Trading Bookcases

Almost a year ago, I moved into the apartment I currently live in.  When this event occurred, I only owned two decent-sized bookcases (one six foot, one three foot), plus a mini bookcase (for my writing things), and a tiny bookcase extension that attaches to the top of my dresser.  When I moved, I moved figuring that I was going to buy another six foot bookcase eventually.  This happened a few months after moving in, but mostly what went on there were the old, childhood books that I was determined to get out of their boxes.

The rest of my books, however, stayed where I'd put them the night I moved into my apartment.

For a while, this was fine, because it was manageable.  And then many of the authors I love published new books...and books got sequels...and Half Price books had sales...and suddenly my original six foot bookcase got a little overflowing.

It's like a game of Tetris when I buy new books.

Today was deemed the day in which bookcases were going to get reorganized.  I've started reading so many books that are planned as trilogies or series, and I've gotten into reading so many different authors, that I know over the coming year, I'm sure I'll buy just as many books as I did the last twelve months.  After a couple of hours, I had a much better book situation going in my room.

Bookcase #1 (the one with the original mess)
The After Picture

Bookcase #2 (the one with all the childhood books and nothing else)
The After Picture

But best of all, my wonderful dystopian shelf has plenty of room for all of my dystopian-novel-obsessing.  It has the tallest shelf, so I can easily stack books on top of each other, plus it's not even full yet.  This is a great improvement from what it looked like before.

Dystopian shelf -- Before

New and Improved Dystopian shelf

The big test is going to be when I try to locate one of my books.  I'm going to guess that it's going to take me some time to get used to my new arrangement!

The Magic of Books

I've been taking a lot of flack over the last few weeks from my fellow Fiction Flurry bloggers about the fact that I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series for the five-thousandth time. The others are getting great amusement by trying to "confiscate" my books at group meetings and teasing me if I say something too British in an email. It's all in good fun, of course. I'm not offended or annoyed by it, not the least because they're not the only ones to pick on me over my nerdiness. But it has gotten me thinking.

I have a collection of books that I can re-read any number of times and never grow tired of them. It's a habit of mine that seems to baffle some people in my life (namely, my parents). I have been asked on numerous occasions how on earth I can read books so many times--doesn't it get boring? I already know what's going to happen. Some of the books, I can practically recite verbatim. When I re-read these books, I'm just as invested and I walk around with my nose stuck in them like it's the first time I'm reading them.

When these questions come up, I always think of a quote from one of these books that I love. It's from The Sweet Far Thing, by Libba Bray: "We sit and listen and are enthralled anew, for good stories, it seems, never lose their magic."

I think there's something magical about any book that holds that kind of intrigue over its readers. There's something to be said for a story that you can read over and over again and it never gets old. When I pick up Harry Potter, I read it like I've never read it before--I still stay up until the early hours of the morning because I can't put it down; I still want to know what will happen. I hope that the books and stories I write will one day hold that same magic over people.

Some of the books that hold this magic over me are:

1. Harry Potter (obviously)
2. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
3. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray
4. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
5. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
6. The Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy by Michelle Zink
7. The Hollow trilogy by Jessica Verday
8. The Dawn Rochelle Novels by Lurlene McDaniel
9. On Writing by Stephen King
10. Grania by Morgan Llywelyn

Are you one of the people who can read the same story over and over again and never get bored? What books hold this magic over you?

Author Interview: Michelle Muto

THE BOOK OF LOST SOULS

by Michelle Muto

Synopsis

When teen witch Ivy MacTavish changes a lizard into her date for a Halloween dance, everything turns to chaos. And when no one is powerful enough to transform him back except Ivy, it sparks the rumor: Like father, like daughter. Ivy has heard it all before – that her father, who left when she was seven – was involved with the darkest of magic.

Making the rumors worse, someone uses an evil spell book to bring back two of history’s most nefarious killers. Ivy’s got a simple plan to set things right: find the real dark spell caster, steal the book, and reverse the spell. No problem! But she’ll have to deal with something more dangerous than murderous spirits that want her and her friends dead: the school’s resident bad boy and hotter-than-brimstone demon, Nick Marcelli. Nick’s offering Ivy more than his help with recovering the missing book – he’s offering her a way to ditch her scaly reputation as a lizard-lover. Demons are about as hard to handle as black magic, and as Ivy soon discovers, it’s going to take more than a lot of luck and a little charm if she wants to survive long enough to clear her status as a dark witch, get a warm-blooded boyfriend, and have her former date back to eating meal worms before the week’s end.

Hunks, hexes, and magical mayhem!

Amazon for Kindle
Barnes & Noble for Nook
Smashwords for eBook
Coming soon to iBook, Sony, Kobo, and more!

INTERVIEW With Michelle

FF: Let's start with a little bit about your back ground.

Michelle: I'm married, with dogs. Yes, one of them really IS a Beezlepup. Kidding. But, he is the inspiration for Devlin, the Beezlepup in the book. By day, I'm a freelance tech writer when the work is there, and a fiction writer when it's not. As a kid, my favorite past time was spending hours at the library or entire rainy afternoons reading. I guess I've always wanted to be surrounded by the written word.

FF: We love the fresh spin on the supernatural world! How did you come up with the idea for Book of Lost Souls?

Michelle: I've always loved stories about witches. Who wouldn't want to be magic? And, I've always loved humorous stories. There's just not enough of them, in my opinion. One day, this small town teen witch came to mind. All she wanted was a normal, verycontrollable life. Despite her best efforts, she discovers her life is as far from normal as it gets and at times, it's total chaos

FF: What can readers expect out of this story?

Michelle: I hope some good laughs, some palm-sweating, swoon-worthy romance, and loyal friendship. Oh, and a cast of eclectic, memorable characters along with some fast-paced action.

FF: What forms of research did you do for this novel? Anything unique?

Michelle: I did some research on Vlad the Impaler and Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Creepy.

FF: Can you tell us more about your current projects?

Michelle: I'm editing a darker, more emotional tale, set in a different world than Souls and writing a new book.

FF: Any teasers about what you’ll be publishing next?

Michelle: It's a heart-rendering, haunting tale of a girl who discovers death isn't at all what she thought it'd be. In places, I think it's a guaranteed tear jerker. In others, it's downright horror. And the ending is well, you'll have to wait until this summer to read it. Think a darker, more supernatural novel in the vein of The Lovely Bones.

FF: Any advice for aspiring author's on the publication process?

Michelle: Write. Always keep writing. Keep digging into your work and find areas where you need improvement. And always let your imagination run wild.

FF: Lastly I’d like to blast a few personal tidbits out to our readers

A must when you are writing...

Complete solitude and quiet. No music, no interruptions.

Book you are currently reading...

The Rite, by Matt Baglo. I meant to read the book before

I saw the movie,

but it didn't work out that way.

Favorite Quote...

If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right. ~Henry Ford

Thank you for the opportunity to pick your brain Michelle. I thoroughly enjoyed Lost Souls and

am eagerly anticipating your next project.

Confessions of a YA Addict

Hi. My name is Erin.

(Hi, Erin...)

I'm nearly 24 years old and I...

I...

I love Young Adult fiction.

Whew! It feels so good to get that off my chest!

Okay, perhaps that was a bit on the dramatic side, but that's how it feels sometimes. I cannot tell you the number of times I've been trying to explain to someone a novel I'm reading, and I've finally just resorted to sighing and saying, "It's Young Adult." And then they stare at me like I'm a head case.

It doesn't happen all the time, especially not around my fellow book nerds, but it happens far too often to be ignored.

Usually, if I then go on to explain that I also write Young Adult, I'll get an understanding nod or whoever I'm talking to will at least stop staring at me like I'm nuts. Leading me to believe that it's perfectly okay to read Young Adult if you also write it--have to do "market research," after all--but it's a little strange for a twenty-something to read YA just because they like it.

A few years ago, my local library went through a huge remodel. To prevent the invasion of younger kids in the YA section, which had apparently been getting on the teens' nerves, they moved the whole section to the back corner of the library. They made it into a "cool" space for the teens to hang out, decking it out with restaurant-style booths, bright colors, and a giant glass garage door to section it off from the rest of the building. If I had still been in my teens when they'd done this, I would have been over the moon.





As it was, I was in my senior year of college.

The way the YA section had been set up previously, it had been sandwiched between the Large Print and General Fiction shelves. As someone who was no longer a teen, it was easy to be inconspicuous when the section was mixed in with everything else. No one ever gave me a second glance.

But there's something vaguely awkward being a twenty-something browsing the shelves in a neon-colored room with a garage door, set way back in the library away from all the other books, so I have to walk past all the people using the computers who give me funny looks as I head in the direction of the YA room. Don't get me wrong, no one at my library has ever said anything to stop me going to the YA room. In the long run, I doubt anyone even cares. But with people's tendency to stare and my tendency to over-analyze such behaviors, I've gotten into the habit of rushing into the YA room, searching out whatever specific author or title I'm hunting, and then beelining my way out of there as quickly as possible.

I hate doing this. I like browsing, but I dislike the awkward staring more. I've always loved reading YA, and I love writing it as well. There's something about the teenage experience that continues to fascinate me. I hate how there's this unspoken awkwardness toward an adult loving Young Adult novels. I hate that I feel so out-of-place in the YA room at my library now and how this very slight age gap between teens and me also puts a gap between me and the "real" adults.

What's the moral of this story? Read what you love. Ignore the awkard stares or the comments or the raised eyebrows or whatever it is you receive when you're judged for what you like reading. No one should make you feel out-of-place around books.

I have a goal to progressively spend more time in the YA room at my library, learn to ignore the stares. Perhaps someday I'll actually sit down and write in there. But while I'm still getting used to the YA room, my love for the genre is still there. That's definitely not going anywhere.

Interview with JENNIFER LAURENS

Today Fiction Flurry is lucky enough to be interviewing Young Adult author Jennifer Laurens about her New Release Overprotected. Thanks so much for chatting with us today Jennifer!
For those of you who haven’t yet become familiar with Jennifer Laurens she’s the author of Heavenly, Penitence and Absolution. And let me just say they are exquisite work! If you haven’t read them yet, run-don’t walk, to the nearest retailer and get a copy!

Personally, I can’t wait for you next book, Overprotected, to be released in April 2011.( It's available on Kindle,Nook and all e-versions - :)

Ashlyn: A lonely society princess living in New York City.
Daddy hired you to be my bodyguard.
Colin: Childhood enemy, now her protector.
Daddy thought I’d be safe. He thought I’d never fall in love. He thought he could keep me forever.Charles: obsessed with keeping her safe, keeping her his, he hires the one person he knows she could never fall in love with: Colin.
Daddy was wrong.

FF: Let’s start with a bit about your background…

JL: I'm a SoCal native now living in Utah with my husband of 27 years and 6 children, one of whom has autism.

FF: What can readers expect out of this new story?

JL: This is not your cliche "bodyguard" novel. It's really a coming-of-age story about a young woman fighting for independence, about a family living a life of pretense, about real love gone overboard into obsessive love. It's character complex and highly emotional. It's the first story I ever wrote, and it occupies a special spot in my heart for that reason. I wrote 3 different versions of it! ( not three drafts, three complete, different versions ) before finally choosing this POV to settle upon to tell the story.

FF: I know your novels are more than just teenage angst and love, so what is the driving theme in this one?

JL: There are several basic themes in Overprotected: what is real love? What is right? When are our fears justified? How far is too far to go when it comes to love, family and control?

FF: I have to take the opportunity to quote you: “My life experiences have worked into all of my novels. Some more heavily than others, but parts of me are in each story. I love stories rich in family drama, where family members overcome obstacles through love and miracles.” Any specific examples related to Overprotected you’d care to share?

JL: I'm an only child, and Ashlyn ( the heroine ) is an only child. Her family is loosely based on my cousin's family: only child raised in NYC on Park Avenue. My mother was very protective of me growing up, to the point where I battled feeling obligated to behave certain ways to please her, versus allowing myself to participate in what other teens my age were doing during that time of my life.

FF: How did you come up with the idea for Overprotected?

JL: As I mentioned above, this was my first book I wrote. They say "Write what you know" and, since many of the themes in the book are familiar to me, I strung them together with an unusual love triangle between a girl, a boy and the girl's father. I loved the unusual nature of that kind of love triangle -- but not in a perverted way -- her father loves her too much.

FF: Was any part of this novel difficult to write or research?

JL: Probably Ashlyn's realizations of her parents' marriage. My parents separated when I was 16 and, like Ashlyn, I was mature enough at that age to realize ( and see ) they'd be happier separated. Still, it's not easy seeing your parents marriage ( with all of it's weaknesses ) crumble.

