Thursday, August 9, 2012
Reading, hopefully reviewing soon
I finished both Beautiful Creatures and Endlessly! I just need to find time to sit and review them. I am also almost halfway through Holding on to Zoe, which I was supposed to start after Princess Academy 2. Something about the book just drew me in. I have also started Tiger Lily, which I am enjoying; Tink is a great narrator. I participated in the SummerTeen webinar today, so I have several new e-galleys to read as well, but they will have to wait for a bit. The publishers have some great new titles coming out this fall, like Venom and Origin, which I was able to get e-galleys for both of those. For now I am sticking with Tiger Lily and Holding on to Zoe.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Review Copy Cleanup
I am going to be really ambitious this month and sign up for another challenge. This one is the Review Copy Cleanup hosted by Nyx Book Reviews and Books, Biscuits, and Tea. The goal is to read as many review books in e-book or print form as you can. I know I have requested several books and have only finished a handful this year. Since this is an extremely busy month for me, I won't be able to read several books, but I will make a list of the ones I would like to finish. First up will be Princess Academy: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale. I loved Princess Academy, so I really want to read the sequel. For my second read, if I am able to finish the first, I am going to try Holding on to Zoe by George Ella Lyon. I was able to listen to her speak at the McConnell Conference a few years ago and I enjoy her picture books. The idea sounds interesting, like maybe the protagonist is imagining having a baby. If I finish these two, I will update later with more books.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Summer Wrap-up Read-a-Thon
I am going to try to do this challenge as well. It is hosted by Some Like it Paranormal and InBetween Writing and Reading. I signed up on Some Like It Paranormal's site. I will put Beautiful Creatures and Endlessly on my pile. I hope I can finish those two this week. I would love to read more books, but this will be an extremely busy week! I will be at several open houses for the schools, since school in our area starts on the 11th. Good luck to everyone on your piles!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Random Reads-August
I enjoyed doing this last month, so I thought I would try it again. This is a meme hosted by Sarah at imlovingbooks.com. You can choose to use Goodreads or create your own list or use your bookshelves. This month I created a list of books at the library I wanted to read. It was 16 books, then I went to random.org and my random number was 11 which matched Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson. This is a fairly new release, but I knew I would not get around to reading it for awhile, unless it was my random read. I am excited about this twist on Peter Pan and I think reading a book from Tinkerbell's perspective will be fun!
Friday, July 27, 2012
Reading Stack #18
I am currently reading two books for two reading challenges. I am a few chapters into Beautiful Creatures and a few chapters into Persuasion. However three books I really want to read came into the library today. I know I am going to start Endlessly, since it seems like I have been waiting forever for this book. I also checked out The Girl in the Clockwork Collar and I really want to see what happens next to Jasper, Finley, and all of the characters. Hopefully I can fit in some reading while watching the Olympics!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Body & Soul by Stacey Kade
This is the final book in the Ghost and the Goth trilogy. If you have not read either of the other two books, this will have spoilers for those.
Alona Dare is now trapped in the body of Lily Turner. She and Will are desperate to get her out of Lily and back in her role as Will's spirit guide. Alona decides to embrace her role as Lily by reinventing the two of them as Ally Turner. Alona wants to do what is best for Lily's family, so she tries really hard to be who they want, but after a while she just can't do it. While searching for a way to separate Alona and Lily, Will and Ally stumble upon a yellow pages paper that Will's dad held on to. On the paper is the address for Malachi the Magnificent. At Malachi's, the two run into Alona's best friend, Misty, who claims Alona is haunting her. The two find out it is actually Malachi's-real name Edmund's-sister Erin. Erin is the only ghost Edmund can see and the only thing Erin wants is to live again. Erin overpowers Alona and takes over Lily, leaving Alona barely clinging to her ghostly form. Will and Alona decide to try to save Lily from Erin, but it could be too late for Alona to survive.
I loved watching Will and Alona deal with their complicated feelings for each other. Alona really examines her life in this third book and comes to terms with her past. She learns the value of forgiveness and honesty and Will learns to finally stand up for himself. The two realize they could go on without each other, but that they do make each other's lives better.
Favorite Character: Alona/Ally. I enjoyed see her grow-up and actually getting to enjoy her second life. You can see why she was so mean and how she is working to change her personality.
Favorite Quote:"Severed Arm Dude and Spring Break Girl had joined the faux-Lincoln ghost, and they were now talking among themselves and gesturing in our direction." "Someone is pretending to be me, the spirit of me, to scare my best friend. How is that not a concern?" I enjoy her descriptions and Alona/Ally and Will's sarcasm.
I enjoyed this series and thought the ending was nicely done. I could see her starting a new series off of it, but I don't think that will happen. I give this 4 bars of chocolate and I will miss Will and Alona/Ally!
Alona Dare is now trapped in the body of Lily Turner. She and Will are desperate to get her out of Lily and back in her role as Will's spirit guide. Alona decides to embrace her role as Lily by reinventing the two of them as Ally Turner. Alona wants to do what is best for Lily's family, so she tries really hard to be who they want, but after a while she just can't do it. While searching for a way to separate Alona and Lily, Will and Ally stumble upon a yellow pages paper that Will's dad held on to. On the paper is the address for Malachi the Magnificent. At Malachi's, the two run into Alona's best friend, Misty, who claims Alona is haunting her. The two find out it is actually Malachi's-real name Edmund's-sister Erin. Erin is the only ghost Edmund can see and the only thing Erin wants is to live again. Erin overpowers Alona and takes over Lily, leaving Alona barely clinging to her ghostly form. Will and Alona decide to try to save Lily from Erin, but it could be too late for Alona to survive.
I loved watching Will and Alona deal with their complicated feelings for each other. Alona really examines her life in this third book and comes to terms with her past. She learns the value of forgiveness and honesty and Will learns to finally stand up for himself. The two realize they could go on without each other, but that they do make each other's lives better.
Favorite Character: Alona/Ally. I enjoyed see her grow-up and actually getting to enjoy her second life. You can see why she was so mean and how she is working to change her personality.
Favorite Quote:"Severed Arm Dude and Spring Break Girl had joined the faux-Lincoln ghost, and they were now talking among themselves and gesturing in our direction." "Someone is pretending to be me, the spirit of me, to scare my best friend. How is that not a concern?" I enjoy her descriptions and Alona/Ally and Will's sarcasm.
I enjoyed this series and thought the ending was nicely done. I could see her starting a new series off of it, but I don't think that will happen. I give this 4 bars of chocolate and I will miss Will and Alona/Ally!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross- July Random Read
I finished my July Random Reads hosted by Sarah at imlovingbooks.com! This month's book was The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross.
Finley knows that she is different. Most girls cannot fight grown men and win. She feels like she is two people in the same body. When she is threatened or afraid her darker side takes over, which is what happens with Lord Felix tries to attack her. She flees from his employment with him bloody on the floor and literally runs into Griffin King on his velocycle, a duke who also has special powers, which include manipulating emotions and talking to the dead. Griffin recognizes Finley as a kindred spirit and takes her to his house to recover. There Finley meets more people like including Emily who can talk to machines, Jasper who is extremely quick, and Sam who is very strong and part machine himself. It is not long before Griffin realizes Finley is connected to his group by the very things that made him and his friends special, an experiment Griffin's parents conducted before their murders. A special organism called organites or wee beasties as Emily calls them were discovered by Griffin's parents in the center of the Earth. Finley's father was part of Griffin's group along with another man who calls himself, The Machinist. The Machinist is causing machines to attack humans including Sam which lead to him becoming part machine. Griffin and his friends must stop the Machinist before it is too late, the fate of the British monarchy rests in their hands.
Along with the action in this story is two love triangles; one between Emily, Sam, and Jasper, and one between Finley, Griffin, and another character named Jack Dandy. Jack is a criminal boss with possibly a good heart. The romances are actually not cliched and are believable.
I loved the action in this series and I loved that Finley can physically defend herself. She is an extremely strong heroine, but she still has emotions. The fight scenes were great and the romance is very sweet and does not overpower the rest of the story. I loved the Victorian England setting and I really enjoy steampunk stories.
Favorite Character: I loved them all, but Finley is my favorite. She is strong and compassionate. She thinks of others, but also will defend herself when the occasion arises.
Favorite Quote: "Committing my magnificence to mem'ry, are you ducks?" "I'll play the game, Finley Jayne, because I think you are worth it, but I won't be trifled with. Do you understand? Someday you're going to have to choose." Both quotes are by Jack, who was an interesting secondary character.
I loved this book and it was a complete surprise. I put it on my list because of the pretty cover, but the story was great. I liked the action and romance and I have already checked out the second in the series. 5 bars of chocolate for sure!
Finley knows that she is different. Most girls cannot fight grown men and win. She feels like she is two people in the same body. When she is threatened or afraid her darker side takes over, which is what happens with Lord Felix tries to attack her. She flees from his employment with him bloody on the floor and literally runs into Griffin King on his velocycle, a duke who also has special powers, which include manipulating emotions and talking to the dead. Griffin recognizes Finley as a kindred spirit and takes her to his house to recover. There Finley meets more people like including Emily who can talk to machines, Jasper who is extremely quick, and Sam who is very strong and part machine himself. It is not long before Griffin realizes Finley is connected to his group by the very things that made him and his friends special, an experiment Griffin's parents conducted before their murders. A special organism called organites or wee beasties as Emily calls them were discovered by Griffin's parents in the center of the Earth. Finley's father was part of Griffin's group along with another man who calls himself, The Machinist. The Machinist is causing machines to attack humans including Sam which lead to him becoming part machine. Griffin and his friends must stop the Machinist before it is too late, the fate of the British monarchy rests in their hands.
Along with the action in this story is two love triangles; one between Emily, Sam, and Jasper, and one between Finley, Griffin, and another character named Jack Dandy. Jack is a criminal boss with possibly a good heart. The romances are actually not cliched and are believable.
I loved the action in this series and I loved that Finley can physically defend herself. She is an extremely strong heroine, but she still has emotions. The fight scenes were great and the romance is very sweet and does not overpower the rest of the story. I loved the Victorian England setting and I really enjoy steampunk stories.
Favorite Character: I loved them all, but Finley is my favorite. She is strong and compassionate. She thinks of others, but also will defend herself when the occasion arises.
Favorite Quote: "Committing my magnificence to mem'ry, are you ducks?" "I'll play the game, Finley Jayne, because I think you are worth it, but I won't be trifled with. Do you understand? Someday you're going to have to choose." Both quotes are by Jack, who was an interesting secondary character.
I loved this book and it was a complete surprise. I put it on my list because of the pretty cover, but the story was great. I liked the action and romance and I have already checked out the second in the series. 5 bars of chocolate for sure!
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