Love is Love Double Discussion!!!

*blog makes cricket noises from lack of posting*
*Hannah smashes crickets*

Natalie: Blame school.
Hannah: Seriously. And blame college applications.
Natalie: Basically, we have a lot of excuses.
Hannah: We're bad bloggers.
Natalie: Sorry about that. You can hate us if you want to.
Hannah: But to make up for it (and hopefully make you hate us less), we have a double book discussion today!
Natalie: On to the discussions!

Natalie: One of the panels we really enjoyed at the Decatur Book Festival was the Love is Love Panel. This panel discussed LGBT in YA books.
Hannah: There were two authors, Sara Farizan and David Levithan. They both discussed their latest books (until it started storming).
Natalie: If You Could Be Mine is Sara's fantastic debut novel:

In this stunning debut, a young Iranian American writer pulls back the curtain on one of the most hidden corners of a much-talked-about culture. Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend, Nasrin, since they were six. They’ve shared stolen kisses and romantic promises. But Iran is a dangerous place for two girls in love—Sahar and Nasrin could be beaten, imprisoned, even executed if their relationship came to light. So they carry on in secret—until Nasrin’s parents announce that they’ve arranged for her marriage. Nasrin tries to persuade Sahar that they can go on as they have been, only now with new comforts provided by the decent, well-to-do doctor Nasrin will marry. But Sahar dreams of loving Nasrin exclusively—and openly. Then Sahar discovers what seems like the perfect solution. In Iran, homosexuality may be a crime, but to be a man trapped in a woman’s body is seen as nature’s mistake, and sex reassignment is legal and accessible. As a man, Sahar could be the one to marry Nasrin. Sahar will never be able to love the one she wants, in the body she wants to be loved in, without risking her life. Is saving her love worth sacrificing her true self?
(Cover and synopsis from Goodreads)

Hannah: This book was really unique.
Natalie: We've never read anything like it before.
Hannah: It was cool that it was set in a different country and we got to learn about their culture.
Natalie: The book deals with two lesbian best friends and it was interesting to see how a different culture handled it.
Hannah: The characters were my favorite part of the book. They were very  likable.
*Hannah takes a break to play FreeFlow*
Natalie: Apparently it's my turn to talk...
I really liked the characters too. They were very real and convincing. I felt bad for them and their situation, but they were also able to lighten the mood through humor.
Hannah: It was great to have characters that made you laugh with them and then made your heart break a little bit for them.
Natalie: We don't want to say too much about the plot because we don't want to spoil it, but it was a beautiful story with amazing writing that captured our attention and emotions. 
Hannah: We were so glad to be able to meet Sara and we highly highly recommend her book.

New York Times  bestselling author David Levithan tells the based-on-true-events story of Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record—all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS.
While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teen boys dealing with languishing long-term relationships, coming out, navigating gender identity, and falling deeper into the digital rabbit hole of gay hookup sites—all while the kissing former couple tries to figure out their own feelings for each other.

(Cover and synopsis from Goodreads)





Hannah: At the Love is Love panel, David Levithan said that he tried to write the stereotypical David Levithan novel, or something like that. It's been a while since that panel, so excuse our memories. Anyway, it totally worked. Two Boys Kissing was absolutely amazing.
Natalie: We both read it during the car ride home from Decatur. And we both loved it.
Hannah: It was short and sweet, like all David Levithan books. This one is tied with Love is the Higher Law for my favorite of his books.
Natalie: It tackles many social issues in a raw, open way.
Hannah: The best part was the omniscient narrator. I love books with omniscient narrators and it seems like there aren't enough.
Natalie: All of the characters are real, flawed, and believable. 
Hannah: Basically, go read this book now. Or else...

Decatur Book Festival 2013!!!!

Hannah: Over Labor Day weekend we got to take a road trip to Decatur, Georgia for the Decatur Book Festival!
Natalie: It was super fun!

