Thursday, April 11, 2013

Books I'm pining for April

"Books I'm pining for" is a feature for new and old books that I want to read. So I thought I would share with everyone these books and to find out what books you are pining for. I missed out on my November books so enjoy these!

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.


There's some good things being said about this book and I can't wait to read it for myself.


Every Day by David Leviathan
Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.


How amazing does that sound! I haven't read a book that's written only by David so I look forward to it.




Shadows by Paula Weston
It’s almost a year since Gaby Winters was in the car crash that killed her twin brother, Jude. Her body has healed in the sunshine of Pandanus Beach, but her grief is raw and constant. It doesn’t help that every night in her dreams she kills demons and other hell-spawn.

And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who’s been appearing in Gaby’s dreams—he claims a history with her brother that makes no sense. Gaby is forced to accept that what she thought she knew about herself and her life is only a shadow of the truth—and that the truth is more likely to be found in the shadows of her nightmares.

Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And most importantly, who can she trust?

Fast-paced and gripping, Shadows, the first book in the Rephaim series, is a standout paranormal romance for fans of Richelle Mead and Cassandra Clare.


I am a fan of both Richelle Mead & Cassandra Clare so I think this will be right up my alley!


The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.


I really enjoyed 'The Scorpio Races" and this is meant to be even better.


Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.


This cover is divine and the story sounds spooky & mysterious....


The Farm by Emily McKay
Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are—holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…

And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.

Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…

Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race...


This doesn't sound like your typical vampire book and I have a copy of it sitting waiting to be read.


Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil
Sam Kinnison is a geek, and he’s totally fine with that. He has his horror movies, his nerdy friends, World of Warcraft – and until Princess Leia turns up in his bedroom, he doesn’t have to worry about girls.

Then Sam meets Camilla. She’s beautiful, friendly and completely irrelevant to his life. Sam is determined to ignore her, except that Camilla has a life of her own – and she’s decided that he’s going to be part of it.

Sam believes that everything he needs to know he can learn from the movies ... but now it looks like he’s been watching the wrong ones.


This sounds like a lot of fun! And I adore that cover, it jumps out at you saying 'Read ME!'





Spellcaster by Claudia Gray
When Nadia’s family moves to Captive’s Sound, she instantly realizes there’s more to it than meets the eye. Descended from witches, Nadia senses a dark and powerful magic at work in her new town. Mateo has lived in Captive’s Sound his entire life, trying to dodge the local legend that his family is cursed - and that curse will cause him to believe he’s seeing the future … until it drives him mad. When the strange dreams Mateo has been having of rescuing a beautiful girl—Nadia—from a car accident come true, he knows he’s doomed.

Despite the forces pulling them apart, Nadia and Mateo must work together to break the chains of his family’s terrible curse, and to prevent a disaster that threatens the lives of everyone around them.


I haven't read any books by Claudia Gray before but I think this sounds like a great place to start. 





That's it for now, What books are you pining for?


Monday, April 8, 2013

Beneath that pretty cover is an ok story

Everneath (Everneath #1) by Brodi Ashton

Rating: 3 out of 5 hearts
370 pages
Released: January 2012
Buy it @ book depository

"Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen."


Review

Hmm how can I start this review? I guess I'll start by saying that I didn't really like this to begin with. Once I realised that Nikki was so unlikeable because she had been sucked of all her emotions I started to get more into the story. The idea of using mythology and bringing it into the 21st Century is really cool. The author must've done quite a bit of research into making her story feel real, like there really could be cults out there that believe in Everlivings.

I know a lot of people really loved this book but for me there was something missing. I can't say why I didn't get into this book more, I think the characters weren't interesting enough and the story was a little predictable. I did like it but I didn't LOVE it because there wasn't anything to love about it. It was a good enough story that kept me entertained and wanting to know more but I'm not dying to read the next book in the series anytime soon.

Something I really loved was the way the story was written. It didn't start at the beginning, It starts with Nikki waking up in the Everneath but as a reader you have no idea how or why she got there and every second chapter we learn a bit more about Nikki's decision to go with Cole to the Everneath.

On a side note the narrator was the same as when I listened to 'Blood Red Road' which I found very weird to have two books that I listened to so close to each with the same narrator.

On the cover




The cover at the top is the most common cover which is gorgeous! Although the main character never wears a dress like that but I love the mist, it looks amazing! The cover on the left is the cover for the audiobook.....yuk! Her eyes are creepy and the main character isn't blonde, maybe that's the light filter that makes her hair blonde, whatever it is I hate this cover.










What I'm listening on Audio to next: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley





Sunday, April 7, 2013

Books into Movies that I can't wait for!

It seems that a lot of books are being made into movies recently and I thought I'd share with you some of them that I can't wait to be released!


There is no movie stills yet for this so I've used the book cover. I have to wait a whole year until this comes out but that doesn't make me want to watch it any less.


Based on the book series "The Spook's Apprentice/The Last Apprentice" by Joseph Delaney. This is released later this year and I can't wait! Ben Barnes in anything... YES PLEASE!


Based on the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. Looking forward to this one because they have recently cast Dimitri and I think they've picked well. As there's no images for the movie yet I thought I'd show off the book covers.


I love the new posters for Catching Fire. I was a bit disappointed by who they cast as Finnick but after seeing the photos, I'm happy!


Only 5 months to wait til this comes out! I am really disappointed by the casting of Jace (actor pictured above) but that won't stop me from getting excited about it.



The long awaited and didn't think it would be released sequel to Percy Jackson and the lightning thief. I haven't read the books yet but I really enjoyed the first movie.



Jeff Bridges is not only in Seventh Son but he is also starring in The Giver. I have loved this book for so long and I can not wait to see how they make the movie.

Here are a few more movies which don't have much information about them yet but are also being made into movies which I loved the books and can not wait to see them on the big screen.


What movies are you hanging out for?










Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Trilogy? I don't think it's necessary

Amber House (The Amber House Trilogy #1) By Kelly Moore, Tucker Reed & Larkin Reed

Rating: 3 out of 5 hearts
368 pages
Released: October 2012
Buy it @ book depository

"I was sixteen the first time my grandmother died . . ."

"Sarah Parsons has never seen Amber House, the grand Maryland estate that's been in her family for three centuries. She's never walked its hedge maze nor found its secret chambers; she's never glimpsed the shades that haunt it, nor hunted for lost diamonds in its walls.

But all of that is about to change. After her grandmother passes away, Sarah and her friend Jackson decide to search for the diamonds--and the house comes alive. She discovers that she can see visions of the house's past, like the eighteenth-century sea captain who hid the jewels, or the glamorous great-grandmother driven mad by grief. She grows closer to both Jackson and a young man named Richard Hathaway, whose family histories are each deeply entwined with her own. But when the visions start to threaten the person she holds most dear, Sarah must do everything she can to get to the bottom of the house's secrets, and stop the course of history before it is cemented forever."

Review

The whole premise behind this book - an old house full of treasure & memories, maybe even ghosts sounds fantastic and is right up my alley. After reading this though, it wasn't what I was expecting. It started quite slow and I was expecting a spooky, stay up all night kind of book but it wasn't. I'm not saying this was terrible, it just turned into something different.

Sarah, her mum & her autistic brother are staying in her recently deceased grandmother's house (Amber House) because Sarah's mother is getting it ready to be sold. Sarah's mum used to live in Amber House when she was a little girl but something happened and she never really wanted to come back. I didn't pick the reason why the mother wanted to stay away but other things were quite easy to pick up on. I'm pretty bad at picking out what is going to happen next in movies and in books, so for someone like me to get clued in means others will know the ending quite easily too.

Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed reading it once I got halfway through mainly because the mysterious back story to who this little girl in white is and why can she see & interact with Sarah if she isn't a ghost? Of course with any teenage fiction these days there has to be a love triangle, luckily I was really glad with who Sarah picked in the end.

The ending was really good and I don't think there needs to be a trilogy written, I feel this book was great on it's own. I've seen the blurb for the next book and I don't think I'll rush out to read it when it's released mainly because this ended really well.

My final thoughts are that this would make a fantastic teen movie. It has everything in there. Suspense, mystery, romance, rich guy on a boat and a ball party where the main character can dress up in a ball gown.

Thanks to NetGalley & Scholastic Inc. for my kindle edition.

On the cover

You couldn't get a more perfect cover that tells you what happens in the book. A spooky house, a maze and a ball. But as this was a kindle edition I didn't get to close the book to look at the front cover, which I like to do often. 

What I'm reading next: The Happiest Refugee by Ahn Do



Monday, April 1, 2013

April Fools!

Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month! It also happens to be April Fool's Day today, so instead of playing tricks I thought I'd share some funny pictures and jokes from my pinterest page, Enjoy!










Friday, March 29, 2013

Totally BZRK

BZRK (BZRK #1) by Michael Grant

Rating: 4 out of 5 hearts
407 pages
Released: February 2012
Buy it @ book depository

"Set in the near future, BZRK is the story of a war for control of the human mind.  Charles and Benjamin Armstrong, conjoined twins and owners of the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation, have a goal:  to turn the world into their vision of utopia.  No wars, no conflict, no hunger.  And no free will.  Opposing them is a guerrilla group of teens, code name BZRK, who are fighting to protect the right to be messed up, to be human.  This is no ordinary war, though.  Weapons are deployed on the nano-level. The battleground is the human brain.  And there are no stalemates here:  It’s victory . . . or madness.

BZRK unfolds with hurricane force around core themes of conspiracy and mystery, insanity and changing realities, engagement and empowerment, and the larger impact of personal choice. Which side would you choose?  How far would you go to win? "


Review

I had no idea what to expect from this book and I was thrown into it with a bang and a plane crash! The book is told from multiple points of view. Sadie, the tough rich girl who doesn't care that she's rich, Noah, the romantic, Bugman, the young badboy and Vincent the weird guy who can't experience any type of pleasure. Very different characters thrown together in this thrilling ride. Slightly dystopian and science fiction rolled into one, so for fans of both these genres should definitely put this book on their 'to-read' list.

Something I really liked about this book was the way Michael Grant described parts of the body in extreme close up, it was truly amazing. In one scene, he is describing what a biot (a microscopic biological robot) can see from it's point of view to find out it is sitting on a person's eyelash!

The villains or should I say villain in this story is truly evil and grotesque to boot. Enter the Armstrong twins Charles & Benjamin who are actually conjoined twins so I guess that kind of makes them one person. They share a leg so they have three legs but the middle one doesn't actually function properly and hangs there limp most of the time, EW! Their horrible looks aren't the only disgusting thing, it's also their mad vision for the human race...

I didn't really like how this ended though. Sometimes with Audiobooks I can, without knowing, drift off. I don't know if that's what I did at the end of this book. That seems bad because then that may mean the end was boring if I drifted off. It's been about 2 weeks since I finished it and I can't seem to bring back to memory what happened in the end! I guess that may be a good thing because there's no cliff hanger for me to pine over.

On the cover

I've seen this cover a few times before reading it and I didn't realise straight away that there's an robotic insect type thing inside the eye. That is a perfect depiction of what happens in the book. Little robotic insect like things crawl inside people's eyes which leads to their brains...

What I'm listening on Audio to next: Everneath by Brodi Ashton




Monday, March 25, 2013

Hugo and his magical inventions.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Rating: 5 out of 5 hearts
525 pages
Released: April 2007
Buy it @ book depository

ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.





Review 

This isn't just a book, it's an experience! The pictures and story are so absorbing, it transported me straight to Paris 1930's. I love when a book doesn't end when I finish it, it inspired me to want to know more about cinema during that era. At the end of the book in the credits & acknowledgements the author gives you websites where you can find more information. I had fun learning all about the first movies.

I saw 'Hugo' the movie and I adored it! I watched it before I read this which I think it would've been better if I had watched the movie after reading the book because I knew the mystery behind the mechanical automan and I would've loved to see the pictures come to life! I will definitely watch it again since I've read the book. 

Now that I have read this I would like to read 'Wonderstruck' to see what it's like. I loved how the illustrations told the story at times. One of my favourite instances was when Hugo was running from the station inspector through the walls of the train station. I really felt the tension and turned the pages so quickly to see whether he got away!

I recommend this to people of all ages. It's a story of finding yourself, overcoming loss, making friends & having your dreams come true! 

On the cover

Isn't it beautiful! The moon plays a part in this story and the cogs & gears look like a hot air balloon. The border reminds me of a theatre curtain like I'm getting ready to sit down and watch a show.

What I'm reading next: Amber House by Kelly Moore


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