Waiting on Wednesday BEA Style

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Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we can share upcoming releases that have us excited!

For my Waiting on Wednesday, that I normally never do, I am doing it BEA style and will be listing the top six books I am hoping to snag a copy. I need to clear some shelf space for all the books I will hopefully be getting for myself, not including those I am picking up for friends.

Here goes nothing.

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  1. Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer: If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be  at home in New Jersey with her sweet British  boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She’d be watching  old comedy sketches with him. She’d be kissing  him in the library stacks.

    She certainly wouldn’t be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English.

    But life isn’t fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead.

    Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve’s arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam’s path to reclaim her loss. 
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Falling into Place by Amy ZhangOn the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road. 

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect?

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Dark Aemeilia: A Novel of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady by Sally O’Reilly:  The daughter of a Venetian musician, Aemilia Bassano came of age in Queen Elizabeth’s royal court. The Queen’s favorite, she develops a love of poetry and learning, maturing into a young woman known not only for her beauty but also her sharp mind and quick tongue. Aemilia becomes the mistress of Lord Hunsdon, but her position is precarious. Then she crosses paths with an impetuous playwright named William Shakespeare and begins an impassioned but ill-fated affair.

A decade later, the Queen is dead, and Aemilia Bassano is now Aemilia Lanyer, fallen from favor and married to a fool. Like the rest of London, she fears the plague. And when her young son Henry takes ill, Aemilia resolves to do anything to save him, even if it means seeking help from her estranged lover, Will—or worse, making a pact with the Devil himself.

 

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Green Girl by Kate ZambrenoGreen Girl is The Bell Jar for today—an existential novel about Ruth, a young American in London, kin to Jean Seberg gamines and contemporary celebutantes. Ruth works a string of meaningless jobs: perfume spritzer at a department store she calls Horrids, clothes-folder, and a shopgirl at a sex shop. Ruth is looked at constantly—something she craves and abhors. She is followed by a mysterious narrator, the voice equally violent and maternal. Ruth and her toxic friend, Agnes, are obsessed with cosmetics and fashion and film, with boys, with themselves, and with each other. Green Girl is about that important and frightening and exhilarating period of being adrift and screwing up, a time when drunken hook-ups and infatuations, nervous breakdowns, and ecstatic epiphanies are the order of the day.

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Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future by A.S. King: WOULD YOU TRY TO CHANGE THE WORLD
IF YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD NO FUTURE?

Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities—but not for Glory, who has no plan for what’s next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she’s never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way…until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person’s infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions—and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying.

A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women’s rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she’ll do everything in her power to make sure this one doesn’t come to pass.

 

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The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton“There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed…”

On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office-leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.

But Nella’s world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist-an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .

Johannes’ gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand-and fear-the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?

Do a Little Digging For Me…BEA Update #1– BEA Panels

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I don’t know about all of you going to the Book Expo this year, but I’m so excited. Beyond excited, truthfully. It is all my friends and family have heard me talk about for months now. Maybe because it’s my first time as a blogger. Or, because it’s such a great event. I’d say both, really. Recently, the good people at BEA FINALLY posted the panels for their conference. Now, the panels for the Wednesday Blogger convention has been posted for some time and looks great in my opinion. Tiger Beat looks like a blast. Some of the panels, particularly the writing one, looks fun and interesting.

 

Now, on to the actual conference panels. I decided I’ll give you fellow bloggers some highlights of the panels listed this year in case you haven’t checked them out yet. Of course, to see the full list, you just scroll down on Conferences, choose the appropriate conference, then ta da, have fun looking at the fun events. Or, if you want to add them to your show planner like I did, just log in and click on Education and authors. From there, you can select a track, type of event such as autograph sessions (which I will be doing another full post on), category, and speaker.

 

Off to the panels!! I won’t be listing any of Wednesday’s, obviously, because you should all be in the blogger’s conference so I can meet ya.

Thursday, May 29th

10:00 AM- 10:50 AM

BEA Young Adult Editor’s Buzz

10:00 AM- 10:30 AM

BEA Selects Journeys and Adventures

10:00 AM-11:00 AM

Meet BEA Adult Buzz Authors

11:00 AM- 11:30 AM

BEA Selects Mystery/Thrillers

2:00 PM-2:30 PM

BEA Selects Literary Fiction

3:00 PM-3:30 PM

BEA Memoir

 

Friday, May 30th

10:00 AM- 10:30 AM

Meet BEA Young Adult Authors 2014

10:00 AM- 10:30 AM

Hot Fall Fiction 2014

1:00 PM-1:50 PM

The Journey from Writer to Reader

1:30 PM-2:30 PM

Women of Contemporary Fiction

2:00 PM- 3:50 PM

Great Book Club Titles for Fall/Winter 2014- Speed Dating for Booksellers, Librarians, and Book Club Leaders

2:00 PM- 2:30 PM

The Craft of Writing and World Building

3:00 PM- 3:30 PM

Real YA

 

 

And, there you have it. Some great panels to choose from. Stay tune for more updates: author signings and, the best one in my opinion, books being featured.

Happy Reading! Only  33 more days to go!!

 

 

It’s Time to Get Excited…Book Expo of America Announces Sneak Peek of Authors

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I am very excited to be attending the Book Expo of America in NYC this year for the second year in a year; this time, however, I will be attending as a blogger which allows me to participate in all the action. More books, more authors to meet and greet, and more books! I been impatiently checking the website daily for more information on what’s happening, who’s going, and what books are going to be featured. Finally, less than a week it was announced who some of the authors attending this year’s conference are. A lot of the names I didn’t know, but for the ones I did, I was excited. If you haven’t checked out the list yet and are attending, here’s a little sneak peek at who will be doing book signings.

A.S. King, author of Reality Boy

Amy Zhang, author of Falling in Place (to be released)

Daisy Whitney, author of When You were Here

Elizabeth Wein, author of Code Name Verity

Garth Nix, author of Abhorsen series

Jennifer Armentrout, author of the Lux series

Jennifer Donnelly, author of The Tea Rose seriesand (one of my personal fav.s) A Northern Light

Lauren Oliver, author of the  Delirium series

Libba Bray, author of the Diviners series

Megan McCafferty, author of one of my favorite series Jessica Darling

M. J. Rose, author of the series  Reincarnationist

 

and so many more…

 

I am most excited for Megan McCafferty because I love her Jessica Darling series so much. I have read some of the books more than once.

For all of you going, who are you most excited for? What I’m really waiting for, is the release of what books will be there that will be posted on their website hopefully by late April/ early May. I am very excited. I hope to see some of you there!!

 

Happy reading!!!

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

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If you haven’t checked out book journey’s blog, you should. Every Monday, when you visit her blog, check out as many bloggers as you can. And comment!! You can win a little prize. You like prizes, right? I know I do. Please support us bloggers.

This week felt a little busy. I happily got reunited with audio books. The Secret Garden was fantastic. I enjoyed reading it as I was traveling into the city back and forth on Thursday. It was a nice distraction. I hate commuting. For a little bit of fun, it takes over an hour on a terrible and immensely cold bus. I don’t know if anyone is from the Metro area, but Port Authority is a nightmare. Karen Savage made it all better. Unfortunately I can’t avoid it. If only I knew how to transport myself in a little bubble or jet. It would be so much easier. But, alas, I can’t. I can’t even read on the bus with my motion sickness. So, audio books will definitely be put into use.

I have been trying to read Havisham by Ronald Frame. I guess me and Great Expectations are not meant to be. It is not the writing per se, but just maybe not my cup of tea. I just don’t connect. It is a tad boring, with not much going on. I will try, and maybe try again. With so many books to read, I am thinking if slightly moving on.  I have no idea what I want to read next. Do I go back to my Nook? Choose the many many books I got from BEA? So many choices.

I am doubting my ability to read books as I haven’t gotten to read more than one a week. I used to try to read two. It has just been taking too long. If only I knew.

This week, I am hoping to add a few new things to my blog. I have added a reading list, with direct links on goodreads if the title jumps at you. My weakness for choosing books is always the title first. Not necessarily the author.

Well, I wish you a happy week of reading. And, look out for more posts. 🙂

It’s Monday! What are you reading?: My first meme participation

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Whew, another Monday down. This Monday marks a milestone for me, my first It’s Monday! What are you reading? post. It’s Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly meme that showcases different blogs where you can find even more book reviews and recommendations sponsored by Shelia at bookjourney.wordpress.com.  

In case you missed my entry into the world of blogging last week (almost to the day!) I will go on a quick time machine ride and take you back to my first week here.  

One of the highlights of my week was my newbie experience at the giant BEA convention I attended last Saturday as a power reader. It was a great experience, where I can’t wait to attend next year! I definitely will be more prepared. The app I downloaded turned out to be of little help with a confusing map; I missed like ten booths! At least I walked away with lots of books and just as awesome tote bags!! (sorry I have no pictures, bad indie, I know). As you can imagine, attending such an event leaves one with lots of reading to do. 

 

My first post, actually, was an early review of Sarah Dessen’s new YA novel The Moon and More  The Moon and Morereleased June 4th, by Viking Juvenile. This

was a great coming of age novel about eighteen year old  Emaline’s last summer before college, finding herself, her role in her community, family, and interpersonal relationships. If you like YA, are new to Sarah Dessen, or just want to read something lighter than more contemporary fiction novels are becoming, definitely give The Moon and More a shot. The title alone is catchy, the meaning heartwarming (I won’t tell you why!). I read the book in only a day and a half, but I have always been a fan. I have read every book she ever wrote. Superfan? Maybe.

Another novel I finished that week was The Gilly Salt Sisters by Tiffany Baker.

The Gilly Salt Sisters Unfortunately, this book took me longer to read. I rated it two stars, but it may have been two and a half. It wasn’t necessarily a quick chick lit book, nor a quick contemporary read. It was a different sort of novel. Unfortunately just fell too flat for me. I can be a picky reader sometimes. We like what we like, right?

This week, look out for a review of Ronald Frame’s Havisham: A Novel review, the first book of many I got at BEA. So far, I am enjoying this book, surprisingly so since I couldn’t get pass page 100 on Great Expectations, the inspiration for this prequel like book, focusing on the life of Catherine Havisham before she appears in the aforementioned previous novel. No wedding dress!

And the cover is so pretty! Havisham: A Novel I just love me some silhouettes. So much so, thanks to Litographs and BEA, I got this poster free… how pretty is that? Can’t wait till I get it soon! If only I have room on my walls.

I am hoping to add to my reading list this week, of course. I tend to stick to just one book at a time, so not ready for my next book decision. Such a huge one it is!

Happy Monday, and happy week! 

 

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