My Mini-Challenge for Contest Craze

Hello! Today I am hosting this mini-challenge for Princess Bookie's awesome Contest Craze! Thanks Cindy for allowing me to host!

THE MINI-CHALLENGE

Answer one (1) of the following questions about a character in the book you are currently reading or the last book you finished:

1) What person, dead or alive, would she/he want to eat lunch with? Why?

2) What song describes a situation the character has faced or is currently facing? 

3) What book do you think this character would like to read? 

PRIZES

One winner will get to choose one of the following books:

• (ARC) The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

 • Rae: My True Story of Fear, Anxiety, and Social Phobia by Chelsea Swiggett

• (Signed) Titus and Atreus by Meridi Myers

RULES:

- US ONLY!!! I'm sorry to all my international readers. 

- Must answer one of the questions. 

- Please specify which book you would like to win. 

- Please leave a way for me to get in contact with you.

Extra Entry:
+1 If you are a follower.
You do not have to be a follower to enter! 

Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han 

Simon & Schuster/May 5, 2009/Young Adult/276 pages

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 wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY is a wonderful book to read if you want to feel closer to summer again, like I do. I didn't actually want to read this book because, and I don't know why, but I assumed that it was one of those type of summer books where 1) Girl goes to the beach and then 2) meets hot, charming boy that she never thought she could have but they end up falling in love. It isn't. 

Before I actually picked up this book, I had seen quite a few people reading it and seemed to be enjoying it. I finally got around to checking it out at the library and can see the appeal! The main character, Belly, has always to Cousins every summer since she was born. Belly's mother, Laurel, has been best friend with Susannah her whole life. Susannah has two kids, Jeremiah and Conrad. I knew from the start that she was going to have a relationship with one of them.

This book is amazing. Like I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed the fact that The Summer I Turned Pretty is a summer book that has unexpected depth to it. The scenes with Susannah were emotional…I really enjoyed her character. I liked that she would always do things for Belly, like buy her things when her mom wouldn't. I also enjoyed the flashback scenes. Reading Belly's memories of past summers were a wonderful edition to the book.

I think my favorite thing about this book was how everyone was so close with one another. I liked that Belly had a close relationship with everyone and I really love seeing this in books.

*I read this quite some time ago so I'm a little foggy on some things. Will try to reread it again before I read the last book. 

3.6 stars out of 5

RATING

Writing: 5/5

Originality: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Voice: 5/5

Ending: 3.5/5

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Cover: C. The cover is pretty and every and definitely has that summer feel to it but its only okay.
Favorite Character: Belly...Susannah. Wonderful characters.
Put-down-ability: 3. Hard to put down!

*source: public library 

In My Mailbox (43)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren! 

Gah! I have not posted an IMM in such a long time! These aren't all the books that I have received since my last one but I kinda just decided to do an IMM five minutes ago and these were the books I quickly grabbed.

For Review
From Egmont:
- Carmen by Walter Dean Myers
- Will Work for Prom Dress by Aimee Ferris
- Bitter Melon by Cara Chow
- My Life, the Theatre, and Other Tragedies by Allen Zadoff
- Rich and Mad by William Nicholson (I got this some months ago...might've already showcased this)
- Never Sit Down in a Hoopskirt and Other Things I Learned in Southern Belle Hell by Crickett Rumley
- The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski
- Hourglass by Myra McEntire
- Family by Micol Owstow
Thanks Egmont!


From Simon & Schuster:
- Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton
- Stay by Deb Caletti
I'm actually not sure if these were surprise review copies or if I won them anyway, thanks S&S!

From Houghton Mifflin:
Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky
Thanks Houghton Mifflin!

Won from Alea:
Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg
Thanks Alea!

Bought from Half-Prize books:
- Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
- One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey
- Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (not pictured)
For my English honors class we had to pick a 20th century novel from a list. I chose Catcher in the Rye but got the other books because I thought someone else would choose it but I also plan on reading them anyway. 


Hope you all got some great books this week!

**I did not get all of these books this week.

Review: Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson

Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson

Hyperion Book CH/2009/Young Adult/336 pages

Using the skills you've learned so far in Introduction to Psychology, please write a brief self-assessment describing how things are going in your freshman year. Presenting Concerns: The Patient, Leigh Nolan (that would be me), has just started her first year at Stiles College. She has decided to major in psychology (even though her parents would rather she study Tarot cards, not Rorschach blots).

I really enjoyed the fact that  PSYCH MAJOR SYNDROME is a Young Adult book where the main character is in college; there needs to be more YA books feature college aged characters. I read the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty, which I found really enjoyable, last year (or was it 2009?) and the main character starts off in high school and in the other books she is in college, but technically I found out that they're considered "adult" and not YA. I definitely think that its a nice change from the usual YA book that takes place in a high school setting. 

I picked up this book because the main character, Leigh Nolan, is a psychology major and that is something that I'm thinking about majoring in college myself. I loved how at the start of each chapter there is a little definition of psychology terms. The start of the book starts off with:

Psych Major Syndrome: A common affliction wherein a psychology major, overwhelmed by conditions, effects, and disorders, begins to overanalyze her own life

Alicia Thompson creates characters that are believable. Leigh goes to a small, liberal arts college. Her boyfriend also goes there. I didn't like him but I did really like Leigh and the other guy. I'm not going to use his name because I feel it would give it away, but once you're reading the book you'll know who it is right away.


This book did have it's downs. At parts it was a bit too slow for me but overall, this book was pretty good. I loved all the psychology references, like the Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank that Leigh had to fill in for one of her Psych classes. I liked that her parents studied tarot cards and all of that – that they named her Tuesday. I especially enjoyed when Leigh got assigned to go to a middle school and be a mentor for girls. Those scenes were great! 


I hope Alicia Thompson comes out with a new book. I'd love to read something else by her.

3.3 out of 5 Stars.

RATING

Writing: 4/5

Originality: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Voice: 4/5

Ending: 3/5

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Favorite character(s): Leigh. 
Cover: D. I like the colors but the girl facial expression makes it looks like she has dazed off and whatnot...

Put-down-ability: 5. This was a pretty fast read! 

*Source: public library. 

Princess Bookie's Mini Challenge: Most Anticipated

Princess Bookie's Mini Challenge is to post a blog entry on your most anticipated book!

I have a lot of books that I'm anticipating (really good books coming out this year!) But the book I picked to showcase is:

Bumped by Megan McCafferty
Release Date: April 26, 2011

When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

I really enjoyed Megan McCafferty's Jessica Darling series ( you can read my reviews of Charmed Thirds, Fourth Comings, and Perfect Fifths) and I'm very curious to see how this book turns out. In the last year I've gotten extremely into dystopian novels.  Bumped sounds intriguing – a world where teens have babies? And they're considered the most prized members. I can't wait to get my hands on this!!


Other books I'm anticipating:
 Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz
We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han
But I Love Him by Amanda Grace
What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
The Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

Mini-Challenge: Princess Bookie's Name Your Star

This Mini Challenge Consists Of:

Date A Tv or Movie Star

-Close Your Eyes!

-Imagine You Just Won A Contest Consisting Of A Date (Dinner And A Movie)!

-FYI:Cartoon characters are exempt.  

-Mission

-Write A Blog Post Telling Me Who You Would Choose

-Explain Why You Choose Them

-Be Creative In Your Post (maybe include a picture of said person or tell me what you would order for dinner)

LLOYD DOBLER (played by John Cusack)! Holy crap. If you have seen the movie Say Anything (one of my favorite movies and definitely my favorite romance movie) you will understand why I chose him. 

I mean, of course I'm going to choose a guy that plays a boom box with "In Your Eyes" playing. And Lloyd is the sweetest thing ever. After our dinner, I hope it would be raining outside, so when we come to a puddle he'll take off his jacket and put it over it for me to walk over. 

A girl can dream can't she?

As for dinner I'm sure we'd go to a down to earth restaurant, and not anything fancy-smancy. We'd have some type of Mexican or Italian food. And raspberry lemonade (even if it is juvenile). 

***

Other runner up:

Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore) from Criminal Minds

and some other people that I'm too lazy to name

Princess Bookie's Contest Craze!

The wonderful Cindy at Princess Bookie has started her Contest Craze that will be running from March 9 to April 10! Make sure you head over to her blog and check out all the amazing prizes, contests, and mini challenges (one of which, I'm hosting)!