Armchair BEA Day 1:Introduction

Armchair BEA is for those people who cannot visit Book Expo America but still want to join in the fun. I really wish I was in NYC with my fellow bloggers who are attending BEA (Book Expo America), but sadly I can't. It all good though I’m more than happy to be a part of Armchair BEA!

Day 1 Introductions.

Tell us a bit about yourself: How long have you been blogging? Where are you from? How did you get into blogging?

Hello fellow bloggers/blog readers my name is Melissa and I've been blogging for the last 5 yrs give or take since 2011.I'm from Chicago and I got into blogging after discovering one of my friends blog. From there I started reading different book blogs and decided to start my own.So far I have 3 blogs two for personal uses and on for a college class. I really only keep my book blog up to date and the other personal on only every now and then.

Why do you loving reading and blogging?

I love to read because it gets me out of my own head and I can just explore the mind of someone else s for a little bit. I I enjoy blogging because I like giving my opinions on something I love be it mainly books,music,or something else entirely

What is your theme song?

Okay so in an awesome world my theme song would be the opening music for the Harry Potter movies but alas while the world is awesome it is not that awesome.*Le sigh* I can dream though.

What is one book everyone should read?

One book everyone should read especially if your interested in becoming a educator is Educating Esme:Diary of A Teacher's First Year by Esmé Raji Codell. I loved this book on so many levels its not even funny. If your not into memoirs than the next must read is The Realm of Possibilities by David Levithan.

What is your favorite genre and why?

I like a bit of every genre but if I had to chose a favorite it would be fantasy followed closely by YA/NA contemporary.

What book are you reading right now?

As of right now I’m rereading Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn.

What book are you most looking forward to reading this summer?

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids Sarah Ockler. I adore Sarah's books!!!

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what author would you want to bring with you? Why?

Tough question I’m really tempted to say J.K Rowling just so i can pick her brain about all things Harry potter  but my pick would be Maureen Johnson because based of her twitter she seems like a fun time.

*Apparently we were only supposed to pick/answer  5 questions...I was so excited that i skimmed the instructions. Oh well enjoy my Armchair BEA intro.

Waiting on Wednesday(50):The Summer Of Chasing Mermaids

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine, and specifically spotlights upcoming novels we can't wait to read. As always, there are some amazing upcoming books, but this week I'm particularly excited for..

Title:The Summer Of Chasing Mermaids 
Author:Sarah Ockler
Release Date: June 2,2015
Publisher:Simon Pulse
The youngest of six talented sisters, Elyse d’Abreau was destined for stardom—until a boating accident took everything from her. Now, the most beautiful singer in Tobago can’t sing. She can’t even speak.

Seeking quiet solitude, Elyse accepts a friend’s invitation to Atargatis Cove. Named for the mythical first mermaid, the Oregon seaside town is everything Elyse’s home in the Caribbean isn’t: An ocean too cold for swimming, parties too tame for singing, and people too polite to pry—except for one.

Christian Kane is a notorious playboy—insolent, arrogant, and completely charming. He’s also the only person in Atargatis Cove who doesn’t treat Elyse like a glass statue. He challenges her to express herself, and he admires the way she treats his younger brother Sebastian, who believes Elyse is the legendary mermaid come to life. 

When Christian needs a first mate for the Cove’s high-stakes Pirate Regatta, Elyse reluctantly stows her fear of the sea and climbs aboard. The ocean isn’t the only thing making waves, though—swept up in Christian’s seductive tide and entranced by the Cove’s charms, Elyse begins to wonder if a life of solitude isn’t what she needs. But changing course again means facing her past. It means finding her inner voice. And scariest of all, it means opening her heart to a boy who’s best known for breaking them . . .

Sarah Ockler is one of my favorite authors and i'm looking forward to reading this new book.Check out my reviews of a few of her other books if you want. Here!

So that's what I'm waiting. So how about you? Leave a link and let me know. :)

Teaser Tuesdays(5)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

“How can you spend hours every day trying in small ways to figure out who you are, then have a near-stranger give you a sentence of yourself that says it better than you ever could? -Bruce the Second Pg 20 Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List Rachel Cohn, David Levithan 

So here's my qoute for Teaser Tuesday hope you enjoyed it and check out Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List.

Fun fact apparently this book is being turned into a movie!! After finding this out pretty much today i spent way to much time scouring the internet for info on the movie.However i can't seem to find a movie trailer,the release date or any up to date information. 

So if you know these thing please comment and let me know.

Top Ten Tuesday(31)Ten Books I Plan To Have In My Beach Bag This Summer

Check out how Top Ten Tuesday works & the future schedule of topics HERE.The Top Ten Tuesday, is hosted by the ever-fabulous The Broke and the Bookish   This  meme was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish.

Ten Books I Plan To Have In My Beach Bag This Summer or Ten Books I Think Make Great Beach Reads

Books I've Read

1. Between Us and The Moon Rebecca Maizel I've just read this book and i adored it.Perfect to read while soaking up some sun.
2. The Summer of Yesterday Gaby Triana Great summer read involving Disney,Cute boys and a trip in time and learning about appreciating the past.
3. How to Meet Boys Catherine Clark Great book about a summer a group og friends will never forget.
4. Any of the books co written by Rachel Choen & David Lethivan So this might be cheating because i guess this can count as 3 book but I really enjoyed reading these books and would mind rereading them on a beach.
5. The Curiosity because i can reread this anthology anywhere a million times and not get tired of it.

Book I've Yet to read

1. #Nerd Cambria Hebert The whole opposites attract thing always interests me.
2. Joyride Anna Banks Defying expectations who wouldn't want to curl up on a gorgeous day and read about that.
3. The Summer Of Chasing Mermaids That cover is absolutely lovely and when I get my hands on that book in a week or so its going to look great with me hanging on the beach.
4. The Cost Of All The Things Maggie Lehrman Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets We Were Liars enough said.
5. Second Star Alyssa b. Sheinmel Three wordon why this book is on my list :Summer,Surfing,Peter Pan

It's A Summer Thing

So for the third summer in a row I'm off to work at a sleep away camp for the summer.This summer will be a bit different however because I'm not returning to Camp K but instead working at a Girl Scout Camp in Wisconsin.I just got word a few days ago that I got the job and needless to say I have camp on the brain. I leave for staff training in a week and while deciding what books to bring on the very slim chance that I get some time on my days off to read I started to wonder if there were any good books revolving around a summer camp. 

I couldn't think of any that I've read besides OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy-which is pretty hilarious and touching-so i searched for camp related books on Goodreads and discovered a bunch of campish books.So below Iv'e included both fiction and non fiction books with a camp setting that I would really like to read at some point.

Title:Five Summer
Author: Una LaMarche
Fiction,YA
Four best friends, five summers of camp memories. 

The summer we were nine: Emma was branded “Skylar’s friend Emma” by the infamous Adam Loring...
The summer we were ten: Maddie realized she was too far into her lies to think about telling the truth...
The summer we were eleven: Johanna totally freaked out during her first game of Spin the Bottle...
The summer we were twelve: Skylar’s love letters from her boyfriend back home were exciting to all of us—except Skylar...
Our last summer together: Emma and Adam almost kissed. Jo found out Maddie’s secret. Skylar did something unthinkable... and whether we knew it then or not, five summers of friendship began to fall apart. 

Three years after the fateful last night of camp, the four of us are coming back to camp for reunion weekend—and for a second chance. Bittersweet, funny, and achingly honest, Five Summers is a story of friendship, love, and growing up that is perfect for fans of Anne Brashares and Judy Blume's Summer Sisters.

Title:Things I Can't Forget
Author:Miranda Keneally
Fiction,YA
Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school—although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different…

This summer she’s a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He’s the first guy she ever kissed, and he’s gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt--with her.

Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn’t that easy…



Title:Not A Happer Camper 

Author:Mindy Schneider
Non-Fiction,Memoir 

Remember those long sultry summer days at camp, the sun setting over the lake as you sang Kumbaya? Well, Mindy Schneider remembers her summer at Camp Kin-A-Hurra in 1974 just a wee bit differently. Not a Happy Camper chronicles a young girl’s adventures at a camp where the sun never shines, the breakfast cereal dates back to the summer of 1922, and many of the counselors speak no English. For eight eye-opening and unforgettable weeks, 
Mindy and her eccentric band of friends — including Autumn Evening Schwartz, the daughter of hippies who communicates with the dead, and the sleep-dancing, bibliophile Betty Gilbert — keep busy feuding in color wars, failing at sports, and uncovering the camp’s hidden past. As she focuses on landing the perfect boyfriend and longs for her first kiss, Mindy unexpectedly stumbles across something infinitely grander: herself. Hilarious, charming, and glowing with nostalgia, Mindy Schneider’s memoir is a must-read for anyone who’s ever been to summer camp, or wishes they had


Title:Cabin Pressure: One Man's Desperate Attempt to Recapture His Youth as a Camp Counselor
Author:Josh Wolk
Non-Fiction,Memoir 

Three months before getting married at age thirty-four, Josh Wolk decides to treat himself to a "farewell to childhood" extravaganza: one last summer working at the beloved Maine boys' camp where he spent most of the eighties. And there he finds out that there's no better way to see how much you've changed than to revisit a place that hasn't changed at all.In these eight hilarious, uncomfortable, enlightening weeks, Josh readjusts to life teaching swimming and balancing on a thin metal cot in a cabin of shouting, wrestling, wet-willie-dispensing fourteen-year-olds who, contrary to the warnings of doom saying sociologists, he finds indistinguishable from the rowdy fourteen-year-olds of his day in any way other than their haircuts. With his old camp friends gone, he finds himself working alongside guys who used to be his campers.

 Moments of feeling cripplingly old are offset by the corrosive insecurities of his youth when he's paired in the cabin with Mitch, the forty-two-year-old jack-of-all- extreme-sports whose machismo intimidated Josh so much fifteen years earlier, and whom their current campers idolize. And throughout all this disorienting regression, Josh's telephone conversations with his fiance, Christine, grow increasingly intense as their often comical discussions over the wedding become a flimsy cover for her worries that he's not ready to relinquish his death-grip on the comforts of the past.

So there ya go fellow bloggers and blog reader my list of books related to summer camps.

Have any camp related book recommendations. A funny stories when you were a camper or counselor then go right ahead and leave me a comment I'd love to hear from you.

Review:The Orphan Queen

Title:The Orphan Queen
Author:Jodie Meadows

She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.

She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.

She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others.

Jodi Meadows introduces a vivid new fantasy full of intrigue, romance, dangerous magic, and one girl’s battle to reclaim her place in the world.  

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The  story of the displaced  nobility trying to regain her/his kingdom isn't all that ground breaking (Princess of Thorns,other titles went hear till I realized me putting them here would have been a major spoiler for most of my examples) take my word for it though there is quite a few books/series that fall in the same vein as The Orphan Queen. However with that being said The Orphan Queen is still an enjoyable read and stands out doing it's own thing.

Princess Wilhelmina better know as Wil is trying to regain her kingdom of Aecor with the help of the other displace noble orphans of her stolen land. Wil is a thief,future leader and caring/protective of her loved ones.As a main  character Wil is brash,loyal,ready to gain her kingdom back ,and has a lot to learn about being a leader.As a main character she is likable and i'm eager to see what comes next for her and the other characters. The other charecters i'm looking forward to learing more about is Black knife *swoons*,the Prince and the other Ospreys,plus that new wraith like character at the end.*shudders*.

The pacing was okay – not too fast, not too slow.One thing that bothered me was lack of history regarding the  Wraith the toxic by-product of magic and Wil's kingdoms downfall. Besides the actual brief history lesson of two of the Osprey's there's little about both.I feel like there needed to be a bit more world building in general.The Cover is really freaking gorgeous, I'm digging the cloak on the girl and the overall color scheme of the cover.All in all Orphan Queen is a quick and likable read and i can't wait for the sequel.Mainly because that ending killed me and i need to know what happens next ASAP!3/5

Waiting on Wednesday(49) Every Last Breathe

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine, and specifically spotlights upcoming novels we can't wait to read. As always, there are some amazing upcoming books, but this week I'm particularly excited for..

Title: Every Last Breathe

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher:Harlequin Teen
Release Date: July 28,2015

Some loves will last ’til your dying breath

Every choice has consequences—but seventeen-year-old Layla faces tougher choices than most. Light or darkness. Wickedly sexy demon prince Roth, or Zayne, the gorgeous, protective Warden she never thought could be hers. Hardest of all, Layla has to decide which side of herself to trust.

Layla has a new problem, too. A Lilin—the deadliest of demons—has been unleashed, wreaking havoc on those around her…including her best friend. To keep Sam from a fate much, much worse than death, Layla must strike a deal with the enemy while saving her city—and her race—from destruction.

Torn between two worlds and two different boys, Layla has no certainties, least of all survival, especially when an old bargain comes back to haunt them all. But sometimes, when secrets are everywhere and the truth seems unknowable, you have to listen to your heart, pick a side—and then fight like hell…

So that's what I'm waiting. So how about you? Leave a link and let me know. :)