Fiction Folio

Waiting on Wednesday: Reunited by Hilary Weisman Graham

2012-02-22T00:01:00.000-06:00

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases you are eagerly anticipating.

Title: Reunited
Author: Hilary Weisman Graham
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: June 12, 2012

From Goodreads:
1 Concert
2000 Miles
3 Ex-Best Friends

Alice, Summer, and Tiernan are ex-best friends.

Back in middle school, the three girls were inseparable. They were also the number one fans of the rock band Level3.

But when the band broke up, so did their friendship. Summer ran with the popular crowd, Tiernan was a rebellious wild-child, and Alice spent high school with her nose buried in books.

Now, just as the girls are about to graduate, Level3 announces a one-time-only reunion show.

Even though the concert’s 2000 miles away, Alice buys three tickets on impulse. And as it turns out, Summer and Tiernan have their own reasons for wanting to get out of town. Good thing Alice’s graduation gift (a pea-green 1976 VW camper van known as the Pea Pod) is just the vehicle to get them there.

But on the long drive cross-country, the girls hit more than a few bumps in the road. Will their friendship get an encore or is the show really over?

***

Road trip? Check. BFFs? Check. Drama? More than likely check. I love everything about this book, from the super-cute cover to the intriguing summary. This should be an excellent summer read come June.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Quickly Save in a Disaster

2012-02-21T00:01:00.000-06:00

As always, the lovely ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish deserve a shoutout for hosting Top Ten Tuesday!

This week's topic is to list the top ten books I'd save if a disaster hit. This one was a breeze because I only have a few books that I absolutely treasure beyond belief (fourteen books to be exact). And surprise... I would save both my hardcover and paperback copies of the Harry Potter series. Besides the fact that I just love the series, here are the main reasons why I'd save one book in the series in particular:

Hey Rupert Grint

I love you Luna Lovegood

Weasley twin take 1

Weasley twin take 2

Okay, before I get really out of control with the pictures, here is the kicker... this is why I would grab that one book:

Yep, that's the first book in the series signed by a bunch of the cast members at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. In other words, my most prized book possession. EVER. I will treasure that book until the day I die and hopefully pass it on to my kids when that happens in the way distant future. So yes, I sort of cheated with the Top Ten Tuesday by only picking one book but I think you might agree that it's a pretty sweet book :)

Book Review: Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran

2012-02-20T00:01:00.000-06:00

Title: Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution
Author: Michelle Moran
Publisher: Broadway
Publication Date: December 27, 2011
Pages: 464
Source: Publisher

From Goodreads:

The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire…but who was this woman and how did she become one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? In these pages, her tumultuous story comes to life as only Michelle Moran could tell it. The year is 1788, and a revolution is about to begin…

Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American Ambassador, Thomas Jefferson, to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie’s museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, and when word arrives that the royals themselves are coming to see their likenesses, Marie never dreams that the king’s sister will request her presence at Versailles as a royal tutor in wax sculpting. Yet when a letter with a gold seal is delivered to her home, Marie knows she cannot refuse—even if it means time away from her beloved Salon and her increasingly dear friend, Henri Charles.

As Marie becomes acquainted with her pupil, Princess Élisabeth, she is taken to meet both Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, who introduce her to the glamorous life at court. From lavish parties with more delicacies than she’s ever seen, to rooms filled with candles lit only once before being discarded, Marie steps into to a world entirely different from her home on the Boulevard du Temple, where people are selling their teeth in order to put food on the table.

Meanwhile, many resent the vast separation between rich and poor. In salons and cafés across Paris, people like Camille Desmoulins, Jean-Paul Marat, and Maximilien Robespierre are lashing out against the monarchy. Soon, there’s whispered talk of revolution…Will Marie be able to hold on to both the love of her life and her friendship with the royal family as France approaches civil war? And more importantly, will she be able to fulfill the demands of powerful revolutionaries who ask that she make the death masks of beheaded aristocrats, some of whom she knows?

Spanning five years from the budding revolution to the Reign of Terror,Madame Tussaud brings us into the world of an incredible heroine whose talent for wax modeling saved her life and preserved the faces of a vanished kingdom.

***

You guys know that I am all about the historical fiction. It is one of my favorite sub-genres of YA and I have made it a goal to read even more hist-fic novels in 2012. So, I was absolutely thrilled when Random House contacted me about reviewing Madame Tussaud and helping to introduce the novel to a different audience.

