My Word for 2015 Is...

Happy New Year, everyone! Can you believe it's 2015?! How crazy is that? I feel like I've been waiting for it to be 2015 for so long, and now… well, my book comes out in six weeks. So if I seem overwhelmed and flustered and exhilarated and stressed all at once in the next couple months, you know the reason why. 

My fellow YA Buccaneer Bridgid Gallagher painted me this watercolor postcard, and it's been hanging above my desk for a year!

For the past two years, instead of making a list of resolutions, I've chosen a single word to represent my goals for the year. In 2013, I selected PATIENCE. My aim was to help myself be okay with my publishing path taking longer than I'd wanted and to remind myself that what mattered was writing the best possible book I could write, the book only I could write. In 2014, I chose MOMENTUM. With my debut novel on its way to publication, I wanted to keep working hard and pushing forward, not resting on my laurels or taking a second book deal for granted.

In both cases, having a single word to focus on helped keep me grounded and on track throughout the year. So obviously, I was going to try for a third successful Word of the Year in 2015. After much deliberation, I've picked...

I've been thinking a lot about gratitude lately. Frankly, I have so much to be grateful for at this point in my life. 

I'm grateful that my debut novel is releasing in February. I'm grateful to be surrounded by friends and family who are almost as excited about my book coming out as I am. I'm grateful for my talented, supportive editor, who pushes me to be better, and for my enthusiastic agent, who helps me dream big. I'm grateful for the rest of the folks at HarperTeen, who have turned my Microsoft Word document into a real, live book that I will get to hold in just a few weeks. I'm grateful for the people who taught me to write, who fostered my passion for reading and writing, who critique and comment on my works-in-progress, who bounce ideas back and forth with me endlessly. To all of you who've helped me get to the here and now, I'm so, so grateful. 

I'll stop there, because as you can probably tell, I could go on and on. And the paragraph above is just the book stuff! (Did I mention my husband specifically? Justin, I am beyond grateful for you. Every single day.) So why did I pick this as my word for the entire year? In short, because no matter how grateful I feel as I'm writing this, I know I will still constantly need the reminder. 

When I'm freaking out about my revisions for my next book, I want to remember to be grateful that I get to write another book for publication. I'm lucky to be doing a job I love. I'm lucky that people seem to want to read the stories I create. When I'm fretting about less-than-stellar reviews or lists that my book isn't on, I want to take a step back and think about the people who have told me my book touched them. When I'm getting too caught up in the big scary craziness of What Happens Next—Will people actually buy this thing I wrote? Will I sell another book? Am I running out of ideas? Do I actually have what it takes to be an author?—I want to try to think about the things that make me happy and hopeful and grateful. As cheesy as it sounds, in 2015 I want to live in the moment and enjoy every bit of what I've accomplished.

(And yes, I'm still trying to be patient with myself and my work and to keep up my momentum moving forward…) 

Did you choose a word for 2015? Share it in the comments! 

And once more, happiest of new years to you all! 

~Kathryn 

Last Friday Reads of 2014: My Top 10 Books Read This Year!

First of all, can you believe it's December 19? I certainly can't. (Nor can my to-do list…) 

One of my favorite things about the end of the year is all of the Top 10 lists—best movies, best songs, and of course, best books. But when it came time to do my own Top 10 Books list, I actually had quite a hard time. It wasn't that I didn't read 10 amazing books this year. It's that I read so many more than 10 amazing books this year! As of today, I have read 94 books in 2014—a personal record—and many of them were spectacular. So, please don't assume that if your favorite isn't on this list, I didn't love it! I most likely did. 

Without further ado, here's my painstakingly crafted Top 10 Books I Read in 2014, in chronological order of when I read them (with links to my original blog posts about the books, where applicable): 

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd (original post HERE) 

Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens (original post HERE) 

Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick (original post HERE)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (original post HERE) 

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson (original post HERE) 

Simon vs. the Homo-Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (original post HERE) 

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga (original post HERE) 

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (original post HERE) 

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (original post HERE) 

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson 

Brown Girl Dreaming squeaked in under the wire for this list—I just finished it on Wednesday! And I'm so glad I read this beautiful book. Woodson's writing is vibrant and rich. Her verse says so much in so few words. She tells such a powerful story. My favorite sections were those in which she was beginning to discover herself as a storyteller, and then as a writer. For example: 

Nothing in the world is like this—

a bright white page with

pale blue lines. The smell of a newly sharpened pencil

the soft hush of it

moving finally

one day

into letters. 

How perfect is that?! If you haven't picked up Woodson's National Book Award–winning book yet, don't waste any more time. (And the same goes for all of my Top 10 books, obviously!) 

What were your favorite books read in 2014? I'll start making my 2015 reading list now! 

In the meantime, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!! 

~Kathryn 

Friday Reads: UNUSUAL CHICKENS FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL POULTRY FARMER and SKYSCRAPING

I'm excited to have read two more Fearless Fifteeners books this week! It's almost 2015, which means our debut year is almost here, and the more incredible books I read by my talented peers, the more excited I am to be debuting alongside them. So here's what you should be looking out for next year: 

I fell in love with the title of Kelly Jones's middle-grade debut the moment I heard it: UNUSUAL CHICKENS FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL POULTRY FARMER. Then I fell in love with the cover—look at that grouchy chicken at the top! And when the ARC arrived in my mailbox on its tour, I was excited to fall in love with the words, too. When 12-year-old Sophie Brown moves with her parents from Los Angeles to a farm in the middle of nowhere, she finds herself caring for a chicken, which she names Henrietta. But Henrietta isn't an ordinary chicken—she can move things with her mind! And she's only the first of Sophie's great-uncle's missing chickens to show up and wreak havoc. Sophie has to adapt to small-town life while protecting her inherited flock from a nefarious chicken-napper. This book is charming and funny—text and illustrations—and I would recommend it to city kids, country kids, kids at heart…anyone who enjoys a good story. 

