Gay in YA

Epic Reads recently had a Tea Time in which we discussed GLBTQ reads. I really enjoy reading novels and discovering that they have a character that falls into that category. As a librarian I am always scouting out the kids that need this titles and pairing them up. For my version of Epic Reads infographic, I stuck only with titles that I have read. There are more out there, but I wanted to focus on ones that I have read and enjoyed and think you should try out. 

Gay novels plays a very important role in YA. Young adults are just discovering themselves and trying to figure out what kind of a person they are. These novels let them know that they aren't alone. I particularly enjoy the novels that have gay characters and it isn't a big deal at all. Unfortunately, that's often not the reality so it's good that there are plenty of books that show being different as hard. It can be and that's the truth. I do wish there were more transgender and questioning books. I know there are more than what is on my list, but not too many more. Malinda Lo also wrote a great post about bisexual characters in YA. We could use a few more of those novels as well. 

I realize that publisher my hesitate to pick up a LGBTQ title because of the controversy or popularity, but I'm hoping that sometime soon there is a shift and it won't be so taboo anymore. 

I made my own infographic based on the one for Epic Reads, because I needed to fit in a few more in the lesbian spot. 

Lesbian:
Silhouette of a Sparrow - Molly Beth Griffin (my review)
Sparks - S.J. Adams (my review)
Dare, Truth or Promise - Paula Boock (my review)
Pretty Little Liars - Sara Shepard (my review)
Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins (my review)
Skim - Mariko Tamaki (my review)
Ash - Malinda Lo (my review)
Huntress - Malinda Lo (my review)
Scars - Cheryl Rainfield (my review)
grl2grl - Julie Anne Peters (my review) (This one may actually fit into the Other category)
She Loves You, She Loves You Not - Julie Anne Peters (my review)
Rage: a love story - Julie Anne Peters (my review) I like this book because it throws in an abusive relationship too. I just appreciate that it's more than just discovering your sexuality. 

Gay:
Two Boys Kissing - David Levithan (my review)
Boy Meets Boy - David Levithan
Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chobsky
Freak Show - James St.James
Where You Are - J.H. Trumble (my review) So this one and Freak Show may not be specifically YA, but I feel like they were still excellent books with high teen appeal. 

Bisexual:
Adaptation - Malinda Lo (my review)
Empress of the World - Sara Ryan This was my favorite novel in school for quite awhile. 
Water Baby - Ross Campbell (my review)

Questioning:
a+e 4ever - i. merey (my review)
Her and Me and You - Lauren Strasnick (my review)
My Invented Life - Lauren Bjorkman (my review)

Transgender:
Almost Perfect - Brian Katcher (my review)
Debbie Harry Sings in French - Megan Brothers (my review)

Other: This is an added category for books that fit into multiple parts of GLBTQ.
When the Sea is Rising Red - Cat Hellisen (my review)
Dangerous Angels - Francesca Lia Block (my review)
Geography Club - Bret Hartinger
Every Day - David Levithan (my review)
Beauty Queens - Libba Bray (my review)

Have you guys read any great LGBTQ that isn't featured on my list? 

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic is:

Top Ten Books on my Summer TBR list...
(Some of these are carryovers from my spring one since they fell a bit by the wayside...)

Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz - Still can't believe I haven't read this one.

How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller - Done with Kiki Strike and can barely keep her books on the shelves at work.

Mind Games by Kiersten White - Still haven't read Endlessly but YAY new series!

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepard - I always love a re-telling and this just sounds fab!

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff - I liked Brenna's other novels, so on to the next.

Then You Were Gone by Lauren Strasnick - This just sounds really fantastic and I loved Her and Me and You.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - This one sounds so cute and fun.

Invisibility by David Levithan & Andrea Cremer - Love both of them and can't wait to see what they created together.

Taken by Erin Bowman - She's a local author and this just sounds really interesting and I keep meaning to read it and forgetting.

Truth or Dare by Jacqueline Green - This just sounds intriguing.

The Broke and the Bookish is a group of college aged and twenty somethings that have an unhealthy obsession with reading and would spend every last penny on books even if it meant skipping a few meals. We are the people  who lurk in the library, buy handbags based on how many books can be stashed in them, and who refer to characters in books as if they are personal friends.

We sought after other bookish college students to share in our love for reading and were brought together by the College Students group on Goodreads that was created in September 2008. Our desire to share great books with each other in and our tendency to be opinionated and passionate about all things book related naturally led to the birth of The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010.

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic is:

Top Ten Books I recommend the most...

Angus Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison (my review)

How I Live Now Meg Rosoff
Do yourself a favor and listen to this on audio!

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz (my review)

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (my review)

Her and Me and You Lauren Strasnick (my review)

And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky (my review)

It's Kind of a Funny Story Ned Vizzini
Such a great story and the movie ended up not being half bad either.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (my review)

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt 
Such a lovely story. If you ever read adult books, you should check this one out.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (my review)

The Broke and the Bookish is a group of college aged and twenty somethings that have an unhealthy obsession with reading and would spend every last penny on books even if it meant skipping a few meals. We are the people  who lurk in the library, buy handbags based on how many books can be stashed in them, and who refer to characters in books as if they are personal friends.

We sought after other bookish college students to share in our love for reading and were brought together by the College Students group on Goodreads that was created in September 2008. Our desire to share great books with each other in and our tendency to be opinionated and passionate about all things book related naturally led to the birth of The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010.

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic is:

Top Ten Books on my Spring TBR list...
(yeah I may have switched this week and last week...oh well)

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans - Fellow blogger and a dystopian, check.

The Archived by Victoria Schwab - Libraries and Schwab, check.

Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz - She writes these faster than I can read them, so I need to get caught up.

How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller - Just caught up with the Kiki Strike books, so on to this!

Mind Games by Kiersten White - Just realized I haven't read Endlessly yet...oh well, new series!

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner - Before I bought this, I thought it was a graphic novel. It sounds really interesting. Very different and a bit unsettling.

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepard - I've been told this is amazing by a friend, so I shall read it. Plus, I always love a re-telling.

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff - I liked Brenna's other novels, so on to the next.

Then You Were Gone by Lauren Strasnick - This just sounds really fantastic.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - This one sounds so cute and fun. We shall see!

The Broke and the Bookish is a group of college aged and twenty somethings that have an unhealthy obsession with reading and would spend every last penny on books even if it meant skipping a few meals. We are the people  who lurk in the library, buy handbags based on how many books can be stashed in them, and who refer to characters in books as if they are personal friends.

We sought after other bookish college students to share in our love for reading and were brought together by the College Students group on Goodreads that was created in September 2008. Our desire to share great books with each other in and our tendency to be opinionated and passionate about all things book related naturally led to the birth of The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010.

Review: Nothing Like You - Lauren Strasnick

Where I got it: My collection
Rating: 4 stars  

Cover Rating: 4 stars (I love the image. The brightness at the top is nice. It's a clean cover.)
Genre: Young Adult

Publication Date: October 3, 2009

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Page Count: 209 p.

Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Holly just wants to lose her virginity and get it over with. Her mom's dead and her best friend dates a new girl every other day. Holly just wants to be a part of something for herself. She just wants to feel something. So, she sleeps with Paul. Holly is ready to just leave it at that, but then Paul pursues her and Holly decides to go with it. Then Paul gets back together with his old girlfriend, he still wants to fool around with Holly though. She doesn't love the idea, but she's okay with it until she gets to know Saskia. They have to team up for a school project and Holly decides she a really great person. Paul doesn't want to accept that Holly is done with him and he threatens to destroy her. All Holly wanted was to feel something but numbness and now she's up to her neck in mistakes. Hopefully she can find a way out of this before she leaves to go to college and never has a chance to fix things.

I hated Paul. He was such a bad guy. He was manipulating and just completely skeevy. I can't believe that Holly felt anything for him. I realize that she was in a rough place, but he was a complete creep. I'm glad she never had to be in an actual relationship with him, I can't imagine how terrible he could be then. Saskia was a fun character though, and I'm glad that I got to end up getting to know her. I also loved Holly's BF Nils. It's silly how characters never seem to see the amazing person they have right in front of their faces. Nils was a great guy, even if he went through girls like people go through T.V. dinners.

