Sneak Peek of Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Hello everyone!! While surfing the web and Facebook this afternoon, I came across a post by Jodi Picoult, advertising her new book that she co-authored with her daughter Samantha. For Valentine's Day, these two ladies collaborated with Mtv.com and  gave us book worms a sneak peek of the book! I don't know about you, but I am so excited!

To see the sneak peek, you can go HERE.

The book is about a teenager named Delilah who has this dream to have the characters in her books to come alive. She has fallen in love with a character in the book she's currently reading, and he comes to life! So, who among us as book readers and book worms, hasn't ever had the fantasy that the characters you fall in love with, come alive? I know I have!! Many times!

I'm very excited about this book, and can't wait for it's release on June 26th! This is going to be a GREAT Young Adult book, and I think a lot of us are going to be able to relate to it. =-)

So, head on over to the site HERE and read more about the book, and download your copy of the first two chapters! I promise, you won't regret it!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Why I Read It: I've heard so much about this book, and read so many reviews that I just had to read it for myself!

Where I Got It: Secret Santa sent it to me! :D

Rating: 4/5 stars



Overview from the inside cover:

Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her affection. So she's not too pleased when her father decided to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new friends, including the handsome Etienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately, he's taken--And Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she's been waiting for? 

First, I feel the need to say that I was a little disappointed in the book. I feel like all of the reviews I read made me so excited for this book, that it forced me into having a huge expectation to this being the best book ever read. Except, I had a hard time feeling like it was a good book. 

I went back and forth about how many stars to give it, and why I'd choose what I did over another rating, etc. I must say, the book was extremely slow going for me. It took me until way past the half point of the book to REALLY get into it. So, for that reason alone, I decided to give it 4 out of 5 stars. I was going to go ahead and give the book 3 out of 5 stars because it was slow going, took me a while to get into it, and I felt like there needed to be a lot more background information on Anna to REALLY get to know her. But, as I continued to read, and finally got into it to the point where I couldn't put the book down, I decided it was worth 4 out of 5 stars.

Now, onto the actual story line of the book. 

Anna is your typical teenage boy crazy girl. She has a crush on her friend Toph, who works with her at the movie theater. She finds herself drooling over him, and dreaming of spending the rest of her life with him. Then, suddenly, (and I'm not sure if it ever really said why), her Dad sends her off to School of American in Paris. Anna throws a fit that she has to go on the other side of the world for her SENIOR YEAR of school, leaving her friends and family behind. She's scared of new and bigger places, and most of all, she's scared that she doesn't know even a little bit of French. 

After her first day in the dorms, she meets her neighbor Meredith, who becomes her good friend right away. Meredith introduces Anna to her friends, St. Clair, Josh, Rashmi and a few other people. They all become fast friends, and become the "group". 

As the story progresses, we learn a lot about St. Clair and his girlfriend Ellie. We learn that St. Clair is liked by many, and all women. He's the type of guy girls chase after and drool over. Anna instantly finds herself becoming best friends with him, and slowly realizes that she likes him a little more than she should.

The book goes on and on with St. Clair and Anna site seeing around Paris, getting to know each other more, going to classes, doing homework, and all of the other drama of being in high school. We all know that type of drama! 

There were two things that were said in the book that stuck out to me. One being when Anna said, "Why do I always fall for the wrong guys?" Because don't we all? And the other being, "Because I was right. Home isn't a place, it's a person." 

All in all, it was a good book, with a good story line. I don't think it was as good as my expectations sought out it to be, but I would definitely recommend it to everyone who looks a decent Young Adult novel. 

I'm excited to read Stephanie's new book, Lola and the Boy Next Door! 