I also got to read Cordelia Jensen's beautiful and heartbreaking SKYSCRAPING this week. In fact, I raced through it in one day. This powerful novel-in-verse depicts a year in the life of Mira, a high school senior who thinks she has it all together. Then she learns a family secret that changes everything. She tries to distance herself from her family, but her father's health crisis brings her back. Novels-in-verse have to make every word count, and Jensen does just that. The writing is spare, raw, and elegantly crafted. And yes, I cried at the end. (I also loved the 1990s New York City setting—so cool to see my city through a native teen's eyes a decade before I moved here!) This book releases next June, so if you're a fan of honest, sad, and ultimately uplifting stories, put it on your calendar now. 

I can't believe we're almost done with 2014! Next week, I'll be sharing my Top 10 books I read this year. I'm still trying to narrow my list down—SKYSCRAPING was number 92 (!!!), so I have a lot of really tremendous books to choose from. In the meantime, if you're itching for a Top 10 list right now, check out the YA Buccaneers' picks HERE. We have pretty good taste for a band of fearsome pirates! :) 

See you next week! 

Kathryn 

Friday Reads: AN EMBER IN THE ASHES, THE WITCH HUNTER, and LIFE AFTER LIFE

After a week off for Thanksgiving (and to put the finishing touches on this new and improved website!), I'm back to talk about three fabulous books. Two are by fellow Fearless Fifteeners, so you'll have to wait until 2015 to add them to your shelves. The other is out now (in fact, I've been hearing I should read it for quite a while)! 

Sabaa Tahir's AN EMBER IN THE ASHES is one of the most anticipated YA debut releases of 2015, so I was thrilled to finally get my hands on an ARC. And it didn't disappoint! This book is epic and thrilling, filled with complex characters who are forced to make impossible choices. It takes place in a world that's like a fantasy version of ancient Rome. The Scholars, once an educated and cultured people, have been conquered and enslaved by the Martial Empire, which craves only power and blood. Laia is a Scholar who goes undercover as a slave at the academy where the Martials train the next generation of Masks—their most fearsome fighters. Elias is the academy's best soldier, but he's having second thoughts about the life he's been born into. Their paths cross thanks to a prophesy that puts Elias in a competition to become the next Emperor. And…that's all I want to say, for fear of spoiling any of the story's twists and turns! If you're a fantasy fan—YA or adult, because this definitely skews older and darker—grab this book when it comes out in April. 

The next ARC I read was also a YA fantasy, but that's pretty much where the similarities end. Aside from the fact that I loved this one, too! Virginia Boecker's THE WITCH HUNTER is magical historical fiction. Elizabeth Grey is a skilled witch hunter. The king has outlawed magic, and the witch hunters are the crown's best line of defense against illegal witchcraft. But when a chain of events leads Elizabeth to be accused of witchcraft herself—and sentenced to death—she finds salvation in an unlikely ally: Nicholas Perevil, the most powerful wizard in Anglia. Nicholas needs Elizabeth to find a cure for the curse that's been plaguing him. Reluctantly, she agrees to help. As the story progresses, Elizabeth's world gets turned upside-down as her enemies become her friends—and vice versa. And then there's John, the handsome young healer… (Spoiler alert: I <3 John!) I raced through this book, unable to turn pages fast enough. If you enjoy medieval history and magic, pick up THE WITCH HUNTER when it releases next June. 

And finally, last night, I finished Kate Atkinson's LIFE AFTER LIFE. I'd been hearing great things about this book all year. I bought it on iTunes and put it on my phone before our trip to Paris in October…only to not start reading it until a few days ago. Suffice it to say, I shouldn't have waited! This is one of my top reads of the year. It's about a woman, Ursula Todd, who lives life after life. In the opening chapter, she is killed in an attempt (Successful? We never find out…) to kill Hitler before he destroys Europe. In the next chapter, we've gone back to 1910, the day of her birth. Ursula dies before she's even given a name. Then the same scene plays out again, but the doctor is able to save the baby. The book moves forward through Ursula's life—death after death (childhood accidents, the influenza pandemic in 1918, a bomb during World War II, etc.) followed by the same birth scene, always with slight variations. Atkinson follows each possible thread of Ursula's life to its natural conclusion, showing the power of one decision, one moment, to change the entire course of a life. Ursula eventually starts to experience deja vu, and to be able to avoid certain tragedies—only to encounter others down the line. This book is so rich. It's an epic historical and also an intimate family portrait. The characters are vivid and real. I finished LIFE AFTER LIFE and sat with it for a few minutes, and then flipped back to the beginning to read the opening chapters once more.

What are you reading? I want to hear about it!

~Kathryn  

Welcome to the New and Improved KathrynHolmes.com!

Come on in! Make yourself comfortable! Can I take your coat? 

As you can tell, I've been doing a little redecorating around here. I hope you like the site's new look as much as I do! (I have my talented and patient husband to thank for all of it, so: thanks, Justin!) In addition to the new design, I have switched from Wordpress to Squarespace. I think we've worked out most of the kinks, but if you find something that doesn't work the way it should, please let me know. 

The navigation's pretty straightforward: 

• Learn about my books HERE. 
• Learn about me HERE. 
• Read the latest blog posts HERE. 
• And, if you want to contact me, there's a form you can use HERE. 

Simple and clean, right? 

One important note: If you were a blog subscriber before, unfortunately you'll have to resubscribe, since I switched blog platforms. You can sign up again on my blog page. Act now, and you won't miss a single post! 

