State of Wonder

Author: Ann Patchett
Goodreads Rating: 3.85
My Rating: 3.75
Pages: 358
Reviewed by: Nicole


I received this book directly from HarperCollins for participating in the blog tour for this book sponsored by TLC Tours. The subject matter is not something that I would ordinarily pick up. I'm not a science person, and the Amazon doesn't interest me (too many scary bugs). That being said I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to give this book a chance because I really enjoyed it.


Goodreads synopses:

"Expect miracles when you read Ann Patchett's fiction."--New York Times Book Review

Award-winning, "New York Times" bestselling author Ann Patchett returns with a provocative and assured novel of morality and miracles, science and sacrifice set in the Amazon rainforest. Infusing the narrative with the same ingenuity and emotional urgency that pervaded her acclaimed previous novels "Bel Canto," "Taft," " Run," "The Magician's Assistant," and "The Patron Saint of Liars," Patchett delivers an enthrallingly innovative tale of aspiration, exploration, and attachment in "State of Wonder"--a gripping adventure story and a profound look at the difficult choices we make in the name of discovery and love.

My review is after the jump!

Frey Review, Giveaway and Interview

Author: Melissa Wright
Goodreads Rating: 3.92
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 468
Reviewed by: Nicole


So this is the fourth stop on the tour for Frey, a new Fantasy trilogy. This tour is hosted by Cassie over at Shadow Blog Tours. I'm really grateful that I got to participate in this tour because I really enjoyed Frey and I already bought the second book in the trilogy, Pieces of Eight. I will be offering a chance to win both Frey and Pieces of Eight in the format of your choosing!


Goodreads Synopses:


Unaware she's been bound from using magic, Frey leads a small, miserable life in the village where she's sent after the death of her mother. But a tiny spark starts a fury of changes and she finds hersef running from everything she's ever known.

Hunted by council for practicing dark magic, she is certain she's been wrongfully accused. She flees, and is forced to rely on strangers for protection. But the farther she strays from home, the more her magic and forgotten memories return and she begins to suspect all is not as it seems.


My review:


Let me start off by saying that this is about an Elf, Frey is an elf which actually took me half the book to figure out. I had my suspicious, but in literature, anyone can do magic. Now that you know this, you can enjoy the review. Frey was a cute likable character who was super naive about who she is and the path that she is on. She also has no idea what she is capable of which is great because you can feel her wonder and amazement as she discovers new things about herself.


I liked how Wright slowly reveals Frey's history and the history of her family as she went on this journey. Even though the page count seemed intimidating, it was a really quick read once I really settled down to read it. I also really enjoyed the addition of Rhys and Rider who were raised by wolves and now worked with them for protection. (I see what you did there Wright, Romulus and Remus. I totally approve). 


I also enjoyed the tension added by Steed and Chevelle both hinting that they were interested in Frey, although something tells me that there is more to Chevelle and Frey's relationship and she just doesn't know it yet. I do have to say from the cast of characters, Ruby, the part Elf, part Fairie, red haired flame was my favorite. She seemed to be the caring of everyone that was involved. Even if Frey didn't like her, I could tell that they would be friends eventually.


To find out more about Frey's journey, you're just going to have to enter to win behind the jump!


Giveaway and Interview with Melissa Wright behind the jump!

Black Water (Pendragon #5)

Author: D.J. MacHale
Goodreads rating: 4.17/5
My rating: 4/5
Pages: 327
Reviewed by: Amy

Goodreads Synopsis:

In this fifth installment of D.J. MacHale's bestselling series, 15-year-old Bobby Pendragon thinks he finally understands his purpose as a Traveler--to protect territories and worlds from the evil Saint Dane. But now the rules are beginning to change, and Bobby must make a difficult choice.


Check out the review after the jump!

Cover Envy

So we all know how much I love Shatter Me, and how I adore Tahereh Mafi, and if you didn't know that then now you do. Recently she released the cover of the German edition of Shatter Me, and I have total cover envy. I mean look at this cover.

