And The Winner Is...

Kathy from Read This Instead! Congrats, Kathy. Maybe you'll like it better than I did.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Mini Movie Reviews # 4

Warm Bodies. It may have been my freakishly low expectations, but this little movie blew me away. Laugh if you will, but I really liked it. Nicholas Hoult made the whole move, his comedic timing and good looks (even zombified) were awesome!  I also was surprised to see it had a sweet little message to it.


Jack The Giant Slayer. Yep, another Nicholas Holt movie. But I suggest seeing it for Ewan McGregor's  hotness.  This one was just plain entertaining. It wasn't anything special or mind blowing but if you want to be entertained go see it.





Life of Pi. I enjoyed actually getting to see this one after reading the book and seeing the characters and incredible story come to life. It was absolutely beautiful...but...I preferred the book. *shrugs* It happens.

Top Ten Tuesday

Today the Broke and Bookish ask: What are theTop Ten Books I HAD To Buy...But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread?

I think we all do this...unfortunately. So here's mine. But what I'd like you to do with my list is tell me which ones I must read right this minute! 

       

Abandon by Meg Cabot

Blood Red Road by Moria Young 

Body and Soul by Stacey Kade

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor  

Grave Mercy by Robin Lefevers 

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins 

Hounded by Kevin Hearne 

Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Pegasus by Robin Mckinley 

Shine by Jeri Smith-Ready

So? Which books from my list made your jaw drop? Which one do I need to pick up right this minute?!

In My Thoughts This Fine Day # 8

                                         ~~

1 That, my dear friends, up there, is a tilde. That little symbol on your keyboard up near the number 1. I sometimes accidentally hit it when trying to hit the exclamation point. I LOVE it. I think it's such a sexy symbol. My sister and I use it all the time while texting. Like this: ~~ to symbolize this:

You should all totally start using it too! ~~ We'll make it a thing.

2 Work has been so psychotic lately! Not work itself but the drama that's going on there. Let's just say it's "graduating" from this:

 
To this:

Seriously going to gouge my eyes out!

3 I am absolutely in love, LOVE, with this band! I, like, love all of their songs and what's more, I love their music videos. You should seriously check them out.  Like seriously! Don't just ignore the posted video. I dare you to try not to smile while watching it!

I Hated It So You Can Win It # 2

                                           Giveaway!!!!

Welcome to a themed giveaway you'll be seeing around here from now on. See, I have a nasty habit of buying books before reading them and I really shouldn't because I'm such a picky reader. So, it often happens that I buy a book and read it and hate it. That's where you come in. ;) I'll be giving away books I hated from now on.

It's probably no surprise to you all that I hated this one but just remember, if you haven't read this one yet, which is highly unlikely, you can't take my word for it. I always hate books people love so maybe you'll like it. It's a hardback copy, by the way. 

To win, you don't have to be a follower or anything but unfortunately you do have to be here in the US or Canada. Sorry to all my international friends. I'm not that rich.  


a Rafflecopter giveaway


 I'll email the winner and announce it on my blog on Friday March 22nd. Feel free to Tweet about this giveaway to anyone you think might be interested in winning. 

Review: Incarnate

Title Incarnate (Newsoul 1)
By Jodi Meadows
Genre YA fantasy
Pages 374
Recommended by Me

First sentence I wasn't reborn

Synopsis
Ana is unique, and it's not a good thing. In Range everyone has been reincarnated thousands of times, keeping the memories from all their previous lives. Not Ana. She's a newsoul, or as her mother calls her a nosoul. Leaving home and setting out into the world, Ana is determined to discover why she is the way she is but in a world as dangerous as Range, will she survive?


What it has going for it
K, I'm so confused. I kept reading horrible reviews for this one and I almost took it off my TBR list because of them but then the Kindle version popped up for cheap so I downloaded it and began reading on a whim. I gobbled this one up. I loved that it had this mixture of fantasy and dystopian feel to it but was neither. I loved the world too. It was beautiful but creepy and ominous and keeps you turning pages out of morbid fascination. Ana was a sympathetic, relatable character. The childhood she was forced to endure...oh my gosh, guys, I would have been a whimpering pile of mush. Not Ana. She comes through it remarkably well. That's not to say she didn't have some deep issues to sort through. I loved watching her grow throughout the book and I loved that despite those issues she was strong, determined and loyal. So, yeah, I'm a bit confused as to why people didn't like this one. I see that my Goodreads friends liked it so I can't even remember where I saw the bad reviews but they're out there...just don't listen to them.

What's lacking
Most books aren't perfect and this one wasn't either. It had a few things that bothered me. There was a lot of set up and questions that arose in this one so that you're left feeling a bit confused. Ana's mother was evil just for the sake of being evil...as far as I could see. I don't like when there's no reason behind things or characters. It comes off as lazy writing. I'm not entirely sure that we won't learn more in the next books, though, so I'm willing to wait and see. My other problem with the book is purely my own opinion so don't pay too much attention. Sam, the love interest, meh. Just didn't do it for me. I liked him well enough and his kindness and gentleness were perfect for Ana, but, I don't know. He just fell sort of flat. Almost makes me wish for a love triangle just so I have another option. Oh dear, I'm just never satisfied, am I?

Favorite moment
The dance between Ana and Sam. Very passionate and beautiful.

Yea or Nay?
Yeah, I'd highly recommend it. I'm not sure why people didn't like it.

Review: Vampire Academy

Title Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy 1)
By Richelle Mead
Genre YA supernatural/paranormal
Pages 319
Recommended by Um, Everyone

First sentence I felt her fear before I heard her screams.

Synopsis
Rose and Lissa are best friends. They also just happen to be supernatural creatures. Lissa is a Moroi, a vampire and Rose, her bodyguard is a Dhampir, half human half vampire. Life at St Vladimir's Academy is complicated but it's about to get even more so.



What it has going for it
Let's face it, my track record for liking books everyone else likes isn't so great, but, still, when everyone told me I HAD to read this series, I went out and bought all of them. Yeah, I'm not so bright. ;) Or am I? See, the reason I read books everyone suggests even though the chances of me liking them are slim is because of books like this. Sometimes you guys actually know what you're talking about. I tease, I tease. Seriously, though, this book really was amazing. After a streak of not so great books this one restored my faith in reading. Good books do exist, they do! First off, you guys were right, Rose really is kick ass awesome. She's a bit reckless but just in the first book she already is learning and growing and learning to think before she acts...sort of. ;) I'm actually more of a plot girl than a character girl but I do love when characters actually progress. I like to see them change. And it doesn't hurt when there's such awesome characters. Lissa was a well rounded character. Sure, she's rather needy and pathetic but her power and fierce loyalty balanced her out. Christian.Oh boy! I adore a bad boy but this one...yes please! I'm still on the fence about Dimitri. Just in case you were wondering. Speaking of plot, though...Holy crap! I love, love, LOVE this world. It's unique and fun but the best part is that it's actually a well thought out world. Everything makes sense. Everything has a reason for existing. Thank you, Richelle. Needless to say, I'm ecstatic that I have the rest of the series now. Sometimes my reckless book buying pays off. Now I can jump right into the second book. Whoohoo!

What's lacking
Well, sure it's ANOTHER vampire book and though it is unique it isn't. Make sense? No? Yeah, well it doesn't really matter because despite it's "faults" I loved it!

Favorite moment
Actually it was horrible moment but it evoked such a reaction out of me that I yelled at the book. When Rose told Christian that Lissa thought he was a freak. Thank goodness she took it back.

Yea or Nay?
Well, if there's anyone out there that hasn't read it yet, yes. Pick it up!

February Wrapup 2013

Well, February seemed to drag and you'd think I would have managed to read more but, no. Sigh!
Here's the two measly books I manged to read.

The Scarlet Pimpernel
Marguerite, you useless character, you! Ruined the book for me!

Last Regress
Potential but alas, it couldn't quite get there.




And that's it. *rolls eyes* I usually give a favorite and least favorite but as neither of these books really impressed me I'll just leave it be.