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Sunday, July 31, 2011

In My Mailbox #6

Another week of In My Mailbox- I got a few things this week (I seem to get things in groups of three). IMM is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren

PS- It was sunny again this week, so I got to take my book picture outside again. YAY!


For Review

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead- Thanks to Penguin Group Canada for this one. I am part of the Canadian Blog Tour, and I am pretty excited to read this one.

Bought

Collide by Megan Hart- I pre-ordered this one, and it FINALLY came in. I read this one yesterday and I LOVED it. Megan wrote one of my favourite books, Dirty, and I have loved her writing ever since, but Collide was something. I'm on the fence about whether to review it on the blog or not. This was a VERY adult read, so...

A Hopeless Romantic by Harriet Evans- Stupid Walmart, and their discounted books. I am on a book buying ban, but twice now I have been sucked into 40% off. But anywho.. This looks like a cute, fun and romantic read.

That's it for my mailbox, what did you get in yours?

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

From Book to Movie (7)



I saw this trailer while eagerly awaiting the final Harry Potter movie to start. While sitting there, I thought to myself, this has to have been a book, there is no way that it wasn't. I was right. A few days later, I came across Alex from A Girl, Books and Other Things review on the book that I now know as The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I liked her review, I thought it was honest, however, I do not feel the need to read the book. Just perhaps see the movie. But it looks like a great feel good moral story. And I love Emma Stone, so what can I say?

Happy Reading Everyone!

Monday, July 25, 2011

My Thoughts: Swoon by Nina Malkin

Torn from her native New York City and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to accept her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon, Connecticut...until Dice's perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly dies in a fall from an old tree, and her spirit intertwines with that of a ghost. His name? Sinclair Youngblood Powers. His mission? Revenge. And while Pen is oblivious to the possession, Dice is all too aware of Sin. She's intensely drawn to him -- but not at all crazy about the havoc he's wreaking. Determined to exorcise the demon, Dice accidentally sets Sin loose, gives him flesh, makes him formidable. Now she must destroy an even more potent -- and irresistible -- adversary, before the whole town succumbs to Sin's will. Only trouble is, she's in love with him.
What do you do when the boy of your dreams is too bad to be true?




Nina Malkin's Swoon was not on my TBR until I received it's sequel for review a couple weeks ago.  Before that I had not heard of the book. I was curious enough to search it out, and read it as soon as I got my hands on it. Swoon did not take me long to get through, contrary to it's many pages. This was mostly due to the fact that I really just wanted to have it done, and I kind of wanted to know how it was going to end. Ghost stories aren't usually what I am interested it.  Mostly because Ghosts scare me, and Swoon, did freaked me out a few times.  I didn't hate this book, really. I also did not enjoy it either. It actually kind of bugged me.

There were a few times throughout the story where I would get extremely confused. There would be instances when the story wouldn't go anywhere, it was so slow that I think my eyes would cross while reading, but then things would jump ahead with no explanation. It was kind of hard to follow. I found that  little hard to chew. I also did not like the Sin (the male protagonist) would invoke such provocative actions from the people he was around, I suppose it was due, mostly, to him representing sin. But, I didn't understand how sex was the sin that most people inhabited. If Malkin would have delved deeper and looked at the deadly sins, it would have made for a more interesting and less cheesy story.

I did like the female protagonist. I thought she was a funny character. I don't know what else to day other then I did like her, I liked her spunk, how she very rarely took anyone's BS. I thought she was well written.  But, really, Dice might have been the only thing that I liked about Swoon.

I have the sequel-Swear- and I think I might give it a try, just to see what happens. To see if its Malkin's writing I don't enjoy, or just the story.  Because there was something off about this specific piece of work, something I can't put my finger on. So, we will see.

~Happy Reading Everyone!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

In My Mailbox #5


Welcome to In My Mailbox #5. I never expected that I would be able to post these IMMs regularly, but I keep getting stuff that I really want to share. So here's what I got this week. In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.




Gifted:

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher- This was an unexpected and amazingly generous gift that I received from Laura over at All of Everything. I read this a two weeks ago and was floored by how powerful the story was. I am very glad to have a copy of my own sitting on my shelf.  Thanks Laura, you are amazing!

For Review:

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez- I hadn't heard of this book before I received it. After reading the synopsis, and some early reviews, I'm actually pretty excited about getting to it.

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts- Another one I hadn't heard of before, but it has an intriguing plot. I hope to get to this one, sometime in the fall.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for the review copies.

That's all that was in my mail box this week, leave and link and share what was in yours.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Friday, July 22, 2011

My Thoughts: Wildefire by Karsten Knight


Every flame begins with a spark.
Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

I was very excited when this beauty came in the mail a couple months ago.  So excited that I wanted to drop everything and get right to it. But I didn't, I waited. When I finally got to Wildefire, it was a slow start, which I wasn't expecting considering that the first couple of pages were so strong, and full of action, and I got the impression that it would just continue to be the action packed novel that was presented in the beginning. However, having finished this book, the slow start doesn't really seem like that big a deal. Karsten Knight is a very talented writer who wrote a story that-to me- was original and fun to read.

I think my favourite thing about this book, was the diversity of the characters. I have made it no secret that it's the characters that make or break the story for me, and the characters in Wildefire were absolutely, fantastically written and wonderfully developed. I loved them.  Ashline was a fierce protagonist. She was feisty and mouthy, but she also had a softer side, she was caring and gentle, and I loved her.  I loved the friends she made at her new school (one of which is from Winnipeg- a small Canadian city, in which I was born and continue to live today- so I was very proud), and I loved how she made an effort to find her place there. 

What I also really appreciated about Wildefire was the ethnic and culture diversity, which was an integral part of the novel.  Not all the characters were Caucasian (the majority weren't), and that's not something that you see a lot of in most mainstream fiction these days.  I also really appreciated that the Gods/Goddesses in this book were not all from one culture. There were many cultures represented in Knight's novel, and I loved that.

Karsten Knight sure knows how to write a villain. I hated Eve. I wanted her to go away so badly. Normally the antagonist doesn't bother me, I mean they're bad, and annoying, but never has one made me as mad, as Evelyn Wilde. She was a perfect villain, good and terrible. She made me nash my teeth a few times.

The ides of Gods and Goddesses is a really fun idea, and I loved reading about it in Wildefire and seeing how these Gods and Goddesses come into themselves.  I really enjoyed reading about they're personal struggles, and they're desire to just be normal (as least for a little while). 

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and I would encourage all of you to check it out this coming Tuesday when it hits shelves.  You will not be disappointed.

I would like to thank Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC, and the opportunity to read this novel.

Happy Reading Everyone!


Monday, July 18, 2011

Come Visit Me!


Hi Everyone!

If you don't already know, Amber over at Down the Rabbit Hole is hosting The YA Bachelor month. Which is a wicked cool event that involves guest posts, interviews and giveaways. 

Today my contribution went up. I wrote about Ren from Nightshade, and why I love him.  You should totally go check it out. It's right here.

The whole event has been a lot of fun. But it's not over yet, The YA Bachelor month goes till the end of July.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Blog Fest 2011-Winner!!


I can't believe it's over!!! This has really been an incredible couple of days, I had such a blast with blog fest that I have no words.  There were over 300 entries for my giveaway and I want to thank every single person for participating. I am truly grateful. I also received over 200 new followers. So as I mentioned before I will also be drawing two runners up, who will each receive a gift card from the Book Depository worth $10.00.

Our Grand Prize Winner is:

Cathy M.

Congrats Cathy, you have won two books of your choice (from the book depository), I will e-mail you with the details.

The Runners Up:



Congrats to both of you. I have also sent off an e-mail and hope to hear from you soon.

I would like to thank Cinnamon from A Journey of Books for hosting such a fabulous event.  It was a lot of fun.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

In My Mailbox #4


I didn't receive to many books this week- Which is fine, as I have LOADS to read as it. But I do have a few to share with you!


Gifted:

Swoon by Nina Malkin- This was a RAK gift from Cassay over at Vamps, Weres, and Cassay OH MY!  I have read this one already and should have the review up sometime this week.

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes- I participated in The Summer Santa Book Exchange hosted by Ruby over at Ruby's Reads, and I received Falling Under from Alyssa over at Teens Read and Write. This was a really great event and there will be another one in the fall so make sure to check it out! Thanks again Alyssa for the book, I am SO excited to have it.

Bought: 

Summer Friends by Holly Chamberlin- Book Buying Ban fail. I was in Walmart yesterday and I saw this, saw this it was 40% off and decided that I needed to have it. For shame, I know.

That's all for this week. Be sure to head over and check out my Blog Fest Giveaway. Ends tonight at midnight. Open to all!

Happy Reading Everyone!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Blog Fest 2011- Giveaway!!


YAY! Blog Fest 2011. I am so excited to be taking part this year!!

I will be giving away Two books to one luky winner! Any two books of their choice, as long as the total doesn't exceed $30.00 CAD.  This contest is open internationally as long as the Book Depository ships to you!

To enter fill out the form below and voila. You DO NOT need to be a follower, however if you do, you get extra entries, and I've been known to pick an extra winner if I find myself with 100 more followers. Just saying.

Contest ends- Midnight, Sunday July 17th!



Be Sure to head over to there blogs once your done here and check out their fab giveaways!

Karissa's Reading Review
Kay Dee Royal Paranormal & Erotica Romance Musings
Kay Springsteen: The Romance of Your Life
Keenly Kristin
Kelly's Lucky You

You can also check out, the 2011 List of Participants.  Additionally, they have a super-awesome tracking form to help you, well, keep track of which blogs you've already visited and contests you've entered.


Good Luck everyone!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

My Thoughts: Anna and the French Kiss

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?







I think I am going to be one of the firsts to say I didn't LOVE Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. For me to love a book, there needs to be something more then what was found in Anna. However, in the same breath, I will say that I did really enjoy the novel. I thought the story was engaging, I never got bored while reading this book. I did laugh when I was supposed to, I groaned in embarrassment when I supposed to, I got mad at all the right moments. Perkins definitely wrote a fun and easy to read book, and what I liked the best about this novel was the characters and how they fit together.

Anna was a likable protagonist. She was sweet and wanted to fit in, which is a natural desire for a girl of 17 who enteres a setting that is unfamiliar to her. What I really appreciated about Anna, was how uncomplicated she was and how uncomplicated she made things. I never rolled my eyes because she wasn't catching onto things the way I thought she needed to. She made an effort to make new friends, and then proceeded to make an effort in finding her place in the new group. Don't get me wrong, Anna was not perfect, she had her insecurities just like every teenaged girl, and sometimes her insecurities would be her downfall. But, for the most part she was able to move beyond them. I didn't love St.Claire as much as every other Anna and the French Kiss Reader. I thought he was a good friend to Anna, a really good friend. But anything beyond a platonic relationship I wasn't sure about.  There were a few decisions that he made regarding his relationship with Anna where I was like "Forget it Anna, he's not good enough". I was very protective of her.  But I did like St.Claire. I just preferred him as Anna's friend, not Anna's boyfriend.  The whole group of friends was something I loved. They were very supportive of one another and very loyal (that's something that I love to read about), they were also very forgiving, and although that is not all that realistic, I found it terribly sweet. 

I liked the way Perkins writes a novel. It's not easy to put down, and not because you can't put it down because you need to know what's going to happen next, but because you don't want to put it down, because its a pleasure to read. She writes in a way that's easy to read. The words flow, and the characters become your friends. I really appreciated that. 

Its safe for me to now say that I am excited for the companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door, which is due to be released in the fall. I, myself look forward to another weekend on my couch with this one.

Happy Reading Everyone!  

Sunday, July 10, 2011

In My Mailbox #3


My third In My Mailbox. I got a few things this week, that I am excited to share with you.  In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.


From The Library:

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta- This book has been on my wishlist since I read Jellicoe Road earlier this year. I have hear amazing things about it so, I am pretty excited.

For Review:

Triangles by Ellen Hopkins- From the lovely people over at Simon and Schuster Canada I received a copy of this book and I am so terribly excited to read it. It sounds AMAZING, and I love Hopkins' writing.

The Last Letter from your Lover by Jojo Moyes- From Penguin Group Canada I received a finished copy this one. It sounds like an intense read and I am eager to read it.

Bought:

Then Comes Marriage by Christi Ridgeway- I was in the mood for a romance the other night, and bought this for my Kobo. I'm almost done, and so far it's been an enjoyable read.

That's it for me this week, I'm looking forward to checking out everyone else's mailboxes.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Just Another Story is One!


My Baby is One Today

I can't believe it. One year ago today I posted my first post. I didn't think anyone would read it. I just thought I'd start a book blog and talk about the books I read. In the beginning I would post maybe once a month. But then people started reading what I wrote, and viola, I now have multiple posts a week. It's been so much fun being a part of the book blogging community, and I hope to continue with Just Another Story for a good long time. 

Thanks so much to those who follow my blog! I am honoured. Really I am!

Happy Reading Everyone!



Wednesday, July 6, 2011

My Thoughts: The Last Summer (of You & Me) by Ann Brashares

In the town of Waterby on Fire Island, the rhythms and rituals of summer are sacrosanct: the ceremonial arrivals and departures by ferry; yacht club dinners with terrible food and breathtaking views; the virtual decree against shoes; and the generational parade of sandy, sun-bleached kids, running, swimming, squealing, and coming of age on the beach.
Sisters Riley and Alice, now in their twenties, have been returning to their parents modest beach house every summer for their entire lives. Petite, tenacious Riley is a tomboy and a lifeguard, always ready for a midnight swim, a gale-force sail, or a barefoot sprint down the beach. Beautiful Alice is lithe, gentle, a reader and a thinker, and worshipful of her older sister. And every summer growing up, in the big house that overshadowed their humble one, there was Paul, a friend as important to both girls as the place itself, who has now finally returned to the island after three years away. But his return marks a season of tremendous change, and when a simmering attraction, a serious illness, and a deep secret all collide, the three friends are launched into an unfamiliar adult world, a world from which their summer haven can no longer protect them.

Review Copy received by Penguin Group Canada.
Ann Brashares is fairly well known in the world of Young Adult for her Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series, I have not read the Sisterhood series however when I saw that The Last Summer (of You & Me) was her first attempt at Adult fiction I was curious. The premise of the story is interesting, and it seemed like a perfect summer read.  However, although this book wasn't bad, it was also lacking in a few areas. There were a few things that I found Brashares could have elaborated on, or went a little deeper with. 

The Last Summer (of You & Me) was supposed to be a love story between Paul and Alice that spanned years. But that was not the sense that I got from reading this book. The love story was not believable.  It felt like something that just happened. For me it wasn't real. I got no sense of the struggle they went through from loving each other for so many years.  The relationship between Paul and Alice was also supposed to be conflicted because of Riley-Alice's sister and Paul's best friend- but I didn't get why. Why was their relationship going to be a problem for Riley?  Brashares did not do a very good job of showcasing the emotions that her characters were said to be feeling. Even amidst tragedy I couldn't feel the intense sadness that the protagonist was said to be feeling. For me, this was not a good thing.

This book is hard for me to review, because I couldn't connect with the characters or their emotions.  I liked the idea of the novel, but I think I was expecting more than what I got.

The Last Summer (of You & Me) was released as a Mass Market Paperback on July 5th, 2011.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Teaser Tuesday # 15

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just 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!

Wildefire by Karsten Knight

"Shut up, bitch," Ash said, raising a hand to silence her. "The grown-ups are talking."

(P.3)

Monday, July 4, 2011

Many Books in a Year: June


This was another pretty good month as far as reading goes. The firs couple of weeks were pretty slow, as I was finishing up my spring course which involved writing a pretty hefty final paper. But alas, I am officially done with school until September, and I am SO excited with all the reading I have been doing. This month I read 8 books, which brings me to a grand total of 46 books read this year. Not to shabby if I say so myself.

1) Saving Franceseca by Melina Marchetta
2) Bumped by Megan McCafferty (My Thoughts)
3) Beautiful Creatures by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia
4) Angels Blood by Nalini Singh
5) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
6) Red Glove by Holly Black (My Thoughts)
7) The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
8) The Last Summer (of You & Me) by Ann Brashares (My Thoughts coming soon)

Looking back at all the books I read the last four I read in the last week. So that is why my reviews have been sparse. But there are more coming. Also if you see a book that I have read and not reviewed and would like me to, please let me know, and I'll try and get it done.

**Update on my book buying ban--> I am still not buying books, however I did buy Jellicoe Road a few weeks ago. But in all fairness, I have read it, and I just wanted a copy for my own as the one I read was from the library. So I am still doing pretty good. The majority of the books I am reading have either been from the library, or ones I already owned and so on and so forth.  But I am not buying books yet. I have however read a total of nine books on my list of 21 that I needed to read before I could purchase a new book. So I'm getting there.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

In My Mailbox #2


In my mailbox number 2. The Canada Post strike ended this week so I received a few things that I am sure were just waiting to be delievered.  As many of you already know, In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.

This week, four books found their way into my hands. 

Borrowed from a friend:

  • Arranged by Catherine McKenzie-I am looking forward to reading this one. It looks really cute.

I Won:

  • Divergent by Veronica Roth- About a month ago I won the comments contest over at Miss Page Turner's City of Books and I chose Divergent, and it's FINALLY here.  I am oh so excited!

For Review:

  • The Last Summer (of You & Me) by Ann Brashares-I read this one this week, and I liked it. Review coming soon.
  • My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares-This one looks interesting, if not tragic.

Thanks to the folks over at Penguin Group Canada for those two books.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

RAK: June Closing July's Opening


Wow, what a month I have had. I received book, and I gave books and it was all a great time.

From Maria over at Bookchilla I received.
  • A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
  • The Replacement by Brenna Yavanoff
  • Delirium by Lauren Oliver
From Maricar over at Blackplume I received
  • Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
  • Blood Magic by Tessa Graton
  • You Against Me by Jenny Downham
  • Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
  • Slice if Cherry by Dia Reeves
Thank you so much girls for your generosity. I am so excited to get reading.

I sent out two books.

To Sandy at I'm Reading...Good For Me
  • Beautiful Creatures by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia
To Alyssa at Alyssa's Book Shelf
  • After by Amy Efaw
I have signed up again for RAK this month, so I am looking forward to looking through everyone's wish lists. So, please, oh please link your wish lists in the comments below, and I will take a look!

If you would like to take a look at mine go here or here.

Happy Reading Everyone!
"So, please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookcase on the wall."
— Roald Dahl