Monthly Wrap-Up: August 2018

Sweater season is almost upon us and I could not be more happy!



Wearing cozy sweaters and boots is my favorite! I am also super excited for spooky season!! I cannot wait to watch the new Halloween movie! I am SO excited!

Review: Beach Party by R.L. Stine

Title: Beach Party

Series: Point Horror

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: August 1990

Published by: Scholastic

Source: Own paperback

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Buy it: Amazon | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

It's the ultimate beach party in California. And Karen, who's just broken up with her boyfriend, is going to enjoy every minute of it—especially having two new guys who like her. But the party takes a nasty turn when Karen realizes someone is out to spoil the fun by getting rid of her.

My rating: ★★★☆☆
Karen’s friend Anne-Marie comes to visit her for summer break after having moved across the country a little while ago. They’re staying at Karen’s dad’s beach side apartment by themselves, and it should be nothing but fun and beach parties. And it starts out like that. Karen meets these two guys and she is having a blast. And then strange things start happening. Someone keeps threatening Karen to stay away from one of the guys, but are they serious enough to kill?

Review: There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

Title: There's Someone Inside Your House

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Genre: YA, mystery thriller

Publication date: September 2017

Published by: Dutton Books

Source: Library book

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Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

Love hurts...

Makani Young thought she'd left her dark past behind her in Hawaii, settling in with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska. She's found new friends and has even started to fall for mysterious outsider Ollie Larsson. But her past isn't far behind.

Then, one by one, the students of Osborne Hugh begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasingly grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and her feelings for Ollie intensify, Makani is forced to confront her own dark secrets.

My rating: ★★☆☆☆
I was so, so excited to read this! It’s right up my alley after all! But... no. It was... just, no. If you are a horror/thriller fan like me, don’t go into this book thinking you’re gonna get that, ‘cause you’re not. The title and synopsis of the book are incredibly misleading. This is a contemporary/romance that every once in a while remembers it’s actually supposed to be a mystery.

Review: Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel by A.W. Jantha

Title: Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel

Author: A.W. Jantha

Genre: YA, paranormal

Publication date: July 10th 2018

Published by: Freeform

Source: e-ARC from publishers via Netgalley

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Buy it: Amazon

Synopsis:

Hocus Pocus is beloved by Halloween enthusiasts all over the world. Diving once more into the world of witches, this electrifying two-part young adult novel, released on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1993 film, marks a new era of Hocus Pocus. Fans will be spellbound by a fresh retelling of the original film, followed by the all-new sequel that continues the story with the next generation of Salem teens.

Shortly after moving from California to Salem, Massachusetts, Max Dennison finds himself in hot water when he accidentally releases a coven of witches, the Sanderson sisters, from the afterlife. Max, his sister, and his new friends (human and otherwise) must find a way to stop the witches from carrying out their evil plan and remaining on earth to torment Salem for all eternity.

Twenty-five years later, Max and Allison's seventeen-year-old daughter, Poppy, finds herself face-to-face with the Sanderson sisters in all their sinister glory. When Halloween celebrations don't quite go as planned, it's a race against time as Poppy and her friends fight to save her family and all of Salem from the witches' latest death-defying scheme.

My rating: ★★★☆☆
I absolutely adore the Hocus Pocus movie! It is such a classic Halloween movie and you bet I watch it every single year!

So, because of this, I was super excited to read this book! Unfortunately it fell kind of... flat.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #128: The Waiting is Killing Me!!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #172: I Need a Vacation...

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: The Burning (The Fear Street Saga Trilogy #3) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Burning

Series: The Fear Street Saga Trilogy #3

Previous books in this series: The Betrayal (#1) | The Secret (#2)

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller, historical

Publication date: October 1993

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

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Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Book Outlet | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

The end... and the beginning

Simon Fear thought changing his name would stop the evil. He was wrong—dead wrong.

After generations of unspeakable horror, it is up to Daniel and Nora, brought together by their fateful love, to unite the feuding families. But is their forbidden love strong enough to withstand such awesome evil?

Poor Nora—desperate to tell the truth and bury the family curse... before it buries her.

My rating: ★★★★★
Nora is still persistent in writing the story of the Fears. And in this book we finally get to her story.

In the first story of this book we get more love at first sight shit when Simon Fear first sees Angelica. Ugh. This is the story of Simon Fear and how he met the love of his life. Angelica is actually already being courted by two guys, but Simon will do whatever it takes to win her over. Even kill.

