March 31, 2012

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

Title: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Pages: 236
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

From bn.com:  
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?
Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A.
Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

I first saw this one when my sister brought it home from BEA last year (lucky girl!)  and I knew immediately that if I read nothing else from her haul, I must read this.  I loved how long the title was and that it took up most of the space on the cover.  I loved that the image is black and white with red accents.  Then, the buzz started.  Every blog I read that reviewed this raved.  And what isn't there to rave about?  The book takes place in 24 hours, some of that time spent on a plane with a swoon-worthy English boy.  Yum!  But really, I loved Hadley and her impulsive craziness.  I loved Oliver and his willingness to help this girl that he didn't know from Adam and sticks with her.  Most of all, I loved them together.  When this one ended, I kept flipping back to pages because I didn't want my time with them to be over.  I know this is one I'll reread again and again.

March 28, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday (10)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine




Title: Glimmer
Author: Phoebe Kitanidis
Pub Date: 4.17.12
From bn.com:  When Marshall King and Elyse Alton suddenly wake up tangled in each other's arms with zero memory of how they got there or even who they are, it's the start of a long journey through their separate pasts and shared future.
Terrified by their amnesia, Marshall and Elyse make a pact to work together to find the answers that could restore their missing memories. As they piece together clues about their lives, they discover that they're in the idyllic mountain resort town of Summer Falls. Everyone seems happy there, but as Marshall and Elyse quickly learn, darkness lurks beneath the town's perfect facade. Not only is the town haunted by sinister ghosts, but none of its living inhabitants retain bad memories of anything—not the death of Marshall's mom, not the hidden violence in Elyse's family, not even the day-to-day anguish of being a high schooler.
Lonely in this world of happy zombies, Marshall and Elyse fall into an intense relationship founded on their mutual quest for truth. But the secrets they're trying to uncover could be the death of this budding love affair—and of everyone, and everything, they love in Summer Falls.

March 27, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday (11)



This week's topic:
Top Ten Books That I'd Play Hooky With.

If I'm staying home and reading all day I want the book to be swoon-y.  Or adventure-y.  Or both.  Also, a lot of them are series books.  All the more to play hooky with.


1. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
I've been in such a Hunger Games place since I saw the movie.  Can't stop, won't stop.
 2. Delirium - Lauren Oliver
Another great dystopian that I would totally spend the day with.
3. White Cat - Holly Black
I just got Black Heart from a friend and am dying to pick it up!
4. The Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
A no brainer.
5. Sloppy Firsts - Megan McCafferty
One of the best contemporary series out there.
6. Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins
Love love love.
7. Lola and the Boy Next Door - Stephanie Perkins
See above.
8. Smokin' Seventeen - Janet Evanovich
I'm a little behind on this series so it would be nice to spend a day catching up.
9. If I Stay - Gayle Forman
I've been wanting to reread this for a while now.
10. Secret Society Girl - Diana Peterfreund
I think this was the first summer since I've read this series that I haven't reread it.  I miss it.
 


March 26, 2012

In My Mailbox (10)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

Bought: 


I actually went to a signing this week!  It was awesome to meet Margie again and I'm really excited to read this!




March 24, 2012

Happy Hunger Games!



I feel like I can't let this weekend pass without wishing everyone a very Happy Hunger Games!  I saw the movie at midnight on Thursday and I really loved it.  Was there stuff I wish had been different?  Of course, but I'm trying not to be too nitpick-y.  There was so much to enjoy about it.  Finally seeing the story come to life on screen was well worth the wait.  In fact, I'm going again tomorrow morning!  AND it prompted me to pick up the book again-which is totally further derailing my book club reading, but whatever.  IT'S THE HUNGER GAMES WEEKEND!  I do what I want!

March 22, 2012

Tempest by Julie Cross

Title: Tempest
Author: Julie Cross
Pages: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

From bn.com:
The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.
That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.
Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.
But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.
Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

I wasn't sure I was going to read Tempest at first, but all the buzz about it got to me.  Well, that and my sister brought it home from the library, so we crossed paths at the right time.  I'm so glad she brought it home because I got so sucked into this book I couldn't put it down.  I wound up staying up half the night to finish it.

I love that Julie Cross flat out says in the book to forget everything you think you know about time travel.  I find time travel to be one of those very perplexing situations, every story has its own mythology and you never know where they overlap and where they don't.  Sometimes you can't cross into your own time line, sometimes you can't change anything, sometimes the smallest thing changes everything.  By having Jackson figuring out his powers within the course of the book and telling us to rethink everything she really wiped my time travel slate clean. 

The action scenes were amazingly well done.  I knew exactly which scene the cover was depicting when I got to it.  I love little details like that.  I also really liked Jackson, Holly, and Adam.  It was nice to read a YA book with characters in college (at least at the beginning).  It's not something that you see very often and being not quite a teen anymore it was nice to have a main character who was a little bit older.

My other favorite part of this book was that I knew going into it it was going to be a series, but the end of Tempest didn't make me want to kill someone to get my hands on the next book.  I'm definitely going to read any and all sequels to it, because I really liked it, but I'm not going into Pandemonium level meltdowns until I can get them.

BONUS:  There's a free e-book prequel short story to Tempest - Tomorrow is Today.  NOOKKINDLE

EXTRA BONUS:  Macmillan Audio was nice enough to give me a clip of the audiobook of Tempest to put up with this review.  Make sure you check it out!


March 21, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday (9)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.




Title: A Midsummer's Nightmare
Author: Kody Keplinger
Pub Date: 6.5.12
From goodreads.com: Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorced dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin' great. Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together. Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger's most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about.

March 20, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday (10)



This week's topic:
Top Ten Books On My Spring To-Be-Read list

My To-Read list is like, a million miles long.  How am I supposed to choose only ten that I'm excited for?  Ugh, here goes nothing...


1. Looking for Alaska - John Green
2. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart
3. In Honor - Jessi Kirby
4. The Story of Us - Deb Caletti
5. Shooting Stars - Allison Rushby
6. Catching Jordan - Miranda Kenneally
7. Being Friends With Boys - Terra Elan McVoy
8. The Secret Year - Jennifer R. Hubbard
9. The Fine Art of Truth or Dare -  Melissa Jensen
10. Glimmer - Phoebe Kitanidis


I can't wait to check out what you guys have picked this week and add even more to my incredibly long list of things to read!


March 15, 2012

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June by Robin Benway

Title: The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June
Author: Robin Benway
Pages: 288
Publisher: Penguin Group, USA

From bn.com: April, the oldest, can see the future. May, the middle sister, can disappear. And June, the youngest, can read minds. At the time of their parents' divorce, the three sisters recover these strange and magical powers from their childhood, powers that help them cope with the hardest year of their lives. When April gets a vision of disaster, the girls must come together to save the day-and their family. But in the process they learn that there's one thing stronger than magic: sisterhood. 

I came into this one with high expectations because of how much I loved Audrey, Wait!  It's funny, I actually read Audrey because I had read the summary for this one and thought it sounded good.  It wasn't out yet so I picked up Audrey, loved it, and then proceeded to wait about a year and a half to read this one.

The plot of April, May, and June sounded so interesting to me.  Three quirky sisters with sudden magical powers?  Hell, it sounds like Charmed set in high school, and I loved me some Charmed

My favorite things about this book turned out to be style things.  At the beginning of each chapter they put the name of the sister whose point of view the chapter was in.  This was helpful because I mixed up the three girls in the beginning a whole lot.  To the point where I actually wrote down their names with what their power was so I could reference it while I was reading.  There was also a quote at the beginning of each chapter that came from within that chapter.  I hope I don't have to tell you how much I love quotes.  I really liked that the quote didn't necessarily make sense until you were done with the chapter.

There was just a teeny part of this that I didn't love so much.  It was when the sisters were all together.  When they interacted with other people, I adored them.  That is when they had the chance to shine individually.  When they were all together - and they were a lot of the time - it became a little too chaotic for me, dialogue wise.

I have to give bonus points to whoever redid the cover.  The original was good, but I love this one above.  Super cute!

March 14, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday (8)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.
Title: Second Chance Summer
Author: Morgan Matson
Pub Date:  5.8.12
From goodreads.com: Taylor’s family might not be the closest-knit – everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled – but for the most part, they get along fine. Then they get news that changes everything: Her father has pancreatic cancer, and it’s stage four – meaning that there is basically nothing to be done. Her parents decide that the family will spend his last months together at their old summerhouse in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former summer best friend is suddenly around, as is her first boyfriend. . . and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses, the Edwards become more of a family, and closer than they’ve ever been before. But all of them very aware that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance – with family, with friends, and with love.


March 13, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday (9)



This weeks topic:
Top Ten Genre Books
and I'm going to pick Mystery books!  These are in no particular order.


1. Wherever Nina Lies - Lynn Weingarten
A great mystery with a road trip.  What more could you want?

2. I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You - Ally Carter
Set at a school for girl spies.  Pure awesomeness.

3. The Face on the Milk Carton - Caroline B. Cooney 
One of the best books ever, but Reeve wasn't as dreamy in the movie as he should've been.

4. The Lying Game - Sara Shepard
I still like the show better, but the books are good too.

5. The Girl Is Murder - Kathryn Miller Haines
Veronica Mars set in the 40s.

6. I Know What You Did Last Summer - Lois Duncan
This is probably so cheesy now.  I should definitely go back and re-read it.

7. One For the Money - Janet Evanovich
I love this series so much!

8. The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
Favorite kids book of all time.

9. Size 12 is Not Fat - Meg Cabot
  A former pop star dabbling in detective work.  Meg Cabot, you're my idol.

10. The Body of Christopher Creed - Carol Plum-Ucci
A great look at those left behind when a bullied kid in town disappears.





March 12, 2012

In My Mailbox (8)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

Gifted: 
My sister gave me these for no reason other than she's the best ever.

Bought: 
 This one has been on my wishlist for a long time and I finally just broke down and bought it used.  I mean, with shipping it was only $4.00 so I really can't complain.

March 11, 2012

The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez

Title: The Pregnancy Project
Author: Gaby Rodriguez
Pages: 224
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books For Young Readers

From bn.com:
It started as a school project…but turned into so much more.
Growing up, Gaby Rodriguez was often told she would end up a teen mom. After all, her mother and her older sisters had gotten pregnant as teenagers; from an outsider’s perspective, it was practically a family tradition. Gaby had ambitions that didn’t include teen motherhood. But she wondered: how would she be treated if she “lived down” to others' expectations? Would everyone ignore the years she put into being a good student and see her as just another pregnant teen statistic with no future? These questions sparked Gaby’s school project: faking her own pregnancy as a high school senior to see how her family, friends, and community would react. What she learned changed her life forever, and made international headlines in the process.
In The Pregnancy Project, Gaby details how she was able to fake her own pregnancy—hiding the truth from even her siblings and boyfriend’s parents—and reveals all that she learned from the experience. But more than that, Gaby’s story is about fighting stereotypes, and how one girl found the strength to come out from the shadow of low expectations to forge a bright future for herself.

When I first saw this book, I knew I wanted to read it.  Our popular culture is so teen pregnancy (and just pregnancy in general) obsessed recently and I thought this would be an interesting exploration of how people in "real life" (as opposed to MTV life) react to teen moms.  Also, there aren't that many memoirs out there for teens, so when a newer one comes out I like to check them out. 

