Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every week, the lovely ladies over there post a topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and MAKE A LIST. WORD.
Title: Spirit
Author: Brigid Kemmerer (web | twitter)
Series: Elementals #3
Genre: Paranormal YA, Contemporary YA
Amazon || Goodreads
Publisher: K Teen
Release date: May 28, 2013
Source: ARC from the publisher via NetGalley (Thanks K Teen!)
Summary: With power comes enemies. Lots of them.Hunter Garrity just wants to be left alone. He’s learned the hard way that his unusual abilities come at a price. And he can’t seem to afford any allies.He’s up to his neck in hostiles. His grandfather, spoiling for a fight. The Merrick brothers, who think he ratted them out. Calla, the scheming psycho who wants to use him as bait.Then there’s Kate Sullivan, the new girl at school. She’s not hostile. She’s bold. Funny. Hot. But she’s got an agenda, too.With supposedly secret powers rippling to the surface everywhere around him, Hunter knows something ugly is about to go down. But finding out what means he’ll have to find someone he can trust…
In this installment of Five Favorite Things, a book that I have reread at least once a year since it came out in 2010, and one of my very favorite YA contemps EVER:
Title: The Caged Graves
Author: Dianne K. Salerni (web | twitter)
Genre: Historical Fiction YA
Amazon || Goodreads
Publisher: Clarion Books
Release date: May 14, 2013
Source: ARC from the publisher via NetGalley (Thanks, Clarion!)
Summary: 17-year-old Verity Boone expects a warm homecoming when she returns to Catawissa, Pennsylvania, in 1867, pledged to marry a man she has never met. Instead, she finds a father she barely knows and a future husband with whom she apparently has nothing in common. One truly horrifying surprise awaits her: the graves of her mother and aunt are enclosed in iron cages outside the local cemetery. Nobody in town will explain why, but Verity hears rumors of buried treasure and witchcraft. Perhaps the cages were built to keep grave robbers out . . . or to keep the women in. Determined to understand, Verity finds herself in a life-and-death struggle with people she trusted.
Inspired by a pair of real caged graves in present-day Catawissa, this historical YA novel weaves mystery, romance, and action into a suspenseful drama with human greed and passion at its core.
I’m having such a fun time with April’s challenge, guys! I love that she’s asking us to chat about stuff that I don’t think I’ve EVER talked about before, like the prompt for today: bedtime reading rituals. AWESOME. Although, my bedtime reading routine is not very exciting. Since it mostly involves me…umm, reading. And then sleeping. Still, reading is the last thing I usually do before falling asleep, but I’ll fight it of as long as I can.
Top Ten Best/Worst Movie AdaptationsTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every week, the lovely ladies over there post a topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and MAKE A LIST. WORD.
So, April over at Good Books and Good Wine is doing this awesome thing, friends, where she’s set up 15 different prompts/challenges related to books and blogging. We answer, link up, chat with everyone about their answers, and then move on to the next one. Sounds AWESOME. There’s no set dates to start, and I don’t think you need to do all 15 right in a row, but I’ll definitely be participating because I love ALL OF THE THINGS about this.
The prompt for day one of the 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge is coming up with 15 bookish confessions. I think I’ve got this one in the bag, but let’s see how we do! In the meantime, everyone should head on over there and check out the other mini challenges April’s got going!
Guys, I don’t know a better way to simultaneously nerd out, reminisce, AND celebrate the Fourth of July than shouting my love of one of the original American Girls (like, LITERALLY because she lived during the American Revolution), Felicity Merriman, sister, daughter, friend, horse-lover, ginger, needlepoint-hater, and Benjamin Davidson-crusher. You know what else I can’t ignore? Her name is one of my favorite words:
The bottom line is this: I LOVED the American Girl series when I was growing up (or, you know, I still have a huge soft spot for them now), and Felicity was my favorite, hands down.
So, here’s the deal with my girl, Felicity. Her family calls her Lissie, which is freaking ADORABLE. She’s lives in Williamsburg, VA, with her mom, Marth, her dad, Edward, and her younger sibs, a sister, Nan and a brother, William. Her father runs a general store that also happens to serve as gathering spot for information as the 13 Colonies slowly descend into rebellion. Benjamin Davidson is an apprentice at her father’s store, and y’all, Lissie and Ben are basically FATED to be together, I’m convinced. I shipped them before I even knew what that was. I’m clearly not the only one, either: there’s a tumblr for this ship called Stolen Breeches, after a memorable incident in MEET FELICITY where she steals a pair of Ben’s pants to wear on her nighttime quest to save a horse, Penny (more on her in a sec).
Shailene Woodley and Kevin Zegers played my American Girl OTP in Felicity: An American Girl Adventure
Anyway, the Merrimans, like all families in the colonies at the time are forced to take sides in the conflict with England. OF COURSE, Felicity and her family are Patriots (her father stops selling tea in his store waaaay before everyone else does). This leads to high drama, as well as normal, everyday shenanigans, which are inevitable because of Lissie’s spirit and independence.
For real, Felicity is an amazing, brave, impulsive girl, who believes in fighting for what’s right. She can’t sit still, and is very headstrong, but HOLY CRAP I always admired her pluck.
Also, she has a GORGEOUS horse named Penny–short for Independence–that she saved from the gross douchnozzle, Jiggy Nye. They are BESTIES.
For all that I love Felicity–and all the American Girls, to be honest–it makes me sad to see how the original ones, the ones that I knew and loved and read about voraciously when I was young, are falling out of favor or being outright DISCONTINUED, like, alas, my red-haired girl here. Maybe it’s just a sign of me being old, or maybe it’s a sign of me be averse to change, but who are all these RANDOM whippersnappers they have now? They have an American Girl from the 1960s California, for crying out loud! And listen, that’s an incredibly important time in our nation’s history, too, and a vibrant culture. But Felicity was literally present during THE BIRTH OF OUR NATION. WT actual F? Don’t play me like that, American Girl. DON’T EVEN.
Anyway, the reason that I’m giving my girl Lissie some props today is because the American Revolution–the thing we celebrate today in my neck of the woods, and many of yours–was the backdrop of her life, and it’s the historical period that I, a history NERD, love the most. And that is almost entirely thanks to Felicity, and these books.
Pirates! Magic! Treasure! A gargoyle? Caroline Carlson’s hilarious tween novel The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #1: Magic Marks the Spot is perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events and Trenton Lee Stewart’s Mysterious Benedict Society.
Hilary Westfield has always dreamed of being a pirate. She can tread water for thirty-seven minutes. She can tie a knot faster than a fleet of sailors, and she already owns a rather pointy sword.
There’s only one problem: The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates refuses to let any girl join their ranks of scourges and scallywags.
But Hilary is not the kind of girl to take no for answer. To escape a life of petticoats and politeness at her stuffy finishing school, Hilary sets out in search of her own seaworthy adventure, where she gets swept up in a madcap quest involving a map without an X, a magical treasure that likely doesn’t exist, a talking gargoyle, a crew of misfit scallywags, and the most treacherous—and unexpected—villain on the High Seas.
Written with uproarious wit and an inviting storyteller tone, the first book in Caroline Carlson’s quirky seafaring series is a piratical tale like no other.
Pirates! Magic! Treasure! AND a gargoyle?! Psh. THIS SOUNDS SO AWESOME I CAN’T EVEN. First of all, any time there is even the HINT of pirates in a book, I’m immediately in. Second of all, look at all the other equally excellent stuff in this book! Historical fiction where a young girl wants to ditch her fancy dresses to join a gang of pirates, whereupon she also encounters magic, a treasure map and A FREAKING QUEST? Yup.
A MG/young YA historical fiction with pirates is something we need more of in the world. Also, I’m really looking forward to meeting Hilary. She sounds confident and determined and just the little bit of description we get of her is putting me in mind of one of the great, strong girl characters I’ve recently read, Deryn Sharpe from Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series. Granted, I don’t think Hilary has to dress up like a boy the way Deryn did, but still. The comparison is a BIG compliment, and it sounds worthy.
MAGIC MARKS THE SPOT comes out on September 10, 2013 from HarperCollins Children’s Books
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!
I have to admit, friends, July is a slow month for me in terms of books that I want. Which–don’t get me wrong–I’m a little bit ok with, because let’s be honest, I need the break! But even considering this “break”, there’s seriously no way an entire month will ever pass without there being at least five books I’m dying to read coming out, and this month is no exception. Here’s what I’m tripping over this July!
The Theory of Everything by Kari LunaJust looking at the cover of this book absolutely makes me so curious and happy. What’s with the panda? Is this book about furries? How come the girl is wearing that quirky-awesome dress? Turns out this book is about a girl obsessed with the 80s whose scientist dad goes missing. Then she starts seeing things. Hence the panda furries. I’m SO INTRIGUED. (July 11, 2013 from Philomel)
All Our Pretty Songs by Sarah McCarryI’ve been waiting for this book, friends, because it sounds so mysterious and intense. Also, it’s a retelling of the Orpheus myth, set in 1990s Pacific Northwest, and centered around music. Plus there’s a great-sounding angle with the friendship between the two main characters, two girls named Aurora and another girl whose name we don’t know. Color me intrigued. AGAIN. (July 30, 2013 from St. Martin’s Griffin)
So, cheating a little bit because I already read this one thanks to an eGalley from the publisher and really enjoyed it, as I always do with Echols books. LOVED the Nashville aspect of it, because I LOVE that show. Review going up soon–this week, hopefully. (July 16, 2013 from MTV Books)
SYLO: The SYLO Chronicles #1 by D.J. MacHaleDon’t tease me with military stuff, friends. In fact, I’ve give you guys a list before of some of my must-read topics, and this book has TWO: military aspects and a Maine setting. I’m so curious about this weird, secretive branch of the military called SYLO that shows up in the Maine hometown of one Tucker Pierce. (July 2, 2013 from Razorbill)
Under the Empyrean Sky: The Heartland Trilogy #1 by Chuck WendigI have been looking forward to this books since the instant I first heard about it. First of all, Chuck Wendig is an author I’ve been meaning to read for a while now, although this is his first YA release. But second of all, there is not much about this book that sounds quite like anything else I’ve ever read: a government that only allows the people of the Heartland to grow some jacked up corn (the first line in the Amazon summary of this book is “Fear the corn”; a gang of what sounds like dissatisfied, disgruntled pirates; ILLEGAL GARDENING; rich people who live in the sky–I mean, honestly. (July 30, 2013 from Amazon Children’s Publishing)
