Teaser Tuesday #165

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

I couldn't remember a time when my thoughts of him didn't send a silvery little thrill though my body. He was a mysery and a magician and all my family's hopes for the future rolled into one. 

I have never read The Bluebeard Fairy Tale, but this book has been on my shelf for awhile now. I picked it up because of the cover and a friend told me it was really good. Think it's time to pick it up and see what I think.

Have you read this one? What are you reading this week? 

 

ARC Review: The Next to Last Mistake

I recieved this book for free in exchange for my honest review.  My thoughts are my own and mine alone. 

The Next to Last Mistake by Amalie Jahn 

Published By: Light Messages Publishing
Published Date:  March 19th 2019

Format: Egalley

Pages: 282 Pages
Challenges: Goodreads

Tess Goodwin’s life in rural Iowa is sheltered and uncomplicated. Although she chooses to spend most of her free time playing chess with her best friend Zander, the farm-boy from next door, her skills as a bovine midwife and tractor mechanic ensure that she fits in with the other kids at East Chester High. But when her veteran father reenlists in the Army, moving her family halfway across the country to North Carolina, Tess is forced out of her comfort zone into a world she knows nothing about. Tess approaches the move as she would a new game of chess, plotting her course through the unfamiliar reality of her new life. While heeding Zander’s long-distance advice for making new friends and strategizing a means to endure her dad’s imminent deployment to the Middle East, she quickly discovers how ill-equipped she is to navigate the challenges she encounters and becomes convinced she’ll never fit in at her new school. When Leonetta Jackson is assigned as her mentor, she becomes Tess’s unexpected guide through the winding labyrinth of disparities between them, sparking a tentative friendship and challenging Tess to confront her reluctant nature. As the pieces move across the board of her upended life, will Tess find the acceptance she so desperately desires?

When I first read the summary of this book I was super excited to read it. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the ARC so I could read and share my thoughts here on the blog. Let's start off by saying I wasn't disappointed in this one. Yes there were a few things that I didn't particularily enjoy, but all in all this was a great read. 

In the beginging of this book, I really loved the relationships between Tess and Zander, I hated that she ended up moving away and wasn't around him anymore. I needed more of that relationship in this story. I understand that the book had to move forward after she moved but still I needed more of Zander! I loved the character Tess, she's the main character and I really related to her. All she wants is acceptance and that's pretty much what everyone really wants. To be accepted for who she is. 

Now my next thoughts on this book is something that I don't usually talk about here on the blog, but I think it needs to be mentioned when it comes to this book. I don't want you to take this the wrong way though. I think this subject is extreamly important in today's world. The world we live in gets crazy and honestly it's very racist. It's how it is and I'm not sure how we change that. I do think sometimes we push a bit too hard though and I think at times this book did that. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it did make the book drag a bit in my opinion. Like I said I think it's a really important subject to have in YA books, because kids these days need to know and see what others go through, but we don't need to push too hard either way. (I hope I'm saying this right.) I wasn't going to say anything because I don't want a bunch of hate comments on my blog, but I think it's also important to mention because it's such a huge part of this book and a huge part of our world today.  

It did bring to attention that sometimes our words touch different people in different ways. Maybe we say something but didn't mean it that way, but it was precieved that way. We as people need to watch the way we say things. I did like that it touched on that subject and how it was brought up. 

Now let's talk about setting and plot. I really enjoyed the plot, I wanted to know if Tess was going to make it in her new world so to speak, but like I said above it did drag a bit in places. I really loved the descriptive parts about her new house and new school.  All in all I did enjoy this book and would like to read more books by this author. I think it's a great book for young adults to read and honestly need to read. I really hope you'll read this book and enjoy it.  It's got some tough subjects but it's a fantastic read over all!

I'm giving The Next To Last Mistake an Ali's Bookshelf...

Plot: 20/20

Characters: 15/20

Writing: 16/20

Creativity: 15/20

Cover: 10/10

Ending: 10/10

Ali Talks: Ratings and the Rating Breakdown

So today, I wanted to chat about ratings and the Rating breakdown that I used to add to my reviews here on the blog. It's something that's been on my mind for a little while and honestly it's something that I want to really work on here on Ali's Bookshelf. 

Do you ever feel like you get into a rut when it comes to ratings and the books you read? I know ratings are very subjective, they are based on the person's thoughts when reading the book. I want to work on the way I rate books. I honestly want to be a bit harder when it comes to my ratings. So fair warning you might not see many fives in the coming reviews. Fives are going to be saved for those books that I just couldn't get out of my head after I finished them, or those books that I just couldn't pull myself away from. I just feel like I give a lot of 4's and 5's and after awhile I wonder if I went back and read those books again if I would give the same rating. I want to be a little bit more critical. 

What are your thoughts on ratings? When you read a book are you criticial when giving out a rating or do you just give it a five if you liked it?  

 I think I'm going to bring back my old rating system, a few years ago I used to post all my reviews with a rating breakdown of sorts. Sort of like this...

Plot: /20

Characters: /20

Writing: /20

Creativity: /20

Cover: /10

Ending: /10

I'm thinking of bringing this back to help me be fore critical of what I'm reading. Back when I was adding this to my reviews I was a bit more critical than I am now.  It made me think before just giving a book five puppies, I had to know exactly why I was giving said book five puppies. I think will also keep me more in check when it comes to be honest about how I feel about the book. If I like a book, I've found here lately I give it five puppies, but shouldn't I love that book if it gets that rating? Like I said I've been thinking about this for a while now and I think it's time for change! 

Thanks for sticking around for my little ratings chat, how do you feel about ratings? Should we as readers be more critical or just go with it? I would love to know your thoughts on this topic. Also how do you rate your reads, do you just rate them on Goodreads or do you have a blog like me? 

Have a great day and as always...

Book Blogger Hop #68

Book Blogger Hop is another post I'm going to be trying out and this one has a topic each week, which is something I've been trying to bring to the blog.  I'm really excited about this one because I have a hard time coming up with something fresh to talk about and I'm hoping this helps.

If you would be interested in doing your own post, please CLICK HERE to learn more about this great hop!

 22nd - 28th - Do you read along with your Audio books? (submitted by Angelica @ Paperback Princess)

 There has been a few books that I've done this. One being Illuminae just because of the details of of the book. If you haven't seen the inside you're missing out! It's beautiful. But most of the time I don't follow along with an Audiobook. 

Do you follow along with an audiobook? If you do, why do you follow along? I would love to know your thoughts on this topic. 

Book Blogger Hop #65

Book Blogger Hop is another post I'm going to be trying out and this one has a topic each week, which is something I've been trying to bring to the blog.  I'm really excited about this one because I have a hard time coming up with something fresh to talk about and I'm hoping this helps.

If you would be interested in doing your own post, please CLICK HERE to learn more about this great hop!

 8th - 14th - Do you have celebrations for your blog's anniversary such as a giveaway? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

 I used to do this and honestly really want to bring it back. I've been blogging for a long time and think it should be something that is celebrated. It's always fun to do giveaways and celebrate things here on the blog.

What do you all think, should I bring that back?