Road Trip Wednesday- Best of June

This Week's YA Highway Road Trip Topic:
What was the best book you read in June?



I had a strange listening month with a lot of adult fiction and nonfiction. I read some good YA (tell you more next week), but the book that stood out the most was:

THE SPIRIT LEVEL-
WHY GREATER EQUALITY MAKES SOCIETIES STRONGER


Don't let the main title fool you, it's not a spiritual book...more sociology/social psychology.

When I learned many years ago that the difference between what a CEO in America makes compared to a regular worker is far greater than any other country and greater now than any time in our history, I felt a vague unease about where that could lead us in the future...I had no idea where it was already leading us.

The benefits of more equality in wealth (note that I didn't say complete equality) are vast and far reaching for everyone involved. Overall mental health, drug use, crime, teen pregnancy and other big issues all improve in more equal societies.

Not sure you believe it? Check out the stats on their website and/or read the book. I found it very eye opening.

What about you? Read this one or anything like it? What was your favorite June Read?

Welcome to Summer/ARC winners

Sorry I've been gone all week...end of school craziness:

Last year of grade school, moving up ceremony (I refuse to call it graduation), slide show, end-of-year party, clapout. With healthy doses of summer league softball thrown in (three games this week)...in horrible heat.

The good news is that I have so many ARCs that everyone who entered my How Many Have You Read/Heard Contest can have a book if they want one.

BUT, I did put in all the entries and drew for first and second choice: Froze8 will get first choice and Alison will get second. (Sorry Alison, I did only snag one Raven Boys, and I doubt if either of you would want me to split the baby in half, Solomon style;)

As soon as I get confirmation of choices from these two, I'll email everyone else.

Thanks everyone for entering, and be sure to come back the first Monday of July for more great ARC giveaways, including The Diviners, by Libba Bray.

What about you? Enjoyed any summer relaxation yet? 

Never Surrender Blogfest

To celebrate her second book, SURRENDER, Elana Johnson is hosting a Never Surrender Blogfest, lasting all week.



We're supposed to share a time when we didn't give up.


I first thought of writing. I've worked hard, survived ups and downs and haven't ever surrendered...but I haven't accomplished all my writing goals yet either.


So, I want to share about a time I beat the odds with hard work, some luck and mostly plain old stubbornness.

I became a full-time working mom when my baby was six weeks old, but she never had a drop of formula. She had 100% breast milk. All from me.

A lot of you probably don't understand how unusual this is. I attended a breastfeeding support group, and the Lactation Specialist who led the group kept warning me, You'll probably have to supplement. It's okay. Everyone does.

But I didn't want to supplement. Why? Well, there are many benefits to breast milk...most convincing  were the IQ Studies...which, in all fairness, they are questioning now.

Still, the most important factor to me was screwing over the formula companies that have been know to do some unethical things to promote their products...I didn't want to give them one bloody red cent.

So, I did my research (loved this book), struggled through my child learning to feed (she liked to bite at first), pumped on the job (in the car and the office bathroom), breast infections (ouch), multiple night feedings (the whole year), and various methods and medications to increase my milk supply (Fenugreek smells horrible, but does work).

And we made it. After a year we had one "go-to-sleep" feeding, and she weaned herself at two years old.


I don't regret one moment of it.
I never doubted we could do it.
And, I never surrendered.


What about you? When was a time you didn't surrender?

How Many Have You Read/Heard Contest (My May Listens)

First off, for those who've entered my contests before, I'm changing things up some:

-ANYONE can enter this contest. Just comment below.
 -You will get BONUS ENTRIES for every one of my May listens you've already read/heard.

Here are all the ARCs I'm giving away:

Yes, that's right. Six ARCs to give away...Because I picked up so many cool books at BEA (Book Expo), and a lot of them have Sep/Oct release dates.

To enter, all you have to do is comment. To get bonus entries, let me know which of my May listens you've read or heard.

My May Listens:

The rescued dog that brought them together will also tear them apart. Contemporary edgy done well.

I know, I'm a little late to this vampire party, but now that all the hype is dying down I feel like I can enjoy a vampire every now and then.

I loved how the author got the male POV in this story by using letters to his uncle back in Romania.

Amazing cover, right?

I'm not a horror fan, so I put off reading this one, but I shouldn't have. This supernatural story creeps up on you, in a good but not overwhelming way.

Second in the werewolf Nightshade series. The beginnings of an uprise and confused loyalties...definitely a trasitions novel. I look forward to the next one.

I already blogged about this one HERE. If you haven't already, read this. It's a good one!








 What about you? Want one of those ARCs? Comment below. And get bonus entries by telling me which of my May listens you've read or heard.

BEA- Still Decompressing

My fourth time at BEA, and I still can't get over how amazing it all is.

The books, the authors, the excitement, the long lines, the fellow fans/bloggers/librarians/publishing professionals in line with you.

Thanks to my still aching feet and shoulders, I brought back TONS of ARCs and books to give away. There's a signed copy of The Fault In Our Stars, a copy of Libba Bray's new book, The Diviners, and Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys....just to name a few of the big ones I managed to snag.

I'm doing my How Many Have You Read/Heard contest (May reads) on Monday...with some of these exciting new ARCS, so come back then.

Anyone can enter to win. You will get bonus entries if you've read any of my May YA audiobook listens.

Right now, I want to share a pic of my most prized objects from BEA...Amazingly enough, they're not books this year.

Aren't they great? The tote is so high quality, it looks like something you'd buy at Barnes & Noble. And the t-shirt? Well, Poe was my first literary love and I was still a total fangirl around all the authors at BEA this year, so it's just perfect.

What about you? Which author (dead or alive) would you be a total fangirl/boy around?