Saturday 31 August 2013

A-Z Book Survey



I've seen this going around, and thought I'd join in the A to Z Survey from Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner

Author you’ve read the most books from:

 

Best Sequel Ever:

I loved Anna Dressed in Blood, and Girl of Nightmares just summed things up nicely, and gave you closure, even if it wasn't how you wanted it to end.

Currently Reading:

Drink of Choice While Reading:

Water? I mainly drink water, I mean, something's got to dilute the coffee milkshake.

E-reader or Physical Book?

I love physical books, always have, always will so I keep them for when I'm home and use my Kindle when out.

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School:

Uhm, this is awkward. Okay, so either Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars because, really, there's no need for an explanation. Or Dimitri Belikov from Vampire Academy, I guess I like older guys?

Friday 30 August 2013

Review: Prep School Confidential

Prep School Confidential
 Author:

Publication Date: July 30th 2013
Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin       
 

Anne Dowling practically runs her exclusive academy on New York’s Upper East Side—that is, until she accidentally burns part of it down and gets sent to a prestigious boarding school outside of Boston. Determined to make it back to New York, Anne couldn't care less about making friends at the preppy Wheatley School. That is, until her roommate Isabella’s body is found in the woods behind the school.

When everyone else is oddly silent, Anne becomes determined to uncover the truth no matter how many rules she has to break to do it. With the help of Isabella’s twin brother Anthony, and a cute classmate named Brent, Anne discovers that Isabella wasn’t quite the innocent nerdy girl she pretended to be. But someone will do anything to stop Anne’s snooping in this fast-paced, unputdownable read—even if it means framing her for Isabella’s murder.


"Roses are  red, 
 Violets are blue  
Your roommate is dead 
Mind your own business, or you will be, too."    -Prep School Confidential.

"Once upon a time there was a girl who was special. 
This is not her story. 
Unless you count the part where I killed her." - Ultraviolet by
 
The point to that, you ask? Well, there needs to be more things like that, because really, I'll read them in a heartbeat.
I have never watched or read Gossip Girl, but I'm addicted to Pretty Little Liars, and Veronica Mars, and Prep School Confidential in essence, reminds me of them.
When Anne Dowling starts a fire and burns down her school (Ahem, part of the auditorium in the school), is the last straw for her fancy school, and her over-emotional mother (no, really, she needs to see someone, stat.) and her big shot Lawyer of a father, she gets sent to an exclusive small boarding school, Wheatley, where the kids are all proper, and sons and daughters of politically important people. Wheatley, with they're proper uniform with ties and headbands. In other words, way out of Anne's comfort zone. It doesn't take her long to settle in and her roommate is nice, she finds it's not so bad, though she misses her friends and ruling her old school. Until her roommate is murdered and nobody questions anything and sweeps it under the rug.
But one thing's for sure; Anne will find the murder.
Even if it puts hers in danger.
There is a desperate need  to have more characters like Anne Dowling. She may be rich, and easily a Queen Bee, but she's not a bitch, she's not snobby, she's outspoken and confident but insecure enough that she's not all high and mighty . She's snarky and sarcastic, and all kinds of wonderful, and very observant . She's also mischievous, a rule breaker, a little untrusting but really, really loyal. And she also sees the lines between her world and the world at Wheatley, and the shocking reality of what hides behind closed doors. She was determined, even when she was afraid, even when she knew she was being framed for Isabella's murder. She was funny too, with her own quirks. What I did find, she underestimated the friends she made, her little following, and took them for granted. But under the circumstances, when she can't trust anyone, I forgive that. And that she was never mean about it.
Anthony, Isabella's brother. Hmm, I'm not sure about him. He was a little contradictive, calling out Anne for being snobby and presumptuous, when he was being presumptuous about her at the same time. He's the type of hit-first character, he doesn't think things through, and yes I felt sorry for him, but I didn't really care for him at all.
Then there's Brent, who 's hot and cold with Anne at times, who's also hiding something from her. He was nice, and a little mysterious, and though his reputation is of a 'ladies man.' or, which I like to call it, a man whore, he's not, and he really likes Anne. I needed more Brent.
And of course, the mean-girl. Alexis, used to getting what she wants, whether from blackmail or sabotage, or her father throwing money at the school. Ex-queen Bee because she is, well frankly, a bitch. A real bitch. Pompous and arrogant, with a fake smile and daggers for eyes, all kinds of fake that's not even hiding that it's fake.
I didn't like her in the slightest. But that's probably the point.
The thing I loved about Prep School Confidential is that it actually kept me guessing. I watch a lot of crime shows and am usually right, and though I had a feeling, I wasn't a 100% sure, and I was wrong. Which made me happy, because it wasn't predictable.

