The Queen Bee's Knees: May Picture Book Edition

The May edition of The Queen Bee's Knees is for Picture Books. 
If you're looking for the April edition, which was the first edition and happened to be about YA books, click HERE.
For those who need a reminder of what The Queen Bee's Knees is, it's a feature I do to highlight the books I love in a very short, concise way. I include my bookseller/elevator/10 second pitch, which will hopefully give you a good idea if it's the book for you (or for the wee ones in your life, since this is the picture book edition) and something a bit longer that explains a bit more. Basically, The Queen Bee's Knees is my way of telling you which books I think are The Bees Knees without/in addition to writing full reviews.
But before we get started, I'd like to note, I didn't pick any of the BIG picture books. So, no Classics (read: Where the Wild Things Are, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Paddington, Corduroy, Clifford...) or BIG Modern Picture Book authors illustrators (read: Jon Klassen, Oliver Jeffers, Mo Willems, Erin and Phillip Stead...). And it's not because I don't love these books, but because I don't think you need me to tell you what's popular. Instead, I'd like to recommend some that you might not have heard of or missed the last time you went shopping. (PS: if you haven't picked up any books by the aforementioned "big" authors for the tots in your life, you SHOULD, ASAP.)
Okay. Got it all down? Good, because here's The Queen Bee's Knees May Picture Book Edition! 

WUT? - A Reader's Appreciation Post

Fact: I don't like coffee. I just like saying Coffee Clutch in my best and deepest New York accent. Considering I'm a New Yorker, I'm pretty freaking good at it. So I've got my tea and I hope you have your heated beverage of choice, because it's time to gab the day away.

So, recently I've been getting these comments on my reviews/responses to my tweets about books I'm obsessed with. They say things like "Oh, you loved this book? I trust your recommendations. I'll move that one to the top of my TBR."

To this I say:

Review: Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Title: Better off Friends
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Release Date: February 25th, 2014
Publisher: Point
Page Count: 288
Source: ARC from ALA
(I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest
review. No favors were exchanged, my opinions are my own.)First Reaction: Absolutely adorable - hit a bunch of personal notes for me.

For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can't be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan's friends. They are platonic and happy that way.

Eventually they realize they're best friends -- which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't keep getting in each other's way. Guys won't ask Macallan out because they think she's with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can't help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated?

From romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg comes a fresh, fun examination of a question for the ages: Can guys and girls ever really be just friends? Or are they always one fight away from not speaking again -- and one kiss away from true love?

[Summary Source: Goodreads]

Top Ten Books With Awesome Friendships in Them (53)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I love books with good friendships. I didn't always have the best time with friends when I was YA-aged, though. I think reading about them kind of makes up for it. Or gives me hope for the future. Or helps me reflect on my current friendships. I don't actually know. I just like friendship books (Although I also like when there's also a love-interest thing thrown in with all the friendship stuff. Delicious.)

PS: Please note - not all of the books featured below are book one in their respective series, but I decided to feature the book in the series that best shows the development of the friendship in question. So pay attention, okay?

Bout of Books 10.0: Wrap Up Post

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Bout of Books 10.0 is OVER and now I have to WAIT until the next one. Which is sad. But I guess I should tell you all how I did with my goals this time around...

A BEAst of a Convention Part II

I half-heartedly wrote a BEA post like three weeks ago about how awesome I think New York City and its parks are. You can read that one HERE. But it really doesn't have that much useful information in it. It's just kind of silly. So if you want to read about me being silly, please read that post. 
However, the other day I was thinking: "Most of my readers probably aren't going to BEA. And those of my readers who are have probably read a million prep posts. So this really isn't so very necessary. But I feel feel the need to put out of few bullet points for the small minority who thing they need to read up more on this convention."
Also I was thinking: "Maybe I should tell the people a little about me and my BEA practices so, if, perchance, they see me on the floor, they'll know what kind of insanity to expect. Even though most people reading this aren't going to BEA and there's really no point. But oh well."
So here are two short lists covering both of these unnecessary thinking moments I had...

Review: Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Title: Second Star
Author: Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Release Date: May 13th, 2014
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Page Count: 248
Source: ARC from Publisher

(I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest
review. No favors were exchanged, my opinions are my own.)
First Reaction: I'm gonna be thinking about this one (romance aside) for a long time, aren't I?

A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete's nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she's falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up--and the troubled beauty trapped between them.

[Summary Source: Goodreads]

Pick of the Week: The One Where I Need it to Be Summer

Pick of the Week is... well, it's exactly what it sounds like. Once a week I pick a book. I may pick said book because I'm super excited about it. Or maybe I was super excited about it, forgot how excited I was, and am now using this to refresh my memory. It's also possible said book was blurring in with all the other books in my brain and I want to get re-excited about it. Another possible option is that I just want to flail about a book I'm about to read/am currently reading. Basically, I'm writing a love-note to a book I haven't started/finished yet to build hype for both myself and my reader. Which doesn't sound like a smart plan, but, oh well, too late.

And in case you want more of an origin story, you can check out my first Pick of the Week post.

This week is all about the summer time swoons. It's also got an incredibly swoony cover. Basically, everything about this book makes me swoon. And it makes me want to go to the beach immediately. Not to mention, it's one I'm sure I'm going to love, especially since I loved the first book in the set.

I feel like my hints were vague enough for you to not know what book I've picked this week. Maybe? But it's also one of my Bout of Books picks. So you could probably go back to that and figure it out...

Did you go back?

Did you figure it out?

Yes?

No?

Ready to know what the pick is anyway?

Okay.

Bout of Books 10.0: Progress Report

Welcome to my Bout of Books 10.0 Progress Report post. Because I am crazy and neurotic, I have separated this post from my Goals post. My Wrap Up post (to be posted in a week, when all of this is over) will also be a separate post. Although, I will be posting any and all of my challenges here, as they are part of my Bout of Books 10.0 Progress Report.

I hope that explanation made sense to you. I feel like it does to me but things often make more sense in my head that out of it.

Anyway, in case you're wondering what Bout of Books is...

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Now, for my progress.

Top Ten Books I Put Off Reading For Dumb Reasons (52)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

So this week's Top Ten Tuesday post is TECHNICALLY "Top Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't," but, honestly, the books I almost put down but don't usually don't fit on any Top Ten list. I mean, I don't dislike them or anything (mostly), but I don't have a Top Ten of them. I also generally suck at DNFing and don't really think about doing so while reading (unless I'm really, really miserable). So then I was going to do "Top Ten Books I Almost Didn't Pick Up." But then when I was putting together the list, I realized this post is actually titled "Top Ten Books I Put Off Reading for Dumb Reasons." Which is how we got here.

Bout of Books 10.0: Goals

BOUT OF BOOKS 10.0 TIME!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

TIME DEVOTED TO READING

Oh, I don't know. Two hours? Maybe? I stunk at Bout of Books 9.0. We'll see how 10.0 goes.

MY GOALS

Same as above. My reading is so unpredictable these days. I would like to work through some of these books because BEA is coming up, but I can't promise even myself anything. I'm working a bunch this week and I have a lot of stuff going on... So. The list below is a best case scenario.

• Read at least 3 books from the list below.
• Participate in at least 1 Twitter chat.
• Meet some new bloggers and make awesome new friends.
• Participate in at least 1 challenge.

Review: What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Title: What I Thought Was True
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Release Date: April 15th, 2014
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 416
Source: eARC from Publisher
(I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest
review. No favors were exchanged, my opinions are my own.)
First Reaction: I felt kind of confused and let down by this book... which makes me really sad because it was one of my big buzz books for 2014.

Gwen Castle's Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, is slumming it as a yard boy on her Nantucket-esque island this summer. He's a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay, and she hails from a family of fishermen and house cleaners who keep the island's summer people happy. Gwen worries a life of cleaning houses will be her fate too, but just when it looks like she'll never escape her past—or the island—Gwen's dad gives her some shocking advice. Sparks fly and secret histories unspool as Gwen spends a gorgeous, restless summer struggling to resolve what she thought was true—about the place she lives, the people she loves, and even herself—with what really is.

[Summary Source: Goodreads]

Review: The One by Kiera Cass

Title: The One (The Selection #3)
Author: Kiera Cass
Release Date: May 6th, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Page Count: 323
Source: Purchased (and promptly gifted to a friend *hi Marine!*)
First Reaction: I knew better than to read this book. But I read it and I only have myself to blame.

The Selection changed the lives of thirty-five girls forever. And now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.

America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.

From the very first page of The Selection, this #1 New York Times bestselling series has captured readers' hearts and swept them away on a captivating journey... Now, in The One, Kiera Cass delivers a satisfying and unforgettable conclusion that will keep readers sighing over this electrifying fairy-tale long after the final page is turned.

[Summary Source: Goodreads]

Top Ten Book Covers I'd Frame As Pieces of Art (51)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Sometimes I walk up to my coworkers at the bookstore with a book in hand and say "WOULD YOU LOOK AT THIS COVER IT'S SO PRETTY." And then I pet the cover and strip off the jacket and check out the binding details. Everyone thinks I'm out of my mind. But I just want to buy second copies of all of these books so I can take the book jackets and put them on my wall.

Here's a list of 10 book jackets I often think of framing. In image form. Because who needs words when I can just show you pretty pictures?

Return of BEA Part of It: Parks and Rec

BEA IS COMING! BEA IS COMING!

Oh. It's supposed to be "The British are coming!"? Oops. Well, I do have some British friends coming for BEA, so let's call that a wash.

Anyway, for this year's BEA, the lovely Estelle has asked me to take part in her BEA PART OF IT blog post series. When Estelle asked me I was utterly flattered but, at the same time, completely lost as to what topic to cover. Yes, I'm a native New Yorker (Fun Fact: I have only ever had one permanent address - Upper West Side born and raised) but I basically do the same things and eat at all of the same places. All the time. Since I was in Middle School and allowed to roam around the City on my own.

But then I was like: Well, I'll just cover the Parks. And since I'm a big Parks and Rec fan, I couldn't help the reference.

So which parks are the tops?

Harlequin Teen Spring Preview Event Recap + Giveaway(s)!

On Tuesday I clocked out of work, threw on some makeup, and hustled out into the rain so I could attend Harlequin Teen Preview Event. 

Despite the fact that the rain was unbearable and the subway was more crowded than I've seen it in a while, I was really excited. The last time I went to a Harlequin party (last October, I think?) I had the very best time and got to chat with some of my favorite people. This time was no different. 

But actually, there were some differences between last event and this one. Most notably, the featured author. This time around, Harlequin had Adi Alsaid come speak about his upcoming release, LET'S GET LOST. It's a road trip book about how people come into your life and shake things up and, whether they stay forever or leave soon after they show up, it doesn't matter because the meaning is still there. 

(Just to be clear, I haven't read this one yet, but those are just some of the awesome words Adi Alsaid used to describe his book that night and oh do they push LET'S GET LOST tot the top of my TBR pile.)

Of course, with every Harlequin Teen Preview Events, there are books to be had - and given away. 

Pick of the Week: The One With the Mermaids

Pick of the Week is... well, it's exactly what it sounds like. Once a week I pick a book. I may pick said book because I'm super excited about it. Or maybe I was super excited about it, forgot how excited I was, and am now using this to refresh my memory. It's also possible said book was blurring in with all the other books in my brain and I want to get re-excited about it. Another possible option is that I just want to flail about a book I'm about to read/am currently reading. Basically, I'm writing a love-note to a book I haven't started/finished yet to build hype for both myself and my reader. Which doesn't sound like a smart plan, but, oh well, too late.

And in case you want more of an origin story, you can check out my first Pick of the Week post.

This week's pick has a reaaaaaally pretty cover. Really pretty. It's also got this huge marketing budget. The ARCs were sent out in this fancy package that definitely wowed me when I saw it. Also, this book is written by an author a lot of people I know rave about.

Do you know what book I'm talking about?

Yes?

No?

Okay, I tell you.