In My Mailbox- April 9, 2012

In My Mailbox: Here's what came in my mailbox this week



MONDAY

The Diary- Eileen Goudge--Bookmooch

Just Say Yes- Phillipa Ashley--from publisher for review











THURSDAY

Moonsong (The Vampire Diaries: The Hunters #2)-L.J. Smith--PaperbackSwap

The Compelled (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan’s Diaries #6)- L.J. Smith--PaperbackSwap

Silence (The Queen of the Dead #1)- Michelle Sagara--from publisher for review










FRIDAY

Black Dawn (Morganville Vampires #12)- Rachel Caine--from publisher for review

The Sunday Salon- April 8, 2012

The Sunday Salon

Happy Easter!  Not too much to talk about this week.  I start running again on Tuesday.  I took 2 weeks off because I was in so much pain in my shins.  And for now it really seems to help.  I only have twinges of pain here and there instead of constant pain.  I guess we'll see how it goes on Tuesday.  And we have races every Saturday for the next four weeks!

I finished and reviewed the following books in the past week:

Fractured Light by Rachel McClellan

Dangerous Boy by Mandy Hubbard


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I fulfilled items in the following challenges in the past week:
2012 Reading Challenge 150+: 30, 31
2012 Debut Author Challenge: 9
2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 27, 28
2012 ARC Reading Challenge: 27
2012 Standalone Reading Challenge: 6

I am currently reading The Calling by Kelley Armstrong and up next is Explorer X-Beta by LM Preston.

Book Review- Dangerous Boy

I just finished reading Dangerous Boy by Mandy Hubbard for an Around the World ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

Harper’s new boyfriend Logan Townsend is everything she never knew she always wanted—tall, muscular, with tousled brown hair that falls effortlessly around his face. But what’s most exciting about Logan is that he’s exhilaratingly dangerous, and dating him allows Harper to say, “buh bye” to her good-girl past and “hello” to newfound adventure.

There’s only one problem with Harper’s otherwise heart-stopping romance: Logan’s twin brother Daemon. Harper knows he’s a bad seed, but she tries to look past his dark, icy stare and his chilling demeanor. After all, he and Logan are a package deal.

Then cow bones start appearing in people’s mailboxes, a flock of birds show up dead, and all of the cars in the senior parking lot are given flat tires—and covered with blood-red handprints. Logan insists that Daemon isn’t involved—sure, he’s had some trouble in the past, but they moved to Harper’s quiet northwest Washington town so that they could both start over.

Harper desperately wants to believe Logan, but the more he tries to protect his brother, the more she wonders what she isn’t being told. Now, Harper must unearth the hidden secrets of the mysterious Townsend brothers’ history if she and Logan are to have any hope of a future. But learning what brought Logan and Daemon to town won’t put just her heart in jeopardy... She’s playing with her life.
 
When I started reading this book, I was immediately sucked in.  I do have to admit that I guessed pretty early on what was happening, but that didn't hurt my enjoyment of the story at all!  The story just flowed so well and the writing was so easy and comfy to read (if that makes any sense) that I was just completely into the book.
 
I loved Harper.  I do think that she was a little naive to some of Logan's actions, but I guess we are all in our first love.  And I love the environment the book was set in.  I've never read a book about a girl who was so into farming.  It was pretty neat.
 
There was lots of action, and while I was pretty sure that I knew who the bad guy was, it was still so intriguing to see if I was right or to see what was going to happen next. 
 
I've read 2 other books by Mandy Hubbard and loved all three of them.  I can't wait to read more by this fabulous author!
 
I gave this book a rating of 4/5.
 
Dangerous Boy will be released on August 30, 2012.
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2012 Reading Challenge 150+: 31
2012 ARC Reading Challenge: 27
2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 28
2012 Standalone Reading Challenge: 6
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.

Contest Winners- The Dark Divine Set

According to Rafflecopter,

McKenna Gagne
and
Beth Book Review

have won a complete set of The Dark Divine series by Bree Despain! Please email your address to me at belle2211(at)yahoo(dot)com by Monday at 5pm and I'll have your book mailed out to you!

The Teen Book Scene: Guest Blog: Karen DelleCava

I am honored to host Karen DelleCava, author of A Closer Look, on my blog today as part of a Teen Book Scene Blog Tour.

I got to interview Tommy, from the book!

1.What is your favorite quality in Cassie?
She’s open to jazz and is willing to listen to anything I write even if it stinks. If I hit an off note, she’ll call me out in a nice way, “Did you mean that little part there?” I like that she’s honest.

2.What were your first thoughts when hearing about Cassie's condition for the first time?
Immediately I thought she had cancer. Crazy, I know. Chemotherapy is the only thing that I heard of that would cause someone’s hair to fall out. I felt scared for her and for me--which was really lame of me since she was the one dealing with something so major.

3.You wrote a song with Cassie in mind. If the song had lyrics, what would chorus be like?
We act like strangers now we’re in danger of tearing this apart.
The danger is you just can’t see it’s you who holds my heart.
It’s our last chance and we’re both here
So shed your doubt. Release your fear.
The danger is you just can’t see it’s me who holds your heart.

4.When did you finally get to meet your new sister and how did it go?
It was about two weeks after Cass’s meet against Cranford. I had bought Jenny that book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carl when Cass and I were at the mall. Anyway, it was weird. I went with my brothers, Eric and Rich, to a playground in town to meet her and my father who I haven’t seen in who knows how long. The sight of him really pissed me off because of what he did to my mother-all of us--but since this was supposed to be about meeting Jenny I held my shit together.
When I saw her, it finally sunk in that I was a big brother now. I gave her the book and Jenny not being shy at all, gave me hug and asked me to read it on the spot. That pretty much won me over. Then she gave us a drawing she’d made--a pink frog--that was covered in glitter. We took turns pushing her on the swings, just spending time all together. My little sister, Jenny. Kind of a mind blow but very cool.

5.Pretend I'm in high school...create a hall pass for me with a poem to get out of class to meet you!
If you tell Cass about this I’m dead meat. I did a little research on you so, okay, just for fun....

Roses are red
Hummingbirds hover
The library @ 1
But come undercover

Thanks, Andrea!

Visit www.karendellecava.com for details on how to win a signed copy of A Closer Look plus a surprise gift but “Do not open it until page 153.”

A Closer Look Book Signing Friday, April 13th 6:30-8pm
Teens will receive a surprise gift but “Do not open it until page 153.” (While supplies last.)
Well Read (New & Used) Bookstore
425 Lafayette Ave
Hawthorne NJ 07506
973-949-3440

http://www.karendellecava.com/ Read Chapter 1 of A Closer Look

http://www.thewellreadbookstore.com/

Thanks for joining us Tommy and Karen!

Waiting on Wednesday- April 4, 2012

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Shadow Bound (Unbound #2)
by Rachel Vincent
Publication Release Date: May 22, 2012

From Rachel Vincent's website:

If you live in the dark long enough, you begin to forget the light…

KORI DANIELS is a shadow-walker, able to travel instantly from one shadow to another. After weeks of confinement for betraying her boss, she’s ready to break free of the Tower syndicate for good. But Jake Tower has one final job for Kori, one chance to secure freedom for herself and her sister, Kenley, even if that means taking it from someone else…

The job? Recruit Ian Holt—or kill him.

Ian’s ability to manipulate the dark has drawn interest from every syndicate in the world, most notably an invitation from Jake Tower. Though he has no interest in organized crime, Ian accepts the invite, because he’s on a mission of his own.

Ian has come to kill Tower’s top Binder: Kori’s little sister.

Amid the tangle of lies, an unexpected thread of truth connecting Ian and Kori comes to light. But with opposing goals, they’ll have to choose between love and liberty….

Book Review- Fractured Light

I finished reading Fractured Light by Rachel McClellan for a Teen Book Scene Tour.

From Goodreads:

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After the Vykens killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. But she never felt ready to face them---until now. Defying the Auran Council and everything she's been taught, Llona must learn to use her power over light as a weapon if she wants to survive.


Fractured Light started off pretty rough for me.  I think the premise of the story was pretty  good but it was the writing at the beginning and the characters that turned me off.
 
Llona annoyed me.  She was selfish and cold and dramatic.  And some of the details of her thoughts were just random (when she first bumps into Christian, they're on the bleachers and she almost falls but he saves her by wrapping her arms around her and so she thinks he's hot and reminds her of a Navy Seal.  I don't know many teenage girls who would first jump to the thought of a high school guy being a Navy Seal.  It just struck me as weird).  And then Christian.  He supposed to be this strong guy protecting Llona but he seemed kinda weak to me.  I never really read any scenes that led me to believe that he actually could protect her.  Then there's Matt...I thought there was something up with him that would be important to the paranormal part of the story, but there wasn't.  He was nice enough but there was something just strange enough about him that I thought there was more going on.  I did like May though!  I liked that she was her own person but fit into every clique and was so nice!
 
That being said, the book did get better towards the end.  Once the action started, I was drawn in and wanted to know what was going to happen next.  Yes, I did guess who the bad guy was right away, but that was okay.  The sequel of the book seems like it will take place mostly at a school for girls who who have special powers like Llona.  I seem to always really like books that take place at colleges or boarding schools so I'll probably still give this one a try.
 
I gave this book a rating of 3/5.
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2012 Reading Challenge 150+: 30
2012 Debut Author Challenge: 9
2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 27

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Teen Book Scene.

In My Mailbox- April 2, 2012

In My Mailbox: Here's what came in my mailbox this week


WEDNESDAY

Where She Went- Gayle Forman--PaperbackSwap

Perception (Clarity #2)- Kim Harrington--review for an Around the World ARC Tour










THURSDAY

A Catered Affair- Sue Margolis--PaperbackSwap

Elemental- Emily White--review for an Around the World ARC Tour











SATURDAY

Welcome Caller, This is Chloe- Shelley Coriell--review for a Teen Book Scene Tour

Dangerous Boy- Mandy Hubbard--review for an Around the World ARC Tour

The Calling (Darkness Rising #2)- Kelley Armstrong--review for an Around the World ARC Tour

Skirting the Grave (Vintage Magic Mystery #4)- Annette Blair--PaperbackSwap

The Sunday Salon- April 1, 2012

The Sunday Salon

This past week was Spring Break so I just relaxed a lot.  My friend was in town so we spent a day at Disney, but that was about it.  I'm not ready to go back to work tomorrow!

I finished and reviewed the following books in the past week:

The Savage Grace by Bree Despain

Perception by Kim Harrington


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I fulfilled items in the following challenges in the past week:
2012 Reading Challenge 150+: 28, 29
2012 ARC Reading Challenge: 25, 26
2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 25, 26
2012 Mammoth Book Challenge: 3
2012 Sophomore Reading Challenge: 3

I am currently reading Fractured Light by Rachel McClellan and up next is Dangerous Boy by Mandy Hubbard.

2012 Mammoth Book Challenge-- April Update

2012 Mammoth Book Challenge

Here are the challenge details:
1. This challenge will run from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012.
2. You can join the challenge at any time. All books read in 2012 count for the challenge, regardless of when you sign up.
3. This challenge can cross-over to your other reading challenges.
4. You do not need a blog to participate! If you are not a blogger, you can post your reviews at Goodreads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing and link them up here.
5. All formats of books are acceptable: Bound copies, e-books, and audiobooks as long as they meet the guidelines of Point #6 below!
6. IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT E-BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS: If you are using an e-book or audiobook for the challenge, the bound format equivalent must be a minimum of 450 pages. Only unabridged audiobooks will count!
7. Both adult and children's literature are allowed: As long as it meets the minimum page count of 450 pages.
8. About LARGE-PRINT BOOKS: Same rules apply as noted in Point #6. As long as the regular-bound format equivalent is a minimum of 450 pages, this format will count.
9. No anthologies, short story collections, or poetry: Just novels.
10. There are four levels for the challenge:
a. Level 1: Read 2 mammoth-sized books.
b. Level 2: Read 4 mammoth-sized books.
c. Level 3: Read 6 mammoth-sized books.
d. Level 4: Read 8 or more mammoth-sized books.
11. When you write your sign-up post, you must choose your level. You can go up, but you cannot go down!
12. There will be link-ups for your reviews on a quarterly basis, which will be posted on THIS page.
13. There will be a link for your wrap-up post at the end of the year.
14. Create a sign-up post and link back to this post. Sign up with Mister Linky below! Be sure to use the direct url to your sign-up post and not the url to your blog.

*Bumping this up to a level 2

1.  Wings of the Wicked (Angelfire #2) by Courtney Allison Moulton
2.  Illuminate by Aimee Agresti
3.  The Savage Grace by Bree Despain