I did not read nearly as much as I thought I would on our trip to Australia, but it’s because I was busy doing things like holding koalas and feeding kangaroos. Actually, I ticked those off my bucket list on our first day there while visiting the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary outside Brisbane. I highly…
Young Adult Review
YA Review: THE SECRET OF A HEART NOTE by Stacey Lee
Stacey Lee’s UNDER A PAINTED SKY was one of my favorite reads of 2016, and I also thoroughly enjoyed OUTRUN THE MOON, so I was thrilled when I won a copy of her latest, THE SECRET OF A HEART NOTE. Here are the cover and description. As one of only two aromateurs left on the…
YA Review: LOVE & GELATO by Jenna Evans Welch
Happy New Year! I’m a few weeks late, but I have excellent excuses–er, reasons. I was across the country for the first week of the year, doing things like attending my first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. (And, no, I’m not too old for Hogwarts.) Then I spent two weeks furiously revising so I…
YA Review: IT’S NOT ME, IT’S YOU by Stephanie Kate Strohm
Hello there! Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been away from the blog this long. Sorry about that. Almost immediately after I finished drafting, I started working on a revision that has completely consumed me. And as for reviewing, well, I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump. It’s not that I haven’t read…
YA Review: TWO SUMMERS by Aimee Friedman
I love books–and movies, for that matter–that play with time and space. When I came across the description for TWO SUMMERS by Aimee Friedman, I was intrigued by the premise. How much difference can one decision make? I really liked the way this story explored the question. ONE SUMMER in the French countryside, among sun-kissed…
YA Review: MY LADY JANE by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
All you have to do is read the dedication to know this book is going to be awesome: For everyone who knows there was enough room for Leonardo DiCaprio on that door. And for England. We’re really sorry for what we’re about to do to your history. Well, I’m not! Because then I wouldn’t have…
YA Review: P.S. I LIKE YOU by Kasie West
I don’t know where the month of August went reading-wise. I guess I spent it reading that romance novel series I mentioned in my post about reading just for fun :). I have to admit that as much as I was enjoying my romance novels, it’s quite a long series and I started longing for…
YA Review: DREAM A LITTLE DREAM by Kerstin Gier
I can’t believe it’s been more than a month since I reviewed a young adult book, but that’s all right. I enjoyed catching up on the middle grade, too. Today I’m reviewing a book I picked up because I thought it might work as a comp title for my violin story, and the magic side…
LET THE WIND RISE and A Few Other YA Books You Should Read
It’s time for another young adult reading roundup! Between series (how do you make a plural of a plural??) I love ending, attending NESCBWI, and winning a giveaway with several books, my to-be-read pile is so tall I’ve resorted to letting random.org choose what I’ll read next. As I was updating the reading tab on…
YA Review: WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED by Kristin Rae
I really enjoyed Kristin Rae’s debut, WISH YOU WERE ITALIAN, so I expected to like her latest, WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED, but it turns out I liked it even more. So that means I need to gush about it here with a full review. Theatre girl Maddie Brooks has always had high standards for guys….
YA Review: NOT IN THE SCRIPT by Amy Finnegan
I’ve enjoyed every book I’ve picked up in Bloomsbury’s If Only series, so I’m not surprised to add NOT IN THE SCRIPT by Amy Finnegan to that list. It doesn’t hurt that I have a soft spot for anything to do with movies. (Yes, like many authors, I not-so-secretly hope that one day I’ll write…
YA Review: THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US by Kasie West
Wow, I can’t believe it’s been more than a month since I’ve written a review. But then, I read a few adult books in the past month, and I don’t review those on the blog, so we’ll use that as part of my excuse. Moving on … After starting a book I really wanted to…

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