Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday (44)





"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that showcases upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!





This week I'm waiting on:

Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey
Publication date: January 5, 2012

Synopsis:
Wilde Island is in an uproar after the recent death of its king. The uneasy pact between dragons, fairies, and humans is fraying, and a bloodthirsty witch hunter with a hidden agenda whips villages into frenzies with wild accusations. Tess, a blacksmith’s daughter from a tiny hamlet near the mysterious Dragonswood, finds herself caught in the crosshairs of fate when she is accused of witchery and has to flee for her life along with her two best friends.

Not even Tess’s power to see the future can help the girls as they set off on their desperate journey, but she keeps having visions of a man wielding a sword. And when she finally meets him, Tess has no idea how to handle the magnetic attraction she feels for him, or the elusive call she hears from the heart of the Dragonswood.

In this epic romance, an ancient prophecy comes true in a way neither dragon, fairy, nor human would have predicted.


Why I want it: Sounds very fantastical, and I absolutely love love love that cover! I think January is going to be an awesome month for books!

What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?

Monday, November 28, 2011

Must Read Monday (5)

Fans of Fiction
Must Read Monday is a new meme hosted by Jenna at Fans of Fiction. The idea is to create an acrostic poem about a book in the chosen category of the week.
This week’s category: A book that made you laugh out loud




Hardly by choice,
Alex is back at the Covenant, the
Last place she can call home.
Friendships are reclaimed, and new
-
Bonds will be formed.
Laughter will fill the room,
Only because
Of Alex's sarcasm that will
Drive you to a fit of giggles.


I chose Jennifer L. Armentrout's HALF-BLOOD this week. I really liked Jennifer's writing and the character she created in Alex. The sarcastic comments that come out of Alex's mouth always make me laugh. But this story also has a lot of intense moments, both in action and romance. Definitely a great book by a debut author.

Check out my review here.
Add it to your Goodreads shelf here.

Feel free to try out this new meme! It's fun! And it's a great way to introduce blog followers to new books.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday (43)





"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that showcases upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!





This week I'm waiting on:

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
Publication date: January 2, 2012

Synopsis:
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18B. Hadley's in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.


Why I want it: I don't read many contemporary books, but this one sounds so cute. I do love a good read about true love at first sight. I can't imagine the whole story in 24 hours, and on a plane, too! I can't wait for this one.

What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?

Monday, November 21, 2011

Must Read Monday (4)

Fans of Fiction
Must Read Monday is a new meme hosted by Jenna at Fans of Fiction. The idea is to create an acrostic poem about a book in the chosen category of the week.
This week’s category: Fantasy

I finally got a chance to write another acrostic for this meme! I hope you enjoy it :)



The secret daughter of a
Hidden world, Meghan Chase learns
Everything is not as it seems.

In minutes, her brother's
Room becomes a portal, and
Only her best friend dares take her to the
Nevernever.

Kisses that are forbidden,
Insecurity around every corner, yet Meghan must save
Nevernever before it is
Gone forever.

I chose Julie Kagawa's The Iron King this week. This is the first book in The Iron Fey series. I just read it this past summer and loved it. I bought the second book, The Iron Daughter, right away. But of course, I haven't read it yet. I'm really excited to get back to the Nevernever, though!

Read my review here.
Add it to your Goodreads shelf here.

Feel free to try out this new meme! It's fun! And it's a great way to introduce blog followers to new books.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Judging a Book by Its Cover (2)

You might remember that back in September, I did a post titled "Judging a Book by Its Cover," in which I posted a bunch of eye-catching book covers I had recently come across. Well, it's back for another round!

Here's a collection of awesome covers I've found recently. You may have seen a few of them on my blog already, because I did do some cover reveal posts about books in various series I read.

Links will direct you to the corresponding Goodreads pages.






Oh man I can't wait until 2012!

What do you think of these covers? Which one are you most anticipating? Please feel free to leave any comments!

Have a Good Weekend & Happy Reading!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday (42)





"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that showcases upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!





This week I'm waiting on:
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publication Date: December 6, 2011

Synopsis:
Starting over sucks.
When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.
You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.


Why I want it: I loved HALF-BLOOD, Jennifer's debut novel and first in the Covenant series, when I read it in the summer. Her characters have wit and her plot lines are exciting. I couldn't put it down. I think OBSIDIAN sounds like a different book that what we're used to these days. Not many authors are writing about aliens. I don't think the cover is the greatest, but I can live with that.

What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (34)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
DO NOT INCLUDE SPOILERS (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away, so that you don't ruin the book for others)
Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR list is they like your teasers!

My teaser this week comes from Catching Fire, book 2 in the The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It's rare for me to read a sequel right after the first book, but I decided to jump right into CATCHING FIRE so I could read it alongside my Twitter friend Momo from Books Over Boys. Here's my teaser for this week:




I was completely unprepared. You would think that after all the hours I'd spent with Gale - watching him talk and laugh and frown - that I would know all there was to know about his lips. But I hadn't imagined how warm they would feel pressed against my own.



*Sigh* Of course this was bound to happen in book 2. It complicates everything and puts people in danger, but it also makes things more exciting. I'm really enjoying this book so far.

Feel free to share your teasers with me! I'd love to see what you're reading.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: March 14, 2006
Genre: YA, historical
Pages: 550

*Read for Summer book club.
Synopsis:
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery...

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.


I really, really, REALLY wanted to write an acrostic about this book for this week's Must Read Monday (the category this week is "A book so powerful that it changed you in some way". The problem is that I've never been able to put into words how I felt about this book, except in brief. It's the reason I never wrote a review. But since I started thinking about it again, and I wasn't able to write an acrostic, I at least want to be able to write a review. So here it goes...

The Book Thief is the story of a little girl living outside Munich, Germany during World War II. Nazi Germany. She can't resist books, so she steals them. Her foster father teaches her to read. He plays the accordion. They hide a Jewish man in their basement. People die.

I felt like this book tore my heart out, that's why I wanted to write an acrostic about it. And that's all I can ever think to say when it comes to this book. That it tore out my heart and stomped on it. I can't explain what it is about this book that affected me so much. Maybe because it's so raw and true. Maybe because it's about a little girl. Maybe because it's told from Death's point of view. Whatever it was, it sucked me in and kept me turning pages until I'd read all 550 of them. And I cried. I just had so many conflicting emotions in this book.

The way it was written, you knew what was going to happen, you just didn't know when. Death would mention something that was going to happen, but then say it comes later and leave it at that. I always felt like I was tensing for the impact that I knew was coming, but after a little while I started to loosen up, and then BAM! Markus Zusak would just hit me with the reality of it all. Whether it was Rudy or Max or Hans or even Liesel who was affected, it hit me just as hard each and every single time.

I didn't think this review would be coherent, so I apologize! I just have so much trouble voicing what this book did to me emotionally. I can't describe it, even when I try. This will forever be one of my favourite books of all time.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Cover Reveal: Rapture by Lauren Kate

I love love love Lauren Kate's Fallen series. If you don't believe me, feel free to visit my review archive and read my reviews for Fallen, Torment, and Passion. Next summer, the fourth and final book in the series, Rapture, will hit shelves. However, Lauren Kate shared with us this week the cover for Rapture along with a couple special little surprises!

To start things off, here's the cover for RAPTURE:

The big change with this one is the dress that Luce is wearing. It's white! Here's the previous covers:

My favourite is definitely Passion. I love the colours because they're so different. You can expect RAPTURE on your bookshelves on June 14, 2012.

Surprise number 1 from Lauren Kate, was this:

FALLEN IN LOVE is a collection of four love stories, and not all of them centre around Luce and Daniel! I think it'll be awesome, especially for hopeless romantics like myself. AND it comes out on January 24, 2012, so it'll give us some of Lauren Kate's awesome characters and writing while we wait (impatiently) for RAPTURE to hit shelves.

Surprise number 2 can be found at Lauren Kate's website. It's a sneak peak at FALLEN IN LOVE, and it doesn't feature Luce and Daniel. Want to know which couple stars in this particular short story? Check it out!

Let me know what you think of this news! Are you a fan of Lauren Kate? Of her Fallen series? What do you think of these covers and the collection of short stories?
Talk to me people!

Waiting on Wednesday (41)





"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that showcases upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!





This week I'm waiting on:

Hallowed (Unearthly #2) by Cynthia Hand
Publication Date: January 17, 2012

**WARNING: SPOILERS!**

Synopsis:
For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose — the task she was put on earth to accomplish — is not as straight-forward as she thought.

Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

Why I want it: It's the sequel to Unearthly which is an angel story I really loved. I really want to see what happens next for Clara because I'm sure she's having a lot of identity issues after the end of Unearthly.

What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Publish Date: September 14, 2008
Genre: YA, dystopian
Pages: 374
Series: The Hunger Games
1. The Hunger Games
2. Catching Fire (September 1, 2009)
3. Mockingjay (August 24, 2010)
Synopsis:
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.


I know so many people who have read THE HUNGER GAMES and loved it, that when I picked it up I was kind of nervous about not loving it. It’s more common that, if the general public loved it, I’ll love it too, but I was still worried.

I was most surprised by how much “before the Hunger Games” there was: the reaping, the parade, the training, etc. I expected it to get to the Games pretty quickly. The before stuff was still good, it really gave us a good chance to see the Capitol as a whole and the role that they played in the story. It was also a great time to lay character foundations. I think that the whole first half of the book is evidence that THE HUNGER GAMES is not a stand-alone novel. There’s just too much setting up for it to get far enough into the story that it’ll be done at the end of 374 pages.

The fact that Collins did spend so much time in character and plot development really is a plus. It definitely gives the reader time to connect to the characters. Even though we don’t see Gale for long, we know that he’s the most loyal best friend there is. And through the things Katniss remembers about Prim and her mother, we can definitely see what kind of people they are. Other characters like Haymitch and Cinna all add their own elements to the story.

Katniss herself was a very strong female lead. Her main goal is to stay alive, and you can’t have any flimsy girly-girl in an arena with 23 other tributes, fighting for her life. Katniss was the perfect heroine. Peeta was a great character, too. Although he seems half-useless in the Games, you can also tell he’s a really great guy. What I loved about him was how he cared so deeply, and seemed like a genuine human being throughout the novel. No matter what the Capitol, or anyone else, threw at him I always felt like he was an honest, caring person.

Since the majority of the book was about Katniss fighting for her life, there really wasn’t a chance to develop much romance. It’s constantly in the undercurrent because of their strategy, but any real romantic connection between Katniss and Peeta seems improbable and far-fetched. But I understand that. Either way, I’d almost like to announce myself as Team Peeta, but I feel like we aren’t far enough into the love story to make any definitive conclusions ;).

Overall, THE HUNGER GAMES is a whirlwind of a story that takes you on the incredible journey of a girl fighting to live. Although the pacing makes it evident that this novel is the first in a series, there is a lot that happens. It’s definitely the perfect beginning to a series. I’m pretty excited to see how the story is going to continue.

buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery

Monday, November 7, 2011

Book Trailer: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I love book trailers, but I haven't had much time recently to sit down and watch them. However, today I was actually on Twitter again (*gasp!*) and happened to catch the link for the book trailer of Tahereh Mafi's debut novel, SHATTER ME. I really like this book trailer, and wanted to share it with all of you!



Add SHATTER ME to you Goodreads shelf here.
Visit Tahereh Mafi's website here.
Preorder SHATTER ME from The Book Depository here.

SHATTER ME hits shelves on November 15, 2011!

Remember to let me know what you think of the trailer!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday (40)





"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that showcases upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!
I first heard about it from PageTurnersBlog.




This week I'm waiting on:

A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2) by Beth Revis
Publication Date: January 10, 2012

**WARNING: SPOILERS!**

Synopsis:
Godspeed was fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.

It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.

In book two of the Across the Universe trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis mesmerizes us again with a brilliantly crafted mystery filled with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.


Why I want it: I just finished reading Book 1, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, last week and really enjoyed it. I'm intrigued to see where the author will take the characters and the ship next!


What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Cover Reveal: Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

Today was a very exciting day to anyone who is a fan of Josephine Angelini's debut novel, STARCROSSED. Today, Josie revealed the cover for the second book in the trilogy, DREAMLESS!


I have to say that I think it's pretty amazing. I love the way her face is hidden. It looks mysterious. And this cover matches the cover for STARCROSSED with the flowing dress and ocean backdrop.

If you missed it, I read STARCROSSED in the summer and absolutely loved it. You can read my review here.

You can add DREAMLESS to your Goodreads shelf here. It's due for release in May 2012.

What do you think of the cover? Have you read STARCROSSED? What did you think?