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This is part of the In My Mailbox series hosted by The Story Siren. This meme allows book bloggers around the web to showcase what awesomeness we bought, swapped, borrowed, or got this week. Check out my loot below!

Some pretty good stuff this week. Some of them are going out for ARC tours (check out Around the World Tours if you're interested) and the others I am hoping to get to soon. I've gotten lots of books in the last few months and am hunkering down to get a reading list in order so that I can read them, review them, and move on. Enough rambling though, enjoy my loot!



For Review:
Plus by Veronica Chambers (Aug. 2010; sent out for tour)
Winter Longing by Tricia Mills (Aug. 2010; sent out for tour)
The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June by Robin Benway (Aug. 2010; sent out for tour)
Invisible Girl by Mary Hanlon Stone (May 2010)

(Thanks to Penguin for all those mentioned above!)

A Life Revealed by Suzi Katz (not pictured) (Thanks Suzi!)

Bought:
Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway
Icecore by Matt Whyman

I also got really nifty swag from Penguin!


That's what I got, what loot did you score?

Bringing in the Loot

Welcome back to Nostalgic Friday! Since I love all things historical (culturally, physically, and personally) I do a post on Fridays honoring some awesome book that is a bit older. Many of them are books I enjoyed in my teens and others are books that I discovered as an adult that I think are relevant to YA readers.

This week I am doing something a bit different and just covering some of the awesome novels (a couple which were made into movies) that I grew up reading by Lois Duncan. This woman was phenomenal. She wrote so many books on varying subjects covering things from contemporary YA to more science-fictiony plots. My favorite four books by her are listed below with a summary from Goodreads.


Daughters of Eve was released in 1979.

Sworn to Secrecy. Bound By Loyalty.

It's the high school's most exclusive club--but now a twisted mind is leading it. Who will be the first victim?


A Gift of Magic was released in 1979.

When the old woman died, she left each of her grandchildren something very special. For Kirby, the gift of dance. For Brendon, the gift of music. And for Nancy, the most extraordinary gift of all . . . the gift of magic.


I Know What You Did Last Summer was released in 1973.

This is the story of four teenagers who make a desperate pact to conceal their responsibility for a hit-and-run accident. Unfortunately, someone else was there; someone else saw, and they don't think it was an accident.

The movie, by the same title, was released in 1997. It starred Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prince, Jr. and Ryan Phillippe.


Killing Mr. Griffin was released in 1978.

High school can be tough. But with teachers like Mr. Griffin it can seem impossible.
They only planned to scare him. But sometimes even the best-laid plans go wrong.

The movie, entitled "Teaching Mrs. Tingle," was released in 1999. It starred
Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, and Barry Watson.


These were my favorite books by Lois Duncan and they still reign pretty supreme over many books I have read. They were fun, quick reads that I find myself reaching back for time to time. While the characters weren't very deep and the storylines were kind of predictable, they were still good. Give one a shot if you've never picked one up before.

Do you have any stand-by authors from your youth?



Nostalgic Friday: Lois Duncan books

 Hego Water Design Lucite and Glass Faucet

This is one of the prettiest faucets I have seen. It would be a thing of beauty in a Powder or Guest Bathroom. It is made from glass with lucite handles. When the faucet is opened, the water comes out from the bottom and fills the vase up to the rim. A limited edition to bring an air of poetry to the bathroom.

Design Davide Vercelli for Hego Water Design Italy

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm writing about lifestyle and
WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, architecture, art and travel.
2011 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

Lucite and Glass Faucet



This is an odd location to pinpoint as a place of interest, not just because it is an intersection, but because the things that once made it a "happening place" are sadly no longer there. However, its history makes it more than worth mentioning, since at one point in time it was an area of intense energy and notoriety.

If I could give this corner of Hollywood a name, I would call it "Celebrity Haven," but back in the old days, it was simply called "The Corner." On the southeast side of the street sat Schwab's Pharmacy and Googies Diner. Across the street on the southwest, was the grand, the infamous, the scandalous Garden of Allah. This area was like a buffet of movie star "hookups" and sexcapades... or so the story goes.

Let's take these one at a time!


Schwab's Pharmacy: Located at 8024 Sunset Blvd, Schwab's was the go-to place for Hollywood residents looking for medicine, cigarettes, or a light meal. Oh, and stars galore! Its central location made this spot a great meeting place for industry professionals. It was even featured in a scene from Sunset Boulevard when Joe Gillis runs inside to buy Norma Desmond some cigarettes and bumps into his pals. Clearly, it wasn't just any store; stopping in was a way of life.


