TGIF: Giving Bookish Thanks

Believe it or not, today is the Friday before Thanksgiving. I would reflect on where the time has gone, but that sounds depressing so I will SKIP it. Instead, I will write far too much about the question the lovely, fabulous, wonderful Ginger at GReadsBooks has posed this week:

Giving Thanks: Which books are you most thankful for receiving from other bloggers, friends, family members, or publishers?

Where She Went is the first ARC I received from a publisher. It surprised me in the mail, about six weeks after I'd started this blog. I was FLOORED that I'd received it because I didn't request it (Hell, I didn't even know how to request an ARC at that point) and because there'd been SO MUCH buzz surrounding it. I'm still just shocked that I got this and thoroughly confused as to how it came to me. But I loooooooved it and am so so so glad and honored that I received an ARC. 

I was the first of my friends to jump on the Harry Potter train, but not without a lot of prodding and a good bit of boredom. I received this book from my grandmother the week that it was first released in the U.S. I was eleven and in that period where I did not want to read anything with a cartoon of a boy on the cover. I don't even think I read the jacket copy. I just put it aside and continued to read my Magic Attic Club and Saddle Club and every other girly series that ended in "Club" books. But my grandma kept calling my mom and asking if I'd read the book yet. So, finally, after several conversations where my mom was like, "Bethany, just read the book so she'll stop asking." I sat down and read it. And I couldn't stop. When I finished it, I immediately re-read it. So, yay for my grandma and her book-picking skillz! :)

So, this one is sort of abstract in that my introduction to John Green didn't come in book-form. My super-awesome sister sent me an email one day that included this video with the message "OMG YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS." So I watched and was like, "HOLY SHIZZBALLS THIS IS THE BEST." So I started watching the Vlogbrothers videos from the beginning forward. I developed a huge huge huge crush on John Green and when I realized he writes books that are, you know, buyable I immediately sought out everything by him. And then I read the two books I could get my hands on at the time—Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines—in order of publication, so my first John Green book was LfA. And I fell in love. [I have a feeling I'll tell more of this story during John Green Week, so I'll go ahead and stop here.] But without my sister sending me that inaugural video, I probably would have never read these books. 

I got Hourglass via my very first ARC tour, hosted by Heather at Fire and Ice (whom I am also thankful for for sending me The Name of the Star). From the first time I saw the stinkin' cover for Hourglass, I KNEW this was a book for me. I was SO excited to get in on the ARC tour, and couldn't wait until it showed up on my doorstep. Fittingly, it arrived while I was watching a Doctor Who marathon on BBC America. And it was literally love at first word for me. I was super sad that I had to send it to the next person because I wanted to keep the book and love it and pet it and kiss it and read it again. But! I couldn't do that and I wanted others to have the opportunity to read it as well. 

And these days I have TWO copies of Hourglass. *ponders what to do with the extra copy*

Alright, so that is my very long-winded post. I could go on and on about this. And I should probably take a moment to give a HUMUNGOUS thank you to Miss Ginger for sending me not only her ARC of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, but for also buying me a copy of Sloppy Firsts (which I have yet to read. I KNOW, I'm on it.) and for just being an all-around awesome blogger and friend and person. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a fabulous Thanksgiving!

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReadsBooks.

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! 

Where She Went Giveaway Results!

I am super excited to announce the winner of my FIRST EVER book giveaway!

So, without further ado, the winner of the amazingly fantastic Where She Went by Gayle Forman is . . .

*drumroll*

Entry #4, Annie! Congrats Annie!! I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did! :)

Winner was picked at random via the website random.org

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.