IMM (4/30)

I am posting this on Saturday because tomorrow is the kick off to the Spring Blog Carnival! So, I want to have this already up. So that it can get 'some' love!

Ok, so this week I got;

Bought:It's Not Summer Without You (Summer #2) by Jenny HanForever Summer (Laguna Cove & Cruel Summer) by Alyson NoelSomething Borrowed (Darcy & Rachel #1) by Emily GriffinSomething Blue (Darcy & Rachel #2) by Emily Griffin
For Review:The Girl in the Steel Corset (Steampunk Chronicles #1) by Kady Cross The Near Witch by Victoria SchwabThanks Netgalley!

Hey guys I have a giveaway that ends tomorrow! Enter HERE for a chance to win Wither by Lauren DeStefano.
Also The Spring Blog Carnival starts tomorrow. If you haven't signed up. Do so! Lasts from 1st-8th!
Well that is all for me this week! What did you get? What are you reading?Happy Reading. Happy Weekend 

Blog Hop Friday (4/29-5/2)

Blog Hop Friday is a weekly meme created at Crazy For Books

This weeks question is:

"Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?"

Well, my 2011 summer relase would have to be:

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

(I have read this. Will review it closer to release date, BUT I loved it!!! And I cannot wait to have my very own finished, [ and hopefully signed ] copy of this master piece! 

Also I want to read:

Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

(this cover is amazing. And I cannot wait to see what it is going to be like)

What about you? What are you wanting to read that is coming out this summer?!

Teaser Tuesday

Grab your current read! Open up & give a couple sentences.

BUT be careful NOT to include spoilers!!!!!!!!!!!

My Teaser:

So why was there no movement in the street? No disgruntled party goers heading to other clubs in other areas?

And why did the wind hold the fragrance of blood?

I hitched my bag to a more comfortable position on my shoulder, then stepped from the stations half lit platform and 

ran up the stairs leading to Sunshine Avenue. The lights close to the platforms exit were out and the shadows 

closed in the minuet I stepped onto the street.

Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur 

What's your Teaser???

Review: Anna & The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Hardcover, 372 pages ( I read Kindle Version)

Published December 2nd 2010 by Dutton

Read in April 2011

From Goodreads:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

My Thoughts:

Anna & the French Kiss was a good, hot read! 

Anna is sent to a boarding school in Paris. Where she is alone. And outcast. An American. So goes to SOAP, and meets some friends there. She has a hard time at 1st. Not knowing what the menus say. Or the people mostly. She lives off bread, for the 1st couple days. Then learns the cook... speaks a little English :)

She meets Étienne St. Claire. And she's instantly swooning! I mean who wouldn't? The way that he sounded in the book, was very dreamy!! But, Mr. Dreamy is taken. 

I found my self feeling sorry for Anna. Here she is.. alone. Caught in many love triangles through out the book. In many conflicts, with her friends. I found myself wanting to help Anna!! But, Anna was a smart girl. Some times clueless. But she would eventually get it. Figure it out. St. Claire kept her confused. And he was making me mad there for a while. I was like WHY is he leading her on? Why is he with this twit Ellie? WHY WHY WHY! Anna and The French Kiss was a cute book. It was full of laughs, heartbreak, steamy kissing moments :) This book was a win/win for me! 

This is a must read!! You will love it. SO ready to get your copy??

REVIEW: The Goddess Test by Amiee Carter

I read the Netgalley.

Release Date: April 19, 2011
Received From: NetGalley
IBSN: 9780373210268

From Goodreads:

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

My thoughts:

I feel in love with this book from 1% (I read an egalley). The way that the story pulled you in you wanted to keep reading. You had to find out what happened. 

The characters, made up this story. I mean, there was no like cutting edge action. There was some tests, but.. not what you would think. All that didn't matter one little bit. The story's characters were awesome. 

Kate's world feels like its crashing around her. With her mother dying. She is trying to figure out what to do. How to confront this situation. But Kate isn't ready. She's not ready to say goodbye to her mother. 

Kate is a determined girl that is for sure. She wasn't whiny. Which I am THANKFUL for :). She took this role in her hands, and did great with her 'task'. It's allot of crazy things that you find out in the end. Witch makes that ending so better. The love in this story between Henry & Kate is genuine.  

I don't want to give away any details. Because this is a book you SHOULD read. I say get it. Read it. You will LOVE it. All in all this was a good read. I was satisfied with the story. The Characters. Everything.

So this is on my top reads for sure. I am glad that I read the galley from Netgalley! Now, for a finished copy. Because the cover is beautiful :). 

You need a copy? 
You should have one !! :)

Sunday Stew

This is my very 1st Sunday Stew post. This meme is hosted by Shannon @ Books Devoured.

So, I hope that I do this right. 


Please click here for Shannon's Sunday Stew and more information on it!

Book Mark of the Week:

I am reading 2 books right now, so I need 2 book marks right?

\

1st one is the Serenity Prayer. 

2nd one is my Sex & The City one I got at Borders, before they closed.

Around The Web:

Well starting May 1st there is going to be a Spring Blog Carnival. Hosted by some pretty awesome bloggers!! You will want to sign up for that. Because, it is going to rock :)--->

^^Another thing that is going on is RAK. If you haven't heard about it, it's Random Acts Of Kindness. The lovely duo over at Book ♥ Soulmates made up this lovely Idea.

I have been attending the BBP 2011 this year!

I have had such an awesome time. They have had some awesome Panels, and I have learned so much about blogging. I have met some pretty awesome Bloggers, Authors, & Publishers. Awesome 5 days it was. Sad it is ending today. I will be attending next year for sure!!-->

Around Me:

Well, I am currently reading The Goddess Test by Amiee Carter on Netgally. It is awesome. I love it so far. I have not been getting much reading done the past 5 days because of the conference, but I am also reading Where She Went by Gayle Forman. I have been reading a couple pages here and there of The Twilight Saga: The Illustrated Guide. It is very good information so far, allot of pages that's for sure!

My kids are on Spring break too. SO, that leaves little time for no noise. & my name not being called every 5 seconds :)

Next week I hope to start Playing Hurt. And my netgally choice will be Starcrossed!

I hope that you have had an awesome week.

In My Mailbox [IMM]

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

I am doing pictures this week. I only received 2 books.

I bought one and I got a RAK gift.

I bought:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

My RAK gift:

The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver

This RAK gift was from Angela @ Reading Angel - thank you

Wither by Lauren DeStefano Giveaway + Author Interview

*GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED*

What if you knew exactly when you would die? 

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. 
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. 
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.




How amazing does that book sound? Well, I tell you... IT IS AMAZING! So, I want one lucky winner to have this lovely book on there book shelf. So today I am having a giveaway! 
So, I am going to get to the rules of this giveaway!! THEN I am having a INTERVIEW with Lauren!! I am very honored that I got her on my blog!!! 
So, here we go!


The Rules of The Giveaway:

• This is a US Giveaway - I do not have the money to ship international. Sorry.
• You must be 13 or Older
• You DO NOT have to be a follower, but you know it's always appreciated ;)
• Fill out the WHOLE form. It's only 4 things to fill out.
• April 16th - May 1st (11:59pm) is the length of this giveaway!
• Winner will be chosen from Random.org
• Winner will have 48 [2days] hours to respond, before another winner is chosen.

Click HERE to fill out the form!

Q&A

A Conversation with

Lauren

DeStefano

 Author of

Wither

a

 Simon & Schuster

Children’s Publishing

Q: Your novel combines genetic engineering, polygamy, and low life expectancies to create an awesome storyline. How did the idea come to you?

A: I may never know exactly where it came from. This story is the culmination of many strange factors. I was bedridden with the flu, for starters, and I was getting frustrated with an adult writing project I had going. My agent suggested that I try something out of my comfort zone, something that I would normally never write, and she also linked me to a site that was taking short story submissions. I began Wither with the intention of making it a short story, and I had no idea where it would take me. Page one began with a girl in a dark place; she didn’t know where she was going, and she was scared. That girl turned out to be my protagonist, Rhine, and at the time she knew about as much of her story as I did.

Q: Describe your debut novel, Wither, in three words.

A: A broken fairytale.

Q:  If you could pair Rhine, Linden and Gabriel with any character from any book, who would your pick for each be?

A: I probably wouldn’t do that. It’s hard to imagine the characters in this world entering another world. But for Rhine, I would say that being paired up is the last thing she’d want. She’s a strong-willed girl who values freedom above all else; love is not something she’s ever thought to look for.

Q: Can you tell us why you chose the title Wither, and how it correlates with Rhine’s story?

A: It was a title that the publisher and I generated from a long list, after the story had been through copyediting. It can be interpreted any number of ways, but for me it describes what’s happening not only to my characters, but to everything around them. Flowers, trees, crumbling buildings—it’s a world where everything is slowly dying.

Q: How long did it take you to write Wither?

A: The first draft took about a month, which isn’t typical for me. I have some unpublished stories that have taken years to complete.

Q: What can we expect from future books in this series?

A: For some big questions to be answered, and for some bigger questions to arise.

 Q: Is there any certain person who instilled the passion for reading and writing in you? A family member or a teacher maybe?

A: I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed, and when I was young I didn’t give much thought to why I loved it, nor did I share it with anyone. I saw it as a private thing, like keeping a diary, except all the entries were fictitious. In fifth grade I was assigned to write a short story for school, and I remember my teacher pulling me aside and asking if I had ever considered writing books when I grew up. Before that moment, publication had never occurred to me, but as I got older I began to take the idea more seriously.

Q: Were you inspired by other dystopian stories, such as The Handmaid's Tale? What other dystopian would you recommend we read?

A: I have seen a lot of comparisons between my story and The Handmaid’s Tale which frankly surprises me. I am a huge admirer of Margaret Atwood and would absolutely recommend her dystopian, but I think her story and mine focus on different topics and paint different worlds. As far as recommending dystopians, it would really depend on what the reader is looking for. The beauty of dystopian fiction is that it breaks the boundaries we’re used to; it makes us uncomfortable, and it makes us see our own world in a new light, and so I would only recommend, whatever dystopian each reader chooses, that it’s met with an open mind.

Q: What are some of your favorite books that have had the biggest influence on your writing?

A: I’m not sure that other books are any more or less influential as anything else that might inspire me, such as a conversation or a crime documentary—I never really know what will trigger something. I once wrote an entire scene because of a shape I saw in a puddle.

Thank you Lauren for the Interview. 

Want to know more about Lauren DeStefano?

Website | Twitter | Facebook |Chemical Garden Fansite | Goodreads

Wither by Lauren DeStefano Review

Hardcover, 356 pages

Published March 22nd 2011 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

ISBN 1442409053 

ISBN 13: 9781442409057

SERIES: CHEMICAL GARDEN #1

What if you knew exactly when you would die? 

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. 

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. 

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

My Thoughts:

Where do I start? I have thought about what to say in this review! How I could express my love for this book! I keep saying.. 'wow'. I loved this book. Wither (chemical Garden #1) was such an awesome read. The world that Rhine lives it. It's eerie. The males live until the age 25. Females live until 20. How could you deal with knowing when you were going to die? That would be a hard something to swallow. 

Rhine and her twin brother Rowan lived on there own. There parents had passed. So, they had to work together. To live. Survive. Until one day the Gatherers take her. Kidnap her. Take her away from her brother. She was sold, to be a bride. Rhine was a very determined girl. When she got it in her mind what she was going to do, she set her mind to it. Escaping. Freedom. Rhine played the part well, as wife. But she would never, ever allow herself to let her 'husband' Linden lay with her. Linden. The character relationship that I built with linden was a love/hate one. It was easy to hate him. Knowing what he was doing to these...'children'. Making them his wife. But in the book you will find that near the end, it is hard to hate Linden. What did he know about this arrangement. The one is father, Housemaster Vaughn made. Was he kept in the dark? Did he know?  Rhine and her 2 sister wives, Cecliy & Jenna were in this together. No matter what. The illusion of this life was not enough for Rhine. Being in a cage was not enough for her. She became friends with the attendant Gabriel. Through the time of talking to him. Getting to know about him, his life, Rhine became to like him. love him even. 

They made a plan. 

I easily imagined this world as I read. Page after page I was pulled into the world. The author made the writing have so much detail, that you could easily imagine what Rhine was talking about, what she and the other sister wives were feeling. Housemaster Vaughn was the one character I would never in my life want to meet. He was a vicious man. Was he hurting Jenna? Will he hurt Bowen? What was he doing in that basement? It is the eerie face that I most likely don't want to know. 

The ending of this book kept me wanting more. Excited for the 2nd book to be released! 

I cannot wait to see what comes of the final pages of book 1. I want so much for Rhine to be.. Free!

*Thank you Lauren DeStefano, for this beautiful book! Another thing I loved, was the cover. It is BEAUTIFUL, and how the design goes all through the book, that is awesome.

*If you have not read this book, please do. This 2011 debut author has a gift of writing!

Thank you for reading my Review! 

Ready to buy your copy? Yes, you are! :)

blOg hOp

"Pick a character from a book you are currently reading or have just finished and tell us about him/her."
Rhine ElleryFrom Wither by Lauren DeStefano. I just finished this book yesterday!! I loved it. The characters. all of it. Rhine, for being in her situation ( i don't want to give spoilers ), is a VERY strong girl. She is 16. She is very determined. I love how the author made her that way. But, she was very good at pleasing others. She wasn't pleasing for fun. She very much had a plan. She is someone I'd love to have as a friend! :)

Happy Reading!!

Review Policy

I've MOVED:

http://www.readingangel.com/

Quote It

So, I was thinking of all the great books out there. All the quotes, that took our breathe away! Maybe we're hopeless romantics. : ) But, the wording in a book is important.. don't you think! Quote It. Books you've read in the past. That you love. Books your reading now!! What quote has stood out to you.

What about Quotes of Life? 

What are some quotes, that have gotten you through a hard time?

Or, picked you up when you was down.. Or just made you feel... good?

Share with me, what quotes you love. 

Life:

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
— Marilyn Monroe

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
— Dr. Seuss

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
— Robert Frost

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
— Mohandas K. Gandhi

Books:

"I love you. Remember. They cannot take it"
— Lauren Oliver (Delirium)

"His lips move silently, and I know what he says: the words of a poem that only two people in the world know."
— Ally Condie (Matched)

"All the most powerful emotions come from chaos-fear, anger, love-especially love. Love is chaos itself. Think about it! Love make no sense. It shakes you up and spins you around. And then, eventually, it falls apart."
— Kirsten Miller (The Eternal Ones)

"After all the thousand times I’ve told you I love you, how could you let one word break your faith in me?...I could see it in your eyes, that you honestly believed that I didn’t want you anymore. The most absurd, ridiculous concept—as if there were any way that I could exist without needing you!"
— Stephenie Meyer (New Moon)

Those are some of my favorites. What are yours???