Goodbye 2010, Hello New Year!!

It's New Year's Eve!

Wishing all of my lovely followers, readers, and everyone else out there an absolutely wonderful new year!!  Goodbye, 2010 ~ It was a great year but 2011 will be even better, I'm sure of it!

Thank you to all of my followers and readers.  I've been having an awesome time starting up my blog and joining all of you in the book blogging community.  I'm determined to make 2011 a great year, full of reading, writing, blogging, meeting new friends, and a bunch of other good stuff :)

Happy New Year!

Follow Friday (7)

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee’s View.  This week’s question is:  What are your new years book blogging resolutions?

My answer: My 2011 book blogging goals are:

1. Post more reviews.  Self-explanatory ~ I want to get more reviews up and write them on every book I read, not just some of them.

2. Be more diligent about posting my weekly memes.  I want to keep up with doing IMMs every week, whether it’s a video or not.

3. Get more involved in the blogging community.  I try to comment on most of the posts I read, but I want to do that more often.

I guess that’s about all my goals for blogging!  I’ve got many more goals for reading and other things.  What about you?

Review: Guardian of the Gate by Michelle Zink

Guardian of the Gate (Prophecy of the Sisters #2) by Michelle Zink

Age Group/Genre: Young adult/Paranormal
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Source: Bought
My Rating: 4 stars
Buy the Book: Amazon

From the back cover:
(From Goodreads)
The ultimate battle between sisters is nearing, and its outcome could have catastrophic consequences. As sixteen year-old Lia Milthorpe searches for a way to end the prophecy, her twin sister Alice hones the skills she'll need to defeat Lia. Alice will stop at nothing to reclaim her sister's role in the prophecy, and that's not the only thing she wants: There's also Lia's boyfriend James.

Lia and Alice always knew the Prophecy would turn those closest to them against them. But they didn't know what betrayal could lead them to do. In the end, only one sister will be left standing.

My review:

**May contain spoilers for those who haven't read the first book in the series**

I absolutely LOVED Prophecy of the Sisters (see my review).  The story pulled me right in.  Guardian of the Gate is the second book and I gave it 4 stars.  I love the writing.  It seems to flow really well.  This book, like the first, was a page-turner and kept me interested up until the very end.

I would have given this 5 stars like the first book, but I had to take away a star.  I felt that the romance aspect of this one was a little too much for this series.  In the first book, we get glimpses of Lia and James’ feelings for each other, but it’s all in good taste.  In this second novel, the romance aspect is more “adult,” but nothing that is inappropriate for a teen audience.  It’s still in good taste, however, I was a little surprised that the author chose to go in this direction.

I really enjoyed the new characters that came into the story.  Lia is on a journey to an island where the other Sisters live.  She is on a quest to find the missing pages of the prophecy so she can finally put an end to it.  Most of the events take place in the “real world” as opposed to the Otherworlds where Lia sometimes travels.  I enjoyed the author’s description of the island and its people.  I also liked the many little twists that were in this book.  Lia’s journey is no easy task ~ She is being followed by the Souls who will stop at nothing to get her.  They are out to stop Lia from ending the prophecy, no matter what it takes…

Overall, I highly recommend this book.  If you liked the first one, I’m sure you will not be disappointed.  The characters are brilliant ~ I really like Lia and I think Alice is really fascinating.  I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book!

Booking Through Thursday (1)

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme that asks a bookish question every Thursday!  This week’s question is:  What’s the best book you read this year?  Worst?  Favorite?

My answer:  I don’t think there was a “best” and “worst” for me ~ it’s always so hard to decide.  The ones that come to mind first that I enjoyed were Matched by Ally Condie, Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink, and Fallen by Lauren Kate.  All the books I read this year were good in their own ways.  I always find that some books I read are not my taste, but I wouldn't say they are the "worst."  

All in all, it was a good year!  I am making it a goal to read more in 2011! :)

New Reading Challenges for a New Year...

Hi everyone!  I just wanted to pop in real quick and say Happy Holidays to you all.  It's almost a new year and I'm determined to make 2011 an awesome year!!  Since it's that time of year again, I know a lot of us are making new reading goals and participating in new challenges.  I've already posted mine, they are listed under my Links at the top.  I thought I'd mention a great resource for reading challenges: A Novel Challenge  It's not just YA, either.  There are a lot of challenges listed, so if you're looking for new goals for the new year, or just want to look and see what else is going on, head on over and take a look!

Also, I haven't posted in a few days because of the holidays and such, but I will be posting an IMM real soon to show you some great new books and the totally awesome Christmas surprise that I got in my mailbox last week........ :)

Until then, have a great day and happy reading!

Follow Friday (6)

Blog Hop will be on vacation until Jan 7.  Follow Friday is still going on, so I'll post my short answer.  The question asks what we'll be doing for the holidays...

I'll be spending time with family, opening presents with my wonderful husband and my crazy little doggie, baking cookies, and hopefully it'll snow so we can have a white Christmas!

What about you?

Teaser Tuesday (7)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here’s my teaser from Crusade by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie:

"For thousands of years the Cursed Ones hid in the shadows, fooling mankind into thinking they didn't exist.  Then one day they just...stopped.  Skeptics turned into believers one fateful dawn.  And no one was ever safe again."

2011 YA Reading Challenge

2011 YA Reading Challenge hosted by For The Love of YA

The challenge:  To read YA books of course!!

Challenge levels:

Mini Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels.

Fun Size Challenge – Read 20 Young Adult novels.

Jumbo Size Challenge – Read 40 Young Adult novels.

Mega Size Challenge – Read 50+ Young Adult novels.

Edit: I'm choosing the Fun Size Challenge ~ 20 YA books.  I'll be keeping an updated list at the link at the top of my blog!

Off The Shelf Challenge 2011

Off the Shelf Challenge hosted by Bookish Ardour

The challenge:  To read books that you already own, but haven't gotten around to reading yet.  

Challenge levels:

1. Tempted –  5 books to read
2. Trying – 15 books to read
3. Making A Dint – 30 books to read
4. On A Roll – 50 books to read
5. Flying Off – 75 books to read

For extra hard challenges:

1. Hoarder – 76-125 books to read
2. Buried – 126-200 books to read

I chose the "Trying" level challenge - 15 books off my shelf.  These are books that I already own but just haven't read yet!  My list contains books from different genres and is not limited to YA novels.

I'll be keeping my updated list throughout the year at the link at the top of my blog!  Here's my list of books off my shelf that I really want to read:

1. The Host by Stephenie Meyer
2. Escape by Carolyn Jessop
3. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
4. Impossible by Nancy Werlin
5. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
6. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
7. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
8. Numbers by Rachel Ward
9. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
11. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
12. In The Woods by Tana French
13. The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
14. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
15. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

2011 Debut Author Challenge

I have finally decided which reading challenges I will be doing for 2011!  I will be participating in 3 challenges and I will be allowing them to overlap...I will have links to each of my challenges at the top right side of my blog where I'll be posting all my updates throughout the year.  Here is the first challenge!

2011 Debut Author Challenge hosted by The Story Siren

The challenge:  To read at least 12 Young Adult novels from debut authors with a 2011 release date.  To see a list of books that qualify, visit The Story Siren's challenge page at the above link.

My working list (I only have 6 picked out so far that I absolutely want to read):

1. Warped by Maurissa Guibord
2. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
3. Choker by Elizabeth Woods
4. Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton
5. Wither by Lauren DeStefano
6. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

I'll be adding more, but these are the ones I know for sure I want to read for the challenge.  Head on over to The Story Siren to read the rules and sign up!

Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie

Age Group/Genre:  Young adult/Dystopian romance
Publisher:  Dutton
Source:  Goodreads
My Rating:  5 stars
Buy the Book:  Amazon

From the back cover:
In the Society, Officials decide.  Who you love.  Where you work.  When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices.  It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate.  So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one…until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.  Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow – between perfection and passion.

Matched is a story for right now and storytelling with a resonance of a classic.

My review:
In Cassia’s world, the Society plans everything about your life – what you eat, what you wear, when you die, what you do, and when.  They also control who you are “matched” with (who your spouse will be).  For Cassia, she learns that she will be matched with her best childhood friend, Xander.  However, there is a glitch and something goes wrong – she mistakenly has two matches.  One is a mistake.

Throughout the novel, Cassia tries to decide what she should do about these two guys.  Xander is her best friend; Ky is the new guy, who seems to have a secret.  Cassia starts to learn that Society has its own secrets and begins to want to rebel against their rules.

I really enjoyed this novel.  The descriptions of the Society were interesting and I wanted to know more.  The world that Ally Condie creates is incredibly vivid, intriguing, and horrifying all at the same time.  The part that horrified me the most was when we are told that the Society has literally destroyed almost all the art, literature, and history.  Only a small list of one hundred poems, songs, history lessons, etc., chosen by the Society, remain in Cassia’s world.

This series is off to a great start.  This novel is more of an introduction to Cassia’s world and how the Society runs everything.  Reading this book really made me think about the world we live in today and how much we take for granted.  In Cassia’s world, the Society controls her and everything she does.  There is no freedom.  This book will definitely make you think.  It made me think of how appreciative I am that I have the freedom to read whatever books I choose, write what I want, learn what I want…because how awful would it be to live in Cassia’s world where we couldn’t do any of those things?

This was a great book – I highly recommend this and can’t wait for the next one!