'Frostbite' by Richelle Mead

Since this is the second book in her Vampire Academy series, I am not going to go at all into the plot, just to make sure I don't ruin it for anyone.

After reading the first book in the series, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and dive deeper into their world. I definitely wasn't left disappointed. I found the characters and relationships to be developed even more, expect for Lissa's, which is understandable since it is told from the point of view of Rose.

I absolutely loved the second half of this book, where it really dug into the action and suspense plots. Although I will say the big event early in the book (...Badicas, for those who have read it) was what really drew me in and made me not put in down for a couple of hours.

Overall, this book was suspenseful, gripping, and a great second installment of the Vampire Academy. I cannot wait until the next book, which I have been hearing is one of the best of the series.

Sorry this was so short but I don't want to give away too much and ruin it for those that hope to read it soon. Continues to be one of my favorite vampire stories and cannot wait to dive into the next. I NEED more Dimitri now! [:

Photo credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2282133.Frostbite 
Overall rating: 4 / 5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday [1]

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This meme highlights a future release that you are eagerly waiting to come out.

First my first WoW, I decided to feature a fall release that I wish would come out soon: 'After Obsession' by Carrie Jones and Steven E. Wedel.

"Aimee and Alan have secrets. Both teens have unusual pasts and abilities they prefer to keep hidden. But when they meet each other, in a cold Maine town, they can't stop their secrets from spilling out. Strange things have been happening lately, and they both feel that something-or someone- is haunting them. They're wrong. Despite their unusual history and powers, it's neither Aimee nor Alan who is truly haunted. It's Alan's cousin Courtney who, in a desperate plea to find her missing father, has invited a demon into her life-and into her body. Only together can Aimee and Alan exorcise the ghost. And they have to move quickly, before it devours not just Courtney but everything around her.

Filled with heart-pounding romance, paranormal activity, and rich teen characters to love-and introducing an exciting new YA voice, Steven Wedel-this novel is exactly what Carrie Jones fans have been waiting for. Meet your next obsession."

I cannot wait for this to come out of September 13th of this year. And did I mention I LOVE the cover. This sounds captivating, suspenseful, and original; traits I am loving right now.

Synopsis and photo credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10603241-after-obsession

 

Vampire Academy #1 in Mass Market Paperback!!

Just wanted to do a quick post today about some news I learned about what is quickly becoming one of my favorite series. Richelle Mead, author of the Vampire Academy series, recently posted some news about the production of the series. The first book, as of yesterday, is now available in mass market paperback.

Here is a little bit of what she shared on her website and blog, as well as the cover:

"Something else new and exciting is out this week. Vampire Academy #1 is being released in mass market edition here in the U.S. tomorrow, June 27. "Mass market" refers to the small-sized paperback (like the kind they stock in grocery stores). VA's previous paperback edition was the larger sized or "trade paperback" format. Mass is a little cheaper and handy for people on the go. It's also a nice size to pass on to friends who haven't read the series yet!

What's also cool about this is that the mass market will feature chapter 1 of Bloodlines."

I just wanted to share this news with you because if you are a huge fan of the series, like me, you may be interested in picking this up, it will definitely be easier to lend out and/or lug around.

As of now, I have only read the first two in the series, but can already tell it is going to be one of my favorites. My next review to go up will actually be the second of the series, so keep as eye out for that one.

Make sure you check out her website to keep up to date on all things VA. CLICK HERE

Photo&Quote credit: http://blue-succubus.livejournal.com/274136.html

Teaser Tuesday [2] : Survivor

Teaser Tuesday is weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading.. Anyone can join in, all you have to do is the following:

- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- 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!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This teaser is from 'Survivor' by Chuck Palahniuk, which I am currently about half way through.

"He was my big brother by just three minutes and thirty seconds, but in the Creedish church district there was no such thing as twins."

"The last night I ever saw Adam Branson, I remember thinking my big brother was a very kind and a very wise man. That's how stupid I was."

So technically that was really three sentences, but I couldn't help myself.  A review of this will probably be up in about two weeks, so make sure to keep an eye out for that.

Leave a comment below with a link to your teasers, so I can check them out and learn of some new books to add to my to read list.

photo credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22283.Survivor

It's Monday! What are you reading? [1]

So I recently just across this meme that I had not heard of before and thought I would give it a try. I probably will not be doing it every week, but thought right now it would be a great way to update and keep me on track for the week.

'It's Monday! What are you reading?' is a meme hosted by Book Journey and consists of sharing what you have read this past week, what you hope to read this week, and whatever else fits in too.

