Website Week, May 16-22

Website Week is where you make a post about a website you've discovered, and think is really cool.  It's for all of those websites that you just love to tell people about.  Leave a comment with your Website Week post.

      This week's website (of mine) is Caring Bridge.  This is a website where if someone has cancer or has a premature baby can post updates about the person then everyone can subscribe to it.  The posts help stop a huge flow of "How is so-and-so doing?"  or stopping nasty rumors that aren't true.  It's kind of like a blogging community for people with health problems.  Except there's a "Donate" button where people can give money to the person that is in trouble. My friend who had cancer used this website, and I thought it was wonderful so this is my second Website Week post!

The Link: http://www.caringbridge.org/

Incarceron Review

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Publisher: Firebird

Pages: 442

Genre: Dystopia

From: Bookstore

Synopsis:  Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ... From Goodreads.com

Characters: As each character is introduced I am thrown into there world, their problems, and the mystery surrounding it all. It's very obvious that there are some major secrets attached to the story. I automatically love Claudia with her rebel attitude against her father who is a very important political figure. Finn worries me. He seems blank,and he has this nice guy attitude that is countered by everyone telling him to do wrong. His friend is a much better character as he knows what he wants and will do anything to get it. The author however knew this, she played the emotions of the reader to want Finn not to follow his brother Keiro. That was just the first part. Once the adventure picked up the characters began to grow and develop, and as they shaped the story I found myself cheering them on and yelling, “Don't go in there!” -9

Format: They really went beyond the normal manuscript for this book. It's divided into five parts, and each chapter has a caption at the top, And the point of view switches between Claudia in the outside world to Finn in the prison. It really moved the story along, and added texture to the book. The experience was slightly lessened it's impossible to notice while reading, but I found myself striving to get to the next part instead of enjoying the story. If I were the publisher I would simply make it less obvious where the parts were because there is an entire page covered in a cool ink design to separate one from the next; a title page would have been for effective. -8

Suspense: The separation did add to the suspense because I was rushing to get through and then I would be left with this cliffhanger at the end of a section, and instead of stop there I had to rush forward to see what happened next. The switch in POV did that as well the author would leave off just at the part where it was getting good! Excellent work. -9

P.S. Watch out for allusions

The sequel: Sapphique

Overall- 8.5

Usually I include something on the plot and theme, but I don't have any more comments. Except that Incarceron was a exciting read, and there were many enjoyable qualities to it.

Prayers and Teaser Tuesday (1)

             Okay so before I start talking about books.  I have something very important to say, so please keep reading.  A girl who I've known since kindergarten died today from leukemia, her name was Kailey Wilmarth.  She was one of the kindest, greatest people I know.  Everyone liked her because there was nothing to dislike.  Now that she is gone all of my friends who knew her are very sad.  But we can't let her memory be for nothing.  There were many fundraisers held for her that boasted "Kailey's Krew" on  T-shirts and bracelets.  I participated in a few, one of which was a Las Vegas Night and Auction.  Everyone put such a great effort into it, and all over town people prayed.  Then a month ago Kailey started taking a downward spiral.  She needed a bone marrow transplant, and her brother was the donor.  A week ago they gave her the cells, and yesterday they started to take effect.  This tiny miracle which was so impossible gave Kailey a few more days until this morning when she was taken to heaven.  WE CANNOT LET HER STORY GO UNTOLD. 
             If you know someone who has died from cancer.  Please share their story in a comment or post on your blog with link. All of the fundraisers we did for Kailey can be done for all of the other boys and girls that have leukemia or any other type of cancer.  We gave Kailey a year.  What can we give someone else? 


Now for the book part.  I looked up a few cancer/loss related books.  Some of them I'll be reading to bring me comfort in this hard time.  One of the books I'm going to do a teaser about after the list.

A Time for Dancing by Davida Hurwin- This is about a girl whose best friend is diagnosed with leukemia.  They band together and help each other accept what's going on, and that she may not live. 

1. I've not read this book, but the reviews said that this really describes what cancer is like.  I'll post the review soon. 

Lurlene McDaniel-  She is an author who has written tons of books about cancer and terminal illnesses.  I haven't read anything by her, but I think since she has written so many it's worth a look at.

Before I Die by Jenny Downham- This is about a girl who is struggling with leukemia and has only a few weeks to live.  She has a list of things she wants to do before she dies.  One of the things she wants to do is have sex so warning to all you little children out there.  It's a very sad book so don't be afraid to cry. 

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick-  This is about a thirteen year old boy who is diagnosed with leukemia.  He's an average kid then one day he gets sick.  Once the doctors diagnose him, he finds out it's leukemia and he can't believe it. 
I've read stuff by this author before, and he's hilarious but can still get to the point of serious topics so I'm excited to read this one and laugh while I'm grieving. 




My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult-  Of course the obvious one, but I think this one is better suited for older readers because this is about a girl who was basically born to give organs to her sister who has a disease.  She finds out and gets a lawyer to avoid this.  I'm not interested in this book because I rather read about loss than some brat who doesn't want to give organs to her sister just because her parents made a mistake. 

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson-  I wasn't even  planning on getting this book when I went to the library today to look for comfort.  This book is about a girl whose sister has recently died, and she's dealing with that loss.  Then while she's grieving she somehow finds herself in a relationship with two different guys. 
         Though this book isn't about leukemia or cancer.  I wanted to get this because the girl seemed a lot like me, shy and booky.  So I picked it up because I thought it would help me deal with my grief. 



If you have any more books please leave a comment or any words of advice for me I would love to hear from you. 

Now for Teaser Tuesday!   This is hosted by Should be Reading.  I'm going to do two teasers. 
1)The Sky is Everywhere, and 2) A Time for Dancing.

"What do you do when the worst thing that can happen actually happens?  When you get that phone call?" p. 54

"In Pre-Op, I waited patiently while the nurse tried to find a vein to give me the anesthetic.  She finally settled on my hand, put in the needle, almost...and then had to try again on my other hand."  (pg. 105)









Thank you for reading through this long post, and for all your support.  Please help me let Kailey's memory live on, and give back to other people who have leukemia or who have lost someone to leukemia.  -Kailey's Krew Forever.

Website Weekend

I'm trying out this new idea.  I'm going to post a description of a website I've found that I think is really cool. 

 

         This week's is StumbleUpon.  In this website you give a description of websites you like to visit.  What are they about?  Most of us would say blogs or books, right?  Will you just check in the box and then StumbleUpon will randomly chose a website about this subject, and you can browse through.  If you decide you like it, click "I Like It" and the site will be saved to your favorites so you can go back and look at it later.  In this way the site gets an idea of what you like to visit.  So the more you Stumble, the more "Like it"s you can find.  Then you can create a Website Weekend of the site you've found. 

Check it out!

Cover Reveal!

          Julie Kagawa's new novella to the Iron Fey series has revealed it's cover!  I think it looks awesome, and I think that it's great she's writing this because we all kind of need a break from Ash/Meghan centric.  This book will be mainly Puck AND it's going to available for free download at her website (for a limited time) soon.  I can't wait.

 A Midsummer's Nightmare? Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Summer Court prankster, King Oberon's right hand, bane of many a faery queen's existence—and secret friend to Prince Ash of the Winter Court. Until one girl's death came between them, and another girl stole both their hearts.

Now Ash has granted one favor too many and someone's come to collect, forcing the prince to a place he cannot go without Puck's help—into the heart of the Summer Court. And Puck faces the ultimate choice—betray Ash and possibly win the girl they both love, or help his former friend turned bitter enemy pull off a deception that no true faery prankster could possibly resist.

I love Puck flying over the forest in raven form, and how everything is green and summer-y. It really shows off who Puck is. Then when you open the book you realize how much of a funny guy he is and you're like, "Oh, I'm not sure I was expecting that." Love it.

A link to her website: http://www.juliekagawa.com/index.html

Top Ten Tuesday (17)

Hosted by the Brooke and The Bookish.  This week's topic is Top Ten Bitches.

1. Girls from Clique-  I suffered through two of the books!  Gez they think that The Limited is cheap!  HA!  That's crap.  Why can't there parents cut them off now before they wind up in millions of dollars of credit card debt.
2. Kara from Some Girls Are-  Gez this girl had no life.  I don't care if bad things happened to her.  She should have left it alone.  This girl was an angry, half- crazy bitch.
3. Anna from Some Girls Are-  The source.  The way courtney made her out to be I know that she will probably never get over herself because if she did she would commit suicide.
4. White Witch (or Bitch) from Narnia-  It was always apparant with how evil she is.  I mean when she first met Edmund she poisioned his mind, and she threw a giant metal stick at Aslan!
5. Dolrius Umbrige-  I would just love to pull out her teeth one by one with no pain killers and with the wrong tools
6. Gissele from Ruby- she made me so mad that she almost disserved what happened to her at the end
7. The Girls from Luxe with exception of Elizabeth and Diana-  God!  Get a job or something and quit throwing your money around!

Selfari is down so I don't have my usual Books I've Read list so this is all I could come up with but I'm sure there are some really good ones.  Thanks for checking this out!

Matched Review

Happy Easter everyone!  Have a great holiday.  Mine was great, but I'm taking a little break to give you guys your Easter present.  A review of one of the best books ever!

Matched by Ally Condie

Publisher: Dutton

Pages: 366

Genre: Dystopia

From: Bookstore

Synopsis:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.
The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.  From Goodreads.com

           This book is right up there with Hunger Games.  A dystopia society that a strong-minded girl struggles to get out of.  Except where I could never see the Hunger Games actually happening, Matched could, not now, but maybe after 2012...  One day if the world becomes desperate enough we could be live in  a world like Matched.  The government is kind of Communist; people wear the same clothes and are supposed to be equal, but it never works out that way.  The officials that decide everything act like "Gods".  The scary thing is there is an idea like this out there.
           A lot of people have read the Hunger Games trilogy (I loved all three), but a lot of people missed the point.  What did you think of Mockingjay? 
                    Mockingjay Review
           The point of these types of books aren't to end happily, their point is to give the reader a message that says these things can't ever happen, and there are things YOU can do to prevent them.
           Imagine the Holocaust.  Hitler took away the Jews humanity right by right until he killed them.  What if instead the government was trying to "protect" people by taking away their choices and it got to the point where they were killing people.  Sure, the killing happens at an old age, but really it's a slow miserable death that starts when you're born. 
           Pretty Little Liars fans- the girls know the truth together they each have a piece, but they're not allowed to talk to each other because of what it could do to them.    In Matched no one knows how to survive on their own, no one know the whole truth.
           Both Ky and Cassia were very real.  Cassia starts out an obedient citizen then evolves into a deep person who wants a real life.  Ky was always the average citizen who didn't know who he was then he met Cassia and was finally able to be himself.
           Spread the word.  Tell your friends, librarians, anyone who likes to read.  We need to band together and get people interested in this book. 

Characters- 10
Plot- 10
Suspense- 10
Theme- 10
Pace- 10
Mood- 10
Cover- 10
Overall- 10- One of the best books I've read.

sequel: Crossed

Top Ten Tuesday (16)

This is the Top Ten Tuesday Rewind where I get to pick which one I want to do that's been done before.  There has been a total of 44 Top Ten Tuesdays that the Brooke and The Bookish has done.  And as you can see I've done 15 of those.  But for me it wasn't that hard to pick which one I'm going to do.  Just don't laugh.

Top Ten Favorite Fictional Crushes

This was before my time doing Top Ten Tuesday so I'm excited to do this. They're in no particular order just as they pop in my head.

1. Jace- okay, duh!  If you don't have a crush on him then your a guy. 
2. Tens from Meridian-  Okay so Tens is basicly the cuddly rock.  He's the strong protective type, but he's also very sensitive.  If you've read the book you know what I'm talking about
3. Peeta- Haymitch once said "He's the best of us"  and he's blonde ;P
4. Aaron from The Enemy- If you've read the book I'm sure you feel sorry for me, but I love the leader type and Aaron was amazing at that.  (no I don't like insane guys)
5. Alex from Delirium-  He's so sweet, and I'd love to have him on my side after the world ends (yes I read a lot about after the world ends)
6. Oliver Wood- I know I'm a weirdo, but I really like the scottish accent.
7. Peter from Narnia- don't laugh. This is more from the movie where he's fifteen in the first one.  And he's blonde and has an amazing accent.
8. Lorcan from Vampirates- yes
9. Cascade from Farworld- I don't have a reason for this one
10. Will from the Luxe-  I imagine him looking like Chirstian Bale from Newsies, and he's a hard working young man who knows what he wants.  When Elizabeth went back to New York I was so mad!  Gez he was a prize that she lost.

Okay thanks for reading my list.

In My Mailbox (3)

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while (if anyone cares).  I've had a lot of stuff to do at school, sorry.  Anyway, I've recieved quite a few things in the past few weeks from winning giveaways and stuff so I'm going to share a few pictures with you guys!

That's a sticker on the inside cover, I put it there.

          These are from Carrie Ryan's tour for the third book in her zombie series.  I had my Uncle who lives in Chicago run over to get me The Forset of Hands and Teeth because I haven't read any of her books yet, just her short stories.  He told me he auctlly started talking with her about some of the old zombie movies and that after he heard her talk he wanted to read the book.   So that's pretty cool, but he set these down to me and I've already mangaed to lose the pin so if anyone sees one lying around please e-mail me. :P. 

A white board plus marker

        This stuff is from the Truth Be Told Giveaway.  I won a signed copy of Blessed and some other swag. I've stuck the sticker on the inside cover.  As soon as I got the book I put down what I was reading and read straight threw this book (it took me slightly over two days).  I loved it, and I'll be posting the review soon.

      I made a run to Barnes and Noble and this was my haul.  A brand new Exculsive! copy of The City of Fallen Angels.  And an awesome leatherbound copy of the Narnia Collection.  This book is now my new bible.  I love it so much!  Being a diehard Narnia fan when I saw this on the web I automatically wanted it, but to not be greedy since I already own the five of the seven books I decided to wait a while to get...yeah.  The next time I went to Barnes and Noble I just wanted to look at it and touch it because it's leatherbound!  But as soon as it was in my hand I couldn't put it down for fear my heart would be attached to it so I bought for an Easter present (for myself).

Tantalize Review

Tantalize by Cythia Leitich Smith

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Pages: 310

Genre: Paranormal Romance

From: Library

Synopsis:

Are you predator or prey?
CLASSIFIED ADS: RESTAURANTS SANGUINI'S: A VERY RARE RESTAURANT IS HIRING A CHEF DE CUISINE. DINNERS ONLY.
APPLY IN PERSON BETWEEN 2:00 AND 4:00 PM.
Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her parents are dead, and her hybrid-werewolf first love is threatening to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever. Then, as she and her uncle are about to unveil their hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef. Can Quincie transform their new hire into a culinary Dark Lord before opening night? Can he wow the crowd in his fake fangs, cheap cape, and red contact lenses — or is there more to this earnest face than meets the eye? As human and preternatural forces clash, a deadly love triangle forms, and the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Who’s playing whom? And how long can Quincie play along before she loses everything? TANTALIZE marks Cynthia Leitich Smith’s delicious debut as a preeminent author of dark fantasy.

         Okay, so not as good as Eternal.  It was very vampireistic, and wrapped up in the Italian resturant idea.  It was kind of boring.  But really this book is the beginning, that starting part that most authors rush trough to get to the good parts except Cynthia's made a whole novel out of it.
         I'm glad I read Eternal first.  The vampire and wereperson back stories aren't talked about much in this book yet they're explained in Eternal so READ ETERNAL FIRST.  Yes, it wasn't as good as Eternal, but it was still good.  If you are thinking about reading it, read Eternal then if you like that read this. 
         Tantalize is like a very, very Italian resturant with a vampire theme.  That's all there is to say, that's what it IS. 
Put this book on your TBR list.

Characters-8
Plot-7
Suspence-7
Theme-7
Pace- 7
Mood-8
Cover-7
Overall- 7.3- Excellent

Sequel: Blessed