Halloween Fun!

I seriously love Halloween.  To the point that I decorate my house with black chiffon curtains and everything!  So when I saw this even hosted by WORD for Teens, I was so excited!  Who doesn't love Halloween?



I'll have the button in my sidebar so that you can find it when you want!

Giveaway at Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf

Lauren over at Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf is hosting a contest to win a copy of "I Now Pronounce You Someone Else" by Erin McCahen.  Check out her blog and her review here.

I have to say that after reading her review, I am really curious about this book now.  It will definitely move up in my TBR pile.  My only hesitation is the whole marriage thing.  If the main character is 17, why on earth would she get engaged?  Of course, Lauren's review talks about how the author doesn't rush the relationship, so maybe the book spans a period of years?  I don't know.  So I guess I'll have to read it to find out, right? : )

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

At last, Miranda is the life of the party: all she had to do was die. Elevated and adopted by none other than the reigning King of the Mantle of Dracul, Miranda goes from high-school theater wannabe to glamorous royal fiend overnight. Meanwhile, her reckless and adoring guardian angel, Zachary, demoted to human guise as the princess's personal assistant, has his work cut out for him trying to save his girl's soul and plan the Master's fast-approaching Death Day gala. In alternating points of view, Miranda and Zachary navigate a cut-throat eternal aristocracy as they play out a dangerous and darkly hilarious love story for the ages. (from Goodreads)

I just finished reading "Eternal" last night.  It took me a while to sort out how I felt about it.  It was intriguing in many ways, but I didn't really love it.  The beginning was very good, full of mystery and foreboding, but as the story progressed, I found that I couldn't relate to Miranda's voice any longer.  I suppose that is what the author was trying to do, but I found it hard to remain interested at first.  I did like the way that the POV changed back and forth and I eventually became comfortable with Miranda's voice and found myself becoming totally engaged in the story.  The story was quite thrilling, actually.  So, I suppose the thing that I really didn't like and the thing that kept me from loving the book is the ending.  I was extremely disappointed in the turn of events at the end of the book.  Everything that took place leading up to the ending was fabulous, but the decision made by Zachary and Miranda at the end just seemed too dark and too depressing for me.  I just can't agree with their decision and, for that reason, I can't love the book.  I really enjoyed the story, but those last few pages just ruined it for me.

My grade:  B-
Based on the ending alone, it would probably be a C-, but the book up until that point was a solid B or B+.

BLOGFEST 2010!!!!

What is BlogFest, you ask?  Only one of the best ways for you to check out new blogs AND possibly win some amazing books and swag!  It's sponsored by A Journey of Books.  Basically, you start at their blog, log into the tracking site and it will pull up the entire list of blogs that are participating.  Then,  you can just start visiting blogs!  You can check off each blog as you visit it and then easily move to the next!  Each participating blog will be offering a giveaway, which is great, and you might find new book blogs that you want to read, which is even better!!!  Click here or on the link above to get started!

"Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

Words escape me when it comes to describing how much I loved this book. Now, I know that many people found it unsatisfying, but in my humble opinion, this was the ending that worked for these characters.

I am really glad that Katniss did not jump up and grab the revolution flag and become a super supporter of the revolution, like Gale. Why, you ask? Because that would have gone completely against her character. For Katniss, what is and what always has been important is her family and those she loves. She went to the Hunger Games to save her sister. She defied the capital to save Peeta. She joins the revolution, not out of some sense of a higher cause, but because it will save the people she cares for the most.

In fact, Suzanne Collins stayed so true to the characters in this book that I really couldn’t see any other choices that she could make. The ending is superb and, given the circumstances and what the characters have survived, is surprisingly happy. At least for these books. If she had written a book in which everyone got everything ::clears throatBreakingDawnclears throat:: it would have felt unrealistic. This is not a rainbows and unicorns sort of book.

It is, however, a gritty and sometimes gruesome tale of survival and love under the most horrible conditions. It celebrates humanity’s ability to keep going against all odds and make the best of the worst situations. The scary part? I could see all of this happening in real life. And THAT is what a writer is supposed to do—make the story feel real.

So, how do I rate what might possibly be the best book I’ve ever read?

Grade: A+ 4.0 GPA summa cum laude valedictorian! : )

Teaser Tuesday

I know, I've been lame about updating the blog lately!  The beginning of the school year is always so busy!  Anywho, I'm hopefully back on track with my days and I should be posting 2 reviews this week plus a post about my adventures at the Decatur Book Festival!  Hooray!  Now, on to today's event....

Teaser Tuesday is a meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. You open up the book you're currently reading to a random page. Choose 2 sentences and share them. They should not contain spoilers!

I'm currently reading "Eternal" by Cynthia Leitich Smith. 

p. 208...
"Angels?"  It's an odd question.  I know Clarence from "It's a Wonderful Life", and the Bible is chock-full of winged guys who start sentences with "lo."

Happy Tuesday and happy reading!

Waiting on Wednesday

                                                                                  





Waiting on Wednesday is a fabulous event sponsored by Jill at Breaking the Spine Here, I will highlight a book that will be coming out that I'm really looking forward to reading.

This week's book is Wuthering Bites by Sarah Gray.  At first, I thought this was another one of those monster mash-up books.  But it's not!  The author obviously uses the characters and situations from "Wuthering Heights", but has re-written it to include, of course, vampires!!!!  I think this is going to be very interesting because the idea of Heathcliff as a vampire is not really that much of a stretch, if you think about it.  So, I was happy when I saw this book and immediately added it to my TBR pile (which is now so large that I will probably die before it is ever finished!).

I will try to post 2 book reviews later today!  In the meantime, happy reading!