Music Monday (9) Kimbra, Samantha James & Haywyre

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Man, I can’t believe how close the end of the year is, and with Christmas and other holiday’s right around the corner, it’s almost time to do a holiday music edition of Music Monday—just not today, but expect that soon. In other good news, this week, Adri is back with more recommendations.

My first pick is Cameo Lover by Kimbra. This is probably one of my favorite songs by Kimbra, mainly because it introduced me to her music back in 2012. The style of the Cameo Lover music video is simple but really colorful and fun.

My second pick is also from Kimbra. Good Intent is another one of my favorite songs. And, I really love the tap dance sequence from the music video. It loosely of reminds me of Swing Time, the second major tap dance scene with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.

For my first selection today, I'm going with an artist I recently discovered about a month or two ago. That artist is Samantha James. While I love a lot of her songs, Find A Way stood out the most to me. 

For my second pick, I was searching "doppelganger" on Soundcloud when I came across Haywyre (I'm obsessed with Two Fold part 1 and 2). Now, of course I like Doppelganger, and no one song is my favorite, but when Insight was released I couldn't help but to have it on repeat. As if I couldn't love it anymore, I listened to the live performance, and was wowed. 

Music Monday conversation corner (since we had too much to talk about this week, and couldn't fit it in above).

Breana: I totally agree with Adri. I'm really impressed with the live performance of Insight. It's the kind of song that I want to listen to on repeat. 

Adri: I know right. I told you so.

Adri: Also, now that you got me started on tap dancing, the Nicholas Brothers in Stormy Weather...OMG.  **pulls up clips for reference**

Breana: Yeah, OMG. They are good at dancing. I'm actually really impressed. By the way, thanks for showing me the clips.  

Are there songs you listen to on repeat? If so, tell us in the comments below. 

The Friday 56 (88) & Book Beginnings: A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

I am Henrietta Howel. The first female sorcerer. The prophesied one. Or am I?

Henrietta Howel can burst into flames. When she is brought to London to train with Her Majesty's sorcerers, she meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, young men eager to test her powers and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her. As Henrietta discovers the secrets hiding behind the glamour of sorcerer life, she begins to doubt that she's the true prophesied one. With battle looming, how much will she risk to save the city--and the one she loves?

Beginning: "The Sorcerer arrived on a Saturday."

56:"Blackwood shook his head. His expression was cold. "We'll do our best, but with her background, I doubt she'll be capable." 

My face felt flaming hot. I had to dig my fingers into the palms of my hands, lest the fire come upon me suddenly."

Comments: I actually like the beginning for this one. It didn't tell me much about the story, but it quickly got to the point. I read A Shadow Bright and Burning last week, and it was just alright.  

What are you reading this week?

Review: The Lost Lullaby by Jason Segel & Kristen Miller, illustrated by Karl Kwasny

Title: The Lost Lullaby
Author/ Illustrator: Jason Segel & Kristen Miller; Karl Kwasny 
Source/Format: Borrowed from the Library; Hardback
More Details: Middle Grade
Publisher/Publication Date: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; September 13, 2016
Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble     Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Charlie Laird has a very bad feeling...

1. There’s a NEW GIRL at school, and Charlie and his friends have DEFINITELY seen her before.
2. He’s been hearing strange noises after dark, which is NEVER a good sign.
3. The nightmares are back, and they’re WEIRDER THAN EVER.

Not since he faced his fears has Charlie had so many bad dreams. Whenever he falls asleep, he finds himself in a Netherworld field, surrounded by a flock of CREEPY BLACK SHEEP.
They're not counting sheep. They refuse to jump. In fact, they don't do much at all. EVEN EERIER, THOUGH, is that it’s not Charlie’s nightmare. Somehow he’s trapped in someone else’s bad dream. And he’s pretty sure the twins ICK and INK are responsible.
Charlie and his friends thought they’d put the twins out of business, but it seems they didn’t quite finish the job. Now the WOOLLY NIGHTMARES are closing in, and INK has shown up at Cypress Creek Elementary! Charlie’s convinced that INK is up to NO GOOD. And if he’s right, it could be a very long time before anyone’s dreams are sweet again...

After finishing The Lost Lullaby, I can firmly say that Nightmares is just one of my favorite middle grade series. I love the ideas behind the stories and the lessons that the characters inevitably learn. Plus, the nightmares were some of the coolest things I’ve read about. I liked how they were incorporated into the story each and every time.

As for The Lost Lullaby, I’m glad I read it. After the end of the last book, I was curious to see where the story was going, and how the conflict would eventually be solved.

The Lost Lullaby picked up right after the end of The Sleepwalker Tonic with Charlie Laird and his friends immediately stuck knee-deep in another problem. INK is in town, the nightmares are back, and Charlie’s been hearing noises in the middle of the night. The Lost Lullaby is a fast paced story and there was a lot going on. The little clues and details placed throughout the story played into the plot, and I liked the end result.

One thing that I have especially enjoyed about this series is how involved Charlie’s father and stepmother are. It’s always nice to see the family so present in the story, and I liked how it was portrayed across all three books. The setting was also very nice. Of all the locations, the purple mansion that Charlie and his family called home was my favorite place. At first glance, it would be kind of spooky or even a bit mysterious, but its secrets made the house cool rather than anything else.

Another thing that this book got right was the characters—from the main cast to the secondary, and even the villains. There were a lot of moments where characters had to listen and learn and look past their own fears, assumptions, and biases. Those moments were gold. The end of The Lost Lullaby was fantastic. I loved how everything came together and it felt like a proper ending.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to wait over there (**points to the left**) until Jason Segel and Kristen Miller write another book.

Music Monday (8) Chloe X Halle

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Adri is off to Hollywood to see a show, so today, I'm doing Music Monday alone. Hopefully, she'll have the time next week and be back with more recommendations. Until them, I'm going to go ahead and share some of the music I've been listening to recently.

My picks this week are Fall and Drop by Chloe X Halle. I absolutely love their music, and I’m only sad that I didn’t discover them sooner. The music videos for Drop and Fall are also really gorgeous. The locations used were just spot on. These are two of the best songs I’ve come across this year. Drop is positively fantastic and the first song I actually heard by Chloe X Halle. I really enjoy the background music as well as the vocals.

Fall is just as great. The vocals and lyrics are the star of the show, and just like Drop above, the filming of the music video is spot on.

What new music are you listening to this week?

Cover Spotlight: Violet Grenade by Victoria Scott

On Wednesday, the cover for Victoria Scott's Violet Grenade was revealed over on Glitter Magazine (You can check out that post HERE), and today, I'm going to share it here on the blog. You can check out the cover below, and head over to Goodreads to see the synopsis.  

Title: Violet Grenade

Author: Victoria Scott

Expected Publication Date: May 2, 2017

Publisher: Entangled Teen

You can find out more about the book on Goodreads

Victoria Scott is the critically acclaimed author of TITANS, FIRE & FLOOD, SALT & STONE, the DANTE WALKER trilogy, HEAR THE WOLVES (2017), and VIOLET GRENADE (2017). She is published by Scholastic and Entangled Teen, and is represented by Sara Crowe. Her latest novel, TITANS, received two starred reviews, and FIRE & FLOOD was nominated as a YALSA Teens' Top 10 book of 2015. Victoria’s novels are sold in thirteen different countries, and she loves receiving reader emails from at home, and across the world...

Goodreads     Website     Twitter     Facebook     Instagram

The Friday 56 (87) Now with Book Beginnings: The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Something is wrong in the house Lin's family rented. The clocks tick too slowly. Frost covers the flowerbed, even in a rain storm. And when a secret key marked "Twistrose" arrives for her, Lin finds in a crack in the cellar and unlocks a gate to the world of Sylver. This frozen realm is the home of every dead animal who ever loved a child. Lin is overjoyed to be reunited with Rufus, the pet she buried under the rosebush. But together they must find the missing Winter Prince in order to save Sylver from destruction…and they’re not the only ones hunting for the Prince...

Beginning: "The grave that Lin had made for her friend  could not be touched by the wind. Above, the dripping rose-bush flailed, scratching its thorns at the wall. But the whittled cross of twigs and string did not so much as shiver. Instead a lick of rime had crept up to cover the wood with white. Late, Lin Rosenquist would remember this as a sign, the first."

56: "When the last hope is lost, a Twistrose is called.