FINISHED
About an hour ago, I picked up and finished off about the last 50 pages in 'Unearthly'. This is a 2011 debut novel by Cynthia Hand and it is the first book in what I believe is going to be a three book series. My review for this will be up sometime next week so keep an eye out for that!



READING NOW
After I finished up reading Unearthly, I picked up the next book in my to read pile, which was 'Survivor.' I personally have only read 'Fight Club' by Palahniuk and knew I needed to dive into another soon. I also borrowed this from my library so I knew it was one I could not hold off on. As of now, I am about 5 chapters in and so far think I'm gonna like this one as well. 'Fight Club' was amazing and I hope this one does not fall short of that either. Plan to have a review of this up as well in the future.


TO READ NEXT
Of course I may end up of changing my mind, but as of now, the next book I plan to pick up this week is 'One Day.' 'Survivor' isn't that long of a novel so I am sure I will finish it in probably the next three days and plan to read this next. I have only heard good things about this and since it has been on my to read pile for awhile, I thought it was probably time to give it a go. [By: David Nicholls]


[all photo credit goes to www.goodreads.com]

'City of Ashes' by Cassandra Clare

After reading City of Bones, the first book, earlier in the year, I knew I had to pick up the second and that's what I did. This world that Clare has created is so intriguing and imaginative that I could not help but want to know more about the Shadowhunters and what is to come in her story.

Since this is the second book in the series, I am going to make sure I just focus on my opinions overall of the book and be careful not to give away anything that happened in the first book as well. It also may be short as well, since I won't go into specifics.

But, if you have read the first and absolutely loved it, then the main thing I can say is that this book won't leave you disappointed either. I personally thought it was a bit slow at first, but really came back with some twists and turns that I definitely wasn't expecting. Like any good series, it wrapped up some questions and storylines from the first novel, but also still left you with more suspense that still makes you want to pick up the next.

Overall, I will say that this was a successful sequel to the first novel and just like the first, it leaves you wanting more.

Overall rating: 3.5 / 5 stars
Photo credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/4062214-city-of-ashes
Recommend for: YA paranormal and fantasy fans

♥ Spring into Summer Read-a-thon Updates ♥

As some of you may know, today I am participating in a read-a-thon through my blog, hosted by Squeaky Books. I personally will be having all my updates today on this post to avoid overly busy feeds, so be sure to check back to this post throughout the day.

For the first update, I am just gonna let you know where I currently stand in books I want to finish and the goal I have for the overall day. Things are likely to change through these updates but this is where I am at right now:

> I want to finish Frostbite by Richelle Mead

> Not sure after that, depends what I'm in the mood for

[Most likely books that will make an appearance / top of my to read pile]

Check back every couple of hours for more updates on how I'm doing in the read-a-thon!

UPDATE #1

How I am doing:

> Total Books Read: 0

> Total Pages Read: 37 (I started a little late)

> Total Reading Time: ~40 minutes

> Current mood: feeling good and ready to read some more!

Mini Challenge:

> Favorite book to movie adaptation: Off the top of my head I would probably say Fight Club, with The Notebook coming in a close second.

> Least favorite book to movie adaptation: I think I am going to have to go with The Last Song. I read most of the book and thought it was very good, but the movie just ruined it for me. I am sure there are others as well that I cannot think of at the moment.

UPDATE #2

How I am doing:

> Total Books Read: 0

> Total Pages Read: 78

> Total Reading Time: ~ 1.5 hours

> Current mood: content

UPDATE #3

Did not participate, busy with other 'fun' things. [:

UPDATE #4

How I am doing:

> Total Books Read: 0

> Total Pages Read: 122

> Total Reading Time: ~ 2 hours

> Current mood: ready to eat! and then read!

Mini Challenge:

How I am doing:

> Total Books Read: 1

> Total Pages Read: 204

> Total Reading Time: ~ 3.5 hours

> Current mood: time to finish strong!


Mini Challenge:
I found this challenge is just that, challenging. This was the best I seemed to be able to put together with the books I currently own, but if anything else jumps out at me in the next hour, I'll definitely put a picture up of that as well. Very strange sentence but here it is (does it even make sense? haha) : One day, the girl with the dragon tattoo, thirst candy. [:





END OF DAY 1: REPORT

So, Squeaky Books' read-a-thon has officially wrapped up, at least in terms of day one. Since I only finished one book, I am not going to enter and compete in the 'most read' prize aspect, but still wanted to wrap up with my stats and information about day one.

