20 - lock and key

i have been waiting for sarah dessen's new book forever.  (in case you forgot, she is one of my favorite writers . . . )  it came out on tuesday and it took a lot of self control for me to not go buy it then.  i knew once i did, all i would want to do is sit and read it.  sooooo, i made myself wait until yesterday.  just like all of her other books, this one is now on my list of top whatever.  not only did the story suck me in, but i loved catching all of the references to her other books.  she doesn't really write sequels, but all of her books are set within the same community, so characters and references to characters pop in and out . . . especially in the last couple of books she's published.  (the evil rogerson from dreamland even makes and appearance in this one.  bleh.)

because i've been reading dessen's blog for about the last two years, i had a different perspective while reading this book than i have her others.  for example, one of the characters builds a koi pond in his backyard . . . and i know that dessen and her husband have a koi pond because she has written about it a couple of different times.  so, i like having some of that inside perspective on why things ended up in the book.  if i were still in grad school, i believe there is some interesting research to be done on authors, their blogs, and their readers . . . maybe in a few years . . . 

anyway.  LOVED lock and key.  i tried not to gobble it up yesterday, but it was hard not to.  now i'm sad it's over and i've got quite a few years to wait for another one of her books.