Random Friday: Spring Book Covers

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• Include the above image in your post and link back to my post.
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I've done other seasonal book covers before, and I've decided it was time to do book covers that are perfect for spring!

Don't Fail Me Now by Una LaMarche

Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout

Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu

Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg


The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone

So which book covers remind you of springtime?

A Return to Camp Half-Blood

This year, over spring break, I set a goal of rereading the entire Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I actually only got through the first three books over break, but I finished the series up by early April. I wanted to write a post about the experience, since it's been years since I reread them last and I wanted to share how my opinions changed.

The Lightning Thief

This is the reason it took me so long to reread the series. This first book dragged by in ways I didn't remember, and I actually lowered my rating for it.

The Sea of Monsters

Even with the lowered rating for The Lightning Thief, this is still my least favorite of the series. I'm not quite sure why, but I don't like the ship journey or the stuff with Tyson. (My opinion of Tyson as the series goes on gets better, I promise.)

The Titan's Curse

There's a lot of angst in this one that marred my reread. I think younger Emma liked the angst. Not anymore, though.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
I've always thought of Labyrinth as my second-to-least favorite, but I actually really enjoyed this reread of it.

The Last Olympian
Just as good as I remembered, thank goodness. I'm still skeptical that such a small group of campers were able to do so much damage against a huge army, but whatever.

Have you ever binge-reread a series like I did? Did your opinions change?

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookworm Things

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

You know those things that bond bookworms? Those habits or little things we love that are almost exclusively our own? This post is all about those.

1. When there's a cool design under the dust jacket

I did a post about this a couple years ago, and there's even more books with pretty covers now. HarperCollins seems to design covers like this the most.

2. That feeling you get when you think about an old favorite

It's like this nostalgia, this warm happy feeling in your gut and heart and mind. I made a whole shelf on Goodreads for these books, and I refer to them as my "we never go out of style favorites." (Blog post here about them.)

3. Reorganizing your bookshelves

This can be such a massive task, but I love it. When we moved, one of my favorite things was unpacking all my books and putting them in their proper places. And once I get another bookcase (Pretty please, Mom?), I'll get to reorganize again.

4. Carrying a giant stack of books out of the bookstore or library

Yeah, I've gotten a lot of stares for this (mostly because I am tiny and my stacks of books are almost always half my height), but it's such a thrilling delight to think about all the books I'll get to read or reread.

5. Meeting your favorite author, and they're excited to meet you, too.

Meeting Jasmine Warga was one of the highlights of spring semester last year. And I'm going to Anne Blankman's launch party in May, and she's so excited to meet me, too.

6. When someone loves a book you recommended

Of course, there's always that fear that they'll hate it, but I haven't let down my BFF yet. This also happened after I waxed poetic about The Start of Me and You: one of my blogger friends, Jessica, tweeted to me to let me know she checked TSOMAY out of the library after reading my post and she ended up loving it.

7. Getting sucked into a book and losing all sense of time

Well...this is can be really bad, but it's also a wonderful thing because it means you love the book you're reading. The most recent books this has happened with for me are The Winner's Kiss, All In, and Ten Thousand Skies Above You.

8. Having entertainment wherever you go

Because obviously you bring a book everywhere. If there's a long wait before an appointment, you can read. If you're at a party and not having a good time but can't leave, you've got a book! If I'm ready for class early, I'll often just head over from my dorm and I'll read while I wait for class to start.

9. Flexibound books

Flexibound refers to the gorgeous binding on books like this. I saw the Jane Austen ones and a few others at Joseph-Beth's VIP night last fall and now I want to collect several of them (even though I have several of the books already...)

10. That bond you form with your local bookseller

If you're fortunate enough to have an indie bookstore nearby, than you often form a relationship with the owner. I wouldn't be the blogger I am today if I hadn't begun reviewing ARCs for Read Between the Lynes. Even though I can't shop there as much anymore, they'll always hold a special place in my heart.

So what bookworm things are special to you?

Review: Wild Swans

Wild Swans by Jessica Spotswood
Grade: B
Release date: May 3, 2016
An e-galley was provided by the publisher in exchange for review consideration.
Summary: The summer before Ivy’s senior year is going to be golden; all bonfires, barbeques, and spending time with her best friends. For once, she will just get to be. No summer classes, none of Granddad’s intense expectations to live up to the family name. For generations, the Milbourn women have lead extraordinary lives—and died young and tragically. Granddad calls it a legacy, but Ivy considers it a curse. Why else would her mother have run off and abandoned her as a child?

But when her mother unexpectedly returns home with two young daughters in tow, all of the stories Ivy wove to protect her heart start to unravel. The very people she once trusted now speak in lies. And all of Ivy’s ambition and determination cannot defend her against the secrets of the Milbourn past….

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: This was my first Jessica Spotswood book, and it was a total surprise. I tentatively added it to my TBR list in November and when it was available on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. I figured it would probably be a 3-star read, but it ended up being a 4-star one. There were just a few flaws that kept me from completely loving it.
I enjoyed how Ivy struggled with being ordinary. Too often, YA protagonists know exactly what they want to do with their lives and many teenagers don't. I loved a lot of the feminist aspects of Wild Swans. Ivy stands up for herself when she doesn't love her best friend like he wants her to and she makes sure her voice is heard. The one thing I didn't like about the feminism and activism that was mildly featured in Wild Swans is that, overall, parts of it didn't feel necessary to the driving story. I felt like a lot of it was used to build Claire's character, but it made her awfully one-dimensional instead.
I liked that Ivy and Connor's relationship didn't start as insta-love, even though they were almost immediately attracted to each other. When I realized that the book only covered ten days, though, they moved awfully fast. That has to do more with the timeline of the novel than their relationship, though. I believed they were into each other, so props to Ms. Spotswood for that. That being said, I would've liked the book to cover more time. It felt unrealistic in that aspect, and I struggled to believe so much happened over such a short time. Also SPOILER ALERT Ivy submits a poem to a literary magazine and she hears back, both within the course of Wild Swans. This is highly unrealistic. Lit magazines don't reply that fast. This is part of what led me to believe the book took place over at least a month. END SPOILER
I liked how things resolved with Ivy's mother. It wasn't all rainbows and cupcakes, and it reflected reality. I appreciated how Ivy struggled with her mother's return. Erica isn't quite the demon that Ivy's grown up believing her mother is, and in contrast, Ivy's grandfather isn't as perfect as she once thought, but he isn't terrible by any means. He loves his granddaughters and I feel he even loves his daughter.
There were a couple dozen f-words and s-words and some mild sexual content (no one sleeps together on page, but there's a descriptive make-out session).

The Verdict: I really enjoyed Wild Swans. It was just missing that extra oomph to make it a new favorite.

"[I] remind myself that I am a salt-and-sunshine girl, and this hurricane gloom won't last."

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: I'd like to!

Rewind & Review #60

Hosted by Shae Has Left the Room.

~I (barely) survived a presentation and an exam in one day.
~The only thing I felt like I had control over was my attire (not even my sanity, y'all).
~I wrote the rough draft for another paper.
~Legacy Games consumed part of last week. It didn't go well for my class. I'm kind of salty about it.
~I got approved to live in a single room next year!
~My dad was let go from his job last Monday. By Friday, he got an offer for a temp job that could turn permanent, but please keep us in your prayers.
~I came down with a cold, which was JUST what I needed this week.

Books I Received for Review

Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee (from Penguin Teen via NetGalley)

Books I Read

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois (3 stars)
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (reread)
Summer of Sloane by Erin L. Schneider
The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson
As You Like It by William Shakespeare (4 stars)
Zero Day by Jan Gangsei (3 stars)
This Is Where the World Ends by Amy Zhang (DNF)
The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt (3 stars)
Escaping Perfect by Emma Harrison (2 stars)
Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee

Blog Posts You Might've Missed

   (From 4/11-4/16)

• Top Ten Tuesday: Books Every College Freshman Should Read
• Seventeen More 2017 Reads
• Emma Recommends Some #QuietYA
• Random Friday: Spring Fashion
• Review: Mother-Daughter Book Camp by Heather Vogel Frederick (3 stars)

   (From 4/17-4/23)

• Review: Crossing the Line by Meghan Rogers (3 stars)
• Writing Prompt #3
• Review: Double Down by Gwenda Bond (4 stars)
• So You Like... #26
• What Did I Do Before Netflix?

Upcoming Posts in the Next Few Weeks (subject to change)

• Review: Wild Swans by Jessica Spotswood
• TTT: Bookworm Things
• A Return to Camp Half-Blood
• Random Friday: Spring Book Covers
• Series I'll Never Finish
• TTT: Childhood Characters I Want to Revisit
• That Poetry Thing
• Writing Prompt #4
• The Star-Touched Queen Blog Tour
• Review: Summer of Sloane by Erin L. Schneider

What Did I Do Before Netflix?

Do you ever sit there, wondering what you did before a certain product or hobby entered your life?

Well, that's me with Netflix. 

I often wonder how I find so much time to binge-watch shows on Netflix (I cruised through three seasons of Gilmore Girls in less than a month), and I don't have an answer for y'all. But I also wonder if I sat and stared at the wall and twiddled my thumbs before I had Netflix in my life. What did I do while I ate my dinner after work? What did I do after I'd finished my homework?

I'm pretty sure my reading has gone down a little because I watch a show before bed instead of reading. But I honestly think getting Netflix was worth it. I was able to watch the rest of Gilmore Girls while at school instead of at home. I didn't have to depend on DVDs from the library that potentially had sticking and skipping issues. I got to binge-watch Fuller House when it released. I've got a whole queue of movies and TV shows to watch, including Psych and Hart of Dixie, which I started back in March. I actually just finished Hart of Dixie and now I've started New Girl on Mary-Courtney's recommendation. And I remember one day, I got to watch the Winnie-the-Pooh movie from the '70s, the one that I knew from my childhood (and let me tell you, that movie brought back so many nostalgic feelings).

So Netflix has been worth it. But if it has taken the place of reading, than I'm not okay with that. I just posted last month about making time for reading. I've got to take my own advice and read sometimes when I'd rather watch a TV show.

(Also, happy 1,000th post to meeeeeee.)

So You Like... #26

I've only done an author-specific So You Like... once before, if I remember correctly. So I decided to do another. They work best when the author has a few different series or books out so there's a wider variety to pick read-a-likes for. Anyways, enough rambling from me. So you like...

JOHN GREEN

(as always, the covers link to the Goodreads pages)

So what do you think? Have you read these books and do you agree that they're good for fans of John Green's writing? Or are you a John Green fan and have you now found new books to read? 

Review: Double Down

Double Down by Gwenda Bond
Grade: B+
Release date: May 1, 2016
An ARC was provided by Read Between the Lynes in exchange for review consideration.
Summary: Lois Lane has settled in to her new school. She has friends, for maybe the first time in her life. She has a job that challenges her. And her friendship is growing with SmallvilleGuy, her online maybe-more-than-a-friend. But when her friend Maddy's twin collapses in a part of town she never should've been in, Lois finds herself embroiled in a dangerous mystery that brings her closer to the dirty underbelly of Metropolis."

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: It was so good to be back in Lois Lane's mind. I love her thought process - she's loyal, caring, smart, and daring. She wants to do right by others, especially her new friends. And she has a crush on a boy that we all know is the future Superman (but she doesn't know that; she only knows him as SmallvilleGuy).
Double Down seemed a little less high-stakes to me than Fallout, but there was still espionage and snooping. I enjoyed how it was slightly less sci-fi (although there's still science involved), but the plot seemed too simple and easily resolved in places. Towards the climax, I wasn't really worried about Lois making it out alive. Obviously, we know she'll survive, but I would've liked to question how far Gwenda would go in harming Lois. I wanted more "oomph," I guess, and heart-racing tension. However, I enjoyed the development behind Lois's relationships with her mom and Lucy, with SmallvilleGuy, and with Maddie and James. Also, overall, this series continues to be pretty clean.

The Verdict: I think my expectations were super high, and Double Down didn't quite meet them.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: Obviously.

Writing Prompt #3

So this time I'm going back and doing the day 2 challenge. We'll see how successful I am with writing this piece...

Day #2: Write at least 250 words inspired by the color of the walls of the room you're currently in.

