In My Mailbox #4

This IMM is a little late...my apologies. I've been pretty busy. I only got two books for review this week.
The first is a non YA book that I won on Booktrib.



Little Did I Know by Mitchell Maxwell (goodreads/Amazon)

The other book I received came in the mail today, and I'm really excited about it.

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore (goodreads/Amazon)

I haven't read I Am Number of Four yet, but I have seen the movie. I don't want to read this series out of sequence, so I will have to wait until I get the first one. Thanks, Harper Teen!

In other news, I am going to college tomorrow! I don't know how much this is going to effect my blogging, but I can say that my IMM posts will be less frequent. I will still try to get at least one review per week on the blog. Please be patient with me as I figure out the logistics of this blogging while in college thing.

That's it for me. What did you get in your mailbox?

Readathon Complete!

I finished the readathon! It was my first, and while I did fall asleep, I bounced back in the end. I'm now more than halfway through The Scarlet Letter and I started The Manual of Detection. It was fun and I enjoyed being a part of it!

Required Reading Wishlist

As a recent high school graduate, I have read my share of required reading over the past four years of my life. I'm sure that the amount will grow as I enter college. While I loved some of my required reading, I despised some of it as well. If I was able to pick my own required reading, this would be my list (I'm including some books that I was required to read. They will be written in green).

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora - Neale Hurston

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Paper Towns by John Green

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

That's my reading list. What's Yours? Let me know in the comments.

Read.Chat.Love. Readathon: What I'm Reading

The Read.Chat.Love. readathon starts tonight! This is my first readathon, and I'm really excited. I will be chronicling my experiences on the blog and on twitter (if I can stay awake, that is). Here's my reading list:

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

That's what I plan on reading. If you want to participate in the readathon, check it out here. 

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Loading...

                 

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along.
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sur...more((sss      For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along.
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is far more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

 

Review: I enjoyed this book. I have read many reviews about it, and people seem to have mixed feelings about Hush, Hush. I now get why people called it a Twilight rip - off. Patch and Nora are basically Edward and Bella. I did prefer the mythology in Hush, Hush over Twilight's sparkly vampire storyline. I could do without a lot of the terrible lines in Hush, Hush however. Nora keeps talking about the way Patch smells like minty earth. I didn't realize ladies loved this so much. I need to start rubbing candy canes on myself and rolling around in puddles of mud. Also, Nora made terrible decisions constantly throughout this book, so be prepared for that. Overall, I felt that the book moved along at a good pace. It kept my interest until the very end. I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

 

You can order a copy of Hush, Hush here.

In My Mailbox #3

I finally won a blog giveaway! After months and months of entering giveaways, I'm finally validated. Okay, enough of that. On to what I won. Drumroll, please.......................

Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry.

I'm really excited about this book. It is the sequel to Rot & Ruin, which I haven't read yet. I'm planning on reading both back to back in october. Halloween + zombies = awesome!

I won the book here.

That's it for me. What did you get in your mailbox?

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Summary (from Goodreads):
Berlin 1942
When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.
But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

Review: This book was good, but not great. I felt that the author tried too hard to make Bruno seem naive. At nine years old, he should be able to say Auschwitz and Fuhrer correctly. I found it even more ridiculous that Bruno was the son of the commandant in charge of Auschwitz, but he didn't know what the Holocaust was and had no knowledge of the Jewish people. This book was fine, but Bruno was a terrible character.

You can find more about The Boy in the Striped Pajamas here

The Liebster Blog Awards!

Thanks to Melissa @ Reading By Moonlight for nominating me for the Liebster Blog Award! The goal of the award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers.

The rules of the award are:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.

5. And most of all- have bloggity- blog fun! 

My nominees are (in no particular order):

1. Kristen @ Strawberry Splash Reviews

2.Sarah @ The Long Ride Home  

3.Jasmine @ A Room With Books

4.Lauren @ Books From a Shelf

5.Kristina @ My World of Books



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rotters by Daniel Kraus

Summary (from Goodreads): Grave-robbing. What kind of monster would do such a thing? It's true that Leonardo da Vinci did it, Shakespeare wrote about it, and the resurrection men of nineteenth-century Scotland practically made it an art. But none of this matters to Joey Crouch, a sixteen-year-old straight-A student living in Chicago with his single mom. For the most part, Joey's life is about playing the trumpet and avoiding the daily humiliations of high school.

Everything changes when Joey's mother dies in a tragic accident and he is sent to rural Iowa to live with the father he has never known, a strange, solitary man with unimaginable secrets. At first, Joey's father wants nothing to do with him, but once father and son come to terms with each other, Joey's life takes a turn both macabre and exhilarating.

Daniel Kraus's masterful plotting and unforgettable characters make Rotters a moving, terrifying, and unconventional epic about fathers and sons, complex family ties, taboos, and the ever-present specter of mortality.

Review: Rotters was a fantastic read.  Full of unique characters and ideas, it was a very enjoyable book. I really enjoyed the amount of detail that was put into the story. Daniel Kraus incorporated many interesting stories about the history of grave robbing. You can tell that Kraus put a lot of time and effort into his research for this book.

I also enjoyed the protagonist, Joey Crouch. It was interesting to see how his life changed dramatically after meeting his father. The character development was terrific in this novel. Kraus's writing style was so brilliant that he always had me rethinking my support of Joey. Sometimes I was rooting for him, and other times I couldn't stand him.

I think my one problem with this book is the size of it. It's almost 500 pages long, which is necessary for some books, but not this one. I felt that the plot would have moved along at a much faster pace if the book was 50 to 100 pages shorter.

Overall, the book was great. the plot twists did an excellent job of keeping my interest. This book was amazingly unpredictable and highly enjoyable.

You can order a copy of Rotters here.

In My Mailbox #2

I purchased some great books at a Borders closing sale this week. I'm so sad that Borders is closing. My heart goes out to all of their great employees. Okay, moving on to the books!

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (Goodreads / Amazon)

This is the second book in the Leviathan trilogy. I haven't read the first book, but it's been on my wishlist for a very long time. It looks amazing!

Elixir by Hilary Duff (Goodreads / Amazon)

I bought this book on a whim. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on it, but I've always liked Hilary Duff, so I'll give it a chance.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (Goodreads / Amazon)

I've wanted to read this series for a while, so this has moved to the top of my TBR list.

That's all I got this week. What did you get in your mailbox?

P.S. In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.



Read.Chat.Love. Readathon!

Read.Chat.Love. is hosting a readathon starting August 19th. It sounds like a lot of fun! I will be participating and I hope you do too! You can find all the details here.

Happy Reading!!