Thank you for giving a bump to my slump!

To all of you who commiserated with me and cheered me through my whining about YA reads:

Special thanks to Asher, Ivan, Tatiana, Alyssa, Kyle, April, Angie, Maja, Vickie, Ashley, Anna, Catie, Short Latte, Gina, Flannery, and Holly!

You all helped cheer me up, brightened my day, and inspired me to go out and read.  I have determined that the first order of business in shaking the YA slump will be to read my copy of Daughter of the Forest, as there seems to be a general consensus that I will love it and it will solve all of my problems (well, maybe not all of them…it probably won’t get me a full time dream job).  Next up, I plan to give This Is Not a Test, and Seraphina a go.  I’ve heard great things about both of them, and am hoping they’ll make the cut.  Though I also have Dead Reckoning and The Return Man at the moment, which means it’s going to be a Very Zombie June for me (and yes, I am now inspired to make A Very Zombie June logo out of the A Very Brady Christmas cover).

Anyway, I’ll be sprinkling these three in with some other adult and middle grade reads as I get back into the flow of things.  With three gorgeous (and eerie) covers, of which I approve, how could I go wrong?  I’ll also be trying any number of other books recommended, like Gary D. Schmidt, Unspoken, The Curiosities!

Go forth and read!

I can’t take the angst!

Lately, every time I pick up a YA book I get about 20-30 pages and then I bail.

I just feel like nothing’s grabbing me.  It’s frustrating to be honest.  I love YA, it’s my favorite age group to read for, and yet lately reading it kind of feels like banging my head against a dresser.

I can’t take another love triangle.  I can’t take more insta-love.  I can’t take more angst.  And I really absolutely cannot take more descriptions of eyes AS GREEN AS THE FOREST or BLUE AND DEEP AS THE SEA, let alone hear about THE WAY HE SMELLS.  In fact, at this very moment, I feel like I can’t take teenagers anymore period!  They’re whiney.  They’re rash.  They always make stupid decisions, take way too long to figure stuff out, and find all sorts of ways to annoy me.  Am I saying I’m done with YA?  Certainly not!  But I am going to take a bit of a break for a bit.  Lately, it seems like every book I’m actually attracted to is either adult or middle grade.  I think this is a sign.  A sign to ease up, enjoy what I feel like, and don’t force the books that aren’t working for me at the moment.  The next time I pick up a YA book I don’t want to feel like this:

I want to feel like this!

This is kind of a new thing for me, since I’ve been reading significantly more in the past six months or so than I ever have before.  I’ve had series burn out, author burn out, and genre burn out, but I’ve never been so completely sick of a whole field of books.  I know everyone gets in reading slumps, but I don’t feel like I’m in a reading slump, I’m just in a YA slump. 

For you, this means that reviews on my blog may be skewing to adult and middle grade a bit more than usual.  I still have some YA reviews scheduled ahead, so it won’t be abandoned entirely, and you might not notice a difference at all! 

Do any of you ever have these feelings about YA or another group of books?  Any tips or tricks for getting over it?  My plan is to just steer clear for few books, or until something grabs me. 

What’s the most amazeballs YA read that might pick me up?  I’d love to hear suggestions. Here’s a list of ARCs I have sitting around, and here are books I own but haven’t read.

Oh it’s On! Dewey’s Readathon

So…I was debating about whether or not I officially wanted to participate in my first Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon today or not.  I was thinking, I’ll hit in in October.  Then I woke up this morning at about 9:30 (because I am not one to get up for an 8:00 am start time when I don’t really have to) and looked outside.  It’s grey, thinking of raining, and I really have nowhere to go, so sign up I did!

Here’s the scary stack of potential candidates:

But most likely I will be:

1. Reading some short stories from Faery Tales and Nightmares by Melissa Marr.
2. Reading Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood.
3. Reading I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella.

I don’t read super fast, so it’s unlikely that I’ll get through more than one entire book today.  I am in the middle of Code Name Verity, but decided it’s important to me to take my time with that one and appreciate it properly, so I will be putting off finishing it until after the readathon. 

Good luck to the other participants, I’m excited to see how everyone’s day goes!

TBR of Shame: My Big Three

Hi friends!  I only received one book this week, so I figured instead of doing an IMM, I'd save it for next time and share with you my TBR of Shame.  In the last few weeks, Holly over at Book Harbinger, and Chachic at Chachic's Book Nook made some lovely lists inspired by Flannery's list over on The Readventurer.  Not only did these lovely ladies get me to start reading The Readventurer (which is a pretty sweet blog if you don't read it yet), they kinda got me itching to make my own such list.  You can check out Holly's here, Chachic's here, and Flannery's here.


I'm going to try to keep my list realistic for me for this year...because let's face it, long term goals are a problem for future Heidi.  I call this my 'TBR of Shame' because these here are the books and authors I'm most ashamed of myself for not having picked up yet:

My Big Three: Authors

So the authors on this list are all ones that I've read nothing by, but want to read all of the books!  Seriously.  Pretty much every book in each of their backlogs is on my TBR, and I solemnly swear to read at least ONE thing by each of them this year:

Melina Marchetta

It's pretty hard to hang out in the YA blogosphere and not hear all about Melina Marchetta.  She's probably the best known Aussie YA author this side of either ocean.  Chachic, bookevangelist pro, is celebrating Marchetta Madness which has done a lot to solidify my shame and guarentee I will be picking up Saving Francesca in my next digital library haul.  Why am I starting here?  Well, for one, it's available through Overdrive, and two, I've heard comparisons between Thomas Mackee and my latest mad crush, Marcus Flutie, making Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son an easy priority.

Marcus Sedgwick

Marcus Sedgwick is another one of those authors where I pretty much only hear good things about his books.  Especially from Ana of The Book Smugglers.  Ever since becoming intrigued by last year's Midwinterblood, I've been meaning to pick something of his up.  Particularly when every time I run across a new book of his, I just add it to my TBR.

Juliet Marillier

Ah...Juliet Marillier...I really have no excuse for this one slipping under.  She writes exactly the type of books I adore, and yet, I've failed to ever pick one up.  Well, this year I have sworn up and down that I will at least start the Sevenwaters series.  Mostly so that Alyssa doesn't stop being my friend. :P

My Big Three: Series

Song of the Lioness

Somehow I got through a childhood parked in the Fantasy section of my library without ever picking up this series.  I'm going to go ahead and blame my slight Mercedes Lackey obsession.  But the time for excuses has ended, this year I want to at least start this series.  It's classic girl in boys clothing, and how can I resist that?  That's right, I can't.

Tomorrow

Okay not having read this one isn't so incredibly shameful.  It's a series that Aussies grew up with, but never got the notoriety it probably deserved in the U.S.  Well, ever since hearing about it I've been dying to read it, especially after seeing a trailer for the movie over at Inkcrush.  Instantly added the movie to my Netflix queue, and I'll be reading the books asap to prepare.

Five Hundred Kingdoms

Ahem.  Remember two minutes ago when I declared my Mercedes Lackey obsession?  Well, I lied.  It's more of a Valdemar obsession.  I've shamefully never read any of one of my favorite author's works outside of the Valdemar universe.  I particularly want to read this series, as it's all fairy tale retellings.  In fact, I am so ashamed I haven't read this series, I can barely say it publicly.  I love Mercedes Lackey and I love retellings.  From my understanding, each is more or less a stand alone novel taking place in the same universe, so I think I can read them in whatever order I please, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. 

My Big Three: Books

So there are books I'm probably more ashamed of not having read.  When I was in college, my History of the Book class was full of bibliophiles, and we'd sit around playing "What's the most famous book you've never read?"  And there's a lot I could name, but these three are books that I feel like I'm the last person to read, and have wanted to read for ages.  They're books I actually really want to read, not just to fill in gaps or because I think I should, because I genuinely want to pick them up and think I'll love them!

The Phantom Tollbooth

You might find this hard to believe, but I didn't even hear of this book until I was in college and found out it was my good friend's childhood favorite.  I'm sad for childhood me every time I see this book.  I've actually checked it out from the library at least three times, and never read it before returning it.  How shameful is that?

