Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for funny] 

I am so excited to have Christopher visiting us on the blog today! He is the author of the soon to be released — The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, the previously untold story of who all those "Prince Charming"s really are! I mean, seriously... How awesome does that sound?! I've already posted an excerpt with some awesome illustrations and in May, I'll be posting my review but now, you get a killer guest post about humor in fairy tales from the author himself!

Fairy Tales: Dark, Gory, Frightening, Hilarious
I understand if you don’t think of fairy tales as an inherently funny genre. Kidnapping, cannibalism, animal maulings, children getting their feet chopped off — none of that is exactly laugh-a-minute material. But was I crazy for wanting to write a comedic fairy tale? It’s not like all of those old stories were dark, violent cautionary tales. The vast, vast majority, perhaps — but not all. The point is: There’s plenty of humor in classic fairy tales if you know where and how to look for it.

And that is exactly what I did when I sat down to write The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. I read through a slew of classic fairy tales, hunted down the funny bits, and utilized the same types of humor as Andersen, the Grimms, and Perrault (albeit with a modern spin).

Let’s start with slapstick. Pratfalls are perhaps the oldest form of comedy; probably dating back to the first time some Neanderthal tripped on a rock and landed in some sabretooth tiger dung. And it’s in fairy tales, too. Perfect example: When Goldilocks breaks Baby Bear’s chair. If you don’t think that scene was meant to be funny, look at almost any illustrated version of the story. She sits on a chair and it collapses — I’d be surprised if they didn’t borrow that exact gag for the new Three Stooges movie. Plus, it follows the Rule of Three: When something happens twice, but goes wrong on the third try, it is always hilarious.

And then there’s mistaken identity — a pretty common device in fairy tales, but not always used to comedic effect (meaning the Grimms missed a lot of awesome opportunities). But you’ve also got stories like The Bremen Town musicians, where a hapless robber gets batted around in the dark by a dog, a cat, a rooster, and a donkey. That climactic scene is a ripsnorter from the start, thanks to its element of Home Alone-ness (see “slapstick,” above), but the real kicker comes when the thief runs from the house and tells his buddies that he was attacked by long-taloned witches and knife-wielding murderers. Hey, I didn’t say it wasn’t dark humor.

On a related theme, there’s also the verbal misunderstanding, often paired with puns or word play. This is often my personal favorite type of comedy. The plot of “The Brave Little Tailor,” for instance, revolves entirely around someone’s misinterpreting of “seven with one blow.” It could have been the premise of a Three’s Company episode.

And finally, there’s food humor. What can I say? Food is funny. Especially when it’s out of context. Just look at the sausage on the nose gag from “The Fisherman and His Wife.” You don’t even have to view that one in Freudian terms to realize how hilarious it is. It’s a guy with a sausage on his nose! Comic genius.

Taking all of these different types of bona fide fairy tale humor into account, perhaps you will now understand why I have a scene in Hero's Guide where someone misinterprets a question and mistakenly replies in reference to the melon that was just smashed over Prince Charming's head by somebody who failed to recognize who he was.
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The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom will be released May 1st by Walden Pond Press. It's a book you won't want to miss.

And stay tuned! A little later today, you will have a chance to win a copy of Hero's Guide along with other amazing Walden titles!

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Alright guys — Seriously. Today's Memory Monday blogger is one of my favorite people to chat with. Shannon blogs at Books Devoured and I love reading her posts. She's made of win. Like, for realz folks. If you don't already talk to her or follow her, you should (link to her Twitter) . She has an awesome post today!

Bio:

I read and I blog about it. My Life motto... What would Jackie O do?

My name is Shannon and I am the one to blame for Books Devoured. I am a pretty eclectic reader but I have been reading a lot of YA lately. I'm 32 & a Home Schooling Mom to 2 children.
Post:

I was excited to be asked to guest post for Memory Monday. There is only one problem, my memory is awful! I had an idea to change it up a bit so I hope you will indulge me.

I had a great childhood mostly because I had an amazing Mom. She indulged my love of reading with tons of books! I do at least remember having tons of Babysitters club books! They were my favorite. Besides buying me books, I remember seeing my mother read throughout my childhood. It was always ingrained in me that reading was important. Now that I am a mother, I do whatever I can to form those book memories for my children. I make sure that they see me reading. Not only that but they see that I make it my free time priority. I don't just read by myself though, I read to them and with them as well.

When each of my children were really little, their favorite book was But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton. I read that book so many times that I can still recite it. I never minded because I knew at the end of the book when I got to their favorite part (But, YES the hippopotamus! But not the Armadillo) I would be rewarded with their laughter. There is no sweeter sound to a Mother than her child's laughter. The more we read that story the more of it they remembered and before long they could recite it too. Their favorite book series for me to read to them now is Skippyjon Jones by Jufy Schachner. Though I have a suspicion they only like it because I do my best to use lots of funny accents when I read them!

I value the time that I get to read to them because I know that soon they will be able to do it on their own. I try to find books that I can read to them that they will both enjoy. Sometimes that means that I might not be as much of a fan of it as they are. There has been one book that I liked more than the others and I think it made an impression on them as well. It is The Bake Shop Ghost by Jacqueline K. Ogburn. I picked that book up because it was on sale, I knew nothing about it. I might have had it in the house for a while before I even ended up choosing to read it to them. The first time I read them that book was incredibly memorable for me. It started out a bit funny, a ghost who was not leaving her bake shop and causing chaos for anyone who tried to take her place. By the end of that story I was in tears and not the funny kind; the sad, surprised, heartbreaking and sweet kind. It was probably the first time that my children had seen me cry over a book. I am truly grateful for this experience. It opened up a dialogue with my children that was priceless, both about the themes of the book and about why a book could make mommy cry. If you have children I can not recommend this book highly enough. I do suggest reading it first just to make sure your children are ready for it's contents though.

I have tried to make sure that they always have books that they like to read more than worry about what they should be reading. I homeschool them so I have complete control over their reading lives. I learned early that forcing my son to read something he does not like is not helpful. I hated seeing a book he wasn't into take away his joy of reading. Once he gets a little older that might change some but if he is not ready for The Giver by Lois Lowry then we will put it away for now and read James Patterson's The Gift Instead! My daughter picked up reading very quickly so I do hope that she loves it as much as I do. One thing is for sure, she will inherit quite a collection of books from her mother if she does!

Thank you SO much for sharing with us Shannon! I LOVE that you are so involved in reading with your kids! I think it's awesome! I'm definitely going to be looking up those two favorites of your kids!

Sarah Silverman wet the bed until she was a teenager, and from that humiliation she gained some of the emotional insight she needed to become a comedian.The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee

chronicles her younger years as a bedwetter and her adult years as a comedian. She is forthcoming about her faults, but since she often writes from the persona she creates for her stand-up we know we're not necessarily getting all of Silverman. The book is laugh out loud funny at times but Silverman still manages to make you think about race and tolerance.

The book seems to be a little confused about what it wants to be. Is it a memoir? An essay collection? Humor writing? I think it's some hybrid of the three. The book isn't as funny as her stand-up and at times feels more heartfelt. She makes the move to ask serious reflexive questions, but then she drops them and keeps moving to the next chapter. I wish she would have explored some of her questions more but it seemed like she didn't feel comfortable being truly reflexive, which is why this book doesn't really work as a memoir or an essay collection.

While the form was confusing and possibly incomplete, I found that I enjoyed the book simply because it was quick and funny. Silverman is a great storyteller and she has quite a few stories worth telling. I also loved how she played with the idea of a book by writing her own foreword, midword, and afterword. Yes, you read that right, midword. Halfway through the book she interjects, addresses the audience directly to ask what they think so far, and then moves forward with the rest of the book. She also makes the reader hyper-aware that this is a book and not everything in it is necessarily true but adding email conversations highlighting this. Of course then we're forced to ask if the email conversations are true either.

