Sorry! I was all stressed out at university (presentations, papers etc) and to top it off, I got sick. It has been raining for the past 8, 9 days & it finally got to me. I have a sore throat & am sneezing a lot. To top it of, there's a root canal in my near future (Monday!) and I'm scared of dentists... Anyone want to trade places with me?

Once I'm feeling better & my stress at university is over (Christmas?!), I will catch up with my reviews.

Okay, I've got to get to bed. Class at 8 in the morning *shudder*

[Review] Jill Shalvis/Hope Ramsay/Katie Lane : Small Town Christmas

[romance - anthology]

You can buy it here:
Small Town Christmas (Amazon eBook)

Summary: (from the publisher)
Kissing Santa Claus by Jill Shalvis
NASCAR driver Logan Perrish returns to Lucky Harbor, Washington, with love in his heart and a ring in his pocket. But can Sandy Jansen forget the past and give him a second chance? Or will Logan be spending another Christmas alone?

I'll Be Home for Christmas by Hope Ramsay
After ignoring the advice of Miz Miriam Randall, local matchmaker, Annie Roberts expects another hum drum holiday in Last Chance, South Carolina. But when a stray cat arrives in the arms of Army sergeant Matt Jasper, a calico named Holly just may be the best matchmaker of all.

O Little Town of Bramble by Katie Lane
All Ethan Miller wants for Christmas is to celebrate in Bramble, Texas, with family and friends. But when his childhood neighbor, Samantha Henderson, comes home for the holiday, Ethan realizes that the girl-next-door could be the girl of his dreams.

My thoughts:
You might want to make sure the "oh shit" bar is still functioning when Sandy's driving. That's what I kept thinking when I read this story, just because this sentence almost landed me on the floor. But there's more. As always with Jill Shalvis, in her short story Kissing Santa Claus you get a hell of a lot of laughs and even more feeling along with a wonderful heroine and a great hero. If you read the Lucky Harbor series (Simply Irresistible and The Sweetest Thing - reviews to come), you will know both Sandy and Logan. She's the one helping Jax' in the mayor's office & Logan is Tara's ex-husband.
There's something about Jill Shalvis' writing that had me hooked from the very first novel I read. She knows what she's writing about, there's no doubt about that, and she has a knack for hilarious, funny, sweet moments. This is exactly how she chose to end Kissing Santa Claus. My only complaint would be that it was too short a story, but then, that's the thing about short stories, isn't it? Also, I guess my feelings where the length are concerned have a lot to do with the fact that I can never get enough of Lucky Harbor and its residents. (Good news here - the series will have 3 more installments after Phoebe Traeger's daughters are all set with a looker of a husband!)

With I'll Be Home For Christmas, I do not want to tell too much about this story, but for some reason, here my thoughts and the plot collide so much that it is difficult. Our hero Matt just got out of the military & has one last job to finish before he will start his new life out of the uniform. When his best friend Nick died overseas, he promised to bring Nick's grandmother the last Christmas present he had bought. He strongly believes it is the right thing to give it to her in person, instead of having it shipped to her with all of Nick's other belongings & when he arrives in Last Chance (yes, really!), he finds himself at a church where the choir is practicing for mass. There he meets our heroine, Annie, who happens to know where Nick's grandmother can be found, but it is too late, so Matt has to wait until the next day.
Slowly, these two people who have never met before get to know each other and help each other in so many ways. I absolutely loved this story for the seemingly slow development of a relationship between Annie and Matt. With those characters, I ached to see them happy, especially because they are all alone in the world. You just want them to find happiness and a wonderful place to be.

Bramble, TX, is the setting for O Little Town Of Bramble. Ethan has lived in Bramble all his life and is definitely surprised when he runs into Samantha Henderson. She used to live in Bramble as we, but unlike Ethan, she left after high school to become a vet - something he has always dreamt of, but could never go for due to his family situation. This confuses Ethan as well as it makes him sad. Looking at Sammy, he sees his dream and he knows it did not come true for him. However, he soon realizes there is something else. He begins to see her as the woman she now is, instead of the child he used to know. What a cliché in romance, right? But Katie Lane pulls it off quite well, and she even manages to give the characters some scenes where they just have to laugh about themselves.
Truly remarkable in my eyes were the animal characters - and there were quite a few, considering that the people of Bramble were staging their own real nativity scene. Usually, the animals seem to be mere bystanders, in the plot because it's nice to have them, but here they played a bigger role not only with the nativity scene, but also in Ethan and Samantha's lives. I loved that so much as they all seemed to get to do something - including wreak havoc!

I did not know these authors with the exception of Jill Shalvis, who is an auto-buy author for me. Her name on the cover guarantees a lot of good laughs and with this anthology, I will add Hope Ramsay and Katie Lane to my list of authors to check out.

The sad thing is: I can't get a hardcopy of this holiday anthology because it is nowhere to be found on the German Amazon website or The Book Depository. Even on Amazon.com I could only find it through Google. I wonder what's up with that!

Rating:
4.5/5

FTC: eGalley received from the publisher through Netgalley

Life...

I have to apologize again. I so wanted to be back again, but life had other plans.

I have to read a bunch of books for class, which takes some time & I'm actually nowhere near through with the whole stack. They are good and interesting, but taking notes and re-reading them can be a real pain.

On a much brighter note, one of my cousins visited us in Germany and she and I went on a trip to Salzburg for a few days. She is a huge fan of The Sound of Music, so we took the tour - and I hadn't even seen the movie!

And right now, I'm dealing with the pleasures of a root canal. as I have a phobia where dentists are concerned, this is obviously a less optimal situation.

I hope this at least explains my absence a bit. I will try to post a review later today & maybe I can even work on one or two more.

