Waiting on Wednesday: The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  Its purpose is to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

This week I’m eagerly awaiting:

The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise

Expected Release Date: April 30, 2013

In The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise, super-smart, somewhat geeky Audrey McCarthy can’t wait to get out of high school. Her father’s death and the transformation of her one-time BFF, Blake Dawkins, into her worst nightmare have her longing for the new start college will bring.

But college takes money. So Audrey decides she has to win the competition for the best app designed by a high schooler—and the $200,000 that comes with it. She develops something she calls the Boyfriend App, and suddenly she’s the talk of the school and getting kissed by the hottest boys around. But can the Boyfriend App bring Audrey true love?

(summary via Goodreads)

I’m in the mood for something light this week, because I’ve been reading a lot of very dark (but very good) stuff lately.  This cute contemporary YA novel looks to be right up my alley.  I love the incorporation of technology and science to the book, and I love that the science geek is a female.  I’m sure this one won’t reinvent the wheel, but it does look to be a totally enjoyable read.  The great news is that it comes out at the end of April, so I don’t even have to wait that long for it!

What are you waiting on this week?

Movie News and Randomness

Time for another installment of movie news and blather, where I bring you all the movie news that’s fit to print (or at least what I find interesting).  Without further ado or preamble, let’s get right into it!

1. Trailer for Much Ado About Nothing is AWESOME.

The trailer for Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing is full of Whedonverse favorites and looks to be quirky, funny, and totally awesome.  I can’t be the only person who’s really, really excited about this one.  I can’t wait.  CANNOT WAIT.

2. Emma Watson to star in Cinderella adaptation?

Emma Watson is in final talks to star in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of the classic fairytale Cinderella.  This is actually kind of cool, because I like Branagh as a director and really like Emma Watson, despite her inability to do a decent American accent.  Cate Blanchett is slated to star as her evil stepmother. (Variety)

3. There’s a documentary about the real Amityville Horror

So, that’s happening.  I’d definitely check this one out on DVD.  I’m mildly curious, but I’m not shelling out money to see it.  I don’t know.  I feel mixed about this one.

4. Keri Russell joins Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

In news of the UGH variety, Keri Russell has joined the cast of the next totally boring and disappointing Planet of the Apes movie.  She’ll play the female lead, and I’ll try to pretend to care.  (Comingsoon.net)

5. Trailer for Rapturepalooza is silly, kind of funny

I don’t know about this one, but I’m including it because of my love for all things Anna Kendrick.  The movie’s about the end of the world, rapture-style, and it looks pretty silly.  The trailer’s redband, so be careful about where you watch it, but it’s got some moments that are actually kind of funny.  I don’t know.  I’ll see this one, I’m just not sure when.

 

Waiting on Wednesday: When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  Its purpose is to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

This week I’m eagerly awaiting:

When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney

Expected Release Date: June 4, 2013

Danny’s mother lost her five-year battle with cancer three weeks before his graduation-the one day that she was hanging on to see.

Now Danny is left alone, with only his memories, his dog, and his heart-breaking ex-girlfriend for company. He doesn’t know how to figure out what to do with her estate, what to say for his Valedictorian speech, let alone how to live or be happy anymore.

When he gets a letter from his mom’s property manager in Tokyo, where she had been going for treatment, it shows a side of his mother he never knew. So, with no other sense of direction, Danny travels to Tokyo to connect with his mother’s memory and make sense of her final months, which seemed filled with more joy than Danny ever knew. There, among the cherry blossoms, temples, and crowds, and with the help of an almost-but-definitely-not Harijuku girl, he begins to see how it may not have been ancient magic or mystical treatment that kept his mother going. Perhaps, the secret of how to live lies in how she died.

(summary via Goodreads)

Daisy Whitney is definitely a name to watch in YA, and this book has been getting good buzz from librarians and book bloggers I trust.  I love a good YA novel with a male perspective, and this one looks to be pretty good.  It’s going to be a tear-jerker, I think, but it also combines some of my favorite elements: travel, a mystery, and growth.  I definitely can’t wait to read this one.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  Its purpose is to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

This week I’m eagerly awaiting:

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

Expected Release Date: May 1, 2013

Sookie Stackhouse has one last adventure in store.

Life has taken her from a waitress in Merlotte’s Bar, Bon Temps, to part owner; from social outcast to the heart of her community; from a vampire’s girlfriend to the wife of one of the most powerful vampires in the state. She has survived earthquakes, revolutions and attempts on her life. Sookie has endured betrayal, heartbreak and grief . . . and she has emerged a little stronger, and little wiser, every time.

But with life comes new trials . . .

The question is, in the end: who will love, who will live, and who will be dead ever after?

(summary via Goodreads)

You guys.  I don’t know what it is about this series and my inability to quit it.  I’m not even caught up to the point where I can read this one–I have at least two other books in the series before I can even get to this.  But since this is supposed to be the last book in the series, I have to know how it ends.  Don’t you?  I mean, really?

I’ll definitely be picking this one up when it comes out.  There’s my motivation to move through the rest of the series.

What are you waiting on this week?

Movie Blather and Randomness

Time for another installment of movie news and blather, where I bring you all the movie news that’s fit to print (or at least what I find interesting).  Without further ado or preamble, let’s get right into it!

1. Is anyone else embarrassingly excited for Monsters University?

I’m not going to lie: I’m not a big animated film person.  For a lot of reasons.  But I really loved Monsters, Inc., and I’m really excited for the prequel.  This trailer looks cute.  I can’t wait.  What do you think?  How do you feel about a prequel?

2. The Academy Awards are this weekend

And I’m pumped up, as per usual.  It’s a big day in my world.  We do it up right and throw a party with themed food and ballots and a pool of money I’m intent to win (running champion something like 4 years in a row).  I’ve got our ballots all printed, my food all planned out, and have even done a practice ballot.  That’s how much of a dork I am.  I love the Oscars.  Love them.  I doubt that will ever change. (Metacritic)

3. It’s a Disaster Trailer looks funny, dark

I hadn’t even heard of this movie before stumbling across the trailer, but it looks pretty great.  It’s got some of my favorite people, including America Ferrara, Julia Stiles, and David Cross.  It looks funny and weird and dark and full of the kind of awkward humor I really like.  It’s being released on VOD before hitting theaters in April, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to see it soon.

4. Lauren Graham and Joel McHale will star in a movie together

It’s called A Friggin’ Christmas Miracle, which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.  The film centers around the duo who are a married couple going to visit McHale’s grandfather.  The grandfather is played by Robin Williams, which basically means the movie is doomed.  (THR)

5. Room 237 has a trailer now

I wrote about this documentary a few weeks back, and I’m happy to say there’s a trailer now.  Check it out for yourselves at the playlist.

Waiting on Wednesday: Me Since You by Laura Wiess

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  Its purpose is to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

This week I’m eagerly awaiting:

Me Since You by Laura Wiess

Expected Release Date: September 3, 2013

Sixteen-year-old Rowan is still reeling from her father’s suicide four months ago, after he failed to stop a man from leaping off an overpass to his death. The only witness is Eli, a teenaged boy wrapped deep in mourning for his own father, killed in action in Afghanistan. When Rowan and Eli meet, they recognize kindred spirits, and begin to navigate grief and its aftermath together.

Rowan can’t understand how her father could choose to leave her, and acts out, pushing away friends and taking risks with her safety. Rowan’s mother, wracked with her own guilt and sorrow over failing to save her husband, stops going to work and collects stray cats for comfort. Grief, fractured and unpredictable, rules their lives now. Rowan is lost—and sinking. But Eli represents a lifeline for Rowan, and as they struggle to make sense of what’s gone and what is left behind, they begin to fall in love. Me Since You is Laura Wiess at her finest—a beautiful, gripping and painfully honest examination of adolescence.

(Summary via Goodreads)

This doesn’t exactly sound like an upper of a book, but I’m excited to read it all the same.  It looks like the kind of sad, meaty YA novel that I so enjoy, and since right now I’m in the throes of a terrible reading slump, everything that has yet to be released just seems so appealing.  As long as the romance doesn’t overshadow the grief and the process feels authentic, this one looks like it will be a winner with me.

 

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Lauren Yanofsky Hates the Holocaust by Leanne Lieberman

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  Its purpose is to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

This week I’m eagerly awaiting:

Lauren Yanofsky Hates the Holocaust by Leanne Lieberman

Expected Release Date: April 1, 2013

Lauren Yanofsky doesn’t want to be Jewish anymore. Her father, a noted Holocaust historian, keeps giving her Holocaust memoirs to read, and her mother doesn’t understand why Lauren hates the idea of Jewish youth camps and family vacations to Holocaust memorials. But when Lauren sees some of her friends–including Jesse, a cute boy she likes–playing Nazi war games, she is faced with a terrible choice: betray her friends or betray her heritage. 
Told with engaging humor, LYHH isn’t simply about making tough moral choices. It’s about a smart, funny, passionate girl caught up in the turmoil of bad-hair days, family friction, changing friendships, love–and, yes, the Holocaust.

(summary via Goodreads)

This sounds like a middle-grade book to me, but I’m not sure.  There’s not a ton of information about it on Goodreads, and it’s definitely not going to be one of the feel-good hits of the spring.  But–but.  The Holocaust is something deeply important to me and my family, and I think it’s something that doesn’t get covered enough in books for young people.  So without worrying over how didactic this one is going to be, I’m going to look forward to it and can’t wait to read it.  The title is eye-catching and the premise is solid.  This is definitely one I’m going to go out of my way to get my hands on.

What are you waiting on this week?

Viewed this Week (39)

Inspired by Ticket to Anywhere’s What I Watched, I post on Sundays about what movies and/or TV shows I watched the week before.  Some weeks will be epic, and some weeks…won’t be.  Let’s get to it!

TV:
Switched at Birth 2×5 – “The Acquired Inability to Escape”
Bunheads 1×15 – “Take the Vicuna”

Movies:
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Warm Bodies
Side Effects

Thoughts on What I Watched:
Guys, I don’t know how else to explain my love for Switched at Birth.  The show is continually entertaining, surprising, and thoughtful.  It is the show I look forward to most, and the one I enjoy the entire way through every single week.  It is also a show I watch alone, and I actually relish this time by myself.  This week was another great episode, with some interesting moments between Daphne and Travis.  I love it!

Bunheads seems to be altering its tone ever so slightly, and it’s working well, for the most part.  I’m not entirely sure that I buy the whole Sasha-gets-an-apartment thing, but the rest of it is entertaining enough.  I don’t necessarily think this one sticks in my brain for very long after I watch it, but I definitely enjoy it while I’m watching it.

Watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was a way to help distract me from some household chores, but it’s still a fun movie after all these years.  Matthew Broderick is so cute and charming, and the movie is smart and funny.  It’s also iconic–you’d be amazed at how many movies since pay homage to the film.

J. and I went and saw Warm Bodies and liked it, for the most part.  It’s a good retelling of the Romeo & Juliet story with a Beauty and the Beast twist to it.  It was funny and smart and well-cast, for the most part.  It wasn’t, you know, totally memorable, but it was a nice way to spend a snowy evening.

Side Effects was, for the most part, entertaining.  I really liked the set up of the movie but was put off by the twist about halfway through.  It’s still an entertaining, twisty movie, and the performances are largely great, but it was sort of disappointing in that it was all so obvious to me.  Even so, not a bad two hours.

What did you watch this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Transparent by Natalie Whipple

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  Its purpose is to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

This week I’m eagerly awaiting:

Transparent by Natalie Whipple

Expected Release Date: May 1, 2013

Plenty of teenagers feel invisible. Fiona McClean actually is.

An invisible girl is a priceless weapon. Fiona’s own father has been forcing her to do his dirty work for years—everything from spying on people to stealing cars to breaking into bank vaults.

After sixteen years, Fiona’s had enough. She and her mother flee to a small town, and for the first time in her life, Fiona feels like a normal life is within reach. But Fiona’s father isn’t giving up that easily.

Of course, he should know better than anyone: never underestimate an invisible girl.

(summary via Goodreads)

This one looks like a totally fun paranormal YA fiction title for the spring.  It’s not necessarily in my most-read genre, but it looks like something that’s grounded enough in reality that I’ll enjoy it.  I can’t figure out why Whipple’s name is so familiar, as this is her first YA novel, but it is.  I’m really looking forward to this one.  It looks like it’s going to be the kind of frothy fun YA novel I love to read in the spring and summer.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  Its purpose is to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

This week I’m eagerly awaiting:

Add MediaAnother Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn

Expected Release Date: June 11, 2013

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish . . . a bloody razor . . . and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese’s fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape—unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past.

(summary via Goodreads)

I’m not exactly sure what it is about this one that seems so appealing.  It’s going to be a tough read, I think, but it also looks really original and out of the norm for me, so there’s some appeal there for sure.  It doesn’t feel like a June release, as this one would be more apropos for October, but I’ll definitely be devouring it when it’s published.

What are you waiting on this week?