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.