I just wanted to post some little things that help you figure out my blog.  Somethings that you normally wouldn’t notice-to enhance your glancing experience.

1. If you click on any of the book pictures, they lead you to amazon.com-to the book.  So you can either get more information about it there, or you can buy it-the cheapest price possible.

2. As you probably know-I don’t write the reviews. I tried, I really did.  They turned out horrible.  When I read them, I didn’t even know what I was talking about-less what I was writing about.  I didn’t think you guys would have understood about the books either-so I just used the reviews from the Barnes and Noble website. They have great synopsis’s and you can actually understand them. I may occasionally post my own (I actually did leave one up-the Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli one-so if you read that, then you will see my writing talent). 

3. I give each book a grade.  If you look to the way right, then you will see how i grade them-this always comes in handy for those of you who want to know what grade I thought the book should get.

Okay, I think that about sums it up. I hope you will enjoy my blog and I could use some ideas-thanks.

Willow by Julia Hoban

Willow by Julia Hoban

Published: April 2, 2009

Reading Level: Young Adult

Pages: 336

Versions: Paperback, Audio

Series: No

 

 

Summary (from Barnes and Noble’s website):

Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, sixteen year- old Willow’s parents died in a horrible car accident. Willow was driving. Now her older brother barely speaks to her, her new classmates know her as the killer orphan girl, and Willow is blocking the pain by secretly cutting herself. But when one boy —one sensitive, soulful boy—discovers Willow’s secret, it sparks an intense relationship that turns the “safe” world Willow has created for herself upside down.

 

I’ve never read a book involving cutting before, so this was new to me.  I didn’t know what to expect.  I knew it would be sad, but it really makes you think.  It makes you think about your life and how some people live theres.  I wanted to jump into the book and tell Willow to stop.  To stop cutting.  She is one stubborn character.  Anyone who reads this can tell you that.  I feel sympathy for her, though, because she lost her parents. But sometimes Willow takes it over the top.  You get mad at her often for doing the dumbest stuff, and for putting her life in jeopardy.

I don’t know if I’ll ever read another book about cutting. It’s too graphic, and makes me cringe.  Me, being a person who can’t stand needles.  So I can’t really take the self-mutilation thing.  I will however say that this was one extroidanary book.  And maybe if you have the same problem as Willow (I’m not judging you or anything) you will be able to relate. And maybe Willow will even help you through it.  Like I said before, she’s one tough cookie.

 

89/100      B+

Yay! The Simon and Schuster blogfest 2009 has officially started.  From Sept. 21st until Oct. 4th-40 authors will answer fourteen questions.  The authors included in this fest are:

and just in case you don't understand:

I will be listing them like this -(authors name-book/s they wrote)

 

1. Jessica Bendinger- The Seven Rays

2. Holly Black- Thithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, Valiant

3. Sarah Rees Brennan- The Demon’s Lexicon

4. Kate Brian- Private series, Non-Blondes series

5. Stephanie Burgis- The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson: A Most Improper Magick

6. Deb Caletti- The Queen Of Everything, Wild Roses

7. Noni Carter- Good Fortune

8. Eileen Cook- What Would Emma Do?

9. Ed Decter

10. Sarah Beth Durst- Ice, Into The Wild, Out of The Wild

11. Becca Fitzpatrick- Hush, Hush

12. Jenny Hann- Shug, The Summer I turned Pretty trilogy

13. Oscar Hijuelos- Dark Dude

14. Nancy Holder- Wicked series, Spirited, Pretty Little Devils

15. Ellen Hopkins- Crank, Burned, Impulse, Glass, and Identical

16. Cynthia Kadohata- Cracker!, Weedflower

17. Lyah LeFlore- Last Night A DJ Saved My Life

18. D.J. MacHale- Pendragon

19. Nina Malkin- Swoon

20. Amanda Marrone

21. Fredrick L. McKissack Jr.

22. Lisa McMann- Wake, Fade

23. Terra Elan McVoy- Pure

24. Neesha Meminger- Shine, Coconut Moon (same book)

25. Hannah Moskowitz- Break

26. James A. Owen- The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica

27. Serena Robar- Giving Up the V

28. Alex Sanchez- The God Box, Rainbow Boys

29. Lisa Schroeder- I Heart You, You Haunt Me, Far From You

30. Elizabeth Scott- Bloom, Perfect You, Something Maybe

31. Neal Shusterman- Unwind, Downsiders

32. L.J. Smith- The Vampire Diaries

33. Lauren Strasnick- Nothing Like You

34. Allison van Diepen- Street Pharm, Snitch

35. Jessica Verday- The Hollow

36. Debbie Viguie- Scarlet Moon, Midnight Pearls

37. Adrienne Maria Vrettos- Skin, Sight

38. Peter Walsh

39. Robin Wasserman- Skinned, Crashed, Hacking Harvard

40. Scott Westerfeld- The Uglies series, The Last Days

41. Rick Yancey- The Monstrumologist

 

So yes, there are apparently 41 authors.  Either i double posted one of them or there is one more than planned. Anyway, it took me forever to write these all up-even though you probably wont even look at them.  I am very excited to see the authors answers to the questions.  If you too want to look at the blogfest 2009 website; here it is: Blogfest 2009

Chasing Boys

Chasing Boys by Karen Tayleur

Published: January 6, 2009

Reading Level: Young Adult

Pages: 256

Versions: Hardcover

Series: No

 

 

Summary (from Barnes and Noble’s website):

El Marini just isn’t fitting into the new life she’s been forced to create without her dad. Her mom and sister have accepted his absence and moved on, but El is convinced things will get back to normal if she just keeps her feelings of loss to herself and waits it out.

 Life at her new public school would have been unbearable if weren’t for Eric Callahan. As her crush grows to epic proportions, she’ll do anything to be more like the popular girls he notices, even buying the first pink top she’s ever owned. But then she meets Dylan, a quiet artistic-type who is both unnerving and annoying as he shines a light on El’s misguided attempts to attract Eric. El’s need for acceptance will hit home with teens as she finally sees that chasing boys has distracted her from making peace with the past and finding herself. El Marini just isn’t fitting into the new life she’s been forced to create without her dad. Her mom and sister have accepted his absence and moved on, but El is convinced things will get back to normal if she just keeps her feelings of loss to herself and waits it out.

  

I was very mad at first that this book was only in hardcover.  First of all, all hardcover books are super expensive, and most of the time they aren’t worth the money. But i bought it anyway, and when i read it-i knew it wasn’t worth the eighteen or so dollars i had spent on it.  I don’t regret buying it, but still. No book is really worth eighteen bucks (except The Hunger Games, and Catching Fire).

The ending i wasn’t quite sure about.  Either it needs a sequel or just overall has a bad ending.  So hopefully a sequel will be present in the near future. 

I did enjoy reading it though, just incase that part wasn’t clear. It just didn’t make my top ten list. 

 

82/100    B-

Heres the Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr book trailer.   I also reviewed the book here.

 

I was watching TV the other day and came upon the Brooke Shields commercial, promoting a new eyelash product to enhance them. After watching it again and again I noticed that she looks kind of like Sarah Dessen.  I know-it’s not exact or anything but i think they still have similar features.

If you don’t know who Brooke Shields is: She’s an actress.  The only shows/movies I’ve seen her in was Hannah Montana. 

And Sarah Dessen of course is a great author.  She’s written: Lock and Key, That Summer, and her newest book: Along For The Ride. 

Brooke Shields

Sarah Dessen

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Published: April 29, 2008

Reading level: Young Adult

Pages: 352

Versions: Hardcover, Paperback, Audio, Kindle

Series: Yes

 

Summary (from Barnes And Noble’s website):

 

Rule #3: Don’t stare at invisible faeries.

Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don’t speak to invisible faeries.

Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don’t ever attract their attention.

But it’s too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

Faerie intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr’s stunning 21^st century faery tale.

 

The whole “Twilight” phenomenon has brought people to love fantasy/fiction/sci fi books.  I admit that i have read a great amount of werewolves, vampire, and shape shifter novels in the last few years.  But i was not going to get into the whole Fairy thing.  I was like-no way-I’m so not going there. But eventually i guess i did.  I read a review for this book and thought-maybe i should give it a try.  I honestly didn’t like it.  Maybe it was due to the Fairy issue-I really couldn’t wrap my head around the concept. Most of the time i skipped through the pages due to it boring me, and I’m not going to read the sequel. 

This is my opinion, maybe you’ll love it.  Maybe it will be your new favorite book, or maybe you’ll agree with me.  I guess certain books are not for certain people.

 

77/100    C+

Stargirl

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Published: May 11, 2004

Reading Level: Young Adult

Pages: 208

Versions: Hardcover, Paperback, Audio, Kindle

Series: Yes

 

 

Summary (written by me):

 A new girl roams the halls of Mica High.  But she’s not a normal girl.  On her first day of school she wears a resemblance of a grandmother’s wedding gown and carries around a ukulele.  She sings and strums her ukulele in the hallways, singing happy birthday to random people. No one knows what to think about her: is she an actress trying to get discovered, is she high on drugs, is she a wierd homeschooled freak, or is she an alien?  But the truth is-she’s just a normal girl with a different name and personality.  Yes, her name is Stargirl.

Leo Borlock starts to fall for her.  And the whole school starts to do what she does.  They sing in the halls, cheer at the games, and sing happy birthday to people in the cafeteria.  But then the school goes against everything she does differently.  And Leo gets nervous that he won’t be able to stay with her-asking her to change.  To be normal.  Not to bring a ukulele to school, or sing in the hallways, or dress wildly.  Can Stargirl be normal?  And will she-just for Leo? And should Leo want to change her in the first place?

 

A book that shows how to be yourself and to not care what other people think.  A great read with a great life lesson.

 

I love this book. It teaches you a lot about yourself and is overall fun.  Who wouldn’t want a Stargirl at their own school?  The book, reading wise, is a little easy. So if you are such an advanced reader that a lot of books are too easy for you-then i wouldn’t recommend this.  I read a lot and still loved the book-so give it a try.

95/100   A

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick comes out sometime October of this year, 2009.  I haven’t read this book yet, well of course i haven’t because it’s not out yet.  But i did read the first two chapters and the prologue which is on this website: first two chapters and prologue which are located on the left hand side.

Of what i’ve read so far-I can tell that it’s about a bad boy.  So any bad boy lovers-you should put this book on your wish list.  I can’t wait until this book comes out.  The first two chapters were amazing.

 

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain comes out December 22 of this year, 2009. This book also has a “bad boy” character in it named Daniel.  I haven’t read this book either, but from what i’ve read-it’s about a girl named Grace and how Daniel disappeared and now all of a sudden he comes back.  I really don’t know much more about it but if you want to know more then go to these links:

summary

Sneak Peek

Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen

Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen

Published: June 16, 2009

Reading Level: Young Adult

Pages: 383

Versions: Hardcover, Audio, Kindle

Series: No

 

Summary (from Barnes and Noble’s website):

It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

 

This book is everything and more you can expect from Sarah Dessen. If you are familiar with and love her writing style, then you will love this book.  The characters, voice, and setting and plot line of Along For The Ride is extremely addicting and enjoyable.  I would have to say that yes, this is my favorite one of hers so far and hopefully she will write more so I can keep having new favorites from her. 

 

 

91/100   A-