Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters

There is something about a Julie Anne Peters novel that makes me keep on reading.  Lies My Girlfriend Told Me is soft and sweet. It is, in some ways, innocent and in some ways not. It’s got great characters and a good plot.

Alix’s mother wakes her up with really bad news. Her girlfriend, Swanee, died of cardiac arrest in the middle of her daily run. How can that happen to a 17 year old girl? They had only been going out six weeks. It wasn’t long enough. Now it will never be long enough. Alix is devastated.

While in Swanee’s room, after her death, Alix hears Swanee’s phone ping with a text message. It’s from L.T., whoever that is. There are dozens of texts: where are you, why didn’t you meet me, i love you….. Alix forces Swanee’s sister, Joss, to tell her who L.T. is. And it turns out, she’d rather not know, because Swanee was dating her at the same time she was dating Alix.

Alix steals the phone and, for two weeks, texts L.T. back, as if she was Swanee. But then she realizes that L.T. would want to know what happened and they meet.

That’s enough of the story to get you going. Lies My Girlfriend Told Me is tender. It’s realistic. It’s romantic. So, if you’re a Julie Anne Peters fan, if you’re a romantic, if you like a good story, then read Lies My Girlfriend Told Me. I couldn’t put it down.

And let’s not forget my all time favorite Julie Anne Peters book, Keeping You a Secret. So, pack them both in your bag as you leave for vacation or the beach.

Read Full Post »

Eric Carle Museum Plus

Abbe and I spent a wonderful day yesterday. We covered about 425 miles. Yikes! Our initial destination was the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. You know you’re there by the Bug in front of the museum. Our goal was to view the exhibit of Barbara McClintock’s artwork for the book Leave Your Sleep, a companion to Natalie Merchant’s amazing CD of the same name.

Of course, another goal was to get Ms. McClintock and Ms. Merchant to autograph a copy of the book, which they did. A tremendous exhibit, it was. McClintock’s work is so detailed. The more you look at it the more you see. Of course, I had to buy some of her other books there.

Our next stop was Rogers Book Barn in Hillsdale, NY. On the way, we passed the Circle Museum (didn’t stop in), which is apparently an artist’s memorial to himself. Oh well. It was someone’s 15 minutes of fame. That was an hour of searching the various nooks and crannies for the perfect book. We each some luck in that area.

On the final leg of our journey, dinner was in order and I remembered this diner that Lisa and I went to on the way home from Williamstown, which has great egg creams and malts. I had a vague idea where it was and this time my memory served me well. Dinner at the Daily Planet. Each room is decorated in a decade theme, 1940s, 1950s, etc. with movie posters and other memorabilia. I had the Duke of Earl Egg Cream with my burger. Yummmm!

When I finally got home at 9:30 PM, after starting at at 7 AM, the only thing I wanted was my bed. It was a great day.

Plus, to top it off, Abbe gave me an advanced copy of Julie Anne Peters’ Lies My Girlfriend Told Me and the first season of Veronica Mars. Got lots of reading and viewing to do.

 

Read Full Post »

Books I’m Looking Forward To

As 2013 meandered into 2014, there were four books I was looking forward to reading:

1. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson – published in January. I’ll review that shortly, but suffice it to say, it lived up to my expectations.

2. Panic by Lauren Oliver – to be published in March

3. Going Over by Beth Kephart – to be published in April. I’m so excited because I have an advanced reader’s copy in hand. Can’t wait, can’t wait, can’t wait.

4. Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters – to be published in June. My wonderful daughter got me an advanced readers copy of it at ALA Midwinter Conference.

So, going into February, I will have read three out of the four books I’ve been looking forward to. What can be better than that? Four out of four? Hey, I’m OK with waiting until March for Panic.

Read Full Post »