Book Haul, or I how I spend my student loans.

I should not be allowed in bookstores. 

But, considering that I just got a Barnes & Noble Membership (Rest in Peace, Borders) this won't be happening anytime soon. 

Snagged these off of my instagram account (Follow me?).


• Mexican Whiteboy by Matt De La Peña. The author went to my Alma Mater. Gotta support my fellow Pacifian, what what!)
• Woman Hollering Creek, a collection of short stories by Sandra Cisneros. This was a optional reading for my seventh grade class, so here is looking at you, Mr. Sirard.
• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. I need to reread this again before the radio adaptation airs in March.
• Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison. This was also optional reading for my seventh grade class. I kept up with the series until the final book was published in my junior year of highschool.
• The Giver by Lois Lowry. Also... something I read... while in seventh grade. Thanks, Mr. Sirard, for keeping me in the library and off the streets. Or. Whatever else people do that doesn't involve spending time in libraries. You get the idea.
  
  

Review of Psyche in a Dress by Francesca Lia Block

Is beauty monstrous?
If so, then my sisters were right
His beauty was so sharp it could have cut
out my heart
He lay naked, sleeping on my bed
How could it be?
Why had he chosen me?
I wanted to run and hide from him

Francesca Lia Block
Psyche in a Dress

TIme for another poetry book! I love Francesca Lia Block, but I realize that she may not be everyone's cup of tea. For my first review of her work I have chosen Psyche in a Dress, what I have often thought of an intro to her work: It is short, poetical, and talks about the Tough Issues, but not in a way that reminds of an after school special. 

Review of Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (Or how I ended up hyperventilating in a hotel room)

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.” 

-J.D. Salinger

I didn't get around to reading this book until last summer, between my sophomore and junior year at college. I had tried to read it in high school, but never really got passed the first few pages. My biggest fear was that I wouldn't be able to connect with Catcher the way that people who read younger. And, truthfully, I still am not sure. 

Review of Paper Towns by John Green

“When did we see each other face-to-face? Not until you saw into my cracks and I saw into yours. Before that, we were just looking at ideas of each other, like looking at your window shade but never seeing inside. But once the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out.”

John Green, Paper Towns


I had SO MUCH trouble picking the quote for this book. There are so many beautiful parts! So many moments of clarity and brilliance, and I just, AG. I'll quit fangirling in a moment, I swear*.

Kindles, audiobooks, and paperbacks, oh my!

We have interrupted your previously scheduled reviews to bring you this small pontification.

Not only are there a ton of great teen lit books out there, but there are so many different ways to read them!