Waiting on Wednesday - Between

 Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Between
by Jessica Warman
Published by Walker Children's
Publication Date: August 2, 2011








Elizabeth Valchar--pretty, popular, and rich--wakes up the morning after her eighteenth birthday on the yacht where she'd been celebrating with her closest friends. A persistent thumping noise has roused her. When she goes to investigate, she finds her own drowned body is hitting the side of the boat. Liz is dead.

She has no memory of what happened to her, and can only observe in horror the fallout of her death. She's also soon joined by Alex Berg, a quiet boy from her high school who was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The two keep each other company, floating in and out of memories and trying to piece together the details of what happened to each of them.

In her regular life, Liz was a runner. It wasn't abnormal for her to run 8-10 miles per day. But as memories from closer to her death begin to surface, Liz finds that she'd been running much more than normal, and that she'd all but stopped eating. Liz's mother, who died when Liz was nine, had battled with anorexia as well, and those around her worried Liz was following in her mother's footsteps. But something more sinister was consuming Liz from the inside out. . . . (from Goodreads)


I didn't plan to do a Waiting on Wednesday this week, obviously if I am posting so late in the evening,  but I just found out about this book and want to share with everyone. I've been drawn to Warman's books. They all sound so good and yet I still have not read any of them.

Once Upon a Read-a-thon - Starting Post

After a week of family events and a wedding, not much blogging and just a little bit of reading, I am ready to start the Once Upon a Read-a-thon. I don't want to say how many books I will read or which books I will be reading before I start them because I don't want to set myself up for failure. Although, I do know I will be finishing After the Kiss by Terra Elan McVoy. But after that, who knows. Plus I will be traveling a good portion of the time and lose 3 hours of reading time due to a time change. Booo.  I'll be checking in periodically by Twitter at @ActinUpwb Ok enough babbling, let the reading begin!

In My Mailbox (39)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme run by Kristi at The Story Siren which explores the books that have been delivered to our mailbox or doorstep or directly into our hot little hands.

 

Purchased:

The End of Everything by Megan Abbott

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

But I Love Him by Amanda Grace (e-book)

More vacation souvenirs. I love visiting book stores on vacation. This week I visited Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego and picked up The End of Everything and Imaginary Girls. I can't wait to see what books everyone else got this week!

Love My Indie with author Ashley Hope Perez

Love My Indie is a feature where fellow bloggers, readers, and authors tell me about their favorite independent bookstores. I love the feeling I get when I go into an independent bookstore - like it is filled with hidden treasures just waiting for me to find them. Maybe one day I will have the chance to visit these amazing bookstores.

Showing some Indie Love today is:

Ashley Hope Perez, author of What Can't Wait

Bloomington, Indiana, is home to a number of lovely independent bookstores, but if I could shrink one down, hide it in my pocket, and then reconstitute wherever my family and I next settle, it would be Boxcar Books, hands down.

Boxcar is exceptional because it’s a volunteer-run, not-for-profit store that uses proceeds to fund community outreach and a Pages to Prisoners program. (Read their mission statement and history here.)  


I love cruising over to Boxcar for poetry readings, and I hear that their writing workshops are stellar. They even host a program that provides free writing consultation to senior citizens and community members interested in writing memoirs. But Boxcar won my heart forever by hosting the Bloomington book launch party for my debut YA novel, What Can’t Wait. (Psst! Read Joli’s review here .)

In addition to a sweet collection of books, Boxcar has all sorts of zines and other quirky finds. Even the bathroom is full of interesting reading material, but don’t even think about taking a dump in there! The bathroom is plastered with clever posters prohibiting that particular activity due to some delicate plumbing.

If you’re in Bloomington, don’t miss Boxcar Books. Your coolness quotient will go up the minute you step through the doors of this awesome store. 

Thanks Ashley for stopping by Actin' Up with Books for sharing your favorite independent bookstore and um, the interesting note about their plumbing.


If you're interested in participating in this feature, please send me an email at actinupwb@gmail.com - I'd love to hear from you and discover your favorite indie bookstore! 

Waiting on Wednesday: Small Town Sinners

 Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:







Small Town Sinners
by Melissa C. Walker
Published by Bloomsbury
Publish Date: July 19, 2011








Lacey Anne Byer is a perennial good girl and lifelong member of the House of Enlightenment, the Evangelical church in her small town. With her driver's license in hand and the chance to try out for a lead role in Hell House, her church's annual haunted house of sin, Lacey's junior year is looking promising. But when a cute new stranger comes to town, something begins to stir inside her. Ty Davis doesn't know the sweet, shy Lacey Anne Byer everyone else does. With Ty, Lacey could reinvent herself. As her feelings for Ty make Lacey test her boundaries, events surrounding Hell House make her question her religion. (from Amazon.com)

I've yet to read any of Melissa Walker's books, but this one sounds really good. Coming from a small town myself I'm sure that will be something about it I can relate too. I didn't realize Small Town Sinners was coming out soon. Just TWO weeks - I won't have to wait too long!

