Waiting on Wednesday - Fall for Anything

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The idea is to pick a book that hasn't been released yet that you can't wait to read.

This week my pick is:

Fall for Anything
by Courtney Summers
Release Date: December 21, 2010

Goodreads Summary: When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. He seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on… but some questions should be left unanswered.

It's no secret that I love the way Courtney writes. I can't wait to pick this one up - and just in time for Christmas!

Preorder your copy of Fall for Anything.

Add Fall for Anything to your goodreads bookshelf.

Read a review of Some Girls Are, also written by Courtney Summers.

Want to Read Wednesday - Banned Books Edition

I know that on Wednesdays I usually participate in Waiting on Wednesday, but since this week is banned books week, I thought I'd switch it up a bit and talk about a few banned books that are on my TBR list.

• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
  Summary: Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth.
  
  My Thoughts: I have to admit this book wasn't on my radar, but after reading some blog posts on how it changed people's lives, I just have to pick it up.
  
  
• Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
  Summary: Stargirl. From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’s heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. At first. Then they turn on her. Stargirl is suddenly shunned for everything that makes her different, and Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal.
  
  My Thoughts: I picked up this book at Borders a couple weeks ago. I'm interested to see how the story plays out. Every kid at school is always so focused on fitting it, this seems like a refreshing story of the girl who dared to stand out.
  
  
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  Summary:
  Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
  
  My Thoughts: I think this book has an interesting premise. I'm trying to read more books with male narrators for my Nano research, and this looks like a great book.
  

Waiting on Wednesday - Anna and the French Kiss

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The idea is to pick a book that hasn't been released yet that you can't wait to read.

This week my pick is:


by Stephanie Perkins
Release Date: December 2, 2010

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

Hmmm...let's write a book about a girl who goes to an awesome city and meets a guy with an amazing accent. Do I want to read that? Yes, please. And so should you!

RELATED LINKS

Preorder Anna and the French Kiss

Visit Stephanie Perkins's website

Waiting on Wednesday - Bright Young Things

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The idea is to pick a book that hasn't been released yet that you can't wait to read.



This week, my pick is Bright Young Things by Anna Godberson. It is the first in a planned four book series. I enjoyed her Luxe series, so I don't think I'll be dissapointed with this book. Ever since reading Gatsby in high school I've been fascinated with this period in American history, so it's always good to see some historical fiction based in that era.

What are you waiting on?

RELATED LINKS

Preorder Bright Young Things on Amazon

Read the prologue

Add Bright Young Things to your goodreads shelf

Waiting on Wednesday - When Rose Wakes

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The idea is to pick a book that hasn't been released yet that you can't wait to read.

This week my pick is When Rose Wakes by Christopher Golden.


Release Date: September 28, 2010

Amazon Summary: Ever since sixteen-year-old Rose DuBois woke up from months in a coma with absolutely no memories, she’s had to start from scratch. She knows she loves her two aunts who take care of her, and that they all used to live in France, but everything else from her life before is a blank.Rose tries to push through the memory gaps and start her new life, attending high school and living in Boston with her aunts, who have seriously old world ideas. Especially when it comes to boys. But despite their seemingly irrational fears and odd superstitions, they insist Rose not worry about the eerie dreams she’s having, vivid nightmares that she comes to realize are strangely like the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. The evil witch, the friendly fairies, a curse that puts an entire town to sleep—Rose relives the frightening story every night. And when a mysterious raven-haired woman starts following her, Rose begins to wonder if she is the dormant princess. And now that she’s awake, she’s in terrible, terrible danger.

I've read a few retellings and I love the concept. I can't wait to get my hands on this one.

RELATED LINKS

Like retellings? Read my review of Sisters Red

Preorder When Rose Wakes

Christopher Golden's Blog

Follow Christopher Golden on twitter

Add When Rose Wakes to your goodreads shelf

Waiting on Wednesday - Matched

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The idea is to pick a book that hasn't been released yet that you can't wait to read.

This week my pick is Matched by Ally Condie.


Release Date: November 30, 2010

Summary from Goodreads: In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.

I am in love with the concept of this book. I can't wait to read it. Lucky for me, I don't have to wait all the way until November for the chance because I won a copy by entering Shannon's Mega-Epic-Contest-of-Awesome. If you're not following her yet, do it now because I think she's having some more contests to follow this one up. I'm sure she has some more great prizes.

You can pre-order Matched by Ally Condie on Amazon.

Waiting on Wednesday - You

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The idea is to pick a book that hasn't been released yet that you can't wait to read.

This week my pick is You by Charles Benoit.


Release Date: August 24, 2010

Summary from Amazon:
This wasn't the way it was supposed to go.

You're just a typical fifteen-year-old sophomore, an average guy named Kyle Chase. This can't be happening to you. But then, how do you explain all the blood? How do you explain how you got here in the first place?
There had to have been signs, had to have been some clues it was coming. Did you miss them, or ignore them? Maybe if you can figure out where it all went wrong, you can still make it right. Or is it already too late? Think fast, Kyle. Time's running out. How did this happen?

You is the riveting story of fifteen-year-old Kyle and the small choices he does and doesn't make that lead to his own destruction.

I heard about this book awhile ago through my book club and was interested just because of the cover. After reading the summary, I'm anticipating this release even more. It sounds a little like the movie Memento, but from a teenager's perspective.

RELATED LINKS

Preorder this book on Amazon.

Read reactions to this book on: Karin's Book Nook, Janet Reid, Literary Agent, and Reading Rants

Add this book to your goodreads shelf.

Waiting on Wednesday - Mockingjay

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The idea is to pick a book that hasn't been released yet that you can't wait to read.

This week my pick is Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.


Release Date: August 24, 2010
Other Information:Third installment in the Hunger Games Trilogy

Summary from Amazon:Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12.

I know, I know. Of COURSE I'm waiting on this. Everyone in the world is waiting for this book to come out. If you aren't - go pick up a copy of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire immediately. First, you will hate me because you'll stay up all night and call out of work to finish it. Then you'll love me because the story is so awesome. Then you'll hate me again because you'll have to wait until the end of August to see how it ends!

RELATED LINKS

Preorder a copy of Mockingjay at Amazon.

Add Mockingjay to your goodreads shelf

Visit Julie's blog, Book Hooked for her Hunger Games week feature!

Go to a Mockingjay signing.

Waiting on Wednesday - Losing Faith

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The idea is to pick a book that hasn't been released yet that you can't wait to read.

This week my pick is Losing Faith by Denise Jaden.


Release Date: September 7, 2010
Pages: 400


Goodreads Summary:

A terrible secret. A terrible fate.

When Brie's sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie's world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral farther and farther off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don't know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.

As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith's final night...a secret that puts her own life in danger.

I devour books like this. I love a good mystery hidden behind a death. I can't wait to get my hands on this one.

You can pre-order this book here.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Unidentified

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The idea is to pick a book that hasn't been released yet that you can't wait to read.

This week my pick is The Unidentified by Rae Mariz.


Release Date: October 5, 2010

Goodreads Summary:Kid knows her school’s corporate sponsors not-so-secretly monitor her friendships and activities for market research. It’s all a part of the Game; the alternative education system designed to use the addictive kick from video games to encourage academic learning. Everyday, a captive audience of students ages 13-17 enter the nationwide chain store-like Game locations to play.

When a group calling themselves The Unidentified simulates a suicide to protest the power structure of their school, Kid’s investigation into their pranks attracts unwanted attention from the sponsors. As Kid finds out she doesn't have rights to her ideas, her privacy, or identity, she and her friends look for a way to revolt in a place where all acts of rebellion are just spun into the next new ad campaign.

I can always get behind a plot like this. I eat up stories where a kid is in some controlling society and then rebels against it. I like the angle this story is taking with the video game/learning connection, too. It's an interesting concept that I haven't read about before.

If this type of plot appeals to you, you will probably like The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins and The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld.

LINKS
- You can pre-order your copy of Unidentified at Amazon.
- Visit the book's website.
- Follow Rae Mariz on twitter.
- Check out a review of the book on I Read to Relax

Waiting on Wednesday - Hothouse

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The idea is to pick a book that hasn't been released yet that you can't wait to read.

This week my pick is Hothouse by Chris Lynch.


Release Date: August 24, 2010

Here is the Amazon description: Hundreds of YA books deal with the loss of a parent, but few situate that grief within a community as expertly as Lynch's latest. When we meet 17-year-old Russ, his dad is already dead. A member of the beloved local firehouse known as the “Hothouse,” he was one of two firefighters killed during an attempted rescue. The town opens its heart to the men's two sons: their money is no good anywhere, beers are handed to them at parties, and the word hero is applied not just to their fathers but to them as well. But did the town rush to lionize its fallen? As the truth of the fatal incident begins to eke out, Russ finds himself staring down a very different possibility. Lynch fully commits to the first-person voice, giving into Russ' second-by-second conflicts and contradictions. The author also has a strong grasp of the garrulous slaps and punches that make up many male relationships—Russ' friendships are so real they hurt. The story hurts, too, but that's how it should be.

I don't read many books with male main characters, but this one is really intriguing. I can't wait to see how Russ deals with the fact that his father is not what he thought he was in the very public setting of his local community. It sounds like the ideas he had about his dad will be shattered, along with his ties to his neighborhood. This is a very interesting dynamic and one that may be even more interesting from a teen's perspective.

LINKS
- Read a review of Hothouse by Girls in the Stacks
- Add Hothouse to your Goodreads shelf
- Other books by Chris Lynch