Inside its doors, customers grabbed a bite while the wheelers and dealers of the business sat chatting up new ingenues or closing deals on the latest pictures. Writers frequently went there as well, scribbling incessantly between sips of coffee. Marilyn Monroe was a frequent customer, F. Scott Fitzgerald had a heart attack there, and Harold Arlen said he got his idea to write the song "Over the Rainbow" while looking at the neon sign. Though it was rumored that it was here that Lana Turner was "discovered" sipping a chocolate milkshake, she was really spotted at the Top Hat malt shop across from Hollywood High drinking a coke. (You'd think that it would be impressive enough for a young girl to find stardom merely by taking a swig of her drink, but the studios, as always, decided to embellish, making her seem more youthful and innocent.)

Good ol' Schwab's closed its doors on October 22, 1983. Five years later, on October 6, 1988 it was destroyed. Laemmle's Sunset 5 Theater stands in its place, along with a Trader Joe's and a Crate and Barrel store.

Googies Cafe: "Googie" is a name that references a type of architecture specific to America, occurring most particularly in the '50s and '60s. The funky, contemporary style was coined after the construction of the Hollywood coffee shop, Googies, which seemed to exemplify perfectly the heretofore unnamed artistic trend of "up-swept roofs, large concrete domes, exposed steel beams and starburst, amoebae or boomerang shapes." Many commented that the restaurant looked almost haphazard, as if it had been thrown together from random scraps. Googies (no apostrophe) sat at 8100 Sunset Blvd. attached to the western wall of Schwab's. It was designed by architect John Lautner in 1949 and became famous for its odd, futuristic sign. For a time, Steven Hayes (real name Ivan) was the night manager of the cafe, where as an aspiring actor he rubbed elbows with many a celebrity. He wrote a two volume book, recording his encounters with, and memories of, those famous faces he knew only as friends.


On an average night, lines ran out the door as hungry youths clamored for a taste of french fries or a glimpse of their favorite stars. James Dean (above) was a constant customer, coming in with his thick glasses, which he was very insecure about. He was always picking gravel out of his hair from his latest car race. Natalie Wood was often in his company, or trying to be, and Errol Flynn popped in from time to time, (Hayes was such a good friend of Errol's that he even stayed with him at his Mulholland Drive home for awhile). Another famous racer, Steve McQueen, was a customer, as was James Garner, Marilyn Monroe (who came incognito in black wig and glasses), and Zsa Zsa Gabor, who raised quite a stink one night when she failed to get a table. 

Googies watched as the times changed and the stars faded, until finally Googies itself was living in a world absent of its former glamour and prestige. The restaurant was demolished in the '80s, adding itself to a list of landmark restaurant tragedies, such as The Brown Derby.


Garden of Allah: If you stared out the western window of Googies, you could see this establishment across the street. 8080 Sunset Boulevard used to be the location of one sprawling mansion belonging to Alla Nazimova (above), an actress famous for her roles in films like Camille opposite the sultry Rudolph Valentino. After building her home in 1919, the exotic starlet hosted many parties, which became notorious for their hedonistic and downright sinful results. Some of the rumors are certainly exaggerated, but much of the fodder was based upon the fact that Nazimoza herself was a homosexual, so her home became an alleged meeting place for the "lavender set" of Hollywood. The Spanish-style palace became a center for the drunken antics and sexual goings-on of the who's-who of Los Angeles.


The mansion was converted to an apartment village in 1927 as the era of the Silent Film, and Alla's career, came to a dwindling end. Now addressed at 8152 Sunset, an -H was added to the name, against Alla's objections, and 25 villas became available for the creme de la creme. Alla sold the property after the depression left her bankrupt, and she took up residence in one of the flats. At various times, illustrious glitterati such as Greta Garbo, Humphrey Bogart, and the Marx Brothers stayed at the new Garden, and supposedly the former antics continued. John Barrymore used to ride his bicycle between rooms so as not to waste any partying/drinking time with labored walking!

The Garden met its end in 1959. Francis X. Bushman, who was in attendance at the Hotel's opening celebration, was present at its closing. It was truly the end of an era. Today the space houses a standard, bland strip mall. The party is definitely over.

Of course, as time has passed, all of these classic establishments have disappeared, replaced by strip malls, McDonald's, and cement. I once heard that Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" was at least partially based upon the destruction of the Garden of Allah: "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." Since that's exactly what happened to the illustrious den of sin, I don't doubt it. I guess we all have to resign ourselves to the fact that nothing lasts forever... except memories. These three structures represented film at different periods: Allah representing more fully the Silent Era, Schwab's the beginning of the Golden Era, and Googies the rebellious refuge of the wholesome '50s.


So while you can't go to Schwab's today and sip on a milkshake or go to Googies and order a 12am burger, you can still stand on the site where these landmarks once were. If you close your eyes and take yourself back 40, 50, 60 years, you may be able to imagine life as it was then. Listen to the traffic pass and slow it down-- fewer cars, a more relaxed tempo. Feel the distant electricity of the past-- young kids wandering around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Marilyn or Rudy. Breathe in a younger Hollywood, one that was far from innocent, but still deeply naive; one existing in the moment, and daring to live life unbottled, unapologetic, unfiltered. Life straight: no chaser. Bittersweet... and far too short.

HOT SPOTS in CA: Sunset & Crescent Heights

Again, just a fair warning, this is book two in a series so if you haven't read the first book, City of Bones, please be warned that MAJOR spoilers exist below. That is all.

Clary is just having a really rough time. In just a few short days she went from being a normal teen with a geek streak to being the daughter of two famous Shadowhunters; unfortunately one of them went evil, world-controlling, power-hungry and the other is in a magically induced coma.

With her newly discovered brother Jace, and fellow sibling Shadowhunting friends Alec and Isabelle, Clary is setting off to find a way to save her mother while protecting all of them from the Downworlders (werewolves, vampires, et al). Too bad that's easier said than done when your best friend Simon, who happens to be in love with you, has just sealed his fate as being a vampire and you discover that your close family friend Luke, who has been like an uncle to you, is a werewolf. Can life get any more complicated?

Of course it can and unfortunately for Clary and all those involved, it's just going to continue to get worse until her evil father, Valentine, is stopped, permanently. A great chase ensues and everyone will have to choose which side to stand on in the upcoming war. That is also easier said than done. Where will Clary's loyalties lie when parts of her family, both blood-relations and extended, are on opposing sides?

City of Ashes picks up shortly after City of Bones leaves off. We continue the story of a Manhattan girl lost in the big world of Shadowhunting. Clary is a likable enough girl, but the sexual tension between her and her brother is just down right creepy, especially when she's supposed to be dating Simon. The demons get more creative in this book than in the last and there is definitely more action. I must say, for a middle book in a series, I actually liked this one more than the first! An easy, quick read despite its size, City of Ashes is a fast-paced fun novel. I can't wait to see what happens in City of Glass!

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare



I would like to take a moment to thank The Errol Flynn Blog Site for mentioning me in one of their posts. I wrote a brief article called "The Seed of Self Destruction" on my L.A. La Land Myspace blog many months ago, and it referenced Mr. Flynn. Ms. Tina Nyary posted the link to my page on the EF Blog, and a friend, Kathleen, alerted me to it. Thanks ladies for paying me the great compliment for my work!

I am always striving to uncover the truth-- if such a thing exists-- about those mysterious figures that we admire (or abhor), and I feel much rewarded in unlocking a star's false persona and finding his or her hidden humanity. Flynn was a very controversial figure in his life and remains so in his death, yet there are few that I have witnessed who maintain such a strong fan following. I refuse to believe that one who possesses the power to affect so many people in such a positive way can be all bad... Though I think it can be agreed that Errol was indeed a very naughty boy.  ;)

The Errol Flynn Blog is wonderful for its illuminating efforts in uncovering the quintessential man behind the myth and introducing a different, unapologetic, and purely motivated glimpse of Flynn. I highly encourage you to take a gander at the different articles, pictures, and facts presented about him. His underrated talent has been too long overshadowed by his reputation-- one that has been highly exaggerated and even flat-out contrived. After all these years, it seems that no one else will ever be "in like Flynn," and if you're not "into Flynn," you should be!


Here is a link to the Errol Flynn Bio I posted a year ago, for your edification and enjoyment!!!

PERSONAL NOTE: A Shout Out!

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott is set to be released on March 16, 2010.

Everyone knows the unwritten rule: You don't like your best friend's boyfriend.

Sarah has had a crush on Ryan for years. He's easy to talk to, supersmart, and totally gets her. Lately it even seems like he's paying extra attention to her. Everything would be perfect except for two things: Ryan is Brianna's boyfriend, and Brianna is Sarah's best friend.

Sarah forces herself to avoid Ryan and tries to convince herself not to like him. She feels so guilty for wanting him, and the last thing she wants is to hurt her best friend. But when she's thrown together with Ryan one night, something happens. It's wonderful...and awful.

Sarah is torn apart by guilt, but what she feels is nothing short of addiction, and she can't stop herself from wanting more...

From Goodreads

Okay, I am not really one for outright romance novels, but this one seems to be different. I have read two other books by Elizabeth Scott, but I highly doubt this one will be like either of those. This one will certainly have some bite to it and I am looking forward to that. Elizabeth doesn't seem to write catty girls and when I first read the description of this book, I feared that it could go in that direction. I no longer have that fear and am now anxiously awaiting the chance to jump right in and see what sort of choices these teens make. Whatever they will be, I know that they will be quite true to life because that's the kind of writing Elizabeth does. Can't wait! What are you impatiently waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Unwritten Rule

Nobody dies while figure skating; that's just not normal. Sadly, such is the reality for sixteen-year-old figure skater Eagan. Just a fraction of an inch would have kept her from hitting her head on the board at the rink during her performance. She could have lived and possibly gone on to the Olympics one day had it not been for that fraction of an inch.

As it is, her unfortunately early demise, allowed sick fourteen-year-old Amelia to get a new heart. She has been sick for so long her parents had to install a sliding chair in their staircase for her to get to her bedroom. Now, simply because Eagan checked the "Organ Donor" box on her driver's license, Amelia has another shot at life.

Told through alternating points of view, In a Heartbeat is an incredibly moving book. We get little glimpses into what both girls' lives are like before and after the accident. That tragically happy accident may have deprived one girl of her dreams and one family of a future with that child, but it also gave another family hope that their daughter could have a future at all. While Eagan and Amelia are polar opposites on the personality spectrum, they both have such a life drive that they cannot seem to shake. As the story progresses the girls seem to take on more and more of each others' personalities even though they never meet.

Both girls are strong, independent characters that were well-rounded. There was the potential for them to fall flat (over-the-top athlete and sick kid) and I found them standing out more and more. They both had little mannerisms and habits that spoke more loudly of their personalities and essence than any description ever could. I found the writing to be quite plain, which only added more emphasis to the actual story and not the delivery.

A truly heart-wrenching, tear-flooding tale, In a Heartbeat is an incredibly powerful novel. Loretta Ellsworth really hit the nail on the head with this storyline. I felt so much raw emotion and vulnerability without having to wade through a bunch of layers to get to it. The romance plot line was a little obvious, but necessary in order to bring the metamorphosis full-circle. Give it a shot, it's a quick read at only 195 pages. I promise at the end you will feel uplifted and rejuvenated.

In A Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth

Misty at the Book Rat is featuring my review of Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles in her Be My Guest special. You should check that out and then sign up to Be Her Guest. She's very flexible and fun.

The Book Rat is featuring me!! :)

This is part of the In My Mailbox series hosted by The Story Siren. This meme allows book bloggers around the web to showcase what awesomeness we bought, swapped, borrowed, or got this week. Check out my loot below!

Again I got a lot of books this week! I'm so excited for everything. I am hoping to get my reading speed back up as I've been kind of pokey for a little while.


Library:
Sticky Fingers by Burnham
Because I Am Furniture by Chaltas
Incarceron by Fisher
How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation by Simone Elkeles
Why I Fight by Oaks
Breathless by Warman

Bought:
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Albatross by Bloss
Storm Glass by Maria Snyder

Inter-Library Loan:
Investigating Firefly and Serenity : Science Fiction on the Frontier by Cochran
I have a slight obsession with this saga (as it was a show and then later a movie) and am intrigued by it. My husband and I will be sharing this book. :D

Well, that's everything. What did you get?

P.S. I've decided this year that I'm going to do at least one (if not two) HUGE contests to give away many of the books I've collected. The majority will be 2010 releases. My question is, what should I do? Should I do a traditional "form" contest, have people submit something, or just choose random followers at random times? What would you do?

Bringing in the Loot

Welcome back to Nostalgic Friday! Since I love all things historical (culturally, physically, and personally) I do a post on Fridays honoring some awesome book that is a bit older. Many of them are books I enjoyed in my teens and others are books that I discovered as an adult that I think are relevant to YA readers.

This week's selection is Go Ask Alice by Anonymous. This diary of an ordinary teenage girl tracks her descent into the monstrous world of drugs. I read it in middle school at the recommendation of the librarian. I will be forever grateful to her for the unique reading opportunities she provided me.

"Alice" is just your average teenager going along in her own little world. She has her up's and down's as is expected of a teen and of course she thinks her parents are "perfect." While her family is attempting to settle into the new town they just moved to, "Alice" is still clinging to her old hometown and friends. She goes to a party with one of her old friends and gets slipped some LSD and it all goes down hill from there.

She manages to fall in with the wrong crowd, namely a girl named Chris, who introduces her to more drugs and the party lifestyle. Eventually things get too hot in their town and the girls runaway to San Francisco where they plan to live a nice, drug-free life. Naturally it doesn't go as planned and the girls end up succumbing to the drugs' calls. There are more ups and downs that cause "Alice's" life to spiral out of control on a downward slope. She can't seem to get away from those who just want her to be high. No matter how hard she tries, she can't seem to stay afloat without the chemical timeouts.

This book opened my eyes to a different world. Some of the references were a little outdated (it was originally published in 1971) even by the time I got it, but the impact was the same. It's validity has been questioned for years, but to me that's kind of a moot point. The fact remains the same that this book changed the way people think about drugs. Nowadays there are countless songs, books, and movies that catalog teen drug use, but for its time, this book was the end all, be all.

For me, this book really changed the types of books I read. Up until this point I had mostly be reading "safe, happy" books like Nancy Drew, Goosebumps, Choose Your Own Adventure books and Animorphs. This book opened up a whole new world that included books like The Body of Christopher Creed, Number the Stars, and Killing Mr. Griffin. Drugs were a really big no-no for me, not only due to personal choice, but I was extremely asthmatic and that would probably not bode well for my health. These books allowed me to see into a world that I would not otherwise know about, from the safety of my own home. This book in particular was my first real glimpse at how horrible life can go if you aren't constantly vigilant in your pursuits.

If you have not already read this book, I consider it a must read for everyone. There is just rawness and power in this book that paved the way for such books as Crank, Love You Hate You Miss You and After. It's heart-wrenching, but well-done. "Alice" could honestly be any teen and that's what's so frightening about this story. Give it a shot. Have you read it?

Nostalgic Friday: Go Ask Alice


Some moments in the universe of celluloid are so impacting that it seems impossible for history to have been otherwise. When it comes to Filmdom, the importance of casting, the magical coming together of director and script, and the synchronicity or serendipity of different events that lead to a masterpiece make it impossible in retrospect to see a finished project any other way. Still, it is interesting to sometimes question, "What would have happened if...?" What if a different director had gotten a hold of this? What if this guy were cast instead of that guy? Would it remain a classic??? Likewise, it is equally entertaining to wonder what would have happened if a failed project had only been entrusted to a different pair of hands, though this train of thought is ventured on less often-- a dead dud is often just left thus.

An interesting twist of fate in cinematic history involved not just one woman, but two: Star of the Month Louise Brooks and German film siren Marlene Dietrich. Their futures would be indelibly shaped around their involvement with the film Pandora's Box. This film, which would come to define Louise's career, almost went to Ms. Dietrich, and the role that skyrocketed Marlene to stardom--The Blue Angel-- very nearly went to Ms. Brooks. Had the original casting gone ahead as planned, the careers of both women may have been very different, and thus a large part of cinematic history would have been altered.

Marlene craved the role of Pandora's Lulu, but director G.W. Pabst was adamantly against it. Rumor has it that she was in his office, ready to sign a contract, at the very moment that the ever mercurial Louise cabled to accept the part. Marlene was fuming, as was the rest of Germany, when they learned that an American would be playing the legendary heroine from Benjamin Franklin Wedekind's smash play. The quest for Lulu in Berlin was equivalent to the later search for Scarlett O'Hara in Hollywood. It would be a long time before the world, Louise and Marlene included, discovered the brilliance of the casting and the beauty of the finished film. 

Why did Pabst turn down Marlene, the toast of Deutschland, for the incomparable German role??? He thought she was too old (about 28 when production started, whereas Louise was 23) and too... Marlene. In her film work, Marlene was never just some girl, never the average woman. She was always a character within a character-- Dietrich in lambs clothing... Or rather man's clothing. Louise (above) was not a caricature of herself-- she was a woman comfortable in her own skin, daring without trying. She was unconsciously sexy and threatening in her lack of awareness . Marlene on the other hand, was a beautifully perfected contrivance-- hypnotic but inauthentic. She cared too much about her persona, therefore she could not have been the relaxed and effortless vixen Pabst needed for the role.

Ironically, after Pabst finished on Pandora, he was looking for his next project, which he hoped would be a film based upon the Heinrich Mann novel, Professor Unrat, starring his new leading lady Louise as the sultry Lola Lola. Instead, he lost the film rights to another director, Josef von Sternberg, who entitled the film The Blue Angel and cast his own favorite actress, Marlene Dietrich (below). In a very small world, the world of Movieland is even smaller.
*(If you haven't seen this film, do. Because this was von Sternberg's first sound film, it is an important moment in the history of cinema. But, with sound being a new phenomenon, each scene was shot twice, once in German and once in English, so it could be sold to the American market. For the love of all that is decent and holy, see the German version and not the English- one is flawless, the other clumsy. Even von Sternberg's sumptuous decor and attention to detail in the mise en scene cannot save the mumbled stutters of actors trying to speak a language not their own)!
 

Though Marlene certainly enjoyed this new victory, which would be groundbreaking for her career, Louise was probably completely unaware that Angel was even a prospect for her. Again, it was all meant to be, for Louise would have made a poor Lola Lola. The same things that made Marlene a lackluster candidate for the liberated, yet ultimately doomed victim Lulu, made her the perfect, ruthless heart-breaker of Von Sternberg's film. Lulu wrapped men around her finger as an afterthought or at best as an entertaining means to an end. Lola Lola is a calculating maneater-- searching and destroying purely for sport. There is a violence and immediacy to her intelligent manipulation of the opposite sex. She possesses complete control and never plays the victim.

As a result of these two destined casting decisions, the women would be forever tied to their respective directors: Louise would become the muse of G.W. Pabst, and Marlene would be a disciple of Josef von Sternberg. The careers of both women would be shaped by these men, though the end products would be very different. Marlene wanted to be molded into an icon. She craved stardom and the power brought by her false persona, which she gladly adopted and melded with. Louise, conversely, did not understand celebrity and feared this same power, which she subsequently shunned out of skepticism. As a result, Marlene's star continued to rise while Louise's burned out. Both are considered legends today, but it would take time for Louise to regain that status. Had she not starred in Pandora, she may not have reclaimed her throne at all. Marlene never let her crown leave her head for a second.

In another twist of fate, the two unwitting nemeses finally crossed paths. Not long after filming on Pandora and Angel ended, Louise was at a charity event with David and Irene Selznick. She wandered around the mock casino, eventually finding herself in an empty room. Well, almost empty. There in all her pretty, blonde glory was Marlene, who-- to Louise's utter surprise-- offered a very friendly, "Hello." There was no confrontation or clash of egos. What the two women talked about during that time, will remain a secret known only to the two of them. Doubtless, the acknowledged bisexual, Marlene, tested the waters to see just how "open" the equally mysterious and androgynous Louise was. (It turns out Marlene was a little more freewheeling, and no physical relationship was consummated. If one had, certainly both unabashed women would have talked about it).  

 
In the end, they both seemed to have a mutual respect for each other. They actually had a lot in common-- save for the fact that Marlene was often cited as the hardest working woman in showbiz and Louise the laziest. Marlene admired the strong and intriguing young girl who had stolen the role of a lifetime and made it her own; Louise was fascinated by the ferocious energy and sexuality that Marlene was able to put into Lola-- though she would later write an article about Marlene and how the fresh young girl of Der Blaue Engel had disappeared after Marlene had become Hollywood-ized. Louise saw Marlene's career decisions as personal suicide, but in her own eyes, Marlene was a success. She had come to America as another Garbo-like import, only to create her own eternal identity. Her fame was a choice she embraced. Louise fled hers. Both were proud women: one proud of her work, and one proud of the work no one could make her do. For one brief moment, their artistic destinies intertwined. The rest, as they say, is history.
 

HISTORY LESSON: Lulu vs. Lola Lola

An interesting event occurred on Maggie Stiefvater's blog and I am looking for some extra analyses.

Maggie received a public note on a networking site asking for homework help (asking to be reminded of the ending of Shiver for a project) that was due the next day. She posted the note on her blog as an example of the dozens of notes she receives asking for homework help and her annoyance at these shortcut-seeking actions. In the comments, lots of people chipped in about the laziness of students and the ridiculous idea that an author should help you with your homework.

