tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41426477248412227562024-03-13T11:13:39.275-05:00This is Your Brain on Booksa young adult book blogpepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-57966246220518191772013-09-13T06:27:00.001-05:002013-09-13T06:28:58.475-05:00MOVING TO WORDPRESS!Oh, hi!<br />
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My blog is moving to Wordpress - it's now <b>thisisyourbrainonbooks.wordpress.com</b><br />
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If you don't enjoy cat pictures, <a href="http://thisisyourbrainonbooks.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: blue;">here's where my blog is going.</span></a><br />
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I disappeared for....like...6 months because it was my last semester of college ever!<br />
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And now I'm back and I've been reading and writing reviews like mad! <a href="http://thisisyourbrainonbooks.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Which will be over here!</span></a><br />
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Seriously, in the time I've been gone, cats started writing books. Not that I'm complaining...because that's just adorable.<br />
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Anyway, I have NEW book reviews for you! The 1st will be Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, which I finally read and loved. </div>
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<b><a href="http://thisisyourbrainonbooks.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: blue;">So, please visit my blog at its new home and enjoy the reviews!</span></a></b></div>
<br />pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-65242957779164887172013-02-10T00:29:00.000-06:002013-02-10T00:29:53.637-06:00Major Crush<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001D201DA/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001D201DA&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B001D201DA&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001D201DA" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Major Crush by Jennifer Echols</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tired of the beauty-pagean circuit, Virginia Sauter tosses her tiara, pierces her nose, and auditions for the most unlikely of roles -- drum major of the high school marching band.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Virginia wins, but is forced to share the title with Drew, whose family has held the position for generations. Sure, Drew is hot, but because of his superior attitude, he and Virginia are constantly arguing. That is, until they share more than just their half-time salute...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as the drum major's heated competition turns to sizzling romance, explosive rumors threaten everything -- including the band's success. Love seemed to be a sure hit, but Virginia and Drew may be marching straight into disaster.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a great book about marching band and some of the crazy situations that can happen when you put between 100 and 300 teens together for large amounts of time. I was in marching band in high school (French horn / mellophone) so I saw this book differently than someone who has never experienced that culture would. First of all, I have something to admit. The 1st time I saw this book at a Goodwill, I didn't buy it because of the friend I was with. She's into adult books, and her only YA likes are John Green books - and I was embarrassed of wanting to read a cute high school romance book. And you know what? I'm never gonna hesitate to read something I want to read because of someone else's opinion again. This book may be fluffy, but I loved it and will definitely go read some of the Jennifer Echols books everyone's raving about.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>band geek personalities</u> - So this is something that probably only makes sense if you know people in band. In this book, the personalities of the people in each section are true to real life. The trombone players are the ones goofing off and enjoying everything immature, the clarinets are mostly girls who have you could possibly need somehow concealed in their uniforms. Seriously, if you need mascara or lipgloss, the clarinets are your source. This book was really entertaining to me because it reflected my band experience so well with these personalities. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Mr. Rush</u> - Virginia's new band director isn't happy with the drum major situation either, and his methods of forcing Virginia and Drew to get along are hilariously strange. He curses in front of his students and he makes everyone at faculty meetings mad every time he goes to them. Each scene where Virginia goes up against Mr. Rush is a highlight. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>plot</u> - The whole premise of this book is something I love. Virginia and Drew don't get along, yet they have to be drum majors and lead the band together. Band requires a lot of time, so they are thrown together often. I liked that both of them were stubborn for their own reasons - Drew because of his family and Virginia because she wants to prove herself. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>anti-racism</u> - This is a cute romance book, so I didn't at all expect it to take on racism, but it did. Virginia's school is in Alabama and has a separate contest for black girls so that they can't be Homecoming Queen, and apparently no one questioned this - um, what?! - until Mr. Rush came along. I appreciated that this book dealt with racist insults (something that unfortunately does still happen) and the reactions to them. Just because something is a "tradition" doesn't mean it shouldn't ever be changed or questioned. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Walter</u> - I found Walter annoying, possibly because I usually find it annoying when someone the main character is not interested in is crushing on them. I don't need someone to have a crush on the MC to see her as someone of value. There do exist stories that have nothing to do with love. I'm over-thinking this. Walter is annoying because he acts like Virginia is a horrible friend for not liking him back.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Mr. Rush made a show of stacking his papers, turning them just so on his desk. "Let me tell you what </i>I <i>know. I'm living in a town that's so small and remote, it doesn't have a McDonald's. I've taken a job that's so bad, the guy before me was dying to break out and start his stellar career as a mailman." </i> - Mr. Rush, pg. 40</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>He poked at Drew with the end of his trombone slide. I think this was a boy version of concern. </i> - Virginia, pg. 114</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A cute band geek romance, with just the right balance of side plot to keep it from being too gooey</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Acquired: bought at Goodwill</span></div>
<br />pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-15294478601169765472013-01-20T21:50:00.003-06:002013-01-20T21:53:04.675-06:00Don't Stop Now<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312643462/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=thisi0e1-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0312643462" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0312643462&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0312643462" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><b>Don't Stop Now by Julie Halpern</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published: 6-7-2011 by Feiwel and Friends</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the first day of Lillian’s summer-before-college, she gets a message on her cell from her sort-of friend, Penny. Not only has Penny faked her own kidnapping, but Lil is the only one who figures it out. She knows that Penny’s home life has been rough, and that her boyfriend may be abusive. Soon, Penny’s family, the local police, and even the FBI are grilling Lil, and she decides to head out to Oregon, where Penny has mentioned an acquaintance. And who better to road-trip across the country with than Lil’s BFF, Josh. But here’s the thing: Lil loves Josh. And Josh doesn’t want to “ruin” their amazing friendship.</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><u>vagueness</u> - I appreciated how the author left it up to the reader to decide if Penny was really abused by her boyfriend. If her parents really did ignore her. Signs definitely point to yes in both cases, but things in life aren't black and white. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><u>Lil</u> - I felt that Lil was easy to relate to for numerous reasons. She just graduated high school and is worried about the future, she's crushing on her closest guy friend, and she's willing to go to all lengths to make sure her friend is safe. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><u>tourist traps</u> - The places that Lil and Josh stop at along their road trip are so off-the-wall crazy. They're interesting pieces of our weird country - things like the Corn Palace and the House on the Rock - collections of things that someone thought were worth building shrines to. </span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><u>Penny</u> - Penny is an unreliable source of information. She's talked about frequently, yet seen rarely, making her a sort of dark cloud hanging over Lil and Josh. Penny's reaction to Lil driving for days just to make sure she's alright is way too casual. Penny has no concept of what friendship is, or of how big a deal running away and faking a kidnapping is. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><u>Josh</u> - Sure, Josh would be a great friend to go on a road trip with - he's entertaining and has daddy issues that result in a bottomless credit card. But Josh doesn't seem like good boyfriend material. He's a loyal friend to Lil, but he's sometimes clueless and other times purposefully ignorant of Lil's feelings. I felt like he toyed with her emotions constantly. He would kiss her forehead or tell her she looked sexy but not want to be more than friends. I still can't decide if he was being clueless or if he was being a jerk. If he was confused about his own feelings toward her, that would have been fine if he'd just told her that. </span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i>We drive until my eyes close, until the tape flips again, until we finally come to a stop, in a town Josh tells me in a dreamy whisper is called Wall, and I float behind him as he holds my hand and leads me to a bed that's not mine and I fall asleep. </i> - Lil pg. 112</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i>Josh starts, "So I had this idea while I was driving last night..." </i></span></span><i style="color: #181818; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">My interest peaked, I'm certain he's about to finally reveal his undying devotion to me. Or at least that he'd like to make out some time. But instead he says, "Tambourines, man. Gotta get some tambourines." Logically. </i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">- Lil pg. 147</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 robots</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mostly about Lil's desire to be more than friends with her BFF Josh, but the road trip brings all the highlights</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you're interested in weird tourist spots in the USA, I really like this book:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1412706130/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=thisi0e1-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1412706130"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1412706130&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1412706130" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: bought</span></div>
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pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-63348417921981930502013-01-13T01:38:00.001-06:002013-01-13T01:53:16.490-06:00Get Well Soon<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312581483/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=thisi0e1-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0312581483" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0312581483&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" /></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published: 10-2-2007 by Feiwel and Friends</span></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Anna Bloom is depressed—so depressed that her parents have committed her to a mental hospital with a bunch of other messed-up teens. Here, she meets a roommate with a secret (and a plastic baby), a doctor who focuses way too much on her weight, and a cute, shy boy who just might like her. But wait! Being trapped in a loony bin isn’t supposed to be about making friends, losing weight, and having a crush, is it?</span></span><br />
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I've always been pretty interested in reading Young Adult books about mental health. The first book I read that addressed a mental health disorder as part of the story was Deb Caletti's <a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-nature-of-jade.html">The Nature of Jade</a>. In Get Well Soon, Anna's depression isn't just a part of the story - it's the reason for the entire plot. The story is loosely based on the author's own experience in a mental health hospital, yet this book manages to be funny as well as raw.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Anna</u> - She's easy to empathize with, and her outlook on all the weird things going on in the mental hospital is unique and funny. It's easy to understand her anger and confusion with her parents, her fear about readjusting to "the real world", and the hope she finds when she makes friends with her fellow "inmates". </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>the other patients</u> - Everyone was interesting to read about. In the mental hospital, the teens' issues range from pregnancy to suicide to Satan worship. Each of Anna's friends has their own personal problems to work through while they're there. It was great to hear all of their opinions on life and the hospital. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>plot</u> - Anna has to deal with ridiculous hospital stuff, like giving other people Appreciations, moving up to Level 3, and sticking out 2 fingers for permission to talk. There are rules that make no sense and forced interactions with other people during group therapy. Overall, the balance between Anna's personal life - finding love and hope - and her depression - working with her therapist and avoiding panic attacks - is perfect. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Justin</u> - I loved the mystery of Justin's past, and Anna noticing the small things about him. They're obsession with music and the way it factors into Justin's story was something I really enjoyed. There's no insta-love here, it's a slow romance that I thought was wonderful.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>It was Sean's turn to choose TV stations (why is it always his turn?), and he puts on "Full House" again. I don't get it: Is there a "Full House" channel that only mental hospitals subscribe to? Who else would? </i> - pg. 121</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>People sent me get well soon cards while I was in a mental hospital. There were fluffy little bunnies, floaty rainbows, and even a religious card. I could understand that Hallmark probably doesn't make "Get Sane Soon" cards, but still. Was I not well before? Am I well now? Who decides? </i> - pg. 190</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Honest and funny, full of unique characters and deep thoughts about life in general</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: bought</span></div>
pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-23453177941174578662012-12-20T07:00:00.000-06:002012-12-20T07:00:15.774-06:00The Queen of Everything<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416957812/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1416957812&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1416957812&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1416957812" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Queen of Everything by Deb Caletti</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Published: 11-2-2002 by Simon Pulse</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People ask me all the time what having Vince MacKenzie for a father was like. What they mean is, was he always crazy?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">High school junior Jordan MacKenzie's life was pretty typical: fractured family, new boyfriend, dead-end job. She'd been living with her father (the predictable optometrist) since her mother (the hippie holdover) had become too embarrassing to be around. Jordan felt that she finally had as normal a life as she could. Then came Gayle D'Angelo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jordan knew her father was dating Gayle and that Gayle was married. Jordan knew it was wrong and that her father was becoming someone she didn't recognize anymore, but what could she do about it? And how could she -- how could anyone -- have possibly guessed that this illicit love affair would implode in such a violent and disturbing way?</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like Deb Caletti's books a lot, but this wasn't one of my favorites. It kinda reminded me of Dreamland by Sarah Dessen, which was a depressing book. This book is about things going on in Jordan's life, but most of the things going on in her life are actually things going on in her dad's life and how they affect her.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Jordan's mom</u> - While Jordan sees her mom as a slightly crazy hippie, I think she's a delightful crazy hippie. Jordan's mom seems to be a much more supportive parent than Jordan thinks she is. She also lives a zany and interesting life.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Jackson</u> - Jackson is a sweet, patient, and unique guy. Jordan should have spent so much more time with Jackson than she did. He's quirky because he got lost by himself for a few days and followed sounds that no one else heard back home. He plays bagpipes and shows up whenever Jordan needs him, even if she doesn't realize she needs him. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Kale</u> - It's difficult to describe how much I <i>hate </i>this guy. He is such a jerk, and every time he showed up I cringed inside because he's just that much of a loser. Jordan wasted so much time with him even thought she knew the kind of guy he was.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Melissa</u> - Yeah, as far as best friends go, Melissa isn't the greatest one. She doesn't really care that Kale is a disgusting person - she just gets obsessed with the fact that a boy is paying attention to Jordan. Melissa is a pretty flat character, and she gets annoyed at Jordan for silly reasons.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Jordan's dad</u> - He's so selfish. He gets into a bad situation, and even though his is fully aware that seeing a married woman is a bad idea, he chooses to ignore the things he doesn't like. When Jordan tries to talk to her dad about what he's doing, he gets angry and pushes her away. He's extremely selfish, and it would have been a lot better for Jordan's life if he had at least attempted to be a decent parent.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>I'm confused</u> - You go into this book not knowing what happened, but Jordan is telling you the story after everything has already happened. It was a bit confusing, especially when Jordan refers to Big Mama, a character we aren't introduced to until very late in the story. It can add to a story if you don't know what's going to happen, because the characters don't know what's going to happen. But it was like Jordan existed in 2 times at once - the time when everything was happening, and the time after it happened.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This photo, ripped up and discarded in anger, did not belong here at our house. This photo of a man who was not even one of us, dressed up for an occasion we were not a part of. It frightened me. Frightened me in a way that I had never felt before. It was the sudden realization that terrible things might not just be for other people. </i> - pg. 103</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"I think I'm going nuts," I said to the cat. But I heard it. It did. I stood up, as if that might help my ears somehow. God, I felt so crazy, but I could have sworn I heard the sound of bagpipes coming from the direction of the creek. </i> - Jordan pg. 332-333</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deb Caletti writes about bad family situations so well, but I found it hard to enjoy this book</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</span></div>
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pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-40248825333710983282012-12-13T07:00:00.000-06:002012-12-14T01:42:45.886-06:00The Death Cure<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385738773/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0385738773&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0385738773&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0385738773" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Death Cure by James Dashner</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Published: 10-11-2011 by Delacorte</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thomas knows that Wicked can't be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they've collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It's up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What Wicked doesn't know is that something's happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can't believe a word of what Wicked says.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will anyone survive the Death Cure?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My opinion of this series is a little strange. I thought the 1st book, The Maze Runner, was just ok. The 2nd book, The Scorch Trials, was action packed and awesome. This book was a big letdown for me, which sucks, but that's just my opinion.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Cranks</u> - The scenes with Cranks in the deteriorating city were intense. These scenes were probably my favorite parts of the book. The subplot of one of the group being infected and slowly going insane was, to me, more interesting than what was going on with WICKED. It was also an emotional punch in the gut.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Brenda</u> - I love how Brenda, and really most of the girls in these books, are not afraid to embrace the butt-kicking that comes with being somehow connected to WICKED. Brenda is not the most fleshed-out character, but I like her. She's smart and not dead weight in the face of danger. I can't remember much of what went on in the Scorch Trials with Brenda, so maybe she is more of a developed character and I just don't remember the details.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>short chapters</u> - The chapters in this book are way too short. They average about 5 pages each, although I am completely guessing - this isn't mathematical at all. It was horribly distracting for there to be a new chapter so often. There are 73 chapters in this book! I just...why? In most books I read, I barely notice the chapters because they are normal length, and I like not noticing the chapters.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>epic conclusion?</u> - I thought this book was a big step down action-wise from The Scorch Trials. There's a lot of description of people being shot with weapons, and other action-y things, but it doesn't feel like action. There's not a lot of dialogue either. Thomas does a lot of thinking and warring with himself.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>indecision</u> - Is WICKED bad? Is WICKED good? What do we do in either of these situations? It's still unclear if the villain is really the villain. This doesn't bother me, but Thomas thinking about it constantly was annoying after awhile. Stop thinking and do something! Also, there was very minimal recap from the 2nd book, which I read a long time ago, so I would have liked a refresher on what happened.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>the group</u> - In The Maze Runner there was clearly a tight-knit group. They had to work together to survive and to escape. In The Scorch Trials, the group expanded a bit, but was also called into question. In this book, Thomas and a few others were separated from everyone else. Basically, the core group was really small and I forgot where some of those characters came from, and I missed some of the other characters I was familiar with.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not the action-packed satisfyingly epic conclusion that I was looking forward to</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: bought</span></div>
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pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-62640816026133963672012-12-06T07:00:00.000-06:002012-12-06T07:00:09.536-06:00Beautiful Darkness<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316077054/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0316077054&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0316077054&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0316077054" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Published: 10-12-2010 by Little, Brown</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.</span><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">Sometimes life-ending.</span><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">I really liked the first book in this series, Beautiful Creatures. Overall, I thought this book was too long and not nearly as exciting as I had hoped. I mean, the summary does say life-ending, so I don't think I was wrong to expect excitement.</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Liv</u> - Once I got over there being a girl who could be the harbinger of yet another YA love triangle (please, please don't be), I realized I like Liv. She's smart, quirky, and gutsy. And also about 99% less whiny than Lena. She made me realize how much I don't really care for Lena.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>enthralling</u> - There is something about these books that is charming and funny. There was more of it in the 1st book, but it still exists in this one. I think this charm may come, in part, from the setting, but I don't think it can be pinned down.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Lena</u> - Uuugh, Lena. I know you are grieving and you were a bit strange before that, but <i> what are you doing?</i> Every time Lena acted rationally, she came up with some new crazy reason to go off and do something stupid. Then she would get mad at Ethan for whatever he was doing while she was destroying things, but never appreciating him when he was trying to help her.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>length</u> - This book is so long. The 1st one was really long as well. While I like that this isn't a series cranking out a 200 page book every year where nothing happens, I also dislike giant lengthy books crammed with non-action. Beautiful Darkness has a lot of back and forth as far as plot goes - lots of thinking and flashbacking, not a lot of anything actually happening until the end. And that bugs me.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>claiming</u> - SPOILERS! Hey, look at that - another book that ends with a claiming in which Lena <i>yet again</i> does not decide if she's going to be a light or dark Caster. Two things about this: 1. Is it really that hard to pick a side? Light or Dark - they're even capitalized (which is annoying). Don't they have Star Wars? The Dark Side is clearly not a good thing. 2. <i>Again?</i> You really need two very thick books worth of time to choose? I understand that the time passing is way shorter than it feels to people reading about it, but if I wait a year for a sequel, something significant should happen. Is this whole series going to be a buildup to you picking? Because it's on book 4 now and I don't think I can read for that long unless <i>major </i>things happen.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>My voice echoed across the chamber, and I noticed an intricate chandelier hanging from the high, vaulted ceiling. It was made of some kind of smooth, white polished horn, or was it bone? The ironwork held long tapered candles that lit the room with a delicate flickering light, illuminating some corners while leaving other dark and unexposed. </i> - pg. 177</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>"L, look at this." Ridley's head whipped toward me, and I froze. I had called Liv "L." There was only one L in my life. Even though Live didn't notice, Ridley did. </i> - Ethan pg. 375</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still a great setting and premise, but not as exciting as the 1st book</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</span></div>
