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Where She Went Giveaway Results!

April 15, 2011

I am super excited to announce the winner of my FIRST EVER book giveaway!

So, without further ado, the winner of the amazingly fantastic Where She Went by Gayle Forman is . . .

*drumroll*

Entry #4, Annie! Congrats Annie!! I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did! 🙂

Winner was picked at random via the website random.org

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TGIF: I Want to Go to There

April 15, 2011

The sun is shining. Birds are singing. There’s a nice breeze blowing. AND ITS FRIDAY! *does happy dance*


In addition to this exceptionally gorgeous day, Ginger over at GReads! has asked an exceptionally fun question:

 If you could live in any fictional setting in a story, where would you go?

My immediate response to this is Hogwarts from Harry Potter. 

I mean, who in their right mind WOULDN’T want to go there? It’s all castley, and magicy, and secret passageway-y, and awesome. But, then, I thought to myself “Self, you can come up with a better answer than Hogwarts.” (Which isn’t true. Hogwarts is the best. But I can come up with other alternate fictional settings I’d want to live in.) So! Let’s say that I can’t go to Hogwarts, for some God-forsaken reason. Here is my other choice for the fictional setting I’d like to live in. 


*thinks*


Camelot. 

Think about it: Knights. Round Tables. Wizards. Epic Battles. (We won’t think about the parts where people died a lot and didn’t bathe very often…k? K.) KING ARTHUR. Yeah. I think Camelot would be awesome to see in all its medieval glory. 

So what have we learned about me today, reader? That I like castles. 🙂


Now, what about youuuuuu? Tell me all about the fictional setting you’d love to visit and have a fantastic Friday!!



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Waiting on Wednesday: The Name of the Star

April 13, 2011
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Title: The Name of the Star
Author: Maureen Johnson
Publisher: Putnam (Penguin Teen)
Pub Date: September 29, 2011

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago. 

Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn’t notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.–Goodreads


Alright, y’all. There’s something you need to know about me: I’m obsessed with serial killers. I think they’re horrifying and deranged and awful, but also truly, intensely fascinating. I read a good amount of true crime, I own every season of Dexter, and I’m pretty sure that if I could go back and re-do undergrad, I’d be a criminology major. Needless to say, I find Jack the Ripper obscenely interesting. 


Keep that in the back of your mind for a moment. 


Now consider my love for miss Maureen Johnson. I think she’s lovely and funny and wicked-smart. I’ve liked all of her books thus far, but I’ve never necessarily been in love with them. I’m pretty sure The Name of the Star is going to be the book to change that. 


I know that sounds premature, but I’m serious. This book has everything I like! Boarding school? Check. London setting? Check. Southern female MC who is named after a Gilmore Girls character? Check. Serial killer(s)? Check. Yep. That’s everything. The only thing that could POSSIBLY make it better is if there was an adorable puppy in it. Or a Mr. Darcy appearance. (OMG! What if Mr. Darcy’s ghost were the serial killer?! Has someone written that Pride & Prejudice spin-off yet?! Because I would READ IT.) 


Anyway. This book seriously sounds like it is all kinds of up my alley. I would make the claim that I somehow divinely inspired it, but who are we kidding here. What I can tell you with a very large amount of certainly is that I will pimp the hell out of the book for the next few months. Be prepared readers. I will brainwash you to the point that you will pre-order this sucker seven different times. *smiles over tented fingers* 


Now go about the rest of your Wednesday-business, after you tell me all about the books you’re not-so-patiently waiting on.  


Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

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Top 10 Tuesday: Books I Want to See as Movies

April 12, 2011

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely, lovely ladies over at The Broke and The Bookish. The topic du semaine this time around is the books I want to see as movies. This was actually a little more difficult than I thought it would be, because the first five books that jumped to my mind are already in development to be films! So I guess that means I have good taste? In that case, “Yo! Movie directors! Make the books listed below into movies, ya dig?” 


I think they do. And hopefully you will too! 

1. Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
This is basically a giant, international scavenger hunt. Like the Amazing Race, but with teenagers. Mostly I want to look at different parts of Europe and the lovely, accented men they have to offer.

2. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
This is one of my faves from my childhood and I so so so want to see it on the big screen. Technically, there is an animated version that came out in the ’70s, but I’ve never seen it. If you have, lemme know if it’s good. Oooohhhh IMBD tells me this is in development for a release in 2013!! Hooray!

3. The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter
I like spies. Especially girl spies. Especially girl spies who have charming boy spies chasing after them. Want to see it. (I believe this has been optioned to be a film…but…that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll happen.)

4. You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin
In my review of this, I actually compare it to Brick, a fantastic teenage-centric film noir. But, I think You Killed Wesley Payne is different enough from Brick that it would stand on its own. And there really need to be more contemporary films noirs. At least, IMHO.

5. Vixen by Jillian Larkin
1920s Chicago? I’m in. Bonus: Marcus Eastwood.

6. Paper Towns by John Green
I know this one pops up on, like, every list I make, but I love it so. And c’mon. You know you want to see a house decorated in solely black Santas.

7. Angelfire by Courtney Alison Moulton
I don’t think society will ever get enough of stories about hot teens and demons/angels, and I think Angelfire would be WAY better than a lot of movies in the genre that have come out recently. Plus, it’s a little reminisent of Buffy. I like Buffy. And I like this book. LET’S MAKE THIS A MOVIE, PEOPLE!

8. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Alright, I know people intensely love The Mortal Instruments, and I do too, but I actually prefer The Infernal Devices. And since we all already know that City of Bones is being made into a movie, I figure, why not go ahead and start on Clockwork Angel?

9. Geek Fantasy Novel by E. Archer
This book is so much fun! (My review will be up sooooon.) It’s a little bit coming of age, a little bit fantasy, it’s super smart and super funny and I think it would translate well to the film if done in a sort of Monty Python storytelling kind of way. Does that make sense? If not, GO READ IT. Then you will understand.

10. Falling in Love with English Boys by Melissa Jensen
I really don’t know if this would translate to film well or not because of the narrative shifts between the present and the 1800s, but I think it’d be fun to see! Also, it’s set in London. I’ll see pretty much anything set in London.

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Review: Anna and the French Kiss

April 11, 2011
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Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publisher: Dutton Books (Penguin Teen)
Release Date: December 2, 2010
Pages: 384
Format: Purchased

I bought Anna and the French Kiss on a whim. I’d heard it was really cute, and it’s set in France, and Stephanie Perkins has blue streaks in her hair; all of those things combined sounded pretty good to me, so I said “What the hell,” and just bought the book before I’d read it. This probably doesn’t seem like a big deal to some of you, but for me it’s a huge deal. I typically only buy a book if it’s a) by an author I super like or b) I’ve read it before and know that I like it.
Lucky for me, I’m glad I bought the book.
Despite the sort of confusing, but cute title, Anna and the French Kiss isn’t really about kissing. (I mean, there is kissing, but it’s not the focus of the book.) The plot is that Anna Oliphant, a fairly typical American girl, is suddenly yanked out of her fairly typical American life and sent to boarding school in Paris. She is upset by this. I did not understand that reaction. I would have been jumping for freakin’ joy. But, I’ve always been a Francophile and don’t understand those who aren’t. Anyway, she’s shipped off to Paris, and then the book follows her throughout her senior year, adjusting to life in France. (le sigh)
During Anna’s first lonely night in the dorm, she ends up befriending her neighbor and is adopted by her group of friends, which includes the French-British-American guy with a girlfriend, Étienne St. Clair. Anna and St. Clair become fast friends, and Anna grapples with what her real feeling about him are–Is he just a friend? Is she in love with him? Does it even matter since a) he has a girlfriend, and b) they’ll both be headed to college next year? Although that sounds a little cloying, I promise you it is not. In fact, it’s a surprisingly realistic portrayal of senior year, despite the oh-so romantic location.
Sooo let’s talk about the eponymous Anna. She is a main character (MC) that I actually really, really like. Many times, I find myself sort of bored with MCs, and liking the supporting characters much more. I’m not sure why this is, but it is. However, that was not at all the case with Anna. She’s a female character who is funny, smart, confident, and career-oriented. She’s not perfect by any means, but she’s someone who felt real.
In fact, I think Perkins did an amazing job when writing all of the characters in keeping them feeling like people the reader could actually meet and know in real life. I deeply appreciate that all of the characters have flaws, both in physicality and personality. Anna, though described as very pretty, has a large gap between her front teeth and a bleached white streak in her dark hair. (Not that that is unpretty, it’s just not typical of a female MC.) And the love interest, Étienne, is a short dude who is deathly afraid of heights. Although these are little details, they really made the characters memorable for me.
Another part of the book that really resonated with me was when Anna returned to the States for Christmas break and realized just how much she had changed since going to Paris. If you’ve ever studied abroad or gone to camp or to college or had any kind of experience that was pivotal in your life, and then tried to share that with your family and friends who haven’t experienced that, you’ll know exactly what I mean by this–it’s that moment where you’re desperately trying to make them understand just how great a story is or how amazing these new people in your life are, and it just isn’t translating. Perkins did an AMAZING job in capturing this and I felt that those chapters were when I really decided to like the book.
Despite the fact that I really enjoyed this, I did feel that it ran a little too long–not that I was ever bored with the book, but I remember thinking, “Okay. This book could go on forever. There’s no end in sight!” And this is a REALLY minute thing, but it really bothered me that Anna, an aspiring film critic, had no idea that Paris is the city where film criticism was born. I know that most 17-year-olds don’t know that, but…still.  You’d think that someone who wants to be a film critic would have at least Wikipedia’ed it? No? I’m being too harsh? Okay. I am mollified.
Overall, this book is delightful and charming and will ignite your wanderlust in a very, very intense way. I was seriously looking up airline prices by the middle of the book. (Le sigh) So if you’re looking for a fun, contemporary read, I wholeheartedly recommend this one. And when the travel bug starts calling your name, let me know–we can be travel buddies!

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