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

August RAK

It is the first of August and that means a new month for Random Acts of Kindness! RAK is hosted by Book Soulmates and this is their sixth month hosting this feature on their blog.

This is going to be my first month participating and I have been excited to ever since I heard about this event 2 weeks ago. My wish list can be found at the top of the page where the pages links are or you can click here.

This month they are also doing a giveaway! The giveaway is for a $20 gift card to Amazon. If you want to sign up for this month's RAK then click here (the rules for the giveaway are also on this post) and it will take you to their post.

So yeah, I really urge you to go check it out because it is a great feature and I'm super excited to participate in it!

<3 Shannon

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (2)

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:

In the last two weeks I have only managed to read the remaining 220 pages that I had left in City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare. I'm not usually such a slow reader but one of my best friends is moving 12 hours away (Pennsylvania) in about 3ish weeks! :( Which is super sad and I'm trying to spend as much time hanging out with him and our group of friends as much as possible! I'm not going to be reading much because we're trying to cram as much stuff in as possible: I have church for the next 3 Wednesdays, my birthday in 5 days, my birthday party in in 10 days, his going away party in 11 days, and school starts back in 16 days (blah!); and that is only the planned set in stone stuff because I'm sure I'm going to be seeing my friends a lot more (last week = 5 days). So yeah that is my explanation for my super slow reading pace.

This coming week I plan to read:

 

I am hoping to make considerable progress on Tris and Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison  (I'm 16 pages in now) and if I some how miraculously finish this book then I am hoping to start on the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini!

So those are my goals for this coming up week which I may be able to accomplish since my friend, who is moving, is up in PA sorting out stuff for school until Wednesday and I already warned my other friend that I might disappear until then so *fingers crossed* :)! I am also going to try and post my review for It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han and City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare so look for those as well.

<3 Shannon