Teachers are always trying to get kids to relate their school work to every day life and Gaby Rodriguez took that to heart and came up with a project that not only related to her life, but affected it on a daily basis.  I have to say, I was definitely hoping for more with this one.  It was a whole lot of 'and then this, and then this, and then this.'  It was interesting to read the details of everything she had to put together to fake it believably, but I wanted drama and grand feelings of betrayal, family members never speaking to her and her boyfriend again and that wasn't what I got.  After she announced that it was just a school project, everyone was just kind of okay with it.  There were no lasting consequences except that people wanted to interview her.  (Once again the media jumps all over teen pregnancy.)  It is a true story, though, so I guess I can't knock what really happened.  I think this concept would make an awesome fiction story, which I'd assume is why they made the movie.  I'm curious to see what that's like.  I love a good Lifetime movie and I would have to hope that they would add the drama I wanted.  I also kind of hope that someone writes a YA fiction book based on it.  It has a great premise, just not the outright drama I was looking for.


March 7, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday (7)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Title: Reunited
Author: Hilary Weisman Graham
Pub Date: 6.12.12

From goodreads.com:  
1 Concert
2000 Miles
3 Ex-Best Friends

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

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

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

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

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

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

March 6, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday (8)


This week's topic is:
Top Ten Favorite Covers

I'm not gonna lie, this is most often how I choose my books.  The cover has to grab me in some way, make me want to see what it's all about, and in a sea of complicated covers the way to grab me is simplicity.  I learned when I took my advertising/graphics classes that I really love a simple, clean aesthetic.  Bright colors are also a must. 


 1. Matched, Crossed, Reached - Ally Condie
I actually had an advanced copy of Matched, but only decided I really wanted to read it after I saw the finished cover.  I love the girl in the bubble, I love the green against the very light gray...They just knocked it out of the park with the first cover.  I like the Crossed cover also, but I wish for Reached they had used a different color.  I think the red is too bold, but that's probably what they were going for.

2. White Cat, Red Glove, Black Heart - Holly Black
 I loved the original covers of this series, but there's something about these new ones that get me.  I love the dotted lines and the way the text swirls into the picture.  The bright color on the black background really make the titles pop.

3. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight - Jennifer E. Smith
I love everything about this cover.  The black and white image, the use of red, the title being the main focus of the cover.  I have a serious love of typography and this cover speaks to that love.
4. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin
I don't know why I love this one as much as I do.  It all just works together and it caught my attention the minute I saw it.
5. The Disenchantments - Nina LaCour
 This cover just screams California summer to me.  The lighting is great, I love her sunglasses, and the font that's used is amazing.

6. The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers - Lynn Weingarten
The stars!  I love the way you can see the motion in the confetti and that her hands are what are in focus, while the girl is in the background.

7. Sweethearts - Sara Zarr
The light colors, the cookie with the bite taken out of it...it's so simple and so perfect.

8. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Jesse Andrews
 This is a new one.  I just saw it at the bookstore the other day and immediately had to know what it was about.  I love the color blocking and the puppet show feel to it.  I'm definitely going to check this one out.

9. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour - Morgan Matson
 With this one I just feel that whoever designed it really knew what they were doing.  The line in the road draws your eye up, but their hands form kind of an arrow guiding you back down to the title.  The coloring makes me think of summer.  It all just works for me.

10. The Princess Diaries series - Meg Cabot
The definition of simplicity.  The only thing that is different on each book is the color and the lock.  I love this re-do.  Even better, they were matte covers which I think works better than glossy on a cover as simple as this.  The bad news is they're no longer matte, they're making them all glossy.  This is making it incredibly hard to complete the collection in it's matte form and is frustrating the crap out of me.


Bonuses:

The Mockingbirds - Daisy Whitney
The light bird on the black cover just pops.  Also the very bold text makes it stand out in a crowd.




Ex-Mas - Kate Brian
Simple and festive.  Gotta love it. 

March 5, 2012

In My Mailbox (7)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

 Borrowed: 

Gifted: 
(This was given to me by my mom, who attended an author event and got it signed for me.  Thanks Mom!)

From publishers: