My Favorite Reads Giveaway Hop

My Favorite Reads Giveaway

June 1-6

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Rachelle's Writing Spot

I am SO very excited about this giveaway! I have a lot of "favorite" books and love the idea of sharing one of my favorites with someone else!

Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win one of my favorite reads. This is an International giveaway as long as The Book Depository ships to your location.

The winner will get to choose one (1) book from the list! (Yes, from THIS list!)

• Sign Language by Amy Ackley
• Daimon (prequel) & Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout (these 2 will come together)
• Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
• What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
• Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel
• Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
• Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
• Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins
• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
• Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Never Sit Down in a Hoopskirt and Other Things I Learned in Southern Belle Hell by Crickett Rumley
• The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
• The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
• Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
• Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready
• Shine by Jeri Smith-Ready

***I was surprised by how many entries I received, I decided to choose two winners! Emails have been sent!***

Armchair BEA 2012

Graphic made for Armchair BEA website by Nina of Nina Reads. 

Hey there! This is going to be my first "big" event on my blog. My intentions when I created this blog was to have a good way to keep track of the books I read and reviewed for the challenges I signed up for this year. However, I just keep finding things that I like, so I keep adding more to the blog!

I am going to do my best and participate in Armchair BEA! Since it's the last week of school for me, I can't take off from work to go to NYC for the real thing. So, Armchair BEA is going to be the next best thing!

I received the official email on Sunday that I was officially registered. As I sit here and type this, I'm still not 100% sure what all this entails. Doh! I'm going to learn as I go. That's the best way, right?  :)

There is a list of daily activities:
Monday, June 4: Introductions First!
Tuesday, June 5: Giveaways Everywhere!
Wednesday, June 6: Networking...In Real Life?!
Thursday, June 7: Beyond the Blog
Friday, June 8: The Future of Book Blogging


So, on Monday, I will have up my Introduction. There will be 5 (hopefully fabulous) facts about myself listed on here. How lucky are y'all?!?! :)

Until then, I shall continue studying the list from the Armchair BEA website and get some of my posts in order. I am thankful for a weekend of nothingness coming up so I can prepare!

Teaser Tuesday 5.29.12

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the TITLE and AUTHOR too, so others can add to their TBR piles or Goodreads list if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week comes from The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal.**

"We hid the princess away so that she would be safe until after her sixteenth birthday. And we replaced her with another baby, a false princess. You." Pg. 13 

Let me know if you've read this book and your thoughts!

**The book's link takes you to the Goodreads page for the book. 

The author's link takes you to the author on Twitter. 

Review: Waterfall

Title: Waterfall (River of Time Series: Book 1)
Author: Lisa Tawn Bergren
Source: Borrowed from my Library

Goodreads Summary and Cover:

What do you do when your knight in shining armor lives, literally, in a different world?

Most American teenagers want a vacation in Italy, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives among the romantic hills with their archaelogist parents. Stuck among the rubble of the medieval castles in rural Tuscany, on yet another hot, dusty archaeological site, Gabi and Lia are bored out of their minds...until Gabi places her hand atop a handprint in an ancient tomb and finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. And worse yet, in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces.
Suddenly Gabi's summer in Italy is much, much more interesting.

My Thoughts:
For a book that started off a little slow for me, it surely did turn itself around! The beginning was just kind of a Zzzzfest and I felt that the traveling part could have been a little more...detailed? Exciting? Mature? Regardless, it picked up in pace and excitement! 
The knights, castellos, swooning moments, dresses, fights, secret kisses, jealousy...ALL so beautiful, entertaining, and amazing!

I was very thankful that the language used was in terms that I could understand. This wasn't a historical fiction book that made me have to re-read passages over again so I could understand what I was reading. Lisa made it easy reading.

That ending nearly ripped out my heart. I need the second book now! How I wish for Sunday Library openings!

 I hope that Gabi and Lia can figure out a way to get back. Or a way to get Marcello and Luca to them. Tricky, tricky! I will be biting my nails even more, I'm sure, than I did through Waterfall.


My Rating:

Waterfall took me by surprise and left me wanting more! I am definitely reading the rest of the series! 

Review: Starters

Title: Starters
Author: Lissa Price
Source: Borrowed from my Library

Goodreads Description and Cover:

HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.
He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .

My Thoughts:
Well, I went into this book without knowing much about it. I saw the blurb on the cover about enjoying Starters if you enjoyed The Hunger Games. I know to take book comparison blurbs with a grain of salt after the If I Stay paperback book cover (here).

However, I DID enjoy this book and I DID enjoy The Hunger Games! I could kind of see how the two books could be compared in the genre that they're in.

• Both main characters are female.
• Both main characters are fighting for survival.
• Both main characters are trying to save and protect their younger sibling.
• Both main characters are really nobodies on the spectrum, but they head in to the technically advanced world and are triumphant over the bad guy.

Callie, our main character of Starters, is trying to earn money so she can buy a place for her and her brother to live and to also buy him the medicine that he needs. She uses Prime Destinations as a last resort. She thought it would be quick and easy money -- to let an Ender rent her body.

The whole renting concept is intriguing! If I lived to be 100+, I could see wanting to do that so I could feel young for a little bit...if I had the money that was required!

Callie was very lucky with who her renter was. All of the bad things that happened, happened. However, she was left with a pretty sweet set up after it was all said and done.

It will be very interesting to see what becomes of Callie and the world that Lissa has introduced us to in the next novel, Enders. There are still situations unsolved. Callie is in for more trouble, I'm afraid!

*side note* Gag about Blake. Old Man. Blake. Gag! If you've read it, you know what I mean! If you haven't read it, go! Get it and read it now!

My Rating:

I really enjoyed Starters! The book really surprised me! I thought the world created was interesting and the concept of renting was different. I'm excited to read more by Lissa! 

The cover was so pretty and shiny! I kept petting the embossed prettiness (like a goob!).

Teaser Tuesday 5.22.12

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the TITLE and AUTHOR too, so others can add to their TBR piles or Goodreads list if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week comes from Starters by Lissa Price.**

"Callie." His eyes examined my face, traveling over my cheeks, my eyes, my lips. "I don't know why, I can't explain it, but I feel connected to you."
"I know. Me too."
"But do you know why?" he asked.
I didn't know. I just felt it inside. "I guess sometimes there isn't a reason for everything." 
"It just is."
"It just is." My heart was beating so hard, he must have been able to hear it. - Pg. 143-144

Let me know if you've read this book and your thoughts!

**The book's link takes you to the Goodreads page for the book. 

The author's link takes you to the author on Twitter. 

Review: The List

Title: The List
Author: Siobhan Vivian
Source: Purchased

Goodreads Summary:

An intense look at the rules of high school attraction -- and the price that's paid for them.

It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn't matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up.

This is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, "pretty" and "ugly." And it's also the story of how we see ourselves, and how other people see us, and the tangled connection of the two.

My Take:
What a very interesting concept! This book nailed it! "It" being the existence of the hierarchy of high school beauty and the cruelness of it all.

Siobhan did something that I don't recall seeing before -- she told a story from 8 different girls perspectives. Not once did I get lost, either! Each girl had her own personality that stood out from the other girls.

By the end of the book, I was tearing up a little bit. The girls who had sisters and how their relationships turned after the list was heart-warming...and some heart-wrenching. The issue that Bridget has is such a big deal. I'm not glad it was a flaw with one of the girls, but I am glad it was in the book. So many young girls deal with weight issues and probably think the same things daily that Bridget did.

I like that we found out who created the list and why. However, I wanted to slap the person for all of his/her selfishness. (I can't give the sex away! :) )

Can I say a little "hooray!" for Danielle! Good for you!

Now, let's hope that seal gets buried somewhere. For good!

My Rating:

This was my first Siobhan Vivian read and I absolutely liked it! It was a great read!

The List satisfies both challenges I'm in - Completely Contemporary Challenge and the StandAlone Reading Challenge

Wanderlove Review

Title: Wanderlove
Author: Kirsten Hubbard
Source: Gift from @Luvdaylilies

Goodreads Summary:

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry to this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story.

My Take:
Oh, how I wish I could try to walk away from everything for a few weeks and roam around. Granted, my idea of roaming around would be rolling luggage, hotels, hot showers, and shampoo and conditioner!

I know there are people out there who backpack. I kind of envy that. Kind of! Hubbard definitely gave great descriptions and made me feel like I could be in the story. Skittering lizards and all. *shudder*

When Bria decided to ditch her travel group to join in with a couple of backpackers, it was more of an emotional decision than a rational one, but it worked! Along the journey across Central America, the most important thing that Bria realizes is that she is the only person holding her back -- not her parents, not her art, and not the jerky, self-centered, egotistical ex-boyfriend any longer. I'm glad she was able to close that chapter and be able to move on.

I reaaaalllly enjoyed the conversations that Bria and Rowan had. They were always so peaceful and open to conversation at night. Downtime!

My Rating:

I really enjoyed the trip with Bria and Rowen!

This book is part of the StandAlone Reading Challenge! Wooo! I'm quite a bit behind on that. :)

Always a Witch

Title: Always a Witch (Sequel to Once a Witch)
Author: Carolyn MacCullough
Source: Purchased

Goodreads Summary:

The adventures of Tam and Gabriel continue with more time travel, Talents, spy work, and of course, the evil Knights.

Since the gripping conclusion of Once A Witch, Tamsin Greene has been haunted by her grandmother's prophecy that she will soon be forced to make a crucial decision—one so terrible that it could harm her family forever. When she discovers that her enemy, Alistair Knight, went back in time to Victorian-era New York in order to destroy her family, Tamsin is forced to follow him into the past. Stranded all alone in the nineteenth century, Tamsin soon finds herself disguised as a lady's maid in the terrifying mansion of the evil Knight family, avoiding the watchful eye of the vicious matron, La Spider, and fending off the advances of Liam Knight. As time runs out, both families square off in a thrilling display of magic. And to her horror, Tamsin finally understands the nature of her fateful choice.

My Take:

I was very disappointed with this book. BUMMER! I really did enjoy the first book, Once a Witch. Much like my blog posts 99% of the time, Always a Witch seemed to have no real "meaty" parts to it. I'm normally just too scared I'm going to babble and say too much. MacCullough finished the story for Tamsin and gave us closure, but I just thought the filling between the beginning and the ending was just too convenient. She definitely could have babbled and said too much at times so it might have interested me more.

And that ending?!?! WTF? I don't understand the wink and the "Ah". Am I that clueless? Did I miss something big that would tell me what the heck that is supposed to mean? She's a beacon for them all. Ooooookkkkaaaaay. 

My Rating:

After enjoying Once a Witch so much, Always a Witch really let me down.

Teaser Tuesday 5.15.12

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the TITLE and AUTHOR too, so others can add to their TBR piles or Goodreads list if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week comes from Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard.**

But what I do know is this: you got to find your own places. The places you get, girl, the ones that stick in your heart. And if you're lucky, you find people to share them with. Pg. 239

Let me know if you've read this book and your thoughts!

**The book's link takes you to the Goodreads page for the book. 

The author's link takes you to the author on Twitter. 

Spring Blog Carnival Winner!

164 entries

136 correct guesses

1 winner!

Congratulations to roro for winning a book from the Love Triangles Booth!

An email has been sent to roro. I hope to hear back from you soon! :)

The Wicked and the Just Review

Title: The Wicked and the Just
Author: J. Anderson Coats
Source: A gift from my mom!

Goodreads Summary: 

Cecily’s father has ruined her life. He’s moving them to occupied Wales, where the king needs good strong Englishmen to keep down the vicious Welshmen. At least Cecily will finally be the lady of the house.


Gwenhwyfar knows all about that house. Once she dreamed of being the lady there herself, until the English destroyed the lives of everyone she knows. Now she must wait hand and foot on this bratty English girl.


While Cecily struggles to find her place amongst the snobby English landowners, Gwenhwyfar struggles just to survive. And outside the city walls, tensions are rising ever higher—until finally they must reach the breaking point.

My Take:
First of all, let me just say how happy I am that I made it through the book without putting it back on the shelf. I wanted this book because of that beautiful cover and my mom was awesome enough to buy it one day that we were out shopping together.

I really haven't dabbled in Historical Fiction much, if at all. With that being said, I had a really hard time reading the book. The language used was just difficult for me.

The characters...ohhhh, the characters. I wanted to stab them, yet at the same time, I pitied them all. I kept hoping for a relationship between Cecily and Gwinny - a bond. I guess this may be spoilery, but it never came. At the first chance to have it, Gwinny threw it away.

The title of this book could have easily been "The Wicked". I guess I don't feel like there was anything "Just" about what happened. The English and Welsh were just...ARGH! Hypocritical seems like a good word to use to describe them.

 My Rating:

I know I probably haven't given you any good information to persuade you to read or not read The Wicked and the Just. If you like Historical Fiction, this will probably be right up your alley!