Angieville

So The Boy Most Likely To put me right back in the mood for some solid contemporary YA. I immediately turned to my ARC of Nicola Yoon 's debut novel  Everything, Everything .  I'd been looking forward to this one for awhile but holding onto it until starting it felt right. I can't be the only one who does that, can I? Ours is not to question why and all that, I suppose, but seriously why sometimes can I not just dive right into a book I've been dying for the moment it finds its way into my grabby little hands? Frustrating doesn't even begin to cover it. In any event. I'd also been meaning to feature this cover on a pretties post for awhile and just never got around to it. But can we go ahead and just take a moment now? Because it's just perfect, even more so after having read the book. I can't wait to pick up my copy in person and just . . . stroke it. Madeline Whittier has no memory of ever being outside of her house. Afflicted with a genetic disor...

I think I've been quietly missing the Garretts for the last three years. I remember picking up My Life Next Door based on its comparisons to Anna and the French Kiss and being pleasantly surprised at how thoughtful an exploration it was of families and first loves. And while I swooned over Jase and Sam right along with every other reader with a pulse, it was those forbidden Garrets that kept me thoroughly enthralled. Which is why my anticipation grew daily from the moment I heard about The Boy Most Likely To right up until release day. And then, perversely, when it finally came I worried. What if the balance is off? What if Tim isn't redeemable? What if (as was a touch true in the first book) Alice-and-Tim weren't the equals I wanted them to be? The thousand niggling questions of an anxious, but resolute reader such as myself . . . But, happily, the pull of returning to the cozy kitchen of the Garretts didn't allow me to hold out for long. And it was a warm welcome...

You guys. I have come across another perfect edition of a book I adore, and I simply have to share. Actually I discovered one lovely edition and that one led me to another, and, well, I need to know which you yourselves would choose. I ran across the whimsical yellow cover and found it charming, particularly in comparison to the edition I own , which I love, but which has determinedly large violet numbers on it. And we all know how I feel about violet anything on the covers of my beloved books. Sigh . But then.  Then.  I found the stamped AirMail envelope cover. My heart, you guys. It is perfect. I do really like the cream one with the actual photo of Marks & Co. on it, naturally. In fact, my heart clenches each time I look at it and remember that when I finally made it to London, that blessed shop had been turned into a Pizza Hut. A Pizza Hut . And so to exorcise the demons (and because I have no lender copy), I plan on ordering one of these lovelies sooner ra...

So get this. In all my years of blogging (I can't believe I just typed that), I've never written up a post on my favorite literary opening lines! This strikes me as funny given the fact that I somehow have made time to discuss my favorite first kisses , favorite endings , favorite big bads , and all manner of other Very Important Lists. So. Today, we're going to dig into the best first lines, the ones that sucked me in so fast my head spun. For purposes of space, we're going to exclude classics. I know . It's just that once I get started with Austen, Dickens, Tolstoy, etc., I have a feeling we'll start spiraling out to sea.  Some of these lines make me laugh. Some make me cry. Some fill me with the kind of nostalgia only a pivotal book in my life does. And some woo you in gently with their come-hither eyes, deceptive in their simplicity. No matter their ilk, all of them belong to books that reside firmly on my Beloved Bookshelf . And so. Favorite openin...

Stop the presses (except not really because I need this baby in my hands pronto )! Entertainment Weekly has revealed the cover for the brilliant Sarah Rees Brennan 's upcoming novel Tell the Wind and Fire . For those of you savvy readers who recognize the title quote, this book is a modern, magical retelling/adaptation/what-have-you of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Which fact sent me into paroxysms of joy when I found out. We finally have a release date for this beauty, and it is April 5, 2016. I know it's a ways down the road yet, but I feel like I've been waiting forever and an actual date helps set my jitters at ease a bit. As part of the reveal,  Entertainment Weekly  has an exclusive excerpt from Chapter One. Go check it out and let me know what you think of the excerpt. Personally, I'm still reeling from the excellence.

This Choose Your Own Edition comes to you courtesy of my Instagram rambles through evil, evil Maggie's feed . She posted a pic of the playing card edition of Markus Zusak 's The Messenger (published as I Am the Messenger here in the States), and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. I need that edition, you guys. My copy is the red and black American paperback from 2002, I believe. And while I am attached to it because I love the size and texture of it (and because it was the very first Zusak book I ever read), I've never loved the artwork. So one thing led to another and I found myself scouring the web for different editions.   Here you have my three favorites. They are—perhaps coincidentally—all Australian versions, and as such are not what you might call "readily available" to the likes of me. But availability (and funds) aside, let's talk covers. I love aspects of each, particularly the white figure of the juggler (whi...

I eagerly delved into Naomi Novik 's standalone fantasy, having heard rave reports of her Temeraire series for years, but for some reason having not read them. It's often easier for me to dive into a standalone with a new author than it is a series it seems. The blurbs from luminaries such as Tamora Pierce and Maggie Stiefvater (and the comparisons to my beloved Robin McKinley) did not hurt things one bit. And the opening chapter is absolute perfection. I knew I was in for something special right off the bat. And, having finished Uprooted , I stand by my feelings that it is something special and absolutely worth your time and money investment, even if my overall impression came off not quite as glowing and awed as I might have hoped. It's worth taking a moment to admire that beautiful cover. My, how I love it. And the UK edition is glorious in a very different way. Lucky book, to be so beautifully packaged on both sides of the pond. Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he ...