"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event courtesy of Breaking the Spine

that showcases much anticipated upcoming releases.

 from goodreads: 02/16/2012

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev's band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she's abandoning their plans - and Colby - to start college in the fall.

But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev's already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what's next?

Morris Award—finalist Nina LaCour draws together the beauty and influences of music and art to brilliantly capture a group of friends on the brink of the rest of their lives.

I really love books with exploratory themes like this, mainly because they're about people who are students, unsure what to do with their lives and really don't know which next steps will bring them where. Sometimes I feel like I still am one (very large step) step in, one step out of that world and so I can understand it pretty well. That said, there has been some amazing talk about this book, and I love the cover with its muted, faded tones and font that looks like it could have been part of her shirt. Very much looking forward to this one!

What are you guys looking forward to?

Words Written: 10,000 / 50,000

Day: 7

Since I began NaNo I've been hemming and hawing over whether to talk about it here. Then I saw that Casey and some others have been doing status updates and so I'm going to chime in as well.

This is my first year doing NaNo, and really, my first year seriously writing. While writing (fiction) in some form or another is something that I've been doing for as long as I can remember I never really had any one thing that I wanted to sincerely share with people. But last year I was struck with an idea and immediately took heaps of notes; most of them were recorded as I had so many ideas in my head that my hand couldn't keep up with everything I wanted to get out before it slipped away. And that was it. My idea floundered between the pages of my notebook and that was it.

Until a friend of mine mentioned that she was gearing up again for NaNo and I promptly marched to Barnes & Noble, bought a moleskine. I was prepared. Spotify on, notebook open... I wrote and wrote. 

I've seen posts where people have battled internally over how terrible their writing is or that their story idea is crap. I have those moments, too - the other day in particular it was quite bad. And then I remember that Stephanie Perkins and Erin Morgenstern both had their stories born from plugging along during NaNo. Every time I think of that it gives me hope, that I have a goal, and that I can achieve it.

And so I write. I don't write equal amounts every day due to coursework or what have you but I make sure I get something out, just to keep going. It's hard. But everything is, and, for me, it's worth the effort.

To everyone that's doing NaNo (and equally to those who aren't but are still writing in earnest):

You are amazing. You were amazing beforehand and you are undertaking something crazy and wonderful and we can only be better for it. I wish you much luck, and feel free to talk to me on Twitter/e-mail/here somewhere about anything because we're all in a fun, rocky boat together. And we'll make it through.

Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publication Date: 11/15/2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 342
Source: ARC

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. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Dark and darker are the two colors that comprise Juliette's life. The light that streams in through the window can't quite shift her cell into day, but she can see the mountains painted against the permanent grey of the sky. She has been here for 264 days which means that she also has not spoken or interacted with anyone in just as long, although the infiniteness of time makes it feel longer. Then a boy is thrown into her cell, curious and questioning. Through the dark its difficult to see, but those blue eyes she would recognise anywhere. And suddenly those 264 days are given a new meaning.

Tahereh Mafi is a wordsmith. Reading Shatter Me was like reading a composition of my favorite words in the precise order I would have loved to read them. There is prose and there is prose that is so much like poetry the way that it ebbs and flows and then hits with its meaning not outright, but so subtly that the impact is even greater. And the impact here is immense considering the fact that Juliette has not spoken to anyone in almost a year, and all that she's been left with is her words and a pen. She's had time to think and roll phrases unconsciously around in her mind as she's had no one else to share anything with. For me, this immaculately crafted construction is integral to the idea of the plot. The way this is expressed is innovative, but with such a natural flow that it was a glimpse inside a character's head in a way I haven't before experienced.

While the words were instrumental in making everything believable, the characters were equally fabulous in taking the great setting given and carrying it along. It might be easy to think that for being trapped in a cell for as long as she was, that Juliette might be meek or unsure of how to reintegrate herself back into things but Juliette, however, was none of these things. If it's one thing that she knows completely is that she will not allow people to use her in any way and so we see this in everything from her posture as well as her inner and external dialogue. Because of everything she's had to go through, from even before she was locked up, she's incredibly strong in a way that had me pause to reread as I was in awe of just how well it was brought forth. In a world where a hesitant conformity has become the norm, Juliette is so very human.

There are two other characters that reflect off of each other as if they were night and day and it was really interesting to see how one was almost the inverse of the other; if he had chosen to do evil instead of good he could have almost been the other. I'm hesitant to give names or too much information because for me this was one of the best parts of the exposition. The way both of them interact with Juliette is fantastic, and like Juliette, I found myself almost wanting to know more about them both, but also found myself reeling back. I loved the terrible craftiness and brutal honesty of one and the tiptoeing sincerity of the other.

And then there's the ending, and it's one that will throw you through a loop and wonder just where else this series will (and could possibly) take you. But given the sheer uniqueness of Shatter Me, it's one you'll want to go on immediately after the last sentence. An automatic favorite and an incredible start to what promises to be a thrilling journey.

Thank you to HarperCollins for providing an ARC at NYCC and to the incredibly sweet Tahereh Mafi for signing it for me and also for speaking up for the round pegs in square holes.

In My Mailbox, hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren, allows us to share our

current reads, and books we've received/checked out/purchased over the course of the week.

For review:

Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi (Thank you kindly to HarperCollins!)

You can expect a review for this later today. :)

Purchased:

Bruiser, Neal Shusterman

I've been waiting for this one for a long, long time. (I sort of adore Neal.)

And then I just finally bought it, thanks to a B&N coupon!

What's in your mailboxes, lovelies?

Having started writing my story in earnest via NaNoWriMo, I thought that it would be appropriate for another edition of fill in the blank! This is a hard one, I know. Perhaps it varies by book type (standalone, series, YA, non-YA) or genre (paranormal, contemporary, dystopian). Feel free to discuss examples. :)

I want a book to do ______ for me. Meaning, when I read a book I want to get _____ out of it.

For example, when I read a book I want to fall into it completely. I want to forget that I am reading and completely fall into the MC's head. For that the characters have to be believable, the prose fluid enough to tell the story so that I am experiencing the events along with everyone inside the book. Thus even if there's a story idea that might not have worked for me - zombie werewolves striking a peace treaty with neighboring vegetarian vampires - if the words, the bones are there then I can get behind it completely. What about you?

Today's question is something new, an activity. We want to see what you look like! Take a pic with you and your current read. Too shy? Boo! Just post a fun pic you want to share.

Okay, so I'm in my pjs and I had to fix my hair especially for you because, well, being a bunhead really wasn't working out so well. Me and the book that I feel could have been written specifically for me because I love it so much:

I took this picture again and again because the flash was rendering my note illegible. So, here's what it 

says:

For Rachel & Alison - this FF was awesome and heaps of fun!

P.S: Sorry, Maggie! I'm not skilled enough to try drawing a fierce capall uisce. So here's an awesome cat I found instead.

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event courtesy of Breaking the Spine

that showcases much anticipated upcoming releases.

from goodreads: 12/05/2011

In the years following the destructive Long Winter, when half the world’s population perished, the State remains locked in battle against the Sensitives: humans born with extra abilities.

As one of the last descendants of the State’s Founders, seventeen-year-old Lark Greene knows her place: study hard and be a model citizen so she can follow in her family’s footsteps. Her life’s been set since birth, and she’s looking forward to graduating and settling down with Beck, the boy she’s loved longer than she can remember.

However, after Beck is accused of being Sensitive and organizing an attack against Lark, he disappears. Heartbroken and convinced the State made a mistake, Lark sets out to find him and clear his name.

But what she discovers is more dangerous and frightening than Sensitives: She must kill the boy she loves, unless he kills her first.

I have to give kudos to Miss Veronica Roth for helping me to discover this one. I can't stop staring at the cover - it's gorgeous. Soft, and the color scheme perfect. (And I love that font.) The shape of her face almost reminds me of Mary GrandPré's chapter sketches for HP. The use of larks for her name - it just ties together so well. Cover aside, just from the summary this is a book I want to know more about. What's the  Long Winter? How is life determined for its citizens? I'm completely sold. Thankfully there's not too long to wait!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. If you love lists

and wracking your brain for answers, then this is the meme for you!

Top Ten Books I Had VERY Strong Emotions About (cry, laugh, hurl across the room, etc.)
01. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead: I created a love-and-hate shelf for this book on Goodreads after finishing this one. You probably have an idea as to why if you've read it. I reread the scene yesterday and it was slightly less painful. That's how you know you love the characters.
02. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling: I'll be honest in admitting that I did throw this one. Not very far, but it did have a little journey. I suppose I should have seen it coming, with what the mirrors and all, but I was taken completely by surprise. 
03. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: It wasn't just the ending with this one that got me. I study and plan to work in human rights, and so the entire concept of this book gripped me from the very first moment my mind grasped what was happening. Everything about it was wrong, but I couldn't stop reading. 
04. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld: While the way the story was told didn't really work for me, the premise of this book is fairly incredible (not in the literal sense). That people have to fix themselves to fit in and only then can they have fun is completely absurd, but, really, in comparison with some ideas in reality - is it? 
05. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling: The ending of this book was not necessarily vindication, but almost a sense of affirmation. I don't love as many characters as much as I love Snape, so here I cried more than I did over OotP.
06. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi: My emotions for this book were 100% for the writing. If not for her words this book would not have made the impact - for me - that it did. I found myself taking pictures of quotes with my phone so that I could roll them over and over in my head. Keep an eye out for a review this week. This book was perfection in the form of words and phrases.
07. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes: I first read this for school and it broke my heart in an entirely new way. I struggled with the idea of experiencing something new and living, only for it to be snatched away. This is not an easy book, but it's a necessary book.
08. Wither by Lauren DeStefano: I didn't love this book as much as I thought I would, and I think that's partially because I empathized too much with Rhine. I was angry over what was happening to the girls and the general sense within society that this was okay. Not to mention what happened with Cecily and Jenna (and her sisters). It's hard to not feel something either way over it.
09. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins: I laughed and smiled and all sorts of verbed along with this book. That's the beauty of Stephanie's writing - she can make you feeling practically anything while reading, and the best part of it is that it's completely genuine. 
10. Unwind by Neal Shusterman: I didn't physically cry over this book, but everything else in me was protesting the entire concept of it. I didn't know what to expect and literally stared at a particular passage of it probably for about 10 minutes before I could figure out what to do from there. If it were feasibly possible I would give a copy of this to everyone I knew. And those I didn't.