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Stacking the Shelves: 1/4/15
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Book Review: Betty Goes Bananas by Steve Antony
Betty Goes BananasAuthor: Steve Antony
Reading Level: Children's Fiction
Genre: Picture Book
Released: December 23, 2014
Review Source: Random House
Like Molly Bang's When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry, this book offers families a perfect opportunity to openly discuss emotions and behavior. Meet Betty, a gorilla. She wants to eat a banana, but . . . try as she might, she can’t open it! Poor Betty—she just can't cope, and her frustration quickly becomes a great BIG tantrum. She cries and sniffles, kicks and screams. Luckily, Mr. Toucan is at hand to peel the banana and help Betty calm down. But what will happen when Betty spots another banana? Both preschoolers and parents will laugh out loud at this simple, utterly hilarious picture book about tantrums.
Every time I get a quick little picture book to read, I turn from being Deitre the book reviewer, to Deitre the mom, or Deitre the teacher suddenly imagining little eager eyes waiting for animated words to flow from my mouth. Even if I'm reading out loud to myself. Such was the case for Better goes Bananas by Steve Antony. I allowed my youngest (soon to be middle schooler) to read it first to get his impression. His response, it's great for a much younger reader. So then it was my turn. Yeah, it was more than great, it was awesome!
Betty is a little gorilla, that has a major dilemma. She wants to eat her banana, but can't seem to get pass opening the pealing and getting it out to enjoy. Instead of asking for help she throws some very huge temper tantrums. Ones that really just go overboard, over a banana. She receives some help from the friendly Mr. Toucan and the rest is history.
By the time I finished this book, I had a kid in mind that really needed to hear this one. Needed to see how throwing tantrums looked, even if it was through the eyes of Betty the gorilla. Although filled with humor there is a lesson to be learned. The writing is perfect as well as the illustrations. The storyline has a clear start to finish, which can be easily understood by any young reader or young listener. Just know the experience of this book works best with your own personal animation.
Book Review: Night School by C.J Daugherty
Night School: Genesis
Night School #1, #2, #3 & #4
Author: C.J Daugherty
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery | Romance
Released: December 12th 2014
Review Source: Bookouture | Netgalley
Allie Sheridan’s world is falling apart. Her brother’s run away from home. Her parents ignore her. And she’s just been arrested. Again.
This time her parents have had enough. They send Allie to Cimmeria Academy - far away from her London friends. The school is beautiful, and filled with gorgeous, ultra-wealthy teens who travel by private jet, and were raised by nannies.
Allie has never felt more of an outsider.
Instead of hating boarding school though, Allie begins to feel happy. She's slowly making friends. And there's Carter, a brooding loner with whom she feels an instant connection.
But when Allie is attacked late one night, the school suddenly begins to feel like a very dangerous place. Allie finds out that nothing at Cimmeria is what it seems.
And that she is not who she thought she was…
Note: on Goodreads this series has been listed as “paranormal.” This series does NOT hold paranormal aspects what-so-ever.
Having devoured Night School, Legacy, Fracture and Resistance in under 48 hours, I thought I'd write a serial review for all four!
Night School was just as brilliant as the first time I read it. The suspense, the secrecy, all of the unanswered questions...it all added up to make such a delightful novel. But it didn't end there...Legacy, Fracture and Resistance continued in a bundle of love, confusion and a whole lot of drama a girl Allie's age shouldn't have ti deal with.
Grief makes a person change. Allie learned that after her brother left. She rebelled...three arrests in one year and a criminal record gained. The third and final arrest was the last straw for her parents, they couldn't cope with with her out-of-control and was sent away to boarding school. I really felt for Allie’s character during this part. I know people who’ve been in similar situations with similar outcomes and the realism of how Allie dealt with it was spot on.
It doesn’t take Allie long to recognise that there’s something not quite right with Cimmeria Academy. The school, the teachers, the students, the connections and high power everybody seems to have when she’s just simply Allie from London sent to a boarding school as punishment. It doesn't take her long to find out the truth, and it's definitely not what she expected to hear.
Despite having already read the first three novel previously, I felt excitement as the anticipation built in places and I was very eager to start book 2 after finishing the first. It was an exciting book. Judging from the summary I did think it was paranormally invested, however the actual book the opposite of what I was expecting. It was a pleasant surprise.
Seriously, this series is awesome. There are so many ups and downs and changes that the mystery of "what's next?" had me engrossed in the whole series. I literally think my eyes were glued to my kindle the whole time I was reading with only the acceptation to eat and sleep. This is the quickest I've polished off four books before, and I can't tell you how excited I am for book 5.
