Knights of Hill Country by Tim Tharp

I added Tim Tharp's Knights of Hill Country to my library queue after enjoying The Spectacular Now. While Knights of Hill Country wasn't The Spectacular Now, it was an enjoyable read.
It's the start of Hampton Green's senior year. Hampton is the best linebacker that the Kennisaw Knights have. And because of Hampton and his best friend, Blaine, the Knights have a shot at their fifth undefeated season. Blaine feels this is the best time for Hampton to embrace being a Knight and find a pretty, popular girl to date. But Hampton only cares about shy, reserved Sara. I liked Hampton. This book was all about him finding himself. Hampton had lived in Blaine's shadow since he was nine. But Blaine's knee problems were allowing Hampton's football talents to be showcased. Plus Sara helped Hampton see that he didn't have to be who Blaine wanted him to be. Hampton could be who ever he wanted. Tharp did a good job of letting the characters figure out things out in their own time.
Knights of Hill Country reminded me a lot of Friday Night Lights (the tv show). I'm glad I read it. Others who shared their thoughts on Knights of Hill Country: Romance Around The Corner, What Was I Reading?, Write Overload, and Confessions of A Bibliovore.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Love Minus Eighty

Reloot. I hope I actually read it this time.

The Dream Thieves

Super excited about the next one in the Raven Cycle.

Stuck Rubber Baby

Omnivoracious did a LGBT graphic novel roundup a couple of weeks ago. I thought Stuck Rubber Baby sounded interesting.

Batwoman: Elegy

Batwoman: Elegy was on the same list as Stuck Rubber Baby. And since it's by Rucka, of course, I want to read it.

Practical Magic

It's that time of year when I crave books with magic and witches. 

What did you get this week?

Teaser Tuesday

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!

"It was one of them long summers days when the sun's blazing on high beam and the grass is still cow-pasture green, thick and long around the tree bottoms, way before it gets burned off to a scorched yellow like it does in the dry days of August when you know summer's running out on you. It was also the first day, far as i can remember, that I made time stop."
pg 26 Knights of Hill Country by Tim Tharp

Two Boys Kissing By David Levithan

I requested Two Boys Kissing from the library after Jamie tweeted that she was reading it. I am a fan of David Levithan so I went ahead and put it on my hold list at the library. So glad I did. Two Boys Kissing is one of my favorite reads this year.
Two Boys Kissing is about several gay teens, all boys. Each of them are about the same age (16-18) but all in different places. Some of come out and live out and some aren't ready yet. And the book is narrated by a chorus of dead gay men. If it sounds creepy, it's not. These men died of AIDS. They never got to hold their boyfriend's hand in public. In high school, they were either loners or went with girls to fit in. Many of them died without ever coming out to their families. But these men are proud that these teens have chances they never had. I had tears in my eyes for much of the book.
I loved how Levithan used each boys story to show how different and alike we are. Each of us scared and worried that no one will like the real us. Worried that we're frauds and everyone can see through the mask we wear. That our parents will shun us if we ever gave them the truth. The stories really touched me and Levithan does an excellent job of weaving the stories together and creating one amazing story. I read Two Boys Kissing in a day. It's not very long, about 200 pages, but the story grabbed me and wouldn't let go.
I highly recommended Two Boys Kissing. It's wonderfully done. Another fantastic read from David Levithan. Others who shared their thoughts on Two Boys Kissing: The Perpetual Page-Turner, Nerdy Book Club, Obsession With Books, Empire of Books, and Rather Be Reading.

The Fives

I spotted this one Here There Be Books blog and thought it would be fun.

5 books I’ve recently add to my tbr pile

1. Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman-I still haven't read Saving Cece Honeycutt but I keep hearing so many good things about Beth Hoffman. I just need to start read her books.
2. Awakened by Melissa Marr- I like Marr's books and I try to read whatever she publishes.

3. Blood and Beauty by Sarah Dunant- Dunant's another author I've heard good things about and haven't gotten around to either. 

4. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins- A supernatural Southern Belle? This one sounds fantastic. 

5. Wonder by RJ Palacio- Allyson Pearl gave me a few YA recommendations on Twitter recently and Wonder was one of them.

5 books I’m planning to read (in the near future)
1. Knights of Hill Country by Tim Tharp- I have high expectations after The Spectacular Now.
2. Where Did You Go, Bernadette by Marie Semple- I'm determined not to take this one back unread to the library.
3. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan- Another one with high expectations.
4. The Rathbones by Janice Clark- I should be reading this right now. I do not want to take it back to the library unread too.
5. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter-I need to see if it's worth the hype. 

5 books I own but still haven't read
1. The Host by Stephanie Meyer- I said I would read The Host before the movie came out. Oops.
2. Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer- I need to be in the right frame of mind to read Into The Wild.
3. Ruined by Paula Morris-A friend gave me Ruined last Christmas. But it sounds like the perfect fall book.
4. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen-I read The Peach Keeper last year and really enjoyed it. 
5. Enclave by Ann Aguirre- My friend also gave me Enclave. I really need to read it. 

5 books from series that I need to continue
1. Girls in Pants by Ann Brashares (Sisterhood #3) - I waited too long between books one and two. I forgot who a lot of the characters were. I'm determined to finish this series this year.
2. Rumors by Anna Godbersen (Luxe #2)- I'm not sure what's taking me so long to read the next book in the Luxe series. I've gotten it from the library but returned it unread. Too many books.
3. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #2)- I liked Shiver but haven't rushed out to get Linger. Probably the only books by Stiefvater I haven't devoured.
4. Valiant by Holly Black (Modern Faerie Tales #2) by Holly Black. Again, I liked Tithe but haven't even tried to get Valiant from the library. I know a lot of people enjoyed the series.
5. Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Divergent #3)- I guess this one is a gimme since it's not out yet.

5 soon to be released books that I’m looking forward to reading
1. Isla And The Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins (Anna and The French Kiss #3)- I have enjoyed each of Perkins' books so I'm excited for the next one.
2. The One by Keira Cass (The Selection #3)-Another series that's going to wrap up. I can't wait to see how it ends.
3. What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick- After being blown away by My Life Next Door, I'm anxious for Fitzpatrick's next book.
4. Landline by Rainbow Rowell- I love Rowell's writing so Landline is high on my 2014 tbr list already.

5. Shattered by Kevin Hearne (The Iron Druid Chronicles #7)- I've really been enjoying Hearne's series and looking forward to continuing it.

It’s your turn! Which five books are YOU most looking forward to reading soon?

Forever A Lord by Delilah Marvelle

Forever A Lord is the third in the Rumor trilogy. I'm so glad I gave this trilogy a chance. I didn't think I would enjoy it this much. And I think Forever A Lord was the best of the series.
The whole trilogy revolves around 3 people: Georgia, Matthew, and Coleman. We've heard how Georgia and Matthew's stories wind up, it's time to learn about Coleman. The book starts back in New York in 1800. Coleman is a boxer and fights for money. Money to keep living. Coleman hears about 2 gentleman who are looking for man who was kidnapped as boy. Coleman is intrigued and, desperate for money, heads off to meet these men. It turns out they are seeking Coleman who is actually an English lord. The men (Coleman's uncle and nephew) implore him to return to England and be reunited with family.
Meanwhile in London, Lady Imogene is preparing to debut. Imogene doesn't want to debut as she has no intention of marrying. But since it is expected of her, she'll play along. Imogene has been ill since she was seven years old. Imogene feels that no man would want to be saddled with such an unhealthy wife so she's content to be a spinster. But Imogene does want to help her brother who is married to a woman who cheats on him. So Imogene and her brother decide to invest Imogene's inheritance in a boxer who might win the English Championship.
I immediately liked Imogene and Coleman. Coleman was such a shady character in the other books but I knew there had to be more to his story. Imogene is wonderful. Shy and reserved, she blossoms as her relationship with Coleman grows. I loved her transformation from lonely caterpillar to magnificent butterfly. In this relationship, both parties are changed for the better.
Marvelle also brought back Georgia, Yardley, Matthew, and Bernadette.  It was nice to see them again and learn more about how their lives wound up after their stories were told. I'm sad for this trilogy to be over. I will certainly miss all the characters. Others who shared their thoughts on Forever A Lord: The Reading Cafe, Love Saves The World, Rookie Romance, and The Book Reading Gals.
This was my twelfth read for the Historical Reading Challenge.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

The Coldest Girl In Coldtown

I've been anxiously waiting for Holly Black's latest. So excited that it's here.

Two Boys Kissing

When I saw Jamie was reading Two Boys Kissing on Twitter, I was immediately intrigued. I love David Levithan so I'm excited to read this one too.

Beautiful Ruins

Beautiful Ruins has been recommended to me several times by dozens of people. I had just added to my hold list when I spotted it on the library shelf. Again this copy is outside of the queue so I can keep it up to 3 months. Yay!

Knights of Hill Country
After reading The Spectacular Now, I decided I wanted to read more of Tim Tharp's books. This one sounded a lot like Friday Night Lights so I decided to try this one next.

What did you get this week?

Teaser Tuesday

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!

"She had let him walk out the door without any guarantee. Scrambling to open the door, she threw it back and ran out into the night after the man she knew was going to change her life." 
pg 85-Forever A Lord by Delilah Marvelle

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

I got Warbreaker from the library because I want to read everything that Sanderson writes. I've enjoyed what I read before Warbreaker and I enjoyed Warbreaker. Sanderson is the master so this will be very fangirl.
Vivenna, a princess of Idris, is supposed to be sent to marry the God King of Hallandren. But instead, Vivenna's father sends her younger sister, Siri. While Vivenna's been trained in Hallandren's politics and culture, Siri has chosen to ignore her training and does as she pleases. Siri is ill equipped to handle Hallandren but she makes the best of it. Vivenna decides that Siri is in danger and goes to Hallandren to rescue Siri.
Hallandren believes in a God King and a pantheon of gods called the Returned. The Returned are men and women who come back after dying unselfishly and/or heroical. Sanderson focuses a lot of the book on a god named Lightsong the Bold, one of my favorite characters. Lightsong spends most of his day being lazy and drinking. Lightsong has enormous power but is skeptical of authority to use it. Plus he has the greatest lines.
While on her rescue mission, Vivenna meets Denth and Tonk Fah, two mercenaries who used to work for an agent of her father. Denth and Tonk Fah are colorful characters and help Vivenna adjust to life in Hallandren which is vastly different than her old life in Idris.
Confused? It's understandable. There are about 7 or 8 different stories going on in Warbreaker and for about the first 300 pages I had no idea how they were entangled or how Sanderson was going to wrap them up. But slowly they start to become connected. Slowly I started to see where Sanderson was going. With nearly 600 pages, Sanderson has plenty of time to draw out the characters and their world. After a while, about 300 pages in, I started to appreciate the time Sanderson takes to make the world he writes in so rich. The action does take time to start but once it does, I was glad for the slow build up. It made the pay off so much more enjoyable.
Once again, I'm glad I took the time to read Warbreaker and look forward to my next Sanderson read. Others who shared their thoughts on Warbreaker: The Faery Inn, The Mad Hatter's Bookshelf and Book Review, King of The Nerds!!!, The Book Smugglers, and Fixed On Fantasy.
This was my eleventh read for the Mammoth Book Challenge.

The Spectacular Now By Tim Tharp

I put The Spectacular Now on my library library hold list after reading a review of the movie. It compared The Spectacular Now to John Hughes movies. That's the perfect comparison to get this 80's gal to read any book. While I could see some similarities, The Spectacular Now is in a class of its own and it was spectacular.
Sutter Keely is a senior in high school. He's the guy that everyone wants at their party. For Sutter, life is a party. He wakes up, gets his 7Up and whiskey and starts living. Sutter's got no plans. While his peers are talking college, Sutter's looking for the next party. He reminded me of Ferris Bueller and John Bender. At the beginning of The Spectacular Now, Sutter is with Cassidy, his fat beautiful girlfriend. I liked how Tharp talks about different people-fat, thin, lonely, boring. It's not about judgement but about acknowledgement that we are all different. Tharp's writing was so engaging that I couldn't put it down. I actually read The Spectacular Now in one day. Tharp's writing reminded me a lot of Rainbow Rowell's, quick, funny but thought provoking.
While I had a hard time with some of things Sutter does and some of the characters (who would do that?), I really enjoyed my time with Sutter. I would have loved to know him when I was 17. I loved Sutter's life philosophies "Embrace the weird" and enjoy the spectacular now. While I don't think you need to be drunk and high to get that, I understood why he did what he did.
All this talk about Sutter and I'm totally forgetting Aimee. Aimee is the adorably geeky girl who Sutter meets accidentally. Aimee's not like anyone else in Sutter's life. She's pure, sweet, and incredibly naive. Sutter thinks that he'll help her see that life is so much more than being an emotional punching bag for the losers in her life. But instead she helps Sutter see that there is more to him than he thinks. I loved Aimee. I was just like her in high school. My room was my space ship and books were my escape from my life. I wished I would have meet someone like Sutter when I was 17.
The only reason I didn't absolutely adore this book, insist everyone needs to read it is the ending. I'm fine with the no happy ending but that wasn't an ending, Tharp. I would have liked more than what we got. I read the end 3 times to make sure I didn't miss something and I didn't. It was a crappy ending to a great book.
Overall, I enjoyed The Spectacular Now. Expect for the not an ending, it was a wonderful book. Others who shared their thoughts on The Spectacular Now: What A Nerd Girl Says, Book Revels, Page Turners, I Know What You Should Read, and Tangled In Books.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Wild

I was lucky enough to find Wild on the shelf at the library which mean that this is one of the copies that's outside of the queue. I'll be able to keep it up to almost 3 months. Hopefully I'll be able to read it in that amount of time. 

Well Fed

More Paleo. 

What did you get this week?

Teaser Tuesday

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!


"A leader was someone who acted. Nobody else was going to help Siri, and so it was up to Vivenna." pg 98 Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson.

August Book Tally

Wedding Ring by Emilie Richards(544)
The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio (306)
Hunted by Kevin Hearne (384)
A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (403)
Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris (288)
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (328)
The Second Summer of The Sisterhood by Ann Brashares (373)
Relish: My Life In The Kitchen by Lucy Knisley (192)
The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (213)
The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (289)


A great month with a bunch of really good reads. Hard to pick a favorite since so many of them were good.

Stats:

Fill In The Gaps YTD: 0 (None this month)

Historical Reading Challenge YTD: 11 (A Great And Terrible Beauty)

Mammoth Book Challenge YTD: 10 (Wedding Ring)

Let Me Count The Ways Book Challenge: Pages read this month (3044), Pages read this year (24948)
Total books to date: 76

The Perks Of Being A Walllflower by Stephen Chbosky

Having never read The Perks of Being A Wallflower led me to add it to my library queue. I heard so many good things about it. Unfortunately it didn't live up to the hype for me but I could see how others would love it. 

The Perks of Being A Wallflower are a series of letters that Charlie writes to anonymous person for about a year. Charlie is anxious to start high school and someone recommends writing this anonymous person. Charlie doesn't want this person to know who he is but still shares a lot about what Charlie thinks and feels. Charlie is an outsider. He has few friends, one of them just committed suicide. Charlie doesn't relate to others well and finds it hard to relate to his peers. I think should have understood Charlie. I felt similarly to him in high school. But I didn't. Charlie does meet Sam and Patrick, a sister and brother, who befriend him and try to help meet other people. 

It's been years since I was in Charlie's position and I struggled with trying remember those awkward moments. I kept thinking would I have wanted to read about Charlie when I was in the midst of my own turmoil or would have I wanted to know about people like Charlie, like myself before I was in it? I would have a hard time recommending this to younger children. Plenty of sex, suicide, drugs, and abortion in The Perks of Being A Wallflower. And if I were in the middle of all it, I don't think I would feel for Charlie at all. I could see that others might have identified with Charlie and he could help them. 

Overall, The Perks of Being A Wallflower will make you think about your own teenaged self and how messed up that time was or could have been. I do need to watch this movie too. Others who have shared their thoughts on The Perks Of Being A Wallflower: The Unexpected Book Blog, All In Good Time, Book Whales, The Book Girl, and Reading At Dawn.

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

I picked up The Silver Linings Playbook because a coworker had told me she enjoyed the movie. I like to read the book if I can before I see the movie so I picked up The Silver Linings Playbook. Not quite what I expected but overall an enjoyable read.
When we start The Silver Linings Playbook, Pat Peoples is in "the bad place", a mental institution. Pat is here for his apart time from his wife, Nikki. Everything Pat does is in hopes of ending his apart time and reuniting with Nikki. Pat isn't sure why he's in "the bad place" and isn't sure what bad things he did to wind up there. But Pat's mother petitions to bring him to his family's home and let him continue to heal there. So Pat winds up in his parent's basement where he continues to attempt to end his apart time from Nikki.
At first I had a hard time relating to Pat. He's very focused on reuniting with Nikki and many of the things he does make little sense. But once you become accustom to Pat's mental health issues, he makes his own type of sense. Pat's really trying to set things right. He wants to be back with Nikki and does everything in his power to end apart time. But there's a lot that Pat's forgotten and a lot his family keeps from him in order to help him heal. Some of those "lies" were hard for me to understand but made more and more sense as time went on.
During his apart time, Pat meets Tiffany, a very broken woman, who is also trying to heal. Tiffany complicates and enhances Pat's life. While Tiffany pissed me off a lot of the time, I grew to like her character and wished for her to have a happy ending.
Overall The Silver Linings Playbook was a good story. My only gripes was that Quick spoils several classic novels like The Great Gatsby which I am almost finished with. I went 37 years without anyone telling me the ending and now that I have an hour left in the audiobook, bam, I know how it ends. Kind of pissed me off. Other than that, I enjoyed The Silver Linings Playbook. I need to watch the movie version now. Others who shared their thoughts on The Silver Linings Playbook: My Friend Amy, Laura's Book Reviews, Insomnia Of Books, Three Cats and A Book, and Sometimes Sweet.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Saga vol 2

The continued adventures of Marko, Alana and baby Hazel. 

The Spectacular Now

So excited to read The Spectacular Now.

American Psycho

American Psycho is on my Fill In The Gaps List. I have been terrible at reading anything off that list for while now.

Girls In Pants

I'd really like to finish the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. 

What did you get this week?

Teaser Tuesday

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!

"Then Vasher Breathed.
It flowed out of him, puffing into the air, translucent yet radiant, like the color of oil on water in the sun."
-pg 17 Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

After reading Attachments, I knew I had to read everything that Rainbow Rowell wrote. I was in the enormous queue at the library for Eleanor & Park. I couldn't wait so I purchased it. I think I'm going to buy all her books since I love them so much. Eleanor & Park is no different. It only deepen my love of Ms Rowell's work.
It's 1986. Eleanor has moved back in with her mom, her siblings, and her mom's skeezy boyfriend. Park is surviving. Park's not invisible but he flies under the radar of the bullies most of the time. But when Park sees Eleanor he risks detection to help her. Slowly Park and Eleanor develop a friendship which builds into something more.
Again, Rowell creates beautiful characters that you just fall in love with. Eleanor & Park was something to savor, enjoy. It's a beautiful story about first loves and believing everything will work out. Highly recommended. Others who shared their thoughts on Eleanor & Park: My Books. My Life., Rhapsody In Books, The Overstuffed Bookcase, Jenn's Bookshelf, The Midnight Garden, BermudaOnion, and Rather Be Reading.