In My Mailbox (38)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme run by Kristi at The Story Siren which explores the books that have been delivered to our mailbox or doorstep or directly into our hot little hands.

 Purchased:

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma (e-book)

Library:

The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer

Giveaways:

ttfl by Lauren Myracle

l8t, g8r by Lauren Myracle

Thanks Emily! (Red House Books)

Used (but in a Good Way):

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Purge by Sarah Darer Littman

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowen Boys by Kate Brian

I didn't plan to get this many books this week. Seriously. But last night my mom wanted to go to met a the local used book store before dinner, and I'm a sucker, so I did. Someone must've known I was coming because there was a huge selection of YA titles there (which is a rarity). Yay for me - I was able to pick up a few books for Random Acts of Kindness hosted by Book Soulmates and I got a few for myself. A couple weeks ago I bought the e-book of The Summer I Turned Pretty and I loved so much I regretted not having a copy to loan to friends. But NOW I DO!! Yay for me and it was only $1. 

I also got a couple of Lauren Myracle's books for Emily at Red House Books. She was cleaning off her shelves and giving away some books. The books sound fun (they may be a bit young but whatever) I'm just happy that she shared them. I plan to do something similar in the coming weeks.

I hope that I can get to all of these books soon. I'm trying to not let too many sit on my shelf for long. Happy Reading!

Love My Indie - Vacation Edition

Love My Indie is a feature where fellow bloggers, readers, and authors tell me about their favorite independent bookstores. I love the feeling I get when I go into an independent bookstore - like it is filled with hidden treasures just waiting for me to find them. 

This week I wanted to share a treasure of a bookstore that I found while on vacation:

Literary Bookpost

I found out about Literary Bookpost last week while vacationing with my family on Lake Norman in North Carolina. While taking a break from swimming and riding jet skis, I visited some of my favorite blogs and book sites. I was checking Random Buzzers and they had new listings of author events. When I saw the book launch in Salisbury, NC for Jenny Hubbard's Paper Covers Rock, I was thrilled because this was a book from on my wish list and thought it would be pretty cool to go. I wasn't sure how close we were to Salisbury but after a quick Map Quest search, I saw that we were less than 45 minutes away. Too cool. What wasn't so cool was realizing that the book launch was that day. We already had plans that night, so I would have to miss it, but I made sure to visit at some point during my vacation.

On Saturday, my husband and I headed out for a little book buying adventure. Literary Bookpost is perfectly located among other independently owned businesses on S. Main Street in downtown Salisbury.

As soon as we walked in we saw the display for the Paper Covers Rock book launch just a few days earlier. It had hoped to purchase a signed copy but wanted to take my time to look around and see all that Literary Bookpost had to offer.  I loved to see so many other readers checking out the shelves so early on a Saturday morning. Several people were milling about or talking with the book sellers like they were great friends. I immediately felt that this place was just as comfortable as being in their own home.

After scoping out the  offered, I headed to my favorite section of any bookstore - the young adult section. Located on the lower-level, the children and teen section was spacious and colorful. An inviting place, that would encourage any reader to pick up a book and stay and read for a while.

I was excited to see so many young adult books that I couldn't find at my local chain bookstores. It was easy to see that a lot of effort was put into selecting some lesser known titles that are deserving of readers attention. This is definitely my kind of bookstore.

While I was there, I met bookseller Daphne. We talked about books and a told her a little bit about my blog (I'm still a bit shy talking about it) and how I found out about Literary Bookpost and what initially brought me there - Jenny Hubbard's Paper Covers Rock. I didn't see any copies on the shelves and she told me that they completely sold out the night of the launch and that turnout was greater than they had ever imagined. I was a little bummed, but I was happy to know that it was a huge success.

I could have stayed and talked books all day with Daphne (she was just that nice), but I could tell my husband was ready to get back to the lake, so I picked out a couple of books Displacement by Thalia Chaltas (which was on my wish list) and Divergent by Veronica Roth. I hadn't considered reading this book before,  but I purchased it solely on Daphne's recommendation. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and will be going there again on my next vacation to Lake Norman and maybe even before then. You can check out Literary Bookpost online at http://www.literarybookpost.com/ They offer online shopping as well as Google e-books (another great way to support independent bookstores).
Please read their Mission Statement to learn more about this amazing bookstore.

If you're interested in participating in this feature, please send me an email at actinupwb@gmail.com - I'd love to hear from you and discover your favorite indie bookstore!