There is a love triangle, and I wasn't a fan of the indecisive back-and-forth, however I still enjoyed it. Carter and Sylvain are awesome (and totally kick-ass) characters and though they're both different and equally awesome. Resistance did end on a cliffhanger (stupid things) and I died a little when I realised Endgame wasn't released until June 2015.
Countdown Celebration: Falling Away | Penelope Douglas | Excerpt | Giveaway
Falling Away
Fall Away #3
Author: Penelope Douglas
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Romance
Released: January 6th 2015
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
Jaxon is the guy she’s supposed to avoid.
K.C. is the girl he won’t let get away....
K. C. Carter has always followed the rules—until this year, when a mistake leaves her the talk of her college campus and her carefully arranged life comes crashing to a halt. Now she’s stuck in her small hometown for the summer to complete her court-ordered community service, and to make matters worse, trouble is living right next door.
Jaxon Trent is the worst kind of temptation and exactly what K.C. was supposed to stay away from in high school. But he never forgot her. She was the one girl who wouldn’t give him the time of day and the only one to ever say no. Fate has brought K.C. back into his life—except what he thought was a great twist of luck turns out to be too close for comfort. As the bond between them grows, he discovers that convincing K.C. to get out from her mother’s shadow is hard, but revealing the darkest parts of his soul is nearly impossible.…
Excerpt - Chapter 5
“So, how did this happen?” I asked, holding the gauze on his skin, under the cuts, to catch the saline.
His abs flexed, probably from the cold fluid, since saline didn’t sting, as I poured it over the cuts, cleaning them.
He sucked in air through his teeth. “Some of the science kids have greenhouses on the roof,” he grunted, and I almost laughed out loud. “Masters asked me to go up and make sure the roofs were closed, but I slipped coming back down the stairs. Scraped myself on some bolts.”
Ouch.
I used the rest of the gauze to wipe up the solution, and then ripped open a package with a wet wipe and made sure the blood was cleared up.
“You should be using gloves,” he pointed out. “You know? Blood and all.”
“I thought any girl was safe with you,” I shot back, tearing open bandages. “Isn’t that what you told me?”
Jax was silent for a minute, narrowing his eyes farther and watching me as I placed three rectangular bandages on his stomach.
“I said any girlfriend of mine,” he finally clarified. “But you shouldn’t be so careless. Use gloves next time.”
I ignored him, feeling weird on the occasions he acted like this. Jax had a habit of scolding me, sometimes acting as though he was protecting me, and then following it all up with being an asshole. I finally figured out condescension was his way of gaining superiority. Making others feel stupid.
I sat back, looking him in the eye and changing the subject. “Is anything else hurt?”
He hesitated only a moment. And then folded his arm back, lifting his right elbow to reveal the scratches I’d noticed earlier.
Repeating the same procedure, I stood up and leaned over him, catching the saline wash as it cascaded over his wound and into the gauze.
He hissed, and I blinked.
“Blow on it,” he ordered.
“It doesn’t sting,” I scoffed, knowing damn well that saline didn’t hurt.
“K.C., Jesus,” he barked, wincing.
I rolled my eyes but gave in. Holding the underside of his arm—his hard triceps—I leaned down and released a slow, cool breeze over the scratches. Jax’s scent wafted over me again, and I desperately wanted to close my mouth so I could breathe him in through my nose.
But I didn’t. I could tell his eyes were on me.
“Why are you watching me?” I asked, wiping up the rest of the solution and blood.
I didn’t look at him, but I heard him swallow.
“This is just the first time you’ve ever made me feel good, is all,” he replied in probably the most candid way I’d ever heard him speak.
I pinched my eyebrows together.
The first time I’d ever made him feel good. I didn’t know what to say to that. Hell, I had nothing to say to that.
Keeping quiet, I finished applying his bandages as fast as I could and didn’t meet his eyes again.
He’d tried to be nice to me in high school. He’d tried to be a friend. Maybe friends with benefits but still a friend. Now here I was, forcing my attention on him, and he probably had no patience for me anymore.
“Can I ask you a question?” I ventured.
“What?”
“That night you drove Liam home . . .” I swallowed, smoothing my fingers over the bandage I’d fixed to his arm. “You said you had tattoos. Too many.” I repeated his words, my eyes fixated on his forearm. “What did you mean?” I pressed, because clearly Jax didn’t sport any tattoos. His statement hadn’t made any sense.