With my debut hitting shelves in two and a half months (ahhhhh!), it feels awesome to check yet another thing off of my author to-do list. Redesign website: done. I really do hope you like it! 

That's all for now, 

~Kathryn 

Friday Reads: EVERYTHING THAT MAKES YOU

I got the chance to read another fabulous Fearless Fifteeners ARC this week! Seriously — y'all are in for a treat when 2015 rolls around and these books start releasing. I've now read 14 of my fellow debut authors' books, and each and every one had something special to offer. I'm so proud to be a part of the Fearless Fifteeners!

Up this week: Moriah McStay's EVERYTHING THAT MAKES YOU. This book tells two stories about the same girl. Fiona Doyle was in an accident as a kid that left half of her face scarred. Fi Doyle is the same girl, but that accident never happened. As a high school junior, Fiona is a shy bookworm who writes song lyrics she won't let anyone see. Fi, meanwhile, is an outgoing star lacrosse player with her eye on an athletic scholarship. The two stories cover three years in the girls' lives, and intersect in unexpected ways. Minor players in Fi's story become major ones in Fiona's, and vice versa. Fi and Fiona prioritize different things, and make different decisions, but there are still characteristics that make it clear they're the same girl. And some things are the same in both stories; for instance, Fiona/Fi's mom wishes both girls were girlier and is always trying to buy them frilly clothes. I enjoyed reading this book—which is really two stories for the price of one! If you've ever wondered "What if…?" you should pick this one up.

I'm currently two-thirds of the way through A.S. King's GLORY O'BRIEN'S HISTORY OF THE FUTURE, which is completely and totally different! It's about a girl whose mother killed herself and who worries that she'll fall victim to the same depression—and who then gains the supernatural ability to see a dark and dangerous future and decides it's her responsibility to try to change it. This book is gritty and painful and *weird* and probably not for everyone—but I'm curious to see where it ends up. And I want to pick A.S. King's brain one day! She truly comes up with the most imaginative and unusual premises for her books.

That's all for now. Anyone out there reading anything good?

~Kathryn

Friday Reads: MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME

My husband and I just got back from a wonderful trip to Paris, and while I brought several books with me, I actually didn't end up reading as much as I usually do while traveling! It was a combination of trying to sleep on the plane (instead of reading), running around the city all day (instead of reading), and using our limited time at the flat we were renting to check in on email and social media (instead of reading). 

Luckily, one of the books I brought was perfect for that fragmented reading schedule: My True Love Gave to Me, an anthology of holiday YA short stories edited by Stephanie Perkins. The book features twelve holiday-themed stories by some of the Young Adult book world's biggest names. As with any anthology, it's a bit of a mixed-bag. My favorite stories were those by Rainbow Rowell (a series of New Year's Eve snapshots as two friends realize they're meant for each other), Stephanie Perkins (girl meets boy at a Christmas tree farm), and Laini Taylor (an otherworldly tale where the Dreamer, an ancient god, rescues a young woman from an awful future). That said, one of the coolest things about this anthology was how diverse it was: male and female narrators from various backgrounds, contemporary as well as fantastic settings, and diverse writing styles. If I wasn't totally feeling one story, I didn't have long to wait for something completely different. I would definitely recommend this book if you're a sap around the holidays, and if you like any or all of the talented authors involved. It's worth a read.

You didn't think I'd mention Paris without sharing a photo, did you? On the holiday theme, here's the Eiffel Tower lit up like a Christmas tree:

Happy Friday to all, and to all a good weekend! ;)

~Kathryn

Friday Reads: THE ONLY THING TO FEAR and WE ALL LOOKED UP

After skipping a week of Friday Reads to celebrate my good news, I'm back to recommend two more books you might enjoy! The Only Thing to Fear is by my fellow YA Buccaneer Caroline Tung Richmond. We All Looked Up is by my fellow Fearless Fifteener Tommy Wallach. Both are awesome people as well as being awesome authors, and I'm thrilled to share their books here.

The Only Thing to Fear is a sci-fi alternate history. The premise: the Nazis genetically engineered super-soldiers that helped them win World War II. In the present day, the former U.S. is divided into territories run by the Axis powers. Sixteen-year-old Zara is a half-Japanese, half-American living in the Nazi-controlled Eastern territories. With her mixed heritage, she's viewed as lower than low by the German upper class she serves. But she's hiding something: not only is she connected to the Resistance that wants to overthrow the Nazis, she has a power of her own that could help turn the tide. This book was a fast read, moving from the day-to-day struggles of living in the Nazi regime to all-out rebellion in under 300 pages. Once the sparks of revolution ignite, it's hard to put this book down. Yay, Caroline!

Tommy Wallach's We All Looked Up is a different kind of page-turner. It's about four teens whose very different lives intersect when an asteroid threatens to destroy the earth in two months. In short, it's The Breakfast Club set at the end of the world. What I loved about this book was how rich and real each teen's response to the looming apocalypse was. Learning that the earth has a 66.6% chance of ceasing to exist makes some people jump at opportunities they'd never dared to pursue, while others fall victim to truly terrible decisions. Friendships and romances are formed and break apart. Dreams are realized. Lives are changed. I hope that doesn't sound vague or trite, because this book is not either of those things. It's moving and surprising, even as it hurtles toward some inevitable conclusions. Definitely recommend!

What have you been reading lately? :)

~Kathryn

So ... I Have News!

Perhaps you've been wondering what I've been up to lately. Why I haven't posted much about writing in a while. Why I've seemed unusually busy and flustered and fuzzy-headed and overwhelmed for the past month or so. Why I haven't been answering your emails and texts in a timely fashion. I've been hard at work on … *drum roll* … MY NEXT BOOK!! 

