Click the banner to visit the site!

Monday, October 31, 2011

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

This Lullaby
By Sarah Dessen
Publisher: the Penguin Group, 2002
345 pages, Library book (hardcover)
Date Finished: 10/9/2011
Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age, Romance
When it comes to relationships, Remy doesn't mess around. After all, she's learned all there is to know from her mother, who's currently working on husband number five. But there's something about Dexter that seems to defy all of Remy's rules. He certainly doesn't seem like Mr. Right. For some reason, however, Remy just can't seem to shake him. Could it be that Remy's starting to understand what those love songs are all about?
~from goodreads.com~
~First Line: "The name of the song is 'This Lullaby.' "
~Last Line: "So I lay back, closing my eyes, and let them fill my mind, new and familiar all at once, rising and falling with my very breath, steady, as they sang me to sleep."

Review: This was the first Sarah Dessen book I'd ever read, and I can finally understant why everyone loves her books! This was really a great fun read.

The main character, Remy, is bringing together the final pieces for her. Mother's -- fourth?, fifth? -- wedding. She's so excited for everything to be over soon; she doesn't undersand why her mother doesn't just stop trying. And . . . insert: Dexter.

Dexter's just so geeky and loves being part of his band. It was adorable, really. He was probably my favorite character out of them all. He was very spontaneous and was okay with taking risks.

The plot was great, too. I liked how at first Remy is just so against love and having a meaningful relationship. In the end, though, she was head over heels for Dexter and couldn't wait until he gets off tour. Every book needs somewhat of a happy ending, right?

All I have left to say is that I will definitely be reading more of Dessen's work. :)

Plot Rating: 4.5
Character Rating: 5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
Colorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and Photos and five-eighths :)

Music Monday #26

Music Monday is a "meme"* that I will try to post every week or biweekly. In these posts, I will provide you with what song, artist, CD, etc. I am currently into the most. This week it's:


1) Party by Beyonce ft Kanye West & Andre 3000. I really like this song. One of Beyonce's best as of late. :) 'Nuff said. I mean, we all like to party, right?

Song Rating: 4.5 Wings
Music Video:



Happy Listening!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

The Week Ahead... (October 31-November 6)

Every Sunday, I will let you all know what to look forward to in the upcoming week: reviews, guest posts, memes, whatever I think/know I will be putting up for your viewing. The things I post will not always be followed out, but I'll try. Vice versa, I might end up posting something that isn't mentioned in this post.

For the week of October 31st - November 6th...

Monday:
~ Music Monday?

Tuesday:
~ Teaser Tuesday
~ Review of Midnight Alley

Wednesday:
~ Guest Review by Leanne?

Thursday:
~ Thursday Interpretation (Library Unveiled?)
~ Review of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Friday:
~ Friday Spolite?

Saturday:
~ What's your status?
~ Readathon update

Sunday:
~ In My Mailbox
~ Review of A Living Nightmare

Have a great week everybody!!! :D

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Vlog: What's your status? (29/10/2011)





This post was inspired by, well, my previous Reading Status posts. I wanted to make it something that everyone could particpate in. Every Saturday (and sometimes Sunday), I will post what I've finished in the past week, what I'm currently reading and where I am in the book/s, what I plan to read next, and possibly what I want to buy/get. I will be trying to do this every week, so be sure to check back every weekend! Be sure to leave your links to your WYS posts in the comments.

This next portion of the post is an idea that I saw on the wonderful blog Small Review. She posts what reviews and memes she has posted and participated in that last week. Remember, however, that it is not mandatory for you to do this part of the post.



Things You Don't Wanna Miss:
~Eragon BuddyRead


Reviews this week:
~The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks

~Space, by Emily Sue Harvey
~Matched, by Ally Condie

Memes this week:
~In My Mailbox

~Music Monday
~Teaser Tuesday


Finished This Week:
1. Space by Emily Sue Harvey. Finished on 23/10/2011.

2. The Nine Lives of Chloe King (series omnibus) by Liz Braswell. Finished on 27/10/2011.

Currently Reading:
1. Double Helix by Nancy Werlin. On page 77.

2. Dael and the Painted People by Allan Richard Shickman. On page ?.

Next On My TBR (To Be Read) Pile:
1. Eragon (Inheritance, #1) by Christopher Paolini. Purpose: buddyread.
2. Vampire Academy #'s 1-4 by Richelle Mead. Purpose: leisure, "recap," and challenges.

What I Would Like To Buy Next:
~NOTHING.

Don't forget to leave the link to your WYS post in the comments!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Matched by Ally Condie

Matched (Matched, #1)
By Ally Condie
Publisher: Dutton Books, 2010
366 pages, hardcover
Date Finished: 7/9/2011
Genres: Young Adult, Futuristic, Coming of Age, Romance
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~
~First Line: "Now that I've found the way to fly, which direction should I go into the night?"
~Last Line: "And they will change from ash and nothing into flesh and blood."

Review: I've wanted to read this book since I first heard about it on GoodReads. It looked great, and it unquestionably was! Dystopian novels are quickly rising in popularity for me :).

The main character, Cassia, turns 16 and gets Matched to her best friend Xander. It perfect. Xander and Cassia know almost everything about each other and know that they'll live happily ever after together. The problem comes, however, when Cassia is shown another boy's face as well.

Ky is an Aberration, an outcast in their futuristic society, but he and Cassia get along wonderfully. I'm not sure who I liked more between him and Xander. They both have their pros & cons.

The plot of Matched was awesome. I loved how everything was going so smoothly and seeing Ky's face was scary, but not terrible. Then, BAM. Cassia wasnts to get to know the boy whose face was accidentally on that microchip. She and Ky became such good friends, and you were just automatically pulled in to everything that was happening.

The characters were ahmazing as well. They all had something different and unique about them. Cassia wanted to learn. Plain and simple. She wanted to know everything that they weren't allowed to know. Ky was one of my favorites for sure. Even though he was an Aberration, he was smarter, in some ways, than most of the people in their society.

Overall, I just loved this vook. I'm so anxious to get my hands on Crossed! The covers for this series are beautiful as well! :D

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 4.5
Cover Rating: 4.75
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
Colorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and Photos and four-fifths :)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Teaser Tuesday #39

This meme is hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

*Grab your current read.
*Open to a random page.
*Share two teaser sentences from that page.
*Be careful not to include spoilers!
*Share the title and author.
*Leave a link to your teaser in the comment section at MizB's Blog.

From: Space by Emily Sue Harvey (ARC)
Page: 205
Links: GoodReads, Amazon

"The one place I swore I would never go back to is my parents' house. Unfortunately, when I hit bottom, it was the only place left to get. The one place that there is nothing to do but lie around and watch TV. Talk about depression, that place is purgatory."

Comments: I'm really loving this novel so far! I love all of Harvey's work, those that I've read. Now I'm anxious for Unto These Hills to come out :).

Happy Reading!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Space by Emily Sue Harvey


Space
By Emily Sue Harvey
Publisher: The Story Plant, 2011
282 pages, paperback (ARC)
Date Finished: 23/10/2011
Genres: Mature Teen, Realistic Fiction
Emily Sue delivers us a deeply moving story of a family on the brink. Dan and Deede Stowe have worked for years, planning and saving for their idyllic retirement years. Just when they finally are about to realize their dream, their adult, recovering drug-addict daughter, Faith, moves back in with them and everything changes. Their “miracle child”, complete with druggie baggage, upsets the tranquil balance of the Stowe’s existence. Private romantic moments evaporate. Faith’s endless needs intrude hour by hour, devouring both their finances, their emotions, and most crucially, their space. In turn, Faith finds herself bereft of everything she cherished most, her health, her marriage, her child, her family, her reputation and, most of all, a space to call her own.

Amid chaotic challenges, all three battle to find peace with each other, a harmony that doggedly eludes them. For the sake of family solidarity, each is forced to sacrifice elemental components of self, until desperation turns them one against the other. Will love be enough to turn the tide? Is it strong enough to warm again hearts grown cold?

~from goodreads.com~
~First Line: " ' Now, let's go through this area.' "
~Last Line: "Waiting."

Review: Once again, Emily Sue Harvey has proven herself to be a spectacular author. This, for the current period of time, is my favorite book of hers. It pulled me in automatically, the pages flying by.

The main characters are Deede, her husband Dan, and their daughter Faith. After countless times of trying and failing to conceive, Faith becomes their miracle child. While she's growing up, both parents can tell that Faith is on her way to greatness. However, everything doesn't play out exactly as they'd planned and hoped.

Space had an amazing plot. It jst seemed so real to me, the whole time. I know stuff like this happens all the time, but reading about it just put it in a 3-D perspective, so to speak. While Faith struggled to get her life back in order, her family's trust and hope for her just kind of disappeared. Of course, there were those handful of people that still believed in her no matter what, but, for the most part, no one trusted her in their houses or near their children. To them, she was just another bad influence.

The characters, wow, the charries. Absolutely amazing. I don't think I'll ever be able to pick a fave. It just wouldn'y seem fair to the rest of the Eagle cla. Dan was someone that I could, to a point, relate to. His daughter had dishonoured them, lied to them. Why should he keep housing her and paying expenses if she couldn't appreciate it? I could understand where he was coming from.

Deede, on the other hand, had hope and faith. She was fed up, yes, but at a certain point in the book, she can tell that Faith really is trying to turn her life around. She, like all other caring mothers, doesn't want to see her child out on the streets, in desperate need of help. I can understand, again only to a point, her perspective of their situation as well.

And finally, the infamous Faith Stowe. Once she had her mind set on something, she wasn't going to be deterred. She had such wonderful relationships with her cousin Jensen and her Aunt Priss. With people like them, she was truly herself. Her cocaine addiction was, in a way, both a wonderful and horrible that happened to her. Horrible for obvious reasons, but wonderful because in the end she discovered who she truly was and appreciated everyone and everything in her life.

This book, in general, left me crying tears of joy and so happy about the way it all turned out. I can say that the last few pages are definitely tear-jerkers. I just, wow. . . . I can totally see me rereading this sometime soon. An unquestionably marvelous read :D.

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
Colorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and Photos and three-fourths :)

Music Monday #25

Music Monday is a "meme"* that I will try to post every week or biweekly. In these posts, I will provide you with what song, artist, CD, etc. I am currently into the most. This week it's:


1) 5 O'Clock by T-Pain ft Lily Allen & Wiz Khalifa. I am officially addicted to this song! It's just so adorable. Love Wiz's part :). Hopefully I'll get you addicted to it, too? Haha

Song Rating: 4.5 Wings
Music Video:



Happy Listening!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

The Notebook
By Nicholas Sparks
Publisher: Warner Books, 1996
213 pages, Library book (hardcover)
Date Finished: 3/9/2011
Genres: Adult, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction
A man with a faded, well-worn notebook open in his lap. A woman experiencing a morning ritual she doesn't understand. Until he begins to read to her. The Notebook is an achingly tender story about the enduring power of love, a story of miracles that will stay with you forever. Set amid the austere beauty of coastal North Carolina in 1946, The Notebook begins with the story of Noah Calhoun, a rural Southerner returned home from World War II. Noah, thirty-one, is restoring a plantation home to its former glory, and he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met fourteen years earlier, a girl he loved like no other. Unable to find her, yet unwilling to forget the summer they spent together, Noah is content to live with only memories. . . until she unexpectedly returns to his town to see him once again. Allie Nelson, twenty-nine, is now engaged to another man, but realizes that the original passion she felt for Noah has not dimmed with the passage of time. Still, the obstacles that once ended their previous relationship remain, and the gulf between their worlds is too vast to ignore. With her impending marriage only weeks away, Allie is forced to confront her hopes and dreams for the future, a future that only she can shape. Like a puzzle within a puzzle, the story of Noah and Allie is just beginning. As it unfolds, their tale miraculously becomes something different, with much higher stakes. The result is a deeply moving portrait of love itself, the tender moments, and fundamental changes that affect us all. Shining with a beauty that is rarely found in current literature, The Notebook establishes Nicholas Sparks as a classic storyteller with a unique insight into the only emotion that really matters.
~from goodreads.com~
~First Line: "Who am I?"
~Last Line: "For at that moment, the world is full of wonder as I feel her fingers reach for the buttons on my shirt and slowly, ever so slowly, she begins to undo them one by one."

Review: Sadly, I've never seen this movie before. I know: Tragic (notice the capital t). But I really do hope I see it sometime soon; it was an amazing novel. Sparks just keeps making a great impression on my with his work.

The main characters, Nick and Allie, meet each other one summer and are just love struck. I loved both of their characters. They would do anything for each other, and I liked that.

The whole plot of the book was just marvelous. As usual, Sparks' prologue pulled me in automatically. The old man's story stopped abruptly, and it all ended with him looking at his poor wife everyday and thinking about the beautiful life they'd had together. Too gorgeous.

The characters were well-defined. There were some points where I could actually guess hat the charries were thinking or what they were going to do. Bit that part wasn't too bad. I loved how years later after their first summer, Allie and Nick reunite. It was just so cute and romantic to me.

I'm not sure which was more of my favorite character, Nick or Allie. Ther were both so amazing that I just really can't pick. Their love for each other was so out there; they're tied I suppose.

The Notebook, overall, was a really good book. Now I just need to see the film. You know what other movie I still need to see? The Last Song. Sad, I know, lol :).

Plot Rating: 4.5
Character Rating: 4.5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
Colorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and Photos and a half :)

The Week Ahead... (October 24-30)

Every Sunday, I will let you all know what to look forward to in the upcoming week: reviews, guest posts, memes, whatever I think/know I will be putting up for your viewing. The things I post will not always be followed out, but I'll try. Vice versa, I might end up posting something that isn't mentioned in this post.

For the week of October 24th - 30th...

Monday:
~ Music Monday?

Tuesday:
~ Teaser Tuesday
~ Review of Matched

Wednesday:
~ Guest Review by Leanne

Thursday:
~ Thursday Interpretation (Library Unveiled?)
~ Review of This Lullaby

Friday:
~ Friday Spolite?

Saturday:
~ What's your status?

Sunday:
~ In My Mailbox
~ Review of Midnight Alley

Have a great week everybody!!! :D

In My Mailbox #36


In My Mailbox is a meme hosted every week by The Story Siren. To find out how to participate and the "official" details, check out the IMM page.

Anyone can participate in IMM and you are not limited to sharing books that arrive via your mailbox. You can also share books that you've bought or books that you've gotten at the library.

-----------------------------------------------------


Borrowed from library:
~~Double Helix by Nancy Werlin


Bought on Kindle:
~~The Willows: Haven bny Hope Collier


Happy Reading! Leave a link to your IMM in the comments, and I'll be sure to stop by!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

What's your status? (22/10/2011)





This post was inspired by, well, my previous Reading Status posts. I wanted to make it something that everyone could particpate in. Every Saturday (and sometimes Sunday), I will post what I've finished in the past week, what I'm currently reading and where I am in the book/s, what I plan to read next, and possibly what I want to buy/get. I will be trying to do this every week, so be sure to check back every weekend! Be sure to leave your links to your WYS posts in the comments.

This next portion of the post is an idea that I saw on the wonderful blog Small Review. She posts what reviews and memes she has posted and participated in that last week. Remember, however, that it is not mandatory for you to do this part of the post.

**Too lazy for a video.**

Things You Don't Wanna Miss:
~Guest post by Crystal Connor

~Interview with Matt Xell

Reviews this week:
~Paradise 21, by Audrie Dionne

~The Darkness, by Crystal Connor
~The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

Memes this week:
~In My Mailbox

~Teaser Tuesday


Finished This Week:
1. The Darkness by Crystal Connor. Finished on 16/10/2011. LOVED this book! Definitely a recomeendation from moi.

2. Water Bound (Sisters of the Heart, #1) by Christine Feehan. Finished on 19/10/2011. I really loved this book! It's taken me months to get around to it, but it was a great book.

Currently Reading:
1. The Nine Lives of Chloe King (series omnibus) by Liz Braswell. On page 523.

2. Space by Emily Sue Harvey. On page 199.

Next On My TBR (To Be Read) Pile:
1. Dael and the Painted People (Zan-Gah, #3) by Allan Richard Shickman. Purpose: book tour.

What I Would Like To Buy Next:
~NOTHING :p (Just an update, I've officially spent all my money. On what you might ask? Makeup and 3 books :) )

Don't forget to leave the link to your WYS post in the comments!

Friday, October 21, 2011

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help
By Kathryn Stockett
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books, 2009
443 pages, Kindle Edition
Date Finished: 30/8/2011
Genres: Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adult, Romance
Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

~from goodreads.com~
~First Line: "Mae Mobley was born on a early Sunday morning in August, 1960."
~Last Line: "Cause just last night I thought I was finished with everything new."

Review: I first hear that this book was really good from my teachers last year. Then I heard about the movie, which I still haven't been to see :(. But anyway, I'm glad I finally read it!

