Angieville

For those of you who don't follow me on Instagram , these are my three in their current incarnations. Just to be clear, Piper was on her way to her ballet recital in this picture. She does not actually wear makeup at age 5. Much to her dismay. Photo creds, as always, to Aaron .

Some mornings when I'm up early and it's just me and my oldest boy awake in the house, wandering around pulling out cereal bowls and wiping away sleep, I pull my feet up on my chair and I start telling him about the book that kept me up late the night before. I tell him about the parts I know he might connect with, that might start the beginnings of a smile on the corner of his face the way they do on mine. Like when Park lets Eleanor read X-Men comics over his shoulder on the bus. Or how Puck and Sean Kendrick ride Corr above the bloodthirsty beaches of Thisby. Or that golden day when Peter and Tiger Lily lie in the tall grass and watch the wild horses run. But then when he inevitably asks if he can read it as soon as I'm done, I'm forced to answer sometimes that he can't. More often than not because there's some little thing in it, some element, some dialogue, some scene that makes it so I can't just hand it to my 10-year-old boy. And I feel sad. I want ...

So last year, as you probably recall, I lost my crap over Fangirl . It was not my first Rainbow Rowell book, but it was the first time I fell good and hard. After uneven results with Attachments , I just sort of avoided Eleanor & Park when it came out, despite its ridiculously charming cover. Then Fangirl came along with it equally adorable cover and I gave Rowell a second chance. It went so unbelievably, fantabulously well that I purchased a copy of Eleanor & Park before I even finished Fangirl , just knowing that skipping it had been a huge mistake. Possibly a fatal one. But it has taken me this long to get around to it, so afraid was I that it wouldn't live up to Fangirl . This book is an entirely different beast, to be sure. But I read it through from cover to cover the other night completely unable to stop. It was one of those rare and beautiful situations in which the level of my feelings for a book is so high that I feel an obligation to see it through in one...

. . . and that book? That beautiful book kills me dead.

Couples, couples, swoony couples. That's what we've got in this pretties installment. It's achingly close to spring, and I approve of this message. We also have two known quantities in the Fitzpatrick and the Lindner and one unknown (to me) in the Lofty. I look forward to making their acquaintance. What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick I'm sure this one is already on your radar, you may have read an advance copy. But I've been sort of quietly pining for it ever since I finished My Life Next Door . And now here it is out next month and I can go visit with Gwen and Cassidy and Huntley's lovely words. Due out April 15 Blue Notes by Carrie Lofty Guys. I love this cover. I mean, I really love it. The whole thing sounds like the usual New Adult rigmarole (SIGH). I mean, piano prodigy meets reluctant billionaire playboy? It's like a festival of NA tropes with a bluesy cherry on top. But . . . that cover. Due out May 6 Love, Lucy by April Lin...

I've decided that Laura Wiess ' books scare me. She is not afraid to incorporate the unfortunate and often hellish details of everyday life into her contemporary novels, and I have learned that I have to tread carefully if I am to imbibe, if you will. In fact, I didn't even pick up her last couple of books because I was leery of being hurt. But I was (and am) such a fan of her debut novel, Such a Pretty Girl (despite it's hellish subject matter), that I have been biding my time until I felt ready to pick up another of hers. And when I heard about Me Since You , I decided now was the time. It took me only a few pages in before I felt my mind repeatedly shying away, but I liked Rowan and her parents (and Eli) so much that I kept on reading. I read it all through in a single gulp and have been twitching my shoulders here and there all morning, trying to shake off the heavy feelings it left behind. Rowan Areno used to worry about cutting class and being caught by her p...