Hardcover Karrie

Today starts the Openly YA Tour, which celebrates gay characters in YA lit! I’ve only read David Levithan, but this sounds like a fantastic event! Unfortunately, it’s only on the east coast.  Check it out if you are in the area! 

I’ve never done these challenges before but I guess I’ll start now! But considering that I’m traveling in 4 days, I should prep for the days that I’m on vacation! 

I finally visited a bookstore that I’ve had my eye on for years, the Montclair Book Center in Montclair, NJ. They always had a few racks and tables of books outside and their window display was filled with so many books.  Pretty much any book lover’s wet dream.  As soon as you step inside, the bookstore is much deeper then you would expect on the outside (like a Tardis!) There is a completely separate back room, a little nook for mystery books, and a second floor! I saw so many goodies but resisted the temptations and walked away with my wallet intact.

The last two photos are the goodies I picked up from Free Comic Book Day. Volumes I and II I purchased, but all the of comics on the right are my freebies.  I got an Avengers, a Doctor Who, Fight Club, Bob’s Burgers and more! I can’t wait to start reading! 

Don’t forget that tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day  and also Independent Bookstore Day! That mean support your local bookstore AND drop by a comic book store to get a free comic.

The last book in Stephanie Perkins' trilogy, Isla and the Happily Ever After, tells the story of Isla getting together with Josh, the boy she's been in love with since freshman year.  Once they get together,however, things don't go as smoothly as Isla had planned.  

After an awkward encounter during the summer, Josh and Isla start to talk to one another and hang out during their senior year.  The two get together and Isla is extremely happy.  Everything she's dreamed of is coming true but then her doubts and insecurities start to creep up, making her question her relationship with Josh.  She's jealous over his ex-girlfriend.  She feels left out when she sees pictures of Josh's friends around his room because she's not in them.  Ultimately, she breaks up with him because she accuses him of using her as a placeholder until something better comes along.  This is insane because during the entire first half of the book, Josh is so vocal about his feelings towards Isla.  He is constantly reassuring her, making sure that she feels comfortable.  All of the doubt Isla feels is in her owb head, and she chooses to be scared and alone than to be happy with Josh.

I really didn't like this book. In the previous books, both Anna and Lola had individual goals they wanted to achieve.  Anna wanted to work on being alone in a foreign country, becoming comfortable in her own skin, and writing in her blog for critiquing movies.  Lola wanted to create the most unique, awe-inspiring dress for her winter dance.  Their romances were not necessary for their ultimate happiness.  Isla, on the other hand, revolves her entire life around Josh.  She doesn't care about her grades, she skips school, and she puts Josh before herself.  Isla admits that she really doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, which is understandable, but to live only for some boy, that's utter crap! 

A part of the book I did like was Isla's best friend Kurt.  Their mothers are friends, so Isla and Kurt have known each other their entire lives.  Kurt has high-functioning autism, and he has very few friends except for Isla. When people first meet him, they are uncomfortable by his directness, lack of social awareness, and honesty.  But Isla loves him, and when people ask her to choose between them and Kurt, Isla will always choose Kurt. I love this. I love that she values their friendship.  Although she sometimes loses track of things, and isn't always a great friend, Kurt is patient with her and understands that she has flaws, just like he does.  In the end, they are always there for each other.  

It was fun for Anna and St. Clair to make an appearance along with Lola and Cricket.  Since I did like those books way more than Isla, I wanted to see a continuation of their storylines, no matter how small.  Unfortunately, I would rather have read more about their lives than about Isla's.

In the winter of 2009, I packed two large suitcases and jumped on a plane to Oslo, Norway.  I had decided to study abroad for the spring semester and had chosen Norway almost at random.  I knew nothing of the culture, the people, and was completely alone.  I remember arriving at my hostel, because I had arrived the weekend before orientation, feeling lonely and lost, wondering if I'd made a huge mistake.  Those initial feelings of helplessness and sadness were short lived.  I didn't know it yet, but I would have an amazing 6 months.  I would make lifelong friends, taste new foods, go skiing, sleep in between railroad cars and airports, get tear-gassed, travel around Europe with nothing but a large backpack and a sense of adventure and most importantly, learn to be independent.  I went from being lonely that first night to embracing being on my own.  Therefore, when I read Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, I knew that I would see similarities in our experiences living abroad in a foreign city (well, minus the love story for me).

Anna is sent by her father to spend her senior year of high school in Paris.  She is upset because she doesn't want to leave her family, her best friend, and her crush Toph, who she kissed on her last day in Atlanta before leaving for Paris.  Anna soon makes a group of friends and meets the charming Étienne St. Clair.  She is attracted to him, but because he has a girlfriend, she knows that he's off-limits.  When St. Clair finds out that Annahasn't left her room during her first week, he drags her out of her dorm.  They end up going to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, to the star on the ground which is Point Zero, the marker from which distances are measured.  The two become best friends, watching movies and exploring Paris together.  

When Anna and St. Clair both travel back to the states for winter vacation, Anna finds out that Toph has moved on.  She ends up confiding in St. Clair, emailing and talking to him every day.  Once she sees St. Clair again in Paris, Anna knows that she's in love with him. She doesn't know what to do with her feelings because he still has a girlfriend.

St. Clair is one of the most charming, funny, and amazing boyfriend characters I've read in a long time.  However, I do get frustrated alongside Anna because of his actions, like saying she is beautiful in one moment but then leaving her to see his girlfriend.   Even though St. Clair is a good guy, it is hard for him to make difficult changes so he sends mixed signals to Anna.  Despite this, he's such a romantic and honest character that I'm turning each page with excitement waiting for them to finally kiss.

The thing that infuriated me most about the book was how completely oblivious Anna is to St. Clair's flirting, but mostly I was angry because I know that if I were her age, I would have reacted exactly the same way.  For example, St. Clair buys her a book of Pablo Neruda's poetry.  Pablo Neruda writes some pretty sexy poetry.  Put that to music and you've got a good baby-making jam right there.  But when I was 18, I had no idea who he was so I wouldn't think twice if a guy gave me his poetry.  Instances like that annoyed me, but only because I know that I would react exactly the same way Anna did.

By the end of the book, Anna no longer resents her father for sending her to Paris.  She's made new friends and has met the love of her life.  She's learned about herself, about how she reacts in difficult situations and how to resolve them, instead of pushing them aside.  Living abroad does that to you.  Once you are forced out of your comfort zone, it's up to you to make yourself happy.  Anna spends a majority of the book questioning her feelings and her actions, but by the end, she knows exactly what she wants.

I definitely recommend everyone to read this book.  It's such a good story and it left me happy at the end.  If you haven't read my review yet of Lola and the Boy Next Door, I'm happy to say that you can see more of St. Clair and Anna in that book too! It's nice knowing what happens to your favorite characters and seeing their story continue.

Lola is a 17 year old girl living in San Francisco.  She enjoys wearing sparkly dresses and wigs and dates an older musician, much to her dad's chagrin.  It's actually pretty funny because it's the stereotypical fear that parents have for their daughters: older musician and covered in tattoos.  It's cliché on Perkins' part to write Max as that type of character, but it fits Lola's atypical personality.  She's still discovering who she is and she falls for a handsome musician and imagines a glamorous lifestyle for the two of them: the musician and clothing designer taking the world by storm.  This all changes when her neighbors, Calliope and Cricket Bell move back into the house next door.

Friends since childhood, Lola had a crush on Cricket when they were younger. However, after a misunderstanding that leaves Lola confused about Cricket's feelings towards her, the Bell family moves away to support Calliope's ice skating career.  When Cricket comes back into her life, all of the feelings Lola had convinced herself were gone came rushing back. Cricket is such a sweet character.  Lanky and tall, he is an inventor and loves making things with his hands, similar to Lola and her fashion designs. Lola starts to like Cricket again, but is confused by her feelings because she believes that she is still in love with Max.  She's already been hurt by Cricket in the past, so she's convinced that Max is the one for her.  However, when it comes to accepting Lola for who she really is, Cricket is the one who steps up.  He encourages her, supports her, and makes her happy.  

I love Lola. I wish I was more like her when I was younger, and to be completely honest, even now.  She doesn't care about appearances and dresses creatively.  In my late high school/early college years I was obsessed with Japanese Fruit fashion (Google it, it's beautiful).  Lola dresses to express herself, not to impress others.  I feel that when I was younger, I definitely dressed to fit in, and so I admire Lola's bravery and wisdom.

I absolutely adore this book.  It's the second book of Stephanie Perkins' YA series, the first one being Anna and the French Kiss.  I'm actually glad that I read it out of order because after I read this book, I was reading reviews online and a lot of people were comparing Cricket to St. Clair (the main character's love interest in Anna and the French Kiss) and they liked him more than Cricket.  Since I read the books out of order, I was able to appreciate Cricket with no preconceived notions in my head. 

I also love that since I read the books out of order, I was unfamiliar with Anna and St. Clair, the main characters from Anna and the French Kiss.  After I read that book, I reread their scenes in Lola and the Boy Next Door and fell in love with them all over again.  You know when you've finished a book and you wonder what happens to the characters afterwards? I love that I got to see a glimpse of the next stage of Anna and St. Clair's life.  I love when authors do this.  Sarah Dessen does this a lot where characters appear in different books or everyone goes to the same beach town. It makes me feel like I too am a part of this fictional world.

My one complaint is that I wish Perkins explained exactly how Cricket got his name.  Even if the book mentions that crickets are his mother's favorite insect, it would be something.  The oldest brother has a normal name -(Alexander), Calliope has a Greek mythological name, and Cricket is named after a bug.

All weekend, my twitter and facebook news feed has been blowing up with comments about Gone Girl. People I follow on twitter and my friends all loved it, hated it, found it cliche, found it riveting, or thought the book was better. After watching it Friday night at my local theatre, I bought two tickets and watched it with my boyfriend [side note, whoever dubbed it as a "date night" movie has a weird sense of humor].  I also read Gone Girl a year ago and did not refresh my memory before I watched the movie. 

[CONTAINS SPOILERS]

I remember when I read Gone Girl last year, I spent the beginning of the book thinking "Why is everyone saying, this is so good?" I was completely baffled.  I had my co-workers and book reviewers on the internet telling me what a completely amazing book this is.  But as I was reading it, I found Nick to be a boring murderer - who knew such a combination existed? But then a little more than halfway through, I reached that AHA moment that I was waiting for. From that moment on, I could not put the book down and was deeply entrenched in the pages.

A lot of people who read the book hated the ending. I'm not one of those people.  I don't think any ending would have satisfied me, just because there was no good solution. [SPOILERS] If Nick ended up leaving Amy to raise their baby, he would be sane because he knew to leave his wife, but he would be abandoning his child to live with a psychopath.  But since he stayed with Amy, I can't help but question his sanity. In the end, he becomes flattered that Amy went through such lengths to frame him for murder.  She spent months planning his demise and even murdered someone to come back to him. And because Nick is so in awe that someone like Amazing Amy could marry him, he stays with her.  Not just to raise their child, in which she STOLE his sperm, but because he likes knowing the fact that his wife abhors/loves him so much, she would have his child to make him stay.

In the movie, the ending stays pretty much the same.  Amy comes back, she gets pregnant using his stolen sperm, and he stays with her. Just a few minor details were cut that weren't necessary to the adaptation. But the essence of how insane they both are isn't translated for the screen as well as it did in the book.  Sure, Amy states that she did this for him and he questions about what is going on in her head, but that maddening feeling of knowing how they felt in the book is largely absent from the film.  In the book, Nick is truly struggling with what to do: leave his wife or stay for their unborn child. And Amy knows, she knows that she has this power over him. You don't see how both helpless and flattered Nick feels.  You don't feel how Amy is both sadistic and manipulative (actually you do to a certain extent. Pike is an amazing actress).  I put down the book feeling that these are two of the most horrible people to exist and that they deserve each other.  They are doing the world a favor by choosing to stay together.  The only person I felt truly bad for was their unborn child.  But after watching the movie, the ending lost its' shock value,  I don't know how Fincher could have ended it to make those feelings arise, but he didn't do the book's ending justice with the movie.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/erinlarosa/how-well-do-you-know-the-first-lines-of-famous-books

I've recently been on a YA kick.  My last four books have all been YA lit and each book was a pleasure to read, even though I'm already in my mid-twenties (Oh God. That's my first time saying that. *shudders*). I have a soft spot for young adult fiction.  The stories are all about first loves, discovering who you are, stressing out about best friends, college acceptances and the big test on Friday! As an "adult," YA books allow me to live vicariously through these teenage girls and walk with them through the confusion and wonder that I experienced when I was their age.  

In The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith, Lucy lives with her family in an apartment building in New York City.  Her parents are traveling together in Europe and her two older brothers are away at college.  She is alone for the first time when the blackout hits.  She ends up meeting Owen, the son of the building's new superintendent.  He is new to the city and doesn't like the people, the crowds, and all of the lights.  They end up becoming friends and spending the entire day and night together.  However, because of their parents, they separate soon after meeting.  Lucy moves to Edinburgh with her parents while Owen heads west on a road trip with his dad.

The two end up exchanging postcards and the occasional email over the course of a year.  They are both attracted to each other, but because of the distance, they are unable to make their relationship work.  Lucy eventually gets a boyfriend while Owen dates one of his co-workers.  They continue sending postcards, but they are so far and few in between that neither knows if the other is still interested.  They eventually meet up in San Francisco and find that the camaraderie they had in New York City is gone.  The two part ways, questioning their relationship with one another and their significant others.

I really enjoyed this book.  I think it's a cute story about two teenagers on the precipice of love.  I love that even though they are far apart, they use postcards to keep in touch.  No one uses postcards to communicate anymore.  Whenever Owen or Lucy see one in whatever country or city they're in, they send it off hoping it will reach its destination.

If you enjoy YA books about first love, I definitely recommend this book.  I like revisiting that feeling of nervousness when talking to a boy and not knowing what he's thinking.  I like reading what it's like to live in Edinburgh, Paris and San Francisco.  I like a good story and this book definitely has one.

Yay, Lizzie Bennet Diaries won Best Drama and Ashley Clements won Best Actress!  LBD was so well done, it really made me reconsider how I view web series'.   I mostly go on Youtube to watch clips or random videos of babies tasting lemons for the first time, but after seeing how sophisticated the production value was of LBD, it opened my eyes to how web series can be a great form of entertainment.  So far, I still only trust anything produced by Pemberley Digital, the production company behind The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved.  I'm sure I will watch more web series in the future.

And I loved Bernie Su's shoutout to books!