My New Bookshelf

I mention a couple of weeks ago that I had been busy installing something to do with "books and wood". Yep, you guessed it... I have a new bookshelf. Check it out:

I have more stuff on the shelves now, but this was taken after I sorted through all of my books. I still have plenty of room for more!

Some of my books... do you recognize any? Click on the picture to zoom in.

My pirate book collection and my one of my porcelain dolls, Alice.

A very interesting and pretty version of Pride and Prejudice!

Monday Muse: Cover Stories (7)

Hey, guys! I'm back... school is officially over! I'm really excited that I will have more time to blog and read! Stay tuned for more reviews and updates this week :)
Hardcover vs. Paperback
Recently, there has been quite a few paperback editions coming out from books that were published last year. Some of them you'll be delighted with, while others will make you go WHAT!? Feel free to leave comments–I'd really like to hear what you think about these covers:

The Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Hardcover vs. (New) Paperback

Is it just me or do publishing companies think that slapping faces on book covers will help sell the book better? This is sooo cliché–I love the hardcover edition, it speaks a lot more than a bunch of faces looking back at me. Plus, isn't the cover suppose to represent Valerie's painting? I demand a re-call! Watcha think? Do you "hate" or like it?

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Hardcover vs. (New) Paperback

Although I love paperbacks because they're cheeper (hehe), I don't like it when they change the entire feel of the story. Sure, the picture on the paperback edition is pretty awesome, I never pictured (or even wanted to picture) Mia like the girl on the cover... why must they ruin our imaginations with a person's face? And, might I add, the model's face looks flawless–people aren't flawless last time I checked.

The Blind Faith Hotel by Pamela Todd

Hardcover vs. (New) Paperback

Why are they doing this. Again, they're tying to make an image for you. By doing this they ruin the character in the process. Publishing companies: we have imaginations... we can see Zoe just fine without your help... you've made her too old looking... for goodness sake she's a country girl, you DON'T wear strappy tops outside–you'll wind up with skin cancer by the time you're twenty.

Swim the Fly by Don Calame

Hardcover vs. (New) Paperback

Not quite sure what to think of this one. Cheesy? Dull? Drab?

For more book cover fun to go Michelle's Bookshelf and check out her takes on some of these book covers!

Cover Stories (6)

Pbk. vs. Hardcover
Read my review of The Secret Life of Prince Charming? Great! Now lets looks at some its different covers so you can easily spot them in stores!

Paperback (just released)

Hardcover

Lookalikes

But don't get mixed up with Hailey Abbot's Flirting with Boys whose publisher also used the same picture:

☛Quick Contest Reminder - MERLIN'S HARP CONTEST will be ending at midnight! There's still time to enter! Just click on the banner above to fill out the contest form and read the review. Winners will be announced tomorrow morning. Good luck :)

Monday Muse: Classics Anyone?

What do you think of the classics? Do you read them voluntarily from time to time, or do you only read them unless they're assigned to you in school?

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I think the classics are important if you're a hard-core reader. When I was only nine or ten, I started reading those juvenile classics like The Secret Garden, Jane Eyre, Tom Sawyer, and my favorites, The Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Cruseo. Now that I'm older, I don't read as many "classics" as I use to. I usually wait until I have to read them in my literature/English classes. Last year in World Literature I read Silas Marner by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) which took place in the Regency Era like Jane Austen's novels. It was an okay book. I think I kept up with it pretty well because Eliot didn't ramble on about nothing like Nathaniel Hawthorne. Ugh. I'm reading The Scarlet Letter this year for American Literature and Fahrenheit 451 for English. When I read my first Hawthorne short story back in 7th grade, I thought to myself, what a wind-bag. I love literature, so for me to say something like that about a "classic" authors is pretty unusual. I can barely make out the story in The Scarlet Letter because he talks about so many different things and the words get all jumbled up. As for the bunny trails? Don't even get me started! No wonder they didn't want women to write--they would have put the men out of business back then.

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What do you think about the classics? Have any favorite authors or books? What are you reading for school or just for enjoyment?

Monday Muse is a original creation by BLT

Monday Muse: A Twitter Party & More

A Twitter Party!

Join Lonely Hearts Club author Elizabeth Eulberg and Amy of MyFriendAmy for a Twitter party Wednesday, January 20, between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. EST!

• Be sure to follow Elizabeth @ElizEulberg and Amy @MyFriendAmy before the party!

• Join the fun! No one expects you or your tweets to be perfect; we’re just happy you made it to the party!

• Anyone who tweets during this hour using #LonelyHeartsClub is entered to win a limited edition Lonely Hearts Club t-shirt!

• Watch for questions from @MyFriendAmy and win awesome prizes including an iPod shuffle, $50 iTunes gift card or $25 VISA gift card!

• To join the party, you can use our official party tweetgrid or just search #LonelyHeartsClub on Twitter.

• Ask Elizabeth questions or chat with other partygoers about how excited you are to read LHC—just use the tag #LonelyHeartsClub in all of your party tweets! (This is added automatically in TweetGrid.)

• Please don’t post any spoilers and don’t forget to pay attention to the time zones, the party starts at 8:30pm EST.

The Lonely Hearts Club will be making an appearance on here on BLT so be sure to check back soon!


A Blogging Survey: Why Do YOU Blog About Books?
Blogger Biblibio has some good questions for the book blogging community. Help her curiosity by taking this quick survey about you and your blog here.

Calling All Fashionistas!
Do you want to be a fashion designer but don't know where to start? Look no farther because Fashionista University is here to help girls teens and young adults make their fashion dreams come true. Hurry, sign up today! Classes start Jan. 23rd.

Monday Muse: Cover Stories (5)

Look-a-Likes
Although these books don't exactly look alike, they have the same theme: coffee! Don't forget to click the amazon links, you might find some new books to add to your reading list. Enjoy! 

(can you spy the hearts in each these covers?)

Confessions of a Triple-Shot Betty by Jody Gehrman

The Espressologist by Kristina Springer

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors

Sweet Carolina by Rachel Hauck

Miss Match (A Lauren Holbrook Novel) by Erynn Mangum

Cool Beans by Erynn Mangum (April 2010)

This one didn't have a heart on it, but it still has a coffee theme.

Have you seen anymore coffee cup books? Let me know and I'll share the links!

Monday Muse: Cover Stories (4)

US vs. UK & Other Foreign Covers
I haven't read Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabriella Zevin yet, but I plan to because my library has a copy. I went to Zevin's website and found some interesting covers and thought I'd share. Which one do you like best?

US Hardcover

UK Paperback

German Version

Italian Version, translates to "I Forgot Why I Loved You".

I think I like the UK version the best because it's colorful. If I were walking past it in a bookstore, it would pop out of the shelves.

If Naomi had picked tails, she would have won the coin toss. She wouldn't have had to go back for the yearbook camera, and she wouldn't have hit her head on the steps. She wouldn't have woken up in an ambulance with amnesia. She certainly would have remembered her boyfriend, Ace. She might even have remembered why she fell in love with him in the first place. She would understand why her best friend, Will, keeps calling her “Chief.” She'd know about her mom's new family. She'd know about her dad's fiancée. She never would have met James, the boy with the questionable past and the even fuzzier future, who tells her he once wanted to kiss her. She wouldn't have wanted to kiss him back.
But Naomi picked heads.

Monday Muse: What Did You Read Growing Up?

What were your favorite books when you were growing up?

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When I was about eight I started reading the Nancy Drew Mystery series and the Little House on the Praerie books. I have said this many times and I'll say it again, you can't go through life without reading  these books. I read all of the Laura Ingalls books and thirty-some odd Nancy Drew mysteries; still to this day my favorite Nancy Drew book is The Hidden Staircase. Last year or so I bought several sets of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy mysteries which I read every once in awhile-my sister has even bought some of hard-to-find ones such as the 99 Steps. If you thought The Thirteenth Pearl was the last Nancy Drew book ever written think again. In 2007 numbers #58-#63 were published and have a slightly different look!

Have a question for me to feature in Monday Muse? I'd love to answer it! Leave a comment or send me an email at thefirstlibrarian@yahoo.com.

Monday Muse: US vs. UK Covers

Monday Muse is a creation of BLT.

US Hardcover

UK Hardcover

I think I like the US cover better. It's more colorful and the flower represents the one decision Mia has to make. The UK cover is not so bold in color and takes soft grays and blues as the color pattern which makes the book seem dreamy. See my review of If I Stay.

Which cover to you like better?

Monday Muse: What Catches Your Eye?

An original creation by BLT

What catches your eye when you are browsing the library/bookstore?

Books with dark covers?

Is it books with colorful covers?

Funny covers?

Mysterious covers?

Sad or serious covers?

What catches my eye at the library or bookstore are either mysterious covers with great pictures or clean, serious covers with neat fonts like Hold Still. While those kinds of covers draw my attention, however, I always see books with the dark covers. If an author want's to draw lots of attention to her book, the safest bet is a dark cover.

Monday Muse: Design Your Own YA Novel

If you were a author, what would your debut novel look like? What would the title be? This is kind of a neat little thing do to and I had lots of fun design my book cover. Follow the steps below:

1 – Go to “Fake Name Generator” or click http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/

The name that appears is your author name.

2 – Go to “Random Wor

d Generator” or click http://www.websitestyle.com/parser/randomword.shtml

The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.

3 – Go to “FlickrCC” or click http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/index.php

Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.

4 – Use Photoshop, Picnik, or similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and/or zoom in.

5 – Post it to your site alon

g with this text.

Just a little photoshopping.....and here's what I came up with:

Monday Muse is an original creation by BLT.

Monday Muse: I Spy a Look-a-Like! (2)

This look-a-like was pretty easy to spot. I've seen these two book floating around from some time and I think I've even seen more that look similar. Have you spotted anything similar? Have a look-a-like you'd like to share? I haven't read either of these (though The Fold is at my library)..... so has anybody else read them? If you've reviewed either one or both of these books, I'd love to get a link to your review. Just email me the link or post in your comment!

Fix by Leslie Margolis

Pretty, blond, popular Cameron Beekman has it all -- lots of girlfriends, a hot boyfriend, and a successful family. She's perfection. Gone are her days as the outcast, huge-nosed "Beakface." Which, as it turns out, was nothing a good nose job couldn't fix. While her little sister, Allie, struggles with doubts about her own approaching "procedure," Cameron wants more. She's headed to UC "Santa Barbie" and needs to look the part. After all, why settle for smart and pretty when smart and drop-dead gorgeous is just a surgery away?

The Fold by An Na

Joyce never used to care that much about how she looked, but that was before she met JFK—John Ford Kang, the most gorgeous guy in school. And it doesn’t help that she’s constantly being compared to her beautiful older sister, Helen. Then her rich plastic-surgery-addict aunt offers Joyce a gift to “fix” a part of herself she’d never realized needed fixing—her eyes. Joyce has heard of the fold surgery—a common procedure meant to make Asian women’s eyes seem “prettier” and more “American”—but she’s not sure she wants to go through with it. Her friend Gina can’t believe she isn’t thrilled. After all, the plastic surgeon has shown Joyce that her new eyes will make her look just like Helen—but is that necessarily a good thing?

Printz Award–winning author An Na has created a surprisingly funny and thought-provoking look at notions of beauty, who sets the standards and how they affect us all. Joyce’s decision is sure to spark heated discussions about the beauty myths readers confront in their own lives.