In My Mailbox (33)

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It is a way for book bloggers to post what they have received for review, borrowed from a friend, bought at the bookstore, or picked up at the library!

It has been far too long since my last IMM post! I tried to think of all the books that I got the past couple of weeks but if I forgot something, I apologize!

For Review:

On Little Wings by Regina Sirois (signed)

My Thoughts: This book was brilliant! I loved the journey the main character went on. Review coming soon!

Revealing Eden: Save The Pearls Part I by Victoria Foyt (signed)

My Thoughts: I am just now starting this one but the summary is definitely super interesting!

Gifted/Won:

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer (signed)

My Thoughts: Thank you SO MUCH to Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books for sending me this awesome surprise. I cannot wait to read more of this series!

A special thanks to C.A. Kunz for sending over a Childe Bookmark! It was so nice to get a hand-written, thoughtful letter!

 A special thanks to Michelle I. Brooks for sending over a Bone Dressing bookmark!

Bought:

A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford (signed)

My Thoughts: I loved this first book so much! I had it for quite a while but took it to Leah’s book launch to get it signed!!!

A Touch Morbid by Leah Clifford (signed)

My Thoughts: I am so excited to see where this book takes Az, Eden, Gabe, and the whole gang!

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

My Thoughts: Lexcade has convinced me that I will love Leanna’s books and I trust her completely! I have been waiting a while for this one.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

My Thoughts: So heart-breakingly beautiful! I love this book so, so, so, so, so much. There will never be enough words to explain all of its brilliance.

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

My Thoughts: Witches, sisters, first love, magic, really is there anything unappealing about this book? I think not.

So that is it for my mailbox this week! Leave a link in the comments section and I will be sure to check out yours as well!

TGIF (22)

There once was an awesome blogger named Ginger and she decided to create a super fun feature where fellow bloggers would answer fabulous questions via blog posts every Friday. TGIF was born and we all have Miss Ginger at GReads! to thank for that! This week’s question is:

Spooktacular Reads:

Which books do you consider festive Halloween reads? Which stories have chilled you to the bone?

I would like to think that I am a tough person who can handle scary books but in reality I am a big, big baby. However, I have managed to sneak in a few creepy books and by somewhat of a shock, I actually enjoyed them. The first couple are books that just really freaked me out. The rest are ones that have Halloween-ish elements in them (a.k.a. Paranormal books that I find to be totally, freaking awesome!!!)

Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

I just read this one. HOLY FREAKING CREEPY!

The Dead of Summer by Camilla Way

I read this one over a year ago and I STILL think of how twisted that story is!

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Of course fighting off demons with swords can be considered a great Halloween read!

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

This is a book about a girl who can sense dead bodies, FREAKY!

Bone Dressing by Michelle Brooks

This book is more of a love story but the main characters do spend quite a bit of time in the cemetary which is ALWAYS good for freaking people out.

Beautiful Creatures + Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Both of these books a million times YES! Everything about them shouts great Halloween read! Plus Ethan and Lena…I <3 those two!

The Childe by C.A. Kunz

This is the PERFECT book for this time of year. It definitely makes me think of one of those cool made for TV movies that ABC Family always has this time of year. It could totally be right up there with Hocus Pocus!

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

I love me some Stacey Kade! You can’t have Halloween without a friendly little ghost (or in this case, a spoiled little ghost who wants things to go her way!)

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

I was so surprised by how much I loved this book that is based so heavily on Edgar Allen Poe. This story is dark, creepy, and twisted, what more could you want?!?

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

I don’t think this one has anything to do with this time of year but I think it is a phenomenal paranormal book!

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Oh yes, definitely a great paranormal book that is perfect for reading this time of year!

Released by Megan Duncan

Demon slaying people on the run? YES please!

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Oh how I love this book! Another great paranormal book that has NOTHING to do with Halloween but you should read anyway!

So what do you think? Are any of these on your list of books to read during Halloween time?

This week on Katelyn’s Blog (10/21-10/28):

TGIF (21)

Life As Kate (4)

Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Tune In Tuesday (31)

Destined by P.C. & Kristin Cast Book Trailer + Giveaway!!!

In My Mailbox (22)

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It is a way for book bloggers to post what they have received for review, borrowed from a friend, bought at the bookstore, or picked up at the library. I hit up Borders for some deals plus I got a few prizes in the mail this week!

For Review:

Squalor, New Mexico by Lisette Brodey

Summary: Darla McKendrick is nine when she first hears her mother and her aunt Didi secretly discussing their younger sister, Rebecca, speculating about her life in squalor. From the moment Darla asks to know more about her mysterious aunt, she is offered nothing but half-truths, distortions, and evasions.
As Darla grows into her teen years, her life is oddly yet profoundly affected by this woman she has never known. She can’t help but notice that Rebecca seems to exist only in dark corners of conversations and that no one ever wants to talk about her – with Darla.
Squalor, New Mexico is a coming-of-age story shrouded in family mystery. As the plot takes twists and turns, secrets are revealed not only to Darla but to the “secret keepers” as well. Darla learns that families are only as strong as the truths they hold and as weak as the secrets they keep.

My Thoughts: Lisette is such a complete sweetheart! The e-mail she sent asking if I’d her review her book, totally skyrocketed my ego through the roof (as if anyone really need to do that!). On a more serious note, her book sounds wonderful and I see nothing but awesome things about it on Goodreads! Thank you so much for sending this book to me Lisette! I can’t wait to read it!

Bought:

Why I Let My Hair Grow Out by Maryrose Wood

Summary: Being sent to your room is one thing. But being sent to another country?

Morgan’s boyfriend dumped her on the last day of school-it seemed the only thing to do was to hack off her hair and dye the stubble orange. Unfortunately, Morgan’s parents freaked and decided a change of scenery would do her good. So they’re sending her off on a bike tour of Ireland.

But Morgan gets more than she bargained for on the Emerald Isle-including a strange journey into some crazy, once upon a time corner of the past. There, she meets fairies, weefolk, and a hunky warrior-dude named Fergus, and figures out that she’s got some growing to do-and she doesn’t just mean her hair.

My Thoughts: I will be completely honest, the cover of this book is what initially drew me in. It is just so wonderfully gorgeous. I am partway through it right now and enjoying it!

Wolves, Boys, & Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

Summary: It’s K.J.’s junior year in the small town of West End, Montana, and whether she likes it or not, things are different this year. Over the summer, she turned from the blah daughter of a hunting and fishing guide into a noticeably cuter version of the outdoor loner. Normally, K.J. wouldn’t care less, but then she meets Virgil, whose mom is studying the controversial wolf packs in nearby Yellowstone Park. And from the moment Virgil casts a glance at her from under his shaggy blond hair, K.J. is uncharacteristically smitten. Soon, both K.J. and Virgil are spending a lot of their time watching the wolves (and each other), and K.J. begins to see herself and her town in a whole new light.

My Thoughts: I don’t think a book could sound much more magnificent than this. I mean COME ON! Did you even see the title to this book? I am going to be burning through my review books just so I can get to this one!

Geek Magnet by Kieran Scott

Summary: Everybody loves KJ. Especially the geeks. See, KJ Miller is super nice, smart, pretty, the stage manager of her high school’s spring musical . . . and a total geek magnet. She’s like the geek pied piper of Washington High, drawing every socially clueless guy in a five-mile radius. If only Cameron, the hottest guy in school, would follow her around and worship her the way her entourage of dorks do. Enter Tama Gold, queen of the popular crowd, and solution to all of KJ’s problems. KJ is too nice, and the nice girl never gets the guy. Tama’s ready to help KJ get cruel, ditch the dorks, and win Cameron’s heart. But is KJ?

My Thoughts: Again, the title and the cover were just too cute to pass up. All throughout high school I considered myself the geek magnet. I tried to be nice to everyone and sometimes they took it as me “sending out special vibes” <<<These words were totally said to me before! Anyways, it sounds funny, cute, and entertaining!

Special Prize:

This week I got a special prize from Philomel Publishing. Andrea Cremer’s Nightshade series is wonderful! I was a bit heartbroken when I found out they were changing the covers because that was one of my favorite parts about the book. Honestly, they are just too gorgeous for words. Since I do like my books matching, not as much as some but still enough, I asked to have a dust jacket  of the new Nightshade cover shipped to me and they did. Now that I see it in person, I kind of like it but it still does not live up to the glorious beauty of the last one. I can understand their want for a cover change especially if they are trying to reach and interest fans of paranormal books with these new covers. They do catch your eye, that’s for sure! Thank you guys at Philomel Publishing for sending it to me!

That’s all I got in my mailbox this week. Don’t forget to click the titles so you can add those books to your Goodreads account and of course leave a link to your IMM! I’d love to check it out!

TGIF (6)

TGIF is a fun little feature hosted at GReads! Every week we re-cap what has happened on the blog plus Ginger asks a question for us to answer. This week’s question is: 

Mr & Mrs:

Who are your favorite book couples?

It is official now, Ginger @ GReads! is trying to stump me with her questions of awesomness! I have read a lot of books. I have read a lot of books that include romance. I have read AND loved a lot of books that include romance and super awesome couples. To narrow down the list is impossible so I say, why not name them all? Here it goes!

Ashlyn & Kai from Rising Shadow by Jacquelyn Wheeler

Abby & Max from Released by Megan Duncan

Amy and Roger from Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Amy and Avi from The Ruined series by Simone Elkeles

Clara and Tucker from Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Anna and Ettienne St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Calla and REN from Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Ethan and Lena from The Caster Chronicles series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Lori and Adam from Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols

Meg and John from Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Zoey and Doug from Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Amy and Poe from The Secret Society Girl series by Diana Peterfreund

Janie and Cable from The Dream Catcher series by Lisa McMann

Isobel and Varen from Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Evie and Lend from Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Luce and Daniel from Fallen by Lauren Kate

Clary and Jace from The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

Brittany and Alex from Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Kiara and Carlos from Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

ALL major relationships from these following Sarah Dessen Books:

Along for the Ride

Lock and Key

This Lullaby

The Truth About Forever

Just Listen

Okay, there are all of my favorite relationships! These relationships stick out the most for me because they have chemistry. The characters aren’t perfect, the situations they face aren’t ideal, yet they still find an understanding with someone and from that, their love grows for each other.

This week on Katelyn’s Blog (6/24-7/1):

Happy Birthday Kati

In My Mailbox (16)

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Tune-In Tuesday (14)

The Best of Twenty-Ten

Wow! I can’t believe this year is coming to an end. So many exciting, terrible, magnificent, and strange things have happened this year. Influenced by my friends Caroline and Mrs. Andersen (It is still strange to call a former teacher by her first name. It is Sarah by the way), I compiled a list of all of my favorites of the past year. Enjoy!:

1. Best vacation: Spring Break with my best friend, Kati. We went all the way to California. It exceeded all of my expectations on what I thought would be the perfect spring break.

Kati and I posing on a beach in Cali!!

2. Best concert: This is a tie between Warped Tour and The Travelin Show. Both of which featured some amazing bands (We The Kings, The Summer Set, Artist Vs. Poet, etc.) The Travelin Show even featured the man I will one day marry. Ok I am joking but hey, a girl can dream can’t she? (Just look at his dimples; they get me every time!)

Artist vs. Poet threw that monster can at me! I was so excited.

Ohh goodness! He doesn’t realize it yet, but this guy is going to be my husband one day. Just look at those dimples!

3. Best CD: This was an easy decision since Taylor Swift’s third CD, Speak Now, is still on constant replay. It is full of awesomeness.

4. Best new activity: Joining book club has been awesome. It has only added more fuel to the fire. I just can’t seem to stop reading…ever! Ohh, and making this blog has also been pretty fantastic; I am addicted!

5. Best birthday present: My new bedroom of course! Here are the pictures that I promised a few weeks ago:

6. Best movies: There really has been some great movies this past year. The ones that stuck with me the most were Eclipse, Harry Potter, Due Date, Life As We Know It, and The Other Guys.

7. Best books: I can’t choose just a few! Here are all of my favorite 2010 books. (Note: Not all were released this year, just read by me in 2010)

Beautiful Creatures By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Darkness By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

 

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City if Ashes by Cassandra Clare

 City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Freefall by Mindi Scott

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Ruined (How to Ruin 1-3) by Simone Elkeles

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Wake by Lisa McMann

8. Best shinning moment: Hmm… this is a tough one. There was graduation, honors night, or placing at states for BPA (Business Professionals of America, it’s really cool, you should be jealous!). Ohh, what the heck, I guess they all win.

9. Best friend: Of course this award goes to Kati. Even though we are going to separate schools now and both have extremely busy schedules, we still find time to be there for each other. I don’t know what I’d do without her!

10. Best family: Well mine of course! They are loud, annoying, and extremely obnoxious but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Thanksgiving is finally here!

For those who love their meat, hooray!! Today officially starts the never ending parties that are sure to have some turkey, ham or chicken. For those that are vegetarians (like me) then get ready for some huge helpings of side dishes! Aside from the limited food I am allowed to eat around this time of year, I am actually very excited the holiday season has finally arrived. I am so ready to party with friends and family, spend loads of money that I really don’t have, and eat about a gazillion more calories than my body should be in taking. To add to all of the holiday excitement…. the BIG DAY is almost here!! And yes I am talking about stepping into the world of full adulthood. In just a few, short days I will finally be a legal adult. I can no longer do any incriminating criminal acts that at the very most get me sent off to juvy; I can’t blame my stupid decisions and ignorance on being young; and most of all I can’t be left at home while all my friends go clubbing. The last part is actually the only reason I am super excited to turn 18. I just love dressing up, going out, and having a good time; so you best believe when Dec. 2nd rolls around (the first Thursday after my birthday, Thursday=college night, college night=girls get in free, girls get in free= me and my wallet are happy), I will be going clubbing with all of the girls.

Speaking of my birthday, I got a wonderful present from my parents. A whole new bedroom set. How awesome is that!?! (One day when it is clean I will take some pictures and post them in a blog). In my earlier post I talked about all the makeover madness going on in my room. Well it is finally over! Well over if you don’t count the huge piles of junk I have to sort through; once that is done I will have myself a pretty awesome new room. My new bedroom is awesome, there is no denying that but I was still hoping my parents would come around to the idea of getting me a kitten. I was sooo hoping for one. I picked out a name and everything. If it was a girl the name would be Pixie and if it were a boy his name would be Chrome. Unfortunately my parents weren’t picking up on the not-so-subtle hints I was dropping about my birthday wish. Oh well, the kitten will just have to wait.

Part of my bedroom set is a big, tall beautiful bookcase; and now that I’m on the subject… let’s talk about books! My goodness I can’t believe the last book I actually talked about was Beautiful Darkness; it feels like it’s been months since I’ve read it. I have since then read Andrea Cremer’s Nightshade, Simone Elkeles’ Rules Of Attraction, Jennifer Echols’ Going To Far, Kelly Creagh’s Nevermore, and last but not least Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush.

First is Nightshade. Wow! What a fantastic read. The book is completely original, there was a wide range of characters (all of which I liked), and it was purely beautiful inside and out. This story about werewolves, uses suspense, mystery, great imagery, and of course a juicy love triangle to keep readers interested; what more could a paranormal fantasy fanatic ask for?

Second is Rules of Attraction. This is the sequel to Perfect Chemistry which is a book in my top 10 for sure. Perfect Chemistry follows a Mexican gang-banger named Alex Fuentes as he falls in love with an unlikely person, Brittney, the non-Mexican head cheerleader. Rules of Attraction is about Alex’s younger brother named Carlos who is shipped off to Colorado to live with Alex. The book has the same great qualities of Perfect Chemistry. Honestly, these two books make me want to meet a real-live Fuentes brother and keep him for myself.

Third is Going too Far. It is a must read; enough said. This is the second book by Echols that I have read, the first being Forget You. If I am being honest with any readers of my blog, in other words ‘If you are reading this Kati…’ Going too Far should be the first to read if you want to save the best for last. Going too Far was a great book about a girl who gets arrested, the girl is then assigned to work with the arresting cop, and eventually the girl falls in love with said cop. As much as I liked this book, it still doesn’t compare to Forget You.

Fourth is Nevermore. This is another wow! For any fans of Edgar Allen Poe; prepared to be amazed. I have been putting off reading this book for quite some time for a few reasons 1) I am not a fan of Edgar Allen Poe 2) I am not a fan of poetry 3) The book seems dark and scary, and well I don’t like dark and scary. Regardless of how I feel about Nevermore, those three facts still rein true. As I said earlier the book definitely has a strong Edgar Allen Poe influence but Creagh uses it in such a manner that you really don’t have to be a fan of “The Raven,” to enjoy the book. I found myself so engrossed in the book that I whipped through the nearly 500 page book in two days.

Finally is Hush, Hush. If anyone could explain to me exactly how the title goes with the story I’d appreciate it. Pushing aside my confusion of the title, I must say that Hush, Hush is a quick, great read. I powered through the book in about a day and a half. It wasn’t magnificently written, the story seemed really rushed at some points, and I am kind of confused on some major details of the story, but in the end it just kind of works. I find myself actually pretty excited to read the second book to the series.

As you can tell I have been a reading power house. I am just hoping I don’t lose any adrenaline and this reading frenzy I am on carries me through the winter. Ok off to get some sleep before enjoying my Turkey Day. Hope everyone has a great, safe holiday!

What my future beholds

Well I can tell you what my future definitely doesn’t behold, public speaking. I have a communications class every Wednesday night. Up until tonight, I have done relatively well, with an A grade on nearly every speech. Tonight was a different story. First off, the topic of this night’s speech was terrible. We had to choose a famous speech and then talk about the persuasion and propaganda used in that speech. How boring is that?! So of course I choose Sojourner Truth’s speech “Aint I A Woman.” I have always been quite fascinated with the Women’s Rights Movement and Black Freedom Movement, so it only seemed fitting to talk about a speech that dealt with both. It would have turned out great if my rambling mouth wouldn’t have gotten in the way. I screwed up within the first three seconds of the speech and it went downhill from there. The rest of the semester the speeches will continue to get harder, which means, I will do progressively worse. Luckily, the teacher thinks I am a “Public Speaking Prodigy,” well so I hope, even after tonight. Perhaps I would have been better prepared for my speech if I didn’t spend the whole evening reading Kami Garcia’s and Margaret Stohl’s, Beautiful Darkness. I was really up until 2 a.m. and I have a feeling I will be doing the same tonight. The book is simply marvelous so far. If I keep reading at the pace I’m going now, I will hopefully be done with it tomorrow night/Friday morning; just depending on how late I plan on staying up. After I’m done with Beautiful Darkness, I have the tough choice of Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush Hush or Andrea Cremer’s Nightshade. What to do, what to do. Are there any suggestions on which one to read first, because as of right now I have heard that both are excellent?

As much as messing up a speech in front of the whole class sucks, work today was only worse. I spent the whole entire day cleaning the office. In case you didn’t know, that is 7 hours of cleaning. We have inspection tomorrow (to make sure we are up to standards) and it was my duty to dust, scrub, vacuum, and eventually get cleaning-product-fume-poisoning. To make matters worse we had an extremely late lunch today; I went from 8 until 3 without eating anything at all. Now if you knew me even in the slightest, you would know that I eat several very small portions throughout the day (and by that I mean I eat a snack literally every hour). So you could understand how famished I was to go a full seven hours without eating. Hmm, perhaps that means that I could blame my sub-par speech today on the fact that I breathed in way to many harmful chemicals.

Since I’m feeling a tad light headed, very hungry, and poorly under-studied for my two tests tomorrow; It might be in my best interest to get off the computer. Tootle-Lou blog world.

Happy Happy Halloween!

This is by far my favorite time of year. I love the fact of getting dressed up and for just one night you can be absolutely whoever you want. How exciting. (Not to mention, who can pass up free candy? Not me). This year I will be dressing up as Bat-Woman, not because I’m a huge fan, mostly because it was the least slutty costume I could find. Kati is going to be Robin in Da Hood. It is like a female Robin Hood with a ghetto flare, it’s hilarious. Anyways last week sure was a spook-fest. I went and saw Paranormal Activity 2 with Kati. The only question I have is “Were we under the influence of any drugs at all when we made the decision to attend this movie?” Well I assume so because it was so dang creepy. So let’s get this fact out there: I do not like scary things at all! The scariest movie I’ve seen has been Disturbia or the Stepfather. Most people label these movies as thrillers or mysteries, well not me! It really does not take a whole heck of a lot to freak me out.

Well a not-so-scary part of my past week was my book club meeting. I have to say it is like the highlight of my week every time we have a meeting. To just get together at Borders, get some delicious snacks (you must try the Carmel Apple Cider. By far the best tasting drink…ever), and talking about books, is so much fun. We all met up and then went to go find a spot to sit. Of course an open-mic night was taking place in the café area, so we headed on over to the book club table. And since me along with my aurora of bad luck was there, the table was covered in great gifts (no really, that is what the sign says they were). So we then had to kick a little boy, whom I’m almost positive had some sort of a social disorder, out of his spot in the very back of Borders. We sat, talked books, talked life, and even watched a Borders employee make a fool of himself. When I say there are some strange workers at Borders, I really am not kidding. As I was checking out, the cashier looked at my debit card (which has a picture of me on it…for security purposes!) all he does is looks up at me and says “you look happy in this picture. You look so excited to be getting a checking account.” How odd is that.

Since we were at Borders, I just had to get some books. First I got Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. This sequel to Beautiful Creatures follows the wonderful and mysterious lives of Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes. It is the third book we are reading for our book club. I cannot wait to get further into the book.

Next I got Nightshade by Andrea Cremer. Just the book itself was beautiful enough to convince me to buy it. The cover is shimmery, the pages look worn and torn, but it just adds to the book. If the story is as beautiful and interesting as the book itself, it is sure to be fantastic!

And then to end off my shopping spree, I picked up Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. I have been waiting to pick up this book for forever; I just really wanted a paperback. To add to it, once I’m done with this book, I can go pick up Crescendo, the second book to the series!

So books weren’t the only things I purchased this week. After two years of suffering with a broken phone, I finally broke down and spent a whopping $300 on the Droid 2. Yes that is a ton of money for a struggling college student to drop on a phone, but really I needed a nice phone. It is by far the most confusing device I’ve ever held in my hands, but soon enough I will get the hang of it. Now off to do homework, as I stated earlier, I am a struggling college student