Two Months Until Cici Reno Releases! Plus Booklist Review!

Two months from today Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker releases! Plus, another great review is in. This one from Booklist!

Valentine Reads

Looking for a good book this Valentine's Day?

Start with this one, GIRL ONLINE by Zoe Sugg.

I just finished listening to the audiobook of this one and you guys, it's so, SO good. I picked it up randomly. I hadn't heard anything about it or seen any mention of it (maybe because it's a UK author and just didn't get as much promo here?) but it's legit amazing. Zoe is a celebrity blogger in the UK and this is her first novel. The love story that develops between Noah and Penny is one of the best I've ever heard in YA. Like, take a seat John Green and let Zoe up front kind of stuff. And there is the most epic telling-off-a-mean-girl scene I've ever seen in it. You have to get it for that alone! I loved the audiobook and the woman who read it was fantastic. And while I did check out a copy of the audiobook from the library it's legit good enough that I just ordered a copy of the book online so I can read it again. Love, love, love it!

Here are two more books that I didn't have a chance to read yet but just entered my TBR pile.

One or Two Things I learned about Love by Dylan Sheldon.

"If this first love is true love, why can’t Hildy hang out with her friends without feeling guilty? Dyan Sheldon takes on the possessive side of summer romance with humor and insight. Hildy has only had two-and-a-half dates in her whole life, and she isn’t counting the half. It’s starting to look as if she’s never going to have a third date, or be kissed, or know a boy who is more than just a friend. Then, on an ordinary day, she meets Connor of the melt-that-ice-cap smile — and a summer that was going to be ordinary as toast turns into Hildy’s summer of love. But love for Hildy is a little more complicated than the songs and movies have led her to believe. It’s not so much girl-meets-boy-and-loses-her-heart as boy-meets-girl-and-loses-his-mind. Part cautionary tale and part romantic comedy, Dyan Sheldon’s wry, diary-style novel weighs in on all ends of the relationship scale in a story of first love."

And the Heartbreak Messenger by Alexander Vance.

"Twelve-year-old Quentin never asked to be the Heartbreak Messenger. It just kind of happened, and he can't let a golden opportunity pass him by. The valuable communication service he offers is simple: He delivers breakup messages. For a small fee, he will deliver that message to your soon-to-be ex. If you order the deluxe package, he'll even throw in some flowers and a box of chocolates. You know . . . to soften the blow.

At first, Quentin's entrepreneurial brainchild is surprisingly successful, which is great, because he suspects his mom, who works as a car mechanic, is worried about money. But as he interacts with clients, message recipients, and his best friend, Abigail, it doesn't take long for him to wonder if his own heart will remain intact. In The Heartbreak Messenger by Alexander Vance, Quentin discovers that the game of love and the emotions that go with it are as complicated as they come—even for an almost-innocent bystander."

Hope one of these strikes your fancy! Happy Valentine's Day Reading!

LRC Discoveries #1

I may have mentioned before on my blog that I love to volunteer at my kids' schools. One of my fave volunteer gigs is working in the junior high LRC. While shelving books I find GEMS that I must add to my TBR pile. Here are two of this week's LRC Discoveries:

First up, The League of Unexceptional Children by Gitty Daneshvari (Little Brown/October 2015). The title grabbed me right away. What? Ordinary kids? No super powers, shape-shifting, head cheerleader, or varsity football players? Then I opened the flap and saw: 

"When people say that 'the children are the future,' they aren't talking about me."

- Jonathan Murray, 12 

Evanston, Virginia

Omg, you won me over. How flippin' funny is this? Then I read the description:

"Are you average? Normal? Forgettable? If so, the League of Unexceptional Children is for you! This first book in a hilarious new adventure series is for anyone who's struggled to be noticed in a sea of above-average overachievers.

What is the League of Unexceptional Children? I'm glad you asked. You didn't ask? Well, you would have eventually and I hate to waste time. The League of Unexceptional Children is a covert network that uses the nation's most average, normal, and utterly unexceptional children as spies. Why the average kids? Why not the brainiacs? Or the beauty queens? Or the jocks? It's simple: People remember them. But not the unexceptionals. They are the forgotten ones. Until now!"

I have to read this! Next up?

Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly (Roaring Brook/Jan 2011). How did I miss this one? This is why I love shelving at the junior high LRC. I missed this when it came out five years ago but it sounds so darn cute and I must read it now. Check it out:

"When two self-professed middle school drama geeks––Isabelle and Annie (a.k.a. Cisco and The Bean)––fail at their attempts in romance, they start Flirt Club, an after school support group for similarly afflicted friends who decide to take decisive and strategic action with hilarious and touching results."

Adorable! And it's told through notes and journal entries so I must check it out!

Head to #Goodreads to Win one of 10 ARCs of Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker!

Head over to Goodreads for a chance to win one of 10 advanced copies of Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker!