Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I'm New!

Hey everyone,

I'm new here! My name is Holly and I run a blog/magazine for women called Woman Tribune as well as a feminist/political blog, Menstrual Poetry. I was invited to join Teen Tuesday by Megan after talking to her about a young adult book I just finished reading and noticing that it's Tuesday, so I had immediately thought about this Teen Tuesday site she had told me about a while ago.

Throughout this past week, I finished reading an excellent book by Jennifer Weiner, Good in Bed, which isn't a "young adult" book, but it was still a great read. Last night, I finished reading C. Leigh Purtill's first novel, Love, Meg. It was a really great book, wonderfully constructed and overall, very enjoyable; it was also a pretty fast read, I started reading it while also reading Good in Bed and read the bulk of it in just two days which is pretty good for me because I can't always find the time to read as much as I would like to.

I read C. Leigh Purtill's second novel, All About Vee first, never even hearing of this author at first because I wasn't an avid young adult reader until recently. After putting a review for All About Vee up on my website I received a comment as well as an email from Leigh Purtill and since then, we've been in pretty close contact through email and within the first five minutes of finishing Love, Meg I emailed her to tell her I wanted a sequel. The book left me wanting more, which was actually the worst part of reading the book; wanting more and then finding out that she didn't have a plan for a sequel. I'm one of those people who need closure, who needs to know that everyone does go on to be happy overall but sometimes books just don't work that way, as I'm sure everyone knows.

I noticed that a lot of people are reading a lot of books at the same time, especially Megan who seems to be reading 12 different books at any given time, but I have a hard time keeping track of stories and what characters belong to which plot and start to confuse everyone. Like I said before, I started Love, Meg while reading Good in Bed and it turned out that both Leigh Purtill and Jennifer Weiner thought it would be a good idea to name both sister characters Lucy, but with different spellings. In my mind, the different spellings didn't register in my head until I realized that both sisters were named Lucy and that just goes to show you how funny it is, like Megan mentioned in her last post here, when books you're reading have something indirectly in common. I think I'll stick to reading just one book at a time from now on because that alone posed a bit of confusion for my brain.

Overall it's a great book and I definitely recommend it. I did see all of the twists and turns coming before they happened, but I don't feel as if it had anything to do with the way the story was constructed and it was no fault of the author's, I just had an inkling because I'm one of those people who think to myself "Yeah, it would surely be a twist if this happened..." and low and behold, the author had thought the same thing! If you're interested in a whole, in depth review, I have one posted here.

It's great to be a part of Teen Tuesday and will be reading more young adult books soon so I'm sure to be back.

Her Smile [Megan]


Well I have been getting a lot of reading done. Picking up book after book and reading a few pages and not making it far.

The young adult books I am currently reading are:
The Second Mrs. Gioconda
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

The books I recently finished are:
The Book Thief
Vampire Plagues: Paris, 1850
Feed
Kira-Kira


I think it is interesting when books two books you are reading have a common element. It is to be expected if you are reading two books on the same topic. But I think it is really interesting when it happens when you are reading books on two different topics.

You know when you are needing to be reading a pile of books but there is one just this one that keeps staring at you? You see it calling to you out of the corner of your eye?


Well as I was pushing through Vampire Plagues 2 (and it was a real push cause I as hating it, big disappointment after I liked the first book) and I came across a passage. As I did my eyes darted to that book I am not supposed to be reading because I am already reading WAY TOO MANY BOOKS! I read the words again, "Jack had no idea at all why Emily and Ben were so enthralled by the painting. IT was not very big, and there was a tint over the whole thing that made it look as if it has been painted in greenish haze" (44). So what was Jack looking at? The painting has been around for over 500 years and one of the most famous ones in the world. It also happens to grace the cover of the book I am trying not to read.



MusicPlaylist


I have lots more I want to read and lots more I need to read.
I will be (I hope) exploring The Book Thief throughout the week on my blog. I found it to be so dense that every time I try to write about it my head explodes. I decided it will be more manageable in small pieces, please stay tuned and check it out!

What did you read today?

Mrs. Magoo's Second Edition

www.mrsmagooreads.com

I am currently on vacation and do not have a lot of time to post, but...

Enter my contests to win
Farworld: Water Keep
An awesome shirt (5 possible winners!)

I just finished Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories, as well as Jennifer Ziegler's How Not to Be Popular.

I also have A LOT of work to catch up on. Some of the books I need to review are:

1) The Alchemyst
2) Crank
3) Glass
4) Drama! The Four Dorothys
5) Drama! Everyone's a Critic
6) The Squad: Perfect Cover
7) How Not to be Popular
8) Haroun and the Sea of Stories
9) Amor and Summer Secrets

In addition, I need to contact a few authors about interviews/guest blogs. Aack!!!...

My Horrible Reading Week (Vanessa)

Hi guys! 
First of all I'd like to say that I love the new banner-thingy. It's so cute! :)
Second of all, I was entering some contests and seeing their end date and stuff to see if I can still enter so I had to look at my calendar and noticed that today is August 12... A TUESDAY! I actually got a little giddy and lowly screamed "It's Tuesday!". So yeah, I like posting here... call me weird.
Okay, time to get down to business. This week has been so slow for me. I don't know what's wrong, I just haven't been head over heels over my (super beautiful) new books. I need to catch up because in 6 days my first priority will no longer be reading/relaxing/being lazy but school. In the past week I've read:
  1. Violet on the Runway by Melissa Walker
  2. Lost It by Kristen Tracy.
That's all. I'm serious. No, I'm not kidding one bit. And to make it even worst, both the books are fast reads, tiny, something anyone can read in a day. But... they were still great reads!
Violet on the Runway was something I didn't expect. It was cute, light, and entertaining. Violet is very likable... and like normal girls. I liked that about her character... she was so girl-next-door. I loved how the book was written so flow-y and Violet's crazy adventures. I do have one complaint about the book: its ending. I just didn't like the corny-ness in it (if you've read it you know which scene I'm talking about). I loved the book overall, giving it four stars and classifying it as awesome. I liked this book enough to want to read the next book in the series, Violet by Design.
 If you want to read my review, just click here
The next book really surprised me. Lost It by Kristen Tracy was fresh, out there, and different. (I keep using three adjectives to describe books.) I stopped reading it to read Violet on the Runway for the LOTR Newsletter (click here to get to the website) but picked it up right when I was done reading Violet. 
It was such a great read. I have been eyeing the cover forever because its so pretty... the guy and the girl... the grass... the shoes. It's about a girl named Tess Whistle who's life is having bizarre twists--her best friend Zena wants to build a bomb to blow up a poodle, her mom and dad are born-again by stranding Tess home alone and joining a survival camp, rock climbing and hiking in the middle of nowhere, her grandma has become her only guardian and takes her shopping where they pick up sexy underwear. And now Tess is getting more and more attached to Ben, her first real boyfriend. Things are getting more and more physical in their relationship. Will Tess lose it? I suggest you guys go pick this one up! It is a fast, cherished read. It earned 4 1/2 stars and classified an awesome for its greatness. For my full review click here.
 
Right now I'm reading Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott. I'm about halfway done. I don't know if maybe I'm expecting too much or something, but I feel Perfect You hasn't been 5 star material like Bloom (which is one of the seven books on my preposterous Favorites list on Shelfari). Maybe four star, but not like-omg-so-amazing. Maybe I just need to continue reading. I'm wondering what will happen with sucky-friend Anna and gorgeous-but-weird Will. I hope it takes a good twist and becomes great. I really love how Elizabeth Scott writes. Review will come up when I'm done.
Anyways that's basically it (can you tell I'm bored, home alone, with nothing to do that I dragged this entry a lot?). 
I have so many books waiting for me I don't which to pick next to read. Wanna help me? Pick one from this list (all the new books) and comment this entry about your pick if you'd like. :)

  1. Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
  2. The Luxe by Anna Godersen
  3. Bass Ackwards and Belly Up by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain
  4. Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott
  5. Dramarama by E. Lockhart
  6. The Decoding of Lana Morris by Laura & Tom McNeal
  7. Lock & Key by Sarah Dessen
  8. Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn
  9. The Book of Luke by Jenny O'connell
  10. I Heart you, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder
  11. The Mediator (Book 1) by Meg Cabot
  12. The Mrs. Marriage Project by Pauline Fisk
  13. My Mother is French Fry and Further Proof of my Fuzzed Up Life by Colleen Sydor
  14. A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
  15. The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty
  16. Saving Zoe by Alyson Noel
  17. When It Happens by Susane Colasanti
  18. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
So, what's your verdict on my next read?

HAVE A GREAT WEEK MY TEEN TUESDAY-ERS. :)

Vanessa.


Procrastinatiion At Its Finest

It is quite amazing how many YA books one can read when attempting to put off required summer reading.

I'm just saying.

I have read the following books in the past week, with accompanyine comments:

Rumors by Anna Godbersen (MUCh better than the Luxe, keep it up, Anna!)

Outside Beauty by Cynthia Kadohata (Very, very good, and kinda heartbreaking)

How I Live Now (not what I expected, but still amzing. But I guess that's what that gold seal on the cover means, huh?)

Violet by Design by Melissa Walker (sloooow...then FAST!)

Violet in Private by Melissa Walker (deep and shining, way to go MW!)

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Mariller (JM, I forgive you for the last two books in the Sevenwaters Trilogy. Truly. Now, please, someone send me a review copy of Cybele's Secret before I die! (Kidding!) (Well, sorta.) )

The Brothers Torres by Coert Voorhees (Wow! Good! I've got my eye on you, dude!)

Total Knockout: Tale of an Ex Class President by Taylor Morris (made me semi nostalgic for 8th grade. Very nice.)

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (This is a reread, but man, I heart you, Rachel and David. You guys get to hold the MADE OF AWESOMENESS position)

So, yeah, like 9 books in a week. And how many pages of Waiting for the Barbarians did I get through. Like, 20. And that's pushing it. Guess what I'm going to be doing Labor Day weekend!?

Anyways, I plan to further continue my clever (or not so clever, however you wanna look at it) procrastination by reading the following books this week:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (I actually just started reading this one, and I LIKE!)

Impossible by Nancy Werlin (besides making me want to start singing Impossible from the Rogers and Hammerstein Cinderella musical, this one looks EXTREMELY GOOD.........IMPOSSIBLE....for a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage...IMPOSSIBLE!)

Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky (the cover makes me giggle. Am I childish or what? My younger bropther saw it and was like, "HOLY COW, ARE YOU READING PORN? NO, WAIT, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!" Aren't they just charming at that age?)

Paper Towns by John Green (My mom actually stole my copy of Looking for Alaska, so I've never read anything by him. But she said that it had just the right dash of sarcasm, irony, and nerdy humor to make me happy. I told her what would really make me happy was if she gave me my book back but, ah, well, such is life. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to it.)

Revealers by Amanda Marrone (She wrote Uninvited, which was supposedly really good, but I haven't read it. I think the cover of Revealers is a little hokey, but we'll see how it turns out.)

Ever by Gail Carson Levine (Lalala, I heart you, Gail.)

Sleepless by Terri Clark (reminds me of a combination of Wake by Lisa McMann and The Mediator by Meg Cabot. Can't wait!)

Death by Latte by Linda Gerber (the first one was great! Linda Gerber totally rocks!)

So there you have it. Maybe with a bit of luck, I can also finish Waiting for the Barbarians (yeah, right).

Also, I now Twitter. Check it out: twitter.com/compelledtoread

Til next Tuesday!

TCR

My Reading of the Week (Kelsey)

Hey, so these are the books I've read since last Tuesday. Which isn't as much as usual, and I have not idea why . . .
  1. Saving Zoë by Alyson Noël
  2. Bad Girls Club by Judy Gregerson
  3. Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn
  4. How Not To Be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler
(All the reviews are on my blog besides How Not To Be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler, which I will have up after this hopefully.)

This is what I like best about the books above:

Best Character: Cyd Charisse in Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn and Destiny in Bad Girls Club by Judy Gregerson.
Best Plot: Bad Girls Club by Judy Gregerson.
Best Setting: How Not To Be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler.
Best Writing: Saving Zoë by Alyson Noël and Bad Girls Club by Judy Gregerson

Winning Book-Bad Girls Club by Judy Gregerson.

Bad Girls Club is an exceptional book. It was perfect in many ways, but also very very sad. Incredibly sad. But worth the read. I would recommend you read this book as soon as possible.

Now, on to the books I plan to read.

Well, the very nice Daria Snadowsky had sent me her book, Anatomy of a Boyfriend, to review. It was released last year but the paperback will be on sale at the end of September. So I plan on reading that next for Daria. I also still have one more book that I haven't read that I had gotten from the library about . . . two weeks ago? It's House of Dance by Beth Kephart (Which I heard The Story Siren is giving away three signed(?) copies of this book on her blog.) which I plan to read after Daria's book. Then I hope I have those books from the library come in that I wanted: Shrimp and Cupcake by Rachel Cohn and The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson and Chasing Windmills by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It appears as though only Shrimp by Rachel Cohn is the only book In Transit though, and maybe Cupcake by Rachel Cohn. I'm running out of books to read in all of my libraries . . . I wish I were a billionaire like that tagged thing that was going around this week, then I would be able to open up an actual bookstore in this town, and then I'd be able to get books without paying for shipping. But now, I pretty much have to stick to waiting for the libraries I live around at getting books to read then . . .

Well, I guess that's it for this week . . .

~Kelsey
P.S. Look for my new blog I made for reviewing movies, which reminds me I have two movies to review, here. Oh, and check out my new discussion forum here where I have put together a small book club.

Chelsea's Week in Reading

This past week I read:

-Twilight
-New Moon
-Eclipse
-Breaking Dawn
-1/2 of The White Darkness

Obviously, I was busy, because those are some pretty big books. And I'm not all that fast of a reader. I'm not going to go too much into this, but I just have to say that I hate all the negativity Breaking Dawn has gotten. I really liked it. Blahblahblah. I'm sure you're all sick of reading about Breaking Dawn. If not, I reviewed it here, so you can read my in depth thoughts on it, but basically, it was enjoyable for me. And I'd love to read more books told from other character's POVs. There were a lot of new interesting ones introduced in BD.

Other than that, I started adding books to my Goodreads account, and I ended up inventorying all the books I own but haven't read yet. Turns out I have 279. All unread. And that's minus all the classics. Heh. I have a problem.

Oh, and also. I'm starting weekly contests back up again, so make sure you enter this week's.

So to sum everything up, I'm hoping next week is a more exciting week in the book world because this was a rather boring post. Eek. Sorry guys!

Bad Reading Week [Chelsie]

First off, Hope asked me to mention that she's on vacation, so that's why she isn't doing a post this week. She wants everyone to know that she didn't abandon us. =D

Also, I'd like to do some shameless advertising and say that I'm holding a contest on my blog to win a signed copy of Violet in Private by Melissa Walker.

And, in other news, there's a new Teen Tuesday button on the sidebar, so if you like that one better you can copy and paste that link into your blog and replace the old one. Or, if you absolutely despise the new one, or don't like the colors, or the old one just rocks your socks, you can keep the old one, because the link will still work.

If you don't have a Teen Tuesday button on your blog somewhere, this is me nicely asking you to put one on there. =D

And one final thing, I was reading this blog over at Shooting Stars Mag, and the idea really interested me. I don't want to ramble on and get everyone confused, but I thought I'd share the link.

So, now that I've got the official business out of the way...

I have only read one book this week. And that book was Violet by Design by Melissa Walker, which was extremely good. I actually think I enjoyed it more than the first one... The first one was good, but the second really had me hooked, and now I'm excited to see what happens in Violet in Private.

I'm also still working on What the Storyteller Brings. It's a slow process, because I can't focus on it for very long. But I can honestly say that I'm putting forth an honest effort to finishing it. Slowly but surely.

Other than that, I really have nothing much to say. Last week the library recieved a whole stack of Young Adult books (that I picked out) and so I know that I'll have enough to read for oh, the next six months. With the new books at the library, the ones I have at home, and with the school library as soon as school starts again, I will never run out of choices.

Ah, so many books...

Now, gotta get back to reading. Er, I mean work...

-Chelsie-
Please check out my awesome blog, http://www.bookloverreviews.blogspot.com/, to read awesome reviews, one truly awesome interview, and to enter into my awesome contest.