I sold my second book over the summer, and have been busy finishing and polishing my first draft to turn in to my editor. Which I did, on Wednesday.(Cue the fanfare and confetti and imminent collapse from exhaustion in my messy apartment.) Now that the first draft is in my editor's hands, I've been given permission to shout about the new book deal from the social media rooftops—and that's exactly what I intend to do!

This calls for a gif:

Here's what you need to know about Book Two, which will be coming your way from HarperTeen in Summer 2016:

Everything's Beautiful is about a 16-year-old ballet dancer, Sam, who struggles with body image issues. After suffering a severe panic attack before her studio's spring concert, Sam is sent to an anxiety camp for elite teen artists and athletes to work through her issues with professional counseling and peer support. She initially resists treatment—in part because the camp conflicts with the summer ballet intensive she's supposed to be attending. Then she hits it off with Andrew, a former college football player who is one of her camp counselors. But is the connection between the two of them just about therapy, or could it lead to something more? And if Sam can't come to terms with the pain and anxiety she's been feeling, is her dance career over before it even begins?

I'm thrilled to have Alexandra Cooper as my editor once again! Alex helped make The Distance Between Lost and Found into a finished product I am so, so proud of, and I know she'll do the same with Everything's Beautiful. And of course I have to give a shout-out to my agent, Alyssa Henkin, who believed in this project from the first time I mentioned writing a book about a ballet dancer who didn't have the ideal body, and who encouraged me to discover the story I needed to tell.

So … that's the exciting news I've been keeping secret for a few months! Yay! :)

~Kathryn

Friday Reads: THE GIRL AT MIDNIGHT and SPIRIT'S KEY

This was a good week for reading! And not only because I happen to know both of the authors whose books I read. Both The Girl at Midnight and Spirit's Key were fast and engrossing books, and I am excited to recommend them here.

The Girl at Midnight is by Melissa Grey, and is coming to shelves in April 2015! (Yes, I read it as part of the Fearless Fifteeners' ARC tour.) It's a fantasy set in the present day, where two ancient races are seeking an end to the ongoing war between them. The Avicen are birdlike people with feathers for hair who live beneath the streets of New York City. The Drakharin have scales and the ability to command fire. Echo is the human teenager who gets sucked into the middle of their war, via a search for the mythical Firebird. If it sounds epic and complicated…it is. But Grey juggles the multiple points of view beautifully. I don't want to give too much away here, but I will say, if you're a fan of recent YA fantasies like the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series and the Grisha trilogy (of which I admit I have only read the first book!), you should pick this one up. I am already dying to read Book Two, and that one doesn't come out until 2016!

Spirit's Key by Edith Cohn is a middle-grade fantasy/ghost story that has a classic feel. It's about a twelve-year-old girl, Spirit Holden, who comes from a family that can read people's futures by holding their house keys. When the book starts, Spirit hasn't come into her gift yet — but that's about to change. When the wild dogs that live on remote Bald Island start turning up dead, the superstitious islanders fear that they're next. Then Spirit starts seeing the ghost of her own recently deceased dog, Sky. With help from Sky and one of the island's few other preteen residents, Nector, Spirit attempts to solve the mystery of what's happening to her beloved island home. This book was a definite page-turner! I wanted to know what was causing the mysterious illnesses on the island — whether it would turn out to be supernatural or human in origin — almost as much as Spirit did, and I loved how the whole thing played out in the end. Another solid recommendation for anyone who loves middle-grade fiction.

That's all for now! Anyone else reading anything good these days?

~Kathryn

Friday Reads: PLAYLIST FOR THE DEAD by Michelle Falkoff

Just a quick Friday Reads today, to give a shout out to another of my fellow Fearless Fifteeners! Michelle Falkoff's PLAYLIST FOR THE DEAD comes out on January 27th, and I got to read it a week ago as part of the Fearless Fifteeners ARC tour. I really enjoyed it! PLAYLIST FOR THE DEAD is about Sam, whose best friend Hayden commits suicide and leaves behind a playlist of songs that he says will explain everything. Of course, to Sam—reeling from losing his best (and only) friend and feeling tremendous guilt about what happened the last time they spoke—the playlist doesn't really explain much at all. That doesn't stop him from becoming obsessed with it. But when he meets a girl he didn't know Hayden knew, Sam starts to discover what life without Hayden might be like. He also learns that there are things Hayden wasn't telling him—and that Sam isn't the only person feeling guilty and responsible for Hayden's death. This book is part mystery, as the events that led up to Hayden's decision are gradually revealed. But it's also a portrait of grief and recovery. It's a story of how you can be best friends with someone and still not know everything about him or share everything about yourself, and it's a story about how you can learn to move on when that person is gone.

To keep things light (haha!), I picked up Ian McEwan's ATONEMENT next, and I spent the week marinating in his prose. I'd seen and loved the movie, so I knew the plot; I just wanted to read it in his words. And wow, this book did not disappoint. Its glacially paced, artfully rendered opening chapters. Its raw, visceral depictions of a world at war. Its unflinching portrayal of a young girl's lie, and the pain and loss that result from that lie. And its ending, with that young girl now an old woman reflecting on the past and still trying to atone for the trouble she caused. If you haven't read ATONEMENT yet (or, I suppose, seen the movie…), definitely pick it up.

Are you reading anything good right now? I want to hear about it! :)

~Kathryn

Friday Reads: THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN WITCHES and WHEN REASON BREAKS

Happy Friday! After a brief blog hiatus (I have been revising my new book like a fiend, y'all!), I am back to recommend two absolutely wonderful books. Lauren Magaziner's middle-grade debut THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN WITCHES is a hilarious, magical read. It's touted as being reminiscent of Roald Dahl, and that's completely accurate. A young boy, Rupert, is being tormented by his evil teacher, Mrs. Frabbleknacker. When he sees an ad in the paper to become a witch's apprentice (his town is famous—and infamous—for the witches that live there), he can't resist applying for the job. But his new boss, Witchling Two, is barely older than Rupert, and is pretty much hopeless at magic. I know this phrase is overused (including by me…), but: hijinks ensue. And they are so, so funny. Lauren's writing, like Dahl's, is made to be read aloud. I know several middle-graders and soon-to-be middle-graders in my life who will be getting this recommendation.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Cindy L. Rodriguez's Young Adult debut WHEN REASON BREAKS. (I read Cindy's book as part of the Fearless Fifteeners ARC tour. This book comes out February 10, 2015—one week before mine!) WHEN REASON BREAKS is about two girls who are both having a hard time dealing with what life throws at them. Goth-girl Elizabeth has anger-management issues and a problem with authority. Popular and sweet Emily is struggling to balance friendships, a new boyfriend, and her overbearing conservative politician father. By the end of the book, either Elizabeth or Emily will attempt suicide. Both are in Ms. Diaz's English class, learning about the life and poetry of Emily Dickinson, and one of the things I loved most about this book was how Dickinson's work and life reverberate through the text. The book handles tough and sensitive subjects with compassion and care, and the writing is beautiful.

Have you read anything great lately? Tell me about it in the comments!

~Kathryn

Friday Reads: YA Buccaneers' Summer Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

It's the end of the summer! (Boo, hiss.) And I completed the YA Buccaneers' Summer Reading Challenge! (Yay!) I did it by the skin of my teeth. But I did it! Over the past two weeks, I reread Jane Austen's PERSUASION—my favorite Austen novel—to fill the "classic" category. Then, I beta-read a friend's middle-grade manuscript that happened to be set on Sanibel Island, in Florida, which counted as my book set at the beach. And finally, this week I worked my way through ADAM OF THE ROAD, to fulfill the "book I disliked as a kid" category. Honestly, I don't remember reading ADAM OF THE ROAD, much less disliking it, but when I asked my mom for recommendations, this was the one that came to her mind! So how did it hold up? It was a bit slow, and you can definitely tell it's 70 years old…but I didn't hate it. Would I recommend it to a kid today? Perhaps, if the child in question was really into history, especially medieval history. Would I read it again? Probably not. Can't win 'em all.

Here's the final rundown, with links to my original post about each book:

Biography or memoir: WILD by Cheryl Strayed

Non-YA book: LANDLINE by Rainbow Rowell

Classic: PERSUASION by Jane Austen

Debut author: BEHIND THE SCENES by Dahlia Adler

Book with 'summer' in the title: THE SUMMER I WASN'T ME by Jessica Verdi

Book published the year I was born: THE BFG by Roald Dahl

Male protagonist: VICIOUS by V.E. Schwab

FREEBIE: FIRE WITH FIRE by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian, THE STORYSPINNER by Becky Wallace, SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo, and many more!

Book I disliked as a kid: ADAM OF THE ROAD by Elizabeth Janet Gray

Old favorite: THE HISTORY OF LOVE by Nicole Strauss

Book that's been on my TBR a long time: OCD LOVE STORY by Corey Ann Haydu

Printz Award winner: JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta

Book set at the beach: TURTLE TRACKS by Stefanie Wass (read in manuscript form)

Book with LGBT characters or themes: SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Albertalli

Book of poetry or novel in verse: CRANK by Ellen Hopkins

In total, I've read 26 books since we kicked off the Summer Reading Challenge! Not bad at all. As we go into the fall, I'm going to shift back into writing about and recommending books on a less formal schedule—but I promise not to stop Friday Reads entirely! And who knows…maybe I'll find time to blog about some other things, as well...

Hope everyone has a lovely Labor Day weekend!

~Kathryn

Friday Reads: "In a World Just Right," "Written in the Stars," "Jellicoe Road," and "The BFG"

I feel like I read ALL THE THINGS this week! I can't remember the last time I plowed through four books in seven days. But they're all awesome books, all page-turners…and having sent my new manuscript off to its first few beta-readers, I had a little more time on my hands than usual. Here's the scoop:

I ended up with two more Fearless Fifteener ARCs this week: Jen Brooks' IN A WORLD JUST RIGHT and Aisha Saeed's WRITTEN IN THE STARS. Both were wonderful, and you should buy them in 2015. (That's going to be a theme whenever I comment on upcoming Fearless Fifteener releases going forward: buy them! Support talented debut authors!)

IN A WORLD JUST RIGHT is about a boy, Jonathan, who can create new worlds at will. As a high school senior in the real world, Jonathan is a loner, disfigured by a facial scar and generally ignored by his peers. In his favorite alternate world, he still has the scar, but he's dating the most popular girl in school, runs track, and has friends. One day he accidentally tries to kiss the real Kylie Simms, instead of the version that's his girlfriend, and the two Kylies begin to merge, taking on each other's characteristics. In order to save them both, Jonathan has to figure out the truth behind his world-building abilities. This book has a plot that twists and turns, keeping you guessing until the very end. Great for fans of sci-fi/fantasy and contemporary stories alike!

WRITTEN IN THE STARS is about a Pakistani-American, Naila, whose parents want her to have an arranged marriage. The problem is, Naila has fallen for a classmate, Saif, and she's been hiding her relationship from her parents. When they find out about her boyfriend, Naila's appalled and disappointed parents whisk her off for a "vacation" in Pakistan—and it soon becomes clear that they have bigger plans for her. I couldn't put this book down. Naila's journey from fairly typical American teen (despite being the child of conservative immigrant parents) to unhappy seventeen-year-old bride is wrenching and powerful. The ending made me cry. I highly recommend this book!

Next, I crossed two more books off my YA Buccaneers Summer Reading Challenge bracket:

They're both rereads: Melina Marchetta's JELLICOE ROAD for my Printz Award Winner and Roald Dahl's THE BFG as my book published the year I was born! I read JELLICOE ROAD several years ago, and I have to confess that I found it hard to get into at the beginning. Then, the ending blew me away. Upon rereading, I was hooked from page one. The story is really two stories intertwined: in present-day Australia, Taylor Markham is competing in a territory war at her boarding school against the local Townies and the Cadets who visit each summer. Taylor was abandoned on the Jellicoe Road by her mother years ago, and was raised by Hannah, a mysterious and sad woman who lives near the school grounds. Hannah, meanwhile, is writing a novel that tells the story of five friends dealing with heartbreaking loss two decades prior: Narnie, Webb, Tate, Jude, and Fitz. I don't want to spoil the way these two tales intersect, other than to say that if the start of the book doesn't hook you, keep going. It's well worth it.

THE BFG was one of my absolute favorite books as a kid. I have vivid memories of reading favorite passages over and over and laughing until I cried. The snozzcumbers! The whizzpoppers! The way different people from different countries have different flavors! (People from Turkey taste like turkey, while people from Greece taste greasy and people from Panama taste of hats.) When I discovered that this book was first published in 1982, and thus fit into one of my Summer Reading Challenge categories, I knew I was due for a reread—and rereading just cemented how much I can't wait to share this book with my own kids one day.

Only three squares to go! (I still can't think of a book I disliked as a kid… I remember devouring just about everything! Mom? Help!)

What are you reading this week?

~Kathryn

Friday Reads: Heavy Issues Edition

I didn't plan this, but the past week's reads all ended up being about heavy subjects. In a nutshell: September 11th, depression, suicide, and meth addiction. But don't run away yet! The books that covered these dark topics ranged from compelling to uplifting to heartbreaking to downright beautiful. I received two Fearless Fifteener ARCs at the end of last week, both very high on my "can't wait to read this" list. Kerry O'Malley Cerra's JUST A DROP OF WATER is a middle-schooler's-eye-view of the events surrounding September 11th. As the school year starts, Jake's biggest worry is beating his cross-country rival and securing a coveted Team Captain armband. But after September 11th, everything changes. Jake lives in Florida, far from the attacks, but he feels the repercussions in a very real way. His mom becomes fearful and paranoid. His best friend, Sam, gets beaten up for being Arab-American. Sam's father is detained and questioned by the FBI. Jake struggles to determine what's right in an incredibly hard situation. He doesn't always make the right choices, but he learns a lot. His story will give today's middle-schoolers insight into a historical event that happened just before they were born and shaped the world they live in. Although the descriptions of the day itself were hard to read, as someone who remembers that day all too well, the rest of the book was a compelling page-turner. I highly recommend this one, which comes out in just a few weeks.

Right after that, I started Jasmine Warga's MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES. This book is about a depressed teen, Aysel (pronounced like gazelle), who enters into a suicide pact with a boy who's wracked with his own grief and guilt. But as Aysel gets to know Roman and finds herself opening up to him, she discovers that she wants to live. The concept might sound dark and sad—and it is. But this book is also profoundly hopeful. Aysel's journey is heartbreaking and difficult, and yet it also manages to be uplifting without minimizing the serious issue of depression. Part of what keeps the book from feeling unrelentingly bleak, especially at the beginning, is Aysel's wonderful voice. She's funny and snarky, and she peppers her narration with references to physics, her favorite subject. As she finds herself falling for Roman, there's a sweet vulnerability, as well. Really, I can't say enough about this book—and I don't want to say much more, for fear of spoiling the experience of reading it. MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES comes out a week before my own book, in February 2015, and you should definitely buy it.

For the YA Buccaneers' Summer Reading Challenge, I read Ellen Hopkins' CRANK, a novel-in-verse that's based on Hopkins' daughter's descent into meth addiction. Hopkins is well-established on the YA scene at this point, and I'd never read any of her books (which are all written in verse), so this seemed like the time! What I liked most was the verse itself. Hopkins is a skilled poet, crafting poems within poems that contradict or elaborate on what's being said on the surface. She lays the words out on the page in ways that enhance the text, as well. And by telling Kristina's story in verse rather than using traditional narration, Hopkins is able to keep the story focused on raw, visceral emotion. My criticism would be that Kristina's voice didn't always feel authentic to a teenaged girl fighting a losing battle against "the monster" of meth. There were times I felt Hopkins—the adult author and mother of a girl very much like Kristina—intruding into Kristina's thoughts. But if you're interested in seeing how verse can propel a story forward in nontraditional ways, check this one out.

That's all for now! Next week, I'll have to try to read something a little more upbeat… Anyone have any beach book recommendations? :)

 ~Kathryn

Friday Reads: "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed and "Eren" by Simon P. Clark

Happy August! I don't know about you, but it seems like July simply flew by. I can't believe we're on the home stretch of summer—and of the YA Buccaneers' Summer Reading Challenge! Here's what I read this week: Cheryl Strayed's memoir WILD has been on my list for a while, and I'm glad I finally checked it off! Once I got into it, I had a hard time putting this one down. WILD follows Strayed's 1995 hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, from southern California to the Oregon-Washington border. She was 26. Her mother had recently passed away, and Strayed was in a downward spiral. She cheated on and then divorced her husband. She tried drugs. At the point when the memoir begins, she's a broken shell. She thinks that maybe going into the wilderness alone for a few months and doing this impossible hike will be what heals her. And it does, to an extent—though it also breaks her down a lot along the way. Strayed is a woefully unprepared backpacker, which gives some levity to what is otherwise a fairly somber book. I also read reviews stating that Strayed was a frustrating narrator, too self-centered and self-flagellating to spend time with. What kept me pushing forward at the start of the book was how unflinchingly Strayed writes about her past. She made a lot of mistakes, and she admits them. And, moving forward, she works to overcome them. I definitely recommend this book.

