TOP TEN TUESDAY: Book Covers I'd Frame As Art

Hi everyone!  This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic sounded like a lot of fun: Book Covers I'd Frame as Art.  I picked out some of my favorites that I'd definitely consider framing and hanging on my wall :-).

 

Hope you're having a great week!

Ninja Girl

FRIDAY FAVORITES

Hi there!  Hope everyone's enjoying this week leading up to Christmas :D.  My highlight was watching A Charlie Brown Christmas since I missed it last year, and it's a family tradition.  Goodreads says I've read 91 books (I hope to add a couple before the year ends lol).  But today I wanted to spread some cover love.

This post is for my favorite cover of 2012!  Here are my top 2:

It was impossible to choose one.  They're both so beautiful (and the stories were awesome as well!).  Great books with great covers?  To quote my dear friend Linus: That's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown ;). Well, not really, but I am giving a whole bunch of great books as gifts!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ninja Girl

MEANT TO BE by Lauren Morrill

Oh how I loved this novel, let me count the ways J

Right when I saw the cover for Meant to Be, my eyes smiled.  Then I read the book summary, and my brain and heart were both in agreement: I needed this book.  Pronto.  It even inspired a Waiting on Wednesday post--which I only do when I'm really, REALLY salivating over a book.

NetGalley was kind enough to provide the goods, and I have to say, Lauren Morrill did not disappoint.  Meant to Be delivers on every level.  The romance, the laughs, the great London adventure, and two memorable characters who are so different yet so right for each other.

Love it when a book can hook you and then actually fulfill what the jacket promises!

Julia isn't your typical teenage heroine.  For one, she doesn't just believe in love.  She believes in "meant to be"--true love, fated love that finds you when it's ready.  And Julia believes she's already found her MTB.  Even if they haven't spoken in years.  Even if he doesn't know it yet, the charming, handsome Mark Bixford is her fate.

Everything should be gravy, but when Julia goes to London and inexplicably starts to fall for Jason Lippincott, class clown and bane of her existence, it makes her question everything she's ever thought about MTB.

Jason annoys the heck out her with his crude jokes and wildly inappropriate behavior.  He makes Julia want to break the rules just to prove to him--and to herself-- that she's not just a boring "book licker."  But Jason's also charming and sweet when he wants to be.  Singing to her in the park, pulling her into an impromptu dance, kissing her on a rainy day.

Julia thought she had it all figured out.  But,is it Mark or Jason?  Who's really her MTB?  And when all is said and done, will he feel the same?

My favorite parts of the book were the romantic scenes between Jason and Julia.  *Sigh*  That one was a no brainer.  I absolutely loved the scene on the London Eye.  It was exactly what it should be--him catching her fall, both of them not wanting to pull away--so totally romantic.  And their first kiss!  A rainy day in London, in a deserted field far away from everyone, a moment purely theirs?  Miss Morrill certainly has a way with writing heart-melting scenes.  Loved it!

And I also loved that Julia was exactly the opposite of the teenage cynic.  There were times when she and Jason deliberately hurt each--which I didn't like.  But Julia's take on love and "MTB" was so fresh and endearing.  I liked her very much with her lists and her non-rule-breaking persona.  A young girl who actually believes in true love.  Imagine that J

I really liked this one.  I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, romantic YA contemporary!

Happy reading,

Ninja Girl

STACKING THE SHELVES (3)

Hi all, Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  Annnnnnd here are the books I got this (and last) week!!

List of Books:  Croak by Gina Damico
                         Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen
                         Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews
                         Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
                         The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
                         Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
                         Original Sin by Lisa Desrochers

From NetGalley: Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

First up to read:

Don't know how Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles got left out of that pic...but I did buy it this weekend, and I pretty much read through it in a day!  It was great, review to come shortly.  Got a lot of great titles up there.  Right now, I am LOVING the Ilona Andrews series (have already read through the first three books ;D).  P.S. Netgalley rocks!

Hope everyone has a great week,

Ninja Girl

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

Hi everyone!  I only do "Waiting on Wednesday" posts when I've found something really awesome--which I totally did yesterday.  It's a meme hosted over at Breaking the Spine, featuring those books that are just too good, the ones you wish were out. Right. This. Second.

If the cover wasn't enough to get me hooked, check out this fantastic summary from Goodreads:

Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question.

It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").

But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.

Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.

I, Ninja Girl, am officially salivating!!  I feel like that girl from Willy Wonka.  You know the one, that whiny Veruca Salt who wanted a golden goose?  Yeah, Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill is my golden goose and I want it.  Now.  So much I'm about two seconds away from bursting out in song lol ;)  Big thanks to the ladies over at Stalking the Bookshelves for directing me to my WoW pick!

Hope you all have a good one,

Ninja Girl