I was completely entranced with the story right from the very beginning. Marie Groscholtz (aka Madame Tussaud) is such a strong, independent woman and nothing like the typical women of her time. She isn’t concerned with marrying and having babies – she’s focused on her work as a wax sculptor and helping her uncle build their business into a world-renowned wax museum. Marie’s drive and determination made me instantly drawn to her and she never wavered during the story, making me love her even more.

The scenes throughout the story that helped depict the time period of the French Revolution could not have been described more perfectly by the author. You actually feel like you are right there in the crowds, or at the palace, or walking through the wax museum as a paying customer. I had such a vivid portrait in my mind of what everything looked like and that completely sucked me into the story even more.

Of course, the book wouldn’t be complete without a little romance. While it didn’t overpower the story, Marie’s romance with a certain someone did add a great amount of intrigue and sentiment that definitely played a role in her decisions. I can’t help but fall head over heels for romances in historical fiction and the romance in Madame Tussaud was no exception.

Even though Madame Tussaud is considered an “adult” novel, I think anyone who loves historical fiction will absolutely love this story. I cannot wait to read Michelle Moran’s other novels about strong women throughout history (see Nefertiti, Cleopatra’s Daughter, and The Heretic Queen).

In My Mailbox (58)

2012-02-19T00:01:00.000-06:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme created by Kristi at The Story Siren that gives readers the chance to share the books they bought/received/swapped/borrowed over the past week.

This week was a fabulous book week! Not only did I get some amazing books, but I also attended the first stop of the Breathless Reads Tour!

First up is the Breathless Reads Tour. Marie Lu, Beth Revis, Jessica Spotswood, and Andrea Cremer were all at Anderson's on Wednesday, along with some amazing book bloggers. The authors were all so nice and funny to boot!

Jessica Spotswood, Anna, me, and Andrea Cremer

Marie Lu, Anna, me, and Beth Revis

And of course, the loot:

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
Legend by Marie Lu

On to the rest of the books. This next gem was generously donated by the author for the DAC ARC Tours (keep an eye out for the sign-up form on the website!)

One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
(and bookmarks!)

From Netgalley:
Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

And last but certainly not least, my last two books this week are from an awesome publisher and an awesome blogger :)

Borrowed from Ginger:
In Honor by Jessi Kirby

From Scholastic:
Abandon by Meg Cabot

Book review: Picture the Dead by Adele Griffin & Lisa Brown

2012-02-18T09:50:00.000-06:00

Title: Picture the Dead

Author: Adele Griffin & Lisa Brown
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: February 1, 2012 (originally published May 1, 2010)
Pages: 264

Source: Publisher

From Goodreads:

A ghost will find his way home.

Jennie Lovell's life is the very picture of love and loss. First she is orphaned and forced to live at the mercy of her stingy, indifferent relatives. Then her fiancé falls on the battlefield, leaving her heartbroken and alone. Jennie struggles to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, but is haunted by a mysterious figure that refuses to let her bury the past.

***

When I received the review request for this book, I thought I’d give it a go because of the following reasons:

1) The book had elements of historical fiction, paranormal, and mystery.
2) The book had illustrations, which is not something I’m used to reading in YA.
3) I was just plain intrigued.

While I enjoyed Picture the Dead overall, I wasn’t as in love with the book as much as I thought I would be. I expected a little more historical fiction and a little less paranormal. What I got was the complete opposite, and that left me a little bummed.

I do think the illustrations were well done and really added something extra and different to the story.

All in all, Picture the Dead is a great story for those who are interested in ghosts and paranormal phenomenon with a little historical fiction and mystery thrown in.

Book review: The Knife and the Butterfly by Ashley Hope Perez

2012-02-16T00:01:00.000-06:00

Title: The Knife and the Butterfly

Author: Ashley Hope Perez
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Publication Date: February 1, 2012
Pages: 216

From Goodreads:

After a marijuana-addled brawl with a rival gang, 16-year-old Azael wakes up to find himself surrounded by a familiar set of concrete walls and a locked door. Juvie again, he thinks. But he can't really remember what happened or how he got picked up. He knows his MS13 boys faced off with some punks from Crazy Crew. There were bats, bricks, chains. A knife. But he can't remember anything between that moment and when he woke behind bars.