Well apparently things got a little heavy-handed and it turned out that the inquirer in question was only a middle-schooler who did not realize his/her error. Maggie has since taken down the post and reassured everyone that "poking at the ignorant and innocent is not amusing like poking at the lazy and indolent." I believe that to be a very diplomatic way of saying, "play nice with those who actually try versus those who don't try."

Now it seems, some fans are revoking their fandom claiming that she is cruel for ridiculing a poor student and that she should apologize for her behavior. They also claim that she is not being a very good role model for the young adults that she writes for.

Personally, I think she has every right to do what she pleases. If it had been a confidential letter I would say otherwise, but this person made it public on their own and it ended up becoming a case of being in the "wrong place at the wrong time." This student got caught in an author's justifiable frustration and annoyance due to a constant bombardment of requests for help that is not really warranted. I believe that Maggie has done nothing to be sorry for and that she reacted accordingly. Some of the comments (which were also taken down) seemed to rant and rave a bit much on behalf of Maggie and bordered on crossing a line, but I don't think that was Maggie's intention.

So now that you have the details, what do you think? Do you think Maggie's actions were inappropriate? What about the commenters? Should they get off scot-free, while Maggie is taking some mean comments? Also, do you think that this is a wider issue of social media and networking? Let the comments/ideas roll!

Extra, extra: what do you think?

The mixed-race son of apple pickers, Manz lives with his hard-drinking mother and her truck-driver boyfriend in the hardscrabble world of dusty Rockhill, Texas. Forced to take a summer job rebuilding fence of a cattle ranch, Manz works alongside his friend Jed and meets a girl named Vanessa — but even among his friends, Manz suffers from an uncontrollable paranoia. As the summer wears on, Manz becomes convinced that "Operation Wetback," a brutal postwar relocation program, is being put back into effect. As the voices in his head grow louder and more insistent, Manz struggles to negotiate the difficulties of adolescence, the perils of an oppressed environment, and the terror of losing his grip on reality.

From Goodreads

There was no better way to sum up this book than with that blurb. I tried for quite a while to write a better summary, but this one was much more concise and clear than anything I had written.

In short, this book was marvelous!! I found myself absolutely mesmerized by Manz's thought process; it just drew me in completely. We meet him and jump right into the thick of his confusing life with a withdrawn alcoholic mother, who ends up being more like a child than Manz. His mostly absent, truck-driving step-father is a sight for sore eyes, providing tension relief at just the right time; but it's not enough to keep Manz firmly planted in the here and now.

As the story moves along, the author acknowledges that no one can make it through this tough a situation alone by introducing Manz's best friend Jed and his romantic interest Vanessa. While he tries desperately to hide his deteriorating condition, Jed and Vanessa just seem even more drawn to him. Not surprisingly, Manz has a difficult time accepting their help, support, and friendship as his paranoia becomes more and more severe. The author really captured the complexity of this situation while maintaining an easy to follow storyline. There wasn't too much going on at once to where you are confused, but there is enough going on that it keeps your attention. The realism in this book is astounding and the author deserves HUGE props for accurately portraying the reactions of the characters to the situations that they face. I HIGHLY recommend that if you like the raw, grittiness of Ellen Hopkins that you give this a try. It's not as harsh, but still truly amazing.

Are you planning on picking it up?

Border Crossing by Jessica Lee Anderson

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IVAN MEADE OBJECTS D' ART  

I was recently gifted with this extraordinary 925 Sterling Silver Object d' Art by the talented & inspired designer Ivan Meade. It is now a treasured piece in my home. Below is the story of Ivan’s inspiration for creating this piece. I love it when artists share how they came to design a piece….and how their works of art are birthed into the world of form.

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Patricia Gray Inc is an award winning Interior Design firm  in Vancouver, Canada who blogs about WHAT'S HOT  in the world of Interior Design.
2010 © Patricia Gray Interior Design Blog™

Objects d' Art Ivan Meade

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Keep Sweet by Michele Dominguez Greene is set to be released on March 9, 2010.

Alva Jane has never questioned her parents, never questioned her faith, never questioned her future. She is content with the strict rules that define her life in Pineridge, the walled community where she lives with her father, his seven wives, and her twenty-eight siblings. This is the only world Alva has ever known, and she has never thought to challenge it.

But everything changes when Alva is caught giving her long-time crush an innocent first kiss. Beaten, scorned, and now facing a forced marriage to a violent, fifty-year old man, Alva suddenly realizes how much she has to lose--and how impossible it will be to escape.

From Goodreads

I have read multiple books, both fiction and non-fiction, surrounding the idea of polygamist marriages. I find them most intriguing when they are written from the viewpoints of teens because it tends to give a sense of self-definition. My curiosity is peaked by these characters, be they real or imaginative, as they react and interact with their surroundings. This book in particular has my attention because it reminds me of Burned by Ellen Hopkins. I am hoping that it will live up to its relation.

Waiting on Wednesday: Keep Sweet

12152010. This is just one of a myriad of numbers that haunts 15 year old Jem. She has seen them since she was a child, but never put it together what those numbers meant until her mother died of an overdose and she watched the coroner put her death date down as the number she has seen her whole life in her mother's eyes. Since that time Jem has bounced from foster home to foster home, avoiding any kind of contact with anyone.

Until she met Spider. Just as his name suggests, this gangly and lanky guy is all arms and pure energy. She had seen him in class and around town, but a chance run-in gives them the opportunity to become better acquainted. Both of them have survived difficult upbringings, but their fortunes seem to stop there when both are suspended from school on related charges. As a result, these two find themselves with a day of togetherness. They decide to take a tour of London; lunch, minor shopping, and then a ride on the famous London Eye. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be because Jem sees that everyone is line to ride has the same number, today's date. She instinctively knows that something's going to go horribly wrong. In the nick of time, she manages to convince Spider to run with her and then they never stop running.

They leave London that night because the police are looking for them. They are wanted for questioning in the terrorist attack on the Eye. Their escape is ill-fated as well, although they do manage to find each other along the way. Where they end up is nothing like either of them expected.

This books was absolutely riveting! I honestly couldn't put it down. Jem and Spider both have this magnetism that just drew me in right away. Jem was a really well-defined character. Her history and her "gift" explain a lot about her without the author having to spend too much time explaining the workings of her. Spider on the other hand is kind of a mystery; I'm guessing that's part of his allure. He's not nearly as defined, and pardon me if I read too much into this, but I think that is really displayed in the fact that he is almost always a physical blur from how much he moves. As the reader, we don't really need to know all that much about him, just the basics.

The plotline was very interesting. I could actually see a lot of it happening in real-life to these types of kids. There is a lot of cynicism from kids who have been in the system and I could totally see the desire to run from the police because there's no way that they would believe the young trouble-makers. Also, the fact that they never really thought much further ahead than the next few hours is a classic indicator of runaways. These bouts of reality grounded the story when it started going astray with more far-fetched ideas. It wasn't like anything in the story was hard to believe, it was just kind of obvious what was going to happen in certain points because it was the only way the story could go.

Overall I must say that I really enjoyed this book and was very intrigued by Jem's "gift" which is never really explained. I think it's better that way, because then there's no way to be "wrong" about explaining it. If you liked Graceling for the adventure, romance, and small amount of magic, then this book would be a great next step. After reading this review, what book comes to your mind?

Numbers by Rachel Ward

Linger Cover LargeIn Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack.  And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.


Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.

Huge contest from Maggie Stiefvater to celebrate Linger!!!

Japanese Girl Tattoo

Devil Mask Tattoo

Koi Fish is related to Japanese

Japanese Women Tattoo

Full back Japan tattoo

This is part of the In My Mailbox series hosted by The Story Siren. This meme allows book bloggers around the web to showcase what awesomeness we bought, swapped, borrowed, or got this week. Check out my loot below!

First though, whether you celebrate or not, enjoy Valentine's Day! Enjoy yourself today however you see fit; indulge in a rare treat for yourself. Just a suggestion. :)

You know how they say, "Be careful what you wish for?" Well, consider my lesson learned. I racked up on books this week! Lots of books means lots of reviews coming up. I can't wait!

Won:
A signed copy of O, Juliet by Robin Maxwell and a solid silver heart necklace with a card. That means I know have two... should I do another contest?
For Review:
For Keeps by Natasha Friend
Heresy by S. J. Parris
In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth
Shift by Rachel Vincent (SQUEEEE!!!)
This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Tagged by Mara Purnhagen
When Good Wishes Go Bad by Mindy Klasky
The last four are net gallies, so I don't have pictures of them.

Which do you prefer: hardbacks or e-books? Also, what did you get this week?

Bringing in the Loot