Help Wanted! [Chelsie]

I am writing this from the front desk at the town library, where I am now officially employed.

Wait, what? Employed? At the library?

Yep. No longer am I a volunteer... I am now working, doing fun stuff for pay. And I get access to all the new books before anyone else does.

But that's just something I felt like sharing. =D Mostly because, well, I don't have much to say on the reading front.

I finished Audrey, Wait! this week. Finally. I feel better about the fact that I'm not the only one having trouble reading a lot this summer, but I still feel bummed out that it took me a week and a half to read a book that I was thoroughly enjoying.

Now, on the Audrey, Wait! subject, there are two things I need to say.

1. I now have a list of 40+ songs that I need to listen to, all from the book.

2. Robin Benway is amazing. Her characters are all amazing, her writing is amazing, her story is amazing... the whole book was amazing. If you haven't read this book you'll definitely need to buy it, because it is definitely worth it.

Last night, I also started Goddess Games by Niki Burnham. But... I can't say anything about that. I got 40 pages into it and... well, I like it. But today as I was working I realized that 15 books on my shelf from the library is too many, especially when most of them have been checked out since March.

So I decided to turn most of them in. Granted, I haven't done it yet, but I am extremely determined to drag them with me tomorrow.

All except for three, for sure, that I'm going to keep: The Host, Vampire Academy, and City of Bones.

But there are others that I'm not sure about. So this is where you come in. I want to keep one or two books instead of turning all of them in. So in the comments, please pick one or two from this list for me to keep, and I'll take your advice into consideration.

1. Nobody's Prize by Esther Friesner

2. Legacy by Kate Brian

3. The Straight Road to Kylie by Nico Medina

4. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

5. Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

6. Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

7. Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley

8. The Kayla Chronicles by Sherri Winston

9. Crimes of the Sarahs by Kristen Tracy

In this post, I was also thinking about mentioning our hosting the book club, but since Megan already mentioned it... I don't really have much else to say.

Happy Reading!

-Chelsie-

Summer Procrastination [Megan]

Last week I finished The Off Season by Catherine Murdock. The Off Season was the sequel to Diary Queen, but for me it is lacking some of the qualities that made me love it so much. DJ has always been a little obsessive, as many of us are, thinking about things in such a way that blows them totally out of proportion. But at the same time there is a humor that comes out of her obsessiveness. Yet in The Off Season I didn't feel as connected to the humor lying underneath the voice. DJ's obsessing was completely hyperbolic and not verging on realistic as they had been in the first book.

Many people have told me they really enjoyed The Off Season better, but I was really disappointed with it and came very, very close to not finishing it. Have you read both books? Tell me what your thoughts were in the comments.

The Teen Tuesday Blog is now the new home of Chelsea's young adult book club. This month's picks are The Luxe and The Looking Glass Wars. If you have read these or want to, we would love to have you join us for these books or for future picks. Email teentuesday@yahoo.com subject:book club for more info! In order to get ready I am reading The Luxe and enjoying it more than I thought I would. Before I started it I thought one of two things would happen, it would grab me from the first page and never let me go or I would hate it and have to struggle through it. But neither of these things did, in fact, happen. The beginning of the book was boring but grabbed my interest because of it's similarities to early American novels. I am only about 100 pages or so in right now, but I will definitely be reading more. Are you reading The Luxe?

I also finished Keesha's House. This is an AMAZING book of poetry YOU ALL NEED TO READ. It is just proof that poetry doesn't have to be all floral and pretty. I love how gritty and realistic the poems in this book are, and I also love how they tell a story. You can read a little bit more about my thoughts on it here.

Why does the summer have to be so hot?
My eyes move across the page and nothing sinks in.
The books pile up around me, they lay next to me in bed, I am grateful they aren't a heat source like my husband used to be.
What was the best book you read this week?

Teen Tuesday - Third Edition [Hope.]

Well... this week has been a very interesting one for me. lol. I've read four books since last Tuesday! =D


First off, there was Violet in Private, which I finished! Yay! And I don't want to say anything about it, because I don't want to give spoilers, since it's not out yet (which it totally something I would do, lol). But when you get your own copy, you'll LOVE it. And if you haven't read the Violet series yet, you need to go out and get it because it's amazing!


Then, I read the first book in the Clique Summer Collection series, which is Massie's book. I was very dissapointed with it, honestly. I read the Clique series, and I enjoyed that, but then I read this one and I just didn't like it at all. First, it was short -- only 120 pages. Okay, I can deal with that, lots of books can be short. But I felt like Massie never really grew as a character and there didn't seem to be any plot at all. I don't think I'm going to be reading any more books from the Summer Collection of the Clique series.


The meeting for my AP American History class was yesterday, so I was frantically reading Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.. It was... interesting, to say the least. It was all his experiences in World War II, but there's kind of a twist. He experiences them by time travel... because these weird alien people have granted him the ability to time travel. Yeah. It was definetly an interesting book, lol. Now, I'll be writing two papers and reading 1984 by George Orwell before July 21st, when we meet the next time. Has anybody read 1984? I had to read Animal Farm by George Orwell for this same teacher last year and enjoyed it, so I hope I like 1984, also.


I recieved Read My Lips by Teri Brown in the mail to review for Pulse IT, and so I picked it up yesterday to read it. It was really good. There were a few things about it that I might change, like how she kept repeating about how she was a 'punk skater' all the time. I would've only put it in a few times, then decided that the reader would know that she was a punk skater. The idea of the book was really good, though. I don't really have anything to compare it to -- it's the only book about a deaf girl that I've read before. Has anybody read any other books about deaf teenagers that doesn't make them sound like they're sorry for themselves? I'd definetly like to read another one.

This week, I hope to start and finish The Elite by Jennifer Banash, Frenemies by Alexa Young, and Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty by Jody Gehrman, which all arrived this week in the mail. =D




See y'all next week!
hope.

Teen Tuesday-Second Edition (The Story Siren)

Wow! My second edition of Teen Tuesday.... has it been a week already!?

My reading week is very unproductive. It seems I underestimated how busy the summer really is. I did however read three books this week. Although only one of them was a Young Adult Novel.

I finished Must’ve Done Something Good, which turned out to be a very funny and cute novel. I also received Queen of Babble Gets Hitched in the mail yesterday from Meg herself *hyperventilating* and I ripped that package open and I didn’t put it down until I was finished. She was also sweet enough to send me a copy of her Middle Aged Novel Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls: The New Girl, which looks so very cute! Yesterday was a really good mail day because I also got a copy of How to be Bad! I know, what can I say.

The one Young Adult novel that I did read this week was Rumors by Anna Godbersen. Those of you who aren’t familiar with Rumors, it is the sequel to The Luxe and it’s a wonderful dramatic historical fiction. Do you like historical fiction? I love it! And it seems that I’ve been reading a lot of it recently now that I’m looking at my recent read list. La Petite Four, Bewitching Season, and now Rumors! All wonderful reads!

If I had to choose a book to live in, I would happily choose one of those books. I could wear beautiful gowns and go to lavish balls. Well if my family was wealthy, for my fantasy’s sake we will say they were. And the boys were actually gentlemen! Well they had to act like they were in the presence of a lady anyway! Of course I’d want a gentleman, but I’d even take scandalous Henry Schoonmaker from Rumors! I simply can’t help but be drawn to the historical novels like the ones listed above. I think it must all stem from my everlasting crush on Mr. Darcy. I just think they look handsome in their high collars and long jackets.

Okay enough fantasizing for one day.

I’m currently reading The Comeback Season by Jennifer E. Smith. Go Cubbies! I’m only into the third chapter since I took a break to read Queen of Babble, so I can’t really say too much about it right now. I have enjoyed it so far though. I remember last week I was whining about my lack of a review pile. Well, ask and ye shall receive! Since last week I’ve gotten a slew of books in the mail to review! Seven to be exact! So, hopefully you can expect some reviews coming up.

On a completely non related note, do you like the theme icons in my reviews? I thought it was something different. But if you think they just take up room and don’t add to the review, then let me know and I’ll take them off.

Thanks for tuning in! Until next Tuesday. TTFN!

Teen Tuesday, Second Edition [Chelsie]

I apologize for the late post... I would have pre-written mine last night, but I was on the slowest computer in history (what can I say, it's dial-up...) and I was extremely tired.

But better late than never =D

I wish I could say that I was a reading maniac this week, finishing half of the books that I have stacked on my shelf and writing spectacular reviews just for your reading pleasure.

But that's not the case. In all honesty, I finished one book this week. And that was Fireworks. I started Audrey, Wait! but I haven't had much time to read it. I'm a little over halfway done, and so far what I've read is fantastic... I can't wait to find out what's next.

The reason it's taken me so long to read lately is because I'm trying something new out when it comes to reading. I created a Reading Log for all of my books, and as I'm reading I write down my thoughts and certain quotes. For Audrey, Wait! I have about ten pages so far, including a Song Log and tons of funny quotes. So far, Audrey's dad is my favorite character... he is completely hilarious!

Next, I'm reading Goddess Games by Niki Burnham. I've had this book for awhile and I've been kind of nervous about reading it, because I've never read anything by the author. However, after reading her story in Fireworks, I am extremely excited. Her story, Night Swimming, was the best story out of all four stories in the book. The other stories were all okay, but they were slightly predictable and there really wasn't much to them. Niki Burnham took her story to the next level, making it a fun beach read but also something emotional and wonderful that really struck something deep inside me.

So, that's what's been happening this week... I'm hoping to get much more reading done this next week, so expect something more exciting for next week's post.

(I would do pictures and links and whatnot, but once again I'm forced to finish up this post on a slow computer, and I wouldn't want it to spazz out on me... next week!)

-Chelsie-

Teen Tuesday - Second Edition [Hope].

So... I'm back again. Chelsie and Megan haven't scared me off. . . yet. Just kidding. :p They really are nice people.

I've had a pathetic reading week this week. I had church camp from Wednesday to Saturday, so I read one freaking book this week. Yes, you heard me right. One. Book. It's pathetic, I'm telling you.

I read Violet by Design by Melissa Walker, the second book in the Violet series, and I loved it. You know how in some series you read the first book and really like it, then get to the second book but it feels like the character has changed their voice? Yeah, didn't happen with the Violet series. Violet's voice stayed the same, though her character changed and learned how to fight for what she believed in, which I liked.

Right now, I'm reading Violet in Private, the third book in the Violet series, by Melissa Walker. I'm roughly around the forth or fifth chapter, and things are getting good. I HAVE TO FIND OUT IF ROGER STILL LOVES VIOLETTTT! I mean, seriously. Melissa Walker left that hanging from the second book and I have to find out now or I'm going to die!

I'm also reading The Second Summer of the Sisterhood. I read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and I loved it, but I never got around to reading the second one. It's been sitting on my shelf forever, I've just never gotten to it. I'm on around the forth or fifth chapter, so maybe I'll finish that one this week.

Uhm... I'm reading Chill by Deborah Reber, too. This book is amazing. I got it for Pulse IT, and I couldn't wait to read it. I stress myself out wayyyy too much. For instance, the day I got the book it was the day before final exams, and I was home sick because i stressed myself out too much. The book is all about stress relieving tricks, which I need greatly

Also, still reading Slaughterhouse Five for history. I have to read it by Monday. I just don't know if I like it or not at this point...

Am I really the only one who has to read books over the summer for school? You guys are all lucky. My history teacher is going to make us write papers about the books, too... yay. (Note sarcasm.) Oh well, I signed up for the AP class, I should be able to handle the work.

hope.

Teen Tuesday- First Edition (The Story Siren)

This is my first edition of Teen Tuesday. What is Teen Tuesday you may ask? Well, Teen Tuesday is a place for readers of Young Adult literature to interact with other YA readers. If you think you would like to join Teen Tuesday, simply send an email to teentuesday@yahoo.com with your request.

I hate to admit this but I’m kind of nervous. I don’t have the eloquence of some writers, so I’m hoping you’ll find this at least bearable to read. It’s easy for me to write a review, since I’m basically just writing what I think. I’m really hoping my writing will be up to par with the other ladies of Teen Tuesday.

My young adult reading week has been lacking. The main reason of that being I was on vacation for most of the week and for once reading wasn’t on my priority list. I did finish Miss Educated: An Upper Class novel on the two-hour plane ride home. And then on the following day I picked up Off Campus the next novel and finished that. You can find my reviews for both below.

Is anyone else a fast reader? I mean I’m not a really fast reader by any means, but on a good day I can read up to three or four books. I didn’t realize I was a fast reader until around the seventh grade. I had a wonderful Language Arts teacher, Mr. Stafanski, we called him Mr. S. He never doubted or questioned my fast reading capabilities. Instead when I would finish the assigned reading and my fellow classmates would still be engrossed in the text, actually most of them were probably goofing off, Mr. S. would notice my wandering eyes. He would often have a short story for me to read afterward and then he would ask my opinions on the reading. I remember one of the short stories I read called, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. If you haven’t read it you should, very thought provoking, maybe too provoking for a seventh grader, but Mr. S. didn’t think so. I remember staying after class that day discussing my thoughts and I remember the huge smile on Mr. S’s face as I left the classroom. If only my joy of reading and writing hadn’t been mutilated my freshman year, things might have been different. Okay, that’s enough insight into my life for one day, on with the post.

So, like I mentioned before, my young adult reading week was interrupted. I did however, have a book in the mail waiting for me when I got home. It was from an author I’ve never heard of, F. Paul Wilson. Has anyone heard of him? Apparently he is a New York Times Best-selling Author, but does anyone really pay attention to that? I know I don’t. I mean I’m excited when I see my favorite authors on there, but it’s not the place I go when I want to know if a book is worth reading or not. Anyway, I have this book now, and it’s called Jack: Secret Histories. I guess it is the spin-off of an adult series. Has anyone read The Repairman Jack Novels?

Currently I’m reading Must’ve Done Something Good by Cheryl Cory, which isn’t a young adult novel at all, but an adult novel. I promised Cheryl awhile ago that I would read it but it just now came up in my reading pile. I’ve only finished the first chapter so I don’t have much to say about it. My review pile is actually waning, I only have seven books in it, which is quite pathetic, but I have twenty something books that I’ve bought, that I have yet to read, so I guess I can pick some of those up.

Well I think that is it. I actually made it through. If you made it this far, it must not have been that bad, but I won’t go as far to say that you enjoyed it. Thanks for sticking with me.

-Kristi

Teen Tuesday - First Edition [Hope].

I've read lots of good books in the past week. I haven't been able to read as much as I wanted to, even though it is summer, however. I have a good excuse - it's my brother's birthday so we had to clean the house for his party. :p

I have read This Lullaby by the great and wonderful Sarah Dessen, though, and absolutely LOVED it. :) I had only heard great things about it and it definitely didn't disappoint me. The only thing it made me want was a boyfriend as sweet as Dexter that would sing me songs and play the guitar! :)

After reading This Lullaby, I read Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway. I had heard mixed reviews of this book and didn't know what I was going to think of it, but I loved it to death. I actually want to go and re-read it right now. Again. After I just finished it yesterday. After reading Audrey, Wait! it made me really want a guy like James who didn't care if my ex-boyfriend wrote a song about me that just-so-happened to make me famous. And that he didn't mind that the paparazzi would raid us on our dates and make us get stuck in a music store manager's office...

Which is going to lead me to a little rant here: Why are guys in books so much better than the ones in real life? I mean, come on. Would someone like Dexter, a disorganized musician in a band, in real life be attracted to a Remy, organized and a control freak? Uhm. Probably not. So why do guys in books have to be so much better?! I want a guy from a book. Now. If someone finds one, please send him to me! :p lol.

But, anywho, I'm trying to get through A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray right now. I've heard lots of great things about it, but I haven't been able to get into to too good. I'm around page one hundred and fifty -- does it get better from here? I'm going to try and finish it - I hate when I don't finish a book - but I just can't get into it. It's odd.

I'm also reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr (who also wrote Cat's Cradle) for my history class. I'm in the AP class and we meet three times over the summer. We're reading two novels - Slaughterhouse Five and 1984 by George Orwell. Have any of you read these? If so, what did you think of them?

What is on everybodys summer reading lists? Do you have required reading for school? Most of you are probably anxiously awaiting Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in the Twilight series. I know I am. Only fifty-one more days. :))

And I do realize there are no pictures on here like Chelsie and Megan have, and I do apologize. There will be pictures next week. I just have to get to sleep -- I'm failing asleep writing this. :/

hope.

Teen Tuesday - The First Edition [Megan]

It has been a very fruitful young adult week for me. Since last Tuesday I have finished 6 books. All of them young adult!

One in particular caught my interest the most. It wasn't the best or the most entertaining (in all reality it kept putting me to sleep), but I was so curious to learn how it came about. The Goose Girl was Shannon Hale's first published book and also the first one I have ever read.

Did you know that "The Goose Girl" was a fairy tale written by the Grimm brothers? You can click here to read it, but I wouldn't recommend doing so unless you have already read the book. Growing up, "The Goose Girl" was one of Hale's favorite fairy tales. Her mother used to read to out her out of a large book of fairy tales. I find the image that makes in my mind completely enchanting.

Where did Shannon Hale's concept for doing adapted fairy tale come from? I have always been interested in adapted and altered fairy tales. The first one I read was Ella Enchanted and I was curious to know if it has been in some way an inspiration to Hale in her writing. For me it seemed so obvious to me that there could be not other book that would serve as inspiration. But of course there was; Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin Mckinley was the true inspiration for The Goose Girl, and has now made it to the top of my books I want to search out and read pile. Which is interesting because it is an imaginary pile.

The Goose Girl was an interesting read for me. I expected to love it and I just didn't... One of the reasons Hale picked this fairy tale was that she felt the story left too many questions unanswered. But in her quest to answer these questions I often felt that she put too many words on the page. The character of the goose girl well was crafted. She was both likable and believable. But the story did drag at moments, especially at the end. The characters were traveling but the prose was not. It was just as long as the previous, more static parts of the book and dampened the action and movement toward the end of the book.

Even though I was not overly impressed with the book, in the end I did like it. And I am interested in reading the other two books in the series. I know there are a lot of Shannon Hale fans out there. I am curious to know why they like her so much? It isn't that I dislike her, but I didn't feel like there as anything spectacular here. There were parts of the book where the words were lovely, where the writing was powerful with emotion. But I simply wasn't overwhelmed but the power of her writing nor her ability to tell a story.

Before I move on I would like to take a moment to share with you all a picture of Shannon with her two children. They are sharing a book in much the same way as I imagine Shannon's mother doing with her and her siblings.

And, in conclusion, I am just going to list the rest of the books I have finished in the past week since brevity is not my strong suit (see above!)

Have you read any or all of these? I would love to know what you think! Leave me a comment or if you feel like it write a Teen Tuesday post of your own!

Teen Tuesday, First Edition [Chelsie]

Welcome to my first Teen Tuesday blog post! (can you tell I’m excited? eek!)

This week has been quite an interesting week, reading-wise. I could honestly say that in the past week I’ve read more books than I’d read the previous two or three weeks combined. I guess that’s just how it is with me... for awhile I’ll go through books like lightning and then I’ll slow down and stick with the same book for a week.

But enough about my unpredictable reading habits. That’s not what this blog is about. This blog is about young adult books... so here we go.

Last week I officially became re-obsessed with the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristen Cast. I read the first book in the series, Marked, last month and I have no idea why I didn’t read the second and third right away... I absolutely LOVED the first one. It was fast-paced and funny and highly addictive... And the second and third books were JUST like the first. Just as fast-paced, just as funny, and just as addictive... maybe even more. But now I realize that I should have waited until late summer to read these... because now I have to wait until September for the fourth book!

And it’s just my luck that the third book ended off with an evil cliffhanger.

Anyways, I finished Chosen (the third book) on Saturday during a huge series of thunderstorms.

I think I'm falling in love with Vampire books. I first started falling love when I read Twilight (I mean, who didn't?) but now I'm really in love... Anyone have any suggestions for other good vampire books?

And then on Sunday I started (and finished) Jump the Cracks by Stacy DeKeyser. You can read my review here, but I will try to quickly summarize how I felt... Obviously it was a quick read, and while it wasn’t perfect, I felt there really was some sort of substance to it that is lacking with other novels. So basically, I thought it was great.

Currently, I’m reading Fireworks by Niki Burnham, Erin Haft, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle. It’s a book with four short stories in it, all pertaining to summer. I’ve been saving this book for awhile, because I thought it’d be perfect to read when it finally started feeling like summer... and it has! Finally, after what seemed to be the longest winter ever, I can feel the summer!

So what type of books do you think make good summer books? Or what type of books do you think make good books, period? I'd like to know, so feel free to leave a comment and share!

-Chelsie-