Consistency [Chelsie]

So, this week I finished Jars of Glass. I also read and finished Ever by Gail Carson Levine, and started Pride and Prejudice for my school's book club.

Jars of Glass was good. I had a problem with one of the characters (ugh, following the trend again). But then again, this character was someone that the readers is supposed to have a problem with.

Ever was just... okay. I love Gail Carson Levine, but this book just didn't do it for me. And this is why: usually, Levine writes books that are fantasy, but have some sort of realistic element to them. Ever didn't feel that way to me. It just seemed like a book made of coincidences and people/things/events that were there just to be there. It didn't have a purpose... except a possible religious purpose, which was the book's main redeeming quality. Overall it wasn't bad, but I wouldn't recommend this book over Fairest or The Two Princesses of Bamarre.

And Pride and Prejudice... I am only 27 pages into it. But so far, it's not bad. At all. I was thinking there'd be a huge language barrier, but there really isn't... it's not something that I am having too hard of a time trying to understand. I actually like it. =D (By the way, that cover is the actual cover of the copy I bought last week... and it's pink and green and I love it... it's so cute!)

So that's my update. Anyone else have a good reading week?

Also, an interesting tidbit: I did some calculations, and I read one book every 2.7 days. Which is actually not as bad as I thought it would be.

ARC's Galore!

Hi. This will be quick.

This week I've read:

Finished Beautiful Americans by Lucy Silag
2/3 of Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Willow by Julia Hoban
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
1/3 Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas

So, yeah, EXCELLENT reading week for me. and 4/5 of those are ARC's which is just CRAZY. I've never been surrounded by so many ARC's in my life. I've been by so many ARC's that I've had a few questions:

How many ARC's do you usually get in the mail in a week, month, whatever? Also, how do you pronounce ARC? I've heard it pronounced like Arc/Ark and A.R.C/A-R-C. How do you pronounce it?Myself? I pronounce it A.R.C./A-R-C.

Okay, enough about that. This week I hope to get to:

Finish Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Finish Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin
Breathe My Name by R.A. Nelson
and/or
Pretty Face by Mary Hogan
and/or
Take Me There by Susane Colasanti

So, yeah. Arrivederci (That's Italian)

~Kelsey

Long Time No See, Teen Tuesday

Hi there. Yeah, I'm still alive. 

Site: whatvanessareads.wordpress.com

Lately I've been reading a consistent amount of books. However, I kind of have a problem. I'm reading too many books at once.

I started reading The Mrs Marridge Project by Pauline Fisk and got like 30 pages through when I was assigned Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers for my English class. I thought it went kind of slow at times but was still good in the end. It took me a 

while to finish it because it wasn't that spectacular until like 200 pages in.

While in between those two books I got sidetracked (I just wanted something that wasn't about the Vietnam war and killing--which is what Fallen Angels is about) so I started The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty. I really like it and how it's presented. I got 30 pages into that one too. 

I exchanged books with my friend Danny and guess what I got? Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 

Is it weird that I've never actually read the books? When they first came out I was like six. When the first movie came out I was ten and I went to the theatre to watch it and didn't really like it. When the book really got hyped and the fandom was starting to peek, I wasn't much of a reader. Recall that I don't like fantasy much also, in books and movies. 

But since I watch the fiveawesomegirls so much and they blab about Harry so much, I gave in and started reading it. I'm about halfway done with it and I really like it. I see how things are shaping, I know there's lots of space for a lot of things to happen. I'm glad I don't remember any spoilers from anything. It's so weird how Harry is 11 years old right now that I'm reading him, but when I think of Harry I think of Daniel Radcliffe and he's so much older now. (Remember when Hermione/Emma Watson's hair was a frizz-ball?)

After I'm done with that book I will read The Year of Secret Assignments and then The Mrs Marridge Project. 

By the way, I finally have made a new review. I did it differently this time... I made a video review. 

The review is for Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Just click here to watch it. I'm posting it on my wordpress site also. Leave comments on youtube or wordpress, I don't mind where... Hope you like it!

Lastly, I would like for you guys to know that on Dec. 15th I will post some information regarding a contest of Lisa Schroeder's for her new book which is titled Far From You. 

Check it out then. :)

Till next time, 

Vanessa

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Book Chic (Dec. 9)

Hey everyone! This is my first Teen Tuesday post, and I'm so excited for it!! :)

This has been a hectic week, so I haven't read a whole lot, though I think I did pretty well considering.

Beginning from last Tuesday, I've read Bewitching Season, which I reviewed here,
and Prom Nights From Hell by Rosemary Clements-Moore,
which I hope to put up a review for shortly (though I'm feeling very lazy so who knows when it'll happen). And right now I'm finishing up Princess Diaries 3: Princess in Love and I started Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston last night during my break at work. It's really good so far.

I'm also really enjoying re-reading the PD books. It's great fun and it's good so I can be prepared when I read the 10th book since it's been so long since I've read a PD book and I've kinda lost track of what went on. Reading them all in order as close together as possible helps a LOT. I'm so excited to read the 10th book! I'm actually planning on getting the audio CDs for PD5-9 from my library because at the job I have now, I can listen to stuff while I work, so perfect opportunity for me to continue the PD series while saving time to read stuff for my site when I'm not on work. :)

Coming up soon in my reading are these books:

Princess Diaries 4: Princess in Waiting- continuing the re-reading process

Hell Week by Rosemary Clements-Moore- reading the sequel to Prom Dates from Hell. I can't wait to see what Maggie gets involved in this time!

I So Don't Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy- I'm excited for this book and have been for a while. I love the title and the summary sounds great. Barrie is also my December Fresh New Voice of YA, along with Lesley Livingston. Look out for the FNV posts coming up next week!

--cross-posted at bookchicclub.blogspot.com--

2... 3... 4 books!

So it's late on a Monday night, I had to work today so I'm really tired... and right now the only thing I want to do is curl up into a ball and fall asleep... But for the sake of Teen Tuesday, I must post!

Plus, I read a lot this week.

I finished Untamed. I have very strong feelings on Zoey, the MC, which barely ever happens to me (as far as being picky about the characters). She was just... ugh, so annoying. Here is a link to my review, in case you're interested.

I also finished Legacy by Kate Brian, which is the sixth book in the Private series, which I absolutely adore. I had forgotten how much I love this series... I read the first five a year ago and then when Legacy came out I didn't have the energy to get into it again; but I decided to come back to it again and I am so. glad. I. did. Legacy was soo good... I don't have a formal review for my blog (I don't like to review books in series, because I've come to find that for most books in a longer series, there is consistency and reviews get to be boring... except in the case of Untamed, which the review was anything but boring to write) but if you're interested in a review, just mention it and I will link you to my Amazon page and you can read it on there. Or something.

After that, I read House of Dance by Beth Kephart. I read it so quickly on Sunday night, and I was just... awed. The book was so good; I am still thinking about it, so I don't have a review written just yet. But I know I will soon, because I have a lot of thoughts about it. Either way, a general summary: this book is ah-mazing, and highly recommended. Especially if you're looking for a quick, but very heart-lifting, book.

And now it's Monday night, and I am reading Jars of Glass by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler. I'm a big fan of these author's books, and so I'm hoping Jars of Glass turns out well. I'm not extremely far into it, though, so I can't say too much yet. But if you wanna know more... come back next week :)

Now, I'm off to bed... and I'll be hoping for a snow day tomorrow... *looks at huge piles of snow and flying snowflakes* It's highly possible.

<3 Chelsie

How long has it been?

Over a month. The last time I posted was October 28th!!! So, since then, I'll post all the books I read every week since.

Nov/02-Nov/09

The Bermudez Triangle
Paper Towns

Nov/09-Nov/16

Sisters of Misery
The Blonde of the Joke

Nov/16-Nov/23

You Had Me At Halo
Jenny Green's Killer Junior Year

Nov/23-Nov/30

Invisible Touch

Nov/30-Dec/07

Secrets of My Suburban Life
3/4 Beautiful Americans

So, in total, I've read 8 books in November, averaging 2 books a week. Not bad I guess. In total, Invisible Touch by Kelly Parra was by FAR the best. Excellent. Paper Towns and Sisters of Misery were pretty great. You Had Me At Halo, The Blonde of the Joke, and The Bermudez Triangle were good but kind of boring. Jenny Green's Killer Junior Year was strange and good enough, and Secrets of My Suburban Life was REALLY predictable and shallow.

I'm reading Beautiful Americans by Lucy Silag and it's pretty good. It will be released in January. I also started BookSwim and just got my first batch of books from them, Pretty Face by Mary Hogan, Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, and Take Me There by Susane Colasanti. I also should by getting Willow by Julia Hoban soon and You Are So Undead To Me by Stacey Jay, and maybe a few other exciting ARC's!

Glad to be back!

Kelseyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Hope (Dec. 2)

I'm actually remembering to cross-post this time! Yay!

Last weekend was Thanksgiving Break, so I didn't have school for five days! (Including weekend, of course. :D) I took advantage of this time and was a bookaholic. Well, more than usual. :)

I read:
1. Fahrenheit 451 (for school)
2. Cycler
3. Bite Me
4. The Second Virginity of Suzy Green
5. Revelations (Blue Bloods 3)

I enjoyed most of them. Cycler was a bit... interesting. But I'll save the rest of that one for the review. :p Fahrenheit 451 was okay. I was expecting it to be a bit better, but I just found it really s l o w a lot of the time.

Right now, I'm reading Moonstone by Marilee Brothers. And I'll probably pick up another one here soon because I can't read just one book at a time.

Reviews are coming up soon! I'm scheduling everything right now to make sure that they all get written while I'm thinking about it. :)

hope.

-cross posted at princess2293.blogspot.com-

I miss reading a book every other day

bookloverreviews.blogspot.com

I am going to make a list... it will keep this post from getting too long.

1. Sovay by Celia Rees
2. Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith
3. Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo
4. 1/3 of Untamed by P.C. and Kristen Cast

Those are the 3.3333333 books I've read this past week, and I am very happy because that's practically more than I read the entire month of September.

Sovay was good; not amazing, but not bad at all.

Tantalize was definitely interesting; I am glad I read it, because it was a different take on the whole vampire/werewolf thing. It was good; not great, but good.

Twenty Fragments... was a short book that I've had since summer that I hadn't gotten to yet, until this past week. And it was actually good. Everyone once in awhile I need something different than my usual, and this was definitely a good kind of different. For one thing, it was set in Beijing, and for another there were actual pictures in this book... not an abundance of them, but every so often there would be a picture thrown in among the text.

My favorite picture was the picture of the Chinese McDonald's. I work at McDonald's, and I also happened to be in McDonald's when I read that part... so I was mildly amused =D

Anyways, that was my reading week. I hope I'm not the only person who posts this week =(

<3 Chelsie

Me and My Twilight Obsessed Friends...

So, as this is the week that Twilight finally comes out (EEKKKKK!) I think I should talk about that...

A bunch of my friends have read Twilight, and when we're around all our guy friends who haven't read it and we're swooning over Edward or saying that we want to throw Jacob off a cliff, they all look at us like we're crazy and say, "What's the big deal, anyway?"

.... {open, gaping mouths}
...

WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?!

This is only one of the most addicting series' EVER, WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

So, yes, we now ignore them and talk on. :p

Who's going to see the movie? Any thoughts on it?

I'm going on Friday, and I think it's going to be really good. :)

At least, I hope. :p

hope.

Twilight-tastic

Two Tuesdays in a row! Woohoo, I rock!

My reading week has actually been uneventful.

I started reading Sovay by Celia Rees, and I finally realized why I love her books so much: they always feature a strong leading female character. I love the Sovay, she is such an interesting and strong narrator. It seems like women are stereotypically weak, or dependent, and in her books that just isn't the case. Sovay is definitely not an exception.

I am about halfway through, but I put a pause on that to start reading Hairstyles of the Damned, which was recommended to me by the fabulous Stephanie Kuehnert. I got about twenty pages in that before I realized that there is less than a week before Twilight comes out (eeek!) and so I am now reading Twilight for the third time so it's fresh in my mind.

And can I just say how much I love it? I am 200 pages in and I just don't want to stop reading; I'll take breaks occasionally, just to stretch and get drinks. But then I'm back at it; I haven't read Twilight since New Moon came out, and I am really glad I'm reading it again. It's just as entertaining the third time 'round! =D

Of course, I'm dying for the movie. My school's book club is going to go see it as a group, so we've already pre-bought our tickets and everything. So on Friday at four we'll all be in the theater and getting ready to watch it. We all made Twilight T-shirts last week, and just today (which happens to be Monday, since I'm writing this ahead of time) my friend Sam and I decorated ours with beads and glitter paint and whatnot... it was great fun, and I'll definitely have pictures next week!

Anyways, that's my reading and whatnot... I hope someone else posts this week... I was lonely last week ='(

But I understand anyways!

<3 Chelsie