Wednesday, 12 October 2011

October's Readers Choice and November Vote!

Readers Choice is my brand new feature where readers of the blog can vote for which book off my To-Be-Read pile they would like to see me read and review the following month. For more details check out my introduction post here.

October's Readers Choice is The Taker by Alma Katsu


"True love can last an eternity...but immortality comes at a price...


On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae—Lanny—walks into his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her . . . despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort. And as she begins to tell her story, a story of enduring love and consummate betrayal that transcends time and mortality, Luke finds himself utterly captivated.


Her impassioned account begins at the turn of the nineteenth century in the same small town of St. Andrew, Maine, back when it was a Puritan settlement. Consumed as a child by her love for the son of the town’s founder, Lanny will do anything to be with him forever. But the price she pays is steep—an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate for all eternity. And now, two centuries later, the key to her healing and her salvation lies with Dr. Luke Findley."

The Taker was a firm favourite in last month’s vote and stormed ahead as your winner. I think this sounds like a fantastic read for the Halloween period and something very different and unusual as well! I’m really looking forward to tucking into this gothic tale and will have it read and reviewed for you soon! As always thank you to everybody who voted if your choice didn’t win this time check out this month’s nominees and have your say for next month!

November will sadly be my last Readers Choice for this year with the month after being Christmas and New Year and the month after that my birthday month I’m taking a little break with this feature but it will be making its return in February! I really love doing Readers Choice but will be taking a more relaxed approach to blogging during December and January to be able to have some well-earned chill time with my family. Keeping that in mind my theme for Novembers Readers Choice is Book’s I’ve Been Dying to Read but Just Haven’t Got Around to Yet. This month’s nominees are all books that I’m so desperate to read and with the end of the year creeping up on us I can’t believe I still haven’t gotten around to them! So what do you think? Which book do I HAVE to have read by the end of this year? This month is full of popular choices so I think it will be a close one! Voting’s open to anyone and everyone whether you’re a follower or not and you can vote once for any reason you like whether you’re interested in the book and want me to review it, loved it and want me to check it out, or simply think it sounds like the best of the bunch! All votes are very much appreciated so thank you to everyone who takes the time to fill out the form!

Novembers Readers Choice Nominees: Book’s I’ve Been Dying to Read but Just Haven’t Got Around to Yet!
Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything- including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place in mortal danger. Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

Rosebush by Michele Jaffe
Instead of celebrating Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore, Jane is in the hospital surrounded by teddy bears, trying to piece together what happened last night. One minute she was at a party, wearing fairy wings and cuddling with her boyfriend. The next, she was lying near-dead in a rosebush after a hit-and-run.

Everyone believes it was an accident, despite the phone threats Jane swears were real. But the truth is a thorny thing. As Jane's boyfriend, friends, and admirers come to visit, more memories surface-not just from the party, but from deeper in her past . . . including the night her best friend Bonnie died.

With nearly everyone in her life a suspect now, Jane must unravel the mystery before her killer attacks again. Along the way, she's forced to examine the consequences of her life choices in this compulsively readable thriller

The Demon Trappers: Forsaken by Jana Oliver
Riley has always wanted to be a Demon Trapper like her father, and she's already following in his footsteps as one of the best. But it's tough being the only girl in an all-guy world, especially when three of those guys start making her life more complicated: Simon, the angelic apprentice who has heaven on his side; Beck, the tough trapper who thinks he's God's gift, and Ori, the strikingly sexy stranger who keeps turning up to save her ass.

One thing’s for sure – if she doesn’t keep her wits about her there’ll be hell to pay...

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life - and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding.

This vote is now closed check out the results here!

Winner of Daughter of Smoke and Bone Announcement!

and the winner is as selected by Random.Org...

The Library Owl


Congratulations to the winner! I hope you love this book as much as I did. I'll be sending an email to you shortly to confirm your win please reply within the week so I can get your book sent out to you.

Big thank you's to everybody who entered!

Happy reading till next time!

Monday, 10 October 2011

Review for September’s Readers Choice Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Publisher: Corgi (Random House)
Release Date: 7th July 2011
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Paranormal, Ghosts, Witches, Romance
Rating: 2/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review

Amazon Summary:
"Amy Goodnight's family are far from normal. She comes from a long line of witches, and grew up surrounded by benevolent spirits and kitchen spells. All fairly harmless, but Amy can't wait to get to college and escape the "family business".


But things take a darker turn when she and her sister Phin spend the summer looking after Aunt Hyacinth's ranch. Amy is visited by a midnight spectre who is clearly trying to send her a message. It seems that the discovery of an old grave on a neighbour's land has been the catalyst for an apparent ghost uprising.


Aided by local friends and Ben, the handsome cowboy who just can't take his eyes off Amy, the sisters investigate. And they soon find that there's something strange and dangerous going on, deep in the heart of Texas..."


Review
So it actually took me a while to get into Texas Gothic. It felt like it took a good hundred odd pages for me to really settle into the story and throughout that time I felt like giving up on this book several times. Looking back now that I’ve finished I kind of wish that I hadn’t bothered.

The thing is I just didn’t like the actual story itself. It reads a little bit like a Scooby Doo mystery and I’ve never been a fan of Scooby Doo. From the back of the book I expected a lot of cool paranormal goings on with the main character and her family being witches but to be honest they were kind of boring witches. I felt that the paranormal aspect of the book was barely there instead it was definitely more of a mystery which would have been fine except I found that side of it a bit dull as well and sussed out all the plot twists and who the bad guys were from the beginning. So the twists didn’t come as a surprise to me making the plot just feel really amateur and underdeveloped. Basically and I know this sounds harsh but the book just wasn’t all that interesting to me.

