TGIF: Perfect Pairs

 OMG it's July. We are officially half way through 2011. Is anyone else weirded out by that?

ANYWAY. It's July. It's summer. And what could possibly be better than sunshine and weekends at the beach and cute open toed shoes? Why, a little summer romance!

This week the fabulous Ginger at GReads! has asked:

Who are your favorite book couples?*

Alright, in no particular order, heeeeere we go.


Adam & Mia (If I Stay/Where She Went)
Yes. Yes. Yes.

Magnus & Alec (The Mortal Instruments)
They're just so adorable.

Anna & Etienne St. Clair (Anna and the French Kiss)
They met in Paris. At a boarding school. That's basically my fantasy life. 

Georgia & Dave the Laugh (Georgia Nicholson series)
Dave the Laugh might be the perfect YA boy. I know that's a really big, hyperbolic-sounding thing to say, but I mean it. He's British. He's funny. He's sexy. He's adorable. He's confusing. He's perfect. :)

Elizabeth & Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)
Duh.

So there you have my very, very abridged list of my favorite book couples. Let me know your faves in comments, and have an explosively wonderful Fourth of July weekend! (Yay America!)

*This is a very short list. If I listed them all, we'd be here forever. And I assume you have OTHER things to do than listen to me prattle on about literary couples I love, so I made the executive decision to keep this short and sweet. 

TGIF: Gettin' Down & Dirty

I don't know if y'all feel this way, but this has been a crazy long week over in Bethie-land. Work has been stressful, my roommate's family (including a toddler) is in town and staying with us, and I keep forgetting to bring my book to work so I can read on my lunch break.

However. It is Friday, glorious Friday. And since this particular Friday is Good Friday, I have my fingers crossed that the office will close at 3:00 and I can go home and veg a couple hours earlier than normal.

Anyway. This question of the week from Ginger at GReads! iiiiiis:

Explicit Material: How do you feel about explicit language &/or sexual content in YA books?

My answer is super simple: I love it. 

I don't find anything offensive or wrong with cussing or a sex scene.  Let's be honest, it's not like teens aren't cussing and developing/exploring their sexuality. They are. It's all part of growing up, and I feel like being crass and a tidbit promiscuous it's a vital part of being a teenager. Call me a heathen if you must, but I actually think a YA novel WITHOUT a couple cuss words and a smutty scene is strange, and more often than not, unsatisfying.

That being said, I don't want to pick up a YA novel and be accosted by F-bombs and raunchy, overwrought bedroom scenes--if I want that, I'll go to the romance section. Or I'll just re-read everything by Candace Bushnell. 

If you are interested in some YA novels that involve cussing and sexy times, but aren't raunchy, I will point you in the direction of:

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman

The Curse Workers series by Holly Black

Looking for Alaska by John Green 

I'm such a cheerleader for these books, I know. BUT THEY ARE GOOD.

I hope everyone has a great Friday, and a fabulous weekend! Happy Easter! 

Review & Giveaway: Where She Went

Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Dutton Books
Pub Date: April 5, 2011
Format: ARC, sent from publisher (Thank you SO MUCH!!)

This is one of those books that I don't even really know how to "review." I don't even really think of it as a book--it's more of an experience. It's emotional, it's physical, it somehow reaches down into your body and demands a reaction. I didn't even realize I was giving it a reaction until I was crying so hard I couldn't read for the tears.

Yep, people, this is a book that will make you emo. But also warm and fuzzy, in a weird, teary way. And despite the fact that I have no idea how to convey how beautiful this book is, I will try.

The sequel to the heart-wrenching If I Stay (told from Mia's perspective), Where She Went (told from Adam's perspective) picks up the story of Mia and Adam three years after the accident, after the grief has been accepted, and after the pain has dulled. Or at least, that's what Adam thinks. But when an aggressive and enterprising reporter tries to find out who the "real Adam Wilde" is (his band, Shooting Star, is now legit and he is super famous), she digs around in his past and makes the connection that he and Mia went to the same high school and were more than just friends, a fact that both he and the band have bent over backward to keep out of the press. After a response in typical rock star-style, Adam storms out of the interview and into the streets of Manhattan.

As Adam walks to blow off steam and clear his head, he just so happens to find himself in front of Carnegie Hall, where Mia just so happens to be playing that very night as part of the esteemed Young Artists Series. And because Adam is a masochist, he buys a ticket to see her play, and then she invites him backstage, and then. *eyes glimmer with knowing*

I refuse to tell you, because you, reader, are hereby charged to get thee to the nearest bookstore and buy at least two copies of this book, because you will WANT to give it to someone. And you'll want your own copy. (Duh.) Anyway, to give you a hint of what was going on with me while I was reading, here are my tweets from the night I read this book. (read from the bottom up. Or don't. You choose!)

Yeahhhhhh. This one is a doozy. I read both If I Stay and Where She Went in one sitting each, and for some insane reason If I Stay didn't affect me as much as Where She Went did. It's a perfect sequel. I mean that. And I really don't know what else to say.

Oh, yes I do! If you are in or around NYC tonight, the brilliant Gayle Forman is having a release party at the Brooklyn Barnes & Noble from 7-9. Yes, TONIGHT! I will be there, with bells on. Rachel from Bookshelf Lust will be there toooooo. So, come hang out with us. We're fun.