Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publication Date: 09/29/2011
Publisher: Dutton
Pages: 338
Source: Purchased

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

Note: I've removed the last paragraph of the goodreads synopsis as I feel that's something better discovered while reading.

Lola Nolan has grown up amidst the colorful and personable background of San Francisco. Each day brings a new outfit, and new possibility. She has everything a 17 year-old could possibly need: supportive parents, a sassy and smart best friend, and a handsome, older rocker boyfriend. Very little could upset the balance, until her childhood neighbors move back in next door. Lola is left to reconcile the past with her present, and well as a journey to find which of her outfits is truly herself.

I have absolutely no idea how Stephanie Perkins does it. Every single one of her books is perfect and effortless, evoking such depth of feeling that each page is practically bursting with honesty and hope. My heart is continually broken with such bittersweet poignancy, and then picked up with delicate fingers and pieced back together like puzzle pieces that shouldn't fit in that way but do, and better. I can relate to Anna and the French Kiss on a situational level much better, but there's just something niggling about this story that feels more relatable and closer as a reader. And that's where the magic really lies.

Not everyone has as plentiful a wardrobe as Lola, but I think most people can understand what it is to assemble an outfit that makes you feel like you can do anything or be anyone. A carpe diem outfit. Lola lives every day not like it could be her last, but like each day should be her best. I loved Lola. And I loved with Lola. I lived vicariously with her through each page, working through my beginning confusion as I pieced everything together, to hoping with Lola as she did the same in order to figure out what choices she should make.

The choices weren't easy. They should never by easy. But they were so well described that I ended this book with tears in my eyes because that's how it really is. Cricket is the sort of boy that every girl wishes they could have: smart, sweet, incredibly kind, and with just enough awkward geekiness that sets him on a level where you have to crack a smile when you see him. Except for the fact that Cricket thinks nothing of that about himself, and instead loves to help and please others more than anything else. The development and realisation of their friendship over the course of the story is more than worth the amount of bookstores I went to in order to find this book.

I cannot recommend this book enough. If you like to read, then you should read this. If you like a book that perfectly encapsulates that fluttery feeling of first love, then this book is for you. If you like boys named Cricket, well, you've hit the jackpot. Stephanie Perkins has outdone herself in the best manner possible.

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

that showcases much anticipated upcoming releases.

(goodreads 05/28/2012):

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. 

I'm pretty sure that this is one that I've been patiently waiting for ever since I finished Divergent. I absolutely loved that book and so to figure out where things go from here as far as the factions are concerned, and getting to find out just what happened to create the situation is going to fabulous. To be fair, I was going to list this one as soon as the blurb for it came out on Goodreads, but the page count erroneously said something like 200 or so pages, which seemed rather unbelievable given the size of Divergent. I'm happy to note now that they quote about 500 pages again which makes me deliriously excited - another book I can sink my brain into. This one is going to be the end of the semester present to myself!

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 That I Want To Reread:

(without explanation this week (and in no particular order) as I have an essay to write - apologies!)

Just a note: by 'wanting to reread' this week I'm really meaning 'books that I would love to experience again from the beginning so much that I want to reread them'. Whew. That's a mouthful.

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

2. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

3. The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins

4. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (I was going to say Brave New World, but I've mentioned that a few times here before, although I would like to reread that, too. Two of my favorite books.)

5. His Dark Materials (series) by Philip Pullman

6. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (you might guess why I love this one)

8. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (about a gazillion times better than the movie. and I love the movie.)

9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

10. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (I love love loved Rose and Dimitri.)

Just a few books this week, which is nice as it helps me to catch up. (I wrote a review for Crossed here.)
I've started to pre-compose some other reviews and mini-reviews so hopefully we'll be seeing those over the course of the week!


For review:

Crossed, Ally Condie

The Power of Six, Pittacus Lore

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Author: Ally Condie
Publication Date: 11/01/2011
Publisher: Dutton Books
Pages: 367
Source: ARC (thank you, kathy!)

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.
Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

How far would you go to follow your intuition? Cassia, having been relocated to the far reaching Tana Province, finds herself in a work colony where every day is a repetitive action, with each action bringing her closer to the end of her time on the outskirts. Determined to find Ky, an unlikely series of events give her the opportunity to embark on a path that a few months ago she might have never been able to imagine, finding answers to questions she hadn't known to ask.

There's been a lot of debate about this book due in part to two things: it being told from alternating viewpoints (those of Cassia and Ky); and the supposed relative lack of action to move the plot along enough. Neither of these things were issues for me. Alternate POVs, if done correctly, are something that an very much enhance the way a story unfolds. Also, one of the things I dislike most in dystopian novels is when there's not enough background given to explain why things the way there are, and why people act the way they do. I'm not going to say that Crossed offers all of the answers - and I'm glad that it doesn't - but the way the information is doled out is done in such a manner that truly aids the overall feeling of the book.

We get pieces of information from Cassia, others from Ky, and some still from new characters that are introduced. It is because everything isn't offered up right away that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I really loved being able to see something happen to Ky, with Cassia slowly being able to figure it out and having the opportunity to see Ky's internal reactions. Cassia, having grown up within the Society, would not have the raw responses to certain things that Ky does and it made all the difference.  I'm of the opinion that Book 3 would not make the impact that I think it will without the pacing of Crossed.

While Xander isn't that verbally or physically present in this book, his absence allows the story to take a certain path with things that I would never have guessed. One of the big reasons I enjoyed Matched was the writing, and it does not disappoint here. Ally has a way of making words and thoughts flow so nicely from transition to transition and that are unique to each character. The prose was a bit like moving water, and so every time I glanced at the blue on the cover I thought that it was wholly fitting.

Give this book a chance. I really think it may surprise you. If Matched was strong and steady, Crossed is quiet, but sure.

I'm not usually one for book trailers. At all. But this one absolutely knocked my socks off. If this were a television show, I would already have it scheduled to record on my DVR.

Amazing, amazing job.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

If you haven't heard of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, I've written a review here in wish I write how absolutely fabulous it is.

Guys, what do you think?

Q. Do you have a favorite series that you read over and over again? Tell us a bit about it and why you keep on revisiting it? 

While this is going to be a popular answer, I'm going to have to say Harry Potter. When the books and films were coming out I used to read them once a year and each time it was almost as if it were the first, as I got so swept up in into the story and surroundings. I love the characters (my favorite things!), the idea of magic - it's a place I continually want to revisit. When I was younger I used to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy once a year, too. Both series are some of my favorite books.

I'm not sure which books that I'm reading now will have lasting power for me in the same way. If I remember, I'll try and respond to this post a year from now and see how the series of 2010 and 2011 are shaping up.

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

that showcases much anticipated upcoming releases.

(goodreads 02/21/2012):

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.


The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.


In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.

Wither is a book that the more I read, the more it grew on me. In fact, I've found myself wanting to re-read it lately, although perhaps I'll wait toward the end of the year as I wait for Fever. This is a story that, for me, could go in any number of directions, and that's the most exciting thing about it. I'm looking forward to meeting Rowan (possibly), seeing where Rhine ends up, and what happens when Linden figures everything out.

Secondly, I wasn't at all a fan of the cover when I first saw it but now I really like it. It's not stunning in the way that Wither's was, but it fits perfectly the title with it's ill-seeming tones of olive and yellow and a pose that seems lethargic and kept all at once. I also have a feeling that it's going to like 100 times better in person.

I'm...really excited for this one.