Angieville

It has been pointed out to me by a certain friend that I do not post often about myself. This is true. Mainly books here. But as she is a good friend, and though she claims she's fine if I don't respond to this tag, I have decided to step up to the plate and give my first response to a tagging. What Was I Doing 10 Years Ago? I was in my freshman year of college counting the days till I got to go home to California for Christmas. I was also stalking a poor freshman boy with nice hair and a more than passing resemblance to the Blue Eagle (with the aforementioned friend). What Was I Doing 5 Years Ago? Working on my masters degree in British Literature and taking a George Eliot class in which we read a book a week. The week we read Middlemarch was one of the most exquisite weeks of my life. What Was I Doing 1 Year Ago? I'd just gotten back from a trip to Morocco, Egypt, and Italy. We rode camels into the desert and watched the sun rise over the Sahara . We climbed down into

I tend to compose soundtracks to my favorite books. It's the first sign that a story and it's characters are really getting to me. I start assigning songs to them. I sing them to myself while I'm driving in the car thinking about the book. Glass is half full version: compiling these playlists is a fun way of dealing with the temporary obsession that comes with a great read. Glass is half empty version: I'm completely nuts. But I can't be because I've noticed some authors posting playlists to their novels on their websites . I hadn't composed one lately. But when I read Long May She Reign , the songs just started popping into my head. So this is my Long May She Reign playlist. What are the soundtracks to your favorite books?

This year instead of reading any creepy (or at least paranormal) books in preparation for Halloween, the bug hit me after the fact. Bookshelves of Doom 's review intrigued me so I ordered a copy of Nina Wright 's Sensitive and, in a shockingly uncharacteristic move, decided to forego the prequel, Homefree , and just jump right in. I liked the premise. Easter Hutton, her best friend Andrew, and her kinda-sorta boyfriend Cal are sensitives, meaning they have abilities a little left of normal. Andrew can read memories, Cal practices psychokinesis, and Easter is capable of astral projection. Translation: her spirit can travel through time and space without leaving her body. All three of them are part of Homefree--an underground organization that educates and trains paranormally minded teens. Fun premise, no? Throw in Easter's rather monumentally maternally challenged alcoholic mother and the mysterious Homefree headmaster Mr. Fairless and it sounds like a fun ride to me. The

I came across Julie Halpern 's first novel while browsing the offerings over at Feiwel & Friends . I was so grateful they were publishing Long May She Reign that I grabbed Carpe Diem and Get Well Soon as well because if they're publishing Ellen Emerson White books they not only have superb taste, they deserve my undying loyalty. Plus, both books just looked good. Get Well Soon tells the story of Anna Bloom, a depressed teenager whose parents commit her to a mental institution when her panic attacks get in the way of her going to school. Alone, overweight, and braless, Anna starts writing a series of letters to her best friend Tracy as a way of staying sane despite being surrounded by drug dealers, Satanists, pregnant cheerleaders, oh my! Anna's voice is at times bitter, amused, desperate, and uncertain. But it is always matter-of-fact. And it is this quality that is most appealing. I never got the feeling she was sugar-coating the way things were or trying to put so

I have to preface this review by saying I've been an Ellen Emerson White addict for years. Ever since I found a used copy of Life Without Friends and took it home with me because I liked the girl on the cover so much. I've never read a "new" EEW book in my life. They've all been out of print or used when I've come across them. So sitting down with a brand spanking new copy of a brand spanking new book of hers...well, let's just say it was a religious experience and leave it at that. Long May She Reign is a sequel to the President's Daughter trilogy written in the 80s. The series follows Meg Powers, daughter of the first female president of the United States, and her experience moving to the White House and adjusting to life in the public eye. In the last book, Long Live the Queen , Meg is abducted by terrorists, forced to endure days of starvation, beatings, and emotional torture, only to be dumped in a mine shaft, shackled to the wall, and left to

An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris I am so into this series. I stumbled across Charlaine Harris right about the same time I discovered Janet Evanovich --just after my son was born. I credit the two of them for getting me through those postpartum blues, for making me laugh when all I felt like doing was cry. While I always look forward to the next Sookie Stackhouse book, it's Harris' Harper Connelly mystery series that's really got me champing at the bit for more. Harper finds dead people. With the help of her stepbrother Tolliver, she travels from town to town helping police departments and grieving families alike get to the heart of mysterious deaths. The best thing about these books is the unexpectedly complex relationship between Harper and Tolliver (two people who don't have a thing in the world except each other) and the increasingly mesmerizing/horrifying events they find themselves mixed up in. Harper never fails to find the body(ies) in question, but the two

Just in case you haven't had your daily dose of longing mixed with regret. Here's the Veronica Mars Season 4 Pilot (in two parts) that Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell put together and pitched to the CW. Despite it being made of awesome, it apparently wasn't enough for them to keep this amazing show on the air. As for me, you had me at hello, Veronica. You had me at hello. Part I Part II Sigh. I miss Logan. On a much happier note. This news made my day.