GreenBeanTeenQueen

Steph at Reviewer X was lucky enough to get her hands on Catching Fire at BEA and now she's giving a copy away! Check out her contest!!!

So Taren over at The Chick Manifesto posted recently about her favorite childhood TV shows, which made me realize that as far as TV shows, Taren and I are twins! Check out her post for some of my other favorites (and yes, I really do remember Today's Special) Her post also got me thinking about what shows I loved and turns out a lot them were based in books or reading somehow. My love of reading and my future profession were evident early on I think. Some of these are from my very young childhood and some are from my tween years. Favorite show EVER!! I used to practice my blurb for the end of the show with my library books (turns out this was great preperation for a future in booktalking at the library!) My favorite episodes were-Mama Don't Allow, the one where LeVar went to a diner and there were goats-I don't remember much else about it or the book they read, but I loved it, and the one with the teamwork dance number at the end . Great show-I wish it was still on...

I was looking through my keyword searches on Google Analytics and I found one that had searched for "what to read after Wake and Fade by Lisa McMann" and another one for "what to read after The Luxe series" I'd like to compile a list of great books to read next and I'd love your help! For the Wake/Fade list I'm adding Sleepless, Uglies (just because it seems to work with those interested), and Deadly Little Secrets. (There are a couple other suggestions I need to add from my Twitter post) For The Luxe, I'm having a brain fart this morning and can't think of good historical romance that I've read recently. So, could you help me out? What books should I recommend? Any other "what should I read next" lists I should make? (I'll also be posting these at my library for the summer.)

So, like I mentioned on Monday, I just celebrated my birthday, but it's more fun to celebrate with people! And anyone who knows me (or reads my blog) knows I'm a sucker for romance, so I thought I'd give away a prize pack of great romances and summer reads to my wonderful readers!! Here's what's included : Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols Lovestruck Summer by Melissa Walker -review to come soon! The Wedding Planner's Daughter by Coleen Murtagh Paratore Slept Away by Julie Kraut -review to come soon! Check back, because I might be including some more! Rules: -Open to U.S. residents (or U.S. addresses) only please, as I am a poor librarian :) -Contest ends on July 1 -+1 entry for commenting on this post with your favorite summer read -+1 entry for being a follower -+2 entries for being a new follower -+3 entries if you post/e-mail/facebook/twitter about this contest

So something happened with our internet service and now we can't connect. :( Hopefully this will get fixed soon and I'll be back with reviews and contest info. I really feel lost without it-is that a sign of addiction?

Remember the People's Choice Blog Awards that Steph at Hey, Teenager of the Year was hosting? I was voted Best Reviewer! Thanks everyone-I think everyone on the list is an awesome blogger, so congrats to all the nominees and other winners. Be sure to check out the whole list on Steph's blog. Today is my birthday! I'm heading out to see the Star Trek movie with my family-I've already seen it, but they haven't, so I'm excited to see it with them. Then we'll probably head back home and enjoy some cake, since you can't have a birthday without cake! Since it's more fun to celebrate with others, I'll be hosting a contest soon, so stay tuned!! Happy start of summer everyone!:)

Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Urban Contemporary/Poetry Release Date: 1/1/2009 About the Book: An updated re-telling of Swan Lake, set in an urban neighborhood and told in verse. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I picked this one up mainly because it was on my cart of new books at work and because it was an updated version of a story typically told through ballet-this seemed like an interesting concept and I wanted to see how Myers pulled it off. Plus, the artwork caught my eye! The story is told beautifully, and even though the book is short-coming in at 40 pages-it's a powerful one. Swan Lake is a housing project and Amiri's mom is worried he won't settle down with the right girl, so she opts to throw him a party. Amiri meets Odette, but instead of being cursed to turn into a swan, in this tale, Odette's curse is a drug addition and she can't escape the clutches of the dealer Big Red. I really didn't know much about the story of Swan Lake, which I read the summary of aft...

I love A.S. King's Wag it Wednesday posts-I love seeing everyone's adorable dogs. So I am thrilled that today's adorable dog is my very own Wrigley!! Head over to A.S. King's blog to learn all about my soft coated wheaten terrier, how she got her name and see cute pictures! Wrigley would really love it if you stopped by!!

