Last Day of Giveaway

Just a reminder this is the last day to enter my giveaway for The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg.

Giveaway rules:
You must be 13 years of age or older,
one entry per person,
the deadline is March 17th, 2011 at 11:59 pm CST
and you must fill out this FORM.

This is open both to U.S. readers and international readers. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I hope everyone has a great day and gets to celebrate!

Review of Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Book:  Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Author: John Green and David Levithan
Published by:  Dutton Juvenile
Pages:  310

From Goodreads:  One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

I love novels that celebrate people's differences and this novel definitely did.  The characters were so unique and pretty amazing.

 I started out really liking this novel, but then I met the second Will Grayson and didn't know what to the think.  He was a very dark and moody character, and not someone I'd typically enjoy reading about.  When it felt like he was too much to handle the next chapter would switch back to the first Will Grayson and I felt I could continue on and I'm glad I did. 

The novel alternated points of view between the two Will Graysons.  I thought this would be confusing but it wasn't because they had such different voices.

One of the most amazing things about this novel is how much the characters grow and change.  They all start out a little self-centered and by the end they are appreciating everyone and even acknowledging their faults and things they need to change. 

By the end of the novel it definitely found a place in my heart.  I'd give this novel ★★★★

Review of The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine

Book:  The Dead Girls' Dance (The Morganville Vampires #2)
Author:  Rachel Caine
Published by:  Allison & Busby
Pages:  380 


From Goodreads:  Claire has her share of challenges. Like being a genius in a school that favours beauty over brains; homicidal girls in her dorm, and finding out that her college town is overrun with the living dead. On the up side, she has a new boyfriend with a vampire-hunting dad. But when a local fraternity throws the Dead Girls' Dance, hell is really going to break loose. 

This book picked up right at the end of the first book.  I really liked that there was no lag time between the books; it's almost as if you never left the story.   

Claire is still the naive sixteen year old trying to fight the evil girls at school along with the evil vampires in town.  I like that even though she is super smart Caine didn't try and make her extremely sophisticated and wise beyond her years.  Instead she kept Claire down to earth and age appropriate.  I also liked the Claire got a little tougher in this novel.  In the first one she just seemed like a scared kid, but in this book she was willing to take some more risks and put herself out there. 

The best thing about this book is the relationship of the four main characters.  They really look out for each other and genuinely care for one another.  These are the type of friends that everyone wishes they had.   

The writing again was nothing to brag about but the action kept you guessing what was going to happen next.  

Overall I give this book ★★★ and 1/2.  

Review of Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Book:  Glass Houses (The Morganville Vampires #1)
Author:  Rachel Caine
Published by:  Allison & Busby
Pages: 348

From Goodreads:  College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.

I recently realized there were a couple of popular series that I had not yet read.  One of those series is The Morganville Vampires.  I recently won a copy of the third and fourth book in the series from Tiger at All-Consuming Books so I decided to give it a try.

After a couple of chapters in I realized that I read a short story featuring The Morganville Vampires, but otherwise I hadn't heard much about this series other than that people seemed to like it.  I have a really hard time reading about people getting bullied so within the first chapter I was already screaming out-loud and almost in tears.  

I really felt for Claire as a character.  There was nothing particularly special about her character other than that she was super smart, but I wanted to wrap her in a cocoon so nothing bad could happen to her.   It seemed that she got targeted from the beginning and now she has to fight for her and her friends lives. 

This story showed vampires in a darker version than I'm used to.  It was definitely more of the traditional vampires who only come out at night and are scary as heck.  The writing and story line weren't spectacular, but it was engaging and really pulled you in.  

Overall I enjoyed the novel and I'm going to continue on with the series.  I'd give this novel ★★★ and 1/2. 

Review of A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Book:  A Northern Light
Author:  Jennifer Donnelly
Published by: Harcourt
Pages:  383

From Goodreads:  Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown asks her to burn a bundle of secret letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers the letters reveal the grim truth behind a murder. 


This novel was very complex with many interweaving plot lines.  There was romance, coming of age, mystery, death, and historical fiction.  At first I was a little overwhelmed by all the content and that the story was told alternating between the past and the present, but soon I got absorbed into the novel and just had to know what happened next. 

The characters were so unique and were really well developed as the story progressed.  Each character was lovable in their own way and I couldn't help but become attached to them.   

Mattie was a strong, independent main character.  It was more than a typical coming of age story for Mattie who not only just lost her mother, but also has to deal with a murder and the secrets she knows in conjunction with the murder. 

Donnelly has a very poetic writing style.  Mattie's voice was gorgeous and often seemed knowledgeable beyond her years.  I commend Donnelly for writing a very realistic novel and not sugar-coating some of the tougher issues such as adultery, childbirth, sickness, and love.   

This was a great story that leaves a lastly impression with you.  Overall I'd give this novel ★★★★  

Follow My Blog Friday

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View.

           My answer to this week's Follow Friday question:

 

 

Who are You the Boy/Girl, instead of You the Blogger?

 

I love reading...especially during thunderstorms...I go to bed early and tend to melt in the rain...yep that's right I'm all sugar...I name my pets as if they are food...hence my goldfish Sushi...I love wine...I try to have a glass everyday...but I often forget and have 3 or 4...oh well…at least I'm having fun...I love my family and friends...but sometimes I need me time...I like to cook but I'm not very good at it...that's why I have Rachel Ray...I like to camp and am an outdoorsy girl...but I can be high maintenance too...I'm a true Wisconsin Girl at Heart...yep that means cheese is a must at every meal and snack...I don't mind killing spiders...but I'm scared to death of clowns...I really don't like birds...I tend to be random...but not very spontaneous.

Favorite Vampire?

I think it's a safe bet that vampires are here to stay as a common character in not only adult paranormal novels, but also in romance, and young adult novels.  These vampires all have different characteristics such as their supernatural abilities as well as there...um...diet.  We have our classic Dracula type vampires along with our fun loving (well maybe not Edward but the rest of the family) vegetarians.

So this leads me to the question, what is your favorite type of Vampire and who in particular?

I love vampires who are not only confident, but a little cocky as well.  I want them hot, sexy, possessive and a heroic warrior.  My favorite vampire would have to be Eric Northman from The Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampires series by Charlaine Harris.  Sookie describes Eric as "handsome, in fact, radiant; blond and blue-eyed, tall and broad shouldered. He was wearing boots, jeans, and a vest. Period. Kind of like the guys on the cover of romance books.".  Eric is arrogant, cocky, protective and sexy as hell.  I wouldn't mind a little nip from him.


So what about you?  What's your favorite type of Vampire and who in particular?