I Want it Wednesday

My wish list hasn't been updated in ages, but in the spirit of having a new feature on the blog, I'm going to start being proactive about searching out new titles and saving them to my wish list. Then on my birthday, or Christmas, or whatever days you like, maybe you can send me these books?

Okay!

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - Philip Pullman
Only the Ball was White - Robert Peterson
Solar - Ian McEwan
My Face for the World to See - Liz Renay
Learning to Fly - Victoria Beckham
What Falls Away - Mia Farrow
Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland - Gerald Clarke
No Lifeguard on Duty - Janice Dikinson
Life As We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Lost Museum - Hector Feliciano

Has anyone read any of these? What did you think?

Shop Now - Satisfy Your Wishlist

Chills!

Via David Maybury - the Harry Potter Deathly Hallows trailer, you guys!

What I'm Reading Weekly Roundup

In Blogs

Body or Brains? I have both. I'm screwed. (Just kidding.) (No, I'm not.)
Summer Reading? I love that he suggested Kavalier & Clay! What are you guys reading this summer?
Top Ten Books for Teens I love adding books to my wish list!
Sally Can't See the bird on her head.
All Quiet on the Western Front starring Harry Potter? YES!
Prices Dropping on Readers and so I think I'm going to buy a nook! Like soon!
Passion Pit Does Tonight, Tonight and I'm dying over here.
Regretsy Bella Swan Dress hahahahaha! WTF? I love how she says the daughter wants the dress, but the daughter isn't even old enough to know what Twilight is!


In Books

Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Raven - Tim Reiterman
The Dead Tossed Waves - Carrie Ryan
Valley of the Dolls - Jacqueline Susann
A.H.W.O.S.G. - Dave Eggers
Eternity to Here - Sean Carroll

In the Pile
If you have any suggestions on what I should be reading next, please leave them in the comments!

Sisters Red - Jackson Pearce
The Maze Runner - James Dashner
Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins
Will Grayson - John Green & David Levithan
All Unquiet Things - Anna Jarzab
Purge - Sarah Darer Littman
The Eyes of the Dragon - Stephen King
Into the Land of the Unicorns - Bruce Coville
Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

Game of Thrones Teaser Trailer

Oh my gosh, you guys. I watched this like, six times in a row with my hand over my mouth to keep myself from squealing at my freaking desk.

It's safe to say: I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT FOR THIS TO COME OUT!


I couldn't find a photo of Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, my favorite, favorite, favorite character, so here's just a photo of Peter Dinklage for your viewing pleasure. Because. I love him.

Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones

Rating: 5 stars
Shelf: Now Reading

So, so, so good! Beautifully written, funny and fantastical. I fell in love with all of the characters and was incredibly sad that I finished the book so quickly. I wish it could have gone on and on forever. Luckily, Diana Wynn Jones wrote a couple more books about Howl. I think they both feature Sophie as well. Can't wait to jump into those.

Also - positive thoughts and well wishes being sent Diana Wynne Jones' way.

Purchase Now from Amazon: Howl's Moving Castle

Updated - Commenting

I just changed the settings so that everyone can comment on my blog, not just people with a GoogleID. I know y'all are dying to comment.

(Not really, but I seriously hate it when I want to comment on blogs and they require me to sign in. As soon as the PLEASE SIGN IN comes up, I immediately get unnecessarily angry.)

New Ideas

30 Days of Me - Completely not publishing related, but my friend has been doing it on her tumblr, and I want to do it too! I'll try to keep it as closely related to my life in publishing as possible. For instance, Day 1 is a photograph of yourself and I have the perfect picture of me in my I'M AN UGLY t-shirt that I got from Scott Westerfeld's Uglies promotion. This will probably happen in July/August because I'll probably forget to do it every day.

Book Drops -I've seen these done before and I'd like to do one for my blog. I get a ton of books for free through my job. I live in a studio apartment, so I have nowhere to store half of these books when I'm finished reading them. Hence the book drop. I'll try to drop one book a week somewhere in either Long Island or New York City (and elsewhere if I travel). The books will have a small sticker on the front that shouts, "READ ME!" and a larger sticker on the inside front cover leading the finder back to my blog and encouraging them to find the post with their book. I'll be creating posts that just say BOOK DROP - Title + roundabouts where to find them. Then the sticker will also encourage the finder to leave a comment describing where they found the book, if they enjoyed it and also if they decided to re-drop the book and where (about).

