Top Ten Tuesday (7)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and The Bookish.  Each week a new top ten list is posted, and to participate all you have to do is fill in YOUR top ten for the list.

This week the topic is:

Top Ten Books you Would Save if your House was Abducted by Aliens!

Of course I would try my best to rescue more than just ten, but if I only was able to rescue ten, it would be these.  Yes, I know books can be easily replaced, but a bunch of my books have sentimental value with them.

1.  Cinder – Marissa Meyer : This is my favorite fairy tale retelling I have read so far and I really love the cover.

2.  Tiger’s Curse – Colleen Houck : A major reason is that is has a beautiful white tiger on the cover, but also because this was my college graduation present. 

3.  Ghostwriter- Travis Thrasher : I met this author and had him sign my book.  He was a very nice person and I discovered a new author when I saw he was coming to our B&N.

4.  Breaking Dawn – Stephenie Meyer : This was a gift from a friend of mine when we dressed up as vampire for the release party.  We had a lot of fun and she bought me a copy before we left.

5.  The Daily Writer – Fred White : I love to write, and this was one of the most perfect gifts my boyfriend could have gotten me for Christmas.  It even dealt with my New Year’s resolution to write more often.

6.  Alice in Wonderland B&N Classics (leatherbound) :  Even though this one is pink, I still love it because it was a gift from my boyfriend as well.  One of those “just because” presents!

7.  The Language of Flowers – Vanessa Diffenbaugh : This was a beautiful novel and I love the uneven pages and the sturdier paperback cover.  I like it better than the hardcover edition.  My version is actually the ARC, and the first ARC I ever recieved.

8.  Phantom of the Opera – Gaston Leroux (the small B&N classic hardcover) : I LOVE The Phantom of the Opera!!  I own two soundtracks (the original and new movie), own the movie, saw the musical in London, own and read a “sequel” by Frederick Forsyth (hate to say I was disappointed), and own and read the original book.  So of course I have to save this one!

9.  The Girl Who Chased the Moon – Sarah Addison Allen :  This was my favorite book to read while I was out on my surgery last year.  It is also one of my favorite books, period. 

10.  Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom : This book made me boo hoo and I never would have known how great it was if I hadn’t read it for my developmental psych class.  It is one of my favorite books to suggest to readers.

That’s my list!!  Though there could have been sooo many more.  And others that probably should have been on there, but I don’t own copies yet (broke college grad).  So what are YOUR top Ten?

Book Tagged!

I was Book Tagged!!

Rules:
1. You must post the rules.

2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create ten new questions to ask the people that you have tagged.

3. Tag ten people and link to them on your post.

4. Let them know you’ve tagged them!

Questions from Nightly Reading

1. Your favorite series and favorite stand alone book?

Favorite series…hmm…I did enjoy the Twilight series, but I’d have to say Harry Potter is my favorite series books, even after 7 books, I still didn’t want it to end!  As for my favorite stand alone book so far is Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma.  It was an amazing book!

2. Where is your favorite reading spot?

In the bed where it is nice and warm and comfy, but I’ll read anywhere.

3. Name one male character from a book that if he was real, you wish you could marry?

Edward is the perfect guy, but I’m not going to say Edward because he is the perfect guy. Instead, I think I’ll go with Ren from the Tiger’s Curse series (what I have read so far), one main reason is because he turns into a white tiger, which is only my favorite animal on the face of the planet!

4. Name one female character from a book that you wish you could be more like?

Lexi from The Near Witch.  She is strong and not afraid to break a lot of rules if she feels the need to.  I’m not much of a rule breaker, and sometimes I kind of wish I was, haha.

5. Your favorite book as a child?

I loved the Goosebump books when I was little.  I have always liked scary, creepy stuff, and I am still trying to find a book to scare the crap out of me.  I still have all my Goosebumps books!

6. Name a few of your favorite authors?

Sarah Addison Allen, Tabitha Suzuma, Tera Lynn Childs, J.K. Rowling,

7. Why did you decide to run a review blog?

Partly for the obvious reason that I love books, and because I wanted to be part of the book community.  Many of my friends are not into reading like I am, so I don’t get a chance to gush over books like I would like to.  I was doing a book review journal for myself before I started blogging and decided to share my book love on the net.