Azael knows prison, and something isn't right about this lockup. No phone call. No lawyer. No news about his brother or his homies. The only thing they make him do is watch some white girl in some cell. Watch her and try to remember.

Lexi Allen would love to forget the brawl, would love for it to disappear back into the Xanax fog it came from. And her mother and her lawyer hope she chooses not to remember too much about the brawl—at least when it's time to testify.

Lexi knows there's more at stake in her trial than her life alone, though. She's connected to him, and he needs the truth. The knife cut, but somehow it also connected.

***

The Knife and the Butterfly is definitely a different book than what I normally read. I’ll be totally honest – my favorite genres are what I read 99% of the time, and I don’t exactly branch out into the different or less popular very often. When the opportunity arose to read The Knife and the Butterfly, I jumped on the chance to, you know, broaden my horizons and read something completely different for me.

Well, my leap of faith outside of Tara world paid off. I had to think on it for a full day but finally came to the conclusion that I enjoyed the book. At first I wasn’t so sure, but then the more I thought about it (don’t you love it when a book makes you think), the more I realized that I was quite happy with the story. And here’s why.

This book centers around life inside a gang – violence, drugs, abuse, degrading women – and that is just not something I’m used to reading about in young adult literature. But, it’s still a real and sadly true world that exists, even though I have never personally experienced it myself. Make no mistake, The Knife and the Butterfly is gritty, hard, and definitely geared towards an older YA audience. But with all of that, I think it’s a book that needed to be written and definitely has its place within the young adult genre. I can see this book helping individuals who are either on a path towards gang life or for those who want to get out.

I give mad props to Ashley for writing this novel and can’t wait to read her other novel, What Can’t Wait, which was recently added to the ALA's 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults list.

Waiting on Wednesday: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

2012-02-15T00:01:00.000-06:00

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases you are eagerly anticipating.

Title: My Life Next Door
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Release Date: June 14, 2012

From Goodreads:
"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time."

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen year old Samantha wishes she was one of them… until the day Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything.

Jase can sense that his beautiful neighbor is missing something in her sterile home, and as the two fall fiercely in love, his family makes her one of their own.

But when the bottom drops out of Sam's world, which perfect family will save her–and will her perfect love survive?

Set among the haves and have-nots of a coastal New England town, My LIFE NEXT DOOR captures the angst, the heartache, and the raw-nerve emotions of first time love—and biting loss.

***

I am pretty sure I haven't read a book that has the same plot as My Life Next Door, and that completely intrigues me. I want to know more about Samantha's family and what happens that makes her question both her family and Jase's. All I can say is, hurry up June!

Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

2012-02-13T00:01:00.000-06:00

Title: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Publisher: Poppy, an imprint of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 2, 2012
Pages: 236
Source: Publisher

From Goodreads:
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

***

My quest for reading more books that take place over a 24-hour time frame continues with The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. Let me just say - these types of books are seriously some of the best I have read.

This book is a straight up true love story, all packaged up into one lovely little present. You will read it in one sitting because it is that good and you have to know how it ends. I sacrificed sleep on a Sunday night to read this book and it was WELL worth it.

I can't say enough about the two main characters, Hadley and Oliver. They leapt off the page for me and were unbelievably real. Very rarely do characters come to life for me as much as these two did, and I will always remember them. I absolutely fell in love with Oliver with his British accent and his witty banter. And Hadley dealt with some major emotions throughout the story but she still kept it together and pulled through.

If you haven't read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, I highly recommend changing that as soon as you can. It is such an incredible love story that will make you laugh and cry all at the same time. And if that doesn't convince you - did I mention there's a British guy ;)

In My Mailbox (57)

2012-02-12T10:06:00.000-06:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme created by Kristi at The Story Siren that gives readers the chance to share the books they bought/received/swapped/borrowed over the past week.

I have to say, I had a very awesome book week and wasn't even expecting it! Surprise mail is always the best, don't you think?

For review:

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

The Rivals by Daisy Whitney

(thanks Little, Brown!)

Won:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Story of Us by Deb Caletti

(thanks Sash & Em!)

Borrowed:

The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas

(thanks Ginger!)

Gifted:

ADORABLE card and bookmark

(you're the best, Heidi!)

Gifted:

SWAG galore from Denise Jaden!

(stay tuned for a giveaway)

Blog Tour: The Knife and the Butterfly by Ashley Hope Perez

2012-02-11T10:15:00.000-06:00

I am thrilled to have Ashley Hope Perez on my blog today! Ashley is the author of What Can't Wait (which was just named to ALA's 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults list), and her newest novel, The Knife and the Butterfly. Ashley is going to share with you all how to handle characters and their flaws like a pro and also give you a taste of The Knife and the Butterfly with an excerpt from the book.

***

Ever want to reach into a novel, grab a character, and just shake him or her until there’s some sign of sense? Now imagine that you’re the writer, and you have to put up with a badly behaving character through the WHOLE process. Trust me, it’s not easy. But flawed characters are also fascinating, so they’re usually worth the struggle. In a second, I’ll serve up a short excerpt from The Knife and the Butterfly and tell you what I did to keep from throwing my characters out the window while I was writing.

But first, let me get you oriented with a bit more about The Knife and the Butterfly:

Azael Arevalo wishes he could remember how the fight ended. He knows his MS13 boys faced off with some punks from Crazy Crew. He can picture the bats, the bricks, the chains. A knife. But he can’t remember anything between that moment and when he woke behind bars. Azael knows jails, and something isn’t right about this lockup. No phone call. No lawyer. No news about his brother or his homies. The only thing they make him do is watch some white girl in some cell. Watch her and try to remember.

Lexi Allen would love to forget the fight, would love for it to disappear back into the Xanax fog it came from. And her mother and her lawyer hope she chooses not to remember too much about the brawl—at least when it’s time to testify. Lexi knows that there’s more at stake in her trial than her life alone, though. Azael needs the truth. The knife cut, but somehow it also connected.

Didn’t my publisher do a gorgeous job with that synopsis? I’m so glad I didn’t have to write it. A summary that doesn’t give away too much = the most difficult two paragraphs ever.

Here’s something I DID write, and it comes from Chapter 7 of The Knife and the Butterfly. Pakmin is Azael’s caseworker, and this is the first day that Azael has been sent to watch Lexi:

The same guard who picked Lexi up from the meeting room unlocks the door and lets her in. She throws herself onto the bed and says something, but I guess the microphones in her room aren’t turned on because nothing comes out of the speakers by the ceiling. I take a crack at this mind control thing to try to get her to change clothes so I can see her tits, but no luck. She lies there picking at her arm, like maybe she has a scab there or something. After a while, she reaches over to the desk and pulls out a spiral notebook and a pen. For a long time she doesn’t write anything, just pulls a piece of her hair into her mouth and sucks on it. Then she scribbles in the notebook for a while before she flops onto her side.

I get bored of watching her and keep thinking Pakmin has to come for me soon. I’m looking around the observation room, and I realize that the long wall opposite the one with windows onto Lexi’s side is also covered with mirrored glass panes.

Maybe this is how the things look from the other side of the windows I’ve been looking through, and I’m guessing that Pakmin or somebody like him is probably watching me right now. Pakmin is watching me watching her. Waiting to see what the rat watching the rat will do. And maybe there’s even another row of windows behind that one, and somebody else is watching Pakmin watch me watch Lexi.

It makes me think of these bottles of drinking water my grams used to buy when she’d visit us. They had a label with a picture of a happy family carrying one of the bottles, which also had a picture of a family carrying a water bottle, and I imagined that that just went on forever. If you thought about it right, it seemed like you’d never run out of water because on every label there was a tiny water bottle with a tinier water bottle on it, all the way until you got to these little fairy-sized drops of water inside containers so small they’d be almost invisible. Or like how when you’re standing between two mirrors in just the right way you can see yourself shrinking into infinity.

So here’s the thing: Azael has this whole (very annoying) macho thing going on. And “I try to get her to change clothes so I can see her tits” isn’t even the worst of it. But there’s a lot of show to this; in fact, it’s kind of a performance that the reader will see fall away bit by bit as Azael gets caught up in bigger problems. Of course, I can’t tell the reader that yet, but I can let Azael have a semi-tender memory that makes him a bit more relatable. I mean, how fed up can you stay at someone who imagines fairy-sized drops of water when he looks at a water-bottle label?

The point is, already there’s more to Azael than he himself recognizes. He’s got issues—no happy family in his recent past, for sure—and a fear of disappearing, of not mattering to anyone. So already his bravado turns out to be an attempt to compensate for something he feels like he’s missing. Don’t get me wrong: acting up is acting up, but we can take it a bit longer when we sense that there’s more to the story.

And what about the “more” to Lexi’s story? That comes later in the novel, when Azael gets his hands on her journal. But for now, let me just tell you that she doesn’t have angel wings, either. To get over my frustrations with her, I even gave her some of my own flaws, ones I could understand. For example, she can never make the care packages sent by her grandmother last more than a day or two, and she writes in her notebook, “when you’re stuck in a little room with nothing to do, how are you going to keep yourself from pulling that box out from under the bed and scarfing down another peanut butter cookie?”

Listen, y’all, I so get this flaw. And I gave it to Lexi because it made it a little easier for me to relate to her lack of self-control in other areas of her life, too.

A reviewer recently called The Knife and the Butterfly “An uncompromising look at two characters most readers would otherwise look away from.” I’m not entirely sure he meant it as a compliment, but I think it is. Because one of the things I most wanted to do with The Knife and the Butterfly was to get readers to see two people who were deeply flawed as two people whose stories—and choices—still mattered.

I hope you’ll check out The Knife and the Butterfly and let me know what you think about Azael, Lexi, and their world.

***

Thanks so much for stopping by Ashley! I loved learning more about Azael and how you coped with your characters' flaws while writing the book.

More interviews, excerpts, guest posts, and secrets (including two truths and a lie) coming throughout Ashley’s The Knife and the Butterfly blog tour. See the full tour schedule here.

Ask for The Knife and the Butterfly from your favorite local bookseller or order it online.

Can’t get enough? Check out Ashley’s blog, follow her on Twitter, or find her on Facebook.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

2012-02-08T00:01:00.000-06:00

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases you are eagerly anticipating.

Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: September 18, 2012

From Goodreads:
Filled with mystery, romance, and the supernatural, The Raven Boys introduces readers to Richard “Dick” Campbell Gansey, III and Blue Sargent. Gansey has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on the hunt to find Glendower, a vanished Welsh king. Legend has it that the first person to find him will be granted a wish—either by seeing him open his eyes, or by cutting out his heart.

Blue Sargent, the daughter of the town psychic in Henrietta, Virginia, has been told for as long as she can remember that if she ever kisses her true love, he will die. But she is too practical to believe in things like true love. Her policy is to stay away from the rich boys at the prestigious Aglionby Academy. The boys there—known as Raven Boys—can only mean trouble. When Gansey and his Raven Boy friends come into her life, Blue realizes how true this is. She never thought her fortune would be a problem. But she was wrong.

***

MORE MAGGIE STIEFVATER!!! I heard about this new Raven Cycle series last week from Maggie's blog and immediately added it to my wish list. This sounds so completely different from anything I have read before and I can't wait for The Raven Boys to be released in September.

Review & Giveaway: Pure by Julianna Baggott

2012-02-06T00:01:00.000-06:00

Title: Pure
Series: Pure #1
Author: Julianna Baggott
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: February 8, 2012
Pages: 448
Source: ARC from author

From Grand Central Publishing:
We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost - how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss - maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

***

When I heard about this book from Tara and on Twitter I immediately knew I wanted to read it. Pure sounded like a grittier, more intense post-apocalyptic story, which turned out to be exactly true.

Pure is hard hitting and unforgiving from the very first pages. It delves into things on a much deeper and emotional level than I ever expected. I immediately felt for the characters and became totally enraptured in their stories.

The sci-fi undertones in Pure are super interesting – new species, humans fused to each other or items from their previous lives, living in a dome. I’ll be honest, the fusion of humans and items was incredibly creepy to me but definitely fit into the story well and really helped to explain some of the feelings people were having as they dealt with this new world that was handed to them.

Pure was filled with thrilling, twisting turns that left me leaning forward and made me stop blinking more than once. I’m so glad there are two more books in the series because there are a lot of questions that are left unanswered. All in all, I highly recommend Pure if you are in the mood for a great post-apocalyptic story.

***

Want your very own copy of Pure? Enter to win a copy below, generously supplied by Grand Central Publishing!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In My Mailbox (56)

2012-02-04T16:00:00.000-06:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme created by Kristi at The Story Siren that gives readers the chance to share the books they bought/received/swapped/borrowed over the past week.

