In My Mailbox (15) - Vlog

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren. It is also inspired by Alea from Pop Culture Junkie. It gives bloggers a chance to share all the books we bought, borrowed, and received this week. Titles that are linked go to goodreads. Covers that are shown on my iTouch are eBooks.

  
What I learned this week: I really suck at book buying bans. I put one up and I just tore it down the next day.

Quick Note: I start summer school on monday so I'm not sure how that'll affect my blog yet but I may be absent for a bit. If I'm lucky then it won't matter much.

NetGalley: (Thanks to HarperCollins)
The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle

Author:
Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Bought:
Summer's Crossing by Julie Kagawa
A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

Library: A new library card!
Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr
The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge
If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Quick Question: I finished reading Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins yesterday and I was really surprised that I cried while reading that! Did anyone else cried while reading this? You could also just say yes so I don't feel like such a loser :D

Please feel free to leave a link with your comment so I can check out what's in your mailbox this week.

Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
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Publisher: Dutton
Release Date: December 2, 2010
Format: eBook
Source: RAK from Ivy @ Ivy Reads

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.
As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

I was more than surprised by how much I loved Anna and the French Kiss. This is one of those books where I couldn't help but just swoon over everything! The writing seemed effortless and.... FLUID! I didn't feel like there were separate chapters or sections in the book that stuck out. There was just this flow that makes you want to finish the book without stopping.

I was just trying to kill some time before bed when I picked up Anna. Before I knew it, it was 2 am and I was still reading. Time flies by pretty quick while reading Stephanie's SPECTACULAR writing. The voice in Anna is just.... Gosh I'm not even sure how to describe it. There was just this strong and natural voice.

The characters were written in a way that I felt like they were real! There are some characters where I could only find in books, but not the characters in this book. Anna's reaction to being left in Paris was like how any else would. She started off scared and intimidated, but like anyone she some friends.... like Étienne St. Clair. I'm a swooner hands down. If St. Clair was over in Paris right now I'd pack my bags and go roam the streets. St. Claire is smart, classy, passionate, and an "English French American Boy Masterpiece".

Anna and the French Kiss is the perfect summer read if you're looking for something fun and romantic.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Review: Anathema by Megg Jensen

Anathema by Megg Jensen
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Series: Cloud Prophet #1
Publisher: Dark Side Publishing
Release Date: February 5, 2011
Format: eBook
Source: Author

Forget prophecy. Make your own destiny.
Sheltered from the outside world with no hope for escape, slave girl Reychel dreads her fifteenth birthday - when her master’s symbol is burned on the back of her bald scalp. Her best friend disappears the night before, leaving her to face the branding ceremony alone. She soon discovers nothing is as it seems when people desperate for freedom beg for Reychel's help.
Can Reychel learn to believe in herself?

My Thoughts:

I was looking for a really short read when I brought Anathema with me to the beach yesterday. I wasn't thinking much of it but I really enjoyed Anathema. With a fast paced story and constant turns I finished it in one sitting at the beach. (I even got sunburned from laying in the same spot while finishing this.)

The books I've been reading lately have been a bit long with way too much detail, but Megg wrote this with the perfect amount pages and the right amount of detail. From the first page to the very end I was left guessing on what would happen next.

I really felt for Reychel and how she was betrayed by her friends. I just wanted to go up to her an hug her, but she's stronger than that. She goes through every day not being able to see the outside world. When she's tossed into reality she dusts herself off and keeps walking. When Reychel finds she's more than the average slave she does everything she can to make things right.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Be sure to catch the sequel, Oubliette which will be released on June 23, 2011.

Review: Legacy by Cayla Kluver

Legacy by Cayla Kluver
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Series: Lagacy #1
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: June 21, 2011
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley

The first boy disappeared on the day of his birth, on a night when the pale yellow moon of the nighttime sky turned red and bathed the heavens in the ghastly color of blood, on the same night the Kingdom of Cokyri abruptly ceased its merciless attack.
Across the land of Hytanica, under the shadow of the crimson moon, infant boys continued to vanish. Not until the blood had faded from the sky did the disappearances stop and the bodies of the murdered infants were found outside the gates of the city, a final word from the greatest enemy Hytanica had ever known. For the next sixteen years, peace reigned, but one mystery remained unsolved. The Cokyrians had abducted forty-nine newborns, but returned only forty-eight bodies.
Now, as seventeen-year-old Princess Alera of Hytanica is besieged from all sides by suitors vying for the Throne, a teenage Cokyrian boy, Narian, is encountered within the walls of her Kingdom, a boy who will show Alera a world where women serve a purpose and not just a husband. As Narian helps Alera find her voice, she struggles against an arranged marriage that will shatter the life she has scarcely begun to live. And when Narian's shocking past is uncovered, and war with Cokyri looms once more, he must fight to defy a fate ordained at his birth.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit that I did pick this book because of the cover. We all say "Don't judge a book by it's cover" but sometimes I kind of do. Since I loved the cover I decided to poke around a little about the book. One thing I found that was really neat was that Cayla Kluver wrote this book around the age of 14! She is now 18 and is being published by Harlequin Teen. From learning that bit of fact I had to have this book.

Legacy was the first book I picked up for this summer and it was perfect! At the moment I'm all about fantasy and the whole princess with an arrange marriage thing. Alera is a head strong princess who wants to be treated as equal as men. In the beginning, I didn't like Alera because instead of coming off as bold she came off too strong and was bossy and controlling. But as pages past Alera began to grow into the queen she would soon become. Steldor is the gentleman that is the most favored to be Alera's husband, but Alera does not favor him. Honestly, I don't favor him either because I'm a bit confused by his personalities. He's cocky and arrogant but at the same time he has these small moments where I'd look at him differently. With the stressed out life Alera is living she finds an escape being with Narian. I'm not sure what to think of Narian since he rarely shows his true self. What I do know about Narian is that he's at moments kind hearted and respectful. He's also my favorite character of the book.

I just loved the story overall and how Cayla slips in more obstacles through out without making it seem too much. From the struggle of an arrange marriage to the desperation of a new king to support their kingdom. They all fit perfectly and I wasn't left with as many dull moments. Although I loved the story I felt as though there was a bit too much detail that wasn't needed which stretched the book out to almost 500 pages.

Legacy was really enjoyable and that ending has me waiting on Allegiance which will be the sequel that'd be published in 2011.

Overall Rating: 3.5

In My Mailbox (14) - Vlog

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren. It gives bloggers a chance to share all the books we bought, borrowed, and received this week. (Titles that are linked go to goodreads.)

  
This week is a really simple In My Mailbox. I'm trying to finish my TBR of 20+ books so it's still manageable. I didn't have my camera with me so this one will look a little bit different.

Simon & Schuster Galley Grab:
Fury by Elizabeth Miles
Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

Bought:
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Please feel free to leave a link with your comment so I can 

check out what's in your mailbox this week.

Where I've Been...

I've been pretty occupied by things for the past couple of weeks and my blog really suffered from that. I haven't been posting and I haven't been commenting a bunch either. But I have a good (ish) reason...

I Graduated Middle School!

I'm in the green next to my best friends. They are also
kind of my IRL bookish friends. Well sometimes. :)

Yeah, It's not as exciting as graduating high school or college but it is something. Since my school was kind of lame and was the one school in our district to not have a formal graduation for us, my friends and I made our own.

Now since I'm officially out of school more posts will start to trickle in. :) For now here are some pictures of our "graduation".

A bunch of my friends.

I know I'm probably going to see them next year in high school but it may or may not be the same. So we messed around a lot yesterday trying to create an unforgettable moment. Well that didn't work very well though.

I'm the one in the green, sitting next to Allison who'll most likely do some guest
posts for me. On the top in the red is Rachel, who shares my love of paranormal.

Do you remember going into your freshman year of high school?

 Did you just recently graduated? Aren't you just glad that summer is here?

In My Mailbox (13)

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren. It gives bloggers a chance to share all the books we bought, borrowed, and received this week. (Titles that are linked go to goodreads.)

  
This week will be 2 weeks worth of books since last week I accidentally misplaced my books. I haven't had as much time as I would like the past week to post anything so just bare with me until summer starts. I am only 5 days away from graduating middle school! That also means only 5 more days until school is out and summer vacation begins. By then I'll have more time on my hands to post more reviews.

*Update 6/13/11*
So as you guys can tell I totally butchered Sean Campbell's name in my vlog. This was filmed right after I came home from a party. I didn't realize how off it was until I watched it again this morning.


From authors:
Anathema by Megg Jensen
Usher's Inc by Rusty Fischer
Steven George and the Dragon by Nathan Everett
Nowhereville by Sean Campbell
The Commander and the Den Asaan Rautu by Michelle Franklin
Tales from Frewyn by Michelle Franklin

Netgalley: (Thanks to ABRAMS)
Misfit by John Skovron

Contests Won:
Signed Bookmark by Megg Jensen @ Me, Myshelf, and I
Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell @ Alison Can Read

Dark Days of Supernatural Tour: (Check out my post here)
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Die For Me by Amy Plum
Hereafter by Tara Hudson
Illusions by Aprilynne Pike
Vampire Kisses Vol. 1 by Ellen Schreiber

Fun Swag and Stuff from:
Dark Days
Novel Novice

Bought: @ Author Visit
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

I also bought a nook so I can finally read my eBooks. It was also a "graduation" gift from my parents.

Please feel free to leave a link with your comment so I can 

check out what's in your mailbox this week.

The Dark Days of Supernatrual - Portland, OR

Tara is in the pink scarf. Aprilynne is in the red shirt.
Veronica is on the other side of Aprilynne
and Ellen is the one standing up right next to
 Veronica. And I'm in the white purse

Yesterday night, on June 8, the The Dark Days of Supernatural Tour (Pitch Dark Days) stopped by Portland, OR at the Clackamas Barnes & Noble. The tour included 5 amazing authors:

-Amy Plum  (Die For Me)

-Tara Hudson (Hereafter)

-Veronica Roth (Divergent)

-Aprilynne Pike (Illusions)

-Ellen Schreiber (Cryptic Cravings)

It started off with a synopsis of their new books and then we went to the fun Q & A. I didn't think to write these down but I do remember that Tara Hudson shared a little sneak peak into Arise which is the sequel to Hereafter. It's not "spoilery" but it'd make since if you have Hereafter, which I did and really enjoyed. Tara mentioned that in Arise, Amelia will get to change clothes.

During the signing Amy  offered some chocolate from France and they were delicious as well as the mini musketeers Ellen offered. Through out the whole event every author was energetic and seemed like they really enjoyed meeting us and being there. While I was there I purchased and I also got a few book swag. I was also able to take a few pictures with these fabulous authors.

Me & Ellen Schreiber

Me & Veronica Roth!

Me & Amy Plum. And also Tara Hudson to the side!

Not only did I meet these authors but I also met Sara from Novel Novice. And I didn't realize this until I went home, but I sat like right behind Suzanne Young and a bunch of other book bloggers. I promise that next time I'll find the nerve to go up to you guys and say "Hi" even if I'm not sure if I got the right person.

Me & Sara!

I also got some Novel Novice swag when I met Sara which will be shown in my next In My Mailbox.

Here's a picture of the books and swag I got at the event.

Die For Me by Amy Plum + bookmark

Hereafter by Tara Hudson + signed bracelet 

Illusions by Aprilynne Pike + Team Tamani & David tattoos

Divergent by Veronica Roth + factions tattoos

Vampire Kisses Volume 1 by Ellen Schreiber + bookmark

I haven't been to many book events but so far this is one of my favorites! If Dark Days is stopping by you, go check it out. It was really fun and you'd never know who'd you'd find there. You can find the schedule here.

Michael Scott - Portland, OR Tour Stop

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Michael Scott is the author behind the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. The Warlock is the 5th book in the series and was recently published in America, on May 24, 2011. For the release of his new book Michael Scott has been touring the United States. The official 8th stop of the tour was at my local indie Powell's, on Sunday, June 5, which I unfortunately missed. Lucky for me, he had time to visit my school today before he hits the next stop at Utah. Which is why I'm saying I attended his 8.5th tour stop.

I haven't been to many author signings/events, but this had to be one of my favorites. Not only did Michael Scott share the back story to how the series was made, but he also spent a lot of time answering our questions which was very appreciated. He really cared about what we had to say and he'd always answer in the fullest way possible. Some things I learned from the visit was:

-Michael Scott has an Irish accent

-Almost all of his characters are based off of myths

-This is his 108th published book

I am guilty that I haven't read any of his books yet, but I'm very glad I had a chance to meet him. I know for a fact now that I'll end up reading the series soon. I was able to buy a personalized signed copy of The Alchemyst, which I'm excited to read.

This had to be one of my favorite visits and if you haven't had a chance to meet Michael Scott, he'll be stopping at a few more places before the tour ends.

June 7th @ 6:00 pm

West Jordan - BARNES AND NOBLE

West Jordan, UT

June 8th @ 7:00 pm

CHANGING HANDS BOOKSTORE

Tempe, AZ

Not - In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren. It gives bloggers a chance to share all the books we bought, borrowed, and received this week. (Titles that are linked go to goodreads.)

 

Well I was going to do an In My Mailbox this week, but then I couldn't find all of my books I got! I only remember getting one book and I'm not sure where all of them are. So I'll do one next week after I find all of my books. And since next week is the week of a Dark Days Tour stop I'll have even more books to show. So please bare with me until next week's In My Mailbox.

May Wrap-Up

Even though May was a crazy month of school work, I did find some time to blog. Here's a wrap up of all the posts I've done in May just incase you missed something.

Featured in:
Little Known Blogs

Reviews:
Spells by Aprilynne Pike
Moonglass by Jessi Kirby
The Magnolia League by Katie Crouch
Awakened by PC & Kristin Cast
Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr

Betrayal Blog Tour:
Betrayal by Mayandree Michel (review)
Character Interview
Author Interview

Armchair BEA:
Day 1: About Me
Day 2: Best of 2011
Day 3: Interviews
Day 4: Relationships
Day 5: Blogging

Weekly Memes:
In My Mailbox (8) - Vlog
In My Mailbox (9) - Vlog
In My Mailbox (10)
In My Mailbox (11) -Vlog
In My Mailbox (12)

TGIF (2)

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'm Glad That Were Recommended To Me

Waiting On Wednesday (4)

May RAK Wrap Up

Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) is an event hosted by the ladies of Book Soulmates. Every month you can sign up and spread the random acts of kindness by sending books to other bloggers. For more info click here! And be sure to sign up for the month of June.

This is the first time I signed up for RAK and I found it was really fun! This is my little thank you post to the generous people who sent me an RAK that made my day.

Thank you to Ivy from Ivy Reads for sending me my first RAKs:



Spells by Aprilynne Pike (eBook)
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (eBook)
Abandon by Meg Cabot (eBook)

Thank you to Lillie from Read My Mind:

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

Thank you again to Ivy and Lillie! <3

Review: Possession by Elana Johnson

Possession by Elana Johnson
Blog | Website | Twitter | Facebook

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Format: eARC
Source: Simon & Schuster-Galley Grab

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.
But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.
This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

I've put Possession off to the side for a while but when I picked it up, practically finished Possession in one sitting with the fast and twisted story. A dystopian novel that puts you in a world where you no longer have to think for yourself. With a few words from the Director you'll bend right into their control. At the moment I'm a huge dystopian fan and this totally filled my dystopian craze.

As much as I loved the story itself I was a bit lost at points. I was thrown into a world full of "techie" words and it took me a bit to understand it. There were also so many labels to everyone and their relationships to each other was a bit unclear to me. I did enjoy the pace of the story and I didn't feel like I had to sit through pages to understand the setting.

Vi, whose full name is Violet, became my favorite character from the start. She's this rebellious and spontaneous person from the start. But now she became rebellious for a purpose. It felt more natural that way than to have someone who always followed the rules and then started to do crazy stuff all of a sudden. I've never felt like I've known a character as well as Vi since she's not afraid to speak her mind.

I did pick this book up for another reason, the blurb sounded like a good love triangle. Like a really complicated relationship where I can't help but like both guys, which was exactly what I got. Zenn is the guy Vi has fallen for, for 5 years. He seemed like the perfect guy and to make it even better, they were matched. Jag on the other hand was introduced to Vi when they became cell buddies in a prison. Romantic right? Usually I'd cringe when characters refer to each other as babe or baby, but it sounded fitting when it came out of Jag's mouth. Both guys are bold, strong, and would do anything for Vi including risking their lives.

The relationships to the personalities and the character developments felt really natural to me and wasn't forced. It was a great plot but, I did feel like there was so much doubt and betrayal going on that I felt like there were too many holes unfilled. It was overall a great debut novel from Elana Johnson.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5