Of Poseidon by Anna Banks (Of Poseidon #1) (audio)

Emma is on vacation in Florida when she literally bumps into one of the hottest guys she's ever seen. Little does she know that Galen is a prince of the Syrena (aka merpeople) who is looking for her. Emma has the ability to communicate with fish, something unusual for both humans and Syrena. This ability might be the key to uniting the two Syrena kingdoms who are engaged in a bloodless war. 

If you've ever read a romance novel especially a paranormal romance novel then you will be familiar with the elements to this story. There's the ultimate alpha male and the sweet, spunky, curvy girl who drives him crazy. They fight a lot but there is an undeniable attraction and they have great chemistry when they kiss. That doesn't mean this wasn't a great book. It was really fun and I liked Emma and Galen. It was just very familiar. It really could have been an adult romance if it weren't for the fact that Emma is still in high school. Both of them are legally adults but I guess they are on the fine line between young adult and adult. But don't worry there is no sex and very little kissing (sadly). I loved Emma and Galen but they needed to get their act together.

Still this was super fun and had some great merpeople elements. I feel like the characters were being deliberately obtuse when it came to figuring out who Emma really was but it left room for a "shocking" ending which left the reader hanging. I'm pretty sure no one will really be surprised at the end but I do want to find out what happens next. My only complaint is that I wasn't feeling how Galen's chapters were written. Emma was in first person and Galen was in subjective third person. I'm not really fond of this kind of back and forth.

Rebecca Gibel is the narrator and I liked her. She does a great Jersey accent for some of the minor characters and she really captures the nature of the characters.
9 hours, 32 minutes

Weekly Round-Up 6/17

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading
this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

This week I'm reading by The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente and The Honest Toddler: A Child's Guide to Parenting by Bunmi Laaditan and listening to Of Poseidon by Anna Banks, read by Rebecca Gibel .

Last week I reviewed Confessions of an Angry Girl and Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend by Louise Rozett and Prep School Confidential by Kara Taylor. 


I gave The Little Bookworm a bit of a face-lift. I'm still tweaking it here and there but I think I like it.

This week on SYNC you can download The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (a book I highly recommend) and Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya (a book I've never heard of but it sounds good).

 The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday. 

The Darkest Mind by Alexandra Bracken

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

Shadowlands by Kate Brian

Rory Miller had one chance to fight back and she took it. Rory survived and the serial killer who attacked her escaped. Now that the infamous Steven Nell is on the loose, Rory must enter the witness protection program. Entering the program alongside her, is her father and sister Darcy. The trio starts a new life and a new beginning leaving their friends and family behind without a goodbye.

Starting over in a new town with only each other is unimaginable for Rory and Darcy. They were inseparable as children but now they can barely stand each other. As the sisters settle in to Juniper Landing, a picturesque vacation island, it seems like their new home may be just the fresh start they need. They fall in with a group of beautiful, carefree teens and spend their days surfing, partying on the beach, and hiking into endless sunsets. Just as they’re starting to feel safe again, one of their new friends goes missing. Is it a coincidence? Or is the nightmare beginning all over again?

If you've never read The Honest Toddler blog then  you are missing out especially if you have or have ever had a toddler. I was pretty excited when the book came out and got it for my birthday. 
The Honest Toddler: A Child's Guide to Parenting by Bunmi Laaditan

Bracingly candid, sweetly indignant, and writing with an unchecked sense of entitlement, the Internet’s wildly popular Honest Toddler delivers a guide to the parenting techniques he deems acceptable (keep the cake coming and the apple juice undiluted).

The toddler stage can be a rude awakening for parents, whose sweet infants morph, seemingly overnight, into tyrants ready to turn simple errands into hellish and humiliating experiences. Trying to convince your defiant darling to do something as simple as put on her shoes can feel like going to war. It’s not all blood, sweat, and tears, though. Toddlers can be charming little creatures, with their unfettered enthusiasm, wide grins, and ready hugs. In fact, what makes toddlers so fascinating is their unique blend of cute and demonic behavior. A toddler will take your hand and say "I love you," then slap you in the face.

Now, The Honest Toddler provides an indispensable guide to parenting that places the toddler’s happiness front and center. Who better to instruct parents on the needs of toddlers than a toddler himself?

In a voice that is at once inimitable and universal, The Honest Toddler turns his sharp eye to a wide range of subjects, including play date etiquette, meal preparation, healthy sleep habits, and the pernicious influence of self-appointed experts and so-called doctors. The result is a parenting guide like no other, one that will have moms and dads laughing through tears as they recognize their own child in the ongoing shenanigans of one bravely honest toddler.

Mind Games by Kiersten White

Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend by Louise Rozett (Confessions #2)

Rose is trying to be the 2.0 version of herself, a less angry, going to forget Jamie Forta version of herself for her sophmore year. But that is easier said than done. Rose is stuck going to therapy with her mom, dealing her brother and once again trying to make it through high school.

I try to be all 2.0 and I wink back, which a) is not what you're supposed to do when someone winks at your and b) looks super lame if you can't actually wink. Which I can't, I just found out. p. 113 ARC

One of the worst things about reading an ARC is that it extends the amount of time between books in a series. I assume there will be another one (please let this be a thing that happens) because I need to know more about Rose and about Jamie and about them together pretty much right now. I finished Confessions of an Angry Girl and immediately picked up Almost-Girlfriend. And I finished it in one night. I haven't been this enamored of a book in a long time and certainly not this invested in a teenage girl since Ruby Oliver. Sometimes characters just strike the right chord. Rose did that for me. She just feels so real. I feel bad for her. She wants to be a good person but then she lashes out because she is hurt or angry or embarrassed and sometimes she is sorry and sometimes she is not. And there is nothing wrong with not feeling sorry but there is something wrong with expressing your emotions in the worst way. She is so hard on herself and thinks everything is her fault and doesn't appreciate anything good about herself which is sad. And so very 15. And Jamie doesn't help with his hot/cold business. But that boy is hot and I might have a book crush on him. He is the kind of guy I would have liked at this age but I never would have ended up making out with him on his car in the middle of the night (sadly). He is another one that tries to do the right thing and have it blow up in his face. I like them together but I think they both have a lot to deal with. But their chemistry is excellent.

I was also happy to see more of Rose's best friend Tracy and their friendship. It can be hard at the high school level to maintain long standing friendship but they are trying their best. And I love seeing that in a book. Often you get girls fighting and breaking up friendships but it is unfortunately rare to see two teenage girls trying to keep their friendships together in YA books. Tracy definitely gains more depth in this book but that might be because we see more of her. I love that she is willing to put up with Rose's hostility but still expects to be treated right. And that she stands up for herself and takes ownership of her reputation rather than let the school bullies do it for her.

I could go on but I have a book hangover from staying up to late. My husband told me I was going to be tired today. But I honestly could not stop reading. It was worth it.

Received from NetGalley for review
Publish date: June 18, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin

Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett (Confessions #1)

Rose is angry. She is angry about her father's day and her mother's withdrawal from their daily lives, about her brother's disappearance to college and her best friend's social climbing during their freshmen year. She is also confused by all of these things and by her feelings for the badass boy who sits with her at study hall. Rose has a lot going on and she can't seem to figure out any of it.

The rules of high school are completely, entirely, distrubingly mysterious to me.
But everyone else seems to get them.  p.64

Unputdownable. Which isn't a real word but is really what describes this book for me. Cause I'll tell this book really struck a cord with me. I was pleasantly surprised by this. It really brought me back to being this age and having all these feelings and not knowing what to do with them. And, okay, I can't relate to losing a dad at this age but I can relate to all the friendship stuff and the boy stuff. Things are really confusing at that age. Rose felt so real to me and her emotions were so dead on accurate especially the part with the boy. I liked Jamie. I think he knows better than to get involved with someone so much younger but some people just connect and I think that Jamie and Rose have some sort of a connection. Sometimes you can't explain attraction. The 35 year old part of me was not happy about a 14 year old girl and a 17ish boy getting involved but the 14 year old part of me was all squee. Those two have some serious chemistry. Kissing scenes like that don't come around in just every book. I'm glad there is another book because there is so much more to Rose's story and not just the Jamie part but the part about finding herself and dealing with friendship at this age.