Important Announcement!

(Happiness = dancing around like a penguin!)

Hey everybody, quick announcement!
We have a brand spanking new blogger on the scene. My awesome awesome Aussie buddy Jessica has just started a book review-writing blog, The World Inside. Go check it out and show her some love!
!VAMANOS!

reading habits & memories

I love to read when it's dark. It's hard for me to concentrate when I read on a sunny afternoon or in the morning.

Unless of course it's raining - whether just a few trickles or a full-on storm. The cloudier and more overcast, the better.

When I was a child, I could read anytime, anywhere: in the car, in the morning, in the afternoon, with the TV/stereo on, at a baseball game, in the food court at the mall. Actually, I can still read at the food court and in the car...but maybe kids are just better at concentrating? When they want to, that is!

I used to read about 200 pages a day...now sadly my average is around 75. The same sadly goes for writing - I could average about 40 pages a day when I was in 8th grade, now I can barely do 10. I can't really skim read anymore - all those literature classes in high school taught me how to "read for comprehension" and all that, which means that now I read really slowwwwly.

I used to read during school. Got in trouble a few times, too, but that never seemed to deter me. One time, in 4th grade, it was our 'reading' period and we were all supposed to be reading our assigned book, (Something Really Boring) by Beverly Cleary. I was reading my book. So the teacher came up behind me and said in a stiff, stern voice, "Amelia, I hope that's Beverly Cleary you're reading." I said, "No ma'am." She said, "What are you reading, that you think is more important than (Something Really Boring) by Beverly Cleary?" And I turned the book to the front cover and said, "Victor Hugo's Les Miserables." Did I mention that I was a snarky little brat, too? But I still believe that Victor Hugo's Les Miserables is better than Something Really Boring by Beverly Cleary.

For a few months, I got into the really cool habit of literally reading by candlelight. I'd put like 2 or 3 on each shelf and then one big one by my nightstand...until my dog knocked it over with his big bushy tail, and I started a wee small fire in my room. Now I read by lava-lamp. :)

For some reason, I get the munchies when I read for extended periods of time. Goldfish, Walker's shortbread, and double-stuffed Oreos make for great snacks, I've found. But the need to munch is so great, it overrides taste. I have resorted to eating a Dill pickle dipped in Duncan Hines chocolate frosting before. It still had a nice crunch.
Like Dr. Frasier Crane, I have a sound machine. I love my sound machine - currently it's set to "Amazon Rain" because, I like the sound of rain. Too much quiet weirds me out, so I like to have my sound machine on while I read.

Marathon reading sessions are epic. Sometimes, I'm able to just blot out everything else going on in the world - homework, assigned reading, phone calls, having to get up early for school/work - and enter a place where it's just me and the book. I think the fastest book I ever read was The Last Olympian and then Deathly Hallows. Last night I had a marathon session with Nevermore - 300 pages in just a few hours. For me, that's pretty good :)
Well those are some of my reading habits and memories. What are yours?

In My Mailbox [17]

This is for this week & last -

Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3) - Suzanne Collins, REVIEW PENDING
Nevermore - Kelly Creagh, CURRENTLY READING!

What did you get this week?

Book Blogger Hop!

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer @ Crazy for Books.Stop by and get hopping!

This week's question:
Do you judge a book by its cover?
Yes, actually, I do. Now I've read my share of "beautiful on the inside books" (I just finished one, as a matter of fact) but having pretty cover designs is what draws my attention to books, a lot of times. It's what makes me notice them in the first place.

In fact, take a look at my last post - I listed a few lucky debut authors whose books got the royal cover treatment!

Be sure to leave your link, too, so I can return the hop!

Bookie Beauty Pageant! Loving books from the Outside In!

Several times before, I've mentioned how much emphasis I tend to place on...er... pretty cover designs. We all know the phrase - "don't judge a book by it's cover!" and for the most part, that's true. But it's also true that cute cover designs catch our eye... sometimes that can be what grabs our attention in the first place.
Debut authors seem to get either a hit or miss when it comes to cover art, in my opinion. Some debut authors get stuck with covers that say "it's what's on the inside that counts!" And then there are other covers that seem to shout, "Look at me, I'm GORGEOUS!"
So all of these books have 1 thing in common: they are all beautiful (at least, in my opinion) book covers by debut authors. Some books are from 2005, 2008, and so on, but they were each author's debut.

