LIAR by Justine Larbalestier

Since this is an arc and the final published work does not come out until October, I will just tease you with a vague review:

Have you ever read a book where you can't trust the main character? Where she tells you part of her story, only to admit 100 pages later that she was lying? This may sound frustrating, but instead I found this book fascinating. It's broken into 3 parts, and by the end of Part One I wasn't convinced that I liked this book. It just didn't grab me. As soon as I got into Part Two - BAM! The plot drastically changed and I was completely surprised, and from then on I could not put it down. LIAR may be one of the most intriguing books I've read.

I highly recommend it and will be purchasing it for my high school library when it comes out in October! [I also think it would be a fabulous read for a discussion group - I plan to start some sort of book/movie/discussion club/group at my high school this year.]
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Sidenote: When I read this book, I was bothered by the cover because I felt the main character was misrepresented. Not only is the main character African American, she is not pretty and can pass for a boy! Not so with the girl on the cover! It's bad enough to misrepresent the character in other ways, but changing the race on the cover of the book just seems wrong.

What do you think? Does it matter if the cover doesn't match the story? Does it bother you that the race of the character is misrepresented?

For more on this [interesting? disturbing? controversial?] topic, read this article from School Library Journal: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6647713.html

Alea, I dare you!

Alea, I dare you to accept this challenge. I dare you to complete all 9 items on the list below by October 9th.

9 great movies as decided by Tiff
[please note: Alea has seen almost every movie I have ever seen! It took me hours to find 9 that she hadn't!]

1. Away We Go
2. Before Sunrise
3. Before Sunset
4. Singin' in the Rain
5. Newsies
6. Avalon
7. Sunshine Cleaning
8. The Little Princess [one of my childhood faves!]
9. I saved the best for last... White Christmas - my all-time favorite movie :)

If you fail in this challenge you must send me a YA book that I haven't read and YOU have a loved! [don't worry, I will send it back!]

But if you succeed then I will send YOU a book!

If you choose to accept this dare you must follow these rules:

• Blog about your acceptance and log in with Mr Linky on the correct Acceptance Post here.
  
• Blog about your thoughts after completing each item. When you've completed the challenge check in with Mr Linky on the correct Completed Challenge Post on the I Dare You to Accept This Challenge Blog!
  
• Once you accept (or complete) this challenge then make a list of 10 related items (ie all Bollywood movies, your favorite tv show or book series, favorite genre of books etc) and challenge one of your friends...even the one who challenged you!
  
• Need help deciding on a dare? Check out what others are doing here.

An intro.

There are two things that make me very happy in life:

1. Books. I adore books. YA fiction is my absolute fav, followed closely by children’s picture books, middle grade novels, and anything else for ages 18 or under. I also enjoy a good photography book or art book from time to time.

2. Bargains. I get such a thrill out of a good deal! I have been known to come home from shopping and make a list of what I purchased, then compare the retail price to what I actually paid. Totally nerdy, I know. But it’s not a bad thing to be known [as I was in college] as ‘the girl who gets the best deals.’ Hopefully, people don’t think I’m too cheap!

I can’t guarantee these are the only topics I will blog about, esepcially as it is summer and I will be traveling ‘across the pond’ for the first time EVER, but I promise most blog posts will be about B & B. [and photography, my other love]

PS - you can see below that I started this blog a LONG time ago! Decided now with all of the reading I have been doing that I needed to start blogging about it!