About the book:

For broken-hearted Olivia Larsen, nothing can change the fact that her twin sister, Violet, is gone… until a mysterious, beautiful gown arrives on her doorstep. The dress doesn’t just look magical; it is magical. It has the power to grant her one wish, and the only thing Olivia wants is her sister back.

With Violet again by her side, both girls get a second chance at life. And as the sisters soon discover, they have two more dresses-and two more wishes left. But magic can’t solve everything, and Olivia is forced to confront her ghosts to learn how to laugh, love, and live again.

In a breathtaking debut from Alexandra Bullen, WISH asks the question: If you could have anything, what would you wish for?

You can read the book through the widget or download a copy to your Kindle. Also, keep your eyes open for a Wishful Thinking giveaway (which will be open to international readers, yay!).

Years drifted by and despite wanting to watch the movie from the beginning and read the book, it slipped my mind. Now I’m making up for it…it seems, in spades. But something tells me I’ll enjoy Babbitt’s style, so I’m going out on a limb and stockpiling.

Tuck Everlasting: Is eternal life a blessing or a curse? That is what young Winnie Foster must decide when she discovers a spring on her family’s property whose waters grant immortality. Members of the Tuck family, having drunk from the spring, tell Winnie of their experiences watching life go by and never growing older.

But then Winnie must decide whether or not to keep Tuck’s secret—and whether or not to join them on their never-ending journey.

The Eyes of the Amaryllis: When the brig Amaryllis was swallowed in a hurricane, the captain and the crew were swallowed, too. For thirty years the captain’s widow, Geneva Reade, has waited, certain that her husband will send her a message from the bottom of the sea. But someone else is waiting, too, and watching her, a man called Seward. Into this haunted situation comes Jenny, the widow’s granddaughter. The three of them, Gran, Jenny, and Seward, are drawn into a kind of deadly game with one another and with the sea, a game that only the sea knows how to win.

Goody Hall: An out of work actor, Hercules Feltwright, stumbles into a job tutoring Willet Goody, the only child of a widow living in a large, lonely house. Willet quickly involves his tutor in the search to discover the truth surrounding his father. The mystery unfolds with the discovery of hidden treasure, a gypsy séance, and the frightening exploration of a tomb of Midas Goody.

The Search for Delicious: Twelve-year-old Gaylen, the king’s messenger, is off to poll the kingdom, traveling from town to farmstead to town on his horse, Marrow. At first, it is merely a question of disagreement at the royal castle over which food should stand for Delicious in the new dictionary.

Then Gaylen’s quest leads him to unusual characters, including a minstrel who sings about a mermaid child, and Ardis, who might save the kingdom from havoc. And soon it seems that the search for Delicious had better succeed if civil war is to be avoided.

Here’s a rundown of the story:

For broken-hearted Olivia Larsen, nothing can change the fact that her twin sister, Violet, is gone… until a mysterious, beautiful gown arrives on her doorstep. The dress doesn’t just look magical; it is magical. It has the power to grant her one wish, and the only thing Olivia wants is her sister back.

With Violet again by her side, both girls get a second chance at life. And as the sisters soon discover, they have two more dresses-and two more wishes left. But magic can’t solve everything, and Olivia is forced to confront her ghosts to learn how to laugh, love, and live again.

In a breathtaking debut from Alexandra Bullen, WISH asks the question: If you could have anything, what would you wish for?

Since my Hush, Hush giveaway was such a success (and a ton of fun to boot), I decided to keep the format. Basically, to enter the giveaway, you must help write a story…this time around, a fairytale.

In this post will be a sentence which will serve as the beginning of our story. The first person to comment must copy the first sentence and add another sentence to the story, the person after that must copy the previous commenter’s sentence and add another sentence, and so forth.

I know, I know…the torture! the agony! the inhumanity!! You’re probably naming all the ways you aren’t creative, but I beg to differ (don’t you remember that awesome finger painting you did when you were six that could rival a genuine Van Gogh?) and plus, wouldn’t it all be worth it if you win a copy of Wish?!?

So without further ado…

Here’s the first sentence:

I never believed in fairy godmothers until one showed up on my doorstep with a broken wand.

Soooo…LET’S GET CREATIVE PEOPLE!

Some end notes:

• Yes this giveaway is open internationally, so even if you’re on the other side of the world, feel free to jump in. (If you’re under the age of 13, please make sure you have your parent or guardian’s permission first.)
• If you wish to have more entries, I suggest subscribing to the comment thread, telling your friends, and adding more sentences–one at a time–to the story. (Only one new sentence at a time, meaning no back to back sentences are allowed…so, more participants = more chances for you to win. Also, please don’t try to cheat because I’ll know and you’ll be disqualified.)
• Please, let’s keep the profanity to a minimum. I don’t have a problem with it, but my readership has varying sensibilities…
• Questions? No problem, just shoot me an email (todayiread[at]gmail[dot]com) and I’ll answer ASAP.
• Most important note of all? HAVE FUN!

