tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54043830821980549562024-03-12T22:31:37.991-07:00Tammy Writes YAAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-39276460575991114742015-05-20T21:25:00.000-07:002015-05-20T21:25:42.379-07:00The Writer's Voice Query +250 Words<u>QUERY</u><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When Charlie’s brother, Ethan, commits suicide at the beginning of summer, her religious father condemns him to Hell for sinning, making Charlie question things about her own faith for the first time. With both of her parents shutting down on her, Charlie finds comfort in playing card games with her Grandpa Ned who comes to stay with them. Then a mysterious boy named Hayden shows up on the front porch with a letter from Ethan which reveals a secret: Ethan was gay. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Adjusting to this news, Charlie begins to wonder--if her brother kept this from everyone, then what else was he hiding? She sets out to track down Hayden, hoping he’ll lead her to more clues that maybe, just maybe, will give her the real answer she needs. <i>Why did he do it?</i> In her search to find her brother, though, she doesn’t expect to find herself hanging out at a shady bar, dog-walking, painting an unfinished mural, and falling in love. While her family is falling apart, Charlie learns how to put herself back together.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Guide Us Home</i> is a 77,000 word contemporary YA novel that will appeal to fans of Nina LaCour’s <i>Hold Still</i>, Jessi Kirby’s <i>In Honor</i>, and Jandy Nelson’s <i>The Sky is Everywhere</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I hold an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and am currently an editorial intern at Entangled Publishing. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Thank you for your consideration.</span></div>
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<u>GUIDE US HOME</u><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I hated tuna casserole. Always had. I hated it at church potlucks when my parents forced me to have a bit of it just to be polite, and now as I stood peering into the fridge and all I could see to eat were seven of the damn things, I hated the dish even more. They’d accumulated over the last two weeks--well-intentioned neighbors and church members had been arriving at our door with their arms full pretty much every day. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I understood they were only doing the polite thing, paying their condolences and trying to feed us because they were worried that we would be too grief stricken to feed ourselves. And by the lack of other food items in the fridge, they may have been right on that last point, but still I was starting to resent the parade of happy housewives and their plastic tupperware which we “didn’t even need to worry about returning.”</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My brother was dead.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ethan.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>He was gone, and stuffing ourselves with disgusting food wasn’t going to bring him back. If it was, I’d gladly scarf down all seven of these monstrosities, believe me. But since it wasn’t, I’d probably have to venture out to the grocery store at some point, because of the three remaining Webbs, somehow I was maintaining the tightest grip on reality.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I was just contemplating texting Brooke for a ride, since I knew she’d be happy to feel like she was helping, when the doorbell rang. <i>Great, another one.</i></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-77356467816335907392015-02-28T10:12:00.001-08:002015-02-28T10:13:31.488-08:00Review: Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver<i>Vanishing Girls</i><br />
by Lauren Oliver<br />
HarperCollins<br />
Pub Date: March 10, 2015<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(I received an ARC of this title from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)</span><br />
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Synopsis from Amazon:<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late.</span><br />
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My Review:<br />
One of the things I love about Lauren Oliver is that all of her books are so different from each other. And Vanishing Girls was definitely different.<br />
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I really enjoyed Nick working at the old amusement park. Those scenes added a fun element to the story's sadder tone. The mystery of the missing girl that Nick gets caught up in was totally intriguing, and I understood how Nick could get consumed by it at this time when she feels like her family is falling apart.<br />
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It's hard to talk about this book without giving everything away, but I'll just say that the ending was excellent. And when I finished the book, I immediately wanted to go back and start reading again from the beginning with a new perspective.<br />
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Lauren Oliver can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-71549658971679166232015-02-28T09:31:00.000-08:002015-02-28T09:42:07.981-08:00Review: My Best Everything by Sarah Tomp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i>My Best Everything</i></div>
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by Sarah Tomp</div>
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Publisher: Little, Brown</div>
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Pub Date: March 3rd, 2015</div>
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Synopsis from Amazon:<br />
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Luisa "Lulu" Mendez has just finished her final year of high school in a small Virginia town, determined to move on and leave her job at the local junkyard behind. So when her father loses her college tuition money, Lulu needs a new ticket out.</div>
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Desperate for funds, she cooks up the (illegal) plan to make and sell moonshine with her friends. Quickly realizing they're out of their depth, they turn to Mason, a local boy who's always seemed like a dead end. As Mason guides Lulu through the secret world of moonshine, it looks like her plan might actually work. But can she leave town before she loses everything?</div>
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<i>My Best Everything</i> is Lulu's letter to Mason--but it a love letter, an apology, or a good-bye?</div>
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Honestly, I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did. I was intrigued by the narrative structure--that the book is written as a letter--and the small southern town setting. But I figured, how much could I really care about people making moonshine? Well, it turns out I can care a lot.</div>
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I loved Lulu's character. She was set up as the good, innocent girl, and her innocence was evident in her interactions with Mason. But then the lengths she was willing to go through, breaking the law, to get money for college made her super interesting. I loved her best friend Roni, too. And how Roni was satisfied with small town life until she became the singer for a band that was going on tour. The fact that Lulu and Roni work in a junk yard is cool too. And, of course, Mason was totally adorable. When he first meets Lulu, he lets her puke in his motorcycle helmet. The fact that he still likes her after that just makes him even more awesome.</div>
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Because the book is set up as a letter to Mason written after this summer, the whole story has a sort of foreboding tone. I was waiting for the really bad things to happen. I don't want to give anything away, but then ending was different than I expected and I loved it!</div>
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When I'm really into a story, I sometimes forget to mark the quotes I like, but here's two:</div>
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"I hated not knowing everyone that had ever known you. I wanted to know you best."</div>
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Lulu's mother talks about Lulu's dad, saying, "But we're better together than either of us on our own."</div>
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And Lulu says, "If I believed in love, it might look something like that."</div>
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Ahhh the romance! This story was just so unique and sweet and I loved it! And as a bonus for me, when I got to the acknowledgements I realized that the author is a VCFA grad too! VCFA world domination is the best.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-75364415376804371572014-08-20T10:21:00.000-07:002014-08-20T10:21:13.814-07:00Review: Joss Whedon: A Biography by Amy Pascale<i>Joss Whedon: A Biography</i><br />
by Amy Pascale<br />
Chicago Review Press<br />
Pub Date: August 1, 2014<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i></span></div>
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Do I need a synopsis for this? It's a biography on Joss Whedon, creator of <i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i> and so many other amazing pieces of entertainment. I've been trying to figure out how to write this review, because I'm afraid it's going to come out as more of a review of Joss Whedon's life than it is a review of the author's book. I guess I've never reviewed a biography before.</div>
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Well, first let me just say that this book was pretty long, and yet I still would have happily kept reading forever. The author did an excellent job of keeping a narrative going throughout the book. She devoted separate chapters to separate projects of Joss's, while also keeping things chronological even though he hopped from one project to the next and back again. I almost felt like I was reading a fictional story, with character development, foreshadowing, conflict, tension, and resolutions. I also think the author did a great job of piecing together many different people's thoughts while working on various projects in order to give the reader a complete idea of what it was like to be there with Joss at that time.</div>
