In My Mailbox is an amazing weekly meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren that features the books we have received during the week.
Here are the books I bought this week:
Through Her Eyes by Jennifer Archer
Every ghost has a story to tell.
The last place Tansy Piper wants to be is stuck in Cedar Canyon, Texas, in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of small-town kids. But when her mother decides to move to the desolate West Texas town, Tansy has no choice but to go along. Once there, Tansy is immediately drawn to the turret of their rickety old house, a place she soon learns has a disturbing history. But it's the strange artifacts she finds in the cellar—a pocket watch, a journal of poetry, and a tiny crystal—that have the most chilling impact on her.
Tansy soon finds that through the lens of her camera, she can become part of a surreal black-and-white world where her life is intertwined with that of mysterious, troubled Henry, who lived in the same house and died decades earlier. It seems their lives are linked by fate and the artifacts she found, but as Tansy begins spending more and more time in the past, her present world starts to fade away. Tansy must untangle herself from Henry's dangerous reality—before she loses touch with her own life forever.
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
It's been three years since the devastating accident ... three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.
Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.
Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.
On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.
I absolutely loved Sex and the City TV series and movies. No matter how many times I repeat watching them, I never get tired of seeing them. I haven't read the first book yet in The Carrie Diaries series and with the second one coming up this month, I absolutely wish to get my hands on both books for me to devour them!
The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell
Before Carrie Bradshaw hit the big time in the City, she was a regular girl growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut. How did she turn into one of the most-read social observers of our generation?
The Carrie Diaries opens up in Carrie's senior year of high school. She and her best friends -- Walt, Lali, Maggie, and the Mouse -- are inseparable, amid the sea of Jens, Jocks and Jets. And then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture. Sebastian is a bad boy-older, intriguing, and unpredictable. Carrie falls into the relationship that she was always supposed to have in high school-until a friend's betrayal makes her question everything. With her high school days coming to a close, Carrie will realize it's finally time to go after everything she ever wanted.
Rabid fans of Sex and the City will love seeing Carrie Bradshaw evolve from a regular girl into a sharp, insightful writer. They'll learn about her family background -- how she found her writing voice, and the indelible impression her early friendships and relationships left on her. We'll see what brings Carrie to her beloved New York City, where the next Carrie Diaries book will take place.
Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell
Summer is a magical time in New York City and Carrie is in love with all of it. The crazy characters in her neighborhood, the vintage-clothing boutiques, the wild parties, and the glamorous man who has swept her off her feet. Best of all, she's finally in a real writing class, taking her first steps toward fulfilling her dream. This sequel to The Carrie Diaries brings surprising revelations as Carrie learns to navigate her way around the Big Apple, going from being a country "sparrow" as Samantha Jones dubs her to the person she always wanted to be. But as it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile her past with her future, Carrie realizes that making it in New York is much more complicated than she ever imagined. pWith her signature wit and sparkling humor, Candace Bushnell reveals the irresistible story of how Carrie met Samantha and Miranda, and what turned a small-town girl into one of New York City's most unforgettable icons, Carrie Bradshaw.
What about you? What do you have on your wishlist?
TGIF is a Friday feature hosted by Ginger at GReads! to recap the week on your blog and to answer a fun question.
This week's question is:
Stand Alone vs. Series: What's your stance?
Hmmm... This is a tough question! For me, it really depends. There are those books which I want to just continue reading book after book after book without getting tired of losing myself in the story; and there are those books which just wouldn't feel right if it's prolonged further. I like series novels because you can get to know every character and the premise is really being delved into more and multiple sub-plots can sprout anytime. I also love cliffhangers and the thrill of getting and reading its sequel.
With this being said, although I adore book series, the wait for the next sequel is just too much for me. I mean, I have to wait for another year (if I'm lucky) to read the next book. Take the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini as an example. The third book was published like 3 years ago (September 28th 2008 to be exact) and yet the final book, Inheritance, will only be released this year. Talk about a three year gap there. Honestly as much as I want to read the much awaited conclusion to the series, I cannot even remember every detail of the first three books and is now deliberating if I have to re-read them in time for the release of book four. Another book is My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares. I adored the book! It definitely gave me the cliffhanger that I have always been craving for. But, lo and behold, there is no definite news yet as to when the second book will be published. That, by itself, just ruined the series for me. Well, for now at least, but I bet once I heard a news about the second book, my excitement will be ever present again!
With stand alone novels, I get to the end of the story after finishing the book. I don't need to wait for a series of books to come out for it to be finally concluded. But since I am a very fast reader, on several occasions, I felt that i was robbed short of a story. There are moments wherein I wanted to know more about the characters, to get a chance to see how the story will still develop.
I know I definitely blabbered here. LOL!
Bottom line is that although I've experienced some challenges with some book series, at the end of the day, I'll still look at by bookshelf and see several book series in there. Let my bookshelf be the judge of this question... for now. :)
Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases you are eagerly anticipating.
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer will be released on September 27th 2011 and I am excited to get a copy of it because the blurb is just so mysterious and intriguing that I want to know who Mara Dyer is and what caused her being in that hospital, waking with no memory.
Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.
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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"It is as if someone had gone down into the graveyards of Paris, down into the bowels of the catacombs and farther still, to the gates of Hell itself to release Lucifer's demons upon us. Who had done it?"
Amber at Down the Rabbit Hole is having an amazing book giveaway for reaching 1000 followers... How I wish I could also do that... Maybe when I reached my 100th follower? Anyhow, Amber's book blog contained lots of awesome reviews and has helped me one way or another in choosing which books to read and which novels to take risks on. At the same time, visit her blog and be amazed by her fabulous blog theme. Go to her blog and follow her. There is a reason why she reached a thousand followers... because she is just simply amazing! :)
Language: English ISBN-10: 0399254129 ISBN-13: 9780399254123 Source: Purchased from Power Books
First Sentence:"They took me in my nightgown." Favorite Line from the Book: "A tiny sliver of gold appeared between shades of gray on the horizon. I stared at the amber band of sunlight, smiling. The sun had returned."
Book Summary: Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously—and at great risk—documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.
Between Shades of Gray is a gripping story about a young girl's struggle to obtain freedom and her constant fight for survival. This is a story of pure heartache from the first chapter until the end. Lina and her family were uprooted from their home and became slaves after a long journey to Siberia along with the other Lithuanians who were also stripped of identity, wealth, food, and some, their dignities.
Since the first chapter of the story, I was already at the brink of crying. Chapter after chapter my heart simply went out to those characters in the story. I was able to really immerse into the story and connected to each one of the characters, be it the main characters or the secondary ones. Ruta Sepetys was able to write such an emotional and powerful novel about how one finds the courage to survive not only for herself, but for her family, for everyone that she held dear. She was able to incorporate a very clear message that even beyond the most horrible of circumstances, hope and love is really what matters. Friendships which were built in the novel were so true and pure that you would wish for one like it. Hope resonated in this novel. No matter how bleak it was for the people of Lithuania, they still had that glimmer of hope that one day, they would be free.
They say that you'll never get to appreciate something unless it was taken from you. And I regard freedom as one of those things we take for granted. After reading this novel, I think that you'll not look at freedom the same way again.
P.S. I cried so hard towards the end of the book, so be prepared.
Language: English ISBN-10: 1416968237 ISBN-13: 9781416968238 Source: Purchased from Book Depository
First Sentence:"We'd been driving for about seven thousand years. Or at least that's how it felt." Favorite Line from the Book: "I say, 'I can't believe you're really here.' He sounds almost shy when he says, 'Me neither.' And then he hesitates. 'Are you still coming with me?' I cant believe he even has to ask. I would go anywhere. 'Yes,' I tell him. It feels like nothing else exists outside of that word, this moment. There's just us. Everything that happened this past summer and every summer before it, has all led up to this. To Now."
Book Summary: Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.
This was such a fast read for me. I finished it in just one day. The novel was beautifully written and has been crafted so intricately that you can actually imagine that you are also with Belly, Jeremiah, Conrad, and Stephen at the Cousins Beach for the summer. I liked how Jenny Han was able to capture the essence of youth in this novel. The chapters dedicated for flashbacks were also very nice. It gave you not only a glimpse, but also making you understand the long history of these teens' friendship.
The love story included in this novel was simply awesome! I was definitely blown away not because the love story was epic, but because it was so pure. It made me think about my first love, my first crush. This book will definitely transport you to your youth and those summers that you treasure most.
I applaud the author for writing such a simple, and yet very heartwarming novel. She was able to write a novel so detailed that you will feel how it is like to be in love for the first time again. This novel truly captured my heart forever.
Cover Crazy is a weekly meme that was created by Tawni over at The Book Worms to show which cover(s) you are absolutely going crazy over!
This week I can't get my eyes off this book. It is the sequel of Nightshade, Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer.
What I love:
Nightshade has a very striking cover. The texture of the book is just so wonderful, I want to just stare at it and hold it all the time. Just like Nightshade, its sequel also has a very wonderful cover. I like how the different shades of green is used on the cover. I am assuming that it is Calla in the cover and her eyes are just so intense and they seem to be calling me to grab the book and read through it.
Language: English ISBN-10: 039925482X ISBN-13: 9780399254826 Source: Purchased from Power Books
First Sentence:"I'd always welcomed war, but in battle my passion rose unbidden." Favorite Line from the Book: "This isn't about love, it's about survival." "No Calla." His voice became hushed, "This is only about love."
Book Summary:
Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers.
But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?
After the Twilight series, I have given up with reading books with wolves on them. Not because I didn't like them, but I became more engrossed with other YA sub-genres – contemporary, dystopians, etc. I have heard so many wonderful things about Nighshade, and I guess my curiosity just got the better of me and the cover simply won me over.
Calla, the alpha female, was portrayed as very independent and determined leader – which is fine with me. But, although I am rooting for her character, there are just times wherein I get frustrated with her choices, most especially her feelings between Ren, the alpha male, and Shay, the boy she saved from dying. I liked though how loyal Calla is to her pack, how she would do anything to protect them. That, for me, is the ultimate characteristic of being a true leader.
Shay, on the other hand, I really tried to like. But his character is just kind of weak for me. There were even moments wherein I just couldn't shake off the feeling that he was just a nuisance. Although that is the case, I find him adventurous and his love for Calla is definitely felt all throughout the novel.
Ren, the alpha male, is a very interesting character for me. He has been played out to have dated half of the girl population at their school, but deep down, all he ever really wanted is Calla. Ren is the type of guy who just couldn't, or rather, wouldn’t open up his feelings that easily. I guess his mysterious ways and his protectiveness of Calla, won me over. If I am to choose which one Calla really should end up with, I definitely go for Ren in a heartbeat. By the time I finished the book, I felt the heaviness of the weight that Ren was carrying – his love for Calla and his duty to his pack.
Nightshade had me reading all throughout the wee hours of the night. It’s so engrossing that I couldn't put it down until I got to the end. Well at first I honestly got confused about the terminologies used in this book, Keepers, Guardians, and Searchers. I thought this is not the first book in the series. Thank God, I was able to get over my confusion when Calla began telling Shay their history. What I really liked about this book is how the author was able to build the characters and the story chapter by chapter without rushing through to too many details at once. I liked the blend of paranormal lore, witches and warlock, intrigue, and love triangle that was included in this story. I also love how the author was able to interject more questions during the last chapter, which definitely make you want to read its sequel, Wolfbane, right away. I am excited to reading the next installment in this series, looking forward to knowing more about the Keepers, Guardians, and Searchers, dying to know how Calla’s and Ren’s love story unfolds. Yes, I am Team Ren! *wink*
In My Mailbox is an amazing weekly meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren that features the books we have received during the week.
Here are the books I bought this week:
Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers.
But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.
On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.
I definitely wish that I have copies of these! The premise are just so unique. I have read mixed reviews about these books, but I am so willing to try them.
Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler
“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.”
Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons?
Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler
Missy didn’t mean to cut so deep. But after the party where she was humiliated in front of practically everyone in school, who could blame her for wanting some comfort? Sure, most people don’t find comfort in the touch of a razor blade, but Missy always was . . . different.
That’s why she was chosen to become one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War. Now Missy wields a new kind of blade—a big, brutal sword that can cut down anyone and anything in her path. But it’s with this weapon in her hand that Missy learns something that could help her triumph over her own pain: control.
A unique approach to the topic of self-mutilation, Rage is the story of a young woman who discovers her own power and refuses to be defeated by the world.
What about you? What do you have on your wishlist?
TGIF is a Friday feature hosted by Ginger at GReads! to recap the week on your blog and to answer a fun question.
This week's question is:
Explicit Materials:
How do you feel about explicit language and/or sexual content in YA books?
Well, personally, it's really fine with me. Maybe because I am already of age. Although, looking at my son right now and imagining him reading a YA book or any book from any genre with explicit content, then I have to think twice in letting him read through it. I can however guide him though... Explaining to him what it's for, what the reason behind a scene, the consequences of each action, each word. In this way, I can still give him the parental guidance needed when reading these types of books.
But if I am the only one who will read it, I think there will never really be much of an issue. I guess it really depends on the maturity of the reader.
What about you? What do you think of explicit scenes and/or languages in YA books?
Language: English ISBN-10: 006196266X ISBN-13: 9780061962660 Source: Purchased from Power Books
First Sentence:"It is easy to forget now, how effervescent and free we all felt that summer." Favorite Line from the Book: "It is often advantagous to forget. Forget your wincing humiliations, forget life's blows, and get on. For blocks in every direction, down every street in the city, people not yet old enough to have lines on their foreheads were laughing away memory, warmly ensconced in shrines of forgetfulness. Those who followed the word of God and those who preferred what the priests called "hoodoo" alike. People everywhere forgetting with drink or forgetting with religion or forgetting with the numbing quality of their many heaps of things. They looked forward and imagined rosy tomorrows, and gave up whatever horrors heckled their dreams, and listened to the pretty stories of whoever ruled their pulpit."
Book Summary:
The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the Bright Young Things: flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes era of the Roaring Twenties. Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey escaped their small Midwestern town for New York's glittering metropolis. All Letty wants is to see her name in lights, but she quickly discovers Manhattan is filled with pretty girls who will do anything to be a star… Cordelia is searching for the father she's never known, a man as infamous for his wild parties as he is for his shadowy schemes. Overnight, she enters a world more thrilling and glamorous than she ever could have imagined—and more dangerous. It's a life anyone would kill for . . . and someone will. The only person Cordelia can trust is Astrid Donal, a flapper who seems to have it all: money, looks, and the love of Cordelia's brother, Charlie. But Astrid's perfect veneer hides a score of family secrets. Across the vast lawns of Long Island, in the illicit speakeasies of Manhattan, and on the blindingly lit stages of Broadway, the three girls' fortunes will rise and fall—together and apart. From the New York Timesbestselling author of The Luxe comes an epic new series set in the dizzying last summer of the Jazz Age.
I haven’t read any of the books in The Luxe series also by Anna Godbersen, so I didn’t know anything about her writing style. Although I have read wonderful things about her books, I knew I have to try it myself. And I wasn’t disappointed.
This is a story of three different girls who have different personalities, goals, dreams, and complexities. The author was able to give these characters individuality. Cordelia, who has been dreaming and longing to find her long lost father, asked her best friend Letty to runaway to New York without giving the latter any idea about her true intentions. Letty, who has been always wishing to become a successful actress, experienced how it is to survive in the city. Astrid, the girlfriend of Cordelia’s brother, Charlie, has it all - glamour, money, and beauty. The author was able to weave different stories and subplots through these three characters and yet was able to still unite them into just one beautiful story. The book was presented in three different perspectives, but the shifting was so smooth, one would not even feel a drastic change in storytelling.
Although this book doesn’t contain action-packed events and might even be considered a little bit on the slow threading pace, I still appreciated it. With the pace that the author did, she was able to really build each character and was able to create a very nice foundation for the upcoming books in the series.
There are so many things that were left hanging that you will definitely crave for the second book in order to get answers to your questions. There were also characters which were left as is, with nothing much of a glimpse into how they will play a part in the next book which even created more longing for its sequel, Beautiful Days.
All in all, this book is a very wonderful first book which gives the impression that this will be a fantastic series.
Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases you are eagerly anticipating.
Possession will be released on June 7th 2011 and I am excited to get a copy of it. Lately, I have been a huge fan of dystopian novels and I think that this novel is just right up my alley.
Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even thinkabout kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.
But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.
This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.
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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"J looked over to her and looked at the reflection. Blue was touching the chain with one finger and smiling softly to herself. She spun and hugged J, the second time that day. 'J, thank you, thank you!'"
Cover Crazy is a weekly meme that was created by Tawni over at The Book Worms to show which cover(s) you are absolutely going crazy over!
This week I can't get my eyes off this book. This is one of Sarah Dessen's books. To be honest, I haven't read any of her novels yet. Shame on me, I know! And I am going to remedy that real soon.
What I love:
I simply love how their feet are just barely touching. There's a softness in it. I also liked how that heart was drawn in the sand near them. The location was just perfect and is just so sweet. I think this is a very good summer read (it's summer here in the Philippines ^_^).
I am a mom to a 2 year old boy and have an 8x5 job. So why did I start blogging about books? Well books are clearly my passion... AND I terribly miss writing and blogging... thus here it is! Why Book Comfort you might ask? Simply because I find comfort in books.
Through Her Eyes by Jennifer Archer
