A Friday Five (#13) Confederates Don't Wear Couture (Pilgrims #2) by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Each Friday I'll feature one of my favorite books or a book I read in the last week and come up 5 words to describe it.  View it as a super mini review.  This week I'm featuring:

Confederates Don't Wear Couture (Pilgrims #2) by Stephanie Kate Strohm

I thought the first book in this series was cute and fun.  I was looking forward to the second in the series.  Here are my five words:

1. Silly
2. Chaste
3. Affected
4. Boring
5. Disappointing

Silly:  I think that is the best word to sum up this book.  The whole thing was just silly.  It was very unbelievable, the characters were cliched, and the "mystery" was stupid.

Chaste:  This is actually the most positive thing I can say about the book.  It was very chaste, which makes it completely appropriate for a younger audience.

Affected:  This goes back to silly.  The whole thing just was very artificial and not genuine.

Boring: I had a hard time staying interested in the book because it was so boring.  For such a short book, it should have gone by a lot faster.

Disappointing:  Maybe some people will love it, I just just bored and uninterested.  I didn't have extremely high expectations, put I did expect it to be at least as good as the first book.

"Waiting On" Wednesday (#16) The Midnight Dress by Karen Foxlee

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm picking:
The Midnight Dress by Karen Foxlee
Expected publication: October 8th 2013

From Goodreads:
Quiet misfit Rose doesn't expect to fall in love with the sleepy beach town of Leonora. Nor does she expect to become fast friends with beautiful, vivacious Pearl Kelly, organizer of the high school float at the annual Harvest Festival parade. It's better not to get too attached when Rose and her father live on the road, driving their caravan from one place to the next whenever her dad gets itchy feet. But Rose can't resist the mysterious charms of the town or the popular girl, try as she might.

Pearl convinces Rose to visit Edie Baker, once a renowned dressmaker, now a rumored witch. Together Rose and Edie hand-stitch an unforgettable dress of midnight blue for Rose to wear at the Harvest Festival—a dress that will have long-lasting consequences on life in Leonora, a dress that will seal the fate of one of the girls. Karen Foxlee's breathtaking novel weaves friendship, magic, and a murder mystery into something moving, real, and distinctly original.

Why I'm Waiting:
This book looks SO awesome.  Plus it's an Australian import, and I tend to love those.  This looks so unique and different.  I can't wait to get a copy.

Teaser and Top Ten Tuesday (#14) 06/11/13

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

The Sweetest Dark (The Sweetest Dark #1) by Shana Abe

From Page 15:

She reeked of days-old sweat and chickens.  I wished I could shove her out of the train.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Beach Reads

Some of these were covered in last week's topic, so there will be some repeated, but that usually means they were worth it.  When compiling my list, I realized there are a bunch of books coming out this summer that would totally fit this category, I just haven't read them yet!

All I Need by Susane Colasanti
Although It's not my favorite book, it was fun, and screams beach read to me. 

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
My required Sarah Dessen book.  This is all about the beach.

This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
Although it takes place in Maine, and the beach is mentioned, it's much more than a beach book.  But I'm tossing it in anyway.

The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer #1) by Jenny Han
As I mentioned last week, this screams the beach and summer.  Wonderful series.

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
Yes it takes place at a lake, but the lake does have a beach, so I am totally including it.

Endless Summer (The Boys Next Door #1-2) by Jennifer Echols
Like the book above, it takes place at the lake, but once again there most definitely is a beach. 

The Au Pairs (The Au Pairs #1) by Melissa de la Cruz
Before there were vampires, there were the Au Pairs.  Good trashy Hamptons fun.

The A-List (A-List #1) by Zoey Dean

I may have mentioned this series is a guilty pleasure.  So much fun, and so many beach scenes. 

Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler
Back to the lake for this book. I love this book, and I want more people to read it. 

One Moment by Kristina McBride
This is really a stretch.  It's not even a lake or the ocean.  But it is a swimming hole with a beach, so on the list it goes.  It got mixed reviews, but I actually really liked this book.