Other Bookish Stuff - The Keysmash Blog

I am thrilled to be sharing my first blog tour post for Runaway Train by Lee Mathew Goldberg. Thank you so much YA Bound Book Tours for choosing me to be a host for this blog tour.

Set in the 90’s, Runaway Train follows the journey of 16-year-old Nico as she tries to come to terms with the loss of her sibling and find meaning in her life.

If you are looking for a heartfelt, coming-of-age YA novel, then check out this exclusive giveaway + sneak peak of Runaway Train.

They told me I was an out-of-control train about to crash…

Everything changed when the police officer knocked on the door to tell me – a 16-year-old – that my older sister Kristen had died of a brain aneurysm. Cue the start of my parents neglecting me and my whole life spiraling out of control.

I decided now was the perfect time to skip town. It’s the early 90’s, Kurt Cobain runs the grunge music scene and I just experienced some serious trauma. What’s a girl supposed to do? I didn’t want to end up like Kristen, so I grabbed my bucket list, turned up my mixtape of the greatest 90’s hits and fled L.A.. The goal was to end up at Kurt Cobain’s house in Seattle, but I never could have guessed what would happen along the way.

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At turns heartbreaking, inspiring, and laugh out loud funny, Runaway Train is a wild journey of a bygone era and a portrait of a one-of-a-kind teenage girl trying to find herself again the only way she knows how.

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Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored a post, and I am not an affiliate. I do not receive any financial gain from promoting this book. I am only doing my part to support the author as a host for this blog tour.

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Sneak Peak: Read Exclusive Excerpt From Runaway Train By Lee Mathew Goldberg

Check out this exclusive sneak peak of the first chapter from Lee Mathew Goldberg’s Runaway Train.

Dead & Bloated – Stone Temple Pilots

My sister Kristen died the same day as the actor River Phoenix, October 31^st, 1993, he from a drug overdose in the middle of the night outside the Viper Room, her on an early morning run through Laurel Canyon, two days before her seventeenth birthday—and a happy fucking Halloween to me. There I was, dressed up in costume as D’arcy, the bassist from Smashing Pumpkins: oversized baggy striped sweater, dyed blond hair, a dab of red lips and blue eye shadow, and a broken bass guitar slung around my shoulder that I didn’t know how to play anyway, watching the news where I saw River’s lean body, which I had imagined climbing on top of me multiple times, being hauled away on a stretcher, when the doorbell rang and a police officer asked if my parents were home.

“Er…no,” I said, running through my mind the millions of bad things I may have done. That strappy dress I’d shoplifted, the bag of dirt I sold to a freshman pretending it was weed.

“Are you a relative of Kristen Sullivan?”

Kristen? What could the police want with perfect Kristen?

“Yeah. Her sister.”

“I am sorry to tell you this, but your sister has died.”

About The Author

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of the novels THE ANCESTOR, THE MENTOR, THE DESIRE CARD and SLOW DOWN.

He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the Prix du Polar. His first YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN is forthcoming in 2021 along with a sci-fi novel ORANGE CITY.

After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in The Millions, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, LitReactor, Monkeybicycle, Fiction Writers Review, Cagibi, Necessary Fiction, the anthology Dirty Boulevard, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Underwood Press & sevral others.

He is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Fringe, dedicated to publishing fiction that’s outside-of-the-box. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City.

Book Corner, Discussion Posts, Home, Other Bookish Stuff

All The Modern, Feminist Ideas You May Have Overlooked In Little Women

April 20, 2020 tanazmasaba

This is a classic that has received equal parts praise and criticism. It has been lauded as a feminist novel and then also condemned for not being a feminist novel. In this discussion post, I’ll explain why I believe this is a feminist story and try to highlight all the subtleties that are rarely talked about whenever this novel is discussed.

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Book Corner, Home, Other Bookish Stuff

No Matter The Wreckage By Sarah Kaye: The Kind Of Poetry That Resonates

November 7, 2019 tanazmasaba

A collection of poignant, beautifully crafted verses, No Matter The Wreckage by Sarah Kay is the kind of poetry book that touches your heart, mind and soul. I am aware that this sounds cliche, but it is true. Her turn of phrase, use of imagery and rhythm and repetition creates vividly written, captivating poems that makes the reader step into her skin and see the world through her lens. Most importantly, the topics that she covers in this book and some of her own personal experiences are written with such resonating quality that you cannot help but be able to relate to her words.

Some of my favorites where Love Letter #137, No Matter The Wreckage, Brother, The Toothbrush To The Bicycle Wheel, The Ladder, Some Things We Don’t Talk About Part 1, and Evaporating, but there were many others too that I couldn’t help but reread over and over because they made me feel.

Definitely the kind of poetry book you would want to keep on your shelf. I highly recommend this to everyone who loves poetry.

Book Corner, Home, Other Bookish Stuff, Review Policy, Young Adult

The Gilded Wolves: A Nuanced Heist Fantasy That Explores Colorism, Colonialism And Power Struggles

November 5, 2019September 9, 2022 tanazmasaba

Ratings: 5/5

Short review: Excellent novel is excellent. Highly recommend.

The tea (because there always seems to be a controversy or another whenever a marginalized author puts out a best-seller diverse novel): skip to the bottom.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: child abuse, mild torture and violence

Detailed review: Now this here is a stunning, exciting thought-provoking novel that I can’t wait to get more of. Roshani Chokshi (who made me remember why I love fantasy with her debut novel The Star-Touched Queen and its sequel A Crown of Wishes) once again brings a brilliantly written fantasy/heist story with a cast of incredibly fascinating, lovable characters, an intense and captivating plot line, slow burn romance, and breath-taking world building.

Set in the era of Moulin Rouge in a fictional, glittering and magical Paris, the book, on the surface, is about a team of 5 talented thieves working on their most dangerous and rewarding acquisition. However, as you dive deeper into the story and learn about each characters’ motivations and aspirations, the story begins to explore racism, colonialism, identity and disparity through well developed, diverse characters of all backgrounds. What I loved the most is that the author touches on these topics just long enough to make you pause, and ponder on important questions without taking the focus away from the actual heist.

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Book Corner, Home, Other Bookish Stuff, Top 10 Tuesday

Top 10 Tuesday: Backlist Books I Want To Read

November 6, 2018 tanazmasaba

It’s time for Top Ten Tuesday again! For those who don’t know, Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.

This week’s prompt is “backlist books that I want to read”, and honestly, I have quite a long list of old books that were published ages ago but I never got around to reading…for…reasons…

Continue reading “Top 10 Tuesday: Backlist Books I Want To Read” →

Book Corner, Discussion Posts, Home, Other Bookish Stuff

10 Things Non-Readers Do That Annoy Me

November 4, 2018 tanazmasaba

Ahh, non-readers. Those odd, clueless species who are so bewildered when they see a reader crying over fictional characters, gushing about worlds that do not exist and cancelling plans because we’d like to finish one more incredible chapter. We know that our habits perplex them…even annoy them. All we do is read, and read, and read.

We understand their frustrations, of course, don’t we? In fact, we have our frustrations too, because non-readers do a lot of things too that annoys us and sometimes makes us want to smack their heads with those very heavy books we cherish. And here is a list of just 10 of those annoying things that non-readers do that seriously annoy me:

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Book Corner, Home, Other Bookish Stuff, Top 10 Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Blogs

August 14, 2018 tanazmasaba

I am so excited to start my first Top Ten Tuesday post on this new blog. This week’s prompt is to Favorite Book Blogs and without further ado, here are some of my favorite blogs I have been following for a while (and a few that I have just recently discovered), in no particular order–they are all equally amazing.

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Adult, Book Corner, Calendar Girls, Other Bookish Stuff, Retellings, Uncategorized

Review: The Secret Diary Of Lizzie Bennet

August 6, 2018 tanazmasaba

Twenty‑four‑year‑old grad student Lizzie Bennet is saddled with student loan debt and still living at home along with her two sisters—beautiful Jane and reckless Lydia. When she records her reflections on life for her thesis project and posts them on YouTube, she has no idea The Lizzie Bennet Diaries will soon take on a life of their own, turning the Bennet sisters into internet celebrities seemingly overnight.

When rich and handsome Bing Lee comes to town, along with his stuck‑up friend William Darcy, things really start to get interesting for the Bennets—and for Lizzie’s viewers. But not everything happens on‑screen. Lucky for us, Lizzie has a secret diary.

This review is part of The Calendar Girls monthly blog event, hosted by the lovelies at Darque Dreamer Reads and Never Not Reading. To know more about The Calendar Girls, click here

I have always been a lover of classics, but Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice holds a very, very special place in my heart. With a main character who is as witty, charming, and yet flawed as Elizabeth Bennet, the complicated yet strangely relatable family relationships (relatable only if you are a young adult female from a Southeast Asian country such as myself), and Austen’s viciously funny narration style, it’s hard not to love Pride and Prejudice.

And it’s equally hard not to love it’s very clever, very funny and extremely endearing modern-day retelling: The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Noble.

Continue reading “Review: The Secret Diary Of Lizzie Bennet” →

Home, Other Bookish Stuff

Reading Challenges And Why I Love Them

October 9, 2017 tanazmasaba

Most of you who are active in the book community–and by active I mean, you talk to other book lovers and participate in reading groups and what not–are already familiar with reading challenges. They are a fun way to read more books and to step out of your comfort zone and read more widely as well. But they can also be stressful and daunting, especially if you have a busy schedule (or if you have terrible time management skills like me).

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Home, Other Bookish Stuff, Stray Thoughts

October Resolutions

October 1, 2017 tanazmasaba

I love the last day of a month and the first day of the month, because there is something about moving from one month to the next that makes me feel inspired and encouraged. New beginnings and all that jazz. September was a good month for me, and I look forward to whatever October is bringing.

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