Teaser Tuesday (September 29th '09)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should

Be Reading.

Anyone can play along, 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!

Here's mine:

"So you're not coming?"
"I want to, I really, really want to...but I can't."
"So everything we talked about was just a lie."
"No." says Ariana. "It was a dream. Reality got in the way, that's all. And running away doesn't solve anything."
"Running away is the only way to save my life," Connor hisses. "I'm about to be unwound, in case you forgot."
She gently touches his face. "I know." she says. "But I'm not."

Page 9 of Unwind by Neal Shusterman

I'm seriously considering putting this down. It's taking me FOREVER to get through because it's dragging really bad. I hate to do it, since I've gotten countless recommendations of it, but I might....I'll give it a few more days to get better....

Judging A Book By It's Cover: Tricks

So, I've heard of Ellen Hopkins. I think just about every young adult reader has. I have a few of her books on my wishlist, too. I've read the synopsis of her newest book, Tricks. But, it wasn't until today when I walked into Borders and looked at the back of the book- that didn't have the synopsis, but an excerpt- that I felt the incredible need to read Tricks. Let's see if I can find the beautiful excerpt to share with you guys....Nope, I can't. Sorry! But, if you see the book pick it up and read the back; it is raw and beautiful. Anyways, the cover also caught my eye:



This cover is so simplistic. So intruiging. So...awesome? I'm out of words. All I know is that I love the font, the colors, the backround (which appears to be a sheet), and the smoke effect. I'm not really sure how it will tie in with the book, but right now I just all around love it. It also fits with the themes of her other covers, which I think is very cool.

But, you know, that's just one person's opinion. What do you think?

Waiting on Wednesday- er, On Thursday (8)

The first thing Maddie knows is that she's dead—other than that, she just is. She doesn't know where she is, who she is, or what's going on. But then she encounters lost objects from her life, and each one takes her back to the events in her life during which she lost them. Slowly her memory is restored, and Maddie learns that she can even alter the outcome of each event. Each object brings her closer to the person she was before—and the truth behind her death.

It sounds like If I stay, which I've still yet to read unfortunately. This is being released very soon. As in, September 29th soon. Yay! And, what do you guys think of the cover? I really like it. It's very mysterious and kinda dark, and it fits the description really well.

Death Note Vol. 1 Review

Release Date: October 10, 2005
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Age Group: 16+
Pages: 200 (Paperback)

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects - and bored out of his mind! But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, and notebook dropped by a rogue shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal... or his life?

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This book was...intriguing. It wasn't what I expected, really.

The plot immediately jumped out at me and said "READ ME OR DIE." Unfortunately I don't think I would've died without reading it. There wasn't anything wrong with the plot- like I said, it was intriguing, it just didn't hold my attention for as long as I would've liked it to. It a seemed to drag a little for me, but the ending was pretty cool.

Light was annoying. It wasn't necessarily the killing people with the Death Note thing, he just seemed very arrogant and obnoxious. Ryub was...OK, I guess. He never really showed any personality, and barely even talked until the end. He definitely was a needed character, but not a very active character.

The animation was good. No complaints there. And the storyline was pretty good. The dialogue...eh. It was OK, nothing great. Maybe I had problems with it because usually it was Light talking....

Overall, an interesting premise with a good plot and a bad main character. I'm on the fence about reading the rest of the series, but I may read at least the next one or two because I've heard nothing but praise about the series and am curious to see where it will go. I would recommend the first volume of Death Note to any manga fans looking for a new, edgy take on death.

103 Follower Contest!

Contest is now closed.

I was as happy as some weird school-girl to log on yesterday and see that I had reached the triple digits in followers! I'm not one for touchy-feely thanks and stuff, so instead I'll just say: Thanks a lot for following my blog. It really means a lot to me.

