tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59040771212913985312024-02-19T03:29:11.392-05:00Books Love Jessica MarieEverything Having To Do With Literature♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.comBlogger138125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-43701438759333767212009-09-05T00:24:00.003-04:002009-09-05T00:42:49.590-04:00Giveaway: The Day the Falls Stood Still<div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/9781401340971DayFalls_L.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left;" border="0" /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Many thanks to the lovely Diane Saarinen for allowing me to host this wonderful giveaway of one (1) copy of the novel <span style="font-style: italic;">The Day the Falls Stood Still</span>. Unfortunately, due to the shipping costs the winner must have a valid U.S. mailing address (no PO boxes). The giveaway will end on <span style="font-weight: bold;">September</span><b> 16th</b> at midnight and the winner will be chosen by random.org on <b>August 17th</b>. The winner will have 48 hours to respond, before a new winner will be chosen.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">To be entered you <b>must</b> leave a comment with a valid email address. No email address = no entry. You <span style="font-weight: bold;">must</span> also leave a relevant and intelligent comment on:<br />+ My <a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/09/review-day-falls-stood-still.html">review of The Day the Falls Stood Still</a><br />+ The guest post by <a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/09/guest-post-cathy-marie-buchanan.html">Cathy Marie Buchanan</a><br /><br />For an additional entry each you may complete the following:</div></div>+ 1 For following this blog<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">+ 1 Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/bookslove">twitter</a><br />+ 1 Add my blog button (with a link back) on your blog<br />+ 2 For posting about this giveaway on your blog<br />+ 1 For posting about this giveaway on your sidebar or tweeting<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Yep, that's right... if you complete all of the above you will be entered to win 7 times. Good luck!<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div></div></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com140tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-24163186448134941372009-09-03T01:48:00.004-04:002009-09-04T00:06:24.231-04:00Review: The Day the Falls Stood Still<img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 211px;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/9781401340971DayFalls_L.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Day the Falls Stood Still<br /></span>by Cathy Marie Buchanan<br /><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/4stars.png" /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Steeped in the intriguing history of Niagara Falls, this epic love story is as rich, spellbinding, and majestic as the falls themselves.<br /><br />1915. The dawn of the hydroelectric power era in Niagara Falls. Seventeen-year-old Bess Heath has led a sheltered existence as the youngest daughter of the director of the Niagara Power Company. After graduation day at her boarding school, she is impatient to return to her picturesque family home near Niagara Falls. But when she arrives, nothing is as she had left it. Her father has lost his job at the power company, her mother is reduced to taking in sewing from the society ladies she once entertained, and Isabel, her vivacious older sister, is a shadow of her former self. She has shut herself in her bedroom, barely eating--and harboring a secret.<br /><br />The night of her return, Bess meets Tom Cole by chance on a trolley platform. She finds herself inexplicably drawn to him--against her family's strong objections. He is not from their world. Rough-hewn and fearless, he lives off what the river provides and has an uncanny ability to predict the whims of the falls. His daring river rescues render him a local hero and cast him as a threat to the power companies that seek to harness the power of the falls for themselves. As their lives become more fully entwined, Bess is forced to make a painful choice between what she wants and what is best for her family and her future.<br /><br />Set against the tumultuous backdrop of Niagara Falls, at a time when daredevils shot the river rapids in barrels and great industrial fortunes were made and lost as quickly as lives disappeared, The Day the Falls Stood Still is an intoxicating debut novel.</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">First Sentence:</span><br />The stone walls of Loretto Academy are so thick I can sit curled up on a windowsill, arms around the knees tucked beneath my chin.<br /><br />I really loved reading The Day the Falls Stood Still, Cathy's writing is smooth and easy to follow. I was able to connect with all of the characters easily, while at the same time there was a distance from some of them that worked well for the storyline. For instance I felt a huge distance between myself and Bess' sister Isabel, which helped me understand how Bess felt when she returned home from the Loretto Academy for girls and found a sister completely different than the last time she saw her. I fell in love with Tom Cole from the first moment he was mentioned. I am amazed that Cathy was able to make Tom appear mysterious and love-able throughout the whole book.<br /><br />My favorite thing about this book is the fact that it is set in Niagara Falls, because I have never read a book about the area... and what makes it even better is the fact that it is historical. The only trouble that I had with this book is the fact that time jumps forward very quickly, which is understandable since the book is only 320 pages... but I kinda felt that I missed out on a lot of Bess' life. I do have to warn you though to make sure you are not in a public place, oh like say the park... like I was, when you finish this book because you will have tears in your eyes. ;)<br /><br />I would recommend The Day the Falls Stood Still to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction or love stories. The book also contains all of the aspects of life including the different levels of society, suicide, death, birth, and growing up.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Favorite Quotes:</span><br /><blockquote>Endless water plummets from the brink to the rocks below, like the careless who slip, like the stunters who fail, like the suicidal who leap.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>His accusation of cowardice smarted, and I blurted out, "I figured you for a gentleman."<br />"I hoped I could learn," he said and turned away.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>. . . there are two kinds of love. One that is slow in coming and builds with shared kindnesses. And another that is all-consuming, blind, little more than lust. "The first can last a lifetime," she says. "The second is founded on nothing and cannot."<br /></blockquote><br />Title: The Day the Falls Stood Still<br /><div>Author: <a href="http://cathymariebuchanan.com/">Cathy Marie Buchanan</a><br /></div><div>Hardcover: 320 pages</div><div>ISBN 10: 1401340970<br /></div>ISBN 13: 978-140134097<br />Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Falls-Stood-Still-Cathy-Buchanan/dp/1401340970/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251957044&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=1401340970">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Day-the-Falls-Stood-Still/Cathy-Marie-Buchanan/e/9781401340971/?itm=1">Barnes & Noble</a>, <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781401340971-0">Powell's</a><br />Review Number: 25<br />My Copy: provided for blog tour<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-11650484785048117302009-09-03T00:05:00.002-04:002009-09-03T01:01:29.194-04:00Guest Post: Cathy Marie Buchanan<img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/History/erican_falls_-_Library_of_C50ongres.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left;" border="0" />Born and bred in Niagara Falls, I grew up awash in an endless stream of local lore─the Maid of the Mist and her canoe, Sir Isaac Brock and the War of 1812, Blondin and his tightrope, Annie Taylor and her barrel, William “Red” Hill and his daring rescues, Sir Adam Beck and hydroelectricity, Roger Woodward and the miracle at Niagara… With such a storied past and the staggering beauty of the falls themselves, I knew I would set my debut novel in Niagara Falls long before I had an inkling about character or plot.<br /><br />When it came time to research, I turned to my collection of books surveying Niagara’s history and with trepidation─my formal education in history ended in grade nine─cracked the cover of the book at the top of the stack. Yet, as I read, the bits of lore I had gathered as a child reignited, and I found myself reading late into the night. I had seen the rusted-out hull of the old barge lodged in the rapids just above the falls and, for as long as I can remember, knew two men had been rescued from that precarious perch. But as I pored over the history books, I found out that a life line gun had been shot out to the barge, and that when the lines of the breeches buoy meant to rescue the stranded men became snarled, a brave soul headed out to them in the black of night, trusting the lines anchored to that uncertain barge. I had always known about the convent school atop a bluff a stone’s throw from the falls, but I discovered that it was built at that spot because an early archbishop of Toronto had seen a picture of the falls as a boy and conjured up prayers floating heavenward with the mist.<br /><br />What I was seeking, as I read, was the time period and narrative that best showcased Niagara’s wondrous and quirky past. The story of William “Red” Hill, Niagara’s most famous riverman, came up time and again, and with each telling I became more certain my main male character─Tom Cole─would be loosely based on him. Red Hill had an uncanny knowledge of the river and during his lifetime (1888-1942) hauled 177 bodies from the river, rescued 29 people and assisted a handful of stunters. In the early 1900s his beloved river was threatened by the massive diversion of water away from the falls for the production of hydroelectricity. While I came across no evidence of diversion causing him heartache, I knew I could incorporate it to thicken the plot.<br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Authors/cathymariebuchanan.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><br />To learn more about Red Hill, I spent afternoons in the Niagara Falls (Ontario) Public Library, perusing newspaper accounts of his rescues and self-published essays and leaflets commemorating his heroism. Along with the details of his life, I began to grasp the elusive nature of history, something every real historian must know in their bones. Newspaper accounts from a mere hundred years ago and published the day after an event conflicted with one another with startling regularity, and plenty went unsaid. As a writer committed to getting the known details right, such imprecision was a frustration but, I’ll admit, sometimes also a relief.