Happy Halloween!

So, I'm at this Halloween party, blogging to wish all of my reading friends a safe and happy Halloween. I'm not much of a party person, nor do I choose to hang out with teenagers (except for my friends, obviously). Anyways, Happy Halloween! May the book you're reading give you chills tonight!

Mini Challenge: 8 Of My Favorite Things And A Cover

Princess Bookie is hosting an awesome surprise contest along with a mini-challenge in honor of the read-a-thon (which I'm not participating in this time), and you have to list 8 of your favorite things. Mine are:

1. The obvious, family and friends
2. Another obvious answer, books, authors, publishers, trees, ink, type writers (now more commonly referred to as some weird thing called a...computer or something), and light to read
3. My type of music (tied with number 2)
4. DVR/Tivo, I have no idea how I would live with commercials
5. Fingernails, to scratch your back when it's just so itchy
6. Those sometimes cool, sometimes annoying emoticons to tell you what mood the typer is in. Example? "I hate you! :D" or, "You suck! XD" and my favorite, "You're such a dolphin and I wish you'd go swim in a pile of hot dogs. :/" ...I have no idea what was up with the last one, but the person was not happy, hence the unhappy emoticon. See how it works?
7. Reece's' Peanut Butter Cups, I could eat, like, 15 of them in one sitting
8. Tissues with lotion, if you've got a 5 day cold, and are blowing/wiping your nose constantly and only have the lousy non-lotioned kind, then your nose is gonna burn. Trust me. Been there.

Go over and add your link to Cindy of Princess Bookie's mini-challenge and enter to win some books that look fantastic!

I also created a cover for her other surprise contest!

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Thanks again to Cindy for hosting such awesomeness these past two-er, three-days!

We Have Our Winners!

Luckily I'm feeling significantly better than yesterday, which means I could count out the entries for my contest. So, including extra entries, I had a total of 276 entries. The contest was for 103 followers, but I now have 148! Thanks so much guys, I know it sounds cheesy, but I wish I could give you each a copy of your chosen book.

But, anyways, I'm stalling.


The first winner is....

Diana Dang!
Diana Dang picked The Otherworldlies.

The second winner is....

Sarbear!
Sarbear gets to choose between Growing Wings and The Truth About Forever.

The third winner is....

Wrighty!
Wrighty gets whichever is left.

I've emailed each of the winners, and need to hear back in 3 days, tops. Congratulations to all of you, and thanks again to everyone who entered!

Contest News

I just realized that last night was the end of my 103 follower contest! Man, October has flown by fast. I'm mainly posting this to tell you that I'll have the winners up tomorrow, since today I'm not feeling my best. (It's a big pet peeve of mine when people don't announce their winners until a few days after the contest has closed.) Thanks for understanding!

Evermore Review

Release Date: February 3, 2009
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Age Group: 13+
Pages: 300 (Paperback)

Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch. Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste… Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition. He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets. Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head. She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is. Damen equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.
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Evermore was such a good, fun read!

The plot kept me guessing about Damen and Ever's past throughout the book, and I was so pleased when the answers to my questions were so original and something that I don't think I ever would have guessed. With some very nice plot twists thrown in, this is a new brand of young adult paranormal romance that stands out from the crowd that's become full of vampires and werewolves. I've heard that this was similar to Twilight, but I didn't see that much resemblance besides a few, minor details.

Ever was realistic and I could relate to her, even though at times I wanted to smack her for being so stupid. Damen is another one of those practically perfect guys that will have fellow female book-worms smitten. Miles was so much fun, and provided some of the best laughs of the book. I loved Miles' character. I really disliked Haven though. She's such a bit-...brat, and was always seemed to be mad at Ever for doing absolutely nothing- more for being concerned about her so-called "friend."

The writing was....It was. Sometimes, it seemed good, but other times, it seemed very premature and I just felt that Alyson Noel could've been more descriptive in some places. But she's a great storyteller.

The ending was somewhat predictable, but still satisfying. I'm glad my library had Blue Moon too, because I can't wait to be swept into such a different paranormal romance again.

Two New Covers!

So, although it's been far too long since I've blogged, I've still been keeping up with the blogosphere. And, I want to share two brand new, amazing covers that I've found. Both are titles in a series.

This is not the final cover, but still so pretty! City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare (Book 4 in the Mortal Instruments series) (Found this at Books Not Bombs!)


I know! I still haven't read City of Glass yet, though, so I've got some catching up to do. The next one is:

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (Sequel to Shiver) (Found this at Presenting Lenore!)


I didn't think that the cover for Linger would be able to even be compared to the amazing cover for Shiver, but this cover is so eye-catching and beautiful! But now that I know that it's out there, I feel such...longing.

Waiting on Wednesday (10)

...On Thursday. I fail. My WoW for this week is:

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

(No cover yet.)

When Sophie Mercer turned thirteen, she discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-Gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hecate Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward prodigium, a.k.a. witches, fae, and shapeshifters. By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard. Three powerful enemies who look like supermodels; a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock; a creepy, tag-along ghost; and a new roommate, who happens to be the most-hated person and only vampire on campus. Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her friend Jenna is the number one suspect. Meanwhile, Sophie has a more personal shock to grapple with. Not only is her father the head of the prodigium council, he's most powerful warlock in the world, and Sophie is his heir. As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all prodigium, especially her.

Sounds awesome, right? And I've only heard awesome things about it. So, it'll be filled with...you know...awesomeness. It's being released on March 2, 2010, so mark your calenders.

Happy Release Day Hush, Hush!