Even though I hadn’t looked at him, I noticed his head turn away as he inhaled a slow, deep breath. Kind of as though he was getting ready to dive deep underwater and knew he wouldn’t be up for air for a while.
“Sorry,” I said quietly, straightening up and crumpling the bandage wrappers in my fist. “I just . . . I don’t know . . .” I trailed off. “I just want to understand.”
I finally met his eyes, and he studied me silently. I didn’t know if he was trying to figure out what to tell me or if he wanted to tell me anything at all. Funny thing was, I’d thought about what Jax said that night a lot over the years, and while I was curious, it wasn’t until I’d overheard his conversation with Jared today that I knew it had something to do with his childhood.
And I realized that I didn’t know Jaxon Trent at all.
He rubbed his forearm and narrowed his eyes briefly before relaxing. “If you could get a tattoo, what would it be?”
I blinked, shocked by his question. “Um.” I laughed softly, thinking. “I thought about a set of angel
wings, I guess. With one of the wings broken,” I admitted.
“It has something to do with your past?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“And it’s something you want to remember?” he pressed.
“Yes.”
“That’s why I don’t have any tattoos,” he concluded. “People get tattoos for all kinds of reasons, but they’re always badges of what has made them who they are. I don’t care to remember what and who made me this way. The people that gave me life. The people that brought me up . . .” He shook his head, defiant. “The places I’ve seen or anything I’ve done. It’s all in my head, anyway. I don’t want it on my body, too. I don’t care about anything that much.”
His abs flexed, probably from the cold fluid, since saline didn’t sting, as I poured it over the cuts, cleaning them.
He sucked in air through his teeth. “Some of the science kids have greenhouses on the roof,” he grunted, and I almost laughed out loud. “Masters asked me to go up and make sure the roofs were closed, but I slipped coming back down the stairs. Scraped myself on some bolts.”
Ouch.
I used the rest of the gauze to wipe up the solution, and then ripped open a package with a wet wipe and made sure the blood was cleared up.
“You should be using gloves,” he pointed out. “You know? Blood and all.”
“I thought any girl was safe with you,” I shot back, tearing open bandages. “Isn’t that what you told me?”
Jax was silent for a minute, narrowing his eyes farther and watching me as I placed three rectangular bandages on his stomach.
“I said any girlfriend of mine,” he finally clarified. “But you shouldn’t be so careless. Use gloves next time.”
I ignored him, feeling weird on the occasions he acted like this. Jax had a habit of scolding me, sometimes acting as though he was protecting me, and then following it all up with being an asshole. I finally figured out condescension was his way of gaining superiority. Making others feel stupid.
I sat back, looking him in the eye and changing the subject. “Is anything else hurt?”
He hesitated only a moment. And then folded his arm back, lifting his right elbow to reveal the scratches I’d noticed earlier.
Repeating the same procedure, I stood up and leaned over him, catching the saline wash as it cascaded over his wound and into the gauze.
He hissed, and I blinked.
“Blow on it,” he ordered.
“It doesn’t sting,” I scoffed, knowing damn well that saline didn’t hurt.
“K.C., Jesus,” he barked, wincing.
I rolled my eyes but gave in. Holding the underside of his arm—his hard triceps—I leaned down and released a slow, cool breeze over the scratches. Jax’s scent wafted over me again, and I desperately wanted to close my mouth so I could breathe him in through my nose.
But I didn’t. I could tell his eyes were on me.
“Why are you watching me?” I asked, wiping up the rest of the solution and blood.
I didn’t look at him, but I heard him swallow.
“This is just the first time you’ve ever made me feel good, is all,” he replied in probably the most candid way I’d ever heard him speak.
I pinched my eyebrows together.
The first time I’d ever made him feel good. I didn’t know what to say to that. Hell, I had nothing to say to that.
Keeping quiet, I finished applying his bandages as fast as I could and didn’t meet his eyes again.
He’d tried to be nice to me in high school. He’d tried to be a friend. Maybe friends with benefits but still a friend. Now here I was, forcing my attention on him, and he probably had no patience for me anymore.
“Can I ask you a question?” I ventured.
“What?”
“That night you drove Liam home . . .” I swallowed, smoothing my fingers over the bandage I’d fixed to his arm. “You said you had tattoos. Too many.” I repeated his words, my eyes fixated on his forearm. “What did you mean?” I pressed, because clearly Jax didn’t sport any tattoos. His statement hadn’t made any sense.
Even though I hadn’t looked at him, I noticed his head turn away as he inhaled a slow, deep breath. Kind of as though he was getting ready to dive deep underwater and knew he wouldn’t be up for air for a while.
“Sorry,” I said quietly, straightening up and crumpling the bandage wrappers in my fist. “I just . . . I don’t know . . .” I trailed off. “I just want to understand.”
I finally met his eyes, and he studied me silently. I didn’t know if he was trying to figure out what to tell me or if he wanted to tell me anything at all. Funny thing was, I’d thought about what Jax said that night a lot over the years, and while I was curious, it wasn’t until I’d overheard his conversation with Jared today that I knew it had something to do with his childhood.
And I realized that I didn’t know Jaxon Trent at all.
He rubbed his forearm and narrowed his eyes briefly before relaxing. “If you could get a tattoo, what would it be?”
I blinked, shocked by his question. “Um.” I laughed softly, thinking. “I thought about a set of angel
wings, I guess. With one of the wings broken,” I admitted.
“It has something to do with your past?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“And it’s something you want to remember?” he pressed.
“Yes.”
“That’s why I don’t have any tattoos,” he concluded. “People get tattoos for all kinds of reasons, but they’re always badges of what has made them who they are. I don’t care to remember what and who made me this way. The people that gave me life. The people that brought me up . . .” He shook his head, defiant. “The places I’ve seen or anything I’ve done. It’s all in my head, anyway. I don’t want it on my body, too. I don’t care about anything that much.”
Penelope Douglas was born in Dubuque, Iowa and has a Masters of Science in Education from Loyola University in New Orleans. She lives with her family in Las Vegas.
Book Review: Eyrie by Emma Michaels
EyrieSociety of Feathers #2
Author: Emma Michaels
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Released: September 17th 2014
Review Source: Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing | Netgalley
Somewhere between falling and flying… you will find the truth.
The truth is being unveiled and Iris’ past is unlike anything she ever could have guessed. For Stryx, finding your missing half doesn’t always mean finding your mate. Iris has been missing a part of herself for so long that no one is sure she will be able to put the pieces back together and her ever reliable dreams may be forcing her astray. Coping with the death of someone she loved, she is forced to face the truth and break free from the lies that have caged her.
“Somewhere between falling and flying...you will find the truth.”
I’m really enjoying this series. The main characters are awesome and one of my favourite parts about this novel was getting to know the vultures more, seeing them more as people rather than full-time guards. Their personalities popped out some. A new character appears, too. He stole my heart instantly. Nestor is the cutest, considerate youngster who’s Iris’ new guard. I love him so much!
Eyrie continues straight on from Owlet. Life isn’t easy for Iris after everything which has happened, coming to terms with the death of a love one isn’t easy for her and she’s left with one blood relative, her grandfather. But she also has a million other things to deal with/come to terms with. One of them being her species doesn’t know she lives, her death faked as an infant to save her life. The truth needs to come out. They need to know she lives as an Owlet. They need to know the power she holds inside of her—power which could change thing for the better. And they definitely need to know what a lying, betraying snake Caleb is, because he needs to be stopped.
There was a cliffhanger, one I kind of expected, however it was executed in a way which I didn’t expect, if that makes sense. I loved how the author did that. And the shame is I don’t have Stryx to read right now, because I'm dying to get my hands on it!
Trailer Thursday: The Prey by Tom Isbell
The Prey
The Prey #1
Author: Tom Isbell
Expected Publication: January 20, 2015
Publisher: Harper Teen
A hot debut trilogy and a riveting story of survival, courage, and romance in a future where creating a master civilization is the only thing prized, no matter the method. After the Omega (the end of the end), 16 year old guys known as LTs discover their overseers are raising them not to be soldiers (lieutenants) as promised, but to be sold as bait because of their Less Than status and hunted for sport. They escape and join forces with a girls’ camp, the Sisters, who have been imprisoned and experimented on for the "good of the Republic," by a government eager to use twins in their dark research. In their plight for freedom, these heroes must find the best in themselves to fight against the worst in their enemies.
January's Comment Love Contest!
What do we love more than reading books here on OUaT? Reading the comments that our readers leave us on our posts. So we decided we would start awarding the top commentator every month.
How to Enter:
- Simple, just leave comments on the post we share daily per month.
- No Rafflecopter to fill out.
- You have no limit as to how many comments per post.
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- Contest ends last day of the month at midnight.
- Read our Giveaway Policy (if you are not familiar)
- Make sure we have a way of contacting you (Google profile, email, twitter, ext...) or new winner will be chosen.
January winner is:
Grace
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