2010 August

Things That Make Me Giggle

August 31, 2010 By Lori 19 Comments

Today we are going to take a look at some things that make me laugh….just random things that I notice or come across often. I’ve been compiling stuff for this post for a couple of weeks now! One of the things that makes me laugh the most is fake Facebook statuses or Tweets. Here are some of my favorites:

(Sorry, it’s kinda blurry)

Do you ever go to Google and just type in things to see what pops up in the suggested searches? You really should, it’s endlessly amusing!

Another thing I amuse myself with is looking through the keywords people use to find my blog. Some of these baffle me! Here are some of my favorites:

was jacob naked in the fight scene when he got hurt in eclispe

alyson noel the immortals sex scenes

eclipse sex scene

emo love triangles relationship

how to get over a sad book

i love edward cullen

immortals alyson noel sex

taylor lautner topless

You would think I have a very R rated blog!

Filed Under: Facebook, Funny, Google

Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

August 30, 2010 By Lori 15 Comments

Release Date: September 21, 2010
Age Group: Young Adult
Received From: Publisher
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Other Info: 2010 Debut Author Challenge
IBSN: 9781595143372
Blurb:
Mackie Doyle seems like everyone else in the perfect little town of Gentry, but he is living with a fatal secret – he is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now the creatures under the hill want him back, and Mackie must decide where he really belongs and what he really wants.

A month ago, Mackie might have told them to buzz off. But now, with a budding relationship with tough, wounded, beautiful Tate, Mackie has too much to lose. Will love finally make him worthy of the human world?

Makie Doyle knows he’s different. The whole town knows he’s different, but they don’t talk about it. Never talk about it. They know that children disappear every 7 years. They don’t talk about that either. Mackie’s tired of not talking and not taking any action. He’s going to get to the bottom of all these secrets and find out a lot about himself along the way.

The Replacement is dark and gritty. In the vain of Holly Black’s books. The world that Yovanoff has created is very original and not your common fairy realm. Actually, I think the word fairy was never used in the book. These aren’t the pretty things you know as fairies. These are ugly and just a little creepy. I loved them!

I’m not 100% sure I liked Mackie. He was a little emotional and whiny for my tastes. He was overall a interesting main character, but he’s wasn’t my favorite. No, that title belongs to the Morrigan. She was a wonderfully creepy character. I think I could read books and books about her. All the supporting characters were great. Tate was completely kick ass, Emma was loving and compassionate, and Roswell was the greatest best friend in the world.

My biggest complaint about the book is, it seemed like nothing really happened the first 200 pages and then in the last 100 pages when something did happen, it was anticlimactic. This could just be a problem with me. I was in a bit of a reading rut when I read this.

Overall, this is a fantastic debut. I predict that Brenna Yovanoff will be around for a long time to come. Oh, and by the way, Tim Burton should totally make this into a movie! It was made for him!

3.5 Hearts

Filed Under: 2010 Debut Author Challenge, Brenna Yovanoff, Young Adult

In My Mailbox!!

August 29, 2010 By Lori 24 Comments

In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie and created by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Stork by Wendy Delsol

Hubby went to FL last weekend while I stayed home and worked. He felt bad so he bought me a awesome Hunger Games key chain and The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima.
And of course I bought Mockingjay…two copies actually. One on Kindle and the book you see above. You can read my spoiler filled review here!!

Filed Under: In my Mailbox

Review: Radiance by Alyson Noel

August 28, 2010 By Lori 6 Comments

Release Date: August 31, 2010
Age Group: Middle Grade
Received From: Publisher
My Rating: 3 Stars
IBSN: 9780312629175
Blurb:
Riley Bloom left her sister, Ever, in the world of the living and crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. Riley and her dog, Buttercup, have been reunited with her parents and are just settling into a nice, relaxing death when she’s summoned before The Council. They let her in on a secret—the afterlife isn’t just an eternity of leisure; Riley has to work. She’s been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a curious boy she can’t quite figure out.

Riley, Bodhi, and Buttercup return to earth for her first assignment, a Radiant Boy who’s been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But he’s never met Riley…

I was honestly a little hesitate to read this book because I’m not a huge fan of the Immortals series, but I was pleasantly surprised. Radiance is the story of Riley Bloom, Ever Bloom’s little sister. Riley died in the accident that also killed her mother and father. Now she’s in Here, where she can manifest anything that she could possibly ever want. But everyone has a job in Here. Riley’s will turn out to be a little scarier than she was expecting.

This was a very quick read and I enjoyed it. Riley is very bratty, but she is 12! I guess that just comes with the territory. While she is bratty and childish, I didn’t find it annoying. She’s actually pretty funny. I wish we could have gotten to know the side character’s a bit more. Especially Bohdi, but that’s what sequels are for!

Overall, Radiance was an enjoyable start to a new series. Middle Graders will fall head over heels for the new world that Noel is opening up for them!

Filed Under: Alyson Noel, Middle Grade

Facts on Friday (19) Winners and Giveaways?

August 27, 2010 By Lori 7 Comments

Hello everyone! It’s been a couple of weeks since I did a Facts on Friday! I really didn’t have much to say, but I do today! Let’s start off with a complaint, shall we?

Well this was going to be a complaint, but I did some further research this morning (Goodreads!) and now it’s not a complaint, but just me being happy. I’m rambling? Sorry! My whole point is that, I read Once A Witch by Carolyn MacCullough last year and really enjoyed it. I thought it had great potential to be a awesome series. But where is the sequel? I searched everywhere (or so I thought) last week for any information about a sequel and couldn’t find anything. This morning I get online and go straight to GR and there is is, Always a Witch to be released January 2011. So, no more complaints from me! Is there any sequels you are dying to read, but you don’t know if they will happen?

Today is the end of the Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer Giveaway. Six Lucky people are winning a August, September or October preorder of their choice, but first let’s talk about the name of the giveaway. We asked you to guess where we got the name from for extra points in the giveaway. Some of the answers had me giggling! Most of you said we got it from the Nat King Cole song, which is half way true. The song was used throughout a episode of Gilmore Girls and that’s where we got the name! Angel suggested it and then we realized we all shared a love for GG!!
Anyway, here are my winners:

Ch’aska

Shanise

I have already sent the winners an email.

In other news: I have disabled Anonymous comments on my blog. Ever since Blogger started the spam detection I have been swarmed with spam comments from anonymous. Sure, they weren’t being published on my blog but they were clogging up my inbox. I hardly ever get real comments from anonymous users so I made the decision to disable them. I hope this doesn’t inconvenience anyone!

One last thing: I haven’t entered any giveaways in ages! I need to win some stuff!! If you have a giveaway going on now, fill out the Mr. Linky below:

Filed Under: Facts on Friday

Books Around the House

August 27, 2010 By Lori 10 Comments

When I first got married I loved buying things for my house. That was before my obsession with books really started. Now I buy books instead of pretty house things and I put books on all flat surfaces. Coffee tables, entertainment centers, dressers, dining tables, well maybe not the dining table, but everywhere else! I even have books in drawers and under my bed! Here’s proof:

I only have one bookshelf

Where do you stuff all your books at?

Filed Under: CSN

Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

August 26, 2010 By Lori 11 Comments

Release Date: August 24, 2010
Received From: Kindle Store & Bookstore
My Rating: 5 Stars (of course!)
IBSN: 9780439023511
Blurb:
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

This is going to be a very unconventional review (really more of a rambling than a review) filled with spoilers so beware!

Honestly, I don’t know what to say. After reading the first two installments of this trilogy can you really expect anything but greatness? No. But I must say that Collins still had some surprises up her sleeve. I really had no idea how this book was going to pan out. I knew there would be war and rebellion, but I never envisioned it happening they way it did.

District 13 was nothing like I imagined. I pictured a republic. Something that resembles our way of life. I don’t know why I was thinking that. The people in Katniss’s world have never experienced freedom. But I wasn’t expecting the rigid schedules and rules of Thirteen. I also loved the introduction of President Coin as another suspicious character. As if there weren’t enough things to worry about! I all worked perfectly, though.

I felt that the love triangle really took a back seat ride in this one. Which is the way it should be. Mockingjay was about the rebellion. It came first. Not teenage love. It was in the back of my mind the entire time, though. I’ve said it 1 million times, but Suzanne Collins is a genius. The obstacles she threw at these three characters, but mostly Katniss and Peeta, were incredibly horrifying. I couldn’t see a resolution for them at all and I was left guessing until almost the end who Katniss would choose. It was always Peeta. There’s no way Collins could have chosen Gale for her. They weren’t meant to be. Although, I think Gale fans will be outraged at the abrupt dismissal of him. That’s the way it felt to me, anyway, and I’m team Peeta.

The whole ending in general seemed a bit abrupt to me, but after putting some thought into it, I don’t see how it could have ended any other way. Katniss made some decisions that were completely out of character for her in the last 100 pages, but I think by this point she was so ready for everything to end that she just didn’t care. Yes, it was tidy, but I think of all the fictional characters in the world, these needed a happy ending, or as happy as they could get. They were almost damaged beyond repair, so I think the ending was fitting. The epilogue left me with a warm fuzzy feeling, actually, the end of the last chapter left me grinning like an idiot through my tears!

This trilogy is an instant classic. I will be rereading it for years to come!