Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Hannah Just Read: BADD by Tim Tharp

First off, I hope I'll see everyone at the TAG meeting tonight at 7:00! And now, on to the review:

Tim Tharp is one of my favorite authors, and not just for teens, but for adults, too, because I think his books are so good that everyone, adult, teen, android, zombie, alien, should read Tim Tharp. He wrote one of my all time favorite books ever called The Spectacular Now, which Mrs. N reviewed and didn't like all that much, but it is good to have differing opinions in the world.
BADD is his newest novel, and we just bought a copy of it for the library, so you can go request it now if you think it sounds good (and it was). BADD is about Ceejay, who idolizes her older brother Bobby. Bobby is kind of wild and definitely tough, but not in a bully kind of way, he was always sticking up for the underdog, and defending people who couldn't defend themselves. After getting into some trouble, Bobby is sent into the army, and the book starts a few weeks before he is supposed to return home from Iraq. Ceejay can't wait to see him, but by the time he gets back he is very different from how she remembers him.
I love Tim Tharp's books because he creates great characters, and even when you don't actually like the characters all that much, they still seem real and complete. They are really complex. There's a lot going on in BADD. It isn't just a girl waiting for her brother to get home from Iraq, it is also about first love, and family relationships, and death, and somehow Tim Tharp ties them all together really well, creating a really intricate and well developed story. I loved it, and you should read it, too, but be warned, there is some drinking and drug use throughout the book.

Also, don't forget to enter the pre-pub giveaway from last week! You only have one week left! So scroll down a little and enter today!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

What Hannah's Been Reading: books to GIVEAWAY!

I've been reading furiously over the past few weeks. We've gotten some pre-published books in here at the library, so I've been trying to check them out and see which ones we might buy for the library. BUT we can't put the pre-pubs (see how cool I sound when I call them that?) into our teen collection here, so my plan is to give them away to one of you lucky lucky blog readers.
The first book I read is called Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell. She's an author of juvenile lit, but this is her first book for teens. The book is about Janie Gorman, who lives on a farm with her parents and little sister. Everyone else in her family is 100% into farm life, but starting high school with goat poop on her shoe is not what Janie had in mind. In her desire to fit in she tries joining a jam band, hanging out with senior citizens, and meeting a new friend named Monster.
If there was one word that I would use to describe Ten Miles Past Normal it would be Cute. With a capital C. It seemed to me like there was a lot going on in the book and that the characters could have used some further development. I feel like there were definitely some plot points that could have been developed more, but all that being said, the book was enjoyable, and it was cute, and it was a quick read, and PLUS, you'd get to read it before anyone else, because it isn't even being published until next month!

The other book I read is called Wither by Lauren DeStefano, who is another new teen author. This book is the first in a trilogy, and it is set in a future America where girls only live to 20, and men live until 25. Wealthy men marry early and have multiple wives, most of whom are kidnapped and forced into marriage, like the main character Rhine, who is taken from her home in New York and brought to Florida, where she forced into marriage with a wealthy young man. However it is one of the servants, Gabriel, who Rhine falls in love with as she also plots her escape.
I was surprised that I liked this book. I read it really quickly--it was one of those stay up late to finish it books. It reminded me of a lot of other teen books that are out right now, though. It was kind of Incarceron by Catherine Fisher + Twilight + Delirium by Lauren Oliver, though not quite as well done as any of those (except Twilight... don't get me started on Twilight). I'll be interested to see where the plot goes in the next two books though.

So, here's the giveaway part. Just enter your name and e-mail address here, and I will do a drawing for the winner on March 1, and just so you know, no one will be able to see your e-mail address, and it won't be used for anything other than me sending you an e-mail to tell you that you won.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

A completely self serving post in which I brag about my recent trip to Pittsburgh to see John Green

Ok, so, last Friday I ventured over mountains, and through tunnels and snow to Pittsburgh so that I could see the king of all things nerdy, John Green, speak at the Carnegie Library. For those of you who don't know who John Green is, he is an author of such fine books as Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, and Will Grayson Will Grayson (which was co-authored with David Levithan). John Green and his brother, Hank, also have a YouTube channel on which they make videos about various topics, from the political situation in Egypt, to conspiracy theories, to giraffes.
So anyway, I love John Green. I think he's brilliant, and I was exceptionally excited to see him speak, and he did not disappoint. He talked about books, and writing books, and how we read books, and Gary Busey, and other really cool nerdy stuff.

THEN I got a book AND, as my sister calls it, my nerd journal, which is a book I keep of all the books I read signed by him. I will proudly show it to you if you ask me to. Here are my new prized possession photos of this momentous occasion:

In other news, I recently read Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and it was FANTASTIC, and I happen to know that we recently ordered a copy for the library, so stay on the lookout for that. Also, I am cooking up another contest/giveaway. I just need to work out the details, so keep checking back for that, too!