Cover Reveal - Chasing Eveline

Chasing Eveline
Leslie Hauser
Published by: Pen Name Publishing
Publication date: July 11th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

Sixteen-year-old Ivy Higgins is the only student atCarmel Heights High School who listens to cassettes. And her binder is the only one decorated with album artwork by 80s band Chasing Eveline. Despite being broken-up since 1989, this rock band out of Ireland means everything to Ivy. They’re a reminder of her mom, who abandoned Ivy and her dad two years ago. Now the music of her mom’s favorite band is the only connection she has left.
Even though Ivy wavers between anger and a yearning to reconnect, she’s one-hundred percent certain she’s not ready to lose her mom forever. But the only surefire way to locate her would be at a Chasing Eveline concert. So with help from her lone friend Matt—an equally abandoned soul and indie music enthusiast—Ivy hatches a planto reunite the band.
The road to Ireland won’t be easy, though. And not just because there is no road. Along the way they’ll have to win over their Lady Gaga-loving peers, tangle with some frisky meerkats, and oh yeah, somehow find and persuade the four members to play a reunion gig. It’s a near-impossible task, but Ivy has to try. If she can’t let go of the past, she’ll never be able to find joy in the present.

Goodreads / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Author Bio:
Leslie Hauser is a YA writer and middle school teacher. She has a B.A. in English from UCLA and a Master’s degree in Educational Administration. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and currently resides in Los Angeles, California, with her dog Mr. Darcy.
When Leslie is not living in fictional worlds inside her head, she runs all sorts of distances, tortures her body at CrossFit, and DVRs entirely too many television shows. She dreams of one day returning to the Midwest to live on a farm. Or perhaps owning a cookie delivery service.
Her debut novel Chasing Eveline releases 2017 from Pen Name Publishing

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

This isn't my usual read but I can't help but be intrigued by the 80's music vibe.  I'm interested to see what Hauser does with it

Stacking the Shelves (103) - Another Trip to the Library

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves or TBR piles, may it be physical or virtual.  This means you can include books you buy in a physical store, online, books you borrow from the library or friends, review books, gifts and of course, ebooks! The original meme was started over at Tynga's Reviews.  Clicking on the book (or title) should take you to the Goodreads page.

So I ran into the library really quickly during lunch Thursday to grab "Chew: Vol. 2" since I liked it so much and of course, I ended up browsing the new book sections and went home with too much again.  I may get to all of them and I may not, but unless someone else reserves them, I can renew and keep for up to 9 weeks so we'll see.  I really to see where "Descender Vol. 2" heads and I've never heard of "Zatanna" but  the book looks super awesome.  I had no plans on reading "The Chemist" and still don't really but I did hear mention of some really cool dogs in it somehow so I'll admit I'm curious.  It may be OK as long as there are no sparkling vamps in it.  This isn't the cover of the "Dark Days Pact" I have but I don't like that version so I'm showing this one.  Also, I've seen "The Grendel Affair" around the net and the library just got a copy so I grabbed it.  Hey, at least they all were free.

I got the following for review.  "Memortality" is for a blog tour and "The Only Child" and "The Halloween Children" looked too good to pass up.  So I basically have an addiction but at least I don't need to run from the cops.

And finally I have a few books for my Kindle.  "The Skeletons of Scarborough House" is a #Stormimademedoit buy, but in her defense, it has a pug named Lestat who shows up in it so I'd probably have bought it anyway.  "The Queen of Blood" was a daily deal one day and "Fangs vs Claws" was free.

So what did you add to your shelves this week and have you read any of these?  Anyone know anything about the dogs in "The Chemist?"  If so, please clue me in.  

Weekly Reads (03/17/17)

OK, so what I really want to know is where did Spring go.  I know technically it's not Spring yet, but we've had some of the coldest days of the season the past few days.  Of course, I'm not REALLY complaining because at least we didn't get the snow a lot of the Northeast did.  Last weekend Mr. Barb and I went out to eat with my Grandpa.  He has had some drama the past few weeks with  my cousins and their two kids living with him but I hope it's finally ironed out.  All I can say is if they mess with Grandpa again, they are going to have to deal with me.

We have been watching some TV and movies this week when Mr. Barb hasn't been watching ESPN to keep up with football free agency news.  We finally watched "Fences" and I really wasn't impressed.  I mean, I can see it is a well done movie and there's some great acting in it, but Denzel Washington's character as a real jerk...and I don't like Denzel being a jerk.  I also finished watching "Santa Clarita Diet" on Netflix and actually found it to be an entertaining dark comedy.  Hope it's renewed.  Now I'm starting "Jessica Jones" fully realizing I'm late to that party.

I got some good reading done this week and here's what's coming up next:

I am super loving "Elvis and the Grateful Dead" and am not sure why I waited so long to check out book 2 from the library.  I need to start "The Jekyll Revelation " for a "Two Bloggers One Book" feature.  I also can't wait to see what happens next in "Chew: Vol. 2."  Hopefully I get lots of reading time in this weekend.