Day One Stats:
> Total Books Read: 1
> Total Pages Read: 284
> Total Reading Time: ~ 4 hours

Like I said early in my post, the first and main goal of the day for me was to finish Frostbite. I had started it yesterday and barely made a dent, so I knew I could get easily wrapped into this world for the day. I did end of finishing it, about an hour ago, and started another novel as well.

Loved all the personalities and blogs I got introduced to through this read-a-thon and cannot to hopefully participate in another read-a-thon soon!

Teaser Tuesday [1] : Twelve

Teaser Tuesday is weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading.. Anyone can join in, all you have to do is the following:

- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- 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!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This teaser is from Twelve by Nick McDonell, which I just started reading.

"When White Mike first started dealing, it was summer and hot, and he tried to go as long as he could without sleep as a kind of experiment."

"Blood smears all over the two of them as they thud to the ground."

Leave a comment below with a link to your teasers, so I can check them out and learn of some new books to add to my to read list.


Photo credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/6642665-twelve

In My Mailbox [3]

In my mailbox is a weekly meme created and hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren and consists of a post/video about books you have either bought, received, or borrowed during the previous week.

Since I picked up some books the other day at my Half Price Books, I thought I'd share here on my blog. Below is a list of the books as well:

1. The Pact by Jodi Picoult
2. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
3. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
4. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
5. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
6. The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty

'Wither' by Lauren DeStefano

To be honest I first picked up this book solely based on the cover, which is absolutely breathtaking. Once I read what it was about, I picked it up right away, wondering what the author had planned for this future society novel where girls live to be twenty and men to be twenty-five.

Wither follows the story of Rhine, a sixteen year old who is pulled from her life and forced into a polygamous relationship in order to help keep the population alive. Linden, her husband, genuinely does care for her, but all Rhine has in mind in escaping so she can be rejoined with her twin brother. Add a crazy father-in-law and an on and off trust in her sister wives, Rhine confines in a servant about her intentions, someone that she unexpectedly becomes close to.

Sadly, I was very disappointed in this book. I was tempted to even give it two stars but wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt since it is only the first book in a trilogy and may just be a building block.

In short, I found this book: very slow, uneventful, repetitive, and contradicting. It seemed that every time Rhine would show some compassionate towards her husband, the next paragraph always consisted of her snapping back to the fact that he was the reason she was there, although it never portrayed when in came to the relationship. If she hated and resented him at times for making her stay there, I just wanted once for her to step up and show some feelings about it.

Although I loved the character of Rhine and the creative world DeStefano created, I never felt connected to her and thought that her relationship with her twin didn't even add to the story. 
I may end up picking for Fever, the second book in the trilogy, when in comes out next year, but as of now am definitely not begging for this to come out sooner. Although it did have moments where it shined and the writing was beautiful, it overall just left me not really caring about what may happen throughout the books.

Overall rating: 2.5 / 5 stars
Photo credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8525590-wither
Recommend for: YA dystopian and contemporary fans

'Anna and the French Kiss' by Perkins

Need a good summer book to read that is light, funny, yet rings completely true and honest?
Then pick this up NOW!

This book at about a girl named Anna who is shipped over to Paris by her father, for her senior year of high school. Unsure at first, Anna finds herself feeling homesick and resenting her father for sending her there for her last year of high school. Slowly Anna starts to make friends and find a part of Paris' culture that she loves. Like any good trip to Paris, there is also a guy she meets and starts to fall for ...too bad he has a girlfriend.

This book was released in December 2010 by Dutton and is currently only available in hardcover. At 372 pages, this is the perfect book to pick up this summer when in need of a light, beach-y read.

Overall, this book is amazingly written and will definitely leave you wanting more. Perkins companion novel needs to come out sooner!

Overall rating: 4 / 5 stars
Photo credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6936382-anna-and-the-french-kiss

Spring into Summer Read-a-thon hosted by Squeaky Books

This post is to announce to the world that I'm participating in the Spring into Summer read-a-thon hosted by Enna Isilee of Squeaky Books!

This read-a-thon is going to be so great! It's two days where you try do NOTHING but read. It's a great chance to get rid of some of those books that have been sitting on your TBR pile forever.

But that's not all! There will also be awesome mini-challenges and a TON of giveaways! In fact, just for signing up you are entered to win a $25 gift card to Amazon! SO GO SIGN UP! And if you say that  Let's Evaluate sent you, you'll get 5 extra entries to win that gift card! CLICK HERE to enter to win, and know all there is to know about the read-a-thon.

Here's my goal:

I plan to participate on: FRIDAY only
I plan to read: 2 books (I have a job so I'm keeping it small to start)
I hope to read: not sure yet, depends where I get from now until then

Well, have you signed up yet? DO IT NOW!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP