Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Blog Tour: A Million Junes (Favorite Unsolved Mysteries)


Hi everyone! Welcome to my stop of the blog tour!

Today, I'll be talking about my favorite unsolved mysteries. Why? Well, when I was younger, I would stumble upon documentaries, magazine articles, and Cracked.com articles discussing mysteries around the world that intrigued me. Sure, maybe some of these are due to photoshop, or just humans in general. BUT I CAN BELIEVE, right? Also when researching, some of the ones I stumbled upon are just downright creepy. 

One of the reasons why this idea came to me, is because of the magic surrounding A Million Junes. And how it plays a role in the story. Especially when it comes to the "thin" places, where the division between death and life is fuzzy. So you know, maybe there is magic here within these real life mysteries. WE WILL NEVER KNOW.

1. The Disappearance of Amelia Earhart. I know there is evidence that she may have been found, but I always hated, and at the same time wondered about, her disappearance. WHERE DID SHE GO? And why has it taken so long to find her? If you don't know who she is, she was the first female aviator to fly across the Atlantic Ocean solo. She disappeared (crashed?) when she was trying to circumnavigate the globe.

2. The Lost Colony of Roanoke. Remember the times we would talk about the first colony in social studies? And the fact that it just disappeared? WHAT HAPPENED TO IT? Basically what happened is that this first colony was kind of a miserable disaster, in that the land wasn't great for settling, and I think it was all swamp area? But anyways, there's a bunch of theories as to what happened, but I don't think we'll know for sure.

Also a similar thought, whatever happened to the Mayans? I always thought about this in World History class too...hmmm.

3. Crop circles. I used to watch documentaries about this on the History channel, I think (ok maybe just one). And I remember how a couple of farmers were like "it's a hoax, we made them ourselves", and then they would proceed to demonstrate how they used a sort of rake to make them. BUT WHY. I mean, I would like to believe that aliens are out there and are trying to send us a message.

Or I guess you could be like this poor student, trying to avoid studying for finals.

4. The Bermuda Triangle. More than 1000 boats and planes have disappeared in this area. Coincidence? OR MAGIC. There's really no one theory that can explain these crashes or disappearances, but the cool thing is that the boundary of this area continues to expand, thanks to the imagination of authors, in order to cover other incidents.

And that's all I can really think of at the moment, so thanks for stopping by! Are there any mysteries that you came across that you've wondered about? Are they more like places, like the ones above, or about certain people?


A Million Junes by Emily Henry
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: May 16th, 2017
Source: Blog Tour
Date Read: 5/4/17 to 5/10/17
350 pages

There are two things everyone in Five Fingers knows about the O'Donnells and the Angerts. One: They've been there the longest, ever since the town was first founded in the Gold Rush days. Two: They hate each other.

June O'Donnell--a.k.a. Junior, a.k.a. Jack, a.k.a. Jonathan O'Donnell IV, a.k.a. the first female O'Donnell first-born--has always been haunted--in more ways than one--by her family's complicated legacy. When June's father and best friend, Jack III, died suddenly seven years ago, she made up her mind to skip college and live the life of adventure that her dad always wanted for himself. Now seventeen and heading into her last year of high school, June is itching to leave her ghosts behind in Five Fingers and travel the world. It's not that she's not happy--she is, mostly--grief has left her with an emptiness that she believes only real life experience can fill.

But then what kind of O'Donnell would June be if an Angert didn't swoop in at a crucial moment and ruin everything? Enter Saul Angert, the eldest son of Eli Angert, a.k.a. June's father's mortal enemy, back in town from a writing career in the city to care for his ailing father. Somehow June's path just keeps getting tangled up with Saul's, no matter how creatively she tries to avoid it, until the unthinkable happens: She finds herself intrigued by this gruff, taciturn, yet strangely tender boy whom she was born to loathe.

But when June and Saul accidentally stumble into a bit of the forest magic, they are allowed a glimpse into the past at the fateful, horrible moment that started all the trouble between their families. Now, everything is different. The only problem is, June doesn't know if this new discovery means she should hate the Angerts even more, or if it's finally time for her--and all of the O'Donnells before her--to let go.
Emily Henry is the author of The Love That Split the World. She is a full-time writer, proofreader, and donut connoisseur. She studied creative writing at Hope College and the New York Center for Art & Media Studies, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. She tweets @EmilyHenryWrite.





Enter for a chance to win one (1) of five (5) copies of A Million Junes by Emily Henry (ARV: $16.99 each).

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on May 15, 2017 and 12:00 AM on June 2, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about June 7, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

TOUR SCHEDULE:

Week One:
May 15 – The Paige-Turner – Review & Mood Board
May 16 – Adventures of a Book Junkie – Author Q&A
May 17 – The Innocent Smiley – Favorite Unsolved Mysteries
May 18 – Arctic Books – Review
May 19 – Twirling Pages – Review

Week Two:
May 22 – ButterMyBooks – Book Look
May 23 – Ex Libris – Review 
May 24 – The Children’s Book Review – Guest Post
May 25 – The Young Folks – Review 
May 26 – Brittany’s Book Rambles – Guest Post

Week Three:
May 29 – Mundie Moms – Review
May 30 – Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Author Q&A
May 31 – Fiction Fare – Podcast Author Q&A
June 1 – YA Bibliophile – Guest Post
June 2 – Forever Young Adult – A Million Junes Cocktail



Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Review: Waking Gods

Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
The Themis Files #2
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: April 4th, 2017
Source: Netgalley
Date Read: 4/5/17 to 4/14/17
325 pages


As a child, Rose Franklin made an astonishing discovery: a giant metallic hand, buried deep within the earth. As an adult, she’s dedicated her brilliant scientific career to solving the mystery that began that fateful day: Why was a titanic robot of unknown origin buried in pieces around the world? Years of investigation have produced intriguing answers—and even more perplexing questions. But the truth is closer than ever before when a second robot, more massive than the first, materializes and lashes out with deadly force.

