In My Mailbox 64

All of these books sound great! I've heard a lot about all the books that haven't been released yet, but I'm very excited about Guardian of the Dead, a book that's now out in paperback.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children review

Description: A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here—one of whom was his own grandfather—were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

My thoughts: My initial reason for wanting to read this book was because I saw it on The Book Smuggler’s radar post about 2 months ago. Just about anything they’re interested in is something that usually also appeals to me. And then I saw that the book had a high rating and multiple reviews all saying one thing: that they loved this book. And that was more than enough evidence to show that I needed to read this book. 

I have to say that although I might not have felt the same enthusiasm as it seemed other bloggers had for this book, it did not disappoint. What I liked most about this book was that even if for some reason you thought it wasn’t original, the photos themselves were appealing enough to make the story original. And I loved that although this wasn’t a scary story, some of the vintage photos at the end did provide me with a reason to be a little scared, or at least very uncomfortable.

I do admit that the plot and characters didn’t quite excite me (for lack of a better term) the way I thought or hoped they would be, but that was more because of my expectations and not because there was anything wrong with the book necessarily. However, my enjoyment for the book was a bit diminished because I thought the second half of the book regarding the plot and characters weren’t as peculiar as they seemed during the first half of the book.

With all that said, it’s like saying I hoped something was an A +, but instead turned out to be an A-. It’s still an A (this is an ex. and not a rating)! Overall, it was an entertaining read with many twist and turns and a unique concept. And it’s just the beginning of the series, so it has the opportunity to get even better!

Something extra: I liked that the “new world” Jacob was trying to find and prove to be true and not just a story his grandpa liked to tell him had so much history. It’s hard to explain what that means without giving something away but the world Jacob found in the book had and did affect hundreds and maybe thousands of other people. I’d be very interested in learning more about how everybody became peculiar, or how things got the way they got by the time Jacob arrived.

What are you reading on Mondays?

Book(s) read last week:
Fade by Lisa Mcmann
Miss Peregrine's School For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Currently reading:
Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

Upcoming read(s):
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier

In My Mailbox 63

I thought I wasn't going to receive any books this week until my dad tossed a package on my bed this afternoon. I'm excited to read both of these books although I don't no much about either or them!

Looking Foward to...

Description: A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here—one of whom was his own grandfather—were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

My thoughts: I've heard so many good things about this book. Plus it sound mysterious!

Heist Society review

Description: When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre...to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria...to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving "the life" for a normal life proves harder than she'd expected. 

Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster's art collection has been stolen, and he wants it returned. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.
For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s (very crooked) history—and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

My thoughts: Once I read Heist Society’s description, and because I’d read so many good reviews, I had no doubt that I’d like this book. I’ve never read a YA book whose main characters were thieves, so I was very excited because I love Oceans 11/the Italian Job style thievery. And this one had everything I wanted!

 There were multiple characters with different styles that helped the group as a whole. There was an evil dude behind everything but also a twist in the end so you’re not sure if the person behind the stealing of the three original paintings is good or bad. And, it has romance and betrayal.

One main reason I get excited about books revolving around the life of thieves is that in real life, stealing things is frowned upon. But in a book, they people can be portrayed in such a way that they can actually be seen as the good guy. Or you at least find yourself trying to make allowances for them, so it doesn’t seem too bad when they’re stealing the Mona Lisa in the 4^th chapter (this isn’t in the book, it’s just an ex.).

Besides all the thieving and plotting, the author reminded me why I love to read books or watch movies about thieves. They’re SO smart!! They seem to always know so much about EVERYTHING, especially art which I always like learning more about. I loved that they could be in Paris one day, and then Germany the next and switch languages like it was nothing! Or that they could know more about the history of a painting then the person who painted it. All good thieves just have to be very smart to not get caught, which is why I told my mom that if stealing wasn’t bad, I’d want to be a thief (calm down mom). 

Now that I’m done with the first book, I'm very excited for the next one. Especially because the author added a twist at the end of Heist Society that gave me an idea of what might happen next. I can’t wait!

What are you reading on Mondays?

Book(s) read last week:
Her and Me and You by Lauren Strasnick

Currently reading:
Fade by Lisa Mcmann

Upcoming read(s):
Miss Peregrine's School For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

In My Mailbox 62

I'm excited for all the review books, but I'm especially excited for the books I bought, Water For Elephants and The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie. I've been looking for the former for a while at my local indie store and just happened to grab the only copy left. I also grabbed The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie the same day so I could finally have the whole series by Jaclyn Moriarty. I've only read the fourth book in her series but I LOVED it!

Flashback Contest Winners

The winners: Sheila K and Harpreet Singh. Congrats!

I randomly selected the winners with Random Line Picker, putting each name in as many times as the number of points they got. As an automatic, winners of my contest have 48 hrs. from the time I send them an email  to the time they reply.Once again, Congrats!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Contest Winner

The winner: Jess from The Cozy Reader. Congrats!

I randomly selected Jess with Random Line Picker, putting each name in as many times as the number of points they got. As an automatic, winners of my contest have 48 hrs. from the time I send them an email  to the time they reply.Once again Congrats. I hope the winner enjoys their copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!

Girl Wonder review

Description: As if transferring senior year weren't hard enough, Charlotte Locke has been bumped to lower level classes at her new school. With no friends, a terrible math SAT score, and looming college application deadlines, the future is starting to seem like an oncoming train for which she has no ticket. Then Amanda enters her orbit like a hot-pink meteor, offering Charlotte a ticket to something else: popularity. Amanda is fearless, beautiful, brilliant, and rich. As her new side kick, Charlotte is brought into the elite clique of the debate team—and closer to Neal, Amanda's equally brilliant friend and the most perfect boy Charlotte has ever seen.

But just when senior year is looking up, Charlotte’s life starts to crumble. The more things heat up between Charlotte and Neal, the more Neal wants to hide their relationship. Is he ashamed? Meanwhile, Amanda is starting to act strangely competitive, and she's keeping a secret Charlotte doesn't want to know.
Talented newcomer Alexa Martin delivers a poignant story of first love, jealousy and friendship, where the ups and downs of senior year have never been so complicated. What else can Charlotte do but throw her hands up and ride?

My Thoughts: This was one of the only times I could merely tolerate but not quite like (initially) the main character of a book. She was extremely insecure and attracted to all the wrong things. There were even certain scenes where she admits she’d rather have a good outward appearance rather than be good on the inside. And that’s what attracts her to Amanda as well as her new crush Neal. 

But she doesn’t want to see that they aren’t as good on the inside as they are on the outside. And there is one person her age, one voice of reason that tries to get her to realize that she needs to choose better friends, but she’s so insecure that she won’t take his advice, at least at the beginning of the book.

The thing about Amanda was that she wasn’t your typical two-faced friend. Although she did things that weren’t right, she didn’t constantly belittle Charlotte, or hang out with her only when she felt like it. It was the type of situation that, unless you knew her type of person, you didn’t know that there was necessarily something fake or bad about her. And the same could be said about Neal. And until they actually did something extremely wrong, it was sometimes hard to tell that they were any different than many young adults that want to go to parties, drink, make out with attractive people, and be selfish.

It wasn’t till the end of the story that I started to like Charlotte and started to realize that her response to everything that was happening to her was more realistic than most characters in other books. There was no drastic change in her, although she did change. And had Amanda and Neal not shown their true colors, she’d probably still be hanging out with them. But that’s an honest reaction, because it seems to be easier to stay in certain situations than it is to get out of those situations, which was something I could relate to. 

I guess what made this book likeable was that once I got into it, I saw how honest it was and how I could see a little bit of myself in some of the characters. So it started slow but ended up right where it needed to be in the end.

Looking Foward to...

Description: The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

My Thoughts:  I love dystopians, especially ones that include a person needing to "set off on a long..journey."

Top Ten Tuesday: My Top Ten Authors I'd Die To Meet

1) J.R. Ward
I'm freaking addicted to her books! And although I have favorites in her series, she makes me fall in love with which ever brother (or sister) she chooses to be the main characters for each new book.

