May Summary

Books completed ~ 9
P.C. & Kristin Cast - Burned 4.5/5 - review
Beth Fantaskey - Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side 4/5 - review
Carrie Ryan - The Forest Of Hands & Teeth 5/5 - review
Carrie Ryan - The Dead-Tossed Waves 4.5/5 - review
Charlaine Harris - Dead In The Family 3/5 - review
Laurie Halse Anderson - Wintergirls 4/5 - review
Tess Gerritsen - Harvest 4/5 - review
Becca Fitzpatrick - Hush, Hush 4.5/5 - review
Lauren Kate - Fallen 3.5/5 - review

Books bought ~ 8
Lauren Oliver - Before I Fall
Laurie Halse Anderson - Wintergirls
Suzanne LaFleur - Love, Aubrey
Katherine Paterson - Bridge To Terabithia
Jeremy De Quidt - The Toymaker
Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl - Beautiful Creatures
Ben Sherwood - The Death And Life Of Charlie St. Cloud
Alex Flinn - Beastly

Other posts ~
# Teaser Tuesdays - Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side / Wintergirls / Hush, Hush / Fallen
# Top Ten Picks - Favourite Love Stories / Books That Made You Discover Your Love For Reading / Best Villains
# Reading Habits

Overall ~
I didn't do too badly in May, I managed to read 9 books and all of them scored 3/5 or more, so I mostly enjoyed all of them. My favourite reads were The Forest Of Hands & Teeth, The Dead Tossed Waves and Hush, Hush, all of which I throughly enjoyed and couldn't put down while I was reading them. My least favourite, I'm sad to say, was Dead In The Family, I was so looking forward to it aswell! In the next month I'm hoping to read a bit more, especially if I want to achieve my goal of 150 books read this year, so I really need to work on that. I've bought plenty of great looking books lately though, so it shouldn't be too hard!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (6)


This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

Lauren Kate - Fallen

At the moment I'm reading:

Kelley Armstrong - The Summoning

In the next week I hope to read:

Kelley Armstrong - The Awakening
Kelley Armstrong - The Reckoning

So much unexpected stuff cropped up in this past week, so I barely managed to get anything read which was a little frustrating. Hopefully next week will be better!

Fallen by Lauren Kate


No. of pages: 452
Rating: 7/10
Series: Fallen (Book 1)

Synopsis: There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori. Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move. Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Review: Lucinda Price has been sent to the Sword & Cross boarding school after her involvement in a strange accident. As they strip Luce of everything from the outside world, including her cell phone, she can only assume S&C is going to be hell. That is until she meets Daniel Grigori, who she finds oddly alluring, especially as he seems to hate her. Luce becomes obsessed though, and is determined to find out about Daniel and get close to him, even if doing so will kill her...

I have to admit, it was the cover that drew me to this book. I think it's stunning, and it really intrigued me as to what the story was about. The story itself is nothing unique though, and I actually found the first half of the book a tad too slow going, which made it a bit hard to get into. But when it finally got to the revelations, the story picked up massively, and became a lot more enjoyable to read. The characters were okay, I feel like it would have been easier to get to know them if you knew more about each of them. Penn and Luce were the only ones I really felt you ever got to know more than basics about. Even when it came to Daniel, you never really learned nearly as much as you could have, but then I guess that's probably been saved for later books in the series. I will be reading the next book which is released later this year, as in theory now that it's all been revealed, the next book will be much more interesting and action packed. For people looking to read a book like this though, I would point them in the direction of Hush, Hush, which has a similar storyline, but in my opinion is a much better story.

In My Mailbox (5)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 2 books:

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Ben Sherwood - The Death And Life Of Charlie St. Cloud

The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud tells the haunting story of a young man who narrowly survives a terrible car wreck that kills his little brother. Years later, the brothers’ bond remains so strong that it transcends the normal boundaries separating life and death. Charlie St. Cloud lives in a snug New England fishing village. By day he tends the lawns and monuments of the ancient cemetery where his younger brother, Sam, is buried. Graced with an extraordinary gift after surviving the accident, he can still see, talk, and even play catch with Sam’s spirit. But townsfolk whisper that Charlie has never recovered from his loss.

Into his carefully ordered life comes Tess Carroll, a captivating, adventuresome woman training for a solo sailing trip around the globe. Fate steers her boat into a treacherous storm that blows her back to harbor, to a charged encounter with Charlie, and to a surprise more overwhelming than the violent sea itself. Charlie and Tess discover a beautiful and uncommon connection that leads to a race against time and a desperate choice between death and life, between the past and the future, between holding on and letting go.

~~~~~

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Alex Flinn - Beastly

I am a beast.

A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright—a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.

You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way forever—ruined—unless I can break the spell.

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.

Teaser Tuesdays (5)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:
His skin was golden in this light, his eyes almost like rain. The feel of them on her face was a heavy, remarkable thing. ~ p.175, Fallen by Lauren Kate.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (5)


This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

Becca Fitzpatrick - Hush, Hush

At the moment I'm reading:

Lauren Kate - Fallen

In the next week I hope to read:

Kelley Armstrong - The Summoning
Kelley Armstrong - The Awakening
Kelley Armstrong - The Reckoning

In My Mailbox (4)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 1 book:

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Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl - Beautiful Creatures

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

~~~~~

And I borrowed 3 books from a friend:

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Kelley Armstrong - The Summoning

After years of frequent moves following her mother’s death, Chloe Saunders’s life is finally settling down. She is attending art school, pursuing her dreams of becoming a director, making friends, meeting boys. Her biggest concern is that she’s not developing as fast as her friends are. But when puberty does hit, it brings more than hormone surges. Chloe starts seeing ghosts–everywhere, demanding her attention. After she suffers a breakdown, her devoted aunt Lauren gets her into a highly recommended group home.

At first, Lyle House seems a pretty okay place, except for Chloe’s small problem of fearing she might be facing a lifetime of mental illness. But as she gradually gets to know the other kids at the home–charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek, obnoxious Tori, and Rae, who has a “thing” for fire–Chloe begins to realize that there is something that binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual “problem kid” behaviour. And together they discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home either…

~~~~~

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Kelley Armstrong - The Awakening

If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl—someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets. A living science experiment—not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters, I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control; I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.

Now I'm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends—a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch—and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.

~~~~~

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Kelley Armstrong - The Reckoning

Only two weeks ago, life was all too predictable. But that was before I saw my first ghost. Now, along with my supernatural friends Tori, Derek, and Simon, I’m on the run from the Edison Group, which genetically altered us as part of their sinister experiment. We’re hiding in a safe house that might not be as safe as it seems. We’ll be gone soon anyway, back to rescue those we’d left behind and to take out the Edison Group . . . or so we hope.

Book Blogger Hop (5)


Welcome hoppers from the book blogger hop! In case you don't know what I'm talking about, this is a weekly event hosted by Crazy for Books where bloggers and readers can find each other and share their love for books!

If you're hopping by here, leave a comment and I'll be sure to visit you in return! :)

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick


No. of pages: 391
Rating: 9/10
Series: Hush, Hush (Book 1)

Synopsis: 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: When Nora's Biology teacher decides to change the seating chart, Nora is annoyed to be moved away from her best friend Vee, and to no less be stuck with the new kid, Patch. But then he tells her that he knows things about her, things it's impossible for anyone to know about, but she still feels weirdly drawn to him. Even when she suspects him of stalking her, she can just never seem to escape his constant presence. But then Patch starts letting her in, telling her the truth about what's going on, and ends up endangering her life...

I had heard an equal mix of great things and terrible things about this book, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I started it. But I'm a sucker for supernatural romance books like this, so I'm firmly in the 'love it' camp. I loved the relationship between Nora and her best friend Vee, they were so funny together and had little best friend quirks that reminded me a lot of me and my best friend, so that was really fun to read. And then there's Patch - dark, brooding and dangerous - what's a better mix than that!? This book is compared a lot to Twilight, and whilst the brewing relationship between Nora and Patch is a little reminiscent of the one between Bella and Edward, this book is certainly good enough to stand on its own merits. I loved the whole fallen angel thing, and enjoyed the progression of the storyline, which was fairly fast paced. I did guess some plot points fairly early on, but a few things did take me by surprise which is always good. Definitely recommended to fans of this genre (YA supernatural romance), and I can't wait for the sequel, Crescendo.

Harvest by Tess Gerritsen


No. of pages: 510
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: Dr Abby DiMatteo - a second-year surgical student in Boston Bayside's elite cardiac team - is about to make a decision that will jeopardize her career. A car-crash victim's healthy heart is ready to be harvested, having been cross-matched to a private patient, forty-six year-old Nina Voss. Instead Abby makes sure the transplant goes to a dying seventeen-year-old boy who is also a perfect match. The repercussions leave her plagued with self-doubt. Suddenly a new heart appears, and the transplant is completed - but Abby makes a terrible discovery. The new heart has not come through the right channels. Defying the hospital's demands for silence, Abby begins her own investigation that reveals an intricate and murderous chain of deceptions ...

Review: Abby is a second year surgical intern at Bayside medical center, and is finally getting to where she wants to be in her career. So when a heart becomes available she assumes it will go to the deathly ill 17 year old boy who is crashing multiple times a day and has minimal time left to live. Instead, she's told it'll be going to a 46 year old woman, who is a private patient. Suspicious that she's only getting it because of her money, Abby makes sure the heart gets transplanted to the boy instead. But when another suitable heart becomes immediately available and the woman gets transplanted, Abby has to wonder where it came from, because after all, they couldn't possibly be getting hearts illegally....could they?

Although not one of her best thrillers, I did enjoy this book, especially the heart transplant storyline which was interesting to read about. You figure out within pages of the beginning what the whole storyline will be, but there are a few bits that fit together more as the story goes on. I did find some of the characters hard to connect with, but I immediately fell in love with Yakov, he seemed so damaged, yet he was the character with the most personality and loveability. Abby was a strong, determined young woman, who was willing to do whatever it took to find out what was going on, even at the risk to herself, which I liked. It's always good to read books where there's a strong female lead. As with her other books, Gerritsen draws on her medical knowledge and that makes the books so much more realistic and enjoyable to read. Overall, Harvest is decent, but as it was her first thriller, it's not quite as good as her other books, such as her Rizzoli/Isles series.

Top Ten Picks: Best Villains

Top Ten Picks is a weekly meme by Jillian about your top 10 picks! Each week, there will be a different theme and this weeks theme is 'best villains'. So here are my top 10 best villain picks (in no particular order) ~

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1. Victoria (Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer)
2. Voldemort (The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)

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3. Severus Snape (The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)
4. Beast (Beauty by Robin McKinley)

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5. George Harvey (The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold)
6. Dexter (Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay)

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7. Hannibal Lector (The Silence Of The Lambs by Thomas Harris)
8. Sir Leigh Teabing (The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown)

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9. Silas (The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown)
10. The Headless Horseman (Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving)

So who are your best villians?

Teaser Tuesdays (4)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:
There was a glint to his eye that made me think I should be frightened of him...and I was. But that fright was equal part allure. ~ p.123, Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (4)


This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

Charlaine Harris - Dead In The Family
Laurie Halse Anderson - Wintergirls
Tess Gerritsen - Harvest

At the moment I'm reading:

Becca Fitzpatrick - Hush, Hush

In the next week I hope to read:

Lauren Oliver - Before I Fall
Kishwar Desai - Witness The Night

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson


No. of pages: 278
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: “Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.

In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.

Review: At just over 100lbs (around 7 stone) Lia looks in the mirror and see a fat, ugly girl. Having just come out of a clinic for the second time, she has to work hard to hide her weight loss, for it seems no one else can see how hideous she looks. Then her best friend dies, and her ghost haunts Lia, enticing her to come over to the other side. This is the biggest struggle of her life, but will she survive it?

Although I knew what the subject matter was before I started reading this, I didn't realise how intense and hard it would be to read. Although Lia is tiny and frail, she looks in the mirror and see a fat, hideous girl, and she cannot understand why other people can't see her 'as she really is' and that is a truly sad thing to read about. I almost found Lia scary in her intensity, she truly could not see that she was destroying herself, and you feel like you're decending into insanity and obsession with her. I loved the writing style, told completely from Lia's perspective, it gives you complete insight in to the mind of an anorexic, especially in the way that when she sees any piece of food, all she sees is the number of calories that it has. I particularly loved the crossed out sentences which tell what she's really thinking and feeling, but how she denies herself basic things to 'stay strong'. Definitely a read that will make you think about your relationship with food through different eyes. An interesting and enjoyable read, I would definitely recommend both this, and also Speak by the same author.

Reading Habits


I've seen this little questionnaire in so many places over the last week, so I thought I'd post about my reading habits too :)

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack:
Not often, but if I do it's usually crisps - Doritos or Wotsits are very yummy!

What is your favourite drink while reading?
I love drinking hot drinks when I'm reading, especially when it's cold out and I'm all snuggled up. In particular tea or hot chocolate are my favourites.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
No, never. I really can't see a need to write in books when it's so easy to write it down on a piece of paper or make a note of it in notepad.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
Bookmarks, always. I never dog-ear or lay the book down open, the thought horrifies me to be honest! At the moment I'm using an Edward (from Twilight) bookmark that was a gift.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
Pretty much always fiction. I do read non-fiction from time to time, but I do much prefer a fictional setting as you can have so much more of an imagination with that.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I can stop anywhere at all. But I do prefer to get to a paragraph or chapter break.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
Not really, I always try to take good care of my books and you can't do that if you're flinging them across the room! If a book is really annoying me, I'll just put it away on my bookcase and come back to it later.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
I never have. I can usually guess at what the word means by the context it's in, but if I'm really stumped, then I note it down and look it up later.

What are you currently reading?
Harvest by Tess Gerritsen. She's one of my favourite thriller authors, so I'm really enjoying it.

What is the last book you bought?
I had a bit of a binge the last time I bought books and I bought ~ Lauren Oliver - Before I Fall, Laurie Halse Anderson - Wintergirls, Suzanne LaFleur - Love Aubrey, Katherine Paterson - Bridge To Terabithia and Jeremy De Quidt - The Toymaker.

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
I much prefer to read just one book at a time, so I very very rarely read two at once. I'm a pretty fast reader, so if I'm really wanting to read something else, it's not too long a wait until I can pick it up anyway, so I usually just do that.

Do you have a favourite time/place to read?
In bed, after midnight. It's so peaceful and quiet to read at that time of night, and being a night owl it's the perfect time for me.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
I enjoy both for different reasons. Sometimes it's nice to just have a stand alone, to know the story will be wrapped up at the end and you don't have to wait a period of time before you get the next installment. But then again, when I find a series I love, I really enjoy that there are multiple books to draw out the great story.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
Charlaine Harris is one I recommend an awful lot, for both her Harper Connelly series and her Sookie Stackhouse series as both are fantastic. I also love to recommend The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger which is one of my favourite books.

How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author's last name, etc.)
I have three shelves of books I've yet to read, they aren't really organised too much, books by the same author or books from a series are beside each other but there's no order to it all. Then I have three shelves with books I've read and within the read shelves I have the series grouped together but again there's no specific order to how they're placed.

Awards (1)

So I'm a very lucky lady and have been awarded four awards in the past week!!

The first award is from Beth at Maybe Tomorrow? and she has given the One Lovely Blog Award ~

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1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

1. 21 Pages
2. La Femme Readers
3. Book Crazy
4. Erika Breathes Books
5. The Book Guru


The second award is from Susan at Crazy Cat Lady's Library and she has given the Oh My Blog Award ~

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1. Get really excited that you got the coolest award EVER!
2. Choose ONE of the following options of accepting the OMB award:
(a) Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight, or for as long as you can focus.
(b) Write about your most embarrassing moment.
(c) Write a "Soundtrack of your childhood" post.
(d) Make your next blog a 'vlog'/video blog. Basically, you're talking to the camera about whatever.
(e) Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (hair, make up, etc) and post it.
3. Pass the award on to at least three, but preferably more, awesome bloggers. Don't forget to tell them.

I've decided to go with 2b and write about my most embarrasing moment...

It happened around 5 years ago, not long after I had started dating my BF, and we decided to go food shopping. We have roughly the same size feet, so he persuaded me to wear his pink converses because he thought they'd look really cool with my outfit. They were a bit big for me, and the ends were a little floppy, but not noticeably so, so I went ahead and wore them. Big mistake! For some reason my BF insisted we climb over this shortish wall with our shopping to cut the journey home a little shorter. I told him there was no way I was going to be able to climb it and he insisted that I'd be fine. So I went ahead and tried to climb the wall, caught the tip of the shoe on the top of the wall, tripped and ended up sprawled on the pavement of a busy street and to top it off my jeans had slipped down and was flashing off my butt. And right at that moment, as if all the cars weren't bad enough, a guy cycled past and started laughing at me. To this day I still cringe when I think of that moment!

And the 5 lucky people I pass this award on to are:

1. Crazy For Books
2. I Should Be Writing
3. I Was A Teenage Book Geek
4. Manda's Movements
5. Random Ramblings


The third award is from Renee at Addicted To Romance and she has given the Bodacious Blogging Award ~

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Here is how it works: If you are given this award you must first accept it by leaving a comment on the post you were nominated on. Then copy and paste the post and add it to your own blog. Make a list of the last 5 books you last read and pass the award on to 5 other bloggers (no backsies!). Please also identify the blog from which you got the award and don't forget to tell people you pass on to they have a blog award!

The past 5 books I read are:

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And I pass this award on to:

1. A Fanatics Book Blog
2. Along For The Ride
3. Pop Culture Junkie
4. Teens Read And Write
5. The Crooked Shelf

The fourth award is from Medeia at Medeia Sharif and she has given me the From Me To You Award ~

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I'm passing this on to the following 5 blogs:

1. Brizmus Blogs
2. I Want To Read That
3. Lily's Bookshelf
4. Media Molly
5. The Ninja Librarian

Thank you so much for the awards ladies, and I hope the people I've passed them on to enjoy them too!

Dead In The Family by Charlaine Harris


No. of pages: 238
Rating: 6/10
Series: Sookie Stackhouse (Book 10)

Synopsis: Sookie Stackhouse has finally settled into a relationship with the Viking vampire Eric, and her errant brother Jason seems to have his life in order, too. But all the other people in Sookie’s life – Eric himself, her former lover Bill, her friend and boss Sam – are having family problems. Eric’s maker shows up with Eric’s ‘brother’ in tow, the ailing Bill can only be healed by a blood sibling, and Sam’s brother’s marriage is about to take place... or will it? The furor raised by the coming out of the two-natured has yet to settle; some people are just not ready to sit down to dinner with a man who turns into a dog. And Sookie herself is still recovering from her last ordeal. She’s definitely improving, physically and mentally, but she’s always going to have some dark moments now. The werewolves tell her that there have been strange and ominous passers-by in the Stackhouse woods; now Sookie is about to come face-to-face with one of her more distant relatives...

Review: Sookie is slowly recoving from the Fae war, and has now settled into a relationship with Eric Northman. But of course the peace can't last forever, especially when Eric's maker turns up, and brings with him an awful lot of problems. That coupled with the strange happenings in Sookie's wood mean that as usual there's a big mess that Sookie has to clean up...

I've been looking forward to this book for months, but sadly found it to be such a disappointment. Compared to previous books in the series, Dead In The Family was too slow paced which just made it boring. I thought Sookie and Eric would finally get some quality time together, but Eric was barely a part of the storyline, and when they were together, it was just not what I expected it to be like. Another thing that really bothered me, was the random snippets on other people, almost as though it was shoved in just to fill out the already very short book. It just seemed hurried and pointless, and appeared so out of place. The only thing I really enjoyed with this book was getting to know Claude a bit more. I really hope the next book really picks back up like previous books as this just wasn't up to par, which is a shame.

Book Blogger Hop (4)


Welcome hoppers from the book blogger hop! In case you don't know what I'm talking about, this is a weekly event hosted by Crazy for Books where bloggers and readers can find each other and share their love for books!

If you're hopping by here, leave a comment and I'll be sure to visit you in return! :)

Top Ten Picks: Books That Made You Discover Your Love For Reading

Top Ten Picks is a weekly meme byJillian about your top 10 picks! Each week, there will be a different theme and this weeks theme is 'books that made you discover your love for reading'. So here are my top 10 books that made me love reading (roughly in order of how old I was when I loved them) ~

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1. The Twits by Roald Dahl
2. The BFG by Roald Dahl

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3. Hollow Tree House by Enid Blyton
4. The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton

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5. The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton
6. The Secret Seven series by Enid Blyton

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7. The Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton
8. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

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9. Goosebumps books by RL Stine
10. Point Horror books by various authors

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11. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

I've always loved reading, for as far back as my memory goes, so this weeks picks were pretty tough. Roald Dahl was the first author that I devoured when I was around 6 I think, I loved all of his books, but chose my favourite two for this list. I especially remember being read The Twits and finding it hilariously funny, and connecting with the giant in the story of The BFG. The same immediate love happened with Enid Blyton, I was given Hollow Tree House for my 7th birthday, and from the time I read it, I had to have every Enid Blyton book possible. I just adored her and her books for many years, and that's why I have so many listed. I read Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret when I was around 9 years old, I had grown up in an atheist family so had no opinion of God until I became friends with a girl who came from a strongly religious family. She lent me this book to read, and it had a huge impact on me at the time, so I still remember it to this day even though I don't remember much of the story. After I turned 10 I fell into my love of horror and thriller books, and found the Goosebumps and Point Horror books so great to read, especially at night under my blankets with a torch! And of course, like many people from my generation, the Harry Potter books had a huge impact on my reading life. I think I was around 12 when I first read The Philosopher's Stone and immediately fell in love with Harry's world, it was an 8 year wait for the final installation of the series which came with Deathly Hallows, so it was a massive part of my teens and of my reading life as I still adore the series now.

So which books turned you into a bookworm?

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan


No. of pages: 404
Rating: 9/10
Series: The Forest (Book 2)

Synopsis: Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

Review: Gabry has grown up within the safety of one of the last cities that's not infected with the Unconsecrated/Mudo/zombies. Living with her mother Mary in the lighthouse, she's always felt secure and loved. But then one night of silly risks ends all of that and Gabry suddenly has to grow up over night. Along the way she finds out a lot of things she never could have imagined, and she finally discovers the truth about the forest of hands and teeth...

Like the first book The Forest Of Hands & Teeth, I read this in one sitting because I just couldn't put it down. The story in this book is set some 20 years after The Forest Of Hands & Teeth, and centres around Mary's daughter Gabry, who has grown up oblivious to what has happened to her mother in the past. As a result, she's quite naive at the beginning of the book, in a way that Mary never was. Because of this though, I felt Gabry had more of a journey realising how sheltered she's been all these years and growing up from that, where as Mary was always very realistic and hardened to the world of the Unconsecrated/Mudo/zombies. I did really enjoy the storyline of The Dead-Tossed Waves, and I loved the character of Elias, who I was rooting for throughout. I didn't quite like the main character of Gabry as much as I liked Mary though, and that's why I've marked my rating down to 4.5, although that's just a personal preference, both books are equally fantastic in all other ways. If you liked the first book, then you'll love this sequel, and if you haven't read The Forest Of Hands & Teeth, I highly recommend you do! It's a fantastic series, and the only problem is now, the next book isn't released until spring 2011, and that's too long a wait!

Teaser Tuesdays (3)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:
The beads click on my abacus: twelve ounces of hot chocolate = 400, but I am freezing. I need to gulp the whole thing down and ask for more drink one mouthful and ignore the taste. ~ p.91, Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (3)


This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books.

In the past week I read:

Beth Fantaskey - Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side
Carrie Ryan - The Forest Of Hands And Teeth
Carrie Ryan - The Dead-Tossed Waves

At the moment I'm reading:

Laurie Halse Anderson - Wintergirls

In the next week I hope to read:

Lauren Oliver - Before I Fall
Becca Fitzpatrick - Hush, Hush

The Forest Of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan


No. of pages: 308
Rating: 10/10
Series: The Forest (Book 1)

Synopsis: In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But, slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future - between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

Review: Mary lives in a fenced in village in the middle of a forest, completely surrounded by the Unconsecrated (aka zombies), which force them to live in fear. But Mary cannot forget the stories of the ocean that her mother used to tell her when she was a little girl. So she becomes determined to find some answers, and as a result, sets a devestating sequence of events in motion...

I absolutely loved this book, I couldn't put it down until I had finished it because it was so good. I found it fast paced and gripping, and thought it had a great storyline. The writing itself was beautifully lyrical, almost haunting in some scenes. Mary and Travis were my favourite characters, although I truly feel that all of them were amazingly written. You really felt like you knew them and what made them tick as people. I loved the zombie aspect too, and that was primarily why I picked up the book, but it was so much more than I expected. Sure there are zombies, so it's tense and scary at times, but there's also the undercurrent of love and hope throughout. Such a fantastic book, I will recommend it high and low, especially to those who love a supernatural type book, but I think this is a book everyone could enjoy (unless you hate zombies, in which case you won't).

In My Mailbox (3)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 5 books:


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Lauren Oliver - Before I Fall

What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all—looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, she re-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had ever imagined.

~~~~~

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Laurie Halse Anderson - Wintergirls

“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.

In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.

~~~~~

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Suzanne LaFleur - Love, Aubrey

"I had everything I needed to run a household: a house, food, and a new family. From now on it would just be me and Sammy–the two of us, and no one else."

Something terrible has happened. Eleven-year-old Aubrey is on her own. 'It was fun at first, playing house. Nothing to think about but TV and cheese. A perfect world'. She's determined to hide away and take care of herself, because facing the truth is too much to bear. 'I couldn't let anyone know that I was alone. I was staying right here'. But with the love of her grandmother and the letters she writes, can Aubrey begin to see that even though she's lost everything - all is not lost?

~~~~~

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Katherine Paterson - Bridge To Terabithia

Jess Aarons wants to be the fastest boy in the class. He's been practising all summer and he's sure he's going to win. But when a girl named Leslie Burke moves into the neighbouring farm his life changes forever. Not only does Leslie not look or act like any of the girls in school, she also turns out to be the fastest runner in the year. After getting over the humiliation of being beaten by a girl, Jess begins to think Leslie might be okay - she's clever and funny and not a bit soppy. It is Leslie who invents Terabithia, the secret country on an island across the creek. Here Jess could forget his large, quarrelsome family, his father who thought it was ummanly to love drawing, and his little sister May Belle, who was always tagging after him. Here he could be strong and unafraid. The only way to reach Terabithia is by rope-swing where Jess and Leslie become King and Queen, defeating giants, sharing stories and dreams, and plotting against their enemies. They are invincible - until tragedy strikes. It is more dreadful than anything Jess had ever dreamed of, but as he struggles to cope with his grief and anger, he finds that his family value him more than he'd thought.

~~~~~

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Jeremy De Quidt - The Toymaker

What good is a toy that will wind down? What if you could put a heart in one? A real heart. One that beat and beat and didn't stop. What couldn't you do if you could make a toy like that? From the moment Mathias becomes the owner of a mysterious piece of paper, he is in terrible danger. Entangled in devious plots and pursued by the sinister Doctor Leiter and his devilish toys, Mathias finds himself on a quest to uncover a deadly secret.

Book Blogger Hop (3)


Welcome hoppers from the book blogger hop! In case you don't know what I'm talking about, this is a weekly event hosted by Crazy for Books where bloggers and readers can find each other and share their love for books!

If you're hopping by here, leave a comment and I'll be sure to visit you in return! :)

Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey


No. of pages: 354
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: The undead can really screw up your senior year ...

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancĂ©. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.

Review: When Lucius Vladescu, a Romanian vampire prince, suddenly turns up one day telling Jessica they've been betrothed since birth, she thinks he's absolutely nuts. That is until her teeth begin to hurt and she starts to crave blood, but after months of being rejected, is it too late to convince Lucius that she believes him and wants to be with him after all?

This was a quick and easy read, with an interesting approach to the vampire phenomenon that seems to be taking over the YA market these days. The characters of Jess and Lucius were fun to read about and Jess especially was written quite realistically. I liked the Romanian royalty aspect of the story, and thought that was something a bit different, as was Fantaskey's take on vampirism. There's a great streak of humour throughout the book too, in the form of Lucius' sarcastic letters back home to his uncle, I thought they were a nice touch, and helped to lighten the story. I did think it was wrapped up slightly too fast at the end though, but overall it doesn't detract too much from the book as a whole, especially as there are extra chapters on the author's website for you to read once you're done with the book. I'm definitely going to be reading more from this author. Recommended for fans of YA books, and books of the vampire persuasion.
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