Blog Tour: Swept Away (Sixteenth Summer)

Title: Sixteenth Summer

Series: Swept Away

Author: Michelle Dalton

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: May 5, 2015

Beachfront love blossoms in this refreshing summer romance, in the tradition of Sixteenth Summer and Seventeenth Summer.

Mandy Sullivan isn’t exactly looking forward to the summer months as tourists invade her seaside hometown on the coast of Maine. Her best friend, Cynthia, has abandoned her for camp and her older brother just announced he’ll be staying at college taking classes for the summer, leaving Mandy with nothing to do and no one to hang out with. Hoping to keep herself busy, Mandy takes a volunteer job at the Rocky Pointe Lighthouse. On her very first day, Oliver Farmingham asks for a private tour. A new—and incredibly cute—face in Rocky Pointe, Oliver seems more interested in Mandy than the lighthouse and its history.

Without her best friend at her side, Mandy is scrambling to act the right way and say the right things when Oliver is around. Cynthia—not Mandy—has always been the confident, flirtatious girl that everyone wanted to be around. As Mandy and Oliver spend more time together exploring the coast, biking through the woods, and attending the local summer festivals, their budding friendship becomes much more. But with Mandy’s insecurities creeping to the surface, can she open her heart to someone who will only be in town for three months?

Official Playlist for Swept Away

Today, Michelle Dalton is sharing the official playlist for her novel,  Swept Away.

1.  "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons
2. "Shake it Off" by Taylor Swift
3. "Roar" by Katy Perry
4. "Happy" by Pharrell
5. "Rock Lobster" by The B-52s (where the cover band at the Lupine Festival got their name)
6. "Hot Hot Hot" by Arrow
7. "Summer Nights" from the musical Grease (for Cynthia)
8. "From the Night" by Stars
9. "Sugar" by Maroon 5
10. "Everything Has Changed" by Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran

From Carla Jablonski's Goodreads Profile

About Michelle Dalton

Michelle Dalton is one of the many names Carla Jablonski uses when writing. Her two YA novels written as Carla Jablonski (published by Razorbill/Penguin), Thicker than Water and Silent Echoes, were included on the NYPL Books for the Teen Age list, and her graphic novel trilogy Resistance (illustrated by Leland Purvis, published by :01 Books) has won several awards, including the Sydney Taylor Silver Medal. In addition to writing novels she is an actor, playwright, and former trapeze artist. A native New Yorker, she is eternally grateful to her friends who invite her to their beach houses.

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Click the Image to see the rest of the blogs on the Swept Away tour!

Waiting on Wednesday (25)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly bookish meme created and hosted by Jill at her blog, Breaking the Spine. The meme helps blogger spotlight the upcoming releases that we are eagerly waiting on. Get it? I love participating in this meme because it allows me to share upcoming releases that I want to read in a more personal way.

Participating in the meme is a piece of cake! All you need to do is make a post about an upcoming release that you're waiting on, make sure you've linked back to Breaking the Spine, and then add your name to the link-up tool.

What I'm Waiting On...

Title: Dumplin'

Author: Julie Murphy

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Expected Publication: September 15, 2015

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine— Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

Why I'm Waiting...

I'm not sure if many of my readers know this about me, but I'm also a self-proclaimed fat girl. I've battled with my weight for years, and certain health reasons make it so much harder to actually lose weight. I feel like YA lacks books about plus-size girls, so I am very excited to have the chance to read another one after having loved Kelsey Macke's Damsel Distressed. I can't wait to see how Julie Murphy portrays Willowdean, and I'm already one hundred percent positive that I'm going to love this one.

What Are You Waiting On...

Now I want to hear from you! What book or books are you waiting on? As always, feel free to let me know in the comments. You can also leave a link to your own Waiting on Wednesday posts! I'd love to check them out and add more books to my ever-growing TBR list!

Happy reading!

ARC Review: A Tale of Two Besties

Title: A Tale of Two Besties

Author: Sophia Rossi

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: May 12, 2015

Source: Unsolicited ARC from Penguin

Goodreads | Amazon

“If there’s one thing Sophia Rossi understands completely–it’s besties. Only an ultimate BFF like Sophia could create the super-special bond that Harper and Lily have in A TALE OF TWO BESTIES .” —Lauren Conrad

“Plumbing the depths of friendship and cliques, this debut novel will speak to fans of Rossi’s popular website, HelloGiggles, as well as all girls trying to discover their own identity while learning what it means to really be friends.” — Booklist

*Featuring a foreword by 'New Girl' star Zooey Deschanel*

Perfect for fans of Kody Keplinger's  The DUFF  by and Morgan Matson's  Since You've Been Gone,  the delightfully funny debut novel A TALE OF TWO BESTIES is full of giggles and surprises.   

Best friends. BFFs. Soul twinsies. Whatever you want to call them, Harper and Lily were born to be besties. With high school just around the corner, casual-cool Cali girl Harper and awkward, always-costumed Lily make sure to text each other every day about their bond:

Harper: I love you so much that I am going to sneak out of detention to pay that guy from Craigslist $100 to cut off all your hair for my secret collection.
Lily: I love you so much I’m going destroy everyone in your life that matters and force you to depend and love only me.
Harper: That sounds beautiful. I love you.

Not even the threat of different high schools could throw this BFFship off-course, even if Lily begs her parents not to send her to the “dreaded Pathways," a special school for creative types, while effortlessly-popular Harper attends Beverly High with the rest of their class.

But in a city where fitting in means standing out and there’s nothing more uncool than being cool, it’s the naturally charismatic Harper--with her blond hair and perfect bone structure--who finds herself fighting the tide of American Apparel’d teens who rule the school. Meanwhile, it’s the perpetually “gawkward” Lily--who accessories every ensemble with a pair of tattered fairy wings--who finds herself flying alongside the queen bees of Pathways. Can BFF-ship survive the tidal wave of HS drama, or does growing up mean leaving some friends behind?

“It's like my twins stepped out of the eighties and dropped down into today. Deliciously funny with heart.” – Francine Pascal, bestselling author and creator of the Sweet Valley High series

My Review

They were the best of friends, they were the worst of friends. "It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness." (Come on... it called for it!) But I didn't care enough about besties Harper and Lily and their coming-of-age story to see this book through to the end and get a resolution. 

So... what exactly went wrong with this book for me? If you are my friend or follow me on Goodreads, you would have seen a positive status update about how cute I thought the book was in the beginning. The girls were a great pair and funny, and I was loving their friendship. Unfortunately, it went way downhill from there. I had to call it quits on this debut novel by Sophia Rossi at 59% because it was annoying and a tad too immature. Also, some of the language made infuriated me.

What could possibly be wrong with the language, you say? Well for starters, it's full of a lot of Internet lingo. Okay... not necessarily the worst thing in the world, especially in a YA because kids do speak like that in real life. I kind of expected that, but it's a bit overdone. But then it gets offensive with some body shaming and slut shaming. Say what? Like really? I was not expecting that, but in Harper's narrative, she shames a girl for hanging on a guy like a "slutty poncho." I kid you not. There are also lines about the same girls "impressive thigh gap" that come off as sarcastic and rude. Yeah... not my cup of tea.

The two main characters, Harper and Lily, are the most basic girls I've ever come across in YA literature, and it's funny because they make fun of basic girls throughout their narratives. Yes, they live in Los Angeles, California, but that doesn't mean they have to be airheads about a lot of things. Both lose their sense of self so early on in the book, and it becomes cringe-worthy watching these two feed on all the drama in their freshman year of school. Harper lies one night to fit in while Lily's naïveté causes her to befriend the cliché mean girl and transform her into someone who she's really not. It's been done before.

I couldn't deal with the immaturity and the "problems" that these two privileged girls had in the book. Some of the problems were real, like feeling lost when your best friend is no longer a physical presence in your every day life, but some of them were brought on by incredibly foolish behavior that they know is wrong. 

It definitely felt a little young and immature for YA if you ask me. I'm sure younger readers (ones moving from Middle Grade to YA) will eat this up and really enjoy it, especially if they like reading about drama-ridden lives. But if you aren't a fan of drama filled books, steer clear of this one.

April 2015 Wrap Up

Well... I know I'm technically three days late on posting my April Wrap Up, but it seemed like a better post idea for a lazy Sunday. Besides, it's not like I really hold myself to posting a wrap up post on the first of every month. I don't even think I posted a March one. Oops.

Anyway... Can you believe that April is gone already? Seriously... where is the time going this year? It's so hard to believe that we're already in the fifth month of the year.

I guess you could say that I had a pretty good reading month in April, but I think I was in a reading slump. I read quite a few books that just didn't impress me, and it bummed me out a little bit.

Books I Read in April 2015

• Narvla's Celtic New Year by Therese Gilardi - This cute, little book was a NetGalley approval for me, and I enjoyed it. It's light and fluffy, and it would be the perfect kind of book for when you're stuck inside on a rainy day. If you're interested in reading my review, it can be found here.
• Judy Blume by Kathleen Krull - This book is a part of the Women Who Broke the Rules series (a children's book series being published by Bloomsbury), and I thought it was wonderful. I'm sure kids will love reading and learning about the one and only Judy Blume. My review will be posted in June.
• Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson - I felt so left out because I hadn't read this title, so I gave it a try. It was good, but it wasn't the greatest book for me. My review can be found here.
• Kissing in America by Margo Rabb - This title releases later this month, and it's so good! I'm on the blog tour, so you'll be able to see my full review on May 21. 
• Wild Hearts by Jessica Burkhart - This sickly sweet book releases on May 5. If you ask me, it was cute, but just a little too cute for my tastes. If you're interested in seeing what I had to say about it, please read my review.
• Boo by Neil Smith - This giveaway win was a DNF for me. My review will be posted soon.
• All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven - Again... I felt like I was missing out on something, so I read this book, and unfortunately, it was not a home run. There were just too many flaws for me to see it as this literary masterpiece that people are calling it. My review can be found here.

Looking Forward

May should be an eventful month for me. I'm currently tutoring two students, and with that, comes reading some books, and I might review them on the blog. I'll also be away for a few days later in the month as I'll be chaperoning a field trip.

Although I'm not able to go attend BEA, it looks like I'll be participating in Armchair BEA, an online blog event. The schedule can be found here, and if you're interested, feel free to register.

I've also got a lot of review copies on deck, so be prepared for reviews! I know I said that last month, and I failed miserably, but I didn't have very many April ARCs. So far, I have Boo and Kissing in America scheduled, but I've got a bunch of great titles for May and early June still to read and review.

Also, my sister is currently reading through Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen, so she'll be making her first guest appearance on the blog. Be sure to stop by on the day that she reviews it to say hi and introduce yourselves. We might make this a regular thing for her because she loves YA too.

Soundtrack Saturday (25)

Welcome back to another Soundtrack Saturday, everyone! I hope your weekend is great and that you're getting everything you want to accomplish done.

As you might remember, there was a three-week hiatus on my Soundtrack Saturday posts, but they are back! If you've been following The Hardcover Lover for a while, you know that I have my own small, little bookish meme. Yup! That's right - Soundtrack Saturday!

If you've never noticed the meme before or are just new to the blog, I'll explain things for you:

Soundtrack Saturday is a book meme created and hosted by me so I can share my love of music with my readers. But this is a book blog, so of course, books are involved! The soundtracks are actually book soundtracks! As I'm reading, or as soon as I finish, I compile a list of songs that go well with the book.

As with all bookish memes, there are a few steps to follow to help you create your own Soundtrack Saturday post:

• Choose a book that you've read or that you're currently reading (it doesn't matter... just as long as it's a book)
• Create a mini (four songs) or full soundtrack (ten-fifteen songs) for that book based on characters and plot details
  • For more detailed instructions, please visit the meme's homepage.
• Please credit me somewhere in your post
  
  • It can be as simple as "Soundtrack Saturday was created and hosted by Erin at The Hardcover Lover."
• Leave a comment on my blog post if you enjoy the feature or want me to check out your Soundtrack Saturday post (Hint hint... I check them all out, and I leave a comment on them. I also Tweet their links!)
• Add your name to the link-up tool at the bottom of the post so other people can see your post

The Friday 56 (20)

The Friday 56 is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. The rules are super easy to follow, and this feature is a great way to share the books you're reading with other bloggers and readers. I've discovered so many great books through this meme, and I always have a blast trying to figure out what quote I like the most.

So what do you need to do to participate in The Friday 56?

• Go to page 56 (or 56% for e-readers like Kindle and Nook) of the book you're currently reading
• Grab a few sentences to share with your blog's readers, but be sure not to spoil anything too major
• Add your name and link to the link-up on Freda's blog

This week/weekend, I'm yet again reading a few books, and one of them is the upcoming YA thriller, The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman. It's the second book about a kidnapping that I've read this year. I'm not too far in, and the last page I actually read was page 56, which is a transcript of an interview.

Detective Wyatt: So did you see him drinking?
Helen Handley: It was New Year's. Everybody was drinking. But Stevie went to bed after dinner. He was in bed before the ball dropped.
DET: Why was he so tired, Helen?
HH: He's been under a lot of stress. He hasn't been on a good schedule lately.
DET: Why has he been under so much stress?
HH: You know why.
DET: I want to hear it from you.