So, I promised you guys a 100 follower contest-but I figured that 103 followers was even better. Why? 3 books! So I made a stop at Books A Million and picked up some awesome looking books for you guys. I haven't read them, so I can't give you my opinion, but I really wanted to thank you guys in the best way possible. Here they are:


(Hardcover, 383 pages) Fern communicates with her dog, blisters from just moments in the sun, and has correctly predicted the daily weather for more than two years. Even so, she's always seemed to be a normal twelve-year-old girl . . . until one day when Fern closes her eyes in class and opens them seconds later on a sandy beach miles away from school. When Fern disappears again, this time to a place far more dangerous, she begins to realize exactly how different she is. With the help of her twin brother, Sam, Fern struggles to gain control of her supernatural powers. The arrival of a sinister vampire in town—who seems to have an alarming interest in Fern's powers—causes Fern to question her true identity. Who is she? More importantly, who can she count on? Soon Fern finds herself in the middle of a centuries-old battle—one that could destroy Fern and endanger everyone she loves.




(Paperback, 195 Pages) Eleven-year-old Linnet is growing wings. Auburn wings, with soft feathers. For a while, she can hide them, but they grow larger and larger, almost seeming to take on a life of their own-while taking away Linnet's old life. Her mother, Sarah, knows what it feels like . . . almost. For when the young Sarah began to grow wings, her mother-Linnet's grandmother-cut them off. Sarah is a "cutwing." She swore that she would let her own daughter's wings grow when the time came, but now that it's actually happening, she has no idea what to do. And Linnet-lost, confused, fledgling Linnet-doesn't either. . . .

(Paperback, 374 Pages) Sixteen-year-old Macy Queen is looking forward to a long, boring summer. Her boyfriend is going away. She’s stuck with a dull-asdishwater job at the library. And she’ll spend all of her free time studying for the SATs or grieving silently with her mother over her father’s recent unexpected death. But everything changes when Macy is corralled into helping out at one of her mother’s open house events, and she meets the chaotic Wish Catering crew. Before long, Macy joins the Wish team. She loves everything about the work and the people. But the best thing about Wish is Wes—artistic, insightful, and understanding Wes—who gets Macy to look at life in a whole new way, and really start living it….

There you go! Something for everyone! Now, for the rules:

There will be 3 winners, 1 for each book. To enter, just leave a comment with your email address (if you don't want to post your email here, just leave your entries here then email me your address). No email, no entry. Also leave what book you want to win in your comment. 1 book per winner, but you can put your name in for more than 1 book. The contest will run until October 19th at midnight.

Extra entries (please post them all in one comment):

+2 If you follow me.
+1 If you already followed me before the contest. (So, a total of 3 entries for those who already followed me.)
+2 If you post about this on your blog. (Sidebars rock, I love sidebars.)
+3 If you're on my "Top Commenters" list on my sidebar right now.

Thanks again, and good luck to all of you!

A Book Rant: Linger Name Change

In case you didn't know, Linger is the sequel to Shiver, both by the wonderful Maggie Stiefvater. And, again, if you didn't know (why are you so out of the loop?) I loved Shiver. When I read about this on Alex and Lauren's blog, A Flight of Minds, I was outraged. Confused. Very, very angry. It's...well, read this for yourself, it was written by Maggie herself:


"The more observant of my readers on my Livejournal blog have noticed that the main character from SHIVER has changed names. This is sort of eerie, since I hadn't realized I'd babbled about them enough to realize the names weren't the same, but the fact is, it's true. Sam Roth (which is, for the record, the best name ever) the character from SHIVER who becomes a wolf for the winter, is now Lee Spence.

That sentence, my friends, is the result of 16 hours of baby name book searching, thousands of calories of cookie dough consumption, silent raging, not silent raging, denial, googling, and finally, acceptance.

Because this agony is something that other authors will probably have to go through and because it gives me an excuse to look at a photo of Lee Pace, I'm going to tell my sordid little naming story here.

So. This all started way back when my werewolf story was only a twinkle in my eye. I'd had the dream that sort of laid down the premise, but only two of the characters (neither of them main characters) came with names in the dream. (And one of the two names in the dream was "Robert de Niro" so I had to change it anyway). I can't start writing a novel until I have the Perfect Names for my main characters, so I was in the brainstorming phase. I wanted something sort of timeless, soft-sounding, and inherently sad and emotastic. Which brought me to Sam, partially because of the way that Meg Ryan said, "Oh, Sam," in Addicted to Love, after she's torn his heart into little tiny pieces and feels bad about it, but is stuck in the floor, so she can't do anything but watch from afar and say:

"Oh, Sam."

