Library Meditations…Friendship

Welcome to another addition of meditation quotes. This week me and my yoga gals meditated on the idea of friendship, and our love for our friends. The girls didn’t pick this week’s theme, I started to gather some quotes on love and thought that my teenage group might be better served by the warm thoughts of friendship than the pressure of love (in high school also known as Who’s Dating Who…)

Plus, I didn’t think my high schoolers were ready for quotes proclaiming that what you want in a man is humor and loyalty…judging by their Google searches and computer backgrounds muscles and dreamy eyes still seem to be the main motivation for romantic love…

Considering my own hormones aren’t dead I’ll give them that it’s a convincing argument…

But I’ve been in a relationship long enough to know that the quotes are right…in the end you just want someone to be with you no matter what…someone you’re not embarrassed to fart in front of 😉 Ha. Teens out there are still thinking “Oh the Horror!”

But I believe girls of any age can appreciate the value of a friend who will more than tolerate some flatulence…she’ll giggle her way through the situation, and nod understandingly when you mention something about too many FiberOne bars…

All of the quotes below were read aloud to my students just a few short minutes ago. And I encourage you to scan through them yourself and try to see if one catches your imagination more than others. I encourage my girls to do the same. Because as voracious readers we know nothing can be as powerful as a well written phrase that catches our fancy. And a good friend is worth her weight in gold.

Enjoy. And Namaste.

Without Further Ado…Friendship Quotes

There are big ships and small ships. But the best ship of all is friendship. ~Author Unknown

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. ~Douglas Pagels

Friendship isn’t a big thing – it’s a million little things. ~Author Unknown

A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down. ~Arnold Glasow

Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. – Albert Camus

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. ~Elisabeth Foley

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. ~William Blake

A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails. ~Donna Roberts

Friends are those rare people who ask how you are and then wait for the answer. ~Author Unknown

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. ~Aristotle

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. ~C.S. Lewis

A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out. ~Grace Pulpit

Cherish the friend who tells you a harsh truth, wanting ten times more to tell you a loving lie. ~Robert Brault

Our most difficult task as a friend is to offer understanding when we don’t understand. ~Robert Brault

Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. ~Plautus

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. – Marcel Proust

A real friend is someone who would feel loss if you jumped on a train, or in front of one. ~Author Unknown

It takes a long time to grow an old friend. ~John Leonard

“Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” ― Abraham Lincoln

He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare, and he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A true friend reaches for your hand and touches your heart. ~Attributed to Heather Pryor

“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.” ― Linda Grayson

“Why did you do all this for me?” he asked. “I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.’
You have been my friend,’ replied Charlotte. ‘That in itself is a tremendous thing.” ― E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down. – Oprah Winfrey

But oh! the blessing it is to have a friend to whom one can speak fearlessly on any subject; with whom one’s deepest as well as one’s most foolish thoughts come out simply and safely. Oh, the comfort – the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person – having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. ~Dinah Craik

A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably. ~William Penn

We are the captains of our own ships sailing the sea of life, but in times of a stormy weather, you will discover true friends when they don’t hesitate to be a lighthouse. ~Dodinsky

I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better. ~Plutarch

The best time to make friends is before you need them. ~Ethel Barrymore

Never explain – your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway. – Elbert Hubbard

If you’re alone, I’ll be your shadow. If you want to cry, I’ll be your shoulder. If you want a hug, I’ll be your pillow. If you need to be happy, I’ll be your smile. But anytime you need a friend, I’ll just be me. ~Author Unknown

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Poem: I Carry Your Heart With Me by E. E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

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Barefoot Season (Blackberry Island #1) by Susan Mallery

Summary from GoodReads

(a.k.a. didn’t like this one enough to booktalk)

Michelle Sanderson may appear to be a strong, independent woman, but on the inside, she’s still the wounded girl who fled home years ago. A young army vet, Michelle returns to the quaint Blackberry Island Inn to claim her inheritance and recover from the perils of war. Instead, she finds the owner’s suite occupied by the last person she wants to see.

Carly Williams and Michelle were once inseparable, until a shocking betrayal destroyed their friendship. And now Carly is implicated in the financial disaster lurking behind the inn’s cheerful veneer.

Single mother Carly has weathered rumors, lies and secrets for a lifetime, and is finally starting to move forward with love and life. But if the Blackberry Island Inn goes under, Carly and her daughter will go with it.

