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My True Love Gave to Me

My True Love Gave to MeMy True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by Stephanie Perkins, Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de la Pena, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White, Jim Tierney
on October 14, 2014
Pages: 321
Goodreads
four-half-stars

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins. Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or New Year's there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.

Hey!
I’m back with yet another book review. Yes, I know I should post more real life things, but at least I am catching up on my reading goals. This past week I was reading for the #Tistheseasonathon Reading Challenge, which I love and find it so fun to read holiday books during this time of year. This is actually the second book I finished for the week, but since the first book will actually come with a movie review that will come later. I loved this book for the most part. There were a few stories that I couldn’t get into, but I couldn’t stop turning pages and wanting to read more. An anthology like this is so great because it gives me a chance to try out new authors and find books that I might want to read in the future.

This is also the second book edited by Stephanie Perkins for the holidays the first one is Summer Days, and Summer Nights and you can read my review here. I kind of wish that there were more anthology books out there. Let me know if you have read this book or the other anthology edited by Stephanie Perkins and what you thought. I hope to see you soon in another post.

four-half-stars

Summer Days & Summer Nights

Summer Days & Summer NightsSummer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories by Stephanie Perkins, Leigh Bardugo, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Brandy Colbert, Tim Federle, Lev Grossman, Nina LaCour, Veronica Roth, Jon Skovron, Jennifer E. Smith
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on May 17, 2016
Pages: 388
Goodreads
four-half-stars

Maybe it's the long, lazy days, or maybe it's the heat making everyone a little bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom. Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.
Featuring stories by Leigh Bardugo, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Brandy Colbert, Tim Federle, Lev Grossman, Nina LaCour, Stephanie Perkins, Veronica Roth, Jon Skovron, and Jennifer E. Smith.


Hey!

I’m finally back with another post. I still hate that all the posts that I’ve been writing here lately have been review posts. I’m trying to think up new exciting content for here, but it just hasn’t been coming. Maybe more thoughts on this at a later date.

I finally finished Summer Days and Summer Nights. This book is a collection of short stories put together by Jennifer E. Smith. This was another Paper & Glam book club read. This book took me WAY longer than normal to read due to the fact that work has been absolute hell lately and I’m lucky if I can read more than a few pages a night.

I loved this collection of stories, but like most collections I found some better than others which leads me to some high hopes when I actually pick up books from those authors. I liked Leigh Bardugo’s Head, Scales, Tongue, and Tails for its whimsy and how it definitely felt like a summer story and the perfect one to start the collection. I loved how Stephanie Perkins perfectly captured the feeling of love In Ninety minutes, turn  North. It was so sweet and just how love should feel. I cried and felt way too much emotions while reading Veronica Roth’s Inertia. You will have to read it to experience it. I was griped by Cassandra Clare’s Brand New Attraction even though there is something about carnivals that will never quite sit right with me. My heart was moved with by Jennifer E. Smith’s A Thousand Ways this could all go wrong. It was so perfect.

I could say a thousand more things,but I think that if you are looking for a quick reading of several stories of varying lengths this is the book for you. There is a companion book to this which I’m hoping to read toward the end of the year.

Hopefully I’ll be back soon with another post. Let me know what you have been reading lately.

four-half-stars

Book Review:Isla and the Happily Ever After

Book Review:Isla and the Happily Ever AfterIsla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3) by Stephanie Perkins
Published by Dutton on August 14, 2014
Pages: 339
Goodreads
four-stars

Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?
Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.
Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.


Hey!

I’m back again with yet another book review. I apologize for once again for the plethora of book reviews in such a short period of time. I have fallen in love with reading again and I want to share all the books I read with you. Hopefully very soon I will be putting together a post on my resolutions and goals for the coming year.

For now though here is a lovely book review. If you have been following me for a while you know that earlier this year I read Lola and the Boy next door. I loved that book and when I found out that it was part of a series I knew that I had to make time to read the rest of the books in the series. I finally finished the last book which is the review that you are reading now. In this book, we travel back to School of America in Paris and encounter Isla. Isla makes a brief appearance in Anna and the French Kiss, but is not heard from again. In this story we meet Isla just as she is about to begin her senior year in high school. While she has loved attending school in Paris she has never really lived in the world outside her books. In a chance meeting over the Summer, she runs into her longtime crush Josh and she begins to see him in a new light. Yes, Josh also makes several appearances in Anna and the French Kiss, but not as a main character. It is during the beginning of the school term that Josh and Isla are finally able to connect and have adventures for a while.

I can’t talk much more about the synopsis without giving the good parts about the book away. I loved this book, but not as much as I loved Lola and the Boy next door. I found the story of Isla and Josh so relatable and so real that probably every girl has been in that situation or something similar. I was super excited in reading this to see that this picks up the same year that Lola and the Boy next door leave off. We are able to once again see Lola, Cricket , and Calliope in their own environment. We are also once again able to catch up with St. Clair and Anna who have the sweetest encounter at their favorite spot in Paris. It is totally swoon worthy and very much them as a couple. I highly recommend that you read this book if you have read any of the books in the series. I’ll be back again soon with another post!

four-stars

Book Review: Anna & the French Kiss

Book Review: Anna & the French KissLola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2) by Stephanie Perkins
Published by Speak on July 9, 2013
Pages: 338
Goodreads
four-half-stars

There is an alternate cover edition for this ISBN13 here.
Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Hey..

I am super excited to be bringing you yet another book review today! I’m glad that I’m semi back on track with my reading goals for this year, but depressed that I have fallen super behind on the Paper & Glam book club books. Well, I guess there is always next year🙂

“I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul”-Neruda

I had read Lola and the Boy Next Door earlier this year and I had mainly picked up that book because I needed a fast read in-between some heavy books I was reading not to mention the cover was pretty. I gush a little more about why I picked up that book in the review. At the time, I had picked the book up I didn’t realize that it was part of a series. After finishing the book and doing more research I found that Lola and the Boy Next Door was the second book in the Stephanie Perkins series.Naturally, I needed to pick up the first book to see how the story started.

If you have read any of my previous reviews, you will know that I have stopped doing spoilers for books. Though you may have already guessed the ending of the story since I did mention that Anna is a character in Lola and the Boy Next Door. In this book unlike Stephanie Perkins other book you don’t get to wander through Paris as much. You do get to wander through several films since Anna is studying to be a film critic. I can’t wait to see how the last book ties into the series.

Let me know what you have been reading lately. I will see you soon in another post!

four-half-stars

Book Review: Lola and the Boy next door

Book Review: Lola and the Boy next doorLola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2) by Stephanie Perkins
Published by Dutton Books on September 29, 2014
Pages: 338
Goodreads
four-stars

An Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here.
Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion... she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit — more sparkly, more fun, more wild — the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.
When Cricket — a gifted inventor — steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.


Hey..

I am super excited to be bringing you this book review today! I glad to be done with my scary movie series at least for a while. I still will probably throw in a couple of more movie reviews before the end of the year. I’ll talk about all this some other time if I haven’t already. I’m glad that I’m semi back on track with my reading goals for this year, but depressed that I have fallen super behind on the Paper & Glam book club books. Well, I guess there is always next year 🙂

I picked up this book because the cover looked pretty. I am secretly in love with San Francisco and my last trip there earlier this year made me love it even more. It’s one of those cities I could wander around for hours and never get bored, getting lost well that’s an entirely different story. I also needed a fun read because I had been reading the Paper & Glam October read which was a bit to heavy for me and The Lying Game series, which I’m still in the midst of reading. There will be a new book review or 2 on that coming in a couple of weeks.

I loved getting to know Lola Nolan through wandering the streets of San Francisco in her crazy outfits and going to her high school. I even loved meeting her family which was a breath of fresh air to read about since we live in a society where there are so many mixed crazy family combinations. The family was written about in an honest open way, the way most teenagers and family would talk about their family. I loved falling in love with Lola Nolan as she got reacquainted with Calliope and Cricket Bell and how they are able to move back in next door. I love how Cricket and Lola slowly re-fall in love with each other and how they show their love to each in little gestures.

Sorry that I totally gushed about this book, but I seriously think that you will find this young adult fiction a fast fluffy beach read. You will fall in love with Lola Nolan and the crazy way she expresses herself through clothes. You will enjoy wandering through the San Francisco/ Berkeley area where the entire book takes place. I definitely plan on picking up the rest of the Stephanie Perkins books just to see how the other characters fit into the story. Let me know what you have been reading lately.

four-stars