The Bookanistas Relaunches!

Dude, that's right! The Bookanistas was founded in July 2010 by reader-writer-bloggers Lisa & Laura Roecker and yours truly, and some bookish friends including Kirsten Hubbard, Shannon Messenger and Scott Tracey. The notion was to share their love of books, celebrate the good in YA and MG literature and to encourage reading.

Since then, some amazing things happened. Two Bookanistas became NYT best-sellers: Beth Revis (Across the Universe) and Veronica Roth (Divergent). Many others published novels, had babies, moved into new homes, changed jobs, got married... Life. You get it. We've been in, out, and around the block a few times. I reviewed a book diligently every week for months. (I think I have over 80 Bookanista book reviews!)

Then I waned. Things got hectic. The group sort of disbanded, though we were still there. Thanks to an email from Jessica Love, the Bookanistas has been revitalized, rethought, and today we're relaunching our site with a BIG BOOKANISTA GIVEAWAY of signed copies of Bookanista publications, favorite books, and some fun swag.

Across our membership, we are sharing tips for reading and summer fun. You get to be part of it -- and you can win amazing Bookanista-authored books, swag packages, and ARCs!

I thought I'd share some of my most anticipated summer reads. See, today's the last day of school, and I'm looking forward to a June filled with pool-lounging and reading!

GOLDEN by Jessi Kirby: Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.

Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.

***I love Jessi Kirby's contemporary novels. I've talked about MOONGLASS and IN HONOR also!

SIEGE AND STORM by Leigh Bardugo: Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can't outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling's game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her--or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

***I'm so excited for this book! It's the sequel to SHADOW AND BONE, which I absolutely adored!

PANIC by Sharon M. Draper: Diamond knows not to get into a car with a stranger.

But what if the stranger is well-dressed and handsome? On his way to meet his wife and daughter? And casting a movie that very night—a movie in need of a star dancer? What then?

Then Diamond might make the wrong decision.

It’s a nightmare come true: Diamond Landers has been kidnapped. She was at the mall with a friend, alone for only a few brief minutes—and now she’s being held captive, forced to endure horrors beyond what she ever could have dreamed, while her family and friends experience their own torments and wait desperately for any bit of news.

***Oh my heck, isn't that the most gorgeous cover you've ever seen?! I mean, I might be biased toward butterflies, but *salivates*. I can't wait to read this one!

What's on your summer reading list?

Hopefully you'll follow the Bookanistas on our newly designed site (widget on the bottom right) to find some amazing reads! Join the fun, win some stuff, and help us ensure that READING IS ALWAYS IN STYLE.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


The winner of the Bookanistas Summer Fun giveaway will receive signed copies of these Bookanista-authored books…

• IF I LIE and TOUCHED by Corrine Jackson, plus ARCs of JUST ONE DAY and SPEECHLESS
• LET THE SKY FALL by Shannon Messenger
• BY BLOOD by Tracy Banghart
• POSSESSION, SURRENDER and ABANDON by Elana Johnson
• TOUCHING THE SURFACE by Kimberly Sabatini (plus a swag surprise)
• BAD TASTE IN BOYS by Carrie Harris
• AUDITION by Stasia Ward Kehoe
• THE GIRL GUIDE by Christine Fonseca (plus sweet swag)
• MILA 2.0 by Debra Driza
• LEVEL 2 by Lenore Appelhans + swag 
• UNCONTROLLABLE and UNTRACEABLE by SR Johannes

And a second winner will get a box filled with Bookanista-beloved reads including:

• DITCHED by Robin Mellom 
• JELLICO ROAD by Melina Marchetta
• TAKEN by Erin Bowman
• CLOCKWORK ANGEL by Cassandra Clare
• MONSTROUS BEAUTY by Elizabeth Fama
• SPARROW ROAD by Sheila O’Connor
• WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON (signed by John Green!) by John Green and David Levithan