"Waiting on" Wednesday

A little early, I know. I'm going on vacation tommorow and wanted to get this posted. I'll be back Saturday, so I'll post both Friday and Saturday's ebents then. :)

"Waiting on" Wednesay is pretty self explanatory. You post a book that you are looking forward to being released. :) I know I saw this somewhere, but I don't remember where, so I do apologize.

This week I'm posting about The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. It's due out October 2010.

The Scorch Trials is the sequel to The Maze Runner, and absolutely awesome book. It reminds me of The Hunger Games, but only to an extent.



Synopsis

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is blank.

But he's not alone. When the lift's doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade, a large expanse enclosed by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they got the the Glade. All they know is that every morning, for as long as anyone can remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, for just as long, they've closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the Maze after dark.

The Gladers were expecting Thomas's arrival. But the next day, a girl is sent up--the first girl ever to arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. The Gladers have always been convinced that if they solve the maze that surrounds the Glade, they might find their way home...whereever that may be. But it's looking more and more as if the Maze is unsolvable.

And something about the girl's arrival is starting to make Thomas feel different. Something is telling him that he might just have answers--if he can only find a way to retrieve the dark secrets locked within his own mind.



This books sucked me in almost immediately. It's not really even my usual style, with a boy as the main character. But I loved it, it was a nonstop ride to the end. And of course, the end left me wanting more. Which is why I chose The Scorch Trials as my very first "Waiting on" book. I'm definitely excited for it. :) If you loved The Hunger Games then you'll love The Maze Runner. Check it out. :)

Reading Challenges and Cheating

I was talking to someone online today. He's not really a friend or anybody I know, just an acquaintance. He suggested a book to read, and when I told him I would read it, but later on in the week, he asked why.

So I told him about my reading challenges. I told him that I didn't want to start it into 2010, since it was a long book and work well for by Pages Read challenge, but I also wanted it to count in my YA challenge and 100+ Challenge.

"Well, you can start it now and just say that you started it on January 1st."

Of course I was shocked. I've never been a cheater, it goes against my beliefs.

"No one would know."

But I would.

So it got me thinking. Does everyone this like that? And why? Why would you cheat on a reading challenge when you'd only be cheating yourself? And if you want to cheat yourself that's fine I guess...but what's the point?

Now I seriously doubt that most people cheat on the reading challenges. Because, like I said, you are only cheating yourself. But I thought I'd share that with you anyway. because, honestly, cheating will get you nowhere in the end.

1. What author do you own the most books by? Hmm...either L.J. Smith or Tamora Pierce. It could be K.A. Applegate though, simply because her series is so long. Does that really count though, since about half the books were ghost written then edited by her? I'm going to go with Tamora Pierce, I have almost all of her books.

2. What book do you own the most copies of? Probably Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I think I have 4 or 5 copies of that book...

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? I hadn't thought about it until now, but honestly, no, not really.

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with? Hmm. There have been fictional characters I adore, but none I am in love with. Honestly.

5. What book have you read the most times in your life? Probably a Harry Potter book.

6. Favorite book as a ten year old? Harry Potter without a doubt. Started the books ib first grade and I was obsessed up until recently. And still they are my love. :)

7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year? Oh, my. It's always hard for me to deem a book bad...I usually just say they're not my style, because others probably like the book. In fact, pretty much definitely, and I don't like to offend people. Plus, I really can't think of any books I find horrible, at all. So...I don't really know...

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year? Book Thief was amazing. Kite Runner was good. I love The Giver. I'm kind of leaning towards Hunger Games though.

9. If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be? You know...I probably wouldn't force people to do anything. It's really not my style. But probably The Giver or The Hunger Games. They show what kind of society we could, potentially, end up living in, and are worth a read.

10. What book would you most like to see made into a movie? The Hunger Games. Or Inkheart, and the real plot, not the changed plot we were given.

11. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? Shakespeare. Love his plots, but they're meant to be acted out, not read.

12. What is your favorite book? I hate this question. Honestly, above all others, this is the worst question ever. I can never choose just one, that's crazy. :) But I can say that, among others, I love the Harry Potter series, the Inkworld trilogy, The Hunger Games trilogy, most anything by P.C. Cast and Tamora Pierce, and the Vampire Academy series.

