Middle Grade Books I'm Looking Forward to!

Awhile back I did a post about YA beach reads I was looking forward to this Summer (And into Fall!)! Today I began to think about all the MG books that I'm EXTREMELY excited to read, too! And figured why not do a post about them, because the last one was fun to put together! Here we go, Middle Grade books I'm looking forward to, that release between now (And a few that have already released!) and into the Fall! :)

(All images and release dates via Goodreads.)

Books that are already released:

Sleepovers, Solos, and Sheet Music (I Heart Band #3) by Michelle Scusterman
These books have been a fun favorite this year, and I'm looking forward to the third! :)

Revenge of the Flower Girls by Jennifer Ziegler
This book is one that just had to go on my TBR list, that summary sounds fun! :)

The Swift Boys & Me by Kody Keplinger
I haven't read her YA books, but have read a lot of good things about her writing! Looking forward a lot to trying this authors books! :)

June:

How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied by Jess Keating
This sounds like a major "me" book, and I'm definitely excited to read it! And look at that title! Love it! :) June 3rd

July:

All Four Stars by Tara Dairman
Love the summary of this book! :) July 10th

The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy
I don't think I had heard of this before Lauren Magaziner mentioned it on Twitter, and said that it was very Penderwicky like (If you haven't read The Penderwicks by the way, get on that now! Wonderful books!), and that definitely got my attention! Looking forward to this book a lot now! :) July 22nd

The XYZs of Being Wicked by Lara Chapman
This looks fun! :) July 22nd

August:

Always Abigail by Nancy J. Cavanaugh
Looks fun! :) August 5th

The Only Thing Worse Than Witches by Lauren Magaziner
I have had this book on my TBR pile ever since the cover reveal for it, and it just looks like fun! And I'm wondering, what is the only thing worse than witches? ;) August 14th

At Your Service by Jen Malone
This looks like a very fun debut! And I love books that are set in New York! :) August 26th

The Swap by Megan Shull
Just go read the summary for it! Fun looking, don't you all think?! :)  August 26th


September:

Hook's Revenge by Heidi Schulz
This book looks amazing! :) September 16th

The Guardian Herd #1: Starfire by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez
Look at the cover of it! Just look! :) September 23rd

October:

Thursdays With the Crown by Jessica Day George
This is one of my top favorite series and I'm looking forward to this book a lot! And after how the last book ended? I NEED this book! :) October 7th

November:

Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities #3) by Shannon Messenger
This series is another favorite and I'm looking forward to this book a lot! Another book that I NEED! :) November 4th

Ah, okay that's a lot of the Middle Grade books I'm looking forward to in the next few months! Now tell me, what are the Middle Grade books you all are looking forward to?! :)

Top Ten Books That Make Me Happy!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog

Top Ten Eight Books That Make Me Happy!

The books I have listed below are ones that just make me happy when I read them!

A Horse of Her Own by Annie Wedekind

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Llyod

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori

Amelia Rules! by Jimmy Gownley

Have you all read any of the above books? What books make you happy? :)

Top Ten Books About Friendship

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog

Top Ten Books About Friendship

None of the books below are just about friendship, but they do feature a few of my favorite friendships in books!

The Gallagher Girl books by Ally Carter
The first books I thought of when I read about this TTT are the GG books! The friendship between Cammie, Bex, Liz, and Macey is probably one of my, (If not my.) favorite friendship in books! :)

The Squad books by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Minor spoiler: Toby may not begin the books with many (Any.) friends, but the friendship that develops between her and the other girls is fun! :)

Firespell by Chloe Niell
The friendship between Lily and Scout is fun! :)

Kimi Ni Todoke by Karuho Shiina
This is one of my favorite Manga, and a lot of that has to do with the friendships in the book between Sawako, Chizu, and Ayane, it's one of the best that I have read about in books! :)

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
This is more of a friendship between sisters than anyone else, but I love it! And their friend Jeffrey is wonderful!

Amelia Rules! by Jimmy Gownley
Amelia, Rhonda, Reggie, Pajama man, and even Ninja Kyle have a hilarious friendship in these GN's, love it! :)

I Heart Band by Michelle Schusterman
I don't want to talk a lot about the friends in these books if you haven't read them for fear of spoiling you, but it's good. :)

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Llyod
Felicity and Jonah are not just two of my favorite characters now, but their friendship is perfect in the book! :)

A Horse of Her Own by Annie Wedekind
There are two friendships I like in this book, the first is the friendship between Jane and her sister, and the friendship between Jane and her friend Robyn! :)

Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori
I love the friendships in these books! :)

What's your TTT? :)

Waiting on Wednesday: The Only Thing Worse Than Witches

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine blog

This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: The Only Thing Worse Than Witches by Lauren Magaziner

Roald Dahl meets Eva Ibbotson in this hilarious middle grade debut perfect for reading aloud

Rupert Campbell is fascinated by the witches who live nearby. He dreams of broomstick tours and souvenir potions, but Rupert’s mother forbids him from even looking at that part of town. The closest he can get to a witchy experience is sitting in class with his awful teacher Mrs. Frabbleknacker, who smells like bellybutton lint and forbids Rupert’s classmates from talking to each other before, during, and after class. So when he sees an ad to become a witch’s apprentice, Rupert simply can’t resist applying.

But Witchling Two isn’t exactly what Rupert expected. With a hankering for lollipops and the magical aptitude of a toad, she needs all the help she can get to pass her exams and become a full-fledged witch. She’s determined to help Rupert stand up to dreadful Mrs. Frabbleknacker too, but the witchling's magic will be as useful as a clump of seaweed unless Rupert can figure out a way to help her improve her spellcasting—and fast!
-summary and cover via Goodreads

I'm REALLY looking forward to this book! It just sounds so fun! And don't you all love the cover of it? :)

This book releases August 14th 2014 by Dial

Ten Books I Almost Didn't Read But Did and Now I Love Them

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog

I'm not doing the topic that's lined up for this week (Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't) because I wasn't able to think of enough books. I know I have almost given up on a book to then go on and love it, but I just didn't remember what books. This week, instead of doing that list I decided to list Ten Books I Almost Didn't Read But Did and Now I Love Them. Either because I was told that I would love it (Even if I didn't think I would.), I ended up reading an amazing review for it, or something else, I almost didn't try these books but I eventually did and ended up loving them! :)

Ten Eight Books I Almost Didn't Read But Did and Now I Love Them

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter
I was just getting into YA books and I almost went right past this book when looking for books to try. I'm glad I ended up trying it, because this series and this author are my two of my favorites ever! :)

All-American Girl by Meg Cabot
I hadn't read any of this authors YA books, but Summer at Blue Sky Bookshelf told me to try this book and I'm glad I did! It was fun and I need to try another of this authors books eventually!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Even though I love fairytales I just wasn't very interested in this book, but tried a sample of it when I was bored and liked it a lot! I ended up getting the book at the library and enjoyed it! :)

Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger
The only reason I picked this book up was that I love the authors MG series and wanted to try another book from her. I didn't think that I would enjoy this book, but I was wrong! I love it! :)

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
Just wasn't very interested in it, I ended up getting it at the library when it was in, and totally loved it! It's one of my favorite books now! :)

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
A librarian recommended this book and I decided to try it, thinking it might be a good book to just try. I love this series now and I'm glad I tried this book! I don't think I would have tried it if they hadn't mentioned it! :)

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Again, a librarian told me that I needed to try this book, even though I had very little interest in trying it. And again, I ended up loving it! I need to reread this book again! :)

The Madison Finn books by Laura Dower
If my Mom hadn't gotten me to try it, I probably would have just passed right over it and not even paid attention to it, and that would have been very sad indeed. This book is one of my favorite MG series ever! :)

What books are on your TTT? :)

Mini Blog Reviews: Graphic Novel Edition

(This was written months ago but never got posted. Don't totally know why.)

I've done a mini review post before, but this time it's graphic novel edition! Just because I'm writing mini reviews for these books, it does not mean I don't like them, just that I can't think of anything else to say that others have not already! :)

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong by Prudence Shin & Faith Erin Hicks

Review: I wanted to read this because I had read some of Hick's other books and liked them and thought this book looked like it might be good.  I thought that this was a fun graphic novel. I love the geeky aspects of it! I love the art style in it! I would definitely recommend this book! :)






_______________________________________________________


The Silver Six by A. J. Lieberman and Darren Rawlings

I really liked this one! I wasn't sure what to expect going into this one because I had not heard that much about it, but I really enjoyed it! I will say I kinda went into it expecting it to be a series because honestly most GN's are these days, but I was very surprised (and happy) to learn it's not! Though I would gladly read another book with these characters because they were very enjoyable! It was nice to have the entire story told in one book and not have to wait a year to find out what happens. I highly recommend this book!

