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Thursday, August 27, 2009

Throwdown Thursday (3)

This awesome meme is hosted by Kate @ The Neverending Shelf :

First of all, it is time to announce last week's winner of TT:
A Tie.


And judging by the votes, no one really reads them so oh well, guess I shouldn't waste time on them either.
----------------
(Copied & pasted from Kate) Throwdown Thursday is going to be (hopefully) a weekly thing where we tackle books with similar characters, covers, themes, etc. to determine which one rocks more. And it is up to YOU to determine the winner! To vote for your favorite, simply leave a comment with your choice. The winner will be announced next week with the new Throwdown contestants. [For Kate's TT go to her blog (: ]

Onto this week's TT: Similar Covers

North of Beautiful
or
Evermore
???


Both covers use the same stock photo of a girl. Which book is better?
Vote, vote, vote!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Contest Winner!

As you know, my first ever contest ended yesterday so it's time to announce the winner...
*drumroll*
...
Kaylee!



Congratulations, I just sent you an e-mail so please reply back with your personal info as fast as you can! :D

Thanks for entering everyone! :D The outcome of the contest completely surpassed my expectations!

A cool mini contest is coming next week! :D Stay tuned...

Well, that's all for today; I've got to cram for my diagnostic math test tomorrow! :( I don't remember any math and it's barely the first day of school so wish me luck! I hope it's not part of my grade... D:

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot
Rating: 5/5
Synopsis: Things aren't pretty for Emerson Watts.
Em was sure there couldn't be anything worse than being a brainiac the body of a teenaged supermodel.

But it turned out she was wrong. Because that supermodel could turn out to have a mother who's gone mysteriously missing, a brother who's shown up on her doorstep demanding answers, a former best friend who's intent on destroying Stark Enterprises to avenge the death of his lost love, and a British heartthrob who's written a song about her that's topping the charts.
How can Em balance all that with school, runway shows, and weekend jaunts to St. Johns - especially when she's got ex-boyfriends crawling out of the woodwork who want more than just a photo op; a sister who is headed to the high school cheerleading championships; a company she represents that seems to be turning to the dark side...

Not to mention trying to convince the love of her life that models aren't really airheads after all...especially one model in particular.
But then, nobody said it was going to be easy being Nikki.

Review: I read Airhead just last month and picked up my hold of this sequel a couple of days ago. Let me just tell you that it was a whole lot better than its previous book. Don't get me wrong, Airhead was great, but it didn't have much plot. Sure the writing was superb, but what really happened? I think the first book's purpose was just to introduce us to the characters and the story; Being Nikki is where the story really begins.

There is much more going on in this book than the first one. For one, we get to know of Nikki's life more--including her family. The story also reveals a possible reason why Nikki's brain stopped functioning. It also shows more of the modeling career Nikki or Em has, and talks more about Stark. It definitely has more layers to it making it a very enjoyable read. I loved it and can't wait for the next one, Runaway, coming out.

[comment for an extra entry for my end of summer contest that ends today!]

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Throwdown Thursday (2)

This awesome meme is hosted by Kate @ The Neverending Shelf


First of all, it is time to announce last week's winner of TT:


Lament!
(Hopefully, I'm getting it from the library soon! )

----------------

Onto this week's TT: Books written by Celebrities





Princess of Gossip by Sabrina Bryan
or
LA Candy by Lauren Conrad
???

Honestly, I have read none of the two so I'm curious to see if anyone has and what they think of it! :)

(Copied & pasted from Kate) Throwdown Thursday is going to be (hopefully) a weekly thing where we tackle books with similar characters, covers, themes, etc. to determine which one rocks more. And it is up to YOU to determine the winner! To vote for your favorite, simply leave a comment with your choice. The winner will be announced next week with the new Throwdown contestants. [For Kate's TT go to her blog (: ]

------------------------
Off topic : After this post is up, I'm probably nearing the time where I'm at my high school picking up textbooks, schedule, and such so please cross your fingers that I will get the classes I want. I do not want to take Geometry Honors so I'm hoping I got placed in regular. Anywho, please comment!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Hunger Games Icons

I finished reading the ARC of Catching Fire that I won this week and since I'm already on the fan forum for it all day, I decided to make icons for people to share the love. You can use these on your blogs or forums to show your Hunger Games spirit!





In an effort to not spoil things, I will save the one icon I made that expressed what team I'm on until after the CF is released (It's not Peeta, Gale, or Katniss).

Use them freely, but please credit me if you must.


Opinions please.

Throwdown Thursday

This is my first time doing a meme so please bare with me :)

This new meme is brought to you by the brilliant, Kate at The Neverending Shelf. Head on over to her blog and view others' Throwdown Thursday.

(Copied & pasted from Kate) Throwdown Thursday is going to be (hopefully) a weekly thing where we tackle books with similar characters, covers, themes, etc. to determine which one rocks more. And it is up to YOU to determine the winner! To vote for your favorite, simply leave a comment with your choice. The winner will be announced next week with the new Throwdown contestants. [For Kate's TT go to her blog (: ]

This week, I'm posting about two novels I have yet to read, but they both involve a girl who can see faeries.

Lament : The Faerie Queen's Deception
or
Wicked Lovely ?

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Summer Reading Thoughts

For the past week, I have been reading books required for class. I slacked off reading for English because of summer school. Which is strange because I've been reading other YA books, but not the ones for school. Anyway, here's what I've been reading. I finished the Human Comedy in a few days and it turned out interesting despite thinking it was boring.


Anyway, this will be kind of a like a short review. The beginning didn't really interest me because it started with a description of a boy looking at a gopher hole and then went on describing its surroundings. But I don't know what part of the story was that kept me interested in flipping the pages. Maybe because it was so realisticly portrayed? I'm not sure. It's only about 190 something pages long, but with really small text. I read it in between going to dinner, the mall, etc. The ending was a bit sad, but it was pulled off well. I don't think I've ever accepted a sad ending as much as I did for this book.

Rating: I give it 4/5



Anyway, I'm currently reading ->

Parrot in the Oven, which isn't so bad. I'll let you know my thoughts on it later. Actually, part of my assignment is doing journal entries with thoughts of the passages from it so I'll probably use those.

Anyway, I'm off to read more in the effort of completing my assigned summer work!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Blue Bloods Series #1-3

Blue Bloods Series #1-3 by Melissa De La Cruz
Rating: 3.8/5


Synopsis of first book: When the Mayflower set sail in 1620, it carried on board the men and women who would shape America: Miles Standish; John Alden; Constance Hopkins. But some among the Pilgrims were not pure of heart; they were not escaping religious persecution. Indeed, they were not even human. They were vampires.

The vampires assimilated quickly into the New World. Rising to levels of enormous power, wealth, and influence, they were the celebrated “blue bloods” of American society. The Blue Bloods vowed that their immortal status would remain a closely guarded secret. And they kept that secret for centuries.

But now, in New York City, the secret is seeping out. Schuyler Van Alen is a sophomore at a prestigious private school. Suddenly, when she turns fifteen, there is a visible mosaic of blue veins on her arm. She starts to crave raw food -- and she is having flashbacks to ancient times. Then a girl from her school is found dead . . . drained of all her blood. Schuyler doesn’t know what to think. Could those vampire legends really be true?


Review: The first mistake I made in reading this seres was reading it backwards, but the third copy was the only one available at the library. It was a little confusing reading the third book since I had no idea what happened previously, but it was still an enjoyable read.

In Blue Bloods, you are introduced to Schuyler, Oliver, Jack Force, and the rest of the Blue Bloods vampires. The novel starts off a little slow, but I got into it after learning about the murder of a fellow student. For Masquerade, I have to say it was much more interesting than the previous book. Likewise for Revelations.

