Distractions - February

I'm here again to share what's been on my radar for the month of February! I've seen other bloggers discuss what they watch, listen to, etc. and I always love reading them, so I thought I'd share that myself. :) Since the last time I did this was November, it's obviously not a monthly thing, but when I've got something to share, I'll show it off. :D Admittedly, I've been blogging much better in recent months, so maybe the distractions aren't too bad...

What I'm Watching:

Yep! Until recently, I'd seen about half of Coven and all of Freak Show, so now I'm catching up on the first couple of seasons. I have to say, I don't watch it in the dark.

I'M SO UPSET THIS WAS CANCELED. I thought the first season was so good. The second, which I'm halfway through, isn't quite as good, but I still like it. I'm kind of afraid to finish, though, because if it ends on a cliffhanger I just might cry.

I am one of the few who still watches American Idol. It's a show my parents and I watch together, so it's family time. :) We watch religiously, so right now, every Wednesday and Thursday night is for AI. 

What I'm Listening To:

 
I'm currently deeply obsessed with this song. I listen to it while I'm driving a lot, so when it builds, there is nothing that can stop my dancing.  
 
I've known this song for a long time, but I just kind of rediscovered it (watching American Idol, actually), and I just can't get enough. I'm also planning on seeing Ed Sheeran at Jazz Fest in May, so must get ready!  
 
I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS SONG. As soon as this piece played in the premiere of Outlander, I've been dying to listen to it over and over again--and now I can! This is another I listen to in the car, really loudly, and I just can't get enough of it. It's just gorgeous. The whole soundtrack is pretty, but this one takes the cake for me.  

I kind of half-watched this movie, but it got my full attention when this started playing. I immediately looked it up.
So that's what I enjoyed all month! I'd love to know what y'all are listening to or watching or what you think of what my picks! :D

Blog Tour: Dead to Me by Mary McCoy {Review + Playlist + Giveaway}

Release date: March 3, 2015
Author info: Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 304
Format: Egalley
Source: Publisher provided for review
Buy the book: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository

LA Confidential for the YA audience. This alluring noir YA mystery with a Golden Age Hollywood backdrop will keep you guessing until the last page.

"Don't believe anything they say."

Those were the last words that Annie spoke to Alice before turning her back on their family and vanishing without a trace. Alice spent four years waiting and wondering when the impossibly glamorous sister she idolized would return to her--and what their Hollywood-insider parents had done to drive her away.

When Annie does turn up, the blond, broken stranger lying in a coma has no answers for her. But Alice isn't a kid anymore, and this time she won't let anything stand between her and the truth, no matter how ugly. The search for those who beat Annie and left her for dead leads Alice into a treacherous world of tough-talking private eyes, psychopathic movie stars, and troubled starlets--and onto the trail of a young runaway who is the sole witness to an unspeakable crime. What this girl knows could shut down a criminal syndicate and put Annie's attacker behind bars--if Alice can find her first. And she isn't the only one looking.

Evoking classic film noir, debut novelist Mary McCoy brings the dangerous glamour of Hollywood's Golden Age to life, where the most decadent parties can be the deadliest, and no drive into the sunset can erase the crimes of past.

How could Dead to Me not be awesome? A gritty mystery set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, where the word of a single girl could topple one of the day's biggest stars and a thriving criminal enterprise? It was, as promised, pretty awesome.

Dead to Me starts off with Alice at the hospital, seeing her idolized older sister for the first time in four years. Alice's narration feels very much how I imagine a noir film's narrator sounds. (This is something with which I have no experience, aside from the vignettes in Fairly Oddparents episodes when Timmy imagines himself a detective. Yep.) This is very cool from the standpoint of tone, less so from one of quality of description, but I liked it a lot.

All through the book, Alice is torn between her desperate need to help her sister and her anger. While she seeks the answers, she's still plagued by questions as to why Annie never wrote, called, or tried to communicate in any way. She struggles with Annie having a whole new life and friends that Alice knows nothing of. The push and shove of Alice's mind is very human--just because we love someone doesn't mean we can't be mad at them.

The mystery itself was a head-scratcher. It seems time and time again that it's all figured out, and there are several moments that feel like they're heading toward a big conclusion, but a new bit of information pops up or someone does something unexpected, and the mystery gets all the more muddled. In the end, the motive and perpetrators are largely simple. It's only that no single person had enough pieces to puzzle everything together.

If you like mystery, a bit of Hollywood glamour, and a lot of dirty underbelly, Dead to Me is for you. With zero romance, it's the rare YA that focuses wholly on its story--and it thrives because of it.

THIS WAS SO HARD! I figured at first the time period was the twenties, because...I just figured, but from the mentions in the book, it's likely the late forties or early fifties. Harder. So, some songs are from the time period, like might have played in the places Alice goes, and some are inspired by the events and relationships in the book. You can probably tell which is which. :)

Follow the Dead To Me blog tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Mary McCoy is a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library. She has also been a contributor to On Bunker Hill and the 1947project, where she wrote stories about Los Angeles's notorious past. She grew up in western Pennsylvania and studied at Rhodes College and the University of Wisconsin. Mary now lives in Los Angeles with her husband. Her debut novel, Dead To Me, is a YA mystery set in the glamorous, treacherous world of 1940s Hollywood.

Win (1) hardcopy of DEAD TO ME by Mary McCoy (US Only)

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Waiting on Wednesday: P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han {83}

Title: P.S. I Still Love You
Author: Jenny Han
Release date: May 26, 2015

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.

I'm dyinggggggg. I didn't realize there would be a sequel when I read To All the Boys I've Loved Before, so the ending was, suffice to say, upsetting. I NEED my happy ending!

 So what are you guys waiting on this week? :)

Teaser Tuesday: Rebellion (Extraction #2) by Stephanie Diaz {109}

Title: Rebellion (Extraction #2)
Author: Stephanie Diaz

Release date: February 10, 2015

The uprising has begun.

It's been seven days since Clementine and Logan, along with their allies, retreated into hiding on the Surface. The rebels may have won one battle against Commander Charlie, but the fight is far from finished. He has vowed to find a way to win—no matter the cost. Do the rebels have what it takes to defeat him...and put an end to this war?

As Clementine and Logan enter a desperate race against time to defeat Commander Charlie—and attempt to weaken his power within his own ranks—they find themselves in a terrifying endgame that pits them against a brutal enemy, and each other. With every step, Clementine draws closer to losing Logan...and losing control of herself.

Continuing with the mesmerizing saga that started with Extraction, Stephanie Diaz blends science fiction, epic romance, and heart-stopping adventure to create a world that no reader will soon forget.

My teaser, from pg. 62 in the hardcover:

I will count to three, and then I will take control. I will stop being afraid.

One
Two
Three

I walk out the door.

I rather liked the first book, but I'm definitely hoping this one is a bit better than its predecessor. We shall see! :)

I'll be visiting around and visiting back, so leave me links to your teasers! :) Happy Tuesday!

Review: The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Release date: March 31, 2015
Author info: Website | Twitter
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Pages: 384
Format: Egalley
Source: Publisher provided for review through Netgalley
Buy the book: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository

Following her pitch-perfect debut Open Road Summer, Emery Lord pens another gorgeous story of best friends, new love, & second chances.

Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

Well, it's another delightful book from Emery Lord! Of course, after the joy that was Open Road Summer, high expectations were involved in picking up The Start of Me and You, but Emery Lord does not disappoint. It's another sweet and enjoyable book, with just a bit of swoon and more than enough happiness to fill your heart.

I just loved that Paige and Max's relationship develops first as friendship. They find a kindred spirit in the other, and it's just through talking that they become close. Max is just the person Paige needs in her life--someone to hear her and someone to draw her out. At times in the beginning of the book, I found Paige to be too full of herself in her judgment of Max, but getting to know Max changes all of that for her. He's absurdly lovable in how he's unabashedly himself; he loves the things he loves and he feels no shame for that.

And oh the friendships! How she does it, I don't know, but Emery Lord hits Paige's relationship with her three best friends perfectly--but especially with Tessa, her closest friend. Every girl needs--and, gosh, I hope has--a Tessa, a friend who is there through thick and thin, who knows exactly what is needed, who may outshine the other but never leaves her in the dark. Her friends (Kayleigh, Morgan, and Tessa) are drawn carefully and are easily distinguishable. Through all the pain Paige has gone through, before the start of the book and during it, her friends are there, supporting her (and we can't forget, she supports them too!). It's the moments between them that give the biggest warm fuzzies in the book.

Emery Lord's books are all I could want from contemporary books. They're filled with genuine moments of friendship and love between people who care about one another and only want the best. The Start of Me and You has just a hint of nerdiness (Firefly! Indiana Jones! Literature! Vocabulary! Grammar!) thrown in, but I can assure you it'll leave you smiling and wishing for more.

About the author:

Emery Lord is a 20-something Midwestern girl who writes stories about high school and best friends and weird families and the crushes that make you feel combustibly alive and also more awkward than you thought was possible. If you're not sure how to pronounce Emery, try slurring the name "Emily," and that will get you really close.

She lives in Cincinnati in a 100 year-old pink row house with her BFF/husband, a closet full of dresses, and lots of books. If karaoke-ing in grocery store aisles or guzzling coffee while impulse shopping were illegal, Emery would be writing her overemotional YA books from jail. Also, she makes up words sometimes. Like combustibly.

OPEN ROAD SUMMER, her first YA novel, is out now with Bloomsbury. Her second, The Start of Me & You, will be released March 31, 2015.

Stacking the Shelves {107}

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where we get to share the books we've bought, been gifted, or received for review!

How was everybody's week? Mine's been pretty darn good! Highlight of the week? I won the Oscar pool at work! (Tied, really, but it still counts as winning.) I got 15 out of 24 predictions right, and got a $20 B&N gift card for it. HAPPY DANCE. I already ordered hardcover copies of The Burning Sky and The Perilous Sea, because I need them, on which to spend my money. I love my B&N. :)

For review:

Public Enemies (Immortal Game #2) by Ann Aguirre

Siren's Fury (Storm Siren #2) by Mary Weber

A recap of the week here on Paper Cuts:
Monday - Review: The Perilous Sea (The Elemental Trilogy #2) by Sherry Thomas
Tuesday - Teaser Tuesday: The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
Wednesday - Waiting on Wednesday: Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
Thursday - Review: The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
Friday - Review: The Winner's Crime (The Winner's Trilogy #2) by Marie Rutkoski

Books I read this week:
The Sin-Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

I'm currently reading:
Dead to Me by Mary McCoy

So that's been my week! The Sin Eater's Daughter slowed me down a lot. I was not into it. So less reading this week. :( I'm off to a wedding this weekend, so this post was scheduled on Thursday and I won't be back in communication till sometime late Sunday, just fyi. :) Have a lovely Sunday and a fabulous week!

Review: The Winner's Crime (The Winner's Trilogy #2) by Marie Rutkoski

Release date: March 3, 2015
Author info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Pages: 416
Format: Egalley
Source: Publisher provided for review
Buy the book: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository

Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

Marie Rutkoski has hit it out of the park again with The Winner's Crime. At once beautiful, heartbreaking, overwhelming, torturous, and a joy, the sequel to The Winner's Curse captures the same feelings as the first, while also expanding the world, political intrigue and machinations, and forbidden love between Kestrel and Arin. For me, never has a book so encompassed the phrase "hurts so good."

Against a background of excess--luxurious dresses, glittering jewelry, spun sugar utensils (yes, really)--Kestrel and Arin are mired in an even more difficult situation than before. In the capitol of Valoria, under the all-seeing eye of the emperor, Kestrel is stuck between loyalty to her country and her sympathy for those her people have enslaved. She has to make impossible decisions in the hopes of not risking the ones she loves while also preserving as many lives as possible. She plays a dangerous game, for the emperor is not a gentle man, and he is every bit adept as she is.

For Arin, the struggle is between his love of his people and his love of Kestrel. He can't understand the decisions she has made, but he doesn't know the truth--that her choices are for him, not for herself. He also is coming to terms with the fact that, though his country is free in name, they are far from it. There's more going on than he knows, and he has to find a way to fight for his people--or their very lives are at stake.

There is moment after moment of pure beauty in the writing, little snippets that fly off the page like poetry, and it's such a pleasure to read, especially as the writing gives so much just in its tone. Tension builds and releases, all up to the stunning ending--in more ways than one. This is a sequel that not only builds and betters its predecessor, but it leaves you desperate for more.

About the author:

Marie Rutkoski is the author of the YA novel The Shadow Society and the children's fantasy series The Kronos Chronicles, including The Cabinet of Wonders, The Celestial Globe and The Jewel of the Kalderash. Her next project is a YA trilogy that begins with The Winner's Curse, which is scheduled to be published in March 2014. 

Marie grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the oldest of four children. She holds a BA from the University of Iowa and a PhD from Harvard University. Marie is currently a professor at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance Drama, children's literature and fiction writing. She lives in New York City with her husband and two sons.