Kill Me Softly

Kill Me Softly
by Sarah Cross

Mirabelle's past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents' tragic deaths to her guardians' half-truths about why she can't return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday—and discovers a world she never could have imagined.


In Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems—the strangely pale girl with a morbid interest in apples, the obnoxious playboy who's a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for damsels in distress. Here, fairy tales come to life, curses are awakened, and ancient stories are played out again and again.

But fairy tales aren't pretty things, and they don't always end in happily ever after. Mira has a role to play, a fairy tale destiny to embrace or resist. As she struggles to take control of her fate, Mira is drawn into the lives of two brothers with fairy tale curses of their own . . . brothers who share a dark secret. And she'll find that love, just like fairy tales, can have sharp edges and hidden thorns. (description from Amazon.com)
 
I loved the idea of this book. I loved it a lot...and while the world-building was wonderful, and the secondary characters were great, I was somewhat disappointed in the main character, Mira. 
 
Beau Rivage was a decadent, dark, and dangerous place. Full of everything I love in a dark fairy tale. The inhabitants of Beau Rivage were also fascinatingly dark. I loved the "evil" fairy who ran the seedy nightclub, the girl cursed to spit up jewels and flowers who sang as the headliner in a band, and I really loved the blue haired boy who fought so hard to keep from killing even one more girl with his kisses...
 
...and then there was Mira. The sad little girl who seemed so spunky and headstrong, but fell like the weakest  little doe straight into the arms of the big bad wolf.  It was a horrific case of "Bella-itis"  and I wanted to strangle her right through my car stereo. I even  found myself rolling my eyes so badly I was afraid they would roll right into the back of my head and never come out again at some points during her pining...
 
I loved the way the book ended. The right people found each other and curses, though not necessarily lifted, were lifted just enough for a potentially happy, yet realistically tough, ending. I would happily read another book set in the world of Beau Rivage. In fact, I would LOVE to delve back into this world to explore the remaining stories of some of the other characters. 

Dirty Little Secrets

Dirty Little Secrets
by C.J. Omololu

Everyone has a secret. But Lucy's is bigger and dirtier than most. It's one she's been hiding for years-that her mom's out-of-control hoarding has turned their lives into a world of garbage and shame. Tackling an increasingly discussed topic that is both fascinating and disturbing, C. J. Omololu weaves an hour-by-hour account of Lucy's desperate attempt to save her family. Readers join Lucy on a path from which there is no return, and the impact of hoarding on one teen's life will have them completely hooked. (description from Amazon.com)

This was a compelling, intriguing, and at moments both gross and shocking book. It's like a soap opera unfolding in front of your eyes - you see it happening, you know what's coming, and still you can't look away...you are hooked! 

My husband and I both watch Hoarders on TV.  I'll admit it. It's one of those shows you turn on and then can't turn off again. We'll watch it for hours. It's educational in a way, but it's mostly morbidly fascinating. You can't help but wonder for hours how it's possible that people actually live like that! It also has the dual  purpose of making me feel much better about how I live my life...sort of like Cops, LOL.

Anyway, this book read like watching an episode's aftermath. I could not put it down! There were moments  when I wished I could, but it was impossible. I can absolutely see now why several of  the teens in our Library had been bugging me to read this one! 

For something a little different that you won't be able to put down...try Dirty Little Secrets!

The 2012 ABNA Young Adult Fiction Winner!

I'm so happy! So happy, you guys!!

They announced the winner of the 2012 ABNA Young Adult Fiction contest and the entry that I reviewed early on in the contest, On Little Wings, won the division! It was a touching, well written read that I will review here at a later date, and I am so glad it won! :)

Here's the official announcement:

Amazon and Penguin Group (USA) Name Alan Averill and Regina Sirois Winners of 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest


Averill, author of “The Beautiful Land,” and Sirois, author of “On Little Wings,” receive publishing contracts and a $15,000 advance from Penguin Group (USA)

SEATTLE & NEW YORK—June 16, 2012—Amazon.com customers around the world cast their votes and this evening, Amazon.com, Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace announced the winners of this year’s Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) at a special ceremony held at The Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle. Alan Averill is the Grand Prize winner in the general fiction category for his novel, “The Beautiful Land,” while Regina Sirois was awarded the Grand Prize in the young adult fiction group for her novel, “On Little Wings.” Both authors have received a publishing contract from Penguin Group (USA) that includes a $15,000 advance. “The Beautiful Land” and “On Little Wings” will be published by Berkley Books and Viking Books for Young Readers, respectively. The novels are now available for pre-order on Amazon.com at www.amazon.com/abna.

This year's competition drew thousands of submissions from aspiring writers around the world – the most entries in the history of the contest. Through several rounds of judging, six finalists rose to the top. An expert panel of authors, agents and editors weighed in with comments on the finalists’ work, and in the end, Amazon.com customers voted to select the winners.
 
“Today's winners were chosen by Amazon.com customers, which is one thing that makes ABNA so special,” said Nader Kabbani, Director of Independent Publishing at Amazon. “This contest not only recognizes talented authors but also connects them directly with readers looking to discover great new writers. We congratulate Alan and Regina, whose work clearly resonated with customers.”
 Tim McCall, Penguin Group (USA) Vice President of Online Sales and Marketing said, “Penguin is always looking for talented new writers to bring to our readers. We were thrilled to see the many promising manuscripts entered in this year’s competition by writers who aspire to be published by Penguin. We look forward to publishing Alan’s and Regina’s novels.”

Hailing from Seattle, Alan Averill, a former “video game script doctor,” wrote a draft of “The Beautiful Land” as a part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a movement that challenges writers to complete a novel in 30 days. “The Beautiful Land” is a story of two people in love from the moment they met but destined to be apart forever. Thanks to a time machine and a mysterious invention buried deep in the Australian Outback, they now have one more chance to get it right. One customer reviewer writes: “From the opening statement to the last quote, [it] had me excited all the way through. The prose is strong, descriptive in a quirky way, charming, and unique. The characters are extremely memorable. I can't wait to read how they will be interacting with one another later in the story.”


Regina Sirois was born and raised outside of Kansas City. She minored in Creative Writing, but never found the right inspiration for a story until she became the mother of two girls. “On Little Wings” is her first novel. In it, 16-year-old Jennifer’s discovery of an aunt she never knew existed reunites her family and provokes love and forgiveness. One customer reviewer writes: “…some of the most exquisite writing I've seen in a VERY long time. Any given sentence, paragraph or scene was sublime.”

Now in its fifth year, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest is an international contest co-sponsored by Amazon.com, Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace. For the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest Official Rules, to view the winning excerpts and reviews, or pre-order the novels, please visit www.amazon.com/abna.

I highly recommend if you get a chance that you check out the excerpt from On Little Wings. It was a standout for sure. I'm pleased to be hosting an interview with author, Regina Sirois, here on the blog soon, too, to discuss her experience participating in the ABNA contest.

Partials

Partials
by Dan Wells

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.


Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.  (description taken from Amazon.com)

Feel like you are tired of dystopians, yet? If so, I'd say give Partials a chance and see if it restores your faith in the genre. I love dystopians, really love them, but with the influx to the market right now, it is easy to get burnt out! I'm finding myself having to be much more careful in my selections and having to space them out between books from other genres to give myself a mental reboot. However, I really, thoroughly enjoyed Partials and would read a sequel from this author in a heartbeat!

This book had a great premise and followed through with realistic fallout. I loved how not only had the human population been decimated by a virus (that they essentially unleashed upon themselves after creating the Partials superhuman army...), but that they then also had to deal with their inability to reproduce successfully and how their society dealt with the prospect of dying out. There were LAYERS of things going on here!!  LAYERS, people.

Kira was a great heroine.  She was tough, she fought for what she believed in...she made dumb mistakes and she was scared sh!tless sometimes, but she also inspired change! She was a gamechanger. She thought outside the box. In a word, she was awesome. I would take Kira on my side against the world, any day!

Full of action, great observations of people and not only how they react singly to important events, but as a group, with a really strong main character... Partials is a dystopia I recommend to all that love the genre.  It makes my top three dystopians list!  

*Side note - I listened to this as an audio book and it was great.  So good, that I ended up being too impatient to listen to the very end and had to grab the book so I could finish it faster! LOL.  

Full disclosure: Audio book received to review for AudioFile   

My (*REALLY Belated) BEA 12 Wrap-Up Post...and a Giveaway!

Well...this is long overdue, but I've just been seriously overwhelmed lately.  Today is the first day since BEA that I really felt up to tackling a post of this size...

Anyway, on June 6th - ages ago, now!- I went into New York City to attend Book Expo America...my favorite day of the entire year.  I seriously love the experience every time I go. 

This year, I got up at 3:20a.m. so that I could drive down to the train station to meet my friend, Kim, and take the earliest train possible (well, for us anyway...) into the city in time to make the Children's Author Breakfast.  We got there in plenty of time so that Kim could check her roll-y bag, we picked out our seats (next year, we vowed to pay for the real breakfast table seats) and even got to chat with other Librarian friends before it started. I was super excited to catch up with my CT Librarians like Andrea, Kristi, and Heather!!  <3

If you want to read all about the Children's Author Breakfast (and I think you should - Chris Colfer moderated and it was amazing!!),  you can check out the write up I did for YALSA's The Hub. 

After the breakfast, Miss Kim and I were forced to split up. There is just so much to do and we had different things we desperately wanted to hit during the day. Of course, the first thing I wanted to do was get a signed copy of Throne of Glass by Sarah Maas, so I waited in line for more than an hour right off the bat. 

Having learned from going the last three years, I usually make a plan of things I'd like to do at BEA and then I  kind of take the day as it comes. While this year I did go in with certain signings that I *HAD* to attend, I  also made a point to give myself plenty of time to walk around and talk to the different people at Publishers' Booths. This worked out just great, as I was able to hand my blog card out to several different  people and I picked up some ARCs I never would have grabbed, based on the publisher's rep's recommendations. 

Alright, want to see what I got?

I was beyond excited to grab one of Chris Colfer's ARCs from the Children's Author Breakfast (bottom of the pile)! It came in the cutest little box, too. Another one I refused to leave BEA without was a signed copy of Diana Peterfreund's For Darkness Shows the Stars. That was a must-grab for me!!  I  was also super excited to meet Jonathan Maberry in person and to get a signed copy of  Rot and Ruin. 

I was so happy to grab Libba Bray's The Diviners, too! Miss Kim grabbed a copy of Prodigy for me (Thank you!!) and I picked up several others I can't wait to read.  :)

Throughout the day, I met tons of authors, which is always one of my favorite things about all of BEA. I have to say this year's highlights included having Julianne Donaldson (Edenbrooke) and her publisher recognize me from the blog tour and then getting to have a real-life one on one conversation with JOHN GREEN!  Yes, the John Green.  He thanked me for being a Librarian and working every day to connect kids to books. So, of course, I thanked him for writing such great books for us to connect them to!!  (Awesome moment!)

Overall it was a great, and exhausting day. I made new contacts, caught up with old friends, and got a whole pile of books that it will probably take me a whole 'nother year to plow through, LOL.

How would you like some spoils from my efforts at BEA? I grabbed a couple extra ARCs and decided to give them away!  :D 

I have an extra copy of Jessica Khoury's Origin and Sharon Cameron's The Dark Unwinding. (If you click  on each title, it will take you to the Goodreads page for each book, where you can find a description) 

If  you would like to enter to win *both* these ARCs, please leave me a comment below  before Wed., June 27th. Please include your email address, too, so that if your name is chosen by Random.org on Thurs, June 28th, I can get in touch with you to get your mailing address  (US only, sorry!).   The winner will have until  Sunday, July 1st to get me their mailing address or I will pick a new winner.  GOOD LUCK!!

My Summer Reading List

This summer looks amazing in terms of book publishing! There are so many books that are either already out or are coming out this summer that I am dying to read!!

I love to secretly, or not so secretly, LOL, troll through the Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites to figure out what books are coming out when... so, I've already got a HUGE stack of books that I'd like to read before the summer is over, but these are the "essential" ones I want to read...

Are any of you already planning your reads for the rest of the summer, or am I just the crazy one, LOL?! Anyway, here's MY summer reading list:

Just for Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

Fins series, book three

Publication date: July 3, 2012

Endlessly by Kiersten White

Paranormalcy series, book three

Publication date: July 24, 2012

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Already published...

Carter's Unfocused One-Track Mind by Brent Crawford

Carter series, book three

Publication date: August 7, 2012

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

Summer series, book three

Already published...



Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Publication date: July 3, 2012

Timeless by Gail Carriger

Parasol Protectorate series, book five

Already published... 

(Clicking on the title of each book will take you directly to the book's Amazon page where you can read the description and check out similar books.)

I think I am going to task myself to actually report on whether or not I've read these book by September 1st this year...you will all hold me accountable, right? :)  I have to have an actual goal with them or I'll keep putting the ones I own off to the side...

Anyway, tell me what are some of the books on YOUR summer reading list????

Can You All Help Me Out a Little? Pretty Please??

No, this is not me...but this is what I feel like sometimes, LOL!

I don't know if any of you have actually noticed my recent lack of awesome blog posts or not, but I've had a ton of stuff going on in my life!  I just bought and moved into a new house last week, I attended BEA for a day during the move (wrap up post coming soon...), and with summer starting, the preparation for our Library's summer reading program has been intense with plenty of school visits in the last week and a half!

All fantastically wonderful things that leave me both ecstatic...and exhausted. 

Since I've been having trouble even mustering the mental strength to post some rational-sounding book reviews, I thought this might be a great time to hit you all up for some feedback.  Nothing scary, I promise!  What I really want to know is:

What do you love to read on my blog?

Are there any posts you find boring? 

Is there any type of post that you miss on my blog?

What would you like to see?

I'm having that horrible feeling of *GASP* blog boredom.  I feel a little like I've dug myself into a rut that I can't get out of... I had a mental breakthrough this morning and came up with a great new feature idea that I can't wait to get started on, but I also really want to know how to make things more interesting for YOU!!

