Teen Tuesday...well, Thursday!

I know, I know...it's not Tuesday! But things got crazy here at school this week and I couldn't get to my computer - so Thursday it is!

I just finished Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. Not typically my type of genre, I really liked it. I loved the dynamic between Auden and her mother - and then later with Auden and her father. The picture of step-mom Heidi that I had created in my head was quickly blown to smithereens once we actually first meet her...overwhelmed and stressed as she's become a mom and deals with a newborn. There's some great interaction between Auden and the beach girls - Esther, Leah, and Maggie - especially after Auden's embarrassing first-night hook up. And what can I say about Eli? Loved him. A great, easy, quick read.

I'm 10 pages away from finishing Gone by Michael Grant...AND I LOVE IT!!!!! It's like The Stand combined with Girl Who Owned a City with Lord of the Flies with lots of awesomeness and super powers!! What more could you want. Next in my "to read" pile is the sequel, Hunger!

That's it! Don't forget to check out my blog for my contest...we're giving away an autographed copy of Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen!

http://blogs.ellingtonschools.org/larkin/

Teen Tuesday (4)

This week has been kind of busy. I had been gone for the last two weeks and brought lots of books with me and came home to some that I got in the mail. To find out what those books are you can check out my In My Mailbox post for this week.

I finally finished Envy by Anna Godbersen. I was hoping to have it sooner but I had the flu and was so sick that all I did was sleep. I had a constant fever and couldn't eat anything, and it was bad! But I'm all better now, so I'm back to reading. And anyways I linked the review for that about. I also read a book that I didn't plan on reading but I was glad that I did. It was actually one of my sisters school books. It was called Behind Rebel Lines by Seymour Reit. It was a non-fiction book about a woman who disguised herself in the Civil War. I didnt review this one but I did enjoy reading it, though it was short. The woman who it was about actually wrote her own book but it was made more than 120 years ago and you cannot find it. I linked the book on amazon in case anyone was interested.

Right now I am currently reading Candor by Pam Bachorz for my 1 ARC Tours. I am only on the third chapter but it is ok for only being that far. I hope that it gets good, which from the reviews that I have seen, it will. I should have the review for this one up in a couple day so be looking for that.

And last but not least I am holding a Michelle Moran contest. It will be for a paperback signed copy of The Heretic Queen and a signed hardback copy of Cleopatra's Daughter. I will be reading and reviewing these in the near future and let me tell you I am so excited to read them. If you are interested head on over and check it out.

That is all that I can think of that has happened in the last two weeks. I would like to say that I am sorry for the delay. I just got back yesterday and am trying to get back into my routine .

~Jordan

speaking of ah-mazing...

This week, I have been reading...

Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter, which was amazing. This series is fantastic.

Now I am in the middle of The President's Daughter by Ellen Emerson White. It was recommended to me by my school librarian and I like it so far.

Next: Crashed by Robin Wasserman and Chasing Fire by Suzanne Collins. So excited!

Hunger Games is AH-MAZING!

I just posted my review on my blog, The Clock Monkey.

Does anyone else agree with me in saying this is a truly wonderful book?

One of the best books I've read in a while.

Head over to TCM and disscuss!

xo,
Ella

Wazzup

I is reading...



...and that's about it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, House is on!

Author Guest Post: Megan Crewe

The lovely Megan Crewe has written a very clever post
on how she created her ghosts
for her new book:
Give Up The Ghost

Let give her a round of applause, people!
---------------------------------------------------------

Creating a ghost

You can find stories about ghosts going back thousands of years. So when I
started writing GIVE UP THE GHOST, I had to decide which bits of ghostly
mythology I might use, and how I would shape them to fit my story and make my
ghosts unique.

Here are a few of the things that define my ghosts:

1. My ghosts have a confused sense of time. This was inspired by the stories of
ghosts who seem to be living out or mourning a tragedy over and over, even
though it happened decades or centures ago. In GIVE UP THE GHOST, the ghosts
have strong memories of their lives, and have trouble remembering anything that's
happened afterward. They can recall recent events for a few hours or even days,
depending on how long they've been dead, and then they forget again. The only
things that start to stick are changes that stay the same. For example, when one
ghost's parents first cleared out her old bedroom, she would freak out over it every
few hours when she'd forgotten and was surprised by it again. But after a few
weeks, the change "sank in" (as Cass puts it) and she accepted it as if it'd always
been that way.

2. My ghosts can travel, but they have a relatively small location they feel most
comfortable at. Most ghosts in stories seem to be stuck to a particular place,
often the place where they died. For my ghosts, it's a place where they felt at
home when they were alive. One ghost who had an abusive father hangs out in
the halls at school where he used to meet up with his friends; another, who
dreamed of becoming a ballerina, lingers near the gym where she used to practice.
But because they're more human than many ghosts, they can decide to leave their
comfort place if they want to--they just won't feel totally at ease until they come
back.

3. My ghosts have an individual smell. This wasn't based on anything specific in
ghost mythology--it just seemed to make sense, that wispy and ethereal as ghosts
are, they would carry something wispy and ethereal like a scent. Each ghost's
scent is related to their life: one ghost trails of a whiff of the hair oil he always
used; another travels with the smell of his favorite tea.
All of that added together, I hope, makes for ghosts who seem appropriately
ghost-like, but a little different in their own way, too!

Thanks for hosting me,
Megan
------------------------------------------------

What an interesting post! Really!
I loved having you, Megan!
Come back any time! ;)

Give Up The Ghost hits the shelves TODAY!
*deafening round of applause*

Make sure you go to your nearest book store a snatch a copy of this amazing book!

AND, I'm guessing you'll be needing a bookmark to go with your copy of GUTG.
So, I'm giving away (thanks to Megan, of course)
a bunch of this awesome GUTG bookmarks!

Just go to The Clock Monkey, and leave your e-mail in the comments section, and you're in to win this beauties!

There'll be two winners!

(US/Canada addresses only, please, we don't want to leave Megan penniless!)


In the meantime, I'm leaving you with the GUTG Book Trailer (which I love <3)

So...

Not much going on. Reading this:



That's about it.

Happy Tuesday!

best reading week in awhile

This past week, I did more reading than I have in awhile, which is really sad but also exciting.

I finished At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks, which I really enjoyed. Nicholas Sparks is one of those authors that I read for something fluffy with substance. I haven't read much of him in the past couple years, so I picked this up and started reading and I liked it. However, as soon as I got to the end I found absolutely no point to the book whatsoever. It seemed cheesy and pointless, and I can't get into details but I must say I was not pleased with the end at all.

Funny story: I just found out right at this moment that At First Sight is the sequel to True Believer. And I had no idea... whoopsy. Maybe I would like it better if I read True Believer?

I also finished Paradise Lost by Kate Brian, which I can't believe I haven't read sooner. I love this series, but I put off reading Paradise Lost because I heard it was not as good as the rest. While I'll admit, it may not be the best, but it definitely was worth my time, and I am still just as addicted to the series as before. I am also somewhat glad that I waited this long to read it, because now I can jump right into Suspicion as soon as I get my hands on it.

Now I am putting most of my energy into Ivanhoe, for my Reading Unlimited class. However, I do plan on doing a little extra reading inbetween.

<3>

Ballad/ Shiver Contest

This is a teaser from Maggie Stiefvater's BALLAD, a novel involving homicidal faeries and kissing that's coming out October 1st.

He turned towards me. For a long moment, he stood facing me. I was held, anchored to the ground – not by his music, which still called and pushed against the music already in my head and said grow rise follow – but by his strangeness. By his fingers, spread over the ground, holding something into the earth, by his shoulders, squared in a way that spoke of strength and unknowability, and most of all, by the great, thorny antlers that grew from his head, spanning the sky like branches.

Then he was gone, and I missed his going in the instant that the sun fell off the edge of the hill, abandoning the world to twilight.

Buy it here. Enter the contest at Maggie's blog here.

Maggie Stiefvater is holding a Ballad Contest every Tuesday until October 1st, Ballad's release day.

Here are the prizes:

1) A signed Shiver audio book.
2) Another signed Shiver audio book.
3) A CD of my Homicidal Faerie Mix -- the music I played while writing Ballad. - Maggie Stiefvater

The contest ends next Thursday, the 17th.

So....

Well, I started my freshman year today. In short? Little fish in BIG pond. Seriously. I'm no where near ANY of my friends, im in classes with all upper classmen, and my locker is on the other side of the school from all of my classes.

So, what am I reading?

Sleepless by Thomas Fahly.

And that's it.

Peace,

Danielle