The Book Forums

HELLO! Since I am currently away for the week in California (WOOP!) I have decided to use this week to feature some smaller authors and bloggers. Today’s spotlight is featuring an author by the name of Katie Nelson! Her book   The Duke of Bannerman Prep   recently came out, you can learn more about her and her novel   HERE ! For those of us who have not read The Duke of Bannerman Prep , introduce it to us in one sentence? The Duke of Bannerman Prep is The Great Gatsby meets a prep school debate team. What was your favorite part of writing The Duke of Bannerman Prep ? I loved being back in the world of high school debate. I competed when I was in high school and coached when I was teaching. It was fun to live through a season with these characters! Is the finished version of The Duke of Bannerman Prep how you always imagined the book? Or did the plot and characters change a lot over the course of the writing process? The plot changed A LOT. At first ...

HELLO! Since I am currently away for the week in California (WOOP!) I have decided to use this week to feature some smaller authors and bloggers. Today’s spotlight is featuring an author by the name of Christina June! Her book It Started with Goodbye recently came out, you can learn more about her and her novel   HERE ! For those of us who have not read It Started with Goodbye , introduce it to us in one sentence? My elevator pitch is “modern Cinderella with no magic.”  Basically, it’s about a girl on house arrest who does her best to make lemons into lemonade.  Plus, secrets and flirting.  And, the Golden Girls.  Sorry, that was more than one sentence. I have to ask the most cliché question of them all, but how did you come up with the idea for It Started with Goodbye ? I saw an abandoned shoe on the side of the road after the Homecoming dance at the school where I day job and knew I needed to write a Cinderella-inspired story. What was your fa...

As my interest in history grows, I thought I might as well go back to read Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan for a second time. Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men. Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered. With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.- goodreads.com summary “Maybe this was how you stayed sane in wartime: a handful of noble deeds amid the chaos.” I first read Leviathan back in middle school after hearing about its gorgeous illustrations. I don’t remember having too strong of feelings towards the book but I do own the whole seri...

Who would’ve thought I’d find myself reading historical fiction? It's 1941 and fifteen-year-old artist Lina Vilkas is on Stalin's extermination list. Deported to a prison camp in Siberia, Lina fights for her life, fearless,  risking everything to save her family. It's a long and harrowing journey and it is only their incredible strength, love, and hope that pull Lina and her family through each day. But will love be enough to keep them alive?- goodreads.com “Was it harder to die, or harder to be the one who survived?” I am not usually one to read historical fiction but I picked up Between Shades of Gray because I was such a big fan of Salt to the Sea . After finishing it, I didn’t enjoy Between Shades of Gray as much as Salt to the Sea (which was one of favorites of last year), but I still really liked it. I love Ruta Sepetys’s novels because they feel real. This seems obvious since they are historical fiction novels and based on true events, but I...

Wow… This book made me emotional… Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets. Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war. As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom. Yet not all promises can be kept. Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope. - goodreads.com summary    “Guilt is a hunter. Fate is a hunter. Shame is a hunter. Fear is a hunter.” “The Wilhelm Gustloff was pregnant with lost souls conceived of war. They would crowd into her belly and she would give birth to their freedom.”     While...

Hello! Many of you may know that I recently read and loved If You’re Gone by Brittany Goodwin (if you haven’t seen the review you can see it HERE ). But now I am here with an amazing interview with the author of If You’re Gone , Brittany Goodwin! For anyone who has not read If You’re Gone , can you describe it in one sentence? “If You’re Gone is a realistic mystery about love and loss that will keep you thinking long after you close the book.” I have to ask the most cliché question of them all, but how did you come up with the idea for If You’re Gone ? That’s not a cliché question at all! In fact, I have to figure out exactly how to answer it! I created the characters of Lillian and Brad when I was not even in high school. Brad was that heartthrob guy that I was dreaming about and Lillian was a fictionalized version of myself. (Very original, huh?!) I began by writing a story about their relationship, but as I got older and began following missing persons c...

The Midnight Society (The Midnight Chronicles #1)  by Rhonda Sermon Genre: YA Urban Fantasy Release Date: May 15th 2016 Summary from Goodreads: Witness protection has a protocol for dealing with every situation—except magic. Fifteen-year-old Cate's life has been monitored since her new identity was created five years ago. She's spent countless hours learning how to deal with potential threats and dangerous situations. None of which is any use when everyone around her is suddenly frozen like statues at the bus stop. As Cate attempts to make sense of the frightening scene, a mysterious group of teenagers appear out of thin air. They are intrigued she’s not affected, but focus on completing their deadly mission, using baffling powers before they vanish again. When the group seeks her out the next day, Cate is drawn into a world filled with sorcery and time travel. After she accidentally brings a cheerleader back from the dead, her incredible powers ...

I’M GETTING BACK IN THE GROOVE! *Funky music playing*   Seventeen-year-old Serena isn’t human. She is a bad blood, and in the city of Vendona, bad bloods are executed. In the last moments before she faces imminent death, a prison guard aids her escape and sparks a revolt. Back on the streets determined to destroy her kind, Serena is spared by a fellow bad blood named Daniel. His past tragedies are as equally mysterious as her connection to them. Unbeknownst to the two, this connection is the key to winning the election for bad bloods’ rights to be seen as human again. But Serena is the only one who can secure Vendona’s vote. Now, Daniel must unite with her before all hope is lost and bad bloods are eradicated, even if it means exposing secrets worse than death itself. United or not, a city will fight, rain will fall, and all will be threatened by star-crossed love and political corruption. – goodreads.com summary “’Goodbye then’ Daniel’s emerald eyes trailed back u...