Weekly Roundup [4/2-4/8]

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry I've been kind of MIA all weekend. I competed in a 24 hour scavenger hunt on campus from 6pm Friday to 6pm Saturday. Yup, that means no sleep for about 37 hours straight. It was an absolute blast, but I was passed out in bed by 8pm Saturday night and took Sunday to relax and recover from the insane two days before. Needless to say, I didn't do anything reading related all weekend. I know, it was sad but the scavenger hunt was so worth it. Anyways, here's what I did manage to get done earlier in the week...

Book Reviews

Golden by Jessi Kirby

The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag

Memes

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I Would Crush On If I Were Also a Fictional Character

Waiting On Wednesday (85)

Follow My Book Blog Friday (83)

Follow My Book Blog Friday (83)

This is a meme hosted every Friday by Parajunkee, where book bloggers answer a question each week and check out how others answered it. It's a cool way for bloggers and viewers to connect and learn more about each other!

Question: Have you ever read a book that you thought you would hate-?Did you end up hating it? Did you end up loving it? Or would you never do that? 

Answer: I never go into a book thinking I'm going to hate it. I have SO MANY books on my TBR list, both for pleasure and for review, that I seriously don't have time to read a book I think I won't like. Haha, sorry for such a boring answer but if my sister, my friends, or other blogs really hate a book, I'd rather spend my time reading something I'm pretty sure I'll like than reading something I know others have hated. 

Book Review: Golden by Jessi Kirby

Golden

By Jessi Kirby

Release Date: May 14, 2013

Source: Publisher

Summary: Love, tragedy, and mystery converge in this compelling novel from “an author to watch” (Booklist).

Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.

Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.

Review: I really really tried to wait to read this closer to the release date since I prefer to write reviews right after reading the book, but I honestly could not keep this book out of my hands. As soon as I opened that first page, I flew through this book because Jessi Kirby managed to deliver yet another amazing contemporary YA novel. 

Parker Frost has been used to living the safe life, doing as her mom says and earning the perfect grades to get into Stanford, her dream school. But with graduation approaching, Parker can't help but feel that she never really took a risk in life. So when she comes across the journal of a girl name Julianna who died with her boyfriend 10 years earlier, Parker feels like she was meant to take the journal. Reading about how the golden girl's life really wasn't all that golden pushes Parker to really take control of her own life and dig deeper into the truth behind Julianna's. 

I am a HUGE fan of Jessi Kirby and I fell in love with her first two novels Moonglass and In Honor, so I had super high expectations for this book. And as soon as I started the first chapter, those expectations were completely blown out of the water. Parker is a girl everyone can relate to- she's used to living safely and never taking risks that she is actually yearning to take. Finding Julianna's journal, though, is just the push she needs to stop being so safe and do something crazy. I loved the whole aspect of the story with the journal and how Parker slowly unfolds the life of a girl who was a senior like Parker just 10 years ago. Not only was there a contemporary story about a high school girl, but there was also an added mystery that wraps you up and doesn't let you go. 

I also really liked the ties to Robert Frost that Jessi Kirby adds to this story. She begins each chapter with a line from a Frost poem and brings him up throughout the story, since Parker's dad likes to claim they're related to the renowned poet. And the face that Julianna's journal revolves around the Mary Oliver poem about what you would do with your one wild and precious life is beyond cool because one of my professors actually shared that poem to our class about a month ago. So the poetry side of the book was a nice touch to Parker's journey towards living her life. 

Overall, I really really loved this book. Parker is a girl I really found myself connecting with and her friends Kat and Trevor were the perfect characters to throw into the mix of the story. I just couldn't get enough of this story and I'm so sad it's over. Why did I read it so fast? Well, because it was awesome, but I wish I had made it last longer. Jessi Kirby definitely knows how to write a good contemporary novel that is addicting and impossible to put down. If you loved her other books, definitely check out her newest one. And if you haven't read a book by Jessi yet, what do you think you're doing? Go out and find one right now! And then read Golden when it's released in May!

Waiting On Wednesday (85)

This is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where every Wednesday bloggers highlight a book that they are eagerly anticipating the release of!

Five Summers

By Una LaMarche

Release Date: May 16, 2013

Summary: Four best friends, five summers of camp memories
 
The summer we were nine: Emma was branded “Skylar’s friend Emma” by the infamous Adam Loring . . . 
The summer we were ten: Maddie realized she was too far into her lies to think about telling the truth . . . 
The summer we were eleven : Johanna totally freaked out during her first game of Spin the Bottle . . . 
The summer we were twelve : Skylar’s love letters from her boyfriend back home were exciting to all of us—except Skylar . . . 
Our last summer together: Emma and Adam almost kissed. Jo found out Maddie’s secret. Skylar did something unthinkable . . . and whether we knew it then or not, five summers of friendship began to fall apart. 

Three years after the fateful last night of camp, the four of us are coming back to camp for reunion weekend—and for a second chance. Bittersweet, funny, and achingly honest, Five Summers is a story of friendship, love, and growing up that is perfect for fans of Anne Brashares and Judy Blume's Summer Sisters.

This one reminds me so much of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. With secrets and second chances for best friends, this one sounds like it's going to be a super sweet read. I love the idea that five summers pass with monument moments and they're all meeting up three years later. Can't wait to see what's going to unfold at that reunion!

Book Review: The House at the End Of Hope Street by Menna van Praag

The House at the End of Hope Street

By Menna van Praag

Release Date: April 4, 2013

Source: Publisher

Summary: A magical debut about an enchanted house that offers refuge to women in their time of need

Distraught that her academic career has stalled, Alba is walking through her hometown of Cambridge, England, when she finds herself in front of a house she’s never seen before, 11 Hope Street. A beautiful older woman named Peggy greets her and invites her to stay, on the house’s usual conditions: she has ninety-nine nights to turn her life around. With nothing left to lose, Alba takes a chance and moves in.

She soon discovers that this is no ordinary house. Past residents have included George Eliot and Beatrix Potter, who, after receiving the assistance they needed, hung around to help newcomers—literally, in talking portraits on the wall. As she escapes into this new world, Alba begins a journey that will heal her wounds—and maybe even save her life.

Filled with a colorful and unforgettable cast of literary figures, The House at the End of Hope Street is a charming, whimsical novel of hope and feminine wisdom that is sure to appeal to fans of Jasper Fforde and especially Sarah Addison Allen.

Review: As soon as I saw this book, I knew I wanted to read it. A girl finds a magical house that is full of amazing literary women just waiting to help her figure out her life? I want in! 

Alba's academic career has just gone down the drain, and she has no idea what to do with her life now. Wandering around aimlessly and distraught, Alba finds herself on the doorstep of the house at the end of Hope Street, being ushered through the door by a sweet old lady named Peggy. Peggy explains to Alba that she has 99 days to stay in the house and turn her life around. With nothing else left to do, Alba accepts. Along with two other residents who are just as lost in life, Alba discovers the magic of the mysterious house she has taken residence in and has no idea how life changing the journey she is embarking on will really be. 

The Goodreads summary uses the term "whimsical" to describe this book, and I think one word could not be more perfect. Alba is such a sweet, naive girl and I absolutely adored her character. I felt so sorry for her when it came to how her family treated her and how her academic career went to shambles. This girl is only 19-years-old yet she has been through so much in life. The house is the perfect place for her to be at this point in her life and her love for literature definitely allowed her to get the most out of her stay there. When the house gives her a room completely covered in bookshelves, I about died with longing. Any bibliophile can only dream of living in a place like that. 

What makes this book so great, too, are the other characters scattered throughout the novel. Whether it's the home owner Peggy, the other guests Carmen and Greer, or the many ghosts/paintings of women in the house, it's impossible to not find a character you absolutely love. Peggy is a feisty old woman who has been running the household forever. Then, you have Carmen and Greer who are in the house for two entirely different reason, but who both need a little help in getting the push they need in their lives. This book has the perfect balance between all of the story lines so that you never get bored with one character's own journey at the house. 

Overall, this story was so cute and, yes, whimsical that it was impossible to put down. I couldn't wait to see who Alba met next or to figure out just exactly what went wrong in each of the character's lives. Little details about each resident are scattered all throughout the novel, so you never really know the full story until the very end, which definitely makes reading the novel quite a journey. The House At the End of Hope Street is filled to the brim with hope and self discovery and it's the perfect book to sit down and get lost in. If you want a charming book that leaves you feeling happy and warm inside, definitely check this one out.

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I Would Crush On If I Were Also a Fictional Character

This is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where each week bloggers share a list of books for the prompt given. So hopefully I'll have a new list to share with you all each week!

This Week's Topic: Top Ten Characters I Would Crush on If I Were Also a Fictional Character

Oooh this question is definitely right up my alley. There's nothing I love more than my book boyfriends, and I will become obsessed with the boys in the novels I read. Introduce an insanely amazing guy into a story and I'm a goner...

And it seems to happen quite a lot! Haha, I don't know how I'm going to narrow it down to only 10 guys. I guess I'll try my best...

1. Daemon Black from Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

2. Adam Vader from The Boys Next Door by Jennifer Echols

3. Alex Fuentes from Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

4. Fitzwilliam Darcy from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

5. Cricket Bell from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

6. Etienne St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

7. Jase Garrett from My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

8. Noah Hutchins from Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

9. Josh from Summer In the City by Elizabeth Chandler

10. Caleb Becker from Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles 

Weekly Roundup [3/26-4/1]

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a fantastic Easter weekend and are ready to start off a new week. After spending a great weekend with my family and drowning myself in chocolate, I have to say I'm in a pretty good mood. Haha, there's nothing I love more than family and candy. I got a lot of reading done too, which always makes me happy as well. Hopefully the week turns out to be as good as it's starting out to be :) Here's what you missed on the blog last week!

Book Reviews

If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones

Allegra by Shelley Hrdlitschka

Memes

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Recommend the Most

Waiting On Wednesday (84)

Follow My Book Blog Friday (82)

Stacking the Shelves (46)

Miscellaneous

Follow Peace Love Books via Bloglovin'

Happy Easter!