With Myra McEntire

*Emma pops in*

Emma: Hello! *waves*
Hannah: Emma is going to help us recap the festival since she was along for the (nine hour) ride.
Natalie: And she was our sherpa!
Emma: That basically meant that I held umbrellas and saved seats.
Hannah: Have Natalie and I told you how awesome you are lately, Emma?
Emma: Not particularly.
Natalie: Well, you're awesome!!!

Part One: It's a Party in the Min-i-van

Hannah: We started our car ride with the playlist that Natalie and I specially made for DBF. That didn't annoy our mothers at all.
Natalie: Especially when we turned "Party in the U.S.A." into Party in the Minivan.
Emma: We did actually pass a Hollywood sign somewhere in the middle of Illinois. Though it was on our left, not on our right.
Hannah: Then I started reading Wuthering Heights, which I had to finish for school.

Natalie: We stopped at the Metropolis rest stop, where Hannah and Emma's mom got us Great River Road in Illinois National Scenic Byway coloring books! Then I told Hannah to "finish your book for AP Lit so we can be like five year olds!"
Hannah: Then we colored in a picture of "dear" and then corrected all of the spelling and grammar mistakes in the GRRiINSB coloring books. And then commented on how nerdy we are.

We only had orange, purple, and red Sharpies

Emma: After the coloring got boring, I started knitting a veryvery long Doctor Who scarf.

Hannah & Natalie: We don't understand this.
Hannah: Then Emma taught us to knit pygmy puffs (and we again commented on our nerdiness) and Natalie got mad at her knitting needles. A lot.
Natalie: I can now say from experience that knitting sucks. Unless you're good at it. Which I am not.
Emma: Then Lee, our Australian GPS, told us we were almost at the hotel, so we bounced around excitedly.
Natalie: Until we saw the hotel.

Part Two: Alarm goes "whoop, whoop"

Hannah: The hotel we stayed at will forever be referred to as the hotel from hell.
Emma: They lost our reservation.
Hannah: Our room was on a partially smoking floor.
Natalie: There was a hair in our coffee pot.
Emma: The floors were so gross that our mom didn't even let us put our suitcases on the floor.
Hannah: The lampshade had holes in it.
Natalie: And the ceiling had a . . . bladder.

We were afraid the ceiling would leak

Hannah: We gave up on the hotel and left for dinner.
Emma: The elevator apparently was the Great Glass Elevator from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Hannah: And we saw these signs. . .

Natalie: So then we went out to dinner with Hannah and Emma's cousins. We started to get lost and eventually figured out that we needed to go in a "Waffle-Housery direction".
Emma: When we finally got there, we told our cousins all about our lovely hotel.
Hannah: They told us to leave the ceiling bladder at the hotel and let us stay in their apartment.
Natalie: By the way, thankyouthankyouthankyou!

Part Three: "It's like the South is french kissing me all over!"--Robyn Schneider

Emma: We got there super-early and staked out some nice shady seats because it was like a billion and three degrees out.
Natalie: We're St. Louis girls, who are used to humidity but not the hot Georgia sun.

Hannah: The first panel was the Sci-Fi Panel with D.J. MacHale and Rick Yancey.

D.J. MacHale

Rick Yancey

Natalie: This was the first panel, so we didn't know how the signing line worked. So we ended up at the end of a very long line.
Hannah: Next was the Zombies and Others Who Are Not Quite Dead Yet Panel with Amy Tintera and Jonathan Maberry.
Natalie: Which I missed because I was still in the signing line from the previous panel.

With Amy Tintera

Emma: Well, How Did I Get Here? with Myra McEntire, Lauren Miller, and Michelle Hodkin was the next panel. The authors were all very funny, as was the moderator.
Natalie: We didn't understand how all of them had jeans on. Myra and Michelle even had black jackets! We were grossly hot in shorts and t-shirts.

Moderator, Lauren Miller, Myra McEntire, Michelle Hodkin

Natalie: Next was Francesca Lia Block. I got her new book, Love in the Time of Global Warming, which is really really pretty.
Hannah: Natalie stroked the cover for about ten minutes after she bought it.
Natalie: It's pretty!
Emma: Robyn Schneider, Lauren Morrill, and Bridie Clark were on the Love and Romance Panel. We all enjoyed the panel, as all the authors were hilarious.

Terra McVoy (moderator), Bridie Clark, Lauren Morrill

Natalie: We took a picture with Robyn Schneider during the signing line, and she tried to crawl under the table because she was afraid the picture would look bad. Unfortunately, there was a table cloth in the way.

With Robyn Schneider

Hannah: Lauren Morrill was also awesome! We talked Gilmore Girls couples (Rory and Jess are the best) and lamented Bunheads.

With Lauren Morrill

Emma: The last panel we went to was the More Sci-Fi Thrills and Chills, with Robin Wasserman and Geoffrey Girard.
Hannah: When Robin Wasserman signed her alibi in Who Done It?, she said that she still had not gotten a copy of the book.

With Robin Wasserman

Part Four: "This is the most biblical reading I've ever given"--David Levithan

Natalie: The weather was perfect when we arrived at the Fierce Reads Panel. Leigh Bardugo, Gennifer Albin, Anna Banks, and Marie Rutkoski were all hilarious.
Emma: The q&a started off with Leigh Bardugo's twitter dance. That video is floating around on instagram if you want to see it.
Natalie: The best quotes of the panel were courtesy of Anna Banks.
"Everything I say is under the influence of Benadryl."
"That's how I felt about outlines: bra in the shower"
"I thought I could write a book when I first read Twilight"
"I set out to be really charming and that didn't work out" (on what she wanted to be when she grows up)
Emma: Leigh Bardugo was a close second in hilarity
"I have metaphorical allergies so I want to go to a metaphorical spa"
"And I occasionally have broccoli in my hair"
"I don't agree!!! Thank you."
"It's like you have taken a giant pile of crap and spread it on the screen and said I wrote that!" (on first drafts)
"He asked me if I had minions, which I don't, but then he introduced me to his." (On talking to George R. R. Martin)

With Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo, Marie Rutkoski

Leigh Bardugo, Marie Rutkoski, Gennifer Albin, Anna Banks (who has a pole covering her face. Sorry!)

Hannah: Next was one of the panels we were most looking forward too, the Love is Love Panel with David Levithan and Sara Farizan!
Emma: We missed the first few minutes of Sara's reading because the Fierce Reads signing line was kinda long. :(
Natalie: Then David Levithan started reading from Two Boys Kissing and it started to thunder ominously. Hence the quote used for the title of this section.

"It's always the lesbians who fall for me. That's why I'm single."--David Levithan

Hannah: The weather got bad and we were all ushered under the signing line tent, with its metal poles, because apparently it is magical and will protect us all from the ominous weather. 

*Not trusting the magical metal tent*

Natalie: Then we finally got our books signed by David Levithan and Sara Farizan, and we only got a little bit wet. (Thanks to our sherpa holding an umbrella over us)
Hannah: Actually, I think the umbrella was over the books, not us. Because they are more important. 

With David Levithan

Emma, Hannah, & Natalie: Next we got to meet SUSAN BETH PFEFFER!!!!!
Emma: And we learned that the P is silent in Pfeffer.
Natalie: But it's still more fun to pronounce the P and say P-feffer.
Hannah:  She went on the stage early so people could ask questions, so we got a picture with her!

With Susan Pfeffer

Natalie: She was super nice and funny. And we only fangirled a little. Fine, a lot.
Emma: Hannah and I share a lot of books, including the whole Life as We Knew It Series. Susan Beth Pfeffer alternated signing them Hannah & Emma and Emma & Hannah, which was funny and nice of her.

Susan Pfeffer

Natalie: We had a break in between panels, so we wandered about the wet square. And we met Mirabelle, an adorable dog, who has her own book series.

Doesn't Mirabelle look thrilled to be posing with us?

