Top Ten Books I Got at ALA!

I've been meaning to participate in Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) for a while now, so when I saw the topic was open to WHATEVER I WANT this week (and THEN, I saw Magan's post over at Rather Be Reading about books from ALA), I decided to jump in.

I spent Friday-Sunday in Dallas with a group of friends/book bloggers attending ALA Midwinter and it was super awesome. I'll have a recap post (or two) coming within the week, but until then, I'll kick things off with...

THE TOP TEN BOOKS I AM SUPER EXCITED I GOT AT ALA!

(Yes, the books are on a chair. I didn't feel like clearing off the table-near-nice-natural-light, so... chair!)

They're in alphabetical order because I couldn't possibly rank them. (Of course, because I am super awful at choosing ONLY a certain number of favorites of anything ever there is a pile of another eight on the floor next to the chair feeling super left out right now. Poor, sad books.)

52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER by Jessica Brody (July 2012) - I love Jessica Brody's books and probably Jessica Brody. She makes awesome book trailers, writes cute characters, and always has a central plot idea that feels new to me. (Psst... click here to see my review her previous release, My Life Undecided.)
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AMELIA ANNE IS DEAD AND GONE by Kat Rosenfield (July 2012) - I actually hadn't heard of this one before ALA, but as soon as I read the back cover, I knew I had to have it. It sounds mysterious, and I love (love, love, love) a book set in a small town.
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BREAKING BEAUTIFUL by Jennifer Shaw Wolf (April 2012) - I was BEYOND excited when I saw this book was up for grabs. (I posted about how much I wanted to read it way back in August.) Can't wait!
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FLIRTING IN ITALIAN by Lauren Henderson (June 2012) - Four girls summering in Italy? Yes, please! Something tells me this one is going to be perfect when I want a book that will put a smile on my face.
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THE LIST by Siobhan Vivian (April 2012) - Every year an anonymous list goes up announcing the "prettiest" and "ugliest" girls in each grade. I don't even want to imagine how awful it would be to be on the bottom of that list for every eye in school to see, but I bet I will when I read this book. I was lucky enough to run into Siobhan twice over the weekend and my impression of her makes me want to read this even more.
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THUMPED by Megan McCafferty (April 2012) - The follow up to Bumped. Curious to see where it goes...
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PILGRIMS DON'T WEAR PINK by Stephanie Kate Strohm (May 2012) - A "historical romance-reading, Jane Austen-adaptation-watching, all-around-history nerd" spends the summer interning at Maine's Oldest Living History Museum. So, basically: me without the internship. Love!
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VARIOUS POSITIONS by Martha Schabas (February 2012) - I took ballet throughout my childhood and can't help but love it still. I'm interested to read along as a young professional ballerina makes her way through the dance world and deals with all the pressure that entails. I've read some really opinionated ("not what I expected") reviews on this one, so I'm interested to see where it goes.
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WANDERLOVE by Kirsten Hubbard (March 2012) - This one's got an 18-year-old main character traveling through Central America, which is enough to hook me alone. (Bonus: It's by the same author who wrote Like Mandarin.)
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WELCOME, CALLER, THIS IS CHLOE by Shelley Coriell (May 2012) - School radio station! Possibly a cute radio boy! Sign me up.
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OHMYGOD! I left out my (probable) #1! It was in my school bag, because I'm already reading it, so it completely slipped my mind when I was choosing...

PANDEMONIUM by Lauren Oliver (February 2012) - You don't even want to KNOW what was happening when Ginger ever so kindly handed me a copy of this book. (Hint: Actual pandemonium, except eerily almost-silent.) I waited to read Delirium until earlier this month, because I was pretty sure I would love it and hate waiting for this book to continue the story. I was right, so I'm glad I got a copy to shorten the wait by more than a month. Reading it and holding my breath... Alex.
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So, that's my top ten +1. I'd love to hear what you top ten-ed this week or your thoughts on any of these books or how awesome of a time you had at ALA or how you didn't go but now realize you should next time.

tune in tuesday #06

Tune in Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Post a song, new or old, each week. Happy listening!



This Tuesday's Tune:
WHAT MONEY PAID FOR by The Good Mad

This song was featured on a recent episode of The Lying Game (from 1/16, "Pleased to Meet Me"). The girl who plays the sister, Laurel, is in the band. They've got a folksy, Americana sound that worked perfectly in the episode. It's not my usual thing, but I'm sort of hooked anyway. What about you?

ALA in Dallas, here I come!

I'm heading out to Dallas for the ALA Midwinter Meeting with Ginger, Lena & Jess this morning. Really excited to see everyone, check out the books, and hotel-it for the weekend.

I've got a bunch of reviews ready to go up when I'm back, and I'm sure I'll have plenty to say about the weekend. Back soon!

tune in tuesday #05

Tune in Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. Post a song, new or old, each week. Happy listening!

This Tuesday's Tune:

HO HEY by The Lumineers

This song was in last weeks episode of Hart of Dixie. Love.

end-of-semester madness

It's the end of the semester & I'm writing pages & pages & pages of research papers, then taking a bunch of exams. I'll be back soon, but until then...

Go read WHERE THINGS COME BACK by John Corey Whaley. It's more amazing than I have time to explain right now (but I will soon).

And you should probably follow him on twitter so you'll know when he uploads a crazy/awesome (super awkward & hilarious) video (like this one). Dude is entertaining.

Back soon. AND I'LL BE ON CHRISTMAS BREEEEEAAAAAAK!

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY #08

TAKE A BOW
by Elizabeth Eulberg

Expected Release Date: April 1, 2012

Goodreads / IndieBound
The Book Depository / B&N / Amazon

From the fantastic author of The Lonely Hearts Club and Prom & Prejudice comes a story of all the drama and comedy of four friends who grow into themselves at a performing arts high school.

Emme, Sophie, Ethan, and Carter are seniors at a performing arts school, getting ready for their Senior Showcase recital, where the pressure is on to appeal to colleges, dance academies, and professionals in show business. For Sophie, a singer, it's been great to be friends with Emme, who composes songs for her, and to date Carter, soap opera heartthrob who gets plenty of press coverage. Emme and Ethan have been in a band together through all four years of school, but wonder if they could be more than just friends and bandmates. Carter has been acting since he was a baby, and isn't sure how to admit that he'd rather paint than perform. The Senior Showcase is going to make or break each of the four, in a funny, touching, spectacular finale that only Elizabeth Eulberg could perform.

I am SUCH a sucker for kids at a special school... boarding school, American school in a foreign country, performing arts high school... yes, please!

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

GUEST POST: Just Contemporary Week Five

For the final week of #JustContemporary, I swapped posts with Bonnie from A Backwards Story. Big thanks to Chick Loves Lit & Basically Amazing Books for hosting an entire month dedicated to my favorite type of YA! Be sure to swing by A Backwards Story today to check out my post on the same topic.

Now I'll hand this post off to Bonnie...

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What I’d like to see in contemporary fiction…

I find that I’m drawn more to contemporary titles when the content is memorable, unique, something outside the ordinary. If the book deals with an issue I’ve seen multiple times in other books or has a straight-forward cookie-cutter plot, I’m less likely to remember the details later on.

Even if a book isn’t the most brilliant one I’ve ever read, as long as it has a powerful message, I’m more likely to remember that message looking back. Strong characterization is another way to make one book stand apart from the rest. If readers truly connect with the characters, they become invested, which leads to an emotional attachment long after the last page is turned.

That’s pretty broad, isn’t it? I don’t have any one theme/idea I’d like to see more of (and if I did, I’d be sick of it after a couple of entries, I’m sure). I just want that FEELING. You know the one. That “can’t eat, can’t sleep, must finish reading” feeling. That “can’t read another book for a few days because this one was so incredible” feeling. That “how did I ever live without you in my life?” feeling. Books you want to recommend to people again and again, or ones that were recommended to you that you’ve since passed on to others. 

For example, last year, a co-worker read OUT OF MY MIND by Sharon Draper, then read it and recommended it to another co-worker, who read it and recommended it to me. I’ve since gone on to share my love of this amazing middle-grade contemporary with so many people who might not have otherwise HEARD of the book, let alone read it. And now I’m telling all of you: Absolute must-read. It will finally be in paperback in 2012. Read it. Love it. Share it with your kids. Every kid should read this book!

The top three contemporary novels I read in 2011 that still remain with me now are:

FORBIDDEN by Tabitha Suzuma This is a book I never thought I’d read, let alone love so much. Tabitha Suzuma’s writing is incredibly powerful. She makes you root for the characters as she drags them through hell and back. She knows how to rip your heart into shreds and piece it back together like an incomplete puzzle. I will absolutely be reading her work again as more of her titles make their way (hopefully) Stateside.

DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS by C.J. Omololu I loved the inside look at the way a family member’s disorder can destroy an entire family. I feel honored to have been chosen to judge this book in the first round of Nerds Heart YA’s annual awards earlier this year despite it not making it on to the third round. Sure, there are parts of the book that aren’t perfect and the title made me not want to read this in the first place, but my heart went out to Lucy’s plight. She goes through things over the course of a day that no teenager should EVER have to face alone. If she hadn’t been hiding such a devastating family life, she never would have had to.

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins Another book I never thought I’d read or enjoy! That title! That COVER!! It looks like straight-forward rot-in-your-teeth romance. And while it does have its share of fluff, it’s also so much more. The relationship between the two main characters is well-developed and readers fall into friendship, then love, as the events unfurl in the book. I also loved the ambiance brought on by the Paris setting. There’s so much to love in this debut novel! In fact, ANNA is one of the very few books I’ve actually sat down and re-read this year…which is saying something since I read it for the first time this past spring…

In 2012, I’m sure there will be more books to add to this list. For example, I have yet to get around to reading FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB by Antony John, but every time I see a new review, I want to read it even more. Or every time Daisy Whitney talks a little bit more about recently-sold novel WHEN YOU WERE HERE, publishing in early 2013, I covet it to a greater extent than I already do.

What contemporary novels have impacted your life in ways you never thought to be possible?

Bonnie is a book blogger over at A Backwards Story. You can also find her on Twitter and Goodreads. Be sure to swing my her blog today to read my answer to the same question. (It's posted right here.) Thanks again for swapping posts, Bonnie!

REMEMBRANCE by Michelle Madow

Today is my stop on the Remembrance tour hosted by Amanda from Stuck in YA Books. Thanks for swinging by!




“But it was time to realize that I wasn't Cinderella, and no matter how hard I wished it were true, life wasn't a fairy tale where everyone lives happily ever after.” 

REMEMBRANCE by Michelle Madow

YA - Paperback, 314 pages

Published July 2011

Goodreads / The Book Depository / Barnes & Noble / Amazon

New Hampshire high school junior Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet.

Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's school at the beginning of the year, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she seem to get him out of her mind?

Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, the pair of them soon find that fighting fate isn't going to be easy.

REMEMBRANCE is about a girl named Lizzie who meets a boy named Drew and feels an inexplicable connection to him. Not the so-called zap Bella Swan and Edward Cullen felt when they met, but a real, solid "Have we met before?" feeling.

Drew spends a good amount of time being frustrating and avoiding Lizzie, which totally annoyed me, as it should! (Me while reading: WHY WON'T YOU JUST MAKE OUT WITH HER ALREADY, DREW?!) He's got his reasons, so relax and wait it out. Boy knows things that girl doesn't! (And I really appreciated that they didn't glance at each other in the school yard and then immediately start picking out names for their future children.)

If a reincarnation story appeals to you and you liked SPELLBOUND (see: my review here), this is well-written, interesting, hey-don’t-we-know-each-other-loverboy story that will hook you early on. REMEMBRANCE has the hot guy and the brave, smart girl (who’s not afraid to go after what she wants!) that you’ve been looking for. It was inspired by Taylor Swift's beautiful video for "Love Story" and is sprinkled with past lives set in the time of  Pride and Prejudice. Can't wait to read more from Michelle!

Available for Nook and Kindle for only $1.99! Seriously. Zap it in there & start reading!

Find more on this book (and the next one!) over on MichelleMadow.com and Twitter. She is hosting a cover & trailer contest right here, and has a list of all of the tour stops right here.

the wait is over!

There's this book I've been hearing fantastic things about for months & months. And it's OUT TODAY!

THE FUTURE OF US
by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
YA - Hardcover, 356 pages
Published November 21st 2011 by Razorbill

1996? AOL CD-ROMs in the mail? Yes, please!

I was just starting high school in 1996 and my mailbox was overrun with AOL discs.

It's like this book was written for me! Just like how the Dawson's Creek kids were in 10th grade at the EXACT SAME TIME I was!

It's out today. Join me in buying a copy ASAP.

GUEST POST: JUST CONTEMPORARY WEEK TWO

Part of November's #JustContemporary is swapping guest posts each week on different topics. This week, let's welcome Amanda from The Fiction Fairy. (Click over to read my post on the same topic right here.)

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For week 2 of the guest post swap hosted by Chick Loves Lit & Basically Amazing Books the topic was “TOUGH STUFF.” Tough stuff seems like and easy enough topic, but let me tell you…it-is-TOUGH! (No pun intended.) Finally, I decided to choose tough stuff as it relates to contemporary YA books. Although, contemporary is only my second favorite type of YA book, as a teacher I can appreciate the topics that contemps often cover. So, in my teacher book, contemps are #1!

In today's world, although we are becoming a more more tolerant people, I feel like tweens and young adults feel more alone than ever. We text instead of talk, play video games instead of play outside, and microwave meals instead of sitting together for a hot dinner. With the ever growing absence of meaningful human contact I feel that contemporary YA novels help to fill the void.

From bullying, to sexual identification issues, divorce, abuse, and to have sex or not to have sex, contemporary novels are often the voice of reason to so many impressionable kids who have questions or doubt about a wide array of topics.

So, as a person, a woman, and a teacher I thank Contemporary YA books for talking about the “Tough Stuff” when we can’t!

Swing by The Fiction Fairy for more from Amanda (plus a guest post by me right here)!