delitealex-blog
delitealex-blog
Books-and-Things
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Books and other things I find interesting
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delitealex-blog · 8 years ago
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Favorite Ladies Part II
I love nothing more than well done female protagonists. I made a recommendation post a while back where I listed some of my favorite books with excellent leading ladies, and now I’m ready to dish you out another batch of wonderfully developed women!
Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston  (*Trigger Warning)
In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
Ice Massacre by Tiana Warner
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson  (*Trigger Warning)
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M Danforth  (*Trigger Warning)
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
Queen of Geeks by Jen Wilde
Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly  (*Trigger Warning)
Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo
All the Rage by Courtney Summers (*Trigger Warning)
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
The Young Elites by Marie Lu
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Sea of Ink and Gold by Traci Chee
How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake
Favorite Ladies Part I
Enjoy these recommendations? Consider buying me a coffee.
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delitealex-blog · 9 years ago
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When your music producer wants you to raise the bar…#KnowYourPresidents
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delitealex-blog · 9 years ago
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Book Riot recommends a few sff reads for your next flight.
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delitealex-blog · 9 years ago
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     insp.
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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I can’t wait to get to Sunstone. 💟
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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The Essential 2015 YA Book Buying Guide! Click here for more, and longer lists!
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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(via On the Smugglers’ Radar)
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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This is a list I made for YALSA’s The Hub on the wide range of YA literature featuring LGBTQ characters. See the full post and a downloadable pdf here. 
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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I still believe this.
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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Guest Post by Laura Lam
10 Diverse LGBTQIA+ YA I Really Should Have Read by Now But Will in 2016
I’ve been falling behind on reading YA in the past year, and it makes me sad. I can usually read about 2 books a week, but it still feels like I’m never making enough of a dent in the things I want to read. Now that I’m technically writing adult books for the most part, I’ve found I’ve been reading more adult SFF or crime/thriller, plus loads of research nonfiction books (here’s my Goodreads if you’re curious about my book lists). So my goal in 2016 is to read more YA again, specifically with LGBTIA+ characters.
1. Far from You by Tess Sharpe
Nine months. Two weeks. Six days. That’s how long recovering addict Sophie’s been drug-free. Four months ago her best friend, Mina, died in what everyone believes was a drug deal gone wrong - a deal they think Sophie set up. Only Sophie knows the truth. She and Mina shared a secret, but there was no drug deal. Mina was deliberately murdered. Forced into rehab for an addiction she’d already beaten, Sophie’s finally out and on the trail of the killer—but can she track them down before they come for her?
I’ve been meaning to read this since it came out! I bought it, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Tess is awesome and this thriller sounds so up my alley. It’d also be good research book, as a book I’ve turned in recently deals a lot with addiction.
 2. Everything Leads to You – Nina LaCour
A love letter to the craft and romance of film and fate in front of—and behind—the camera from the award-winning author of Hold Still.
A wunderkind young set designer, Emi has already started to find her way in the competitive Hollywood film world.
Emi is a film buff and a true romantic, but her real-life relationships are a mess. She has desperately gone back to the same girl too many times to mention. But then a mysterious letter from a silver screen legend leads Emi to Ava. Ava is unlike anyone Emi has ever met. She has a tumultuous, not-so-glamorous past, and lives an unconventional life. She’s enigmatic…. She’s beautiful. And she is about to expand Emi’s understanding of family, acceptance, and true romance.
I’ve heard this is basically a f/f sweet rom com in book form, which is exactly what I want. I just watched Blue is the Warmest Colour, and I want something like that but with a happier ending, so hoping this delivers *crosses fingers*.
��3. Afterworlds – Scott Westerfeld
Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she’s made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings…
 Told in alternating chapters is Darcy’s novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the ‘Afterworld’ to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.
 I’ve been wanting to read this for ages, as I’ve long been a fan of Scott Westerfeld’s books. I like the idea of it being told in both the MC’s voice and bits of her novel. As an author who wrote a lot as a teen (all terrible; none remotely publishable), I think it’ll be a lot of fun.
 4. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Benjamin Alire Sàenz
A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz.
 Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.
 I know, I know! Everyone seems to have read this book and loved it, it won all the awards, and I’m sure it’ll be (if it’s not already) a core pillar of LGBT YA. I really, really need to read it, as it sounds beautiful.
 5. The Summer Prince – Alaya Dawn Johnson
A heart-stopping story of love, death, technology, and art set amid the tropics of a futuristic Brazil.
 The lush city of Palmares Tres shimmers with tech and tradition, with screaming gossip casters and practiced politicians. In the midst of this vibrant metropolis, June Costa creates art that’s sure to make her legendary. But her dreams of fame become something more when she meets Enki, the bold new Summer King. The whole city falls in love with him (including June’s best friend, Gil). But June sees more to Enki than amber eyes and a lethal samba. She sees a fellow artist.
 Together, June and Enki will stage explosive, dramatic projects that Palmares Tres will never forget. They will add fuel to a growing rebellion against the government’s strict limits on new tech. And June will fall deeply, unfortunately in love with Enki. Because like all Summer Kings before him, Enki is destined to die.
 Pulsing with the beat of futuristic Brazil, burning with the passions of its characters, and overflowing with ideas, this fiery novel will leave you eager for more from Alaya Dawn Johnson.
 This book came out a month after Pantomime did (the first time), so I heard a lot about it at the time, but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. Fururistic Brazil! Cool tech! Rebellion!
 6. Not Otherwise Specified – Hannah Moskowitz
Etta is tired of dealing with all of the labels and categories that seem so important to everyone else in her small Nebraska hometown.
 Everywhere she turns, someone feels she’s too fringe for the fringe. Not gay enough for the Dykes, her ex-clique, thanks to a recent relationship with a boy; not tiny and white enough for ballet, her first passion; and not sick enough to look anorexic (partially thanks to recovery). Etta doesn’t fit anywhere— until she meets Bianca, the straight, white, Christian, and seriously sick girl in Etta’s therapy group. Both girls are auditioning for Brentwood, a prestigious New York theater academy that is so not Nebraska. Bianca seems like Etta’s salvation, but how can Etta be saved by a girl who needs saving herself?
 The latest powerful, original novel from Hannah Moskowitz is the story about living in and outside communities and stereotypes, and defining your own identity.
All the Bs: Ballet, bisexuality, biracial (I think?). It also looks at the prevalence of eating disorders within the ballet word. It looks so good! I should have read it yesterday.
 7.  Cam Girl – Leah Raeder
Vada Bergen is broke, the black sheep of her family, and moving a thousand miles away from home for grad school, but she’s got the two things she loves most: her art and her best friend—and sometimes more—Ellis Carraway. Ellis and Vada have a friendship so consuming it’s hard to tell where one girl ends and the other begins. It’s intense. It’s a little codependent. And nothing can tear them apart.
 Until an accident on an icy winter road changes everything.
 Vada is left deeply scarred, both emotionally and physically. Her once-promising art career is cut short. And Ellis pulls away, unwilling to talk about that night. Everything Vada loved is gone.
 She’s got nothing left to lose.
 So when she meets some smooth-talking entrepreneurs who offer to set her up as a cam girl, she can’t say no. All Vada has to do is spend a couple hours each night stripping on webcam, and the “tips” come pouring in.
 It’s just a kinky escape from reality until a client gets serious. “Blue” is mysterious, alluring, and more interested in Vada’s life than her body. Online, they chat intimately. Blue helps her heal. And he pays well, but he wants her all to himself. No more cam shows. It’s an easy decision: she’s starting to fall for him. But the steamier it gets, the more she craves the real man behind the keyboard. So Vada pops the question: Can we meet IRL?
 Blue agrees, on one condition. A condition that brings back a ghost from her past. Now Vada must confront the devastating secrets she’s been running from—those of others, and those she’s been keeping from herself…
 This might be technically NA instead of YA, but rules are meant to be broken, right? ;-) I read and loved Unteachable by Leah Raeder a few years ago; and this looks just as awesome. It looks at gender identity as well and it’s definitely something I’m going to read sooner rather than later.
 8. Coda – Emma Treyvane
Ever since he was a young boy, music has coursed through the veins of eighteen-year-old Anthem—the Corp has certainly seen to that. By encoding music with addictive and mind-altering elements, the Corp holds control over all citizens, particularly conduits like Anthem, whose life energy feeds the main power in the Grid.
 Anthem finds hope and comfort in the twin siblings he cares for, even as he watches the life drain slowly and painfully from his father. Escape is found in his underground rock band, where music sounds free, clear, and unencoded deep in an abandoned basement. But when a band member dies suspiciously from a tracking overdose, Anthem knows that his time has suddenly become limited. Revolution all but sings in the air, and Anthem cannot help but answer the call with the chords of choice and free will. But will the girl he loves help or hinder him?
 This is another one I really should have read by now. Emma Trevayne is a friend and this is so up my alley it’s not even funny. Cyberpunk yesss. It’s another one I’ve bought but haven’t opened. How? I don’t know, but I’m gonna fix it.
 9. Wildthorn – Jane Eagland
Seventeen-year-old Louisa Cosgrove longs to break free from her respectable life as a Victorian doctor’s daughter. But her dreams become a nightmare when Louisa is sent to Wildthorn Hall: labeled a lunatic, deprived of her liberty and even her real name. As she unravels the betrayals that led to her incarceration, she realizes there are many kinds of prison. She must be honest with herself - and others - in order to be set free. And love may be the key…
Lastly, I just bought this a few days ago because it was pitched as YA Sarah Waters and really, that’s all you need to say to me before I yell “SOLD!” at the top of my lungs.
So there’s a selection of books I should have read over the last few years, but better late than never. What are some books you’ve been meaning to read but are amazed you still haven’t? What’s something you read that we shouldn’t miss?
Laura Lam is the author of the Micah Grey series: Pantomime, Shadowplay & the forthcoming Masquerade. The first two books in the series have just been re-released in ebook by Macmillan, with print to follow next year. Pantomime features a bisexual, genderfluid, and intersex character, the circus, and a hint of magic and more than a little romance. Her next book is the near-future thriller, False Hearts, out in June 2016, which features formerly conjoined twins, cults, and brain hacking.
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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Why you should all stop what you’re doing and read the Vampire Academy series:
You: “Oh no, not another vampire series”; Me: Actually, the main character is not a vampire, she’s half-human, half-vampire; You: *gasp*.
Rose motherfucking Hathaway. Sassy, feisty, strong, opinionated, the “throw-punches-first-ask-questions-later” type of girl. You will want to marry her, so make your peace with that.
Centered on female friendship. Yes, you heard me right, the focus is the friendship between Rose and Lissa. Can I get a “hell yeah!”?
No sparkling vampires. I’m sorry, I had to go there. Richelle’s vampires are more traditional, but at the same time with a new spin on the lore (*whispers* magic).
Plot twists. Oh, the plot twists. Keep tissues at hand.
Kick ass writing; you will absolutely fly through these books + they are funny.
So so so many strong female characters; if you’re a fan, this is a must read for you.
Do not rule it out because of the stigma that is plaguing books about vampires. It’s so original and well written, you will get attached faster than saying “wait what?”
But ignore the movie. It is in no way a representation of these books. Just delete it from your memory if you’ve seen it. Avoid it at all costs if you haven’t seen it.
There’s a spin series, called Bloodlines. You will want to read that too. Trust me. One word: Adrian.
Just read it.
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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Most Anticipated New Releases of 2016   -   (all titles are linked to their Goodreads pages)    -   (there are more books listed in the comments than pictured above)
Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer (January 1st) Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club (Lady Helen #1) by Alison Goodman (January 1st) Passenger by Alexandra Bracken  (January 5th) Truthwitch (Witchlands #1) by Susan Dennard (January 5th) The Siren by Kiera Cass (January 26th) My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier (February 1st) Summer Skin by Kirsty Eagar (February 1st) Assassin’s Heart by Sarah Ahiers (February 2nd) Stars Above (The Lunar Chronicles Collection) by Marissa Meyer (February 2nd) Kings Rising (Captive Prince #3) by C. S. Pacat (February 2nd) Morning Star (red Rising #3) by Pierce Brown (February 9th) Riders (Riders #1) by Veronica Rossi (February 16th) A Gathering of Shadows (A Darker Shade of Magic #2) by V. E. Schwab (February 23rd) Burning Glass (Burning Glass #1) by Kathryn Purdie (March 1st) The Winner’s Kiss (Winner’s Trilogy #3) by Marie Rutkoski (March 1st) The Yearbook Committee by Sarah Ayoub (March 1st) Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare (March 8th) Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (March 8th) This is Where the World Ends by Amy Zhang (March 22nd) Half Lost (Half Life #3) By Sally Green (March 29th) Flamecaster (Shattered Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima (April 19th) The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater (April 26th) The Rose and the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn #2) by Renee Ahdieh (May 3rd) A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2) by Sarah J Maas (May 3rd) The Crown (The Selection #5) by Kiera Cass (May 3rd) The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo #1) by Rick Riordan (May 3rd) This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (June 7th) The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles #3) by Mary E. Pearson (August 2nd) A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir (August 30th) Throne of Glass #5 by Sarah J Maas (September 1st) Zeroes #2 by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti (September 1st) Illuminae #2 by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (October 1st) The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #2) by Rick Riordan (October 4th) The Song Rising (The Bone Season #3) by Samantha Shannon Firebird #3 by Claudia Gray (November 1st) Snow Like Ashes #3 by Sara Raasch (November 1st) Heartless by Marissa Meyer (November 8th)
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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Well, this looks exciting. It’s like this book was written for book addicts.
Blood, Ink & Fire by Ashley Mansour
Synopsis: 
“Imagine a world without books�� In the future, books are a distant memory. The written word has been replaced by an ever-present stream of images known as Verity. In the controlling dominion of the United Vales of Fell, reading is obsolete and forbidden, and readers themselves do not—cannot—exist. But where others see images in the stream, teenager Noelle Hartley sees words. She’s obsessed with what they mean, where they came from, and why they found her. Noelle’s been keeping her dangerous fixation with words a secret, but on the night before her seventeenth birthday, a rare interruption in the stream leads her to a mysterious volume linked to an underworld of rebel book lovers known as the Nine of the Rising. With the help of the Risers and the beguiling boy Ledger, Noelle discovers that the words within her are precious clues to the books of the earlier time—and as a child of their bookless age, she might be the world’s last hope of bringing them back. Blood, Ink & Fire is a gripping, evocative tale that asks, who would we be without books?”
Check it out on Goodreads here.
Happy reading!
Looks interesting, right?!?!?
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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The Essential 2015 YA Book Buying Guide! Click here for more, and longer lists!
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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“Girls are 50% of the population. We deserve to represent 50% of the heroes.”  ― Tamora Pierce
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delitealex-blog · 10 years ago
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Silas University magazine covers
Oh hey look I finally finished everyone
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