The contest will be open until 11:59PM EST Friday January 29, 2010. I’ll comb through the entries and select a winner on Sunday January 31.

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here are the latest arrivals: The Hollow by Jessica Verday and Ash by Malinda Lo

The Hollow

544 pages; Simon Pulse; Pub. Sept. 1, 2009

First line: It was funny. At a time like this, I wasn’t supposed to be thinking […] *

Description:

When Abbey’s best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead?and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen’s funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey’s life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he’s the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again…but also special.

Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen’s betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her—one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian, as well as her own sanity.

Ash

272 pages; Brown Young Readers; Pub. Sept. 1, 2009

First line: Aisling’s mother died at midsummer.

Description:

Pushed into indentured servitude for her stepmother in the City to pay off her father’s debts, Ash is consumed with grief. She misses her family and her happy life at the edge of the Wood where old magic used to linger in the air like fairy breath. Her only joy comes from the brief, stolen walks in the woods with the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean. Ash’s single, unspoken hope is that someday he might steal her away, as fairies are said to do.

But on the day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, from Kaisa she learns the art of the hunt, how to ride and track. Their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, but it grows and changes, and with it, Ash reawakens her capacity for love—and her desire to live.

Entrancing and romantic, Ash is an empowering retelling of Cinderella about choosing life and love over solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.

I was so excited when these books arrived (both on the same day no less) because it means I have a couple more books to add to the RIP IV reading pool. The Hollow immediately went on my Want List^™ when I first read about it during a Waiting on Wednesday round. Plus, Ash will be my first foray into (contemporary) GLBT reading (I think…I can’t recall any other title off the top of my head, but I may have read something in high school) and I’m anxious to see how it’s done.

* I’m trying something new with the first line; rather than printing only the first full sentence, I’m only going to include the first line as printed in the book.

Back Cover of Boy Meets Girl

Meet Kate Mackenzie. She:

• works for the T.O.D. (short for Tyrannical Office Despot, also known as Amy Jenkins, Director of the Human Resources Division at the New York Journal)
• is sleeping on the couch because her boyfriend of ten years refuses to commit
• can’t find an affordable studio apartment anywhere in New York City
• thinks things can’t get any worse.

They can. Because:

• the T.O.D. is making her fire the most popular employee in the paper’s senior staff dining room
• that employee is now suing Kate for wrongful termination, and
• now Kate has to give a deposition in front of Mitch Hertzog, the scion of one of Manhattan’s wealthiest law families, who embraces everything Kate most despises…but also happens to have a nice smile and a killer bod.

The last thing anybody–least of all Kate Mackenzie–expects to find in a legal arbitration is love. But that’s the kidno f thing that can happen when…BOY MEETS GIRL.

Three Quick Points About Boy Meets Girl

• Point 1: Voyeurism on a whole new level. The entire story unfolds via correspondence such as office emails, forms, IMs, phone messages, lists, and journal entries. Very clever.
• Point 2: Where’d the time go? Since the story unfolds via correspondence, it’s difficult (if not completely impossible) to track how much time has passed. That also contributes to the disingenuous evolution of Kate and Mitch’s relationship.
• Point 3: Predictable ending with a nifty twist. This being the type of book that it is, it won’t be a surprise that girl ends up with prince charming, but it’s the twist at the end that makes it worthwhile.

Full Review of Boy Meets Girl

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

Boy Meets Girl Synopsis

Boy Meets Girl opens with Kate Mackenzie working on a warning letter for an employee named Ida Lopez, the company’s dessert lady, because she sometimes refuses to serve dessert to certain people whom she deems to be undeserving. These people, of course, find it necessary to complain.

Kate, however, does not get a chance to finish this letter of reprimand because Ida decides she will not serve another piece of pie to Stuart Hertzog, part of the company’s legal staff. Stuart happens to be dating Amy Jenkins (aka the Tyrannical Office Despot, Kate’s boss) and he requests that Ida be fired. Wanting to be a good girlfriend, Amy complies and tells Kate to stop working on the letter and terminate Ida.

After Ida is let go, she files suit against the company and names both Amy and Kate as part of the suit. In the course of the suit, Kate meets Mitch Hertzog, who has been assigned to the case because Stuart, his brother, has a conflict of interest (seeing as how it was his fault Ida lost her job in the first place).

Kate expected Mitch to be as shifty as his brother Stuart, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was nothing like she expected. Unfortunately, due to one of his chivalrous acts, Kate ends up losing her job. Luckily, with a bit of help from Kate’s friends, he’s able to set things right again and sweep Kate off of her feet.

Final Thoughts On Boy Meets Girl

This book was infectious. I thought I would pick it up to pass a couple hours, but ended up reading it straight through. First, the fact that this book evolves through correspondence and journal entries was clever and well done. There are so many ways I could have seen such a format crashing and burning, but in this story, it worked. One quirk I did happen to catch, however, is that sometimes individual personalities weren’t completely respected.

For instance, Kate often clarifies who she’s talking about by tacking on a fragmented sentence, such as “Mitch, I mean” and as the story continued, I caught other people doing the same thing, even when their previous correspondence wouldn’t have suggested that it wasn’t one of their idiosyncrasies. It didn’t detracted greatly from the story or the reading though.

The handling of Ida was beautifully done (until the end). If you’re just breezing through the book, it would be easy to miss, but aside from making delectable treats, she’s also a bit psychic. And the whole reason Kate and Mitch were able to find each other was because of Ida. Another clever aspect of the book was the recipes sprinkled throughout. I haven’t tried any of them yet, but they actually do look like recipes you can use. My only quarrel was with Ida’s ending. I understand why and was glad for her, but I just didn’t like the how.

But you’re probably wondering about the juicy bits, the actual romance that unfolds through the story. What I liked about this particular romance is that it was cute and seemed like a natural unfolding. What made it unnatural, however, was the lack of time transpiring. Love was declared, but it seems odd considering Kate and Mitch could not have known each other very long—or it just seemed as though it wasn’t very long. In essence, it seemed rushed.

For the most part, each of the characters were very well drawn. What I found surprising (and pleasantly so) was the depth of evil that dwelled within some of the characters’ hearts and that they were rendered without censure onto the page. Kind of like getting to peer in the minds of people when they think no one is looking.

On a final note, this book may cause hysterical laughter.

Rating: Worth Every Penny [TPB] (?)

Get Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot at Amazon

Childhood, it’s a place we’ve all been at one time or another, where anything is possible and there’s usually that one (or possibly two or three) story that is its cornerstone.

Yesterday, I went on a mini-adventure as I was perusing the aisles of Amazon. I went through the usual adult fare, plucking out titles and covers I thought sounded or looked interesting. My shopping list grew, as usual. But before I clicked on the purchase button, I did something unexpected…I typed in the word unicorns.

Why unicorns? Truly, I have no idea, but the results were a time machine pulling me back some 20 years. Waves of emotion came over me as I scrolled down to learn that The Last Unicorn was a book penned by Peter S. Beagle*.

As a child, I saw the movie. It was raw, and disturbing, and beguiling. The movie helped nourish my imagination and it created a cozy home in my heart for all these years.

It was by fate that the movie came on television again so I could record it on VHS tape and I watched it over and over again. Then, when I was older, I purchased the actual VHS tape and watched that over and over. (In fact, I still have it.)

There was some great joy in discovering that one of my all time favorite children’s movies was based on a written fairytale and well-crafted in the traditional style based on the snippets I was able to read at Amazon. Without hesitation, I added the book to my shopping cart and can hardly wait for it to arrive so I can immerse myself in that fantastic world where enchanting unicorns, clumsy wizards, bare-breasted harpies, crotchety kings, hapless princes, dizzy butterflies, frightening red bulls, and epic journeys for truth, honor, and love still exist.

So, take some time today and rediscover your childhood. Was there a movie that moved you, inspired you, or just somehow made a home in your heart when you were young? Then maybe today is a good day to go searching for the book so you can enjoy it in a different way. (And if it’s not based on a book? Well, pop in the VHS/DVD and imagine what it would say and how it would read if one were to be written.)

* On my journey, I discovered that there was a ruckus about the original DVD release (in 2004) and the 25^th anniversary release (in 2007). It seems that the 2004 version was little more than a steaming pile of <insert expletive here> in terms of quality, but the 2007 version which was the product of much prodding is all around better. Unfortunately, Mr. Beagle receives no revenue from its sales. So, if you’d like to purchase the new DVD and would like Mr. Beagle to receive some proceeds, then order it from the Conlan Press website.

From the Back Cover of Can You Keep a Secret?

Meet Emma Corrigan, a young woman with a huge heart, an irrepressible spirit, and a few little secrets:

Secrets from her boyfriend:
I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.

