Hiatus

Hi everyone!

I hope that you're all enjoying your weekend. Just wanting to let you know that starting Tuesday until probably Sunday I will be having a blogging hiatus because I will be on a trip to the lovely San Juan Islands of Washington State. (I kind of wish I was going to Canada, but alas, no.) This means that I won't be doing any more posts till then, and I will be missing all the memes (I'll miss you guys this Friday) but I'll be back soon and catch up then. I may find a time to post between now and Tuesday, but, if not, see you guys soon!

p.s. I'd love it if you'd vote on my poll to tell me which book I should read next!

Follow Friday

Q. How many books do you read in a week? And in what format do you read them, or listen to them?

A. It depends on the week, but usually one a week in either a hard copy or on my Kindle.

Happy Friday everyone!


please leave a link so I can check out your blog!!!

CLOCKWORK PRINCE COVER REVEAL!!!

The cover for the Clockwork Prince was revealed this morning! what do y'all think?? You can enlarge it by clicking on the picture!

I love Jem (the guy on the cover) he was my second favorite character in the Clockwork Angel (1st place went to Magnus <3)

description (from GoodReads)

In Clockwork Prince, with Mortmain vanished and the clock counting down on how long Charlotte can keep control of the Institute away from Benedict Lightwood, Will, Jem and Tessa must dig into Mortmain’s past to predict what he will do in the future, But secrets about Mortmain aren’t all they find buried — Tessa begins to uncover the truth about her own birth, and the ghosts of Will’s past return to haunt him. As Tessa grows closer to Jem, and Will is driven further toward the brink of madness by jealousy and guilt, will they discover the truth in time to halt the next phase of Mortmain’s evil plan?

Review: Girl, Stolen

Title: Girl, Stolen
Author: April Henry
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Page Count: 224 (hardcover copy)
Rating: 5/5

Description (via GoodReads):

Sixteen year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of a car while her step-mom fills her prescription at the pharmacy. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, their car is being stolen—with her inside! Griffin hadn’t meant to kidnap Cheyenne, all he needed to do was steal a car for the others. But once Griffin's dad finds out that Cheyenne’s father is the president of a powerful corporation, everything changes—now there’s a reason to keep her. What Griffin doesn’t know is that Cheyenne is not only sick with pneumonia, she is blind. How will Cheyenne survive this nightmare, and if she does, at what price?

Review:

I really enjoyed reading ‘Girl, Stolen’. The story and characters were very well developed and written. It was in third person, but the perspective of the characters changed, and I really like how the author, April Henry, did that. It is a very quick read, but has all the elements of a great story! Since the main character is blind, April Henry describes the book in other ways besides sight so you are put more in Cheyenne’s point of view and ‘see’ things the way she does. On the whole, ‘Girl, Stolen’ seemed very realistic to me. There was only one point where it wasn’t for me, and I am one of the few people for whom this would be a problem. In the book, Cheyenne is described as going to Catlin Gabel for high school, which happens to be the same place where I went to middle school (It’s pre-K – 12). And though I didn’t go to the high school, I was on the same campus of which there were some inaccurate descriptions (i.e. in the book Catlin has a football team when in fact it actually doesn’t). But I still loved that she went there, inaccuracies aside. (After all, how often do you read a book where the main character goes to the same school you did?)

Over all, ‘Girl, Stolen’ was a great read! I loved the story, I loved the descriptions, and I loved the ending. I highly recommend it, and because it is so past-paced and condensed it was one of the quicker reads that I have read in a while!

Follow Friday

Q. It's circle time. Time for us to open up and share. Can you tell us FIVE quirky habits or things about you? We all have them...

1. I sometimes eat salad with my fingers.
2. I hum along with the sounds of machinery (printers, fans, etc.)
3. I always sleep with at least one animal on my bed.
4. I am a compulsive nail biter ( especially at intense movies).
5. I have a TBR list of about thirty books.

3 different books, 4 different movies!

As well as a book geek, I also count myself as a movie aficionado. And what can be better than news on books and movies? News on books being made into movies of course!!

For those of you who are also movie enthusiasts and do not yet know about Comingsoon.net you really should, it is an incredible source for all movie news. Anyway, the past couple of days there has been some good news regarding books being made into movies.

1. The upcoming release 'Legend' (which I featured as my Waiting on Wednesday this week) already has a director for its movie adaption, Jonathan Levine. Also, the Twilight Saga's Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey will produce it.


2. Andrew Niccol has signed up to direct the movie adaption of 'The Host' by Stephanie Meyer. He originally wrote the screenplay while someone else was set to direct it, but now it seems he has returned to the project.



3. Lastly, 'The Hobbit' which is being made into a two part movie adaption released a ten minute video on the last touches of their pre-production. (Out of all of these, I think I am most excited about this).

Follow Friday

Q. The Blogger Apocalypse made me a little emotional. What is the most emotional scene in a book that you have read lately?

