Monthly Bookish Awesomeness: April 2015

In which I recap what went down in the last four weeks in and outside the blog.

Okay. Let’s clear things up from the previous rundown. More Than This is NOT my first Patrick Ness title. Gaah. I forgot that The Knife of Never Letting Go is his; that is my real first. I’m TERRIBLE. Throw the tomatoes. But can you throw doughnuts, too?  And “unflinchingly bawdy humor, spot-on humor,” even if Winger IS absolutely aces, is mega redundant, don’t you agree? (I am. You know. Such a loser.)

April hasn’t been very kind to my blog schedule (I don’t keep a schedule, mind you; that’s more a figure of speech). The first two weeks saw me training early in the morning up until late in the afternoon. And that only sounds like it involves running a circuit, sparring, and trying to project tendrils of electrical charges from my fingers, but in reality it’s quite prosaic. But I did fairly better at reading, considering how slow I read. Albeit, in the Review Department, things are pretty grim. But, hey, a boy can only do so much.

I also received the SINGLE BEST DM OF MY YEAR (or the previous ones) and it’s from Becky Albertalli which, if you’ve been paying attention and I’ve been explicit about this, is a favorite author person. I’m still waiting for the eagle to land but you best believe you’ll hear my screams when it does. And oh. Did I mention I got approval for an e-ARC of Adam Silvera’s More Happy Than Not? Exciting times!

Books I Read

 

•  All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven – I had very conflicting feelings about this one at first. But the more I pondered about it, the more I realized what a gem it is. It’s thoughtful and provocative and Theodore Finch is just so vivid that you can practically see him nodding at you across the street. Definitely recommending it you guys!
• The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker – If it isn’t straight up romance, I’m not big in this element, that is why I was pleasantly surprised to find myself rooting hard for the couple in this debut. It was SO good! Plus, it’s atmospheric and the MC has a strong voice. And a gang of witches? Yes please!
• Galgorithm by Aaron Karo – This is a fun, light high school rom com reminiscent of Easy A. (Yeah, that Emma Stone movie.)
• The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun Hutchinson – I can only describe the emotion in this book as RAW. I mean, I want to hug Andrew. But humor is also present.
• Half Bad by Sally Green – Oh my gods, stating how child abuse is one of the central themes of this piece of contemporary fantasy will be the understatement of the year! If I want to hug Andrew Brawley, I want to adopt Nathan and never for once in his life again let him go through the things he endured. Ever. And can we talk about Arran? PERFECT. BROTHER. On a more fain-y (that’s muggle or mundane; choose your fandom) side, the writing is blunt which I can see might be a problem for some.
• Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith – I’ve just started this yesterday and I’m not too far to really give any opinion. Oh. I’ll say this: Andrew Smith has his ways in creating fleshed-out teenage boys.

Other Stuff I Posted

• I Am a Pretty Dang Slow Reader – This generated mixed reactions and THANK YOU but we all agree that what’s important is to be comfortable with your reading speed.
• Stacking the Shelves #1 – In which I acquire Half Bad, Noggin, Boo and Uprooted.
• Coffee Conversation: I’m Late to the Party – I’m having a hard time focusing but I had a small victory and discovered Sam Smith.
• Stacking the Shelves #2 – Vanishing Girls + Grasshopper Jungle + Ferals.
• Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who have Depression and/or Mental Illness – A call for more books dealing with depression and mental illness. Although it needs to be said I am impressed with what I’m seeing so far, especially in YA.

Book Birthdays

         

Happy book birthday to Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys) (Poppy), None of the Above (Balzer + Bray), Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Balzer + Bray), Denton Little’s Deathdate (Knopf Books for Young Readers), Challenger Deep (HarperCollins), Finding Paris (Balzer + Bray), Still Waters (Philomel Books), An Ember in the Ashes (Razorbill), and In a World Just Right (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), which all found a place in the shelves this month!

Book Radar

         

I’m seriously looking forward to these May new releases: Made You Up (19th, Greenwillow Books), Uprooted (19th, Del Rey), Anything Could Happen (26th, Push) (!!!), and Extraordinary Means (26th, Katherine Tegen Books) (!!!).

Around the Interwebs

• Becky Albertalli (excuse me I just love this wonderful human being) wrote a piece for The Independent about gender-nonconforming children and sexual identity and it’s thoughtful, moving and inspiriting.
• Book Riot celebrated its podcast’s 100th episode! Toni Morrison and literary tattoos aplenty.
• Jen of Pop! Goes the Reader partied to her 27th birthday with 27 Life Lessons you surely don’t want to miss. (Not even kidding.)
• We get the cover of Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On!!! I like that Simon and Baz look like they’re in a face-off but also it has that they’re-about-to-kiss vibe.
• Joey of Thoughts and After Thoughts talked about How Love Triangles are Not Actual “Triangles.” (He’s still obsessing on how to top this discussion. Take heart, Joe, take heart.)
• Cait of Paper Fury created a list of 10 Things You Should Regularly Tell Writers. Not that we’re throwing away shoulds here regularly but, really, it’s genius.
• Hazel of Stay Bookish shared Some Quick Blogging Tips that are accessible and helpful.
• The international trailer for The Little Prince is LOVELY!
• King Tommen and Queen Margaery’s wedding is possibly the ONLY delightful matrimonial celebration in all of Westeros!

How was your month waffles? What, food IS everything! Did you bust down that wobbly TBR pile? What was the last book that blew your socks off? Or, you know, destroyed you? As one does. And are you stoked for Carry On? Go Set a Watchman comes out in less than two months, but for now, we can rewatch the 1962 TKAM adaptation and chat over how sublime it is!

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