Sunday, October 10, 2010

In My Mailbox (42)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren.

I have been MIA this past month but I am back now!! Here are the books that I have received in the last month...


For Review:
Rae by Chelsea Rae Swiggett
Hannah by Hannah Westberg
Alexis by Alexis Papalia
(Thanks HCI Teens!)

Take Me With You
Where's My Stuff
97 Things To Do Before You Finish High School
(Thank you Zest Books!!)
The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney (Thanks Little Brown!)

From Library:
Boy Girl Boy by Ron Koertge
Guyaholic by Caroyln Mackler
Once A Runner by John L. Parker
It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
Ready to Run by Beverly Scudamore
Playing a Virginia Moon by Peter J. Neumann
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Burrowed From Friends:
Host Club, Volume 1 by Bisco Hatori
FLCL, Volume 1 by Yoji Enokido
FLCL, Volume 2 by Yoji Enokido
Hack, Volume 1 by Tastsuya Hamazaki, Rei Izumi

Thanks, Jay and Zoƫ!

Won From Contests:
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King (Thanks A.S. King!!)
The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch (I'm actually not sure if I won this or if this was for review..)
Diary of a Teenage Girl by Melody Carlson (Thanks The Bookologist!)
The Awesome drawing/signature by A. S. King! 

So, I forgot what books I already took a picture of so some of the books are shown above, too. So, I'll just skip those.  :D

For Review:
Delirium by Lauren Oliver (SQUEEE!!!! Thanks Harper Collins!)

From Library:
The Cupcake Queen by Heather Helper

Bought:
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (GOT THIS ONE SIGNED WHEN I WAS IN CHICAGO! Will talk more about it later!)
LDK, Volume 1 by  (It's in Japanese!)

Signed, well actually stamped, by Suzanne Collins!

For Blog Tour:
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan

Books Not Pictured:
Dramacon, Volume 2 by Svetlana Chmakova
Dramacon, Volume 3 by Svetlana Chmakova
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Books are from school library and class and burrowed from a friend. I probably have 1 or 2 other books that I forgot about.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

BBAW Interview with Fall In Love With Books

The awesome Book Blogger Appreciation Week is going on right now and like last year, I signed up to do the BBAW interview swap. I was paired up with a wonderful book blogger.  I have Kimm from Fall In Love With Books. You should all go visit her wonderful blog! 

What is your favorite classic novel?
I'm flightly about this...favorites change depending on my mood.  At this moment: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. This book gives me chills!

Who is a character from a book that you admire?
Anne from Jane Austen's Persuasion. She's a woman who learns her own mind in the end and doesn't cave in to pressure. I think we are all searching for a little strength in our lives. She gives me inspiration.

Do you prefer stand alone books or book series?
I don't have a preference either way, although I just finished a series by Richelle Mead and am sitting here having an anxiety attack because the final book isn't going to be released until next year!

What is your favorite zoo animal?
I love Beluga whales the most. There is a zoo in Washington that has an underground viewing room to see their Beluga's. They come right up to you and stare into your eyes. It's a surreal experience! I   Penguins are almost tied, just because they crack me up with their antics. Oh, I cannot forget one that's really unusual to me:  an Okapi.  So hard to explain that one!

Where is one place you would like to travel to?
Top on my wishlist is to take a cruise in the Mediterranean that will allow me to go to Turkey & Egypt. Seeing the Pyramids is a must!

What is your favorite place to read at?
I like to read in bed for the most part. There's something relaxing about getting bundled under the covers and losing myself in a great story.

Do you prefer Borders or Barnes & Noble? 
I only have a little Borders store where I live (which is still called Waldenbooks for some reason)...so going to Barnes & Noble is a big treat for me. I guess that makes B&N my favorite. I'll probably break down and buy one of their Nooks before the year is over.  :-)

What is your favorite historical fiction book?
For all time: Not sure. For this year:  Romancing Miss Bronte by Juliet Gael or The Last Queen by CW Gortner.  Both books are phenomenal!

Do you dog ear or use a bookmark?
Bookmarks only!!  Cannot even contemplate mutilating my books!!

What is your favorite color?
Green...like an emerald

What is a subject you do a lot about?
As in read a lot?  I read a lot of historical romances. I always fall back on them when I'm not sure what to read next. I love Regency Romances.
[Sorry! I butchered this question.]

