Book Girl's Don't Cry - What I Like To See In A Blog

This week Giselle mentioned that she wanted to talk about what we like to see in blogs, what makes us become a regular visitor/commenter so we decided to run with that. Amy and I have done a similar topic back when we were with the Book Buzzers but it's been a while and we both definitely have some new things to add to our lists.  Now, remember that everything I am about to mention is entirely personal preference and if your blog happens to have something I say I don't like or not have something I like it in no way means your blog is bad. This is just my opinion and everyone looks for different things in the blogs that they frequent.

Look

As far as the actual look of a blog I am definitely a fan of lighter coloured, simple blogs.  I find neutral colors (beiges, whites, light hues, etc.) to be much more welcoming and easy on the eyes.  I also am not big on clutter.  I don't need to know whose team you are on for every novel you have ever read and I don't need to know what tours you were on three months ago.  There have been so many instances where I have gone to a blog and see a tour banner that is way past and I wish I had the power to go on and take it off for the blogger.

In the vein of bogged down blogs that lead me to be confused as to what is going on with it I have to say that I am not at all a fan of Google+.  When I am going to comment back to someone who has been so kind to leave me a comment and I see that they are set up with Google+ I always let out a very annoyed groan.  You can't tell on that thing what was shared by that person from someone else's blog and what posts are actually from their blog.  If I have to sit there a sift through posts to find the persons actual blog they tend to lose me as a commenter because it's uber annoying.

Content

As far as actual content on a blog, the one thing that I like to see most of is of course reviews.  If I go to a blog and see meme post after meme post I'm not a fan.  That isn't to say that I am not a fan of memes, because I am. I love seeing people's Top 10 Tuesdays and Teaser Tuesdays but that can't be ALL that is sustaining your blog. I also look for reviews on both ends of the spectrum.  Like, if I see a blog with all 5 star reviews that blogs opinion doesn't hold much water with me so I am not going to frequent it to see what they think of stuff. At the same time, I'm not a fan of a blog that hates everything either because well, that's just no fun at all.

Finally, I am a big fan of social bloggers.  When I see bloggers that are chatty on Twitter and very social on GR I am fast to become a follower because I love conversing with bookish people. 

This is some of the stuff that I look for when I stop by a blog to decide if I want to add it to my favourites or not, what do you look for?

Also, don't forget that we are always looking for topic suggestions for future posts.

Fill out the suggestion form here!

Book Girls Don't Cry - Where are the parents?

For this weeks topic we have decided to voice our thoughts on parents in young adult books.  It seems that I am constantly coming across absent parents or overbearing parents in the books that I read. Rarely do I find a happy medium is achieved by the author on the parental front, it is always either one extreme or the other and that ends up being a big complaint of mine when I finish up the book.

When I look back on the parental intervention in my life growing up I think it was a bit on the slack side.  I was incredibly close with my mother and I would always creep into her room when I got home from wherever I was to talk to her about my night.  It didn't matter what time it was that I came creeping in, she would wake up and we would talk for a bit, sometimes hours.  I wasn't told what time I had to be home, I was expected to use my head and make sure that I was back at a decent time.  I think the open door policy between my mother and I is really what kept me in line in my younger years.  We would talk through things and she would straight up tell me when I was being an idiot.

I think that the freedom that I was given in my teens lead to me being pretty level headed.  Sure I was a hot head when it came to boys and such but I never got myself into scary situations and was able to be pretty level headed.  Now, because of this freedom that I had I can always understand when the parents aren't completely present in the kids life in books.  But when I see that the communication is completely lacking I begin to have a problem with the relationship.  I'm always bothered when I don't see the parents taking an active interest into where their child was or who they were with.  I know you can't keep your teenager on a leash for their entire life but a good conversation can go a long way.  A simple conversation between a parent and their kid can achieve so much in a book.

I am always a fan of a novel with a good family unit because I love reading about family dynamics.  There are so many places the author can take the relationships of siblings and parent/child so I always like to see it explored.  Now, I understand that not all families get along and there ARE parents out there who are absent in their child's life so seeing it here and there is definitely not a bad thing. But it just seems to me that more often than not the parents are absent in the books that I read.  Maybe that is why I started venturing into MG a little more, it seems that age group focuses on the family unit a lot more.

So this is just my take on parents in YA and what I would like to see a bit more of. I understand that the parent/child relationship can get in the way of the progression of the plot in a lot of books but I think that the building of that relationship can really add to the development of the character.  Character development is always first and foremost in the importance department on my checklist of what makes a good book so I think that adding layers there in any way you can is always a good thing.

What do you think about the parents in YA books? Would you like to see their relationships with their kids get a bit more development?

Also, don't forget that we are always looking for topic suggestions for future posts.

Fill out the suggestion form here!

Book Girls Don't Cry - My Reading Habits

Hello folks!

It's Monday and that means I am back with another BGDC post to kick off the week. This week our topic was a suggestion from Siiri of Little Pieces of Imagination (if you haven't checked out her blog yet, please do! This girl is as sweet as they come!)  She wants us to show/talk about our favorite reading habits/places.  I don't really have any favorite munchies to have on hand when I read so I am going to be highlighting the places I read and the devices that I read on.

This is my favorite reading spot! Unfortunately I live in Canada and I only get to use it about 4 months of the year but I take full advantage of it when I can.  My backyard gets a ridiculous amount of sunshine and with the long days I can sometimes be found out there from about 9 AM right until 10 PM off and on.  I have my comfy Martha Stewart wicker furniture and the yard is loaded with toys to keep my brats busy.

On days that are too chilly or when it starts to get dark out I curl up on my couch in my living room with a warm cup of tea or coffee and read there.  This is a photo that I took for Instagram on a stormy night!

This is my reading blanket.  I actually bought this blanket from Chapters so I like to think I am using to serve it's life purpose (if you look closely in the photo above you can see that it makes an appearance there as well.) It is seriously THE most comfortable blanket I have ever touched in my life!

And these are the devices that I read on.  I read primarily on my Kindle but there is nothing that beats an iPad for reading PDF's so that's what I use it for.  The PDF's on it look exactly like a real book and with the app that I use I get to read them in the sepia tone so it looks perfect.  Everything else I read on the Kindle. I do read physical books of course but I do most of my reading on my ereaders.

So that's about it. I always have a cup of coffee or tea with me when I read but I don't usually eat, it just gets in the way of my reading!

So, what about you? What are you favorite reading places/habits?

Also, don't forget that we are always looking for topic suggestions for future posts.

Fill out the suggestion form here!

Book Girls Don't Cry - My Fav Mind-F*cks

This week us Book Girls have decided to pick our favorite genre and list some of our favorite books in that genre. My initial thought was to pick contemporary and list my top 5 or 10 books, but then I browsed through all my old posts and realized that I always feature contemporary. So I am going to spice up my post a bit.  I'm posting about my favorite mind fuck books.  I chose this because next to contemporary I have to say that books that play with my mind are my next favorite and because I haven't read enough of them so I need some recommendations!

I love reading through a book and feeling like I am lost and trying to find my way out of a thick fog.  These 5 books all had me feeling lost and completely enthralled at the same time (in no particular order):

The very first mind fuck that I can remember is Fight Club. Admittedly, I did that one backwards, I read the book AFTER I saw the epic movie but the book still blew me away.  Also, to this day that is probably in my top 5 movies of all time. Tyler Freaking Durden!

Another Little Piece is the most recent one for me and I loved every second of that novel. The gruesome imagery and finding out exactly what was going on with this new Annaleise who wasn't really Annaleise was just way too fun.

Lucid was one that I was able to call early on (partly because ever since Fight Club I always think something reminiscent of that novel is going on and scrutinize the MC and the wording used meticulously.)  Despite that, I had a heck of a time reading this one as well.

Finally, I want to just have Nova Ren Suma on the list because she is the Queen of the Mind Fucks in my books.  Both Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone had me questioning everything that was happening.  Those books are the definition of feeling lost and trying to find your way out of a heavy fog to find out what is going on.

I need more of these books in my life! Do you have any recommendations that fit this bill?

Also, don't forget that we are always looking for topic suggestions for future posts.

Fill out the suggestion form here!

Book Girls Don't Cry - What's With All The Romance?

We're Back!

Hello everyone! We took the week off last week but we are back at it with a great topic that was suggested by Leigh of Little Book Star.  She wants to know how we feel about romance in YA books and if we ever feel that we would have loved a book more without the romance. I know that there are many instances where the romance definitely hinders my enjoyment of a story, so here goes!

So often it seems in YA that we are presented with a strong, kick-ass heroine who I come to respect and almost admire in the beginning of books. As the story goes on she meets a boy, and once she meets the boy and falls head over heels for him she completely loses who she is.  Most recently this happened with Reboot by Amy Tintera.  I loved Wren, she was so cold and detached but once she met Callum (who I also really liked) she became such a gooey puddle of love and I lost so much respect for her. What was really saddening about that one was just how much I liked those characters separately but lost all my love for them once they were together.

Then there are the times when the romance just doesn't make sense to me, or have the enough backing for me to fully buy it.  Ann Aguirre's Enclave is a perfect example of this.  I was all for the story when they were down in the sewers and trudging away at life but once Deuce went topside and fell for a rapist the story started to lose me.  I'm sorry but that love story will NEVER make sense to me. Also, Erin Bowman's Taken had a romance that left a sour taste in my mouth.  The first few chapters of the book were spent solidifying how much Emma disliked Gray and then BOOM his brother dies and they are traipsing all over town together.  The shift into a romance for them just didn't make sense and was not natural and therefore not believable at all.  I'm not sure if there is any saving the latter here but I do think there is a strong possibility that, had these icky romances not been a part of the story, I could have gotten more lost in the plot and came to like the characters by themselves.

It seems as though authors see romance as a pre-requisite for crafting a young adult novel and I really wish this wasn't so.  Sometimes I find myself getting lost in and enjoying middle grade novels so much because the romance just isn't there and I am more than OK with that.  I love seeing strong women in my stories and a strong woman does not need a man by her side, so I would love to see that explored more.  There is nothing wrong with an MC (male or female) surviving in a post apocalyptic world and NOT randomly finding the one person on earth that is perfect for them and whom they just can't live without.  I mean really there is a strong possibility that that would realistically happen, no? I don't think I would be looking to get down and dirty when I haven't had a shower in weeks nor shaved any part of my body.

What do you think about the constant presence of romance in YA? 

Any instances where it didn't work for you at all?

Book Girls Don't Cry - Books That Brought On The Tears

This week our topic was suggested by Kathy from I Read, I Write, I Review, she wanted to know what some of the books that have made us cry are.  Now, I have made it pretty clear to anyone who talks to me on Twitter or reads my contemporary reviews that my emotions are pretty much a hot mess.  I often find myself crying at the most random thing, from a sweet commercial to a sad movie, anything can spark my tear ducts to start leaking.  I used to be able to reign it in a bit more but it seems that ever since I popped out my kids my hormones (and emotions) have just gone haywire.

A lot of people would think that I would be embarrassed by this or that it would be something I tried not to talk about but nope, I love me a good cry, I really do! After something, such as one of the books mentioned below, touches me and brings out all my emotions I feel so refreshed after that I had let everything out.  Maybe when the tears do come I let out some tears that I have been holding in for other things in my life and that's why it feels so good, who knows, but it does!  So here are some books that made my eyes leak (click the cover to read my review):


Yes, one of the books that got me going was a zombie book (laughs at self.)  But anyway, all of these touched me in an extremely emotional way and they are all books that I am quick to recommend in any book related conversation. This Is Not A Test got me because of Sloane's family history and the memories that she looked back on throughout. What Happens Next and If You Find Me dealt heavily with rape and dealing with the aftermath, which is always something I find very hard to read.  Before I Fall touched me so immensely because of the transformation that the MC goes through and the way all the threads of the day come together in the end.  And If I Stay and Where She Went were just amazing all around.  In If I Stay I was wrecked over Mia's dilemma and the position that her mind was in whereas Where She Went had me reeling over Adam's heartbreak.  All of these novels are ones that you should have read by now, and if you haven't they should definitely be on your TBR.

So what are some books that made your eyes leak?

Don't forget to submit your suggestions for future topics.

Book Girls - I Wish I Could Have Loved You

You know those books that everyone around you love so hard and recommended to you saying you will love them too, but then you're left wondering what all the hubbub is about? This week is all about those books. Ruby from Feed Me Books Now!!! suggested that we talk about "books you wanted to love, but couldn't."  It seems like this is something that happens quite a bit and it just shows what I love so much about book blogging.  We've even gone so far as to use the term "black sheep" to describe these situations.  Everyone perceives literature so differently and one person can take away something completely different from a novel than any other person.  So I guess in a way this topic ties into the hype one we had done earlier but there is much more to this one.

Being the black sheep isn't the only time I have found myself in these situations.  It seems so often lately there are books coming out with kick-ass covers and blurbs that have me salivating for more only to leave me wondering how they put something so disappointing in such a pretty package.  I've gone through so many books this year that I have been waiting months to get my hands on that leave me less than impressed.

So here are a few books that I went into wanting to love them so bad, but in the end I felt completely let down. For those who are curious you can click the cover to see my full review (except for Mockingjay because that was read before I started the blog.)


The First Days: This is one that let me down on both fronts.  Not only does this one have huge amounts of hype surrounding it amongst my Goodreads friends but it also has the cool cover and a blurb that had me wanting more.  I loved the idea of these two kick-ass bitches battling it out and surviving on their own terms.  Unfortunately, the characterizations and dialogue left much to be desired from me.

Renegade: Pretty cover? Check! Also I had read so much about the gore in this one that I was expecting a bloody good ride and instead I got an evil prude and an MC I didn't give a hot damn about. Too bad because it's gorgeous!

Onyx: When I read Obsidian I remember totally fangirling over it. I was in love with Daemon and Katy had so many great aspects to her personality that she had me connecting with her quickly.  In the second instalment however, I found myself so annoyed by the way these two were constantly going back and forth on their feelings for one another.  That whole "I love you but I can't be with you" thing drives me insane!

Dualed: Another one that had me so excited about meeting a kick ass girl that left me wanting more, a lot more.  West's decisions and actions were so flip floppy and I never did get a grasp of exactly why she became an assassin and yet ran her ass off when the time came to meet her alt.  What left me wanting a lot more though was the world building, where was it?

Siege: I've said it before and I will again: I have a weird obsession with school shooting books.  So when I read the shocking blurb for this and the warning that comes along with it I was so excited. I was expecting a gritty contemporary type story but it turned into something completely different and lost me along the way. I was really sad after this one.

Mockingjay: I really don't even want to get started on this one.  So I won't. *rages*

Daughter of Smoke & Bone: I can see why people would love this one but I think my reading ADD kicked in for it so I was bored through most of it.  I do still plan to read the sequel though!..... One day..... Someday.

What books did you want to love but couldn't?  We all have them so lets dish!

Book Girls Don't Cry - Top 5's of 2013

Hello loveys!

This week's BGDC post is all about great (and great looking) books.  We wanted to do a sort of top 5 list of our reading year so far and of what we are anxiously awaiting.  So first I am going to start off with my top 5 books of the year so far.  Here are the titles that made the cut:

Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell

This book was so good! I absolutely loved the slow burning romance and how it dealt with so much more than just their love for one another.  There was some great family dynamics and both Eleanor & Park had inner struggles with getting used to their own skin.  High school is a tough time to be yourself and I think this one showcased that really well. Rowell used split POV perfectly & everything felt expertly placed.

Click here to read my review of Eleanor & Park

Golden

by Jessi Kirby

This was one that I could not put down. There were great relationships and also a touch of mystery that had me devouring it until late in the night. Golden featured a best friend that became someone I would love to have in my real life and a love interst that I warmed up to incredibly fast. I had worried about this one because In Honor didn't blow me away but rest assured, the hype for this one is completely warranted.

Click here to read my review of Golden 

17 & Gone
by Nova Ren Suma

Suma's writing is absolutely gorgeous. After reading Imaginary Girls last year I had high hopes for this one and it completely blew those expectations out of the water. 17 & Gone had a haunting yet beautiful tone to it that leaves the reader not truly knowing what is real and what isn't. All of the threads came together perfectly in the end (the conclusiveness was something I longed for with Imaginary Girls) which leaves the reader feeling completely satisfied.

Click here to read my review of 17 & Gone 

If You Find Me

by Emily Murdoch

I couldn't even put my thoughts together coherently for this one. My heart completely broke for Carey and Nessa as their story wreaked havoc on my emotions. The bond that these two girls had was amazing and their ability to weather the storm and find beauty in the most unlikely places was so touching. This is one that I still find myself thinking about to this day and getting a little teary eyed.

Click here to read my review of If You Find Me 

Just One Day (Just One Day #1)
by Gayle Forman

I don't feel like I should even need to write anything for this one other than GAYLE FREAKING FORMAN. But I will. I am not a traveller, I am a home body, but this book had me loving the foreign beauty of it and I wanted to walk the same streets as Alyson and experience all that she did. I loved getting to watch her climb back to herself over time and face harsh realities head on. I adore Forman's writing and this is one that definitely lives up to all of its hype as well!

Click here to read my review of Just One Day 

So, there you have it folks, my top 5 reads of this year so far.  Do you notice a running theme here? I do! Contemporaries! That theme will continue in my top 5 most anticipated reads of this year. So without further ado:

Reality Boy
by A.S. King
to be published October 22, 2013 by Little Brown

Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality television crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school.

Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that.

In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved.

I have loved everything that I have read by A.S. King and I just know that this will be no exception.   I love how this sounds like it doesn't have the most likeable characters ever, but it sounds like it has characters who go through immense growth.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

by Matthew Quick

to be published August 13, 2013 by Little Brown

In addition to the P-38, there are four gifts, one for each of my friends. I want to say good-bye to them properly. I want to give them each something to remember me by. To let them know I really cared about them and I'm sorry I couldn't be more than I was—that I couldn't stick around—and that what's going to happen today isn't their fault.

Today is Leonard Peacock's birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather's P-38 pistol.

But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school's class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

In this riveting book, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made—and the light in us all that never goes out.

I have this weird obsession with books about school shootings.  I'm not sure why but they always draw me in and I usually end up really liking them (except in this case.) Also, this is by the author of The Sliver Lining's Playbook so how could it not be made of win?

Just One Year (Just One Day #2) 
by Gayle Forman
to be published October 15, 2013 by Dutton Children's

Companion to JUST ONE DAY. It will be in Willem's POV.

"Can you fall in love in just one day? Can you become a new person? How about in just one year? In JUST ONE DAY and its companion novel JUST ONE YEAR, sheltered American good girl Allyson “LuLu” Healey and easygoing actor Willem De Ruiter are about to find out against a guidebook-worthy array of foreign backdrops. Equal parts romance, coming-of-age-tale, mystery and travel romp (with settings that span from England’s Stratford upon Avon to Paris to Amsterdam to India’s Bollywood) JUST ONE DAY and JUST ONE YEAR show how in looking for someone else, you just might wind up finding yourself."

As you probably noticed above, Just One Day was one of my favorite reads this year so I absolutely NEED to get my grubby hands on this.  I love how Forman does her stories in two parts and we get the second from the male perspective. It worked expertly with If I Stay/Where She Went and I know it will here as well.

Tumble & Fall

by Alexandra Coutts

to be published September 15, 2013 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux

A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings

The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that's left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.

Alexandra Coutts's TUMBLE & FALL is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.

 Ok, first of all look at that cover? Seriously, does it get any prettier than that? Next, we can read the blurb and find out what it's about (but let's be honest, that doesn't REALLY matter.)   I absolutely love the Armageddon feel of it and I think that the desperation of the impending doom will really add to the story.

Racing Savannah (Hundred Oaks #4)
by Miranda Kenneally
to be published December 3, 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire

Author of Catching Jordan, Miranda Kenneally’s Racing Savannah, about an underprivileged girl training to be a jockey while working in the barn at a high-stakes horse farm whose on-again, off-again relationship with the owner’s son has an upstairs/downstairs effect on race day.

Note: Pitched as Downton Abbey in the South to Leah Hultenschmidt at Sourcebooks Fire, in a three-book deal, for publication in 2013, by Sara Megibow at Nelson Literary Agency (world).

 If you read my blog at all, you know I am a HUGE Miranda Kenneally fangirl.  I even went so far as to dub the feeling that her books give me The Kenneally Feeling.  Her romances are sweet and she always deals with issues in a really great way.  I also love how all the stories are companions and we get to see beloved characters from previous books in each one!

There you have it! Now it's your turn! Let me know down below what some of your favorite reads have been this year and which titles you can't wait to get your paws on!