Mini Review: Just One Night by Gayle Forman

Just One Night (Just One Day #2.5)
Author: Gayle Forman
Release Date: May 29, 2014
Publisher: Vikings Children's Books
Format: ebook
Source: Personal Copy
Review by: Jenn

After spending one life-changing day in Paris with laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter, sheltered American good girl Allyson “Lulu” Healey discovered her new lover had disappeared without a trace. Just One Day followed Allyson’s quest to reunite with Willem; Just One Year chronicled the pair’s year apart from Willem’s perspective. Now, back together at last, this delectable e-novella reveals the couple’s final chapter.

4 stars out of 5 stars

I'm extremely happy that Gayle wrote this little novella and gave us a little more closure with Allyson and Willem's story. While I was okay with Just One Year's ending, getting this "epilogue" of a sort, definitely helped in moving on from these characters. It gave me enough to imagine how their story may continue.

Also, with just a few pages, Gayle gave me travel wanderlust all over again. Along with the feels with her words. I can't wait to read more of Gayle's words.

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Second Chance Read: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day (Just One Day #1)
Author: Gayle Forman
Release Date: January 3, 2013
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library Overdrive
Review by: Jenn

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

4 stars out of 5 stars

The audiobook for Just One Day was such a breeze to get through. The narrator did a great job of capturing Gayle's way with words. She made the world Gayle wrote come alive. I felt all of Allyson's confusion, indecision, and eventual rebellion in her quest to find the answers that have plagued her for a year. I fell in love with Gayle's storytelling ability all over again.

Audiobooks are becoming the best way for me to go back and fall in love all over again with books that I initially read and loved a while ago. And that is exactly how I felt about this audiobook.

Have you listened to the audio or read the book? What do you think?

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Stacking the Shelves (#31)

Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Team Tynga's Reviews, is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This mean you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course, ebooks.

Morning friends!

So far, in the month of April I've gotten a few books.

For review: 

THE WEDDING AGREEMENT by Elizabeth Hayley

FLY WITH ME by Chanel Cleeton

INTO THE BLUE by Chanel Cleeton

From the library:

JUST ONE DAY by Gayle Forman

THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS by Ann Brashares

I bought:

UNTRACEABLE by Laura Griffin

UNSPEAKABLE by Laura Griffin

JUST ONE NIGHT by Gayle Forman

It been a good month so far! What have you added to your shelves?

Swoony Boy of the Month - Adam Wilde from If I Stay

Swoony Boy of the Month is our new feature where we spotlight a favorite and/or swoony boy from the books we have read.

For our first Swoony Boy, we are spotlighting one of the first swoony boy, Adam Wilde! Adam comes to us from Gayle Forman's If I Stay and Where She Went. He made us swoon with his lyrics, and his good looks. He also has one of the saddest lines in If I Stay and if you don't cry, you may have a heart made of stone. Let's meet Adam, shall we?

“This is the you I like. You definitely dressed sexier and are, you know, blond, and that's different. But the you who are tonight is the same you I was in love with yesterday, the same you I'll be in love with tomorrow. I love that you're fragile and tough, quiet and kick-ass. ” - Adam Wilde
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay

Source

“I want you to play me like a cello.” - Adam Wilde
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay

Source

“You don’t share me. You own me.”
― Gayle Forman, Where She Went

Source

“All I can think about is how fucked up it would be for your life to end here, now. I mean I know that your life if fucked up no matter what now, forever. And I'm not dumb enough to think that I can undo that, that anyone can. But I can't wrap my mind around the notion of you not getting old, having kids, going to Juilliard, getting to play that cello in front of a huge audience, so that they can get the chills the way I do every time I see you pick up your bow, every time I see you smile at me.” - Adam Wilde
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay

“If you stay, I'll do whatever you want. I'll quit the band, go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I'll do that, too. I was talking to Liz and she said maybe coming back to your old life would be too painful, that maybe it'd be easier for you to erase us. And that would suck, but I'd do it. I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay.” - Adam Wilde
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay

Source

“Please Mia," he implores. "Don't make me write a song.” - Adam Wilde
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay

Source

“But I'd do it again. I know that now. I'd make that promise a thousand times over and lose her a thousand times over to have heard her play last night or to see her in the morning sunlight. Or even without that. Just to know that she's somewhere out there. Alive.” - Adam Wilde
― Gayle Forman, Where She Went

Ugh. His line, "Please Mia, don't make me write a song" kills me even four years after I first read the book. If you haven't already read this book, I implore you to do so because Gayle Forman knows how to bring the feels and with this book plus Adam will just give you a punch in the gut.

Favorite Friday (#47) - If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Have a favorite book? Series? One that you've just read or are currently reading? Favorite Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Books and Swoons where we spotlight some of our Favorite Reads. Everyone is welcome to join. Just enter your information on the linky or leave us a comment!

This week pick is: If I Stay by Gayle Forman.

On a day that started like any other… Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, adoring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. Then, in an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the one decision she has left—the most important decision she’ll ever make.

Simultaneously tragic and hopeful, this is a romantic, riveting and ultimately uplifting story about memory, music, living, dying, loving.

If I Stay was one of the first books I read when I started reading again so it will always have a soft spot in heart. However, it became one of the books whose authors became auto-buy for me. I became enamored with Gayle's writing and If I Stay was the start of the love affair.

About the author:

My name is Gayle Forman and I love to write young-adult novels. Because I do. So thank you for reading them. Because without you, it’d just be me. And the voices in my head.

Gayle Forman is an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in such publications as Jane, Seventeen, Glamour, Elle, and The New York Times Magazine, to name just a few. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Facebook / Tumblr / Instagram

I hope you can join us in sharing and talking about some of your favorite reads. Book talk always make me happy. 

What are one of your favorite reads?

Day 5 of the 14 Days of Fictional Swoon Blog Hop - Masters of Swoons

Morning Swooners,

I'm super excited to be able to participate in this blog hop hosted by the lovely ladies from Fic Fare and the Swoony Boys Podcast. Over the next week and a half, 25 blogs will be hosting giveaways and a scavenger hunt where each blog participating will have an assigned word/phrase that needs to be found before being able to enter the grand giveaway. The word/phrase will be highlighted/bolded somewhere throughout the post. 

                                   

There come a point in every book lover's life where they just KNOW of an author that can provide them with the most sweetest, swooniest, dream-worthy, bring the feels, knows how make the book come alive for you author. And if we're really lucky, we can name several authors that just know how to provide the swoons. Today we have this list.

Our Masters of Swoons are as follows: 

Jennifer's pick:

1. Gayle Forman

2. Tahereh Mafi

3. Sarah J. Maas

4. Stephanie Perkins

5. Michelle Hodkin

Nahomi's pick:

1. Jane Austen

2. Kristi Cook

3. Jennifer L. Armentrout

4. Cora Carmack

5. Christina Lauren

I don't know about you guys, but this list gives me the excite!feels. 

than you think

Now, for the giveaway portion of the show. Nahomi and I decided we wanted to give away a copy of her newest fave swooniest book, Magnolia by Kristi Cook. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For the grand blog hop giveaway, you need to enter here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

14 Days of Fictional Swooning Schedule

• February 1st- Fiction Fare 
• February 1st- Swoony Boys Podcast 
• February 2nd- Literary, etc.
• February 3rd- Adventures in YA Publishing
• February 3rd- A Soul Unsung: Book Gossip for the Soul
• February 4th- Bookish Things & More
• February 5th- Books and Swoons
• February 5th- Love at First Page 
• February 6th- Awesome Book Nuts
• February 6th- Mainstream Passionista
• February 6th- The Book Sphere 
• February 7th- I Turn the Pages
• February 7th- Andi's ABCs
• February 8th- Na's Not So Newsworthy Thoughts
• February 8th- WhoRUBlog
• February 9th- Gun in Act One
• February 9th- We So Nerdy 
• February 10th- What Sarah Read
• February 10th- Flutters and Flails
• February 11th- The Book Addict's Guide 
• February 11th- Effortlessly Reading
• February 11th- Lostbraincell's Bookish Blog
• February 12th- GReads!
• February 12th- Books Equal Awesomeness
• February 13th- My Friends Are Fiction
• February 13th- Lee Kelly: New Write City
• February 14th- Fiction Fare 
• February 14th- Swoony Boys Podcast

Thanks so much for stopping by and for Jaime, Erin, Meg, and Kassiah for hosting this awesome blog hop.

Quotes (#91)

Morning Swooners,
I am EXHAUSTED... Today starts new week, for those of you that are off today good for you. For those of you who have to work like me, I feel your pain... I wish I were home doing nothing too. But for now here are our quotes.

“If you stay, I'll do whatever you want. I'll quit the band, go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I'll do that, too. I was talking to Liz and she said maybe coming back to your old life would be too painful, that maybe it'd be easier for you to erase us. And that would suck, but I'd do it. I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay.”
 ~ Gayle Forman, If I Stay

“I choose you over everyone.”
~Rainbow Rowell, Fangirl

“What a powerful feeling, love, able to withstand time and distance and disagreements. No wonder I wanted it so badly.” 
~Jodi Meadows, Asunder

“My life might have begun as a mistake, but I wouldn't let it end as one.”
~Jodi Meadows, Asunder

“Damn, I know. I remember your mountains of books. I want to build you a library." Jack lowered his mouth and kissed me. I swallowed as emotion clogged my throat. He might as well have asked me to marry him.”
~Natasha Boyd, Forever, Jack

“We're actors in our lives, pretendin' to be who we want people to think we are.”
 ~Simone Elkeles, Perfect Chemistry

“You own a piece of me," he murmurs as he holds me afterward. "Good," I tell him. "And just so you know… I'm never giving it back.”
 ~ Simone Elkeles, Better Than Perfect

Hope you all have a great week.

Waiting on Wednesday (#88)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Morning swooners!

This week pre-publication "can't wait to read" selection is:

I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Expected Release Date: January 27, 2015

Links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Goodreads

Synopsis:

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.
When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

It Gayle Forman and anything Gayle Forman writes, I will read. That's my motto and I hope you also follow that as well.

What are you "Waiting on?"

Favorite Friday (#2) - Where She Went by Gale Forman

Have a favorite book? Series? One that you've just read or are currently reading? Favorite Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Books and Swoons where we spotlight some of our Favorite Reads. Everyone is welcome to join. Just enter your information on the linky or leave us a comment!

It's been three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life.
And three years he's spent wondering why.
When their paths cross again in New York City, Adam and Mia are brought back together for one life-changing night.
Adam finally has the opportunity to ask Mia the questions that have been haunting him. But will a few hours in this magical city be enough to lay their past to rest, for good - or can you really have a second chance at first love?

This weeks favorite read is Where She Went by Gayle Forman. This is the sequel to If I Stay but from Adams point of view. I've read it so many times that I've lost count. Oh the feels! Adam is real and makes me swoon constantly throughout the book. Where She Went is such a great story, it's definitely a must read!

Wow. This is crazy long. I suppose the short version of this bio could simply read: My name is Gayle Forman and I love to write young-adult novels. Because I do. So thank you for reading them. Because without you, it’d just be me. And the voices in my head.

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Tumblr

I hope you can join us in sharing and talking about some of your favorite reads. Book talk always make me happy. 

What is one of your favorite reads?

Christmas Giveaway! YALLFest Edition

Hi there lovelies,

Our little YALLFest group

So when Nahomi and I went to YALLFest back in November we met A LOT of authors. It was such an exciting and mind-blowing experience and I wish it lasted several days instead of that really long and exhausting day. To prepare for the event, we broke down the schedule and the authors attending and we went to town organizing our schedule and checking to see which books we had and which one we had to buy.

While planning and buying books, we realized that we wanted to give away some signed books to our lovely followers. While we wanted to get a ton of books signed for everyone, unfortunately there was limit on how many books an author could sign at time. But I like to think that we managed to get some really cool books and swag for some lucky winners.

So in the spirit of Christmas, (and really, in procrastination. YALLFest was back in November and I've been meaning to do this post for a while) we'll be doing a giveaway of all our signed goodies, such as: signed books, bookmarks, tote bags and posters.

Here's what up for grab:

1. There will 3 winners for the signed books. The 1st winner will get to pick 2 books and then the 2nd winner will choose between the two books leftover and the 3rd winner will get what left. Here are the books up for grab: Just One Day by Gayle Forman, Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, Legend by Marie Lu and The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.
2. There will be a winner for a *book shimmy* tote bag from Epic Reads along with some swag. (Some signed by the author).
3. Three Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi chapters sampler excerpt.
4. A signed poster by Marie Lu with some swag and
5. A Divergent movie poster with some swag as well.

Whew! Getting that organized was a mission. And if that wasn't clear enough, that NINE (9) winners!

Since I'm doing this with only a few days before Christmas, and it being such a big one as it is, the giveaway will be running until January 17th, 2014.


So just go and have fun filling out the Rafflecopter! Good luck, Swooners!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Just One Year by Gayle Forman

Just One Year (Just One Day #2) By: Gayle Forman
Release Date: October 10, 2013
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Source: Borrowed ARC from friend
Reviewed by: Jenn
Links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Goodreads / IndieBound

My rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 stars

Synopsis:
Just One Day. Just One Year. Just One Read.

Before you can find out how their story ends, remember how it began...

When he opens his eyes, Willem doesn't know where in the world he is - Prague or Dubrovnik or back in Amsterdam. All he knows is that he is once again alone, and that he needs to find a girl named Lulu. They shared one magical day in Paris, and something about that day - that girl - makes Willem wonder if they aren't fated to be together. He travels all over the world, from Mexico to India, hoping to reconnect with her.But as months go by and Lulu remains elusive, Willem starts to question if the hand of fate is as strong as he'd thought...

The romantic, emotional companion Just One Day, this is a story of the choices we make and the accidents that happen - and the happiness we can find when the two intersect.

The Plot:

- Just like in Just One Day, I found the plot to be a bit slow but also realistic. Both Willelm and Allyson go on a self-discovery journey which takes time.

- I guess because Willem was always traveling, it didn’t feel like it had the slow pace of Just One Day.

Secondary Characters:

- I love every person Willem meets while traveling and living at home.

- I just love how they all made an impression on him and how he grew as person because of it.

- He may always be traveling and never settled down, but he has people who really cares about him and who want to help him and in doing so, pushes him into action.

- Meeting Yael, his mom, really was a great way of learning about Willem. He’s so closed off, even to the reader, but meeting his mom helped me understand him better.

Willem:

- Early on the book, I noticed how little we knew of him in Just One Day. He mentioned some people, who we later learned that it was his parents, but I realize that he told Allyson so little about himself that it was like I wasn’t reading part of a series.

- He may feel alone since his father and grandfather died and his mom is so far away and they don’t really talk but he does have a family: his friends. He hasn’t realized it yet but his friends are his family since they pushed him into searching for "Lulu".

- When he went to India, it saddened me a bit at how his relationship with Yael was so severed. However, I loved that they managed to reconnect and are working trying to be in each other life.

- My favorite scene was the end when he realized that Allyson’s and his relationship “beginning” is just like his parents. Their missed connections and how they got to that point. Weeks later, I still get the fuzzy feeling of that scene.

I loved Just One Year a lot more than Just One Day and I hope that Allyson and Willem got their double happiness. But I like to think that they did ;)

Review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day (Just One Day #1) 
By Gayle Forman 
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Source: Personal Copy
Review by: Jenn
Links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Goodreads / IndieBound

A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay.
When sheltered American good girl Allyson "Lulu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there's an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.
Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem's story - Just One Year - is coming soon!

4.5 stars out of 5 stars

       I'm a big fan of Gayle Forman's If I Stay and Where She Went and when I first heard that she had a new book planned, I was immediately sold on it without knowing anything about it. So when I finally got my hands on Just One Day, I just knew I was going to love it.

As I was reading Just One Day, I felt the plot moving a little slow but considering what Allyson, the main character, was going through it made sense why it did. Gayle Forman managed to write about Paris in such a detailed way that I felt like I was experiencing it right along with Allyson. Ms. Forman also has a way of writing that is so simplistic and elegant but it leaves you feeling every emotion possible. I was a left reeling by the end of this book. I felt as if I went on a self-discovery journey with Allyson and I didn't know how to feel afterwards.

I really enjoyed reading about Allyson and her story. I found her to be such an approachable and relatable character. I feel like she is a typical young girl who is confused about life and doesn't really know what she wants to do with her life. She is afraid of disappointing her parents, specifically her mother, so it takes her some time to stand up to her. Willem is the Dutch actor Allyson meets in London and all through out their one day together, I didn't know how to feel about him. I liked him for the little information that he did give us but he kept this air of mystery around him that sort of stopped me from being charmed by him. Because of this, I can't wait for Willem's book so we can learn about the mysterious, charming, laid-back actor.

Overall, I adored Just One Day. I found it to be such a wonderful read and all I want to do now is hop on a plane, travel the world and go on my own self-discovery journey. I can't wait to read Just One Year and learn more about Willem and Allyson and if they ever get their double happiness.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Book on my Fall 2013 TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the wonderful girls at The Broke and The Bookish. Every week the girls come up with a subject and we have to answer them.

Morning Swooners,

For this week Top 10 is the top 10 fall books on my TBR list. Hopefully, I'll get to them all.

1. Allegiant by Veronica Roth - Duh.

2. Just One Year by Gayle Forman - I need this book already. I loved Just One Day

3. Beautiful Bombshell by Christina Lauren - It a crazy world I'm living in that I haven't read this already considering I own it.

4. Beautiful Player by Christina Lauren - I need this book as well.

5. Beautiful Beginning by Christina Lauren - ok I might be cheating but they're all being released within a month of each other!

6. Altered by Gennifer Albin - I've had the ARC of this book for a while but I can't wait to finally dig in.

7. Inhuman by Kat Falls - I got the ARC as well as an egalley so I can't wait to read.

8. Countdown by Michelle Rowen - I have the egalley and I can't wait to dig in.

9. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter - I've already started this for fun but other blogging obligations have stopped me but I know I'll finish this before the end of the year.

10. Parasite by Mira Grant - this is one of the book I'm most excited about, aside from Allegian, Just One Year, Altered, and Beautiful Player.

That's it for me and my list. Hopefully, I'll be able to scratch these off my TBR pile and be able to make space for the new year. What is your top 10 fall books that's on your TBR list?