Not Enough Bookshelves: December 2009

As a compulsive list maker, all year round, I get right into the spirit of it all. Last year though was the first time I actually made a resolution come true. I wrote my first novel. It took much longer than anticipated but I did do it.

So this year maybe I can make two of my five resolutions come true. I’m always one to aim high!

1) A lot of people have been talking about feeling less guilty in 2010 and that’s definitely something I need to work on.

2) Lose the remaining ten pounds of baby weight. This one pretty much HAS to happen by April. I’m going skiing and I still can’t do up my ski trousers and I refuse to buy a new pair.

3) Finish my second novel. The one I started for NaNoWriMo, started again at the beginning of December and started again a week ago. Enough starts I need a middle and an end by March, fingers crossed!

4) Query agents.Yikes

5) Read 50 books. In 2009 I read 66 in 2008 I read 78. The number seems to be going down. I can’t imagine why!

I hope your resolutions go well and that you have a happy, fun and safe New Years Eve celebration.

All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab

Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Gone by Lisa McMann

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney


Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart

Restoring Harmony by Joelle Anthony

Some Girls are by Courtney Summers

The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard

The Hunger Games Book Three  by Suzanne Collins

No covers, as yet, for The Mockingbirds or Ascendant

Audrey Wait! by Robin Benway

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Cracked up to be by Courtney Summers

If You come softly Jacqueline Woodson

Graceling by Kristen Cashore

Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Willow by Julia Hoban

Come back tomorrow when I’ll be doing my ten most eagerly awaited of 2010.

I had a blast counting down and I hope you did too.

to all my guests, all the writers who created those wonderful couples, all my readers, everyone who entered and everyone who left comments.

The Winner is . . . . .

That would be Kate and Will from Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott.

Perfect You is exactly the kind of book I want, when I want some turn my insides squishy romance.

There are many, many things I love about this book but Kate and Will’s blossoming romance is the main one. It has everything I like my romances to have, sarky comments, misunderstandings, and kissing. Lots and lots of kissing!

One of my favourite scenes is when Kate throws her shoe at Will’s head. Although really it’s Kate who deserves to have a shoe thrown at her head, because she is so absolutely blind about everything where Will is concern!  I’m sure you’d rather hear about the kissing though.

So here’s their first kiss. Which just makes me melt.

Every. Single. Time.

I lifted one hand, to either shove him or slap him, and he caught it. caught me. I froze. It wasn’t that I wasn’t angry anymore, because I was, I just felt so much other stuff too, stuff I didn’t even have a name for, and it hit me so hard I couldn’t move. He didn’t either, and as we stared at each other I felt a weird prickling heat, like a blush only stronger, shiver through me, and I knew something was going to happen. And then it did, and he kissed me. My very first kiss. With Will. It was like something out of a dream.

Thanks Elizabeth for writing my couple of the year! I’m wondering if Sarah and Ryan will be featuring next year. (edit: they most certainly will be)

Come back tomorrow for the last guest post and remember to enter the contest!

To celebrate I thought I’d add some books anyway.  So I added the first two Secret Society girl books to the pile.

Then the very lovely Joelle Anthony (whose guest post you can read here) said she’d throw in a Restoring Harmony magnet and post it notes. They have the front cover image on. So pretty.

Then guest poster Daisy Whitney (read her post here) sent me some bookmarks for her debut novel The Mockingbirds. No picture on these ones but they are very pretty and have a great tag line, which will make you even more eager for the book.

So to recap you can now win

A $15 Amazon voucher*
A signed copy of Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott
Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund
Under the Rose by Diana Peterfreund
A signed copy of Rites of Spring (break) by Diana Peterfreund
A signed bookmark of Rampant by Diana Peterfreund
A signed bookmark of The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard
Restoring Harmony magnet and post it notes
A Mockingbirds bookmark.

What are you waiting for!!!!! Go enter HERE

One of my favourite books of all time. I adore Saving Francesca, there is so much going here I could write reams and reams. But we’re talking about couples.

Francesca and Will are so great together and if they’re not still together in The Piper’s Son I shall be devastated.

I loved everything about them. I love their initial sarky interactions, when Francesca corrects Will on who wrote Anna Karina, Tolstoy not Trotsky!

Their banter is perfect. As are their kissing scenes. As is the fact that Will goes off to “shake his foundations” at the end. I love when falling in love frees you to be who you want to be. When the other person doesn’t stifle you or hold you back, but allows you to fly. It’s such a great message, that loving someone shouldn’t diminish who you are.

This is Francesca and Will’s first kiss, which I love, it’s so real. Not at all perfect or romantic but the start of something wonderful.

Will Trombal sees me from the other side of the room and he grins and he makes a beeline for me and my mind is buzzing with the best opening. Hi. Hey. How’s it going? Great party. Love your shirt. Great music. Crap music. And he’s coming closer and closer and the way he’s looking at me makes me think that I’m going to have the most romantic night in the history of my life. I open my mouth to say something and he sticks his tongue down my throat. We’re in a corner, pashing, and I don’t even know what’s got me to this point. A look in a corridor? A flirt outside my nonna’s house? All I know is that no one exists around us. I don’t know whether we’re kissing for five minutes or five hours and my mouth feels bruised, but I can’t let go. Because it feels so good to be held…Will’s arms tremble as they hold me and his heart beats hard against me and I know that whatever I’m feeling is mutual. For a moment I taste the alcohol on his breath, and it brings me back to reality. “Do that sober and I’ll be impressed,” I say before walking away.

My favourite Francesca and Will scene is right at the end though. When Will tells her how he feels about her, but you’ll have to buy the book to read that.

Still time to enter the contest just go here and comment.

Now you may be saying, hang on a minute what about the RULES? SSG aren’t YA and you’ve already had Diana Peterfreund at number 6, with Astrid and Giovanni.

All I can say is, rules are made to be bent a little! I can’t possibly have a favourite couples list and leave these two off. I LOVE them.

So why do I love Amy and Poe so much? I love their snarky exchanges in the beginning, when they can’t stand each other. I love the gradual awakening of feelings, when they have to work together. I love, love, love when they actually start flirting with each other. Lifesavers! (for those who’ve read the books!). I love how they get to their first kiss. I love that we get to see them after the first kiss, struggling to make their relationship work. These two certainly don’t descend into happily ever after coupledom. Most of all, though, I love that they both change. Not for the other, but because of the other. That’s romantic.

Here’s Amy and Poe in action, before any kissing.

He looked down at my hands, which were currently twisting the life out of his handkerchief. I didn’t know anyone our age who used handkerchiefs. And, oddly enough, rather than seeming like another example of his weirdness, it suddenly felt to me like something grand, old-fashioned, a little refined. As that thought occurred to me. I stopped wringing it, lest it tear in my fists. I held it up.
“Uh, keep it,” he said.
“That’s nice of you,” I said.
“Not really,” he said. “It’s covered in your snot.”
Did I say refined? I meant rude. Rude.

Ah classic Amy and Poe, one step forward, ten steps back.

Remember to enter the contest. You could win a signed copy of Rites of Spring(Break) and see what happens with Amy and Poe.

Eileen can be found blogging here.

This book is so much fun and Audrey is fantastic, she’s the kind of person you’d like to have as a friend in real life. I love her and I love her with James. They are so cute together, just adorable.

I love that James is shy and blushes and get’s tongue tied round Audrey, who he’s liked for a long time. I also like that he doesn’t turn into a doormat when he finally gets her. He stands up to her, and challenges her, and helps her work out who she is and what she wants.

I also really like that James is Audrey’s second big relationship. So often girls in book are falling in love for the first time, being kissed for the first time (not that there’s anything wrong with that and I love those kind of books too) but it’s nice to see something else.

And yay for the fact that Audrey’s the one who breaks up with her first boyfriend and she isn’t left heartbroken and inconsolable. She’s out, moving on, with her very awesome, best friend.

Here is Audrey and James first kiss, love it!

“Audrey?”
“Yeah?” We were so close our noses were almost touching.
“Do you think maybe you’d want to go out some time? I mean, with me?”
“Yes.” The answer came so fast that I didn’t even have time to think about it. “Yes.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
“Audrey?”
“Yeah?”
“You. . . have a very pretty mouth.” I could see him blushing, and I wondered if he had ever said something like that to a girl before. “You do. It’s just like. . . yeah. It’s perfect.”
“James?”
“Yeah.” His voice was really quiet, like he was trying not to breathe.
“Do you . . .? Do you want to kiss me?” We were getting closer and closer, and then our noses touched once, twice, before our lips met.
I had my answer.
When we pulled apart we were both gasping a little. “Wow,” I said.
“Is that okay? he asked quickly. “I didn’t mean to-“
“No!” I said. “Don’t apologize, it was fine. I mean it was better than fine, but. . .yeah. Good executive decision. Two thumbs up.”

Today’s guest post is from the fantastic Jordyn of Ten Cents Notes. I don’t know Pam and Jim, having only seen the UK version of The Office but I really want to see them in action now. Another one for the netflicks list!  Thanks for sharing Jordyn.

I often prefer the ordinary over the fantastic. I think there’s a sort of beauty and wonderfulness in things that are everyday.

Huge thanks to E.Lockhart for giving us a glimpse of what’s to come and for writing one of my favourite couples.

Sigh. How can the next four couples beat that? Come back to find out!

The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott 

and it’s SO good. I adored it. Scott at her best. I’ll be writing a proper review nearer the release date but if you’re an Elizabeth Scott fan (and if you’re not why aren’t you?) mark you’re calenders for April 6th or just pre-order it now, you won’t be sorry!

Thanks to James at BookChic for very kindly lending me his copy.

And to keep you going till April you could always go and read Elizabeth’s guest post on her favourite couple!

My favorite couple this year has been on my favorite new television show this year, Glee.  I think Puck and Rachel are a fun couple, putting the real “geek” and the real “cool guy/jerk” together.  I thought the chemistry between them was amazing on that one episode called Mash Up.  I know they broke up in the same episode, but I think there’s more to come between these two characters in future episodes.  It sure is fun to watch! 

Simone Elkeles was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. Her funny way of looking at life and the world around her has an effect on the people she hangs out with. If you hear people laughing, you’ll probably find Simone not far away.
Simone has four teen books in bookstores: Perfect Chemistry, How to ruin a Summer Vactaion, How to Ruin my Teenage Life, Leaving Paradise

Don’t forget to enter the Contest and tell me about your favourite couple.

I was a fan of Noel’s from the very first book. He’s such a sweetheart and he didn’t care about the boyfriend list and he held Ruby’s hand when she needed a friend.

By the time The Treasure Map of Boys came out, I was desperate for them to get together.

Then they did.

But it all went horribly wrong and Noel took Nora to the dance. I was as crushed as Ruby.

Then came the letter.

Oh the letter – sigh! Noel is the YA equivalent of Captain Wentworth*. His letter is to die for.

Here it is

Roo, You said to me once that you were not always a good friend. I am not always a good friend either.

I couldn’t deal with Ariel Olivierie and how I made out with her when I didn’t want to. So that meant I couldn’t deal with you.

I couldn’t deal with all the questions people were asking me about what happened in the art studio, bringing up that stupid boyfriend list from sophmore year. And that meant I couldn’t deal with you.

I have never been able to deal with Jackson Clarke and how he’s always been taller and better-looking and cooler than me. And that meant I couldn’t deal with you.

And I couldn’t deal with Nora and how she wanted me to be her boyfriend when I wasn’t interested. And that meant I couldn’t deal with you.

So I acted like everything was your fault. And I didn’t deal with you.

Only the thing is: I want to deal with you. I meant what I said in the art studio. I still mean it. I told Nora how I feel which was hellish awkward.

Anyway I don’t expect you to understand, since it took me so long to tell you. Way longer than it should have.

But I hope you will understand anyway.

Noel

Looking forward to Roo and Noel finally being together in Real Live Boyfriends. If you’d like a sneak peak of them together come back Monday!

Remember to enter the contest if you haven’t and blog about your favourite couple for an extra 10 entries!

* If you don’t  know who Captain Wentworth is go and read Persuasion by Jane Austen. I guarantee swooning at the end!

I loved this book. I mean it’s about killer Unicorns. It’s my new Buffy. Someone should totally buy the rights for it and get it into a cinema near me!

The main reason I love it (aside from Bonegrinder) is Astrid. She’s tough and vulnerable and confused and clever and clueless and very real.

I’m so glad she gets to be with someone like Giovanni because I think they are perfect for each other. Alternatively sweet, argumentative and incredibly hot! Lots of sexual tension here, given that Astrid loses her Unicorn Hunting powers when she’s no longer a virgin.

I love that Giovanni is strong enough in himself to be with a girl whose physically stronger than him, who can protect him, whose a warrior. 

Which isn’t to say Giovanni doesn’t look after Astrid in different ways. Just not in the traditional way of saving her from the big, bad Unicorns! Rather he helps her become a person who can save herself and everyone else.

I’m really curious to see where their relationship goes in Ascendant. I have my theories!

Here are Astrid and Giovanni in one of their more sizzling moments-

He pressed into the tree and me, and my hair tangled against the bark, but I didn’t care at all. I was barely standing on my own, supported in his arms and against the thigh he he’d somehow wedged between my legs. Heavenly, butterfly-light touches of his fingertips on the skin of my stomach battled with heavy hard kisses. He was holding himself back, but my heart was beating so fast, I thought my veins might pop. “More,” I whispered, and he sighed, a near moan.

“Astrid.” He rested his forehead against mine, breathing hard. “Ti voglio bene.”

Seriously, after this, I don’t know how you’re still a Unicorn Hunter Astrid!

It says something about how many great couples I’ve read this year that Katsa and Po only come in at number seven. I adored this book when I went hunting for the quote below I ended up reading the whole thing again. It’s just so good.

Katsa is a great heroine, her growth in the novel and her journey towards self acceptance and control over her temper and grace are brilliantly handled. As for Po, what can I say, he’s the perfect hero despite having his own demons to battle. I love him for not wanting or expecting Katsa to change for him.

“It would change me to be your wife,” she said.
He watched her eyes. “Yes. I understand you.”
A log fell into the fire. They sat quietly. His voice, when he spoke, was hesitant.
“It strikes me that heartbreak isn’t the only alternative to marriage,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
He ducked his head for a moment. he raised his eyes to her again. “I’ll give myself to you however you’ll take me,” he said, so simply that Katsa found she wasn’t embarrassed. She watched his face.
“And where would that lead?”
“I don’t know, but I trust you.”

Remember to enter the contest and tell me about your own couple of the year and come back tomorrow to hear about Diana Peterfreund‘s favourite couple.

Today’s guest post is from Daisy Whitney author of The Mockingbirds (published by Little, Brown in Fall 2010) I absolutely love the couple she choose. I am dying for them to just get together too. Thanks for sharing Daisy!

I love a good kissing scene as much as the next girl and there are some mighty hot ones I’ve read this year. To name a few, there’s the kiss between Matt and Anna in “Twenty-Boy Summer,” there’s Michael’s affection for Regina’s neck in Courtney Summers “Some Girls Are” and there’s that crazy hot about-to-have-sex-for-the-

Love these two, who seem conform to all the stereotypes about blond, good looking girls and dark latino guys and then break them all. I love that they tell alternating chapters so we get to be inside both their heads and see all their insecurities and demons and of course how their feeling towards each other change. They really do have Perfect Chemistry.

“You gonna kiss me now, or later?”
“Right now,” I say, which I can tell shocks him because his hands go still. At home, my life is dictated by my mom and dad. At school it’s different. I need to keep it that way, because if I have no control in every aspect of my life I might as well be a mannequin.
“Really?” he asks.
“Yeah.” I take one of his hands in mine. I’d never be this bold if we had an audience, and am thankful for the privacy of the nonfiction titles surrounding us. His breathing slows as I sit up on my knees and lean into him. I’m ignoring the fact that his fingers are long and rough and that I’ve never actually touched him before. I’m nervous. I shouldn’t be, though, I’m the one in control this time.
I can feel him restraining himself. He’s letting me make the move, which is a good thing. I’m afraid of what this boy would do if he let loose.
I place his hand against my cheek so it cups my face and I hear him groan. I want to smile because his reatcion proves I have the power.
He’s unmoving as our eyes meet.
Tim stops again.
Then I turn my head into his hand and kiss the inside of his palm.
“There, I kissed you,” I say, giving him back his hand and ending the game.
Mr Latino with the big ego got bested by a ditzy, blone bimbo.

OooOoo, longing glances, hands brushing, sneaking around. I do love forbidden passion! Mary and Travis certainly wrack up the tension in this book and there’s zombies too!

He nods. He understands. And then he takes my hand and presses his lips against my palm. It feels like fire entering my blood steam and laying siege to my body. He kisses my wrist, and I am an inferno. He starts to move up my arm, his breath tantalizing, and I almost give in as he pulls me to him.

Give in, Mary, give in!!!

Remember if you write a blog post about your favourite couple you get an extra 10 points in the contest. To enter go here!

 Today’s guest post is from Anna Jarzab, author of All Unquiet Things (published  January 12th 2010  by Delacorte) and writer of one of my favourite blogs. She is alternatively informative and hilarious and sometimes both together.  I love the couple she picked. Thanks so much for sharing Anna.

It took me a long time to think of who my favorite couple is. I was really tempted to talk about Mulder and Scully–I mean, REALLY tempted. I also thought about writing about Veronica and Logan from Veronica Mars, Jim and Pam from The Office, Chuck and Blair from Gossip Girl, and Joan and Adam from Joan of Arcadia. But none of those felt quite right.

Then I was sitting at my computer one day, sifting through the Watch Instantly options on Netflix, when I saw the third season of Friday Night Lights. I love FNL, but I’d only watched the first season, and for various plot related reasons I’d decided to skip most of the second. Nevertheless, I turned on the third season and got totally sucked in. Matt Saracen is my anti-drug.

But even though I love many couples on that show–Lyla and Tim (actually, her relationship with Tim Riggins is the only thing that can make Lyla palatable to me), Matt and Julie, Tyra and Landry–one obviously stands above the rest: Tami and Eric Taylor. It’s so amazingly rare to see a happily married couple portrayed on television. The FNL writers don’t even seem to have considered for one second that for the sake of salacious ratings mongering they might force one of the Taylors to cheat on or leave the other. That would just never happen; the Taylors are totally devoted, 100% a true team. In one season three episode, Eric says to Tami, “You are the best friend, mother, and lover a man could have.” It was the “friend” part that really got me. I almost started weeping on the spot.

The way they stand behind and support each other is truly remarkable. Even when their interests diverge, they find a way to work back to each other in the end. In season three, it happens more and more, because Tami is the principal of Dillon High and Eric is the head football coach–meaning that Tami’s dedication to academics and Eric’s prioritization of football often come to loggerheads. Any disagreement between them arises from natural tensions, as opposed to obstacles manufactured by writers. Things Eric chooses to ignore simply out of disinterest (like the Jumbotron fiasco) are some of Tami’s greatest battles, and he finds a way to be on her side regardless. They’re both good parents and good people, and they make a good team.

Eric and Tami Taylor are great examples for people trying to figure out how to write characters that feel, sound and act like real people. The whole show, in fact, is a great example of drawing drama out of realistic events and situations, rather than creating it for sweeps just to abandon it with no consequences an episode or two later (I’m looking at you, Gossip Girl). Even if you don’t care about football, it’s hard not to become obsessed with the show, because it feels so real and everyday, yet manages to be so interesting and sad and heartwarming and wonderful. But it’s really the characters that make it special–every single plotline feeds straight out of character, which is how all works of fiction should be–and Tami and Eric are the greatest examples of that.

Anna Jarzab grew up entirely in the suburbs, first outside of Chicago and then in San Francisco’s East Bay area, where All Unquiet Things is set. She graduated from Santa Clara University, earned her Master’s degree from the University of Chicago, and currently lives in New York City. All Unquiet Things is her first novel.

Remember to enter the contest and come back tomorrow to find out couple number nine!

My favorite fictional couple of the year…

You know, I have agonized over this for weeks. I wanted to pick a book, and I have read some truly great ones this year–but in the end, I have to go with a couple that isn’t actually a couple, but that has gotten me through one of the longest, strangest, and hardest years of my life.

And that couple that isn’t quite a couple?

Nicholas Angel and Danny Butterman from Hot Fuzz, a movie which was released with very little fanfare (at least in the US) in 2007.

I first heard about the movie from my friend Jess, who swore up and down that I *had* to see it. I love Jess, but I wasn’t sure–a British comedy about action movies? How much funny could there be in that, really?

Turns out, there is a *lot* of fun to be had. Hot Fuzz takes every conceivable Hollywood action movie stereotype–from the obviously too-tightly wound but dedicated police office and his new, and more laid-back partner, all the way to not one, but multiple fake-out endings. Think of anything and everything you’ve seen in an action movie, and Hot Fuzz takes that and twists it into something sharper and funnier than anything you’ve ever seen.

Now, as for my couple that isn’t a couple–what the makers of Hot Fuzz did, and what I never fail to enjoy when I watch the movie (and I have watched it many, many times this past year), is how they take the inevitable homoerotic subtext that comes with an action movie and make it sweet, charming–and push it close to text. As the director of the movie, Edgar Wright, said, “It’s platonic man-love. It’s “Brokeback Precinct.””

I love Nicholas Angel and Danny Butterman for many reasons, but the main reason I love them is that whenever I watch Hot Fuzz, I know I’ll see a movie that not only makes me care about the characters, but offers an interesting and nuanced take on action movies wrapped in an incredibly awesome package of funny.

In short, whenever I watch Hot Fuzz, I get to see a great movie.

Don’t believe me? Check this out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?

What?

I’m sure you agree with me that there can be no team Matt!

Unless this was a ghost story and even if it were I would still be Team Sam. He is quite clearly the better choice. He’s sweet and funny and there for Anna when she needs someone to listen and he doesn’t have any of that “this has to be a secret” crap going on. Oh and he’s a good kisser too.

Everything stops mattering. The cold is gone. Time is gone. The ocean stops whispering. I turn my face to his, his eyes unmoving, and everything around me stops, suspended. Sam grabs hold of the front of his sweatshirt with me inside and pulls it to him.. My arms move around him, his around me, and he kisses me, so hot and severe that I feel it all the way in my toes.

See much better than frosting covered kisses.

Remember to enter the contest and tell me about your own favourite couple and be sure to come back tomorrow and hear about Elizabeth Scott’s couple of the year.

Christmas is the perfect time for romance. Bing Crosby singing, candlelight, strolls in the snow. Some of my favourite romances happen during the festive season.

So to celebrate the holidays and all the fantastic books I’ve read this year, I am having a Christmas Countdown of my top 10 couples.

To make it easier I made rules

1) They had to come from books I’d read this year (otherwise it might have been top 100)
2) They had to be YA books, seeing as that’s what the blog is all about.
3) Only one book by each author can feature (otherwise it might have been a Elizabeth Scott fest)

So over the next 24 days I shall be telling you about my favourite couples of 2009 and why I love them so.

Even more excitingly some fabulous authors and bloggers have joined in and written about their favourite couples.

AND as Christmas is a time of giving, I have some gifts to give away. In the prize pack there is:

A $15 Amazon voucher*
A signed copy of Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott
A signed copy of Rites of Spring (break) by Diana Peterfreund
A signed bookmark of Rampant by Diana Peterfreund
A signed bookmark of The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard

AND if we get to 50 entries I will add some more things, so spread the word, please!

Here are the rules to enter

Leave a comment on this post

You get TEN extra entries if you blog about your own favourite couple AND link back here (please include a link to your post in the comments). I hope people do this I’d love to know which couples you guys loved this year and why, and you don’t need to follow my rules, choose whoever you like.

The contest is only open to people with a US or Canada mailing address (sorry but books are heavy)

The winner will be drawn at random, on Christmas Eve, and will hopefully get their books in time for the New Year.

Have fun. I hope you guys enjoy it and HUGE thanks to all my guests and readers.

* if you’d rather have a voucher for B&N or an Independent bookstore I’m totally happy to send that instead. You’ll just have to wait longer 🙂