The Overstuffed Bookcase

Follow Friday (3) & TGIF (2)

2012-03-09T00:00:00.004-06:00

Feature & Follow is a weekly blog hop hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read. It's a great way to find new blogs to follow and allow others to find your blog! Find out how to participate here!

Here's this week's question:

Q: Have you ever looked at a book's cover and thought, This is going to be horrible? But, was instead pleasantly surprised? Show us the cover and tell us about the book.

Well, I didn't really think it was a bad cover, or that the book was going to be horrible, but I wasn't so sure about Finder by Terri-Lynne DeFino when it was chosen by one of the girls in my book club for us to read last year. I mean, it's not a bad cover at all, but it was so different than what I was used to that I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it. But I ended up LOVING the book! It was exciting and had plenty of the twists and turns that I love, with some great complex characters! If you enjoy fantasy, you should totally check it out!

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads, where bloggers can recap their week and answer a blogging/bookish question.

Here's this weeks question:

Promote An Author: Is there a particular author you wish got more recognition? Pick one author & tell us why we should read their work.

Hmm, this one is a hard one. I'd probably say Scott Westerfeld. I know he's not an unknown author by any means, but it seems like a lot of people have read Uglies and then didn't like the second book in the series, Pretties, as well, and they stopped reading the series right there. I loved the whole series, but Pretties was probably my least favorite. I just went out on Tuesday and bought the Uglies manga, Shay's Story, and I'm really excited to read it! I also want to read all the other books he has written. If you like Sci-Fi you should definitely check out Uglies, and although I haven't yet read Leviathan, I've heard it's a great one for fans of Steampunk.

Did you participate in Feature & Follow Friday or TGIF? Leave your link in the comments, and I'll be sure to stop by your blog! Happy Friday!

The Overstuffed Bookcase: This Week's Recap

In My Mailbox (3)

Review: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Top Ten Tuesday (1): YA Book Covers

Waiting on Wednesday (2): Timepiece by Myra McEntire

Are You Attending BBPOC 2012?

2012-03-08T13:12:00.000-06:00

The Book Bloggers and Publishers Online Conference started yesterday, and I registered just hours before it began. I had heard about the conference but completely forgot about it until yesterday morning. I knew that, because I have a young son that I take care of all day, I wouldn't be able to be on my computer during all the panels when they were live, but I found out that they will be online for at least a month afterwards, so I can listen to them at my leisure.

So far I've learned quite a bit about NetGalley (I haven't tried to use it yet since my blog is so new and I just got a Kindle), and working with publishers. I haven't been able to listen to all the panels yet, but I plan on listening to all of them eventually! I've also been interacting with some bloggers and following some new book blogs - it's been a great way to get to know some fellow bloggers!

Some of the upcoming panels that I'm anticipating are "What Authors Look For in Reviews," "Creative Content: Stand Out," "Defining Your Blog - Make it What You Want," and "Negative Reviews: Fallout and Fears."

So if you're interested in learning some tips and tricks for your book blog, I think you can still register! It's $45 and while Sunday is the last day, the panels will be online for at least a month, so you won't have to worry about missing any of the discussions!

Waiting on Wednesday (2) - Timepiece by Myra McEntire

2012-03-07T00:00:00.000-06:00

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

My pick this week:

Timepiece (Hourglass #2)

Myra McEntire

Release Date: June 12, 2012

by EgmontUSA

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 devestating 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. (From Goodreads)

I read Hourglass last year and absolutely loved it! I can't wait for this, the second book in the series, to come out. Luckily I only have a few more months to wait! And the covers of both books are so gorgeous! They're probably my favorite covers ever (so far)!

What book are you waiting on? Let me know, or leave a link to your WoW post in the comments, and I'll stop by your blog!

Top Ten Tuesday (1): YA Book Covers

2012-03-06T21:20:00.000-06:00

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they have a new topic for bloggers to make a Top Ten list out of. I'm a huge fan of lists, so this meme is right up my alley!

I've never participated in this meme before - which is surprising, because I love lists! And I know I'm getting into the game a bit late today, but I saw everyone else's awesome Top Ten lists, and I had to participate!

So here are my Top Ten YA Book Covers (in no particular order):

Hourglass (Hourglass #1) by Myra McEntire I just love this cover. It's so pretty and interesting - and it took me forever to realize that she was standing on the wall and the floor is to her right... Such a cool cover, and I LOVED this book!

Timepiece (Hourglass #2) by Myra McEntire I know I said that these weren't in any kind of order, but these two books by Myra McEntire are probably my favorite covers ever! They both just have such great colors and they're so cool! I love how this one is so similar to the first, but also different! One day when I get a novel published, I hope to have this artist design my book covers!

What's Left of Me (Hybrid #1) by Kat Zhang This is just such a cool cover, with the face inside the silhouette of a profile... And it seems to completely go with the plot of the book, which is about a world where everyone has two souls. I am so excited to read this one when it comes out later this year!

The Selection (The Selection #1) by Kiera Cass Just gorgeous! I know some people are tired of the girls in pretty dresses on the cover, but I have to say, I'm really not. But it is nice when the cover matches the story, and from what I've heard about this book, it seems like it would match?

Wither (The Chemical Garden #1) by Lauren DeStefano I just love this cover. And I'm excited to read this one, especially because later this month I will be co-hosting and participating in a read-along for Wither and Fever! Participants can read one or both, and there will probably be a gift card giveaway at the end of the event! Details to come soon, so stay tuned!

Tiger's Curse (The Tiger Saga #1) by Colleen Houck I just think this cover is gorgeous for some reason. I know there has been another cover for this book, but I want this cover when I read the book, even if I don't own the copy! I could just stare at this cover for a long time!

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer This is absolutely my favorite book of the year (so far). And this is just such a cool cover. If you haven't read it yet, and you like fairy tale retellings, go get this one now!

Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1) by Beth Revis This is such a pretty cover, but the thing I really love about it is that it's reversible! The inside cover has a blueprint of the ship, The Godspeed, that Amy and Elder and all the other characters are aboard, flying toward a new Earth. I love maps and blueprints, and I think this was such a clever way to do it. Unfortunately book 2 didn't have the lovely reversible cover.

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks There are a lot of book covers out there that feature girls underwater, but this one is actually about mermaids, so it fits! Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of the underwater book covers, but like I said before, I really like it when the covers match the story. And I love the font of the title! I can't wait to read this one!

Spellbound (Spellbound #1) by Cara Lynn Shultz This is another one where I absolutely love the font of the title. I haven't read this one yet, but I might have to buy it just so I can own that pretty cover!

Well, those are my favorite YA covers! Which covers do you love? Let me know, or leave a link to your TTT in the comments, and I'll stop by your blog!

Review: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

2012-03-05T08:00:00.019-06:00

Title: Shut Out
Author: Kody Keplinger
Series: None
Publisher: Poppy, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: September 5, 2011
Pages: 273
Format/Source: Hardback/Borrowed from Library

Age Group/Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary, Retelling

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention

Then Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. But what Lissa never sees coming is her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling...(From Goodreads)

Book Club Love...

Several of the girls in my book club loved Kody Keplinger's debut novel, The Duff, so Shut Out was chosen by one member as our February selection. I hadn't read The Duff, but as I started reading this one, I wasn't sure I wanted to anymore. But let me just say now that I probably will still pick up The Duff someday - just not any day soon.

Some Issues...

I had a lot of problems with this book. The main problem was that I just didn't like the main character, Lissa. She was pretty whiny and very controlling. Yet I do realize that this is what teenage girls are often like. Since I am twice the age of Lissa in the novel, and often twice the age of the characters in the other YA books that I read, I do sometimes have to remind myself that, even though I am annoyed by what a character says or does, it is realistic. Yet I can only remind myself of that fact so many times before it just becomes an unlikable character for me. Yes, I want the characters to be complex and have flaws, but they need to grow a lot for me to like them in the end. And unfortunately, while there was some growth with Lissa, she just didn't mature enough for me to be happy with her in the end.

I also had a major problem with the big reveal. As one of the girls in my book club put it, the events leading up to the reveal were so misleading that instead of being vague or cryptic, it seemed as though the author was lying to us. I LOVE twists and turns and things like that, but I really feel like this wasn't executed as well as it could have been. There were some other inconsistencies that bothered me, as well.

A Bit of Redemption...

I DID, however, like the fact that this book talked openly about women, their sexuality, and the double standards that are so commonplace in today's society. Women are taught to hide their sexuality, lest they be called a slut or worse, and men are respected by their peers for their sexual conquests. I liked the girl-power aspects, and I definitely think that it was a wonderful idea to use the forum of a young adult novel to open up discussions, but the rest of the book just really fell flat for me.

