Top Ten "Gateway" Books In My Reading Journey

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Top Ten "Gateway" Books/Authors In My Reading Journey

 

Books/Series That Got Me Into Young Adult:

 

Books/Series That Got Me Into New Adult:

Jennifer L Armentrout and Colleen Hoover are the two authors that I first read in New Adult.

And they continue to be my favorite authors in that particular genre.

 

 

 

Books That Got Me Into Classics:

 

And the main author that ultimately made me love reading Young Adult.....(Meaning the first author that I have read each and every single book written by her as soon as they came out)......

 

Ally Carter:

 

 

Characterize It (12)

Welcome to Characterize It, a meme held every Thursday and hosted by http://theyabookbutterfly.blogspot.com/

As usual for memes, link the meme back to the host page so that other can join in!

If you want to know more about Characterize It, go to this page.

Wild Card - Any character! From any book! Just come up with a favorite!

This week I chose Sophie from Vitro by Jessica Khoury.
Vitro surprised me in so many ways.....I am not a huge sci-fi fan so I was not at all expecting to sit down and read this entire book in one sitting. I completely fell in love with Jessica's characters. Most of all Sophie. Sophie is as real of a character as you can get in a sci-fi book.














What are your favorite characters from books? Have you read Vitro?
If you participated in Characterize It....Please leave me a link in the comments below :-)
 

Waiting on Wednesday (16) Just Like the Movies

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

 

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is-

 

Just Like the Movies  

Expected publication: June 15th 2014 by Walker Books for Young Readers

 

I recently read Kelly Fiore's Taste Test and really liked it.

I can't wait to see what Just Like the Movie's is like!

 

 

Synopsis via Goodreads

Pretty and popular track star Marijke Monti is confident about almost everything – she’s got great friends, a great family, and she’s on her way to the State Track Championship. In fact, the only thing Marijke isn’t confident about is her relationship with Tommy Lawson.

Lily Spencer has spent her entire high school career preparing for the future – she’s participated in every extracurricular activity and volunteer committee she could. But, at home, she watches her mother go on date after date with dud-dudes, still searching for “the one.” Lily realizes that she’s about to graduate and still hasn’t even had a boyfriend.

While they live on each other’s periphery at school, Lily and Marijke never seemed to have much in common; but, after a coincidental meeting at the movie theater, Lily gets an idea – why can’t life be like a movie? Why can’t they set up their perfect romantic situations, just in time for their senior prom, using movie techniques?

Once the girls come up with the perfect plans, they commit themselves to being secret cohorts and, just like in the movies, drama ensues.

The Impossible Knife Of Memory (Book Review)

The Impossible Knife Of Memory
Laurie Halse Anderson
Published January 7th 2014 by Viking Juvenile

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.






Review:

First of all, this is DEFINITELY NOT a happy-everything is perfect-romance story. Second of all, I haven't read a Laurie Halse Anderson book in years. So I had completely forgotten about her unique writing style. And I went into this read pretty blind.

This is so much more.

Hayley's Dad has PTSD......Which in itself make for a sincerely heartbreaking story. Hayley makes a great main character. In some ways she is just a normal girl trying to get through high school without too much drama. But in other ways she is dealing with a very hard home life, and the many people that have abandoned her over the years. Finn is another great character. He is so sweet to Hayley and for once, he is a guy character that doesn't really know anything about cars (Hayley knows from necessity more than him).
Unfortunately some parts of Hayley I also couldn't stand.

Like this-----
“Everyone is born a freak," notes Hayley. "Every newborn baby, wet and hungry and screaming, is a fresh-hatched freak who wants to have a good time and make the world a better place. . . . Most teenagers wind up in high school. And high school is where the zombification process becomes deadly.”

Which just left me thinking "wait.......what?"

Laurie has her own writing style, in the way of describing and building her characters. There are really no words that I could use to describe the way that she does it. Except that I can't remember a single book being anything like hers.
I personally have no idea how realistically Laurie has described PTSD. So I won't go into that.......But I wasn't crazy about that part. I couldn't get into it. Even though it was heartbreaking....



Overall this book is in a class all of it's own. I wish that I had liked Hayley more......I think that the idea was good. Although a bit too abstract for my taste. But stars to Laurie Halse Anderson for creating a book that didn't really remind me of anything else I have ever read (and I have read a LOT of books).

Characterize It (11)

Welcome to Characterize It, a meme held every Thursday and hosted by http://theyabookbutterfly.blogspot.com/

As usual for memes, link the meme back to the host page so that other can join in!

If you want to know more about Characterize It, go to this page.

 

Second Helping - Strong Female Secondary Character who helps Lead Female Character through adversity.

Whenever I think about my favorite secondary character (female or not) The first person (or not-a-person) on my mind is Iko from The Lunar Chronicles.

There is something about Iko that just makes you want to read a book all about her......And she does help Cinder quite a bit throughout the books.

