Announcing the Reboot of the YouTube Book Club!

It's back and better than ever! Check out my announcement of the reboot of the YouTube Book Club and find out how you can win a copy of The Recruit by Robert Muchamore, our upcoming read!


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The 4th Annual Holiday Readathon!

A few years ago at an Anderson's Bookshop event, I met Liza Wiemer. She was outgoing and awesome and totally didn't care that my little blog here is, well, tiny. Or that I had no idea what I was doing. Or that I still thought an ARC was only a type of boat that carried lots of animals two-by-two. But we got to know each other and she's awesome, and so I'm thrilled to be participating in her 4th Annual Holiday Readathon with a giveaway opportunity.

My prize? I'll talk about (almost) anything you want me to talk about on my YouTube channel! I'll read a book of your choice, ramble on a topic, do a goofy challenge, or just give you a huge shoutout - I'm pretty flexible, and if you win, we'll talk it out to make sure we're on the same page. (Being appropriate, nothing offensive or anything that could get me in trouble/fired/etc. You get the idea.)

So yeah. Yay! If this sounds like something you might be interested in, please fill out the Rafflecopter below and check out all the other amazing participants and mini-challenges/giveaways over at Liza's blog!

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Loss and Love: When You Were Here

When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney
LB Teen, 2013

*ARC provided by LB Teen - Thank You!!*

Daisy Whitney is no stranger to writing stories that pack an emotional punch, and she does it again in her latest novel When You Were Here.

Danny has lost almost everyone in his life who he has ever loved. His father died a few years ago, his sister has basically abandoned their family, his girlfriend who he's loved since they were kids broke up with him out of nowhere last fall, and most recently his mom died. Despite her hopes of seeing his high school graduation, she fell short. Pain doesn't even begin to describe it, but a sliver of hope comes in the form of a letter from Japan. When Danny gets a letter from the woman who took care of his family's apartment in Tokyo, he decides to travel to the place he and his mom loved most of all to connect with her memory and make peace with how she lived and when she died.

This book took me a while to get into, but once I opened myself to Danny's reality, I was captured by this story. First, the things I liked. By far my favorite character was Kana, an almost-but-not-quite-Harajuku girl who wrote Danny the letter and becomes his friend as he stays in Japan. She is fun, a beautiful blend of old traditional and new boldness, and her insightful nature into both Danny and his mom added so much. I wish she were real so I could hang out with her. Also, the setting of Tokyo was incredibly done. I don't know much about Asia but that didn't matter. Whitney paints with her words, making me able to perfectly visualize this place, how it looks and how it feels. While I feel like I'm constantly seeing Europe as a setting for YA, Tokyo was a breath of fresh air. Thirdly, this story is told entirely from Danny's point of view which is something I don't feel like we get a whole lot of in contemporary YA. Whitney does a strong job showcasing that yes, teenage boys can have feelings and even love and need and miss their moms. That relationship was so beautifully complicated and lovely and sad and wonderful, making a completely solid core for this story.

However, like I said this story took me a while to get into, mostly because it felt cruel and almost unrealistic that so many horrible things could happen in Danny's life. This fact is something that is actually addressed in the story, but there were still more than a few times when I found myself thinking "really? There's more? Hasn't he had enough?" Also, there were two characters/plot lines that I didn't feel particularly added a lot. One was the character Trina - to me, she could be cut completely. The other was actually Danny's relationship with is sister Laini. I thought this situation was interesting, but there wasn't quite enough there for my taste. I would have liked to see more, to have Laini be a more continued presence rather than only showing up for her part to be resolved or simply removed all together.

All in all, I was completely moved by this story. The writing style is exquisite and the overall tone and feel of it reminded me very much of that of Laurie Halse Anderson or Gayle Forman. This is a book that explores tough feelings, so if you're not afraid of going down that road, then this is absolutely the book for you.

And now, time for a giveaway! One lucky winner (US only - sorry!) will win this ARC. Check out the Rafflecopter form and good luck!
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Comments welcome, and, as always, happy reading!

Daisy Whitney's Website
Daisy Whitney on Twitter

1 Year Blogoversary & Giveaway!

On October 2, 2011 I had a brilliant idea. Why not start a blog to talk about the books I'm reading and share my opinions on book related things? I had absolutely no idea what exactly I was getting in to, but it's been fun nonetheless!

Over the last year, I have published 127 posts (including this one). I have met amazing other bloggers and writers. I have hosted a giveaway. I have entered the world of YouTube, become slightly addicted to Twitter, and fell in love with the incredible power of story telling and its ability to unite people in imagined as well as literal communities all over again.

My blog is a small one by anyone's standards, but I'm still proud of it, and a blogoversary is more than a good cause for celebration in my humble opinion. That's why YOU, dear readers, have the chance to win an AUTOGRAPHED copy of Maggie Stiefvater's latest novel, The Raven Boys, the first book in her planned Raven Cycle quartet. The usual rules apply (must be at least 13 years old and live in the US, etc. - see my blog policies for the whole list) - just fill out the Rafflecopter form below and check out your opportunities to win.

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Thank you all for your support, may the odds be ever in your favor, and, as always, happy reading!

Degrees of Wrong Blog Tour: Book Soundtrack and Giveaway

Hello readers and welcome to my stop on Anna Scarlett's Degrees of Wrong Blog Tour hosted by Bringing the Epic!

Degrees of Wrong tells the story of Dr. Elyse Martin, a woman who is rescued (aka kidnapped) by the United Nations and hidden (more like imprisoned) on an undersea warship, given a lab, and recruited to find a cure for the HTN4 virus. However, her temper and insubordination don't exactly mix well with this military environment, and she captures the attention of the ship's captain, Nicoli Marek - young, smart, gorgeous, infuriating, and, oh yeah, engaged.

There was so much I loved about this book, so I jumped at the chance to put together my soundtrack to go along with it. And without further ado...

1. The Civil Wars - Poison & Wine
The perfect song about loving someone and not wanting to love them all at the same time. Just two voices and a piano - simple, honest, and raw.
2. Snow Patrol - Chocolate
This song has spunk to it, much like Elyse, and it does a great job capturing her vivacious attitude, the fact that her growing feelings for Nicoli unnerve her, and her deep love of chocolate.
3. Pearl Jam - Just Breathe
Elyse is a doctor fighting to save the world, but she's also a woman who has lost everything she's ever cared about. This song does a fantastic job illustrating how much she wants Nicoli, but wants to respect that he's engaged to someone else.
4. Norah Jones - Turn Me On
Nicoli immediately comes to mind with every line of this song. He is a man who knows what he wants, and he is determined to have Elyse. This song oozes confidence and is so sexy!
5. Josh Groban - My Confession
This song plus thinking about Elyse and Nicoli may make you positively swoon once you've read this story! This could be a confession from either of them and how if loving the other is wrong, then forget being right!
6. Shania Twain - That Don't Impress Me Much
Elyse is the queen of snark, so this should be her dating theme song. It definitely does a good job showing what she thinks of Nicoli at first (or at least what she's trying to convince herself).
7. Matt Nathanson - Mercy
This song illustrates the tension between Nicoli and Elyse so well! Plus a few lines feel like they were written just for this book: "I need less drowning and more land" and "tie your hands and demand a salute." Perfect for this novel!
8. Coldplay - The Scientist
This could easily be a conversation between Elyse and Nicoli - nothing about their situation or feelings is simple, and falling in love has a way of complicating things. She's a scientist, he's open about his feelings and never even tries to hide them.
9. Ingrid Michaelson - Sort Of
Right away from the official book blurb, readers know Nicoli is engaged. I imagine these lyrics aren't too far off from the thoughts going through his mind as he knows he's supposed to marry one woman, but his love for Elyse is so much bigger.
10. Alice Peacock feat. John Mayer - Bliss
A sweet song about two people who never expected to fall in love, especially given everything. This is the song that would play during the ending credits if this was a movie.

And those are my soundtrack picks! For today's other stops on the Degrees of Wrong Blog Tour, Kristi at The Story Siren is doing a character interview while Erika at Moonlight Book Reviews is posting a review of the novel.

And now it's time for the giveaway! You all have the chance to win an e-galley of Degrees of Wrong plus some seriously great swag - signed bookmarks and book-themed chocolate! The winner will have to set up an account with Samhain Publishing's website, provide me with the account info, and then I pass it on and they transfer you the e-galley. Sound good to you? All you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below. International entries are welcome, though the chocolate can only be shipped in the US =)
*Contest is now over*

Also, there will be a launch party for the book on Twitter all day on August 28th, so make sure to check that out. Anna will be giving away 15 ebooks of the novel plus swag. One way to enter for an ebook is to change your Twitter profile pic to the book cover.

Thanks again for Lynn at Bringing the Epic for letting me be a part of this tour. Comments welcome, and, as always, happy reading!

Anna Scarlett on the Web
Website
Twitter
On Goodreads

Wednesday Words: 100 Posts and Counting...And a Giveaway!

Well readers, here it is! My 100th post here on The Fuma Files. If someone had told me a year ago that I'd have my own book blog, making YouTube videos about books, going to author events, and getting to meet so many other people who are just as into books as I am outside of library school, I'm not sure if I would believe them.

What started out as a fleeting idea in October has been a tremendous amount of fun and pride to me. I've learned so much, especially about the world of YA. I've gotten to meet fantastic authors and becoming a part of the book blogger community has been a joy. And of course, there's you, dear readers. While I don't have that many subscribers (only 17 at the time I'm writing this post), your comments and feedback have been outstanding and I hope you stay with me.

And now that part that I'm sure all of you are waiting for, my first ever GIVEAWAY! First off I want to mention that this wouldn't even be possible without Laci from Blog-O-Rama/LovePassionBooks - she generously offered up two of the three books you can choose from.

How to enter (open to US residents only): Leave a comment below telling me which of the following books you can't wait to have join your personal library and why. Your options are:

• Hardcover copy of Ravenwood by Andrew Peters
• An autographed ARC of The Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
• A paperback copy of Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King (one of my personal favorite books of all time - an amazing story written by an awesome woman who is so cool that she actually quoted my review on her blog. Total rockstar, right?)

You can only pick one, so choose wisely - if you win, the book you picked is the one you'll get! I shall announce the winner (sorry, only one this time!) during next week's edition of Wednesday Words. Make sure you leave a way for me to get in touch with you in your comment (Twitter handle, spelled out email address, etc.) so I can notify you if you win. The winner will have 48 hours to respond otherwise I'll pick someone else.

Pretty easy, right? So let the fun begin!

So thank you all again for helping The Fuma Files reach a milestone today. Comments welcome, and, as always, happy reading!

*CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED*

Wednesday Words: You Never Forget Your First

For most of my childhood, I'd celebrate my birthday with a bowling party at an alley with my cousins and a few friends. However, the summer I turned twelve, my mom let me do something different. That year, just before the start of 7th grade, I got to pick about five friends and we went to see a movie. It was one that I was particularly excited to see because it was based on a book I liked.

If you guessed it was The Princess Diaries by the one, the only, the fabulous Meg Cabot, you'd be right, and today is her birthday.

I didn't know it at the time, but it was one of the first YA books I had ever read. Mia was a character I could grow up with and look up to at the same time. She wasn't perfect, but that only made me like her even more. She was interesting, as was her situation, the people in her life, and her way of looking at the world.

Fast forward ten years to 2011. I'm 22 years old and sitting in a college auditorium in Naperville, Illinois. Anderson's Bookshop is hosting a stop on Scholastic's "This is Teen" tour, featuring Maggie Stiefvater, Libba Bray, and Meg Cabot. Each of these three women were incredibly smart, funny, and completely engaged with the audience which was filled with those who were young and young at heart. When the talk was over, it was time to get in the signing line and have the chance to meet the authors whose books you had purchased. And when it was finally my turn, I geeked out just a little bit.

Okay, a lot.

But can you blame me? And she was so nice about it! I had been trying to keep calm and seem cool and collected, but I was too excited. I told Meg that I grew up reading about Mia and I'd since enjoyed her adult books along with the fact that I was writing a book of my own and her writing advice on her website had been hugely helpful to me. And being the classy lady she is, she smiled and took a picture with me, and even gave me this when I mentioned that I go to library school:

It was the first time I had ever met someone outside of my family who I had looked up to growing up, and it was a wonderful experience. It only took her a few minutes, but it meant the world to me. I have since been to numerous Anderson's events and met several authors whose works I enjoy, and every time I've been fortunate enough that they are as enthusiastic about their readers as we are about them. Those are memories I'll cherish for years to come.

Meg is certainly not the only one who likes to give back to readers. In the spirit of Valentine's Day, author Lauren Oliver is doing a giveaway in the spirit of love over on her blog. Entrants have the chance to win a copy of Delirium (which is an incredible dystopian novel all about love - it's amazing), a box of chocolates, and an ARC of her upcoming novel Pandemonium, the second book in the Delirium trilogy. It's a great opportunity and you never know if luck will be on your side, so why not put your name in?

So Happy Birthday again Meg, comments welcome, and as always, happy reading.

Wednesday Words: Giving Headaches and Giveaways

If you've been even half paying attention to the news lately, chances are you've heard some talk about SOPA and PIPA (not to be confused with Pippa Middleton - big difference). Websites and many participants in various forms of social media have 'blacked out' their pages in protest, but maybe you're not exactly 100% sure what exactly is being protested. Allow me to try to shed a little bit of light on this.

SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act, a United States bill in the House of Representatives which claims to crack down on copyright infringement on the internet by restricting access to sites that host or facilitate the trading of pirated content. Its main targets are sites that are hosted overseas, but there in lies a significant challenge: it's very hard for US companies to take action against foreign sites. The SOPA solution? Requiring US search engines and other providers to withhold their services. This bill is very similar to its Senate counterpart, PIPA (the Protect IP Act).

So what's the problem? Copyrighted material has that protection for a reason - stealing is wrong and this material is someone's property. How could anyone think that this is a bad thing? As I understand it, there's another issue at hand: Censorship. Should this law go into effect, the way that people share information will drastically change because US based companies will be forced to limit what we can see and do. Sites we all know (and usually love) such as Google, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, etc.

Now I'm a library student. To say that my profession is not a fan of censorship is a bit of an understatement. Information is power and while I do of course believe that copyright holders should absolutely fight for their works and the rights they have to them, I do not believe that SOPA is the answer to solving Internet piracy as it exists today. Also, if you want access to music, movies, literature, information, etc. for free, I highly suggest you pay a visit to your local library. *shameless plug*

So SOPA is giving people headaches to put it mildly. Part of me does like the passionate response I've seen from people on this issue, and I hope that lawmakers are paying attention. The Internet has so much to offer us, such as GIVEAWAYS!

*insert happy dance here*

That's right, readers. One of my favorite blogs Literary Rambles is having a book giveaway in honor of now having 2000 followers. First off, congrats! What an achievement! If you ever have questions about children's books, authors, agents, and publishers, this blog is a fantastic resource and I highly recommend you check them out. If you want to try to get in on the book giveaway action, head on over to their blog, become a follower, tweet/blog about their contest, and then comment on their post to let them know about it.

See, government, the web isn't all evil =)

This business with SOPA/PIPA is far from over, and there's plenty more to discuss about it. If I'm misunderstanding this bill and what it's about, I highly encourage you to post in the comments below and let's make it right. Oh, and happy reading.

Follow-Ups, Give Aways, and NaNoWriMo

Long before I became a blogger myself, I was a person who reads blogs. It should come as no surprise that since I am attempting here to write my own kind of book and literature related blog, I follow more than a few that already exist on the subject. One that I want to mention today is Youth Services Corner. YSC is run by a woman named Whitney who, like me, has a library school background and a genuine passion for youth services. I personally love her insights into the world of YA. Her most recent post is extremely timely given my last one here: I told you about Read it 1st, Whitney has just compiled a list of which upcoming movies are actually based on books or short stories. I highly encourage you to check it out.

There are also blogs out there who are able to provide their readers with more than just thoughts and information - they can give you genuine, tangible stuff as well. Literary Rambles, a fellow blogger.com blog, is a fantastic resource for people interested in children's books authors, agents, and publishing. The information is gold in this blogger's opinion, and they currently have a few ARC giveaways going on right now (ARC as in Advance Readers Copy, not a boat). Readers can currently try for a copy of Crossed by Ally Condie (the second book in her Matched trilogy), Darkfall by Janice Hardy (the final book of The Healing Wars series), and Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe which is in stores now.

Finally, with October soon coming to a close, I want to briefly mention a huge international event that will be upon many of us for thirty days. November is National Novel Writing Month, but since that can be a mouthful, it's often shortened to NaNoWriMo. The objective is simple in theory if not necessarily in execution: write an entire novel between midnight November 1st and 11:59 p.m. November 30th. And by novel, they mean a minimum of 50,000 words. Is it a daunting challenge? You bet. But I'm really excited for what November brings because this will be my first time participating. If I'm successful, this will actually be the second book I've written this year. (I spent four months this summer writing the first draft of a YA novel that was just over 60,000 words long). I'll be posting my word counts here (I'm actually aiming for 60,000 words again because that's the average length of a YA novel) and let you know how the process is going.

With a few posts here under my belt, questions and comments would really be appreciated. And if you like what you see here, please don't hesitate to tell others about it too!

Happy Reading (and writing)!