Mini-Reviews: THE REBOUND, THE IDEA OF YOU, and MY OXFORD YEAR

A collection of mini-reviews, quick thoughts, and books worth mentioning. Check them out!

THE REBOUND by J.R. Rogue
Publication Date: June 13, 2019

Pages: 254

Source: Kindle Unlimited | Purchased

Rating: 4.5 of 5

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

I've read some pretty incredible books this summer and I've just added THE REBOUND to the list. It's one of those books that kept me reading through the night. I was surprised that it wasn't as scandelous as I'd anticipated. I loved the age-gap storyline of the musician and his muse.

I've read several of Rogue's poetry books and while I have a couple of her novels, this is the first one I've read. Reading the novel felt like reading her poetry. Her style translates well - it's fluid and mesmerizing. As I read THE REBOUND, I kept thinking: I want to write a book like this. One that is touching and telling and giving the reader just enough at the right time to evoke an emotional response.

It's so good! I definitely recommend it.

THE IDEA OF YOU by Robinne Lee

Publication Date: June 13, 2017
Pages: 372
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5 of 5
Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

I can't believe this book has captured me so completely. I started it late in the night and after waking up at 3:00 in the morning, I couldn't stop reading it until I finished.

What I thought would be just a fun escape - a summer read with the older woman/younger man trope. I didn't expect this overwhelming story of love and all of the life lived in this story.

I loved it. An instant favorite with a permanent place on my bookshelf.

MY OXFORD YEAR by Julia Whelan

Publication Date: April 24, 2018

Pages: 352

Source: Purchased

Rating: 5 of 5

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

I really needed to read this book at this time in my life. It's funny how that can happen sometimes with a book. It was as though this book just called to me like "You've had me for a while and you keep passing me over. Now is the time." I didn't read the book summary, so I didn't really know what I was getting into when I started it. I finished it in early August and just thinking about it still leaves me breathless.  It entertained me and helped me get through some tough moments. It's still doing that. I love it.

Guest Post with TRANSCENDENT Author Katelyn Detweiler

Today I am hosting author Katelyn Detweiler at Actin' Up with Books. Katelyn is the author of IMMACULATE and the recently published TRANSCENDENT. When I host authors, I love asking them to share books that made them fall in love with reading and writing.  I'm always fascinated by the variety of books that open up their world.

Welcome Katelyn!

FIVE BOOKS THAT MADE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH READING

PIPPI LONGSTOCKING by Astrid Lindgren

Who couldn’t love Pippi?! She was weird and wonderful and fun and loving. She made it feel cool and okay to be totally quirky. Pippi walked to her own beat, always. Every book with her was a grand new adventure.

SWEET VALLEY TWINS by Francine Pasal

My very best friends growing up were twins, and I was obsessed with the idea of being a twin, too—I would wish for one every night before bed.  That wish never came true, sadly, but reading about Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield was the next best thing. I was totally an Elizabeth, though I secretly wanted to be more of a Jessica.

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Anne Shirley will forever hold a dear, dear place in my heart. Of all the many literary characters I’ve met, Anne is the one I would most want as a best friend. Life would never be boring with her at your side. Her whimsy, her bravery, her big heart –Anne is the girl you want in your corner, always.

MANDY by Julie Andrews

I read this book over and over (and over) again. For those who don’t know, Mandy was a lonely orphan who stumbled across a secret cottage in the woods that she claims as her own. This idea of a secret place, a secret garden, was so magical to me. I felt like I was right there in that garden. It was my happy place, too.

THE SECRET GARDEN by  Frances Hodgson Burnett

Based on these last three picks, I clearly have a soft spot for orphan stories. And gardens. It’s hard to say what I loved more, the book or the spectacular 1993 movie edition. I loved how Mary turned a nightmare new world into a beautiful dream life with friends and family. Ah, makes me weepy just thinking about it!

TRANSCENDENT

by Katelyn Detweiler

Published October 4, 2016

Viking Books for Young Readers

ABOUT TRANSCENDENT

A beautiful work of magical realism, a story about a girl in the real world who is called upon to be a hero.
 
When terrorists bomb Disney World, seventeen-year-old Iris Spero is as horrified as anyone else. Then a stranger shows up on her stoop in Brooklyn, revealing a secret about the mysterious circumstances surrounding Iris’s birth, and throwing her entire identity into question. Everything she thought she knew about her parents, and about herself, is a lie. 
 
Suddenly, the press is confronting Iris with the wild notion that she might be “special.” More than just special: she could be the miracle the world now so desperately needs. Families all across the grieving nation are pinning their hopes on Iris like she is some kind of saint or savior. She’s no longer sure whom she can trust—except for Zane, a homeless boy who long ago abandoned any kind of hope. She knows she can’t possibly be the glorified person everyone wants her to be… but she also can’t go back to being safe and anonymous. When nobody knows her but they all want a piece of her, who is Iris Spero now? And how can she—one teenage girl—possibly heal a broken world?

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PRAISE FOR TRANSCENDENT

“An inspirational story about finding the strength to believe in oneself.” —School Library Journal

"The chilling plausibility of the actions and reactions of an America dealing with the murders of thousands of children... A fascinating answer to the '…but then what?' that lingers at the end of Immaculate." —Kirkus

“Transcendent is a beautiful and lovingly-written book about the power of hope. You’ll lose yourself in its pages. And when you emerge, you will see the miracles that surround you, and the ones you can create.”—Francisco X. Stork, author of The Memory of Light
"This uplifting book begins with a terrible tragedy and ends with a blessing. After Detweiler gracefully eases the reader into her astonishing “What if?” she explores the life-affirming power of hope and the soul-healing nature of forgiveness."—Todd Strasser, author of Give a Boy a Gun
"Iris's tale is one of faith, courage, and connection. But the miracle in Transcendent isn't just the miracle of Iris's birth. It's the everyday miracles we are all capable of performing—love, compassion, understanding. Ultimately it's a story about the miracle of humanity."—Jennifer Brown, author of Hate List

The Books along my Literary Path by Selene Castrovilla (Part 2): Guest Post and Giveaway

Back in November, I hosted Selene Castrovilla during her blog tour for MELT. She shared the books that made her fall in love with reading and writing. Selene had so much to say that I wanted to have her visit Actin' Up with Books for a second time.

Welcome Selene!!!

Hello again!

Previously I shared my evolution in reading as I grew up – from whodunits to Shakespeare.

But there’s one book I left out, because it was so paramount in my development not only as a writer but as a person, that I needed a whole other post to explain why it was (and is) so important to me. In fact, I paid homage to it in MELT, making it the book Dorothy gives Joey for his birthday.

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.”  ― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

The book that changed – and saved – my life was The Catcher in the Rye. Ironically, I read it in sixth grade because Parker Stevenson (who played Frank Hardy on TV) told Tiger Beat Magazine that it was his favorite book. I really didn’t understand all the implications, but I identified with Holden Caulfield. I read it again a couple of years later, for a class. And I loved it even more.

“Then [old Lillian] introduced me to [her date,] the Navy guy. His name was Commander Blop or 
something. He was one of those guys that think they’re being a pansy if they don’t break around forty of your fingers when they shake hands with you.”

–Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye 

There’s so much humor in this passage, but there’s even more truth. Think about how much you learn about the Navy guy in this simple narrative: you can see him, even though he hasn’t been fully described. 

Think about what you learn about Holden.

This book is my bible for characterization. 

The entire scene with Commander Blop is priceless – my favorite in the book, because it says so much with so little. He and the commander say it was nice to meet each other, even though it wasn’t really. Holden then says:

“I am always saying "Glad to've met you" to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though.” 

― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Consider what Holden’s fantasy career is, being the catcher in the rye. That says it all: that he wants to save kids from falling off the cliff. And of course he’s begging for someone to save him. That’s what I wanted too. 

“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.” 

― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

In a way, I think I’m the catcher in the rye – stopping kids from falling with my words. Letting them know they’re not alone. Maybe that was J.D. Salinger’s intention when he wrote this book. Certainly, he was my catcher. 

Holden’s grief over his dead brother Allie affected me so much – and it was one of two inspirations for The Girl Next Door. (I wrote about this extensively during my GND blog tour, so I won’t do it again.) But I will give you one quote about Allie:

“The thing was, I couldn't think of a room or a house or anything to describe the way Stradlater said he had to have. I'm not too crazy about describing rooms and houses anyway. So what I did, I wrote about my brother Allie's baseball mitt. It was a very descriptive subject. It really was. My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder's mitt. He was left-handed. The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green ink. He wrote them on it so that he'd have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat. He's dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You'd have liked him...God, he was a nice kid, though. He used to laugh so hard at something he thought of at the dinner table that he just about fell off his chair.”

I cry when I read about Allie, every time. I feel Holden’s grief. 

And here’s one more quote, when Holden is thinking about Allie all alone in the cemetery:

“When you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.”

I could quote this book for hours. It’s the best YA novel ever, in my opinion, even though there were no such things as YA novels when it was written. I’m not sure if labeling books with teen protagonists has done anything for literature. I know it’s created a market for books churned out for teens – but I feel like literature itself has suffered. Because anyone can  – and should – read a brilliant book, whether they’re in the same age as the character or not. I mean, how limiting is a label?

But that’s a blog post for another time.

Thanks for having me again, Joli! And thanks for reading this, everyone!

GIVEAWAY

 Kindle e-book of MELT by Selene Castrovilla

Must by 16 years and older to enter

Winner must be able to accept e-book via Kindle (US)

3 Winners!

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Publication Date: November 6, 2014

Published by Last Syllable Books

Pages: 328

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FAVORITES GIVEAWAY HOP

When I signed up to participate in the Favorites Giveaway Hop, hosted by StuckInBooks, I knew exactly which books I wanted to offer for the giveaway.

In the past few years, I have come to love the books by Heidi McLaughlin. From the moment I started reading Forever My Girl, I knew that I'd stumbled on to something really special. My fondness for the characters has grown from book to book. My love for her writing is not limited to the Beaumont Series. She grabbed a hold of my heart with the unconventional love story of Ryan and Hadley in Lost in You. This was the first paperback book that I purchased. Heidi has given her readers many characters to connect with and stories that are moving, inspirational, dramatic, and romantic. 

I have multiple copies of these books. My signed copies. Extra copies to loan to friends to read. I have all of the e-books and most of the audiobooks that are available. When I'm looking for a book to reread, I gravitate to these books for the characters and their stories. She is a favorite "Go-To" author and I love sharing these books with readers any chance I can get.

To find out just how awesome these books are and why I love them, you can check out my reviews which are linked here:

Forever My Girl

My Unexpected Forever

Finding My Forever

Finding My Way

Reviews for 12 Days of Forever, Lost In You, and Here with Me (to be written)

For this giveaway I am giving away one paperback of one of Heidi's books that are currently available in print - winner's choice.

 THE BEAUMONT SERIES

THE ARCHER BROTHERS SERIES

LOST IN YOU 

 GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Must be 18 Years or Older to Enter

U.S. Addresses Only

Enter by Rafflecopter Below

Winner will have 48 hours to respond to claim prize

If I cannot verify an entry, that entry will not count.

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Jennifer Echols Week: My Favorite Jennifer Echols Book

In honor of the July 16th release of Jennifer Echols's Dirty Little Secret, Katelyn of Kate's Tales of Books and Bands wanted to share her love for all of her books and declared this week Jennifer Echols Week. Katelyn then asked other bloggers to join in to share the love and I immediately had to sign up. I think Jennifer Echols is an entertaining author with her mix of romantic comedies, romantic dramas, and now her adult contemporaries.

To kick off Jennifer Echols Week, I'm sharing my favorite Echols book: 

 Endless Summer

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This version includes both The Boys Next Door and Endless Summer. It is the first book by Echols that I read and it is still my all-time favorite and the one that I recommend the most. I think that I loved it so much because it brought back so many memories of spending the summer on the lake with my friends and it reminded me of what it felt like to be a teenager.   

It's a fun summer romance that made me all giddy and the hilarious hi jinx kept me in stitches. And the love triangle between Lori, Adam, and Sean kept the pages turning. I fell in love with Adam and in 2010 declared him one of my Top Ten Fictional Crushes.

In Endless Summer, the characters spend a lot of time wake boarding and after reading it, I decided I had to try it. The characters made it seem easy, but I discovered it is not. I attribute that to the fact that I was attempting to wake board in the bay and not a lake. I think that is another major reason why I like Endless Summer as much as I do - it convinced me to step out of my way too comfortable comfort zone and try something that I was scared to attempt. I might not have been successful, but I felt adventurous.

* * * * * * * * * *

Below is a list of all of the other participating blogs in Jennifer Echols Week. I'm excited to check them out and discover what they love so much about her stories and her characters and how they connected with her books.

Reading Wishes  

Actin' Up with Books that's me!!

Sash and Em: A Tale of Two Bookies

Jessie Marie Reads

Gone with the Words

Ex Libris

GReads!

Fiction Folio

Rather Be Reading

WhoRUBlog

Jenuine Cupcakes

Allodoxophobia

Waiting for Wentworth

Dana Square

Tabitha's Book Blog

Writers write, right?

The Book Cellar

YA bibliophile

Turning Pages

Jany's Book Blog

Helena's Book Obsession

Alexa Loves Books

Bookish Musings

Itching for Books

Nightly Reading

Living Fictiously