Thursday, June 27, 2019

Nothing Left to Burn by Heather Ezell- Reshelved Books

Happy Friday Eve everybody! It’s the the last week of June. A week from today and it'll be the 4th of July.

I’m happy to say that the weather has been up the past couple of days here. Much better than all of that rain we just had. Not that I’m complaining, rain is a beautiful thing!

I know. It’s a Monday and I’m posting. What is going on?? Blame it on the weather or blame it on that notion that I’m aware I’ll be reading a lot this upcoming week; but I feel like I just gotta this review up now! 


As an employee of the library, I find myself browsing the newly released adult fiction books that are out of the shelf at least once a week. I hardly ever find myself going upstairs to YA sand doing the same thing.  Unless I’ve looked at the up and coming release online, I’m kinda out of the loop.  Now that I’m out of my YA book funk, I found myself picking up this book when it brought back out from being processed into our regular collection. 


The cover art drew me to the book; then the inside cover gave a synopsis that seemed interesting. A 16 year old girl who’s boyfriend is a volunteer firefighter, about to go out and help fight a raging wildfire. Sounds good to me! 


There is no way that I can post this review without including some spoilers. As in the past, if you don’t want any spoilers, don’t read this review! 


If you don’t mind, well then, continue on scrolling down.


**—————- Spoilers are coming!!——————**


Nothing Left to Burn is Heather Ezell’s debut novel. From what I gather from the back panel of the book, this book was inspired by Ezell’s childhood, growing up in an area where wildfires were a common occurrence. 


As one would gather, there is nothing fluffy about this story. It’s emotional and it’s dark (I thought it was dark at least. Poor MB was away this weekend and at certain points, I’d stop reading and text him about how dark this story was). 


This is another book that’s told in the current prospective and then the past. It follows the time line that builds up to the present. 


16 year old Audrey Harper is being evacuated from her home at 5:20am.  There is a wildfire near her gated community that’s gaining momentum and it’s gaining that momentum fast. 


I guess you could say that this is where the reader is formally introduced to Audrey’s boyfriend, Brooks. Brooks is 18 years old and he just graduated from high school. He just graduated from fire school and he’s beyond stoked to be able to fight his first fire- he’s excited to save lives. (This is a commonly mentioned in the story). 


Audrey evacuates to Starbucks, where she meets up with Brooks. He’s in a uniform and he’s eating up all of the attention from the public (NOW. There is something that Audrey says as a comment about Brooks being a volley. Having (and still) been a volunteer, it was a comment I was less than thrilled about. But that’s okay).


I feel like this introduction to Brooks, lays the ground work for what’s going to come. Meaning, I was 1/4 of the way through when I guessed that Brooks was going to be the arsonist. (Just go ask MB, he’ll confirm!)


The more I learned about Brooks and his relationship with Audrey, the more I thought about how the weak prey on the weak. How Brooks saw that Audrey was quiet and kept to herself; how she was vulnerable and how he took advantage of that. (Mind you, this is all my opinion).


As the reader, I wanted to be strong for Audrey.  To remove her from that situation with Brooks. As the book went on, I thought that she was slowly starting to see the light. 


Then the ending starting to play out. 


Oh my word. 


Talk about DARK. 


The ending of the story was dark. It was raw. (I felt like it was really messed up too).  


Woah. 


Wow. 


Nothing Left to Burn is burning out this review with 4 coffee beans out of 5.  It was a great story. It was very dark but it was written incredibly well. 


- Jillian


Dewey Shorts - New

Hey everybody!

Jessica and I are happy to announce that new things are coming to our IG!

(Hopefully you've been to our IG page to see what we're adding)

We're introducing what I'm calling "Dewey Shorts".  A "Dewey Short" is going to be a video that's 30-60 seconds in length.  We're going to quickly talk about a book that we've read; whether we liked it or we didn't like it.

These are books that we have something to say about but not enough to warrant an entire blog post. 

You can check out the quick video over to the left of this post, under Instagram.

Let us know what you think! 

~ Jillian

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Under the Scrubs by Katerina Baker - Reshelved Books (ARCs)



When Katerina Baker reached out to us asking if we would review Under the Scrubs, I was super excited!  While I love working in the library and reading; my heart is still with healthcare.  Spending so many years with patients and working in the hospital is something that I miss.  Last month we were lucky because not one but two authors reached out to us for reviews of their new books via ARCs. 

Under The Scrubs by [Baker, Katerina]
This book falls under the romance umbrella, but it’s packed to the brim with  a lot of action and adventure (and even mystery) mixed in! Emilia Hughes is an OBGYN who is *finally* able to deliver babies on her own.  With her new found freedom within the confines of her job, she comes into a startling sequence of events. 

On her way to teach classes at the YMCA, Emilia finds herself trying to protect a woman and her baby from a very dangerous man.  In standing up to the man, Emilia finds herself in the sight of Kai.  Kai becomes Emilia's knight in shining armor! He protects her from the assailant. 

(I knew when I started reading this book I knew that there would an love affair with law enforcement.  When I started reading the book I didn't realize who the bad guy would be and who the good guy was).  

On her way into work, Emilia is met with the daughter, Melissa, of a gold tycoon.  Melissa is on her to deliver her baby - a baby that is not prepared to have.  Something very strange happens after the baby is born- Melissa and her newborn son elope from the hospital.  What's even crazier is that Emilia is kidnapped and thrust into the role of taking care of newborn Jayden.  

More than once, Emilia has her life put on the line by Melissa. But throughout it all, Kai and Taylor are there to keep Emilia safe.

Looking back on the book to write this review, I feel a little confused about everything that was going on and here's why.  If you do have an interest in reading Under the Scrubs, please stop reading this review! Spoilers are coming up and I don't want to ruin anything for anyone. 
   
 *-----Spoilers are coming!!-----*

There was something about this book in the beginning that made me feel like I was spinning in a powerful vortex asking myself what was going on.  NOW this isn't the first time that I've felt this way when reading a book.  Because of that, it's not going to have a negative on my review of Under the Scrubs!!

The beginning made sense until Emilia first encounters Melissa. Then the kidnapping happens after the elopement. Okay, I guess I could see how one could take a newborn out the hospital? (eh... not really...) Kai’s behavior started to confuse me. He was very aloof but then he was always there? 

When Melissa sent Emilia to the prison to meet Taylor, I was like “eh okay...?”  But I could t figure out where Taylor spend so many years in jail IF he actually didn’t do anything wrong. Why would the FBI pick him back up if they let him sit in jail for 3 years for a crime that he didn’t commit?

Around this time, Taylor and Emilia start to have more interactions between each other and I thought that they were longer and more meaningful. What I’m trying to say is this....

I started off thinking that maybe Kai was the bad guy because of the chemistry that was going on between Emilia and Taylor.  I thought that they would have been a better couple.  (I was not feeling Kai's behavior either!) To me, I thought that chemistry between Emilia and Taylor was better. 

Then poor Emilia gets herself in a very bizarre situation with Taylor as a bodyguard and also as a spy and it results in someone being shot and killed. 

(When I said before that this book was adventurous and action packed, I wasn’t lying!)

I give this ARC 3.5 coffee beans out of 5 and it really upsets me to say that.  While this book may not have been for me, that doesn’t mean that it’s not for anyone else out there. 


I want to thank Katerina for reaching out to us and giving up the opportunity to read and review her book!

Have a great weekend everyone!

- Jillian

Friday, June 14, 2019

The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody- Reshelved Books

Has anyone ever experienced a "book hangover"? No? If so, you're lucky!
For some reason, Where the Crawdads Sing gave me a serious book hangover.  The book that I picked up to read after it was not The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (sorry, MB >_<) but rather The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody.  

I picked up this book a couple weeks ago at Barnes and Noble.  It was on an end cap and the cover was really pretty! I read the back of the book and figured that I'd give it a try.  As I'm sure that some of you have noticed, I haven't been reading a lot of YA lately.  I haven't found anything that I've been excited to read (but that will all change with my next review!) 


For some reason plants make me think of airports
Was this the best book to read after a book hangover? Meh, that remains to be seen but I couldn't think of any other way to start off this review....

The Chaos of Standing Still introduces the reader to Ryn Gilbert, an 18 year old who spent the last 11 months and 31 days on learning how to navigate through her life without her best friend, Lottie.  Ryn is on her way home from Atlanta, but due to a blizzard and a lay over at the Denver Airport- Ryn won't be able to make it home for the 1 year anniversary of Lottie's death. 

The story flashes back between the present, with Ryn being in the airport during the snow and in the past through a series of flashbacks.  

With each flashback, the reader learns more about Lottie and Ryn's relationship with her.  Lottie was this intense force field that was constantly moving around Ryn; she seemed to influence everything that Ryn did.  Without Lottie, Ryn's life completely fell apart.   I'm not a psychologist and I'm not going to try and diagnosis a character but as the reader, you could tell that there was something going on with Ryn.  She seemed to be very withdrawn and at times, you could sense that she was anxious.  Ryn has an obsession with googling questions for answers; regardless of the question, she was always looking for an answer. 

 Ryn trips and falls, causing her to unknowingly switch phones with a guy named Xander.  This accidental swap causes a chain reaction of a series of events that create one very unforgettable night at the Denver Airport for Ryn.  It's a night that causes her to think back to Lottie and to help her move forward. 

The only way you're going to find out about the events from that night is if you read the book.  I'm not going to spoil it for anyone!

I found The Chaos of Standing Still to be super heavy!  The topic that it tackles, for me, was something that I found to be heavy.  Ryan has a massive amount of survivor's guilt toward what happened.  Here is this girl, she lost her best friend and as a result, she lost her ability to live.  That's not something that's easy to digest.  When you learn about their past, to me, it seemed like Ryn really loved Lottie.  I thought that maybe it was more than a friendship type of love.  Feel free to disagree with me but I seemed to me that Ryn was in LOVE with Lottie.  So much so, that her feeling toward Xander kinda surprised me.

As the reader, your heart broke for Ryn :(

I would Brody's book a solid 4 coffee beans out of 5. 

(I actually lent my copy out to a co-worker! I'm looking forward to hear what she has to say about the book.)

-JB




Thursday, June 13, 2019

Very Nice by Marcy Dermanksy - Reshelved Books

Hello there Dewey Readers! 

I was privileged to review an Advance Reader Copy of Marcy Dermansky's latest novel Very Nice, which is to be published on July 2, 2019. 

This novel is the perfect literary summer beach read...or soap opera, whichever you prefer. Rachael is in college with the hopes of being a writer. Rachel has written a short story about a flight attendant with a wild life and venereal disease that her professor offered criticism on (a Chris Bohjalian reference?).  Rachael is totally enamored with her writing professor, Zahid Azzam, who is famous in the literary and writing world, but has stopped turning in her assignments due to the criticism.  She fantasizes about him, secretly loves him, even ends up watching his dog, and eventually sleeps with him. Zahid is a bit naive but also thinks a little bit too highly of himself.  When I was reading this novel, I kept comparing Zahid to Adelle Waldman's character of Nathaniel P. (Check out our review of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. here.)  After Rachael and Zahid sleep together, Zahid ends up traveling back to Pakistan because his grandmother is dying and Rachael ends up taking the dog home with her. 

Now, you see the dog is a poodle, and Rachel's mother's dog (who was also a poodle) recently passed away.  Her mother takes the dog right into her home and heart, filling the void of having lost the love of her companion. Her mother and father have also recently separated, her father leaving her mother for a young flight attendant who may or may not infect him with a disease.  (You'll have to read it to find out.) This is where things get weird.  Zahid ends up returning for his dog but ends up staying with Rachael and her mother.  He even falls in LOVE with her mother.  Rachael's mother hides her relationship from Rachel, and Zahid hides his one-time-stand with Rachael from the mother, throw in some guns, a strange relationship with a family who's son almost caused a mass shooting in Rachael's mother's classroom, a lesbian ex-babysitter and grown woman love story, and you get this messy literary soap opera with a wowsza of an ending I don't think anyone saw coming.  

Would I recommend this book as a beach read? Yes.  Do I really know what I read at the end?  Not really. Do I really care? Nope.  So Dewey Readers, this book makes a great addition to your beach bag and Days of Our Lives episodes.  I leave you with a rating of 4 out of 5 Coffee Beans.

Until the next read!
~Jessica    

Saturday, June 8, 2019

Format of Choice

Hello Dewey Readers!

So as I have already told you, I am a big believer in judging a book by it's cover. But did you know that I also tend to judge books by their format?  

Hardcovers, trade paperbacks, mass-market paperbacks, e-books, and audio-books - I have read them all, and they all have the capability of delivering the same story.  But if I have the choice I will almost always go for the trade paperback version.  I am like the Goldilocks of the the reading world.  Hardcovers are too bulky and make my hands go numb, mass-markets are kind of small (although perfect for vacation), audio-books are great for the car (if they are less than 6 hours long), and e-books make my eyes twitch.  

So Dewey Readers, what's you're book format of choice? 

~Jessica 

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - Reshelved Books

This book, you guys. 

I was debating for WEEKS if I should put myself on the hold list for it (on the list with my home library and the list at my work library.  See where I'd get it first) OR if I was going to go out and buy the book.  

MB can totally vouch for this.  We went to Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago, so he could get Howard Stern's new book, Howard Stern Comes Again (for those of you who may have been wondering). 


The hold list for this book is HUGE! Jess said it was a few hundred people deep within my hometown library system and it was just about as big within my work library system (about 240 patrons!!)! CRAZY.  I even went as far as asking Jessica if she got as an ARC. (Sadly, she didn't get an ARC)

While I was debating, I made a trip to Target.  Good ol' Target... The place where you go to buy three things and end up spending $100 on stuff you don't really need.

Went in for diapers and wipes for C and came out with not that but this book and some various other things including a pack of fancy fine tip pens. #officesupplylove

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is one book that you should get yourself on the hold list for at your local library.  Why, you ask? Because it was just that amazing. 

After finishing the book, Jess had asked me if it was worth the hype.  I would have to say that yes, yes I believe that it is. 

(I couldn't find an article on Owen's inspiration for the book but I did find several video interviews on her inspiration.  I just didn't get the chance to sit down and watch any of them at the time of this review :(  )
The book starts in 1952, Kya is 6 years old and she is watching her mother leave.  Afraid and unsure from what's going on, Kya's older brother Jodie, tells her that her mother will come back; a mother fox doesn't leave her young behind because they won't survive without her.  Unfortunately, Jodie's words don't hold any truth to them and her mother doesn't come back.  
Soon after her mother leaves, Jodie has to leave.  The reader learns early on that Kya's father is abusive, over time he becomes increasing difficult to deal with.  Once Jodie and her mother leave, Kya (who is still 6) steps up to the plate. 

Owens flips between the past and then 10 years ahead.  10 years into the future, the reader sees that a local young man has fallen to death off of the fire tower.  There is an investigation into his death and Kya is looked at as the number 1 suspect.  Owens then tells the story of Kya raising herself alone in the marsh of North Carolina and the murder investigation of Chase Andrews. 

We learn of the few relationships that Kya has.  Growing up alone and living in the marsh is very much a taboo.  No one wants to associate with her much less speak with her.  She finds friends in Jumpin, his wife Mabel and a teenaged boy named Tate.  Tate actually helps bring Kya home after she takes her father's boat out when he left home for several days.  Tate is also the one who teaches Kya to read.  As time goes on, Kya becomes one with the marsh and all of it's living creatures.  She begins to know the water that surrounds her as well. 

The ending of this book is what got me.  I was rooting for Kya the entire time, I wanted to see her prevail and to show everyone wrong! 
Those last few chapters though, they knocked the wind outta me.  I was very much satisfied with the ending and I wouldn't have wished that it ended any other way. 

Owens wrote a powerful book that is as much beautiful as it is haunting. 

I give Where the Crawdads Sing 10 coffee beans out of 5. But seeing as how we like to stay on the side of realism here; I will give it 5 coffee beans out of 5. 

After Jess reads this book, maybe we'll bring back our Battle of the Book.  Comment down below on what you guys think about that. 

ALSO go visit our instagram! If you click on the picture up to the left of the one that's in this post, you will find a comment from Delia Owens herself! We love it when authors comment back!

~ Jillian