Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has finally arrived. It's really a true American tradition. 

Spend time with family, eat food, be thankful, eat food, watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade, eat food. That's the way it happens at my house. And truthfully, it's one of my favorite holidays because it signals the start of the entire winter holiday season; and I'm a holiday fanatic. This is my absolute favorite time of year. 

So on that note, I hope you all enjoy your turkey-filled day! 

Waiting on Wednesday #1

I'm really just completely changing my whole blog around aren't I? 

I've decided to start participating in the viral meme thing called Waiting on Wednesday because it's way cool to see what new books are coming out and what people think about them. Don't you think so? 

But you always have your "Bits 'n Pieces" feature on Wednesday, Liv! 

Why yes I do, and we will still have that. Only WoW and BnP will alternate weeks so there's no super feature overload thing happening. That way we're all satisfied. :)

Is this an okay change? Possibly? 

And so...my first choice is:

Waiting For You by Susane Colasanti

Derek

Friendly and popular

Style: Cali surfer boy

Awesome at flirting

Future career: landscape architect

Boyfriend potential: high

Nash

Shy but sweet

Style: totally geeked out

Only talks to girls when absolutely necessary

Future career: robotics engineer

Boyfriend potential: none

Derek is clearly the boy Marisa's been waiting for, but there's just one problem. He has a girlfriend. Nash is wrong for Marisa, but he wants to take care of her. As if life wasn't complicated enough, Marisa's also dealing with overcoming a major problem from her past, a family that's acting totally bizarre, and a secret crush on a guy whose identity is a mystery - even to her.

Sophomore year is going to be intense.

YES. 

I've read one of Susane Colasanti's books before, When It Happens, and loved it. Her other book, Take Me There, is high on my list of books to read. She just writes such great light fluffy novels that surprisingly have a hidden hint of depth to them. Perfect for a warm summer day, sitting in the sun with your girlfriends, eh? 

And the characters in this book seem like they'll be pretty amazing. I love a classic underdog story and I also have a secret thing for nerdy guys so Nash looks like my kind of character, exactly. I'm hoping that this jock-ish Derek guy doesn't ruin his chances. :P

Then you have the little surprise at the end of the summary which tells of a mysterious guy who's captured Marisa's heart before she even knows who he is. Three guys now! Yikes! But that should make for good juice and drama, right? Yes!

Even the cover is great. So simple, pretty, romantic, and peaceful.

I'm uber excited for this book to come out...on July 9, 2009. That's waaaay too far away. But I shall sit and wait patiently because Waiting For You promises to be amazing. :)

YES

So I've decided that I AM going to add a new feature described in the previous post. And since no one really responded with opinions on a book I should read, I made a poll so that it's THAT much easier for you. :)

Also, if you come up with a fun and quirky name for this feature leave it in the comments and I'll be forever indebted to you.

Vote away!

poll by twiigs.com

Possible New Feature?

Over at Bookshelves of Doom (a blog that I idolize) there's a completely awesome "Big Read" feature where you get to read her reactions to a certain book section by section. It's a cool way to look at a book and I'm thinking that it might be fun to do something along those lines on my blog. Read a modern classic or currently hyped book and post section by section reactions? Does that sound interesting to any of you? Possible book options:

Marley and Me by John Grogan

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Piccoult

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

All of these are books I haven't read but want to. I think they could each make for some interesting reading. Does this seem like a fun idea to you? Would you read the posts? And if so, which book do you think I should read? Any suggestions other than the ones I listed? Give me some feedback!

Amor and Summer Secrets by Diana Rodriguez Wallach

All she never wanted...

For fiteen-year-old Mariana Ruiz, it's not so much an unexpected vacation as a literal "guilt trip" - her father's way of atoning for ignoring his Puerto Rican roots. But freedom from her parents is little compensation for being forced to spend two moths with complete strangers rather than with her best friends in Philadelphia

Once on "vacation," her worst fears come true. The heat is merciless, the food is spicy, and her great aunt and uncle's mountain house teems with relatives, only one of whom - her distant cousin Lilly - speaks English. Bored, and hoping to make up for missing her best friend's star-studded Sweet 16, Mariana offers to help in the planning of Lilly's Quinceanera. Soon, despite herself, Mariana clicks with new friends who open doors to romance and long-hidden secrets. Suddenly the summer she dreaded is ending way too quickly. It might turn out that the last place she ever wanted to go is the one place she truly finds herself. 

(summary from back of book)

Well it certainly took me long enough to finish this book didn't it? 

There have been a plethora of reviews of this series lately and most of them are glowing and positive. And while the book was a nice and fluffy read, I did have a list of issues with it. For one, the real meat of the plot didn't start until you were about two thirds of the way through it. I was rather bored for the first half because it basically consists of your stereotypical teenage girl complaining and whining about trivial things. The heat, the food, her friends, boredom, you can imagine the rest. Truthfully, Mariana was an annoying character to begin with. 

The real action of the story starts with Lilly's Quinceanera when we get introduced to the handsome Alex. It's at this point that Mariana becomes a little easier to deal with since she isn't wailing about how horrible Puerto Rico is anymore. She develops and grows some which makes her a teensy bit easier to read about. 

The last section of the book is the best by far. You get to read about the drama with Alex, Lilly's lies, the hidden family secret, and most exciting of all, Mariana getting drunk, which might have been my favorite part of the book as it was the scene that struck me as the most real event in the book. 

If I had my way, I would've drawn out the Alex-Lilly-Mariana thing longer and not wrapped it up as cleanly. It seemed like a sort of random subplot which only served to add a little more scandal into the story. I'd have loved for it to be more juicy and naughty. 

When the family secret gets revealed towards the end, that's where the book really picks up for me. You get to the whole "summer secret" part of the book which hadn't been addressed since then. 

Besides Mariana's hangover, I also enjoyed reading about the Puerto Rican culture. The descriptions are very detailed and precise and it kind of makes me want to go and visit even though I don't know an ounce of Spanish. 

Towards the end of the book, you come to love Mariana's family, flaws, drama, and all. I'm looking forward to reading the second book, Amigas and School Scandal as the ending of this first novel perfectly set the reader up for reading the sequel. Mariana is definitely a character I want to visit again because despite the issues I had with Amor and Summer Secrets, it's a rather endearing book and it makes for some nice light fluff on a dreary day.

Winner of Bliss

Thank you to everyone who entered to win a copy of Bliss by Lauren Myracle and spreading the wonderful-ness that is the trailer around. :) The winner of a signed copy of the book is 

The Book Fanatic 101

Congrats! Look for an email from Lauren soon and enjoy reading the book! 

Booking Through Thursday/Saturday #12: Honesty

On Saturday

I receive a lot of review books, but I have never once told lies about the book just because I got a free copy of it. However, some authors seem to feel that if they send you a copy of their book for free, you should give it a positive review.
Do you think reviewers are obligated to put up a good review of a book, even if they don’t like it? Have we come to a point where reviewers *need* to put up disclaimers to (hopefully) save themselves from being harassed by unhappy authors who get negative reviews?

This is so hard. I've received many a review copy over the months that I've run this blog and I'm always uber grateful to the author for being willing to send me a copy of their book. But despite the fact that I got a book for free and the author is looking out for a review of it, I try to stick with the truth about what I feel about books that I read. I think I'd lose a huge amount of credibility as a reviewer if I let my opinions be swayed. If a book's bad, I'll definitely state that and give reasons to support my thoughts but I'll also point out some positive points that the book might have had. I dislike reading reviews that are all gushing or all negativity so I try my hardest to write reviews that have both in them. 

I recently read a comment left on a review of a book, by the author himself. In it he seemed rather accusatory and disappointed as the review was a highly negative one. I think that while reviewers need to keep their opinions unbiased, authors need to do their part and accept the criticism that might come with that. I think sometimes authors expect reviews to be good but they need to realize that we can't always give them what they want. 

It runs both ways...