This Thursday is really, really Sorry (and really, really, Late)

I have no excuse except Casey=Epic Fail for this week. I deserve any punishment you bestow upon me (please, not the BEIBER!!!!). And now, the long awaited Thursday post. First, if money were no issue I'd spend the rest of my life reading and traveling. Plus, I think if money weren't an issue for anyone (say, we had a barter system again) life would probably be better for everybody. Second, my books recommendations. Let me just say that I've spent as much time in my life reading as I have eating. Possibly more. Think about it, it's a long time. I only have two books to review, though I pretty much reccommend the entire Young Adult Fiction genre to you (minus the ones about werewolves and vampires in love with humans/each other/frogs). So, without further ado, READ THESE BOOKS!!!! -Publish This Book by Stephen Markley I found this book while searching randomly through Borders one day and I bought it on a whim. Best. Choice. Ever. It is a book about the author's journey to publish the very book you are reading, and if that makes you very sick in the head while thinking about it, then you've just been meta-pwned! Steve Markley seems like your typical frat-boy who likes drinking beer and watching basketball in bars (and he acknowledges that he does indeed spend a lot of time doing such activities) but beyond the smut and scatological jokes, there is a lot more going on, and Markley comes across as a brilliant writer and also very relatable (I hate basketball yet I can still feel a connection through my need to infect your mind with words such as he has done). Markley pretty much published his autobiography before he published his actual book (think of it like J.K. Rowling writing a book about herself publishing a book while she was still living in a small apartment and acting as a single mom). It's completely arrogant, and also hilarious, romantic, gross, and, on occasion, serious. This is a very well written book, and if you are suffering from the sixth grade style writing common in many contemporary novels, the language (well, not the dirty bits) will be a breath of fresh air. It's not Shakespearean, but you can tell that the person who wrote the book actually has studied how to properly write an interesting, complex sentence. READ IT!!!! -Deadline by Chris Crutcher I hate sports. I hate books about sports. I love Chris Crutcher. I don't know exactly how that work out, but I think it's becasue Chris Crutcher knows how to write a story about human triumph and tribulation and set it to a background of high school competative athletics, and instead of limiting the story, it broadens it's appeal and makes it into something relateable. I've been a fan now since sixth grade when I read Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. Crutcher really knows how to make me laugh, as well as make me cry to myself while I'm reading in my bed at night. Deadline is the book of his that makes me do both the most. The main character is Cody Wolfe, the smaller long-distance running version of his younger football-star brother. Also, Cody has a terminal illness and less than a year to live. So, he joins the football team and asking his long-time crush, Dallas Suzuki (that name is pure win) to homecoming. Cody's battle to make his life one worth dying for is frought with obstacles, many of which are unpredictable, such as what happens when Dallas says yes and things get serious between them. The entire time you're wondering how much harder it is to let go when your ties to others have become so much stronger. Fans of Crutcher's other work will enjoy cameo's by some familiar faces, some of which are even supporting roles. Please read this book. Even if you don't think it's your cup of tea, you may find that you like something new. Okay, that's over. Now, bring on the punishment!