Hey, that’s allowed sometimes! I am certain of it.

I have seen book memes floating around the interwebs. Normally, I read over the lists to see what I have and haven’t read, but don’t actually mark them (with notable exceptions). But this one is all about young adult literature. And I write young adult literature! It is too good to pass up (and gives me a blog with very little thought).

So here it is, courtesy of the talented Melissa Marr:

Instructions:

Books I have read

Books I’ve read and loved

Books  I plan on reading

1. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy / Douglas Adams
2. Kit’s Wilderness / David Almond
3. Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian / Sherman Alexie
4. Speak / Laurie Halse Anderson
5. Feed / M.T. Anderson
6. Flowers in the Attic / V.C. Andrews
7. 13 Reasons Why / Jay Asher
8. Am I Blue? / Marion Dane Bauer (editor)
9. Audrey Wait! / Robin Benway
10. Weetzie Bat / Francesca Lia Block
11. Tangerine / Edward Bloor
12. Forever / Judy Blume
13. What I Saw and How I Lied / Judy Blundell
14. Tyrell / Coe Booth
15. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants / Ann Brashares
16. A Great and Terrible Beauty / Libba Bray
17. The Princess Diaries / Meg Cabot
18. The Stranger / Albert Camus
19. Ender’s Game / Orson Scott Card
20. Postcards from No Man’s Land / Aidan Chambers
21. Perks of Being a Wallflower / Stephen Chbosky
22. And Then There Were None / Agatha Christie
23. Gingerbread / Rachel Cohn
24. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist / Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
25. Artemis Fowl (series) / Eoin Colfer
26. The Hunger Games / Suzanne Collins
27. The Midwife’s Apprentice / Karen Cushman
28. The Truth About Forever / Sarah Dessen
29. Little Brother / Cory Doctorow
30. A Northern Light / Jennifer Donnelly
31. Tears of a Tiger / Sharon Draper
32. The House of the Scorpion / Nancy Farmer
33. Breathing Underwater / Alex Flinn
34. Stardust / Neil Gaiman
35. Annie on My Mind / Nancy Garden
36. What Happened to Cass McBride / Gail Giles
37. Fat Kid Rules the World / K.L. Going
38. Lord of the Flies / William Golding
39. Looking for Alaska / John Green
40. Bronx Masquerade / Nikki Grimes
41. Out of the Dust / Karen Hesse
42. Hoot / Carl Hiaasen
43. The Outsiders / S.E. Hinton
44. Crank / Ellen Hopkins
45. The First Part Last / Angela Johnson
46. Blood and Chocolate / Annette Curtis Klause
47. Arrow’s Flight / Mercedes Lackey
48. Hattie Big Sky / Kirby Larson
49. To Kill a Mockingbird / Harper Lee
50. Boy Meets Boy / David Levithan
51. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks / E. Lockhart
52. The Giver / Lois Lowry
53. Number the Stars / Lois Lowry
54. Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie / David Lubar
55. Inexcusable / Chris Lynch
56. The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things / Carolyn Mackler
57. Dragonsong / Anne McCaffrey
58. White Darkness / Geraldine McCaughrean
59. Sold / Patricia McCormick
60. Jellicoe Road / Melina Marchetta
61. Wicked Lovely / Melissa Marr
62. Twilight / Stephenie Meyer
63. Dairy Queen / Catherine Murdock
64. Fallen Angels / Walter Dean Myers
65. Monster / Walter Dean Myers
66. Step From Heaven / An Na
67. Mama Day / Gloria Naylor
68. The Keys to the Kingdom (series) / Garth Nix
69. Sabriel / Garth Nix
70. Airborn / Kenneth Oppel
71. Eragon / Christopher Paolini
72. Hatchet / Gary Paulsen
73. Life As We Knew It / Susan Beth Pfeffer
74. The Golden Compass / Phillip Pullman
75. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging / Louise Rennison
76. The Lightning Thief / Rick Riordan
77. Always Running: La Vida Loca / Luis Rodriguez
78. How I Live Now / Meg Rosoff
79. Harry Potter (series) / J.K. Rowling
80. Holes / Louis Sachar
81. Catcher in the Rye / J. D. Salinger
82. Push / Sapphire
83. Persepolis / Marjane Satrapi
84. Unwind / Neil Shusterman
85. Coldest Winter Ever / Sister Souljah
86. Stargirl / Jerry Spinelli
87. Chanda’s Secrets / Allan Stratton
88. Tale of One Bad Rat / Brian Talbot
89. Rats Saw God / Rob Thomas
90. Lord of the Rings / J.R.R. Tolkien
91. Stuck in Neutral / Terry Trueman
92. Gossip Girl / Cecily Von Ziegesar
93. Uglies / Scott Westerfeld
94. Every Time a Rainbow Dies / Rita Williams-Garcia
95. Pedro and Me / Judd Winick
96. Hard Love / Ellen Wittlinger
97. American Born Chinese / Gene Luen Yang
98. Elsewhere / Gabrielle Zevin
99. I am the Messenger / Markus Zusak
100. The Book Thief / Markus Zusak

BOOKS MELISSA MARR ADDEED:
101. Wintergirls/ L. H. Anderson
102. The Graveyard Book/ N Gaiman
103. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing/ MT Anderson
104. I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone/ S Kuehnert
105. Valiant H Black
106. Reposessed/ AM Jenkins
107. Keeping You a Secret/ Julie Ann Peters
108. War for the Oaks/Emma Bull
109. Story of a Girl/ Sara Zarr
110. Rules of Survival Nancy Werlin
111. The Adoration of Jenna Fox/ Mary Pearson
112. Graceling/ Kristin Cashore

BOOKS I ADDED (hey, if Melissa can do it, so can I):

113. Rampant/ Diana Peterfreund
114. Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse/ Kaleb Nation
115. hush, hush/ Becca Fitzpatrick

Le Sigh. Now I remember why I shouldn’t do these memes. Notice how much more pink there is than blue or orange–those pink lines are all books that live on my to-be-read list. And these only account for the YA titles! There is always so much more reading to be done than there is time to read. Oy. In my ideal world, my eight hour workday goes something like this: four hours of writing, lunch, four hours of reading. Ahhhh. That’ll be the day.

If you are new to the game of young adult literature, check out the titles above. They are great ones to read.

Dear Immune System;

It has come to my attention that you have been severely slacking on the job. Germs are not being blocked, and viruses are partying behind your defense post. Your behavior is completely unacceptable, and there is no reason for it.

Immune System, the administration has decided to give you one last chance to redeem yourself. Prove yourself worthy of your position as Head of Defense; block all future germs, and expel all viruses. If you step up to your responsibility and do these two things, no further action will be necessary.

I look forward to an improved working relationship. Do not let me down.

Rachel

*Sigh* I am going back to Great Falls tomorrow to visit some friends I haven’t seen in years. I really don’t want to be all grossified and sick for the weekend.

(Also, it makes me happy to see that others love this cover as much as I do. How awesome is this*?)

*Yeah, that’s sidewalk chalk. Wow.

I totally judge books by their covers. All. The. Time.

There are books out there I know I want to read solely based on the cover. And there are books out there that I would pass up on because the cover didn’t catch my eye, but have read because of recommendations (and some I have passed over because of a non-stand-out cover and never come back to).

It is sometimes a scary thing (as a writer) to think about book covers. The author of the book (with few exceptions) has little to no say in what the final product looks like. It is scary to send your baby out into the world without having any control over the first thing people see.

When it comes down to it, covers are about a lot of luck for an author. Luckily, the design team knows what they are doing and knows what sells. Authors are in good hands.

And, because a post is always better with pictures, here are a few covers* I LOVE:

*click on the thumbnail to see the full, awesome cover image.

Anyway, he read my paragraph and immediately went to work helping me make it better. He honed in on the parts that gave me the most trouble (apparently my trouble spots show) and helped me figure out how to make them better. Bubba=great editor. I love having him on my team!

The paragraph has been updated on the blog if you are interested in seeing my husband’s wonderful editing ability at work! (Of course, if you didn’t read the original version, you will never know how much better he made it. You will just have to take my word for it.)

And now, I am off to read hush, hush. For the record, the cover is even better in print than it is on the screen. It is shimmery. And we all know how a little shimmer makes things better!

Wow. Wow. Wow…wow…WOW!

The cover for hush, hush is amazing. Even if I know nothing about this book, this cover would convince me to buy it. I have been drooling over this for days now, and couldn’t resist sharing it. Not that you need to know (I know you will all judge the book by its cover as well–admit it), but hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick sounds great. It comes out October 13th. Can’t. Wait.

Reason #849 why my friends are awesome

Recent Facebook Status:

Once, there was a ninja. Then he decided to assassinate me. His decision resulted in the opposite, and very messy, consequence. My name is Damon Carter*, and I am a Ninja Slayer.

*Name changed to protect the awesome**

Did I mention that Bubba is the best husband ever?

FADE IN

SCENE: Bedroom. Nighttime.

RACHEL enters, brushing her teeth. BUBBA is sitting in bed, reading.

RACHEL: Ummm...

BUBBA stares at her, innocently. Imploringly.

RACHEL: Why are you on my side of the bed?

BUBBA: Think about it.

RACHEL looks puzzled.

RACHEL: Is it because I take over your side of the bed as soon as you get up

        every morning?

BUBBA: Nope.

RACHEL: But, then....?

BUBBA: Think about it.

RACHEL gives up. She finishes brushing her teeth and returns to the bedroom.

BUBBA moves to his side of the bed. RACHEL climbs into bed. Warm, cozy bed.

Yes, Bubba has decided to start warming up my side of the bed before I get in! Best. Husband. Ever.

**I would hate to be held responsible for an influx of Ninja attacks on my little buddy.