Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Book Review

Hi guys,
I'm sorry I haven't posted in FOREVER, it's just that my schedule is ridiculous. I've been staying up until 2 in the morning almost every night doing homework and projects. I've hardly had any time to read. That's why I'm glad for Christmas Break (even if it is only a week long this year (thanks a lot school board!!!)) Anyway, for Christmas I bought the new kindle paperwhite, and I LOVE IT! It's so much better than my old kindle. I definitely recommend it. When I got my kindle I bought a few books on it, one of which was Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. I haven't read a book since Ten, even though I've tried, but I've been too swamped. So when my parents announced we were going to Baltimore for a few days to see some relatives, I knew I would get some reading done. I heard so much about this book that's one reason I bought it, the main reason I bought it though, was because everyone said it was one of the funniest books they'd ever read. Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.
Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.
Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.
And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

My first impression of this book was really good because of the cover, which is awesome (I love the colors, and the Scrapbook-y feel to it) and I also had a good first impression of this book because of the book review of it by Raeleen from Padfoot and Occasionally Prongs. I love all the characters in this book, they all add to the story line so well. I, obviously, like the three main characters the most, but all the other characters really made this book more life-like. There's really nothing to say about this book that hasn't already been put in the synopsis except that the awkward chemistry between Greg and Rachel is hilarious. My favorite part of the book was there conversation about Pillows... it's the funniest thing I've ever read. I loved the humor of this book up until about the half-way point from then on out some of the jokes started to get a little repetitive and not as funny, but there were some funny parts of the second half of this book. Also, this book is very vulgar, and you guys know I don't really like that... but somehow this book kind of made it work for me, I don't know how, but it did... so that didn't cause a large deduction of star rating power. One thing I didn't like about his book was that it ended too abruptly for me it kind of built up with all the humor and everything going on that once the thing, which you've been expecting the whole time, happens, it just sort of ends... there wasn't a large revelation, or change of heart, or anything... so I guess that's what makes it more like real life, but I just didn't like the ending. So I give this book 4/5 stars because of the annoying humor from the second half, and the abrupt ending. Except for those two things, I loved this book, and I'm glad it got me out of my reading slump. I can't wait to, hopefully, start reviewing more frequently, and my next review will be on Glitches, which will be my first short-story review. This is the prequel to the book Cinder by Marissa Meyer, and I hope to review it soon. Check out Me and Earl and the Dying Girl... it will make you laugh harder than you have ever laughed during a book, I swear! READ IT NOW!

Ten Book Review

Hi Guys,
I know I've been a little lazy on the posts, but I've been busy with school. That seems like a common factor with reasons for my lack of posts... but it's so stressful this semester (and it's just my Junior year... OF HIGH SCHOOL!) So, I'm a little worried about what my life will be like in college. This semester I have: Honors Latin III, AP Chemistry, Honors US History, and Marching Band... and each one of them is stressful in their own way. Anyway, getting off the subject of stress in my life, let's move on to the stress of the Ten teenagers in Gretchen McNeil's new novel Ten. This novel was a fantastic thrill ride, the plot isn't that hard to comprehend either. That's one reason I loved the tag line (Ten teens. Three days. One killer.) because, if anyone asked me what the book was about, I would just recite the tag line to them and they would say that the book sounded amazing. Even with the self-explaining tag line, I'm going to post the synopsis from Goodreads:

SHHHH!
Don't spread the word!
Three-day weekend. House party.
White Rock House on Henry Island.
You do NOT want to miss it.
It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.
But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.
Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

My first impression of this book was that it was going to be amazing. I'd never read a book about normal teens being hunted my a killer, or a story as suspenseful as this one. Once I saw how small the book was though, I was a little worried about how the story would play out in such a short amount of time, but it worked out well. I really liked the plot and the characters, and how it all tied together in the end. However, at times it was quite predictable. The first couple people who died, I knew a couple chapters before they actually died, and I saw some of the conversations coming into action before it actually did. But there were also times where I didn't know what was happening, especially the last 50 pages or so. I was shocked about how it tied together, I didn't see it coming for sure. I told a friend after reading the book that McNeil cheated with who the killer was... (Ah... I had to catch myself, I almost gave an important piece of info away.)  I was worried towards the end when people started to die, and the chances of it being certain people increased, but the author did great with the shock factor of the last couple chapters. I really didn't see it coming, and I loved how it all tied together in the end. I give this novel 4/5 stars, just because of some of the predictable moments, but overall it was a great read, and I look forward to reading other books like this as well as other books by McNeil. 

 Additional Announcement: The Army of Ten is a website hosted by McNeil, and it is used to spread the word of Ten with libraries/book stores/etc. It's an amazing site and you guys should check it out I have a button on the sidebar of the blog, so just click on it and it will take you straight to the site. I like this site because it gets the book out into other peoples hands, and it also gives you the chance to win awesome stuff... by doing different "missions" in order to win a couple prizes. Just click on the picture below, or the button on the side bar. I LOVE IT! CHECK IT OUT!
 

Tag Tuesday (3)

Hi Guys,
This is my third "Tag Tuesday" post. I hope you guys are enjoying these posts. It takes a lot of effort on my part to, for one, actually muster enough energy to put one together, and for two actually put it together. So, again, I hope you guys are enjoying them, and I hope you fellow bloggers will partake in this weekly post.

"Tag Tuesday" is a weekly event, hosted here, that no longer confines book tags to the booktubing community. Every Tuesday (Hopefully), I will post my response to a tag that I've seen in the booktubing community.

The third "Tag Tuesday" tag will be the "Seven Deadly Sins of Reading Book Tag", which was created by BookishlyMalyza on YouTube. This tag isn't an acronym tag like the previous two "Tag Tuesdays" were. Instead, each of the seven questions of this tag will coincide with the seven deadly sins: Greed, Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, Pride, Lust, and Envy. So, let's get started!


                                                                                                                            
Greed: What is your most inexpensive book? Most expensive?
Most inexpensive: My original edition copy of The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening.
Most expensive: My Narnia book that has all seven of the books in one HUGE copy.


Wrath: What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?
 L.J. Smith, I love all of her books from the 90's, but when she started to continue writing her Vampire Diaries Series, it just went downhill from there.

Gluttony: What book have you deliciously devoured, over and over, with no shame whatsoever?
 Gone by Michael Grant.

Sloth: What book have you neglected reading due to laziness?
 Um... SEVERAL! Eragon, Wicked Lovely, Tim Tebow: Through my Eyes, Insurgent, Incarceron, Night World Omnibus 3, Carrier of the Mark, and Sacrifice. I call this group of books my "Debt-List", because I've started them, but I've yet to finish them.

Pride: What book do you most talk about in order to sound like a more intellectual reader?
 Probably the stories of Greek Mythology I read in Middle School. 

Lust: What attributes do you find most attractive in a male or female character?
 Um, I guess just an average girl... I mean I tend to like brown/black/red hair over blonde, and I also don't like her to be gullible, and I really like a girl who can defend herself.

Envy: What books would you most likely wand to receive as a gift?
 Hmm... The Walking Dead graphic novels, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, The Hunt, Light, A Once Crowded Sky, False Memory, I Hunt Killers, Unraveling, Zom-B, Lockdown, and Many, Many More!

                                                                                                                             


Well, that is all for my first "Tag Tuesday", and if you have your own blog, and would like to take part in this, please just leave a comment on this post, letting me know you will be doing so, and also, please post that "Tag Tuesday" was originally created by moi. Thanks again for reading this, and I hope to get to doing another "Tag Tuesday" soon.

By the way, I tag everyone who views this post, so get started on your Seven Deadly Sins of Reading Tag.

Tag Tuesday (2)

Hi Guys,
This is going to be my 2nd Tag Tuesday Post, and I hope you guys enjoy it. I'm sorry I haven't really been doing much on the blog, my semester, is CRAZY. I'm taking Honors Latin 3, AP Chemistry, Honors US History, and Marching Band. They're each stressful in their own way, and each one of them has an hour to two hours of homework for me every night. Well, anyway, back to Tag Tuesday.

"Tag Tuesday" is a weekly event, hosted here, that no longer confines book tags to the booktubing community. Every Tuesday (Hopefully), I will post my response to a tag that I've seen in the booktubing community.


The second "Tag Tuesday" tag will be the Inside and Out tag, which was created by MathomBooks on YouTube. This is another acronym tag, meaning that each letter of "Inside/Out" stand for a question I will answer. Let's get started!

                                                                                                                              
 Inside flap/Back of the book summaries: Too much info? Or not enough?
 Hmm... I think it's just the right amount of information. I only ever have trouble with too much information when I pick up the second book of a series, thinking it was the first, and read the synopsis, and get a little peek into some things I didn't want to know.

New book: What form do you want it in? Be honest: Audiobook, E-Book, Paperback, or Hardcover?
 Hardcover, I think Hardcovers are more durable, and in addition to that, they look really nice on my shelf.

Scribble while you read? Do you like to write in your books, taking notes, making comments, or do you keep your books clean clean clean?
 Definitely Clean, Clean, Clean. I don't like to right in my books, but if I need to annotate for a class, I'll keep a sheet of paper, and a pencil present, to write the page number down, and what I thought of a certain part.

 In your best voice, read for us your favorite 1st sentence from a book.
 This one is a little impossible to do through a blog, but instead of "reading" it to you, I'll, uh... write it for you. I can't really think of a specific line, and I'm not really close to my books right now, so I'll do mine on one that I've read recently. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.

"Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she'd been told that she would kill her true love."

I think this line just opens up a world of doors, and I'm happy to see that this first line was a main part of the plot for the novel.

Does it matter to you whether the author is male of female when you're deciding on a book? What if you're unsure of the author's gender?
 It doesn't really make a difference to me, but I like to know what the author's gender is anyway, because... for some reason, it helps me connect to the story a little better, I think. Although, sometimes I've thought an author was a boy/girl, and I've been shocked to find out it was the other way around.

Ever read ahead? or have you ever read the last page way before you got there? (Do confess thy sins, foul demon!)
 I've definitely thought about it, but I don't really think I've gotten past the idea of it. I'll flip ahead to see how many pages I  have until the next chapter, but that's about it.
                                                                                                     
Organized bookshelves, or Outrageous bookshelves? 
 ORGANIZED!

Under oath: have you ever bought a book based on the cover alone? 
 Yes... unfortunately I have, and every time I do it, I never end up liking the book, so I make sure to read the synopsis now.

Take it outside to read, or stay in? 
 Stay in, I like the air conditioning/warmth of the fireplace, while I'm reading, and I also like being comfortable while reading. Although, sometimes I do read outside, when it is a comfortable day outside, but it gets kind of uncomfortable on my porch swing after reading for a while.

                                                                                                                              

Well, that is all for my first "Tag Tuesday", and if you have your own blog, and would like to take part in this, please just leave a comment on this post, letting me know you will be doing so, and also, please post that "Tag Tuesday" was originally created by moi. Thanks again for reading this, and I hope to get to doing another "Tag Tuesday" soon.

By the way, I tag everyone who views this post, so get started on your Inside and Out tag.

The Raven Boys (ARC) Book Review

Hi Guys,
This week I'm going to review The Raven Boys, the first book in the Raven Cycle series, by Maggie Stiefvater. I received this books a few weeks ago in the mail as you guys know, because of my "In My Mailbox" post. You guys also know I've wanted to read this book for a while due to my "Waiting on Wednesday" post. I was very excited to be able to read the ARC of this book. This is the second ARC I've finished, and I loved it just as much as I loved the first. This book was very original, and so... *I don't have any words to express what else this book was... it was just... ugh! I LOVED IT! Here is the synopsis from the front flap of the book:

“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.

 My first expression was obviously good, you can check out my Waiting on Wednesday post for evidence of that. The cover is amazing, I don't like birds, but this bird looks Gothic enough that I looked past what it actually was. I was drawn to the three "feathered" strokes behind "The Raven Boys", and, thankfully, they explain what they mean in the book. I've never read a book like this, I was wrapped up into the world and the characters within the first couple chapters. I loved the plot, the setting, and most of all the characters of this novel. Each of these characters had their own personality, that complemented the other characters perfectly. I was very passionate about the characters I either LOVED them or HATED them... there was no in-between, and I loved that.  My favorite character is definitely Gansey, which is strange, because I really wanted to hate him, but I just couldn't. I really wanted to like Adam, but something about him threw me off. Ronan was a great character, he's one of those characters that seems unimportant, but without him, the book would've been pretty boring. Noah was a great character as well, at first he was my least favorite character, but when I found out his "situation" I started to like him more. Blue was a great heroine, she knew what she was getting herself into, but she couldn't keep away from the "Raven Boys". I liked the psychics of this book as well, (with the exception of Neeve) Maura, Persephone, and Calla were great characters, and I feel that they almost reflected the personalities of the "Raven Boys". You can see why I enjoyed the characters so much, there were so many of them, and they are all so different, it's hard not to be drawn to each of them. The five main characters (Blue, Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah) reminded me of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys at times, which is a good thing. The magic of this book reminded me of the Caster Chronicles combined with Lord of the Rings. The action, however, was like nothing I've ever expected while reading a book, and I loved it, I can't explain what makes it different, but it just is. I loved the roller-coaster ride that this book was, and I also really enjoyed the ending. (WHY DIDN'T YOU LET THEM KNOW SOONER RONAN? I NEED TO KNOW MORE!) I give this book 5/5 stars, I can't think of anything I disliked about this book. One bonus thing about this book, for me at least, is that the book had a TON of Ancient Latin in it, and I was very excited, because it was one time I could use my knowledge of Latin from school to decode the phrases that were in Latin in the book. Finally something in my everyday life that I can use my skills of Latin in *SCORE*! I'm in my 3rd year of Latin now, and I look forward to taking a fourth and fifth. I loved this book, and I look forward to reading the sequel. This book was totally different than Shiver, thankfully. I hope you guys enjoy the picture of Gansey and Blue at the bottom of this post, I know I do! Definitely check out this book when it is released September 18. COME ON BOOK 2!

Tag Tuesday (1)

Hi Guys,
I've been seeing a lot of blogs creating their own blog thing, such as In My Mailbox, Stacking the Shelves, Waiting on Wednesday, etc. After seeing these, I've wanted to make one of my own, but sadly haven't been able to think of something original (or with any form of alliteration, haha). That is until now, I've now decided to create a blog post set to be released every Tuesday entitled "Tag Tuesday"

"Tag Tuesday" is a weekly event, hosted here, that no longer confines book tags to the booktubing community. Every Tuesday (Hopefully), I will post my response to a tag that I've seen in the booktubing community.

I searched all over the place to see if this idea I had was original, and I haven't found anything, so I believe it is original. If you have a blog, or know a blog, that does this, please let me know, and I will take this down immediately. So without further ado... let's get started.

The first ever "Tag Tuesday" tag will be the Day and Night tag, which was created by Readigans on YouTube. This is an acronym tag, meaning that each letter of "Day and Night" stand for a question I will answer. Let's get started!
                                                                                                                          
D: Do you read more in the morning or at night?
At night, it helps me concentrate on the book, when the house is quiet. I also have a lot to do during the day, so I hardly have time to read.

A: Are there any books that changed the way you thought about things?
Um... Well... the Bible, but that's obvious, so...yes, after reading The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, I realized that not all classics are boring, and since then, I've bought (not read, haha) more classic novels.

Y: YA or Not?
YA all the way!
                                                                                                                           
A: Are there characters that you honestly believe are real?
No... I'm not crazy... although, I WANT to believe that all of the characters I read about are real.

N: Nobody touches my books or I don't mind loaning my books out?
Well, at first I didn't mind lending my books to friends, but it took me only 4 book borrowings (?) to realize that some of my friends can't be trusted with my books hahaha. I now only lend them out to a select group of close friends/fellow book-nerds.

D: Do you ever smell your books?
YES! All the Time!
                                                                                                                          
N: Not everyone loves books...is this a positive or a negative?
I would have to say that it's a positive, because if it weren't for these non-book-readers, we wouldn't be so interested and involved in the books like we are now. What I mean by this is that, when I talk to people who don't read books, I try to find out what they like, and recommend books that they would enjoy based off of that. While suggesting these books, I learn that I loved them more than I thought I did. I believe it takes sharing a book response with a person that makes us more involved readers.

I: I keep my books in the best condition or maybe not? Which are you?
I like to keep my books in the best condition, but sometimes they don't always end up that way. Most of the time, it's a result of a friend not being careful with it, but I've accidentally dropped a book or two before (Oops). BUT I CAN'T STAND PEOPLE DOG-EARING/ANNOTATING IN MY BOOKS!

G: Gosh I have too many books! True or False?
True, but I can't help it, I have over 200 books, and I've only read about 100 of them, and I keep buying more. If I see a book I want to read I buy it. For all I know it could end up being banned in the future, kind of like Stephen King's Rage was (GOSH I WANNA READ THAT BOOK).

H: Have you ever spilled or stained your books before with something, and if so how?
Yes, unfortunately, I have. When I was shopping at the mall one day, I bought some books from Books-A-Million, and out of the corner of my eye I see a Dippin' Dot's cart, so I venture over there, and buy a cup. I ate it without spilling it, but when I attempted to throw the cup away, it spilled in my bag of books, and got orange drips on two of my books (Isle of Night and Legend). They aren't badly damaged, but they definitely have a few orange drops on the bottom of them.

T: Toned or untoned while reading? . . or in other words. . .Do you read and workout at the same time?
Untoned, I don't even know how that would be possible... although, I do listen to audiobooks while I workout.
                                                                                                                          

Well, that is all for my first "Tag Tuesday", and if you have your own blog, and would like to take part in this, please just leave a comment on this post, letting me know you will be doing so, and also, please post that "Tag Tuesday" was originally created by moi. Thanks again for reading this, and I hope to get to doing another "Tag Tuesday" soon.

By the way, I tag everyone who views this post, so get started on your Day and Night tag.

Shiver Book Review

Hi Guys,
Today I'm posting a review of Shiver, the first book of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, by Maggie Stiefvater. This is the first book by Maggie that I've read, and it didn't do good for me. I was kind of turned off by this book, it was very different... in both good and bad ways. Here is the synopsis from the back of the book:

the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.
the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.
the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

My first impression of this book was good, I liked how the cover looked, and the plot sounds amazing. Another cool thing is that the words were blue in the book, which I found unique. I wish this book was great, because you guys know I've read The Raven Boys  Maggie Stiefvater, and I couldn't believe it was written by the same author. The Raven Boys was phenomenal while Shiver was... well, less than that. I'm just going to go ahead and let you guys know that I give this book 2/5 stars. Here are the things I liked about this book: Sam, and the new werewolf mythology. Hmm... that's it. Well, I guess those two things stood out so much for me to give the book 2/5 instead of 1/5.Let's dive into the reasons I didn't like this book. To start things off, Grace... oh Grace. I didn't like Grace as a character, she seemed very unbelievable, and just the way she responded and acted in general was a turn-off to me. I actually didn't like any of the characters at all, except for Sam, I didn't like the plot so much, I mean, of course Sam was going to live. The only twist in the whole book was at the end, but the rest of the book was so predictable. The setting was decent, the definite temperature made the book interesting, with Sam continuously having to fight his inner wolf. I still plan on reading the next two books, and I'll let you guys know what I think of them. I personally WANT to like this series, I seem like the only one who doesn't like it. Maybe I just need to keep reading the series, and maybe the characters go through some severe character development, shoot, I wouldn't mind a character (Grace) delete-ment. Tell me what you guys thought of this book/series, if you feel the same way about this series, please leave a comment, I feel a little alone on this one. I'm not really looking forward to reading Linger, but I'm curious to see how it goes. I'm very glad the Raven Boys was better, check out my review for that in 2 weeks.

The Raven Boys (ARC) Giveaway

Hi Guys,
Since I've finished my ARC copy of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, I've decided to host a giveaway for it! YAY! I'm going to be giving away my copy, so it may be a little worn (by shipping from Scholastic, to me) but it's not bad at all. It's just a little dinged up on the spine at the bottom, but other than that, it's in perfect condition. The picture to the left is not the cover of the book, it's a picture of main points of the story. I just thought you guys would be tired of seeing the cover of the book on my blog. I've posted it as my WoW, IMM, and my book review of it is coming up in September, so I don't want you guys to get tired of the cover. The characters at the top are (from left to right) Adam, Gansey, Blue, and Ronan. The other aspects of this picture are very relevant to the story. ANYWAY... let's get to the giveaway shall we?

Here is the info for the giveaway:

• This is a giveaway for the US only, sorry international people.
•  YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER OF THIS BLOG!!!
• There will be ONE WINNER for this giveaway.
• The Winner must reply to my e-mail within a week, or the opportunity will go to someone else. 

• If for some odd reason my rafflecopter widget doesn't work for you, you may leave a comment on this post explaining the situation, and I'll enter you into the contest as well. BUT you MUST be a follower of this blog! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

That is all you have to do to enter this giveaway. This giveaway will end on September 14th, 2012 (Four days before it's released to the US). Now I just need some cool swag for this book, to giveaway (and keep for myself) hahaha. JUST KIDDING! (Or am I?) :P Good luck to everyone who enters, and I hope everyone enjoys themselves.  

Infamous Book Review

Hi Guys,
I'm sorry I haven't posted a review this past week, but I've been at my marching band's band camp. Ugh! I'm sore, and tired, so I'm writing this review in, some-what of a, daze. This is 1 of the 6 books I have yet to review this summer. I'm going to try to post the other reviews soon, but until then, here is my review of Infamous by Sherrilyn Kenyon. This is the third book in the, action-packed, Chronicles of Nick series, and this book didn't disappoint. I finished this book when it was released, and I'm sorry I'm just now doing the review. Anyway, here is the Goodreads synopsis:

Go to school. Get good grades. Stay out of trouble. That’s the mandate for most kids. But Nick Gautier isn’t the average teenager. He’s a boy with a destiny not even he fully understands. And his first mandate is to stay alive while everyone, even his own father, tries to kill him.
He’s learned to annihilate zombies and raise the dead, divination and clairvoyance, so why is learning to drive and keep a girlfriend so dang hard? But that isn’t the primary skill he has to master. Survival is.
And in order to survive, his next lesson makes all the others pale in comparison. He is on the brink of becoming either the greatest hero mankind has ever known, or he’ll be the one who ends the world. With enemies new and old gathering forces, he will have to call on every part of himself to fight or he’ll lose everyone he cares about. Even himself.

My first impression of this book was good, I'd read and loved the first two books in this series (Infinity and Invincible), so I knew I would love this book as well. This is my favorite cover of the series so far, and I also love how thick each of these books are, and I just fly through each one of them. I can't really say what happened in this book because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. This book was very action-packed, and so many questions were answered, and so many more questions were made. I loved reading about the old characters, and getting to meet new ones. I laughed so many times in this book, and that's one thing I like about this series. I love being able to read a chapter that would seem so serious, but end up laughing because of Nick's sarcastic humor. That's about as much as I can say, without spoiling anything at all. Overall I give this book 4/5 stars. This book was great, but it just wasn't a 5-star to me for some reason. I'm not sure, I just feel more comfortable giving this book a 4. The next book in the series, Inferno, is set to release March 4, 2013. I'm very excited to read it, I look forward to sitting on the edge of my seat, and laughing my butt off, in March. You guys should definitely check this series out, and let me know what you think of this series if you've already read it.

I believe my next book review will be on Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, but it might be on Wake by Lisa McMann, but most likely Shiver.

Isle of Night Book Review

Hi Guys,
I know that it's been FOREVER since I've written a review, I've wanted to, but I've been lazy... which it is Summer, so hopefully you can forgive me. I have about 6 books I need to review, and this book is the most recent I've read. The book I'll be reviewing today is Isle of Night (The Watchers #1) by Veronica Wolff. This is, obviously, the first book in a series of (as of right now) four books. I really loved this book, and I wanted to read the second one immediately after this, but I received an ARC copy of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater in the mail on the same day that I finished this. So I decided it could wait. I'm very excited to be doing this review, because I can finally let out my feelings about it, but first... here's the Goodreads synopsis:

Is life offering fewer and fewer options? Then join the dead.
When Annelise meets dark and seductive Ronan, he promises her a new life-if she has the courage to chance the unknown. Now, she's whisked away to a mysterious island and pitted against other female recruits to become a Watcher-girls who are partnered with vampires and assist them in their missions. To survive and become a Watcher, Annelise has to beat out every other girl, but she's determined to do so, because to fail doesn't mean dishonor-it means death.

My first impression of this book was great. I thought the cover was pretty cool, it looked eerie, and Gothic to me, and I really liked the two faces that were added into the sky as well as the castle at the bottom. I believe that the faces at the top belong to Annelise and Ronan, but I'm not 100% sure.  I thought this book sounded like Vampire Academy, mixed with The Hunger Games, with a dash of Divergent. Which, while reading this novel, it did remind me of each of these books... with so much more. I hadn't heard much about this novel from other blogger/vloggers, but that didn't stop me from reading it... THANK GOD! This book met sky-rocketed past my expectations, I loved it. It was a little slow at the beginning, but I believe it was written that way to establish Drew's (Annelise) background, as well as the way she acts, and reacts to things. Once she stepped onto the Isle of Night, the book took off. I could hardly put it down. I needed to know what was going to happen next, and I also wanted to know more about the mythology of this world. Almost everything I wanted to know, was answered in this book. It didn't answer everything so it could leave some things to be answered in Vampire's Kiss (The Watchers #2). The book didn't end on a cliff hanger, but it did end, immediately, after a very intense, and long, battle to the death. This book was very action-packed and I loved the plot, the setting, the characters, as well as the chemistry of the characters. Some aspects of Drew I didn't really like, but overall I thought she was a wonderful main character. Ronan was a very good character as well, I like how he took care of Drew, and his back story caught me by surprise. As you guys can tell, I loved everything about this book, and that is why I give this book 5/5 stars. It was phenomenal, and I hope all of you will check it out. The second book is already out, and the third book is set to release August 7th, which is very soon. I hope to get to the other books in this series very soon, and I will have more Book Reviews for you guys in the coming weeks. You can look forward to me reviewing: Infamous by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Wake, Fade, and Gone by Lisa McMann, and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, and I'm currently reading The Raven Boys, and I'm loving it, so hopefully I will finish it soon, and I'll be hosting a giveaway of my ARC of it when I finish it, and you can look forward to the review of it, which I'll post close to the release date, so probably September 9th. I hope you guys check this book out, and come back to the blog to check out some of the reviews and such to come.

Waiting on Wednesday (5)

Hi Guys,
I'm sorry I haven't posted many blog posts lately, but I'd been vacationing in Baltimore this past week. It was an almost perfect vacation, with visits to great sites in Baltimore, including one very large Barnes & Noble... oh, and a trip to the ER. Yes, I had to visit the ER because we went to a river, and I stepped on a rusted piece of metal. So I needed stitches in my foot, and unfortunately, the 12 numbing shots he gave me during the stitching, didn't do their job correctly. But I'm okay, and I'm back in my hometown, doing another Waiting on Wednesday. YAY! Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This Wednesday I'm waiting on:

Etiquette & Espionage

By: Gail Carriger

320 Pages

Little Brown and Company

February 5th, 2013

Finishing School #1

YA

 Goodreads' Synopsis:

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.
Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.
But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.
First in a four book YA series set 25 years before the Parasol Protectorate but in the same universe.

After seeing the cover on Goodreads, I knew I wanted to read it. It looks a little too-girly for me, but I believe the steampuck-ish look, as well as the fifty's looking hair style, and of course the synopsis, did it in for me. I'm very excited to read this book, although I haven't read the other series by this author, which takes place in the same world. I'd always thought they sounded good, but they were adult books, so I didn't wanna pick it up, in fear of what I might get myself into. But now this is a YA series based in the same world, so I can finally check this author/world out, as well as staying in my YA comfort zone. If you are interested in her other series though, the name of the series is the Parasol Protectorate series. The first book in the series is Soulless. This book sounds a lot like Isle of Night to me, so I'm very excited to read it, because I LOVED Isle of Night, which, I'll try and post a review of Isle of Night sometime this week. I really loved it, and I can't wait to let you guys know what I thought of it. As you guys can tell, I can't wait to read this book... can you? Leave a comment about what you think of this book, or what novel you might want to see next week's WoW. Check out this blog next week to see the next novel I'm waiting for, and also comment on this post letting me know what you guys are waiting for this week.

July (2012) Book Haul (2)

Hi Guys,
This past Saturday I received a package in the mail which I wasn't expecting. When I looked at the package, it said that it was from Scholastic, which was an even larger shock to me. I tried remembering if I entered a contest, or requested an ARC recently. I couldn't remember either one, so when I opened it, I was very excited (and I might've done some happy dancing). I received an ARC of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater! I forgot I'd sent an e-mail requesting an ARC of this, several months ago. I got an e-mail back saying that they would put me on the list, but I was not expecting to get one, because this is a new release from a very popular author. I'M GLAD I GOT IT! I've started reading it, but I'm only on page 30, because I wanted to finish Isle of Night first (which was a great book by the way, the review of it is coming soon). I've read Shiver by Maggie, but I didn't like it as much as I hoped to. The main character was very... I don't know, I just didn't like her. But almost everything else about the book I liked, with the exception of some minor things. I can already tell that I'll love the characters of this novel, there are several of them, and they each have their own personality and back story, and I really like it so far. I can't wait to finish it and review it soon. This book is set to release on Sept. 18, 2012. So I'll probably post a review for it at the start of September. Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:

“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 love this book so far, and I can't wait to dive further into the mythology, and the overall story of this novel. I'm very glad that I received this ARC, and I wanna thank Scholastic publishers as well as Maggie Stiefvater, for sending me this ARC. I hope you guys are as excited about this book as I am. I can already tell that this book will be one of my favorites.

First Editions Giveaway (2)

Hi Guys,
Happy Friday, in order to celebrate this wonderful Friday, I'm hosting a book giveaway. Last weeks First Editions Giveaway Winner was Kathleen C. Congratulations Kathleen! I hope you enjoy Delirium. Now that Kathleen won Delirium, it will no longer be available to be won. That leaves just three books to choose from. The books I'll be giving away are below, in a slide show.

Blood Red Road and Shatter Me are both Hardcovers, and Glass Houses is a mass market paperback.

These were all previously my copies, but I was thinking about a great giveaway, and First Editions came to my mind, so I was racking my brain for books, and these four were the top four to giveaway. I haven't read any of these books, so they are in great condition. Blood Red Road and Shatter Me, however, have a small cut under the back flap of the book, but it's not noticeable, if you leave the dust jacket on. The reason they are like this, is because I put my name and phone numbers on that part of my books, so I didn't want my phone info going out into the world. Also, Shatter me has a small binding problem on the title page only... unfortunately, I bought it that way, not realizing how it was before I bought it. I'm operating this contest a little differently. I'll host ONE giveaway every TWO weeks, and there will be only ONE winner for each giveaway. The winner of the first giveaway will get to chose which book they would like to receive. Then for the next giveaway, the winner will have the other three books to chose from, etc.

Here is the info for the giveaway:

• This is a giveaway for the US only, sorry international people.
•  YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER OF THIS BLOG!!!
• There will be ONE WINNER for this giveaway.
• The Winner will be able to chose from any of these four books.
• The Winner must reply to my e-mail within a week, or the opportunity will go to someone else. 

• If for some odd reason my rafflecopter widget doesn't work for you, you may leave a comment on this post explaining the situation, and I'll enter you into the contest as well. BUT you MUST be a follower of this blog!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

That is all you have to do to enter this giveaway. This giveaway will end in two weeks, on July 20th, 2012. Good luck to everyone who enters, and I hope everyone enjoys themselves.

Cover Features (1)

Hi Guys,
Today, I'm going to be trying out another type of blog posts. They are called Cover Features, a meme hosted by Emily's Crammed Bookshelf where I will feature books that have the same theme in their covers. I saw this meme on Emily's blog, and I fell in love with it immediately, I often find myself staring at my bookshelves, and finding out what some different book covers have in common. I'm very excited to be doing this, and today's Cover Feature is... Tattoos. There are tons of YA books that have a tattooed up character on the front cover. I like getting books with tattoos, it makes the story all the more interesting to me, and my favorite kind of tattoos on the cover of a book, are Ancient Celtic looking tattoos. They always grab my attention, especially when the tattoo(s) is/are on the face of the character, that pikes my interest in the book.

Here are the books I chose to represent the Tattooed Covers of YA:

1) Wired by Robin Wasserman
2) Specials by Scott Westerfeld
3) Reckless by Cornelia Funke
4) Hidden by P.C. and Kristin Cast
5) Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
6) Crave by Laura J. Burnes and Melinda Metz
7) City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

I like all of these covers, the tattoos really bring everything together. My top three covers would have to be Reckless, Hidden, and City of Lost Souls. These three books have Celtic-like tattoos on the characters, and I love them. Specials came as a close fourth to me, I like the arrows going up the spine, that makes everything that much cooler. Wired would also have to be tied with Specials for fourth, I love the way the tattoos look like computer tech stuff, I don't know how else to put it... it just looks futuristic and cool. I love the other covers as well, but these five were the best to me. leave a comment letting me know of any other books that have tattoos on them. I would love to see them, and add them to my TBR pile. I believe the next Cover Features I do will be about... hmm... you know what, I have no idea, so leave a comment and tell me which cover feature you would like to see next. The one that I have the most covers for will obviously be posted as the next cover Feature.

First Editions Giveaway (1)

Hi Guys,
Happy Friday, in order to celebrate this wonderful Friday, I'm hosting a book giveaway. The books I'll be giving away are below, in a slide show.

Delirium, Blood Red Road, and Shatter Me are all Hardcovers, and Glass Houses is a mass market paperback.

These were all previously my copies, but I was thinking about a great giveaway, and First Editions came to my mind, so I was racking my brain for books, and these four were the top four to giveaway. I haven't read any of these books, so they are in great condition. Blood Red Road, Delirium, and Shatter Me, however, have a small cut under the back flap of the book, but it's not noticeable, if you leave the dust jacket on. The reason they are like this, is because I put my name and phone numbers on that part of my books, so I didn't want my phone info going out into the world. Also, Shatter me has a small binding problem on the title page only... unfortunately, I bought it that way, not realizing how it was before I bought it. I'm operating this contest a little differently. I'll host ONE giveaway every TWO weeks, and there will be only ONE winner for each giveaway. The winner of the first giveaway will get to chose which book they would like to receive. Then for the next giveaway, the winner will have the other three books to chose from, etc.

Here is the info for the giveaway:

• This is a giveaway for the US only, sorry international people.
•  YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER OF THIS BLOG!!!
• There will be ONE WINNER for this giveaway.
• The Winner will be able to chose from any of these four books.
• The Winner must reply to my e-mail within a week, or the opportunity will go to someone else. 

• If for some odd reason my rafflecopter widget doesn't work for you, you may leave a comment on this post explaining the situation, and I'll enter you into the contest as well. BUT you MUST be a follower of this blog!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

That is all you have to do to enter this giveaway. This giveaway will end in two weeks, on July 20th, 2012. Good luck to everyone who enters, and I hope everyone enjoys themselves.  

July (2012) Book Haul

Hi guys,
The other day I received five packages in the mail, four of which I bought on eBay, and another that was sent to me by the author. From eBay I received: the first five books in the Night World series (in their original covers), the last two books in the Dark Visions series (in their original covers), and the first, second, and fourth books in the Vampire Diaries series (in their original covers). I actually ordered the third book in the Vampire Diaries series as well, but for some reason I didn't receive it in the mail, so I guess I'll have to get it from somewhere else. I bought these books, because last year, while at a consignment shop, I found the fourth Vampire Diaries book in the original edition, and I bought it for less than a dollar, and since I love the books, I thought I would try to collect all of them in their original covers. Now, I still have to get the third Vampire Diaries book, the first Dark Visions book, the last four Night World books, and the three Secret Circle books. I'm excited I'm a little over half-way done with my collection, and I can't wait to continue collecting them. 

I also received a book from Nancy Holder, author of several hit YA books (Crusade/Unleashed/Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc.). The book I received from her was her most recent release, On Fire: A Teen Wolf Novel, I was very excited when I saw this in my mailbox. I love the television show, and I just know I'll love this book as well. I love the characters of the show, and I can't wait to read about them in this novel. The character I'm most excited about reading about is Stiles. I didn't like the character in the original Teen Wolf movie, but Dylan O'Brien's Stiles is hilarious, and I can't wait to read about his experiences in this novel.

So i had a pretty good In My Mailbox this week, and I hope you guys have had a good one as well. I hope you guys check out each of these books, and I look forward to reviewing them for you guys on the blog.

The pictures below are of the original editions of the books I got this week, as well as a picture of the cast of Teen Wolf posing with On Fire by Nancy Holder.  

Winners of Dark Light Swag Giveaway

Picture from: The Lost Lola

Hi Guys,
             A few weeks ago, I posted info on the 2nd Giveaway that YAB has had. We got about 60 entries for the giveaway. Through a random selection, the winners were chosen, and e-mailed about their win. The Grand Prize Winner of this giveaway is: Karen, and the second place winners are: Susan Sowers Light and Tiffany Webb, I'll mail the swag to them soon, and I hope they receive it soon. CONGRATULATIONS GUYS! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE SWAG!

*Stay tuned for the upcoming giveaway (starting this Friday), and I will be giving away 4 AWESOME YA books. The name of the contest? FIRST EDITIONS!

The Orphan, The Soulcatcher, and The Black Blizzard Blog Tour Book Review

Hi Guys,
Today I'm doing a blog tour post for The Orphan The Soulcatcher and The Black Blizzard by Kimberlee Ann Bastian. I'll be giving my review on this novel, and I'll give it my rating based on my honest opinions. You can purchase this book on amazon, whether in paperback, or e-book edition for your kindle. This blog tour is hosted by Young Adult Novel Reader, and you can click HERE to get a list of blogs who are also partaking in this blog tour. I really enjoyed this book, even though I was wary at first. Here is the synopsis of this novel:

Most of his life, Charlie Reese has been surrounded by a loving family and all the comforts of home. But when a house fire claims them, he and his cousin, Jimmy are sent to an orphanage in the heart of ‘Depression Era’ Chicago. A year later, Charlie’s life is shaken by yet another tragedy and with it comes the mysterious introduction of a secretive runaway, named Bartholomew. As Charlie begins to discover more about his new companion, he unknowingly becomes a participant in a two-hundred year old secret. Come the morning of the Black Blizzard, Charlie finds he must make a choice - flee the destiny laden at his feet or take on his responsibility and follow a path full of supernatural wonders.

My first impression of this book was good, I read the synopsis on Young Adult Novel Reader's post, and it did not show a cover. As you guys know I can't help but judge a book by it's cover. If I would have seen the cover of this novel before signing up for a review, I probably wouldn't have signed up... not because I don't like the cover, it's just that it doesn't POP to me. However, I'm very glad I read the synopsis first, because this novel was very good. It was a little slow for me at first... and by at first, I mean the first chapter, because after that first chapter the author took you on a wild-ride that you couldn't get off of if you wanted to. One thing I disliked at the beginning of this book, was the immediate death of one of the characters, I didn't get a real connection with him, so when other characters would mourn his death later, I felt weird reading why they would sob, and not being able to feel what they did for the character. A few other things I didn't like about this book were:

• There were several grammatical/spelling errors throughout the book

• There was a repetitive use of descriptions (Ex. The Grocer was described as the portly man...so... The portly man walked towards the door, then the portly man did this or that). It just got a little annoying after a while. 

Those were the very few things that I disliked about this book. There is something that I didn't know whether to like or hate... It seemed that very little about the mythology was revealed until the end, and yet it was mentioned several times throughout the book, and I didn't understand what they were saying sometimes. It was definitely better to not think to hard at the beginning of this book about the mythology, It'll all come together in the end. Which was one thing I really liked about this book, because not all authors bring the story to a good ending for the first book, so that it's closed revealing all the things you had questions about, but it still left things to be revealed for the second book. Some other things I liked were:

• Great/Relatable Characters (Buck and Charlie specifically, my personal favorite was Buck.)
• There was a lot of mystery and suspense (There were two original scenes in this book that had me on the edge of my seat: the Pool (Billiards) scene, and also the Harmonica contest. I wasn't expecting to be so interested in these two scenes, but I was... and I Loved it!)
• The mythology of this book was amazingly original, and I loved learning more about it as the story progressed. 
• The author's story-telling skills were very good as well.
•   Left a perfect set-up for book 2

I also found myself highlighting two quotes on my kindle from this book. Those quotes were:

• "If anything, fear the man who does not keep his word, for he is the truest of tricksters and cannot be trusted."
• "Buck, sometimes it's not about being brave or having something to prove, but rather taking the risk because you have nothing to lose."

Alright, it's time for my rating. My rating for this book is (Drum-Roll) 4/5 STARS! The great things in this book outweighed the bad things. I look forward to The Breedling & The Trickster, which comes out later on this year. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an original, refreshing, and wonderful read. The things I didn't like about this book will not be a problem for you unless you are a member of the grammar police like I am, but even if you are you will enjoy this book, but a little less than everyone else.

 Don't forget to check out the author at these sites:
goodreads
facebook
twitter 

If you would like to purchase The Orphan The Soulcatcher and the Black Blizzard you can do so HERE.


 

Waiting on Wednesday (4)

Hi Guys,
I'm sorry I haven't posted a WoW in two weeks, but I've been kind of busy with summer projects, but I couldn't hold off on this post any longer. So this is my fourth WoW post, and Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This Wednesday I'm waiting on:

Light (Gone #6)

by Michael Grant

unknown number of pages

Katherine Tegen

Sometime in 2013

YA

There is currently no synopsis for Light, but I've read books 1-5 in the Gone series, so I believe I understand a little of what may happen. For those of you who have read the Gone series, and finished Fear, you know what Grant led up to while finishing Fear. I believe that this will be one of the most epic book finales in history, and I know that Michael Grant will choose wisely as to how it will end, so I'm not worried about it not meeting my expectations. 

This is the final book in the Gone series, and I'm very excited about it! I've followed this series since Gone was published, and I can't wait to see how everything ties together, and to find out who makes it out of the FAYZ alive, and what happens after the FAYZ. 

The cover of this novel is wonderful, I think it may just be my favorite cover of the series (with Fear as a close second).

This is going to be my favorite book of 2013, and I can't wait to find out how many pages it is, and I'm hoping for a long Harry Potter 7/Breaking Dawn sized book to end this series... but I'd be fine if it wasn't.

So if you haven't read the Gone series, please do, it's my favorite book series, and I'd love for you guys to read it, and fall in love with it as much as I have. 

Are you guys waiting for this book, leave a comment telling me what book your waiting for today. 

Stay posted on the blog, to see what I'll be waiting for next Wednesday... or the Wednesday after that... or even the Wednesday after that... let's just hope it's soon! 

YALL FEST 2012

Hi Guys,
Today's post is going to be about the YALL FEST which will be hosted in Charleston SC, November 9th and 10th. This will be the second year of YALL FEST, which is put together by the authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. On the website, the About tab wraps this even up better than I can, and it states:

"Who’s coming: 44 (and counting) of the country’s top YA authors, including 25 New York Times bestsellers.

What: Panels, presentations and signings on more than three stages on Upper King Street, as well as the infamous YA Smackdown!

When: Sat., Nov. 10, 2012, 10 am to 6 pm. 

Where: Blue Bicycle Books & The American Theatre, King Street, Charleston, SC 

Cost: FREE!"

So that pretty much sums it up, and you would be crazy not to want to come to this event... I mean "44 (and counting) of the country's top YA authors" all at one event. This is what Heaven is for the YA Book community. So come on out to support these authors, and also get a chance to have a conversation with them. I'm very excited for this, I've never been to a book event like this, and I was planning to go last year, but something came up, so I couldn't make it... but this year I'm determined to not only be at YALL FEST, but to make the best of my time there.

The authors that will be there are:

YALLFEST CONFIRMED AUTHOR LINE UP 2012
(Check back soon for links to author’s websites!)
Keynote: Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, “Literary Friendships” 
Kwame Alexander      -      http://bookinaday.org/
Jennifer Lynn Barnes, PhD      -      http://www.jenniferlynnbarnes.com/
Holly Black      -      http://www.blackholly.com/
Pseudonymous Bosch      -      http://thenameofthiswebsiteissecret.com/
Sarah Rees Brennan      -      http://sarahreesbrennan.com/
Heather Brewer      -      http://www.heatherbrewer.com/
Kiera Cass      -      http://www.kieracass.com/
Cinda Chima      -      http://www.cindachima.com/
Cassandra Clare      -      http://www.cassandraclare.com/
Andrea Cremer      -      http://www.andreacremer.com/
Katie Crouch      -      http://www.katiecrouch.com/new/books.shtml
Gitty Daneshvari      -      http://www.gittydaneshvari.com/
Melissa De La Cruz      -      http://www.melissa-delacruz.com/
Matt de la Peña      -      http://www.mattdelapena.com/
Kim Derting      -      http://www.kimberlyderting.com/
Simone Elkeles      -      http://www.simoneelkeles.net/oldsite/index.html
Elizabeth Eulberg      -      http://www.elizabetheulberg.com/
Gayle Forman      -      http://www.gayleforman.com/
Kami Garcia      -      http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/
Adam Gidwitz      -      http://www.adamgidwitz.com/
David McInnes Gill      -      http://davidmacinnisgill.com/
Adele Griffin      -      http://adelegriffin.com/
Deb Harkness      -      http://deborahharkness.com/
Jenny Han      -      http://www.dearjennyhan.com/
Siobhan Vivian      -      http://www.siobhanvivian.com/Hello/Home.html
Michelle Hodkin      -      http://www.michellehodkin.com/
Ellen Hopkins      -      http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/
Tonya Hurley      -      http://tonyahurley.com/
Michele Jaffe, PhD      -      http://www.michelejaffe.com/
Caitlin Kittredge      -      http://www.caitlinkittredge.com/
Alyson Noel      -      http://www.alysonnoel.com/
David Levithan      -      http://davidlevithan.com/
Stephanie Perkins      -      http://stephanieperkins.com/
Diana Peterfreund      -      http://www.dianapeterfreund.com/
Kathy Reichs      -      http://kathyreichs.com/
Brendan Reichs      -      http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3399125.Brendan_Reichs
Beth Revis      -      http://www.bethrevis.com/
Jessica Rothenberg      -      http://www.jessrothenberg.com/
Carrie Ryan      -      http://www.carrieryan.com/
Eliot Schrefer      -      http://www.eliotschrefer.com/
Natalie Standiford      -      http://www.nataliestandiford.com/
Trenton Lee Stewart      -      http://www.mysteriousbenedictsociety.com/
Margaret Stohl      -      http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/
Cate Tiernan      -      http://catetiernan.net/
Robin Wasserman      -      http://www.robinwasserman.com/
Marjorie Wentworth
John Corey Whaley      -      http://www.johncoreywhaley.com/
Kathryn Williams      -      http://kathrynswilliams.com/KW/Welcome.html


WOW, That is a very large list of authors, and I'm excited to see most of them. I'm not familiar with some of them, but I hope to be able to find out more about their novels, and hopefully have some new books on my TBR pile. 

So if this post hasn't convinced you to come out to YALL FEST, maybe the official website will. Click HERE to check it out, and I will hopefully see you there.