Support Libraries! Cool PAYA Auctions!

I've mentioned PAYA--or, Bring YA2PA--before, particularly in my post about donating books to libraries. PAYA is a nonprofit run by the lovely Harmony Book Reviews in order to support public libraries across the state of Pennsylvania, all of whom received a 30+% budget cut last fall. I recognize that many other states are facing similar budget cuts, and you're welcome to contact Harmony from the PAYA website if you're thinking about what you yourself can do to help your own state's libraries.

The reason for this post today, however, is to encourage you all to check out the PAYA spring auctions that are currently going on! New auctions are posted every Friday and run for one week each (although I'm currently talking with Harmony to try to convince her to keep them open for a little longer... *grins*), and all proceeds will go to PA libraries. There are so many pretty and cool things being auctioned off: signed books, handmade jewelry, manuscript/chapter critiques, and much more! The prices are also currently very low too... which is, y'know, kind of sad for us PAYA workers, but all the better for you! Please please please consider going to the auction website, checking out the items available, bidding on some, and bookmarking the site for future perusals. Now is a wonderful time for you to break out of your strictly capitalist economic endeavors and feel like a good citizen of the planet for buying some for other-than-simply-selfish reasons. Because, yeah, I like to buy things I like, but I'm also all for buying things I like that also help good causes at the same time. :)

(And yes, I did donate a bunch of things to the spring auctions. Not all of them are up this week. But you never know.......)

COME CHECK OUT THE AUCTIONS, PLEASE!

And if you leave me a note here or through email letting me know that you've checked out, bidded on, and/or won items, THANK YOU! and I'll try to send you something cool, or do something nice for you.

Waiting on Wednesday (60)

Plain Kate by Erin Bow

Plain Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. As the wood-carver's daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden charms are so fine that some even call her "witch-blade" -- a dangerous nickname in a town where witches are hunted and burned in the square.

For Kate and her village have fallen on hard times. Kate's father has died, leaving her alone in the world. And a mysterious fog now covers the countryside, ruining crops and spreading fear of hunger and sickness. The townspeople are looking for someone to blame, and their eyes have fallen on Kate.

Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: In exchange for her shadow, he'll give Kate the means to escape the town that seems set to burn her, and what's more, he'll grant her heart's wish. It's a chance for her to start over, to find a home, a family, a place to belong. But Kate soon realizes that she can't live shadowless forever -- and that Linay's designs are darker than she ever dreamed. [summary from Amazon]

Wow, this book sounds gorgeous! I don't read much historical fiction, but more and more I am a fan of a well-done historical fantasy, and this one seems to have all the right elements of history, magic, fantasy, danger, and romance. Can we get a sa-wooon here?

Plain Kate will be released in hardcover by Arthur A. Levine Books on September 1, 2010.

Review: Runaway by Meg Cabot

Airhead, Book 3

Tags: middle grade, YA, sci-fi, conspiracy

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Note: potential spoilers for Books One and Two

Summary

Emerson Watts is in a heap of trouble. Her brain’s been transplanted inside Stark supermodel Nikki Howard’s body, the love of her life might be mad at her, and she’s being imprisoned by Brandon Stark, son of her employer, who wants Nikki’s secret in order to trump his father. When they find out Nikki’s secret, however, they are initially puzzled…until they slow begin to piece things together, and realize that they’re holding a horrifying—and dangerous—secret in their hands. But with Stark Enterprises extremely willing to kill to maintain their secret, how will Em and her friends ever set things right? Will they be able to get their happily ever after?

Review

At long last comes the final book in the AIRHEAD trilogy, and it closes this series with a satisfactory bang. Everything you love about Meg Cabot is here—the voice, the boys, the romance, the misunderstandings—and the ending is clever without being seeming overly plotted, shocking yet unforced.

As is typical of Meg Cabot’s books, everything is wrapped up nicely without overexcessive drama and writing. Em’s down-to-earth attitude paired with Cabot’s usual “teen girl” voice—y’know, the tangents? the silly yet sweet assumptions and misunderstandings?—provides for a great narrator. As this is the last of a trilogy, I have to say that the ending was good, if not, perhaps, worth getting through two books of mostly drivel to get to this point. It’s shocking, it’s smart, and it’s totally plausible within the realm of Em’s world.

The biggest problem that remains with me after reading this trilogy is that this could’ve easily been a one-book storyline, and RUNAWAY does give the impression that Cabot intentionally stretched it into a trilogy for financial reasons. Still, fans of the AIRHEAD series will love the way the plot develops throughout the course of these three books. If you’ve made it through BEING NIKKI, then you should definitely read RUNAWAY: it’ll satisfy all your questions and leave you content. Pretty good for an ending to a series that I had mixed feelings for.

Similar Authors
Jen Calonita
C. Leigh Purtill

Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5


Cover discussion: 3 out of 5 - I like that the, uh, covers to this series match pretty well...? Don't know what else I have to say here.

Point / April 20, 2010 / Hardcover / 320pp. / $16.99

ARC received from publisher for review.

Melissa Marr tour alert + GIVEAWAY

Good news: bestselling YA author Melissa Marr is going on a national tour that times well with the release of her latest faerie book, Radiant Shadows! Check out the tour schedule below and see if she will be coming by where you live:

DENVER, CO April 22, 2010: Tattered Cover Book Store; 7:00 pm

LEXINGTON, KY April 23, 2010: Joseph-Beth Booksellers; 7:00 pm

ST. LOUIS, MO April 24, 2010: St. Louis County Library; 7:00 pm

BOSTON, MA April 26, 2010: Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge, MA; 7:00 pm

COLUMBUS, OH April 28 – May 2, 2010: Romantic Times Convention

CLEVELAND, OH May 12, 2010: Joseph-Beth Booksellers; 7:00 pm

PHILADELPHIA, PA May 14, 2010: Chester County Book Store, West Chester, PA; 7:00 pm

RICHMOND, VA May 15, 2010: The Fountain Bookstore; 2:00 pm

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Whoooo she's coming to Philly! Hardly anyone ever comes to Philly. Too bad I will be at home in New Jersey recovering from wisdom teeth removal on that day... ick.

Giveaway Alert: Thanks to the generosity of K at Media Masters Publicity, I have one copy of Melissa's upcoming book, Radiant Shadows, to give to one lucky winner! To enter, please fill out the form. This giveaway is open to US & Canada mailing addresses only, and ends Friday, April 30, 2010. Good luck!

Did you remember to fill out the giveaway form?