The Life of Glass by Jillian Cantor Release Date: March 2010 About the Book: Before he died, Melissa’s father told her about stars. He told her that the brightest stars weren’t always the most beautiful—that if people took the time to look at the smaller stars, if they looked with a telescope at the true essence of the star, they would find real beauty. But even though Melissa knows that beauty isn’t only skin deep, the people around her don’t seem to feel that way. There’s her gorgeous sister Ashley who will barely acknowledge Melissa at school, there's her best friend Ryan, who may be falling in love with the sophisticated Courtney, and there’s Melissa’s mother who’s dating someone new, someone who Melissa knows will never be able to replace her father. To make sure she doesn’t lose her father completely, Melissa spends her time trying to piece together the last of his secrets and completing a journal her father began—one about love and relationships and the remarkable ways peopl...

Presenting Lenore is hosting a HUGE giveaway for two Penguin Prize Packs! The first pack is a Penguin Reality Pack The second is for a Penguin Fantasy Pack You have until June 3 to enter! Good luck!!!:)

As a teen librarian, I have to be aware of teen books, especially manga. And just like my books, I like my manga to be funny and I usually lean towards the romance series. That's why I love Shojo Beat magazine. It compiles great girly manga into one issue and I'm totally addicted to Sand Chronicles and Vampire Knight!!! So I am extremely sad to see that Shojo Beat magazine will be ceasing publication in July. I really think some of my teens are going to cry over this news. I need your help. I know there are manga fans out there in the blogging world. Anything that I could get to replace the hole that Shojo Beat Magazine will leave in my manga collection?

Also Reviewed for TeensReadToo.com ! Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 3/1/2009 About the Book: Marcelo is seventeen and has an Asperger's-like condition. He goes to a special school and has a summer job lined up caring for the therapy horses at his school. But Marcelo’s father has other plans-he wants Marcelo to experience the real world. He gets Marcelo a job working in the mail room of his law firm. Marcelo isn’t interested in working at the law firm, but his father makes him a deal-survive in the real world and he won’t have to go to the public high school his father would like him attend for his senior year. While working at the law firm, Marcelo uncovers secrets, learns about friendship, fights a battle for justice and learns about the real world. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I was first drawn to this book because of Marcelo-I was interested in reading a book written from the perspective of a character with Asperger’s. I thought it would be a story ab...

I've spotted TBS in TWO different states!! Now it's your turn: Twenty Boy Summer has escaped from its boxes before the official June 1 release date and has already been spotted in the wild at a bookstore near Buffalo, NY. Now through June 30, we’re tracking sightings of TBS all over the country. If you spot the book in a bookstore or library, take a picture or video and enter to win a cool TBS Beach Prize Pack! Guidelines: Take a picture or video of Twenty Boy Summer on the shelves in the store, kiosk, or library Email it with your first name, store/library name, and the city and state where it was taken to sarah (dot) ockler (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject “TBS Map Contest” For an extra entry, take a picture or video of the book with YOU in it, holding it or pointing at it or singing to it or doing some other creative (but not illegal) thing Pics and videos will be posted at SarahOckler.com along with a Google map showing all of the places Twenty Boy Summer has been spo...

Rating: 3.5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 12/04/2008 About the Book: Billy's father died five months ago and now Billy is starting a new school year without him. He has a new English teacher, Miss Gate, who is young and beautiful and seems eager to help Billy with his poetry. But as Billy spends more time with Miss Gate, the lines between student and teacher become blurred... GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I really liked this book for taking on a tough subject and handling it in a great way-it's detailed but not graphic. Billy is in middle school, which ups the ick factor of Miss Gate, but the author does a great job presenting the subject matter that I would have no problem giving this book to a seventh grader. I also really appreciated that this book was told from a male point of view. The reader is able to get into Billy's mind and understand what it is about Miss Gate that interests him. I liked Billy's letter's to his Dad and thought that added to Billy...

The wonderful Rhonda Stapleton has posted Chapter One of her upcoming debut Stupid Cupid on her blog . I have been lusting after this book and it doesn't come out until December!! The start is great and I can't wait to read more-thanks for posting Rhonda!

The awesome Storyheart has an online radio show, A Book and a Chat, where he interviews authors and bloggers, and I'm going to be a guest!! :) You can catch the show at 10:00 (CT) on Saturday May 16, and you can listen live here . Or if you miss the show, you can catch the podcast which will be up on the site. I'd love for you to tune in-we'll be talking books, libraries and blogging, and quite possibly weddings!:)

Thanks to TV and Book Addict for this award! Kreativ Blogger Award! The rules for this one include: *Post 7 things you love *Give award to 7 other bloggers who are creative. Seven things I love: 1. My husband-he's so handsome and funny and it's so fun calling him my husband now!:) 2. My dog Wrigley-she's a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier and she's so sweet! Plus, not many people know of or have Wheaten's so it's sort of like being in a cool dog club. 3. Books-I LOVE books. My first word was even books, so I've loved them for a long time. I want that library from Beauty and the Beast-anyone else have dreams of that?? 4. Chocolate-nothing to say really, I just love it! 5. Star Trek-yep, I'm a nerd, but I'm a proud nerd! And yes I totally bought Fruit Loops for the Star Trek badge inside!! It's a sad sad addition, I know. 6. Board Games-I love playing games and wish I could have more game nights with friends. Settlers of Catan is my fav...

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 9/26/2006 About the Book: When Ruby Oliver's boyfriend breaks up with her and her friends alienate her, Ruby starts to have panic attacks which convince her parents she needs therapy. It is her therapist that comes up with the idea for the boyfriend list-not all of the names are boyfriends, some are boys Ruby talked to once, or went on a date with or are even imaginary. Through the list we find out about Ruby's story-one boy at a time. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I'd always seen this book around and thought it looked cute, but hadn't ever read it. When I got an ARC of the third book in the Ruby Oliver series, A Treasure Map of Boys, I knew I had to go back and read this one. Since I had the audiobook at my library, I opted to listen to this one. Narrator Mandy Siegfried is great-she captures Ruby perfectly and I really felt like I was a friend of Ruby's listening in on her secrets. Each chapter is a new boy on the ...

The month of May is a very busy one for me in the library world because I'm spending all of time promoting the summer reading program and visiting schools. I found out today that I will be getting to talk to all the students at one of our local middle schools. This is super exciting because I've never been able to get into this school before, and this could really give a big push to our teen summer reading programs! Yay!:) I spent Monday morning talking to 7th graders at another middle school and they were lots of fun. I booktalked The ABC's of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro and that was the biggest hit out of all the books I took with me. Great title for booktalking, Tina! I had to laugh because the boys kept asking me where their kissing book was and I told them they would just have to read the book too! I've had several students from my visit on Monday already in the library, which is really cool. Alright, I'll be back to reviewing soon-I hope to post my review of...

I work mostly with Teens at my library, but I also run tween programming and often do book talks and school visits with 5th grade, so I try to keep an eye out for great Tween reads as well. Here's a couple of tween reads I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this summer! I'm hoping to feature more tween books on my blog as well. Babymouse: Dragonslayer by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm Release Date: 8/25/09 About the Book: In a distant kingdom a growing darkness falls over the land. One is called to defend . . . to bring hope . . . to slay the Mighty Dragon. . . . Could it be . . . Babymouse? Find out when Babymouse leads her fellow Mathletes in the quest of a lifetime, a death-defying fight to win back both her school’s honor and the coveted GOLDEN SLIDE RULE. Our brave young hero must face not just the evil Owlgorithms but also her own personal dragon—MATH. Destined for glory, for greatness, for bookstores and libraries everywhere . . . this is the epic adventure fa...

So I installed Google Analytics a few months ago and it's very cool to see how many people visit my blog, where they're from and all that cool stat stuff. One of the features I like is that it lists keywords that people have used to find your blog. There are some really fun ones, so I thought I'd share: Character analysis in Prom by Laure Halse Anderson A Book Report on Sucks to Be Me by Kimberly Pauley -Sorry guys, I'll write book reviews, but you'll have to do your own homework!! Is there going to be a Luxe movie? (This one actually came up a lot!) -Not that I know of yet, but I will keep you posted-I think it'd be a great movie too! Auditions for Beastly/Hunger Games/Percy Jackson/etc.-(This one was the most searched for!) -I post info I find on YA movies, but I, just like the authors themselves, don't know anything about casting or how to audition. If I see anything, I'll let you know! I wish I could audition for these movies too. Wedding Planning -Y...