Wish List - I've been so busy lately my reading has slowed down considerably. But that doesn't stop me from constantly adding books to my Shelfari Wish List. Once a week I'll do a rundown of new (and old) titles that I'd like to get on my TBR pile. Let me know if you've read them and if they are worth my acquiring them!

Low Red Moon - Ivy Devlin

Rating: 3 stars
Shelf: Now Reading

To start, the book was just another Twilight knock off. I don't think it would too difficult to come up with something other than: new boy/girl, new school, instant connection, one of them tries to stay away from the other because it's bad news bears for the other but they just can't stay away, etc. I'm tired of it. I feel like every other teen book I read starts this way. THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO START A NOVEL, PEOPLE!

Anyway, I think I'm famous for (in my own head) knocking a book before telling you how much I actually liked it. Because I actually liked it. As a murder mystery, it was much more than just another Twilight novel. Sure there was a werewolf and an instant connection, but the connection between Ben and Avery is an actual connection of thoughts and feelings that in turn helps them both to connect to the forest they love so much. And - another bonus - I never suspected a thing about the ending. Way to lead us down a thousand paths, Ivy Devlin. I commend you for it.

Purchase Now from Amazon: Low Red Moon (Low Red Moon (Quality))

Twenty Boy Summer - The Long Review

I have no idea what's going on with Pretty Little YA Books. I think we're done for, but the e-mail we received was little more than incredibly vague. Anyway, I wrote this review for Twenty Boy Summer. I am pretty fond of it and I don't want it to just go to waste (like all the other reviews I wrote and sent. Ridiculous. I am pretty angry). Here it is:

This book went from bad to fab in 3.2 seconds. Or, actually, it was much slower than that because I struggled through the first 192 pages. And I mean, really struggled. There was more than one moment when I wanted to give up for good. But, in the name of Pretty Little Young Adult Books and reviews you can rely on, I kept plugging along. I hope you all appreciate it because it hurt. But, the instant it got good, it got good and it stayed that way right through to the end.

Anna Rielly has been invited to vacation at Zanzibar Bay with her best friend Frankie and Frankie's parents. It is Anna's first trip to California and the family's first since the tragic death of their brother and son, Matt, the year before. In the name of the Absolute Best Summer Ever (ABSE), Frankie challenges Anna to a Twenty Boy Summer complete with the ultimate goal of losing Anna's Albatross, otherwise known as Anna's virginity. What Frankie doesn't know is that Anna already had her perfect romance. With Matt. For one secret month before his death. And she's keeping the secret because it had been Matt's job to tell Frankie.With him gone, Anna feels as though her heartbreak should be second to Frankie's and so she continues to carry her love for Matt alone. At every moment you are wondering - can they, Anna and this family striving for normalcy in the wake of tragedy, survive the summer?

The romance between Anna and Matt is short lived - one month or 19 pages. Matt's impending death is no secret as anyone who checks out the back cover will find it in the summary. As such, it's difficult to feel all of the characters' connections to Matt, even though it is very clearly stated that he meant a lot to everybody. After 19 pages, the narrative rushes forward to one year after Matt's death and the planning of the ABSE. Frankie, we are told by Anna, isn't the same girl she used to be. But since the reader barely gets a glimpse of who she was before, it's hard to sit back and not be annoyed by her selfish, boy obsessed ways. Up to page 192, the story is just a repetition of Frankie putting on too much make up, Anna going along with everything Frankie says, and the same cycle of sad thoughts about Matt.

It all turns around when Anna begins to allow herself to let go. Suddenly, the process the characters are going through is real, painful, bittersweet and hopeful. Letting go is more painful than holding on and Sarah Ockler captures this pain exquisitely. I spent the last third of the book alternating between crying hysterically and ear marking my favorite passages. The turning point for me was when Anna begins contemplating actually losing her virginity - the passage is comical and true and is also the moment the reader realizes that Anna just might be ready to live the life that even Matt would have wanted her to have. Anna speculates about why virginity is something everyone says they lose - "Don't worry, Mom. You can call off the helicopters and police dogs. Turns out - get this - I didn't actually lose my virginity. I just cast it off somewhere between here and Monterey. Can you believe it? lt could be anywhere by now, what with all that wind."

While I found Twenty Boy Summer to be worth it in the end, I wouldn't recommend it to someone without warning them of the long struggle it takes to get there. It might not be worth it for everyone. I'm just saying - it was for me.

Purchase Now from Amazon: Twenty Boy Summer

The Baby-Sitter's Club: Kristy's Great Idea - Ann M. Martin

Rating: 4 stars
Shelf: Now Reading

So good! I really can't wait to share this entire series with my cousin. I loved the Baby-Sitters Club so much when I was a kid. I nearly teared up at some of the fond remembrances as I read the first intallment of the BSC.

Purchase Now from Amazon: The Baby-Sitters Club #1: Kristy's Great Idea

Five Years Ago

Scrawled inside my Breakfast of Champions five years ago:

" Wrong numbers - connected to someone you'll never know, but for a moment you are part of each others lives. These few seconds may have changed my life drastically in the long run. (973) - Where is that?"

Little did I know just how drastically my life would change because my concentration was broken by that one phone call.

What I'm Reading Weekly Roundup

In Blogs

E-Book Burning Daddy, Nick Cannon is hilarious.
Infographic of the Day I thought that this was really moving. Then you get to Gabe's comments.
Downloads or Sales? I'll always agree with everything she has to say about e-books.
Amazon Presents Numbers the non-Slimy Way
American High Schools as portrayed by YA novels and understood by the INTERN
Steig Larsson's Lost Manuscripts
Just Because It Looks Dead this was incredibly inspiring.
60 Books to Read this Summer
Jane Airehead I want to read!
Reading in the Bathroom
It Came Inside a Hemingway Novel
20 Under 40 I'm posting this because I want to say to bloggers: STOP POSTING THIS! I've seen this list re-blogged 40 times in the past 2 weeks and it's old news. OLD NEWS.

In Books

Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynn Jones
The Dead Tossed Waves - Carrie Ryan
Valley of the Dolls - Jacqueline Susann
Low Red Moon - Ivy Devlin
Raven - Tim Reiterman
A.H.W.O.S.G. - Dave Eggers
Eternity to Here - Sean Carroll

In the Pile
If you have any suggestions on what I should be reading next, please leave them in the comments!

The Maze Runner - James Dashner
Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins
Will Grayson - John Green & David Levithan
All Unquiet Things - Anna Jarzab
Purge - Sarah Darer Littman
The Eyes of the Dragon - Stephen King
Into the Land of the Unicorns - Bruce Coville
Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

Can't Wait For This: The Boy Who Could Fly - James Norcliffe

I'll be receiving this in the mail soon, and I can't wait for it. I read the first couple of chapters, it's truly unique and beautifully written. I CAN'T WAIT.

A young boy lives in an orphanage that is completely surrounded by a thick wall. Every day, he wishes he were free. He wishes he had a new life. And then he meets the loblolly boy, who is strange, mysterious and who promises the young boy that he can teach him how to fly - as he himself can, with his green, feathery wings. In teaching the boy how to fly, however, the loblolly boy has made an Exchange--he switches place with the orphan. Now the young boy is free and the loblolly boy is "real." The young boy rejoices in his freedom until he realizes the price he has paid and soon sets out to make his own Exchange - but at what cost?







Purchase Now from Amazon: The Boy Who Could Fly

My Summer Vacation Checklist

On Monday, I'll be cruising. I'm so excited - it's my first cruise ever. Our first stop is Key West where I'll be going to the HEMINGWAY HOUSE!!! Can you think of a person who should go there more than me? Hemingway is my idol, as evidenced by my silly little fake name that I adopted years ago and can't seem to shake. My first post back will be all about it.

Until then - just wanted to make a quick list of the books I plan on bringing with me. Because I WILL find time to read. My number one priority on any vacation is reading.

1. Valley of the Dolls - just borrowed this from my lovely mother. Bringing it purely for its pop culture relevance.

2. Low Red Moon - to read and review for Pretty Little YA Books.

3. Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - try to finish it once and for all.

Should I bring a fourth? AHWOSG and Valley of the Dolls are pretty big reads. Okay - if I bring another, it'll have to be teen and for reviewing. And it will have to be about zombies.

4. The Dead Tossed Waves

And. Done.

The Baby-Sitters Club: The Summer Before - Ann M. Martin

Rating: 3 stars
Shelf: Now Reading

A little disappointing, as far as prequels go. It didn't seem to hold the same sort of voice or feeling that I remembered from my Baby-Sitters Club books. Granted I was... a lot of years younger. Still, I did glean some sense of nostalgia from this which was only brought on more strongly when I re-read the first re-released book in the series, Kristy's Great Idea.

Purchase Now from Amazon: The Baby-Sitters Club: The Summer Before

Twenty Boy Summer - Sarah Ockler

Rating: 3 stars
Shelf: Now Reading

I started out hating this book and ended up loving it, I thought giving it three stars was the only proper thing to do. The beginning moved so slowly, I almost put it down more than once. But I kept on, knowing it had to be reviewed for Pretty Little YA Books. I was definitely not disappointed at all. The last third of the book is written beautifully. You can feel each characters' pain and hope that the future holds something more than the loss they currently feel.

Purchase Now from Amazon: Twenty Boy Summer

Charlie and the Tents - Writing Update

Just a quick Anabel & Paul update. The work I do for this novel is few and far between, but I'm FINALLY almost done with Chapter Two. 4,334 words! That's super close to my 5,000 words per chapter goal.

Chapter Two is a pretty fun chapter. It's a flashback chapter so Anabel and Paul are still happy and hopeful. And I love the interactions between the three characters. We'll see if if this chapter wraps up as nicely as I've planned. I'm super happy about it so far!

What I'm Reading Weekly Roundup

In Blogs
Hearting and Hating? Whatever. It involves Cormac McCarthy and I don't like that guy.
TWILIGHT votive - DIY hahahaaaaaaaa
Notes from the Underground Contest I need to get on top of this. For serious. Who am I as a writer?
New James Bond! Book, not movie. Though, yum Daniel Craig.
The Babysitter's Favorite TV Shows and it's pretty spot on, I think.
What's on YOUR Summer Reading List? Leave your lists here. Or there?
Twitter Advice as always Marian Schembari gives great advice.
It's Not You, It's Me - Breaking Up with Books
Videogum Reviews Conan this has nothing to do with publishing, I just thought it was an exceptionally well written and thought provoking review. I tried to give him credit for it in the comments, but I got downvoted. Boo to the Videogum Monsters.
Flatiron Building circa 1905 also not publishing related. I love this building and I work only a few blocks away.
Bookends Reviews Princess of Glass and it looks like something I want to read.
Diana Wynn Jones Ill
The Graveyard Book to become a Film!

In Books
Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynn Jones
The Summer Before - Ann M. Martin
Raven - Tim Reiterman
A.H.W.O.S.G. - Dave Eggers
Eternity to Here - Sean Carroll

In the Pile
If you have any suggestions on what I should be reading next, please leave them in the comments!

The Maze Runner - James Dashner
Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins
Will Grayson - John Green & David Levithan
The Dead Tossed Waves - Carrie Ryan
All Unquiet Things - Anna Jarzab
Low Red Moon - Ivy Devlin
Purge - Sarah Darer Littman
The Eyes of the Dragon - Stephen King
Into the Land of the Unicorns - Bruce Coville
Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

Guardian of the Gate - Michelle Zink

Rating: 4 stars
Shelf: Now Reading

Just as good as the first - well written and fast paced. I thought the dialogue was a little better in this one, though at times it still seemed a little forced. Like, "Let me just remind you what time period we are in." I also wasn't that happy with the last chapter. The chapter before it was so harrowing, the ultimate climax, but instead of finishing off that feeling and that tension, the author skips ahead by a few weeks, it seems, tidies up, and let's us know that there's a third book on the way. Basically.

For all my complaining, I really did like the book a lot. I can't wait to read the final installment!

Purchase Now from Amazon: Guardian of the Gate (Prophecy of the Sisters, Book 2)

3 Authors & 39 Clues

I went to a lunch yesterday to meet three of the authors of the 39 Clues series, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman, and Jude Watson (who is really a lady named Judy and who sort of looks like the grandmother on Parenthood, super hip and beautiful and free). I also sat next to the Assistant Editor who worked pretty exclusively on the entire series, from fact checking to making sure the authors didn't divulge too much about the series during chats or interviews.

Meeting the authors and getting them to sign my books was super, super cool. Each of them shared stories about their experiences as writers. Peter Lerangis began his career as a ghost writer for Sweet Valley High and Baby Sitters Club. We even discussed all of the really great blogs out there that snark BSC. It was great.

However, I honestly think that my favorite part of the afternoon was listening to the AE talk about all of the behind the scenes. There is so much work that goes into making a book, especially a book as complex as 39 Clues which is both book and web based, and whose fans tend to be a little bit crazed - doing research and interacting with the books far beyond what anyone might have ever intended. I haven't read them. Yet. I seriously plan on it. It just sounds so cool.

Go here for more information.

Purchase Now from Amazon:  The 39 Clues Complete Box Set Vol. 1-10,