Summer TBR Challenge

I am a teacher and  this time of year means summer break! Over the pat few months I have been slacking on reading, which means my TBR shelf has grown immensely from where it was in September. This summer I want to challenge myself to read at least 10 books from my TBR shelf. I have challenged myself to read 50 books this summer, so I think 10 from my shelf is a good start. I am going to post my list of books below and add a tab above and cross them off as I go. After reading my list please let me know if you have an suggestions I should add to the top of my list to read first. Without further ado... my TBR shelf:

• Sacrifice- S.J. Bolton
• The Pact-Jodi Pictoult
• Distant Waves- Suzanne Weyn
• Girl, Missing- Sophie McKenzie
• Secrets of my Hollywood Life on Location- Jen Calonita
• The Shack- Wm. Paul Young
• Everfree- Nick Sagan
• H.I.V.E.- Mark Walden
• Secrets of my Hollywood Life- Jen Calonita
• Night Runner-Max Turner
• The Secret to Lying- Todd Mitchell
• What are you Afraid of? 
• The Not-so-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen- Mitali Perkins
• Fire from the Rock- Sharon M. Draper
• And then there were None- Agatha Christie
• Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes- Chris Crutcher
• Three Cups of Tea- Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
• Wicked- Gregory MaGuire
• The Notebook- Nicholas Sparks
• Love Sick- Jake Coburn
• The DUFF- Kody Keplinger
• My Worst Best Friend- Dyan Sheldon
• Shimmer- Dallas Reed
• Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen
• Nobody Don't Love Nobody- Stacey Bess
• Pure- Julianna Baggott
• The Devil Wears Prada- Lauren Weisberger
• Wrapped in Rain- Charles Martin
• Son of a Witch- Gregory Maguire
• Annexed- Sharon Dogar
• The Kids from Nowhere- George Guthridge
• L.A. Candy- Lauren Conrad
• Uncle Otto- Winifred Cook
• Chosen- Paula Bradley
• Candor- Pam Bachorz
• Breath my Name-  R. A. Nelson
• Pledged- Alexandra Robbins
• Carpe Diem- Autumn Cornwell
• Sweet Little Lies- Lauren Conrad
• What was Lost- Catherine O'Flynn
• Castaway Kid- r.b. Mitchell
• Extra Credit- Andrew Clements
• New Kids- Brooke Hauser
• The Princess Plot - Kirsten Boie
• Every Crooked Nanny-  Mary Kay Andrews
• Into the Wild Nerd Yonder- Julie Halpern
• Snatched- Pete Hautman and Mary Logue
• Awkward- Marni Bates
• I am Number Four- Pittacus Lore
• A Dance of Sisters- Tracey Porter
• The Smugglers Treasure- Sarah Masters Buckey
• Under the Sun- Arthur Dorros
• Broadway Lights- Jen Calonita

Review: Tortured Memory

Title: Tortured Memory
Author: Dr. Lawrence W. Gold
Grade: A-

Review: Tortured Memory is the newest installment in the Brier Hospital Series. (You can find the review for 2 of the other books on my blog.) Dr. Gold takes on the world of psychiatry is this book. Dr. Abbie Adler is a psychiatrist who specializes in child and adolescent sexual abuse. The book starts out by profiling several of Dr. Adler's patients. Two of Dr. Adler's young patients are found murdered and one is missing. A few months later Dr. Adler is found catatonic in a parking lot. She is taken to the local psych hospital where she is awakened. She has no memory of what has happened before she was found. As she recovers, she starts to have flash backs of what happened to her and it leads her to believe that there is a possibility that one of her patients may have been the murderer. It is a race against time, and her lost memories,  for Dr. Adler to find the killer and save her kidnapped patient.

I have loved the other two books in this series so I was very excited to read this one. I was warned ahead of time that this book is a bit more complicated than the other ones and that was correct. The chapter's in the book are divided into months. Sometimes the chapters would be flash backs, which you wouldn't know if you skipped over the chapter heading. Sometimes I would be confused when the events took place until I went back and read the month the chapter took place. Something that I find very distinctive in Dr. Gold's books is introducing several different story lines in the beginning of the book, that don't seem related at all, but come together in the end. Tortured Memory has this and some of the story lines don't come together until the very end.

This was a quick, edge or your seat read that would be perfect for any thriller-loving reader. It will keep you awake until the very end and will definitely keep you awake. I hope Dr. Gold continues his series, because I for one absolutely love them!

Happy Reading!

Bookaholic

Review: Alphabet Anatomy

Title: Alphabet Anatomy
Author: Linda Ann and Branson Jones
Grade: A +

Review
As a preschool teacher I am always looking for ways for my students to develop pre-writing and writing skills. Because of the newer demands of kindergarten, children are pretty much required to know how to already write by the time they step foot into their kindergarten classroom. Alphabet Anatomy shows children how to write each letter. On each letter page, the authors give a fun rhyme that describes how to write each letter. For example the page for D says, "D climbs a ladder circles right in a dive, swims back to the ladder and comes out alive. D-Dive." These instructions give children a way to visually remember how to write each letter and states what sound each letter states.

I am very much looking forward to using this book in my classroom. The pictures and the fun descriptions of each letter will even cause the not so eager writer to want to try to make each letter.  I think that this is a necessary addition to all preschool books shelves! Even lower elementary classrooms will benefit from this book!

Happy Reading!

Bookaholc

Review: The Sixth Sense

Title: The Sixth Sense
Author: Dr. Lawrence W. Gold
Grade A+

Synopsis from the Back of the Book
Arnie Roth, a family practitioner, develops viral encephalitis. He awakens from the near-death experience with a new appreciation for life and an unexpected talent, his sensitivity to smell has increased a thousandfold. The Sixth Sense is highly entertaining, thought provoking, and touching journey through a world that influences us every day, but one that we know too little about


Review
The Sixth Sense is the third book in the Brier Hospital series. Read my review of the first book here. What is nice about this series in that each book as a stand alone book. It has the same underlying theme but you could read each book on it's own and not have to worry about missing part of the story line.

Like the first book, I was completely blown away by this book. Dr. Gold does an amazing job of weaving medical terminology together so that the common person can understand what is going on.  During the first 50 or so pages, there seems to be several stories going on that seem completely unrelated. But, as you get closer to the end, you see how they all weave together. It was fascinating how Arnie's extreme sense of smell is both a blessing and curse. He uses it to help save several patients, but it also is his downfall.I also love the way that Dr. Gold gives each character in his story a complete background, no matter how small a part the character plays. By the end of the book, you feel as if you know each character in real life and are happy for their joys and sad for their losses. Even though the book is long, at over 400 pages, it really was a very quick read and I finished it easily in 2 days. It drew me in and I literally could not put it down. I would suggest this book to anyone who is looking for a suspenseful read that will definitely keep you guessing!

Happy Reading!

Bookaholic

Review: A Rose in the Destert

Title: A Rose in the Desert
Author: Chi Emerole
Grade: B


Review
The first thing that struck me about this book was the absolutely gorgeous illustrations. Ryan Durney creates beautiful pictures of the landscape of Sudan, which are almost lifelike,. The story is about Rose's 7th birthday is a refugee camp in Sudan. It goes through her entire day and talks about the special parts of her birthday. It also provides a view of a child growing up as a refugee, which I believe is a very  hard topic to portray in a positive light. Emerole was very successful in doing that.

I actually had a bit of a hard time following the contentedness of the plot. Although there was an underlying back story to the entire book, I didn't feel as if all of the events were connected  The book seemed to jump from Rose's home, to school, to band practice with her friends, etc... I think children may have a hard time understanding the purpose of the book. Is it to talk about a child's birthday, or is it to talk about life as a refugee?  Overall I gave this book a B because although it was a little hard to follow, the illustrations were absolutely gorgeous. You can read more about A Rose in the Desert and Chi Emerole on her website.

Happy reading!

Bookaholic

Review: Mariner Valley

Title:  Mariner Valley
Author:  James Crawford
Grade: A

Review:
 If you know e in real life, you know that I love sparkles, all thing pink, and dancing. Basically I am a girly-girl. Mariner Valley. Is not at all a book that would seem to fit my personality. This is why I love books. You can read about things that would not necessarily interest you in real life. Mariner Valley tells the story of a settlement on Mars. In that settlement there is a crime problem. Recently there have been several murders. Police man Ben O'Ryan and his team must try to figure out who is responsible for these murders and why. They must travel across the planet chasing the criminals before it is to late.

I was a big fan of this book and finished it in a little over 24 hours I loved that the book describes what a possible settlement on Mars would be like. This book is unlike any other books I have read. Ben O'Ryan is such a likable character that you find yourself rooting for him to win the hunt for the murderers. Ben and his team have to travel to different settlements on the planet.  I liked how Crawford has several different types of living areas on Mars. One settlement is basically New York City is a bubble, another settlement is completely underground, and yet another is in a space ship type place. They also travel in a rover/hummer type vehicle. The only part of the book I was not a huge fan of was the budding romance between Ben and one of his team members, Beth. Once they kissed and started "dating" they instantly started to call each other sweetie, and honey. I did not like how the relationship jumped from just friends to basically married. I felt it was very unrealistic. I think that this is a must read for all science fiction/dystopian fans out there and for people looking for a fun, suspenseful, read.

Happy Reading!

Bookaholic

Emotobooks Guest Post

Hello readers!

I am very excited to have Ron Gavalik as a guest on my blog! Ron has developed Emotobooks and is here to tell us all about them! Take it away Ron:

Emotobooks: The Fusion of Written Fiction and Expressionistic Art

Ron Gavalik

Thank you to Shirley for allowing me to guest post.

As a writer and publisher, it’s always been a goal to bridge the gap between the cerebral gratifications of well-plotted fiction writing and the visual stimulation of illustrative art. The one day I had a mini-epiphany. Insert expressive, emotionally representative imagery in written stories, during moments of emotional consequence. By delivering a visual of what a character feels, the reader becomes more intensely immersed in the story.

Emotobooks are written fiction stories, not comics or graphic novels. The few emotional abstract images woven in the stories are the dream-like visuals each of us experience in the middle of the night.

The term Emotobook is a portmanteau word I conjured as a memorable label for the very first fiction medium for smartphones and tablets. For the first time, readers can now see actual representation of character emotions right on the page for a fun, interactive experience.

Stories are published as EmotoSerials or EmotoSingles. EmotoSerials are monthly-released, continuing stories, much like TV dramas or miniseries that continue until their climactic ends. EmotoSingles are individual experiences.

I launched Grit City Publications in July of 2011, with the first Emotobook series titled Grit City, a seven-part story about Dillon Galway, an idealistic freelance journalist, who scrapes out a living reporting on corruption. Since then, we’ve grown the Emotobooks Catalog into an array of fun genre fiction titles in Sci-Fi, Romance, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller, and Horror.

Each Emotobook title consists of three creators: the author, editor, and illustrator. It’s our philosophy that three contributors on each Emotobook delivers a richer, more flavorful story. The creators even offer Autograph Cards and suggest mood settings, such as food, drink, and music. This way our fans can achieve a full-bodied experience.

Emotobooks accommodate a new audience, who desire a fast “full story experience” on smartphones, iPods, computers, or tablet readers in about 30 to 60 minutes. They can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers.

Our editors are currently seeking the best genre fiction for the Emotobooks transformation. It’s required that fiction writers read our submission guidelines and the free handbook, How to Create Emotobooks, before submitting. Our publishing model is unique and we require long-term participation from authors for everyone’s success.

Now that you’ve been introduced to the Emotobooks Revolution, I hope you’ll join our Readers Cult and begin collecting the coolest titles. We even offer free Autograph Cards to our fans. What it really comes down to is we write, edit, and illustrate the best modern fiction for our fans. Without you, we wouldn’t be here. Thank you.

Ron Gavalik’s Bio:

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ron Gavalik is a seasoned freelance journalist and fiction author of the successful Grit City thriller series. As Publisher for Grit City Publications, he oversees the Emotobooks Revolution. Ron holds an M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University and a B.S. in Marketing Communications from Point Park University. When not writing, you can find him in the outdoors of Southwestern Pennsylvania on his trail bike, hiking, or fishing.