Booking Through Thursday: Coupling

“Name a favorite literary couple and tell me why they are a favorite. If you cannot choose just one, that is okay too. Name as many as you like–sometimes narrowing down a list can be extremely difficult and painful. Or maybe that’s just me.”

BTT - Coupling

I’m probably not thinking of tons of great couples, but the one that jumps to mind most readily is Claire & Henry from The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffinegger. I can’t say too much without giving away the plot, but the way they cling together through all their different meetings throughout time makes them hard to forget. Romantic, bittersweet, plus it’s a mental workout to follow them!

Edit: I thought of another one! It’s a YA novel called My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger. Alejandra and T.C. are adorable, when they finally get it together. He’s the cool boy with the good heart, and she’s the fiercely independent woman who’s not above being swept off her feet if the guy gets it right. It takes them a while, but even when they’re not an official couple, they’re great together!

Teaser Tuesdays: “Larry and the Meaning of Life” by Janet Tashjian

Larry and the Meaning of Life by Janet Tashjian (cover)TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
  • Please avoid spoilers!

Well, for the past two weeks I’ve taken teasers from the first two Larry books by Janet Tashjian. I’m guessing no one will be surprised that this week’s is taken from the third, which is Larry and the Meaning of Life!

“I made sure he was on the other side of the pond before rifling through his stuff. I unfolded a stained piece of notebook paper and stared at the words scribbled across the page in pencil.”

It really is a good YA series. Fast moving, interesting, raises lots of good issues. And the main character is very mature, so it doesn’t always feel like YA. I’m definitely enjoying the books!

Booking Through Thursday: What’s Sitting on Your Shelf?

From Booking Through Thursday

What tomes are waiting patiently on your shelves?

Oh my. So very many. Mostly fiction, a lot of classics and older, obscure books. I also have a bookshelf of memoirs in which I’ve hardly made a dent.

There are several factors to blame for my current state.

First, I had a year when I went library sale crazy. I would hit up every library sale I could find, often twice, nearly always for the “bag sale” portion of the weekend. I also had a great used book store clearance section easily accessible. As a result, my shelves are literally overflowing with books I picked up for pennies apiece.

I now work in a book store, and I’ve found my tastes have become much more refined. I can go to a sale and pick out the two or three books I actually want to read without bringing home the other 20 (or more!).

I’ve also gotten really good at using the library. It used to be that I’d check out a bunch of books, put of bringing them back, and then owe a ton of money in overdue fines. Now I limit the number I check out. When a library book comes in for me at my local branch, it takes priority over any other books waiting in line, and when I’ve finished it, I return it ASAP. No fines, no clutter.

So, the incoming book waves have diminished. However, the tomes previously acquired continue to stare patiently at me from their shelves (and piles, and stacks, and boxes), waiting for their turn. Meanwhile, I’m so busy trying to read new stuff for my job that I never even touch the old ones I already have.

It’s ridiculous.

Teaser Tuesdays: “Vote for Larry” by Janet Tashjian

Vote for Larry by Janet Tashjian (cover)From Teaser Tuesdays

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
– Grab your current read.
– Let the book fall open to a random page.
– Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
– You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
– Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser for today comes from the second book in what is so far a trilogy about Larry, the alter ego of a teenager named Josh. Janet Tashjian is the author. I did a teaser last week from the first book, The Gospel According to Larry. This week, it’s from Vote for Larry (I’m cheating and putting 3 sentences, to give a little more context):

“Then the kidnapper sitting next to me reached for his hood. Of all the faces that had flashed before me in the three minutes since they had burst into my room, this one was not on the list.

“It was Beth.”

Thoughts on “My Most Excellent Year” by Steve Kluger

Last night I finished My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, & Fenway Park by Steve Kluger. It was, indeed, a novel of all those things, and so much more.

The Short

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger (cover)

Three teens share their ninth grade year through diary entries, emails, and instant messages. Read it if you enjoy realistic young adult fiction, endearingly real characters, and/or endings that are utterly heartwarming without being cheesy.

The Long

The novel is written in diary entries, with chapters rotating among the three main characters. TC is a baseball playing diehard Red Sox fan intent on making Ale fall in love with him. Ale, a foreign diplomats daughter, is just as intent on keeping TC far, far away. Augie, TC’s self-appointed brother, is gay and in love with Andy Wexler, which everyone knows except for him.

You can tell a lot about the characters just by looking at whom they choose to address in their journal entries. TC writes to his mother (Mama), who passed away when he was a child. Ale writes to her idol, Jacqueline Kennedy. And Augie writes to a rotating Diva of the Week. Through their entries, we learn about Hucky, a 6-year-old Mary Poppins obsessed Deaf orphan whom TC takes under his wing; Lori, whom TC’s father is trying desperately (but subtly) to date; Augie’s secret agonies over Andy; and Ale’s newfound talent as a musical theatre diva. The story cumulates in a grand finale that’s about as heartwarming as you can get while still being funny and not the least bit cheesy.

Interspersed with the journal entries are emails to, from, and between parents, school personnel, and family friends, as well as instant messages between the main characters. Kluger gives each character such a distinct voice that you feel like you know them all by the end.

To give you a taste, here’s the blurb on the back. It’s Ale, responding to TC’s note expressing his interest in being her boyfriend:

Dear Anthony:
I appreciate your recent interest, but I’m not accepting applications at this time. Your letter will be kept in our files and someone will get back to you if there is an opening. Thank you for thinking of me.
Respectfully,

Alejandra Perez
P.S. It’s not “Allie.” It’s “Ale.”

This one was definitely worth the read. I’ll keep it on my shelf for years to come.