FF: Can you tell us more about your current projects?

JL: It's another early story of mine I'm re-writing for YA.

FF: Any teasers about what you’ll be publishing next? Only that it's another intense story.

JL: I love writing my characters into deep love and plenty of challenges.

FF: Lastly I’d like to blast a few personal tidbits out to our readers.

A must when you are writing…music. I create a soundtrack for each novel and I listen to it 24/7 while working on the project. Drives me family nuts :)

Book you are currently reading …I keep Endless Love by Scott Spencer open and on my NOOK constantly. Other than that, I pick and choose reads carefully because of time restraints.

Favorite quote…"No other success can compensate for failure in the home." David O. McKay.

FF: Everyone here at Fiction Flurry would like to send a big THANK YOU to Jennifer Laurens for this opportunity to interview her. Good luck on your upcoming projects Jennifer!

Last Minute Christmas Gifts for Teen Readers

Okay all you last minute Christmas shoppers, I have a list here that will help you buy novels for the teen reader in your life. Here are my recommendations (in no particular order) for hot Young Adult books that are currently on the shelves.




RULES OF ATTRACTION by SIMONE ELKELES

(Book Two in a Series. Book One: Perfect Chemistry)

When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for a year, he doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him at a high school in Colorado . Carlos likes living his life on the edge and wants to carve his own path—just like Alex did. Then he meets Kiara Westford. She doesn’t talk much and is completely intimidated by Carlos’ wild ways. As they get to know one another, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, and refuses to admit that she might be getting to him. But he soon realizes that being himself is exactly what Kiara needs right now.





THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by JANDY NELSON

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding.

This remarkable debut is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block. Just as much a celebration of love as it is a portrait of loss, Lennie's struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often hilarious, and ultimately unforgettable.



PERSONAL DEMONS by LISA DESROCHERS

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She has spent years keeping everyone at a distance—-even her closest friends—-and it seems as if her senior year is going to be more of the same . . . until Luc Cain enrolls in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can’t seem to stay away from him.

What she doesn’t know is that Luc is on a mission. He’s been sent from Hell itself to claim Frannie’s soul. It should be easy—-all he has to do is get her to sin, and Luc is as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance. But he has to work fast, because if the infernals are after her, the celestials can’t be far behind. And sure enough, it’s not long before the angel Gabriel shows up, willing to do anything to keep Luc from getting what he came for. It isn’t long before they find themselves fighting for more than just Frannie’s soul.

But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay . . . for all of them.



NIGHTSHADE by ANDREA CREMER

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

HEX HALL by RACHEL HAWKINS

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.



THE BODY FINDER by KIMBERLY DERTING

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.



THE DUFF by KODY KEPLINGER



Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.







CRESCENDO by BECCA FITZPATRICK

(Book Two in the Series. Book One: HUSH HUSH)

Nora Grey's life is still far from perfect. Surviving an attempt on her life wasn't pleasant, but atleast she got a guardian angel out of it: a mysterious, magnetic, gorgeous guardian angel. But, despite his role in her life, Patch has been acting anything but angelic. He's more elusive than ever and even worse, he's started spending time with Nora's arch-enemy, Marcie Millar.

Nora would have hardly noticed Scott Parnell, an old family friend who has moved back to town, if Path hadnt been acting so distant. Even with Scott's totally infuriating attitude Nora finds herself drawn to him - despite her lingering feeling that he's hiding something.

Haunted by images of her murdered father, and questioning whether her nephilim bloodline has anything to do with his death, Nora puts herself increasingly in dangerous situations as she desperatly searches for answers. But maybe some things are better left buried, because the truth could destroy everything - and everyone - she trusts.







REIGN CHECK by MICHELLE ROWAN

(Second Book in the Series. Book One is DEMON PRINCESS)



Fresh from finding out that she is a demon princess, fighting her aunt for her life, and rescuing her father from being poisoned, Nikki Donovan is looking forward to getting back to her regular high school life. But when Rhys, the handsome king of the faery realm, decides to show up at her school as a "foreign exchange student," Nikki knows this won't be possible. Couple with this a whole host of other problems: there's a new prophecy that claims she will destroy everyone. Her conflicted feelings for Rhys and her boyfriend, Michael, are getting in the way of their relationship. Her best friend Melinda just might be a demon-slayer-in-training, and her old crush Chris might know of her demon side. Throw in a field trip to none other than Hell itself … and Nikki's going to be hoping for a rain check on more than just her homework!



On Writing Without Eyeglasses…Guest Post by Holly Schindler

On Writing Without Eyeglasses…

I graduated with my master’s degree in the spring of 2001, and decided to nix the idea of a full-time job in order to pursue a writing career—my lifelong dream. This was possible, of course, only because of the incredible—INCREDIBLE—financial support I received from my family. I know—very ROOM OF ONE’S OWN. That support allowed me the freedom to spend my time drafting enough manuscripts to form a pile that stretches from the floor to the ceiling in my office! A mere (ahem) seven and a half years after grad school, I snagged my first publishing deal…A BLUE SO DARK, my debut novel, was released in May 2010.

…After all that time spent writing project after project, if I could give writers just one piece of drafting advice? Take off your glasses.





Yup, take ‘em off completely…





I drafted the entirety of A BLUE SO DARK in late 2006…only took about two months. The reason I was able to write at such an incredible pace was because I took my glasses off as I wrote—I’m so nearsighted, the print COMPLETELY disappeared from my screen. The beautiful part was, if I couldn’t SEE what I’d just written, I couldn’t second-guess it. So my internal editor was silenced. Completely. And it really didn’t take any effort to silence her. She was just…gone.





Sure, the book was revised globally about four different times in the next two years. But revising for me is always far easier than drafting. I’d much prefer to be reworking something that’s already down in draft form than trying to come up with something from scratch.





…And one thing I’ve heard repeatedly from bloggers about BLUE is that it’s honest… But I think the reason I GOT that honesty is because of the blind first draft. That stark truthfulness was there from the get-go.

So, all you drafters out there (even those of you currently in the midst of NaNoWriMo), put those glasses down—or turn off or cover your screen…Remove the temptation to read that last sentence. Not only will your internal editor fade away, but you’ll actually forget about the potential audience, too…It’ll just be you and your words flowing as naturally as the thoughts in your own head…Which will make YOUR book brutally honest, and your main character seem flesh-and-blood real!



--Holly Schindler

BookMarks: What Our Writers Are Reading

Michele Downey: Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts

Synopsis:  Wedding baker Laurel McBane is surrounded by romance working at Vows wedding planning company with her best friends Parker, Emma, and Mac. But she's too low-key to appreciate all the luxuries that their clients seem to long for. What she does appreciate is a strong, intelligent man, a man just like Parker's older brother Delaney, on whom she's had a mega-crush since childhood.

But some infatuations last longer than others, and Laurel is convinced that the Ivy League lawyer is still out of her reach. Plus, Del is too protective of Laurel to ever cross the line with her-or so she thinks. When Laurel's quicksilver moods get the better of her-leading to an angry, hot, all-together mind-blowing kiss with Del-she'll have to quiet the doubts in her mind to turn a moment of passion into forever...

Why I picked this book: The book actually came out a few months ago, but I've been waiting for it to be available at the library. I've read the first two books in this series and really enjoyed them. I love Nora Roberts writing and will read -or re-read - anything she publishes.

Annie McElfresh:  Well, I just finished The Ghost and The Goth.  I love the cover and I met the author and she gave me signed Swag - how could I resist?  As a matter of fact, I'm now doing a giveaway of this book over on my blog: Young Adult Bookworm (be sure to check it out!) 

Synopsis:  After a close encounter with the front end of a school bus, Alona Dare goes from Homecoming Queen to Queen of the Dead. Now she’s stuck here in spirit form with no sign of the big, bright light coming to take her away. To make matters worse, the only person who might be able to help her is Will Killian, a total loser/outcast type who hates the social elite. He alone can see and hear her, but he wants nothing to do with the former mean girl of Groundsboro High.   Can they get over their mutual distrust—and this weird attraction between them—to work together before Alona vanishes for good and Will is locked up for seeing things that don’t exist?

My thoughts:  I finished this novel in about two days. I literally got sucked in and had to find out what the connection was between Alona and Will. I like the fact that Will isn't a true Goth, just different, and Alona started noticing little things about him that made him cute. Things, she would've overlooked when she was her alive "bitchy" self, like his perfect smile.  This book has duel points of view in first person. Alona feels a little abrasive and shallow in the beginning, but as time goes on she stops hiding behind her stuck up mask and lets Will know her true self. Also, I thought it was so cute that Alona was, like, Will's dream girl and he finally gets some one on one time with her.  This was a really cute book. So, if you like ghosts, and snarky characters that redeem themselves, this ones for you.

Rachel Dilley:  I'm currently reading The Doctor's Wife by Elizabeth Brundage. There have been so many best sellers with titles involving someone's wife that I figured I'd better jump on the bandwagon...The Time Traveler's Wife, The Pilot's Wife, The Senator's Wife, The Zookeeper's Wife, The Kitchen God's Wife...  Anyway, I selected this book because it was the author's debut novel, and I am always interested in the work that causes an author to break through the publishing barrier, even if it is with an overused title formula.

Here's the book review from Amazon:  A suspense novel crossed with a literary exploration of infidelity and marital rancor, Elizabeth Brundage's ambitious debut, The Doctor's Wife, provides more than the usual kick of adrenalin for readers. In a small town in upstate New York, urban transplants Annie and Michael Knowles--he is a rising OB/GYN, and she is a once-trailblazing journalist who has settled into a teaching job--hope to escape the noise and bustle of the city. But both are drawn into danger: Annie begins an affair with an infamous (and married) painter, Simon Haas, and Michael is coaxed into helping an ex-lover at her family planning clinic. He performs abortions for poor women, and tries to ignore the cars that follow him home and the increasingly threatening phone calls. Sometimes Brundage perfectly navigates the twisting, overlapping elements of her complicated story line, but other times gives us too much at a time. And one of her characters, Simon's disturbed wife Lydia Haas, is so fascinating that she puts the others in the shade. Nevertheless, this is a rich first novel and a promising beginning for its author.

Beth Zellner:  On deck for me is Made in the USA by Billie Letts. 

Lutie McFee's history has taught her to avoid attachments...to people, to places, and to almost everything.  With her mother long dead and her father gone to find his fortune in Las Vegas, fifteen-year-old Lutie lives in the godforsaken town of Spearfish, South Dakota, with her eleven-year-old brother, Fate, and Floy Satterfield, the three-hundred-pound ex-girlfriend of her father.  While Lutie shoplifts for kicks, Fate spends most of his time reading, watching weird TV shows, and worrying about global warming.  As if their life were not dismal enough, one day, while shopping in the local Wal*Mart, Floy keels over and the two motherless kids are suddenly faced with the choice of becoming wards of the state or high-tailing it out of town in Floy's old Pontiac.  Choosing the latter, they head off in search of a father who has no known address, no phone number, and no particular interest in the kids he left behind.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff ARC review

Title: The Replacement

By: Brenna Yovanoff
Published: September 21st 2010 by Razorbill
Details: Hardcover, 352 pages
Special Note: ARC Review

Mackie Doyle seems like everyone else in the perfect little town of Gentry, but he is living with a fatal secret - he is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now the creatures under the hill want him back, and Mackie must decide where he really belongs and what he really wants.

A month ago, Mackie might have told them to buzz off. But now, with a budding relationship with tough, wounded, beautiful Tate, Mackie has too much to lose. Will love finally make him worthy of the human world?

My Thoughts:

The entire town of Gentry knows that their human children are stolen and murdered by monsters, but they seem to be okay with the sacrifice in order to keep their town the happy place it is. This novel creates a intriguing world that is full of mystery.

Mackie Doyle is one of the creepiest main characters I've come across in a while, but I will say he is very likable and he won me over very easily. Mackie has this venerability that makes you root for him even though he's not quite human and placed in a crib to replace a human baby that had been stolen and sacrificed. While the creatures under the hill may be evil, Mackie isn't, and strives to just be "normal". Iron, even the slight amount in blood, causes Mackie to go into a toxic shock type syndrome, which adds to the struggle to live in the human world.

This novel is a great YOUNG ADULT (YA) mystery. The kind where you have to figure out exactly what Mackie is why these creatures under the hill suddenly want him back.

If you like creepy YA told from a male first person point of view with a little bit of romance sprinkled in, this one's for you.
 
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