I just thought . . . whooo, shivers. I imagined the scene where Grace, the other main character, first sees him as a person after years of obsessing over him as a wolf. And when she asks his name, he says, "Sam." And I knew that was it.

Except it wasn't. Because there is this author y'all may have heard of, Stephenie Meyer, who apparently has also written about werewolves. Who knew?That's sarcasm.

Anyway. So apparently, she also had a wolf character named Sam. Who knew?

That's not sarcasm.

I'd read TWILIGHT, but it's been a few years, so I'd completely forgotten that there was a werewolf named Sam in it. And my editors had too. And my crit partners. And basically all of the folks that had worked on the novel since last fall when I first began writing it. But not someone at the Scholastic sales meeting. And not, my editors reasoned (once they had this brought to their attention), the hoards of passionate TWILIGHT fans who had the demographics of every TWILIGHT character stenciled onto their arms with glittery pink ink. Sorry, sparkly. Sparkly pink ink. So at the very end of the editing process, after I'd lived with my characters as Sam and Grace my editors said that "Sam" had to go.

I sputtered and begged and pleaded and finally googled "sam werewolf," where I was greeted by one gagillion hits to Team Jacob and Sam Uley, The First Werewolf Named Sam. And I hung my sad head in defeat, because my editors were right, as they often are. Which meant that my favorite bit of dialog in the entire novel had to completely change:

"Grace,” I said, very softly. “Say something.”
“Sam,” she said, and I crushed her to me.

This was when the silent raging began. Because I knew I had to do something, but I didn't want to. I still had a sequel to write, after all, and I was going to have to live with a not-Sam for another 95,000 words. It wasn't just SHIVER that was riding on this name change, it was the fate of the sequel, LINGER (probably LINGER), as well, and probably my entire sanity as well. My critique partner, Tessa Gratton, spent about 8 hours IMing me back and forth, sifting through hundreds of names, looking for the perfect replacement that would ellicit the same emotional response in me as "Sam."

The catalog copy deadline was, I should add, bearing down on us at this moment, giving us about two days to come up with a replacement. At that point, I think my mood was best classified as "angry/ morose drunk."

Examples of angry/morose drunk exchanges? This is sort of a montage of conversations that occured on Day Two of the Great Name Debacle.

DAVID (editor) to me and ABBY (other editor): How about Daniel? I've always been partial to Daniel.

ABBY to me and DAVID: Daniel is nice.

ME to TESSA: Daniel! Daniel!? Why do they keep saying Daniel to me in my hour of need? Have they not heard Elton John?

TESSA: There, there. How about Jonah? It sounds emotastic.

ME to my DAD: I need something other than Sam, even though Sam is the most perfect name invented.

DAD: Why, again? Because there's this other sampire in TWILIGHT?

ME: Werewolf.

DAD: But 'sampire' is funnier. How about Jack?

ME: Why was I ever born?

Eventually, I really buckled down, hit the stacks, and finally came back to the first name that had occured to me at the beginning of the Great Name Debacle: Lee. It was soft, reminded me of blue jeans, inherently emotastic, and moreover, was the name of the actor who I think of when I think of what Sam/ Lee looks like: Lee Pace. (cue audience reaction: awwww). So now I had Lee Roth. Like Kate Winslet's character at the end of Titanic, I was sad, but triumphant. I told my art critique partners about the name change.

One of them, my friend Nicole, said, "um, Maggie, have you, um, googled 'Lee Roth'?"

I did.

Those of you who were born slightly before me will probably already know what I found. Sigh. So, with a nod to irritating rockers who have ruined a generation of fictional "Roths", I changed his last name to Spence.

So there you have it. The story of how Sam Roth became Lee Spence and everyone lived happily ever after. And the other day, I actually said "Lee and Grace" all by myself, without accidentally saying "Sa-Lee" first. So maybe there is hope for me yet. "


NO! There may be hope for Maggie, but there is absolutely no hope for me. First of all, who cares if there's a Sam in The Twilight Saga who just so happens to be a werewolf? Not me. I honestly hadn't even thought about that while reading Shiver. I don't understand why her editors are making her change her name. I could sorta understand if she was still writing Shiver...but it's already published. And they're not going to republish it- pull each book off the shelves and replace it with the "Lee Spence" version, are they? They just expect us to be able to transition like that?

Secondly, I don't love Lee Spence, I love Sam Roth. They are different people. Why? Because they have different names, therefore they are different people. I have no idea if I will be able to change this frame of mind. Ever. The whole situation is...inconceivable. (Holy crap, I spelled that right!) Maybe when I get Linger I can buy my own copy and scribble out Lee and write Sam...it may take awhile...it's an interesting idea though....

I am a Twilight fan. It is my favorite series. But, the whole idea that they're changing the name of a main character just because fans are that obsessive is ridiculous. They should just get it in their head that coincidences happen, and that not everybody is copy-catting Stephenie Meyer.

Oh, and by the way, I just typed in "werewolf Sam" on Google, and nothing for Twilight came up. There was True Blood, there was Shiver, there was no Twilight (on the first page, at least).

Sigh. Now I'm sad.

Edit: Wow, I feel like a nerd. OK, after I posted this it was brought to my attention that Sam Roth is here to stay. Maggie posted what you just read above on her blog, and then left a comment of the same post saying Sam is Sam again. See it for yourself here. Thanks to Rerebs from Count Rebula's Concepts & Comments. Like I said, I feel like a nerd.

...But it's still stupid to even think of doing that.

Contest Results: The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening

So, my first contest went pretty well. I got 13 people enter, but with extra entries it came out to 46 entries. I had a lot of fun with it and hope to have more in the very near future (preferably a 100 follower contest...). Anyways, the winner of The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening is.....

#11

Which is....

Kelsey

Congratulations Kelsey! I'm off to email you! Thanks so much to everyone else who entered the contest.

Oh, and sorry I've been semi-absent this week. I've been running around frantically with new activities. Summer is officially over. Sigh.

Catching Fire Review

*~CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE CRAZY PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT READ THE HUNGER GAMES. DOES NOT CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR CATCHING FIRE~*

Release Date: September 1, 2009
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Age Group: 14+
Pages: 400 (Hardcover)


Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be enjoying their freedom. After all, they won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty of food. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry, and they want revenge.

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Wow. I just finished this book moments ago, and am speechless and will most likely remain this way for some time. I know that people who have read The Hunger Games do not need me to tell them to pick this book up, but I feel like I need to contribute my thought and feelings about this book. Maybe for me, but I need to speak nonetheless. So:

To Whom It May Concern,

...Wow. When I started this book it didn't seem like it could live up to the high expectations that I had set for it after reading countless rave reviews on it. It seemed like I would be disappointed. I was wrong. DEAD WRONG. It was amazing. The ridiculously original, suspenseful, and overall fantastic plot that Suzanne Collins created did The Hunger Games more than justice. The gut-wrenching twists and turns left me gasping and hyperventilating.

Of course, Catching Fire wouldn't have been nearly the book it was without it's fantastic cast of characters. Katniss is the same tough-as-nails heroine with feelings AND extreme doses of bravery. How often do you find that in YA fiction these days? No very often, my friends. I didn't know I could love Peeta any more than after finishing The Hunger Games, but Catching Fire, again, proved me wrong. His unconditional love and care for Katniss isn't the only thing to love him for; he's also ridiculously brave and provides those few chuckles that even an action-packed dystopic book craves. Gale? Oh, that Gale. I don't care for him much. He's...whiny, almost. I'm definitely Team Peeta. Haymitch is great, too. Although hate-able, at the same time.

The writing in Catching Fire was great, as expected by Suzanne Collins. She was a little more descriptive in Catching Fire than in The Hunger Games, and for that I was grateful; it helped me imagine the characters more vividly.