The Lightning Thief (2005)Everlasting (2010)Paranormalcy (2010)City of Bones (2005) I still think it looks like Anakin Skywalker on the cover! Hur-dur-dur-dur! The Iron King (2010)Beautiful Creatures (2009)Twilight (2005)Oh My Gods (Original Hardback edition, 2008)
The Replacement (2010)Matched (2010)Eyes Like Stars (2009)The Hourglass DoorThe Warrior Heir (2006)
The Mockingbirds (2010)Graceling (2008)
Once again, all these covers are from books by debut authors. They all lucked out! Which covers impressed you the most?

today is PARANORLAMCY day!

Today is August 31, the day Paranormalcy releases into stores - yay! Other books are being released today, but I'm making a big deal out of this one.

So just in case you missed it, here are a few points from my review:

Paranormalcy is the newest Must Have book for the fall, a treat every teen needs to ease those back-to-school blues. The characters were all so unique, quirky and absolutely lovable. The narrator, Evie, is just about as awesome as her zebra dress and pink boots. Her voice was funny, sassy and endearing – all the ingredients needed to cook up one of the best fictional characters of 2010! It was so great to watch her grow and mature over the course of the story. Oh, Evie, I'd love for you to be real. If you thought high school was fun, just you wait until you come to college with me! :P
But I can’t forget the love interest, Lend. Abso-freaking-lutely going in my Boyfriends! file. Besides being completely swoon-worthy, Lend is also an incredibly original character. Vampire? Nope. Werewolf? Uh-uh. Faerie? No way. Angel? Fuggedabadit. You’ll just have to see for yourself. And Reth… you know, I didn’t expect this to happen, but he became one of my favorite characters. His scenes were absolutely delicious.
But characters aside, what impressed me the most about P was its sheer originality. I’ve read YA nearly exclusively for 2 years now, and I can honestly say that Paranormalcy was like nothing I’d ever read before. If we’re all sitting in a circle, holding hands and being honest, I thought I had this story pegged from page one. I thought I knew – because it was a “paranormal” book – what would happen in the story. Guys and girls – I wasn’t EVEN close! I can’t tell you all enough just how creative and ORIGINAL Paranormalcy is. This amazing story full of amazing characters populating an amazing world came straight out of the mind of the intensely talented Kiersten White, and I WAGER that you have not read anything like this! Evie and the world of the IPCA was so brilliantly created and put together.

From one YA lover to all of you, I guarantee you don’t want to miss this phantasmagorical thrill ride.

So go buy it! Or make plans to buy it. Or, if nothing else, put it on your TBR list!

Review - GONE

Gone (Gone, #1) - Michael Grant
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Speculative/Dystopian (somewhat)
# of pages: 558 (pb)
Publisher: Harper Collins
Recommended to: 14+
Gone @ Parental Book Reviews


What an awesome premise to a really cool series! Seriously, what would life be like in a society run entirely by youths?
Grant reminds me a lot of Rowling and Riordan in that he successfully handles a large ensemble cast of characters. Not every series has as many crucial characters to the plot as this series. In fact, it's sometimes easier to play it safe with a small bunch of important characters, lest an author creates too many and then has a chaotic time of keeping track of them all. It surprised me how fleshed out and well-rounded everybody was.
That's another point - Grant is a master at creating awesome "villains." Not only were they interesting, they were incredibly dynamic, and truth be told, I enjoyed their scenes! Like, "Woo-hoo, here come the villains!"
So many well-done storytelling areas, too: just the right blend of action, romance, emotional depth, and crucial dialogue parts.
I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. When all the adults just "poof out," what kind of society is left? How can a bunch of kids (who are 14 at the oldest) able to survive? What I thought was cool about Michael Grant's book is the optimistic belief in the maturity of some teens and their strength to "make it." I can't wait to start the second book in the series!

Quick Say: Fans of The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and/or YA devotees in general will not want to miss this fast-paced, thrilling debut to the Gone series. Despite a little implausibility and a bit of story redundancy, Gone was definitely a "hit" with me!

Final Grade: