Snowed In!

We had a pretty big blizzard on Dec. 26th, which I've used as an excuse to become an anti-social, book-reading, TV-watching, junk-food-eating hermit. I'm currently reading Fire by Kristin Cashore , and my puppy Zoe [who is two years old, not actually a puppy, but I call all dogs puppies] is keeping me company by sitting on my lap =)

My family has three dogs, but only Zoe (the youngest of the bunch) enjoys being a lapdog. I love her warm body heat and absent-mindedly running my fingers through her soft fur; she's the perfect buddy for reading books on the couch!

2011 Challenges

I decided to join two three challenges for 2011! But since I'm a wimp, and I hate the prospect of not-completing a challenge (or anything, for that matter... I'm kind of a perfectionist), I only chose challenges that had lots of qualifying books that I'd more than likely read anyway even if I wasn't competing in a challenge =P

 2011 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge

The Levels:
Level I - Read 5 books from the 2010 Book Blogger Recommendation List
Level II - Read 10 books
Level III - Read 15 books
Level IV - Read 20 books
Level V - Read 20+ books

I'm gonna "officially" choose Level II , but I'm hoping to read a few more than that. As for which books I'll read, I think I'll pick those as I go along... I tend to go through reading mood swings, so whenever I plan a list of books to read, I get sidetracked, decide I'm not in the "mood" to read one of the books on the list, find something random at a bookstore and read that instead, etc

The TwentyEleven Challenge

This one sounds super fun! The rules are to read 20 books from the 11 categories given (a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 2 from each category). Hard to explain the rest in this little post, so click the button for more info!

(You can also click the button for the other challenge to go to the host page and find out more info)

Once I get started on these challenges, I'll start a page (accessible from the tabs list at the top of the blog) where you can see my progress & I'll link my reviews

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Update 1/1/11: (Happy New Year!) I've also decided to participate in the Debut 2011 Author Challenge hosted by The Story Siren. This challenge involves read at least twelve YA books by authors whose debut is with a book released in 2011. Like the other challenges, I haven't decided what books I'm going to read yet... but when I figure it out I'll update it on the challenges page!

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So what are you waiting for? Check out the challenges! Post a comment & link if you're participating, I'd love to stop by and check out your progress. Happy Reading! =)

"Waiting On" Wednesday - My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that features books we're anxiously awaiting the release of. My pick for the week is:

My Soul to Steal 

by Rachel Vincent

Publication Date: January 1 (only a few days away!!)

Official Blurb 

YOU WANT MY SOUL AND MY BOYFRIEND?

Trying to work things out with
Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can’t just pretend nothing happened. But “complicated” doesn’t even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to
take Nash back.

See, Sabine isn’t just an ordinary girl. She’s a mara,
the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people’s fears—and craft
them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she
survives.

And Sabine isn’t above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to
death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.

I DON'T THINK SO.

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This is the fourth book in Vincent's YA urban fantasy/paranormal Soul Screamers series. Click the title link for more info.

Top Ten Books of 2010

.....okay so I'm a little bit late considering it's 1:15AM on Wednesday buttttttttt I don't care I want to do this anyway because it's fun! =)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish , and this week's topic is Top Ten Books of 2010

Hmmm... I've read so many good books this year, but since I have to narrow it down to ten, here they are (in no particular order):

1.  Graceling by Kristin Cashore
2. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
3. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
4. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
5. Stray by Rachel Vincent
6. everything else by Rachel Vincent =P
7. Reaper by Rachel Vincent (I know I already mentioned everything by Rachel Vincent, but I really loved Reaper, so I thought it deserved its own spot.)
8. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
9. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
10. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

See a trend here? I do... basically all of those books are fantasy, haha.
Note to self: expand my book reading horizons in 2011.

So, if anyone's actually reading this... I wanna know, what were your favorite books of 2010?

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls Series - Book 1)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Official Blurb:
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.
       Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

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My Rating: 4.5 stars ★★★★1/2

My Review: Much credit to Stiefvater for taking a topic that everyone knows and loves (werewolves) and writing about it in a different way. Usually, werewolves change during the full moon, but in Shiver, the cold weather is what forces their shifts from human to wolf. Also, she portrays the werewolves as basically regular wolves, not raging out-of-control beasts -or- humans in animal bodies, as some authors do. These things, along with many other small unique details, provided a new, fresh take on werewolves.
     The book is written from the alternating first person points-of-view of Grace Brisbane, a girl once attacked by the wolves who has been mesmerized by them ever since, and Sam Roth, a yellow-eyed werewolf. At first I thought the back-and-forth narrative would bother me, but I was wrong. It really helped me get attached to the characters and also allowed me to watch their connection to each other develop and grow.
      All in all, I thought the book was well written and a very good read. Highly recommended. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, but unfortunately, I have a few books out from the library that I have to read before I can get around to Linger.
    
Next in Series: Linger

Kiss Me Deadly - Review

Title: Kiss Me Deadly
Author: Michele Hauf
Official Blurb:
Death cocktail is what the vampires call a witch's blood. It's poisonous--a drop will destroy a vampire within minutes. Nikolaus Drake is the rare vampire who has survived his first taste. Now he's on the hunt for the witch who almost brought him to his demise--Ravin Crosse.
A witch who spends her nights hunting vampire tribes, Ravin has three obligations to fulfill to set her soul free. One of those obligations--crafting a love spell--twists her world upside down when Nikolaus draws the spell from her veins. Natural enemies rarely make the best bedfellows--but is it possible their intentions are really, truly the same? Can Nikolaus's tribal loyalty survive if he surrenders to desires far darker than his own?

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My Rating: 3/5 stars ★★★

My Review: I definitely enjoyed Hauf's added twist to the "typical" vampire story: witches' blood as being poisonous to vampires; however, I thought the beginning of the book lacked action ....it was a little too generic romance novel-y for my taste (in the sense that it was almost completely sex scenes, Ravin and Nikolaus were the only characters for several chapters, and the setting was almost entirely in Ravin's house.). As the book progressed, the plot did get more complex, and overall I would recommend the book for those who like paranormal romance.
        Apparently this is the second book in a series, which I did not realize until after I finished reading it (I received this one as a free e-book for my nook), but I didn't find that I was confused or missing information that might have been in the first book.

Warnings: sex/adult content; violence

Books like this: Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark Hunter series)

awesome site for book-lovers!

It's called Shelfari (here's the site URL: http://www.shelfari.com/ ) It's free to sign up and allows users to create their own bookshelf.. great for keeping track of books you've read, or adding ones you plan to read in the future. You can then rate, review, and add tags to books on your shelf for easy sorting. There's also a bunch of groups centered around different genres, authors, etc so you can get reading suggestions and reviews from other members. In my opinion, it's a really useful site; I suggest you all check it out.

You can see my profile/bookshelf here:
http://www.shelfari.com/tallama

starting this blog....

I discovered my love of books in about 5th grade and have been an avid reader ever since. At the moment, I have a pile of TBR books in my room about two feet high, plus my nook and a shipment from B&N that should be arriving in a day or two.

I've never had a blog before, so this is my first experience as a "blogger" (please bear with me as I figure out how to use all the setting and formatting options =p). Mostly I'll be writing reviews of the books I read as well as reading suggestions similar to each book.