"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars, points of light and reason. ...And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason, for anything."

~ Edward Cullen

Monday, January 9, 2012

It's Monday...What are you reading?


It's Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event now hosted by One Persons Journey Through a World Of Books. It's helpful way to take a look at what you have read and what you want to read!

The first week of the year was a great one for me reading wise.  I finished three books and I'm halfway finished with two others.  Here's what I read this week (click covers for reviews):







I'm looking to finish Wither and Dark Lover here in the next day or two.  Here's what I have lined up for this coming week:


Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door (goodreads.com)



Megan Berry - Zombie Settler extraordinaire - just wants Pom Squad to trounce Cheer Team in this freakishly funny follow-up to You Are So Undead to Me. But someone's turning coma victims into settler-resistant ber-zombies - and everyone thinks it's Megan's fault! Well, except for super-creepy male cheerleader Aaron. (Ew!)

Meg's also being stalked by a hot - albeit undead - seer named Cliff. Can Cliff's premonitions help Megan stop a zombies-on-ice deathscapade and discover who's really behind the coma-killer crusade before an entire army of undead rise up? And when Megan's boyfriend Ethan grows jealous of Cliff, will it end their intra-settler romance?



In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret bound of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed by a deadly beast Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Owned by this dark side, Rhage fears the time when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him.

Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant to Rhage's protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. She lost her faith in miracles years ago. But when Rhage's intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves...



Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.




“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie were best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies. But now Cassie is dead. Lia's mother is busy saving other people's lives. Her father is away on business. Her step-mother is clueless. And the voice inside Lia's head keeps telling her to remain in control, stay strong, lose more, weigh less. If she keeps on going this way—thin, thinner, thinnest—maybe she'll disappear altogether.



That's my list for the week. What are you reading this week?


Saturday, January 7, 2012

Review: You Are So Undead to Me


Title: You Are So Undead to Me
Author: Stacey Jay
Pages: 263
Rating: 4/5

Fifteen-year-old Megan Berry is a Zombie Settler by birth, which means she's part-time shrink to a bunch of dead people with a whole lot of issues.

All Megan wants is to be normal and go to homecoming, of course. Unfortunately, it's a little difficult when your dates keep getting interrupted by a bunch of slobbering Undead.


Things are about to get even more complicated for Megan. Someone in school is using black magic to turn average, angsty Undead into flesh-eating Zombies, and it's looking like homecoming will turn out to be a very different kind of party the bloody kind.


Megan must stop the Zombie apocalypse descending on Carol, Arkansas. Her life and more importantly, homecoming depends on it (goodreads.com).


You Are So Undead to Me is Stacey Jay's debut novel and I loved it!!  The main character Megan Berry was so much fun and I couldn't wait to see what happened to her next.  She was a zombie fighter with heart!

Jay's novel follows the life of Megan as she settles back into her life as a Zombie Settler, a group of people who act as shrinks for the dead.  Megan had all but lost her powers at a young age due to a horrific attack and she's not too happy to have them back.  Now Zombies are ruining her dates, and someone is summoning the evil undead to kill Megan.

Jay's writing was spot on.  Never once did I feel that the book was lagging, and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.  The plot was well written and developed and I enjoyed every minute of it.  The character development was spot on and I truly connected with Megan and Ethan.  I really felt that I was part of the story and that's when I know that I truly love a book.  I was sad when I turned the last page and I'm so happy to know that there is a sequel!

I certainly won't be waiting long to read Undead Much?  I'm already upset I waited as long as I did to read You Are So Undead to Me.  I'm also going to be checking to see what other books Stacey Jay has out there and can't wait to get my hands on them too!!


Thursday, January 5, 2012

Review: The Hollowland


Title: Hollowland
Author: Amanda Hocking
Pages: 312
Rating: 2/5

"This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door."

Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies (goodreads.com).

I found Hollowland late one night when I was cruising around Amazon trying to find things to download onto my new Kindle Fire. I always check out the free books because free is free right? Hollowland was listed among them, and after reading the blurb about the plot I promptly hit the download button. Then a few days later when looking for challenges in 2012 I came across the Zombie Reading Challenge. "Score" I thought! "I can use Hollowland to help complete this challenge." And that is how I came to read this particular book...

I'm not really sure what was worse on this one. The character development and plot, or the writing itself. The writing was so choppy at times, I found myself re-reading sentences three times before if finally dawned on me what the author was trying to say. And the typos! I hate typos. I know everyone makes them including myself, and this book was self published...and free, but still a little extra proofreading probably wouldn't hurt.

Hollowland was like one bad rollercoaster ride. This book is non-stop. It seemed like something was happening around every turn. This would have been amazing had there been some character development to back it up but the book was completely void of this detail. There was absolutely no real emotion in this book. Our main character Remy is like a robot. She's killing zombies with the kind of attitude I take towards cooking dinner...yeah it sucks but it's got to be done. I wanted to feel some real fear. I do think some of the plot devices that were used were there to serve a purpose. Remy must leave a friend behind in the desert because she may have been infected with the zombie virus. I think this was there to show that Remy was a strong, focused leader...but actually just made her look like she really didn't give a crap about anyone. And then there was the lion...I mean really...a lion. I'm not sure what the author was trying to establish with a lion unless she thought it would be really cool, but to me it was just weird.

From the lion, things went downhill fast. Remy and her small group of followers ended up spending the night with a cult leader named Koresh and his band of merry followers. Koresh hopes to cleanse Remy's friend Lazlo, a rockstar before the zombies came and took over the world, so they try to escape but are held up when Remy, of course because this makes sense, tries to find her lion...do I really need to say more?

The sad thing about this book is it started off really good. Zombies had envaded a secure government facility. We see that the zombies are beginning to develop a higher since of intelligence. They're working together to destroy the world rather than running amuck. We get a glimpse at the life that Remy was leading...secure but no where near perfect. It was a great setup. Had the author not choosen to go down the road of a B grade horror film, I probably would have given this book a lot higher rating. But instead I was left exhausted and drained and not in a good way.

Save your self the trouble of reading this book. Go out and rent Shaun of the Dead instead...

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

(Click on picture to go to Goodreads description)

I loved Rampant by Diana Peterfreund and have Ascendant downloaded on my Kindle to read.  I can't wait to read this dystopian retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen!!


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday


Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Each Tuesday is a new topic.  Head on over and check it out!!

 This weeks topic is:

Top Ten Books That I Can't Wait to Read in 2012
I have so many books that I'm planning on reading in 2012 that have been sitting on my shelf for way too long.  Here's the rundown:

1.  The Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins - I'm pretty sure I am the last person on earth who hasn't yet read this book or the two follow ups.  If I don't read anything else this year, I AM READING THIS BOOK!!

2.  The Book Thief: Marcus Zusak - Again, I'm pretty sure I'm the last person on earth to have not read this one too.  I've heard amazing things about it and I'm really looking forward to it!

3.  The Help: Kathryn Stockett - My best friend finished this one in two days and she isn't even a reader...I can't wait to sit down with this one and lose myself for a few hours. 

4.  My Life Next Door: Huntley Fitzpatrick - One, I love the cover of this one.  Two, the premise sounds amazing.  And three, I don't read enough YA contemporary so this one definitely fits the bill!

5.  Sweet Evil: Wendy Higgins - Amazing Cover...good description too..lol

6.  The Girl in the Park: Mariah Fredericks - I love the premise of this one.  Mystery and intrigue.  Plus it takes place in New York which is one place I someday hope to visit.

7.  Outlander: Diane Gabaldon - I have wanted to read this one for years and years, but the size is intimidating.  I am making it my personal goal to read this in 2012!

8.  Shine: Lauren Myracle - I have a signed copy of this one that I received at a book signing last year that I have never gotten around to reading.  I really, really want to read this one too so I'm hoping to get it accomplished in 2012.

9.  Sapphire Blue: Kerstin Geir - I have been waiting on pins and needles for this one to get translated and released in the US.  According to Amazon, it should be here in October of 2012.  I cannot wait!! Ruby Red was amazing!!

10.  Bewitching: Alex Flinn - I love, love, love Flinn's books and this is a spin off of my all time favorite Beastly.  Really looking forward to this one!


Monday, January 2, 2012

Review: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler


Title: From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler
Author: E.L. Konigsburg
Pages: 162
Rating: 5/5

When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn’t just want to run from somewhere, she wants to run to somewhere — to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and, preferably, elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing her younger brother Jamie has money and thus can help her with a serious cash-flow problem, she invites him along.

Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie find themselves caught up in the mystery of an angel statue that the museum purchased at auction for a bargain price of $225. The statue is possibly an early work of the Renaissance master, Michelangelo, and therefore worth millions. Is it? Or isn’t it?

Claudia is determined to find out. Her quest leads her to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the remarkable old woman who sold the statue, and to some equally remarkable discoveries about herself


I joined the challenge to read Newbery Medal and Honor winners this year. From the Mixed Up Files was my first read from the lists this year. I believe I may have read this book back in elementary school but definitely did not remember much about it. I am so glad I chose to revisit it.

Claudia is tired of being Claudia. She wants to be different. She wants to feel important. Because of this, she devises a plan to runaway. Claudia doesn't want to runaway to any old place. She wants to go someplace important, so she chooses The Metropolitan Museum of Art. And it is there, with her younger brother Jamie she hides for a week.

I can definitely see why this book won the Newbery Award and how it has sustained its popularity since its original publication in 1972. From the Mixed Up Files is quirky and entertaining. The main characters are great. Claudia and her brother Jamie make a wonderful team. Claudia is smart and inquisitive and comes up with a great plan. Jamie is good with the money and helps to keep Claudia from putting them directly in the poorhouse.

Konigsberg is a fabulous author. Even at thirty years old, I adored the story she wove between the covers of this book. I wanted to visit the museum, sleep in a 400 year old bed, and hide in the bathroom stall until the guards had gone home for the night. This is definitely one I will be keeping on my shelves for years to come and will hopefully share one day with my own son.


It's Monday. What Are You Reading?


It's Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event now hosted by One Persons Journey Through a World Of Books. It's helpful way to take a look at what you have read and what you want to read!

It has been forever since I've done a It's Monday, What Are You Reading Post?  Life really got in the way towards the end of 2011, and I had a hard time getting back on track.  But its a new year, and I'm starting fresh!

This past week I only read and reviewed one book, but it was a good one:

(Clicking above photo will take you to review)

This coming week I have quite a few good ones lined up that I'm really looking forward too:

Hollowland - Amanda Hocking

"This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door." Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.


Dark Lover - J.R. Ward

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams


Fifteen-year-old Megan Berry is a Zombie Settler by birth, which means she's part-time shrink to a bunch of dead people with a whole lot of issues.

All Megan wants is to be normal and go to homecoming, of course. Unfortunately, it's a little difficult when your dates keep getting interrupted by a bunch of slobbering Undead.

Things are about to get even more complicated for Megan. Someone in school is using black magic to turn average, angsty Undead into flesh-eating Zombies, and it's looking like homecoming will turn out to be a very different kind of party the bloody kind.

Megan must stop the Zombie apocalypse descending on Carol, Arkansas. Her life and more importantly, homecoming depends on it

Wither - Lauren Destefano

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left



When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn’t just want to run from somewhere, she wants to run to somewhere — to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and, preferably, elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing her younger brother Jamie has money and thus can help her with a serious cash-flow problem, she invites him along.

Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie find themselves caught up in the mystery of an angel statue that the museum purchased at auction for a bargain price of $225. The statue is possibly an early work of the Renaissance master, Michelangelo, and therefore worth millions. Is it? Or isn’t it?

Claudia is determined to find out. Her quest leads her to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the remarkable old woman who sold the statue, and to some equally remarkable discoveries about herself




Sunday, January 1, 2012

Review: Catching Jordan


Title: Catching Jordan
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Pages: 288
Rating: 5/5

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though- she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university.

But everything she's ever worked for is threatened when Ty Green moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he's also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line (cover blurb)?


I always like to start the New Year off with either a book I've been wanting to read for a long time, or one that I've been hearing a lot of chatter about in the blogosphere.  In the past few months, I have read tons and tons of positive reviews for Catching Jordan, but still I was hesitant.  One of my favorite books (and series) is Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock.  I was nervous that Catching Jordan would fall short, and I would spend the entire time comparing Jordan to DJ Schwenk.  Once I started reading I quickly learned two things:  Catching Jordan was addictive in its own way, and two - Jordan Woods could definitely hold her own (DJ who???).

I started this book last night, as the ball was dropping, and finished it early this afternoon.  I only put it down to eat, go to the bathroom, and play with Anthony for a bit.  Sometimes I'm so thankful that he's a great napper...lol!!

So what made this book so good?  Well for one, the characters were fabulous.  Jordan is quarterback and captain of her football team.  She's a girl swimming in a male world, and that's perfectly fine with her.  She shuts down a lot of her feelings to be a leader, and doesn't want to show weakness among her teammates.  Kenneally developed Jordan in such a way, I'm pretty sure for a few short hours I was a high school quarterback, surrounded by a team that loved and respected me.  I agonized over every misstep and decision.  I felt the hurt and the pain.  I felt the joy and the happiness.  I wish there were always characters like Jordan around.  I'd never read a bad book.

And let's not forget about Jordan's teammates and love interests.  Of course, my favorite, was Sam Henry.  He has to be one of my new favorite male leads today in YA literature.  He was so darn cute and sweet...and also very, very frustrating.  There were times that I really wished I could crawl in among the pages and smack him right up alongside his head.  Along with Sam, we had Ty, who was just smokin' hot...lol.  I loved how he felt about Jordan and how their relationship grew and changed. 

Over all, this was an amazing read, and a great addition to current YA Contemporary Lit.  I look forward to reading more from this author!

Here's to my first book of 2012!!!

Happy 2012!!

It's hard to believe that it is already 2012.  Anthony will turn a year old in two weeks.  Hubby will be at his new job almost a year.  Time certainly has flown.

2011 was a year of changes and adjustments for me.  I had to adjust to a new baby, new responsibilities and a lot less time.  In 2010, I read 59 books.  With all the changes, I only read 29 books in 2011 and didn't review five of them.

That being said I read some amazing books in 2011 including: The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian, The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. 

I also had signed up for several challenges and completed four.  Not horribly shabby.

For 2012, I want to make things different!  I want to read more, review more, do different blog posts.  I want to involve what I'm reading to Anthony, keep up on weekly meme's, branch out to other bloggers.  I feel I make these same goals every year and fail miserably after the first month or two, but this year, I'm ready!! 

That being said, I've already completed my first book of 2012 and I can't wait to get the review posted for you soon!!



Related Posts with Thumbnails