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Wishlist Wednesday

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by

Welcome to Wishlist Wednesday!

The concept is to post about one book from our wish lists that we can’t wait to read. Want to play? Here’s how:

  • Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
  • Do a post about one book from your wishlist and why you want to read it.
  • Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of the post at Pen to Paper.
  • Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere in your post.
  • Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My wishlist book this week is:

Reality Boy

Reality Boy by A. S. King
(release date October 22, 2013)

From Goodreads:

Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality television crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school.

Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that.

In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved.

Why do I want to read this?

I read Ask The Passengers by A. S. King a few months ago, and thought it was wonderful. The author has a gift for portraying young adults as real people facing hard choices and dealing with the fall-out. I’ve been wanting to read more by this author (an earlier novel, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, was a Printz Honor book in 2011) — and Reality Boy sounds like a great choice. I’m intrigued by the concept, following a boy forced into a public role via reality TV at such a young age. I’d really love to know what happens to him, and whether he finds a way to escape his past and lead a normal life.

What’s on your wishlist this week?

So what are you doing on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a blog hop or book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I’m building a Book Blog Meme Directory, and need your help! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

The Monday Agenda 8/19/2013

Posted in The Monday Check-In by

MondayAgendaNot a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1)The HumansTrash Can Days: A Middle School Saga

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling): Done! My review is here.

The Humans by Matt Haig: About 100 pages into it so far, and loving every moment.

Trash Can Days by Teddy Steinkellner: Done! This one was almost a DNF; however, I did end up finishing it and wrote up my thoughts here.

The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis: About 2/3 of the way through. The end is in sight!

Fresh Catch:

No NEW new books this week, although I did finally get my hands on a copy of Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. I read it in the spring as a library book, loved it, and have been looking for a copy ever since. I ended up getting the UK paperback version, which looks like this;

Eleanor & Park

Plus, I have a trip to plan, so I picked this up while I was at the library:

Fodor's Alaska 2013

Exciting!

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

The HumansThe ReturnedLetters from Skye: A Novel

The Humans is so good! If I have time to sit and read — without interruptions — I shouldn’t have any problems finishing this up in the next day or so.

I have a review copy of The Returned by Jason Mott that I’m eager to get to. So far, I’ve heard good things!

And — just got an email from the library saying the copy of Letters from Skye that I’d requested is now available.

My son and I should be close to the end of The Silver Chair this week. Onward for the glory of Narnia!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

boy1

Wishlist Wednesday

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by

Welcome to Wishlist Wednesday!

The concept is to post about one book from our wish lists that we can’t wait to read. Want to play? Here’s how:

  • Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
  • Do a post about one book from your wishlist and why you want to read it.
  • Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of the post at Pen to Paper.
  • Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere in your post.
  • Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My wishlist book this week is:

The Geography of You and Me

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
(release date April 2014)

From Amazon:

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and twelfth floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they’re rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen’s relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and — finally — a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith’s new novel shows that the center of the world isn’t necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

Why do I want to read this?

I’ve read and enjoyed Jennifer E. Smith’s two previous young adult books, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and This Is What Happy Looks Like (reviewed here). In both, we meet likable, unusual characters who fall in love — but with clever twists, a few obstacles, and quite a lot of intelligence. I really enjoy the author’s writing style, the light, upbeat approach, and the sweet romance of it all.

Plus, those titles! I’m a sucker for a book with a great catchy title, and this is yet another good one. Count me in!

What’s on your wishlist this week?

So what are you doing on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

The Monday Agenda 8/12/2013

Posted in The Monday Check-In by

MondayAgendaNot a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

When You Were HereOpenly StraightThe Impossible Lives of Greta Wells

I read three terrific books this past week:

When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney: Done! My review is here.

Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg: Done! My review is here.

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer: Done! My review is here.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick: I read the first 20 pages, and just couldn’t get into it — and the formatting problems with the ARC didn’t help. So, for now, this is a DNF book for me. Have you read it? Should it I give it another try once it’s available in hard copy?

The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis: Moving along — we got a slow start, but my son and I have enjoyed the first four chapters so far.

Fresh Catch:

New to me this week: A graphic novel, a book for a discussion group, and two library books that I’d been waiting for (not entirely patiently):

Orchid, Volume 1The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1)The Humans

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1)The HumansTrash Can Days: A Middle School Saga

How to decide? I was on a good, long wait list for both The Cuckoo’s Calling and The Humans, and now they’re both here! I hope to find time to read both this week, once I figure out which one to read first.

It’s doubtful that I’ll finish both and still have time for anything else — but if I do, it’ll be a review copy of a new middle-grade book, Trash Can Days.

Meanwhile, our Narnia journey continues with The Silver Chair.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

boy1

Wishlist Wednesday

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by

Welcome to Wishlist Wednesday!

The concept is to post about one book from our wish lists that we can’t wait to read. Want to play? Here’s how:

  • Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
  • Do a post about one book from your wishlist and why you want to read it.
  • Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of the post at Pen to Paper.
  • Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere in your post.
  • Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My wishlist book this week is:

Hollow Earth

Hollow Earth by John Barrowman & Carole E. Barrowman

From Goodreads:

Imagination matters most in a world where art can keep monsters trapped—or set them free.

Lots of twins have a special connection, but twelve-year-old Matt and Emily Calder can do way more than finish each other’s sentences. Together, they are able to bring art to life and enter paintings at will. Their extraordinary abilities are highly sought after, particularly by a secret group who want to access the terrors called Hollow Earth. All the demons, devils, and evil creatures ever imagined are trapped for eternity in the world of Hollow Earth—trapped unless special powers release them.

The twins flee from London to a remote island off the west coast of Scotland in hopes of escaping their pursuers and gaining the protection of their grandfather, who has powers of his own. But the villains will stop at nothing to find Hollow Earth and harness the powers within. With so much at stake, nowhere is safe—and survival might be a fantasy.

Why do I want to read this?

Reason #1:

Excuse me for getting all fangirl-y… but it’s written by CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS! John Barrowman can, apparently, do everything. He sings, he dances, he hunts aliens, and now (in partnership with his sister) he writes children’s books! This man is just golden (and so, so pretty in his captain’s coat. See below if you don’t believe me).

Fangirlishness aside, I really do want to read Hollow Earth! It sounds like a promising, exciting start to a middle grade adventure (the sequel, Bone Quill, has just been released as well). I love the concept of the twins being able to enter paintings, and wonder what the connection to Hollow Earth and the trapped terrors will be. Add to that the Scottish setting, and I think it sounds pretty terrific!

I’ve just ordered myself a copy of both books, and plan to dive in as soon as my reading schedule eases up a bit. (Ha! Like that ever happens… ) Meanwhile, I’ll amuse myself with more pictures of Captain Jack, in all his Torchwood/Doctor Who glory:

What’s on your wishlist this week?

So what are you doing on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

The Monday Agenda 8/5/2013

Posted in The Monday Check-In by

MondayAgendaNot a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Out of the EasyThe Shade of the Moon (The Last Survivors, #4)When You Were Here

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys: Done! My review is here.

The Shade of the Moon by Susan Beth Pfeffer: Done! My review is here.

When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney: Reading now, about 175 pages into it, and I’m really liking this one so far!

The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis: My kiddo and I just started reading The Silver Chair one over the weekend — the 2nd to last book left in our Narnia read! We’re really enjoying the series, and I’m wondering why I never read these books back when I was a kid!

Fresh Catch:

Several new books found their way to  me this week:

Fairest, Vol. 2: Hidden KingdomSeason of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of LoveOpenly StraightTo Kill a MockingbirdThe Unwritten, Vol. 4: Leviathan

Two graphic novels, a non-fiction book set in San Francisco, a young adult novel, and a new copy of a classic. Not a bad haul for one week!

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

Openly StraightThe Impossible Lives of Greta WellsForgive Me, Leonard Peacock

I’m about half-way through with When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney, and looking forward to finishing in the next day or so.

Next, three books that I’m really and truly excited about — I just hope I can make a big dent in most (if not all) of them:

Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

And of course, marching forward with The Silver Chair.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

boy1

Wishlist Wednesday

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by

Welcome to Wishlist Wednesday!

The concept is to post about one book from our wish lists that we can’t wait to read. Want to play? Here’s how:

  • Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
  • Do a post about one book from your wishlist and why you want to read it.
  • Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of the post at Pen to Paper.
  • Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere in your post.
  • Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My wishlist book this week is:

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

From Goodreads:

Rose Justice is a young American ATA pilot, delivering planes and taxiing pilots for the RAF in the UK during the summer of 1944. A budding poet who feels most alive while flying, she discovers that not all battles are fought in the air. An unforgettable journey from innocence to experience from the author of the best-selling, multi-award-nominated Code Name Verity. From the exhilaration of being the youngest pilot in the British air transport auxiliary, to the aftermath of surviving the notorious Ravensbruck women’s concentration camp, Rose’s story is one of courage in the face of adversity.

Why do I want to read this?

After sobbing my way through Code Name Verity, I really want to read Rose Under Fire — although I’m also a little hesitant about putting myself through an emotional wringer again. Elizabeth Wein’s writing in Code Name Verity is so beautiful and so heart-wrenching, and given the subject matter of Rose Under Fire, I have no doubt that this will be another incredible yet emotionally exhausting read.

What do you think of the three covers, above? As far as I could figure out, the cover on the left is the paperback version currently available in the UK; the middle is the US hardcover version, and the right is the Canadian hardcover edition. Both the US and Canadian editions will be released in September.

What’s on your wishlist this week?

So what are you doing on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

The Monday Agenda 7/29/2013

Posted in The Monday Check-In by

MondayAgendaNot a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

If I Ever Get Out of HereTumble & FallThe Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia, #3)

What a great reading week! I’ve enjoyed everything I read this week, no doubt about it!

The Book of Secrets by Elizabeth Joy Arnold: Done! My review is here.

If I Ever Get Out Of Here by Eric Gansworth: Done! My review is here.

Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts: I really enjoyed my sneak peak at a review copy of this new YA book. I’ve posted some thoughts on Goodreads already, but I’m holding my “real” review until closer to the book’s September release date. I thought this book was terrific — has anyone else read it yet?

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis. My son and I wrapped up this part of our Narnia read-aloud, and loved it!

Fresh Catch:

Zip. Zilch. Nada.

I bought no new books this week, and didn’t step foot in the library. A first for me!

Not that I lack for books to read…

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

Out of the EasyThe Shade of the Moon (The Last Survivors, #4)When You Were Here

I’ve only just started Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys.

Next, I plan to read The Shade of the Moon by Susan Beth Pfeffer, the about-to-be-released 4th book in the Last Survivors series.

After that, I’d love to dig in to When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney.

Meanwhile, the kiddo and I are ready to jump into our 2nd to last Narnia book, The Silver Chair.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

boy1

Wishlist Wednesday

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by

Welcome to Wishlist Wednesday!

The concept is to post about one book from our wish lists that we can’t wait to read. Want to play? Here’s how:

  • Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
  • Do a post about one book from your wishlist and why you want to read it.
  • Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of the post at Pen to Paper.
  • Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere in your post.
  • Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My wishlist book this week is:

Letters from Skye: A Novel

Letters From Skye by Jessica Brockmole

From Goodreads:

A sweeping story told in letters, spanning two continents and two world wars, Jessica Brockmole’s atmospheric debut novel captures the indelible ways that people fall in love, and celebrates the power of the written word to stir the heart.

March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence—sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets—their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.

June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns her against seeking love in wartime, an admonition Margaret doesn’t understand. Then, after a bomb rocks Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come raining down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts. As Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone, she must also face the truth of what happened to her family long ago.

Why do I want to read this?

Letters from Skye suits so many of my reading preferences: Historical setting, Scotland (!), war-time romance, multi-generational narrative. I love the idea of the contrast between the romances that happened in the lives of the mother and daughter in the different World Wars — and how one could affect and change the other. It all sounds very dramatic and dashing and so very romantic! I’m really look forward to reading this one.

What’s on your wishlist this week?

So what are you doing on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

The Monday Agenda 7/22/2013

Posted in The Monday Check-In by

MondayAgendaNot a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway or became a new follower this week! It’s been so much fun celebrating my 1st blogoversary with you!

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Mist (Mist, #1)Gorgeous

Mist by Susan Krinard: Done! My review is here.

Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick: Done! My review is here.

Reading with the kiddo: Sailing ahead with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis. We have about four chapters to go. Excellent!

Fresh Catch:

A few new ARCs this week:

… plus I ended up buying myself a copy of this book, after missing the archive date for the review copy:

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

I’m just past the halfway point of The Book of Secrets by Elizabeth Joy Arnold — and loving it. In fact, I’m having to force myself to put it down to work on this post and take on other mundane tasks like paying the bills. 🙂

Next up, a review copy of If I Ever Get Out Of Here by Eric Gansworth, a YA book that sounds great!

And, ever ambitious, I hope to find time for one more book from my shelves– most likely Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

And don’t forget: Read what makes you happy! That’s my mantra these days… so:

boy1