One by Sarah Crossan

Very rarely do I cry over books or movies, but I was grabbing at the tissues when it came to Sarah Crossan's latest book set to release Sept. 15, 2015, One.  I'll be honest, I picked this book up because I thought the cover was beautiful (even though I have always been told to never judge a book by its cover).

Meet Grace and Tippi.  They are sisters who share everything:  their room, their clothes,... and their bodies.  These sixteen-year-old conjoined twins have never wanted to undergo the risky surgery that would separate them until they are forced to consider it after Grace suffers from a fluke virus.  Readers will ache to reach through the pages and hug Tippi and Grace as they confront the most important and impossible decision of their lives.

I had never read Sarah Crossan before, but now that I have, I want more!  She writes with an exquisite grace and sensitivity that makes the reader question everything they thought they knew about identity, sibling relationships, and true love and understanding.  I love that this book is written in free verse poetry (think Love that Dog by Sharon Creech or Brown Girl Dreaming  by Jacqueline Woodson) because there is a certain power behind each and every word, phrase, and image Crossan conjures.  This was a quick, but compelling read for me.  While I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good read, girls 14 years and up will most definitely enjoy this glimpse into a world so alike and yet drastically different from their own.

Grace gives this book 5 out of 5 carrots!

Click here to pre-order your copy of One! (Release date:  Sept. 15, 2015)

Grace's July Indie Next List Picks

The July Indie Next List just came out and two of the featured reads are my current favorites to recommend!

Grace's 1st Pick: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell has quickly become one of my favorite authors.  I would buy anything she wrote, even if it was a technical manual on how to operate a vacuum cleaner.  That's why I'm so excited to tell you all about her latest novel, Landline, because not only is it about a topic way more exciting than vacuum cleaners, it's an exceptional piece of writing! 

Georgie McCool (seriously, what an awesome name!) is about to make a big move in her career as a television writer and she couldn't be happier, except that it means the slow implosion of her marriage is about to speed up.  Georgie's husband, Neal, and their kids leave for Christmas while Georgie stays behind to work on her new TV show, and she begins to wonder if she's finally ruined everything.   That's when she discovers that her old landline offers a way to communicate with Neal in the past, exactly one week before he proposed.  Now she has the opportunity to fix her marriage before it even starts...unless she's not meant to?  Faced with a choice of moving forward or living in the past, Georgie must decide which path is the best for herself, her marriage, and her family.

Readers will be enthralled with Rowell's true-to-life characters and her ability to make a magical connection to the past seem completely feasible.  I mean seriously?  A magical landline?  And yet, I completely bought into it because Rowell's writing totally captivates and engrosses the reader from the very first chapter.  It's the perfect beach read, rainy day read, stay up until all hours of the night read, forgot to make dinner because this book is so good read...you get the idea!

Grace gives this book 5 out of 5 carrots!

Click here to purchase your copy of Landline from The Velveteen Rabbit Bookshop & Guest House.

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Grace's 2nd Pick: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

My second pick is featured as the cover page title of the July Indie Next List and it has a take-charge, intelligent heroine at the helm.  Kelsea Raleigh Glynn has been raised in exile, but now that she has come of age, she must reclaim her mother's throne and learn to be a ruler despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles.  There's the Red Queen, a powerful monarch in a neighboring kingdown; the Caden, a group of assassins tasked with eliminating Kelsea; and the Regent of Tearling, her uncle Thomas, who will do anything necessary to stay in power. Facing these three foes, Kelsea must gain the trust and loyalty of her protectors and subjects, as well as learn to use the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense power passed on to her by her late mother.

What doesn't this novel have?  Readers can find magic, adventure, mystery, and romance as they follow Kelsea's journey to reclaiming her throne.  Johansen has laid a fantastic foundation for what promises to be thrilling trilogy in this first book.  While the story seemed to drag in a few places, it had more than enough twists and turns in the plot to keep me reading late into the night.  Johansen's characters and world-building really blew me away and must have impressed some other readers as well because Harry Potter producer David Heyman has taken on the project of creating a film version of the book with Emma Watson starring as Kelsea!  While book to movie adaptations always make me nervous, it sounds like the novel will be in good hands.  Just be sure to read the book before the story hits the big screen!

Grace gives this book 4.5 out of 5 carrots!

Click here to purchase your copy of The Queen of the Tearling from The Velveteen Rabbit Bookshop & Guest House.

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"The Diviners" by Libba Bray

When looking for a good book to kick off my summer reading, I searched through my "Books to Read" list (an Excel spreadsheet on my laptop complete with the title, author, date I heard about it, and whether or not I already own it, I kid you not) and decided it was time to give The Diviners a try.  I'd read several of Bray's other books before and loved them, so I wasn't surprised that I enjoyed the book.  I was shocked however by how quickly I was hooked and deeply I was engaged by the end of the first chapter.

It's 1926 and Evie O'Neill, the very definition of a flapper girl, has been exiled from her hometown in Ohio to the bustling streets of New York City (poor thing!) after making an enemy of the town's golden boy while drunk at a party.  She is sent to live with her Uncle Will, a curator for the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, who has been asked to give the police an assist in solving a string of grisly murders.  Evie convinces her uncle to let her use her ability to read people's pasts while holding an object of their possession to help him in the investigations.  Bray creates a fantastic company of characters to support Evie in her quest for answers, including a mysterious assistant at the museum, a numbers runner in Harlem who dreams of becoming famous through his poetry, a Ziegfield Follies girl on the run from her past, a rakish pickpocket, and Evie's more traditional best friend, Mabel. Now Evie and the rest of the cast must solve the mystery behind the murders before the killer has a chance to unleash some real evil into this world.

What impressed me the most about this book is the way Bray is able to seamlessly weave together multiple points of view from the different characters to create a narrative that is both snappy with that Roaring 20s vibe and hauntingly suspenseful.  There were times where I was compelled to read far later than originally intended because I had  to know what happened next.  Bray also does a fantastic job of bringing her diverse cast of characters to life.  There are only a few books that I have read where I have felt as though I truly know a character from their motivations to their mannerisms, and this is one of those books.  While this book is not for the faint of heart, I would recommend The Diviners to teen readers and those who enjoy being completely engrossed in a fantastic story.

Grace gives this book five out of five carrots!

Click here to order your copy from The Velveteen Rabbit Bookshop and Guest House!

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"Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins -- WHAT WE THINK!

Clare says: After breaking out of the Quarter Quell Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen has a lot on her mind. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol, a war is raging throughout the districts, plus she is expected by rebel leaders to be their Mockingjay. As she struggles to make sense of it all, Katniss knows that making the right decision will be harder than ever. Mockingjay, I think, was an amazing ending to the Hunger Games trilogy. Everything I predicted about Mockingjay turned out to be exactly the opposite! This fact made every turn of a page that much more exciting! I consider Mockingjay a must read, along with the rest of the series, because it is so unique and leaves you with a feeling of awe every time you look at it. Clare gives this book 5 out of 5 carrots!

Grace says: Collins did a great job of developing her characters even further in The Hunger Games finale and the plot was fast-paced and exciting. I could barely put the book down to eat or sleep!

Beth says: Mockingjay is a psychological and philosophical foray into war and destruction that will leave readers shell-shocked, yet hungering for more. It certainly leaves a lot to think about, and is a great book for teens and adults to discuss!

Click here to purchase your copy of Mockingjay at The Velveteen Rabbit Bookshop!

"Elliot Allagosh" by Simon Rich

Author Simon Rich is basically your prototypical author for an angsty, tongue-in-cheek book about high school. He's young, talented, and one of the snarky writers on Saturday Night Live. Naturally, Elliot Allagosh would resonate with anyone from a sixteen-year-old video game nerd to a reminiscing adult.

Seymour Herson opens his narration with a bleak glimpse into his life as an eighth grader at a NYC private school. He's chubby, a social outcast, and has recently been dubbed with the unflattering nickname "Chunk-Style." However, this somewhat cliched portrait of middle school angst is quickly interrupted by the arrival of the impossibly rich, incredibly eccentric (especially for a 13-year-old!) boy named Elliot Allagosh.

Elliot loves a challenge, and transforming the school pariah into the class president seems like a great way to pass his time. What ensues could have been a Cinderella-type story with a touch of after-school special, but Rich keeps the story funny and wonderfully fresh. My favorite parts were stories told by Elliot's father, who has never worked a day in his life and loves to find creative ways to use the billions of dollars in his bank account.

The story does, however, have a great deal of heart: Seymour learns the inevitable (popularity through lying, cheating, etc. does not guarantee happiness) and, during his senior year of high school, gets a much-needed waking up call. Elliot is a delightful con man, intriguingly neurotic and complex--you'll be reminded of a puppeteer crazed with boredom, tugging at the strings of his marionettes.

Beth gives it five out of five carrots!

Click here to buy this book at The Velveteen Rabbit Bookshop!

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

I'm probably not the only one writing a bad review of this sad, sad excuse for a novel--after all, Bushnell has given her readers plenty of cause to hate this book. First of all, it is a young adult novel based on the life of fictional flirt Carrie Bradshaw, whom you may know from Sex and the City. In that way, this book serves as a sort of gateway into the television show, which is less than appropriate for a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl (young adult books are usually geared to ages 12-17).

Secondly, I have never--EVER--read a book with a character so devoid of life. The young Carrie in this book isn't witty or interesting--I'd rather read the story of her pet rock than read another droning page of boyfriend woes, complaining about friends, etc. Seventeen-year-olds are wonderfully over-dramatic and vivacious! Carrie Bradshaw is like a sad dead thing. What happened to the Carrie who playfully sports a tutu on the streets of New York? What happened to the word-playing, savvy writer who women all over the world wanted to emulate? Bushnell had a prime opportunity to write a sprightly coming of age novel, but her writing prowess fell short. Way short. The ingredients list on the back of Carrie Bradshaw's neon pink nail polish is far more interesting than this drivel.

The best thing about writing a bad review is that it allows you the opportunity to recommend BETTER books, and I have plenty:

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty is the journal of the loveable Jessica Darling, a hyper-observant, cynical, brainiac high school girl who makes even the most mundane of days humorous. The love story is also much more realistic to high school and much more enviable than Carrie Bradshaw's lackluster relationships.

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison is one I've mentioned before, but it bears repeating: Georgia Nicholson's life will have you laughing out loud on every single page. That sounds like a cliche, but I promise you--it's so true.

What's your favorite young adult book? Feel free to comment, and further save people from the travesty of The Carrie Diaries!

Beth gives this book one out of five carrots.

Click here to buy The Carrie Diaries at The Velveteen Rabbit Bookshop!

"Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?" by Louise Rennison

I've loved the Georgia Nicholson series since they first came out nine years ago, but it was hard to be sad while reading this latest (and final!) book. In fact, it was hard to do anything but laugh hysterically. Rennison has once again shown her finesse at diving into the confused minds of teen girls, who are--in English-speak--quite mad. This final chapter in the Georgia Nicholson saga finds our protagonist choosing between Masimo, the English-impaired Italian heartthrob, or Dave the Laugh (who is, of course, a laugh). I savored every moment of Georgia and her friends' chaotic, laugh-out-loud funny lives.

A note to parents: don't be thrown off by the...err, unique titles of the books in this series. The Georgia Nicholson books are among the cleanest, most appropiate young adult books I've read. There is no drinking, no drugs, no sex...just great hilariousness that your daughter (and you, probably!) will love. This book is recommended for seventh grade and up. (Also...adults love it too! There have even been editions of this book published just for grown-ups.)

Start off with Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging and you won't be able to stop reading this fabulous series!

Beth gives it five out of five carrots!

Click here to order this book at The Velveteen Rabbit Bookshop and Guest House!

"Twenties Girl" by Sophie Kinsella

*NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK! Click here!*
This book was 435 pages of pure, undiluted joyful reading. Kinsella has created her most loveable characters yet in Lara, a twenty-something klutzy, modern girl in London coping with a recent breakup, and Sadie, the ghost of her great-aunt, circa 1922. Lara didn't ASK to be haunted by the hilariously annoying Sadie, and she certainly didn't ask for a friendship--but that's what she got. Sadie has two goals for her ghostly time on earth: one, to find her beloved dragonfly necklace, and two, to live vicariously through Lara. The former lets us dive into an intriguing mystery with a beautiful finish, and the latter lets us see Lara dressed anachronistically in full 1920's costume, falling in love. You'll fall in love with every unique and skillfully drawn character, especially Sadie. A comedy, a romance, and a mystery wrapped up all in one, this is one book that will leave you wanting more!

Beth gives it five out of five carrots!

Click here to order your copy of "Twenties Girl" at The Velveteen Rabbit Bookshop!

"Savannah Blues" by Mary Kay Andrews

I am always reading, but there's a frantic period near the end of the summer, when the school year is fast approaching, that I tend to binge-read. And what better author is there to sit down and read in a lazy summer afternoon than Mary Kay Andrews? Andrews' Savannah Blues makes for the perfect end-of-summer reading treat. Heroine Eloise "Weezie" Foley, an antique picker, copes with divorce (and subsequently living in her ex-husband's backyard), being accused of murder, and new love with an old boyfriend, all with her own unique brand of cyncism and hilarity. What could make this delectable book of romance and mystery even better? Its setting: Savannah, Georgia, a city which Andrews writes about with tangible affection.

Beth gives it four out of five carrots!

Click here to order your copy of "Savannah Blues" by Mary Kay Andrews from The Velveteen Rabbit Bookshop!