Mini Review | Snow in Love by Claire Ray

Welcome to Alaska! A special welcome to my boyfriend, Jake, the cutest tourist I've ever met. Explore our natural beauties and untouched wilderness.Jake and I like to hike our great (romantic ) nature trails. Enjoy our perfect skiing and snowboarding conditions. Be sure to catch Will Parker doing his snowboarding tricks. He makes all the girls in town melt. (Except for me. Who needs Will when you've got Jake?) Experience our world-class resorts and spas. While you're there, find out what's up with that hot girl Jake brought to the lodge this year. She's probably just his cousin or something. Right? Get ready for a vacation you'll never forget.

     Snow in Love was a cute little read that would be perfect for any time of the year. The characters were full of depth and very funny. The main character was not very likable to me though. She was very naive and gullible and blind to what was right in front of her. She let everything affect her badly and used ice cream as a buffer for her problems. Will, on the other hand, was so sweet and confident. He was kind of too good for Jessie. All in all, I liked it as a whole, but looking back, some parts have serious issues. 

Book Exchange/In My Mailbox (7/25/12)

 

Hey you guys! I just got back from vacation (Orange Beach, Alabama) and I have lots of new books! I also want to show you guys this awesome used bookstore I went to!

                              

                                

I went to the Book Exchange in Foley, Alabama! It was way cool and the first time I've ever been to a used book store.

(click to enlarge)

I loved it and it smelled like old books (yum) so if you're ever there, check it out! They have awesome prices and they're even better if you exchange some books like I did! 

Now onto the books!

Snow in Love by Claire Ray (already read, cute and funny)

Fat Vampire by Adam Rex

General Winston's Daughter by Sharon Shinn

Corsets & Clockwork by Trisha Telep

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene

Sweep (Volume II) by Cate Tiernan

Killing Britney by Sean Olin

Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

The Den of Shadows Quartet by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Teen Ink: Love and Relationships by Stephanie H. Meyer

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Emma by Jane Austen

The Hitchhiker by R.L. Stine

Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino (A manga for my friend, Jessica. Hi, Jessie! I miss you! *smooch*)

Ghost Girl (Ghost Girl, #1) by Tonya Hurley

The Teen Study Bible (New International Version)

 Hourglass by Myra McEntire

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder (reading this now and it is GOOD!)

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Well that's it! School will be starting soon and frankly, I'm not sad. I'm bored and ready to go back. I miss my friends, the routine, and being productive. I hope your vacation was as wonderful as mine!

Review | I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison

When shy Jenny Cooper goes to stay with her cousin Jane Austen, she knows nothing of the world that Jane inhabits. At 15, Jane is already a sharp observer of the customs of courtship. So when Jenny falls in love, who better than Jane to help her?

     I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend took me a long time to get through. It was kind of draggy and it was only once in a while that it hit actual parts of interest. Strangely I didn't mind this. It was a comfortable read that didn't make me have a heart attack of excitement, but it sat there and I liked it. Like donuts, I don't get excited over them, but I like them just the same. The best part of the book was the authenticity. The time period is very well written and intricate. The author's note at the end  how much time Harrison put into the book as she explains the origins of the plot. The passion flows through her voice and shines through the book.

Sweet Evil (The Sweet Trilogy, #1) by Wendy Higgins

Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.

Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

     Sweet Evil was a devilishly sweet read, absolutely no pun intended. Okay, maybe a little. The book starts off well, introducing Anna and Jay, her best friend. I can tell from the start that I would LOVE Anna. She reminds me of me. Uncomfortable in tight skirts and surprised when a boy actually approaches her. It is in the first few pages of the book that Anna gets her first glimpse of Kaiden (Ky-den, awesome name, isn’t it?) He is hot to her and his aura is strangely different than others. That’s not the only thing that strange, though, he wants to know who she is literally. At this point, this means nothing to Kaiden. As time progress, she is convinced that he knows something about her and she wants to know what. Anna is funny and quirky. She’s sensitive about a freckle, which everyone else calls a beauty mark. She is just a normal girl. Except that her mother was an angel and her father is a Duke. The Duke of Substance Abuse, that is. Anna struggles with avoiding these things and never, ever drinks. Oh! The story is just filled with special things that make each character special. That definitely added so much the book. The characters have so much depth. As Anna’s journey progress on, she gains so many friends that remind me of a Devil’s children Breakfast Club. They seem so normal and fun. Anna and Kaiden’s relationship is bumpy because she can’t understand why he doesn’t want to be with her, even in secret. Her relationship with her father is envious, especially to me, he seems great. What can I say? The book is one in a million. Now, to get the other one.

5 Book Lists to Expand a Reader's Horizons

Where I live and go to school there are never any summer reading lists. Most teens are happy about that but I feel that it would give me something to aspire to, give me a goal to reach during the summer. But everyone knows that if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself, which is why I found these beauties.* 

5. Rory Gilmore's Reading List

Hopefully everyone has heard of The Gilmore Girls, if you haven't, you are seriously missing out. The list consists of all the books that Rory reads on the show.

4. Collegeboard.com's 101 Books for the College Bound

I have this list in my college binder in sheet protectors and I want so much to finish it before I go to college, but I have horrible experiences with classics and this list is full of them. 

3.  Teenreads.com Ultimate Reading List

This list compiles ALL the best YA books into the most awesome list. What's better is that is updated alot to include the wonderful YA books that come out everyday.

2. Library Book Lists

This is a new site I just found that has tons of book lists ranging from all genres and subjects in YA. 

1. What Should I Read Next?

Once upon a time I got obsessed with a certain vampire series and after I finished it, all I wanted to read was vampires. This site, although not a book list, saved my life. It gave me books to read as I went through withdrawal.

So there you have it, when your summer is boring or you're just at a loss of what to read, go visit these sites! Of course, you don't need to if you already have a summer reading list (lucky dogs!).

 

Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1) by Tahereh Mafi

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

     Shatter Me burst into my life and shattered my soul. There is just so much, too much, to love about it. Juliette is so wonderful. Extraordinary. She was relatable. She was crazy and fun and caring. She acted like a real girl. Silly and with thoughts like gibberish. Not poised and unreal. She was innocent, but she was better and stronger for it. It made her unafraid to be herself. She and Adam are the ultimate fairy tale. So in love that you can’t stop thinking about each other. Doing anything to be together. Adam is SO my new book boyfriend. He was funny and sarcastic. The first chapters are my favorites as they relearn each other and Juliette shows him her environment. He is adorably surprised about everything. They are wonderful together and made me laugh and smile the whole time. The supporting characters of Shatter Me are awesome, too. Adam’s little brother, James and his friend, Kenji are hilarious and frank about everything. The ending put a smile on my face as Juliette declared herself a superhero because all through the book, that is what I was convinced she was.