End of the Year Survey

December 31, 2011 By 4 Comments
This Survey is hosted by Jamie @ The Perpentual Page Turner
1. Best Book You Read In 2011? 
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, I didn’t love this book in the beginning but it turned into a quick favorite by the end.
2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?
Oh goodness there were so many YA books this year that were molds of previous books. I guess I’m going to have to go with Bloodrose! I love this series but the last book ended on a sour note for me even though I was happy who Calla ended up with.
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?
Kiss of Frost, I did not expect this series to be that EPIC!
4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?
Nightshade and The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
5. Best series you discovered in 2011?
Even though the ending was disappointing, I read the entire Nightshade series this year and it is certainly worth reading because books 1 and 2 are amazing!

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?
Jennifer Estep, Michelle Hodkin, Andrea Cremer, Jeaniene Frost, Gini Koch, Lisa Schroeder, and so many others.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
Jenny Pox, I really didn’t expect to like this one so much. Normally horror, blood, and gore are not my things but this one really worked for me.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?
Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?
Lover Unleashed by JR Ward

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?
There were a lot of gorgeous covers this year but sometimes the cover didn’t make up for the boring storyline underneath the cover. Due to this fact I’m going to skip this question.



11. Most memorable character in 2011? 
Oh godness there were so many…

I’m going to have to go with a secondary character for my choice.
I pick Jamie from Mara Dyer, he is just perfect! I love his sarcastic remarks and how he is there for Mara. He better be coming back in the second book otherwise I’m going to be very upset.
 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?
Anything by Lisa Schroeder
13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011? 
Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma, just wow! This book will change you.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read? 
Halfway to the Grave/ Night Huntress Series!

How on Earth did I wait so long for this series!
I’ve only read the first two books but I’m already in love, love I tell you!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011? 

There were so many but I’m going to have to go with…
 ”We can love each other.” I swallow hard to ease the constriction in my throat. “There are no laws, no boundaries, on feelings. We can love each other as much and as deeply as we want. No one, Maya, no one can ever take that away from us.” ~Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma pg. 276~
16. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012? 
Catching Jordan! This one just was amazing and I can’t wait to sit down and read it again and again.

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
The endings of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and Forbidden. Both of those endings left me with chills and I wasn’t the same after having read them.

 Looking Ahead…

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2011 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2012?There are so many that I didn’t get a chance to read and I really want to. Divergent, Wither, Unearthly, Delirium, At Grave’s End, The Iron King, and many many more.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2012?
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer book 2!
Lover Reborn by JR Ward, love this adult romance series.
3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2012?
I just hope to improve my blog and increase my reading in 2012.
Filed Under: Uncategorized

My Favorite Books of 2011

December 30, 2011 By 3 Comments

Sorry for the longer video I just wanted to talk about all of my favorite of the year and why they made the top of my list.
If you have a favorites or top 10 post be sure to let me konw so I can come check it out.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Vampire Knight Vol 10

December 29, 2011 By 3 Comments
Title: Vampire Knight Vol 10
Author: Matsuri Hino
Publisher: Shojo Beat
Publication Date: June 2010
Classification: 18+ Manga
Challenge: Outdo Yourself

Summary from Barnes and Noble:
Rido is gone, but the battle rages on at Cross Academy. The Night Class is still under attack, and Headmaster Cross has joined the war to protect his students. Zero, however, has vowed to get rid of all the Purebloods–including Yuki!

My Thoughts:
After the intense ending of volume 9 I was expecting a lot from this volume. I was a little confused coming into this volume because several times the characters just jump to a memory from the past and just exactly what was going on with the vampire hunters seemed a little weird. There were a few surprises in this volume though that I wasn’t really expecting.

Honestly all of the memories between Yuki and Kaname and Yuki and Zero are making it very hard to decide who she should be with. Now personally I’m a Zero fan all the way, it has always been about Zero to me. I just think Kaname is a little bit creepy and I mean come on people, he is her freakin older brother!! How on earth isn’t that weird?

Overall, I did like this volume but I felt it was short. That could be because I haven’t read a manga book in about a month so it was just different coming back to a quick read versus a 350 page novel. I do want to know what happens in the next volume because of the things that finally happened between Yuki and Zero and how Kaname basically ran off. I think one of the things I liked best about this novel was Yuki’s mom’s story at the very end, it was very sweet. I’m sorry this is a short review I just don’t have a whole lot to say about this volume other than I am still liking this series and I’m looking forward to volume 11. This volume gets 4 hearts from me.

Filed Under: Manga

New Blog Layout!

December 28, 2011 By 4 Comments
As you might have already seen, I have a new layout.
I stayed up till 3 AM putting it together.
Please let me know what you think about the new look!
I’m hoping to keep this one for a while, unless people really do not like it.
Thanks

Filed Under: Uncategorized

IMM 56: Holiday Edition: Vlog!

December 28, 2011 By 8 Comments

Big thanks to Kristi @ The Story Siren for this great theme!

Sorry that the video has some slow movement issues, it is the way it films at Johnny’s house.

Amazing People Mentioned:
Erica @ The Book Cellar
Loretta @ Between the Pages
Angela @ Reading Angel

Filed Under: In My Mailbox (IMM)

I Heart You, You Haunt Me

December 27, 2011 By 8 Comments

Title: I Heart You, You Haunt Me

Author: Lisa Schroeder
Publisher: Simon Pulse 
Publication Date: Jan 2008
Classification: YA Novel
Challenge: Outdo Yourself
Summary from Goodreads:
Girl meets boy.

Girl loses boy.

Girl gets boy back…

…sort of.

Ava can’t see him or touch him, unless she’s dreaming. She can’t hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she’s crazy, but she knows he’s here.

Jackson. The boy Ava thought she’d spend the rest of her life with. He’s back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds.

My Thoughts:
I have only read The Day Before by Lisa and I loved it so I couldn’t wait to try some of her older books. I picked this one up during a read-a-thon for a quick read and it was the best book that I read during that read-a-thon!

It is a verse book for anyone who didn’t already know that and the emotion that Lisa can put in such few words will leave you breathless and wanting more. While reading this one I could completely connect with the sadness and loss that Ava was going through and although Jackson was a ghost and he was there for her in his own special way, it was hurting Ava more than she realized. This book really explores all of the emotions that a teenage girl would feel after losing her boyfriend.

The only problem I had with the book was that Ava was rather young and she had only been dating Jackson for a short while before he died. She always said she loved him but I don’t think she quite knew what that meant. Even though she was so young I could still relate to the story and I think Lisa did a great job with Ava’s character in the end. She might have seemed too young at certain points but she had some growing up moments that really lead the reader to believe that Ava was making the right choices, even if they were heartbreaking ones.

Overall, I was crying by the end of this book and a book has not done that to me in a while so I appreciate any time a book gives me a good cry. The story was beautiful and the words were powerful and held so much meaning. I would recommend this book to just about anyone because stories of lose are stories that we all have to deal with and this one is one of the best that I have read on this topic in a long time. I will give this story 5 hearts and I can’t wait to read more of Lisa’s work.

Filed Under: In My Mailbox (IMM)

Angel Burn

December 24, 2011 By 5 Comments

Title: Angel Burn

Author: L.A. Weatherly
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication Date: May 2011
Classification: YA Novel
Challenge: Outdo Yourself

Summary from Goodreads:
Willow knows she’s different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into the future and know people’s dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them. She has no idea where this power comes from. But the assassin, Alex, does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows more about Willow than Willow herself. He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces, and that he’s one of the few humans left who can fight them. When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems, least of all good and evil. In the first book in an action-packed, romantic trilogy, L..A. Weatherly sends readers on a thrill-ride of a road trip – and depicts the human race at the brink of a future as catastrophic as it is deceptively beautiful.

They’re out for your soul . . . and they don’t have heaven in mind.

My Thoughts:
When I started this book I was instantly drawn into the concept that angels were the bad guys for once, that angels were on the morally wrong side of things. The angels in this book are actually out to steal energy from human beings, making them sick in the process. The only thing out there to slow down the angels are called Angel Killers. So of course it stands to reason that our main character, Willow, is half-angel and half-human. Of course she has to have a hot guy backing her up so that would be Alex, who is an Angel Killer, interesting right?! I thought so, even if it is a little been there done that with paranormal teen romance.

The thing that I greatly enjoyed about this book was the fact that while the story has a very limited set of characters, basically just the two main ones, it worked for this story. Basically if you like books that are about a great journey or road trip this is the book for you. The pacing of this novel was rather slow at most points, I found this to be perfect for me and what I was looking for. Since I just ended a very hectic portion of my schooling I found this slower and longer book to actually calm me. It gave time for the reader to really experience everything that Willow and Alex had to go through. Most importantly, it gave time for the love connection between the two to come together. I hate when authors throw instant love in a book, I haven’t seen the characters struggle for their love, that bothers me. However, this book was perfect in the fact that I got to watch Willow and Alex struggle to make their love work, a love that didn’t develop right away, one that developed over time!

I loved that I was able to learn all about Willow and Alex, and that I was able to hear their own view points in the book. A lot of books will alternate who is narrating each chapter, while that can work at times, I found the way Weatherly wrote this book to be great. The view points switch sometimes mid -chapter but I never felt lost, it was easy to see who was telling the story. This gave great insight to not only Willow’s mind but Alex’s as well. Do you know how rare and beautiful it is to find a book that gives you not just the main heroine’s views but the hero as well! I loved that I got to watch some things happen through Alex, it let me connect with him more than I have with a lot of male YA characters. Alex became special to me because I could actually get inside of the male view point!

Overall, this novel is mostly about the journey that Willow and Alex take. Yes, some might say it is a boring journey but I feel that with the Angels making their own stand in certain chapters that it was nice to see all angles of the story. We got the side of the Angel Killers, the Angels, and the girl who is stuck between the two, destine to help save the human race. This slower novel might not be for everyone but it worked for me. Trust me the romance in this one at one point will blow you away, Alex is certainly making a run for his money in my favorite male YA characters category. He is right up there with Alex from Perfect Chemistry, Jay from The Body Finder, and Noah from Mara Dyer! This novel gets 4.5 hearts from me for being a great book, it only just missed the mark of a 5 for me because there were a few lengthy parts in the 500 pages.

Filed Under: Young Adult (YA) Review

Wrapping up 2011 Read-a-Thon Update Page

December 22, 2011 By 9 Comments
Today is the start of the Read-a-Thon hosted by Jessie @ Remarkable Reads
This is going to be my update page for the whole Read-a-Thon!
Normally I would take a picture of all the books I want to read but I’m lazy so how about a photo collection instead!
Dec 22:
Pages Read Today: 0
Total Pages Read: 0
Time Spent Reading Today: 0
Total Time Spent Reading: 0
Books Read: 0
Feelings: Well I was just too busy trying to get last minute things done for the holidays and working most of the day. I know I can do better than this!
Dec 23:
Pages Read Today: 138
Total Pages Read:
Time Spent Reading Today: 2 hours
Total Time Spent Reading: 2 hours
Books Read: Forbidden pg. 330-454
Angel Fire pg. 1-14
Feelings: Glad I got a bit of reading done today, not as much as I would like but it is a start. Hopefully I’ll read a bit more of Angel Fire tomorrow before Christmas Eve Dinner.
Dec 24:
Pages Read Today: 36
Total Pages Read: 174
Time Spent Reading Today: 1/2 hour
Total Time Spent Reading: 2 1/2 hours
Books Read: Forbidden pg. 330-454
Angel Fire pg. 1-50
Feelings: Well I got a little reading done before Christmas Eve dinner started at my house.

Dec 25:
Pages Read Today: 0
Total Pages Read: 174
Time Spent Reading Today: 0
Total Time Spent Reading: 2 1/2 hours
Books Read: Forbidden pg. 330-454
Angel Fire pg. 1-50
Feelings: Well it was Christmas and celebrating at two separate households meant I was too busy to read.
Dec 26:
Pages Read Today: 0
Total Pages Read:174
Time Spent Reading Today: 0
Total Time Spent Reading: 2 1/2 hours
Books Read: Forbidden pg. 330-454
Angel Fire pg. 1-50
Feelings: Yes, I know I’m sucking at this read-a-thon. I think I’m in a reading slump.
Dec 27:
Pages Read Today: 136
Total Pages Read: 310
Time Spent Reading Today: 2 hours
Total Time Spent Reading: 4 1/2 hours
Books Read: Forbidden pg. 330-454
Angel Fire pg. 1-50
Grave Mercy 1-136
Feelings: I managed to get some reading done in Grave Mercy today!
Dec 28:
Pages Read Today: 120
Total Pages Read: 430
Time Spent Reading Today: 2 hours
Total Time Spent Reading: 6 1/2 hours
Books Read:Forbidden pg. 330-454
Angel Fire pg. 1-50
Grave Mercy 1-257
Feelings: Well this read-a-thon is becoming a big bust for me. Everything is just taking up too much of my time right now. I also think I’m in a reading slump.
Dec 29:
Pages Read Today: 251
Total Pages Read: 671
Time Spent Reading Today: 3 1/2 hours
Total Time Spent Reading: 10 hours
Books Read: Forbidden pg. 330-454
Angel Fire pg. 1-50
Grave Mercy 1-509
Feelings: Glad I have Forbidden and Grave Mercy finished! Hopefully I will read more of Angel Fire, it is a 600 page book though so I doubt I’ll finish it by the end of the next two days.
Dec 30:
Pages Read Today: 350 (manga pages)
Total Pages Read: 671 Text Pages + 350 Manga Pages
Time Spent Reading Today: 2 hours
Total Time Spent Reading: 12 hours
Books Read: Forbidden pg. 330-454
Angel Fire pg. 1-50
Grave Mercy 1-509
Black Bird Vol 10
Black Bird Vol 11
Feelings: So I read manga pages today which go much faster than actual pages of text, oh well. I wanted to read manga so that is what I did.
Dec 31:
Pages Read Today: 165
Total Pages Read: 836 Text Pages + 350 Manga Pages
Time Spent Reading Today: 2 hours
Total Time Spent Reading: 14 hours
Books Read: Forbidden pg. 330-454
Angel Fire pg. 1-50
Grave Mercy 1-509
Black Bird Vol 10
Black Bird Vol 11
Pure pg. 1-165
Feelings: Not my best read-a-thon but there was just too much stuff going on with me at the end of the year. Hopefully the next read-a-thon I do in a week will be better.

Big Thanks to Jessie for this great read-a-thon!
Happy New Year!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Don’t Breathe A Word

December 22, 2011 By 5 Comments

Title: Don’t Breathe A Word

Author: Holly Cupala
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: Jan 2012
Classification: YA Novel
Challenge: Outdo Yourself
Summary from Goodreads:
Joy Delamere is suffocating…

From asthma, which has nearly claimed her life. From her parents, who will do anything to keep that from happening. From dangerous Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out.

Joy can take his cruel words until the night they go too far.

Now, Joy will leave everything behind to find the one who has offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. She will become someone else. She will learn to survive. She will breathe…if only she can get to Creed before it’s too late.

My Thoughts:
I was almost going to let this novel pass me by but thanks to Candace @ Candace’s Book Blog I got to read a beautiful story.

This story starts off with the main character, Joy, deciding that she is going to leave her house to go live on the streets. Instantly this makes a reader wonder why on earth she would trade a nice house for living on the streets where it is cold, wet, and provides little food that wasn’t in the garbage. Turns out Joy has a very good reason to leave, not only do her parents treat her like a little child who can not take care of herself, but she also can not stand being around her boyfriend, Asher, anymore.

So I’m betting that you know how some people love paranormal stories and horror stories because it will give them the chills… Well I never thought I would get chills from a contemporary read but in the beginning half of this novel I had chills. I was very easy to see in flashbacks why Joy had to leave her stuffy life for one of “freedom” on the streets. The whole time you are left wondering exactly what Joy’s boyfriend did to her and that alone is so disturbing but makes the story so great!

If the chills of the story of abuse do not grab your attention, then I’m betting Creed will. Creed once told Joy that he would help her, all she had to do was come looking for his help. What a guy right! Sigh, he is like the classic musical boy that any girl dreams of at least once in her life. You know the type, the sometimes quiet because he is writing his music and when he does perform it is like you are under a spell…*starts daydreaming, no one tell Johnny!*

 Overall, I was captivated by the first half of this novel for the reason that I have never, NEVER, felt abuse in a story the way I felt it in this story. I have had to put several other stories about emotional and physical abuse down because I just didn’t feel that power that abuse can have over a person, especially a person who decides not to leave that environment. Other novels like this have always felt a little fake to me, but this one rises up from the rest and is so captivating and beautiful. During the second half of the novel I wasn’t as captivated but it was still a great storyline. While I thought the ending was a little unrealistic I did enjoy the ending of the book as well. So if you have been looking for a contemporary that can break open your heart and piece it back together again then this is the novel for you. You must give it a try because a story topic as powerful as abuse has never felt this powerful before.

So after all of my ramblings if you haven’t picked up this fact yet, this is a 5 heart book for me. I honestly loved the novel and I can’t wait until I can own my very own copy. Pretty soon I need to find a way to go back and read Holly’s first novel.

Filed Under: Young Adult (YA) Review

A Temptation of Angels

December 20, 2011 By 4 Comments
Title: A Temptation of Angels
Author: Michelle Zink
Publisher: Dial
Publication Date: March 2012
Classification: YA Novel
Challenge: Outdo Yourself
Summary from Goodreads:
Even angels make mistakes in this page-turning epic romance…

When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen-year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world’s past, present, and future. Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility. Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong, because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel.

My Thoughts:
This book started off beautifully, I loved that the storyline was a mystery from the start. The reader is thrust into a world that they know nothing about and I could not wait to find out why Helen had to be on the run from people who were out to kill her. Within the next 150 pages I found out exactly why Helen had to leave her home to take up residence with two boys. You see she is an angel, in charge of keeping the mortal world in balance once she reaches the age of enlightenment. Sounds fascinating right? I thought so too, at least until this beautiful world went up in smoke.
I think it is very fitting that each chapter had a wisp of smoke on the chapter title page, because this book started going up in smoke as the story went on. The beautiful angel world with a beautiful past on how she was an angel and so were the men she was staying with literally went away as soon as it was all explained!! Let me show you the world that the reader is left with once Zink destorys her own creation…
Instead of being angels the main characters are now Keepers, their job is to protect whichever one of them holds the key to a place filled with records. Basically they are in charge of a file cabinet that is in a hole in the ground that hold records of the past, present, and future. If major demon would have access then that demon could call upon his lesser demons and his other major demon friends to take over the mortal world. However, it is difficult for these mostly mortal beings (because they never act or have powers like an angel, I’m going to refrain from even calling them angels) to keep the file cabinet safe because there is someone killing Keepers in order to gain the key. Come to find out that these Keepers have an Alliance with the Legion. The Legion is all demons from hell, of course demons never play fair so now the Keepers must banish any demon they come across, in the whole story they fight a few lesser demons and then in the end they have to fight one demon battle. Hmmm…let me think where I have heard all of this before……
Ah yes now I remember, ever heard of a book series called The Mortal Instruments? Lets see Shadowhunters become Keepers, the Mortal Cup becomes a file cabinet and the Accords that they have with the dark creature world becomes the Alliance. Ah yes and no one can have the mortal cup/records because then demons and all sorts of magical creatures could be called upon to overtake the mortal world. The only thing standing in their way are the groups of Shadowhunters/Keepers.
Overall, had I actually paid money for this book I would be demanding my money back from not only the bookstore but from Zink herself. I want the hours of my life back that I spent reading this nightmare. The world started out so original, with such high hopes and promises. I find it very odd that an author would murder her own storyline concepts. That she could take something like angels keeping a mortal world in balance once they reach enlightenment and then turn it into a cheap rip off of Cassandra Clare’s world. Honestly, I’m very scared for where YA is going if authors are just going to copy each other’s work. Had I written a paper like this I would have gotten an F for plagarized work!!!! This book, if you can call it a book, only gets 2 hearts from me.

Filed Under: Young Adult (YA) Review
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