I read the ebook version of this and I was a little frustrated with how small some of the images were. She has scanned images from her childhood diaries but you can't even read them on the ebook version. I'm unsure of how they look in the actual book, but I'm fairly certain they are at the very least legible.

I give The Bedwetter a C.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon is actually a reread for me. And it was just as good, if not better than the first.

It's a book about Christopher, a young boy trying to figure out life. Although I don't think the book ever directly specifies his disorder, Christopher falls somewhere on the high functioning side of the Autism Spectrum. He doesn't relate well to people, has a really hard time understanding facial expressions beyond happy and sad, does not do well with change or being touched, and is highly intelligent, especially proficient in math and science.

Watching the world through Christopher's eyes is so incredibly interesting, as is listening to his inner commentary. He is very matter of fact, likes dealing in absolute truths and doesn't understand emotion. When most people think of love, more than anything else, it's a feeling. It's nearly impossible to define, because everyone experiences it differently, and there are so many different kinds of love. But for Christopher, love is a very specific thing. For him, "loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth... " (pg 87)

Christopher's voice throughout the book is very unique. I've never read another book like it. Christopher does not like lies and he always tells the truth. Lies are just too complicated. He also doesn't understand social norms or nuances, which means we get some very interesting commentary, and Christopher points out many things that people would normally never say aloud. It's a book that made me chuckle to myself more than once. I feel a little bad laughing at it, because Christopher is not trying to be funny. But his deadpan delivery is just... funny. It's a little like watching someone fall down. You feel terrible because your impulse is to laugh, but there is just nothing you can do to stop it... It's awkwardly funny.

As a book in general, the story itself is not really that awesome. What makes the book worth reading is Christopher. He is the one writing the book, as an assignment for class, and he decides to write about something true, because he doesn't like lies. When he discovers his neighbor's dog dead in her yard, he decides to write a mystery and try to figure out who killed Wellington. He wants to write a mystery because it's the only kind of fiction he likes to read (fiction feels too much like lying).

Christopher lives with his dad, because his mom died a few years ago and his dad tries really hard to be what Christopher needs, to be able to help him and give him the best care and attention possible. It's obvious, that although he does make mistakes (some really big ones, actually) that he really and genuinely does care about his son. That kind of love, even if Christopher doesn't really get it, is strong and there are moments in the book where you can very nearly touch it.

There might be some inaccuracies here, in Haddon's portrayal of an autistic boy. I am not well enough studied to be able to tell you if it is perfectly accurate or not, although it does follow what I understand of the disorder. So, don't go using this as a way of saying — Yes. I now know all there is to know about life with autism. But do use it as a way to learn a little more about your world, and to learn a little bit about what it might be like to be living in a world not meant for people who think like you. It would be a challenge, every single day. So remember that. Take that into consideration. And maybe use this book as a reason to start paying more attention to your surroundings, to the people around you. Use it as a way to realize that there are different ways to view the world, different ways to see, but that doesn't make them right or wrong, just different.

This is a book that I highly, highly recommend. To pretty much everyone. There are things in this book that I think everyone could stand to learn, could benefit from taking a look at. So why don't you give it a try. It just might expand the way you view your world. And really, that's a good thing.

Helping hand: Angelina and Brad with, from left, Vivienne, Shiloh, Knox, Zahara, Pax and Maddox, pictured in New Orleans in March
And they certainly didn't hold back when it came to expressing their opinions.
Jolie told USA Today: 'They'll sit in a room and say, "That's just not funny,"' admitting the scrutiny from her children keeps her 'competitive'.
The 35-year-old actress, who voices kung fu master Tigress, has six children with partner Brad Pitt - Maddox, aged nine, Pax, aged seven, Zahara, aged six, four-year-old Shiloh and two-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. The elder three are adopted.
But despite their brutal honesty - and thinking co-star Jack Black was 'cooler than mommy' - Angelina says bringing them along to recording sessions was very rewarding.
'We've got kids of all ages so we joked that we had our own focus group.'
And while she was prepared for them to get impatient watching her speak into a microphone, it actually worked out quite well.
'When they're there and they hear you making kung fu sounds and jumping around, you can see them giggling through the glass it makes you go that much further.'
source: dailymail

VIA 'That's just not funny mummy': Angelina Jolie reveals her six children are her toughest critics

Background on my guest reviewer: John is my 9 year old son. After several years of reading problems due to his ADD, John was a very reluctant reader. Reading was always difficult for him and whenever he was asked to read, he would get upset and shut down. Then one day, I happened to discover the Horrid Henry books. They hadn't been released in the States yet, but I believe I found an excerpt online. I showed it to John, who showed a bit of reluctance at first. Then I read the few pages aloud to him. And he was instantly drawn in to Horrid Henry's world! Ok, now back to John's review!

This is my review of Horrid Horrid Henry's Stinkbomb

. Horrid Henry is rude, impolite, and thinks that the pranks he pulls are funny. He thinks only of himself. Henry has a little brother named Perfect Peter. Peter is perfect. He is very polite and isn't selfish.

Horrid Henry's Stinkbomb

is made up of four stories. I'm going to tell you about my favorite story:Henry Reads a Book.

Horrid Henry's class is going to have a reading competition. Whoever reads the most books wins a trip to a brand new amusement park. Henry gets excited when he hears this and asks if comic books count. His teacher, Miss Battle-Axe shouts "NO!" I don't understand why comic books don't count; they are books afterall! Oh, and they also have to write a book report for every book they read.

Henry plans to start reading as soon as he gets home. Instead, he reads comics (not allowed!), watches TV and plays a computer game. Suddenly, it is the end of the competition and Henry hasn't read one SINGLE book! He tries to steal Perfect Peter's books from him but can't. He goes to his room and thinks he can just write down the names of all the books in his room, but remembers he has to write a report for all the books he reads. Miss Battle-Axe would recognize the books and would know that Henry didn't read them. So he makes up the titles of books and adds them to his list.

The next day at school, the winner is announced. It is Clever Clare! She read 28 books! Henry is so mad! Then, Miss Battle Axe notices that Clare accidentally wrote one book down twice! There is now a tie between Clever Clare and Horrid Henry, so they both win tickets. The tickets are to Book World (this doesn't sound like a very exciting amusement park to me, Mom, but you'd probably like it!). The story ends with Henry screaming "ARRRGGGHH!!" So, even though Henry wins the tickets, he sort of also learns a lesson about lying about the books he read. The prize is one that Clare will like because she loves books, but it's punishment for Henry because he doesn't like to read.

I then asked John why he liked the Horrid Henry books:

I like the Horrid Henry books because it has nice people in it as well as Horrid Henry. It reminds me of me and my little brother, Justin. (I ask, which character are you in the book? His response: I am Perfect Peter and Justin is Horrid Henry. I always act polite, and Justin is not.) I like the Horrid Henry books because they are chapter books that are easy to read. They make me laugh! And Horrid Henry does do some mean things, but at the end of each story he usually learns his lesson! I want to read the rest of the Horrid Henry books and hope my library at school will get them. I think my friends will like them too. Besides Henry and Peter, there are some other characters with funny names like Moody Margaret, Rude Ralph, and Beefy Bart. I think the names are funny but it's good because they also describe that person!

I just want to wrap up by reiterating what John said about why the Horrid Henry books are so fabulous. Children are drawn to Horrid Henry because he is bad, but don't think that the Horrid Henry books promote or encourage bad behavior. They don't..Horrid Henry in some manner does get punished or suffer repercussions for his actions. In addition, the illustrations are humorous and at a level that early readers can comprehend. I found that while my son loves to read these to himself, they are best experienced if read aloud!

To learn more about the other Horrid Henry books, please visit Horrid Henry's Facebook page! Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing John copies of the Horrid Henry books!

Last weeks Memory Monday post was a list of Contemporary books that I feel are a great introduction to the genre for younger readers. Today's post is a list of books for older readers that I think can make Contemporary lovers out of anyone. It's not really a memory, I suppose, but I have very fond memories/experiences with all of these, so I'm counting it.:)

Not all of these books will be for every reader. But I'm pretty confident that there is at least something among this rather large list for everyone. And I have read all of these and will personally vouch for their insane levels of awesome. Also, this is in no way a complete list. It was impossibly hard narrowing down the books I included, so if you want or need more recommendations, seriously ask away. I am more than happy to share the books that (unfortunately) didn't make this list.

Melina Marchetta. I know I'm already cheating, that Melina Marchetta is a person, not a book, but she is one of my all-time favorite authors. Her book Jellicoe Road not only won a Printz award, but it's also an absolutely stunning and amazingly brilliant book. But, I do recognize that it's not for everyone and sometimes it works for people new to Contemporary and sometimes it doesn't. But I do absolutely and always recommend Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son. They are a bit more accessible to some people but they are no less amazing. Anything by Marchetta will introduce you to people you can't help but love. And the reading experience is never easy, but it is so completely worth it.

The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder is a book that I recommend to everyone. It is, in my opinion, a perfect starter book. It's written in verse (which I adore and push/promote every chance I get) and the story that Lisa tells is so stunning, so amazing and just so beautifully brilliant that I don't know how you could not fall in love. And it's a book I've already recommended to several non verse and non Contemporary readers, and I have not talked to any of them who haven't loved it yet.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly isn't straight Contemporary and I think it will appeal to fans of both Contemporary and Historical Fiction. While the book is set during the now, the main character, Andi, finds an old diary and becomes completely invested in the life of a young woman who lived during the French Revolution. And Andi is one of the most painful characters I've ever read. I physically hurt while reading this book because Andi's pain is so intensely real and it's one of the best books I read last year.

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick is one that I read just recently but can't seem to stop thinking about or talking about. This book is a lot of things, all of which are amazing, but more than anything else, watching the absolute love between these two brothers broke my heart and put it back together again bigger and richer than it was before. I understand that not everyone can read this book. My older sister has children around the same age as the main character and literally cannot read books that deal with children with diseases or death. But it is such a phenomenal and powerful book that I would recommend it strongly to anyone who can. An absolutely beautiful book.

Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert is a hard book to read. It's a very hard story about a girl who finds herself slipping so far into a world of drugs and alcohol and cutting that she very nearly loses herself completely. It's painfully realistic in its portrayal of the life Kara finds herself living but it is also so powerfully written that you can't deny its impact or its message. And there are stories within the story. Many of the secondary characters who are especially important to the narrator have a chance to share their own stories, in a series of personal ballads and while the whole book is brilliant, those pieces especially made this book so perfect. This was a game changing book for me. It taught me a lot about myself and about life and it's one that I think people need to be more aware of.

No list introducing readers to Contemporary YA would be complete without Sarah Dessen. She's got quite a few books under her belt and so many people absolutely love her. I put of reading anything by her for a long time because I assumed it was too romance-y for my taste (and I was sniffabove books like that) but I started reading them last year and now I own them all. She really is an amazing author. I haven't read all of her books yet, I'm only about halfway through, but my two favorites are The Truth About Forever and Just Listen. Dessen has this way of writing a story that straddles the border between light-hearted fun and serious topics. She's pretty much brilliant and a must read within the genre.

The Disreputable History of Frankie-Landau Banks by E. Lockhart is one of the wittiest, smartest books I've ever read. Frankie is one of the best main characters I have ever read. And it has the word disreputable in the title. Seriously.

Laurie Halse Anderson is another author that I think needs to be read. Her books deal with heavy subject matter but are important and powerful. Speak, Twisted and Wintergirls have all found a place on my favorites shelf.

I don't think there are enough genuinely funny books out there, so if you are looking for more light-hearted, fun, laugh your face off in public books, you should definitely try Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway about a girl whose life becomes a media circus after her ex-boyfriend writes a breakup song about her that goes viral & rockets to the top of all the charts (yay for music in books!). Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman is also absolutely hysterical. It has a similar plot to the movie She's the Man with Amanda Bynes except instead of soccer it's "investigative journalism" but it's seriously laugh-out-loud funny and there was more than one time that I had to stop reading because I was getting funny looks from the people sitting around me. Man its hard to breathe when you are laughing that hard! Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout have also written some really cute and fun books together. I've only read Girl v. Boy and Love, Inc. but both were super fun and entertaining. Definitely a fun way to spend a few hours.:)

And, of course, I can't not mention the phenomenon that is Stephanie Perkins. I can't tell you how many reviews I've seen that talk about — not being a Contemporary reader, but then I read this and!!!!!. Seriously you guys. Anna and the French Kiss is a book that has a little something in it for everyone. It's super cute, but the characters are also real people who do have issues beyond what they are going to wear that day, or whether or not super cute guy likes them. This is a book about real life without being heavy or emotionally draining. Something about Stephanie's writing makes the story reality to everyone reading. Definitely one you should check out. I can't think of anyone off hand that I would not recommend this one too. It's companion novel, Lola and the Boy Next Door is also completely full of win.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is another book that I think many people, Contemporary readers or not, can get caught up in reading, but more than that, I also think it is a book that more people should be reading. It's a story that makes us accountable, even if only to ourselves, about what type of person we are and makes us recognize on a deeper level that what we do really does affect other people, that our choices impact others and we have no way of knowing what they are going through right now. Teenagers especially need to read this, need to recognize and understand that life isn't only about them and that other people matter too.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are so many wonderfully amazing books that I had to leave off this list. Books like Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King or Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler, Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John, Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson and on and on. The Contemporary Genre has so much to offer readers. So very, very much. And I hope that you give it a chance, give it the opportunity to show you what it's made of, to show you what it really can do.

Everyone, help me welcome Sierra to the blog today! She has an absolutely wonderful memory to share with everyone today! Help me make her feel welcome!

My name is Sierra, and I blog on Yearning_To_Read. I've been blogging for almost a year now; I started Yearning To Read back in June 2010. It has been an amazing experience, and I feel so priveleged to be a part of a project like this. My blog first started out as a way to review good books (okay, and some bad, too) and have fun with it. Now it has turned into much more: I write about vintage books that I buy, poems, and quotes that I love; and in January I added something new: giveaways, so far my favorite aspect of blogging. I love giving books: What a great way to do it!

About me: I'm a 17-year-old senior in highschool and I've been homeschooled since preschool. I LOVE it. LOVE LOVE LOVE. It has allowed me to study everything that I would study in a public school, but it also gives me a greater freedom to focus on what I love: literature, writing, foreign language, and Photography. It has been a journey, full of adventures. AND... my mom is the best teacher.:) I live in San Diego, CA, which is one of the best places to live. Someday I hope to travel to new ends of the world, but I want to always have a home to come back to in San Diego. I've beed a reading maniac since I was 7, and I've been writing novels (yes, novels) since I was 8. Not that they were any good, of course, but it's the thought that counts, right? I still write all the time... the stories come and come and come relentlessly. I hope to someday be a published author. It's been my goal for 9 years and counting — I'd say that's pretty promising!

And now, for my memory.

It was Easter Sunday, 2008, after church. It's funny, how some days start as one thing, with you having a goal for the day, an idea of what it's going to look like. And then, it all changes. Drastically. Funny what books can do to you in a day.

The day before, I had picked up Inkheart. I'd bought it a while before, with its published companion Inkspell. I'd heard it was good from a friend; the movie was coming out; I had a giftcard. How could I lose?
But anyway, back to the story:

I remember lunch at our house, with our friends. I brought Inkheart to the table with me and had it under my leg. (This is the first time I remember doing this.) Between bites, I'd reach down and feel the cover, the grooves and bumps on it which were (and still are) Meggie's fingers, the gold coins from Treasure Island, the lizzard from the desert, the castle from the fairytales. I wanted to read it; I wanted to be captured in the story and transported.
After lunch, I helped clean up a bit, but I was itching. Itching for the story beyond the covers. The second I was free, I ran upstairs and into my room, where I stayed. I opened the book. And read.

For 6 hours.

