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

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

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.

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:

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