But 4 out of 7 of the girls in my book club really enjoyed this book, while only 3 of us didn't enjoy it. So if you like this author, or if the premise sounds interesting to you, you should try it out (and check out the reviews I've linked below, which are much more praising than mine).

My rating for Shut Out by Kody Keplinger:

2 stars. I really didn't enjoy it, but there were some positive aspects to the novel. It was based on the play Lysistrata by Aristophanes. Perhaps if I had previously read this play I might have found the book more entertaining.

Find it: Goodreads │ Amazon │ Hachette Book Group

Other Reviews: Melanie @ Reclusive Bibliophile │ Ginger @ GReads! │ Tara @ Hobbitsies

Disclaimer: I borrowed a copy of this book from my library, and although it was a pick for my book club, I was in no way compensated for this review.

In My Mailbox (3)

2012-03-03T22:45:00.003-06:00

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren where bloggers can share the books they've received/bought/borrowed each week.

This IMM is from the past two weeks.

Purchased

Since I got a Kindle Fire for Valentine's Day I had to buy some eBooks for it, and I found some good deals! (The book titles are linked with their Goodreads pages, and the prices are linked with the Amazon Kindle pages.)

Evernight by Claudia Gray (Free)

Oppression by Jessica Therrien ($0.99)

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen ($9.99)

Brightest Kind of Darkness by P.T. Michelle ($2.99)

Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey ($1.99)

Feed by M.T. Anderson ($2.99)

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan ($3.99)

(Thanks so much to Nicole from Nicole's Library for telling me about the Evernight deal, and Inspired Kathy at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Rachel at Parajunkee's View for all their posts about ebook deals!)

What did you get in your mailbox this week? Let me know or leave a link to your IMM in the comments and I'll stop by your blog!

The Time Will Come (2)

2012-03-01T08:00:00.003-06:00

The Time Will Come is a weekly meme hosted by Jodie at Books for Company, where we can highlight the books on our shelves that we've been meaning to get to for some time, but have been put on the back burner for one reason or another.

The book that I chose for this week is:

Out of Oz (The Wicked Years #4)

Gregory Maguire

Published November 1, 2011 by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins

The marvelous land of Oz is knotted with social unrest: The Emerald City is mounting an invasion of Munchkinland, Glinda is under house arrest, and the Cowardly Lion is on the run from the law. And look who’s knocking at the door. It’s none other than Dorothy. Yes, that Dorothy.

Amid all this chaos, Elphaba’s granddaughter, the tiny green baby born at the close of Son of a Witch, has come of age. Now, Rain will take up her broom in an Oz wracked by war.

The stirring, long-awaited conclusion to the extraordinary bestselling series begun with Wicked, Out of Oz is a magical journey rife with revelations and reversals, reprisals and surprises — the hallmarks of the brilliant and unique imagination of Gregory Maguire. (From Goodreads)

So of course this hasn't been sitting on my shelf for very long (I got it for Christmas, and it was just published this past November), but I read Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West more than ten years ago and I loved it and all the other Wicked Years books. I still haven't seen the musical, but one of these days I hope to change that! I originally thought I was going to read this book right away but I knew I wanted to re-read all the other books in the series first, and a lot of other books have been pushed up on my TBR pile. But I still hope to read this soon!

What books have been pushed back for you? Let me know, or leave a link to your post if you're participating in this meme and I'll be sure to stop by your blog!

Review: Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

2012-02-28T08:00:00.040-06:00

Title: Boy Meets Boy
Author: David Levithan
Series: None
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children's Books
Publication Date: September 9, 2003
Pages: 185
Format/Source: Paperback/Gift from a friend

Age Group/Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary, GLBT

This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance.

When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.

This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world. (From Goodreads)

Levithan Love-a-thon...

My friend Courtney at Abducted by Books found a signed copy of this book when we were in Austin for the Tour de Nerdfighting, so she graciously gave me her old copy! Courtney is also hosting an event this month called the Levithan Love-a-thon over at her blog, where you can win your choice of one of five David Levithan books. Hurry - the giveaway ends today (I think)! And since she's having this event featuring books by David Levithan, I figured I would go ahead and read Boy Meets Boy and post my review before the end of the month!

A Lot to Live Up To...

I haven't read many YA Contemporary novels. I usually like there to be some kind of Science Fiction or paranormal aspect to my novels, but as I read more and more Contemporaries I realize that I like them more than I thought I would! However, because my first forays into the land of YA Contemporary were books by John Green and now David Levithan, the Contemporaries on my TBR list have a lot to live up to! Both of these men were born to write, and have honed their craft so well that they turn the most mundane actions and thoughts into sentences that become works of art themselves.

For example, here are some of my most favorite quotes from Boy Meets Boy:

"Tony has to be home by midnight, so we are on a Cinderella mission. With this in mind, we keep our eye on the ball."

"The promise of a kiss will carry us forward."

"Kyle and I sit at one of the chem tables; the words of our conversation will fall from the air into empty glass beakers, awaiting invisible measure."

"Conversation is not his strong suit. In fact, I'm not sure it's a suit he owns."

With that last quote, he takes a cliche and adds to it, giving it a new twist. But my favorite parts of the writing have to be when Levithan turns what could have been a simple sentence into something much more. For example, at the beginning of one chapter, the main character, Paul, is looking through the halls of his school, searching for Noah, whom he met briefly before and supposedly also goes to Paul's school. Instead of writing something like, "I never found him," Levithan writes, "But the connection isn't made." I just love how he finds new, interesting ways to say things.

A Dream World...

In this story, the main character, Paul, has known he was gay from a very young age. Which happens with many GLBT youth, but Levithan has Paul come out to his parents in Kindergarten! I don't claim to know all the coming out stories in the world, but this seems a bit atypical.

But I loved it. And I loved how Paul's community is so open and welcoming. His Kindergarten teacher told him that being gay wasn't wrong, and that it was absolutely right for him. Paul then runs for class president in 3rd grade with the slogan, "Vote for me...I'm gay!" and wins! And he and his friends form a gay-straight alliance in his elementary school. At first I wasn't sure if Levithan was writing about his ideal society, or if it was more of a humorous or thought-provoking take on life as a gay child, but I'd love for my son to grow up in this kind of environment. Of course, he'll have that kind of environment at home, but I doubt that his life at school (regardless of his personal sexual orientation) will be like this, especially living in such a conservative state. Ah, one can dream...

Overall...

I love the world and the characters and the story that David Levithan created, whether he meant it to simply be a love story or something more. His characters were all complex individuals with their own flaws and faults. The end was almost a tad bit anti-climactic for me (which might only be because of the fact that I read so many stories with twists and turns and cliff-hanger endings), and that really was the only thing that kept this book from getting a five-star rating from me.

That said, my rating for Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan:

Four big stars - probably more like 4 1/2. This story is beautifully written and thought-provoking, and paints a picture of a world that I someday hope to live in.

Find it: Goodreads │ Amazon │ Random House

If you like this book, you should try: Will Grayson, Will Grayson │ Paper Towns

Disclaimer: This book was given to me by a friend. I was not compensated in any way for this review.

I've Been Tagged - Again!

2012-02-26T23:05:00.001-06:00

So when I was tagged before, I said that it was going to be my first and only time to participate in the whole tagging thing, because I really can't dedicate the time that these posts deserve. But my friend Kate at Midnight Book Girl tagged me, and since she's my friend, I really wanted to answer her questions!

So once again, I won't be tagging anyone, and this time I'm also going to opt out on the whole asking questions part, too. Sorry guys, I know this seems half-assed, but I really just want to answer Kate's questions, and that's all I really have time for right now!

So on to the questions!

1. What song would you pick for the soundtrack of the book you're currently reading?

Oh, I have no idea on this one. I can already see that these are going to be hard questions, Kate! I'm almost done reading Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan and when I read this question I immediately thought of 80s music, but I'm not sure which song I would pick. I'm not good at soundtrack kinds of questions, actually...

2. What drink do you order most at Starbucks?

I don't think I've ever been inside a Starbucks. I'm not a coffee drinker. I love the smell of coffee, and I love coffee shops, but I always order hot chocolate when I go to a coffee shop. And for some reason I've never been to a Starbucks.

3. What literary character would you kiss, which one would you marry and which one would you push off a cliff?

These don't all have to be male characters, do they? Because the one I would push off a cliff would either be Lissa from Shut Out (review to come soon on that one - it was not for me) or Bella from Twilight. I enjoyed the Twilight books - they were very entertaining, but Bella drove me nuts, especially in New Moon. As for the ones I would kiss and marry? Kiss would probably be Four from Divergent and marry would be Cricket from Lola and the Boy Next Door. Those are the only two male characters that I can ever think of that I'm really attracted to. Although I might marry Harry Potter or Ron Weasley, but I always think of them as years younger than me because of the movies, even though in the books Harry was born the same year I was!

4. Forget Zombies vs. Unicorns. Are you Team Robots or Team Mermaid?

Hmm, I LOVE Science Fiction so my first reaction was "Team Robots all the way!" But robots are normally not the nicest of characters, and often end up wrecking civilizations. And I haven't read any books about mermaids, although I have many mermaid books on my TBR list. And my favorite Disney movie is The Little Mermaid. So this one is a toughie. If we're deciding which one I'd rather be face to face with, I'd say Team Mermaids. If we're talking about which books to read, Team Robots.

5. What's the last movie you saw in the theater?

I think that was One Day. At least, I don't think I've seen anything in the theater since then. I saw it with some friends in August or September I think... I love to see movies in the theater but since I have a young son, it's not easy to get a night where both my husband and I can go out. But I'm looking forward to The Hunger Games next month! We've already got our tickets for that!

6. If they were to make a movie out of your life, who would you want play your love interest?
Ian Somerhalder. Man, that boy is gorgeous! 7. If you could kidnap an author, which one would it be and what book would you have them write and/or re-write? I'd want to kidnap J.K. Rowling, but only to get her to tell me more about the Harry Potter world, and to tell me how much she knew of everything going in. I'd like to re-live her process, like when she figured out certain things and when other things simply fell into place. She's a genius, as far as I'm concerned.

8. How many books are in your TBR pile?
I have 7 in the pile right now, but there are about 100 other books on my shelves that I haven't read, so those will be making their way to the pile eventually.

9. What's the worst job you've ever had?
I've had a lot of jobs, and several of them were great, but they all had their drawbacks. I'd say the worst one was working in a pharmacy. The work wasn't horrible, but the people were awful. I know they were sick and frustrated with their insurance, but they really didn't have to take all that out on me!

10. I want to paint an accent wall in my bedroom Peacock Blue, what color would you recommend for the other 3 walls? :)
White. I think it would look pretty for just one Peacock Blue wall, or maybe two. Very pretty color! But if you really want to pick another color, maybe a bold green that matches? I'm thinking of the colors in peacock feathers... ;)

11. What is your favorite board game?

I don't own it, but I love Apples to Apples! I really need to buy it!

Bonus Question: Are you planning on attending BEA this year? If yes, are you in need of a hotel room? Because my friend Kim and I are looking for two other bloggers to share. :)

Oh, now I really really really want to go! But I just don't think I can afford it this year, because we're going on a cruise soon after BEA. And I'd either have to take my son (which means my husband would also have to go so that someone could watch him) or my husband would have to take time off from work to stay at home with him. I just don't see it being doable this year, but I definitely want to go next year!

Thanks, Kate, these were some great questions!

Follow Friday (2) & TGIF (1)

2012-02-24T09:13:00.005-06:00

Feature & Follow is a weekly blog hop hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read. It's a great way to find new blogs to follow and allow others to find your blog! Find out how to participate here!

Here's this week's question:

Q: Activity!!! Take a picture or describe where you love to read the most…

My husband and I have a dual rocker/recliner that we bought when I was pregnant with our son, and that's normally where I sit and read. But it's kind of an ugly thing, to tell the truth, so instead I'll show you a picture of another spot where I read sometimes...

The most comfortable bed that I've ever slept in, and so much prettier than the rocker/recliner that I normally read in. Of course, this bed is perfect to sleep in, but reading in it (as in any bed, I think) isn't so easy unless you've got a whole lot of pillows to prop you up. But I do love reading there. Ah, just looking at it makes me want to crawl back in and go to sleep...

TGIF is a weekly meme by Ginger at GReads, where bloggers can recap their week and answer a blogging/bookish question.

Here's this weeks question:

Required Reading: Which book from your school days do you remember reading & enjoying? Is there a book published now that you'd like to see in today's curriculum for kids?

Originally this post was just a Follow Friday, but I saw this question around and I just had to participate! One book I read in the 6th grade has stuck with me forever, and I actually own two copies of it.

(Sorry for the blurriness and glare on that photo!) The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson is still one of my favorite books. In the story, everyone over the age of 13 has died from a virus. There are gangs of kids stealing from others, and the main character, Lisa, decides to form her own group so that they can defend themselves from the gangs. It's probably not the best post-apocalyptic story in the world, but it was my first, and it sparked my love for post-apocalyptic stories, dystopians, and Science Fiction in general.

As far as what I think needs to be required in school, I'd have to say the Harry Potter series. I know that a lot of colleges have courses on the books, and I'm sure there are elementary or junior high or high schools out there that have Harry Potter on their reading lists, but I think all schools should jump on board. The books are not only incredibly entertaining and would probably ignite a love for reading in children that otherwise wouldn't enjoy reading, but the overwhelming themes of love and friendship are something that any child would benefit from reading.

Did you participate in Feature & Follow Friday or TGIF? Leave your link in the comments, and I'll be sure to stop by your blog! Happy Friday!

The Overstuffed Bookcase: This Week's Recap

In My Mailbox (2)

I've Been Tagged

Review: Pure (Pure #1) By Julianna Baggott

Review: Pure (Pure #1) by Julianna Baggott

2012-02-22T00:03:00.005-06:00

Title: Pure
Author: Julianna Baggott
Series: Pure #1
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: February 8, 2012
Pages: 431
Format/Source: Hardback/Purchased

Age Group/Genre: Adult, Young Adult/Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again. (From Goodreads)

A Rocky Start...

I wasn't so sure about this book when I first started reading. I had been wanting to read this book for a long time - I put it on my Goodreads To-Read list in May of last year! So I was super excited and went out and bought it on the release date. I didn't start reading it right away, since I was in the middle of another book, and unfortunately I wasn't able to read as much as I would have liked for the past week or so, so it took me a while to finish it.

But my first reaction, after reading only the first few pages, was that this was a twisted, gruesome book. I realized that although I really enjoy the post-apocalyptic genre, and I've seen plenty of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic movies, I hadn't really read too many books that were actually set in the time just after an apocalypse. Sure, I'd read dystopians where an apocalypse had happened way in the past, but I've only read a couple of books that deal with the immediate after-effects of an apocalypse. (I've used the word apocalypse way too much now, and I apologize.) So although this one is really dark and gritty, and I feel the need to warn readers of this, I really can't compare it to many other books that have a similar setting.

A Heavy Read...

That said, I still want to warn people who might want to pick up Pure: it's dark. It's gory. There aren't really any happy warm fuzzies in any part of the book, except during the (very short) romantic bits. I hate gore. I can't stand it in movies or on television and I definitely don't like it in my books. And this is one book that I don't know if I'd want to see adapted in movie form, simply because of the disturbing images. But even though there are grotesque images in this book (Pressia, one of the main characters, has a doll's head fused to her hand, and there are other characters that are actually two or more people fused together, among other things), there was only one instance where I thought to myself, "Whoa, this is getting pretty gory."

But there's death. There's suffering. There are deformed children. One part that really got to me was this one scene where there are all these mothers whose children are now fused together with them, and the children can no longer grow. They are just stuck to their mothers for the rest of their lives, forever the age that they were when the Detonations occured. It's a harsh image for me because I am a mother myself, and I know that I would end up like that, because if I was there when the Detonations hit, I would have held my son as close to me as I possibly could.

Kinda Iffy...

I also had a hard time suspending my disbelief at first. How could all these people be fused together with the earth, with inanimate objects, with each other? Luckily there is a type of explanation to this, and I was able to get over it and accept that something like this could happen.

And another thing - for those of you that aren't too fond of multiple narrators, be warned. There are four different points of view in this novel. I myself don't have problems with two narrators, and three wasn't too bad, but when it came to the fourth point of view, I was wondering if every major character was going to get their own chapters. However, I did end up feeling like all of these points of view were justified, and were needed to allow the reader to view these characters as individuals, and to see their humanity and their own personal struggles. Without their own chapters, readers would simply see them through the eyes of the other characters, and wouldn't see the complexity behind each character.

Beauty in Ugliness...

One of my favorite quotes was from early on in the book in one of Pressia's chapters:

"Swirling ash - it's not all bad. In fact, it can be beautiful, the lit swirl. She doesn't want to see beauty in it, but she does. She finds little moments of beauty everywhere - even in ugliness. The heaviness of the clouds draping across the sky, sometimes edged dark blue. There's still dew that rises from the ground and beads up on pieces of blackened glass."

This comes up fairly often in the book - the beauty that Pressia still can see even though the world has been torn apart. It's a wonderful image.

Although dirty and poignant, this book is still laced with hope. And Julianna Baggott has created such an intimate story that makes you ache for the characters and their situation, and you yearn for an outcome that, even if it's not all butterflies and rainbows, is somewhat happy, somewhat hopeful, somewhat comforting. It's not a story just about their deformities, their scars, and their suffering, but it's an extremely complex story that delves into the issues of the corruption of power, the ethics of technology, and the will to survive.

My rating for Pure by Julianna Baggott:

Four large stars. Maybe 4 1/2. This was a gripping tale of survival, and although it took me a while to get into the story, I can't wait to see what happens in the rest of the trilogy.

Find it: Goodreads │ Amazon │ Hachette Book Group

Disclaimer: I purchased this book myself. I was not compensated in any way for this review.

I've Been Tagged

2012-02-20T23:36:00.001-06:00

I was tagged by Mag at Geek Chic, and I'm honored! But I think this will be my one and only venture into the land of tagging. I just don't think I have the time to commit to these posts, so after this post my blog will be tag-free (and award-free). But thanks, Mag, for thinking of me, and I really do enjoy answering the questions and reading other bloggers' answers!

Also, I know a lot of other blogs are tag- and award-free, so I won't be tagging anyone in this post. But I will supply some questions and if you'd like to answer them, please do and leave a comment with a link to your answers! (I know this is kind of a cop-out, but like I said, I really can't give these posts the time that they deserve.)

THE RULES

You must post the rules.

Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.

Tag eleven people and link to them on your post.

Let them know you’ve tagged them!

Here are my answers to the questions Mag asked:

1. Who is the author you own the most books by?
Oh, jeez, this one's a bit embarrassing. It would be Francine Pascal, the author of the Sweet Valley High series. I read Sweet Valley Twins as a kid and loved them, and then last year when I heard Sweet Valley Confidential was coming out, my friend Courtney and I wanted to try to reread some of the Sweet Valley High books before reading the new book. So I went on eBay and bought 35 of the books for about $38! I've read about half of them, and still haven't read Sweet Valley Confidential. But I'd like to finish reading them and then read Confidential, and I'll probably end up selling the SVH books to a used book store or donating them to my library. They're really not that great of books but it's nostalgic...

2. If you meet ANY author, who would you pick?
That would have to be J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter is my absolute favorite favorite series and it would be so amazing to meet her. But I would probably clam up and sweat a lot and it probably would be more embarrassing than amazing...

3. What book have you reread the most times?
Hmm, I think that would be the first few Harry Potter books. I've read all of them several times but the first few I think I've read more than the others, simply because I would reread the entire series when a new book would come out. My copy of The Sorcerer's Stone is falling apart!

4. What is your favorite book genre?
Young Adult books have become my favorite to read. And Science Fiction YA is my absolute favorite genre! I also love Dystopian YA (which often has some SF in there, too) a lot!

5. Do you ever listen to music while you're reading?
Usually, no. I used to listen to music all the time while reading for school and doing homework, but when I'm reading a novel I like to have it pretty quiet. I don't mind some noise but I find that music can kind of be distracting at times.

6. Who is your favorite character from any book?
Ay yi yi, giving us hard questions, aren't you Mag? ;) Well, my first thought is Sirius Black from Harry Potter. He's my favorite in that series and probably my favorite overall. And now I'm drawing a blank and can't think of any other characters I love from other books...

7. If you could meet (and be friends with!) any character from any book in real life, who would you choose?
This is another hard one! I think I'd choose Ron Weasley from Harry Potter. He's my second favorite character from the series and I just think I'd really get along with him. And Fred and George would be fun to hang out with as well!

8. Five books that made you laugh?
The Harry Potter books made me laugh a lot (I realize all my answers are Harry Potter related - sorry about that!). Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett is hilarious. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books are also really funny. And all of John Green's books have wonderful humor. And then I guess I'd say that the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich are pretty funny, too.

9. Five books with the hottest guys?
I don't normally get enthralled with guys from books. It's hard for me to picture them in my head, so I'm more attracted to their actions than their physical descriptions. And even then I don't know of many guys that I would swoon over. I mean, I like plenty of guy characters, and I want the girl to end up with her love interest, but I can only think of a couple guys that would fit in this category of "hottest guys." First I'd have to say Cricket from Lola and The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. I just loved him! Also Four from Divergent. I really can't think of any others...

10. How many books do you read in the average week?
That depends on several things: 1. The number of pages in the book; 2. How readable the book is; 3. How many other things I have going on in that week. Sometimes it takes me all week to finish a book. Other times I can read 3 books in a week. But I don't think I've ever done more than 3 in one week, except for when I was a kid and all the books were really short! I'd say an average for me would be 1-2 books a week.

11. And now for the most impossible question ever: If you had to pick ONE BOOK, what would you say your favorite is (at least, as of right now)?
Oy vey, Mag. This IS the most impossible question ever. I have 2 all-time favorite books. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson (a book I read in the 6th grade and still love). I also just read Cinder by Marissa Meyer and I think that might make it into the all-time favorites. But if I had to pick just one, I guess it would be Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Most people love The Deathly Hallows or The Order of the Phoenix, but I love The Prisoner of Azkaban because it's where we meet Sirius, we learn a lot more about Harry's background and his parents, and it has time travelling. Such an awesome book.

Okay, now it's my turn to ask the questions. Remember, I'm not tagging anyone in particular, but please feel free to answer these questions and leave a comment with a link to your answers!

1. Have you always been a huge reader or is it something that happened recently?

2. Can you pinpoint one book that solidified your love for reading?

3. Do you prefer series or stand alone books?

4. Do you write in your books and/or dog-ear the pages or do you like to keep your books looking brand new?

5. What fictional world would you love to live in?

6. What book are you most looking forward to reading this year?

7. Do you have to read to the end of a chapter or can you set the book down at any point?

8. Describe what you are using as a bookmark in your current read.

9. What book would you absolutely never want to be made into a movie or TV show?

10. Do books easily make you cry or do you hardly ever shed a tear while reading?

11. What book have you recommended the most?

Thanks again to Mag for tagging me, and I look forward to reading answers by anyone who would like to participate!

In My Mailbox (2)

2012-02-18T22:45:00.008-06:00

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren where bloggers can share the books they've received/bought/borrowed each week.

This IMM is for the past couple of weeks.

Gifts

The big gift I got was a Kindle Fire for Valentine's Day from my wonderful husband! (Thanks, J!)

I had a bit of money left over on my Barnes & Noble gift card that I got from my parents for my birthday, and with it bought:

Pure by Julianna Baggott

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

(Thanks, Mom & Dad!)

Also, my friend Courtney from Abducted by Books, who went with me to the Tour de Nerdfighting, got a signed copy of a book by one of her favorite authors and gave me her old copy:

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

(Thanks, Courtney!)

Purchased

I went for the first time to a Half-Price Books and came away with a steal (all these books for about $50!):

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Legend by Marie Lu

I'm super excited about all of these books, and I'm looking forward to reading them all! (I've already started Pure and it's really intriguing!) And I'm not quite sure what I want to be my first Kindle purchase. Any suggestions?

What did you guys get lately? Let me know or leave a link to your IMM in the comments and I'll stop by your blog!

Review: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

2012-02-15T08:00:00.004-06:00

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan
Publication Date: January 3, 2012
Pages: 387
Format/Source: Hardback/Purchased

Age Group/Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction, Fairy Tale Retelling

Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder's brain interface has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on.
Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger stepsister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an "honor" that no one has survived.
But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for. (From the jacket flap)

My Kind of Book...

When I first heard about Cinder, I heard that it was a fairy tale retelling of Cinderella. I really enjoyed the retellings that I've read, like the Wicked Years series by Gregory Maguire, and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, also by Gregory Maguire. There are a lot of retellings on my TBR list, so I was intrigued by Cinder. Then I heard that Cinder (aka Cinderella) was a cyborg. Wait, what? You're telling me it's a fairy tale retelling and it's Science Fiction? That in itself was enough to make me want to read it. I added it to my TBR list and then forgot about it until the publication date rolled around, and the reviews started flowing on my Google reader. When I read some of the reviews (if you'd like to read one where the blogger wasn't so sure about the premise upon picking it up, read this one at Hughes Reviews), I realized that I needed this book RIGHT THEN. Luckily I had just had a birthday and had a Barnes & Noble gift card burning a hole in my wallet.

Let the Gushing Begin...

It's only February, but I'm already calling it: this is my favorite book of 2012! I know that seems a little premature, but believe me, it's that good.

It took me a bit to get into the story, but that's my only complaint. And I really don't think it's the author's fault - I had just finished A Million Suns by Beth Revis and I think my mind was still aboard the Godspeed, so it took me a minute to get my head into this new location and story. But once I got into it, man did it do crazy things to my head.

There's one scene where Cinder goes to a junkyard along with her android assistant, Iko, and her stepsister, Peony. This scene really brought me into the book with full force, because I could actually see these characters in my head, and I could imagine this scene completely. I still don't know exactly what the characters look like, but I got a great sense of their location, their body language, and their actions in this scene. It was so visual that I can completely see this series being adapted into film. (And let me say that I will be one of those fangirls standing in the ticket line overnight for those movies!) That scene, along with the scenes that preceded it, reminded me a lot of the show Firefly. I was excited to find out that Marissa Meyer is a huge Firefly fan and the show actually helped inspire the series!

I loved Cinder. I thought she was a strong protagonist, and while she is considered an outcast, she's not whiny about it. She doesn't agree with the fact that she's treated as a second-class citizen, but she has zero "oh, poor me" inner dialogues. She was complex, smart, sarcastic and humble. And she had a bit of a temper at times, but her anger was always completely warranted.

The secondary characters were great, too. Iko and Prince Kai and Peony were the kinds of characters that you want to hang out with on a daily basis. Dr. Erland and Torrin were mysterious and interesting, and Adri and Queen Levana were the ultimate villains. Each character was complex in their own way, and I never questioned anyone's actions, except for the instances when you're supposed to question them.

Complexity Abounds...

What I really want to get across in this review is the fact that this story would have been awesome if it was just a fairy tale retelling where Cinderella is a cyborg. That would have been enough. But Marissa Meyer didn't stop there. This is no simple fairy tale retelling.

It's set in New Beijing in the distant future. There's a plague. There are people called Lunars who have evolved from humans who colonized the moon. The Lunars can control the minds of others. And intertwined through all that is the story of a girl who wants to go to a ball.

This story is so complex that I took seven pages of notes. I had theories every five pages for about half of the book. And these theories, they weren't me thinking, "Oh, yeah, I've got it figured out already," - I was thinking, "Oh crap, is she?" and "Could this be?" and "Shiz, does he know?!?" I don't want to give away too much, so sorry that I couldn't expand those theories. What I mean was that I hadn't figured things out early, I simply had theories that I was excited about, and although many of them turned out to be true, I wasn't at all disappointed that they were correct.

The thing I love about Gregory Maguire's Wicked Years series is that it's not simply a retelling of The Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch of the West's point of view - the story is meaty with the witch's background, politics, government, civil rights issues, etc. This is the case with Cinder as well. Yes, the story of Cinderella is there, and it's a clever retelling. But added to that backbone is a full, complex story of its own that had me gushing about the book to my husband, my friends, and even to myself.

In case you couldn't guess, here's my rating for Cinder by Marissa Meyer:

Five gigantic stars. If I could give it more, I would. If the rest of this series is as good as this book, it will surpass The Hunger Games series for me (which is currently my #2 favorite series, with Harry Potter being #1). It's that good.

Find it: Goodreads │ Amazon │ Macmillan

If you like this book, you should try: Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister │ Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Disclaimer: I purchased this book myself. I was not compensated in any way for this review.

Review: A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2) by Beth Revis

2012-02-12T08:00:00.003-06:00

Title: A Million Suns
Author: Beth Revis
Series: Across the Universe #2
Publisher: Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication Date: January 10, 2012
Pages: 386
Format/Source: Hardback/Purchased

Age Group/Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction

Godspeed was fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.
It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies.
But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.
In book two of the Across the Universe trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis mesmerizes us again with a brilliantly crafted mystery filled with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship. (From Goodreads)

*Warning: This is the second book in a series. While I really don't like spoilers, you might find some slight Book 1 spoilers in this review.*

The Awesome...

Wow! Twists and turns left and right in this one! There's one twist right in the first few pages! I love when books do this! Then, later on, there was another big twist that I didn't necessarily see coming, but I hoped it would happen. In Across the Universe, there was one "mystery" where everyone who read the book instantly knew who the culprit was. But like I said in my review of AtU, I think Revis did this intentionally so that we were all thrown at the subsequent bombshells. In A Million Suns, the mystery is much more unknown, and while I suspected the eventual culprit, I wasn't as sure - it was more of an educated guess. But Revis continued to weave action, romance, and suspense into this novel. The twists and reveals occurred throughout the novel, rather than just at the end like so many other mysteries.

One of my favorite lines was from one of Elder's chapters:

"I run my fingers through my hair, trying to pull my answer up through the roots."

I really like this line, because I feel like there are tons of instances in books, especially Young Adult books, where characters run their fingers through their hair, and this adds a new concept to the action.

Also something I loved about Across the Universe that is also present here, are the cliff-hanger chapter endings. I'm not one to pause reading when I come to the end of a chapter - I just pause whenever I need to pause and slip in my bookmark. But with the way Revis ends these chapters, I don't know how anyone could set the book down after finishing a chapter and not keep going!

The Not-So Awesome...

I had a few issues with the story, but they were things that ultimately didn't keep me from loving the book. I found a few minor inconsistencies in the first pages of the book, and there were some repetitive lines that made me feel like I was having a bit of deja vu. But I can overlook these things, because the story was so complex and intricate that I had actually forgotten about these minor issues until I looked back at my notes.

I also didn't like the situation that Elder is in throughout most of the book: the rebellion that is keeping him from fully becoming the leader that he has been trained (somewhat) to be. But it was conflict, which is needed in any story, and it was a realistic conflict, so I understood it. I was also frustrated with some of the inhabitants of the Godspeed, like Amy and Bartie, because they seemed a bit out of character. Amy's personality seemed a bit more passive than in the first book, even though she was constantly running from place to place, trying to solve a mystery. She just didn't seem to be the same strong-willed Amy at times. And Bartie was someone I really didn't understand. I mean, I understand why he did some of the things he did, but he flip-flopped a lot and it made his character seem inconsistent at times.

On a Lighter Note...

At one point while reading this book, I used one of the curse words used by the residents of the Godspeed! I was sitting down and reading, and my son was taking a nap. The garbage truck was moving down the street and as it pulled up outside my house I thought to myself, "Does it have to be so frexing loud?" I couldn't help but giggle.

Overall, I love this ride that Beth Revis has taken me on. I really enjoy the characters, but I LOVE the action and suspense and twists and turns that are laced within the pages. I can't wait to read the next book, Shades of Earth, although I'll have to wait a year.

My rating for A Million Suns by Beth Revis:

Five giant stars. The issues I had with this book didn't keep me from absolutely loving it!

Find it: Goodreads │ Amazon │ Penguin Group

If you like this book, you should try: Glow

Disclaimer: I purchased this book myself. I was not compensated in any way for this review.

The Time Will Come (1)

2012-02-09T13:31:00.000-06:00

This sounds like a great meme! I just found out about it through another blogger that I follow, and I thought I'd participate! I don't plan on having too many memes on this blog, but as of right now I'm trying to read a lot so that I can schedule my reviews ahead of time, and I hope to eventually have 1-2 reviews a week, and only occasionally participate in memes.

Anyway, the book that I chose for this week is:

Life as We Knew It (Last Survivors #1)

Susan Beth Pfeffer

Published in 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world. (From Goodreads)

I wanted to read this book, along with the other two books in the series, all last year. I bought them and planned on reading them soon, but more and more books ended up taking precedence. Then, when I started thinking about what I was definitely going to read this year, these were at the top of my list. But once again other books have been all shiny and new, calling my name, and this series isn't even in my current TBR stack (I just started making a stack - and it's only about 8 books. I don't want to stack all of my TBR books - that would be half of my inventory!). But one of these days, I will get to this series!

TFiOS GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

2012-02-07T15:05:00.000-06:00

Thank you so much to everyone who entered my very first giveaway! To refresh your memory, here's what two lucky winners will be getting in the mail soon:

Well, one person will be getting one book, and the other will get the other book - they won't be both getting two books. Umm.... anyway. And now for the winners!

They are:

starryeyedjen

and

Manda

Congratulations!!! I have already emailed both of you and you will have 72 hours to reply to the email with your information, otherwise I will randomly select another winner.

Once again, thank you all for entering my giveaway, and be sure to come back, because I plan on having more in the future!

In My Mailbox (1)

2012-02-04T23:02:00.000-06:00

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren where bloggers can share the books they've received/bought/borrowed each week.

This IMM is for the past couple of weeks:

From the Library

I picked up my book club's February selection:

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Birthday Presents

From my parents I received a Barnes & Noble gift card, and with it bought:

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Tempest by Julie Cross

(Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

My big birthday present was going to the Tour de Nerdfighting in Austin, but my husband also bought me some DVDs. I know they're not bookish, but I just had to add them:

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Veronica Mars Season 3 (I had been wanting this for so long - this show is awesome and I'm so excited to have all 3 seasons now!)

(Thanks, J!)

I'm looking forward to reading those books! I haven't read The DUFF by Kody Keplinger, but my friends have raved about it, so much so that one decided to make Shut Out her book club pick for this month. And I can NOT wait to read Cinder and Tempest! I'll be reading those really soon!

So what bookish (or not so bookish) things did you get this week? Let me know if you're participating in this meme and I'll stop by your blog!

Follow Friday (1)

2012-02-03T08:25:00.001-06:00

Feature and Follow is a weekly blog hop hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read. It's a great way to find new blogs to follow and allow others to find your blog! Find out how to participate here!

Here's this week's question:

Q: Define what characteristics your favorite books share. Do they all have a kick ass heroine or is the hot love interest the Alpha Male?

The books I tend to really enjoy have, first and foremost, interesting plots. If there are twists and turns and lots of action and mystery, I'm probably going to love it! I know a lot of people are more interested in characters than in the plot, and yes, I need to have believable characters that are complex, and that I can relate to, but the plot is really what hooks me. But I also do love strong female characters, and the love interests that I enjoy are the shy, underrated, nerdy ones, rather than the Alpha Male.

What kind of characteristics do you find yourself drawn to in the books that you love? Let me know, and let me know if you're participating in this blog hop and I'll check out your blog!

Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

2012-01-31T22:55:00.001-06:00

Title: Across the Universe

Author: Beth Revis
Series: Across the Universe #1
Publisher: Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication Date: January 11, 2011
Pages: 398
Format/Source: Hardback/Purchased
Age Group/Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming. (From Goodreads)

A Little Re-Reading...

Across the Universe was one of my favorite reads of 2011. I loved it so much that I even gave it as a gift at my book club Christmas party - we were all supposed to bring one of our favorite books of the year for a Dirty Santa gift exchange. Even though I only read it a couple of months ago, I wanted to re-read it now for a few reasons. It's list time! (By the way, I really love lists. Pro/Con lists, To-Do lists, you name it. So you'll probably be seeing a lot of them on my blog.) Anyway, here are the reasons for my re-read of Across the Universe:

I'd be able to write this lovely/goofy review for my blog. I don't really want to go back and review books that I've previously read, because I like to review them just after reading so I have everything fresh in my mind. But since I re-read it, I can do the review.
To refresh my memory before reading A Million Suns. I got A Million Suns in the mail a couple of weeks ago and I've really been wanting to read it, but I wanted to refresh my memory of all the crazy things that happened on the Godspeed. Now I can go ahead and read it! Yea!
I'm participating in the Read Me Baby, One More Time Challenge hosted by Kate at Midnight Book Girl, and any re-reads count! Score!
It was just such a great book, that I knew I'd want to re-read it anyway!

My Thoughts...

First of all, I love the blueprint of the Godspeed on the inside of the reversible cover! I love when books have maps like this - I'm always looking back at them so that I can figure out exactly where the events are taking place.

Also, this really doesn't have anything to do with the actual book, but I had Across the Universe by The Beatles in my head all the time while reading this book. Which makes sense, given the book's title and the epigraph. But I seem to do this a lot. Like, for instance, when I read Divergent last year, I always had Madonna's Like a Virgin in my head. Except I made up new lyrics for it that went like this: "Di-i-vergent (ooh!), brave for the very first time! Di-i-ver-er-er-er-gent, let's be Dauntless, you and I." Yes, I do realize what a dork I am.

Moving on... It was really hard for me to get through the first chapter the first time I read it, and this time was pretty much the same. All the details about Amy being cryogenically frozen were really hard to read, but what a way to start a novel! Such a powerful, raw beginning to this story!

Beth Revis really wove an intricate plot, with such complex stories and characters. Elder's whole story is just so interesting, and I love how he's still really not sure what is right and wrong, because there really is no black and white when it comes to the issues in this novel. One plot line was easy to figure out, but I think Revis did this intentionally, setting us up for all the other twists and turns and bombshells that were waiting right around the corner.

This story is action-packed but also full of a lot of inner turmoil for the two narrators, Amy and Elder. One of my favorite lines was during one of these situations with Amy:

"...if I wasn't holding on to myself, I think my body would fall apart like a puzzle lifted at the corners."

I love that! I can just imagine someone lifting the corners of a finished puzzle with their thumbs and forefingers and just watching the pieces fall apart.

Overall, I really loved this book and can't wait to get started on A Million Suns! My rating for Across the Universe by Beth Revis:

Five huge stars! I would recommend it to anyone who likes Young Adult books, especially those who also like Science Fiction!

Find it: Goodreads │ Amazon │ Penguin Group

If you like this book, you should try: Glow

Disclosure: I purchased this book myself. I was not compensated in any way for this review.

Review: Bag of Bones by Stephen King

2012-01-29T20:53:00.001-06:00

Title: Bag of Bones
Author: Stephen King
Series: None
Publisher: Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Inc.
Publication Date: September 22, 1998
Pages: 529
Format/Source: Hardback/Borrowed from Library

Age Group/Genre: Adult/Horror

Here is Stephen King's most gripping and unforgettable novel -- a tale of grief and lost love's enduring bonds, of haunting secrets of the past, and of an innocent child caught in a terrible crossfire.
Four years after the sudden death of his wife, forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, whose vindictive purpose is to take his three-year-old granddaughter, Kyra, away from her widowed young mother, Mattie. As Mike is drawn into Mattie and Kyra's struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations and escalating terrors. What are the forces that have been unleashed here -- and what do they want of Mike Noonan?
It is no secret that King is one of our most mesmerizing storytellers. In Bag of Bones, he proves to be one of our most moving as well. (From Goodreads.)

A Little Insight...

This book was January's selection for my book club. I have to say that I went into it not really too enthused. I had never read any Stephen King before, but that doesn't mean that I never wanted to read any of his books. I actually have a few of his books on my TBR list and I bought a copy of Under the Dome at the Borders closing sale near me. But I don't think I would have picked this book to read myself. For one thing, I knew it was going to be super scary, because, after all, it's a Horror novel written by Stephen King. Duh. And me and scary books and movies don't mix. But to me, the story just kind of sounded like a simple ghost story, and I wasn't too interested in that. Now Under the Dome, on the other hand, sounds like my kind of story, and I'm looking forward to reading it.

My Thoughts...

I checked this book out from the library and it took me the entire three weeks I had it on loan to finish it. It was actually due the day before my book club met, and I got it finished with about two hours until the library closed. But the way this story was, I wasn't sure if I was even going to finish. In fact, I had kind of resigned myself to the idea that I wasn't going to finish. Which was kind of a big deal to me, because we've been doing this book club for two years now and I have finished every single book we've read for it.

But I finished, and I think there were several reasons as to why I took so long to read it. Let's do a list, shall we?

I knew it was going to be scary, and that made me hesitant - I figured I'd get to a really scary part and have to put it down and never open it up again. So when any creepy parts came up I was even slower to read them.
The Fault in Our Stars came out in the middle of me reading this, and I had to read that right away!
I was starting this book blog while reading this book, and I took a lot of time to get the blog started, find other blogs to read and follow, and to comment on a lot of other blogs. Blogging really does take a lot of time, but I'm loving it!
I just really wasn't into the story. One story line was more interesting than the whole ghost thing, and so that kept me going, but otherwise, I just really wasn't invested in the characters and story.

All that said, I do think that Stephen King is a great writer, although he jumped back and forth a lot in the story, which was confusing at times. And the book really wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. I mean, sure, if any of those things happened to me I'd be so scared I'd probably run away screaming like a five-year-old girl, but it wasn't really all that frightening for me to read about. Of course, that could be the fact that I refused to read the book at night... But I'm glad that it wasn't that scary, because I was actually able to finish it!

I think most of the girls in my book club seemed to feel similar to the way I did about the fact that this story was just kind of "meh." And we all really didn't understand why some of the things happened the way they did in the book, and we all felt that it could have been a LOT shorter. But then again, maybe it's just not my kind of book. I like to read Young Adult books more than adult books, and I love Science Fiction, whereas I'm not too keen on Horror stories. But I'm really looking forward to reading Under the Dome, and I know that Stephen King will take me on a wild ride in the process.

My rating for Bag of Bones:

3 stars. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't really my cup of tea.

Find it: Goodreads │ Amazon

Disclosure: I loaned a copy of this book from my library, and although it was a pick for my book club, I was in no way compensated for this review.

Waiting on Wednesday (1) - Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan

2012-01-25T15:04:00.003-06:00

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

My pick this week:

Spark (Sky Chasers #2)

Amy Kathleen Ryan

Release Date: July 17, 2012

by St. Martin's Griffin

Waverly and Kieran are finally reunited on the Empyrean. Kieran has led the boys safely up to this point, and now that the girls are back, their mission seems slightly less impossible: to chase down the New Horizon, and save their parents from the enemy ship. But nothing is truly as it seems…Kieran’s leadership methods have raised Seth’s hackles— and Waverly’s suspicions. Is this really her fiancé? The handsome, loving boy she was torn from just a short time before? More and more, she finds her thoughts aligned with Seth’s. But if Seth is Kieran’s Enemy No. 1, what does that make her?

In one night, a strange explosion rocks the Empyrean—shooting them off course and delaying their pursuit of the New Horizon—and Seth is mysteriously released from the brig. Seth is the most obvious suspect for the explosion, and Waverly the most obvious suspect for releasing him. As the tension reaches a boiling point, will Seth be able to find the true culprit before Kieran locks them both away—or worse? Will Waverly follow her heart, even if it puts lives at risk? With the balance of power precarious and the clock ticking, every decision counts… every step brings them closer to a new beginning, or a sudden end...

I received an ARC of Glow (Sky Chasers #1) from a Goodreads First Reads giveaway, and it was one of my favorite books of 2011. For those of you who loved Across the Universe by Beth Revis, you should definitely check out Glow. They're kind of similar in the fact that they're both about inhabitants on space ships heading to a new Earth, but the stories are very different and I loved them both!

What book are you waiting on?

P.S. Don't forget to sign up for my giveaway of two Signed and Hanklerfished Copies of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green!

Birthday Giveaway: TWO SIGNED AND HANKLERFISHED Copies of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green!

2012-01-23T17:16:00.004-06:00

*UPDATE: This contest is now over. Thank you to all who entered, and I will post the winners soon!*

Yes, you read that correctly. I have two copies of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green that are signed by John Green and Hanklerfished (a drawing of an anglerfish) by Hank Green.

How did I get these copies, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. I went to the Tour de Nerdfighting in Austin, Texas (you can see my post on it here: Tour de Nerdfighting Birthday Extravaganza), and when you purchase a ticket for the tour, you are given a signed and Hanklerfished copy of TFiOS. I had already preordered the book, and I thought about cancelling that order, but I knew I wanted to read the book as soon as it came out. So I took my preordered and presigned copy with me to the tour, and had it personalized and Hanklerfished, so the copy I received at the event is up for grabs! Plus, we actually purchased two tickets to the event because my husband was going to try to attend, and although he wasn't able to go I still got another copy, and we don't really need two copies, so the second one is up for grabs as well!

One is signed by John in green and Hanklerfished in blue, and the other is signed by John in blue and Hanklerfished in red. So, all you Nerdfighters out there who didn't get to make it to the tour, one of these could be yours!

The Overstuffed Bookcase's Giveaway: TWO SIGNED AND HANKLERFISHED Copies of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Official Rules:

Contest Dates: January 23, 2012 - February 6, 2012
To enter, fill out the form below.
Please fill out the form only once. If I find duplicate entries for anyone, you will be disqualified.
There will be TWO (2) winners. Each winner will receive one (1) signed and Hanklerfished copy of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
You must be 13 years of age or older to enter.
This contest is open to US Residents ONLY. (Sorry to those of you not in the US - I just can't afford the shipping right now. But I hope to have an international giveaway in the future!)
You do not need to follow my blog to enter, but you can earn an extra entry by following.
You can also earn an extra entry by tweeting about this contest and/or my blog.
The winners will be announced on this blog after the contest ends.
I will contact the winners via email after the contest ends, and you will have 72 hours to respond, otherwise I will choose another winner.
Winners will be selected by a random number generator.
Do not post any of your information (email, address, etc.) in the comments below. This will not be counted as an entry for the contest.
Please read my Contest/Privacy Policy.

Good luck everyone and be sure to tell your friends!

*UPDATE: This contest is now over. Thank you to all who entered, and I will post the winners soon!*

Tour de Nerdfighting Birthday Extravaganza!

2012-01-23T13:53:00.002-06:00

Hello all! Today is my birthday, and I just have to tell you about how I spent the weekend! It was epic!!!

My husband, son, and I went down to Austin for the Tour de Nerdfighting (also known as John Green's book signing tour with special guest, his brother, Hank Green)! My friends Courtney and Tracy met us there, and before we left for the event, Courtney and Tracy gave me a bag full of birthday goodies, all of which had a Nerdfighter or bookish theme!

The bag says "DFTBA" and on the other side it says "Happy Birthday." In case you're not a huge Nerdfighter like me, I'll clue you in to what the items mean. The giraffe is for all of the vlogs that John and Hank posted about Giraffe Love. The i-clips are some cool little bookmarks that really don't have anything to do with John or Hank Green as far as I know, but they're still awesome! The NyQuil is for one of my favorite videos by Hank: This Video Brought to you by Nyquil. The Mazzio's gift card is for pizza, since John loves pizza - so much so that there's a Pizza John shirt made in honor of his love. And Mazzio's happens to be my favorite place around here for pizza! And the SingAMaJig is something that pops up in a lot of John's videos, like this one: Making Adorable Music.

Also included in the bag was a signed copy of Extras by Scott Westerfeld, which we had found at the Austin book store, BookPeople, just before they gave me the gift. BookPeople is the awesome store that hosted the tour in Austin, and they had tons of signed copies of books! And I was really excited when we found this one!

Thanks Courtney and Tracy! I love my gifts! You guys are awesome!

Then we headed out to the event, and let me just say, it was my 2nd best birthday ever (the best one being when my husband proposed to me five years ago)!!! We saw HankSock, John read from The Fault in Our Stars, Hank sang some of his songs, they both answered questions, and then we got to meet them and have them sign things!!!

I had been under the impression that the book that came with our event ticket was the only thing they would sign for us, so I had only brought my previously ordered and signed copy of The Fault in Our Stars, in the hopes that I could get Hank to Hanklerfish it as well. (Hank has a song about anglerfish, and so he signed some of the preorders by drawing an anglerfish, which was then dubbed a "Hanklerfish.") But I found out that they were going to be signing three items per person, plus the books that came with our ticket were already signed and Hanklerfished. I really wished I had brought my copy of Paper Towns, because it's one of my other favorites by John. But Courtney reminded me that they were selling copies of all of John's books in the lobby, and she suggested that I simply go buy another copy of Paper Towns and get it signed. So that's what I did! I also bought a t-shirt, and everyone got a free poster after going through the signing line.

As for photos of the event - I should have brought my camera but for some reason I thought my iPhone would suffice. It didn't. Here's a ridiculous picture that was taken from my phone:

Look, it's the spooky outline of John Green! And here's the best picture I took when we were close to them in the signing line:

It's all shaky and fuzzy, but look! There's John and The Katherine and Hank! My friend Tracy took a couple more pictures and she's going to send them to me, so I'll post those later. It was an exciting, wonderful weekend and I just want to say thanks to John and Hank for doing this tour! Your fans really, really, really appreciate it!

The next day we went to the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, TX, on our way home. I'm addicted to Dr. Pepper in ways that most people are addicted to coffee, so it was an added bonus for my birthday weekend! I got a pin to put next to my Hunger Games and Harry Potter pins on my laptop bag. Tonight it's Poker Night with some of my friends, which is always really fun! All in all a fantastic birthday weekend!

And now, here's some exciting news of something special soon to come to The Overstuffed Bookcase: I have two signed and Hanklerfished copies of The Fault in Our Stars that I'm giving away! The contest will start really soon, so be sure to look for it, and tell your friends!

Busting the Newbie Blues Survey

2012-01-16T14:03:00.000-06:00

I've had a personal blog for a couple of years, but this year I decided that I wanted to make blogging more of a priority, and I wanted to focus on book reviews. So I made this shiny new website, and while I've only got one review so far, I hope to review most of the books I read this year.

Before I started this blog, I started following a whole host of other book blogs, and came across Small from Small Review, who is hosting a great event throughout January, just for book bloggers, called Busting the Newbie Blues. New and old YA book bloggers can sign up, meet other bloggers, and get advice and tips on blogging. This is perfect for me! I've been blogging for a while, but this blog is brand-spanking new, and I'm pumped to actually become a part of the book blogging community!

So here are my answers to the questionnaire for this event - I have chosen the one for new bloggers since my book blog is at its start-up stage.

1. When did you start your blog?

Just two days ago - January 14th! But I had a personal blog for about two years.

2. Why did you start your blog?

I had my personal blog for a while, and this year I wanted to blog more, and focus on book reviews, mostly for YA books. I love reading and I enjoy writing reviews to share my thoughts on the books. It's also a great way to keep up with my writing - I write fiction, but blogging is a great writing exercise.

