The MacGregor Grooms by Nora Roberts

What it's about: What is any romance about? Hot guys and their future ladyloves. In this case, four grandsons to Daniel MacGregor, a wily, undercover matchmaking billionaire. He sets his family members up like pawns and then pretends he had nothing to do with it. Every young relative of his is positive they will be able to find someone on their own and every one of them, SURPRISE! is totally wrong. 

Why I think she'll like it: Everyone knows that Nora Roberts is the queen of contemporary romance. Maggie and I have pretty similar tastes in romance books, mostly in one of our favorites, Susan Elizabeth Phillips but she's never read any Nora Roberts. I know, right? Get real, Maggie. She says she,  "doesn't know where to start." I lose sleep wracking my mind to figure out which Nora is the best to start with. My first Nora Roberts book was The Villa during my freshman year of college and it certainly got me hooked. However, this one is one of my all-time favorites. I'm curious whether the four shorter-length stories will appeal to someone who has not read lots of Roberts romances before. One of the stories is a particular favorite of mine: A formerly dowdy girl gives herself a makeover and takes over her family's bookstore. She is thrown together with a hotshot JFK Jr. type when he asks her to help him design his new library. Sa-woon. 

White Cat (Curse Workers, #1) by Holly Black, narrated by Jesse Eisenberg

What it's about:  White Cat is the first in a series that is basically YA urban fantasy. Some people are able to work magic with their hands in various ways so everyone is required to wear gloves. Cassel, the protagonist, comes from a mafia-like family of curse workers, though he himself is a normal human--or is he? His relatives can change memories, kill people, or play on the emotions of others with just a touch. A few years back, Cassel killed his best friend Lila and now he is sleepwalking and having all sorts of weird dreams. 

Why I think she'll like it: Maggie recently has become addicted to audiobooks and this series is one of the best in that format. Jesse Eisenberg narrates and is absolutely perfect as Cassel. I read the last book in the series and really regretted not finishing it off as an audiobook. I am positive Maggie will enjoy this series if she gives it a chance. Neither one of us has read anything else by Holly Black. (I don't really like fairies. I just asked Maggie if she liked fairies and she said, "You mean in stories?" (You know, because there are tons of fairies around in regular life.)  We are both fans of male-narrated YA stories and Cassel is clever and the friendships and relationships in this series are realistic. Nothing about this series annoys me and that is reason enough to recommend it to Maggie. Listen to it. Do it. 

The Verdict: Clap if you believe in fairies, MUGGLE. Urban fantasy has been hit-or-miss for me, but White Cat sounds a bit like Misfits, which I LOVE, so I'm definitely interested. Also, yay for audiobooks. Read to me, Zuckerberg.

I want to start The MacGregor Grooms right now! The matchmaking grandpa already sounds like he'd be in my "old people can be so sweet" hall of fame. And a JFK Jr type? Be still my heart. Someone tell Taylor Swift about this book.

My Most Excellent Year is the only one I'm slightly nervous about because I loathe baseball with a passion usually reserved for telemarketers and child molesters. What kind of sport has athletes that are out of shape? And lasts indefinitely?? (Answer: Not basketball.) However, I do love Mary Poppins. I'm curious to see if my Disney love can overpower my baseball hate. 

I love that Flann picked books that weren't already on my to read list. Can't wait to start! No, seriously. Give me your Kindle with MacGregor Grooms. NOW! :)

The Life and Times of Gracie Faltrain by Cath Crowley

What it's about: Soccer superstar Gracie Faltrain is the only girl on the boys team. She's as unapologetic off the field as she is on, though not quite as skilled. She's trying to navigate high school without her best friend (who's moving to London) and her father (who's traveling on business). Just as she thinks she's about to get the boy and everything else, her tongue gets her into trouble. Literally. Can she learn from mistakes? One thing is for sure, Gracie won't be staying on the sidelines.

Why I think she'll like it: It's Cath Crowley's debut -- from whence she came! This is my favorite non-dystopian YA series (sorry, Ruby Oliver!) and cemented Cath Crowley as my spirit author. I would love for this to become a TV show a la Friday Night Lights (oh yes, I'm dropping an FNL comparison) because there's so much heart. Correction: full hearts. I loved the characters and seeing how they developed throughout the series. Since Flann loves both Graffiti Moon and A Little Wanting Song, I think she would love Gracie Faltrain. (Note: I would also recommend this to fans of Catherine Gilbert Murdock's Dairy Queen series.)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

What it's about: Adaptation meets the teen version of Larry and Leon from Curb Your Enthusiasm with a dash of Troy and Abed from Community. Plus cancer!

Why I think she'll like it: There aren't many people who would crack up at cancer. I think Flann is totally my kindred spirit in this. We've had two Netflix marathons and based on the 1:4 ratio of appropriate to inappropriate laughter and sheer number of  Arrested Development mentions, Flann is the target audience for this book. I absolutely loved this one and snort-laughed my way through it, as Jo and her old cat promised. 

Rescue Me by Rachel Gibson

What it's about: Sexy Sadie meets a SEAL. Hooyah.

Why I think she'll like it: Flannery and Maureen were directly responsible for my summer of SEP. I read 6 in a row and 11 altogether -- and only disliked 1. Once I get on a roll with an author, it's hard to switch styles. I tried reading a few romances after my SEP-a-thon, including an old favorite, but I just couldn't get into them. Until I read this Rachel Gibson book. Mother of God. Former Navy SEAL Vince Haven is as manly as Dan Calebow and as swoonworthy as Alexi Markov. It's also laugh out loud funny, which is a key element in SEP books. I think this is a romance Flannery's SEP-lovin' heart will be able to enjoy. 

The Verdict: I want to read all these books and I think I can knock them all out rather quickly. (whether I will actually do that remains to be seen) I am certain I will love Gracie Faltrain because Cath Crowley's writing is such a happy place for me. I'd love to say that I've been saving that series for a rainy day or a low point in my life but the honest truth is that I just have too many books that I am excited about. Two other reasons I think I will like/love it are that I played soccer for most of my life and I also love stories about girls breaking boundaries. As for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, I trust Maggie to know my sense of humor. If she thinks it is funny, I'm almost positive I will feel the same. I am not above laughing about illness. You have to have a sense of humor about most things, or life would overwhelm you with sadness at points. That book also has one of my favorite covers from the past year or two. I've been meaning to give Rachel Gibson's books a try for a long time, mostly because I've seen her books recommended for fans of Susan Elizabeth Phillips and oo-eee, I love me some SEP. I've about finished her ouevre so I'm always looking for readalikes in the fun, sassy, contemporary romance genre. I can't figure out which one I want to start with but thanks for the wonderful picks, Maggie!

Here are two things you may or may not know about Noelle:

a)  She has excellent taste in music and
b)  She likes to create playlists for her favorite books.

So naturally, being a fellow music/book nerd hybrid, I asked Noelle to do something a little bit different with me for this version of She Made Me Do It.  We both love to ponder our favorite stories and then pair them up with songs, but could we do the opposite?  I’ve always wanted to try it, so I asked Noelle to give me a list of songs that she’d like book recommendations for.  She sent me an awesome playlist (which I’ve been listening to non-stop for the past two days) and from that list I selected the following three songs:

But I got completely sucked into this passage:

Is it in you now,
To bear to hear the truth that you have spoken,
Twisted up by knaves
To make a trap for fools?

Is it in you now,
To watch the things you gave your life to broken
And stoop and build them up with worn out tools?

Which is why I picked this book as my first recommendation:

No and Me by Delphine de Vigan

What it's about: Lou is a thirteen year old prodigy who doesn’t fit in with her classmates, who are all two years older, or at home where her parents are both held by grief.  When she meets eighteen year old No, homeless and broken, she decides to interview her for a school project.  Lou comes to care for No, and despite all the objections of society, she wants to swoop in and rescue her.  No likewise wants to let Lou be her rescuer – but can simple wanting stand up to years of trauma and abandonment?

Why I think she'll like it: Honestly, the strongest reason I have for why Noelle might like this book is that Maggie liked it.  This pick is much more about the song. Both of the lyric passages above remind me of this book, which may be because I just finished it and can’t get it out of my head.  But still.  The first passage reminds me of Lou, throwing off her doubts and taking a chance.  And the second passage is basically what I’d like to ask No.  It’s an amazing book.  It’s a quiet, understated read that’s more about emotion and great writing than plot, which I’m not sure if Noelle appreciates but I had to add it to my list!

Night Beach by Kirsty Eagar

What it's about: This is a very surreal but visually stunning story about Abbie, who uses art to process her feelings and Kane, the bad boy surfer she’s obsessed with.  This book isn’t perfect, but it had a huge impact on me nonetheless.

Why I think she'll like it: Can it be true that my dear Noelle has not read a single book by Kirsty Eagar?  It is time to remedy that one.  I thought about picking the fantastic Raw Blue for this song, but I ultimately decided on this one.  Here is another thing you might not know about Noelle: she’s a brilliant artist.  I think she’ll really appreciate all of the surreal imagery and Abbie’s artistic journey.

The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle

What it's about: Feisty girl Kate is kidnapped by the Goblin King Marak – which turns out to be the traditional Goblin method of finding a suitable spouse.  She’s understandably reticent about the whole idea (and seriously pissed off) but she finds more than she bargained for in the Hollow Hill.

Why I think she'll like it: I know that Noelle loves fantasy and this book is sweet and comforting and so much fun.  I’m not sure if she’ll be into the whole Beauty and the Beast/kidnapping/Stockholm syndrome thing but we shall see!

The Verdict:
First off, I'm blushing because Catie is the nicest person in the world and secondly, leave it to the wonderful Catie to point out new amazing layers in one of my favorite songs. The Kipling poem connection is just genius and I never realized that before!  That might be a d'oh on my part but I like to think it's more because she's so awesome.  I had so much fun picking out songs and wondering which books Catie would choose and these selections definitely don't disappoint.  I'm excited and intrigued about all three recommendations.  I can't wait to start reading. 

I was beyond excited when Catie mentioned her idea for a Song-Inspired She Made Me Do It.  (Like I even need an excuse to bombard people with a playlist, right?)  Whenever I listen to my iPod, I mentally assign songs to certain books but I'd never tried to do it from the other way around.  When I saw Catie's list of songs she was looking to match with a book recommendation, one song stood out immediately.

Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick

What it's about: Amber Appleton has it pretty rough but she's not one to let things get her down.  Even though she's currently living with her mom on a school bus, Amber remains an irrepressible source of hope to every0ne around her--whether they want her to or not.  But then, something happens that threatens even Amber's unyielding optimism.  With her belief system shaken to its core, can Amber find a way to regain what makes her so special?

Why I matched it up with the song (and why I think she'll like it):  Just listen to Brittany's voice.  That's the voice of someone who has been through some shit, you know? And ooh boy, Amber Appleton has too.  At first, I was this close to going with All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield for this song (like how I sneak in two book recs for the price of one?) but upon further listening, this song is pure Amber.  The optimistic perseverance and the mention of a higher power made it a lock.  I think Catie will be another convert to the Amber Appleton Adoration Society.  Amber is like the Borg of Hope: resistance is futile.  (And yes, Maggie I just made a Star Trek joke--but you share a blog with me so hahahaha.)

I just chose one song-based recommendation for Catie (this time around!) but decided to go with two other She Made Me Do It Jeopardy categories with a Back to the Future and a Disco Chicken recommendation for my other choices.  Back to the Future is a feature Maggie and I do on our blog that involves either a) reading a YA book that was before our time or  b) one that we missed the first time around or c) wanted to reread as an adult and compare notes.  For Catie's Back to the Future rec I picked:

On Fortune's Wheel by Cynthia Voigt

What it's about: An innkeeper's daughter happens across a thief in the night stealing her father's boat and finds herself at an impasse.  You see, Birle is betrothed to a grade A asshole and her main prospects in life are subservience and soul sucking monotony.  What first is an instinct to reclaim her father's property becomes a chance to escape her unpromising future. When the thief turns out to have a secret identity (but of course) and a pair of oh so pretty eyes, Birle decides she wants to see this adventure through but on fortune's wheel adventures are followed by unimaginable hardships and you never know which one will come up next.

Why I think she'll like it: Honestly, this rec is based on my vague recollection of LOVING THE SHIT out of this when I was a barely-teen.  As soon as we started the Back to the Future feature on YAA, I knew I wanted to revisit this book with someone who had never read it before and I think Catie is the perfect person to give it a go.  I know Catie loves her fantasy and epic girl quests (as do I!) and if I remember right, Birle's transformation from innkeeper's daughter to a survivor /independent woman (basically your choice of Destiny's Child songs) was a great coming of age story.  Disclaimer: I haven't read this in...like, 18 years?  BUT.  That's all part of the fun.

And now, for my Disco Chicken book recommendation!  What, you may ask, is a Disco Chicken?  Well...click here.  A Disco Chicken book is one of pure fun, no regrets.  Disco Chicken doesn't want to get into deep thoughts, he just wants to dance!   Sure, you might not remember the details a year from now but you'll remember you had fun.  And that's why my third book recommendation for Catie is:

Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook

What it's about:  Oh yeah.  Drink that cover in.  Why yes, he took the precaution of protecting his forearms but thought it best to go shirtless in a sword fight.  It all makes perfect sense if you stare at his abs long enough.   (I guess we're just lucky that he wasn't wearing one of his beloved waistcoats and nothing else?) Basically: Ever since airship captain Yasmeen threw adventurer Archimedes Fox overboard, he's been smitten.  Why waste time plotting revenge when he can be plotting for her affection? When fate and some stolen documents throw them together again, he gets his chance all while searching for treasure, avoiding assassination attempts and inciting a rebellion.  You know, the usual.

Why I think she'll like it: Because it's straight up FUN.  Ignore the ridiculous cover! Heart of Steel is like a swashbuckling, steampunk Nick and Nora Charles action-adventure.  The two leads' relationship dynamic is so delightful.  This is the second book in the Iron Seas series but with the help of the author's guide (and a summary of the protagonists' brief history in book one from me), Catie should be able to jump right in.  Humor, action and adventure, some swoon for good measure and oh so much fun.  Catie...Disco Chicken is playing your song!  Don't you wanna dance? (Nanoagents optional!)

What do you think of everyone's picks? Which ones should we read? And how much do we all miss Tatiana?

If you'd like to follow Noelle and Maggie, you can find them in their natural habitat at their blog, Young Adult Anonymous, on Goodreads (Maggie and Noelle), and on Twitter. (Maggie, Noelle, and YAA)

Why don't we start with a couple of authors who made a mark this week?

Over at Read Now Sleep Later Alethea talks about YA Shame and Stigma in connection with some controversial and off-putting to us, YA readers, statements made by an author of a quite popular novel. Isaac Marion's zombie story Warm Bodies achieved success (including a movie deal) thanks to endorsements by influential YA writers like Stephenie Meyer and Maggie Stiefvater and was embraced by the YA-loving audience. Marion is very unhappy about this as he doesn't want to be associated with YA in any way, because, you know, eeew, YA cooties, and he is a serious writer with extensive vocabulary. What an exceptional way of acknowledging and appreciating the people who helped you make tons of money!

In UK, a spy writer Jon Stock unabashedly praises himself for properly handling an Amazon reviewer (naturally, the reviewer didn't leave a positive review) by seeking out her email address, having a conversation with her during which he "convinced" her to remove her negative comments and then writing a blog post in The Telegraph about it with adding her real name, place of work and quotes from their correspondence without her permission (via Vacuous Minx). Stock proudly named his blog post How I survived an online literary mauling. Also notable is this quote from his piece:

"Without wishing to sound like a serial killer, I track down all my hostile reviewers, sooner or later, particularly the anonymous ones."

How this is different from the actions of the infamous STGB site is hard to fathom.

Now, as if to add to the already wide-spread, multi-faceted author hysteria, Amazon introduces Author Rank feature which is apparently visible to the authors exclusively. The authors will, from now on, be able to compare themselves to their colleagues and freak out not only because of their GR ratings, but sales as well. 

We've talked about the "New Adult" category in the past, and here is another very informative article on the subject which poses a question - Whose “Failure” is New Adult? The article argues that the long-held notion that nobody will be buying books written in this category (and therefore agents don't buy and try to sell such books to editors) seems to be wrong as the majority of self-published bestsellers appear to fall into this exact category.

Another myth, this time the one that states that YA is dominated by female writers and male writers (and consequently male readers) are shoved aside, is possibly dispelled by Lady Business in this very scientific and very data-heavy study - Gender Balance in YA Award Winners since 2000.

In case you missed it, National Book Award announced its lists of finalists (YA included) this week. You can find samples of all finalists here. Sadly, we haven't read even one YA book on that list. And immediately Salon published an article stating that NBA got it wrong again and decrying lack of genre fiction among the finalists - National Book Awards: Genre fiction dissed again. Which is in itself a valid argument, if not applied by the author of the post to the books whose quality we find questionable and not necessarily award-worthy.

If you are a fan of genre fiction, specifically sci-fi and fantasy, you might enjoy this great deal - Humble eBook Bundle.  Eight ebooks of great quality (Paolo Bacigalupi, Lauren Beukes, Kelly Link, Cory Doctorow and others), DRM-free and YOU decide how much you pay for it and how much of it goes to charity and how much - to the authors.

This post reads like some sort of Anonymous meeting: "Hi, we're the bloggers at The Readventurer, and we are utter failures at reading challenges." Catie would be the person who smugly shows up to lead the group meeting, going on about how she has enough self-discipline to complete her goals. Flannery would be the person who sits in the circle, silent, hoping no one calls her name and finds out she is not doing what she's supposed to be doing, and Tatiana would be the realistic one to suggest we just scrap this month's meeting and watch a marathon of a TV show. But we recognize the problem and that's the first step to growth, right?

This edition of She Made Me Do It has been running for months now and we can't seem to finish it in our current reading moods, so we have to wrap it up.  We would like it to be said, though, that Karen is some sort of a reading goddess. Her Goodreads Reader's Advisory group can help ANYONE find what they are looking for in a book and she still rules Goodreads from atop her well-deserved throne. Karen, thanks for the amazing book recommendations!

i was very excited about all four books, and i am so glad to have been a part of this challenge!

some girls are

i liked this book a lot. catie knew i liked teen survival books, and she decided to throw me a curveball and twist my inclinations a little by giving me a book that was about survival, yes, but survival in the brutal social-caste systems of high school instead of a forest filled with zombies. although i still prefer the more traditional life-and-death situations that arise in actual survival stories, so i can pick up pointers just in case, i really enjoyed this story. "enjoyed" is a strange word to use for a book so filled with cruelty and horrific behavior, but it was a book i quickly became immersed in, and i probably wouldn't have read it without the push, so i am grateful.i have now read two books by this author, and am excited to read more.

the wednesday wars/okay for now

flannery seems to have wanted to find the warm gooey emotional center of me. both of these books are middle-grade real-life stories that focus on characters struggling with growing-up problems that in the hands of a less-talented writer, could have been very schmaltzy. but they were just good, wholesome stories that were satisfying and showed that it doesn't have to be all date-rape and love triangles and bullying to be compelling and tense. i liked okay for now a scootch more, but only because i think he was able to take the story and broaden it a little; it seemed to be a more mature work in both content and writing. again - i was aware of these books before, but i probably wouldn't have read them without the firm hand of flannery on my back!

like water for chocolate

tatiana knew i liked magical realism and food, and this book has both! i definitely loved the recipes included in here - yum- and i loved the structure of the novel, and it turns out it is a sweeping tragic romance, which is right up my alley! so a big score for this one. i am still not sure why this is considered a landmark of magical realism - it has more of a folktale/family chronicle feeling to it. magical things occur, yes, but not in the way that i typically think of them occurring in more traditional magical realism. but no matter, because i liked it, and i had never really considered reading it before, even though i knew it was well-regarded. i felt i had missed the boat on it, but tatiana shoved me aboard!

thank goodness for these ladies, really. call me anytime.

Tatiana:

I have never been as embarrassed and ashamed to write a post for The Readventurer as I am at this moment. The truth is, I've tried reading two of Karen's recommendations and ended up finishing none. I don't know if it would make her feel any better, but I've been in a wonky reading mood for months now. Barely anything appeals to me these days besides an occasional new release from a very familiar author or a comforting re-read. It's unfair of me to expect anyone to save me from this reading limbo, so, sorry, Karen, for putting in you this position. It's a tragic it's-not-you-karen-it's-me kind of reading situation.

The first book I tried was A Drama in Muslin. The comparison to Jane Austen's novels made me sure this
would be the winning choice for me, but alas, George Moore is much less entertaining than Austen, in my opinion. However, it is possible I simply didn't read enough of this novel to appreciate it.

The second attempt I can't even say I disliked. Lullabies for Little Criminals just a few months ago would have been a perfect fit for me, I am sure of it. Karen recommended this book to me as a response to my claim that I liked shocking and disturbing reads, which I do (or, rather, did). It's a dark, very dark novel, and, unfortunately, my body and mind currently reject dark books. If they didn't, I'd be reading J.K. Rowling's new filth-filled book right now and telling you all about it instead of listening to Entertainment Geekly and BBC's Great Lives podcasts and watching Fringe.

So, here was a story of my failure. I hope soon enough I will be able to escape my reading slump and finally get back to enjoying books. I miss it...

Catie:

Karen chose three spectacular picks for me and I ultimately want to read all of them.  So far, I've finished Serena by Ron Rash and it was a great choice for me - a very sinister and dark setting with an utterly ruthless heroine, who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.  Karen doesn't know this but I also picked up Winesburg, Ohio and read the first few pages.  I know that it will be something that I love, but I just wasn't in the right space for it then.  This is why I'm so horrible at book clubs/readalongs/challenges/scheduled reading of any sort.  It's like there are about twelve readers in my head at any given moment and I don't know who's going to show up when I start a book.  It could be Frank, who loves pirate adventures or Sally, who loves to cry or Ned who secretly loves romance.  It's a mixed bag.  And when I picked up Winesburg, Ohio it was like...oh, sorry Bob who loves subdued and depressing stories...but Sally just showed up and she's demanding that I read a frothy coming of age story right now.  You'll have to take a back seat.  But anyway, never fear!  Bob (and Winesburg, Ohio) will have their day.  For now, me and my twelve personalities would like to thank Karen so much for participating in this feature with us!

Flannery:

I think there was a fatal flaw in our design of this feature, so hear me out: Tatiana, Catie, and I speak through email pretty much daily. We talk about the books we start and give up on, which is probably three or four times as many as we finish. We talk about what's going on in our regular lives and what kind of moods we're in. Probably most importantly in this instance, we talk about what we've felt like reading. When Karen picked books for us, she did an amazing job. Honestly, there are very few people I know of who are more knowledgeable than her when it comes to books and right now, no one at all is coming to mind so maybe I should just say she is the most knowledgeable of all human beings with whom I am acquainted. Anyway, I was and am excited to read Karen's picks but I have only read three-fourths of one: The Sea Came In At Midnight by Steve Erickson. I was into it but at that point in time, I was mostly just listening to memoirs and couldn't concentrate on the loveliness of his writing. And it is lovely, for sure. Erickson wove together a few elements in even the beginning that had me wondering how he would sew it all together. A memory hotel where prostitutes can receive people's shared memories? The sole survivor of a mass cult suicide? A lonely man who hires a live-in girl to sleep with him but never speak to him? I have to admit that the last part felt a bit self-indulgent but not altogether unbelievable. Even while I write this, I am kicking myself for never finishing this book before it was due at the library. I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. Also, I think I might just buy a hard copy because there were several passages I wanted to underline, as I love reading about loneliness and existential crises. Karen was spot-on with that choice, and my fickle reading mood is the only thing that prevented me from finishing it.

As for the other two books, Karen got me so pumped that I bought George & Rue right away. I think my dreams want it to be an enthralling Shawshank-era mysterious crime thriller, even though I know it is factual. (or, rather, it is an imagining of a factual crime) Also, I think it might be the best choice for me of the three picks because it is 1. crime; 2. brutal; 3. written in dialect. The last one is the reason I didn't get into it straight off and also the reason I know I will like it when I do. Just read the reviews on Goodreads. The author is also a poet and there are reviews one after the next about how beautiful the writing is and how successful the dialect is. (and how raw the violence, is which I tend to love in a book) But when I look back at when the original post was published and what I'd been reading at the moment, I should've known I was doomed for failure. It is just all audiobooks and E.L. Konigsburg children's books for a few weeks and then a few new releases in series I follow and tons of YA.

Karen has the amazing ability to read like a charging army, it seems. She can and does plow through everything with seeming ease and I can only aspire to do so. I hope she can forgive me for being a complete failure in this instance, as she was unsurprisingly amazing at the challenge by reading EVERY ONE of our picks for her and reviewing them. I can only throw in the towel on this one and go back to my YA sci fi/fantasy Cybils nominees. I know when I've been beat. 

Beautiful Music For Ugly Children
Author: Kirstin Cronn-Mills
Publication Date: 10/8/12
Publisher: Flux
[Goodreads|Amazon]

Blurb(GR): The lives and loves of a teenage transboy music geek.

Gabe has always identified as a boy, but he was born with a girl's body. With his new public access radio show gaining in popularity, Gabe struggles with romance, friendships, and parents--all while trying to come out as transgendered. An audition for a station in Minneapolis looks like his ticket to a better life in the big city. But his entire future is threatened when several violent guys find out Gabe the popular DJ is also Elizabeth from school.

Review:

“I also know that people think I’m an ISSUE, and that gets really old.  Any time THOSE SCARY TRANNIES come up, everybody flips out.”

Well, I for one was very interested in reading a book from the point of view of a transitioning person.  What must it be like to feel that you were born in the wrong body?  What must it be like to be forced to constantly pretend you belong in one category when nothing about it feels right?  Is anyone really one hundred percent “male” or “female” anyway?  My personal opinion is that much of the idea of gender is a made-up social construct and if we just let people act however they wanted to, we’d all be a lot happier.  So as you can see, this issue does hold a lot of interest for me. 

However, that’s not the main reason I read this book.  I picked this up, first and foremost, because I wanted to read a great story about a real person.  I wanted to fall into someone else’s head for a while and experience new trials, triumphs, and feelings. That’s one of the main reasons I read any book.  And unfortunately, I don’t feel like this book ever quite delivered that.  Gabe and the rest of the characters never quite felt like real people to me.  This story never transcended its “ISSUE” book status to become real in my mind.  It’s enjoyable and compelling enough, but the writing has a lot of rough edges.  And each time I stumbled over one, it only served to remind me over and over that I was reading a book – something manufactured and separate from myself – and not experiencing something real. 

The first thing I stumbled over was Gabe’s narration.  The story is written in first person, but it doesn’t have that intimate feeling I really enjoy in a first person narration.  It feels almost like an epistolary novel – like Gabe is telling his story to someone else.  He relates information about his family and friends and his life as if to a complete stranger.  I just kept thinking…"Who are you talking to?”  Honestly I’m no expert in these things, so it’s entirely possible that this type of narration has a name.  It’s entirely possible that it has a fancy name.  Still, I think Gabe’s story would have felt so much more personal and immersive if the details about his life were revealed organically, in the course of the story, and not recited to us by Gabe.  Gabe shouldn’t have to tell us that Paige is the only person he talks to, or that his neighbor is his mentor, or that he was born biologically female but knows he’s a guy.  We should be able to figure all of that out from reading the action and dialogue alone.

The storyline also sometimes jumps erratically through time in a way that’s pretty jarring to the reader.  Gabe occasionally moves through the events of a few days or even a week in the span of a page.  The characters too sometimes make dramatic leaps that feel completely out of character.  There’s also one single flashback in the book that comes out of nowhere.  There are no clues to the reader that it’s even happening – no change in tense, no change in font.  I hope that’s something that will be fixed for the final copy.  Give a sister italics at least, please! 

However, despite all of those rough edges, I did mostly like this book.  The biggest thing that held my interest was the relationship between Gabe and Paige – a very vivid bright spot in this novel.  I felt that Cronn-Mills did an excellent job of portraying all the complexities of their relationship – how confusing it was for both of them to have everything change after Gabe came out.  Paige is a truly supportive friend who doesn’t quite know what to do with the new Gabe.  And Gabe has feelings for Paige, but isn’t quite ready to share them.  He’s also just adorably patient with her – even when she’s pushing him away or having the occasional freak-out, he stands by with the patience of someone who knows that she’ll come around.  Even with this new development, they have such patience and trust for each other.  Romantic or not, their relationship feels like one that will last a lifetime.

Also, this may be an “ISSUE” book in the end, but at least Cronn-Mills never shies away from the more “uncomfortable” aspects of this issue.  Gabe is threatened and bullied.  He worries about how his transition might change his personality.  He disappoints potential love interests – badly.  His parents are both dealing with confusion and guilt (although I thought the ultimate resolution there was a bit unrealistic).  And I’m pretty sure the Mango never appeared in an after school special.  For an issue book, this is a pretty good one and I’m glad it’s out there. 

Perfect Musical Pairing
The Lonely Forest - Two Notes and a Beat

Here's my music-themed love song for Gabe and Paige:

"All I really need are two notes and a beat 
to sing you my heart it’s a great place to start"

3.5/5 Stars

Earlier this week, we highlighted some of our favorite Australian young adult authors and books and many that we are excited to try in the future. While researching that post, I realized how very vast the choices were and how much we had left to explore. While I've included over 100 different Aussie YA books in this Wall of Books, there are hundreds more left out. If I've left out your favorite, leave it in the comments and I'll add it in. I'd like to thank Kat from Cuddlebuggery for helping me add in some of the data. I'd also love to recommend some other Australian blogs and reviewers that regularly feature Aussie fiction: Vegan YA Nerds, Belle's Bookshelf, Maree's Musings, Inkcrush, Trinity, Reynje, and Emily. I am almost certainly missing some very important people but it is late and my mind is mush. I know several people found some fun books in our Wall of Short YA Books so I hope some of you find one or two new Australian YA books to read from this post. I was/am surprised how many of them are available through Amazon US (and especially for Kindle!) There are a few which are not available on Amazon so I linked to Fishpond in those cases, though just a few seem to be sadly out of print. 

Last week we reported on the great literature-destroying powers of bloggers and amateur reviewers (according to Peter Stothard, lead judge for the Man Booker Prize).  There were a couple of interesting responses to that article this week:  Vikki Wakefield, an Aussie author we covered in a post last week, argues very reasonably that “Literary reviewers and book bloggers can co-exist” without the world coming to an end, and Robert McCrum argues that “professional” reviews are, in fact, better over at The Guardian.

Interestingly, both of these writers acknowledge that the world of professional reviewing has excluded a large portion of literature.  I guess the proponents of these professional reviews are happy to let 90% of published works (the 90% most widely read by the public, I might add) be ignored by critics?  Are critics supposed to be “above” reviewing these books?  I guess we here at The Readventurer will have to comfort ourselves with the piles of young adult, fantasy, sci-fi, and mystery novels they’ve left behind.  Darn.

And speaking of young adult books that have been largely ignored by critics but praised by book-loving readers, fans of Tammara Webber’s Easy can rejoice that the self-published novel has been picked up by two of Penguin’s imprints and will be published for both adults and young adults.

Last week, we also linked to a story about book festivals and how awkward it can be sometimes for authors.  But does it get any more awkward than this story, shared last week by Seanan McGuire?

“Last night, I was asked—in so many words—when either Toby or one of the Price girls was finally going to be raped.”

Seriously, awkward doesn’t even cover that.  I think “disturbing” or “hideously offensive” might be better words.  Seanan McGuire’s post, titled “Things I Will Not Do to My Characters. Ever” is fantastic and really worth reading (linked twice because it’s so awesome).

One of my co-bloggers alerted me to this article, which just about made me choke: “Fascinating Photos of Famous Literary Characters in Real Life.”  Seriously – open the page, scroll down to the “inspiration” for Anne Shirley and just take that in for a second.  It’s probably better if you’re not eating crackers at the time.

And lastly – the U.S. cover for Quintana of Charyn was revealed this week.  Here are the two covers side by side:

Which do you like better?  I’m personally very happy that I will have the Australian versions of these books – with Froi’s sexy shoulders and Quintana’s much more fierce-looking face – at my house.

The trickle of Australian YA flowing into the US is slowly becoming more of a steady flow, and this excites us to no end. Some of our favorite authors are Australian and the quality, for one reason or another, seems to be more consistent down under. Today, we're going to talk a bit about some of our favorite Aussie YA books and others that we hope to read soon. We've tried to separate them out a bit as all three of us are die hards for a few of these authors. (I think we hid our super enthusiasm rather well, though) Because our Wall of Short YA  Books was a success, we've been putting together another Wall of Books, but this time for Aussie YA. Get ready to peruse that later this week. For now, let's read about myyy preeeeccccciouuuus...

Where my knowledge runs into a drought is when Aussie YA moves into genre fiction, which is kind of surprising because I love fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian, etc. lit when it is done well. The books above are just a few I intend to read due to great reviews and recommendations. I'm currently listening to Sabriel (narrated by Tim Curry!), one of my sister's favorites, and loving it. I own Obernewtyn, Burn Bright, and The Bridge, but I need to get my paws on Shadows. If any of these books are as good as the contemporaries I love, then I have a lot to look forward to. 

*I feel that I must mention that my favorite Aussie YA books, The Piper's Son, Holier Than Thou and Raw Blue are left out of my section. However, if you have sense at all you will go read them immediately. That is all.

I was afraid that I wouldn’t have too much to say for this post – I don’t consider myself an expert on Australian young adult literature by any means.  But then I went looking through a few lists and realized I am familiar with a few more than I thought I was!  I’m still no expert (and my to-read list is significantly longer than my favorites list), but I feel like I have a few respectable offerings here.  I know that I owe most of that familiarity to my fellow bloggers and reading friends, so thank you!

First things first – I don’t think any of us can write about this topic without first mentioning Melina Marchetta.  Tatiana and I are hard at work* on a joint review for Quintana of Charyn which we will hopefully be posting sometime next week.  For me, Melina Marchetta is the queen of Aussie YA and I have to agree with one fabulous audience member at the Books of Wonder event I recently attended who called her a “goddess.”  Goddess indeed!  You can read all about our love for her books here.

This is terribly sad, but I did not realize that Garth Nix, author of one of my favorite fantasy series (Sabriel – home to one of the greatest talking cats of all time) is from Australia.  I’ve always meant to read his The Keys to the Kingdom series and I have his latest book, A Confusion of Princes, waiting for me.

Are we even legally allowed to post this without mentioning Markus Zusak?  Well anyway – there, I just did.  His Printz award winning novel The Book Thief should pretty much be required for any list featuring Australian YA.  I am also a huge fan of Margo Lanagan, Allison Goodman, and Cath Crowley but I will let Tatiana and Flannery give them all the credit they deserve.

As far as the ones I want to read but haven’t, there are quite a few:

• Tatiana has been urging me to read Pink by Lili Wilkinson for a long time.  I have it, I want to read it, and I have no idea what’s holding me back.  
• I also just received Friday Brown by Vikki Wakefield in the mail from a dear friend and I can’t wait to dive into that one.  
• Every time I read a review of This is Shyness by Leanne Hall I become more and more intrigued.  I am not sure if I'm going to love it or hate it (which is odd for me - after reading so many books I usually have pretty good guess).  
• I have a million (give or take one or two) friends who love the Tomorrow, When the War Began series by John Marsden.  I’ve read the first one and I liked it.  I have no idea what’s preventing from reading the rest.
  
• I've never read any reviews for Michael Pryor's Blaze of Glory, but every time I see it on a list the cover hooks me right away.  This one has been on my to-read list for almost two years!

