New Poll; What book should Marisa read next?

Since you guys did such a good job on voting for what book I (Briana) should read, I thought it'd be fun to do the same poll for Marisa. So go ahead and vote! :)

-Briana

Booking Through Thursday (3)

What’s the most serious book you’ve read recently?

Briana:

Hmm... I think it would have to be Escape from Slavery by Francis Bok. It's a book for school about a young boy in Sudan that got captured and forced to become a slave. The story was good, but I found myself getting bored with it.

(Marisa and Arielle may post later.)

Wishlist Wednesday (10)

Marisa:

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

All her world's a stage. Bertie Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater. She's not an orphan, but she has no parents. She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own. That is, until now. Enter Stage Right. NATE. Dashing pirate. Will do anything to protect Bertie. COBWEB, MOTH, MUSTARD SEED, and PEASEBLOSSOM. Four tiny and incredibly annoying fairies. BERTIE'S sidekicks. ARIEL. Seductive air spirit and Bertie's weakness. The symbol of impending doom. BERTIE. Our heroine. Welcome to the Theatre Illuminata, where the actors of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Theatre by The Book-an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family-and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.




Briana:

Immortal by Gillian Shields

Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies, housed in a Gothic mansion on the bleak northern moors, is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn away from her home by the sea to become the newest scholarship student, she is more isolated than she could have dreamed. Strict teachers, snobbish students, and the oppressive atmosphere of Wyldcliffe leave Evie drowning in loneliness.

Evie's only lifeline is Sebastian, a rebellious, mocking, dangerously attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie's feelings for Sebastian grow with each secret meeting, she starts to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl—a girl who is so eerily like Evie, she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present that she cannot control. And as the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is facedwith an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate.

Gillian Shields's electrifying tale will dazzle readers with suspense, mysticism, and romance.

(Arielle may post later.)

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It's a weekly meme to post about
books that you can't wait to come out in book stores.




Marisa:

The Hollow by Jessica Verday

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead?and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special.

Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her—one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian, as well as her own sanity.

This book sounds so awesome and I can't wait until it comes out and I can finally read it!



Briana:

The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Seventeen-year-old Colt has been sneaking out at night to meet Julia, a girl from an upper-class neighborhood unlike his own. They’ve never told anyone else about their relationship: not their family or friends, and especially not Julia’s boyfriend.

When Julia dies suddenly, Colt tries to cope with her death while pretending that he never even knew her. He discovers a journal she left behind. But he is not prepared for the truths he discovers about their intense relationship, nor to pay the price for the secrets he’s kept.

How great does this book sound? It doesn't come out until January though :(



(Arielle may post later.)

Teaser Tuesday (1)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

-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 teasers!

Candor by Pam Bachorz

"She answers me with a long kiss. I run my hands down her bare arms. Shoulders to elbows to wrists. She has goose bumps, even in the muggy Florida night."

PG. 121

Briana: Sounds pretty great huh? I started reading it and so far I love it. I just love the whole feel of the book and I really don't want to put it down.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler

"The sense of him overwhelmed her. The memory was so strong-him standing behind her in the moonlight, listening to her play the piano-that she could not believe he was gone. Her head fell forward over the piano. "Tristan! I miss you, Tristan!"

PG. 41

Marisa: This part broke my heart so I thought I'd share it with you guys.

(Arielle may post later.)

Belated Blog Awards

Thanks to Alex from A Flight of Minds, I remembered that I had some blog awards to post. Sorry that it's so late!

First, there's the 'Let's be Friends' Award from Allison at Read Into This.

Thanks Allison!

Blogs that receive the Let’s Be Friends Award are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and befriends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers.

Eleni from La Femme Readers

Senfaye from A Maze of Books

Jenna from A Read in the Life

Taschima from Bloody Bookaholic

Alex and Lauren from A Flight of Minds

Kelli Christine from OMG! Books

Kaitlyn from Writing About Reading

Shayla from The Book Explorer

This award is to honor certain bloggers that are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn't for them, my site would just be an ordinary book review blog. Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a daily basis. I thank them and look forward to our growing friendship trhough the blog world.

