30 Day Book Challenge - Day 1

So, I decided to do this Challenge that was created by Jude over at In Between. I think this will be a very fun challenge to do and I hope that you will learn more about my reading life. So, I'll just get started!

Day 1 - Your favorite books and the best one's you've read of all time


In no particular order, here are some of the books that are the best that I ever read:

1) The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

2) "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky

3) "City of Glass" and "Clockwork Prince" by Cassandra Clare

4) "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

5) "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins

(All links lead to Goodreads)

Happy Reading!

In My Mailbox #18

Hi guys! I'm here with a new In My Mailbox post! (Finally)

Borrowed:
- "Something Strange and Deadly" by Susan Dennard
- " Pandemonium" by Lauren Oliver

Bought:
- "The Replacement" by Brenna Yovanoff
- "Possess" by Gretchen McNeil
-" The Book of Even More Awesome" by Neil Pasricha

Happy Reading!

Book Review - "The Near Witch" by Victoria Schwab

Publisher - Disney Hyperion
Release Date - August 2, 2011
Number of Pages - 282
Series - none

Summary:
 The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen.
The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.
And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.


This book was absolutely wonderful! It was creepy, haunting...and beautiful.

Victoria Schwab spins the words together in a fashion that makes the story (or the Near Witch) appear at your mind (or your house). The writing was absolutely was amazing and it made the book spooky. It was definitely a high point of the book.

The main character was great and well developed, but she was very different from me, so it was hard for me to relate to her. Lexi was rebellious and I am usually not.

I also really loved the setting of the story. I absolutely love novels set in small towns, probably because I grew up in a small town. The author described it in a way that was very easy to visualize in my head and that made it a lot more real for me. I also loved this aspect of the story.

This book was very good and I definitely recommend this for everyone!

A-
Happy Reading!

Follow Me on:

My Goodreads Account
My Twitter Account 

Book Review - "The Dark Divine" by Bree Despain

Publisher - Egmont USA
Release Date - Dec. 22, 2009
Number of Pages- 372
Series - The Dark Divine #1

Synopsis:
 Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared--the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood--but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude's high school. Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy's dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it--her soul.



I did not know what to expect from this book when I picked it up, but I am glad to say that I enjoyed it quite a lot.

It is hard for me to pinpoint what I liked about the book, and what exactly made it enjoyable for me.

For one, I enjoyed the religious aspect of the novel. I have never read a book about a "preacher's kid" before, therefore that aspect of the novel was very interesting to me.

I also really liked Daniel and Grace's dad. They were very likeable and I enjoyed reading about them.

What I thought was very cool, were the headings at the beginnings of all the scenes. They made the book a lot more organized and easier to read. This was very good for me, because I hate being confused when reading. When I'm confused, I'm frustrated and I take out my frustrations on the book and because of that I don't like the book.

This book was a very enjoyable read, but not a mind blowing one.

B+

Happy Reading!

Waiting on Wednesday (1)

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


Currently, I am most anticipating "Velveteen" by Daniel Marks, which is coming out Oct.9 this year. Below is the cover and the synopsis.

 Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem.

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind.

Bonesaw.

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days.

It’ll be brutal... and awesome.

But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen’s obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she’s willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.

Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules... or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.

Teaser Tuesday (Sep 4, 2012)

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!


My Teaser:

"Apparently I didn't have to wait until getting to the palace to worry about potential rebel attacks. Wonderful"

-Taken from "The Selection" by Kiera Cass (pg. 57)

Book Review - "Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi

Publisher- Harper Collins
Release Date - Nov 15, 2011
Page Number - 338
Series - Shatter Me #1

Synopsis:
 Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.




What I liked the most about this book was the writing style. It was filled with beautiful prose, it was very fluid and beautiful to read. I really liked the strike-troughs that were used frequently in this novel, I htought that they were a very interesting part of the reading experience.

Also, I thought the characters in this novel were very well developed. Especially Warner. Despite being a villain, he was my favourite character, and I felt that there was a lot of depth to him and I hope that there will be more development to his character in the next books.

Juliette was also a great main character, she was very intelligent and brave. She was a strong, but a broken person, because of the events in her past, and I really enjoyed reading about her.

I loved the originality of Juliette's power. That aspect of the book was one I wanted to read in the first place.

I thought that the world building was pretty good, but I feel that there should have been more details about how it became so different from today's world.

I did not like the last scene (the one with the purple suit). It just felt so shallow, after an entire book about danger and destruction.

Shatter Me is definitely a book that I really enjoyed. I loved the characters, the unique writing style and the original premise, there were just a couple of things i did not like.

B+

Happy Reading!
PS. If you like my blog, please comment and follow, I really appreciate it! 

My Goodreads Account
My Twitter Account

September TBR

Before I start with this post, I would like to apologize for my absence from this blog. Things like traveling to Europe, homework, laziness and procrastination unfortunately got in the way. But I have been still reading and I am planning to post things on this blog more frequently.

Anyway, today I will tell you which books I will be reading in September.

Let's start the list:
(all links lead to Goodreads)

1. "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2. "The Selection" by Kiera Cass

3. "The Fine Art of Truth or Dare" by Melissa Jensen

4. "It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini

5. "Once a Witch" by Carolyn MacCullough

6. "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

7. " Possession" by Elana Johnson

I am very excited to read all of these books and I hope that I will have enough time to read them all (maybe even more than that).

If you like my blog, please follow it and comment. I really appreciate it!

Happy Reading :-)

Teaser Tuesday - April 10, 2012

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!

My Teaser:

" You can find him by following the leaping shadows along the walls of the school corridor, for Father Vivaldi often paces there and waves his arms about. This time he's so intent on whatever he hears in his head, he doesn't notice us dancing around him or running right past."

From "Hidden Voices" by Pat Lowery Collins

Book Review - "The Summer I Turned Pretty" by Jenny Han

Publisher - Simon & Schuster
Release Date - May 5, 2009
Number of Pages - 276
Series - The Summer #1

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

My Thoughts:
1. This novel has a very authentic, summery feel. The setting is described very well and that makes the book very enjoyable and perfect for the beach.
2. I found the characters to be very realistic. However, I found Belly to be pouty at times, but fortunately that didn't ruin the book for me.
3. I have really enjoyed the flashbacks! I think they provided more depth to the characters. 
4. One thing that did irritate me, was some minor plotholes, ex. one thing happened when Belly was 14, and then 20 pages later it says that the thing happened when she was 13.  IRRITATING.


Rating - A-

Book vs. Movie - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I decided that I wanted more diversity on my blog, so I decided to start comparing some books and movies. I am not sure how often I will do this, but I hope that I will do it at least once a month.

Book Review - "Demonglass" by Rachel Hawkins

Publisher - Hyperion
Release Date - March 22, 2011
Number of Pages - 359
Series - Hex Hall #2

(Synopsis not included in order to avoid spoilers)

My Thoughts:
1. I really loved the characters in this one! Sophie was sassy and awesome, Archer seemed more likeable, Cal was just and amazing and Jenna is the coolest fictional vampire.
2.  The actiona scenes were written very well. It was very easy to imagine what was going on and it did not get confusing.
3. The setting, which was an old mansion in the English countryside, was totally awesome and it really fit the story.
4. The dialogue and the sarcastic remarks made this book very enjoyable.
5. Because of the ending, I MUST HAVE THE NEXT BOOK!

Overall, this is an amazing sequel and I recommend this series to everyone.
Rating - A+

In My Mailbox #17

Once again, I got some great titles this week :

Once again, my dear friend Hannah pressured me into getting this at the library. However, I am very excited to read this and it sounds exactly like something I would read.

Source - Library

(image unavailable)             Sound very cute! I could not find the cover on Goodreads unfortunately.                 

The Hocus Pocus Hotel     Source - Netgalley

by Michael Dahl

The setting of this is the old west, which sounds very exciting because I love cool settings.
Source- Netgalley









I look for ward to reading all of these!

Book Review - "Ashes, Ashes" by Jo Treggiari

Publisher - Scholastic
Release Date - June 1, 2011
Number of Pages - 344
Series - I am really surprised this is not a series. I could have sworn it was a series, but Goodreads suggests otherwise.

A thrilling tale of adventure, romance, and one girl's unyielding courage through the darkest of nightmares.
Epidemics, floods, droughts--for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she's rescued from a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can't continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her: the Sweepers are looking for her. There's something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her.


My Thoughts:

1. This was another book that I have read for White Pine, and while it was not terrible I had a few problems with it.

2. The first and the biggest problem I had with this book was the lack of character development. I think that this book was focusing so much on the action, mystery and plot and therefore it managed to completely omit any chances of character development. For example, Aidan, the main love interest, was supposed to be the one of the most important characters. At the end of the book I felt like I just met him.

3. Another problem I had with this book, was that at times there way too much descriptive writing. In the first chapter, it was described how Lucy was taking out guts from a turtle (ewwww).

