Sunday, December 12, 2010
Such a cool contest!

http://pages-of-forbidden-love.blogspot.com/2010/12/100-follower-contest.html

  For all you book lovers out there this is an amazing contest!!! I definitely think all of you should enter! It seems really fun! And the prizes are really cool! Definitely going to enter this one =D

   Live, Love, Laugh.... Read!
Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Release Date: April 2007
Series: The Mortal Instruments
Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 485
Age Group: Young Adult

"When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

    This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . ."

      I heard soooooooo many people saying how amazing this book is and I had seen it on a lot of shelves so I couldn't help it I had to get them!!!!

      I am so glad I did too because it was AMAZING!! I was hooked from Chapter 1, it was so different from anything I had ever read before, and yet somehow the same.

      I don't know what makes this book and series seem so different than anything I've ever read before when I'm sure there are others that are kind of like it in some ways. Maybe it's the style of writing but I don't know. The only other book I was as amazed with as I was with this book is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. And unlike a lot of books nowadays (expect for a few) with every chapter and every page the book keeps getting better and better!!!!

       Another thing I really liked was the romance between Clary and Jace. There was just enough of it so   it would have some romance in it, but not enough that that's what the whole book would be about. It had action and adventure with just the right amount of romance and drama on the side lol :)

       If you haven't already read this book I strongly suggest you go out and get it. I'm 99% sure you'll love it! =D

       Live, Love, Laugh.... Read!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Title: The Summoning
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Release Date: July 2008
Series: Darkest Powers Series
Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 390
Age Group: Young Adult

"My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.

All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost—and the ghost saw me.
Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't what it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House . . . before its skeletons come back to haunt me."

    So cool!

    I had seen this book everywhere but never read it because I thought it was about vampires, and I've had enough of them for now. Finally we went to Barnes and Noble one day and it was just there and I decided to read it, I'm glad I did lol :) I started reading this book and I was hooked on the first chapter. It was amazing! I loved the whole paranormal aspect of it. I really recommend that you guys read this if you haven't already.

    It was kind of a mystery with a lot of paranormal creatures! They brought up a lot that I had heard about but forgot about with the vampires and werewolves being popular right now. That's one of things I liked about this book, that it wasn't just about vampires and werewolves. Another thing I liked is the heroine, Chloe. She made fun of those heroines that I don't like throughout the book and I found that really funny =] She also doesn't just wait for guys to do things for her, she stands up for herself and I like that.

    There wasn't real a romance in this one but I think that she likes some guy and he likes her, but I don't know for sure :P This one was basically all adventure and it was really interesting. I really liked this book and I am dying to read the second book!

    Live, Love, Laugh....Read!
Title: Halo
Author: Alexandra Adornetto
Release Date: August 2010
Rating: ★★★ 1/2
Pages: 484
Age Group: Young Adult

"Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone—especially herself—from the Dark Forces.




Is love a great enough power against evil?"

   *sighs* how to put this into words. I first saw this on an ad on Facebook and it said "If you like Hush Hush you'll love Alexandra Adornetto's Halo" or something like that. The cover was really pretty and I did like Hush Hush so I went to go check it out.

   It was a nice book but I felt it was a little slow. It focused more on the romance between Bethany and Xavier. For me I feel romance is good--I like reading books with romance but I don't JUST read books with romance--but with this book I felt that there was just too much of it. It focused more on that then the actual good vs bad thing.

    It bored me after a while with her just going on and on about how much she loves Xavier and how her life would suck without him. I think it would have been better if the author had written the book with more action and had the romance as a side kind of thing.

     I didn't really like Bethany, she just seemed like the kind of heroine that wanted the guy to do everything for her. I like it when the girls stand up and fight for themselves, and then (most of the time) they have a crush or boyfriend.

     But I'm not gonna just bag on this book, so I did like the plot of the angels vs demons I just feel Alexandra Adornetto should have focused more on it than the love story. All and all I feel it was an okay book, but nothing you need to go out immediately and get.


    Live, Love, Laugh....Read!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Release Date: September 2008
Series: The Hunger Games Trilogy
Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 374
Age Group: Young Adult

"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival."


         Wow.


        That's just all I can say after reading this book. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!!!! I think it is amazing!!!! And if I could I'd give it, like, 10/5 stars!!!!! 


        This is just amazing! I can't say enough good things about it. It just blew my mind. It also got me thinking about how cruel people can be.


        One thing that I found interesting was that it was set in the future and North America is in ruins. I really liked that, I don't know why, I guess I just thought it was different. 


        This book is very violent though, I think they changed the rating from 12+ to 14+ and for good reason. Now I'm 13 and I read this book when I was 12 and everyone thinks 12 year olds are innocent but most of them aren't and could totally handle this book. 


       I think you guys should definitely go out and get this book. It is an AMAZING read!! Suzanne Collins did a great job in writing this story! I really really really hope all of you read it at some point in your life :)


      Live, Love, Laugh.... Read! 

Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Title: Impossible
Author: Nancy Werlin
Release Date: November 2008
Rating: ★★★★
Pages: 364
Age Group: Young Adult

"Lucy has nine months to break an ancient curse in order to save both herself and her unborn daughter.

  Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their child's birth. But Lucy is the first girl who won't be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents and her childhood friend Zach beside her. Do they have love and strength enough to overcome an age-old evil?"

     I had heard many good things about this book so I decided that I needed to read it. While I thought it was really good, I didn't think it was amazing. 
    
      I feel like you guys should definitely read this book. Just its not something that you should immediately go out to the store and buy.


     One thing that I haven't really seen that I saw in this book was the fact that the author switched point of views in order to help you understand the story more. And she switch views in such a way that everything flowed and it didn't feel like an abrupt change.
   
     Overall I really enjoyed the book. I actually once again kind of liked the villian =P I felt like this book had a nice ending and it resolved everything nicely :) You guys should really read it.




   Live, Love, Laugh.... Read!

Sunday, November 14, 2010
Title: Shadowland
Author: Meg Cabot
Release Date: October 2000
Series: The Mediator
Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 287
Age Group: Young Adult

" There's a hot guy living in Susannah Simon's bedroom. Too bad he's a ghost. 
   Suze is a mediator -- a liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won't leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living. But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn't seem to need her help. Which is a relief, because Suze has just moved to sunny California and plans to start fresh, with trips to the mall instead of the cemetery, and surfing instead of spectral visitations.




   But the very first day at her new school, Suze realizes it's not that easy. There's a ghost with revenge on her mind ... and Suze happens to be in the way."

   Ok, I absolutely ADORE this book! It is awesome!!! I think it's a GREAT first book for the AMAZING series!!!
    
    I love how Meg Cabot made Suze a kick-butt heroine!!! It is very hard for me to find YA heroines that aren't stupid, that aren't annoying, and are actually kind of cool. Suze is one of those heroines. She doesn't let a guy do for her what she can do for herself. She's different and she's ok with that! On her first day at her new school she was the only one to have wore a lot of black and the only one to have stood up to a really popular girl. 

    I love the sarcasm that is in this book. I think it's one of those books that you giggle at in a quiet classroom and everyone looks at you like your a freak. Also Meg Cabot inserts some Spanish words in there, since Jesse is Latino, such as " nombre de dios" and "querida".  After reading this book and series I fell in love with the word "querida" and what it signifies at the end of the series. 
  
    Overall I think that this is a wonderful book! It is definitely my favorite series. I just absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the series and book. I think Meg Cabot is a wonderful author :)

        Live, Love, Laugh.... Read!

Saturday, November 13, 2010
To Be Read Pile (as of November 13th)


                                             (my to be read pile on my nightstand ^^^)
So I'm just going to be going into a little bit more detail about each of those four book sitting there. Just so you guys can get a better idea about each one instead of just seeing a picture of them all stacked up like this. :)


Title: Impossible
Author: Nancy Werlin
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 384

"Lucy Scarborough is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their child’s birth. How can Lucy succeed when all of her ancestors have tried and failed? But Lucy is the first girl who won’t be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents beside her. And she has Zach, whose strength amazes her more each day. Do they have enough love and resolve to overcome an age-old evil?"


(Yes my copy from the library has a different cover, but I liked this cover better so I put this one) This looks so good! Currently I am on the fourth chapter and it is interesting. I've heard lots of good things about this book so I expect it to be good.





Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 496


"When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
 This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . ."


Wow. That is all I have to say. I am lost for words. It sounds sooooooo good!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to read this!!! My friend has already told me all about Jace and I can't wait to read about him!! I'm going to hurry up and finish Impossible so I can go on to this :) 


Title: Wicked: Witch and Curse
Author: Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 672 


"Holly Cathers's world shatters when her parents are killed in a terrible accident. Wrenched from her home in San Francisco, she is sent to Seattle to live with her relatives, Aunt Marie-Claire and her twin cousins, Amanda and Nicole.
  In her new home, Holly's sorrow and grief soon give way to bewilderment at the strange incidents goings on around her. Such as how any wish she whispers to her cat seems to come true. Or the way a friend is injured after a freak attack from a vicious falcon. And there's the undeniable, magnetic attraction to a boy Holly barely knows. Holly, Amanda, and Nicole are about to be launched into a dark legacy of witches, secrets, and alliances, where ancient magics yield dangerous results. The girls will assume their roles in an intergenerational feud beyond their wildest imaginations...and in doing so, will attempt to fulfill their shared destiny."


 This book looks interesting. I saw it when I was wandering around the isles of Walmart and the cover looked cool so I read the back of it and it sounded good. Around a week later at school one of my friends was reading it, so I asked to borrow it. She let me and that's why it's second to last in my pile, because it doesn't have a date that the library wants it back lol :P 


Title: Beautiful Creatures
Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 563 


"There were no surprises in GatlinCounty






We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything."

 Once again, wow. This looks sooooooo interesting!!! Everybody has been saying it's really good too!! The only reason that it is at the end of my to be read pile and not second (after City of Bones of course ;]) is because I own this book. So I never have to return it to the library or to a friend. I feel more relaxed keeping this one. But I'm really excited for when I get to this book. I have high expectations for this one.


       So I hope you guys enjoyed getting a look at my to be read pile :) If any of you have read any of these before please tell me if you think they were good. But please please try not to give any spoilers ;)

       Live, Love, Laugh.... Read!


The Hunger Games Trilogy Giveaway!!
Able to enter: November 12, 2010 - December 12, 2010


            Live, Love, Laugh.... Read!
Friday, November 12, 2010

Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: August 2009
Rating: ★★★ 1/2
Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls
Pages: 390
Age Group: Young Adult

"For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf–her wolf–is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human... until the cold makes him shift back again.
   Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human–or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever."

        So the first time I read this book, I fell in love with it. I absolutely adored it. So much that toward the end it had me crying, and it takes a lot to do that. 
     
        However, when I read it again it felt very boring and tedious and it got a little better toward the end, but I didn't feel the emotion that I had the first time around :P It is still one of my favorite werewolf novels. This is a sweet romance novel but it was a little slow at times. 
    
        One thing I really enjoyed about this book was Maggie's twist on the average werewolf that everyone imagines. These werewolves shift based on how cold or hot it is. It is something that I've never seen done before and greatly enjoyed! =) 
    
        Personally, I think Grace can get a little annoying at times but that's just what I think and I am very very very picky about my young adult heroines. 
     
        All and all I gave this book three out of five stars because I think it is a nice novel but I don't think it is one that you need to go rushing out to Barnes and Noble to go buy.
        
        Live, Love, Laugh....Read!
        

Currently Reading

Currently Reading
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Will Read Next

Will Read Next
Everlasting by Alyson Noel

How I Rate Books

★★★★★ - Awesome!

★★★★ - Great!

★★★ - Good!

★★ - O. K.

★ - Sucked

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