Nicoleslaw00 Book Blog

Video Review - Looking for Alaska by John Green

2011-06-25T20:54:00.001-07:00

Video Review - The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

2011-06-25T20:29:00.001-07:00

Looking for Alaska by John Green

2011-06-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Looking for Alaska by John Green

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I began this book I didn't really know what to expect. This was my first book by John Green and I just went into it blindly. I hadn't watched or read any book reviews on this book... or any John Green books for that matter. So in saying that, I was a little on the "lost" side throughout the first part of this book. Mainly just because I was trying to figure out what direction it was going to take. Would it be supernatural, realistic, fantasy, drama,...????

Once I caught on to the gist of the storyline and was no longer investing a lot of my concentration on figuirng out where the story was going, I really started to like it. Basically, its a realistic fiction novel. Do not expect any supernatural or fanatical occurences to take place.
Its the story of a young guy, nicknamed Pudge early on in the book, who is in search for "The Great Perhaps". He's basically bored with his life, has no friends, and wants to go out into the world and see what else is out there. So he convinces his parents into sending him to a boarding school in Alabama for his senior year.
There he meets a whole crew of characters! He lives in a co-ed dorm. He quickly befriends the school's group of misfits and falls right in with them... the Colonel (his roommate), Alaska (the wild, pretty girl who lives down the hall), Takumi, and Lara. He finds himself falling for Alaska very soon after meeting her. She is the kind of girl who inspires people, brings them out of their comfort zone, and remains a mystery to all.

The book is divided up into two parts, "before" and "after". The majority of the book is made up of the "before" section. Then a pretty tragic event happens and the remaining of the book is about how the characters deal with it. I have to admit that by the time I got to the "after" section I was highly invested in the characters and was definitely upset and saddened by what happened.

I was surprised by how invested I became in the characters of this novel. I would definitely say that the majority of the book is character-driven. For the most part, there are no huge events that drive the plot forward... at least in my opinion. What you do have in this book is the day to day events of a group of misfit students who attend a private boarding school. But what makes the book so good is these characters! They are very interesting... and you find yourself wanting to continue to read, not to see what will happen next, but to see what is the "deal" with this character?!?! Why do they act like this? Why do they treat others in that way? Why are they making this decision or that decision?? This is one of the few books that I've read that is character-drive... and they always surprise me by how much I like them.

This is definitely one of those books where the characters will stick with you afterwards. I read this book while I was at the beach for vacation. I found myself dreaming about them at night. Thinking about them on the drive home. For this reason, I had to give the book 4 stars. I couldn't quite go to 5 stars because in my opinion that rating is saved for books that have it all... memorable characters and a plot that engages the reader totally. This book definitely wins with its characters.... so I suggest it for those of you who are looking for a break from the fantasy/supernatural books. This is realistic fiction at its finest!

Content Warning -

This book does contain the following:
Language
Minors drinking/smoking/drugs
Sexual content

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Video Review - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

2011-05-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

Book Trailer - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

2011-05-31T15:09:00.001-07:00

Book Review - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

2011-05-31T14:52:00.000-07:00

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

LOVED IT! LOVED IT! LOVED IT! By the way... did I mention that I loved it?!?! Very "Tim Burton-esqe"! I can totally see Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter playing lead roles in the MOVIE that 20th Century Fox has already bought the rights to! I've also noticed several reviewers comparing it to Lemony Snicket's style of writing. I can certainly agree with those comparisons. I'm telling you... this is the next big book! It's refreshing, different, intriguing, interesting, funny, scary, innocent... I could keep going!

Ok... I think I've done enough gushing! =) Let's get on with the review.

The book starts off in present day with Jacob, who is around 16 years old. He is bored with his priveleged life. He is very close with his grandfather and has grown up listening to stories about his childhood. Jacob was amazed and in awe of his grandfather's exciting life and looked up to him for it. He hung on every word the man said. His grandfather's stories were on the "fairy story" side... full of tales about peculiar children with abnormal abilities living in a big house guarded over by a bird. As Jacob grew older, he began to accept them as being just that, fairy stories.

Then one day his grandfather dies unexpectedly after being attacked. Jacob is the one who finds his grandfather. Right before he passes away, he tells Jacob a cryptic message that causes him to want to learn more about the place where his grandfather grew up.

Jacob goes on a trip, along with his father, to a small island off England where his grandfather spent time in a children's home after we was exiled from Poland during the second World War. This is the place where many of the "fairy stories" Jacob grew up listening to occurred. Here, he hopes to learn more about his grandfather and hopefully the cause of his death.

Included in the book are old, vintage photographs that the author Ransom Riggs selected from the collections of muliple photograph collectors. These pictures are incorporated into the story and really add a lot to it! Don't worry... they don't make it seem like a picture book.

I really loved the way this book was written. I was able to visualize the story in my head so much so that I felt as if I was watching a movie! However, there was not so much descriptive writing to the point that it felt like the story line drug. Ransom Riggs did a great job of balancing out the descriptions while still keeping the plot moving along. There are tons of twists and turns. The plot goes to unexpected places that you never see coming. The cliffhangers are well done. I was not able to put this book down... and it has been quite a while since I've found a book that did that to me.

The ending leaves you with a small cliffhanger, suggesting that there may be a sequel. I feel like Ransom Riggs has done a great job with this book... it is especially impressive that this is his first novel. I hope everyone will check it out!

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Book Review - Pretties by Scott Westerfield

2011-05-29T18:22:00.001-07:00

Video Review - A Great and Terrible Beauty

2011-05-29T18:14:00.001-07:00

Video Review - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

2011-05-27T08:59:00.001-07:00

Another Book Haul... and Another Book for Review

2011-05-27T08:57:00.001-07:00

My First Books Sent To Me For Review!! Book Haul and other Goodies!

2011-05-27T08:55:00.001-07:00

Big Book Haul from Books-a-Million!

2011-05-27T08:51:00.001-07:00

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith and Jane Austen

2011-05-08T19:16:00.001-07:00

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Pride and Prejudice AND ZOMBIES! Bet you weren't expecting that last word were you? haha

I've been eyeing this book on the book shelf for quite a while. I love the original version, Pride and Prejudice. It's one of my favorites. So I was naturally curious to see how exactly someone could incorporate zombies into the formalness that was the Regency Period.

So basically this book closely follows the plot of Pride and Prejudice. But right away you will notice a few changes - 1.) There are zombies roaming around 2.) Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters are trained zombie killers 3.) Zombie attacks happen frequently

There are some surprising differences from the original that do add a bit of shock for the person who is so used to the original version of the novel. The fact that Elizabeth is a badass zombie killer does add a little bit of fun to the book... you don't want to make her mad... and what do we all know Darcy does to her? He makes her MAD! Interesting haha

I don't really see much point in recapping the storyline because most of you are probably familiar with it to begin with. And I don't want to talk about all the interesting, fun quirks and changes that the zombies bring to the story because that would do nothing but spoil all the fun for you!

Final thoughts... if you like Pride and Prejudice you will find that all of your favorite parts are still there for you to enjoy. If you like zombies, ninjas, bad-ass fighting scenes then this book is for you! If you're just curious about it like I was... give it a try!

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Video Review - Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

2011-03-20T09:53:00.001-07:00

March 2011 Book Haul

2011-03-19T22:01:00.003-07:00

Video Review - Beastly by Alex Flinn

2011-03-15T21:20:00.001-07:00

Book Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn

2011-03-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

Beastly by Alex Flinn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book!

This book is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It is set in modern times. It has been made into a movie and I believe the movie was released this weekend!
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book. I mainly picked it up because I knew that I would want to go watch the movie and I always like to read the books before watching the movies. Beauty and the Beast is one of my all time favorite stories. I absolutely ADORE the Disney version that came out while I was a kid.

Basically this book gives you the story of Beauty and the Beast, but you experience it from the Beast's perspective. It goes back to before he was turned. The Beast in this version is a boy named Kyle Kingsbury. Kyle is the good-looking, popular, shallow, cruel type guy. He goes to a prestigous school in New York City (I think). He is definitely a superficial guy. He doesn't see past appearances and those who he deems unattractive are an open target for mockery.

One day Kyle messes with the wrong person. An unattractive girl who he decides to play a trick on by inviting to the school dance. He has no intentions of actually going with her though. This act of cruelty ends up costing him big time though... this is what causes him to become the Beast.

You get to experience how this transformation affected him, how he dealt with it, how his family dealt with it. I really liked that part of this book... because it is a part of the Beauty and the Beast story that is not included in the original. Eventually the story catches up to the point that we are familiar with... where the Beast lives in isolatoin and has a young girl come to live with him. Once you reach this point of the story... the plot line does not deviate much from what we are all familiar with.

I really thought the author did a great job of giving us a fresh take on this classic story. I liked it a lot more than I expected to! If you are a fan of Beauty and the Beast then I definitely suggest you give this book a try!

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Video Review - Rival by Sara Bennet Wealer

2011-02-27T15:34:00.001-08:00

Accent Tag!!

2011-02-27T15:31:00.001-08:00

Video Review - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

2011-02-27T11:28:00.001-08:00

Book Review - Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

2011-02-26T12:52:00.000-08:00

Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this for the debut author challenge. I was in the mood to read a contemperary realistic fiction novel. I've been going pretty heavy on the fantasy and dysotopian here lately. So I went onto The Story Siren's blog to see what new debut novels were coming out in the month of February in the YA genre. Most of the ones listed were fantasy... Rival was one of the few realistic novels on the list.

I was immediately turned off and intrigued (at the same time if that's possible) by the synopsis and I'll get into why a little later in this review.

So basically this novel is the story of two girls in their senior year... who happen to be arch rivals. They are both deeply involved in the school choir and are competitive with each other. Brooke is the school's "teen queen". She's the popular one who everyone wants to be in the graces of. Kathryn is more of the pretty, quite, shy type. So how is it that two girls on complete opposite spectrums of the high school world could become rivals? Well the storyline is full of flashbacks that take you back to their junior year when the girls first met and give you the entire back story... all while you are experiencing their current dilemas of their senior year.

So like I said before, the synopsis gave me conflicting feelings for this book. I was turned off by the choir, "Glee", type storyline. I was not involved in choir in highschool and my school did not have a big choir program. I was concerned that I would not be able to relate with that part of the storyline. Then I was also pretty sure that as a 28 year old woman, I would not be interested at all in the catty-ness of teenage girls being "rivals". But on the other hand, I at one time too was a teenage girl... and I've dealt with my share of catty-ness coming from other females. I've always kind of related myself to the "Kathryn" type of girl. So I was intrigued to see the inner workings and thoughts behind the actions of the Brooke character... the epitome of the "mean girl".

I was pleasantly suprised by this book. I always go into the debut author novels feeling like they are a crap shoot. I was very happy with this one. I didn't find myself rolling my eyes as the girls argued. I actually related to a lot of what they went through. I sympathized with the characters and found myself fully invested in the book very quickly. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of YA or realistic contemperary fiction!

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Book Review - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

2011-02-21T18:51:00.000-08:00

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Ok, well this book took me nearly a month to get through. It's not because the book is super long... because it's not. I'm not sure if I've just been in a reading funk or if I just was really not enjoying this book. Since it took me so long to get through it, I feel like I lost a lot of what the story was about. =( But I did persevere and finish reading it!

I really loved the way the book started out. I was extremely intrigued by the idea that Grace felt drawn to these wolves that lived in the woods behind her house. I liked that way that Sam talked about being in love with Grace for years.

But after that, I really can't think of any other major shining points. You basically know the entire plot by mid-way through the book. But you don't realize that you know everything... you keep thinking that there is more to come... more to be uncovered. But there's not! I was not miserably bored with this book, but I was not entertained for a lot of it either. So I give this book two stars and I really don't have much else that I can say about it. I'm sorry that this review is so short =( I do have the second book in the series, Linger, which I will probably read, but if I am bored with it as well then I don't think I'm going to force myself to finish it.

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Video Review - XVI by Julia Karr

2011-01-23T17:31:00.000-08:00

Book Review - XVI by Julia Karr

2011-01-23T12:27:00.000-08:00

XVI by Julia Karr

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hmmm... ok. What to say about this book. As you can see, I have given it a three. I can't say that I was blown away by it - but I also can't say that I was ever miserably bored with it either.

I'm gonna start out with a description of what this book is all about:

You have Nina, who is fifteen years old. She's living in a suburb outside of Chicago. The year is 2150. The world is a much different place than what we have now. Nina is preparing for her 16th birthday that will be coming up in a few months.

When girls turn 16 they are tattooed with an XVI on their wrist. This tattoo basically announces to the world that the girl is 16 and therefore legal for sex. Sex has become a much less taboo thing than it is now. Girls are brought up believing that being "sexy" and having "sex" should be the ultimate goal for them... in this future these behaviors are encouraged and accepted.

The government basically controls EVERYTHING! They have the majority of people brainwashed by constantly stimulating their minds with "verts", advertisements and commercials. People are never given a moment of peace and quite to just be with their own thoughts. The government also has the capabilities to monitor conversations between people and anyone who seems to disagree with the government is taken in for "re-assimilation", which is basically just turbo-brainwashed to get rid of any defiant thoughts that person may have had. Of course, with this much government control, there are people who rebel against it. These people are called Non-Cons. Most people think of Non-cons as a dangerous rebel group.

Nina lives with her mother and younger sister. Nina's father died shortly after she was born. Years after his death, her mother began dating a government official named Ed, who is the father of Nina's younger sister Dee. Her mother raised Nina to not think like the typical "sex-teens". So Nina is not looking forward to turning 16 - unlike most other girls. As Nina begins to prepare for this milestone in her life, her mother is brutally attacked and killed. In her dying words, she tells Nina a secret that sends Nina on a hunt for the real truth about her life and family.

Nina and Dee go live with their grandparents in Chicago - there Nina meets new friends along with being able to spend more time with old friends. She opens up to them and fills them in on what her mother told her. Together they begin investigating the clues that lead to the truth about Nina and Dee's life.

So... what did I think??

First of all - I think that some people may be mislead by the synopsis. I was under the impression that this was going to be a story focused on what happens to these girls when they turn 16 and are legal for sex. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting... but it was definitely not the same thing that the book ended up focusing on. This book focuses on the story of Nina and unraveling the mysteries that surface from her mother's death.

The futuristic world that Julia Karr sets up is really amazing! I had no trouble at all understanding all of the new inventions and gadgets that they were using. I was also not left feeling confused about the futuristic world... what I mean is that there are lots of new terms and such that are introduced, and I never felt confused or compelled to go back and look up what something meant or what something is.

I liked the way the book started out. But once the death of Nina's mother occurs I felt like the storyline seriously dragged! I do not like a book that waits to resolve everything in the last few pages. I need a little bit of the mystery uncovered as you go along... otherwise I feel frustrated and resentful of the writing... I start to think of it as "filler" writing that is put in just to drag it out. I definitely started feeling like this at certain points of this book.

By the end of the book, I came back around to liking it a little more than I expected. I was prepared to give it a two star rating - the ending redeemed it.

This book really seemed to be more of a mystery/suspense novel, rather than what I think of as dystopian. I really think that this is the type of story that I would enjoy more as a movie, instead of a book.

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Video Book Review - Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

2011-01-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

Book Review - Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

2011-01-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm so excited that my first book review of 2011 is a FIVE STAR BOOK!! Oh yes - this book is definitely full of awesomeness! =)
So this book might be considered historical fiction - eh, maybe not. It is set in the late 19th century (I think). The time period is great for the story - but it is not a focus in the plot. The story can just as easily take place in a more current time period. The main thing that reflects the 19th century time period is the speech and "voice" of Lia the main character. So if you are participating in the historical fiction challenge, this may not count for that challenge. It is definitely more of a paranormal type genre, rather than historical fiction. But I'm counting it as one of my books for that challenge - so if you think I should not let me know. Thanks =)

Now on to the plot...
The main character is Lia. She is around 16 years old. She has a twin sister, Alice, and a younger brother named Henry. The three of them come from a wealthy family. However, they have recently become orphans. Their mother died when they were all much younger. And recently, their father died under mysterious circumstances. The three of them are currently living under the care of their Aunt Virginia (mother's sister).

The story begins shortly after the death of their father. Lia is coping with the loss, when strange things begin happening in her life. She is experiencing strange, yet realistic dreams, an odd marking has appeared on her wrist, and her twin sister Alice is behaving differently. Lia soon comes into contact with some other girls her age who are able to help her begin to unravel the mystery of what's happening to her.
She discovers that she is part of a centuries old prophecy that involves both her and her sister Alice. According to Lia, the two of them have never been close sisters, but they certainly did not consider each other enemies. However, all of that is about to change, because the prophecy is going to put them on opposing sides. One good, one evil.

My thoughts...
Alright, so I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I began reading this book. All of the reviews and the synopsis really do not give any clues as to what exactly this prophecy is... and I'm not going to either! Finding out is half the fun! So I do not want to spoil that for you. I will just say that once I found out, I was immediately intrigued and interested in all of the possible directions this story line could take. And I was not disappointed! I kept getting reminents of the same feelings I felt while reading Dan Brown's The Davinci Code. I'm not saying this book is anything like Dan Brown's, just that I felt a similar sense of excitement while reading both books.

This is a great story. Usually, I am left with a disappointing feeling when I read the first book of a series. This is because I am left with so many unanswered questions! And I hate that feeling! I want to know the answers!! lol This book did not leave me with that feeling. I was completely satisfied with the journey and answers that were discovered in this first installment. And I am stoked about reading the next!

I really like the characters! I have no complaints there. At first, I was on the fence about Lia, but by the end of the book I really sympathized with everything that she was going through. I bought into all of the characters.

I was a little concerned after reading the first 7 chapters of the book. Chapters 1-7 mostly give you background information into the characters lives. There is very little insight into the main conflict of the plot. Then in chapter 8 she really dumps a lot of information on you! I was worried that I might not be able to keep it all straight. But as you continue reading, a lot of the information is restated, which I was grateful for. This really helped to keep me from getting confused. I've read novels before where I felt like they unload all of the pertinent informaiton to the story line on you at one time, then never revisit it again. I would have to constantly flip back in the book to make sure I was understanding everything correctly. This is not the case with this book, thank goodness!

Michelle Zink does a pretty decent job with the cliffhangers at the end of each chapter. They certainly made me want to continue on reading. I think that its important for authors to give the reader frequent cliffhangers. I think that is what leaves the reader with a satifying experience. Suzanne Collins does an awesome job of this in The Hunger Games series, and I think Michelle Zink is doing just as a commendable job in this book as well!

There are lots of twists and somewhat unexpected suprises! I say "somewhat" because this is what kept happening to me as I read: I would guess the suprise! I would guess in pages and pages before it actually came to fruition. But as I continued reading, I would start to convince myself that what I guessed what wrong. Then just when I was certain that I had guessed wrong - Bam! I'd find out I was actually right! So I can't say that this book is predictable. Because even though I was correctly guessing most of the twists and turns - I was also constantly second guessing. Haha This made for a even more interesting reading experience, in my opinion. And there certainly were a few twists that I never saw coming.

The end of the book does get quite emotional and I even teared up. I usually can't say that about a paranormal novel... but this one got to me.

I highly recommend this book! YA lovers, paranormal lovers, mystery lovers, historical fiction lovers, romance lovers, suspense lovers, action lovers, complex heroine lovers - there is something in here for everyone!

Reading on Cloud Nine ~

Nicole

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Stylish Blogger Award

2011-01-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Sarah at Reading Beauty

And

Debra at Debra's Book Cafe

These two awesome gals gave me a Stylish Blogger Award! I'm so excited... (it's my first blog award) =). So thank you very much! Please go and check out their blogs! I've hyperlinked them above.

So there are some requirements that come along with receiving this award!

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

Seven Things About Myself

1. I am a school teacher!

2. Although I love to read, I am a lazy reader =(

3. I'm pretty obsessive about books and just as obsessive about beauty products and make up!

4. I have a Youtube channel where I review books - it was orginally going to be a beauty channel reviewing beauty products - then I discovered the book community - and it changed! lol

5. I am a new homeowner! You may not care about that, but I'm pretty darn stoked about it! lol

6. I want to start a graduate program to get my master's degree - but I'm too indecisive about which program to go into, so I still haven't done it =(

7. I am currently focused on a goal of health and wellness! It is my main priority in 2011!

NOW for the blogs that I give this award to! I follow a mixture of book blogs, beauty blogs, and weight loss/health blogs. So, I'm going to award a mixture of blogs!

Book Blogs

1. OCD About Books

2. Chapter Chicks

3. Harmony's Radiant Reads

4. Stories and Sweeties

5. The Bookie Bunch

6. The Story Siren

7. YA Bliss

8. YA Fiction Freaks

9. Sparkling Reviews

Beauty Blogs

10. Blair Fowler

11. Elle Fowler

12. Miss.Erica

Weightloss/Health Blogs

13. Bitch Cakes

14. Gettin' Shrunk

15. Losing It...

Let's Watch TV in January

2011-01-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

Ok... so along with loving to read books I'm also obsessed with watching TV. I know... I'm the epitome of a couch potato! But I've been super disappointed during the fall tv season because a lot of my shows weren't on. I don't really care for Dancing with the Stars and all those kinds of shows, but I was forced to watch them because that was all that seemed to be on. =(

But I am extremely stoked for the winter releases and premieres! I've been on http://www.sidereel.com/ all morning getting my tv schedule all lined up for this week! lol

By the way, if you're like me and you have a TON of shows that you like to follow and no TiVo then I highly recommend making an account with Sidereel. They send you emails everyday letting you know which of your tv shows will come on that day. And if you miss it, you can just go to your tv schedule in Sidereel and they will find a link to the episode somewhere on the web so you can watch it! I loves this website! =)

Ok... so back to my tv schedule for January...

1. How I Met Your Mother - CBS - Mondays - 7:00 p.m. central -
Ok so I always end up watching the syndicated episodes of this show. But I've never kept up with it's current ones. I love this show. All of the characters are hilarious! So I've decided that I'm going to make it a regular in my tv schedule!

2. The Bachelor - ABC - Mondays - 7:00 p.m. central
I'm sorry... but I am a girl and sometimes I can get sucked in to this show! Really just depends on the dynamics of the contestants. But I've at least got to check out this new season... I mean they've been showing commercials of this guy getting slapped for months now! I can't help it =)

3. V - Reimagined Series - ABC - Tuesdays - 8:00 p.m. central
Ok... can I just say that I literally thought my heart was going to fall out of my chest when Lost was cancelled! I was desperately looking for something to replace it! And I think that V is going to do the trick! I'm super excited about this series! Its really good... especially if you like sci-fi!!!

4. The Middle - ABC - Wednesdays - 7:00 p.m. central
Almost all of the new sitcoms that have been put out over the last few years have been absolute fails in my book. I have not found many that I care to watch! But I absolutely love this show! It really tickles my sense of humor!! Some funny stuff... especially the little boy Brick always repeating everything he says in that crazy-ass whisper!! lmao

5. Modern Family - ABC - Wednesdays - 8:00 p.m. central
Ok... so I know this show won an Emmy (right?) And I totally agree... this show is HILARIOUS! I love it.

6. The Big Bang Theory - CBS - Thursdays - 7:00 p.m. central
This one sorta has the same story has How I Met You Mother... in that I've watched some of the syndicated episodes, but never kept up with the current ones. So I'm going to this season. I really find these character funny.... I mean who wouldn't crack up being around Sheldon all the time???

7. Grey's Anatomy - ABC - Thursdays - 8:00 p.m. central
Aww... come on, you knew it was coming! lol I've been a loyal viewer since the beginning. And I just have to see Lexie and McSteamy get back together!!!

8. Off the Map - ABC - Premieres Wednesday, January 12th
I need more Grey's Anatomy type tv shows to be invested in. I never got into Private Practice. And then they put out that other show about the lawyers... what was it called... The Deep End?? I tried watching it, but it didn't do it for me either. So I'm hoping that I will fall in love with this one!! I mean come on... they're in the jungle right??? Looks like it may be a mixture of Lost and Grey's which I'm totally down for!!!!

And lastly - my most guilty pleasure...

9. The Jersey Shore - MTV - Season 3 Premieres Friday, January 7th
Part of me feels like I should be ashamed for even listing this show... but I'm not! I love this show... but it certainly falls in the guilty pleasure catagory. I mean come on... the Situation??? You know he brings some hilarious stuff to the table. All time favorite scene of his... when he's ordering the pizza and keeps giving them the name The Situation to place the order under. Hilarious!!

OMG... I need TiVo! Right, lol! So that's the shows than I'm planning on watching during the winter season. Feel free to share any suggestions that you may have for other shows that are worth trying! I'm open to anything!

Thanks!
Happy New Year

Video Review - All Together Dead (Book 7) Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris

2011-01-02T11:58:00.001-08:00

Video Review - Dead as a Doornail (Book 5) and Definitely Dead (Book 6) by Charlaine Harris

2011-01-02T11:07:00.001-08:00

Video Update - 2011 To-Be-Read-Pile

2011-01-01T22:38:00.000-08:00

Let's Get Ready for 2011 - Resolutions and Such

2011-01-01T21:58:00.000-08:00

Alright... so here we are! 2010 is gone and now before us we have a brand new year to fill with major accomplishments, changes for the better, and all that good stuff! It's always fun to make a list of plans and goals for the upcoming year... but alas the hard part is sticking to them! I really think that the main way to stick to your guns and make good on your new year's resolutions is if you have someone who is keeping you accountable! That way when you start slacking, they can get on your tail for it. Lol

So I've been sitting around today recovering from my New Year's Eve fun (hehe) and trying to think of which goals I'd like to set for myself this year. And in the spirit of being held accountable... I thought I would share them with the world via my blog! =) So here we go...

Nicoleslaw00's 2011 New Year Resolutions

1. Read my Bible on a regular basis! I bought a Bible study book called A Woman After God's Own Heart . And I"m ashamed to say that for the majority of 2010 it has been collecting dust =(. I have found a church that I really enjoy and I really do want to make Bible study more of a priority in my life!

2. Ok... ya'll knew it was coming! Get healthy/lose weight! How cliche', I know. But still doesn't change the fact that it's something that I need to do. So these are the steps that I've taken to try to meet this goal this year. I've joined Weight Watchers, bought numerous exercise games for my Wii (My Fitness Coach, EA Sports Active, Wii Fit, Just Dance 2), bought a digital scale to keep by my dresser, bought a pedometer to count my steps throughout each day, bought some daily energy/metabolism boosting vitamins! Tomorrow I am going to the grocery store and getting only healthy foods!!! I plan on hitting the ground running Monday morning when I go back to work! I hope that since I've put such a financial investment into this that it will make me stick to it.

3. Read books for my blog/youtube channel at least 4 days a week/30 minutes a day! I get on these stints where my books follow me all around the house... I take them to livingroom, the bedroom, the kitchen, etc... but they just sit there. I don't pick them up to read them. I'll do this for days... weeks sometimes. So I've got to make sure I do better!

4. Put out videos, reviews, blog posts more consistently! And that's all I have to say about that (taken from Forrest Gump, haha)

5. Communicate more with the book community. I am such a LURKER! I just lurk around... and never comment. haha I don't know why I'm like that. I do the same thing on my personal Facebook page. I'm always on there reading everyone's updates, but I never communicate with people! Same thing with Youtube! I watch videos nearly everyday! You better believe I know what's going on in the book community... but I rarely ever give feedback and leave comments! Why??? I don't know... but I promise I am going to get better. So be on the look out for comments from Nicole =)

6. Stop being so weirded out about making videos when Robert is around! I started making videos last year in February I think. And I would not make one when Robert was around to see/hear me do it. But I am now proud to say that I changed that tonight! I set up my camera right in the breakfast nook of the kitchen and filmed videos for a solid hour... with Robert in the house! OMG! haha At one point he walked through to change out a load of laundry and I just looked at him and said, "Ok, say whatever smart alec thing you want to say... because I've got to get on with this video" And you know what... he didn't say a word! Didn't even shake his head or anything! So I've decided I'm just going to be super open about it now. If I feel like making a video... then dammit I'm going to make one rather than wait around for him to leave so I can do it! Lol I feel so liberated! Can you tell?? haha

So that's pretty much it for the resolutions... at least for now. If I think of anymore, then I'll come back and update this.

So feel free to check in with me periodically to ask me how I'm doing with sticking to these plans! After all, I'm depending on you to hold me accountable!

Happy New Years everyone!

Video Review - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

2011-01-01T20:51:00.001-08:00

Book Review - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

2010-12-30T22:01:00.001-08:00

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Let me start off by saying that I give this book a four with the expectation that I will more than likely give the entire series as a whole a FIVE! However, this being the first book in the series, there were some things missing that I need for a five star book.

So this book is dysotopian. It is set hundreds of years in the future. The author doesn't really get into specifics about continents, countries, states, cities, etc... so there is no way to know where exactly this story is taking place in relation to the world as it is now. But the setting begins in Uglyville, where Tally (the main character) is impatiently waiting for her 16th birthday. She is very unhappy with her life as it is now, because all of her friends, including her best friend Peris, have moved over to New Pretty Town and are all now "pretties" except her.

In this society, people start out as "littlies" and they live with their parents. Then at some unspecified age, they become "uglies". They are then moved to Uglyville, where they live in conditions that are something similar to boarding schools. They go to school and learn about the fall of "the Rusties" (society as it is now). When they turn 16, they are given a surgery that makes them a "pretty" and they move over to New Pretty Town, where life is one big party and everyone is equally beautiful. They have been taught that this surgery was created to rid society of issues like racism and unequal treatment due to appearances.

Tally has to wait 3 months until she turns 16 and will be able to become a "pretty". In the meantime, she sneaks over to New Pretty Town to see her best friend Peris and almost gets caught. She makes a daring escape. When she returns back to Uglyville, she meets a girl named Shay. Shay is very impressed by Tally's story of her slim escape from New Pretty Town and the two girls quickly become friends.

Shay takes Tally exploring in the "Rusty Ruins", which is the remains of a city that exists in our current society. As the two girls spend time exploring these ruins and pulling pranks in Uglyville, Shay begins to share with Talley that she doesn't really want to get the surgery to become Pretty. Talley doesn't understand this, because becoming Pretty is the ultimate dream of all Uglies. Eventually, Shay shares with Tally that there is another society of people living out in the wilderness who have not had the Pretty surgery. Shay runs away to live with them. She asks Tally to come with her, but she chooses to stay. Shay leaves Tally a cryptic note giving her directions to find her if Tally changes her mind.

After Shay's disappearence, Tally goes in for her Pretty surgery. But, rather than getting the surgery, she is brought in to speak with Dr. Cable, who works for a department called Special Circumstances... which is comparable to the FBI or something like that. Dr. Cable blackmails Tally into helping them find Shay and the society of runaway Uglies. Tally will not receive the Pretty surgery until she helps them.

That's pretty much where the story really takes off from. Tally goes on a big adventure... and lots more happens. The book ends with a MAJOR cliffhanger that pretty much makes it impossible for you to not read the next book, called Pretties.

I really liked this book. It is very reminsicent of The Hunger Games to me. So if you enjoyed that book - you should like this one too!

There is a small love interest/love triangle... but it is not explored very deeply at all. Usually for me, if a book is going to skip out on the love interest/love triangle plot... then the story has to be pretty darn good for me to like it! And I can say that I did not miss the lack of focus on the love story plot in this book at all! The storyline definitely holds its own without it. But I'm certain that the later books in the series will quench my thirst for a good love story! =)

I really enjoyed reading about all the different ways technology and society has changed in this futuristic setting.

I highly recommend this book and hope you will give it a try!!!

View all my reviews

Favorite Books That I Read In 2010

2010-12-25T19:08:00.001-08:00

Book Haul - From Good Reads and Book Blogger Holiday Swap!!

2010-12-23T11:34:00.001-08:00

Book Review - If I Stay by Gayle Foreman

2010-12-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If I could give this book a 3.5 stars with Goodreads rating system, I would. I definitely liked this book. It's different from the books that I've been reading lately. It was a quick read and kept me interested pretty much through the whole thing.

This book tells the story of Mia. She is 17 and a senior in highschool. She's not one of those superficial "silly" girls. She comes across as a very grounded person. Mia plays the cello. She is very good at it. She has a best friend named Kim and a boyfriend named Adam. He is a freshman in college and plays in a band that is starting to take off. Her parents are not the typical parents. Her dad used to be in a band that had some notoriety... I believe they put out several cds. Her mom was a kind of punk rock wild child back in the day. So the whole family, including her boyfriend Adam, are heavily involved in music. Music plays a big part in this book... which certainly adds an interesting aspect to it.

So basically the premise of this story is the Mia and her family (mom, dad, and little brother) stay home from work and school for a snow day. They decide to get out of the house and end up in a bad car accident. Mia then finds herself in an out of body experience. She is like a "ghost". She can see everything that is going on, hear everything that people are saying, but her actually body is in a coma. It's kind of cool because Mia gets to see the reactions of her boyfriend, best friend, grand parents, extended family, and friends. You know everyone always wonders how people would act if they were seriously injured or died... and she kind of gets to experience this for herself.

The book consists of flashbacks from Mia's memories which really help you to get to know all of the characters and love them. Then it goes back to present time, where all of these characters are dealing with the reprecussions of the car accident. You experience all of this from Mia's perspective.

This book centrally deals with death. So it's not really a warm, fuzzy feeling book. But it is good. It tells a good story, makes you fall in love this little family and group of people, and you will cry for them. =)

View all my reviews

Southern Vampire Series Book 3 and 4 Video Reviews

2010-12-11T07:33:00.000-08:00

Book 3 Club Dead

Book 4 Dead to the World

Southern Vampire Series Book 1 and 2 Video Reviews

2010-12-08T19:45:00.000-08:00

Dead Until Dark Book 1

Living Dead in Dallas Book 2

Thank you and Upcoming Reviews

2010-12-08T18:34:00.000-08:00

Ya'll are awesome! Thanks for subscribing. I've gone from 2 subscribers to 14 pretty quickly! I hope you all like the content of my blog. If you have any suggestions or requests, feel free to let me know. Right now I'm uploading four reviews on the Southern Vampire series (aka Sookie Stackhouse series, Trueblood series). I'll post those videos on here as soon as they are up.

I plan to review all ten books. I read all of them over the past 2 and 1/2 years. So eventually, the entire series (thus far) will be reviewed via video review on this blog. So keep a watch out for those, especially if you are considering reading these books for the first time!

Thanks so much for the subs! Have a wonderful Christmas!

Nicole =)

Video - Scholastic Book Haul #3

2010-12-07T16:53:00.001-08:00

2011 YA Historical Fiction Challenge

2010-12-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

Add caption

This is a challenge hosted by YA Bliss. I have decided to participate in this challenge because I've always been a sucker for historical fiction, plus YA Bliss will have exclusive giveaways for participants during the year.

There are different levels of participation:

Level 1: 5 YA HF books in 2011

Level 2: 10 YA HF books in 2011

Level 3: 15 YA HF books in 2011

I will be doing Level 1, since I am also participating in the 2011 Debut Author Challenge and I have a gigantic to-be read pile of books as it is!! lol

The rules are:

All Historical Fiction books must be YA or MG
Books don't have to be 2011 releases.
Anyone can join. Please link to a public (web) place where YA Bliss can find you.
You can join at anytime. The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011

I hope you will consider joining this challenge as well!!

Great Way to Advertise Your YA Book Blog

2010-12-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

I just found this blog that consists of a list of YA book blogs! This blog is ran by Kristy, aka The Story Siren. If you would like your YA book blog added to this directory, click here!!

Book Haul Coming Soon!

2010-12-03T21:14:00.001-08:00

Hello all,

I'm waiting to get in a shipment of books from Goodreads and when I do, I'll do a new book haul! I've gotten some other books from Goodreads, as well as from Scholastic! Keep an eye out. =)

Video Book Review - Unwind and Hush, Hush

2010-12-02T16:34:00.001-08:00

Book Review - Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

2010-11-28T18:21:00.000-08:00

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ummm.. ok. So I've finished reading Hush, Hush today, and in record time for me... it only took me the weekend to get through it. Does this mean that the book was fantastic and therefore I could not put it down? Sorta, kinda, maybe not so much... lol

Alright, I'll start with the pros:
1. BEAUTIFUL cover! I have to be honest, it is what drew me in. I saw this cover and said, "I want that book on my bookshelf"
2. Quick read! If you have been following my reviews for a while, then you may have noticed that I am a slow ass reader! It's true! But I flew through this book. The print is kind of small, but the line spacing is quite large, so there's not as much to read as you think.
3. Tons of dialogue. I love a book that tells a story using a lot of diaglogue and this one does that for sure! The only time that I felt like skimming was during all the descriptive parts of the "fight scenes" lol
4. Some pretty cool angel mythology thrown in there at the end. I always like reading about that kind of stuff.

And now for the cons:
1. How can I put this lightly.... ridiculous characters! You've got your main character, Nora and her best bud Vee. Between these two... I must have hit my palm to my forehead shouting, "WTH are you thinking!?!" at least a dozen times. I kind of got the sense that the author was "making" some things happen just for the sake of taking the story where she needed it... rather than having everything that happens in the story be interesting and valid pieces of the plot. Does that make sense?
2. Three fourths of the book feels like you're reading a Nancy Drew dectective type story... or maybe even an R.L. Stine Fear Street novel. I was seriously experiencing some flashbacks to my junior high days when I lived off of Fear Street books. A lot of this story was kind of "juvenille". And I do know that this is a YA/Teen book, and that I'm a 28 year old woman. So I guess it just depends on your tastes.
3. I did not like the way some of the plot lines were resolved at the end of the book. I don't quite know how to describe what I mean by this without giving away a spoiler. But just trust me... it came across as a "lazy" or "quick" means of wrapping it up.
4. The love story was lacking, seriously. By the end of the book, I was like... "Wait, how did these two actually fall in love with each other?" It was not a gradual build up that had me screaming, Kiss her, Kiss him! It was kind of like all the drama and danger has passed, and now we will kiss and be in love! Tadah!! lol I was disappointed.

So overall, do I reccommend this book? It's hard to say. If you are a young/young at heart reader, than this may be a great book for you. I feel like I went into this book looking for a lot of angel mythology mixed with a love story, and both things were not there until the very end... and even then there was very little. However, I will say this... this book is the first in a series, which means the story is not over. I know that I tend to be critical sometimes on first and second novels in a series because I want every part of the story to be there... and it could be that this author is simply saving the better parts for the latter books. Will I read the sequel Cresendo? Probably, but it will not be at the top of my pile of to-be-reads.

View all my reviews

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

2010-11-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow! I got a lot more out of this book than I was expecting! This is a dysotopian novel set in a society that I certainly hope never comes to fruition.

The battle over abortion has resulted in a war and the end result is more disturbing and horrifiying than either opposing side ever wanted. What is that end result you may ask... well it is to "unwind" children. To "unwind" basically means that a team of surgeons dimantle your body. New medical techniques have been developed that allow doctors to replace ANY and ALL body parts with those of an "unwind" child. No more transplant waiting lists because now organs are plentiful. If you are unhappy with your nose, eyes, teeth, etc... no more plastic surgery, just buy a new ones!

They pitch "unwinding" as if it is not death... they claim that it is a new "form" of living. Your body parts are transplanted to those who need/want them. Every piece of you is used, therefore no piece of you technically dies. However, it has to be done before a child is legally an adult, 18. So the decision is made by the child's parents or in the case of wards of the state, the state decides. Many of the unwinds in the story are concerned about their souls and what will happen to them... does it go away or is it streched out thin between every person who receives a piece of you? This is a reoccurring question throughout the novel.

Basically, parents who have problem/troublesome children will sign for their child to be unwound. This is the scenario for one of the main characters, Collin. Also, children who live in state homes are often unwound for various reasons, usually involving lack of funds. This is the back story for Risa, another main character. And then the final, and most bothersome in my opinion, mode of becoming an unwind is to be tithed. The Bible states that you should tithe 10%. So Levi (Lev for short) just so happens to be the 10th child in his very religous family and therefore has known all of his life that his parents have offered him as a tithe and that he will be unwound on his 13th birthday. Crazy, right!?!

So through a series of circumstances these three characters cross paths and then the story really gets going... as if there has not already been enough crazy ideas thrown at you from the little that I've already told you about! Trust me, that is just the tip of the iceberg as for where this story then goes.

This is why I gave this book a four rather than a 5. I feel like there was just TOO much crammed into 352 pages. I really think that all of these ideas could have been explored deeper and a series of books could have come out of all of this. I'm not saying that I was disappointed at all in the things that happened or even how the story ended... I am saying I wanted more!! I wanted to go deeper into this. So if I have to pick out any flaw that would be it... and I'm not so sure if that's so much a flaw! =)

Okay, so do I have a favorite character?? Impossible for me to pick one... all three of the characters are fabulously flawed! I loved it! They are not perfect, they make mistakes, they do stupid things, and I loved them for every choice they made! I didn't really have a full appreciation of how much I liked these characters until the end.

Warnings that I can offer before you venture into this book... pay attention to EVERYTHING! It all comes back into play later on. There is a scene where you get to witness an "unwinding" and it is chilling! Highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good dysotopian story!!

View all my reviews

2011 Debut Author Challenge - Woo Hoo!!!!!

2010-11-23T08:31:00.000-08:00

I am participating in the 2011 Debut Author Challenge hosted by Kristy at The Story Siren. If you are interested in participating in this challenge or if you would like more information on it click here.

The Debut Author Challenge highlights young adult and middle grade authors that are releasing their first novel in 2011. The challenge is to read at least twelve debut novels.

I have added a page at the top of my blog titled 2011 Debut Author Challenge. If you are interested in keeping up with my progress for the challenge, then check there periodically. I will keep an updated list of my to-be-read pile and completed reviews on that page.

Hope everyone decides to give this challenge a try. Its a great way to discover new authors.

If you are not sure where to find books that will count for the challenge, Kristy has a spreadsheet (click here to check it out) with a list of U.S. debut authors and titles. I'm heading there now to pick out some books!

Video Book Review - City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

2010-11-22T17:39:00.001-08:00

Book Review - City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

2010-11-22T11:37:00.000-08:00

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alrighty then! Finally finished this monster of a book! Haha Seriously though, its taken me nearly a month to read it. So I do apologize for the delay. Now on to my thoughts about it...

Ok, so this is the third book in the series. If you've watched my Youtube videos on the first two books, then you know that I didn't give either of them five stars. I decided to give this book four stars because I did like it... considerably more than the previous two.

The story seriously picks up in this book. I loved the plot line, I loved the directions that it took, I loved the biblical/angel references, I loved the twists, I loved that many questions were finally answered, and loved the happy feeling it left me with once finished! I now have an itch for angel/biblical/mythological books! I went on the hunt for some on Amazon yesterday.

I think that my expectations were too high for City of Ashes and when I read City of Bones I felt slightly more satisfied. Now, with City of Glass I am even more happpy with the experience I got from reading it!

I have to be honest though... I skipped over some of the "padded out" parts in this book also. I'm sorry if this makes me a bad reader, but it was torturous to me and I just needed to get past it! lol I mentioned that I did this in my Youtube reviews on the other two books. And I really don't think that it made me miss out on any of the story line. I focused on reading dialogue and not so much on reading the descriptions of landscape, scenery, and all that kind of stuff.

If I have one major complaint about these books it would be that there is just too much "padding" for my taste. I like a book with a lot of dialogue... that makes me feel like the story is constantly moving along. These books really have some parts in them that just drag out. I feel like they are not necessary to the plot and the story. But that is just my opinion. If you can get past the slow parts there is a very a wonderful story to get lost in!

View all my reviews

Nook Color Giveaway!!

2010-11-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

Nook Color Giveaway!

Sparkling Reviews had a Nook Color donated from a very generous person (who wished to remain anonymous) for a giveaway! So the question is ... do you want to win a Nook Color? They need to reach 1100 followers before they can giveaway the Nook Color... This was a stipulation made by the person who donated the Nook. So once they reach 1100 Followers a Nook Color will be given away to a very lucky person! Check out the link!!!! http://www.sparklingreviews.com/2010/11/nook-color-giveaway-i-had-nook-color.html

A Small Kindle Book Haul

2010-11-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

So I left yesterday afternoon and made the two hour drive to my Mama's house. Since I've gotten the Amazon Kindle, I like to plug it in to my car stereo and turn on the text-to-speech feature so that it can read aloud to me as I drive. I basically read all of Perfect Chemistry and Rules of Attraction that way.

So yesterday before I left, I logged on to Amazon and searched through my wishlist. I always try to buy books on the Kindle that don't necessarily have a cover that I'm crazy about... if the cover is too pretty, then I want that actual book on my bookshelf! lol

I ended up picking out The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak! I read the first couple of pages and was immediately intrigued! So I decided I'd go ahead and start listening to it while I did my hair and makeup. Unfortunately, after I tried to turn on the text-to-speech feature, I found out that the publisher has it disabled on this book! I didn't even know they did that! =( I was so bummed.

So I then had to go on a hunt for a book that was cheap (because I've already bought one) and has the text-to-speech enabled. I ended up picking Unwind by Neal Shusterman. I've listened to about 18% of it. Awesome book so far. It's not very long... I think around 350ish pages. So the action starts soon and keeps coming... no padded out words and pages. I'll put up a review on both of these once I've read them!

As for now, I'm about to try to squeeze in watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince before I head out to see the new one today with my family! Then all of my focus will be on finishing City of Glass!

Happy Holidays

~Nicole~

New Book Review Coming Soon

2010-11-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

I PROMISE that I will finish City of Glass this weekend! Expect a review up by Monday, but no later than Tuesday unless some major distraction occurs. This past week was unbelievably hectic and busy at work (I'm a Special Education teacher). There was just so much to do before Thanksgiving break! I was at the school working every day an average of 10 hours! When I would get home, it was already dark and I just wanted to eat and go to bed. So I basically did no reading all week. I apologize =(

But I should be able to catch up this week since I have the whole week off. I'm hosting our family Thanksgiving at my new house this year. This will be my first time to ever host a family holiday gathering... but I'm hoping that the preparations for it will not completely overtake my free time. I really want to knock out two to three books this week!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of yummy food! Oh, and a great time shopping on Black Friday! Woo Hoo!!! =)

Happy Holidays

Secret Santa Shopping

2010-11-16T20:31:00.000-08:00

Just got my Santee the books from their wishlist! I spent $25 on Amazon so that I could get the free shipping and have it shipped directly to their house (no use in wasting free shipping, right!!)

I was reading a few comments from the "Book Blogger Holiday Swap" blog and some people were saying that they never received anything from their Secret Santa =( I really hope that doesn't happen to me!

I provided my Amazon wishlist to my Secret Santa, so that he/she could pick something from there. I'm hoping that they will get some of my top priority books that I'm really wanting to read, but haven't bought yet! But I'll pretty much be thrilled with any book I get off of my wishlist, lol.

I'm so excited! I love this time of year and I love doing "Secret Santa"!

Did any of you sign up for the "Book Blogger Holiday Swap"?? Or have you done it in the past? If so, care to share your thoughts on it??

Book Blogger Holiday Swap Deadline!

2010-11-14T07:59:00.001-08:00

The deadline is today! Go ahead and sign up if you're interested! It seems like a fun way to get into the holiday spirit!! Click on the link in my previous post on it OR click on the button in my side column!

Want to win a free Amazon Kindle?????

2010-11-09T15:39:00.000-08:00

Sparkling Reviews is giving away an AMAZON KINDLE!! I love mine, so I speak from experience when I say those things are awesome!! If you're interested in winning, go to Sparkling Reviews blog post- click here GOOD LUCK!!

2010-11-09T15:31:00.000-08:00

Book Blogger Holiday Swap

The holiday swap is a way for book bloggers to connect and celebrate the holiday spirit by sharing gifts. It’s done secret Santa style; all of the participants are randomly assigned a blogger to send a gift to, and these assignments are kept secret until the gift has been delivered. So no one knows who their gift is coming from!

Deadline is Novemeber 14th!! If you're interested click the link I've placed in the right column!!

My Book Rating System

2010-11-07T14:21:00.001-08:00

Five Star Book
A book that sticks with me when I'm finished. A book that tranports me while I'm reading. A book that makes me feel.

Examples: The Host, Hunger Games, House Rules, Twilight

Four Star Book

A book that intrigues my interests. A book that makes me wonder.

Examples: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Wicked Lovely, Perfect Chemistry

Three Star Book
A book that is interesting. A book that has potential, but needs more in the story line to make it satisfying.

Examples: The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Ink Exchange, City of Bones, City of Ashes

Two Star Book
A book with a decent premise, but falls short on delivery and steady entertainment.

Examples: The Lovely Bones

One Star Book
A book that is ridiculously boring, predictable, and cliche'.

Examples: The Heavenstone Secrets

Video Review - Horns by Joe Hill

2010-11-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

2010-11-02T20:30:00.001-07:00

Horns by Joe Hill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is definitely one of those books that will "stick with me". It's not a "feel good" read. The book definitely is what I would consider "heavy" (sorry for all the quotations, lol) That being said, I still loved it! It really offers a different kind of protagonist.

The main character in this book is Ignatius (Iggy, Ig... LOVE this name)Perrish. The book follows the life of Ig beginning in his pre-teens. Ig comes from a well-to-do family. He falls in love at an early age with Merrin Williams, whom he meets in church. He also befriends Lee Tourneau around the same time. The book centers around these three characters as well as Ig's older brother Terry.

The book begins with Ig waking up one morning after "doing bad things" to discover that he has grown HORNS from his temples. He soon discovers that these horns give him a power. Anyone who comes across his path is suddenly compelled to tell Ig all of their deepest, darkest thoughts and desires. The day that Ig discovers the horns he is confronted with the deep, dark thoughts and desires of multiple people in his life (mother, father, brother, grandmother, priest, doctor, girlfriend, etc...) This is definitely an amazing hook that will lock you into this book from the very beginning.

As you continue reading, you discover that Ig's long time girlfriend, Merrin was murdered the previous year, and though Ig was never convicted, EVERYONE believes he did it.

Ultimately, Ig uses the power of the horns to discover what really happened to Merrin, but he also learns things about himself.

This book has a number of plot twists in the story that give you those OMG moments while reading. It also pulls on your emotional heart strings... especially towards the end. There is one particular letter near the end that had me in tears.

Ig and Merrin have definitely become two of my all time favorite characters. I highly recommend this book, as an adult fiction novel!!

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