writer's block

I usually don't read contemporary chick-lit-type books, but I actually thought this would be a nice little change after reading dramatic books for awhile. It seemed like was going crazy for this book and Stephanie Perkin's newest book, Lola and the Boy Next Door so I was curious about it. Luckily, I received both of them for my birthday.

I found the story of an average American teenage girl being shipped off against her will to a prestigious French boarding school to be a little cliche. In fact, a lot of it seemed like that.

There was possibly one thing in the whole book that surprised me, but everything else I seemed to have guessed early on.

But oddly enough, that's one of the reasons why I enjoyed this so much. New girl falls in love with all around hottest guy in school who so happens to have an English accent (bonus!) and taken (drama!). 

Though even with it's cliches, I never found it corny. I let myself enjoy the writing style Perkins has which reads so fluidly with charismatic characters like our title character and St. Clair.

Definitely not a book I would go swooning over, but overall a cute and honest story of girl meets boy in the most romantic city in the world.

Rating: ★★★★ 4/5 stars

This is book has got to be one of my favorites of the year and quite possibly of all time. It's setting and characters are so unique that I've found myself dreaming of worlds where angels and chimaera live.

Karou seems like an ordinary seventeen year old living in Prague... aside from the blue hair and the tattooed eyes on her palms. She has no clue who she is or where she came from and the only family she's ever known are the chimaeras- creatures that possesses features from multiple animals, that have raised her since she was a baby.

She's able to make wishes that come true- her blue hair was one and learning multiple languages so that she's able to travel and run errands for the father-like Brimstone or even petty wishes like making her naked ex itch like crazy in his privates... in public.

On one of her errands she encounters an angel, Akiva, who tires to kill her. She has no idea why and after a sudden altercation with Brimstone, Karou's father-like chimaera who deals with teeth and wishes, is left alone.

Even with a continuing war between angels and chimaera, Akiva can't help but be curious about Karou- this girl with the hamsas on her palms and the connection to the chimaeras. Karou finds that she is also drawn to Akiva... even if he did try to kill her.

The story flowed nicely and though I took me a lot longer to read this than I usually would have, it is no indication how I feel about it for it left me breathless and late for work.

I loved how Laini Taylor intertwined two worlds and her choice to have it set in Prague was brilliant! Such a beautiful old city that matches the darkness and romance of the story so wonderfully. Prague has now been bumped up on my "must travel to" list.

The mystery of Karou is one that I hardly saw coming, but welcomed it and it captivated me even further into this fantastical world. A world where wishes do come true and what you look like does not define you. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a bittersweet fairy tale that leaves you wanting to believe that there's hope not only in this world, but others.

Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Author: Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine, Claudia Gray, Rachel Vincent, Carrie Ryan, Sarah Rees Brennan, Jeri Smith-Ready, Kami Garcia, Mary E. Pearson, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Jessica Verday, Jackson Pearce, Margaret Stohl, Kimberly Derting and Ally Condie
Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Short Stories
Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

I love short stories and I've actually never read one that was paranormal based, so I'm excited to start this! I don't know many of the authors, but I've heard a lot of great things about this one and seeing as though I've been procrastinating with reading, short stories will be perfect!

From Strand Bookstore:
Author: Maureen Johnson
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery
Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Hm... okay this was actually a book I got last week but forgot to add it to my IMM. I went through a Jack the Ripper faze when I was younger so I loved the concept of this! Oh and the cover is so nice! It has an opal effect to it which is so unique!
Title: Dearly, Departed
Author: Lia Habel
Genres: Young Adult, Steampunk, Zombies
Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Okay, I swear my books this week are not all dark! I think I first heard about this when a lot of you were getting this as ARCs and I loved the cover! I've also never read a steampunk novel, but I've always loved the style/look of it all. If you've got some must-read steampunk, let me know!
Title: The Faerie Ring
Author: Kiki Hamilton
Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Faeries
Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

I don't know why I've been holding off on this one, but it was near Dearly, Departed and I was already picking up a lot that I just thought "what the heck."

I like the historical aspects of it which, in my opinion, usually makes the story all the more fun and intriguing.
Author: David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Squee! I love the concept of this and I don't know what took me so damn long to get it! And how fitting that the story begins at Strand (where I bought this)!

I probably won't start this until December so it coincides with the story, but I can't wait to start it!
Author: Theresa Flavin
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Honestly, I was drawn to the cover and upon skimming through the mostly positive reviews of this little-known book, I was intrigued and I was so happy to find it at Strand!
Author: Allan Wolf
Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction
Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

I first saw this at BN, but for $22 I declined since I knew nothing about it other than the concept of it being a collective narrative of 24 characters while on the Titanic. Luckily, Strand is awesome with it's half off prices!

So after reading up on it, I was so fascinated by this and it's multiple formats- letters, verse, undertaker's notes and so on. An appropriate take on the matter and with the 100th anniversary of its fateful journey coming up, I'm sure it'll become a bigger hit as the time draws near.

I’m always looking for more books, so please leave your IMM link in your comment!
 

- Books on Writing
- Audio Books
- Biography/Autobiography
- Sports
- Architecture
- Health/Wellness
- Other
- None of the Above

Well I actually don't read a lot of non-fiction, but I do enjoy mythologies, travel writings and autobiographies the most.

 
Title: Carrier of the Mark
Author: Leigh Fallon

It's finally out! I've been waiting for this for awhile and even after a long day of work and being exhausted with things still left to do at home, I still managed to go to get a copy. Plus the author was giving away signed bookplates to anyone who sent her a picture of you with the book! So naturally I had do it! Got an email from her today saying it'll be sent out next week!

This is my first time doing this meme and like a lot of people, I do judge a book by it's cover. Hey, first impressions are very important! Since there's so many covers that caught my eye recently, I'm going with one of my favorites of the year so far whose cover was really my incentive for getting it...



Title: Wither
Author: Lauren DeStafano
Design: Lizzy Bromley
Photograph: Ali Smith

I absolutely was drawn to the cover and it tells the story so well- a sad beautiful young girl, married, a bird in a cage, time is running out and experiments. One hardly has to read the summery to figure this one out.

The jacket has an overall matte finish, but glossy where it's circled. The text/design also has a shine to it.

I always love it when the design is repeated throughout the book- although usually it's just the font that's repeated, but this one's font and design was replicated within the book (and I know this is suppose to be just about the cover, I had to share)...

The publication page follows the same design. Love it. Very unique.

This is to everyone who is participating in my Birthday Bash Giveaway...

It has come to my attention that Rafflecopter doesn't filter out duplicate entries for ANYTHING! Whether it's a glitch in the system or people have found a way to just re-enter or people just can't remember if they entered, I'm letting you know that I am currently going through all the entries and making sure everyone has one entry for the first 4 ways to enter and only one tweet per day.

I'm not angry or even annoyed about this... just slightly disappointed. Although I am very grateful for those that have contacted me about accidental duplicates they've made:)

Don't forget it ends next Saturday so be sure you get those daily (meaning every 24hrs) tweets in! Thank you for entering and I wish you all luck! 

-Jenn

If you've ever used Rafflecopter and have experienced this before or you're just peeved about this, you can send them an email: support@rafflecopter.com

 

"Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles."

Of course I would switch places with Buttercup. She was the first strong female characters I've ever read (or at least can remember reading), Westley was my first fictional-character crush and the story is just so much fun! Coincidentally, this week's Entertainment Weekly is the reunion issue featuring ten great casts and The Princess Bride was one. Love it.

Movie: Sloane Peterson from Ferris Bueller's Day Off! That movie is always so fun to watch! It kind of made me wish I lived in the suburbs where my friends and I would sneak off to the big city for a day of a genuinely good time. No drama, no stress, just a good time.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop to look around once in awhile, you could miss it."

Television Show: Okay, for some reason Dead Like Me is stuck in my head and although if I focused I could pick something completely different. But I actually don't think I'd mind being a Reaper. I'd be the main character, George- recently dead and newly appointed Reaper. Damn, I miss this show!

"They say your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the moment before you die? That might be true if you're terminally ill, or your parachute doesn't open... but if death sneaks up on you, the only thing you have time to think is... Aw, shit." 

 

Well that was pretty fun! Okay your turn. Leave your link and I'll check out your answers:) 

Hosted by Booking Through Thursday

What’s the oddest book you’ve ever read? Did you like it? Hate it? Did it make you think?
This is a HARD one (that's what she said:P)! But I do know that the author would be Haruki Murakami, a contemporary Japanese writer whose works is usually described as film noir with magical realism.

I suppose if I were to choose a book of his that I would considered the "oddest", it would be "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle". When I started this, I have already read about 4 or 5 of his other works so I was well versed in his literary style and I was aware that this was his most popular as well- it had to be good!

At this time, I thought reading 600 pages of mind-bending surrealism would be somewhat daunting. But It quickly pulled me in and I couldn't put it down! So no, I didn't like it- I loved it!

I can't say that it made me "think"... I mean, I had to do a lot of thinking to make sure I was understanding what I was reading and when I thought I knew where the story would go, the rug was pulled from under me. Though I would like to revisit this book in the future and find things that I didn't see before. 

All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.
Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it….

• $25 worth of books from Amazon
• A personal book off her bookshelf (she has plenty of doubles)
• 7 different swag packs (most have autographs)

 

Rules:

• Mention and link to the person who awarded you the Liebster
• Choose your top 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers and let them know
• Take the award and make a post
• Keep the love and appreciation going

- Michele @ Just a Lil' Lost  
- Sally @ Always Lost in Stories

• A MATCHED t-shirt lovingly made by Courtney from Fandom Finery
• A MATCHED pill container and hand carved rubber stamp, featured in our party planning post
• An autographed hardcover copy of MATCHED signed by both author Ally Condie and cover model Samantha Aide

Contest ends Saturday October 15th!

What are you most excited about reading, right now? (can be a book you’re currently enjoying, or a book that’s yet to be published, etc.)

Oh boy, this is a hard one. I have SO many books that I can't wait to read, but I think I'm going to venture off the YA path on this one and go with Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. If you're not familiar with her, she plays Kelly Kapoor on The Office.
I found out last night that she's going to be at a local Barnes & Noble doing a signing next month, so I'm really looking forward to that too!

 

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins