So I figure I should start doing a monthly update, just in case… well, you know, I actually start having an audience here on my book blog.

First off I wanted to tell you all about sort of the “event” I’m doing.  It’s nothing special, but this whole summer I’ve been spending my time reading, creating a pretty hefty list of books to review.  So starting this week I’ll be trying to push out three reviews a week, and this will last roughly for 12 weeks (so about 3 months).  Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with this, I mean it’s not too hard right?  I’ll just have to balance writing and college work, no big deal, haha.

Alright, other updates, this month’s book club book is Wings by Aprilynne Pike.  It’s a fantastic book that takes a whole different look on faeries.  Also check out the author’s spotlight – it’s been updated with Aprilynne’s information.

Otherwise there isn’t much to report, I’ll keep updating when I find awesome giveaways and keep writing reviews.  Don’t forget you can always check out the forum and continue the talks about the books there.

Hey all, here is another awesome giveaway.  It’s a signed ARC copy of Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink.  It’s being given away over at Genevieve’s (of 5 YA Fans on youtube) Blog – Something Bookish.  Click HERE to enter, it’s only up till August 4th, so don’t wait!  Below is a description from Michelle Zink’s website, as well as a link to buy the book, as well as the next in the series from Amazon.

Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents’ deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.
Lia and Alice don’t know whom they can trust.
They just know they can’t trust each other.

There are a few new giveaways going on over at PJ Hoover’s blog.  The first one is BLACK HOLE SUN by David Macinnis Gill. Click HERE to enter the contest, you only have until August 6, 2010.  Below is a description and link to buy the book on amazon.

Durango is playing the cards he was dealt. And it’s not a good hand.

He’s lost his family.

He’s lost his crew.

And he’s got the scars to prove it.

You don’t want to mess with Durango.

The other giveaway over at her blog is an ARC of The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith.  Click HERE to enter the contest, don’t wait! Contest ends August 6, 2010.  Below is a description from amazon, as well as a link to buy the novel.

Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is kidnapped. He escapes, narrowly. The only person he tells is his best friend, Conner. When they arrive in London as planned for summer break, a stranger hands Jack a pair of glasses. Through the lenses, he sees another world called Marbury.

There is war in Marbury. It is a desolate and murderous place where Jack is responsible for the survival of two younger boys. Conner is there, too. But he’s trying to kill them.

Meanwhile, Jack is falling in love with an English girl, and afraid he’s losing his mind.

Conner tells Jack it’s going to be okay.

But it’s not.

There is a great contest going on over at Alexandra Shostak’s blog.  It ends today, so enter now before it’s too late!  You have a chance at winning a couple different arcs or signed books (including Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare!).

Click HERE to check out the contest, good luck to all!

P.J. Hoover is giving away another great arc, Where the Truth Lies by Jessica Warman.

Here is Amazon’s summary of the novel:

On the surface, Emily Meckler leads the perfect life. She has three best friends, two loving parents, and the ideal setup at the Connecticut prep school where her father is the headmaster. But Emily also suffers from devastating nightmares about fire and water, and nobody knows why. Then the enigmatic Del Sugar enters her life, and Emily is immediately swept away—but her passionate relationship with Del is just the first of many things that aren’t quite what they seem in Emily’s life. As the lies she’s been told start to unravel, Emily must set out to discover the truth regarding her nightmare; on a journey that will lead her to question everything she thought she knew about love, family, and her own idyllic past.

This companion novel to Warman’s critically acclaimed Breathless proves that sometimes the biggest lies are told to the people you love the most.

Click here to check out the giveaway over at her blog.  The contest ends on July 30, 2010.  Have fun and good luck!

Below are links to both Breathless and Where the Truth Lies pages on Amazon.

For those who have read Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, here is a giveaway for you.  Over at P.J. Hoover’s blog she’s giving away a Beautiful Darkness arc.

Here is some information on Beautiful Darkness from Amazon:

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena’s family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan’s eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there’s no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town’s tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Click here to find out more and enter the giveaway.  The contest ends Friday July 30, 2010.  Good luck!

You can click the image below to go to Amazon to read more about Beautiful Darkness and to pre-order a copy.

There are a few more ARC giveaways over at PJ Hoover’s blog — The Duff by Kody Deplinger, and Livvie Owen Lived Here by Sarah Dooley.

Here is some info about The Duff from Amazon:

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “Duffy,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

And here is some info about Livvie Owen Lived Here from Amazom:

Olivia “Livvie” Owen feels things differently than her parents and two sisters. Livvie is autistic. Her family has had to move repeatedly because of her outbursts. When they again face eviction, Livvie is convinced she has a way to get back to a house where they were all happy, once.

The problem is, Livvie burned down that house.

But she’s not giving up. Here is her story.

Click here to enter the giveaways, the contest runs through midnight this Friday, July 16.

Click the images below to check out The Duff and Livvie Owen Lived Here on Amazon.

