Saturday, May 26, 2012

Stacking the Shelves #2


Meme hosted and created by Tynga's Reviews

I work in a school library, and one of the best parts of my job is
 collection development.Every month I get to help select new books for
my LMC! As a result I'm always anxiously awaiting the new shipment
 of books. I will be posting a "Stacking the Shelves"post at least once
 a month to showcase the new books that I am most excited to get
 my hands on.  I'll also be sharing books I've gotten through
 other sources such as my public library or my local bookshop.  

I will also use this space to feature the books I am currently reading.
This small sub section of stacking the shelves will be called
"In my Poppy Book Bag"
because the books I'm currently reading are often toted around in my
pretty poppy flower book bag. Since these titles are currently being
read you can expect to see reviews in the following weeks!

Titles are linked to their goodreads listing, summaries are also from goodreads

So I discovered NetGalley last week.  I signed up for an account and requested a bunch of titles.  I didn't get approved for them all but I was granted access to a few (Including the one I was most anxious to get Ashen Winter!)  Now if I only had an e-reader I wouldn't have to read them off my computer or the tiny screen on my smart phone.

The Following titles ARCs I received via NetGalley

Ashen Winter (Ashfall #2) by Mike Mullin/October 14, 2012

Just finished it yesterday, it's just as action packed as the 1st one! Full review to come closer to the release date. 

Summary: It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

 Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

Summary: In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network. When Zoe starts to malfunction (or "glitch"), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers. As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse. In this action-packed debut, Glitch begins an exciting new young adult trilogy. 
 
by

"I was sixteen the first time my grandmother died . . ."

Sarah Parsons has never seen Amber House, the grand Maryland estate that's been in her family for three centuries. She's never walked its hedge maze nor found its secret chambers; she's never glimpsed the shades that haunt it, nor hunted for lost diamonds in its walls.

But all of that is about to change. After her grandmother passes away, Sarah and her friend Jackson decide to search for the diamonds--and the house comes alive. She discovers that she can see visions of the house's past, like the eighteenth-century sea captain who hid the jewels, or the glamorous great-grandmother driven mad by grief. She grows closer to both Jackson and a young man named Richard Hathaway, whose family histories are each deeply entwined with her own. But when the visions start to threaten the person she holds most dear, Sarah must do everything she can to get to the bottom of the house's secrets, and stop the course of history before it is cemented forever.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Feature & Follow #2

Feature & Follow is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View & Alison Can Read. Every week feature a different blog and post a question.  Each week bloggers create there own F&F post answering the question and linking back.   It's a great way to meet other book bloggers and gain new followers!

Q:Activity! Dream cast your current read.

Oh, I am so bad at casting books...and I typically don't like to cast them while I'm reading because then I have them stuck in my mind the whole time. I'm actually currently reading Ashen Winter by Mike Mullen but I honestly have no idea who I would cast.   I did just finish Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers this week So I'll go ahead and take a stab at it. 

Ismae: Isabelle Fuhrman
For Ismae, I wanted someone who wasn't a BIG name, not ancestrally an unknown but not someone you would think of instantly. Being that Ismae is an assassin I wanted someone tough.  So my mind wandered to the Hunger Games, but didn't want to use Jennifer Lawrence. Then my mind came to the girl who played Clove, Isabelle Fuhrman.  After looking at a few photos I think she would be a good choice and not to mention with her performance as Clove I have no doubt she could handle the physicality that a roll at Ismae would require. 



Duval: Joe Dempsie
I didn't realize it when I was reading but I kinda sorta had an image of Joseph Fiennes as Robert Dudly in Elizabeth. Not exactly but it was close.  Mind you that movie is from 1997 and I don't think he would work alongside Isabelle Fuhrman.  So I started to think of period movies and TV shows & remembers Game of Thrones, I don't have HBO so I haven't seen the show, but came across a few pictures of Joe Dempsie and thought he could work for Duval (and he is 25 so the age is right) and actually he is much closer to the Duval I had in my head. 

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Review: Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy
(His Fair Assassin #1)
By Robin LaFevers

Published:  April 3rd 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Read from:  May 14-22, 2012
Number of pages: 549
Source:  HS Library
Find it on:
goodreadsindie Bound


Summary: Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday #1


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

 My can-not-wait-to-read title for this week is: 

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Release date: July 3, 2012 by Harper Teen

Summary from GoodReads:   
Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Peaches comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Challenge: 2012 A-Z Character Challenge by Reading After midnight.


2012 A to Z Character Challenge 
Hosted By:
Reading After Midnight
Progress: 15/26

A: Ashfall
by Mike Mullin

C: Past Perfect
by  Leila Sales

E: The Future of Us
by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

G:
by
 

I: Grave Mercy
 by Robin LaFevers

K: 
 by


M: Why We Broke Up
 By Daniel Handler and Maria Kalma

P: Au Revoir Crazy European Chick
 by Joe Schreiber

R:
by


T: Insurgent
by Veronica Roth

V:
by


X:
by


Y:
by

  B: Eyes Like Stars
by Lisa Mantchev

D: 
by

F: The Son of Neptune
by Rick Riordan

H: Bittersweet
by Sarah Ockler

J: Firelight
by Sophie Jordan

L:
by


N: Darker Still
by Leanna Renee Hieber

O:
by


Q:
by


S: Sirenz
by Charlotte Bennardo & Natalie Zaman

U: Usagi from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
by Naoko Takeuchi

W: Wendy from Switched
by Amanda Hocking

Z:  
by

  

Friday, May 18, 2012

Feature and Follow #1


Feature & Follow is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View & Alison Can Read. Every week feature a different blog and post a question.  Each week bloggers create there own F&F post answering the question and linking back.   It's a great way to meet other book bloggers and gain new followers!

Q: Summer Break is upon us! What would be the perfect vacation spot for you to catch up on your reading & relax?
mall-l
The Mall: photo from centralparknyc.org

My personal vacation style doesn't really leave much time for reading, I like to see and experience as much as I can in a place when I visit. I will read on a vacation but it's typically when 1.I'm on the plane or when it's not my turn to drive. 2. At the end of the day before I go to bed.  If I go on a vacation this summer it's most likely going to be a trip to visit friends and family out in New York City, which I've never actually been, so I figured I would try to come up with a great place to read if I had some down time.  I love reading in parks when the weather is nice and I'm sure central park has some great spots to curl up with a book! The above photo of the mall looks like a perfect spot to sit down with a good book.  I bet it's a great spot to people watch too!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Review: Out of Sight Out of Time

Out of Sight, Out of Mind
(Gallagher Girls #5)
By Ally Carter 

Published: March 13, 2012 by Hyperion
Read from:  May 08 to 11, 2012
Number of pages: 294
Source:HS Library
Find it on:
goodreadsindie Bound

Summary: The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family from the Circle of Cavan--an ancient terrorist organization that has been hunting her for over a year. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed, she must face the fact that her memory is now a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie’s summer vacation are the bruises on her body and the dirt under her nails, and all she wants is to go home.

Once she returns to school, however, Cammie realizes that even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers. Cammie, her friends, and mysterious spy-guy Zach must face their most difficult challenge yet as they travel to the other side of the world, hoping to piece together the clues that Cammie left behind. It’s a race against time. The Circle is hot on their trail and willing stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Review: The Future of Us

The Future of Us
By Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

Published:  November 21st 2011 by Razorbill
Read from:  January 19 - 21, 2012
Number of pages: 356
Source:  HS Library
Find it on:
goodreadsindie Bound

Summary: It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

Stacking The Shelves #1



Meme hosted and created by Tynga's Reviews

I work in a school library, and one of the best parts of my job is
 collection development.Every month I get to help select new books for
my LMC! As a result I'm always anxiously awaiting the new shipment
 of books. I will be posting a "Stacking the Shelves"post at least once
 a month to showcase the new books that I am most excited to get
 my hands on.  I'll also be sharing books I've gotten through
 other sources such as my public library or my local bookshop.  

I will also use this space to feature the books I am currently reading.
This small sub section of stacking the shelves will be called
"In my Poppy Book Bag"
because the books I'm currently reading are often toted around in my
pretty poppy flower book bag. Since these titles are currently being
read you can expect to see reviews in the following weeks!

Titles are linked to their goodreads listing

 Book List:
* in my poppy book bag featured title

Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer,
Belles by Jen Calonita
Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers *
Out of Sight Out of Time (Gallagher Girls #5) by Ally Carter *
Partials by Dan Wells
Starers by Lissa Price


In My Poppy Bookbag

Armed and Dangerous: Don't mess with these girls
I swear when I pulled these two titles off the new book cart I didn't intend to have a theme for this post, but it kidna worked out that way.

Out of Sight of of Time (Gallagher Girls #5) by Ally Carter 

The Gallagher Girls Books
This book technical isn't in my book bag any longer.  I finished it on Friday,  so you'll likely see a review of this one shortly. I won't go into details about the plot of this particular book, I'll save that for the review, but if you haven't had a chance to pick up this series it's well worth the read.

Cammie and her friends, Bex, Liz and Macey are just like any other group of teenage girls.  They talk about boys, and fashion and worry about getting good grades on their final exams.  Except for the fact that Cammie and her friends are students at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women which is a top secret school for spies.  So when they are talking about boys it's usually the best way to set up surveillance in his house to discover if he likes you.  Fashion is more likely to be the best outfit to wear when gather intelligence, rather than the latest fashions to grace the runway, and it's not English they are worried about passing it's classes like world languages and covert operations.   These books are filled with fun and espionage and are well worth the read, and the latest installment "Out of Sight, Out of Time" does not disappoint.

Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFevers 
Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1)This one was  book I just knew I had to get my hands on. I'm only about 10 pages in at this point but I can already see Ismae is going to be a very strong character! I dare you to read this synopsis below and not be at least a tiny bit interested in picking this one up!

Synopsis from goodreads:
"Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?
"