Tag Archive | travel

And that’s a wrap! Another Blogathon in the books

Jun30

Hooray – we did it!
Blogathon2014 was a success –
Thirty posts in 30 days (even with a lengthy power outage)!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming… I plan to post 3 times weekly, so watch for new content on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Please subscribe to BooksYALove by email or your favorite blog aggregator using the handy-dandy links on the right. I also tweet out new posts @BooksYALove (along with info on reading, brains, fun info, and cats), so follow me!

Young ladies do the unexpected in these titles featured during last year’s Blogathon – now out in paperback (click on title for my original recommendation – no spoilers):

book cover of Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick published by Scholasticbook cover of Nobody's Secret by Michaela MacColl published by Chronicle BooksFrom so-so rural teen to international glamour queen, Becky becomes Gorgeous  (with the right dresses… and a little magic?)

Young Emily Dickinson seeks to uncover Nobody’s Secret – does it relate to the mysterious death in her small town?

 

Thanks again to FreelanceSuccess.com and MichelleRafter.com for hosting this year’s Blogathon and its welcoming Facebook group page – let’s do it again next June!!

**kmm

 

Twelve Minutes to Midnight, by Christopher Edge (book review) – visions of future – lunacy or conspiracy?

Jun29

book cover of Twelve Minutes to Midnight by Christopher Edge published by Albert WhitmanWriting, scrawling, jotting,
visions of the future, horrifying and violent,
every lunatic in Bedlam writing down their dreams,
every
single
one.

As writer of eerie tales Penelope investigates the startling claim that every inmate in Bedlam is dreaming of future events, the teen must be accompanied by the actor she’s been forced to hire for public appearances of Montgomery Flinch, her nom de plume.

A big thank you to publisher Albert Whitman for bringing this popular British series to the States – next is Shadows of the Silver Screen,  wherein Penny and Monty face danger from a producer of those newfangled moving pictures.

**kmm

Book info:  Twelve Minutes to Midnight (Penelope Tredwell series, book 1) / Christopher Edge. Albert Whitman & Company, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: In 1899 London, Penelope writes eerie stories to keep her late father’s newspaper alive, while all of Bedlam’s lunatics suddenly dream of the future. The thirteen year old investigates the Midnight Writings, placing her chaperone and The Penny Dreadful  in terrible danger!

Only with the actor she’s hired to portray her pen name in public can Penny go to Bedlam after reports that all inmates begin writing down their dreams at precisely 12 minutes before midnight. As the young lady and Montgomery Flinch view astounding visions of the future written on cell walls, clothing, and even the inmates’ own skin, they realize that some outside force is causing this.

As 1899 draws to a close, Penny and Monty hear that widowed Lady Cambridge may have clues to this mystery. Of course, the writer of London’s most hair-raising adventures must interview the reclusive widow (with Monty as chaperone).

The Midnight Papers disappear from a locked room in Bedlam, strange boxes vanish from the Natural History Museum, and a rival newspaper’s reporter is suspicious of Monty’s actual writing talents while a poisonous danger is luring Penny into its web!

First in the Penelope Tredwell series, Twelve Minutes to Midnight  is followed by Shadows of the Silver Screen.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

 

 

 

One Man Guy, by Michael Barakiva (book review) – gay teen comes out of his shell

Jun27

book cover of One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva published by Farrar Strauss GirouxSummer school – ugh.
Stuffed grape leaves – yum!
Hearing Rufus Wainwright live at Central Park – yay!
Falling in love for the first time – ahhhhh!!!

Ask for One Man Guy today at your local library or independent bookstore, and enjoy Alek’s breakout summer and the glow of first love. (Armenian hospitality also includes the Khederian family recipe for Stuffed Grape Leaves at the end of the book).

Have you ever taken a big leap away from how people perceived you?
**kmm

Book info: One Man Guy / Michael Barakiva. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: The tedium of summer school gives way to joy as Alek meets skateboarder Ethan who takes the Armenian-American teen under his wing and into his heart – the consequences of their adventures, however…

In summer school to raise his math grade from a B+,  Alek has to miss family vacation, but can’t miss the cute upperclassman who’d rather skateboard than study.

