Review-a-Thon

The lovely bloggers at Book Monsters have decided to do a review-a-thon. Here is an exerpt from the post that went out today:

"With our last review-a-thon being so successful (both with participants and reviews done), Kristen and I have been dying to have another. And with her having a four day weekend, we thought PERFECT!

Again, we have oodles and oodles of books that need to be reviewed. And with the holidays around the corner, it is now or never with our backlog. We are however doing things a little differently this time due to both the shortish notice and time frame...."

Review-a-Thon

To put it simply, I NEED this. I have been finding that it helps me to take notes as I read so that I can remember certain things for the reviews that I post. The last couple of months, I have been on the reading train that I do not pause to write a review of what I am reading. That was one of the whole points behind doing this blog. I know that I will not be reading that much in November (NANOWRIMO) so I want to get as many reviews up as possible. I will be happy if I get 5-7 reviews done this weekend as I am about 10 behind. Also, I want to finish Divergent by Veronica Roth. If you have not already read this book please do yourself a favor and do it as soon as possible.

Waiting on Wednesday (6) Insurgent- Veronica Roth

Waiting on Wednesday (6)-
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that I’m eagerly anticipating.

Insurgent- Veronica Roth

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature. (Good Reads)

May 28th 2012 by HarperCollins

I am reading Divergent by Veronica Roth right now and I love it so far. I know this book isn’t coming out for a very long time, but I will be waiting.

In My Mailbox October 2, 2011

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi

These are all books that I got from my library.

Anna Dressed in Blood- Kendare Black

13 reasons Why- Jay Asher

Juliet Immportal- Stacey Jay

Night World Number 1: Secret vampire ; Daughters of darkness ; Spellbinder -L.J. Smith

two copies of The Night Circus- Erin Morgenstern
I reserved one from the library (that I will have for a week) and then my brother surprised me and gave me his own copy because he is currently obsessed with his Kindle and downloaded it on that.


Needless to say I have been a very busy girl reserving books at the library. I feel like I am playing a game with my local library because I will be on a very long car trip at the end of October so I am currently in the process of foguring out what books I need to reserve now and which ones I need to return only to reserve again to take them for my trip. That sounds bad. Does anyone else do this? Now we just have to see if I can get to most of them.

IMM

In My Mailbox

I have not done an In My Mailbox posting in forever (I have not had a lot of time for blogging as of late) but that needs to change. In My Mail Box is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.
Books all from the library:

We'll Always Have Summer- Jenny Han
Wither- Lauren De Stefano
Rules of Attraction- Simone Elkeles
Waterfall- Lisa Tawn Bergren
The Magnolia League- Katie Crouch

I was so excited to stumble upon Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren. I first discovered this book on a giveaway for Kristi's blog (The Story Siren) and I was really interested in this series.

I put We'll Always Have Summer on reserve about a month and a half ago and had to wait for about 10 people to get to it. I really wanted to finish this series in the summer, but I am reading it now. I already know it would have been so much better at the early to mid part of summer.

I have hears so many good things about Simone Elkeles's Attraction series. I currently have the first two checked out and really want to get to them soon.

Wither- I am so behind on my dystopian books...

The Magnolia League looks good to me, but I have heard that the reviews for it are not that great. We'll see...

Jenny Han....You Play Me Like a Fiddle

I'm looking to see if anyone out there has read or is reading Jenny Han's summer series...I don't think I have ever been pushed in so many different directions while reading. It isn't anything overly deep, but she just has a certain way of making the reader rock and roll.

Review to follow...

And yes, she does deserve this very random blog post. Just wow.

September To Be Read

TBR Pile for September

I didn?t really read much for the month of August because I was busy with the teaching jobs search. That being said, I am teaching now and that is what has taken up a lot of my time recently. I am lucky that the district that I currently work for practices SSR (Silent Structured Reading) everyday. This has helped me tremendously in the reading department and it really does help the students too. It is so fascinating to see what the students are reading. What do you guys think of the new phenomenon of having everyone in the school stop and read? I have 9th graders in my room at the time that occurs and it seems like 90 percent really enjoy this time. In any case, it is really interesting to see what books the students are carrying around and what they are into.

So, without further ado, here is my TBR pile for September. I failed royally at my
August to be read pile, so a lot of the books that were on my August list will be making a return onto the list for September.

Currently Reading: We'll Always Have Summer-Jenny Han

Nevermore- Kelly Creagh

Die For Me- Amy Plum

If I Stay- Gayle Forman

Perfect Chemistry- Simone Elkeles

Yep, that's it. Let's not forget I am full time teaching?

August....So Long!

I am so sorry for the lack of updates to the blog. I wish I could say that I have been traveling around Europe or something, but I have mainly been devoteing a lot of my time to job searching. I figure since I am an education major and school starts uh...very soon that I should really devote a lot of my time towards that.

Also, I read a post on zenleaf.blogspot.com (the blog is gone) that really made book blogging and reality hit home for me. She had a very long post about how she became a well known book blogger and spent a ton of time doing it and let her life kind of get out of control because of it. It was definitely a wake up call to me as a newbie book blogger. It made me think of how I spent my summer in both positive and negative ways...

That being said, I also have not been reading a lot lately. That TBR list that I made for August...yeah, I didn't get through much of it. At all. But I am back and on the reading kick.

Kiersten Writes: So, This Happened:

Kiersten Writes: So, This Happened:: "Variety broke the news that Ray Kay is attached to direct the Paranormalcy movie. Ray Kay is a music video director who works with really ..."

Vampire Diaries Season 3

Who's excited yet?

Kiersten White's Paranormalcy Made Into a Movie? Heck Yes!

"P-p-p-Paranormalcy!

Justin Bieber and Lady GaGa fans, rejoice! The guy who directed the Baby and Poker Face music videos will be making his feature film debut with Paranormalcy!

Director Ray Kay has signed on to direct the supernatural thriller based on Kiertsen White's book about "a teen who works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency and discovers she may be at the center of a dark prophecy predicting the destruction of all paranormal creatures."

We'll be VERY curious to see how Ray Kay does with a full length film! His music videos for Baby and Poker Face have 602.9 million and 97.2 million views on YouTube respectively…if he can attract audiences like that to go see his movie, he'll be alllllllllll set!

Will U go check out the music video director's feature film debut??"

Thanks from Perez Hilton

Now if we can please just have Anna and the French Kiss also made into a movie my life will be made...err for the next hour or so. Come on, those two always go together with everything it seems like...

To Read List for August

I have seen a lot of bloggers starting to post what they are planning to read for the last couple of months and I decided that I wanted to follow suit. I realize that we are almost halfway through August, but I feel like this will be a good way for me to organize and prioritize what I want to read during this month. This will also hold me accountable and finally, mention more book titles that I want to get to. I am going to try to keep this list realistic, but I know that I will be adding way more books than I will get to.

Right now I am reading It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

I hope to get my hands on a copy of We'll Always Have Summer and read it while it is still summer...

Hereafter- Tara Hudson
Nevermore- Kelly Creagh
Divergent- Veronica Roth
Die For Me- Amy Plum
Delirium- Lauren Oliver
If I Stay- Gayle Forman

I also want to get to Sarra Manning's kiss series, but I don't thikn that will be happening for August. I will be lucky if I finish three more books this month.
French Kiss
Kiss and Make Up
Sealed With a Kiss

Waiting on Wednesday (6) Shatter Me- Tahereh Mafi

Waiting on Wednesday (5)- Shatter Me- Tahereh Mafi
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that I’m eagerly anticipating.


I want to do this a little differently since there are so many books that I seem to be waiting on. I want to highlight a book that is very close to coming out (next two months) and a little further out (3 months and beyond). If I get in the mood I might include even more than two books…

“Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old-girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.” (Good Reads)

November 15, 2011 HarperTeen

I have been hearing many good things about this book from bloggers who attended the BEA and were able to get their hands on an ARC of this.I’m not sure about the cover. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the covers that are coming out with a girl wearing a fancy dress, but with the premise of this book I am not sure this needs to be one. The pose that the model is doing is also a little awkward. To be honest I had planned out a story that had people with superpowers much like this one has, but then the t.v. show Hero’s came along…it’s really hard to capture the action that takes place when you have superpowers involved with the characters. I might have to revisit those notes someday…

Review The Summer I Turned Pretty- Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty –Jenny Han

“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 terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.” ( Good Reads)

I have to start off by saying that I absolutely adored this book. This is a series that never would have touched. I guess I have to thank the ladies at ieatwords for making me interesting in reading this book. This is a book that I would never have picked up simply because I used to feel like the summer romance books were a dime a dozen. There are so many of them out there, and lets face it, I need more lead up and relationship time for a genuine romance to start up between my couple before the summer is over and the school year begins again. And I don’t want an ending where the summer obviously comes to a close and the couple decides that it was better to have love and lost than to never have loved at all…yeah, garbage. We also don’t want one of the people to randomly move to attend high school with the other person. Can we say creeper?

But this book is different because Jenny Han gets around that (at least for me) because Isabel (Belly), the female protagonist goes to the same beach house (Cousins) to stay with her mother’s best friend. The mother’s best friend, Susannah happens to have two sons named Conrad and Jeremiah. Right from the start of the novel it is made clear that Susannah wants Belly to fall in love and marry one of her sons. I am such a sucker for crap like that.

The only thing that got a little confusing was how the book was laid out. The chapters go back and forth between the actual summer and past summers from when she was younger. So, if you have to walk away for the book for any amount of time it’s difficult to tell if it is the present summer that she is recalling a memory from. The reason for this is because Belly does have these little annoying qualities (and thank God) that she is only starting to grow up from. For one, she is really insecure and has an awkward time because of how she is changing and maturing. Also, she has to fight the urge to not stick her tongue out at the boys or tattle on them. She was kept apart from when her brother, Steve, would hang out with Conrad and Jeremiah so where does she belong now? These little flashbacks do help get background information about the characters personalities and also help explain why summer is such a special time.

This book is the ultimate summer time book. It does encompass what a lot of people think about the summer months even if you don’t have a fancy beach house to spend the summer at. I think that a lot of people will be able to relate towards this book at the same time. It helps that Belly is a great character. Trust me, this isn’t just a book that deals with who some girl is going to date. It’s much more than that. Who didn’t have that that awkward time when you invited a friend with you on vacation and you just…wish you didn’t? Only me? Right. Anyway, this book is about a lot more than who will Belly chose to be with. I even get the feeling that she won’t be with either one by the end of the third book, but who knows. I loved Conrad and Jeremiah for different reasons and I also loved Cam. I love how it even captures those bittersweet feelings of things coming to an end towards the end of the novel.

I checked this book out from the library and cannot wait to get my hands on the next two because I want to read while were still in the summer months. Get your hands on a copy of this book now!

IMM (6)

This in my mailbox is a little late this week because I was out of town for the weekend. IMM is hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren. This is a weekly meme that I really enjoy because it highlights a lot of books that I am interested in reading, but don’t have the time to read and/or write a review for.

From hometown library:
Everafter- Tara Hudson

I have been waiting to get my hands on this book and my library in WI does not have it, so I got it while in MN while I was in town visiting my family. Yep, I am sneaky like that.

Purchased:

The Summer I Turned Pretty-Jenny Han

It’s Not Summer Without You-Jenny Han

I have already read The Summer I Turned Pretty and loved it, so I will be purchasing this entire series. I am waiting for the last one to come out in paperback so that my set matches. I am anal like that.

Anna and the French Kiss-Stephanie Perkins

I have been waiting for this book to come out in paperback forever and now I have it. I am actually thinking about buying a second copy because I know that this one will probably get too much lovin.

The Vampire Diaries: Stephan’s Diary #3 Craving –L.J. Smith
I don’t think that this is L.J. Smith, but it is Vampire Diaries.

Waiting on Wednesday-The Name of the Star

Waiting on Wednesday (4)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that I’m eagerly anticipating.

The Name of the Star- Maureen Johnson
“The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.” Taken from Good Reads

Maureen Johnson-Check

Jack the Ripper- Check

London-I’m In.

Out September 20th 2011

IMM (5)

IMM (5)

This in my mailbox is a little late this week because I was out of town for the weekend. IMM is hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren. This is a weekly meme that I really enjoy because it highlights a lot of books that I am interested in reading, but don’t have the time to read and/or write a review for.

This week from childhood library:

Imaginary Girls-Nova Ren Suma
Falling Under- Gwen Hayes

From new library:
Divergent- Veronica Roth
The Goddess Test-Aimee Carter

I also picked up a couple of audio books at the library because I have never used them and I think that with all the driving I do that is a little absurd. In fact, I am a little angry at myself for never checking any audio books back when I was in college and had to drive around everywhere…

Anyway, I picked up:
Twilight-Stephanie Meyer
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim-David Sedaris
Eat, Pray, Love- Elizabeth Gilbert

I am about half way through the audio version of Twilight and will probably finish it on my drive home this weekend.
This week was a little interesting because I am back in my hometown for hospital check-ups and wedding planning. I put a couple of books on reserve at my old childhood library because I can get them faster there. Apparently not as many people want to read YA Lit there since the town is about the same size is where I live now…

Borrowed from my brother because I am a Disney freak:
Brainstorm- Don Hahn
Walt Disney- Bob Thomas
Purchased:
The Witching Hour- Anne Rice

I know that I will be in the mood to read this come September/October and there is no way I can read the whole thing in the time that the library would allow me to have it for. I could not find any of the other two copies I own so I went to a used book store and bought another to bring back with me.

New Pictures for The Hunger Games Movie

Nanowrimo's Chris Steps Down

Here's the email I just received.

"Dear Esteemed Writer,

Since founding NaNoWriMo back in 1999, I've had the pleasure of sending a lot of emails to participants. I've written pep talks, newsletters, exhortations, thank-you notes, apologies, and donation appeals. And, occasionally, I've threatened you with the release of face-eating guilt monkeys should your writerly output not increase.

Today, I'm sending you an email I've never written to participants before. I'm writing to let you know that this January, after competing in NaNoWriMo XIII, I will be stepping down as OLL's Executive Director. I am going to be taking a page out of one of my pep talks and heading off on the big, fun, scary adventure of being a full-time writer.

Eeeee.

Yep.

When NaNoWriMo began as a bunch of overcaffeinated yahoos, I never dreamed it would grow into a nonprofit with an office, a year-round staff of eight, Municipal Liaison-run chapters in hundreds of towns, and classroom programs taught in almost 2,000 schools.

Every day I come to work feeling lucky to be a part of it all, and so much of that has to do with you. It's no secret that OLL has the best participants in the world—a wildly fun, brave, supportive, and hilarious group. Through NaNoWriMo, Script Frenzy, and the Young Writers Program, I've met so many people who have completely changed my life. We've laughed together. We've cried together. And several times a year, we've threatened each other with face-eating monkeys. Just to show how much we care.

I've loved every minute of it, and when I step down as Executive Director, I want to continue on as a participant. I'll also be taking on the role of OLL Board Member Emeritus, which is a fancy way of saying that I get to offer input and advice without actually having to do any work.

And when I head off to write in January, I'm really hoping you'll come with me. I'll need you to help me maintain my sanity as I sit in front of my computer all day long, so please stay in touch.

And now? Now we have some work to do, because another autumn of creative mayhem is almost upon us. Come December, we'll hire a new Executive Director, and the staff and I will train this person to within an inch of his or her life. There will be wind sprints. There will be broadsword instruction. There will be espresso-based endurance tests.

They will be judged worthy.

On January 20th, I will head off with you to my writing bunker, and NaNo, the Frenzy, and YWP will continue under the same Program Directors who have been running them with passion and vision for years. Our beloved Municipal Liaisons will keep organizing raucous get-togethers to boost our word counts and writerly mojo in April and November.

OLL's mission will deepen. The programs will grow and improve. The inspiration engine we've all built together will help kids and adults discover their creative potential for decades to come. It's going to be good.

Thank you for continuing to be such a central part of this organization, and for being an important part of my life these last 12 years.

With a few monkeys left in me yet,

Chris
Executive Director
The Office of Letters and Light"

I really do hope that they find the right person to fit his shoes. He has done so much for writers everywhere. There are so many authors that are out there today (and published) because of what he started.

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

Beautiful Chaos- Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that I’m eagerly anticipating.

“Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena's Claiming. Even Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals is affected - and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What - or who - will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?

For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He's being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn't by Lena - and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself - forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn't know why, and most days he's too afraid to ask.

Sometimes there isn't just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there's no going back. And this time there won't be a happy ending.” (Good Reads)

I have been waiting for this book since I finished book Beautiful Darkness. Here’s hoping October 18 rolls around soon…

Anyway, what are you waiting on?

Review Starcrossed- Josephine Angelini

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

“How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.”(Good Reads)

I want to say right from the start that I really enjoyed this book. I checked this out from my local library, (which is where I get most of my books from) but will be buying a copy of my own once it comes out in paperback. For some reason I prefer paperback. Let me also say that I was hooked on this book from page 3.

I have not a single review of this book because I do not want it to interfere with my own opinions. I do want to take a quick moment to say that I know people will find major comparisons to The Twilight Series here, and that is fine. There are some major points for comparisons such as: having special powers, girl who lives only with her dad, fast cars, being rich, a group of family members that arrive to town and have many students at the high school, and all of them living in a big house together. Obviously you can’t avoid the comparisons and any reader who has read Meyer’s series will take note of these. Did I care? Nope. I loved that series and I love this series.

Anyway, this book is mainly told from the point-of-view of Helen Hamilton. She lives in Nantucket and attends the high school where she meets the 5 new Delos kids. Things start to get out of control when Helen finds that she literally wants to kill them....Mythology plays a very large role in this book, and Josephine obviously did her research. It is not hard to keep track of how the characters relate to their mythology counterpart. I believe that Angelini does such a great job with world building and characters. There are so many great characters in this book! I did feel a little bad for Noel since all she does is cook for…well, read it and see what I mean. Apparently she likes it, though. These are the kind of characters where you wish that they were yours to play around with. Does anyone know what I am talking about? I found myself constantly flipping forward in the book to get to the romantic bits and rereading parts that I really liked. In short, I couldn’t get through it fast enough.

My two/three only complaints about this book were the big, descriptive paragraphs at the beginning of the book. Do not get bogged down with this because this only occurs for the first 30 pages or so. Also, there are two to three times where the point-of-view randomly switches during the book to either Lucas’s or Creon’s. I just found this weird since the whole thing is basically from Helen’s standpoint. There are a couple of scenes that are described in such a weird way at first that the reader (at least me) was wondering what was going on. (Flying/Other Dimensions etc) One final thing is that I noticed three or four really obvious errors in the book that didn't get fixed in the editing process. Most of these were where there was an extra word in the sentence that didn't belong in the sentence at all. I know that editing a book is hard work and there are bound to be mistakes, but these were so obvious that it immediately pulled me out of the story. Maybe hardcover first editions always have big editing mistakes that get fixed for the paperback?

This is a book that I definitely recommend and will be purchasing myself once it comes out in paperback. I will be continuing on with this series and can’t wait to get my hands on Dreamless.

IMM (4)

This in my mailbox is a little late this week because I was out of town for the weekend. IMM is hosted by Kristi at Story Siren. This is a weekly meme that I really enjoy because it highlights a lot of books that I am interested in reading, but don’t have the time to read and/or write a review for.

This week I got: Delirium-Lauren Oliver
Conspiracies-Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill
The Pace- Shelena Shorts
Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour-Morgan Matson

All of these books were checked out from the library. My library is really great for reserving books and delivering them from the other branches. I'm so excited for Delirium and Amy and Roger's Epic Detour.

Alternate Ending for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?

http://www.pinkisthenewblog.com/2011/07/j-k-rowling-reportedly-wrote-an-alternate-ending-for-harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows/

Waiting on Wednesday

Lola and the Boy Next Door- Stephanie Perkins
Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

“You’re going to fall in love with Lola and the Boy Next Door. Madly in love! Every page sparkles.”
— Sarah Mlynowski, author of Bras & Brookmsticks and Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have)

September 29, 2011

It seems like everyone and their dog in the blogging world already has their hands on this book. It's ok. I can wait. Then I won't have to wait as long to read the third, right? I will be putting up my review of Anna and the French Kiss even though there are already so many out there. That was a book that I would have never picked up if not for starting to read blogs again. More on that book next week.


A Million Suns- Beth Revis

It’s been three months since Elder unplugged Amy, tearing her from her family and the life she always knew. Now, Eldest is dead and Orion awaits judgment for his murder as a frozen. Elder is finally free to enact his vision for the ship’s population—no more Phydus, no more lies. But when Elder learns harrowing news about the ship, he and Amy are sent on a race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, all the while dealing with the romance that’s growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart. Beth Revis wows us again with a brilliantly crafted mystery filled with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all boils down to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship. (Good Reads)

Coming January 10, 2012

I read Across the Universe a little while back, and I am planning to do a book review on this one soon. This is a book that was hyped up a lot, but I don't find a lot of reviews of it. It's sad, I always see it on the shelf at my local libraries too...

The Hunger Games Movie Poster

So Cool! If you can find one of the interactive ones go for it. It is really cool to watch the fire get shot and burn through to reveal the bird. I would have put the video poster on my blog, but I have a feeling it will crash...

I am working on my reviews right now for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire and will have them posted sometime next week.

Top Ten Tuesday (1)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. I will not be participating in every Top Ten Tuesday, but I was really interested in this list. I really struggled with creating this list. When I say I really struggled, I mean to say that I spent maybe 3-5 hours of thinking about what to put on this list. I realized that I was thinking about it in many ways. Are these books that teenagers should read now, books that helped me when I was a teenager, books that are so good that I still read/want to become a writer etc. The list ended up looking something like this:

Any William Shakespeare

To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee

The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger

Harry Potter Series- J.K. Rowling

The Giver- Lois Lowry

History Textbook? World/European/U.S.

Graphic Novel –Perhaps Maus?

The Hunger Games Series- Suzanne Collins

Sloppy Firsts- Megan McCafferty

13 Reasons Why- Jay Asher

There's no way I would be able to number them. Quite eclectic I know. I started looking at the lists of other bloggers who had already updated and I found one that put into words what I can only think of. I also consider myself to be an English teacher. I’ve been subbing for two years and applying for anything I can find in the area that I live. Maybe this list was so hard for me to put together because I see so many types of students roll through the doors and they all latch on to different things. Anyway, I am posting the entire blog post from What She Read because she hits the nail on the head for this discussion. At least for me…sorry if this is cheating.

Taken from What She Read


“This week's Top 10 from The Broke And The Bookish challenged me mightily, and I want to tell you why: I'm an English teacher (and many other things as well), and the longer I teach, the more I feel that a cavalier answer to this question could be quite damaging. Why?
• Although all of us continue developing throughout our lives, teens follow particularly unpredictable and varied paths of psychological and intellectual development. This broad spectrum of skills and behaviors makes recommending any single tome problematic at best.
• Each teen comes from a different family, cultural, and religious (or non-religious) background, and these combine to influence readiness for increasingly mature or diverse or challenging content.
• Many teens are regularly in crisis about one aspect or another of their lives, and while the right book at the right time can offer solace and wisdom or even simply a much-needed temporary escape from their turmoil, even a book "every teen should read" can be an unwelcome catalyst or escalator for intense emotional dramas at this stage in their lives.
All that said, here's what I think every teen - every human being who graduates high school on this planet at this time - should read, and read critically, and think about significantly, and talk with others - preferably non-like-minded others - about, and commit to returning to at least once a decade, preferably more:

1. The founding documents of her or his country, especially those that set the guiding philosophy, structure, and ethics of his/her government. Understanding the foundations allows each citizen to support, critique, and even strive to revise the fundamental ideology of that citizen's country.

2. The foundational texts of all major world religions. Without understanding, there is zero potential for true dialogue, let alone collaboration or peace.

3. The major artworks of every major world culture. Yes, I hold that artworks are texts, and that they're produced in cultural contexts - even when they fight against them - and that great art from every culture inspires awe and transcendence. It's a gateway to understanding.

4. The seminal stories (myths, folktales, fairy tales) of major world cultures. (See above for rationale.)

5. The most beautiful and powerful poems of major world cultures. (See above for rationale.)

6. The great films and plays of major world cultures. (See above for rationale.)

7. At least a few of the works - of whatever genre - that his/her parents, siblings, and other relatives treasure. The teen needn't love these or agree with them, but - again - knowledge may at least lead to understanding.

8. Twilight. Kidding. So kidding.

I know, I'm begging many questions: What's a major world culture? What's beautiful? What's powerful? What's great? How much analysis is necessary to understand a text? These questions are up for debate, no doubt, and so worth consistently, vigilantly discussing and revisiting and adjusting every year, every month if possible. Every parent, teacher, and friend of teenagers should be doing that, if we really care about them.

And, I know that minority opinions can be incredibly liberating, often surpassing the dominant ideas in a culture. But I'll wager that the strongest foundation for responsibly championing any idea - minority or otherwise - is understanding the dominant cultural forces.

But beyond the "should reads", and perhaps more importantly, we must help teens determine the "next great read" for each of them, individually. It's our obligation, I suspect, and not an simple one - be we teachers, parents, friends, siblings - to help teens learn how to make wise choices on their own personal reading paths, and to know when & how to seek out conversation and support when they happen upon a challenging text that they can't quite process on their own...”

Shadow Grail Series - Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill

While I was on vacation last week I had time to visit a bookstore and basically made a draft of a text on my cell phone of books that I want to check out and read more on. I came across a series that caught my eye and I have not seen too many people talking about it online. The series is called The Shadow Grail Series by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edgehill. I am surprised that I have not heard more about Mercedes Lackey’s first YA book series.



Legacies:

Spirit White has survived from a deadly car crash that has killed her mother and father and her sister. She has been discovered by a school with special talents, called magic. A couple of months after staying, people begin to disappear; some vanish to be never seen again, so Spirit and her new friends begin the investigation. But will they find out the truth of what is going on? Or will Spirit and her friends suffer a terrible fate from which they don't know about yet? (Taken from Good Reads)

Conspiracies:

Spirit and her friends Burke, Loch, Muirin, and Addie have managed to defeat the evil force that has been killing students at Oakhurst Academy for the past forty years—or so they think. When a series of magical attacks disrupts the school, Doctor Ambrosius calls upon alumnus Mark Rider to secure the campus—and start training the students for war. The only student without magic, Spirit doesn’t trust Mark or his methods. She knows that Oakhurst isn’t safe. And if Spirit and her friends want to live long enough to graduate, they have to find out what is really going on—before it’s too late. (Taken from Good Reads)

I know that the whole Camelot/Reincarnation etc has been done before (Avalon High) but this is definitely a series that I wanted to check out. These are books that after seeing the covers and reading the back that I want to check out. I have not read any of the reviews yet, but the first one isn’t getting too good of reviews. It looks like the second one is getting a lot better reviews.

IMM (3)

I will have to do just a quick post tonight because I got home from camping tonight and so it seems like I have a million things to do.

I was approved for four books from NetGalley. Thanks in advance NetGalley!

Spellbound- Cara Lynn Shultz

Eve-Anna Carey

Cold Kiss- Amy Garvy

The Near Witch-Victoria Schwab

I really want to read The Near Witch, but it won't download to my kindle. I might have to wait for it to come out on August 2, and get it from the library...

Job Interview

So, I had a job interview today for a high school English position. I told them that I started a book blog this summer to chronicle what I am reading and to get my students interested in reading. I don't really know what they thought about it. We'll see how it goes, but wish me luck. I have been waiting a long time...

Waiting on Wednesday- Strange Fate-L.J. Smith

Waiting on Wednesday (2)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that I’m eagerly anticipating.



Vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters -- they live among us without our knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with very strict rules. And falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night World.

Sarah Strange's life was what you might call ordinary. Then her mother died.

Now Sarah has visions -- visions of a place where dragons darken the sky and a young girl is fighting to survive.

When Sarah confides in her best friends, Mal and Kierlan, about the devastation in her dreams, she discovers that her friends are not what they seem. They are part of the Night World -- and they believe Sarah has a special role in their world. And if Sarah's visions are any indication of the impending danger and destruction, there is no time to lose....(taken from Good Reads)

Expected publication: February 1st 2014 by Simon Pulse

So, this is a book that I am a little bitter about. Me and about a million other people. I have been waiting for this book for so long, that I honestly forget about it for a couple of months and check in to always see that is was pushed back another year. This book was supposed to be published about a decade ago, and then no one heard from L.J. Smith for awhile. Granted she was ill. Finally, Stephanie Meyer hits it big with the Twilight series, so then Smith's publishing company decides to republish all of her books with different covers and formats. Good deal. I was working hard to find them, but that made it easy for me. Please keep in mind that i have been a L.J. Smith reader since the late nineties. Yeah. This book was supposed to be published in 2010, 2011, and now it has finally been pushed back to 2014. Do I think we will ever get this? Sadly, no. She has been writing so many add on books to the Vampire Diaries series now that the t.v. show has taken off. Ug.

Netgalley

I discovered Netgalley a couple of months ago after reading through many blogs. I am curious what your thoughts are on this? I have just started to request some books for my Kindle and have actually downloaded a couple. It seems like I have been approved for almost everything that I have asked for. I am curious about how/if my readers use Netgalley. Do you review most of what you download? I feel bad because there is so much that I want to read that is already in my to read pile. I also do not read the books (unless I really want the book) unless I can download it to my Kindle. I do not have the time or patience to read the entire book while sitting in front of my computer.

Vacation Reading...Again...

Shame on me for trying to get a blog off and running when I am in my busy time for the summer. You would think that being on vacation would give me a lot of time to read, but it really doesn't help things. These are the books that I plan on finishing for the rest of July:

Starcrossed- Josephine Angelini
A Discovery of Witches- Deborah Harkness
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-J.K. Rowling
The Summer I Turned Pretty- Jenny Han
Amy and Rodger's Epic Detour- Morgan Matson

There is no way that this will be accomplished with what is left of July, but it will just carry over into August. I really want to read these books sometime this summer. My main goal is to finish TDOW and HPATDH so I can watch the movie when it comes out. I still can't believe I have not read it yet..

In My Mailbox 2

In my mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi (Storysiren).

I don't have a lot for this week, but the books that I was able to pick get are mostly from the library or given to me from friends to borrow.

