DREAMING OF SUMMER GIVEAWAY HOP: THE BLUE BISTRO

I'd say most of the books I read could be described as light "beach reads", so it was kind of tricky to pick a book to feature for this giveaway. The Blue Bistro is so summer! I am re-reading it now and I am currently sucked into a wonderful Nantucket setting surrounded by food I wish was real.

BOOK BLURB:

Adrienne Dealey has spent the past six years working for hotels in exotic resort towns. This summer she has decided to make Nantucket home. Left flat broke by her ex-boyfriend, she is desperate to earn some fast money. When the desirable Thatcher Smith, owner of Nantucket's hottest restaurant, is the only one to offer her a job, she wonders if she can get by with no restaurant experience. Thatcher gives Adrienne a crash course in the business...and they share an instant attraction.
But there is a mystery about their situation: What is it about Fiona, the Blue Bistro's chef, who captures Thatcher's attention again and again? And why does such a successful restaurant seem to be in its final season before closing its doors for good? Despite her uncertainty, Adrienne must decide whether she'll move on, as she always does--or finally open her heart.

I'm gonna give away one copy to one lucky winner! Enter for your chance to be that winner...

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A LITTLE WANTING SONG: CATH CROWLEY

I could drown in this book. It is masterfully poetic without seeming like it is trying to hard. It celebrates the ties of  romance, friendship,  and family. If I made movies I would make a movie of this book. The characters are so alive and full. This is one of my favorite books of all time. I recommend, I recommend, I recommend!

BOOK BLURB:

A summer of friendship, romance, and songs in major chords. . .

CHARLIE DUSKIN loves music, and she knows she's good at it. But she only sings when she's alone, on the moonlit porch or in the back room at Old Gus's Secondhand Record and CD Store. Charlie's mom and grandmother have both died, and this summer she's visiting her grandpa in the country, surrounded by ghosts and grieving family, and serving burgers to the local kids at the milk bar. She's got her iPod, her guitar, and all her recording equipment, but she wants more: A friend. A dad who notices her. The chance to show Dave Robbie that she's not entirely unspectacular.

ROSE BUTLER lives next door to Charlie's grandfather and spends her days watching cars pass on the freeway and hanging out with her troublemaker boyfriend. She loves Luke but can't wait to leave their small country town. And she's figured out a way: she's won a scholarship to a science school in the city, and now she has to convince her parents to let her go. This is where Charlie comes in. Charlie, who lives in the city, and whom Rose has ignored for years. Charlie, who just might be Rose's ticket out.

Told in alternating voices and filled with music, friendship, and romance, Charlie and Rose's "little wanting song" is about the kind of longing that begins as a heavy ache but ultimately makes us feel hopeful and wonderfully alive.  

Read more about this HERE.

THE LOST GIRL: SANGU MANDANNA

This is not the type of book I usually seek out, but I kept reading good reviews so I decided to give it a shot. Even so it sat on my shelf for a long time with the "science fiction" library sticker taunting me to hate it. However, this book kept me sucked in until the very last page.  It is a concept that has been explored many times in literature, but this felt fresh. Overall what kept me reading was the voice of the very human man made girl that I wanted to cheer for from the first page.

BOOK BLURB:

Eva’s life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination—an echo. Made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, she is expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her “other”, if she ever died. Eva studies what Amarra does, what she eats, what it’s like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But fifteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything she’s ever known—the guardians who raised her, the boy she’s forbidden to love—to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive.

What Eva finds is a grief-stricken family; parents unsure how to handle this echo they thought they wanted; and Ray, who knew every detail, every contour of Amarra. And when Eva is unexpectedly dealt a fatal blow that will change her existence forever, she is forced to choose: Stay and live out her years as a copy or leave and risk it all for the freedom to be an original. To be Eva.

From debut novelist Sangu Mandanna comes the dazzling story of a girl who was always told what she had to be—until she found the strength to decide for herself.

Read more about this book HERE. 

CLEARNING MY SHELF! FIVE WINNERS FOR THIS ONE! HOORAY & LA DEE DAH!

I have really been looking forward to this hop. I love the idea of some of my books finding good homes.

