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So obviously I haven't been blogging or reviewing.  However, I have been reading!  And like Martha Stewart says, "It's a good thing!".  I've just finished reading all of The Jessica Darling series.  Loved, loved, loved, loved them! I've also read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, and I did not like that one at all.  It just didn't connect with me.  It was an advance copy so there were some clunky passages.  Hey, it happens.  I'm not going to like every book I read.

I'm currently reading Chime by Franny Billingsley.  It's an interesting book, the language and tone are gorgeous, but I'm only 1/4 of the way thru and it better pick up soon!  I have also joined the gym!!!! I'm very happy with that and I've been pacing myself (I'm only in my second week) and I have good and bad days.  I find that if I get on the treadmill and plug in my earbuds and have either my nook or a book with me, I can go to town for at least 45 minutes.  I really need to lose the belly that I've had since the Lilygirl was born (almost 8 years ago!).

Hubby has been traveling like mad to Phoenix.  He's generally gone for about two weeks at a time so life can get a bit hectic with him not around.  Especially now that the school year is winding down, I'm going to be alone quite a bit with the Lilygirl.  But thankfully she is such a great reader!  We'll do some reading programs together through our local library.

I will be having a couple of giveaways soon.  I just need to get my head on straight.  I have to go to post office and I haven't and I keep kicking myself in the head for that (well not literally I'm not that flexible yet!)

I had a great time at BEA and met so many great people and had dinner with the cream of the crop too! I got to have dinner with Cindy Pon! Gretchen McNeil! Shana Silver! It was incredible.  I also went to a SoHo Press party that was hosted by Daniel Ehrenhaft.  It was an editors, agents and authors dream.  I finally got to meet the lovely, if slightly, neurotic Bennett Madison!  I love him.  And he better be writing! ;p  Of course Barry Lyga was there and I just love him too.  He was with an editor from Scholastic and she was so sweet and funny.

I got to spend time with Janet Gurtler.  I had dinner with her before the SoHo Press Party and it was so nice to just sit back and relax and talk about everything and nothing at the same time.  I took her to this quaint little Irish Pub that I love in Times Square.  She came up to my room at the Marriott Marquis and we waiting for Shana and Matt Blackstone.  (Matt has a book coming out very soon and I encourage everyone to look out for it.  It's called A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie.  Which I think is just about the coolest title in the world.  I completely enjoyed meeting Matt and I wish him all the luck in the world with his debut novel.  I have a feeling it will be a huge success!  Just look at that cover!


I do have some reviews I have to write.  I just haven't been feeling it lately.  I mean I enjoy reading

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So obviously I haven't been blogging or reviewing.  However, I have been reading!  And like Martha Stewart says, "It's a good thing!".  I've just finished reading all of The Jessica Darling series.  Loved, loved, loved, loved them! I've also read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, and I did not like that one at all.  It just didn't connect with me.  It was an advance copy so there were some clunky passages.  Hey, it happens.  I'm not going to like every book I read.

I'm currently reading Chime by Franny Billingsley.  It's an interesting book, the language and tone are gorgeous, but I'm only 1/4 of the way thru and it better pick up soon!  I have also joined the gym!!!! I'm very happy with that and I've been pacing myself (I'm only in my second week) and I have good and bad days.  I find that if I get on the treadmill and plug in my earbuds and have either my nook or a book with me, I can go to town for at least 45 minutes.  I really need to lose the belly that I've had since the Lilygirl was born (almost 8 years ago!).

Hubby has been traveling like mad to Phoenix.  He's generally gone for about two weeks at a time so life can get a bit hectic with him not around.  Especially now that the school year is winding down, I'm going to be alone quite a bit with the Lilygirl.  But thankfully she is such a great reader!  We'll do some reading programs together through our local library.

I will be having a couple of giveaways soon.  I just need to get my head on straight.  I have to go to post office and I haven't and I keep kicking myself in the head for that (well not literally I'm not that flexible yet!)

I had a great time at BEA and met so many great people and had dinner with the cream of the crop too! I got to have dinner with Cindy Pon! Gretchen McNeil! Shana Silver! It was incredible.  I also went to a SoHo Press party that was hosted by Daniel Ehrenhaft.  It was an editors, agents and authors dream.  I finally got to meet the lovely, if slightly, neurotic Bennett Madison!  I love him.  And he better be writing! ;p  Of course Barry Lyga was there and I just love him too.  He was with an editor from Scholastic and she was so sweet and funny.

I got to spend time with Janet Gurtler.  I had dinner with her before the SoHo Press Party and it was so nice to just sit back and relax and talk about everything and nothing at the same time.  I took her to this quaint little Irish Pub that I love in Times Square.  She came up to my room at the Marriott Marquis and we waiting for Shana and Matt Blackstone.  (Matt has a book coming out very soon and I encourage everyone to look out for it.  It's called A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie.  Which I think is just about the coolest title in the world.  I completely enjoyed meeting Matt and I wish him all the luck in the world with his debut novel.  I have a feeling it will be a huge success!  Just look at that cover!
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Today's poetry selection comes from Megan McCafferty's upcoming novel, Perfect Fifths. One chapter is told entirely in senryu (a form similar to haiku, but more about human nature, than nature-nature), written between two characters.

XII. He writes

I like the way you
Fingertip-tap the paper
To count syllables

XIII. She writes

I like the way you
Silently lip-synch the words
To count syllables

XIV. He writes

So you've noticed, then
(I wonder what else you see
When you look at me)

XV. She writes

How about those Mets?
(Only what my heart can handle)
How about those Mets?

This is the final installment in the Jessica Darling series. Three and half years have passed since the end of Fourth Comings, and three and half years since Jessica and Marcus have seen each other, or spoken, or written.

Jessica is running through the Newark airport, trying desperately not to miss her flight down to St. Thomas for Bridget and Percy's wedding when she plows right into Marcus Flutie, which fulfills a voodoo prophecy he had received the week before. As Jessica tries desperately not to miss the wedding, Marcus tries desperately to not appear to desperate in front of Jessica, to not let on how he still has not gotten over her.

Perfect Fifths is not even a day long, tracking the time the two spend in awkward conversation at the airport, perpetually stalked by the also-stranded Barry Manilow International Fan Club. They try to catch up, but dance always around the issue of their romantic past, which is even more complicated than usual, given that the current 87th most-downloaded song on iTunes is something called "My Song Will Never Mean as Much (as the one he sang for you" which was written by Len Levy and, well, about them.

The only characters we really see are Jessica and Marcus, but we get updates on almost every character we have ever met in the series, as they fill each other in on the people they once knew, and those they still know. Marcus is very different than I remember him. This is not surprising, as he wasn't really in the last two books, and has just spent over three years at college. I would be worried if he hadn't changed. But, we didn't watch him change, so it took a little getting used to. I mean, he's still Marcus. He's just gotten over himself and is... acting like a grown-up. (Shocking at 26, I know.)

Even better though, we get a few chapters from Marcus's point of view. (The narrated sections of the book [so, not the senryu chapter] are all with an omniscient narrator, but they follow the actions and thoughts of either Jessica or Marcus.)

All in all, this was a most satisfying conclusion to the series. Jessica and Marcus are still the perfect foils for each other. Jessica's tired and worried, but her thoughts and tongue are as sharp as ever.

Fans need to read this. If you're not a fan, I'll just assume you haven't read them yet. Go pick up Sloppy Firsts and read it!

What I most loved about this, and about Fourth Comings, is that I long for books about 20-30 year olds that are above the usual chick-lit fare. Many people classify the Jessica Darling series as "chick lit", which I feel is not entirely accurate. Maybe it is, but it's smarter and more literary than most books in the field.

Anyway, a while ago, I posted about how I wished my favorite YA authors would write for my age group. The last two books in this series are what I'm wishing for. Books that are about people like me, women with careers and relationships, who aren't ridiculous caricatures of my darkest neurotic moments. Do you have any other recommendations for me? This is the type of book I long for.

Look for Perfect Fifths on April 14. And if you're in DC, come see Megan McCafferty in Tyson's Corner a few weeks later (just let ME ask the first Barry Manilow question, ok?)

Poetry Friday round up is over at The Drift Record.

UPDATE (3/28): I forgot to mention this yesterday, but Perfect Fifths was provided by the author, at my request. Also, I quoted the senryu from the ARC, so it might change in the final edition.

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