GreenBeanTeenQueen

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Historical Release Date: 10/25/2011 Add to Goodreads About the Book: For graduation, Frankie receives a scrapbook and typewriter. Frankie begins chronicling her life in her scrapbook-from school, to a mysterious Captain James who sweeps Frankie off her feet, to finding old friends and making new ones. Frankie's story of a girl coming of age in the roaring 20s is told all through scrapbook pages and vintage photographs, postcards, advertisements, and more. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I first heard about this book when in won a 2012 Alex Award . When I found out it was told all in pictures and memorabilia, I knew I had to read it. Frankie's story is so whimsical and fun, yet it's also heartfelt story of a girl who is trying to grow up, become independent, and figure out who she is during that crazy time of early adulthood. I love the way the author chose to tell Frankie's story through a scrapbook. There's a sticker on the cove...

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars Genre: Adult Romance Release Date: 4/14/2011 Add to Goodreads About the book: It's 1999 and e-mail is taking over the workplace. In order to make sure employees are using it appropriately, Lincoln is hired to monitor the web filter and read e-mails and report anything that is flagged. Beth and Jennifer know their e-mails are being monitored, but they don't care-they talk about anything and everything. Lincoln should report them, but he thinks they're e-mails are harmless-and fun to read. But by the time Lincoln realizes he's in love with Beth, he's been reading her e-mails for months and doesn't know how to introduce himself. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Sometimes books come along and they are the perfect book for that moment. Attachements   came at the perfect moment for me-I'd been stressed out with work and reading and wanted something light and fun and this book was just right. The characters are all characters I'd l...

Rating: 5/5 Stars   Genre: Psychological Thriller   Release Date: 5/4/2012    Add to Goodreads About the Book: On a typical Missouri morning, Amy Elliott Dunne has gone missing on her anniversary. Her husband Nick is the main suspect. Amy has left behind a diary that includes many secrets and a peek into what kind of life she and Nick had-and it wasn't as happy as it might have appeared. Is Amy dead? If so, who killed her? And is Nick innocent? Full of twists, nothing is as it seems. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: First off, thank you to my friend Angie at Fat Girl Reading for suggesting this book. She told me it lived up to all the hype-and she was right! Gone Girl is a very twisty thriller-just when you think you have things figured out, the story changes. Which makes it a very hard book to talk about and review, because I don't want to give anything away. What I will say is that  Gone Girl  is the book I have talked about most this ye...

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Science Fiction Release  Date: 6/5/2012 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Intrepid. The posting is going well and Dahl is making friends with other new crew members. But the new crew notice something strange-the away missions always seem to end up dangerous-even the ones that seem like they should be routine. The senior staff always seem to survive these away missions, no matter how many crazy things may happen to them along the way. And there's always a low ranking officer that ends up getting killed. Something strange is going on on the Intrepid and Dahl and his friends are determined to find out what it is. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Every once in awhile I manage to squeeze in some adult fiction into my reading (or listening) pile. If you know me well, then you know that I am a big Star Trek fan. And as a Star Trek fan, I understand that you must never beam down in a red shirt ...

I love my book club! It's a group of librarian friends and we call ourselves the NOprah book club. We read whatever we want (typically fantasy and YA) and we don't worry about having literary discussions about the book-it's OK if we just want to gush over the hot literary boys! It's seriously the best book club ever. Last year, a book came out that my book club was all abuzz about. We read and loved A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. So of course, with the sequel coming out, my book club is eagerly anticipating the release! You know what we'll be reading in July! I know we're not the only ones waiting to read Shadow of Night, so I'm thrilled to offer one lucky reader a chance to win a copy of the book (plus some very awesome swag!) thanks to Penguin Books. About the Book: (From Publisher) SHADOW OF NIGHT picks up right where A Discovery of Witches left off.  Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont, a witchhistorian and vampire geneti...

Rating: 3/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 1/17/2012 Add to Goodreads About the Book: When Evelyn Morgan walked into the small village bookstore, she didn't know she was about to meet the love of her life. Brendan Thorne and Evelyn spend the week they have together and Brendan shares the story The Green Knight, a legend about star-crossed lovers. Are Evelyn and Brendan to have the same fate as those in the story? And is the story more than legend? GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: This book has a very unique packaging which is what sold me on the book in the first place. The book has an accordion style to it, which allows you to read one side of the story, then turn it over and read the other. You can choose which one to start with (I started with Evelyn) and you find yourself reading an almost circular story. The format is pretty cool, although I will say it was a bit hard to hold because of the binding and accordion style. Also, at one point I dropped the book and it ...

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars Genre: Art Release Date: 9/22/2011 Add to Goodreads About the Book: A collection of artwork based on missed connections ads. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Not my usual fare, I know, but I do read some adult titles once in awhile! This book has been on my radar since I got the Love at First Sight poster from ALA which features a missed connection in a bookstore. (Sadly, this print is not incldued in the book). I love Sophie Blackall's artwork, so I was very excited for this collection! We've all read missed connections, right? (Admit it, I'm not the only one!) It's a fascinating peek into another person's story and in some ways it gives us hope that love can be found. Some are funny, some are strange, and some are heartbreaking. The introduction to the book made me nod along as Sophie explained her fascination with missed connection ads. Who hasn't read one and wondered what happend? (Or secretly wished there was one about you?) ...

Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Gothic Suspense Release Date: First published 1938 Add to Goodreads About the Book: The novel is told from the point of view of an unnamed narrator. From the beginning we get the sense that the story is a flashback and the narrator is reflecting on a time in her life that continues to haunt her. Her story starts when she is visiting Monte Carlo with Mrs. Van Hopper, who is her employer. The narrator works as a paid companion to the elderly woman who is always keen on gossip. One day while dining, Mrs. Van Hopper notices a man at a table nearby that she recognizes as Max de Winter, the owner of Manderley. His wife recently passed away in a boating accident and rumor is he can’t get over her death. Mrs. Van Hopper intrudes on the man’s meal and thus begins the relationship between the narrator and Maxim de Winter. After spending time together in Monte Carlo, the narrator begins to realize she loves Maxim, even though he is more than 20 years her senior. On the da...

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Contemporary Release Date: 1/5/2010 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Michael is what's known as "boxman"-he has a talent for cracking safes. He was trained by The Ghost and works for a man in Detroit taking boxman jobs for hire. When he gets a call, he goes. As a kid, Michael survived a family tragedy during his childhood but hasn't uttered a word since, which makes him perfect as his job because he will never tell on anyone. Michael is passing his time by writing his story and recounting the journey that landed him in prison nine years ago. Told in alternating timelines, this is Michael's story of how he became a boxman and the strange events that followed. Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: This is a unique crime thriller. The book is told in alternating timelines-the first is the story leading up to Michael becoming a boxman (1992-1999) and the second is a narrative of the jobs he takes (2000). This adds to the suspense ...

Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Historical Romance Release Date: 6/30/2009 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Olivia Bevelstoke is spying on her new neighbor. Sure, he's handsome and a bit mysterious, but they say he killed his fiance. Harry Valentine knows that the girl next door is spying on him and he doesn't like it one bit. He hates it when he gets instructions from the war office that he is to spy on a visiting Russian Prince. He really hates it when he finds out that the Prince has set his sights on Olivia and now he must protect her. As Harry starts to spend time with Olivia, he discovers he just might be falling for her himself. Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: What Happens in London is a hilarious regency romance! When I was asking for suggestions for a romance to read for my adult reading materials class, I heard Julia Quinn's name over and over again. While the second book in the Bevelstoke series, I wasn't even aware that it was part of a series and the book can stand p...

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 4/29/2010 Add to Goodreads 2011 Alex Award List About the Book: Eleven-year-old Kimberly Chang and her mother are brought to America by Kimberly's Aunt Paula. The transition from Hong Kong to American life is a long and frustrating road. Kimberly picks up on English quickly and adapts to American life easier than her mother. She begins to excel in school and is soon awarded a scholarship to a private school. Kimberly struggles with excelling in school but constantly being an outsider. She and her mother owe a debt to Aunt Paula for bringing them to America and they work in the skirt factory that Aunt Paula and Uncle Bob run and are barely able to make ends meet. They live in a terrible apartment with roaches and no heat. Kimberly tries to make a better life for herself and her mother by doing well in school. But her feelings for a fellow factory worker named Matt may threaten her future and Kimberly must decide what exactly her ...

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Graphic Novel Release Date: 8/6/2003 Add to Goodreads About the Book: A memoir about teenage Craig, his first love, faith and art. Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: Blankets is a book I would give someone who says that graphic novels are easy reads. The text and the pictures work together to tell the story and it's a great book to give someone who might typically shy away from graphic novels, since it's a contemporary memoir. At almost 600 pages, Blankets takes some time to read. Sure, it's a graphic novel, so it reads faster than a 600 page novel, but there are lots of details in the artwork that the reader wants to savor while reading. Most of the story is about Craig's first love with a girl he meets at a winter church camp, but there are flashbacks to his childhood. Craig is struggling with his art and figuring out what to do after graduation. At camp he meets Raina and the two begin exchanging letters. Craig visits Raina and they spend two week...

Remember when I told you about my adult lit class? Well, there was enough interest so I'm going to begin reviewing the titles I read for my class here in a (hopefully) weekly feature! Rating: 3.75/5 Stars Genre: Cozy Mystery Release Date: 6/25/2007 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie is 34th in line for the throne and flat broke. Her brother the duke is economizing and Georgie has been cut off. When the queen tries to set her up with the horrible Prince Siegfried (aka fishface) Georgie runs from her Scotland castle to her family's London house under the pretense of helping a friend with a wedding. Georgie is hoping to make a new life for herself. She moonlights as a maid (the horror!) and befriends the handsome but also penniless Darcy O'Mara. When a blackmailing Frenchman winds up dead in her bathtub, Georgie has a new job-discover the killer. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I decided to read this book because my mom is a fan of Rhys Bowe...