Booktrend Alert: eBook Novellas

I feel like every time I turn around lately, another popular author is releasing an eBook novella sequel or companion to their best-selling novel and/or series.  The trend was first brought to my attention in September 2011 by a student who, while anxiously awaiting the release of Beautiful Chaos (the third book in the Beautiful Creatures series) came to me insisting that there was another book in the series that our library didn't have.  After a few minutes of frantic searching online (you do NOT want to be on the bad side of a 12-year-old supernatural romance fan!) I came upon Dream Dark.  Lucky for me (and her), our library has 10 Nooks that are available for student checkout.  I purchased the title, checked out the Nook and sent her home happy...until the next day when she was finished and back to hounding me about how far away October was.

Since then, I feel like it's become the "it" thing to do for author's to release a mid-series or follow-up ebook novella.  Here are just a few that I know about:

Six Earlier Days by David Levithan (companion to Every Day)


Life Before Legend: Stories of the Criminal and the Prodigy by Marie Lu (prequel to Legend)


Annabel and Hana by Lauren Oliver (companions to Delirium )
  

And I'm sure there are more!  I imagine these are gold mines for the publishers and booksellers, as there's no physical book to print and ship and also nice for the author in that it gives them a space to actually write the stories of secondary characters and/or other scenes that I'm sure they've had scripted in their minds forever and also a nice little paycheck in-between novels.  Win-win!

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Review: Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan



Every day, A wakes up in a new body.  And for that day, that one day, A steps into the shoes of someone else's life.  But on this, A takes the body of a high school boy, and falls immediately and helplessly in love with his girlfriend, Rhiannon.  All A wants is to be with Rhiannon, and for Rhiannon to know and love A back.  But how can A find a way to stay in Rhiannon's life? Will Rhiannon even recognize A in a different body? And if she does, can she love A in the body of someone of a different race, religion or gender?

I picked up an ARC of this at BEA last May and determined immediately that the only acceptable course of action was to read it the entire book on my bus ride from NYC to DC.  It's amazing what four hours and a good book can do for a person.  I laughed.  I cried.  Oh David Levithan, how I adore thee.  You cut right to the core.  It gave me a lot to think about in terms of how I respond to people on the basis of their gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and skin color and how society differentiates on the basis of these characteristics.  This would be a great book for group discussion, as it raises so many questions about who we love, how we love and why, and what the world would be like if our physical form did not define us as persons.  If I ran a book club with high school students, we would read this.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Friday Flashback: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Books don't have to be new to be deserving of a review! On Fridays I flashback to some of my favorite books of all-time.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman



Mia's life is perfect. She has a promising future as a concert cellist, an amazing boyfriend and cool parents. On one snowy day everything changes. Her parents are killed in a car accident and Mia and her brother are rushed to the hospital in critical condition. As she clings to life, Mia steps outside of her body to watch and listen while friends and family keep a bedside vigil and doctors fight to save her. The choice is hers. Will she let go of life, or will she fight for it?

This fast-paced, emotionally gripping novel takes readers through the 24-hour period in which Mia reflects on her life and decide whether, after so much has been lost, she has the will to live. Mia’s first-person narration alternates between bittersweet memories of the past and observations of the present, as her best friend, boyfriend and extended family visit her in the hospital. While the premise of Mia’s outer-body experience verges on the supernatural, Forman’s prose is seamless.  Her characterizations are so accurate that the reader is drawn into the narrative without questioning the magical elements that enable Mia to observe the scene.  At times deeply moving, at others humorous.  If I Stay is a book that will capture you in the first few pages and never let go.

Keep some tissues handy.  You'll need them for this one.

P.S. The story continues with Where She Went. Another gripping tale that will have you turning pages and wiping away the tears as you go.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.