Weekend Read - Unremembered

People losing all their memories is always an interesting read and I can't wait to see where this story goes with it.  I just barely started the book but the whole waking up after a plane crash surrounded by bodies really makes you dive right in to the situation.

I want to read this book so I'll have read at least one book from all the authors that are going to be in Omaha at The Bookworm 2 pm for the Fierce Reads Tour.  I can't wait to meet them all on Saturday.  :)

Winners of the Armchair BEA Giveaway

Once again thanks to everyone that entered the giveaway :) I loved the haikus and definitely found some more books to read from all your favorites.

Congrats to Sullivan McPig who wins the signed copy of Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris.  

Congrats to Mary Preston who wins $10 to The Book Depository

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* The winners will have a week to get back to me and if I don't hear back I'll use Rafflecopter to pick new winners. 

My Favorite Quotes/Lines - Invisibility

Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan

“There was no other why.  There was no other how. There was only the what, and that was my life.”

“I do not exist. And yet I exist.”

“Nobody has to know my central truth if I can offer them much smaller truths instead.”

“I am like a ghost who’s never died.”

“And while I don’t subscribe to the idea that anyone sporting a penis should hold doors for me...”

“The more I sweat, the less civil I am.”

“She is seeing the face I never get to see, because no mirror has ever caught me.”

“I want to keep saying hello. Because it all feels like a hello.”

“It’s that serial-killer atmosphere. It’s an aph-rodisiac.”

“No exes mark my spot. Evil or otherwise.”

“You say something like “It’s okay” not because it is, in fact, okay, but because you’re hoping these words will somehow make it okay. Even though they never, ever do.”

“I’m gay, not a witch. Gay and witch is Dumbledore, and last time I checked, he was still just a guy in a book.”

“It’s like one of my fake memories, only real.”

“It’s the difference between jumping and leaping, isn’t it?”

“It’s the hard things that matter. Those are the things worth leaping for.”

“The lies we tell ourselves are the worst ones.”

Irresistible Invisibility

Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan

5 out of 5 gnomes

This book is all sorts of awesome and the ending was unexpected but pretty darn perfect. The dual point of view is so well done and there are so many quotable moments. This feels like one of those stories that you can read over and over and always find something new.

I love all the characters but this book has awesome side characters too. Her brother Laurie is kind of the glue of the family and also understanding when all the craziness starts.

It's great that we actually see the parents of the characters and that they do (well at least one of them does) notice when different things are going on. Lets just say there is a lot of emotional turmoil around both sets of parents.

Elizabeth and Stephen are a really intriguing couple because their circumstances aren’t exactly normal.  Their first meeting is funny because it’s so unexpected for Stephen. Elizabeth has a lot to get used to and even more to get used to once she meets Stephen. Her family has had plenty of problems so she's trying to start anew in New York.

Stephen’s predicament of being invisible is heartbreaking because of how much it cuts him off from the real world.  It’s hard to imagine especially being alone and invisible, he can’t even see what he looks like.  Just imagine being invisible to yourself too, I know if I was I’d probably couldn't even cut my fingernails properly. There's no bad invisible stunts he's just kind of adrift in the world until Elizabeth shows up.

The explanation for his invisibility is well done and adds more twists to the story.  The story already felt rather magical and then things get real strange when he finds out why he was cursed.

This story is full of some sarcasm, snark, and plenty of heart.  The ending is unexpected and I wish that it was a series, I guess I'll just have to hope for a short story.  I highly recommend this book for the stupendous characters and story.

Sentence Sneak Peek - Invisibility

Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan

The first sentence from each chapter of Invisibility, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

“I WAS BORN INVISIBLE.”

“I THOUGHT NEW YORK would be different.”

“FOR THE FIRST FEW minutes, I try to convince myself that the curse has been broken.”

“I SHOULDN’T BE HERE.”

“I DON’T KNOW HOW I can do this.”

“LAURIE’S LAUGHTER CARRIES through the closed door as I turn the key.”

“I AM FINDING IT HARDER and harder to concentrate on myself when I am around her.”

“I SHOULD BE HAPPY.”

“MY MIND, FOR A MOMENT, is caught in a tight loop.”

“LAURIE GUIDES ME to the couch.”

“I TELL HER EVERYTHING I know.”

“WHEN I WAS TWELVE and my family hadn’t yet disintegrated, we made our annual pilgrimage to the Minnesota State Fair.”

“WHO ARE YOU?”

“I LIE IN STEPHEN’S ARMS, twining and untwining my fingers with his.”

“THIS WHOLE TIME, I’ve wanted to know exactly how she saw me.”

“MILLIE WASTES NO TIME in shooing Laurie and Stephen out of the hexatorium.”

“THE WHOLE WAY HOME, Laurie is worried that he’s lost me.”

“I AM FROZEN IN my chair.”

“STEPHEN.”

“I’VE BEEN LYING TO STEPHEN.”

“MY ENEMY.”

“AFTER YOU’VE SPENT ENOUGH time drawing people, espe-cailly their faces, you learn the trick of creating your own mask.”

“JUST AS A FEVER makes cold feel colder, love can make loneli-ness feel lonelier.”

“I’VE NEVER THOUGHT to care about tea one way or another, but sitting in the hexatorium while Millie pours me the zillionth cup I’ve had since I met her, I decide I hate it.”

“I’VE BEEN SO FOOLISH,” Millie says.”

“I’M SO ACCUSTOMED to Millie’s gentle shuffling back and forth within the confines of the hexatorium that I’m stunned by how quickly she moves now.”

“TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.”

“I GET THAT MY MOM doesn’t know I have an invisible boy-friend whose grandfather is a maniacal black magic user.”

“SAUL IS DEAD, and I have no doubt that Millie will be next if we leave this room.”

“I’M RUNNING FOR THE stairs.”

“WHATEVER IT IS THAT she’s doing, it’s too much for her.”

“IT WORKED.”

“I KEEP VIGIL.”

“IN THE AFTERMATH OF it all, when I am sick and broken and so very, very tired, I finally understand that I am not a superhero.”

Armchair BEA Day 6 - Wrap-up of Armchair BEA

Armchair BEA Day 6 Question - "On this final day, we encourage you to wrap-up the week with your favorites and highlights of the week.  Did you learn something new?  Did you connect with a new-to-you blogger?  What was your favorite discussion topic?  Do you have ideas for future years?  You can write your own blog post and link it up, but we also encourage you to take our end-of-event survey."

Thoughts:

I always like participating in Armchair BEA and this Armchair BEA was a lot of fun.  I liked having the multiple topics to pick from each day (having lots of choice is good.)  My Favorite day was the intro day (because you really get to see everybody's personalities shine through) and the genre fiction day.  I had a lot of fun comments this go around and discovered some new blogs/people to follow on Twitter.

The Twitter parties are pretty awesome too and I know reading those comments to all the questions is always informative and I usually find new books to add to my already towering TBR pile. My only idea might be since most blogs have multiple features maybe having a day that just asks about your best feature/the rules for the feature.  Here's hoping that there's even more awesomeness to Armchair BEA next year.

Thanks everyone that stopped by and checked out Bibliognome, I love all your comments. :)

To end the post on a fun note here are the latest pictures I took at work, I like to call them Library Turkeys:

This was the view outside the library window one afternoon:

Armchair BEA Day 5 - Children's/Young Adult Literature

Armchair BEA Day 5 Question - Children's/Young Adult Literature

"Our final genre focuses on the younger crowd:  children's picture books and young adult literature and everything in between.  What are the top 5 (or more) books that every child should have on his shelf?  If you are an adult who reads YA, why do you keep going back for more?  If you are not a reader of these books, think back to your childhood and share your favorites from your younger years."

Top 5 Books Every Child Should Have:

These books are all ones that I loved when I was a kid and still love today.  I adore their humor and all the stories they hold. 

Being an adult and reading YA:

I am one of those adults that read YA and I will continue to always go back for more.  I don't like to limit what I read so I'll pick up pretty much any genre if it looks interesting.  Be it a picture book, Middle Grade, YA or any other fiction book as long as the plot of the story sounds good to me, I'll be sure to read it.  

YA stories are full of strong characters and intriguing situations.  It feels like YA books are more likely to take risks with the plot/story.  Yes some stories seem to follow a mold but others will surprise you and have you thinking about the book long after you've finished it. These books are usually about a change of some kind or exploring brand new worlds, I mean what's not to like?