Waiting on Wednesday: When the World was Flat (And We Were in Love) by Ingrid Jonach

Looking back, I wonder if I had an inkling that my life was about to go from ordinary to extraordinary. When sixteen-year-old Lillie Hart meets the gorgeous and mysterious Tom Windsor-Smith for the first time, it’s like fireworks — for her, anyway. Tom looks as if he would be more interested in watching paint dry; as if he is bored by her and by her small Nebraskan town in general.

But as Lillie begins to break down the walls of his seemingly impenetrable exterior, she starts to suspect that he holds the answers to her reoccurring nightmares and to the impossible memories which keep bubbling to the surface of her mind — memories of the two of them, together and in love.

When she at last learns the truth about their connection, Lillie discovers that Tom has been hiding an earth-shattering secret; a secret that is bigger — and much more terrifying and beautiful — than the both of them. She also discovers that once you finally understand that the world is round, there is no way to make it flat again. 

An epic and deeply original sci-fi romance, taking inspiration from Albert Einstein’s theories and the world-bending wonder of true love itself (GoodReads).

Due out Sept. 3rd, When the World was Flat (And We Were in Love) by Ingrid Jonach is the book we are "waiting on" this week. It sounds utterly original, and we are happy to dip into sci-fi every once and a while here at YAF&WS (plus a little true love never hurt nobody). Thanks to Jill at Breaking the Spine for hosting WoW, a weekly meme that showcases upcoming publications we are looking forward to. What made your WoW this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Fictional Boarding Schools

It is time again for Top Ten Tuesday! Since we had some free-reign this week, we have decided to go 

with Top Ten Boarding School Stories (also known as we are jealous we went to public schools 

and not magical high schools), since September and back to school time is on the horizon. As

always, a big thanks to the *GREAT* bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish for hosting TTT.

Grad Student:

1.   Night School by C. J. Daugherty.
2. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. A classic boarding school shenanigan story.

3.     The Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead.
Crazy Camper:

4.     The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson- London boarding school (with charm forever).

5.     The Magicians by Lev Grossman- boarding school but creepy and actually not a place I want to be

6.    The Strange Angels series by Lili St. Crow (book 2 on).
Goosie Mama:

7.    HP, baby - hands down. (HP=Harry Potters, for the uninitiated)

8.    Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs- It's sort of a boarding school/orphanage, right??

9.    Fallen by Lauren Kate - because it STARTED THIS BLOG

10.  Looking for Alaska - Sorry, gotta keep John Green involved with all Top Tens!!



What is your TTT this week about? Share!

For more on these reads see our reviews of  The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by
 E. Lockhart The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson, the Vampire Academy series by 
Richelle Mead (here and here, too), Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
 (Crazy Camper's Review, Goosie Mama's review), Looking for Alaska by John Green,
 and the Fallen series Torment , Passion and Rapture by Lauren Kate.

Review: Breathe by Sarah Crossan

This weekend I went camping and managed to devour this book, hanging from a hammock by a lake in West Virginia.  The good life of summer.

The world has no air. If you want to survive, you pay to breathe. But what if you can't? And what if you think everything could be different? Three teens will leave everything they know behind in Sarah Crossan's gripping and original dystopian teen novel of danger, longing, and glimmering hope that will appeal to fans of Patrick Ness and Veronica Roth.

Ever since the Switch, when the oxygen levels plummeted and most of humanity died, the survivors have been protected in glass domes full of manufactured air. Protected . . . or trapped? Or controlled? Alina's a revolutionary who believes we can save the environment. Quinn's a Premium who's never had to worry about having enough air. His best friend, Bea, is an Auxiliary who's never worried about anything but having enough air. When the three cross paths, they will change everything. Sarah Crossan's thrilling and provocative novel is about passion, about yearning for something better, and about breaking free for the very first time.

 Paying for air seemed like a very interesting premise, and I was ready to take it on.

Originality: 7- The bubble, the air, and the segregation of class access to air was intriguing.  What happens when society  losses an essential resource (cough cough or the government controls one? cue ominous music).  An extra like for the role of the trees.

Absurdity: 7- Bubble vs. Non-Bubble life.  We don't really get a chance to build this world enough, just launch into our teenage action, which makes some of the characters absurd (i.e., everyone of the Drifters and Resistance).  Also, Pod Minister, you need to lay off the booze- you are the most absurd of all the characters here.

Paranormal Romance: 8- MAN teenagers do dumb thing for hot looking members of the opposite sex.  Maybe this should be under absurdity?  O Bea, your love for Quinn, and that damn hotty Alina, there is a lot of high school feelings happening here mixed into life or death dramatics. 

Level of Harry-Potterness: 5.  We crash through the plot of this book, and while the characters are likable, somehow they seem flat, something subtle is missing to make them more real.  Besides a few preposterous plot twists and some plot gaps, this is an easy read and a new take on a very well told story of distopian high schoolers and revolution.

A reflection on audio books & Buzzfeed's input

I have just entered/ ventured into the world of audio books.... a place that is unexpectedly full of pitfalls. Some of you may already be aware of these aspects, but in case there are other audiobook newbies out there, let me share: 

1) NARRATION MAKES A HUGE IMPACT ON THE STORY!

Maybe you already knew this, but wow.  My first audiobook, The Help, I luckily stumbled into a narration I loved with sassy southern accents.  Then I tried Delerium, because everyone I know has read it and I came to lesson two:

2) SUPER SAPPY YA BOOKS ARE CRINGE-WORTHY WHEN READ SLOWLY OUT LOUD.

Somehow it became too embarrassing for me to handle, and I had to quit. RIGHT away, it hurt, like when you were a kid and there was kissing in a movie and you had to hide under a blanket or run out of the room, expect I was on the highway in my car my hands dashing at the buttons to change back to the radio.(shuddering still).  As if Grad Student was reading my mind telepathically up in New England, she sent me this link yesterday "16 Audiobooks Read by A-List Celebrities", and my gosh do I have some new audiobook direction!  Huzzah!  Here are a few top hits from the list:

1. Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair read by Colin Firth. To quote Buzzfeed "Honestly, I would listen to Mr. Darcy read me the phonebook. So bring on the classic literature"

2. Carson McCullers The Member of the Wedding read by Susan Sarandon.   
I will always love her for her role in Bull Durham.

3.  Tina Fey’s Bossypants read by… Tina Fey. "Welcome to the best 5 hours and 35 minutes of your life"

Any other suggestions from audio book veterans out there? What are your favorite audiobooks to keep my commute (and chores, and metro riding, and ironing) interesting?

Review: The Name of the Star Revisited

Grad Student read this book way back in February of 2012. I do believe at this time I was 100% only reading Vampire Academy?  Probably why I missed it.  Recently after a tumultuous day at work, she did what all good sisters do and logged into my library account to add awesome books to my hold list.  [note, maybe we should market this.. you don't know what to read? over-

whelmed by weak main characters and bad puns in titles? GS makes a reading list for you]

On her suggestion that it would be scary, laugh out loud funny at times, and that John Green is friends with Maureen Johnson, I gave it a try.
Recommendation for the win!  And my first Maureen Johnson book!

Originality: 9.  Definitely not what I was expecting and kept you guessing... except for the fact that I kept whispering to myself "I see dead people....."

Absurdity: 7, but that it hard to escape in a story of a murdering, vengeful ghost being tracked by high school kids/

Level of Paranormal Romance:  7, high scores for making out in libraries and longing glances.

Level of Harry-Potterness:  A well written book!! Outside of plot, this was refreshing.  And the story? LIKED: creepy, funny, twists and turns, and interesting characters and setting.

As long as you can stomach some gory details, go get on it. Nothing says summer like serial killers...(?)

Waiting on Wednesday: Tandem by Anna Jarzab

Everything repeats.
You. Your best friend. Every person you know.
Many worlds. Many lives--infinite possibilities.
Welcome to the multiverse.

Sixteen-year-old Sasha Lawson has only ever known one small, ordinary life. When she was young, she loved her grandfather's stories of parallel worlds inhabited by girls who looked like her but led totally different lives. Sasha never believed such worlds were real--until now, when she finds herself thrust into one against her will.

To prevent imminent war, Sasha must slip into the life of an alternate version of herself, a princess who has vanished on the eve of her arranged marriage. If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone, she will be returned home; if she fails, she'll be trapped in another girl's life forever. As time runs out, Sasha finds herself torn between two worlds, two lives, and two young men vying for her love--one who knows her secret, and one who thinks she's someone she's not.

The first book in the Many-Worlds Trilogy, Tandem is a riveting saga of love and betrayal set in parallel universes in which nothing--and no one--is what it seems.(GoodReads)

Hellllllllloooooo and happy Waiting on Wednesday. We are participating again in the weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. WoW showcases upcoming publications we are looking forward to. Cool cover, cool premise, and coming in October! What's not to like here? Tandem by Anna Jarzab is something I will def want to read. What are you 'waitin' on' this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Can We Get a Sequel, Please?

Happy Tuesday! Happy Top Ten-ing! Today's Top Ten Tuesday is  Top Ten Books I Wish Could Have Had Sequels. We spend a tiny bit of time grumbling about series that go on forever (SIDE EYE, Charlaine Harris) but sometimes a book is so good you want more no mater what.As always a cheers of our whiskey sours (or in CC's world, whiskey on the rocks, since she is a badass) to The Broke and the Bookish for hosting TTT. And now for books we wish had sequels:

Grad Student:

1. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

2. Paper Towns by John Green

3. Chime by Franny Billingsley (has anyone else read this yet!? I need a friend here)

4. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith.

Goosie Mama:

5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (suggested sub-title: The College Years a la Saved by the Bell. Zach Morris reference on a Tuesday morning? Awesome.

6. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and Daivd Levithan I would like a book completely from Tiny's POV.

7. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. Can we just dedicate an entire chapter to "bat. bat. bat." ?!

Crazy Camper:

8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett- whatever happened to Aibileen? Did Miss Skeeter's mom survive her cancer?

9. Stupid Perfect World, I liked this premise. This novella was just not enough for the characters!

10. SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD A SEQUEL: Fallen by Lauren Kate.  Ugh. Stop after book 1.

Want to know more? See our reviews (in the links here) of The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, Paper Towns by John Green, Chime by Franny Billingsley, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson (Goosie Mama's Review, Grad Student's Review), and Stupid Perfect World by Scott Westerfield.

Review: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

I have had Incarceron by Catherine Fisher on my library wishlist for MONTHS.  I even check it out once to never open it.  That all changed this weekend.

Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible.

And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside- she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison, and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know (GoodReads).

First and foremost, Grad Student had to explain steam punk to me.  Then I Wikipedia-ed it.  WHO KNEW?  This was my first foray into the genre and i am intrigued and at least glad to know modern bathroom amenities were used on the sly.

Originality: 7.  That entire 7 rating is for Incarceron itself.  Weird mind bending stuff happening here, serious originality and inspiration.  Creepy too.  With potential hints of magic? Unclear.  I enjoyed the plot twists quite a bit, some especially I never saw coming.  O yea and Lightsout, as a term for nighttime adopted by the prisoners over many years, loved the idea.

Absurdity: 7.  I think that all steampunk gets an absurdity of at least 6.  The time/space/universe shifting is for sure another point of absurdity.

Level of Paranormal Romance: 3.  There is potential and betrothals, but no romance at this point.

Level of Harry Potter-ness: 8.  I liked this quite a bit!  I though Finn was a character you could root for, and that Claudia ended up with much more to her then the headstrong (sigh) rich daughter she first appeared to be.  I look forward to their next adventure.

Review: Torn by Erica O'Rourke

What is this purple wrap thingy? SIGH.

Torn by Erica O'Rourke, the first in a trilogy, was available for instant download one night from my library. And usually I end up with a boatload of crazy with such impulse reads. This book absolutely continues the trend and brings the cray-cray, but in a surprisingly readable package.

Everyone has secrets. Even best friends.

Mo Fitzgerald knows about secrets. But when she witnesses her best friend's murder, she discovers Verity was hiding things she never could have guessed. To find the answers she needs and the vengeance she craves, Mo—quiet, ordinary, unmagical Mo—will have to enter a world of raw magic and shifting alliances. And she'll have to choose between two very different, equally dangerous guys—protective, duty-bound Colin and brash, mysterious Luc. One wants to save her, one wants to claim her. Which would you choose? (GoodReads).

Originality 9: Magic and the mob! What more could a girl ask for.
Absurdity 9: let me repeat- magic and the Chicago mob.
Level of Paranormal Romance: 7 Hullo, handsome. I am on board with either heartthrob: sexy cosmopolitan southerner wielding magic versus brooding Irish body guard living in a fabulously appointed modern loft. This is a tough battle. Finally, a love triangle I am tots ok with.
Level of Harry-Potter-ness: 4. Nothing special but I still want to know more! A good fluffy read.