Blog Hop and Follow Friday

The blog hop is hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

I do use a rating system! I use the basic school type rating system A through F. Books I lov eoften get A+ but most books I read are in the A and B range.

Great question and thanks for hopping by this week! Make sure to check out my previous post about my major contest that I will be running soon!



Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View at http://www.parajunkee.com/ Thanks for stopping by everyone!!!

Contest

Hey bloggers!!!!
I have decided to do a week of contests when I get to a 100 followers! I am really excited for this, and I think I have some pretty good books to give away! So far I have a copy of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, a signed copy of the Naughty List by Suzanne Young, Suitte Scarlett and Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson, What's Your Status by Katie Finn, Little Black Lies by Tish Cohen and a friend has agreed to donate The Frenzy by Francesca Block. I will find one more book set and we will have a fun filled week of give aways. Tell your fellow bloggers and keep a look out. I have 63 followers now so 37 more till contest!

ANd for a fun contest running now check out the contest over at Must Love Books hosted by my friend Ariel!
http://mustlovelabradors.blogspot.com/2010/08/blogaversary-100-followers-giveaway.html#comments

Happy Blogging and I hope to be giving away lots of books soon!

Mockingjay

Mockingjay

Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Inc.

$17.99 U.S. (Hardcover)

FTC: I received this book from the publisher with the understanding that I would provide an honest review for no compensation.

Synopsis:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

My Thoughts:

Oh My Goodness!!!!! I would like to start out this review by sending out a Thank You to Tracey Van Straaten for sending me Mockingjay early, and providing me with the opportunity to review it today! I don't even know where to start, but throughout the entire book a line from Eminem's new song Love the Way You Lie kept running through my head.... "Just gonna stand there and watch me burn, Well that's alright because I like the way it hurts," Katniss Everdeen the girl on fire. If a book is good I have trouble putting it down, but with Mockingjay it almost pained me to stop reading. Suzanne Collins is by far one of the best authors I have ever read. Mockingjay did the series justice by providing riveting action and heartfelt moments. I found myself gasping out loud (GOL) whenever something happened to Katniss and friends. I felt like I was truly part of the story. I was not really sure where Collins would take this book, but I absolutely loved her decision. With Panem in rebellion it is up to Katniss to become the symbol of the rebellion, it is her job to become the mockingjay. The entire Hunger Games series is full of desperation, death and destruction and Mockingjay stayed true to form. I sympathized with Katniss as she began to see that being the Mockingjay did not mean that her family and friends would be safe. At the end of the book I found myself relieved and a little saddened. While the ending did the series justice and brought everything to a close I could not believe how many people died. Mockingjay was amazing, and I cannot wait until Suzanne turns this series into a movie.

Recommendation: Anyone who wants to GOL

Grade: A+++++

Age: Young Adult (16+), This book is full of death and violence.

Quote: "If we burn, you burn with us"

Blog Hop and Follow Friday

Welcome to the Blog Hop!!!! The hop is hosted by Jennifer at http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

I ope you all take the chance and hop on over to my blog!

The question this week is:
How many blogs do you follow?

I follow around 75 blogs. I love seeing how different each individual blogger does things, and what new things I can learn from evey single one!

Jump

Jump

Ginger Rue

Random House Children's Books

$15.99 U.S. (Hardcover)

Release Date: September 14, 2010

What?

High school junior Brinkley Harper is beautiful, wealthy, admired, and powerful--until the day she wakes up in the body of a classmate she wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with.

Goth girl Miranda is everything Brinkley isn’t: she won't leave the house in anything but black, her family life is in tatters, she’s practically invisible at school, and she’s hiding a dark secret. As Brinkley experiences Miranda’s life from the inside out, she’s forced to consider the world from a very different point-of-view. But this won’t be Brinkley's last “jump,” and each time she lives a day in another classmate’s body, Brinkley not only begins to feel empathy for others, she also begins to glimpse the fears, vulnerabilities, and disappointments behind her own perfect façade. By experiencing the world as somebody else, Brinkley may finally learn to understand herself.

Why?

This looks like a good story. I like the fact thatBrinkley is going to live the lives of more than just one person. I think this will be a great read!

Runaway

Runaway

Meg Cabot

Scholastic Inc.

$16.99 U.S. (Hardcover)

FTC: I borrowed this book from a friend

What?

Emerson Watts is on the run: from school, from work, from her family, from her friends, from herself.

With everyone she loves furious with her for something she can't explain, and nothing but the live Stark Angel fashion show on New Year's Eve to look forward to, Em's reached the end of her rope. . .what's the point of even going on?

But when she discovers the truth about Nikki's secret, she knows there's only one person she can turn to.


Emerson Watts is on the run: from school, from work, from her family, from her friends, from herself.

With everyone she loves furious with her for something she can't explain, and nothing but the live Stark Angel fashion show on New Year's Eve to look forward to, Em's reached the end of her rope. . .what's the point of even going on?

But when she discovers the truth about Nikki's secret, she knows there's only one person she can turn to.

Will Christopher be able to put aside his personal feelings and help her expose her employer to the world? Is it even fair to get Christopher involved--since if he agrees, there's every chance that Stark Enterprises will try to have them both killed--this time, permanently?

Maybe it would be better for Em to just keep on running.

My Thoughts:

I'm not going to lie to you I thought Being Nikki was going to be the last book in the series and then with 20 pages left Cabot went and created a new problem. I was so exited to read Runaway, and was satisfied with where Cabot took it. Em progressively became stronger throughout the books as she became more comfortable with her new body she also became more comfortable with herself. I loved that aspect to her character. Most novels portray the pretty popular girls as stuck up, but in Runaway the pretty girl is shy and just trying to survivie. The end of Runaway satisfied me much more than the end of Being Nikki. I felt a sense of relief because the tension of the climax was over. I really enjoted this series, especially Runaway.

Recommendations: Anyone looking for a good sci-fi type chick lit book.

Grade: A

Age: Young Adult (14+)

Peace, Love & Baby Ducks

Peace, Love & Baby Ducks

Lauren Myracle

Penguin Group

$16.99 U.S. (Hardcover)

What?

Growing up in a world of wealth and pastel-tinted entitlement, fifteen-year-old Carly has always relied on the constancy and authenticity of her sister, Anna. But when fourteen-year-old Anna turns plastic-perfect-pretty over the course of a single summer, everything starts to change. And there are boys involved, complicating things as boys always do. With warmth, insight, and an unparalleled gift for finding humor even in stormy situations, beloved author Lauren Myracle dives into the tumultuous waters of sisterhood and shows that even very different sisters can learn to help each other stay afloat.

Why?

I always see this book and think 'awww the cover is so cute'. So I decided to actually look at the book and I think this would be a great fun read!!

Blog Hop and Follow Friday

The blog Hop is brought to us by Jennifer from Crazy-for-Books, check her out at http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

How many books do you have on your 'to be read shelf’?

Oh my goodness too many!!!! I think I have probably 60+ books on my to be read shelf. I have a srious book buying problem that does not mix well with my lack of time problem. I love books!!!

Great question this week!!! Happy hopping everyone.





Welcome to Follow Friday everyone!!!!!! Follow Friday is brought to us by http://www.parajunkee.com/


Enjoy the follow everyone!!!

Away Laughing on a Fast Camel

Away Laughing on a Fast Camel

Louise Rennison

HarperCollins

$8.99 U.S.

FTC: I purchased this book.

Synopsis:

The Sex God has left the country, taking Georgia's heart with him. So she decides to display glaciosity to all boys -- a girl can only have her heart broken so many times.

Until she meets Masimo, the new singer for the Stiff Dylans. The Sex God is gone, but here comes the Dreamboat, and Georgia's away laughing on a fast camel (whatever that means).

My Thoughts:

Oh Georgia... Whenever I need a good laugh I turn to one of these books. Louise Rennison makes me die of laguhter everytime. In this fifth installment of the series Georgia must learn to have glaciosity to boys.... and when that does not work she ends up having the cosmic horn. I absolutely love all the characters in this book, in real life they would be my friends. I love the simplicity and lack of seriousness in these books, they make for a fun light read that gets my sides splitting from laughter.

Recommendations: Anyone who wants to laugh.

Grade: A

Age: Young Adult (12+)

The Eternal Ones

The Eternal Ones

Kirsten Miller

Penguin Young Readers

$17.99 U.S. (Hardcover)

What?

Haven Moore can t control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother's house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.

In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves, before all is lost and the cycle begins again.

Why?

Can you see trippy... This book looks like a combination of like twenty others I have read recently, for that reason I really want to see where this story will go!!!!

Early to Death, Early to Rise

Early to Death, Early to Rise

Kim Harrison

HarperCollins

$16.99 U.S. (Hardcover)

FTC: I purchased this book

Synopsis:

Seventeen, dead, and in charge of heaven's dark angels—all itching to kill someone.


Madison Avery's dreams of ever fitting in at her new school died when she did. Especially since she was able to maintain the illusion of a body, deal with a pesky guardian angel, and oh yeah, bring the reaper who killed her to his untimely end. Not exactly in-crowd material. It's amazing that her crush, Josh, doesn't think she's totally nuts.

Now Madison has learned that she's the dark timekeeper, in charge of angels who follow the murky guidelines of fate. Never one to abide by the rules, she decides it's time for a major change to the system. With the help of some unlikely allies, Madison forms a rogue group of reapers who definitely don't adhere to the rules of the heavens.

But as she grapples with the terrifying new skills that come with being a timekeeper, Madison realizes she may not be prepared for what lies ahead—unless she gets some seriously divine intervention.

My Thoughts:

It had been about a year since I had read Once Dead, Twice Shy, but it was really easy for me to get back into this series. Madison is one of my favorite female characters in any book. She is spunky and awkward at the same time. I love the journey that the books takes her through as she learns to control being dead, being a dark time keeper, being in high school, and maybe even having a new boyfriend. She is a fun character to read about and you just have to love her. I think Kim Harrison did an amazing job creating a sequel to her original book. I cannot wait to see what happens next!

Recommendations: Anyone who loves a spunky heroine.

Grade: A

Age: Young Adult (14+)

Hello Again

Well I just thought I would fill everyone in as to why I have neglected my blog for the last 9 days. It has been a crazy week. Last week was going fantastic until Thursday when a mirror was broken and my week began to suck.... I would just like to state I did not break the mirror, but some of the bad luck has seemed to spread to me. Friday on the way home from work my car died, literally it died and would no longer move. If that was not enough it was rush hour traffic and people kept honking at me. Let's just say my car and I are over, and I will be searching for a replacement. The bad luck kept coming throughout the weekend. Then last night at work I jammed my finger in the photo machine and my boss laughed at me... All in all my weekend sucked, but to try and get back on track I am going to try and keep up with my blog this week! Thanks for reading my rant.

-Sarah