A Few To-Be-Reads on this Summer's Reading List

Everyone who loves to read has a to-be-read list about a mile high, and I'm no exception. But today I wanted to feature a few of my anticipated reads which were written by my lovely Month9Books sisters.

The first book on this list is not only one I already own, but one I have a signed copy of. Last October, I met up with a couple Month9Bookers, including, A. Lynden Rolland, for a Barnes and Noble book signing event. It was lots of fun, and I got some great signed books to take home, one of them being OF BREAKABLE THINGS. This beauty of a book has been waiting for me, calling out to me, and I will read it this summer.

A captivating debut about the fragility of life, love, and perspective.

When Chase dies tragically, Alex embraces her own mortality. What she didn’t expect was that she’d have to make a choice: forget the years of pain and suffering once and for all, or linger as a spirit and get another chance at life and love.

Alex doesn’t hesitate to choose; she’d follow Chase anywhere. But the spirit world is nothing like she expected, and Alex finds she's forced to fight for her life once more. For even in a world where secrets are buried much deeper than six feet under, a legacy can continue to haunt you—and in a place this dangerous, no one is resting in peace.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes&Noble

The next book on my list is PRETTY DARK SACRIFICE by Heather L. Reid. Heather was the very first Month9Booker I met in person, when I attended BEA in 2013 (where we were both signing our debut books). She's sweet and smart and awesome, and I devoured her first book, PRETTY DARK NOTHING. I'm so ready to find out how the series continues.

It’s been five weeks, two days, and eight hours since the demons forced Quinn to throw herself into the raging river, since Aaron sacrificed himself to save her, since his body disappeared without a trace.

Everyone wants Quinn to move on, but she can’t, not after a spirit appears to her at Aaron's memorial, convincing her he’s still alive.

When a mysterious box materializes on the very spot Aaron disappeared, Quinn finds she’s at the center of an ancient prophesy of betrayal, revenge, and sacrifice that takes her to the depths of the underworld to face Lilith—Adam’s first wife.

If Quinn can stop Lilith from unleashing the demon horde Eve, trapped inside the box during the Battle of Eden millennia ago, she will save the human realm and free Aaron from an eternity in torment.

All it will cost is her blood.

Goodreads

And finally, I've got a bit of a sci-fi on my to-be-read list. This one is I HEART ROBOT by Suzanne van Rooyen. Music, robots, equal rights, all mixed in a love story? Yes, please!

Sixteen-year-old Tyri wants to be a musician and wants to be with someone who won't belittle her musical aspirations.

Q-I-99 aka 'Quinn' lives in a scrap metal sanctuary with other rogue droids. While some use violence to make their voices heard, demanding equal rights for AI enhanced robots, Quinn just wants a moment on stage with his violin to show the humans that androids like him have more to offer than their processing power.

Tyri and Quinn's worlds collide when they're accepted by the Baldur Junior Philharmonic Orchestra. As the rift between robots and humans deepens, Tyri and Quinn's love of music brings them closer together, making Tyri question where her loyalties lie and Quinn question his place in the world. With the city on the brink of civil war, Tyri and Quinn make a shocking discovery that turns their world inside out. Will their passion for music be enough to hold them together while everything else crumbles down around them, or will the truth of who they are tear them apart?

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes&Noble

There are many more books on my list, of course, but I've got to start somewhere, right? What's on your to-be-read list for the summer? Leave a comment below letting me know. I'll undoubtedly get intrigued by your choices, which will all most likely be added to my list.

Happy Book Birthday: Of Breakable Things by A. Lynden Rolland

Welcome to the Release Day Blitz for

Of Breakable Things by A. Lynden Rolland

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

A captivating debut about the fragility of life, love, and perspective.

Alex Ash was born broken. Living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is like living on death row, but she is willing to fight for her frail life as long as it includes the boy next door. Chase has always held the pieces of her together, but when he dies tragically, Alex’s unfavorable fate becomes a blessing in disguise. 

Faced with a choice, she finds herself in a peculiar world where rooms can absorb emotions and secrets are buried six feet under. Among limitless minds, envious spirits, and soulless banshees, Alex hardly rests in peace

Of Breakable Things by A. Lynden Rolland
Publisher: Month9Books
Publication Date: April 29, 2014

Available for Purchase:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | The Book Depository | IndieBound

A. Lynden Rolland was born and raised in Annapolis, Maryland, a picturesque town obsessed with boats and blue crabs. She has always been intrigued by the dramatic and the broken, compiling her eccentric tales of tragic characters in a weathered notebook she began to carry in grade school. She is a sports fanatic, a coffee addict, and a lover of Sauvignon Blanc, thunderstorms and autumn leaves. When she isn’t hunched behind a laptop at her local bookstore, she can be found chasing her two vivacious children. She now resides just outside Annapolis with her husband and young sons.

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Of Breakable Things Blog Tour: Interview with A. Lynden Rolland @month9books @chapterxchapter @AmyRolland

Today we're taking part in the OF BREAKABLE THINGS blog tour by speaking with author A. Lynden Rolland. Join us as we get to know her and learn about her book!

Welcome to We Do Write! Thank you for joining us. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Thank you so much for having me! I love your site!

A bit about me. I’m a teacher, a tutor, a mother, a runner, a gymnast, a worrier, a perfectionist, and a now an author.

How long have you been writing?

I started keeping journals when I was little. Writing became therapeutic. It’s how I organize my mind. (Maybe that’s why my characters in Of Breakable Things have the ability to shuffle through their thoughts like notes in a card catalog.)

I began writing Of Breakable Things a few years ago. When my first son was born, I took a leave of absence from teaching high school English. My son was such a horrible sleeper that often I only had my imagination to keep me company during the endless nights of rocking and sitting the dark. When he was eight months old, I began to write down the story my mind had created.

Tell us about OF BREAKABLE THINGS. What's the story about?

Of Breakable Things is about the fragility of life and love but also about the fragility of perspective.

My main character, Alex Ash, suffers from vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Her tissues can’t properly support her organs, and her bones break easily. Regardless, she tries to keep up with her best friends, the boys next door. When tragedy strikes, Alex’s illness becomes a blessing in disguise, but death isn’t nearly as peaceful as she imagined.

Without a body, Alex’s world is dictated by her mind, but her mind is more than a little cracked. Reality is manipulated by perception, and that’s even more powerful when the mind is boundless.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | The Book Depository | IndieBound

How did the idea of the story come to you?

I can’t pinpoint one thing, but I had an idea that wouldn’t leave me alone. I thought about how much people love things. How much people hate things. How much knowledge they gain in a lifetime. I couldn’t imagine that when the body died, that all of the mental energy just … disappeared. So I started thinking that maybe those emotions and that intelligence could come alive into a projection of a person.

Then I needed characters. I needed a girl who would die prematurely, to be physically breakable. And once I began researching Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Alex came alive in my mind. And Chase Lasalle just appeared there beside her one day, holding her hand.

Do you have critique partners, beta-readers, or do you self edit?

I edited Of Breakable Things myself but only because I didn’t tell anyone I was writing it. I didn’t begin the manuscript with the intent to be published. I think everyone benefits from critique partners, so I should probably start looking for one, huh? I do have beta-readers, though. I trust them to let me know what makes sense and what doesn’t. What dialogue seems forced or fake.

What do you absolutely have to have nearby while writing?

Pen, notebook, mug of something (coffee, tea, hot water w/ lemon).

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

The power to eat doughnuts and never get fat, haha. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

The government is probably tracking me. Let’s leave it at that 

Totally understandable. Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: breakable, flower, wild

They ran wild through the flower fields, disregarding the judgmental eyes, and their fingers intertwined to fight the breakable force of adolescence.

Finish this sentence: If I'm not writing I'm probably ...

…not awake.

LOL. Who would you like to thank for supporting you throughout the publishing process? Let's hear your shout outs!

I’m going to stick my writer support system. The goat posse: Bethany Crandell, A.G. Howard, A.M. Supinger, Mary Frame, Eric Devine, Precy Larkins, Darke Conteur, Suzanne Payne, Jennifer Lopez, Lisa Ann O’Kane, Angela Leidy Cook, Riley Redgate, Jennifer Prescott, Kerri Maniscalco, Kalen O’Donnell,  Justin Holley, and Michelle Simkins.

The YA Valentines: Sara Raasch, Sara B. Larson, Bethany Hagen, Bethany Crandell, Phil Siegel, Paula Stokes, Lynne Matson, Anne Blankman, Kristi Helvig, Kristen Lippert-Martin, Jaye Robin Brown, Lindsay Cummings, and Jen McConnell.

And of course thank you to my agent, Rachael Dugas, for dealing with my neurotic OCD and to Georgia McBride and M9B, for understanding the vision for Of Breakable Things.

Thank you so much for having me!

ABOUT A. LYNDEN ROLLAND:

A. Lynden Rolland was born and raised in Annapolis, Maryland, a picturesque town obsessed with boats and blue crabs. She has always been intrigued by the dramatic and the broken, compiling her eccentric tales of tragic characters in a weathered notebook she began to carry in grade school. She is a sports fanatic, a coffee addict, and a lover of Sauvignon Blanc, thunderstorms and autumn leaves. When she isn’t hunched behind a laptop at her local bookstore, she can be found chasing her two vivacious children. She now resides just outside Annapolis with her husband and young sons.

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