Booking Through Thursday/Saturday #23: Collectibles

On Saturday (or in this case, Sunday)

Hardcover? Or paperback?

I have absolutely no preference. If I want a book bad enough, I'm happy to purchase the hardcover. I also have a bunch of paperbacks that I buy just because they're cheap and I might want to read them someday. Right now, in my to-read pile, I have some paperbacks, some lusted over hardcover books and some random review copies. 

Illustrations? Or just text?

I like illustrations in kids books. Like Olivia The Pig and Henry and Mudge and Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka. But illustrations in "big kid" books just seem sort of condescending to me. I do enjoy a nice illustrated kiddie book, though. They make me happy.

First editions? Or you don’t care?

I don't care at all. Doesn't matter in the least to me.

Signed by the author? Or not?

I love me some signed books. They make the book seem more special and personal. Especially if it's personalized to ME. I do have quite a few signed books (Stephenie Meyer, Meg Cabot, John Green, and some random ones) and I will never ever get rid of those books, no matter how old or out-dated they become. They're sort of like treasures to me.

:)

I'm "Published"

Thanks sooo much to Adele who alerted me to the fact that my review of John Green's Paper Towns had been quoted in the Australian version of the book. The second I heard I ordered a copy from Australia which just arrived today.

The review's an old one, and I had absolutely no idea that it would be quoted in the finished copy of the book! I'm completely ecstatic. It might only be thirteen words, but hey! Thirteen words in a well-known, YA author's book is pretty dang cool.

If you can't read the picture my little quote is;

"...run, to your local bookstore and pick up a copy. It's a must!"

-Liv's Book Reviews

My first real published words out there for the world to see...haha. :)

And for Jocelyn...

Blog-o-versary

(picture source)

On this February 25th, exactly one year ago, Liv's Book Reviews was birthed. 

The first post went something like this...

Hi-
I'm Liv if you haven't guessed that already. I've decided to start blogging on the books I've read but I don't know if it's going to go very far. I am a big reader but not very good at following through on things so we'll see how this goes. :) I'm going to try to post a plot summary and my opinion on every book that I read from now on. I will not be writing on books I have already read unless I reread them. So I hope you enjoy my blog and I will try to get on here as much as possible.
-Liv

Ah...personally, I like the "I'm not very good at following through on things" part. Because here I am, a year later. Proved my little old self wrong, didn't I? :)

I've LOVED blogging throughout this year. I've read more than I would've normally, I think, and I've met a ton of awesome people, bloggers, authors, and random internet friends. 

My blog might be relatively tiny even though it's been around for a while, but to me that's not important at all. I see other bloggers writing about how many page visits they get or how many followers they have, and even with the newer blogs, those numbers are way higher than mine. I used to care a little bit, but not so much anymore. I rarely check. The important thing to me is just getting on to post every now and then. I'm in it for the experience, which, I know, sounds super hokey...but hey. I've met authors and bloggers from all over the world and I've written 100 reviews. If that's not an accomplishment, I don't know what is. 

So thanks to everyone who reads my blog and to all the authors whom I've bugged and bothered. You guys are AWESOME! 

And in honor of this momentous occasion, I'm going to have a little giveaway...you knew it was coming, didn't you?

Prizes:

One book of your choice, under $10, that's available on Amazon

$5 giftcard to Starbucks

Bananagrams (BEST game ever, involving bananas, scrabble tiles, anagram making, and other fantastic literary objectives)

Mix CD (which I don't know if anyone would really want, but I want to make one)

Sound like good stuff to you? :) 

To enter: 

Write me a story, 100 words or less, starting with the words "Liv was looking out the window..." and ending with the words "and that's how it all began."

Leave your story and your email in the comments.

The winner will be chosen by a select group of anonymous judges (parents, friends, 10 year old boy). You have until Wednesday, March 11 to enter.

And yes, flattery will probably help you, seeing as the story your writing is about me and it's my blog's anniversary...SO. Get creative. Make me feel happy. XD

*All credit goes to A.S. King for this marvelous contest idea. I hope you don't hate me for stealing it...

And that's it! Enter away. 

Movie Possibilities?

I know this sounds crazy, but over at the Twilight Lexicon they posted that Twilight's director, Catherine Hardwick is going to possibly direct a movie based off a "buzzy" YA novel called If I Stay. They got their info from Entertainment Weekly...

From the site: “Summit Entertainment is trying to make lightning strike twice. The studio behind the Twilight movie series has plans to adapt a buzzy young-adult novel called If I Stay with Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke at the helm…the parties are negotiating and a deal is not yet complete."

And the synopsis for the book: "Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love— music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind? Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it’s the only one that matters."

Woah. The book hasn't even come out yet. But when it does I'm picking up a copy ASAP to see what's so amazing that the movie rights would be bought this early...geez.

Thoughts, anyone?

Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian

Sometimes a girl just needs a change...

The last thing sixteen-year-old Emily wants is to pool hop and tan her way through another summer in Cherry Hill. Now that her best friend has a boyfriend, everything feels...different in a way Emily doesn't quite understand. So when offered a spot at a prestigious art program in Philadelphia, Emily jumps at the chance to leave her hometown for a few hours a day.

But it takes more than a change of scenery and a new group of friends to discover yourself. As Emily bounces between a suburb where everyone tries to fit in and a city where everyone wants to be unique, she struggles to find her own identity. And while the rules may change, the pressures remain the same. Friendships can be hard to navigate. Boys are both deeply mysterious and utterly predictable. And the line between right and wrong is always a little blurry. 

(Summary from inside cover of ARC)

How can you not love Siobhan Vivian? Seriously. I follow both her personal blog and The Longstockings (not to sound creeper-ish), and everything she writes is just so alive and enjoyable. That being said, Same Difference was pretty dang good. 

So you know how Sarah Dessen has a kind of trademarked romantic style/plot concept that's present in all of her books? Well for Siobhan, she's got a friendship style. In A Little Friendly Advice, her first book, she focused on the dynamics of the relationships between a group of girls. They were going through a difficult stage in their lives and in their friendship, and they all grew from it and became better people because of their experiences. In Same Difference it's the same sort of troubled friendship plot line but it's different enough that it feels fresh and unique.

In this book, the main character is going through a huge stage of self-discovery. She has to decide whether she wants to become a crazy artsy girl with the help of her new "friend" Fiona or whether she wants to stick with her roots and live a plain dreary life in Cherry Hill. But the book was so much more than that one little decision. 

In the beginning, Emily had no idea who she was or who she wanted to be. Throughout the book she learned how to make new friends, create beautiful art, and still stay true to who she was at her core. She even got to have a little forbidden romance.

And that's the part that didn't work for me - the romance. Yates was Emily's teacher's assistant. He was two years older than her and didn't have much of a personality. Truthfully, they didn't have much, if any chemistry at all. It was just so flat. They were able to sit and draw pictures of each other but they weren't able to have a meaningful, colorful conversation. And the fact that he didn't see through Emily and Fiona's fake friendship doesn't do much for him. 

Also, I didn't really get why Emily was dumb enough to stick with Fiona for the whole entire story. Fiona made her feel like crap and she was so caught up in her own stupid views that she couldn't take a minute to look around at the rest of the world. Emily seemed like a very bright, and genuine girl and the fact that she was sucked into Fiona's antics for almost the whole story was sort of a let-down.

But other than that, the book was good. The setting was extremely vivid, the conversations were true to life, and all the art lingo seemed really well researched and thought out to me. 

And Emily was a very teen-like girl. She made some of the same dumb decisions that I would have if I was in her shoes and yet she still followed her heart. I liked how in the end she learned how to get the best out of both worlds - art land and suburbia. Also, I was super happy that she didn't ditch Meg. Because Meg was sooo cute. As was the fact that Emily's little sister was starting to get all artsy and defiant at the end of the book; she was following in her sister's footsteps. Aw!

There were just so many cute and fun little moments in this book that made me smile. It's such a great feel-good read.

My only advice to Siobhan Vivian would be to steer away from the romance in the future and focus more on the friendships. That's her strong point, I think. Although I do hope that there are some romantic moments in her next book because I want to see what she cooks up next. :) 

I love Siobhan and I loved this book. Read it. 

(Thank you to Sharon for the book. All the way from The Strand in NYC. You're amazing)

OH! And this is my 100th review...sorta cool, eh? :) The big one zero zero. 

Booking Through Thursday/Saturday #22: Storage

On Saturday

“How do you arrange your books on your shelves? Is it by author, by genre, or you just put it where it falls on?”

I posted some pictures of my bookshelves a week or two ago if you want to go check that out.

My little book arranging method is that I stick all my general fiction ones in alphabetical order according to the authors last name. Then I put all my kid books at the end in any order. On my bottom shelf I have the random piles of books I have yet to read. I don't like to put them on my shelf unless I've read them and liked them. And those piles are totally random and not ordered at all. So when I pick a book to read next, I just go find whatever looks good to me. :)

I Love You More Than...

[click to go to site]

I love Barack

my blog

Twitter

Target

Zeke loves food

my book collection

flannel pants fresh out of the dryer

(some of my faves that have been posted)

And my own submission? 

I love you more than V.C. Andrews loves incest. 

In homage to the V.C. Andrews challenge. 

Oh yeah...

Want a cute tote bag to fill in your favorite saying on? clicky I know I'm getting one...