In love with Lola

I finished Lola and the Boy Next Door last night, and I couldn't even begin to wipe the stupid grin off my face. What a perfectly sweet yet totally realistic depiction of love and teen relationships. I'm pretty sure there's nothing I can say about Lola that hasn't already been said by every other person in the book blogosphere (seriously, people are going bananas over this book, and rightly so). So I'll just leave it at saying it was a perfect book, and it lived up to every expectation I had. Stephanie Perkins, you are a goddess. If I ever meet you, I might have to quote one of my favorite flicks, Notting Hill:

Oh God, this is one of those key moments in life, when it's possible you can be really, genuinely cool - and I'm failing 100%. I absolutely and totally and utterly adore you and I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world and more importantly I genuinely believe, and have believed for some time now, that we can be best friends. What do YOU think?

Please don't be afraid of me, Stephanie Perkins

 Now let's get down to some business. My YA book collection is growing a little faster than my lil Boston apartment can handle. The husband has started giving me the side-eye every time I come home with a new book, which means it's time to pare down my collection. So lucky you guys, I'm going to start giving away books! Here's just a few that I have to send out into the world:

• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
• Possess by Gretchen McNeil
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Ten Things We Did by Sarah Mlynowski

And there may be more added to the list! These are all shiny new hardcovers, not ARCs, read by me. I totally fell in love with all of them (seriously, these are amongst the best books I read this year), but if my collection of books starts to creep off the bookcase that contains it, husband's side-eye will turn to the evil-eye. And frankly, there's way too many fabulous debuts coming up to go on a book-buying ban.

So how can you get one of these books? Stay tuned to Twitter (follow me @laurenemorrill), where throughout the week I'll be letting you know when I'm giving something away. Easy as that! No need for comments or Google forms. Just watch and wait, and you could end up with a fabulous YA title in your mailbox.

UPDATE: For those who may have missed the first tweet ... as soon as this blog hits 100 followers, I'll give away The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer! So if you're reading this and not following, go click on that little Google Friend Connect button on the right sidebar. As soon as we hit 100, I'll announce a giveaway via Twitter!

And since this post is woefully short on pictures, please enjoy this ridiculous shot of my smiling puppy, Lucy. I call this her "senior portrait."