Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

I'm attempting to participate in today's Dewey 24 Hour Readathon.  It's been a while since I joined in on the read-a-thon fun.  Unfortunately, I was busy for most of the day, but now I'm ready to jump in! I've missed the book scene and all the amazing readers!

Hour 11:  Spent most of the last hour participating in challenges.   :)

One-Night Reads (Hour 11):

• For a sweet YA romance: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith  (Side note: I am obsessed with her books!  I still need to get my hands on a copy of The Geography of You and Me.)
• For gripping, in-your-face YA fiction: Robert Cormier's books such as Heroes or Tunes for Bears to Dance to.  

Hour 10:  Got a book in hand...I'm ready!

Picture Challenge (Hour 9):  Book and snack. #RATbooksnack

Books + wine = favorite relaxation splurge!  If only I had chocolate, too.  Clearly, I'm not following their message, but I hear it's fun to read. Bottoms up!








Books to Empower Challenge (Hour 8):  Green Angel by Alice Hoffman.

Upcoming Book Club Meetup

I used to attend a local BookCrossing meeting regularly and I loved it. To non-BookCrossers, I sometimes called it my "book club meeting" if I didn't have time to explain the whole awesome concept of BookCrossing. But I never regularly attended a traditional book club. You know, a formal group meeting where everyone actually reads the same book and discusses it. Since I love YA, I've been weary of groups that read more traditional book club fiction. So when my pal passionatebklvr asked me to go an upcoming book club meeting that she's leading, I hesitated for a moment and then immediately said YES (because you got to support your girlfriends, am I right?!?).

On Saturday, I'm going to my first Media Women's Book Club Meetup. I tracked down a copy of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan through a BookCrossing trade (shout out to ekgv414 for coming through quickly). I have about a quarter of the book left to go and I'm actually enjoying it more than I thought I would. Maybe I'll even post a mini-review when I'm done...or a book club meeting wrap-up post. Yeah, that means appropriate. There's also a movie version that my friend recommends. After some time away, it's nice to be back in the book blogging world. 

If you have any book club tips or anecdotes, leave them in the comments below. 

Dewey's 24 Hr Readathon! Update Post

 

Time to kick off the readathon! Like last time, I'm going to update the same post so everything's organized in one spot (hopefully), with the latest updates at the top. Enjoy!

Thank you to all the amazing Dewey folks who make the Readathon possible!  It's always a fun event and the challenges this time around were great. Very engaging. I'm glad to participate as a reader and unofficial cheerleader. xoxo

Hour 24: End of Event

Hour 24 Update
Books completed: almost 5 (3 children's picture books, 2 middle grades), titles listed below in the "End of Event" Meme
Pages read: 558
Time spent reading: 5.5 hours
Time spent blogging/completing challenges/cheering: 4.5 hours
Where I'm reading: at home on the couch
Snacks: hot chocolate, popsicle, cereal 

End of Event Meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Hour 21 was tough. I almost stayed up to hour 22, but couldn't make it.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and The Bad Beginnings (A Series of Unfortunate Events, 1) by Lemony Snicket kept me both interested.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? There were a few minor linking issues (i.e. 404 errors), but other than that, nope.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I like the format of the hourly posts. It was organized so you could easily find the current mini-challenges and door prize winners.
5. How many books did you read? I fell asleep on my 5th book (mind you 3 were children's picture books).
6. What were the names of the books you read? Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant Retold by Mary Hollingsworth, The Berenstain Bears Storybook Treasury by Stan & Jan Berenstain, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, and The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events) by Lemony Snicket.
7. Which book did you enjoy most? The Berestain Bears Storybook Treasury because I loved that series so much as a kid.
8. Which did you enjoy least? Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant Retold by Mary Hollingsworth. I get it was originally written a while back, but that giant was a little too creepy for me (i.e. man who watches/kisses kids creepy).
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn't officially a cheerleader, but I recommend cheering on folks who participated in the later hour challenges. You know they're up and need that extra little nudge.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I will definitely participate in the readathon again. I hope to be able to devote more time reading and some time cheering.  

Hour 20: Update

Well, I honestly didn't stay up all this time.  I napped for about 4 hours. Then had my snack (below) and cheered on a bunch of the recent mini-challenge participants---You folks are doing awesome! Not sure if I'll read much more, but I intend to unofficially cheer a little be longer. Keep it going all! Gotta love the Dewey experience. :)

Currently Reading: The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events) by Lemony Snicket (many other folks are reading it so I figured I'd give it a re-read).
Books completed: 4 (3 children's picture books, 1 middle grades)

•  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant Retold by Mary Hollingsworth
• The Berenstain Bears Storybook Treasury by Stan & Jan Berenstain
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Pages read: 502
Time spent reading: 5 hours
Time spent blogging/completing challenges/cheering: 3.5 hours
Where I'm reading: at home on the couch
Snacks: cereal, my usual middle of the night snack.

Hour 18 TBR Challenge: I almost missed this challenge but got my comment in under the time deadline.  I love this ridiculously huge Mt. TBR pic! My guess was 910.

Hour 15: Update & 2 Mini Challenges!

Books read: almost 4 (3 children's books, 1 middle grades)

•  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant Retold by Mary Hollingsworth
• The Berenstain Bears Storybook Treasury by Stan & Jan Berenstain
• Almost finished with Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Pages read: 462
Time spent reading: 4 hours
Where I'm reading: at home on the couch
Snacks:  Cherry popsicle  :)

Hour 15: That Reminds Me Of A Book Challenge - My response:
I’m almost finished reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. A heart attack kills the pilot flying the single engine plane which Brian is the only passenger. Miraculously, he survives a crash landing in a dense Canadian wilderness and is left only with a hatchet (This happens in the first few chapters, so really no spoiler here). Anyway, there’s a lake (not huge, but big enough) and dense trees. I think this picture displays Brian’s remote environment the best. It doesn’t have majestic mountains like other Canadian lake pics.  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/164944405072650339/

Name in Titles Challenge:  Objective = Spell out your name in book titles. I went through my shelves and found these titles, each first letter spells out Michelle!

M - Mira, Mirror by Mette Ivie Harrison
I - Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel
C - Chosen (The Lost Books, 1) by Ted Dekker
H - Hourglass by Myra McEntire
E - Eve & Adam by Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate
L - Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
L - Lullaby by Amanda Hocking
E - Elixir by Hilary Duff

Hour 12: Mid-Event Update

While most folks are probably hitting the exhaustion/break stage, I'm back to focusing on the readathon. I attended an awesome bridal shower and now I'm ready to commit at least 3-4 hours to reading/posting. 

Mid-Event Survey
1. What are you reading right now? Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
2. How many books have you read so far? I finished 3 short children's books and I'm on a middle grades classic now.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I'm hoping to finish Hatchet. Anything else would be icing on the cake.
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Sadly, I couldn't free up all day. Hopefully next time.
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Yep, traveled an hour (each way) to attend a bridal shower. Couldn't miss it.
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?  Not much...I've participated in it a bunch of times so far. Maybe a surprise is still in store.
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Not yet, as I'm getting back into the swing of the event.
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Hopefully next time I'll have a open schedule so I can complete multiple (middle grades or YA books).
9. Are you getting tired yet? Nope, but as a mom-to-be, I'll probably be exhausted by 10 pm (in 3 hours).
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?  Enjoy the musical interludes. If you have a favorite music video that inspires you, play it on a loop until you're energized again. That's helped in the past.

Hour 2: Update & Pick A Paragraph

Books read: 3 (all children's books)

•  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant Retold by Mary Hollingsworth
• The Berenstain Bears Storybook Treasury by Stan & Jan Berenstain

Pages read: 280
Time spent reading: 1 hour
Where I'm reading: at home on the couch
Snacks:  Hot chocolate...yum!

Hour 2 Challenge: Pick A Paragraph. I posted a paragraph from my current read, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. “It was a clear, blue-sky day with fluffy bits of clouds here and there and he looked out the window for a moment, hoping to see something, a town or village, but there was nothing. Just the green of the trees, endless green, and lakes scattered more and more thickly as the plane flew—where?” p. 15-16

Hour 0: Intro Meme

Yes, there's a pre-readathon meme...love it!  Here are the questions:
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  
Philadelphia, PA, USA! I have a bridal shower to go to today out in the burbs so when I'm not out and about, I'll be reading from my comfy couch at home.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Obligatory book pic:

 

Since I'm a soon-to-be mom, I'm looking forward to reading (or re-reading) some of the baby books I received, including Where the Wild Things Are, Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant, and The Berenstain Bears Storybook Treasury. From the middle grades pile, I'll probably only have time to read one, most likely Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?   
My pantry and fridge are pretty bare, but I'm obsessed with popsicles right now so I'll enjoy a few of them.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!  
My little dude is due to join us in just over 3 weeks! I'm super excited and nervous to become a mom. I can't wait to read to him. I hope he inherits my love for reading. :) 
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
I participated 2 years ago (wow, I can't believe it's been that long). I didn't cheer many other readers on last time so I hope to do more of that this year. Have fun everyone!

Dewey's Readathon is back!

Another long lapse in time for my blog. Real life just took over: graduating, moving across the country, settling into a new job, etc. Now I'm a soon-to-be mom who moved back home to be closer to family and waiting for the next insane chapter of life to begin (very soon).

But whenever Dewey's 24 hour Read-a-thon comes back around, I want to dust off the my keyboard, pull out a pile of books and share my bookish thoughts to you all! The readathon starts tomorrow morning (at 8 am for me), however, I can't devote all day to it.  I hope to start (maybe a little early) and will definitely spend a few hours participating in the evening. I'm going to a friend's bridal shower so most of my day will be away from my books and computer.  But I can't wait to read some, post a few times, and cheer on other readers.  Time to browse through my books.  Until tomorrow! :) 

Dewey Read-a-thon Progress

Ok, it's just after 8am est and Dewey has officially started!  I'm going to edit this post with reading updates and mini-challenges. Come on back to check it out.

