My Web Page
I would like to announce that I finally had the bravery to open my literature (reading) web page. you're invited to visit the page since I will be reviewing some books that have not been released yet. I will have three contests as part of the page's inauguration celebration. I will be giving away: One Harry Potter Gryffindor collector pin, a $100 Amazon Gift Card and the Twilight Diaries along with some other books too, so be very wary on updates and the mailing list.


http://windowpane-memoirs.com/

Once Dead, Twice Shy (2009)
Written by: Kim Harrison
Genre: YA/Urban Fantasy
Pages: 232

The premise: Madison Avery had a killer prom. Literally. Killed by her date, she's only still kicking because she stole the amulet of the reaper who came for her soul. That amulet's the only thing keeping her "alive," and the reaper isn't too happy about it. He's doing everything he can to get that amulet back, even if it means using her friends and loved ones to do it. But Madison isn't going to take this lying down. She's got the help of another reaper (a light one, a good guy, she hopes), her cute crush, and a guardian angel. Hopefully it's enough to keep her alive and kicking.

My Rating

Buy the Paperback: this is a tricky rating. If I were basing it on unique urban fantasy elements, this book is an absolute must-have. Truly, it's unique, and again I applaud Harrison for giving me a strong heroine and for not setting this series in the same world as her Rachel Morgan books. However, basing the rating on the fact it's a YA novel (which makes me consider the length) and the problems I had working out some of the motivations that pushed the plot forward, I don't feel it's worth the cost of a hardcover. It's a good book, and I'll very seriously consider the next book in the series (and in hardcover, since that's what I started with), but unless you're just a major Kim Harrison fan or the book sounds so awesome to you that you can't wait to read it, wait for the paperback. It's good, but it's not HARDCOVER good.

Review style: for this book, I'm dividing it once more into two sections: what I liked and what I didn't. Expect spoilers in both, because what I like and don't like directly relates to said spoilers. So, if you don't want to be spoiled, stop now. However, if you've already read the book or you just don't care about spoilers, then you may find the full review in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Kim Harrison's ONCE DEAD, TWICE SHY

Happy Reading! :)

I am really curious about this book and am interested in reading it. Has anyone in the community read it? If so, could you share your thoughts on the book? Did you like it? 

Speak (1999)
Written by: Laurie Halse Anderson
Genre: YA/Fiction
Pages: 224

The premise: Melinda Sordino has started high school off on the wrong foot. Her former friends refuse to speak to her, and people who don't even know her are giving her the evil eye. She can't explain why she busted up that party over the summer by calling the cops. Not to her former friends, not to her teachers, not to her parents, and really, not even to herself. If she does, that means she has to accept the truth, and by doing that, everything she knows will fall apart. So she retreats deeper and deeper and deeper into herself, and she won't stop until someone or something thing forces her to speak.

My Rating

Must Have: At any rate, the book is solid and important. Like anything that should be considered literature, I think it transcends labels like "good" or "bad." It's just a book that teens should definitely read (no doubt, Melinda's experience of high school is relative, though I question if current teens, who have their cell phones on them 24/7, can truly appreciate the limitations of teens back in the late nineties, when this book was written), and for that matter, their parents should read it with them. The point isn't to judge Melinda's behavior, but to try and empathize with her. If you don't already know her secret when you start reading, start asking yourself what could happen that could make someone feel that the way Melinda does. If you do know her secret, really pay attention. I feel this book really speaks to the truth of Melinda's situation on so many levels, and it's important to empathize with her, to understand why people like her act the way they do. Bottom line, it's just an important book, one that makes me consider what it means to be a parent (whenever that day comes) and one that reminds me of how completely desperate and scary it is to be a teen, even if you don't have something like Melinda's secret weighing you down.

Review style: this is a book that I can't discuss without referring to spoilers, and for better or for worse, I knew those spoilers before I ever picked up the book, so it influenced my reading. This review will be of the original, regular sort in which anything behind the cut is ripe for spoilers, so if you don't want to be spoiled, this entry is all you need.

The full review, with spoilers, is in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Laurie Halse Anderson's SPEAK

Happy Reading!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth (2009)
Written by: Carrie Ryan
Genre: YA/Horror
Pages: 310

The premise: Mary lives in a world with very strict and sacred rules: the Sisterhood knows best. The Guardians will protect you. The Unconsecrated will never, ever relent. And most important, stay away from the fence that protects you from the Forest of Hands and Teeth, where the Unconsecrated are waiting. But Mary's rules start failing her as she yearns for more than what the village can provide. Love, and a life outside of the Forest that seems as mythic and impossible as God himself. Only to leave the village means death, and Mary has to decide if she's content with her life in the village, which is safe, or if she'll change the world beyond, if there even is such a thing.

In short: it's a book about zombies in which the z-word is never mentioned once.

My Rating

Must Have: it would've gone to the Keeper Shelf, especially at the beginning, but I ended up having some issues with the narrator, who certainly works to make you like her, especially by the end. But there's no doubt that for a story that's essentially about zombies, this is compelling, elegant, haunting, and fascinating. This is the first book in a series, which is a good thing, because Ryan raises all kinds of questions she doesn't answer that I look forward to getting in the future. The atmosphere is excellent, and while Ryan never truly names what part of the country this takes place in (all you've got is the actual forest and the quest for the ocean), I had no trouble picturing this in Appalachia, which would make sense since that's where the author resides. :) The writing of this book is very, very solid and I can't wait to see this author grow technically and creatively. Certainly, the book's not without it's flaws, as we've got a rather selfish narrator and quite a few unanswered questions, but the journey is so worth it, and the promise of more just makes it better. I can't recommend this book enough, and this isn't the type of story that non-YA readers should shy away from. It earns your respect in spite of its flaws, and it's definitely worth the time and I daresay money if you're like me and purchase your books. And that's saying something, as it's in hardcover (and Kindle, but I don't have one of those).

The full review, which is chock full of spoilers and includes cover art commentary, may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Carrie Ryan's THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH

Happy Reading! :)

Hello, community. I have a question for all of you.

I'm from NYU's Tisch School of Arts and for one of my classes, I am writing an essay about Ellen Hopkins, her artistic vision, and how she fits in with, yet transcends, the genre of YA lit.

I need all of you Hopkins fans here to help me out. I want to get some opinions from readers that I can use as support in my essay that aren't my own. If you could fill out the following questionnaire and respond in a comment, I'd be very, very thankful.

1. Why do you enjoy Ellen Hopkins' books?
2. Do you enjoy them more or less than other YA lit books? Why/Why not?
3. Which is your favourite book by Hopkins, and why?
4. Do you see Hopkins as being different from other YA lit authors? Why/Why not?
5. What do you see as being different about Hopkins' books? What do you see as being the same? (In comparison to other YA lit.)
6. How closely can you relate to the characters or events in Hopkins books? Strongly? Somewhat? Not at all? Please explain.
7. Any other feelings, thoughts or comments?

Thank you so much, all.

Imagine going to sleep in a friend's cabin after prom night and waking up somewhere completely new... Somewhere where magic and fantasy are real, and you have no way of knowing how you got there... Or how to get home.

Lose yourself for a while in a world of heroes, deception, and good-versus-evil.

Diamond "Dai" Gold is an eighteen-year-old whose peaceful existence shatters when she awakens in a world straight from a fairy tale, instantly immersed in a desperate fight for her life. Her adventure continues as she plunges further into the world and discovers that not only is her past intertwined with this world, but that it is her destiny to save it from destruction and rule by a dangerous group known as the Malo.

In a world where deception and secrets run rampant, Dai must decide which side she can really trust. Armed only with the protection of a boy who seems to want to trade her life for the safety of his friends, Dai has many secrets to discover on her perilous journey to save this world, and herself in the process.

Check out my site to read the first two chapters of "The Quest of Dai: The Eroe", (it's nice to know what you're going to get before you get it, right?) and read some other short stories while you're there.

The Quest of Dai: The Eroe

(Huge thanks to Ava for letting me post this! <3)

Hi there,

Recently I have embarked on a massive study of fan-fiction and specifically the hurt/comfort genre as part of my Personal Interest Project (PIP) for the Society & Culture course. In order to validate my theories I need fan-fiction writers and readers to contribute to an internet focus group.

If I seem bold in this request then I would like to mention that this is not a request, it is an offer for you to participate in what I believe will be a very interesting discussion focused on the hurt/comfort genre. I have great respect for your opinions and ideas. Mostly I look forward to the quality of the sort of discussion which I have previously observed you taking part in. In many ways these discussions are far more dynamic and valuable to a researcher than statistics or content analysis. Please consider taking part as either a registered member or an anonymous guest.

Here is the link: http://hcdiscussion.proboards.com/index.cgi
Feel free to have a look and read the further information which I have provided there.


Thank you for reading!


ps. I apologize for my shameless self-promotion at your expense, but this is the only way that I can expose my focus group and the success of my investigation -- and consequently, my marks -- depends on it. Thank you for your tolerance and I promise you won't hear from me again.

Fragile Eternity (2009)
Written by: Melissa Marr
Genre: YA/Urban Fantasy
Pages: 390 (ARC)

The premise: in the third book of Marr's series, Aislinn and Seth are struggling to stay true to themselves while staying true to each other. That's a problem, because Aislinn is now faery and therefore immortal and Seth, well, isn't. What's worse is that there's too many faeries with their own plans for Ash's and Seth's relationship, and one particular faery will not at nothing to start a war, no matter what the cost.

My Rating

Worth the Cash: if you're a fan of this series, but if you haven't started it, I'd recommend going with Wicked Lovely first (as well you should, since it's the first in the series!). The second book, Ink Exchange, stands well enough on its own, but Fragile Eternity relies of the events of Wicked Lovely as well as Ink Exchange that you're going to be a bit lost without those two books under your belt. To be honest, I was a bit lost even though I HAD those two books under my belt, and I'm willing to take the blame for that since I've not been in a good reading frame of mind lately. The book itself feels a lot like set-up for the next, and while one solid, game-changing thing happens in this book, it takes too long to get there IMHO and the rest of the pages are spent on characters over-examining their relationships and feelings for one another and bemoaning the strengths/weaknesses of their courts in case War (and yes, that's capitalized intentionally) gets her way. If you're a big fan of the relationship element of Marr's work, you're going to love this book. If you're more interested in the plot, well, you may find it lacking like I did. Still, there's some good stuff here regarding the 1) game-changing event as well as 2) getting answers to questions you may have had (I know I did!) after reading Wicked Lovely. I'll definitely continue reading the series (and yes, I must buy the hardcover so my collection stays complete), but I do hope the next book in the series has a little more meat on the plot-bones. :)

The full review, which does contain spoilers and cover commentary, may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Melissa Marr's FRAGILE ETERNITY

Happy Reading!

I just came back from Borders and I was a little disappointed that they didn't have a lot of the books I wanted in stock.
But I am still happy with what I got.
I purchased two books.
Even so, I am still happy because it's not like I needed any it was just because I wanted them. I have plenty already, trust me.
So, I got:
The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Many of you may be familiar with them.

I think that I will enjoy The Nature of Jade because I think I will be able to relate to it.
Uglies looks like a good book because it has a pretty interesting plot and it is YA, after all.

Have any of you read either of these books?
If so, did you like them?
If not, are you planning on reading them?

Sincerely,
Dani


x-posted

Hey everyone!  I help co-manage a book blog and we're having our very first contest and giving away a copy of Something, Maybe.  The deadline is March 30th and sorry it's only open to US residents.  Drop by the blog if you would like to enter!

http://justyourtypicalbookblog.blogspot.com

Hello everyone, I am a returning user of livejournal.
I used to be obsessed with reading but then that hobby slowly but surely started to disinterest me.
Now that I look back at it, I think I was crazy because I now know that I am definitely a girl who is willing to read a lot. And I am willing to write the longest reviews you have ever seen.
I just grabbed some books off my shelf that I started reading but never got to finish because I became disinterested.
I read mostly YA books.

The books that I am willing to finish are:
Vampire Kisses 3: Vampireville by Ellen Schreiber
How I Changed My Life by Todd Strasser
All-American Girl by Meg Cabot
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

I am currently liking Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney and Bobbi Brown Teenage Beauty: Everything You Need to Look Pretty, Natural, Sexy, & Awesome by Bobbi Brown.

I must admit that the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series is childish but I still find it amusing.

Bobbi Brown Teenage Beauty has the best makeup advice you could ever get.

So there you have it!
I am starting over!
Now I'm on a new, clean slate.
I might be a little behind on my books just so you know.


Sincerely,
Dani


x-posted

I just finished reading A Million Little Pieces by James Frey and I loved it, I thought it was real and gritty and a great TRUE story about a man overcoming addiction..well..I was looking it up on the internet and ran into something about it being fake or James adding stuff or taking stuff out or something like that and now I'm just like..kinda disappointed, and kinda like what the hell? Because I don't know if that really is true and he did go to rehab and know these people and just changed the story or if it really is a TRUE story and everything really did happen the way it was written.



What do you guys think? Or the ones of you that have read it anyway? Have you heard these rumors/theories? Did you like the book?

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception (2008)
Written by: Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: YA/Urban Fantasy
Pages: 325

The premise: The day that Deirdre Monaghan meets Luke Dillon, she starts to see faeries. Day by day, her life starts getting weirder and weirder, and what's worse, she's become infatuated with the mysterious Luke, a boy she knows isn't fully human but doesn't care. What she doesn't know is that Luke's been sent with a purpose, and that purpose might get her killed. And yes, if this book sounds like a cross between Stephenie Meyer's Twilight and Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely, it's intentional on my part, because those are the two books I thought of while reading this one. I don't mean that as an insult or turn-off either, as the book does grow into its own story by the end, but before I got there, I was reminded of previous works. :)

My Rating

Give It Away: but if faeries are YOUR THING, it's worth the cash, maybe even a must have, but given my bias against faeries in general, I'm not the best judge of that. It's a VERY fast read, so fast you won't even realize where you are in the book until you're halfway through it, and one really nice thing about this edition (I don't know if all of the editions will have this) is the interior art: the inside covers have lovely drawings as well as each "book" of the, well, book. ;) It's all done by the same artist that did the cover, and while the art isn't the kind of style I like, it's lovely to look at, especially in black and white. There's a lot of things I like and/or am interested in this book that might make me consider the sequel, Ballad when it comes out, but I'll definitely keep an eye on Stiefvater's future work. She's already got a title coming up that's not related to this series at all called Shiver, and from what I gather, it focuses on my particular fetish, werewolves, or at least her brand of them.

The full review, which includes MAJOR SPOILERS, as well as cover art commentary (for both the old and new covers!) may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)

REVIEW: Maggie Stiefvater's LAMENT

Happy Reading! :)

I've been reading a lot of fantasy/sci fi novels lately and don't get me wrong I love love love them but I'm in the mood for something gritty and real. It doesn't necessarily have to be a true story, but something that more or less has to do with real life and issues, and not a love story or anything like that. Any Suggestions?

Some novels that I've already read that I believe are in this category are:
Becoming Anna by Anna J. Michener
Looking for Alaska by John Green
See You Down the Road by Kim Ablon Whitney
The White Horse by Cynthia D. Grant
Checkers by John Marsden
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

So yeah, I hope that list gives you an idea because I'm not sure I explained myself too well but these seem "gritty" and "real" to me. Any good reads anyone knows of that pertains to this sort of book?

Can anyone recommend teen fiction that deals with parents being in prison? Many thanks.

Hello all,

I'm in the mood for a YA tingler. You know the kind- the books with the completely irresistible male lead. And not in the, oh they're-just-so-good-looking-way, but in the where-the fuck-is-my-(insert fictional character name here)?!

I need more of those. I find adult novels hardly fulfill that gripping feeling for me. Maybe I enjoy YA much more because they focus on the sexual tension.

My favorite YA crush was Marcus Flutie of Sloppy Firsts.

And, admittedly, Edward Cullen of Twilight fame.

Who were yours?

I need some help.

I need a ton of recommendations for books that 8th grade males would like. There really can't be sex in the books because they're for my classroom library...

I have a ton of books for girls, but I have such a hard time finding ones for boys. Especially ones that aren't science fiction/fantasy....

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!