Review: Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Title: Geek Girl (Geek Girl #1)
Author: Holly Smale 
Release Date: February 28th, 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins
Page Count: 378
Source: Received at a Launch Party
Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Harriet Manners knows a lot of things.

She knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a "jiffy" lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. What she isn't quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much. So when she's spotted by a top model agent, Harriet grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her Best Friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of the impossibly handsome supermodel Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves.

As Harriet veers from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, she begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did.

And as her old life starts to fall apart, the question is: will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

[Summary Source: Goodreads]

THE REVIEW

Harriet is a total geek. She's the one with all the useless facts who says the very thing everyone hopes no one will say in every situation. And she's a total klutz, which only makes matters worse. So it comes as a total surprise when she's spotted at a fashion show. Harriet wants to say no because her step-mother disapproves and her best friend is the one who's always wanted to be a model while Harriet could care less about clothing. But she says yes because she wants a change - she doesn't want to be the geek who gets picked on at school anymore. And while Harriet's goals are super admirable, clearly things can't go as planned.

Let's break this down:

There are a lot of characters I love in this book. Harriet's a bit nerdier than I ever was, but I totally get how she feels a lot of the time. Getting bullied is the worst when you're a kid so I get how torn she was about wanting to be a model to change herself while not wanting to betray her best (and only) friend. But I think my favorite thing about Harriet is that while bad things happen to her, she also does bad things herself.

What I mean to say is, sometimes I'll read a story and it seems like the MC is brilliant and perfect and bad things just happen to her and then she throws herself a pity party and it's only when the people around her change things for her do things really change. This isn't the case for Harriet. Harriet has it bad, tries to fix it, screws up and becomes something of a villain herself. Harriet's true growth only comes from realizing that she's become a kind of bad guy and that she has to accept who she is and fix things with the people who make her who she is before she can be really happy. Being a model is just the catalyst that forced her to realize all of this/something she now does to pay of the debts she owes from being super clumsy.

All of that being said about Harriet and the plot, I also really love Annabelle - the responsible one. She ALWAYS knows what's happening. Like a real parent. It's not that I don't like Harriet's dad. Sure, he's kind of irresponsible and that totally grated on me, but he's funny and very sweet at the end of it all. And then Wilbur, Yuka and Nick all brought me immense entertainment in their own ways.

I think my main issue with this book comes from Toby. I know a lot of people like him, but he absolutely creeps me out. Maybe I'm just the kind of girl who likes her space and wants no one up in it, but the thought of having some kid stalk me like that gives me the willies. He means well, just wants to bond with a fellow geek, yada yada yada, but he came off a tad bit too intense for me.

And as for Nat, Harriet's best friend, she annoyed me from a "I would never be friends with that girl" standpoint, but I totally got why she did what she did, y'know?

I'm not even gonna go into my feels about Alexa. She reminds me what teen bullies are capable of and I really don't want to relive. I will say that Holly Smale deals amazingly with the subject matter, all while keeping the book light and comical, which I totally love.

Anyway, character and plot analysis aside, I totally enjoyed the glimpse into the fashion world. The writing was also very quirky, which I LOVED - just as quirky and enjoyable as Harriet is, really. Aside from having a truly flawed protagonist, I think my favorite part of this book is how clever the composition is. The tone of the writing really matches the content of the story and the behavior of the main character.

Oh, and did I mention I really liked Nick? The story didn't need the love interest, but how could I say no to Lion Boy?

The long and short of it?

Plot: A story of the growth of a flawed, geeky teen who's just trying to figure herself out. I really love the honesty of it all.
World Building: Definitely believable, from the awful bullies to the crazy, whirlwind model adventure.
Character Development: Harriet's path is not only believable but understandable. And the way the people in Harriet's life deal with the changes and lying also definitely fits the bill.
Prose: Cute and quirky, just how I like it.
Would I Recommend This Book?: Geek Girl is a quick, quirky read. It's for a slightly younger audience than the usual YA book, but it's not quite Middle Grade, so if you're not into that, skip it, but it really is a lot of fun!

Were/are you a geek? How did/do you deal with bullies (if you had to)? And onto lighter topics, how adorable is Lion Boy? Seriously. Why would you have a real name when you can be Lion Boy?

Veronica Mars Watch-Along Week 4

[Graphic designed by the lovely Judith of Paper Riot]

So, how does this work, super sleuths? Go check out the Watch-Along kick off post for the skinny. I'll give you a second just in case...

All caught up? Good.

In case you already know the basics and just forgot what episodes are up today, here's the list:

• "You Think You Know Someone"
• "Return of the Kane"

And, for NEXT WEEK:

• "The Girl Next Door"
• "Like a Virgin"

And now, to put the screws to these two episodes...

THE NOIR

The beginning of "You Think You Know Someone" screams sketch-town. And then Troy's car goes missing, which seems fitting. V comes to Troy's rescue and then tells him she has "friends in low places" and can probably find his car. Which she does. Along the way, we discover the Troy is a MEGA scumbag, but we'll discuss that shortly. Anyway, by the end of the episode, Luke's steroids, the guy he was smuggling them for and Troy are all history, with a little help from Papa Mars (both solicited and unsolicited).

In the next episode, Veronica does some more sleuthing for her friend Wanda, who it turns out isn't much of a friend. But that's besides the point. The point is that I totally forgot JANE LYNCH is in this show and I just can't get enough. The other point is that Veronica is super observant and clever, which I suppose is how she solves all these crimes.

There are also two over, very interesting, mysterious plot points worth noting (in the grand scheme of things):

1. Veronica's Mom

Lianne Mars is MISSING. She ran off and, aside from a couple of guesses, we don't REALLY know why. Except Veronica finds a key to a safety deposit box in her mom's stuff and finds pictures with targets on her head in said box. Which could by why her mom skips town. Veronica then sends burner phones to all her mom's friends and receives a message from her mom... which we don't hear about in the next episode, which is kinda weird. Also, in flashback, V's mom was all weird about V and Duncan dating (??) and she pulled V out of school for a girl's day a couple of days before taking off (also ??). 

2. Lilly Kane

We already know Lilly's death isn't as they say because her time of death is wrong. Which is why Veronica sets up folders on her computer so she can go over everything for herself. She's clearly not wrong to do this, since we soon after learn that Abel Koontz REALLY COULDN'T have killed Lilly because the shoes that were found in his possession were still in Lilly's room after she died. So basically Abel Koontz was framed, just as Keith and V suspected. Hmmm...

PARENTAL PROBLEMS

V and Keith have a pretty good father-daughter relationship. There's some serious snark and a lot of love. Example: 

V: "Tough day?" 

K: "That ain't the half of it. See, this dame walks in and you shoulda seen the get away sticks on her. Says something's hinky with her old man."

V: "Did you put the screws to 'im?"

K: "You ain't kidding. He sang like a canary."

It's cute, it's banter, I like! What I don't like is the lack of communication. Sure, V goes to Keith when she needs sleuth-y help, which is great because she could very easily get herself into a lot of trouble. But they don't talk about the giant elephant in the room. Like, Keith's packing up V's mom's stuff while dating someone else - notably V's GUIDANCE COUNSELOR. And instead of V being honest about her feelings, she goes behind her dad's back and does a background check. On her GUIDANCE COUNSELOR. To be fair, V might not have realized how upset she was and they ARE a family of crime solvers, but STILL.

I dunno. There's a lot of issues here and I think V's guidance counselor was right - V does need to talk to someone about this stuff. She has a lot of anger to work out. Or she at least needs to get better at talking to her dad about the real stuff. Like, it's great you can joke, but there are some serious feels in life and you really shouldn't bottle them up, y'know? Your best friend getting murdered, your friends dropping you and your mom running off really aren't really events you can just walk away from without dealing with your feelings. I mean, in my unprofessional opinion, that is.

THE BOYS

I have a lot of feels right now. A LOT. So bear with me.

• Troy: Aaaaand the other shoe has dropped. Troy seemed SO PERFECT but, as we all know, there's no such thing as perfect. Especially not a perfect 09-er. Although, Troy's drug dealing ways didn't come as a total surprise. The episode gradually led you to the truth. First he's in Tijuana with LOGAN, of all people. And then he's not so worried about his father sending him off to military school in Albuquerque. Which is pretty crazy. Even Wallace points out this crazy. Papa Mars does a background check on Troy as a response to the whole Guidance Counselor Fiasco and it turns out he was a DRUG DEALER (V kinda gets a little crazy here, but with good reason, it seems). And then Troy runs off, only to be thwarted by V. So yeah. Bye Troy.

BYE DRUG DEALING DIRTBAG.

• Duncan: I liked that little flashback at the end of "Reign of Kane" where we get to see why V might have been dating this boy. But V's right. He's been standing idly by A WHOLE LOT since Lilly died and it makes me not interested in him. The ending of "Reign of Kane" makes me a little interested - with the whole Pirate Points speech - but eh. He's still kind of boring.

• Wallace: He's not in these episodes so much. Maybe he's busy with Georgia? Although, he does try to compare him and V's dynamic to the Scoobies and that doesn't work so well for a bunch of reasons - mostly because that's Buffy and you can't. Sorry.
• Weevil: I like that they're friendly-ish now. He seems like a good ally to have. Friends in low places and all that.
• Logan: *takes deep breath* I'm not even sure how to handle all of the feelings right now. First he's a moron who spends his free time in Tijuana, organizes bum fights and forces his best friend into running for an election said friend very much said he didn't want to run for. But then... then the end of "Reign of Kane" happens and, well...

THE ECHOLLS FAMILY

I can't tell you how much I hate the end of episode 6. Every time I watch it I have the same reaction. My train of thought is something like this:

Logan in the soup kitchen. Gosh he's adorbs. Until he pisses off his father again and oh dear GOD. Wait. What? WHAT IS HAPPENING? WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT BELTS? WHY DID YOU PICK A BELT AND LOOK AT IT LIKE THAT? WHY. WHAT. NO STOP. I DON'T WANT WHAT I THINK'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN TO HAPPEN. AND IT'S HAPPENING. I DO NOT NEED TO HEAR THIS. AND WHY IS HIS MOM SITTING THERE DOING NOTHING? I cannot. I CANNOT.

Every time I watch, the rest of the episode no longer matters to me. I don't care about Wanda or Veronica or Keith or Abel Koontz or Lilly. I just care about that boy who's father beats him and whose mother just sits there.

... and even though I know this last section's kind of heavy, I kind of can't continue, so don't hate me too much for not wrapping this up with my usual wit.

Tell me, were you as upset by that ending as I was? Do you care more for Logan now or do you still think he's the worst? And how about the crazytown family dynamics in this show? Are there any functional families left in Neptune? Make sure to share your thoughts in the comments below!

**ONE LAST REMINDER**

NEXT WEEK:

• "The Girl Next Door"
• "Like a Virgin"

Thou Shalt Comment on Other People's Blog Posts

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.

Thou Shalt Comment on Other People's Blog Posts: The Secret 11th Commandment. Or rather, one of the 10 Blogging Commandments? I'm not sure. Maybe giving this post a religious theme wasn't such a good idea but it was the only witty title I could come up with at 11:07pm, so you'll have to forgive me and just skip to the actual content of this post.

What is said content, you might ask? WELL. Recently I've noticed that I am THE WORST at commenting on other people's blogs. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE YOU ALL FOR REAL, but for some reason leaving a sentence in the comment box is JUST TOO HARD FOR ME.

PLEASE NOTE: I don't discriminate. This is the case whether I stumble upon your blog randomly or if your one of my blogging buddies I chat with on the daily. But WHY? Well, it's some combination of being lazy, not having the time, not having anything to say and not wanting to type another word because my blog has drained all of the everything out of me for the day.

Yeah, I went there

But guys, GUESS WHAT? This post ISN'T just a pity party! Because I've given this a lot of thought and, as such, I've decided on a couple possible solutions to make myself a better blogger/friend/human being.

1. Designate blog commenting time
Basically, set a specific time each day/every other day/once a week (whatever is REALISTIC for you) and promise yourself you're going to comment on other peoples blog during that time. You can either pick one person's blog a day and leave a bunch of comments or stop by a couple of different blogs and leave comments on one or two of the most recent posts. The comment love still stacks up the same, y'know?

2. DON'T read blog posts on your phone
I know this sounds counter intuitive because we all have smartphones and it's so damn easy, but commenting on blog posts from my phone has proven to be THE WORST EVER. I can't tell you how many times I've lost a comment because I tried to write it up on my phone. And then I get to my laptop and I don't even care anymore. So yeah. No more of that.

... use my smartphone to read blog posts anymore. It is not THAT smart.

3. Use your blog roll
So I just recently added a blog roll to my blog and at first I was like: I have NO IDEA why I need one of these. I mean, yeah, to show you guys who my favorite bloggers are, sure. But other than that? Who the heck knows. Well, now I use my blog roll as a REMINDER to go to all of my favorite blogs and comment on the posts my favorites write.

4. If someone with a blog comments on your blog, go visit their blog right back!
Okay, this is kinda built into features like Top Ten Tuesday or Waiting on Wednesday. I mean, people even leave links back to their post! All you have to do is click, read, write a little something and VOILA! You have commented.

Well there's an idea...

5. Reward System
As potentially "accidentally" suggested in the gif above, maybe have a reward system. For example: For every 5 posts you comment on, you give yourself one chapter reading break and so on and so forth. Side note? This process might work better with chocolate. Just sayin'.

6. Leave the tab open till you comment
Okay, this is NOT the most sophisticated solution but it works for me. Because, you see, eventually, if I leave too many tabs open, my computer gets all mad at me and slows down. My computer is 5 years old and is ALREADY pretty slow, so this is some pretty serious incentive to comment and X out that window I've had open for the last four days.

These are some potential solutions, but, like I said, I am oh so terrible at commenting on other people's blogs, so DO SHARE your tactics in the comments below! That is, if you're better at commenting than I am... I suddenly feel weird asking you guys to comment on this post... >.<

**ONE MORE THING DOWN HERE YOU GUYS!**

I recently claimed my blog on Bloglovin. I don't always think these kinds of things are great tools for commenting because you have to pop open a new window and some people hate doing that, so I didn't list it. But in the event that YOU find it useful, or you already follow me with GFC and need a new way to follow with the impending GFCpocalypse creeping towards us, please feel free to click that nifty button below and follow away! And yeah. I just used the word nifty. I stand by my choice.

Review: The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

Title: The Lost Girl
Author: Sangu Mandanna
Release Date: August 28th, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Page Count: 432
Source: Borrowed from Faye
Rating: ★★★★☆

Eva's life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination--an echo. She was made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her "other," if she ever died. Eva spends every day studying that girl from far away, learning what Amarra does, what she eats, what it's like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But sixteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything and everyone she's ever known--the guardians who raised her, the boy she's forbidden to love--to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive.

What Eva finds is a grief-stricken family; parents unsure how to handle this echo they thought they wanted; and Ray, who knew every detail, every contour of Amarra. And when Eva is unexpectedly dealt a fatal blow that will change her existence forever, she is forced to choose: Stay and live out her years as a copy or leave and risk it all for the freedom to be an original. To be Eva.

[Summary Source: Goodreads]

THE REVIEW

Eva is an echo. This means she was created to take the place of someone when said someone dies. So she looks like someone else, acts like someone else, talks like someone else, likes what someone else likes... or at least she's supposed to. When the original to Eva's copy dies and Eva has to go take her place, well, not everything goes the way it's supposed to.

Let's break this down:

Can I tell you why I love this book so much? Here's why.

First of all, I LOVE EVA AND SEAN. Dear GOD they are amazing together and apart and whoa I just want to read about them forever. My only complaint about them as a pair comes at the end of the book when Sean gets all angryface at her and I'm like, "Well, that doesn't make ANY sense." I wasn't mad at him for being mad at her. It just didn't make sense. But that was just a little blip and everything else just left me a puddle of goo so I don't even care.

Then there's Eva as an individual. Girl's TOUGH. She doesn't back down, she doesn't throw herself a pity party. Sure, she needs a reminder to keep her shit together, but she DOES IT. And I kind of like that she needs a reminder to fight for herself because otherwise she'd come off too headstrong and that's not what I wanted from her. No. She's brilliant just the way she is.

The rest of the cast is also pretty brilliant. Not just Sean. Everyone. Eva's family in England, her family in India... even all of Amarra/Eva's friends in India. They all served a brilliant role and I didn't hate a single one of them. Sure, sometimes I wanted to pull my hair out because AFKLJSFUEBVNS some people are MORONS (yeah, NO SPOILERS HERE), but I totally understood the feelings they felt and, as such, I totally understood all of their actions.

Yeah. The feelings. Not only did I understand them but OH DEAR GOD they were heavy. I feel like sometimes dystopian novels are less about the feels and more about the corrupt government or whatever. THIS BOOK (along with most of my favorite dystopians) wasn't like that. There's no greater good question (thank GOD. I hate that). It's just about Eva coming to terms with who she is and all the strife that brings. The moral dilemmas introduced here are seriously ugh-inducing. Basically the whole book broke my heart.

Oh, and the words Sangu Mandanna used to compose this amazing book that made me feel all the feels? I just want to hug them. I want to hug each and every word that fills the pages of this book. And that's a lot of hugs, even for a huggy girl like me.

So why isn't this book a 5-star, considering it sounds like I love it to pieces? Well, that bit with Eva and Sean as mentioned above made me a little unnecessarily confused. And then, since the book was about Eva and her growth, I feel like the world building lacked a solid foundation. Yes, I like it better when a dystopian is feels heavy, but I still need foundation. (I'm getting a little contradictory here, but I want the best of every world, damnit.)

Yeah, so, the lack of foundation WOULD be fine in the event of a second book. The ending leaves room for it but there's no proof there's gonna be one. Don't get me wrong, I don't need Eva to become dystopian hero and destroy the government and make things better for echoes or whatever, I'd just like a little more background detail. Oh, and I don't particularly like books with open-ish endings. Either leave an open-ish ending if there's for sure going to be a second book, or give a girl some real closure, would ya?

But y'know what? The fact that I gave this one 4 stars despite the eh world building and ending issues is PROOF that you guys really should read this one. Really. Everything else was so brilliant I can't even.

The long and short of it?

Plot: Different and really evocative. Even before I started it I knew it was either going to be tough to get through or incredibly compelling just because of the subject matter. It was the latter. For real.
World Building: I'm still pretty hazy on the structure. Some people make echoes? The government doesn't like it? But it still happens? I don't really know. But all of the characters and feels in this book make me not care.
Character Development: Absolutely stunning. Not only is Eva someone worth watching - a character who's really worth your time, but so is just about everyone else in this book.
Prose: STUNNING. Seriously. I will hug every word.
Would I Recommend This Book?: Even if you're not a fan of dystopian books I think you should give this one a shot. This one's less about the corrupt future world and more about the emotional component. And Eva's really wonderful. Seriously.

Have you read this one? DO YOU LOVE SEAN? I would ask if you love Eva but really, Sean is the important one here. Let me know about all of your bookish feels in the comments below!

Waiting On: Golden by Jessi Kirby (19)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: Golden
Author: Jessi Kirby
Release Date: May 14th, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR

Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.

Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.

[Summary Source: Goodreads]

I liked In Honor by Jessi Kirby and everyone's already buzzing about this book, so I'm INTERESTED. Not to mention, this one doesn't sound like your typical YA contemporary story. There are a lot of layers - at least by the way the summary sounds. I just hope the many plots it sounds like this book has doesn't ruin what sounds like awesome.

Have you guys heard anything about this one? Better yet, have you read it? Tell me, tell me in the comments below! 

Top Ten Favorite Books I Read Before I Started Blogging (18)

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

This week's topic: Favorite Books I Read Before I Started Blogging. Given that I only started blogging 4 months ago, I feel like narrowing this list down to ten is going to be somewhat difficult for me, so I think I'll do 5 favorite individual books and 5 favorite series. Cheating? Yes. Acceptable? I make the rules here, so yes.

TOP FIVE INDIVIDUAL BOOKS I LOVE

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I don't love cancer books, so I wasn't going to read this one, but I heard a million amazing things about it and I couldn't help myself, so I picked it up. To everyone who told me to read this: YOU WERE RIGHT. This book has made it onto so many of my Top Ten lists I can't even. It's just so wonderfully sad and funny and amazing all at the same time.

2. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

I love all of the Sarah Dessen books and I'm not even sure if this one's my favorite, but this one was my first. My friend pushed it on me in high school. I wasn't sure because back then I was very fantasy oriented and I felt like contemporary love stories were just fluff. But Sarah Dessen (and my friend) proved me wrong with this book. For that alone this book is a favorite.

3. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
I cried like a small child when I read this book. The protagonist, Sam, is a little annoying at the beginning, but the way Lauren Oliver makes her likable by the end of the book is masterful. I mean, you know the how it has to end and you make peace with that, but by the end you're WISHING for some kind of bookish miracle.

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
There's something so different and so amazing about this book. It took me a while to get through, but I think that's just because the writing style is so unique. Not to mention the subject matter is so utterly fascinating (to me, at least), which puts it squarely on my favorites list.

5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
So I know this book is part of a series, but I don't love all of the books in the series and I LOVE this one, so I figured it deserved special mention. There's just something about the familial themes and the noir that made me re-read this one a hundred times. Okay. Maybe not a hundred, but at least a dozen or so.

TOP FIVE SERIES I LOVE

6. The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins 

I jumped on The Hunger Games train later than everyone else. In fact, the trailer for the movie was already out by the time I picked it up, which is why, when everyone was all "THAT'S NOT WHAT PEETA LOOKS LIKE," I was all, "uh, yeah it is," because Josh Hutcherson was in my head as Peeta from the start. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that The Hunger Games pulled me back into YA. Sure, I read in college, I even read YA, but THG restored the stay up too late reading, book grabby hands element to my life. 

7. The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot

This is another series pushed on me by the same girl who pushed Sarah Dessen. I knew of Meg Cabot at the time (I mean, who didn't? The Princess Diaries owned teenage-land for a good couple of years) but I didn't like ghosts. But, well, I think Jesse is the exception to every rule. And Suze is the best. So double awesome.

8. The Year I Turned 16 by Diane Schwemm

My sister read this series when we were much younger. Since I had to do everything my big sister did (how else do you think I learned how to put on makeup?), I snagged these books as soon as she finished and I loved. I haven't read them recently, but all the good feelings definitely remain.

9.  Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce

My blog has seriously become an ode to Tamora Pierce. But I'm going to keep listing her books as a favorite until everyone I know has fallen to peer pressure and read this book. Seriously. I'm not even kidding. Everyone, go read. 

10. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

This is another series that holds a very special place in my heart. I read The Golden Compass IN SCHOOL and loved. Who knew you could love school books? Well I didn't, at least not until The Golden Compass. It helps that my teacher that year was awesome. And that we listened to the audiobook in class. I'm pretty sure that was my only ever audiobook but as far as I can recall, it was made of awesome.

Sometimes I feel like my Top Ten Tuesday lists are a little repetitive, but I just can't help myself. What about you guys? More of the same? If so, let me know what you can't stop listing in the comments below. If I've already read it, we should talk. If not, maybe I should get to it! 

Veronica Mars Watch-Along Week 3

[Graphic designed by the lovely Judith of Paper Riot]

So, how does this work, super sleuths? Go check out the Watch-Along kick off post for the skinny. I'll give you a second just in case...

All caught up? Good.

In case you already know the basics and just forgot what episodes are up today, here's the list:

• "Meet John Smith"
• "The Wrath of Con"

And, for NEXT WEEK:

• "You Think You Know Someone"
• "Return of the Kane"

And now, Brown Bears (yes, Veronica, that DID happen), let us begin.

THE NOIR
Nothing really happens in these two episodes regarding THE BIG MYSTERY (AKA Lilly's death), although Duncan does have this pretty freaky dream that features his head-bludgeoned-in sister. The whole scene was maybe a little too zombie for my taste, but I will say I liked the hint that maybe Keith Mars is right about something here.

Of course, there are other mysteries to be solved throughout the episodes. The first is the mystery of John Smith. Which seems like it's not anything at first but then WHOA WHAT? I feel like that whole thing was super heavy, but in good way. Like, this isn't just your standard TV drama, it also deal with social issues, but in a non-preachy way, y'know? I ALSO like the way V deals with HER mommy issues while helping this kid deal with his parental problems, but more on that later.

The other mystery an episode has to do with Georgia, Wallace love interest (GET IT WALLACE).

I have absolutely already used this gif and I don't care.

Georgia's basically a dummy, so I might have to rescind this high five a little. Either way, V totally kicks everyone's butt over the course of sticking it to those gamer dirtbags and I am ALL FOR IT. My favorite part of the crime solving here is that Keith is still apart of the cases. He knows what's going on and he helps. Which is SAFE because Veronica is a TEENAGER. Jeeze. Oh and I also really like when V dresses up and goes to that hole of a gamer den. That was hilarious.

PARENTAL PROBLEMS
"The hero is the one that stays and the villain is the one that splits." - Veronica Mars

Is she right? We don't have enough data yet, although it sounds like V's mom is up there on THE WORST scale so far. I mean, she clearly doesn't miss her daughter the way John Smith missed his son, which is enough to make any girl sad enough to sit outside her boyfriend's house for a bit before caving and calling him to hold her while she cries.

I also have issues with Keith this episode. Because I like when he goes to the school counselor upon realizing that his daughter could use a little help, but I don't like the flirting. Keith should know better, the school guidance counselor should know better - I am really underwhelmed with the adults in the show right now.

I'm also not impressed with Keith keeping Veronica in the dark. I know he's trying to protect her, but he should know she's SUPER NOSY and he's only going to alienate her, which can only end in stupid life choices for our protagonist. It's like I said: she's a TEENAGER and she can't do the things her dad can, even if she thinks she can.

THE BOYS
The way I did this last time worked for me, so...

• Duncan: I wanted to punch the boy in the face within the first 3 minutes of "Meet John Smith". YOU CAN'T DO THAT. You dumped her FOR NO REASON and then you're being all nice? NO. Nonono. I don't let. And then you pull that nostalgia crap after almost killing yourself and I'm like:

• Logan: Sure, he's still a jerk, but less so, I think. I mean, you know he's human because he cares about Duncan (both in worried facial expressions and in the way he takes over the memorial video so Duncan doesn't have to go through all of that). And he keeps the snark and anger to himself when Veronica's actually doing him a solid, which is great. But then again, he still calls V Duncan's trailer park ex. So that's a little less promising.
• Troy: Aside from that brief moment with Papa Mars and the homecoming hotel room, Troy's looking like the perfect boyfriend. He's smart, he's witty, he's got what to say AND he doesn't pressure a girl. And seriously. That hug when she came to his house. Seriously.

• Weevil: Did everyone catch him CRYING during the Lilly memorial? Seriously. Something is UP there and I want to know ALL about it.
• Wallace: As previously mentioned, boy's getting his game on. Maybe not with the right girl, but I like the confirmation of the non-stop Nelly video. 

THE FAB FOUR
How much did all of those flashbacks make you want to cry?

I will say I totally loved the end of "The Wrath of Con" when Veronica goes to Homecoming in a red satin dress and stops to go skinny dipping. Lilly would be proud.

FAVORITE QUOTE: 
Keith: "Have you been playing nice with the other children?"
Veronica: "Y'know dad, I'm old school, an eye for an eye."
Keith: "That's actually Old Testament."

How are you guys feeling toward the authority figures of this show? Underwhelmed? Impressed? How about the Fab Four? Reckless? Awesome? Be sure to share all of your impressions in the comments below!

**ONE LAST REMINDER**

NEXT WEEK:

• "You Think You Know Someone"
• "Return of the Kane"