Love, Lucy by April Lindner | Book Review

Posted January 23, 2015 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 6 Comments

Love, Lucy by April Lindner | Book ReviewLove, Lucy by April Lindner
Published by Poppy on January 27, 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 304
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (ALA)
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While backpacking through Florence, Italy, during the summer before she heads off to college, Lucy Sommersworth finds herself falling in love with the culture, the architecture, the food...and Jesse Palladino, a handsome street musician. After a whirlwind romance, Lucy returns home, determined to move on from her "vacation flirtation." But just because summer is over doesn't mean Lucy and Jesse are over, too.

In this coming-of-age romance, April Lindner perfectly captures the highs and lows of a summer love that might just be meant to last beyond the season.

Love, Lucy is a glorious, wonderful, perfectly fabulous book. I seriously read this book in August, and I have not been able to figure out how to explain my love for it, but I have to!! There was not one thing I didn’t love, so I’m just going to make a little fangirl list of the best things about Love, Lucy before I push you off to buy yourself a copy.

– Love, Lucy took me right back to the magical city of Florence, Italy. Florence is one of my favorite places in the world, and April did it right. She made me want to go back again right now.

– Travel. Come on. Everyone knows that traveling makes you fall in love with the person that you are, and Love, Lucy had everything I could have ever wanted in a travel book.

– Not only is the book about travel, but it encourages travel. It’s an inspiring story that makes you want to make your traveling dreams come true, not to mention it makes you feel like you can do it. Lucy is just a young high school grad, but she did it. And you can too.

– In that same vein, this book is about a girl discovering who she is. I love those kinds of books.

– Lucy happens upon Jesse, a sexy street performer (a musician, holy swoon), and a flirtatious little love-ish thing starts. It’s a perfect romance. Jesse is perfection.

– Love, Lucy is happy. It made me happy. This is what books are supposed to do.

– I was so sad when it was over.

– I might love this more than I love Just One Day, which is a lot, so that’s saying something.

Basically, you need to read this. You need to, your mom needs to (my mom LOVED it), your best friend needs to. And then you all need to go to Florence together so you can see that the magic April Lindner speaks of is real. You need to meet and fall in love with Jesse, and you need to explore the city on the back of his moped. I wish I could go back and read it again for the first time.

Top Ten Authors I’ve Only Read One Book From But NEED to Read More

Posted January 20, 2015 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 16 Comments

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at the other blog I write for, The Broke and the Bookish.

This week is a freebie, and I missed this one a few months ago. So, we’re talking about authors we like, but haven’t been able to get enough of them yet! I’m pretty bad at finding an author and then reading a TON of books by them. I love exploring and promoting new authors, so I’ve read a ton of books by a ton of different authors. Many of them have released new books and I just haven’t had time to grab them yet!

Jennifer L. Armentrout
I read Don’t Look Back, and loved it! Now I want to read more from JLA! I’m thinking of starting the Lux series. Or is there another I should read instead?

Tessa Dare
I thought Romancing the Duke was really cute, and I would love to read more from Tessa! I’ve got Say Yes to the Marquess, which is the second book in the Castles Ever After series, but I’ve also got A Night to Surrender, and Surrender of a Siren. Where do I begin with these!? Or, does she have any book you love even more that I should get?

John Green
I actually have not read a full-length novel from John Green yet, but I want to! I really liked his short story in the Let It Snow anthology, and just don’t know where to go now. I hate crying, and I hate reading sad books… are any of his not tear-jerkers?

Abigail Haas
Dangerous Girls was insane and intense! I loved it! Now I’m wanting to read Dangerous Boys. Is it as good? I’m worried I won’t love it as much.

Kirsten Hubbard
Wanderlove is one of my favorite books ever, and I want Kirsten to write more like it! Like Mandarin does not sound like my kind of book, and her new book coming out this year called Watch the Sky is a middle grade… so I don’t know what to do. She got a thriller called Cloudforest coming out in 2016 that sounds good. I might just have to wait until then.

Sophie Kinsella
I don’t even know where to begin with Sophie. I really liked I’ve Got Your Number. I think I own the entire shopaholic series, but there’s others of hers I hear more about like Remember Me? and The Undomestic Goddess. Thoughts?

J.K. Rowling
This is kind of a no-brainer. I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone last year and really want to finish the series this year. We’ll see if I have time!

Mary E. Pearson
I LOVED The Kiss of Deception sooooo much, and I own the Jenna Fox Chronicles, which I’m pretty excited about. We’ll see if I get to it before The Heart of Betrayal comes out, which I will stop the world for.

Marie Rutkoski
Ahhhh… The Winner’s Curse was glorious! It was super good, and I’ve got an ARC of The Winner’s Crime staring at me as we speak. But I also have The Shadow Society, which sounds pretty cool. How are her other books?

Anna Scarlet
This is more of a plea than a decree because Anna Scarlet has only written one book, Degrees of Wrong, which I loved. I want more, whether it be a sequel or a new standalone. I don’t care. But I loved it! And did you know Anna Scarlet is Anna Banks? All the more reason for her to write another adult novel. :D

That Artsy Librarian | My Young Adult Literature Class Reading List

Posted January 15, 2015 by Jana in That Artsy Librarian / 34 Comments

 

Another year, another semester! This Spring, I’m taking Introduction to Public Libraries and Young Adult Literature. I’m excited for both, but obviously I’m kind of REALLY excited about my YA Lit class! I’m posting the reading list here because I would LOVE opinions on which books are the best and which ones I need to steer clear of. Please, PLEASE give me your opinions because I’m so overwhelmed and some of these titles scare me! And holy MOLY, this is a lot of reading! I also have two textbooks in this class, plus the teacher assigns scholarly articles as well! I’m gonna be a busy girl!

Weeks 1 & 2: ALA Youth Media Awards
• Choose 2: The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley, The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim by E.K. Johnston, Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero, The Scar Boys by Len Vlahos, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton.

Week 3: Series
• Required: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Choose 2: A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper, The Diviners by Libba Bray, The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, Wake (Wake Series, Book 1) by Lisa McMann.

Week 4: Living and Dying
• Required: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Choose 1: The Hate List by Jennifer Brown, It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

Week 5: The Lives of Teens
• Choose 2: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson, The First Part Last by Angela Johnson, In Darkness by Nick Lake, Pinned by Sharon Flake, The Road to Paris by Nikki Grimes, Shine by Lauren Myracle, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.

Week 6: The Past
• Choose 2: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, Mare’s War by Tanita Davis, Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys, Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano.

Week 7: Awards
• Required: Printz Award Winning book (announced Feb. 2)
• Choose 2: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, Monster by Walter Dean Myers, Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool, A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park, Sold by Patricia McCormick, A Step from Heaven by An Na, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley.

Week 8: Cross-Overs
• Choose 2: Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok, The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni, Juvenile in Justice by Richard Ross, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neal Gaiman, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, The Radleys: A Novel by Matt Haig, The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell, Room by Emma Donoghue, Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt.

Week 9: Coming of Age and LGBTQ
• Required: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
• Choose 1: The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork, Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd, Winger by Andrew Smith, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina.
• Choose 1: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan, Fat Angie by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan, Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright, Blankets by Craig Thompson.

Week 10: Graphically Speaking
• Required: The Arrival by Shaun Tan
• Choose 2: Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol, Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang (2 books count as 1), The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (2 books count as 1), The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2 books count as 1), Drama by Raina Telgmeier, The Sculptor by Scott McCloud, This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki
• Plus: Read a single YA manga title of your choice

Week 11: Real Lives
• Required: The Port Chicago 50 by Steve Sheinkin
• Choose 1: Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin, Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickels, America’s First Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone, Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White by Lila Quintero Weaver, Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II by Martin W. Sandler, We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Y. Levinson, Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) by Sue Macy.

Week 12: Steampunk
• Choose 1: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld and Keith Thompson, Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant, The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross, Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices) by Cassandra Clare.
• Choose 1 Film: 9, City of Ember, Coraline, The Golden Compass, Howl’s Moving Castle, Stardust.

Week 13: Book Challenges and Pushing Boundaries
• Required: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell and Fat Kid Rules the World by K. L. Going.
• Choose 1: The Giver by Lois Lowry or Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Phew! I told you it was a lot of reading! So, help me out! In some situations I don’t have a choice, and in others I have a few things to choose between. Which books would you recommend I read? Which ones should I run away from? We all know I hate crying, but crying is inevitable with this list. So really, I’m looking for books that will not shred my soul.

Top Ten 2014 Releases I Meant to Read but Didn’t Get To

Posted January 12, 2015 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 24 Comments

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at the other blog I write for, The Broke and the Bookish.

There just aren’t enough hours in the day (or the year) to get to every book I want to read! Here’s a list of just a few of the books that came out last year that I just did not have time for. Hopefully this year. :)

 

2014releases

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater
Of Neptune by Anna Banks
A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller
Top Ten Clues You’re Clueless by Liz Czukas
Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch
Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay
This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Impulse by Vanessa Garden

So, let’s chat! Have you read any of these? Did you love them? Hate them? Are there any I need to move to the top of my TBR? Let me know! And if you leave me a link to your list, I’ll be sure to stop by and leave my opinions as well. :)

The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall | 2015 Debut Book Review

Posted January 12, 2015 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 9 Comments

The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall | 2015 Debut Book ReviewThe Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall
Published by Putnam Juvenile on January 13, 2015
Genres: Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher (Mail)
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To fight her destiny as the missing heir to a powerful and dangerous secret society, sixteen-year-old Avery West must solve an ancient puzzle in a deadly race across Europe. Forbidden love and code-breaking, masked balls and explosions, destiny and dark secrets collide in this romantic thriller, in the vein of a YA DaVinci Code.

Avery West's newfound family can shut down Prada at the Champs-Elysees when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war.

They are part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle of Twelve, and Avery is their missing heir. If they discover who she is, some of them will want to use her as a pawn. Some will want her dead.

To thwart their plans, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the landmarks of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul and through a web of ancient legends and lies. And unless she can stay one step ahead of beautiful, volatile Stellan, who knows she’s more than she seems, and can decide whether to trust mysterious, magnetic Jack, she may be doomed after all.

I’ve always had this weird interest in conspiracy theories. Now, I’m not some paranoid theorist, but I find these theories very entertaining to read about. So naturally, The Conspiracy of Us had me very intrigued from the get go. And when I read that is was being compared to The Da Vinci Code, I was even more excited! I ended up LOVING this book, and am so excited to read more from debut author, Maggie Hall! As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. I learned very quickly that I would need to suspend a little disbelief in order to immerse myself in the story. Avery is 16 years old, so I found it to be a little unbelievable that she was so valuable and in so much danger, with so many people out to kill her. We’re not given a ton of details in the beginning, so just roll with it and Maggie Hall will convince you. The story ended up being pretty fantastic, and I believed all of it.

2. The world in this story is amazingly secretive and interesting. The Conspiracy of Us is contemporary, but with this underlying mystery that is believable and unbelievable at the same time. Basically, The Circle of Twelve is a group of twelve families who rule the world. They have family members in every government system, in every country, and in pretty much every facet of life. You think you know why WWI happened, but you’re wrong. It was because of dueling families. And these families go all the way back to Alexander the Great and Napoleon. I loved learning about all these secrets and mysteries of the world. Everything fits together in a really complicated puzzle that was so much fun to try and put together.

3. The Conspiracy of Us is FILLED with action and excitement. I flew through this book because there was never a good stopping point! Crazy things happen back to back to back, and I barely had time to catch my breath.

4. I loved the travel aspect. We bounce around Paris and Istanbul, and I loved it! Things happen in Notre Dame and at the Hagia Sophia. I’ve been to Paris, so I loved revisiting, and now I want to go to Istanbul super bad.

5. The romance is pretty perfect. Jack is so swoony and perfect. Plus, he has a British accent. I mean, really. There is the one chapter that just had me melting. It was the sexiest, most tender, most romantic moment that I’ve ever read in young adult fiction.

6. Maggie’s writing is beautiful, and I just know she is going to become a strong facet of the young adult community. I was truly intoxicated by some of her passages, not to mention her vivid imagination.

7. I loved the characters, but Jack has stolen my heart. Holy swoonfest.

8. The Conspiracy of Us is fun and light, but also has some serious elements. The characters are flawed, and we get to learn about those flaws. I tend to love and connect with characters for their flaws because it makes them more real.

All in all, The Conspiracy of Us was my perfect book. I love the secrets, the mystery, the puzzle, the romance, the travel, the characters, the writing. I really can’t come up with a complaint, except that it’s not a standalone and I’m DYING for the next book! I recommend this to all fans of YA. There’s a little something for everyone. I’m so excited for Maggie, and hope she plans to stick around the YA scene for a long time.