"Waiting on" Wednesday: A Million Suns

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Here is my pick of the week!

Title: A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2)

Author: Beth Revis

Release Date: 10 Jan. 2011

Publisher: Razorbill

Pages: 400

Synopsis from Goodreads

When Elder learns harrowing news about the space ship Godspeed, he and Amy must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, all the while dealing with the romance that’s growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart. It all boils down to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

I recently read Across the Universe and, even though I don't usually enjoy sci-fi, I absolutely loved it! The story was incredible, the chracters amazing, and everything else about it had me completely hooked. So now I am impatiantly waiting for the second book. I can't wait to see where the story will go next.

What's your pick of the week? Leave a link and I'll check it out!

"Waiting on" Wednesday: Tris and Izzie

 

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

 

Here is my pick of the week!

 

 

Title: Tris and Izzie

Author: Mette Ivie Harrison

Release Date: 11 Oct. 2011

Publisher: EgmontUSA                     

Pages: 272

Synopsis from Goodreads

A modern retelling of the German fairy tale "Tristan and Isolde," Tris and Izzie is about a young witch named Izzie who is dating Mark King, the captain of the basketball team and thinks her life is going swimmingly well. Until -- she makes a love potion for her best friend Brangane and then ends up taking it herself accidentally, and falling in love with Tristan, the new guy at school.

Last week I watched Tristan and Isolde for the first time and I absolutely loved it! What a wonderful movie. I'm very excited for the book. I actually saw this book first and really liked the cover, and after reading the synopsis I had to see the movie.

What's your pick of the week? Leave a link and I'll check it out!

 

I have one more thing to talk about today. In October me and Tiffany @ "perfectly" inked! will be hosting a halloween themed blog hop. Each week will feature different creatures and we will have giveaways and reviews of books about the creatures of the week. Right now we're looking for bloggers who would be interested in linking up with us. 

If you want to join us you can contact my email (indigo331@comcast.net) or Tiffany's (guyanese_angel96@yahoo.com) and we'll tell you the list of creatures and you can decide which weeks you want to link up in. You can post reviews, giveaways, or something else about the creatures you would like to feature with us. We'll be happy to answer any questions, too!



Review: Across the Universe

Title: Across the Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Release Date: 11 Jan. 2011
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 398
Rates: The Best to Love

Synopsis from Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

My Thoughts

Amy is stuck on Godspeed, trapped there, and with nothing she can do about it. I felt helpless along with her. I wanted to pluck her off the ship and put her back on earth. Fix all of the unfair circumstances shoved at her. She was completely helpless and scared in the darkness she was living in for what was supposed to be 300 years, but then someone tried to kill her!

Elder may live in the future on a ship that he is the future leader of, but he talks, and acts, and reacts, as any other teenager. He gets frustrated and wound up as regular 16 year old boys do. Honestly, he sounds more real than nearly all other boy characters I've read about, and he lives in the future, with huge responsibilities, so there are higher chances of him appearing unusual. He's a fantastically crafted character. All of the characters are. Even the characters you hate you eventually understand them.

I was close to saying this book is character strong, but it's more than that. the unique ship and changes in the future are described in detail without dragging out descriptions. I can see the ship clearly in my mind's eye and imagine the people that live there. The book is also full of shocking and intense information that once revealed feels quite obvious. Each new revelation had me shouting "What?!" before exclaiming "Duh! Of course, of course!"

I want the second book in my hands right now! I suggest you go and pick this up before the second book comes out. You will not be disappointed. Books in space I'm not usually interested in, but this one is incredible.

A Blogging Delay

My computer got a virus and was under attack for several days. I lost valuable blogging time! No doubt I missed so much this week. I missed "Waiting on" Wednesday, which is the best! I missed so many reviews, too. Honestly, I probably won't go back and look everything everyone posted up. But, please, if you posted a review, or anything at all, just let me know and I'll check it out! Really, I'd be happy to!

At least I finally started a new painting. Here is the beginning of my newest creation!
It's my version of Rodel Gonzalez's Peter Pan - Mermaid Lagoon.

Blog Award

I want to give a very warm thank you to Let's Evaluate! She was very sweet and nominated me for this fantastic award right here!



The award is called the Liebster Blog Award and is out there to recognize, mostly new, bloggers who have less that 200 followers.

She's really great, and you should definitely check out her blog!

And here are the rules for this award:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger that gave you the award

2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers

5. And most of all -- have bloggity-blog fun!

And here are the blogs/bloggers I nominate (in no particular order)

The Blogging Book

Maybe Its Love

BookChewer

Book Angel

"perfectly" inked!

They're all wonderful bloggers with great reviews and adorable blogs! Hope you check them out!

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Release Date: 18 Oct. 2007
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 336
Rated: The Best to Love

Synopsis from Goodreads

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

My Thoughts

Jay Asher walks you with Clay through the events that lead Hannah to take her life and where they took place so astonishingly well you won't be able to forget their story. Even though it's about an awful situation that I thought I might not be able to handle reading about I couldn't put the book down. There was a perfect balance that kept me from bawling through the book. It goes back and forth between Hannah and Clay so that you understand the full impact it has on a person, yet you can handle it without wanting to stop.

Through the book you're learning about Hannah's life. You want everything to be okay for Hannah even though you know it won't be. You know the ending, but you still can't help but be completely attached to her. Clay reacted to the tapes so strongly I just wanted to hug him. Who wouldn't? Some of the people involved did horrible things, but others did small things that wouldn't be so terrible if not for everything adding up.

Jay Asher did an incredible job on this book. It leaves you contemplating how your actions shape other peoples lives. But, really, it's an amazing read that I loved. I can't believe it took me this long to read it. If you haven't already, read it!



"Waiting on" Wednesday: Glow

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Here is my pick of the week!

Title: Glow (Sky Chasers #1)

Author: Amy Kathleen Ryan

Release Date: 27 Sep. 2011

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Pages: 307

Synopsis from Amazon

The Empyrean is the only home 15-year-old Waverly has ever known. Part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space, she and her boyfriend Kieran will be pioneers of New Earth. Waverly knows she must marry young in order to have children who can carry on the mission, and Kieran, the handsome captain-to-be, has everything Waverly could want in a husband. Everyone is sure he’s the best choice. Still, there’s a part of Waverly that wants more from life than marriage, and she is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

Suddenly, Waverly’s dreams are interrupted by the inconceivable – a violent betrayal by the Empyrean's sister ship, the New Horizon. The New Horizon’s leaders are desperate to populate the new planet first, and will do anything to get what they need: young girls. In one pivotal moment, Waverly and Kieran are separated, and find themselves at the helm of dangerous missions, where every move has potentially devastating consequences, and decisions of the heart may lead to disaster.

The cover attracted my attention. It's beautiful. I want to hold the book so badly. I mean, look at it! It's gorgeous. Then you read what the book is actually about. I'm so intrigued by the book. The cover, the plot. It sounds great!

 

What's your pick of the week? Leave a link and I'll check it out!

Review: Love Story

Title: Love Story
Author: Jennifer Echols
Release Date: 19 Jul. 2011
Publisher: MTV Books
Pages: 243
Rated: The Best to Love

Synopsos from Goodreads

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.

My Thoughts

Creative writing class where the main character and her love interest write steamy stories about each other? I am there. Throw in drama with her grandmother giving him everything that is rightfully hers? Yes! But, wait, there's another secret? Something else that happened in their intertwined pasts? I must know! And, yes, it is all written by one of the most amazing authors that keeps you reading late into the night.

I refused to stop reading this book until it was over. Every tiny scene and piece of information had me hooked to know more about them and see them overcome their problems. They danced around each other in their writing class pushing each others buttons to aggravate and excite the other, and me. I had several giggling fits while reading the book.

Erin was used to being spoiled by her grandmother, and I loved how proud and adamant she was about being self dependent even when she desperately needed money. Hunter, oh, Hunter... Cocky guy who knew how to get past all defenses and make you completely fall for him. Even the random characters were great. You could be mad at them and still defend them. How does Jennifer do it?

Jennifer Echols is one of my four favorite authors. I am more attached to all of her characters than any other characters I have ever read about. The scenes are epic. I'm going to be a sap for a moment. Have you ever read a scene and then realized you were crying because it was so beautiful you CRAVED being in the scene yourself? Chapter 11. Starts at page 151.

I love this book and will definitely reread it many times.