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The Novel Hermit

daydreaming about books

Lists

BLOG TOUR + ESSENTIAL READING | Trixie’s All Time Favorite Books in The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You

May 21, 2016 Leave a Comment

Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West—and his horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing—down to number four.

Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben’s, including give up sleep and comic books—well, maybe not comic books—but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it’s time to declare a champion once and for all.

The war is Trixie’s for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben’s best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben’s cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie’s best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they’re on—and they might not pick the same side.

Goodreads · Amazon · Barnes & Noble · The Book Depository · Indigo · Indiebound · Library

Welcome to a special Essential Reading post! As part of the St. Martin’s Griffin’s The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You blog tour, I wanted Lily to pick books that would be a must read for her characters! And voila!

For those who do not know what Essential Reading is, it is a feature on my blog where I ask authors to share five to seven books (children’s, YA, general fiction, romances, nonfiction, and all) that they or their characters love, or has impacted their lives or their characters’s lives.

Let’s see what Lily picked, shall we?

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Lists

ESSENTIAL READING | Books that Shaped Dave and Julia from Never Always Sometimes

August 4, 2015 Comment : 1

essentialreading

[quote]Do you ever wonder about what books shaped the lives of the characters you read about? What were Kami Glass from The Lynburn Legacy, Seth from More Than This, or Taylor Markham from Jellicoe Road reading? What books did they love?

In Essential Reading, readers and authors share five to seven books (children’s, YA, general fiction, romances, nonfiction, and all) that they or their characters love, or has impacted their lives or their characters’s lives.[/quote]

Today is the book birthday of Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid, and what better way to celebrate this book than with an essential reading list?

From this list that Adi put together, you can see that both David and Julia from Never Always Sometimes have a big appreciation for food and Calvin & Hobbes, and have a wicked sense of humor. Get to know more of how Dave and Julia are like through the books she would read! (Don’t forget to wish Adi a happy book birthday!)

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Lists

BLOG TOUR + ESSENTIAL READING | Books the Characters in Brutal Youth Would Love + Why!

June 9, 2015 Comments : 3

Three freshmen must join forces to survive at a troubled, working-class Catholic high school with a student body full of bullies and zealots, and a faculty that’s even worse in Anthony Breznican’s Brutal Youth.

With a plunging reputation and enrollment rate, Saint Michael’s has become a crumbling dumping ground for expelled delinquents and a haven for the stridently religious when incoming freshman Peter Davidek signs up. On his first day, tensions are clearly on the rise as a picked-upon upperclassmen finally snaps, unleashing a violent attack on both the students who tormented him for so long, and the corrupt, petty faculty that let it happen. But within this desperate place, Peter befriends fellow freshmen Noah Stein, a volatile classmate whose face bears the scars of a hard-fighting past, and the beautiful but lonely Lorelei Paskal —so eager to become popular, she makes only enemies.

To even stand a chance at surviving their freshmen year, the trio must join forces as they navigate a bullying culture dominated by administrators like the once popular Ms. Bromine, their embittered guidance counselor, and Father Mercedes, the parish priest who plans to scapegoat the students as he makes off with church finances. A coming-of-age tale reversed, Brutal Youth follows these students as they discover that instead of growing older and wiser, going bad may be the only way to survive.

Amazon · Barnes & Noble · The Book Depository · Books-A-Million · Indigo · iTunes · Google Play · Kobo

I have a special Essential Reading post, courtesy of the Brutal Youth blog tour, and I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Anthony Breznican to my blog! I love reading about the books that Anthony picked for five of his characters and reading how those books inspire those characters like Noah writing a paper on Mr. T or Hannah tattooing a certain quote on her arm.

For those who do not know what Essential Reading is, it is a feature on my blog where I ask authors to share five to seven books (children’s, YA, general fiction, romances, nonfiction, and all) that they or their characters love, or has impacted their lives or their characters’s lives.

Let’s see what Anthony picked, shall we?

BOOKS THE CHARACTERS IN BRUTAL YOUTH WOULD LOVE (AND WHY!) 

by Anthony Breznican

I love this question! It’s one I would never have thought of on my own, but it gave me a chance to revisit the kids from Brutal Youth and imagine which books might strike a nerve with them.

Since the story is set in 1991 and 1992, I restricted myself to books that would actually have been available to them at the time, although there are many more recent ones these characters would  love.

I should start by setting up the story: Brutal Youth is about a group of newcomers at a corrupt, crumbling private school outside Pittsburgh, where hazing is sanctioned as an hallowed tradition, and people will do anything to avoid the grim fate that awaits anyone at the bottom of the food chain.

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Lists

ESSENTIAL READING | Six Books Montana (from Making Pretty) Would Read and Why

May 12, 2015 Comments : 2

essentialreading

[quote]Do you ever wonder about what books shaped the lives of the characters you read about? What were Kami Glass from The Lynburn Legacy, Seth from More Than This, or Taylor Markham from Jellicoe Road reading? What books did they love?

In Essential Reading, readers and authors share five to seven books (children’s, YA, general fiction, romances, nonfiction, and all) that they or their characters love, or has impacted their lives or their characters’s lives.[/quote]

Guess what comes out today? Making Perfect by Corey Ann Haydu!

And you know what’s the best way to celebrate this book’s birthday (other than buying the book, which you should do!)? Check out the books on the main character Montana’s essential reading list!

Corey Ann Haydu put together this great list of books that lets you see what type of person Montana is. You’ll see books that are set in New York City (which is where Making Pretty is based in)—books that Montana would closely identify with because it has themes and issues she’d go through like sibling relationships, friendships, and finding oneself. You will want to know more about her!

Get to know Montana through the books she would read! (Don’t forget to wish Corey a happy book birthday!)

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Lists

ESSENTIAL READING | Five Books Parvati (from Liars, Inc) Would Read and Why

April 27, 2015 Comments : 3

essentialreading

[quote]Do you ever wonder about what books shaped the lives of the characters you read about? What were Kami Glass from The Lynburn Legacy, Seth from More Than This, or Taylor Markham from Jellicoe Road reading? What books did they love?

In Essential Reading, readers and authors share five to seven books (children’s, YA, general fiction, romances, nonfiction, and all) that they or their characters love, or has impacted their lives or their characters’s lives.[/quote]

What do we have here? Your eyes have not deceived you. It’s another Essential Reading list!

This time, we have the awesome Paula Stokes, talking about the books Parvati Amos of Liars, Inc, loves and why. You might be a bit surprised that this essential reading list isn’t from Max, who is the main character of that book. There’s an excellent reason for that, and here is what Paula has to say:

Parvati is Max’s smart and ambitious girlfriend, and one of the three students who start the business Liars, Inc. I picked her for this post because she’s more of a reader than Max, and because the variety of books she’s drawn to do a good job of illustrating the different facets of her character.

When you read the reasons, oh boy, Parvati is very intriguing! So give Paula a warm welcome!

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Lists

ESSENTIAL READING | Seven Books Simon (from vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda) Would Read and Love

March 26, 2015 Comments : 24

[quote]Do you ever wonder about what books shaped the lives of the characters you read about? What were Kami Glass from The Lynburn Legacy, Seth from More Than This, or Taylor Markham from Jellicoe Road reading? What books did they love?

In Essential Reading, readers and authors share five to seven books (children’s, YA, general fiction, romances, nonfiction, and all) that they or their characters love, or has impacted their lives or their characters’s lives.[/quote]

The inaugural post of Essential Reading was a huge hit! YEEEEEEEEEEE. And I’m very happy that you all are just as excited about this series as I am.

This time, we have the amazing Becky Albertalli, sharing what books her character Simon would read and love. And guys, Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda is a book that EVERYBODY needs to read. Simon is someone you want in your life! Trust me! I feel so honored to have Becky on my blog (because she’s frickin’ amazing), so give her a warm welcome!

SEVEN BOOKS SIMON FROM SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA WOULD LOVE (AND WHY!) 

by Becky Albertalli

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About Me


I’m Cee. Lover of books + comics. Bookseller. Former teen witch.

The Novel Hermit is written by a daydreamer who loves books and want to share her love with everybody. You will find YA, comics, reviews, discussions, book cover love, and lots of adoration for books. What more can you ask for?

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Disclaimer

All of the books I review either have been purchased by me, borrowed from the library, and sent to me by the publisher (the latter of which I will note).

All the words and opinions in this blog are my own. I am not paid to write reviews. Synopsis are taken from either the back of the book or from Goodreads.com.

Any use and/or duplication of my material without permission from me (the author and owner of The Novel Hermit blog) is strictly prohibited.

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