy them!

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  17. I haven’t but Clay Girl reminded me of a great novel by Alastair Macleod, “No Great Mischief,” that is set between Cape Breton and Ontario.

    www.thepulpitandthepen.com

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  18. SO, what I gathered from this list, is that I DEFINITELY need to look into The Clay Girl. Also, that you have good taste. OH, and I need to get back to attempting to read Little Fires Everywhere.

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  19. I haven't read any of these but I love the cover for The Forgetting! So pretty!

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  20. I want to read A List of Cages! I had actually received this book for review when it came out and I never dove into it.
    Genesis @ Whispering Chapters

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  21. The only book from this group that I have read is A List of Cages and I loved it. I hope you enjoy all of these, AJ!

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  22. These are all new to me, and I'm definitely adding a few to my TBR. Thanks for the recs!

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬

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  23. A List of Cages is one of my all time favorites!! <3

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  24. Little Fires Everywhere is one of those books I checked out and kept renewing and renewing until 3 months later I had to give it back unread. I LOVE List of Cages (two groups of kids chose it for book club and cried). I have yet to read any Backman, I am checking out The Forgetting TODAY at the library, and I added Clay Girl to my TBR as I read your post. Great list!

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  25. Oooh I really liked The Forgetting!! That is the only one I have read, but it was a good one! I keep hearing about A List of Cages and Beartown so I will probably read those at some point too. Hope you enjoy these!

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  26. I haven't really heard of any of these, but they do look intriguing.

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  27. The Forgetting is good! I haven't read the sequel yet, but I remember really liking The Forgetting!

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  28. Great haul! I haven't read any of these but really want to get The Clay Girl, Little Fires Everywhere and Beartown. I hope you'll enjoy them all!

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  29. Two are on my favorite list too! A List of Cages (have tissues at the ready) and Beartown (incredible writing!)

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