Thursday, May 28, 2009

Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott



Love in the mail today. The artists are churning the books out faster than I can read them, much less comment on them.

"Love You Hate You Miss You" was written by Elizabeth Scott, and was just released on May 26th. I hate to say it, but it may be a little before I get to it. I still have to write up my reaction to Carrie Ryan's Forsest of Hands and Teeth, plus there at least 3 books I want to read first that I can think of off the top of my head. But anyway, I am looking forward to being able to read it.

Some information on the book:
Title: Love You Hate You Miss You
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Series: Elizabeth Scott
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen (May 26, 2009)
Price: $12.74

It is a very small book, only 7x5 inches.

Product Description:

Get this, I'm supposed to be starting a journal about "my journey." Please. I can see it now: Dear Diary, As I'm set adrift on this crazy sea called "life" . . . I don't think so.

It's been seventy-five days. Amy's sick of her parents suddenly taking an interest in her.

And she's really sick of people asking her about Julia. Julia's gone now, and she doesn't want to talk about it. They wouldn't get it, anyway. They wouldn't understand what it feels like to have your best friend ripped away from you.

They wouldn't understand what it feels like to know it's your fault.

Amy's shrink thinks it would help to start a diary. Instead, Amy starts writing letters to Julia.

But as she writes letter after letter, she begins to realize that the past wasn't as perfect as she thought it was—and the present deserves a chance too.


If you finish it before I do, let me know what you think.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Most Popular Pre-Orders


on Amazon.com. I am only including new publications. My preferred reading is Urban Fantasy, but I have included regular fantasy as well. I don't think there is any Sci Fi on the list. D:

Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)
Suzanne Collins
September 1st, Hardcover

Blood Promise (Vampire Academy, Book 4)
Richelle Mead
August 25th, Hardcover

Once Dead, Twice Shy (Madison Avery, Book 1)
Kim Harrison
May 26th, Hardcover

Blue Moon: The Immortals
Alyson Noel
July 7th, Paperback

Van Alen Legacy, The (A Blue Bloods Novel)
Melissa De La Cruz
October 6th, Hardback

Tenth Grade Bleeds (Chronicles of Vladimir Tod)
Heather Brewer
June 25th, Hardcover

Resurrection (Wicked)
Nancy Holder
July 7th, Paperback

The Sorcerer of the North: Book Five (Ranger's Apprentice)
John Flanagan
June 25th, paperback

Hunger: A Gone Novel
Michael Grant
May 26th, Hardcover

Fire
Kristin Cashore
October 5th, Hardcover

The Demon's Lexicon
Sarah Rees Brennan
June 2nd, Hardcover


Image by J. Corsentino, from Time of the Faeries. Check his work out, it is beautiful.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Finished the book. Loved it! Will write a proper view soon. I like to find quotes to show the magic of the writing... I have about 15. Need to try cut that down. I will work on the post today and will be starting to read Strange Angels. Funny thing. I was lucky enough to get a ARC of Strange Angels, but only a week before it was released. Didn't get to the ARC before I got my pre-ordered copy in the mail (forgot I pre-ordered it). Probably should read the "official" version, and just snuggle my ARC as it was the first one I received.

Take care poppets! Do something nice for someone today.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Forest of Hands and Teeth... Movie? *update


Some exciting news. The rights for The Forest of Hands and Teeth (which I am in the middle of) have been sold and they are already talking casting. The only name I heard mentioned was Kristen Stewart. Too bad Emmy Rossum wasn't a little younger, she would do well too.

*Just picked this up from Twitter from Carrie Ryan:
RT @randomhousekids: Kristen Stewart's production company has bought the rights to THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH! http://ow.ly/6rzm

Monday, May 11, 2009

NY Times Bestseller List


Edited down for the 12 and up/Young Adult

CHAPTER BOOKS
This Week
Weeks on List
1TWILIGHT: DIRECTOR’S NOTEBOOK, by Catherine Hardwicke. (Little, Brown, $17.99.) The making of "Twilight," the movie. (Ages 9 to 12)4
2

3THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, written by Neil Gaiman. Illustrated by Dave McKean. (HarperCollins, $17.99.) To avoid a killer, a young boy lives in a cemetery. First Chapter (Ages 10 and up)28
4THE HUNGER GAMES, by Suzanne Collins. (Scholastic, $17.99.) In a dystopian future, a girl fights for survival on live TV. (Ages 12 and up)31
5THIRTEEN REASONS WHY, by Jay Asher. (Razorbill, $16.99.) Before committing suicide a girl records and sends explanatory audiotapes to 13 people. (Ages 14 and up)25
6WINTERGIRLS, by Laurie Halse Anderson. (Viking, $17.99.) A life-and-death story of anorexia. (Ages 12 and up)4
7

8STARGAZER, by Claudia Gray. (HarperTeen, $16.99.) Vampire love in school. (Ages 12 and up)3
9FADE, by Lisa McMann. (Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster, $15.99.) Nightmares haunt Janie the dream-hopper. (Ages 14 and up)9
10


PAPERBACK BOOKS
This Week
Weeks on List
1EVERMORE, by Alyson Noël. (St. Martin’s Griffin, $9.95.) Immortals in school. (Ages 12 and up)10
2THE BOOK THIEF, by Markus Zusak. (Knopf, $11.99.) A girl saves books from Nazi burning and shares them with a Jewish man in hiding. First Chapter (Ages 14 and up)83
3THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS, by John Boyne. (Random House, $8.99.) A boy’s innocence is eroded in evil times. (Ages 12 and up)23
4THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN, written by Sherman Alexie. Illustrated by Ellen Forney. (Little, Brown, $8.99.) A boy leaves his reservation for an all-white school. (Ages 12 and up)3


12
6THE SUMMONING, by Kelley Armstrong. (HarperCollins, $8.99.) A girl who sees ghosts is locked up. (Ages 12 and up)2


34
8GLASS, by Ellen Hopkins. (Simon Pulse, $9.99.) An addiction novel in verse. (Ages 14 and up)1


13
10SLAM, by Nick Hornby. (Riverhead, $14.) A skateboarder gets his girlfriend pregnant. What would Tony Hawk do? (Ages 12 and up)23

SERIES BOOKS
This Week
Weeks on List
1THE TWILIGHT SAGA, by Stephenie Meyer. (Megan Tingley/Little, Brown, hardcover and paper) Vampires and werewolves in high school. (Ages 12 and up)88
2

3HOUSE OF NIGHT, by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast. (St. Martin’s, hardcover and paper) Vampires in school. (Ages 14 and up)33
4THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS, by Cassandra Clare. (McElderry/Simon & Schuster, hardcover and paper) A girl battles the forces of darkness. (Ages 14 and up)3
5MAXIMUM RIDE, by James Patterson. (Little Brown, hardcover and paper) Winged children try to save the world. (Ages 10 and up)49
6NIGHT WORLD, by L. J. Smith. (Simon Pulse, paper only) Supernatural races form secret societies. (Ages 14 and up)18
7

8

9

10


Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Strange Angels - Lili St. Crow


\Love in the Mail!!!!   Squeeeeeee!  (Okay, I am normally not a squee girl, but I am making an exception here.) Today I got my first advanced reader's copy of a book and I feel so priviliedged and special (I shouldn't but I do, so I am just going to go with it).  It has just moved to the next in the to-be-read list as soon as I finish The Forest of Hands and Teeth (It has zombies ;)).

Book Info:

Title: Strange Angels
Author: Lili St. Crow
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, fantasy
Edition: Trade Paperback
304 pages
Price: $9.99
Published: May 14th, 2009 (available for preorder)

Product Description
Dru Anderson has what her grandmother called “the touch.” (Comes in handy when you’re traveling from town to town with your dad, hunting ghosts, suckers, wulfen, and the occasional zombie.)
Then her dad turns up dead—but still walking—and Dru knows she’s next. Even worse, she’s got two guys hungry for her affections, and they’re not about to let the fiercely independent Dru go it alone. Will Dru discover just how special she really is before coming face-to-fang with whatever—or whoever— is hunting her?

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

New Scott Westerfeld

Cover of the new Scott Westerfeld book (of "Uglies" series fame).  More info on his site.

It is the first in a series and is scheduled to be released in October 2009.  It is going to contain 50 illustrations.  How cool is that?

Lifted from his site:
WTF? Okay, Leviathan is set in an alternate world in which Charles Darwin discovered biotechnology. So the British Empire was built on the backs of strange, fabricated beasties. Living airships! Fighting kraken! Message lizards!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Wintergirls

Title: Wintergirls
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult
Edition: Hardback
288 pages
Price: $12.23
Published: March 19, 2009

Synopsis

"Dead girl walking," the boys say in the halls.
"Tell us your secret," the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend's restless spirit.

In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia's descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.


I am not sure how to review this book. I love angst books. This one hit me really hard. I got a bout 1/3 of the way into it and couldn't stop crying, so I put it aside for awhile and picked up and nice werewolf book. I did get back to it and finished it last night.

It is so good and so gut-wrenching. This poor girl and book has it all: anorexia, mental illness, cutting, suicide. And she keeps it all locked up inside her. Her once best-friend Cassie dies in an assumed suicide (perhaps I just assumed it), then haunts Lia (is she really there? really ghost? or is it just Lia's creation?) Cassie encourages all Lia's weaknesses and self-doubt.

She believes there is something wrong with her eyes, that she doesn't see things the way they really are, or is that something is wrong with everyone else's eyes and she is the only one that can see.

There is a litany of voices that run through her mind:

::stupid/ugly/stupid/bitch/stupid/fat::
::stupid/baby/stupid/stupid/stupid/stupid::

(pg 236)

::stupid/ugly/stupid/bitch/stupid/fat::
::stupid/baby/stupid/loser/stupid/lost::

(pg 60)

Lia has been hospitailized twice for anorexia, and has learned to play the game to show the outside world she is healing, while inside she is spinning out of control. She sews quarters into the pockets of her bathrobe to fool her step-mother that her weight is stable. Meanwhile she plays games with herself. Goals of getting down to 99 lbs, 95 lbs, 90lbs, etc. She knows 85lbs is "dangerland," but can't stop herself.

"If I could get down to 070.00, I'd want 065.00. If I weighed 010.00, I wouldn't be happy until I got down to 005.00. The only number that would ever be enough is 0. Zero pounds, zero life, size zero, double-zero, zero point. Zero in tennis is love. I finally get it." (page 220)

Yes, in the end she realizes that she needs more help than she can give herself and that she is out of control. She has to reach out for that help and be honest with what is in her head and share that with the people can help her. Is it a happy ending? Sort of. It is a step in the right direction.

This is a beautiful book written in an extremely visually appealing style. It may be too brutal for someone that is in the same place as Lia. But I am not even close to being an expert in making that judgement.


I read "Fever 1793" years ago and it remains on my top list of books. Now I am going to have to go back and read everything in between.

My to-be-read pile now needs its own set of bookshelves.

Friday, May 1, 2009

I am so screwed

I had pre-ordered this one. (I do that a lot.) I don't know how I am supposed to get all these books read. And I want to get lost in them, not feel like it is a chore.

Hi, my name is Terin, and I am addicted to books.

I just can't stop buying them.


Title: Radiant Darkness
Author: Emily Whitman
Series: none
Genre: Fiction, fantasy
Edition: Hardback
Pages: 288
Price: $11.55
Published: April 28, 2009








Product Description
:

He smiles. "Hello."

It's a deep voice. I can feel it reverberate in my chest and echo all the way down to my toes.

I know I should leave, but I don't want to. I want to keep my senses like this forever. I'm all eye, all ear, all skin.

Persephone lives in the most gorgeous place in the world. But her mother's a goddess, as overprotective as she is powerful. Paradise has become a trap. Just when Persephone feels there's no chance of escaping the life that's been planned for her, a mysterious stranger arrives. A stranger who promises something more—something dangerous and exciting—something that spurs Persephone to make a daring choice. A choice that could destroy all she's come to love, even the earth itself.

In a land where a singing river can make you forget your very name, Persephone is forced to discover who—and what—she really is.