Quickie Edition

This is going to be an extremely quick post, due to the fact that my friend Lara is sitting on my bed being bored while I'm here on the computer.

Last week I asked for suggestions on which books to keep and which to turn in.

To be 100% honest... I turned them all in. And I feel so rejuvenated! There is something great about taking a load off, especially this past week (too much drama for my taste...).

So I started The Host. And let me tell you, I am in love... even though I'm only about 150 pages into it. I was worried that I wouldn't like it because I'm so used to Stephenie Meyer writing about Bella and Edward... but I am not disappointed at all.

However, I am reluctantly putting it aside for the moment to start I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone. I am contributing to Lauren's contest to celebrate the release, and I'm going to be giving away a $10 gift certificate to an online store, along with a whole bunch of other reviewers who are also contributing $10. So be sure to check it out, so far there's $90 up for grabs to one lucky winner!

I'm not too far in that, but what I have read so far is insanely intriguing =D

-Chelsie-

Teen Tuesday - Fourth Edition! :)

Sorry it's taken so long guys. I've been too busy for my own good. But we did feed over 300 households at the food pantry I helped out at today, so even though I came home tired and exausted, it was SO worth it to see all those people look sososo glad to get food, and thank you so much. :)

This has been a very good week for me - for the summertime - I have to say.

I read Frenemies, which was really good. I honestly didn't know what I was going to think about it, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. The only thing that I didn't like about it was that Avalon and Halley seemed more high-school age than eighth grade, and I had to keep reminding myself that they were in the eighth grade and not in high school. To read more about what I liked and didn't like about Frenemies, click here.

I also read The Elite by Jennifer Banash. I was going into reading it hearing sososo many good reviews about it, and I am now in the spell that The Elite casts on people. It draws you in and sucks you up and you're reading it and reading it and just when it gets to the good part WHAM. You have to wait until 2009 to get the next one, In Too Deep. lol. Look for my review of The Elite on... tomorrow or Thursday over at my blog.

I am currently in the middle of Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty. I'll admit, I had to drag my butt out of bed to write this... I'm just at the good part, and so if this post seems completely rushed, you now know why, haha. The book is amazing, though. I love all the exchanges between Geena and Ben, they make me laugh out loud. Literally. That's a good thing, because if a book is meant to be funny and it can't make ME laugh then... it's not funny. 'Cause I laugh at the stupidest things.

This week, I need to start reading 1984 by George Orwell for my history class (which I keep saying I'm going to start and then never do). I'm also going to try and finish La Petite Four and Unbelivable (the fourth Pretty Little Liars book).

Until next Tuesday.
hope. :)

Chelsea's First Post!

Hi! This is my first Teen Tuesday post. Since I'm done with reviewing, I thought I'd use this as a way to keep you up to date with what I'm reading! This week was busy, so I didn't get as much reading done as usual. But I DID read The Luxe for the TT Book Club, which I loved. It's been compared to Gossip Girl, but I think it's far more substantial than that. The comparison, I can understand though, because it IS filled with scandal. I can't wait for the chat!

I also read The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. I'd heard a lot about it, but didn't really known much. I put it on my BookSwim pool anyway, only to find out that about half the book is told in pictures. It's a 500 page book, but I went through it extremely fast. (Partly due to the pictures, but also partly due to the fact that something was alwaaaays going on!) I really enjoyed it, and it was a refreshing change of pace.

The third book I started was Jumper by Steven Gould. I had seen the movie, and decided to rent the book as soon as I had the chance. And, while I'm not disappointed (except at the lack of Hayden Christiansen), the book is COMPLETELY different from the movie. I guess the one I'm reading now was written in the 90s, only to be rewritten in the past couple of years, to be adapted onto the screen. So there are two Jumper books. I've only got about 100 or so pages left of this one, but I'm really wanting to read the other book (the one the movie was adapted from), too.

Aside from that, I've rented some vampiry reads in honor of Vampire Month at the new blog Genre of the Month, which I'll be organizing, and a ton of awesome reviewers will be participating in!

Happy reading!

And You Thought It Was Just a Name...

I have a confession to make.

Besides being a compulsive reader, I am also a compulsive buyer. Of books, that is. You simply cannot stop me in a bookstore. Amazon's free shipping with orders over 25 dollars? Sucks me in every time. Wal-mart paperbacks with their marked down prices, conveniently juxtaposed next to the list price? I simply cannot resist.

It's a bit of a bad habit that oftentimes leaves me without much spare cash, but I deal with it the best I can. In my constant state of trying to catch up on my compulsive buys these past years, this has left me ample room to buy a book, not have time for it, read it weeks later, and then consequently kick myself for not reading it the exact minute I got because it is just that AMAZING.


This has been true with Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. I bought it in August before my sophomore year of high school on a whim. I liked the cover. And the new releases were on sale. Then school started. I was busy with school work and making friends. Finally, one day in October, I picked it up. It did not leave my hands, except to be taken away in Spanish class. As I mourned the loss of it, I was also berating myself for not reading the minute I bought it. But maybe it was all for the best, because when I went to get my book back at the end of the day, I met my best friend…who had also gotten her copy taken away just an hour after me. Go figure.


Another such occurrence was with Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway. Oh my goodness, that book made me laugh! It was completely and utterly entertaining. I've never met a character with so much energy and life. I do not know why I waited three months to read it, and I am very sad that I did.



And, more recently, the House of Night series. I've had the first three books since January, and always they sat on my shelf, waiting to be read. I lent them to a friend of mine who had a book project, and isn't much into reading, but way into horror movies. Since I wasn't reading them, and they were about vampires (ahem, I mean vampyres), I thought she might enjoy them. She did. And then she pestered and pestered me until I read them myself. And now, I am questioning my sanity for letting so many good books go unread (I finished Chosen, and NEED Untamed…). What am I thinking?

And sadly, these are not the only books that I've been slow to get…The Mortal Instruments series, A Curse Dark as Gold, The Book Thief, Enthusiasm. This has left me quite "paranoid". Now I stare at my shelves, looking at all the unread books, and despairing of missing a single great one. Do you ever do that? Please tell me I am not alone in this.

Anyways, I've been such a lousy blogger recently...I have hardly posted anything in the past week, though I am in the middle of The Host. I've been focusing all of my attentions on this. Check it out....there's WAY more to come.

The Luxe [Megan]

Some have claimed that The Luxe is the guilty pleasure of young adult literature. There is something so enticingly delicious about this books. The way that it i able to sweep you away from reality into a world of passion, money, and betrayal. Even though The Luxe's most striking feature wasn't its well crafted prose, the book is well written with moments of descriptive brilliance. And even if the author wasn't quite as talented,I don't think most readers would care, happy to get swept away in the moment of the book.

Teen Tuesday is hosting a chat on The Luxe on July 8th at 8pm EST.
Have you read the book and want to find out how to join in?
Email teentuesday@yahoo.com subject: The Luxe

For those of you who are planning on participating begin thinking about your answers to the following questions. Anyone can feel free to answer in the comments as well, but remember to clearly mark any spoilers!

What drew you into the book?
What character did you most identify with?
How did the opening snippets add to your understanding of the book?
Do you have moments in the book you love and wish you could live over and over forever?
Would you rather be rich or poor within this world?

The Luxe was well crafted by Anna Godbersen. She shared some insight to her process, along with a section of the book in a HarperTeen podcast.


Are you excited to read Rumors?