Secrets from her mother:
I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur

Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world:
I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.

Until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger…. Until Emma comes face-to-face with Jack Harper, the company’s elusive CEO, a man who knows every single humiliating detail about her…

Three Quick Points About Can You Keep a Secret?

• Point 1: Emma Corrigan bears a striking resemblance to Bridget Jones–not necessarily in appearance, but personality, deed and sheer life circumstances.
• Point 2: This book redefines the statement laugh out loud funny. From beginning to end, I found myself pausing to have a good belly laugh at some of the antics and situations in which Emma found herself.
• Point 3: The British quips and expressions were rather charming from my Americanized viewpoint. Although I’m still not entirely certain what a jumper is, am still unsure whether snogging is kissing or having sex, and it took me a few pages to recognize that having a row meant having an argument, I found reading through it all added to the amusement.

Full Review of Can You Keep a Secret?

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

Can You Keep a Secret? Synopsis

From the onset, it seems that Emma Corrigan’s life is on the fast track to nowhere and she just can’t catch a break. After the worst day imaginable, just when you believe nothing could get much worse in Emma’s world, a flight attendant takes mercy on her and upgrades her to business class.

When her irrational fear of flying, combined with the turbulence flinging the plane every which way, Emma truly believes she’s going to die and starts prattling off all of her little secrets to the gentleman sitting next to her and she doesn’t stop until they land–still very much alive–and they part ways, expecting never to see one another again.

No big deal until she gets back to work on Monday and finds out the founder of the company, Jack Harper, has scheduled a visit and Jack turns out to be the stranger on the plane–and he remembers everything. As you can imagine, much hilarity ensues as he uses the knowledge gained “under duress” to keep Emma on her toes. But he does far more than that, he completely changes her life.

Since meeting Jack Harper, Emma broke it off with her seemingly perfect boyfriend, told her parents how she truly feels about her cousin Kerry, and had all her private secrets laid out on display and became the ridicule of all her friends and co-workers. Then, to make an already stressful situation even more stressful, she realizes that she knows nothing about the man who knows everything about her. And with the help of her roommate, Jemima, who has absolutely no redeeming qualities that I’ve been able to find, weaves Emma into an even more tangled web with Jack.

Luckily Emma does end up getting the guy. Now, if you believe that I’m giving away the biggest spoiler possible by telling you that, you’re probably not very familiar with the modern fairytale genre. It’s not so much about the end (because you already know there’s a happily ever after), it’s more about how we relate to the protagonist and how she copes with the hills and valleys she encounters on her way to the happily ever after. And trust me, our heroine is quite sympathetic and there are plenty of hills and valleys for her to conquer.

Final Thoughts On Can You Keep a Secret?

From the very beginning, this book was fraught with unfortunate circumstances, miscommunication, misunderstandings, and illogical decisions which all add to the hilarity of this novel.

The main character, Emma Corrigan, who narrates the story in a spunky, and sometimes bitingly sarcastic, way is very sympathetic. More than once, I found myself feeling utterly sorry for her and praying she would get a lucky break or find a secret stash of courage somewhere.

Sometimes, however, the novel became a bit predictable. For instance, when Emma wants to impress Jack by taking him to a posh secret nightclub, she ends up forgetting where it is. It wasn’t difficult to see that coming from a mile away. But, for the most part, the situations that crop up keeps the reader on her toes as it does Emma.

The cast of characters was delightful. Lissy, Emma’s priggish, quirky, and smart best friend/roommate, Jemima, Emma and Lissy’s selfish gold-digging vixen of a roommate, Connor, Emma’s really good looking, but slow on the social uptake boyfriend, and even Emma’s co-workers were all well crafted. The notable exception, however, was Sven who seemed to be Jack’s shadow. It’s not entirely clear who Sven is or what purpose he serves–he just seems randomly placed in the story for no apparent reason.

(Confession: Every time Jemima’s name came up, I couldn’t help imagining Aunt Jemima which made it difficult to connect with her. I finally got over it by mentally renaming her Gemma. She still had no redeeming qualities and frankly, I wondered why Emma and Lissy even put up with her.)

Although the storyline is farfetched–meeting the founder of the company where you work on a flight and blurting out every single one of your secrets to him and then later falling madly in love with him?–it’s a smooth and entertaining read. All the pieces, except a very glaring one–Jack’s big secret which, quite frankly, made me roll my eyes–fit together quite well.

If you enjoyed the movies How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Holiday, Bridget Jones’ Diary, and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, then there’s a 99.9% chance you’ll enjoy Can You Keep a Secret?.

Rating: Worth every penny (?)