The ending left me gaping at the book, expecting more words to jump out on cue. They didn't. There was a huge cliffhanger and I'm already expecting the next book to appear in a recurring dream. After I was finished, I closed the book and smelled it. I don't know why, maybe to savor every possible bit of it, but I did. Overall, in case you couldn't tell this was a wonderful sequel to The Hunger Games that leaves you begging for more. I probably would've devoured it in 1 day had it not come on the day where we had company, followed by a crazy-busy week. But, I still LOVED it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to discuss it on Shelfari since m friends are cheap and waiting for me to loan them my copy.

Oh...wow, this review is long...sorry, but I LOVED it!

Was it better than The Hunger Games? GO. AWAY.

In My Mailbox (1)

This is the first week I've actually gotten books in my mailbox! It's only one, but it's the first time an author has contacted me to review a book! (Er, well, it's not being sent to me until October, but I'm still counting it since I got the email today.) Anyways, it is:

Explorer X-Alpha by LM. Preston

(Sorry, this was the closest thing to a cover that I could find.)

For most kids, a trip to space camp is a trip of a lifetime, for Aadi it was life altering. After receiving a camp immunization needed for travel to Mars, Aadi finds that the immunization is the catalyst of an insidious experiment. Lucky for him, he was engineered to survive, thrive, and dominate. Without realizing he is being trained to conquer worlds, and manipulated under the guise of a camp, he unfolds the plot too late for a change of fate.

Sounds cool, right?

This awesome meme is hosted by The Story Siren but inspired by Pop Culture Junkie.


Also, if you haven't entered my contest for the first Vampire Diaries book, The Awakening, it ends on the 17th which is in...4 days. So, you should go do that.

Weedflower (Abandoned Book) Review

Release Date: January 27, 2009
Publisher: Atheneum; Reprint edition
Age Group: 12+
Pages: 272 (Paperback)

Twelve-year-old Sumiko feels her life has been made up of two parts: before Pearl Harbor and after it. The good part and the bad part. Raised on a flower farm in California, Sumiko is used to being the only Japanese girl in her class. Even when the other kids tease her, she always has had her flowers and family to go home to. That all changes after the horrific events of Pearl Harbor. Other Americans start to suspect that all Japanese people are spies for the emperor, even if, like Sumiko, they were born in the United States! As suspicions grow, Sumiko and her family find themselves being shipped to an internment camp in one of the hottest deserts in the United States. The vivid color of her previous life is gone forever, and now dust storms regularly choke the sky and seep into every crack of the military barrack that is her new "home." Sumiko soon discovers that the camp is on an Indian reservation and that the Japanese are as unwanted there as they'd been at home. But then she meets a young Mohave boy who might just become her first real friend...if he can ever stop being angry about the fact that the internment camp is on his tribe's land. With searing insight and clarity, Newbery Medal-winning author Cynthia Kadohata explores an important and painful topic through the eyes of a young girl who yearns to belong. Weedflower is the story of the rewards and challenges of a friendship across the racial divide, as well as the based-on-real-life story of how the meeting of Japanese Americans and Native Americans changed the future of both.

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OK, so I actually read-er, started-this for a book club. It was the same book club where I read The Giver, which I really liked and would have never picked up on my own. So, I figured that maybe...hopefully, I'd like this one too, even though, again, I wouldn't pick it up on my own.

There was a reason I wouldn't have picked it up.

The plot didn't have all that much of an original premise. And it dragged, even when they brought her family to the camps, nothing seemed to happen.

I also think that the characters were lacking. Sumiko felt too young and naive for me to relate to her, and I didn't love any of her other family members.

The writing was average. Certainly nothing to stick around for. The narration was, like Sumiko, very young and boring.

Basically, this book put me to sleep. I talked to a girl in the club who shares similar taste in books with me, and she complained about how boring it was too. I was thinking about this book recently and realized that I didn't want to finish it. I would not recommend it, and I don't know why it won a medal.

A Few Awards

I've gotten a lot of awesome awards from a lot of awesome bloggers! Here we go:

The Superior Scribbler Award from Sarbear at My Life Is An Effing Fairy Tale! Thanks so much Sarbear!
1. Each Superior Scribbler, must in turn, pass the Award on to 5 most-deserving bloggy buds.

2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author and name of the blog from whom he/she has received the Award.

3. Each Superior Scribbler must display the Award on his/her blog and link to this post which explains the Award.

1. OMG! Books!
2. CornucopiaofReviews
3. /-LA FEMME READERS-/
4. I was a teenage book geek
5. Katie's Book Blog


This one's from Lindsay at Just Another Book Addict! She's another great blogger, that you should definitely check out. Thanks Lindsay!


Blogs that receive the Let’s Be Friends Award are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.

1.Sarbear from My Life is an Effing Fairy Tale
2. Meggin from Serendipity Book Reviews
3. Dahlia from Dahlia's Eclectic Mind
4. Dani from Reading is like breathing...it must be done


And this one? From Dani at Reading is like breathing...it must be done. She's got some awesome reviews, and currently had a contest for Hush, Hush going on! Thank you Dani!
The person who receives this blog must do a shout out and nominate 7 other bloggers. (Not quite sure what's with this award...but the bear's cute!)

1. A Sea Of Pages
2. B is for Books
3. Books & other thoughts
4. Just Another Book Addict
5. Must Read Faster
6. Ramblings of a Teenage Bookworm
7. Sarah's random musings...

There you have it! I tried my best to only give awards to people who didn't already have it, but who knows how that worked out.

Happy weekend to all, may you have a book-filled Saturday and Sunday!

Waiting On Wednesday ( 7)

A prodigal son

A dangerous love

A deadly secret . . .

I stood back and watched his movements. Daniel had that way about him that could shut me down in an instant. . . . I kicked the gravel a couple of times and worked up my courage again. “Tell me . . . I mean . . . why did you come back? Why now, after all this time?”

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood. But she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night really held. And when Daniel returns three years later, Grace can no longer deny her attraction to him, despite promising Jude she’ll stay away.

As Grace gets closer to Daniel, her actions stir the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind Jude and Daniel's dark secret . . . and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

This is one of those that as soon as I'd heard of it I felt like if I didn't get it, I would shortly wither away and die a quick yet painful death. And the cover is one of those that makes you gape at your computer screen for a seemingly insane number of seconds, is it not?

Waiting On Wednesdays are hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

Teaser Tuesdays (September 8th, '09)

I'm back! I went away to my aunt's for labor day weekend and didn't get any time to post. But I haven't forgotten about you, actually it's quite the opposite; I've been planning my 100th followers contest, which could happen any day now.

And, also, I've kinda put my blogging life on hold. Why? Catching Fire, silly. I've checked on my Blogger account and skimmed through posts, but I've only read a very select few. It just seems like a waste of time when I've got Catching Fire next to me. But, when I finish Catching Fire, there will be a CRAP-LOAD of blog posts for me to read! Anyways, onto the teaser of a book that has taken over my life:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should

Be Reading.

Anyone can play along, 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!

Here's mine:


"Yes. This is the thing to remember when fear threatens to swallow me up. What I am about to do, whatever any of us are forced to endure, it is for them."- Page 123 of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. (I'm on page 257.)

Friday Finds (2)

This week I actually found new books! I'm not sure if this is a good thing and there's just a lot of books coming out, or that I'm getting sloppy and behind on releases...let's go with the first one. Anyways, here they are:

Dark Visions: The Strange Power, The Possessed, The Passion - L.J Smith

GIFTED AND CURSED Kaitlyn Fairchild has always felt like an outsider. Her haunting eyes and prophetic drawings have earned her a reputation as a witch. But Kait’s not a witch: she’s psychic. Tired of being shunned, Kait accepts an invitation to attend the Zetes Institute, where she can study with other psychic teens and have a fresh start.

As Kaitlyn learns to hone her abilities with four other gifted students, she starts to discover the intensity of her power - and the joy of having true friends. But those friendships quickly become complicated when Kait finds herself torn between two irresistible guys. Rob is a healer - kind and gentle, he’s surrounded by good energy, while Gabriel is aggressive and mysterious - a telepath concealing his true nature.

Together, Rob and Gabriel’s opposing forces start to threaten the group’s stability, and when a experiment traps the five teens in a psychic link - a link that threatens their sanity and their lives - Kaitlyn must decide who to trust and who to love . . .

