Waiting on Wednesday | In Some Other World, Maybe

Oct 8

Waiting on Wednesday

In Some Other World, Maybe • Shari Goldhagen

Book cover In Some Other World, Maybe Shari Goldhagen

 

In December 1992, three groups of teenagers head to the theater to see the movie version of the famed Eons & Empires comic books. For Adam it’s a last ditch effort to connect with something (actually, someone, the girl he’s had a crush on for years) in his sleepy Florida town before he leaves for good. Passionate fan Sharon skips school in Cincinnati so she can fully appreciate the flick without interruption from her vapid almost-friends—a seemingly silly indiscretion with shocking consequences. And in suburban Chicago, Phoebe and Ollie simply want to have a nice first date and maybe fool around in the dark, if everyone they know could just stop getting in the way.Over the next two decades, these unforgettable characters criss-cross the globe, becoming entwined by friendship, sex, ambition, fame and tragedy. A razor-sharp, darkly comic page-turner, In Some Other World, Maybe sheds light on what it means to grow up in modern America.

 

 

 

Getting all GROWN-UP on y’all! I love the sound of this book. I love that it starts with a movie based on comic books, because that appeals to my nerdiness. But I’m also completely intrigued by the span of time IN SOME OTHER WORLD, MAYBE covers. I haven’t even read a single page of this book but I’m already curious about how things turn out for these crazy kids-who-turn-into-adults. BRING IT, SHARI!!

IN SOME OTHER WORLD, MAYBE comes out January 13, 2015 from St. Martin’s Press

In Some Other World, Maybe Shari Goldhagen

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On the Same Page | Landline | Rainbow Rowell

Jun 30

on the same page

Landline • Rainbow Rowell

We were all so stoked to read LANDLINE, friends, that we bumped it up in our monthly schedule when all three of us managed to snag advanced copies. Because RAINBOW. And because reading any of her books, whether they are geared towards young adults or full grown-ups, always have an impact on all three of us.

Book cover Landline Rainbow RowellLANDLINE is about a relationship that is struggling. Rainbow tells amazing stories about relationships, and the one between Georgie McCool (I KNOWWW) and her husband, Neal, is fraying. Georgie writes for a TV comedy and Neal is a stay-at-home dad to their two girls. When Georgie and her long-time friend and writing partner get news of a potential big break right before Christmas, Georgie and Neal’s relationship goes from “just ok” to “MAYDAY! MAYDAY!” Neal heads off with the girls to Nebraska as the family planned, and Georgie stays behind in LA to work on her TV show. Except when she starts spending time in her old bedroom at her mom’s house, she finds an old rotary phone in her closet and uses it to call Neal’s parents’ house to talk to her husband. And THAT’S when things get INTERESTING.

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Filed Under: Adult, On the Same Page, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Book Review | Fangirl | Rainbow Rowell

Oct 15

book cover for fangirl by rainbow rowellTitle: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell (web | twitter)
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon | Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Release date: September 10, 2013
Source: ARC from the publisher via NetGalley (Thanks, St. Martin’s Press!)

Summary: Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , ,

Waiting on Wednesday (27): Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Apr 10

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Fangirl

by Rainbow Rowell

book cover for fangirl by rainbow rowellAmazon | Goodreads

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

Or will she just go on living inside somebody else’s fiction?

DO NOT TEASE ME with this fanfiction story, Rainbow Rowell. DO NOT. As a nerd, that angle appeals to me endlessly. But if ELEANOR & PARK is any indication, Rainbow Rowell knows how to pack an emotional punch, and look at all the goodies jammed into that synopsis: sisters, a mother leaving, not wanting to/being afraid to let go of childhood comforts, being in a new place, boys. But what strikes me the most is that little bit about Cath’s dad. I am an absolute sucker for dad stories. I can’t wait to see what other touching and lovely things Rainbow Rowell gets up to in FANGIRL.

(FANGIRL is coming out on September 10, 2013 from St. Martin’s Press)

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Book Review | Eleanor & Park | Rainbow Rowell

Mar 18

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Eleanor & Park | Rainbow RowellEleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on February 26, 2013
Genres: Contemporary YA, Young Adult
Pages: 328
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

TWO MISFITS. ONE EXTRAORDINARY LOVE. 
It’s 1986 and two star-crossed teens are smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love–and just how hard it pulled you under.

 A cross between the iconic ’80s movie Sixteen Candles and the classic coming-of-age novel Looking for Alaska, Eleanor & Park is a brilliantly written young adult novel.

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Filed Under: 2013 Reading Challenge, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , , ,

Book Review | Tempest | Julie Cross

Jan 26

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Tempest | Julie CrossTempest by Julie Cross
Series: Tempest #1
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on January 17, 2012
Genres: Contemporary YA, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: the publisher
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.
That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.
Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.
But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.
Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

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Filed Under: 2012 Reading Challenge, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,