[Review] Elise Allen: Populazzi

[contemporary YA]

You can buy it here:
Populazzi (hardcover)
Populazzi (Amazon eBook)

Summary: (from the publisher)
Cara has always dreamed of being a Populazzi, one of the popular crowd. But it's not until she changes schools that she gets a shot at it, thanks to her best friend Claudia's crazy plan. The idea is simple: The rungs of The Ladder are relationships. First get a boyfriend who's ranked low, then climb up through more boyfriends until you're not just one of the Populazzi, but the Supreme Populazzi. Yet what starts off as a fairy tale turns into a somewhat dark comedy of errors. Just when Cara reaches the top, her life hits rock bottom. She wonders why she wanted to be popular in the first place—and if there's any way to live happily ever after now.

My thoughts:
I raced through Populazzi within a few hours, which these days is rather unusual. I cringed when Cara did something absolutely stupid, was excited for her when good things happened & worried about her all the time. Cara almost walked into my life & she didn't leave at the end of the book. I told my cousin about it about two weeks after finishing it and raved when talking to friends who I thought might like the book as well.
While I sometimes really wanted to bang my head on the table or on the wall behind (yes, I sit in bed & read even though it's supposed to be bad for your sleeping habits) because she did some obviously stupid things, I also felt with her. She so obviously wanted to belong to the in crowd instead of being a social outcast, and at times it seemed as if she was willing to do anything to get there. In fact, I think up to a certain point she did just that.
It certainly didn't help that her parents (both the biological parents as well as the step-parents) couldn't care less about her actions and her feelings unless they felt personally affected. In fact, the adults seemed almost bigger children than Cara was.
This is one of the two things I would criticize abou the book. It did not give us the almost standard absent parents in YA novels, but they neglect Cara, which isn't better. The other would be the end, which came too fast for me. I would have loved to read some more about how she deslt with the aftermath of all that happened.

Rating:
4.5/5

FTC: eGalley from the publisher through Netgalley (Thanks!)

Comments

So, I've had it. For the past months, I had to deal with spammers all over the place, even though I had set everything so that I actually checked comments before they appeared. However, I don't have the time or patience to deal with those comments where Anonymous says that my point is valuable - and then adds a link that has absolutely nothing to do with the this blog or reading or anything similar. (Dear Anonymous, I don't give a damn, what you think and also not about your link... It's not only annoying, by now, I believe it's abusive!)

Hence, I'm afraid if you aren't some sort of registered user, you will no longer be able to commment - however, if you would like to say something, you're always welcome to send me an e-mail. I love getting e-mails and I will reply. So, there's that. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but my patience is not the best these days, being stretched all over the place by all that's on my plate. I hope you understand this!

[Statistics] October 2011

Books Read

1) Randy Pausch: The Last Lecture
2) Elise Allen: Populazzi
3) William Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew
4) Susan Beth Pfeffer: Life As We Knew It
5) Artist Arthur: Manifest
6) Joseph Conrad: Under Western Eyes
7) Debbie Macomber: 204 Rosewood Lane
8) Ally Carter: Heist Society
9) Art Spiegelman: In The Shadow Of No Towers

Books Bought

1) Debbie Macomber: 204 Rosewood Lane
2) Debbie Macomber: 311 Pelican Court
3) Sherryl Woods: Stealing Home
4) Jill Shalvis: Animal Attraction
5) Ian McEwan: Saturday
6) The Reluctant Fundamentalist
7) Bill Willingham: Fables 13 - The Great Fables Crossover
8) Max Brooks: The Zombie Survival Guide
9) Mike Carey: Unwritten 1
10) Guy Deutscher: Through The Language Glass
11) Max Brooks: The Zombie Survival Guide - Recorded Attacks
12) Dave Eggers: Zeitoun
13) Charles Burns: Holes
14) Tabitha Suzuma: Forbidden
15) Bill Willingham: Fables 14 - Witches
16) Art Spiegelman: In The Shadows of No Towers
17) Rachel Vincent: Stray
18) Rachel Vincent: Rogue
19) Rachel Vincent: Pride
20) David Nicholls: One Day
21) Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart
22) Christine Johnson: Claire de Lune
23) Aimee Bender: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
24) John Perkins: Confessions of an Economic Hitman
25) Bill Willingham: Fables 15 - Rose Red
26) Jennifer Laurens: Heavenly
27) Bill Willingham: Fables 2 - Animal Farm
28) Bill Willingham: Fables 3 - Storybook Love
29) Ann Aguirre: Wanderlust
30) Holly Schinder: Playing Hurt
31) Janet Turner Hospital: Orpheus Lost
32) Paul Studenski & Herman Edward Krooss: Financial History of the United States
33) Teri Hall: Away
34) Lauren McLaughlin: Scored
35) Katie Alender: Bad Girls Don't Die
36) Caragh O'Brien: Birthmarked
37) Barbara Ehrenreich: Nickel and Dimed
38) Shayla Black: Belong to Me
39) Chris Crozier: Deadline
40) Eden Maguire: Beautiful Dead – Book 1 Jonas
41) Ellen Wittlinger: Heart on my Sleeve


Statistics

=> New Books: 41
=> Books read: 9
=> Current Mr. TBR: 428

[Review] Max Brooks: World War Z

Happy Halloween! I'm stuck here in Germany, where Halloween consists of private or commercial parties only, so we kind of lose out on the fun you all have in the US. I think it's a pity, but maybe one day I can have late October/early November off to be in the States for a real Halloween, decorations, trick or treating and all! And the only pumpkin-carving I remember was with my Grandpa - my Dad's stepdad - but he died pretty 8 years ago. Since then, I haven't carved a single pumpkin.



For the occasion, I'm bringing you a review of a much-loved book, one a dear friend recommended - and for that recommendation alone I love him So, no more talking - on to the short review:







[science-fiction/horror?!?]



You can buy it here:

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (paperback)

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (Amazon eBook)



Summary:

(back cover)

We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror first hand Word War Z is the only record of the plague years.