I have too many books to read.

*If by "hard at work" you mean speculating about possible sexy times between Lucian and Phaedra.

Seeing that I am going last writing on the topic of our favorite Australian authors, there is not that much left for me to add. Catie and Flannery have done a great job of speaking fondly about the best of the best in Aussie YA. So not to repeat them too much, I am skipping gushing over my most beloved Aussie writer - Melina Marchetta (this is a no-brainer, we've made our dedication known a long time ago) and will talk in detail about a few other authors that were mentioned, but only briefly, by my co-bloggers.

I look forward to reading Alison's upcoming (2014 in Australia, long wait!) supernatural/historical series set in the early 1800s.

Jaclyn Moriarty. Moriarty has one of the oddest writing styles I've ever come across. That's why it's often hard to recommend her books to other readers. What's just the right amount of weird for one person is unbearable for another. Same with humor. Moriarty's sense of humor and even her stories are most peculiar and, I'll be honest, I don't always "get" them. In that respect, her epistolary Ashbury/Brookfield books were a total win for me, whereas The Spell Book of Listen Taylor - a total bust. I hope her new A Corner of White will fall into the first category, because when Jaclyn's books are good, they are very good - deep and gut-wrenching. Once you get past and embrace all the oddness and bizarreness.

Monstrous Beauty
Author: Elizabeth Fama
Publication Date: 9/4/12
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
[Goodreads|Amazon]

Blurb(GR): Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences.

Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.

Review:

Those two stars down there are for the mermaids, which ironically were the main reason I felt hesitant to read this.  But damn if the author didn’t deliver on the mermaids.  These ladies are creepy, clawed, razor-toothed monsters capable of twisted magic.  The prologue of this book, wherein the mermaid Syrenka tries to make love to the man she’s been watching for months and then accidentally kills him, had me completely enthralled. 

And then the story flashed forward by a few hundred years and Hester showed up.  Hester lost my sympathy almost immediately.  Poor, poor Hester.  Every woman in her maternal line dies shortly after giving birth, and so Hester has decided that she needs to be alone, forever and ever.  She can’t possibly have a relationship of any kind, because obviously there is no easily available and reliable form of birth control.  And obviously, it’s impossible to have a relationship with someone without your respective gametes coming into contact.  And she can’t ever have a child so why date?  Because that is in fact the sole purpose of dating.  Poor Hester likes her best friend Peter, but he never notices her.  And he shows his complete disdain for her presence by talking to her, worrying about her feelings, flirting with her, and presenting her with thoughtful gifts.  Poor Hester can’t have anything in this horrible, horrible world.

And so, after discovering a silverfish in one of her books, flashing back to an odd incident 10 years ago involving a ton of silverfish, and attending church for the first time in a decade, Hester decides that she absolutely needs to solve the mystery of some possible deaths and/or hauntings at said church.  Because that makes complete sense.  She then throws herself into the mystery, avoiding friends and family, breaking laws, and putting her life in danger where necessary to solve it.  After all, a century old mystery ABSOLUTELY NEEDS to be solved during the calendar week that you randomly decide to start investigating it.  I’m almost certain that’s in the protocol.

Too bad we readers are not in charge of solving this thing because I’m pretty sure we’d have it all wrapped up in about 20 pages, given the number of textual clues.  But no…instead we get to wait around for Hester to try and figure things out.  And then when she never figures anything out, we get to wait for her to be led by the hand to the solutions.  And then wait for everything to be explained in detail so she finally, FINALLY gets it.

At least her parents are the most absentee parents of all time, so they aren’t around to get in the way.  And at least all the villains and even some of the minor side characters are one-dimensional evil brutes, so, by comparison, Hester seems almost sympathetic (but no…no).  Her friend Peter, the heartless cad, seems more than willing to forgive her anyway, for brushing him off, treating him like dirt, outright lying to him, belittling his concerns, and flaunting her love for another man.  And by “love” I, of course, mean “deep and sudden attachment to a person she’s only met once and barely knows.”

And yeah, the whole instant attraction thing does sort of make sense once you know what’s going on…but that isn’t until the end of the book and in the mean time you have to deal with Hester carelessly tossing away all of her tightly held values in a matter of minutes, for some random dude who lives in a cave.  And yeah, maybe the whole instant interest in the mystery thing makes some sense once you read the ending too, but in the mean time you have to deal with Hester appearing to be more dense than New England fog.  It’s hard to swallow.

However, one thing that’s clear is that this author loves research, which lends a lot of atmosphere to the historical parts but is sometimes a bit too apparent, such as when the narrator randomly stops to explain why a flask of whiskey would remain fresh for a century right before Hester takes a swig (an action which has almost nothing to do with the plot).  She also has a great imagination.  I enjoyed the fantasy elements more than anything else and I might actually be sort of interested in reading something from Fama that’s a strict fantasy.  Probably not, though.  I did not enjoy this book.  If you’re looking for a haunting story with depth and a paranormal twist, I would read Margo Lanagan’s The Brides of Rollrock Island instead.

Perfect Musical Pairing

Avril Lavigne – I’m With You

The sheer whiny self-pity in this song, coupled with the instalove reference makes it perfect in my mind.

2/5 Stars