Summary:
Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund
Something Happened by Greg Logsted
Winnie's War by Jenny Moss 
Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth ScottThe Bought:
Suite Dreams by Rachel Hawthorne
Jillian Cantor has volunteered to donate a signed copy of her newly released book, The September Sisters.
I first sat down to write The September Sisters in the fall of 2003. I had another novel that I’d written first, that I’d recently abandoned after a lot of agents told me it was well-written but unsellable. At first, I thought about giving up on writing all together – I couldn’t imagine that I would ever have time to write another novel much less find an agent much less sell a book. But then, I got laid off from my teaching job, just before the semester began due to budget cutbacks, and the only job I could get was teaching one class at a community college two mornings a week – a total of three hours a week out of the house! Suddenly, I had the time to write, and I also felt like I had to do something productive until I found another job.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You're welcome, Jillian!!
Want to part of Inspired Friday? Well, just contact me at laurenscrammedbookshelf@gmail.com with Inspired Friday in the subject line!
My pick this week is:Forget everything you ever knew about unicorns…
The sparkly, innocent creatures of lore are a myth. Real unicorns are venomous, man-eating monsters with huge fangs and razor-sharp horns. And they can only be killed by virgin descendants of Alexander the Great.
Fortunately, unicorns have been extinct for a hundred and fifty years.
Or not.
Astrid Llewelyn has always scoffed at her eccentric mother’s stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend in the woods – thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to prom – Astrid learns that unicorns are real and dangerous, and she has a family legacy to uphold. Her mother packs her off to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter at the ancient cloisters the hunters have used for centuries.
However, at the cloisters, all is not what is seems. Outside, the unicorns wait to attack. And within, Astrid faces other, unexpected threats: from crumbling, bone-covered walls that vibrate with a terrible power to the hidden agendas of her fellow hunters to – perhaps most dangerously of all – her growing attraction to a handsome art student… and a relationship that could jeopardize everything.
RAMPANT, a tale of killer unicorns, will be released in August of 2009 by Harper Collins.
My Thoughts/ Why I Picked This Book:
Two words: Killer Unicorns. How much more original can you get? Unfortunately, this won't be released until August 25. :(
Since, I somehow ended up with an extra ARC of The Kings Rose by Alisa Libby, I've decided to give it away. ( I keep getting extra ARCs of books for some reason. Did I mention in last week's In My Mailbox that I got another copy of Farey Rebels?) Also, I've decided to have this contest in conjunction of my 100th post and 100th follower. They both happened on the same day. How awesome is that?Anyway, here's the summary from Amazon:
Life in the court of King Henry VIII is a complex game. When fifteen-year-old Catherine Howard catches the king’s eye, she quickly transforms from pawn to queen. But even luxury beyond imagination loses its luster as young Catherine finds her life—and her heart—threatened by the needs of an aging king and a family hungry for power. Will their agendas deliver Catherine to the same fate as her infamous cousin, Anne Boleyn—sacrificed at the altar of family ambition?
Engaging historical fiction with a throbbing YA heartbeat, this thrilling novel will draw readers into the intrigues and dangers of the Tudor court.
Doesn't that sound awesome? Also, be sure to check out the book trailer, it's so good!
So, would you like to enter? Just comment on this post and poof! you are officially entered.
For extra entries you can:
-Put a link to this on your sidebar ( +3)
Abigail and her sister, Becky, have always been referred to as the "September Sisters." Since their birthdays are only two years and one day apart and they have always put up an allusion that they are best friends. Though, in reality they are far from it. They enjoy making each other miserable by calling each other a baby when one of them shows weakness or simply taking the pink tube in the pool before the other does.
Everything changes, though, when Becky suddenly disappears from the house in the middle of a summer night. Suddenly, Abigail's life is turned upside down. Her mother has fallen into a deep depression and is spending most of time sleeping or just staring into space in the darkness of her room, her dad is putting all his time and effort into finding Becky no matter how much it costs him or his family, and her best friend, along with everyone else at school, thinks that hanging out with her will cause misfortune in their lives too.
Now Abigail doesn't know how to deal with the sadness and guilt over the loss of her sister. Though, with the help of the nice boy who moves in next door, she begins to see that love and happiness still exists even when the people around you can't fathom such a thing.
Review:
Even before reading this novel, I had high hopes. Since, the cover is awesome, the summary is intriguing, and Jillian Cantor has been compared to Sarah Dessen(which means it has to be an extremely good book) Lucky for me, it was wonderful.
The September Sisters is a stunning debut novel that will have all reading long into the night.
Jillian Cantor perfectly captures the raw and scary feelings of first love and losing someone you love dearly. Abby's voice is strong and funny even though she has gone through so much. She is definitely one of those characters that you can relate to even though you haven't had to go through 1/5 of what she has.
One of my favorite parts of this novel was Cantor's writing. It didn't hold back once and it had me wondering throughout the story: Will Becky come back alive and if she doesn't, will the Reeds' realize they have another daughter to raise?
The plot was interesting and had complex turns to it that changed everything. I really liked how it started out in the beginning that they had found Becky, but than transformed to that night so long ago that changed everything. I felt that without that you would not really get to see all the drama Abby and her parents went through.
Overall, The September Sisters was an amazing novel that will appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Meg Cabot. I truly think Jillian has the possibility to be the next big thing in Young Adult fiction! I highly suggest that you go pick this book up from your local library or go buy it at the bookstore when it is released.
Grade: A+
The September Sisters will be released in hardback on February 24, 2009. You can find out more about it here. Also, you can go check out Jillian's blog here and her website here.
* Much thanks to Jillian Cantor for sending me not only a copy, but a singed copy! :)
Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow
Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen
Lipstick Apology by Jennifer Jabaley 
Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle 
Purge by Sarah Littman
Riding The Universe by Gabby Triana 
A Match Made In High School by Kristen Walker 
Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty
The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King In the late seventeenth century, famed teenage pirate Emer Morrisey was on the cusp of escaping the pirate life with her one true love and unfathomable riches when she was slain and cursed with "the dust of one hundred dogs," dooming her to one hundred lives as a dog before returning to a human body-with her memories intact.
Now she's a contemporary American teenager and all she needs is a shovel and a ride to Jamaica.
I'm in the middle of reading this now and it's so good!
North Of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
Terra is tall and blonde, with an unbelievably gorgeous body, but what most people in her stifling Washington town notice is the port-wine birthmark covering half her face. Terra secretly plans to leave her small town by escaping to an East Coast college, but is pushed off-course by her controlling father. When she meets handsome, goth Jacob who immediately understands her battle with feeling different, Terra is forced in yet another direction. With her carefully laid plans disrupted, will Terra be able to find her true path?
I love the cover!
Wow, I had an EXCELLENT week for books!
Like all writers, including J.K. Rowling, I've had my share of bad luck, although I suspect the bad-luck wand strikes J.K. less frequently than it strikes me. But one thing I am extremely fortunate in is that I never have a shortage of ideas for things to write about. I like to say I see the world in novel-sized chunks and at least a few times a year, I see or hear about something that makes me think, "Ooh, there's a book in that!"
Flash Burnout by LK Madigan
Here's my top shelf to my first bookshelf.
The second half of my bookshelf, which also has a ton of awesome books, if I do say so myself.
This is my second bookshelf. More pictures of the books up close are below. Also, you can see my libary books of to the side.
More of my books!!
"I need to see you. Please come right away We have to finish."
Life should be sweet for Frances Robinson. She has a quirky best friend, lives in a McMansion with a loving, adopted family, and has just met a dreamy new guy from Louisiana, Nix, as charming and exotic as evening on the bayou.
So why is she terrified of ambulances screaming by in the night? And what makes her so uneasy about the coming of spring?
Frances has a secret-the most terrifying secret in the world. A secret that has haunted her for eleven years: her birth mother, Afton Jelks.
Afton is the mother who laughed, sang, and made up stories for Frances and her three sisters when they lived in Fireless, a place of mystery and imagination. A place where Afton led them deeper and deeper into darkness, until one horrific morning in April when Fireless overtook the real world, and Afton committed an unspeakable act.
Now Afton is back, and Frances' secret horror threatens to rip her happy world apart all over again. She sees one chance to regain her life: confront the monster in its lair and find peace-or die trying. She and Nix embark on a desperate clandestine journey that will become the most dangerous quest of her life when she discovers just what it means to finish. (from back of ARC)
Review:
Before reading Breathe My Name, I had seen a couple of stories where the mother or father had killed their children after facing a big form of depression, but I had never really given it much thought to what it must be like to be the child left behind, the one who was saved. So, when I began this I didn't really know what to except from Frances. I wondered if she would have an all around pity party for herself constantly, pretend it didn't happen, or just deal with the consequences.
Within the first chapter it was established that she just dealt with the situation and tried not to think about it much. No pity party for her, I was happy. Anyway, I felt Frances was an extremely strong character given what she had to remember every day for the rest of her life. Also, she was likable along with the rest of the characters.
My favorite part of the story was Nix, though. He was just an all around happy and sensitive guy who didn't care what other people thought. Also, he had a couple of funny lines in the story. The only problem I had with him was that he was too perfect sometimes. He just seemed to always be the all around good guy. Frances and him never got in fights, he was constantly their for her even when he had his own problems and so on. I just felt that maybe R.A. Nelson should have given at least a couple of faults.
The main problem of the story( Frances having to deal with her past and have to deal with her birth father and mother) was complex and interesting. I liked seeing the alternate chapters, ones sit in Fireless and ones set in present day, I felt that without seeing what Fireless was all about the story would be lacking and you wouldn't really understand what had happened.
Overall, R.A. Nelson has created a excellent novel that makes you feel that your right there with Frances ever step of the way. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next!
Grade: B+
Breathe My Name is out now in paperback. You can find out more about it here. Also, be sure to check out his website and myspace.
* Much thanks to JL, yet again, for sending me this wonderful book!
After The Moment by Garret Freymann- Weyr I loved Garret Freymann-Weyr previous novel, Stay With Me.( which you should defintly read if you haven't yet. It's an amazing book!) So, I was so happy when this showed up in my mailbox.
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
All her world's a stage.
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater.
She's not an orphan, but she has no parents.
She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own.
Until now.
Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the characters of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book--an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family--and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.
Oh My Gosh!! I am so excited about this. Plus, isn't the cover stunning? Too bad it's not on the ARC.
TMI by Sarah Quigley
Friends call Becca the Overshare Queen, but her tendency for TMI never seemed like a problem to her until she blabs about her sweet band-geek boyfriend’s sloppy kisses—and gets dumped! Realizing it may be better to resist the temptation to overshare face-to-face, Becca decides to blog anonymously about everything instead. On her blog, Too Much Information, Becca unleashes her alter ego, Bella. Bella tells it like it is . . . though perhaps with a bit more drama. After all, no one’s going to read it, right???
This was a very awesome surprise! I can't wait to start it.
The Bought:
Evermore by Alyson Noel
Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch. Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste…
Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition. He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets. Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head. She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is. Damen equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.
Evermore was a great book and I can't wait until the sequel. My review is written and should be posted soon!
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more. In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.
You can check out my review of this here.
I had a pretty good week, don't you think?
Summary:As said in the summary, Perfect Chemistry is an urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers. Though, it's so much more than just a love story. It has family problems, the fight to keep up a "perfect" or " tough" appearance even if you don't want to anymore, and it takes you on journey through what it means to be part of one of the scariest gangs there is alive.
The characters in this book were some of the most realistic ones I've seen in a while. Even though I thought I was going to hate Britney, I just couldn't. I felt sorry for her, because of her many struggles that included her having to make up for what her sister couldn't be and having to pretend to be perfect in front of her friends so they wouldn't see her as anything but. With Alex, it was sometimes scary to look through his eyes and see how in order to protect his family he had to be a part of The Bloods, the main gang in the book. Throughout, I was rooting for both to realize they could be so much more than what they were.
Simone Elkeles writing in Perfect Chemistry was just an all around wow. She perfectly captures what it means to be a teenager and the many problems they face every day. Also, the gang and discrimination parts of this were extremely real to the point were, I think, she must have done some research about both.
One of my favorite parts of this novel, was the conversations between the characters that included a mix of Spanish and English. (which I though was awesome because I take Spanish in school) They caused many laugh out loud moments and made this book go by extremely too fast.
Overall, Perfect Chemistry is a funny, cute, and serious book that will make you think about the many situations that were addressed. I can't wait to read more by Elkeles. By the way, have you seen the book trailer for this? It's one of the best I've ever seen. :)
Grade: A+
Perfect Chemistry is now out in paperback! You can find out more about it here. Also, be sure to check out Simone's website and myspace.
I was a book editor for five years before I started writing full-time. When I was leaving my editing job, I sent an email to everyone I knew who worked in publishing saying, "Hey! If anyone might want me to write anything, I'm over here!" Some people at Scholastic got in touch with me and told me they were looking to do a YA novel that would have drawings in it that would play a pivotal role in the story. They asked if I'd be interested in trying-out to write it. I said, "Oh boy would I ever be!" A lot of my inspiration for the story came from trying to figure out a plot that would naturally lend itself to this specific format. That said various things in my own life inspired various parts of the story -- I was a barista in high school, I have an older sister, I've been on road trips, I had a couple friends who ran away for a while during high school (but very, very luckily they ended up coming back okay).
Since, Simon & Schuster has given me another copy of Golden Girl by Micol Ostow, I have decided to give it away.Here's the blurb from Amazon:
Paige, Spencer, and Madison have it all: the looks, the connections, the money, the boys. As the daughters of three of the most prestigious families on Philadelphia's Main Line (read: old money, and lots of it) and the ruling juniors at Bradford Prep, nothing can stand in their way....except, perhaps, their own dark secrets. When an old frenemy from Paige's hidden past shows up at Bradford and plays nice--too nice--Paige is desperate to smother the threat. How far will she go to silence the truth?
To enter, simply leave a coment on this post.
For extra entries:
-Put a link to this on your sidebar ( +3)
- If you become a follower( +3)
- If you are a follower (+6)
- If you send out bulletins (Myspace), send an email to friends ( make sure to include my email address) or anything else. (+1 for each one that you do)
This contest will end February 28th at midnight eastern time- a little more than 3 weeks from now! Also, this contest is open to everyone!
Good luck!! :)
Edit: This contest is now closed and the winner was selected!! So, please do not leave anymore comments. For contests that are currently open now, please, look at the right sidebar where they are listed.
