Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Waiting on Wednesday: Rebel Mechanics

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine blog


This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson

A sixteen-year-old governess becomes a spy in this alternative U.S. history where the British control with magic and the colonists rebel by inventing.

It’s 1888, and sixteen-year-old Verity Newton lands a job in New York as a governess to a wealthy leading family—but she quickly learns that the family has big secrets. Magisters have always ruled the colonies, but now an underground society of mechanics and engineers are developing non-magical sources of power via steam engines that they hope will help them gain freedom from British rule. The family Verity works for is magister—but it seems like the children's young guardian uncle is sympathetic to the rebel cause. As Verity falls for a charming rebel inventor and agrees to become a spy, she also becomes more and more enmeshed in the magister family’s life. She soon realizes she’s uniquely positioned to advance the cause—but to do so, she’ll have to reveal her own dangerous secret.

-summary and cover via Goodreads

This looks interesting and different!

This book releases July 14th

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Ten Books I Plan To Have In My Beach Bag This Summer

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


I already did a post about what books I think make great beach reads, and I did posts about what YA books, Middle Grade books, and GN's I'm looking forward to reading on the beach this summer! But this is a topic I never tire of, and I thought this would be a fun time to pick ten of the books on those lists that I'm particularly excited to read! :)

Ten Books I Plan To Have In My Beach Bag This Summer














What books are you looking forward to reading at the beach? :)

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Waiting on Wednesday: The Golden Specific

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine blog


This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: The Golden Specific by S. E. Grove

The summary has spoilers for the first book!

The eagerly-awaited sequel to the best-selling The Glass Sentence -- a historical, fantastical adventure perfect for fans of Philip Pullman!

It is the summer of 1892, one year since Sophia Tims and her friend Theo embarked upon the dangerous adventure that rewrote the map of the world. Since their return home to Boston, she has continued searching for clues to her parents’ disappearance, combing archives and libraries, grasping at even the most slender leads. Theo has apprenticed himself to an explorer in order to follow those leads across the country—but one after another proves to be a dead end.
Then Sophia discovers that a crucial piece of the puzzle exists in a foreign Age. At the same time, Theo discovers that his old life outside the law threatens to destroy the new one he has built with Sophia and her uncle Shadrack. What he and Sophia do not know is that their separate discoveries are intertwined, and that one remarkable person is part of both.
There is a city that holds all of the answers—but it cannot be found on any map. Surrounded by plague, it can only be reached by a journey through darkness and chaos, which is at the same time the plague’s cure: The Golden Specific.

-summary and cover via Goodreads

The first book was interesting and I'm looking forward to reading more about this world! :)

This book releases July 14th

Monday, May 18, 2015

Interview With Jen Malone

The wonderful Jen Malone, author of At Your Service (Which I love!), Map to the Stars (Releasing July 14th), and co-author of You're Invited with Gail Nall (Releases tomorrow, May 19th!) is here on the blog today to answer a few questions I had for her! :)

The bold font is the questions I asked, the regular font is Jen's answers, and the bold italic font is any comments I made afterward! :)





1. I loved At Your Service! What was some of the inspiration for the book?
Thank you!! I drew A LOT on two of my past jobs to write this book. One was managing a youth hostel (which I wish had been even 1/10 as nice as the swanky hotel where Chloe lives with her concierge dad! Alas, no rooftop pool for me!) which taught me a lot about being a tour guide/ambassador for my hometown (something Chloe also does in the book). And then working as a Hollywood publicist definitely influenced some of the more outrageous demands guests made of Chloe. No one issues outrageous demands like an A-list movie star… and my job was to fulfill them. I lived through Chloe’s frustration of wanting to be taken seriously, while doing some pretty silly things (I can’t tell you which actor will only eat Quadruple Stuff Oreos, but I can tell you I am a master at building them from the Double Stuff ones!)

2. All of the places Chloe and the kids visit in New York sound like they would be so much fun to go to! What's the #1 place in New York you think everyone should go to when they visit?
Oof!!! This is so tough, Jessica! I’ll cheat and say ‘”up”. It’s really awe-inspiring to see all those skyscrapers spreading across miles and miles when you’re also in the sky (or, more accurately, standing on the observation decks of the Empire State Building or The Top of the Rock or, very soon, at the new World Trade Center).

When I go to New York one day I will definitely have to make sure to do that! :)

3. Your next book, You're Invited (May 19th) looks like a lot of fun! You wrote with another author, Gail Nall! What was it like writing with another person vs. writing with yourself?
I am beyond excited about You’re Invited. One of the characters is my favorite I’ve ever written and I can’t wait to share her with readers. I also loved the experience of writing a strong friendship story with my own friend! Writing is so solitary and I’m usually working plot points out alone in my own head, but brainstorming them with Gail made the whole process different and collaborative and, really just FUN. I felt warm and fuzzy every time it was my turn to write a chapter. I hope we get to write dozens more together!
4. Are you able to tell us anything about what you're working on now?
Sure! I’m working on four books at once now, which is… interesting. Gail and I are waiting on edits for You’re Invited Too, which comes out in February; I’m doing copyedits on a YA called Map to the Stars, which is about a girl who accompanies a (yummy!) teen idol on the European promotional tour for his new movie and which comes out this summer; I’m about to start edits on Wanderlost, a Summer 2016 YA about a girl who has to impersonate her sister as the guide on a senior citizens’ bus tour of Europe (gee, you’d never guess I love travel in my books!); and, lastly, I just finished the first draft of The Sleepover, my Summer 2016 middle grade, which is basically The Hangover for tweens: three girls wake up after a sleepover to find the basement trashed and their best friend missing and they can’t remember anything past the hypnotist party act the night before. It’s a lot of  juggling, but I love that this is how I get to spend my days (I wont lie- doing it all in pj’s helps A LOT).
Four?! Wow, that's a lot! And they all sound awesome! :)

