By Anonymous Writer

First off - thanks to everyone who participated in my Spring Blog Carnival drawing! Your creativity is impressive - loved all the stories about literature-inspired art projects.  Check back soon for winner information!

Second - The Book Report presents:
First Comes Love by Katie Kacvinsky
Review copy received from publisher via Southern Book Bloggers ARC tour

First Comes Love tells the story of finding love with someone unexpected and the unexpected ways in which love can heal you.

This is a delightful romance, told in alternating male and female perspectives as Gray and Dylan share the story of how they meet and fall for each other over the course of a sweltering Arizona summer. The strongest element of the novel is the main characters. Dylan engages the reader from the start - she’s the kind of quirky, free-spirited personality you love and hate and envy and want to be friends with all at once. Gray’s a little harder to like, as he’s carrying around some heavy undisclosed baggage and starts off quite aloof. However, as he falls for Dylan, he softens and opens up, and the reader can’t help but fall for him – a move brilliantly executed by the writing.

Both of these characters speak with voices that are raw and real and Gray is a total guy, which I mean as the highest compliment. I think it’s really difficult for writers to adequately capture the voice of another gender. Most often, male voices written by women (and vice versa) don’t strike me as authentic. For example, men written by women often speak in a neutered voice that isn’t reflective of the way the men I know speak or think. So when an author gets the other gender right – it’s a real accomplishment. Gray’s narrative blew me away with its honesty. Highest praise for this element of the novel.

Other notable elements of First Come Love include: 1) the setting – the places Gray and Dylan explore together become a critical part of their relationship and the reading experience. In fact, the setting operates as the single secondary character in the novel, much better developed and more tangible than any of the other people in the novel, which centers exclusively on Gray and Dylan; and 2) the age of the characters – Gray and Dylan are in their post high-school/early college years. I know there’s lots of discussion in the industry about whether there’s a “new adult” market, which I mostly ignore because it’s irrelevant to my reading experience. That’s about publishers and marketing to booksellers – not readers. I don’t care whether there’s a separate category or not. Readers (young adult and otherwise) don’t want to stop reading about characters just because they age past 18. First Comes Love is a fabulous example of a story well-suited to slightly older characters. This journey would have been much less compelling if told about characters still in high school. Kudos to Kacvinsky for writing it this way and her publishers for putting it on the shelves. Don’t angst about age – just enjoy this story.

I wasn’t enamored of Kacvinsky’s first novel, the YA scifi/dystopian romance Awaken (which I found to be implausible and unsatisfying), but her sophomore effort has made me a fan. If she sticks with the raw, authentic voice she developed for First Comes Love, I will read everything she writes.

Highly recommended for fans of contemporary romance, like Simone Elkeles's Perfect Chemistry series and Miranda Kineally's Catching Jordan. Cover note: the cover is a little cheesy and the models look nothing like either Gray or Dylan, as I pictured them, but don't hold that against this book!

Step right up, folks and experience the 2012 Spring Blog Carnival, hosted by: Pure Imagination, Reading Angel, and Candace's Book Blog.

Welcome to the Arts & Crafts booth where you can win one of three fabulous art-themed books: Wanderlove by Kristin Hubbard, Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley, or Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

All you have to do is respond to one of the following arts & crafts challenges:

1. Describe a literature inspired art project you've created.; OR
2. Create a work of art to depict either a) a scene from your most favorite recent release, or b) a scene from your current MS (if you're a writer).

For example, here's how I would answer the first challenge: in middle school, I read a book called Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. For a class project, I found a doll that resembled Hitty and re-created some of the outfits she is described as wearing during the course of the book. One outfit was a particularly elaborate brown flowered dress circa the 1860's and a pearl-trimmed brown hat. I wish I still had pictures of this, since it was the first and last time I ever sewed anything!

Rules:
- Promotion is open from 12:01 am May 7, 2012 through 11:59 pm ET on May 13, 2012.
- Post your responses in the comments or send your responses to anonymeetpromotions at gmail dot com. Must include email address.
- Pictures and multi-media entries and welcome!
- Enter as many times as you like, but limit one prize per person.
- Two winners will be selected by random drawing. One winner will be selected based on the most creative entry (as determined by me).
- Must be 13 or older to enter.
- Potential winners have 48 hours to respond to prize notification; if no response is received, an alternate winner will be selected.


Good luck!

The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau, narrated by Justine Eyre
Review copy audio book purchased.

I listened to the audio recording of The Indigo Notebook and I’m not quite sure how to review it. My general impression is that I enjoyed it, but as I sat down to review, I realized I was calling out mostly things that troubled me. I tried again and again, but this is what I keep coming back to. I’ll leave it to you to draw your own conclusions.

I’ve always loved travel books and The Indigo Notebook has that exotic location charm in spades. The setting of small Andean town, Otovalo, is described in lovely detail. I particularly enjoyed hearing about all the native dishes that Zeeta and her mother, Layla, try. To call them adventurous eaters would be an understatement! For that reason, I’m glad listened to the audio version, since I have a tendency to skim excessive description. In this book, you won’t want to miss those lush setting details.

Main character, Zeeta, is the first troubling element. She is not a fan of her mother’s world-traveling lifestyle and longs for a “normal” life in the American suburbs. Rather typically, she doesn’t appreciate what she’s got ‘til it’s (almost) gone and then she’s unhappy when Layla begins to curb her free-spirited ways, though that’s what Zeeta’s been begging her to do. I find this to be completely plausible for a self-absorbed teen, but it occasionally made her a grating narrator. Further, Zeeta sometimes seems to know her dream is a little too rose-colored and many characters repeatedly convey the message that “what we think we really want may be the very last thing we need.” This theme is so strong and so prevalent that the reader feels a little pounded by it. All of that makes me wonder why Zeeta – an otherwise perceptive character – doesn’t pick up on it sooner.

When we meet Zeeta, she is on a quest to help Wendell, an indigenous boy adopted by American parents and raised in in the US, find his birth parents. Their slow-developing friendship and romance were enjoyable, though I was incredulous about the ease with which they stumbles upon clues to his parentage and come to just the right place so quickly in their search. I suppose it would be unsatisfying to read about weeks of fruitless searching through boring archives, and Wendell does have some mystical psychic powers. So I’m sort of willing to just chalk that up to a combination of magical realism and plot necessity and move on.

One thing I can’t get past is the portrayal of the local population. I worry it was stereotypical. In the Otovalo of the The Indigo Notebook, most of the natives Zeeta meets are impoverished, but satisfied with their lives and wise as to the ways of the heart and the soul. I’ve never been to Ecuador and I cannot speak with any authority about the indigenous population there, but it felt like a stereotype of the wise Native. I understand Resau has spent time in this region, has close relationships there and donates some of her royalties to non-profits working with indigenous peoples. I do not mean to cast any aspersions in making this comment, but I can’t help but say that the portrayal of natives in this novel made me uncomfortable.

Finally, actors can make or break an audio version of a novel and I’ve experienced both. As with the story itself, my review of The Indigo Notebook’s narrator, Justine Eyre, is mixed. Eyre sounds too old for Zeeta and her reading is quite precise – almost affected. She has no accent and many accents at once. At first, this troubled me, but ultimately I decided that is the perfect voice for Zeeta, who is from no where and everywhere all at once, and who is mature beyond her years from handling the practical aspects of her mother’s wandering life. I also really enjoyed the voice Eyre used for hippie-dippie Layla. But while she got that one spot-on, Eyre missed the mark with Wendell. He ended up sounding more like a dumb surfer dude than a sensitive, thoughtful, artsy, troubled young man.

All of this sounds like I didn’t enjoy this book, but I did find The Indigo Notebook entertaining. I am planning on reading or listening to the sequels. I can’t quite put my finger on why I liked it or what I enjoyed as easily as I can on the elements that troubled me. Maybe that’s reason enough to recommend it! Read it for yourself to see whether you’re caught up by Zeeta’s travels, despite the flaws.

Once again, blogging has been sporadic. So has writing, for that matter. ARGH! Life! Why must you get in the way of more important things – like writing reading and talking about writing reading?

First up – housekeeping!
I will be hosting a booth for the Spring Blog Carnival, hosted by Pure Imagination, Reading Angel and Candace’s Book Blog. During the Carnival, some 50 bloggers are giving away books – and really, what more can any of us ask for? I’m hosting the Arts & Crafts booth, so BOLO for an artsy-craftsy themed contest and art themed books. The fun starts May 7!

Next in line - some VERY exciting book releases tomorrow. We’ve all been jonesing for Bitterblue for ages and it’s finally here! Or at least, with the USPS and on its way to my house. Same goes for Insurgent, sequel to Divergent, one of the few dystopians I’ve really enjoyed. Also – did you notice that Veronica Roth posted a re-cap of Divergent? What a cool idea! If you have too many books on your TBR to re-read Divergent just now, no worried. Read her post and you can dive right in to Insurgent without wondering what all the things you’re forgetting are!

Finally – on to the reviews! To play catch up – these are mini-reviews of some of the things I’ve read lately.

Shifting by Bethany Wiggins
Review copy received from Elana Johnson via blog tour

Bethany Wiggin’s shifter tale (tail? har, har) incorporates fascinating Native American legendry and a unique New Mexico setting. Both elements were welcome changes from your typical paranormal romance. Maggie Mae was a strong, independent heroine and I think many readers will identify with her struggles to fit in. In many ways, Maggie Mae’s power can be read as a metaphor for the difference that all teenagers feel. When done well, this trope among paranormals – casting difference as otherworldly or paranormal – is a compelling way for teenage readers to work through that feeling of “no one else is like me and no one else can possibly understand what I’m going through.” Shifter does a credible job with this, which along with the use of Navajo legend, makes for a compelling read.

Shifter will appeal to paranormal romance fans, especially since the storytelling and writing are a cut above much of the recent PNR fare.

Ghost and the Goth (Books 1 and 2) by Stacey Kade
Review copies purchased.

Sucked in by the cute covers, I’ve flirted around these books for a while. They tell the story of mean girl, Alona, who dies in a tragic accident and comes back as a ghost to team up with Goth boy/ghost whisperer, Will. They’re told in alternating chapters by Will and Alona. The first book is a cute, quick, light-hearted read – and Will and Alona’s maybe-relationship will be satisfying for those who like stories with a romantic element. I wasn’t as enamored of the second book in the series. To me, it would have been fascinating to focus on that maybe-relationship. I mean, how fraught could it be, how much room for rom-com quirkiness is there, when you have a ghost and a human trying to date? Unfortunately, the book didn’t go there. Instead, it introduced some new characters who weren’t as compelling but got a lot of screen time. The description of the third book suggests the relationship drama may play a more central role. I hope so, but for now, it’s not at the top of by TBR pile.

Ghost and the Goth series will appeal to fans of ghost stories and PNR.

The Lifeguard by Deborah Blumenthal
Review copy purchased.

The Lifeguard is different than your average summer romance novel. I have tried the summer/beach/lifeguard romance in a number of incarnations and have never, ever been satisfied. They’re always too saccharine, too shallow, too – something. It’s the kind of thing I’ve learned to pass over. That is why I reluctantly picked up The Lifeguard at B&N this weekend to read a few pages. I remain surprised but GLAD that I did. This novel is more thoughtful than anything else I’ve encountered in this genre without devolving into an emo or maudlin narrative. I didn’t have much patience for Sirena’s backstory (call me unfair if you will, but I just wanted her to get over the divorcing parents issue), but Sirena’s burgeoning feelings for lifeguard Pilot are something else entirely. This is no saccharine love story; it is rather an explanation of falling in love and teetering on the brink of obsession. In fact, I would rather have seen more screen time given to that exploration than to Sirena coming to terms with the divided life that awaits her back home in Texas at summer’s end.

This novel is for any reader who likes a thoughtful summer romance, who doesn’t mind a having bit of magic and a few ghosts thrown in to the mix, and for any girl who’s ever liked a boy more than she should when it seems he doesn’t reciprocate the feelings.

Girl in the Park by Mariah Fredericks
Review copy received from publisher via Southern Book Bloggers ARC tour

When Wendy Geller, a student with a checkered past from a wealthy private school in New York City, turns up dead in Central Park, her former friend, Rain, takes it upon herself to figure out what really happened.

Rain was born with a cleft palate and spoke with a severe speech impediment when she was younger. Embarrassment over the teasing and bullying she suffered rendered her a nearly-silent person. The courage it takes for her to become Wendy’s voice in death is admirable. Rain also struggles with being powerless and I enjoyed the book’s exploration of what it means to be different in a place like her fancy NYC Private school that values only a certain type of difference – i.e., an eclectic and talented type of difference, not “Other” type of difference. I also enjoyed the way Rain uses Facebook to investigate her suspicions about Wendy’s murder. Nice to see a YA novel confronting how the information we put out there about ourselves reads when we’re not there to explain.

At its heart, Girl in the Park is supposed to be a murder mystery. Over the course of about a week, Rain searches for Wendy’s killer. This is a quiet sort of murder mystery - more Agatha Christie than John Grisham. Unfortunately, it felt a little pedestrian to me. Rain uncovers most, if not all, of the clues by having conversations with people. As stated above, this mere fact is an accomplishment for Rain, because of her overpowering fear of talking with people, but it makes for a less than compelling mystery investigation. There was no action, and I never felt a sense of impending danger for Rain, even though she’s physically attacked in one scene. I’ve seen other reviews lauding the mystery element of the novel, but I found it predictable. The book lacked the twists one expects in a tightly-crafted mystery and people who read of lot of mysteries will see the true perp coming from a mile away.

A few other inconsistencies rendered the book flat for me. For example, I found it strange that Rain’s friend, a student newspaper investigative journalist, plays a limited role in Rain’s investigation. Rain is close to her mother, but at inexplicable (though plot-important) times excludes her from major decisions. Rain comes across as an almost sexless character, so the crush she developed inside of a week felt contrived  - more plot conveniences than plot twists. And finally, the visits to Rain’s post-stroke grandmother, which revealed certain of Rain’s character attributes, felt like unnecessary detours as they otherwise didn’t contribute to the mystery plot.

I’ve seen a number of very positive reviews of this book, but unfortunately, it just didn’t speak to me.

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman
Review copy purchased

If Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian, AS Bayatt’s Possession and Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code had a teenage lovechild, it would be The Book of Blood and Shadow.

In this novel, a band of teens tracks down an ancient mystery that begins with some old letters, continues with a murder, and culminates in a quest for a cryptic machine that could change the world – or destroy it. Nora, her best friend Chris and his roommate Max stumble upon the mystery when they work as Latin translators for a college professor who is studying a never-decoded work by a Renaissance-era alchemist. Nora is distressed to be assigned translation of the alchemist’s daughter’s letters – fearing she’s been given a light-weight task because she is a girl, though she is the better translator. However, Nora discovers that the letters she is translating contain the real mystery and that this young woman from hundreds of years ago and Nora herself just might hold the key to it all.

When an accident befalls the college professor, Chris is murdered, Max is accused of the crime, and not one but two mysterious ancient secret societies start following Nora herself, she takes off on an international chase to solve the mystery before it’s too late for Max – and for her.

This novel is a beautifully written, well-researched and vivid history mystery/literary mystery. Wasserman adds depth not typically found in your average thriller characters. And if the teenagers in this novel seem a bit more erudite than your average high school kid, well – so what? Suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride. Nora in particular shines as she emerges from the state of suspended animation in which she had lived since her brother’s death some years before. Readers wonder along with her what makes her identify so strongly with the alchemist’s daughter at the heart of the mystery, and also experience Nora’s doubt and misgiving and fear as a parade of mysterious and untrustworthy characters show up to help her follow the clues.

The clues themselves – the mystery part of this mystery – are sufficiently cagey to give the casual readers fits. Careful readers and hardcore fans of the mystery genre might spot the real bad guy and figure out where other characters’ loyalties lie without much trouble, but even guessing the ending won’t dim your enjoyment of the read.

My only negative comment is that I wish the novel had received a better cover treatment - one more indicative of the intricate mystery in store. However, most importantly, The Book of Blood and Shadow is a fantastic read and epitomizes what’s right about the YA genre – great writing and great character development in a book that doesn’t forget to provide the reader with a walloping good plot. Highly recommended for all readers, regardless of age, this novel is the definition of cross-over appeal.

Read an interesting piece in the HuffPost about getting rid of the smartphone. The crux is this: the author decided to get rid of her smartphone because she was compelled to check it at all times. Her ability to multi-task improved, but her ability to focus suffered.

Bad? Yes, certainly.

But here's a revolutionary idea. Self-regulate.

The idea of discarding something with good qualities because it also had bad ones is too extreme. I don't think it's actually focus that we've lost. We've lost the ability to self-discipline. I have a smartphone. I also have a job that's fairly high pressure. There is an expectation in my industry that because you can answer anytime, anywhere, you should do so. Some projects are time-sensitive and demand an immediate response, even late at night. Most don't. So I resist the expectation. After I leave the office, I don't check my email constantly. If I know a time-sensitive item is coming, I check it. Otherwise I check it maybe once and I use my judgement to decide whether something is urgent and needs a response. If not - I don't answer. I leave it until the following day. 

I don't have my phone by my side duirng family dinner, but I did enjoy having my smartphone available to take a cute 30 second video of my 2-year old son chanelling Charlton Heston during the reading of a Passover picture book before bed the other night, when he was singing loudly LET MY PEOPLE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! My son loved seeing it played back. My far-flung family enjoyed the video I beamed off to them seconds later.

We only have 1 TV in our house, so sometimes, while the kids watch cartoons, I zone out and read on the Kindle app on my phone. Or play Angry Birds. Other times, we watch together.

You know what? The sky has not fallen. I have not lost my job. I finish my projects on time and fulfill expectations. My family life is robust and full. I accomplish this by using my judgement and self-regulating my smart phone use.

I whish people to consider the idea that we are the problem, not the technology. It's so reactionary. It's much harder to change ourselves than it is to throw away a device. I get that. I don't say this to sound judgemental or superior. I know some people have jobs where they would get in trouble for failing to answer or people who really do have an addictive sort of personality. My husband has a much harder time, for example, putting the phone down. But I don't want him to get rid of the thing. I just want to him to work on stepping away sometimes.

I think a lot of things in life right now would benefit from moderation instead of extremism. Technology use is only one of them.

The List by Siobhan Vivian
Review copy received from publisher via Southern Book Bloggers ARC tour

In The List, Siobhan Vivian tells the tale of Mount Washington High School Homecoming Week. For Mount Washington’s female students, the week involves not only anticipation of a big dance and a beautiful dress, but also dealing with the aftermath of the “The List,” which names the prettiest and ugliest girl in each grade. The List is told by eight Mount Washington girls; each girl has a chance to tell the tale of what happens to her in the wake of “making The List.”

This book is a sensitive and nuanced portrait not so much of what it means to be beautiful or ugly, but of what happens when we label ourselves and others as those things. For example, how does being publically deemed “beautiful” impact a young woman who had begun the devastating descent into an eating disorder? How does a young woman who strives to be unconventional react when she is called her “ugly?” What will happen to the friendships of a “beautiful” girl when her inner ugly is called out, and, on the flip side, are the new friendships of a previously homeschooled “pretty” girl for real or just 15 minutes of popularity? What happens when the new principal tells the girls they’ve all been victimized and vows to seek out the creator of "The List?" Will her intervention unify the girls or will they stay silent and let a painful tradition continue without standing up to it?

The List conjured up vivid personal memories. My high school had a list. It featured only the senior girls and made mean assessments about many – though not all – of them. I don’t remember the list from my senior year – not even in the slightest. I’m fairly confident I wasn’t on it, because I would have remembered that and also because I wasn’t part of any noticeable crowd in high school. But I do remember the list from my junior year – in particular the comment that was made about the senior TA from my Earth Science class. I don’t even remember that girl’s name, but I remember verbatim the crass, cruel thing that was said about her. Strange how memory works – but the point this anecdote attempts to make, and that Vivian’s novel makes, is how indelible are the marks made by something like “The List.”

I felt the pace of The List was a bit slow. A great deal of time is spent on the initial reactions of the girls on the first day. I understand that is a consuming moment, but between that and the eight different voices (which created a bit of a disjointed narrative), it took me a while to get into this book. However, I am a huge fan of Vivian’s work and the way she handles critical questions about the female experience. I looked back at my review of Not That Kind of Girl and found many similarities in the way I reviewed these two works. I realized that is because Vivian asks hard questions and leaves it to her reader to confront them. The List provides limited resolutions for most of the characters – readers are left to draw many of their own conclusions. Rather than being dissatisfying, this is a realistic and engaging way to end the novel.

This book is highly recommended to all, but particularly to young women and men who have struggled with the issue of appearance-based labeling.

Yet another insufferable snob bashes YA, relegating it to the "embarassing" realm of "tween girls." Mind you - he doesn't actually read YA. He's too busy reading 300 years of adult literature.

I'm not mad at Joel Stein. Rather, I pity him. How insecure he must be to fear the embarassment of being caught holding - gasp! - a YA novel. How will the random stranger on the street be immediately struck by his erudition and brilliance if he reads The Hunger Games? How will the world at large know he is a man's man, a scholarly deep-thinking macho man, if he admits enjoyment in books that tween girls also enjoy?

More importantly - who cares?

This is a cheap ploy to sell a book. Generating YA-related controversy isn't hard. The YA community is outspoken and we will take to the Internet to defend our passion for this genre. Seems to me if you want to get noticed, the quickest and easiest way to do so is to bash YA. Now everyone who clicks through the above link will know his first book is coming out in May. It's called "Man Made: A Stupid Quest for Masculinity". I find the title pretty apt in light of the deep insecurity his op-ed reveals.

I wonder, too, if Mr. Stein's bitter invective isn't spurred a little by jealousy. Am I the only one who doubts Mr. Stein's own forthcoming tome will speak as deeply to as many people as The Hunger Games? Or - more pertinently - sell as many copies?

Personally, I don't buy products from salesmen (make no mistake, that's all Mr. Stein is here - a man selling his own wares) who insult my intelligence and belittle me. But hey, no hard feelings, Mr. Stein. I don't respect your short-sighted, ill-conceived opinion, so I'm not going to take it personally. I even hope some good will come out of you publically airing your snobbery. Maybe you'll sell a few more copies of that novel. That's your real aim, isn't it?

Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg
Review copy received from publisher via Southern Book Bloggers ARC tour
Take a Bow is Fame! for the new millennium. In alternating chapters, this novel tells the story of four seniors at an ultra-competitive performing arts high school in NYC: Ethan (lead singer of the band Teenage Kicks), Emme (guitarist/songwriter, emerging star in Teenage Kicks), Sophie (ambitious singer/actress) and Carter (former child star struggling with future acting plans).

This is a fast, fun read with a compelling story line about the pressures of succeeding in the world of the performing arts and the sacrifices people make to reach the top. Every reader will likely see a little of herself in the characters, whether or not she’s tried to make it as an actor or singer. For example, I connected with Emme’s sense that she’s over shadowed by her friend, Sophie, and I sympathized with Carter’s struggle to determine who and what he really wants to be. (One interesting note on form: Carter’s chapters reflect dialog in the form of a script –a fitting touch for a character who’s been reading scripts since he was a small child!)

Sophie’s a decent villain – cutthroat, catty, ambitious – and certainly plausible. However, for me, her story was the least compelling. It would have been interesting to see the backstory of her extreme desire for fame, as well as her internal struggle with her failure to meteorically rise to the top at school. Unfortunately, we’re mostly treated to a view of the ultra-competitive tactics she uses to get ahead, her increasingly desperate desire to succeed, and the not-so-surprising way she uses Emme. Where her chapters could have added depth and sympathy to the villain (in the vein of Emily Giffin’s Something Blue), instead they merely confirm for the reader that Emme’s real friends are right about Sophie’s lack of loyalty.

Ethan and Emme’s will-they-or-won’t-they romance and the story of Emme blossoming into a star performer, at the expense of her friendship with Sophie, will speak to fans of character driven contemporary novels. Though the novel is best described as light, readers will appreciate the nods to grittier elements, such as alcohol abuse, which add the weight of realism to the book.

Ultimately, readers will cheer along with the characters as they struggle through senior year and make choices about their future as people and as performers. Take a Bow will appeal to fans of Eulberg’s other titles, Sarah Dessen fans and anyone with a nostalgic passion for Fame!