It's so pretty that it hurts. Now, I'm just in luck because I have two friends that are venturing to Germany during July, and all I can do is hope that they love me enough to bring this back to me. Now, before you go all "Hey wait, I know that cover!" let me stop you there. This is the same cover as Carrier of The Mark by Leigh Fallon. See below:

I'm not sure why Mafi's cover makes me so excited when Carrier of the Mark doesn't seem to do anything for me. Maybe it the subtle differences like the city in the background and the blue just being darker. But this does bring up an interesting point on book covers. They're all just stock photos used to create the cover, so its not like one of them stole the cover from the other. Goodreads has a List called Cover Couples. Here are a few others:

Glimmerglass 

by Jenna Black 

(2010)

and 

Birthmarked 

by Caragh M. O'Brien

(2011)

The Dark Divine
by Bree Despain
(2009)

and

No Humans Involved 

by Kelley Armstrong

(2010)

Bewitching Love Potions and Charms
by Raven Tempest
(May 2004)

and

This Lullaby 

by Sarah Dessen

(March 2004)

I added the dates to show that it isn't necessarily copying from another author. And even if it was, They say the best form of flattery is copying. You can check out more of the Cover Couples over at Goodreads.

Elanraigh: The Vow Review, Interview, and Giveaway

Author: S.A. Hunter
Goodreads Rating: 4.33
My Rating: 3.75
Pages: 216
Reviewed by: Nicole 


This post is going to be a little different than my usual one's I'm going to have a shorter review followed by an interview with the author. I don't usually read fantasy, so I liked the chance to come out of my comfort level for this book.


Goodreads Synopses:


Only Thera of Allenholme hears the voice of forest-mind…and heeds its warning . Thera doesn’t know why the Elanraigh forest-mind chose her, of all the Allenholme folk, to hear its voice and to awaken her gifts of mind and spirit. The Elanraigh sends a warning dream; black sails swooping toward Allenholme from across the western sea—the Memteth, an ancient enemy, armed with blue fire that hungers to consume life. As Thera awakens to her gifts of bonding with raptor birds and reading hearts, the knowing; she also awakens to love. Will she choose Chamakin the young Ttamarini warrior who is a kindred in spirit to her, or the polished young nobleman who covets her beauty even more than her estate? Forest-mind is aware she is yet too young for such power and responsibility. It has no choice—the lives of all Thera’s people and the existence of the Elanraigh Forest itself, depend on Thera fulfilling her destiny. Can she learn what she must of gift, and heart, to survive what comes their way? 


My Review:


At first this book was a little tricky, like I said I don't usually read fantasy so it took some getting used to. Once I got past that initial discomfort I was able to fall into a nice rhythm of this book. There were a few moments that I wished she had been a little more descriptive. Thera proved to me a powerful force to be reckoned with, I liked the world that Hunter created, the idea of being able to communicate with nature and call on it for favors and help when defending her people. There was love, there was loss, this book had everything in it. The only thing that left me wanting was that this world world could have been further explored. Hunter not only left me wanting more of this world, but a sequel as well, which it was left open to.


Follow the jump for my interview.

Fated

Author: Alyson Noël
Goodreads Rating: 4.21/5
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 308
Release Date: May 22, 2012


I won this as part of firstreads, and I won't lie, I judge this book by its cover. I'm really glad that I entered to win because it was a great start to a series. The thing I like most about this new Soul Seekers series is that books will be coming out ever six months instead of once a year. That does kind of suck because that just means I need to wait longer than everyone else for the next book.


Goodreads Synopses:


Lately strange things have been happening to Daire Santos. Animals follow her, crows mock her, and glowing people appear out of nowhere. Worried that Daire is having a nervous breakdown, her mother packs her off to stay in the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico with a grandmother she’s never met.

There she crosses paths with Dace, a gorgeous guy with unearthly blue eyes who she’s encountered before...but only in her dreams. And she’ll get to know her grandmother—a woman who recognizes Daire’s bizarre episodes for what they are. A call to her true destiny as a Soul Seeker, one who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead. Her grandmother immediately begins teaching her to harness her powers—but it’s an art that must be mastered quickly. Because Dace’s brother is an evil shape-shifter who’s out to steal her powers. Now Daire must embrace her fate as a Soul Seeker and find out if Dace is one guy she’s meant to be with...or if he’s allied with the enemy she’s destined to destroy.


Let your soul be guided to behind the jump to read my review.

The Cottage at Glass Beach

Author: Heather Barbieri
Goodreads Rating: 3.95
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pages: 306
Reviewed by: Nicole


This book was provided to me by the publisher as part of a TLC Blog Tour. Luckily for you, I already had a copy from my mother and so you can enter to win your own copy under the giveaway tab right up top. I was particularly drawn to this book because I love beaches and that cover just makes me wish I was where ever that was. 


Goodreads Synopses:


The author of The Lace Makers of Glenmara returns with the enthralling tale of a woman who, in the wake of scandal, flees to a remote island off the coast of Maine to reconnect with her past-and come to terms with the childhood tragedy that still haunts her

Married to the youngest attorney general in Massachusetts state history, forty-year-old Nora Cunningham is a picture perfect political wife and doting mother. But her carefully constructed life falls to pieces when she -along with the rest of the world - learns of her husband Malcolm's infidelity.

Humiliated, hurt, hounded by the press, Nora packs up her daughters, Annie, seven, and Ella, twelve, and takes refuge with her maternal aunt on Burke's Island, a craggy spit of land off the coast of Maine. Settled by Irish immigrants, the island is a place where superstition and magic are carried on the ocean winds, and wishes and dreams wash ashore with the changing tides.

Nora spent her first five years on the island but has not been back to the remote community for decades-not since that long ago summer when her mother disappeared at sea. One night, while sitting alone on Glass Beach, below the cottage where she spent her childhood, Nora succumbs to grief, her tears flowing into the ocean. Days later she finds an enigmatic fisherman, Owen Kavanagh, shipwrecked on the rocks nearby. Is he, as her aunt's friend Polly suggests, a selkie, a mythical being of island legend, summoned by her heartbreak; or simply someone who, like Nora, is trying to find his way in the wake of his own personal struggles?

Just as she begins to regain her balance, her young daughters embark on a reckless odyssey of their own, a journey that will force Nora to find the courage to chart her own course-and finally face the truth about her marriage, her mother, and her past.


Check out my review after the jump.

Talisman of El

Author: Alecia Stone
Goodreads Rating: 4.01
My Rating: 4
Pages: 364
Reviewed by: Nicole


I saw a few different people talking about this book on Goodreads so when I came across it on Netgalley, I figured why not give it a try since I love to try new books and this one seemed interesting. I was right and it was a really fun story. 


Goodreads Synopses:


WHAT IF YOUR WHOLE LIFE WAS A LIE?

One Planet.

Two Worlds.

Population: Human ... 7 billion.
Others ... unknown.

When 14-year-old Char­lie Blake wakes up sweat­ing and gasp­ing for air in the mid­dle of the night, he knows it is hap­pen­ing again. This time he wit­nesses a bru­tal mur­der. He's afraid to tell any­one. No one would believe him ... because it was a dream. Just like the one he had four years ago - the day before his dad died.

Char­lie doesn't know why this is hap­pen­ing. He would give any­thing to have an ordi­nary life. The prob­lem: he doesn't belong in the world he knows as home.

He belongs with the others.


My review after the jump.

Showcase Sunday #2

Showcase Sunday is a meme hosted by Vicki over at Books, Biscuits, and Tea. Showcase Sunday is a chance for us bloggers to share with you, our readers, what we have gotten recently. I don't often get any new books because I have a hard enough time keeping up with ones that I already have, but this week a got a whole lot of new books that I felt I should share.

So this is my first attempt at a Vlog post, so please bear with me while I try to figure out how everything works. I'm not the most techsavvy person in the world so this can actually be a real challenge for me.