Hour 1: Introduction Questions
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Philly suburbs, Pennsylvania
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Suzanne Collins' Gregor The Overlander. I don't have any reading plans set. I just pulled some of the shorter looking books from my shelf.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
I'm visiting one of my BookCrossing friends later tonight.  Hopefully we can participate in a mini-challenge together! Anyway, she made some cinnamon noodle kugel that I'm dying to try.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I'm almost finished my Master of Library Science degree, so I'm looking for librarian positions. Yay! Can't wait to land the perfect job! Hopefully...
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
I'm not going to stress about finding time to read.  I'm just gonna have fun and enjoy the ride. Whatever happens, happens.   

Hour 23: Mad Lib
I used words from that book I'm reading called Stuff We All Get by K. L. Denman.

This nostril is old school! Zach has never pawed so much.
The stuff I'm currently walking is foggy and restless.
When this is over, I will shrug for 3 months. 

Hour 24: End of Event

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?  I started to fall asleep in Hour 19.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?  I recommend Alice Hoffman books. I read Indigo this time around. I've read Green Angel and Green Witch. They are short, memorizing reads.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Do not make plans during the read-a-thon.  It will take up more time than you intend to spend away from reading.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
5. How many books did you read?  1 complete book and parts of 2 other books.
6. What were the names of the books you read?  I completed Indigo by Alice Hoffman. I read parts of Stuff We All Get by K. L. Denman and Gregor The Overlander by Suzanne Collins. I have free time today, so I'm going to finish them. It will be read-a-thon part 2 for me.  :)
7. Which book did you enjoy most?  I have to say Indigo since I'm not finished the others.
8. Which did you enjoy least?  None...can I say that?  It might be Stuff We All Get because it's more realistic fiction and I'm a sucker for fantasy.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Not a cheerleader this year.  I'll try to cheer more next time around.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?  Of course!  Dewey 24 Hour Read-a-thon is a tradition for me. Til we meet again in October...happy reading!  :)

Great moments of the Read-a-thon:
 - Favorite videos: Hour 17's Gimme Gimme Gimme Jane Austen Men video (so great! I love these guys), Hour 15's Rock n' Rock Readers (I'm making an appearance at the library)
- Hour 9's Do the Dumbledore...it works so well when you're listening to music in the video clips.  Thanks for the laugh.
- I need to remember the first lines of the books I read....I can't believe I didn't recognize Tuck Everlasting.
-  My friend's noodle kugel (my read-a-thon snack) was AMAZING! 
-  I really enjoyed Alice Hoffman's Indigo.  Ok, I've only read like three other Alice Hoffman books, but she is officially on my list of favorite authors.

Some Wrap-Up Read-a-thon Stats:  7 hours participation, that includes about 5 hours reading and 2 hours blogging, catching up on the hourly updates and participating in challenges.  Read about 154 pages....really that seems very low. Oh, well...things to work on next time.  As I mentioned before, I don't have anything on the schedule today so I'm going to continue reading and look at any read-a-thon content I missed.  Thanks to all the Dewey volunteers for hosting awesome challenges and keeping us inspired (and awake).  

Dewey (and I) are back!

I dropped the ball once again with my posting.  I could list all my excuses why I've been a bad blogger but I don't want to waste your time. Instead I want to tell you why I'm back....today is the semi-annual Dewey 24 Hour Read-a-thon!  I love this event.  It's always so much fun and really great people come out to cheer you on.  If you have any time to spare today, join up and read....or at least show some love as a cheerleader.

My goals are small since I have other plans for part of the day.  I'll shoot for 8 hours of reading and say 300 pages.  I'll check in periodically and participate in some of the awesome mini-challenges. 

Happy readings!

Monthly Wrap Up - January 2012

Hello February! You arrived so quickly. My online class started back up last night and now I have to hunker down into student mode. I enjoyed the winter break and miss it already.

I write an annual wrap up at the end of the end, so I decided to add monthly wrap ups to the blog.  Other bloggers do it and I'll definitely give them props after I find their posts among my 700+ Google Reader backlog.

January 2012 stats:

Books completed: 8 

1. Halo by Alexandra Adornetto
2. Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian
3. Obsidian (A Lux Novel, Bk.1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
4. The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
5. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
6. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
7. Crossed (Matched, Bk.2) by Ally Condie
8. Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

Books unfinished (which I'll hopefully finish in Feb): 2

1. Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel
2. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Library Fines: $2.30
I put a ton of holds on new YA releases in November and December. All the books arrived for me at the same time, which meant attempting to juggle and prioritize 15+ books.  Needless to say, it was an epic fail.  I read a few books I was dying to get my hands on (i.e. Crossed and The Night Circus) but I didn't get to all of them (i.e. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, Blood Red Road by Moira Young, and Legend by Marie Lu).

Book Reviews: 1
Ok, that's another disappointment. I need to step up my reviewing.
Obsidian (A Lux Novel, Bk.1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

BookCrossing Books Released: 0
The January meeting of the Audubon BookCrossers was a bust. Not many people showed up. I brought three books with me, but decided to save them for February's meeting instead. I'm not sure if I'm going to the February meeting since it's on Superbowl Sunday.  Hubby and I have cleaning to do since we've invited a few friends over.

Pages Read Challenge: 2,861 pages = 19% of goal
It's a great start to my Pages Read goal of 18,000.  If I keep this reading pace, I'll have to increase my goal.

Read Ten "1001-books": 0
None so far. I'll make an effort in February.

February Goals:

• Review more (maybe 2 or 3 at least).
• Release more (attempt to wild release?).
• Post my tentative reading lists this week for the Mount TBR and other challenges.
• Try not to rack up any more library fines!
• Visit more blogs and comment (instead of my usual stalking).

My Lost Week

Photo cred

I hate being sick. Unfortunately, I have a gross cough that I can't shake off.  I took a few sick days, but I had to go back to work today still coughing up a storm. I read a little bit this week. I finished The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern but I haven't been able to write a review yet.  Hopefully, I'll get that to you next week. 

Until then, enjoy these random bookish links!

20 heroic librarians who save the world from io9.  It's an awesome list!

Supercut: Libraries on TV and in the movies (Funny Library Montage) from BuzzFeed.

SNL, Daniel Radcliffe do Harry Potter ten years later from The Huffington Post. LOL! How did I miss this?

Should Authors and Agents Weigh In on Citizen Reviews?  from Publishers Weekly.

ALA Midwinter Meeting 2012 Coverage from American Libraries.
-- I wish I were in Dallas this weekend. So many great programs and speakers (John Green)...sigh!  I really want to go to ALA Annual this summer in Anaheim, CA.  Hey, a girl can dream! 

In Which I Gush About Downton Abbey

I finally joined the ranks of obsessed Downton Abbey fans this weekend.

I had the Downton Abbey season 1 DVD set sitting around collecting dust.  I heard so much wonderful praise about the show, but I never got around to watching it. Yesterday, I decided to watch an episode and I ended up watching the whole season.  It is so addicting! 

My favorite characters are Anna and Mr. Bates.  I can't stand Mary. She doesn't deserve to be with Matthew Crawley. The back and forth between Violet and Isobel Crawley is wonderful! 

There are so many familiar faces in the series including Maggie Smith (Prof. McGonagall, of course), Hugh Bonneville (from Lost in Austen, Miss Austen Regrets, and Daniel Deronda), Penelope Wilton (Harriet Jones from Doctor Who and Mrs. Hamley from Wives and Daughters) and Brendan Coyle (Nicholas Higgins from North & South).

You can explore Downton further in the companion book, The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes.  I haven't read it yet, but I'll try to track it down in my public library system.

Watch some of the episodes online. If you're a fan of Upstairs, Downstairs, then you'll love Downton!

My husband watched the entire first series with me too. Our Downton binge reminds me of this hilarious Portlandia Battlestar Galactica sketch. One more episode!

Waiting on Wednesday: Timepiece (Hourglass, Bk.2)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
My pick this week is...

Timepiece (Hourglass, Bk.2)
by Myra McEntire
Releases on June 12, 2012

Goodreads description:

A threat from the past could destroy the future. And the clock is ticking...

Kaleb Ballard's relentless flirting is interrupted when Jack Landers, the man who tried to murder his father, timeslips in and attacks before disappearing just as quickly. But Kaleb has never before been able to see time travelers, unlike many of his friends associated with the mysterious Hourglass organization. Are Kaleb's powers expanding, or is something very wrong?

Then the Hourglass is issued an ultimatum. Either they find Jack and the research he's stolen on the time gene, or time will be altered with devastating results.

Now Kaleb, Emerson, Michael, and the other Hourglass recruits have no choice but to use their unusual powers to find Jack. But where do they even start? And when? And even if they succeed, it may not be enough...

The follow-up to Hourglass, Timepiece blends the paranormal, science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres into a nonstop thrill ride where every second counts.


I LOVED Hourglass so I'm eager to read the next book. From the description above, it sounds like book 2 will be from Kaleb's point of view.  I would prefer Michael's personally, but this should be interesting, especially since we'll see what Kaleb really thinks (and feels) about Emerson.

Learn more on Goodreads, Amazon, Myra McEntire's blog, and Murphy's Law Hourglass fan page.

What book are you waiting on?

Bookish News: The Occupy Movement & YA Dystopians

Photo credit: AP from Salon article

Yesterday Salon.com posted an interesting article entitled "What Occupy can learn from the Hunger Games".  Mike Doherty wrote about the how the Occupy movement can learn a few lessons from dystopian novels.  He specifically cites an example of how the London Occupy movement uses slogans and visuals from the graphic novel V for Vendetta.  Doherty discusses the parallels between Occupy and popular young adult dystopian novels:

It’s fitting that the Occupy movement should have drawn inspiration from dystopian fiction, an increasingly popular genre for teenagers and young adults in particular. If, as Time magazine suggests, the person of the year was the Protester, the publishing phenomenon was the Dystopia — the story of the dissenter in a repressive society who becomes a revolutionary. The new wave was led by two trilogies, both published from 2008-10: Suzanne Collins’ “Hunger Games” (whose big-budget Hollywood adaptation kicks off in March) and Patrick Ness’ “Chaos Walking” (now being adapted by Lionsgate).

The article discusses examples from The Hunger Games, Matched, Divergent and Chaos Walking in depth.  There are SPOILERS in the article for these books, so be prepared for them if you haven't read these stories yet.  Doherty concludes with intriguing insights:

The new YA dystopian novels are thoughtful books, but they don’t offer solutions or blueprints – they merely suggest ways of combating stifling political ideologies. They’re full of different voices, or what literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, writing in – and against – Soviet Russia, called “polyphony”: the opposite of propaganda, and the enemy of ideology. Where they resonate with the Occupy movement, it’s in the protagonists’ determination to recalibrate the world around us in creative ways: seeing a bank as an educational institution, a tent as a library, a movement as a gathering of people asking questions, and encouraging ways of thinking by which solutions could be found. 

Check out the full article. It's worth the time. While I'm reading my next dystopian, I'll think about how the storyline could parallel current events.

Review: Obsidian (A Lux Novel, Bk.1)

Obsidian (A Lux Novel, Bk.1)
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Entangled Publishing, 1st Ed.
Released: December 6, 2011
268 pages
ISBN: 978-1-937044-23-7

Description on the book:
Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

My Review:
There aren't many books I buy immediately after I read a review, but Obsidian was one of them.  I fell for the amazing description above and it has a 5 star average rating on Amazon with glowing reviews. Thus, I took the plunge with this first installment of the Lux series. I devoured the book in less than a day. 

Obsidian is hot, hot, hot!  It starts off when seventeen year old Katy, who just moved from Florida to West Virginia with her mom, goes next door to ask for directions to the closest market.  She finds an incredible hot guy, shirtless with six pack abs and all.  But Daemon's downright rude and obnoxious to her. So begins their back and forth chippy retorts, fighting yet flirtly.  There's a good reason why Daemon's trying to stop Katy from getting close to him or befriending his sister Dee...they're aliens!  The twist isn't actually a spoiler because it clearly states it on the back cover.  The real fun is leading up to Katy's discovery of her neighbors' identity, reconciling with it when she finds out and trying to survive attacks from the alien's enemies.  I know that sounds kind of ridiculous, but it really works.  The story is funny, suspenseful and intoxicating.

There are obvious plot stereotypes that will annoy some readers.  The normal teenage girl, who is beautiful but doesn't realize it, meets the gorgeous supernatural guy who's obnoxious but occasionally shows her a softer side.  Also, it has those overly dramatic scenes where the helpless damsel in distress is saved by hot supernatural guy, one such incident reveals his secret.  I've read these story lines before but it works well here.  One of my favorite side notes: Katy is a book blogger who loves paranormal novels.  I laughed out loud when she passed time by publishing her "Waiting On Wednesday" post and explains to Daemon why she blogs when she doesn't get paid for it. It was a great touch to the story.

Obsidian is a downright delicious guilty pleasure. It reminds me of how I fell hard for Hush, Hush. It won't become my favorite book, but I'll definitely reread it.  The sexually charged banter and chemistry between the leads is what makes this book good.  There is some cursing, although I completely enjoyed it when Katy shot them at Daemon for acting arrogantly.  He loved it too.  Actually, I was more annoyed by the main characters' names. Did Daemon really need the extra "e"?  Then Daemon's nickname for Katy is Kitten and Kittycat.  Slight gag reflex...but then again I'd take any nickname that Daemon wanted to give me. Gush!

If you're looking for a sexy, new paranormal romance series to sink your teeth in, buy Obsidian.  I'm glad I did. I'll definitely preorder book 2, Onyx, when it releases in May 2012.  I can't wait to read more from Jennifer L. Armentrout.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5!

My Favorite Quotes:

"Since it was Wednesday, I'd typed up a quick "Waiting on Wednesday" post for my blog featuring this YA book about a hot boy with a killer touch--can't go wrong there--apologized for my extended absence, responded to comments, and stalked a few other blogs I loved. It was like coming home."   (page 17)

    "Time seemed to slow, every second stretching out before me, tantalizing and torturing every breath I took. Waiting, wanting to show him whatever he was looking for as his eyes darkened to a deep green. His face strained, as if he were waging an internal battle. Something in his eyes made me feel very unsure.

