Top Ten Tuesday: Spring TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a really great meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. 

Today's Topic? 

Top Ten Books On My Spring TBR List

Spring (n.): One of the four season of the year; usually entails the cutest darn baby animals you've ever seen in your entire life, more flowers than there are stars, allergies, allergies, and more allergies, the weather you've been waiting all freaking year for, and, of course, brand new books! 



Here are the top ten books on my to-read list for this year's spring time:

1. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare: Spring is all about new things, right? Well...this BRAND NEW series in the Shadowhunter chronicles should be perfect for spring reading!

2. The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski: With no particular relation to the spring time, I just really need to get my hands on this book. I loved her other novels, and now, it's time for me to devour this one. It just happened to be released around spring. 

3. The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore: Birds are springy. They fly around and tweet their little (slightly annoying) bird songs. Why not read a book that references feathers in the title? 

4. The Heir by Kiera Cass: I have to, I have to read this book. Now. Right now. I might be subjecting myself to an onslaught of thorougly addicting books/romances, but I am so ready for it.  

5. Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty: I smell realistic fiction with a side of juicy romance. What could be more perfect for the spring? 

6. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys: I love me some real good historical fiction. Salt to the Sea is not only historical, it's Ruta Sepetys historical, which, to me, is one of the best kinds.
7. Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between by Jennifer E. Smith: So, no, there is never a time when romance is not appropriate. But, during the spring time, it's even MORE appropriate. And Jennifer E. Smith is just too cute. Plus, might I just say, her book titles are to die for.
8. Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider: I adored the Beginning of Everything, and even if this story isn't as happy-go-lucky as some of the other picture-perfect spring reads, a story about second chances and learning to love is just fine for this time of year.
9. The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick: Ah, the aforementioned picture-perfect spring read. What else can I say?
10. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard: The first was so good, I just couldn't deny myself the pleasure of reading the sequel. Reading this as soon as possible is high on my list of spring to-dos.

Out of The Easy Review

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Title: Out of the Easy

Author: Ruta Sepetys

Series: None

Publisher: Philomel Books

Publication Date: February 12, 2013

Genre: Historical Fiction; Coming of Age; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 364

Format: Hardback

goodreads

It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.

She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

After reading Between Shades of Gray, I was hooked on Sepetys’ effortless recreation of historical settings and intriguing, untold story lines. She taught me about a part of Russian history that is rarely talked about, and, with her most recent novel, I have learned about the surreptitious happenings of the New Orleans underground.

After her mother abandoned her, Josie Moraine was raised by Willie Woodley, the harshest Madam of the French Quarter. Refusing to be sucked into the Big Easy and all that it has to offer, Josie has plans to escape the French Quarter and begin a life of her own, which includes further education. When a murder shakes up the Quarter and Josie, she must battle with her conscience and her dreams of a better future. Mesmerizing New Orleans soon turns into a battlefield as Josie Moraine defeats unforeseen encounters and defies all expectations.

Set in the sketchy recesses of New Orleans, away from the public eye, Out of the Easy is a creative, never-been-heard-before story of a girl who wishes to flee from the life she was born into. Sepetys takes the liberty of telling this story from the point of view of a character that no one has thought of before. I loved the way Sepetys created such a mystic and hypnotic New Orleans for her setting.

While this book captures its readers through its unique historical value, I quickly lost interest towards the last quarter of the book. The plot fizzled out, and, instead of making me turn the pages with curiosity, I was page-flipping with the sole purpose of finishing. The romance, which I don’t think was brought to its full potential, was underdeveloped. If it played more of a role in the plot, it would’ve added an element of suspense that this book was considerably lacking. I felt as if I was thrust into a high-speed story, and in the end, it fell short of the expectations I had set for it. Out of the Easy lacked a strong ending to match its powerful beginning.

The worth of Sepetys’ world building is priceless; I just wish that the plot line was as good as the setting itself. Sepetys’ previous novel Between Shades of Gray was more personal, and you could tell that the author was writing a story that she wanted to tell. Out of the Easy, while not absolutely horrible, was just…unremarkable. Creative, sure, but unfortunately unremarkable. 

Between Shades of Gray Review

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Title: Between Shades of Gray

Author: Ruta Sepetys

Series: None

Publisher: Philomel Books

Publication Date: March 22, 2011

Genre: Historical Fiction; Young Adult

Pages: 344

Format: Hardback

goodreads

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

“Don’t give them anything Lina, not even your fear.”

Everyone’s heard of the Holocaust. Everyone’s heard of Hitler. But how many people have heard of Stalin? Or the Baltic cleansing? How many know about the eradication of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia? Honestly, I didn’t actually know who Stalin was and what his reign held for Russia until High School English when we read Animal Farm. I didn’t know that his actions rivaled that of Hitler’s. I read this book with only the vague summary that the main character was a girl who was sent to a labor camp. Labor camp made me think of the Holocaust and Germany. I was surprised to find that it was actually about Stalin’s genocide of the Baltic people. This book told me a story about a time in history that I had heard next to nothing about.

“I hated them, the NKVD and the Soviets. I planted a seed of hatred in my heart. I swore it would grow to be a massive tree whose roots would strangle them all.”

Books like these put me in a mindset where I continuously wonder how I would act if I were in a situation like this. If everything I owned was taken away from me and my life was being torn apart at the seams and if I woke up each morning not knowing if I would see tomorrow’s sunrise. What truly amazed me in this book was the amount of generosity and hope they harbored even when they owned nothing but their dignity and self-respect. Especially the mother of Lina, Elena. She would always find a way to give when she had nothing. Lina’s strength and resolve were inspiring and awe-striking. Sepetys created a story that we can only read and shake our heads in wonder at.  

“It was the one thing I never questioned. I wanted to live. I wanted to see my brother grow up. I wanted to see Lithuania again. I wanted to see Joana. I wanted to smell the lily of the valley on the breeze beneath my window. I wanted to paint the fields. I wanted to see Andrius with my drawings. There were only two possible outcomes in Siberia. Success meant survival. Failure meant death. I wanted life. I wanted to survive.”

Ruta Sepetys was the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee and decided to write this story to tell the truth that so few people have heard. After the Baltic people escaped from their prisons, they were not allowed to tell anyone of their horrific experiences. They had to keep it within themselves and remember what they went through by themselves. In the Author’s Note, Sepetys bids her readers to “Please research it. Tell someone.” And reminds us that “These three tiny nations have taught us that love is the most powerful army. Whether love of friend, love of country, love of God, or even love of enemy–love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit.”

                                                                                             

I would recommend this book to anyone so that they could learn about something they've probably only heard little about. What this book lacked in magical writing, it made up for in the gasp-inducing and heart-pounding story line. This book is filled with death, life, happiness, and sorrow. Inspired by true accounts, this book will stay with me for a long time.