Top Ten Tuesday (#2)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is: Top Ten Authors I Would LOVE to Meet (living or dead)

1. JK Rowling- Author of the Harry Potter series. My all-time favorite books in the history of forever. I would love to meet the highly imaginative brain behind this beloved series and thank her for her magic words.
I love these books like Whoa.

2. H.P. Mallory-She has quickly become one of my newest favorite authors. I LOVE her Jolie Wilkins series, which is fun, sexy, hilarious and supernatural. Her Dulcie O'Neil series is also great. Would LOVE to meet her!

3. Maggie Stiefvater-I have loved every book I've read of hers thus far, the Wolves of Mercy Falls Series, and Lament and Ballad..plus what I've gleaned through her blog and other places she seems like a cool chick.

4. William Shakespeare-Even though I don't really read his stuff voluntarily, and would prefer to watch Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio rather than read the play...he is a bit of a genius.

5. Sarah Dessen-If you've read any of her books you know why. Love her stuff.

6. Neil Gaiman- For the fact that he wrote The Graveyard Book.

7. Whoever contributed to the writings of the Bible..yes ALL of them.

8. Suzanne Collins-The Hunger Games series is dystopian done right.

9. Stephenie Meyer-This may produce some eye rolls. No one can taint the love I have for the Twilight series and its characters, including my beloved Edward. Yeah that's right. TEAM EDWARD!

10. Dr. Seuss-I don't think an explanation is needed for this one.

So there's my list. I've never met ANY authors, so meeting any of the ones who are responsible for feeding my reading addiction, even if they aren't on this brief list, would be awesome!

My Thoughts: Inside Out (Maria V.Snyder)

Click here for the Goodreads Summary
Cover: Not bad

My Thoughts: So I had high expectations going into this book. First off it's written by Maria V. Snyder, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE her Study series, Poison Study is one of my favorite young adult books. It's magical and gripping and raw and just an amazing story.  With that, this is also dystopian, one of my new favorite genres. So I had high hopes of loving this book. Sadly, my hopes were a little crushed.

I almost quit about half-way through this book, but kept reading, which I'm glad I did because the second half made up for the first. I'm not any kind of a writer, but I can imagine that dystopian fiction can be tricky because you have this whole entirely different world that you have to introduce your reader to.  There has to be a balance with presenting a thousand new details about a world that can be quite confusing and overwhelming or just plain boring if not done well. 

At the start of the book, I couldn't get into the world of Inside and I wasn't a fan of the main character Trella, who I initially found to be very juvenile and just rubbed me the wrong way. In this particular book I liked the supporting characters much more.  The writing flowed differently from that of Poison Study and I just didn't find myself immersed right away.

All that being said, I'm glad I kept reading, because the second half picked up on the action and grabbed my attention back.  Also by the end I did become invested in the world of Inside and the characters whose lives were ruled by it. 

Favorite Quotes:
"I let the waves of anguish pound in my chest. Abandoned and alone I rode my emotions as I would surf in a water pipe, allowing the force of liquid to take control. Eventually I fought for control and won. I shoved the sadness deep within me , locked it down and focused on the present."

"I squashed my fears and worries into a small metal box and dropped in the shattered remains of my heart for good measure. Locked with an obnoxiously big lock, I pushed the container into a far corner of my thoughts."

"My whole future depended on so many ifs and hopes and assumptions and possibilities that I would consider it impossible right now if I thought about it too much."

Bottom Line: Saved by the second-half, intrigued enough to read book two.  3/5 "stars"

In My Mailbox (#8) DvD Edition

So no new books for me this week, although I just put in an order to Amazon..pre-ordered Forever by Maggie Stiefvater and ordered a few others.
So yesterday at Target I got a little crazified with the dvd buying (and one cd). I was like, oh that's on sale, oh that's only 5 dollars, oh 2 seasons together for 10 dollars! You get the drift.. added up it's not so cheap.  Usually I'm pretty careful with my money, except when it comes to 2 things: books and dvd's. And I am a complete sucker for a bargain/deal/sale.
Here's my loot:

Tv: Seasons 1 & 2 of Will &Grace
    Season 1 of King of Queens
Movies: Easy A
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
A League of Their Own
CD: Adele (21)

And there you have it.  I just finished Outside In by Maria V. Snyder, my thoughts to come. I'm currently reading Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler.

My Thoughts: The Replacement (Brenna Yovanoff)

Click here for the Goodreads summary.
Cover: Creepy. Haunting. Original. I dig it.

 My Thoughts: I found the basic premise of this book very intriguing. A boy who is deathly allergic to iron and blood, trying to survive in a world where he doesn't belong.  I read some positive reviews for this book and the quote from Maggie Stiefvater on the front cover (who is one of my favorite authors)  was enough to make me borrow it from the library.
 It took me a good while to really get into this book. Maybe it was because every time I was reading it was either in a car or around people when they were talking or on the beach where there were a lot of distractions. But I found myself constantly putting it down.

I identified with the main character Mackie somewhat, his feelings of isolation, loneliness, outcast, not belonging anywhere. But I didn't fully make that reader-main character connection that I am always looking for.  I didn't really understand the whole Tate-Mackie relationship. It was very awkward and disjointed for me. I found myself really liking the supporting character of Roswell, the idea of having a completely loyal friend who never lets you down or questions your actions, just accepts you as you are is quite a foreign concept to me.
As far as the writing, even though I found myself confused at parts, there were some very hauntingly beautiful passages, and descriptions. I marked like 15 quotes that really stuck with me.  The ending was okay, a bit predictable, but satisfying.

Favorite Quotes:  "I wanted to kiss her and not in the pure, longing way you want to kiss someone. I wanted it the way you sometimes want to jump into very cold water, even though you know it won't feel good. I wanted to go numb. To see what it felt like to be someone else."

"It was the sound of being outside, of being alien. It was the pulse that ran under everything and never let you forget that you were strange, that the world hurt just to touch. Feelings too complicated to ever say in words, but they spilled out of the amplifiers, seeping into the air, and filling up the room."

"...when you love someone, sometimes it means that they strip you down, peel you open, and you have to let them and not worry about how much it's going to hurt."

Bottom Line: Good book, with passages that spoke to my soul.  3.5/5

Vacation Recap: Outer Banks, North Carolina

This was my third year going to the Outer Banks in North Carolina for a week, and it was just what I needed. To me, the beach is my version of Heaven. The sand, the waves, the water, the salty smell, the peaceful, relaxed feeling...bliss. I really want to move there, but finding employment is presenting quite a challenge.

The first day of my trip I ate some alligator tail. It tasted like chewy chicken with a fishy aftertaste. Everyone else liked it, but it pretty much skeeved me out.

Day 2 we were at the beach and there was an incredibly gorgeous, tanned, quintessential "Baywatch" lifeguard. He kindly removed his shirt for a dip in the ocean to cool off while we were in the water. I had an overwhelming urge to get a cramp in my leg. Sadly, I chickened out.

Day 3 at the ocean I got intimate with jellyfish. Not by choice mind you. This is the first time I've been to the Outer Banks when the water was just FULL of jellies. In the past there would be an occasional dead one washed up on the beach. But there were so many jellies in the water you constantly felt them rubbing against your legs without your consent and could just scoop them out of the water. The little kids on the beach were collecting the dead ones in their buckets.  When you got out of the water you had to empty your pockets and check your suit for lurkers. They luckily didn't sting, but I would have been okay without getting that close to them. Luckily they were only bad that one day.

Day 4 we went to Outerbarx which is a store catered for dog lovers (and cat). They make organic human-grade treats for dogs and they let me sample a Wisconsin cheddar dog biscuit. A bit bland for my taste, but Chloe, the English Mastiff that was with us wasn't so picky.

There was lots of shopping, buying stuff I don't need. I love going to all the beachy shops. We went to one particular shop in Maneo called the The Christmas Shoppe and it was AMAZING. Not just Christmas stuff...hard to describe the awesomeness inside. I can't wait to go back.

(Cool beachy bookmarks)

Turtle soap dish and starfish incense holder.

My new drink cozie. Guess I'll be doing a LOT of drinking.

We went to Jeanette's Pier one day, which was cool. People were inadvertently catching skates and sting rays off the end. Years ago a man caught a 700 pound Hammerhead shark and a 600 pound other shark off the pier. One day the people in my group decided that the usual area we went swimming was too crowded, so let's go swim at the beach RIGHT BESIDE THE PIER where the SHARKS were caught. Smart thinking.  I kept waiting for jaws to sneak attack me.

This incredibly skinny girl caught 2 skates at once! She had to throw them back thank goodness.

Overall a wonderful, relaxing vacation that, like usual, went by too quickly. For all the people that get to live by the ocean year-round I am insanely envious.

I end with a picture of Chloe...she thinks she's human.

In My Mailbox (#7) Outer Banks Edition

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

So I JUST walked in the door from being at the Outer Banks in North Carolina. One week of pure relaxation. I'm gonna post my bookish purchases and do a later post about my trip.

So I got these 2 AWESOME journals; My Bucket List and All 50 States. There are prompts in each one to help you along. I have to say they are pretty SWEET. I included the inside of each.

I love mermaids so I had to buy this history of mermaids book that is very imaginative and has some cool pictures inside. And of course I bought a Sarah Dessen book. She follows me everywhere.

 Then I went to a second-hand/ used bookstore. There actually wasn't very much there that interested me but I managed to walk away with a couple cheap paperbacks. I've always wanted to read The Hobbit.

And last but most DEF not least, to fit with my mermaid obsession I bought a mermaid book-end.

There actually wasn't much time for reading during my vacation and I only managed to finish one complete book: Stray by Rachel Vincent, which I LOVED. I can not WAIT to get my hands on the rest of the series. I read about half of Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder and about 1/3 of The Replacement. More thoughts on those to come.

In My Mailbox #6

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

So in anticipation of my trip to the Outer Banks, NC (which I left for yesterday) I hit up the library hardcore-style. Here's my loot which includes 8 Young Adult titles and 2 Fantasy titles. I may have gone a bit over-board...and  I got a lot of firsts in a series.

Glass Houses (The Morganville Vampires #1) by Rachel Caine

Stray (Shifters #1) by Rachel Vincent

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss

Inside Out (Insider #1) by Maria V. Snyder

Outside In (Insider #2) by Maria V. Snyder

Suicide Notes by Michael Ford

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Hunger (The Horseman of the Apocalypse #1) by Jackie Morse Kessler

Rage (The Horseman of the Apocalypse #2) by Jackie Morse Kessler

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare



In addition, I purchased 2 books for my Kindle:

I LOVE H.P. Mallory's writing, and I've actually already finished this book. I didn't love it AS much as her Jolie Wilkins series but still GREAT!   I NEED MORE!!!

I mainly bought this title because it contains a short story by H.P. Mallory...only 99 cents! I skipped through and read the short story by H.P. (I wonder what people call her in real life), and even though it was short, it was SWEET. Hopefully all the stories will be equally good.

I hope to conquer a good number of these books while on vacation and start putting up my "reviews" when I return. (If I can obtain a properly functioning computer that is).

Happy Reading!

Ahhh Freedom. How Sweet Thou Art.

I will be MIA for a week as I'm headed to Outer Banks, North Carolina this morning. Other than it being too freakin early I can't wait to get there and away from here. One whole week without work; just sand, water, relaxation and READING.... ahhhh bliss.

.


AND upon my return on Sunday, June 26th I'll be coming back to the Season 4 Premiere of TRUE BLOOD.  Oh how I've missed thee Bon Temps. and ERIC.

Go the F**K to sleep.

