In My Mailbox (#1)

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. Instead of rambling on about it, I'll just link you here.

Bought

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - I'll admit that I haven't read this, and I'm probably the only person left who hasn't, but I did finally get it, which means that it should happen soon.

Library

The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper - I don't have much to say about this other than I thought it looked interesting. 

Taken by Storm by Angela Morrison - I put this on request during summer, but I didn't get it until this week. Fingers crossed that that means it's good.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles - Two of the girls I sit with at lunch are currently obsessed with Simone, so I thought I'd check her out.

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney - Supposed to be one of the best books of 2010. I can't wait to finally read it. 

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare - I actually already read this, but with all of Cassie's twitter Q&A's, I feel like I either missed a lot the first time through, or I just forgot it all. Either way, I figured I needed to read it again.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan - See the paper sticking out of this one? Yeah. That's my sister's bookmark. She stole it before I got the chance to start it.

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - I'm in love with Peter Pan, but I've never actually read it, so I felt like I needed the real story. 

School

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (not pictured) - I also got Huck Finn this week because we're reading it in English, but it's at school because I've already read the section that we have to, and I'm pretty content enjoying my weekend without Huck, Tom, and Jim. 

Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman (QR)

Title: Enthusiasm
Author: Polly Shulman
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (Feb. 16, 2006)

"There is little more likely to exasperate a person of sense than finding herself tied by affection and habit to an Enthusiast." Julie knows from bitter experience. Her best friend, Ashleigh, veers wildly from one obsession to the next, dragging Julie along on her crazy schemes. Ashleigh's current fancy is also Julie's own passion: Jane Austen's great love story Pride and Prejudice. Dressed in a vintage frock and dragging her feet, Julie finds herself sneaking into a dance at an all-boys' prep school with Ashleigh, in search of heroes. Unfortunately, they both fall for the same one: the handsome and gallant Grandison Parr. Will Julie have to choose between loyalty and love? Or will Ashleigh's embarrassing antics drive him away before Julie gets a chance?*

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Enthusiasm... what to say, what to say. I first read this book about two years ago and immediately fell in love with it. I saw it on my shelf the other day and decided to read it again (for probably the fifth time). Turns out I still love it. (I haven't read it in at least a year.) I thought about it for a while after I finished it, trying to figure out why I love it so much. It's pretty typical, fairly predictable, rather average, and not amazingly excellent. All things that would make it a typical book, nothing to get excited about. But I think that's exactly why I enjoyed it so much. It's one of the few books like that that makes you want to be sucked in and take the place of a character. Not because they go off on daring adventures or cast spells or do cool stunts, but because, when it comes down to it, that's what you want. You want that typical life, where you know everything will be okay in the end. And I think that's what really made me fall for it.

I think it's worth checking out if you get the chance. Maybe it is average. Maybe it is typical. Maybe it isn't actually that great. But I still think it's worth it. 

*summary from back cover (paperback edition)

Booking Through Thursday (#1)

To get in the spirit of blogging, I decided to start doing some memes. The first one (as it's Thursday) is Booking Through Thursday. 

This week's question is...
Even I read things other than books from time to time … like, Magazines! What magazines/journals do you read?


I don't really read journals, and I can't say I read magazines much, but when I do, it's usually Seventeen, Scientific America, or Newsweek (yeah, I know I'm lame).

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

Title: Suite Scarlett
Author: Maureen Johnson
Publisher: Point (May 1, 2008)

Scarlett Martin has grown up in a most unusual way. Her family owns the Hopewell, a small hotel in the heart of New York City.

When the Martins turn fifteen, they are each expected to take care of a suite in the once elegant, now shabby Art Deco hotel. For Scarlett's fifteenth birthday, she gets both a room called the Empire Suite, and a permanent guest named Mrs. Amberson. Scarlett doesn't quite know what to make of this C-list starlet, world traveler, and aspiring autobiographer who wants to take over her life. And when she meets Eric, an astonishingly gorgeous actor who has just moved to the city, her summer takes an unexpected turn.* 

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The first thing in this book that drew me in was the hotel setting.  I mean, what kid hasn't dreamed about living in a hotel? And here it was. But what really got me was that the Hopewell isn't your nice Hilton or your average Comfort Inn. Oh, no. The Hopewell is a family owned and run, fairly empty, not-quite-first-class hotel. And Scarlett gets to live in it. This is really what hooked me at first; I wanted to hear about life in a hotel. 

Second was Maureen Johnson's style. I can't think of much to say about her style other than I love it. The way everything flows and how everything is phrased is simply amazing. Johnson also kept the book moving along. I can't remember a dry section because there was always more being tossed in.

The only things I didn't really like were some of the characters. I won't tell you which ones, but at some points, I just could feel myself getting annoyed with them. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to like one of them, but he still just got on my nerves. 

Really, the only way I can think to sum up the book is with six words: it's funny, it's clever, it's excellent. If you can get your hands on it, I suggest you do.


*summary is a partial from inside jacket

Try, Try Again

Once upon a time, I had a blog. Two, actually. I started the first in October of 2009, after meeting Michelle Houts and being introduced to the world of book blogging. It fell apart after about one month and six posts. I just kind of... stopped. Toward the beginning of 2010 (I think April), a friend and I started a new one, which I thought would be a lot better. It was... for two or three months. It fell apart too. I then gave up on keeping my own and just faithfully read others' blogs. (Which I had already been doing. My point is more on the first part than the second.) But I kept wanting to write about books I had read and things that bloggers had posted. So, when 2011 came about, I decided to try again. A new identity (I was formally silverlining), a new blog (hopefully a better one), and a new list of books to be read (a good two pages). And so, I present to you, Innocently Dreaming, a (probably odd, hopefully good, and likely crazy) young adult book blog.