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Title: Lock and Key

Author: Sarah Dessen

Where I Got It: Borrowed it from my roommate

Why I Read It: I've heard numerous times that Sarah Dessen is a great author

Rating: 3/5 stars


Overview from Barnes and Noble:

"Ruby is used to taking care of herself. But now she's living in a fancy new house with her sister Cora - a sister she hasn't seen in ten years - and her husband Jamie - creator of one of the most popular online networking sites. She's attending private school, wearing new clothes, and for the first time, feels the promise of a future that include college and her family. So why is she so wary? And what is Nate - the adorable and good-hearted boy next door - hiding behind his genial nature? As Ruby starts to see, there's a big difference between being given help, and being able to accept it. And sometimes, in order to save yourself, you've got to reach out to someone else."

This book was an okay book. It wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't horrible at the same time. I think my biggest issue with it is that it started off really slow. And it doesn't go into a whole lot of detail why Ruby and her sister Cora had a bad childhood with their Mother. Don't get me wrong, it does explain it enough for you to understand, but in the same token, I feel like there could have been a little bit more information to make the story better. Does that make sense?

Ruby is the type of plain clothes person, who is happy with what she has. She doesn't expect more from people, and she takes what she can get. She understands that happiness comes from what you have, and you just have to take it as it comes. 

When Ruby is forced to move in with her sister, she had to change all of her beliefs about being happy with what she had, because Cora and Cora's husband Jaime were most "high class" than Ruby was ever use to. Ruby has a hard time dealing with this, and wants nothing more than to go back to taking care of herself. She wants to know who told on her, and who found out that she was the one taking care of herself, instead of her mother. She also wants to know what happened to her Mother. 

Ruby has been hurt so many times throughout her life, that it's hard for her to trust anyone. So, when Cora's neighbor Nate befriends her, she's very cautious and stays clear of him as much as possible.

As the overview states, this book is all about taking a deep breath, and being able to accept the help that's given, rather than saying that you're fine without the help of others. It's also about GIVING help to others, even while you need it yourself. 

As I stated, the book was a good book. Don't get me wrong, but it was just a slow starter. I think that's the main reason I gave it the 3/5 stars. If it would have caught my attention from the very beginning, it would have been at least a 4/5. 

I do recommend this book to those who like Young Adult books and/or Sarah Dessen. It's worth a read if you just want an easy read. It is quite a thick book, but it's a smooth reading book, so you can get through it at a decent pace, once the book starts getting interesting. 

Find Sarah Dessen online: www.sarahdessen.com

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/sarahdessen

My Rating:

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Title: If I Stay

Author: Gayle Forman

Where I got this book: Walmart

Why I read it: I saw another review on it from a different blogger and added it to my TBR List.

Rating: A






Blurb from the back of the book:

Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, adoring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. Then, in an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the only decision she has left--the most important decision she'll ever make. 
Simultaneously tragic and hopeful, this is a romantic, riveting, and ultimately uplifting story about memory, music, living, dying, loving. 




When I first started this book, I didn't like it. I thought it was TOO "young adult-ish" for me, and TOO unreal. As I kept reading it, I was feeling that way a little bit more. Then, one day I happened to see on the top corner of the book that it said, "Will appeal to fans of Stephenie Meyer's TWILIGHT"-- USA Today. I didn't agree with it then, and I still don't agree with that.

As I kept reading the book, I was getting more and more into it. As I got to the middle of the book, it was really hard for me to put it down. I kept reading and reading. I'd set the book down to get something to eat, or to use the bathroom, and when I'd pick it back up, I'd say, "Whoa! How did I get this far!?"

I'm not really into the whole make-believe, paranormal type stuff, but this book is amazing. It makes you realize, or think about, "Does this kind of stuff REALLY happen?" Because, we will never know until when, or if, it does. This book has an incredible story line, with incredible characters that you find yourself routing for, and liking a whole lot.

I don't want to say too much about what happens to Mia in the book, because it's a mystery. All I can is that you'll find out the climax/big event right away, in the first chapter of the book. Now, some of you might think that this is too soon, and that the rest of the book would be boring, but that's not the case at all. The rest of the book just makes finding it out so soon that much more enjoyable.

I highly recommend this book to all Young Adult readers. If you haven't read this book yet, definitely read it! It's heart warming, heart breaking, romantic, funny, and amazing all put together. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I don't really have any complaints. I'm not too sure if I like the way the book ended though. I won't tell you what happens, but you'll be sitting there like, "REALLY!?" And it made me wonder if there was going to be a second book. I kept saying  "I sure hope so, because I want to hear what happens next for Mia and her boyfriend and the rest of her friends and family." And, after doing research on Gayle's website, I found out that there IS a second book!! It's called, "Where She Went", and it's going to be released in April!!!

Also, as a side note to those of you who have read this book, and/or will read it.. Did you know that Gayle Forman sold the rights over to a movie producer to make this book into a movie?? How cool is that!? It's the same people who bought the rights to Twilight.

I probably should talk more about the comment I said earlier. This book is not anywhere near the same type of story, or story line as Twilight, but on the romantic aspect of the story, I think that might be the only comparison.

I hope you all go out and get this book and read it. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

My Rating:

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: Speak

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Where I got it: A lovely girl that was apart of a secret Santa with me bought it and sent it to me!!

Why I read it: Because it's one of my all time favorite books ever!

Rating: A+++++++++








Good reads description:

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

Laurie Halse Anderson's first novel is a stunning and sympathetic tribute to the teenage outcast. The triumphant ending, in which Melinda finds her voice, is cause for cheering (while many readers might also shed a tear or two). After reading Speak, it will be hard for any teen to look at the class scapegoat again without a measure of compassion and understanding for that person--who may be screaming beneath the silence.


First let me start off by saying this is my SECOND time reading this book!! And of COURSE it was just as good as the first time. Actually, it may have been even BETTER than the first time through!!! Even though I knew what happened to Melinda to make her stop speaking, it was still a great book. And I didn't remember some of the events in between the beginning and the ending, so it made the book that much more interesting to reread! 


If you've never read this book, then you need to.. NOW! You need to go out of your house as soon as you're done reading this post, and buy it. Then, you need to go buy all of the other books she's written and read them!! That's how good this book is!! 


I think my favorite thing from the book is how it's written. Laurie wrote it in the voice/eyes of the main character, Melinda. She didn't write it as if someone else was telling the story, it was Melinda telling the story. She starts off from when she was at the party, up until the very last day of school for the year. She is the one speaking the entire time, or rather, telling the story. It never gets chopping, or confusing, which makes the book amazing. Not many authors are able to do that. 


The book makes you kind of sad, and makes you feel sorry for Melinda, makes you want to jump into the pages and be her friend and knock out those who are immature and won't speak to her. It also makes you laugh a few times from the quirky-ness of Melinda and her family. 


All in all, it's an AMAZING book, written amazingly, the story is told amazingly, and you MUST read it! Read it once, then read it again!! I promise, you won't be unsatisfied! 


Here are a few interesting facts that you may not be aware of, and if you've read the book, you may still not be aware of this..


But this book was on the Banned Books list!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!? I was FURIOUS when I found this out!! Some people asked schools and educators to take it off the shelves because it gave teenagers and young adults the wrong idea!! WHAT!? Definitely not true at all! So, if you've heard this, and you're the type of person who believes that a banned book isn't a book to read, IGNORE IT! This book, as all books, does not deserve to be on ANY banned books list! It's NOT poorly written, it has no graphic, or questionable material in it. So, please read!


And for those of you who have read it, or will read it.. Did you know that Laurie has been thinking about writing a SEQUEL to the Speak!?! I didn't know this until I read this 10th anniversary edition!! She said she's thought about it, but she said that she won't start writing it until Melinda speaks to her. Until it randomly comes to her like it did with Speak it's self. So, lets all keep hoping, wishing and praying that it comes to her and a sequel is written SOON! 


PLEASE, if you've read this book already, or when you do.. LEAVE feedback! I want to know what you liked, or dislike about the book. Would you give it to  friend, or recommend they go buy it themselves? Let me know!


My Rating: