Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

I don't really have a order for these, the books listed are just ten that I hope to read this Fall. Some of them are older books, a few will be ones coming out soon.

1. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - I've heard so much about this book, just not had a chance to pick it up yet. But I am hoping to get a chance to read it this fall.

2. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - This book comes out in September, but I hope to read it after I read Anna and the French Kiss.

3. Eon by Allison Goodman - I've had this book since June, just not had a chance to get to it yet. But it's one I plan to read really soon.

4. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen - This will be my third Sarah Desson book, but I loved the first two so I have really high hopes for this one.

5. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles - This is another book I have had for a few months, heard a lot of good things about it so look forward to reading it.

6. City of Bones by Cassandra Claire - I know, I'm really late to this series. But I do plan to start it this fall. :P

7. The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima - I've had this book for a really long time, just kept finding other books to read before it. But I do have it on my shelf to read in the next few months and look forward to it.

8. The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima - I read the first book The Warriors Heir a few years ago, and I have this one and also the third book on my shelf just never got around to reading them.

9. The Dragon Heir by Cinda Williams Chima - This is the third book in the Heir Chronicles and I will read it after The Wizard Heir.

10. Fire by Kirsten Cashore - Just recently read Graceling, and I loved it. Can't wait to hopefully get the chance to pick this book up this fall.

Author: Sarah Dessen
Release Date: August 6th, 2006
Publisher: Viking Juvenile (Penguin Group USA)
Pages: 384
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought

Rating: ★★★★★

Last year Annabel was "The girl who has everything"-- at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf's Department Store. This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend, because the mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no-one to sit with at lunch until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad-boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owens help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends. 

This is only my second Sarah Dessen novel, only having read The Truth About Forever before this one. But after reading Just Listen, I am so excited to read more of her books. I'm fairly new to reading these types of books, but I have yet to be disappointed by Sarah Dessen's writing. I was so engrossed in this book once I was actually able to sit down and read for awhile, I didn't want to put it down. I just can't even put into words how much this book makes you look at things, and see things you never really think about from day to day.

The characters in this book are absolutely amazing. You have Annabel who is the youngest of three girls in her family, and her sisters Kirsten (Oldest) and Whitney (Middle) and you get a sense of how they all grew up together never really feeling together, if that makes sense. They cared about each other, but they just acted like most siblings do towards each other, is the best way I can think of to explain it. But as the story goes on, you see their relationship with each other change in a big way. When Kirsten finds out about Whitney's eating disorder, she has to decide if she should tell her parents or not when her and Whitney come home. But in the end, all three sisters come together and realize how much they really need each other. And I just loved the part of the story toward the end when Whitney is talking about Annabel and Kirsten. I caught myself getting choked up reading it all, and reading all the reactions to what she was saying.

The next two characters I want to talk about are Annabel and Owen, these two are such amazing characters. I find it really hard to explain how much I loved these two characters, and how everything came together. As I mentioned above, Annabel is the youngest girl in her family. She has a lot going on in her life, from modeling to trying to figure out what to do regarding some of the things that happen to her within the story dealing with people such as Sophie, Clarke, Will. She finds it easier to keep things locked inside and not tell, because she is fearful of being judged by others. Early on in the story though, she starts talking to Owen, he is a guy at her school that everyone stays clear of. She had heard rumors of him being sent to jail, and other things that a lot of the other kids at the school liked to gossip about. But eventually she actually talks to him, and gets to know him better. And figures out why it is that he is always listening to music. And this leads to a whole new level within the story, as you see what happens between her and Owen. You also have Owen's sister Mallory who is obsessed with Annabel and really looks up to her, and wants to be like her. She loves modeling, and once she meets Annabel things just go from there. I really liked Owen and Annabel's story, and how things such as music brought them closer and how it essentially changed their lives in several ways.

In the end, I had to give this book 5 stars. It was truly a amazing book, I found it so hard to write a review on because I enjoyed it so much, and there was so much I wanted to talk about but I didn't want to have any spoilers in the review.. Well any major spoilers anyway. But I absolutely loved this book, even if it's the second Dessen book I have read, I am excited to see if any of the others can top it. I hope you enjoyed the review, and hope that it made any sense. :P I just honestly didn't know how I was going to be able to post a review on this book after I finished, because it was that good.. But here is my attempt. :)

Author: Suzanne Collins
Release Date: August 24th, 2010
Publisher:  Scholastic
Pages: 390
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought


Rating: ★★★★




~Summary~ (From Goodreads)

Young Katniss Everdeen has survived the dreaded Hunger Games not once, but twice, but even now she can find no relief. In fact, the dangers seem to be escalating: President Snow has declared an all-out war on Katniss, her family, her friends, and all the oppressed people of District 12. The thrill-packed final installment of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy will keep young hearts pounding

~My Review~


I was hoping to have this review up a few days ago, as it's a series that I read awhile back. But I just had a really hard time trying to figure out how to put a review for this final book into words. Let me begin by saying that this is a epic finale for the series. In Catching Fire, things started to pick up between the rebels and the Capitol but now in Mockingjay, things just explode between them and it leaves for a very thrilling read.


One of the main aspects of this book that I enjoyed most, is just the whole idea of a battle between good and evil. When you step back and look at the story after reading it, you realize that as far as the leaders of both sides go, they are very similar. On one side you have Snow, which we knew was a horrible person from pretty much the start of the series. But then, you also have Coin which is leading the rebels. But you don't really get a feel for how she perceives things until later on in the story, but once you do realize it all you see that she is no different than Snow in almost every way. She is bent on gaining all of the power in Panem, and she isn't afraid to kill those that get in her way, including Katniss. She becomes scared of Katniss, once she realizes that the people in the rebellion trust Katniss more than they do her. And she attempts several times to have Katniss killed, and also ends up hurting or killing some people that Katniss is very close too. But in the end, it's only the people that are truly good in this situation. Coin and Snow had always been one in the same.


Another thing I really loved about this book, is that Suzanne didn't sugarcoat anything. She isn't afraid to kill off characters, or anything like that. And I feel that when it comes to doing things like that, a lot of authors tend to shy away from it because they are afraid of upsetting fans of the series if they really became attached to a certain character. But in context with the book, it makes it much more real the way Suzanne wrote it. And I respect her a lot for not trying to turn something like a war into something that don't make sense to the story.


I really enjoyed how Suzanne tried to sum the book up too, going on to when Katniss has children and everything. That was a really nice touch. I just think there were some things lacking from the ending that would of been nice to know, such as where did some of the characters end up, and things like that. But all in all I think she did a great job summing it up.


In the end, I had to give the final book 4 stars. I debated this rating for quite awhile, but I just didn't really feel completely satisfied with the ending as a whole. It was a amazing ending, and I am glad she kept everything real to the context and events tasking place and didn't try to sugarcoat it. But I just felt like it was lacking something, as to what that is? I honestly don't know, but I just felt like it didn't do justice for the first two books. But don't let this lower rating shy you away from reading it, I can't say it enough about how epic of a finale this book gave. 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish 


1. Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling: This is my favorite series of all time, I just don't know if I would be able to express that in a review. I might do reviews of them in the future if I go back and read them all again, but right now I don't have any plans too.

2. Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R Tolkien: This is another series I really love, but haven't done a review on. And not sure if I will. It's a amazing series though, and worth reading if you like fantasy books.

3. The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima: I haven't done a review on this book, as I read it years ago. But I plan to re-read it along with The Wizard Heir and The Dragon Heir. And I will most likely do a review on all three eventually.

4. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown: This is one of those books that I have been tempted to do a review on, but I want to try and keep most of my reviews YA. I did a review of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, but I love this book also.

5. Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli: I couldn't really come up with a good review for this one. I really enjoyed the book, just found it to be difficult to review. It's basically a history of the Harry Potter fan base and also a personal story of Melissa's experiences with Harry Potter.

6. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks: I didn't do a review on this, again, I want to try and keep this mostly YA related as far as reviews go as that's my genre of choice. But I did really enjoy this book.

7. A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks: This was the first Nicholas Sparks book I read, and it's by far my favorite of his book.

8. The Outsiders by S.E Hinton: This was a book I read a really long time ago.. I can't even remember when I read it exactly but it's a really amazing book. Need to try re-reading it now that I am a little older.

9. The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking: This is a Non-Fiction book, but I really enjoyed it because I love reading about Physics and Astronomy and everything that is involved with those two topics. Really interesting book though.

10. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee: This book was by far one of my favorite books that I read in school. I wish I would of been doing reviews at the time, but I might try reading it again and do one on it eventually.

Author: Suzanne Collins
Release Date: September 1st 2009
Publisher:  Scholastic 
Pages: 391
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought


Rating: ★★★★★




~Summary~ (From Goodreads)

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the annual competition described in Hunger Games, but the aftermath leaves these victors with no sense of triumph. Instead, they have become the poster boys for a rebellion that they never planned to lead. That new, unwanted status puts them in the bull's-eye for merciless revenge by The Capitol. Catching Fire maintains the adrenaline rush of Suzanne Collins's series launch.

~My Review~


Out of the three books in the series, this is personally my favorite. It picks up speed and it don't stop until the end.. and oh boy the end... It's got a cliffhanger that makes you want to pick up the third book right away. Got to love it when authors do that, just a small tease to leave you craving for more. Luckily I had started reading it after all the books were already out, so I didn't have to wait to pick up the third book. But I can imagine that it was quite the tease for those that had read it before Mockingjay had been released. 


As I stated above, this book starts off fast and don't let up until the last page. If you've read the first book, you know that Katniss and Peeta had won the Hunger Games in a way that has never been seen before and the Capitol was not happy about it, and now they are being readied for their Victory Tour. But what exactly does the capitol have planned for Katniss now that she made them look like fools? I don't want to give away any spoilers, but lets just say you're in for quite the treat when it comes to that scenario. There is a ton of action in this book, and even another Hunger games (The Quarter Quell).. But who is involved this time? You will be amazed by all the twists and turns that take place in Catching Fire. And as I said above, the end will leave you craving to get your hands on Mockingjay. 


I gave Catching Fire a 5 star rating, it is a amazing book. The pace and everything is excellent. And I can't get over how great the ending is, I think I have mentioned it like three times so far... but that last line leaves you with so many questions as to what will happen next. It's definitely my favorite of the series, and I just love how well Suzanne wrote it, leaving you always wanting to know what happens next. Definitely worth picking up if you've already read The Hunger Games. :)

Author: Suzanne Collins
Release Date: September 14, 2008
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 374
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought


Rating: ★★★★★

~Summary~  (From Goodreads)

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

I wasn't sure how much I would like this series when I went in. I started reading it after all of the books had already been released, so I had heard a lot of things about the book both good and bad. And up to that point, I hadn't really ever ready many books like it. But I am glad I did finally decide to read this book. It quickly became one of my all time favorites. 


First I want to talk about some of the main characters (Might not cover all). I will leave Katniss for last, because I feel like I will go on and on if I don't, So lets start with Peeta. Peeta is one of those character is seems like everyone could like, he is one of my top three characters in the book, just for the fact that he don't let people stand in his way, and he will protect those he cares about even if it costs him his life. The next character I want to talk about is Haymitch, he was another character I really liked. He pushed Katniss and Peeta to make sure they could survive pretty much anything within the arenas, you will learn whole lot about Haymitch in the other books, but he is one of those characters that can keep you guessing. And finally, I want to talk about Katniss, I don't even know where to begin. She is one of my favorite female protagonists, she shows amazing strength in the arena, and also back home in District 12 taking care of her mom and Prim. She is just one of those characters that are so easy to become attached too. And it's great to see how much she changes throughout the story with everything she has to go through. I know there were some characters I left out. but I could of went on forever if I had kept going.


