Friday Links: Marchetta News, Dying Libraries and Alex Mack

I've been hyperventilating all week because JIMMY HALLIER is back. Also, Saving Francesca is being made into a movie. So much Marchetta awesomeness.

What do your bookshelves say about you? I love the idea that books are like photographs for readers, representing who you were at a particular time in your life. 

A eulogy for Fisher Library at Sydney uni. Tear. On a more positive note: this slideshow of the best college libraries in America makes my mouth water a little bit.

This Facebook page of "reviews" of books that are TL;DR makes me laugh. My fave: "1984 by George Orwell. A book about events that happened 28 years ago, published 35 years earlier. Irrefutable proof that time travel is possible."

Last month Harlequin launched their new digital imprint Escape Publishing and it's currently open for submissions.


Can season three of Game of Thrones come out already?! Here's a peek behind the scenes of production. Squee!

The Hawkeye Initiative is highlighting the ridiculousness of how women are portrayed in comics by rejigging the art to feature Hawkeye. Brilliant.

The Muppet Christmas Carol is not only the greatest A Christmas Carol adaptation, it's also the best Christmas movie, IMO. Here are 25 reasons it rocks.

Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield are the cutest couple of the year. Officially. If they break up, I will be devastated. Unless she hooks up with Ryan Gosling and he gets with Rachel McAdams. Or they all get together and form one big polygamous family of adorable.


Julia Gillard's apocalypse speech is probably the most awesome thing she's ever done. Aside from, you know, being Australia's first female prime minister or whatever.

This has to be the greatest selfie ever taken.

Here are 45 powerful images from 2012. 

Having a bad day? Laugh at these people. That's not mean, right? Ahem.

Where is Alex Mack now? And did she ever take the cure? The answers might surprise you.

YouTube Clip of the Week
This made me smile.

 

Review: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

There are some books that are so lovely, they actually make you do a happy sigh and smile as you close them. This is one of them.

That's not to say it's all fairy floss, sunshine and unicorns. Quite the opposite - Amy and Roger's Epic Detour tackles some pretty serious issues - like heartbreak, death and grief - but it does so in such a tender, realistic way that it's not morbid or depressing at all. The story focuses on Amy, who is just barely recovering from her father's death in a car accident three months prior. She hasn't gotten in a car since, let alone behind the wheel, so when she has to get their car across the country, Amy's mum enlists Roger, an old family friend, to drive.

Roger and Amy haven't seen each other since they were kids, but being crammed in a car together for hours on end certainly helps them get to know each other pretty damn quick. They're both dealing with their own issues, but as they open up on their crazy detour, they make discoveries about themselves and are able to move towards feeling better - not to mention towards each other. Ahem.

Before reading this I was worried it would be a bit angsty and emo, given the subject matter, but as Roger and Amy zig-zag across America, they encounter a lot of amazing places and quirky characters, and it's actually a really fun ride. Amy and Roger are themselves very likable characters, and Matson's writing is clean, straightforward and well-paced. I loved the scrapbooky details scattered throughout - the photos, playlists and random notes enhanced the story and enforced the feeling that you're taking this journey along with Amy and Roger. In fact, this book will totally make you want to take a road trip. And see America. And listen to new music. And make awesome playlists. And eat lots of junk food. And kiss cute boys. And cry a little. And smile a lot.

Rating: 4/5

Eye Candy
Roger is supposed to be jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and the guy who instantly came to mind was Zac Efron. Swooon... Amy, meanwhile, is a cute redhead, so who else could I picture but my favourite adorable redhead, Emma Stone?! Nobody, that's who, coz Emma Stone is the shizz.

Source

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Fine Print
Genre: Young Adult
Published: Simon and Schuster, 2011
Get It: Book Depository

Related
Some awesome people have handily compiled Roger and Amy's playlists on YouTube. Listen while you read for extra fun.

• Roger Playlist #1: "Leaving California" aka "Hitting the Road" aka "Snacks Are Important, But Not Quite as Important as Tunes"
• Roger Playlist #2: "What Do You Mean We're STILL in California?!" aka "The Very Long and Winding Road" aka "The Ballad of Amy's Lost Sunglasses"
• Roger Playlist #3: "Road to Nowhere" aka "Cruise Control on Highway 50"
• Roger Playlist #4: "Hillary & Edmund Hit the Highway" aka "People Who Take Pictures of Trees"
• Roger Playlist #5: "No Place Like Home" or "Why Won't Amy Buy Sunglasses?" or "The Sunflower State"
• Roger Playlist #6: "Tornado Season??" aka "Ice Cream Frozen Custard Headache"
• Roger Playlist #7: "Missouri-Illinois-Indiana-Kentucky" aka "When will Amy be the DJ? WHEN?" aka "1500 miles on 400 dollars..."
• Amy Playlist #1: "Going to Graceland" aka "Roger Gets an Introduction to Musical Theater"
• Roger's Last Playlist: "Pennsylvania, Here We Come" aka "Journey's End"

Mag Monday: Emma Stone (Again), Paul Rudd and Glee

I feel like this feature is dominated by Emma Stone every second week - I can't help it, she's getting around these days (and that's a good thing)! This is one of my fave Teen Vogue covers in a long time; Emma looks stunning (so healthy! so pretty! so bright!) and I'm super glad she's back to rocking red hair. She says some adorable things in the cover story about her career and working with Andrew Garfield (seriously these two can't get any cuter) - you can read part of it here.

 

When I saw the new cover of Nylon Guys I actually clapped. Because, you guys, it's PAUL RUDD. Paul Mother Effing Adorableness Rudd. Squee!

Finally, Entertainment Weekly has published an open letter to Glee that had me going like this the whole time I was reading it:

Mag Monday: Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in EW

Holy amazeballs, you guys, I am SO excited for The Amazing Spider-Man. When the new film was first announced, I was kinda like, "Already?! Didn't they just make Spider-Man?! I feel so old." But now I'm just excited. I LOVE Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield already, so a movie with both of them in it will pull me in, anyway. But how great do they look together?! And how great does Andrew fill out the Spidey suit?! I just want to squeeze that butt... you know, just to confirm that the suit works and is, like, protective and stuff. Yeah, that's it.

Source

Mag Monday: Emma Stone Covers Vanity Fair

Words cannot express how much I love Emma Stone. So I'm excited to see her looking lovely on the cover of Vanity Fair this month, and I can't wait to get my mitts on the issue. But even though she looks awesome, I'm still not a fan of the blonde hair on her - so glad she's gone back to rocking ranga red!

Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

So. I just finished Where She Went. I don't think I can form coherent thoughts. But I'll try.

It was amazing. While If I Stay sucked me in to Adam and Mia's story, Where She Went held me there. Told from Adam's perspective and dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy that took Mia's family - and, in another way, Mia herself - away, it was a fascinating take on grief, depression, music, celebrity, loneliness, loss and love. At first I was frustrated with the angst-riddled Adam, thinking, "Really? I know she's the love of your life, but SUCK IT UP. Just a little." But then as the story unfolded, and we're told in flashbacks exactly what happened for Adam to get this way, I understood more, and thought, "OK, you're entitled to your pain."

Then there was Mia - like Adam, oh, I was so angry with Mia. Well, not so much angry, more frustrated and confused. The person who cut Adam off without so much as a goodbye definitely didn't sound like the same girl who desperately yearned for him in If I Stay. But she had her reasons, too, and again, once they're explained, it all makes sense. I wasn't such a fan of the more supernatural elements of the book - which is strange, I know, considering the first one is pretty much told from the perspective of a ghost - but this one just had a differnt tone (rightly so) that those parts just didn't seem to gel with. For me, at least. But I loved all the answers and explanations we got, and the sense of closure at the end. Plus, I'm a sucker for all-nighter type stories and secret tours of beautiful cities. So romantic!

Rating: 4.5/5

(Spoilery) Talking Points

• My favourite scene in the whole book had to be when Mia gave Adam his guitar, and he looks around the room and sees that he IS still there, still important in her life. Then Mia describes Adam as her parents' gift to her, like the cello was at her first recital. Such a powerful moment. It definitely made me tear up.
• Another thing that made me tear up - Teddy, of course. I liked how Adam described his reaction to Teddy's loss - how he felt "gutted". Sums it up perfectly, I think.
• Ahhh, the ending - it made me so happy. I wanted MORE. More happiness! More love! More of the old Mia and Adam, please!

