LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR by Stephanie Perkins!

Many of who read The Hiding Spot are aware that I’m totally and completely in love with ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS… I adored it so much that I’m unable to review it, but I still encourage everyone I know to have a copy at home with them. Stephanie Perkins’ debut is kind of like one of those essentials that everyone needs in their house… like water… and food… and things like that. Yup. Water, food, and ANNA. I think that’s all you really need.


Stephanie recently released the cover for her next novel LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR – and I loooves it so much!

Description:

For budding costume designer Lola Nolan, the more outrageous the outfit—more sparkly, more fun, more wild—the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins move back into the house next door.
When the family returns and Cricket—a gifted inventor and engineer—steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

NEED IT, WANT IT, LOVE IT.

That pretty much sums up my feelings at the moment.

For more info, check out Steph’s blog!

Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Title: Matched
Author: Ally Condie
Publisher: Penguin/Dutton
Pub. Date: 11.30.2010
Genre: Dystopian YA
Keywords: Love, Arranged Marriage, Rebellion, Family, Secrets
Pages: 366
Description (from GoodReads):

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander’s face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham’s face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it’s a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she’s destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can’t stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society’s infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

MATCHED has me perplexed. There were elements that definitely didn’t click for me, which caused the novel to drag in parts, yet I still find it popping into my head weeks after reading.

Part of me thought that some of my disappointment was due to the hype surrounding Condie’s novel, but, after reflection, I don’t believe that was the main reason I found it lacking. I think I expected it to be bigger… bigger romance, bigger action, bigger mystery. I wanted it to have an epic quality. For me, it didn’t.

BUT, that’s not to say it wasn’t a wonderful debut. It has a quiet beauty about it… a beauty that seems to have lodged itself in some corner of my subconscious and comes out and reminds me when I least expect it. Part of this is due to the use of Dylan Thomas’ poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” and its importance to the novel. 

I’ve always loved this poem and was excited to see how it was woven into the plot of the novel. Now, every time I think about the poem, especially the line “Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” I’m reminded of the detailed world Condie has created. Despite the parts of MATCHED I found disappointing, I was thoroughly intrigued by the world Cassia lives in. Cassia’s cultural and historical knowledge base is severely limited by the government, but, to me, most notably in regard to poetry and literature. How can a government possibly choose 100 of everything (poems, novels, etc) and disregard the rest? It makes me shudder to imagine a world like this. Eventually, Cassia begins to realize the truth behind her world’s beautiful facade and I’m ready for her to rage against this reality in Condie’s second MATCHED novel.

I’m looking forward to CROSSED, slated for release sometime in 2011… Plus, I’m more than a little excited to see how this second cover compares to the gorgeous one on MATCHED!

Fragment Friday (1) feat. ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS

This Friday I’m trying something a little bit different. It’s called a vlog. Some may call it terrifying. Oh, wait… That’s just me.

Erica (from the fabulous blog The Book Cellar) convinced me it was time to make a vlog. So you can blame (or thank) her.

Fragment Friday is hosted by James at Book Chic Club!

You can find my post in which I gush about ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS – and try to convince you to read it – here. Stephanie Perkins’ super fun website is here.

READ THIS BOOK. You know you want to.

To vlog or not to vlog… Should I do it again? I’ll let you decide. Leave a comment with some feedback!

As you can see, there are some issues with video quality. For example, the fact that, in the sceond half of the video, my lips and the sound don’t match. I’m not very tech savvy, so I welcome any tips regarding vlogging and things of that nature.

Excerpt taken from an Uncopyedited Sales Galley.

Contest: Win a copy of The View from the Top!

I absolutely loved Hillary Frank’s THE VIEW FROM THE TOP, so I’m passing on my arc to one of my lovely blog readers! I almost overlooked this amazing novel – don’t make that same mistake!

Prize:

(1) arc of THE VIEW FROM THE TOP

How to Enter:
You MUST comment on my review of A VIEW FROM THE TOP or the interview with Hillary Frank. (Only one comment is required.) Then you MUST fill out this FORM. If you neglect to comment on at least one of the posts or fill out the form, you will not be entered to win.


Extra Entries:
Not required. Extra entries are detailed on the entry form as well.
+5 entries – Comment on my review or interview (whichever you did not comment on for your original entry)
+4 entries – Old Follower/Subscriber (Thank you!)
+2 entries – New Follower/Subscriber (Welcome! You will gain 4 entries in the next contest you enter at The Hiding Spot as an Old Follower/Subscriber!)
+2 Follow me on Twitter (@thehidingspot)
+3 Tweet this contest. (Leave a link.)
+3 Link this contest on your sidebar, in a post, or on FB. (Leave a link.)


Details:
Contest will close August 17th, 2010. Contest open Internationally!

Good luck!

Review: The View from the Top by Hillary Frank

Title: The View from the Top
Author: Hillary Frank
Publisher: Dutton
Pub. Date: 5.13.2010
Genre: Contemporary YA
Keywords: Love, Friendship, Choices, Split Narrative
Pages: 272
Description (from arc):
Tobin won’t miss anything about life in Normal, Maine, when he leaves for Conservatory… except for his dream girl.
Jonah would give up his players ways – and his best friend – for a chance with his best friend’s girlfriend.
Lexie desperately hopes her crush will see her in a new light, but fears that her love will remain unrequited.
Matt is anxiously clinging to the past, afraid that he won’t be a part of his girlfriend’s brighter future.
Mary-Tyler wishes people would look past her weight and wealth and accept her for who she is.
And then there’s Anabelle, the one who ties them all together. As she sorts out her love life and tries to make sense of her increasingly complicated friendships Anabelle begins to question how well her friends really know her… and how well she knows herself.

I knew had to read Hillary Frank’s newest release when I asked one of the librarians at my local public library what she’d read recently and been impressed by and she named THE VIEW FROM THE TOP. Coupled with the fact that some of my recent favorites have been books that I had never heard of before, just randomly selecting them from the shelf, I knew that I had to give THE VIEW FROM THE TOP a shot.

I’ve been reading many wonderful contemporary YA novels lately and I always think that the next one can’t possible be better than the last. I’ve come to the conclusion that I can no longer have a favorite book – I just can’t pick only one! I was shocked by how quickly I was pulled into this novel and how deeply I identified with the characters, particularly Anabelle. I understood the characters and their motivations in such an intimate way, which caused an emotional connection to the story, and, I think, provided a more intense reading experience. But, even without this deeper connection, I think I would have loved this novel.

The story is told in alternating POV by the six different characters, each chapter and character beginning where the last left off. I’ve been reading quite a few novels done in this format and I’m really starting to like it. Seeing situations from more than one POV adds another dimension; it’s like going from 2D to 3D. I was worried that having six narrators would be confusing, but this definitely wasn’t the case. Each character had a unique voice and a completely different view of the summer… and Anabelle.

THE VIEW FROM THE TOP takes on many different, and sometimes sticky, situations. Some of these situations I’ve experienced myself, so it’s understandable that I identified with those, but I felt a connection to the others as well, which can be only be credited to Frank’s fantastic writing. I’ll definitely be reading more by Hillary Frank!

Grade: A+

Cover Notes:
I liked the cover before I read the book, but I loved it after.

Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Author(s): John Green & David Levithan
Publisher: Dutton (Penguin)
Pub. Date: 4.6.2010
Genre: Contemporary YA
Keywords: Love, Chance Encounters, Homosexuality, Theatre, Musicals
Pages: 310
Description (from arc):
Will Grayson, meet Will Grayson.
One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens – both named Will Grayson – are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building towards respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON has been sitting on my to-be-read pile for quite some time. Other books kept pushing ahead in line until, finally, I took it off the stack and stuck it in my bag, refusing to look at another book until I’d finished it.

At first, I wasn’t as enthralled as I’d imagined I’d be. I thought that John Green’s Will Grayson was hilarious and I was enjoying the sections he narrated, but I simply couldn’t connect with David Levithan’s Will. He was just too for me. Too negative, too sarcastic, too much in general. I found him extremely annoying – until he met the other Will Grayson. I can’t pinpoint the exact change that occurred, but I know that when the Will Graysons met in that “unlikely corner of Chicago,” I started to like Levithan’s Will, sometimes even more than I liked Green’s! *gasp* Once I made a connection with both Will Graysons, my attitude towards the book changed completely. At first, I could easily set the novel down and was distracted by other things, but after, it was nearly impossible to tear my eyes from the page. So, if you’ve yet to read WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON, don’t give up on it if you aren’t connecting with both characters. There’s a chance that this will change for you, as it did for me, but, even if it doesn’t, this novel is definitely worth finishing!

I can’t write a review of this novel without mentioning Tiny Cooper, who is both a best friend and love interest in the novel. He was a fabulous character and, of all the characters, I’d have to say that he shines the brightest. I’d love to read a novel from his point of view!

Overall, WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON is a hilarious novel written by two phenomenal authors. It reminded me just how amazing John Green’s writing is and has encouraged me to seek out more by David Levithan.

Grade: A

*Edit: I said above that I didn’t know what changed to allow my connection with Levithan’s Will, but thanks to the wonderful comment below, I realized the reason! Will meets Tiny!! Now that I’ve realized this, I feel slightly silly, as it is actually quite obvious.

Top 10 Reasons to Read ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS

About a month ago I received a box from Penguin. In this box were 16 arcs. One of these arcs was Stephanie Perkins’ debut novel ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS. I’d heard of this book and I had read Stephanie’s blog, so I was excited to get a copy. I had (have) loads of review books to read, so I put in on my bookshelf with all my other review copies, since it isn’t released until December. A week ago, I was in the mood for a love story, so I picked up ANNA and slipped it in my bag. I was having a busy week, so I basically ended up carrying it around with me for days and didn’t have a chance to actually start it. Two days ago, at midnight, I decided I was going to read a few chapters before I went to bed. I convinced the lovely Erica, of the Book Cellar, to read it with me, despite the fact that our review copy piles were glaring at us menacingly. Three hours later, bleary-eyed, I read the last few lines. And now, two days later, I’m still carrying it around with me. And no, I don’t mean in my head, I mean LITERALLY. This book is so full of awesome that I can’t let it go. I unable to stop talking or thinking about it. Which explains this fangirly post. If you aren’t jealous that I’ve read this book, you should be. I’m not bragging, it’s simply FACT. It’s too early to write a review of ANNA, but I will give you 10 reasons this book should be on your to-be-read pile, if not preordered in your hand right this second.

1. Etienne St. Clair. I never thought this would happen, but St. Clair may have stolen my heart from John After (of Going Too Far by Jen Echols). The best part about St. Clair? He’s flawed. And that just makes him more irresistable.
2. Anna. St. Clair is lusted after by nearly every girl at their school, but Anna doesn’t compare herself to all those other girls or put herself down. Sure, she has flaws, she just doesn’t focus on them constantly. 
3. The characters make mistakes. And then they acknowledge and learn from them. So many characters never actually acknowledge that they’ve screwed up. Acknowledgement is good.
4. Anna’s best friend has a penchant for big words. Like callipygian. Look it up.
5. The romantic tension made my heart beat ridiculously fast. And my head almost explode. I live for romantic tension. Stepanie Perkins is my hero.
6. It’s funny. Laugh out loud funny. There are books that make you say, ‘Oh, haha’ and then there are books that make you laugh aloud and turn to the person next to you and say ‘Oh my gosh, listen…’ ANNA is the latter.
7. There’s a love rhombus. Even better than a love triangle.
8. It’s real. There’s happiness, sadness, anger, embarrassment… It’s a love story, but it isn’t all sunny days and rainbows, you see the storm too.
9. Etienne St. Clair. I think he deserves two spots on this list. Need more reasons to love him? He’s an American who lives in France and has an English accent. I think that’s reason enough.
10. I’m obsessed.

This book needs to be on your radar. But don’t just take my word for it, Erica (The Book Cellar), Daisy Whitney (The Mockingbirds), Suzanne Young (The Naughty List) and Lindsey Leavitt (Princess for Hire) all agree. And it’s been blurbed by some amazing authors:

“Very sly. Very funny. Very romantic. You should date this book.”
— Maureen Johnson
(Truer words have never been spoken.)

“Imagine a mug of rich, thick hot chocolate. Now add a swirl of sweet whipped cream. Yummy? Oui. Well, Anna and the French Kiss is richer, sweeter, and—yes—even hotter. You’re in for a very special treat.”

— LAUREN MYRACLE, NYT bestselling author of Peace, Love, & Baby Ducks and Let It Snow
(I second that.)

So. Don’t take my word for it… take theirs.

For more information about ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS see Stephanie Perkins’ website! Be sure to check out her blog too, which is hilarious.

And hop over to Erica blog, The Book Cellar, for her fangirly post. (If you aren’t already reading Erica’s blog, you should. She’s amazing in real life and online!) EDIT: Oddly enough, Erica and I didn’t know what the other’s post would look like. So the fact that we cite many of the same things only further proves this book’s awesomeness.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go pet my copy.

Waiting on Wednesday (25)

WoW is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine!

Grace by Elizabeth Scott
Dutton, 9/16/2010
A fable of a terrifying near future by critically acclaimed author Elizabeth Scott.

Grace was raised to be an Angel, a herald of death by suicide bomb. But she refuses to die for the cause, and now Grace is on the run, daring to dream of freedom. In search of a border she may never reach, she travels among malevolent soldiers on a decrepit train crawling through the desert. Accompanied by the mysterious Kerr, Grace struggles to be invisible, but the fear of discovery looms large as she recalls the history and events that delivered her uncertain fate.
Told in spare, powerful prose, this tale of a dystopian near future will haunt readers long after they’ve reached the final page.

I’m not sure there are words to describe my excitement about this book. Scott’s books never fail to impress me AND I absolutely love dystopian novels. Could there possibly be a better combination? I think not!

Trailer Tuesday (8): Hold Still by Nina LaCour

This trailer has been talked about a lot lately… I saw it quite some time ago and I can honestly say it was the deciding factor in my desire to pick up HOLD STILL by Nina LaCour. I really appreciate the trailers that publishers release (or whoever releases them, I don’t know for sure), but this trailer is made by a fan and is so gorgeous and heartfelt. Plus, the music in the background is Tegan and Sara, one of absolute favorite bands… it fits the mood of the trailer perfectly. And the narrator is awesome… This trailer gives me shivers!

Review: Paper Towns by John Green

Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Books
Date Published: 2008
Genre: YA
Main Themes: Friendship, Runaways, Mystery/Clues, Love
Pages: 305
Plot (from book jacket): “Quentin Jacobson has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Speigelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life – dressed like a ninja and summons him for an ingenious campaign of revenge – he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery, but Q soon learns that there are clues – and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew.”

Paper Towns was my first John Green novel, but it definitely won’t be my last. It was so seriously amazing… there aren’t words to describe my reading experience.

I’m usually not into reading books from the male perspective, but I recently read Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks (which is narrated by a male protagonist) and loved it – and am now working on not being so narrow-minded about my main characters. Q was one of my favorite main characters, so I’m glad I gave Paper Towns a chance.

I think the aspect of this book that really made it amazing was the author, John Green. I’d heard that he was a really amazing, funny guy… something about Nerd Fighters?… but he has some serious writing talent. All the little details, the plot, the dialogue – it was so great… I could not put this book down.

I loved the clues. Margo leaves clues for Quentin to find her and I was trying right along with him to figure them out. I couldn’t stop reading until I found out what happened.

This book was also so freaking funny. I was laughing out loud at 1 am, especially at the end of the book. There is some seriously hilarious dialogue during a road trip… the road trip alone is reason to read this book! 🙂

Ratings (out of 10):
Plot: 10
Characters: 10
Writing Style: 10
Romance: 10
Originality: 10
Total: 50/50 (A!)

There are so many reasons to read this book! Its just one of those books that you have to read…