Monday, April 22, 2013

Divergent (Divergent #1)


Synopsis:

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue–Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is–she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
–courtesy of Goodreads.com

What did I think?
Um…I’m kind of at a loss for words here. So many Feels, Thoughts, Opinions…Ahhh!
Let me take some time to gather myself here so that I can express it in a coherent fashion.
Five hours, Forty minutes, Three nutella sandwiches, and One chocolate truffle cake later.
To read the full review CLICK

Everneath


 Synopsis:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she’s returned–to her old life, her family, her boyfriend–before she’s banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.
Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance–and the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.
As Nikki’s time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s queen.
–courtesy of Goodreads.com
Okay people brace yourselves because I have a lot of thoughts on this book and I have a tendency to rant. I’ll keep it as organized as possible. 
To read the full review CLICK 

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Anna is in the House!

Hey Everyone! I have Anna here with me today. She is the main character of the second book in the Touched Girl Series by Robyn Jones. Let's jump into this interview shall we? She’s agreed to answer a few questions, but I have to warn you that she has a way of answering questions without really telling you anything! 
CLICK for the full story and much more with this blog tour!


On Humanity and the Boston Marathon Attacks

To read my views after watching this video and my thoughts on the attacks...check it at Rainbows & Books

Going Vintage

Synopsis:

When Mallory’s boyfriend, Jeremy, cheats on her with an online girlfriend, Mallory decides the best way to de-Jeremy her life is to de-modernize things too. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in1962, Mallory swears off technology and returns to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn’t cheat with computer avatars). 

The List:
1. Run for pep club secretary
2. Host a fancy dinner party/soiree
3. Sew a dress for Homecoming
4. Find a steady
5. Do something dangerous


But simple proves to be crazy-complicated, and the details of the past begin to change Mallory’s present. Add in a too-busy grandmother, a sassy sister, and the cute pep-club president–who just happens to be her ex’s cousin–and soon Mallory begins to wonder if going vintage is going too far.
--courtesy of Goodreads.com
For the full review and rating CLICK

Pride & Prejudice Chapters 22-8

What Went Down:



Wow a lot of things happened in this installment. Let me give you a quick summary. Mr. Collins, having heard way too many NOs from the Bennets, asks Charlotte Lucas to marry him. On top of that, she says yes!
Mr. Gardiner and his family are in town and invite Jane to come along with them to London. Jane accepts this invitation, seeing it as an opportunity to perhaps run into Bingley there (since he is all about Miss Darcy now). Mrs. Gardiner warns Elizabeth about Wickham and how he isn’t worth her time despite how gorgeous he is. Elizabeth politely agrees.
It is further revealed in a correspondence between Elizabeth and Mrs. Gardiner that George Wickham has moved on to greener women. He is now engaged to a Miss King who comes from wealth. Elizabeth is doing fine in terms of the ‘break up’ but is disgusted by people looking for financial gain in a sacred institution like marriage.
Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins are married. Furthermore, Elizabeth accompanies Charlotte to The Lady Chaterine de Bourgh’s castle/estate/land/mansion. Lady Catherine basically bashed on our poor Elizabeth. She said ruthless things about her upbringing and characteristics even implying that she was a gold digger. Awful things were also said about Mrs. Bennet. Oh and Darcy showed up with is cousin who is also weirdly named Fitzwilliam. Elizabeth played the pianoforte for awhile through dinner…and that’s it for this week.  

To get the full article on these chapters and others CLICK

The Amulet of Samarkand

Synopsis:

Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the age of five and sent to live as an apprentice to a master. Powerful magicians rule Britain, and its empire, and Nathaniel is told his is the "ultimate sacrifice" for a "noble destiny." 

If leaving his parents and erasing his past life isn't tough enough, Nathaniel's master, Arthur Underwood, is a cold, condescending, and cruel middle-ranking magician in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boy's only saving grace is the master's wife, Martha Underwood, who shows him genuine affection that he rewards with fierce devotion. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him.

Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, he devours magical texts and hones his magic skills, all the while trying to appear subservient to his master. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine. 


--courtesy of Goodreads.com

For the full review CLICK

Harry Potter Vs. Twilight

The Age old battle continues. CLICK to get the scoop from Rainbows and Books

Money Run

Synopsis:

Take two child geniuses (thieves in their spare time), one obsessed assassin, and the richest man in the world to create a compelling, completely unpredictable young adult thriller. Fifteen-year-olds Ashley and Benjamin have concocted a daring master plan: to steal billionaire Hammond Buckland's most precious belonging, hidden in the depths of his conspicuous corporate building. But Hammond Buckland has a most elaborate plan of his own - and none of them have counted on Peachey, the hit man with a determination to finish the job - at any cost!The beginning of a dazzling new series from Jack Heath, author of The Lab and Remote Control.
--courtesy of Goodreads.com

This was just the Synopsis, to get the full review CLICK

Pride & Prejudice Chapters 14-21


The girls are introduced to the hunkalicious George Wickham. OMG he is so hot! The girls can’t get enough of him and amazingly he can’t get enough of our Elizabeth. They have a super awkward interaction with Mr. Darcy and it is evident that Darcy hates Wickham’s guts. At a dinner party, George explains to Elizabeth what went down with Darcy. Here is a summary of that:
  • Wickham grew up around the Darcy household.
  • The late Mr. Darcy (our Darcy’s daddy) was very fond of Wickham and wanted to help him out with money.
  • When he died, he left Wickham a giant chunk of bills but Darcy swooped in and took it all away.
  • Poor Wickham was forced to join the army rather than live lavishly with all that inherited cash.
Elizabeth tells Jane all this and the two of them start wondering how someone as awesome as Bingley could tolerate a wicked dude like Darcy. Elizabeth and the Bennets attend a ball where Wickham also was supposed to be. Elizabeth was looking forward to seeing Wickham there but he was a no show (obviously because snarky pants Darcy was there). It is revealed that Darcy is somehow related to Lady Catherine de Bourgh and knows her as an aunty. There is a little twinge of jealously between Darcy as Elizabeth is forced into dancing the first two dances with Collins. But, Mr. Collins is too wrapped up in the environment to notice Darcy’s grudging attitude.

To get the full scoop and discuss the details of this week's Pride & Prejudice installment CLICK

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:
Debate Club.
Her father’s “bunny rabbit.”
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.

Frankie Laundau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take “no” for an answer.
Especially when “no” means she’s excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society.
Not when her ex boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she’s smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew’s lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.

Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind.

This is the story of how she got that way.
--courtesy of Goodreads.com 

To read the full review and check out others CLICK

The Relationship of Harry and Ginny



 Did you feel that the relationship of Harry and Ginny in the Harry Potter series was a bit rushed? A bit convenient? Not thoroughly developed? Well CLICK to read more on the subject.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

The Influence of Technology on Reading


With every advance our society makes in technology, reading is directly affected and changed. Every invention and discovery, including fire, light bulbs, electricity, the printing press, Internet, mobile devices, has changed the way we think, read, criticize and interact. It is no wonder, that today (an era full of distractions) this topic is more relevant than ever before.
So the big question was has technology affected our reading? The answer is Yes, it has made reading more fun, exciting, and easy. But that’s not where the debate ends, folks. People are wondering HOW technology is affecting our reading. Is it a good and fruitful adjustment or a terrible injustice to all books everywhere?
CLICK to read more...

The Shadow King


More than 3,000 years ago, King Tutankhamun’s desiccated body was lovingly wrapped and sent into the future as an immortal god. After resting undisturbed for more than three millennia, King Tut’s mummy was suddenly awakened in 1922. Archaeologist Howard Carter had discovered the boy-king’s tomb, and the soon-to-be famous mummy’s story—even more dramatic than King Tut’s life—began.
The mummy’s “afterlife” is a modern story, not an ancient one. Award-winning science writer Jo Marchant traces the mummy’s story from its first brutal autopsy in 1925 to the most recent arguments over its DNA. From the glamorous treasure hunts of the 1920s to today’s high-tech scans in volatile modern Egypt, Marchant introduces us to the brilliant and sometimes flawed people who have devoted their lives to revealing the mummy’s secrets, unravels the truth behind the hyped-up TV documentaries, and explains what science can and can’t tell us about King Tutankhamun.
–courtesy of Goodreads.com

Forgotten


Gwyneth’s chronicle began long before she witnessed her family being brutally murdered and lost her sight. Living as an orphan, her world is anything but black and white. She sees her vivid future that promises suffering and death. Cursed with these visions, Gwyneth pretends to be like everyone else, until a dangerously charismatic, young man walks into her life. From the moment Jace lays eyes on her, he refuses to believe Gwyneth is normal. He knows information about her past that only a psychopathic stalker could dig up. He reveals her dirty secrets. Unbeknownst details of Gwyneth’s former life unfurl.
Unsure of what to believe, Gwyneth searches for answers that lead to her inconceivable fate. However, the ancient truth she uncovers is more dangerous than any high school romance she’d bargained for. Gwyneth is drug into an inevitable battle brewing between immortal Gods and ageless Hunters – both of which have sworn to swear to kill her if deemed necessary.
–courtesy of Goodreads.com
CLICK if you want to read the whole review by yours truly, Snuggles with Rainbows.