Waiting on Wednesday (70)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where book bloggers devote a post to an upcoming book release they are particularly looking forward to. This week I have two contemporary titles I am particularly looking forward to reading.

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
April 2nd, 2013
Poppy

If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds. 

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

I absolutely love Jennifer E. Smith's The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight when I read it last year. It was a fantastic contemporary read, so I can't wait for more from this author. And This is What Happy Looks Like sounds like a fun contemporary that might have something more than just fluff going on.

When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney

June 4th, 2013

Little, Brown BFYR

Filled with humor, raw emotion, a strong voice, and a brilliant dog named Sandy Koufax, When You Were Here explores the two most powerful forces known to man--death and love. Daisy Whitney brings her characters to life with a deft touch and resonating authenticity.

Danny's mother lost her five-year battle with cancer three weeks before his graduation--the one day 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 is mother's memory and make sense of her final months, which seemed filled with more joy than Danny ever knew. There,a kong 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.

Daisy Whitney has yet to disappoint me with anything that she writes. I am a big fan of The Mockingbirds & The Rivals, so I am excited simply at the prospect of getting to read more of her writing. And When You Were Here sounds like a fantastic story that will no doubt be pulling at my heartstrings.