We have three main characters: Minny and Aibileen, who are African American maids, and Skeeter, an aspiring writer. I'm really not sure which one is my favorite charrie. They're all so well written. Every time I finsihed a chapter, I felt like I just lived through everything the characters did.

The plot of this book was really good, too. I loved how Aibileen expressed her love fror Mae Mobley (her employer's daughter). She was always trying to teach her the right things, and not to judge anyone on how they look or the colour of their skin. I wished that there were more of her in the book.

Minny, oh, Minny. I loved her character so so much. She didn't take crao from anybody. Well, except her husband sometimes, I think. But that would've been the only time. Sad to say, the only way Leroy would stop beating on her was if she was pregnant. But anyhoo, she doesn't let people into her life very often, so when she does, you should consider yourself very privileged to be one of her most trustworthy friends.

Miss Skeeter was kind of simple to me, but in a good way. She was a simple girl who wanted to be educated and do something big. I think she accomplished her goal. Skeeter doesn't like the way the maids are being treated by their employers, two of which being her best friends. But what can she say? They don't work for her, and people would talk if they knew she was taking their side. And that could be dangerous.

So in the end, she writes a book with 12 maids that live in JAckson, Mississippi. In secret, of course. But soon everyone was saying the book was amazing and funny, and it was even on their local talk show. I really would've liked to be able to read Skeeter's book. Especially the story about Hilly :).

Overall, The Help is a great book. I'm super-anxious for the movie to come out on DVD so that I can indulge myself in it!

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
Colorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and Photos and three-fourths :)

Book Blogger Hop #19

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jen @ Crazy-for-Books. Every week she gives a question that participants are to answer. This week's question is:

"What is your favorite type of candy?"

Answer: My ultimate favorite candy ever is Twix. Sadly, I can't have any because my mom thinks I'll mess up my braces :(. So I sneak and eat fruit snacks at school. I should probably mention, I'm a sucker for gummies :D

So what's your favorite candy?

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Interview with Matt Xell!

To continue with the Tower of Parlen Min book tour, Matt Xell and I "sat down" for an interview. Enjoy! :)


1. What made you want to write novels?
There isn't one particular thing or person that inspired me to start writing. I fell in love with literature and the visual arts from a very young age, so I guess writing has always been one of the two major ways I love to express myself, the other been through art. But I only started taking writing seriously after the 9th grade when I used to write comic book plots and scripts. I didn't know there was any format for script writing, so I wrote in novel prose.

2. How did you come with the idea of Ves Asirin and the Tower of Parlen Min?
I came up with the idea for Tower of Parlen Min in 2006 after having a nightmare that was a bizarre mash-up of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and House on Haunted Hill movies, I'm sure a lot of readers will notice some of the similarities. I merged the initial idea with another story I was working on called The Narrow Escapes of Ben Benns. The idea for Ves as the main character of this new story came a few months after this merger of plots.

When I started working on Ves' character, I wanted him to be very unique from other 'boy-heroes' in literature like Oliver Twist, Charlie Bone, Harry Potter or Percy Jackson who are all likeable and relatable characters. I wanted Ves to be an anti-hero and anti-social for at least the beginning of the series. I wanted him to have a sort of handicap that would make his 'Hero's Journey' a real challenge too, so I developed the concept of his memory loss disorder. I drew a lot inspiration for Ves from Feild Cate in Placebo's Song to Say Goodbye music video, Haley Joel Osmont in AI: Artificial Intelligence and The Sixth Sense, Link in The Legend of Zelda games and more especially Lain Iwakura from Serial Experiments. But something amazing happened during the writing of the Sword Challenge chapter; Ves suddenly took on a life of his own and started writing his own character, becoming increasingly reckless, adventurous and curiosity driven. I had to rewrite earlier chapters of the book to take note of these changes.


3. What are some your favorite pastimes when you're not writing?
I like to think of myself as equal parts a consumer and producer of the entertainment that I love. So, I watch a lot of movies and animation, read a lot of Japanese comic, read a fair amount of novels and play a lot of video-games.

4. Where in the world you love to visit before you die?
Japan. I fell in love with that country when I was 16 and I'm endlessly amazed by it's pop-culture and history, particularly after the second world war.

