Blog Tour: The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Release Date: February 23, 2016
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Publisher
Pages: 240
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
In Alaska, 1970, being a teenager here isn’t like being a teenager anywhere else. This deeply moving and authentic debut is for fans of Rainbow Rowell, Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, and Benjamin Alire Saenz. Intertwining stories of love, tragedy, wild luck, and salvation on the edge of America’s Last Frontier introduce a writer of rare talent.

Ruth has a secret that she can’t hide forever. Dora wonders if she can ever truly escape where she comes from, even when good luck strikes. Alyce is trying to reconcile her desire to dance, with the life she’s always known on her family’s fishing boat. Hank and his brothers decide it’s safer to run away than to stay home—until one of them ends up in terrible danger.

Four very different lives are about to become entangled. This unforgettable book is about people who try to save each other—and how sometimes, when they least expect it, they succeed. 

A far cry from my normal reading taste, The Smell of Other People's Houses isn't a book I would have ever picked up on my own. Thank goodness someone pushed it into my hands! This subtle historical is flawlessly written and sure to be a 2016 favorite for many readers.

I have to be honest...Historical novels are usually a huge reading turn-off for me. They always seem so unapproachable. The jacket copy often puts the time and setting - the history - at the forefront, and I find it hard to look past that to imagine what might hide within the books pages. That wasn't the case with this novel. 

Reading Resolutions or Learning How to Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables

This year I’m not getting a new gym membership or cutting out carbs, but I have decided to commit to being more thoughtful about what I put in my brain. Food and books are two of my favorite things and I’m omnivorous and voracious with both. However, while I stock my fridge and pantry with the things that I know are good for me and search for the best ways in which to incorporate them on my plate, I have not been as careful in my library.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading things that are good for me, but perhaps a concerted effort to include them in my rotation is just what the doctor has ordered in this, first day of the rest of my life. It’s time to be more conscious of the most overlooked parts of my reading diet: The Classics (fruits) and Non-Fiction (vegetables).

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

Release Date: April 5, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Pages: 336
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
What if the person you need the most is someone you’ve never met?  

Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.

In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?

I knew I was going to enjoy Tell Me Three Things the moment I read the jacket copy. Sharp and delightful yet raw and chock full of emotion, Julie Buxbaum's debut YA novel is a contemporary story that truly captures the complexity of living with loss and navigating the waves of change that follow.

Release Days Round-Up: February 14-20

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