In My Mailbox July 6-11

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren.

The Pursuit of Happyness – Chris Gardner (signed)

In this astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga, twenty-year-old Milwaukee native Chris Gardner arrives in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. Considered a prodigy in scientific research, he surprises everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance.

Yet no sooner has he landed an entry-level position at a prestigious firm, than Gardner is entangled in incredibly challenging circumstances leaving him and his toddler son homeless on the mean streets of San Francisco, never guessing that he would one day become a crown prince of Wall Street.

Mythic, triumphant, and unstintingly honest, The Pursuit of Happyness appeals to the very essence of the American Dream.

Second Skin – Jessica Wollman

Appearances can be deceiving. Sam Klein’s found that out firsthand. All she wanted was to be popular. But sometimes what we want is the absolute worst thing for us.

Sam discovers that Kylie, It-girl of Woodlawn High, owes her popular status not to her expensive clothes, highlighted hair, and spot on the cheerleading squad but to a magical second skin. Nobody can actually see it—but they can feel it. And if you’re wearing the skin, you feel incredible. Invincible. Popularity is yours.

So Sam stole the skin from Kylie. Now she’s the most popular girl at school, while Kylie’s social life takes a serious hit. Sam can barely recognize herself. Her old geek clique is history—but are her new friends really people she can count on? The skin is clinging tighter to her each day . . . can Sam get it off before it’s too late?

Chasing Boys – Karen Tayleur

An insightful coming-of-age novel for girls with no interest in being “Pretty in Pink”.

El Marini just isn’t fitting into the new life she’s been forced to create without her dad. Her mom and sister have accepted his absence and moved on, but El is convinced things will get back to normal if she just keeps her feelings of loss to herself and waits it out. Life at her new public school would have been unbearable if weren’t for Eric Callahan. As her crush grows to epic proportions, she’ll do anything to be more like the popular girls he notices, even buying the first pink top she’s ever owned. But then she meets Dylan, a quiet artistic-type who is both unnerving and annoying as he shines a light on El’s misguided attempts to attract Eric. El’s need for acceptance will hit home with teens as she finally sees that chasing boys has distracted her from making peace with the past and finding herself.

The Boyfriend Game – Stephie Davis

I rested the ball on my hip and walked back toward the equipment shed. In the dark.

Alone. With a boy.

I would be completely freaking out over varsity soccer tryouts if it weren’t for the new student, Graham, who’s helping me practice. He has the most amazing green eyes, curly brown hair, and perfect legs. Plus, we have lots in common, since all we both care about is soccer! Well, that’s all he cares about. But my heart beats so fast when we’re on the field together . . . and I don’t think it’s just from all the running around.

Sarah Dessen Novels

I have a confession to make. I have never read a Sarah Dessen novel. However, I would like to read one, but I’m not sure which, so would you like to help me by answering the poll? Thank you.

Pure – Terra Elan McVoy

Tabitha and her best friend Morgan got purity rings when they were twelve. The rings are a symbol of their virginity and friendship. In high school, they meet Priah, Cara, and Naeomi, who all have purity rings also. However, things change when one of the girls breaks her promise. Now, all the girls are taking sides, and friendships are close to collapsing. Tabitha takes the side of the girl who broke her promise, while Morgan chooses to ditch her. During this time, Tabitha also meets a boy named Jake, and they start dating. What does he think of the purity ring, and will the girls ever reconcile?

There are many things I liked about Pure, but there are also many flaws that I can’t ignore. To start with the good, Tabitha was an amazing character. Tabitha made intelligent decisions and handled the difficult situation well. An interesting thing about Tabitha is that her parents are not religious at all. In other words, Tabitha chose to be religious, rather than she was raised to be religious. I also thought that McVoy did a great job writing the religious aspects. I did not feel like she was too preachy at all. Priah, Cara, and Naeomi were likable character also. Another thing I liked was the setting. I live about an hour away from Atlanta, so it was fun reading about all the places and thinking, “Hey, I know where that’s at!”

Now for the bad, I felt that Jake was too good to be true. He’s a lacrosse player with lots of friends, is okay with purity rings, and cute. It just seems a bit unrealistic. I also did not see why Tabitha liked Morgan. McVoy wrote Morgan as the epitome of a Jesus Freak. Through the novel, Tabitha realizes how wrong Morgan is about a lot of things, but it seems like Tabitha should have realized this a long time ago. I mean, they’ve been friends for years! Another thing I disliked was the ending. It seemed like McVoy took the easy way out.

Despite the flaws, Pure is a decent book about friendship. If you’re into religion in books, I definitely suggest you give it a try.

Youtube Connection 6

Every Thursday, I will post a video that is somehow connected to a book I’ve read. I’ve also included a Mr. Linky widget at the bottom for anyone that’s interested in posting videos of their own.

This week’s book is Initiation by Susan Fine. In the book, Mauricio attends a private school and is surrounded by the elite. For this week’s video, I chose the first part of the first episode of NYC Prep, which is about rich kids in New York. As a note, it probably won’t be long until the video gets deleted (for copyright issues), so if you want to watch it, do it now.

I Love You, Beth Cooper – Larry Doyle

As class valedictorian, Denis Cooverman must give a speech during graduation. Instead of giving a typical speech, Denis decides to say the things he never said before. The most important of these is his feelings for Beth Cooper. While Denis is the captain of the debate team, Beth is head cheerleader and the most popular girl in school. The only reason Beth even knows Denis is because of their last names being so close together (Cooper, Cooverman). Not too mention, her boyfriend, Kevin, is in the Army and wants to beat Denis to a pulp. Following graduation, Denis has an unforgettable night and realizes what high school is really about.

I Love You, Beth Cooper was on my wishlist for at least year. When I heard it was being made into movie, I figured I should read it. I was not disappointed. I Love You Beth Cooper is a hilarious coming-of-age read. One of the weirdest things about this book is that is seems like it was written to be made into a movie. Maybe that’s because Doyle was a former TV editor. Another thing I like about the novel is that the antics were funny, yet believable. In some novels, antics can become too ridiculous, but not in this novel.

The characters in I Love You, Beth Cooper are very relatable. Most people will be able to find traits in each character that remind them of people they knew in high school. While I’m sure most people in high school will be able to enjoy this novel, I think people who graduated years ago will enjoy it more. I Love You, Beth Cooper just has a nostalgic factor about it. I’m pretty sure this novel is labeled as adult fiction, and if you are concerned about appropriateness, I think this book is suitable for teens 16 and older.

Below, I have the trailer for the movie, which will be released July 10th. I am usually slightly weary about movies based on books, but this movie actually looks good. Hopefully, I am not disappointed once I see it.

Blogger Award Idea

Before I officially launched this feature, I wanted to get advice from my readers. Any feedback or suggestions are greatly appreciated, so I hope you take the time to help me out.

Basically, every week or two (haven’t decided yet), I will present an award to a wonderful blogger. The blogger will also have the option to do a short interview or guest post on my blog that day.

Now, here is what I need help with. I can’t decide if I want to make the award personal or offer to create a header. If I do a customized header, than I will also give them a simple award. Two example awards I made are below to give you an idea.

Or maybe I should let the blogger choose if (s)he wants a personalized award or a header? Right now I think this will probably be the best option, but I hate that it’s not really standardized. It seems like I would be asking the blogger too much to choose from. I don’t know, what would you rather have?

P.S. I do plan on coming up with a better name for the award also.

In My Mailbox June 29 – July 4

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Eyes Like Stars – Lisa Mantchev (ARC)
All her world’s a stage.

Bertie Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater. She’s not an orphan, but she has no parents. She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own. That is, until now.

Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the actors of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book—an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family—and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.

The Summer I Turned Pretty – Jenny Han
Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer — they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Upcoming Books – July

Here are the July releases that I am looking forward to. Each book cover is linked to the Amazon page.

Wishlist

Already Received

Youtube Connection 5

Every Thursday, I will post a youtube video that is somehow connected to a book I’ve read. This week, I’ve also added a Mr. Linky for anyone that would like to participate! I would love to see your book/video connections, and I’m sure many others would like to also.

This week’s book is Pure by Terra Elan McVoy. At first, I tried finding videos about purity rings, but all I could find were teen stars and their purity rings. Instead, I decided to pick a song. In the novel, Tabitha mentions that she likes Death Cab for Cutie, so I chose one of my favorite Death Cab songs. Enjoy!

Cold Skin – Steven Herrick

Burruga is a small mining town located in Australia. The most exciting thing that happens are the fights at the local pubs. That is, until a local girl, Colleen, is found murdered. Now, among the townspeople there lives a murderer. The question is who? Could it be Albert Holding, a man who refuses to go to the mine? Or maybe the murderer was one of his sons, Eddie or Larry? Perhaps the murderer is Mr. Butcher, who mysteriously disappears every weekend. Or what about Mayor Paley, who loves talking about his victory. Then again, no one else wanted the position of mayor.

Cold Skin is a story told in verse. This helps create an intense atmosphere that goes perfect with the storyline. Another thing to know about Cold Skin is that there are about 8-10 different point of views. Each point of view was about a short 1-2 pages. For a book that’s less than 300 pages, that can seem like too much in a little amount of space, but Herrick effectively incorporated them in the book. The many point of views helps readers get an idea of what Burruga and its people are like. Herrick did a great job creating Burruga. Not only is Burruga a realistic town, but it’s also distinctive which really sets it apart from other fictional towns.

The different point of views also meant that guessing the murderer was hard. Once the murderer was revealed, I was shocked! I was not really shocked at who the murderer was, but rather how the murderer was caught and who caught him/her.  While overall, the many point of views and the verse worked effectively, there were a few problems. Following the different point of views could be confusing. Several times I had to go back and remember exactly who was who. Because of the verse, several parts of the book have to read slowly and carefully. Otherwise, readers will miss important details. Having said that the pros of using different point of views and verse greatly exceeded the cons.