"Waiting On" Wednesday (7)

Meme began by Jill of Breaking the Spine.

I adore Francesca Lia Block's lyrical writing, so I'm looking forward to her June 2nd release, THE WATERS & THE WILD.



Isn't that cover beautiful?

Coming Soon . . .

Is NOTHING BUT GHOSTS by Beth Kephart. I interviewed during the March celebration and intend to review her latest release sometime soon.



But before we get NOTHING BUT GHOSTS, we get the paperback release of UNDERCOVER. Beth wants your poetry, for a chance to win a signed copy.

Review: Fragile Eternity

Heads up Austinites! Melissa Marr is at BookPeople this afternoon. I can't come because I have long standing plans with friends, but I hope ya'll will go and enjoy.



By Melissa Marr

FRAGILE ETERNITY started slow. I read the vast majority sitting in traffic, going nowhere. And I kept putting the book down to stare out the window. To stare out the window, to look at the scenery, which wasn't changing since the car wasn't moving. This is not the reaction I was expecting to the book. Why did I find it so slow?

I couldn't take the characters' decisions. Seth and Aislinn want to be together. Aislinn and Keenan need to be together. Keenan and Donia want to be together. Donia and Aislinn are friends. Seth and Niall are friends. Niall and Keenan are something. But the web of relationships is fragile and they're tearing it apart through their own actions. I'll admit I have the benefit of seeing what the other characters are thinking, but I felt so frustrated with the cast at points, especially Aislinn. The book's mantra is, "Choose to be happy," but it felt like everyone was interpreting that as, "Choose to dash your head upon the rocks. And no, it won't be fun." Which, okay, I was in traffic. Maybe instead of being the perfect opportunity to read it was frustrating me. I dunno, but I was beginning to get fed up with everyone.

Now, to give probs to Melissa Marr, all of these decisions felt organic to the characters. But surely they could've made ones that were also within their character and would lead to greater happiness. (It doesn't help that there isn't much of a plot other than character interaction to distract from the decision-making.) And, AND, once Seth met Sorcha I fell in love with the book. (Is that a spoiler? Their meeting is blatantly foreshadowed since the first chapter . . . anyone want to chime in?) Marr's characters all have chemistry in spades, but I loved the bond between Seth and Sorcha. It was sudden, but I believed it. Suddenly I wasn't angry with these characters for blundering toward their own doom, but worried they would meet a doom no one wanted but no one could prevent because of misunderstanding.

I was extremely sad when FRAGILE ETERNITY ended because of the momentum I built. I still can't wait to learn what happens next. (I'm still not a big Aislinn fan, but Seth, Sorcha, Donia, Keenan, and Niall make up for it. And side characters Devlin and Bananach, the brother and sister of Sorcha, steal the show every time they're on page. Menacing with a method.)

So despite those first several paragraphs, I do recommend FRAGILE ETERNITY. (Plus, most who pick it up have probably read prequel WICKED LOVELY and sidestory INK EXCHANGE and are invested in the characters enough to push past a slow start.) FRAGILE ETERNITY is one of those books that proves I can't get enough of reading something that makes me wail, "Their love is so doomed!" (The wail sounds dramatic, but it's true. If I'm in anguish about the chances, then I'm racing to see how it turns out.) When it's the couple's own actions pushing them apart I do pull away, but when it's just the way things are? That's when the book clicks.

Y'know, I think I wouldn't have been half as frustrated with the beginning if the end weren't so awesome. FRAGILE ETERNITY is available now, as is the manga spinoff WICKED LOVELY: DESERT TALES, the first volume of which is titled SANCTUARY. The anthology LOVE IS HELL includes a short story by Marr, as does the upcoming August anthology UNBOUND. (UNBOUND is an adult release, not YA.) You can find Marr online at her website, el jay, and MySpace.

Giveaway: Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts

Lutie McFee's history has taught her to avoid attachments...to people, to places, and to almost everything. With her mother long dead and her father long gone to find his fortune in Las Vegas, 15-year-old Lutie lives in the god-forsaken town of Spearfish, South Dakota with her twelve-year-old brother, Fate, and Floy Satterfield, the 300-pound ex-girlfriend of her father.

While Lutie shoplifts for kicks, Fate spends most of his time reading, watching weird TV shows and worrying about global warming and the endangerment of pandas. As if their life is not dismal enough, one day, while shopping in their local Wal-Mart, Floy keels over and the two motherless kids are suddenly faced with the choice of becoming wards of the state or hightailing it out of town in Floy's old Pontiac. Choosing the latter, they head off to Las Vegas in search of a father who has no known address, no phone number and, clearly, no interest in the kids he left behind.

MADE IN THE U.S.A. is the alternately heartbreaking and life-affirming story of two gutsy children who must discover how cruel, unfair and frightening the world is before they come to a place they can finally call home.

I'm not gonna lie, I loved WHERE THE HEART IS. Sure, it's a little hokey (and won the Oprah enjoyment kiss of death), but it's a book my grandmother, mother, sister, and I could all enjoy. That's rare. (We all have crossovers, but a crossover with all four? My sister's especially hard since she likes those weepy, cancer patient, lover dies at the end books. Spare me.) Therefore, I'm happy to have the chance to giveaway a different Billie Letts book, courtesy of Hachette Book Group.

So here it is: I've got five copies up for grabs. How do you get one?

A. Live in the USA or Canada and can get stuff at an address that's not a PO box.
B. Leave a comment on this post before Memorial Day.
C. Tip the balance in your favor with extra entries: follow my blog, post about the contest, buy one of Billie Lett's other books.

I'm not even going to make you do anything special in your comment this time. Aren't I a sweetheart?

Books Read in 2009 (Weeks Sixteen and Seventeen)

Almost missed this week too! I feel like I'm missing some but can't remember what else I read . . .

Week Sixteen

It Happened One Autumn (Wallflowers, Book Two) by Lisa Kleypas (Review copy, eBook)



The Devil in Winter (Wallflowers, Book Three) by Lisa Kleypas (Review copy, eBook)

Project Sweet Life by Brent Hartinger (Review copy, hardcover)



His Calvary Lady (Aikenhead Honors, Book One) by Joanna Maitland (Contest)

Initiation by Susan Fine (Review copy)



Mommy by Mistake by Rowan Coleman (Review copy, ARC)

Bloodhound (Beka Cooper/Provost's Dog, Book Two) by Tamora Pierce (Bought, hardcover)

Week Seventeen



Toshie: A Story of Village Life in Twentieth-Century Japan by Simon Partner (Textbook)

Japan: The Burden of Success by Jean-Marie Bouissou (Textbook)

ETA: I forgot

Angel Densetsu (Vols. 12-15) by Norihiro Yagi

Claymore (Vols. 1-15) by Norihiro Yagi