Just discovered another promising book!

Instead of working on stuff that really needs my attention, I was randomly browsing the net for books (typical!) and I came across this gem below and I'm really excited, it sounds just my cup of tea!

"Who better than a twenty-four-year-old author to satirize the college experience? An uptight Brit and a hard-partying American swap lives in the smartest comedy of the season. Take an administrative snafu, a bad break-up, and what shall heretofore be known as "The Hot-Tub Incident", and you've got two thoroughly unprepared sophomores on a semester abroad. For American party girl Tasha, an escape to tweedy Oxford may be a chance to ditch her recent fame as a tabloid temptress, but wading Uggs-deep in feminist theory is not her idea of a break. Meanwhile, the British half of the exchange, studious control-freak Emily, nurses an aching heart amid the bikinis and beer pong of U.C. Santa Barbara. Soon desperation has the girls texting each other tips - on fitting in, finding love and figuring out who they really are. With an anthropologist's eye for cultural detail and a true ear for teen-speak, exciting new novelist Abigail McDonald crafts a very funny, fast-paced, poignant look at survival, sisterhood, and the surprising ways we discover our true selves. This is a humorous debut novel by young author. It is presented by a sophisticated chick lit."

There are so many things that I already love about this book, namely that the author is my age and that it includes mentions of feminist theory, plus it appears to feature a rather interesting life swap! I wouldn't mind ordering the hardback (titled Sophmore Switch) as the price is the last thing I care about when it comes to books, but the truth is that I much prefer both the paperback title (Life Swap) and the cover so I'm opting for that one. The only downside is that I'll have to wait for 76 (!) days for it to be published, grr. I hate hate hate waiting for books, it just kills me, but oh well, time flies anyway, it'll be September in no time.

ordered books + exciting summer releases

I told myself (for the 100th time!) that I really must stop ordering more and more books online and I actually stuck to this resolution for a few days (or maybe I was just too busy to shop, heh), but I cracked under pressure today and ordered three more books.

I've never watched The Hills and I barely know what Lauren Conrad is about, but there's been so much coverage of "her" book L. A. Candy in the media lately that I just couldn't resist and bought it. The first reviews on Amazon are positive, plus it sounds like an interesting summer read (but the cover is sooo boring).
Furthemore, I've heard so much praise of If I Stay in the past month or so and after reading Dot's review today, I decided to finally order it - I'm sure I won't regret it (plus the cover is beautiful).
The last one has been on my mind for a while so I just ordered it to get it over with, hehe.
ETA: A couple of days after this post was made, I ordered yet another book - Lucy in the Sky! I saw that both Leah and Chloe like Paige Toon so I looked her up on Amazon and this one seems rather interesting and I just couldn't resist clicking the Checkout button. Don't know when I'll have the time to read it, but I hope it'll be fun!

Below are a few more exciting summer releases I'm looking forward to (in no particular order) - this list will mostly be useful to me so that I don't forget to buy the books when they come out, hehe. Feel free to let me know if I've missed any. :) Click on the covers for more info.

The Book Lovers' Appreciation Society

A new short story collection (featuring Sophie Kinsella, Cecelia Ahern, Kate Mosse etc.) to look out for in September! Not only is the cover fantastic and the autors promising, but it's also for charity (Breast Cancer Care) so I'll definitely be buying this one! Here's the summary (from Orion Books):

"A terrific collection of short stories from bestselling authors such as Sophie Kinsella, Alexander McCall Smith, Kate Mosse and Cecelia Ahern. Irresistible tales of love, friendship, passion and betrayal from some of the top names in fiction.

A woman planning not just what she wants to wear to a school reunion, but who she wants to be . . . A couple hoping to start a new life in Spain - and completely misunderstanding what they each want . . . A girl who's brother falls in love with a beautiful male impersonator . . . A woman haunted by ghosts from her past . . . A newly divorced mother taking her teenage daughter to Crete for a holiday, longing to be young again, until she remembers how awful it is to be 17 . . .

From Maeve Binchy to Jane Fallon, Adriana Trigiani to Alexander McCall Smith, this is the must-have collection of the year."

Review: WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson **********

"Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit. In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery."

(summary)

When I learned that Laurie Halse Anderson, the autor of the fantastic novel Speak (which I read it nearly 10 years ago and I can still remember how much I loved it) wrote another similar story, I just knew I had to read it. I expected it to be a great read, but Wintergirls exceeded all my expectations ten fold.

Firstly, it must be stressed that my poor summary does not do the book justice and I don't think any plot description could - if you really want to experience the beauty of this novel, then you just have to read it. After all, it's not the plot that makes this book so extraordinary, it's the outstanding narration. For all I care, this could be a book about farming or whatever and I'd still adore it due to the author's beautiful writing style.
I think this could possibly the most well written novel ever? It certainly is for me compared to the others I've read so far (except perhaps a couple of others). Personally, the prose left me stunned, I hung on every word and certain sentences were so incredible that they made me gasp and I kept re-reading them, which rarely happens to me.

The premise is quite simple (two friends with eating disorders fall apart, one dies, the other is guilt ridden and resorts to anorexia etc), but the author makes the most of it and more. Since the story is narrated by Lia, the reader really gets an incredible insight into the mind of an anorexic person, which I found fascinating (albeit disturbing). Since Lia is a very troubled girl, the novel often gets very dark and even difficult to read, but this just adds to the story and makes it more real. The book is basically a collection of Lia's thoughts and thus the ones supposedly inappropriate are even crossed out, which is a technique that I personally found interesting. Yes, the novel is quite disturbing, but it's still breathtakingly beautiful.

I fell in love with the book right from the start and as I was reading it, I really hoped that the ending wouldn't spoil it - and it didn't! It really was the perfect ending to the perfect book. I'll quote the final few paragraphs below as I think they are beautiful and sum up the whole book quite nicely (beware though, the following few sentences contain SPOILERS:

I am spinning the silk threads of my story, weaving the fabric of my world. The tiny elf dancer became a wooden doll whose strings were jerked by people not paying attention. I spun out of control. Eating was hard. Breathing was hard. Living was hardest.
I wanted to swallow the bitter seeds of forgetfulness.
Cassie did, too. We leaned on each other, lost in the dark and wandering in endless circles. She got too tired and went to sleep. Somehow, I dragged myself out of the dark and asked for help
I spin and weave and knit my words and visions until a life starts to take shape.
There is no magic cure, no making it all go away forever. There are only small steps upward; an easier day, an unexpected laugh, a mirror that doesn't matter anymore.
I am thawing.

Honestly, words cannot express how much I adore this book and how strongly I recommed it to everyone. I'm generally not one for re-reading books, but I can definitely see myself re-reading this one, or at least some passages of it. This novel is quite obviously a result of incredible talent and a lot of hard work - I really don't believe that someone can come up with sentences like *that* just out of the blue; it takes time and I really appreciate the effort that the author put into this novel (unlike some other so-called authors who just spew out simple sentences and descriptions and hope that readers will be fooled by the pretty cover etc. - yes, I'm looking at you, Pop Tart).

All in all, I rate this book 10/5 simply because it's really twice as good as any other novel that I would usually rate 5/5. I'm afraid I can't present the author with the awards this book deserves, but I can certainly award her with a standing ovation for this truly outstanding piece of literature. Bravo!

The Time Traveler's Wife etc.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is one of my absolute favourite books ever and now the film is *finally* coming out! The production seemingly took forever, but here is the first result - the trailer:

I'm usually quite apprehensive about movies based on novels (goodness knows the book is always, repeat, always better than the film), but I'm actually rather excited about this one. I really like the trailer and it makes me want to re-read the book, hehe.

Oh and the book was so so so so so amazing, words can't describe how much I loved it. I read it about three years ago, I think, and very few books have managed to come close to the awesomeness of this book. I couldn't possibly choose my all-time favourite novel, but The Time Traveler's Wife, We Need to Talk About Kevin and Wintergirls are really, really high on that list as they are incredibly beautiful, poignant and very well written.

Speaking of Wintergirls, I finished it daaaays ago, but right now I'm busy out of my mind and exhausted and have neither the time nor the energy to do a proper review. I'm looking forward to talking (writing) about it though because it's obviously immediately become one of my favourite books - for a reason!

ps: Audrey Niffenegger's highly anticipated next novel Her Fearful Symmetry comes out in October, buuuuuut yours truly already has a copy of the manuscript!! *squee & happy dance* I really have high hopes for it, will read it as soon as I have some proper time off, but that won't be until July. I'm so excited about it though! :)

"Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers - normal, at least, for identical 'mirror' twins who have no interest in college or jobs or possibly anything outside their cozy suburban home. But everything changes when they receive notice that an aunt whom they didn't know existed has died and left them her flat in an apartment block overlooking Highgate Cemetery in London. They feel that at last their own lives can begin ...but have no idea that they've been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt's mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them, and even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the twins' mother - and who can't even seem to quite leave her flat. With Highgate Cemetery itself a character and echoes of Henry James and Charles Dickens, "Her Fearful Symmetry" is a delicious and deadly twenty-first-century ghost story about Niffenegger's familiar themes of love, loss and identity. It is certain to cement her standing as one of the most singular and remarkable novelists of our time."

Alexandra Potter

I knew that one of old Alexandra Potter books will be reprinted in November and I've come across the cover of Do You Come Here Often? on the Hodder website. Isn't it goooorgeous? I love it! Here's the summary:

What becomes of the broken-hearted?
She was only a teenager when she first had her heart broken. But since then Grace Fairley has moved on. In fact, she`s moved in too – with Spencer, who is handsome, reliable and wants to marry her. Or does he? It`s been a while since she`s even heard mention of their wedding day...

You give love a bad name
Jimi Malik has moved on too. Unlike Grace though, his wedding day to Kylie is just around the corner. They`ve only just met, but he knows he`s found the one for him. Or has he? Because when he skips out of his own stag do and bumps into his ex, Grace, something suddenly doesn`t feel right.

More than a feeling?
It looks like there might be something wonderful between them. But is it worth risking their new-found friendship for? One thing is for sure - as the radio plays its late-night love songs, one girl is about to find out that the best lines can actually be the ones you write yourself...

A romantic comedy that looks at being single again, finding true love and how it can all get very, very complicated...

I'll definitely read this one as soon as it's available - I've read two other novels by Alexandra Potter (Be Careful What You Wish For and Who's That Girl?) and I personally thought they were fantastic. I also bought Me & Mr Darcy, but haven't read it yet; I expect it'll be great though. Oh yeah, another book by her that I also have (still unread) is Calling Romeo - must read that one asap.

So yeah, another lovely book to look forward to in 2009, yay!
(OK, enough slacking, back to work now, blah.)

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS by John Boyne ****

"When Bruno returns home from school one day in 1942, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their Belin home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences."

(summary)

I didn't know what to expect but I sure got more than I bargained for. I suppose it's hard to write a "boring" story about the Holocaust since even the topic itself is haunting, but it's always nice to come across an original take on the subject, which this little book (supposedly a fable) certainly was ... Even though the narration is in third person, the events are described in a way that a nine-year-old boy would observe them - the narration itself is quite simple and repetetive at times. The omniscent narrator, similarly to the main character, appears very naive and through their narration we discover how ignorant Bruno is about what is actually going on around him - he doesn't know what war is, he doesn't know why Jews are different, he doesn't know what goes on at the concentration camp etc. I understand that this naivety of the main character is often criticised, but I personally quite enjoyed this form of narration since it really adds to the effect of the story and a lot is left to reader's imagination. Even though this story takes place in an extremely horrible environment, it is far from graphical, but the hints about the actual going-ons are everywhere so it is easy to imagine what actually went on. As a fable, this story is full of symbols which could be discussed for hours, but I'm not going to go into that now (even though I'd like to some day) ... In conclusion, this may be a short novel, but it's really a very powerful and rather original. And the ending is definitely one of those that I'll never forget ... I admit it left me stunned - I had a hard time reading the last two chapters and afterwards I needed some time to be able to function again.
I recommend this book to anyone and I think it would make a great school read as it really provides a lot of material for discussion about a subject that should not be forgotten so easily.

Obviously, the book has been turned into a film, which I haven't seen yet and I'm not really sure if I want to ... I do and yet I don't. We'll see. Here's the trailer in case anyone's interested.

This book sort of reminds me of the Book Thief by Markus Zusak, another original take on the Holocaust, told from the point of view of Death (you'd be surprised what an amusing narrator the Grim Reaper can be, heh). I read it last year and loved it! Another novel with the similar topic is apparently The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, which is also meant to be really good, but I haven't read it yet (it's already waiting on my bookshelf though) - will report when I do. Click the covers for more info.

New books!

I got three new books today:

These are not top reading priority, but they're just so incredibly cute, plus getting new books makes me a very happy bunny. :)

ETA: I ordered another book called When You Wish by Kristin Harmel - it seems lovely and I can't wait to read it. I'm also excited about the Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista by Amy Silver (thanks to Chicklit Club for the heads up!) - must not forget to order that one in October! :)