Summer Break Reading Challenge Activity #3

One of the best and most important things about blogging is building community and learning from others. Today I'm going to ask you to explore the Internet and find some things on other blogs. So, Activity #4 is a scavenger hunt. Head back to the challenge to see what everyone else found

1. A blog that is new to you that focuses on the same type of literature you do (ex: I read YA so the blog would need to focus on YA).
I learned about this blog on twitter from someone I always read so I checked it out and then saw that she was also participating in the Summer Break Reading Challenge. Now I have her in my google reader and can't get enough of her awesome reviews.
Kristen at Bookworming in the 21st Century

2. A book that is new to you that another blogger reviewed.
I learned about Firespell by Chloe Neill on OWL's blog during the second SBRC challenge. I had heard of Neill before but never read anything and this new book looks great.

3. A book set in Africa (in your preferred age category, if possible).
For me the ultimate novel set in Africa has to be Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I have always had a love affair with the classics.

4. A book about a human/animal bond (in your preferred age category, if possible).
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

5. A book trailer for a book you want to read.
The master of all book trailers is Reverie and here is a great one for SEA by Heidi R. Kling

6. A book with a color in the title (in your preferred age category, if possible).
Sisters Red by Jackson Pierce

7. A blog that is new to you that is dedicated to a certain genre (ex: only books about vampires, only historical fiction, only urban fantasy, etc.)
a blog all about YA fantasy and is new (to me) and awesome is Bites

8. A book blog maintained by a librarian.
Green Bean Teen Queen was one of the first bloggers I started following and she is fantastic and a librarian

9. A book blog maintained by a teacher.
Miss Remmers' Reviews

10. The title of an upcoming book by an author you like (provide details - title, release date, synopsis).
Fixing Delilah Hannaford by Sarah Ockler will be out in November 201 and I am bursting with excitement! Here is an excerpt from Ockler's website

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Summary:
Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated polygamous community without questioning her father’s three wives and her twenty brothers and sisters. Or at least without questioning them much—if you don’t count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her. But when the Prophet decrees that Kyra must marry her 60-year-old uncle—who already has six wives—Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family.

Review:

The Chosen One manages to somehow be sweet and disturbing at the same time. This book was captivating and touching and brutally honest. I am not sure I can find enough adjectives to describe to you the extreme mixture of emotions The Chosen One brought out in me.

Kyra is a character so full of complex emotions that she is the perfect vehicle to tell this story. It is so easy to relate to the love she has for her family and her desire to please them. It is also easy to understand her desire to rebel against her controlling environment but I can not even begin to relate to living in a polygamous compound. That combination of easy to relate to and complete mystery is part of what makes the book so captivating.

Williams also does a masterful job of explaining the compound in a way that doesn't make it completely evil. In fact, there are times in the book when you see the community through the eyes of Kyra's family, who truly love eachother and you can almost understand why they choose that lifestyle. It would be so easy to just cast these characters as monsters but Williams shows every facet of their personalities and it creates such a believable and interesting world.

The last third of the book is heartbreaking and I absolutely couldn't put it down. When I finished it all I could say is wow. I was completely blown away and loved the book so much.

Everyone needs to read this truly original and moving novel.

This book goes toward my Summer Break Reading Challenge.

Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover by Ally Carter

Summary:

When Cammie "the Chameleon" Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston, she thinks she's in for an exciting end to her summer break. After all, she's there to watch Macey's father accept a nomination for vice president of the United States. But when you go to the world's best school (for spies), "exciting" and "deadly" are never far apart. Cammie and Macey soon find themselves trapped in a kidnapper's dangerous plot, with only their espionage skills to save them.

As her junior year begins, Cammie can't shake the memory of what happened in Boston, and even the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women doesn't feel like the safe haven it once did.

Shocking secrets and old flames seem to lurk around every one of the mansion's corners as Cammie and her friends struggle to answer the questions, Who is after Macey? And how can they keep her safe?

Soon Cammie is joining Bex and Liz as Macey's private security team on the campaign trail. The girls must use their spy training at every turn as the stakes are raised, and Cammie gets closer and closer to the shocking truth...

Review:

This series gets better and better with every book! When I read I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You I wasn't sure I even liked it. I was entertained and I thought it had potential but I wasn't sure I wanted to read the rest of the series. Then I read Cross My Heart And Hope To Spy and things got better, the characters were more developed and I was getting way more in to the story.

Now with Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover I am completely in love with this series. The Gallagher Girls are officially on my YOU MUST READ list.

In the third book Cammie and company continue to break the rules and venture beyond the safety of the walls of their school and their adventures make for an amazing read. This book introduced more characters that are captivating (Cammie's super spy Aunt Abby) and added more depth and layers to the characters I already liked (Macey gets better and better with every book).

As the girls in the book get older so do the spy missions and adventures. They are no longer going through boys garbage to see if he might like Cammie, now they are battling hundred year old grudges and Carter has me completely captivated.

My Favorite Quote

"Whatever the case, that didn't change the fact that a very cute, very mysterious spy by was either out to save us, or kidnap us, or date us. And I wasn't sure which one we were best equipped to handle."

The fourth Gallagher Girl book comes out TOMORROW and I can't wait to continue the adventure.

Here is the summary for Only The Good Spy Young

When Cammie Morgan enrolled at the Gallagher Academy, she knew she was preparing for the dangerous life of a spy. What she didn’t know was that the serious, real-life danger would start during her junior year of high school. But that’s exactly what happened two months ago when she faced off against an ancient terrorist organization dead set on kidnapping her.

Now the danger follows her everywhere and even Cammie “The Chameleon” can’t hide. When a terrifying encounter in London reveals that one of her most-trusted allies is actually a rogue double-agent Cammie no longer knows if she can trust her classmates, her teachers—or even her own heart.

In this fourth installment of the New York Times best-selling series, the Gallagher Girls must hack, spy, steal, and lie their way to the truth as they go searching for answers, recognizing that the key to Cammie’s future may lie deep in the past....

And a sneak peek at the first chapter courtesy of Ally Carter's website. Has anyone read an ARC of GG4? I would love to know what you thought?

Cross My Heart and Hope To Spy by Ally Carter

Summary:
Cammie Morgan may have a genius IQ and attend the best school in the country, but as she starts the spring semester of her sophomore year there are a lot of things she doesn't know. Like will her ex-boyfriend even remember she exists? And how much trouble did she really get in last semester? And, most of all, exactly why is her mother acting so strangely?

All Cammie wants is a nice, normal semester, but she's about to learn her greatest lesson yet—that when you go to a school for spies, nothing is ever as it seems.

Review:
When I read the first book in the Gallagher Girls series, I'd Tell You I'd Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You, I like the book but I felt like there was so much more about the characters and their world that I wanted to know and it left me a little frustrated. In the comments Cat @ Beyond Books told me she thought the books got better as the series went on and it gave me the optimism I needed to jump in to the second in the series.

Well, let me say Cat right. The second book picked up right where the first left off and added to the depth of the characters in exactly the way I wanted. I got more of Cammie, Bex, Macey and Liz and a brand new character of Zach who I adored.

Cross My Heart also gave me more details about the world of the Gallagher Girls school that I really wanted. The school seems like such a fun and magical place and any details about it made me very happy.

I like the addition of Zach to the book as well, a male, teenage spy makes everything more interesting and he is mysterious and entertaining.

I really enjoyed Cross My Heart and seriously encourage everyone to read this series, I am getting ready to start the third book, Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover and I can't wait.

Summer Break Reading Challenge Activity #2

Today's challenge is to create a wordle for one of the books you are going to read for the Summer Break Reading Challenge. I used an excerpt from Evermore by Alyson Noel from her website and this is the wordle I came up with.

Also, I made it a small personal goal to comment on everyone's reading lists from Activity 1. I went and left a thought with everyone who was in the Mr. Linky so I hope everyone knows I enjoyed seeing their summer reading lists. It must have been a little bit of good karma since I then won that challenge and get my own copy of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver!

You Are So Undead To Me by Stacey Jay

Summary:

Megan Berry's social life is so dead. Literally.

Fifteen-year-old Megan is a Zombie Settler by birth, which means she's part-time shrink to a bunch of dead people with a whole lot of issues.

And things are about to get even worse. Someone at school is using black magic to turn average, angsty Undead into flesh-eating Zombies and it's up to Megan to stop the zombie apocalypse...

Review:

I really never was one for the paranormal until very recently and cute, fun books like You Are So Undead To Me are exactly the reason I have changed my mind. It is a paranormal novel, I mean there are zombies running around, but it is also funny and romantic and very entertaining.

The plot borders on very predictable. It took me no time at all to figure out who the bad guy was but the motive was a complete surprise to me. Despite knowing pretty quickly who was behind all the zombie madness I really enjoyed the ride and found myself really interested in Jay's characters.

Megan is sassy and clumsy and it is so much fun to see the story through her point of view. She really doesn't want to be a zombie settler and watching her accept her position and clumsily figure it all out is really enjoyable.

If you like Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby (which I did) you will really enjoy this book as well.

The sequel, Undead Much, is already out and I am about to track down a copy for myself. (Anyone have one I can borrow?)

Have you read anything by Stacey Jay? If so leave a comment with a link to your review!

Two Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

Summary:

There are two sides to every breakup.

This is Jordan and Courtney, totally in love. Sure, they were an unlikely high school couple. But they clicked; it worked. They’re even going to the same college, and driving cross-country together for orientation.

Then Jordan dumps Courtney — for a girl he met on the Internet.

It’s too late to change plans, so the road trip is on. Courtney’s heartbroken, but figures she can tough it out for a few days. La la la — this is Courtney pretending not to care.

But in a strange twist, Jordan cares. A lot.

Turns out, he’s got a secret or two that he’s not telling Courtney. And it has everything to do with why they broke up, why they can’t get back together, and how, in spite of it all, this couple is destined for each other.

Review:

I picked this book up a few weeks ago and headed out to the pool. I read it pretty quickly and did enjoy my afternoon with it but nothing about it really wowed me. This is the first time in a while that I am not raving about a book. That isn't to say I didn't like the book, because I really did. In fact, as I am trying to write this there isn't anything bad I can come up with about it but there isn't anything really good about it. I read it, I liked it, and then I moved on to other books.

I did enjoy that the book was told from both Courtney and Jordan's perspectives so you get a clearer image of their relationship and why they broke up. However, as they travel together the reasons they broke up and the lies they have told eachother start to unravel. You knew all along that they would end up back together and the reasons they broke up that are supposed to be a big secret are pretty obvious and maybe that transparency is what I didn't really like. Also, all the games Courtney played with Jordan during the trip felt childish and kind of annoyed me.

I hate writing bad reviews but there was just nothing about this book that really made an impact with me.

Summer Break Reading Challenge Activity #1

The first task is to post your reading goals to the summer and then head back to the Summer Break Reading Challenge and share it with the group.

I have decided to just pick a handful of books that I have been wanting to read, haven't gotten to and are available at my library. I have two entire series I want to read but obviously it is subject to change since I am at the whim of my local library and someone may get them checked out before me!

The final three books of the Last Stand Series by Brenda Novak. I have already read and reviewed the first three so I want to finish the series.

The Perfect Couple, The Perfect Liar and The Perfect Murder

I also want to read the Immortals Series by Alyson Noel.


Evermore, Blue Moon, Shadowland and Dark Flame. I have read great reviews of these books and just not gotten to them.

I also have a few random books to add to the list
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
We're Just Like You, Only Prettier: Confessions of a Tarnished Southern Belle by Celia Revenbark
Willow by Julia Hoban
If I Stay by Gayle Forman

It is a pretty long list but I get almost all my reading done in the summer so I think I can do it. What are you reading for the Summer Break Reading Challenge.

Eat Pray Love with me and The Book Vixen

A funny little happened on twitter yesterday. The Book Vixen asked about Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and I immediately started gushing about how much I love this book. Like serious, life-changing moments while reading it love. Turns out she was thinking about reading it as part of a book club and I would like to think I helped convince her so she has set up the book club on her blog. I think every female (and it probably wouldn't hurt the men either) should read this book. I will blog more about the serious impact this book had on me during the month of July but for now hurry over to the Book Vixen and sign up to read and chat along with us!

Reading will start on July 1st and go until the end of the month.
SIGN UP HERE

Watch Me by Brenda Novak

Summary:

Sheridan Kohl was just a teenager parked at the lake in Whiterock, Tennessee with a boy named Jason when a stranger wearing a ski mask shot them both. Sheridan lived but Jason died--and the stranger was never caught. Twelve years later, by working at The Last Stand, Sheridan has learned a thing or two about investigating crime. She returns to Whiterock, intent on achieving answers at last.

But someone doesn’t want the truth to come out. Someone unexpected. Someone who is willing to resort to murder. Again.

Review:

This is the third book in Novak's Last Stand Series and it was my favorite book in the series. Sheridan is an incredibly likeable main character and her story was the hardest one for me to figure out so I just couldn't put the book down.

Sheridan was shot when she was a teenager and the boy she was with died. She immediately left the area and hadn't been back until she returns determined to solve the case. The book opens in a totally different way from the first two with Sheridan being attacked for the second time and fighting for her life. Cain, the brother of the boy who was shot along with Sheridan, comes to her rescue and sets off a crazy series of events.

As in the first two books there is a smoldering relationship between Cain and Sheridan but there is so much history that it is never simple but it is always interesting.

Cain's entire family is part of the story and the mystery and family dynamics almost always make for a great thriller and this is no exception. Every time I thought I had this one figured out there was a crazy turn that threw me (and Sheridan) off the trail.

As with the second book, Stop Me, I was a little sad that the book was set so far away from the Last Stand Headquarters but with a guest appearance by Skye I didn't mind it as much. Novak created yet another great mystery and I thoroughly enjoyed Watch Me.

Summer Break Reading Challenge

In the spirit of getting back in to my blog I am going to jump in to a reading challenge. Karin of Karin's Book Nook is hosting the Summer Break Reading Challenge and I am all in. I like this because there isn't any kind of restriction. It is just reading over the summer break, and I am doing that anyway. Karin has set up a blog specific to the challenge so check it out and sign up!

I haven't decided yet what books I will be reading for this but I will post a list once I give it some thought.

Stop Me by Brenda Novak

Summary:
Widower Romain Fornier lost his reason for living when his daughter was kidnapped and murdered. When the killer got off on a technicality, Romain used a gun to mete out his own justice. Now that he’s finally out of prison, free to return to his Cajun roots, the last thing he wants to learn is that he might’ve killed the wrong man. But that’s exactly what Jasmine Stratford of The Last Sand, whose job it is to help victims of violent crime, has come all the way from California to tell him.

Review:
The second book in the Last Stand Series was another great, edge of my seat read that I flew through. In all honesty I didn't like it as much as the first book, Trust Me, but I still really enjoyed it. Simply put, I didn't relate to Jasmine as much as I did Skye but I still found her story incredibly interesting and I couldn't predict how her story would end the way I did with Skye.

Jasmine is in New Orleans searching for the person who kidnapped her sister and her back-and-forth with Romain Fornier is really the heart of this book. The relationship between these two is what makes you want to keep reading and find out how their separate tragedies are connected.

Jasmine has minimal psychic powers which are an interesting plot twist but also a bit of the reason I didn't connect as well with her as I did with Skye. Her story is also told in New Orleans, away from the Last Stand headquarters in California which I didn't enjoy as much.

Also, like I said I couldn't predict at all how this story would go and when it all unraveled at the end I was shocked. It was a great ending that I really didn't see coming. There were so many separate strings that got wrapped up in a way I could never have predicted and I loved it.

So far I have loved both books in the series, be on the lookout for my review of the third book, Watch Me later this week.

The Great Debate: Zombies vs. Unicorns

The ever wonderful Sharon is hosting a Zombies vs. Unicorns week at her amazing blog so head over and get in to the debate. You will have to declare a team of course. I am still wavering but I think I might go team Unicorn only because they must smell better than a rotting corpse. Right?

Trust Me by Brenda Novak

Summary:

Four years ago Skye Kellerman was attacked in her own bed. She managed to fend off her knife-wielding assailant, but the trauma changed everything about her life. As a result of that night, she joined two friends--also survivors--in starting The Last Stand, an organization to help victims of crime.

Now her would-be rapist is getting out of prison. Early. And Skye knows that Dr. Oliver Burke hasn’t forgotten what her testimony cost him.

Review:

I took a break from my YA reading to go back to the genre that got me hooked on reading: thriller/mysteries. Trust Me is the first book in the Last Stand Series by Brenda Novak and it is fantastic. Skye Kellerman was attacked and managed to not only fight off her attacker but send him to prison with her testimony. No one in Dr. Burke's life believes it could possibly have been him and yet Sky and Detective David Willis know it was him.

What I really enjoyed about this book is the constant change in point of view. You get pieces of the story from Skye, David, Burke and Burke's wife Jane. With all these pieces you feel like you should be able to figure out what is going on but Novak really keeps the reader guessing. I particularly like the scenes told from Jane's point of view. It is devastating to her that her husband is in jail and you can really feel her unraveling as she realizes what her husband is capable of.

The relationship between Skye and David is captivating. You can really feel the spark between them but you also understand he devotion to his ex-wife. You just know they will end up together but the process is very entertaining.

You can tell how this book will end after the first chapter but how that resolution comes is surprising and entertaining. This is a completely captivating story that I couldn't get enough of. It is also the first in a series and the next two books tell the stories of Skye's best friends and business partners Jasmine and Sheridan.

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Summary:
Here’s the deal: Aunt Peg, the New York artist and the person Ginny Blackstone depended on to make her life interesting, took off to Europe without a word three years ago. Aside from a few postcards, Ginny hasn’t heard much. Then she gets a horrible phone call that changes everything.

But the story is only beginning. Soon after, Ginny receives one little blue envelope from Aunt Peg containing a thousand dollars and some very strange instructions…

Review:
I feel like I have written nothing but glowing reviews lately and I don't really plan on stopping now. I read 13 Little Blue Envelopes in afternoon of sitting by the pool and I truly enjoyed it. Ginny is a great protagonist and she leads the reader on an incredible journey through the letters. She has enough courage to go on this incredible journey through Europe but it still naive enough to do some dumb things that you can't help but relate to.

I would love if I had the opportunity to go on the adventure that Ginny does but I don't envy that all her adventure comes only from losing her Aunt. However, the people she meets on the journey are just as amazing as the Aunt she is missing and the relationships with these people create some of my favorite moments in the book.

Ginny's Aunt is actually the best character in the book, this woman is so amazing and complex that even though you only read her letters you love her and get frustrated with her and understand why she was so important to Ginny.

I was very frustrated at the end of the book, I didn't get the closure I had hoped for and yet I didn't feel like there was enough of an open ending for a sequel. It wasn't that there was anything in particular left out but everything was not wrapped up in a neat little package how I would prefer everything. It was more a personal preference than an actual knock on the book. But imagine my happiness when I was on Maureen Johnson's website today and saw that there will be a sequel. SO EXCITED.

I recommend this book for sure, especially for the summer by the pool. It was a great read for the day and now I can't wait for the Spring 2011 sequel.

Back from the beach

Hello all, I am just back from my long weekend at the beach with my Dad and Grandparents. I had a great time relaxing in the sun and going to watch some minor league baseball. I read a lot while I was gone, finishing four books so I am working on the reviews for them. Until I get them up head over to the Book Vixen and wish her a Happy Birthday.

Bloom by Elizabeth Scott

Synopsis:

Lauren has a good life: decent grades, great friends, and a boyfriend every girl wants. So why is she so unhappy?

It takes the arrival of Evan Kirkland for Lauren to figure out the answer: she's been holding back. She's been denying herself a bunch of things (like sex) because staying with her loyal and gorgeous boyfriend, Dave, is the "right" thing to do. After all, who would give up the perfect guy?

But as Dave starts talking more and more about their life together, planning a future Lauren simply can't see herself in-- and as Lauren's craving for Evan, and moreover, who she is with Evan becomes all the more fierce--Lauren realizes she needs to make a choice...before one is made for her.

Review:

I regret to say this is my first Elizabeth Scott book (hangs head in shame) but it will not be my last. I loved Bloom and I can't wait to read what else the amazing author has out there.

I loved the protagonist Lauren and watching her struggle with feelings of love, growing up and fitting in. Her relationships with both Dave and Evan are believable and you feel for the situation she puts herself in. One thing I really enjoyed was that it wasn't just a story about a girl who was struggling in high school but it incorporated the struggles she has with her parents and how that effects how she matures.

I also enjoyed that all the other characters had fully formed personalities with real lives and their own family troubles. It made it feel like a real world and not just Lauren's perspective.

I did feel like Lauren and her father resolved some of their issues in a much too simple way but I understand that isn't the focus of the book so it does have to be resolved.

Can't wait for my next Elizabeth Scott novel. Which one do you suggest? As always if you have reviewed the book leave a link to it in the comments.

I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter

I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter
Synopsis: The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a fairly typical all-girls school—that is, if every school teaches advanced martial arts in PE, chemistry always consists of the latest in chemical warfare, and everyone breaks CIA codes for extra credit in computer class. So in truth, while the Gallagher Academy might say it's a school for geniuses what they really mean is spies. But what happens when a Gallagher Girl falls for a boy who doesn't have a code name?

Review: Let me start by saying I am writing this review while very sleepy because I stayed up really late finishing this book. I picked it up at bed time, having just finished Bloom by Elizabeth Scott the night before. I expected to read a little and get to bed nice and early. Wrong. I stayed up until almost 3 a.m., finishing the whole book in one sitting. This is the first in a four-book series about the Gallagher Academy and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

So that should be the first clue that I liked it right? Well, I did like the book but that wasn’t to say I didn’t find fault in it. I think Ally Carter did a great job creating a very interesting world. I secret all-girls boarding school for spies. Count me in. She even created a sort of magical campus that can all change in seconds when outsiders approach, hiding all of the awesome spy gear. However, I wanted so much more detail about the world that I never got. I kept rereading things because I felt I had missed something only to find the details I wanted weren’t there.

I love the characters in this book, the girls seem fierce (actually fierce, not Tyra Banks making funny faces fierce) and like people I would actually like to know and the story is fun and captivating. I have the same thing to say about the characters though, I just wanted more of them. I wanted more of their personalities and more dimensions.

As always, if you have reviewed the book leave a link in the comments.

The book was fun and I already have the second in the series, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy waiting to be read when I head to the beach for the weekend. Hopefully, the second will give me the more I so desperately wanted.

SEA by Heidi R. King

In finally getting back in to my blog and seeing what new books are out there I realize how much I have missed out on, particularly in the way of awesome new books I want to read. One of them is SEA by Heidi R. King. Check out the trailer (fantastic right?) and then head over to Heidi's website for a pretty awesome contest.

Oh my, I've become a stranger

Well, here I am. Almost a year exactly since my last post. How disappointing. I got in to this blog while I was unemployed and living at home and as soon as I picked up and moved to a new state, started an incredibly amazing (but time consuming) job and started the next chapter of my life I let the blog get pushed aside. Now that I am settled I am hoping I can pick it up again. Although, I will do it quietly without an shouting it to the world just in case I should fail again. I wonder if anyone will find their way back...

Here is a little update on my life. I moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, got a job at High Point University and spend my days writing about HPU's athletic teams. Particularly the volleyball and baseball teams. I travel (alot) and for many months in the past year I have slept in hotels more often than my own bed. However, do not mistake what I am saying, I LOVE what I do and I am so happy.

In my crazy new life I have been reading much less and it made it easy to forget about the blog. However, with the summer months here I have taken time to start reading again and I will not try and get back to this blog. Hope everyone has had a wonderful year, I look forward to catching up with you.