The good thing about reading these books is the vampire world the author creates. It gives a whole new meaning to blue blood. I'm impressed the author got this idea from a colony disappearing after coming from the Mayflower. She ties history well with the story, even though there wasn't much history involved. Once in a while, you'll see excerpts of documents concerning the Blue Bloods and the colony that disappeared.

I'm looking forward to reading the Van Alen Legacy because with Schuyler, you really can't help but want to know more of her family--especially since her mom is still in a coma. In this series, a vampire never dies, but gets reincarnated every life cycle. But Schuyler is the first ever vampire who is also human so she never existed before in her life. (I hope I'm making sense; you'll understand me if you read this book) You also learn how powerful a bond is with the Blue Bloods.

Of course, with many novels, there are a few things I don't like. I don't really like how Jack and Schuyler's romance was developed. Or how Jack and his twin sister Mimi have a bond and are eventually going to marry each other.

Overall, the three books were great to read. Even if I had to read them backwards.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Look on the Bright Side...

The final days of summer...

Summer is going to be over in a couple of weeks. Of course, I am most definitely NOT looking forward to it. But there is always a bright side to everything. In this situation, FREE BOOKS!

Which ones?
-Airhead by Meg Cabot (paperback-an extra copy I received last week!)
-The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting (ARC- given by a family friend in the book world; not yet read by me)
-Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin (hardcover- bought & read only once)
-The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (hardcover-bought for friend because I loved it so much, but she wanted a gift card instead...and I lost the receipt *slaps forehead*)

AND!!
-$15 iTunes gift card (everyone needs some music to listen to while writing or reading, right? and the audiobooks on there... :D plus it's something I've had since last year that's just lying around, hehe)

How do I enter? It's simple!

+10 for answering all the following questions: What will you miss most about summer? What are you looking forward to? What's a book you are looking forward to read after and why?

Other ways (please leave as separate comments):
+3 for following me on twitter @sunxxmoon
+5 for being a follower on this blog
+2 for each time you link to this contest (if tweeting, please @sunxxmoon)
+1 for each comment* on reviews I write AFTER this post (please leave a link here)

When will it end?
Well, the last day of summer is September 21st so the end of it will be the 22nd. Hence, this giveaway will end September 22nd!

No, seriously.
Okay, in my mind, summer ends the day I have to return to school. This year, it's August 26th. So the contest will officially end on August 25th at midnight - California time. Winner will be selected by random number generator site and be notified the next day.

[Note: I will also be giving away another ARC on twitter soon and whoever replies to me first will get their hands on it. The ARC is a middle school grade novel just so you know... ]

*crosses fingers and hopes at least two people enter this contest*

Good luck! Oh and if the comments aren't working just keep submitting and it will go through! If not, drop me an e-mail :D

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Teen Idol


Teen Idol by Meg Cabot

Rating:4/5

Synopis: High school junior Jenny Greenley is so good at keeping secrets that she's the school newspaper's anonymous advice columnist. She's so good at it that, when hotter-than-hot Hollywood star Luke Striker comes to her small town to research a role, Jenny is the one in charge of keeping his identity under wraps. But Luke doesn't make it easy, and soon everyone — the town, the paparazzi, and the tabloids alike — know his
secret ... and Jenny is caught right in the middle of all the chaos.

Review: I checked this one out from the library as an audiobook online. The plot didn't seem really intriguing, but I gave it a try and did not regret it. As I was listening, I found myself laughing aloud at the remarks the characters made. All in all, it was a good listen!

Shiver



Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Review: After entering multiple contests for this book, I didn't win from any. I was surprised to get a signed ARC copy of it delivered to my house yesterday! It was all due to the lovely Ms. Lauren Barnholdt. Anyway, getting onto the review: I started this morning and just finished it now. All I can say is Shiver turned out to be very breathtaking! The writing and emotion in it was nearly flawless and I enjoyed every word of it. You will laugh at the dialogue between Grace and Sam at times and be surprised at how Maggie Stiefvater creates her own believable werewolf world. Although the ending kind of left me confused, (maybe it was just a cliffhanger?) I'm looking forward to Linger.