Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (7)


Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can join in, all you have to do is the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!
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Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman

"I don't know what I expect -- I guess that she'll stand up, point at me, and scream, Female! Female with a sock!" Nat (aka Natalie), 73.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Because It Is Bitter

Cassandra Clare, author of The Mortal Instruments & The Infernal Devices, released the Seelie Court scene from City of Ashes (pages 170-174) in Jace's POV on her website. Apparently she now has 25,000 followers on Twitter and decided to give her fans a treat!
"Okay, I'm at 25,000 followers. That was fast. You all are very dedicated! I have to get home and get the scene; i'll post it later tonight." - Cassandra Clare, twitter.
So for those of you who haven't read it yet, here it is. Enjoy! :D

Crossed Off Challenge List: Clockwork Angel


Rating: * * * * 1/2

This post is purely to announce that I have read and crossed off Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare from the following challenge lists:

2011 YAHFC
2011 OTS

I will be making a post similar to this one for every book that I do not review if it is connected to one of the challenges that I am participating in. This is just so that I have a record of what I have read and what needs to be read in order to complete the challenge.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Book Blogger Hop (10) & Follow Friday (10)




Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books every Friday-Monday. It's a great opportunity to network and visit other blogs and meet new bloggers.

This weeks question is:
"If you could physically put yourself into a book or series...which one would it be and why?"

I would want to be in The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare because they are currently my favorite series. I can not wait for the movie to come out!
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Follow Friday is a meme hosted by Parajunkiee's View. Basically, it is a meme to help you get blog followers. Check out her blog and the Featured Blogger of the week!

This weeks question:
"Give us five book related silly facts about you."

1. I love spending my Saturdays at B&N drinking Starbucks and reading for hours. 
2. I have read every single book ever assigned to me at school.
3. I read mostly YA books because they are awesome. 
4. I have over 100 books at home that need to be read, but I continue buying more because I just love books. 
5. My to-read shelf on Goodreads has almost 2,000 books. 0.O

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (6)


Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can join in, all you have to do is the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!
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This teaser is actually from the book I just finished, but I decided to share this with you guys anyways. :)

Spoiled by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

"Lady Gaga is not doing the sound track," Brick said forcefully at poor, disembodied Caroline, whoever she was. "I don't trust people who don't wear pants."

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Review (9): Warped by Maurissa Guibord

Warped
by Maurissa Guibord



Series:
None
Other Reviewed Titles: None
Release Date: January 11, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pages: 352
Source: Library
Challenge: 2011 DAC
Book Website: None
Author Website: www.maurissaguibord.com
Tessa doesn't believe in magic. Or Fate. But there's something weird about the dusty unicorn tapestry she discovers in a box of old books. She finds the creature woven within it compelling and frightening. After the tapestry comes into her possession, Tessa experiences dreams of the past and scenes from a brutal hunt that she herself participated in. When she accidentally pulls a thread from the tapestry, Tessa releases a terrible centuries old secret. She also meets William de Chaucy, an irresistible 16th-century nobleman. His fate is as inextricably tied to the tapestry as Tessa's own. Together, they must correct the wrongs of the past. But then the Fates step in, making a tangled mess of Tessa's life. Now everyone she loves will be destroyed unless Tessa does their bidding and defeats a cruel and crafty ancient enemy.
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Why I Read This: I read this for the 2011 Debut Author Challenge.

Plot: At the beginning of the novel, we are given two definitions of the word ‘warped’ which is the title of the book. One of the definitions had to do with weaving, the other was about traveling through time. I loved the fact that she took both meanings of the word and incorporated them into the story. This novel was a combination of action, danger, suspense, romance, fantasy and a bunch of other stuff all mixed in. Now on to what actually happened in the story! The beginning was slightly slow and the action didn’t start until Will showed up, but as soon as he got there, everything picked up. There are constant flashbacks that help explain why and how Will got stuck inside of a tapestry. They are really helpful in the overall understanding of the story and give us clues to what will happen next. 

Characters: There were only a few characters in the novel, but that was enough to make the story great. I really liked Tessa and her best friend, Opal, but what I liked most about the two of them was their friendship. They are both very different; Opal is quirky while Tessa is the more rational of the two. When things in Tessa’s life start to get a little crazy and strange, Opal never doubts her and agrees to help right away. Basically, Opal is just awesome and a great friend that anyone would be lucky to have. I quickly became a fan of Will and was even happier with him and Tessa together. Tessa had a tendency of making fun of him which, at times was funny, but just make him feel even more out of place. He wasn’t used to anything from her world considering he was born 400+ years in the past and she should have been a little more understanding. However, my favorite part about Tessa was that she was just as sarcastic as I am. Oh, and did I mention that her dad owns a book store and they live directly above it?! 
Cover: The cover is gorgeous and I love it almost as much as I love the story. It sort of reminds me of the Uglies by Scott Westerfeld cover which I also like.

Overall Impression: I loved this book! If there is a sequel, I will definitely pick it up. Actually, I’ll probably read any book by Maurissa Guibord. 

Rating: * * * * *


Friday, March 18, 2011

Book Blogger Hop (9) & Follow Friday (9)




Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books every Friday-Monday. It's a great opportunity to network and visit other blogs and meet new bloggers.

This weeks question is:
"Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?"

I usually read 1 book at a time unless I need to read another for my Brit/Lit class. The most I've ever read at the same time was 3, but that was only because 2 were for school and the other I was just reading for fun. I don't like reading too many books at once.
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Follow Friday is a meme hosted by Parajunkiee's View. Basically, it is a meme to help you get blog followers. Check out her blog and the Featured Blogger of the week!

This weeks question:
"How did you come up with your blog name?"

I actually had a really hard time coming up with mine. I knew there had to be something book or genre related in it so I played around with a few names. It didn't take me long to come up with Best of YA which isn't even really original.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Book Perk

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you guys know about this cool site called Book Perk. If you follow The Story Siren, she already did a post about this, but I also think it's a really cool site that deserves some more love.

Basically, it's a site for book lovers that has these special deals and bundles of your favorite books. It isn't just for YA fans, theres a bunch of different genres from biographies to cookbooks. The best part is that most of these books are either signed or include something extra that is related to the book.

If you sign up, you get emails whenever a new bundle becomes available so that you don't have to constantly be checking the site searching for them.

Check it out, I think you'll all love it!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

In My Mailbox (6)


In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. It is posted every Sunday and allows book bloggers to share any books they might have bought, received for review, traded or borrowed from the library that week.
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Library: 
Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman
The False Princess by Eilis O'Neil

Friday, March 11, 2011

Book Blogger Hop (8) & Follow Friday (8)




Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books every Friday-Monday. It's a great opportunity to network and visit other blogs and meet new bloggers.

This weeks question is:
"If I gave you $80 and sent you into a bookshop right now, what would be in your basket when you finally staggered to the till?"

This is the best question ever, lol.
- The Summoning (Darkest Powers #1) by Kelley Armstrong
- Gone (Gone #1) by Michael Grant
- Beautiful Americans (Beautiful Americans #1) by Lucy Silag
- City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4) by Cassandra Clare
- The Oracle of Dating (The Oracle of Dating #1) by Allison van Diepen
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Follow Friday is a meme hosted by Parajunkiee's View. Basically, it is a meme to help you get blog followers. Check out her blog and the Featured Blogger of the week!

This weeks question:
"Just like Ashley said (love it) "Ashley the girl..." who are You the boy/girl, instead of You the blogger?"

I am Joana the girl. I am a 17 year old junior in high school living in California. I have a huge Portuguese family that is spread out all over the world, but at home it's just my mom, my brother, my cat Niko and I. I basically just go to school everyday, go to work, come home and do homework and, if I have extra free time, I read. I'm obsessed with books (obviously), nail polish (I own too many to count) and James Franco (<3). 'm thinking about becoming a Graphic Designer (we'll see that how goes, lol). That's about it. :)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

50 Followers!!

Thank you so much to everyone that is following my little blog. :D
I created this a little over 3 months ago and we've already reached 50 followers! That might not seem like a lot to most of you considering there are book blogs out there with 2,000, but I expected about 20. I was slightly M.I.A. for the month of February, but I am back and excited to write new reviews.
Once again, thank you so much!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Review (8): XVI by Julia Karr

XVI
by Julia Karr


Series: N/A
Other Reviewed Titles: None
Release Date: January 6, 2011
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) 
Pages: 325
Source: Library
Challenge: 2011 DAC
Book Website: none
Author Website: http://juliakarr.com/
Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council–ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world–even the most predatory of men–that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina’s worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina’s mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past–one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.
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Why I Read This: Author is a debut author and I read this for the 2011 DAC.

Plot: The biggest reason I decided to give this book 2 stars instead of 1 is because of the plot. It was somewhat unique and kept me interested until the last couple of pages. The book is set in the future, but it’s a very different future than most people write about. It made me glad that I was born in this century and not 140 years into the future. But this was probably the only interesting aspect of the whole plot. Overall, the plot was very confusing and unorganized. Things just kept randomly happening and there was really no connection between them. Also, Nina was terrified of turning 16 from page one, but nothing ever happened that really explained why she was so scared. I thought this was going to be the major focus of the book, but it was barely ever covered unless Nina was complaining about it. At the end, I was just as confused as I was in the beginning and I feel that a second book is needed in order for us to understand and know everything the author wants us to because so many questions were left unanswered; not just for the reader, but also for Nina. 

Characters: The characters were all pretty cool and they had the potential to be even better, however, they never reached that potential because the writing was just not there to help. I couldn’t connect with the characters and that really took away from the book. Something tragic happens to Nina’s family in the first couple of chapters, but I didn’t really feel anything for her or her family; I knew it was a very bad thing that no one wants to go through, but I couldn’t get myself to really care. Nina also seemed to overreact to almost anything. She would randomly freak out or not care enough which I just thought was really weird. She was very confusing, awkward and paranoid. The other characters were about the same. There was a lot of mystery surrounding Nina’s new friends and we never really get to know what they know or who they really are. 

Cover: I like the cover a lot which is also one reason I even chose to read this book. I am sad to say that I do choose books by their covers most of the time. 

Overall Impression: Not my favorite dystopian novel, but fans of The Uglies Trilogy or The Hunger Games might find it to be interesting and a good read. 

Rating: * * 

In My Mailbox (5)


In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. It is posted every Sunday and allows book bloggers to share any books they might have bought, received for review, traded or borrowed from the library that week.
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I might have gone slightly overboard at Borders this week, but it was mostly because the one by my house is closing so I had to go see if they had any good, cheap books. I ended up going twice in just one week and getting way too many books...oh well. lol

Bought:

Yikes....
The only problem with all of these books is that I don't have any shelves for them! I already have 2 huge bookshelves that are completely full; books are starting to pile up around my room.