Reading Challenged: June 2011

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Elsewhere Online: June 2011

As you may have guessed from my In My Mailbox posts, I review for another website (bookloons.com). As I cannot post my reviews there and here, but I would still like to count the books I read for the challenges, I am going to have a post like this at the end of the every month listing the books I reviewed and what challenges the went towards.

Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Challenges: Debut Author Challenge, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Hurricane Dancers

Author: Margarita Engle

Challenges: YA Historical Fiction, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Where's My Wand?

Author: Eric Poole

Challenges: Non-Fiction (Memior/Biography), 100 Books in a Year

Title: The Midnight Palace

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Challenges: YA Series, Horror & Urban Fantasy, 100 Books in a Year

Title: The Nature of Wonder

Author: Frank Beddor, Liz Cavalier, & Sami Makkonen

Challenges: Graphic Novels, Full Steampunk Ahead, 100 Books in a Year

Title: The Lens and the Looker

Author: Lory S. Kaufman

Challenges: Debut Author, 100 Books in a Year

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Falling Awake

Title: Falling Awake
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Publisher: Brillance Audio
ISBN:
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Mystery & Suspense, Audio Book, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: Falling Awake was a fun, escapist read...er, listen. It had a good amount of suspense, but the romance elements were definitely there, too. The climax was good, but there was almost a full CD of resolution afterwards. What I really did like about this audio book was how short the tracks were on the CD - it was so easy to go back if you missed something or wanted to hear something again.
Rating: 3 stars

Saturday, June 25, 2011

In My Mailbox 6/19-6/15

For possible review elsewhere:

The Paradise Prophecy by Robert Browne

Won:

Mercy by Rebecca Lim

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith

Swaps on Swap-Bot:

Light in Shadow by Jayne Ann Krentz

Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson

Received from Paperbackswap:

My Lobotomy by Howard Dully

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Bought at Borders:

Spells by Aprilynne Pike

This fun weekly meme comes from The Story Siren.

All images come from Goodreads.

Midsummer's Eve WINNER!

Random.org has spoken and a big congrats go out to...

Moridin!

An email has been sent. Winner has 48 hrs to respond before a new winner is chosen.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Vacation Reads Challenge

I always think of books as a way to travel to other places which is why Ruby Read's Vacation Reads Challenge appealed to me. The challenge is to read 6 books featuring places you would like to visit, real or imaginary.

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

3. The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar

4. A Bride's Story 1 by Kaoru Mori

5. Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

6. Honolulu by Alan Brennert

Midsummer's Eve Giveaway (US/CAN Only)

It's Midsummer's Eve, so that means it is time for a giveaway hop! To help with your summer reading, I will be giving away a grab bag of 3 used ARCs (may be books that came out within the last year or books that came out within the last decade). You can choose MG, YA or Adult, but the books will be a surprise.

To enter:

Fill out the Form.

Extra entries for following on GFC or Goodreads.

Don't forget to check out the other great giveaways:

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Hornet's Nest

Title: Hornet's Nest
Author: Patricia Cornwell
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN: 0-425-16098-X
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Mystery & Suspense, TBR Pile, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: For a suspense novel, the crime in Hornet's Nest really takes a back seat to the main characters' everyday problems. This reads more as a bad TV drama than a crime novel. Cornwell jumps between characters way too often and goes into too much depth for minor players. By the time the climax arrives, it seems rather anti-climatic, and the deus-ex-machina ending is very abrupt.
Rating: 1 stars

Saturday, June 18, 2011

In My Mailbox 6/12-6/18

For possible review (on bookloons.com):

The Chalice of Immortality by Erica Kirov

Freshman by Corinne Mucha

Stay by Allie Larkin

Won:

Withering Tights by Louise Rennison

The Dark City by Catherine Fisher

LibraryThing Early Review:

The Corvette in Literature and Culture by Jerry W. Passon

Requested from Paperbackswap.com:

The Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinski

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Ordered from The Book Depository:

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

This fun weekly meme comes from The Story Siren.

All images come from Goodreads.

The Book of Three

Title: The Book of Three
Author: Lloyd Alexander
Publisher: Dell
ISBN: 0-440-90702-0
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: TBR Pile, YA Series, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I love epic fantasy and I love YA fantasy, so I thought I was going to love The Book of Three, but I was wrong. I just could not get into it. The only character I cared about was Gurgi with his fun speech pattern. The plot was very much what my friend calls an "and then" story - very linear with a whole of bunch of little incidents and meetings that never fully seem to click together. Also, the title just alluded me. I know The Book of Three is mentioned, but I cannot figure out how it tied into the story.
Rating: 1 stars

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Jane Eyre

Title: Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Publisher: Wordsworth
ISBN: 1-85326-020-7
Why Read?: Bookclub
Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendation, Classics, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: For the longest time, I have had no desire to read Jane Eyre (not really sure why since it is the first Gothic). I really do not know why I waited so long. Yes, as is typical of books from the 1800s, it was a little long in parts, but in others, it read faster than I excepted and the story was simply excellent.
Rating: 4 stars

Odd Is on Our Side

Title: Odd Is on Our Side
Author: Dean Koontz, Fred Van Lente, & Queenie Chan
Publisher: Del Rey
ISBN: 978-0345-51560-5
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Horror & Urban Fantasy, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This the second Odd Thomas OEL Manga, but it can easily be read as a stand alone. Also, it takes place before the novels, so it can even be enjoyed before reading those. The story in Odd Is on Our Side is more intense than In Odd We Trust, plus more characters from the series are introduced, which made me enjoy it more than the first one, which I also enjoyed immensely. However, while I love Queenie Chan as a manga artist some of the facial expressions seemed a little loose in this book and there were a few too many grotesquely big lips.
Rating: 4 stars

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Princess Ai: The Prism of Midnight Dawn Vol. 2

Title: Princess Ai: The Prism of Midnight Dawn Vol. 2
Author: Courtney Love, Stuart "D. J. Milky" Levy, Christine Boylan, Misaho Kujiradou
Publisher: Tokyopop
ISBN: 978-1-4278-1300-8
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: The best thing about The Prism of Midnight Dawn story arc of Princess Ai is the art. The storyline at times can be a little confusing, but Kujiradou's beautiful art more than makes up for it. However, when the story makes sense, it is an intense and dark tale of fallen angels and lost love.
Rating: 3 stars

The Prince of Mist

Title: The Prince of Mist
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 978-0-316-04480-6
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: YA Series, Gothic, YA Historical Fiction, Horror & Urban FantasyInternational, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This haunting tale starts as a eerie gothic, but by midway morphs into a terrifying horror. Warning: if you are scared of clowns, DO NOT READ! Zafon sure knows how to reel the reader in slowly and then sink the books teeth into them in some scenes of pure horror.
Rating: 4 stars