Retrospective and other stuff.

Retrospective = a summary of what happened on the blog this week, started by Steph.

Saundra Mitchell stopped by and told about how she got here.

I reviewed Shrinking Violet, Castration Celebration, and Wings.

I'm waiting on Losing Faith. Also, there's an interesting comment on that post.

I wrote about the time I met Sharon.

And I showed you my bookshelves, in vlog form.

In other news, I think you should...

...watch this video:


...read this blog, where there's a festive Twenty Boy Summer countdown going on.

...check out the descriptions of these books, which are all coming out on the 26th. [All descriptions but the first from B&N.]

Vacations from Hell

Life's a beach . . . and then you're undead?

in this must-have collection, five of today's hottest writers—Libba Bray (A Great and Terrible Beauty), Cassandra Clare (City of Bones), Claudia Gray (Evernight), Maureen Johnson (13 Little Blue Envelopes), and Sarah Mlynowski (Bras & Broomsticks)—tell supernatural tales of vacations gone awry. Lost luggage is only mildly unpleasant compared to bunking with a witch who holds a grudge. And a sunburn might be embarrassing and painful, but it doesn't last as long as a curse. Of course, even in the most hellish of situations, love can thrive. . . .

From light and funny to dark and creepy, these stories have something for everyone. You definitely won't want to leave this collection at home!

---I love all these authors. MUST HAVE THIS BOOK.

Paperback (I think there might also be a hardcover?)/$9.99/Amazon/Barnes and Noble/Borders/IndieBound

Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott

Get this, I'm supposed to be starting a journal about "my journey." Please. I can see it now: Dear Diary, As I'm set adrift on this crazy sea called "life" . . . I don't think so.

It's been seventy-five days. Amy's sick of her parents suddenly taking an interest in her.

And she's really sick of people asking her about Julia. Julia's gone now, and she doesn't want to talk about it. They wouldn't get it, anyway. They wouldn't understand what it feels like to have your best friend ripped away from you.

They wouldn't understand what it feels like to know it's your fault.

Amy's shrink thinks it would help to start a diary. Instead, Amy starts writing letters to Julia.

But as she writes letter after letter, she begins to realize that the past wasn't as perfect as she thought it was—and the present deserves a chance too.

---This book was great! Hopefully there will be a review of it showing up on the blog this week.

Hardcover/$16.99/Amazon/Barnes and Noble/Borders/IndieBound

Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison

My name is Madison Avery, and I'm here to tell you that there's more out there than you can see, hear, or touch. Because I'm there. Seeing it. Touching it. Living it.

Madison's prom was killer—literally. For some reason she's been targeted by a dark reaper—yeah, that kind of reaper—intent on getting rid of her, body and soul. But before the reaper could finish the job, Madison was able to snag his strange, glowing amulet and get away.

Now she's stuck on Earth—dead but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn't know why the dark reaper is after her, but she's not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.

With a little ingenuity, some light-bending, and the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys! Maybe . . . ), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison's ready to take control of her own destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.

Well, if she believed in that stuff.

---I've read the prom story that this is part of in Prom Nights from Hell, and this seems interesting, so.

Hardcover/$16.99/Amazon/Barnes and Noble/Borders/IndieBound

One Lonely Degree by C.K. Kelly Martin

Anything is possible. . . .

Finn has always felt out of place, but suddenly her world is unraveling. It started with The Party. And Adam Porter. And the night in September that changed everything. The only person who knows about that night is Audrey—Finn’s best friend, her witness to everything, and the one person Finn trusts implicitly. So when Finn’s childhood friend Jersy moves back to town—reckless, beautiful Jersy, all lips and eyes and hair so soft you’d want to dip your fingers into it if you weren’t careful—Finn gives her blessing for Audrey to date him. How could she possibly say no to Audrey? With Audrey gone for the summer, though, Finn finds herself spending more and more time with Jersy, and for the first time in her life, something feels right. But Finn can’t be the girl who does this to her best friend . . . can she?

---I still need to read I Know It's Over, but I've heard good things about this one as well.

Hardcover/$16.99/Amazon/Barnes and Noble/Borders/IndieBound

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That's not everything coming out on the 26th though. You can look at a fuller list at TeensReadToo.