Eye Candy
As I mentioned in my review of If I Stay, I pictured Emma Stone as Mia and Darren Criss as Adam. Here's an excuse to post Darren Criss pics a reminder:

Fine Print

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Doubleday

Published: 2011
Get It: Book Depository

Related
While googling Darren Criss, I came across this piece of adorableness. My heart just about burst (in a good way). So. Darn. Cute.



Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Yep, I finally read If I Stay.

It's taken me this long because, while I picked it up last year, out of curiousity for the story of a girl who loses her family in a car crash and has to decide whether she wants to live or die - that curiousity wasn't strong enough to overcome my fear of being utterly depressed by it. So it sat languishing at the bottom of my TBR pile for months. And months. Then I started blogging, and Where She Went came out, and my feed was filled with ridonkulous amounts of praise for both novels. That motivated me to finally see what I was missing out on (and also the fact that SPOILER thanks to Where She Went reviews, I knew that Mia chose to stay and that assuaged my fears somewhat).

Which brings me to today. I started reading If I Stay on the bus this morning, and continued on the bus on the way home. Five hours later, I'm finished, and boy have I been on an emotional rollercoaster. Starting with dread (for what I knew was coming), climbing to love, love, love (for Mia, Mia's family, and especially for Adam), before rocketing down to despair and then, ultimately, smoothing out to a sense of hope. I was surprised to find that, like the blurb on the back says, the book IS actually life-affirming. Simply and elegantly told, with wonderful, realistic characters and raw, touching emotions, I absolutely loved If I Stay. So now I sit here, sad, but not utterly depressed - a good thing, for sure. But my mind is starting to go into overdrive thinking about what I've just read - not such a good thing considering it's about 10 minutes past my bedtime. Hopefully if I get all those thoughts out now they won't haunt my dreams. But Mia might. Teddy definitely will.

Rating: 4/5

Talking Points (Spoilers if you're still living under a rock and haven't read it yet)

• The scenes that got to me the most: The state of Mia's dad after the crash - I wanted to vomit. The flashback to Mia and her mum shopping while her mum was in labour with Teddy - in that scene, more than any other, I really "saw" Mia's mum and felt the full tragedy. Then, anything involving Teddy - the moment Mia realises he's gone, her urge to cuddle him and feel his curls and the realisation she never will again - oh, God, talk about pulling the heartstrings. Finally, the end, when Adam's begging Mia to stay and she makes her choice. Sigh.
• Speaking of Adam - OK, now I see what all the fuss is about. Swoon alert!
• The book definitely got me thinking about what would you do if, God forbid, you were faced with Mia's choice? I honestly couldn't answer. I like how the book ended; how Mia realised there was still a lot to live for and especially how by living, she could hold on to the memory of her family, but goodness, if I was in that position, I don't know if I could do it.
• I'm kinda glad it took me this long to read If I Stay, because now I can't wait to dive into Where She Went! I'm tempted to start now, but I really must be getting to bed...

Eye Candy

I know Mia is supposed to be a brunette, but the only person I could picture was Emma Stone in all her red-headed awesomeness (none of this blonde Emma)...

...Perhaps because the happy, quirky family scene that the book opened with instantly reminded me of Easy A (LOVE that movie).

As for Adam, well the first person who popped into my head was Adam Brody (maybe it was the name?), but then I remembered the creepy rock star he played in Jennifer's Body and I soon got rid of that image. Thankfully, Darren Criss quickly filled in. Not convinced he's a good Adam? How about this...

Look how hot he is with a guitar! If that isn't Adam, I don't know what is. What's that? You're still not sure?!

You asked for it! OK, I really just wanted an excuse to post this picture.



I don't need an excuse to post this one. Phwoar! Thankyou, Darren Criss, I no longer feel sad.

Fine Print
Genre: Young Adult
Get It: Book Depository

Challenge: Books I Should Have Read By Now