I freaking love this book. I wish it was around when I was a kid. It's soothing yet entertaining. 5/5 "stars"

What's even better is Samuel L. Jackson narrating it.  Anyone who is offended by the "f" word prolly shouldn't listen.

So the original video I had posted is no longer accessible from YouTube due to something called Copyright... here's a little snippet that might be removed. You can go visit  this website  to listen to the whole thing. It's worth it.

Laptop oh Laptop, why have you forsaken me?

As I mentioned in a previous post I had spilled smoothie all over my laptop and need to buy another.

My mom lent me her old laptop...it's giving me hardcore flashbacks of the dial-up days.. where it takes 5 minutes just to get to another page. Now it's messing up posts I'm trying to put up, and it won't let me post comments on anyone's pages.

So if you left me comments I much appreciate them and at some point in the future (hopefully near) will comment you back when I have a properly functioning computer.  I'm totally not ignoring anyone.

I have a post now I'm trying to ..well post, but it's like moving things around on it's own. It's crazy I tell you.

So I'm currently reading Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman. I'm really liking it, it's unlike any story I've ever read. Check it out.

Goodreads Summary: For years, Eon's life has been focused on magical study and sword-work, with one goal: that he be chosen as a Dragoneye, an apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune.
But Eon has a dangerous secret: he is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been masquerading as a twelve-year-old boy. Females are forbidden to use Dragon Magic; the penalty is death.
When Eona's secret threatens to come to light, she and her allies are plunged into grave danger and a struggle for the Imperial throne. Eona must find the strength and inner power to battle those who want to take her magic . . . and her life.


Hardcore.

 

On My Wishlist (#5)

On My Wishlist is hosted over at Book Chick City
Here's a small sampling of books I'm desperately wishing to read.

The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus #2) (Rick Riordan) (October 4, 2011)

Goodreads Summary: 

In The Lost Hero, three demigods named Jason, Piper, and Leo made their first visit to Camp Half-Blood, where they inherited a quest:

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

Who are the other four mentioned in the prophecy? The answer may lie in another camp miles away, where a new camper has shown up and appears to be the son of Neptune, god of the sea...

Why I Want It: I loved the Percy Jackson series, I loved The Lost Hero, and I have a feeling I'm going to love this one too.

By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead (Julie Anne Peters) (January 5, 2010)

Goodreads Summary: 

Daelyn Rice is broken beyond repair, and after a string of botched suicide attempts, she’s determined to get her death right. She starts visiting a website for “completers”— www.through-the-light .com.
While she’s on the site, Daelyn blogs about her life, uncovering a history of bullying that goes back to kindergarten. When she’s not on the Web, Daelyn’s at her private school, where she’s known as the freak who doesn’t talk.
Daelyn to be letting people into her life…isn’t it?
Why I Want It:  Sounds dark and depressing with maybe a little hope in there somewhere.  Right down my alley.

Merlin: Part 1-The Old Magic (James Mallory) (January 28, 2000)

Goodreads Summary:

 "Once upon a time...no, no, that's not the way to start. You'll think this is a fairy tale. And it isn't".

In the terrible years of tyrants and invaders, England's surviving pagans cry out for help to their deity — and Mab, Queen of the Faery realms, creates for them a champion.

Merlin. Half human, half Magic; raised in the love of his foster mother, Ambrosia, trained in sorcery by the gnome Frick, destined by Mab to lead England back to the Old Ways. But Mab, once beloved, has grown selfish and cruel, so Merlin turns against her.

And their war of magic will change the world.

 Why I Want It:  I pretty much LOVE any story relating to Merlin, the movie is one of my favorites..so why wouldn't I neeeed to read this book? (and part 2).

Passing Strange (Generation Dead #3) (Daniel Waters) (June 1, 2010)

Goodreads Summary:  Karen DeSonne is used to pretending to be something she’s not. All her life, she’s passed as a normal all-American teenager; with her friends, with her family, and at school. Passing cost her the love of her life. And now that Karen’s dead, she’s still passing this time, as alive.

Meanwhile, Karen’s dead friends have been fingered in a high-profile murder, causing a new round of anti-zombie regulations that have forced nearly all of Oakvale’s undead into hiding. Karen soon learns that the “murder” was a hoax, staged by Pete Martinsburg and his bioist zealots. Obtaining enough evidence to expose the fraud and prove her friends’ innocence means doing the unthinkable: betraying her love by becoming Pete’s girlfriend. Karen’s only hope is that the enemy never realizes who she really is because the consequences would be even worse than death
Why I Want It: I quite enjoyed the first 2 books in this series, though the covers leave a lot to be desired. Completely different take on zombies. For all the hardcore zombie purists out there, these books are prolly not for you.

Boy Proof (by Cecil Castellucci)

Goodreads Summary:What happens when an antisocial cinephile meets up with the worldly new guy at school — a quick-witted artist who's savvy enough to see through her sci-fi disguise?
Meet Egg. Her real name is Victoria Jurgen, but she's renamed herself after the kick-ass heroine of her favorite sci-fi movie, Terminal Earth. Like her namesake, Egg dresses all in white, colors her eyebrows, and shaves her head. She always knows the right answers, she's always in control, and she's far too busy — taking photos for the school paper, meeting with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Club, and hanging out at the creature shop with her dad, the special-effects makeup wizard — to be bothered with friends, much less members of the opposite sex. As far as Egg is concerned, she's boy proof, and she likes it that way. But then Egg meets a boy named Max, a boy who's smart and funny and creative and cool...and happens to like Egg. Could this be the end of the world — at least as Egg knows it?

My Thoughts:

This was a very quick, easy read. I finished it in just a few hours. I definitely have mixed feelings about it.
The writing style and portrayal of the main character's thoughts and feelings seemed a bit disjointed or choppy or awkward. I'm not sure if this was intended or not. 

I could definitely relate to some of Egg's conflicting feelings of wanting to be invisible vs wanting to be noticed. And about feeling boy proof (though unlike her, I don't intentionally try to make this happen) And I do enjoy characters who are quirky or eccentric; those characters who are off-the-beaten-path so to speak.
I wish there was a creature shop I could hang out at with my dad. AWESOME.

With that being said, Egg's arrogance became a major turn-off as did her rudeness towards others. After a while the references to Terminal Earth get a bit redundant.  You do see a transition or growth in Egg's character from start to end which is important, and the interactions between Egg and the boy interest Max are enjoyable. I found Max in general to be quite enjoyable.

Favorite quotes:
"There is no easy way from the earth to the stars."
"I haunt the hallways like a broken spirit."

Bottom Line: Not great, not terrible. Worth reading for only $1.99.   3/5 "stars"

In My Mailbox #5

In my mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

After a bad week at work, there's nothing like a little book-buying therapy to make a girl feel a little better.

I bought a couple books for my Kindle:  (all cheap due to their Sunshine Deals)






That's it for me.

Don't cry over spilled......Smoothie?

Geez. gEEEEEEEz.

My lack of posting has been due to the fact that I suffer from a curse that makes me break/lose/drop/ruin things that are nice. I'm totally not careless...things just happen. About a week ago I spilled a giant cup of smoothie all over my laptop keyboard (and it didn't even have alcohol in it!) ...and my cell phone may have suffered as well. It really sucks not having access to TV OR Internet...  I felt disconnected from the world.

Needless to say I now have a new phone (which I desperately needed anyways) but alas, I haven't had a chance to purchase a new laptop. Luckily my mom gave me hers today to borrow. Now I just have to decide between PC or Mac.

In the mean time of not posting, I've read 6 books which I will give my thoughts on some time in the near future.
They include: 
               
 
  (HexHall was a REread)
                    
I'm on a roll cracking down on my tbr pile.

Oh and  it's hot as balls where I live..COME ON FALL.