Playlist: The Book I Never Wrote

One of you lovely readers (Hey, Jennila!) asked me to do another music post last week, and now here I am to share with you one of my absolute favorite playlists. In my iTunes it's called, Playlist for book I never wrote (though really this playlist is highly personal and all about me.)

All of the songs here are lovely and beautiful and breathtaking, but if you can only listen to a few, let it be Fly (Nick Drake), Fearless (Colbie Caillat), and either of the songs by Lights.

1. Always, by Switchfoot
2. Fly, by Nick Drake
3. Breakable, by Ingrid Michaelson
4. Melancholy Astronautic Man, by Allie Moss
5. Under the Weather, by KT Tunstall
6. Let Me Try, by Hope Partlow
7. Live Like You're Dying, by Lenka
8. Warning Sign, by Coldplay
9. Life is Wonderful, by Jason Mraz
10. I Go to the Barn Because I Like the, by Band of Horses
11. Zebra, by Beach House
12. 1234, by Feist
13. July Flame, by Laura Veirs
14. Breakin' at the Cracks, by Colbie Caillat
15. Heartbreak Warfare, by John Mayer
16. Lions!, by Lights
17. If I Could, by Jack Johnson
18. Who Says, by John Mayer
19. The Listening, by Lights
20. Fearless, by Colbie Caillat
21. Needle in the Hay, by Elliot Smith

Review: So Many Boys

Review in Short: The second in the Naughty List catches up with Tessa Crimson after she's hung up her cheerleading skirt, disbanded the vigilante SOS, and broken up with her all-but-perfect boyfriend, Aiden. Now, however, she's stuck in this in-between place, not quite as secure in her friendships as she was the year before, hooking up with her ex-boyfriend (but not dating him), and trying to work on herself without the added stress and pep of cheering. When a copy-Kitten starts her own vengeful brand of SOS, the Smitten Kittens call on Tessa to help them catch her and as the copy-Kitten gets more and more devious, Tessa's life falls further and further apart though she's frantically trying to piece it back together. This is a worthy successor to THE NAUGHTY LIST and sets up a third book quite well, but all is not perfect. A few of the relationships seem disingenuous and the ending falls apart, souring my opinion of this sweet book. 83/100 = B

Premise: 9. After her split from both the Smitten Kittens (the cheering and spying aspects) and boyfriend Aiden, Tessa's working on herself. This means hanging the skirt up, yoga, beauticians, and being in an "un-relationship" with the boy she's still in love with. But when the now-defunct SOS is brought back to life by a copy-Kitten, the squad needs Tessa's cheer more than ever.

Plot: 8. As in the first book, the movement and pace of the plot was close to flawless. Though this isn't a "shock and awe" sort of book, there were definitely some surprising moments and just enough uncertainty to keep you on your toes. However, I was at times a bit annoyed with the choices the characters made and felt as if certain plots were dragging on unnecessarily.

Characters: 8. There were a few characters I just loved in this book (Joel and Leona, most notably), others I couldn't stand, and then some... some that I just wanted to slap. Unfortunately, Tess fell into the third category. Between the time she breaks up with Aiden and leaves the squad and SOS, her trademark confidence and pep seriously plummets. It makes for an interesting and relatable character, but also for one that I got frustrated with more often than not. There were some decisions she made (especially in the end of the book) that just didn't ring true to her honest, caring, and lovable personality, which irked me. Also: Aiden. In the first book I wasn't sure what I thought about him or how I felt, but it didn't take long into SO MANY BOYS for me to realize I definitely don't like him.

Relationships: 8. Tessa's relationships in this book are all a little rocky, a little undefined. She's no longer the leader of the Smitten Kittens and because of this her friendships with the other girls (especially Captain Kira) are strained. Additionally, her undefined relationship with Aiden is stressing her out, and the founder of SOS seems out to get her. While most of the relationships in this novel were very well written and, if not all sparkles and sunshine, very interesting and fitting for the story, there were some that bothered me. The way a few of her relationships worked out in the end seemed disingenuous to me, and I got tired of the back-and-forth with Aiden. Still, there was definitely more good than bad here and I loved her relationships with Leona, Joel, and even Mary.

Setting: 10. The setting here is less setting and more the general atmosphere surrounding Tessa. In a short amount of time she's lost (or at least half-lost) all the things that mattered most, that made her who she was, and because of this there's a definite sense of confusion in the novel. The fact that her parents are rarely around helps add to this feeling of unease.

Themes: 9. Friendship, love, self, and loyalty. These themes are explored subtly, as this definitely isn't an issues-focused novel, but very well, especially as the novel nears its conclusion.

Voice: 9. I missed Tessa's incessant pep and sugar-coated swears in this book. They were there still, but much less. However, this was fitting with the whole atmosphere of the novel and I don't think it would have worked any other way.

Ending: 6. Sadly, this ending really fell flat for me and really soured the way I feel about the rest of the novel. Though I appreciate the set up of the third book in the series, many of Tessa's actions seemed out-of-character and I felt that the copy-Kitten got off way too easy considering all that she'd put her so-called friends through. The ending between Aiden and Tessa also seemed a bit tacked-on and, though not out of character for them, irritating for me as a reader. That said, this is still very much a winning series and I can't wait for the next installment.

Recommendability: 8.

Fangirly: 8. It would be more if not for the ending. It would be less if not for the first book and the promise of a third.

This book gets 83 out of 100, a B.

For fans of the first NAUGHTY LIST novel and anyone who wants a sweet, light read about relationships and espionage.

Weekly Geeks: Nature & Connection

This week's Weekly Geek is about connection.

Firstly, have you come across a phrase recently that has made an impact on you? And secondly, who do you read with?