Review: The Secret (The Fear Street Saga Trilogy #2) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Secret

Series: The Fear Street Saga Trilogy #2

Previous book in this series: The Betrayal

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller, historical

Publication date: September 1993

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

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Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Book Outlet | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

Buried Evil

What is the secret of Fear Street?

Why has its horror lasted so long?

Ezra Fier wants to find out. He searches for the answer among the rotting bones in the ghostly town of Wickham. But he find only betrayal and death.

Elizabeth and Kate are in love with the same boy. How can they know that they too are caught by the evil that will haunt this family forever?

My rating: ★★★★★
And we continue on with Nora telling us the story about the Goodes and the Fears (aka Fiers).

The first story starts off with Ezra Fier, who has his own family now, as he continues to search for the Goodes to exact his revenge on them. Oh no, he has not forgotten how William Goode killed pretty much his entire family and drove his aunt Mary insane (see last book for more details 😉). He is now dragging his wife and kids around looking for the Goodes until they arrive at a pretty literal ghost town... where they find death instead...

Review: The Betrayal (The Fear Street Saga Trilogy #1) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Betrayal

Series: The Fear Street Saga Trilogy #1

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller, historical

Publication date: August 1993

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

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Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Book Outlet | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

Why do so many horrifying things happen on Fear Street? Nora knows.

She knows how the terror began. She knows about the young girl who burned at the stake--and the bloody feud between two families that caused the unspeakable horror that has lasted 300 years!

She knows, and she wants to tell.

Are you sure you want to hear it?

My rating: ★★★★★
This book is told as if Nora Goode is writing it—we get three stories each with an interlude from Nora as she tells the story of the Fears and the Goodes. This is literally what I remember from reading this series way back in the day: just Nora sitting at a desk writing by candlelight. Ah, the nostalgia.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #127: ALL the Reading!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #171: Catching Up

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: The New Boy (Fear Street #20) by R.L. Stine

Title: The New Boy

Series: Fear Street #20 (Can be read as a standalone)

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: January 1994

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

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Buy it: Amazon | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

He stole their hearts... Does he want their lives, too?

What a hunk! When handsome, mysterious Ross Gabriel comes to Shadyside High, all the girls want to date him... even the ones who already have boyfriends! Janie, Eve and Faith go so far as to make a bet... which one of them will he go out with first?

But then the murders begin, and it starts to look like dating Ross means flirting with a gruesome and untimely death. Will Janie’s dream date with Ross turn out to be the night of her life? Or the night of her death?

My rating: ★★★☆☆

He was a hunk of trouble...

There’s a hot, new guy at school and so many girls want him, including Janie and her two friends. Her two friends who already have boyfriends, btw. But regardless, they make a bet to see who he goes out with first. It’s too bad one of the girls winds up dead! Did Ross actually kill her?

Review- Jillian Cade: (Fake) Paranormal Investigator by Jen Klein

Title: Jillian Cade: (Fake) Paranormal Investigator

Author: Jen Klein

Genre: YA, paranormal, mystery

Publication date: July 2016

Published by: Soho Teen

Source: Own paperback

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Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Book Outlet | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

Jillian Cade doesn’t believe in the paranormal, unlike her famous father, a professor and expert on the occult. Ever since he abandoned her to travel the world for “research,” she’s milked his reputation—and all the suckers who believe in the stuff—by taking over his private investigation firm. After all, a high school junior has to take care of herself, especially when she’s on her own.

Ironically, it’s when she takes on a case that might involve a totally non-paranormal missing person that things get strange. Particularly when Sky Ramsey—a new boy at school who insists on becoming her partner—won’t shut up about succubi, of all things.

As they investigate, Jillian is surprised by her feelings for Sky, which threaten to derail the investigation. But that surprise is no match for the shock of learning that there may be something to Sky’s succubi obsession after all.

My rating: ★★★★☆
Jillian Cade is Paranormal Investigator... who doesn’t actually believe in the paranormal. Except this time, on her most recent case, there might actually be something paranormal in the works. And that is one of the things I loved about this book!

And in Los Angeles, “no traffic” was every bit as fictional as “paranormal investigation.”

Lazy Days of Summer Giveaway Hop!

Summer is coming to an end... finally! I know a lot of people love summer because summer vacation and whatnot. But I don't get summer vacations since I finished school, and I absolutely hate the heat. So yes, I am very excited for fall to come around! It's my favorite time of year! So to say goodbye to the last weeks of summer just before school starts back up, how about a giveaway? 😉

Review: By a Thread (Elemental Assassin #6) by Jennifer Estep

Title: By a Thread

Series: Elemental Assassin #6

Previous books in this series: Spider's Bite (#1) | Web of Lies (#2) | Venom (#3) | Tangled Threads (#4) | Spider's Revenge (#5)

Short stories in this series: Poison (#0.1) | Web of Deceit (#0.2) | Spider's Bargain (#0.5) | Web of Death (#1.5) | Wasted (#2.7) | Tangled Dreams (#3.5) | Tangled Schemes (#3.7) | Spider’s Nemesis (#4.5) | Thread of Death (#5.5)

Author: Jennifer Estep

Genre: Adult, urban fantasy

Publication date: February 2012

Published by: Pocket Books

Source: Own paperback

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Synopsis:

When killing people is your job, there's no such thing as a vacation.

Then again, how often does an assassin live long enough to enjoy her retirement? In this line of work, you either get lucky or you get dead. And since I destroyed my nemesis Mab Monroe a few weeks ago, all of Ashland's lowlifes are gunning to make a name for themselves by taking out the lethal Spider—me, Gin Blanco. So I'm leaving behind my beloved barbecue joint and heading south with my baby sister, Bria, to cool my heels in a swanky beach town. Call it a weekend of fun in the sun. But when a powerful vampire with deadly elemental magic threatens an old friend of Bria's, it looks like I'll have to dig my silverstone knives out of my suitcase after all. Complicating matters further is the reappearance of Detective Donovan Caine, my old lover. But Donovan is the least of my problems. Because this time, the danger is hot on my trail, and not even my elemental Ice and Stone magic may be enough to save me from getting buried in the sand—permanently.

My rating: ★★★★★
Gin and Bria go off on vacation to the town where Bria grew up, but poor girls can’t catch a break from trouble. Bria’s best friend is in trouble so, of course, Gin lends her brand of help against the awful vampire that is tormenting Bria’s friend Callie. Looks like there’s no such thing as a vacation for this assassin.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #126: Literally Just Elemental Assassin, All the Time

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #170: Watching My Fave Movies

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: Haunted (Fear Street #7) by R.L. Stine

Title: Haunted

Series: Fear Street #7 (Can be read as a standalone)

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: July 1990

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

Add it to your Goodreads shelf

Buy it: Amazon | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

The Night Stalker

Melissa woke up screaming. The prowler was at her window…or was he? The recent headlines about a Fear Street prowler had everyone on edge. Her father now kept a loaded pistol in his bedroom. That made it even more frightening—and real.

Then the haunting began: her new car driving as if someone else had taken control; her birthday presents ripped open by unseen hands; an invisible force trying to push her out the bedroom window.

Out of the shadows of her bedroom came a menacing figure. Who was he? Did he really come from beyond the grave? And why had he come to kill her? If Melissa doesn’t solve the mystery fast, these questions will haunt her—to death!

My rating: ★★★★★

There’s a prowler in Melissa’s room—but is he dead or alive?

Melissa is being haunted by ghost who claims she killed him. But surely this is something she would remember, right? First the Fear Street Prowler breaking into houses on Fear Street to steal stuff, and now this? Poor Melissa.

Review: Violets Are Blue More Trouble Brews (Mellow Summers #13) by Janet McNulty

Title: Violets Are Blue More Trouble Brews

Series: Mellow Summers #13

Previous books in this series: Sugar And Spice And Not So Nice (#1) | Frogs, Snails, And A Lot Of Wails (#2) | An Apple A Day Keeps Murder Away (#3) | Three Little Ghosts (#4) | Oh Holy Ghost (#5) | Where Trouble Roams (#6) | Two Ghosts Haunt A Grove (#7) | Trick Or Treat Or Murder? (#8) | Roses Are Red; He's Dead (#9) | Double, Double, Nothing But Trouble (#10) | Ring Around The Rosy, Not Another Ghosty (#11) | Hickory Dickory Dock The Ghost In The Clock (#12)

Author: Janet McNulty

Genre: Adult, cozy mystery

Publication date: October 2017

Published by: Janet McNulty

Source: Own ebook

Add it to your Goodreads shelf

Buy it: Amazon

Synopsis:

Mel is enjoying her Fourth of July holiday in the park with her fiancé, Greg, and best friend, Jackie, when a contestant in a local beauty pageant collapses and dies. At first, Mel decides to let the police handle the matter, but soon receives a tip from an unlikely source, the obnoxious Tammy, that the woman was part of an old family and that her death was not accidental, but murder. Before she knows it, Mel finds herself scouring the sewers in an effort to locate a missing clue. Will she solve the mystery before Tammy unravels her last nerve?

My rating: ★★★★☆
More murder solving for Mel and her friends! This time a girl at a pageant literally drops dead... during the pageant. At first Mel was going to stay out of it and let the police handle it. Especially because it seemed like she died of heat stroke or something like that. But it turns out that she might have been murdered somehow after all! Detective Shorts is not happy, like always, but Mel sets out to solve the mystery.

Bookish Discussion: Most Read Authors (as of 2018)!

The last time I checked out who my most read authors were was back in February of 2015 in this post. And you can do this too thanks to a cool tool from Goodreads!



Anyway, now 3 years later I have decided to see how that list has changed. But just for reference, here are the authors that appeared on that previous 2015 list:

Review: Beach House by R.L. Stine

Title: Beach House

Series: Point Horror

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: August 1991

Published by: Scholastic

Source: Own paperback

Add it to your Goodreads shelf

Buy it: Amazon | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

Swim.
Sunbathe.
Die.

The sun is hot. The water's cold. And the kids are cool. Too cool to live. Because a killer is stalking them, one by one. A killer who never leaves a clue. Who disappears as completely as a footprint in the sand.

A killer who has found a very special place in the sun

for some very special sun...

My rating: ★★★☆☆
There are a couple of parts to this book that alternate between the summer of 1956 and the summer in the present (which I’m assuming is in 1992 because that’s when this book is published. Lol), each with their own set of characters. And these two different groups of friends in these two different decades are connected by a beach house... and murder.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #125: Still on that Elemental Assassin Kick

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #169: (Sort of) Updating Stuff!

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: The Sleepwalker (Fear Street #6) by R.L. Stine

Title: The Sleepwalker

Series: Fear Street #6

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller

Publication date: August 1991

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Own paperback

Add it to your Goodreads shelf

Buy it: Amazon | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

One week after she starts her summer job on Fear Street with old Mrs Cottler, Mayra Barnes begins to sleepwalk, waking up in the dead of night not knowing where she is. Mayra becomes even more terrified when she discovers Mrs Cottler may be a witch...

Is the old woman casting spells on Mayra? To add to Mayra's horror, she is being followed by a menacing stranger who seems to recognize her - but she's never seen him in her life!

Mayra's sleepwalking is leading her into more and more peril. She soon realizes she must take action. She must find out what is happening to her - or she may never leave Fear Street alive!

My rating: ★★★★☆

She isn't safe—even in her dreams!

Mayra starts working for an old woman who lives on Fear Street. It’s an easy job and she gets paid well, but ever since she started working for there she’s been sleepwalking... to Fear Street no less! Is this woman casting a spell on Mayra?

Review: Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Free Throws by Janette Rallison

Title: Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Free Throws

Author: Janette Rallison

Genre: YA, contemporary romance

Publication date: June 2014

Published by: Janette Rallison

Source: Own ebook

Add it to your Goodreads shelf

Buy it: Amazon

Synopsis:

Josie loves hottie Ethan Lancaster, the captain of the basketball team, but she never can do or say the right thing in front of him. So how can it be fair that Ethan is only interested in her best friend, Cami, when Cami isn’t even trying for his affection? Or is she?

Cami dreams of winning her basketball team’s coveted MVP award, and earning the chance to take the court during a special halftime demonstration with WNBA star Rebecca Lobo, but her best friend, Josie, is a better player. So how can it be fair that Josie is a shoo-in for the honor if she is barely interested in basketball in the first place and isn’t even trying to be the best? Or is she?

Told from two points of view, this novel of freshman life, love, and the pursuit of free throws displays the same delightful humor as Janette Rallison's other comedies.

My rating: ★★★★☆
Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Free Throws was another cute and funny contemporary book by Janette Rallison. At first I was a little worried that this would have TOO much basketball—I don't like sports, like, at all.

Blogging Confessions: About My Hiatuses...

You may (or may not... hey, I don’t know your life. Lol) have noticed that I was gone for quite some time recently. I was just in this awful reading/blogging slump that I could not get out of... until the start of July! (Thank the gods!) So this little hiatus had me thinking, “boy, I sure do take a lot of unplanned hiatuses.” And it’s typically not because I want to, it usually has to do with blogging slumps. Maybe it starting to feel like work when it’s supposed to be fun, so I just need a break. But most often I just don’t feel inspired to write and post things on the blog.