Halloween Giveaway!

Hey everyone!

Author Courtney Allison Moulton is hosting a give-away on her website. Go check it out here: http://courtney-allison.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-party-trick-r-treat-giveaway.html

Please send the author your support, her debut novel, Angelfire comes out next year! Add it to your reading lists. :)

Carrie by Stephen King

Going into this book I knew what to expect, because I've seen the movie. What I didn't expect was this becoming one of my favorite books of all time.
It's actually very different from the movie in many ways. The main plot is the same, but it isn't as artsy-fartsy as the movie. (the hand coming out of the grave at the end...where the hell did that come from?!...so...Carrie's a zombie?...it didn't make sense to me.)
The book is sooo much better! If you put off reading this book, because you've already seen the movie then please read it! Stephen King is quite possibly the best author I've read in my entire life. He doesn't sugar coat anything, and he doesn't rely on gore to scare you. He leaves a lot of the frights to the reader's imagination.
The theme of this book is learning to watch what you say about your peers, because you never know what that may lead the person to do.
I seriously loved Carrie. I wanted to go into the book and hug her...and strangle her mother. Margeret White is one of the WORST mothers in any book I've ever read!
I highly recommend this book; King's introduction to the genre of horror, and a fine one at that!

Leaving Paradise Book Review

Sorry for my absense. I've been putting off making posts for no good reason. I'm lazy, sorry. Anyway, here's my review of Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles. This book is amazing! I read it a bit slowly, because I couldn't get enough of the characters. I did the same thing with Perfect Chemistry, which is written by the same author. I really like the idea of a guy helping a girl come to terms with herself and realize she is a wonderful person. And Simone does this flawlessly. Simone Elkeles is an amzing author and really has a way with creating believable characters that you really care about. My favorite character was Maggie's boss. She was a riot, and really inspiring. The sequel, Return to Paradise came out September 1st by Flux. I highly recommend ALL of Simone Elkeles' books! Currently I'm reading Glass by Ellen Hopkins, Carrie by Stephen King, and City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Hope you look forward to seeing my reviews. I promise I'll write them earlier this time. :)

A Thousand Splendid Suns Book Review

When I started this book I had high expectations. I have read The Kite Runner and that's probably my favorite book of all time. This book was highly recommended to me by some of my friends and even my mom.
Well, I can say without a shadow of doubt that this book exceeded my expectations.
It tells the story of two women living in Afghanistan during the invasion of the Soviet union and the Taliban. The two women, Mariam and Laila, are forced to marry Rasheem *ahem* scumbag *ahem*, and overtime they learn to become the best of friends and go through many hardships. You truly have to read the book and experience it for yourself.
I love the characters in this book! Mariam was compassionate and wise, and Laila is gutsy and has an "I-take-no-crap" attitude. The minor characters are also very real and I'm sure you enjoy them as well. Even though I hated Rasheed, I did feel bad for him and what happened in his past. That doesn't excuse what he put these women through though.
I think I enjoyed The Kite Runner a little bit more, but I still cannot recommend this book highly enough. 5/5 stars.

Another Contest!

Hey everyone!

I found another contest! This one is a birthday give-away and they're giving away sequels to various awesome YA books! Check it out below:

http://withoutabookshelf.blogspot.com/2010/07/birthday-giveaway-sequels.html

Don't forget to send birthday wishes to Dwayne!

Contest by 21 Pages

Everyone should go check out 21 pages's bog!
On it there's a give away where you can win an arc! The prizes are totally awesome and you should check them out!

Link:

http://21pages.x10hosting.com/2010/07/arc-giveaway-clockwork-angel-paranormalcy-and-more/

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to follow 21 pages's blog!

Paper Towns Book Review

I just finished reading Paper Towns earlier today. I wasn't sure if I'd like this book or not because so many people loved this book...and now I understand why. The story is about Quentin Jacobsen and Margo Roth Spieglemen. When they were nine years old they find a body of a man who had killed himself.
Flashforward to present day. Margo and Quentin (a.k.a Q) have drifted apart and are now seniors in high school. One night Margo decides to go into Q's room dressed as a ninja and force Q to drive her around so she can pull an eleven part prank on some kids at school.
The next day Margo disappears and this triggers Q's journey to find her and more importantly, find out who she is.
This book is amazing! John Green is such an amazing writer! It's so unique too, if I didn't know the title and author and just read the book, I could tell John Green wrote it. It's histerical! I found myself laughing out loud so many times. Expecially in chapter 13, that chapter was epic!
I loved everyone of the characters! They're so real and I felt like the book was about my own high school life. A very relatable book for me, and probably most teenagers and young adults. I highly recommend it! 5/5 stars.

