Friday, June 18, 2010

Fiction Friday: HOPING-FOR-SUN READS & SUNDRY FUN STUFF

It's been gray here in my hometown--damp and depressing. Even walking my secretary (like his cute new haircut?) doesn't cheer me up because the sky is so sunless that each step makes me shiver. Plus, I have been reading so many pre-published manuscripts for work this week that I haven't had time to review any new fiction--bloggy failure!

After a brief wallow in self-pity, I decided to give up on the search for rays, let go of the blogger guilt, pour a nice cup of tea and start my hoping-for-sun summer reading list. Here are the first few title that will be making my beach bag super-heavy:


I'm feeling more cheery just thinking about these great titles and looking forward to writing about them soon. So, now for two brightening bits of news:

I did get hold of an arc of TELL ME A SECRET and the whole book was as great as the first two chapters--could not put it down. Check out Holly's blog tour here and grab your copy in bookstores next week.

I'll be giving a vlog presentation as part of WRITE ON CON (check out this past Wednesday's post). More details to come.

Hope there's some sun in your weekend forecast!

8 comments:

JEM said...

Oooh, definitely let us know what you think of Hush, Hush. I love the cover and the book trailer, I'm hoping the book is just as good!

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Loved, loved, loved THE BOOK THIEF. Enjoyed GRACELING. And I'll be reading HUSH, HUSH with you (when I finally make it to the top of the long list at the library:) ).

(Hope you got a discount on THE BOOK THIEF and HUSH, HUSH, since you three have the same agent and all...:) )

storyqueen said...

The Book Thief changed the way I think about writing.

Great choices!

Sshelley

Stasia said...

Thanks, JEM. As Krista V. notes, Becca and I share an agent (but no book discounts, sigh) whose taste I truly respect so I'm very excited to read HUSH HUSH. Two editors teaching at a writers retreat I attended last fall read from GRACELING in their presentations so I can't believe I haven't gotten to that one yet. Storyqueen--I am fascinated by novels with unusual structure (one reason I loved THE GRAVEYARD BOOK) and I'm told THE BOOK THIEF is another work I'm told does remarkable things with form--great to hear your thoughts.

Would be delighted to get more suggestions for my summer reading list! Stasia

Sherrie Petersen said...

I've read all of these except Incarceron but it's on my list! I actually just received an ARC of the sequel so I really need to read it :)

lisa and laura said...

AH! Great picks! The Book Thief is one of my favorite books of all time. And of course we loved Hush, Hush. We have to talk Catherine into sending us a copy of CRESECENDO!

We're reading INCARCERON for our YA book club. Can't wait to hear what you think of that one!

I'm reading THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE right now and am completely blown away. It's absolutely gorgeous.

Stasia said...

L&L - Thanks for the recommendation. Will try to pick up THE SKY... soon.

Solvang Sherrie - Thanks for the follow and totally jealous you've got an arc of INCARCERON sequel! Love your blog!

Stasia

Dawn Simon said...

I love the picture of you and your secretary. :)

I enjoyed both GRACELING and HUSH, HUSH. I own a copy of THE BOOK THIEF, but haven't read it yet; I just finished another book, so maybe that will be my next read. Haven't hit INCARCERON yet.

I see you and Sherrie found each other. Yay! You both rock.