 2) Alexander Gordon Smith
There was no kind of romance his book Lockdown, yet I never thought about the lack of a love interest until after I'd finished reading. Plus, I was so scared for the characters that at one point, I felt claustrophobic while reading Lockdown. I'd love to know more about how he came up with this story.

3) Melissa Marr
I loved the world she created! It's so creative and intricate. I'd love to talk about the Wicked Lovely setting over lunch or something!!

4) John Green
He wrote one of my favorite books of all time. And maybe if I could meet him, I could also meet Hank... Like a two for one package deal.

5) Maureen Johnson
From her (old) videos on Youtube and her twitter messages, she seems extremely hilarious.

6) Madeleine RouxShe kept me excited and entertained throughout Allison Hewitt is Trapped. There was never a boring part, which is hard to pull off when an author has characters be apart of a huge journey.

7) N.K. Jemisin
Besides LOVING her first book, it's kind of nice to have a black woman be the author of one of my favorite books of 2010.

8) Jaclyn Moriarty
I've only read one of her books, but it was one of the best books I've ever read. And it was so unique. I'd love to meet her!

9) Norton Juster
He wrote my favorite book of all time.

10) J.K. Rowling
DUH!

The Silver Stag review

Description: She had never seen a forest as green as the Wood. It seemed ironic. The apparent life and vitality flowing from the lush green woods mocking all those entered in the past, never to return again. Chrysillee would not be one of those though. She was on a quest, a mission she would sooner die than leave unfulfilled, a journey she was willing to die for to fulfill, if need be. The sunlight filtering through the trees emitted a glittering, golden-green light. The Wood smelled thick with sweet, succulent magic that lured her forward yet made her sleepy. She stumbled on. The peddler warned of the legendary dangers of the Wood. She must not allow herself to give in... Suddenly, she stopped, listening. She heard it. The music. The sprightly call of the fiddle. She carefully made her way towards it, lured by its enchanting, lively strain. The melody awakened her sleepy spirit and body, spurred her slow steps into a quick walk, then a run, and then- She stopped as she emerged into a clearing where a girl danced on feet light as feathers, fingers weaving and skipping across the fiddle as delicately yet boldly as a spider spins her web. Both feet and hands moved deftly, skillfully, swiftly. Her white-gold hair twirled about her like beams of sunlight as did the full folds of her white-gold dress. Everything shimmered and glowed as she wove in and out of the green-gold beams of light streaming through the trees like the grand pillars of a princess' inner sanctum. Her eyes were closed but suddenly she opened them as if sensing Chrysillee's presence. A striking, sapphire blue. The girl smiled, still dancing, still playing, her feet not missing a beat, her hands not faltering on a single note, her eyes sparkling in a playful yet powerful sort of way. As Chrysillee continued to watch, she knew her quest would indeed not be in vain, for she found the Siren of the Wood, the Sunlit Wind Whisperer. Or maybe she found Chrysillee.

My Thoughts: The Silver Stag’s main story dealt with Chrysillee, her Godmother Gail, and her daughter Rory. But the stories within the main story were just as good. It was like one of those big presents where you open it up but there’s smaller one inside (and a smaller one inside that and so on). I thought I knew the whole story behind a situation until more was revealed.

Although my favorite characters weren’t the most important ones in the book, I enjoyed the back story involving Sascha, Gabriel and Emily in it. And although I initially liked Lucifer, Gabriel won me over. 

This book had vampires and faeries which aren’t new, but the introduction of Wind Whisperer’s was definitely different. I’ve never heard of anything like them but it sounded like a cool thing to be (besides the invisibility part)!

The ending made me partly sad for some characters but happy for others. And although this was a quick read, the author wrote the story in such a way that it felt like I knew all of the characters very well which is why I was sad/happy (because I knew so much history about the characters). This is a seemingly good addition to The Gailean Quartet, although I have yet to finish reading the full series.

Check out the other  Blog Tour spots by clicking on the banner below:

And enter to win The Gailean Quartet series here!

What are you reading on Mondays?

Book(s) read last week:
Heist Society by Ally Carter

Currently reading:
Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith

Upcoming read(s):
I'm doing the readathon so I don't know yet.

Forgotten review

Description: Each night when 16 year-old London Lane goes to sleep, her whole world disappears. In the morning, all that's left is a note telling her about a day she can't remember. The whole scenario doesn't exactly make high school or dating that hot guy whose name she can't seem to recall any easier. But when London starts experiencing disturbing visions she can't make sense of, she realizes it's time to learn a little more about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

Part psychological drama, part romance, and part mystery, this thought-provoking novel will inspire readers to consider the what-if's in their own lives and recognize the power they have to control their destinies.

My thoughts: When the description said London could look into the future but not the past, this wasn’t what I expected. It was different but better. I had high expectations for this story and thankfully I wasn’t disappointed. 

I was impressed by the way London’s ability was depicted. Although it’s not natural in real life for people to see into the future, the people in London’s life adapted to her “specialness” as if it wasn’t anymore abnormal her not remembering her past.

It was really cool (or really bad depending on how you look at it) that she could see other people’s futures, or that she “remembered” people around her not because of the past, but because they were in her future. The aspect was one of the main things that kept the story interesting.

What made Forgotten extra special was her relationship with Luke. Normally the male love interest is deemed a bad boy and is subject to jerk tendencies, but Luke was different. He was kind and thoughtful AND gorgeous. And because of the way he cared and respected London, he’s now on my list of top guys in YA.

Something extra: I really liked that London’s mom was in the story. She wasn’t a main character but it was nice to see a good parent in a YA book. A lot of times they’re either nonexistent or not that likeable, but London’s mom was different, even if she didn’t always make the best choices.

My Boyfriend Is A Monster: I Love Him to Pieces review

Description: Can love survive the zombie apocalypse? Maybe Dicey's first chance at a real relationship was dead from the start. She's the star of her high school baseball team, and Jack's the star of the science program. Her idea of a study session includes sleeping in the sun, and his idea of a good game involves dungeons and dice. But opposites start attracting when they're assigned to be partners in a class project. Now an outbreak of a weird infection--it eats your brains and leaves you hungry for more--might not mean just the end of their first date. It might mean the end of everything. Will their relationship fall apart faster than zombies in the Florida sun, or can Dicey and Jack beat the odds and find a happy ending?

My thoughts: I haven’t read any comics in a while, so I love Him to Pieces was a different type of story. Although it wasn’t told the way I thought it would, I’m glad it was a comic. Because I don’t think the book would have been as good if it was a regular novel.

Everything happened fast, and the story was over before I knew it, but that’s the way (normal-sized) comics go, so I can’t review this story the way I review other stories. I thought there would be more… story to the…story. But it was good for what it was. 

The images were cool, the main characters were kick ass and the story was entertaining. And as far as comics go, that was all I needed.

What are you reading on Mondays?

Book(s) read last week:
Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin
Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Currently reading:
Flashback by Dan Simmons


Upcoming read(s):
Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

In My Mailbox 61

I'm really exciting for all of these! Especially Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children and Half-Blood.

Flashback Giveaway

Description: The United States is near total collapse. But 87% of the population doesn't care: they're addicted to flashback, a drug that allows its users to re-experience the best moments of their lives. After ex-detective Nick Bottom's wife died in a car accident, he went under the flash to be with her; he's lost his job, his teenage son, and his livelihood as a result.

Nick may be a lost soul but he's still a good cop, so he is hired to investigate the murder of a top governmental advisor's son. This flashback-addict becomes the one man who may be able to change the course of an entire nation turning away from the future to live in the past.

A provocative novel set in a future that seems scarily possible, FLASHBACK proves why Dan Simmons is one of our most exciting and versatile writers.

Giveaway Rules

Thanks to the awesome people at Little Brown I am offering 2 copies of Flashback by Dan Simmons.

This giveaway is open to the US and Canada only (& No P.O. Boxes).

Fill out this FORM to enter the giveaway to win a one of these two copies

Also, if you happen to win more than one of these Flashback giveaways that have been posted around the blogosphere, you will only receive one copy.

The giveaway runs till July 15th!