To save their livelihoods, Carly and Michelle will undertake a turbulent truce. It’ll take more than a successful season to move beyond their devastating past, but with a little luck and a beautiful summer, they may just rediscover the friendship of a lifetime.

Review

Right from the beginning of this book I had some confusion…

Issues:

• I get that a bunch of sh*t went down in High School – but I don’t know how successful the introduction of the Ellen character was. On Michelle’s re-meet they seemed to always have been acquaintances. From Carly’s point of view they were once friends (all three of them) now they’re enemies…confused…
• Don’t see how Michelle deserves to be so angry at Carly…Just doesn’t seem appropriate. Carly overwhelmingly seems to be the victim.
• How does Carly have all these amazing ideas and yet never used them at the inn? She’s always shocked that Michelle works so well with her and yet they’ve never (past the 1st day) had a business meeting that didn’t.

Biggest of all of these issues was the whole Michelle hating Carly situation. Let’s break it down…

Michelle has a crush on a guy.

Carly ends up dating said guy…Michelle never made a play for him = No harm no foul.

Carly becomes engaged to said guy

Michelle has sex with said guy right before his wedding to Carly…Carly walks in on the sexy-times. (From this point on I’ll be referring to ‘said guy’ as ‘a$$’.)

Carly still marries the a$$ and becomes pregnant.

A$$ leaves her and takes all the money.

Leaving Carly with nothing, about 8 months pregnant.

Fast forward to the beginning of this book where EVERYONE pities Michelle.

Do you understand how Michelle became the victim?

Nope. Neither did I. It eerked me to say the least.

If this was supposed to be a girlfriend novel then I want more depth and more likable characters…not just a martyr and a bitch. It took them too long to reach a reconciliation point with too much tell and not enough show along the way. And *Spoiler Alert* At the end of the book I still have no idea why everyone pitied Michelle over Carly.

This read it fell flat for me. I wasn’t getting my friendship novel…And don’t hold your breath for romance either. It’s a side note at best and comes with its own issues. You see, Carly is thought of as this big slut from High School (though she’s only slept with her ex-husband) and while I think it’s unfair for her to have this reputation she still jumped into bed with her love interest real quick. Quick like, hi I just met you and let’s have a quickie: you’ve got 10 minutes…Go!

And that would be one of the few times a sexual relationship happens in the novel. Though for Carly it held weight because she thinks this later while gazing upon her lover:

“She remembered that body from their lone but very powerful sexual encounter” (30 pgs from end of book)

What I immediately thought following my reading of this was that this ‘encounter’ (of the third kind?) was 10 minutes long and that Carly was kinda slutty.

I’ve turned into one of her high school classmates! The book did it to me. I didn’t like anyone but the dog by the end of this one. I was so sick of waiting for them to begin to change their lives and attitudes. However, the relationship between Michelle’s PTSD healing and her adoption of an abused dog was beautiful. Wish the book had been simply about that.

Rating: 1/5 This should have been a friend book or a romance book. 364 pages was not enough for this author to do both…  

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Looking for Alaska by John Green

BookTalk

Miles “Pudge” Halter’s claim to fame is memorizing famous last words. Take Henrik Ibsen, the playwright. Well, he’d been sick for a while and his nurse said to him ‘You seem to be feeling better this morning’ and Ibsen looked at her and said, ‘On the contrary.’ and then he died. Or Civil war General Albert Sidney Johnston, who when asked if he was injured answered, “Yes, and I fear seriously” and then he died. Finally, we have poet Francois Rebelais. Who’s last words of: “I go to seek a Great Perhaps” spur Pudge into a life changing decision.

Previously a slightly friendless Florida high school-er, Pudge transfers schools his junior year choosing his father’s Alma Mater of Culver Creek Boarding School. Here he will make friends with The Colonel, named such for his gift of planning pranks, Lara the cute Romanian, Takumi the rapping chinaman, and Alaska, the sexiest, moodiest, most exciting, self-destructive, reading, smoking, master-pranker Pudge has ever met. Like all good stories this tale hinges on a single event…Before it was all fun, games, and adventure….After nothing will ever be the same…

Review

To be honest when this novel started I thought it was going to go in a different direction. Something not so ambivalent. I thought it was going to have something to do with a prank gone wrong. Maybe a sudden disaster or accident. What eventually happens is unsettling. Not so much because the turning point is a dramatic scene. It’s the swiftness, the unexpected and yet quietly shown change that is so challenging.

