Cover Characteristic – Ethnic Characters

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL here or over at Sugar & Snark.

My Picks This Week:

5. Minion (Vampire Huntress Legend #1) by L.A. Banks
3. Night Broken (Mercy Thompson #8) by Patricia Briggs
2. Scar (Pack Rulez #1) by Kassanna
1. Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst


My Favorite Pick:

Book Title: The Rivers of Zadaa

Authors: DJ MacHale

Book Series: Pendragon, Book 6

Genres: YA, Fantasy, Time Travel

Release Date: July 10, 2005

The battle continues. The struggle of good versus evil continues as Bobby Pendragon follows Saint Dane to the territory of Zadaa. Saint Dane's influence has fueled the fire of discontent between two warring tribes: the Rokador and the Batu. This is also the territory where the Traveler Loor lives as a member of the Batu. Together she and Bobby must work to thwart Saint Dane's efforts to destroy Zadaa.

But as Bobby pursues Saint Dane, he begins to notice changes in himself. He is no longer a flip kid looking for excitement. He is a young man beginning to see this quest as more than a series of adventures. He is also learning that as a Traveler, he has powers no normal human should have.

In this latest installment of Bobby Pendragon's battle to save humanity, discovery and danger go hand in hand as D. J. MacHale takes readers on an emotional thrill ride they won't soon forget..

It's not the most dynamic cover of the bunch, but I had to pick The Rivers of Zadaa as my favorite. The Pendragon series was one of the first YA series that really loved since ... (ahem, ahem Babysitters Club and Goosebumps - don't judge me). Interesting little tidbit is that the author, D.J. McHale, was also a co-creator of one of my favorite T.V. shows in my younger years, Are You Afraid of the Dark!

But, about the book. Loor is such a badass character and definitely my favorite Traveler besides Bobby himself. For me, this book also set the tone for the rest of the series and was a great read. Check out this series. It's a great one... Hobey-Ho!

Book Blogger Hop: January 17th - 23rd — Blogging: Pays the Bills or 'Cuz You Love It?

Welcome everyone to another post of Book Blogger Hop (hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer). Each week there will be a new topic submit by a blogger and everyone can join in with their answers. You should join us! It's quite fun!

This Week's Topic/Question

Do you blog for a living or for fun? (submitted by Judy @ Musings and Ramblings)

My Answer:

For the fun of it. The love of reading is genetic. My mom passed down the bug to me, and I have been flying through the pages ever since. I didn't really share my love for reading with anyone until I joined Goodreads a few years back, and then two in-person book clubs last year. Starting a blog just seemed like the next thing to do, especially since I work on company's website. My blog's only been online for a few months, but so far I am loving it!

Cover Characteristic – Trees

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL here or over at Sugar & Snark.

My Picks This Week:

5. Airborne (Airborne Saga #1) by Constance Sharper

4. Shattered (Dream Realms Trilogy #1) by Sophia Sharp

3. Airel (The Airel Saga #1) by Aaron Patterson & Chris White

2. Shadow Man (Prince Andy and the Misfits #1) by Karen Gammons

My Favorite Pick:

Book Title: PineLight

Authors: Jillian Peery

Book Series: PineLight, Book #1

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Release Date: July 4, 2011

I loved him—that was my torment. And I was losing him all over again.

Walls crumbled all around me. An undeniable force pulled at my core. I tried to fight it, I tried to deny it the power, but I was weak. I felt pain in my side, and I knew that this dark force was winning. My veins started to burn, and I screamed, but it didn’t stop.

Thrilling and seductive, PINELIGHT is a bittersweet love story submerged in a dark and beautiful world.

Why it's my favorite: There is such beauty in the simplicity of PineLight's cover.  Maybe it's because of the stark whiteness of the dress and the moon against the deep blues and greens of the forest scene. It's also in the way that she's suspended in air... It's absolutely magical and breathtaking.

I'm including the book trailer, because frankly it got me so amped up I'm reading it right now... even though it's messing up my reading challenge queue this month.  It's also got some gorgeous shots of trees, which goes along the theme, and a pretty cool song.

Book Review: The Candidates by Inara Scott

Book Series: Delcroix Academy, Book #1
Author: Inara Scott
Genres: YA, Paranormal, Magic Boarding School
Format: eBook

Book Club(s): Never Too Old for Y.A. or N.A. Books
Reading Challenge(s): Birthstone Color Parade & Series Challenge


My Ranking:

 

Dancia Lewis has a secret problem: whenever she sees someone threaten a person she cares about, it's a disaster.""Cars skid. Structures collapse. Usually someone gets hurt. So Dancia does all she can to avoid getting close to anyone, hoping to suppress her powers and stay under the radar. But when recruiters from the prestigious Delcroix Academy offer her a scholarship, she accepts. After all, it's a school for diplomats' kids and prodigies, not B students with uncontrollable telekinetic tendencies. Or is it?

This captivating debut, the first in a series, puts a paranormal twist on private school.

This is an interesting book to review, because I really don’t know how I feel about it. After finishing this book, my prevailing thought was, “it was over before it began.” Because the actual plot didn’t get going until about 75% through. My biggest questions were the main ones: why were these kids chosen for the school. What is Delaquiox really? I rolled my eyes as I reached Chapter 14 and I still hadn't gotten any kind of an answer. But that's not to say I wasn't enjoying the read. I love the snarkiness of writing (or Dancia's personality) and the mysterious powers that Dancia possesses were intriguing.

My main issue with the story is was that the level of detail is lacking. I didn't get a good enough sense of the school - what the classrooms were like, what the atmosphere was like, and how Dancia fit in. For this to be more of a successful mystery, for me, detail is necessary and was missed.

What I liked most about the story, however, was Dancia. She was a good lead. A bit socially awkward, but hey at least it’ was for an actual reason. I did like that we got to see her change as she interacted with the other students. But even so, I felt a bit short changed. I didn’t feel like I had enough to connect with everyone else in the story. There was not enough altercation with her bitchy roommate, Christine; her friendships with Esther & Hennie were barely visited; and her crush, Cam, was just a blip. Everything felt to superficial in the “on the surface” sense. There was a lot about the boy who got under her skin, Jack, which I enjoyed. But, overall I felt like the writing was more “tell and less “show”.

Why I kept reading the book and what I was most intrigued by was the actual source of her powers. The fact that the reasoning leaned more toward being science-based and less paranormal has me very curious. But I have to say that I was really bummed about the lack of "magic" at the school. I get that the school is supposed to be a front for the gifted Level Three and Fours, but come one. No one really did anything “special” inside the school. There were plenty of people in opposition of Dancia who could have done something, but nothing happened. And what really irked me - and is a spoiler - is when Dancia got her hands one two very special somethings and she didn’t even share what she learned. I threw my hands up in the air like, come on, give us the goods. But alas, she did not.

 The last thing I’m going to comment on is her choice of boys - Cam or Jack. Why Cam ... why? Cam is just so ... obvious. A cute and charming people pleaser. That was all he brought to the table…. boring! Jack is the better choice. I like the edge of Jack. The trust, the emotion, and his the opening up to only her. It seems like their relationship could be more special that way. Maybe that's something Dancia will realize later on.

I still have a lot of questions, which is why I’m going to give it another go and continue with the series. I just hope this one has more meat. I need more!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Fifty-Seven Lives of Alex Wayfare

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases. Click the link to participate.

My Pick This Week: 

Book Title: The Fifty-Seven Lives of Alex Wayfare
Author: M.G. Buehrlen
Book Series: Alex Wayfare, Book 1
Genres: YA, Science Fiction, Time Travel
Release Date: March 4, 2014

For as long as 17-year-old Alex Wayfare can remember, she has had visions of the past. Visions that make her feel like she’s really on a ship bound for America, living in Jamestown during the Starving Time, or riding the original Ferris wheel at the World’s Fair.

But these brushes with history pull her from her daily life without warning, sometimes leaving her with strange lasting effects and wounds she can’t explain. Trying to excuse away the aftereffects has booked her more time in the principal’s office than in any of her classes and a permanent place at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Alex is desperate to find out what her visions mean and get rid of them.

It isn’t until she meets Porter, a stranger who knows more than should be possible about her, that she learns the truth: Her visions aren’t really visions. Alex is a Descender – capable of traveling back in time by accessing Limbo, the space between Life and Afterlife. Alex is one soul with fifty-six past lives, fifty-six histories.

Fifty-six lifetimes to explore: the prospect is irresistible to Alex, especially when the same mysterious boy with soulful blue eyes keeps showing up in each of them. But the more she descends, the more it becomes apparent that someone doesn’t want Alex to travel again. Ever.

And will stop at nothing to make this life her last.

It's been at least five years since a series about time travel has piqued my interest, so I'm very excited. The over all premise sounds like it could make for a really great series.

Also, to be honest, someone could have given this book a better cover. It's extremely lackluster. Why woods? Nothing about the description says, "I'm walking through a starlit forest at night..." A combination of all of the settings in the description's leading paragraph could have made for something very cool.

Cover Characteristic – Stars

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL here or over at Sugar & Snark.

My Picks This Week:

5. For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars #1) by Diana Peterfreund

4. Light of the Moon (Legend of the Dreamer #1) by David James

3. The Witch's Curse (Legend of the Dreamer #1.1) by David James

2. Shades of the Stars: Series Anthology (Legend of the Dreamer #1.5) by David James

My Favorite Pick:

Book Title: These Broken Stars

Authors: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner 

Book Series: Starbound, Book 1

Genres: YA, Dystopia

Release Date: December 10, 2013

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Skin Game by Jim Butcher

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases. Click the link to participate.

MY FIRST PICK FOR 2014 IS...

Book Title: Skin Game
Author: Jim Butcher
Book Series: The Dresden Files, Book 15
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: May 27, 2014

Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, is about to have a very bad day….

Because as Winter Knight to the Queen of Air and Darkness, Harry never knows what the scheming Mab might want him to do. Usually, it's something awful.

He doesn't know the half of it….
Mab has just traded Harry's skills to pay off one of her debts. And now he must help a group of supernatural villains—led by one of Harry's most dreaded and despised enemies, Nicodemus Archleone—to break into the highest-security vault in town so that they can then access the highest-security vault in the Nevernever.

It's a smash-and-grab job to recover the literal Holy Grail from the vaults of the greatest treasure hoard in the supernatural world—which belongs to the one and only Hades, Lord of the freaking Underworld and generally unpleasant character. Worse, Dresden suspects that there is another game afoot that no one is talking about. And he's dead certain that Nicodemus has no intention of allowing any of his crew to survive the experience. Especially Harry.

Never in my life have I stalked an author's website like I did last year. I've been itching for this book ever since I devoured Cold Days (The Dresden Files, Book 14) audiobook in one sitting on New Year 2013. That book was beyond amazing and at it's conclusion - it hit me like cold-cocked punch in the face ... but I liked it, a lot. Finally, an early Christmas present came when I heard about the May release date. I'm so happy!

This series, which has never slowed down, just keeps getting better and better. I hope Butcher has it in him to write at least one of these every year for the rest of my life because I'd definitely be into reading them. Yep, I'm a Dresden addict and I loves it!

And on a every important side note, how does that description sound? Pretty flippin' fantastic!