This week I got:
Insatiable-Meg Cabot
Witches of East End- Melissa De la Cruz
The Summer I Turned Pretty- Jenny Han-I have heard so many great things about this series (especially at Ieatwords) that I had to check it out. I really want to read this series this summer.
A Discovery of Witches- Deborah Harkness -I have been meaning to read this book for a while now. I had it checked out from the library in April or May, but never got around to reading it. Now is definitely the time....I am moving it up on my reading list.
Nordie's at Noon- I received this book from my best friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer in March. Her sister gave her this to read and she really enjoyed it. It is the story of four young women who battled breast cancer. My friend gave it to me to read because she thought it was perfect for how she feels when she is going through this whole process. I plan to read this very soon, so that I can give it back to her in early August for her to pass on to someone else.

Review: Hourglass

Hourglass –Myra McEntire

“One hour to rewrite the past . . .

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.
So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.
Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.”-Taken from Goodreads

The Time Traveler’s Wife Meets X-Men Meets The Eternal Ones?

Ok, perhaps that is a little unfair. Just because this book has a lot of things to do with time travel does not mean it should be related to The Time Traveler’s Wife in anyway. It’s not like Audrey Niffenegger was the first person to write about time travel in the first place. And there are people that have special abilities that all live in the same area, hide identities, turn on one another etc.
Let’s start at the beginning. This is a story about a girl named Emerson who lives with her brother and sister-in-law but battles with dealing with the past and living with her ‘ability’. Enter Michael, who happens to work for the Hourglass, and has his own special ‘ability’.

I did not like the lead up of Emerson and Michael and they are the main couple in the book. Maybe I just felt squishy about the whole thing because when Emerson first sees Michael she describes him as appearing older and very cultured, but then we find out that he is only about two years older than her. He acts like he’s about 10. Also, I felt like Emerson had a lot of major issues with herself (granted that is a big part of the book because of what happened to her prior to living with Tom and Dru). Some examples of this that occur would be Emerson going through Michael’s room maybe a couple of days after she meets him, playing ‘crazy’ to her brother, and physically throwing Michael over her shoulder in the middle of town. I honestly laughed out loud at that one. The dialogue does not really move the book a long because it is mainly Emerson ordering Michael to tell her more and he always responds in the same way. This halts the story….There were obviously many things that were mentioned in this book that are there to set up the next in the series because they were not utilized in this book.

All of this being said, the book and some of the ideas behind it (time travel, making matter etc) are very smart. I don’t know if Myra has a background in science at all, but there was obviously a lot of research that went into that aspect. There are also many unexpected turns that occur within the last 100 pages. Perhaps some of them were a little predictable to an astute reader.

This is a book for me that fell a little flat. That could because I had wanted to read this for so long that the anticipation was building up so much, and I was expecting a lot of really great things. Don’t get me wrong, I did like this book. I do remember myself constantly glancing at my to-read piles and lists online and forcing myself to get through the book in order to get to another one. I have been trying to stay away from reading other reviews about this book so that they don’t sway my opinions. Most of the reviews have been very good for this book anyway. I have read some reviews where they see a lot of comparisons to Twilight (not a rip-off, but minor comparisons with events and descriptions), and I can honestly tell you that that did not happen one single time for me.

Deathly Hallows II Premiere

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Movie Premiere
I realize that this is not exactly book news and it’s considered more movie news I still feel that this is so important. There was a movie premier in London, England for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II today. It seemed like we had forever to wait when the first part came out, and look where we are now.
I was lucky enough to be studying abroad and living in England during my second year of college. I met a girl who was also studying abroad in my program from my school who also loved all things Harry Potter. It didn’t take long to convince her to come with me to the Goblet of Fire movie premiere. We waited close to ten hours to get into the fences. We wanted to be as close to the action as we could. Looking back now, we should have settled for watching it on the big screens that were put up because we are both really short and could barely see anything. We ended up being about five rows back and saw heads and the tops of the umbrellas. Go figure. It was raining in England.



This is a video of speeches that were made at the movie premiere tonight in London. Warning: this will make you cry…

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday (1)
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that I’m eagerly anticipating.


This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer-Michelle Hodkin



“Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.
She's wrong.”

(taken from Good Reads)

July 4th

Happy July 4th! I hope everyone is having a great time!

IMM/Book Haul (1)

As most of you know, IMM is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at Story Siren. I am posting this now because I will be out of town until Wednesday.

IMM/Book Haul (1)
These first three books I was able to pick up from the library that is located in my apartment areas clubhouse. You know the drill. You usually take a book and then are supposed to leave a book. I try to be very good about this, but this time I did not add any of my own books. Where I live, it seems like it is predominantly senior citizens, so there are mostly self-help books about aging gracefully or books about specific wars. At least for now, I am not interested in these subjects. Here are the books that I managed to grab:

I know Why the Caged Bird Sings- Maya Angelo
Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir-Frank McCourt
Tis: A Memoir-Frank McCourt

These other books are books that I picked up from the library during this past week:
Starcrossed-Josephine Angelini
Empire Falls-Richard Russo
Amy and Rodgers Epic Detour-Morgan Matson
Thirteen Reasons Why-Jay Asher
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-J.K. Rowling

Books on Vacation

Books for Vacation

I have always had this really bad habit of taking way too many books on vacation. I will usually bring anywhere from 5-10 books, and maybe, if I am lucky actually finish one. Is anyone else like this? How many books do you typically bring with you on vacation? Another little oddity about me is that I usually reserve library books way before hand and only bring library books with me and not my own. If I want to read a Harry Potter book, I won’t bring my own but check out the book instead because I don’t want mine to get battered up with the travel. Anyone else do this? Please?

A lot of my friends from college are gathering together in Minnesota and I am limiting myself to two books:
Starcrossed- Josephine Angelini
-I am about 70 pages into this one and so far I really like it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-J.K. Rowling
-Confession time! I have never read this book. I have also stayed away from a lot of spoilers for this book, but have obviously heard some things. I am one of those people who was at the midnight release for this book and I still have not completed the series. I think I have issues with finishing really good series that I have read because I don’t want it to end. Also, life gets in the way. I really want to read this before the last movie comes out

Camp Nanowrimo

So, for all of you that are into writing or have participated in Nanowrimo before, this is the email that I received sometime in the middle of May:

“Greetings, Wrimos!
If you're holding hot coffee, I'd recommend you put it down. If you're standing, please sit.

I have potentially explosive news: we're launching Camp NaNoWriMo this summer! As in, mere months from this very moment!

Some of you may be wondering, "What is this camp you speak of? Will there be mosquitoes?"

This camp-themed version of National Novel Writing Month enables participants to write a novel in a month other than November. You bring the words and we'll meet you there with the encouragement, tracking tools, and a tent!

For everyone who has ever wanted to do NaNo multiple times a year—or for those who simply can't make a November novel work—welcome to Camp NaNoWriMo! The plot bunnies will frolic, the sun will warm your half-baked plot, and yes... there will probably be mosquitoes.

To pay for all these building materials, we're holding a summer fundraising drive starting May 25. More awesome goodies at more levels than ever before! (Two words: bumper sticker. For the first time in NaNo history!)

Stay tuned for more camp news and details about the upcoming fundraiser. In the meantime, I've still got some canoes to hollow out.

Chop chop!

Lindsey”

First off, for the people who don’t know what Nanowrimo is, it is where thousands of writers try to write 50,000 words in one month. The month that this is usually held in is November.
The smart people at Nanowrimo have decided to put on a summer form of Nanowrimo for all of us people who cannot participate in November. Perhaps ‘cannot’ is the wrong word for it. I have participated three times and failed miserably all three times. I do get better and better at it. My first time I think I got over 4,000 words and the third time around I got around 20,000 words. The third time I started with over 4,000 words, but I would have just added that to the word count of 50,000 that was needed so it wouldn’t really be cheating. Right?

Anyway, how many of you are in? I am going to participate in August because I am a gluten for punishment. I am also curious about your experiences with Nanowrimo and how many books that we are reading started as a Nanowrimo. I am hearing more and more authors say that a certain book started out as a Nanowrimo.



If you want/need to register


Here is the link to the official nanowrimo webpage

Happy plotting and writing!

Pottermore

Alright, so by now much of the literary world knows about Pottermore. This site was launched about a week ago and will be fully launched in October. Did I mention that I LOVE Harry Potter? Did I mention that I also love October? Yes, I was one of the people who always had to be at a midnight release party at my local Barns and Noble. I finally got smart and went to Wal-Mart towards the end of the release dates for the books because the experience was a lot smoother. Forget buying the books on Amazon. Typically Amazon has flawless packaging for books, but there was a time that my brother got burned when his copy arrived in the mail. Like many book bloggers out there, I tend to be a bit anal about my books that I purchase. I want to thoroughly look over the book before I add it to my collection at home. I am also a card carrying member of being a fan fiction writer for Harry Potter while I was in high school. It takes me back to the days of Cassandra Claire writing Harry Potter fan fiction. I was always a Hermione/Draco or Hermione/Italian!Blaise Zabini fan. Anyone? No? I thought not. Anyway….


At first I was a little confused about what this site would be exactly. Was it going to be her version of the Leaky Cauldron where we would finally get all the background information that is stored in J.K. Rowling’s notebooks? The page was described as being a sort of interactive experience with other readers for the series. I then wondered if it would be like a World of Warcraft (WOW) online game only Harry Potter style. Err…I would honestly try it. I know that there have been articles posting on many other book blogs, but I thought I would add one more to the mix.

It definitely is a change for the publishing industry. To be honest, I am not sure who would be reaping most of the sales money for the e-book formats that can be sold through this site, but I know that it is not her publishers that she has used in the past. Look at all the people that have become very successful authors when they go the self publishing route for ebooks. Is it right that Rowling’s publishers will receive little to no money for the ebook versions?


It took me a couple of days, but I definitely added my email to Pottermore to get more information when it becomes available. I am very excited about the idea of purchasing the books to put on my Kindle. It's interesting to think that there will be many people (kids especially) who read Harry Potter for the first time with an e-book format. I think that a lot of people who own the actual books will also purchase the books for an e-reader. I know I will, and I currently have the paperbacks, hardcover, and the British paperback versions. Over kill? Yes.

I also want to add this link that has a sneak peak about what the main page will look like. There were so many fun things to find on J.K. Rowling's other site and I don't think that this will be any different.

Welcome to Literary Musings!

Hello!

You happened to come across my blog. I want to keep this post short and sweet since I am very bad at beginnings. I always put a lot of pressure on starting things and never really get to dive in. So, this is me diving in...