Books mentioned in this post:

The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D - by Nichole Bernier

Becoming Marie Antoinette - by Juliet Grey

Into the Darkest Corner - by Elizabeth Haynes

Safe Within - by Jean Reynolds Page

Never Tell- by Alarair Burke

Take a Bow- by Elizabeth Eulberg

Storybound- by Marissa Burt

Firelight - by Sophie Jordan

Vanish - by Sophie Jordan

Throne of Glass - by Sarah J. Maas

I know its kinda long, but enjoy. If you have any comments or suggestions, or helpful tips on how to successfully Vlog, I would love to hear hear it! Thanks for watching!

Five Months

For a new follower/ reader, let me tell you that today marks my blogs 5 month-aversary. Rather than celebrate the traditional 6 months, I decided to do five months because May is a very important month for me. If you've noticed, May is the month of my birthday, if you haven't then you should go check out the Giveaway tab to find out what is going on this month.

Besides it being the blogs monthaversary, its also the day that I graduated from college which is pretty scary. While I haven't been taking classes for the last semester, it wasn't official until today. It was once I finished with college classes that I decided I would start a blog about all the books that I planned on reading now that I had time to read books that didn't need to be educational. 

I wanted to use today to thank you, my precious reader, for coming back, even once a month, because you have helped me keep this going. There have been moments where I was convinced that all of my page-views came from my boyfriend and my sister. But I have come to learn that other people have read, and enjoyed my blog and so I keep on keeping on.

This month I am hosting 7 giveaways! Two have already happened, and one is currently underway, and so you can enter to win, super easy. I also wanted to let you know of some big things that are coming up. Next month, and the remainder of this month, I have 8 blog tour stops headed to Paperback Princess, and At least one more giveaway once May is over. I will also be headed to BEA which means four days of super exciting posts and new books. So please stay tuned for more chances to win and so much more exciting news headed your way.

I hope you enjoyed poking around Paperback Princess and that you'll stop by again. Tomorrow I'll be having a Showcase Sunday Post because I got a lot of cool stuff from the YAmazing Race. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Without you I wouldn't be able to say that I have 2916 page views, 76 followers, 145 twitter followers, and 59 Facebook Likes! So to quote Bon Jovi, thank you for Keeping the Faith.

<3 The Paperback Princess

The Loners

Author: Lex Thomas
Goodreads Rating: 3.
My Rating: 3.75
Pages: 410
Reviewed By: Nicole


This book was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley. I was intrigued by the concept of students being deadly to adults. It was a twist on the dystopian plague world in which the setting is focused on a school. I know that as much as adults felt like teenagers were dangers to their health, they should be thankful that they weren't in the case of this book.


Goodreads Synopses:


It was just another ordinary day at McKinley High—until a massive explosion devastated the school. When loner David Thorpe tried to help his English teacher to safety, the teacher convulsed and died right in front of him. And that was just the beginning.

A year later, McKinley has descended into chaos. All the students are infected with a virus that makes them deadly to adults. The school is under military quarantine. The teachers are gone. Violent gangs have formed based on high school social cliques. Without a gang, you’re as good as dead. And David has no gang. It’s just him and his little brother, Will, against the whole school.

In this frighteningly dark and captivating novel, Lex Thomas locks readers inside a school where kids don’t fight to be popular, they fight to stay alive.


Click to see what I thought!

The Time Will Come #5

The Time Will Come is a meme hosted by Jodie over at Books for Company. I keep wanting to call this This Too Shall Pass, but alas, that is not the name, but the concept is the same. These are books that I really want to read but just haven't gotten around to.

I got this book in March from my mother, and had decided I wanted to read it for the release. Apparently this was not to be and so it has been waiting on my shelf for me to have time to pick it up. I've never read anything by Picoult (shame on me I know) but I do have feelers out for a few of her books. I was hoping to get to meet her since she frequents a bookstore by where my boy goes to school, but I never luck out. Turns out that she's going to be doing a signing there this summer, but he won't be there and its right around my cousins wedding, bummer but also cool. This book sounds really cute, but you can judge it for yourself below. I also think it was sweet since it was written by Picoult and her daughter. Can I get an "awwwwwwww"? 


Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.

And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.

Waiting on Wednesday #1

Waiting on Wednesdays is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This meme gives bloggers the chance to talk about a book that may not be coming out for a few months, but that they are still excited about. I try to avoid doing too many memes and whatnot, but this week, I'm crazy busy with getting ready for graduation that I have hardly had time to put a book in my hands. 


So without further adieu:


The Raft 
by S.A. Bodeen
Publication Date: August 21, 2012 


Goodreads Synopses:


Robie is an experienced traveler. She’s taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She knows the pilot, but on this flight, there’s a new co-pilot named Max. All systems are go until a storm hits during the flight. The only passenger, Robie doesn’t panic until the engine suddenly cuts out and Max shouts at her to put on a life jacket. They are over miles of Pacific Ocean. She sees Max struggle with a raft.

And then . . . she’s in the water. Fighting for her life. Max pulls her onto the raft, and that’s when the real terror begins. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of Skittles. There are sharks. There is an island. But there’s no sign of help on the way.


We all know I'm a survivalist at heart, so this story really stands out to me, and in a way reminds me of Life of Pi which is one of my favorite books. I'm really hoping that I get to dive into this book because it just sounds wicked awesome. I just hope that Bodeen pulls it off right.


So what about you? What book do you wish they would publish tomorrow?

Lost in Shangri-La

Author: Mitchell Zuckoff
Goodreads Rating: 3.75
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 384
Reviewed By: Nicole


I got this book last summer, as an ARC and then when I got asked to participate in the book tour for TLC tours. I found the history behind this little known fact thrilling. There are so many different aspects to World War Two that so many events that were a big deal simply got forgotten because it was such a broad spectrum or events.


Goodreads Synopses:


Award-winning former "Boston Globe" reporter Mitchell Zuckoff unleashes the exhilarating, untold story of an extraordinary World War II rescue mission, where a plane crash in the South Pacific plunged a trio of U.S. military personnel into a land that time forgot. Fans of Hampton Sides' "Ghost Soldiers," Marcus Luttrell's "Lone Survivor," and David Grann's "The Lost City of Z "will be captivated by Zuckoff's masterfully recounted, all-true story of danger, daring, determination, and discovery in jungle-clad New Guinea during the final days of WWII.


Follow the jump for my review!

The Flower Reader

Author: Elizabeth Loupas
Goodreads Rating: 4.17
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pages: 408
Reviewed By: Nicole


I read this book for a blog tour hosted by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. The concept confused me a little, but once I got into the book, I understood what it meant by flower reading. I was also really intimidated by the woman on the cover because she looks like she could kill you dead with that look. I'm so glad that I got asked to read this book because I really wound up enjoying it.


Goodreads synopses:


Rinette Leslie of Granmuir has the ancient gift of divining the future in flowers, but her gift cannot prepare her for the turmoil that comes when the dying queen regent entrusts her with a casket full of Scotland's darkest secrets. On the very day she means to deliver it to newly crowned Mary, Queen of Scots, Rinette's husband is brutally assassinated.

Devastated, Rinette demands justice before she will surrender the casket, but she is surrounded by ruthless men who will do anything to possess it. In the end, the flowers are all she can trust-and only the flowers will lead her safely home to Granmuir.


Check out my review after the jump!

The Nook Simple Touch

As many of you know, this past holiday season, I came into possession of a wonderful device created just to make the lives of us readers easier, I got a Nook Simple Touch. This device is the third of its kind to be released by Barnes and Noble. Its predecessors, The Nook First Edition was large, bulky and had a difficult touch screen and the Nook Color was more tablet than ereader. And thus, the Nook Simple Touch was born, with the benefit of just reading like the First Edition but more shapely like the Color.

My boyfriends mother got the First Edition for Christmas when it came out, and I will admit I loved the idea of an e-reader. I helped to set it up mostly because I was eager to play around on it, but I was disappointed by it, and it discouraged by wanting to get one. The idea was nice, but the tiny touch screen was difficult and you couldn't even use a stylus to alleviate the difficulty of using your finger to select keys the size of your pinky nail. Then my older sister got the Nook Color as did a friend of mine. Again, I helped my friend set up her Nook because I wanted to play around on it, and I liked how it had a lot of features, but the screen hurt my eyes, I liked the e-ink technology of the First Edition and so the idea of reading a computer screen hurt my eyes. I nevertheless borrowed my sister's Color so that I could see what it was like reading with it-this too failed to suit my needs.

And so I began to feel like Goldylocks waiting to try baby bears porridge. When the Simple Touch came out, and I played with it in stores, I was completely in love. It was small, had an e-ink screen, and it was light, but there was so much more to it than that.

Size
As someone that lugs her books back and forth, its important to have something small that I can use to read. During my time reading 11/22/63, I have come to appreciate my Nook even more. Weighing in at less than 8 pounds, this little baby is smaller than the average size of a paperback. Half the time I carry it with me just because it fits so snug in my purse. The page turning buttons on the side make it super easy to turn the page without needing both hands.

Reading

Side view of the
Nook Simple
Touch

I know that some of my friends don't like to use Nooks or other e-readers because nothing beats turning a page and holding a book, and they're right. I love holding books to and being able to turn the page myself. But how many times in turning that page have your eyes wandered too far ahead because a different typeset caught your eye? With the Nook that doesn't happen, and better yet, when its been awhile and your picking up in the middle of a book after a few months or another book in a series and you can't remember who that person is, you can search the book for that name or term. I did it when I was reading Mockingjay. I couldn't remember who Seneca Crane was and I hit find, and it gave the his name in context which lead to an "ahhh thats who he is" moment.

Another benefit is that you have your library right at your fingertips. Rather than lug 3 books with me on my trip to Pittsburgh, I brought one book and my Nook. When I finished my first book I still had my whole library on my Nook, and it was a good thing too because I finished a second book in the car. I'm not sure what it is about Nook vs. physical books, but I found that I read them a lot faster too.

Adobe EPUB

Library
One of the great benefits about the Nook and most e-readers is that you can get library books on them. While I can't get every single book, you still have access to a lot of e-books. On my library system, you register your library card online, and then you add 10 books that you want to "request" give them your email address and when its your turn with the book, follow the steps, download Adobe EPub (only once), connect your Nook to your computer and you drag the book to the little Nook icon, and then BOOM! You have the book on your Nook.

Cost
The Nook Simple Touch currently costs $99 plus tax depends on where you are, other than the Nook First Generation which you can no longer get from Barnes and Noble. The Nook Color is the second tier of Nook's costing $169 on the website. Lastly there is the Nook Tablet which starts at $199 for the 8GB and $249 for the 16GB. The cost of books then range from free to textbooks for $200 or $64 for a collection of books such as the Sookie Stackhouse books. The last expense is accessories like a cover or matte screen, or even a stylus.

Benefits
I love that I can just lie in bed and hold this over my head and simply use the other hand to swipe. I also love that all of Barnes and Noble's 3 million book library is at my fingertips so long as I have wifi. It was the best to finish Catching Fire and be able to download Mockingjay right then and there. One other great feature is the option to lend books to friends. A good friend of mine got the Nook app on her iPad and so I was able to loan her Mockingjay for her to read. I can also add Nook friends so that I can see what loanable books they have for me to borrow. I also love that I can download library books from my computer and not have to worry about going to the library to get them or return them. If I wanted to I could take notes on my books and change the font size so it would be easier to read. It's also great if you're traveling so I don't have to worry about bringing 12 books with me at once.

Disadvantages
As far as disadvantages go, its not the same as holding a book. I miss being able to judge how far I am in a book by pinching the pages. One of my other biggest problems with my Nook is that you need a light for it, so when I'm going on those early road trips at 5 AM with my dad, I can't read my Nook for a lack of natural light, but thats no different than reading an actual book. If you get a Color or a Tablet then its going to be harder on your eyes, but that's a matter of preference and opinion.

Overall
I like that I have my Nook for occasional use and that I don't need it all the time. I like that it has a long battery life, and that I can read it both indoors and outdoors. I also love that its so small an compact that it fits right in my purse and I don't have to worry about something folding the pages or the cover within my bag. If you're considering an e-reader just for reading, then this bad boy is your Nook, and you can even check out the new Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight out on May 1, 2012!

Drowned

Author: Therese Bohman
Goodreads Rating: 3.35
My Rating: 1 Star
Pages: 219
Reviewed by: Nicole


I got this book free in exchange for my honest review.I thought the idea of this thriller was interesting and I wanted to see how it would play out. I will also admit that I was a little interested in it because it is a Swedish Thriller, and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was also a Swedish thriller, so I hoped that they would be alike. 


Goodreads Synopses:


 On the surface, the story couldn’t be simpler. A single young woman visits her older sister, who is married to a writer as charismatic as he is violent. As the young woman falls under her brother-in-law’s spell, the plot unfolds in a series of precisely rendered turns. Meanwhile the reader, anticipating the worst, hopes against hope that disaster can be averted.
   More than a mere thriller, this debut novel delves deep into the feminine soul and at the same time exposes the continuing oppression of women in Sweden’s supposedly enlightened society. Mixing hothouse sensuality with ice-cold fear on every page, Drowned heralds the emergence of a major new talent on the international scene.


My review after the jump.

The Time Will Come #4

The Time Will Come is a meme hosted by Jodie over at Books for Company. I keep wanting to call this This Too Shall Pass, but alas, that is not the name, but the concept is the same. These are books that I really want to read but just haven't gotten around to.

I'm a zombie hooker and we all know it. This book is also about zombies and I didn't even know it until my mother was raving about how there was a sequel coming out and how much she loved it and she wanted to read the next one.  She told me about it then thrust the 765 page ARC into my hands. I looked into it more and then I got super excited. Who doesn't love a government experiment gone wrong that turns all of the taxpayers into mindless flesh eating zombies!? (Political commentary anyone?) 


Either way, this book will be waiting for a LONG time since I just don't have time to read a book that long. I figure also since there are at least 2 more books slated to come out, then I can wait at least that long since I don't want to read the books and then forget everything that happens in between them. Silly series.


Here is the Goodreads synopses:


“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.


If only if only.

Bookended By Beauty Queens

Author: Victoria Marshal
Goodreads Rating: 4.50
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pages: 276 


I won this book as part of Firstreads because I used to be a beauty queen, and I absolutely loved the crown on the cover and wished that I could have one like it. I will admit, I blindly entered this book because of the title and the crown, and when I won I was a little caught off guard by the content. It was still a fun read and was one of the quickest reads I've had in awhile (aside from Uglies: Shay's Story). I managed to read this book in one day while on a four hour road trip. 


Goodreads synopses:


Angie Palmer likes her life just the way it is–private. She has no desire to entangle herself in complex friendships, and her relationship with her two beauty queen sisters is safely distant. 

Unfortunately, life doesn’t always go as planned. 

When disaster strikes her Grandmother, Angie takes her into her home. A life with Grandma comes a world full of changes, and new friends, including Val, a drag queen with hopes of being the next US-Gay Beauty Pageant winner. Angie is determined to keep Val at a distance. Val has an instinct for knowing what is in Angie heart. 

Just as Angie gets comfortable with Grandma living with her, a budding friendship with Val, and a new romantic interest, everything takes an unexpected turn. 

Val becomes the victim of a violent crime and ends up in a coma. Angie begins a struggle against Val’s family who wants to remove their son from life support. 

Suddenly her private life becomes very public, and her world becomes a media circus. Angie is caught in a clash between religious beliefs and gay rights. 

Through many twists and turns, Angie discovers a new appreciation for family, friends, and love. 


My review after the jump.

The Uninvited Guests

Author: Sadie Jones
Goodreads Rating: 3.33
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 260
Reviewed by: Nicole


I entered to win this book on Goodreads, but withdrew once I found it at my mother's store. I was then asked to participate in a blog tour for TLC Book Tours, which is why I am here posting a review of this book today rather than in a year. It was a really interesting concept and imagined it to be just like The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. I got this book from the publisher for the Blog Tour in exchange for my honest review.


Goodreads Synopses:


A grand old manor house deep in the English countryside will open its doors to reveal the story of an unexpectedly dramatic day in the life of one eccentric, rather dysfunctional, and entirely unforgettable family. Set in the early years of the twentieth century, award-winning author Sadie Jones’s The Uninvited Guests is, in the words of Jacqueline Winspear, the New York Times bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs mysteries A Lesson in Secrets and Elegy for Eddie, “a sinister tragi-comedy of errors, in which the dark underbelly of human nature is revealed in true Shakespearean fashion.”


Follow for my review.

One Moment

Author: Kristina McBride
Goodreads Rating: 4.00
My Rating: 3.75
Pages: 272
Reviewed By: Nicole
Releases: June 26, 2012


I got this book from Netgalley because the premise seemed interesting. I don't know what I would do or how I would even cope with losing my boyfriend, let alone not knowing what happened when you were right there. This book also drove home the idea that all it takes is one moment for everything to change and that sometimes there is nothing that you can do to change it. I also loved the cover, it seems so idyllic which is different from the chaos in the pages.


Goodreads Synopses:


This was supposed to be the best summer of Maggie’s life. Now it’s the one she’d do anything to forget.

Maggie Reynolds remembers hanging out at the gorge with her closest friends after a blowout party the night before. She remembers climbing the trail hand in hand with her perfect boyfriend, Joey. She remembers that last kiss, soft, lingering, and meant to reassure her. So why can’t she remember what happened in the moment before they were supposed to dive? Why was she left cowering at the top of the cliff, while Joey floated in the water below—dead?

As Maggie’s memories return in snatches, nothing seems to make sense. Why was Joey acting so strangely at the party? Where did he go after taking her home? And if Joey was keeping these secrets, what else was he hiding?

The latest novel from the author of The Tension of Opposites, One Moment is a mysterious, searing look at how an instant can change everything you believe about the world around you.


My review after the jump.

Before I Fall

Author: Lauren Oliver
Goodreads Rating: 4.01
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pages: 470
Reviewed by: Nicole


I was curious about this book so when I saw it at the library I decided to give it a go. In doing so, I bumped it ahead of all other books that have been patiently waiting on my reading list (all year I might add). This is the fourth time that I am reviewing one of her books, and it won't be the last since her latest release Pandemonium is among those sitting patiently in line.


Goodreads Synopses:

What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.

The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. Living the last day of her life seven times during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death--and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

Check out my review:

The Hunger Games: The Movie

So I've expressed how much of a book nerd I am to all of you. I told you about my books, how much I intend to read and that I love to go to the midnight release parties for books as well as for the movies. What makes you think Hunger Games was any different? Not only did I go to the midnight viewing, but I went with my mother, my best friend (who was jet lagged from having landed from a trip to London not 24 hours earlier), and my boyfriend (who I forced to read the book, but admits he enjoyed it). I know this is a little late, but I still had things to add to it.

We got there at 9:30 to find that there was already a line out the door. We hit Target for snacks, Barnes and Noble for coffee and then we went to the theater where they told us they had already let in about 200 people so we could head on in if we wanted to. We found four seats easily, and then settled down to wait for two hours. I had a book with me and so did my best friend, but the boy had to venture down four stories, back to his car to get his. And there we sat reading while the younger children around us screamed in excitement. (I was going a little deaf when they started to hand out posters to whoever was the loudest.) Side note to the posters: My mother marched down to the employees and demanded a poster, who told her they were only for the kids, she proceeded to remind the worker that she was in here talking to him months earlier about the movie, and then he gladly handed one to her. Mom -1, Little kids - 0.

There was lots of screaming when it came to the movie starting and the theater getting darker- but how could there not be? We had all been sitting for TWO HOURS waiting-just waiting. Thats when it started. I spent the entire movie squeezing my boyfriends hand because it was the most stressful movie I have ever seen.

On to my review. Which contains spoilers about the movie.

Grave Peril (The Dresden Files #3)

Author: Jim Butcher
Goodreads Rating: 4.12
My Rating: 3.25
Pages: 378 
Reviewed by: Amy

Goodreads Synopsis: 

In all his years of supernatural sleuthing, Harry Dresden has never faced anything like this: the spirit world's gone postal. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone-or something-is purposely stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? If Harry doesn't figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself. 

Review: