In My Mailbox [18]

Not too shabby!
I received, for review from Little Brown:

The Witches Kitchen - Allen Williams
Dark Song - Gail Giles
(headed your way, Natalie!)

And I bought
Hunger (Gone, #2) - Michael Grant
This week...I am totally perplexed as to what to read next. Just finished Hunger (in 2 days - booyah, nearly-600-page-books!) and here are the books on my shelf shouting "Me next! Me next!"
Some of them, like The Maze Runner and Beautiful Creatures, I want to wait till October to read, because of their sequels... Impossible...I want to read, but it just seems so dramatically depressing! Any suggestions?

Book Blogger Hop!

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

This week I'm supposed to link to a review I've done from the last 3 months. Just to keep things simple, I'm going to use the last book I reviewed, Nevermore, by Kelly Creagh. I just reviewed it yesterday!

If you've found my site from the hop, welcome! Leave a link to your site so I can visit you too!

Review - NEVERMORE

Nevermore - Kelly Creagh
Genre: YA Paranormal/Suspense/Speculative (maybe)
# of pages: 535 (hb)
Publisher: Atheneum, Simon & Schuster
Recommended for: Upper MS (you gotta kno yo Poe) and beyond!
My Thoughts
Quite possibly, this is my favorite book of 2010. As in a combination of Overall Enjoyability, Creativity, and Quality Writing. It is definitely going to be one of my "Honor Roll" books for the year, that is for sure.The basic setup for the story - loner, reclusive goth boy and Miss Peppy cheerleader are paired for an English project - just really doesn't begin to cover this epic 500+ page saga. I was so curious as to how the author would incorporate Edgar Allan Poe and his works into a modern high school drama setting. But boy howdy, she did. I saw so many Poe references brilliantly and cleverly inserted into the story, and that made reading so very, very enjoyable. Watch for scenes from Cask of Amontillado, a glass-eyed dude bearing strong resemblance to the old man from The Tell Tale Heart, a raven or two, and more! Also, one of the chapter titles is called "Ulalume," which is one of my all-time favorite poems. What I'm trying to say is that this book doesn't just name-drop Poe a few times or make vague, random references to the poet or his works. Instead, Kelly blends Poe's masterpieces with her own incredible imagination to create an original, engaging and highly addictive story.
The characters, too, were so amazing. First off, the main character, Isobel, is not really what you'd expect: she is a cheerleader, but instead of being an overly-cheerful, hyperactive airhead, she actually is really smart, witty, and well-spoken. Varen, too, is not quite what you'd expect either. He was definitely likable, but his cold and aloof personality made him very peculiar - he was actually kind of the mean one in the relationship. While maintaining a steady pace throughout, the first 400 pages gave me a chance to really see the characters interact and get a good understanding for them. Everybody, this is how to portray well-rounded, dynamic characters. And at the same time, Creagh subtly built up the suspense: something's not quite right with Varen, and his peculiar "gift" turns out to be quite a curse. The last 100 pages *BAM* accelerate you into a fantastical-but-creepy dreamworld that Poe himself would probably enjoy. And oh, the ending! How it will make you desperate for the next installment!

Quick say: Everybody, NEVERMORE is an exceptional debut by an amazingly gifted author. You will not want to pass this up. I have a new favorite! And Kelly Creagh has definitely set the standard and raised the bar for exceptional Young Adult paranormal fiction. THIS is what creativity and originality looks like. THIS BOOK RIGHT HERE!
**Apart from a few minor swear words and some brief suggestive dialog, NEVERMORE is also a clean read that advanced middle schoolers will be able to devour as well!**

Final Grade:
I received my free copy of NEVERMORE from Simon & Schuster! Thank you so much!

10 Random Bookish Thoughts!

Thought this would be a cute, fun little post. I'm staring at my bookshelf, and I'm going to come up with TEN RANDOM THINGS about any book I see. Wanna do this on your site? It's easy, fun, and just a little zany.

Random Thought #1: Breaking Dawn is a very obese book.

Random Thought #2: I love how Shiver is written in blue ink and Linger is written in green ink. I think each book should be written in some fun colored ink.

Random Thought #3: I have a gargantuan crush on Dodge Anders from Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars series

Random Thought #4: There are a lot of series books and not a lot of stand-alones. What's wrong with a stand-alone? Series books are like cliques. My bookshelf has a lot of cliques. We need some more solitary loners like Skellig or...erm...

Random Thought #5: No matter where I am or what the occasion is, whenever I hear the word "sparkle" I automatically think Twilight!

Random Thought #6: "Wayland" is a really cool last name, and "Jace" is a super sexy-sounding first name.

Random Thought #6 1/2: But there is NO...and I mean NO name super-sexier sounding than Percy!

Random Thought #7: I wish I lived in a magical theatre like Bertie Shakespeare Smith from the Theatre Iluminata series

Random Thought #8: I wish I was a mermaid. Seriously. I really wish I was a mermaid and I could meet a merman and live happily ever after in an underwater kingdom and train dolphins to do really neat tricks. That would be THE LIFE.

Random Thought #9: I drove past an old refinery last week and totally spazzed out thinking of the CREATURES from The Replacement! Ahhhhh!

Random Thought #10: If I ever get another cat, I'm going to name him Chairman Meow just like Magnus Bane's cat from the MI series. :)

the MOCKINGJAY post

Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3) - Suzanne Collins
Genre: YA dystopian/sci fi
# of pages: 390 (hb)
Publisher: Scholastic
Recommended for: ALL AGES
Thoughts Did I enjoy this book? Well, that's hard to say. I was highly anticipating Mockingjay's arrival, for it would settle all the conflicts of Panem, Katniss and ensemble once and for all. And while I did get closure, I didn't really get resolution. There is a difference! And I honestly can't say that I enjoyed myself while reading this. It wasn't a particularly "fun" read, but it was emotionally jarring.
I’ve had a few days to reflect, and with Mockingjay, my feelings have to do with what I was expecting vs. what I got instead. Since this is the last book, I was prepared for Katniss to settle the love triangle thing once and for all. I was expecting her (and Gale and Peeta) to spend some time on the love story issue, and to bring about the fall of Snow and all that. What disappointed me the most about Mockingjay is that I feel like I never got the resolution that I was looking for. I would argue that by the end of Mockingjay there IS no resolution. Katniss never had to make a decision – it was pretty much made for her.

And even with my “reflection time” I still believe that Collins committed (at least) partial hari-kari with her characters. Katniss’ lack of emotional depth, her distrusting and cynical side, were very understandable in The Hunger Games. Partway through Catching Fire, I was starting to tire of her attitude, but I kept thinking, “Okay, she’ll undergo a character change in Mockingjay. She has to.” And she didn’t – in fact, she got worse. To me, Katniss’ treatment of the people around her in this book is for the most part unacceptable. She is disloyal, especially to Peeta and extremely insensitive of everything that happens to him. I’m not going to go into it, but she showed some series personality flaws that, this late in the game, can’t be excused or explained away. If your MC is not likable, it's hard to hold on to the story. And once again, you had important, emotional, and heart-wrenching deaths happening OFF SCREEN, which makes it even harder to have an emotional reaction. I kept a tally of how many major characters get offed in this installment, and most it was OFF SCREEN! This whole BOOK is emotionally dehydrated. Readers are supposed to feel something, but none of the characters seem to!
And then…there’s the last chapter. After 300+ pages of Katniss refusing to deal with her issues, it seemed like an ending that was undeserved. It would have made the ending and the epilogue so much more fulfilling if it had felt genuine, but it didn’t. I’m still not convinced that Katniss is capable of love… but still, I do appreciate Collins giving us closure.

And of course, there’s non-stop action, which has always been the strength of this series. But when books 1 and 2 emphasize action over character development, emotional exploration, or romantic angles, it leaves a lot of necessary ground left to cover for book 3. And once again, there was lot of action…but not a lot of anything else. And that just doesn’t cut it at this stage.
With all this in mind, The Hunger Games is still one of my favorite series of all-time, and Suzanne Collins is still one of my favorite authors, someone I highly admire and look up to. It’s a shame that Mockingjay didn’t deliver on ALL levels, but I love books 1 and 2, and the ending here. I guess that's good enough. Now I will say that my age has a lot to do with how I felt about this book: I’m 21 and you know, I look for character exploration and emotional depth, while my teenage friends sometimes don’t. I do have the word of my 13-year-old cousin backing me up that Katniss’ attitude was hard to stomach, so I don’t feel quite so alienated on that ground. Regardless of my disappointed feelings with this book, I still say that The Hunger Games series – all 3 books – are among the best Young Adult literature on the market today, and that everybody needs to give this series a try!

Final Rating:Still a pretty good grade, but unfortunately it didn't earn an 'A' from me.

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?