<br /><br />Once I’d decided my riverman’s love interest─Bess Heath─would come from a privileged background, I sequestered myself in the Loretto Archives, learning all I could about Loretto Academy, the prestigious convent school at Niagara Falls. I toured the academy, sat in the library where the students would have spent study hall and peered from dorm room windows as the boarding students surely had.<br /><br />I scoured the internet, finding an abundance of gorgeous, historical images of Niagara Falls in the online databases of Library and Archives Canada, the Library of Congress, the Niagara Falls (Ontario) Public Library and the Toronto Archives. I was smitten and so were my editors, and many of the images found a home in The Day the Falls Stood Still.<br /><br />In Niagara Falls, with Tom Cole and Bess Heath becoming ever clearer in my mind, I traipsed the hydroelectric installations and wandered the wooded pathways of the glen and walked the recreation trail that runs the length of the gorge and strode the streets of Silvertown, gazing up at Glenview where Bess would live upon her return from Loretto Academy. I stood at the brink of the falls, filling with wonder, wishing that I could, just once, glimpse the falls as it was before the massive diversion of water for hydroelectricity.<br /><br /><br />Picture captions and credits:<br />American Falls ─ Library of Congress, 3b15325r<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thank you for such an amazing guest post Cathy! Be sure to check back tomorrow for my review of The Day the Falls Stood Still! :)</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com70tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-3256464718691679582009-09-01T00:17:00.003-04:002009-09-01T00:28:21.277-04:00Just an updateSo that everyone knows that I have not disappeared, turned into a vampire, been attacked by zombies or gotten sick... but I have been completely consumed with college and work, which both started on the 24th. It really sucks since my blog has been put on the back burner, well actually my computer has too since I haven't even had the urge to turn it on lately :( But I just wanted to let everyone know that I shall be trying to return to my regular posting soon and I have many exciting things lined up including:<br /><br />-Review of Ash<br />-Review of Viola in Reel Life<br />-Author Interview with Malinda Lo<br />-Review of Geektastic<br />-Author Interview with Amy Efaw<br />-Review of The Day the Falls Stood Still<br />-Guest post by Cathy Marie Buchanan<br /><br />-And FOUR (4) amazing giveaways!!! :)<br /><br />I do hope to have all of these done this month, so don't forget to keep checking back! ;) I will also be posting my mailbox Monday for the past two weeks tomorrow, which shall be a vlog since I have accumulated way too many books to list in a post.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-21004374998834452182009-08-21T03:59:00.006-04:002009-08-21T04:12:12.163-04:00Author Interview: Ann Haywood Leal<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Author Interview: Ann Haywood Leal</span><br /></span></div><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Authors/IMG_2531.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Did you major in English / Creative writing in college? Would you recommend aspiring writers to do so or major in a subject they would like to write about, such as history?</span><br />I majored in psychology and elementary education at the University of Washington in Seattle. Being a teacher has influenced my writing in a huge way. The kids definitely fuel me with ideas! I love listening to them talk. I don’t think you need to major in creative writing, but I’m sure it helps. Getting a liberal arts education is great, because it exposes you to so many different topics. You never know what is going to spark your interest as a writer and end up as the beginning of a story!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What was your first reaction when you saw the cover of your first book? Do you think that the cover of your Also Known as Harper represents the story within it?</span><br />That’s a great question because my book has actually had two covers! The one on the ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) is an old broken-down motel, which I loved. Then it was changed before the final hardcover was printed. It sounds corny, but when my editor showed me that cover, it took my breath away. It was as if the designer had gotten inside my head and put my thoughts down in picture form. It couldn’t have been more perfect.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Does it make you nervous knowing that people are reading your work?</span><br />Yes, yes, and yes! All of my writing life, which is from about age four, only a handful of people have ever read my stories; mainly my family and my teachers, and later on, my critique group. The one thing that I have always wanted though, was to give someone else the feeling that I got as a young girl when I found the right book on the shelf at the library. I would be thrilled if someone connected with one of my characters like that.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What kind of environment do you prefer to write in? Any music, or television in the background?</span><br />I am still teaching full-time, so I’ll pretty much write in any environment! I take a notebook or a laptop wherever I go so I can squeeze in as much writing time as possible. I’ve written on the sidelines at my daughter’s soccer practice, on an old church pew while my daughter was in her religion class, and on the floor in the hallway outside her violin lesson. My ideal environment would be outside with jazz music on my IPod and a really good mocha espresso drink, with extra chocolate on the side!<br /><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n309818-2-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Have you ever based any of your characters on real life people? If so have they ever figured it out?</span><br />I have never consciously based any of my characters on a real person, but I’m sure they have certain traits of people I have come across or known. For example, Winnie Rae Early’s mother, Harper’s evicting landlord, has shades of an old neighbor of mine from my childhood. That neighbor said the most horrible things to the neighborhood kids—and even worse, she was the mother of three kids, herself! If she were to read the book, I doubt that she’d recognize herself. I don’t think that people tend to recognize their own bad qualities!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How do you pick the names of your characters?</span><br />Harper is named after Harper Lee, the author of my favorite book (and what I consider to be the great American novel!), TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Hemingway is a tribute to a friend of mine who passed away. He was her favorite author.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What inspired you to write Also Known as Harper?</span><br />I have volunteered at my local soup kitchen for the last few years. Harper isn’t based on a particular visitor of the soup kitchen, but more on a feeling I got when I first saw the children come in with their families. The adults tend to be somewhat beaten down by life, but the kids are so strong and they still have hope in their eyes. I tried to convey that hope and resiliency in the characters of Harper and her brother, Hem.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Do you have a favorite character from your novels?</span><br />Hmmm…..probably Harper. But I’m also attached to the main character from my first novel that I wrote in the sixth grade. It was a hundred pages, mainly on colored notebook paper. I was kind of a geek (I still am!), and I spent a lot of time with the characters in the books I was reading and writing!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">If you were not an author, what profession would you want to have?</span><br />I would want to work in a bookstore or a library…or I would love to be a jazz singer or the lead singer in an alternative band…but there is an issue with my singing voice…it’s terrible!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Are you working on anything at the moment?</span><br />I just finished my second novel, SEARCHING FOR EZEKIEL, due out next year, also with Henry Holt/MacMillan. It is about two sisters, dealing with a mother who I hope will bring out conflicting emotions in the reader!<br /><br />I have loved visiting your blog. Thank you so much!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Thank you oh so much for stopping by Books Love Jessica Marie and answering all of my questions! I really appreciate it! :)<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-68247665437882056602009-08-20T13:28:00.001-04:002009-08-20T13:29:01.348-04:00Giveaway: This One is Mine<div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n298900.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left;" border="0" /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Many thanks to the lovely Maria Semple for allowing me to host this wonderful giveaway of two (2) copies of her novel <span style="font-style: italic;">This One is Mine</span>. Unfortunately, due to the shipping costs the winner must have a valid U.S. mailing address (no PO boxes). The giveaway will end on <b>August 27th</b> at midnight and the winner will be chosen by random.org on <b>August 28th</b>. The winner will have 48 hours to respond, before a new winner will be chosen.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">To be entered you <b>must</b> leave a comment with a valid email address. No email address = no entry. You <span style="font-weight: bold;">must</span> also leave a relevant and intelligent comment on:<br />+ My <a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/07/review-this-one-is-mine.html">review of This One is Mine</a><br /><br />For an additional entry each you may complete the following:</div></div>+ 1 Follow this blog<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">+ 1 Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/bookslove">twitter</a><br />+ 1 Add this blog tour blogroll<br />+ 1 Add my blog button (with a link back) on your blog<br />+ 2 For posting about this giveaway on your blog<br />+ 1 For posting about this giveaway on your sidebar<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Yep, that's right... if you complete all of the above you will be entered to win 8 times. Good luck!<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div></div></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-20427420734490722262009-08-19T01:05:00.001-04:002009-08-19T01:06:28.815-04:00Review: This One is Mine<img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 211px;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n298900.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">This One is Mine</span><br />by Maria Semple<br /><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/3stars.png" /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Violet Parry is living the quintessential life of luxury in the Hollywood Hills with David, her rock-and-roll manager husband, and her darling toddler, Dot. She has the perfect life--except that she's deeply unhappy. David expects the world of Violet but gives little of himself in return. When she meets Teddy, a roguish small-time bass player, Violet comes alive, and soon she's risking everything for the chance to find herself again. Also in the picture are David's hilariously high-strung sister, Sally, on the prowl for a successful husband, and Jeremy, the ESPN sportscaster savant who falls into her trap. For all their recklessness, Violet and Sally will discover that David and Jeremy have a few surprises of their own. THIS ONE IS MINE is a compassionate and wickedly funny satire about our need for more--and the often disastrous choices we make in the name of happiness.</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">First Sentence:</span><br />David stood at the sink, a pine forest to his left, the Pacific ocean to his right, and cursed the morning sun.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This One is Mine</span> is definitely a multi-dimensional novel. I admire Maria's ability to incorporate so many different life situations. Some of these situations include things many people will probably go through such as diabetes, mental retardation, and the lack of fulfillment after having a child. These are all hard things to write about within a single novel, but she is also able to include such topics as abortion, adultery, and naked yoga retreats. ;)<br /><br />All of the characters in This One is Mine are extremely realistic, which could explain why I didn't really connect with any of them. ;) I did however love Lady Go and Dot, who reminded me of the little boy in <span style="font-style: italic;">Fun with Dick and Jane</span> ("what are you doing with the teloooovissssion?") Maria's writing not only shows the good attributes of the characters, but also the not so flattering feelings and thoughts that everyone has.<br /><br />Really the only reason that I gave this novel such a low rating is personal, the same reason I don't read much adult fiction: sexual themes. In young adult fiction they tend to just hint at the sexual escapades but in adult fiction they tend to go into detail, and reading about it makes me feel a little weird. However, just because I do not like reading such things I know that many people do and if you are one of them you may want to read this one.<br /><br />I would recommend <span style="font-style: italic;">This One is Mine</span> to anyone who likes to read about real life circumstances. There are many situations within this novel that I believe many people will have to go through at some point in their life. A warning though to younger readers: some passages within the novel can get a little sexually graphic.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Favorite Quotes:</span><br /><br /><blockquote>He rose to his feet. "Stay happy," he said. "You twinkle when you're happy." </blockquote><blockquote>Dot looked at her mother, indignant, as if it say, How dare you allow such a thing to happen to me?<br /></blockquote><blockquote>Dot galloped into David's office and jumped up and down upon seeing all the pictures of her. "Dot!" she exclaimed. Dot's favorite subject was Dot. She was like a miniature rapper, always referring to herself in the third person.</blockquote><br />Title: This One is Mine<br /><div>Author: <a href="http://www.mariasemple.com/">Maria Semple</a><br /></div><div>Hardcover: 304 pages</div><div>ISBN 10: 031603116x<br /></div>ISBN 13: 978-0316031165<br />Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/This-One-Mine-Maria-Semple/dp/031603116X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246508353&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=031603116X">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/This-One-Is-Mine/Maria-Semple/e/9780316031165/?itm=1">Barnes & Noble</a><br />Review Number: 18<br />My Copy: Sent for review from Maria Semple<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-87841995677026927552009-08-18T10:50:00.002-04:002009-08-18T11:02:06.723-04:00Release Date: August 18th, 2009<div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n312121.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 218px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Breathless</span><br />Jessica Warman<br />Walker & Company<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">When Katie Kitrell is shipped off to boarding school by her distant father and overbearing mother, it doesn’t take her long to become part of the It Crowd. She’s smart, she’s cute, and she’s an Olympic-bound swimmer who has a first class ticket to any Ivy League school of her choice. But what her new friends, roommate, and boyfriend don’t know is that Katie is swimming away from her past, and from her schizophrenic older brother, Will, who won’t let her go. And when he does the unthinkable, it’s all Katie can do to keep her head above water.<br /></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breathless-Jessica-Warman/dp/0802798497">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?view=2&type=1&catalogId=10001&simple=1&rpp=50&defaultSearchView=List&keyword=jessica+warman&LogData=%5Bsearch%3A+84%2Cparse%3A+88%5D&searchData=%7BproductId%3Anull%2Csku%3Anull%2Ctype%3A1%2Csort%3Anull%2CcurrPage%3A1%2CresultsPerPage%3A50%2CsimpleSearch%3Atrue%2Cnavigation%3A5185%2CmoreValue%3Anull%2CcoverView%3Afalse%2Curl%3Arpp%3D50%26view%3D2%26type%3D1%26nav%3D5185%26simple%3Dtrue%26book_search%3Djessica%2Bwarman%2Cterms%3A%7Bbook_search%3Djessica+warman%7D%7D&storeId=13551&sku=0802798497&ddkey=http:SearchResults">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Breathless/Jessica-Warman/e/9780802798497">Barnes & Noble</a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/white_queen.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 218px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The White Queen</span><br />Philippa Gregory<br />Touchstone<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenets. They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.<br /><br />The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills.<br /><br />With The White Queen, Philippa Gregory brings the artistry and intellect of a master writer and storyteller to a new era in history and begins what is sure to be another bestselling classic series from this beloved author.<br /></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/White-Queen-Novel-Philippa-Gregory/dp/1416563687">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=1416563687">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-White-Queen/Philippa-Gregory/e/9781416563686/?itm=2">Barnes & Noble</a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/03/upcoming-releases-2009.html"><b>For more titles released today click here.</b></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Which title are you looking forward to reading?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-42347394581178808032009-08-16T23:35:00.008-04:002009-08-17T00:26:51.050-04:00Mailbox Monday (21)<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/cd1f9116bf6cf904972b43ba-1-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><br />So I was going to do a vlog, since I got so many amazing books this week and I still need to show off my new bookshelves... but then I didn't feel like taking a shower. So I promise to be clean to do a vlog for next week. ;)<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/ModelsDontEatChocolate.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Models don't Eat Chocolate Cookies<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Erin Dionne<br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Thirteen-year-old Celeste Harris is no string bean, but comfy sweatpants and a daily chocolate cookie suit her just fine. Her under-the-radar lifestyle could have continued too, if her aunt hadn’t entered her in the HuskyPeach Modeling Challenge. To get out of it, she’s forced to launch Operation Skinny Celeste—because, after all, a thin girl can’t be a fat model! What Celeste never imagined was that losing weight would help her gain a backbone . . . or that all she needed to shine was a spotlight.<br /><br />A hilarious debut featuring friendship, family, mean girls and even celebrity crushes, Celeste’s story is a delicious treat that doesn’t add a pound. </span></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Won from a giveaway at <a href="http://www.royalreads.com/">Royal Reads</a>. I loooove the fact that she decides to get skinny so she DOESN'T have to model. ;)<br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/shiver.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shiver</span><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: right;">Maggie Stiefvater<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.<br /><br />Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: center;">Requested from the publisher. I am oh so excited for this one after all the amazing reviews, and I feel werewolves need more love nowadays.<br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/30940824.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Marie Therese: Child of Terror</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Susan Nagel<br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The first major biography of one of France’s most mysterious women—Marie Antoinette’s only child to survive the revolution.<br /><br />Susan Nagel, author of the critically acclaimed biography Mistress of the Elgin Marbles, turns her attention to the life of a remarkable woman who both defined and shaped an era, the tumultuous last days of the crumbling ancien régime. Nagel brings the formidable Marie-Thérèse to life, along with the age of revolution and the waning days of the aristocracy, in a page-turning biography that will appeal to fans of Antonia Fraser’s Marie Antoinette and Amanda Foreman’s Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire.<br /><br />In December 1795, at midnight on her seventeenth birthday, Marie-Thérèse, the only surviving child of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, escaped from Paris’s notorious Temple Prison. To this day many believe that the real Marie-Thérèse, traumatized following her family’s brutal execution during the Reign of Terror, switched identities with an illegitimate half sister who was often mistaken for her twin. Was the real Marie-Thérèse spirited away to a remote castle to live her life as the woman called “the Dark Countess,” while an imposter played her role on the political stage of Europe? Now, two hundred years later, using handwriting samples, DNA testing, and an undiscovered cache of Bourbon family letters, Nagel finally solves this mystery. She tells the remarkable story in full and draws a vivid portrait of an astonishing woman who both defined and shaped an era. Marie-Thérèse’s deliberate choice of husbands determined the map of nineteenth-century Europe. Even Napoleon was in awe and called her “the only man in the family.” Nagel’s gripping narrative captures the events of her fascinating life from her very public birth in front of the rowdy crowds and her precocious childhood to her hideous time in prison and her later reincarnation in the public eye as a saint, and, above all, her fierce loyalty to France throughout.<br /></span></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Bought at Half Price Books. OH M GEE... I literally squealed when I saw this on the shelf, which got me some weird looks from other customers. ;) It will be hard to read my books for review with this one sitting on the shelf.<br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/madame-de-pompadour.