How many books are in your 'to be read' pile right now?
Oooh....I'm going to say, 50 or 60?  I lose track and unfortunately don't have them catalogued anywhere.  I just know it won't stop growing as long as I keep buying books!!

What is the last young adult book you read?
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  LOVED IT!!!

Stephen King or Nicholas Sparks?
I haven't read Sparks at all and the only King book I've read is The Stand. But, I guess I do like Sparks' movies better than Kings.

Okay, most importantly, snicker-doodle cookies or peanut butter cookies?
Yes, this is extremely important. lol  Sugar Cookies still rule!!! I guess Snicker-doodles are close to that.


I want to go to Turkey and Egypt, too and emerald green is one of my favorite colors. And YUM! Sugar cookies are just awesome! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!


Monday, September 6, 2010

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
March 17, 2009/MTV Books/Young Adult/256 pages

Summary
All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far... and almost doesn't make it back. 

John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won't soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won't be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge - and over...



Review
I've heard so many wonderful things about this book and I really liked this book and all but I'm not giving it as high as a rating as some of the others are giving it.

So, I've been in a reading slump for so damn long and this book did actually help me break out of it! I liked the plot okay, I liked the characters, the writing was really great, but I don't know…It felt like something was missing.

My favorite character was John. I found his character to be quite intriguing in some ways. I liked reading about his obsession with the bridge. Meg and John's relationship was not over the top by any means but I thought it was still really good.

Overall: Jennifer Echols writing is amazing. I read through this book so fast! As soon as my reading pile goes down I will be getting Forget You (and her other books) because I've heard wonderful things about it!




3.5 out of 5 Stars.
RATING
Writing: 5/5
Originality: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Voice: 5/5
Ending: 5/5

Favorite character(s): John for reasons listed above. Cover: C. I don't really like it. I wish we could see that Meg's hair was blue as described in the book! 
Put-down-ability: 3. I didn't put this book down much at all! 

*Source: public library. 

Sunday, August 22, 2010

In My Mailbox (41)

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


WON:


 Gimme A Call by Sarah Mlynowski


Devi's life isn't turning out at all like she wanted. She wasted the past three years going out with Bryan—cute, adorable, break-your-heart Bryan. Devi let her friendships fade, blew off studying, didn't join any clubs . . . and now that Bryan has broken up with her, she has nothing left.

Not even her stupid cell phone—she dropped it in the mall fountain. Now it only calls one number . . . hers. At age fourteen, three years ago!

Once Devi gets over the shock—and convinces her younger self that she isn't some wacko—she realizes that she's been given an awesome gift. She can tell herself all the right things to do . . . because she's already done all the wrong ones! Who better to take advice from than your future self?

Except . . .what if getting what you 
think you want changes everything? 



 Sister's Red by Jackson Pearce


Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris-- the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax-- but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they've worked for. 



The Giver by Lois Lowry


In the "ideal" world into which Jonas was born, everybody has sensibly agreed that well-matched married couples will raise exactly two offspring, one boy and one girl. These children's adolescent sexual impulses will be stifled with specially prescribed drugs; at age 12 they will receive an appropriate career assignment, sensibly chosen by the community's Elders. This is a world in which the old live in group homes and are "released"--to great celebration--at the proper time; the few infants who do not develop according to schedule are also "released," but with no fanfare. 

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Waiting On Wednesday (37)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.


The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Knopf Books for Young Readers/January 11, 2011


Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She's not comforted by the news that she'll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run?As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don't know what to say, act like she's not there. Which she could handle better if she weren't now keenly aware that she'd done the same thing herself to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she's missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her.With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that's not enough for her now. She doesn't just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her.


Why I Want This: WOWZA. This summary sounds so great, very intense. I'm quite obsessed when it comes to running. I just love the sound of it and I think that it will be so great. Not to mention the fact that the person who wrote this, Wendelin Van Draanen , also wrote the YA/MG novel Flipped, which I've heard amazing things about!! 


I think that if this book came out this fall I would so add this to the list of books I'll be reading during cross country season, on the way to and back from the meets, to help motivate me and whatnot. But it doesn't come out until next year! : (

Monday, August 16, 2010

10th Grade Required Reading List

A week ago, I made my 9th Grade Required Reading List. Here is my 10th grade.

Kate Chopin
 Short Stories Unit 

In my 9th Grade Required Reading List, I mentioned I adore short stories, I especially loved the ones my English teacher had us read! We actually read a few dystopian type short stories (There Will Come Soft Rains, By the Waters of Babylon) and I think I should really read some dystopian YA books because the short stories were awesome!

