TGIF: 2/17

Book Blogger Pride: What do you take pride in when it comes to blogging?

I haven't ever really thought of it that way. I get very excited when I get a comment on a post. It is really very nice when a book I have recommended hits the spot. Just to see them coming back for another great read is fulfilling. I absolutely love to hear from authors. It is really nice to get requests to read books. And when the postman drops books off at my house I am so excited. But when it comes to pride I think it is more that I have just kept at it. Far too many times I have flagged in my devotion to blogging and wondered if it was worth it. So I have a bit of pride in the fact that I have pushed on regardless of whether there was anyone on the other side of cyberspace reading my posts.

The Fox Inheritance: Book Review

The Fox Inheritance

by Mary E. Pearson

Once there were three. Three friends who loved each other—Jenna, Locke, and Kara. And after a terrible accident destroyed their bodies, their three minds were kept alive, spinning in a digital netherworld. Even in that disembodied nightmare, they were still together. At least at first. When Jenna disappeared, Locke and Kara had to go on without her. Decades passed, and then centuries.
Two-hundred-and-sixty years later, they have been released at last. Given new, perfect bodies, Locke and Kara awaken to a world they know nothing about, where everyone they once knew and loved is long dead.
Everyone except Jenna Fox.

An odd book, I really started getting into it and then Locke would start rambling on about this or that and I would start to wander in my mind.  Definitely not as good of a read as the first book.  But it was a disturbing read at several points.  I found myself wanting to shake Locke so many times for his complete block headed.  It is possible that things could have worked out differently but the chances were always slim.  He was just so determined to not see the blatant signs in front of him.  I still can't believe it worked out as well as it did.  I was expecting a really sad ending. 

Gravity: Cover Reveal

Today I'm very excited to be a part of the Gravity by Melissa West Cover Reveal!

So, without further adieu, I give you GRAVITY!

Entangled Publishing

October 2012

Young Adult/ Science Fiction

In the future, only one rule will matter:

Don't. Ever. Peek.

Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed - arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die.

Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she's been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she's falling for him. But Ari isn't just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention.  Sheąs a military legacy whoąs been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know - especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.

Pre-order from Amazon: Gravity


Add to Goodreads: Gravity

Waiting on Wednesday: The Nightmare Garden

Hosted by Breaking the Spine.

The Nightmare Garden

by Caitlin Kittredge

Publication Date: Yesterday

From Goodreads

Everything Aoife thought she knew about the world was a lie. There is no Necrovirus. And Aoife isn't going to succumb to madness because of a latent strain—she will lose her faculties because she is allergic to iron. Aoife isn't human. She is a changeling—half human and half from the land of Thorn. And time is running out for her.

When Aoife destroyed the Lovecraft engine she released the monsters from the Thorn Lands into the Iron Lands and now she must find a way to seal the gates and reverse the destruction she's ravaged on the world that's about to poison her.

I thought the first book in this series was interesting.  Not really fond of the cover this time around.

Shatter Me: Book Review

Shatter Me

by Tahereh Mafi

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

Book Trailer:




 

Am I crazy or what?  Who really knows?  I know I certainly don't want to find out.  These are the types of things going through Juliette's mind.  Her journey will be pass through darkness before she can answer these questions.  Along the way she must decide who to trust.  Especially, when it comes to her already bruised heart.

I just loved this book from page one.  Even my husband who usually isn't interested or understanding of my book universe was hooked on the same page.  I love the way this was written with the strikeout.  It is a new way to portray the inner voice.  It reminds me also of hidden meanings and misinterpretation.  The whole, "what you really mean is. . ."  

So I was hooked on page one and Tahereh Mafi never let me go either.  The story just keeps piling on unique moments and escalating danger.  I also love that while this is the same old nuclear waste makes a superhero book you almost can't tell.  She has taken the same old tired story and weaved an amazing world that feels brand new.  

It surprises me how many terrible and frightening ways the world can go wrong.  With each new dystopian I pick up I find something new.  Now don't take this as a challenge to throw anymore world gone wrong nightmares my way.  I don't really want to know.  It is so horrifying.  This one especially in that moment with Warner and Juliette alone.  If you have read this book I am sure you know.  I couldn't get the nightmare of that moment out of my head all weekend.  In fact I can easily make myself shudder even now over that paralyzing moment of horror.  

It seems like the predictable flaws are going to come back and bite Juliette in the butt.  Namely doubt and miscommunication.  I really hope it all works out for them.  I don't think any girl or woman should be treated like a piece of property.  

So anyway, absolutely stellar read.  I most definitely recommend this to any closet conspiracy theorist(dystopian lover) out there.

Valentine's Day Hop: Giveaway

Good Choice Reading and Once Upon A Twilight have teamed up, yet again, to bring you the Valentine’s Day Books With Love blog hop!

I am giving away. . .

Looks pretty lovey dovey.

US only
Must be 13

Lovey Dovey: Romance is in the Air

I got adventurous and picked up a bag of Dove Dark Chocolate Cherry Valentine's treats. I am not a dark chocolate person so this really was adventurous for me. Upon eating the confection I discovered a small bonus. This just shows the true state of my mind. As I read each of these messages my mind wandered to the many love stories and moments I have read in books. Yep, the messages reminded me of books. So I thought I would share it with you. Please, feel free to share a couple or moment from a book that a message may remind you of. 

Be a little mysterious.

Vincent from Die for Me by Amy Plum is very mysterious.

Make someone melt today.

Sonny from Tempestuous by Leslie Livingston is melt worthy!

Savor small romantic moments.

Ky from Crossed by Ally Condie has little else to keep him moving forward than those small moments of love.

Sleep under the stars tonight.

Lucas and Helen from Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini are all about the stars.

Be your own Valentine.

Beatrice from Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev is a strong heroine that doesn't need a male counterpart to find happiness.

Listen with your heart.

Finn from Emma Burning by Shannon Hale is very good at listening with his heart.

Hold hands firmly, hearts gently.

Beth from Sing me to Sleep by Angela Morrison learns the strength of love.

Trust with your heart, not your head.

Darcy from Pride and Predjudice by Jane Austen had to learn that what his heart thought was more important than his head.

Share a secret.

Four from Divergent by Veronica Roth has exactly four secrets to share.

  

   

Remember your first crush.

Anne from Persuasion by Jane Austen will have no other than her first love.

Celebrate family and friends.

Meghan from The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa would do anything for her family and friends.

Discover how much your heart can hold.

Pietr from 13 to Life by Shannon Delany didn't want to open his heart but it is worth it.

IMM: 4

In the Mail:

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Destiny and Deception by Shannon Delany

Won:

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Horse Tribe Band
Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz

TGIF: 2/10

Love Stories: What are some of your favorite fictional love stories?

I think there are almost too many to name. So here is a quick collage, that in no way catches them all.

Feature & Follow: 2/10

Hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read

Q: What would your prefer: reading your favorite book over and over again until you got sick of it OR reading 100s of mediocre books? And why?

I am a bit on both sides. Okay, not when it comes to mediocre. I like to think that every book I pick up is going to be fabulous. Sadly not true, but that doesn't keep a girl from hoping. That said after a bout of truly mediocre books I find my passion for reading suffering a lapse. When I find myself painted into such a corner I pull out one of my favorites and re-read it. That act helps to refresh me and give me hope that there is another great book out there waiting for my discovery. What would it be like to read a book repeatedly until you were sick of it? I luckily haven't suffered such a fate. I usually just read them until my desire to repeat lessens and I move on.  But I guess if I read one book one hundred times it would definitely be possible to get sick of it. Thank goodness I live in this day and age where it is so easy to get your hands on new books.

Shadowcry: Book Review

Shadowcry

by Jenna Burtenshaw

Kate Winters isn’t who she thinks she is. Burned out of her family bookstore by a suspicious fire, she will be pursued across a country riddled by fear and war before she discovers the extent of her skill and her destiny. Her pursuers include Silas Dane—one of the most compelling villains since Rowling’s Professor Snape and Pullman’s Mrs. Coulter—and Edgar, a young man who worked at the bookshop and who seems to know much more about the secrets of Wintercraft (a mysterious book that has been in Kate’s family for generations; a book responsible for the disappearance of her parents years ago) than he lets on.

There really is something special about Kate.  What exactly is so special and what will she do with it?  Kate meets next to no one who has any good intentions in this book.  It is full of bad decisions and wrong turns.  Though you can't really blame her.  She is trying to do the best with what is given her.  And as the book unfolds it seems she has only one dead end after another.

Oh my goodness!  Please, let me take this train ride all over again.  Seriously a masterful book.  The book was just as spectacularly breathtaking as the cover.

Kate is a great character.  She starts of completely ignorant of the world she is thrust into.  But she quickly learns to take responsibility and always attempt to improve her situation.  She doesn't back down or give up like so many other females litter across fiction these days.  Edgar isn't all he is cracked up to be.  Or at least I saw very little of what was hinted about him coming to pass.  Perhaps, future books will delve into that possibility.  Silas was surprisingly my favorite character in this book.  I loathed him with every fiber of my being when he was introduced.  And he didn't change my mind with each successively horrible thing he did.  He was selfish and was willing to destroy everything in his path.  No life is precious to him only death.  But there in the end of the book there was such a depth to his character it was hard not to like him.  He didn't do anything that would really earn a good opinion.  But I want to see what will happen to him.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Wood Queen

Hosted by Breaking the Spine.

The Wood Queen

by Karen Mahoney

Publication Date: Today

From Goodreads

Donna Underwood is in deep trouble.An ancient alchemical order is holding her accountable for destroying the last precious drops of the elixar of life. Never mind the fact that Donna was acting to free her friend, Navin, from the dangerous clutches of the Wood Queen at the time. But what the alchemists have in store is nothing compared to the wrath of the fey. The Wood Queen has been tricked and Donna must pay. Get ready for all hell - quite literally - to break loose...

Runaway: Book Review

Runaway

by Meg Cabot

Emerson Watts is on the run: from school, from work, from her family, from her friends, from herself.

With everyone she loves furious with her for something she can't explain, and nothing but the live Stark Angel fashion show on New Year's Eve to look forward to, Em's reached the end of her rope... what's the point of even going on?

But when she discovers the truth about Nikki's secret, she knows there's only one person she can turn to.

Will Christopher be able to put aside his personal feelings and help her expose her employer to the world? Is it even fair to get Christopher involved—since if he agrees, there's every chance that Stark Enterprises will try to have them both killed—this time, permanently?

Maybe it would be better for Em to just keep on running.

Absurd, but a quick light read. Nothing deep to the story or its characters. In fact, all the characters seem to be a bit on the exaggerated side. The men seem to lose complete control of their higher brain function when they are near a female. It sort of reminds me of how women are generally depicted. Pretty to look at but no more than two brain cells to rub together.

Spoiler Section:

Okay so was anyone else wondering why the old people thought it would really give them another life to switch bodies?  I mean what gave them the idea that the brain lives forever?  It is an organ just like any other.  It breaks down and fails with time.  So here they could have made it through the transplant only to die a few months later of some brain related problem.  Not only that but how do they know their brains will survive the transplant?  The are old after all.

Follower Love Giveaway Hop

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Rachael Renee Anderson.

Thank you for stopping here. This Hop starts today, February 7th and runs through February 14th.

Love. . .Poetry
Yep, they go hand in hand.  Eyes Like Stars is definitely awash in Shakespeare.  Close enough right?

US only

IMM: 3

The birthday stuff is still rolling in.

In the Mail:(My birthday gift to me.)

Angel Fire by L.A. Weatherly

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Supernaturally by Kirsten White

Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren
Cascade by Lisa T. Bergren

Library:

Hounded by Kevin Hearne

For Review:

Tempest by Julie Cross

I am absolutely buried in books right now.  No more computer time, must read!

Book Blogger Confessions: 2/6

Hosted by: Tiger's All Consuming Media 

and For What It's Worth

The topic is: Deadlines for reviewing and blogging. Do you set them? How do you keep them? What do you do if you can't meet a deadline?

My deadlines are usually influenced by release date if it is an ARC.  If it is from netGalley I go with both release date and time I have the ARC loan. I have to set deadlines for myself or I would likely never get anything done. I even have a list written up with the month they need to be completed. 
When it comes to reviews I can't wait long or I forget too much.  So usually my deadline is right after finishing the book or one book later.  I even set up a draft post for the day I want the review to publish so I won't forget to get it done.
I keep my deadlines by not allowing myself to get overbooked.  So far I have been able to keep all my deadlines.  Hopefully that doesn't change even as full as my reading shelf is now.  I guess I sacrifice reading what I want sometimes to get my commitments done.  I think if I ever get to the point I can't complete my commitments I will have to find someone else to help me out.  Or perhaps do some serious apologizing and take stock of how I want to represent myself.  I don't like the idea of people not being able to take me at my word.  When it comes to interactions through the internet that is all you can rely on, since you can't physically do anything if there is a problem.

Thanks for the topic.

Starcrossed: Book Review

Starcrossed

by Josephine Angelini

How do you defy destiny?
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.
As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

Book Trailer:

Moments Divine:

He looked around with tense shoulders and wide eyes.

"Made dinner," Helen told him in a flat voice.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked tentatively. 

"Of course not!  Why would you ask that when I just cooked you dinner?"

"Because usually when a woman spends hours cooking a complicated meal and then just sits at the table with a pissed off look on her face that means some guy somewhere did something really stupid."  He said still on edge.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't care how hard being together is.  Nothing is worse than being apart."

What a beautiful disaster!  I was listening to this in audio for those moment when I can't read an actual book.  The problem was that it was so super fantastic I found myself hypnotically listening to this even when I was no longer doing other tasks.  It was really hard to turn this off and pick up my other book.  So basically, this was finished really fast.  I couldn't stop myself.  This was nothing and yet everything I thought it would be.

It seems that Greek Mythology is making a quick rise in the world of books right now.  This book however seemed to take the old myths that are hard to attach to reality and make a completely believable world.  My heart ached for the characters as fate made all the twists and turns in their lives.  They could do none but repeat the same cycle.  Well, at least as far as this book goes.  Dare I hope that the next book will hold some sort of happy ending for this tragic family?  The emotion in this book is very stirring.  You won't be able to help falling in love with each character. 

I most definitely recommend this book for those who loved Percy Jackson but want a bit more of a grown up approach.

2012 TBR Pile: January Wrap Up

Books:
Wolfsbane
by Andrea Cremer

Waterfall
by Lisa T. Bergren

Mastiff

by Tamora Pierce

Rae of Hope
by W. J. May

Carrier of the Mark

by Leigh Fallon

The Silver Sea
by Julia Golding

Legend

by Marie Lu

In the Shadow of the Moonlight - The Awakening
by J. J. Bidell

Waiting on Wednesday: Harbinger

Hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Harbinger

by Sara Wilson Ettienne

Publication Date: February 2nd

From Goodreads

Girl, Interrupted meets Beautiful Creatures in this fast-paced thriller
When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn't expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she's going crazy. Fast.
But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she's come home. She's even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.
Faye knows she's the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can't trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her - and the rest of the world too.
Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller.

Mixed feelings on this book but I am still looking forward to it.