Stuff That Doesn't Suck

Stuff That Doesn't Suck is a meme that's hosted by Pam over at Bookalicio.us. So every week I'll be showing you some things that I've found that don't suck. For this next part, I'm stealing from the Stuff That Doesn't Suck (STD) post over at Novel Thoughts, which you can find here. "Each week we'll introduce things the may be old, new, funny, serious, kick-ass, or meh. But believe me, none of it will suck."
Let's get started!

Blog That Doesn't Suck-

The Naughty Book Kitties is run by Brent. This blog is totally awesome. Brent always speaks his mind and is completely open about his feelings towards a book. I check The Naughty Book Kitties nearly every day for new posts because I am so addicted to reading this blog. Brent is fierce, and so is his blog. (You should check it out)

Book That Doesn't Suck-

Clarity by Kim Harrington. I read this book earlier in the week and I am in love with it. I love books that I lose sleep over, and this was definitely one of those books. It's a new book, it's an addicting book, and it's an awesome book- go check it out! I still have to write my review, so that will be posting soon(ish).

Movie That Doesn't Suck-
Milk. When this movie first came out, I was totally oblivious to what it was about. It came out in 2008 when I was 11 or 12, and I just thought it was funny that they named a movie about a drink. And then I watched it last week. And then I was amazed. And then it made me cry. And then it became one of my favorite movies. If you haven't seen this movie, I totally recommend it. It's about Harvey Milk, gay rights, and his journey to becoming the first openly gay elected official.

Song That Doesn't Suck-

Cover Love Say What?

OH MY GOODNESS, LOVELIES.
Guess what book cover has been released?
Guess what book I am wanting even more now?
Guess what book I would give a limb for?
And, and, AND. The book cover takes place in San Francisco. For those of you who have read Anna and the French Kiss, who do we know that lives in San Francisco?

*let the fangirling screams begin*

I cannot wait for this book to come out, because as soon as it comes out- I'm dropping everything and devouring it.

Stephanie Perkins is an amazing, amazing author who is getting gold stars plastered all over her books (in my mind, that is).

The cover is also purple, and I love the color purple.

(And the guy is kind of really adorable in my opinion)

Ok, well I'm going to stop fangirling because I have mounds of homework to do.

What do you think of this cover? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a comment with your opinion!

Edit- Personally, I don't think that Stephanie Perkins' book covers do her books justice. The ANNA cover seemed to girly and bubblegum because the book itself is so much more. I have a feeling that LOLA will be the same. I wish they had covers that did the books justice, but I still like them.

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace. Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad. Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history. Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.


Holy Scariness. Cryer’s Cross was an epic, scary, fierce novel. This novel is an incredibly quick read that had me *metaphorically* biting my nails thought the whole thing. When people told me that this book was scary, I honestly didn’t believe them. Lisa McMann’s previous books didn’t scare me so I didn’t think Cryer’s Cross would. I was wrong. Every page made the book creepier and creepier, which is awesome.
I loved how different McMann made her main character. Instead of having her perfect (like many books do), Kendall was flawed. I loved that Lisa did something different with having Kendall have OCD.
Lisa McMann wrote a total winner with Cryer’s Cross. It’s scary, it’s addicting, and it’s totally original.
This book didn’t suck me in as fast as Lisa’s other books (the Wake series- it’s amazing), but it is still one of my favorite books that I’ve read so far this year.
I completely recommend it! Even if you are afraid of anything scary (like me) or if you think you’re fearless, I guarantee that Cryer’s Cross will freak you out. Lisa McMann wrote a book that will haunt you with every page, but you still won’t want to stop reading.


FTC- Bought.

When I'm Not Writing by Rebecca Fjelland Davis (Chasing AllieCat)

Today, as a part of the Teen Book Scene tour- I have the author of Chasing AllieCat telling us about what she does when she isn't writing. Stay tuned at the end of the post for a chance to win some Chasing AllieCat swag.


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If I could spend every day just riding my bike and writing and hanging out with my Newfoundland dog, Freya, I would be happy.

My children are grown, and live half way across the United States, so I don’t get to be with them nearly as often as I’d like. Being a mom is the most important and most joyful responsibility of my life.

Besides that, I am an obsessive cyclist (I ride my LeMond road bike a few thousand miles a year, and I ride a mountain bike, too). I used to race, but I don’t anymore.

I am infatuated with my Newfoundland dog Freya, and we walk a couple miles together every day. She hangs out with me wherever, whenever, I’m writing, too. I take her swimming a lot in hot weather. I have a creek running through my property, so she’s a fan of that, too.

Oh, yeah, I have a full-time job. That takes more time than anything else I do. I teach English and Humanities at South Central College in North Mankato, too. That’s why it takes so long for me to get a book done. I do love to teach, but I’d rather write full-time if I could.

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Rebecca Fjelland Davis is also giving one of you the opportunity to win some swag for Chasing AllieCat. One person will win a signed bookmark and a Retro A-1 Bike sticker. This giveaway is however, open internationally. It will be open until March 16th. To enter please fill out the form at the end of this post.

ALSO- For every meaningful comment on a tour post, Rebecca will donate $1 to charity. To see the list of all of the other tour posts, go here.

My review of Chasing AllieCat will be up on March 29th! You can enter to win the swag, here-

An Interview with Melina Marchetta

I recently had the opportunity to interview one of my favorite young adult authors, Melina Marchetta about her recent book release The Piper's Son. Melina is the author of The Piper's Son, Gellicoe Road, Saving Francesca, Looking for Chasing Alibrandi, and Finnikin of the Rock. Here is what she had to say-

1.Why did you choose to write a story about Tom, instead of a different character from Saving Francesca?
I didn’t really plan a sequel to Francesca. When it came out in 2003 that was it. I loved those characters because they seemed the most real to me, but then Jellicoe happened and I just went with it. If I ever planned to write a sequel at the time, it would definitely have been about one of the other characters like Tara Finke or even Will Trombal, although I wasn’t willing to write male point of view back then. But Tom came back exactly five years after Francesca was published and although I didn’t think he was big enough to carry a novel, I listened to what he had to say. Tom and his people, despite some of the sadness, were such beautiful characters to have in my head. Sometimes it’s good not to plan and just allow them to find you.

2. Is there a difference from being published in Australia and being published in the United States? If so, what is it?
I haven’t found a big difference at all. The process is quite similar although in the US they have commissioning editors which means that editors can come across a book and lobby for it to be published. In Australia, manuscripts go straight to the publisher and then he/she gives it to an editor to work on. These days agents come in handy, but I think if a publisher or commissioning editor gets a great story landing on their desk, they’ll run with it. I suppose the biggest difference personally is which books of mine are the most popular. Jellicoe definitely in the US. Back home, my first novel Looking For Alibrandi had a big reaction so everything I write gets compared to that.

3. If there is one thing (or multiple things) that you would want your fans to know about Tom, what would it be?
That although he comes across as a blokey bloke, he’s probably my most vulnerable character. That he feels all the right things but says all the wrong things.That he’s an amalgamation of a whole lot of boys I taught over ten years. The good, the bad and the ugly

4. You've written books in multiple sub-genre's of YA- do you have a favorite to write?
After the social realism (if we’re going to use terminology) of Francesca and Alibrandi, I wanted to do something a bit different with Jellicoe so there are parts of that novel which are quite mythical. It seemed the natural step to go fantasy after Jellicoe, but after spending so much time in the Finnikin fantasy world I was dying to get back to a Sydney setting and the realism of The Piper’s Son. Of course after all that realism and familiarity, I was dying to escape it with the Finnikin sequels. I never love a novel as much as the one I’m working on, so at the moment I don’t want to be hanging out with anyone in my head but Froi and his incredibly dysfunctional world.

5. Is there anything you would like to add?
Yes, I’ll be speaking at David Levithan’s New York Teen Writer’s Festival between the 14th-20th of March. The details are on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56488781586

Bind-up Giveaway!

Hey everyone!
I'm here to tell you all about a super amazing giveaway that I have here on the blog starting today. Because the lovelies at Simon and Schuster, one of you will get to win 4 Bind-Ups. If you don't know what a bind-up is, it's one of those thick books that compile multiple books inside of it. If you fill out the form below, you will have a chance to win these four bind-ups (click on the book name to get the book summary)-

The Devil's In the Diva by Paul Ruditis
Friend Me by Cathy Hopkins
I Like Him, He Likes Her by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
The Year I Turned 16 by Diane Schwemm

To enter to win these books, please fill out the form below.

The Locket by Stacey Jay

On her seventeenth birthday, Katie discovers a locket and decides to wear it for good luck. But when her boyfriend Isaac finds out she cheated on him-- with their mutual best friend Mitch, no less--he dumps her, leaving her devastated. And then a miracle happens. The locket burns on Katie's chest and she feels herself going back two weeks in time, to the night she cheated with Mitch. At first, Kate is delighted to be a better girlfriend to Isaac this time around. But as other aspects of her life become inexplicably altered, she realizes that changing the past may have had a dangerous effect on her present. Can she make things right before the locket destroys everything--and every
one--she loves?


Before reading The Locket, I had never read anything written by Stacey Jay- and from what I've read of her now, she's one awesome author. The Locket was a fast paced novel that kept me guessing. I love how Jay put a dramatic spin on time travel.
This book had a slow and confusing start, but it blossomed into something that I ended up really loving. The Locket had a perfect pace set to it. My god, this book made me think. It made me think about do-overs and the past and about what would happen if everybody had second chances.
Stacey Jay crafted a well-written novel that will leave readers thinking.

FTC- Publisher

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth. Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers. But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

Another thrilling installment in this perfect series. Hex Hall was one of my favorite books of 2010, and I’m pretty positive that Demonglass is going to be one of my favorite books of 2011. Sophie was once again, a character I loved to read about. There were a few times I wanted to hop into Demonglass and slap her, because she was being so stupid and clueless.
One of the main things I loved about Demon glass (and Hex Hall) is the humor that Rachel Hawkins adds to her writing. There are very few YA books that can make me laugh, but this series never fails to do so. Rachel Hawkins is a thrilling and comedic writer that I love and I really hope you love too. I recommend Hex Hall and Demonglass to lovers of YA fiction, amazing writing, and an addictive plot.

FTC- Publisher.