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Madame de Pompadour: Mistress of France</span><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: right;">Christine Pevitt Algrant<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">This biography of the legendary mistress of King Louis XV offers dramatic insight into the life of one of the most enchanting, powerful, and feared women to grace the world's stage. Groomed from an early age to assume the role of a rich man's mistress, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson underwent several transformations before she caught the heart of the king himself. Although accustomed to the king's extramarital relationships, the court was shocked at the sudden ascension of the low-born Mademoiselle Poisson. The newcomer, however, wasted no time in establishing herself as the king's sole confidante and, ultimately, his indispensable partner in affairs of state. The critically acclaimed author of Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, Christine Pevitt Algrant traces Madame de Pompadour from her modest beginnings in early-eighteenth-century Paris to her reign as the undisputed mistress of Versailles. Filled with photographs, and evocative and insightful in its telling, Madame de Pompadour is a seductive portrait of one of the most fascinating and influential women of the age.<br /></span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: center;">Bought at Half Price Books. Another amazing find that I am really excited to be able to read... hopefully sometime soon.<br /><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/2654418946_17e4c6c416.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Catherine of Aragon</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Jean Plaidy<br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;">For the first time in paperback—all three of Jean Plaidy’s Katharine of Aragon novels in one volume.<br /><br />Legendary historical novelist Jean Plaidy begins her tales of Henry VIII’s queens with the story of his first wife, the Spanish princess Katharine of Aragon.<br /><br />As a teenager, Katharine leaves her beloved Spain, land of olive groves and soaring cathedrals, for the drab, rainy island of England. There she is married to the king’s eldest son, Arthur, a sickly boy who dies six months after the wedding. Katharine is left a widow who was never truly a wife, lonely in a strange land, with a very bleak future. Her only hope of escape is to marry the king’s second son, Prince Henry, now heir to the throne. Tall, athletic, handsome, a lover of poetry and music, Henry is all that Katharine could want in a husband. But their first son dies and, after many more pregnancies, only one child survives, a daughter. Disappointed by his lack of an heir, Henry’s eye wanders, and he becomes enamored of another woman—a country nobleman’s daughter named Anne Boleyn. When Henry begins searching for ways to put aside his loyal first wife, Katharine must fight to remain Queen of England and to keep the husband she once loved so dearly.<br /></span></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Bought at Borders. I was soooo excited when I bought this one, since it is my first Plaidy novel... but then I got home and found out it isn't the first one in the Tudor series. Grrrrrrrr.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">What did you receive in the mail this week?<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-58197692925150376032009-08-12T22:59:00.005-04:002009-08-12T23:08:52.312-04:00Waiting on Wendsday (1)<img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 211px;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/onceawitch1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Once a Witch<br /></span>by Carolyn MacCallough<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Published: </span>09/14/2009<br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But Tamsin's magic never showed up. Now seventeen, Tamsin attends boarding school in Manhattan, far from her family. But when a handsome young professor mistakes her for her very Talented sister, Tamsin agrees to find a lost family heirloom for him. The search—and the stranger—will prove to be more sinister than they first appeared, ultimately sending Tamsin on a treasure hunt through time that will unlock the secret of her true identity, unearth the sins of her family, and unleash a power so vengeful that it could destroy them all. This is a spellbinding display of storytelling that will exhilarate, enthrall, and thoroughly enchant.<br /></span></blockquote>The main reason I want to read this book is because I have always wanted to be a witch. ;) I even got in trouble in the 5th grade because I tried to start a group to call the corners, like in the movie <span style="font-style: italic;">The Craft</span>... long story short the teacher called my mom and I was banned from watching the movie. Thankfully, I no longer think I am a witch, but I do still enjoy reading about them. ;)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">What books are you waiting on?<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-28212493430793454232009-08-11T21:43:00.004-04:002009-08-11T23:56:56.441-04:00Review: After<img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 211px;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n309470.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">After<br /></span>by Amy Efaw<br /><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/5stars.png" /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">An infant left in the trash to die. A teenage mother who never knew she was pregnant. . .<br /><br />Before That Morning, these were the words most often used to describe straight-A student and star soccer player Devon Davenport: responsible, hardworking, mature. But all that changes when the police find Devon home sick from school as they investigate the case of an abandoned baby. Soon the connection is made—Devon has just given birth; the baby in the trash is hers. After That Morning, there’s only one way to define Devon: attempted murderer.<br /><br />And yet gifted author Amy Efaw does the impossible— she turns Devon into an empathetic character, a girl who was in such deep denial that she refused to believe she was pregnant. Through airtight writing and fast-paced, gripping storytelling, Ms. Efaw takes the reader on Devon’s unforgettable journey toward clarity, acceptance, and redemption. </span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">First Sentence:</span><br />The TV's on, some lame morning show.<br /><br />I absolutely loved <span style="font-style: italic;">After</span>. Not only were the characters truly believable, and the writing was descriptive, but the storyline was original and covered a very important, yet little known of, problem - dumpster babies.<br /><br />Even though Devon did the unthinkable by leaving her baby in the dumpster, due to Amy's writing I really connected with Devon and ended up wanting the best for her. However, my favorite character in this novel would have to be Karma, who is a complete instigator and loves to push Devon's buttons. She reminded me a lot of Lisa (played by Angelina Jolie) from <span style="font-style: italic;">Girl, Interrupted</span> . . . actually the relationship between Devon and Karma is very similar to that in the movie, but in a good way. I am also amazed by Amy's ability to leave the ending of the novel a complete and total surprise.<br /><br />I think that <span style="font-style: italic;">After</span> is a must read for everyone, but especially for the young adult crowd. There are many life experiences covered throughout the book, besides the awareness of the dumpster baby phenomena. Some of these experiences include cutting, losing your virginity, broken homes, and disintegrating friendships. There are some parts of the book that can be pretty graphic, such as the birthing process, so I would recommend adult supervision for the younger members of the young adult crowd.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Favorite Quotes:</span><br /><blockquote>A pattern of raised crisscrossed scars, some old and white, others more recent in various shades of pink or red. <span style="font-style: italic;">Like the pattern of cracks on the conference room ceiling</span>, Devon thinks. Exposing the stress of the structure underneath its paint.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>Please do not let your past choices handicap you like mine have. Don't let them define who you are going to be.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>When he was gone, Devon's smile fell. Taking her seat in class, she realized that her face actually hurt. As if the muscles in her cheeks and around her eyes weren't strong enough anymore to hold something as heavy as a smile.<br /></blockquote><br />Title: After<br /><div>Author: <a href="http://amyefaw.com/">Amy Efaw</a><br /></div><div>Hardcover: 350 pages</div><div>ISBN 10: 0670011835<br /></div>ISBN 13: 978-0670011834<br />Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/After-Amy-Efaw/dp/0670011835/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1250041548&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0670011835">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/After/Amy-Efaw/e/9780670011834/?itm=1">Barnes & Noble</a><br />Review Number: 22<br />My Copy: ARC provided via Shelf Awareness<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-52677625573037603212009-08-11T00:05:00.000-04:002009-08-11T00:05:00.091-04:00Release Date: August 11th, 2009<div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n309470.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 218px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">After</span><br />Amy Efaw<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">An infant left in the trash to die. A teenage mother who never knew she was pregnant . . .<br />Before That Morning, these were the words most often used to describe straight-A student and star soccer player Devon Davenport: responsible, hardworking, mature. But all that changes when the police find Devon home sick from school as they investigate the case of an abandoned baby. Soon the connection is made—Devon has just given birth; the baby in the trash is hers. After That Morning, there’s only one way to define Devon: attempted murderer.<br /><br />And yet gifted author Amy Efaw does the impossible— she turns Devon into an empathetic character, a girl who was in such deep denial that she refused to believe she was pregnant. Through airtight writing and fast-paced, gripping storytelling, Ms. Efaw takes the reader on Devon’s unforgettable journey toward clarity, acceptance, and redemption.<br /></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/After-Amy-Efaw/dp/0670011835">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0670011835">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/After/Amy-Efaw/e/9780670011834/?itm=1">Barnes & Noble</a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/meridian.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 218px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Meridian</span><br />Amber Kizer<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Half-human, half-angel, Meridian Sozu has a dark responsibility.<br /><br />Sixteen-year-old Meridian has been surrounded by death ever since she can remember. As a child, insects, mice, and salamanders would burrow into her bedclothes and die. At her elementary school, she was blamed for a classmate’s tragic accident. And on her sixteenth birthday, a car crashes in front of her family home—and Meridian’s body explodes in pain.