Giveaway winners!

The first place winner of Gossip Girl and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, + extra girly goodies and surpries, is.......

Well first lets take a look at how the contest ended.

# of entrants: 50

Total # of entries: 179

Person with most entries: tie between Alexa & Veronica and with 14 entries each

# of new followers during contest: 88!

Okay I don't know what else to list. So the 1st place winner is...

tanya904!

Congrats!

I will be e-mailing you directly, and you have 48 hours from then to reply with your

mailing address. If you don't reply in time, I will have to choose another winner, so make sure you're looking out for my e-mail!

But wait...

It seems that I reached 100+ followers while this contest was running!

And as promised, I am adding two more books to a second winner!

But I have a problem...

I haven't chosen the books yet :\

But I have chosen a winner!
I will let you know what you've won early next week.

And the 2nd place winner is......

brizmus!

Congrats!

The same applies to you:

I will be e-mailing you directly, and you have 48 hours from then to reply with your

mailing address. If you don't reply in time, I will have to choose another winner, so make sure you're looking out for my e-mail!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered! Check out my left sidebar ['currently reading'] for upcoming giveaways!

 

In My Mailbox [1]

^^ I wish that was my actual mailbox! ^^

Thanks to Kristi for hosting IMM week after week :D 

This is my first IMM ever! The last 2 weeks I received...

For review:

The Pencil Test by James Guilford [Thank you to James for sending me this copy of his book to review. FYI, you can download  the first 5 chapters of his book here.]

Won:

Ruined by Paula Morris [Thanks to Shooting Stars Mag]
Feelin' The Vibe by Candice Dow [Thank you to Tena @ Crazy Book Slut for hosting this giveaway and to Hachette for sending it]

Bought @ used bookstore:

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

Bought @ Barnes & Noble:

Perfect Mistake [Privilege book 3] by Kate Brian

Bought @ yard sales: 

Nights In Rondanthe by Nicholas Sparks
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Yoga For Dummies mini-book (this one was free! woot) 
Dreams: Unlock the secrets of your subconscious by Frank Garfield & Rhondda Stewart-Garfield

Review: Confessions of a Serial Kisser by Wendelin Van Draanen

            My Summary:

After reading a romance novel found under her mom's bed, Evangeline Logan sets out on a mission to "live her fantasy" and find the perfect kiss. What she ends up finding is ear-lickers and fish lips, among other not-so-perfect kissing encounters. But when her reckless kissing starts to take it's toll on both her reputation and her relationships, what Evangeline learns brings much more value than a kiss ever could.

I picked this up at my library on a whim, simply for the pink cover (yes I can be quite the cover judge at times), plus I thought it looked like a cute read although it's not my usual type of novel. I liked the short, to-the-point chapters and ended up enjoying the whole book.

Overall, Evangeline was an upbeat and likable character. However, a few minor things about the writing bothered me. As I've found with a couple other chick-lit books I've read, there was an overuse of exclamation points in this book. They made Evangeline seem just a little too perky and animated. While I'm sure that's the personality Draanen wanted Evangeline to come off as having, it still just rubbed me as a little too over-the-top. I also was slightly annoyed by the word "dweeb," used four or five times throughout the book, but that's not too important. It's just not a word I'm used to seeing in my usual reading.


There were many entertaining parts in this book and I was kept pretty amused throughout. Surprisingly the ending was not too predictable (usually a common factor for romance books, in my opinion at least) and I was kept guessing the whole time about whether or not she would find her "crimson kiss," and which one of the many boys she would end up with.


Confessions of a Serial Kisser was pretty fast-paced, and maybe too much so at times. For example, when Evangeline gives herself a makeover, her transformation is just too rushed to be believable, and the same can be said for some of her kissing encounters. I mean, who walks up to some random guy in Starbucks and grabs and kisses them? But I guess that sort of thing is common in a lot of chick-lit romances.



Overall I would say that this would be the perfect read for those who really enjoy light, girly, romantic chick-lit books. It's filled with amusing characters and a good moral ending. I definitely recommend it, like I said, to any chick-lit fans looking for a cute and entertaining read.

2010 YA Reading Challenge ♥

Read the rules for this challenge and sign up at the original post :D

I'm planning to participate in this challenge hosted by J. Kaye!

It runs Jan. 1st 2010 - December 2010.

I've chosen the 3rd level, which is reading 50 YA books in 2010.

Personally I think I could do the 4th level, 75, but I'll start with 50 just to be safe.

Wish me luck! ;D

Books To Prisons fundraiser = huge success!

I'm happy to announce that the silent auction fundraiser our Books To Prisons group (refer to this post) organized was a huge success!

We raised over $500 Thursday night! The proceeds will cover postage to mail many packages we've been too broke to ship the past couple of months (pic below), as well as packages in the future.

If you'd like to know more about our group, refer to this post.


Just had to share with someone, I'm so happy we had such a good turnout :]

Thank you Tynga! ♥

So recently I won a contest over at Tynga's Design Blog (for those who don't already know, she has a book blog, too: Tynga's Reviews) and I was delighted to see my prize:

Isn't it ADORABLE?! I absolutely love it. It looks so much better than my old one, which didn't even match my template, haha.

THANK YOU TYNGA!!!

You are so good at what you do :D


Want a button, template, etc. for your blog? Tynga's running ANOTHER giveaway!

Enter here!

Enter here!

Friday Finds [4]

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

Not too many finds this week, due to limited time on the computer. But here's a couple I added to my TBR:

Beautiful by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma

Goodreads summary:
 Since childhood, seventeen-year-old Ellie Summerfield has fought to overcome her grandfather's painful words that push her to be driven, determined, and successful to the detriment of those around her. She always strives to do more, be more, help more. But when a tragedy stops her world short, Ellie is confronted with her deepest fears and this question: what is her life really worth?

Experience one girl's journey to rebuild herself into someone who is truly beautiful.

Midnight Reflections by Katrina Michaels 

Goodreads summary (I shortened it a bit):

All Tara Daston wanted was a fun night out dancing with her boyfriend. Getting killed was certainly the last thing she ever expected and waking back up three days later as a vampire was the last thing she ever wanted. And just when she finally begins adjusting to her new life, a friend is killed by a creature nobody can identify.

As more killings happen, she realizes that she can't ignore it any longer. Deciding to investigate a little, she meets Tom, the lead agent of the Preternatural Investigation Agency. Now that she's gotten involved, she doesn't want to stop. And when the killer notices her and is intrigued, she no longer has any choice, forcing her to work together with Tom and the rest of the agency to stop the murders.

As always, leave me your Friday Finds link so I can check out what you found :]

Have a good weekend everyone!

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

       Summary from the book's website:

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.


Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.


Thirteen Reasons Why was one of those books I added to my TBR and just couldn't get out of my head. So when I pulled it from my hat (that's how I used to choose what to read next; now I use random.org) I was excited to finally read it. That being said, I obviously had high expectations for the book.

One thing I liked right away was that the chapters were split into each side of a tape. Chapter one (after the prologue) was cassette one, side one, and so on. I thought this to be a very unique way to split up chapters; I've never seen it done quite the same way in other books I have read.


However when I first started reading, I found it confusing how the dialogue was written. One paragraph, in italics, would indicate Hannah speaking over the tape, and the immediate next paragraph would be back to the voice of Clay Jensen (the boy listening to the tapes Hannah sent him). I found it hard to keep up with the flip-flopping back and forth between story lines. For example: Clay would be discussing a friend named Tony, Hannah would come on (different topic), and immediately after, Clay would come back talking about Tony again. I found myself having to skip back a couple paragraphs to remember who Tony even was. I will say that I got used to the style of writing though, after about 40-50 pages into the book. After that, it wasn't a problem anymore.


I'm really neutral about the voice of Hannah in this book, as I explain in the next paragraph down. As for Clay: of course he's very much needed in the story, and he was slightly likable at times, but I just found him bland. I suppose he wasn't meant to be too developed--Hannah is our main character, after all--but it still would have been nice to know just a little more about him as a person, and maybe his background too.


Through most of the book, I kind of kept waiting for something big to happen to Hannah, to just make her snap. A lot of what she goes through throughout most of the book just seems petty to me. I felt like it was typical high school--rumors get spread, friends turn their backs on you, it happens--and I honestly felt like she was just...for lack of better words, being a huge drama queen. I do hate that she committed suicide, and while two main things did end up happening that make her snap, she purposely put herself in one situation even though she already knew the outcome, so she really can't blame anyone but herself for that. She really made me mad at that point.


In conclusion, I was expecting more from Thirteen Reasons Why. I can't, however, bring myself to label it all-out disappointing. It's just that anytime I start reading a book, I'm longing for that "can't put it down" dialogue and plot, and if I have to put it down, I want it to be that book that I can't stop thinking about until I pick it up again--and unfortunately I just didn't find that in Thirteen Reasons Why.

Books To Prisons Project

Today, I started helping with my local Books To Prisons group here in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. My step-mom is the coordinator for our local group and she got me interested in this.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Book To Prisons Project, it is a nation wide Project made up of groups from different cities. We receive letters from prisoners (for my state, they're sent via the Books To Prisons "HQ" in D.C.), then we spend two hours, two Saturdays a month, reading the letters, collecting appropriate books at the prisoner's request, and mailing them to the prisoner. 

This is such a good program for prisoners to expand their minds and leave their cell through reading books. Escapism is something we can all relate to when it comes to reading and I can't think of a better group of people than incarcerated men and women who are anxious to "leave their cells" through books.

We are always in need of donations of books (ANY kind of book: fiction, non-fiction, how-to's, paperback, hardcover, romance, westerns, horror, dictionaries, pretty much any kind of book you can think of). Also anything else you would like to donate (construction paper, sharpies, clear duct tape, ANYTHING) would be SO appreciated.

Also for you more creative folk who like to play around with Paint Shop (and other similar programs) if you would be interested in designing a poster, or anything relating to the Book To Prisons group of Tuscaloosa, AL, we would be eternally in your debt :]

I'm also in the process of setting up a blog for our group. If you would be interested in donating a template, header, button, or ANYTHING for the page, please let me know!

I'm really trying to spread the word about our group because I feel it is such a good cause. I'm thinking of running a contest soon to see who can design the best poster or template, but it's still being worked out in my mind. I'll post again soon on that.

If you would be interested in donating, please feel free to comment this post or contact me at andrearobbins10@yahoo.com

If you'd like more info about Books To Prisons as a whole, please visit these sites:

http://oldserver.quixote.org/ej/bookstoprisons/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_to_Prisoners

The Friday 56 - Ruined

Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.

* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

 '

Well I'm not reading Ruined yet, but it was closest to me since I got it in the mail and set it next to my computer. Here goes:

"Maybe the storm had made her homeless, and she had nowhere else to go. But three years was a long time to sleep in a cemetary, and the gates were locked every night, Aunt Claudia had explained, to keep the homeless out."

I'm looking forward to reading this! Leave me your Fri. 56 link so I can check it out.