3. What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

It was hard to decide what to do with my old blog. I thought about making that into a book blog, but ultimately decided on making this new, separate blog. Getting it all set up was fun, and it was great to look at all the other wonderful book blogs out there and get inspiration and kind of get the hang of things. I'm still getting the hang of things, though. I suspect that will continue for some time. But I think the biggest challenge for me right now is to get a good number of book reviews up so that my blog can become somewhat established. I don't really want to go back and review books that I've read in the past, because I feel like the reviews will not be high on quality, because I will lack the feeling you have after just finishing a book, and I don't think I'll remember too many details to make a descriptive, thoughtful review. So now I just have to get to reading so I can get those reviews up!

4. What do you find most discouraging about being a new blogger?

Feeling like people will take a look at my blog, see that I have one review, and immediately leave the site. I know that some people will do this, and it can't be helped, but I would like my blog to grow and believe me, I will try to post a lot of reviews each month!

5. What do you find most encouraging?

On my blog - comments. It lets me know that at least someone is reading what I've written! I've really been trying to leave unique comments on many of the blogs I'm following, and I know that will help my blog grow and to find some other blogger friends. In the blogging community - other book bloggers are really encouraging. I see all these great sites with wonderful reviews and great humor and it makes me feel like one of these days my blog could be like those.

6. What do you like best about the blogs you read? Have you tried to replicate this in your blog?

I really enjoy the humorous reviews, and ones that are really honest without being too negative. I always try to put humor into my posts (and in my life), but sometimes that might not always come across. And I always give honest reviews, and I try to make them positive even if I didn't like the book. I am a writer myself and someday when I have a book published, I'd like to read kind reviews, even if the reviewer really didn't like my book.

7. What do you dislike about blogs you’ve read? Do you try to avoid this?
Spoilers! And yes, I really try to avoid this. I'm crazy about spoilers - I only read the description of a book once, then put it on my to-read list if I want to read it, and then once I have the book I don't read the back or the blurbs again. I know with reading others' reviews sometimes I'm going to find out more than I wished to know before reading the book, but I'm okay with it as long as it's not a major spoiler.

8. Any advice for other new bloggers?

I'm not sure I have any advice, because my book blog is so new that I still don't know what I'm doing and feel like I might be doing it wrong. But I guess I can say that if others feel this way, just know that you're not alone! And we'll get the hang of it eventually!

9. Any questions you'd like to ask newbie or established bloggers?
Of course I'd like to know how to get ARCs. I've gotten one through Goodreads before, and I know of some of the ARC tour websites, and I know that many bloggers get them by requesting them from the publishers, but I don't know how to go about this. But I think for now I'm going to stick with reviews of books that I've purchased or borrowed, and in the future I'll try to tackle the whole ARC thing. And also I'd just like to know how they keep themselves posting on a regular basis, and just any other tips and tricks of the trade that they can pass along.

10. Is there anything you’d like to tell us about your blog? Feel free to link a few of your favorite posts or posts you wish had more comments.

It's a new blog - an infant, really - but I hope to write some insightful reviews this year and hopefully my blog will grow. I really am enjoying reading all the great book blogs out there that I've seen so far, and I hope to become a part of this really awesome community.

So there you have it. Please let me know if you are participating in this event and I'll check out your blog, too!

Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

2012-01-16T00:18:00.006-06:00

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Series: None
Publisher: Dutton Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Publication Date: January 10, 2012
Pages: 313
Format/Source: Hardback/Purchased
Age Group/Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.
Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.
Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind. (From Goodreads.)

A Little Background...

I LOVE John Green. So let me just get that out there before I talk about this book. I've read several of his books and my favorites before reading The Fault in Our Stars were Paper Towns and Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

But before I loved his books, I loved the vlogs he and his brother, Hank, made (and continue to make). Seriously, these guys are funny, smart, and my kind of nerdy. Check out their YouTube site, Vlogbrothers, and if you're not sure where to start, search for "Fitness for Nerds" and "Make-Up Tutorial: Katniss Everdeen Look," and you'll find the first two videos of theirs that I ever watched, which still happen to be some of my favorite videos.

My Thoughts...

My love for John, of course, had an affect on my thoughts on this book. But don't worry - if I hadn't liked it I wouldn't say that I had just because I love John Green. But guess what - I loved it!

This book is so beautifully written, as are all of John's books. It's kind of funny, actually, because normally when I read books that I am in awe of, I'm like, "Man, I wish I had come up with that idea," and I kind of get envious. But with John's writing, I just kind of recognize that I will never write the way he does. I think it's something that you're born with. Some people just know how to play the piano. Some can come up with fantastically epic stories about a boy wizard. And some can just write one sentence that makes you chuckle, then get teary eyed, then just sit back and stare as your mouth falls open at the beauty of the arrangement of the words. I'm not saying he doesn't work hard at it - I'm just saying the man has a gift.

For example, here are a few of my favorite quotes (some are serious, some are funny, all are awesome):

"Finally, I decided that the proper strategy was to stare back. Boys do not have a monopoly on the Staring Business, after all."

"And then the line was quiet but not dead. I almost felt like he was there in my room with me, but in a way it was better, like I was not in my room and he was not in his, but instead we were together in some invisible and tenuous third space that could only be visited on the phone."

"As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."

"The weird thing about houses is that they almost always look like nothing is happening inside of them, even though they contain most of our lives."

"My thoughts are stars I can't fathom into constellations."

(Okay, now I'm new at this, so I'm not sure if that is too much to quote. I don't want to get in trouble with John or Dutton Books or anything, so anyone, please let me know if there is a kind of limit, whether written or unwritten, as to how many quotes we can post...)

Beautiful, right? John's books are full of phrases like these. But on to other things... I really connected with the characters. I loved Hazel and Augustus's humor. It was sarcastic and often unsettling for some of the other characters, but it was how they needed to be to keep themselves from drowning in the reality of their situation.

Some of the side characters were really brilliant, as well. Like Isaac, and Hazel's parents, and Peter Van Houten, the author of Hazel's favorite novel. Peter Van Houten wrote a really beautiful letter in the middle of the book, which made me understand why Hazel loved him and his writing. And, of course, the letter was actually written by John Green, which just makes me love him more. (Am I gushing yet? I'm gushing, aren't I? Well, that's what happens when I read a book like this one.)

Overall...

I don't want to go into too much more, because I don't like spoilers. But I will say that even though I LOVED this book, I still think that Paper Towns and Will Grayson, Will Grayson are even with it as far as my favorite John Green books go. This book was different than John's other books, but it still very much had his stamp on it. By that I mean that if I had opened it up and read it and not known who the author was, I would have been able to recognize John's eloquent writing and wonderful humor within the first couple of paragraphs.

And, if you weren't sure yet, here's my rating for The Fault in Our Stars:

Five big stars. A wonderful read, and something that I will most definitely pick up again and again.

Find it: Goodreads │ Amazon │ Penguin Group

If you like this book, you should try: Looking for Alaska │ Paper Towns

Disclosure: I purchased this book myself. I was not compensated in any way for this review.

Welcome!

2012-01-14T23:20:00.001-06:00

Hello, and welcome to my new book blog! My name is Andrea and I'll be your book reviewer...

I've had a personal blog for a couple of years and I decided that this year I wanted to make my blog more of a priority and wanted to write more book reviews. So after a lot of brainstorming, I decided to go ahead and make this blog, which will mostly be book reviews, with a few memes thrown in for good measure.

A bit about me (you can read more by clicking "About Me" in the menu bar at the top of the site): I am a married thirty-something, and I have a young son. I am a stay-at-home mom, but I once (well, twice actually) went to college and somehow got a Bachelor's degree in English, emphasis on Creative Writing (and the second time I was just shy of getting a second Bachelor's in Sociology). I love to read, and I also love to write fiction. I participate in NaNoWriMo each year (If you haven't heard of it, and you like to write fiction, click on that link now! You'll thank me!) and my 2010 NaNo novel is still currently my Work In Progress (although I do a lot more brainstorming about it than actually writing, because I have currently have two ways to go with it and I'm not sure which direction I want to go). (I also seem to really love parentheses. Can you tell?)

I recently fell in love with Young Adult books. I've loved Harry Potter for years (and I'm a big HP nerd, FYI - I can talk about it for hours!) but just in the past couple of years I've started reading other YA novels. Some of my favorites (besides the Harry Potter series, which I consider to be the Holy Grail of books) are The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, The Maze Runner series by James Dashner, The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, and all of John Green's books. I've also loved quite a few of the first books in some new series, like Hourglass by Myra McEntire, Divergent by Veronica Roth, Across the Universe by Beth Revis, and Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan.

I also read "adult" books from time to time, and some of my favorites are The Wicked Years series by Gregory Maguire, the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, and the MaddAddam series by Margaret Atwood. I'm also in a book club and we read a wide variety of books.

So this blog will probably weigh heavily on YA novels, with others thrown in here and there. I'll participate in a few memes as well from time to time. I also hope to have a giveaway sometime this year, so be on the lookout for that!

Thank you so much for reading my blog and I hope you enjoy it!