Now humankind faces a nightmare invasion scenario made real, as more colossal machines touch down across the globe. But Rose and her team at the Earth Defense Corps refuse to surrender. They can turn the tide if they can unlock the last secrets of an advanced alien technology. The greatest weapon humanity wields is knowledge in a do-or-die battle to inherit the Earth . . . and maybe even the stars.
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Quotes taken from ARC may or may not be in the published edition.

I read this awhile back, but I actually received this from Netgalley as a "Wish for it", and I wasn't expecting it at all. So I had to fit this in my reading schedule, because I HAD TO. I didn't absolutely adore the first book, Sleeping Giants (my review here), but I did at least enjoy it! I pretty much enjoy anything that is extra-terrestrial.

If you haven't read Sleeping Giants, I'll try to be non-spoiler-y in my review. Well, I will mark anything as spoilers so you're good!

Well, to start off, I definitely enjoyed this second installation of the series! So if you are thinking of starting this series, I can say that it does get better! Basically, in the first book, we're introduced to this huge robot thing (think Iron Giant), and the different body parts have been scattered around the world. The characters in the books (or at least one of the main characters), believe that this robot was left behind by a superior alien race, left to us as humans in order to defend ourselves. Because why leave such a powerful machine in our hands otherwise? 

That theory is quickly destroyed in this sequel.

Overall, I enjoyed this a ton. I think much more than the first book. Though again, my complaints kind of remained the same across the series. The first is that I have little to no memory of the characters. The format is similar to books such as Illuminae, in that the story is told in logs, interviews, and phone calls. But because of this, there are multiple times where we as the reader need to be brought up to speed as to what happened. I felt that this second book did a better job with this by showing us the important scenes through live action webcam videos or phone calls, which wasn't greatly executed in the first book. So I applaud that.

Other than that, I'm a bit stressed because [spoiler] EVERYONE IS DEAD and HOW EXACTLY CAN WE GO ON? I think mainly since the main mysterious dude that brought everyone together is DEAD, I don't know how the series will go on? [end spoiler] I guess I will have to trust that the author knows what they're doing.

Either way, I will definitely be keeping up with this series. I'm very excited to see how this concludes, though I don't really have any hope that there will be a very happy ending. I can HOPE.


Tuesday, May 9, 2017

5 Reasons Why I Miss Blogging


Let's be honest. I have NOT been the most active here. My reasons for that have been mainly due to 1) work and grad school and 2) just not enough motivation at all. But now that all my assignments are turned in, it's finally summer. And you would think that because of all this time, I would be more excited to blog, right?

Wrong. I am even more lazy. I feel like I have to put extra effort to come up with posts and TYPE STUFF. Never have I wanted to blog from my brain more than I do now.

But while saying all of this, I can say that there were a couple aspects of blogging that I miss. FOR EXAMPLE.

1. Seeing new content on the blog. This used to be, and still is, a big reason why I loved to blog. I loved seeing this little project grow into something encompasses my passion and my creativity (what little that I have of it, at least). Even though this isn't a published book or paper, it's nice seeing your finished website out there in the world, in the public. Sure, it might not be as modern or efficient as a self-hosted Wordpress blog, but I don't have the money to justify that haha.

2. Reading other blogs and *genuinely* enjoying it. There used to be a time where I dedicated some days as "commenting" days. And then I would comment on every single Top Ten post, on every blog's first post if they commented on mine, on every post in general. And it was just, tedious. And I burned out quickly. I'm sure every other blogger can tell you this same little story. Which is why I realized that it's okay to not comment on some posts, because I personally don't enjoy forcing my comments, and I know the blogs I read deserve genuine comments (where I actually read everything word for word and DON'T skim).

3. And following up on that, keeping tracking of my favorite bloggers. Because I need to know what you're reading, doing, how your life is, at every point in time. And Twitter is nice and all, but reading personal posts gives me a much better perspective. ALSO I love showing my support on my favorite blogs because I want to let my friends know that their posts matter. THEY MATTER TO ME. And that's really all that counts, right?

4. Talking about books. This is a big one. It's why I started blogging in the first place. But somewhere along the way, writing reviews became more of a chore rather than an enjoyable hobby. Which is why I am constantly trying new reviewing strategies. Sometimes, it's just hard because I don't always have something to say or comment on. I just...flail. Or...think meh. BUT I do very much enjoy roasting books I hated. My blog is more of a place to get my feelings out about a book, but I don't think it's a great place to incite discussion. Twitter is a better place for that, but social media has seen better days, imo.

5. And lastly, YOU. Obviously I love getting comments, and I'm just glad everyone is sticking with me. Though I think I need to go through the blogosphere again, just to keep count of who's still here and who isn't. I think everyone I know is still blogging? Again, I need to comment.


What makes you come back to blogging after a slump? Also I don't think I'll be the most active here, but I will post when I can, and that's all that matters!
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