13. What is your favorite play? Les Miserables. Without a doubt. :)

14. Poem? I haven't quite fallen in love with poetry. At least, not yet. Probably The Raven.

15. Essay? I really don't read essays.

16. Who is the most overrated writer alive today? I'm leaning towards Stephenie Meyer. I'll probably get bad feeback for that, but honestly, I'm just really tired of hearing about Twilight. I read the books, I liked them, I moved on. They're not earth shattering. There have been vampire books before. In fact, I'm tiring of the vampire book fad.

Besides, I think her other book, The Host, was better anyway.

17. What is your desert island book? Something with detailed instructions on how to survive on an island...that comes with a free emergency cell phone that magically gets reception on the island with a battery that never dies so I can call for rescue. ^_^

18. And . . . what are you reading right now? The Giver by Lois Lowry. Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan. Betrayed by P.C. and Kristin Cast. Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz. And probably a couple other books I'm forgetting about. :)

Pages Read Challenge, Season Two

I was going to participate in this last year, but never got around to it. This year I hope to do better.

This is being hosted by Secret Dreamworld of a Bookaholic.

Rules:

1) Pick a number of pages you'll be attempting to read in 2010. It doesn't matter whether your goal is 10,000 or 100,000. You can always up your number as we go along, so you don't need to go all up high with your page count.

2) Write a blog post about it in which you will keep track of your page count.

3) Comment here with your goal number and a link to your blog post (if you have a blog - otherwise, just leave a comment with your name and the goal number). You will then be added to the list of participants.

4) The challenge starts January 1, 2010 and ends December 31, 2010. Only pages read after the new year has begun count in for the challenge, but any and every page you read counts for this challenge. I don't care about re-reads, overlaps with other challenges, or e-books! Just count the pages you read, no matter what type of book you're reading :-) See, it's a really easy challenge!

5) As usual: Have fun!


Last year my goal was 50,000 pages. I like that number, so I'm choosing 50,000 again this year. I'm looking forward to this along with my other challenges. :)

My Progress:

• 1 January 2010: 82 pages (82)
• 2 January 2010: 124 pages (206)
• 4 January 2010: 30 pages (236)
• 5 January 2010: 25 pages (261)
• 6 January 2010: 43 pages (304)
• 7 January 2010: 47 pages (351)
• 8 January 2010: 87 pages (438)

To Be Read/Teaser Tuesday

To Be Read Tuesday




What books do I have on my to be read list? Many. :)






But Graceling by Kristin Cashore is probably the most popular out of all of them. I've heard tons about this book, and yet for some reason I haven't read it yet. For those of you who, like me, haven't gotten around to reading it yet, or perhaps haven't heard of it, here's the summary.

Summary

In the world of the Seven Kingdoms, a few people are born with Graces -- talents beyond the ordinary. At age 8, Katsa discovers what hers is: killing. Trained by her uncle, the king, to be his enforcer, Katsa also secretly forms The Council, a group dedicated to helping the helpless. But when she rescues an old man who has been kidnapped by a neighboring king, Katsa meets a man who is nearly her match in fighting, and discovers a mystery that threatens all of the kingdoms.


So it sounds pretty interesting. With luck we should see this in on of my "It's Monday, what are you Reading?" posts in weeks to come.


Teaser Tuesday

It's a fairly simple, fun activity I got from Should Be Reading's blog. :) Simply,

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!

My teasers this week are from one of my many current books. :) This one happens to be from The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan. This books is the first on a series called The 39 Clues, all written by different authors and directed for a younger audience, but still fun. :)

" "Does it seem odd to you that we happened to find Irina Spasky out of ten millionpeople in Paris?"

"Maybe the other 9.99 million aren't wearing bright red scarves!" " -pg. 126



That's all for now. I may not be able to post again until Saturday, but I will try. I'm going on vacation tommorow and won't be back until January 2nd. Hopefully I'll be able to get internet connection, but we'll see. :)

Books Being Released This Week

Monday, 28 December 2009

My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent

Tuesday, 29 December 2009

The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

Tangled by Carolyn Mackler

In Paperback:

The Mission by Jason Myers

Thursday, 31 December 2009

In Paperback:

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Friday, 1 January 2010

In Paperback:

Nothing But the Truth by Avi

Review: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Grade: A+

Synopsis:

Imagine it were possible to bring the characters from a book to life. Not like when someone reads a book with such enchantment that the characters seem to jump off the pages and into your bedroom...but for real. Imagine they could actually climb out of the pages and into our world.
Now imagine if those characters brought their world into ours.
One cruel night, young Meggie's father, Mo, reads aloud from Inkheart and an evil ruler named Capricorn escapes the boundaries of fiction and lands in their living room. Suddenly, Meggie is smack in the middle of the kind of adventure she has only read about in books.
Somehow, Meggie and Mo must learn to harness the magic that conjured this nightmare. Somehow they must change the course of the story that has changed their lives forever.
This is Inkheart, a timeless tale about books, about imagination, about life. Dare to read it aloud!

Ratings:

Character Development: 10/10
Originality: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Voice: 10/10
Setting: 10/10
Overall Enjoyment: 10/10
Total score: 70/70

Obtained: Brought from Borders

Age Appropriate?

Cussing: Occasional cussing, not an unbearable amount
Drugs, alcohol, etc: None that I remember
Sexual Content: None
Violence: Some violence, nothing to terrible that I remember. Nothing graphic.

Review:

I first read Cornelia Funke's book, The Thief Lord. I loved that one, it's a great children's book. So when I picked up this, I expected it to be much the same.

It was better. Inkheart surpassed my expectations. It's the kind of book I can read again and again and never get tired of. It's an original, intense plot. The kind of book you don't really want to put down. It's full 0f magic and wonder, as well as humor and family bonds.

Cornelia Funke is a great writer, and though this is a children's book, it's not just for children. I've known of adults who loved it as well. Ifyou've seen the movie, trust me, it's nothing like the book. The book is far better than the movie. Check it out, it's a fun read. :)

Sequels:

First in a trilogy. Followed by Inkspell (Book 2) and Inkdeath (Book 3).

Disclaimer: I got the idea for this review layout from the blog Reading Rocks

Weekly Events

Monday: It's Monday, what are you reading? and This Week's Book Releases

A list of books that I'm reading, that I've started and/or completed, and what I've given up on. More to come in future weeks.

Idea from J. Kaye's blog.


This week's book releases is pretty self explanatory. What YA book are being released this week? I get most of these from Amazon's Listmania lists and teenreads.com

Tuesday: "To Be Read" Tuesday and "Teaser" Tuesday

Books on my To Be Read list. What the book is, why I want to read it, and any other information that may be relevant. :) I came up with this one.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. All you do is grab a book you're reading, open to a random page, and share two "teaser" sentences from that page. Just make sure that you inclue NO SPOILERS, and that you share the title and author of the book. :)

Idea from Should Be Reading.

Wednesday: "Waiting on" Wednesday

A book I'm waiting for to be released! I got this from another blog, but I really must apologize, because I cannot remember who I got it from.

Thursday: Nothing

No ideas for a Thursday event yet. Any ideas?

Friday: Friday Finds

What books did you hear about/read this week? From Should Be Reading.

Should Be Reading


Saturday: Authors on my TBR List

Popular authors that I haven't managed to read yet This was my idea.

Sunday: In My Mailbox

Which books did I receive this week? Books can be from the mail, the store, the library...anywhere. From The Story Siren.

The Story Siren

Series Reading Challenge

Is there a series you need to finish? Doesn't matter if you already started it or not. Here's the challenge.

Complete a series (one or more) in 2010. That's it. Simple. If it's not a finished series, then just read all the ones that have been released so far. If you finsih, I really can't give out prizes or anything, it's just something to do for fun.

Please sign up here. Just post in the comment or something if you'd like to join.

Rules:

1) You do not have to have a blog to participate. But if you do have one, please link back to this post.

2) If you have a blog and you sign up, post a link to your post about the challenge in the comment.

3) Audio and e-books count. So do crossovers and rereads.

4) There's no time limit for signing up.

I can't think of any more. This is my first challenge. :)


My Progress:

1. Mortal Instruments series (In Progress; Book 1 Read, Book 2 in progress)
2. Twilight series (In Progress, Book 1 in progress)
3. The Last Survivors series (In Progress, Book 2 in progress, Book 1 to be read [again])

2010 YA Reading Challenge

I have decided to sign up for this one as well. It coincided with my 100+ books challenge, so I went all out and signed up for the highest level...75 young adult books in 2010. I figured most of the books I read would be YA anyway, so why not? :)

http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-reading-challenge-2010-young-adult.html

It's not my challenge, so if you would like to join please sign up here. Or, there, rather. ^^

Rules:
1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.
2. There are four levels:
--The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels.
--Just My Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 25 Young Adult novels.
--Stepping It Up YA Reading Challenge – Read 50 Young Adult novels.
--Super Size Me YA Reading Challenge – Read 75 Young Adult novels.
3. Audio, eBooks, re-reads all count.
4. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.
5. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010.

I'll be keeping track of my own progress here, in this blog.

Ready, set, read!

My Progress:

1. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (In Progress)
2. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (In Progress)
3. Belle by Cameron Dokey (In Progress)
4. Heartless by Sara Shepard (In Progress)
5. The Dead and Gone by Sara Beth Pfeffer (In Progress)

It's Monday, what are you reading?

Hi all! I got this idea from a fellow blogger, with many reading challenges. If you'd like to participate here's a link:

http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/2009/12/its-monday-what-are-you-reading_28.html

And now on with my own post. :)

Books Completed Last Week:

None. I know, I know. It's not that I haven't been reading, I've just been reading 4 books at once, and haven't exactly completed any of them. It's also hard to do this as it's my very first post and I haven't been keeping track of them very well. I'll do better next Monday, I promise. :)

Books I gave up on:

Also none! But this time that's a good thing. Go me! :)

Books I Am Currently Reading:

The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey: It's a retelling of Arabian Nights, part of the Once Upon a Time series. I barely started it, but so far I do like it, it's interesting. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Storytellers-Daughter-Retelling-Arabian-Nights/dp/1416937765/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262037124&sr=8-1

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan: Part of The 39 Clues series. Each book is written by a different author. Too soon to tell for sure, but so far I really like the book. It's written for a younger audience, but at 16 I definitely like it. It's a good story, so I like it.

http://www.amazon.com/39-Clues-Book-Maze-Bones/dp/0545060397/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262037642&sr=1-1

Betrayed by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast: I'm rereading the House of Night series, because I want to refresh myself before reading Tempted. I definitely like this series, even if I am starting to get tired of hearing vampire stories. It's an interesting series and I've always liked P.C. Cast's books anyway.

http://www.amazon.com/Betrayed-House-Night-Novel-Novels/dp/0312596294/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262037754&sr=1-1

The Scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: We're reading this in my Junior English class. I've actually already read it, years ago. It's a good book if you can put up with the writing style, which I can. :) Always read the classics, they're good for you. ;)

http://www.amazon.com/Scarlet-Letter-Nathaniel-Hawthorne/dp/1442140712/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262037859&sr=1-1

The Giver by Lois Lowry: Amazing. I'm about halfway through it. I can't believe I've never read this before! It's about a boy in a very controlling society who is chosen to receive all the memories of the past. It may not sound that great, at least not when I describe it, but it's excellent. I love it. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Giver-Lois-Lowry/dp/0440237688/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262037948&sr=1-1

Up Next:

One False Note (39 Clues, Book 2) by Gordon Korman

City of Bones (Mortal Instrumments, Book 1) by Cassandra Clare

Chosen (House of NIght, Book 3) by P.C. Cast and Kristine Cast

Gone (Book 1) by Michael Grant

100+ Reading Challenge

Can you read 100 books in 2010? Starting 1 January 2010, begin tracking the books you read. As you complete them, make a list. Challenge yourself to read 100 books in the new year! I, personally, will be keeping track of my own progress here. :) Let's see if I can do this as well.

http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-2010-reading-challenge-100-reading.html

Books started before the first do not count.

Rules:
1. The goal is to read 100 or more books. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.
2. Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Manga, Graphic Novels, Library books, Novellas, Young Reader, Nonfiction all count.
What doesn't count: Individual short stories or individual books in the Bible
3. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.
4. Crossovers from other reading challenges count.
5. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010. Books started before the 1st do not count.


Ready, set, read!

My Progress:

1. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (In Progress)
2. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (In Progress)
3. Belle by Cameron Dokey (In Progress)
4. Heartless by Sara Shepard (In Progress)
5. The Dead and Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer (In Progress)