E's Pick of the Week - Oh, the THINKS You Can Think!

This week's book for E's Pick of the Week is another classic - Dr. Seuss' "Oh, the THINKS You Can Think!". We have this little book in board book form and E just adores it. He actually used the word "again" for the first time to let us know he wanted to read it again. How cute is that? We have a lot of fun with this one. We make the "z" on zong as long as it takes to trace the tail, we move left and right, and we just act like big ol' goofs. Who doesn't act a little goofy when reading Dr. Seuss' rhymes? My husband and I both love reading this one to E. It's short and fun!

The board book version is awesome because it makes the book last a lot longer and it's small. It's really easy for him to manipulate and "read" on his own. It is also available in hardcover and paperback.

Go get a copy at your local bookstore or online today. It's a short and fun book that the whole family will enjoy.

Clarity by Kim Harrington

Simple, clean, and well crafted... that’s how I described Kim Harrington’s “Clarity” today when I was describing it to my younger sister. Kim Harrington adds a paranormal twist to a classic “who done it?” style murder mystery. Our heroine is Clare, a sixteen year old psychic, who can see the past and memories associated with objects. She’s from a family of “freaks” - her mother is a hippie telepath and her brother is a womanizer and oh yeah, a medium! Their little tourist town is shaken when a teenage girl is found murdered in her motel room and Clare is asked by her cheating ex-boyfriend (and son of the mayor) to help investigate along with the mysterious new hot shot detective’s delectable son. Will Clare be able to solve the mysteries of the murder and her heart? Well, you’ll just have to read to find out!

Harrington’s writing (unlike my own) stays away from what could become a teenage soap opera and remains solid and clean throughout. Sure, there is some lusty tension, but she keeps it clean and appropriate for its audience. Her story telling is simple, easy to read, and a lot of fun! I read this one when I was held hostage on the couch by a napping toddler. It made being unable to move (and being incredibly hungry!) so much FUN!

If you’re looking for a fun and light YA mystery, then you should grab a copy of “Clarity” as soon as possible. It is a solid debut novel that will leave you satisfied, but ready for more! I think Clare could end up being the Nancy Drew of this generation. What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know!

I received this ARC at ALA Midwinter from Scholastic. “Clarity” comes out next week on March 1st and is already in stock on Amazon.com! Pick up a copy at your local bookstore or online.

E's Pick of the Week - The "In My..." series by Sara Gillingham, Illustrations by Lorena Siminovich

E’s “Pick of the Week” this week comes from Sara Gillingham and Petit Collage (Chronicle Books). They are sweet little stories about animals and their homes, told with the help of folksy puppets! E is enamoured with these books. We read the four we own (“In My Den” about a little bear, “In My Pond” about a fish, “In My Tree” about an owl and “In My Nest” about a baby bird) multiple times a day. They are short and sweet little interactive stories that are perfect for those days where your child has “ants in his pants” and can’t sit for a longer story. The illustrations by Lorena Siminovich are really something special, layered die cut pages with lots of things for little ones to discover as they re-read. The puppets are attached to the back cover and book through a hole in the illustrations so that they can talk to your little ones from every page. Each story ends with the little animals snuggled up at home with their family.

This series of books is published by Petit Collage/Chronicle Books and can be found at your local bookstores or online. Check it out today! It is recommend for infants through age 4 according to the publisher’s website.

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.

Nightshade and Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer

I devoured “Nightshade” and “Wolfsbane” by Andrea Cremer over a period of 48 hours and they were delicious. Seriously, these books are worth staying up late for.. and that’s a big sacrifice considering I have a toddler who thinks 5:30AM is a wonderful time to be awake. What makes them so great? Well let’s review Michelle’s paranormal/fantasy YA romance checklist and talk about it, shall we?

• Strong female heroine - CHECK. Calla is KICK ASS. She not only possesses some awesome powers and skills from being able to transform into a wolf, but she’s a strong willed person. The events of this book rock her safe little world and she has to deal with emotions she hasn’t really experienced. I loved seeing Calla discover her own vulnerability and the injustices in her world’s society. I look forward to seeing her grow more from these experiences in the third book.
• Love triangle (and not one of those “wimpy maybe I sorta like this guy, but this guy is clearly the winner despite guy #2”) - CHECK and it is angst-i-licious. Yes, so much that I had to make up a word for it.
• Creative Paranormal/Fantasy elements - CHECK! I love the world within our world that Ms. Cremer has created.
• Good writing - again, CHECK-A-ROONY. Ms. Cremer’s writing is exciting and fluid. I didn’t ever feel the need to stop because of some bad phrasing or ridiculous situation. She does a great job at foreshadowing without frustrating the reader (a problem I’ve run into a lot recently in YA paranormal books) and she didn’t do any crazy deus ex machina stuff to rush through explanations. She was able to maintain an element of suspense throughout while giving the reader little bursts of knowledge. Well done, Ms. Cremer.
• Great action sequences and suspense - I know I already mentioned this when I discussed the writing, but wow. Ms. Cremer got my heart pounding during some of these big action sequences.

Yeah, so I’d have to say Ms. Cremer’s “Nightshade” series is all that and a bag of chips. If you like paranormal/fantasy young adult romance, this should DEFINITELY be on your list. I know that the genre is an acquired taste, but it’s one of my favorites. I am anxiously awaiting the third book in this triology.

I was provided with an ARC of "Wolfsbane" by the publisher at the ALA Midwinter Conference. "Nightshade" is already available and "Wolfsbane" will be released in July of this year. It is published by Philomel (Penguin). Go to your local bookstore or library and pick up a copy of Nightshade today.

Shine by Lauren Myracle

“Shine” by Lauren Myracle was hard to read, but not because it was bad. It was just so good, intense and gripping that I found myself savoring this tale of self-discovery and mystery. It deals with some very heavy topics including drug use, alcohol abuse, sexual molestation/pedophiles, violence, and homophobia. So, be warned if that isn’t your cup of tea. It isn’t my usual either, but Ms. Myracle’s writing brought me in and kept me engrossed until the very end.

Set in the deep south, “Shine” is the story of an innocent young woman who takes the law into her own hands when she finds out her childhood friend (who is gay) has been brutally beaten and left for dead in a degrading and hateful way. Along the way, she faces the shadows of her own past and learns how to overcome in order to do what is right.

Y’all might like these parts:

• Setting - AMAZING choice. The setting of a small mountain town in the South adds so many interesting layers to what could have ended up being a simple mystery. The drug use, alcohol abuse, and homophobia all comes about due to the setting. It’s an impoverished town with small-town, somewhat religious values. The tight knit community protecting its own and their belief systems provide a dynamic challenge to Cat’s investigation.
• Cat - Cat really discovers her strength as a woman when she comes up against road blocks in her investigation and is forced to face her own personal demons. Ms. Myracle did a great job at slowing peeling back the layers to Cat’s psyche, creating additional mystery besides our main plot. Absolutely lovely character development!

Maybe could use a little less moonshine:

• I would have liked to seen more of our other main male character. I feel like sometimes he became an afterthought. I can see how developing him further though could have hurt the pacing.

“Shine” is an interesting combination of self-discovery and mystery that I think adults and teens would both find engaging. The setting is what really makes the story. Not only is our heroine, Cat, facing some pretty major demons of her own, but she’s trying to go up against this tight knit, impoverished community to find justice for her friend. The setting creates additional challenges for Cat and adds a really fascinating layer to the story. This is a story that will stick with you afterwards and really make you think. It’s definitely intense, but well worth the read. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing this one winning many awards this year!

“Shine” is scheduled to be released on May 1st of this year by Amulet Books (an imprint of Abrams). Thank you to Amulet/Abrams & NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Stylish Blogger Award!

Awwwwww. I feel so special! I was chosen for this great "pass on the love" award called the "Stylish Blogger Award". I'd like to thank the academy...err.. "Books, Personally" for sharing the joy of this award with me. Check out her blog!



The rules of this award are:
Thank the person who gave you the award - DONE!

Post 7 random things about yourself
1. My mom started my love of reading. She always encouraged me to use my imagination. My mother-in-law continued that love of books as my elementary school media specialist. :D
2. YA books, specifically paranormal/fantasy romance, is like candy to me. Candy that I eat for BREAKFAST. OM NOM NOM.
3. I'm a cat person. I have a cute scruffy Border Terrier, but he kinda drives me crazy. I could have a whole house full of cats though if my husband would let me. Haha!
4. I love the smells of fresh cut grass, dirt after it rains, and bookstores.
5. Despite my crazy love of books, I don't keep many in the house. I have a pretty big digital library on my Kindle and love visiting my local libraries.
6. I never wanted to be a mom growing up, but now I can't imagine NOT being a mom. I love my little booger so much!
7. I am a passionate person, sometimes to the point of driving my husband crazy. I always dive into new hobbies or interests head first and sometimes get in a little over my head.

Give the award to other blogs. (The original post said 15, but I think you should spread the love however you want!). These aren't all book review blogs, but they are all related to the industry. :)
Reading Everywhere
Dreaming In Books
Ticket to Anywhere
The Elliott Review
Everything Little Thing
Julie Kagawa
& story
a blurred history (Andrea Cremer)

Well, my toddler is waking up for his nap, so that's it for me folks. My review of "Shine" by Lauren Myracle will be hitting the blog in the next day or two.