Found this in my drafts.

"Far from Xanadu", by Julie Ann Peters. 

Mike lives in Coalton, a tiny town out in the middle of nowhere. Mike plays softball, works out, and loves plumbing. She's gay, too – or so her best friend Jamie insists. Mike believes him, to a point. She prefers not to think about it, and to fill her time with softball, school and work. And then a new student joins her small class. Xanadu. She's all Mike has ever dreamed of; brave, street-smart, beautiful – and also straight. As the book progresses, Xanadu becomes friends with Jamie and Mike. As Mike struggles with her secret love and her family, Jamie finds someone, too – maybe. And, sadly, so does Xanadu.

But Mike still harbors hope – until...

I can't figure out a way to hint at what happens without giving it away, so I'll just leave you with a "...". This is a wonderful book, and Julie Ann Peters writes with a grace and style that perfectly portrays Mike's mind. 

"Wicked Lovely" by Melissa Marr

Ah, Wicked Lovely. As said above, it's by Melissa Marr. Another urban fantasy, another excellent book.

Aislinn (pronounced ash-lin) has been able to see faeries for her entire life. Although many ignorant mortals would say it was a gift, Aislinn begs to differ. The fey are a strange, cruel folk; if they knew Aislinn had the Sight, the best she could hope for is getting her eyes ripped out.

The book starts with two strange court faeries that are stalking Aislinn. One, a pale blue-and-white girl with a large wolf;  the other is an terrifyingly beautiful boy. Ash hopes that their interest is fleeting, but she is proven wrong when the boy puts on a "glamour" – a small magic stronger faeries can use to make them look human – and tries to talk to her. Suddenly he's turning up everywhere – at school, where he dazzles all of Ash's friends, in the park... She can't escape him. And then, when things can't get any worse, the boy, Keenan, turns out to be the Summer King, ruler of one of the courts in the invisible world of fey. And Keenan believes that she is his long-lost queen, the one he has been searching for for the past nine centuries. Unfortunately for the Summer Court, Beira, queen of the Winter Court and Keenan's mother, is willing to do anything to stop Aislinn from taking the final contest that will either make her the Summer Queen or force the ice of the winter through her veins for eternity....

Melissa Marr is an amazing writer – better than J. K. Rowling in my opinion, but then lots of people are better than her in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I adore Harry, but let's be honest: Twilight is so much better. Whatever. There is also a sequel to Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange. I will review this soon. Hey, there's also going to be a third one (Fragile Eternity). More on that later. In the meantime, while waiting for more of Melissa Marr, READ THIS BOOK!

Boredom.

"Boredom/That subtle foe/Which attacks with sloth/And {what rhymes with sloth?}/And woe!"

Poet I am not.

(says Yoda)

('s sister)

(On her blog)

I haven't even seen Star Wars. Sad, non?

(Says the French girl)

J'ai {discovered} le {color-changer-thingy}!

My french teacher has assigned homework over summer. Elle est mechant! Brûlure elle!

Pardon my grammar. It's been a few weeks...

"The Boxes", by William Sleator

The Boxes. It's by William Sleator, who also wrote several other creepy books (which are also excellent sci-fi reads).

It begins with Uncle Marco, Annie's uncle (obviously), leaving for some mysterious destination. But before leaving, he entrusts Annie with two strange boxes, which he warns her must be separated from each other. She complies, carting the disproportionately heavy wooden box to the basement, and the smaller metal one up to her room, to be stored in the back of her closet. With that, and a final order to keep the boxes away from her greedy, self-centered aunt, he leaves.

Soon after Uncle Marco's departure, Annie is seized with an overwhelming curiosity. Going against all of her uncle's warnings – how bad could the boxes be, anyways? – she pries open the wooden box downstairs...

... And a strange metal creature scuttles out, running to hide away in the darkness of her basement.

Annie runs. But the crab-like creature can't keep her away – she goes down to investigate, and discovers – oh, horror of horrors – that it has made another being like itself. Through telepathic communication with the first thing, Annie agrees to go up to her room, and open the second box....

Strange happenings commence. Time slows, a corrupted company is buying out the neighborhood, and the creatures in the basement begin to build a city. Annie becomes a messenger to the second box, a clock-like thing, and is forced to sacrifice smaller, less-important members of the strange society downstairs to make time slow.

But the two kids aren't the only ones to figure out the connection. The company wants the second box, and is willing to do (almost) anything to get it...

In a perfect swirl of suspense, mystery and nearly unimaginable alien-esque happenings, Sleator has made a great book with a Pandora-like theme (Annie being Pandora). Of course, I was in agony at the ending. Unfortunately, he has not written a second book to tell what happens next.

Reviewing "The Blue Girl"

The Blue Girl, by Charles de Lint. Ah, the wonders that a single man can make.

The Blue Girl is about a girl named Ingrid, who moves from Tyson to Newford (or something like that... I can't remember the exact name), from gang to relatively normal life. The book is told from three different points of view: Ingrid, her best (and only) friend Maxine, and the ghost boy who has a crush on the aforementioned Ingrid; and from two different time periods: then and now. In then, the three characters tell of Ingrid's year in high school in Newford. In now... things get a bit more creepy. The supernatural begin to haunt Ingrid's dreams, along with Pelly, her abandoned imaginary friend.

Ingrid is an amazing character – she develops perfectly from beginning to end, retaining her quirky and fun view on life throughout the book. Maxine changes, too, almost more so than Ingrid. If I write any more, I'm going to give away the ending. 

He (Charles de Lint) has written a few other books, and a couple collections of short stories. All that excellent new genre, urban fantasy, and all amazing. Check him out! 

Wow... my first blog post!

All right. Here goes. My first words posted into cyberspace, open for all to see... not like anyone's going to look.

Actually, these aren't my first words... I first tried wordcountjournal, but it didn't work for me.

And I'm kind of copying some other blogs. But, hey: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Ok, so some peer pressure was involved... someone wanted me to start a blog about books or something. Apparently I've read too many books to keep all the good ones to myself.

Out of things to say... not that I'm interesting at all anyway. I suppose I'll post this now.