I also got yet another Fearless Fifteener advance copy: Simon P. Clark's EREN, which releases this September. (Yes, we have a few Fearless Fifteeners who are actually 2014 debuts; it's too complicated to go into here!) This book doesn't fit into the Summer Reading Challenge categories I have left, but I was too fascinated by it not to tell you a little about it here. This book is middle grade fantasy marketed to fans of Neil Gaiman. It's about a boy, Oli, who discovers a creature in his attic—Eren—who seems to feed on stories. Oli has a lot going on in his real life, and talking to Eren feels like an escape. But there's more to the sinister Eren than Oli realizes. This book is about the stories we tell, and it's written in a format that tells stories within stories within the main story. It's a slim volume, but not a fast read; the pace is deliberate, forcing you to savor each story as it unfolds. And where it ends up is unexpected—at least, it was for me. This is a thoughtful, slightly creepy meditation on the power of storytelling, and if you're a Gaiman fan, you will probably enjoy this book as well.

Here's where my Summer Reading Challenge bingo board stands as of today, August 1:

Until next week… Happy Reading!

~Kathryn

Friday Reads: "Landline" by Rainbow Rowell (Plus Some Mortal Instruments…)

This past week, I plowed through two *very* different books. One was written for adults, the other for teenagers. One was (mostly) realistic, the other the height of urban fantasy. One was fairly concise—I read it in a single evening—and the other was more than 700 pages long. And, um, only one counted toward my Summer Reading Challenge goals.

So we'll start there. I read Rainbow Rowell's Landline as my non-YA book because, well, I love her work, and I couldn't wait to read this one—which came out in early July—and that's where it fit on the bingo board. And it did not disappoint! Landline is about a couple whose marriage is on the rocks. Georgie knows things aren't good between her and her husband, Neal, but she doesn't know how to fix them. When she gets a great career opportunity that happens to conflict with a long-planned trip to see Neal's family for Christmas, she chooses her job—and Neal takes their daughters to Omaha without her.

And then she can't reach him. At all. He either doesn't pick up when she calls, or he's just stepped out, or it goes straight to voicemail. Wracked with guilt as the days pass, she finally gets through on the landline, calling from her old bedroom at her mom's house to his parents' home phone. The catch: the Neal that answers the landline is Neal from 15 years ago, right after the first time they almost split up. What I loved about this story is that it isn't really about the supernatural element at all. It's about the relationship between two people who have lost each other and want to find each other again. In speaking to past-Neal, Georgie remembers what brought them together in the first place—and realizes everything she has to lose if she doesn't fight to get him back. But she also knows how much she's hurt him over the years. Would it be better and kinder to save him from all of that by breaking up with him before they get married?

Truly, I can't recommend Landline—and all of Rowell's books—enough. Go buy them. I'll wait.

When I finished that one, I picked up Cassandra Clare's MASSIVE City of Heavenly Fire, the sixth and final book in The Mortal Instruments series. I raced through the first half of this series a little over a year ago, and so I was definitely excited for this last book. And it (mostly) lived up to my expectations! What I loved most was seeing all of the threads Clare introduced in TMI books one through five—and in her prequel trilogy, The Infernal Devices—come together in this finale. I love big, epic, sprawling stories where the world keeps growing, many different characters get to have their say, and small details and characters that were introduced in book two or a prequel become important players in the plot later on. Clare does that well, and it's what will most likely make me pick up her next series. (Especially since she basically set up the premise for the next set of books at the end of this one!) Are The Mortal Instruments books great literature? Nope. Do the characters sometimes behave in truly frustrating and irrational ways? Yup. But they're pretty addictive books nonetheless.

Now I've started Cheryl Strayed's Wild, which will be my Summer Reading Challenge memoir. More on that next week…

~Kathryn

Friday Reads: "The Summer I Wasn't Me" and "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda"

Another week, another two books checked off the Summer Reading Challenge bingo board! This week I took care of "Read a book with 'Summer' in the title" and "Read a book with LGBT themes or main characters." (Though really, both books I read fit into the latter category…) Check out my previous Summer Reading Challenge posts HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Jessica Verdi's The Summer I Wasn't Me isn't your typical summer camp story. It's about a girl, Lexi, who gets sent to a camp that promises to change her sexuality. Finding out Lexi likes girls practically destroyed her mother, who was already fragile after the recent loss of Lexi's father to cancer. To try to make things right—to rebuild her broken family—Lexi agrees to give "de-gayifying" a shot. But of course, once she gets to New Horizons, it's not as easy as she'd hoped. The camp's views seem antiquated at best, and harmful at worst. And there's the matter of Carolyn, the gorgeous blonde who's in Lexi's support group…

This was a fascinating read. Verdi does a great job of showing the various motivations behind the campers' desire to change (or at least to try), even while condemning the camp directors' delusional and occasionally cruel methods. The most interesting point to me was that, unlike in the other book I've read with this setting (Emily M. Danforth's The Miseducation of Cameron Post), Lexi goes to New Horizons genuinely wanting the treatment to work. Her inner conflict kept me turning the pages.

