Review: Rules of Royalty

 

Male - Male version of The Princess Diaries.

Jamie finds out on his 17th birthday that he's a prince of a small European country. His parents were not married. His mother died years ago, leaving his guardianship to her best friend. She wanted him to grow up without the added pressure of being a royal.

Jamie agrees to a trip during the summer - to see the country and meet his new family. As he's navigating society for the first time, his father gives him the number of someone who can help.

Erik is the prince of a neighboring country who's been asked to help. He agrees. Erik is also gay, giving Jamie an extra outlet for questions when they arise.

My Thoughts: I'm the biggest fan of the Princess Diaries books, so I was super excited to read this. And it lived up. I tore through this novel. 

Yes, it has this line:

Jamie has a great family and a great group of friends. Erik's family is very strict and his grandmother, the Queen, knows everything. Jamie and Erik were both interested in each other, but it took a bit for them to admit their feeling. I love books about Royals.

Cover Thoughts: Adorable

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your library collection. 

Top Ten Tuesday: All Time Favorite Series

This week's topic is  Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Books Of X Genre , and I pick series...

I love series, so this is a bit tricky for me. Series is anything more than 3 books! There are SO many more that I adore, but these came to mind first and I don't want to overwhelm anyone with 80 more!

- meme from The Broke and the Bookish 

Adult:

National Princess Week

I love a good princess story, so I was happy to discover that this week is National Princess Week.

I've talked about my love of Princess books on the blog before.

In 2011, I created my list for favorite YA Princess books.

I've talked about my love for the Princess Diaries series and how it changed my life.

In a blog tour post, I talked about what bookish things I would do if I discovered one day I was a princess and money was no object

When Princess Charlotte was born, I created a book list fit for a Princess

And I've created these If You Like Pins:

 

Series Love: Princess Diaries

Welcome to a new blog meme here at YA Book Nerd. I realized that I read SO many series books that I should talk about them as a whole. Not to say that every series I'm going to talk about I've finished - but my thoughts my help you pick up and start a new series.

Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Everyone knows I love these books. Before I read Royal Wedding, I did something out of character for me. I re-read the entire series. I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time around - it was funny, charming, smart, refreshing, honest, and it tugged at my heart strings. 

Here are the things that stood out for me:

Pop culture references: Star Wars and more

Nerd behavior

Being smart and weird is great

 love for romance books

Diverse cast of characters 

Realistic friendships: fights between friends, how they know you better than anyone, and how they challenge you to become a better person

Michael

book references (Ransom My Heart)

written has journals: mix of notes, homework, and Mia's innermost thoughts

Her parents

Grandmere's schemes

Fun lists in the book (sometimes by Mia and Lilly, sometimes just Mia)

Mia's big heart

Mini Review: Royal Wedding

 * Book 11 in the Princess Diaries series *

Five years after her college graduation, Mia's still living in New York City. She's helping to run a teen homework center. Of course she still together with Michael.

Things between them are fantastic - so fantastic since he popped the question. Unfortunately, Grandmere leaked the information to the press to cover up a royal scandal. Neither Mia nor Michael were able to tell their friends and family the good news.

Now Mia's about to meet a sister she never knew existed. Mia's thrilled at the idea of having a sister. She agrees to keep her father's secret. But then she decides to take matters into her own hands. 

The Good:
* I loved seeing all of the old characters and what they're up to these past few years (even JP)
* I love seeing more of Olivia and the story from Mia's perspective
* I loved Mia and Michael together
* I loved Grandmere and her wild ideas - they always make me laugh
* I loved getting to know Mia's dad more
* I enjoyed reading about the details of wedding and how it all came together
* It was funny and sweet and heartfelt


The Bad:
None - except I hope this isn't the last we see of Mia

Final Thoughts: I had a book hangover after reading this - utter perfection!

* book sent for review

I Read YA: The Book that Changed My Life

What is the book that got you into YA?

I talk a bit here about my love for Princess Mia and the Princess Diaries series on the YALSA Hub Blog but what I didn't say was that reading these books changed my life. I was in graduate school at the time to become a Librarian. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do or what road I would travel on.

Then I devoured this book and it hit me. This series was so fun, so addictive, so funny that I wanted to become a YA Librarian so I could share this book and other amazing books with teen readers.

I've consumed and talked about so many books since, but the Princess Diaries series will always hold a very special place in my heart for the way they changed me.

I"m super excited about the new book, Royal Wedding, so I'm re-reading the entire series again.
 It's just a great the first time around.

Top Ten Tuesday: ReReading

This week's topic is re-reading. I don't re-read usually unless it's a book for book club because I don't have time to read all the books I want to read now - let alone go back and re-read, so it's rare. But it's also the reason I've stalled on so many series because I can't remember what happened in the previous books. 

- meme from The Broke and the Bookish

Re-Read for Pleasure:

Harry Potter series: I'm reading Harry Potter and the Art of Spying right now and it's making me want to go back and re-read all the books.

Anna, Lola, and Isla - because I loved these books

Pride and Prejudice

A mixture of Both:

Princess Diaries series

Mediator series 

Sarah Maclean's adult romances - because the last book is a character from a previous series and I never put together the clues.

Poison Study series

Re-Read to Remember:

Percy Jackson series (2-3)

Nicholas Flamel series (2-4)

Game of Thrones series 

From the Hub: Princess Diaries

I've mentioned in various places that Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries series made me decide to become a YA Librarian. Over at the Hub, I'm talking about 10 reasons I LOVE Princess Mia.

Teen Book Character's Outfits

Earlier in the year, the Otis Library hosted a contest on Pinterest, posting pins of character's outfits from Polyvore. I've made several of these and quite enjoy it. I hope to start making more. In the mean time, here's a look at the ones I created.

Bright Young Things 

Hermoine Granger 

Lauren Towers 

Princess Mia

If you want to see more from the board - check it out. If you want to make your own and be added to the board, let me know!

Forever Princess

Forever Princess ends the fairy tale story of New York City girl Mia Thermopolis discovering her true identity. Mia hasn't been writing in her journals for roughly two years as she's been working on her senior project. She lies to everyone, making her project sound incredibly boring, when really she's been writing a romance novel. She's spent the last two years dating J.P., not talking to Lily, and worrying about the rest of her life. Now, she has many life choices to make, including where to go to college. But instead of telling everyone the truth about: her senior project, her acceptance letters to colleges, and her feelings, she's lying to everyone. Mia's trying to understand herself before sharing the news with the rest of the world, but with deadlines looming and senior year coming to a close, she's almost running out of time. Can she figure things out in a royal fashion?

It's the perfect ending to the modern fairy tale that has captured so many hearts.

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