In My Mailbox (2)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie! It is a list of what books you have received over the previous week, either for review, from the library, from the bookstore, or from trades.

Books I Bought:

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

Books I Won:

Possess by Gretchen McNeil (from Candace @ Candace's Book Blog)

Books I Got From RAK:

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger (from Rachel)

Fade by Lisa McMann (from Rachel)

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (from Sara @ Sara's Urban Fantasy Blog)

The Last Days from Scott Westerfeld (from Sara @ Sara's Urban Fantasy Blog)

Matched by Ally Condie (from Tynga @ Tynga's Reviews)

Thank you to Rachel, Sara, Tynga, and Candace for sending me those books/hosting the contests :)!

That is what I go in my mailbox :) what did you get in yours?

<3 Shannon

Book Blogger Hop (3) and Follow Friday (2)

Q. In books like the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series the paranormal creature in question "comes out of the closet" and makes itself known to the world. Which mythical creature do you wish would come out of the closet, for real?

Elves!!! I love elves! I just really like the idea of them and all of their talents!! I wish I was and elf *sigh*

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted by Crazy For Books in which a question is asked and an answer is given! This week's question/topic is:

“Non-book-related this week!! Do you have pets?”

I have one dog, Apollo :)! I adopted him from the animal shelter he's a border collie, golden retriever mix. 
----->

My sister's dog Amelia. She's a toy poodle.
<-----

My dad's dog Daisy. She's a full bred border collie.
----->

My dad's cat Mr. Biggs. He's a stray that randomly showed up at our house.

<-----

But those are all of the animals that are currently in my life :). So off I go back to my Sociology, History, and Math homework :)
<3 Shannon

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (4)

This is a great weekly event where everyone can keep track of the books finished last week & the books planning to read this week!

Last Week I Read:

These past two weeks I have read about 50 pages from The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. My reading pace has continued to go down hill, but I am hoping once I get back into the groove of my college classes I can get a routine down, that would include time for reading, running in the morning, going to class, homework, the clubs on campuse I joined, and watching the tv shows that I'm addicted to! 

This Week I Plan To Read:

I am definitely try to finish The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and hopefully start on Misfit by Jon Skovron! So that is my plan for the week, I am going to have to fit it around the three essays that I have due and some of the other reading but I think that it is definitely doable!

On My Wishlist (2)

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where you list all the books that you desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.

The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson
Forensic Mystery #1
Publication: May 4th, 2006
Genre: Suspense/Mystery
Goodreads

Summary: The sleepy Rocky Mountain town of Silverton, Colorado hasn't seen a murder in years according to Pat Mahoney, the county coroner. So when his teenage daughter, Cameryn, asks if she can be his assistant as preparation for a career in forensic pathology he figures it's a safe bet. But neither of them imagines that their first case will involve someone Cameryn knows . . . the fourth victim of a serial killer. Attending her first autopsy is more difficult than Cameryn had ever expected, but she's determined to find her friend's murderer. Before long, Cameryn is plunged into a disturbing mystery, matching wits with everyone from the cantankerous medical examiner who doubts her abilities to the famous psychic who is predicting yet another death soon. 

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski
Publication: June 7th, 2011

Genre: Contemporary

Goodreads

Summary: 2 girls + 3 guys + 1 house – parents = 10 things April and her friends did that they (definitely, maybe, probably) shouldn't have. If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: "Lied to Our Parents"). But she and her housemate Vi are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up "Skipping School" (#3), "Throwing a Crazy Party" (#8), "Buying a Hot Tub" (#4), and, um, "Harboring a Fugitive" (#7) at all is kind of a mystery to them. In this hilarious and bittersweet tale, Sarah Mlynowski mines the heart and mind of a girl on her own for the first time. To get through the year, April will have to juggle a love triangle, learn to do her own laundry, and accept that her carefully constructed world just might be falling apart . . . one thing-she-shouldn't-have-done at a time.

 Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Publication: September 12th, 2011

Genre: Contemporary

Goodreads

Summary: Willa is lucky: She has a loving blended family that gets along. Not all families are so fortunate. But when a bloody crime takes place hundreds of miles away, it has an explosive effect on Willa’s peaceful life. The estranged father she hardly remembers has murdered his new wife and children, and is headed east toward Willa and her mother.Under police protection, Willa discovers that her mother has harbored secrets that are threatening to boil over. Has everything Willa believed about herself been a lie? As Willa sets out to untangle the mysteries of her past, she keeps her own secret—one that has the potential to tear her family apart.

I once again did a old, current, and coming soon  book for my wishlist. I'm slowly making progress on the Kite Runner, my friend moved today so I should have more free time now [not that I'm happy about it :(]. I've also completed my first three days of school and it looks like my all of my classes are going to require a lot of work (especially my education classes) but it doesn't seem like it's going to be hard work though.

<3 Shannon

Waiting on Wednesday (2)

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

From Goodreads:

Not so very long ago, Eragon Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider, was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.
Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances.
The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?
This is the much-anticipated, astonishing conclusion to the worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle.

I'm really excited to read this book when it comes out on November 8th, 2011! I really love this series and it's one of the books that got me to start actively looking for high-fantasy YA books. This is the fourth and final book in the series.

<3 Shannon

Top Ten and Teaser Tuesday (4)

Top Ten Book Crushes

This week is a freebie week and we could post about anything and I didn't get to do the top ten book crushes one and so I decided to do it this week :)

1. Wes from The Truth About Forever

Oh my gosh major Sa-woon! Every since time, it never fails! Somebody please find someone like Wes and send him my way please!!

2. Jace from The Mortal Instruments Series

I absolutely love how witty he is and just him in general :)

3. Peeta from The Hunger Games Trilogy

Who says the nice guys never win?? Not that Gale isn't but Peeta is the epitome of a nice guy.

4. Zane from the Uglies Series

I haven't read this series in a while so I can't name why i love him off the top of my head, I just remember that I LOVED Zane!

5. Finnick from The Hunger Games Trilogy

He was such a sweetheart underneath his cocky exterior and it broke my heart when he died in Mockinjay! I literally just sat there and cried for about 5 minutes :(

6. Jack/Seph/Jason from the Heir Series

I can't choose just one!! I love all of her main male protagonist characters from those three books! The each have something amazing about them.

Jack- he's simple, down to earth, and does what's right

Seph- he's exotic, fluent in french, and much more

Jason- the classic bad boy with a heart ;)

7. Fred or George from Harry Potter

I'm a sucker for any guy who can make me laugh!

8. Fang from the Maximum Ride Series

I've always been a Fang fan!

9. Noah from The Notebook

Who can read this book and not fall in love with Noah?

10. Ethan from Burned

It's been a while since I've read this book as well but I remember crushing on Ethan big time!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read, open to a random page, and share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

My Teaser: 

"I thought about something Rahim Khan said just before he hung up, almost as an afterthought. There is a way to be good again."

-pg. 2 "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Slow reading pace once again! :( I'm only on page 59 and I start school tomorrow but I can do this!

<3 Shannon

Book Blogger Hop (2) and Follow Friday

Q. How has your reading habits changed since you were a teen? or If you are still a teen what new genres are you in love with currently?

A. My dad started reading to my sister and I at a very young age, so in elementary school I was reading all the time. The library was my favorite place at the school. The first major book series that I read was in the 3rd grade and I read Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingles Wilder and I quickly followed that with Harry Potter by JK Rowling. In middle school I started to slack off on my reading because the library didn't have a very big selection of books so I just re-read the Redwall Series by Brian Jacques and HP over and over again. During high school my reading picked back up big time, the library was AMAZING and the librarian was AMAZING as well!! She was probably on the main reasons that I got back into reading. She was always up to talk about books and recommended a ton of new books for me to read.
In high school the main book genre that I was reading was YA contemporary with a little bit of fantasy and paranormal mixed in. Now I love high-fantasy and dystopian! If any book has a world that I can totally immerse myself in then I am going to love it! My British Lit professor also got me into read the classics as well. I'm so excited to start reading some more classic literature (I have a list that is like 2 pages long)! I've also broadened my range of books that I will read, the only books that I will not read are horror/books because I can psych myself out really easily.

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted by Crazy For Books in which a question is asked and an answer is given! This week's question/topic is:

“Let’s talk crazy book titles! Highlight one or two (or as many as you like!) titles in your personal collection that have the most interesting titles!" 

My Answer: 

Brisingr by: Christopher Paolini

I would have to say that Brisingr would win the craziest book title that I own. Especially since it's a word that the author came up with!

So yeah, those are my answers for this week and I changed my blog name because I like this one better and it's closer to my original name as well. If you want to know what I'm talking about then click here.

<3 Shannon

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (3)

This is a great weekly event where everyone can keep track of the books finished last week & the books planning to read this week!

This Week I Read:

This last week I managed to finish reading Tris and Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison. So my reading pace has picked up a bit but it's still not up to what it normal is. My friend finally told us a for sure date to when he is moving and that is the 19th. Now you may think that would make my reading pace go back to it's normal pace but I have my doubts because school starts back for me on the 17th and I also need to find a job relatively soon as well. However, I still have faith that I will be able to schedule reading time around: school, a job, daily exercise (I run/swim), and household responsibilities (my parents are making me commute this semester since I transferred schools), as well as a club or two that I join on campus *fingers crossed* that I'm able to do it. I'm probably not going to be posting my review for this book until about late September/early October since it come out on the 11th. It's not a particularly good review but if you can get it for free then I would so that you can form you own opinion of the book because it was a really easy read, though really frustrating.

This coming week I plan to read:

I'm definitely going to finish reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and maybe get part of the way through Misfit by Jon Skovron. I threw in Dark Territory by J. Gabriel Gates and Charlene Keel as an optimistic addition to my reading week. 

So those are my goals for this week hopefully I can finish The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and start on Misfit by Jon Skovron but it's going to take some serious work since I have a dinner with my other friend's family (they are basically mine and my friend, who is moving, second family), my birthday party (I turned 20 on the 6th), my friend who is moving going away party, and helping my friend (the one who's family I'm eating dinner with) move into her dorm.

***ATTENTION: A FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY! My Overstuffed Bookshelf is giving away a gently used Kindle 2 for her second blogoversary!!! Go enter by clicking here!!!***

<3 Shannon

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie! It is a list of what books you have received over the previous week, either for review, from the library, from the bookstore, or from trades.

For Review:

Tris and Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison (netgalley)

Dark Territories by J Gabriel Gates and Charlene Keel (HCI Teens)

Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon (netgalley)

Wreath by Judy Christie (netgalley)
Misfit by Jon Skovron (netgalley)

That's what I got this week, what did you get in your mailbox?

<3 Shannon

Review: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

*Book 5 of The Mortal Instruments Series

•   Reading level: Young Adult
•   Paperback: 432 pages
•   Publisher:  Margaret K. McElderry
•   ISBN-10: 1442403543
•   ISBN-13: 978-1416995562
•   Received From: I bought it  

From Goodreads:
The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And—most importantly of all—she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.
But nothing comes without a price.
Someone is murdering Shadowhunters, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second, bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side—along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. Not to mention that he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls—neither of whom knows about the other one.
When Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: she herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.
Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

My Thoughts:

One of the great things about Cassandra Clare is that her books always have the perfect amount of humor in them, and this book is no exception. To be honest I thought the series was over with the third book because everything ended, all of the problems in the first two books were fixed and all of the loose ends were tied up, so I was really surprised to hear that there was going to be three more books in the series. 

In this book Jace and Clary seem to take more of a backseat to the other characters in the book, but that still doesn’t stop them from having another problem as to why they can’t seem to be together and happy at the same time. Clary’s character is a semi-strong female character. In this book she is starting to learn to defend herself against demons and we do get to see her put some of her new skills to the test, and she does kick some butt; she also stood up to Jace and his “punishing himself”. I am so glad that she did this because she would just let him do it because “that is what he does and he would talk to her when he was ready”, and when she would do I would want to throttle her, so I’m very glad that she (sort of) put a stop to this. 

This book seemed to focus more on Simon and his life than any other character. Clare also introduced a new character, Kyle, and I’m excited to read about him and his female counterpart [telling would be giving too much away ;)]. We also got to see the more vulnerable side of Izzy as well! I’m really glad that she is starting to give the other characters some more attention and that we get to learn about them. However, I hope that she perfects the balance of all the characters getting the right amount of time in the book, because she just barely missed it in this book in my opinion. I have faith in her though because at the very very end of the book she adds another little twist that should bring Jace and Clary back on equal ground with Simon and the others!

Overall this was a fantastic book and I really enjoyed reading this book so I’m going to give it 5 quills!

<3 Shannon

On My Wishlist

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where you list all the books that you desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.

 The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
The Heir Chronicles #1
Publication: April 1st, 2007
Genre: Fantasy
Goodreads

Summary: Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high-schoolers. Then one day Jack skips his medicine. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great until he loses control of his own strength and nearly kills another player during soccer team tryouts. Soon, Jack learns the startling truth about himself: He is Weirlind; part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. At the head of this magical society sit the feuding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game. A magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death, The winning house ruling the Weir. As if his bizarre magical heritage isn't enough, Jack finds out that he s not just another member of Weirlind, he's one of the last of the warriors at a time when both houses are scouting for a player. Jack's performance on the soccer field has alerted the entire magical community to the fact that he's in Trinity. And until one of the houses is declared Jack's official sponsor, they'll stop at nothing to get Jack to fight for them. 

 Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent Trilogy #1

Publication: May 3rd, 2011

Genre: Dystopian

Goodreads

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

 Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

Companion Novel to Impulse

Publication: September 13th, 2011

Genre: Contemporary (?)

Goodreads

Summary: Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there. Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never understand.
Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect? A riveting and startling companion to the bestselling Impulse, Ellen Hopkins's Perfect exposes the harsh truths about what it takes to grow up and grow into our own skins, our own selves.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Publication: September 27th, 2011
Genre: Paranormal (?)
Goodreads

Summary: Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can. She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed. There is. She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong.

I did a book that was published a couple of years ago that I want, a book that is out now that I want, and a book (two this time) that isn't published yet that I want!! All of these books are/sound amazing and I want them so bad!

 <3 Shannon

Book Blogger Hop

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted by Crazy For Books in which a question is asked and an answer is given! This week's question/topic is:

“What is the one ARC you would love to get your hands on right now?”

My Answer:

 

Perfect by: Ellen Hopkins

It comes out on September 13th and I cannot wait to read it! I love all of her books and I have read them multiple times.  She also writes all of her books in poetry form so that is also something to look forward to! I have no idea how I am going to survive waiting for this book to come out!

  

If you couldn't tell I'm really excited for this book, since I also mentioned it in my WoW post (waiting on wednesday)! Just a little over a month to go...hopefully I can make it. Also my review of City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare should be posted within the next few days, so look for that.

<3 Shannon

Waiting on Wednesday

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

From Goodreads: 

Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there. Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never understand.
Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect?  

I absolutely cannot wait to read Perfect by Ellen Hopkins!!! I love every single one of her books and I have no doubt that I will love this one as well. Also the fact that this is the companion novel to Impulse makes me want to read it even more! The books take place during the same time so I'm going to have to reread Impulse because I haven't read it since it came out.
It hits shelves on September 16th and there's no way that I'm waiting for it to come out in paperback, so that it's cheaper, I'm definitely going to find a bookstore the day it comes out and buy it!

<3 Shannon

Review: It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

*Book 2 of the Summer Series

•       Reading level: Young Adult
•       Paperback: 304 pages
•       Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
•       ISBN-10: 1416995560
•       ISBN-13: 978-1416995562
•       Received From: I bought it

From Goodreads: 
Can summer be truly summer without Cousins Beach?It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never come.
But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this summer really and truly is the last summer, it should end the way it started--at Cousins Beach.

My Thoughts:

This is a really good teen contemporary book and I have enjoyed the series so far. I love both Conrad and Jeremiah as characters; they each have something very special about them. Jeremiah is that super sweet boy that would make the perfect boyfriend and nobody has a bad thing to say about him. Conrad, oh how I love him! He’s super smart and yes he can be annoying but he’s the type of person who you have to earn his trust for him to open up to and I can totally understand that because I am the exact same way. I have a love/hate relationship with Belly; sometimes she can be so childish and I just want to shake her but every once in a while she does do something to redeem herself. Belly gives up too easily, if she really tried she could break down Conrad’s defenses but she doesn’t. Instead she basically throws a tantrum trying to get him to give in but it never works. Also at the end of this book, I do not like her decision because she takes the easier option and that irks me. Oh and Laurel is freaking bad ass when she wants to be!

The only real problem that I have with this book is that the love triangle is pitting two brothers against each other. I hate that I have a terrible relationship with my own sister so this unnecessary conflict between Conrad and Jeremiah just gets under my skin. However, I enjoyed reading this book and I read it in 6 hours and overall I give it 4 quills.