In answer to the first question, I'm always coming across phrases, lines, quotes that leap out at me and touch a part of my heart. I keep a running list of them in the book I call my quote-book and recently I've started posting a few of them on Goodreads also. One of the latest ones I've found came in re-reading FAHRENHEIT 451 for my lit class.

This was all he wanted now. Some signs that the immense world would accept him and give him the time he needed to think all the things that must be thought.

This line comes at a point in the book where Guy Montag (spoiler alert! for anyone unfortunate enough to have not read this book yet) is on the run and essentially out in the wilderness, in the middle of nature. And he's never really been around nature before.

It reminded me, almost instantly, of the woods I grew up across a dirt road from and of the fact that the sky is so big and when I was younger, before I lived so close to a city, it seemed even bigger. There was more nature. More outside. I'm not a very athletic person (to say the least) and I do tend to prefer the indoors to the out, but honestly this has a lot to do with the type of outdoors I have around here. Everything is managed and civilized and I don't like that type of outside. I like the type that looks as if you're the first person on earth to reach that particular spot, the type that always reminds you of how big it is an how small you are and give you all the space and all the time you need to think the things that must be thought. And it's not that I never find that feeling anymore, but the further away you get from a place in nature where you feel completely at peace, the less often you feel that kind of wide open spaces peace. At least, I do.

As for the second part of the question, who do you read with?, the answer is... nobody. I have blogger friends, but for the most part reading is a solitary activity for me. Books anchor me; they're a part of me, and although I love talking about them, blogging about them, recommending them, and sharing them with others, the actual reading experience is mine and mine alone.

So, what about you guys? If you've answered the Weekly Geek question on your own blog, leave me a link so I can visit you!

August Retrospective

This month I reviewed the middle grade novel THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB, as well as YA novels THE HUNGER GAMES and THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE, which came out in hardcover this month.

I also told you about my 9 rules for reading and my top 10 contemporary YA novels, as well as discussed THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB series.

Thank you to everyone who followed me over from Wordpress, as well as any new readers/followers I've gained. You're all so snazzy!

**Retrospective was initially started by Steph, of Reviewer X.

The Right Words: Goodbye, my friend.

This week's quote is from THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO TELL YOU, by Heather Duffy-Stone.

It's like she's mad at me for everything that's wrong in the world. It's like she's mad at me for breathing. And there's nothing I can say. I'm trying so hard to keep our friendship. What happened to it?

Oh, gosh. This one about makes me want to cry. Because I had a long, horrible, tear-inducing friendship breakup. And I was mad at her for so much and she was mad at me for so much. And sometimes it was like nothing she could say was right and nothing I could do was right because we'd already gone so far, broken so much between us. And I was trying so hard to keep our friendship, but in the end I just couldn't. It was too much.

~~I'd love for you to participate in this feature! And if you do talk about a quote you're particularly fond of, leave your link below so I can check out your blog!

Also, my YA Lit Chat buddy, Kelsey Sutton, is having a giveaway on her blog. SO YOU SHOULD DEFINIZZIE CHECK THAT OUT.

This book is taking too long.

I've been working on reading FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS for quite a few days now. I found it at the used bookstore and decided I had to have it. I always try to push myself to read more nonfiction than I naturally would and this is a book that inspired the second-best television show in the world, so of course I added it to my pile. Bonus points if you tell me in the comments what the best television show is.

And let me tell you, as much as I'm enjoying this book (especially seeing what parts of the book and the people in the book translated to the television show), it's incredibly slow reading. I know a week doesn't seem very long, but I'm hardly a third of the way through the book at this point and whenever I sit down to read I only get a few pages finished before I set it down again. It's not that the book is difficult to read or the sort of thing (like some nonfiction books) that you really have to think about and digest.

The book is slow, but mostly, I think, because after over a hundred pages (well past the 50 page mark) it still hasn't captivated me. The book explores the history of Odessa and their football team, going into the stories of the different players, the football obsession of the town, and issues of race that the town and high school face. It's definitely interesting stuff and I'm going to finish the book, but I have so many other books calling to me right now (not to mention my readings for school) that I'm actually putting this one on hold for a while. Until I really have some time that I can and want to dedicate to it.

My question for you: do you ever start reading a book only to save it for later if it's taking too long to read?

Blog Hop: Aug 27-30 (My Review System)

This week's Blog Hop question (hosted by Crazy for Books), is one that I especially love:

Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

My review system is kind of... complicated. I use a rating system, but not your typical 1-5 stars system. Because I love to see what exactly makes a book work (or not work) I look at ten different elements of a book and give each one a 1-10 rating. I look at

PREMISE

PLOT

CHARACTERS

RELATIONSHIPS

SETTING

THEMES

VOICE

ENDING

RECOMMENDABILITY (ie. how strongly or widely would I recommend this one?)

FANGIRLY (ie. how much did I personally love this book?)

I strive to make every facet of my review (except for the "fangirly" portion) as objective as possible, partly because I feel this is how reviews should be and completely subjective reviews annoy me, but also because I think that's the best way to help readers decide if they would like a book or not. What's important to me in a book (characters, voice, relationships, setting) might not be the most important features to other readers and that's one of the things I really love about books and reading: not only can two people disagree on a book, but they can also love a book for completely different reasons.

By the time I've finished a review, the book has a score out of 100%, which is the easiest way for me to understand how good a book is. The interesting thing (at least to me) about this type of review system is that the books I love most don't always have the highest scores. Objectively, they aren't always the best books. Likewise, I can read a really phenomenal book from an objective standpoint and as great as it is, it doesn't end up being one of my favorites.

(Also: please excuse the mess on my blog as I try to find a theme/design I love.)