Gobs and Gobs of Books

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Tempestuous by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes (Review + Giveaway)

Published: December 18^th, 2012 (Merit Press)

Pages: 224

Rating: 4/5

Recently banished, unfairly, by the school’s popular crowd, former “it girl,” Miranda Prospero, finds herself in a brave new world: holding dominion amongst a rag-tag crew of geeks and misfits where she works at the Hot-Dog Kabob in the food court of her local mall. When the worst winter storm of the season causes mall workers and last-minute shoppers to be snowed-in for the night, Miranda seizes the opportunity to get revenge against the catty clique behind her social exile. With help from her delightfully dweeby coworker, Ariel, and a sullen loner named Caleb who works at the mall’s nearby gaming and magic shop, Miranda uses charm and trickery to set things to right during this spirited take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Miranda, a former A-lister fallen from glory, comes into work at the mall one blustery night. Much to her dismay, her and her coworkers are fatefully snowed in- not only trapped together, but with a criminal on the loose somewhere within the empty bowels of the mall. Even worse, Miranda and her new snarky acquaintance, Caleb, are accidentally handcuffed together and must spend the time side-by-side, each other’s presence causing more irritation than either of them can handle. It soon becomes apparent that it’s going to be a very long night.

Tempestuous is a fun little tale that I quite enjoyed. I was doubtful of it at first, mostly because it sounded a bit ridiculous to me, but that opinion faded once I really started reading. The Shakespeare aspect initially drew me in, and the story kept me hooked the rest of the time.

Having never read Shakespeare’s The Tempest, I can’t say I got any of the references to that work of literature, but despite that fact, I truly enjoyed Tempestuous. It’s a fun, light, clean read that is suitable for both middle-grade readers as well as more mature readers. This is what I’d dub as a good distraction- it’s funny, quirky, and has a bit of a thrill to it, thanks to the crime-fighting antics of Miranda and her gang. And being only slightly over 200 pages, you could easily curl up on a snowy night with a cup of tea (or coffee…) and finish this “Twisted Lit” novel before bedtime.

Reservations? It’s hard to have reservations about a book this short and sweet.

Quick Content Review: *may contain spoilers*

Language: Mild (A few words here and there.)

Violence: None

Sexual: Mild (A kiss or two. It’s revealed that three girls have slept with the same guy. Couples doze off together on the mall floor but nothing sexual happens.)

~Giveaway~

Enter the giveaway below to win a hardback copy of Tempestuous!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, January 7, 2013

That cliche New Years post that everyone expects

So, I thought I’d dive right in and list some resolutions-

Oh wait.

Happy New Year!!!! *dances*

That said, and with all the holiday busyness ~~involving spontaneous singing and obsessive gingerbread eating~~ out of the way, it’s time to set up some ground rules. You know, make some blogging pledges I don’t plan to keep, say some bookish vows I don’t really mean, that sort of thing. But I’ll do my best, right?

Just nod like you agree with me.

Ok, here we go:

No. 1: More Blogging. Period. This never happens once school sucks my time away and other aspects of life start to hit me in the face. But this year, I want to post at least three times a week at the least. I can tell you right now that there will be weeks when that doesn’t happen, but there will also be weeks when it does happen.

No. 2: Shorter Reviews. There were times last year when I was four, five, sometimes six reviews behind. My solution: write shorter reviews. Often times I write four-seven paragraphs on a single book, and frankly, that takes too long. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you: *drumroll* Mini-Reviews! These reviews will usually be used with books I read for myself (not books received through an author or publisher). They’ll be no more than two-three paragraphs long in length. Yay for no more novel-long reviews!

No. 3: To review or not to review; that is the question. Blogging is hard work. Sometimes it becomes so hard that it’s not fun anymore. So, to bring some fun back, I might not review every book I read. Or I might just compile some brief thoughts on several books in one single post. Point is- I don’t want to be (and won’t be) compelled to post a review for every book I ever read from here on out.

Well, I think that about does it. *deep sigh* Goals and aspirations are an on-going thing, though. They’re something we all need to go back to in order to revise and add to throughout the year.

So, you could say that this is only the beginning.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Swipe by Evan Angler

Published: May 8^th, 2012 (Thomas Nelson)

Pages: 275

Rating: 5/5

Goodreads ~ Amazon

Everyone gets the Mark. It gives all the benefits of citizenship. Yet if getting the Mark is such a good thing, then why does it feel so wrong?

Set in a future North America that is struggling to recover after famine and global war, "Swipe" follows the lives of three kids caught in the middle of a conflict they didn't even know existed. United under a charismatic leader, every citizen of the American Union is required to get the Mark on their 13th birthday in order to gain the benefits of citizenship.

The Mark is a tattoo that must be swiped by special scanners for everything from employment to transportation to shopping. It's almost Logan Langly's 13th birthday and he knows he should be excited about getting the Mark, but he hasn't been able to shake the feeling he's being watched. Not since his sister went to get her Mark five years ago . . . and never came back. [Description from Goodreads]

I haven’t read a middle-grade novel in a long time, but this one was exceptionally good. Great, even. I will admit that I was bored with it initially. For the first fifty or so pages I was forcing myself through the book. It seemed slow, like the plot was dragging. There seemed to be minimal dialogue, too, which made it feel even worse. It picked up after that, though, and I was sucked into the plot, the mystery, the characters.

Some people describe this book as a dystopian, but personally, I wouldn’t. It’s futuristic, yes; it features an oppressive government system, yes; but it’s far from being dystopian for me. That’s entirely not a problem, though. I love the technology that’s laid out, and I especially love the idea of the Mark. From the very beginning, it reminded me of the Mark of the Beast, and that’s actually what spurred my intrigue in the first place. Sadly, it didn’t delve deeper into Scriptural references to end times aside from the Mark. With the Mark, a person can buy food, clothes, anything they want. They can go places and do things that the Unmarked can’t. Logan is on the verge of getting his Mark until he gets wrapped up in a mysterious person called Peck. With a notorious background of kidnapping kids, Peck’s one you’d want to avoid, but to Logan’s distress, Peck’s been watching him for years. And Logan has a feeling that he’s next on the hit list.

For once, I loved that the MC, Logan, wasn’t portrayed as a strong person. He’s young, he’s terrified at what’s happening, and he doesn’t know what to do. Authors, listen up: fragile protagonists are relatable. Trust me when I say that not everyone has a spirit like Katniss Everdeen. Most people freak out when put in life and death situations, especially young people. It’s refreshing to see a “weak” hero ever now and then.

Bottom line: While the beginning started out slow, once the pace picked up the story hooked me. I highly recommend this to not only middle-grade readers but also more mature readers. Though the writing is appropriately juvenile, I believe that older readers would also get some enjoyment out of Swipe. Very well written; I’m eager to pick up the sequel, Sneak.

Quick Content Review: *may contain spoilers*

Language: None (kids cuss with made-up profanity)

Violence: Mild (Some minor action and suspense)

Sexual: None (One kiss)

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Rockoholic by C. J. Skuse

Published: November 1^st, 2012 (Scholastic)

Pages: 358

Rating: 4/5

Goodreads ~ Amazon

Gonna have to face it: Jody's addicted to Jackson Gatlin, frontman of The Regulators, and after her best bud Mac scores tickets, she's front and center at his sold-out concert. But when she gets mashed in the moshpit and bodysurfs backstage, she's got more than a mild concussion to deal with. By the next morning, the strung-out rock star is coming down in her garage. Jody -- oops -- kind of kidnapped him. By accident. With a Curly Wurly candy bar. And now he doesn't want to leave.

It's a rock-star abduction worthy of an MTV reality series...but who got punk'd?!

When Jody’s life comes tumbling down on her, she turns to the person she’s always turned to for comfort- Jackson. Jackson Gatlin, that is. Yes, the lead band member of the Regulators. Jody is just one of the many fan girls whose life revolves around this American superstar, but his music has a much more personal connection for her. Long story short, Jackson ends up in Jody’s garage in a less-than-sane state, but after she carefully nurses him back to health with her bestie Mac, they discover Jackson doesn’t have any plans of leaving. With the whole world wondering where Jackson’s gone, Jody’s life just got a little more complicated.

I. Loved. This. Book. To pieces. The storyline is something I’ve been looking for for a long time. It’s something to which we can all relate. I absolutely adored the British lingo- it made it that much more fun to read (even though half the time I was going to Google to figure out what words meant). I will admit that Jody got on my nerves at first, mostly because her demeanor was depressing, but that passed after a while. Jackson was an intriguing character…he wasn’t portrayed as I thought he might be, though he did turn out to be one of my favorite characters in the book. In one way, Rockoholic makes you think about life as a rock star- how difficult it is and the longing for freedom that comes with it. While this book doesn’t reveal too deep of truths, I did find myself thoughtfully pondering over it more than once. And if you know me at all, you’ll know I like books that make me think.

The only thing I found distasteful about Rockoholic was the amount of language. Let me put it bluntly: there was too much. Way too much. It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that it was littered from cover to cover. Some might say it added to the theme of the book, but I thought a lot of it was entirely unnecessary. For someone who tries to avoid books featuring heavy language, it proved to be a distraction, unfortunately. Some of the other controversial material (see Quick Content Review below) had me shaking my head mournfully, also. Hence, my five-star review became a four-star.

So, you could say I liked this book an awful lot. I didn’t necessarily love it, but I really did enjoy it. It was one of those books I just had to keep going back to, even though I was supposed to be doing other things, even though there were other books I should have been reading instead. It hooked me from the beginning. Despite some issues I had with the profanity, I absolutely relished it. It’s a fun read, and if you think you could turn a blind eye to some of the issues listed below, I would highly recommend it.

Quick Content Review: *may contain spoilers*

Language: Moderate- Heavy (a variety of words fly throughout the book)

Violence: None

Sexual: Mild-Moderate (Jody bathes Jackson when he’s passed out, but nothing sexual occurs. Mac is in a controversial play in which he dresses like a transvestite. Some kissing.)

Other: Drug abuse and some mention of alcohol consumption.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Blog Tour: Falling For You by Lisa Schroeder

Today Gobs and Gobs of Books is taking a part in the Falling For You Blog Tour, hosted by Mod Podge Blog Tours!

Falling For You by Lisa Schroeder

Published: January 1^st, 2013(Simon Pulse)

Pages: 355

Rae's always dreamed of dating a guy like Nathan. He’s nothing like her abusive stepfather—in other words, he’s sweet. But the closer they get, the more Nathan wants of her time, of her love, of her...and the less she wants to give.

As Rae’s affection for Nathan turns to fear, she leans on her friend Leo for support. With Leo, she feels lighter, happier. And possessive Nathan becomes jealous.

Then a tragedy lands Rae in the ICU. Now, hovering between life and death, Rae must find the light amid the darkness…and the strength to fight for life and the love she deserves. [From Goodreads]

Buy the book now:

Barnes and Noble ~ Amazon