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So basically I'm saying that this biography was excellent. Excellent excellent excellent. I was fascinated the entire time…</div>
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And that, of course, is why I feel like I should be reviewing Joss the person rather than this actual book. I don't want to take away anything from the wonderful job the author has done, but I obviously wouldn't have been so invested in reading a biography if I wasn't so obsessed with its subject. Joss Whedon has been probably my biggest hero for a really long time, in the sense that I admire his work--both as a consumer of it for entertainment, and as a creator myself.</div>
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While he writes scripts and I write novels, I feel like the fundamentals of storytelling are the same. And I found so much inspiration in hearing exactly <i>how</i> Joss creates his stories. One tidbit I especially enjoyed was how he talks about writing episodes of Buffy. While the show is told in a very monster-of-the-week format, especially in earlier seasons, Joss was adamant about keeping the conflict of each episode grounded in the emotional conflicts of the characters. He always asked himself and his other writers, "But what's the Buffy of it?" I think I need to write this on the top of my dry-erase board when I'm making notes for a novel, perhaps substituting "Buffy" with my own MC's name. Or then again, perhaps not!</div>
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I know I'm not the first person to say this about him, but another thing I really admire about Joss is the way he cultivates his own family of creative and talented people, keeping them close around him. If you watch his shows, it's obvious that he uses a lot of the same actors for many different projects, but he also uses the same writers, etc. I can understand why he does this, and I also feel most comfortable when I'm around other creative people. While I can't cast my friends in TV shows, I appreciate how Joss does this. It is also interesting how he has created his own family, while he often talks about that idea as being a big theme in his shows. And the fact that his "family" gathers at his house to give Shakespeare readings just makes my heart swell a little bit. </div>
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I also feel like I share so many personal beliefs with Joss, about humanity, feminism, religion…and it was great getting to read his thoughts on the subjects and about how his beliefs have shaped his work. I already knew that he was an atheist, but I found myself majorly connecting with him during moments of this book, especially whenever he takes issue with the idea that you need to have religion in order to have a sense of morality. </div>
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There are countless other reasons I could give for why I pretty much worship Joss Whedon, but I think maybe I'll save that for a separate post. I'm just going to end this with a few Joss quotes I found in this book that really kind of hit me in the gut.</div>
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<i>"Very often you'll be in a group and you'll discover that every single person in it feels like they're the one on the perimeter."</i></div>
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<i>"…we, all of us, are alone in our own minds, and I was very much aware of that from the very beginning of my life. Loneliness and aloneness--which are different things--are very much…[among the] main things I focus on in my work."</i></div>
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<i>"It made me realize…that every time somebody opens their mouth they have an opportunity to do one of two things--connect or divide. Some people inherently divide, and some people inherently connect."</i></div>
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<i>"I believe the only reality is how we treat each other. The morality comes from the absence of any grander scheme, not from the presence of any grander scheme."</i></div>
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<i>"The enemy of humanism is not faith. The enemy of humanism is hate, is fear, is ignorance, is the darker part of man that is in every humanist, every person in the world. That is what we have to fight. Faith is something we have to embrace. Faith in God means believing absolutely in something with no proof whatsoever. Faith in humanity means believing absolutely in something with a huge amount of proof to the contrary. We are the true believers."</i></div>
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And finally, a quote from Amy Pascale that I wholeheartedly agree with:</div>
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<i>"When I say that Joss Whedon changed my life, I'm not being hyperbolic. If anything, it seems inadequate to say that he changed it only once."</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-5661385299776762632014-08-04T12:37:00.002-07:002014-08-04T12:40:57.226-07:00Review: The Bridge From Me To You<br />
<i>The Bridge From Me To You</i><br />
by Lisa Schroeder<br />
Scholastic<br />
Pub Date: July 29, 2014<br />
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Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22662450-the-bridge-from-me-to-you" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Lauren has a secret. Colby has a problem. But when they find each other, everything falls into place. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Lauren is the new girl in town with a dark secret. Colby is the football hero with a dream of something more. In alternating chapters, they come together, fall apart, and build something stronger than either of them thought possible--something to truly believe in.</span><br />
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My Review:<br />
I was intrigued by this novel's format--with alternating chapters from Lauren's point of view (in verse) and Colby's point of view (in prose). I thought it was interesting how Schroeder told the story not only from two different POV's, but also in two fundamentally different ways.<br />
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I think giving Lauren's chapters in verse was a good way to capture her fractured and confused state of mind. Lauren's poetry also allowed Schroeder to slowly reveal the truth about what happened to Lauren's family and why she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle. We get hints through the thoughts Lauren expresses in her poetry, rather than being told outright from the beginning.<br />
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I enjoyed Colby's voice as well. His chapters managed to capture his sensitive and thoughtful side, even while he talked about things like football. I really liked the idea of this character being obsessed with bridges, and I thought Schroeder used this idea well metaphorically.<br />
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I appreciated how the interactions between Lauren and Colby were sweet and innocent for much of the book. The two main obstacles that kept them apart felt a bit contrived to me, but I did enjoy how they tried to be friends until they had the chance to possibly be something more. It was a refreshing change of pace from a lot of YA romances where the characters jump into heavily physical relationships pretty quickly.<br />
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However, my main critique of the book stems from the air of innocence that I liked. While I found the teens' relationship cute, the writing in the novel felt like it was aimed at a younger audience than I expected. The plot followed similarly. Schroeder set up conflicts for the characters in their relationships with their families and friends, but then it felt to me like the situations never got as dark as they probably would have in real life. Every problem the characters faced seemed to resolve themselves easily. While there is nothing wrong with this, and I certainly don't believe that every YA novel needs to be dark, because the darker situations were set up, I was expecting something more from them than what I got. I think the book would simply be better suited for a slightly younger audience.<br />
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(I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-39220627107010318262014-05-10T21:04:00.002-07:002014-05-10T21:04:27.679-07:00Review: One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva<i>One Man Guy</i><br />
by Michael Barakiva<br />
Farrar, Straus and Giroux<br />
Pub Date: May 27, 2014<br />
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<b>Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465591-one-man-guy?from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Alek Khederian should have guessed something was wrong when his parents took him to a restaurant. Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek’s parents announce that he’ll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshman year of high school. He never could’ve predicted that he’d meet someone like Ethan.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. He can’t believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend—he’s barely ever had a girlfriend—but maybe it’s time to think again.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">(I received a copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Yes! Adorable. I loved this book. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">From the very first scene, Alek pulled me into his story and made me care about him and root for him. He was adorably awkward and I loved him. I also loved his family dynamic. It was funny how his mom found fault in everything Americans do, but then pointed out how her friend does it. I liked how Alek and his brother Nik didn't seem to get along at all, but then they were totally there for each other when they needed it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I loved Ethan. Loved, loved, loved. The one thing I could say is that I actually wanted to know more about him. I would have kept reading this book if he and Alek's story was 500 pages long. But I absolutely adored how he treated Alek. And I liked how realistic their relationship felt. They had misunderstandings and were jerks to each other at times, and then they addressed these things, instead of just magically letting everything be better. But they always forgave each other. I really appreciated that.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">And finally, I really enjoyed how New York was used as a setting for the boys' developing relationship. Also, even though I haven't listened to too much Rufus Wainwright, I liked how the author used one specific musician to sort of set the tone for the story. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">So like I said, this book was sweet and adorable and fantastic. So good. Everyone should check it out when it's released May 27th!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-4187708226918400722014-05-10T09:34:00.000-07:002014-05-10T09:34:29.953-07:00Review: Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel<i>Second Star</i><br />
by Alyssa B. Sheinmel<br />
Macmillan Children's Publishing Group<br />
Pub Date: May 13, 2014<br />
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<b>Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465577-second-star?from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete's nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she's falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up--and the troubled beauty trapped between them.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My Review</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I don't even know where to start. This is a YA retelling of <i>Peter Pan</i> about a girl who hangs out at an abandoned beach with two surfer boys! Just the concept is crazy awesome. I was beyond thrilled for the chance to read this early, and I loved it even more than I expected. I was so obsessed with this book while I was reading it. When I had to put it down before I was finished, I kept thinking about it and telling my friend about it. It was so so so good!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">One thing I thought was great (even though it kind of drove me crazy at the same time) was how the author maintained this sort of magical tone throughout the whole story. It kept me guessing until the very end about what was real.</span></span></div>
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And, of course, what I thought was the greatest was the boys. Pete and Jas. They were both ridiculously great, but I have a tendency to root for the "bad" guy. At first I did think I'd get annoyed with Wendy sort of bouncing back and forth between two boys. But it actually felt believable and the author managed to do it without me losing any respect for Wendy. It probably had something to do with the whole magical/real-or-not-real quality of the story, too.<br />
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The last thing I want to say is <i>slightly</i> spoiler-y, so you might wanna skip this paragraph!<br />
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The ending. I was rooting crazy hard for a totally cheesy, ridiculously happy ending. But I started realizing way before the end that it wasn't going to be as ride-off-into-the-sunset as I wanted it to be. And I was okay with that, only because I reminded myself of <i>Peter Pan</i>. The story was always kind of sad to me. But also awesome.<br />
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And that's totally what <i>Second Star</i> was. Kind of sad, but even more awesome. I thought it was perfect. If you like fairy tale retellings, read it. Seriously. It was so creatively done.<br />
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<i>Second Star</i> is available Tuesday.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-28373485303478843222014-05-07T23:40:00.000-07:002014-05-07T23:43:04.445-07:00TORN AWAY Blog Tour: Review, Playlist & GIVEAWAY!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm so excited to be participating in the Blog Tour hosted by <a href="http://www.itchingforbooks.com/2014/02/blog-tour-sign-uptorn-away-by-jennifer.html" target="_blank">Itching for Books</a> for Jennifer Brown's newest YA novel, <i>Torn Away</i>! I'm posting my review AND my own playlist for this story. And the publishers are allowing everyone participating in the tour to host their own GIVEAWAY for a copy of the novel!<br />
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I have loved all of Jennifer Brown's other novels, so I was practically jumping up and down for the chance to get an early copy from NetGalley. And let me just say that <i>Torn Away</i> completely exceeded my expectations!<br />
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It actually wasn't quite what I expected it to be...but it was better. I do think I wouldn't have been so surprised by the shape of the story if I had paid better attention to the synopsis, though. So I would actually suggest skipping the synopsis down below and going into the book blind. It's about a girl who survives a tornado. That's all you need to know!<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Torn Away</span></i><br />
by Jennifer Brown<br />
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers<br />
Pub Date: May 6, 2014<br />
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<span class="yiv8313012849" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="yiv8313012849"><b class="yiv8313012849">Synopsis via <a class="yiv8313012849" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18453112-torn-away" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #32157f; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:</b></span></span><br />
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<span class="yiv8313012849" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399521466360_8935">Born and raised in the Midwest, Jersey Cameron knows all about tornadoes. Or so she thinks. When her town is devastated by a twister, Jersey survives -- but loses her mother, her young sister, and her home. As she struggles to overcome her grief, she's sent to live with her only surviving relatives: first her biological father, then her estranged grandparents.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv8313012849" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399521466360_8937">In an unfamiliar place, Jersey faces a reality she's never considered before -- one in which her mother wasn't perfect, and neither were her grandparents, but they all loved her just the same. Together, they create a new definition of family. And that's something no tornado can touch.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv8313012849"><span class="yiv8313012849" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399521466360_9081" style="font-weight: bold;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR</span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv8313012849"><span class="yiv8313012849" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399521466360_8954"><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399521466360_8953" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Two-time winner of the Erma Bombeck Global Humor Award (2005 & 2006), Jennifer's weekly humor column appeared in The Kansas City Star for over four years, until she gave it up to be a full-time young adult novelist. <br class="yiv8313012849" />Jennifer writes and lives in the Kansas City, Missouri area, with her husband and three children.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv8313012849"><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399521466360_9087" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a class="yiv8313012849" href="http://www.jenniferbrownya.com/" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399521466360_9086" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #32157f; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.jenniferbrownya.com</a> | <a class="yiv8313012849" href="http://www.twitter.com/JenniferBrownYA" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #32157f; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.twitter.com/JenniferBrownYA</a></span> | <a class="yiv8313012849" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Brown/165590286859411" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399521466360_9085" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Brown/165590286859411</a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">MY REVIEW:</span></b></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This book was heartbreaking. I knew it would be, because of the subject matter. But it felt so immediate. The whole thing takes place, I believe, within a month of the tornado, so Jersey is still basically in shock. She’s grieving, obviously. I thought that the story would be more about her finding a way to move on, that it would take place further after the fact. But instead, we get to see her when everything is still so raw. Like I said, it’s heartbreaking. And perfect.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s hard to say too much without spoilers, but I will say that for me, the best thing about the book was the characters. They were all so vivid and real, even if they were only in the story for a short time. Some of them were so awful I wanted to scream at them and punch them for Jersey, and then some of them were so wonderful I wanted to hug them and thank them because Jersey couldn’t. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My heart was breaking for Jersey the whole time. I wanted her to fight back against the awful people, but she was mostly just too numb. And then I wanted her to try to accept the people that wanted to help her, but again she was in too much pain at first. It was frustrating, and I wanted to scream at <i>her</i>, too. But all of Jersey’s actions and reactions felt so believable for someone who had just been through such a tragedy. Everyone deals with tragedy in different ways, but I thought that the author handled all of Jersey’s conflicting emotions so well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The ending was also perfect. After all of the horribleness that was happening to her, I was starting to think that Jersey could get nothing but a miserably bleak ending. But no. She finally managed to find a little bit of hope. And it made reading through all of the heartbreaking parts worth it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone. But be prepared to cry basically the entire time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>And now for my <i>Torn Away</i> PLAYLIST!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. I'm With You--Avril Lavigne</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>waiting in the basement</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">2. Goodbye to You--Michelle Branch</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>losing people</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">3. Rescue Me--Aaron and Andrew</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>the in-between</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">4. View from Heaven--Yellowcard</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>starting to accept</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">5. You'll Be Okay--A Great Big World</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>grandfather</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">6. Let It Be--The Beatles</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>grandmother</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">7. I Will Remember You--Sarah McLaughlin</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: normal;"> <i>at the </i></span><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>cemetary</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">8. When I Look to the Sky--Train</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>the end</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>GIVEAWAY!!!</b></span></span></div>
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Enter below to win one paperback copy of Torn Away! (Contest open to U.S. residents only.)</div>
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Don't forget to check out all the other stops on the tour!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-14315853831610097492014-05-06T11:38:00.003-07:002014-05-06T11:38:33.967-07:00Review: Boys Like You by Juliana Stone<i>Boys Like You</i><br />
by Juliana Stone<br />
Sourcebooks Fire<br />
Pub Date: May 6, 2014<br />
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I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</div>
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What it's about: This story is told in alternating points of view. Monroe is sent to spend the summer with her grandmother in Louisiana after a mistake tears her family apart and leaves her broken. Here she meets Nathan, a boy who also made a terrible mistake and is just as broken as she is. And then romance ensues and they put each other back together, of course!</div>
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I don't even know where to start on how much I loved this book. Maybe I should start by saying that the entire thing took me by surprise. I guess based on the title and cover, I was expecting it to be a cute romance and not too much more. But I was so wrong. The writing was beautiful, the characters were beautiful and real, and it was all just perfect. My eyes were watering up pretty much the whole way through the second half of the novel, and then a minute after I finished it, I had to grab a tissue. I wasn't expecting that! Also, I read the entire thing in one sitting, before bed, and it kept me up all night. I couldn't put it down.</div>
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I guess the biggest thing going on is the secrets that each of these two characters are keeping. If you read the synopsis, they're pretty obvious. But I did, and I was still caught up in the way the author slowly revealed the details to the reader as the characters slowly opened up to each other. She did a really great job with that.</div>
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I loved both Monroe and Nathan. And of course, I'm totally a sucker for the not-love-at-first-sight relationships. On their first meeting, all they did was bicker at each other. But thanks to Monroe's meddling (and completely awesome) grandmother, they have to spend more time together. And eventually, they start to develop feelings for each other. I felt like the author did a good job of making their relationship feel believable. Both characters were in such a bad place at the start of the novel that it was hard for them to let each other in. But then they did. And again, it was perfect. I also really appreciated how their romance didn't magically make everything okay again. It didn't. They just found a way to help each other start healing. And I really believed it.</div>
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To avoid just repeating the word perfect, I'm going to stop here. But I'll just say again how much this book took me by surprise. I'd never read anything by Juliana Stone before (I guess she normally writes adult romance), but I'll definitely be looking for her next YA novel now.</div>
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<i>Boys Like You</i> comes out today, so go check it out!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-87437461325774769702014-04-29T15:38:00.000-07:002014-05-01T15:37:10.008-07:00Review: Catch a Falling Star by Kim Culbertson<i>Catch a Falling Star</i><br />
by Kim Culbertson<br />
Scholastic<br />
Pub Date: April 29, 2014<br />
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What it's about: Carter Moon is a small town girl who is proud of where she comes from. When a Hollywood film crew arrives to film a movie in her town, Carter meets teen star Adam Jakes. Adam needs a fake girlfriend to help clean up his image, and Carter takes the job. But soon she starts to fall for Adam for real.</div>
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I was excited when I saw that Kim Culbertson had a new book coming out, because I absolutely loved her first two: <i>Songs for a Teenage Nomad</i> and <i>Instructions for a Broken Heart</i>. I even loved her novella <i>The Liberation of Max McTrue</i>. And unfortunately, though I liked this one a lot, it just didn't live up to how wonderful her last ones were. </div>
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The setup felt very familiar. Even though I can't name a specific book or movie, I feel like I've seen it a few times before. But that didn't bother me. I was expecting a cute romance, and that's what <i>Catch a Falling Star</i> delivered. I only felt that the romance wasn't as believable as it could have been. While I could see how Adam fell for Carter, I didn't really see enough from Adam to make me feel that he was worth Carter's attention. </div>
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One interesting aspect Culbertson added to the story was the theme of stars and space. Carter and her best friend Alien Drake are stargazers and they even run their own blog where they discuss what's going on in the sky. I thought it was clever how the author related the stars in the sky that Carter observes to the star who has suddenly appeared in her life. Culbertson even included the blog entries at the end of some chapters. But even though I appreciated the connection, I found myself skimming through those blog entries. </div>
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There were quite a few things I really enjoyed about this novel, though. I loved the small town setting, and I especially loved that Carter's family owned a cafe. I also thought it was great how Carter's other best friend Chloe was obsessed with Adam and how much she freaked out when she thought Carter was dating him. I also just liked Carter's character development. I thought it was refreshing to see a small town girl who wasn't dying to get out as soon as she graduated. In fact, Carter's problem was the opposite. I thought Culbertson did a great job with developing Carter's personal conflicts. She was a girl who had abandoned her passion and was know slowly realizing that she could go back to it. I liked seeing her grow and have to make some big life choices.</div>
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So that's all. I definitely felt that this was an enjoyable read. Probably the only reason it fell short of my expectations was because I had such <i>high</i> expectations. Kim Culbertson is still a YA writer that I would greatly recommend.</div>
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And <i>Catch a Falling Star</i> is out today, so be sure to check it out if you'd like to see some small town girl/movie star romance!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-51374952340360953432014-03-12T18:32:00.001-07:002014-03-12T18:32:09.535-07:00Review: Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski<i>Don't Even Think About It</i><br />
by Sarah Mlynowski<br />
Random House<br />
Pub Date: March 11, 2014<br />
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I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.<br />
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What it's about: This is the story of what happens when almost an entire homeroom gets a flu shot and ends up with the side effect of telepathy. Suddenly the group of students realize that they can't keep secrets from each other, and they also hear things they may not necessarily want to hear from crushes, friends, and family.<br />
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Okay, I've been waiting for a new Sarah Mlynowski book since I read <i>10 Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have)</i>. And this new novel didn't disappoint.<br />
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First of all, the super unique things about this story is the point of view. I want to label it collective first person, but my English degree might really be failing me here because I'm not sure if that's right. Anyway, the whole thing is narrated by a "we." Not only is this something I've never seen done before, but it makes total sense for the story! It is explained in the beginning that this large group of students considers themselves a "we" now that they have this telepathy. And since they can all hear each other's thoughts, they can narrate the story together in one voice. So cool!<br />
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Another cool thing about the story is the large ensemble cast. I have to admit that I cared about some characters less than others, and couldn't remember every character's individual story. But the author did give more focus to a smaller group and I liked all of these "main" characters. But I especially liked the changing dynamic between the members of the group. Because they didn't all start off as friends, but gaining this power bonded them. Bonus: there was one totally unexpected romance that bloomed by the end of the story and I really enjoyed that!<br />
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Finally, I loved all of the discomfort the situation caused for the characters. (Errr, maybe that sounds sadistic.) There were fights between friends and couples because they could suddenly hear what each other is thinking at every moment. And I think this is a really interesting thing to explore. Because, let's face it, we don't always have sickenly sweet thoughts about even our bestest friends 100% of the time. Imagine how hard it would be if you're friend heard your passing thought about how an outfit didn't look good on her. This isn't something you would actually say to her, so if she heard it you'd feel awful.<br />
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And then the author also explored more interesting dynamics between family members. It's interesting to think about all of the thoughts parents might keep hidden from their children because they just want their children to be happy and not have to share the parents' worries.<br />
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Overall, this was a really quick read. But definitely entertaining! And it just came out this week, so you can already check it out.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-6022533526509790072014-02-16T08:42:00.000-08:002014-02-18T09:57:50.745-08:00Review: Donna of the Dead by Alison Kemper<i>Donna of the Dead</i><br />
by Alison Kemper<br />
Entangled Publishing<br />
Pub Date: March 4, 2014<br />
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I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.<br />
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People. I loved this book. I read it all in one sitting, and it's not a short book! When I first came across it on Goodreads it didn't have a cover (still doesn't), and the blurb was pretty much one sentence. But it compared the book to <i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i>, so that put it on my auto-read list. I was so excited to get this ARC! I try to read the ARCs in the order in which the books will be released. But I had to read this right away. And then I had to keep reading until I was finished.<br />
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So I should probably say what it's about. It's a zombie novel. I know everyone talks about supernatural trends in books, and I've never been into any of them before... but give me more zombie novels! Please! This one reminded me of <i>This is Not a Test</i> by Courtney Summers just because of the setup, but it was still different.<br />
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Babbling. Ok.<br />
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This book is about a girl named Donna who can hear voices in her head that warn her when she's in danger. This special ability (which she keeps secret from everyone) comes in handy when a zombie outbreak occurs. Her and her best friend Deke end up hiding out in their high school with a group of their classmates. Some of these people Donna can't stand, but her long-time crush Liam is there as well. And that's basically it. Let the zombie slaying begin!<br />
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First thing I liked about this book was that it had a really interesting opening. Donna and Deke are with their families on a cruise ship when suddenly everyone else on the ship gets zombi-fied. And their parents get the ship to land and the kids escape. I've just never seen any scene from a zombie story take place in the middle of the ocean. It definitely raised the tension, having the characters confined to this zombie infested ship.<br />
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Next I liked the ensemble cast of characters. I feel like trapping kids in their high school with no adults is a common thing in YA now, but I'm a sucker for it. There's just so much room for different personalities to interact and different relationships to emerge.<br />
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The action was great. It was interesting to see how Donna's voices helped her. Because they didn't tell her directly what to do. They just gave warnings and she had to figure it out. I also really appreciated how the voices weren't this random supernatural element. By the end, we find out that there's a reason Donna can hear them.<br />
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So like I already said, I really really enjoyed this book. Definitely check it out if you like zombie novels, action, survival stories, or just a nice dose of teen drama.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-41235040605440610662014-02-08T12:51:00.004-08:002014-02-08T12:51:52.579-08:00Big, Exciting, Lots of Changes!So I know the title of this post is ungrammatical. Oh well. That's just how my brain is working this week. Lots of things to report.<br />
<br />
I decided on Monday that I was quitting my job at the diner. For many reasons that I don't need to get into. But basically, I knew I had to get out. Immediately. It was more than my general feeling of "I can't be a server anymore. This is killing me." It was this place specifically that I needed to get away from.<br />
<br />
Lately I've been trying to get myself started as a freelance editor. I have a couple clients already. I created my own website, and I've been thinking about printing business cards. It's something that I know takes a lot of time to establish yourself. But I was enjoying going to my serving job in the morning and then having my evenings free to edit or work on my own writing. And a little extra money is always good.<br />
<br />
So when I decided to leave my job, I briefly thought that I could try to really spread the word and support myself on freelancing. Plus I was looking into submitting articles to paying magazines and also maybe self-publishing some short stories on Amazon. But the reality is, I have way too many bills. At the moment, I just can't afford not to have a steady income.<br />
<br />
So on Tuesday I applied at another restaurant that's opening up in a few weeks. On Wednesday I went back and got hired. It's not ideal--just going from one serving job to the next. It's not what I want to do with my life. But for now, it seems like my only option.<br />
<br />
But then also on Wednesday, I got a completely out of the blue e-mail from a woman who saw a resume I posted online months ago on one of those job hunt sites. She wanted to interview me for an assistant manager position at Panera Bread. This is also not my ideal job. BUT unlike serving, this would give me way more money, plus benefits and insurance. And I'm just not in the position to turn that down. So I'm interviewing next week and I guess we'll see what happens. The only thing that worries me is that I'd be working WAY more hours than I am now. Which leaves much less time for my own writing and for freelancing. Of course, even though I love editing for people, the reason I started it was to make more money. And if I had this management position, I wouldn't need the extra money anymore. So I'd probably stop looking for new clients and just finish the projects I'm doing now.<br />
<br />
The bottom line, though, is that whichever job I end up doing, at least it will be a change. My job has been making me miserable for a while now. And I can't keep living like that. Change will be good.<br />
<br />
And and and AND NOW FOR THE BIG NEWS. On Thursday I sent out five new query letters to agents for my novel. And about an hour later I got a response from one agent asking to read the full manuscript. !!!!!***!@!@!!!!!! I probably don't need to say, but I was FREAKING OUT. For a good ten minutes. And then I went back to my computer. And I had ANOTHER e-mail from another agent wanting to read it too!<br />
<br />
I'm not getting my hopes up. I swear I'm not. I know that the chance of them loving the novel enough to offer me representation is very very very slim. But so was the chance of them even wanting to read it in the first place. This is the farthest I've gotten in the agent search process so far. It's a huge step. And it feels AMAZING.<br />
<br />
So now I'm waiting to hear back. I don't know how I'm going to focus on the rest of my life until I get their responses. I just don't.<br />
<br />
But I'm really, really excited about my life right now.<br />
<br />
:)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-54054378029662041602014-02-08T12:22:00.000-08:002014-02-08T12:22:09.936-08:00Review: The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry<i>The Summer I Found You</i><br />
by Jolene Perry<br />
Albert Whitman Teen<br />
Pub Date: March 1, 2014<br />
<br />
I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.<br />
<br />
