BAD TASTE IN BOYS was the first zombie book I’ve ever read, and I loved it. I would have written a review, but it fell in that Christmas vacation window. Since the sequel was already out, I demanded that my library purchase it, so now I get to talk about BAD HAIR DAY instead. I…
books
YA Review: LET THE SKY FALL by Shannon Messenger
I should have known I would love this book. After all, KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES made my top 5 middle grade reads of 2012, but I confess the description for LET THE SKY FALL sounded like something I’d heard before. I was so wrong, and I think that’s part of Shannon Messenger’s charm. She…
YA Review and Giveaway: PERFECT SCOUNDRELS by Ally Carter
A few weeks ago Ally Carter came to St. Louis on tour. It was a Saturday night, but we don’t get many author visits here, so I told my husband he was in charge for the evening and went to hear her speak. I have never seen so many teenage girls squeeing over an author!…
SCARLET, A Perfect Follow-Up to CINDER
Those of you who have been following me for a while might recall that my favorite young adult book of 2012 was CINDER by Marissa Meyer. The day after I posted my review of CINDER last fall, I discovered Marissa Meyer was coming to town as part of the Fierce Reads Tour and I got…
Why I Love My Library
Agent Michelle Witte started a #librarylove hashtag today on Twitter. I didn’t go back and read the original article she linked to, but the gist of it was that a few–and I stress few–authors felt like people were “stealing” their books by getting them from the library. I’m not going to go into that, but…
YA Review: SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY
I’m excited to be writing my first YA review of the year. I picked up SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY mainly because I’d read so many helpful blog posts by Susan Dennard. I wanted to support her book since I’ve learned from what she shares online, so … good marketing strategy on her part! But, even…
Why Pride and Prejudice Stands the Test of Time
I’ve read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen so many times I’ve lost count. I first read it in 9th grade, when my English teacher told us to pick a classic to read for extra credit. I selected it because I’d read numerous historical romance novels where the heroines read this “scandalous” new book. I…
My Favorite Reads of 2012
At the beginning of the year, I set a goal of reading 75 books in 2012. I’ve read 80 books so far, and I still have a week and a half left! It helps that so many of them were middle grade. It’s gotten to the point where I wonder why adult books are so…
YA Review: A MILLION SUNS
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is one of those books everyone was talking about last year, and I finally picked it up in January. Although I thoroughly enjoyed it, I didn’t have the urge to immediately go read the next one. Part of that was due to the fact that I was focusing on reading MG as…
YA Series Recommendation: MATCHED by Ally Condie
I picked up MATCHED shortly after it came out in 2010 and loved it. So when Ally Condie made a stop in St. Louis on her CROSSED tour last fall, I had to go see her. It was my first author event, and I loved hearing about her inspiration for each book. These books are…
MMGM: Zora and Me, plus a giveaway!
Sometimes you pick up a book and you’re not sure you’ll connect with it. Then you start reading and it’s like magic. You’re drawn into a world completely different from your own, and yet you feel like you’re a part of it. That’s how I felt about ZORA AND ME by Victoria Bond and T.R….
MMGM: THE BFG
I got a little behind on my reading this week due to some non-writing commitments, but there’s a book I’ve been wanting to feature for a while that’s a favorite from childhood–THE BFG. Earlier this year, I kept seeing people post questions about their favorite books as children. Honestly, I could think of very few…