Ethan gleefully convinces by-the-rules Alek to skip algebra and attend a Rufus Wainwright concert in Central Park. At 14, Alek realizes for the first time that he’s probably gay, which explains why his best pal Becky is the only girl he cares to be around (her love of rollerblading and old movies notwithstanding).

As Alek and Ethan grow closer, exploring NYC together instead of going to English class, watching classic movies with Becky, and just hanging out, life is wonderful – until his parents and big brother get home early from vacation with their Armenian church group.

If the Khederian family would only stop reminiscing about the post-WWI Armenian holocaust and critiquing food long enough to accept that Alek won’t be a perfect student… He’s ready to become his own person, a good and faithful person, a One Man Guy.

Sunrise, by Mike Mullin (book review) – bandits outside the walls, challenges within

Jun24

book cover of Sunrise by Mike Mullin published by TanglewoodLeadership is needed,
Hope is required,
Young people must prevail or die.

The final volume in the Ashfall Trilogy is a blockbuster! Alex and Darla have survived cannibals, bandits, the US government, and near-starvation in Ashfall  (my review here) and Ashen Winter (my review here).

Now they must organize citizens against an oncoming threat or decide to leave the townspeople to their own fate… what a burden for kids just old enough to drive.

Full disclosure: I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book since I won the right to name a character in it through the Authors for Henryville auction which raised money to rebuild school libraries after the 2012 tornado there. The character who shares my husband’s name in Sunrise is somewhat like him (not always the case where naming rights are involved – thank you, Mike); no spoiler to tell you that he dies, because many, many people die in the perpetual winter brought on by the Yellowstone supervolcano eruption, so I’m tangentially in the book as his widow.

I just discovered Darla’s Story eBook,  told from her point of view,  paralleling Alex’s narrative in Ashfall  from the supervolcano eruption to their meeting on her Iowa farm under perilous circumstances (makes this a trilogy with 3.5 books).

How well would you survive a frozen future?
**kmm

Book info: Sunrise (Ashfall Trilogy, book 3) / Mike Mullin. Tanglewood Press, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk:  After a year of perpetual winter, Alex and Darla face tough choices when his uncle’s farm suddenly fills with townspeople who think the armed bandit attack is a one-time problem.

Everyone is tired of subsisting on kale and frozen pork, but when refugees flood Uncle Paul’s Illinois farm after renegades attack the nearby town, it’s up to young people like Alex and Darla to find medical supplies and more food (and maybe retaliate against the aggressors).

When folks move back to town but refuse to post guards against the bloodthirsty psychopath’s brigands, Alex and Darla lead another group to establish a safer settlement, complete with greenhouses and electricity from a repurposed wind turbine.

Why is Mom staying in town instead of with Alex?
Why won’t the Mayor post guards against the next attack?
Will Alex and Darla stay alive long enough to make their love a true commitment?

This final volume in the Ashfall Trilogy pits short-sighted leaders against vicious villains, the need for community against the will to go your own way, and the unforgiving brutality of volcanic winter against the hope of love and the possibility of springtime. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Portrait of Us, by A. Destiny & Rhonda Helms (book review) – different art styles, masterpiece together?

Jun21

book cover of Portrait of Us by A Destiny and Rhonda Helms published by Simon PulseShe’s a nerd, he’s a jock.
Her family is well-off, his struggles to get by.
Her art is classic in perspective, his is post-modern slashes and blotches.
They’re like oil and water – how can they make collaborative artwork?

Meet Corrine and Matthew here at the art studio in chapter 1 (free!) as they find out about the big art contest, then see other Flirt series “first love, first kiss” books here.

Ever fall for someone who was your opposite?

**kmm

Book info: Portrait of Us (Flirt series) / A. Destiny and Rhonda Helms. Simon Pulse, 2014.  [Flirt series site]   [author site]   [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: To win the prestigious young artists’ competition, Corinne and Matthew must get past bad first impressions to mesh their wildly conflicting art styles into a masterpiece.

Corrine is so happy to be in Teni’s studio this summer, but thinks the artist-in-residence wants her to abandon her controlled painting style by partnering the Chicago teen with Matthew, all bold and raw visuals, for the big contest.

Jock guy and nerd-perfectionist girl have a long way to go before they can even begin to put paint to canvas, so different are they in every way.

After several false starts, Corrine and Matthew begin to see how they can create a joint work of art for the national competition, and Corrine begins to fall for Matthew! But what if he’s ready to move on after they finish their summer project?

Part of the Flirt series from Simon Pulse, this Portrait of Us reflects Corrine’s first experience with something she can’t control – love.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Cool reads for hot days

Jun20

I knew it would happen sooner or later – a long power outage, just as I was writing a post for Blogathon2014… and out here in the country, no power means no internet connection or cellphone signal booster either.

Faced with the choice of driving 15 miles to nearest town to get wifi at our library so I could finish editing my review in progress or staying home to enjoy a new book while waiting for the power to be restored, I chose the latter, of course!

If you’re in the mood for summer reading, too, check out these past BooksYALove favorites, and watch for my newest recommendation tomorrow at its normal 10 am CDT release time.

book cover of Dogtag Summer by Elizabeth Partridgebook cover of Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X StorkLast Summer of the Death Warriors,  by Francisco X. Stork: what’s harder – knowing that you’ll die young or not knowing if you’ll ever really be an adult? (my full review).

Dogtag Summer,  by Elizabeth Partridge: In 1981, 12-year-old Vietnamese-American orphan Traci questions why she’s in this small California town (my full review).

See y’all here tomorrow – I’m going to finish my book now that the A/C is running again!

**kmm

 

Brave girls in unexpected situations – free SYNC audiobooks this week!

Jun19

A teenage spy falling in love!
An orphaned girl sent to do a boy’s farm job!
Two great stories to read with your ears this week, courtesy of AudioSYNC!

You can download either or both free audiobooks beginning today through Wednesday 25 June 2014 at the SYNC site. Then you can listen to them any time that you like,  as long as you keep those files on your computer or electronic device.

CD cover of I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You By Ally Carter Read by Renée Raudman Published by Brillance AudioI’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You (download here – USA & Canada only)
By Ally Carter
Read by Renée Raudman
Published by Brillance Audio

Enrolled in spy school for teen girls, Cammie faces her toughest challenge yet when she falls for a regular teenage guy. (read chapter 1 here free)

 

Anne of Green Gables (download here)CD cover of Anne of Green Gables By L.M. Montgomery Read by Colleen Winton Published by Post Hypnotic Press
By L.M. Montgomery
Read by Colleen Winton
Published by Post Hypnotic Press

A plucky orphan girl brings new life to the rural Nova Scotia farm where she is mistakenly sent; the first book in the classic series (read here free).

 

Can you identify with what Cammie and Anne are facing in their new situations?
**kmm

Breakfast Served Anytime, by Sara Combs (book review) – geek camp, cryptic clues, big questions

Jun18

book cover of Breakfast Served Anytime by Sarah Combs published by CandlewickSearching for signs,
learning to read people,
trying to read her own heart.

Lots more than advanced academics at UK‘s summer camp for the best and the brightest, Gloria discovers – it’s the people who make the difference.

Read chapter 1 here for free (yay!), then head for your local library or independent bookstore to get this April 2014 title, and find out how GeekCamp and time together at the diner changes Glo and her new-found friends.

**kmm

Book info: Breakfast Served Anytime, by Sara Combs. Candlewick, 2014. [author’s letter to her teenage-self]    [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Searching for signs to guide her future, Gloria goes to “geek camp” just for the collegiate experience, but comes home with so much more.

Armed with her newly-begun Book of Ephemera and her namesake-grandmother’s copy of To Kill a Mockingbird,  Glo chooses “Secrets of the Written Word” as her camp course, content to leave her phone and computer home all month.

