WWW Wednesdays #99 – July 13th

WWW WEDNESDAYS is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below.

• WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I’m currently reading Wanderlost by Jen Malone, which is turning out to be a quick and entertaining road trip story from what I can see so far. I’ve also started reading The Neverland Wars by Audrey Greathouse because I was in the mood for a Peter Pan retelling, but I can’t say I’m enjoying it. The tone and prose don’t seem to fit the theme at all and I’m struggling to continue this one… Same goes for The Stepmother by Claire Seeber: I started reading it last week, but I couldn’t get into the story and decided to keep it temporarily on hold and read a few other titles instead.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* The first book I finished since last week is My Girl by Jack Jordan, which is probably one of the most twisted and disturbing thrillers I’ve read so far this year. If you are into the genre, definitely make sure to check out this book!
* I then finished Out Of The Easy by Ruta Sepetys, which is without doubt my new favorite of this author. The setting, prose and character development are excellent and I really felt like I was right there in the 1950s along with the characters.
* I also read The Night Stalker by Robert Bryndza, which by no means suffers from the ‘weak-second-book’ syndrome. It’s fast-paced, well written and has an intriguing plot and plot twists. It’s without doubt a very entertaining read!
* I then read The Straw King by Danielle Paige. This novella was surprisingly good compared to the last few previous stories, but I still wasn’t overwhelmed by it.
* I’ve also been able to finish Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, a title that was on my 2015 most-antipated-releases list. I enjoyed reading it and I admit it was a ‘cute’ read, but I did have some problems with the credibility of the plot. I mean, if the main character is really that sick, doing what she did is incredibly stupid.
* The last book I managed to finish is The Sister by Louise Jensen, which I ended up really enjoying. It’s dark, messed with your mind and has many plot twists… The story jumps back and forth between the past and present and there are quite a few unreliable characters, but it only added to the whole mystery around Grace and Charlie.

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

Depending on what genre I’m in the mood for, I will read When We Collided by Emery Lord. Although I really want to read The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne as well, both because I’ve heard great things about it and because I want to The Fire Child by the same author. If I want something different, The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey is also high on my list… And my latest TBR jar pick is still The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz. (Which I should read soon since it’s been too long since I last read a TBR jar book.)

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BOOK REVIEW: Out Of The Easy – by Ruta Sepetys

Title: Out Of The Easy
Author: Ruta Sepetys
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Mystery
First published: February 12th 2013
Publisher: Philomel Books
Finished reading: July 7th 2016
Pages: 346

“Sometimes we set off down a road thinkin’ we’re goin’ one place and we end up another. But that’s okay. The important thing is to start.”

I have been wanting to read another Ruta Sepetys novel ever since I finished Between Shades Of Gray last year. Since I don’t have a copy of her newest novel yet Out Of The Easy was an easy choice, especially since this title has been recommended to me various times in the past. I’m glad I finally took the time to read this story, because I really enjoyed reading it! In a way it’s difficult to compare the two books because the setting in Out Of The Easy is completely different, but I think I have found my new favorite Ruta Sepetys novel. The 1950s setting in the French Quarter of New Orleans is really well done and I truly felt like I was transported back to that era while I was reading this novel. Both the prose and character development are also excellent and it was really easy to connect to the main character Josie Moraine. I liked how determined she is to change her life even though she’s had a rough start, and also enjoyed the fact that the book shop was quite an important part of the story. The plot itself is also interesting and I definitely didn’t see some of the plot twists coming. If you like a well written, fast-paced and interesting historical fiction read, make sure to try Out Of The Easy!

Josie Moraine has had a rough childhood growing up as the daughter of a brothel prostitute in the French Quarter of New Orleans. She doesn’t want to end up like her mother and is determined to make more out of her life… But things aren’t easy. She has been living in the book shop she works for quite a few years now, and is currently working on a plan to make it out of New Orleans and start a new life in college somewhere. But her plans get a whole lot more complicated when a mysterious death in the Quarter might be linked back to her or her mother… She isn’t close to her mother in the first place, and Josie is even more worried now her mother’s old ‘boyfriend’ is back in town looking for trouble. Josie is now caught between her dreams of attending an elite college and a clandestine underworld… Will she be able to escape New Orleans?

Historical fiction is a genre I enjoy reading in general, and Out Of The Easy is definitely one of my favorites of the year. The setting, prose and character development are excellent and I really felt like I was right there in the 1950s along with the characters. All in all it was a very entertaining read that combines character development with action and a novel that is definitely worth reading if you like the genre!

WWW Wednesdays #98 – July 6th

WWW WEDNESDAYS is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below.

• WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I’m currently reading one of my pending Netgalley reads: My Girl by Jack Jordan. It’s still too early to tell what I will think of it, but it looks like it’s a fast read. I have also finally started Out Of The Easy by Ruta Sepetys; a book I have been wanted to read for a while and it is a nice change of scenery after all those mystery/thriller reads. So far I’m really enjoying it! I also want to continue Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain, but I might read another pending Netgalley mystery/thriller or two before that.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* After a few disappointing reads last week, All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda definitely made up for it all. This book is without doubt one of the best mystery/thriller reads I’ve read this year and on my favorites list!
* I then finished Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate, which was quite good, although the many different POVs did make this read a little more difficult to read and less entertaining. Also, I liked some of the characters and prose better than others and I would have liked to see the whole seven sins theme playing a bigger role in the book.
* Last To Die by Arlene Hunt started off slow, but completely recovered with an explosive ending that definitely made this read worth reading! If you like twisted, creepy and intense reads, this one is definitely for you.
* I also read As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka on a whim after thinking about possibly seeing one of my Finnish friends again this summer (who lived in Tampere as well). I really liked the beginning of this read and the setting, but the whole plot and main character was a bit fantastical for a mystery/thriller read and it wasn’t as good as I hoped.
* I’ve also been able to finish Cascadia by H.W. “Buzz” Bernard yesterday evening. I ended up really enjoying this suspense/natural disaster/science story, definitely worth reading! More in the upcoming review…

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

As soon as I finish at least one of my current reads, I will most likely start reading The Night Stalker by Robert Bryndza. I really enjoyed the first book, so I was so glad Netgalley approved my request for the sequel! 😀 I also want to read Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon, a book that has been on my TBR pile for way too long now and really want to read. The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne is high on my list as well, both because I’ve heard great things about it and I was able to get a Netgalley copy of the just published The Fire Child by the same author and I want to read the other book first. My latest TBR jar pick is still The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz. (Which I should read soon since it’s been too long since I last read a TBR jar book.)

WWW Wednesdays #97 – June 29th

WWW WEDNESDAYS is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below.

• WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I have actually almost finished All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda already and will do so after finishing this post, but technically I’m still currently reading this… This book is without doubt one of the best mystery/thriller books I’ve read so far this year and a must-read for fans of the genre! I’m also in the middle of Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate, which I picked up on a whim and I’m enjoying so far despite a few flaws. I haven’t made much progress with Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain due to the Netgalley books, but I’m continuing it as soon as I finish the other two current reads! And I’ve decided to put all fantasy reads on hold until I’m in the mood for the genre again…

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* I already knew Hitman Anders And The Meaning Of It All probably wasn’t going to be as good as Jonas Jonasson‘s other book The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared, but that doesn’t take away the fact that I was REALLY disappointed by this read. It was boring, had flat characters, wasn’t funny, it took me ages to finish and I actually thought of DNFing it at one point. More details in the review that will be published later today.
* I also read We Awaken by Calista Lynne, which unfortunately turned out to be another disappointing read. I loved the cover, the blurb and the fact that it talks about asexuality, but the rest of the book just didn’t convince me. It was a fast read, but that didn’t make up for the flaws. More in my review…

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

As soon as I finish my current reads, I will pick up my oldest ARC: Cascadia by H.W. “Buzz” Bernard. It promises to be an adrenaline-filled suspense story about the after effects of extreme natural events (in this case a massive earthquake and tsunami), so I’m definitely looking forward to it. I also still want to read Out Of The Easy by Ruta Sepetys… And the Netgalley ARC Last To Die by Arlene Hunt is also on my list. My newest TBR jar pick is still The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz…

WWW Wednesdays #96 – June 22nd

WWW WEDNESDAYS is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below.

• WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I know, I know, I have been (shamelessly) posponing A Court Of Mist And Fury by Sarah J. Maas for the last couple of weeks. It’s not that I don’t want to read it, but I haven’t been in the mood for fantasy and the book is quite big in the first place… I did read a few pages yesterday, but I will probably not finish it before the end of the month unless I’m in the mood for fantasy again. Meanwhile I started reading Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain, which is the second book in a thriller/serial killer series and hopefully just as good as the first book.

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* I finally managed to finish The Munich Girl by Phyllis Edgerly Ring, a historical fiction read I ended up really enjoying. The story has a fast pace and switches between contemporary scenes and the notes of the main character’s mother. I particularly enjoyed reading the historical section and the fact that the story is about the role of women during WWII (something you don’t see often). The only thing I wasn’t convinced about were the contemporary romance scenes, but the rest of the story makes up for it.
* I picked up The Ex by Alafair Burke afterwards, which had been recommended to me by various bloggers. It turned out to be a really fast-paced and entertaining thriller, although some of the scenes/plot twists might be a bit too farfetched (think Gone Girl or The Girl On The Train vibe). The end came as a surprise though.
* After hearing repeatedly I just HAD to read this book, I decided to read Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum next. And I’m glad I did, because I really loved it! The only thing that was slightly annoying would be the love triangle (rectangle?!) and the idea itself might not be that original either, but I still loved this book anyway. Without doubt a great summer read!

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

I still have an ARC pending: Cascadia by H.W. “Buzz” Bernard. It promises to be an adrenaline-filled suspense story about the after effects of extreme natural events (in this case a massive earthquake and tsunami), so I’m definitely looking forward to read it soon. I also want to read Out Of The Easy by Ruta Sepetys, since I really enjoyed her other novel Between Shades Of Gray. Same goes for Hitman Anders And The Meaning Of It All by Jonas Jonasson, although I’ve already learned it’s not as good as The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared… My newest TBR jar pick is still The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz.

WWW Wednesdays #93 – June 1st

WWW WEDNESDAYS is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below.

• WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

Basically, I haven’t been having a lot of free time to read lately… So while I have started both these books above, I’m not sure when I will actually finish them. First up is More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera, a book that has been recommended to me quite a lot and I’m really looking forward to. The other is a Sherlock Holmes retelling: A Study In Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro. I can’t wait to continue reading both soon!

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* The first book I managed to finish is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, which turned out to be an entertaining enough middle grade classic. Still, I probably would have enjoyed it better reading it about twenty years ago…
* Another book I was able to finish is Heartsick by Chelsea Cain, which turned out to be one of the best whodunit reads I’ve read in a while. I will definitely be reading more of this series! Some of the scenes might be a bit gruesome if you have a weak stomach, but I personally didn’t mind. The main character Archie is a detective with a very messed up personal life (which is not original at all in this genre), but the story more than makes up for it.
* The last title I managed to finish is Housebroken by The Behrg, which turned out to be a really messed up thriller/horror story about a kidnapping similar to your worst nightmare… If you enjoy a good horror read, definitely make sure to check out this book!

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

I haven’t be able to read much, so yet again I haven’t been able to read many of the titles I mentioned before. But since I’ve finally finished Housebroken, I have a new pending ARC: The Munich Girl by Phyllis Edgerly Ring, I love historical fiction set during WWII, so I’m looking forward to start reading it. I also still want to read Out Of The Easy by Ruta Sepetys, but I don’t know how much longer I can resist the temptation of reading A Court Of Mist And Fury by Sarah J. Maas… Plus, I’m afraid I will run into unwanted spoilers any day now. 😉 My newest TBR jar pick is still The Opposite Of Loneliness by Marina Keegan.

WWW Wednesdays #92 – May 25th

WWW WEDNESDAYS is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World Of Words and is all about answering the three questions below.

Note: I’m actually out of town right now, but will be back before the weekend… Gotta love the post scheduling option! 😉

• WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I have been seriously neglecting one of my favorite genres lately, so I decided to put all my planned books on hold and pick up a proper whodunit: Heartsick by Chelsea Cain. I’m not far into it yet, but I hope to finish it before I come back! Also, I will try to read The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry during my trip. I’m ashamed to admit I have never read this classic, but better late than never right?

• WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

* The first book I managed to finish is Binge by Tyler Oakley, which turned out to be a really entertaining memoir even though I hadn’t heard from the author before.
* I’ve also finished Hero by Belinda Crawford, a very enjoyable ARC with an interesting worldbuilding, no romance and a fast pace. Definitely recommended!
* I also finally picked up my Spanish copy of the first Harry Potter book again. I have been wanting to read more books in Spanish and it was the perfect excuse to reread this series… Because no matter what language the story is told in, it always stays magical (Although I prefer the original version). I found out while reading Harry Potter Y La Piedra Filosofal that I’m still able to read Spanish with a ‘fast’ pace, so I’m quite a happy camper right now. 😀

• WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

Once again I haven’t been able to start any of the books I wanted to read last week…Whcih is partly to blame to the lack of time and I was in the mood for different genres as well. But I’m going to try and read them this week though! First up is another ARC: Housebroken by The Behrg. I haven’t read a good horror story in too long, so I’m really looking forward to it. I also want to read Out Of The Easy by Ruta Sepetys, but I’m probably going to read A Court Of Mist And Fury by Sarah J. Maas first since I’m not sure how much longer I am going to be able to resist the temptation. My newest TBR jar pick is still The Opposite Of Loneliness by Marina Keegan.