TTT: Top Ten Author Duos You’d LOVE To See Write A Book Together

This feature is hosted by the lovely ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish.

I wasn’t sure how easy or hard this topic would be, but I wanted to give myself a challenge. Go check out my dream parings.

Emery Lord & Jessi Kirby
-If these two ever wrote a book together, I would need to stockpile a LOT of kleenex to get through their book-

Sarah J. Maas & Marie Lu
-These two write badass ladies and have beautiful writing. Imagine how amazing their collaboration would be –

Mary E. Pearson & Renee Ahdieh
-Okay, someone needs to make this happen. Badass ladies again plus fabulous world building-

Christa Desir & Courtney Summers
-I have a feeling if these two EVER wrote a book together, I’d need a drink to calm the hell down-

Tamara Ireland Stone & Courtney C. Stevens
-These two write characters that are wonderfully & heartbreakingly real. I would lose my crap if they ever wrote a book together-

Brandy Colbert & Tess Sharpe
-Two of my favorite & most underrated authors. Both of these ladies wrote books that broke my heart, and pushed the envelope on those tough topics-

Francesca Zappia & Katrina Leno
-These two wrote about mental illnesses in heartbreakingly real ways and they both exceeded my expectations when I did read their beautiful books-

Becky Albertalli & Amy Zhang
-This is a bit of a wild card pick, but Amy’s writing is stunning and Becky’s first book was quirky and adorable. I’d be thrilled if they wrote a book together-

Trish Doller & Peggy Kern
-These two authors have written some of my favorite books. Books that have been hard to read at times, but awesome books nonetheless. If they wrote a book together, it would probably be raw, realistic and amazing-

Abigail Haas & Amanda Panitch
-These ladies are the QUEENS of mind fuckery. My goodness, if they EVER wrote a book together, I’d probably spontaneously combust-

If you did a TTT post this week, leave me the link in the comment section. If we have any of the same picks, don’t forget to tell me.

TTT: Top Ten (Or More) Auto Buy Authors

This weekly feature is hosted by the ladies of The Broke and the Bookish

This week we’re talking about the authors that we consider our auto buy authors. This list was pretty easy for me. I don’t think most of you will be surprised by the authors on my list.

Emery Lord

Brandy Colbert

Tess Sharpe

Stephanie Kuehn

Courtney C. Stevens

Jessica Verdi

Kate Karyus Quinn

Trish Doller

Suzanne Young

Corey Ann Haydu

Rachael Allen

So do we share any of the same auto buy authors? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far This Year

This feature is hosted by the ladies of The Broke and the Bookish

This was a fun list. I didn’t have any problems coming up with the Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far This Year. My list is overwhelmingly filled with contemporaries, which really shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Unhinged (Splintered #2) by A.G. Howard

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

Pointe by Brandy Colbert

The Summer I Wasn’t Me by Jessica Verdi

Prisoner of Night and Fog (Prisoner of Night and Fog #1) by Anne Blankman

The Taking (The Taking #1) by Kimberly Derting

Where The Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

My Life Next Door (My Life Next Door #1) by Huntley Fitzpatrick

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

So let me know if you’ve read any of these or if you want to. Also, if you did a TTT this week, be sure to leave the link to your post in the comments.

I Love YA

Why do some people think it’s okay to judge others?  Why do people feel the need to tell others what they should or should not read? If you’re confused right now, that’s good because I too, am confused. Slate.com posted an article yesterday on how adults should be ashamed if they’re reading Young Adult books. I have not read the article, but mostly because I like my blood pressure the way it is thank you. I know enough about the article to get me fuming.

Newsflash morons, I’m 28 years old and I LOVE YA.

Many of the YA books I’ve read in the past year have been beautifully written with characters that are wonderfully real. A year ago, I didn’t know what YA was or anything else about it. But I never would have told anyone “they shouldn’t read it”

If people want to read historical fiction, good. If people want to read erotica, good for them. Just read something. And DON’T judge others for what they want to read.

After Slate posted that article, all of my book buddies decided to promote YA instead. We wanted to be positive & uplifting instead of negative and judgmental. So, for the next several hours we talked YA up. We talked about our favorite YA books and why they were our favorites. I wanted to share my list of books that I talked up.

Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens
Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi
OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu
Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor
Pointe by Brandy Colbert

All of these books are YA Contemporaries, and all of them are beautiful. They deal with tough things. They deal with friendship and love and heartbreak. Each of these books has touched me in some way. These are the books that reminded me most that life isn’t perfect. Life isn’t always rainbows and kittens. Life is messy. Life is complicated.

So I want everyone to tell me one book you loved. Let’s spread the positivity.

The Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry

So normally I would have done this on Tuesday with everyone else but I had something else scheduled for that day. However this feature is still hosted by the ladies of The Broke & The Bookish no matter when I post this.

This week’s topic was The Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry. This post was both easy and hard for me as I cry a lot when I’m reading. So I may or may not be able to keep it to ten books. We shall see. I’ll try to keep them in order but no promises.
1.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K.Rowling.

This book destroyed me. I cried so much and so hard that I was essentially hyperventilating on the floor of my (ex) best friend’s bedroom floor. I seriously considered sending JKR my therapy bill after this one. I mean…really Jo. Why kill them. Yes I’m being vague for the few people who haven’t finished the series yet.Chapters 32 & 33 did serious emotional damage.

2.

The Program (The Program #1) by Suzanne Young

This book had me basically locked in a fetal position for pretty much the entire book. I loved it, I adored it and I repeatedly told people that it was my favorite read of 2013. I pushed this book so many times but also told people to load up on kleenex.

3.

Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

It’s been no secret that I loved this book. I’ve basically told everyone what an amazingly beautiful and heartbreaking book this is. It’s beautifully written and it made me cry so much. To the point of having to catch my breath between the sobs.

4. 

If You Leave (Beautifully Broken #2)

Okay first of all Courtney Cole is a goddess. She knows how to write wonderfully real characters that people can relate to. I loved this story as I could relate so well to Madison and what she experienced as a child. I understood why her childhood experiences made her tentative about love.Watching her realize that she was not going to be her mom and that she deserved love was beautiful and it filled me with a lot of hope.

5. 

Where The Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

Beautiful book about family and how you can overcome things. That just because you experienced things that no child should ever experience, does not mean you are “tainted” or “dirty” or unlovable. Watching Callie evolve from being fiercely loyal to her mom and suspicious of her dad and stepmom to realizing that her dad wanted only the best for her and her mom wasn’t it, was beautiful and at the same time, heart wrenching.

6.

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

There were two parts that I cried over but they were major parts that involved major characters. I remember finishing the book and just being heartbroken at some of the things that happened. It involved killing off my favorite male character (which I STILL haven’t forgiven Suzanne for) I am not looking forward to those parts in the book.

7.

Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor

This book was more than just another one of those “cancer books” It was a book about loyalty, family and friendship. I remember vividly, finishing my e-ARC of this and just sobbing so hard I was sure I was going to puke. It was beautiful and heartbreaking and gosh just so wonderful.

8.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

So I cried in this book as did many MANY other people. Yet it was funny too which I didn’t expect from a “cancer book” However the last 75 or so pages, I sobbed. It was so heartbreaking and at times I couldn’t believe that this was happening. At this point, I ran out of kleenex so I had to use paper towels.

9.

Pushing The Limits (Pushing The Limits #1) by Katie McGarry

I probably could have put this one further up on the list but I had forgotten about some of the others on the list. Or maybe my brain helped me forget how much I cried over this one. Not sure. Anyway, this book was beautiful and both Noah’s and Echo’s back stories were heartbreaking and pretty much caused a flood of tears through a good chunk of the book.

10.

The Summer I Wasn’t Me by Jessica Verdi

Now this one doesn’t come out until April but I read it and loved it. I cried through a lot of it. The journey that Lexi goes through is inspiring that alone was enough to make me cry. Not to mention the crap that one of her friends’ goes through.

-Honorable Mentions-

Dare You To (Pushing The Limits #3) by Katie McGarry

I love Beth and reading her story was heartbreaking. She is so fiercely loyal to her mom which I understand because I am the same way. Yet she knows that her mom is an adult and she insists on making bad choices. My heart ached for Beth.

The Sea Of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Beautiful writing and beautiful characters. I had managed not to cry until the very end and that’s when the tears started falling. These characters were great characters and I found myself rooting for the couple but also liking Josh’s best friend.

OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu

Yet another amazing debut. Corey Ann Haydu managed to be raw and honest about OCD and the various forms it takes while giving us characters to root for, to smile with and to laugh with. OCD Love Story made me cry mostly because I know what it’s like to deal with OCD on a daily basis and Corey Ann Haydu portrayed it wonderfully. 

So there ya go. What books were on your TTT this week? Put your links in the comments and I’ll do my best to stop by.

Review: Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

Book Title: Faking Normal

Author: Courtney C. Stevens

Release Date: February 25th, 2014

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Link: Amazon, Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

An edgy, realistic, and utterly captivating novel from an exciting new voice in teen fiction.

Alexi Littrell hasn’t told anyone what happened to her over the summer. Ashamed and embarrassed, she hides in her closet and compulsively scratches the back of her neck, trying to make the outside hurt more than the inside does.

When Bodee Lennox, the quiet and awkward boy next door, comes to live with the Littrells, Alexi discovers an unlikely friend in “the Kool-Aid Kid,” who has secrets of his own. As they lean on each other for support, Alexi gives him the strength to deal with his past, and Bodee helps her find the courage to finally face the truth.

A searing, poignant book, Faking Normal is the extraordinary debut novel from an exciting new author-Courtney C. Stevens.

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from HarperTeen via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

This book took me on an emotional ride from start to finish. This debut is an amazing one and Courtney Stevens manages to capture everything just perfectly. Books like this tend to be some of my absolute favorites and this one was no exception.

Over the summer things abruptly changed for Alexi. Now, in order to keep her secret quiet, she must act normal. Act like everything is okay. But it’s not okay. She seeks comfort in scratching her neck to try and dull the pain she’s dealing with. She retreats to her safe haven, her closet whenever she can

Her friends Heather and Liz have no idea what’s going on and Alexi knows she can’t tell them. It would ruin everything for them as well. Alexi believes that she can keep this secret because she doesn’t want her friends and family to have their worlds turned upside down as well.

Then comes Bodee Lennox. He was an unexpected surprise. He had his own demons to deal with and yet he was willing to help Alexi with hers.Slowly but surely Alexi begins to open up to him in a way that she hasn’t been able to open up to anyone since the summer.

In so many YA books, authors put certain topics as taboo topics. Yet Courtney does not. These teenagers talk about sex openly and not in a disgusting way. There’s no pressure to be in love before you have sex so it doesn’t get all preachy, which I am extremely thankful for. 

Before Alexi realizes it, she’s grown stronger emotionally and she’s ready to tell the world what happened. Even if it ruins the lives of her family and friends. She knows now that she has to do it. Bodee is the reason behind it. He encourages her to come forward with what she knows. He knows she doesn’t want to but he also knows that she needs to tell everyone so she can begin the healing process.

As much as this story was about Alexi and her journey to begin the healing process, this story was also about Bodee and how he was going to be his mom’s voice unlike before. Bodee was the standout character in this book. I loved him. Like a lot. He was amazing and the way he cared about Alexi was sweet without being cheesy.

I absolutely didn’t like her older sister Kayla. She seemed very immature for being 8 years older than Alexi. Yet at the end of this book, she turned into the sister that Alexi desperately deserved which of course made me really happy.

Before I forget, I need to gush about the writing for a bit. How absolutely gorgeous it was. It reminded me a lot of Katja Millay’s writing but Courtney still maintained her own voice in her writing. So it was beautiful, reminiscent of Katja Millay’s writing but it was still unique which I really loved. 

This book had all the feels and the amazing characters in it. It was an indescribable book. I am sure I’ll have a hangover from this book for awhile. It was that amazing and sob inducing. So sob inducing in fact that I ran out of kleenex and had to sob in my sweatshirt sleeve. Five stars to this amazing contemporary debut.