    I knew the second he made up his mind. He took a deep breath and his beautiful eyes closed. I felt his breath against my cheek, slowly moving to my lips. I knew I should pull back. He was bad, bad news. But my own breath caught in my throat. His lips were so close to mine, I desperately wanted to meet him halfway, to rush forward to test if his lips were as pillow soft as they looked."   (page 62)

For More Information:
Read the first chapter of Osidian on Entangled Publishing's website.
Learn more on Amazon, Goodreads, and Jennifer L. Armentrout's blog.

2012 Goals and Challenges

As promised, here are my goals and reading challenges for 2012.  Also, I joined a bunch of new reading challenges. Very exciting!  It's going to be a fun year.

2012 Goals:

• Read 65 books this year:  I read 58 in 2011 so I'll try to top that number. 65 sounds like a good goal.
• Review more:  I read a lot, but tend not to write many reviews.  I'll try to write more reviews in 2012.  I'm not satisfied with my review voice just yet.  I have to work on fine tuning my review style.  I can't let self-consciousness get the best of me.
• Spend time working on my challenges:  I basically forgot about my A-Z read and release challenge, so I actually should think about reading a few books that will fit in it.  This year I'm signing up for more challenges than ever.  I need to make an effort to keep track of them all (see below for details).
• Regularly attend and release at the local BookCrossers Meeting: I usually go to the monthly meetings (in Audubon, PA), but I'll try to bring more books to release. I will continue to only take books home that I have an interest in reading. 
• Visit official BookCrossing zones (OBCZ) more often:  I haven't stopped by Black Salt Cafe (my closest active OBCZ) in a while.  I want to release books there more frequently. 
• Visit Indie Bookstores:  I want to visit more independent bookstores (and blog about it), both in my area and while I'm on vacation or away at work conferences.
• Re-read The Hunger Games:  I'm so incredibly excited for the HG movie!  I'm going to the midnight premiere with a bunch of friends.  I can't wait!  In preparation, I have to re-read the book. When I went to the midnight premiere of Harry Potter 7 Pt. 2, my friends made a list of trivia questions which was so much fun while waiting in line.  I'll try to make my own list of trivia.
• Buy an e-reader? This is a maybe. It certainly would make my purse a lot lighter.  Plus, my public library system recently expanded to include Kindle devices.  I'm not sure what brand I might buy.  I've heard buzz about the Nook, but I don't frequently shop at Barnes and Noble. Maybe something compatible with NetGalley.

BookCrossing Challenges:

This year I'm continuing my usual BookCrossing Challenges and I'm adding several non-BC challenges open to the book blogging world.  Check out all the details:

2012 Pages Read Challenge:  It's favorite BookCrossing challenge!  I surpassed my 2011 goal of 15,000 pages so I'm bumping up my 2012 goal to 18,000 pages.

Read Ten 1001 Books Challenge:  I'm a sucker for lost causes, so I'm signing up again to read 10 books from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list.  I only read 5 books in 2011 and 6 in 2010.

2012 Reduce Mount TBR Challenge: It's my first time participating in the Mount TBR challenge.  I have so many books on my TBR list (I can't even count them). My goal is to knock 25 books off my TBR list this year. 

A-Z New Author Read & Release Challenge:  This is a tough one because the books need to be new authors you haven't read yet and after reading, you have to register and release the books.  I read so many library books that I completely ignored this challenge in 2011.  I'll try to knock a few off the list this year.  I'll shoot for 3 books.

Non-BookCrossing Challenges (open to everyone):  It's my first time participating in all of the following challenges....Yay!  Check out the links below for all the challenge details and to sign up, of course.

2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge (The Eclectic Bookshelf)

Level 3: The Jumbo Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 40 Young Adult novels.

I think I read more than 40 YA books in 2011.  Since I want to expand my reading to knock off more of my 1001 adult books, I think 40 YA books is a good goal for this challenge.

Steampunk Reading Challenge 2012 (Dark Faerie Tales)

Level 1: Gaslight – Choose 6 books to read

I don't think I've read a steampunk book yet. That's weird. Well, now's the time to start.  Six books sounds like a good introduction to the genre.

The Dystopia Challenge  (Bookish Ardour)

Level 2:  Contagion – Choose 15 books to read

I love dystopian YA.  I have a bunch on my Mount TBR list so I should be able to hit 15 without a problem.

  

Speculative Romance Challenge (Book Chick City)

Level 3: Sexy Vampires – Read 18 Speculative Romance novels

I'm a sucker for speculative romance...sigh! I'm on an angels and demon kick right now.  Plus, steampunk and apocalyptic romance count too.  This one is going to be fun.

What challenges are you participating in this year?

2011 Wrap Up, Part 2

Not surprisingly, most of the books I read in 2011 were YA series.  Actually, 32 out of the 58 books were a part of young adult series (many the first volume).  For 2012, I'll try to expand my reading outside of my comfy YA niche, but it's so fun to read what you know you really enjoy. 

I'll post my 2012 goals soon.  This list contains books I read in 2011, but many of books were published before 2011.  Now for the fun part....my picks for 2011!

My 2011 Favorites (and not-so-favorites):

Favorite YA book: Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
       Runners up:
               Matched by Ally Condie
               Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Favorite YA series (read more than 1 vol.): Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins

Favorite Female Character: Sophie from Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
      Runners up:
            Emerson from Hourglass by Myra McEntire
            Allison from Allison Hewitt Is Trapped by Madeleine Roux

            Waverly from Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan 

Favorite Male Character: Varen from Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

      Runners up:

             Cricket from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
             Conrad from We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

             Richard from Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Favorite adult book: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Favorite manga series: Vampire Knight (vols. 1-12) by Matsuri Hino

Favorite guilty pleasure: Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick

Best obscure book (haven't heard of but you must read):
Wolves, Boys & Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

Most moving book: I Had Seen Castles by Cynthia Rylant

Most disappointing book: The Nine Lives of Chloe King series by Liz Braswell
         Runner up:
              Beastly by Alex Flinn

Biggest hyped book: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Least favorite book: Erewhon by Samuel Butler.

Comments on my picks:
I love love loved Nevermore! It was fun, the ending was unexpected, and I was cheering on Isobel to save the day. It's a book I had to re-read all my favorite parts immediately, which meant I practicely read it twice. I also loved Matched and Hourglass. Both books had great characters and amazing love stories!

I can't stand when series are compared to Harry Potter because it's THE series of our generation (not an overstatement). So when I read reviews describing Hex Hall as a cross between Harry Potter and Paranormalcy, I scoffed. But I have to admit...it's pretty close. It's an addicting series and I love where the story went in Demonglass. I'm not giving away any spoilers, so go read it if you haven't already.

I understand that Daughter of Smoke and Bone is on everyone else's best list, but sorry it's not on mine. It was a completely unique and fascinating story, but it didn't wow me. I never really connected with (or even liked) Karou as a character.

I loved The Nine Lives of Chloe King TV series, so I had to run out and buy the three volume book. Oh boy, that was a mistake. Watch the show, but don't read the book. It was that big of a disappointment. Finally, where do I start with Erewhon. It was a 1001 book I got through a BC bookring. It was tough to read because I hated the story and the narrator. It started off okay, but then the narrator gets to the land of Erewhon he goes rambling on for chapters on the Erewhonian philosophies on machines, unborn people and the rights of vegetables. Give it a shot if you don't believe me.

What was your favorite (or not-so-favorite) book of 2011?

I'll post soon with my goals and challenges for 2012.

2011 Wrap Up, Part 1

Happy New Year all!  I'm excited for 2012 because it'll bring some awesome book releases to look forward to....and some life changes as well (graduation, hopefully a new job, and possibly a move).   

Here's Part 1 of my 2011 recap, which includes my challenge results.  I'll post Part 2 soon.  It features my favorites and not-so-favorite reads from the past year. 

2011 Recap:

- I read 58 books this year, which is up from 53 last year.

- I quietly had my one year blog anniversary in April 2011. I promise to actually celebrate it this year.

- Started my second year of graduate school in the fall.  I only have two semesters left!  I'll finish my Masters in Library Science (MLS) this summer.  Thus, I'll be looking for a new job as a librarian (preferable for fall, if the stars align and luck is on my side....too dramatic?).

- I celebrated my second anniversary on BookCrossing in August.  I joined in August 2009.

- Participated in one 24-hour Dewey read-a-thon this year.  I couldn't participate in the October read-a-thon because I was out of town visiting a friend.

- Sadly, I didn't complete any books in June.  I had a crazy busy summer semester (only six weeks long) that caused a major leisure reading road block.  Hopefully, I won't repeat it this year.

-  In November, I read the most books that I've ever read in one month, 13!  I was on a Jenny Han and Stephanie Perkins binge.

- Near the end of the year, I focused on new releases from 2011.  I loved it!  There are so many awesome first books of series out.

Reading Challenges:

2011 Pages Read Challenge: Last year I didn't reach my pages read goal, so I decided to shoot for the same number this year: 15,000 pages.  I actually reached it this time!!!  My final tally was 16,101 pages, 107% of my goal.  Yahoo!  I even read more pages that I didn't count...including my 400+ page textbook and a few books I disliked enough not to finish (cough...The Thirteen Hallows...cough). 

Read Ten 1001-Books Challenge:  Epic fail! I only read five 1001-books this year. I'll try it again this year.

• Erewhon by Samuel Butler.
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
• The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
• The Wonderful O by James Thurber
• The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

A-Z Read & Release Challenge: Another fail!  I haven't done anything with this ongoing BookCrossing challenge for a number of reasons.  First, a majority of the books I read this year were library books so they can't be registered.  A few registered books I releases were repeat letters (G and R). I'll keep my eye out for books that fit into this release challenge, but I'm not gonna sweat over it. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my 2011 Wrap Up and my 2012 Goals post!

25 Most Beautiful College Libraries

I'm working on my 2011 wrap up and 2012 goals posts.  In the meantime, I wanted to share this Flavorwire link of the 25 most beautiful college libraries in the world. Sigh!  While I would be lucky to land any Librarian position when I get my degree, I can't help but dream about working in one of these gorgeous places.  Hmm, I wonder if any of them are looking for a Government Information Librarian.  Enjoy!

Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland.

University of Michigan Law Library, Ann Arbor, MI

Waiting On Wednesday: Unraveling Isobel

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick this week is...

Unraveling Isobel
by Eileen Cook
Releases on January 3, 2012

A darkly comic novel that blends paranormal mystery and romance with humor, from the author of The Eductation of Hailey Kendrick and Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood. Isobel's life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother.

But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn't only her life that's unraveling-her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she's seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel's fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

Oooh, a contemporary YA with a splash of paranormal and a hint of romance. Sounds like fun!  I'm on a world-building dystopian kick right now and I like to throw in a contemporary YA every so often.  Unraveling Isobel seems like a cute contribution to the contemporary paranormal genre.  Plus, it's releasing in two weeks so it's not too long of a wait!

Read the first chapter on Eileen Cook's website.

I have two early favorite quotes already (and from the same paragraph): 

"I looked at my mom for confirmation. I hoped it was a joke, but instead of laughing, she was looking at Dick like a slice of chocolate cheesecake after an extended sugar-free diet."   

"The wings on both sides were covered in ivy. Not in a nice Big Ten-campus sort of way, but more like a wild-jungle-vine-gone-rabid kind of way."  (As an alum for a Big Ten school...love it!)

Enter the book giveaway on Goodreads.  Unraveling Isobel on Amazon and GoodReads.

What book are you waiting on? 

R.I.P. Challenge Wrap Up

In September, I joined Carl's (Stainless Steel Droppings) 6th annual R.I.P. Challenge (i.e. R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril).  I wanted to use the challenge as a way to catch up on my 1001-books reading, or lack there of.

The R.I.P. challenge participants read books from September 1st to October 31st in the following genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Horror, Supernatural.

I signed up for the "Peril the First" level to read 4 books. Not too much for me. While I thought I would read Frankenstein, Dracula and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I only read one of those titles. What can I say...I get easily distracted with YA series.  Here are the five supernatural-themed books I read in October:

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, Bk.1) by Cassandra Clare.

Welcome to Dead House (Goosebumps, #1) by R. L. Stine.

Queen of the Dead (The Ghost and the Goth, Bk.2) by Stacey Kade.

Demonglass (Hex Hall, Bk.2) by Rachel Hawkins.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Some thoughts on these book:
I absolutely love the Hex Hall series!  Demonglass was my favorite among all my October reads, followed closely by City of Bones.  I bought The Mortal Instruments trilogy set a while ago so I'll definitely continue reading the series in November.  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was different than I thought it would be...more suspense than horror.  I'm glad I read it.  Welcome to Dead House is a Goosebumps classic that I had lying around.  I was obsessed with Goosebumps growing up and must have read at least the first 50 volumes of the series.  Finally, Queen of the Dead was amusing but not world-shattering. It's a fun series (The Ghost and the Goth) but not as addicting as Hex Hall or The Mortal Instruments.

This was a fun challenge!  I'll join it again next year.

Classic Kid Lit Rant

On Friday, The Independent featured an article called "Why do adults read children's books? Blame modern life".  According to Dr. Louise Joy from Cambridge University, adults read classic children's books (and modern books that resemble older children's classics) because they represent a "symbolic retreat from the disappointment of reality".

More gems from the article:

"Books such as Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach offer a world where self-consciousness is overthrown and relationships are straightforward," says Dr Joy. "But relationships in the real adult world are often fraught by miscommunication and the impossibility of understanding one another properly."

Dr Joy claims The Hobbit's characters hanker after simple meals, whereas "in the real world we rarely sit to down to a home-cooked meal".

Really?  Give me a break!  I understand that Dr. Joy trying to promote her forthcoming book Literature's Children, but come on.  You can use an "escaping reality" argument for reading in any genre, not just classic children's books...or any hobby could be seen as an escapist activity from watching TV to playing a sport. Your focus is on the show or game, not dwelling on life's stresses.  While some classic kid lit plots seem straightforward or idealistic, that doesn't mean the story is one dimensional or without relationship conflicts.  It sounds like Joy's theory over-analyzes scenes and character traits in children's literature to justify that seemingly needy adults use it as a method to escape their terrible reality.

I'm a YA lit fan but I don't read these stories because they give me things I don't have in my everyday "real adult" life.  I cook meals with my husband.  I communicate with my family and friends.  I didn't want a soul mate who could be my identical twin. I simply enjoy reading children and young adult books because the stories are fun. I agree with children's author Charlie Higson who's quoted in the article as saying:

"I get irritated when people try to come up with great theories... The nostalgia which inspires us to read children's books written 100 years ago is the same as what attracts us to watch period dramas on television."

Thank you Charlie. 

P.S. Charlie Higson's book The Enemy is on my TBR list. I love zombies, especially YA zombie novels since it's fun to read. :)