"Waiting On" Wednesday (5)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.

This week's WoW is...

What Happened to Goodbye

by Sarah Dessen

May 10, 2011

I'm a big Sarah Dessen fan, so I can't wait for her newest book to come out! I finally read Someone Like You in February (the only book by Sarah I hadn't read), and now I need a new one by her. =)

What about you? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Monday, Monday (3)

Monday, Monday is the day where I showcase something I love just to show my appreciation for Mondays. 


I only have one thing this week, but it's excellent. It's a pretty popular website called Sporcle. 

The website is comprised of a bunch of quizzes on completely random things. If you haven't heard of it, I would definitely check it out. There are quizzes based on everything. Whether you are a history buff or love to read banned books or know 80's music better than anyone, there is a quiz (or ten) for you. 

And now you have a nice way to start off (waste) your week. Happy Monday!

The Boy Book by E. Lockhart

Title: The Boy Book
(Ruby Oliver #2)
Author: E. Lockhart
Published: Delacorte Books
(September 26, 2006) 

Here's how things stand at the beginning of newly licensed driver Ruby Oliver's junior year at Tate Prep:

- Kim: Not speaking. But far away in Tokyo.

- Cricket: Not speaking.

- Nora: Speaking--sort of. Chatted with Ruby a couple of times this summer when they bumped into each other outside school--once shopping in the U District and once in the Elliott Bay Book Company. But she hasn't called Ruby or anything.

- Noel: Doesn't care what anyone thinks.

- Meghan: Doesn't have any other friends.

- Dr. Z: Speaking.

- And Jackson. The big one. Not speaking.

But by winter break, a new job, and unlikely but satisfying friend combo, additional entries in The Boy Book, and many difficult decisions help Ruby see that there is indeed life outside the Tate Universe.*

---

I really enjoyed The Boy Book. It was every bit as good as The Boyfriend List, and then some.

Each chapter begins with an excerpt from Ruby and Kim's Boy Book that relates to what happens during the chapter, and they were titled accordingly. (e.g. Rules for Dating in a Small School, Neanderthals on the Telephone: Or, How to Converse; Clever Comebacks to Catcalls, etc.) The excerpts were exactly what the subtitle says: "A study of habits and behaviors, plus techniques for taming them." They were so entertaining, and I thought they were a great way to introduce each chapter and give hints on what would happen.

Another thing I really liked about the book was the character development. E. did an excellent job of showing each character's personality, including those that only popped up two or three times. Just by the dialogue, their actions, and Ruby's comments, I felt like I knew a lot about them. Ruby didn't need to say exactly what she thought of each person and what they thought of her; I just kind of knew.

Sure, it wasn't action-packed, and it didn't put me on the edge of my seat, but it still kept me wanting to read, and I was sad when I finished and had to stop.

Ruby Oliver Number One? Great. Ruby Oliver Number Two? Excellent. Ruby Oliver Number Three? Can't wait.


*summary from inside jacket of hardcover

In My Mailbox (6)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren.

This week was more of an I-Read-This-Book-And-Liked-It-So-I'll-Read-This-One-Too week...

 

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan - After reading Dash & Lily's Book of Dares and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and loving them both, I wanted to read about Naomi and Eli too, so I checked it out of the library.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld - I also got this from the library because I liked Uglies so much. Not much else to say about it other than I'm excited. 

The Boy Book by E. Lockhart - Again from the library. This is the sequel to The Boyfriend List. 

And there's my mailbox for the week. Very sequel-y. Did you get any sequels? I hope so. Will you link me to your IMM whether you did or not? I hope so.

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles (QR)

Title: Rules of Attraction
(Perfect Chemistry #2)
Author: Simone Elkeles
Publisher: Walker Books
(April 13, 2010)

(spoilers if you've not read Perfect Chemistry - highlight with caution)

Carlos Fuentes idolized his older brother, Alex, when he was a member of the Latino Blood. So when Alex chose to get jumped out of the gang for a chance at a future with his gringa girlfriend, Brittany, Carlos felt shocked and betrayed. Even worse, Alex forced Carlos to come back from Mexico to join him on the straight and narrow path. Trouble is, Carlos just wants to keep living on the edge. And ties to his Mexican gang aren't easy to break, even hundreds of miles away in Colorado.

In Boulder, Carlos has to live with a college professor--and he feels completely out of place. He's even more thrown by his strong feelings for the professor's daughter, Kiara, who is nothing like the girls he's usually drawn to. But Carlos and Kiara soon discover that in matters of the the heart, the rules of attraction overpower the social differences that conspire to keep them apart.*

---

The quote at the top of the inside jacket of the hardcover reads, "If you loved Alex Fuentes, wait until you meet his brother Carlos..."

So true. Rules of Attraction was very similar to Perfect Chemistry. It had a lot of the same ideas and same storyline, but with a few different twists. Because of these similarities, I don't have a significant amount to say about it (hence the quick review). (You can really just look at my Perfect Chemisty review, and you'll get basically the same idea of the book.)

Rules of Attraction is narrated in two points of view: Carlos and Kiara. They trade back and forth, one starting where the other leaves off. I love the variety of two narrators, and how much I came to understand each character through it.

A similar but excellent sequel to Perfect Chemistry. I now look forward to book number three: Chain Reaction. 

*from inside jacket of hardcover

If You Can Read This, Thank a Teacher

Betty of Reflections With Coffee is hosting a mini-challenge as part of Cindy's (of Princess Bookie) Contest Craze. (Check them both out!)

Here's the challenge:

Do you remember who gave you your love of reading?  Your mini-challenge is to scribble a quick thank you note to that person. 

Maybe it is a parent who read to you at bedtime, or an elementary school teacher or even a college lit professor.  If the person is no longer here on earth or you don't have the address, scribble anyway.   Then post it on your blog (and leave the link here)  or  tell us in the comments a bit about the person, and how he/she influenced you. 

I tried writing a comment but because I have so many people, I couldn't manage to make a short one. So I decided to post instead.

Betty's card

Here's who have I have to thank for my love of reading:

My Parents - Before I could read, my parents would read to me (like most parents do). And then, once I could read, they would read to me if I wanted them to, or they would help me read to them. For most of my young life, if there was reading going on, it was generally them reading to me or me reading to them. So they introduced me to the wonderful world of reading. (Surprising, isn't it?...)

My Sister - My sister is only three years older than me, but she was a pretty big influence on me (still is). One thing she loved to do was read, so, because I wanted to be just like her, I started reading a lot too. She read to me sometimes, and at other times, she would help me read. Honestly? She was probably the biggest influence who wasn't one of the main ones teaching me to read. (She did help teach me though.)

My Teachers - Mrs. B* was my kindergarten teacher. I could read before kindergarten, but she helped me read more and gave me different books to read to help me, so she was a big boost to my love of reading.
I had Mrs. H* for first grade, and she was constantly giving me and two other kids books (like Henry and Mudge and Mr. Putter and Tabby and Amelia Bedelia), and she (as most first grade teachers do) encouraged me to read as much as I possibly could. She was such a huge influence on my life in a lot more than just loving and learning to read, but she passed away three years ago.
Mrs. F* was my second grade teacher (who actually still teaches the exact same class in the exact same classroom as she did when I was in second grade). She helped in lot of ways similar to Mrs. H, but it was at a higher reading level. She was/is an even bigger influence on my life, and she was a fantastic teacher. (I'm sure she still is.) I could go on and on about how much I love Mrs. F, but I won't take up more space about her. I think we all have a teacher like that.
I obviously have many more teachers who influenced my reading life, but those are the ones who shaped my love for reading the most.

My Librarians - I live in a small town with a very small library, but I was constantly going with my mom to the library. I couldn't tell you for sure (I don't totally remember), but I think that how sweet the librarians were** also helped me love reading. Not as much as everyone above did, but they are worth mentioning and worth thanking.

And there you have them. The people who helped me love to read. All of them are wonderful, and I have all of them to thank.

Now that I've shared mine, I want to see yours. Make your own post (whether you enter the challenge or not) and link me to it or just leave me a comment. Wherever it is, whoever it is, I want to read about why you love to read.







*I'm not putting their full names, just in case. 
**and still are - There were two of them at the time, and yes, one of them still works at my library. The other now works at the county level, so I still see her sometimes. 

Goodreads

I got a Goodreads account last year (it told me that it was in February), but I've never actually done anything on it. Until today. I finally added some books to my read and to read piles (okay, I had made a small read pile forever ago), rated my reads, and added a couple reviews. I also joined a couple groups. Anyway, the reason I'm telling you all of this is (a) so you can check it out if you want and (b) because I'm not completely sure what else I should do on the site. So, if I haven't done something yet/you know of some fantastic group I should join/there's a book I need to read to my TBR/we should be friends/whatever else, let me know! Okay? Okay. Awesome. =)

"Waiting On" Wednesday (4)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.

This week's WoW is...

Where She Went

by Gayle Forman

April 5, 2011

My guess is that everyone's heard about this, and most people are excited about it. Although it wasn't my favorite, I enjoyed If I Stay, so now I'm looking forward to reading its sequel. 

What about you? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Uglies (Uglies #1)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse (Feb. 28, 2005)

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license--for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world--and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.*

---

I'll admit straight off the bat that the only reason I read this was because I was sick of hearing about how great it was and feeling like the only person in the world who hadn't read it, so I finally picked it up and read... thankfully.

At the beginning, I was kind of regretting the decision, and my expectations for the rest of the book dropped pretty dramatically. (They were pretty high considering all the hype I've heard over it.) I would argue that the beginning is pretty necessary to understand the rest of the book, but that doesn't mean I fully enjoyed it. 

It took a good seventy, eighty pages to get into it. But, when I finally did, I really got into it. It took off from about ten miles an hour to seventy, and it kept the pace up through the end. I don't have much to say about the middle or the end that without spoiling anything.

I loved the sci-fi element of the book. I thought Scott did a fantastic job of imagining a future like this. It was very thorough and explained well without being too much or getting boring (past the very beginning). He also incorporated the things we do now into the story, and it all fit perfectly. 

All in all, an excellent book. Maybe not the best beginning, but after pushing past it, I really came to enjoy it. I already have Pretties (Uglies #2) on hold at the library, and I can't wait to get it. 

*summary from back cover of paperback