My thoughts:
Oh wow! I read this book quite a bit ago, but whenever I think about it, I'm still astonished at how awesome World War Z is. I have a thing for zombies, but this novel - ahem, documentary blows me away. It's just the right story for Halloween and you can even finish it off with some The Walking Dead, if you recorded it.



Throughout the book, we jump back and forth between a number of characters and view the zombie apocalypse through their eyes - from the very first cases until the zombie problem is seemingly under control. It is easy to switch back and forth as the characters are so different from each other. We meet scientists, soldiers and normal people all over the world who will tell us their side of the story. This alone takes some work and Max Brooks really succeeded.



If you are up for a good zombie story for Halloween, this should work very well, and it is not as blood-thirsty as The Walking Dead




Rating:
5/5

FTC: bought with my own money

Dewey's Readathon - Big Update Post

So, since I am both helping out & reading, I figured I'd stick to one big update post.

At 7:55pm my time (I started at 2pm), I finished my first book: 204 Rosewood Lane by Debbie Macomber.

After grabbing something for dinner, I decided to pick up Heist Society by Ally Carter at around 8:15pm.

It's almost 11pm & I'm about a third into Heist Society and I hate the Babelfish-style translations in the book!

It's 1:05am and I just finished Heist Society. It was an awesome book, but I've been up for 19 hours now, so I should take a nap... Back in a bit!

I woke up at 10:15am, for which I feel really bad, but on the other hand, I know the next week will be stressful and I will miss some sleep then as well, so I shouldn't feel all that guilty. Anyway, I'll take my book downstairs with me while I get some green tea. Which one that will be? I don't know yet!

Haven't read a single page. So much for that! LOL But hey, I was helping out, so...

Dewey's Read-A-Thon

ETA: Dang, I was all preoccupied when I signed up and forgot to change the link on the sign up for the April 2012 read-a-thon. The post for that is the current one is the latest post, just click on the header to get there. Sorry!! This is kinda late-ish, but I am trying to not only help out with the prize committee at Dewey's Read-A-Thon, while also reading a bit for the read-a-thon myself (which kinda counts double as here in Germany, there's a semi-regular We Heart Books weekend reading gettogether on Twitter, so if you see #whb anywhere - that's it!).



First up, let me show you my preparations...

The book buying spree - so not necessary, considering the 400 books I already had on Mt. TBR, but what do you do when Amazon has a 3 English books for 15€ promotion?

This was the stack that awaited me when I arrived at my parents - enough to feel really, really bad for our mailmen and mailwomen!

And when I was unboxing - this is what I found:

I love it when Amazon packages have some fun advertising printed on them.

And this is what was in them:

Bill Willingham: Fables #14 - Witches
Bill Willingham: Fables #13 - The Great Fables Crossover
Mike Carey: Unwritten #1 - Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity
Charles Burns: Black Hole
Max Brooks: The Zombie Survival Guide - Recorded Attacks
Max Brooks: The Zombie Survival Guide
Max Brooks: World War Z (this is a second copy which is up for grabs as one of the readathon prizes)
Art Spiegelman: In The Shadow of No Towers
Dave Eggers: Zeitoun
Guy Deutscher: Through The Language Glass - Why The World Looks Different in Other Languages
Tabitha Suzuma: Forbidden
Bill Willingham: Fables #15 - Rose Red
Rachel Vincent: Stray
Rachel Vincent: Rogue
Aimee Bender: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
John Perkins: Confessions of an Economic Hitman
Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart
DVD: Leap Year (not for the readathon, obviously!)
Rachel Vincent: Pride
Christine Johnson: Claire de Lune
David Nicholls: One Day
DVD: In Plain SIght Season 1
DVD: Letters to Juliet
DVD: House M.D. Season 6

And my snacks:

The Crunchy Bits are pretty much chocolate covered cornflakes & the Corny are granola bars with dark chocolate.

And those are muffins I made myself this morning. I figured nothing's better than yummy homemade muffins. They're with chocolate chips!

And to sum things up, here's a quick intro:
1) I'm reading at my parents' house in the Odenwald, in Germany.
2) Three random facts about me would be: I love to back. I'm always messy when I work. And my cat sleeps in my bed because he's a great foot warmer.
3) I don't have a fixed stack for the readathon, so I'll just name all 416 books on Mt TBR if that's okay with you.
4) My goal for this readathon is pretty much to stay up and help out with whatever I can - and get some reading in as well.
5) My advice for first-timers would be to pick short books and have some graphic novels in the stack as well - trust me, you'll appreciate it. And also, you might want to move every now and then, because otherwise, you'll get really tired after a while.

Busy week

I have not disappeared, I was simply busy cramming so that I had all the books read for the beginning of the new semester (it's today!) and then I was commuting to work (usually, it takes me half an hour, but I didn't spend last week at home, so it was an hour and a half). And on the weekend, I was at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which is always fun and a must as far as I'm concerned. On the bright side, I got a lot of reading in, so you will soon read my thoughts about Joseph Conrad's Under Western Eyes, Elise Allen's Populazzi, and a few more books.

[Review] Kathleen Dienne: Her Kind Of Hero

romantic suspense

You can buy it here:
Her Kind of Hero (Amazon eBook)

Summary:
Vanessa's first husband died early and left her widowed at a young age. Now she feels she has mourned his death long enough. Her old friend Derek has been around all along, helping her wherever he could, and she knows he has feelings for her. Derek had feelings for her all along and doesn't want to be friends with benefits. It takes a while for them to solve their problems, but who is watching them and sending Vanessa threatening messages?

My thoughts:
Friends gone lovers with suspense? That doesn't really sound like a new one, but I still enjoyed this novel. Vanessa was first married to the love of her life. The night she met her late husband, she also met Derek. The two men were friends and Derek fell for Vanessa that night, but he was too shy to let her know, so his friend snatched her away and all he could do was stay and be her friend or leave. He decided to stay and when Vanessa's husband died, he helped her with everything. This tightened their bond and when Vanessa feels ready to date again, she figures dating Derek might be a good idea because he is attracted to her and they've known for years already. While I did not like her assumption that she could just date Derek and maybe be friends with benefits, I realize that losing a beloved person is a hard thing to go through - and when you start dating again, taking things easy might help.
I could also see Derek's feelings. He did not want to resolve to being just a friend with benefits to Vanessa. He has been in love with her for years now and for him it is all or nothing. Who wouldn't understand that. But Derek also has a secret, one Vanessa has yet to find out. This keeps the tension going between them, but it was resolved in quite a nice way.
The suspense part of the novel was drawn out and at first did not seem threatening at all, it slowly escalated, however, and gave Her Kind of Hero a very nice, hero-y touch.
Oh yeah, and the cover? Does not work so well in my eyes.

Rating:
4/5

FTC: This eGalley was provided to my via Netgalley

[Currently Reading] Populazzi and The Last Lecture

Just a quick heads up for you:
I am currently reading Populazzi by Elise Allen

This is a YA novel set in a high school. The main character is a junior, who is new at her school and tries to climb the social ladder. That's all, I'm not giving away more. I will, however, tell you that I read over half of the book already today and will most likely finish it soon.

I am also reading a much sadder book, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.

This is such a sad book! Randy Pausch was a university professor, husband and the father of two young kids. When he was diagnosed with cancer and told the he only had a few months to live, he wrote this book and did a "last lecture" on the same topics.

[Review] Nella Larsen: Quicksand

classic (Harlem Renaissance)

You can buy it here:
Quicksand (Dover Books on Literature & Drama) (Amazon paperback)
Quicksand By Nella Larsen (Amazon paperback)
Quicksand (Amazon eBook)

Summary:
Helga Crane is a young woman, the daughter of a Scandinavian woman and an African American man. As the novel begins, she works as a teacher at an all black school, but she is highly dissatisfied. We follow her through her life with all its ups and downs and on her way through the world.

My thoughts:
I despise Helga Crane. Maybe it was the re-reading I had to do for a paper, but after a while I got really tired with Helga's indecisiveness. She up and runs from one place to the next, hoping everything will be absolutely perfect there. At first she appears content, but after a while she decides that this life is not what she wants and leaves again, for another place and another life. This seems to be a recurring theme in the novel. Nonetheless, Quicksand is a wonderful (if incomplete) portrayal of the life of African Americans and people of mixed heritage between the 1920s and 1940s. It catches the flair of the time and of the life in Harlem in those days wonderfully.

Rating:
2/5

FTC: I bought this

[Review] Anna Leigh Keaton and Madison Layle: Falke's Peak

paranormal romance

You can buy it here:
Falke's Peak (Amazon eBook)

Summary:
Dakota is a stressed out ad-exec who planned a vacation with her two best friends, but when one of her friends breaks her arm and the other invites her fiancé, she's the third wheel. In desperate need to get away from the happy couple, she spontaneously books a wilderness excursion with Catamount Outfitters. She is surprised to see a whole bunch of handsome brothers, experienced in the mountains. Eldest brother Axel agrees to trek with Dakota and his twin, Gunnar, travels along with them in cougar form for protection.

My thoughts:
Shapeshifters! I don't have to repeat how much I love shapeshifter novels, and this one was definitely amusing because we had a big family of shapeshifters with awesome family dynamics. Dakota is a go-getter, always doing something and for her, relaxing and doing nothing didn't come easy, especially when she and the brothers found themselves in a rather difficult situation. She had to trust them and their family to take care of things, but she did really well. There were a few more difficult situations for her and I think the authors handled them all very well. And the brothers, oh well, what can I say? They were all astonishing! I'm still smitten

Rating: 4/5

FTC: I received this as an eGalley through Netgalley

[Review] Jennifer Greene: Ain't Misbehaving

romance

You can buy it here:
Ain't Misbehaving (Amazon eBook)

Summary:
Ain't Misbehaving is the story of Mitch, who has been fighting a severe illness for 13 years and thus missed out on his teenage years, and Kay, a sex ed teacher. Being ill throughout highschool, Mitch never dated or had girlfriends and thus also missed out on everything that came with it, but he now has a clean bill of health. When he mets Kay and discovers that she is a sex ed teacher, he is afraid she may have expectations that by far exeed his knowledge and thus he is reluctant about getting ino a relationship with her.

My thoughts:
This was actually more than the fluffy read I expected. At first sight, Kay and Mitch appear to be absolute opposites, but looking closer not everything is as it seems. The set up with Mitch having been sick for so long and not telling Kay about it at first was quite interesting, as it left not only Kay guessing, but also the reader. It took quite a while until his illness was confirmed, even though there were hints here and there. What bothered me a bit was that even when his not telling her about it caused problems, Mitch would not open up to Kay about it. That particular part of the plot seemed rather fabricated to me. However, the characters were wonderful and all in all very likeable and I enjoyed reading this novel, so the fabricated problem(s) did not weigh in too heavily.

Rating:
4/5

FTC: I received this as an eGalley through Netgalley

An apology and something personal

I have not been around at all lately and I am really sorry about this. However, I kinda overdid it all and eventually had to pay for it. With work and university (even during breaks, the work doesn't get much less with all the papers to write), I was already busy enough - in fact, I was more than that, and I ended up not being able to concentrate on anything anymore. The last months have been hell and I couldn't even get my papers done with a clear head and in a way that I would say they're at least okay.

It was a difficult decision, but I blocked out the blog and everything. I still read, but I mostly tried to get myself back together and find a way to make everything work for me again. By now, I have a pretty good plan on what I want to do here and how I want to do it. I can't have this blog YA only or genre specific. I love to read a broad variety of genres and my blog will reflect this. Also, I may not be able to blog every other day or have any proper schedule, but I will try to start up my IMM posts again starting the upcoming weekend and from then on out, I will let you know what I read and I will review it when I'm done, but I might also let you in on my DVD watching. I don't have a TV at my place and I live in Germany, so I might let you in on how far behind we actually are (you're in for a surprise and a shock if you're in the US!).

For the next couple days I will try to review a few old books I got from Netgalley. I really enjoyed those, but as I read them on my phone (an Android), it was a rather slow process.

Author Interview: Josh Berk

So, I promised you an interview with Josh Berk, author of The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin (referred to as DDoHH from here on out - a review will be coming soon!) for the Nerds Heart YA tournament and here it is. I really enjoyed doing this and I hope you will enjoy it as well. Now, without further ado, I will stop the babbling and let you read the interview!

Bookaholic: You seem to have always been surrounded by books in some way and enjoyed reading. If one of your kids was a reluctant reader, which book(s) would you give them to maybe change this?

Josh Berk: Indeed, I was raised by two librarians and was certainly surrounded by books my whole life! But I was in fact a reluctant reader for a period time. What brought me through my "I don't wanna read phase" was probably simply that my mom never gave up. She wasn't pushy about it, she just made sure there were always plenty of books around. "If you don't like this one, try this one. No good? Try this one. Then this one. Then this one..."

She knew that eventually something would click with me and once it did there was no turning back. So it's hard for me to say that any one book would work for my kids (or any kids) -- the key is to give them a huge variety and let them find what clicks for them.

I will say that for me it was Narnia that turned me from a reluctant reader to a ravenous one. I'm sure I missed all the points of the series, but man, I loved those books and I still think they're magical.

Bookaholic: Oh, I have to remember that piece of advice.

You never thought you would become a writer, but one night the idea for DDoHH came to you in a dream. Would you have suspected that something this unique would come from your dream?

Josh Berk: It is true that I've been quoted as saying that I never thought I'd become a writer, but that was mainly referring to when I was young. By the time I was an adult I was pretty sure that I wanted to be a writer, and I certainly tried a lot. It wasn't as though I went from being a guy who never thought about writing to a guy who had a wacky dream to an author. I was definitely trying hard to become a writer, and failing quite a bit for quite a while. I was on the look out for ideas from anywhere and had written stories based on my own life, my friends, my imagination, and all sorts of stuff. So, no, I didn't suspect my first book idea would come from a dream, but I'm always on the lookout for interesting ideas, even while sleeping!

Bookaholic: Will Halpin is not your average teen. He’s not only deaf & overweight, but he also chooses to attend a regular high school without any of the “help” he got in his previous, specialized school. How difficult was it for you to find all the information necessary for these unusual aspects?

Josh Berk: I think my most important tool going into this book was empathy. I tried very hard to put myself into Will's shoes in an emotional way, to understand his feelings. This wasn't all that hard for me because I, like many of us, knew what it was like to feel like an outcast at points during my life. I figured that if I could get the emotions right, the details would be less important.

Then I did do quite a bit of research into the Deaf experience, and also the specifics on what things a public high school would likely do with a student such as Will. I like research though! I'm a librarian so it comes naturally. And I think almost all writers like research. It gives us an chance to feel productive without actually having to do the hard work of writing. So, no, it wasn't too difficult to research the specific things I needed to learn to (hopefully) make Will's story ring true. It was a mix of book research, online research, interviews, lots of empathy, and also some lying.

Bookaholic: You created a number of quirky characters in not only Will, but also his friend Smiley & Will’s parents. Did you think about what characters you would use before you started writing or did they just turn out this quirky?

Josh Berk: I definitely have a fondness for quirky! And I probably couldn't do not-quirky if I tried. The word quirky is fun to say if you say it a lot of times. Quirky, quirky, quirky. Where were we? Oh yes: quirky.

In DDoHH some of the quirkiness came out of the plot. For example, I knew I wanted Will to have a friend at his new school who (a) could communicate with Will a bit (meaning he knew some sign language) (b) liked to IM/text a lot (again, in order to communicate with Will) but didn't only use internet/text lingo because I thought that might get tiresome to read and (c) was into mystery novels because that would be his motivation for "playing Hardy Boys" and moving the plot along.

So this picture of this kid developed, the type of nerd (I use that word fondly!) who taught himself sign language for fun, used proper grammar in text messages, and read the Hardy Boys even though he was way too old for it. What a dork! (I use that word fondly as well.) Devon immediately came to life and made me smile. His quirkiness came from plot needs and then he took on a life of his own.

Will wasn't intentionally created to be quirky necessarily, but pretty much to be the ultimate outsider. I thought that would be fun to write and an interesting way for me to say lots of things I wanted to say about high school (and life).

Are Will's parents really quirky? I tried to make them normal parents! Haha: I really can't do not quirky if I try.

Bookaholic: Oh, you've got to love nerds, dorks, and quirky people!

How did you research the coal mining in Pennsylvania? Did you actually go on tours yourself or did you learn most of it by reading about coal mining?

Josh Berk: I live in Pennsylvania and there are coal mines everywhere. You can't walk three feet in any direction without falling into a coal mine. Seriously: I'm in a coal mine right now. OK, slight exaggeration! But that setting in the book is based on my memories of a real place here in PA. It's been a while, but I did in fact go on a coal mine tour just like the one in the book when I was a kid. I've always actually been pretty interested in the history of coal mining, because I am from Pennsylvania. And a giant dork! I did do some reading, digging up old articles about mine accidents and cave-ins and stuff. Good times.

Bookaholic: In DDoHH, there were all kinds of secrets present. Small ones and big ones, silly ones and very serious ones. Did you plan on using secrets all along or did the abundance of secrets come to you as you were writing? Also, what is your favorite (revealed) secret both in the book and in real life?

Josh Berk:
Good question! I did plan on revealing secrets all along. I thought it would be fun to have Will investigate this one big secret/crime, but then to also uncover everyone else's secrets as we went along. It was a fun way to structure the story and it made it constantly interesting for me to write. Plus it rang true to my memories of being a teen. I was always wondering what teachers did when they were out of school, wondering what my parents were like before I was born, wondering if the other kids at school had embarrassing things about themselves too. I spent a lot of time thinking about those sort of things as a teen so it was natural for Will to do so too. Plus it worked well in the context of a mystery plot to have basically everyone have a secret they keep. It helped make everyone a suspect.

I can't say too much about my favorite secret in the book because maybe some of your readers haven't read it but want to! I will say that it involves the bus driver, one Jimmy Porkrinds. He cracks me up.

My favorite revealed secret in real life? Man, that's a hard one! Maybe it's that I fairly recently learned about an aunt I never knew I had who turned out to be super-cool.

Bookaholic: I think mentioning Jimmy Porkrinds is enough for those who read the book to know what you mean - and those who haven't will hopefully read it soon.

You have a second book come out in 2012. Can you tell us a bit more about it? Will it be along the lines of DDoHH?

Josh Berk: My new Young Adult novel is in the final stages of editing as we speak. Hurrah! It's taken a while, but I'm happy with it! It's about a guy (named Guy) who joins his high school forensics team, gets embroiled in a mysterious death, deals with the loss of a loved one, tries not to get murdered by a psychopath, and attempts to work his mojo with the ladies. It comes out in March 2012. It's along the lines of DDoHH in that it is also a contemporary, funny high school mystery from a guy's point of view. But it's all new characters and setting and otherwise unrelated to DDoHH.

Bookaholic: That is wonderful! I can't wait to see it on the shelves.

Are you working on some new material for upcoming books? Can we hope for more books to come?

Josh Berk: Thanks for asking! And yes! I'm currently working on a series for younger readers (ages 9-12). They're also funny mysteries but because they're for younger readers, rather than having the dudes be obsessed with girls, they're obsessed with baseball. I'm hoping sports fans enjoy them, and everyone else also. And then I'm planning on a new teen book too -- I'm just now in the early stages of scribbling down the first chapters and figuring out all the big questions about where I want the book to go. I love this stage and am having a lot of fun with it. I'm even thinking about writing part of it from a girl's point of view, which will be an interesting experience if I dare to try it!

Bookaholic: Great, I'll eventually have something to give to my cousin's kids. I'm sure they will enjoy this series.

And a last question for the librarian in you: Can you recommend two books to my readers and me that hasn’t received as much publicity as it deserves?

Josh Berk: I'm friends with a lot of writers and I love a TON of books, so this is very hard for me! But here are two books from my fellow Tenners (authors who debuted in 2010) that blew my mind: (1) 'A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend' by Emily Horner and (2) 'The Absolute Value of Negative One' by Steve Brezenoff. Unlike the fantasy-loving kid I once was, my favorite books these days are realistic & contemporary novels. Both of these books are about modern, realistic teens who will crack you up and break your heart.

Bookaholic: Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions! And I will get the books you mentioned as soon as I'm off my book buying ban (3.5 more weeks to go *sigh*).

Josh Berk: Thanks!

For more info on Josh Berk, please check out his website (including a short biography with some awesome pics!).

Announcement & Nerds Heart YA 2011

Guys, in a couple hours I have a special blog post for you. I got to interview author Josh Berk (he who wrote The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin) for this year's Neards Heart YA tournament and I'm really happy to have gotten the opportunity.





In case you didn't know, the Nerds Heart YA tournament supports underrepresented YA literature, which is a really good thing, if you ask me. There are so many great books out there that just don't get enough publicity. And Josh Berk's The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin is one of them.

Also, you can still enter a contest at their website to win one of two prize packs containing many great books that didn't get enough publicity. So go ahead and check it out!

Book Review: OH. MY. GODS. by Tera Lynn Childs

Author	Tera Lynn Childs
Title	Oh. My. Gods.
Publisher	Speak
Date of Publication	2008
Page Count	288
ISBN	978-0142414200
Series	Phoebe Castro #1

Phoebe Castro loves her life in California. She gets good grades, is good at running cross-country, and if she can keep her grades up and her performance stays good, she will get a scholarship to the school of her dreams. But then her mother tells her that she is getting married again and that they both will move to Greece. Phoebe won't just have to leave her friends behind, she'll also go to a new school in a new country. A private school at that, and her new stepdad is the headmaster.

Upon her arrival, she finds out that the island she will live on is not known to everyone. It is a secluded island which the ancient Greek gods have kept a secret so that their children and their children would have a save place to learn to control their superpowers and to be able to keep the existence of the gods a secret. Unlike the other students of her new school, Phoebe grew up in a regular home and does not have any superpowers. Will she be able to keep up her grades and her success in cross-country?

I practically devoured this book. It was my first novel by Tera Lynn Childs and it won't be my last. In fact, soon after finishing up Oh. My. Gods. I picked up Goddess Boot Camp. That alone should speak for itself, I think.

When I devour books the way I did Oh. My. Gods., it is usually because the combination of good writing, great characters and just enough hilarious events are mixed together. This is also the case with this book, but there's something more. Something made me want to know what would happen in the second book and I picked it up right afterwards. That's very unusual for me and speaks for how invested I was with the characters and the story.

If you like to read about strong, funny female characters with some paranormal activities thrown in and even some coming of age, you're dead-on with Oh. My. Gods.

Have you read Oh. My. Gods.? What did you love about it? Was there something you didn't like that much? And what's your favorite part? I would love to know that!

I'm sick :(

You know how my life right now works? I make plans that sound reasonable - despite all the time I need for university, work & a paper that needs to be finished, I find some time to finally write a few reviews. And then, BAM, I'm sick. Right now I'm really annoyed because this is the first time this year that I'm sick, with a stupid cold that won't go away. I can't sleep at night because I can't breathe through my nose, I keep coughing, and my voice - let's not go there...

Anyway, enough with the whining! I hope to be back on track later this week. Though, please, keep your fingers crossed!

Miss you all!

p align="justify">So, I've been acting all grown-up these past months, working my behind off at work and for university, which is why you haven't seen me around at all. I bought books in anticipation of time off (whenever that may be), and I even read a little bit, but I didn't have the energy to actually review anything when I finally got home.
However, I feel that my schedule is becoming if not more manageable, at least more reliable, so I can finally come back to blogging without feeling bad for blogging when I should do homework.
I have a review of Meg Cabot's latest, Abandon, in the works, and I can already tell you that I quite enjoyed it. Also, I have a few older books that I would call note-worthy, as well as some actual classics, books that everyone just should know - in my opinion, at least. So please stay tuned!
I missed you all so much! It was sad to read books and have no one to talk to about what I read.

*statistics* March 2011

Justifications: Yeah, let's not go there I had to buy a bunch of books for classes (my semester began April 11), and then I ended up not taking the most reading intensive class because I got accepted into a class that will be much more interesting. I have to figure out what to do with all those thrillers now!

books read

1) Maureen Johnson: Suite Scarlett (353)
2) Tom Angleberger: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (145)
3) Kathryn Lasky: A Journey to the New World, Mayflower 1620 (184)
4) Jody Gehrman: Babe in Boyland (292)
5) Tera Lynn Childs: Oh.My.Gods. (264)
6) M.C. Beaton: Death of a Glutton (224)

books that hit the wall

1) Elizabeth Peters: The Mummy Case
2) John Katzenbach: The Wrong Man

new books on Mt. TBR

1) Carola Dunn: The Winter Garden Mystery
2) Carola Dunn: Requiem For A Mezzo
3) Michele Jaffe: Rosebush
4) Tom Angleberger: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
5) Mary Lydon Simonsen: The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy
6) Kathy Reichs: Cross Bones
7) Kathy Reichs: Break No Bones
8) Jody Gehrman: Babe in Boyland
9) Gwen Hayes: Falling Under
10) Beth Revis: Across The Universe
11) Kathryn Lasky: A Journey to the New World, Mayflower 1620
12) Carol Lynch Williams: The Chosen One
13) Sophie Kelly: Curiosity Thrilled The Cat
14) Debbie Macomber: 16 Lighthouse Road
15) Elizabeth Hoyt: Notorious Pleasures
16) Kathry Reichs: Deadly Decisions
17) Ilene Schneider: Chanukah Guilt
18) Kathy Reichs: Bones to Ashes
19) Emma Donoghue: Room
20) Lauren DeStefano: Wither
21) David Benioff: City of Thieves
22) Kate Brian: Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys
23) Todd Burpo: Heaven Is For Real
24) Sarwat Chadda: Devil's Kiss
25) Charles W. Chesnutt: The Marrow of Tradition
26) Tera Lynn Childs: Goddess Boot Camp
27) Joseph Conrad: The Secret Agent
28) Kimberly Derting: The Body Finder
29) Alex Flinn: Beastly
30) Joshua Foer: Moonwalking With Einstein
31) Kim Harrington: Clarity
32) Nancy Holder: Possessions
33) Kanoko Sakurakoji: Backstage Prince
34) Katharine Kerr: License to Ensorcell
35) Rochelle Krich: Dream House
36) R.L. LaFevers: Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris
37) Val McDermid: The Grave Tattoo
38) Richelle Mead: Succubus Blues
39) Angela Morrison: Sing Me To Sleep
40) Jenny O'Connell: The Book of Luke
41) Micol Ostow: 30 Guys In 30 Days
42) Marlene Perez: Dead is the New Black
43) Bettina Restrepo: Illegal
44) Michelle Rowen: Demon Princess - Reign or Shine
45) Lyndsay Sands: The Heiress
46) Nancy Werlin: Impossible
47) John Edgar Wideman: The Lynchers

=> new books: 47
=> books read: 6
=> current Mt. TBR: (+/-)

challenges

Series Challenge

nada

Debut Author Challenge

nada

Criminal Plots Reading Challenge

nada

Pages Read Challenge

7,920 pages (of 25,000)

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill from Breaking The Spine.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
(Dutton Juvenile - September 29, 2011)

Summary:
For budding costume designer Lola Nolan, the more outrageous, the outfit—more sparkly, more fun, more wild—the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins move back into the house next door.

When the family returns and Cricket—a gifted inventor and engineer—steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Reason:
This book just sounds amazing. I love female main characters who dress the way they want and like it, who do not feel the need to conform to some pre-set norm decided by society. Lola sounds just like that person.

Now what books are you waiting for?

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill from Breaking The Spine.

The Name of The Star by Maureen Johnson
(Hyperion - September 20, 2011)

Summary:
A modern-day thriller about Rory, an American high-school student who enrolls at a London boarding school for her junior year. Soon after her arrival, a series of murders begins to take place across the city—on the exact dates and in the exact style of Jack the Ripper.

Rory’s ties to the killer bring her in contact with a secret paranormal branch of the British police, as they attempt to stop the mysterious killer.

Reason:
It's Maureen Johnson, do I have to say more? And for the record, Melissa from I Swim For Oceans brought this one to my attention - thanks for that!

Now what books are you waiting for?

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill from Breaking The Spine.

