-Friday Finds [3]

...is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

It takes up too much space to paste a description for every single book, so I've linked each one to it's goodreads summary.

Just click on the book's title [not the pictures] for all it's info.

 So.. what did I stumble across this week...?

1] Always Watching (The Rayne Tour book 1) - Brandilyn Collins + Amberly Collins 
2] The Reluctant Heiress-Eva Ibbotson
3] Confessions of a Beauty Addict-Nadine Haobsh

4] Lockdown: Escape from Furnace-Alexander Gordon Smith
5] The Swan Kingdom-Zoe Marriott

6] Busted-Phil Bildner

Leave me your Friday Finds link! I love finding new books for my TBR. :]

 

-Waiting On Wednesday [4]: Getting Revenge On Lauren Wood

Waiting On Wednesday originated from Jill (Breaking The Spine.)

I haven't done a WoW in forever!

I just found out about this book on YALit.com

Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook

Release date: 1/5/10

Summary from Amazon.com:

In the final weeks of eighth grade, Lauren Wood made a choice. She betrayed her best friend, Helen, in a manner so publicly humiliating that Helen had to move to a new town just to save face. Ditching Helen was worth it, though, because Lauren started high school as one of the It Girls--and now, at the start of her senior year, she's the cheerleading captain, the quarterback's girlfriend, and the undisputed queen bee. Lauren has everything she's ever wanted, and she has forgotten all about her ex-best friend.

But Helen could never forget Lauren. After three years of obsessing, she's moving back to her old town. She has a new name and a new look, but she hasn't dropped her old grudges. She has a detailed plan to bring down her former BFF by taking away everything that's ever been important to Lauren—starting with her boyfriend.

Watch out, Lauren Wood. Things are about to get bitchy.

I don't too much care for the title, it's not very creative...but the plot looks pretty snazzy huh? I like the colors and font on the cover, but it kind of resembles the Pretty Little Liars cover, with the yellow, the swirly font, + the doll. What do you think?

Leave me your Waiting On Wednesday link so I can add some of your choices to my TBR too!

Question for bloggers who review...

When I sat down to write a few reviews tonight, I started thinking...I wonder how the other bloggers out there go about writing their reviews..

Do you type it at the computer? Is it off the top of your head? Do you flip back through the book while reviewing? Etc etc.

Personally, I write little notes to myself throughout the book whenever a thought or opinion pops in my head--that way I won't forget as I read, I can have a horrible memory at times--then I write and edit it on notebook paper first, then type it up and post it.

Anyone care to share? I'm so curious!

-Review: Killing Britney by Sean Olin

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!

Summary from back cover:

Britney is the girl everyone loves to hate.

 
Ever since Britney transformed herself from freak-and-geek to the most popular girl at school, her life has been touched by tragedy. First it was her mom, who drowned on a family rafting trip. Then her hockey-star boyfriend, Ricky, was killed in a hit-and-run.

 
When the deaths continue to pile up, everyone fears for Britney. Sure she's popular, blond, and fabulous. But is that enough reason for someone to want to...kill her?

***SPOILER WARNING*** My following review contains major spoilers, but trust me, you don't want to read this book anyway :\ If you do decide to go against my advice, don't read this review, I give away the ending. If you could even call it an ending.

Even as I was only a few pages into Killing Britney, I knew just from Olin's writing style that it was going to be hard for me to get into it the book.  The sentences were entirely too simple compared to what I'm used to--perhaps it may have been more enjoyable for young teens, middle school level possibly--and the whole story in general was just painfully undeveloped. It leaves the reader simply needing...well, more. Or better yet still, an entirely different book.

I'm going to be blunt and hopefully quick with this review, because I honestly disliked this book enough to not even want to discuss it any more than necessary.

Britney's mom dies in a rafting accident before the book even begins, and Britney is convinced it's all her fault. Her boyfriend Ricky is murdered in an intentional hit-and-run, and Britney is convinced that's also her fault. Pretty much everyone else in the story gets murdered and, [insert whiney voice here], Britney is convinced it's all her fault! Who would've guessed.

Of all the people in the book, you would think Britney's character would be the most developed, but it was quite the opposite. I knew everything about every other character, but knew close to nothing about Britney herself. One part of the book that especially pissed me off was a section (no more than a couple paragraphs) of conversation by one of her friends, saying "Britney is so dark after her mom died, I'm worried for her, She's got major issues" (not exact quotes from book but you get the idea) but then we aren't even shown enough of Britney's personality to know what the heck they're talking about! They just change topics. No explanation, no elaborating, not squat.

In the end, we find out it's Britney whose really killing everyone. It actually had potential to be a mediocre ending to a terrible book, but it's no surprise Olin couldn't even manage that. The ending concept was only described in 3 or 4 pages and frankly I was lost.

Why I'm even giving this two stars, I have no clue. Maybe I'm too frustrated from wasting my time on this book to think straight.

-Review: Legacy Of Lies by Elizabeth Chandler

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!

           My summary:

When Megan's grandmother whom she's never met suddenly writes her a brief note summoning her to come visit her home in Wisteria, she couldn't be more surprised--or curious. Although she's never been to the house, she immediately recognizes it when she arrives. She's had peculiar dreams about the exact same house ever since she was a little girl.

That's not the only strange thing--her "almost cousin" Matt acts like he hates her before they even speak, objects are being moved and misplaced around the house, and Megan's dreams are getting weirder and scarier.

She finds herself wondering why she was even invited in the first place, until secrets are discovered and lies are uncovered, and Megan will do whatever it takes to put the pieces together.

My first Elizabeth Chandler read has definitely left me wanting to read more of her work! This ghost story was put together perfectly. It's fast-paced but not fast enough to accidentally leave out significant details or descriptions.

Our main character in this book is Megan who can't, for the life of her, figure out why her Grandmother has commanded her to her home when she's never even met the woman. As far as relating to her as a character, I must first say really don't understand why she puts up with some of the rules and comments her Grandmother inflicts on her--I know, we're supposed to respect our elders and all that goodness, but it's not like she's being forced to stay there... if my Grandmother would have treated my with that kind of coldness I would've turned around and left the same day I got there! Maybe you could say I have issues with authority, maybe I just have a bad attitude, haha who knows? Either way I couldn't relate to Megan after that point in the story.

Regardless of her Grandmother's attitude, Megan can't help but let her curiosity get the best of her so she sticks around Wisteria, determined to find out exactly what's going on. She's especially interested after finding the grave of Avril, Grandmother's sister, who apparently died when she was Megan's age (coincidence?), almost exactly sixty years earlier.

As I got closer to the last pages, with still no ending in sight, I had to wonder if the author would be able to adequately sum up the book in only 30 short pages. While the concept of the ending turned out nicely (and completely unexpected!) I found it's events somewhat confusing and rushed. I think the ending could have been better explained and stretched out longer to fit those explanations.

 

 1/2

There are many more things going on in the story but I don't want to give too much away, so I'll wrap this up by saying Legacy Of Lies was nicely pieced together. Even at 182 pages short, Chandler managed to leave nothing missing. It had me guessing what the heck was going on with this girl, which kept me hooked throughout the whole book. 

I definitely recommend this, especially to readers who enjoy paranormal/ghost stories.

-Review: Snitch by Allison Van Diepen

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!

                   My summary:

In a city and school split into two groups, the Bloods and the Crips, remaining neutral is not only hard--it's dangerous. Say the wrong thing around the wrong gang and it could cost you your life.

But Julia DeVino has always has her mind set on excluding herself from the deadly and fast-paces lifestyle of the gangbangers. In addition with her struggle to stay indifferent, she also hasn't had much luck with relationships--the 1st boyfriend she had also became her last when the relationship went all wrong.

But when sexy and mysterious Eric moves into town, Julia finds herself not only questioning her beliefs about relationships, but the morals she's lived by all of her life.

***SPOILER WARNING*** My following review contains minor spoilers for Snitch. They're not major enough to ruin the book for anyone planning to read it, but if you'd rather just experience it for yourself, you might just want to skip this review. Don't worry, I'll forgive you ;]

I found out about this book on Amazon.com and it caught my eye as I've had interactions with gangs and gang members myself. I thought I might be able to relate to it a bit, and I did to a certain extent. Since the book takes place in New York and I've been raised in the south, there were small differences in the gangs down here and the gangs up north. Things like rituals and initiations varied a bit, but all in all, the majority of it was the same old.

Though I could relate to a lot of the events in the book, I couldn't relate myself to Julia as a character. I could sympathize for her when her so-called "true friends" she'd known for years abandoned her after she told Eric he was going to be jumped outside the club they were at. I can understand she was lonely, with her dad never at home and her friends shunning her, and was desperate to fit in somewhere. However I lost a lot of respect for her after she chose to join the Crips. I admired her at the beginning of the book for standing up so strongly for her opinions. o when she ended up joining a gang I felt like she was kind of weak for just forgetting all her beliefs she'd supposedly felt so strongly about her whole life.

The ending was surprising--definitely not expected. Wanna know what happens?

Sorry, can't tell you!  Ha ha ha.....

1/2

 Overall I enjoyed this story. I haven't given away too much details so if it sounds like the kind of read you're interested in then go right ahead. I'd recommend it.

♥ New template, funny costumes, award, Perfect Mistake

Well my week got started off on a good foot! What about yall?

Tomorrow: I'm going to take pictures of the inside covers of the books from my giveaway so everyone can see the stamps on the inside. I would have already, but I had let someone borrow my digi cam :] I'm also going back to the used paperback book store..hope they got some good stuff.

I'm in an excellent mood tonight. Many reasons:

For one, I borrowed Desperate Housewives season 5 from my sister--no reading for me tonight! Haha, Desperate is my guilty pleasure. Or obsession rather.

Another reason--I really love this new template! I usually like 3 columns but this feels a little less crowded. Whatcha think?

I ALMOST FORGOT...my boyfriend's mom got my little 2-month-old baby boy a costume. It's this exact one---->

I hope he'll wear it..he hates people messing with his head, especially hates wearing hats, so he might act a fool when we put this on him...hehe.

And for our pitbull:

We tried it on him, he thought it was a form of punishment, haha! Guess he'll stay at home. Nonetheless, I can't wait for Halloweener :]

PERFECT MISTAKE IS RELEASED TODAY!!! Ughh I could just pee my pants, I've been waiting for this FOREVER.

And last but not least..........

I've received another award! Yay!

I received the One Lovely Blog award from Choco.

Thank you Choco!!

Here are the rules of the "One Lovely Blog Award":
Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

So I'm passing this to:

1) Book Chick City

2) Royal Reviews 

3) Books By Their Cover 

4) Juicilicousss Reviews 

5) Pirate Penguin's Reads 

6) Teenage Fiction For All Ages 

7) The Bookette 

8) Once Upon A Bookcase 

9) The Sweet Bookshelf 

10) YA Book Queen 

11) I Want To Read That 

12) I Was A Teenage Book Geek 

13) Inside The Mind 

14) Laurens Crammed Bookshelf 

15) Lost In Ink

Hope everyone has a great week!!

What Are You Reading On Mondays? [2]

Last week I read:

Soulstice (Devouring book 2) - Simon Holt

Killing Britney - Sean Olin

Currently Reading...

Dark Secrets: Legacy of Lies - Elizabeth Chandler

Plan to read this week:

Breathless - Jessica Warman

Confessions of a Serial Kisser - Wendelin Van Draanen

Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher

Leave me a link to your post so I can see what you're reading! :]

A Very Girly Giveaway --CLOSED!

It's high time for another giveaway at Buried In Books! Friday I reached 50 followers--thanks to everyone! I love yall ;] In celebration, I'm giving away the following to one lucky winner:

♥ Two paperbacks {one winner}: Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen by Dyan Sheldon.

♥ I will also throw in some more girly goodies, but you'll have to wait & be surprised!


♥PLUS if I reach 100 followers during the duration of this contest, I will give away 2 MORE books to a second winner, +goodies included! So get out there & promote the giveaway!
 


{*VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE NOTE*}  I got these books from my local used bookstore. They are in excellent condition, but the store (unfortunately) stamps their info + price on the inside cover (see picture to the left). This of course doesn't affect the text at all, but I know some people are picky about the condition of their books, so I thought I should inform everyone.

The rules:

-You MUST be a follower of my blog in order for your entry to count!
-Open to U.S. residents only-I'm so sorry, I just don't have the money to ship these internationally right now.

-You MUST leave an e-mail address for me to reach you at. 

To enter:

To enter the giveaway, simply [1] FOLLOW MY BLOG, and [2] leave your NAME + E-MAIL ADDRESS in a comment. This will earn you one entry.

For extra entries:

+1 Linking back to this contest [posts, twitter, sidebars, etc.] One extra entry for each time you promote my giveaway. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE LINKS so I can go and see that you spread the word!! You must leave the link on your page until the contest ends or it doesn't count.

+5 Add the button to the giveaway on your sidebar--you can find the link to do so in the left sidebar of this page.. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE A LINK. You must leave the button on your page until the contest ends or it doesn't count.

+5 Add my blog button on your sidebar--you can find the link to do so in the left sidebar of this page. LEAVE A LINK!

The giveaway will run from Sat. 10/24 until Sat. 11/21.  The winner will be chosen (using random.org) on Sun. 11/22. Thanks everyone! ♥

Could someone PLEASE help me?

I want to post a html code for people to link my blog button, but when I put the code in the scroll box it posts the button image...can anyone tell me how I can get it to just show the text so people could copy and paste it?

As soon as I figure it out I'll be able to post my Very Girly Giveaway in celebration of reaching 50 followers last night. It's all ready to post, I just need the answer to this question!

Thanks in advance!

-Review: The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

      My summary:
The Chosen One is the story of a thirteen-year-old girl, Kyra, and her life in a polygamous religious community. The leaders of the community--"The Prophets"--have all control over her community and what they say goes. So when one Prophet has a vision from God--Kyra becoming her sixty-year-old uncle's seventh wife--everyone tells her she will have no choice. Kyra dreams of freedom but also finds it hard to choose between a new life and her family (after all, she does have 3 mothers and 20 siblings) who she is so close to.


One word: 

Wow.

I loved Kyra. It seemed to me she might have been the only one in her family with any sense--or at least that used it. You can tell some of her family feels like there's more to life than just having children and following the Prophet's every order, but everyone except Kyra is too afraid to speak up. Her family won't try to escape with her because they believe the outside world is filled with Satan--from people's blue jeans and belly shirts to their books, they truly believed if you lived in the "outside world," you were going to Hell.


Kyra sneaks off every week to check out books from the Ironton County Mobile Library On Wheels, which is of course a sin in her community, and the driver of the bus was definitely my favorite character in the book aside from Kyra. I don't want to give too much away...Ugh this is frustrating, haha, I just want everyone to read this, seriously.


This book brought up so many different emotions in me. I couldn't believe some of the things Kyra was subjected to--from physical and emotional abuse to being forced to marry her sixty-year-old kin. I think what really hit me with this book is that somewhere, there are girls like Kyra in communities just like the one in the book, right now as we speak. There were times in the book I was to the point of tears. ...I want to say so much more but again I don't want to spoil the book for anyone.


Honestly, I hadn't expected to enjoy The Chosen One as much as I did. It made me look at my life and be grateful for how I was raised and the freedom I've been blessed with. I VERY highly recommend this book, and give it 5+ stars.

Random Reading Challenge

This challenge is hosted by Caribou's Mom.

Want more info on this challenge? View the rules & sign up @ the original post.

This should be easy, I usually pick my books randomly anyway.

I chose level III - 12 books chosen randomly.

1. Legacy Of Lies-Elizabeth Chandler [review]
2. Thirteen Reasons Why-Jay Asher [review]
3. Confessions of a Serial Kisser-Wendelin Van Draanen [review]

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

-Review: Remembering Raquel by Vivian Vande Velde

Fourteen-year-old Raquel Falcone is, as one of her classmates puts it, the kind of kid who has a tendency to be invisible. That is until the night she's hit by a car and killed while walking home from the movies. In brief, moving chapters, we hear about Raquel from her classmates, her best friend, her family--and the woman who was driving the car that struck her. The loss of this seemingly invisible girl deeply affects her entire community, proving just how interconnected and similar we all really are. -summary from goodreads

Well Remembering Raquel was really like a short story for me, and at only 137 short pages, I honestly felt like just about everything in the book could have been more developed. When I first read the summary, I liked the idea of the book, but after reading it I must say I am utterly disappointed... I don't even know where to begin...

I did like the originality of some of the points of view shared in the book (example: the custodian who cleaned out Raquel's locker at school). Some other people who shared: her best friend, father, a teacher, the woman driving the car who hit her, etc. I also liked the idea of a chapter with excerpts from Raquel's blog, but I'm not satisfied with what excerpts the author chose to write about.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but Raquel's character wasn't developed enough for me to even care if she got hit by a car or not. The only things I really feel like I knew was that she was shy, overweight, and liked playing a fantasy game on the internet. I think maybe the book should have started with a chapter from Raquel's point of view of her life, because no one in the book really knew her either, except her best friend...

Which brings me to the fact that half of the time, it seemed like whoever was sharing their point of view would get sidetracked and most chapters ended up feeling like ramblings as opposed to anything related Raquel.

The book ended abruptly; there was no resolution and the whole book basically led up to...well, nothing.

 I guess this could have been a good book if the author would have elaborated more on Raquel and made the book longer...I don't know this just didn't do it for me. 

 

DystopYA Reading Challenge!

I decided to participate in the DystopYA Reading Challenge hosted by Books On The Nightstand.

To find out more about this challenge and join in, visit the original post.

"You are hereby commanded to read 3 works of dystopic fiction that were written or published primarily for young adults."

1. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld: review

2. Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody: currently reading
3.

-Library Loot [2] 10/21/09

'Library Loot' is hosted by A Striped Armchair.

Just came home from the library! Yay :]

Click links for Goodreads summaries!

Had these on hold:

Legacy Of Lies (Dark Secrets)-Elizabeth Chandler

Breathless-Jessica Warman

Thirteen Reasons Why-Jay Asher 
What I Saw And How I Lied-Judy Blundell

And also picked up this on a whim:

 Uglies-Scott Westerfeld