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This weeks question is

Tell us about some of your favorite authors and why they are your favorites!

Hmm..hard question to answer, cause I have so many!  Lets see, I love Carlos Ruiz Zafon's writing.  His book Shadow of the Wind is by far one of my favorite books EVER.  His writing is elegant, and  mesmerizing.  I also love Tom Perrotta's books especially Little Children.  His books are always entertaining.  E. Lockhart and Cassandra Claire come to mind in the young adult genre.  If you haven't tried E. Lockhart's Ruby Oliver series, or Cassandra Claire's Mortal Instruments series, you are seriously missing out on some good stuff.   

Have a great Friday, and weekend ahead!

Once Upon A Read-A-Thon

   I'll be joining in on the Once Upon A Read-A-Thon set for July 12th, 13th and 14th.  I have quite a bit of reading I need to catch up on, and I thought this was a good way to go to get motivated.  Luckily, my husband will be off those days so I know he will help in clearing up my time to devote my time reading.   Info for the read-a-thon can be found here. What I plan on reading: Bird in Hand by Kristina KlineThe Eternal Ones by Kirsten MillerBeautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohland finish up Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman if I haven't finish it this weekend.   I'm looking forward to reading without interruptions (husband again, thanks hunny).   

I Can't Wait for These...

These sound so good.  I can't wait till they are released.


Unholy Awakening- Michael Gregorio
Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin

From Goodreads:  Vampire fever is spreading throughout Prussia's countryside. Investigator Hanno Stiffeniis gets drawn ever more closely into contact with the bewitching Emma Rimmele, who has recently arrived in town and is renting the country house where the body was found. But the villagers see her arrival at the time of the murder as suspicious, and Hanno must do everything he can to find the true culprit before the mob's hysteria reaches its breaking point.Set in a world where people truly believed in vampires, Unholy Awakening pits rational, scientific study against unhindered, violent superstition in this intellectual pageturner reminiscent of David Liss and Iain Pears. .

Release date: September 28th 2010




When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer
Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin

From Goodreads:  WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE- Based on the famed Carmen story, it's a love triangle taking place over a summer against the backdrop of competitive drum & bugle corps.


Release date:  November 23rd 2010

Bruiser by Neal Schusterman

Bruiser

Author:  Neal Schusterman

Publisher:  HarperTeen

Release Date:  June 29th 2010

From Goodreads: 

Tennyson:

Don't get me started on the Bruiser. He was voted "Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty" by the entire school. He's the kid no one knows, no one talks to, and everyone hears disturbing rumors about. So why is my sister, BrontË, dating him? One of these days she's going to take in the wrong stray dog, and it's not going to end well.

BrontË:

My brother has no right to talk about Brewster that way—no right to threaten him. There's a reason why Brewster can't have friends—why he can't care about too many people. Because when he cares about you, things start to happen. Impossible things that can't be explained. I know, because they're happening to me.

Award-winning author Neal Shusterman has crafted a chilling and unforgettable novel about the power of unconditional friendship, the complex gear workings of a family, and the sacrifices we endure for the people we love.

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Bruiser is a very unique story, with a just as unique main character, but for some reason the execution fell short for me. 

First, I'll start off with the positives.  Brewster (aka Bruiser) is a such a warm-hearted, giving guy.  His unwavering love for the people in his life cause him so much pain, yet he endures.  I really began to think of Brewster as a big ol' teddy bear.  I was commited to the story soley because of him.  Author Neal Schusterman really created a great, wholesome feeling character.  I would compare him to Edward Scissorhands.  You know something is different, and frightening about someone one, yet you can sense good from them.  The story of Brewster is so unique, and I wanted to know more.  How did this come to be?  How in the heck does it happen? Why?  I love that the subject engaged me enough to have tons of questions swarming in my head.

The drawbacks, well, with all the questions swarming, at the end the questions remained.  Very little was given of the why, and how.  Infact, I would go as far to say that I think we were never meant to know the why or how?  Problem is I must know!  Secondly, as much as I loved Brewster, I could only tolerate Tennyson, and Bronte at times.  Because Brewster was such a great character, the others faded and failed to ignite any feelings for me.  A huge part of the book was about what was going on in Tennyson and Brontes house and I didn't care, really.  I wanted to peek in the window of Brewster's house with his younger brother, and drunken uncle. 

I'm really split on Bruiser.  I think if I was asked for recommendations Brusier would not come up, but if someone asked me specifically about it, I would say give it a try soley because of Brewster.

Recieved this book for review from Around the World Tours

Pretty Little liars by Sara Shepard (Guest Review)

Pretty Little Liars

Author:  Sara Shepard

Publisher:  HarperTeen

Date Released:  October 1st 2006

From Goodreads: 

Everyone has something to hide—especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna.

Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on the new girl at school. Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful.

But they've all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.

How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were, the naughty girls they are, and all the dirty secrets they've kept. And guess what? I'm telling.

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Review by Jaci

Lately I have been watching the Pretty Little Liars tv show on ABC Family and let me tell you this I have been absolutly in love with the show since the first episode. So I was pretty excited to read the first book of the series.

Pretty Little Liars is about the five best of friends Hanna, Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Alison. Alison, who was the most popular girl in school mysteriously disappears in the summer between 7th and 8th grade, because of this the girls fall apart. The girls friendship was held together by one common secret. Each have there own juicy secret. Each of them think no one knows about these secrets untill they start getting notes, emails, and texts from someone named “A.” They are afraid that Alison is back, but after they find her body they are still getting the messages.

Let me say this now the storylines that I like the most have to be Aria’s and Spencer’s because they have the best secrets that kept me wanting more. I have to admit some of the chapters where a little boring for me just because nothing really happened that really caught my attention. But all in all it as a great book.

I totally recommend this book to any Pretty Little Liars (tv show) fans bacause this book is 10x better than the show. I also recommend this to anyone looking for a great page-turner.

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Review was written by Jaci, my daughter.  This is her first review..pretty good, huh?  Jaci is in Junior High, a A average student, and a member of the Cheerleading Squad.  She enjoys reading, listening to music, and sketching clothes.  She hopes to become a UT Alumni, and be a fashion designer. 

Blogger Hop

Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books.  Head on over there and join the hop.

Tell us your NAME and WHY YOU STARTED BLOGGING

My name is Melissa, and I've been blogging for about 14 mths (give or take a month).  I actually started a book blog years ago when I had aol using AOL journal, but if I remember correctly I think I only posted like twice..lol!  Then after that I started another one about 2 and half  years ago, and that didn't work out either, though I did alittle better I probably posted about 4 times.  Third times a charm, Coffee Books and Laundry was going to be my last attempt at really, really trying to do a book blog.  I did it, I did it. *cue Dora music*   I wanted to do a book blog to keep tabs of the books i've read, I had no idea of the blog community out there.  I think that's why i've kept up with it, I love belonging to a community of book lovers.  I feel like I've found my people. It's been fun, and at times time consuming, but totally worth it. 

I love discovering new book blogs, and I look forward to following ya'll.  (I sound like a stalker) LOL!

Have a great weekend!

**I accidentally linked three times on the linky.  My computer was making trouble.  Didn't mean to come off pushy ;)**

Friend is Not A Verb by Daniel Ehrenhaft

Friend is Not A Verb

Author:  Daniel Ehrenhaft

Publisher:  HarperTeen

Publish Date:  May 1st 2010

From Goodreads:

From the author of the Edgar Award–winning The Wessex Papers comes a hilariously offbeat novel about Henry “Hen” Birnbaum, a teenage boy who dreams of becoming a rock star despite a minor setback, namely: his girlfriend just dumped him and kicked him out of their band. Now his social life consists of night after night of VH1 marathons with his best friend and next-door neighbor, the neurotic Emma Wood.

Then there’s the matter of Sarah, his sister, who mysteriously disappeared for a whole year and just as mysteriously returned. As the story unfolds, the reasons for her disappearance seem more unbelievable than Henry ever could have imagined. Maybe rock god status isn’t too farfetched for Henry. After all, crazier things have happened.

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Friend is Not A Verb caught me by surprise, it was way better than I had anticipated. 

 

Henry is a fantastic character.  He's urban, funny, and just all around great.  His teenage angst is causing rock star fantasies, which I found amusing.  I enjoyed the way the author had Henry imagining background snippets of his life via a imaginary Behind the Music episode. Sarah, Henry's sister really is a enigma throughout the whole book.  You do begin to see some things clearly toward the ending of the book, but I still didn't quite get her.  Emma, the best friend is witty, and fun.  Henry and Emma had a great relationship, and I loved reading their interactions. 

 

I didn't quite enjoy the whole disappearance of Sarah part of the book.  It seemed silly, but I still loved this book, because I could spend hours reading about Henry, and his mundane life.  If Friend is Not A Verb was made into a movie it would definitely be a indie.  It has that independent film vibe. 

 

Friend is Not A Verb is a book I recommend.  It's a great, fast read with some great characters.

 

 

Book received from Around the World Tours