I also loved that the romance was light, which depending on my mood, differs whether it annoys me or not. But, it alright good, and no insta-love people! It progressed with the book, and wasn't the main focus, and it would've been just as good without it.

Oh, Prep-School Confidential, you were full of charm, wit, and murder. I want to give you a formal apology, I really underestimated you. I'm sorry.
 
Rating: 4.5/5
 
 






 

Feature & Follow (#2)

Feature and Follow Friday is a weekly bloghop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. I participated last week and discovered a lot of great blogs, so I'm really looking forward to doing the same this week!

 
This weeks Question:
If you could only have ONE – one book – for the rest of your life. Don’t cheat…what would it be?

Awh, crap. Now that's just cruel.

No, seriously, I've been sat here thinking for ten minutes....

Uh, okay, alright, alright. I'll choose.

I'm going to type the name with my eyes closed.

1...
2...
3...

The Fault In Our Stars.

If a book can get me crying like that, it's a winner.

Happy Friday!



Thursday 29 August 2013

Booking Through Thursday: Quantity or Quality?

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme, hosted by btt2, about (mostly) books and reading.


Which is more important? Quality for your reading? Or quantity?


Though I do hate starting a book that's maybe only 100-200 pages, there's no doubt quality is more important. You could have a 500 page book that could be completely boring and therefore won't finish. What's important to me, is mainly the quality of the writing and the characters. Everything else like genre, is optional.

What do you prefer?


Wednesday 28 August 2013

Waiting on Wednesday (#8)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.
 
Last week I had a near publication pick, so this week's a little further afield. Just to torture myself.
I was really surprised by Prep School Confidential, in the best way possible. It was nothing like I thought it would be, and I loved it.
 
Wicked Little Secrets (Prep School Confidential #2) by
Expected publication: March 4th 2014 by St. Martin's Griffin




Anne Dowling becomes entangled in a web of secrets involving a missing student and a conspiracy at Wheatley Prep in this fast-paced, juicy follow-up to Prep School Confidential

Anne Dowling—a fresh, original, and funny new YA heroine whose knowing, irreverent voice will remind readers of Pretty Little Liars and Private—is back for her second semester at Wheatley Prep. Although things have settled (somewhat) since her roommate Isabella’s death, Anne's still kind of obsessed with the disappearance of Wheatley student Matthew Weaver thirty years ago, since she found a picture of him and his crewmates with the words “they killed him” scrawled on the back among Isabella’s things.

When Anne learns that her boyfriend Brent’s dad is one of the now-powerful Wheatley alumni who rowed crew with Matthew, and that the crew team continues to induct new members with a creepy-sounding ritual called “The Drop,” she knows further investigation could put her relationship with Brent in danger. Determined to discover the truth, she reaches out to Anthony, Isabella’s townie brother, who helps her delve deeper into the secrets in Wheatley’s past. Secrets someone would kill to keep hidden. As the school’s Spring Formal—and its notorious afterparty—approaches, Anne sees the perfect opportunity to do some off-campus digging into the lives of Wheatley’s VIPs in this thrilling, unputdownable read—but if she’s not careful, she’ll be the next student who never comes back.




What's on yours this week? :)

 
 

Tuesday 27 August 2013

Teaser Tuesday (7)





Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Right, my Teaser Tuesday is going to be early since I'm going to England tomorrow! On three hours sleep, I really hate my insomniac tendencies sometimes.

Title: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Author:
Release date: August 20th 2009  
Publisher:  Disney Hyperion
Page: 29 on ADE 


Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she manoeuvre a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.



"Hello." It was the exact same thing Mr. Mosckowitz had said, but oh was it different. "Welcome to the Gallagher Academy. I hope you're considering joining us," he said, but I'm pretty sure Macey, Bex, and I all heard, I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world, and I'd be honored if you'd bear my children. (Really, truly, I think he said that.)

Did I mention how much I love this book?  Link me, and I'll check yours out when I get back. :)

Monday 26 August 2013

Review: The Originals

The Originals
Author:

Publication Date: May 7th 2013        
Publisher:  Little Brown Books for Young Readers     

 
17-year-olds Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey Best grew up as identical triplets... until they discovered a shocking family secret. They're actually closer than sisters, they're clones. Hiding from a government agency that would expose them, the Best family appears to consist of a single mother with one daughter named Elizabeth. Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey take turns going to school, attending social engagements, and a group mind-set has always been a de facto part of life...

Then Lizzie meets Sean Kelly, a guy who seems to see into her very soul. As their relationship develops, Lizzie realizes that she's not a carbon copy of her sisters; she's an individual with unique dreams and desires, and digging deeper into her background, Lizzie begins to dismantle the delicate balance of an unusual family that only science could have created
     
When they were younger, Lizzie, Ella and Betsey Best lived as triplets with their Mother, and believed they were so. Until they have to run and their Mother tells them the truth. They're identical, carbon copies of a supposed baby that had died, and used the DNA to clone the three. Now on the run for years,  Lizzie, Ella and Betsey live as one, one whole person, Elizabeth Best, and take a third of the day each, from school, to afternoon, to night work and college classes Lizzie takes the first half, Ella the second, which leaves Betsey to the night. They wear the same clothes, have to have the same hairstyle, everyday so nobody suspects they're anything but one person.

Sunday 25 August 2013

Stacking The Shelves (#7) & Recap

STSmall
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

 
Netgalley
(Click on covers for goodreads!)
 
 
Oh. My. God. So after reading Prep School Confidential, I needed to read something like it, so on a whim I Bought...
 
 
 
Started it last night, where the hell was I? And why didn't anybody tell me about this series?! This morning, I proceeded to buy the other four and pre-ordered the 6th. Obsessed.
 
I'm also on my 4th book this week. My brain hurts.
 
What did you get this week? :) Link me!
 

 
A recap of posts this week

This week I have read:

Friday 23 August 2013

Review: Chantress

Chantress
Author:
Publication Date: May 7th 2013        
Publisher:  Margaret K. McElderry Books     

 “Sing, and the darkness will find you.” This warning has haunted fifteen-year-old Lucy ever since she was eight and shipwrecked on a lonely island. Lucy’s guardian, Norrie, has lots of rules, but the most important is that Lucy must never sing. Not ever. Now it is 1667, Lucy is fifteen, and on All Hallows’ Eve, Lucy hears a tantalizing melody on the wind. She can’t help but sing—and she is swept into darkness.

When she awakes in England, Lucy hears powerful men discussing Chantresses—women who can sing magic into the world. They are hunting her, but she escapes and finds sanctuary with the Invisible College, an organization plotting to overthrow the nefarious Lord Protector. The only person powerful enough to bring about his downfall is a Chantress. And Lucy is the last one in England.

Lucy struggles to master the song-spells and harness her power, but the Lord Protector is moving quickly. And her feelings for Nat, an Invisible College apprentice and scientist who deeply distrusts her magic, only add to her confusion...

Time is running out, and the fate of England hangs in the balance in this entrancing novel that is atmospheric and lyrical, dangerous and romantic

 
Review

Fifteen year old Lucy, is secluded on an nomad Island with her only companion and guardian, Norrie. Norrie's strict, and has a lot of rules,  but she's the only person Lucy has since her mother died years before when Lucy was 8, and they shipwrecked onto the Island.
Now, All Hallows’ Eve in 1667, Lucy starts hearing notes of music in the wind, calling to her, and she's lulled by it and despite the warning that she's always been told, “Sing, and the darkness will find you.” she sings. The music transports her back home, and she's lost Norrie in the process. But England is not how she remembers it either, though she doesn't remember much, and once she escapes the library she transported to, all she feels is fear.

Cover Reveal: Immagica by K. A. Last

I am so excited to be participating in the cover reveal of Immagica by K.A. Last, we also have an excerpt!
 

Title: Immagica
Author: K. A. Last
Genre: YA Fantasy/Adventure
Expected Date of Publication: November 2013
Word Count: approximately 66,000
Cover Illustration: Lawrence Mann
Cover Designer: KILA Designs
Goodreads: Immagica

Immagica…

Where anything is possible, but not always controllable.

Enter at your own risk

The night before her fifteenth birthday, Rosaline Clayton receives an amulet from her deranged father. He tells her she must find the book, and begs her to save him. Rosaline is used to her father not making any sense, and she dismisses their conversation as another of his crazy rants.

Rosaline and her younger brother, Elliot, find the old, leather-bound book tucked away in their Nana’s attic, and it sucks them into its pages. They land in a magical world where anything is possible, but when Rosaline and Elliot are separated, the only thing Rosaline wants is to find her brother and go home.

The creatures of Immagica have other ideas. Rosaline befriends a black unicorn, two fairies, and a girl named Brynn, who are under threat from a menacing dragon. Rosaline discovers she is bound to Immagica in ways she doesn’t understand, and the fate of this magical world rests entirely on her shoulders.
 
 
Excerpt

The book flew open and a gust of wind whipped my curls around my face. The pages riffled back and forth before coming to a halt, open at the first page. This was getting a little weird. I was about to slam the book shut when words began to appear of their own volition, right before our eyes.

“Um, Elliot. Can you see that? Or am I as crazy as Dad?”
“I can see it,” he whispered.

Immagica, the place where anything is possible, but not always controllable.
                                                           Enter at your own risk.
 

 “What a load of crap,” I said, picking the book up. The new line of text flickered gold and pulsed, on then off, then on again, like a flashing, neon sign. I gingerly picked up the corner of the page and peeked under it to the next, but it was blank.

“How do we enter?” Elliot asked, leaning into me and staring at the book.

"Why do you keep asking me all these questions? You’re here, you know as much as I do.”

“You’re older, and always acting so much smarter than me,” Elliot said. I poked my tongue out. “That’s real mature.” He rolled his eyes.

“Oh, so you’re Mr Maturity now you’re a teenager.”

“Sometimes I’m more mature than you!”

While we argued, we were oblivious to what was happening. The book riffled its pages again, and another gust of wind hit our faces. Before we knew what was happening, the golden glow exploded from the book and sucked us in. That’s the best way I can describe it. One minute we were in my room, surrounded by my grandmother’s elegant interior decorating, and the next we were enveloped with gold light.

At first I felt Elliot beside me, but then he was gone. The light was warm, like a soft, fuzzy blanket. Then the ground hit me in the face. It was hard and rough. The force of my landing knocked the wind out of me, and I tumbled over myself before coming to a halt on my back. Above me was an azure sky dotted with fluffy, marshmallow clouds. I turned my head and spotted the book lying closed on the ground a few metres away. I tried to move to retrieve it, but it took a few moments before I could roll onto my side and get to my knees.

When I finally managed to stand, I took in my surroundings with wide eyes. The sky may have been blue, but the ground was dirty charcoal. Lumps of gravel mixed with sand and dead grass. It stretched on, and on, nothing but barren wasteland no matter which way I turned. The only break in the landscape was where the horizon met the sky.

A lump of fear rose in my throat. Where was Elliot?

I didn’t know where I was, and I was completely alone.


K. A. Last was born in Subiaco, Western Australia, and moved to Sydney with her parents and older brother when she was eight. Artistic and creative by nature, she studied Graphic Design and graduated with an Advanced Diploma. After marrying her high school sweetheart, she concentrated on her career before settling into family life. Blessed with a vivid imagination, she began writing to let off creative steam, and fell in love with it. She now resides in a peaceful, leafy suburb north of Sydney with her husband, their two children and a rabbit named Twitch.
 
 
 

Thursday 22 August 2013

Booking Through Thursday: Second First Time


Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme, hosted by btt2, about (mostly) books and reading.


We all know the beauty of reading a really wonderful book for the first time—when everything about the story and the writing and the timing click to make a reader’s perfect storm … but it’s fleeting, because you can never read that book for the first time again.
So … if you could magically reset things so that you had the chance to read a favorite book/series again for the first time … which would you choose? And why?
And then, since tastes change … Do you think it would have the same affect on you, reading it now, as it did when you read it the first time? Would you love it just as much? Would you risk it?



I'm going to have to do an old & new one, since I seriously can't just pick one book, the old being one of the first books that made an impression and started the reading addiction, and the new being the only one that has since.

The Old
Speak, when I was 13 I borrowed it from my school library, and once I was old enough to buy it myself, I did. Though I haven't read it again since then, because I have the story set in my head, and I feel like I've given it a martyr complex, that if I do read it again- that it'll change into something less. I've read so many since Speak, so many I can't even count, so I don't know if it would make the same impression that it did then, and I don't really want to find out.

The New
There are a few selected books that I'd love to read for the first time again, like Harry Potter, Splintered, Ultraviolet, Vampire Academy, and I've read them many times. Though there's only one that's really plagued me in a good and bad way. It's an immoral one, and a little twisted. But it is the only one since that's imposed so many questions and rants, and actually made my heart hurt by the end of it. So painfully beautiful and well written. I haven't read it since the first time either. I've given it the same complex.

The book?

Heart-Shaped Bruise by

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Waiting on Wednesday (#7)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.
 
This week, I'm looking forward to...
 
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson Expected publication: September 24th 2013 by Delacorte

Not long, now!
 



Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.

But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.
 
Nobody fights the Epics... nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.
 

 What are you waiting on this week?
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Teaser Tuesday (6)




Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.



Title: Poison
Author:
Release date: March 12th 2013    
Publisher:  Disney Hyperion
Place: 5%
 
Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart . . . misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?
 
 


 
"It was run-down and seedy, yes, but it had been her home- where she'd made a name for herself, fallen in love with the wrong man, and betrayed everyone she'd ever known.
Back before she'd tried to murder the princess."

 

Link me to yours! :) 
 
 
 

Monday 19 August 2013

Review: In the Shadow of Blackbirds

In the Shadow of Blackbirds
Author:
Publication Date: April 2nd 2013        
Publisher: Amulet Books






 In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her?





I- what did I just read?
I've read a few Historical books lately, I kind of got sucked in after reading Maid of Secrets , but before that, and seeing what In the Shadow of Blackbirds was about, I decided it wasn't for me, and what a shame that would've been. After I've heard a load of things about it, I decided to try it, oh and I'm so glad that I did and I can honestly say I have never read anything like it. It was just...stunning and brilliant and original.
 
It's such a beautiful, beautiful book that's shrouded in mystery, and the cover just is, captures the essence and setting in one, along with holding true to the photograph. In the Shadow of Blackbird's is not for the faint hearted,  it's grim and grey and eerie, set in 1918 where death was in the air, on your street, in your house, and killed your co-workers, next-door neighbours, friends and family in the form of the Spanish Influenza. If that wasn't sombre enough, the middle of the first World War was going on, and our main character Mary Shelley Black's (named after the Mary Shelley) childhood friend Stephen Embers enlisted months ago.

Sunday 18 August 2013

Stacking The Shelves (#6) & Recap

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Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

 
I have bought...


 
                                             
 
Three totally different ones this time.
 
Since it's been slow, I've had time to practice my colours.
 


What did you get this week?
 
 
A recap of posts this week

This week I have read:

Friday 16 August 2013

Review: Born Wicked

 Born Wicked
Author:
Release date: February 7th 2012 

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.


If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.


After the Cahill Sisters mother dies, all responsibility is passed down to the oldest, Cate. She takes it upon herself  to raise her little sister, to keep the middle child out of trouble, to watch out for them to the best of her ability. There's a reason, besides the obvious, that Cate takes it very seriously. They're witches, and in New England,  in an alternate history, that's a very bad thing. Though basically, being born female is a bad thing. If you're found guilty of witchcraft, you're trialled (sometimes), sent away to an asylum, ship worked, or you just...disappear. Just like magic. Poof.  New England never used to be like this,  witches had control, and religion was a choice as was freedom. Threatened, the Brotherhood rose with the first Terror, casting out the witches, controlling everything and suffocating them, and God forbid you don't do as they say or you'll be acting against the Lord and  perceived as a witch. The brotherhood prefer their women weak, uneducated, obedient and as dull as dishwater.

Thursday 15 August 2013

Booking Through Thursday: Neither a Borrower.

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme, hosted by btt2, about (mostly) books and reading.
 