The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle
(Harper Teen - September 6, 2011)

Summary:
Sixteen-year-old Laurel's world changes instantly when her parents and brother are killed in a terrible car accident. Behind the wheel is the father of her bad-boy neighbor, David Kaufman, whose mother is also killed. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Laurel navigates a new world in which she and her best friend grow apart, boys may or may not be approaching her out of pity, overpowering memories lurk everywhere, and Mr. Kaufman is comatose but still very much alive. Through it all, there is David, who swoops in and out of Laurel's life and to whom she finds herself attracted against her better judgment. She will forever be connected to him by their mutual loss, a connection that will change them both in unexpected ways.

Reason:
K, I'm blaming Audrey from Holes in my Brain for this one. I just loved If I Stay (it even starred in my presentation about half a year ago!), and this one sounds similar to a small degree. I have to get my hands on it!

Now what books are you waiting for?

If you could only watch one TV show what would it be?

Ack! That's just not possible!!! I need my nerd TV shows like Stargate, then some The Wire, Moonlight (definitely could have used more seasons there), Boston Legal, Blood Ties etc.

Who's your favorite author?

What one thing are you exceptionally bad at?

I'm absolutely horrible at staying organized. Even a full-on cleaning (from start to end) is difficult for me. I keep being distracted...

Who's your favorite author?

I'm back and rambling...

I got you all a quick vlog to let you know what kept me busy, what's coming up & what I will be doing in the next weeks.

Without further ado, the vlog:



Please note that I will have a compact course for about a week starting next Wednesday. This might keep me pretty busy, but I will try to check in whenever I can & write some updates here as I go with my stacks on top of the reviews I'll schedule over the next few days.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill from Breaking The Spine.

Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik
(Harper Teen - August 2, 2011)

Summary:
At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:

• As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.

• As the daughter of the new principal, new-girl-on-campus Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long. Fans of Susane Colasanti (When It Happens), Polly Shulman (Enthusiasm), and, of course, Jane Austen will love finding out if Elise’s love life will be an epic win or an epic fail.

Reason:
Kari from A Good Addiction brought this one to my attention. It sounds so good and absolutely hilarious!

Now what books are you waiting for?

Book Review: BABE IN BOYLAND by Jody Gehrman

Author	Jody Gehrman
Title	Babe in Boyland
Publisher	Dial
Date of Publication	February 17, 2011
Page Count	304
ISBN	978-0-803-73274-2

Summary
Natalie is Dr. Aphrodite, her school newspaper's advice columnist. However, her advice is bad and by the time we first meet her, almost everyone is mad at her for telling the girls who write in exactly what she thinks they want to hear instead of telling them how it really is. To find out what guys really think and why they do the things they do, she decides to dress up as Nat, a boy, and attend the nearby Underwood Academy, an all-boys prep school.

My thoughts
In my opinion, the best books are those you can't possibly put down, the books that keep you awake far too long at night and that end far too soon, no matter how many pages they have. Babe in Boyland is definitely one of those books. I read it over the course of approximately two busy days and lost quite a few hours of sleep - and it was all worth it!

The basic premise of this book already exists in quite a few forms - the most popular written version is probably Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (if you haven't read it yet, do so, it's great!) and a fun movie version is She's The Man with Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum (yup, I admit I love that movie!). Despite those well-known takes, Jody Gehrman took the "girl dresses up as a boy, meets a boy and falls for him" story line and made it into an amazing book to read!

Besides the plot that kept me going and never bored me in the least, and Jody Gehrman's wonderful writing, I especially loved the way Natalie's character developed. There was a very distinct difference in the Natalie before and in the early stages of her "undercover project" as Nat and her actions towards the end. I really love those developments when they're not all out impossible, awkward and hard to believe. And in this case, I think it is even eye-opening to a certain degree. Cause really, girls and guys still have problems communicating (umm, yeah, I'm like a prime example *blush*).

Natalie's friends are also wonderful characters with dimension. There are Natalie's friends Chloe and Darcy, who help her throughout the whole process, transforming her into Nat and back, they cover for her while she stays at Underwood Academy. These girls have known each other for years. They're very close and always stick up for each other, even if they argue every now and then. One scene in which the girls' close connection is shown in a way I absolutely loved was the Halloween party when they talk about their costumes. The three girls have always dressed up as a threesome, be it Charlie's Angels, the three Stooges or three characters from The Wizard of Oz!

Then there are the slightly crazy geeks Max, Tyler and Earl, and Nat's roommate Emilio at Underwood Academy. May, Tyler and Earl are well aware of the fact that they're far from the most popular guys at Underwood, but they also know that their friendship is a good thing and don't mind their they are probably the nicest guys ever. In a good way! And Emilio is not necessarily a social outcast, but he is the first to admit that he doesn't have any really close friends at school. He had good friends at home, but at Underwood there's no one he can really relate to and so he tends to be quieter and more reclusive in a way.

This book definitely deserves 5 Stars and is already on my best of 2011 list!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill from Breaking The Spine.

Royally Crushed by Niki Burnham
(Simon Pulse - March 22, 2011)

Summary:
Valerie’s life is pretty good. While she’s not the most popular girl in school, she does have decent grades, great friends, and a potential boyfriend. All a girl could want.

Then her mother announces that (1) she’s gay, and (2) she’s leaving Valerie’s dad for her girlfriend. Not what Valerie envisioned for her future. And just when Valerie is getting over this bombshell, her father tells her he’s gotten a new job as protocol chief for the royal family of some obscure European country.

Valerie’s world has come unglued. She can either stay in Virginia with her mom and her über-organized, veggie-burger-eating girlfriend, or go with her dad, leaving everything she knows for some place she’s never heard of. Valerie opts to go, and quickly discovers that it was a mistake — until she meets the prince, and all bets are off!

Reason:
It's all the fault of Shanyn from Chick Loves Lit. I checked my Google reader today and she was the first to bring this one to my attention. I'm more than intrigued by this summary. It seems like Valerie's life will be turned upside down by her parents' decisions regarding their lives. To me it is always interesting to see how teenagers react to abrupt and big changes in their lives.

Now what books are you waiting for?