Classic Books Everyone Should Read

When I was an actual young adult (between the ages of 14 and 18), I mostly read classic literature. The longer, the more ponderous, and the more pretentious the tome, the likelier it was I would love it. Seriously, give fifteen-year-old me a nineteenth-century, five-hundred page Russian snoozefest full of winter and wheat and guilt (lots and lots of guilt), and I was perfectly happy. Now that I'm an actual adult (shudder), I read almost nothing but YA. I guess that's a bit backwards, but... WHATEVER.

But I still love me some classics. Even though a lot of classics? They actually SUCK. They're old fashioned. They need editing. They're slow. And a lot of the time they're actually kind of racist and sexist and stuff. Because, obviously, they were written way back in ye olden times, before air conditioning and toothpaste and freedom, and things sucked a lot back then. Except for the clothes.

I'm friends with a LOT of reluctanct readers, sadly. Most of my friends are also young adult snobs who poo poo the "tween" reads (THEIR LOSS, OBVIOUSLY, AND THEY SHALL BE SUMMARILY KEELHAULED AS SOON AS I GET MYSELF A PIRATE SHIP.) So what do I recommend to them when they need to increase their reading repertoire? Some good, healthy classics, of course. These are the ones I love most dearly--not only for being famous, not only because they're necessary reads for being a well-informed indivudual, but because they're just plain GOOD.

Books I recommend to the Classically Challenged But Romantically Inclined:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
If you didn't see this coming, you don't know me. I love all of Jane Austen's work (even parts of Mansfield Park... ish), but the one that's easiest for people who aren't used to reading classics is P&P. It's funny, chatty, sparkly, and bright. There are romantical misunderstandings and zero imagery, plus, you know, Mr. Darcy. So.



A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
I almost put A Christmas Carol on here instead, because it's super short and the first Dickens I read (in second grade, and I didn't understand a word of it, but IT HAD PICTURES), but I couldn't leave Sydney Carton off this list. This book is AWESOME. It's about the French revolution and mistaken identies and super hot misunderstood men and, yes, a bland heroine, but so many THINGS are happening. Definitely one of Dickens' most entertaining reads, for sure. The final scene is a thing of BEAUTY. I could talk about it all day.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
A love story about class and high society, set in New York city at the end of the nineteenth century. It's gorgeous and romantic and wonderful. I also recommend The Custom of the Country, which is probably a more fun book, and advise you to stay as far away from the depressing and dour Ethan Frome as you can get.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Nobody ever remembers poor Anne--of the three writerly Bronte sisters, she is by far the least famous--but I actually like her best. Well, almost. I love Charlotte a whole bunch (read Villette, you guys!), but the less said about my feelings for Wuthering Heights, the better. (Even though it's partially Charlotte's fault Tenant isn't more famous but WE WON'T GET INTO THAT NOW). Anyway, Tenant is an absolutely wonderful book, and it was my conversation with Renae about Gilbert Markham (mmm) that inspired this post. He's definitely one of my book boyfriends.

Classics for the weird people who cannot stand romances between women in petticoats and hot men in breeches, even though that is my favorite genre of things:

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
I have never laughed harder at a war book in my life. I mean, it's a satire, so you're supposed to laugh at it. It's good fun and makes you think at the same time.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
The best war book I have EVER READ. It's about the Vietnam War and is told in vignettes that will shatter your little heart to smithereens. We read it in my eleventh grade English class and I've loved it ever since. It captures the randomness and brutality and ugliness and heart of war so well.

Classics with completely awesome movie/TV adaptations:

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
THIS BOOK. Don't get me started on the swoon-worthy awesome that is this book. A cultured girl from the south of England moves to a dirty factory city in the north and of course all kinds of THINGS happen, like hot mill owners called John Thornton who happen to have Richard Armitage's face.

I'm so hot and handsome and rich, won't someone please marry me?

A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
I put this book on my last Top Ten Tuesday (books about travel) because it's one of my favorites ever. It's cutely romantic, which is rare for a classic and even rarer for Forster. So many "great" books think it's deep to end on this horribly depressing note just to be depressing, but ARWaV is invigorating, romantic, and insightful. Bonus: you get to travel to Florence! And fall in love with hot boys! And the movie is glorious.