I’ve asked before how you feel about lending your books. I’ve asked how you feel about libraries. But—how do you feel about borrowing books from friends? Is this something you like to do? Does it make you feel uncomfortable or rushed while reading? Does it affect how you feel about the book you’re reading, pressured into liking it?


I love the general idea that comes with borrowing books from friends- the discussions and fangirling over a book you both love, but I do hate borrowing books. I don't even know why, I just like reading a book that's my own copy. Maybe it's because I feel like they have to borrow one in exchange, and I'm a bad reader that way because I hate lending books. Especially if you know they're the type of person who page folds. I borrowed my cousins copy of L. J. Smith's Night World #01-3 bind-up, and took it on holiday with me. How long did it take me to read all 729 pages of it? 8 hours out of a 10 hour couch ride to Lockerbie for an overnight stay in Lockerbie Manor, before moving onto Edinburgh and Stirling, (traffic was slow.)

I think she borrowed my copy of Vampire Diaries, can't actually remember, but she gave me back mine in pristine condition, probably because I gave her the whole 'do not fold the pages.' and the poor thing probably thought I would hit her or something.

Alas to say, she stuck to borrowing games. :)

I don't feel pressured into reading it as quickly as I can, but I wouldn't like to go over a week and a half, and I'm not pressured into liking it either, we have similar tastes, but when it comes to some books, no. She likes the House of Night series. I can't stand it.


Wednesday 14 August 2013

Waiting On Wednesday (#6)



"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.
 
Summer didn't last. It's raining. Again. 3 days straight. And the ice-cream van's outside.

So, this week I'm looking forward to...


Dear Killer by Expected publication: April 1st 2014 by Katherine Tegen Books.


Rule One—Nothing is right, nothing is wrong.
Rule Two—Be careful.
Rule Three—Fight using your legs whenever possible, because they’re the strongest part of your body. Your arms are the weakest.
Rule Four—Hit to kill. The first blow should be the last, if at all possible.
Rule Five—The letters are the law.

Kit takes her role as London’s notorious “Perfect Killer” seriously. The letters and cash that come to her via a secret mailbox are not a game; choosing who to kill is not an impulse decision. Every letter she receives begins with “Dear Killer,” and every time Kit murders, she leaves a letter with the dead body. Her moral nihilism and thus her murders are a way of life—the only way of life she has ever known.

But when a letter appears in the mailbox that will have the power to topple Kit’s convictions as perfectly as she commits her murders, she must make a decision: follow the only rules she has ever known, or challenge Rule One, and go from there.


1) I might be a little twisted.
2) I watch too much Criminal Minds, and Bones and NCIS LA, I could go on...


What are you waiting on this week?
.

P.S. I can't even... You saw that VA teaser trailer right? Badass, just...badass.

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Teaser Tuesday (5)





Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.



Title: Chantress
Author:
Release date: May 7th 2013
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Page: 58%


 “Sing, and the darkness will find you.” This warning has haunted fifteen-year-old Lucy ever since she was eight and shipwrecked on a lonely island. Lucy’s guardian, Norrie, has lots of rules, but the most important is that Lucy must never sing. Not ever. Now it is 1667, Lucy is fifteen, and on All Hallows’ Eve, Lucy hears a tantalizing melody on the wind. She can’t help but sing—and she is swept into darkness.

When she awakes in England, Lucy hears powerful men discussing Chantresses—women who can sing magic into the world. They are hunting her, but she escapes and finds sanctuary with the Invisible College, an organization plotting to overthrow the nefarious Lord Protector. The only person powerful enough to bring about his downfall is a Chantress. And Lucy is the last one in England.

Lucy struggles to master the song-spells and harness her power, but the Lord Protector is moving quickly. And her feelings for Nat, an Invisible College apprentice and scientist who deeply distrusts her magic, only add to her confusion...

Time is running out, and the fate of England hangs in the balance in this entrancing novel that is atmospheric and lyrical, dangerous and romantic




I felt my neck hairs rise. "You mean...you called up the dead?"
"The dead?" Lady Helaine raised her eyebrows.
"What a question, Lucy. I am a Chantress, not a necromancer."




Short and sweet.

Now that's done, who cares. Anybody seen the VA movie stills? Because I'm trying not. to. look.