Book Love 2011 continues with one the bloggers nearest and dearest to my heart. GINGER!
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Dear Followers of Lisa the Nerd,
I was
asked by the amazing (and quite hilarious) Lisa to share with you, one last
time, my favorite book that I’ve read in the last year. First of all, ONE BOOK?! Are you kidding
me??? That’s like trying to choose your
favorite child (not that I would know because I remain child-less, for
now). Needless to say I found it to be
difficult because I’ve read SO MANY GREAT THINGS this year. From dystopian, to contemporary, and back to
paranormal; I’ve found a new love to match each of these categories. BUT to keep with Lisa’s demands (I mean.. so
kindly requests, hehe) I have chosen ONE book that I can’t end the year on and
NOT scream my love and devotion for.
THE SUMMER I TURNED
PRETTY BY JENNY HAN
Yup. That’s THE book (well 3 book series in this case) that
completely won me over this year. I’m a
girl who appreciates a well-written contemporary. When an author has the ability to take one
coming-of-age character, place her in the most breath-taking scenery, and
conflict her world – I am SOLD. Take me
off the shelf, package me up, and deliver me because this book defines what
Ginger loves best in YA lit.
There is this fictional place called Cousins Beach. And I know it’s fictional because I’ve
totally tried to look it up on google maps.
IT CAN NOT BE FOUND, dammit. This
beach.. ohh this beach.. it sets the tone for the whole story. I imagined my toes sinking in the warm golden
sand, feeling the salty spray on my face from the waves rolling in. Let’s not forget to mention how unbelievably
gorgeous a blanket of stars strewn across a night sky can be, resting atop an
endless body of ocean. Yup. That’s my fantasty island. Right there.
Then there’s the boy. Oh wait. BoyS? Yes, that would be
plural. On this side of the beach we
have Conrad: the dark, mysterious, broodingly handsome, OMG-I-WANT-TO-
RIP-YOUR-SWIM-TRUNKS-OFF. Then over
there, making sand castles, we have Jeremiah: the quirky, cute, mischievous,
little brother who in the right light could be one serious HOT ASS. As you can see, I was torn; just like Belly
(oh did I forget to mention her name? Yes, it’s weird. Get over it.) But let’s be real here. I always, ALWAYS go for the broken beautiful
boy. So Conrad, he’s my dude.
So we have the beach. We have the boys. Now enters
conflict. Belly is following after her
first true love, yet she’s also noticing a new love that’s always been by her
side. In the background we have some
family drama going on, too. Then there’s
SUSANNAH. Pretty sure this woman broke
my heart in the best possible way. She’s
the mother of Conrad and Jeremiah. The
story that is centered around the three of them, prepare yourself, grab a box
of Kleenexes because you’ll need them.
Like all good things, summer must come to an end. I cried like a baby when it was time for
Belly to leave Cousins beach and go back home.
I know that longing one has for summertime. There is something about that season that
sets your soul at ease. It’s as if you
have an excuse to get away with not doing things by simply saying, “its
summertime, I’m on vacation!” If I could
transport myself to being 16 again, I would totally put myself at that beach,
inside that house, with all those fabulous characters. The Summer I Turned Pretty completely, 100%
turned my love for reading up a huge notch.
When I look back on 2011 and my reading piles, it’s this
series that will jump out the most at me.
Not only did I read it, I shared my passion for it with everyone in the
book blogging community (even by sending actual copies to people who HAD TO
READ IT!), but I also MET JENNY HAN HERSELF.
Yes, that happened. I totally
geeked out and went all fangirl on her.
And you know what she did?! She gave me a Team Conrad button. Oh yes she did. Dreams do come true. Now I just need to invent Cousins beach and
find me a Conrad there. THEN my life
will be complete.
xoxo Love,
Ginger (the girl who blogs at GReads!)
What an amazing way to tell us about a book (series) you loved Ginger! I have these books on my to read list - and I'm saving them for next summer, haha. :)
ReplyDeleteI really just need to break down and get these books. Every time Ginger blogs about them, I want to read them more!
ReplyDeleteHi! thanks for sharing, now I must add these books to my TBR pile :)
ReplyDeleteMini Holiday Giveaway :
Mini Holiday Giveaway
Everytime I see this book I think of you :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVED The Summer I Turned Pretty. Right now I have It's Not Summer Without You in my TBR pile. I'm so excited to read it! Great post! :)
ReplyDelete-Roxy
LOVE THIS! I absolutely positively agree that the Summer Trilogy is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Ahhhhhhhhhh. This was great, just great.
ReplyDeletexoxo Victorie
I will read these books next year! :) Great post!
ReplyDeletei LOVE Ginger and i can't WAIT to start this series! definitely happening this year.
ReplyDeletePROMISE.
I'm pretty sure I never would have known about this series were it not for Ginger. Seeing her post about it here makes me remember how badly I still need to read these!
ReplyDelete