13 Reasons Why...Book 51

I'm reviewing the audio book.

"Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.
On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list."

This is not my normal sort of book, and it caught my attention from the very beginning. I'd heard a lot about this book from the blog and knew it was about a girl who'd committed suicide. I didn't know about the tapes, but you find out from the very beginning. And from the moment they start rolling, you can sympathize with Hannah.

I find this book to be amazingly well written. Hannah's telling her story through the tapes, and Clay is telling his story between the tapes--we get his thoughts as he's listening. At first, I thought Clay was a jerk--afterall, he is on the tapes. But as the story progresses and things become more and more clear, it was interesting to see that he's not. This was a brilliant debut novel. It addresses the issues of bullying and mental health head on. (Hannah was bullied, but I think she had depression). And what I loved is that the story was so engaging and sparked my attention right from the start that I didn't even care it was an issue book.

Merry Christ-Mass

Long, long ago in a land far, far away, in the dead of winter priests walked through the dreary night as not to be seen. The priests searched for a candle flickering in a window. The candle's warm glow indicated the home as a stopping place--not just a safe haven but the location of a celebration. The priest would stay in the home and the owners would invite friends and neighbors for a feast. Before the break of dawn, the priest would offer a mass honoring the birth of the Christ child followed by the feast.

Today, millions around the world still set out late night through the December cold to honor this tradition. Not I, for my little ELF melts if not sleeping tight by eleven, so we shall celebrate by day.


*I don't know if any of this is true. I got the info from a book of Irish folklore. But I do know Irish Christmas music rocks*

Merry Christmas!

Love Beth
XOXO

Follow Friday

Follow Friday is hosted by Alison and Parajunkee.

Q: What have you learned from book blogging that you didn't know before about the publishing industry?

OMG! So incredibly much. In fairness, this is as much a writing blog as it is a book blog, so I started meeting lots of writers and getting involved with industry organizations about the same time. But I've learned so much from blogging. How to write a decent review, what an ARC is, how to write a query, voice. I even taught myself to plot on the blog. I often say I learned more from one year of blogging (and I've been at it three now) than from four years of college.

Point of Retreat Book 49

"Layken and Will have proved their love can get them through anything; until someone from Will’s past re-emerges, leaving Layken questioning the very foundation on which their relationship was built. Will is forced to face the ultimate challenge…how to prove his love for a girl who refuses to stop ‘carving pumpkins.’"


The crazy good sequel to Slammed. I loved the first book so much I immediately bought the sequel, but I admit I had a little bit of apprehension about it. Slammed was so complete with so much going on that I didn't see what could possibly happen in a sequel or why it needed one. Point of Retreat is like a continuation of Will and Lake's life. It just takes what happens in the first book and builds on it. It's a whole new complete story with the same roller coaster ride intensity. Truthfully, Lake did get annoying for about 1/3 of this book, but she starts acting sane again, and something else big happens. These books are so beautiful.

Slammed Book 48

"Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she's losing hope.
Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.
Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart."

OMG! This book was crazy. Crazy Good! It's hard to talk about this book without giving too much away--things that would ruin your reading experience--but I'm going to try. Layken moves from Texas to Michigan, because after he dad's death her mom can no longer afford their home. This was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard until the middle of the book when the truth about the move comes out. Lake isn't looking happy about the move, because it's her senior year and she had to leave the only house she'd ever lived in and the only school she'd ever attended. But her next door neighbor is hot, nice and into poetry. That makes it easier. After their first date, she discovers something that means they cannot be together but will have to see each other. And from this point on the book is an emotional roller coaster. I pretty much read it one sitting. I didn't start it until late night, so I stayed up unitl 3 am.
5 stars!!! READ THIS BOOK!!!

A Question for Paid Blog Tour Hosts

If you're here for FF go here.

In recent weeks, I've seen several posts on how tired people are of blog tours, yet they seem to continue to be the best way to get the word about your book out there. (And if you write a great book but no one knows about it, it doesn't matter). For a writer, this is scary. People aren't reading blog tours anymore. They're ignoring cover reveals. And how do I get my book out there?

I'm no marketing expert, but from the number of books sold on my blog tour earlier this year, reviews got the most sales. Why then are there so few options for review only tours? Or am I wrong? And people still seem to be reading reviews.

If you're an experienced book promoter (marketer/publicist), I want to talk to you. I'd like to get a guest post or an interview. Maybe, you can answer this question for us.

Follow Friday

Q: What is the last book that made you cry? Tell us about the scene...

Where She Went almost made me cry in several places. It's been a long time since a book made me cry. Dear John definitely did and that was in 2010.