What Ana Does

As promised, here's a glowing review of a book you have to read right now. In a word: Unputdownable Daughter of the Pirate King Last weekend it was rainy and chilly, so I found my favorite seat in the living room and read this book. In three days. (The girls are getting really good at recognizing when Mom is reading and they need to make their own fun.) In a nutshell, this book is about Alosa the pirate king's daughter (duh) who gets herself captured by pirates to find a piece of a treasure map for her father. There's a CUTE BOY, nonstop action, a few twists I honestly didn't see coming, pirates of various aptitudes and a cliffhanger ending. A sequel is about a year away. Sigh.  Will definitely make my top reads of 2017 list. Thumbs way up! 

I have NO COOL around meeting authors.  In past jobs, I've interviewed actors and musicians and was mostly calm and professional. To be honest, they rarely live up to the hype. They're pretty regular people. But there is something about authors that make me totally geek out. I get tongue-tied and I'm not able to hold a normal conversations.  As an example, I've totally freaked out at meeting a long-revered author to get my book signed, so I ran for the door. Shamefully embarrassing.  So TODAY the author of Six of Crows , which I've been touting here for the last year because it's awesome, will be an hour away promoting the followup that COMES OUT TODAY called Crooked Kingdom . Do I make the drive to hear Leigh Bardugo talk about the book and then GEEK OUT and flee? Can I maintain my cool? 

The very best thing about Fall is the arrival of a ton of new books that keep me up far past my bedtime and have me daydreaming about what will happen all day long! I'm such a book nerd. Here's my annual roundup of books I've been eagerly anticipating ... My very-favorite book of 2015 was  Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I can't gush enough about how totally blown away I was by the storytelling and characters. Six distinct characters pull off an impossible heist in a fictional world with a cliffhanger that nearly killed me ... INEJ!! At the end of September comes the sequel Crooked Kingdom and OHMYGOD I've been waiting long enough to find out the disastrous results of their heist and what will become of Kaz and his crew.  I picked up Ember in the Ashes audiobook last year and it was so intense I was stressed about listening to it for a whole week. But I couldn't stop. That sequel, A Torch Against the Night , is coming out on August 30 and I've b...

Audiobook: 'Heist Society' by Ally Carter Ready by: Angela Dawe Genre: YA Lit, Awesome! I've been thinking about Ally Carter a lot lately because a) her new book comes out on the 22nd and b) I was talking to a 9-year-old friend who was looking for a new series to read. I directed her to Carter's  Gallagher Girls series , but this is a good one, too. So I guess I was a little predisposed to pick up an Ally Carter book when I was at the library last week. And while I read this book about 10 years ago (my first Ally Carter), my memory was fuzzy on the details of the story. In a nutshell, Kat Bishop comes from a family of thieves. She makes an attempt to get out (as a sophomore in high school), but she's pulled back in to the family business when her dad is framed for stealing some priceless paintings from a very bad guy. AND there's a boy. A fantastic, perfect boy named WW Hale the fifth. It's always more fun to have a narrator read the crazy ac...

Not freaking out at all that a favorite author and I are bonding over our favorite historical romance writer. Nope, not at all. Totally cool. Side note: I'm pretty excited about a new Kleypas historical romance. I've read a bunch in this genre and no one writes them better, in case you're in the market for a good romance. The new book is called "Cold-Hearted Rake" and I'll be up late tonight reading it.

The fall season always brings out the best books. This week alone I purchased two new books (not counting the lovely cookbook that arrived on Tuesday) and finished one. So, here's my round up: Rainbow Rowell, "Carry On" Have you read "Fan Girl"? You MUST to read "Fan Girl" -- it's just that good. Funny, touching, well-paced and perfect. So the main character in that book write fan-fiction for a Harry Potter-esque book series -- which is THIS book. It's the fiction Cath's writing in FanGirl! And I can't wait to DIG IN. More info here.  Leigh Bardugo, "Six of Crows" Various authors and friends are raving about this new YA book, so I got a sample on my Kindle and had a hard time putting it down. Lately, my little one is having trouble falling asleep and requested I watch over her, so I read while she falls asleep. This takes her about 5 minutes because I'm paying zero attention to her. But I end up sitting in her...

I started An Ember in the Ashes audiobook for my commute to work this week and WHOA it's intense . Within the first disc, the main character's grandparents are MURDERED as she watched. This is NOT my usual book fare. But I'm enthralled by the story, the characters, the world that the author created. I. Can't. Stop. Listening. So every time I get in the car I'm petrified to hit play but I CAN'T give up on the story now. She's got to get her revenge. He's got to find his destiny. Do they find each other? How does it end? As much as it stresses me out, I will get to the end. Related Posts: More nerding out about Books posts

Today the trailer for Paper Towns came out. And it looks pretty awesome and like it followed the book very closely and that's exciting. It was a really fabulous book. And speaking of John Green, I finally sort-of "watched" his last book-turned-movie The Fault in Our Stars  because it was on HBO last night. We all know I can't watch nor read incredibly depressing stories. And kids with cancer falling in love is enough to make sad and crabby for a few days while I sort out all those emotions. But, I was really curious about the love story (John Green writes incredible love stories) and who dies at the end and how. So, I flipped the movie on (it was on HBO), got to the point of tears, and turned to another channel until I was more composed. Returned to Hazel and Gus, got weepy, turned to another channel. And repeat for two hours to get to the end. Anyway, it's important to me, a YA fan, to watch and support movies based on YA books. Because, really, there s...

This is why I love books so much; I'll read a passage in a book that explains something about myself that I never could put into simple words. Or never thought deep enough about to explain. Like this: "Part of the problem with parties was that I couldn't even tell what the goal was, so I never knew when I was done."   I have more in common with Isabel from Maggie Steifvater's Shiver series than I care to admit, and this quote rang so true for me I grabbed a pen and underlined it. Then remembered it was a library book. Whoops. This quote is from Sinner , a new companion book to the Shiver series that ties up the Isabel/Cole storyline. I stayed up past midnight for the last few nights because I couldn't put it down. So good. Go read a book. Related posts: Read more quotes

Guys! I just finished the THIRD audiobook in the Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater (called Blue Lily, Lily Blue ) and I can't be more please and bereft that it's over.  I wanted to continue listening to this story on my commute to work every day until I retire. Why did it have to end?  The second book was so DARK and filled with nightmares (thanks, Ronan) that I was delighted to find this book featured Blue -- who I adore. How can you not love a teenager living in a house of psychics but with no "real" psychic talent. Who subsists on a diet of yogurt alone and shreds/makes her own clothing. She also the only girl in a pack of private school boys on a mission to find a long-dead Welsh king. So she's just plain awesome.  And Gansey calls her Jane. And that's even more adorable.  It's the third book in this series so these characters are so well known to me -- which is the about the only thing that keeps me reading this series. I...

I'd love to read The Fault in Our Stars someday. John Green is a great writer and an all-around smart guy. But, as I've stated before, I have boundary issues with books and a YA novel about teens with cancer is way more than I can handle. I'd cry for days. However, I stumbled upon this amazing quote from that book recently and I just love it. Seriously. Love it. By John Green Related posts: All the cool quotes

Audiobook: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor Read by: Khristine Hvam Genre: YA Lit Ok. I was walking through the YA section at the library and nearly fell over when I saw this audiobook. It's a pretty new book. A book that I bought not too many weeks ago and have been too busy to start. A book I have been waiting and waiting for since finishing Daughter of Smoke and Bone . I got it, of course, but it felt like cheating. Like I should be READING the book, for real. I got over that pretty quickly, as I fell back into Karou and her situation and powerful mix of emotions. In a sentence: this audiobook was ammmmazing. With Laini Taylor, you don't so much "read" her books, as you're pulled under the spell of her words, her characters and her world. It's big. It's deep. It's a rollercoaster ride of action and emotions. I'm not sure I can summarize this story easily or without spoilers, as it's the sequel and so much happened in...