Recently I was asked to do a product review for the Book Buddy lap desk. Be sure to check out the Book Buddy website -they're having a sale on Book Buddy's right now! The idea for the Book Buddy is that it's a desk that offers hands free reading. I loved this idea because I am always reading, but at work I get annoyed because I never can seem to eat lunch and hold a book and my book doesn't lay flat. The Book Buddy fixes this problem-your book is secured into the ribbons and lays flat and stays put so your hands are freed up! The Book Buddy is soft and comfortable, so it's great to lay on your lap too. This has made many recent car rides back and forth to my parents house planning wedding stuff more enjoyable because I can lay the Book Buddy on my lap and read a book-I love it! The other thing I adore about the Book Buddy is that it transforms into a laptop desk. Since I'm doing online school, I'm always using the computer. The Book Buddy comes w...

I love reading Maggie's blog (she is incredibly funny) and today when I saw her post, she had found that someone was selling an ARC of Shiver on ebay with a current bid of $51-crazy huh? So this inspired Maggie to have an awesome contest, which you should all go and enter! Make sure to blog about this contest and then comment on this post and tell her I sent you! Here's the rules: Because the $51 ARC has inspired me to do a contest thingy. Here's the deal. It's running from May 8-15th. The idea is to convince as many of your LJ or blogger or wordpress friends to post about SHIVER (you don't have to pay them, although it might help). Winner is whoever manages to get as many of their friends to post and comment back here by 8 p.m. EST on the 15th. And the reward? Okay. Here it is. First of all, you have to get at least 5 friends to blog about it to be eligible. Winner gets:- a signed ARC of SHIVER- 4 signed copies of LAMENT- and for each of the friends that you ...

Rating: 5/5 Stars Release Date: 4/29/2008 Genre: Romance About the Book: Jakarta aka Jack is the youngest of six girls, which means when your sisters get older and start getting married, you get to be a bridesmaid non-stop. Already having been a bridesmaid in her two oldest sister's weddings, Jack is preparing for middle sister Victoria's fairy tale wedding when crazy sister Paris pops in and announces she's getting married this summer too! Soon Jack is forced into centerpiece making, shower planning, and avoiding scary bachelorette parties. Plus, the wedding planner her family has hired has an adorably cute son, Leo, that Jack can't seem to keep her mind off of. But if she wants her sisters weddings to turn out perfect, she has to avoid Leo because of the "wedding curse"-every time Jack brings a date to a wedding, something terrible happens and the day turns disastrous!! Can Jack stay away from Leo all summer in order to avoid the "wedding curse...

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld Release Date: 10/6/2009 About the Book: It's the start to a new series, and it's set in an alternate 1914 where biotechnology was discovered Charles Darwin and now there are all sorts of cool techno beasties. You can find a fun FAQ about the book on Scott Westerfeld's blog . GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Steampunk, new series, awesome cover-I want!!! I would love it if this one showed up at ALA! :) Quatrain by Sharon Shinn Release Date: 10/6/2009 About the book: This is an anthology of novelleas set in the worlds of Shinn's previous novels, Archangel, Heart of Gold, Summers at Castle Auburn, and Mystic and Rider. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Yep, I'm a cover whore-I admit it, the cover is the real reason I want it. It's amazing and beautiful and I totally want that girls dress! So I haven't read anything by Sharon Shinn, but I think a book of novellas would be a great place to start!

Steph from Hey Teenager of the Year interviewed me about blogging, my favorite books and what I love about reading. You can check it out here . Thanks Steph! :)

Bride and Groom Dad and me getting our Vulcan on! My amazing shoes and book bouquet! Guestbooks The Boys acting out Rocky My poodle skirt flower girls Centerpieces and favors

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful wedding wishes! It was a great day, and the rain held off so we could get pictures outside, although it ended up raining the whole week, so the ground was mushy and it was cold, so the actual ceremony was indoors. Everyone had a blast and I got lots of comments on how people loved that books were everywhere! Here's some early pictures-I'll post more when I get them! It was a pretty geeky day-the ring "bear" wore a Chicago Bears jersey and carried a Star Trek teddy bear and roared down the asile! The boys shuffled down to the Superbowl Shuffle. I walked down the asile to Hedwig's Theme. :) We started the ceremony off with "mawwage...", my dad said "Make it So" when he asked if he could give me away, the ring ceremony was a re-written version of the Lord of the Rings "one ring to rule them all" speech, we ended with "may you live long and prosper." Full of geektastic fun!!! The cen...