Top Ten Tuesday: Books from the Past

 This week's topic is books that we read and loved 10 years ago. It was fun putting this post together and seeing what I read and loved back in the day.

@yabooknerdlibrarian 10 years ago I was reading these YA books and loving them! #booktok #toptentuesday #YAbooks #5starreads #booktalk ♬ original sound - Jennifer @YA Book Nerd 📚📚📚

Review: City Love

* First in a new trilogy *

Three girls find an apartment together in NYC the summer before staring college.

Darcy just got out of a serious relationship with a boy who broke her heart. Understandably, she's not looking for anything serious.  But the she meets a boy she can't stop thinking about and wonders if she should take another risk with her heart.

Sadie's lived in NYC her entire life and never wants to leave. She's excited to score an internship for Urban Design. A believe in true love and soul mates, Sadie locks eyes with a cute boy on her first day at her internship. Could it be love?

Rosanna's working for the summer and trying to put the past behind her. She barely has enough money to get by. On her first day, she makes an enemy without knowing why, but it also causes her to meet a boy. He's from a very different world, but they seem to click.

Can these three girls for a bond and find romance in their summer of freedom?

My Thoughts: I devoured this book, loving the adventures the three girls had in the city. I loved the idea of them coming together for a summer before starting college and the idea of freedom.

I really loved the romances - the good and the bad. It's easy to be swept away by the idea of love, especially when you're in a new place. 

I loved seeing the city through their eyes, it makes me want to go explore New York desperately.

This book takes place in such a short time, establishing characters and romances. I hope the next two books take place over the rest of the summer and a little into fall. I anticipate the girls becoming closer in the next two books. 

Cover Thoughts: Cute - I love the backdrop of the city behind the couple
Source: I won a copy of this book

Final Thoughts: I loved reading this one and can't wait to see what happens next to these girls. 

Fun Fact: I added some tourist items to my bucket list because of this book.
Similar Reads: Check out these travel books for more adventures.

On My Hold List (102)

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. 

The Hunted: Can't wait to see what happens next in this gripping trilogy. 

Saint Anything: the start of summer is always time for a new Sarah Dessen book

City Love: Looking forward to this new trilogy from Susane Colasanti

School for Unusual Girls: Regency England school to reform young girl into marriage material is just a cover for lady spies - how perfect!

What books are you waiting on?

Books I'm Dying to Read: April edition

So many good books are coming out in April - here are the ones I can't wait to get my hands on!

Cold Burn of Magic: Magic, murder, family feud, monsters, and a library - sounds awesome in a new series from Jennifer Estep!
Ember in the Ashes: Undercover trying to save her brother from death - spies, love, and revolution

Boyfriend Project and Trouble From the Start: 2 companion novels from Rachel Hawthorne who I LOVE! Romance, friendship, bad boys, and makeovers

Mussled Out: 3rd book in this cozy series set in small town Maine with great food and nosy neighbors
Dark Chocolate Demise: Zombie walks, the mob, and murder - all with a side of cupcakes

Drive Me Crazy: Road tripping into friendship
99 Days: 99 days to live in a town where almost everyone hates you - how much longer until you can escape?

Rook: Secrets, games, and a revolution set in the city that once was Paris
Miss Mayhem: LOVED the first book - so looking forward to the next one

Wrong About the Guy: Modernized Emma
Things we Know By Heart: Quinn loses her boyfriend - but someone else gains his organs, especially his heart. Can lightning strike twice?

Sophomore Year is Greek to Me: Travel to Greece - family feuds - and an aspiring journal
City Love: Summer in the city before college begins - 3 friends, 3 POV, 3 romances

Kissing Ted Callahan: A pact made between friends for more - KISSING
Play On: Small town, baseball, and chemistry - sounds like a slow burn romance

Revelation of Louisa May: I LOVE Little Women and I'm excited about this fictional account of the author
Lies I Told: Heist book (enough said)

Still the One: Book 6 in the series - small town, smart women, hot guys, and animals that need help

What books are you waiting for?

Review: Now and Forever

Sterling and Ethan are in love. When they talk about their future, it's mostly about Ethan's future. He writes the songs his band performs and he has a small record deal.

One day, they hear his song on the radio. After that everything gets crazy. His YouTube videos views jump into the millions. Fans want to meet him. Ethan has a new manager who immediately puts together a tour.

His fame only grows. Suddenly Ethan and Sterling barely have any time together - and time alone it almost impossible. There's always something Ethan should be doing. What would you do if your boyfriend became a mega rock star?

My Thoughts: I really love Susane Colasanti's books and I loved the premise of this book; it reminded me a little of Audrey, Wait. I liked seeing how Ethan rose to fame. I liked seeing how fame changed both Ethan and Sterling - the perks, the freebies, the drama, the new people, and their stolen moments together. I really liked the ending. A fantastic summer book for anyone who has wanted to date someone famous or dreamed about being famous themselves.

Cover Thoughts: Perfect
Source: My Library

On My Holds List (80)

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. 

Some YA Books I'm Waiting to Read:

Biggest Flirts: Love Jennifer Echols and this new series looks super cute!

Now and Forever: Love Susane Colasanti . What would happen if your boyfriend became a Rock God.

Secrets of Lily Graves: Love Sarah Strohmeyer. Secrets - murder- and lies.

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic is a rewind, so I'm choosing Books to Have In Your Beach Bag. It's warming up a little here, but quickly going back into the coldness of winter. Right now I'd love to be on a beach reading. I've done this topic before, but there are so many great ones. So check out the previous one for more summer romances.

- meme from The Broke and the Bookish

Summer Books Event at RJ Julias

On Friday, Erin and I attended Summer Reads stop at RJ Julia's and it was a blast! Lots of laughter and lots of talking. Here's some notes on the tour. 

Susane Colasanti:
All I Need is her 7th book (read my review here)
She wanted to write a beautiful summer romance - the kind of romance she always hoped would happen to her one summer. It never did. She always thought this summer was going to be the one that changed her -either a romance or she would reinvent herself. But it never did and summers were always boring.
So she wrote this book. 

Also in this book, she writes about Soul Mates. She confesses that she's obsessed with Soul Mates and that everyone has one.
She also confesses that she's still 16 at heart.
She loves her job because she can reach out to teens and make them feel less alone. She loved being a science teacher (10 years) but believes that she can help more teens as a writer. She wants them to be able to survive the worst time in the lives, knowing that it really does get better. 

She used to fight with her high school English teacher over the books assigned for school. She would read them, but she never really liked the classics. The Outsiders was the only book she had to read for school that she enjoyed. Otherwise, she'd be reading Stephen King. 

Huntley Fitzpatrick:

My Life Next Door is her debut novel (although she has 2 other books written that will never be published)

She believes that you can change your past with writing and make things better.
She's a hopeless romantic and adores the Happily Ever After Ending - which she brings to her books.
She always reads the ends of books first, so she knows if she wants to read it or not and if it has a satisfying ending. 

For her book, she wanted to take the star-crossed lovers theme from Romeo and Juliet and change it. She didn't want the main characters to be impulsive and immature with crazy families, and of course, the two characters don't die at the end. The ending of that tale always bugged her.
She loves writing YA because it's the time where all the first experiences happen and because teens are so curious and questioning everything during this time in their lives.

Leila Howland

Nantucket Blue is also her debut novel 

It's a novel about friendships and what happens when a great friendship breaks up.
It's based off of her experience as at the time she was breaking up with her best friend. When she went looking for books to read, she couldn't find any.
She wanted to explore the idea further and started writing to let out her emotions and heartbreak.
In her book, she wanted to make a perfect girl - and then place her into a summer where Everything goes wrong for her. She says something wrong at a major life event for someone else, and then she can't take it back. Regret follows and then Shame.
How can she make it right?
But also Leila wanted to figure out what's the worst thing that this one friend could do after a best friends breakup? 

She had previously written a novel for adults, but was told that her voice was too young. Her agent sent her some YA titles by E. Lockhart and Natalie Standiford. She found urgency to writing and entertainment value with lots of emotion. She couldn't put the books down. She finally found her voice after reading these books. A sequel will be coming next summer. 

Una LaMarche
Five Summers is also a debut novel. (Read my review here)
While it's her first novel (ever written and published), she has a background in journalism.
It's a novel about friendship based off some of her own camp experiences. She attended a camp with an annual dance, so she added that into the book.
She wanted to make this centered on friendships and what happens to the friendships after a few years of not seeing each and a few secrets that could damage the relationship.
She has a love/hate relationship with books where the main characters were clearly meant to be together, but never did - like Little Women and Circle of Friends. She's crushed when the romance doesn't work out the way she expected. 

She used to keeps a diary - but sometimes her life was so boring she wrote fictional accounts of her day.