Wicked Winter Read-A-Thon

Original Post here.

The Wicked Winter Read-A-Thon is a time when we all get together to dedicate the weekend of February 3-5 to as much reading as possible. You read as much as you can in order to get yourself a little further through that huge to-read pile! We know real life gets in the way and even if you can’t participate more than one day, you’re welcome to join in on the fun!

I think this would definitely help me catch up on my reading. I'm falling behind D: So, this seems like a fun little thing. Sad thing, I don't think I'll be able to get much reading done on the first say (February 3rd) only because there's my Winter Formal. And if I end up going, I can't just bring my Kindle to the dance! I'd look like such a lame-o. Reading at the dance(x But the only two days are free. It'll be me, my Kindle, a few paperbacks in my bed for hours on end!

Wish me luck(:

Teaser Tuesday - {10th]

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 {I often use more!}

■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!

His smile is laced with dynamite. "Go to sleep." "Go to hell." He works his jaw. Walks to the door. "I'm working on it."  

New Girl by Paige Harbison {26th]

Title: New Girl
Author: Paige Harbison
Pages: 304
Format: eBook/ eARC
Publish Date: January 31st, 2012 ; HarlequinTeen
Source: NetGalley
Synopsis:

They call me 'New Girl'...

Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her.

Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.

Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.

And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back

I didn't figure this out until I read a review from someone else, but this is a retelling of another story. The other novel was called Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I had no idea! But, that didn't effect my feelings about this book. Paige Harbison is a wonderful author with a writing style that made me not want to tear away from the book.

New Girl is about a girl who gets transferred to Manderly Academy for her senior year. She had wanted to go there when she was younger, but kept getting rejected. So once she did, she couldn't burst her parents' bubble and say she didn't want to attend. By going to Manderly, it meant she would have to leave her home state, leave her friends and family, and start somewhere completely new. For a girl who was born and raised in Florida, going to New Hampshire must of been a huge change. At first, she believed everything would be okay. Nothing was okay once she arrived at the school. It just so happened that the only reason she got the spot at Manderly was because a girl had gone missing. She, Becca, was a star at the school. Miss Popularity. So, of course, her disappearance wasn't something that went away. Everybody believed she was still there, just waiting for the perfect time to pop out. That didn't make up for the fact that her roommate (Dana) was a major pain in the butt; always yelling and saying how Becca would be back soon.

I enjoyed the way Paige Harbison portrayed the characters.  Dana. Becca. Max. Johnny. The-Girl-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named-Until-The-Very-End. Yes, I mean that. I didn't notice that the main girl's name wasn't mentioned until the complete end when someone said it. I had a blank look on my face, because it took me that long to figure out I hadn't heard her name mentioned before. I really did like that touch Paige Harbison threw in. As well as the alternating point-of-views. The main girl's persepctive and then from Becca's. Becca's point-of-view was in the past, from when she was at Manderly and how she made a difference. But, Becca was just a little bit psycho, so that was interesting to read about.

All in all, this was a very good read. I didn't know what to expect. I thought it'd be a cheesy boarding school story, but it wasn't just about that. I recommend this story to anybody that enjoys retellings and mysteries(:

We could be as dead as anyone who'd lived to be a hundred or as someone who was given a lethal injection. Our lives could be over at any moment. We were not invincible. I think that was a new one. We all knew it of course, but we never really felt it. And as we were all getting ready to end out high school lives and begin our new ones, I realized that these were thoughts worth remembering.

Completely Contemp Challenge

I'm a newbie Contemporary fan, so I wanted to join this challenge. And plus, I already own some of these contemporary books! I just haven't gotten to reading them. And what's not a perfect way to start then now? Plus, these books could count for another challenge I'm participating in! Here's my list of books to read:

2010
-Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
-Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
-A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler

2011
-Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik
-There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones
-Forgotten by Cat Patrick

2012
-Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler
-The Thing About the Truth by Lauren Barnholdt
-Dead To You by Lisa McMann

2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Originial post @ Bookish

Challenge guidelines: 

1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.
2. As we would like to see quality reviews linked up to our monthly wrap-ups, only bloggers can enter. Sorry about that!
3. Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2011 and earlier! NO ARCs and 2012 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed!
4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2012 TBR PILE Reading Challenge (You need to include the info + host list + challenge button. You can also grab the button code and add it to your sidebar!)
6. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
8. At the end of each month one of the hosts will post a wrap-up. Every wrap-up will have it's unique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway and place for you to link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up, you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from Book Depository. It's open to INTERNATIONALS. For participating in the mini-challenge you will get +1 entry.
9. If you miss a wrap-up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice - we will be checking ;)
10. December is a wrap-up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January-November + the ones you'll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway - 12 books, 12 winners, INTERNATIONAL. 

You don't have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways!

The level I think I'll be comfortable with is probably A Friendly Hug, which is to read 11-20 books. I have tons of books that have been published in 2011 that I haven't read yet! I know, for sure, I'm not reading the whole list. But I'm just keeping track of the ones I want to read before this year is over. :D Fingers crossed I make it to at least 11 of these books! Here are books I plan on reading for this challenge:

-The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkins

-A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies

-Delirium by Lauren Oliver

-Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

-Possess by Gretchen McNeil

-Wildefire by Karsten Knight

-The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

-Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

-Hereafter by Tara Hudson

-Divergent by Veronica Roth

-Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel

-Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

-A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

-Ripple by Mandy Hubbard

-White Cat by Holly Black

-Wither by Lauren DeStefano

-Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

-Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

-and etc.



1 - Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

2012 Ebook Challenge

Orginial Post @ Workaday Reads

Challenge Guidelines:

1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.
2. Anyone can join, you don't need to be a blogger. If you don't have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc).
3. Any genre or length of book counts, as long as it is in ebook format.
4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the E-Book Reading Challenge.
6. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.

I have a lot of ebooks piling up, so this will help me! :D The level I'm going for is DVD, which is 25 ebooks. Since you can't move down, I think I'll start with that level and see where it takes me throughout the year.

1 - Between the Sea and Sky by Jacyln Dolamore

2 - New Girl by Paige Harbison
3 - Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
4 - 

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent {25th]

Title: My Soul to Take
Author: Rachel Vincent
Pages: 279
Format: Paperback
Publish Date: August 1st, 2009 ; Harlequin
Source: Giveaway
Synopsis:

She doesn't see dead people. She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next.

Rachel Vincent is a work of magic. Her writing is literally addictive. I couldn't put the book down! I'm new to her work, so I didn't know what to expect. This is a very hyped series, and everyone loves it. It made me scared that I'd be one of the few that don't really like it. But, thank goodness, I'm on the side of every other Kaylee and Nash lover.

My Soul to Take starts off with Kaylee and her best friend Emma entering a club. Yes, they are underage. Only way they are able to get in is because Emma sister is a bartender. Emma is a pretty and popular girl, whereas Kaylee is more of the opposite. So when Nash Hudson, one of the handsomest guys at her school, starts talking to her at the club, Kaylee is very surprised. Of course, she engages into their conversation. As the night goes on, the club is pumping, and the crowd are all excited, something happens. Not to everyone, just Kaylee. All of a sudden, she has this urge to scream. Not a regular roller coaster scream. More of a bloody-murder/break-your-eardrums scream. It's clawing at her throat, threatening to get out. Until Nash and Emma take her outside. That is after she looks at a girl and sees that there's a dark shadow covering her body.

Nash. Nash. Nash. Hot, adorable, funny, and a bean sidhe. Or, as I like to call it, a Banshee. Same as Kaylee.  Opposites attracted, but boy, Kaylee and Nash are inseparable. Especially when they had to figure out why girls were mysteriously dying. 3 girls in 3 days from 3 neighboring areas. Suspicious or no? That's where Tod comes on to the equation. Tod. Tod. Tod. Hot, adorable, funny, and a reaper. Yes, like the Grim Reaper. A soul snatcher. But, Tod is nice . . enough. I really like him, even though he's a killer.

To sum it all up, this was a very well likable book. I already made sure I got the second book, because I am dying to understand why it's called My Soul to Save. I think something's going to happen to Kaylee's soul in the next book (I haven't read the description just yet).

Someone tell me why it took me this long to read this book? Holy crap (excuse my French) was I blown away! Yes, that is my way of telling you all to read this book. If you haven't already!

“Kaylee, you're adding two and two and coming up with seven.”