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)

I had a lot of fun arrivals into my mailbox this week. First up, I manged to get the Billy and Mrs Wheeler (Karen) Pop 2 pack that was a San Diego Comic Con exclusive. I love them!

The cookie! Her nightgown! The hair on Mrs Wheeler! They're adorable. Looking forward to seeing what season three is going to bring for both these characters.

My Happy Hello! bookmark addiction continues. I saw this adorable Peter Parker one and had to snag it. I love it so much! I am going to have to find a way to display these in my house.

SO cute right? I love her shop. Be sure to visit and snag some for yourself.

Lastly are some books I purchased recently. Idecided to grab some of these during Chapters free shipping offer. I wanted Any Man for the signing I was going to (and because it sounds amazing) and I could not pass up getting Carry On after finishing up Fangirl.

Any Man by Amber Tamblyn (goodreads)

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (goodreads)

What bookish goodies made their way into your mailbox this week? Let me know in the comments.

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.

BOOKS

Cover for 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne (goodreads)

All of the romance readers I follow on Twitter were VERY excited about this cover reveal (myself included). I loved The Hating Game so much and cannot wait to get my hands on Sally's next book.

99 Percent Mine has a great synopsis and now a super cute cover. It's going to be a great way to chase way those winter blues!

Cover of Crashing The A-List by Summer Heacock (goodreads)

This one came to my attention completely by accident. I was scrolling through Twitter and saw the cover appear on my feed. I instantly had to look up what it was about because it caught my eye. It is obviously a Hollywood set romance which I happen to love and it has a great synopsis.

I love that she meets the celebrity love interest because she is clearing out abandoned storage lockers and discovers a potentially scandalous secret from his past. It has the makings of a charming, funny, sweet romance read and I am here for it.

TV/MOVIE

I Am The Night Trailer

Combine Petty Jenkins, Chris Pine, and the infamous Black Dahlia murder and you have a television show that I am instantly OBSESSED with.

It looks really good and is on my list for things to be excited about for 2019. I am wishing it was fall 2018 though. It just looks so good!

OTHER

Cody Fern Cast In American Horror Story: Apocalypse

Cody Fern has been cast in the newest season of American Horror Story and I am so excited. The role he is playing is super spoilery for the first season (aka Murder House) and is a big spoiler for the upcoming season as well. If you want to be spoiled I recommend the Entertainment Weekly post announcing the news.

The news has made me even more excited for this season which is to be a crossover season of Murder House and Coven (season 3). This news has me intrigued and really optimistic about the direction this season might go in.

And if you don't want to be bothered to venture over to Entertainment Weekly ... click the spoiler tag for who he is playing and my ridiculous commentary.

He'll be playing Michael Langdon, the devil child of Tate and Vivien. So apparently the Antichrist is hot?

This news has made me excited enough that I think I might have to recap this season on the blog again.

What are you obsessed with this week? Let me know in the comments.

Event Recap: Amber Tamblyn at Chapters Rideau

It is not often that Ottawa gets book signings. The usual spots for any Canadian events are Toronto with Vancouver getting the occasional event as well. I was therefore pretty excited that one of my local bookstores would be hosting Amber Tamblyn during her Any Man tour.

The store had this amazing set up when you first entered. It had been up for a couple weeks. Due to the aforementioned lack of book events happening in the city, there wasn't really a lot of promotion that happened but the turn out was still pretty decent.

Amber decided to have local female writers join her as part of the event. Ottawa's aspiring writer was Jasmin Bollman who read some of her writing for the group before Amber did a reading from her book. Jasmin's writing was about being a writer and the idea of what that meant to her. Amber's reading from Any Man focused on how the media reports on incidents of sexual violence and they want that it is put out for consumption. You could have heard a pin drop as Amber read because everyone was so riveted.

My favourite part was the Q and A afterwards. Amber gave intelligent and thoughtful answers to some really interesting questions. Getting to hear what initially inspired her to write the book and how she ultimately wanted to widen the conversation that was happening around sexual violence and rape. The perspective of male victims of rape is the main focus of Any Man and seems to ignite a need to discuss it based on the comments form people at the event who had already finished it. I think it would make an excellent book club pick. 

In closing, if Amber Tamblyn's Any Man tour is coming to your city I recommend going to check it out. The book sounds incredible, and she's such a kind and intelligent woman. Thank you to Harper Collins Canada, Chapters Rideau, and Amber for the fantastic evening.