Usually, I don't dedicate a whole post to the release of a book. But, to me, this book is not just any book. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book in July (you can read my rave review of it, here) and it quickly became one of my favorites. And, today is the release of this great book! It also has a different ending, which means that I will be asking for it for Christmas. Congratulations Hush, Hush!

Judging A Book By It's Cover: Wake

Wake is one of my favorite books. If you want, you can read my review here. Instead of me raving about the fabulous US cover, I wanted to judge the UK cover:





I...don't like it very much....I don't think it reflects the book very well; it's not dark enough. And I don't like the color of the hair. And I don't like the objects thrown in there. I DO really like the font, though. So, yeah, definitely not my favorite cover. But, that's just me. What do you guys think?

Another Great Contest at Princess Bookie!

Princess Bookie's got another great contest going on at her blog! The prizes? Way too many to name. Go here to enter!

My Favorite Book Guys

It's weird, but for some reason yesterday I was thinking about my favorite guys in books. Maybe it's because I'm extremely fond of lists.... I came up with more than I thought I would, in the end. I've divided it into two lists:

Top Favorite Guys (In absolutely NO order):

Peeta, The Hunger Games series
Jacob, Twilight Saga
Patch, Hush, Hush
Lucius, Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side
Jace, Mortal Instruments
Edward, Twilight Saga
Sam, Shiver
Simon, Mortal Instruments
Cabel, Wake and Fade


Very Honorable Mentions (Again, NO order):

Balthazar, Evernight series
Tamani, Wings
Jack, Blue Bloods series
Lucus, Evernight series
Fang, Maximum Ride series
Stefan, The Vampire Diaries
Zachary, Eternal
Dylan, Blue Bloods series
Connor, Unwind
Gabriel, Blood and Chocolate
(I'm reading Evermore now, and Damen will-if the book goes where I think it's going-probably make this list.)

So, yep, there's my list. It was slightly harder than I expected....What do you guys think? Did I miss any? Feel free to do your own if you want, I'm really curious about your top guys, too.

Waiting On Wednesday (9)

WoW is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.


There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce--and goes out of his way to make that very clear--she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.


I have no idea what exactly the book is about. Vampires? Angels? Werewolves? Demons? The blurb is so vague...in a way it makes me want it even more. It's release date is December 7.

Teaser Tuesday (October 6th, 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:

"I mean, how can I explain how ever since the accident, the only people whose thoughts I can't hear, whose lives I can't know, and whose auras I can't see, are already dead?"- From page 13 of Evermore by Alyson Noel

So far, I'm really enjoying it. I'm only on page 75, or so, but it definitely has started out really strong.

Unwind Review

Release Date: November 6, 2007
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Age Group: 13+
Pages: 335 (Hardback)


In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away. In Unwind , Boston Globe/Horn Book Award winner Neal Shusterman challenges readers' ideas about life -- not just where life begins, and where it ends, but what it truly means to be alive.
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I hadn't heard if this until my friends raved to me about it; they told me how amazing it was constantly. I didn't enjoy it as much as them, unfortunately. But I did enjoy it.

The plot is extremely original; besides it being set in the future, there really is nothing that I've read or heard of like it. I just felt like there was way too much stuff in the middle that was irrelevant to the storyline. All of that made me wade through it, and I considered putting it down because it seemed like it just wasn't going anywhere. It did pick up though, it picked up a lot. The ending was strong and very satisfying.

The characters are what kept me reading through the slow spots. There are three main characters, Connor, Risa, and Lev. I immediately loved Connor's character, and liked Risa more and more until I loved her too, Lev...not so much. He actually kind of annoyed me until the last...ten pages. I just couldn't relate to him on any level and couldn't see any reason behind his actions all most throughout the whole book. But this book had great characterization.

The writing was good. Pretty impressive, considering the genre.

Overall, it was a thought-provoking, really good read that is prone to getting off-track and slow. It wasn't a quick read, but I still cannot say that I didn't thoroughly enjoy it-especially the ending. I'd recommend it.

In My Mailbox (2)

I got a book this week! Yay! I won it from the author, Jen Nadol. And it's one that I am VERY, VERY excited about:


The Mark by Jen Nadol (Bloomsbury)

Cassandra Renfield has always seen the mark—a glow around certain people reminiscent of candlelight. But the one time she mentioned it, it was dismissed as a trick of the light. Until the day she watches a man awash in the mark die. After searching her memories, Cassie realizes she can see a person’s imminent death. Not how or where, only when: today.

Armed with a vague understanding of the light, Cassie begins to explore her “gift,” seeking those marked for death and probing the line between decision and destiny. Though she’s careful to hide her secret—even from her new philosophy-obsessed boyfriend—with each impending death comes the temptation to test fate. But so many questions remain. How does the mark work? Why is she the only one who sees it? And finally, the most important of all: If you know today is someone’s last, should you tell them?

Out January 16th, 2010.

Yep, I'm still doing my happy dance. What'd you get this week?

What I Read In September

I have had virtually no time to read this month. It's really, really sad and I really hope that October will bring more spare time with it. Here is my ridiculously small list:

Shiver (5 Stars)
Weedflower (2 stars) (I didn't really read it any in September, though. Just reviewed it.)
Catching Fire (Favorite)
Death Note Vol 1 (3 Stars)


Favorite September Book: Catching Fire, all the way.

Least Favorite September Book: (Unless you count Weedflower, which I'm not:) Death Note, which wasn't bad, but not as good as I'd hoped it be.

Other posts of significance:
My 103 Follower Contest