The Book Thief

This one's fairly recent, but I have little doubt that it's on its way to being called a classic.  I've been meaning to pick it up since it came out, but never feel quite in the mood for it.  It always takes something out of me to knowingly read WWII stories.  Still, I've heard good things about the audio, and will probably listen to this one fairly soonish.  I hope.  Maybe.

The Last Unicorn

The Last Unicorn was, without a doubt, my favorite movie as a child.  I made my parents rent it constantly.  And get this--I honestly believed it was magic.  Somehow, every time I watched it I would fall asleep (hey, I was a kid!), but every time I would fall asleep just a few minutes later than the time before.  I didn't know I was falling asleep, I honest to God thought that the movie would get a little longer every time I watched it.  To me, it was magic.  It's my strongest memory of really having that belief as a child, and I can't believe I haven't read the book yet.  I mean, I own the VHS, I own the DVD, I name my Rock Band bands 'Last of the Red Hot Swamis'.  Of course I'll love it, but something inside of me is afraid to disappoint.

So that's it--my TBR of shame.  Fewer books than other lists, but probably more wordy.  Let me know if you've read any of these books, what you've thought, or who and what is on your own TBR of shame!

Tag, I'm it!

I was tagged for this meme by Jasmine from A Room With Books.  I thought it was cute, and that the questions would help readers to get to know me a bit better, so I’m going to play!  I’m not going to tag anyone else, however, but you’re welcome to play if you want.

1) What do you like to do besides read/blog?

My other big hobby is knitting, but I enjoy crafting in general.  Today I’m attempting sewing a Rockstar jacket for my niece to wear to the concert of her favorite band--The Fresh Beats Band (she’s 2).  I also like to bake, my most recent adventure was Maggie Stiefvater’s November Cakes, which were amazing.  Other than that, I hang out with my boyfriend, friends, watch t.v., movies, and sports (mostly football and baseball).  Sometimes I get to actually go to shows, such as last weekend when I saw Madama Butterfly at The Met, or several weeks ago when I attended the taping of Chris Hardwick’s stand-up special for Comedy Central.

2) Print or e-book?  Any particular reason?
I actually rotate back and forth between these pretty frequently, but the majority of the books I read are in a digital format.  I love my Kindle for its portability.  Why fill half a suitcase with books when I can slip my Kindle in my purse and have tons of reading options?  Also, my library uses Overdrive, meaning I can check out library books for my Kindle whenever I want.  They have a great selection, and I will choose this option over dragging my butt to the library 100% of the time.  However, there’s still reasons to pick up physical books.  I love the smell, and I like seeing page numbers.  If a library book is only available in physical form, I’ll go that route.  The only time I purchase is if I can’t utilize the library, or if I’m so pumped up I can’t wait (alas, I don’t have the funds to purchase often these days).

3) Paperback or hardcover?
Honestly?  I don’t care.  I’m probably the only bibliophile I know who could care less about the physical existence of books.  I’ll go with whatever format’s available.  I like hardcover because I can lay them flat in my lap or on a table, but I like paperback because I can hold them in one hand.  In the end, if I had to purchase a physical book (the last one I bought was Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul 4 years ago), I’d go paperback because they’re cheaper, more portable, and I don’t feel put out when I ruin them or loan them and never get them back.

4) Do you have a favorite bookstore?  If so, can we see a pic?

Powell’s!  It’s so overwhelming, I love it.  I suppose I’m a horrid person for having lived in NY for 3 years and not yet having visited The Strand.  Like I said, I don’t buy many physical books anymore, so I guess my real favorite bookstore is Amazon.

5) Why did you decide to start your blog?
I just really got back into reading this past year, and book blogs were a big part of that.  I started reading and following quite a few book blogs, but I felt like I was always on the periphery.  I could comment on reviews, but I never really had the chance to put my thoughts out there.  That was why I decided to start my own blog, to take part in a collaborative community that discusses the books I read.

6) How long does it take you to finish a book on average?
On average, it takes me 2-3 days to finish a book (I read quite slowly), depending on how much else I have going on in real life.  Right now, I have a lot of free time, I expect my pace to slow as that time diminishes.

7) Look at your bookshelf (not GoodReads, but your physical bookshelf) and quickly pick your top five.

This is hard for me because when I moved to NY, I didn’t bring my books with me.  Our bookshelves contain only my boyfriend’s graphic novels.  I’d look at my Kindle, but since I got a new Kindle at Christmas, it only has books on it that I’ve read this year.  Since I’ve been blogging about most of those, I guess I’ll go with the former and just say my favorite is The Sandman series by Niel Gaiman, which is more than 5, but I’m not going to write them out so count it.

8) Favorite places on the internet?
Listing only non book places: I heart Nerdist (hosts my favorite podcast), Ravelry (for knitting), The Hermitage (my favorite artist's blog), and The Tobolowsky Files (my other favorite podcast).  I don’t let myself get into things like Tumblr, Pinterest, or Reddit even though I sometimes look and they are awesome because I don’t need the time sink.

9) Coffee, tea, juice, or soda?
I like all of these things.  I’ve pretty much quit drinking coffee because of stomach problems, so I’m largely a tea girl now.  I love cranberry juice, but only buy in when it’s on sale (which is rare because I’m a snob and only buy Ocean Spray).  I call it pop instead of soda cause I’m from Wyoming, I prefer Pepsi to Coke because I come from a town where we bottle Pepsi and nobody drinks Coke, and my favorite is Dr. Pepper.

10) What’s your favorite thing about blogging?
The community!  There are so many lovely book bloggers out there.  I love seeing what other people think about the same books I read, and also being introduced to books I would otherwise overlook.  I also like having a platform for my thoughts, because even if they’re not always deep, it makes me digest materials I consume more thoroughly.

11) Favorite of your past 5 books read, plus the next 5 you plan to read.

The last 5 books I read were Winter’s Passage, The Girls of No Return, The Iron King, Kill Shakespeare, and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.  My favorite of these?  The Iron King by Julie Kagawa.  The next 5 books I plan to read (always subject to change) are Fracture, Midnight in Austenland, Magic Burns, Grave Mercy, and A Conspiracy of Kings.

Tour de Tetons

In honor of Hallowed releasing, and today's review of Unearthly, I thought that I would share some of my personal photos of the Jackson Hole area with ya'll.  These were all taken two summers ago, before I had even heard of Unearthly, so sorry I didn't make more pointed stops this trip!

The Grand Tetons!

This is the bf and I at the arch where Clara's hair first Glories out.

Jenny Lake - where Clara goes to practice flying.

View of Jackson from Snow King - the smaller resort
 where Christian practices skiing after school.

Out With the Old, In With the New

So Christmas came, and I was 'forced' to upgrade my gen1 Kindle to something newer, sleeker, and prettier.  I didn't really need a new Kindle, the old one still worked...most of the time anyway, and I liked to have that 'old school cred' while reading in public, but people?  I love my new purple cover and can't stop exclaiming about how freaking tiny it it!  So for fun I thought I'd share some pics:

First book read on the old Kindle: Little Women

Last book read on the old Kindle: Under the Never Sky

First book read on the new Kindle: Hallowed

What books have you all used to break in a new e-reader?

Welcome and Happy New Year!

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”             ~ Neil Gaiman

I aim to do all of these things.  I used to write for myself, but that largely stopped when I had to start writing for school.  Well, as 10 years of essays and research for others comes to a close, I've decided it's time to write for myself again.  I've been living on the periphery of the book blog community for some time now and loving it; I think it's time to become more involved and jump in myself.  So here you have it, a new offering to the book blogosphere.  I hope you enjoy it, I hope that I can make you smile, but most of all I hope at some point it encourages you to pick up one of these books and read it.  You never know what you might find!

Feel free to explore my pages to learn more about me and the challenge goals I have set for myself this year, and check back tomorrow when the reviews shall start!