In My Mailbox (5/30)

Written By: Kellie - May• 30•11

It was a busy book week for me so that definitely warrants an IMM post! My birthday was yesterday so I managed to get a few extra books than I might of usually and without (technically) buying any from work. Okay, I ordered from the chapters website, as a treat to myself. Woops! I was going to post this as a vlog but it just wasn’t workin out. Maybe next time? Onto the books! These first four I ordered online.

So I’ve always been a little behind on the wonderfulness of Kelley Armstrong. People rave about these books but it still took me awhile to clue in. I found a copy of the first one at a used bookstore near my cottage and I loved it. This time around I bought the mass market versions of three, four and five in this series as we only have the super expensive trade paperbacks at work. Looking forward to reading these. A canadian author named Kelley, how can I not be super supportive?

 

This year I’ve been making a point of catching up on all of the stand alone books written by one of my favorite authors, Carrie Vaughn. This one is about a girl who takes fencing but only finds any real use for the skill when she’s sucked into the past, a world full of pirates and sword play. It hasn’t gotten great reviews but I’m still willing to give it a go!

 

 

Annnd, finally. I found a few books while out garage saleing this weekend. Still one of my favorite ways to buy books as you never know what hidden treasure you’re going to find. Plus, these two books cost me less than a dollar, combined *brain explosion*

I know absolutley nothing about this book except that it has Dragon in the title and has a pretty strong YA vibe to the cover, based on that alone I bought it. I’m tempted to not even look at what it’s about. Just start reading and see what happens.

 

 

 

This book is on my ‘Readlist 2011’ and cost 50 cents, so obviously I have to buy it. I have heard such good things about this story and really enjoyed the movie so I’m really looking forward to this book. I will probably save it for the cottage.

 

 

 

That’s all for now folks… So what did you guys get this week?

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Magic Kingdom For Sale- Sold!- Terry Brooks

Written By: Kellie - May• 29•11

Summary: Landover was a genuine magic kingdom, complete with fairy folk and wizardry, just as the advertisement had promised. But after he purchased it for a million dollars, Ben Holiday discovered that there were a few details the ad had failed to mention. Such as the fact that the kingdom was falling into ruin. The barons refused to recognize a king and taxes hadn’t been collected for years. The dragon, Strabo, was laying waste to the countryside, while the evil witch, Nightshade, was plotting to destroy no less than everything. And if that weren’t enough for a prospective king to deal with, Ben soon learned that the Iron Mark, terrible lord of the demons, challenged all pretenders to the throne of Landover to a duel to the death – a duel no mere mortal could hope to win. But Ben Holiday had one human trait that even magic couldn’t overcome. Ben Holiday was stubborn… -Goodreads

Review: An older series that I’m just recently getting into. I’ll be reading book two this week (hopefully, I did tell myself I’d be reading it last week) so wanted to get in a review for the first book before hand.

What’s not to love about this concept… An ordinary man from our world see’s an advertisement in the paper for a magic kingdom for sale, and just happens to be in the right place in his life that he’s willing to accept that maybe, just maybe this is legit. He ultimately buys it and then must adapt to a whole new way of life filled with magic and monsters. It’s like the epitome of sword and sorcery fantasy, which I love and really should read more of.

Ben the main character is a well fleshed out every man. Someone you can relate to and understand why he does what he does. He has an interesting back story and way of relating to the other characters. On the other hand, the supporting characters are more comical than believable which makes for a fun read, even if you don’t get terribly emotionally invested in anyone.

I’m excited to see where this series goes next. I bought the first three books in one volume and have been waiting forever to find some time to read ‘The Black Unicorn. This week, will be the week where I finally do it. Just have to finish a couple others first *sigh*.

Rating:

Second Opinions:
@ Books and Such
@ Blood of the Muse
@ Books- Treasure or Trash

Posted in Fantasy Books , , , , | 2 Comments »

For my birthday…

Written By: Kellie - May• 29•11


My blog got me a functioning follower widget. Best present ever. Now I have 3 days to reach my goal of 9 more followers. Posting later tonight (as well as pretending its FF and going and visiting a bunch of blogs), for now I’m off to play with puppies.

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Quick Update

Written By: Kellie - May• 28•11

It’s been a busy week for me. Alas, not because I’m living it up in NY at BEA but still, lots going on. It’s driving me crazy that my follower widget isn’t up yet. At least I know it’s not just me so no amount of tweaking things will change this mind boggling problem.
Anyways, I’m going out of town for the weekend to celebrate my birthday (which is tomorrow, yay!) but I can already tell you I’ve got lots of books to yap about for In My Mailbox this week. I ordered a few online and picked some up at garage sales today. I doubt I’ll be getting any tomorrow, that’s the downside of working at a bookstore, when you get a discount on books no one ever surprises you with any!
I may try to squeeze in one post before I head out, but I need to get everything else done first.
Enjoy your weekend everyone!

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Megan Meade’s Guide to the McGowan Boys- Kate Brian

Written By: Kellie - May• 26•11

Synopsis: Megan is used to moving from place to place — it’s typical for an army brat. But she drew the line at South Korea. She insists on staying in the States to finish her last two years of high school. So her parents made arrangements for Megan to live with their friends, the McGowans…and the McGowans’ 7 sons.

Turns out, living with 7 boys might as well be a foreign country! The boys are messy. They are cliquey (who knew?). And worst of all, two of the oldest boys are H-O-T. (A problem considering they are supposed to be Megan’s “brothers.”) Megan is definitely in enemy territory. She needs to win over the boys’ hearts without totally crushing her own. -GoodReads

Review: I’ve been meaning to read this one for awhile now because the concept just sounded like way too much fun. Being thrown from the world of an only child to living with seven boys ranging in ages from toddler to practically adult. What’s not to love? Well, the chaos for one and all those crazy boy antics, but overall a very fun situation that made for a very fun book.

Megan’s character was very relate-able. She’s shy, athletic and a decent person. Someone I could definitely be friends with. The other female characters in the book are alright, a little stereotypical but not to the point where it negatively affects anything (that it’s not supposed to). Now… the boy characters, not bad at all!

Most of the seven McGowan boys are well defined individuals. Yeah, a couple of them are just filler, but there are seven, more than enough. We’ve got the super sexy flirty brother, the deep artsy brother, the asshole wanna be rapper brother, the quiet motorcycle fanatic rapper and the brother with autism. And those are just the ones in the dateable range! Their parents are pretty stereotypical, tough dad to keep control of seven boys and the mom who is clearly starved for female companionship.

I found some of the writing and dialogue could use a little more revision but I’m wasn’t feeling picky about that kind of thing so I still really enjoyed this book. A lot of the reviews on it seemed to think the whole thing was too on the predictable side, and I guess I have to agree there. I probably could have guessed at a lot of what was going to happen, but sometimes it’s nice to read a book like that. Comforting, I guess. So, if you’re looking for your next mindblowing read then this isn’t it, but if your looking for something fun and girly, then definitely give this one a go!

Rating:

Second Opinions:
@ The Allure of Books
@ Siren in Distress
@ Literature for Lunch

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Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale- Christine Bell

Written By: Kellie - May• 23•11

Synopsis: I’m a time pirate—born in 1810, now a 21st-century woman. I travel through time trying to right wrongs without disrupting the fragile balance between what is and what can never be.

That’s why it’s vital that I go to 1836 and find the man who conned my brother out of his Time Travel Mechanism as quickly as possible. If the technology falls into the wrong hands, it could change the world as we know it. The notorious Duke of Leister definitely qualifies as the wrong hands. An amateur scientist of the slightly mad variety, he’s bound to figure out how to use the TTM sooner rather than later.

I knew this wouldn’t be easy. But I wasn’t counting on him being as sexy as hell. Or winding up chained to his bed… -Goodreads

Review: If you were a kid and told you could name yourself, what would you pick? Dorothy Gale and Bacon Frogs are the name of the main characters in this book, I thought that was hilarious! My favorite part of this story by far. The rest of the story, was decent too. Not mind blowing, but definitely good.

Dorothy ‘Stormy’ Gale is a time pirate, which is pretty cool in concept. We didn’t get to see any actual time pirating, but it was referenced. Anyways, her brother Bacon goes and get’s his time travel device and Stormy has too go to some crazy antics to get it back! She goes about being a fake Romanian gypsy the same way I would, not very well.

There are only three characters in this short story, and they’re all decently fleshed out for such a short story. Bacon was super cute, and a lot of fun. You really felt how protective and big sisterly Stormy felt for the guy. The third character, Devlin, is devlinishly sexy and has a dark and stormy past (bud dum chee). The group dynamic here is great!

Anyways, short book so short review. It’s a super quick read and a lot of fun, go for it!

Rating:

Second Opinions: Review @ The Bookish Girl
Review ‘The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale’ by Christine Bell
Stormy Gale at Bree’s a Bookworm

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Raised by Wolves- Jenifer Lynn Barnes

Written By: Kellie - May• 22•11

Synopsis: Adopted by the Alpha of a werewolf pack after a rogue wolf brutally killed her parents right before her eyes, fifteen-year-old Bryn knows only pack life, and the rigid social hierarchy that controls it. That doesn’t mean that she’s averse to breaking a rule or two.
But when her curiosity gets the better of her and she discovers Chase, a new teen locked in a cage in her guardian’s basement, and witnesses him turn into a wolf before her eyes, the horrific memories of her parents’ murders return. Bryn becomes obsessed with getting her questions answered, and Chase is the only one who can provide the information she needs.

Review: I noticed before deciding to read this book that it was getting a lot of less than stellar good reads reviews but it sounded like a fun read so I went for it anyways, and I’m glad I did. This was a YA book written for actual teens, not adults who like the YAA genre (although they can certainly still enjoy it). If you keep that in mind, this book is Aces (not sure why I feel the need to describe it that way, but sure).

The cover is very pretty, an the girl on it makes a believable Bryn, although isn’t quite how I pictured her. More head strong, less whimsically looking over her shoulder. The colours on the cover are great though! Moon colours almost, fits the werewolves vibe very well.

Bryn is a human girl who was raised in a pack of werewolves after escaping an attack on her family at the age of four. That and a lot of the details of pack life screamed Mercy Thompson to me. These two series have a lot in common when it comes to were lore, but that’s okay… you don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time you write a book. By the end of the vamp craze there were so many sets of rules for vampires that I really couldn’t keep them straight.

I enjoyed the dynamic of Bryn and her friends. Lake’s and Devon are a lot of fun, and I’m curious to see what will happen to them in the next book. Actually, the whole pack dynamic by the end of the first book was… unexpected, so that should hopefully bring the series somewhere pretty cool for ‘Trial by Fire’ which comes out next month.

Rating

Second Opinions
Charleen’s Little Corner
Luxury Reading
I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read

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Cinder and Ella BLOG TOUR!

Written By: Kellie - May• 22•11

Reawrite is very excited to announce an upcoming blog tour with Melissa Lemon, author of Cinder and Ella. One June 1st we will be kicking off the tour with a review of her upcoming book, an interview with Melissa and a giveaway! So be sure to check back at the beginning of June for a chance to win a copy of this wonderful book!

Posted in Fun Stuff & Promos , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Werewolves, the pack mentality and real life

Written By: Kellie - May• 21•11

So, in order for this post to make sense, you first have to meet my dogs. This… is Molly & Darby. They are three year old, Glen of Imaal Terrier litter mates. Adorable, friendly but not so great with the listening skills.

So, lately we’ve been having some issues with them barking too much while they’re outside. We don’t really mind, we just worry about the neighbors. We can tell them again and again to shut up but we get no where. That is, until today. I have been reading ‘Raised by Wolves’ (review and details tomorrow), a book about a human growing up in a werewolf pack. Of course there is a lot of stuff about dominance, alphas etc… typical werewolf stuff.

While I was outside reading today the two of them started their usual bark at anything that moves routine but instead of just being annoyed, I was struck by the need to be the alpha dog and tell them how it is. Low and behold, it freakin worked. Caesar Milan can tell me to be the pack leader over and over again, and I don’t learn anything but put it in terms of werewolves and now you’re speaking my language. So thank you Jennifer Lynn Barnes for getting me a moment of much needed peace and quiet.

Just thought the whole thing was kind of funny. Who says fantasy novels lack real world relevance?

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Divergent- Book Discussion

Written By: Kellie - May• 20•11

Let me start with… THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!! SSPPPOOOIIILLLEEERRRRSSSS! Alright, you’ve been warned! I’ve wanted to do this for while now, actually get to talk about the ins and outs of a specific title, rather than just review it. If you’re looking for a review, you can find mine here. Probably should have put that link at the beginning of the post but this new keyboard is annoying the bajeezes out of me soooo, moving forward!!!

Now I’m just going to ramble on about my thoughts on this book for awhile but I called this post a discussion because I’d love, love, love for some of you to jump in. Granted, this isn’t really  controversial pick for a discussion most people seem to love it, but love it or hate it, I want to hear what you think.

So, starting at the beginning… the cover! This is the one aspect of the book I’ve heard the most negative comments on. People just don’t get the symbol (I’m assuming it’s the dauntlelss symbol?) or think the city scape is too cheesy and non specific. While I don’t love it, I certainly don’t mind it. Bright, bold covers caught my attention and got me to pick up the book, and that’s what a cover is supposed to do.

The entire premise was pretty cool… Pick a trait and live that way for the rest of your life. I was a little irked that tea knowledge were the bad guys as I think that’s where I would have ended up but I thought about it and I don’t thiinnkk any other faction would have worked. Yes? No? Maybe?

I can’t be the only one that saw the Four/Tobis thing coming a mile away right? I didn’t catch it quite as early on as some, but still. I actually like having those little moments, knowing I deduced something (smart Kellie, have a cookie). As long as it’s not something crucial that spoils the entire story. What I didn’t see coming was that Four’s father was actually abusive and it wasn’t just a ploy to make him look bad. Grr. How about you, any AHA moments?

Speaking of four, I really liked the romance in this book in that there wasn’t too much of it. Romance is yay, but this just wasn’t the book for it. There were no awkward triangle or star crossed lovers. It was good.

Annnnd, the ending. Just going to throw this out in random thoughts. Not sure how I feel about how easily she killed her friend (was  I the only one that took awhile to clue in that, that guy was even considered one of her friends??). I thought that first moment with her dad should have been a little more tense. Maybe in real life how it happened was more realistic (mass killings of your people, he’s our dad and he loves you no matter what) but this is a book, if you build up all this tension, you should really follow through.

Overall this was a really great book (and I love that it’s by a debut author)! I will definitely be rereading it, probably soon. I’d love to know what all of you thought as well, so comment away!

Posted in Reading, Young Adult Books , , , | 4 Comments »
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