Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: Serendipity Market
Author: Penny Blubaugh
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: It released in 2009, and I was in the mood for something new.

Summary: When the world tilts off its axis, it’s up to Mama Inez to harness the magical power of story to put it right again.

Stopped on Page: 23
Why I Stopped: I couldn’t get into this one. The problem introduced at the beginning is that the world is tilting off its axis, which sounds bad and all but the book didn’t make me care one whit about it. I need a more personal problem to connect with a story right off the bat.

Part of it is that I didn’t connect with Mama Inez or the other characters introduced at first. Then when we start meeting everybody who’s being invited to tell their stories, I completely lost interest. I had no idea who I was supposed to identify with and root for.

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: The ABC’s of Kissing Boys
Author: Tina Ferraro
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Why I Read It: I saw it on the shelf at the library, and the juicy cover convinced me to check it out.

Summary: Parker’s about to start her junior year, but she got stuck on the JV soccer team while all her friends made varsity. So she cooks up a scheme to finagle a spot on varsity. All she has to do is learn how to kiss first.

Stopped on Page: 32
Why I Stopped: I think I’m still pining after Harry Potter, even though it’s now been over a week since I finished the last book. But the premise of this book seemed too contrived to me.

Parker plans to earn her spot on the varsity soccer team by getting her brother’s hot friend to offer $300 if only he can get a kiss from Parker in the varsity team’s fundraising kissing booth. So, her logic goes, the coach will have to let her on the varsity team so she can earn the $300, and then the coach will realize her mistake and let her stay on the team.

But like I said, it could be Harry Potter’s fault I didn’t get into this one.

Your Turn: Should I have kept going? Or was I right to stop?

Note: As an aspiring author, I respect the extraordinary amount of effort that goes into writing a book. I did not write this review in order to be unfair or negative about the book. My goal is simply to articulate why the book wasn’t for me.

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Audience Pick!

Title: Devilish
Author: Maureen Johnson
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 3.5/5
Why I Read It: Because you told me to!

Summary: Seniors Jane and Allison aren’t popular, but they have each other. When Allison makes a dangerous deal to gain a little popularity, can Jane save her?

Review: This was the first book I read after my month-long Harry Potter revival, so I sort of expected to be let down. But this is Maureen Johnson, so I should have known better.

What I loved:

• Cupcakes—On the cover, in the story. Mmm. After I finished the book, I ran right out to our local cupcake shop to stuff my face.
• Hella funny—I don’t often laugh out loud while reading, but MJ is one of the few authors who can make me.
• 116-year-old love interest—Maybe this is my Angel crush showing a bit, but that’s hot stuff.

The only thing I would have changed is to add one more teensy clue about how Jane was going to save the day. There’s one clue halfway through, but my dulled mama’s brain didn’t catch it.

Have a little bite and see for yourself. In this scene, Jane’s best friend Allison just had an embarrassing day at school—of the vomiting-in-public variety.

And we have trolleys in Providence. That’s how we get around if we don’t drive. It was no shock that I found Allison waiting for the trolley or that I found most of our school waiting with her. In fact, it seemed like half of Rhode Island was waiting for our trolley.

Allison barely turned as I approached. It wasn’t cold. She just looked like she wanted to be unrecognizable. I think she would have gladly erased her entire existence and embraced that happy state of nonbeing that Eastern religions are always talking about. I stood by her silently. Unfortunately, my joining her only drew attention. A clump of weedy Sebastian’s guys started chin-upping in interest.

“Hey, barf bag,” one of them said.

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

Did You Like This Book? Try:

• The Bermudez Triangle
• Girl at Sea—My rating: 2.5/5
• 13 Little Blue Envelopes
• More Recommendations from LibraryThing

Around the time my teachers started assigning books to read on a regular basis, I stopped reading for fun outside of schoolwork. This continued through college, and it took a long while even after college before I sought out reading again.

Whether you’re just out of school, in school but struggling to maintain an extracurricular reading life, or reeling from some bad reads, everyone hits a rough patch from time to time. Here are some ways you can bring back that lovin’ feelin’.

1. Mix it up. Been reading a lot of fiction lately? Switch to nonfiction for at least one book. Never tried a graphic novel? Now’s as good a time as any. Burned out on books in general? Try a magazine. Absence, heart, fonder, you know the drill.
2. Pick with abandon. You know, you really should read Moby Dick before you die. And War and Peace. And The Brothers Karamazov and …ARGH! Enough. To restore the fun, take the “should” out of your reading—at least once in a while—and pick a book for no other reason than it has a pretty cover or you like the sound of the author’s name. If you’re feeling super reckless, close your eyes and pick a random book on the shelf.
3. Go back to your reading roots. Before you ever read a book and well before reading was an assignment, someone read to you. Out loud. Hark back to that happy time in your reading life by putting on your jammies, crawling into bed, and listening to an audio book. Or have your partner or a friend read out loud to you.
4. Get out of the house. Find a local bookstore and check out their schedule of author visits. Pick one that sounds interesting, then put it in your calendar. Even if I decide not to read an author’s book after hearing them speak, the author’s passion for their creation makes me want to go home and read a good book.
5. Whatever you do, don’t read. Think of a book you’ve been wanting to read for a while, then get a copy of it and put it in a prominent place in your home—on the coffee table, on top of the TV, in your baby’s crib. But this is important: Don’t read it! You’re not allowed to read that book, or anything else, for at least one full day. If you’re like me and still have remnants of a rebellious teenager deep down, you won’t be able to resist what’s forbidden.
6. Reread a favorite. This works well when a string of bad reads have turned you off reading. I’m currently rereading the Harry Potter series, and this last month of solace has recharged my reading batteries. I can’t wait to find my next favorite!
7. Know when to say when. Master the art of quitting a book that’s not grabbing you. Forcing yourself to slog through something you’re not into is a surefire way to destroy your love of reading. Your reading time is finite, so spend it on books you enjoy.

Your Turn: When reading’s become a chore, how have you brought back the fun?

Photo by billhd.

Can you trust me? Compare our taste!

Title: Along for the Ride
Author: Sarah Dessen
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 3.5/5
Why I Read It: It released in 2009, and I was in the mood for something new.

Summary: Auden will start college in the fall, but she can’t stand to be around her mom for another summer. She escapes to her dad’s house, where she has to find her place among his new wife, their newborn baby, girls like she’s never known in her private-school existence…and quiet, intense Eli.

Review: The story got off to a slow start with a lot of background information. But it soon picked up, and I finished it in less than a day.

Even though it hasn’t made the top three LibraryThing recommendations, This Lullaby was similar in some ways—the summer between high school and college, an uber-responsible girl testing her self-imposed boundaries.

And satisfying banter among girlfriends. Here’s a snippet of Auden’s three new girlfriends talking:

“What I find,” Maggie said, “is that when you get gum, you always need something else. Because gum isn’t really a snack.”

“So true,” Esther agreed.

“If I do get gum, I always grab some chips, or maybe a cookie two-pack, as well. That way you know you’ve got your food and something refreshing for afterward.”

Leah shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said. “What about Tic Tacs? They’re like gum, but I’ve been known to eat them for a meal before.”

“Tic Tacs you actually swallow, though,” Esther pointed out. “You own a Tic Tac. Gum is just borrowed.”

Maggie turned to her, smiling. “Impressive.”

“Thank you,” Esther replied. “I always feel inspired here at the Gas/Gro.”

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

Did You Like This Book? Try:

• Lock and Key
• Wintergirls—My rating: 5/5
• Keeping the Moon
• More Recommendations from LibraryThing