Serious Ph.D level classics that will change your life (but require PATIENCE and FOCUS):

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
I love Russian literature, but I can see why it's tough. A bad translation can kill you, they are VERY long and dour and full of suffering, and they talk about their suffering and Christ's agony and the saints a whole bunch. But I like that. C&P starts off with a murder and zooms off from there. It's probably my favorite Russian novel (except for the epilogue. Do yourself a favor and skip it).

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The most beautifully written book in the history of Planet Earth. Yes, the subject matter is a little squicky (it's about a grown man in love with a twelve-year-old girl), but it's a fabulous book. Pedophilia is OBVIOUSLY NOT CONDONED by Nabokov, nor is this book trying to make you condone it. It's just a fantastic book about a messed up guy, a complicated girl, and the most complex language there is. I recommend the annotated version, by the way. It should clear up all confusion on the rich but daunting text.



Books I didn't bother to put on here but that you should read if you haven't because THEY'RE GOOD: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 1984 by George Orwell, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (not a blueprint for a healthy romantic relationship, but Jane herself is awesome).

I have so many other favorites I just can't get to right now, obviously. What are some of your favorite classic novels? Which do you recommend to people? Why ones do you want to get to?

Book Haul (2) and Bookshelf Tour!

So, I'm only just getting the hang of this editing thing, so bear with me. The real star of this video is, of course, my puppy, Ginger. Also you get prizes if you can name every movie I reference in this video (not really, but I'll love you extra). BONUS: you guys get a tour of my bookshelves! Which are nonexistant. So. You'll just have to tune in to see what that means. I include tips on how to stay organized when living in a small space while having way too many books for your own good.



You'll notice I was a GOOD GIRL and did not get any review books this week, because of BEA and trying to be good about space and such. (Ignore the part where I bought things...)

Books mentioned:

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Dualed by Elsie Chapman
Gilt by Katherine Longshore
Golden by Jessi Kirby
The Art of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar
Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Bookish Trends That Need to Die/I Want More Of

AKA, Gillian is a Negative Nancy once again and doesn't give a damn

Abusive douchebucket love interests
I think this one pretty much speaks for itself, doesn't it? I love me some bad boys, but I don't like boys who are actually bad. There's a big difference. Or at least, books who portray bad guys as good guys. I like complex, not black and white characters. But most of the time, these negative characteristics (like being controlling, physically or emotionally abusive, sexist, cold, cruel, secretive, overly protective to the point of being coddling) are romanticized in YA lit. And me no likey.

Protagonists whose whole lives center around their love interests
Again, it speaks for itself. People are complex. They've got siblings, parents, school, friends, dreams, fears, worries. And yes, having a significant other is very important when you're a teen (and... well, any age, really), but it's not all.

Vanishing parents
This is a tricky one for me, since a lot of the time, having no parents in the picture really does help (see: The Hunger Games). But I always find it really refreshing when YA parents actually seem to 1) exist, 2) care about their children, 3) not Disapparate off the page whenever the main character really could use some parental intervention. It's one thing if the book focuses on a strained parent-kid relationship. It's another if the parents just HAPPEN to be WOEFULLY OBLIVIOUS to all the shenanigans afoot right beneath their mustachioed noses (poor Charlie Swan).



Stereotypes
It's hard to avoid them completely, obviously--sometimes the plot really does require a mean girl-- but why not make the mean girl a geek instead of a cheerleader? Poor? Not blonde?

Unrealistic teenage sex
I think it's realistic for teenagers in to books to have sex. It's realistic for them not to. But it's NOT realistic for a teenager's first time to be mind-blowing and coordinated and awesome. No, most likely you'll be like Seth and Summer, and someone will get kneed in the leg or fall off the bed and afterward you'll both just stare at the ceiling, hoping it will fall down on you. 

 

Angels
I'm not a huge angel fan to begin with, and I think this trend has passed its high point. There are some (a few? one or two?) really good angel books, but the vast majority really don't do it for me.

Instalove
I wrote a whole other long, rant-y, gif-tastic post on the subject of instalove. I like to root for romances I can believe in, that have some emotional foundation. I refuse to believe you're willing to give your life for someone who you only just made eye contact with. I don't care if angels sang and the sky became a rainbow  and every possible synonym for "fiery" was used to describe your body at the moment of said eye contact. You're not in love yet.

