New To My Book Closet

It's that time of the week again. Time to show you what bookish goodies made their way into my home and book closet (to be saved from the evil book eating cat monster named Aria). This is inspired by the various "mailbox" posts out there (eg. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews).

A pretty exciting book week for me! I cannot wait to read some of the new books that made their way into my book closet.

Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn (goodreads)
Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor (goodreads)
Damage Done by Amanda Panitch (goodreads)
I Was Here by Gayle Forman (goodreads)

The first two books (Katie Finn and Melissa Cantor) are from Christy as part of my birthday present! Excited to read both of them. (Thank you, Christy!)

I received Damage Done at the two year anniversary of the bookclub I take part in at Chapters here in Ottawa! Very excited as this was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. (Thank you, Ciara)

Lastly, I have a copy of I Was Here by Gayle Forman that I was gifted from Meaghan (Thank you, Meaghan).

What books made their way into your mailbox this week?

Happy Weekend and Happy Reading!

Weekly Obsessions

The awesome Kelly at KellyVision started posting a weekly post highlighting whatever she happened to be obsessed with that week. I LOVE this idea, so much in fact that I will be doing it myself every Saturday.

Extremely small Weekly Obsessions post this week.

BOOKS

Cover of Brianna Shrum's Never, Never (Goodreads)

This.Is.Perfect. PERFECT. If you are a Peter Pan fangirl, this is going to make you want to immediately pick up this book. The skull and crossbones, the bloody feather, and the iconic ship all come together to create a nod to the class tale while reminding you this is not your usual Peter Pan.

I Was Here by Gayle Forman (Goodreads)

This book was EVERYTHING I hope it would be. It was filled with emotion, romance and that characterization that Gayle Forman does so well. Be sure to check out my review if you missed it and pick up a copy on Tuesday when it's released.

What are you obsessed with this week?

I Was Here by Gayle Forman

I Was Here by Gayle Forman
Release Date - January 27, 2015
Publisher Website - Penguin
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages -  288 pages
My Rating - 5/5
**received in exchange for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.

There is a reason Gayle Forman makes use of the "All.The.Feels" tagline. Her books deliver just that. All of the feelings you can imagine, and often all of them are experienced all at once. I Was Here is no exception to this. It is a brilliant, important, satisfying read that left me emotionally drained, and surprisingly hopeful.

Gayle Forman makes writing appear effortless. Her words come together in such a cohesive, natural way. This talent, however, is the mark of a great writer, and hard work. She makes something so layered and nuanced look easy. She is able to create emotions, and atmosphere with a simple turn of phrase. It's not just enjoyable to read, but inspiring.

Anger and guilt are felt through every interaction, every scene, every sentence of this novel. There is so much anger and guilt for everyone involved. There is anger and guilt because of that anger. Gayle Forman captures what it could feel like to be a 'survivor of suicide'. By this, I am referring to those left behind. There is, often, a massive need for blame for those left behind. Gayle captures the feeling of being angry at the person who died, but feeling guilty that you are angry and so you want to take that anger and shove it onto someone else. You want to blame someone else. They perhaps feel like they should have known and are partially blaming themselves deep down. It creates this perfect storm of feelings. All of this swirls around inside these characters reeking havoc on their emotions and choices. The 'what ifs' plague every single person in Meg's life and it's heartbreaking to see them go through the steps needed to mourn and grieve.

Ben McAllister is a pretty eyed, guitar playing, sneering mess and you will absolutely love him. He is the stuff of book boyfriend dreams and is entirely swoon worthy. His connection to Meg allows for this bond to form with Cody that is entirely mesmerizing. He is wrestling with his own demons, and it makes the progression of the relationship with Cody all the more fulfilling. They understand each other, and offer something that the other needs. The romance aspect of the novel is classic Gayle Forman in all it's messy imperfect perfectness.

Meg comes to life through the other characters. She is told in memories and stories. She burns so vivid and bright during these moments that you truly get to know her. She feels like a vital part of the novel and not just created for plot advancement. She is a fully fledged character and her relationship with Cody is nuanced and rich. We see all the elements of their friendship, including the not so perfect parts. It's this type of characterization that Gayle Forman excels at and she does not disappoint here.

The mystery element of the computer file is just icing on an already delicious cake. It serves to showcase the true plot of the story which is not this mystery but the human emotions behind grief, forgiveness, and strength. She manages to eloquently weave together all of these aspects into an engrossing story.

You won't leave Meg and Cody's story untouched and they'll haunt you long after you've finished reading the final page. This is one I am having a hard time moving on from. I want to mourn a little longer, fall a little bit more in love, and stay with these wonderful characters. A beautiful, sad, hopeful, messy story of grief, death, and most importantly, life. This novel will break your heart, it just happens to also mend it along the way.

New To My Book Closet

It's that time of the week again. Time to show you what bookish goodies made their way into my home and book closet (to be saved from the evil book eating cat monster named Aria). This is inspired by the various "mailbox" posts out there (eg. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews).

My mailbox was super busy this week. Insanely busy. The kind of busy that makes you incredibly thankful for the books you get to read.

First up is a book that resulted in much fangirling, squealing and generally scaring the heck out of my cat after I opened it. I have already read this book, and it is going to be the book for winter 2015 (perhaps even the book of 2015). It's going to be the new hot thing, that's for sure!

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (goodreads)

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for this particular book! So thankful I got to read it!

Next up is a package from Raincoast Books that is from their Spring/Summer Blogger Preview. I was excited to be able to virtually attend, and Raincoast outdid themselves with these amazing swag bags.

The Forgetting by Nicole Maggi (goodreads)
The Truth About Us by Janet Gurtler (goodreads)

Also included was a Fairest poster, and mirror. The mirror is amazing. I also snagged some fun buttons, a lip balm for Katie Finn's Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things To Mend. Oh, and a bookmark with my name and blog name on it! A big thank you to Melissa at Raincoast for the event and these amazing goodies.

Next up is a book that, surprising nobody, caused me to have a legit meltdown when I had it in my hands.

I Was Here by Gayle Forman (goodreads)

My friend Kelly, from Kellyvision, kindly sent this to me after she had read it. I am itching to start this right now, but have to wait. Hoping to sneak it in over Christmas though! Thanks again, Kelly!

Lastly, I received an amazing Christmas package from my friend Christy, from The Reader Bee. It is filled with all kinds of perfect things! I loved everything.

Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen (goodreads)
The Kiss of Deception by Mary E Pearson (goodreads)

She also included an adorable ornament that is a blogger with a cat. It's pretty much only missing the glass of wine to be complete. She also sent me a fun wine glass that I fully intend on using this holiday season! Thank you so much, Christy!

Happy weekend, and happy reading!

Waiting on Wednesday ....... I Was Here

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick this week is I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.

I have loved all of Gayle Forman's other books. It's always exciting when a new release from her is in the Penguin catalog. I am counting down the days until this one is in my hands! It sounds like there may be a few twists and surprises during this one!

Expected release date - January 27, 2015

Weekly Obsessions

The awesome Kelly at KellyVision started posting a weekly post highlighting whatever she happened to be obsessed with that week. I LOVE this idea, so much in fact that I will be doing it myself every Saturday.

Here are my obsessions this week.

BOOK

Cover of Red Queen by Victoria Averyard (goodreads)

Stunning right? Potential favourite cover of the year material. It's simple, and so completely different than any of the covers out there. I am basically in love. The colour design and that bright splash of red blood immediately draw your attention and it pretty much screams for out to pick up this book.

I Was Here by Gayle Forman (goodreads)

I love this cover. It fits with what I would expect for a Gayle Forman cover. I was much more excited about the synopsis that was released. It's intriguing and has me wanting to read this novel even more than I did before.

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.

Amazing right? I am counting down the days until I will get to read this.

OTHER

Travel plans

I have some travel plans coming up! I am going to be visiting Toronto in August and am really looking forward to it. It's already shaping up to be a fun trip and will be a nice break at just the right time.

I am also going to Las Vegas in September! It should also be fun, but slightly more busy as my schedule is packed for that trip. I've never been so I am curious to see it for myself.

What are you obsessed with this week?

Weekly Obsessions

The awesome Kelly at KellyVision started posting a weekly post highlighting whatever she happened to be obsessed with that week. I LOVE this idea, so much in fact that I will be doing it myself every Saturday.

A smaller obsessions post this week! Here are my obsessions this week:

BOOK

Bonnie by Christina Schwarz

This book doesn't come out until 2015 and I already WANT it more than anything. Bonnie and Clyde has always fascinated me, and this book sounds amazing. Here are the details from the announcement.

The book is a fictionalized take on Bonnie Parker and the path that led her to become Clyde Barrow’s partner. In Bonnie, Atria said, Schwarz “animates the few known facts” about Parker to create “a plaintive and fast-paced account of a woman destroyed by the lethal combination of boredom and love.”

I kind of like that it's a fictionalized account of Bonnie's story. It's one I am eager to hear more about leading up to it's release date.

Lock and Mori by Heather Petty

The deal announced on Publisher's Weekly's website states that this book

is told from the perspective of 16-year-old Miss James "Mori" Moriarty, who, in looking for an escape from her recent past and spiraling home life, takes classmate Sherlock up on his challenge to solve a murder mystery in Regent's Park.

Immediately intriguing. Is it wrong that I want Mori and Sherlock to fall in love? Because I do! Also, I hope Watson is Sherlock's best friend (it's got to happen). Based on the rest of the information in the press announcement it seems the publisher is expecting big things for this series. Let's hope it gets a fantastic cover. It's already up on Goodreads, if you want to add it.

I Was Here by Gayle Forman

It's no secret that I love Gayle Forman's books. Loved everything she's written so far. Her next one was also announced by Publisher's Weekly, and it's description says that the novel

follows Cody Reynolds in the months following her best friend Meg's suicide, as she delves into Meg's secret life in search of answers. 

So I am predicting that this will make me cry. It's a 2015 release, so it'll be a bit before we get our hands on this, but you can already add it on Goodreads. SO EXCITED!

TV/MOVIE

Bonnie and Clyde (TV event)

Keeping with the Bonnie and Clyde theme...

There is going to be a 2 night event 'mini series' airing in December and it looks pretty awesome. Check out the trailer. As mentioned, I've always been fascinated by Bonnie and Clyde's story so I will for sure be checking this out.

So what are you obsessed with this week?