 

Opal (Lux #3) (Book Review)

Opal (Lux #3)
Jennifer L Armentrout

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

Review:

I really liked Obsidian and I enjoyed the romance in Onyx.
I found Daemon to be annoying in Obsidian but he turned into a really nice gentleman in Onyx.
But unfortunately the feelings that I felt for Daemon in Obsidian returned. He morphed back into the Daemon that I had hoped was left behind long ago. I continued to feel this way until the very last pages of the book where you left us with a ginormous cliff hanger.

The plot in this one also followed her now trademark setting....
The first 1/3 or so of the book was just Daemon and Katy fighting/making up/making out/arguing/making up/making out/repeat.
The next 1/3 or so was the actual story....Which involved more of Daemon and Katy fighting/making up/making out/arguing/making up/making out/repeat. But added on a plot twist and added on some things that were important to the next section.
And lastly the ending 1/3 of the book involved more of Daemon and Katy fighting/making up/making out/arguing/making up/making out/repeat. But added on a final fight.

I enjoy the romance of Daemon and Katy....But I always wonder where Katy's Mom is in all of this. She works, but is she honestly gone that much? Overlooking that however, I find the romance to be cute and enjoyable even though Daemon returned to his trademark characteristics that were found in Obsidian.
The plot of this was good. But I would have loved to see more things about Daemons kind in the first 2/3s of the book. And I would have loved to have more fight scenes.

Altogether the cliff hanger that Jennifer left us all with at the very end was torture. And I will be picking up Origin to see what happens. I also want to see what Daemon and Katy's relationship grows into as they grow older and hopefully more mature.

 

Do you like Jennifer L Armentrout? Have you enjoyed this series yet? Or is it still stuck on your to-read list?

Monday YA Author Interview with Lauren Morrill

Lauren Morrill,

www.laurenmorrill.com

Meant to Be (Delacorte / 2012)

Being Sloane Jacobs (Delacorte / January 7, 2014

On Twitter @LaurenEMorrill

On Facebook

Where are you from?
I grew up in Maryville, TN, went to undergrad and grad school at Indiana University, then moved to Boston for 4 years. Now I live in Macon, GA, where I'm glad there's no winter!

When and why did you begin writing?

I've been writing my whole life, but I didn't start approaching it as a career until I was mid-way through graduate school and still not sure of what I wanted to be when I grew up! Right about that time I rediscovered YA through John Green and Sarah Dessen, and I knew that was what I needed to be doing. It took another few years before I actually wrote and sold a book, but that's where it started!

What books have most influenced your life most?

Just As Long As We're Together by Judy Blume is the book that made me want to be a writer. It's my all-time favorite, and I still reread it every few years. 

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Sarah Dessen is my favorite YA author, both for her writing and for the way she conducts her career. She's incredibly generous and kind to her readers, and I look to her as an example of how to be a good member of the YA community. I have all her books and reread one whenever I feel like I'm in a slump. 

What book are you reading now?

Right now I'm reading a book called The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes. It comes out in 2015, and so I'm reading an early copy, and I'm absolutely in love with it. The writing is beautiful, and the story (a contemporary) is haunting and amazing. Add it to your Goodreads list now!

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Kathryn Holmes, who I mentioned before. I also love Amy Spalding and can't wait to read what she writes next. 

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

This is so hard, but I'm going to go with Sarah Dessen again. She builds these vibrant worlds populated with all these really complex, well-drawn supporting characters. That's what makes it so great when those characters pop up in future novels. They're so real that they become like friends, and catching up with them is so fun! I also love how her books are all so full of heart. 

What was the hardest part of writing your book?
The first draft is the hardest for me. Starting from nothing is PAINFUL. The revision is where fun happens for me.

 
Have you been an avid reader your entire life? (since you could read)
Yes! I've always devoured books. I was lucky that my mom almost never said no to me in a book store, and I almost never went anywhere without a book on me. I used to get in trouble for staying up late reading with a flashlight!

 What character in your books do you relate to most?
 All of my characters have a little bit of me in them, but I definitely identify with Sloane Devon's competitive edge in Being Sloane Jacobs. I've been told it's hard to play games with me because I get sort of intense!

What is your favorite sport to watch and or play?
Roller Derby! I've been a skaters for 7 years now, and I love watching tough female athletes execute strategy and get out aggression. 

Favorite Movie?
Father of the Bride 

Chocolate or Vanilla?
Vanilla 
Puppies or Kittens?
Puppies! 

Beach or Mountains?
Beach 

If you could be a color, what color would you be?

Blue 

Favorite Dessert?
key lime pie 

If you could be a book character, what character would you be?

Jessica Darling from Sloppy Firsts (and the rest of the series), because she's hilarious and a great writer 



I would definitely recommend both of Lauren's books to YA Contemporary lovers.......(You can check out my review of Being Sloane Jacobs here)