Here is the full schedule so you can see which stops are coming up next!

Movie Talk: Toronto International Film Festival

As mentioned in a recent post there will start to be a little more movie content on the blog. Today's post will fit into the more Oscar theme I am going to have with these posts as I am going to talk about the Toronto International Film Festival's Gala and Special Presentations selections. 

Plenty of movies that are showcased at TIFF go on to have impressive Oscar campaigns (and wins) so it is only natural that the Oscar conversation start when these announcements begin. I've always wanted to experience TIFF and this year's movies have me wishing I could attend even more.

I am going to spotlight the six movies from the current list that I personally would want to see. Why six? One of the ticket packages available for the event is a booklet of 6 tickets. 

My Top Six List Of Movies I Would Want To See At TIFF

1- A Star Is Born 

Bradley Cooper's directorial debut has been on my radar since it was announced. I also may have flailed A LOT about the first trailer. This movie's buzz has just started to increase and I have been hearing amazing things from the screenings that have recently been held. There is a reason this story gets retold and it is because, if done right, the story can really resonate. 

2- Beautiful Boy

Everyone knows how much I loved Timothee Chalamet's performance in Call Me By Your Name. I wasn't surprised when he didn't win the Oscar but I was certainly not happy about it. This movie seems to have him in more of a supporting role but also looks like it could snag him another Oscar nomination. Based on a set of memoirs by David and Nic Sheff, it chronicles Nic's drug addiction and the impact it has on him and his family.

3- The Hate U Give

I loved the book this is based on and the trailer looks really solid. I am going to be following the review of this one in particular to see if the buzz may end up building on this one. It has some Oscar potential with the story being told.

4- Widows

Another splashy movie that already has a ton of buzz behind it. The trailer is great and I am here for whatever Daniel Kaluuya is doing with his role in this. I like so much of the cast and a lot of the choices that seem to have been made. Gillian Flynn wrote the screenplay which also has me intrigued because I love her books.

5- First Man

This one is on my list because I think it'll be one that everyone is talking about when discussing potential Oscar nominations. The trailer seems to capture the gritty, dangerous aspects of space exploration and in particular the mission to get this crew to the moon. It, obviously, seems to focus on Neil Armstrong (hence the title) but I hope it explores a lot more of the space preparation elements than his personal life.

6- If Beale Street Could Talk

I have been hearing steady buzz for this movie about a woman attempting to free her wrongfully convicted husband from prison. There is no trailer for it currently but plenty of early Oscar predictors have it being in the conversation.

There are plenty more I would love to see. Special mention for MOUTHPIECE which is a Canadian film that has plenty of women involved in all aspects of its creation from writing, producing, directing and more. Giant Little Ones, another Canadian movie, also caught my attention after I viewed the trailer.

I am excited to see what other movies will be announced as part of the line up to be showcased at this year's festival. Are you attending TIFF this year? Wish you could? What movies from those announced would you most want to attend? Any movies you have your eye on in terms of potential Oscar contenders? Let me know in the comments and check out all of the movies announced over at TIFF.net.

Waiting On Wednesday .... 99 Percent Mine

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

This week's pick is 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

Here is the Goodreads synopsis 

Crush: a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach…

… If Darcy Barrett hadn’t met her dream man when she was eight years old, the rest of the male population wouldn’t be such a let-down. No one measures up to Tom Valeska, aka the best man on Earth, not in looks, brain or heart. Even worse is the knowledge that her twin brother Jamie saw him first, and claimed him forever as his best friend.

Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. One percent of Tom has had to be enough for Darcy, and her adoration has been sustained by his shy kindness. And if she’s honest, his tight t-shirts.

Now Darcy’s got three months left to get her life together, before her twin insists on selling the tumble-down cottage they inherited from their grandmother. By night, she’s working in a seedy bar, shooting down lame pickups from bikers. By day, she’s sewing underwear for her best friend and wasting her award-winning photography skills on website shots of pens and novelty mugs. She’s enjoying living the messy life, and a glass of wine or ten… until that one night, when she finds a six-foot-six perfect package on her porch.

Tom’s here, he’s bearing power tools—and he’s single for the first time in a decade.

As a house flipper extraordinaire, Tom has been dispatched by Jamie to give the cottage a drastic facelift that will result in a ton of cash. Darcy doesn’t appreciate Tom’s unsentimental approach to knocking down walls, and he really, really doesn’t approve of her current burnout boyfriend. They can’t be in the same room together without sparks flying- and it’s not the faulty wiring. One bedroom wall separates them at night, and even that’s looking flimsy.

Will Tom ever see Darcy as anything other than a little-sister obstacle to get around? And can she stand up to her most formidable opponent—her twin? This time around, she’s determined to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers, and he’s never managed to say no to her yet…

I loved The Hating Game so much when I read it last year. It was one of my favourite books of last year and certainly one of my favourite romance novels.

I am (im)patiently waiting for her second book which sounds equally adorable. I love the whole "wanting to date your brother's best friend" trope and I am intrigued that the siblings are twins so that dynamic could be interesting. Mostly I just want more hot kissing scenes and for it to be a fun read.

The January release date is perfect for holiday gift card pre-orders and ensures that there will be something to look forward to chase off the winter blues.

Expected release date -January 29, 2019

Tell Me No Lies by AV Geiger

Tell Me No Lies by AV Geiger
Release Date - June 5, 2018
Publisher Website - Raincoast Books

Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 330 pages
My Rating - 2.5/5
**received from the publisher for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Love. Obsession. Jealousy. Murder.

No one knows what happened to pop icon Eric Thorn. His Twitter account? Frozen. His cell phone? Cracked and bloody, buried in the snow.

Agoraphobic fangirl Tessa Hart knows the truth, but she's finally left her #EricThornObsessed days behind. She has no intention of ever touching her Twitter app again. But Snapchat... That's safer, right?

After months of living under the radar, Tessa emerges from hiding, forced to face the deadly consequences of her past. But in the interrogation room, answers only lead to more questions in the pulse-pounding conclusion to the Follow Me Back duology.

Follow Me Back mixed the dangerous elements of being online, a pop star, romance, and an interesting use of multi storytelling formats to create a intensely readable, if underdeveloped, thriller. I was curious enough to pick up the sequel to see how the story would progress. Sadly, this book ended up being not for me.

A.V. Geiger's writing style is very readable. It is easy to get lulled into the story because her writing is simple and engaging. The use of interrogation transcripts to break up the chapters is a great touch. It lets the story unravel at a measured pace and that keeps the reader's interest. The writing style itself is fine and because of that I would be willing to check out another book by this author if it caught my attention.

The plot is where I struggled. The ultimate answer of who is behind everything that is happening is a logical solution. The motive makes sense for the character but was a little under explored. I wish it had been fleshed out. I feel like we were told the motive instead of shown it. Everything outside of the who and the why did not work for me though. There is the inclusion of plot points that never really go anywhere and are just left as loose ends. There are a couple of plot points that feel entirely unnecessary in the end. They serve no purpose other than to be a 'twist' or 'reveal' of some kind and the story would be the same without them. This plot sort of feels like every twist was just thrown in because it felt like they should be there. They didn't service the story in any tangible way. It is a case of too much happening and none of it really working together to create something cohesive. There were some interesting elements that I wish we would have followed more than we did.

This is a book that is plot driven. Plot driven books can sometimes when when the plot itself is engaging enough. This book needed me to connect with the characters for it to work (at least I needed to connect when them). The character stuff just wasn't strong enough for me. I didn't feel like I learned anything new about them from the first book or that they changed in any tangible way. There are hints that the events of this book changed them towards the end, but we don't see any progression or change until those final moments. It reads, at least for me, like all of the focus was on the plot, and how crazy it could be made, instead of on the characters.

This mentions that it is the conclusion of the Follow Me Back duology and as a result the ending felt unsatisfying to me. This is mainly because it feels unfinished. There are so large plot points that I felt were left dangling that should have been wrapped up in the ending. It ties in to how certain plot points were tossed in without ever being really fleshed out. It simply made the story feel unresolved in a way that would work better if the series were to continue with another book.

I predict many will love this more than I did. It's a wild, twisty, over the top ride that may work for readers who are only interested in for that reason. I think might work better for readers who like a more plot driven novel. I just didn't connect with the story, found the plot of this out too disjointed, and wish it had been a little more tightly pulled together. 

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 final package for this round of #otspsecretsister arrived and  it was amazing! So many goodies and delicious treats.

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan (goodreads)

A huge thank you to Lynne for being my secret sister this round.

What bookish goodies made their way into your mailbox this week? Let me know in the comments.

Happy Weekend and Happy Reading!