Giveaway Link: INNOCENT IN DEATH BY J. D. ROBB - A GIVEAWAY

Bookin' With Bingo is hosting a giveaway for Innocent in Death by J.D. Robb. 

For more information and to enter click HERE.

Passages to the Past: ARC Giveaway: The Daughter of Siena by Marina Fio...

Passages to the Past: ARC Giveaway: The Daughter of Siena by Marina Fio...: "Thanks to Three Rivers Press Passages to the Past has an extra copy advanced reading copy of The Daughter of Siena by Marina Fiorato

Book Review: Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell

Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 288
Acquired: April 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: Book Battle
Series: No

Imagine being a teenager, looking forward to summer vacation and soccer camp. Now how would you feel if you found out that this summer was going to be much different. This year you will be going to a family frontier camp. A camp that takes you back to 1890, and forces you to live that way all summer. The only saving grace is the cute boy, Caleb, that is staying in a cabin nearby.

Gen is furious at her parents for dragging her to frontier camp this summer. She has to weed corn, milk cows, and wash her clothes by hand. And worst of all she is missing her friends and soccer camp. But all is not a total lost as she has managed to sneak a cell phone in and sends regular text updates to her friends. All this backfires one day when her texts end up on her friend's blog for the whole world to read.

A quick and entertaining read that enjoyed. Reading about the antics of the various teenagers and children that are attending the frontier camp are fun and accurately show how I would have handled being cut off from civilization for two and a half months. I was able to appreciate all the main characters, even the ones I didn't like, and the background characters were developed to just the right level to contribute what they needed to the story. However, the style and conflicts were sometimes a bit predictable.

3/5

Book Review: The Branding by Micaela Wendell

The Branding by Micaela Wendell

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 149
Acquired: March 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: ERC
Series: No

A young elf girl, Morwen, disobeys the rules and explores the forest around her village. Now, the forest is forbidden because elves of all ages have been disappearing in it. Morwen's wandering brings a little good and quite a bit of bad. The good thing is that she meets a human ranger that begins to teach her how to become a warrior (something that is strictly forbidden for females to learn). The bad thing is that her little sister follows her and disappears.

Morwen decides to rescue her sister and ends up under a curse, the slave of a truly evil being. She only has a short time to find a way to remove the curse before it takes over her very soul.

The action in the story is very quick and erratic. It tends to jump from one scene to another with very little build up. While this keeps the story exciting, it also makes it hard to follow one leap to the next, and to develop the characters. The characters do change and grow, but it occurs in a very jarring way. Relationships develop and fall apart without any reason leading up to it.

2/5

Book Review: Winter's End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat

Winter's End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 415
Acquired: April 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: Book Battle
Series: No

Several years ago there was a political coup and the Phalangist took over. A group of children were sent off to incredibly strict boarding school so the government could keep an eye on them. Four of these children have managed to escape their boarding schools and are making a run to join the new revolution to overthrow the Phalange.

These four children each have their own role to play as they find out more of their past, their parents, and why they have been locked up at school for so long. A very interesting look at the world, but the characters were a little stagnant. They did adapt and learn new things, but it always seemed to be with the same attitude.

3/5

Book Review: Nomansland by Lesley Hauge

Nomansland by Lesley Hauge

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 243
Acquired: April 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: Book Battle
Series: No

The year is sometime in the future. The place is Foundland, an island somewhere north. There has been some kind of apocolypse, but either no one knows, or no one is telling, what exactly happened. Foundland is populated by the select few. The females that have not mutated. They are taught to depend on no one but their community. They hunt, farm, and have special trackers to watch and chase off the men that may find their shores.

While I found the story interesting, there was a little too much mystery about the circumstances leading up to the community on Foundland. As the young women the story focuses on, Liang and Keller, find a house full of artifacts from the time before (the apocolypse). They are amazed to see photos and make-up and start visiting more and more often, which is strictly forbidden.

As the girls try to avoid being caught sneaking away, committee members are looking for the very thing the girls already found. An interesting look into a controlled community, but not enough detail or follow through to really catch my interest.

3/5

Book Review: North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 384
Acquired: April 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: Book Battle
Series: No

At first glance Terra seems to have it all. She's tall, blonde, in perfect shape. But if you look a little closer as she turns her head, you can't help but notice the large port-wine stain on her face. What you won't notice is her family, and how it seems to be falling apart around her.

North of Beautiful is the story of Terra and her quest to find herself. Her beauty map is flawed, but she is unsure of how to fix it. Then she meets Jacob, a Goth boy with problems of his own. They find themselves navigating through their problems together as the map of their lives comes together.

The story is told beautifully. The author captures so many of the things I remember going through as a teenager, and while everything doesn't always work out in the end (much like real life), the characters find a way to discover who they really are and what is most important to them.

5/5

In My Mailbox (2)

Ok, so all my books this week came from the library.  I've had to break down and stop buying so many books and save some money.  So here we go!

Storm Thief by Chris Wooding
She's So Money by Cherry Cheva
Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson
North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
Winter's End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat
Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell
Nomansland by Lesley Hauge

A couple of these I managed to read already.  So far they have been fantastic!

Book Review: Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson

Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson

Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 231
Acquired: April 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: Book Battle
Series: No

Maddie and Joshua were best friends. They understood each other, they were both PK - Preacher's Kids. But then one day Maddie's family moves and they grow apart. Five years later she returns, but she is not the same person. Maddie, now Madeline, has left the church and has quite a reputation as a bad girl. Joshua is determined to bring her back into the church, but finds that Madeline is opening his eyes and make him think about his beliefs.

The story revolves around Josh trying to figure out what happened to Madeline in the five years she was gone that could change her so much. She hates her father and the church, but she won't say why. As Josh tries to get Madeline to open up to him, he finds her opening his mind. Forcing him to think about his beliefs instead of blindly doing what he has been taught his whole life. The two grow close and each of them learns so much more about themselves in the process.

4/5

She's So Money by Cherry Cheva

She's So Money by Cherry Cheva

Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 304
Acquired: April 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: Book Battle
Series: No

Maya is your typical high school nerd. She toes the line, does her homework, and helps out at her family's restaurant after school. Then the unthinkable happens. She makes a majorly bad judgement call and needs to come up with some major cash fast or her family could lose everything. She teams up with an unlikely partner, Camden, the cute (but stupid) popular boy of the school. Together they hatch a scheme that is supposed to help Maya solve her problem...but things never turn out the way you expect them to.

Maya is a great main character. She has her flaws but does her best to hide or make up for them. She grows up a lot in the story and is forced to realize that she can't solve everything herself. Camden is an alright main guy for the story. He is a very sterotypcial popular guy. He's rich, gets everything he wants, and like to throw money at problems.

I think the book needed one of two things. A few less pages - there were times it seemed as if I was reading the same chapter over again - or more twists and turns. More twists and turns would have given the author a chance to develop some of the secondary characters a bit more. Because I didn't feel as if I knew any of them very well the ending seemed to come out of nowhere. Overall, well worth the read though.

4/5

Read A Thon Hour 10

As you can see, I'm not going to be updating every hour, but only as things worth talking about happen.  I just finished up She's So Money by Cherry Cheva.  A cute young adult story - review will be up in a few minutes.  Almost half way done and I still have TONS of books that are waiting for me.

Read A Thon Update

So I finished Storm Thief (review already posted) and now I'm into She's So Money by Cherry Cheva.  I had to take a quick break to run to the grocery store or there would be no dinner tonight!

There are lots of fantastic things going on this year!

Book Review: Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 310
Acquired: April 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: Book Battle
Series: No

Rail and Moa are thieves in the only city of Orokos (and by only I mean only - there is nothing else). While on a mission they discover a piece of ancient technology and they don't turn it in to their patron. This is all the start of a very grand adventure as Rail and Moa run from the secret police, monsters knows as Revenants, and the thugs sent by their thieve's patron.

Along the way the meet a very interesting "person". A golem named Vago that has quite an interesting past,of only he could remember what it was. Together the three flee across the city looking for a new and better life.

This was a fantastic story. The characters are fantastic and come to life on the pages. Their relationship is unique and wonderful to read about. They are all bound together by a fate that is greater than any one of them.

5/5

Book Review: High Heat by Carl Deuker

High Heat by Carl Deuker

Genre: Young Adult, Baseball
Pages: 352
Acquired: April 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: Book Battle
Series: No

Shane Hunter lives a privileged life. He has a great house, a great family, and goes to a great school. On top of that he is the best closing pitcher for baseball anyone has seen in high school in a long time. But that all changes when the police show up to arrest his father.

Shane's life changes quickly and dramatically. He resents his new life and starts to fall into bad habits with bad people. But there is still hope for Shane. He has a strong group of people trying to help him, he just needs to learn to let them.

Baseball plays a very major role in the story and I really don't know much about it. That may have been one of the reasons I did not rate this as highly as I may have. Also, there were times Shane came across a bit wrong to me. Not incorrect wrong, but there was just something off in the way he behaved that didn't quite flow with the story.

Othewise, this was a great story of dealing with life.

3/5

Book Review: By the Time You Read This I'll be Dead by Julie Anne Peters

By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters


Genre: Young Adult Lit
Pages: 200
Acquired: April 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: Book Battle
Series: No

Daelyn feels like a broken person. Her latest failure has left her in a confining neck brace and unable to speak. She's under constant watch by her parents and school, but she is determined that next time she won't fail. Next time she will succeed in killing herself.

Santana is a young man that notices Daelyn as she waits for her ride home after school one day. He decides she needs a friend, and as much as she resists, he continues to try and get her to open up.

The story follows Daelyn as she plans her next attempt. We get to see inside her mind to whatmotivates her and what may hold her back. This may sound grim and depressing, but at the same time it is also very mind opening. We see how things we don't even think about can deeply affect the lives of others. The story was very real and the ending is very unexpected. I can't say how without giving too much away.

5/5

Read-A-Thon Hour 4

Will be catching up on reviews this hour.  I have two that I should have done earlier this week, and one for the book I just finished.

Read a thon Hour 3

Still working my way through Storm Thief.  Breakfast was great, but a little distracting having to do dishes and all.  I took some time to read through some blogs I was behind on.

There is an Hour Three mimi-challenge going on.  Click HERE to see what it is.

Readathon Hour 2

Well, I slept in a little bit, but it's Saturday morning here and it felt really good.  So I'm starting an hour into the read-a-thon.  I'll be jumping right into Storm Thief by Chris Wooding while I eat breakfast.

2011 Book Battle Long List

After many nominations, the 2011 Book Battle for the Best Overlooked Book has announced its long list.  Round 1 judges have already begun reading and 16 lucky titles will move on to the ultimate show down in round two.  The long list is definitely long....80 books.  So I'm not going to copy all the titles here.  If you are interesting is seeing the list head on over to The Shady Glade and check it out.

Book Review: Bloodlight Chronicles: Reconciliation by Steve Stanton

The Bloodlight Chronicles: Reconciliation by Steve Stanton

Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 240
Acquired: March 2011
Book of Your Shelf? No
Why I have it: NetGalley Review
Series: ???

I’m not sure where to start with this one – probably because I was very lost at the beginning. I thought that perhaps I had picked up a second in a series, but I could find no reference to a first book anywhere. The book in a nutshell is vampires meet cyperspace, but this isn’t clear at first.

The Eternals are somehow “chosen” to become immortal in a non-aging sense. People can link to cyberspace by hooking up with a cord coming out of their head which seems to be connected to microchips they have had implanted in their brain. Ok – so far I’m following, but then come the strange references to levels and ranks in the cyberworld with no real explanation of what they mean.

Now, if you take the Eternals and the cyberworld somewhat out of the equation, the realtionships between the people are fascinating. The story revolves around a father, mother, and son. The parents are both Eternals and are trying to find a way to “infect” their son as well. They travel to the ends of the known universe (literally) to try and find this virus. However, beyond this the relationship was rather odd. Perhaps as a result of being so virtual based, the family’s responses to each other seemed overly strained and impersonal.

2/5

In My Mailbox (1)

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted and created by Kristie at The Story Siren. This is my first week participating and I have just a few to share.

 By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters for my Nook
Lady of Bolton Hill, The  by Elizabeth Camden - LTER
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by John Krakauer
Rooms: A Novel by James L Rubart - netgalley

Book Review: Tragic Magic by Laura Childs

Tragic Magic (A Scrapbooking Mystery) by Laura Childs

Genre: Mystery
Pages: 280
Acquired: March 2010
Book of Your Shelf? Yes
Why I have it:
Series: Scrapbooking Mysteries (7)

Carmela and her friend Ava have been contracted to decorate Medusa Manor for a haunted house by their friend Melody. When they arrive a the house for the first time to meet Melody, they find her in a gruesome and unexpected way. They find her murdered. Carmela finds herself investigating a crime where some of her friends seem to be suspects.

I loved the setting of New Orleans and the idea of setting up a haunted house. Childs brings the city to life in many ways, from the people to the streets to the celebrations. Carmela is avery believable character that quickly grew to like...almost a little too much. She almost seemed a little too perfect at times. The mystery kept me guessing up until the very end, which is something that really makes a mystery for me.

3.5/5