Natalie: Next was the blogger panel, which was interesting and made us realize that we have no idea what we are doing.
Hannah: Then we got to eat dinner with Sara Farizan!
Emma: !!!!!
Hannah: Turns out Sara knew our cousins from college.

With Sara Farizan

Natalie: Anyway, dinner was awesome. We talked writing and book nerdiness with Sara, and ate yummy potato rounds.
Emma: They reminded us of Trader Joe's popped potato chips, which we ate a ton of in the car, so we decided they were the official food of our trip.

So good!

Part Five: The End (plus random pictures)

We had such a fun trip and we hope we can go back next year!

Emma wore these earrings on the first day and got tons of compliments! We think she should open an Etsy store.

Little Shop of Stories

We saw these in Little Shop of Stories and flipped out! We love the new covers!

All of our books! (And some slightly crappy lighting)

We got a some cool swag. The "Let's all privateer" button is Natalie's favorite

The song that was stuck in our heads for the majority of the trip: No One Knows by The Section Quartet

Disclaimer: We cannot guarantee the accuracy of any quotes. We only paraphrased from our memories. Or something. So they could be wrong, but they should be mostly right.

Emma and her pygmy puff say thanks for reading!

One last note: We have some extra swag from this and the RT Booklover's Convention that we went to last May. Would any of you be interested in a giveaway? Let us know in the comments!

Decatur Book Festival!!!

This post is brought to you by exclamation points, SENTENCES IN ALL CAPS, and the word 'excited'.

Natalie: FIVE DAYS!!!
Hannah: Maybe you should clarify.
Natalie: The title clarifies it.
Hannah: I guess I'll clarify it then. We're going to the Decatur Book Festival!
Natalie: WE'RE SO EXCITED!
Hannah: We plan on getting a lot of books to review-
Natalie: -and meeting lots of awesome authors-
Hannah: -like...
Natalie and Hannah: SUSAN BETH PFEFFER!!!!!!!!
Hannah: You might have heard of her. She wrote that little book called LIFE AS WE KNEW IT!!!
Natalie:We aren't excited about that at all...
Hannah:We're so excited to meet authors, fellow book lovers, and fellow bloggers!
Natalie: We plan on writing a full recap of the festival so we can tell you about all the awesomeness that went down!
Hannah: You know it hasn't actually happened yet, right? How do you know that any awesomeness went down?
Natalie: AWESOMENESS WILL GO DOWN!!!
Hannah: If you say so.
Natalie: Anyway, be prepared for wacky pictures, funny stories-
Hannah: -and book-squealing, of course!
Natalie: There's so much to do and we probably won't post another review until after the festival, so we'll see you guys after we get back from Georgia!

If He Had Been With Me Review!

If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin

If he had been with me, he wouldn't have died.
Throughout their whole childhood, Finn and Autumn were inseparable—they finished each other's sentences, they knew just what to say when the other person was hurting. But one incident in middle school puts them in separate social worlds come high school, and Autumn has been happily dating James for the last 2 years. But she's always wondered what if...
The night she's about to get the answer is also one of terrible tragedy.

(Picture and synopsis from Goodreads.)

Natalie: We were lucky enough to meet Laura Nowlin at our localish library, and when we told her we were going to review this book, she said to be honest. (More about this at the end...)
Hannah: And we can honestly say that we loved it!

WE ARE GOING TO SPOIL THE GREEN SOCKS OFF OF THIS BOOK!!! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT, SKIP TO THE RATING SECTION AT THE END!!!

