Giveaways
Erin L. Schneider
Goodreads Giveaway: SUMMER OF SLOANE
Goodreads Giveaway: SUMMER OF SLOANE

USA Today's Top 150 Bestselling Books as of 03.27.2011

Thursday, March 30, 2011: According to USA TODAY, the following list contains the top 25 best selling books (out of 150) - based on sales through Sunday, 03/27/2011.  For the complete list of 150 books for the week or just to check out more information - plus reviews, book news and a searchable archive of USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list - visit their website.

Note of the week:  YA continues to struggle to gain ground in the top 25 books on the list this week. Other than the addition of INVINCIBLE - a new Vampire / Zombie title which debuted at #23 - no new news from our teen friendly genre. I will say, I just finished reading UNBROKEN, by Laura Hillenbrand (currently #11) - and what an absolutely amazing read this was. While a departure from all the YA I've been clawing my way through at a wicked pace, this story is a must read and highly recommended (please see my review posted just below this entry). 

Legend:

Position This Week, Last Week, Title, Author (Publisher), Price

1 2 Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo, Sonja Burpo, Colton Burpo, Lynn Vincent (Thomas Nelson), $16.99

2 1 Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen (Algonquin), $7.99

3 5 The Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Connelly (Little, Brown), $9.99

4 0 Live Wire, Harlan Coben (Dutton), $14.99

5 3 Toys, James Patterson, Neil McMahon (Little, Brown), $27.99

My Review: UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

USA Today's Top 150 Bestselling Books as of 03.20.2011

Thursday, March 24, 2011: According to USA TODAY, the following list contains the top 25 best selling books (out of 150) - based on sales through Sunday, 03/20/2011.  For the complete list of 150 books for the week or just to check out more information - plus reviews, book news and a searchable archive of USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list - visit their website.
Note of the week:  Another tough week for YA reads, with only 5 titles making it into the top 25. Aside from Suzanne Collins trilogy - which are bound to gain more ground with recent movie news - the only new title comes to us from L.J. Smith's Vampire Diaries series. Hey, I'm willing to offer up a title or two for the list...yanno, if they're looking and all?
Come on YA, we need some excitement - and soon!
Legend:
Position This Week, Last Week, Title, Author (Publisher), Price

1 1 Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen (Algonquin), $7.99

2 2 Heaven Is for Real, Todd Burpo, Sonja Burpo, Colton Burpo, Lynn Vincent (Thomas Nelson), $16.99

3 0 Toys, James Patterson, Neil McMahon (Little, Brown), $27.99

4 363 The 17 Day Diet, Mike Moreno (Free Press), $25.00

5 0 The Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Connelly (Little, Brown), $9.99

Scholastic Book Talk: March 2011 Best Sellers

Book Talk

YOUNG ADULT

1. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore ($12 in TAB)
2. Missing by Catherine MacPhail ($4 in TAB)
3. Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender ($6 in TAB)
4. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher ($9 in TAB)
5. Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson ($8 in TAB)

 

 

MIDDLE GRADE

1. Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine ($4 in Arrow)
2. The Lost Children by Carolyn Cohagan ($4 in Arrow)
3. The Batboy by Mike Lupica ($5 in TAB)
4. Empty by Suzanne Weyn ($10 in TAB)
5. Dream of Night by Heather Henson ($5 in TAB)

 

 

USA Today's Top 150 Bestselling Books As Of 03.06.2011

Thursday, March 10, 2011: According to USA TODAY, the following list contains the top 25 best selling books (out of 150) - based on sales through Sunday, 03/06/2011.  For the complete list of 150 books for the week or just to check out more information - plus reviews, book news and a searchable archive of USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list - visit their website.

Note of the week:  This quite possibly might be the worst week of YA title appearances on the top 25 list I've seen in over a year - with only 3 titles making the cut. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins, has dropped to the number 27 position - the first time since September of last year, that all 3 of Suzanne's books weren't in the top 25. Come on YA - I know people are writing this genre like crazy - so where are all the good ones at?

Legend:

Position This Week, Last Week, Title, Author (Publisher), Price

1 0 Sing You Home, Jodi Picoult (Atria), $28.00

2 0 Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen (Algonquin), $13.95

3 0 The Wise Man’s Fear, Patrick Rothfuss (DAW), $29.95

My Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

 The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2)The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety...until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?