It's Been A While...

Hello all! It's been a while since you've seen a post on here. I admit that this past year has been a bit of a struggle for me when it comes to finding time to read and blog, but I'm hoping to be back for a while. I've been at graduate school in New York working on my Master's in Forensic Psychology. Throughout the past year I've attempted to post several times, I've even written out entire posts and it just never worked out. So here I am now, once again attempting to do one of the things I love the most.

I'm going to try to schedule at least one post a week for the next few weeks. Better than nothing! I truly miss the community and seeing everyone's posts, fangirling over books with my co-bloggers and interacting will the book community in general.

Summer TBR

To start off, here are some of the books I'm most excited to read in the next few months! I have a lot of catching up to do!

Are any of these on your summer list? Have you read any of these? If so let me know what you thought!

August Wrap Up

Over here at YA Bookmark we've been struggling with our reading for the better part of the year. Both of us have had to lower our Goodreads goal to help with the pressure, that said, August wasn't the worst reading month we've had and we're hoping September just gets better. Below are the books we managed to read in August.

Ordinary People by Judith Guest- 3/5 stars

Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here by Anna Breslaw- 2/5 stars

P.S. I Like You by Kasie West- 3/5 stars

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover- 5/5 stars

Relic by Gretchen McNeil- 1/5 stars

Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes- 4/5 stars

Gotham Academy Vol. 1 by Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl- 3/5 stars

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur- 5/5 stars

But Like Maybe? #1 by Arianna Margulis and Dru Radovich- 2/5 stars

Addicted to You by Krista and Becca Ritchie- 5/5 stars

Relic by Gretchen McNeil- 2/5 stars

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn- 5/5 stars
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon- 4/5 stars

What books did you get to in August?

#ReadThemAllThon SIgn Up + TBR

Alright! If you haven't seen me around in the past month it's probably because I spend most of my free time out catching Pokemon. I've been on more walks this past month than I probably have in my entire life (hatching eggs is no joke). I've also probably seen more of my area than I have in the time I've been living here. So really, playing Pokemon has improved my life.

Since I've been spewing my love for Pokemon Go everywhere, Jacquelyn sent me the information for #readthemallthon as soon as she came across it. You see? That's why she's my perfect co-blogger! Disclaimer: I may or may not have screamed when I read all the details. This is the perfect readathon for those of us who were basically training along side Ash Ketchum for most of our childhood. You can go here for all the info because Aentee explains it so much better than I ever could.

Pokemon

I'm going to keep it pretty classic here and go with Charmander. I picked him EVERY. TIME. as my starter so it only seems fitting.

TBR

This is a very ambitious TBR but since we have three weeks to complete all 8 challenges I think I can make it work. Choosing these books was extremely easy since they're all books I've been looking forward to reading for a long time.

An Ember in The Ashes by Sabah Tahir: I have the sequel to this one and I just need to get the first book over with. Everyone has been raving about it lately!

446 pages, +44CP

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson: The moment I read "A Book That Might Make You Cry" I knew this was the book I would be picking up. I've heard it's nearly impossible to close this book with a dry eye. I'm not a huge crier so we'll see!

468 pages, +46CP

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell: Katytastic alone has given this book all the hype. She's read it a billion times, give or take, since the release last year and since I've read every other Rainbow Rowell book out there, I think it's time...

522 pages, +52CP

Flying Lessons and Other Stories edited by Ellen Oh: This book is actually just a bunch of short stories all centered around diversity, edited by the co-founder of We Need Diverse Books. How perfect is that?

225 pages, +22CP

When We Collided by Emery Lord: Emery is one of my queens of contemporary. The romance in The Start of Me and You? AMAZING. I have high hopes for an epic romance in When We Collided.

352 pages, +35CP

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson: This was actually the book club book of the month earlier this year...or maybe last year? As you can tell, I didn't end up reading it, but with the release of the third and final book in the series I've found myself reaching towards it lately. I think it's time I actually power through it.

489 pages, +48CP

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: I don't think I have to say much. It has a gorgeous red cover, it's a beauty and the beast retelling and I've heard all about that steamy romance.

416 pages, +41CP

Angelfall by Susan Ee: As with the rest of these books, this one has been on my shelf for way too long. Everyone is always talking about how action packed this series is and I want to find out for myself. Plus I do love a good angel book.

326 pages, +32CP

If I complete all the books I will have 590CP! I don't know if I'll be able to read everything, but I'll be sure to update my progress on here, twitter and Instagram!

Are you joining in? I want to see all your TBRs!

ARC August 2016: What We Will Be Reading

Hello! It's been a long time since we've posted, much less posted a TBR of some sort, but after ALA I need some help working through all of my arcs. This is where ARC August comes into play. The girls over at Read.Sleep.Repeat host this amazing event every year so that we can finally make a dent in that pile of arcs staring at us from the corner of our room. So here is what our TBRs look like for ARC August!

AUDRIS' TBR

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

Flying Lessons and Other Stories edited by Ellen Oh

Futhermore by Tahereh Mafi

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

The Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

JACQUELYN'S TBR

Gap Life by John Coy

Kiss Cam by Kiara London

Write This Down by Claudia Mills

The Mighty Dynamo by Kieran Crowley

Flashfall by Jenny Moyer

Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall

This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Finding Perfect by Elly Swartz

Afterward by Jennifer Mathieu

Frannie and Tru by Karen Hattrup

This is more than either one of us has been reading lately but we hope to make August an amazing reading month. What will you be reading in August?

The Museum of Heartbreak Blog Tour: Top 10 With Meg Leder + Giveaway

Title: The Museum of Heartbreak

Author: Meg Leder
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication date: June 7, 2016
Genre(s): Contemporary
Source: Blog Tour

Pages: 256

Add to Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

In this ode to all the things we gain and lose and gain again, seventeen-year-old Penelope Marx curates her own mini-museum to deal with all the heartbreaks of love, friendship, and growing up.
Welcome to the Museum of Heartbreak.
Well, actually, to Penelope Marx’s personal museum. The one she creates after coming face to face with the devastating, lonely-making butt-kicking phenomenon known as heartbreak.
Heartbreak comes in all forms: There’s Keats, the charmingly handsome new guy who couldn’t be more perfect for her. There’s possibly the worst person in the world, Cherisse, whose mission in life is to make Penelope miserable. There’s Penelope’s increasingly distant best friend Audrey. And then there’s Penelope’s other best friend, the equal-parts-infuriating-and-yet-somehow-amazing Eph, who has been all kinds of confusing lately.
But sometimes the biggest heartbreak of all is learning to let go of that wondrous time before you ever knew things could be broken. 

10 fictional characters you would invite to a dinner party:

1. Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables. My favorite character from my favorite book. I would want to sit right next to Anne because she would be full of stories.

2. Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. I didn’t read this book until I was in graduate school, and I was stunned by how incredible it was. I feel like Elizabeth Bennett and would be good friends.

3. Eleanor from Eleanor and Park. I want to know what she said on the postcard!

4. Park from Eleanor and Park. I want Park and Eleanor to be together again!

5. Owen Meany from A Prayer for Owen Meany. I read this book in high school and it slayed me—it’s so hilarious and heartbreaking, and Owen is one of a kind. I’m sure he’d be shouty at dinner, but so be it.

6. Yuri from Learning to Swear in America. I got a chance to read an early copy of this gem, and fell head over heels for Yuri. He’s delightful and can charm the dinner guests with lots of cool physics trivia.

7. Walt Whitman. Sure, this is kind of cheating, as he was real, but I adore Walt Whitman and think he’d be great at keeping the conversation going if anyone was feeling awkward.

8. Emily Dickinson. Also a cheat, but I feel like Emily would be the perfect companion for anyone who was feeling a little more introverted. She’d be a good listener.

9. Clark from The Unexpected Everything. A dreamy nerd writer? Yes please.

10. Parker, the main character from my work in progress. I’m still getting to know her and I need her to talk to me more about her fears and dreams so I can finish this manuscript!

About Meg Leder:

Website | Twitter

A former bookseller and teacher, Meg Leder currently works as a book editor in New York City. Her role models are Harriet the Spy and Anne Shirley. She is the coauthor of The Happy Book, and spends her free time reading, looking for street art, and people watching. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can visit her on Twitter at @MegLeder.

3 Finished Copies of THE MUSEUM OF HEARTBREAK (US Only)

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Blog Tour Review: Run by Kody Keplinger

Title: Run

Author: Kody Keplinger
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication date: June 28, 2016
Genre(s): Contemporary
Source: Publisher

Pages: 288

Add to Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Bo Dickinson is a girl with a wild reputation, a deadbeat dad, and a mama who's not exactly sober most of the time. Everyone in town knows the Dickinsons are a bad lot, but Bo doesn't care what anyone thinks.
Agnes Atwood has never gone on a date, never even stayed out past ten, and never broken any of her parents' overbearing rules. Rules that are meant to protect their legally blind daughter -- protect her from what, Agnes isn't quite sure.
Despite everything, Bo and Agnes become best friends. And it's the sort of friendship that runs truer and deeper than anything else.
So when Bo shows up in the middle of the night, with police sirens wailing in the distance, desperate to get out of town, Agnes doesn't hesitate to take off with her. But running away and not getting caught will require stealing a car, tracking down Bo's dad, staying ahead of the authorities, and -- worst of all -- confronting some ugly secrets.

I've read almost every book Kody Keplinger has released and I've devoured all of them. I'm happy to say that Run was no different in that aspect. That said, my one suggestion before picking up this book would be to put aside everything you think you know about Kody Keplinger's writing. Run is very different from her previous stories, in the best way possible. It deals with more serious issues including disability, drug use, and family struggles, but it also deals with things like friendship, first love, self discovery. You are bound to relate in some way to these characters and what they're going through. This is a raw story with very real characters.

The way Run is written in alternating points of view makes it easy to piece together the story of Agnes and Bo. You get the whole picture, but in small doses. Agnes' perspective is from the past, while Bo is telling the story in the present. I loved the way the stories came together, but the one thing that didn't work for me was that I had a hard time distinguishing their voices. They were way too similar and I had to keep checking whose perspective I was actually reading. If their voices had been a little easier to differentiate I think the story would have had an even bigger impact.

While the characters may be young at 16 and 17, this story will appeal to people of all ages. The feeling I got while I was reading it was the same feeling I got when I was younger and I read Because of Winn-Dixie. It gave me a nostalgic feeling to that summer in 5th grade. I would recommend this one as a great summer read. It's a quick book to get through, but it's filled with feeling and love. It's an important story that needs to be shared with others and I thank Kody Keplinger for writing it so beautifully. 

About Kody Keplinger:

Kody Keplinger was born and raised in small town western Kentucky, where she began her writing career after penning the New York Times and USA Today bestseller, The DUFF, at age seventeen.The DUFF, now a major motion picture, was chosen as an YALSA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers and a Romantic Times Top Pick. Kody has since written other books for both young adult and middle grade readers. When she isn't writing, Kody is posting about fashion and body positivity on her Instagram, chatting about her favorite TV shows on Twitter, or making videos for her YouTube account. Kody is also the co-founder of Disability in KidLit and a teacher at the Gotham Writers Workshops in NYC.

Kody is active on social media, so feel free to reach out to her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.

3 Finished Copies of RUN (US Only)

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