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Monday, May 30, 2011

My Thoughts: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

  
Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives--and the way they understand each other so completely--has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

E-Arc received by Simon and Schuster.

I have no idea where to start with this. There are so many things that I want to say, but I don't know how to say them. I read Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma fairly quickly, and I am kind of glad that I did. I don't think I would have survived reading this book at a leisurely pace. Forbidden was an emotional roller coaster and I'm still on the fence about whether I liked it or not. I am warning you now, this is going to be a roller coaster of a review and I believe there will be spoilers. I was wrecked at the end of this book, it made me feel so many different things, but I think ultimately I was angry. At the time I was angry that a story like this exists and that it was riddled with so much angst. I knew that there was no way a story like this was going to end well, but I was in no way expecting what I got.

We have Lochan and Maya,  who are brother and sister and responsible for their three younger siblings. Their mother is not around a lot and their father has a new family in another country. So these two teenagers are forced to be grown ups and raise Willa-5, Tiffin-8 and Kit-13. While trying to balance school. Lochan-17, is brilliant but he cannot speak in public nor to strangers. He suffers from extreme panic attacks any time he tries. The only place he can be himself is with his family. Maya-16, is you average teenaged girl. She has friends, does well in school and she is fiercely loyal to her siblings.  Family to these two teenagers is very important. Scratch that, the children and their well being is extremely important. Their mother is never around, she's not much of a mother at all. She's living the fast life of parties, booze and a man who won't marry her. What I am trying to say it that Lochan and Maya did not have it easy. Most teenagers don't have the responsibility that these two had.

Facing the responsibilities of home, Lochan and Maya lean heavily on one another for support; they are each others best friend... and they end up falling in love with one another.  Now going into this I knew that Forbidden was about a brother and sister falling in love, I'd read a few reviews that I knew that it was an incestuous relationship, and that it did get pretty physical-I was not expecting full blown sexual relationship. Not at all. This is supposed to be a Young Adult book. This is one of the things I was a little uncomfortable with. There were sex scenes and they were a little graphic for what I would expect from a YA novel, however, Simon and Schuster have indicated on their website that the age target for this book is 16 and older. Which for me is acceptable, I would not recommend this book for anyone younger than that.

This book hurt my heart- I was sad for Lochan and his inability to talk to people, his phobia of public speech. He was an interesting character who was very broken, and the weight or caring for his siblings was sometimes to much for him. I was rooting for him in that I hoped that he would somehow work through his issues.  Maya was an ok character for me. She wasn't the most interesting. I found her to be the aggressor in her relationship with her brother, Lochan was fairly timid and if Maya hadn't "made the move" I don't believe that Lochan would have. I hurt for Maya at the end of the book (like the very end of the book), I ugly cried, and I could see how what she was going to to seemed to be her only option. That the only way to end the pain was to leave.

I did and did not like this book. I am going to try and explain why as best as I can. Tabitha Suzuma really has a gift for writing. not only was able to emote every single emotion that Lochan and Maya were feeling without saying it outright, she did it for the whole family. That was a lot of intense emotions, and for me it was overwhelming. I think that's what wasn't good for me. There was no way this story could have had a happy ending. No way. But the end destroyed me. Lochan's terror when he was in prison and his sacrifice. Kit's guilt at what he had done, Willa's heartbreak at having to say goodbye to her brother. It was heart breaking an I had a hard time reading the final pages to this story. I was thinking of the future consequences for this family. If they didn't need therapy before they are going to need it now. Actually I think I need it. 

I do think people should read this book, why--> Jillian-always inspiring, in her review on goodreads made a really good point, she said, "Forbidden instead explores the question, "What circumstances could lead two siblings to develop romantic and sexual feelings for each other?  And how would such a relationship likely progress. . .and end?"' This is why this book should be read.