Cryptic messages from their Written Word professor send Glo, Calvin, Chloe, and Mason (such an annoying guy!) all over campus and town, including the college founder’s tomb and the Egg Drop Inn, which becomes their favorite hangout.

Chloe is creative, Calvin is a philosophical polymath, but is there more to big-gestures Mason than mere dramatic flair? Will they ever meet Professor X in person before Geek Camp is over? Hmm… being around Mason is starting to grow on her.

Questions of “Big Coal” versus protecting the environment, dorm drama, the blue Morpho butterflies which fill the summer, and the wacky daily interactions of Professor X’s quartet of Word students fill Glo’s letters home to Carol – but will the full-ride in-state scholarship for campers override the best friends’ plans to escape Kentucky for NYC after graduation?  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History, by Joel Christian Gill (book review) – graphic novel

Jun15

book cover of Strange Fruit by Joel Christian Gill published by Fulcrum BooksA cycling champion,
a chessmaster,
a marshal who memorized arrest warrants –
lives of purpose whose stories are rarely told.

Nine “Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History” come to life through Joel Christian Gill’s unique art in this graphic novel, originally a series of mini-comics.

Gill took the name for his comic series from Abel Meerpol’s “Strange Fruit” about lynchings in the South, hauntingly performed by Billie Holiday.

Ask for Strange Fruit at your local library or independent bookstore – they may have to order this June 3rd #diversebooks release, but it’ll be worth the wait.

Any suggestions for Gill to include in volume 2?

**kmm

Book info: Strange Fruit, Volume 1: Uncelebrated Narratives from Obscure Black History / Joel Christian Gill.  Fulcrum Books, 2014. [author blog]  [publisher site]  [video interview] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Seven outstanding men and two groundbreaking institutions are featured in this graphic novel of little-told stories from African-American history.

Included are lawman Bass Reeves, who arrested 3,000 dangerous criminals during his 30-year career in Indian Territory, and Marshall “Major” Taylor, the Black Cyclone, fastest cyclist in the world in 1899, first black champion in any sport.

Henry “Box” Brown escaped from slavery by being packed in a crate for 27-hour wagon journey. The Noyes Academy in New England (1835) was the first integrated school, but townspeople drove them out.

From the original black pro basketball star to a magician’s greatest illusion, become more familiar with these lives which made a positive difference, despite prejudice.

My Faire Lady, by Laura Wettersten (book review) – can Ren Faire cure a broken heart?

Jun14

book cover of My Faire Lady by Laura Wettersten published by Simon Schuster BFYRTankards of mead and turkey legs!
Bold knights and comely maidens!
‘Tis the Renaissance Faire, indeed!
(p.s. no cell phones in the Middle Ages!)

Trying to cure her wounded heart, Rowena leaves town to become a face painter at King Geoffrey’s Faire, discovering more about herself as she spends the summer with knights, troubadours, jugglers, artists, and musicians.

Read for yourself just how Ro gets herself out of the house and into the Faire  in this free excerpt.

Been to a Ren Faire lately?

**kmm

Book info: My Faire Lady / Laura Wettersten. Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk:  Rowena takes an out-of-town summer job to avoid seeing her cheating boyfriend and finds herself growing as an artist among Ren Faire performers, catching the eye of a handsome knight and a whip-cracking genius.

Kyle’s “I like someone else” makes Ro’s job at the small town mall unappealing, so she becomes a face painter and serving wench at King Geoffrey’s Faire, living onsite all summer, trying to stay in medieval character.

Clad in corset and flowing skirt, Ro works on her art beyond face painting, flirts with Christian the knight, and even learns to ride a horse. Her new friends Will, bullwhip performer heading to MIT, and Suze, who works in the tavern with Ro, are second-generation Ren Faire folk who show her the ropes.

Her friends think she’s just running away from Kyle , her parents think she’s looking for unique experience for her college application, and her own foot-in-mouth might  lose Rowena the summer fling that could heal her battered heart.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)