I’ll admit that I don’t often look to my covers for book inspiration. While I love a good cover as much as the next person rarely do I rely on the image to portray an actual person/theme/feeling that exists in the book. But that image of the candle just blown out…That is the perfect image for the novel. That is exactly what happens. And that is exactly why dealing with the major plot point of the novel is so hard. There is no reason, no one to blame. Not even clear 20/20 hindsight with which to deal with your emotions. If it’s this hard as a reader imagine the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the characters.

This is the shortest review ever…Looking for Alaska is a YA classic for a reason. Perfect for the high school reader. I won’t go any further because if you’ve read it…you know what I’m talking about. And if you haven’t, I’m not going to ruin a classic.

Rating: 4.5/5 Just short of perfect on my personal scale…ambivalent ending got me… 

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Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater *Spoilers*

Click Here to enter to win a Signed copy of Forever

*Spoilers*

Review

This was by far my favorite book of the series. I know it ends without resolving the wolf/human problem…but still, it seemed strangely finished to me. Having that last image of a fall leaf as a wedding band around Grace’s finger is a beautiful one. Leaving the couple on the verge of transformation and future. Whether that future be a traditional marriage and family, or a life in the wild as wolves remains to be seen. But I guess ultimately the reader feels as though whatever the choice, the love between Grace and Sam will have its forever together.

I think Isabel and Cole will also have a future. Maybe if Cole is ever cured he’ll join Isabel in California. Their relationship was always far more realistic than Sam and Graces…never an instant forever attraction…instead it seems like one that will grow over time. Not everyone needs to find marriage at 17.

Now for just a few things I loved about Cole and Isabel’s relationship this book:

• The little black mustang Isabel gave Cole, and that scene where Cole drives the car around Isabel’s body. Seeing Cole play with it at inopportune moments. Very endearing.
• The scene where Cole and Isabel are hiding underneath the lab table – making out!? – and getting caught by Isabel’s mom…who (luckily, lol) just kind of rolls her eyes and lets the two of them off the hook.
• Isabel watching Cole give his life for Sam and Grace and then rolling that SUV off the road to save the pack. She, more than anyone, has given to a cause that has done nothing but hurt her throughout this series. For that I will always love Isabel as my favorite character from Mercy Falls. That girl has heart and guts and deserves the kisses and affection of that hot St. Claire boy.

*sigh*

Now more random notes about Forever…

I also loved the scene in the beginning of the book where Isabel loses it at the Italian restaurant and her mother again saves the day with understanding rarely seen in parents in this series. The way her mother instantly understands the situation and helps her daughter was unique and heartwarming. It was just perfect to see Isabel finally show some emotion over all that she’s been dealing with and then getting the support of her mother. That scene made me very happy.

Another happy moment was when Sam and Grace drive off to see the northern lights. Throughout these novels Grace and Sam get one good scene per book. One happy, uncomplicated, field trip where they just get to be two crazy kids in love. The whole thing reminded me of getting lost in the country with my hubby when we were teens. Granted he was never lost because he has a good sense of direction…where as I couldn’t find my way out of a paper bag with a map. Still it’s the thought that counts, and it’s always kind of romantic to be alone in a car watching the stars with the man you love.

I guess I’m a little sad to be leaving Mercy Falls. Part of me wishes I knew what really happened to all the characters in the future. But I think that the strength in the ending is really that Stiefvater picked her battle. She chose to focus on the struggle to find a new leader of the pack and the escape from the shotgun of Tom Culpepper. Her characters matured and are now ready to face their lives as adults. At the age of 18 there’s no way to ensure a happily ever after anyway…Because fans of Mercy Falls are all hoping for a long life and relationship between Grace and Sam and to have a full life is to have one full of both joy and sorrow. The ending of this series is really the beginning of life for its characters.

Who else is hoping for a 10 year update? lol. Maybe Stiefvater will return to the falls someday…

Rating: 9/10

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Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls #2) by Maggie Stiefvater *Spoilers*

*Spoilers*

Review

One of my favorite parts of this book was when Grace told off her parents. I normally don’t support this type of outburst from teen characters. I often find that either the adult they are ranting at was such a caricature of a person that it seems unfair…or that they aren’t seeing a valid adult point of view. Not so in Mercy Falls. Grace’s parents aren’t super strict or super unfair, they just kind of ignore the fact that they have a child. And they have a good child. A cooking, homework completing, friend-having child. And that they finally care after all these years…after Grace has finally assembled her own support system is both realistic and the epitome of the word injustice. I read the section where she tells them off twice! And my only critique was that if I was Grace…I would have run away that night!

