Top Ten Tuesday: Freebie

 This week's topic is a non-bookish freebie. Which is hard to come up with a topic. If you're a reader of this blomg you know I'm a Huge Swiftie.  So I'm picking favorite Taylor Swift Songs. These change frequently, but mostly stay close to the top. The numbers vary depending on my mood.

This was my list from 2017, it's changed a bit since then...

1. Mr. Perfectly Fine 

2. All Too Well (10 minute version)

3. Right Where You Left Me

4. Christmas Tree Farm

5. Betty

6. Long Live

7. You Belong with Me

8. I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

9. But Daddy I Love Him

10. Loss of My Life

I feel like I'm missing several songs...

What songs are in your top 10?

Taylor Swift Challenge: Swiftie for Life

Taylor is in playing New England this weekend, and it's so close to me. But I have other plans (and didn't even try to get tickets). 

So this looked fun...

But it's hard to choose which songs are my favorites! Of course, all are Taylor's Versions. That's just a given. 

1. Tim McGraw - I'm an OG fan and when I heard this, I knew it was going to be the start of something magical. 

2. Picture to Burn

3. You Belong with Me

4. Last Kiss

5. All Too Well (Ten Minute Version)

6. Bad Blood

7. Getaway Car

8. Paper Rings

9. You Belong with Me 

10. Christmas Tree Farm

11. Already married, so missed the boat...but maybe Enchanted or Long Live

12. Red

13.  Right Where You Left Me

14. I Knew You Were Trouble

15. Invisible String

16. That was the Moment that I Knew

17. Begin Again

18. 22

19. The Last Great American Dynasty

20. Mad Woman

21. Shake it Off

22. Christmases When You Were Mine

23. Back to December 

24. Sadly haven't been to one - almost saw her in a very small venue, but she canceled last minute to be in the recording studio for her second album. But wouldn't that have been amazing?

25. No Body, No Crime (But Babe is a close second)

26. Today was a Fairy Tale

27. Mr. Perfectly Fine

28. 

29. Betty

30. Forever & Always

Any of these your answers too? 

Picture Book Wednesday: New Board Books

New board books at the library:

Counting while we bake - and it includes a recipe. Lots of fun here.

Lots of explanations about animals and transportation in this farm read. Love the illustrations.

Very matter of fact about gender and equality! Excellent for library collections.

Lots of knowledge here about instruments. Love the idea of making music (and noise) all together. More fun illustrations. 

Board Books

We just bought a bunch of new board books for our library.

I'll be talking about a few favorites over the next couple weeks/month

The best part about this book is the stars and glitter inside the rainbow move. The story is sweet too, with nice messages about kindness

The caterpillar is back and still hungry! Luckily there's a picnic to keep him occupied. I loved the scratch and sniff part to this book - very fun. Great way to talk about foods.

Oscar is always hungry - but his eating gets him into trouble. A very funny book about what not to eat and finding your people.

Music is for everyone - this fun book gives a few examples about music and then ends on a really clever note. Great illustrations too.

This delightful book showcase a mom and baby at yoga time. The mom goes through her routine and plays with the baby. The baby imitates some of her movements. It's just a fun time for mom and baby. Great illustrations and I loved the author's note at the end. 

Blog Tour: In Search of Us

In Search of Us by Ava Dellaira

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 

Publication Date: March 6, 2018

The author of the beloved Love Letters to the Dead returns with a parallel story of a mother and daughter each at age seventeen. Marilyn's tale recounts the summer she fell in love and set out on her own path. Angie's story is about her search for her unknown father.

This sweeping multi-generational love story introduces readers to mother-and-daughter pair Marilyn and Angie. To seventeen-year-old Angie, who is mixed-race, Marilyn is her hardworking, devoted white single mother. But Marilyn was once young, too. When Marilyn was seventeen, she fell in love with Angie's father, James, who was African-American. But Angie's never met him, and Marilyn has always told her he died before she was born. When Angie discovers evidence of an uncle she's never met she starts to wonder: What if her dad is still alive, too? So she sets off on a journey to find him, hitching a ride to LA from her home in New Mexico with her ex-boyfriend, Sam. Along the way, she uncovers some hard truths about herself, her mother, and what truly happened to her father.

My Thoughts: I really loved this book. I loved reading about both Angie and Marilyn. I felt terrible for both of them, especially on their emotional journeys. I loved how the stories wove together, unraveling both stories a little at a time. In some ways they were parallel and in some ways, wildly different. But I like how they came together in the end. This one tugged at my heartstrings something fierce! 

And you're in luck because it comes out next week, so grab a copy!!

Playlist: 

Here are the 10 songs that captured my feelings as I was reading

Summertime:

Vogue:

It's My Life:

California 

What is Love?

Sweet Sweet Fantasy:

Kiss:

Driftwood:

Ice Cream:

We are Family:

Hope that you enjoyed the playlist!

Blog Tour: Two Summers

Get with the BEAT: TWO SUMMERS, TWO PLAYLISTS

Summer in France

Leaving on a Jet Plane – Peter, Paul, and Mary

Moi Je Joue—Brigitte Bardott

Don’t Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas) – Regina Spektor

Kill Em with Kindness- Selena Gomez

La Belle Et Le Bad Boy — MC Solaar

I Really Like You—Carly Rae Jepsen

 Miles Away—Madonna

Quelqu'un m'a dit — Carla Bruni

 Girl—Beck

 Modern Art—Black Lips

 Kiss Me—Sixpence None The Richer

 La Vie En Rose—Edith Piaf

 Firework—Katy Perry

 Love the Way You Lie—Eminem feat. Rihanna

 Summertime Sadness – Lana Del Ray

 It Hurts to Say Goodbye—Francoise Hardy

 Je Ne Regrette Rien—Edith Piaf

 Safe and Sound – Capital Cities

 Counting Stars—One Republic

 Summer at Home

 In the Summertime – Mungo Jerry

 The Suburbs—Arcade Fire

 Cruel Summer—Bananarama

 French Navy—Camera Obscura

 Electric Feel – MGMT

 The Boys of Summer –The Ataris

 Kodachrome – Paul Simon

 Bad Blood—Ryan Adams

 Summer in the City – The Lovin’ Spoonful

 Snap Out Of It—Arctic Monkeys

 Crazy in Love – Beyonce

 Birthday—The Beatles

 Photograph—Ringo Starr

 Daughter—Pearl Jam

 Hello—Adele

 Roar—Katy Perry

 You’re My Best Friend—Queen

 Dancing on My Own—Robyn

 Home—Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

About the Book:

Title: TWO SUMMERS

Author: Aimee Friedman

Pub. Date: April 26, 2016

Publisher: Point

Pages: 368

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Goodreads

ONE SUMMER in the French countryside, among sun-kissed fields of lavender . . .

ANOTHER SUMMER in upstate New York, along familiar roads that lead to surprises . . .

When Summer Everett makes a split-second decision, her summer divides into two parallel worlds. In one, she travels to France, where she’s dreamed of going: a land of chocolate croissants, handsome boys, and art museums. In the other, she remains home, in her ordinary suburb, where she expects her ordinary life to continue — but nothing is as it seems.

In both summers, she will fall in love and discover new sides of herself. What may break her, though, is a terrible family secret, one she can't hide from anywhere. In the end, it may just be the truth she needs the most.

From New York Times bestselling author Aimee Friedman comes an irresistible, inventive novel that takes readers around the world and back again, and asks us what matters more: the journey or the destination.

I LOVED this book - it was the perfect summer read! Check out my review here. And I'm super happy to be part of the tour! 

About Aimee:

Aimee Friedman was born and raised in Queens, New York, in an apartment filled with books and different languages. She wrote her first story at the age of five, and was off and running from there. Aimee wrote all through her years as a student at the Bronx High School of Science and then Vassar College. After graduating from college in 2001, she became a children's book editor, a job she still does, and loves, to this day! Aimee published her first novel, the New York Times bestseller, South Beach, in 2005, and is now the author of several novels for young adults, the latest being Two Summers. Aimee lives in New York City, where she can usually be found writing in cafes, window-shopping, or searching for the perfect iced latte.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway Details:  You know you want a copy! 

3 winners will receive a signed finished copy of TWO SUMMERS and TWO SUMMERS travel bag

(US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule: Check out the rest of the tour!

Week One:

6/27/2016- Novel Novice- Guest Post

6/28/2016- Page Turners Blog- Review

6/29/2016- The Cover Contessa- Interview

6/30/2016- Just Commonly- Review

Week Two:

7/4/2016- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

7/5/2016- Andi's ABCs- Guest Post

7/6/2016- A Dream Within A Dream- Review

7/7/2016- Curling Up With A Good Book- Guest Post

7/8/2016- Margie's Must Reads- Review

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Songs I Wish were Novels

This week's Top Ten Tuesday:  10 Songs I Wish were Novels. This isn't a hard for me because the songs I like feel like small novels. It's harder (as usual) to narrow down my titles. But I did only put two Taylor Swift songs on the list. I have one that I'm working on currently... and two more that I want to write.

- meme from The Broke and the Bookish

You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl: Love this song and it would make for an interesting New Adult book - the way the song reads not the video.

Blank Space : Who doesn't want this to be a book?

Strawberry Wine: Seventeen is a magical time with a hot summer romance at a vineyard. 

You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This: Another fun new adult book - friends to lovers trope

 Call Me Maybe: Just a fun loving song that could start off a book.

Come Back...Be Here: This could continue with the Hollywood trend in YA. A movie star meets a normal girl and they hang out before he leaves to film on location. She's left behind.

There's More to Me Than You: A girl stand up on her own, making her path in life. This song could jump start a book.

Driftwood: I love this song and it could fit in nicely with someone just floating through life until they have to make the biggest choice of their life. 

Turn on the Radio: I can see this was a country music hit, with a rising young girl who thought she had the best guy ever, but he couldn't handle her fame

Stay - one of my favorite songs from high school. Why did she leave and could they ever find their way back to each other.

On My Holds List (81)

My Librarian friend Jess from I Read to Relax came up with a great idea.  It's to highlight the books on hold at the library. I usually have 20-40 items checked out at the library and another 20 items on hold. 

Usually I talk about books, but this week, I have a bunch of CDs on hold for a project I'm doing.