Hush, Hush book review

I've been reading like crazy lately! 2 books in one week! Thanks so much to everyone who's followed be! I'm so grateful to you guys and galls right now! Now on to the review.
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick is about a girl named Nora Grey. She tries to keep to herself after her father dies. The only friend she has is Vee, who is very hillarious. I swear I laughed out louded so many times whenever she appeared in the book. Nora is forced to become partners with the new transfer student, Patch, in Biology class. He is instantly attracted to Nora. I really liked Patch's character too, he was such a tease. He always pushed Nora's buttons.
Nora begins to be stalked by a mysterious person in a ski mask. She thinks she's seeing things, and going crazy. She also can't get Patch out of her mind, and seems to run into him all the time. This book is full of mystery and suspense with a touch of romance. This is Becca's debut novel, and is totally worth the read. I recommend this book to anyone! 5/5 stars.

White Cat book review

White Cat is Holly Black's newest novel. She also has a new book of short stories out called The Poison Eaters: and other stories. I really enjoyed this book. It's about a boy named Cassel. He's a boy living in a family of Curse Workers, which are basically people who can change your emotions, your luck, your memories, just by the touch of their hand. There are also more things they can do, but you'll have to read it to find out what that is.
Curse workers are seen as criminals in this world, and are very misunderstood. A lot of them become mobsters and con artists. Cassel thinks his brothers are coning him, and he can't get the thought of killing his best friend out of his mind.
I really enjoyed this book, I love her writing. She's got a way with creating great characters and a cool new world I've never seen before. I love her sense of humor. I found myself laughing out loud a few times. I would recommend this to any YA fan who wants to read a unique story. 4/5 stars.

Perfect Chemistry Book Review

This is the story of two teens in high school, both coming from different backgrounds and find love. Brittney Ellis is the perfect girl, perfert looks, perfect boyfriend, perfect life...at school. At home she is a completely different person and has problems she doesn't want anyone to know about.
Alex Fuentes is in the mexican gang, Latino Blood, and is a complete bad boy. He smokes, fights, and keeps his true emotions to himself.
Both of these unlikely teens are forced to become lab partners in chemistry class, and although they hate each other, they learn that they're both very similar to one another. Will their backgrounds keep them from falling in love and being themselves?
I finished this book last night at 3 AM, and I alsolutely loved it. At first I thought it would be a cliche' romance, but it wasn't; it was so much more than that! Simone Elkeles did a great job of creating real characters that you can't help but love. The fact that it was told by these two characters perspectives made me get even more into their lives. This is one of the only books that I didn't want to finish because I loved it so much and couldn't bare to part from these characters.
Here's one of my favorite lines from the book:
"T'm having a nightmare that a thousand Oompa Loompas are in my head, hammering my skull. Opening my eyes to bright light, I wince. The Oompa Loompas are still there, and I'm awake. 'You've got a hangover,' a girl says to me."
How awesome is that?
I highly recommend it to anyone. 5/5 stars

Monster manga review

Monster by Naoki Urasawa, Japan's master of suspense, is the story of Dr. Tenma, a Japanese neurosurgeon working in Germany. He's a master of his craft, but many people underestimate him and don't give him the recognition he deserves. His boss, the director of the hospital, is a corrupt man who only cares of his own skin and looks down on Tenma and takes all the credit for Tenma's work. Tenma begins to realize this and decides to save the life of a young boy who was shot in the head. He does this against the director's orders and is demoted. It turns out that that boy is really a "monster", a serial killer, that has intentions of his own.

The Hunger Games book review

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the story of Katniss Everdeen. She's a teen living in a world where the government is corrupt and the people can't fight back. Every year the government hosts an annual event called the Hunger Games. These games force 24 kids between the ages of 12 and 18 from the twelve districts of the nation of Panem to fight to the death on live TV.
Katniss is brought into the games on her own free will when her sister is chosen to participate in the games. Katniss takes her place and it's fight to save her life and her family. Will she be able to keep her human morals in tact? Or will she let the games get the best of her like so many before her?
This book was absolutely amazing! I usually read at night and I found myself reading up until 3 AM at times to finish this book. That's how addicting it is. Suzanne Collins definately worked hard on this book. She has a way of making great characters that you fall in love with and that's one reason why this book gets five stars from me. I highly recommend it. The final book, Mockingjay, comes out August 24, 2010. 5/5 stars.