Marvelous Musical Friday 23

19 You + Me by Dan + Shay

I like this song and I think it's a good song for Summer, don't you all think? :)

Do you like it?! :)

Waiting on Wednesday: The Art of Lainey and Deep Blue

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine blog

I have two books this Wednesday I'm waiting on! :)

This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Soccer star Lainey Mitchell is gearing up to spend an epic summer with her amazing boyfriend, Jason, when he suddenly breaks up with her—no reasons, no warning, and in public no less! Lainey is more than crushed, but with help from her friend Bianca, she resolves to do whatever it takes to get Jason back.

And that’s when the girls stumble across a copy of The Art of War. With just one glance, they're sure they can use the book to lure Jason back into Lainey’s arms. So Lainey channels her inner warlord, recruiting spies to gather intel and persuading her coworker Micah to pose as her new boyfriend to make Jason jealous. After a few "dates", it looks like her plan is going to work! But now her relationship with Micah is starting to feel like more than just a game.

What's a girl to do when what she wants is totally different from what she needs? How do you figure out the person you're meant to be with, if you're still figuring out the person you're meant to be?
-summary and cover via Goodreads

This looks like a fun book! I'm looking forward to trying it! :)
This book releases May 20th 2014

And: Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly

The first in a series of four epic tales set in the depths of the ocean, where six mermaids seek to protect and save their hidden world.

Deep in the ocean, in a world not so different from our own, live the merpeople. Their communities are spread throughout the oceans, seas, and freshwaters all over the globe.

When Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, awakens on the morning of her betrothal, her biggest worry should be winning the love of handsome Prince Mahdi. And yet Sera finds herself haunted by strange dreams that foretell the return of an ancient evil. Her dark premonitions are confirmed when an assassin's arrow poisons Sera's mother. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin's master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Led only by her shadowy dreams, Sera searches for five other mermaid heroines who are scattered across the six seas. Together, they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood and uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world's very existence.
-summary and cover via Goodreads

This book released yesterday and I'm looking forward to it a lot! And isn't the cover of it gorgeous?! :)
This book released May 6th 2014

What are you waiting on this Wednesday? :)

Top Ten Book Covers I'd Frame As Pieces of Art

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog

I love the topic this week! I would love to have all of my favorite covers as posters on my wall! To limit myself, I'm just letting myself list covers of books I have read, if I let myself list any covers at all, this list would be waaayy longer than ten! :)

Top Ten Twelve Book Covers I'd Frame As Pieces of Art

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd

Exile by Shannon Messenger

Ever After High #1: The Storybook of Legends by Shannon Hale

A True Princess by Diane Zahler

Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis

The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

HexBound by Chole Neill

Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

What's your TTT? :)

Review: The Dirt Diary by Anna Staniszewski

Review: The Dirt Diary by Anna Staniszewski

WANTED: Maid for the most popular kids in 8th grade.

Cleaning up after the in-crowd gets Rachel all the best dirt.

Rachel can't believe she has to give up her Saturdays to scrubbing other people's toilets. So. Gross. But she kinda, sorta stole $287.22 from her college fund that she's got to pay back ASAP or her mom will ground her for life. Which is even worse than working for her mother's new cleaning business. Maybe. After all, becoming a maid is definitely not going to help her already loserish reputation.

But Rachel picks up more than smell socks on the job. As maid to some of the most popular kids in school, Rachel suddenly has all the dirt on the 8th grade in-crowd. Her formerly boring diary is now filled with juicy secrets. And when her crush offers to pay her to spy on his girlfriend, Rachel has to decide if she's willing to get her hands dirty...
-summary and cover via Goodreads



Plot: This was a good read, I enjoyed it! I didn't know if I would like it or not, based on the summary of it, but it was different than I expected, in a good way! I don't really know why, but I thought it would be about her using infomation she finds out against them, but it wasn't like that, not really. It was a good read, and I look forward to finding out what the next one's about! :)

Characters: I like Rachel as a main character in the book! Part of the time, she was a little whiny, but that's understandable with everything she was going through. I like her friend Marisol! I like her Mom! I like Evan and Andrew!

The cover: Fun! I think it gets your attention and I think it fits the book well! And Rachel looks like how I thought of her during it! :)

Overall: If you're looking for a good MG book, this one is for you! I think it'll go over really well with MG readers too! :)

Would I Recommend it?:

Yep! A fun MG book that I think a lot of MG readers are going to enjoy a lot! :)

I checked this book out from my library

Authors website: http://www.annastan.com/
Age Range: Middle Grade
Series?: Yes! The 2nd book releases in July! :)
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Marvelous Musical Friday 22

Me Without You by Tobymac

I think Tobymac is probably my favorite Christian artist and I like this song a lot! :)

Do you all like it, too?! :)