Z final post!

My sincerest apologies for not posting on Saturday for Y. I thought I had scheduled something but realized too late that I had not. And I was away for the weekend...a fabulous B&B for a writing retreat with 7 other Western NY Romance Writers!! And there was no wi-fi...so that meant I was not blogging from there.

Anyway, my Y post is YA!

Here are the last three YA books I read and completely ADORED!!!!

I have always loved young adult literature, far after I was the targeted age for reading it. But these days, it doesn't matter. I think just as many adults read YA as teens. It just goes to show that these stories of youth are just as captivating as adult stories. I personally enjoy coming of age stories. YA brings me back to a time when I was clueless and those first flutters of love.....ah....so fun!

And for Z.......well, that's a hard one. All I could think of was the comical suggestion my friend Jessica Topper made...Zoolander. But I did come up with a better one!

ZOMBIELAND!!!

Zombieland holds a special place in my heart, though I am so not into gore at all! But this was comical gore.

In April 2010, I won concert tickets for a NKOTB show in Hollywood! It was a radio contest and it seriously was one of the most exciting things to ever happen to me. The record company had arranged for us to arrive at 4 ish on show day and leave the next morning at 11 am. Not much time for flying across the entire country. So, since it was Southwest, who does not charge a fee for flight changes, we changed our outgoing flight to the day before and we arrived at LAX by noon. That gave us about a day and half for sightseeing. We squished a lot into that time, including the filming of a movie. We had no clue what we were watching on Hollywood Boulevard that morning at 9 am, but we were intrigued. We had seen Woody Harelson riding on his Seqway earlier and then during the filming too. We heard someone say the name of the movie was Zombieland. We said "Cool" and made plans to see it when it came out. So yeah, the scene when they pull up to Grauman's Chinese Theater in the yellow Hummer to grab a map of the stars' homes and shoot a zombie who runs over....we were so there!

So that's it! The Challenge is over!!!! Hope you all enjoyed my posts!! I have so enjoyed reading yours!!!

A-Z Challenge Day 22- U is for...

First of all....I'm interrupting the A-Z Challenge for my guest post on Cassandra Carr's blog!!!! I've "interviewed" my main character from the Karma Collection, Lexi Marshall! You must go check it out, for a mini dose of Lexi-ness! Preview: You get to find out the sex of Lexi's baby on the way...and what happened after Karma Kameleon ended!!

And...back to regularly scheduled programming......Us is for Uglies!!

As in, The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld!

I can't even remember how I heard about these books, but they sounded interesting so I snagged them from my local library. OMG! Sucked me right in!!!

These books were my first jump into science fiction dystopian type books. I had never read anything like that before. And I really liked it. A whole alternative world...a glimpse into what the world could be like years form now. Parts were sad...they way civilization as we know it has completely crumbled. I sure hope these kinds of books are just fiction and not a fortune teller. There was a little bit of romance to satisfy my heart, so that helped too :)

Review! Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

I really enjoyed this book! And that's saying a lot since I am a girly girl. I do not enjoy sports what so ever (well...I play golf, but that doesn't really count! LOL!)

Anyway, the main character, Jordan, is a true tomboy. It was interesting to read about and get in the head of someone who is so opposite me. And it completely sucked me in. It kept me completely glued and I read it pretty fast (for me...considering my reading time is kinda limited lately.) But there were at least a few nights I did not want to set it down and go to bed. Stayed up late last night to finish it. Just had to see how it ended.

I liked the boy BFF and the fact that she does eventually make some good friendships with girls. LOVED the relationship with the new boy and his story was really compelling. I like that they stayed friends at the end..even after breaking up.

One thing keeping me from giving this book 5 stars is the fact that I didn't cry once. Silly reason, I know, but for me, a perfect book makes me laugh and cry. :) And it is a bit far-fetched at times. i'm not sure any girl will go from first kiss to sex within that short of time. And I have to point out, as my hubby did to me, it is pretty far-fetched for a Division 1 college team to play a female.

Great job on the author's part...will definitely read more of her work :)

This is my third read for the Chick Lit Challenge! Wanna know more...click here!

Book giveaway!!

Wicked Good Books is running a contest and giving away 20 Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler!!!!!

Now I kinda know Sarah...in a round about, distant way...we have a mutual friend. So I know this book is awesome!!

Just how many adults read YA for the fun of it???

I know a lot of writers who read YA because they need to get a handle on the genre for their own projects. Me, I read YA because I want to!!

I don't know what it is...well, maybe I do. I am a sucker for a coming of age story!! And nothing makes me melt like reading of first loves, first kisses...first....everything! It's a feeling you just don't get in adult fiction. It takes me back...makes me feel nostalgic for the days when I felt those flutters of puppy love!

Some of my most favorite books are YA. As a kid, my favorite author was Judy Blume- Are You There God, It's me Margaret was my fav!! I remember being so excited for her when she got her period for the first time (I hadn't gotten mine yet when I read the book). I love love love Ann Brashares's The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. Every book in the series makes me laugh and cry multiple times throughout! She really knows how to write books that grow with her audience too. Sometimes I wish she would continue the story into Adult fiction just because I know her characters so well and I want to know how they are handling adult life!! (Which all goes back to my post the other day about sequels!)

I just finished the third installment of the Gallagher Series by Ally Carter, Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover, a series about a super secret school for teenage girl spies. While I'm not real fond of the way she leaves so many unanswered questions in her books, she's got me hooked and I need to know what happenes next!