A girl and her books.

my currently-reading shelf: Rachel's quotes Goodreads Quotes

[kaeyallberich]

8/08 AUGUST 8TH 

[kaeyallberich]

happy birthday sensates!

[rachelburiedinabook]

Racing the Sun by Karina Halle: 2.5/5 Stars

“It’s time for twenty-four-year-old Amber MacLean to face the music. After a frivolous six months of backpacking through New Zealand, Australia, and Southeast Asia, she finds herself broke on the Mediterranean without enough money for a plane ticket home to California. There are worse places to be stuck than the gorgeous coastline of southern Italy, but the only job she manages to secure involves teaching English to two of the brattiest children she’s ever met. It doesn’t help that the children are under the care of their brooding older brother, Italian ex-motorcycle racer Desiderio Larosa. Darkly handsome and oh-so-mysterious, Derio tests Amber’s patience and will at every turn—not to mention her hormones. But when her position as teacher turns into one as full-time nanny at the crumbling old villa, Amber finds herself growing closer to the enigmatic recluse and soon has to choose between the safety of her life back in the States and the uncertainty of Derio’s closely guarded heart.” 

Okay. How do I review this book? Here's the thing. I didn't hate it. It wasn't horrible. If you are a fan of contemporary romance and spend your time daydreaming about Italy, go pick this book up. And ignore my review. But here's the other thing. I'm NOT generally a fan of contemporary romance. I just don't like it. For me, it has to have something that makes it a little less fluffy; disturbing, even. Something real and imperfect. A hugely flawed character or an element of fucked up that gets me into it. I can normally depend on this from Karina Halle. She's one of my favorite authors for that reason, and I'll continue to give everything she writes a shot. But this was not Dex and Perry. Or Javier/Ellie/Camden. Or Vera/Mateo. Or Linden/Stephanie. Or even Josh/Gemma. Amber and Derio were boring. They bored me. I wasn't excited about them. I wasn't attached to them and I didn't feel the connection between them, like you can in the really good ones. Derio was intriguing at first, with his broodiness, but that was something that dissipated completely, and he became just a bunch of fluff way. And really quickly. There's also nothing hot about playing mom to some guys younger siblings. In fact, when Amber starts to rethink her decision and whether this is what she wants for her life, I was over here screaming, "YES. I AGREE. This literally sounds like a nightmare. Get out. Go now. Be happy you, at least, got laid out of this and RUN." There's even this one part of the book where you're convinced that....

MILD SPOILER AHEAD. 

If you keep reading, you have only yourself to blame. 

...he’s dead (he’s not), and I hoped it was true. It would have at least made it more interesting. The grief that followed and the less than happy ending would have given the book that genuine raw, human emotion I feel that it lacked. I'd maybe give this 2.5 stars. Their relationship was boring. The book was typical. And not at all what I’d expected. 

[rachelburiedinabook]

Blaise Paschal was a Christian Apologist… just thought you might want to know that.

I know who he was. He of the wager. Who doesn't? But thanks (;

[littlealienproducts]

Virginia Woolf Quote Print // $27 

[donutworryaboutme-deactivated20]

I LOVE THIS TOO MUCH

[rachelburiedinabook]

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

Blaise Pascal

[rachelburiedinabook]

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca 

[rachelburiedinabook]

In case you've been wondering what I've been up to lately, here it is. I've been in Stephen King horror heaven. Added 'Under the Dome' and 'Carrie' to my collection today. So. Excited.

[rachelburiedinabook]

"He smiles a lot. But I think there might be worms inside him making him smile.

Stephen King, The Stand 

[rachelburiedinabook]

Where Sea Meets Sky by Karina Halle: 4/5 Stars.

“I have this...I don't know what it is exactly. But I wake up and it's there and it's been there for a long time. It's just this absence. It tells me that either something was there before and now it's gone or that something should be there at this point in my life. But I don't have it. I feel this lack. So much that it hurts. And I don't know what it is. It just makes me sad. It makes me long and ache and I need something to fill it. It's a constant pain and I'm so fucking tired of it.” What a ride. My first reaction: I think I vomited up some soul. My second reaction: Time to pack up, go to New Zealand, and do/experience all of those things. Minus the skydiving. Fuck the skydiving. My third reaction: Why does everything Karina Halle touches turn to fucking gold? I love her. I wish she’d touch me. Anyway, here’s the basics. A boy and a girl have some instalust at a Halloween party. The end up hooking up, staying up the whole night talking, and leaving a lasting impression on each other. But. It doesn’t really matter if they want more. The girl is going back to New Zealand in the morning, and the boy will still be here in Vancouver, with an ocean and all this life in between. The boy: Josh Miles. 23. Tortured and tattooed artist, who has been dying for an excuse to go and find out there’s more to life than the banality of everyday life and just going through the motions. The girl: Gemma Henare. 22. Wild at heart, and a little bit dead inside after an accident took everything from her, Gemma doesn’t believe she deserves anything better than what she’s got, and that asking for it will only lead to disappointment. So, Josh heads to New Zealand, not even knowing her last name, hoping that the two of them can bring each other back to life. When they inevitably cross paths again, Gemma invites Josh to join her on a trip around the country, taking in the beauty and the culture of New Zealand and all it has to offer. Oh, also with her cousin. Oh, also with her douchebag boyfriend. If there’s one thing ‘The Pact’ has taught me, it’s that Karina Halle loves her some awkward camping trip, and guess what? SO DO I. And it does get all kinds of awkward, sexy, annoying, soulful, heartbreaking, uplifting, nerve-wracking, aggravating, and beautiful. Really beautiful. Not necessarily in that order. But you see what I mean, this book has it all. It’s a wild ride that will make you wanna do pack your bags and do something crazy. Because fuck it. Why not. 

“Love is a fucking head trip. It’s a bad idea. It’s utterly distracting and, ironically, I think love is bad for your heart.

In the end, I think it’s going to break mine.”

Oh, poor Josh. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was pretty much what I needed to read right now. What kept it from being a five-star read for me? It was a bit too angsty at times. Gemma could be a bit too dense. The "how do I get her to make art" storyline gets a little too intense, and to me, seemed a little unnecessary. This book has so much. Recommended for lovers of a beautifully flawed romance.

[rachelburiedinabook]

It's brutal and kind and sharp and soft and warm and cold and freezing and imprisoning. It's an incognito imposter taking over my world, spreading itself like a disease.  It's a million and one things, and it's real to the bone.  It's in my bones.  It's love. And I have no idea what I'm going to do next.

Karina Halle, Where Sea Meets Sky

[rachelburiedinabook]

This woman is going to break my heart. I knew it the moment she told me she destroyed all her paintings, all her memories. I knew she was going to destroy me, too.

Karina Halle, Where Sea Meets Sky

[rachelburiedinabook]

Unteachable by Leah Raeder: 1/5 Stars.

“Grow up. This is real. The world is ugly and nasty and fucked up, and so are we.” You see my one star up there, you know how I felt about this, so I'll try to keep this brief. It's not you -- it's me. I thought this would totally be one of those fucked-up romances that I'd love. But it wasn't. You also probably know the premise. Our eighteen year-old MC hooks up with an older guy at a carnival the week before starting her senior year. This guy makes her feel things. She walks into class the following week only to find that he is her film studies teacher. Both Evan and Maise are consumed with their need for one another, and staying away from each other does not seem to be an option. It isn't long before they are sneaking around and doing whatever it takes to be together. How could it be wrong when it feels this good? Etc. Here was my problem with this book: I expected a severely flawed romance and maybe some character revolutions. Some reality and a lot of pain. Some better secrets. For instance, we have Maise. She suffers from the typical teen syndrome of thinking that she is so much more mature than her age reflects, so worldly, so much smarter than everyone else. She knows everything. Unteachable says: She's right. Is that ever the case? Where's reality to slap you in the face when you need it?  

And then there's Evan. I mean, let's be honest. You have to be a little bit of a sick fuck if you're 32 and you're trying to get it on with teens. I mean, what could you have in common? What would you talk about with someone that lacks more than a decade of your life experience? Or wait. No adult life experience. Well, in Maise's case...everything because she is so intelligent and worldly. But...let's go back to this sick fuck. So what's he going to do? Is he going to become some kind of a deranged stalker? Violently obsessed? Ditch her? Well, he's got a couple of secrets, but they were pretty underwhelming. So, they have a couple of close calls. Maise contemplates the relationship a couple of times, ultimately deciding that they are truly meant to be and will be together forever. So I'm all like, "Okay, this is it. The fucked up reality is on its way. He says something fucked up like, 'you're too old for me now'..." Wrong. Unteachable says: You're right! It is true love! You guys will be together forever. I'm not a lovey love story kind of girl. If you are, and you'd like it with a twist, this might be the book for you. I, however, like the darkness and the grit that I thought I would get from this. The whorey-drug addict mom didn't give it to me. I wanted this to go differently, and I wanted Maise to overcome it and hook up with her friend that is in love with her: the one she should have been with all along. And she should have known that. I wanted realism. I didn't get it.

[hexenmoon2-deactivated20150622]

Bookworm problems

Which book am I going to read next?

Book hangover.

No space for new books.

Organising bookshelves.

Not enough money for new books

Not enough time for reading.

Falling in love with fictional characters.

Gotta have all the hardcovers!

Fear of running out of books.

A position comfortable enough for reading.

Waiting for the next volumes to be published.

[thingssheloves-deactivated20151]

bookeh by nardell on Flickr.

[rachelburiedinabook]

Burned (Fever #7) by Karen Marie Moning

I finished Burned over the weekend. I'm not happy. 

[rachelburiedinabook]

"When someone hurts you -and I'm not talking about forgivable offenses, some things are irrevocable and demand recompense- you have two choices: slice them out of your life or slice them into delicious, bloody pieces. While the latter would be infinitely more satisfying in an immediate, animalistic way, it changes you. And, although you think the memory of the battle won will be a pleasure- if it is a pleasure, you've lost the war."

Karen Marie Moning, Burned (Fever #7)

[rachelburiedinabook]

"Temptation isn't a vice you triumph over once, completely, and then you're free. Temptation slips into bed with you each night and helps you say your prayers. It wakes you in the morning with a friendly cup of coffee, and knows just the way you take it, heavy on the sin."

Karen Marie Moning, Burned (Fever #7)