Please, if you have just a few minutes and any thoughts, leave me some comments...  

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Jessica :)

Anxiously Awaiting...Mind Games!!

Mind Games

by Kiersten White

Publication date: Feb. 2013

In a world where psychics and mind-readers are the ultimate tools in corporate espionage, two teen girls try to save themselves and their future.

Okay, I love Kiersten White's books and I CANNOT wait to see what she does with this (at the moment very tiny) premise... It sounds like an awesome concept and a fantastic opportunity to see more from a fabulous author!! 



Movie Trailer - The Perks of Being a Wallflower

They just released the movie trailer for "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." I think it looks pretty good! What do you think??



Can I mention, too, how excited I am to see Emma Watson on the big screen again?  LOL.

Struck

Struck

by Jennifer Bosworth

Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.

Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.

Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn’t who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything. (description from Amazon.com)

This was a cool book. The way that Mia was addicted to being struck by lightning was original, creepy, and totally compelling to read about. 

This is a post-apocalyptic book...sort-of...at the beginning, only Los Angeles is really affected. Well, decimated in reality.  However, the leaders of two different and warring cults are both claiming that another storm is coming...one that will cause an earthquake that will devestate the entire world!

Mia was a very intriguing main character.  She was tough, used to having to provide for her brother and somewhat catatonic mother... but she also had hints of vulnerability.  She admits to her addiction and tries to fight it.

I also really liked some of the secondary characters.  I felt like they were very defined.  You knew who they were.  That also became a fault of the book in one sense... there was a revelation about the real identity of one character that was not surprising, at all.  I still very much enjoyed the twist, but it wasn't really that shocking. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and look forward to more from this author.  Though not the best in the genre recently, this had a refreshing new twist that made it stand out for me!

BEA!!!

I'm sure most of you already know, but Book Expo America is in New York City this week! I will be attending on Wed. (the only day I could go this year), so right now I'm in a flurry trying to figure out what layers to wear, what bags to bring, what signings to try and hit...

It's so much fun to go to, I can't even stand it! This year, I actually have several meetings set up with different publishing people and I'll be attending and then blogging (over on YALSA's the HUB) about the Children's Author Breakfast...so, this is the first year that I'll really be going more as a media professional than as just an author/book fangirl. I can't wait to see how my experience differs!!

I hope to catch up with some of you authors and bloggers that I talk to online so often! It's always great fun to bump into people in line, etc. and this year, as I said, I'm making a real effort to spend more time just networking.  If you see me, say HI!!

What's On My Hold List?

Welcome to the June 2012 edition

of

"What's on My Hold List?"

One of the most beautiful things about working in a Library is that I have the ability to put lots of things on hold and read them *before* I buy!! These are some of the books that I'm currently waiting for, though I may buy one or two of them after reading, as well. 

Black Howl

by Christina Henry

Black Wings, book three

The Inferior

by Peadar O. Guilin

Sleepover Stakeout

by Kim Harrington

Sleuth or Dare, book 2

Wicked Business

by Janet Evanovich

Lizzy and Diesel, book 2

You can click on each title to go to their Amazon page for a description...

So, these are the books I'm waiting anxiously to get my hands on...what are you waiting for??

Anxiously Awaiting... Ironskin!

Ironskin
by Tina Connolly

Publication date: Oct. 2, 2012

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey.

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discover just how far she will go to become whole again.

Anyone else loving this Jane Eyre/Fae storyline??? I think this sounds so intriguing. I can't wait til this comes out...

Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip

Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip
by Jordan Sonnenblick

Sometimes, the greatest comebacks take place far away from the ball field.

Meet Peter Friedman, high school freshman. Talented photographer. Former baseball star. When a freakish injury ends his pitching career, Peter has some major things to figure out. Is there life after sports? Why has his grandfather suddenly given him thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment? And is it his imagination, or is the super-hot star of the girls' swim team flirting with him, right in front of the amazing new girl in his photography class? (description from Amazon.com)

I loved this book. I love all of Jordan Sonnenblick's books!

This book had sports, it had photography, it had the ups and downs of a new relationship...it had family drama (and tons of family love)... it pretty much had it all!

I so thoroughly enjoyed this book that I am giving it a GOLD STAR review!!

I thought that Peter was a great character. I loved his relationship with his grandfather and the one that he develops with Angelika.  I also enjoyed his best friend and thought that it was interesting to see the dynamics of their relationship. 

This is one of those books that I believe has something for everyone to enjoy.  

Anxiously Awaiting...Days of Blood and Starlight!

Days of Blood and Starlight 
by  Laini  Taylor
Sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Publication date: November 6, 2012

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.(description from Goodreads)

I love this cover! Laini's been really lucky with her covers...they always match her books really well. Her  writing is such a lush mix of dark and fancy. I can't wait for this sequel!