4. However, I thought that a lot of minor characters were very likeable. In particular Grammalie, who called everyone an animal in Polish, Sammy and Henry, who were just nice and fun.

Rating - B-

Teaser Tuesday - April 3, 2012

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!

"He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air."
(From The Maze Runner by James Dashner, pg.1)

I think this is an amazing first line!

Book Review - "Runaway" by Meg Cabot

Publisher - Scholastic
Release Date - May 1, 2010
Number of Pages - 310
Series - Airhead #3

Synopsis is not included in this review because of potential spoilers to previous books.

My Thoughts:
 1. The plot was very nicely formulated in this book, it was not confusing which made everything clear. There are always those books that sometimes confuse(Usually if there is a lot of action) but this was not the case.

2. This was the last book in the series,and in my opinion all the loose ends were very nicely tied up.

3. In some series, you don't get to find out what happened to secondary characters (Mockingjay, I'm talking to you) however, in Runaway you get to know the fate of most characters, which I thought was awesome.

4. In the entire series, Meg Cabot did a very good job of describing various aspects of a life of a celebrity, which the book even more awesome.

Rating - A
 

In My Mailbox #16

I got some very exciting books this week!

I had no idea my school library had this! So when I saw I decided to get. My friend Hannah really wants to read this and she wants to see what I think of it.

This is one of the books I have to read for the White Pine book club. Some people in the club really liked this one, and some hated it, so I don't know what I will think of it.

I am very excited to finish this awesome trilogy! I can't wait to see what happens.

It was on Netgalley, and I didn't even need to have it approved. It looks like a very nice summer read, totally in my comfort zone.










I am looking forward to reading all of those!

Book Review - "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer

Publisher - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Release Date - April 4, 2006
Number of Pages - 336

 Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey.


My Thoughts:
1. The writing was absolutely beautiful in this book! It was beautifully structured and the prose flowed really well.
2. What made this book very interesting was that it was not only narrative,m but it also included things like pictures, letters, articles etc. It made the book more realistic in my opinion.
3. I think that the ending of this book was very effective and well written.
4. Oskar was portrayed as a very eccentric and "broken" character, which I think fit the book perfectly well.


Overall, it was very well written with very good characters.


Rating - A

April TBR

Here are the books that I am planning to read in April:

1. "Ashes, Ashes" by Jo Treggiari

2. "Maze Runner" by James Dashner

3. "Ugly To Start With" by John Michael Cummings

4. "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor

5. "Once a Witch" by Jennifer McCullough

6. "Hidden Voices" by Pat Lowery Collins

7. "Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness

8. "It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini

Book Review - "Swim the Fly'' by Don Calame

Publisher - Candlewick Press
Release Date - April 14, 2009
Number of Pages - 368
Series - Swim the Fly #1

Fifteen-year-old Matt Gratton and his two best friends, Coop and Sean, always set themselves a summertime goal. This year's? To see a real-live naked girl for the first time — quite a challenge, given that none of the guys has the nerve to even ask a girl out on a date. But catching a girl in the buff starts to look easy compared to Matt's other summertime aspiration: to swim the 100-yard butterfly (the hardest stroke known to God or man) as a way to impress Kelly West, the sizzling new star of the swim team. In the spirit of Hollywood’s blockbuster comedies, screenwriter-turned-YA-novelist Don Calame unleashes a true ode to the adolescent male: characters who are side-splittingly funny, sometimes crude, yet always full of heart.

My Thoughts:
 1.This was fun and hilarious! SO much different from regular YA. It felt like an adventure book, but without dragons, beasts and unicorns.
2. The main character and his sidekicks were awesome, very realistic and definitely not flat.
3. Unlike most YA books, it did not end on a cliffhanger. The ending was very clear.
4. I recommend this to everyone. Even to those who refuse to read anything that does not have vampires in it.


Rating - A+






 

Book Review - "The Time Traveller's Wife" by Audrey Nieffenegger

Publisher - MacAdamCage
Release Date - 2003
Number of Pages - 518

 When Henry meets Clare, he is twenty-eight and she is twenty. Henry has never met Clare before; Clare has known Henry since she was six. Impossible but true, because Henry finds himself periodically displaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. Henry and Clare's attempts to live normal lives are threatened by a force they can neither prevent nor control, making their passionate love story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable. The Time Traveler's Wife is a story of fate, hope and belief, and more than that, it's about the power of love to endure beyond the bounds of time

My Thoughts:

1. The first 100 pages, were very good. I have really enjoyed the chemistry between young Clare and Henry from the future.
2. However, after the first 100 pages, I started getting bored. The story was not as interesting and it was less relatable.
3. I found there to be way too many references to pop culture, names, terms and other stuff like that.
4. I could not finish it, because it was starting to be very draggy and slow.


 
Overall, I thought it was just OK. It started off well, but then it just became more boring.

Rating - C+

In My Mailbox #15

• "Nevermore" by Kelly Creagh
• "Beat the Band" by Don Calame
• "Clockwork Prince" by Cassandra Clare

Book Review - "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan

Publisher - Speak
Release Date - April 5, 2010
Number of Pages - 310
Series - n/a

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.
Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan’s collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won both them both legions of faithful fans.

My Thoughts:

1.  The Will Graysons were very relatable and likeable. They had their flaws and overall were just very well developed characters. Same goes for Tiny Cooper, Gideon and Maura. Can't say the same for Jane unfortunately. I felt like she could have been developed more.

2. This book was definitely something I loved reading and enjoyed it.

3. The writing style was excellent! I twas perfect for this type of book and I was really sucked in for almost the entire book.

4.The book was full of nerdy stuff, just as i expected and it made it all the more to read!


Overall, this book was pretty awesome!
A-
 

Teaser Tuesday - Feb 7, 2012

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!

My teaser:
" The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle."
(Paper Towns by John Green, p.1)

Very short, yet I love this line!

In My Mailbox #14

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by kristi over at the Story Siren

Bought Second-hand:
"One Day" by David Nicholls
"Time Traveller's Wife" by Audrey Niefenegger
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" by JK Rowling
"Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold
"The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks
"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien

For Review:
"Ugly To Start With" by John Michael Cummings (not on the picture)

Book Review - "The Lover's Dictionary" by David Levithan

Publisher -Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release Date - January 4, 2011
Number of Pages - 211
Series - n/a

Summary:
 How does one talk about love? Do we even have the right words to describe something that can be both utterly mundane and completely transcendent, pulling us out of our everyday lives and making us feel a part of something greater than ourselves? Taking a unique approach to this problem, the nameless narrator of David Levithan’s The Lover’s Dictionary has constructed the story of his relationship as a dictionary. Through these short entries, he provides an intimate window into the great events and quotidian trifles of being within a couple, giving us an indelible and deeply moving portrait of love in our time.


My Thoughts:
1. The biggest highlight of this novel was definitely the writing. The heart-wrenching, beautiful writing. Here are some passages fromt he book to show you wha I'm talking about.
      "Love is one kind of abstraction. And then there are those nights when I sleep alone, when I curl into a pillow that isn't you, when I hear the tiptoe sounds that aren't yours. It's not as if I can conjure you up completely. I must embrace the idea of you instead.” 

   " Even when I detach, I care. You can be separate from a thing and still care about it. If I wanted to detach completely, I would move my body away. I would stop the conversation midsentence. I would leave the bed. Instead, I hover over it for a second. I glance off in another direction. But I always glance back at you.”

    “The key to a successful relationship isn’t just in the words, it’s in the choice of punctuation. When you’re in love with someone, a well-placed question mark can be the difference between bliss and disaster, and a deeply respected period or a cleverly inserted ellipsis can prevent all kinds of exclamations.” 

2. This book is such a quick read! I read it in about an hour and a half.

3. This novel is very realistic. It does not portray the romance like a fairy tale, and yet the emotions described are out of this world.

4. The concept of this book is just so unique and original. I never heard of any other book that is told through dictionary definitions,a nd still contain and amazing story.


Overall, this is a dictionary that you want to read cover to cover.

A 

What I hope to read in February 2012

This is the list of books I am planning to read in the month of February.

• "Swim the Fly" by Don Calame
• "Paper Towns" by John Green
• "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
• "Nights of Rain and Stars" by Maeve Binchy
• "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
• 2 Nancy Drew books that I featured in my last IMM
• "Ugly To Start With" by John Michael Cummings

Hopefully I will be able to read all of these!

Book Review - "City of Fallen Angels" by Cassandra Clare

Publisher - Margaret K. McElderry
Release Date - April 5, 2011
Number of Pages - 424
Series - Mortal Instruments #4

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS NO MAJOR SPOILERS TO THE PREVIOUS BOOKS IN THE SERIES.

My Thoughts:

1. I was really glad to see some of Jace's sarcasm and wittiness return, after his moodiness in the previous two books.

2. According to the synopsis, one of the main points of this book was suupoosed to be the Shadowhunters getting murdered. But instead, it seemed like the book was focused more on the relationship and angst.

3. The ending was amazing! Very exciting and I love how it turned out. It creates a great conflict for the next two books in the series.

4. I have one thing to say that does nto have anything to do with the story itself, but with the cover. Clary's are eyes are just way too creepy. I hate it.

5. Clare's writing remains just as good as it was before.


Overall, it was pretty good. Not super amazing, and definitely not the best in the series, but still worth the read.

B+

Monthly Wrap Up - January 2012

Here I recap all the books I have read this month and my brief opinion of them:  (btw, thank you Book Rat Misty for the thums up/down idea)

1. "Revolution" by Jennifer Donnelly

I expected this to be so much better...unfortunately my expectations were not met. I hated the main character, I was not a fan of the major twist at the end and I found a lot of parts of this book to be boring.

 2. "Cracked Up To Be" by Courtney Summers




It wasn't that bad...but I just couldn't connect to the characters,and therefore the story kind of fell flat for me.

3. "Paranormalcy" by Kiersten White




Very fun, refreshing and enjoyable!

4. "Want To Go Private" by Sarah Darer Littman

Very raw, realistic and scary. I really recommend this one.

5. "Something Wicked" by Lesley Anne Cowan


Really dull and boring. I didn't even finish it.

6. "Clockwork Angel" by Cassandra Clare

It was really good. I didn't love everything about it but I still thought it was awesome

7. "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

AMAZING!

8. "City of Fallen Angels" by Cassandra Clare

Not the best in the series, but still very enjoyable.

9. "The Lover's Dictionary" by David Levithan









Very beautifully written!

10. "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
 

Teaser Tuesday - Jan 31, 2012

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!

"Alec keeps sending me annoying photos. Lots of captions like Wish you were here, except not really."

-"City of Fallen Angels" by Cassandra Clare

In My Mailbox #13

Just some books I have acquired recently, and that I am planning to read soon.

Bought:

• "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
• "Hidden Voices by Pat lowery Colins
• " The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
• "Once a Witch" by Carolyn MacCullogh
• "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
• "Sisters Red" by Jackson Pearce
• "It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
• "Nancy Drew Girl Detective: Secret of the Spa" by Carolyn Keene
• "Nacy Drew Files: Easy Marks" by Carolyn Keene

Borrowed from Library:

• "City of Fallen Angels" by Cassandra Clare
• "The Lover's Dictionary" by David Levithan
• "Swim the Fly" by Don Calame
• "Paper Towns by John Green

Borrowed from Overdrive

• "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
• "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Book Review - "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

Publisher - Scholastic Press
Release Date - September 1, 2009
Number of Pages - 391
Series - Hunger Games #2

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS NO SPOILERS FOR THE PREVIOUS BOOK(S) IN THE SERIES

My Thoughts:

1. I thought Hunger Games was like the most amazing book when I read it, but this one was even better! It was intense, crazy and I could not put it down!

2. I loved that Gale was actually around in this book. I t was great getting to know his character better, since he was'nt around much in THG.

3. All the political issues that were explored in this book were amazing. It really added to the book and showed us, the readers, the corruption of governments in dystopian societies.

4. The twists. Oh the crazy mind-blowing twists.

5. CLIFFHANGER!!!!!!!!!!! This was honestly one of the hugest, craziest, evilest(is that even a word?) cliffhanger ever. Thankfully I have purchased Mockingjay already.


Overall this book was supermegafoxyawesomehot

A+

Book Review - "Clockwork Angel" by Cassandra Clare

Publisher - Margaret K. McElderry
Release Date - August 31, 2010
Number of Pages - 476
Series - Infernal Devices #1

Synopsis:
Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

My Thoughts:

1. The best part of the book were the well developed, engrossing, likeable characters. They all had very distinct personalities and they all seem to have secrets...
2. The plot was full of twists, turns and surprises. One moment I thought I was figuring something out and then something crazy happens and I just have no words to describe it.
3. Very rich, interesting and descriptive setting. Really captured the atmosphere of Victorian London well.
4. A thing I did not like...the automatons, clockwork people, robots, however you want to call them. I just did not like the whole concept of them. Too sci-fi for me.
5. I'm very excited to read the sequel. I can't wait to find out more about Will...

Overall, this book was really good and  recomend if robots from 19th century and arrogant mysterious characters are your thing.

Rating - A-