A smile for your Monday!

So I decided to talk about a couple of my favorite books since for my first giveaway I'm having all of you tell me yours!

I'll first start with the book that changed my life, Looking For Alaska by John Green




From the back cover:

before. Miles "Pudge" Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (Francois Rabelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School. and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy. self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

after. Nothing is ever the same.

This book is utterly heart-breaking. Gut wrenchingly funny and a book I could not stop thinking about all of last summer. If you passed this up like I did so many times in the bookstore or library then you need to pick it up now! It is a roller coaster ride of emotions that leaves you so satisfied. I haven't read many books that could make me feel what this one did!

My next favorite book is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins which I'm sure you've all read! But I'm curious, how did you first hear about this book? I heard about it through Stephenie Meyer's website because she highly recommended it. Which makes me wonder how many people because they love her books so much trust her recommendations?
And speaking of her...which means speaking of Twilight...have you seen the New Moon trailer?
(I am TOTALLY Team Jacob, by the way, and if you ask me why I will be more than happy to tell you!)
If you haven't you're in for a treat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnyDdfVgqnQ
As much as I have to hate Kristin Stewart and Rob Pattinson for ruining my own personal image of Bella and Edward, I have to see this new movie because I am VERY excited to see what Taylor does with Jacob's character.

I digress.

My final choice for favorite book is This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

From the back cover:
Remy always knows when to give the guy "the speech"-right after the initial romantic rush, but before anything gets too serious. She's had her fair share of boyfriends, and she's learned all there is to learn from her mother, who's currently working on husband number five. So why is it that Remy can't seem to dump Dexter? It can't be his name. It can't be that he's messy and disorganized. And it certainly isn't that he's a musician-just like Remy's father, a man she never knew because he left before she was born. Could it be that Remy's romantic rules to live by don't apply anymore?

I recently re-read this because I had a dream that I had a baby and named him Dexter (which I would NEVER do, haha!) butI remembered how much I adored this book. I love how Dexter is so care free and yet so perfectly romantic. I love Remy's cynical voice. And I love how the imperfections of all of Dessen's characters carry the story to a satisfying ending. So good. If you haven't, read it!

I hope sharing my favorite books have inspired you to think about yours and why you fell in love with them in the first place!

If you're looking for my (first!) giveaway of Graceling, Under the Rose, and What I Saw and How I Lied then look riiight below this post and you can enter!

If you're wondering if I'll give away any other books anytime soon the answer is: YES!
In my extreme excitement for the release of Blue Moon by Alison Noel I'll be giving away these three books verrrrry soon:
Evermore by Alison Noel, Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey, and The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L.J. Smith
When, you ask? Very soon. So keep checking for details!


So there's this really cool thing I get sent to my email every day (Monday-Friday) from www.dearreader.com
All you have to do is enter your zip code and they find the nearest library to you that offers the Online Book Club. They choose a different YA book every week and send you an ( 5 minute) excerpt of it every day (excluding the weekends). Check it out!

My Current Library Stack:
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock
The Book Thief by Markus Zusack
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Happy Reading!