Natalie: How about we start with the green socks?
Hannah: What do you want to say about the green socks?
Natalie: I don't know. It was funny.
Hannah: Apparently we can't form sentences that actually sound good today. 
Natalie: How about we squeal about stuff? We can do that!
I want a baby goat named Augusta!
Hannah: Me too! Even though a goat tried to eat my dress once when I was five.
Natalie: But goats are so cute!
Now onto characters that aren't goats.
Hannah: I loved Autumn's character, but I didn't like how she thought that she would just marry Jamie and everything would be perfect. Mostly because Jamie irritated me, but also because no high school freshman has their life that planned out. 
Natalie: It seemed a little naive, especially for someone starting high school. That's around the time that most people realize that happily ever afters don't usually happen in real life.
Hannah: Though I guess freshman year is a lot of being glad you still have time before having to deal with standardized tests and college searching and everything.
Time for quotes that make us hate Jamie. 
"It's hard to predict when Jamie will approve or disapprove of any eccentricity of mine." (page 70)
"'I will never, ever, never leave you,' he says." (page 63) 
"That isn't beautiful. That just sucks." (page 138, while they are discussing the meaning of life)
Natalie: And now a character we did like--Finn. He was so nice and he always saw the best in people.
Hannah: And even though there was a rift between him and Autumn, he kept it friendly between them. Autumn and Finn had such a great friendship that they were able to go right back into being friends even after the awkward period between them. They were more of best friends than Autumn and Sasha ever could have been. And he was so concerned when Autumn got the black eye from Jamie when they were sledding.
Natalie: "'F*** you, Sylvie,' I say." (page 100)
That was exactly what I was thinking for pretty much the entire book. The author wanted the reader to hate this character and it worked really well. 
Hannah: That pretty much sums up our feelings for Sylvie.
I loved how If He Had Been With Me was set in Saint Louis, our lovely hometown. I really liked reading and hearing something about how St. Louis winters go on forever and just thinking, yeah, pretty much. 
Natalie: Also, she mentioned something about how September is a summer month in St. Louis and how the weather doesn't turn cold until October or even November. Sadly, this is true. St. Louis is special in the way that winter and summer drag on forever.
Now for a quote that we book nerds love.
"I want to savor this wonder, this happening of loving a book and reading it for the first time, because the first time is always the best, and I will never read this book for the first time ever again." (page 141).
Hannah: Besides Jamie and Sasha, I liked Autumn's friends a lot. 
Natalie: It was surprising when Angie got pregnant. 
Hannah: It was, but I did like that she never was that mad that she got pregnant. It wasn't what she ever thought would happen, but she ended up being very happy. 
Natalie: And Preppy Dave was so supportive.
Hannah: I thought that they all should have stopped calling him Preppy Dave when they got married.
Now back to hating Jamie. I hated how he thought Autumn was too depressed so he just didn't want to deal with it, even after he had said he wasn't ever going to leave her. He's a horrible boyfriend and person.
Natalie: "Sasha and I have discovered that we have feelings for each other." (page 245) OH REALLY. 
Natalie: So let's talk about Finn's death. I didn't like the way he died.
Hannah: But it's a tragic ending. Like every single book I read in English last year.
Natalie: I understood that the author wanted Finn's death to be Sylvie's fault, but I thought he should have just died in the car crash instead of the freak electrocution. My issue with the ending was that after Autumn tried to kill herself, she realizes that she might be pregnant. Suddenly, she doesn't want to die anymore and everything's going to be perfect and Finn is going to live on through this baby that she might have. It's as if this suicide attempt was completely forgotten and now that she might be pregnant, everything's okay. I loved this book so much, but this ending is the reason I didn't give it five stars.







Ratings (no spoilers beyond this point)

Hannah's Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭
Natalie's Rating:  ✭✭✭✭1/2

Overall Impression:
Hannah: I loved this book. The characters, the voice, everything was so interesting and unlike anything I've read before. The ending wasn't my favorite, but I still loved this book. 
Natalie: I really enjoyed this book. It was very "character driven" and each of the characters was fantastic. The book was very well written and an addictive read. I took off half a star because I had a problem with the ending, but other than that this book was amazing.

Emma (Hannah's sister), Natalie, Hannah, and Laura Nowlin

We talked to Laura Nowlin after the reading, and she was really nice and funny. Afterwards we explored the Wizard of Oz storybook exhibit and we posed as munchkins.

Hannah, Natalie, and Emma

Aren't we cute munchkins?