In My Mailbox *25*

Created by The Story Siren who was inspired by Alea.

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So my Waldens officially closed this week. Their last day was Tuesday and we went by there. It was so sad! I've come to know the workers and adore a few of them and it was pretty sad to see them packing up the store and everything, but there's a bright side (sorta). They're putting in another bookstore! Yay! BUT! On the downside, I am moving sometime next month and it will put me 20 minutes from any bookstore that's not going to try and sell me Jesus. (I mean no offense to anyone by that comment, it's just around here when you go into a Christian bookstore, they shove religion down your throat). 

 Anyways, two of these I got this week and two last week, I just forgot them in the hugeness that was last weeks IMM. (if you need a refresher, click here).

Review:

None!

Bought:

Candor by Pam Bachorz (read my review here)

Perfect Chemistry by Simon Elkeles

Ex-Mas by Kate Brian

Immortal by Various Authors, Edited by P.C. Cast

That's what was in my mailbox this week, what did you get in yours?

Catcher in the Rye movie? Please, no...

While browsing Entertainment Weekly’s website, I ran across an article talking about how now that J.D. Salinger has passed, Hollywood is buzzing about obtaining the rights to Catcher in the Rye. Yes, the man isn’t even buried yet, and they want to get their grubby, literature destroying paws onto this literary masterpiece.

Now thankfully for Mr. Salinger, if the bloodsuckers in Hollywood DO manage to get a hold of Catcher in the Rye and they maim it (as they probably will), he will not be around to see it. But on the other side, if they get their hands on it and manage to make a beautiful, well cast, well written adaptation (I am laughing hysterically at the thought of them pulling that off), then he won’t be around to see its beauty.

But either end of the spectrum you look at, Salinger did not want Catcher to be made into a movie and for almost 60 years he outright refused to allow them to touch his work. There is a reason for that. This is why I have a short letter to Hollywood…

Dear Hollywood,

There is a reason J.D. Salinger spent the last 59 years of his life refusing to give you the rights to Catcher in the Rye. That reason is because you have the ability to take amazing works of literature and turn them into two hours of complete and utter crap.

Once you get your money-hungry, masterpiece-ruining paws on a single word of a classic like Catcher in the Rye and you would update the setting and whatnot and then cast the likes of *Justin Timberlake, Zac Efron, Robert Pattinson, or Taylor Lautner** as Holden and that would already be a travesty. We won’t even begin to go into the directors they could potentially employ.

So Hollywood, I beg of you, step away from Catcher in the Rye and go find something that’s not a classic, and not so beloved to ruin for the millions of people that pay a small fortune to sit in a theater with 200 strangers to see. Just don’t ruin this.

Sincerely,

Samantha LeAnne

*These are the names I saw mentioned in the comments of the EW.com article…no, I am not making this up.

**His absolute gorgeousness does not excuse the fact that I would never ever want to see him portray Holden…ever.

How do you guys feel about the idea of Cather in the Rye becoming the next casualty in Hollywood's string of book-to-movie adaptations?

In My Mailbox *24*

Created by The Story Siren who was inspired by Alea.

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As you guys may have noticed, I've not done an In My Mailbox in about a month, so this one is a big one! There's all kinds of awesome stuff! So let's get started!

For Review:

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Never After by Dan Elconin

The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard

Hold Still by Nina Lacour

What I Wore to Save The World by Maryrose Wood

I Am An Emotional Creature by Eve Ensler

Truly, Madly by Heather Webber

For Around the World Tours:

Restoring Harmony by Joelle Anthony

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain (not pictured) Read my review here

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore (not pictured)

The Naughty List by Suzanne Young (not pictured)

Bought:

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

The Heavenstone Secrets by V.C. Andrews

Firespell by Chloe Neill

Won:

Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble (from Layers of Thought)

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson (from The Neverending Shelf)

Black is for Beginnings by Laurie Faria Stolarz (from The Neverending Shelf)

How to Catch and Keep A Vampire by Diana Laurence (from The Neverending Shelf)

Candle Man by Glenn Dakin (from The Neverending Shelf)

Spellbinder by Helen Stringer (from The Neverending Shelf) (not pictured)

Received as gifts:

Envy by Anna Godbersen

Splendor by Anna Godbersen

Swag:

-An awesome bookplate from Jaclyn Dolamore to put in my own copy of Magic Under Glass (which I just read for ATWT and it is fantabulous!)

-The most adorable Christmas card from Laina that came equipped with some really awesome, shiny stickers! (there are mouses (I know it's mice, but they're just so cute that they're mouses!), cows, sunflowers, various other flowers, and KITTIES!!!)

-My sister was sweet enough to request a bookplate and whatnot from the wonderful Lisa Schroeder, so I can put it in my own copy of Chasing Brooklyn (which I am buying after the move! :) Yay!) and she included some bookmarks and postcards, which she also signed!

So that's what was in my mailbox for the last...month...so what did you get in yours?

The Hollywood Sisters: Truth or Dare by Mary Wilcox

The Hollywood Sisters: Truth or Dare by Mary Wilcox

Release Date: March 10, 2009

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Age Group: Young Adult

Overall:

Jessica Ortiz is probably the most normal person in Hollywood. Or at least in Mary Wilcox’s version of Hollywood in The Hollywood Sisters: Truth or Dare.

Jessica is sweet, shy (like “Urkele” shy), down to earth, and has had to draft personal apologies to numerous celebrities. Jessica seems to have the worst luck with celebrities, in a town that just so happens to be full of them.

To “help” matters, Jessica’s sister, Eva, is the star of a hit teen TV show, her best friend, Rebecca, is the child of two of the more famous movie producers in town, and to top it off, Rebecca managed to score them both parts in her mother’s newest movie. But can things go off without a hitch or will everything go terribly wrong?

This was probably the more adorable story I’ve read in a long time. There was fun, mystery (Nancy Drew’s got some competition!), a little romance, and ghosts! There’s also some named that most of us will recognize, which is totally refreshing to see and I think makes a bit more enjoyable to see something that’s familiar.

If you’ve got a couple hours to kill or are looking for a quick dose of comic relief, then pick this up. With adorable characters, wonderful dialogue, fast paced setting, and a delightful plot, it was a pleasant surprise to read something light and fun like The Hollywood Sisters: Truth or Dare.

Younger readers will thoroughly enjoy the story, and I think that’s the target age, but older readers will also enjoy the lightness and even the cute little mystery that is contained within these pages. And no worries if you haven’t read any of the other books in the series, this can totally stand alone.

Plot:
Writing:
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Ending:
Cover:

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I received this book for review for Teens Read Too.

Thank you everyone

Hey guys,

As many of you know from my brief updates of Twitter, last week one of
my rottweilers, Tori, got sick. Tori is my baby, she's our "momma" dog,
and she is the sweetest thing in the world. She suddenly became
paralyzed in her hind legs and can no longer walk.

The Vet has said that one of her hips has disintegrating and that there
are some neurological issues, and that she will not recover. We were
able to bring her home to spend a few days with her and say our
goodbyes.

We were supposed to take her back to the Vet today and they were going
to put her to sleep. But we decided to wait until Monday. She is not in
any pain and it gives us more time to spend with her and love on her,
and prepare ourselves a little more.

The reason I am telling you guys this is because this is why I've been
pretty absent this past week, and why I am taking a few more days to
spend with my baby. I'm sure many of you can understand that pets aren't
just a pet, they're family.

I wanted to say thank you for everyone's well wishes over this past week
and thank you all for understanding during this rather difficult time
for me and for my family.

I will return to the blog next week. If you would like to find me or
anything, you can always email me or catch me on Twitter, I will be
popping in and out on there throughout the weekend.

Thank you everyone.

XOXO,
Samantha

Beautiful by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma

Beautiful by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma

Release Date: November 3, 2009

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Age Group: Young Adult

Overall:

Have you ever had a story touch your heart in a way that it actually made you rethink your own perspective on things? Beautiful by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma is a story that will do just that, or at least that’s what it did for me.

Ellie Summerfield is Little Miss Perfect; at least that’s how she appears to everyone else. Ellie has a 4.0 GPA, a list of extracurricular activities that would make any college beg for her, she’s beautiful and has a gorgeous boyfriend that seems to actually love her, and everyone in school adores her. But that doesn’t mean she’s happy behind the almost permanent smile she has pasted onto her face.

But as always, there has to be a twist that knocks the seemingly perfect character off their feet and forces them to show their true selves to the world, right? Right. There is a twist in Beautiful, but I can guarantee you that you won’t see it coming, and neither did Ellie; and it changes the course of Ellie’s life and everyone else’s.

It’s been a long while since a book and a story has made me audibly gasp. I didn’t realize when I started reading Beautiful that it’s classified not just as YA, but as “Religious Fiction”; But don’t let that shy you away from this story, it’s one that needs to be heard, and I never would have realized it was classified as “religious fiction” if it hadn’t been printed on the back. There is some mention of God and Ellie’s faith and whatnot, but it’s not really all that noticeable or excessive.

Mrs. Martinusen-Coloma has given us characters that are so realistic and relatable that you’ve got to remind yourself that they’re characters on a page and not people you’ve already met (Megan is the most amusing thing, and so easy to relate to and adore). The writing itself is fantastic and I can’t wait to read more from Mrs. Martinusen-Coloma, there’s something to be said about an author that can make their characters and story jump off the page like Beautiful does.

It’s not a story that you’ll immediately forget or get out of your head. As someone who’s generally opposed to all the happy endings that YA fiction tends to have, this is a story that begs for one and while it wasn’t the ending I was hoping for, it was one that was satisfying enough that it made me smile.

I’ve not been affected by any story like this in a long time, but Beautiful touched me in a way that I don’t think I will soon forget. It’s happy, it’s sad, it’s…Beautiful.

Plot:

Writing:

Characters:

Ending:

Cover:

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I received this book for review from Book Divas.

Jekel Loves Hyde trailer contest!

So Beth Fantaskey and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are searching for the Official trailer for Jekel Loves Hyde, which comes out May 3, 2010 and in that search they are coming to you, me, and all readers that are up to the challenge.

The contest is to create a trailer for Jekel Loves Hyde! The catch is, you must use copyright free music and copyright free images. (That's not as easy as it sounds). There are super awesome prizes too!

First prize:

• A visit to your local library, school, or bookstore to sign books and of course meet the winner from Beth Fantaskey herself!
  
• Signed copies of both Jekel Loves Hyde AND Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side!
• The winning video becomes the "official" trailer on Beth's website! And the possibility of being used by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt!
• And some extra other fun stuff that Beth will bring with her on her visit!

Two Runners-up:

• Signed copies of both Jekel Loves Hyde and Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side!

There's more! The first 10 entrants will automatically be guaranteed signed copies of Jekel Loves Hyde!

And so far there have only been 5 entries so there's still time for you to win!

I attempted this, and let me tell you, it's not easy! Here's my entry:

Just know that I've never even attempted to do this before and I was using Windows Movie Maker, so it's not like I have great software either.

I would love to hear your thoughts, and if you like it then let Beth know on her blog!

To see all the entries so far click here!

And finally to enter yourself and get more information about the contest go here!

Love to hear your thoughts!