On My Wishlist [1]

'On My Wishlist' is a weekly meme hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It involves a list or post of some sort where are highlight books you are desperately wanting. They can be old, new, or even future releases. I have decided that I may not do this meme every week, but each time I do decide to participate I will highlight two books that I hope to get my hands on in the future.

So here are the two books for this week and feel free to click on each image to be taken to its Goodreads page, if you would like to learn more and read a synopsis.

 
'Unwind' by Neal Shusterman

I have only heard good things about this dystopian novel and Neal Shusterman in general. The concept he created this story behind is such so creative and original that I hope I can dive into sometime soon.







'Dragoneye Reborn' (Eon #1) by Alison Goodman

 This is another book that has been recommended and recommended to me and I think it is time to give it a go. Although this a pretty long fantasy genre YA book, I think it is one that will completely absorb me.




So, there they are! Two books I hope to add to my collection soon. =] Comment below if you have read one of these and let me know your opinions. And make sure to link your 'On My Wishlist' if you participated this week so I can make sure to stop by.

'Crank' by Ellen Hopkins

'Crank' is the story of Kristina, a high school junior, who on a trip to visit her father, starts to go down the wrong path. Bree emerges, an alter ego of herself and a new side of her. 'Crank' follows Kristina's downward spiral into drug abuse and all the actions that result from her usage.

'Crank' is the first book in a trilogy, all following the ups and downs of Kristina's life as she deals with drug abuse. It is such an eye opening account of the effects of drug abuse and although it is a tough subject for some to talk about, it is definitely an issue that needs to be discussed.

This book, along with the other books in this trilogy, is written in verse. At first I wasn't really sure I would like that aspect, worried that it would not be able to dig deep in the issue. But, I was completely wrong. This book was both beautifully written and well balanced, able to penetrate into the deep issues and emotional feelings going on.

Overall, I have nothing bad to say about Hopkins' book and is definitely one that more people should read. It, along with all of Hopkins' book, is so realistic, an aspect that really helps the reader connect and feel with her through her ordeals. A realistic and heartbreaking read that should be a must for teens.

Overall rating: 4 / 5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday [3]

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.

For this WoW, I decided to focus on a book that I only heard of about two weeks ago, but already really want to get my hands on. I randomly came across this because an author of a book I just picked up and added to my Goodreads list, happened to be one of the authors featured in it.

So the book is called 'The FIrst Time' and features 25 YA authors writing about first anything, kisses, love, and even ventured into the paranormal. Here is what the Goodreads synopsis says:

25 YA authors writing about “Firsts”... first kisses, first loves, first zombie slayings, first realizations ...

Of the authors involved in this, that I have heard of, I love. I knew I needed to add this to my list when I saw the names Jessica Verday, Jackson Pearce, Cyn Balog, Carrie Ryan, and Kirstin Cronn-Mills. I linked the Goodreads page for this book through the picture, so make sure to check this out there, if you are interested.

It is supposed to be out October 2011, so luckily there won't too much more waiting for me.

Make sure to leave a link to your 'Waiting on Wednesday' below, so I can make sure to stop by and hopefully learn of some new books to add to my wishlist!

Top 10 Tuesday [2] : Books tackling tough issues

So last week I started doing the 'top 10 Tuesday' meme and have decided to do it again this week since I really enjoyed looking at everyone's lists. So this weekly meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and involves doing a top ten list on a certain topic that is posted.

This week the top ten consists of listing books that tackle tough issues, whether is be social, cultural, personal or any other issues that are viewed as 'tough.' Mine seem to mainly be personal issues, but I feel many can be linked back to the social issues that lead to them. Check out my list below!

1. Cut by Patricia McCormick
2. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
3. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Chbosky
5. Looking for Alaska by John Green
6. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
7. Cracked up to be by Courtney Summers
8. Candy by Kevin Brooks
9. Sold by Patricia McCormick
10. The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Make sure to leave a link below to your top ten Tuesday so I can make sure to stop by and look at your recommendations. If you aren't up for doing a post, or don't blog, please leave at least a few below in the comments. Thanks!

It's Monday! What are you reading? [4]

'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.

JUST FINISHED

About an hour ago, I finished up reading 'One Day' by David Nicholls. Since the movie for this comes out next month, I thought it was definitely time to read this. And I am glad I did. I absolutely loved it. It was such a realistic story of a relationship, through all the ups and downs and anything. It follows the story of Emma and Dexter, looking in at where they are in their lives every year on the same day. Review will be up of this sometime next week, but for now I will just say that I really recommend it.