I am going to have FIVE winners. Each winner will receive one book. I'll ask for your top three picks to determine what to send you. I've basicically got two categories today:

YOUNG ADULT:

• Confessions of a Serial Kisser - Wedelin Van Draanen - hardback, like new
• Stealing Heaven - Elizabeth Scott - hardback, like new
• Beauty Shop for Rent - Laura Bowers - hardback, like new
• SLAM - Nick Hornby - hardback, like new
• The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball - Risa Green - paperback, like new
• The Breakup Bible - Melissa Kantor - paperback, like new
• Split by a Kiss - Luisa Plaja - paperback, like new
• Love on the Lifts - Rachel Hawthorne - paperback, like new
• A Year in Europe (three novels) - Rachel Hawthorne - paperback,  very good

BRITISH CHIC-LIT:

• Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella - paperback, like new
• Girl on the Run - Jane Costello - paperback, like new
• The Dating Detox - Gemma Burgess - paperback, very good

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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: COLLEEN CLAYTON

What an amazing YA contemporary debut! One of the hardest storylines for me to enjoy is reading about a character that won't tell the people she loves something horrible happened to her. I understand that most girls that go through something like sexual assault often keep it to themselves, but I hate reading about it generally. That was not the case with this book. 

Right away you love Sid, she is just likeable and reading about how she handles such a traumatic experience is so interesting and believable I could hardly put my copy of the book down. The developments in Sid's character throughout the book were heartbreaking without weighing me down. There were these light moments tucked in to keep me enjoying the story. Although the boy in this book seems sometimes too good to be true, he is flawed and a great well rounded character as well. 

BOOK BLURB:

How can you talk about something you can’t remember?

Before the ski trip, sixteen-year-old Cassidy “Sid” Murphy was a cheerleader (at the bottom of the pyramid, but still...), a straight-A student, and a member of a solid trio of best friends. When she ends up on a ski lift next to handsome local college boy, Dax Windsor, she’s thrilled; but Dax takes everything from Sid—including a lock of her perfect red curls—and she can’t remember any of it.

Back home and unable to relate to her old friends, Sid drops her college prep classes and takes up residence in the A/V room with only Corey “The Living Stoner” Livingston for company. But as she gets to know Corey (slacker, baker, total dreamboat), Sid finds someone who truly makes her happy. Now, if she can just shake the nightmares and those few extra pounds, everything will be perfect... or so she thinks.

Witty and poignant, Colleen Clayton’s stunning debut is a story about moving on after the unthinkable happens.

I appreciated that his book doesn't talk down to it's teen audience at all. But it also doesn't find the need to be overly vulgar or scandalous. There is some swearing and a small amount of sexual content, but it is all thoughtfully placed in the book. 

Overall, I know I would never dare attempt to write a story like this for fear of the criticism that could follow if I did a poor job. But Colleen Clayton writes a masterful story of a girl caught up in something bigger than herself. Any girl who has been through what she has whether it be sexual assault, Sid's later food issues, or even just gross men objectifying her would find truth in this book. I look forward to more books by this author, and hope she keeps writing more and more. 

To read more about it go HERE.

THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER: SARAH DESSEN

I haven't posted in ages, and that is unfortunately that I haven't read a book I've liked enough to share in AGES! (Well, at least it seems that way to me :) )

So I am sharing an old favorite. Sarah Dessen is kind of the queen of the YA girl book. She was writing them long before they became as popular as they are now. She isn't my favorite author, but many of her books are very fun and great reads. The Truth About Forever was the first one I read and I loved it. I recently re-read it, and still liked it a lot. It has some amazingly funny secondary characters, and a strong heroine, who is easy to love.

BOOK BLURB:
a long, hot summer...

That's what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs, and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a silent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy's father.

But sometimes unexpected things can happen—things such as the catering job at Wish, with its fun-loving, chaotic crew. Or her sister's project of renovating the neglected beach house, awakening long-buried memories. Things such as meeting Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth-telling, and an amazing artistic talent, the kind of boy who could turn any girl's world upside down. As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to wonder, Is it really better to be safe than sorry?

My other favorite Dessen reads are Along for the Ride and Keeping the Moon. 

You can read more about this book HERE.