The Witness by Ginna Gray

My husband and I had the cabin up north to ourselves this weekend so I knew I'd be able to get in a lot of reading.  I decided to pick up a book that I've been dying to re-read as a quick fun story for lounging on the water.

Original Review from Goodreads (2007):

This was the book that got me reading again. A trip into town one weekend at the cottage led me to a used bookstore and to this book by fluke and I LOVED it. After a couple of years of not really reading much this hooked me right away and made me remember how much I love reading.


It's a typical cheesy romance, but the adventure makes it a really fun/suspensful read. I recently found my copy and will be reading it again in the near future

I really enjoyed this re-read, and found it just as fun and exciting as the last time.  Given the amount of books I've read since, I noticed a lot of flaws in the writing that I probably wouldn't have noticed on my first read, given that at the time I was almost exclusively reading romance, but I was able to overlook them and enjoy the story for what it was.  It's entertaining, sexy and exciting and I really enjoyed it.

On why I love book nerds, authors and the internet

So apparently things like THIS also make a book nerd squee.   Oh... oh, HI John Green.  S'up?  Ya- we're like totally BFF's now IRL.

Okay, maybe not.... so why does this make happy dance in my office chair?  Let me try to explain.

One of the awesome things about Twitter, Facebook and social networking in general is that it gives you the opportunity to connect with some of your favorite people instsantly and in real-time.  Whether it's personally, professionally or fangirly.... these people are at your fingertips.  My IRL friends ask me why I spend so much time online, or tell me that they don't "get" Twitter... or ask "why don't you join a real book club"??? yadda yadda yadda.... well here's why.  I have a lot of online friends thanks to a book forum I belong to and I would never have "met" any of these people if it wasn't for the wonderful world of the interwebz.  These are people who I talk to on a daily basis about my favorite topic... BOOKS.  But beyond that, we have a comfort level established that has led to much more than just a book club and I look forward to really meeting these people in the future (damn geography keeping me from nestie gtg's).  So, those friends alone make it worth the while... but they're not the only reason I love the e-world so much.

Now it's true that I follow a lot of people on Twitter and true many of them are celebrities who wouldn't respond to me to save their lives (not that I send messages to most of them), but it's cool to see their updates and know what they're up to, working on, getting charged with etc.  Maybe I should follow LiLo?  I'm sure it would be entertaining to say the least... but I digress. Where Twitter becomes especially cool is with some of my favorite authors that I have the pleasure of following through their days.  I love getting updates on how their next book is coming,  teasers about sequels and just funny little insights into their lives, or what they like to read... etc etc etc.  Authors are my ultimate celebrities because I read a whole heck of a lot more than I watch TV or movies, and what's super cool is that a lot of these totally awesome authors actually respond to your Tweets.

What's that you say? You want examples? 

I tweeted yesterday about going through vlogbrothers withdrawls and wondered where John and Hank Green were... and got the above linked response directly from John. 

I read and LOVED Sisters Red, posted a Tweet about how awesome it was and got an almost immediate response from from Jackson Pearce saying that she was so happy that I liked it. 

I've exchanged random tweets about the fabulous Hex Hall and life in general with Rachel Hawkins.

Although I've never reached out to her personally, I know several of my NBCer's have had coversations via Twitter with Maggie Stiefvater (author of Shiver, Linger and some other awesome books) about her books and other randomness.

I think the best example of this involved my NBC girls, a Jessical Darling/Marcus Flutie'd Christmas poem and Megan McCafferty. Lets just say it was hilarious, Megan loved it, sent signed books and hashtagged the crap out of the key term in the poem. FAN- FREAKIN'- TASTIC.

They run contests on Twitter, ask for feedback, opinions, random trivia, post pictures etc. And they are actually there reading and responding.  It's so freakin' cool to interact regularily with the people you admire most (and ok... in the case of John Green, fangirl over).  There's something genuine about a lot of these authors because they're truly grateful that you read and buy there books and they really want you to enjoy them.  I'm sure it's also pretty cool for them to see people trending about their books... something they put so much time into. And lastly, many (if not all) of them are book nerds to, so you have that in common to connect you and I love it.

You rarely get that kind of interaction with movie/television/music industry stars... but I get it on a daily basis with some of my favorite authors who are, in the end, just really cool people.  How awesome is that?

The Dark Divine Book Trailer

YA author Bree Despain has an AWESOME contest happening on her blog, and it's all based around the new (official) trailer for The Dark Divine. Check it out the full trailer here and then tell your friends about it.

If you want to see my original review of this book... click here.  In short- I love it.  Watch the trailer and then read the book if you haven't already.  Seriously.  Go read it.

And then you can join the countdown to the release of The Lost Saint.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Well... this book was exactly what I've been looking for lately. A steamy read, with a good plot and likeable characters.
I love a good forbidden love story. There's something that just adds to the passion and emotion of the story when the characters go through an internal battle throw everything aside and decide to be with eachother, especially when it involves some element of danger.

Being the "bad boy" lover that I am, Alex was prefectly hot hot hot! I loved that he was deeper than you would expect the average gang banger to be and yet still had the tough exterior that made him so attractive. And the oy with the mixing of Spanish and English. HOT!

I thought for sure that Brittany was going to drive me crazy in the beginning, but she grew on me very quickly. You really do begin to feel bad for her and her situation at home. That made it easy to root for her and Alex. I think that it's her devotion to her sisters that made me like her so much. It showed the real depth of her character.

Among the other characters, I really liked Sierra. She wasn't the stereotypical annoying best friend and she was really there for Brittany and I like that. Colin on the other hand... I could have slapped him a few times.

The end was a little cheesy, as were a few parts here and there throughout.... but in the end this book sucked me in and I really really enjoyed it. It was a little guilty pleasure for some good weekend reading. I definitely look forward to reading Rules of Attraction- which, if the over the top trailer is any indicator, will be just as steamy.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

*sigh*

This book was pretty much what I thought it was going to be and at the same time it was a total surprise. The only way I can describe it is that it was "quiet"... but it was quietly awesome. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

It was refreshing because it was just so honest. All of the characters were 100% real and believable (yes... even Tiny) and the story was told in such a truthful way that you just had to believe it.

There were moments that had me literally laughing out loud (I won't mention specifics because I don't want to spoil them) and that says a lot because, although I often find myself smiling at books, I rarely laugh out loud.

David Levithan- what an emotional voice. Honestly, some of the writing for WG is just... ugh. AWESOME.

John Green- HI-larious and smart as ever. There are certain things that John can get across that just make me say , "yessssssssssssssssssss" like I've been trying to describe it for years and he just says it. I kinda love him.

I will definitely be reading more from both of these authors, hopefully in the near future.

If you're looking for an action-packed, fast-moving, exciting book.... WGWG is not for you. If your looking for a funny, touching, truthful and quiet book, definitely pick this up and give it a chance. You'll be pleasantly surprised.