(As of writing this blog post and piece, I'm in my dorm room which has cinderblock walls painted a pale yellow.)

If you hated the bridesmaid dresses your sister had picked out, would you tell her? Maybe you said yes. You’re much braver than me, if you did.

I stared at the monstrosity in front of me and wished I had the courage to say something to Jess, but I couldn’t bring myself to. The whole thing was a mess—and not even a hot one. It was pale yellow, much too pale to be the same shade as sunshine. In a different lighting, it might be called khaki or a dark cream. No, definitely khaki.

If the bridesmaid dress had been a nice cut, I could’ve overlooked the color. But no, it was so out-of-style, I couldn’t even imagine when it had been in style. It had semi-sheer halter straps, a ruched waist, and a skirt so asymmetrical I was sure it was a mistake. On top of all of that, it was shimmery. I had never seen shimmery khaki before.

I was close enough to Jess to tell her what I thought of the dress, right? Except it was probably too late to do anything about them. Her wedding was in three weeks. New dresses couldn’t be ordered and altered on such short notice. I knew deep down, though, that was just another excuse to not incur my sister’s wrath. I had seen enough TV shows and movies, and I did not want her to become one of those bridezillas. While fascinating, those girls were horrifying and not something I ever wanted to experience in real life.

I’d be stuck with a shimmery pale, pale yellow dress. At least it had been pretty cheap. I could burn it after the wedding if I wanted.

What color is the room you're in? What type of story would it inspire for you?

Review: Crossing the Line

Crossing the Line by Meghan Rogers
Grade: C
An ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for review consideration.
Summary: Jocelyn Steely was kidnapped as a child and raised in North Korea as a spy. When her agency sends her to the U.S. to infiltrate the very group her parents once worked for, Jocelyn jumps at the chance to turn double agent and finish off her kidnappers once and for all. She convinces the head of the American spy agency to trust her, but it’s not quite as simple as that: Jocelyn has to fight the withdrawal symptoms from the drug that the North Koreans used to keep her in line, and her new fellow spies refuse to trust their former adversary. Worst of all, there might be some new information to uncover about her parents - if she even wants to find out.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Spy books are my jam, y'all. After all, I got my YA start with Gallagher Girls. In addition, Crossing the Line was one of my Sixteen 2016 Reads, so obviously I had high expectations going into it.
The start of the book was a bit slow. There were several training scenes and classroom scenes that I thought were unnecessary. Also, the drama with Agent Harper led nowhere. That was one plot thread that was never wrapped up quite right, and I would've liked to at least know if it would be going somewhere in the sequel. There were other plot points that were left open, but I could tell they'll be addressed in the next book. Part of the reason I couldn't get into Crossing the Line towards the beginning was the lack of connection to the characters. Jocelyn felt a bit one-dimensional, and I didn't feel empathetic or necessarily want to root for her. All of the other characters were a bit stereotypical too.
The climax is when the book really picks up, and I started to get into it then. Through most of the book, I worried about a romance, though. All signs point to something starting between Jocelyn and Travis, but I honestly don't ship it. I kind of want to see a romance brew between Jocelyn and one of her classmates.
There's a lot of drug use via Jocelyn's addiction, thanks to the North Korean operatives. Also, there's a smattering of foul language and violence.

The Verdict: Fairly good, but not what I wanted it to be.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: Haven't decided yet.

Review: Mother-Daughter Book Camp

Mother-Daughter Book Camp by Heather Vogel Frederick
Grade: C
Release date: May 3, 2016
An e-galley was provided by the publisher in exchange for review consideration.
Summary: Spend one last summer with the Mother-Daughter Book Club at camp in this bittersweet conclusion to Heather Vogel Frederick’s beloved and bestselling series.

After so many summers together, Emma, Jess, Megan, Becca, and Cassidy are reunited for one final hurrah before they go their separate ways. The plan is to spend their summer as counselors at Camp Lovejoy in a scenic, remote corner of New Hampshire, but things get off to a rocky start when their young charges are stricken with a severe case of homesickness. Hopefully, a little bit of bibliotherapy will do the trick, as the girls bring their longstanding book club to camp.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: It's always disappointing when you don't love a book from your favorite series, and this is the lowest rating I've given any of The Mother-Daughter Book Club books. I'll explain why.
The book jumps from the summer before the girls' junior year of high school to the summer before they head off to college. I didn't mind that entirely; I would've liked to see them continue to have a book club with their mothers, but since it's been so long since book 6 came out, the girls needed to age a bit. There's a lot of telling as Heather summarized what we've missed in the past two years. The romantic relationships aren't exactly the same (I'm happy with those dynamics for the most part), and the girls have college plans. I loved Becca's plotline in that area. She still isn't quite sure what she's going to major in, but she knows what school she's going to and she has a lot of options (business and education are tossed around). Becca has matured the most, and I love her character growth. But I didn't love Emma's plotline; she makes some drastic choices that just don't fit her at all, and she's pretty angsty for most of the book. We didn't really see an angsty phase for any of the girls, but 18 is a bit old to be having one. (Also, on another note, can I just say that I'm shocked Megan and Simon haven't broken up? Don't get me wrong, they're cute, but their relationship has never been solid for me.)
A lot of the plot happenings were too dramatic for me. I don't want to spoil them, but Cassidy hasn't given up her immature pranking ways, and it backfires on Jess (who wasn't even involved in the prank). I hated where that plotline went. And SPOILER ALERT, Cassidy's sister Courtney decides to elope, which just seemed awfully dramatic to me. END SPOILER Finally, the climax was too dramatic and weird for my tastes. This wasn't The Mother-Daughter Book Club I'd come to know and loved.
I appreciated that the girls were sort of the mothers in the scenario, since they were doing the book club with their young campers. But I didn't see the book they read influencing their lives as much as it has in the past. For example, when they read Jane Eyre, they all tried to have backbone like Jane.
There were also some weird writing choices - the girls kept saying "a hop and a skip," and I don't know a single teenager who talks like that. A character kept calling Cassidy "sport" and all I could think of was The Great Gatsby.

The Verdict: As much as I hated that the series ended with Wish You Were Eyre, that book was a much better ending than Mother-Daughter Book Camp.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: Yes, so my series will be complete.

Random Friday: Spring Fashion

Want to participate in Random Fridays? Just do the following: 

• Include the above image in your post and link back to my post.
• Blog about this week's topic.
• Add the link to your Random Friday at the bottom of this post.

Spring is my absolute favorite season, and spring clothes are some of my favorites. I contemplated making this post about haute couture, but it's stuff I'll never have the opportunity to wear. Besides, I'm no Megan Rose Wong. I'm the type of girl who shops almost exclusively at Kohls (with some Modcloth, Forever 21, and Aeropostale thrown in). So I drew from their website and Modcloth's to show off some of the spring fashions I love most.

Doesn't this dress's color just scream spring?

And of course anything that resembles a peasant top is meant for spring.

I'm also the kind of girl who spends 60% of warm days in a skater skirt. I own five of them (although one is made of sweatery material so I save it for the fall).

(Feel free to join me in my skater skirt addiction: http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-2443892/juniors-so-skater-skirt.jsp?color=Black_Geo.)

But there's nothing like a Modcloth dress when it comes to springtime.

And let's not forget shoes:

So what's your favorite type of spring clothing? Or what's your favorite season for fashion?

Emma Recommends Some #QuietYA

Last fall, I used a Top Ten Tuesday freebie to share some of my top #quietYA recommendations. I decided it was time to share more, and I encountered a little problem... my list totaled over twenty books. Well, that's not exactly a problem in the grand scheme of things, but it is when considering a blog post. So all that means is that I'm gonna have to do another blog post about #quietYA very soon. 

One of my favorite books that I read in the last few years is Pivot Point by Kasie West.

If you like super powers, alternate universes, and swoony boys, this is a book for you. Plus, it has a sequel, but it wraps up in that one, so no unnecessary drawn-out plot like some trilogies have.

Another perennial favorite of mine is Smart Girls Get What They Want by Sarah Strohmeyer.

It's one of my go-to recommendations for female friendships, realistic teenage characters, and hate-to-love romances.

If you love historical fiction, you can't go wrong with The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough.

It has third-person narration with plenty of characters that never get confusing, non-cheesy star-crossed lovers, and diversity.

If you want more star-crossed lovers, go for Like No Other by Una LaMarche.

It's not your typical Romeo and Juliet story. There's diversity and realistic characters and a vibrant setting.

If you've read the Gallagher Girls series (which I loved), than you should try Also Known As by Robin Benway.

It's full of sneaky-times, and it too has a sequel with even more spy shenanigans.

I definitely can't resist listing two Kasie West books in one post. She's one of my favorite writers of contemporary romance, and The Fill-In Boyfriend is no exception.

There's character growth and fleshed-out secondary characters, besides the romance. What more could you want?

But if you're looking for fantasy and adventure, you should definitely give Across a Star-Swept Sea a chance. 

It's the companion to For Darkness Shows the Stars, and they're both retellings of classics. You could read AaSSS without reading FDStS, but know that there are cameos by FDStS characters that may spoil some of their book's plot.

I haven't read this next pick recently, but I remember loving The Things You Kiss Goodbye when I first read it.

It's a story of self-discovery and first love.

If you're okay with a Christian aspect to your YA, I recommend The Distance Between Lost and Found.

It's a fairly quiet book, besides being underappreciated, and I loved watching Hallie's journey.

I'll wrap up this post with one of the first YA books I really enjoyed: Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt.

It's sassy with a strong voice and definitely another book about finding yourself.

Have you read any of these #quietYA books? Which books do you think are underappreciated?

Seventeen More 2017 Reads

Y'all, I am so psyched that it's time for another Seventeen 2017 Reads post. Get ready for the seventeen recommendations coming your way. *crosses fingers that all of these will release in 2017* (I've been wrong about several of my Sixteen 2016 Reads.)

1. Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

My first exposure to Brandy's writing was her short story in Summer Days & Summer Nights, and now I want more.

2. Nutcracked by Susan Adrian

Retellings and remixes have let me down before, but I am determined to find a Nutcracker retelling that I love.

3. Dimple & Rishi by Sandhya Menon

All the diverse contemporary YA romance!

4. Between Two Skies by Joanne O'Sullivan

This one is kind of at that border line between historical and contemporary since the event is in the past but was relatively recent. Either way, it sounds like it'll be poignant and wonderful.

5. Hit Single by Blair Thornburgh

Contemporary fiction is my jam (pun intended), and this is basically right up my alley.

6. Waking in Time by Angie Stanton

TIME TRAVEL.

7. Meant to Be by Julie Halpern

Do y'all know how much I've seen this concept (and similar ones) talked about on Tumblr? People have begged for it to become a book. I have high expectations.

(COULD NOT RESIST A P&P KEIRA KNIGHTLEY GIF)

8. The Continent by Keira Drake

The Goodreads synopsis for this one is confusing, but I'm SO INTRIGUED.

9. You Don't Know My Name by Kristen Orlando

I am Ally Carter trash and therefore will read any book that sounds vaguely like I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You.

10. Fever Dreams by Maureen Goo

I feel like this is a book a ton of book bloggers have been asking for and, while I don't watch K-dramas, I am all in.

11. Speak of Me as I Am by Sonia Belasco

Not gonna lie, I'm mainly interested in this one because the synopsis mentions Othello and I am also Shakespeare trash. But it's contemporary YA, which we've already established I love.

12. Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee

There's a couple YA novels cropping up in 2017 about web-series, which sounds like a phenomenal idea to me. This one in particular has sparked my interest.

13. The Matchmaker's Apprentice by Erin Beaty

Jane Eyre meets Mulan. MULAN. I don't talk about it as much as Beauty and the Beast, but Mulan is definitely in my top ten favorite Disney movies.

14. Lost Causes by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

It's Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Need I say more? (Although what I wouldn't do for more The Fixer novels...)

15. Dare Mighty Things by Heather Kaczynski

This is basically a level-up for The Selection with diversity.

16. Neighborhood Girls by Jessie Ann Foley

Something about that synopsis appeals to me (and it's not just the mention of Chicago).

17. Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

I just found out about this book a few weeks ago, and it is something I want so very much so I'm glad I could include it in this post.

Well, that's all seventeen! Watch for the final one of these posts in July or August!