The ending was pretty excellent. It wasn't what I hoped for, but it just rang out true. Holly dug herself in a deep hole, and had a long climb to get back out of it. I thought Lauren Strasnick did a great job at ending things, but leaving enough of it open, so there was still hope.

Altogether this was a pretty awesome book. There was a pretty okay main character dealing with a lot of issues (a lot she created herself) and handling them in a realistically imperfect way. I really like the realistic feel of this novel. It was casual and true. Definitely check this one out if you like realistic fiction that is afraid to show the truth.

First Line:
"We were parked at Point Dume, Paul and I , the two of us tangled together, half dressed, half not."

Favorite Line:
"It went from dark yo light, then from light to white, and Mom was suddenly see-through, drifting up and away, dissolving into the clean white walls, fading like a soft stain or an old photograph."

Interview with Lauren Strasnick

1. Was Nothing Like You the first novel you wrote or just the first one published? It was the second novel I'd written. The first was my graduate thesis, which is now buried away somewhere on my hard drive.

2. Nothing Like You, like Her and Me and You, has a sort of love triangle in it. Have you witnessed this in a lot of real life relationships, or do your stories just happen that way?
I think real life love triangles are pretty horrifying. I'd run screaming if i saw one looming large on the horizon. Fiction is different. Those sorts of triangles provide a ton of story tension and really ratchet up the stakes. I can't say I've witnessed many triangles, though I did partake in one or two while still in high school. Never again!

3. Are you like Holly with your heart on your sleeve or the complete opposite? What's some advise you have for writing a main character that is nothing like you?
It's funny, I am a heart-on-my-sleeve kind of girl, though I'm pretty different from Holly. We've experienced some similar stuff, but Holly's a bit more destructive, more willing to screw up in bigger, badder ways. I don't think there's any special trick to writing a main character who's different from you, i just think it involves a bit of imagination.

4. What do you know now about the publishing/author world that you wish you knew when you started?
Oh wow, that's a tough question. I've learned a ton in the past few years, though I'm not sure there's anything I wish I'd known going in. You learn as you go, right? The publishing world requires a tremendous amount of patience. And, of course, there's more to this job than writing. Sorting out how to publicize your books -- that's something I'm still trying to figure out.


5. Tell us a bit about your upcoming novel Then You Were Gone.
THEN YOU WERE GONE is about a girl named Dakota Webb who sings in a popular underground band called Dark Star. She's bitchy & super hot & has legions of freshman girls worshiping at her altar of rock. Then one day she goes missing. Her ex-best friend, Adrienne, sets out to uncover what really happened, & while on that path, Adrienne kind of... becomes her.

6. What have you read lately that was amazing?
I just read GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn which was fantastic -- suspenseful, entertaining, incredibly well written -- I could not put it down. I'm also madly in love with her first book, SHARP OBJECTS. So good! She & Tana French are two of my favorites when it comes to crime fiction. & Just this past week I started reading SECOND CHANCE SUMMER by my friend, Morgan Matson. Heartbreaking & SO GOOD.

7. What else would you like to add?
Nothing! Other than: thank you, Brittany, for hosting me on your blog! Such stellar questions.

A big thanks to Lauren for stopping by and answering some questions.

In My Mailbox #105

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

Won from Read Now Sleep Later

Supernaturally - Kiersten White (signed!) (my review)

a Beautiful Creatures t-shirt and tons of swag

and I also got...

For Review: from AmazonVine and HarperCollins

Dark Eden - Patrick Carman

Fifteen-year-old Will Besting is sent by his doctor to Fort Eden, an institution meant to help patients suffering from crippling phobias. Once there, Will and six other teenagers take turns in mysterious fear chambers and confront their worst nightmares—with the help of the group facilitator, Rainsford, an enigmatic guide. When the patients emerge from the chamber, they feel emboldened by the previous night's experiences. But each person soon discovers strange, unexplained aches and pains. . . . What is really happening to the seven teens trapped in this dark Eden?

Dearly Departed - Lia Habel

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie? 

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune, and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses. 

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

Tris & Izzie - Mette Ivie Harrison

A modern retelling of the German fairytale "Tristan and Isolde", Tris and Izzie is about a young witch named Izzie who is dating Mark King, the captain of the basketball team and thinks her life is going swimmingly well. Until -- she makes a love potion for her best friend Brangane and then ends up taking it herself accidentally, and falling in love with Tristan, the new guy at school.

Bought/swapped:

Her and Me and You - Lauren Strasnick (my review)

Envy - Gregg Olsen

So that's what I got this week, what did you all get?

Short and Sweet

some of my favorite books under 200 pages.

So sometimes you really want to read a book to sort of cleanse your palette. A brief story can be just the thing when you have a few hours to read and don't want to get heavily vested in a huge read. So here are  fifteen my favorite YA novels that are just right.

Psyche in a Dress - Francesca Lia Block
Honestly I could have picked almost any one of Francesca's books because they are all quite brief, but this is one of my favorites.
But this is what I could not give up:
I could not give up myself
Psyche has known Love—scented with jasmine and tasting of fresh oranges. Yet he is fleeting and fragile, lost to her too quickly. Punished by self-doubt, Psyche yearns to be transformed, like the beautiful and brutal figures in the myths her lover once spoke of. Attempting to uncover beauty in the darkness, she is challenged, tested, and changed by the gods and demons who tempt her. Her faith must be found again, for if she is to love, she must never look back.

Godless - Pete Hautman
See also: Invisible and How to Steal a Car. (my review)

"Why mess around with Catholicism when you can have your own customized religion?"
Fed up with his parents' boring old religion, agnostic-going-on-atheist Jason Bock invents a new god — the town's water tower. He recruits an unlikely group of worshippers: his snail-farming best friend, Shin, cute-as-a-button (whatever that means) Magda Price, and the violent and unpredictable Henry Stagg. As their religion grows, it takes on a life of its own. While Jason struggles to keep the faith pure, Shin obsesses over writing their bible, and the explosive Henry schemes to make the new faith even more exciting — and dangerous.
When the Chutengodians hold their first ceremony high atop the dome of the water tower, things quickly go from merely dangerous to terrifying and deadly. Jason soon realizes that inventing a religion is a lot easier than controlling it, but control it he must, before his creation destroys both his friends and himself.

Green Angel - Alice Hoffman (my review)
See also: Green Witch (my review)

In lyrical words that "unfold like white flowers, petal by petal, each in its own time and season," Hoffman introduces us to Green, a gentle teen whose name reveals her connection to the earth and a peaceful beauty that contrasts with her sunny sister, Aurora. Yet when Aurora and her parents perish in tragic, fiery events in town, a solitary Green transforms herself into Ash: hard and closed, cropped hair, thorns on her sweater, with ink roses and ravens drawn on her skin. Facing an apocalyptic future of looters visiting her garden and suspicious looks from townsfolk, Green has only the family dog to keep her company. But when a ghostly greyhound and a hooded boy suddenly appear for companionship, she slowly realizes that "Ash" is only temporary, while "Green" is her soul, her life, healing all this time inside, waiting to be reborn.

Boy Meets Boy - David Levithan

This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance.
When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.

Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who's just walked in to his band's show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City;and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date.
This he said/she said romance told by YA stars Rachel Cohn and David Levithan is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night, with two teenagers, both recovering from broken hearts, who are just trying to figure out who they want to be;and where the next great band is playing.
Told in alternating chapters, teeming with music references, humor, angst, and endearing side characters, this is a love story you'll wish were your very own. Working together for the first time, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have combined forces to create a book that is sure to grab readers of all ages and never let them go.

The House of Dead Maids - Clare B. Dunkle (my review)
Young Tabby Aykroyd has been brought to the dusty mansion of Seldom House to be nursemaid to a foundling boy. He is a savage little creature, but the Yorkshire moors harbor far worse, as Tabby soon discovers. The ghost of the last maid will not leave Tabby in peace, yet this spirit is only one of many. Why do scores of dead maids and masters haunt Seldom House with a jealous devotion that extends beyond the grave?
As Tabby struggles to escape the evil forces rising out of the land, she watches her young charge choose a different path. He is determined to keep Seldom House as his own. Though Tabby tries to befriend the uncouth urchin, her kindness cannot alter his fate. Long before he reaches the old farmhouse of Wuthering Heights, the boy who will become Heathcliff has doomed himself and any who try to befriend him.

Living Dead Girl - Elizabeth Scott
See also: Grace (my review)
Once upon a time, I was a little girl who disappeared.
Once upon a time, my name was not Alice.
Once upon a time, I didn’t know how lucky I was.
When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over.
Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her.
This is Alice’s story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.

Her and Me and You - Lauren Strasnick (my review)
I met Fred first. Fred: Hot. Enigmatic. Alex’s first friend in her lonely new town. Maybe her first…everything.
I met Adina the following Monday. Adina: Fred’s twin sister. Cold. Troubled. Trouble.
I kissed him. She pressed her mouth to my mouth.People warn Alex to steer clear of the twins, but Alex is drawn to them. She wants to be part of their crazy world…no matter the consequences.

Heart's Delight - Per Nilsson
Before Heart's Delight, I was a boy, he thinks.Before Heart's Delight, I was a child
When he first saw Ann-Katrin on the bus, he was mesmerized, captivated, consumed.
But that was before.
Now he sits alone in his room, a sixteen-year-old boy, waiting for her to call. Wishing for her to tell him it was real. It was as perfect as he imagined.
But the phone sits silently.
The boy continues to wait, systematically destroying all of the objects from their short-lived relationship. He rips up the bus pass from their first meeting.
The phone is quiet.
He throws the pot of lemon balm she gave him over the edge of the balcony.
No phone call.
He tosses the black Frisbee and the Swiss Army knife over too.
Still the phone stays silent.
As he plays their relationship over in his mind like a movie, he wonders:
What if his heart's delight doesn't call? Will life be worth living then?

The Ghosts of Kerfol - Deborah Noyes
In her classic ghost story “Kerfol,” Edith Wharton tells the tale of Anne de Barrigan, a young 
Frenchwoman convicted of murdering her husband, the jealous Yves de Cornault. The elderly lord was found dead on the stairs, apparently savaged by a pack of dogs, though there were no dogs  —  no live dogs  —  at Kerfol that day. In this remarkable collection of intertwining short stories, Deborah Noyes takes us back to the haunted manor to tell Anne de Barrigan’s story through the sympathetic eyes of her servant girl. Four more tales slip forward in time, peering in on a young artist, a hard-drinking party girl, a young American couple, and a deaf gardener who now tends the Kerfol estate. All of these souls are haunted by the ghosts of Kerfol  —  the dead dogs, the sensual yet uneasy relationships, and the bitter taste of revenge. 

Cut - Patricia McCormick
Fifteen-year old Callie is so withdrawn that she's not speaking to anyone 
including her therapist at the residential treatment facility where her parents and doctor send her after discovering that she cuts 
herself. Her story unfolds primarily through dramatic monologues, gradually revealing the family turmoil that led to her self-destructive behavior. Her little brother, Sam, is ill he nearly died in her care. Since Sam's illness, Callie's mother has become so worried and fragile that she rarely leaves the house. Her father has responded to the psychological and financial stress of Sam's illness by disappearing into his work, 
and when that doesn't work, into his drinking.
Callie's efforts to understand herself and her family illuminate her process of recovery honestly and with hope. Cut provides an insightful look at the psychology of cutting a form of self-abuse an estimated 2 million teenage girls inflict on themselves.
 
 Get Well Soon - Julie Halpern
Anna Bloom is depressed so depressed that her parents have committed her to a mental hospital with a bunch of other messed-up teens. Here she meets a roommate with a secret (and a plastic baby), a doctor who focuses way too much on her weight, and a cute, shy boy who just might like her.
But wait! Being trapped in a loony bin isn t supposed to be about making friends, losing weight, and having a crush, is it?

How I Live Now - Meg Rossoff
Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.
As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.

The Espressologist - Kristina Springer (my review)
What’s your drink of choice? Is it a small pumpkin spice latte? Then you’re lots of fun and a bit sassy. 
Or a medium americano? You prefer simplicity in life. Or perhaps it’s a small decaf soy sugar-free hazelnut caffe latte? Some might call you a yuppie. Seventeen-year-old barista Jane Turner has this theory that you can tell a lot about a person by their regular coffee drink. She scribbles it all down in a notebook and calls it Espressology. So it’s not a totally crazy idea when Jane starts hooking up some of her friends based on their coffee orders. Like her best friend, Em, a medium hot chocolate, and Cam, a toffee nut latte. But when her boss, Derek, gets wind of Jane’s Espressology, he makes it an in-store holiday promotion, promising customers their perfect matches for the price of their favorite coffee. Things are going better than Derek could ever have hoped, so why is Jane so freaked out? Does it have anything to do with Em dating Cam? She’s the one who set them up! She should be happy for them, right?

In My Mailbox #59

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

For Review: 

from Princess Bookie's Around the World Tours
Babe in Boyland - Jody Gehrman
Girl Saves Boy - Steph Bowe

Swapped:
with Gabrielle over at The Mod Podge Bookshelf
It's Not You, It's Me (ARC) -  Kerry Cohen Hoffman
Vintage Veronica - Erica S. Perl
and a couple of business cards.

with Cecilia over at The Epic Rat
Blameless - Gail Carriger
Rampant - Diana Peterfreund
The Cinderella Society - Kay Cassidy
You Wish - Mandy Hubbard
 and some super cute bookmarks!

WON:
During Princess Bookie's Contest Craze
Nothing Like You(signed) - Lauren Strasnick

GIFT:
So the BF decided he would buy me an early Christmas present which turned out to be a Sony PRS-350 ereader!!!! Super awesome! So then I went over to netgalley and downloaded some arcs.

Angelfire - Courtney Alison Moulton
The Lying Game - Sara Shepard
It Started with a Dare - Lindsay Faith Rech
Tyger Tyger - Kersten Hamilton
Always a Witch - Carolyn MacCullough
The Cellar - A.J. Whitten
Delirium - Lauren Oliver
Hunger - Jackie Morse Kessler
Manifest - Artist Arthur
The Lipstick Law - Amy Holder
The Mermaid's Mirror - L.K. Madigan
Unearthly - Cynthia Hand

So that's what I got this week, what did you all get?

Review: Her and Me and You - Lauren Strasnick

Where I got it: ARC from Good Golly Miss Molly's ARC Tour
Rating: 4 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (I really love the simple and sparse font. The picture is perfect for the feeling of this book and reminds me of the beginning.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: October 5, 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Page Count: 171 p.

After Alex's dad has an affair her mom and her move to a new town. There she makes a new friend in Fred and is thereby forced into a friendship with his twin, Adina. Adina seems to flirt with her... and Fred. The other girls Alex meets at school tell her to stay away from the twins, because they are bad news. But, when things with her old best friend start to crumble she has no choice but to cling to Fred for life support. Adina however, could do without Alex hogging her brother and may try anything to stop them.

This was a really interesting book. I loved how well you got to know the characters in such a brief time frame. Alex is cool but broken from her parents split, Fred is a nice guy but is hindered by his sister Adina and Evie is the old best friend. The relationships between the characters were so chaotic and authentic which I appreciated thoroughly. Lauren Strasnick created a heartbreakingly realistic story about what it means to be a teen. Strasnick took a seemingly normal situation (crushing on a guy) and made it far more interesting and entertaining by throwing in a crazy twin. I will definitely be reading more Lauren Strasnick in the future. This was an excellent read that took something ordinary and made it a little more feisty.

First Line:
"I met Fred first."

Favorite Line:
"He looked down then back up, 'you don't like my shoes?'" 

In My Mailbox #50

In My Mailbox brought to you by The Story Siren

Bought/swapped:
Madapple - Christina Meldrum (my review)
A girl who has been brought up in near isolation is thrown into a twisted web of family secrets and religious fundamentalism when her mother dies and ...more A girl who has been brought up in near isolation is thrown into a twisted web of family secrets and religious fundamentalism when her mother dies and she goes to live with relatives she never knew she had.
 
Moonlight - Rachel Hawthorne
I see him and knows what this turmoil inside of me means: He's the one. My forever.
KAYLA is the nature lover, the all-American beauty who can't understand why she's so drawn to distant, brooding Lucas. Adopted as a young child, she has no way of knowing that she's inherited a terrifying-and thrilling-gene that will change her life forever.
LUCAS is dangerous, gorgeous ... and a werewolf. As leader of the Dark Guardians, shape-shifters who gather deep within the state park, he has sworn to protect his pack. But when Lucas finds his true soul mate, his love could put them all in harm's way.
As Lucas and Kayla struggle with their feelings for each other, a greater danger lurks: Humans have discovered the Dark Guardians and are planning their destruction. Kayla must choose between the life she knows and the love she feels certain is her destiny.

Full Moon - Rachel Hawthorne
Dark of the Moon - Rachel Hawthorne

Shadowed Summer - Saundra Mitchell
Iris is ready for another hot, routine summer in her small Louisiana town, hanging around the Red Stripe grocery with her best friend, Collette, and t...more Iris is ready for another hot, routine summer in her small Louisiana town, hanging around the Red Stripe grocery with her best friend, Collette, and traipsing through the cemetery telling each other spooky stories and pretending to cast spells. Except this summer, Iris doesn’t have to make up a story. This summer, one falls right in her lap.

Years ago, before Iris was born, a local boy named Elijah Landry disappeared. All that remained of him were whispers and hushed gossip in the church pews. Until this summer. A ghost begins to haunt Iris, and she’s certain it’s the ghost of Elijah. What really happened to him? And why, of all people, has he chosen Iris to come back to?

The Life and Opinions of Amy Finawitz - Laura Toffler-Corrie
Amy Finawitz’s best friend Callie has moved away to the heartland, leaving Amy to cope with eighth grade all alone. So now, while Callie is going for hayrides with boys named Bucky, Amy is stuck eating Chinese food at a table for one, hanging out with geeky girls who knit, and crushing on hottie, John Leibler, all by herself. But then Amy finds a friend in Miss Sophia, the little old lady who lives down the hall. Miss Sophia introduces Amy to a Hasidic boy named Beryl. Beryl is no John Leibler, but perhaps he understands Amy and her problems better than she realizes?
Told in wry emails and brilliant little one-act plays, this laughout-loud debut novel offers quirky characters, a whimsical tour around New York City, and an appealing story about what it means to be a good friend.

For Review:
From Good Golly Miss Holly's ARC tours
Her and Me and You - Lauren Strasnick
First love, broken friendships, and heartache all play a part in this evocative, voice-driven novel about Alex, a girl whose world is ripped apart when her father’s affair splits her family in two.

Alex moves with her mess of a mother to a new town, where she is befriended by hot, enigmatic Fred—and alternately flirted with and cold-shouldered by Fred’s twin sister, Adina. Others warn Alex to steer clear of the twins, whose sibling relationship is considered abnormal at best, but there’s just something about Fred—and something about Adina—that draws Alex to them and makes her want to be part of their crazy world…no matter the consequences.

(NOT PICTURED ABOVE)
from Princess Bookie's Around the World Tours
Grace - Elizabeth Scott
Grace was raised to be an Angel, a herald of death by suicide bomb. But she refuses to die for the cause, and now Grace is on the run, daring to dream of freedom. In search of a border she may never reach, she travels among malevolent soldiers on a decrepit train crawling through the desert. Accompanied by the mysterious Kerr, Grace struggles to be invisible, but the fear of discovery looms large as she recalls the history and events that delivered her uncertain fate. 

 
So that's what I got this past week, what did you all get?