For my book blogs, I’m going a slightly different route than the other Muses (who woulda guessed), and will focus on more boy-friendly reads. I’m doing this not solely because I like to buck trends, but it’s mostly what I read. Plus, I hope to open y’all up to some different type of stuff, just as I’ve been exposed to the YA world through the Muses.

Anyhow, onto the books.

Ahhh. Beach reads. I grew up in New Mexico. And as my dad says to anyone who'll listen (plus, all those who refuse), "we have beach in New Mexico. Not a lot of water, but plenty of beach." So my beach reads are more of Summer reads. However, they still conjure up memories of those long vacation days with two or three months of freedom (TWO or THREE?!). I would flop on my grandma’s couch under the swamp cooler (look it up, it's like Air Conditioning-light) and read for hours.

Today, I barely have time to dive into at the current trends and bestsellers. But every year, I make an effort to crack open a few of those nostalgic stories to have a sip of what-life-used-to-be-like. A fellow Muse (hi, Katy) recently reminded me of one of those top throwbacks, A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L'Engle. And I decided to revisit that little piece of my summer.

From Amazon.com:

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

"Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract."

If you don’t get chills reading that, please check your pulse. I’m worried about you. This is one of those spot-on stories that awakes the writer in me. It makes me horribly jealous because she is sooo good, while fueling me to strive for her level.

Obviously, I’m not the only one who feels this way. A WRINKLE IN TIME won the Newbery Medal in 1963 and has tangled generations in its tale of the Murry family, the evil IT, and Aunt Beast. Of course, the text is beautifully written, wonderfully imaginative, and just the right amount of trippy (travelling to a two-dimensional world = awesome). Meg is sympathetic and flawed. Charles Wallace is lovable, if a tad creepy (come on, who’d want a telepathic little brother?). The pace is perfect. There’s plenty of action wrapping around a nice message about growing up.

I could go on, but I know most of you have read this book. I urge you to read it again. Read it as a writer because it’s bound to teach you something. Except, don’t forget to enjoy it as a kid since summer holidays are a week or two (boo!). We may not be able to lounge at grandma’s house anymore, but luckily we can get back a piece of those wonderful days by just grabbing a book.

This week on the blog we've been looking at beach reads. For me, the term beach read isn't genre-specific. It can be a mystery, a romance, a historical novel. As long as I can slip into the story quickly and be entertained, that's a great beach read.

I've actually been at the beach all week in Miami, so the timing for something that fit the bill was perfect. I chose Bad Taste In Boys, by Carrie Harris. It's a zombie book, which wouldn't have been the first thing I'd have grabbed, but after reading the first chapter, I was hooked.

Here's a short description:

Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steriods are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate! She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town . . . and stay hormonally human.

I've read a handful of books with zombies in them, but not one of them made me laugh. Bad Taste in Boys did. A lot.

This story delivers what you expect on the gore and fear, but Kate Grable's smart, self-deprecating humor was what kept me turning pages. I liked her relationships with friends, Rocky and Kiki, but I particularly enjoyed her brother Jonah. The siblings were funny, believable and well-drawn. Their scenes together were among my favorite. Kate's romance with Aaron, a hunky and smart quarterback, was adorable and also provided plenty of laughs.

This is a fast-paced story with a clever easy-to-root-for protagonist. Be prepared to laugh. A great debut by Carrie Harris!

Check out what the rest of the Bookanistas are reading this week:

Elana Johnson celebrates A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie

LiLa Roecker adores Torn

Christine Fonseca is crazy about Cryer’s Cross – with giveaway

Beth Revis interviews Goddess Test author Aimee Carter – with giveaway

Carolina Valdez Miller delights in Texas Gothic AND Bad Taste in Boys – with giveaways

Jessi Kirby is giddy about Hourglass

Shana Silver fawns over Forever

Jen Hayley is hot for Wildfire

Matt Blackstone savors Something Like Hope

Stasia Ward Kehoe jumps for Bumped

I spent my teen years in sunny Southern California, so I like to think I know a thing or two about beach reads.  Granted, most of my summer days were spent on horseback in rings of dirt, instead of blankets on white sand beaches. My tan lines followed the neck line and sleeves of tee shirts instead of the latest style in swimwear.  But, one thing I never skimped on was a good beach read.

I devoured tawdry romance novels and page-turning mysteries.  The summer I discovered Stephen King, I went off to college on two hours sleep so I could finish the last three hundred pages of IT before I had to give the copy back to my mother.

Now that I have spent the last three years pursuing publication, I find it harder and harder to get lost in a book.  It's hard to read without marveling at a perfect metaphor, noticing how the set up in act one pays off in act three, or gauging the internal reaction to physical description quotient in the prose. It's harder to just sit back and be entertained.

Enter the solution: Rachel Hawkins.  I've already talked about her first book HEX HALL, which I really enjoyed.  The second book of the trilogy, DEMONGLASS, manages to be even more engaging and more romantic than the first. I found myself laughing out loud as I read the manuscript, surprised by the plot twists, and absolutely in love with Sophie's sarcastic but sweet world view.

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch, but she's recently discovered she's something much darker and more dangerous.  She goes to London with her father to decide whether to have her powers removed, but ends up at the center of a brewing war between humans and the magical world that divides her loyalties.   

DEMONGLASS has everything I look for in a summer read: romance, humor, and page-turning mystery. This is the kind of thoroughly entertaining writing that looks effortless because it reads so well, but that I know if really, really hard. This is the second in a trilogy and does end on something of a cliffhanger.  I wasn't bothered by the ending because I still found it hopeful and satisfying, but readers who want instant gratification might want to wait for the third book before reading this one. 

I love summer.  Always have.  (Though truth be told, autumn is my favorite season.)  I love watermelon, long days and the beach. 

Especially the beach.

And I love “beach reads”.  To me, these are books I choose solely because they speak to some part of me that doesn’t always get fed.  When I was schlepping coffee in order to bide my time between adventures, I read travelogues – descriptions of places I would travel to when I found the opportunity (and the money).  When my first child was just a little baby, I devoured English chick lit – books about young professionals, living the high life and wearing fabulous clothes.  When my kids were toddlers, I read Dan Brown – adventure and culture all blended into one fast-paced read (that I could always pick up where I left off, no matter how long the distraction).  When I was a preschool teacher, I read history – in an effort to make myself feel like I was learning something, too (the learning curve for 3-5 year olds is incredibly steep, you know).

These days, I’m in an incredible sweet spot.  My career as an author really depends on me reading the words of others.  And it’s all stuff I love to read – mostly YA with some middle grade, adult, and history thrown in. 

But I’ve begun to realize that I’m trying to keep up with the incredible influx of YA by reading books that are recently published.  Which leaves me with holes in my backlist.  So this summer, I’m spending quite a bit of time catching up.

My first choice kind of combined all of my “beach read” loves from the past.  13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES by Maureen Johnson is a travelogue, chick lit, adventure-culture extravaganza (with a little bit of history thrown in for good measure). 

From Goodreads:

When Ginny receives thirteen little blue envelopes and instructions to buy a plane ticket to London, she knows something exciting is going to happen. What Ginny doesn't know is that she will have the adventure of her life and it will change her in more ways than one. Life and love are waiting for her across the Atlantic, and the thirteen little blue envelopes are the key to finding them in this funny, romantic, heartbreaking novel.

Ginny travels from London to Italy to Paris to Amsterdam to Denmark to Greece and back again, carrying a ginormous green and purple backpack. (Side note:  Mine was just green – but at least I remembered a towel.  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy prepared me well.)

Johnson covers not only the beauty and overwhelming otherness of international travel well, but also the day-to-day discoveries of backpacking, searching for hostels, train travel, meeting new (and often eccentric) people.  This part of the novel reminded me so much of my very first adventure that I couldn’t put the book down, wanting to know where Ginny would go next and what she would encounter.

But Ginny also discovers love and loss, responsibility and rule-breaking, beauty and squalor.  Her journey is not only a spatial one, but also emotional, and Johnson deftly blends them into a story that is so much more than just travel or romance.

The only problem with reading 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES?  It made me want to dig out my dirty green backpack and catch the next train.

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you're enjoying time with family and friends. Last week was awesome here at YAMuses and we're all still reeling a bit from the excitement--Veronica's riveting cover for UNDER THE NEVER SKY; thoughtful posts on connecting writing to music from Bret, Katy and Talia; and my book deal news! (Here's a link with more info on that big news) Thanks to everyone for your kind comments. I feel you rooting for me!

We usually blog about books we've recently read the first week of the month. I'm will share mine in a bit, but first wanted to explain how I found the book. Netgalley delivers FREE galleys to professional readers. If you are a reviewer, blogger, journalist, librarian, bookseller, educator, or in the media, you can use NetGalley to read and request titles before they are published. Since many of our followers fall into one of those categories, I wanted you to know about this opportunity.

I discovered my book for this month, ULTRAVIOLET by RJ Anderson on NetGalley and was instantly captivated by one of the best opening lines ever. Check out the book trailer to see for yourself. I love a good mystery, and this one is combined with a fascinating glimpse into a juvenile psych ward. The plot elements had me "googling" intriguing "mental conditions" (no, I'm not going to spoil it for you) to see if they were real or fictional. ULTRVIOLET will be released in the US in September and I recommend you check it out.

From the author's website:


Once upon a time there was a girl who was special.

This is not her story.
Unless you count the part where I killed her.

Sixteen-year-old Alison has been sectioned in a mental institute for teens, having murdered the most perfect and popular girl at school. But the case is a mystery: no body has been found, and Alison's condition is proving difficult to diagnose. Alison herself can't explain what happened: one minute she was fighting with Tori -- the next she disintegrated. Into nothing. But that's impossible. Right?