I found this at Books, Books, and More Books. This one looks awesome! I love L.J. Smith and the premise looks dark and pretty original. And the cover is made of awesome. Seriously. Someone made it out of awesome instead of paper. You don't believe me? You shouldn't... I'm kidding.


Under My Skin by Judith Graves

All her parents wanted was for Eryn to live a normal life...
Redgrave had its share of monsters before Eryn moved to town. Mauled pets, missing children.
The Delacroix family is taking the blame, but Eryn knows the truth. Something stalks the night. Wade, the police chief's son and Redgrave High's resident hottie, warns her the Delacroix are dangerous. But then so is Eryn - in fact, she's lethal.
But she can't help falling for one of the Delacroix boys, dark, brooding - human Alec. And then it all goes bad.
A normal life? Now that's the real fairytale.


This one sounds really good too! I'm not sure when it comes out. And is Judith Graves a pen name? I'd think so, I like it. I found Under my Skin at The Hiding Spot.


Soulless by Gail Carriger

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette. Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart? SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

This is the first one in the series, right? I hope so, it looks REALLY good. Anyone know when it comes out? Sorry, I don't remember where I found this one and it's gonna bug me all day....

Some awesome -paranormal- finds this week!

Oh, and a huge frantic welcome wave to everyone who found out about Shut Up! I'm Reading. through The Story Siren's most recent Fresh Face Friday! She rocks, doesn't she? I suppose I should really get working on my book....What? Oh, yeah, welcome!

Judging A Book By It's Cover: Newes From The Dead

I picked this up on a whim at the library. It's not my normal type of book, but I've read some really good reviews about it. Besides, I always like to go out of my element every once in a while.


I really like this cover, maybe that's one of the reasons I picked it up without ever hearing of it. I love the swirls, the font, and the girls expression. And what's with her eyes? They're such a weird color...I like it. And the colors are awesome. But this is just my opinion. What do you think?

Waiting On Wednesday (6)

With only a half an hour to go! Huzzah for procrastination!

(Sorry the cover's blurry.)

Jill Jekel and Tristen Hyde are two high school students who gradually discover that they share a mysterious, possibly dangerous, connection to the old novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. As they race against the clock to figure out the puzzle, they start to fall for each other – which is probably the worst thing that could happen to them… *

*From an interview did here.

I loved Jessica's Guide, so I'm really excited for this one! The cover looks a LOT like Jessica's Guide too...but I still really like it. Besides, did you read the synopsis?

Shiver Review

Release Date: August 1, 2009
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Age Group: 14+
Pages: 390 (Hardcover)

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

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This book was great. Yes, all those raving reviews you've read about it are valid. That's really all there is to it. I think I could end this review right now, but I want to continue raving about it, so I'll go on.

The plot in itself is really original-well, not the werewolf part, but how they "shift", and the entire take on werewolves. Although it's low on action until the last 90 pages or so, it keeps you reading religiously; fueled by romance, a little mystery, and an excellent storyline.

The characters are wonderful. Grace isn't the "normal girl" in most teen fiction, she's more logical, level-headed, and relatable than lots of protagonists. And Sam was more creative, afraid, and sensitive then most guy characters. The only character that annoyed me was Jack-obviously, and Olivia a little bit too. I was only annoyed with Beck until he explained himself.

Grace and Sam's romance is amazing. They're so sweet. At first I thought that they were moving too fast for only knowing each other for a short amount of time, but then I realized that they had shared a connection, an unbreakable bond for six years. And that definitely shows.

I think the writing was one of the things that made this book so great. OK, here is what I meant when I said it was taking me a long time to read it in a good way: The writing is so beautiful and poetic that I'd have to re-read sentenses to make sure I understood it correctly, or sometimes just to savor it's beauty. It was that good.

Overall, a great book! I can't think about anything negative to say about it except that the next book doesn't come out unitl 2010! I was very satisfied with the ending-but I want Linger, the next book, in what is supposed to be a series. And I want it now. I want to be sucked back into Maggie Stiefvater's wondeful world of werewolves now. Trust me, go read it this very moment.

Was it better than Blood and Chocolate? Oh yeah. This is, without a doubt in my mind, the best completely werewolf dedicated book I've ever read.