Book Reviews & Publishing Poetry
In recent months I've been devouring countless books, editing and republishing my 2018 poetry collection, and starting the specialty book collection I've always wanted
Summer is in full swing, and I’ve been doing my best to read as much as I can around wedding planning, working, and publishing my own books.
Recent Reads & Reviews
Ask For Andrea
I was apprehensive to read this book at first because of the plot and narrators, especially because I myself cannot get into books that aren’t “real” (I respect fantasy and romantasy, but they just aren’t for me). I ended up crying, emotionally invested, and just overall glad I gave this book a chance.
The book follows the ghosts of three different women, all murdered by the same awful man at different points in time, over the span of a few years. Each woman chooses to do a different thing in their after life, with one choosing to follow the man and his family, witnessing many of his crimes after he kills her for breaking up with him and moving on with her life. Another chooses to spend her time with her mother and father as they attempt to solve her murder, and the third stays with her body for the entirety of the investigation until she’s discovered.
One thing I liked about this book was the exploration of what the after life actually is, because I have a lot of thoughts on this and this book is the closest I’ve seen to what I personally believe might happen. It gave me an odd sense of peace and comfort when it comes to my own mortality.
Eventually the three ghosts come together to haunt this man and navigate the aftermath of their deaths the best they can. I loved the strength of women in this book, and overall I highly recommend it. It has great reviews in my psychological thriller Facebook group too. I rated it five out of five stars!
The Inmate
The Inmate is another Freida McFadden hyped up book, and I honestly love anything she writes despite what people say about her. Her books aren’t meant to be this super serious experience- they’re fun and enjoyable puzzles to try to figure out (at least for me).
I will say, the twists weren’t as twisty as I usually think they are for her books, but they were there.
The main character is a single mother of a ten-year-old boy she had as a teenager. Her parents decided it would be best for her to move away since she decided to keep the baby they wanted her to get rid of, and the man who fathered her child wound up in prison for the grizzly murder of their entire friend group the night their son was conceived during a huge storm.
When her parents die, she moves back into her childhood home with her son. She’s working as a nurse, and the only job she could land was at the local prison 40 minutes away, exactly where her child’s father is who knows nothing about his son.
Freida’s books are hard to describe without giving away spoilers, but I rate this a four out of ten.
We Were Liars
This book absolutely BLEW my mind, and devastated me (in the best ways). I have read mixed reviews about it and it seems like everyone either hates it or loves it. I am in the LOVES IT group.
The writing is a little poetic and weird at times, which is why I think some people struggled with it. It makes sense though, because the main character is seventeen year old Cadence (Cady) Sinclair, the eldest grandchild of the wealthy Harris Sinclair and Tipper Taft.
Two of the most important factors that are provided at the start of the book is the Sinclair family tree and a map of Beechwood Island, an entire island owned by Harris and Tipper. Harris and Tipper have three daughters: Carrie, Bess, and Penny. All three are divorced. Cady is the oldest and only child of Penny, and Bess is the mother of Mirren, Taft, and twins Liberty and Bonnie. Carrie has two children, Johnny and Will, and dates Ed Patil, who brings his nephew Gat to the island every summer from NYC.
Cady, Mirren, Johnny and Gat are all the older cousins and “The Liars.” The rest of the cousins are referred to as “The Littles.” Each summer is in refernce to the older cousins ages (who are all the same age, including Gat).
During summer fifteen, Cady has an accident and suffers a TBI in a swimming accident. She ends up skipping summer sixteen to go to Europe with her father after their parents divorce, and returns to Beechwood for summer seventeen and spends her four weeks (her parents agreed on half the summer) piecing together what happened to her during summer fifteen. She lost not only the memories of her accident, but a part of the summer as well.
As an author and avid reader, I can usually tell when a twist is coming. When I tell you my jaw was on the floor- I haven’t been shocked by a book in so long. I was plain flabbergasted and I want everyone I know to read this book.
I republished my poetry book: Beautiful Burning Bitch
In 2018 when I was 27 and newly sober, I released my first ever published book. It was a poetry collection called Beautiful Burning Bitch. After a few years I felt myself cringe at this poetry collection, which is so sad because I was so proud of it when I published it.
I took it out of print because I was both embarassed by the writing after earning two writing degrees after publishing it, and because it revealed so much for me personally.
After a lot of thought and editing, I decided to republish the book because in its first edition a lot of people told me they could relate to it and it was helpful in showing them they weren’t alone.
I wrote a forward, edited the poems, added a final section with new poems titled “2024”, and rededicated the book to my grandmother who constantly told me it needed to exist again. I also made a great new cover and linked it to my other books, publishing it under my actual name, Samantha Parish.
Starting my “specialty” book collection(s)
I recently have gotten very into collecting books that I perceive to have some sort of value to me, whether it’s monetary, sentimental, or personal.
I learned Freida McFadden would be taking her book Suicide Med out of print so I hurried to buy it.
Freida shared that she didn’t like plot points in this book and hated that the title caused it to be often banned in posts on social media platforms. She has since republished it under a new name (Dead Med) and reworked the plot to eliminate what she believed to be unnecessary plot points.
I bought it as soon as I saw her announcement, and it sold out within 36 hours. It is now going for over $100 a copy on eBay. I paid around $13 for it with Amazon Prime, which is the stock she needed them to sell off to take it out of print. Me being me, I will never sell this book and will only cherish it.
I have a dream of collecting every original Goosebumps, Sweet Valley, and Babysitters Club book in existence, but I’ll take other nostalgic finds too.
I check out a local thrift store once a month or so to see what they may have gotten in, and I found three of the Clique novels and of course purchased them. I am in the midst of writing my first YA novel, and while it isn’t precisely this genre, reading for that age group helps.
The Magnolia Parks series- BUT THE UK COVERS!
I have wanted to read this series for a while, but I wanted the beautiful over-the-top covers that came from the UK. Those aren’t available in the United States, and most of the ones here are boring. I found a bundle on eBay and should be getting it soon!
Life keeps on going
I don’t sleep enough, because I feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything I want to get done, done. Unfortunately this spring I have also been very sickly. I don’t know how much is allergies and how much is actual sickness, but as a write this I have an incredibly sore throat I’m not happy about and feel yucky. I hate this because tomorrow is the 4th of July and I FINALLY have a weekday off.
I’m in the midst of planning my wedding (which I know I’ve mentioned a million times already) and with it now being only two months away I am FEELING the stress. I’ve done nothing for flowers, and have to meet with my venue coordinator next month. I found out she won’t be there the day of my wedding and am only slightly freaking out. I also managed to lose the receipt for my wedding dress alterations and am praying that won’t become an issue. I still need to order my cake topper, am waiting on half my RSVPs still, and have to get my wedding license soon. I also have to talk to my DJ and photographer still but thankfully those are booked!
The tiger lilies have bloomed though, so that’s exciting.
Don’t forget to check out my other books!