I’ve just become aware of another ARC giveaway over at P.J. Hoover’s blog — It’s Guardian of the Gate by Michelle Zink.  It’s the second book in the Prophecy of the Sisters series.

Description from Amazon:

The ultimate battle between sisters is nearing, and its outcome could have catastrophic consequences. As sixteen year-old Lia Milthorpe searches for a way to end the prophecy, her twin sister Alice hones the skills she’ll need to defeat Lia. Alice will stop at nothing to reclaim her sister’s role in the prophecy, and that’s not the only thing she wants: There’s also Lia’s boyfriend James.

Lia and Alice always knew the Prophecy would turn those closest to them against them. But they didn’t know what betrayal could lead them to do. In the end, only one sister will be left standing.

Click here to enter the giveaway.  It ends Friday July 23, 2010.

Click the images below to check out Prophecy of the Sisters as well as Guardian of the Gate on Amazon.

Title: FANG
Author: James Patterson
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Length: 336 pages hardback
Rating: 4.5/5

I’ve been a long time reader of the Maximum Ride books, and I have to say that I’m daring to hope that we are finally on an up swing. After the first novel in the series, The Angel Experiment, the quality of the series has been a steady decline. I’ve admittedly only stuck around due to the implication of the romance between the two main characters Max and Fang. After reading FANG, the novel did not disappoint when it came to that romantic pairing, neither did it in plot.

The novel more or less picks up with the flock doing what they’re doing; whatever they decide is the next step in saving the world. Then, the slowly becoming less lovable, Angel predicts that Fang is going to die. Thus ensues a series of plot twists and turns that lead the reader to an ending that you will love to hate. Needless to say it will also keep you wanting to read the next in the series.

This novel has a great plot, and introduces a new character, Dylan, who is supposed to be Max’s perfect match – but she already has her perfect match doesn’t she? Just another little conflict thrown in that will make the readers want to strangle James Patterson as well as love him.

Admittedly at this point I had wished the series had finished as a trilogy as I had heard it was supposed to. Instead we have a slightly contrived series that only lives on if the next book introduces something that can only be fixed by the next novel. While I dislike that fact, I can’t deny that I really enjoyed FANG. Maybe it was because Fang and Max finally had their romance scenes or maybe it was the introduction of a new plot that doesn’t necessarily just revolve around saving the world (Goodness, we’ve heard that phrase enough times, no?).

Any skeptic Max fan should take a stab at reading this book. It renewed my interest in the series, and I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment, Angel, set to be released February 14, 2011.

Have an opinion? What to share it? Feel free to comment on this post or on the site’s forum to continue the discussion.

Click links below to order copies of the Maximum Ride series from Amazon.

Title: Radiant Shadows
Author: Melissa Marr
Publisher: HarperCollins
Length: 352 pages hardcover
Rating: 4/5

The Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr has been sort of an up and down rollercoaster for me. Some of the books are a great ride, while others have fallen flat. In her most recent addition to the series, Radiant Shadows, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The novel, in my opinion obviously, is arguably the best in the series.

This novel follows the pattern that Marr seems to have set up, being that every other novel she focuses on other characters, rather than just on Aislinn, Seth, and Keenan (Wicked Lovely focuses on Aislinn, Ink Exchange focuses on another character – Leslie, then Fragile Eternity once again has a focus on Aislinn, more importantly on Seth).

Radiant Shadows follows a previously mentioned character, Ani, in her desire to be seen as more than just a very powerful Halfling in her father’s eyes. She wants to join the pack. Enter a new character, Devlin. He’s the brother, and sort of son, of the High Queen of Faerie. He does whatever the Queen tells him to. When one mission sends him to protect her mortal, he and Ani meet and fall into a state of lust/love. Together they find themselves, and work to help put together the faerie world that seems to be slowly breaking apart.

I found this novel to be the most interesting of all the novels, rivaling the origin of the series. While Wicked Lovely was fantastic, I found the characters of Radiant Shadows much more compelling. I never got bored with the novel, the plot kept me going until the end.

I do warn there is a slight sexual undercurrent in this novel due to Ani’s need to feed on energy through touch. This is seen through her relationship development with Devlin throughout the novel. In my honest opinion it isn’t anything that any parent should be too worried about. The scenes are brief, a bit heavy but done with discretion. The interaction between the characters is nothing more than you would expect from two teenagers, or in this case mythical beings.

The story for these characters does come full circle, but it also sets forth change that will cause a steady flow of events for the next novel to come. In fact there is a minor subplot that is brought up throughout the novel dealing with Aislinn and Keenan with the Summer Court that still needs to be solved.

I eagerly await the next novel in the series, and as long as you’re not expecting a novel all about Aislinn and Seth, I’ll expect many to enjoy this novel as well.

Have a thought and want to share it? Feel free to comment on this post or on the site’s forum to continue the discussion.

Click the links below to be directed to Amazon to buy any of the books in the series.