Book #2 this week, Becky Albertalli's Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (a spring 2015 release that I got to read as part of the Fearless Fifteeners ARC tour), was charming, sweet, funny, and hopeful. With this one, the reason I kept turning pages is because I so badly wanted Simon to get his happily ever after! The book is You've Got Mail for the modern age, with two smart, articulate boys. Simon has been corresponding over email with a boy he knows only as Blue when another boy, Martin, sees their emails on a school computer. Martin likes Simon's friend Abby, so he blackmails Simon into helping him score a date. Anxious about being outed, and even more about outing Blue, Simon agrees. Hijinx ensue.

Simon is a great narrator, quippy and snarky and heartfelt. He wears his heart on his sleeve in his emails with Blue—the first guy who's really made him want to open up. I definitely don't want to spoil the surprise of who Blue turns out to be, but I will say that I was smiling pretty much nonstop near the end of the book. The romance is that sweet. Add this one to your TBR for 2015! I can't wait to buy my own copy and read it again.

That's it for now… what are you reading this summer?

~Kathryn

Friday Reads: Summer Reading Challenge, Freebies Edition

Over the past week and a half, I've read three books…and none of them fit any of the specific categories I have left on the Summer Reading Challenge bingo board, so I'm calling them all Freebies! But before I dive in, here's what I've accomplished so far, with links back to my posts about each one:

Read a book that's been on your TBR a long time: Corey Ann Haydu's OCD LOVE STORY

Read a book with a male protagonist: V.E. Schwab's VICIOUS

Read a book by a debut author: Dahlia Adler's BEHIND THE SCENES

Re-read an old favorite: Nicole Krauss's THE HISTORY OF LOVE 

Since rekindling my love affair with THE HISTORY OF LOVE, I managed to finish FIRE WITH FIRE by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian, which I had out from the library; read Becky Wallace's THE STORYSPINNER as part of the Fearless Fifteeners' ARC tour; and race through Leigh Bardugo's SHADOW AND BONE, which people have been telling me to read for what feels like forever. I really enjoyed all three, and for very different reasons!

One thing all three of these books have in common is that they're not the end of their story! FIRE WITH FIRE is the middle of a trilogy—and I swear, I thought the third book, ASHES TO ASHES, was already out. Imagine my disappointment to find that it won't be available for me to read until September! Meanwhile, THE STORYSPINNER is the start of a new fantasy series—and given that the first book doesn't hit shelves until March 2015, I know I will have a long wait to find out what happens next. Luckily, I waited to read SHADOW AND BONE, which is the first book in the Grisha trilogy, until the third book is out. I plan to buy and race through the next two as soon as possible.

So, what are these books about?

In FIRE WITH FIRE, three girls are plotting to right the wrongs people have inflicted on them. Unfortunately, not everything goes according to plan. (This edgy series started with BURN FOR BURN.) This is a Young Adult revenge thriller, with a supernatural twist that I don't want to give away.

In THE STORYSPINNER, a young storyteller finds herself at the center of a power struggle between the rulers of her kingdom and their magical neighbors. The thing that impressed me most about this book is that the story is told from many different perspectives, so it has a truly epic feel.

And finally, SHADOW AND BONE is a fantasy set in a Russian-inspired world where a magical upper class, the Grisha, wield power and influence. Alina, a young peasant, discovers that she herself may be a Grisha, and gets sucked into a dangerous power struggle led by the mysterious and alluring Darkling, the most powerful Grisha of all.

And now, on to the next books! :D

What are you reading? Anything blowing your mind?

~Kathryn

Friday Reads (on Thursday): The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

I mentioned last week that this week's contribution to the YA Buccaneers Summer Reading Challenge was going to be one of my favorite books. I'm pleased to report that I found Nicole Krauss's THE HISTORY OF LOVE every bit as lovely and thought-provoking and heartbreaking the fourth (or fifth?) time around as I did on first read. If you haven't read this book, go get it now! It's a relatively slim novel that is so packed with beauty and meaning that you'll want to read it again and again—like I do.

THE HISTORY OF LOVE is a book about a book, also titled The History of Love. The novel-within-the-novel is magical realism, full of love stories that always come back to a single girl: Alma. Krauss tells her story from multiple points of view: a lonely old man, Leo Gursky, who escaped from the Nazis and made his way to New York City; a teenager from Brooklyn, named Alma after the character(s) in The History of Love, the book that brought her parents together; Alma's little brother, Bird; and a third-person narrator who gives more detail about The History of Love's author, Zvi Litvinoff. Each voice is unique and flawless.

I don't want to reveal all of the ways in which these stories intertwine, but everything starts with the book. For instance, Alma's father has passed away from pancreatic cancer, leaving her mother a shell of her former self. When her mother gets a commission to translate The History of Love into English, Alma decides to learn more about the man asking for the translation, and then to learn more about the book and its author. THE HISTORY OF LOVE twists and turns, bringing its characters together in unexpected ways and giving new meaning to seemingly inconsequential details right up to the end. And that ending…the last few pages make me cry every time. They're just so lovely.

Since this book is a reread, I have to mention how the story opens up more with each pass through it. One new facet that became more clear to me this time around is the way Jewish culture pervades the story. Leo uses an array of Yiddish expressions. Thanks to my husband and his family, I now understand those terms and their emotional interpretations much better than I did the first time I read the book. Similarly, Alma's mother and father met in Israel, and thanks to my trip to that country a few months ago, I felt like I could visualize and understand those references better, as well. Each time I pick up THE HISTORY OF LOVE, it's like I uncover another layer, and this time, with the Israel trip still fresh in my mind, I couldn't escape the spiritual and secular Jewish themes.

I don't know what else to say, other than: Read this book! 

(And yes, the first chapter, from Leo's point of view, can be a challenge. Push through it. I promise, you won't regret it!)

~Kathryn