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pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-89857283759902086782012-11-29T07:00:00.000-06:002012-11-29T07:00:05.868-06:00Flora Segunda<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007AIT20E/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007AIT20E&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B007AIT20E&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Published: </b></span><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B007AIT20E" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1-1-2007 by Harcourt</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">Flora knows better than to take shortcuts in her family home, Crackpot Hall--the house has eleven thousand rooms, and ever since her mother banished the magickal butler, those rooms move around at random. But Flora is late for school, so she takes the unpredictable elevator anyway. </span><em style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">Huge</em><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;"> mistake. Lost in her own house, she stumbles upon the long-banished butler--and into a mind-blowing muddle of intrigue and betrayal that changes her world forever.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">Flora Segunda is a magical book, a little confusing sometimes, but very entertaining and charming. Flora is thirteen going on fourteen, and she's not the least bit afraid of adventure. This is definitely a trait I enjoy in a main character.</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Flora</u> - Flora is a spitfire. She's seriously awesome and a little bit (ok, very) disobedient. She's fourteen but she's out to kick butt and be a ranger, which is basically a spy, just like her idol, Nini Mo. She doesn't spend a lot of time planning things, but she manages to get things done her way.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>plot</u> - Everything is pretty much against Flora - even some of the people she thought were on her side. Despite this, Flora does what she believes is right, and she does so with no hesitation. It's adventurous the whole way through. It's more fantasy than paranormal and I think we need more of that in general.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>magic</u> - I'm not completely sure I understand what Flora's magic is, but the magical atmosphere of this book is great. Flora's house has an elevator that goes wherever it pleases, eleven thousand rooms, and a strange purple guy she never knew existed.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>capitalization</u> - There were Dainty Pirates who were also known by other names, there were monster-birds who came out of nowhere and were really creepy, and there were mansions with capitalized names that also had nonhuman creatures who were either living inside the houses or were the houses - I'm not exactly sure. One of my biggest bookish pet peeves is the capitalization of regular words. House. Butler. Elevator. It makes me confused and my brain stumbles for a second. I just don't understand the need for it. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Valefor</u> - I would hope that if you live in a somewhat magical house and find a magical butler, that he would be nice. Valefor is a manipulative jerk. He takes advantage of Flora and this puts here in great danger. He's also extremely selfish. And purple. Although I guess being purple isn't a bad thing.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>But the stupid Elevator did not let me off at the Hallway of Laborious Desire. No, the stupid Elevator had slowly and silently borne me upward, gently floating as on a summer swell, and though I banged and shouted, the Elevator did not slow or stop. Past the second floor it went, past a third floor - we'd never had a third floor before - upward and upward it went, smooth and steady, until with a grinding whine, it stopped. The golden outer doors opened to a thick darkness. </i> - pg. 18-19</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>He wiggled a little wave in my direction and dissolved into a froth of purple. Well, he could pout all he wanted; my plan did not hinge on him, anyway, though I had hoped to get him to help Udo and me with our disguises, and maybe whip us up a nice snack before we went to tackle the Warlord. </i> - I don't know the pg. #....oops</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 robots</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A book with a brave and adventurous heroine, great writing, and unnecessary capitalizing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</span></div>
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pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-75028633018565207882012-11-23T07:00:00.000-06:002012-11-23T07:00:10.450-06:00Darth Paper Strikes Back<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1419700278/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1419700278&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1419700278&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving (in the USA it was yesterday). If you are Black Friday shopping today (eek!) be safe and don't be a jerk! Shopping online is much more enjoyable and less bloody. Plus you can be around your family and eat leftovers while you shop. Anyways, review time.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Published: 8-23-11 by Amulet Books</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">NOT SUCH A LONG TIME AGO, IN A MIDDLE SCHOOL NOT SO FAR, FAR AWAY...</span><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">Something amazing happened. A weird kid named Dwight made an origami finger puppet of Yoda. (That wasn't the amazing thing--just typical Dwight weirdness.) the amazing thing was that Origami Yoda gave great advice. He could predict the date of a pop quiz, tell a guy if a girl likes him or not, and keep kids from embarrassing themselves in a dozen different ways. Most of the sixth graders were convinced he was using the Force. </span><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">But now, a year later, it's a dark time at McQuarrie Middle School. Dwight has been suspended and may be expelled, which means no more Origami Yoda. Even worse, Darth Paper, a puppet created by Dwight's nemesis, Harvey, has taken Yoda's place. He spews insults and evil and just may be responsible for getting Dwight kicked out in the first place. Now the kids of McQuarrie are trying to build a case to save Dwight. This is their case file.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The Strange Case of Origami Yoda was cute and funny (<a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-strange-case-of-origami-yoda.html">see review here</a>), and I am very excited that it is now part of a series! There is a more defined plot in this book, and also more origami, which makes Star Wars nerds like me very happy. Well, it makes me happy - I'm just assuming other people are happy about it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">Here are my Yoda and Darth Vader origamis! (Is that the plural of origami?)</span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>plot</u> - Dwight / Origami Yoda's advice is mistaken for a threat and he gets suspended, so Tommy and his friends make another case file to get the school board to let Dwight come back to school. And despite the fact that there are more things going on in this book, it's still filled with random Yoda awesomeness!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Darth Paper</u> - While Harvey's kind of mean and is definitely mean to Dwight, Darth Paper is entertaining. Well, actually, Darth Paper is mean because he's just Harvey, but the fact that Darth Paper exists is entertaining to me. I found the arguments between Darth and Yoda very funny.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>stories</u> - Again, Origami Yoda finds unique ways to solve problems in seventh grade daily life. There are exploding pizza bagels and silly school rules, and it's all pretty cool.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>another school?</u> - What happens if Dwight goes to a different school than Tommy and everyone else? They are in desperate need of Jedi knowledge! What happens in the 3rd book? Where does the wookiee come from? (Yes, that is how you spell wookiee)</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>So you've already heard about how Dwight got sent home after the whole "Prepare to meet your Doom" thing. Well, here's what happened right after it: DOOM! It was like the minute Dwight and Yoda were gone, everything they had helped us achieve did a nosedive into the sarlacc pit. </i>- Tommy pg. 97</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>"If you strike down Dwight, he will grow more powerful than you can possibly imagine!" said Origami Yoda. </i> - pg. 130</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 robots</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Force is strong with this one</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</span></div>
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pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-89110860588545768352012-11-15T08:00:00.000-06:002012-11-15T08:00:05.905-06:00The Iron Knight<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0373210361/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0373210361&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0373210361&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0373210361" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Published: 10-26-11 by Harlequin Teen</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">"My name--my True Name--is Ashallayn' darkmyr Tallyn. I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her. My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl..."To cold faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.</span><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">Then Meghan Chase--a half human, half fey slip of a girl--smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.</span><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">With the unwelcome company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end--a quest to find a way to honor his vow to stand by Meghan's side.</span><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">To survive in the Iron Realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. And along the way Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">THIS REVIEW IS GOING TO BE FILLED WITH SPOILERS! </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2011/02/iron-queen-by-julie-kagawa-book-3-of.html">Here is my review of The Iron Queen</a> (It was my 1st review ever!)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I really loved the first 3 books in this series, but this one was just ok. If you've read the summary then you know that this book focuses on Ash and Puck. I was looking forward to that since they are like oil and water and throwing them together for an entire book sounded awesome. But as much as I like them, they can't make up for the absence of Meghan, who is one of my favorite butt-kicking heroines.</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>emotional roller coaster</u> - It's been clear since the start of the series that Julie Kagawa knows how to mess with our emotions. It hurts a lot at times, but I still love the fact that I'm overly emotionally invested in what happens to these characters.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Puck and Ash</u> - It's always entertaining when these two are together, whether they're facing off or working together. It's a lot less lighthearted than what I remember from the other books, but just them being together constantly and the possibility of conflict there is exciting. It's the main thing that made me read this book. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>journey</u> - The entire journey to get Ash to Meghan is, of course, filled with insane obstacles. The creatures and the horrors that inhabit the NeverNever are so clever and challenging. I really enjoy seeing what crazy kind of thing will pop up next.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">THIS IS WHERE THE SPOILERS ARE! Seriously, if you plan to read this book then skip this entire section and go look at the quotes!</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>flashback</u> - There's a long flashback to when Ash wasn't just a moody bad boy, but a truly heartless ice prince playing games with the hearts of mortals. It was horrible to read through and that chapter felt so much longer than the others. Maybe it was needed to drive home the point of how awful Ash used to be, but I hated reading about it.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>flash forward</u> - This was something that bothered me possibly even more than Ariella. There is an agonizingly long 2 chapters where Ash and Meghan have a perfect life together. They even have a son. But reading it was like waiting for pinata to burst. I couldn't concentrate on what was going on with Ash's struggle of being mortal while Meghan never aged. My brain was too distracted with poking my emotions with a giant this-can't-be-real stick. I accept that it was necessary in order to show Ash what his mortality would be like, but it hurt my brain and my heart.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>reunited</u> - Meghan and Ash are only actually together for the teasingly short epilogue that lasts all of about 5 pages. Plus, Ash still has some fey magic in him - which he suggests might be enough to keep him from getting old. Now don't get me wrong here, I'm glad they have a happy ending. I nearly cried at the end of the Iron Queen. But if Ash still has fey magic in him, then what sacrifice is he making? He won't have to accept his weakened mortal body. He may not have to get old and die while his queen remains forever young. He's basically the same except that he gets to be with Meghan in the Iron Realm, and that feels like a cop-out to me.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Ariella</u> - There's already a very significant love triangle going on between Puck, Meghan, and Ash. Resurrecting the love of the past is gonna complicate things quite a bit. So as Ash fights to get back to Meghan, now he has to struggle with Ariella suddenly being all "just kidding guys I was never dead!" Plus the fact that Puck was also in love with her. Geez - what is with these guys? Aren't there enough women in the NeverNever for each of them to have a girlfriend? Poor Puck can never catch a break with the ladies. Even the ones you thought were dead and now aren't dead still prefer ice-boy. I would have preferred if Ariella wasn't a "necessary" part of Ash's quest. All of his internal struggling with Meghan vs. Ariella seemed pointless to me. Obviously, he was going to choose Meghan.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>"I'm going to kill you," I said softly, and Puck's eyebrows rose. "Not tonight. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon. Our past is catching up to us, Goodfellow, and this feud has gone on long enough." </i>- Ash pg. 103</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>More strange objects floated by us: love letters and wristwatches, stuffed animals and limp balloons. Once, Puck reached down and snatched up a faded copy of </i>A Midsummer Night's Dream<i>, grinned like an idiot and tossed it back into the river. </i> - pg. 103</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 robots</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Puck and Ash are on an amazing quest, but it's not as entertaining as I had hoped and was weighed down by flashing back and forward in time</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGB0b91OVKxAFz5D2oPNWlZ3euJJE3aWT6Q-W3yowONQjxljAlzbg7sKAgkaGIrnybzsP5WPdOCOiUEIlHK8ethufUEwNk79q3a5VtdQFQU1r-xT_lYEaB6f2puISpIopwgym-qncqhT0/s1600/thought.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGB0b91OVKxAFz5D2oPNWlZ3euJJE3aWT6Q-W3yowONQjxljAlzbg7sKAgkaGIrnybzsP5WPdOCOiUEIlHK8ethufUEwNk79q3a5VtdQFQU1r-xT_lYEaB6f2puISpIopwgym-qncqhT0/s1600/thought.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGB0b91OVKxAFz5D2oPNWlZ3euJJE3aWT6Q-W3yowONQjxljAlzbg7sKAgkaGIrnybzsP5WPdOCOiUEIlHK8ethufUEwNk79q3a5VtdQFQU1r-xT_lYEaB6f2puISpIopwgym-qncqhT0/s1600/thought.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-81257601114109252552012-11-08T08:00:00.000-06:002013-01-13T00:37:23.940-06:00Hold Me Closer, Necromancer<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312674376/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0312674376&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0312674376&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Published: 10-12-10 by Henry Holt and Co.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he’s doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak.</span><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else. </span><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">I loved this book! It's about a college-aged protagonist and it doesn't center around a romance, which is something that's way harder to find than I ever thought it would be. This book has it all: some paranormal, some romance (well...I'm not sure if romance is the right word), tons of action, and it's filled with comedy. </span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Sam</u> - A sarcastic college dropout with a crappy minimum wage job and a smart mouth, Sam is awesome. He's funny even in the strangest of circumstances and all of his reactions to what's going on feel realistic.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>humor</u> - Even beheadings are hilarious happenings in this book! Seriously, funny beheadings. Usually paranormal YA books take themselves pretty seriously and everything that happens is pretty dramatic. In this book, dramatic crazy things happen, but the mood is ridiculously lighthearted (in a good way). There are funny comments constantly.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Ashley</u> - Ashley is actually a pretty big reason I read this book out of all the books on my TBR list. I read the free ebook, Necromancer, which includes an excerpt from the book and the story Death and Waffles, which is about Ashley. I love waffles and this story has waffles and a dead girl with a serious hankering for them. She's the one who guides souls to wherever they go after death and she pops in and out of Sam's life and helps him out with a side a snark. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Sam's friends</u> - When Sam disappears, his friends don't just freak out - they freak out and find ways to help rescue him, even though they are just normal people who either work in fast food, or were recently separated from their body. That's how awesome they are. Their freaking out is very entertaining and realistic, which makes me happy.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>butt-kicking</u> - I love reading about action, but I'm not a fan of nonstop confusing action. This book has the perfect amount of butt-kicking, which is awesome, but still manages to be funny. It's action-filled and involves vicious lawn gnomes and skateboards used as weapons.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>basement</u> - The only part of this book I wasn't a huge fan of was when Sam was trapped, for a large part of the book, in a basement. Of course, even then there were extremely entertaining situations, but I found that Sam was funnier when not confined to one place.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>"You don't have Hitler in your basement or anything, do you? Tabloids are always claiming he's still alive. Him and Elvis. Because I can't condone that sort of thing. The Hitler thing, not Elvis. I've got nothing against the King." </i> - Sam pg. 101 (ebook)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>Ashley looked quickly about the room before she ran over to me. Despite her experience, I think my ability to get into new and life-threatening situations shocked her. Personally, I was hoping it was a phase that I would grow out of. </i> - pg. 287 (ebook)</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5 robots</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Extremely entertaining and hilarious story, highly recommended for fans of anything paranormal</span></div>
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<a href="http://atapestryofwords.blogspot.com/2011/11/2012-new-adult-challenge.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx143/atapestryofwords/newadultchallenge2012-2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2012/01/bass-ackwards-and-belly-up-new-adult.html">1. Bass Ackwards and Belly Up</a></div>
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<a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-last-summer-of-you-and-me.html">2. The Last Summer (of You and Me)</a></div>
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<a href="http://footfree%20and%20fancyloose%20%28craft%2C%20fain%29/">3. Footfree and Fancyloose</a></div>
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<a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2012/11/hold-me-closer-necromancer.html">4. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: bought (ebook version)</span></div>
pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-28166240163927047532012-11-07T18:29:00.000-06:002012-11-07T18:29:29.850-06:00Zompacolypse 2012 Winner!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://shirt.woot.com/derby/entry/49962/acquired-taste"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrMJz2BjpzK9lsz53lk1oSqK-NZuhdjCURH62g0SUFCE8Ha4eVODxmwqht3k0vqU2IXBUQ9DX1fJCVUviyzyY51GbPj2ZhsVjkEpiBItDNT6KfCux710iAz9fihJHwVLNpP3mjRIUdD_z/s1600/AcquiredTaste.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey guys!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you to everybody who entered the Zompacolypse 2012 giveaway! And a special thank you to everyone who downloaded Neil Gaiman's story from Audible.com - we helped them donate over $30 to education just by doing that :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The winner was DeeDee!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She chose to receive Enshadowed (sequel to Nevermore) and it's currently on its way to her.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In book reviewing news, I'm working on typing up some reviews, and then I'm going to go back and do some 1 sentence reviews on books I read awhile ago and forgot the details of. This is an idea I'm stealing from <a href="http://thatartsyreadergirl.blogspot.com/2012/10/when-sentence-is-all-you-need-1.html">Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl</a>, which is a blog that you should go check out by clicking on her name! (And when I say stealing I mean doing something similar and giving her credit for her awesomeness)</span></div>
pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-83327360467061632622012-10-28T23:00:00.000-05:002012-10-29T13:51:26.067-05:00Zompacolypse 2012 Giveaway!<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://paranormalwastelands.blogspot.com/2011/08/zompacolypse-2011-halloween-hop.html"><img alt="Paranormal Wastelands" src="http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb479/Paranormalwasteland/zompbadge.png" title="Paranormal Wastelands" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welcome to the ZOMPACOLYPSE!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This event is being hosted by <a href="http://paranormalwastelands.blogspot.com/2011/08/zompacolypse-2011-halloween-hop.html">Paranormal Wastelands</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before we get to the giveaway, there is a free short story by the always awesome Neil Gaiman for everybody! Every time someone downloads the free story from their website, Audible donates $1 for education to DonorsChoose, so spread the word. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.audible.com/mt/ScareUs?source_code=AUDOR94FAWS102212&bp_ua">Click here to download Click-Clack the Rattlebag free from Audible.com.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am giving away ONE of the books seen below. The first 6 are creepy books I've enjoyed and the last 4 are creepy books I want to read.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSH3bilHp_VsQyPOgmcte-1otgBWZmHcpS4BWJJlRpIg3SZvIinOlvAAAq1c7GswKLxKEqz-hdn9J9829LZ_yGT8tp_vnJ9zxXfclK10V1i_PFtNfwyI_VWD9Rnye-2maKADP5-EpCJV56/s1600/ZompocalypseBooks12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSH3bilHp_VsQyPOgmcte-1otgBWZmHcpS4BWJJlRpIg3SZvIinOlvAAAq1c7GswKLxKEqz-hdn9J9829LZ_yGT8tp_vnJ9zxXfclK10V1i_PFtNfwyI_VWD9Rnye-2maKADP5-EpCJV56/s640/ZompocalypseBooks12.jpg" width="520" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9378297-anna-dressed-in-blood">1. Anna Dressed in Blood - Kendare Blake</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5843145-meridian">2. Meridian - Amber Kizer</a> <a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2012/08/meridian.html">(review here)</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8041873-hold-me-closer-necromancer"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer - Lish McBride</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3678651-bad-girls-don-t-die">4. Bad Girls Don't Die - Katie Alender</a> </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24766.The_Secret_Hour"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Midnighters #1: The Secret Hour - Scott Westerfeld</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/186103.Peeps"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Peeps - Scott Westerfeld</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9239571-enshadowed">7. Enshadowed (Nevermore #2) - Kelly Creagh</a> <a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2011/09/nevermore-by-kelly-creagh-book-1-of.html">(review of Nevermore here)</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13595639-the-name-of-the-star"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13558423-the-turning"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. The Turning - Francine Prose</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11958033-ten">10. Ten - Gretchen McNeil</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The winner will have their choice of ONE of those 10 books, which will come from the Book Depository. This giveaway will end at midnight on Nov. 1st (the night of Halloween). You are not required to be a follower but you will get extra points if you are! GOOD LUCK!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UPDATE: THIS GIVEAWAY IS INTERNATIONAL AS LONG AS THE BOOK DEPOSITORY SHIPS TO YOU! Thanks to Dita Skarste for asking about it - can't believe I forgot!</span></div>
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<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/758b560/" id="rc-758b560" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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<!-- end InLinkz script -->pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-19575237597504893952012-10-26T06:00:00.000-05:002012-10-26T06:00:01.259-05:00I Know It's Over<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375845666/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0375845666&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0375845666&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I Know It's Over by C.K. Kelly Martin</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Published: 9-23-08 by Random House</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PURE. UNPLANNED. PERFECT. Those were Nick’s summer plans before Sasha stepped into the picture. With the collateral damage from his parents’ divorce still settling and Dani (his girl of the moment) up for nearly anything, complications are the last thing he needs. All that changes, though, when Nick runs into Sasha at the beach in July. Suddenly he’s neck-deep in a relationship and surprised to find he doesn’t mind in the least. But Nick’s world shifts again when Sasha breaks up with him. Then, weeks later, while Nick’s still reeling from the breakup, she turns up at his doorstep and tells him she’s pregnant. Nick finds himself struggling once more to understand the girl he can’t stop caring for, the girl who insists that it’s still over.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhboUqmMpNPLHLeNc7wljH8i_a6vEMjjo_RHY7_gPiUb4xjbeuu38WcBOXsfLwpVdQH492yHkKK3z9_wiPlDXF6vykDAX90c1sT4f3I71YcB66CUJp9xQphe87nNbXs0orMV5izqKmet7PC/s1600/thought.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="32" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhboUqmMpNPLHLeNc7wljH8i_a6vEMjjo_RHY7_gPiUb4xjbeuu38WcBOXsfLwpVdQH492yHkKK3z9_wiPlDXF6vykDAX90c1sT4f3I71YcB66CUJp9xQphe87nNbXs0orMV5izqKmet7PC/s320/thought.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was interested in reading this book because it's a teen pregnancy story from the guy's point of view, which is something I've never read before. I learned that if it's a book from a male POV where sex takes place, I should read reviews 1st. Teenage guy protagonists aren't my favorite.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPA6ghyphenhyphenQU1O0KgOOkvVa0UpAiPq3xZdBf8tGcinUZVpJy8rL-o8jWPj0RLccGsMyADNH5rFm4kFTOtXRhz_WlZjseFtlJUHcTcnGkTyGq_WUAdaelQ_ropBmbsvO13sAe5K7-SwW4m-sKS/s1600/loved.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="32" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPA6ghyphenhyphenQU1O0KgOOkvVa0UpAiPq3xZdBf8tGcinUZVpJy8rL-o8jWPj0RLccGsMyADNH5rFm4kFTOtXRhz_WlZjseFtlJUHcTcnGkTyGq_WUAdaelQ_ropBmbsvO13sAe5K7-SwW4m-sKS/s320/loved.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>abortion</u> - I do have to give the author credit for exploring abortion as an option for Sasha. No matter how you feel about abortion, it's a realistic touch. I don't know what the laws are in Canada though, which is where this book takes place.</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Mk_vIpA-kL7wh7NWNcv79faVYaiVyQkPW9etkSD_WwSzhqMpV1S6K7HUieYL__yliJRGonx_FZ8ckemrX7hDmJlGMFosbCs6YeldG7QWCD_q4us-EwC1Xsf0iGmtkgI9sDJ6sQwLT1ac/s1600/didn'tlove.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="32" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Mk_vIpA-kL7wh7NWNcv79faVYaiVyQkPW9etkSD_WwSzhqMpV1S6K7HUieYL__yliJRGonx_FZ8ckemrX7hDmJlGMFosbCs6YeldG7QWCD_q4us-EwC1Xsf0iGmtkgI9sDJ6sQwLT1ac/s320/didn'tlove.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Nick</u> - The only thing motivating most of the decisions in Nick's life is sex. He has a friend he's not into, but she's willing to do sexual things with him, so he decides that's perfectly fine - ideal even. Yuck! I disliked Nick. I couldn't relate to him, and his decisions were generally terrible.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Sasha</u> - It's extremely hard to read about Sasha because she is incapable of deciding what she wants. She is back and forth over whether or not she wants a relationship with Nick for the entire time they are together. She is not a strong-willed character in the least. I was too busy being mad at her to care about what she wanted.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>all the parents in this book</u> - Nick's parents are finishing up their divorce. Nick's dad is ok in one scene - when he really listens to Nick and helps get him what he needs. Besides that, he's a jerk. He gives his son cash for condoms instead of talking to him about his relationship. Nick's mom barely reacts to the fact that her son got a girl pregnant. Sasha's dad decides to stop talking to his daughter. What kind of support is that? Yeah, sure, be upset and angry - but to stop talking to your pregnant daughter is just about the least helpful thing I can think of.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>decision</u> - When Sasha decided what she was going to do in regards to the baby, it seemed so quick and easy. The way Sasha was portrayed, I expected her to agonize over a decision and take awhile to decide what the right choice was for her. Then Nick doesn't question that decision, or try to give Sasha his opinion. I don't even know if he had an opinion.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Anyway, high school is just a stopover," Holland added. "It has nothing to do with what's really happening." "Let's hope not," I sad grimly. Holland cocked her head and gave me a funny look. "These are the best years of your life," she said in an auditorium voice. Then the phone rang and she snapped it up and repeated it into the phone before pressing the receiver to her ear. </i>- pg. 73-74 Holland + Nick</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"This is another test isn't it? Like Halloween." My eyes were burning from the inside. I hated that she could do that to me. I was trying to be careful with her and she was breaking up with me. "So how does this one work? If we don't talk for three months, you'll be my friend?" </i> - pg. 120 Nick + Sasha</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A character-driven book in which I disliked all of the characters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</span></div>
pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-92063838803399393572012-10-23T21:24:00.001-05:002012-10-23T21:24:49.006-05:00The Strange Case of Origami Yoda<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0810984253/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0810984253&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0810984253&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger</b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published: 3-1-2010 by Amulet Books</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Meet Dwight, a sixth-grade oddball. Dwight does a lot of weird things, like wearing the same T-shirt for a month or telling people to call him "Captain Dwight." This is embarrassing, particularly for Tommy, who sits with him at lunch every day.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">But Dwight does one cool thing. He makes origami. One day he makes an origami finger puppet of Yoda. And that's when things get mysterious. Origami Yoda can predict the future and suggest the best way to deal with a tricky situation. His advice actually works, and soon most of the sixth grade is lining up with questions.</span><br style="line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">Tommy wants to know how Origami Yoda can be so smart when Dwight himself is so clueless. Is Yoda tapping into the Force? It's crucial that Tommy figure out the mystery before he takes Yoda's advice about something VERY IMPORTANT that has to do with a girl.</span><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">This is Tommy's case file of his investigation into "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;">This is a middle-grade book. I don't usually read or review middle-grade books, but I couldn't resist the combination of Star Wars and origami. Just look at that adorable Yoda! I'm making an exception for this series of books because I really enjoyed this one. </span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>references to Star Wars</u> - Obviously, this book is based on the awesomeness that is Star Wars. There are a ton of really clever and subtle Star Wars references throughout this book that made me laugh because they were so appropriate for the situation. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Dwight + Yoda</u> - Dwight is the weird kid, the one nobody understands. We only get to know him through the other kids' stories, and they only really talk to him when they want Yoda's advice. I think this is pretty accurate 6th grade behavior. Dwight is hilarious!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>POV's</u> - All of the kids' stories were written in a fresh voice. Each one had a clear personality and they were easy to tell apart. It's been a long time since I was in 6th grade, but I was impressed with how realistic and universal the situations in the book are.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>Then he goes over to the next table, and the next, and pretty soon he has told everybody in the library to learn the Twist. Then he left the library, apparently to spread Yoda's "wisdom" to the rest of the school. </i> - pg. 35 Sarah</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>As far as I can see, all this story proves is that Dwight is crazy as a bald gorilla. I was there when he was doing that covering-his-mouth thing, and it was totally embarrassing. Why does he have to sit at our table? Why wouldn't they let me kick him out? </i> - pg. 73-74 Harvey</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A cute and entertaining take on life in middle school - plus a Jedi master. The book includes instructions to make your own Origami Yoda!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</span></div>
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pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-11203197662603122642012-10-04T19:42:00.002-05:002013-01-13T00:36:34.240-06:00Wither<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1442409061/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1442409061&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1442409061&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Wither by Lauren DeStefano</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published: 3.22.2011 by Simon & Schuster</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can't bring herself to hate him as much as she'd like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband's strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted on day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape - before her time runs out?</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">You guys. ALL THE FEELS. I had to stop reading this book in public because it messed with my emotions so much. It's like a a roller coaster of emotions...in a tornado of emotions. Everything from the plot to the characters to the twists and turns had me sucked in and completely emotionally invested. SPOILER FREE REVIEW!</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>world building</u> - This is the 1st dystopian that I've read that truly sent shivers down my spine. The world felt so utterly real. It was entrancing and terrifying - every little bit of it. Each detail was important, and Rhine's emotions were so raw and understandable. Seeing this world through her eyes was intensely realistic. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>characters</u> - Each and every character was so complicated. I felt like I understood and sympathized with even the nastiest characters at some point during the book. Jenna, Cecily, Linden...I got everyone's motivations, even if I despised the person most of the time.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>plot twists</u> - The eerie and tense atmosphere is a slow simmer in this book. Each new discovery is a layer that blurs your picture of who each character is and how this world operates. Every time I thought I had a handle on the direction the story was going, something else would happen to throw me off.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>more emotions</u> - Everything was so intense and tangled that I can't even describe it properly. Every chapter reached out and punched me in the gut, but I loved every second of it. </span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><u>Rhine's flaws</u> - I thought Rhine was a great character. But so much time was spent either getting to know her through flashbacks, or getting introduced to her new world and her thoughts that I feel her flaws were left out. Does Rhine have any flaws? Something that can be seen in both flashbacks and the present? She doesn't seem to have any kind of character defect, while everyone else in the story clearly does.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>I wonder what would happen if I ran - if Gabriel or one of the others would stop me. But ultimately it's my fear of what my new husband might do that keeps me in place, because surely if I ran, I wouldn't make it far before I was caught. And then - what? I'd be locked in my room again, probably, forever marred as the one who can't be trusted. </i> - Rhine pg. 50 (ARC version)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>I could tell him right now. I could tell him that Jenna's sisters were executed in that van, and that the last thing I'd ever wanted to be was a bride. But would be believe me? And if he believed me, would he let me go? </i> - Rhine pg. 222-223 (ARC version)</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whenever I start thinking about this book I just can't stop - it's so tense and creepily beautiful. <u>Highly</u> recommended!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</span></div>
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pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-67719366848045211772012-09-27T22:56:00.000-05:002012-09-27T22:57:22.051-05:00Saving June<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0373210248/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0373210248&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0373210248&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Saving June by Hannah Harrington</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Published: 11.22.2011 by Harlequin Teen</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Everyone's sorry, but no one can explain why.</i></span><br />
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Harper Scott's older sister, June, took her own life a week before high school graduation, leaving Harper devastated. So when her divorcing parents decide to split up June's ashes, Harper steals the urn and takes off cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going - California.</span><br />
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Enter Jake Tolan, a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession...and an unknown connection to June. When he insists on joining them, Harper's just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanor and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what Harper needs. Except...Jake's keeping a secret that has the power to turn her life upside down - again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't resist a roadtrip book, especially one with a mysterious boy. This isn't a light and fluffy book, as you can tell from the summary. Harper deals with a lot on her journey across the country, between her sister's suicide and her parents' divorce, but this book is wonderful. There's just enough levity to balance out the heavy stuff without taking away from it.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Harper</u> - Harper is an excellent mix of sarcastic, angry, and understandably shaken up. Yes, she feels a bit guilty for leaving her mom behind (and she should), but I love the fact that she was angry enough at her parents to set her plan in motion and follow it through. Her keeping people at arms-length while she was dealing in her own way felt right.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Jake</u> - Jake is just badboy enough. Because of the kind of book this is, we can assume from the beginning that he has a heart of gold, but he throws us off from his 1st encounter with Harper. The slow unfolding of who Jake is, what he meant to June, and what he means to Harper is beautiful and real. Not ideal, but real.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>roadtrip</u> - Who doesn't love roadtrip books? This one has it all: purpose, drama, and fun.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>comparing</u> - I don't know what it's like to have sister or an older sibling, but Harper's constant thinking about how perfect June was and how flawed Harper herself is. It was depressing. It was kind of strange to me, how Harper was still comparing herself to "perfect" June, when every day it became more and more clear that her sister's life was anything but perfect.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>boy crazy BFF</u> - Harper's best friend Laney was a great character, but why why why why <i>why</i> does every BFF in a YA book have to be the boy obsessed, sex-crazed girl? Laney wasn't bad by any means, but she's a character with little development beyond her interactions with guys. We don't get to know her besides that. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>It's the first time he's used my first name. I hadn't even been completely positive that he knew what it was. We've never exactly had a formal introduction - how would that have gone? </i>Hi, I'm Harper, the sister who didn't die. You must be Jake, the guy said dead sister tutored, the guy who burned here the mix CD she was listening to when she overdosed on Mom's sleeping pills, the guy who blackmailed his way into joining our road trip for reasons I am none too clear on. - pg. 84 </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Jake Tolan: Secret Overboard Tipper, at least when it comes to overworked, yet resilient, bubbly waitresses with bad dye jobs. Who would've thought? - pg. 165</i></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I devoured this book. The tone was perfect and the mystery of June's relationship with Jake, and Harper's developing relationship with him was great.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</span></div>
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<br />pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-23950446890319036642012-09-06T10:00:00.000-05:002012-09-27T23:00:34.558-05:00The Nature of Jade<br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Published: 2-27-2007 by Simon Pulse</b></span><br />
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I am not my illness. "Girl with Anxiety," "Trauma of the Week" - no. I hate stuff like that. Everyone, everyone has their issue. But the one thing my illness did make me realize is how necessary it is to ignore the dangers of living in order to live. And how much trouble you can get into if you can't.</span><br />
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Jade DeLuna is too young to die. She knows this, and yet she can't quite believe it, especially when the terrifying thoughts, loss of breath, and dizzy feelings come. Since being diagnosed with Panic Disorder, she's trying her best to stay calm, and visiting the elephants at the nearby zoo seems to help. That's why Jade keeps the live zoo webcam on in her room, and that's where she first sees the boy in the red jacket. A boy who stops to watch the elephants. A boy carrying a baby.</span><br />
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His name is Sebastian, and he is raising his son alone. Jade is drawn into Sebastian's cozy life with his son and his activist grandmother on their Seattle houseboat, and before she knows it, she's in love. With this boy who has lived through harder times than anyone she knows. This boy with a past.</span><br />
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Jade knows the situation is beyond complicated, but she hasn't felt this safe in a long time. She owes it all to Sebastian, her boy with the great heart. Her boy who is hiding a terrible secret. A secret that will force Jade to decide between what is right, and what feels right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a reread for me. I read this a few years ago, but I wanted to read it again because now I also suffer from a panic disorder and I was curious to see if I related more to Jade than I did on the 1st read. It's a pretty good book - not amazing and a bit predictable, but still a good read. Overall, the same things stood out to me the 2nd time around.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>anxiety</u> - Jade had a lot of anxiety, and she had panic attacks. This is something I relate to, so reading about a character like Jade was encouraging. I thought that Jade's anxiety was realistic and liked how it didn't take over the plot of the book.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Sebastian + Jade</u> - These 2 were an adorable couple - each going through their own things and cautiously curious about each other, but willing to put themselves out there. The fact that Sebastian had a child was handled so well too. His son was a constant presence and never ignored when he wasn't around. He's a big part of Sebastian's life and was treated as such.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Oliver</u> - Jade's little brother wasn't in much of the book, but he was the only member of the family that I could stand. His interactions with his sister were always nice, light-hearted, but understanding and supportive. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Jade's parents</u> - Jade's parents, especially her mom, annoyed me. Her mother was off acting like a teenager and her father just decided that if he ignored it, it would stop. I wanted him to find his courage and talk to his wife before things escalated, but he didn't.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Sebastian's lie</u> - At one point in the story, Sebastian lies to Jade. There are so many reasons I hated what he did: a major lie in a new relationship just destroys any hope of trust, it was a <u>really</u> important thing that he should have come clean to Jade about, and he put his son in a bad situation.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Abe</u> - Jade's therapist Abe was a cool guy. He really was - but that's part of the issue. Therapists are meant to have a really professional relationship with their clients in order to help them, and he and Jade's interactions just struck me as being a little too friendly and a bit off...like she should have been having the conversation with a best friend instead of this man she sees once a week.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I can see everyone's reflections in the car windows. Mom, with her hair that has gone from inappropriately frivolous to somehow ashamed; Dad with his disappointed profile; Oliver, with his faraway face, lost in another place where children fought beasts way bigger than themselves and where potions fixed the worst evils. </i> - pg. 82</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>If she knew I would wear what she suggested to meet a guy of an undefined age who I had just met, who has a </i>baby, <i>she would have strangled me with her new leather belt she's just also offered to lend me. </i> - pg. 113 Jade + her mom</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KW97YabybT0TX1Qv3OtAKFRgkT9EQ2ghyphenhyphenB-6zMj28otEVYeyp12OSqxWr0V6RtiC1jyTz1P2jn2Qm2HRy1hOpQVmxxraWVJHqSSsXcgvUFkYZ10zJ3KhR4bxRlvgW6AYmpCSkjLo_-T5/s1600/3robots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KW97YabybT0TX1Qv3OtAKFRgkT9EQ2ghyphenhyphenB-6zMj28otEVYeyp12OSqxWr0V6RtiC1jyTz1P2jn2Qm2HRy1hOpQVmxxraWVJHqSSsXcgvUFkYZ10zJ3KhR4bxRlvgW6AYmpCSkjLo_-T5/s1600/3robots.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A good book that deals with a lot of heavy things without ever focusing too much on any one of them</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: bought</span></div>
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pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-4805124675759989142012-08-30T10:00:00.000-05:002012-08-31T19:52:24.988-05:00Footfree and Fancyloose<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316057967/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0316057967&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0316057967&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" width="131" /></a><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0316057967" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Footfree and Fancyloose by Elizabeth Craft + Sarah Fain</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published: August 1, 2008 by Poppy</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Best friends Harper Waddle, Sophie Bushell, and Kate Foster committed the ultimate suburban sin: bailing on college to pursue their dreams. Middlebury-bound Becca Winsberg was convinced her friends had gone insane until they reminded her she just might have a dream of her own.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now the year is half-way through and their dreams seem within reach. Well, almost. Harper has managed to gain the freshman fifteen without ever being a freshman, though locked in her basement bathroom she finds inspiration and finally seems to be writing from the heart. Sophie is forced to leave her cushy Beverly Hills quarters and crashes on Sam's couch while looking for her big Hollywood break. Kate is doing aid work in Ethiopia, where she encounters family ghosts - along with Darby, the handsome but antagonistic Princeton student who thinks she's a dumb blonde who couldn't possibly care about Ethiopia "since there are no celebrities here." And when Becca finally emerges from her lovers' nest, it seems her relationship with Stuart isn't as perfect as she thought.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Even if "the year that changed everything" has sometimes been less than dreamy, these four best friends will always have each other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I recently read and reviewed the 1st book in this series, <a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2012/01/bass-ackwards-and-belly-up-new-adult.html">Bass Ackwards and Belly Up</a>. It was an alright read, but nothing new. This book was not as enjoyable as the first for me because I lost interest in Harper's story and I didn't suddenly care about Becca and Sophie's stories. That left me with Kate's story - the only one that I thought was better in this book than the 1st. Things are predictable and again, there are 2 authors here...why isn't this book better than the 1st?</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Kate</u> - I love that Kate followed up her European trip, which was full of her trying to do things for herself, with a trip to Africa to help others. Even though her story felt so different from everyone else's, it was different in a good way. She still dealt with some drama, but she handled it while doing something worthwhile.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>awkward sex</u> - Whaaaat? Yeah. Awkward sex. I liked that the physical relationships in the book weren't fantasy-perfect. They were awkward and uncomfortable, less than ideal. Which obviously isn't great, but is probably much more realistic for the vast majority of readers.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>friends with benefits</u> - It's probably safe to say that we all know how these situations end up - they don't work and things get awkward. I wish Harper could have worked up some courage to begin an actual relationship, instead of dragging us through this predictable situation.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Sophie</u> - I can't stand Sophie's storyline. She's so self-absorbed and she hasn't grown any since the 1st book. Plus she and Sam are in the same place they were in before - not together.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Becca</u> - Becca's story was so dull and forgettable. She freaked out and ruined her fairytale ending from the 1st book. I don't even remember why Stuart was a good pick for her, and nothing stands out from her plot at all. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whoa. <i>Kate stopped in the middle of the road and gave herself a mental shake. Clearly, the lack of rich, comforting, familiar American food was getting to her. If she'd had mac and cheese at any time in the last three months, she would never have had such a thought. </i> - pg. 196 (ARC version)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Truth is, if George and I had just started dating like normal people, we'd be snuggling up watching skateboard videos right now. Instead, I'm stuck playing a never-ending game of darts with a guy wearing a giant moose head." </i> - Harper + Poppy pg. 355 (ARC version)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 robots</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Disappointingly similar to the 1st book, but I was desperate for a college age character.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</span></div>
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<a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2012/01/bass-ackwards-and-belly-up-new-adult.html">1. Bass Ackwards and Belly Up</a></div>
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<a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-last-summer-of-you-and-me.html">2. The Last Summer (of You and Me)</a></div>
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<a href="http://footfree%20and%20fancyloose%20%28craft%2C%20fain%29/">3. Footfree and Fancyloose</a></div>
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pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-7345838752615833012012-08-24T18:11:00.002-05:002012-08-29T17:44:11.835-05:00The Last Summer (of You and Me)<br />
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<a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Last-Summer-You-Me-Ann-Brashares/9781594485701/?a_aid=brainonbooks"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfxosSEvzGS6txjQ43Y1DaNz9Sc-J_-jYYJ8cMyuvnSu4_IyymMxO8oWl79vuZKr0DdibMu1IKJB8xZ7wcgpZj_V0k5K7dZB5eg82NY7CjJBLELw_Q2EVNBWxcF6nazhVXCoDGCJpaDqW/s200/LastSummerOfYouAndMe.jpeg" width="132" /></a></div>
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<b>The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares</b><br />
<b>Published: June 5, 2007 by Riverhead</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Set on Long Island's Fire Island, <i>The Last Summer (of You and Me) </i>is an enchanting, heartrending page-turner about sisterhood, friendship, love, loss, and growing up. It is the story of a beach community friendship triangle - Riley and Alice, two sisters in their twenties, and Paul, the young man they've grown up with - and what happens one summer when budding love, sexual curiosity, a sudden serious illness, and a deep secret all collide, launching the friends into an adult world from which their summer haven can no longer protect them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This book was so dull and weighed down by wishy-washy characters and their endless deep thoughts. It was hard to care about the characters and what happens to them, because they were shells of characters to me. I bought this book because it was on sale and I was hoping for a good story about twenty-somethings from an author I like...but I think I forgot how long ago I liked the Traveling Pants books, and how I really only cared about 1 or 2 of those girls anyways. </span><br />
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*<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I didn't actually love anything in this book. These are the things that kept me reading til the end, though I admit there was some skimming.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Alice + Paul</u> - When they finally get together, Alice and Paul are a couple that seems like they could actually work. They make sense, and it was obviously a long time coming. I wish they were together for more of the book.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Riley</u> - Riley is the spontaneous and fun sister. It would be great if we got to see her with friends besides her sister and Paul. They spent every single summer on the island, shouldn't at least one of them have other friends? We are constantly told how fun Riley is, but all we see of Riley is when Alice is worrying about her. Even the chapters from Riley's point of view are dull.</span></li>
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<li><u>mood</u> - This book's tone takes a lot of getting used to. It feels so contemplative and sad. The word that comes to mind is melancholy. There's so much thinking...deep thinking, introspection, etc. So much thinking and not a lot of anything else.</li>
<li><u>characters</u> - It's like they all <i>want</i> to be miserable! They just think and think about doing something they want to do, but they never act on it. It was very frustrating to read.</li>
<li><u>plot</u> - Unfortunately, the plot is buried deep under all of the characters' worrying and wondering. And when things do happen, the events are met by even more thinking and worrying. Every character seems so isolated and trapped in their own head, despite the fact that they are presented to us as people that have grown up joined at the hip.</li>
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<li><i>"Is there really nothing?" she asked. She fixed him with a glare, daring him to ask her what she meant. If he did, honest to God, she would punch him. </i> - Alice pg. 115</li>
<li><i>He wasn't actually taking something out of his house that was his, he recognized as he bunched it up in his hand and walked down the stairs and out the back door. He was taking something that he'd stolen. Two wrongs supposedly couldn't make a right, but he felt in his heart that sometimes they could. </i> - Paul pg. 271</li>
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2 robots</div>
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Too much thinking, not enough anything else. It was a struggle to care enough to finish.</div>
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Acquired: bought</div>
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<a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2012/01/bass-ackwards-and-belly-up-new-adult.html">1. Bass Ackwards and Belly Up</a></div>
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<a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-last-summer-of-you-and-me.html">2. The Last Summer (of You and Me)</a></div>
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<br />pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-87407820479092197602012-08-08T23:27:00.000-05:002012-08-08T23:29:11.790-05:00Meridian<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385736681/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0385736681&linkCode=as2&tag=thisi0e1-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0385736681&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0385736681" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><b>Meridian by Amber Kizer</b><br />
<b>Published: August 11, 2009 by Delacorte</b><br />
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<b> </b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Sixteen-year-old Meridian has been surrounded by death ever since she can remember. As a child, insects, mice, and salamanders would burrow into her bedclothes and die. At her elementary school, she was blamed for a classmate's tragic accident. And on her sixteenth birthday, a car crashes in front of her family home - and Meridian's body explodes in pain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Before she can fully recover, Meridian is told that she's a danger to her family and hustled off to her great-aunt's house in Revelation, Colorado. It's there that she learns that she is Fenestra - the half-angel, half-human link between the living and the dead. But Meridian and her sworn protector and love, Tens, face great danger from the Aternocti, a band of dark forces who capture vulnerable souls on the brink of death and cause chaos. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am so torn on this book! It had a great balance of dark and paranormal mixed with light and humorous, but some things just bothered me about the story. I don't think I've ever <i>wanted</i> to like a book more than I did, but it happened with this one. </span><br />
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<li><b>Meridian - </b>This girl is pretty normal...you know, as far as paranormal half-humans go, and that made the book very enjoyable. Meridian has normal reactions to everything that's going on with her and that is so important in a paranormal setting.</li>
<li><b>writing - </b>I was sucked into the book as soon as the setup portion was over and the real story began. The atmosphere created was a great balance between ominous and light-hearted, and I loved the characters...well, most of the characters. Auntie was a little strange. Overall, I found myself wanting to like this book more than I did because it was going in a promising direction... until the excitement tapered off about halfway in. </li>
<li><b>Tens - </b>Alright, so I admit that it's rare for me to not like the love interest. That said, I liked Tens <i>a lot</i>, until he and Meridian started to become an item. As soon as they both admitted they were interested in each other, Meridian pretty much decided she was in love forever. I think it ties in with how weird I found the Protector/lover overlap...</li>
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<li><b>Protector = lover? - </b>Ok, so I guess all the Fenestras are women, and some of them have Protectors, who are apparently all males. So, Meridian pretty much insta-loves this guy she's just met, but that's ok because she's supposed to. Uh, no. Meridian only briefly thinks about this once, her Auntie almost pushes it, and who knows what Tens thinks about all of it. It comes off as very strange to me. </li>
<li><b>Aternocti - </b>There was a lot of talk about these supposedly horrible Aternocti bad guys, but nothing having to do with them directly really happens until a very brief scene near the end of the book. It felt like a bunch of buildup for the shortest actual conflict. </li>
<li><b>Fenestra - </b>Explanation scenes always bug me. They are my pet peeve about most paranormal books because the action grinds to a halt while a relative or teacher or Yoda lays out the details of whichever supernatural thing we're dealing with in the book. This book suffers from Explanation Scene Syndrome. They have a talk about what a Fenestra is, questions are asked, questions are answered in less than helpful ways...it's very formulaic. I also found the visualization of what a Fenestra does to be a little strange. It felt very removed from the rest of the book, even though I guess it was supposed to be on a different plane of existence. It was just hard to adjust between these scenes and the rest of the book. </li>
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<li><i>The door creaked open. A musty cloud of cold air hit my face and shivers broke down my body. Spiderwebs hung like tinsel from the ceiling, and a thick coat of dust made my nose twitch. I tried the light switch. A lamp emitted a soft glow, one made even dimmer by the dense layer of dust on the shade. </i> - pg. 137</li>
<li><i>"You're not afraid of being around me?" I asked Tens. "Why would I be?" "People die around me." </i>Okay, stating the obvious here. <i>"I'm not scared. Although you did just massacre a perfectly good cup of tea." </i> - pg. 197 Meridian + Tens</li>
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3 Robots</div>
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A different paranormal than the norm, with a great tone, but I wish it had lived up to its potential.</div>
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Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</div>
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<br />pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-4748019559300285772012-07-19T10:00:00.000-05:002013-01-13T00:38:47.004-06:00Jellicoe Road<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002EQ9LDK/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=thisi0e1-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002EQ9LDK" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B002EQ9LDK&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B002EQ9LDK" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><b>Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta</b><br />
<b>Published: August 28, 2006 by Penguin Australia</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Taylor is the leader of the boarders at the Jellicoe School. She has to keep the upper hand in the territory wars and deal with Jonah Griggs - the enigmatic leader of the cadets, and someone she thought she would never see again.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">And now Hannah, the person Taylor had come to rely on, has disappeared. Taylor's only clue is a manuscript about five kids who lived in Jellicoe eighteen years ago. She needs to find out more, but this means confronting her own story, making sense of her strange, recurring dream, and finding her mother - who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">This book is simply amazing. I'm not sure I can even describe how much I loved it. It's raved about everywhere, and it is a book that deserves to be raved about. Sometimes when a book is talked about as much as this one, and everyone loves it, I just breeze by and think I'll get to it later and see what all the fuss is about - but this a book you should read as soon as you can. It's worth it.</span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>writing - </b>The writing is beautiful. I felt like I was in a different world and I was just sucked into this book. I thought about it frequently when I wasn't reading it, and when I was it was like hours passed in the blink of an eye.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>the territory war - </b>The war, besides being exciting a little nuts, serves as a great way to keep pitting the characters against each other, head to head, as they get to know each other while fighting a battle of tradition.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Taylor - </b>Taylor knows what's important to her and she's determined not to let anyone, least of all herself, get in her way - plus she's a great mix of bold, a little bit of anxiety, and a bit antisocial.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Griggs - </b>I don't know what it is about Griggs, but even on paper he's got a commanding presence. This love story is the perfect storm of sexual tension and sweetness, and I enjoyed every single second of it.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>resolution - </b>What was confusing in the opening of the book is unraveled throughout the story, and comes back together to make complete sense.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>the beginning - </b>I went into this book not knowing anything about it, just that everyone loves it. So this book's beginning had me extremely confused. First there was a section about a death and then it's about something completely different, which was some kind of confusing war game. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>'flashbacks' - </b>I'll call them flashbacks for lack of a better term, but everything about Narnie and Webb and the other 3 was crazy confusing for me. I think it was meant to be that way, as that's how Taylor is getting this info, and once you understand why it was this way, you'll see it's genius. But I had so much trouble keeping things straight in my head. Who are these people? Who's related to who again? Who is dating who? Why are their names so strange?</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i>On the other side of the cell Jonah Griggs and Santangelo are too busy sizing each other up like two demented pit bulls who have to prove who's got the biggest...attitude. I lean against the bars that separate us from the others. "So let me get this right," I say to one of the Townie girls. "All it takes is to insult someone's mother?" "No," she explains. "That's the beauty of it. They don't actually have to insult. The words </i>Your mother <i>are enough." </i> - pg. 93 Taylor + a Townie </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i>I'm on the verge of tears, like I always seem to be these days, and I hear the catch in my voice and I hate myself for it. He throws me off him and I can tell there is a fury in him. </i>"Never," <i>he tells me in a tone full of ice, "underestimate who or what I care for." </i> - pg. 202 Taylor + Griggs</span></span></li>
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<a href="http://brain-on-books.blogspot.com/search/label/5%20Robots"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjCAJYZEVT-wElhMbj8a52S6hbq4N-pTd-hhmnSLtghCAbGYoWzheV9bIaRoUbS-f9Ps7mjhJfUywILUQqv-MLrvzoiSBnQ1ZAvubgjgUi9dFKljKvEZXEzApm10DQaJe49f1tvSJBgJ_/s1600/5robots.png" /></a></div>
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5 robots</div>
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A beautifully written book that will grab your attention and keep it. Read it!</div>
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Acquired: swapped for on swap.com</div>
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pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-85667088088491711612012-07-12T10:00:00.000-05:002012-07-12T10:00:02.616-05:00So Silver Bright<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250004853/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=thisi0e1-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1250004853" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1250004853&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1250004853" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><b>So Silver Bright by Lisa Mantchev</b><br />
<b>(Theatre Illuminata #3)</b><br />
<b>Published: September 13, 2011 by Feiwel & Friends</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Bertie thinks her quest is almost done. With the help of Ariel and the rest of her friends, she has managed to find her father and rescue Nate from Sedna, the Sea Goddess. Now, all she has to do is reunite her father, the Scrimshander, with her mother, Ophelia, and she will finally have a true family of her own.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">However, things are never easy for Beatrice Shakespeare Smith. Her father has vanished, Sedna is out for revenge, her own actions have trapped the Théâtre Illuminata in a strange kind of limbo, and the stress of her in-between state is tearing apart the fragile threads of her mother's sanity. Bertie's best hope for salvaging the situation may lie in a summons by Her Gracious Majesty, Queen of the Distant Castle, and the hope of winning the magical boon given to the best performance.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Bertie is caught between her growing responsibilities to home and family, and the dream of flying free - just as her heart is torn between her two loves, Nate and Ariel. With so any forces pulling on her, how will Bertie be able to choose </span><em style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">which</em><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"> wish to make come true?</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I love this series and while I'm sad to see it end, I'm looking forward to whatever Lisa Mantchev dreams up next. I'm also a bit relieved to see another love triangle come to a close, but this series has so much more going on than that. It's truly imaginative and unique - definitely recommended!</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Serafina talking about birth control - </b>I thought it was great that the herb seller thought Bertie was there for birth control, even though Bertie hadn't ever thought of it or had reason to. I've read so many fantasy and paranormal books with love triangles or sexy boyfriends, and sometimes even sex, where no mention of protection is ever made even though it's important.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Bertie's 'mask' - </b>I won't go into details, but I loved everything about this part of the story. It drove things with Nate and Ariel, and was Bertie's own choice to help her friends.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Nate - </b>I love Nate. He is so fiercely protective of Bertie, even though he's the one who wants to kind of disarm her to get closer. After the flashbacks I feel for both Nate and Ariel because they waited for Bertie to grow up and even now they aren't sure if their feelings are allowed, if she's old enough, if she wants them to be more than her partners in crime and theater mischief. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>the fairies - </b>No matter what happens to Bertie and her crew, the fairies deal with it by shouting insults and devouring desserts by the truckload. And when they aren't eating or making foul jokes, even the boys are unwaveringly loyal to Bertie.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Bertie's family - </b>I adore the whole tone and magical setting of these books, and Bertie's parents' story fits right in, intertwining with the theater itself. I detest books where the plot only happens because of the love triangle, and here Bertie is on a quest all her own and her family comes first.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Bertie as Ophelia - </b>I didn't really enjoy when Bertie went through the mirror. It was important to the story of Bertie's family, but it felt much longer than it actually was, like dragged out time where Bertie was losing herself. I like her adventures much more when she's with the fairies and Nate and Ariel.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>traveling to the castle - </b>I should probably be used to the unexpected bits of magic that happen by now, but the sort of being instantly transported to the castle threw me off. I was immersed in road trip intrigue and adventure with lots of time to build sexual tension, and then BAM! trip's over. </span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i>"Lass!" Nate caught her before she fell to the floor, but even his solid presence wasn't enough to steady her head or slow her galloping heartbeat. "That answers that question." She'd wasted the wish. Tears threatened until a dim silver light returned to haunt the space inside her head, as mercurial and taunting as one of Ariel's winds. - </i>pg. 274 Bertie + Nate</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i>The third piece of cake she fed him came with a tiny grazing of his teeth across her finger, and she was a sailor's knot nearly undone. He must have seen it written upon her face, for something flickered over his own features: a promise, perhaps, mixed with determination and some flavor of triumph. </i> - pg. 109</span></span></li>
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4 robots</div>
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A magical story with sexy guys, but not a book focused solely on a love triangle. If you haven't read this series, check it out!</div>
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Acquired: bought</div>
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<span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-38554465966367366792012-07-04T22:09:00.001-05:002012-07-04T22:09:49.574-05:00Let It Snow<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142412147/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=thisi0e1-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0142412147" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0142412147&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=thisi0e1-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" /></a><b>Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle</b><br />
<b>Published: October 2, 2008 by Speak</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Thanks to three of today’s bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a collection of 3 very cute stories, but I wouldn't call them 'interconnected'...more like loosely linked together. All of the authors are great in their own right, but their styles are different - something which becomes obvious when their stories are put in one volume. The stories were good, but I think I would have enjoyed them more if I had read them separately instead of one after the other. For this review, I'm kinda breaking it up by section so I can keep everything straight!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Jubilee Express (Maureen Johnson)</i></span><br />
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<li><u>Jubilee's parents</u> - their obsession with the Flobie Santa Village is so quirky-cute, and I loved the Flobie Five part of the story almost as much as Jubliee hated it</li>
<li><u>Stuart</u> - I love that he could tell right away that Jubilee's boyfriend wasn't as great as she thought he was, and that he didn't try to take advantage of her.</li>
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<i>Cheertastic Christmas Miracle (John Green)</i></div>
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<li><u>the Duke's obsession with has browns</u> - It takes <i>quite</i> a love of breakfast food for a girl to accompany a pair of teenage dudes on their quest for cheerleaders' affections.</li>
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<i>Patron Saint of Pigs (Lauren Myracle)</i></div>
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<li><u>Nathan's wardrobe</u> - It's a dedicated guy that owns an entire wardrobe of shirts plastered with Star Trek quotes.</li>
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<li><u>Noah</u> - Noah is a jerk. A guy who ignores all your phone calls, especially when he knows you're having a family crisis, because he's too self absorbed is <i>not</i> boyfriend material.</li>
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<li><u>plot</u> - John Green's style of writing focuses on the characters' relationships with each other more than on any clear plot. It works very well on its own, but in a unique book like this, it killed the flow that Maureen Johnson established in the 1st story, and only loosely tied in with the other stories at the very end.</li>
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<li><u>Addie</u> - From her opening line I kinda disliked Addie. She's extremely self-absorbed and acts a lot younger than she probably is if she has a job. She's full of excuses and can't own up to her own mistakes.</li>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"You don't happen to need a tow?" "Not unless you tow trains." He thought that over for a moment. It's always awkward when someone doesn't realize you're joking and devotes thought time to what you've said. Double that when the person is wearing tinfoil. "Too big," he finally replied, shaking his head. "Won't work." - </i>pg. 32 Jubilee + Tinfoil Guy (Jubliee Express)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"Um, in your opinion, what would be the ideal number of wheels for Carla to currently possess?" I closed my eyes and let my head swivel up, the streetlight bright through my eyelids, the snow on my lips. JP continued, "Because to be totally honest, I think the best possible number of wheels for Carla would be four. And right now there are three wheels physically connected to Carla herself, a nonideal number. Fortunately, the fourth is just a very slight distance away, but unfortunately I am not an expert in wheel reattachment." </i> - pg. 160-161 JP + Tobin (Cheertastic Christmas Miracle)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"I want you to fly me across the ocean at the prow of an ocean liner! Like the guy in </i>Titanic, <i>remember?" Jeb turned. "The guy who drowned?" "Well, I don't want you to </i>drown, <i>obviously." </i> - pg. 230 Addie + Jeb (Patron Saint of Pigs)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Cute, quirky stories but only loosely related.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Here's the breakdown: Jubilee Express - 4 robots, Cheertastic Christmas Miracle - 3 robots, Patron Saint of Pigs - 2 robots</span></div>
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<br /></div>pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142647724841222756.post-43842589221657462952012-06-21T06:00:00.000-05:002012-06-21T06:00:04.114-05:00Once Was Lost<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Published: October 1, 2009 by Little Brown</span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thisi0e1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0316036048" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Samara Taylor used to believe in miracles. She used to believe in a lot of things. As a pastor's kid, it's hard not to buy in to the idea of the perfect family, a loving God, and amazing grace. But lately, Sam has a lot of reason to doubt. Her mother lands in rehab after a DUI and her father seems more interested in his congregation than his family. When a young girl in her small town is kidnapped, the local tragedy overlaps with Sam's personal one, and the already-worn thread of faith holding her together begins to unravel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">In her third novel, acclaimed author Sara Zarr examines the coexistence of affliction and hope, and what happens when everything you thought you believed - about God, about your family, about yourself - is transformed.</span></div>
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This is a very interesting take on religion and teenagers, but don't be scared off by the religion and faith aspect of the book! This is <u>not</u> a book that will beat you over the head with a certain idea at all, and is really more focused on Samara's life as a pastor's daughter, as well as her doubts about what she has known her entire life. </div>
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<li style="text-align: left;"><b>concept</b> - I really like Zarr's idea of portraying a pastor's daughter and addressing the cracks in her faith and how her father's job effects her life. Samara's faith isn't perfect and neither is her family, like some people would expect it to be.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Samara's mom</b> - While it sucked for Sam that her mom was away, I was glad to see a character with an addiction who was portrayed as being aware of what she needed to do in order to recover. She wasn't going to go home before she was fully ready. She seemed to realize that taking some more time to focus on herself was going to help her family more than rushing back to them.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>ending</b> - This book takes on some issues that are hefty and complicated - things that can take years or lifetimes to sort out - and the ending felt resolved enough, but wasn't unrealistically tying everything up perfectly.</li>
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<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Samara's attitude</b> - Sam's sense of self preservation was seriously lacking! Someone she knows goes missing and she suddenly develops a habit of going out at all hours without telling anyone? I could maybe understand if it happened once...but it continued and she almost got a nasty education on the possible repercussions. </li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Erin</b> - Her personality bothers me - she's like a substitute teacher who is fresh out of college and so over-eager that no one takes her seriously. It's great to be enthusiastic about your job, but she pushes too hard, and Sam's not making it easy, but we see everything from her POV...so Erin comes off as annoying.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><b>Samara's dad</b> - One of my pet peeves in books is an MC who really needs to have a heart-to-heart with a parent, but just...won't. [Unsolicited life advice time - Your problems aren't going to evaporate if you ignore them, especially if they involve people you are in constant contact with, so work up the nerve to address those issues!] So, besides Sam's reluctance to talk to her dad about, well <i>anything</i>, there is a lack of them discussing, or even mentioning God or faith to each other. Faith in YA doesn't sell well. If it did, it would be everywhere, like vampires. Once something becomes popular, a million and one similar ideas get the support they need to make it to shelves. This book left me wondering if the strained relationship with Sam and her dad was just an inventive way to avoid actually writing about God and faith in a book supposedly about a crisis of faith. </li>
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<li style="text-align: left;"><i>Why does everything have to be broken right now? I think of Job, in the Old Testament, who lost everything. He didn't just lose everything, God </i>took <i>everything away from him - his wife, his kids, everything he owned. Despite it all, Job kept on believing that God knew what he was doing. Well I don't. I hit the fridge door with my open hand, hard, and it's all I can do not to smash my glass onto the floor.</i> - pg. 77 Samara</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><i>I wonder if that's how it feels to my dad, still. That everyone thinks he's crazy, or that he has all the answers. I just want him to have </i>some <i>of the answers. "Remember what my dad said. You could be God's Chosen Waiter." "Yeah, well, your dad makes everything sound meaningful, and easy." "It's an act." </i> - pg. 104 Samara + Daniel</li>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">3 robots</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I was a bit disappointed because I expected this to have a lot more about God and faith, but it is a great exploration of Samara's family and the things we take for granted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Acquired: bought</span></div>
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</div>pepsivanillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05184170915815736323noreply@blogger.com2