Great giveaway for @naturallysteph’s Lola and Anna! July 21, 2011
Go check it out and tell thenerdswife I send you! š
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1RGHbj/thenerdswife.com/2011/07/stephanie-perkins-signing-and-giveaway.html
You could win this:
or this:
š
Book Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater @mstiefvater (Yeah, my lip is still quivering.) July 15, 2011
It hurts.
Maggie made me cry. A lot. This book took a lot out of me. A lot! I think I cried four times while reading it and before you ask, no, I’m NOT PMSing!
The way Maggie writes is poetry, not just when she’s quoting poetry from Rilke or when Sam is singing. She writes fluidly.
There are scenes in this book invovling pain, abuse, and death, but it’s poetic. The beauty of poetry is that it can show you angry, painful, hate-feuled words but they roll off your tongue and swirl around you creating an image.
Something can be awful, but beautiful. And beauty isn’t always clean lines and soft colors. Sometimes it’s wolves locked in a struggle for dominance, sometimes it’s parents who love but don’t know how to show that love, sometimes it’s choosing life even if you have to give your own life for that of another’s.
Maggie shows us this in Forever. Life is all about choices, minutes, moments. Sometimes you make the right step, sometimes you screw it all up. Sam, Grace, Isabel, Cole, Beck, Tom Culpepper, The Brisbanes, even Shelby… they’re all integral, whether loved or hated, whether large or small, they all mattered.
Sam Roth will always be one of my favorite book boyfriends. Maggie makes dreamy lovely boys who are filled with love and self doubt and kindness. Imperfectly perfect. You guys know that’s my favorite.The shower scene I think was one of my most favorite scenes in this book because it reminded me so much of how my husband and I react to each other. Something I love about Sam and Grace is how real they are even though they’re in this incredible, ridiculous, fictional clusterfuck. They take a moment when most of us would be curled into the fetal position crying and gave it humor and adorable-ness. She really does a great job of balancing the “WTF?” with the “Aw!” That’s why I love Maggie so much!
Maggie built us a world. It started with Shiver and I promise you it doesn’t end with Forever. Her world makes me happy and sad, wistful and kind of whiney. I hated turning that last page.
I will admit that I did skip ahead a few times trying to get to Grace and Sam. They just mean so much to me and I wish we could know more about them, now if they’re safe, happy, together.
I’m going to refuse to believe anything less than that.
Book Review: Sean Griswold’s Head by @lindseyleavitt Two thumbs up! Good thinkin’ too! July 3, 2011
This was a good story. Better than good… it was real. I’m not sure if that will make sense, but it’s a real, good, fun story.
I kept forgetting to write my review and I found several hours of sitting in ICU gave me some time to reflect on things I hadn’t taken care of like this.
Sean Griswold’s Head is a great story for many… it would be a great talking point for the young ones. A great way to bring up tough topics like diseases and mortality, things that younger folks don’t really contemplate at all until they’re faced with it.
Now that I’ve been sitting in an ICU hospital room with my mom, I think I appreciate Lindsey’s book even more.
When I first started reading I thought it had a good Sloppy Firsts kind of vibe, I loved the language and slang, the quick pace, all of it meshed well together. Now that it’s been a bit and I’m staring at tubes and talking to nurses and smelling that disgusting over-clean smell, it makes you really think and take stock.
Just like Payton, many of us, myself included, kind of just take stuff for granted… you assume it’s all well and good when no one tells you it is not well and good.
Naivete can be a good thing, but it can also be not at all good. Payton comes to this realization, but she kind of has to hit every branch as she falls out of the Real Life Sucks Tree.
I was completely head over heels for Sean.. he’s a good male protag. He reminds me of the perfect sitcom boyfriend. I also loved the sarcasm. Snark is hot people. Payton and Sean have a fun dynamic.
I wasn’t thrilled with Jac, the BFF, she was a little much for me. There were a few times I would’ve tied her by her braids to the Real Life Sucks Tree and whacked her with a wiffle bat or something, but that’s okay… we all have a friend like that right?
Some of the topics in SGH can be tough to get into, but it’s done so well. It can really make you think though. At least it did for me.
Lindsey did, yet again, a great job making real-life fiction fun and also a learning moment. It’s nice to be entertained and get a good message. Very after-school special minus the gross outfits and poor acting. š
I highly recommend and can’t wait for more from Lindsey.
Wildfire ARC Giveaway by fellow book blogger @CValdezMiller July 1, 2011
Go check out her beautiful blog and you can enter to win an ARC of Wildfire by Karsten Knight.
Yes, I am shamelessly plugging not only to get Carolina more traffic, but I kinda want this ARC š Double dipping yea?
Carolina’s Book Blog
Tell her I sent you !
Here’s the summary of Wildfire:
Summary: Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. Sheās struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eveās violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in Californiaās redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesnāt go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new schoolābeing captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park rangerāAsh discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwoodā¦and sheās one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and sheās got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more timeā¦ And when warm and cold fronts collide, thereās guaranteed to be a storm.
Sounds like a winner ā¤ And you gotta love a hot park ranger yes? š
The Scorpio Races by @mstiefvater A lil’ sneaky peek! June 22, 2011
Maggie was awesome enough to share the prologue to her new book The Scorpio Races. If you’ve not had a chance to peruse, please do so here.
I have to say I was sucked right in! As always Maggie creates a little nook in the world that makes you wanna go see what’s happening… very voyeuristic but not… I mean, we’re invited to look, so it’s not dirty.
Everyone knows I would read a remake of the dictionary if Maggie told me to do so, but honestly, I was a little worried when she told us about the premise of TSR. Flesh eating pony, what?
I’m all ready ready already. Let’s bring on the freaky ass horses and the brave/stupid people who ride them! I’m freaked out and intrigued and I know it’s gonna be awesome š
Bring it, Maggie!
PS- if you haven’t seen this vid of the “Sharpie Guitar” go check it –
I’d like to know 1- can I have this? 2- was the bottom of your hand black when you finished? š
Book Cover Reveal: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater! @mstiefvater May 15, 2011
Maggie says there will be “blood, beaches, and kissing.” Sounds like a good time!
Her’s the snippet to wet your whistle straight from Maggie’s people:Ā “With her trademark lyricism, Maggie Stiefvater turns to a new world, where a pair are swept up in a daring, dangerous race across a cliff–with more than just their lives at stake should they lose.”
There may be horses… at least that’s what I’m pickin’ up. Riding horses on a beach = good. Riding horses with someone else = good. Riding horses on a beach with someone else in a race to save you life and theirs= gooooood book! š
If you’d like more information, check out Maggie’s personal site: http://maggiestiefvater.blogspot.com/2011/05/ta-da-scorpio-races-us-cover.html
Book Review: Beautiful Creatures by @KamiGarcia & @MStohl March 25, 2011
What can I say? I loved this book! And not just because my girl Michelle Hodkin sent me a book that Kami and Margaret signed for me!
I really enjoyed getting to know Ethan and Lena… I really wanted to know them. From very early on I was attached to both of them. Some books take me a while to care about a protag, but in this story, I wanted to know them and I did really care about what was happening fromĀ very early on.
Lena is strong, but she is self-conscious as well. She’s passionate and beautiful, but she’s also temperamental and has a lot on her mind for a teenage girl.
Young Ethan stole my heart pretty fast as well. He’s so head over heels in love with Lena, the Caster girl down the road. He knows that he shouldn’t, but he does. His dreams of her haunt him before he even knows who she is, but when he meets her, he knows she’s a missing piece and will do anything to help her. Even die.
The young language and fun conversations weave perfectly within the spell casting and otherworldly beings that seem to find their way to Ethan and Lena at every turn.
And then there are the humans. They cause more problems for Lena and Ethan than the creatures! The bigoted Southern town is a character in and of itself mixed with nuts, loons, and Daughters of the Revolution. I kept picturing Ethan’s best friend Link’s mom as Loralie’s mom, Emily, from Gilmore Girls.
I truly enjoyed this story immensely. I wish that I’d had more time to dedicate to sitting down and reading it in one sitting rather than over an entire month. It is a long one, but it is definitely worth it. Kami and Margaret have a way with words and the demonic š
I loved being wrapped up within a fun YA Romance that was mixed with the paranormal mystery. It was a fun mix and it worked very well. It really is a great mind vacation!
Now I need Beautiful Darkness! Michi, you wanna send me that one too?!
ARC Book Review: Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers @courtney_s March 24, 2011
What an intense read!
I honestly took several breaks while reading this 200 some odd page book because the topic and subject matter as well as the power behind the language and emotions that were stirred up with this book… it was just so hard and intense.
Intense seems to be the word that keeps popping up when I describe this to others. I want people to read it. Courtney Summers did an incredible job with this story. You feel so much for Eddie and her family and friends.
You see how intricately laced we all are and how a small action changes so much and how one person can hurt so many others. The pain within the pages of this book can be both stifling and liberating. It feels good to go through the catharsis, but it also does sting.
Several times while reading, my stomach flipped and plummeted. But that is what makes this story so great. It’s real and it’s gritty along with the beauty. It’s real life. There are parts of this book that will feel like a mirror and it will be uncomfortable, but then there are several instances where I found myself laughing or grinning like a tool as well.
There is a lot of pain in the story, but it’s also incredibly beautiful and poignant. This is truly a wonderful read, I just personally struggle with death and depression because it brings up a lot of things I’d rather not think about.
It is truly a wonderful read and I would guess that most people would be able to plow through it in a few hours if that. It might have been hard for me to read, but I don’t regret it in the least.
Summers did an amazing job with this story. I would highly recommend, just maybe not during an emo day.
@michellehodkin has a book cover!!!! March 18, 2011
Check out the beauty that is The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer!
booknerdbecca 