<br /><br />Before she can fully recover, Meridian is told that she’s a danger to her family and hustled off to her great-aunt’s house in Revelation, Colorado. It’s there that she learns that she is a Fenestra—the half-angel, half-human link between the living and the dead. But Meridian and her sworn protector and love, Tens, face great danger from the Aternocti, a band of dark forces who capture vulnerable souls on the brink of death and cause chaos.<br /></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Meridian-Amber-Kizer/dp/0385736681">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0385736681">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Meridian/Amber-Kizer/e/9780385736688/?itm=1">Barnes & Noble</a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n308833.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 218px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jumping off Swings</span><br />Jo Knowles<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">One pregnancy. Four friends. It all adds up to a profound time of change in this poignant, sensitively written YA novel.<br /><br />Ellie remembers how the boys kissed her. Touched her. How they<br />begged for more. And when she gave it to them, she felt loved. For a<br />while anyway. So when Josh, an eager virgin with a troubled home life, leads her from a party to the backseat of his van, Ellie follows. But their "one-time thing" is far from perfect: Ellie gets pregnant. Josh reacts with shame and heartbreak, while their confidantes, Caleb and Corinne, deal with their own complex swirl of emotions. No matter what Ellie chooses, all four teenagers will be forced to grow up a little faster as a result. Told alternately from each character's point of view, this deeply insightful novel explores the aftershocks of the biggest decision of one fragile girl's life - and the realities of leaving innocence behind.<br /></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jumping-Off-Swings-Jo-Knowles/dp/0763639494">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0763639494">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Jumping-off-Swings/Jo-Knowles/e/9780763639495/?itm=2">Barnes & Noble</a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/03/upcoming-releases-2009.html"><b>For more titles released today click here.</b></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Which title are you looking forward to reading?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-16794774728189218222009-08-10T00:19:00.003-04:002009-08-10T01:57:46.415-04:00Mailbox Monday (20)<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/cd1f9116bf6cf904972b43ba-1-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/dancing_with_ana_web_logo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dancing with Anna<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Nicole Barker<br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Beth is a lucky girl…<br /><br />She comes from a loving family. She has three best friends. She loves to surf and lives five minutes from the beach. She also recently discovered that the boy she’s grown up with has the most amazing green eyes…<br />Beth has every reason to smile. Every reason to be happy. Every reason to feel blessed.<br /><br />Then why is she sticking her fingers down her throat?<br /><br />Sixteen year old Beth Baxter’s life merely resembles the one she’s always known. Her father has left. She is falling for Jeremy Duscana and the diet she started has somehow turned into an obsession. Yet her three best friends remain the same, always there for her.<br /><br />But even their love can’t save her from herself.<br /><br />Dancing With Ana. A story about the journey to acceptance of one’s own reality, the incredible bond that exists between friends and a love that truly endures all things.</span></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Sent from the author for review. Sounds like it will be pretty good, for some reason I really like reading about eating disorders. ;)<br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/3441541611_33df6b761b-2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Once was Lost</span><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: right;">Sara Zarr<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Samara Taylor used to believe in miracles. She used to believe in a lot of things. As a pastor's kid, it's hard not to buy in to the idea of the perfect family, a loving God, and amazing grace. But lately, Sam has a lot of reason to doubt. Her mother lands in rehab after a DUI and her father seems more interested in his congregation than his family. When a young girl in her small town is kidnapped, the local tragedy overlaps with Sam's personal one, and the already-worn thread of faith holding her together begins to unravel.<br /><br />In her third novel, acclaimed author Sara Zarr examines the coexistence of affliction and hope, and what happens when everything you thought you believed---about God, about your family, about yourself---is transformed.</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: center;">Requested via Facebook. I love the simplicity of this cover and I have been wanting to read one of her books for a while now, so yay! :)<br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/9781401340971DayFalls_L.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Day the Falls Stood Still</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Cathy Marie Buchanan<br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Steeped in the intriguing history of Niagara Falls, this is an epic love story as rich, spellbinding and majestic as the falls themselves.<br /><br />1915. The dawn of the hydroelectric power era in Niagara Falls. Seventeen-year-old Bess Heath has led a sheltered existence as the youngest daughter of the director of the Niagara Power Company. After graduation day at her boarding school, she is impatient to return to her picturesque family home near the falls. But when she arrives, nothing is as she left it. Her father has lost his job at the power company, her mother is reduced to taking in sewing from the society ladies she once entertained, and Isabel, Bess’s vivacious older sister, is a shadow of her former self. She has shut herself in her bedroom, barely eating and harboring a secret.<br /><br />The night of her return, Bess meets Tom Cole by chance on a trolley platform, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him against her family’s strong objections. He is not from their world. Rough-hewn and fearless, he lives off what the river provides and has an uncanny ability to predict the whims of the falls. His daring river rescues render him a local hero and cast him as a threat to the power companies that seek to harness the falls for themselves. As the couple’s lives become more fully entwined, Bess is forced to make a painful choice between what she wants and what is best for her family and her future.<br /><br />Set against the tumultuous backdrop of Niagara Falls, at a time when daredevils shot the river rapids in barrels and great industrial fortunes were made and lost as quickly as lives disappeared, The Day the Falls Stood Still is an intoxicating debut novel.<br /></span></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Sent for a book tour. I love this cover, definitely one you have to see in person. Check back September 3rd for my review. ;)<br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/340x_9781599951836_388X586.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How to be a Hepburn in a Hilton World</span><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: right;">Jordan Christy<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">In a society driven by celebutante news and myspace.com profiles, women of class, style, and charm are hard to come by. But as thongs, rehab, and outrageous behavior burn up the daily headlines, employers still like to see a tailored suit, men still want women they can take home to their moms, and peers still respect professional conduct. Christy helps women channel their inner Kate or Audrey, dusting off old-fashioned virtues and giving them a whole new spin in today’s sexed-up culture. She shows how modern women can be beautiful, intelligent, and have it all — glamorous style, professional success, and true love and keep their values and morals intact along the way.</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: center;">Requested from the publisher. Oh m gee this cover is soooo much prettier in person, its the most amazing metallic blue. :D<br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br />What did you receive in the mail this week?<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-41561004174066549852009-08-08T00:34:00.002-04:002009-08-08T00:35:06.181-04:00Author Interview: Alex Sanchez<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Author Interview: Alex Sanchez</span><br /></span></div><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 216px;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Authors/A_face_pic_sm-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What was your first reaction when you saw the cover of your first book?</span><br />When I first saw the cover of RAINBOW BOYS, I thought: Wow, those guys are cute! Then I thought: It looks like a movie poster.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Do you tend to think that the covers of your books represent the story within it?</span><br />They try to. But the problem with putting real people on the cover is that readers then picture those people as they read the book, and sometimes those images don't match up with readers' ideas of the characters.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Does it make you nervous knowing that people are reading your work?</span><br />Yeah, because I want people to like what I write and it's hard to hear criticism if people don't like it. But it's great when I hear that people like my books!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What kind of environment do you prefer to write in? Any music, or television in the background?</span><br />I write best somewhere quiet, listening to dolphin sounds and whale songs on my iPod.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What inspires you to write your novels?</span><br />Hearing from teens about their experiences and remembering what it was like when I was a teen.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Are you working on anything at the moment?</span><br />I'm writing a manuscript about bisexual teens. If any bi teens out there would like to share with me their experiences of growing up bi, please send me an email to Alex@AlexSanchez.com Thanks!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Many thanks to Alex Sanchez for stopping by and answering questions for Books Love Jessica Marie! :) To learn more about Alex Sanchez and his books...<br /> check out my <a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/08/author-of-month-alex-sanchez.html">Author of the Month</a> post or his <a href="http://www.alexsanchez.com/">website</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-9972465904382524862009-08-07T00:05:00.003-04:002009-08-17T01:12:42.162-04:00Giveaway: $10 Dunkin Donuts Giftcard<div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Myspace/dunkin-donuts.gif" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 188px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Many thanks to Lara Zielin for allowing me to host this wonderful giveaway of a $10 Dunkin Donuts giftcard. Unfortunately, according to the rules the winner must have a valid U.S. or Canadian mailing address (no PO boxes). The giveaway will end on <b>August 16th</b> at midnight and the winner will be chosen by random.org on <b>August 17th</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">To be entered you <b>must</b> leave a comment with a valid email address. No email address = no entry. You <span style="font-weight: bold;">must</span> also leave a relevant and intelligent comment on:<br />+ My <a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/08/review-donut-days.html">review of Donut Days</a><br />+ <a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/08/guest-post-lara-zielin.html">Lara Zielin's guest post</a><br /><br />For an additional entry each you may complete the following:</div></div>+ 1 Follow this blog<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">+ 1 Follow <a href="http://www.larawrites.com/blog/">Lara Zielin's blog</a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Myspace/donut.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; height: 158px; width: 180px;" border="0" /><br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-68421519016739098802009-08-06T06:30:00.000-04:002009-08-06T06:30:01.319-04:00Review: Donut Days<img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 211px;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/9780399250668H.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Donut Days<br /></span>by Lara Zielin<br /><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/4stars.png" /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Emma has a lot going on. Her best friend’s not speaking to her, a boy she’s known all her life is suddenly smokin’ hot and in love with her, and oh yes, her evangelical minister parents may lose their church, especially if her mother keeps giving sermons saying Adam was a hermaphrodite.<br /><br />But this weekend Emma’s only focused on Crispy Dream, a hot new donut franchise opening in town, where Harley bikers and Frodo wannabes camp out waiting to be the first ones served. Writing the best feature story on the camp for the local paper might just win Emma a scholarship to attend a non- Christian college. But soon enough Emma finds the donut camp isn’t quite the perfect escape from all her troubles at Living Word Redeemer.<br /><br />In a fresh, funny voice, newcomer Lara Zielin offers up a mesmerizing, fast-paced narrative full of wit and insight. </span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">First Sentence:</span><br />I'm no biblical scholar, but I'm pretty sure Adam - as in the guy who named all the animals in the Garden of Eden - wasn't a hermaphrodite.<br /><br />I really enjoyed reading <span style="font-style: italic;">Donut Days</span>, Lara's writing flowed easily and the characters were very life-like. Which is not an extremely easy thing to do when writing about such a touchy topic as religion, however Lara accomplished it with class because even though there were many corrupt things going on at the church it did not show religion in a bad light. <span style="font-style: italic;">Donut Days</span> shows that being religious can mean many different things to different people, and however they chose to interpret religion is the right way because it is right for them.<br /><br />I would have to say that my favorite character in <span style="font-style: italic;">Donut Days</span> is Bear, the loveable biker with a gambling problem. I also loved the way that Lara displayed the relationship between Emma and her parents. Emma felt like her parents weren't letting her in the loop because she was too much of a child, when in reality they didn't want her to feel like they were weak and incapable of handling things. I believe that this is a common problem in realtionships especially between children and parents, and shows that communication is key.<br /><br />I believe that this novel would be a perfect match for anyone who is, or ever has, questioned religion and the importance of belonging to a church. Or possibly anyone who has a soft spot for donuts. ;)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Favorite Quotes:</span><br /><blockquote>"Dad, I just - I'm not sure I want to go to a college that doesn't teach geology or evolution."<br />"But why not?" my dad asked.<br />"Because the faculty will think the earth is, like, five thousand years old," I said.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>The conversation was like watching a turtle try to turn itself over after being flipped. I practically expected one of us to start flailing our limbs, that's how awful it was.<br /></blockquote><blockquote>With me and Nat, the same thing happened - and now the decay was still working its way through our friendship like a cavity, and we could feel the ache of it even if we weren't brave enough to look at it.<br /></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/08/guest-post-lara-zielin.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">If this book sounds interesting, Click here to read Lara Zielin's guest post on the story behind Donut Days.</span><br /></a></div><br />Title: Donut Days<br /><div>Author: <a href="http://www.larawrites.com/">Lara Zielin</a><br /></div><div>Hardcover: 256 pages</div><div>ISBN 10: 0399250662<br /></div>ISBN 13: 978-0399250668<br />Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Donut-Days-Lara-Zielin/dp/0399250662/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248131540&sr=8-1">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0399250662">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Donut-Days/Lara-Zielin/e/9780399250668/?itm=2">Barnes & Noble</a><br />Review Number: 19<br />My Copy: ARC provided by Lara Zielin<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-46965085881632230812009-08-06T01:17:00.003-04:002009-08-06T01:31:10.890-04:00Release Date: August 6th, 2009<div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/9780399250668H.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 218px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Donut Days</span><br />Lara Zielin<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Emma has a lot going on. Her best friend's not speaking to her, a boy she's known all her life is suddenly smokin' hot and in love with her, and oh yes, her evangelical minister parents may lose their church, especially if her mother keeps giving sermons saying Adam was a hermaphrodite.<br /><br />But this weekend Emma's only focused on Crispy Dream, a hot new donut franchise opening in town, where Harley bikers and Frodo wannabes camp out waiting to be the first ones served. Writing the best feature story on the camp for the local paper might just win Emma a scholarship to attend a non- Christian college. But soon enough Emma finds the donut camp isn't quite the perfect escape from all her troubles at Living Word Redeemer.<br /><br />In a fresh, funny voice, newcomer Lara Zielin offers up a mesmerizing, fast-paced narrative full of wit and insight.<br /><br /></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Donut-Days-Lara-Zielin/dp/0399250662">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0399250662">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Donut-Days/Lara-Zielin/e/9780399250668/?itm=1">Barnes & Noble</a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n309532.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 218px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lipstick Apology</span><br />Jennifer Jabaley<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Sometimes a good-bye is just the beginning.<br /><br />When Emily Carson's parents die in a plane crash, she's left with nothing but her mother's last words scrawled in lipstick on a tray table: 'Emily, please forgive me.'<br /><br />Now it's fall and Emily moves to New York City - where she attracts the attention of two very different boys: the cute, popular Owen, and her quirky chemistry partner, Anthony. With the help of some surprising new friends, Emily must choose between the boy who helps her forget and the one who encourages her to remember, and ultimately heal.<br /><br />Debut author Jennifer Jabaley has written a wonderful, feel-good romantic comedy with real emotional depth. Full of lovably wacky characters, Lipstick Apology is a heartwarming story about the true meaning of forgiveness.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lipstick-Apology-Jennifer-Jabaley/dp/1595142312">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?view=2&type=1&contrib=Jennifer+Jabaley&catalogId=10001&rpp=50&defaultSearchView=List&LogData=%5Bsearch%3A+23%2Cparse%3A+26%5D&searchData=%7BproductId%3Anull%2Csku%3Anull%2Ctype%3A1%2Csort%3Anull%2CcurrPage%3A1%2CresultsPerPage%3A50%2CsimpleSearch%3Afalse%2Cnavigation%3A5185%2CmoreValue%3Anull%2CcoverView%3Afalse%2Curl%3Arpp%3D50%26view%3D2%26type%3D1%26contrib%3DJennifer%2BJabaley%26page%3D1%26kids%3Dfalse%26nav%3D5185%26simple%3Dfalse%2Cterms%3A%7Bcontrib%3DJennifer+Jabaley%7D%7D&storeId=13551&sku=1595142312&ddkey=http:SearchResults">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Lipstick-Apology/Jennifer-Jabaley/e/9781595142313/?itm=1">Barnes & Noble</a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/03/upcoming-releases-2009.html"><b>For more titles released today click here.</b></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Which title are you looking forward to reading?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-63599553668667632622009-08-05T00:05:00.001-04:002009-08-05T01:11:28.522-04:00Guest Post: Lara Zielin<img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Authors/laraamosweb.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left;" border="0" />“You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?” – Talking Heads<br /><br /><u>The Story Behind DONUT DAYS:</u><br />I grew up in a small Wisconsin town, with a fairly typical family, attending a fairly typical school. As we say in the Midwest, “It was fine, just fine, thanks.” But by the time I was a teenager, I couldn’t help but feel something was missing, that I didn’t have some of the answers I was looking for.<br />I hoped that falling in love for the first time would help answer some of my questions. It did, for a while. Then I got my heart chewed up and spit out, and that was the end of love for a bit. I partied for a while but that didn’t really work either. It made me sick and, worse, made me look ridiculous.<br />Then, when I was seventeen, I joined the church. The evangelical church, to be specific, which, in case you don’t know, is the really loud, really boisterous kind of church with really friendly people who want to tell you all about their experiences with God.<br /><br />It was cool. And actually, for a while, it was really cool. I got some answers—at least for the time being. I don’t believe everything now that I believed then, but I at least found people who were willing to talk to me about stuff. What happens when we die? Is there really a god? What is the meaning of life?<br />It was deep stuff. But it was good. It was exactly what I needed at that time in my life.<br />When I graduated from Carleton College, I moved to Minneapolis and that’s when things changed. I joined a new church where I saw a completely different side of the evangelical community. Instead being focused on helping people and being kind, the church I attended was focused on money and status. Deceit and corruption were rampant. When questions were raised, the congregation was told to “have faith” and to “trust God.” All this while our donations to the church were misspent, and the pastors lied.<br />I stopped going to church and eventually moved away from Minneapolis to Michigan. I went to a new church for a while, but I never really became a member. I had a sour taste in my mouth that wasn’t going away. Once again, I was riddled with questions. Why did some people use the church for their own gain? Why did politics and religion seem to always go hand in hand? Was god really as dogmatic as evangelicals made god out to be?<br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/9780399250668H.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><br />Writing DONUT DAYS became one of the ways I tried to come to terms with what happened at that Minneapolis church. My experiences there became the inspiration for Living Word Redeemer in the novel, because I saw that corruption, deceit, and greed can infiltrate a Christian community as easily as hope and love.<br />I believe in God, and I believe in the church, but I wrote DONUT DAYS because I also believe that it’s okay to question absolute power, and that no pastor is infallible.<br />Many teens—and, I’d argue, people in general—have doubts about what they’re seeing, about what they’re being asked to believe. The process through which they figure it all out should be embraced, should be acknowledged. Instead, it’s all too often labeled as doubt, and the person doing the questioning becomes a pariah—not just in the church, but in a variety of contexts. This happens with friendships, with love, with families—all of which are themes in DONUT DAYS. The book might take place against the background of the church, but it’s about topics that are much bigger and broader than that.<br /><br />I’m still looking for answers, which is a good thing. And it brings me to my last point, which is that, in general, my great hope is that DONUT DAYS encourages people to thoughtfully question what they believe, and why, about everything. Everything. And I hope it makes them crave donuts too, at least a little. Because donuts are fun and yummy and they go good with a glass of milk and a book.<br /><br />Happy reading!<br /><br />xoxo<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thank you for such an amazing guest post Lara! Be sure to check back tomorrow for my review of Donut Days! :)</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com67tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-7251437074706518652009-08-04T00:05:00.000-04:002009-08-04T00:05:01.002-04:00Release Date: August 4th, 2009<div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n303516.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 218px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Immortal<br /></span>Gillian Shields<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies, housed in a Gothic mansion on the bleak northern moors, is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn away from her home by the sea to become the newest scholarship student, she is more isolated than she could have dreamed. Strict teachers, snobbish students, and the oppressive atmosphere of Wyldcliffe leave Evie drowning in loneliness.<br /><br />Evie's only lifeline is Sebastian, a rebellious, mocking, dangerously attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie's feelings for Sebastian grow with each secret meeting, she starts to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl—a girl who is so eerily like Evie, she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present that she cannot control. And as the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is faced with an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate.<br /><br />Gillian Shields's electrifying tale will dazzle readers with suspense, mysticism, and romance.<br /></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Hardback-Gillian-Shields/dp/0061375802">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0061375802">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Immortal/Gillian-Shields/e/9780061375804/?itm=1">Barnes & Noble</a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/03/upcoming-releases-2009.html"><b>For more titles released today click here.</b></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Which title are you looking forward to reading?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-31782684866201271362009-08-03T00:35:00.001-04:002009-08-03T00:36:43.767-04:00Mailbox Monday (19)<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/cd1f9116bf6cf904972b43ba-1-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/hushhush_jkt.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hush, Hush<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Becca Fitzpatrick<br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;">For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along.<br /><br />With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.<br /><br />But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.<br /><br />For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.</span></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Requested via Shelf Awareness. The cover is as awesome as everyone has been saying.<br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/candor_cover_final.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Candor</span><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: right;">Pam Bachorz<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Oscar Banks has everything under control. In a town where his father brainwashes everyone, he's found a way to secretly fight the subliminal Messages. He's got them all fooled: Oscar's the top student and the best-behaved teen in town. Nobody knows he's made his own Messages to deprogram his brain. Oscar has even found a way to get rich. For a hefty price, he helps new kids escape Candor, Florida before they're transformed into cookie-cutter teens. But then Nia Silva moves to Candor, and Oscar's carefully-controlled world crumbles.</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: center;">Requested from the publisher, Egmont USA. If Candor is anything like the town of Stepford, I would love to live there. ;)<br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n312249.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wish You were Dead</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Todd Strasser<br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;">From popular author Todd Strasser comes a new spine-tingler for the techno age. No one at Jefferson High takes the recent death wishes of an anonymous blogger seriously, until the very students talked about start mysteriously disappearing. After dropping off Lucky after a night of partying, Madison is wracked with guilt when her popular classmate vanishes. And Madison makes it her mission to discover what really happened. . . .<br /><br />In the spirit of stories like <span style="font-style: italic;">I Know What You Did Last Summer</span>, Strasser updates the teen thriller, delving into the world of blogging and social networking to create an exciting new page-turner.<br /></span></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Requested from the publisher, Egmont USA. Perfect book for a blogger. ;)<br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n309470.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">After</span><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: right;">Amy Efaw<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">An infant left in the trash to die. A teenage mother who never knew she was pregnant . . .<br /><br />Before That Morning, these were the words most often used to describe straight-A student and star soccer player Devon Davenport: responsible, hardworking, mature. But all that changes when the police find Devon home sick from school as they investigate the case of an abandoned baby. Soon the connection is made—Devon has just given birth; the baby in the trash is hers. After That Morning, there's only one way to define Devon: attempted murderer.<br /><br />And yet gifted author Amy Efaw does the impossible— she turns Devon into an empathetic character, a girl who was in such deep denial that she refused to believe she was pregnant. Through airtight writing and fast-paced, gripping storytelling, Ms. Efaw takes the reader on Devon's unforgettable journey toward clarity, acceptance, and redemption.</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: center;">Requested via Shelf Awareness. I have already started this one and it is way more amazing than you would think it is.<br /><br /></div></div></div><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/Wake.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wake<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Lisa McMann<br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;">For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.<br /><br />She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.<br /><br />Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant....</span></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">I actually bought this one since I got a little money for my birthday, and because I wanted to use my birthday coupon from Borders. ;)<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />What did you receive in the mail this week?<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-21540116262482092102009-08-02T21:14:00.002-04:002009-08-02T21:15:13.690-04:00Author of the Month: Alex Sanchez<div style="text-align: center;">The author of the month is ...<br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Alex Sanchez</span></span><br /></div><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Authors/A_face_pic_sm.jpg" alt="" border="0" />So I have read 5 of Alex Sanchez's books so far, except for <span style="font-style: italic;">The God Box</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Bait</span>. He is an amazing author and probably one of my favorite LGBT young adult authors. I highly encourage you to pick up one of his novels and give him a chance! :) I shall try to post reviews of all of the novels I have read by him during the month of August. Although I would have to say that <span style="font-style: italic;">So Hard to Say</span> is my favorite. ;)<br /><br />Taken from Alex's <a href="http://www.alexsanchez.com/default.asp">website</a>:<br /><blockquote>Alex's dream to write began in college with an unpublished children's picture book, but then he went on to work for ten years as a counselor of youth and families both in the United States and overseas.<br /><br />During that time, Alex began to shape a novel about gay teens and their families. As he put the story on paper, it became apparent he was writing the book he'd wanted and needed to read when he was a teenager--a book that would have told him: "It's okay to be who you are."<br /><br />Although Alex intended to write an upbeat and affirming story that would encourage empathy, he didn't realize until after the release of Rainbow Boys that his book would become an agent of social change, one that School Library Journal compared with Judy Blume's Forever and praised as able to "open eyes and change lives."<br /><br />Since the publication of Rainbow Boys, Alex has found himself inundated with emails from young people empowered by the book to come out to their parents or to start Gay-Straight Alliance clubs in their schools.<br /><br />Alex received his master's in guidance and counseling from Old Dominion University. Born in Mexico to parents of German and Cuban heritage, he currently resides in Florida and on the web at <a href="http://www.alexsanchez.com/default.asp">www.AlexSanchez.com</a>.</blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Click on the covers of the books to read the synopsis.</span><br /><br /></div><center><a href="http://www.alexsanchez.com/Bait/Bait_Home_Page.htm"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/BAIT_10.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.alexsanchez.com/God_Box/The_God_Box_Home_Page.htm"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/GodBox2009.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.alexsanchez.com/Getting_It/Getting_It_Home_Page.htm"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/medium_Jacket.jpg" /></a></center><br /><center><a href="http://www.alexsanchez.com/Rainbow_Boys/Rainbow_Boys_Home_Page.htm"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/SandS.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.alexsanchez.com/Rainbow_High/Rainbow_High_Home_Page.htm"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/rainbow_high.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.alexsanchez.com/Rainbow_Road/Rainbow_Road_Home_Page.htm"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/n256516.jpg" /></a></center><br /><center><a href="http://www.alexsanchez.com/So_Hard_To_Say/So_Hard_To_Say_Home_Page.htm"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/So40.jpg" /></a></center><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-82613312612860422412009-08-01T15:39:00.000-04:002009-08-01T15:39:57.373-04:00July in ReviewSo I really thought that I would have read more books this summer, so I guess I will really have to step up my reading in August if I want to be able to read 79 more books before the year ends.... although I really don't see it happening I am still going to try! ;)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Books Read:</span> 4<br />18. This One is Mine - Maria Semple<br />19. Donut Days - Lara Zielin<br />20. Julie & Julia - Julie Powell<br />21. Ash - Malinda Lo<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pages Read:</span> 1,232<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reading Challenges Progress Report:</span><br />Read 100 Books In 2009: 4 read, 79 to go.<br />2009 Classics Challenge: 0 read, 7 to go.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Books In: </span>15<br />Advanced Reader Copies: 9<br />For Review: 1<br />Books Won: 4<br />Mooched: 1<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Books Out: </span>0<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Favorite Book Read This Month:</span> Ash by Malinda Lo<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-65870062962026441972009-08-01T00:05:00.000-04:002009-08-01T00:05:00.650-04:00Release Date: August 1st, 2009<div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/July16Geektastic3.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 218px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd</span><br />Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Acclaimed authors Holly Black (Ironside) and Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof) have united in geekdom to edit short stories from some of the best selling and most promising geeks in young adult literature: M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Tracy Lynn, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfield, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr.<br /><br />With illustrated interstitials from comic book artists Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley, Geektastic covers all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, or if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on!<br /></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Geektastic-Stories-Nerd-Holly-Black/dp/0316008095">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0316008095">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Geektastic/Holly-Black/e/9780316008099/?itm=18">Barnes & Noble</a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/shiver.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 218px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shiver</span><br />Maggie Stiefvater<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.<br /><br />Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shiver-Maggie-Stiefvater/dp/0545123267">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0545123267">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Shiver/Maggie-Stiefvater/e/9780545123266/?itm=1">Barnes & Noble</a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/prophecy.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 218px; width: 140px;" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Prophecy of the Sisters</span><br />Michelle Zink<br /></div><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">An ancient prophecy divides two sisters-<br /><br />One good...<br /><br />One evil...<br /><br />Who will prevail?<br /><br />Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents' deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.<br /><br />Lia and Alice don't know whom they can trust.<br /><br />They just know they can't trust each other.<br /></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prophecy-Sisters-Michelle-Zink/dp/0316027421">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0316027421">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Prophecy-of-the-Sisters/Michelle-Zink/e/9780316027427/?itm=1">Barnes & Noble</a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com/2009/03/upcoming-releases-2009.html"><b>For more titles released today click here.</b></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Which title are you looking forward to reading?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-47135155464831065052009-07-31T00:40:00.001-04:002009-07-31T00:42:02.352-04:00Its My Birthday!!! :D<center><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/r34218fp.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!! :D</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Yep, thats right I am officially 20 years old..... and I have the same birthday as Harry Potter (technically it is J.K. Rowling's birthday). ;)</span><br /><br />Since I never got to bring in treats to share with the class since my birthday is in the summer, I figured announcing the winners of the Julie & Julia contest would be the next best thing..... Using Random.org to find the winners:<br /><ol><li>Tigui (well aren't you the lucky duck on this blog)<br /></li><li>♥Maria Medeiros♥</li><li>Keyomi</li><li>Jessica Moss</li><li>cpullum </li></ol>If you see this post before I get the emails out feel free to email me your address. :)<br /></div></center><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904077121291398531.post-50932296288967882722009-07-30T21:41:00.002-04:002009-07-30T21:42:23.349-04:00Review: Lock and Key<img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 211px;" src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/41qRgAOZ0cL_SL500_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lock and Key</span><br />by Sarah Dessen<br /><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/Book%20Blog/4stars.png" /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">"Ruby, where is your mother?"<br /><br />Ruby knows that the game is up. For the past few months, she's been on her own in the yellow house, managing somehow, knowing that her mother will probably never return.<br /><br />That's how she comes to live with Cora, the sister she hasn't seen in ten years, and Cora's husband Jamie, whose down-to-earth demeanor makes it hard for Ruby to believe he founded the most popular networking Web site around. A luxurious house, fancy private school, a new wardrobe, the promise of college and a future - it's a dream come true. So why is Ruby such a reluctant Cinderella, wary and defensive? And why is Nate, the genial boy next door with some secrets of his own, unable to accept the help that Ruby is just learning to give?<br /><br />Best-selling author Sarah Dessen explores the heart of a gutsy, complex girl dealing with unforeseen circumstances and learning to trust again.</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">First Sentence:</span><br />"And finally," Jamie said as he pushed the door open, "we come to the main event. Your room."<br /><br />Okay so I may be a little bias when it comes to Sarah Dessen's novels because she is one of my favorite young adult authors. This book definitely did not disappoint me, even with the high standards that I place Sarah under.<br /><br />Ruby takes a while to become an enduring character, but that is mainly due to the fact that as a person she is so guarded. I really enjoyed the relationship between Ruby and her sister Cora because miss communication can be such a big cause of damaged relationships in broken homes. Sarah also has an amazing knack for making you remember and sometimes even love the supporting characters, even the ones that don't play a major part in the novel. Lock and Key was full of such minor characters including Harriet the coffee lover and Olivia the undeclared best friend. The only character I was dissapointed in was Nate. One of the main reasons I love Sarah's novels as much as I do is the fact that there is always a male heartthrob that I fall in love with and I just didn't get this feeling with Nate.<br /><br />I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult fiction, because it deals with a variety of life experiences that many teens go through. Some of these experiences include drugs, alcohol, divorce, abuse, and sex. However there are some postive life experiences covered as well including first love, applying for college, making new friends, and discovering who you are. Just a warning though, you will want a key necklace of your own. ;)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Favorite Quotes:</span><br /><blockquote>I looked at the sweatshirt again. "You swim' is a philosophy?"<br />He shrugged. "Better than 'you sink,' right?"<br /></blockquote><blockquote>"I want you to give her a possibility," she told him, looking at my necklace again. "And that's what a key represents. An open door, a chance. You know?"<br /></blockquote><blockquote>There is something striking about a single key. It was like a question waiting to be answered, a whole missing a half. Useless on its own, needing something else to be truly defined.<br /></blockquote><br />Title: Lock and Key<br /><div>Author: <a href="http://www.sarahdessen.com/">Sarah Dessen</a><br /></div><div>Paperback: 432 pages</div><div>ISBN 10: 0142414727<br /></div>ISBN 13: 978-0142414729<br />Buy It: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lock-Key-Sarah-Dessen/dp/0142414727/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245272606&sr=8-2">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0142414727">Borders</a>, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Lock-and-Key/Sarah-Dessen/e/9780142414729/?itm=3">Barnes & Noble</a><br />Review Number: 17<br />My Copy: Bought<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/cool3315/1B370B07082BD26534D18FDF21A22001.png" /></div>♔ jessica.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224761487699875213noreply@blogger.com6