8. Do you have friends/family that are close to you that you share the love of reading?

My mom loves to read and so does my cousin and my nanny, but aside from the four of us, nobody else in the family.  I have a few friends that like to read here and there, but not as much as I do.

9. Name one book that you loved, but had love/hate feelings while reading it. One that was so good that you felt like you were on a roller coaster going up and down?

Again, I would have to say thatForbidden falls in this one also.  I loved the love they had for each other and hated the situation they were in.  It was a constant up and down ride for this one.

10. Name your favorite book blog that you follow?

Du Livre  Amber was one of my first blogger friends and we share a lot of common interests in books.  Plus she knows how to speak French which is awesome (my grandmother is from France).

My questions to those I’ve tagged:

1.  Is it difficult to keep up regular posts on your blog?

2.  What is something you learned while doing your blog?

3.  Do you have an all time favorite author or authors? Who?

4.  What is your favorite kind of book to read and why?

5.  Who would be your book boyfriend?

6.  If you could put yourself into any book, which would it be?

7.  What is your favorite part about doing a book blog?

8.  If you could chose any finished series of books to have one more book added to it, which series would it be?

9.  Do you have a favorite book cover?

10.  Some favorite books?

Here’s who I am tagging:

Du Livre

Mermaid Vision Books

The Reading Date

The Book Worms

Five Alarm Book Reviews

A Cupcake and a Latte

Xpresso Reads

The Reader Bee

Reading Lark

The Story Siren

Once you do the post and have answered the questions, come back and leave a link in the comments to follow!  Can’t wait to see everyone’s answers 🙂

Teaser Tuesday (13)

 Tuesday is a weekly meme anyone can take part in, hosted my MizB at Should Be Reading.  To participate all you have to do is get the book you are currently reading, open to a random page, and post a two sentence teaser that doesn’t contain spoilers.  Make sure you don’t forget to let us know the title and author of the book so people can add it to their To Be Read list if they liked the teasing!

Here’s my teaser:

A booming sound rang in my ears, followed my Holly’s scream.  Then everything seemed to stop–my heart, my breath…time.

Tempest
Julie Cross

Be a Linky Follower Giveaway!!

 It’s time for a giveaway!!  This giveaway is to spread the news about a new way to follow blogs since GFC is going to be gone for so many people come March 1st.  Linky Followers is completely free and you can use it on blogs that don’t support Javascript such at the WordPress blogs.  Linky Followers is easy to figure out and the dashboard is simple.  Yay for WordPress blogs not being left out!  Also, when you first sign up, you automatically get 4 followers.

For this giveaway, the winner will receive a $10 gift card from Amazon (international), Barnes & Noble (US), or Walmart (US).  The giveaway will be running from today (Feb 13) until March 1st (when GFC is done).  The winner will be notified on the 2nd!

Help spread the word about the new way to keep up with followers!

All you have to do to enter is follow me via Linky Followers and leave me a comment with your email address and your Linky Follower name.  The winner will be chosen via Random.org (since rafflecopter isn’t WordPress friendly).  Good luck to any who enter!

In My Mailbox (5)

 In My Mailbox is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren that lets us share our bookish finds!

Only two for this week!

Bought:

Rot & Ruin – Jonathan Maberry

Cinder – Marissa Meyer

That’s it this week!

Rot & Ruin will be my first zombie book.  I love zombie movie, but I’ve never read a zombie book and I have been hearing good things about this one.

Cinder is one I have already read and I absolutely loved it, so I had to buy it!  The only bad thing is having to wait so long before the next one.  For those who  didn’t read the review and would like to, you can click here.

*Review* Forbidden – Tabitha Suzuma

Forbidden

Tabitha Suzuma

454 pages

ISBN:  9781442419957

Read 2-1-12

Source: Library

Format: Hardcover

     Love knows no bounds…

     Lochan and Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings.  Together, they have stepped in for their unreliable, alcoholic mother to take care of their three younger siblings.  The stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. 

     So close that they have fallen in love.

     Lochan and Maya know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue.  And yet they are powerless to stop what feels so incredibly right…

     First of all, I wanted so badly to get this book finished in January, since I only had two books read for that month, but in a way, I was kind of glad that I finished it in February since I do not have to fight with myself over which book would be my favorite of the month.  I highly doubt any book I read for the rest of February will be able to top this book!
     This book was absolutely AMAZING!!!  Yes, it is a very taboo topic; incest is almost always something that will make most people pretty uncomfortable because it isn’t exactly socially acceptable, but I am open to trying many different books, even some that may have me go beyond comfort zones.  Tabitha Suzuma is a very brave writer for her novel on something so taboo and she made it beautiful.  That’s right, it was BEAUTIFUL.
     Suzuma’s writing is brilliant and elegant and full of emotions.  Her descriptions are matched by few writers whose works I have read, especially in the young adult circle.  I felt my anxiety rise as the characters’ levels went up, my heart broke for them, it sung for them, and I wanted to reach into the pages and hug them.  Her skills with putting emotion on a page are unreal!  Not only does Suzuma do a wonderful job with writing emotions, but she is great at expressing things that are difficult to put into words, such as her portrayal of a panic attack in one of the scenes.
     All of the characters were very strong and unique, and it’s hard to decide who my favorite may be.  They are just like real people; they are not the star of the school or the one who catches everybody’s attention, and there home life is just as defunct as many other people’s out there (just without the incest so much).  Maya and Lochan both have to act grown up since they are responsible for their three younger siblings due to their mother’s drunkenness and inability to be a parent.  There characters are real and powerful!
     I never wanted to put this book down, and I even had to take a break for a couple days from reading just to heal from the impact of this book.  Even though the characters of this book were brother and sister, what they had was still beautiful.  It was very confusing because you wanted to root for them and the love they had, but yet it is also something that is unnatural and also illegal, so you are pulled in different directions.
     The only negative thing I could possibly ever say about this book is the alternating point of view between Maya and Lochan.  I’d be so engrossed in the story that sometimes I would forget whose point I was reading from, but it wouldn’t have been near as wonderful if it had been from a single point of view.  It was great being able to see the story from both sides and the confusion, torture and love they both went through.
     To put it simply, this book was AWESOME and AMAZING and WONDERFUL and BEAUTIFUL.  If you can read books that may be taboo and controversial, please read this one!  There is also some sexual material in it, so it may not be recommended for teens on the lower end of the teenage spectrum.  This one is an addition to my Favorite Reads page!  It’s only February, but this could be my top book of 2012.  I will most definitely be checking out the author’s other books as well. 

Alternating POV, magnificent, immensely emotional, best book I’ve read in a long time!!

In My Mailbox (4) and 2 Day Giveaway!!

 In My Mailbox is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren that lets us share our bookish finds!

Another week has come and gone, and of course I have added a couple more books to my personal library!

 

 

 

 

This week I have:

Bought:

The White Queen – Philippa Gregory

For Review:

The Darkening Dream – Andy Gavin

Won:

When Copper Suns Fall – KaSonndra Leigh

I can’t wait to dive into these books (along with the huge pile I already have)!

Two Day Giveaway!!

Good news for all of you readers out there!  Andy Gavin is having a two day giveaway for his book The Darkening Dream on Amazon!  Below you can find the information and the synopsis for the book.

FREE Two Days Only: A Vampire Novel with Actual Bite!

As the modern world establishes itself and pushes the supernatural into the shadows, the supernatural fights back.

The Darkening Dream is a chilling new dark fantasy novel by Andy Gavin, creator of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter, that has received rave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and is FREE for two days only on Amazon Kindle (February 7th to 8th)! Download your FREE copy here: http://amzn.to/yTvZPG

Long-time readers of dark historical fantasy (Tim Powers, Guy Gavriel Kay, Katherine Kurtz) will appreciate the weaving together of mythology, occult, and religion, while younger readers and fans of HBO dramas (True Blood, Carnivàle) or urban fantasy (Laurell K. Hamilton, Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher) will be drawn to the twisted imagination, graphic action, and romantic tension.

About The Darkening Dream

Even as the modern world pushes the supernatural aside in favor of science and steel, the old ways remain. God, demon, monster, and sorcerer alike plot to regain what was theirs.

1913, Salem, Massachusetts – Sarah Engelmann’s life is full of friends, books, and avoiding the pressure to choose a husband, until an ominous vision and the haunting call of an otherworldly trumpet shake her. When she stumbles across a gruesome corpse, she fears that her vision was more of a premonition. And when she sees the murdered boy moving through the crowd at an amusement park, Sarah is thrust into a dark battle she does not understand.

With the help of Alex, an attractive Greek immigrant who knows a startling amount about the undead, Sarah sets out to uncover the truth. Their quest takes them to the factory mills of Salem, on a midnight boat ride to spy on an eerie coastal lair, and back, unexpectedly, to their own homes. What can Alex’s elderly, vampire-hunting grandfather and Sarah’s own rabbi father tell them? And what do Sarah’s continuing visions reveal?

No less than Gabriel’s Trumpet, the tool that will announce the End of Days, is at stake, and the forces that have banded to recover it include a 900 year-old vampire, a trio of disgruntled Egyptian gods, and a demon-loving Puritan minister. At the center of this swirling cast is Sarah, who must fight a millennia-old battle against unspeakable forces, knowing the ultimate prize might be her very soul.

The Reviews Are In

“A vampire novel with actual bite.” ~The Kirkus Reviews

“Mr. Gavin has brought something refreshingly new to a genre now suffused with poorly-concealed bodice-rippers which have more in common with Fabio than Bram Stoker: depth. His big baddies are scary, not romantic interests, and the added religious lore is complex and engaging. Don’t expect another Twilight — the story can get downright creepy, so be prepared for a return to the old horror sensibilities of supernatural fiction.” ~Amazon Review

“With Mr. Gavin’s video-game pedigree, I was expecting something aimed squarely at the 18-25 year old fanboy contingent; what I got in The Darkening Dream was something wholly unexpected: A period novel with a female protagonist, a crash-course on Judaism in the colonial years, and multi-layered series of plot arcs featuring a crazy cast of natural and supernatural characters populating 18th Century Colonial America.” ~Amazon Review

“…A perfect blend of mystery, magic and myth. A grown-up Grimm’s fairy tale…emphasis on grim.”  ~Amazon Review

Read the first two sample chapters here >> http://bit.ly/xXVxXS

Get your FREE copy of The Darkening Dream for two days only on Amazon here. http://amzn.to/yTvZPG

*Review* Under the Never Sky – Veronica Rossi

Under the Never Sky

Veronica Rossi

374 pages

ISBN:  9780062072030

Read 1-30-12

Source: ARC

Format: Paperback

Exiled from her comfortable home, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—called the Death Shop—are slim.  Violent energy storms can strike suddenly, and even the very air she breathes might kill her.  Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry.  He’s wild, dangerous—a savage.  He’s also her only hope.

Because Aria alone holds the key to his redemption, Perry needs her, too.  Their unlikely alliance will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

The start of this novel was a bit confusing with the new lingo I had to get used to, but eventually I did after the first couple of chapters.  The concept of the Realms was very interesting and I found myself wishing I could try them out myself.  The world of this novel was not as exciting or as big as I would have hoped, and I would have liked to learn more about what led to people moving into the pods and why some did not.  The amount of people also seemed to be a bit small.  There is no way the amount of people nowadays could be scattered about the way they were in the book.  This is the first of a multi-part story, so hopefully more about it will be uncovered.
As for the characters, I really liked Perry and he was my favorite character.  He seemed to be a complex individual and I liked his abilities.  There were very interesting descriptions used when it came to his abilities and I enjoyed his explanations from his point of view.  Aria was very not an overly complex character and was a rather closed minded individual at first.  Once she opened up, I liked her eagerness and her loyalty.
There were parts of the novel that were predictable, but a couple other parts that I didn’t expect with a twist or two.  I look forward to learning more about the world of this novel and see how some of the surprises pan out in the upcoming installments.  There were some spots I would have expected to have a bit more of an emotional pull, but it lacked some for me in that aspect.
I liked the cover and the colors they used, though I think the aether trails should have been a bit wavier instead of straight since it makes them look like big spotlights towards the sky.  Aria is standing in a patch of wild looking vines, which seems appropriate since she gets tossed into a wild world she doesn’t know much about.
All in all, I enjoyed it, but I think it could have been a little more, though I will definitely be reading the next book because I have to know what happens.  This novel also has a switching perspective between Aria and Perry, but it stays in third person and doesn’t become confusing.

Lacks emotion, interesting concepts, good descriptions, wanting more explanation.