I very much appreciate that Tabitha Suzuma had the courage to write this story, and the write it the way that she did. There was no sugar coating any thing. I want very much to have a conversation with this woman to talk about this book. I want to know how she felt writing it, and her purpose for writing it. This was my first Suzuma novel but it will not be my last.

Happy Reading Everyone!


Thursday, May 26, 2011

Book Blogger Hop (13) Follow Friday (12)

Book Blogger Hop

Follow Friday is hosted by Jen at Crazy for Books.

This weeks question is...

"What book-to-movie adaption have you most liked?  Which have you disliked?"
My favourite movie of all time is Interview With the Vampire. I love that movie. I think it's one of the best movies ever. I could watch it over and over. I haven't read the book, but I do own it. So I don't know if this really answers the question. The Harry Potter series isn't to bad, neither is The Lord of the Rings trilogy. But the worst book-to-movie Has to be the Eragon movie. What a joke. Worst movie I have ever seen! It's a great book, but the movie was junk. Sorry.














 
 

Follow Friday is Hosted over at Parajunkee's View.

This weeks question is...
How many books do you read in a week? And in what format do you read them, or listen to them?
It depends on what time of year it is. During the school year-Sept-April, I'm lucky if I can finish one book a week.  But during the down times I can get one done for sure maybe 1 1/2.  But when schools out maybe 2-3 a week. I love those times. I have found that on top of my printed books, I enjoy audio books for when I am cleaning or at the gym, so I usually have an audio book on the go.
Happy Reading Everyone!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Teaser Tuesday #12

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!


Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

'"Sam?" Rachel asked. "Do you know you have the saddest sad face ever?"'

(P.148)

Monday, May 23, 2011

My Thoughts: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand


In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?



I am a terribly slow reader. It's awful. I can generally read a book in about three days, but that usually means non-stop reading. In saying that, me finishing a book in 24 hours in not a common practice. But, that is exactly what I did with Unearthly by Cynthia Hand. This was an AMAZING book. Which is really exciting for me. I've read some really great books in the last couple of weeks, that I've become spoiled by great writing and am leery when starting a new book. Even more so that I have had little success with angel books. First let me say that Unearthly has spent the last four and a half months looking pretty on my shelf, I don't know why I hadn't read it before now. But I want to quickly bring to your attention the cover. Is it not beautiful? Yeah, I thought so to.

I think I am going to have a hard time articulating what I enjoyed about this book. But I'll try.

When I picked this up Saturday afternoon, I had just finished reading Halfway to the Grave (I'm trying to alternate my YA reading with non-YA stuff), normally after I've finished reading something it takes a little while before I can fully immerse myself in something else, but I am a reader so I can't not be reading anything. So I picked up Unearthly not expecting to get further then a handful of pages in. Before I knew it I was 50 pages in and had no desire to stop. I loved Hand's writing. I say that a lot, but there wasn't a single thing in this book that I did not like.

The book starts with Clara recalling her vision, her 'purpose', which is basically her raison d'etre-her reason for being- The one task that she is destined to complete during her time on Earth. With the unveiling of her vision Clara with the help of her half angel mother is able to determine that her vision is calling her to Wyoming, specifically to a boy-Christian- Whom Clara was supposed to save.  There was some initial plot build up at the beginning of the book, but it wasn't tedious and annoying. It was a small part of the book, and I really appreciated it. For the most part, the reader experiences everything with Clara, and figures things out with her. I thought this was a brilliant change from most modern day novels.  I really enjoyed experiencing everything with her. 

Hand draws an amazing picture of the Wyoming mountain range. I live with winter about 7 months out of the year and I hate it, I am not called to winter nor am i swayed by it, but Hand writes about a winter that is beautiful. Even for Clara who moved from sunny California. She describes everything so well, but she doesn't spend the whole of the book describing everything. She does it in a way that puts you in the scene but allows your imagination to take over. It's so much fun. 

The Characters in this book are great (big surprise), I loved the relationship that Clara had with her mother. I have mentioned before that I have found parents abnormally absent in most YA books. So the fact that Clara's mother was present was a welcome difference. Their relationship was also believable. Clara's mom was just that a mom, she exerted her authority when she needed to, but gave her daughter space to find herself as well. Christain was an interesting character and things between him and Clara did not go as I expected them to. Which was fine. I read somewhere that people did not like Wendy's character, that she was a meaningless character, I don't agree with this at all. I thought she complimented Clara, showcased Clara's humanity, kept her grounded (no pun intended). I also read somewhere that Unearthly does teen romance the way teen romance should be done, and I agree 100%.  It was slow and sweet and it evolved from friendship and totally by accident *Sigh*.

I am very much looking forward to the rest of this series. The end of this book brought on a lot of "WHAT?!?!?!" Which I would be mad at, if Unearthly wasn't such a pleasure to read.  Overall I would encourage anywho who is feel discouraged with angel novels. This will exceed expectations.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Book Blogger Hop (12) Followe Friday (11)

Book Blogger Hop

Follow Friday is hosted by Jen at Crazy for Books.

This weeks question is...

"If you were given the chance to spend one day in a fictional world (from a book), which book would it be from and what would that place be?"

Harry Potter! I would love love love to spend a day in the world of witches and wizards. It would be so much fun. Going to Hogwarts, and all the little wizarding towns, watching a quiditch match. Like really, it would be the coolest day of my life.




Follow Friday is Hosted over at Parajunkee's View.

This weeks question is...

Can you tell us FIVE quirky habits or things about you? We all have them...

1-I have a specific spot at the dining room table that I sit at, and if anyone sits there I have no issues with asking them to move.

2-I'm 24 and up until a few months ago I slept with a stuffed animal-he can still be found beside my bed.

3- I am addicted to nail polish... I love it. I paint my toes a different colour every couple days in the summer (I haven't started yet, but it's coming I can feel it).

4-I HATE reading more then one book at a time, I can't do it. It hurts me.

5-I can't clean my house without an audio book or movie playing in the background. I need noise but music doesn't just doesn't cut it. 

So, there you have it. 

Happy Reading Everyone!  

Sunday, May 15, 2011

My Thoughts: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.




Across the Universe was an AMAZING book. I am totally surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  I love it when I find something to read that is well written. Beth Revis is a fantastic writer. For me she was meant to write. The detail that she put into her work; the details in the way things looked and people's emotions was incredible. I don't know what else to say. It was amazing ( I have a feeling that this word might be over used in the next couple paragraphs).  I am very glad that this book was published and that I had the chance to read it.

The thing I loved the most about this book was how original the plot was. I feel like there isn't a whole lot of sci fi for young adults that isn't totally, completely sci fi. I mean this wasn't so overly technical that I got bored with it. Godspeed-The Ship- is 250 years in the future. A lot can come about in 250 years, not only is  it 250 years in the future it's travelling to a new planet, with people on board who have never seen land. It's so far in the future that there are new technologies, new systems and new ways of living. Revis was able to describe all of this beautifully. I can see, smell and feel this new world.  I would sometimes need to put this book down because I could feel Amy's claustrophobia. I can't imagine being awaken at the wrong time, and know that you are now stuck on a ship. It was scary but it was a thrill to read. 

I loved the beginning for the book. When Amy is describing the process of freezing. It was freaky, and not something that I would have been able to go through with after witnessing such a thing. The fact that Amy did describes the type of person she is. I liked Amy. I liked her because she wasn't this perfect person. She was flawed. She was unreasonable and erratic at times, but at other times she was also very understanding and level headed.  She was also pretty independent, even on a ship where she was unfamiliar with the customs, and didn't know anyone. She wanted to find out about what was going on. This was important to her.  I liked that about her. Elder on the other hand did not stand out for me, but that's ok. I found him to be pretty blah. He was far to passive for me. He didn't really fight for what he believed in. He didn't fight the politics of the ship, even when he didn't agree with what was going on.  He was a little to mute for my liking. He focused far to much on Amy's opinions and feelings then his own.  That was a little annoying. But again, I think that is just proof of good writing.

There are probably tons allegorical meanings in this book. Hidden and not so hidden meanings. But I'm not very good at discussing those (actually, I barely notice them, but they're there). But I feel like I cannot talk about this book without mentioning the political themes in this book. They're there and they're well written and covertly done. It was impressive.

Over all, this was a good book. It was a fun and interesting read. I have SO many theories about what's going to happen in the upcoming books. I really do. So if you've read this book and have theories as well, comment below and share them, because I am so curious. Thanks.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

My Thoughts: Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.





I picked this up a couple weeks ago and read it immediately (which doesn't happen often/ever). But the movie had come out and I wanted to read the book before seeing the film. I was excited about the movie because the trailer, which I dedicated a post to. Anywho.. I haven't seen the movie and I am not sure that I will, now that I have read the book. I was not at all happy with this book.

First let me say. It was pretty boring. The main character-Rachel- is a work-aholic 30 year old single woman, who hates her job. Yeah that sounds like buckets of fun. So the story starts out with Rachel's best friend Darcy throwing her a birthday party. Where Darcy is, Dex is. Who is Dex? Dex is Darcy's fiance who she met through Rachel and whom Rachel is secretly in love with, and has been for a while. Darcy goes home early from the party due to extreme drunkenness. Dex and Rachel end up leaving the party together to go to another bar and end up in bed together later that night. Poor Darcy. 

So up till this point I was fairly entertained with Something Borrowed. I went on reading thinking that I was going to read a funny account of how Rachel was going to have to keep this indiscretion from Darcy, and the awkwardness between her and Dex. But that is not what I got. What I got was a full blown affair between Dex and Rachel. Complete with sneaking around and lies. I was horrified. Did I mention that Rachel is supposed to be the Maid of Honour at their wedding. I am in no way a prude. But I found the plot to be terrible. Really. I am not a fan of infidelity, and I definitely don't like when it's glorified. I feel like this book totally glorified affairs. Especially in the end.

I probably could have handled this book if there was a bit more humour involved. But there wasn't any. There were no laugh out loud moments. I did not like Emily Giffin's writing. It lacked character. For me it was flat and emotionless. I found her character's incredibly selfish. Dex was a putz. I DID NOT him. Not at all. He was whiny and the most selfish man I have ever read about. I shake my head at the thought of him.

I guess, in the end I did not like this book, and I am sad that I read it. The only reason I finished it was because I wanted to know how the two got busted. It was a waste of time. The writing was bad, the plot was bad, the characters were bad. I will not be reading Something Blue or anything else by Emily Giffin.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

BDB Bookclub Challenge-Lover Eternal.


Here we go again!

1. On a scale from 1-5, what would you rate this book? Briefly tell us why.

Totally a 5. I have two favourite books in this series and this is one of them. I loved Rhage, and I loved Mary.

2. Did you have an preconceived notions about this book given that we knew it would be from the point of view of a different brother?
I liked Rhage in Dark Lover, so I was looking forward to this book. I don't think I had a preconceived notion about this. High expectations yes. 

3. What did you think of Rhage's transformations?
They were pretty intense. I hated that they caused him physical pain.

4. What did you think of Rhage and Mary's first encounter at the Brother's house?  Did you foresee a relationship forming after this meeting?

Oh Rhage. I thought Mary was perfect for Rhage. If there was ever a pairing I was all for. It was this one. It was awesome! I knew they were meant to be.

5. Ward seems to like forcing her characters to make some hard choices.  What did you think of Rhage's choice to save Mary at the end of the book?  Would you do the same for someone you loved?

Rhage's decision broke my heart. Because it broke his. He loved Mary and was willing to sacrifice his freedom (getting rid of the beast) for her survival. I thought that was truly selfless. Yes I would totally do that for someone I loved.

** I can't answers the next two questions. I've read the series and this could lead to me spilling the beans. Which would be sad.
6. Do you think John will become a brother after his transformation?

7. Do you think Bella will become Zsadist's shellan?  What, if anything, do you think this will do to Phury and Zsadist's relationship as a result given that Phury showed mild interest in Bella as well?

Happy Reading Everyone!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Spring Blog Carnival--WINNER!!!


Well, this has been an AMAZING week. It really has. I had no idea that I was going to have such a good time taking part in the Spring Blog Carnival Hop. There was a lot of really cool things going on.

This was my first give away hop, and I am amazed at the results. Simply floored. Thank you to everyone who stopped by. I truly appreciate it.

The winner of Jellicoe Road and a book of their choice is...

WulfLuva

Congrats, an e-mail has been sent out to you, and you have 48 hours to respond.

But Wait!

During this hop, I surpassed 100 followers, I even surpassed 150 followers. This time last week I had 87 followers, this week I have 191 followers. To me this is amazing. So I have decided to pick a SECOND winner. I am being a little picky and choosing from those who have decided to become a follower of this blog. 

The Second winner is...

LittleMsBookish 

You also have been sent an e-mail and have 48 hours to respond.

I want to thank the girls at:

Candace's Book Blog                                                                                     
Reading Angel
Pure Imagination
The Book Swarm
For hosting this give away hop, it really was a good time.

Happy Reading Everyone!



Sunday, May 8, 2011

My Thoughts: Shiver by Maggie Steifvater

the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future





I recently read this book for a guest post that I was doing for Rural Fantasy Week hosted by Ruby at Ruby's Reads. It had been sitting on my shelf for ages and I had picked it up to read a couple weeks ago, but put it down before I even read the first page.  But finally I got to it. I really enjoyed this novel however I don't think I found it as amazing as everyone else did. Reason being; I don't think I like werewolves as much as some do. I don't know. To me they aren't as exciting as vampires or fallen angels (I DO NOT agree that vampires are a thing of the past). Anywho, aside from the wolf thing. This book was quiet good.

I've mentioned it a few times in various places that I loved Grace. Maggie did an amazing job constructing a wonderfully complex protagonist. I thought she was an amazing character. She was everything that I was in high shool, but better. She was fierce, and loyal, she was independent and generous. She had spunk, but she wasn't cold and emotionless. She felt things. She felt the neglect of her parents, she felt love for Sam before she even knew him as Sam. She was incredibly protective of the wolves. She was great. Sam on the other hand did nothing for me as the male protagonist, but in the same breath I will say, he was PERFECT for Grace. I loved how he falls into the "indy guy" category. The guy who works in a book store, who plays the guitars and writes poetry/songs, all of that was swoon worthy. I did sometimes feel that Sam was to quick to give up (maybe I'm wrong). He loved Grace and it broke his heart that he knew he was going to leave her, but he just accepted it. He didn't fight. I think because he was a wolf I was expecting him to be a little more alpha like. For me, he was an ok character.  I liked Isabelle, I think she was one of my favourite characters.  I go into more detail why she's my favourite here. So go see. 

Something that I also loved about this book was the dynamics of all the different relationships. They were complicated and messy but they worked. When I say complicated and messy, I specifically mean Beck and Sam. Beck was the paternal role model that Sam didn't have, but as the book moves along, certain things are revealed, which do and don't change their relationship. I loved that. The same thing happened between Grace and Olivia, an event happened that changed how their friendship would work, but they did not over complicate it. Steifvater did a really great job in making you a part of the characters. I really appreciated that.

I talk a lot about the characters because I felt like they made this story. The characters in this book were so amazing, and they felt so much, that for me, it was funny to think that they were fictional people. I think this is a true testimony to how brilliant of a writer Maggie Steifvater is. Shiver was a good book, with an interesting plot, but I think the true selling feature of this book was the characters.  They were truly amazing. 

Happy Reading Everyone!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Book Blogger Hop (11) Follow Friday (10)

Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jen at Crazy for Book.

This weeks question is...

"Which book blogger would you most like to meet in real life?"

This is a totally unfair question! I can't answer just one! There are SO many.  Aylee from Recovering Potter Addict. She's so terribly sweet, and I think her blog is FABULOUS! I also think it would be super cool to meet Ruby from Ruby's Reads, she has an AMAZING blog and an hilarious sense of humour. I love her. Sarah from Miss Page Turner's City of Books I think would be a really cool person to meet as well, and Pam from Midnyte Reader.  So many amazing bloggers that I think I would have a good time meeting.  I am missing a whole slew of people but the question asked for one (but I couldn't pick just one).







 

Follow Friday is hosted over at Parajunkee's View
This weeks question...
What character in a book would you most like to be, what character in a book would you most like to date?

What is it with hard questions this time around. I loved Grace from Shiver by Maggie Steifvater. I thought she was an amazing character. I totally loved her. I also loved Marianne Engle from The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (although thinking about it, I don't know that I would want to be her, she was insane). But Grace for sure. Ultimately I would love to date Griggs from Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchettea (how many of you are with me on this one?), I would also date Simon from The Mortal Instruments series, I loved him. I also have to say, I would love to date any of the men found in the Black Dagger Brotherhood- John Matthew or Rhage-But any would do.  I have a thing for Alpha males.

But that is it. Enjoy. And but sure to get in on my give away that ends this Sunday. It's international. Link in the sidebar on your left (Spring Blog Carnival Hop).  

Happy Reading Everyone!

RAK: May

Book Soulmates
Hey Everyone!

Last month was the very first time I participated in Random Acts of Kindness hosted by Book Soulmates. Although I did not receive anything I had a WHOLE lot of fun sending books out.  I have decided to participate again this month.

For those of you new to RAK please visit the girls at Book Soulmates to find out more. It's really cool and I think everyone should sign up.

Looking for my wish list? You can find my partial one here and the full one here.

Thanks so much.

*In case you haven't aleady. Make sure to enter my super cool, out of this world giveaway--> Here.
Happy Reading Everyone!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Come Visit Me!


Hey Everyone.

The Wonderful Ruby over at Ruby's Reads is hosting Rural Fantasy Week this week, and I was lucky enough to be asked to do a guest post. So head on over there (like right now) and talk about Shiver and Linger by Maggie Steifvater. There is also a pretty awesome give away to go along with the discussion. So GO!

Happy Reading Everyone!


Many Books in a Year: April


I'm still counting. If you are new to Many Books in a Year you can find an explanation here. basically I'm counting the books I've read. I wanted to know how many I get through.
April was an interesting month. I turned 24 at the beginning of the month and I had a boat load of exams to study for. But I still managed to get through a good amount of books.  In April I read I read 5 books total, listened to one audio book, started and didn't finish two (I really hate when that happens).  Which brings me to 29 books total.

1) Lover Unleashed by JR Ward
2)Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston (Audio Book-My Thoughts coming soon)
3)Identical by Ellen Hopkins (My Thoughts)
4)White Cat by Holly Black (My Thoughts)
5)Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (My Thoughts)
6)Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (My Thoughts coming soon)

Did Not Finish
7) Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney (My Thoughts)
8) Prophecy of the Sister by Michelle Zink

*A little update on my book buying ban--> I failed twice this month. I was at costco and found Something Borrowed for SUPER cheap so I bought it. I also bough Linger because I wanted it. So yeah. But I have read two of the books from my list of 20 that I need to read before I buy another book (the others are from the library or borrowed from friends). I am still on my ban, and I am cracking down. I am hoping to get the remaining 18 read by July. But we'll see.

**Also, if you haven't already. Make sure to enter my giveaway. All you have to do is tell me what you're most favourite books has been this year, and you could win TWO books.
"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