Monday, May 10, 2010

Book Challenges

I've joined two challenges this month that I'm really excited about. The Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge of 2010 and the Marple, Poirot, and Holmes Challenge. I can't wait to start on them (I'm picking out my first book right now) and if you have any interest in them and wish to join and learn more about them just click the pictures. The thriller challenge is hosted by Book Chick City and The MPH challenge is hosted by At Pemberly.


Review's for T&S Challenge: 1. The Secret Adversary

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Heist Society: A Book Review

Title: Heist Society(Great title huh?)

Author: Ally Carter

Genre: Crime fiction (I'm not sure if this is the right genre, but it's the closest I could get.)

Reading Level: 11 and up

Summary: When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre . . . to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria . . . to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own — scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.
Soon, Kat’s friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster’s priceless art collection has been stolen and he wants it returned. Only a master thief could have pulled off this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.
For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and, hopefully, just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s (very crooked) history — and with any luck, steal her life back along the way.



My Review: I am now an Ally Carter fan. Her first YA novels in the Ghallagher Girl's series we're cute, but Heist Society was smart, it was fun, it was a new genre you don't see running around YA that much. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it. The characters we're clever, and quirky, I liked Katarina's character, and her devotion to her friends and family brought depth to her character which otherwise would have made her very run of the mill(the typical run away from my calling hero.). All the usual suspect's are back in this heist romp, the witty love interest, the tech prodigies, the boy who's not what he seems, there's even a villanious mafia art collector, but Ally write's them in with pizzazz and humor, so you don't mind meeting them again. There's a lot of hopping back and forth through romantic foreign countries, and all the gadget's and planning for stealing from a famous musuem that send chill's of anticipation and excitment down your spine.

I also feel that Ally Carter write's better in the 3rd person. The style was snappy and witty, and you got to see more of the whole picture of what was going on in the novel instead of seeing everything from one character's eye's which can be quite restricting at times. It is especially good in this novel since so many different thing's are going on and there are so many character's that it can get confusing at times, but other than that it's fine.

It's very ocean's eleven at time's only with teen's. It's been optioned for a movie, which I think is a great idea, although I don't think they should up the characters age to 20 for the fact that it's like ocean's eleven. I wonder why so many book to movie adaptations are straying away from the original source particularly YA adaptations? Oh well, I'll still probably go see it.

Content: Just some silly comment's about a girl's figure.

Rating: 4 star's out of 5

Recommend: For fan's of lightweight crime fiction.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Book Blogger Hop-May 7-13, 2010

I'm doing the blog hop this week, hosted by Crazy-For-Books and if you click that link you can see all the fabulous details about this fun and encouraging event, and join in!
Through this blogger hop I've found a bunch of nice new book blog's and you might too so don't hesitate to join in on all the fun! Clink the links! Spread the Book blog love!!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

New Release: Gimme A Call

I just got news about this new release by author Sarah Mlynowski. It look's really interesting, I want to check it out. Here's the summary:

Seventeen-year-old Devi is having a bad day. Her boyfriend Bryan broke up with her and she dropped her cell phone into the fountain at the mall.


Now it only calls one number.
Her number. At age fourteen, three years ago!

Once Devi gets over the shock, she realizes that she's been given an awesome gift. She can tell herself all the right things to do...because she's already done the wrong ones!

Change #1: Do not go on that first date with Bryan.

Fourteen-year old Devi isn't so sure, though. She likes Bryan. She's happy.
But who better to listen to than your future self...right?

Everything's at stake...when the future is on the line.


So are you intrigued? Find out more on Sarah's website or to buy it click here.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Teaser Tuesday



Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"As they walked through the maze of the casino floor, Kat couldn't help but notice a slight bounce in Simon's step as he chatted on about the lecture, the advance in technology. The geniuses and legends who'd given talks that morning at breakfast."
--Heist Society by Ally Carter

I'm reading two books right now really, does that mean I can do two teasers? I think I will. My second book is...








"This is Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council," the voice continued. "As you will no doubt be aware, the plans for development of the outlying regions of the Galaxy require the building of a hyperspatial express route through your star system, and regrettably your planet is one of those scheduled for demolition."
--The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

You know I've often wondered why I put the title of books and authors when you can clearly see them in the pictures I put up. Oh well I've been doing it s
o long I'm not going to stop now I guess.



Friday, April 23, 2010

Scones and Sensibility: A Book Review

I just realized I keep forgetting to put what the genre is on my book reviews. Sorry about that. >_< Title: Scones and Sensibility

Author: Lindsay Eland

Genre: Comedy of Errors/Romance

Reading Level: 8 and up on the book but I'd say 10 and up because of the flowery writing that might drag for 8 year old's.

Summary:
Polly Madassa is convinced she was born for a more romantic time. A time when Elizabeth Bennet and Anne of Green Gables walked along the moors and beaches of the beautiful land, a time where a distinguished gentleman called upon a lady of quality and true love was born in the locked eyes of two young lovers.

But alas, she was not.

This, however, does not stop our young heroine from finding romance wherever she can conjure it up. So while Polly is burdened with a summer job of delivering baked goods from her parents bakery (how quaint!) to the people in her small beach town, she finds a way to force…um…encourage romance to blossom. She is determined to bring lovers, young and old, together…whether they want to be or not.

My Review: This book is as fluffy as a pastry. ^_^Polly is a cute character, even if her constant flowery old fashioned speech can get grating at times. Her silly attempts at getting people together are very cute, and sometimes humorous. The only thing that really bugs me is her inability to really think about the personalities of the people she was getting together and whether they would be compatible together or not. She certainly lives in a fantasy world, unaware of how things really are around her. Which is okay really because after all where would the character development be if the character was already perfect. But I feel the book really didn't need to be as long as it was. The other character we're nice, but not as fully developed, so really I didn't care that much about them. I can't honestly imagine Fran and Polly as best friends, they just seemed far too different from each other. Fran also didn't seem to care that much about Polly and just went along with her antics because she had nothing better to do. The little boy Brad who chases after Polly brings an adorable, innocent little romance for the main character which I enjoyed.
Now about the writing, it tried to copy the eloquent old fashioned style of classic novels. But overusing the adjective dainty, and having the character describing everything around them as beautiful and charming just doesn't cut it, and I would have preferred the book to be written in 3rd person instead of 1st. Other than that it was a very nice lightweight effort.
Content: Nothing objectionable
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Recommend: For young fans of fluff romance

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Teaser Tuesday


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"I imagined him pulling out my school portrait from within the pockets of his shirt, holding it close to his heart, and allowing but a few tears to fall down his ruddy cheeks over his unrequited love. Later, as the dark night settled over his cottage, he would sneak out of his room and place my picture within a glass bottle alongside a note that declared:
None other will I love, but this fair maiden."
--Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland

So I know it's really late but I wanted to do my teaser all day and kept forgetting. I figured better late then never. It's still Tuesday for the next couple minutes . >_<