Books? Where?!

Idle curiosity begs me to ask: where do you guys get your books?

Most of what I read comes from the library; second-most of what I read comes from the stack of books my dad and I bring back from NCTE each November (for the last three years, anyway). I'm a high school student without a job, so I don't have a whole lot of money to spend buying books -- and I have even less shelf space for them.

Most of the time, this system works really well. But when a new book comes out and I can't buy it and the library doesn't have a copy... then I run into trouble. (Last Sacrifice, for example. I STILL HAVEN'T READ IT and it's kind of killing me, because I need to know what happens, likenow.) If a friend gets it, I'll borrow it from them, but if no one I know has it... I either keep pestering my librarian until the library gets a copy, scrounge up the funds to buy the book and pray that I'll find shelf space, or simply don't read it. I really hate that last option, but it happens all too often.

What about you? Do you ever have trouble getting your hands on a book you really want to read? What do you do when that happens?

Waiting on Wednesday: Forgotten

No, I don't mean I forgot about Waiting on Wednesday (an awesome upcoming-books meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine). I mean that the book I'm waiting on this week is Forgotten by Cat Patrick.

Description from Goodreads: 
Each night when 16 year-old London Lane goes to sleep, her whole world disappears. In the morning, all that's left is a note telling her about a day she can't remember. The whole scenario doesn't exactly make high school or dating that hot guy whose name she can't seem to recall any easier. But when London starts experiencing disturbing visions she can't make sense of, she realizes it's time to learn a little more about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

Part psychological drama, part romance, and part mystery, this thought-provoking novel will inspire readers to consider the what-if's in their own lives and recognize the power they have to control their destinies.

*********

This sounds totally intriguing. It's like amnesia, every day. Plus there's a dreamworld? And also, I love this cover. The swirl of red flowers is eye-catching and just plain cool. The concept reminds me a lot of the movie Memento (which, if you haven't seen, you should) - an inability to remember, made up for through the use of notes. I love this concept and will be eagerly awaiting the release of Forgotten on June 7th.

What are you waiting on this week? Leave a link in the comments and I'll stop by!

Slaughterhouse Five

I recently finished Slaughterhouse Five (by Kurt Vonnegut) for a school assignment. I chose it from a list for a few reasons: my father's been encouraging me to read it for ages, I've been meaning to read it for a while anyway, and, okay, it was at one point the nerdfighters' Blurbing Book Club book. This isn't a review -- this is just me trying to put my thoughts in order.

It was so strange.

I enjoyed it, but it was very odd. It took basic chronology and totally messed it up. Also, there was an alien abduction. I can't decide whether it's historical or scifi or what.

I loved the way the author sort of tangled up his own story in Billy Pilgrim's. It made it kind of confusing at times, but I thought it was cool. I thought the set-up -- flashing between different moments in Billy's life -- was really confusing, until I got to the end, and then it sort of made more sense.

I did get really annoyed by the writing at times though. I felt like it had taken "show, don't tell" and turned it on its head to go with "tell, don't show." Sometimes it was amazingly difficult to just read. I felt like we only got to know Billy through how others saw him and not so much through who he was.

Have any of you guys read Slaughterhouse Five? If you have, please leave me a comment (or send me a message), I really want to know what other people think of this book!

(Random aside: It's 1/11/11. That date makes me a lot happier than it should. November 11 is going to be a little bit epic.)

Review: Nevermore

Title: Nevermore
Author: Kelly Creagh
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Pages: 543
Series: Nevermore #1
Rating: 4/5
From the book jacket:
Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due -- so unfair -- on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he'd rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can't help but give this enigmatic boy with piercing eyes another look.

Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares. His life depends on it.

---------------

My thoughts about Nevermore are incredibly mixed. At first, I hated it. I thought Isobel was an idiot and the story was too predictable and stereotypical and there were things that just didn't make sense. By page ten, I was ready to put it down. Isobel was freaking out about how long a ten-page assignment is by comparing it to the Gettysburg Address - a document known for its brevity - and she and her friend were talking about "oh my gosh he wrote on your skin" as if that were something horrible and evil. Maybe it's just the culture of the school I go to, but ten pages in a month isn't something to freak out about and writing a phone number on a hand to get in touch for a project is pretty normal.

I didn't understand how this book had gotten such rave reviews from so many people - it frustrated me. But I decided to give it to page fifty, just to be fair. After a little bit more reading, I glanced down and realized I was on page 128 and not at all ready to stop reading.

The writing sucked me in. Despite the fact that Isobel is someone that in real life I would probably dislike, I had to respect her - she stood up for what she loved (cheerleading and wearing pink and looking nice) even when she was being picked on, and she stood up for what she thought was right (not picking on Varen) even when her friends and boyfriend weren't on her side. She's a strong character in that regard. And I loved Varen. A lot. And then, of course, there's the story.

Some of it took a while to make sense. I felt like the drama with Brad and Varen was kind of way over the top. But in the story world, all of it worked. I loved the Edgar Allan Poe influences, the creepiness, the mystery, the relationships between Isobel and her family and Varen (even if the dynamic between Isobel and Varen did sometimes seem unlikely), I adored the character of Gwen, I just loved reading Kelly Creagh's writing. I was completely sucked into what was going on and, once I finally got into it, I barely put the book down until I finished. Despite my frustrations, there's a lot about this book that I really love.

So, basically - I encourage you to read this book. If the beginning frustrates you, do not despair, it does in fact get much better. I still have my problems with some of it, but I was drawn into it and loved it anyway.

Links:
Kelly Creagh's website

Eek!

So I just signed in and was on the Blogger dashboard (yes, I know it's 1:40 AM, be quiet, of course I have a life) and it told me that I now have 100 followers!

I may have just done an insane happy dance in my bedroom.

Who would have thought that a hundred people would be interested in what I have to say?! Thank you guys so, so much. You rock. You really do.

Love! ♥

Twitter?

I've heard so much about Twitter and Twitter parties and "such-and-such author posted this on Twitter!" and "this is happening on Twitter" and all of that I finally decided to check it out.

So I'm on Twitter now. You can follow me at @bookwormblvd. I'm still kind of trying to figure out how it works and I'm not sure how much I'll use it -- probably more for following other people's posts than adding my own by a long shot, but at any rate, it is there!

Lovely readers, how many of you are on Twitter?

Addendum: Being on Twitter is not going to change anything at all about the blog, except that now you can follow me in two places if you want to. Just to clarify. :)

Books from Before (3)

Books from Before is my own meme, which I started... a month or so ago maybe? and failed to keep up with because of trying to do a ton of other things. It was and still is an idea that I like, though, so I'm going to start it up again. In Books from Before, I spotlight a book (or series) that I read and loved before I started blogging. You're welcome to participate, just please credit me (and if you wanted to leave a link in the comments, I'd love to see your Books from Before).

This week I want to talk about the Series of Unfortunate Events. I read all thirteen of these books - twice. And I kind of want to reread them.

They are so chock-full of literary references and clever codes and anagrams, and they're hilarious, and they're just overall wonderful. The series follows Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire after their parents are killed and their home destroyed in a terrible fire. The three children, now orphans, are shuffled from one terrible guardian to the next, all the while pursued by their evil relative Count Olaf - who wants the fortune their parents left behind.

It's been a few years since I read them, but I absolutely adore this series. I'm sure if I were to go back and reread them now, I'd notice even more references and codes and well-hidden jokes than I did the first two times around. This is one of those series that I think simply everyone should read.

So what say you, readers? Any other SoUE fans out there?