That being said I will give props where props are due. There were things I did enjoy about this book. Texas Gothic has a really hot and sexy romance between our heroine Amy and Ben the smokin’ local cowboy. The dialog between them sizzled and gave the Texas desert a run for its money in heat! I also really liked the characters especially Amy. She got on my nerves at the beginning with her so desperately wanting to be normal I found that to be a little unbelievable and irritating I mean who wouldn’t want to be a witch and be able to do super awesome spells? But as she rediscovered her Goodnight roots and started to develop an unwanted attraction to Ben I bonded with her more. Amy and Ben make a fiery, quick witted duo who I really wanted to see get together.

Overall Texas Gothic wasn’t really for me but that was mainly down to the issues I had with the plot because plots really what makes a good book for me. If you’re a plot kinda person yourself you may want to give this one a miss but if your all about the hot and sexy romance by all means give this one a go as Amy and Ben have chemistry to boot!

Friday, 7 October 2011

Book of the Month! Featuring Dead Sisters, 15th July and The Boy Next Door…

Hi guys, welcome to September's book of the month and monthly round up! This is a feature to sum up for you my reading and recommendations for the past month and to share with you the exciting things that have been going on on the blog and books I’m looking forward to in the following month.

September's Book of the Month is...One Day by David Nicholls...AND Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Okay so this month I’m totally cheating and having TWO books of the month. If I’ve had a good book month then yes its usually hard for me to pick just one book that I would absolutely recommend above all others for you guys to check out but this month it was IMPOSSIBLE seriously I loved these two books so hard and if they’d been read on separate months they would both totally be deserving of Book of the Month so this month I’m cheating and having two. But seriously two amazing love stories that are so much more than love stories. I like the fact that one’s YA and one’s adult so depending on what you follow the blog for ( I know some people are here strictly for chick-lit and others YA) there’s something for hopefully all of you :-) Reviews coming soon!



Best Plot: Soul Beach by Kate Harrison
Best Writing: One Day by David Nicholls
Best Cover: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Best Characters: One Day by David Nicholls
Best Ending: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Best Romance: One Day by David Nicholls
Most un-put-down-able: The Lying Game by Sara Shepard
Most Memorable: One Day by David Nicholls
Best Moral: One Day by David Nicholls

Books read this month
56.) Velvet by Mary Hooper (4*)
57.) The Lying Game by Sara Shepard (3.5*)
58.) Never Have I Ever by Sara Shepard (3.5*)
59.) One Day by David Nicholls (5*)
60.) Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement- Moore (2*)
61.) Soul Beach by Kate Harrison (4.5*)
62.) Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins (5*)

Top 3 Most Recommended Books: One Day, Lola and the Boy Next Door and Soul Beach

Bookish Highlights of the month
Lots of excitement this month! I got a lot of amazing new books and a new laptop for blogging but the best thing to happen this month has to be being quoted in a book for the first time for those who missed the post it was a quote in Angel Fire by L.A Weatherly you can find the post with me squealing here.

Bookish Lows of the month
Being ill for half of the month. Literally. I kept getting colds one after the other which really affected my blogging but I’m all better now so hopefully that’s it for a while!

Book’s I’m looking forward to in October
There’s quite a few I’m excited for this month but my number 1 has to be The Death Cure by James Dashner which is the last book in The Maze Runner series can’t wait! Between by Jessica Warman I’ve been hearing some great things from my blogger friends about that one, Past Perfect by Leila Sales, Sweetly by Jackson Pearce, Beautiful Chaos and Destined the latest books in the Beautiful Creatures and House of Night series although I have to get up to date with both series first!

So there you have it my September reading summed up for you guys. Have you read any of the books I’ve read this month? What were your thoughts on them? Leave me a comment and let me know and don’t forget to treat yourselves to One Day and Lola and the Boy Next Door! – You won’t regret it! Here’s to another month of fab reading ahead especially with the spooky and supernatural books for Halloween!

Thursday, 6 October 2011

UK Giveaway for Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor!

If you’re a regular follower of the blog or my twitter than you’ve probably recently seen me raving about my love for Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone. This book is by far my favourite of the year so far and so I’m excited to be bringing to you today the chance to win your own shiny finished copy courtesy of the publishers! This book has already been receiving phenomenal praise from, well, everyone really! But in case you’ve been living under a rock here’s what it’s all about or for my opinion you can check out my review here.


Amazon Synopsis
Errand requiring immediate attention. Come.

The note was on vellum, pierced by the talons of the almost-crow that delivered it. Karou read the message. 'He never says please', she sighed, but she gathered up her things.

When Brimstone called, she always came.

In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she's a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world, half in 'Elsewhere', she has never understood Brimstone's dark work - buying teeth from hunters and murderers - nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn't whole.

Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought.

Rules
Open to UK residents only.
End date: Wednesday 12th October 2011
One entry per person.
You do NOT have to follow my blog to enter.
Winner will be contacted by email and will have 1 week to reply else another winner will be selected.

This giveaway is now CLOSED and the winner has been announced here
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
Blog design by Imagination Designs using images from the Valentine Owls and Valentine's Day clip art kits by Pink Pueblo