The final thing I want to talk about is just some of the basics behind the story. As you read in the summary, there is something called the Hunger games. I'm not going to just repeat the summary so if you haven't read it make sure to scroll up to do so. But anyway, it's really a scary idea that it's all based around. It's something that is plausible, although not likely. But just the fact that something like the Hunger Games could actually happen is pretty scary. But I feel like Suzanne did a amazing job creating this world, and making it all blend in together from the amazing characters, to the amazing settings. You just can't go wrong with this book. 


So in the end, I had to give this book 5 stars. As I said above, you really can't go wrong with this book. It's beautifully written, fast paced, and you really become attached to a lot of the amazing characters in it. I know when I was reading this book, I had a hard time putting it down because it is just so fast paced, and I felt like I was going to miss out on something amazing if I stopped for a little while to do something else. I highly suggest this book to anyone out there that hasn't read it. I strongly doubt that you will be disappointed with this book after you've read it.


Plan to have a review of Catching Fire and Mockingjay up soon (Next few days) so watch out for those. :)

Q. If you could write yourself a part in a book, what book would it be and what role would you play in that book?

I would have to go with a action/dystopian book similar to Divergent/Graceling/Hunger Games. I find it really hard just to pick one out of those. :P But I would love to play a role that is in the middle of it all. I would love to be able to fight, even if it's fighting with words. It'd just be so awesome to just play a really brave role, that will do anything to protect that their fighting for. I think that it a great trait to have, don't really have to be fighting but just standing up for what is right and not letting people push you down. :) I know it's not the best answer, but it's always the role I wish I could play in books like these. I got a feeling this will be similar to a lot of people.. I noticed it was similar to parajunkee but I just answered the question honestly. I just really love those types of books, and all the strong roles the characters play in them and I think it would be awesome to play a role in books like that. 

I had a suggestion to do some discussion topics. And this was one of the suggestions that was mentioned, so I figured why not.

From what I have seen, there really isn't many guys that do book blogs. There are a few out there though that are extremely active in the community. And I think it's great to see guys getting involved, in what seems to be a community that is heavily dominated by female book bloggers.

I'm not sure if it's because some guys might think it's intimidating to come into something that there aren't many guys doing, or if it's just for the fact that most guys don't read as much as girls do. I think both of those could be reasons why we don't see very many guys in the book blogging community. But it'd be great to see more join in.

Now, I am nowhere near being a established blogger. But that is a goal of mine, I want to have a blog that I am proud of where I can share my opinions on all of the books I read and be able to have great content for the people that read my blog. I want to make sure to keep my focus aimed towards putting out quality content, and staying true to myself when I do reviews.

But regardless of being a guy in a blogging community mainly made up of female bloggers. I am loving being a part of it, I have had nothing but great responses from everyone in the community that I have talked to. And it keeps me wanting to put out more and more content. I'm glad I made the choice to step into the blogging community, even if it's hard to get going I feel like it's worth it to be able to meet a lot of great people in the community and just to be able to share my opinions and view others.

I hope as time goes on we will see more and more guys join the book blogging community.

Here is a list of some of the male book bloggers out there that I know about. :)

http://www.electrifyingreviews.com/ - Alex


http://www.novelthoughtsblog.com/  -  Jeremy and Jeffrey West


http://bookchicclub.blogspot.com/ - James


http://yaurban.blogspot.com/ - JP


Make sure to check them out. :)

Author: Kristin Cashore
Release Date: Oct 01, 2008
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 471
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought


Rating: ★★★★★




~Synopsis~

Romantic medieval fantasy from a debut author

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.
When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

~My Review~

I had really high hopes for this book going in. And I can easily say that I wasn't disappointed with this book. This is a amazing debut novel by Kristin Cashore, and I so glad I decided to pick it up.

Firstly, I want to talk about the character.. oh the characters. They were beyond amazing, I have heard them be compared to other popular character out there, but I have to say they are completely their own. And they all are so easy to become attached to. Katsa is a amazingly strong willed heroine, and I love how she learns things about herself, and others throughout the story and comes to terms with a lot of it. And Prince Po is another one of those character that you find yourself becoming really attached to. His character goes through a lot in the story, and it's really great to see how truly important he is to the story. And how great him and Katsa work together. The other character I want to talk about is Bitterblue, she is such a cute character. I love how strong willed she is for her age, and how much she helps Katsa and Po in discovering a lot of things about themselves.

Secondly I want to talk about the world. The world Kristin created in this book is amazing, just the scale of it seems immense and to see the stark differences between the different kingdoms and also the political differences between them is really great. And shows how much time Kristin put into all the little detail to make it such a immersing world.

I also loved how the romance is done in this book, I don't mind romance in books. Even if it's the main topic. But I love how Kristin added that romance in there between Katsa and Po, and how she made it really work great with the story without taking away from all the other aspects of the story.

In the end, I give this book 5 stars. It's just had a really amazing pace, I didn't feel like there were any slow moments. And I love all of the characters, and how much detail Kristin put into everything within her world. I highly suggest that everyone read this if you've been planning too or even if it's your first time hearing about it. It's well worth the read. :)

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

Book Summary (From harperteen):

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her over-protective mom, by Matt Quinn, the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, the voices are demons—and Bridget possesses the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from. Literally.
Terrified to tell her friends or family about this new power, Bridget confides in San Francisco’s senior exorcist, Monsignor Renault. The monsignor enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession, but just as she is starting to come to terms with her freakish new role, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. And when one of her oldest friends is killed, Bridget realizes she’s in deeper than she ever thought possible. Now she must unlock the secret to the demons’ plan before someone else close to her winds up dead—or worse, the human vessel for a demon king. 

I've been hearing a lot about this book from other bloggers. And it really sounds like it will be a amazing book. The plot sounds great, and it's different from most books I read so that just has me even more interested. Can't wait to get a chance to pick up this book.

The book is going to be released on 8/23/2011.

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/ 

My Top Ten Favorite Book Characters:

10. Robert Langdon - He is the Main Character in some of Dan Brown's most popular book such as The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. I just really like how he has so much knowledge in different things, and can use that knowledge to figure out pretty much anything that is put in his path in these books.

9. Liesel Meminger - She is the main character in The Book Thief, I really enjoyed her character. She is incredibly strong female character, even at a young age. And I felt like that was really inspiring, especially given the context of the story.

8. Katniss Everdeen - She is the main character of The Hunger Games, and she is another incredibly strong female character. She can do anything, and I think that is really great. She is definitely one of my favorite Dystopian characters.

7. Hermione Granger - She is one of the main character in Harry Potter. She was one of those characters that I feel like is extremely inspiring for kids and even adults. Showing that it's okay to be smart. I just think she has a really great message behind her character.

6. Andi Alpers - She is the main character in Revolution. There is a lot about her character that I really liked, she was going through a lot of really tough things in this book. But in the end, she pulled herself through and I thought it was really inspiring to see how she turned things around for the better.

5. Ron Weasly - He is one of those main characters of Harry Potter. When I think of Ron, I see him as one of those people that can be everyone's friend. He is such a great character.

4. Neville Longbottom - Yet another character from Harry Potter. I really liked his character, especially for the fact that you never really see how strong of a character he is until the last few books. But once you see that, you realize how great of a character he has been through the entire story in different ways.

3. Hans Hubermann - He is Liesel's adoptive father in The Book Thief. He is such a amazing character, all of the amazing morals he teaches Liesel and the fact that he despises Hitler and what he is doing to people. And for the fact that he risks his life to protect a jew named Max that he lets stay in his basement.

2. Beatrice Prior (Triss) - She is the main character in Divergent, she is another one of those strong female leads. I loved how defiant she was, and how she wouldn't let anything stand in her way.

1. Harry Potter - I'm sure you all know who this character is. I had to give him the #1 spot for this, simply because he is the character that got me into reading many years ago when the first Harry Potter book came out. I wouldn't be doing what I am doing now if it wasn't for his books. :)

Author: Michelle Ray
Release Date: July 5th 2011
Publisher:  Poppy
Pages: 368
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought


Rating: ★★★★


~Synopsis~

Meet Ophelia: a blonde, beautiful high-school senior and long-time girlfriend of Prince Hamlet of Denmark. Her life is dominated not only by her boyfriend's fame and his overbearing family, but also by the paparazzi who hound them wherever they go. As the devastatingly handsome Hamlet spirals into madness after the mysterious death of his father, the King, Ophelia rides out his crazy roller coaster life, and lives to tell about it. In live television interviews, of course. Passion, romance, drama, humor, and tragedy intertwine in this compulsively readable debut novel, told by a strong-willed, modern-day Ophelia.

I wasn't sure what to think going into this book. I love Shakespeare and I don't really tend to like adaptations of his work as I feel like it has to be done in a certain way or it just takes so much away from a lot of key plot elements. But I was so glad I decided to give this adaptation of Hamlet a chance, Michelle didn't let me down. :)

I loved how the different characters were adapted into this re-telling. And to have it in a YA format was really interesting, having to adapt those characters with modern situations that appeal to readers of YA. I can imagine that was quite a task, to be able to do without ruining to basis for all the characters. But Michelle did a beautiful job with this task.

I also loved how she made some of the most influential plot lines from the original story work so amazingly well with the modern setting. I love how Michelle did the talk show snippets at the start of each chapter, and then the interrogation snippets at the end of each chapter. That was a really great touch.

And to be honest, I really enjoyed the modern take on the romance between Ophelia and Hamlet. I've never been one to be picky when it comes to reading or not reading books with romance, and I really think Michelle portrayed the romance in a great way for the modern setting. I do feel like there were a few parts that could of been left out, but overall she did a great job with this aspect of the story.

And I can't end this review without mentioning the cover. I absolutely loved this cover, the black and white with Ophelia and Hamlet and then the glossy title text and the chair. It looks really great, in my opinion.

Overall I had to give this book four stars. I would of gave it five, but it just felt like there were a few sections that wen't really slow and just dragged everything out. I really feel like there were a few things that could of been sped up that would of caused no damage to the story. But I do recommend this story if you're looking for a fun and easy read, aside from the few slow parts it's really a great book.

Another giveaway from Katie's Book Blog, just posted today. Make sure to check it out if you want to win a cope of Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness. :)

Giveaway Link: Here

And make sure to check out all her other giveaways, I got them listed on the post from the other day. They end on the 31st of August so you still got a chance to go enter.

These Giveaways are hosted by Katie @ Katie's Book Blog. Please make sure to go check them out. :)

Giveaway #1: Here

Giveaway #2: Here

Giveaway #3: Here

All of the Giveaways are open until the 31st of August.

Katie's Blog: Here

I did some videos about this book awhile back, and just figured I would make a blog post just to get the word out there even more. This is a great book, for a great cause. If you're a Harry Potter fan, I highly recommend checking out this book.

At the moment, I am not sure how much longer it will be on sale. From what I know, they will only be selling it until they run out of the first printing.

Links:


Purchase Link - http://thehpalliance.org/dearmrpotter/

Information Link - http://www.dearmrpotter.org/


The book is compiled and edited by Lily Zalon. All proceeds from “Dear Mr. Potter” will directly benefit the Harry Potter Alliance and its efforts to improve literacy worldwide.


Videos I did talking about the book:

Dan Brown is one of the few authors in Adult literature that I really enjoy reading. I don't know if it's just his writing style, or if it's the subjects of his writing. I have always been interested in history, and knowing about all the things that went on before my time. And I think it's great how Dan includes a mixture of both fact and fiction when it comes to his historical writings. And then to have the modern twist, with Langdon trying to figure out all of these secrets and mysteries surrounding the events that take place.

~Synopsis~

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. Solving the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci…clues visible for all to see…and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.
Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others. The Louvre curator has sacrificed his life to protect the Priory's most sacred trust: the location of a vastly important religious relic, hidden for centuries.

I just wanted to say thank you to Sarah and Claire for mentioning me in their Liebster Blog award post.


Please make sure to check out both of their blogs:

Sarah: http://booksaur.blogspot.com/

Claire: http://whnbstihwsoft.blogspot.com/


And I also want to thank them both for helping me out with getting this blog going. :) Claire made my banner, which I really appreciate and they both helped me out a lot with little tips and told me how to do certain things.

Where do I begin with this book? It is seriously one of the most amazing books I have ever read. There is just so much about it that screams brilliance.

Liesel Meminger is only nine years old when she is taken to live with the Hubermanns, a foster family, on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany, in the late 1930's. She arrives with few possessions, but among them is The Grave Digger's Handbook, a book she stole from her brother's burial place. During the years that Liesel lives with the Hubermanns, Hitler becomes more powerful, life on Himmel Street becomes more fearful, and Liesel becomes a full-fledged book thief. She rescues books from Nazi book-burnings and steals from the library of the mayor. Liesel is illiterate when she steals her first book, but Hans Hubbermann uses her prized books to teach her to read. This is a story of courage, friendship, love, survival, death, and grief. This is Liesel's life on Himmel Street, told from Death's point of view.

This book has such a different take on the subject of Nazi Germany than I have seen before. It's really interesting to see what happened back then from different perspectives. Hans, Rosa and Liesel all despise Hitler and what he does. And they take in a Jew named Max and him and Liesel form a very powerful friendship throughout the time he is staying with them.

There are so many things going on in this story, from Max having to hide in the basement when inspectors come to check if it is suitable as a bomb shelter, to Liesel and her best friend Rudy playing outside on Himmel Street. There is a lot of contrast between the events that take place in the book. And Markus does a great job of not trying to sugarcoat things. He keeps things blunt, and very real. And when it comes to the topics in the book, I think that with him doing that it just makes it that much better of a story.

This is a book that everyone should read at least once in your life time. It's truly that powerful of a book. And I really think it will be among the classics, as many others have said.

I read this book a few months ago, and had done a video review. But I wanted to make a blog post about it now that I have got my blog up and going for the most part.

~Summary ~

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

This is Veronica's debut novel, and I personally think it was a major success. It's one of those books that is hard to put down, especially towards the middle and end. There is a mix of everything in this book such as romance, action, and politics. It really draws you in and keeps you there.

The main character Triss, is a amazing character. It's great to see more and more strong female characters coming into literature. And Triss is certainly one of them.

I highly recommend this book to everyone out there that hasn't read it. I highly doubt you will be disappointed in it. :)

I can't wait for the second book due out next year.

Who knew that guys could really enjoy Sarah Dessen books? I think this was a amazing book, I read it awhile back and did a video review on my YouTube page but I didn't get around to making a blog post.

I think Sarah did a amazing job with the characters in the book, it's so easy to become attached to them. And it's great that there is that awesome mix of personalities among the characters, it really adds to the atmosphere of the story and make it that much more enjoyable.

The main plot was really simple, but it was written in a way that made it much more than just a simple scenario. With all the things going on with Macy's and Jason's relationship, and the problems Macy runs into when she starts working at the Library. All of the detail in those moments really adds to the story.

And then you have the point where Macy meets Wes, and you sense that connection between them and it's pretty obvious to the reader what is going on, but you don't truly find out what's going on until later on in the story.

In the end, I can say that I honestly enjoy this book. And for this being the first Sarah Desson book I read, it has me wanting to read more books by her. And I do plan to in the future.