Waiting on Wednesday (#9)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This meme highlights some of the books whose releases bloggers are most anticipating this year.

The book whose release I am most excited for this week is...

Title: This Is What Happy Looks Like
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Release Date: 2013

In This is What Happy Looks Like, Jennifer E. Smith's new YA novel, perfect strangers Graham Larkin and Ellie O'Neill meet—albeit virtually—when Graham accidentally sends Ellie an email about his pet pig, Wilbur. In the tradition of romantic movies like "You've Got Mail" and "Sleepless in Seattle," the two 17-year-olds strike up an email relationship, even though they live on opposite sides of the country and don't even know each other's first names. Through a series of funny and poignant messages, Graham and Ellie make a true connection, sharing intimate details about their lives, hopes and fears. But they don't tell each other everything; Graham doesn't know the major secret hidden in Ellie's family tree, and Ellie is innocently unaware that Graham is actually a world-famous teen actor living in Los Angeles. When the location for the shoot of Graham's new film falls through, he sees an opportunity to take their relationship from online to in-person, managing to get the production relocated to picturesque Henley, Maine, where Ellie lives. But can a star as famous as Graham have a real relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie's mom want her to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

I'm quite sure that none of you know this, but I think it's important I tell you: "You've Got Mail" is my favorite movie. Ever. It's one of the few things my mom and I share - a love of movies, books, and chocolate - and "You've Got Mail" is our movie. In fact, we can quote whole paragraphs from that movie because of how many times we've seen it together and it's my go-to movie to bring a smile on my face. So, you can imagine just how much I was fangirling and squealing like crazy when I saw that this novel was similar in tradition to "You've Got Mail." I loved Smith's previous novel, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, and while this one seems to be equally cheesy, I'm still really excited for it. I love the way Smith writes her characters with far more depth than you're expecting and a romance like this one is the type I've always loved to see play out. If only we had a definite release date for me to start counting down the days till... :)

Extra: Movie Recommendation! 

In case you didn't know, "You've Got Mail" is a movie about two bookstore owners (YES! BOOKSTORES! :D) who are rivals. Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) owns a small children's bookshop which is slowly being put out of business by Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) with his big, new, super-size store, Fox Books, which sells cheap books. Yet, unknown to these two rivals is the fact that they have been communicating with one another - and are falling in love - online!

Why am I recommending this to you? Well, not only is "You've Got Mail" the perfect movie for this generation, with internet chat more popular than ever, it is also the perfect movie for any book lover. While Kathleen and Joe seem to be polar opposites, their romance plays out much like that of Darcy and Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice.   If that isn't enough to make you want to watch this one, it's hilarious and its characters have an immense amount of depth to them which I truly love and appreciate, especially in a movie. If you have seen this before or wind up watching it soon, do let me know! I'd love to hear what you think of it, so you can just comment on any post of mine and tell me your thoughts when you see this or email me! (Yes, you can email me about a movie! I'm seriously so in love with this film!)