Where's My Bookmark: Bliss by Lauren Myracle

I won't go into the whole mess, but I really thought the whole National Book Award debacle this year was in poor taste. I bought Lauren Myracle's Bliss quite some time ago. I'd intended to read it and pass it along to my sisters, and though I'm sure they would have read it long before now and returned it to me to spend time in my TBR stack, I couldn't part with it. Then with the whole Shine/Chime incident, I finally bumped Bliss up the stack (you may recall that Chime has been bumped up as well thanks to the alpha TBR Tackle, and is still waiting). When Danny Marks (aka adult urban fantasy author I read and find super hilarious!) mentioned Bliss in his October horror reading plans and then gave it a great review, it got bumped up to the top.

As I write, I also have to admit that the new Stephen King is burning a hole through my bedside table -- but I plan on tackling the 800+ page beast Wednesday since I'll have a few days off of work. And I've got a massive migraine. And I just finished reading another teen Lauren book, Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall, so in my round about, twisty turny (wibbly, wobbly, timey, wimey) brain, that meant a teen horror was a good compromise.

Here's a bit about the book from the publisher's site:

When Bliss’s hippie parents leave the commune and dump her at the home of her aloof grandmother in a tony Atlanta neighborhood, it’s like being set down on an alien planet. The only guide naive Bliss has to her new environment is what she’s seen on The Andy Griffith Show. But Mayberry is poor preparation for Crestview Academy, an elite school where the tensions of the present and the dark secrets of the past threaten to simmer into violence. Openhearted Bliss desperately wants new friends, making her the perfect prey of a troubled girl whose obsession with a long-ago death puts Bliss, and anyone she’s kind to, in mortal danger.

I foresee Bliss being a super quick read. I'm pretty much entranced by Bliss's world. I love the fact that it takes place in 1969, which sets a great stage for some of the social issues that are part of the setting. The chapters are short and sweet and the story is moving along at a really quick pace.

Alrighty, readers. I'm going to do some TBR posts this week to give myself a chance to catch up on some reading, catch up on some work, and make sure the blog isn't idle while I'm doing so. Plus, with the year coming to a close I still wanted to give some face time to some books I haven't had a chance to get to just yet (maybe it'll give you some gift ideas).

Happy reading and happy turkey day planning!