New Feature: Sunday Soons

Hey, guys! So you know me – you know I love posting Waiting on Wednesday posts which features books that I’m excited to read. But I’ve found that maybe half the time, I don’t actually read the books I’ve posted about. I’ve decided to start doing a post that I’m tentatively calling “Sunday Soon”, which will feature books that will be released on the Tuesday of the following week and that I’ve either read, pre-ordered, ordered for the library, or will be reading asap. I want this feature to be about books that I KNOW I will read or have already read and I’m excited to share with you. The post might have a mini review included or a link to my review (if I’ve already written one – either on my blog or on Goodreads). I hope this description makes sense, and I hope you’ll get excited to see which books I’ll feature! 🙂 Let me know in the comments if you like the idea for this post.

Sunday Soons

Since Pride Month is coming up, and I’ve started putting together my display at the library (you can see which books I’ve already picked on my Twitter HERE; there will be more books added), I thought I’d share a few of the LGBTQIAP+ books I’ve recently ordered for my library. These books will be added to the Pride Month display as they come in. All three of these books come out this week – May 31.

FRANNIE AND TRU by Karen Hattrup // HarperTeen

When Frannie Little eavesdrops on her parents fighting she discovers that her cousin Truman is gay, and his parents are so upset they are sending him to live with her family for the summer. At least, that’s what she thinks the story is. . . When he arrives, shy Frannie befriends this older boy, who is everything that she’s not–rich, confident, cynical, sophisticated. Together, they embark on a magical summer marked by slowly unraveling secrets.

I featured this book previously for a Waiting on Wednesday post.

THE ART OF BEING NORMAL by Lisa Williamson // Farrar, Straus, & Giroux 

David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth: David wants to be a girl.

On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal: to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in his class is definitely not part of that plan. When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long , and soon everyone knows that Leo used to be a girl.

As David prepares to come out to his family and transition into life as a girl and Leo wrestles with figuring out how to deal with people who try to define him through his history, they find in each other the friendship and support they need to navigate life as transgender teens as well as the courage to decide for themselves what normal really means.

I’ve heard some good things about this book. Plus, I don’t think there are enough books about transgender teens, and not only am I excited to read this book, I’m excited to put it on my library shelf for my teens to read.

THE INSIDE OF OUT by Jean Marie Thorne // Dial Books

Meg Cabot meets Glee in this breezy, hilarious, deceptively smart YA about privilege, pretense, and realizing that every story needs a hero. Sometimes it’s just not you.

When her best friend Hannah comes out the day before junior year, Daisy is so ready to let her ally flag fly that even a second, way more blindsiding confession can’t derail her smiling determination to fight for gay rights. 

Before you can spell LGBTQIA, Daisy’s leading the charge to end their school’s antiquated ban on same-sex dates at dances—starting with homecoming. And if people assume Daisy herself is gay? Meh, so what. It’s all for the cause. 

What Daisy doesn’t expect is for “the cause” to blow up—starting with Adam, the cute college journalist whose interview with Daisy for his university paper goes viral, catching fire in the national media. #Holy #cats. 

With the story spinning out of control, protesters gathering, Hannah left in the dust of Daisy’s good intentions, and Daisy’s mad attraction to Adam feeling like an inconvenient truth, Daisy finds herself caught between her bold plans, her bad decisions, and her big fat mouth.

I’m pretty sure I heard of this one because of Dahlia Adler, and when Dahlia raves about a book, I make it a point to not only read it but also order it for my library.

So what do you think? Do you guys like this idea? Would you read these posts?

Waiting on Wednesday: Underwater by Marisa Reichardt

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine in which we share a book that we are eagerly anticipating!

Publisher: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux

Author: Marisa Reichardt

Release date: January 12, 2016

Synopsis from Goodreads: Morgan didn’t mean to do anything wrong that day. Actually, she meant to do something right. But her kind act inadvertently played a role in a deadly tragedy. In order to move on, Morgan must learn to forgive—first someone who did something that might be unforgivable, and then, herself.

But Morgan can’t move on. She can’t even move beyond the front door of the apartment she shares with her mother and little brother. Morgan feels like she’s underwater, unable to surface. Unable to see her friends. Unable to go to school.

When it seems Morgan can’t hold her breath any longer, a new boy moves in next door. Evan reminds her of the salty ocean air and the rush she used to get from swimming. He might be just what she needs to help her reconnect with the world outside.

Underwater is a powerful, hopeful debut novel about redemption, recovery, and finding the strength it takes to face your past and move on.

Why I’m excited: I can’t really explain why I am excited for this one. I mean, other than the fact that a lot people I respect are raving about it. And the fact that the description and cover are amazing. And the fact that this sounds like a powerful, beautiful, hard to read, honest contemporary. Okay, maybe I can explain it. I’m really looking forward to reading this debut.

Top Ten Tuesday: Debut Novels from the Beginning of 2016 I’m Looking Forward to

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:

Top Ten 2016 Debuts Novels We Are Looking Forward To

UGH. Could this topic BE any harder? Seriously, I already have 72 books on my 2016 releases shelf on Goodreads, and most of those are from the first half of the year! But I’ll try. I’m not including one of my most anticipated 2016 debuts because I’ve already read it, but I want to mention THE SERPENT KING by Jeff Zentner, because you should ALL add it to your TBR. It’s fantastic.

So this was way too hard to narrow down for the whole year, so I’ve limited it to ten books from the first four months of 2016 – January to April. They are in publication date order. All titles linked to Goodreads so you can add them to your TBR too!

Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira // PUB DATE: January 12

The Love that Split the World by Emily Henry // PUB DATE: January 26

Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto // PUB DATE: February 2

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin // PUB DATE: February 2

Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman // PUB DATE: February 9

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig // PUB DATE: February 16

Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor // PUB DATE: March 1

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton // PUB DATE: March 8

The First Time She Drowned by Kerry Kletter // PUB DATE: March 15

Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here by Anna Breslaw // PUB DATE: April 19

Are you looking forward to any of these debuts? Any I should add to my TBR?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Girl Who Fell by Shannon M. Parker

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine in which we share a book that we are eagerly anticipating!

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Author: Shannon M. Parker

Release date: March 1, 2016

Synopsis from Goodreads:

His obsession.
Her fall.
In this dark kissing book, high school senior Zephyr Doyle is swept off her feet—and into an intense relationship—by the new boy in school.
Zephyr is focused. Focused on leading her team to the field hockey state championship and leaving her small town for her dream school, Boston College.
But love has a way of changing things.
Enter the new boy in school: the hockey team’s starting goaltender, Alec. He’s cute, charming, and most important, Alec doesn’t judge Zephyr. He understands her fears and insecurities—he even shares them. Soon, their relationship becomes something bigger than Zephyr, something she can’t control, something she doesn’t want to control.
Zephyr swears it must be love. Because love is powerful, and overwhelming, and…terrifying?
But love shouldn’t make you abandon your dreams, or push your friends away. And love shouldn’t make you feel guilty—or worse, ashamed.
So when Zephyr finally begins to see Alec for who he really is, she knows it’s time to take back control of her life.
If she waits any longer, it may be too late.

Why I’m excited: I’m not even 100% sure on what this book is even about (I believe that’s the point), but I can tell it’s going to be powerful and emotional, and I’m probably going to cry. It sounds dark and heartbreaking and honest. I think Marci Curtis described it on Goodreads as raw an stunning – might I have this right now, please and thank you? I’m pretty sure I’m going to be the Girl Who Fell for this book. 🙂

Waiting on Wednesday: The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine in which we share a book that we are eagerly anticipating!

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Author: Heidi Heilig

Release date: February 16, 2016

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Heidi Heilig’s debut teen fantasy sweeps from modern-day New York City to nineteenth-century Hawaii to places of myth and legend. Sixteen-year-old Nix has sailed across the globe and through centuries aboard her time-traveling father’s ship. But when he gambles with her very existence, it all may be about to end. The Girl from Everywhere, the first of two books, will dazzle readers of Sabaa Tahir, Rae Carson, and Rachel Hartman.

Nix’s life began in Honolulu in 1868. Since then she has traveled to mythic Scandinavia, a land from the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, modern-day New York City, and many more places both real and imagined. As long as he has a map, Nix’s father can sail his ship, The Temptation, to any place, any time. But now he’s uncovered the one map he’s always sought—1868 Honolulu, before Nix’s mother died in childbirth. Nix’s life—her entire existence—is at stake. No one knows what will happen if her father changes the past. It could erase Nix’s future, her dreams, her adventures . . . her connection with the charming Persian thief, Kash, who’s been part of their crew for two years. If Nix helps her father reunite with the love of his life, it will cost her her own.

In The Girl from Everywhere, Heidi Heilig blends fantasy, history, and a modern sensibility with witty, fast-paced dialogue, breathless adventure, and enchanting romance.

Why I’m excited: I’ve already been talking about this one on Twitter, and I was lucky enough to be approved for an e-ARC of this one on Edelweiss, but I’m just so excited about this one that I had to do a WoW post too! I mean, did you guys read that synopsis?! The Girl from Everywhere sounds incredible – it’s got time travel, ships, charming thieves; I mean, what else could you possibly want? And honestly, another draw for this one is how absolutely sweet Heidi is! You should all go follow her on Twitter if you don’t already. T-minus just over 3 months until release!

ARC Review: Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa

Author:  Kate Scelsa
Genre: Young adult, contemporary
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: September 8, 2015
368 pages, hardcover (356 ARC)

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

Shout out to the wonderful Little Shop of Stories for letting me take this ARC! Check them out if you’re ever in Decatur, GA!

I feel like the black sheep on this one. I was somewhat disappointed in Fans of the Impossible Life. I read it, yes, but I just feel kind of meh about it, I guess. I think one of the main issues I had was that it is really not at all about what you think it’s about. The very first line of the description made it out to be a bisexual love triangle between the three main characters (“This is the story of a girl, her gay best friend, and the boy in love with both of them”). It is not that. At all. It had some things I liked and that you don’t usually see in YA books, like the the switching of the different tenses for each point of view: Jeremy (1^st person), Mira (3^rd person), Sebby (2^nd person).

However, there were some things that rubbed me the wrong way: mental illness was somewhat romanticized, there was some lack of consent, and several destructive relationships and friendships. Also, for a story SO about mental health issues, they aren’t really ever addressed. They’re more brought up in a “Oh, I have this issue. I’m so damaged. We can bond over this.” kind of way, but that’s it. It was strange.

I felt like nothing in the end was resolved. The characters pretty much felt the same (or worse) than they did in the beginning, and no one really grew or changed. It almost felt pointless, like why did I read this? I kind of want to do a reread at some point to see if I feel the same way later, because I did really like some of the characters (Sebby, especially) and the idea behind it. I’m not sure though.

The bottom line: I really don’t know how I feel about this one.

Waiting on Wednesday: Denton Little’s Birthdate by Lance Rubin

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine in which we share a book that we are eagerly anticipating!

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Author: Lance Rubin

Release date: April 12, 2016

Synopsis from Goodreads (THIS ONE CONTAINS SPOILERS – THOUGH OBVIOUS – FOR DENTON LITTLE’S DEATHDATE):

You only live once—unless you’re Denton Little!

The good news: Denton Little has lived through his deathdate. Yay! The bad news: He’s being chased by the DIA (Death Investigation Agency), he can never see his family again, and he may now die any time. Huh. Cheating death isn’t quite as awesome as Denton would have thought…

Lance Rubin’s debut novel, Denton Little’s Deathdate, showed readers just how funny and poignant imminent death could be. Now in this sequel, he takes on the big questions about life. How do we cope, knowing we could die at any time? Would you save someone from dying even if they were a horrible person? Is it wrong to kiss the girl your best friend is crushing on if she’s really into you instead? What if she’s wearing bacon lip gloss?

Why I’m excited: I know this is REALLY far in advance of this book’s release date, but I wanted to talk to you guys about it. I really enjoyed Lance Rubin’s debut Denton Little’s Deathdate, the book that comes before this one. When I found out Lance was writing a sequel, I was SO PUMPED. And I still am. I can’t wait for more hilarious, ridiculous, wonderful shenanigans with Denton and his friends. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens to Denton next.

Waiting on Wednesday: Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine in which we share a book that we are eagerly anticipating!

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Author: Jeff Garvin

Release date: February 2, 2016

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The first thing you’re going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl?

Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. The thing is . . . Riley isn’t exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in uber-conservative Orange County, the pressure—media and otherwise—is building up in Riley’s so-called “normal” life.

On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it’s REALLY like to be a gender-fluid teenager. But just as Riley’s starting to settle in at school—even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast—the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley’s real identity, threatening exposure. Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created—a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in—or stand up, come out, and risk everything.

Why I’m excited: This book kind of sounds like Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda but about a gender fluid person, and you guys know how much I loved Simon vs. Riley sounds awesome and smart and I’m looking forward to meeting them. I really appreciate how many issues are being covered these days in YA lit, and though I think we always need more, I’m glad Balzer + Bray is publishing this one. I hope we get a mixture of narrative and blog posts – give me those alternate storytelling methods!

DNF Review: Hunter by Mercedes Lackey

Author:  Mercedes Lackey

Genre: Young adult, fantasy

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

Shout out to the wonderful Emma at Miss Print for sending me this ARC.

Man, I wanted to like this one so much more than I did. I tried. I really did. But after putting it down a couple of times and not really caring if I picked it back up, I finally DNF-ed it. This is why:

• The writing style is really strange. The MC keeps addressing the reader but you’re never really sure why/who she’s even talking to. Is she telling her story to someone? Breaking the fourth wall only works occasionally and it didn’t here. Plus, wtf is up with the weird combinations of words like “certain-sure”. Just, why?
• Info dumping out the bum. I didn’t get very far into this one; I’ll admit that, but it’s because there was SO much info dumping without any real explanations for WHY things were the way they were or WHAT she was actually talking about that I got SUPER frustrated. In the end, I found I didn’t really care about the characters, the world, or anything that was happening.
• Some of the descriptions felt lazy. Instead of coming up with her own words to describe a creature or a marking on a character, Lackey would say “You know that Jabberwocky thing from Lewis Carroll? Yeah, it looks like that but longer.” I’m not kidding. That’s not a direct quote, but it’s close.

The bottom line: I loved the idea behind this one and I was excited to read a story about dragons, but the writing style was weird, there was a lot of dull info dumping right off the bat, and in the end, I just didn’t care about it. I may try again later, but I doubt it.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine in which we share a book that we are eagerly anticipating!

Publisher: Razorbill

Author: Emily Henry

Release date: January 26, 2016

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start… until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.

Why I’m excited: Jeff Zentner called this one a “lightning strike of a book”, which I think is a seriously wonderful way to describe a book. The synopsis for The Love That Split the World sounds absolutely fascinating, doesn’t it? I love books with time travel and tough choices and love. I’m really looking forward to reading this one.