In My Mailbox #6

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme brought about by The Story Siren. It's a fun way to share what you're reading, reviewing, about to read, etc. All images below are from Goodreads.

On the Bookshelf:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Peeled by Joan Bauer

Best Foot Forward by Joan Bauer

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

What's in your Mailbox?

Waiting on Wednesday #9

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine where bloggers post spotlights on upcoming releases that they're eagerly anticipating.

This week, my pick is The Princess of Iowa by M. Molly Backes. Publication Date: May 8th 2012 by Candlewick.

Goodreads summary: What does it mean to do wrong, when no one punishes you? A smart and unflinching look at friendship, the nature of entitlement, and growing up in the heartland.

Paige Sheridan has the perfect life. She's pretty, rich, and popular, and her spot on the homecoming court is practically guaranteed. But when a night of partying ends in an it-could-have-been-so-much worse crash , everything changes. Her best friends start ignoring her, her boyfriend grows cold and distant, and her once-adoring younger sister now views her with contempt. The only bright spot is her creative writing class, led by a charismatic new teacher who encourages students to be true to themselves.

But who is Paige, if not the homecoming princess everyone expects her to be? In this arresting and witty debut, a girl who was once high-school royalty must face a truth that money and status can't fix, and choose between living the privileged life of a princess, or owning up to her mistakes and giving up everything she once held dear.

The Hunger Games

I was a little bit leery about starting this trilogy. First, I prefer books with a first person point of view. Second, I don't like present tense. Third, I thought it was a little rip-off of the concept of Gladiators and this one book I can't remember the title of but was basically about children being forced to fight to the death. When I come up with the title, I'll get back to you. Promise.

So as you can see, there were many things piled up against The Hunger Games. Add to the fact that I think the 'dystopian' genre is a bit irritating since it's basically YA Science Fiction (personal opinion, feel free to calmly state why you think I'm right/wrong) and you get one book that I really shouldn't like.

But ... I liked it. I mean, liked it so much I couldn't put it down. At all. I finished it yesterday and I'm buying it tomorrow so I can go to work, come home, and ignore my social life so I can finish book 2. And then, when I'm finished with that, I'll buy book 3 and repeat the cycle.

Show of comments: Who's seeing The Hunger Games when it comes out on March 23rd?

Waiting on Wednesday #8

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine where bloggers post spotlights on upcoming releases that they're eagerly anticipating.

This week, my pick is A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger. Publication Date: June 5th 2012 by Poppy (first published May 1st 2011).

Goodreads summary: Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorce dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancee and her kids. The fiancee's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin' great.

Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.

Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger's most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about.

Cats as Fonts

I love cats and fonts. There are numerous adorable kitten videos being watched on YouTube and dozens of typefaces copywriters are debating over. Helvetica? Arial? Comic Sans? Nooooo. Never Comic Sans. But together?

Presenting: Cats as Fonts from I Can Has Cheeseburger. My favorites are Helvetica and Courier. What about you?

Teaser Tuesday: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser Tuesday pick is:

"On our way out, Archie said, more to me than to Kevin, I thought: 'You'll know her more by your questions than her answers. Keep looking at her long enough. One day you might see someone you know.'" - Stargirl, pg. 35

Book Review: Hope was Here by Joan Bauer

Goodreads Review: What happens when a saucy, optimistic teenager and a terrific short-order diner cook head to Mulhoney, Wisconsin? Great apple pie, a killer mayoral election, and a heartfelt story about life in a rural town.

Readers will immediately fall in love with 16-year-old Hope. She has bounced from place to place, serving plates of meat loaf and frittata specials to diner patrons cooked up by her aunt Addie, with whom she lives. Since changing her name from Tulip to Hope, this protagonist always tries to live up to her name, offering readers an uplifting look at politics, love, friendship, and, literally, life, as a waitress at G. T. Stoop's Welcome Stairways diner. -Soozan Baxter

My Review: Ok, so for whatever reason the Goodreads review for Hope was Here isn't like the other book reviews on Goodreads, as I think it's a bit too revealing for a review. I've only added the first few paragraphs and I linked it so you can read the rest of their review.

This was a great book. Hope had a distinct, realistic personality. While reading through this book, I could actually see myself walking into a diner, ordering food, and listening to this group of characters talk around me as I'm enjoying the chef's favorite. I liked the multiple layers in this story. There's Hope's issue of having a mother who gave her away, a father who left and her adopted mother who is also her aunt who loves her and cares for her. Hope's spent a good portion of her life moving to different cities and we learn that someone embezzled money from her and left them essentially broke. Now in the new city in Mulhoney, Wisconsin, there's the added layer of small town corruption and the desire for good against evil. Or what is right and what is actually happening in politics.

It's obvious, to me, that this was a very well-thought out story, that it was plotted very well and that the dialogue seems to flow naturally and never comes across forced. Each action and reaction has a purpose, yet it comes across so effortlessly that you barely notice the correlation between that particular scene and the next plot twist.

I feel like I can relate to this story and I think other readers can as well. There's a segment where the owner of he diner, G.T. reveals he has cancer but still decides to run for mayor. The main questions: Will he live long enough to make office? Will he even make office?

All the characters and scenes in the story work well together, and all these questions floated in my head until I finished the story and wished that there were new questions to be answered.

Score: 4/5