A. The ending of 'The Book Thief' made me cry harder than I have ever cried at the end of a book. (((((Max)))))

Waiting on Wednesday

WoW is hosted by the wonderful Jill at Breaking the Spine

Book: Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Release Date: November 29, 2011
Publisher: Penguin/Putnam

Description from Goodreads:

The United States is gone, along with its flooded coasts. North America's two warring nations, the western Republic and the eastern Colonies, have reached a breaking point. In the midst of this broken continent and dark new world are two teenagers who will go down in history....

Born into the slums of Los Angeles, fifteen-year old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. A mysterious boy with no recorded image or fingerprints. A boy who should no longer exist. A boy who watches over his family until one evening, when the plague patrols mark his family's door with an X--the sign of plague infection. A death sentence for any family too poor to afford the antidote. Desperate, Day has no choice; he must steal it.

Born to an elite family in Los Angeles' wealthy Ruby sector, fifteen-year old June is the Republic's most promising prodigy. A superintelligent girl destined for great things in the country's highest military circles. Obedient, passionate, and committed to her country--until the day her brother Metias is murdered while on patrol during a break-in at the plague hospital.

Only one person could be responsible.

Day.

And now it's June's mission to hunt him down.

The truth they'll uncover will become legend

Review: Mistwood

Title: Mistwood
Author: Leah Cypess
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Page Count: 320
Rating: 3.5/5

Description:

The Shifter is an immortal creature bound by an ancient spell to protect the kings of Samorna. When the realm is peaceful, she retreats to the Mistwood. But when she is needed she always comes.

Isabel remembers nothing. Nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have.
Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, to wind, to mist. He needs her lethal speed and superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty—because without it, she may be his greatest threat.
Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can't help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court . . . until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them.
Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart . . . and everything she thought she knew.

Review:

I had heard about Mistwood awhile back from another blog and the description (and cover art) intrigued me. I bought it on my Kindle and read it over a vacation in California. I definitely liked the legend aspect of it, and the author had a twist ending that I could not see coming. The descriptions were very well written, I could picture the castle that most of the book takes place in very vividly.

What I did not enjoy so much is that there was not a ton of action throughout the book. There was talk of war, but nothing ever really came of it. Though there was a tie up of everything at the end, at times it was confusing to put together from the way it was written. All of the characters’ motives were not always clear.

All said, it was an entertaining read. I will definitely be reading the companion novel Nightspell, which is coming out in the near future. If you have a free slot on your TBR list, I would recommend putting it on there to read on your Kindle or Nook on a long train or plane ride, or on a rainy day with a cup of coco or tea. (Who doesn’t like reading books that way?)

100+ followers!

I am so excited that I have just reached over one hundred followers! It is so awesome to know you guys all like what I have to say. I love each and every one of you!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend

~ Larissa

Follow Friday

Q. Circle time! Time to share. What character in a book would you most like to be, what character in a book would you most like to date?

A. I would most want to be Hermione I think, and I would want to date Peeta Mellark the most.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking the Spine

Book: Goliath
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Release Date: September 20, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Description: He final book in Westerfeld's masterful trilogy that SLJ reviewed as “sure to become a classic.” (Sorry for the short description that was all that I could find on the Internet. I am adding a short description of the trilogy below).

The Leviathan trilogy follows Devyn Sharp, a girl disguising herself as a boy in order to join the British army, and Alek, the prince of Austro-Hungary who is on the run. It is a steampunk that takes place in the early 1900s in a world where the Beasties (England and allies) and Clankers (Austro-Hungary and allies) are on the edge of starting a war.

This is an awesome young adult steampunk series and I am really excited for this release!

Awesome Writing Quote

It is the beginning of a new month, and someone sent me this amazing quote on writing that I thought was so great I just had to post it. It is really rather encouraging to think that a writer such as J.K. Rowling has the same difficulties as myself and many other aspiring writers everywhere!

"Be ruthless about protecting writing days, i.e., do not cave in to endless requests to have "essential" and "long overdue" meetings on those days. The funny thing is that, although writing has been my actual job for several years now, I still seem to have to fight for time in which to do it. Some people do not seem to grasp that I still have to sit down in peace and write the books, apparently believing that they pop up like mushrooms without my connivance. I must therefore guard the time allotted to writing as a Hungarian Horntail guards its firstborn egg."
J.K. ROWLING

April Haiku Contest Winner!

As of today, May 1, my haiku poetry contest is officially over and it is time for me to announce my winner!



The haiku that won was by the wonderful Chloe! She submitted three and this is the one that got her this awesome picture:

Sunbeams in the clouds
Light lines over miles of sky
Bright spots on the fields

Great job Chloe!

I also want to thank all the other wonderful people who submitted in this contest, you were all fabulous. I hope you all will submit for next year's as well.

have a great day!

~ Larissa