5. Can we expect more from you after Tower of Parlen Min?
Yes, though I'm still doing a hardcore marketing campaign for Tower of Parlen Min for the next six months at least. Then I'll start writing the sequel, Eclipse Over Atuwis Wood in April 2012. That'll take me a year and a half to complete but I'll writing and releasing some other work in between that period like some light novels or novellas set in the world of Everlon. These'll be Ves and the Good Doctor, The Brothers Macullen, The Hunt for Majis and Eslo's Story.

6. Who are your top three favorite authors of all time?
Right now it's J.K Rowling, Jack Canfield and whoever really wrote the Death Note manga.

7. Can my followers keep up with you and Ves?
Yes they can, and I'd be grateful for the support. They can find me and learn more about all things Ves on my blog mattxell.blogspot.com, on facebook using facebook.com/mattxell and facebook.com/Towerofparlenmin or on twitter using handle @mattxell.


Thanks for the awesome interview, Matt!!!

~~Check out the trailer for Tower of Parlen Min:

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Guest post by Crystal Connor!

________________________________________________

To continue with The Darkness book tour, here is a guest post by Crystal Connor herself!!!!! :D Enjoy!

For my guest blog today I wanted to share another awesome author named Lori Titus she is creator of Marradith Ryder Series and the author of Lazarus, Green Water Lullaby, Hailey’s Shadow, Marradith, Darkly, and The Moon Goddess.

http://loribeth215.wordpress.com/tag/the-marradith-ryder-series/
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3335771.Lori_Titus

And if that’s not amazing enough she also hosts a blogtalkradio show called Flashes in the Dark Radio with, Tonia Brown and on June 26 of this year I was interview by Lori & Tonia on their radio show! It was so much fun, and I was so nervous but it was a lot of fun. I wanted to share this interview with you because we do talk about The Darkness and we also talk about other goofy stuff as well. I hope you like it!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/flashes-in-the-dark-radio/2011/06/26/crystal-connors-the-darkness

Lori and I will be sharing a booth at the World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City in March next year.

http://worldhorrorconvention.com/


Thanks so much, Crystal, for stopping by the blog!!!!

The Darkness by Crystal Connor

_______________________________________________

The Darkness
By Crystal Connor
Publisher: Bennett & Hastings, 2010
249 pages, paperback
Date Finished: 16/10/2011
Genres: Mature Teen, Coming of Age, Fantasy
Artemisia, a scientist who also practices alchemy, is wealthy beyond imagination. She is one of the founding members of the Skyward Group, a privately funded, secret, research facility conducting experiments that erase what tradition has established as the boundaries separating the realm of man from the realm of God. Artemisia has everything she wants - money, fame, knowledge and power - except for a child. Inanna is a powerful and dangerous witch, also wealthy beyond imagination. Her powers are greater and more deadly than any in the long tradition before her. Inanna has everything she wants - money, knowledge and God-like power - except for a child. The Child has nothing. At three months of age, he knows only what he has experienced through the bars of his locked cage. He has nothing. He doesn't have a mommy. He doesn't have a daddy. He doesn't have a name. The scientists who created him do not handle him, because they know The Child is dangerous. In The Darkness, Two women clash in a vicious battle that has been fought since the days of King Solomon - the fight over a child. One woman unleashes the nightmarish arsenal of modern science while the other dispatches the weaponries of witchcraft. And as The Child grows up, his love for one and resentment for the other will change the fate of both these women, forever.
~from goodreads.com~
~First Line: "I am an alchemist."
~Last Line: "I told you that from the beginning."

Review: This book was absolutely amazing. At first the characters and events were confusing, but it all leveled out in the end. I'll go ahead and say that you should definitely read this book.

The main characters, Adam, is a wizard. At the age of four, he's mistreated in one organization, rescued and loved by another. Then he's kidnapped from that organization and found by a witch that comes to love him as if he were her own son.

Inanna, the witch that found Adam after he was kidnapped, is probably my favorite character. She was always just so loving with Adam. She never really got mad at him, either, which I thought was way too adorable.

At first, my favorite character was the founder of the group that rescued him, Artemisia; but by the last four pages, I was hoping she'd just fall into a coma. She was ruthless. I just don't understand how she could be so cold D: .

But anywya, the plot of The Darkness was really good. Like I said, the beginning was a little confusing, but as you keep reading you're able to keep up with the characters. There was just dsomething about the way the charries all acted and behaved around each other that pulled you into the story and made you read for hours at a time.

All in all, this book was just fabulously marvelous. I definitely recommend it to any reader who loves witches or paranormal in general. A great read indeed :).

Be on the look out for Crystal Connor's next novel, Artificial Light, in which Inanna comes back!

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 5
Cover Rating: 4.5
GoodReads Rating: 4.5

Overall rating:
Colorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and PhotosColorful Animated Butterfly Pictures, Images and Photos and three-fourths :)

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Teaser Tuesday #38

This meme is hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

*Grab your current read.
*Open to a random page.
*Share two teaser sentences from that page.
*Be careful not to include spoilers!
*Share the title and author.
*Leave a link to your teaser in the comment section at MizB's Blog.

From: The Darkness by Crystal Connor (ARC)
Page: 234
Links: GoodReads, Amazon

"I didn't say anything to him until it was too late. I called out to him twice as he recklessly sped off, and I prayed that that wouldn't be the last time I saw my son."

Comments: This book was seriously ahmazing! I am anxious for the sequel, Artificial Light, to come out :).

Happy Reading!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Paradise 21 by Aubrie Dionne

Paradise 21 (New Dawn, #1)
By Aubrie Dionne
Publisher: Entangled, 2011
228 pages, eARC (PDF file)
Date Finished: 26/8/2011
Genres: Adult, Action, Adventure, Romance, Fantasy, Futuristic
Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind's last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where humanity can begin anew-a planet that won't be reached in Aries' lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe, she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries-long voyage.
But Aries has other plans.

When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers the rumors about pirates-humans who escaped Earth before its demise-are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possesses the freedom Aries envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet's native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns her freedom will come at a hefty price.

The life of the man she loves.

~from goodreads.com~
~First Line: "Aries sped through space in her escape pod as if she fled the event horizon of a dying star."
~Last Line: "She had never felt more loved or more free."

Review: This book was first introduced to me when I was asked to participate in a tour for it. I must say that even though this review is very late, it wasn't a waste of time!

The main character, Aries, is part of the ship colony New Daqwn. They've been traveling since Earth was destroyed by radiation, among other things. Their mission is to get  to Paradise 21, a planet that would be able to sustain life for quite a while. Back to Aries: she hates the way the people o the New Dawn decide her whole life for her, so she escapes and runs away.

She meets Striker, an exile, on a desert-like planet. Together, they find the missing piece to an alien ship that can take them to a different planet, and, of course, they fall in love along the way.

The plot for this book was really good, but it was kind of familiar: the female lives in a utopian future and doesn't like her future being chosen for her. It was kind of sad that I could guess that part of the plot, but it was overrided by the fact that it wasn't really close to anything else that I'd read. I love how there's supposed to be this ultimate planet that they have to get to. There was just so much other stuff in the book that I loved that I'm not even about to try to start a whole list :)

The characters were pretty cool. I liked Striker the best. He was trying to take care of Aries from the beginning, even before he could see her. His going back to save her (twice at that) was really an act of caring and nice-ness (and later love). But you get the point, right? :D

LOL. Loved this book! End of story. Just go buy it already:)

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
and three-fourths :)

The Week Ahead... (October 17-23)

Every Sunday, I will let you all know what to look forward to in the upcoming week: reviews, guest posts, memes, whatever I think/know I will be putting up for your viewing. The things I post will not always be followed out, but I'll try. Vice versa, I might end up posting something that isn't mentioned in this post.

For the week of October 17th - 23rd...

Monday:
~ Music Monday?
~ Review of The Darkness

Tuesday:
~ Teaser Tuesday
~ Guest post by Crystal Connor

Wednesday:
~ Guest Review?
~Review of The Help

Thursday:
~ Thursday Interpretation & Library Unveiled?
~ Review of The Notebook

Friday:
~ Friday Spolite?
~Review of Matched

Saturday:
~ What's your status?

Sunday:
~ In My Mailbox
~ Review of This Lullaby

Have a great week everybody!!! :D

In My Mailbox #35


In My Mailbox is a meme hosted every week by The Story Siren. To find out how to participate and the "official" details, check out the IMM page.

Anyone can participate in IMM and you are not limited to sharing books that arrive via your mailbox. You can also share books that you've bought or books that you've gotten at the library.

-----------------------------------------------------


Bought on Kindle:
~~Stray by Rachel Vincent


Happy Reading! Leave a link to your IMM in the comments, and I'll be sure to stop by!