This week's IMM is mostly thanks to some amazing bloggers out there who are willing to share their books with me. Thank you and I <3 you all!

From Ginger:

The List by Siobhan Vivian

Ladies in Waiting by Laura L. Sullivan

The Springsweet by Saundra Mitchell

From Heidi:

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Fun bookmarks and bookplates :)

From Jess:

Carry the One by Carol Anshaw

From Sourcebooks:

Picture the Dead by Adele Griffin

From Lisa:

A super-cute Valentine's Day card that made my day :)

Waiting on Wednesday: The Académie by Susanne Dunlap

2012-02-01T00:01:00.000-06:00

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases you are eagerly anticipating.

Title: The Académie
Author: Susanne Dunlap
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: April 10, 2012

From Bloomsbury:

Dangerous liaisons abound at an exclusive all-girl's boarding school in post-revolution France.

Eliza Monroe - daughter of the future president of the United States - is devastated when her mother decides to send her to boarding school outside of Paris. But the young American teen is quickly reconciled to the idea when- ooh, la-la! - she discovers who her fellow pupils will be: Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine Bonaparte; and Caroline Bonaparte, youngest sister of the famous French general. It doesn't take long for Eliza to figure out that the two French girls are mortal enemies - and that she's about to get caught in the middle of their schemes.

Loosely drawn from history, Eliza Monroe's imagined coming of age provides a scintillating glimpse into the lives, loves, and hopes of three young women during one of the most volatile periods in French history.

***

I'll be honest, I knew I had to read this book after the first short sentence in the synopsis. I'm a sucker for anything that even hints of historical fiction so The Académie is definitely on my wish list for spring!

Top Ten Tuesday: Awesome Book Club Picks

2012-01-31T00:01:00.000-06:00

This week's topic is to list the top ten books you think would make great book club picks. Being in an eclectic book club myself, I still stuck with YA books on this one - I just can't help it! I picked books that I think would spark good discussions, whether for controversial plots or just sheer different ideas and opinions. Plus, they are easily accessible from the library and in paperback, making them more likely to be read.

As always, the lovely ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish deserve a shoutout for hosting Top Ten Tuesday!

The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Speak

City of Bones, Shiver, and Saving June

Delirium, Thirteen Reasons Why, Between Shades of Gray, and A Blue So Dark

Review: Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala

2012-01-30T00:01:00.000-06:00

Title: Don't Breathe a Word
Author: Holly Cupala
Publisher: HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins Children's Books
Publication Date: January 3, 2012
Pages: 299
Source: Borrowed

From Goodreads:
Joy Delamere is suffocating...

From asthma, which has nearly claimed her life. From her parents, who will do anything to keep that from happening. From delectably dangerous Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out.

Joy can take his words - tender words, cruel words - until the night they go too far.

Now, Joy will leave everything behind to find the one who has offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. She will become someone else. She will learn to survive. She will breathe... if only she can get to Creed before it’s too late.

Set against the gritty backdrop of Seattle’s streets and a cast of characters with secrets of their own, Holly Cupala’s powerful new novel explores the subtleties of abuse, the meaning of love, and how far a girl will go to discover her own strength.

***

Joy is dealing with asthma that significantly affects her life and has overprotective parents who coddle her beyond belief. Her brother resents her for being “weak” and having to take care of her growing up. And her seemingly beautiful boyfriend is abusing her, both emotionally and now physically. Having had enough, Joy escapes into the dangerous streets of Seattle, attempting to make it on her own and escape the horrors of her life. It’s out on the streets that Joy meets Creed, a boy who has his own haunting past and is struggling to start a new life. Together they begin a journey of survival and rediscovery while battling the tough streets of Seattle as homeless teenagers.

Simply put, Don’t Breathe a Word is hauntingly beautiful, perfectly depicting the horror that is emotional abuse and how to overcome the worst of situations. Holly Cupala expertly takes the reader on an emotional ride throughout the entire story, tugging at heartstrings and filling the reader with hope and a sense of rising above the odds. While Don’t Breathe a Word is hard hitting and gritty, it is filled with love, a sense of family, and knowing yourself and your limits.

I can’t recommend Don’t Breathe a Word enough and am looking forward to reading the rest of Holly Cupala’s work.

In My Mailbox (55)

2012-01-28T17:59:00.000-06:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme created by Kristi at The Story Siren that gives readers the chance to share the books they bought/received/swapped/borrowed over the past week.

Last week Anna and I went to the Marissa Meyer and Megan Miranda signing at our local indie. I have read Fracture but not Cinder so I was stoked to buy both copies - and they're so pretty!

Marissa, me, Anna, and Megan

As some of you may know, I'm co-coordinating the DAC ARC Tours with my partner-in-crime, Lisa. We currently have 30 tours running right now and that's only for books released through the middle of March! I received The Selection from the lovely Shanyn to read and then tour, and The Queen of Kentucky tour just finished up so I'll be reading that before it's donated to a worthy cause (cause is TBD but most likely a local school library)

Ginger was nice enough to let a bunch of us borrow her copy of Where Things Come Back, and I'm next on the list.

And last but not least, I received Partials and The Princesses of Iowa from NetGalley this week. Thank you NetGalley, HarperTeen, and Candlewick Press!

Review: Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

2012-01-27T00:01:00.000-06:00

Title: Bittersweet
Author: Sarah Ockler
Publisher: Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Books
Publication Date: January 3, 2011
Pages: 384

From Goodreads:
Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life, and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances… a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.

So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet guy walks into her life…and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She’s got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who’s been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.

It’s time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, she knows this chance may very well be her last...

***

As soon as I heard about Bittersweet I knew I had to read it. Any book that combines some sort of food and romance is an automatic win in my book. Mix in the fact that I still haven't read anything by Sarah Ockler and that pretty much solidified my reading of this book.

The first thing I fell in love with were the chapter titles that described the tone of the story through cupcake recipes. It's such a cute and relevant tie-in to the story and it was one of my favorite aspects of Bittersweet.

And speaking of cupcakes... the creator of those cupcakes, Hudson, was such a believable and real character. She is going through some major stuff in her life - her dad ditched the family for another woman, her mom is making her work a ton of hours at the diner, and she's struggling with a past passion that is starting to resurface - figure skating. And then, of course, here comes the boy and Hudson is totally thrown for a loop.

Sarch Ockler does an amazing job of walking us through Hudson's struggles and how she deals with them. I loved every single character that played a role in Hudson's life and was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire story. If Bittersweet is anything like Sarah's other books, I will most definitely be reading them soon!

Waiting on Wednesday: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

2012-01-25T00:01:00.000-06:00

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases you are eagerly anticipating.

Title: Enchanted
Author: Alethea Kontis
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Release Date: May 8, 2012

From Goodreads:
It isn’t easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past—and hers?

***

An enchanted frog? A handsome yet off-limits prince? Forbidden love? Yes, yes, and yes! Enchanted sounds like a fantastic story with fun elements mixed in with some heavier themes.

Review: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

2012-01-24T00:01:00.000-06:00

Title: Graffiti Moon
Author: Cath Crowley
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Publication Date: February 14, 2012
Pages: 272
Source: ARC from NetGalley and Random House

From Goodreads:
"Let me make it in time. Let me meet Shadow. The guy who paints in the dark. Paints birds trapped on brick walls and people lost in ghost forests. Paints guys with grass growing from their hearts and girls with buzzing lawn mowers."

It’s the end of Year 12. Lucy’s looking for Shadow, the graffiti artist everyone talks about.

His work is all over the city, but he is nowhere.

Ed, the last guy she wants to see at the moment, says he knows where to find him. He takes Lucy on an all-night search to places where Shadow’s thoughts about heartbreak and escape echo around the city walls.

But the one thing Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes.

***

Graffiti Moon takes place over one night, following the adventures of some teens out looking for a good time. I am now thoroughly convinced that I need to read every single book that takes place over one night because Graffiti Moon ROCKS!

Any book that can make me laugh out loud in public places is a win in my book, and Graffiti Moon caused me to do this more times then I would like to admit. I cracked up every single time Lucy's family was mentioned, Ed and Leo's snarky bantering back and forth, and the interactions between Lucy and Ed throughout the night.

Cath Crowley did such an amazing job building intrigue and mystery around the characters and made them truly genuine and real. Not only did the characters leap out of the page, but the artistic elements completely added depth and dimension to the story.

Between the poetry, artwork, and characters, Graffiti Moon is simply brilliant and a must read!

Upcoming Events at Anderson's Bookshop

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-06:00

My local indie bookstore, Anderson's Bookshop, has some amazing author signings and events in the coming months that I cannot wait to attend with my blogger-in-crime, Anna. If you live near Chicago or Naperville, I highly suggest checking this place it out because they always have something going on.

I thought I'd create a little list here of the events that I'm most excited for (and something I can refer to when I need a little boost in my excitement levels!)

Marissa Meyer & Megan Miranda (authors of Cinder and Fracture)
Monday, January 23
Anna and I will be hitting this one up!

Breathless Tour
Marie Lu (Legend), Andrea Cremer (Bloodrose), Beth Revis (Across the Universe & A Millions Suns) & Jessica Spotswood (Born Wicked: the Cahill Witch Chronicles)
Wednesday, February 15
I sadly can't attend this one but anyone who can definitely should.

Dark Days of Winter Tour
Kimberly Derting (The Last Echo), Jill Hathaway (Slide), & Dan Wells (Partials)
Thursday, April 19
This sounds full of awesome!

Ruta Sepetys (author of Between Shades of Gray)
Tuesday, April 24
I definitely want to make this one - this book was one of my absolute faves in 2011

In My Mailbox (54)

2012-01-21T18:31:00.000-06:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme created by Kristi at The Story Siren that gives readers the chance to share the books they bought/received/swapped/borrowed over the past week.

I completely fell in love with the Coralie Bickford-Smith covers for the Penguin Classics and I thought they would be perfect on top of my fireplace. Four books later and some snazzy new bookends and tada - fireplace decorations almost complete. I think I'm going to have to buy more books to completely span the top of the fireplace though.

Purchased:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Maya bookends from Chiasso

From the library:

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready (I have to reread before Shift!)

For review:

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran

Thank you Random House!

Bookshelf Lust

2012-01-17T00:01:00.000-06:00

I was meandering around Pinterest the other day and came across some fabulous bookshelves. I figured I would share them here in case any of you are in the market for some super-creative and fun ways to display your books. I know I want every single bookshelf listed, but I don't think I can squeeze them all in to my apartment...

Source

Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

2012-01-16T00:01:00.000-06:00

Title: Clockwork Prince
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices #2
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Publication Date: December 6, 2011
Pages: 528
Source: Purchased

From Margaret K. McElderry:
In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

***

It is not often that I pre-order books anymore, or go to the bookstore on the day of a book's release. I do make an exception, however, for anything Cassandra Clare writes, and Clockwork Prince was no exception.

Clockwork Prince starts off right where Clockwork Angel left off. And holy shooooooooooo we're off on yet another whirlwind of Shadowhunter, love triangle, clockwork army drama. The plot thickens as Tess, Jem, and Will dive deeper into the Magister's motives and there is no shortage of excitement and heart-clawing emotions -- true to Cassandra Clare form. I really can't say much more than that because you just have to read the book!!!

Clockwork Prince, while super entertaining and fast paced, suffers a bit from that "book 2 syndrome." While a lot of things happen and the story continues to develop, you are still left totally hanging and needing more NOW. At least we can say that Clockwork Princess will be released this year in November and all of our questions will be answered!

Review: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

2012-01-14T13:03:00.000-06:00

Title: Hallowed
Author: Cynthia Hand
Series: Unearthly #2
Publisher: HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins
Publication Date: January 17, 2012
Pages: 416
Source: ARC from publisher

From HarperTeen:
For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn’t prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her love for Tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

In this compelling sequel to Unearthly, Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

***

Oh Cynthia Hand, how you killed me in Unearthly, then brought me back to life and killed me again in Hallowed.

So we all know how middle books in series usually go. We learn more about back stories and we are left with a huge cliffhanger in anticipation of book three. Well, Hallowed is no exception to this rule. But... Hallowed has a MAJOR heartbreaking event that sets it apart from the normal middle book stereotype. I won't say what it is of course, but I will say this - have the tissues ready.

Whether you are Team Clara, Team Christian, Team Tucker, Team None of the Above, or whatever, you will be suckerpunched straight in the gut when reading Hallowed. There is so much buildup and unanswered questions that book 3 is going to be chock full of epic angel goodness. This series is definitely one of the most well done in YA paranormal and if you haven't read Unearthly yet, what are you waiting for?! DO IT!