Greek mythology
 Let me be clear here: I LOVE Greek mythology. I read and memorized the D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths the summer after fifth grade when I went to Greece. The cover fell OFF because I read it so much. And there continue to be lots and lots of great Greek myth-inspired books out there (Everneath, Antigoddess, The Percy Jackson series, etc.). But there really is quite a lot of it out there. Let's go for Egyptian gods, or Norse, or Mayan, or Indian, or anywhere else for a little big. Zeus and Co. will always be there to return to.



Whitewashing/heteronormativity
The world is a diverse place. I love when books accurately reflect that.


The trends everyone expects to be on these type of lists but that I'm only going to sort of include:

Love triangles just for the sake of a love triangle

You may remember I wrote a post in defense of love triangles a little while ago, because I actually think when deployed correctly (key phrase), they can be awesome. They're good for personifying a conflict in a main character. Do I roll my eyes a bit every time I read a synopsis that hints at a love triangle? Yes, I do, but who knows-- it might be one of the good ones. So while I wish this weren't really a trend anymore, and didn't pop up in every single book I read, I still like love triangles. SUE ME. 



Vampires
Am I inclined to pick up vampire books nowadays? No sirree. Am I a huge vampire fan to begin with? NO. But I'm also obsessed with The Vampire Diaries TV show and I just started The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black and it's kind of crazy awesome. So I'm all for vampires as long as it's something new or done really well.

And now for the trends I want MORE of!

Retellings
I never get sick of retellings. Retellings of fairy tales, classic novels, folk tales, you name it--I love seeing new spins on old stories.

New Adult
The more New Adult books that get written, the better and more clearer the category will become. As a New Adult myself who just read and LOVED Faking It by Cora Carmack, I think this can only be a good thing.

What trends are you sick of/can't get enough of?

Review: The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller

Review: The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Goodreads
Release date: May 7th, 2013
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Rating: Cute, summer-y nerd fun! Perfect for if you need a dose of adorable in your life, and if you yourself are a closet (or not-so-closet) nerd.



On the outside, seventeen-year-old Madelyne Summers looks like your typical blond cheerleader—perky, popular, and dating the star quarterback. But inside, Maddie spends more time agonizing over what will happen in the next issue of her favorite comic book than planning pep rallies with her squad. That she’s a nerd hiding in a popular girl's body isn’t just unknown, it's anti-known. And she needs to keep it that way.

Summer is the only time Maddie lets her real self out to play, but when she slips up and the adorkable guy behind the local comic shop’s counter uncovers her secret, she’s busted. Before she can shake a pom-pom, Maddie’s whisked into Logan’s world of comic conventions, live-action role-playing, and first-person-shooter video games. And she loves it. But the more she denies who she really is, the deeper her lies become…and the more she risks losing Logan forever.


The cover: I actually am slightly disappointed with this cover. I want it to be nerdier, like maybe showing a girl half in cosplay, half in a cheerleading uniform, or something? I don't know, this is why they don't ask me to design covers. Also, her legs are Barbie-levels of shiny.

The story: I desperately needed something light and funny, and this book definitely delivered. I giggled and swooned my way through this whole book, even if it's not the most entirely realistic thing on earth Aren't nerds cool, now? I mean, I didn't grow up in a football-centric, small Southern town (far from it), but I did think Maddie's paranoia about people finding out she loved comic books and the like was a little exaggerated. I liked that it was rooted in one traumatic, mortifying instance--it made it more realistic-- but still.



Is most of it much ado about nothing? Sure. Could the whole cetral conflict of the book have been solved by one good honest conversation somewhere around page twenty-five? Sure. BUT WHO CARES? There's cuteness afoot. And Maddie learns all her lessons, and it's a joy to behold.

But obviously, that's not the best part of this book. What I loved about this book is that it went somewhere few YA books ever go. This book, to bastardize John Green, tapped into YA's most underutilized romantic resource: the nerdboy.



Since I really do think Seth Cohen is my soul mate, suffice it to say I am a BIG FAN of the nerdboy. And Logan Scott is the cutest, sweetest, sexiest nerdboy that I ever did see. He's so not the typical YA love interest. He smiles unabashedly. He blushes all the way to his ears. He's enthusiastic, a crap dancer, and an afficionado of all things geek. AND I HEART HIM. He's not as snarky as Seth, but he's really cutely endearing. I spent so much of this book going, "Kiss, damn it, kiss the nerd boy, Maddie, just KISS HIM, damn it", because obviously Logan is the best and I want him for my own.

There was a bit of a Seth and Summer storyline (popular girl ashamed of the nerdboy she loves), but more than being ashamed of Logan, Maddie is ashamed of herself. And we've all been there, haven't we? I know I've got TONS of really nerdy obsessions I've had to hide from people so they don't think I'm a freak. And, again, while Maddie's fear of being discovered is a bit over the top, it's pretty easy to relate to (to an extent-- eventually you reach the point of the book where you're like MADDIE JUST WOMAN UP ALREADY).

DO IT. He's Seth Cohen Logan and he's totally worth it! Nerdboys are worth it.

I think the strength of this book was the characters. Maddie is a really fun and funny narrator. Logan's best friend, the brash, crude, dorky Dan, is the BEST. I wish we'd gotten to know I wish we'd gotten to know Maddie's cheerleader best friend,Terra, a bit better. Ditto Maddie's parents, though I liked the glimpses of them I got. The whole book could have used a little more depth (it clocks in at around 273 pages, which means it's well-paced, but some plot lines aren't done justice).

The book builds to an awesome and dramatic showdown that I loved. I loved submersing in the totally awesome world of LARP (Live Action Role Playing). WHY DIDN'T I KNOW ABOUT THIS AS A TEENAGER?! Basically all the teens and college students dress up as fantasy characters with really intense backstories and do all kinds of awesome things I can't even begin to describe. But it sounds fun.



Not only is the writing funny, breezy, cute, and charming, but it's peppered with nerd references (lots of Harry Potters, a few Doctor Whos, several Princess Brides, and some Star Wars, to name a few. Collect them all and you win a prize!). Maddie knew her stuff, is what I'm saying. There were also tons of comic book references, obviously, for those whose nerdtastes incline in that direction.

The book isn't perfect, of course. The humor wanes a bit in the second half, which is not as delightful as the the first, and I started to grow impatient with Maddie. But I still loved her, flaws and all, and there was LOGAN. In the end, this was a perfect summer read, which is very high praise indeed.

NEW FEATURE: Reader's Choice!

Yay! I'm starting a new thing! This feature is inspire by the awesome Christina's Sadie Hawkins feature, where she gets her readers to request things for her to review. She bugged me about it (for about half a second) until I caved and decided to implement my own! So, starting now, you guys can let me know what books you'd like to see me review! You can ask for good books you know I'll know, great books you HOPE I'll love, in-between books you're just not sure about, and even ghastly steaming turd piles you hope I tear to shreds. You can request ANYTHING.

There's no guarantee I'll be able to get to every request made, but I'll certainly do my best. Have fun! (Be kind. OR DON'T)

Wait, someone is totally going to request Fifty Shades of Grey or something, aren't you? Dang it.

Review: Faking It by Cora Carmack

Review: Faking It by Cora Carmack
Goodreads
Release date: June 7th, 2013
Publisher: William Morrow & Company (HarperCollins)
Rating: SWOON.

 

Mackenzie “Max” Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice, wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he’s kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they’re forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.


The cover: Eh. It's romance-y and cute enough. They made a game attempt at showing Max's tattoo and dyed hair, but it's not really enough.

The story: MY GOD, do I love this book. Cora Carmack is, to me, everything that's RIGHT with the emerging New Adult genre (and this book is most definitely new adult-- a warning for those who like their books pure and squeaky clean). Faking It focuses on characters, and the plot is derived from those characters and their flaws. But oh, yeah, it just so happens to be SMOKING HOT and wildly romantic. Which works for me.




I read and loved Losing It a long time ago, so I knew I loved Carmack's funny, charming, easy style. But to me, Faking It was even better. The characters are punchier, rawer, and overflowing with personality. I did not want to put this book down. It focuses on Max and Cade, who, if you read the synopsis, start to fake a relationship for her family's sake. But this one form of "faking it" leads them to realize all the other myriad ways they're "faking" their own lives--faking being over their pasts, faking fearless, faking a lot of things.

There's a surprisingly amount of depth in this book. Max and Cade both deal with a lot of emotions, and therefore we do, too. I like a book that manages to balance the lighter, flirtier, sexier stuff with a real emotional journey. Also, this book switches first person POVs between Max and Cade, which I'm always super skeptical about (it's REALLY hard to pull off), but which I think works really well here.

Cade: Perfect boy is perfect. And yes, sometimes that can lead to perfectly bland, but oh, Cade is one of the best sincerely good characters I've ever read about. I loved him (and pitied him) in Losing It, and I loved him even more in Faking It. I'm not sure how Carmack managed to give him so much personality, but she did. Sweet, sexy Cade made me laugh like a hundred times.

Max: MAX IS AWESOME. She's one hundred percent the opposite of Bliss (and absolutely nothing like me, which I LOVE). Simply put, she's a bad-ass. She's damaged, she's bold, she's tattooed, she's a singer in the band, and she's fully, one hundred percent aware that she's a fuck-up. She's pretending to be something she's not so that she won't upset her crazy conservative parents--and so they won't cut her off. Which means she definitely can't introduce them to Mace, who is pierced, tattooed, and usually chemically enhanced. (What I love about Max is she's totally above drugs.) Enter Cade, the preppy-perfect guy her parents always dreamed she'd find, and one hundred percent not Max's type.

OR IS HE?

Max + Cade:

 
 CHEMISTRY, man. Chemistry. These two characters make so much sense for each other I don't even know what to say. Not just physically, either--emotionally, they are a really healthy match, and it's totally swoony and awesome to watch them figure each other out. The emotional obstacles blocking their way to twue wuv are totally natural and justifiable and don't feel author-manufactured. Basically, I shipped them hardcore.

If I were to pick any nits I'd say chapter 27 should have been about fifty pages longer, and Milo the Mexican friend was a little too wise and convenient. And a little annoying. But obviously, if you like swoony romance, a fun time, and laughs galore, I DEFINITELY recommen you check out Faking It. Also, I met the author at BEA, and she was super charming and totally worth standing in line for for about 1234567654 hours. So yay!

Twitterquette

Or, How to Behave Like a Fully Developed Member of Society While on Social Media



When I first got on Twitter, I though it was the coolest dang thing in the world that all these formerly inaccessible authors were just right there. I could talk to them! I could let them know how much I loved them! And sometimes they even interact back, like we're all the same carbon-based life forms inhabiting the very same planet or utilizing the very same interwebs or something. It's just mind-boggling. Like when you look in those magazines where they have those Stars: They're People Too! sections. "OH MY GOD. Jennifer Aniston buys coffee?! I buy coffee. That is just... nuts."

But there's an illusion on social media that, because you can't see the person on the other end of an interaction, they're not a real person. This problem is only compounded when you throw fame into the mix. Our culture sees people of notoriety as public property. You think because you know who that author or actor or singer is--know what they look like, sound like, write like-- they must know you, too. They owe you something. They're not really people who get tired or maybe don't want to respond to all 450 @replies they just received.

Most of the time, Twitter is an awesome place for fans and authors and bookish people to interact.
Most people, I'm delighted to say, keep it pretty respectful on Twitter when it comes to authors. But lately I've seen a lot of instances where the denizens of the Twitterverse have flouted the rules of common decency (and common sanity). Here are a few quick and dirty Twitter lifestyle tips to keep our favorite social network a fun and happy place.

DO NOT tweet an author the same message over fifty times. Yes. I saw a person do this. I've seen several people do this. And I know it was over fifty times, because this person very conveniently numbered each tweet. I won't show the actual tweet, but it was very similar to this:

HI @VeryPopularAuthor! I love you but you never notice me! PLEASE respond :) -45
HI @VeryPopularAuthor! I love you but you never notice me! PLEASE respond :) -46
HI @VeryPopularAuthor! I love you but you never notice me! PLEASE respond :) -47



CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT THAT MUST BE LIKE IN YOUR FEED. It doesn't matter how much you love an author, that's harassment. Seriously, I would cry.



DO NOT get angry or hurt if authors don't respond. I'm sure they've got a LOT of people tweeting at them. Just because they don't respond, it doesn't mean they hate you.

DO NOT demand things of authors. "Please reply!!!" "PLEASE read this book!" "You HAVE to do X and Y and Z." Nobody owes you anything on the internet (unless you are a banker and dealing with a client or something who literally owes you things. But pshh, like any of us are bankers). On the other hand, it's perfectly okay to jokingly wail at authors, "You MUST kill off that wretched second love interest because he's clearly interfering with my ship", because you're not really expecting them to obey you (and if you are, tighten those screws a bit).

 

DO show genuine enthusiasm for an author's work. I'm not an author, but I can see how happy it makes a lot of them to know readers are passionate about their books and characters. Let them know how awesome you think their stories are!

DO NOT beg for authors (or anyone, for that matter) to follow you back. Nobody should feel pressured to follow anybody, and you should never feel it's your right for someone you don't know--particularly someone well known-- to follow you. I've seen people get really insistent about it with authors and it is magnificently creepy.



DO let authors know their books are giving you all the feels. They should know how they make us suffer (in a Ron Weasley "You're gonna suffer, but you're gonna be happy about it" way). They love that. It means they have power.

DO NOT TROLL AUTHORS. Don't be nasty. Don't say mean things about them or their books to them. Lord knows there are books I hate, but there are NO authors I hate as people. Because remember-- they're people. And I've never @replied an author with a link to a negative review, nor have I ever tweeted an author a negative opinion about his or her book. Be polite about things. Be positive. Don't go out of your way to ruin someone's day. It really is an actual human being at the end of that Twitter handle.

DO NOT ask intrusive personal questions. "Hey @VeryPopularAuthor, how's your day going?" GOOD. "Hey @VeryPopularAuthor, are you SURE you're actually straight?" BAD. "Hey @VeryPopularAuthor, I saw it was your birthday today! Happy birthday!" GOOD. "Hey @VeryPopularAuthor, your ass looks so damn fine in that photo I took of you with my telephoto lens." BAD.



So you see, the rules are actually pretty simple. At the end of the day, Twitter is a social forum, and it's meant for socializing! Interact away! But just because you're on the internet doesn't mean you should interact in a way that would seem uncomfortable in real life. If you wouldn't say it to their face, DON'T say it to their Twitter handle. Because ultimately, we all read our Twitter handles with our faces. So it's pretty much like you did.

These rules can also be used when interacting with bloggers, agents, publishers, celebrities of any kind, and even total nobodies! Tweet kindly and responsibly, kids. It's good for your skin.

What Twitter codes have you seen broken before? What rules do you always try to follow?

Final BEA Book Haul Vlog and CROWN OF MIDNIGHT Giveaway!

Here it is, the last of my BEA videos, featuring, yet again, the awesome Lili from Lili's Reflections! (Also, I'm sorry for the Effie Trinket impression. Really, deeply sorry.)

Day One's Haul
Day Two's Haul

OH MY GOD why did it choose that frame?! I LOOK DEMENTED. Oh, well. I guess the Gillian-faking-normal ship has long sailed, anyway. (Rory Gilmore: It's probably in Fiji by now.)


Bloggers mentioned:
Shelver from Bookshelver's Anonymous
Epic Reads

Books mentioned:
The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi
Blaze (or Love in the Time of Supervillians) by Laurie Boyle Crompton
The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen
Never Fade Alexandra Bracken
False Sight by Dan Krokos
Twinmaker by Sean Williams
Hereafter by Kate Brian
Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton
Faking It by Cora Carmack
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Pretenders by Lisi Harrison
Charming by Eliott James
The Returned by Jason Mott
Reality Boy by A.S. King (who is female. Which I knew. But forgot.)
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
Wake Up Missing by Kate Messner
Fire with Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

In celebration of my first year at BEA, and my CRAZY HUGE book haul, I'm giving away at least one of my pretty, pretty ARCs! And not just any ARC, but.... CROWN OF MIDNIGHT by Sarah J. Maas! Yes, this is the ridiculously awesome sequel to Throne of Glass. Yes, I have already read and cried over and shouted about Crown of Midnight, because it is just that amazing. What I'm saying is, you NEED a copy, and you need it bad.



Also, if I reach a high number of entries, I may throw in other THINGS. Things you WANT. *waggles eyebrows mysteriously*

Giveaway is US/CA ONLY because I am dead flat broke after BEA. Seriously, you try shipping 70+ books weighing over 50 lbs. three thousand miles. I'm amazed I can afford lunch.

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