Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday-15


"Waiting On" Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine. The purpose of this event is to get bloggers to spotlight and share the books they are anticipating on coming out.

On my wishlist this Wednesday is: The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead




Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Golden Lily


Release Date: June 12, 2012
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: Hardcover (418pgs)
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars


Description: The second thrilling installment in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy spin off series

Tough, brainy alchemist Sydney Sage and doe-eyed Moroi princess Jill Dragomir are in hiding at a human boarding school in the sunny, glamorous world of Palm Springs, California. The students--children of the wealthy and powerful--carry on with their lives in blissful ignorance, while Sydney, Jill, Eddie, and Adrian must do everything in their power to keep their secret safe. But with forbidden romances, unexpected spirit bonds, and the threat of Strigoi moving ever closer, hiding the truth is harder than anyone thought.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Richelle Mead's breathtaking Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive. In this second book, the drama is hotter, the romances are steamier, and the stakes are even higher.

Review: This book continues with Sydney's journey on protecting Jill while they are in Palm Springs hiding. The last book ends with Keith teaming up with Moroi and selling their blood. We learn what happens to Keith and what the Alchemists have done to him. For the first time Sydney thinks things have finally calmed down and gone back to normal. Normal as things can be in her situation. Sydney is proved wrong, and her life turns upside down by the end of this book. 

I have to say that I enjoyed this book more than Bloodlines. The romance Richelle writes was fantastic. Sydney is new to the dating world, and she is already socially awkward at times. It was fantastic to see how Sydney's character develops in this book. I couldn't help but laugh reading all the things Sydney encounters and needs advice on about dating. I know all girls can relate. At some point we have all been there and asked our friends for advice. 

Adrian is the character that grew the most in the book. I am already an Adrian fan, and my love for him just grew deeper. I feel Adrian is a misunderstood person, and people don't give him enough credit. They have already written him off as the guy who is lazy, procrastinator, and will never amount to anything. Since people already think these things about him, he just lives up to what they think. There is so much more to him, and Richelle lets everyone see it in The Golden Lily. 

Jill and Eddie were more minor characters in the book, but we still see character development with them. Jill has definitely grown up from Bloodlines. Eddie is still Eddie, great as always. February 12, 2013 can not come fast enough for The Indigo Spell which is the next installment of Bloodlines. 

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Teaser Tuesdays-19


Hey guys its another wonderful Tuesday...if you don't know what Teaser Tuesday is about here is a refresher:

Teaser Tuesdays are a meme hosted by Mizb of Should be Reading. Here are the rules if you wish to participate.

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

"Rose once told me about this poem she'd read. There was this line. 'If your eyes weren't open, you wouldn't know the difference between dreaming and waking.' You know what I'm afraid of? That someday, even with eyes open, I still won't know."

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead page 241.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Random Thoughts:


This week is going to be a little crazy. We all know Golden Lily by Richelle Mead came out this past Tuesday the 12th. I purchased the book, and I have been trying to finish it as fast as I can. It is common knowledge between my friends that I am not a fast reader. You guys may have picked up on this as you see how long it takes me to finish reading just one book. This is a constant joke among my friends, and they love to give me a hard time for it. But it is especially important that I finish ASAP because I will getting the opportunity to meet Richelle Mead for a book signing tomorrow the 14th in Fort Lauderdale. I am so excited for this rare opportunity. 


So, I plan on getting pictures (if allowed) and post them for everyone, and provide any Q&A that may occur tomorrow. Now the fun part will be choosing which books I want her to sign for me. So many choices..... 





Monday, June 11, 2012

The Shadow of the Wind


The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon


Release Date: January 25, 2005
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: Paperback (487pgs)
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars


Description: Barcelona, 1945—Just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes one day to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face. To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again.

Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a book from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the book he selects, a novel called The Shadow of the Wind by one Julián Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last of Carax’s books in existence.

Before Daniel knows it, his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness, and doomed love, and before long he realizes that if he doesn’t find out the truth about Julián Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.

Review: This book was recommended to me, and when I read the description I was excited to start reading. I would highly recommend this book to everyone that enjoys a mystery. This book starts with a 10 year old Daniel going with his father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books where he gets to choose one book that will become his. Daniel discovers The Shadow of the Wind and from that moment on this book becomes his life. 

While reading this book I was very impressed with the character description. I have never read a book where the author provides a lot of background on a each character, and it is cohesive with the story. I fell in love with every character in the story, the good and the bad guys. I developed sympathy for the bad guy in the story and how he became that way. 

There is a great mixture of mystery, history, and love in this story. As we follow Daniel in this story, I couldn't help but get lost inside. I truly felt that I was in Barcelona 1945. I could picture everything as it was happening, and the imagery Carlos gave in his story was fantastic. I can't wait to read the rest of his novels and get lost in his next mystery.


Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday-14


"Waiting On" Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine. The purpose of this event is to get bloggers to spotlight and share the books they are anticipating on coming out.

On my wishlist this Wednesday is: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead



Description: The second thrilling installment in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy spinoff series


Tough, brainy alchemist Sydney Sage and doe-eyed Moroi princess Jill Dragomir are in hiding at a human boarding school in the sunny, glamorous world of Palm Springs, California. The students--children of the wealthy and powerful--carry on with their lives in blissful ignorance, while Sydney, Jill, Eddie, and Adrian must do everything in their power to keep their secret safe. But with forbidden romances, unexpected spirit bonds, and the threat of Strigoi moving ever closer, hiding the truth is harder than anyone thought.


Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Richelle Mead's breathtaking Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive. In this second book, the drama is hotter, the romances are steamier, and the stakes are even higher.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Teaser Tuesday-18


Hey guys its another wonderful Tuesday...if you don't know what Teaser Tuesday is about here is a refresher:

Teaser Tuesdays are a meme hosted by Mizb of Should be Reading. Here are the rules if you wish to participate.

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

"Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you,' answered Julian."

Kindle 42%
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon