Elin Hilderbrand
Reagan Arthur, 2013
One of those perfect summer reads: a wedding weekend, a beautiful island/beachy setting (normally I read Southern beaches, so the Nantucket setting was new-but-still-familiar-feeling), and more family drama than a reunion in the Deep South. I loved the multiple perspectives, giving a multi-faceted inside look at everything taking place surrounding this One Beautiful Wedding. The backstory was woven in beautifully, and I just really enjoyed the whole reading experience.
Book provided by my local library.
Vivian Vande Velde
HMH, 2013
A supercute, quick late elem/MG read about what happens when the princess kissing the frog, gets frogged. Imogene is a likeable princess, and her time as a frog leads her on many misadventures with colorful people. It's also a time that teaches Imogene what it means to be a princess (something her mother's best efforts struggled with). And, of course, there's a Prince.
Book provided by my local library.
Kim Izzo
St Martin's Griffin, 2012
"What if a modern woman took Jane Austen's "marriage advice" to the letter, and applied it to her own life?" That's the basic premise of this novel, although with a slightly more cynical/materialistic bent than Jane herself suggested (although Mrs. Bennett would certainly agree with Kate's theories!). It's a fun, quick read. I figured out where it was going reeeeeally fast, but that didn't take away from the reading. The story itself fades into the background for me though, because what I really enjoyed were the characters. Kate's one crazy conflicted woman, and watching her struggle to justify things is both exasperating and entertaining. There's a whole cast of colorful and interesting characters, my favorites being Fawn and Griff. (Also fun: so many of Kate's intimate circle feature Austen character names: Marianne, Brandon, Emma, etc. So fun!) A good summer reading choice.
Book provided by my local library.
Andrea Cremer & David Levithan
Philomel, 2013
I loved the idea of this book, and I've enjoyed other books Levithan has co-written (especially loved Dash & Lilly's Book of Dares!), but once I started reading ... I just couldn't get into it. After several chapters from each viewpoint (alternating between Stephen and Elizabeth), I started skimming. And even skimming things were moving sooooo slowly. And it's kinda weird. I mean, I knew it'd be weird -- the guy is INVISIBLE -- but it's like, weird-weird. Thus, I'm leaving it unfinished. Hopefully other readers will enjoy it more.
Book provided by my local library.
Sidenote: I really enjoyed making myself a list of things to read in a set amount of time, and focusing on doing just that. I may employ a similar method for catching up on some of my reading the rest of the year ... Or, I may have a big "end of year readathon" ... Hmm ... Must think on this ...
I thought Frogged was super cute but struggled to write much about it-a mini-review might have been more appropriate! Good luck with catching up on your reading.
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