Thumped by Megan McCafferty

Goodreads Summary: It's been thirty-five weeks since twin sisters Harmony and Melody went their separate ways. Since then, their story has become irresistible to legions of girls: twins separated at birth and living different lives, each due to deliver sets of twins . . . on the same day! In a future where only teens can "bump," or give birth, babies mean money, status, and freedom.

Married to Ram and living in religious Goodside, Harmony spends her time trying to fit back into the community she once loved and believed in. But she can't seem to forget about Jondoe, the guy she fell in love with under the strangest of circumstances.

To her adoring fans, Melody has achieved everything she always wanted: a big, fat contract and a coupling with Jondoe, the hottest bump prospect around. But this image is costing her the one guy she really wants.

Cursed by their own popularity, the girls are obsessively tracked by their millions of fans, who have been eagerly counting down the days to their "Double Double Due Date." Without a doubt, they are two of the most powerful teen girls on the planet, and there's only one thing they could do that would make them more famous than they already are:

Tell the truth.
Why I Read This Book: I read the first book in this 2 book series, so of course I was going to get this one too! You can find my review for book 1, Bumped, here.

Review: I didn't like this book as much as I had liked Bumped. Bumped wasn't the best book ever or anything, but the concept of the story is really great, and I even liked that the characters in Otherside were kind of superficial and thought it was really creative that McCafferty created a language basically of future teens. What got to me was how unrealistic Harmony and Jondoe were. I found it really annoying, and even the way Melody and Harmony interacted got on my nerves. The saving grace of this book was Zen, he was definitely my favorite character.

The most redeeming quality of the book, was I know that McCafferty's description of how humans would behave if a virus like this did truly exist, seems scarily accurate. I mean, pregging from profit? I can pretty much already picture it. Terrifying.

Rating: 

2013 Challenges

Hello! Hope everyone had (or is still having!) a fabulous holiday! I know I did. I had my parents come visit for a few days, and the BF's fam was in town too! We had a lovely time, and I even got a few fantastic prezzies to show off to! Now the holidays are normally a great time to get down to reading and blogging without a pesky job getting in the way, but I didn't get any of either done! I have just been too busy! But, as I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to set up some reading challenges for myself. I'll write a post with them now, but I'm still on the look for more! If you are doing any or know of ones I haven't picked, let me know!

I will add these to my challenges tab once I know that I'm done adding them. Also, in the next few days I'm going to pre-write a ton of posts, so hopefully I will have tons of new content in January! Warning: This is a really, really, long post!

Challenge #1:  2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

I did the 2012 one, and even though I totally dropped the ball on it around August or September (with the monthly wrap-ups, etc.) I still thought it was awesomely fun! I will definitely be creating a new list this year, and I'm going to choose more realistic books so I might complete it! Super excited about this one! Check out the challenge hosted by some amazing bloggers here! The books I'm adding to my 'official' list (I will surely read others though) are: 1) Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver 2) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin 3) Matched - Ally Condie 4) Life of Pi - Yann Martel 5) Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella 6) Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen 7) The Constant Princess - Phillipa Gregory 8) Something Borrowed - Emily Giffin 9) Gone - Michael Grant 10) The Maze Runner - James Dashner 11) Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor 12) Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella 13) Forever - Judy Blume 14) Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk 15) Uglies - Scott Westerfeld 16) The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin 17) The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Society - Annie Barrows 18) One For the Money - Janet Evanovich 19) On the Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta 20) Learning to Fly - Victoria Beckhan I'm only picking 20 this year for the official list, but like I said, I will have more. I'm shortening it because I know other challenges will have books that I could have put here. (Not to say you won't see the same book on more than one list, but I'm trying to avoid a lot of that happening).

Challenge #2: A-Z Book Challenge This challenge is fun, last year I did it with character names, but this year I found one with book titles, which I prefer because I want to make my reading list in advance! Check out the rules and sign up over here!
My list is:
A: The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E. Pearson B: Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz (double points!..Scattergories, anyone??) C: City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare D: The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank E: Eragon - Christopher Paolini F: Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk G: Girls in White Dresses - Jennifer Close H: Hourglass - Myra McEntire I: I am Number Four - Pittacus Lore J: Juliet, Naked - Nick Hornby K: The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness L: The Luxe - Anna Godberson M: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs N: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith O: Outlander - Diana Gabaldon P: The Princess Bride - William Goldman Q: Quidditch Through the Ages - J. K. Rowling R: Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven #2) - Brandon Mull S: Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi T: A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini U: Under The Never Sky - Veronica Rossi V: The Virgin Sucides - Jeffrey Eugenides W: Wanderlove - Kristen Hubbard X: Elixir - Hilary Duff Y: Yearbook - Ally Condie Z: Zombie Queen of Newbury High - Amanda Ashby
This is a hefty list, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic! There is a lot here that I have really wanted to get to!

Challenge #3 - 2013 Paranormal Reading Challenge

Details here, but basically they have set out a topic for each month, and these are the books I'm going to read :)

January - Vampires - Marked by P.C. Cast 

February - Angels/Nephilim - Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare 

March - Fey - The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa 

April - Demons - I'm going to have to come back to this one... 

May - Aliens - I am Number Four by Pitticus Lore 

June - Zombies - Feed by Mira Grant 

July - Witches and Wizards - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia 

August - Mermaids - Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman 

September - Dragons - Eragon Christpoher Paolini 

October - Ghosts - Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendra Blake 

November - Werewolves/Shape-shifters - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater 

December - Time Travel - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I can't find a good one for Demons, so I'm going to wait and peruse other peoples lists to see if something draws me.

Challenge #4 - 2013 Sequel Challenge

This is another challenge hosted by Auntie Spinelli, with the details here. I'm only going to officially declare 10 books, but I read a lot of sequels, so I'm betting I will get more than that! The 10 are:

1) City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare

2) Clockwork Prince - Cassandra Clare

3) Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead

4) A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin

5) Glory In Death - J.D. Robb

6) The Last Little Blue Envelope - Maureen Johnson

7) Shadow Souls - L.J. Smith

8) Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers - Louise Rennieson

9) Rise of the Evening Star - Brandon Mull

10) Isla and the Happily Ever After - Stephanie Perkins

Challenge #5 - 2013 Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

I have been reading these books for a little while, and I have the first 3 reads. I'm going to participate in this to get a few more done. I'm declaring a Level 1, as I;m hoping to get through books 4, 5 & 6 this year.

Challenge #6 - Monthly Key Word Challenge

This sounded too fun not to try, check it out here.

My books are:

January: Shiver - Maggie Steifvater

February: PS I Love You - Cecelia Ahern

March: Be Careful What You Wish For - Alexandra Potter

April: Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead

May: Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi

June: Under The Never Sky - Veronica Rossi

July: Shadow Souls - L.J Smith

August: A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

September: Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz

October: Glory In Death - J.D. Robb

November: Forever - Judy Blume

December: The Princess Bride - William Goldman

Challenge #7 - Goodreads

Last, but not least... I;m going to declare 75 books on my Goodreads reading challenge this year :)

Happy reading in 2013 to you all, and may you have great luck with all challenges you chose to participate in!! Happy New Year!!

2012 Challenges Wrap-Up

Hello there everyone! I know I said that I was going to get back at the blog once we got the internetzz, but I have still been totally MIA. Sorry about that. I have been crazy busy working extra shifts at my part time job, and trying to get the house ready for my parents who are staying with us over Christmas, and I have been crafting like a lunatic! Not much time for reading, and even less for blogging!

My mom and dad just got in last night, and they are here until December 30th so I feel like I won't be posting at all for the rest of 2012! So, I'm going to wrap up the three challenges I participated in this year today. Only one of which I actually finished... (shame shame on me!) But, this was the first year I tried to do any, and I think I'm going to sign up for even more this year, because as much as I strayed from them, I do sort of like having the organization and the goals to work towards, even if I may not complete them.

The first, and only challenge I finished, is the one from Goodreads! I signed up to read 50 books this year, and I am currently at 58! So, obviously I'm going to up the anti for 2013 and try and hit 75!

2012 GOODREADS READING CHALLENGE

2012 Reading Challenge

Jessica has completed her goal of reading 50 books in 2012!

58 of 50 (115%)

view books

The second challenge I signed up for, and I hope someone does this one again for 2013 is the '2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge' I had wrote an initial challenge list when I signed up (it's below) with 40 books on it. Throughout the challenge, I deviated from this list A LOT and ended up having blogged about 43 books that fell into this challenge, which is great! But, from this list I only managed to read 17/40.. which is pretty terrible. It's extra terrible because a lot of these books I REALLY Want to read! Some I ended up skipping with good reason - such as number 3, I didn't know this was sort of a second series to Vampire Academy, so I did read the first 2 VA books instead, and am not going to start Bloodlines until I'm done those. If this challenge gets done again, you will definitely see some of these turn up on my list for next year!



You can get all the reading challenge details here:
My (un-official) Challenge List
1) Love The One You're With - Emily Giffin 2) The Truth About Forever - Sarah Dessen (I started this a few days ago, but I'm only about 25 pages in) 3) Bloodline - Richelle Mead 4) Marked - P.C. Cast 5) The Struggle - L.J. Smith 6) Divergent - Veronica Roth 7) Under the Dome - Stephen King (I will be done this book before the end of December, so I'm counting it. I'm on page 900 of 1062). 8) Lola and the Boy Next Door - Stephanie Perkins 9) The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner - Stephenie Meyer 10) Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer 11) Matched - Ally Condie 12) Bumped - Megan McCafferty 13) Chasing Harry Winston - Lauren Weisburger 14) Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater 15) Bitter is the New Black - Jen Lancaster 16) A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin 17) Club Dead - Charlaine Harris 18) The Book Thief - Markus Zusak 19) Slash - Slash 20) The Carrie Diaries - Candace Bushnell 21) Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella 22) Beauty Queens - Libba Bray 23) Uglies - Scott Westerfeld 24) Forever - Judy Blume 25) Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk 26) Something Borrowed - Emily Giffin 27) Bad Taste in Boys - Carrie Harris 28) The Nannie Diaries - Emma McLaughlin 29) The Debutante Divorcee - Plum Sykes 30) Running with Scissors - Augusten Burroughs 31) The Life of Pi - Yann Martel 32) A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini 33) The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Society - Annie Barrows 34) The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls 35) The Color Purple - Alice Walker 36) The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd 37) Let The Great World Spin - Colum McCann 38) Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen 39) Bossypants - Tina Fey 40) Then He Ate My Boy Enhancers - Louise Rennison
The final challenge I was participating in I don't really know where it came from, but I saw it on someone elses blog and made a list too :) It was based on the characters in books and the alphabet. I missed 8 letters: I, K, N, O, Q, U, X, and Y. I had made a list with books with these characters, but I never got around to them :( But I had fun with this challenge, and hope to find something similar next year :) 

2012 A-Z Character Challenge

Duration: January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012

Read 26 different books having the main character begin with a letter of the alphabet. (if the story goes around more than one character you can pick only one of them for the challenge)

You can sign up anytime, and you can backdate books if you know when you finished them, as long as it was done in the year 2012.

A- Adina

B- Bree

C- Carrie

D- Damon

E- Eve

F- Four

G- Ginny

H- Hana

I-

J- Jessica

K-

L- Lola

M- Magdelena (Lena)

N-

O-

P- Puck

Q-

R- Rose

S- Stefan

T- Tessa

U-

V- Vasilisa

W- Wanderer

X-

Y-

Z- Zen

Anyway, That's my challenges in a wrap for the year! I;m on the hunt for some new ones to sign up for for 2013 that I can pick away at for the year! So, if you knwo of any, leave me a comment!

I hope that everyone has a fantastic holiday season, and I will get back to you in the New Year!!

Connected!!

Hallelujah! I'm told we are now a connected household!!! I'm currently away for work, so I don't get to enjoy it, but I have internet at the hotel :) I have to grip a bit about what went down with the internet providers though, so bear with me!

So, we moved into our house on November 9th, and we had a service appointment with Bell that same day! (What luck!) So the guy shows up to connect it, and he isn't able to because the building hasn't been connected yet. Why would Bell send a technician, shouldn't they know they haven't set the building up yet?! But, OK, fine. When ARE you going to connect the building? The tech guy didn't know, and told me I would have to give Bell a call. Mildly irritating, but fine. So the next day I called Bell and they said the building was ready to be serviced, and did I want to make an appointment? I was like- Lady, are you listening to me at all?? Someone was here yesterday and couldn't. She didn't seem to comprehend this, but said she would get an answer and call me back. Two days go by, and nothing. BF calls Bell again, and at least gets someone who can tell our building isn't hooked up. He asks her how long, she was like "I don't know, could be a week, could be a month". WTF kind of answer is that. So, we played the waiting game for awhile. We had tons of painting, unpacking, organizing, and everything else to do anyway, so we didn't mind much. After another 9 days of hearing nothing, we started to get concerned. Neighbours were starting to get Rogers service, but Bell wasn't yet available. On November 23rd (2 weeks after we moved in) we decided to switch to Rogers. We wanted to keep our same phone number, and Rogers said that wouldn't be a problem. So, we had a service appointment set up, and we just had to call and get Bell to transfer our phone number to Rogers. When BF called to do that, Bell told us that it would cost $50.00 to reconnect the number. We were like, Why did you disconnect it?? You were supposed to hook it back up!! Argh!! But whatever, not that many people use our home number, its not that much trouble to get a new one. So BF calls Rogers back and gets a new number for us. They are coming the following Wednesday, Nov. 27! Yay! So at this point, we love Rogers and hate Bell. SO, Wednesday comes, and BF is home waiting for the guy to come... and he never shows up! WTFFFFF dude! So BF calls Rogers and is like... um, where were you today? And they were like, what are you talking about? I guess what happened was because the girl he set the appointment up with reopened it to add in a new phone number, something went wrong, and the service appointment never got saved. So, we got some sort of credit for the inconvenience and rebooked for the next Wednesday, December 5th. And begins another week without TV/phone/internet. December 5th comes, and the guy shows up (victory!!) now we are relieved that everything is OK. But, guess what! Something else is wrong. So dude gets up on the pole to feed some wire in, and the tech that was there before him left the cap off some pipe, and water got in it, and froze. He can't feed the wire into it, and he leaves... So, no hookup for us.

Finally, today, one month and two days after we moved into the house, we have internet. I hope this means its a Merry Christmas to come!

While we had no connections, we started watching Star Wars (both of our first times), so we have two more episodes to go, and you can be sure there will be a post about that coming soon. Also, in all my downtime, I didn't do too much reading, but I have a few new reviews to write, so I will get to those soon. As well, I will be back to participating in the weekly FF and TTT starting Friday!

It's good to be back!!

Internet-less

Hi Everyone - I just wanted to give you a very quick update as I am at work right now! I have finally moved into my new place, but I have no internet! And worst of all we have no idea when we are going to be getting it! Since its a new building, they haven't set up the service and can't say when they will be able to! Argh! Very frustrating!!

Also, while moving I stepped on my ereader and broke it :*( Very Very Sad! I have bought a new one already, but I still feel bad for doing that to my old one (I loved her very much!)

Anyway, just wanted to let you know why I was MIA last week and into the foreseeable future!

100 Followers Giveaway WINNERS!!

Hello All!!

If you entered my 100 followers giveaway, this is a post you will want to read! I decided I would pick 3 winners, and the first one would get first choice, the next second, and the third last of the books I had available. I will contact the winners in order, letting them know which book(s) is/are no longer available. SO, the three winners are:

Winner 1: Eric Townsend

Winner 2: Nhã Khuyên Lê

Winner 3: Monica R

I will be contacting you all in order, so if you are winner 2 or 3 and don't hear from me for awhile, that is because I am waiting on the winner before you to make a choice on what book they would like :)

Again, a huge thank you to everyone who makes the choice to follow and read this blog, and when I reach my next milestone (whatever I decide that will be) I will host a bigger and better giveaway!! Yay!! So tell all your friends to follow me so that will be soon :)

Top Ten Tuesday - November 6, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday Freebie! I'm going to choose a topic that was done while I wasn't participating in this, and that is:

Top Ten Fictional BFF's

1) Jessica Darling from the Jessica Darling Series by Megan McCafferty

Jessica Darling kind of reminds me of a mix between me and some of my other friends from high school. I could totally see us being BFF.

2) Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling

Who wouldn't want to be BFF with Ron?? Sure Harry and Hermione are more useful, but I consider myself to be plenty useful, and comic relief is sooo much more important.

3) Jessica Wakefield from the Sweet Valley Series' by Francine Pascal

Popular Jessica Wakefield, if I were friends with her than that would mean that I probably fulfilled one of my childhood dreams of being part of The Unicorns. So yeah, BFF for sure.

4) Sookie Stackhouse from the Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris

I don't want to be burdened with being able to read minds, but it sure would be helpful to have a friend that could!

5) Tessa Gray from The Infernal Devices Series by Cassandra Clare

I'm not totally sure what drew me so much to Tessa, but I really liked her character and can easily see myself being friends with her.

6) McLean Sweet from Whatever Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Same thing goes for McLean, not sure why, but she was definitely BFF material.

7) Georgia Nicolson from the Confessions of Georgia Nicholson Series by Louise Rennison

More comic relief for my ever so dull life. Georgia definitely knows how to keep things dramatic!

8) Jacob Black from the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

Jacob is a hottie wolf, and well, that's enough for me!

9) Claudia Bloom from Tart by Jody Gehrman

Claudia needs me for a BFF, she needs help from someone! I really identified with her (and she is the only person on my list that is my age!)

10) Liz Lemon from 30 Rock (not a book, but she is seriously the best!)

My BF is always joking that Liz Lemon could be me, we are very similar!

Moving Week Blues

I'm sure most people have moved at least once in their life. It can be a real pain. I thought it was pretty crappy when I was younger and my family moved, and all I was responsible for packing was my bedroom. Through university I pretty much moved every year, but even then I didn't have a WHOLE lot of stuff, only 2-3 car fulls. Two years ago when we bought this house was the first time I really had to move furniture, and even then we were moving from a 1 bedroom apartment (that was soo tiny!) to a whole house. Well, we decided to buy a second house, and now the moving part is going to be such a headache!

Just packing and labeling and cleaning the house was bad enough, but now we are facing some huge delays at the hands of moronic lawyers. Which is SO frustrating. We will be renting the house we live in now to tenants (and becoming a landlord is another first for us!) so when our closing date on the new place got delayed, we had to delay our tenants (THANK GOD they were so flexible - we could have been homeless if not!!) and now we still have no idea when we will get to move!

I have been living out of packed boxes since Thursday, as that was when we were supposed to move, and now we have our movers scheduled for Friday. We are hoping to get the keys a little earlier so we can do the painting that needs to get done, but ARGH! I am so super frustrated over this! I won't go into detail about why the house isn't closed and ready for occupancy, but I can say that it is because a lawyer (not ours) didn't do their job! And that's what makes me the most angry, that its because simple paperwork wasn't processed that it didn't happen. Its not a problem with the builders, or suppliers, or anything in my control, its just laziness!

I haven't been doing much else but cleaning and packing and making phone calls to continuously change dates of everything, so I had to get this rant off my chest! BF and I are about ready to go postal! Our plan was to buy another property in 2-3 years and do the same thing (rent and move somewhere else) but this experience has definitely left a bad taste in my mouth!

Feature & Follow Friday - November 2, 2012

Hello Everyone and Welcome to this week's Feature and Follow Friday! I hope everyone is still riding high on their Halloween candy sugar rushes! I didn't get to really do much for Halloween this year, as we were supposed to move yesterday... but that didn't happen. There are a select few people out there who I want to strangle, but that is another story for another day!

This weeks features are both new to me, so its very nice to meet you both :)

First from Parajunkee, we have Katie at

I was lucky enough to be Katie's 99th follower, which of course takes me to the "I've got 99 problems but the B---- ain't one" place from my younger years. Oh Jay-Z *sigh*

Anyway, back to Katie. Katie appears to be pretty new to the blogging world, but she looks to have great taste in books, so you should stop by and visit her!

Second, from Alison Can Read, we have Megan at

Megan has been blogging for about as long as I have been, and she has reviewed quite a few books that I haven't yet heard of, so I may have to log onto Goodreads and check them out! She is also a Team Stefan, which you really don't see a whole lot of (but I can relate - as by the books, I am too {by the show though, I'm totally torn - I love both!!}) So, if you haven't yet, drop by her blog and say hello!

This week's question is:

Q: What is a deal breaker for you in a book? For example, do you abhor love triangles? Or can’t deal with bad editing?

A: I think for me it really depends on the book. If there is something I like about the book (the actual story, the characters, etc.) I can look past a lot of things that would have been a deal breaker in other books. One thing that does bother me a lot though is when you can tell an author busts out a thesaurus every now and then. I hate when a book is mostly done in simple easy to understand language and then all of a sudden a word like 'Masticating' is thrown in there. It just doesn't fit, pick a style and go with it. I know that it's nice to use different words for things instead of just saying 'said' all the time, but you still need to make sure your target audience knows what the F you are talking about! 

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Goodreads Summary: Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. 
Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

Why I Read This Book: Initially, I had marked this book as 'To-read' without thinking too much about it. I knew it was popular, and it sounded good, so fine. Then I decided to make it a 2012 TBR Reading Challenge book on the list I officially made for that. I owned the first book, and that was what I had based making that list on. I put it off and put in off in favor of shorter books. Then, I had some friends start raving about the TV show, and I wanted to watch too. But, I said no Jessica, read the books first. So I am. I always figured I would like the book but for some reason I was not overly excited to read it (old-timey fantasy is not one of my 'normal' genres).

Review: Wow, this book was fantastic. It was extremely detailed, and have several different sub plots which helped you get to know the characters better. I am not normally drawn to fantasy books, but I have read a few and liked them all (with the exception of when I tried to read The Hobbit, but I think I was too young for it when I started that). Often I prefer to watch fantasy things that read them. I loved Harry Potter, Narnia, Fablehaven as books and movies, but they were written for a younger audience. I often find with fantasy books for adults that they are SO detailed that I lose interest and find them a bit boring. I did not find this with A Game of Thrones at all, it was exciting pretty much right from the beginning. I think it helped that you didn't really need to keep TOO many characters straight, as is often the case with massive world building novels. Since there was about 8 different POV's the book was told in, you got an indepth look at the 5-6 characters that were closest to them, and I was able to keep most everyone straight.

I don't want to say much about this book, because I don't want to give anyone spoilers, but even if you think this isn't "your kind" of book, I would still give it a try because it is seriously a great read. It's pretty long thought, just under 900 pages, and its only the first of a long series! It goes without saying (but I will say it, because that's kind of how a blog works) I really look forward to A Clash of Kings! (book 2)

Rating:

Top Ten Tuesday - October 30, 2012

Hey Everyone!

Before I get into my top ten this week, I just wanted to let you know that I have a giveaway going on right now! You can enter to win a free book of your choice (I'm going to pick 3 different winners, and then let them choose in in order of the draw). You can enter here!

Now onto the fun!

This week`s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish, has the topis:

Top Ten Favorite Kick-Ass Heroines

1) Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo


2) Wanderer from The Host


3) Rose Hathaway from Vampire Academy


4) Elena from Women of the Otherworld


5) Hermione Granger from Harry Potter


6) Tris Prior from Divergent

(I have to say that I don`t know if I like this casting choice...)

That`s all I can really think of, and even most of these choices feel a little forced. I have been reading the same two books for what feels like forever (A Game of Thrones and Under The Dome) and they are both so long. I`m liking them both, but I`m craving a new read. I`m making myself finish at least one of them before starting something new though! I want to read all the books now!! 

Looking forward to everyone else`s lists!

100 Followers Giveaway!!!

First, let me say that I can't actually believe that I have more than 100 followers. I have been writing this blog for the better part of a year and a half, and as much as I has always hoped people would follow it, I do it because I like doing it, and if people follow, that's just a bonus!

However, since I have started getting more followers, and my stats have shown me that people might actually be READING what I'm writing, I can honestly say that it increases my enjoyment of putting this stuff out there even more. Not one of my followers do I know in real life (at least I don't think I do!) and that makes me feel even better about having you choose to read my blog! In an effort to say thank you, I'm going to be putting together a small giveaway.

I don't have a whole lot to offer right now, as we are moving this week, we are stretched pretty tight financially as far as cash flow goes. (Lawyers, and closing costs, and movers, and alllll that other great stuff that goes along with moving costs A LOT of money!!) But, I do have some older books that could definitely use a great new home.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
So if you like, enter, and if you know someone else who might like these books, pass the link along! Or enter to see if you can win and then give a book as a Christmas gift! Books are the sexiest gift, new or used!

Thanks for entering and being a fan of my blog. I really, truly, from the bottom of my heart appreciate it.

Also, I wanted to say a special thanks to Parajunkee, Alison Can Read, and the girls at The Broke and The Bookish for hosting their weekly memes, as without those I never would have reached my first blogging milestone.

Feature & Follow Friday October 26/12

This weeks features are:

and

This week's question is:

Q: What writing device or trick most irritates you when reading a book? For example, if an author employs an omnipotent narrator that is sometimes considered bad form.

A: This week I'm in a huge hurry, but I wanted to participate anyway (I'll hop around later) but, I have two big pet peeves when it comes to reading. One is when characters immediately fall in love. It's not because it's not necessarily possible it's just that in most books its not written that well. Veronica Roth actually has a great post on her site about it here.

Two, Missing parents syndrome. I'm sorry, but some of the things 15 and 16 year olds are up to in some books, almost any parent would be like "hold the hell up". A book thats bad for that that comes to mind is '13 Little Blue Envelopes'.

That's all I have time for right now! Sorry for the rush, have a great weekend!

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Goodreads Summary: Who is the real McLean? 

Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out. 

Combining Sarah Dessen's trademark graceful writing, great characters, and compelling storytelling, What Happened to Goodbye is irresistible reading.
Why I Read This Book: Sarah Dessen is an author who I kept meaning to read, but she always got pushed to the bottom of my list. Someone lent this book to me, so it managed to make its way to the top of the pile, and I read it.

Review: I thought this was a great book. Dessen writes about relationships (both romantic, friendship, and parental) with a genuine feel. This book had mostly likable characters, but they had some moments where they had to make some tough decisions which showed all sides of their personalities. Great character development. As for the story itself, it was pretty enjoyable, although I have herad from huge Dessen fans that this wasn't here best story. Overall, I really enjoyed it, and in the future, I won't put off picking up her books like I have been.

The one thing I didn't like about the book is near the end there is some much "metaphorical wisedom". McLean "realizes" so much, and strings all the events from the story into one neat little "life lessons" package, which I thought was a little annoying. As the reader, all the conclusions that Dessen wrote down were things I had already connected, so reading it was kind of redundant.

Rating:

Because I Have a Short Dog Too

Top Ten Tuesday - October 23rd 2012

Hello Everyone!

Another Tuesday is here, therefore another Top Ten Tuesday post is too! This week's list is:

Top Ten Books To Get In The Halloween Spirit

I'm not sure I'll actually be able to get a full 10 on this list using only books I have read, so I might pick some books that I think seem like they would get one in the Halloween spirit! So, here goes:

Books I have Actually Read

1) The Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris

These books have all kinds of creatures that go bump in the night, so they are perfect for getting into the Halloween spirit!

2) The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith

The town of Fell's Church seems like it is in permanent Halloween status!

3) Sweet Valley Halloween Books

These books were everything to me growing up, and since I thought the genie costume on the front of the 'Kids' edition was THE BEST costume ever, it would feel wrong not to include these.

That's about all I can think of for books I have read. I'm not going to include paranormal books just because they are paranormal. I only picked ones that really have that Halloween feel. So, some from my TBR list that seem like they also might are:

4) The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Creepiest sounding title anyway! 

5) Feed by Mira Grant

Nothing else from paranormal feels as Halloween to me as zombies!

6) Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendra Blake

Again, just sounds creepy!

7) Drink Slay Love by Sarah Beth Durst

The cover for me is pretty Halloween

8) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michell Hodkin

This books sounds pretty stange and creepy

9) Hannibal Lecter Series by Thomas Harris

If these books are not the most frightening thing ever (I saw glimpses of the movie) I don't know what is!

10) Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Seems creepy on a relatively endearing level