Now, let's get something straight here: I'm not a fast reader. I got a total of about 250 pages done in those six hours. I took two breaks. But the rest of the time, I was hooked. I remember it vividly, the first time I read that journey and was immersed. I remember starting by sitting on my bed; that soon got stuffy and uncomfortable, after so much food. Then I sat between my desk and my footboard, legs up, book on my knees. That, too, eventually became uncomfortable. My legs cramped and it was getting hot in the room. (Or was that Dustfinger's fire, leaping out of the pages to catch me?) Then I went outside to the patio, where I read some more. I sat on a reclining chair and my body soaked up the spring sunshine and fresh air — and all the while my mind was soaking up the intense story that isInkheart. My mind was lost in a fantastic world that becomes a part of the reader.

I finished Inkheart two days later. Then, I started Inkspell.

In no way was I prepared for what lay on those pages, in that ink. I'd experienced a ride with Inkheart — but with Inkspell... I don't know. Something was different. Mentally, emotionally. It played with my emotions like Dustfinger plays with his fire, like Mo plays with his words.
In the end... let's just say that not very many other books make me sob. (I am a usual crier, yes, but not a usual sobber.) If a book gets me so emotionally that I cry really hard, it usually ends up on my favorites shelf. It means more to me than most books because it moved me more. It was just so when I finished Inkspell. I was sitting on the couch (I think it was the Thursday after Easter Sunday) and my sister was sitting across from me, reading one of the Madeleine L'Engle books. And as I lay there, reading the last few chapters, sniffling and wiping tears away and burying my head in my arms, she kept staring at me strangely, wondering what the heck could have changed my emotions so drastically.

(Are you wanting to know as well? I advise you read the book. 'Twill be worth it, I promise.)

And that is my memory. My vivid, lovely memory. I remember all the emotions, the sights and smells. In fact, the smell of the Inkbooks are still some of my favorites to date. Oh, and did I read Inkdeath ? Yes, yes I did. I remember longing for it, and when it came in the mail I was proud to know that I was one of the first people to ever hold it in my hands. And I LOVED the book.

This memory is particularly special to me, for a few reasons. Not only were these some of the very first books that I became emotionally attached to, but they were also some of the first fantasy books I'd ever read. They got me hooked on the genre, and they are still an example of what great fantasy is. Since that week I've read Inkheart 3 times total, Inkspell twice total (and the end several times — it makes me cry every single time), and Inkdeath once. Each time I read the first two, those memories come back, swiftly and vividly. It's strange — the books that talk about books catching memories between their pages are the books that have caught the most memories for me.

And they are memories I will always cherish and will never forget.

Thank you so much Sierra, for sharing your memories with us! This sounds like an incredibly important read for you. I remember these life changing reading experiences in my own life, and am so happy that you shared yours with us!

Readers, remember that if you would like to be a Memory Monday guest, in my blog for more information!

The Iowa City Book Festival just wrapped up yesterday and I was exhausted last night from the festivities. I couldn't take in as many events as I wanted to because I had to come home fairly early on Sunday and wanted to catch up with some friends Saturday evening. Overall though I hit some events and can't wait for next year's festival to come around! For those of you who aren't from around here, the Iowa City Book Festival is a three day event where readers, authors, librarians, booksellers, and others come to celebrate a love of books and reading. There are readings, presentations, films, book sales, and activities for children all going on with food and music for everyone to enjoy. This year I was also invited to participate in the event and I gave a talk about five of my favorite books from the past year and I also talked about blogging for a little while. I had a fairly good crowd, about 20-25 people were there.

This is me preparing to speak on Saturday, a little nervous.

Here I am in Gibson Square, where all of the music and book sales were. I'm standing next to the portion of the schedule that has my name listed on it.

I met some cool people as well. Chelle from The Prairie Library came to listen to me during her 15 minute break. It was awesome to put a face to a name and she is the first blogger I've met in real life, well that I didn't know before I started blogging. I also met Andrew Shaffer of the Huffington Post who asked a ton of great questions and is a truly funny guy. In addition to meeting people, I also saw some great writers. Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife, was the headlining speaker. I never realized just how dark TTW is until I heard her talking about it. She definitely has an interest in the darker side of life and is actually trained as visual artist, not a writer, which I never knew. Clearly she is a woman of many talents, and she is hilarious to listen to. Right after her Q&A I ran off to hear Hope Edelman and Carl Klaus talk about memoir and memory. Klaus interviewed Edelman and since the two already knew each other they had great chemistry. I haven't read anything by either writer but if their writing is as good as their insights on the memoir genre then I know I am in for a treat!

Sunday was A Day in the City of Literature and there were several readings scheduled. I, unfortunately, could only go to one before I had to leave town so I really had to think about who I wanted to see. I decided to see Stephen Bloom whose most recent book, Tears of Mermaids, has received kind words from many places and Michael Kindness from Books on the Nightstand was especially excited about it so I felt I had to go. The reading was held in the jewelry store M.C. Ginsberg, which was a nice fit because Tears of Mermaids is a micro-history of pearls. Bloom read a short, funny selection from the book and I was glad I recently purchased it (and I got my copy signed!). After the reading he shared a wealth of knowledge of pearls, passing around polished oyster shells and describing the several kinds of pearls and the places in the world they come from. He also spent some time talking about research and writing as well as what he enjoys about it and what he doesn't. It was a great way to spend an hour and I'm confident that I chose a good reading to attend.

Overall my experience at the Iowa City Book Festival was incredible, and to top everything off my name is even on the event's t-shirt because I was a speaker at it, how amazing is that?!? If you couldn't make it but are interested in what books I talked about I posted my picks on Saturday. I'm already looking forward to next year's festival and since I won't be living an hour and a half away hopefully I'll be able to take even more in.

Today for our Memory Monday guest, I have Gale! She's an author with a really interesting back story! Check out her bio and hear her talk about childhood favorites!:) Here is a link to her blog- http://www.galeminchew.bravejournal.com

My Bio:

Gale Minchew is a licensed psychologist who resides in East Texas with her husband and two children. In her professional practice, Dr. Minchew specializes in issues related to children and families. However, over the past couple of years, she has consulted with adults and children who have experienced a broad range of paranormal phenomena, as well.

Over the past 14 years, Dr. Minchew has written several works of fiction, in addition to completing a dissertation. While she has become adept at technical writing through her professional practice, Dr. Minchew’s heart is with young adult fiction. She strives to provide a cross-over experience that engenders the creativity and interest the adult population craves while upholding some of the core values that are so lacking in many of the current works of young adult fiction on the market. Shadows of Destiny is Dr. Minchew’s first published fiction novel.

The Sidewalk Ends Here…

I don’t remember any books from my childhood. At least, that’s what I thought. When I first tried to conger up memories of reading, I drew a complete blank. Yes, I couldn’t think of one single book! So, I decided to delve a little further into my mind and came up with the cute teddy bear board book my mom read to me as a toddler, Cinderella, and The Princess and the Pea. I still have that little teddy bear book and will always cherish it. But, can that really be all I remember reading as a child? Pulling those memories from the frayed edges of my mind soon buried me under a wave of book covers and authors. Oh! What about the Sweet Valley High series by Francine Pascal? I read that series incessantly during my teen years. I remember spending so much money on those books…and it became a challenge…buying, reading, and arranging all those books on my shelf in chronological order. Then, a little further back I remembered some required reading from middle school…Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume and the life and writings of Edgar Allen Poe. I admit, I didn’t care for Judy Blume, but I was fascinated with Edgar Allen Poe…The Raven, The Tell Tale Heart, The Masque of the Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, and so on. But, I still wonder why they had Poe as required reading for a 13 year old! It was probably my fascination with Poe that led to my interest in crime/suspense/mystery novels. So, it was only logical that by high school, I had moved on to Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and Anne Rice.

I continued to ponder the books I read as a child and found that with all the authors, titles, and genres flowing through my mind, I continuously returned to fourth grade. It was a magical year, I suppose…a time for trading stickers with my friends, staying out of the clutches of boys chasing girls on the playground, and my first introduction to poetry. Now, I admit I would have done almost anything to not go outside for recess, as you can imagine! Quite coincidentally, my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Joyce Sigler, had an exciting project for me and a friend in lieu of play time. At recess, she would tape a large sheet of white paper on the wall and place the overhead projector in just the right spot for maximum size. She would then place a transparency on the overhead glass, and my friend and I would carefully trace the letters and drawings onto the plain white paper. That simple job made me feel important! And, unbeknownst to me at the time, I learned about poetry and how to make that funny little lower case ‘a’. I mean, who really writes an ‘a’ like that? Ultimately, I ended up reading the entire book from which the transparencies were made. What an exciting experience at such an impressionable time in my young life!

You may wonder what poetry could possibly fill a fourth grader with so much excitement. This poetry was magical, complete with funny drawings…a book filled of stories such as Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who would not take the garbage out, a crocodile who went to the dentist, and little Peggy Ann McKay who was so sick she could not go to school today! Yes, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein became my favorite book that year. That year became one of my most memorable years in school and, by my estimation, served as a catalyst for my growing love of books.

I now share Mr. Silverstein’s books with my own children. Not only Where the Sidewalk Ends, but A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and The Giving Tree, as well. Will my fourth grader have the same memories about reading these books as I have? Probably not, but I hope to make an impression as great as that given to me all those years ago by one very special fourth grade teacher and Shel Silverstein!

What a fun post Gale!! I'm pretty much the only person I know who didn't love Shel Silverstein growing up, and I tried to read him a while ago and... eh. Still don't love. But I loved hearing your story! And even though I don't love Shel, his are definitely books I'll have for my future kids! Thanks so much for guesting for me today!

My cousin, Emily, blogs over at In Which Ems Reviews Books and she and a friend have started a weekly Sunday feature. I have been a bit absent so far this year (my apologies) but when I saw her post today — the first post of the new feature and saw the topic, I decided this was something I had to take part in. I mean, I never miss an opportunity to talk up my favorite books and today's topic is to pick a favorite and talk about why it's special to you.

Any guesses as to which book I'm going to pick?:)

So there's this book... It's kind of a big deal to me. I talk about it all the time, and it's gotten to the point that if I send certain people a tweet saying — Ask them — they all know which book I'm talking about.

I decided several years ago that I was going to read all the books on the Newbery award list, and when I learned about the Printz award, and it is to YA what the Newbery is to MG, I decided I would read all of those too. And I read a brilliantly funny/witty/hysterical/intelligent Honor winner from 2009 called The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. And let me tell you, I loved that book. It remains one of the smartest funny books I've ever read. But, that is not the book I'm going to talk about today. Because after I finished that book, I wondered why it didn't win the actual award. So I sought out the winner of the Award that year, wondering if I was going to be disappointed that this was the book that ultimately won.

But friends. Do you know what book won the Printz Award in 2009? DO YOU?!

I'll give you a hint... It's this one:

This book wrecked me. It tore me to pieces, pulled apart my heart and pulverized my soul. And then it put me back together again, different, but better. I am never at a loss for words, but I never feel like I can truly articulate what this book did to me. It just... consumed me. I was so incredibly captivated and involved with this book, these characters and their lives.

I've felt sad before, finishing a book and knowing that my time with the characters was over for now, and I've actively wished that some of the people in the book were real. But not even with Harry Potter do I remember being so overwhelmingly devastated that these people weren't real because I just felt them that much.

I have never come across a writer with an ability like Marchetta's before. Something about her writing just hits me, in that perfect way. I tend to get overly dramatic when I talk about Marchetta, specifically when referencing this book and I saw things like — Melina Marchetta owns my soul. And when I'm reading one of her books, she does.

I tell you what — Never have I read anything like this book. It causes me genuine physical pain when I hear that someone didn't like this book. Physical pain. (and I'll be honest and admit that the secret, shameful place inside of me wonders about their mental stability... But only for a minute).

I don't think I will ever run out of positive things to say about this book, but I need an ending point somewhere, so let me also just add this (because I still make giddy/squeaky noises every time I think about it)

After Just Contemporary month, when I emailed Melina (*dies*) I got a surprise package in the mail. From Australia. And I opened it to find this:

I cried.

I decided to do these two books as "mini"-reviews because I don't have anything good to say about either book and you know that old saying — If you can't say anything nice... Well, I've never been very good at not saying anything at all...

Brooklyn Burning by Steve Brezenoff is, in my opinion, a book that tried too hard. It wanted to be this big grand and mysterious book but instead managed only to be a rather dull and vague detail-less story that bored me.

Kid lives in Brooklyn and has spent the last year or so on the streets because Dad decided he didn't want to deal with Kid's issues anymore (specifically sexual questioning) and kicked Kid out. But we don't know any specifics about Kid. Not real name, not even gender. We do know that Kid falls for a musician that's more than a little rough around the edges (heavily into hard drugs). But something happened (a mystery, possibly involving fire) and the musician is always referred to in the past tense and now Kid develops a new love interest. (Also blurry around gender lines).

I appreciate what Steve is trying to do here. It is an interesting idea — making a genderless novel and leaving details almost completely out of the way. But instead of being a story that pushes boundaries and makes you think, it was instead, for me, boring and pointless. I didn't care about a single character in the story. I didn't really know anything about them, so what was there to care about?! A lot of the story is written in also 2nd person, which I've read and enjoyed before, but it made this book feel even weirder than it already was. I have to have a sense of character for a 2nd person narrative to work. I also need a sense of and connection to the characters for a romance to be effective and interesting and something that I care about. But Steve didn't give me that.

This probably sounds rude, but I felt like this was a book full of its own cleverness and importance. You know people like that, right? Who are always walking around "saying" — Look at me!! Look at how funny I am or how clever and smart!- and really, rather than thinking them funny or clever or smart, all you can think is — Oh my gosh, shut up! — or -Seriously, who invited you?! This was a book trying so hard to be mysterious and murky that it completely missed its mark and landed in the realm of vague and uneventful.

It's a book that left me with a feeling of, Oh. That's all then? and I am pretty much positive that unless someone else brings it up, I will never think about this book again. BUT I will say that this is a polarizing book. All of the reviews I've seen are either like mine, or are completely enamored by and in love with this book. So if it's something you think you would like, might as well give it a try!

Lie by Caroline Bock was, unfortunately, even worse for me.

It is a book that should have been important and powerful and gut wrenching and soul hurting and empowering. It's about the repercussions of a vicious hate crime in a small town ending with the victim in critical condition and the boys under investigation. The MC's boyfriend is the main suspect (and if I remember right, is in custody throughout the book) and she saw the crime but has been lying to the police, because her boyfriend and best friend asked/told her too, and Jimmy is a good person who loves her and needs her support.

But, Jimmy is not a good person. I was expecting this to be a book that explores grey areas and tries to explain how good/normal kids can become involved in vicious crimes. But nope. Jimmy is scum. Seriously. And very possibly mentally unstable. But then again, the notes I wrote to myself upon finishing this book say that I felt that every single character was emotionally and mentally unbalanced. And awful. Lisa Marie is the worst best friend in the history of human beings and I hated her. ALL the way. Skylar is also a pretty weak character, seemingly incapable of making any decisions for herself or seeing people as they really are, and I'm not going to say anymore than that because I've tried to rewrite it three times and I keep sounding really, really mean.

What I think would have made this novel better is development. Rather than really developing the characters, Bock just gave them each their own chance to 'talk' and there were a lot of narrators in this book (like 9, I think). But having them speak doesn't necessarily give them depth and it doesn't do anything to make me relate to or believe them. Part of my problem is also that I never, not once thought that Skylar's decision was hard. Not once. You know pretty early on what she witnessed, although more details do come out as the book progresses and for me, that choice is black and white.

I wanted to like this one. Really, I did. But I just couldn't do it and I can't recommend it.

*Disclaimer: Both of these books were electronic ARCs received via Netgalley.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday at the Broke and Bookish is hilarious book titles. I searched for most of these on Amazon's Self Help section and Harlequin romance's website. They're in no particular order.

1. The Happiness Project: Or, Why I sepnt a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin This actually sounds like something I would try to pull off, which makes it more hilarious.
2. Accidentally the Sheik's Wife by Barbara McMahon I'm not really sure how you accidentally become anyone's wife, and I'm very curious as to why they chose a sheikh. Mixing things up a bit?
3. Cattle Rancher, Convenient Wife by Margaret Way Why anyone would want to read a romance about a convenient wife is beyond me.
4. Falling for Mr. Dark and Dangerous by Donna Alward I find this funny because in general most romance novels are about falling for someone dark and dangerous.
5. Memo: Marry Me? by Jennie Adams
6. Finn's Pregnant Bride and the Paternity Claim by Sharon Kendrick Sounds like a subtitle on a daytime TV show.
7. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Laura Schlessinger You might think this is a romance novel, but it's actually a self-help book. Apparently there are a lot of starving dirty husbands out there.
8. Why Men Marry Bitches: A Woman's Guide to Winning Her Man's Heart by Sherry Argov Well, from the title I assume the answer is to act like a bitch. Hope that works out for you.
9. Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy If the key to stop procrastinating is eating frogs then I think I'll just keep procrastinating.
10. Will I Ever Be Good Enough?: Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers by Karyl McBride I don't know why exactly I find this funny other than I think every daughter feels this way about her mother sometimes.

I'm not trying to put down any of these self-help books, I'm sure they're all very helpful!

You see that title right there? That is a brave thing to undertake, to break down into ten specific (but not too specific) categories the types of Contemporary YA currently available. And let me tell you, this is not easy. Seriously. First I struggled to come up with ten unique categories and then I struggled to limit myself to only ten. And I'll tell you right now, a lot of these categories within Contemporary overlap and touch each other and share. So I'm going with the category that most strongly describes the book, not necessarily the only one.

Also, I feel like I need to point out that I'm not really an expert on all things Contemporary, (although I like to seem like I am sometimes) so you might disagree with the categories I've created, and might disagree with some of the categories I've combined. But whatevs. This is me talking and this is what I think. Also- This is one time that I have not read each of the books listed. The ones I haven't read are one that I am dying to read and have (for the most part) also heard good things about. * marks those I have not yet read.
(Also, forgive the slightly wonky layout on this one... I wanted to have at least one picture for each category & it's messing w/ me layout a bit.)

1. Drugs/Pain (emotional or physical)
Crank/Glass/Fallout by Ellen Hopkins, Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert, Scars by Cheryl Rainfield, Willow by Julia Hoban, Break by Hannah Moskowitz

2. Abuse(non bfgf relationship)/'Hard Life' (general tough stuff)
Identical (sexual abuse and etc) and Tricks (teenage prostitution) by Ellen Hopkins, Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman (online predators), Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (rape), Stolen by Lucy Christopher (kidnapping), *What She Left Behind by Tracy Bilen (abusive father), *Shine by Lauren Myracle (hate crime)

3. Death/Suicide
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, *Saving June by Hannah Harrington, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, If I Stay by Gayle Forman, My Beating Teenage Heart by C.K. Kelly Martin, Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Maston, Fall For Anything by Courtney Summers, Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic

4. Romance/Relationships (both good and bad)
Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, Perfect Chemistry series by Simone Elkeles, the books of Sarah Dessen, books by Jennifer Echols, Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan *Stay by Deb Caletti, Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn,

5. Funny
Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman, Girl v. Boy by Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout, Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

6. Music/Arts
I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert, Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez, Audition by Stasia Kehoe, Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley, *Amplified by Tara Kelly, When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer, *Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

7. Depression/Mental Illness
Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta, It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler, Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly, The Babysitter Murders by Janet Ruth Young, Rules by Cynthia Lord

8. Physical Illness/Disability/Body Image
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John (also belongs in Music...) , Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, Izzy, Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt, Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going,

9. Parents/Family
Moonglass by Jessi Kirby, Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott, Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt, Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonneblick, *We the Animals by Justin Torres, Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler, Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens (this should really probably be in Romance, but her dad is so creeptastic, I had to include it here).

10. Life/Friendship/General Coming of Age (also includes too many categories to put in one place)
Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley, The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder, Past Perfect by Lelia Sales, Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

There are, of course, smaller categories that are worth mentioning, but a little too specific for this post. Things like Road Trip Novels, Mystery/Thriller (this one really should have been listed, but I only had ten spots), Novels in Verse or Novels that take Place in only One Day/Night etc. There are lots of places to take a list like this, but I tried to do the ten broadest categories I could think of.

I also left out a lot of examples for each topic area. Seriously. These were only the ones that immediately came to mind. I could have listed so many more!

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Recommendations for me to fill in the gaps in my own reading list? Any of my *not yet read books you think I need to push up my list?

I do not think that I read enough genuinely funny books. I read Audrey, Wait! a few months ago and I seriously cannot get over how funny and awesome and just, basically, perfect this book was.

It's an almost completely unrealistic storyline — Girl has boyfriend. Boyfriend thinks he's going to be a rock star. Girl breaks up with boy. Boy writes chart topping song about girl. Girl's life becomes an absolute mess of fame and paparazzi and annoying suck because gazillions of people now care about the girl who inspired said song.

Chances are, this is never going to happen to you, or to anyone that you know. You might have all the beginning pieces. There are lots of girls with boyfriends, and even a lot who think they are gonna be rock stars. But how many people have a song written about them that makes them famous? And not even a good famous, but that annoying — all we care about is stalking you and finding out what you wear when you eat breakfast — kind of famous. Probably not gonna happen.

So, how is it then, than Benway has taken this idea that, in all likelihood, is never going to happen to anyone you've ever met and made it into this book that everyone can relate to?? Seriously — it's a legit question. Benway is brilliant. Audrey is just such an honestly written character that, even though I will never be able to relate to the actual scenario she finds herself in, the inner teenage Ashley was totally wishing that we could be friends. Audrey's voice was just so... real. I don't even know how to honestly do justice to this book. It was just so much of the awesome.

The other characters in this book were just as dimensional, and just as well written. Her best friend is initially that best friend that everyone wants, that person who totally gets you and knows what you are thinking almost before you do, that you can tell anything to, do anything with and life between you is pretty much always perfect (until that major humdinger of a fight that you think will never end but ends because you both have really great news and fighting is stupid...) . But as Audrey's fame grows, I felt that the BFF started losing sight of all of that. She's still trying to be a great friend, but she stopped being tuned into what Audrey wanted and instead pushed ahead what she thought Audrey should want, and that kinda pissed me off.

The new boy was also awesomely cute and I just loved watching their relationship start to develop. Her parents were pretty much normal parents too, which is awesome. They are active and interested in Audrey's life, but not over zealous or insane about it (although, once people start stalking her, they naturally become more so) but it is really refreshing to read about parents in a YA novel that could have been mine. And really, although I do know that there are a lot of really crappy parents out there, my experience with life has taught me that most parents really are trying to do the best they can. No parent is perfect, but most of them are awful, nasty, crazy-faces either.

Everything about this book just made me smile inside. From the constant music references (which did make me wish I was more into music than I am) to the snarky inner voice of Audrey to the ridiculous and crazy situations she found herself in over and over, I loved this book. And while the storyline itself was hilarious, the really brilliance of this book is Audrey herself. Watching her grow as a person and watching her understanding of what is truly important in life change was something I absolutely loved. Great character growth is essential for me to love a book and I thought it to be wonderfully done in this book. And not just Audrey grew as a person either. There was a lot of change and development in this story and I loved watching it.

It's a book with layers. Pulling apart those layers and discovering the deeper parts to the story is something that I loved and will definitely read this book again. Discovering depth while laughing your face off isn't something to be taken lightly and this is definitely a book I will recommend lots and lots and read again and again.

Read it. Because dude, it rocks.

I never read any Beverly Cleary books so I decided to give her a try as part of the Shelf Discovery Challenge. After reading Fifteen I think it's probably best I didn't read any Beverly Cleary books because cynicism caught me pretty early in life and I think a lot of eye rolling would have happened. That's not to say that a lot of eye rolling didn't happen this time around, because it most certainly did. Jane is fifteen and she has decided that she is going to fall in love, although this doesn't seem like a possibility while she is on her way to babysit a tyrant child. Still, a girl can dream right?

Surprisingly, though, a dog food delivery boy comes to the house she is babysitting at and he is positively dreamy and wonderful and everything that a first boyfriend should be. Jane wonders when she gets home if it would be too forward of her to ask the woman she babysat for who the delivery boy was. No, that won't work, she'll just have to continue babysitting at the house and hope she runs into him again (sounds like something I would have come up with when I was fifteen). Luckily she doesn't have to worry about it because the boy calls her (this would never happen in real life). His name is Stanley Crandall and he would like to take her out. A few dates go by and Jane is Stan's girl, or at least she thinks he is until he takes another girl to the school dance!

So, the story has some misgivings, but it was also written in 1956, a year before my mom was even born. I tried to remind myself as I was reading the book. I never really felt like I knew who Jane was, but she did say some funny things every once in awhile. "Nobody wanted to be sweet and sensible, at least not a girl in high school. Jane hoped her mother would not spread it around Woodmont that she thought her daughter was sweet and sensible" (28). That was funny, and I think I could relate to that when I was about thirteen, not fifteen, but as I said 1956 so we'll move on. What really peeved me about this book though was that Stan was quite literally the only thing Jane cared about; "She did not want to be a brilliant student. She did not want to be intellectually curious. She wanted to be Stan's girl, dancing with him in the gymnasium of Woodmont High" (116). I mean, couldn't she have grown even just a little bit? I know I was kind of boy crazy when I was fifteen but I still had some other interests. Like reading and music and getting a car. I mean, it's 1956 not the beginning of the world.

So this novel earned a C.

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"Celluloid is about dreams, movies are about fantasy, and motion picture are about things you couldn't possibly even imagine in your wildest dreams, brought vividly to life in front of your very eyes" (xv). This is how Emmett James' memoir Admit One: My Life in Film

begins, and based on that quote alone I had fairly high expectations for this book. Each chapter in the narrative begins with a movie, the very first is the Jungle Book, a quick synopsis of the movie and then moves into James' own story. The memoir is divided into two parts. The first, Coming Attractions, is about his life growing up in and outside of London as a child deeply obsessed with movies and everything that went along with him. The second half, Feature Presentation, is about his life as a struggling actor in Hollywood, trying to make a career out of his childhood passion.

I loved the way this book was set up, I just wish it would have been executed a little bit better. There were times in most of the chapters in the book where I had a hard time remembering what movie he started talking about. The first few chapters stayed with the movie alright, but the tangents kept getting more confusing as the book went on. It felt like a gimmick, because most of the movies really had nothing to do with the story he was telling. I got so caught up in trying to make a connection to the movie that I could enjoy the great storytelling and humor that was happening in the book. And let's be clear about that, this is a funny book. James is very funny, comparing his mother to the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz and talking about one of his first acting jobs dressing up as a woman. He pokes fun at others, but he also pokes fun at himself and that is a saving grace in this book.

But even though he is a good storyteller, and he can make me laugh so hard my abs get a good workout, I wish there was a little more substance to this story. Yeah it's interesting, but I think there were things James could have pushed a little harder. He begins to in a later chapter about working on the movie the Titanic; "The joy, excitement, and arrogance I had felt upon leaving Los Angeles had been quickly replaced by an overwhelming sense of guilt and sadness. It struck me as more than a little ironic that I was making my way to participate in a film surrounding the horrors of an unforgiving class system. Here, now, in front of me eyes, nearly one hundred years later, was the most blatant wealth and poverty line I had every physically experienced" (156). He begins to push here, into the falsity of movies, celebrities, and film making, but he pulls away too quickly. This is something that I really struggled with towards the end of the book. It seemed like the story got too stuck int he gimmick of the movies that it couldn't explore throughout the book what was finally found at the end. James says he didn't want to be a celebrity, but he wanted to be an actor. And there is a difference, one that I don't ever really think about. He talks about how his views have changed. The ending was the most interesting part of the memoir. I wanted to transplant some of that deep thinking into the first half of the book, which basically just felt like childhood stories that went nowhere.

This book got a C. I received the book from a publicist.

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Ever wonder about who Prince Charming really was? What his story actually is? In so many of the classic tales, we hear very little about who Prince Charming really is. We know the basics of their actions — fought his way through a massively huge hedge to kiss a sleeping princess, stumbled across a chick in a coffin & stole it, climbed up lots of hair, only to be tossed out of the tower, etc. but we really aren't given very much information about the actual prince. Fairy tales tend to focus on the evil and the maiden and the deeds of the prince, but very little else.

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy is that story. Who are these princes? What are their names? Their personalities? Healy has taken those bare boned details and created a delightfully entertaining story about who these princes really are and what happens after the "happily ever after".

This is the perfect middle grade book and if I had read this when I was a kid, I would have inhaled it. Which is not to say that I didn't like it now. On the contrary! I found it to be perfectly entertaining. The story itself wasn't without it's flaws (mostly that some of the princes real personalities totally annoyed me...) but the book was just... so perfectly readable and entertaining.

Even when they drove me crazy, I loved seeing a real side to these heroes who had previously often been demoted to nothing but a kiss and a title. My favorite was Prince Liam and that's all I'm going to say because I think these are characters that are best discovered on your own. Each of the characters in this novel start in one place and end in another that demonstrates growth as a person, but doesn't take away from who they actually are. I love that. I love seeing characters learn from their mistakes and the mistakes of others, sacrifice what they want for what's best for others and just become better people.

The princesses aren't exactly what they appear to be in the original tales either. They are also given their own unique personalities and attributes (some good, some most assuredly not...) The side characters were also a lot of fun. I loved Liam's little sister Lila, the bounty hunter, the Bandit King and his group of bandits and the Trolls. Oh my goodness, the Trolls! They might possibly be my favorite part of the story. Seriously.

The book is told by a narrator, talking directly to the reader, who already knows the whole story and sometimes gets ahead of him/herself. I'm not normally a fan of that body-less/nameless narrator talking at me from the pages, but in this story, it worked. I never felt annoyed or pulled out of the story because of the narrator and I actually loved his little hints and nudges and secrets that the heroes really should know, but didn't.

I am so not doing this book justice. This review is all over the place, for which I apologize, but there is just so much going on in this book and it's just so fun and funny and charming (ya, I said it. So what). But really. You need to go out and read this book. If you like fairy tales, read it. If you like the funny and absurdly ridiculous, read it. If you know a kid (boy or girl) who likes action and bumblers and heroes and fun and awesome princesses, then go buy it/read it/share it. It's a book that I think has something to offer to everyone. Not everyone is going to love it, but I'll wager most everyone will definitely enjoy it.

It's the beginning of a new series. But it ends well. There is no cliffhanger, no annoyance when you turn the last page. If you wanted this novel to be it, you could read this one as a stand alone and be happy. But let's be honest. It's me we are talking about. I'm for sure going to be eagerly anticipating the next installment of these heroes Princes. And, I fully intend to pass this book along to my little brothers who I definitely think will just love this one!

Oh ya. And also... The illustrations? Fabulous. Like, seriously. Ashley is in love.

Check out the awesome guest post from Christopher during Fairy Tale Fortnight!
And here is a link to an excerpt with illustrations I posted!

*Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the awesome folks at Walden Pond Press in exchange for an honest review. And it is.

For a long time, I avoided the 'lighter', more romantic side of YA. I love Contemporary fiction, it's always been my favorite, but I really felt that these YA books that focused their main conflict on the romance weren't for me. And, for a lot of the time, this is true. But there are certain times, certain moods when that is exactly what I'm craving. Recently, I fed that craving. A lot.

How to Take the Ex out of Ex-Boyfriend by Janette Rallison is my least favorite of the three books I'm reviewing today. Although it did enjoy the book, the characters here were less likable to me. This isn't always something that's the end of the world, but the way that the author described them, I knew there was supposed to be something amazing about them, something I just missed. Especially with Jesse. Giovanna breaks up with her super popular boyfriend as a matter of principal — he not only refuses to help her brother, who is also a good friend, in his campaign for student body president, but he teams up with the opposition, and does everything he can to ruin Dante's chances of winning the election. This really upsets Gio, but part-way through the election, she realizes that she wants Jesse back. She's tired of the campaign politics, the tension, and pretending she doesn't want Jesse.

So, Jesse is supposed to be this super great, really nice guy, who isn't shallow, cares about Gio, and stands by his friends. The only problem? I didn't see it. At all, really. He's a little bit annoying, he's completely oblivious about the really crappy way his friends treat his girl friend (because they are only nasty when he isn't around) and he lies to her, throughout the entire book. It's obvious that he's keeping something from her. At one point, he asks her to trust him but it's clear that he doesn't trust her, at least not enough to be open with her in return. And the worst part? At the end, when the big secret comes out, that makes everything all better? Jesse uses it to prove that his buddy really is a great guy, but it actually reaffirms Gio's opinion that Wilson is self-centered and a bit of a jerk. He's just, maybe not quite as awful.

And Gio herself is actually rather annoying. I get that she is only 15 or so, but her inner dialogue took turns being awesomely witty, funny and awesome, and being very annoying, "Oh woe is me" is. I get the teenage thing. Really, I do. But, I didn't like girls who couldn't stop obsessing over 'the boy' in high school, and I don't like reading about them in books either.

I know I'm sounding pretty down on this book, but overall, my feelings are quite positive. If you go into this book expecting it to be a super light, fluffy fun, pretty feel good read, it definitely delivers. There isn't a lot of depth, the characters aren't incredibly developed, but for the most part, it is good fun.

Girl v. Boy by Sandy Rideout and Yvonne Collins is the second book I've read by this duo. And, I have officially decided that I love them! This book is exactly what I was looking for! It's an incredibly good time. I laughed so many times reading this book and the whole time, I just had this incredibly happy, feel good vibe going on, and I know that I was grinning like a fool for a long time after reading this one.

Luisa has always blended in to her school. She has two best friends, and that's it. She shares her exact name with 10 other girls in the school, doesn't participate in any extracurriculars, and doesn't attend any school functions. But this year, things will be different. Pleased with her writing abilities, her English teacher asks her if she wouldn't mind being 1/2 of an anonymous writer. The school is participating in a girls vs. boys fundraiser and both the boys and the girls have a secret representative writing about the events in the school paper. Excited to test her writing skills, Luisa accepts, and her life changes in ways she would never have been able to predict.

I loved the characters in this story. Luisa is just hilariously funny and I loved watching her interact with her peers. She has a solid core and a surprisingly strong character for a story like this. I wasn't completely expecting any of the characters in this story to be as fully developed as they were. Each of the characters has their own personal strengths and weaknesses and each of them works to develop those. It is true that a lot of the secondary characters are a little more standard, a little more stereotypical, but I enjoyed the book so incredibly much that I barely noticed.

These two writers are a phenomenal pair. This is exactly the kind of light-hearted, fun read that just makes you feel good about your day, about people, and about being alive. I've already reread my favorite parts several times, and I can see this book, and this author duo becoming a default read when I need a reading pick me up.

Perfect Chemistry by Simon Elkeles is a little bit heavier than the two previous novels. While it's true that the romance is still a very important part of this story, (still THE most important part of the story) the conflict that the characters face is set on a much grander scale. Brittany is the golden goddess — she comes from money and as far as appearances go, she has the perfect life. She tries very hard to maintain that image, but her home life is far from perfect, and she's starting to crack under the pressure. Alex is involved with a local gang. Inside, he hates the life, but he knows that he has to be involved to offer protection to his family, so on the outside, he appears to everyone to be the tough gang member he needs to be. When pared up as chemistry lab partners, things get... interesting.

I really enjoyed watching Alex and Brittany develop their relationship, and develop as people. Both of these characters could so easily have turned into caricatures. They have all the traits needed to be those empty, stereotypical stock characters. But they aren't. Elkeles somehow manages to take them and mold them into people who have so many dimensions it's a wonder they aren't real. It's not what I was expecting from a book like this, that's for sure! We watch Alex try to come to terms with his gang membership and what it's doing to his life, and watch as the perfect world Brittany has created for herself starts slipping out from under her, we watch as she tries to accept the fact that she doesn't actually have to be perfect, that it's okay to make mistakes. And, we watch as these two very different people come together, fight the odds, and make something important.

The only thing in this book that I wasn't terribly crazy about was the epilogue. It was super cutesy, super fun, and so incredibly cheesy. I don't really feel like it fit with the tone of the book, and I kind of rolled my eyes a bit. But, it's good for some additional happy-feelings, so whatev.

This is a book that really pulls you into the lives of the characters, really makes you interested and hopeful for their future. It is a bit predictable... I called just about all the major drama moments and plot points pretty far in advance, but this type of book doesn't need to really surprise you. We all know where the story ends, it's the getting there that matter. And, even when we know how they get there, it's important that we are along for the ride with them.

I am having a hard time believing I've been writing up Memory Monday posts since last year but have yet to share my love for Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking, more commonly known as Pippi.

I remember my mom handing me her childhood copies of Pippi Longstocking and Pippi in the South Seas. She didn't give me much of an intro to the books, just told me that they were books she had read and loved as a kid, and she thought I might like them. So I read them. And I devoured them. I love them, and I read these two books over and over again. In fact, I read them so many times that the covers fell off, and then the pages started coming apart.

You see, for me, reading about Pippi's adventures wasn't just about reading the adventures of some slightly crazy girl in a book. Oh no. Pippi's adventures went much farther than that for me. You see, I wanted to be Pippi. I wanted that more than I think I had ever wanted anything before.

I wanted to be cool enough to live on my own, strong enough to carry my horse up and down the porch steps, interesting enough to have a pet monkey, and confident enough to dance around my classroom singing about plutification. (Alas, I've always cared way too much about what my teachers thought of me to be any where near that disruptive.) Oh ya, and it definitely didn't hurt that Pippi is rich as Midas either. She inherited a trunk full of gold along with her Villa from her father, whom she is convince is now king of the canibals after being swept out to sea, and she's very free with her money. She's also brilliant, being able to outsmart any adult and is wholly unconcerned with what other people think of her. She is her own person, and she is perfectly happy to be exactly who she is.

Who wouldn't want to be Pippi? She's strong, in ways that go beyond just her astounding physical strength, loyal, loving, and ridiculously funny. I'm pretty sure I even tried to sleep with my feet on my pillow, and my head down below once. And let me tell you — it is not comfortable. Poor Pippi.

I tried re-reading these books a few years ago. I purchased a set of three Pippi books — Pippi Longstocking, Pippi Goes on Board, and Pippi in the South Seas, and I wanted to revisit that old delight I had felt when reading about Pippi's adventures. I'd never run into a problem with a re-read before, and I was looking forward to revisiting Pippi in all her wackiness. It about broke my heart when I started to realize that it just wasn't the same reading these books as an adult. I've since (mostly) blocked out that reading experience, so I can instead focus my memories on my old copies and how I loved them, literally, to pieces. But, that tiny part that I allow to remember I did re-read these weeps a little when I think of it.

Pippi was such a huge part of my childhood, and I refuse to forget her. I refuse to allow her to fade into the background and you had better believe I will be putting copies of this book in the hands of any daughters I have. (Sons too). It is a book meant to be read, loved, and cherished by youth and I shall do everything in my power to make sure the kids in my life love Pippi as much as I do.