Laura reflects on the universality of Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed.
All in Books
Guest Review: A Monster Call by Patrick Ness
There are books you pick up with no idea of what to expect...and sometimes those end up being the best reads, the ones you didn’t even know you needed. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, based on an idea by late YA author Siobhan Dowd, has the added poignancy of Dowd’s own lack of time, her untimely death at the age of 47 after writing only 4 novels (all highly acclaimed). Winner of the Cilip Carnegie Medal, I finished it in a few hours---stunned and blindsided by the sheer power, emotion and depth of this deceptively simple story. I’m trying to remember the last time I cried so much while reading a book and coming up with a big recent blank.
Giveaway! Black Widow: Red Vengeance
Hi folks! Once again, we've teamed up with the folks at Marvel to celebrate the release of an installment in the Red Widow series--this time, Black Widow: Red Vengeance by Margaret Stohl. Thanks to Marvel Press for sending me a copy, and for providing a prize pack.
About the Book:
Red Vengeance is out October 11th, 2016
Guest Post: How Discovering Sandra Cisneros Helped Me Find My Own Path in Writing
Today we're happy to welcome Phillippe Diederich to Clear Eyes, Full Shelves, whose new novel, Playing for the Devil's Fire, is out now from the excellent Cinco Puntos Press (this is an outstanding independent press--seek out their books if you're looking for fresh voices).
I started reading seriously when I was in tenth grade. I had a great English teacher and we were reading Italian and Russian short stories. I really took to the Russians. It led me to read Crime and Punishment and Anna Karenina. I didn't read that much for the rest of my high school days, but that was mostly because I didn't like the books I came across. We had to read Ordinary People and The Old Man and the Sea. Well, for a 16 year old boy who'd never gone fishing, I couldn't imagine more boring books.
Book Review: Blood-Drenched Beard
Another book, another dog involved.
Blood-Drenched Beard ended up in my hands like many others, delivered by UPS, usually in a box that formerly had eggs or other foodstuffs,* packed with all sorts of weird free ephemera and all from Dad.
Book Review: The Man Who Loved Dogs
I was perusing the stacks at Book People in Austin on our recent trip and ran across The Man Who Loved Dogs, on an “Author’s Recommend” shelf. As I mentioned, that title and the back cover jacket was perfumed with praise and compared the book's importance to Garcia Marquez, Vargas Llosa and Tolstoy, two of which I love for real and one I should, plus it mentioned a noir sensibility. I was hooked, congrats to the marketing department of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, great job. I would have bought this book even if I never planned on reading it.
Five Recommended Verse Novels
Stories well told have the power to open our eyes and enlarge our hearts. They’re kind of magic that way. We wander into the world of a story and emerge changed—sometimes in small ways, and sometimes big, with lasting impressions that shape how we think and feel about the world and our experiences in it.
Recommendation Tuesday: Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center
I can't recall who specifically recommended Katherine Center's Happiness for Beginners, but I'm most glad that whomever that was mentioned it--because it's most definitely a Sarah book, despite that it involves **shudder** camping. (UGH!)
Recommendation Tuesday: Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
Recommendation Tuesday started as a joke and is now an official thing. Basically, this is my way of making Tuesday a little more awesome. If you've got a book to recommend on this or any Tuesday, tweet me at @SarahSMoon or tag me on Instagram @sarahbethmoon and I'll help spread the word.
View all of the past recommendations over here.
I always feel weird recommending a "big" book that's gotten a lot of attention, because it feels like those books don't need me, but the heart likes what the heart likes, you know? In this case, I just finished reading and enjoyed the hell out of Alexandra Bracken's new epic time travel novel, Passenger.
Subtraction: A "Family Poem" by Cordelia Jensen
As a companion to her marvelous guest post earlier this month, Cordelia Jensen sent me a selection of what she calls her "family poems" that inspired her debut novel, Skyscraping (which I loved). This one really struck a chord with me as capturing the essence of her novel.
(My apologies for the delay in posting this--it's been a tough couple of weeks around these parts and I haven't been on top of anything.)
Guest Post: TOWARD THE SKY by Cordelia Jensen
I'm happy to host Cordelia Jensen as part of YA Readers' Debut Author Bash event. I read and loved Cordelia's debut, Skyscraping, and am thrilled to introduce her to more readers.
It is hard for me to describe my debut YA verse novel SKYSCRAPING (out this June from Philomel/Penguin) without telling my life story. This is what happens:
“You have a book coming out! How cool, what’s it about?” asks Random Stranger.
I think it’s important to know that I’m sort of a people pleaser. So I hesitate, partly because I think they might want me to tell them a high-concept story summary and partly because what I am about to share feels too personal for this level of exchange.
Win it! Black Widow: Forever Red
We all know that Black Widow is the most awesome lady in the Marvel cinematic universe (ummm... can we talk about what they did with her character in the last Avengers movie, because I have THOUGHTS) and we are thrilled to partner with our friends at Big Honcho Media to give away a copy of Margaret Stohl's the new book Black Widow: Forever Red along with a $50 Visa gift card to get your Black Widow costume on. Enter below using our easy-peasy Rafflecopter form.
Recommendation Tuesday: Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly
Recommendation Tuesday started as a joke and is now an official thing. Basically, this is my way of making Tuesday a little more awesome. If you've got a book to recommend on this or any Tuesday, tweet me at @SarahSMoon or tag me on Instagram @sarahbethmoon and I'll help spread the word.
View all of the past recommendations over here.
Stephanie Tromly’s first novel, Trouble is a Friend of Mine, packs clever dialog, great characters and a complex mystery into a quick paced and excellent read.
Recommendation Roundup: Summer 2015
Hi folks! I'm happy to share our summer recommended reads with you. It's funny, I keep saying that I haven't gotten super excited about many books this year, but here we have 20+ books that we feel good about recommending--I guess are some good ones out there after all!
Reading has been tough this summer--I took on some huge projects that have competing deadlines and that means my eyeballs aren't too happy with me by the end of the day, so I haven't been reading as much. Plus I've been (intentionally) checked out from a lot of the book chatter online, so I haven't been as on it with regard to what's new and buzzed. (Not necessarily a bad thing.)
Onward to the recommendations!
