It’s Summer – Time to Read More!

So yesterday was the unofficial start of summer. After spending the day at a BBQ and a pool, I am ready. I have a feeling it is going to be an extremely hot summer here in NJ, but I am still excited. Summer is by FAR my favorite season. Not because of vacation (mostly since I haven’t been on vacation in two years!), but because of the weather and summer attitude.

You know, the attitude where people take things a little slower. When friends seem to reconnect. Where everyone is reading just a little more by the pool or at a beach (This is a book blog after all).

One thing I will be doing with my reviews is adding “A Great Summer Book!” at the very top. even above the title in my post!

1. It is fun to read. All genres or styles can be fun to read. Sad books are fun to read sometimes. They just need to be something that made me excited to read it every day.

2. They usually aren’t too heavy. And I don’t mean the weight of the book. I love books about heavy topics and I will read them year round. They are some of my favorite books. But when I think “summer read” that is not really what comes to mind

3. It can be because of when they were released. But that doesn’t mean every book that comes out in the summer is a summer book. My best example is Harry Potter. Those books will always be in my head as a summer book. I have so many memories of getting the books the day it was released and sitting in a hammock or outside reading. The world was reading it together and it was the ultimate summer read.  Circumstance made it that way

Ok so those are my only qualifications.Not too many. Hopefully by seeing what books I choose will make it more clear.

At some point, I want to go back through my old posts and add it and make it a category..but that may not happen for a couple weeks!

Are you excited about any summer reads this year? Let me know in the comments!

BEA: The Books

I thought I would share the books I got while at BEA. I have them in order by when they come out, with things that are already out at the end. If there is anything you are interested in when I am done, please send me an email!

All descriptions are from the books.

Feathers by Thor Hanson: tracks a history of evolution, fluff, flight, fancy, and function.

The Story of Charlotte’s Web  by Michael Sims: The story of the man behind the most beloved children’s book pf the 20th century, and the real-life spiders and pigs that inspired them.

Original Sin: A Sally Sin Adventure by Beth McMullen: In a race against time,Lucy must fight to save herself, her family – and, oh yes – the world.

The Magician King by Lev Grossman: The sequel to The Magicians. I won’t read the cover since i haven’t finished the first one. (this one is not up for grabs when I am done, have to pass it on to friends and family).

13 Gifts by Wendy Mass: The charmed town Tara is sent to has something big in store for her on her 13th birthday. It’s not a typical birthday. But then again, nothing is Willow Falls is exactly typical! (not up for grabs, husband’s classroom is getting it)

Floors by Patrick Carman:  Charlie had his chocolate factory. Stanley Yelnats had his holes. Leo has the wacky, amazing Whippet Hotel. (for husband’s classroom)

we the animals by Justin Torres: Three brothers tear their way through childhood— smashing tomatoes all over each other, building kites from trash, hiding out when their parents do battle, tiptoeing around the house as their mother sleeps off her graveyard shift

How to Rock Braces and Glasses by Meg Haston:  an eighth-grade Queen Bee, after finding herself dropped into Loserland, realizes that it’s time to reap the bad karma she’s sown. 

3:15 Season One: Things That Go Bump in the Night by Patrick Carman: 3:15 means several things. It’s a time when things go bump in the night. A place where spooky stories find a home.( Going to my mom’s classroom)

The Winters in Bloom by Lisa Tucker: A family discovers that it’s only when the walls between the present and past crumble that the future can bloom

 

The Grey Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima: an epic tale of fierce loyalty, unbearable sacrifice, and the heartless hand of fate.

 The Orchard: a memoir: by Theresa Weir: the story of a street-smart city girl who must adapt to a new life on an apple farm after she falls in love with Adrian Curtis, the golden boy of a prominent local family whose lives and orchards seem to be cursed

GQ Candidate by Keli Goff: After a sex scandal brings down a local politician, Luke Cooper finds himself catapulted into the Michigan Governor’s mansion, making him one of the few black and—by virtue of adoption—Jewish elected officials to hold such an office. His national celebrity is increased when he heroically saves the life of an avowed racist, and his good looks and charm earn him the nickname “The GQ Candidate.”

 

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan: What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you’d been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?

Pie by Sarah Weeks: When Alice’s Aunt Polly passes away, she takes with her the secret to her world-famous pie-crust recipe. Or does she? In her will, Polly leaves the recipe to her extraordinarily surly cat Lardo . . . and then leaves Lardo in the care of Alice.

The Traitor’s Smile by Patricia Elliott: As the French Revolution rages around her, wealthy and beautiful Eugende Boncoeur is no longer safe in her own country. She must remain  one step ahead of him– for she is but one step away from the guillotine.

Icefall by Matthew J Kirby: Trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen sea, Solveig, along with her brother the crown prince, their older sister, and an army of restless warriors, anxiously awaits news of her father’s victory at battle. But as winter stretches on, and the unending ice refuses to break, terrible acts of treachery soon make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst.

Triangles by Ellen Hopkins: Three female friends face midlife crises in a no-holds-barred exploration of sex, marriage, and the fragility of life.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater: With her trademark lyricism, Maggie Stiefvater turns to a new world, where a pair are swept up in a daring, dangerous race across a cliff–with more than just their lives at stake should they lose.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi: Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares.

Legend by Marie Lu: What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

Ivy and the Meanstalk by Dawn Lairamore: After finding her long-lost fairy godmother, escaping a forthcoming marriage, and saving her kingdom from the dastardly designs of a scheming prince, Princess Ivy wants nothing more than to have a little fun and enjoy the company of her new dragon friend, Elridge. But long ago a magical harp went missing, snatched by a thieving youth named Jack. Its rightful owner wants it back—or the entire kingdom will suffer an unspeakable fate!

The Cheap Bastard’s Guide to NYC by Rob Grader: How to do things for cheap or free in NYC (Keeping for myself, I need it!)

 

Dog On It and Thereby Hangs a Tail by Spencer Quinn: The fast-paced and funny tale is narrated by the inimitable Chet, Bernie’s best friend and canine partner, whose personality and preferences are never in doubt. (giving it to my mom)

Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey: The Pulitzer PRize winning musical. (For my husband)

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel:  England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the Pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey’s clerk, and later his successor. Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events.

Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen: Julia and Michael meet in high school in their small, poverty-stricken West Virginia hometown. But one day Michael stands up at the head of the table in his company’s boardroom — then silently crashes to the floor. More than four minutes later, a portable defibrillator manages to jump-start his heart. Julia must decide: should she walk away from the man she once adored, but who truthfully became a stranger to her long before his near-death experience – or should she give in to her husband’s pleas for a second chance and a promise of a poorer but happier life?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a Book by Demetri Martin

Title: This is a Book
Author: Demetri Martin
Hardcover: 269 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (Hachette Book Group USA)
Year Published: 2011
Rating: +++

Summary (from me):

The comedian best known for his charts and doodles has come out with a book. The book has short stories, really short stories, doodles, and many other comedic devises.

Review:

If you are a fan of Demetri Martin, either his stand up or his show Important Things, you will probably enjoy this book. I think Demetri is one of the funniest new comics in years, so I knew it was a book I had to check out.

Like many comedian books, it is very hit or miss. THe drawings and charts all hit. It is really what Demetri does best and they are worth buying the book. None of them have ever been done on his specials or TV show before, which made them a joy to see and had me laughing out loud at each one!

A lot of the other shorter jokes were very funny. I loved the really short stories that were only a few sentences, so they were really more traditional jokes. These were all new. However, there were some chapters that weren’t new. He had done the jokes in a special, or on a show. That was a disappointment. I wish he had come up with some more new material and no repeats.

There were some sections that just were not my sense of humor, but I know other will like it. If you have ever seen and enjoyed Demetri, this book is something you should try. It would also make a great gift – I am thinking of giving it to my brother and a couple other friends!

BEA – Quick Recap

Hey everyone! Well BEA is over for me (couldn’t do BBC) and over all it was great! I will end up with about a week’s worth of posts from it, but i wanted to do a quick recap.

Monday: Went in around noon and got my badge. Then I headed to a panel on The Arc of Publishing that talked about where the industry was going. I will have an entire blog just on that next week, but it was good news!

Then I headed to the Teen Author Carnival and got to see some really kick-ass female writers talk about why it is important that female characters in YA kick so much ass. I got to see some of the authors of my favorite books (Malinda Lo who wrote Ash  and Michelle Zink who wrote The Prophesy of the Sisters)

I left before the next panel for a cocktail party at Picador. I got to meet some wonderful bloggers and talk the industry with a lot of the staff. I finally met Kathy from Bermudaonion’s Weblog, Jenn from Jenn’s Bookshelves, Swapna from S Krishna’s Books, and so many others. (I am SO sorry if I am not mentioning you specifically it isn’t because I didn’t love meeting you, it is because I am exhausted and not thinking straight!)

Tuesday

I got there a little later than most so I would miss the initial rush. I went in and went straight for Scholastic, since i Knew they had some things I was wanted to check out. I got a couple books and saw they had Forever, which I knew another blogger friend of mine wanted. I got in line, and the woman from Scholastic handed me the last one that was out. She said “hold on I’ll get some more” and the person behind me glared at me for getting the last one, turned around, and swung her bag at my head. That was fun! Luckily, it was the only bad behavior I saw the whole time!

I then headed to a panel on Online book Discovery, which I will discuss next week. Sarah Dessen had a food truck with free whoopie pies, so i went to get one right when it opened…and I got to meet her!! She was super nice and the whoopie pie that I had (Sarah’s Strawberry Surprise) was delicious! I grabbed lunch wit ha friend the works at Random House, then came back.

I was able to go get Wendy Mass’ new book 13 Gifts signed, which was really exciting since i love her other work. Then I waited for 45 minutes to get The Magician King by Lev Grossman. I was fourth in line, so I got it! When I left, the line was huge! I am not done with the first book yet, but I am loving it so far!

After that, I went around to tables and networked with publishers. I got a few books that I will share later this weekend.

Wednesday

That morning, my bus got stuck in traffic for over an hour, so I was late and missed getting tickets for Rick Riordan and Scott Westerfeld. I was hoping to get something from Rick Riodran for my husband’s classroom since his students LOVE his books. I also missed getting Crossed, but hopefully i will win a copy in a giveaway or I can handle waiting until it come out.

I did get to a panel called The Report of My Death was Greatly Exaggerated: The Printed Book. It was a great panel, and I will post more about it next week!

I went to Chipotle with a great group of people including Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness and Ash from English Major’s Junk Food. We went with several very nice and very smart women from HarperCollins. It was so delicious. I miss Chipotle!

I got back and networked for a few hours. I also fine tuned my blog pitch and my question for everyone. I decided I wasn’t going to ask what is big, I was going to ask what books everyone loved that didn’t have the big publicity money behind it. I got some amazing arcs and recommendations from it!

Thursday

I got there bright and early (well for me) with hopes of being toward the front of the Maureen Johnson line so I could do both things I wanted to go to, but they were already out of book before she was even there! So instead, I sat in the second row to see JANE LYNCH!! As you all know, I am a huge Gleek and I think she is hilarious. Well, she was really funny there, but she was also gorgeous, smart, and incredibly nice. I got to meet her and get an autograph. I cannot wait until her book comes out. I did fangirl after I was out of her sight a little.

The nI headed over to get in line for Kody Keplinger’s new book Shut Out. I LOVED The DUFF. I even said it was the best book I read in 2010. So you can imagine my excitement!

After that I grabbed lunch, then did one last round of networking. I wanted to take some time to read, so I read the first 70 pages of Shut Out, then went to figure out where to go for the Atria Food and Fiction event.

I found Simon and Schuster quickly, so I found a comfortable bench nearby to read. I had over an hour, and time just flew. The next thing I knew, it was 4:57 and I had finished Shut Out. I really enjoyed it. It may not have been as good as The Duff, but it was still fantastic. I will have to write and preschedule my review in the next two days!

I headed to the event at Atria and it was just wonderful. I got to meet some bloggers I had been looking for all week like Shelia from Book Journey, Reagan from Miss Remmers Reviews, and Beth Fish Reads. I got to talk with the brilliant peopel who work for Atria along with several of their amazing authors!

Conclusion

I met so many amazing people while at BEA, both bloggers and people in the industry. I have a stack of cards that I will go through next week to add everyone to my contact lists. I know I missed some people i wanted to meet, but there will always be next time!

It was a great experience and I would recommend it to bloggers, especially those who are trying to get more serious about blogging.

BEA Intro

This is my – “Hi if I met you at BEA” sticky post. I should be back to my regular blogging next week!

If I met you while at BEA< thank you so much for stopping by! I’m Caitie, I am 24, and I am a lover of all types of books! I have a degree in Publishing Studies, and have interned at Hachette Book Group USA and Writers House. They were great internships and solidified my love of the industry. I am interested in all different aspects, which are a part of my “Why I Want to Be…” series. I still have two more posts in the series, but I don’t want to finish it, because then I will not have any more to write!