And Sam had his own bit of empowerment. In this book Sam really begins to come into his humanness. It’s like watching the thaw from winter to spring. Even when Grace is dying/changing into a wolf, Sam is still secure in his choice to stay human. It’s what makes their love so heart-wrenching…They’re obviously meant to be together but both are driven by what’s inside them to desire wolf or human. Neither feels the need to force the other to stay one way or another. You can’t help but fall for the connection these two have. Everyone who sees them feels it.

Now to the eye candy of the novel…I’ll say this first, Cole is hot! But he’s so self-centered. I just don’t think that his issues stand up to his attitude. I mean, I get that stuff went wrong in his life – jaded rock star and all. But others in these books have more valid issues and less trouble interacting with others…Sam’s parents tried to kill him, Isabelle’s parents are on the verge of divorce and she’s lost a brother, and Grace could be dying. What’s so wrong with being Cole St. Claire anyway? He’s a rock star genius whose parents believed in him. Wow, bad luck with that one. When he throws Sam into the bathroom with the tub, or is unable to help Victor…to watch Victor die because of Cole’s decision. I was really seeing no redeeming qualities in Cole. Until he saves the day at the end of the story by finally getting with the program and helping, I was ready to kick Cole out of the pack…call up Tom Culpepper!

But wait…if we got rid of Cole we wouldn’t have the relationship between Cole and Isabelle. There were those scenes where they began to break down each other’s walls. So amazing. Probably my favorite part of the book. Watching them begin to save each other – to see the life and the fight come back to each of them was invigorating. Between the kissing, muscles, and opening up I was hooked. They keep dropping lines claiming that their love is nothing like Grace and Sam’s but I think they aren’t seeing how special it is that they are able to open up to one another.

In the end I admit, sometimes in these novels I get a little lost. There’s so much seriousness…the looks, longing, moments to read into. I can get a little bogged down. But then Stiefvater writes those endings. Victor’s burial where Cole cracks, Grace’s hospital bed yearning for Sam, Cole stepping in at the 11th hour to save the day. Seeing it all come together is worth all the heavy setup. It makes me even more excited to finish the series. For an author who is so amazing at endings the finish of a series should be the ultimate read. Excited to see what she does with it.

Rating: 8/10

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Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

BookTalk

“All right, Miss Teen Dreamers! Yoo-hoo! Over here! I’m wigglin’ my fingers your y’all’s attention! Could ya’ll come on over here, please?”…”Hi. I’m Taylor Rene Krystal Hawkins, and I’m Miss Teen Dream Texas, the state where dreams are bigger and better – nothing against y’all’s states. I’m a senior at George Walker Bush High School and I hope to pursue a career as a motivational speaker.”…”Okay, Miss Teen Dreamers, I know we’re all real flustered and everything. But we’re alive. And I think before anything else we need to pray to the one we love.”…”I’m talkin’ about my personal copilot, Jesus Christ.”…”Ahem. Dear Jesus,”…”We just want to thank you for gettin’ us here safe – “

There was a loud, gurgling groan. Somebody shouted, “Oh my gosh! Miss Delaware just died!”

“- for getting’ some of us here safe,”…”And we pray that, as we are fine, upstandin’, law-abidin’ girls who represent the best of the best, you will protect us from harm and keep us safe until we are rescued and can tell our story to People magazine. Amen.” (9-12, ePub ed.)

So, a plane of Beauty Queens crashes on a deserted island…what happens…go!

Well, hut building, spirit finger practicing, rock-star pirate kissing, hallucinogenic fruit-eating, secret volcano villain killing times happen. It’s one hilarious, wild ride so buckle up and remember your lip gloss because prettiness is the light of the world…

Review

I’d just like to start by saying in my review of Bray’s Going Bovine I asked for footnotes…ask and ye shall receive! I was so excited to see footnotes which, instead of giving clarity to an idea, enhance the satire Bray is known for. Not that Bray sticks to the satirical style in this book, nope, she includes elements of magical realism, fairy tale, campy movie, and commercial breaks. The whole mix serves to entertain while taking on the issues of consumerism and gender roles.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t as interested in the themes of consumerism. They are played to the point of parody and while I can very much see the truth in Bray’s handling of the topic I don’t think it was as well executed as the gender roles theme. Consumerism hits you over the head while the unveiling of the Beauty Queen’s personalities and secrets was oh, so much better. The over the top pagent-ness of the girls. Throughout the book they call each other by their titles (Miss Ohio, Miss New Mexico, ect.) and upon surviving a tragic plane crash begin to practice their routines (three-quarter turn y’all, lol). The horror of the beach-crash site including dead contestants and a girl with a tray-table stuck in her head are juxtaposed with Miss Texas giving a pagent-worthy inspirational speech about prettiness being the light of the world. Forget scavenging for food, in the beginning this plane crash was going to be a diet worthy of a master cleanse.

It doesn’t take long for the fake exteriors of these girls to fall away revealing the real person underneath. A trans-gender contestant, a girl lying about her upbringing, child abuse victims, a journalist assuming a role, and a lesbian brought up in the juvie system, among others. It’s easy to see the metaphor in each of these girls hiding under the guise of a Beauty Queen instead of simply being who they are. Their childhood has taught them that no one will understand them, no one has time for a girl who isn’t simply pretty. In the secluded world of this island the girls will shed their defenses like a facial mask, coming together to build a new world and way of thinking that doesn’t make a woman say “sorry” for having an opinion.

This book is a wild ride of fun…and should be required reading for every girl, teen or not. This book will make you laugh out loud and take a look at what type of Beauty Queen you present to the world. Mascara and eyeliner or no, we all choose to present a version of ourselves to the world. This book gives insight to what would happen if we let that persona fall and accepted each other for who we are, not what we should be.

Loved it, Loved it, Loved it…

Rating: 10/10

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Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

BookTalk

Emma thought her life couldn’t get any worse. Within a year she’d lost both her mother and her twin brother leaving her with a grieving alcoholic of a step dad to take care of her. After her stepfather wrapped both of them around a tree Emma is left not only with a massive scar on her arm but a wounded soul as well.

Brendan is the creme de la creme of New York society. The richest, most attractive, athletic guy at Vincent Academy. He doesn’t even own a hairbrush…that’s how naturally hot his features are…straight out of bed he’s rock star perfect. But he’s sickened by the cliques that come with wealth. He’d trade it in a heartbeat for something wild and real.

Emma will move to New York and as the wounds of her past begin to heal she’ll find herself involved in a thousand-year old curse…and find her soul mate in Brendan. But their path is not straight, instead full of ancient history, witchy spells, and the gossip mill that is an Upper East Side private school. They’ll have to trust in each other because the only thing worse than a curse is a trashed high school reputation.

Review

I. Loved. This. Book.

It surprised me, it was so funny from the start. Emma is kinda snarky, a little geeky, and super funny. I officially liked her when she referred to super-sweet-teen-perfume as a “unicorn fart”. Where has that expression been all my life?! The writing was witty, and the way Emma narrates her experiences was by far my favorite part of the book. From random comments about teen life, to watching her fall for Brendan, the way Emma described it all gets an emotional response from the reader.

And now for the insta-love. I’ll admit in the beginning of this book I wondered if this was going to be too much like the Fallen series. It’s hard not to compare the two as Spellbound is about soul-mates finding each other. The plot involves the souls of Emma and Brendan being reincarnated again and again over the span of 1,000 years which is very Fallen-esque. But, I was happy to find that aside from the reincarnation/curse aspect the two tales are very different.

First off, neither Emma nor Brendan are aware of the curse. Sure, Brendan admits to it being an old family joke, but nothing that he’s ever taken seriously. It was cool to see these two fall into insta-love and figure out their connection. It was a great twist that it was a new concept to both of them, rather than one being more knowledgeable about the situation than another. Plus, they have a lot of swoon-worthy moments over their brief courtship. Brendan plays a little bit of the too-cool-for-school guy in the beginning, but it’s the little things he does for Emma that make the reader swoon.

Another thing that I loved was that this book was a stand-alone. The whole story was wrapped up in one book. Shultz gives a teaser at a potential companion novel starring Angelique, but the curse that is the center of this story concludes within the pages of a single book. The end action may have happened a bit dramatically in comparison to the rest of the novel but it was an end I didn’t see coming and I’m always happy when that happens. I am now excitedly awaiting more info on Angelique’s title…If Spellbound was any indication it’s bound to be a fun and funny romp filled with lots of love.

Rating: 9/10

P.S.

Brendan is always joking that Emma is a ‘musicologist’ but really both characters are constantly pictured in the book with ear buds in their ears…Shultz has taken this obsession one step further for Spellbound fans by creating a playlist on iTunes featuring songs that are special to both Brendan and Emma. Check out the back of your book for the reasoning behind each song choice.

Download the Playlist on iTunes: Brendan & Emma’s Playlist

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The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Beach Week Book Three! This one is all about spending summers at a beach house and finding yourself old enough for that first love. Told in retrospectives of Belly’s past summers you’ll get to know her and why this summer is so very important…Enjoy the sun, sand, and the love…

BookTalk

Isabel, a.k.a. Belly, a.k.a. Belly Button spends every summer at a beach house with her mom and brother, as well as her mom’s best friend and her two sons. Belly lives for the summer, discounting the rest of the year (and the boys that come with it) in favor of the summer months she spends in Cousin’s Cove. Every previous summer has led Belly to this turning point in her life…The summer she turned pretty. Belly is entering adulthood and is hungry for the adventures and relationships that come with it. Drunk on the pleasure of finally having boys notice her, she focuses all of her attention on her first loves…the Beck boys…to whom she’s been a surrogate little sister. Belly is soon to learn that with the joys of adulthood also come the hardships, First love is not always what it seems, and being self-aware and self-absorbed are not the same thing. Belly is in for one hot summer…the summer that changed everything.

Review

This book should be in the dictionary next to ‘Summer Read’. It’s full of cute guys, first loves, and the dramas of growing up all set in the quintessential beach house. That being said, The Summer I Turned Pretty was not what I was expecting. I read a review of the title on GReads! and put it in my TBR pile. I guess I assumed that this book would be a light beach read about a summer where everything came together. I was expecting a first love story…something simple and sweet.

That is not this book.

I completely agree with Ginger when she says you continue to think about the characters long after this book is over. I felt like the whole point of the book was character development…that by the last page I was really just getting geared up for the story. The story is told alternately from the current summer (the summer she turns pretty) and in flashbacks to previous tween summers. I don’t know that I understood where the book was going in the beginning. I found myself wondering if the title was more appropriate for a tween audience, that it was a little young for my personal taste. What became apparent later in the book was that Han was slowly feeding me a history of this beach-side group. So while this was a Super Summery read…it was turning into a book that was about more than light-summer-fun stuff. What I was learning from the flashbacks soon began to color my understanding of the present time, giving the story depth beyond the surface storyline.

This understanding really helped me see that I was watching Belly mature before my eyes. Be warned, Belly is very much immature for the better part of this novel. She whines, she thinks everything is about her…that the world simultaneously revolves around her and yet is shafting her at the same time. No need to worry, by the end of the book Belly has perspective but because this understanding happens so late in the text, I felt like I was just gearing up for the meat of the story.

This book reads almost like a prequel. You intimately get to know all of the characters but the main plot points of the story are just beginning. Good thing the trilogy is already finished and published…you’ll be ready to move onto book two right away.

Rating: 7/10

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Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Beach Week Book 2

I loved this book. The beach setting is so well done you’ll taste the salty air. A perfect read surrounded by sun and sand or your couch…’cause you’ll feel like you’re there…

BookTalk

“I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now I’ve thought maybe my mother drowned in both.” (9, ePub)

Anna and her father are moving back to Crystal Cove State Park. Under the guise of a promotion for her father this family of two are really moving back so they can move on with their lives. Nine years after the death of Anna’s mother Anna is returning to the beach-side town where she was born and where her parents fell in love. She’ll learn to see her past in a different light, and finally face the aftermath of her mother’s “accident”. With the help of her perky friend Ashley, running buddy Jillian, poetry quoting Joy, and the beach crawler Joseph, Anna will find her way through emotions she’s been running from for years. Now, if only the cute lifegaurd could just hurry up and kiss her already, life wouldn’t be so bad.

Review

This book was so refreshing, so simple and honest after all of the if not paranormal, then weird stuff I’ve been reading lately. This book is really like slipping into a beach chair and staring at the ocean. It’s calm and turbulent, and the emotion comes in waves. Kirby does a great job with setting, her writing takes the  reader to the beautiful beach Anna and her father live at. That’s what makes this book such a great beach read. Even if you’re stuck on your couch this summer you can experience ocean life through Anna and her lifeguard-ing father and boyfriend.

Another thing that I loved about this book was that the romance was not the center of this story. Sure, Anna has a love interest in Tyler but the whole relationship is so realistic. There is no insta-love and Tyler even waits an exorbitant amout of time casually firting with Anna before he even trys a move. This is how I remember high school relationships starting. Lots of wondering and attempts at giving the guy an opening. It’s a really endearing relationship…one that develops naturally.

But that’s what’s great about Anna as a character. She’s so normal. Yes, she has issues with her mother’s suicide but beyond that…just a great girl. No body issues, normal amount of confidence, some great friends that make for enjoyable supporting characters. This is a book to sink into and enjoy. It doesn’t have any cliff-hangers, it’s not a series, and no one has found a soul mate at age 16. Instead it’s a great novel where plot threads and character actions weave together so effortlessly you’ll just ride a wave to the beautiful moments where tears do come…in the best possible way.

Pick this one up immediatly it was one of the smoothest, well written books I’ve done in a long time.

Rating: 10/10

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Vacations from Hell by Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Claudia Gray, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Mlynowski

I am on Vacation…So it’s Beach Week here on the blog.

Granted I live less than a mile from the ocean in Southern Florida, so really every week is beach week for me, but there is just something special about being on vacation at a beach. Even if you’re a year round beach bum a week’s worth of no work and all play is still pretty awesome. So in honor of my time at the shore every post this week is vacation or beach related. For those of you grumbling about my beach fortune don’t worry…This week starts with a group of vacation stories you might rather avoid…

BookTalk

“You know that prickly feeling you get on the back of your neck? The one hat makes you scared to turn around? Pay attention to that, Holmes. That is a Me-NO-Likee signal creeping up from the lizard part of your brain – some primal DEFCON center of your gray matter left over from the very first ancestors that hasn’t been destroyed by gated communities, all-night convenience stores…,and a half dozen fake Ghost Chaser shows on late-night cable. I’m just saying that lizard part exists for a reason. I know that now.

“So if you’re walking down that unfamiliar path and the mist rises up out of nowhere and slips its hands over your body, turning you around until you don’t know where you are anymore, and the trees seem to be whispering to you? Or you think you see something in the dark that shouldn’t exist, that you tell yourself can’t possibly exist except in creepy campfire stories? Listen to the lizard, Holmes, and do yourself a favor.

“Run. Run like Hell’s after you.

“Because it just might be.” (pg. 116-117 ePub edition)

Review

This is a collection of short stories about what happens when your vacation goes wrong. Because really, who wants to hear about a trip where someone sat on a beautiful beach? I only want to hear about that trip if I was on the trip, or I’m about to go on that trip. However, if I am sitting on my couch…amongst my laundry and a carpet that needs vacuumed…I want a vacation where something goes wrong. Like, vampires-on-your-cruise wrong, a curse-in-the-French-countryside wrong, spell-gone-wrong, wrong. Types of wrong that will make that summer sunburn look like…well…a day at the beach.

These stories were fluffy and fun. The perfect combination of teeny-bopper hair flipping and sleep with the light on scary. Not all the tales were scary scary stories, but all do contain a twist you may not have seen coming. I was personally taken by surprise in the first story Cruisin’ by Sarah Mlynowski. It’s the perfect tale to start this collection off, seemingly fluffy with a game-changing plot move 3 pages from the end. The story gave me a smile and a chilly surprise. The rest of the collection didn’t disappoint. Law of Suspects by Maureen Johnson in the middle upped the horror factor with a cursed story and a lonely French manor. Then Libba Bray drives it home with the most classically paranormal/scary story Nowhere is Safe. A gothically creepy, superstition-ridden romp in an Eastern European hill town. Very few survive that blood bath…be prepared.

In the end this was a great beach read…or couch read depending on your summer plans. For those choosing a ‘staycation’ over the traditional summer travel, know that you’ll experience very little envy from these travelogues. In fact you may feel a little smug, safe in your house…alive. Now, if only someone could come fold the laundry…

Rating: 7/10

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