Reading Challenged

Saturday, May 7, 2011

OT: My Favorite Dystopian

So, Miss Remmers' Reviews is having a challenge for the Spring Blog Carnival dealing with Dystopians, and the prize is a copy of Wither, which I have been coveting, so I am entering, even though it requires a blog post which is not really what I use this blog for. But here it is:

My absolute favorite YA Dystopian is X-isle by Steve Augarde. After a flood destroys most of the world, boys are called to work on X Isle. This is the tale of what really happens there. It is the type of book that sucks you in immediately and keeps you enthralled until the last page. What I liked so much about it, and what makes it stand apart from others, is that is does seem to have its roots firmly is classics such as The Lord of the Flies, which, somehow, makes it all that more chilling to remember authors were writing like this half a century ago, too. This is one I would definitely recommend as it was in my Top 5 for 2010.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Trevor's Song

Title: Trevor's Song

Author: Susan Helene Gottfried

Publisher: Kindle

ISBN: ebook

Why Read?: For Fun

Challenges: E-Book, All-Male Review, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: When I first started Trevor's Song, I could not stand Trevor. I really liked Kerri, though, although I never really understood why we also got her side of the story. However, as the book went on, I became less enamored of Kerri and began liking Trevor more and more, so much so that the ending left me going, "What? I need to know!"

Rating: 3 stars

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Author: Stephen Chbosky

Publisher: MTV

ISBN: 978-0-671-02734-6

Why Read?: Book Club

Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendation, All-Male Review, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts:I love books that are written in an epistolary style such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Actually, this was closer to a diary as we only get to see Charlie's letters, but Charlie proves to be a very good wallflower, able to observe others and thus I think "his" portrayals of the other characters are rather "true". The twist at the end is interesting and explains so much. Very honest look at growing up, but it does make it seem like everyone in the early 90s was doing drugs.

Rating: 4 stars

Sunday, May 1, 2011

All-Male Review Challenge

I love the title of The Unread Reader and Logan E. Turner's May-long challenge: The All-Male Review. It's an open ended challenge, as long as you link up at least one review with a male protagonist or written by a guy during the month of May:

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

2. Trevor's Song by Susan Helene Gottfried

3. The Cypress House by Michael Koryta

Reading Challenges Update - April

Here is where I stand with the challenges I have joined after the month of April (only challenges that I read books for this month are featured here):

Mystery & Suspense (7/12)

5. The Crime Stories by Louis L' Amour

6. Most Wanted by Michele Martinez

7. You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin

TBR Pile (3/12)

3. Most Wanted by Michele Martinez

100 Books in a Year (34/100)

24. The Incredible Origins of the Onyx Sun by Christopher Mahoney

25. The Crime Stories by Louis L'Amour

26. Most Wanted by Michele Martinez

27. Grand Guignol Orchestra by Kaori Yuki

28. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

29. Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing by Kathy Cano-Murillo

30. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

31. You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin

32. The Dark-Hunters 4 by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Claudia Campos

33. A Thousand Times More Fair by Kenji Yoshino

34. Huntress by Malinda Lo

Young Adult Contemporary (4/13)

3. You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin

4. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

People of Color (3/3) - COMPLETED!

2. Most Wanted by Michele Martinez

3. Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing by Kathy Cano-Murillo

Manga (10/12)

9. Grand Guignol Orchestra 1 by Kaori Yuki

10. The Dark-Hunters 4 by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Claudia Campos

Chick Lit (1/8)

1. Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing by Kathy Cano-Murillo

Horror & Urban Fantasy (5/24)

3. Grand Guignol Orchestra 1 by Kaori Yuki

4. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

5. The Dark-Hunters 4 by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Claudia Campos

Borrowed Books (2/12)

2. Because of Winn-Dixie

Non-Fiction (2/3)

2. A Thousand Times More Fair by Kenji Yoshino

iChallenge (3/10)

2. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

3. Huntress by Malinda Lo

Vampire (1/24)

1. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Fantasy (3/3) - COMPLETED!

3. Huntress by Malinda Lo

Chinese Literature (1/3)

1. Huntress by Malinda Lo

Once Upon a Time (1/1) - COMPLETED!

1. Huntress by Malinda Lo

YA LGBT Paranormal (1/1) - COMPLETED!

1. Huntress by Malinda Lo

Saturday, April 30, 2011

In My Mailbox 4/24-4/30

Won:

India Black by Carol K. Carr

Save My Soul by Zoe Winters

Memento Nora by Angie Smibert

This fun weekly meme comes from The Story Siren.

All images come from Goodreads.

Elsewhere Online: April 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.