The boys are doing fine and Booker T is getting ready to share his thoughts about Elvis the Basset Hound.  Cassius will no longer be grounded soon so look for a post from here too.  In the meantime, here are a few pics of my gorgeous sons.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!!!

Time Machine Thursday - Chew Vol. 1

So this week I'm sharing with you a review for a graphic novel I recently read.  It was published in 2009 and it's been one I've wanted to read for at least the last 3 years.  I know it's quite popular and I'm really glad I made the time for this one!

TITLE: Chew, Vol. 1 - Taster's Choice

AUTHORS: John Layman & Rob Guillory

PUBLISHER: Image Comics

PUBLISHING DATE: December 8, 2009

FROM GOODREADS: Tony Chu is a detective with a secret. A weird secret. Tony Chu is Cibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. It also means he's a hell of a detective, as long as he doesn't mind nibbling on the corpse of a murder victim to figure out whodunit, and why. He's been brought on by the Special Crimes Division of the FDA, the most powerful law enforcement agency on the planet, to investigate their strangest, sickest, and most bizarre cases.

MY THOUGHTS: 
I've wanted to read this series for a long time and have even checked it out from my library once before, so when I grabbed it this time, I intended to finally make time for it and I'm glad I did. Of course, I won't lie, I was also motivated because I know there is planned released for an animated movie version with Steven Yeun (Oh why Glenn!) and I wanted to have at least started the graphic novel series before it's release.

Tony Chu, the main character, is a police detective and only one of three cibopaths left in the world - people who can ingest a substance and get a psychic sensation of what has happened to that object. As you can imagine, this is a very coveted skill to have in the detective world, even if it is a bit disgusting. In addition, Tony lives in a world where chicken of any form is contraband due to a bird flu that killed over 23 million Americans. So thing drug activities - except with chickens!

This book covers the first 5 issues of the comic book and introduces Tony, his partner and some of his family members. Tony is quickly recruited to work for the Food & Drug Administration and also meets the girl of her dreams (which is a bit of a mystery herself). "Chew, Vol. 1 " is a fast paced book full of action and information setting up the remainder of the series. The artwork is really enjoyable and I look forward to continuing on with this series.

RATING: 4 PAWS (primarily because he tastes a dead dog or maybe it would have gotten 5!)

 

Can't Wait Wednesday (98)

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

 
FROM GOODREADS: Eighteen-year-old Jemmie Carmichael has grown up surrounded by magic in the quiet town of Hawthorne, New York. In her world, magic users are called "kindled," and Jemmie would count herself among them if only she could cast a simple spell without completely falling apart. It doesn't help that she was also recently snubbed by Crowe, the dangerous and enigmatic leader of the Black Devils kindled motorcycle gang and the unofficial head of their turf.

When the entire kindled community rolls into Hawthorne for an annual festival, a rumor begins spreading that someone is practicing forbidden magic. Then people start to go missing. With threats closing in from every side, no one can be trusted. Jemmie and Crowe will have to put aside their tumultuous history to find their loved ones, and the only thing that might save them is the very flaw that keeps Jemmie from fully harnessing her magic. For all her years of feeling useless, Jemmie may just be the most powerful kindled of all.

WHY I'M WAITING: I saw this on Tammy's blog last week over at Books, Bones & Buffy and it sounded so great I had to add it (that and about 5 more - that past killed me!)  I love the sound of motorcycle gangs and magic.  Plus I am discovering birds on covers are about as intriguing to me as tentacles.  

What can't you wait for this week??? 

 

TTT - Books On My Spring TBR

This top 10 weekly meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and can be found HERE.  Each week they focus on lists which cover various topics related to books and reading. This week I am sharing ten books which are on my Spring TBR - some new releases and some which have been lingering for some time.

This one is already out and I really have to find out how this part of the series finally ends.

I recently saw this one featured on Booktube and will be picking it up on the next trip to my library.

I already pre-ordered this one and I really want to read and review it for April as one of the few posts I am planning to commemorate Prince's passing in April last year.

Been planning on reading this one ever since I saw Stephen King mention how much he enjoyed it.

This is another one I've been wanting to read since I read a few reviews about it.

This one releases in April and is a must read!

Another new releases coming out this month which I want to make time for in April.

Got to add in some new Spring horror.

I'm dying to get my hands on this May release.

This is one of my favorite cozy mystery writers and you knew there had to be a book with a dog on  this list somewhere.

So what books are on your Spring TBR?

March Cloak & Dagger Link-Up

So I hope everyone is doing well on their challenge and having fun reading lots of mysteries.  I know I'm discovering some new ones and am loving all the activity on our Facebook group.  Here is this month's link up.

 March Link-up