Rules:

-Nominate 10 bloggers you feel deserve the Humane Award

Briana from What Bri Reads

Velvet from vvb32 reads

Kelsey from The Book Scout

Briana from The Book Pixie

Erica from The Book Cellar

Jessica from Shut Up! I'm Reading

Liv from Liv's Book Reviews

Jordan from Inside the Mind

Cassandra from Happy Book Lovers

Christina from Flip the Page! Book Reviews

Sorry if I missed anyone! I'm super tired and just wanted to make sure I post this haha. We appreciate the awards very much!

-Briana

Gone

Michael Grant
Published 2008
576 pages
Rating: B+

Synopsis

In the blink of an eye.

Everyone disappears.

Gone.

Everyone except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not a single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Gone, too, are the phones, internet, and television. There is no way to get help.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen and war is imminent.

The first in a breathtaking saga about teens battling each other and their darkest selves, gone is a page-turning thriller that will make you look at the world in a whole new way.

My review

The book immediately starts off with an interesting beginning. Sam Temple is sitting in his history class when all of a sudden, his teacher stops talking. He looks up and the teacher is no longer there. He just disappeared. Sam and his friends realize that all adults have disappeared. Everyone fifteen and older.

After the incident, Sam and his friends walk around town to see what's going on. They see that the town of Perdido Beach is in mayhem. Little kids are everywhere, cars are crashed, houses are abandoned and there is nobody to look after the kids/teenagers. Soon kids from Coates Academy, a rich school for kids who are "different", arrive to cause havoc.

As days go on the kids in Perdido Beach figure out that animals are mutating and children are changing. Some have developed very potent powers. Some kids can teleport, run amazingly fast, heal one another, control gravity and burn things. Sam is one of those kids. But so is the "leader" of Coates Academy, Caine, who is evil and wants to control all the kids in Perdido Beach. After a girl is murdered, the kids start taking sides. When they choose Sam as their "leader", Sam knows he must fight Caine and his group of powerful followers. Nobody is safe. War is sure to come. The laws of the universe are changing.

So this book was pretty good. There was never a boring part and it was definitely unlike any book I've ever read. The action was good, suspense was good, romance was okay. I found myself really liking a few characters but some really annoyed me. The words "bro", "brother" and "brah" started to annoy me after the tenth time. I liked the "superpower" aspect of it. It gave the book more action.

Some parts of the book should of been explained further. Some parts really grossed me out but not exactly in a bad way. There were a few good twists and turns. Lots of exciting secrets that had me very interested in family histories. Such as Sam's and Caine's. The writing was good. I don't really have much to say about this book for some reason. It didn't blow my mind but it didn't leave me disappointed. If you like science fiction, good action and a good story line then I definitely recommend this book to you. Sorry about my very bad review.

-Marisa

In My Mailbox (9)

In My Mailbox was created by The Story Siren. Click here to learn more about it.

Briana: I am very excited to post this weeks "In My Mailbox" because I... *drumroll* got my very first ARC! Not just one ARC though, I got two! How exciting :)

Candor by Pam Bachorz

Oscar Banks has everything under control. In a town where his father brainwashes everyone, he's found a way to secretly fight the subliminal Messages. He's got them all fooled: Oscar's the top student and the best-behaved teen in town. Nobody knows he's made his own Messages to deprogram his brain. Oscar has even found a way to get rich. For a hefty price, he helps new kids escape Candor, Florida before they're transformed into cookie-cutter teens. But then Nia Silva moves to Candor, and Oscar's carefully-controlled world crumbles.

How awesome does that sound?! I'm so excited to read this book and I have no doubt that I'll adore it. Thanks Pam :)

The Amanda Project Book 1: The Invisible I by Stella Lennon

Callie Leary has exactly one thing, and one thing only, in common with Nia Rivera and Hal Bennett:

They were each chosen by Amanda to be her guide. When Amanda arrived at Endeavor High, she told Callie she moves around a lot and always picks one person to help her navigate the choppy waters of a new school. Why did Amanda lie?

Following a course that they suspect Amanda deliberately plotted, Callie, Nia, and Hal piece together some cryptic clues. But they find more questions than answers and quickly realize that before they can figure out what happened to Amanda-the girl who changed their lives-they'll need to solve the most important mystery of all: WHO IS AMANDA VALENTINO?

This book sounds pretty interesting. It's my second ARC and I got it from Barnes & Noble's book club "Teen Reads". Thanks Barnes & Noble :)

(Marisa and Arielle may post later)