Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

My podcast co-host and fellow book blogger, Allison, and I were having such a wonderful discussion about this book last night. She looks at books by her favorite authors as an opportunity to sit down and spend some time with the author you adore. You may not madly adore every book, but it is always fun to spend time with the author on a new adventure. I really like that way of looking at things. It’s such a lovely thought, isn’t it?

I’ll be honest, this is not my favorite Shannon Hale book (I mean, how could anything possibly beat “The Goose Girl”?!), but I had a wonderful time. I loved the first Austenland book (I have re-read it a couple times. The romance is just so cute and you guys know I’m an Austenaholic. Here’s a picture for proof.

(This photo was actually taken in the old BBC offices in North Hollywood. I used to work for them! This is from Halloween 2007.)

“Midnight in Austenland” is a fun little mystery full of Regency goodness. In this book, we meet Charlotte. The top of the book is a fast paced, tongue-in-cheek introduction to Charlotte and the life she has lead. She’s a mother of two, quiet, and thought of as “nice”. Just “nice”. Her husband has left her for a woman named Justice and made her life hell. So, she decides to go on a vacation while her kids are spending time with her husband. She ends up getting to go to Pembrooke Park, an exclusive vacation destination where you completely immerse yourself in the Regency time period, including dashing gentlemen to woo you a la Mr. Darcy. Doesn’t that just sound ah-mazing? While she is there, a few mysteries pop up and she finds focus in attempting to solve them, all the while trying to sort the play from reality. Along the way, Charlotte finds a strength within herself she didn’t know she had.

This book is a ton of fun. I adore Ms. Hale’s writing. (You can listen to me geek out getting to interview her on the Authors are ROCKSTARS! podcast.) This book doesn’t have the possible crossover teen appeal that the first one did since our main character is older and a divorcee, but so what? It’s fun and it was the perfect “cheerer upper” I needed. Thanks again, Ms Hale. You rock. For those of you who have read the first one, a few of our favorite characters (and I do mean characters) are back from the first book. For those of you who haven’t, you can jump right in with this one or go get yourself both for some fun, Austen-y goodness.

I also have one copy to giveaway! If you'd like to win a finished copy of this book, just comment on this entry and answer the following - If you could have one Austen gentleman all to yourself, who would it be and why? The winner will be chosen on February 14th! Be sure to include your Twitter ID or e-mail in your comment so I can contact you.

This giveaway is open internationally, but international winners are asked to contribute towards the additional shipping costs. See my contest page for more details.

I was sent a copy of “Midnight in Austenland” to review. It hit bookshelves this week! So go get yourself a copy.

Top Ten Tuesday - What do you have coming up on your list?

I'm trying not to become a regular meme-aholic. However, this week's Top Ten Tuesday is something I spend a lot of time thinking about. I tinker around with my "to-read" shelf on Goodreads.com waaaay more than I'd like to admit. Somedays, I order it by preference. Sometimes, it's my "to review" order. I never can decide! And on days where I go on an adding rampage, it's a whole jumbled mess!

So, today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is to post your Top Ten "to be read" for the Winter. Picking just 10 books was TOUGH, but I think I've got it. Some of these aren't out until spring/summer, so I guess, technically I'm cheating, but the ARCs will be out in the winter. That counts, right?

1. The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare - I'm reading "Clockwork Angel" right now. I seriously cannot believe I didn't read this book immediately when it came out. It is so fun! I love steampunky/Victorian goodness and Clare's books are always so much fun. I am lucky enough to have one of the rare ARCs headed my way courtesy of Michelle Hodkin. I won her Twitter giveaway! :D :D
2. Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay - this book just sounds so sweet. I can't resist it. It's been awhile since I've read a contemporary love story and this one is in verse. I've always been apprehensive about reading books in verse, but I'm going to give it a shot.
3. Tempest by Julie Cross - this book just has my name written all over it. All you have to say is "Time Travel". Come on...what Doctor Who fan isn't a lover of time travel books?
4. Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale - Do I seriously need to explain this to you? SHANNON HALE. 'Nuff said. (BTW, if you haven't listened to her on our podcast, you should go, like, now. She's amazing.)
5. Everneath by Brodi Ashton - I'm normally not a cover girl, but man. This cover has me intrigued. That dress and the mist? I'm already intrigued. As you may know from my reviews of Abandon and The Goddess Test, I love the Persephone myth.
6. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown - Mermaids + Lake Superior. COME ON PEOPLE. You are going to make me broke in 2012!! ;)
7. The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges - This book just sounds different and fascinating. 1800s Russian aristocracy, dangerous secrets, and romance? Mmm mmm.
8. Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer - Okay. I'm cheating. I already read it, but it does come out this winter. It's a fabulous finale to the intense wolfy triology.
9. A Million Suns by Beth Revis - I adored Across the Universe, so I cannot wait to find out what's happening next to Amy & Elder.
10. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows - This book sounds so emotionally powerful. I'll have to make sure it's in between some lighter books. I can already tell that it's going to be a tear jerker.

Phew! Well that's all for me. What is your "to be read" list looking like?

For those of you who are new visitors, be sure to check out big ol' anniversary giveaway page. It just started today! :)

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Go to their blog to join in on the fun.

Authors are ROCKSTARS! featuring SHANNON HALE

I try not to cross promote in here too much because I know you're probably sick of hearing me yammer on and on about how much I love doing the Authors are ROCKSTARS! podcast with Allison. However, I cannot contain myself today. We got to interview SHANNON HALE guys. YES SHANNON FLIPPIN' HALE, Newberry Honor Winning author and all around FABULOUS human being. If you're been following here for awhile, you may remember my review of The Goose Girl and me mentioning that she is one of my favorite authors. So, yeah, I'm pretty psyched. You should go listen! Show Shannon some love and leave a comment! You can also subscribe via iTunes. Let us know what you think. We'd love to hear from you!

Alright, now back to your regularly scheduled review programming... ;o)

Oldie, but a goodie – The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Hey there folks! I thought it’d be fun to start an “oldies but goodies” segment to my blog. As much as I love reading and writing about upcoming young adult releases, I also like to read books that have already been published. I thought it might be fun to also post reviews for these books including some of my absolute favorite YA books of all time. I’ll probably do this once or twice a month. So keep an eye out for it!

Our first “oldie but goodie” book is a novel by one of my favorite YA authors, Shannon Hale. I do not re-read books often since I have so much on my “to read” list already, but “The Goose Girl” is something I pick up every once in a while to read again. This is the book that helped me endure a cross-country trip in a big junky U-Haul truck when I moved from Wisconsin to California. I get carsick pretty easily and I still devoured this book.

The story is a retelling of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale. It follows Ani or you could call her, Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree. When the king dies, Ani is supposed to step up and take the throne, but instead her mother decides to marry her off to a foreign prince. While en route to meet her husband-to-be, her jealous lady-in-waiting, Selia, uses her persuasive abilities to convince the guard to discard Ani and make Selia the new “princess”. Ani now has to figure out a way to survive on her own for the first time and convince the royalty of this foreign land of her true identity, all while trying to make sure she isn’t murdered by the impostor princess Selia. Action, romance, prince and princesses, magical powers, evil doers..."The Goose Girl” has it all!

Alright folks, let’s do this.

• What really attracts me to Shannon Hale’s books is her whimsical writing style. It embraces the world that she’s created which is full of princesses, strange magical powers and tons of incredible adventures. Ms. Hale does a wonderful job setting the tone and feel of the story from the very first page.

• It’s a fun twist on fantasy. It’s fantasy light. This isn’t an epic tale full of sorcerers and magical items. However, some really cool fantasy elements exist that I really enjoyed discovering along the way (new powers are discovered in the sequels).

• The Goose Girl, or Ani, is a wonderful strong female lead. She starts out this story as a pretty helpless princess, but not because she’s whiny or wimpy. She’s just sheltered and naïve. Ani grows throughout the story due to her circumstances and becomes an incredibly well rounded heroine. I love how real she is too. That’s not easy to do in YA fantasy.

• It’s a story about finding out who you are and not worrying so much about fitting in. As someone who had trouble “fitting in” during her high school years, I found I really connected to Ani and her struggles finding out who she really was.

• The love story is adorable. It’s a refreshing break from the angsty, sexual love triangles that are popular in YA fiction these days (though you know I love that too!). It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.

Shannon Hale’s story is a wonderful fairy tale with beautiful writing that readers of all ages can enjoy. I have had to actually buy multiple copies of this book because I loan it to friends/family and it never makes it back to me! That’s just how awesome it is. If you’ve missed this one along the way, I highly recommend going and picking up a copy today. It is not to be missed!

"The Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale is published by Bloomsbury and is available everywhere you can find awesome books. It has a different cover now, but I like this old school cover better! Go and get yourself a copy today.