She tilted her head. The dark colors of the background bled into one another, and she had missed it at first. But now she saw that the wall had tumbled in the middle, so a hole opened into the unknown shadows. On the edge stood a girl with her back turned, with tangled hair and a scruffy-looking sweater."--The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell

Comments: I'm so glad that I picked up The Twistrose Key. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. I've also joined Book Beginnings this week. I just haven't had a chance to update the header yet.

What are you reading this week?

Review: Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Title: Gemina
Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Source/Format: Borrowed from the library; Hardcover
More Details: Young Adult; Science Fiction
Publisher/Publication Date: Knopf Books for Young Readers; October 18, 2016
Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble     Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed...

The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminaecontinues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy's most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station's wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands. But relax. They've totally got this. They hope...

I feel like I have waited forever to read Gemina. There were parts that I really loved about the story, and others that were just sort of meh.

Listen, I loved Illuminae. I have an endless amount of praise for that book. I enjoyed the way the mixed media was used to tell the story, and honestly, it was just exciting. The beginning packed an emotional punch, and the ending was full of action and suspense. Simply put, Illuminae was exhilarating. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

Don’t get me wrong, Gemina was not a bad book. The same elements that made Illuminae so great were here too; although, I felt like something was missing. Some parts were a little underwhelming for me and I had a harder time connecting with the focal characters—Nik and Hanna—but other than that, the book was great.

Despite its length, Gemina was a quick read for me. I did like the use of the mixed media—plus, the illustrations were nice. On its own, the story was pretty interesting, and there was a lot of action once the bulk of the conflict took center stage. Part of what I liked most about Gemina was the tone of the story. The villains posed a significant threat. Their motives, attitude, and means created an atmosphere of suspense.

The science fiction aspect of Illuminae and Gemina is part of what I like about this series thus far. The technology, ships, and the station were all pretty neat, and I liked how the setting was used.

As I said above, I had a slight problem with connecting with the characters. This was mainly due to the VERY beginning of the book, but once I got past that and learned more about them, I did like them a little more, especially how they were ultimately developed. It was also nice to see some of the characters from the last book, and I really enjoyed that part of the story.

Now, the end of Gemina didn’t really resolve that much—it was kind of a cliffhanger. I still have a lot of unanswered questions and want to see how things ultimately turn out, so I’m definitely going to read the next book.

Music Monday (7) The Video Game Edition

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

I was mostly offline at the end of last week. I was pretty busy and took a somewhat impromptu break from the internet. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Anyway, welcome back to Music Monday. This week Adri and I are tackling some of our favorite video game trailers and theme songs, hence the title of this post.

My first pick this week is Glockenpop by Spiderbait, which is one of the songs featured in Little Big Planet. I always like to play the levels that use this song since it’s so catchy, and I don’t mind listening to it more than once in a ten minute timeframe (or however long it takes me to beat the level). From the Little Big Planet OST (original soundtrack), I think Glockenpop captures the feel of the game best.

My second pick is Blackheart by Two Steps From Hell, which is used in the PlayStation 4 trailer. I regularly listen to Two Steps From Hell. I really enjoy their music. So, I liked Blackheart even before it was used for the trailer. I might even have to do another post that features a couple more of my favorite Two Steps From Hell songs.

Well, since I'm becoming a permanent blogger here...

This week, we're focusing on video games so my selections are based off a game I fell in love with: Mirror's Edge. I found the game because the PlayStation store had some type of anniversary thing gong on at the time, and the game was free. At the end of the game, the song Still Alive sung by Lisa Miskovsky plays as the credits roll; unfortunately, I didn't care for the song at the time.  **Fun Fact: Still Alive is also the name of the song that plays at the end of Portal (Yet another pair of songs that share the same name).**

It wasn't until the reboot (which at the time, I mistakenly assumed was the sequel) was announced that I started to like Still Alive. However, history repeats and the same thing happened with Mirror's Edge Catalyst. I was not a fan of CHVRCHES' Warning Call, but of course, I found myself coming back to the song. I guess you could say I'm listening to this song until I can actually play Mirror's Edge Catalyst. **cries** :,-(

On a side note, I have also been listening to the soundtrack released by Solar Fields while playing the original Mirror's Edge. I love Savant, the Anchor District, and Catalyst.

What are some of your favorite video game theme songs?

The Friday 56 (86) The Lost Lullaby by Jason Segel & Kristen Miller, illustrated by Karl Kwasny

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Charlie Laird has a very bad feeling...

1. There’s a NEW GIRL at school, and Charlie and his friends have DEFINITELY seen her before.
2. He’s been hearing strange noises after dark, which is NEVER a good sign.
3. The nightmares are back, and they’re WEIRDER THAN EVER.

Not since he faced his fears has Charlie had so many bad dreams. Whenever he falls asleep, he finds himself in a Netherworld field, surrounded by a flock of CREEPY BLACK SHEEP.
They're not counting sheep. They refuse to jump. In fact, they don't do much at all. EVEN EERIER, THOUGH, is that it’s not Charlie’s nightmare. Somehow he’s trapped in someone else’s bad dream. And he’s pretty sure the twins ICK and INK are responsible.
Charlie and his friends thought they’d put the twins out of business, but it seems they didn’t quite finish the job. Now the WOOLLY NIGHTMARES are closing in, and INK has shown up at Cypress Creek Elementary! Charlie’s convinced that INK is up to NO GOOD. And if he’s right, it could be a very long time before anyone’s dreams are sweet again...

"He'd only just finished when Charlotte appeared in the kitchen and gave Charlie's father a kiss. "Charlie's annoyed with me."

Charlie crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at his stepmother."--The Lost Lullaby by Jason Segel & Kristen Miller, illustrated by Karl Kwasny

Comments: I basically binge read the rest of this series. And oh man, The Lost Lullaby was such a good book.

What are you reading this week?

Review: The Sleepwalker Tonic by Jason Segel & Kristen Miller, illustrated by Karl Kwasny

Title: The Sleepwalker Tonic
Author/Illustrator: Jason Segel & Kristen Miller; Karl Kwasny
Source/Format: Borrowed from the library; Hardcover
More Details: Middle Grade; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; September 8, 2015
Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble     Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic is the sequel to the hilariously scary New York Times bestselling novel Nightmares! by multitalented actor Jason Segel and bestselling author Kirsten Miller. You thought the nightmares were over? You better keep the lights on!

Charlie Laird has a dream life.

1) He has a weirdo stepmom who runs an herbarium.
2) He lives in a purple mansion with a portal to the Netherworld.
3) Since they escaped from the Netherworld, he and his best friends have been sleeping like babies.

But Charlie can’t shake the feeling that something strange is afoot. Charlotte’s herbarium used to be one of the busiest stores in Cypress Creek. Now her loyal following is heading to Orville Falls for their herbal potions.
Weirder, though, Orville Falls is suddenly filled with . . . zombies? At least, they sure look like the walking dead. Rumor has it that no one’s sleeping in Orville Falls. And Charlie knows what that means. Things are getting freaky again...

After reading Nightmares I was pretty excited to get my hands on a copy of The Sleepwalker Tonic by Jason Segel & Kristen Miller. I mean, Nightmares was surprising in all the best ways. The ideas introduced were fantastic and the execution was spot on. And oh man, this series just keeps getting better and better. The Sleepwalker Tonic was so good. All the things I loved about the first book were brought back and incorporated into the continuation of Charlie Laird’s story.

Charlie Laird was pretty much enjoying life after the events of the first book. It made me happy to see how his life had changed for the better, but that peace doesn’t last long when strange things start happening. The plot was fantastic. I loved how all the dream and nightmare aspects were incorporated. There were a lot of imaginative ideas introduced in The Sleepwalker Tonic, and I loved how they were ultimately presented.

Once again, I really liked the characters. There were some new faces, but even if they were secondary, they had their place in the story. Charlie was a great narrator, and I enjoyed reading from his perspective. I liked how his character was developed, the growth that he went through, and the lessons he learned. I also enjoyed how involved his stepmother was. It’s always nice to see one or more of the characters parents involved in some way or another.

One thing that The Sleepwalker Tonic gets right is the conflict. I liked how it was set up and how it ultimately played out. The villains were suitably creepy in their own right.

The Sleepwalker Tonic was a fantastic addition to the series, and yet I have so many questions left unanswered. Needless to say, I’m definitely looking forward to the next book, The Lost Lullaby.