It's A Book

Okay, so this little charming picture book was brought to my attention by my husband. He works in the district office, and he has the opportunity to be out in a lot of different schools (he serves 55 elementary schools!). He was out in a school somewhere, and the librarian showed him this book.

IT'S A BOOK by Lane Smith.

I'd never heard of it, but he came home and said he needed to buy it, stat. So we did. And it is a fantastic book for this digital age!

It has things like these:

Charming, right? And there's so much more, and a totally laugh-out-loud moment. I absolutely loved it! I hope you'll get your copy too, as much for yourself as to let your kids know that there are REAL BOOKS out there. :) 

WATER SO DEEP by Nichole Giles

Dude, today is release day of WATER SO DEEP by my good friend, Nichole Giles! We are going to lunch to celebrate, of course. Monday is the day for lunching.

About Water So Deep: Seventeen-year-old Emma Harris is drowning on dry land.

No one knows what’s happening to her, and she’d like to keep her evolution from human to mermaid a secret, but the truth is getting harder and harder to hide. From her adoptive family, from her friends, and especially from the irresistible James Phelps.

Her time in the ocean is spent dodging a possessive merman, while her time on land is split between caring for her special-needs brother and squeezing in every last possible moment of human life. She soon realizes falling for James is unavoidable when he constantly comes to Emma’s rescue and somehow manages to see through her carefully constructed icy facade to the vulnerability she lives with every day. Everything about James makes Emma yearn for a life on land she just can't have.

When Emma’s brother disappears on her watch, James is the only person she trusts to help her save him. But even if they can save her brother, nothing can prevent her return to the sea. Whether she likes it or not, Emma is changing—unable to breathe without yielding to the tide—and it's only a matter of time before she's forced to surrender forever.

Buy Links:
Amazon | Kobo | iTunes | Goodreads

About Nichole: Nichole Giles, the author of the Descendant trilogy, has lived in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Texas. She loves to spend time with her husband and four children, travel to tropical and exotic destinations, drive in the rain with the convertible top down, and play music at full volume so she can sing along.

I had the opportunity to read WATER SO DEEP a few weeks ago. I have a few things to say about it:

1. I love that this is a book with a mermaid theme, that doesn't take place in the water. Hardly at all. I found that intriguing, and the transformation from human to mermaid fascinating. So lest you think this is just another mermaid book, you'd be wrong.

2. Emma and James have a certain chemistry that makes the book un-put-downable. (Yes, that's a word.) I like romance with two characters that feels real, and this felt real.

3. The sibling relationship between Emma and Keith felt believable and well-rounded. I liked how she was over-protective of him, and I liked that he had issues of his own he was dealing with. Some of them directly impact Emma and her predicament, so it wasn't a relationship for nothing.

I hope you'll consider getting WATER SO DEEP! It is a fantastic and fresh addition to the YA paranormal romance genre.

I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME

Okay, so in celebration of National Poetry Month, I thought I'd share with you the very first novel in verse I'd ever read. It was I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME by Lisa Schroeder. I've since read a few more of Lisa's books, and they're all everything a verse novel should be: angsty, precise, vivid, and tense.

Since you have so little room in a verse novel, every word has to count. And Lisa knows how to choose the right words to make them worth their weight in gold.

So let's learn a little bit more about I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME.

Girl meets boy.


Girl loses boy.


Girl gets boy back...


...sort of.

Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she's crazy, but she knows he's here.

Jackson. The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. He's back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds.

It's got a paranormal slant to it, which in my eyes, makes it that much better. If you're looking for a novel in verse to read as your first introduction to the style, I highly recommend I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME.

What book have you loved that introduced you to a new genre?

DEFY by Sara B. Larson

Okay, so I've known Sara for about 5 years now. She lives here in Utah with me, and we get together for parties, dinners, launches, write nights, conferences, and various other things. When a fried organized an ARC tour, I signed up.

Then DEFY came up on NetGalley, so I snagged it there too. It's easier for me to read at the gym on my Kindle, and this way, when the ARC finally came, all I had to do was sign it and go through and tell Sara all my favorite parts.

And there were many favorite parts. I absolutely loved DEFY. It's a YA fantasy that fits into the genre very nicely. Let's explore a little bit.

About DEFY: Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king's army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince's guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can't prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.

The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she's sworn to protect?

I have also written a (trunked) novel about a girl who pretends to be a boy, so I loved this aspect of it. I liked how Sara handled the delicate issues of female body parts while still making this girl a boy on the outside. But Alexa is a girl, and she has female internal reactions, worries, and thoughts. This can be tricky to do, and Sara did it well.

I loved the jungle setting. I don't know why; maybe because I haven't read anything like that for a while. It was different, and for me, different in a book is always good.

DEFY is a fantasy, so it has danger, intrigue, wicked kings, and magic. And there's some kissing, which you know I'm fond of. If you like fantasies like THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS or GRACELING, you'll like DEFY.

It comes out on January 7, so be sure to get your copy!!

Also, I am woefully out of the loop. What should I be looking forward to reading in 2014??

Books to Give This Season: TAKEN by Erin Bowman

Okay, so I loved this book. I don't even think "love" is strong enough a word. I L-O-V-E-D this book! I bought it many months ago when it first came out, but I just read it recently.

The book in question? TAKEN by Erin Bowman. If you haven't read it yet, you need to get it, stat. And then you need to buy a copy for someone you love. Because there's nothing better than books for Christmas.

About TAKEN: Gray Weathersby has grown up expecting to disappear at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. They call it the Heist—and it happens to every boy in Claysoot. His only chance at escape is to climb the Wall that surrounds Claysoot. A climb no one has ever survived . . .

Why this book works for me:
1. Super unique concept. A closed society, with a wall that no one has ever made it over? That's full of mystery and intrigue right there. 

2. A main character to root for. I loved Gray, and his steadiness. I loved that he knew what he wanted -- not only a girl he loved, but a brother to save -- and that he went for it. He wasn't overly emotional, something I think sometimes happens to male narrators, and he had a perfect voice for the story.

3. The twists and turns. There's so much more to this book than what's listed in the description. There's the wall, yes. But that's just the beginning. There are secrets Gray doesn't know (no spoilers here!), and I thought the world-building was spot-on. The information was delivered to the reader at just the right time to keep the pages turning. And the set-up for FROZEN, the second book? Brilliant. 

4. The writing. I'm a fan of good writing, and while I can't really explain it, I know it when I see it. And TAKEN has it. I like smart verbs, and smart characters, and a swift plot. TAKEN delivered.

So if you're looking for a great read, pick up TAKEN.

What's on your holiday wish-list? What books are you giving this holiday season?

Judging a Book by its Cover (and Title)

Okay, so I read a lot of books. Usually it's something one of my friends wrote, or a recommendation from a friend, or something that's getting a lot of buzz. But recently, I've decided to try reading something I've never heard of before.

Shocking, I know.

Buy here

So I go to the Kindle (which is how I read now. I know, you're disappointed), and I simply start clicking around. I find this book called FLAT-OUT LOVE by Jessica Park. I read it--and I really like it. Like, like it a lot.

It's not exactly YA, but it reads very much like a YA. I suppose this is called New Adult (Julie, the MC is a freshman in college), a genre I'll admit I've been skeptical about and honestly, a little scared of.

See, I don't want the entire plot to be the romance. Don't get me wrong. Romance is essential in the books I love, but I've read so much that I'm getting weary of the busy/scorned/betrayed/world-weary woman falling for the sexy/hot/tall/dark/handsome/motorcycle-riding guy. That said, I still read a lot of those and enjoy them. I know, I'm a mixed bag.

Anyway, I've derailed here. I've read several NA novels, and I've found they're not really my thing. I've found them to be a bit romance-heavy, and sometimes more sexy than I want to read.

But FLAT-OUT LOVE wasn't either of those. There is romance--and I really enjoyed and was rooting for it. But there's more. There are other--more important--plot lines going on. Real relationships and real problems being explored. Some romance, but not the immediate kind of romance, but the kind of relationship that takes months to build.

That's why I loved the book. So I finish, and I want to read more books like that. Well, the Kindle (or Amazon) will tell you what other books people are buying when they buy FLAT-OUT LOVE.

And I started judging. That cover looks too romance-heavy.
That cover looks too sexy.
What is that on the cover?
I can't read that title. (Remember, I'm on the Kindle. It's small.)
I can't pronounce that character's name.

I'd only click on the covers that looked like I might get something that had substance and sported a title I could read easily. Then I'd read the book description. I'll admit that none of them piqued my interest for one reason or another, and I'm still looking for my next read that's like FLAT-OUT LOVE.

But I realized that book covers and titles are really important to me, and I think, all readers. It's our first judgement of a book. It might be that we'd really enjoy what's behind the cover, but we'll never see it if that first impression isn't done well.

Do you find yourself judging books this way? And do you have any recommendations for what I can read if I loved FLAT-OUT LOVE? I'd love to hear them!!

This, Get This!

Okay, so I love this book. It's called CITY OF A THOUSAND DOLLS and it's by Miriam Forster. You have to get it!

About CITY OF A THOUSAND DOLLS: Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls when she was just a little girl. Now sixteen, she lives on the grounds of the isolated estate, where orphan girls apprentice as musicians, healers, courtesans, and, if the rumors are true, assassins. She makes her way as Matron's errand girl, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. Only when she begins a forbidden flirtation with the city's handsome young courier does she let herself imagine a life outside the walls. Until one by one, girls around her start to die.

Before she becomes the next victim, Nisha decides to uncover the secrets that surround the girls' deaths. But by getting involved, Nisha jeopardizes not only her own future in the City of a Thousand Dolls—but also her life.

It's so good, you guys! It's different than anything you've read before, and it's beautiful. I can't remember what my blurb on the back (that's right! HarperTeen asked me to read it for an endorsement, and I couldn't say yes fast enough!) says, but it's probably something like, "This is an amazing book, and everyone who likes fabulous storytelling (and kissing) should read it."

But probably not that. Something more professional. Ha!

Because I love this book so much, I'm giving it to one of you luckies! I'm giving an eCopy, so either for your Nook or Kindle. All you have to do is follow me or follow Miriam -- or both -- on twitter. If you want to tweet at us that you entered and are excited about CITY OF THOUSAND DOLLS, do it!

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You can find out more about Miriam and follow her blog tour for CITY OF A THOUSAND DOLLS by going to her blog.

Have you ever read a book you just want everyone else to read? What was it?