30 November 2011
December To Read List: Every other day is a tempest under the never sky, seers and a whisper of light in Gabriel’s Inferno
The following is my reading schedule for December. Looks like it will be a busy reading month for me. What books are you reading this month?
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“Waiting On” Wednesday {1}: Bring on the Pandemonium
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.
This week’s pre-publication “can’t-wait-to-read” selection is:
I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.
Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.
What’s your “waiting on” pick this week?
29 November 2011
Book Trailer Awesomeness: Pure by Julianna Baggott
Have you all seen this? It’s the trailer for Julianna Baggott’s “Pure” which is being released on February 8th, 2012 and it looks amazing. I seriously can’t wait for this. It’s dystopian and the film rights have already been claimed by Fox. The trailer was released as an exclusive by EW.com.
This is an excerpt on what the book is about:
Dark and wildly imaginative, it tells the story of Pressia, a 16-year-old girl badly burned from the Detonations, a man-made catastrophe that has changed the course of history. The Detonations have divided the world into two classes of people: Pressia and the other damaged people who live in a dangerous, ash-filled world; and the Pures, who live protected under the Dome.
The video cannot be embedded so just click on the image below to be taken to the EW website to view the video. ENJOY!
Is Pure on your 2012 reading list?
I Challenge Myself to the 2012 Completely Contemp Challenge
It seems I can’t be stopped this year. As if I wasn’t joining enough 2012 challenges already, I have joined the completely awesome, Completely Contemp Challenge hosted by Chick Loves Lit. The objective is to read at least 3 contemporary books in 2012. This won’t be so hard being that some of the books on my list for other challenges are already contemporary books, so no biggie 🙂
The contemporary books I expect to be reading in 2012 are the following:
28 November 2011
Book Review: dancergirl by Carol M. Tanzman
By Carol M. Tanzman
256 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: November 15, 2011
Source: ARC
My Rating: 4 Stars
Ever feel like someone’s watching you? Me, too. But lately it’s been happening in my room.
When I’m alone.
A friend posted a video of me dancing online, and now I’m no longer Alicia Ruffino. I’m dancergirl. And suddenly it’s like me against the world—everyone’s got opinions.
My admirers want more, the haters hate, my best friend Jacy—even he’s acting weird. And some stalker isn’t content to just watch anymore.
Ali. Dancergirl. Whatever you know me as, however you’ve seen me online, I’ve trained my whole life to be the best dancer I can be. But if someone watching has their way, I could lose way more than just my love of dancing. I could lose my life.
Things turn sour when Ali agrees to let a friend record her dancing, hidden camera style, giving viewers the illusion that Ali was unaware she was being recorded and that the person recording her was a secret admirer. To Ali’s surprise, the videos go viral and she becomes a video sensation. Suddenly many in her school treat her like a celebrity, while some treat her like she’s someone craving for attention. She has the same kind of reactions at the studio where she studies dance, where her popularity is used in order to sell more tickets to a show, to Ali’s dismay.
Ali deals with it, and keeps on, until a new video hits the Internet of her dancing. The difference is that this time the video was shot with an actual hidden camera, one that she was unaware of. The story then focuses on finding out who the perpetrator is and suddenly everyone is a suspect. Some have something to hide while some have something to reveal.
I give this book 4 stars. It was extremely entertaining and will have you going all Nancy Drew trying to figure out who the guilty party is. I highly recommend this book. It is only 250 pages roughly so you will find yourself finishing it in no time and hoping for more. I for one, want to read more of this story (perhaps a Jacy spinoff?) and will definitely be looking out for more Carol M. Tanzman books to read.
27 November 2011
Book Review: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting
The Pledge
By Kimberly Derting
336 pages
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Release Date: November 15, 2011
Source: ARC
My Rating: 3 Stars
In the violent country of Ludania, the language you speak determines what class you are, and there are harsh punishments if you forget your place—looking a member of a higher class in the eye can result in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina (Charlie for short) can understand all languages, a dangerous ability she’s been hiding her whole life. Her only place of release is the drug-filled underground club scene, where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. There, she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy who speaks a language she’s never heard, and her secret is almost exposed. Through a series of violent upheavals, it becomes clear that Charlie herself is the key to forcing out the oppressive power structure of her kingdom….
The Pledge is a different kind of dystopia and certainly not the type I’m accustomed to reading. Set sometime in the future, long gone are the days of democracy and back is the monarchy. Queens, not Kings, rule and classes are determined by the language you speak. A person like Charlie, the main character and someone who grew up poor in Ludania, is not supposed to be able to understand any other language but Parshon (the language of the working/merchant class) or Englaise (the universal language). The problem is that Charlie is able to understand every single word in every single language she’s ever heard, including the mysterious language that Max, a boy she met at a club, speaks. This mysterious language holds the key to Charlie’s past and even her future.
This book, although interesting and entertaining, had me confused half the time. I couldn’t grasp the concept of why a person wouldn’t be able to learn a language with time. Even if they were not allowed to speak it, wouldn’t a person, after hearing it their whole lives from other people, at least be able to understand it? Maybe it was just the fact that I grew up listening to different languages that sort of made this personal for me, and unable to understand how this can actually happen. Then again, this novel has a magical element to it and maybe the language barrier is one of those things controlled by the magic of the Queen, but that’s just me trying to rationalize it.
Other than the language issue, I felt that everything else going on in the story was very well written and well put together. The characters are intriguing and the plot kept me interested. Even though I was confused, I kept going because I really wanted to understand, and I really wanted to know how the story was going to end. The writing was also very descriptive. I could imagine exactly how Charlie and Max looked, and I even had a vague idea of the beauty of her friend Brooklyn, and the large size of Xander’s stature. I also could feel the fear towards the evil Queen and how she manipulated her kingdom. I give this book 3 stars and recommend it for anyone looking for a different type of dystopia and a quick, action-packed, read.
I Challenge Myself to the 2012 Sophomore Reading Challenge
I know what you’re thinking and it probably goes something like this:
Are you insane JJ? Aren’t you already participating in 3 other challenges, making this one your fourth!!!???
Well yeah, but a lot of the books I want to read overlap different challenges I’m participating in, so it won’t be that crazy…I hope 😀
So this will be my fist time participating in the Sophomore Reading Challenge and it’s being hosted by the awesome Chick Loves Lit. The rules of the challenge state that it you must read 10 sophomore YA/MG novels in 2012. I will be using this post to keep track of my progress. These are the sophomore titles I plan on reading this year:
I Challenge Myself to the 2012 Ebook Challenge
Challenge Guidelines:
- This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 – Dec 31, 2012.
- Anyone can join, you don’t need to be a blogger.
- Any genre or length of book counts, as long as it is in ebook format.
- You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
- You can move up levels, but no moving down.
- Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
Levels:
- Floppy disk – 5 ebooks
- CD – 10 ebooks
- DVD – 25 ebooks
- Memory stick – 50 ebooks
- Hard drive – 75 ebooks
- Server – 100 ebooks
- Human brain – 150 ebooks
YA Book Releases This Week (11/25-12/4/2011)
The following are the book releases I’m expecting this week. Which ones are you excited for?
November 25th-December 4th, 2011
On My iPad…Or My Mailbox (#12)
Inspired by The Story Siren’s “In My Mailbox”. Every week I will be posting all the books I’ve acquired either by purchasing at a bookstore, sent to me for review via mail, sent to me via email, etc., and will be showcasing them here.
Got many exciting books this week. I requested and requested the Netgalley titles I’m about to showcase over and over again, and I kept getting denied, but I got a very pleasant surprise when this week they got approved. YIPPEEE!!