The Reader and the Book: October 2011

Friday, October 28, 2011

Review: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

The Scoop:

It's 1996 and Emma and Josh have been neighbors their whole life and best friends almost as long. Their friendship changed when Josh wanted something more and Emma didn't. Emma's father buys her a computer and when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail he brings it over for her to install. However, she doesn't only install AOL. When Emma logs in to her AOL account she is automatically directed and logged in to her Facebook page. A Facebook page from fifteen years in the future. After figuring out exactly what Facebook is, Emma and Josh realize that they can see the immediate effect of anything they do in the present on their future. What they have to figure out is if they really want to know what happens or if they want to wait and see what the future holds for them.

Continue on >>

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (10/25/11)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

Share the title & author.

My teaser:
Front and Center (Dairy Queen, #3)

"We'd beaten Whoopsville, yeah, but only because the rest of the team stood around while I hogged all the baskets. Whatever leadership is, I'd demonstrated just the opposite."

Front and Center (Dairy Queen #3) by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, pg 55

Friday, October 21, 2011

Review: Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski

Ten Things We Did by Sarah Mlynowski

The Scoop:

April, a high school junior, gets what probably many teenage kids want from their parents. Complete freedom which comes from living on her own in a different city and different state (or country, even, in the case of her mom). Plus $1000 in a bank account every month with little or no checking up on what that money was used for. So, using a variety of stealthy, teenager-y techniques known worldwide to fool the 'rents, April and her good friend, Vi, set up a couple of fake e-mail (or pmail) address for their respective parents so they are able to moderate the situation. April's dad agrees, after talking to Vi impersonating her mother on the phone and a series of e-mail's sent to Vi's mom's fake pmail address, to allow her to stay in Connecticut while he and the new wife move to Cleveland. Then April and Vi, since Vi's mom is on tour as Mary Poppins and not actually staying in the house with them, proceed to do ten things they probably shouldn't have.

Continue on >>

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

"Waiting on" Wednesday: Katana by Cole Gibsen

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are barely able to restrain our enthusiasm for.

My pick this week is Katana by Cole Gibsen due out March 8, 2012 by Flux.

Summary from Goodreads:

Kill Bill meets Buffy in this supernatural samurai tale.

Rileigh Martin would love to believe that adrenaline gave her the uncanny courage and strength to fend off three muggers. But it doesn’t explain her dreams of fifteenth century Japan, the incredible fighting skills she suddenly possesses, or the strange voice giving her battle tips and danger warnings. While worrying that she’s going crazy (always a reputation ruiner), Rileigh gets a visit from Kim, a handsome martial arts instructor, who tells Rileigh she’s harboring the spirit of a five-hundred-year-old samurai warrior.

Relentlessly attacked by ninjas, Rileigh has no choice but to master the katana--a deadly Japanese sword that’s also the key to her past. As the spirit grows stronger and her feelings for Kim intensify, Rileigh is torn between continuing as the girl she’s always been and embracing the warrior inside her.

My Thoughts:

A teenage ninja? Awesome. Hopefully the Buffy reference isn't just something to hook the readers (when I think Buffy I think kick-ass and snarky which is always way good in my book). And besides, my two years of taking Japanese in high school (many years ago) has left me with a lifelong residual interest in their culture and histories.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (10/18/11)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

Share the title & author.

My teaser:
Cover Image

""I'll show you, Dad," Dennis said, "but first, answer me one question: what sort of poison was it that killed the King?""
The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King (from e-book, page number unknown)

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

"Waiting on" Wednesday: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kinneally

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are barely able to restrain our enthusiasm for.

My pick this week is Catching Jordan by Miranda Kinneally due out December 1, 2011 by Sourcebooks Fire.

From goodreads.com:

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starting position... suddenly she's hoping he'll see her as more than just a teammate.

My Thoughts:

Maybe it has something to do with me reading through the Dairy Queen series but the description of this book just sounded like a fun read. And all that green on the cover--so bright and cheery compared to a lot of covers I've seen lately. (So, I guess I gave away what side I'm on of the age-old "don't judge a book by it's cover" debate.) Although, the headless bodies are a little off-putting (and that answers that question).

What are you waiting on?

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (10/11/11)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

Share the title & author.

My Teaser:
The Off Season

"I couldn't help busting Brian a bit as we drove off. "I bet that's what you tell your friends. 'She intercepted me and scored too.'""
The Off Season (Dairy Queen #2) by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, pg. 34

Sunday, October 9, 2011

In My Mailbox (6)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme started by The Story Siren where bloggers share what books we have either received or purchased that week.

I've still got all my backlog from library check-outs and sale purchases at Barnes & Noble and Borders so I've barely had any books trickling in lately. But here's an update for the past few weeks.

For Review:

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse by Lucas Klauss

Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett

Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey

Thanks to Simon & Schuster GalleyGrab, Sweetwater Books and NetGalley, and Penguin Books and LibraryThing for the galleys.

From the library:

Blood Red Road (Dustlands #1) by Moira Young

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

After reading two books that take from this polar bear prince fairy tale I want to get a third opinion. It's such an awesome story and so far the two that I've read, Ice and East, have had different components of the same base story.

Brutal by Michael Harmon

A suggestion from goodreads' new recommendation feature and I thought I'd give it a try.

Dream Factory by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler

I loved their collaboration on Scrambled Eggs at Midnight so I'm willing to take a stab at this book. Besides, who wouldn't want a (fictional) behind-the-scenes peek at a summer working as a character in Disney World?

So, tell me, what do you have in your mailbox?

Friday, October 7, 2011

Review: The Eternal Sea (Everlasting #2) by Angie Frazier

The Eternal Sea by Angie Frazier

The Scoop:

When we left Camille, Oscar, Ira and Cassie's newly discovered brother Samuel they had found the mysterious stone of Umandu, brought Oscar back to life using it and killed off their nemesis in the search who also happened to be Samuel's father. What Camille and her co-horts didn't know is that Umandu is part of a set of stones that needed to be united (reunited?) to work properly in their magic of bringing somebody back to life. Not having the two stones meant that Oscar's soul was never returned to his body and therefore he wasn't yet, technically, alive. Camille is determined to travel to the bowels of the neverworld to get the stone and complete Oscar's reanimation. Along the way she must sort out her feelings for him and her "former" fiance Randall, determine where her brother's loyalties lay and try to locate loyal Ira who was abducted by the supernatural creatures trying to stop her in her quest.

Continue on >>

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (10/4/11)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

Share the title & author.

My Teaser:

"Om shanti shanti shanti, I mumbled. Then I slapped myself in the face. No, no, no! Not freaky om shanti! I am big. I am huge. I am an athlete."

Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach, pg. 85

Saturday, October 1, 2011

What's New in YA--October 2011

Happy Fall, everybody! It's a brand new month and a brand new season (a nice chilly one perfect for getting cozy by the fire with a nice, new book). That means there are brand new books to look forward to! Well, ok, there's brand new books to look forward to all the time but I'm one for the big picture and what's bigger than a month (I know, I know, a year, a decade, a millenium but I can only handle so much)? So, on a small scale, I love being prepared (no, was never a boy scout) and this lets me compile a list of what I can look forward to in the exciting world of YA literature for the coming month. And I'm here to share my preparedness with you. Each title is linked to goodreads.com.