 <3 Shannon

Top Ten and Teaser Tuesday (3)

Top Ten Trends That I Would Like To See More/Less Of

1. More Strong Female Characters

I love it when the female characters kick ass and don't take crap from anybody; and if the male character can keep up with her then that is a book that I would want to read. For example, Katniss from the Hunger Games (and Peeta and Gale can keep up with her as well)

2. More Books That Tackles Real Issues

The world today puts so much pressure on teenagers and when an author can correctly portray these issues so that people can learn more about them and not judge because they can be "taboo" to talk about. For example, Ellen Hopkins her books cover, drugs, prostitution, incest, binging and purging, suicide, and how far people will go to be "perfect".

3. More Dystopian/High Fantasy

I adore these genres! I love it when an author creates another world that I can totally immerse myself in. 

4. More Remakes of Fairytales

I like that authors are revisiting the stories that I grew up with and are putting a modern twist on them but, only if they are well written/done correctly. For example, Beastly by Alex Flinn is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and I really enjoyed it. Alex also has two other books that are retelling two other fairytales.

5. More Normal Girls

I would like to see more female characters from contemporary novels be "normal". There's nothing too "special" about them but they are still interesting. For example, Anna from Anna and the French Kiss there is nothing too special about her but you still love her as a character.

6. Less Series

I agree with a lot of other people that there seems to be an overabundance of series coming out lately and most of them seem to be one book/story cut up into multiple parts; a good series is where each book has a different plot for each book. For example, Harry Potter: in book one he has to save the sorcerer's stone, in book two someone is petrifying the students of the school, in book three Sirius Black is on the loose and supposedly trying to kill Harry to avenge Lord Voldemort, etc. So as you can see each book had a different plot but they kept the same characters and themes.

7. Less Whinny Female Characters

I cannot stand a female character who can't do anything for herself/needs a boyfriend to survive! *cough*Bella Swan*cough* I know that everyone rags on Twilight but in this instance Bella fits it perfectly. Her whole world centers around Edward and when he leaves she basically sits there and mopes for however many months until she finds a new guy to attach herself to and make her world revolve around him. I mean for goodness sake just because your "boyfriend" leaves you doesn't mean that you give up on living, life does go on!

8. Less Celebrities Publishing Books

I mean honestly it is so unfair that they can publish books like it is nothing just because they have a "name" to slap onto the cover that is highly recognizable. There are probably a ton of really good authors that had a less easy road to getting published because they weren't already famous and it really irks me to no end!

9. Less Genre Trends

I really don't like the fact that all of a sudden one genre will become immensely popular and then within a year or two it will completely disappear while the next big genre will take it's place.

10. Less Love At First Sight/Love Triangles

First off, love at first sight does not exist! When you first see someone all you see is their appearance and I hate to break it to you but that is just lust! You cannot tell their personality by how they dress, nor can you tell how they will react during their different emotions. For all you know the boy in the preppy clothes could wind up hitting you black and blue while the boy in the skinny jeans and the gauged ears could be the sweetest guy that you could ever meet. Also the amount of love triangles that are in books are becoming tedious especially when you can guess who they are going to end up with rather early on.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read, open to a random page, and share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

My Teaser:

"I guess you're coming as my date now." Simon shoved the phone back into his pocket.

"I'm secure enough in my masculinity to accept that," said Jordan.

"We'd better get you something nice to wear though," he called as Simon headed back into his room. "I want you to look pretty."

-pg. 282 "City of Fallen Angels" by Cassandra Clare

"He told me he was going to be right back. That was forty minutes ago. I figured he was going to the bathroom."

"What kind of guardian are you? Shouldn't you have gone to the bathroom with him?" Isabelle demanded.

Jordan looked horrified. "Dudes," he said, "do not follow other dudes to the bathroom."

Isabelle sighed. "Latent homosexual panic will do you in every time," she said. "Come on. Let's look for him."

-pg. 317 "City of Fallen Angles" by Cassandra Clare

I decided that since this is going to be the last time that I'm going to post a teaser from CoFA and I couldn't decide between the two of them I would post them both! And you just couldn't get the whole effect without the whole passage so that is why they are longer than two sentences. Also I am GOING to post my review for It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han TOMORROW and maybe my review for City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare as well!

<3 Shannon