I think my favorite short story we read was Desiree's Baby by Kate Chopin.



Night by Elie Wiesel

Short book, but so emotional and so very good! Here is my review of NIGHT.

The theme for this unit was tolerance and we also had to make a powerpoint




 The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

This wasn't actually a really serious unit. We read the play and took a test over it and then watched the movie.



A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

I'm really involved in theatre and have seen this play at a theatre convention (although I did fall asleep but it was a really good performance!) and I knew what it was about somewhat.

I really can't remember how I did on this book. I think I did okay. So yeah..


 Life of Pi by Yann Martel

This is definitely one of those books that I would've never picked up on my own. In fact this is one of those books that I thought I was going to have to spark note because I wasn't going to finish in time (I'm horrible with required reading, I know) because it is also rather lengthy. Even though, I only caught up right before the test, I still finished it on time. I loved the ending to this book!

Here is my review. Oh, and I did fantastic on the major test! SCORE!
 Poetry Unit

I didn't like the choices of the poems this time. Like last year, Mrs. C had us each  read about 2 poems each that she had already chose and give the class information about the poet and stuff.

I chose to read Sonnet 18 from Shakespeare and The Waking by Theodore Roethke, both of which I really liked! Also, we had to right a couple of poems like last year but only 5 this year. I wrote about feminism, running, fear of mirrors and two others that I can't exactly remember. Our teacher picked the overall themes.



The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

I knew even before I picked this book up that I was going to have trouble with this one.

I mean, I liked the first page, and I actually did like the dialogue (once you start reading it it's not so bad and I did find it kind of funny) but I don't know. We read this in the middle of soccer season. And soccer just happens to have to really far away and long games. Not a good combination if I want to get reading done.

I don't know what is wrong with me. I didn't do so good on the test. I got a freakin' C! I will go back in read this book one day. I hear the ending really makes you think or something.

Oedipus the King by Sophocles

Then, we had our Greek Theatre lesson and read this book. I am really good with theatre, so I knew, pretty much, all of the terms and where to label the things on our stage map we had on our test. Now, the play itself isn't too long. Here's what happened. I was gone for about 4 days (which is pretty much the time we had to read the play) and my teacher told me that I would have no problem with what I had read over the weekend and I only needed to study a couple of other things.

I didn't do too horrible on the test but I definitely would've done better had a read the play. Ah, I think I'll finish it up one day and read Antigone, the next play in the trilogy.


OVERALL GRADE: B+ One thing that we also did that we didn't do freshman year was have weekly test over hard vocabulary words. But it was kinda easy for me. In some ways I feel that this year was easier than freshman year, except for Huck Finn! UGH! 

Also, Sophomore year I was in APUSH– AP US History and we were required to read a book each quarter and to be honest, all of them for the most part were books that I would've never even thought about reading. Here's what I picked:

• 1776
• Uncle Tom's Cabin 
• The Jungle
• On The Road 

I am a terrible, terrible student, lemme tell you. I am just damn horrible. These history books were basically sparknoted. Although, I did like On The Road and will be buying it soon, so I can actually read the whole thing. The Jungle wasn't too bad (gross but not bad). Uncle Tom's Cabin was just okay and 1776...Well, I don't even know why I chose to read it. 

I AM NOT READY FOR ENLIGH 11 HONORS THIS YEAR! Well, actually it's called composition/American literature. Books such as The Crucible, The Scarlet Letter, Cold Mountain are on our reading list. 

School starts tomorrow. YIKES! 

I will be a better student this year. I will get all A's. *repeats mantra*

Saturday, August 14, 2010

In My Mailbox (40)

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


For Review:
The Secret of Ka by Christopher Pike (ARC)
-I got this surprise review from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt! Thank you!

Won:
Feather by Abra Ebner
Knight Angels by Abra Ebner
-I won these last two books for participating The Once Upon a Readathon at Pure Imagination's blog. :)

Folly by Marthe Jocelyn 
Sea by Heidi R. Kling (ARC)
The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted (ARC)
-I won these last three books from a Got Books? giveaway. 

I also won a Linger tank top. Unfortunately, I misjudged the size I thought I needed (small) so it definitely doesn't fit me. I should've asked for an extra large because of the way its made. XD
Search & Win