5. Who are a few of your favorite Middle Grade authors/What are a few of you favorite Middle Grade books?
Obviously, I adore Gail’s Breaking the Ice, which came out this winter, and I can’t wait for people to read Ronni Arno’s Reinventing Ruby this fall. Alison Cherry (whose sense of humor is spot-on) has several YA books out already, but her first MG, The Classy Crooks Club, comes out this time next year along with Dee Romito’s Summer Bucket List. In terms of other stuff on the shelf now, I really loved When Aubrey Met Alice by Rebecca Behrans and The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy.
But hey, what are some of your faves? I’ve discovered a bunch of books on your site that I’ve then run off to buy…

Thank you so much for having me!

Breaking the Ice was a lot of fun! And a few of those books are on my TBR list! And thank you so much for saying that! Hmm, a few of my favorite MG authors? Natalie Lloyd, Jess Keating, Jeanne Birdsall, Michelle Schusterman, Lauren Magaziner, Jessica Day George, Shannon Messenger, and many, many more! (And you!) :)

Thank you so much for letting me interview you! I loved your answers! :)

Didn't you all love her answers, too?! :)

Want to learn more about Jen Malone? Here's her website, Twitter account, and Facebook page!

And here is her formal bio: (I highly suggest going to her website and reading her About Me page, though!) :)

Jen Malone writes books for tweens and teens. Her debut At Your Service published with Simon & Schuster/Aladdin MIX in 2014 and her new series, You're Invited (Simon & Schuster), co-written with Gail Nall, launches with Book #1 in 2015. She has three young adult titles forthcoming with HarperCollins, beginning with Map to the Stars in Summer 2015. Jen lives outside Boston with her husband and three children, teaches at Boston University, loves school visits, and has a "thing" for cute hedgehog pictures. You can learn more about her and her books at www.jenmalonewrites.com.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Waiting on Wednesday: The Fixer

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine blog


This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: The Fixer by Jennifer Lynne Barnes

When sixteen-year-old Tess Kendrick is sent to live with her older sister, Ivy, she has no idea that the infamous Ivy Kendrick is Washington D.C.'s #1 “fixer,” known for making politicians' scandals go away for a price. No sooner does Tess enroll at Hardwicke Academy than she unwittingly follows in her sister's footsteps and becomes D.C.'s premier high school fixer, solving problems for elite teens.

Secrets pile up as each sister lives a double life. . . . until their worlds come crashing together and Tess finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy with one of her classmates and a client of Ivy's. Suddenly, there is much more on the line than good grades, money, or politics, and the price for this fix might be more than Tess is willing to pay.

Perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars and Heist Society, readers will be clamoring for more in this exciting new series.

-summary and cover via Goodreads

This book looks interesting! :)

This book releases July 7th

Monday, May 11, 2015

Ten Authors I REALLY Want To Meet

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


This was really hard to narrow down to ten! Partly why I decided to just list authors who have written Middle Grade books this time, because the list would get waaay too long if I listed Graphic Novel and YA Authors, too! (It was already hard enough just listing ten Middle Grade authors!) All of the authors below have written books that I have enjoyed and I think it would be AMAZING to meet all of them! :)

Ten (Middle Grade) Authors I REALLY Want To Meet



What authors do you want to meet? :)

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Waiting on Wednesday: The Night We Said Yes

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine blog


This Wednesday I'm Waiting on: The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi

A fun, romantic read, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Susane Colasanti!

Before Matt, Ella had a plan. Get over a no-good ex-boyfriend. Graduate from high school without any more distractions. Move away from Orlando, Florida, where she’s lived her entire life. 

But Matt—the cute, shy, bespectacled bass player who just moved to town—was never part of that plan.

And neither was attending a party that was crashed by the cops just minutes after they arrived. Or spending an entire night saying “yes” to every crazy, fun thing they could think of.

Then Matt abruptly left town, and he broke not only Ella’s heart but those of their best friends, too. So when he shows up a year later with a plan of his own—to relive the night that brought them together—Ella isn’t sure whether Matt’s worth a second chance. Or if re-creating the past can help them create a different future. 

In alternating then and now chapters, debut author Lauren Gibaldi crafts a charming, romantic story of first loves, lifelong friendships, uncovered secrets, and, ultimately, finding out how to be brave.

-summary and cover via Goodreads

This book looks good! :)

This book releases June 16th