<i>The Summer I Found You</i> is told in alternating points of view between Kate, a girl who's dealing with her recent diagnosis of diabetes, and Aidan, a boy who is home from the army after losing an arm. The two are thrown together on a whim by Kate's best friend who is also Aidan's cousin. Romance ensues.<br />
<br />
I'll start by saying that I absolutely adored this book. I wasn't sure how I felt about Kate at first, because at the beginning of the story she gets dumped, and then she spends a lot of time whining about it and thinking she can get the guy back. I didn't want to read about that, but I can admit that it did feel like a realistic reaction from a teenage girl. And Aidan starts off a bit whiney too, but understandably so, since he just lost his arm. Once the two meet, though, I was totally sucked into the story.<br />
<br />
Kate is drawn to spending time with Aidan because he is the one person who doesn't know about her diabetes, and therefore isn't monitoring what she eats and worrying about her all the time. And Aidan likes being around Kate because she doesn't act weird about his arm. She just blurts out whatever she's thinking, even if other people would find it inappropriate. I really liked how, with the multiple POV's, we got to understand each person's motivation for wanting to be with the other. These two characters didn't fall into the trap of insta-love. They had very believable reasons for wanting to continue seeing each other. Eventually, of course, their feelings developed until they really cared about each other.<br />
<br />
Of course, what drew them to each other also becomes the sources of their problems. They're both, in a way, hiding things from each other and aren't able to be completely open. Then things seem to fall apart in the climactic seen (which I could see coming from page one), but the pair finds a way to work things out. What I really love about their relationship is how they each help the other overcome their problems.<br />
<br />
Overall, I thought both the story and the writing were great. I'd definitely be interested in checking out Jolene Perry's next book.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-89920721466394301582014-01-24T19:37:00.004-08:002014-01-24T19:37:41.367-08:00Review: Me Since You by Laura Weiss<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Me Since You</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by Laura Weiss</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Pub Date: Feb 18, 2014</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Me Since You</i> is about a girl named Rowan whose father is a police officer. When her father is called to the scene of a tragic crime, this sets in motion a chain of events that change Rowan’s life. While Rowan’s family is dealing with the consequences of that day, Rowan begins a romance with Ely, a boy who also happened to be at the scene of the crime. But then another tragic event occurs which separates Rowan’s life into BEFORE and AFTER.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Let me start off by saying that I found the premise of this novel fascinating. It’s hard to give a review for this one without giving any spoilers, so I apologize in advance for the vagueness. But I’ve never considered what it might be like for a police officer in a situation like this where he is called to stop a crime. Because of this situation, I really enjoyed the first part of the novel where Rowan’s family is dealing with the aftermath of this crime.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ely. I absolutely adored Ely. He and Rowan’s budding relationship felt very authentic to me. And I really appreciated how Ely had an interesting (but sad) backstory that also directly related to the present story. If that makes any sense. Again, I’m going to be vague here.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Now here’s where I’m not so sure how I feel about the novel. The second tragic event (the one that the book’s blurb says separates Rowan’s life) occurs way later in the novel than I expected. I could see the event coming, but then it took so long to actually happen that I began to get confused as to what the story was even supposed to be about.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Aside from the timing/pacing issue, I personally didn’t enjoy the book as much after the event. I felt like the rest of the novel became a big pile of grief. Now, I think the author did a good job of realistically portraying Rowan’s grief. But for me, it was just too much of a downer. I guess because it seemed like the entire plot of the story just stopped. And Rowan grieved. And that was it. And then the plot just barely picked back up again at the end (thanks to Ely). So while I really enjoyed reading at least the first half of the book, the rest of it disappointed me.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I also feel like I didn’t quite know what I was getting into when I began reading this book. Even the publisher’s summary is sort of vague to avoid spoilers. But I think if I had realized how this book was going to be ahead of time, I would have been prepared for a really sad read, and may not have had the same reaction to the sudden grief spiral.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So that’s all I have for you. Great setup, really strong writing, and then (at least for me) kind of a let down. Give it a try, though. Just be prepared for sadness.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-48684702109675865562014-01-17T20:44:00.001-08:002014-01-17T20:44:04.719-08:00In Which I Do ALL THE THINGS!So for the last few weeks, I've felt like I've had a lot going on. Because I have. And what's really exciting is that all of these things are writing related.<br />
<br />
I'm a waitress. That's how I'm currently paying my bills. But that's not a career, and I have my shiny new Master's degree (not to mention student loans) telling me that I should be doing more. And it's really frustrating sometimes. I've looked for full time jobs, but the thing is, I'm picky. I don't want to be sitting behind a desk working 9-5 bored out of my mind.<br />
<br />
Obviously the dream is to become a full time writer. But the reality is much trickier. I kept telling myself that I'd be sending my novel out to agents soon, and that I'd just wait and see. I know that even if I did get a publishing contract, that would certainly not mean I could quit my job. But it would mean <i>something</i>. It would mean that I'm on the right track.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, though, I'm going a bit crazy. I have a lot of friends at work, and I love them. And they're wonderful enough to listen to me babble endlessly about writing stuff and pretend that they care. But I want to be doing more with my time than waiting tables and coming home to watch TV now that my novel is done. I want to engage more with other writers and book lovers. I do that with my VCFA friends, of course. But I want to do it more!<br />
<br />
I didn't consciously make a choice to change things. But suddenly, it feels like all sorts of things are falling into place for me. So here's an update on what I've got going on now:<br />
<br />
1. I did finish my novel AND wrote my query letter AND sent it out to five agents. That's a small batch for now, because I think the query letter needs to be revised some more. Once I start hearing back from these agents, I'll do some more work on the letter and send out another batch.<br />
<br />
2. I went back to talking about books and writing on my YouTube channel: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/readfirstwritesecond">Read First, Write Second</a>. This is important, not only because it's fun, but because making contacts with other readers and writers could potentially be beneficial down the road if my novel gets published.<br />
<br />
3. I'm back to writing in this blog. (Obviously.)<br />
<br />
4. I joined <a href="http://netgalley.com/">NetGalley</a>, a site where publishers provide ARCs to reviewers in order to get publicity for their books. And I've already received 7 books. So that means more reviews on this blog and my YouTube.<br />
<br />
5. I recently finished <i>The F-It List</i> by Julie Halpern and was really impressed with the way she handled the sexual content. So I e-mailed her asking for an interview, and she agreed! Look for that coming soon. But it's majorly exciting, because I realized I could ask other authors for interviews. It doesn't hurt to ask. And hopefully stuff like this, and the ARC reviews, will bring more readers to this blog.<br />
<br />
6. I started freelance editing! Right now I'm working on one client's book, and I'm doing a 20 page sample for another. This is exciting for lots of reasons. First, I genuinely enjoy editing. And second, it's a way to actually make some money using my degree.<br />
<br />
7. I plan to make business cards eventually to advertise my editing services.<br />
<br />
8. I want to buy my own domain name and build my personal website. This is going to take some time, because I need to research things, and I'll need to hire someone to build the site for me. Because I am beyond tech-challenged. But I want to be able to promote myself, and all of the various things I do, in one place.<br />
<br />
9. And finally, this is an idea that was only introduced to me yesterday so I'm still mulling it over, but I'm considering self-publishing some short stories on Amazon. I'm going to look into this. If I do it, I'll use a pseudonym to keep this separate from anything I eventually publish traditionally. I don't expect to make much money off of it, but you never know. I have stories written anyway, and it's very hard to find journals and lit mags that are looking for YA short stories.<br />
<br />
I feel like I should have a tenth one just for the sake of tidy list-making. But I think that's all. So I thought I'd share, if anyone cares. I'm really excited. (In case I haven't mentioned that.) I feel like I'm working towards things now. And it's a good feeling. It's something I can remind myself of when I'm at the diner and am struck with the overwhelming urge to punch a customer in the face.<br />
<br />
Cheers!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-35070167100168054122014-01-15T15:52:00.000-08:002014-01-15T15:52:23.084-08:00Review: And We Stay by Jenny HubbardAnd We Stay<br />
by Jenny Hubbard<br />
Random House Children's<br />
Pub Date: Jan 28, 2014<br />
<br />
I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.<br />
<br />
And We Stay is about a girl named Emily who is sent away to a boarding school in Amherst, MA after her boyfriend kills himself right in front of her. Over the course of the story, through Emily's poetry and flashbacks, we learn her secret and the details of why this boy did what he did. At school, Emily makes two friends and also starts to feel a connection to the late poet Emily Dickinson, and we get to see how both of these things help her to heal.<br />
<br />
So first, let me say that I love the premise of this novel. Even though I prefer realistic novels, I love how Emily starts to sense the presence of Emily Dickinson. Just this tiny element of the supernatural makes the story interesting. Second, I love the boarding school setting. I'm always drawn to stories that take place at a boarding school. (Looking for Alaska and Winger are a couple great ones.) Also, I've been to Amherst many times and it's a really cute town. I actually would have liked to see more scenes take place off campus.<br />
<br />
All right, let's talk about the characters. I really liked a secondary character, K.T., who is Emily's roommate. I think she was memorable because she surprised me. When Emily first meets K.T., I expected her to be annoying, superficial, and maybe even mean. Basically, an over-used side character in YA. I see this so many times where the protagonist is forced to deal with a character like this, not necessarily the antagonist, who seems to be there only to make the protagonist look cooler. But anyway, my first impression of K.T. was wrong, and she develops into, not only an interesting character, but a real friend to Emily.<br />
<br />
I was also really drawn to Emily. She was dealing with a whole lot when she arrived at this school, and I appreciated the way she handled herself. I found myself rooting for her.<br />
<br />
One other thing that I really, really appreciated about this story was the handling of certain difficult subject matter. I'm not going to discuss it here, because I want to keep this review spoiler free, but I do go into more detail in my review over on my YouTube channel. So I'll put the link to that video down below if you'd like to check it out.<br />
<br />
Now here's where I felt a little disappointed with the book.<br />
<br />
Like I said, I really liked the premise of the story, especially the connection with Emily Dickinson. But I actually would have liked to see that connection and maybe even the supernatural elements taken a bit further.<br />
<br />
My biggest question about this novel, though, has to do with the plot as a whole. First, I want to say that I enjoyed reading this book the entire way through. I really did. BUT once I got a little more than halfway through, I started to feel like the book was either moving too fast, or there wasn't enough book left to finish the story. If that makes any sense at all. By the time I finished, I felt like I had only read the first 50 pages of a novel, rather than the entire thing. Everything that happened in the story only felt like a first act. I guess because I liked the book, I wanted more of it. At the end of the story, we see that Emily is well on her way to healing, but I felt like not enough happened to provoke that character development. Even the climatic scene seemed like it could have occurred in the novel's first 20 pages, and then the story could have continued from there. This is hard to explain, because I've never experienced this feeling after reading a novel before.<br />
<br />
Bottom line, though, I really did enjoy reading this novel.<br />
<br />
If you'd like to hear me talk more about this book, you can check out my video here: <a href="http://youtu.be/c5p9ir-kQts">Read First, Write Second</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-42453236101010243192013-12-01T09:44:00.000-08:002013-12-01T09:44:52.498-08:00The 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge!<br />
So I've decided to participate in the 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge hosted on <a href="http://evie-bookish.blogspot.com/">Bookish</a>. All you have to do for the challenge is read as many books as you can from your TBR pile during 2014. Anything that was published in 2013 or earlier counts. And you have to write a review for anything you read.<br />
<br />
<br />
Now I don't have a TBR pile. I have a couple TBR bookcases. So this challenge sounds great for me. You can check out the details of the challenge and sign up here: <a href="http://evie-bookish.blogspot.com/2013/10/2014-tbr-pile-reading-challenge-sign-ups.html">2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge</a>. Bookish will be hosting mini challenges each month as well as doing giveaways.<br />
<br />
They have a series of goal levels and you can move up a level, but you can't move down. So in order for it to be a challenge, I'm not going to pick the easiest goal.<br />
<br />
21-30: First Kiss<br />
<br />
That's my goal and here's my list of books from my shelves that I'd like to get read next year. (You don't have to stick to your list though.)<br />
<br />
1. Hate List by Jennifer Brown<br />
2. Being Friends with Boys by Terra Elan McVoy<br />
3. The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride<br />
4. Losing Faith by Denise Jaden<br />
5. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins<br />
6. Teach Me by R.A. Nelson<br />
7. Far From Xanadu by Julie Anne Peters<br />
8. The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler<br />
9. I Will Save You by Matt de la Pena<br />
10. Reunited by Hilary Weisman Graham<br />
11. Bliss by Lauren Myracle<br />
12. The Difference Between You and Me by Madeleine George<br />
13. How Zoe Made Her Dreams Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer<br />
14. Hold Still by Nina LaCour<br />
15. Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares<br />
16. The Whole Stupid Way We Are by Nicole Griffin<br />
17. Boy Toy by Barry Lyga<br />
18. Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally<br />
19. The Clearing by Heather Davis<br />
20. How They Met, and Other Stories by David Levithan<br />
21. Tilt by Alan Cumyn<br />
22. The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg<br />
23. Talking to Girls About Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield<br />
24. My Best Friend is a Wookie by Tony Pacitti<br />
25. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick<br />
26. The Paradox of Vertical Flight by Emil Ostrovski<br />
27. How to Be Single by Liz Tuccillo<br />
28. Palo Alto by James Franco<br />
29. Divergent by Veronica Roth<br />
30. Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl<br />
<br />
Whew. I'm really excited to see how many of these I can move from my TBR bookcases to my I've-Actually-Read-This bookcases.<br />
<br />
That's all for today, folks. Happy Reading!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-31906323862478598812013-11-11T18:38:00.001-08:002013-11-11T18:38:08.671-08:00Killin' It, YALLfest, and ALL THE FEELSFirst I need to say I'M BACK, I'M BACK, I'M BACK! And I don't mean back to blogging, because I knew this would be sporadic.<br />
<br />
I mean I'm back to writing!<br />
<br />
Squee!!!<br />
<br />
I finally got my butt into gear on finishing this novel, and now it's looking like my goal of doing it by the end of the year is actually possible. And I owe it all to my wonderful VCFA classmates for giving me the kickstart I needed.<br />
<br />
I wrote/revised 45 pages in one week. Then I wrote 10 pages in one day this weekend (on vacation!). And I just got home and I've written a few pages today.<br />
<br />
I. Am. Back. And it feels really, really good to just be writing again. I remembered that I love this novel and that I need to finish it so that other people can love it too.<br />
<br />
The one downside about my serious writing streak is that it's expensive. Because I still get too distracted when I write at home. So the cheapest option has been to go to a coffee shop to write. But usually I'm in the mood to do my writing late at night. As a result, I've become a regular at Denny's, showing up with my laptop, and sitting for a couple hours with French fries and a Coke. I'm really enjoying the routine, but if I don't finish this novel soon, I'll be poor.<br />
<br />
In other news, I went to Charleston, South Carolina for YALLfest, a young adult book festival, this weekend. I met up with a few friends from school, which was ultra fabulous. Even though one friend got sick, which changed a lot of my plans.<br />
<br />
I still had a great time, though. I think the highlight was getting to meet one of my writer heroes, David Levithan, and also hear him speak on a bunch of panels. And of course, I cried, because that's what I do. Hearing these authors talk about what they do and why they do it, and how hard they worked to get there always gets to me. I'm a sucker for an inspirational speech.<br />
<br />
One thing I did realize though, was that I wasn't fangirling all these authors like their teenage readers were. Now it's not because I'm too mature for that. (I'm <i>certainly</i> not above fangirling!) I think it's because I can see them as actual people. People who are doing exactly what I want to do with my life. I won't go so far as to say I saw them as colleagues, but I could imagine that someday maybe I would.<br />
<br />
And that's the overall feeling I left the festival with. I can do what they do. I will.<br />
<br />
Finally, I want to share a bit about my writing habits. I almost always listen to music when I write. It's not always to put me into the mood of the story. Sometimes I use it in a more practical way, to block out the noise of the rest of the world. Usually I play pretty mellow music so that it doesn't actually distract me from my writing. But other times I do try to find music that matches the mood of whatever part of my story I'm working on. I always make an iTunes playlist for each novel, but that doesn't always fit a certain scene or emotion I'm trying to capture.<br />
<br />
Tonight I found an awesome website that other writers might want to check out if you like to play music while you write. Actually, I've come across the website quite a few times before, and somehow I always forget about it. But I loved using it tonight.<br />
<br />
It's <a href="http://8tracks.com/">8tracks.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Basically, it's a site where users can make playlists and share them. I'm sure it's not the only site like this, but I think it's great. What I really like is that you can search a tag and find lists people have made with that tag. You can search for a genre of music, an artist, or my absolute favorite--a mood.<br />
<br />
This works FANTASTIC for writing. Tonight I searched for "confused" and found some great stuff. And I think the bonus of listening to other people's playlists is that I most likely won't know a lot of the music. And that means I can't get distracted by wanting to sing the songs. I can just <i>feel</i> them.<br />
<br />
So to sum up the point of tonight's post: I am on a roll with writing!<br />
<br />
Yay for me. Now I just have to keep it up.<br />
<br />
:)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-17728779509254196592013-10-10T16:38:00.001-07:002013-10-10T16:38:26.890-07:00Extraneous Words and Today's Small Word CountYesterday I cut about 1500 words from a short story to enter it into a Writer's Digest contest. I thought it was going to be impossible. After all, in a short story, everything is necessary, right? That's how it should be. I'd written the story over a year ago in one stream-of-consciousness sitting, gave it a little editing and sent it in for a grad school workshop. Haven't touched it since.<br />
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So when I started looking for places to cut, I didn't think I could lose any scenes. Instead, I took it line by line. My last grad school advisor taught me how to ruthlessly slash and burn unnecessary words when my grad lecture came out to be fifteen minutes too long. I was very resistant at first. Not that I thought what I'd written was absolutely brilliant. But I'd argue that all of my sentences were losing their style for the sake of making things shorter. In the end, though, I know the lecture benefited from all that cutting.<br />
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And it turns out, my short story did, too. It took a few passes, but in one day I managed to cut all of those 1500 words without losing anything at all from the actual story.<br />
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So that's my success for the week. Though it makes me wonder why we can't just write our sentences in the best, simplest way to begin with. But I guess sometimes we need to write our rough drafts the way we talk. With lots of um's and just's and really's.<br />
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Now with my contest entry submitted, I was determined that today would be the day I would get back on track with my novel. I'm already behind a whole week (meaning 10 pages) on my goal. And the second week is half over. So by the 14th I know I need to write 20 pages.<br />
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I'm in the middle of a scene right now. Usually, transitions are hard for me. Getting your characters into the scene you know is going to happen next. But once I'm in the middle of a scene, the writing just flows. Not today. Not the last five times I've opened my laptop to look at this scene. And it shouldn't be a difficult scene. I think I'm just having a really hard time getting back into a disciplined writing schedule. Writing because you know you need to. Writing when you have nothing to say. The part of being a writer that isn't fun.<br />
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I love putting words into sentences. It's what I do. So I wrote this blog post. Because it's just not going to happen for my novel today. But I did manage to write 275 words of the novel. That's something. I only hope my days start going better than this really soon.<br />
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I guess this post is pretty boring.<br />
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That's how my brain feels today.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5404383082198054956.post-41832985052672509532013-10-08T08:10:00.000-07:002013-10-08T17:32:38.177-07:00MFA=Master of WHAT?<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So at 27 years old, I finally earned my MFA in Writing. A Master’s degree. But now, three months later, I have to ask myself: This makes me a master of <i>what</i> exactly? A master of waiting tables. A master of editing other people’s resumes. A master coffee-maker. A master of marathoning TV shows. Certainly not a master of writing.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Because I haven’t written more than a page of my novel since I finished school. Me. The girl whose main goal in life is to get published. But the thing is, I write all the time. I scribble new story ideas on a Post-It. I jot down a few lines of a poem, even though I’m clearly not a poet. I type up pages-long e-mails to friends.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Now I write blog posts.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I just can’t make myself sit my butt down to finish this damn novel. The first of my classmates, the brilliant and wonderful <a href="http://knowsprose.com/">Cassie Beasley</a>, has already signed with an agent. And a friend who didn’t even need to finish school, the now famous <a href="http://coracarmack.blogspot.com/">Cora Carmack</a>, already has three books out and is working on three more. While I am thrilled for them and believe they couldn’t deserve it more, any time I feel myself starting to get jealous, I have to remind myself... I haven’t even finished my novel! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I know I can’t begrudge others their successes when, right now, the only person standing in the way of my own is myself. I keep telling myself that after so many years of school, I deserve a long break. If I want to sit on the couch all day eating junk food and watching (and re-watching) TV shows on DVD, then I shouldn’t feel guilty about it. But after seven seasons of <i>Gilmore Girls</i>, two seasons of <i>Supernatural</i>, two seasons of <i>Queer as Folk</i>, and a season of <i>Doctor Who</i>... I’m starting to wonder if this isn’t only a much needed vacation. Maybe there’s a tiny part of me that is scared to sit down and try to finish my novel because I’m afraid I can’t do it. Or afraid when I do finish it, and try to get it published, I’ll fail. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If that’s the case, then that part of me needs to be squashed like a bug. Except not really, because I’m the kind of annoying person who refuses to kill bugs, no matter how tiny. I’m sure we all have that fear of failure. I don’t think I can make it go away. But what I can do is use it. I can become more determined to get my novel published and prove myself wrong. Of course, I’d also be proving myself right, because for my entire life, I have believed that I would be a writer. I shouldn’t say <i>entire</i> life. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The first time I remember having this conviction was in the third grade. When I wrote a story about my class just for fun, showed my teacher, and she had me read it to the whole class. And the class asked me to write a new story for them every week. That was when I knew that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. I wrote those stories on my dad’s old typewriter. Back then, I’m sure I didn’t realize that doing it for the rest of my life entailed sitting at my kitchen table in pajamas, downing cups of coffee, and pulling my hair out. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Even if I did, I don’t think it would have scared me away. I just have to remember that this is worth it. All of that time I invest (when I could be watching the Doctor save the universe instead) will be worth it when I’m holding a printed copy of my novel in my hand. And when strangers, instead of just my grandmother, start telling me that they liked my story. So it’s time to make a plan and dive back in to my writing. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The goal: finish at least a draft of this novel by the end of the year. That means writing about 50 pages a month for the next three months. Boy, that’s going to cut way back on my time lusting after Jared Padelecki as he kills a demon. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I joke about my TV addiction, but the truth is, I’m simply addicted to <i>stories</i>. And for a writer, that’s probably the best addiction you can have. I think all writers understand the value of experiencing other people’s stories. Whether that comes from reading a book, watching TV or a movie, listening to a song, or sitting around a campfire while your drunken friends talk about the time they almost got arrested. The art of storytelling can come in many forms, and just because my chosen form is the novel, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t study other forms. They’re all stories. And they all help inspire me to create my own.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So I guess this was my pep talk to myself. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Write. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Do or do not. There is no try.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I started this blog because... well, at first I was procrastinating. But, like I said, I can’t <i>not</i> write. And if I’m not writing my novel, well at least I’m writing something.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13405687929161262928noreply@blogger.com0