I review all kinds of books. I tend to read a LOT of YA, but I have been expanding my horizons lately. I read and review literary fiction, commercial fiction, mysteries, fantasy, women’s fiction, dystopian, a little science fictions, a a little bit of everything else!

My goal is to HELP publicists and publishers. I know how small budgets are and that not every book can get the attention it deserves or needs. I try to find the good in everything and let people know if they will like it, even if I did not. I am here to help boost sales, not to tear books down.

I hope you look around a little and enjoy my blog. You can contact me with any question/comments at pubwrites@gmail.com or the email address on my business card! Thanks for stopping by!

My BEA schedule (and a picture!)

Thank you to Miss Remmers Review for putting up a suggestion to put up a picture!

If you see me, say hi! Hopefully my hair will dry on the bus ride in, so find the dry hair version of this picture! I have also made it my twitter picture (caitief if you don’t follow me already) for the next week or so. I will be wearing slacks and nice tops. You can’t really tell as much in this picture (which is a yay holy crap moment!) but I am blind in my right eye, so that eye is often closed or looking another direction…so if you see a one eyed person who kinda looks like this picture…it is probably me.

And please say hi! I want to meet as many people as possible and I can be a little shy!

Now onto my schedule (which is not written in stone or complete by any means)

Monday: 

I only have things in the evening, so I plan on coming in around 11 to get my badge and possibly meet up with any bloggers already there. So if you are going to be there and around the city that day, let me know! We should totally hang out.

4:00: NYC Teen Author Carnival is at the Mulberry Street Library

6:00 Event at Picador

Tuesday:

10:00 Online Book Discovery: What is Driving the Conversation Panel

2:00 Wendy Mass (Author of Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life which is fantastic!) signing, Table 24

3:00 Lev Grossman (author of Magicians) signing Table 19

Wednesday (aka my super busy day)

10:00 Ally Condie signing at 3252

12:00 Maureen Johnson Signing!!!!! Table 3

1:00 Chipotle Lunch.

2:00 Middle Grade editor buzz (if back in time)

3:30 Book Reviews Online Panel

5:30 I am double booked. Either going to Writing For Teens Today at Mulberry Street LIbrary OR the WOrkman Open House

Thursday

11:00 Kody Keplinger signing, Table 7

4:00-6:00 The ladies at Forever YA are getting drinks at Hudson Yards Cafe. So going to be there to at least say hi!

5:00 Food and Fiction at S&S

So I have a lot planned, but a lot of open time too. If I am missing anything awesome, let me know (but I can’t do anything later than I have mentioned, I have to get back on the bus and come back home each night!). I don’t want to miss anything!

I see I will be making one big snafu – I don’t have any business cards. Maybe I will buy some card stock and make five or six dozen on my printer tomorrow….if I can afford it!

Shine by Lauren Myracle

Title: Shine
Author: Lauren Myracle
Hardcover: 350 pages
Publisher: Amulet Books (ABRAMS imprint)
Year Published: 2011
Rating: +++++

Summary (From goodreads):

When her best guy friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover who in her small town did it. Richly atmospheric, this daring mystery mines the secrets of a tightly knit Southern community and examines the strength of will it takes to go against everyone you know in the name of justice.

Against a backdrop of poverty, clannishness, drugs, and intolerance, Myracle has crafted a harrowing coming-of-age tale couched in a deeply intelligent mystery

Review:

In honor of IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia) I am doing two posts today because I think it is that important. Sometimes homophobia is thinking it is gross. Sometimes it is calling people names. But  unfortunately it can also be a hate crime beyond our imaginations, which is something Myracle tackles in Shine, her newest release.

If you decide to read Shine, make sure you have some tissues handy. I cried while reading the newspaper article in the beginning of the book, giving information about the crime before we even know any of the characters. Yes, it is a fictional event, but I am sure similar things happen and it just broke my heart.

It is especially powerful because of the setting, a small backwoods town in the South, where there are people who think that the gay teenager sort of deserved it because he was out. Luckily, the people in his generation do not all agree and care about him.

None more than his former friend and the protagonist of the novel, Cat. She is such a strong character. Cat has been away from everyone else for a while because she is broken, someone broke her years ago. This is the story of how she gets her voice back and fights to find what happened.

I don’t want to give away any more plot, but I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Myracle is an incredible mystery writer. As a reader, you are trying to figure it out along with Cat and everything is there, it is just a little hard to see like all good mysteries. She has written an amazing portrayal of the South and what it is like in a small town.

What hurt Cat so much is not completely revealed until a little over halfway through the book. It really works because as a reader you can figure out in general what happened, but once the full story is out there, you can really understand exactly why Cat is the way she is. It is heart breaking, yet I think it is a necessary story to tell.

I have read several books by Lauren Myracle in the past two years. This book further shows that she is one of the most versatile and talented young adult writers in the industry. I cannot wait to read what she writes next.

Today is International Day Against Homophobia

Which is all well and good. Getting rid of it would be a great thing. But what we really need to get rid of is the word homophobia.

It is an excuse. It lets people off the hook. How? It has the word phobia attached to it. A phobia is “a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or  situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it”

That is not what people mean when they say homophobic. They mean that someone hates gay people. They are not afraid of them, they just want to bring them down. And they don’t just avoid people who are gay and let them live their lives. No, they mock them, beat them up, and make them feel like crap about themselves everyday.

And it can’t be called irrational. That is when you don’t know why you are afraid of something. But we know exactly why some people hate gay people. They learned it from their friends and family. They learned it from entertainment all around them. They learned it from the policies (or lack thereof) in their government. They learned it from their churches who are too busy condemning gay people to hell to have any compassion.

This is NOT a phobia. It is simply hatred taught from an early age, just like racism.

What do we call it instead? I don;t know, but let’s stop adding the phobis part because it is just an excuse and a way to lessen the hatred.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E Lockhart

Title: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Author: E Lockhart
Hardcover: 342 pages
Publisher: Hyperion
Year Published: 2008
Rating: +++

Summary (from me):

Over the summer, Frankie turns from invisible to bombshell. Suddenly boys are noticed her, including popular senior Matthew. Once she lands the guy and his inner circle, she soon realizes she wants more…and gets it by infiltrating the secret boys only society to pull of some of the best pranks the boarding school has ever seen,

Review:

The Good:

The good is simple – the writing and the style of this book are great. I have recently read a lot of E Lockhart’s books lately and this was, by far, the best written.

The setting was also cool. I love a boarding school book because it takes away a lot of obstacles (like parents) and lets teenager be more free. It also puts more responsibility on them and their actions.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and the characters. It was a good book. My issue is that it could have been a great book.

Why It Could Have Been Great:

Frankie could have been so much better. Yes, she is smart and clever and not a typical girl compared to everyone else in her school. But she ditches a friend and never feels bad about it. And she does all of this for a guy.

Yes, sometimes she says she wants to add females to their society and quotes feminism…but at the same time she says she does it to stay in the world of her boyfriend. So he sees her as more of an equal and not a pretty little thing for his arm. But also so he doesn’t dump her.

I think if the author was going for feminism, she should have just gone with it full-out. After the guys found out that she was the one to pull everything off, they ignore her…but she still goes back to them like a puppy dog, even though they don’t take her seriously or respect her. She doesn’t change anything and, in the end, it doesn’t seem like that was her goal in the first place.

Because of this, the book felt shallow, when it could have gone that extra step to make Frankie a character for the ages. Instead, she is a character (and it is a book) I will ultimately forget in a couple months.

Book Expo America!

So BEA is coming up later this month, and…I am going! It was tentative for the last couple of months, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up if it fell through and I didn’t say anything.

It looks like I am going, which I am really excited about. I am going to try to not get books unless they are on the top of my list. I have read so much about bloggers behaving badly when it comes to the ARCs that I just don’t want to get sucked in.

I have three main goals at BEA

1. Go to panels on the industry (especially the parts I am really interested in) take some notes, ask some question,s and think about the suture of publishing and my place in it. Then I will blog about it. I am hoping to get a couple weeks worth of blogs on industry related topics. I just need to figure out what I want to go to and when/where it is. Uhh…if anyone has anything, please help!

2. Network…network…network. I want to meet people, talk to them about publishing, and knock their socks off!

3. Meet some bloggers! I am not going to the BBC, but hope to meet some people at the conference. If you are going, let me know in the comments and we can see if we can set something up!

If you have any tips on the conference, let me know!