READING NOW

So I just started this day and am not really very far into at all. So far I am liking it, but it is definitely too early to really say much about it. 'The Mephisto Convenant' by Trinity Faegen comes out this September from EgmontUSA. Link the image of the cover to be taken to the Goodreads page for this book if you wanna to learn more about it.

TO READ NEXT

I have not put up any reviews of this series here on my blog, but it is definitely becoming one of my favorite series of all time. I have heard the first five books in Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires series and think it is time to dive back into again. The next one in the series is 'Carpe Corpus' and I cannot wait to jump back into their world, one that Caine has made seem so real. If you haven't given this series a shot and love vampires, definitely pick up 'Glass Houses.'

'Dreamland' by Sarah Dessen

So I have had this book on my shelf for at least three years and for some unexplainable and inexcusable reason never got around to reading it. [= I have heard so much good about Sarah Dessen lately and am disappointed in myself to say this is the first of her books I have read.

Powerful. Realistic. And eye opening. That is how I would describe 'Dreamland.' This book covers a very touchy and senstiive subject, physical abuse in teen relationships. It follows the story of Caitlin, a teenager who is dealing with all of life's normal issues, on top of her sister Cassandra recently running away to be with her boyfriend. As Caitlin comes to understand and cope with her sister leaving, she gets close to Rogerson. He is everything she never knew she wanted, until the relationship turns.

Relationship abuse, even among teens, is more common than most realize, making this an eye opening story of how one can get so wrapped up in a relationship and start to accept the abuse. Dessen depicted Caitlin so well that she felt real and as if she was right it front of you. It broke my heart at times, no doubt, but still was a story that needed to be told.

A big part of this novel that I loved was the fact that Dessen captured their whole relationship. This helps in the reader understand her feelings for Rogerson and even though the reader know what he is doing is wrong, she still makes you see through Caitlin's eyes and why she reacts the way she does. I really loved how real and raw she made Caitlin and how strong she came out of the situation.

I also really loved that she focused a portion of the end of the book on Caitlin after the relationship. It realistically showed a girl rebuilding, not a super human that was fine the next day. It really showed, in my opinion, a vulnerability that abuse victims should know is an accepted part of healing.

Overall, I loved this book and would definitely recommend to anyone, but especially teens, who should be exposed to the facts of abuse, in order to help themselves and those they love. This form of physical abuse, like any, needs to be discussed more, just like Dessen did in this novel. She beautifully brought forward a subject many push under the rug and hopefully can serve as a wake up call and learning experience for readers.

Overall rating: 4 / 5 stars
Recommend for: YA contemporary fans

In My Mailbox [4]

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.

I haven't done an IMM in a few weeks since I put myself on a small book buying ban, but now finally have some books to report. So here they are:

'Homefree' by Nina Wright

'Sensitive' by Nina Wright

 'The Sky Always Hears Me: And The Hills Don't Mind' by Cronn-Mills

'Rebel Angels' by Libba Bray

'The Mephisto Covenant' by Trinity Faegen

 

Cleaning out my bookshelf GIVEAWAY!

So once or twice every year I like to go through my bookshelf and pick out some books that I don't really need to keep and sell them to half price books. This afternoon, at random, I decided to grab a few off my shelf and make some money from them, so I can buy new ones I have been wanting to read.

But, as I was doing this, it dawned on me to give one away in a giveaway here on my blog to someone that had been wanting to read one that I was going to sell. Now, I would love to give all of these away, but sadly I do not have enough money for all that shipping. But, I decided that I could definitely give away one.

Below are pictures of the 4 options that the winner can pick from, as well as the titles and author.

> OPTION 1: Secret Society (Secret Society #1) by Tom Dolby
> OPTION 2: The It Girl (It Girl #1) by Cecily von Ziegesar
> OPTION 3: Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
> OPTION 4: The A-List (A-List #1) by Zoey Dean

The only one of these that I have a review up for is 'Secret Society' so click on the Review Archive tab if you would like to check that out.


So here are the rules for this giveaway:

• open to US only; no PO boxes
• must be 13 or older (13-17 with parent permission)
• must be a follower of let's evaluate, old or new!
• ENDS 8 / 19

• I am not responsible for lost or damage to item
• Winner picked using random.org

I want to say upfront that these all have been read and are not new from the store. Although they all are in good condition and have suffered no more damage than being read once by me. I know some people may not want to enter for a used book, but I thought I'd still put it out there in case there was even just one person that really wanted to read one of these. My next giveaway will be a brand new book, so keep an eye out for that in the future if you don't want to enter this one. More to come, I promise!

All you have to do to enter is fill out the form below. Good luck! And let me know, in the comments, if you all would be interested in me doing this every time I clean out my bookshelf.