Friday, June 5, 2009

Friday Finds--Quickie Style

I truly don't have that many Friday Finds this week. Only four. Can you believe that?

Here they are:

After by Amy Efaw – This YA novel (to be released in August 2009) tells how a girl who has it all (grades, sports, etc.) could get pregnant and dump her baby in a dumpster, and what life like “After the Day” was like. Found this from the Friday Finds post at Popin’s Lair.

Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield – I’d seen this memoir featured at B&N, but the write up on my Book Lover’s Page-a-Day calendar put me over the edge. “Rock music critic Rob Sheffield transforms his grief and encyclopedic knowledge of music into an unusual and moving tribute to his late wife, Renee, and the music they loved. When Renee died suddenly of an embolis, Sheffield had to process it the only way he knew how: through music. Building his chapters around 15 mix tapes they made love to, danced to, and did the dishes to, his portrait of love is also a cultural map of the 1990s and the sound tracks of our lives.” Sixty-five percent of reviewers on GoodReads.com put this at 4 or 5 stars with another 30% at 3 stars.

Admission by Jeann Hanff Korelitz – 5 Minutes for Books reviewed this literary/nuanced tale of a Princeton Admissions Officer who has a “mysterious” life that’s revealed throughout the tale. The reviews on GoodReads.com were more good than bad (most neutral reviews were because the tale took to long to get into the plot, so I’ll be prepped for that going in; and the low reviews were because the protagonist isn’t likeable, but I don’t necessarily require likeable characters in my books). I was still roughly on the fence and went to put it on my wish list at the library and there were 44 holds, so I went ahead and took the plunge to put it on hold… hoping that the masses are right about this one.

Undercover by Beth Kephart – I recently finished reading a YA twist on Hamlet (Something Rotten by Alan Grantz... review coming later), and I love this kind of thing… authors re-telling classics in an easy-to-understand contemporary format to get teens interested in great works of literature… this inspires my writing. SO, I definitely wanted to read this book, a YA version of Cyrano de Bergerac with a gender twist. I’ve put it on hold at the library thanks to the tease by Staci at Life in the Thumb.

How about you? What great finds did you find this week?

9 comments:

Sassy Brit @ Alternative-Read.com said...

Now I want to read Love is a Mix Tape.

So, you only gave us 4 this week? :) This is my first time doing this, I only gave you one!

Some great finds here!

Just for the record, here's mine.

-.- said...

I love twists to stories, so Undercover sounds really good. I haven't heard of Something Rotten by Alan Grantz, but I love Hamlet so thank you for mentioning it. I'll be adding both on my TBR list.

~ Popin

Cackleberry Homestead said...

These all sound good. Admission is great - I just finished last week and loved it. I'm also giving it away on my blog: http://myreadingroom-crystal.blogspot.com/2009/05/review-and-giveaway-admission-by-jean.html

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

Admission is getting lots of attention lately - it sounds quite good.

Andrea said...

I have After, Admission and Undercover on my WL...and now I'm adding Love is a Mix Tape too!

avisannschild said...

Undercover is on my wish list too!

Jacqueline C. said...

I've been meaning to pick up Admission at the store since it came out! Good finds! Here's my list

Mari - Escape In A Book said...

I have my eye on After :)

Here's my Friday Finds

Staci said...

Thanks for the shout-out!! I love the other 3 books you featured...Love is a Mixed Tape...I made many of those in my day!! Now I'm adding those to my TBR list!!