Bout of Books 9.0

 

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

 

 

 

I'll have another post with the books I'm planning on reading but I'm super excited for this read-a-thon.  I've participated in one of these before and it was so much fun.

 

 

 

Updates

Hey guys!

So as you know I'm now back to blogging for about a month at least.  I'm super excited to be back I forgot how much fun it is to read and review and interact with everyone.

I am planning on making some changes though.  During the break I developed interests for more things.  One, books to movies.  I've become extremely obsessed with movies recently and actors and actresses and watching movies and also book to movie news.  So I'm thinking that I might start posting about that.
Also I am SUPER FREAKING OBSESSED with any Hunger Games.  I love books, but I've taken my love for the Hunger Games books and movies to a whole different level.  I've become completely obsessed, so I've been thinking that I might post big updates from the upcoming movies, Mockingjay Part 1&2.

I also wanted to let you guys know that I've also become obsessed with an actor named Jeremy Renner.  I'm just warning you because I may or may not make a few posts about him/his movies.  I'm 15, it's to be expected haha.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know!  I hope everyone is okay with these things.  It's not going to be a drastic change by any means, I just might veer off from my normal posts to do a movie review or Mockingjay post.  I will start posting regularly on Tuesday, so I just wanted to let you guys know what's going on and I hope you all are okay with it and I can't wait to start again!

I'm Back!!!!!

Hey guys!

So I'm back!  I took my last final on Friday so I will once again have time to read and post regularly and I'm SO EXCITED!  I will be back for about a month and I can't wait to reconnect with you all!

Blogging Hiatus

I've kind of already been on a blogging break for about a month but I figure I'll make it official now.  It's just really crazy with school and soccer and life.  I haven't had much time to read and I don't have time/feel like writing reviews and putting up posts.

To publishers that I owe reviews to, I'm very sorry, but I'll have the reviews up eventually for sure.

I'll probably be back around the second week in December.  See ya then!

Top Ten Books on My Fall TBR

Top 10 Tuesday is a meme by Broke and Bookish, hosted each Tuesday, where bloggers list their top 10 in the chosen topic of the week.

Today's Topic:

Top Ten Books on My Fall TBR

SORRY IT'S UP LATE!!!!

BOOKS THAT I OWN:

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Starglass by Phoebe North

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

BOOKS THAT I WILL BUY:

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund

Taste of Darkness by Maria V. Snyder

Sentinel by Jennifer L. Armentrout

What's your Top Ten this week?

Link me up!

2013 Debut Authors Bash Featuring T. Michael Martin!!!!

Today I will be featuring the awesome T. Michael Martin and his super-creepy, super-scary, super-awesome debut.

The End Games
by T. Michael Martin
Pages: 369
Release Date: May 7, 2013
by HarperCollins

Goodreads / Purchase / My Review

It happened on Halloween. The world ended. And a dangerous Game brought it back to life. Seventeen-year-old Michael and his five-year-old brother, Patrick, have been battling monsters in The Game for weeks. In the rural mountains of West Virginia, armed with only their rifle and their love for each other, the brothers follow Instructions from the mysterious Game Master. They spend their days searching for survivors, their nights fighting endless hordes of “Bellows”—creatures that roam the dark, roaring for flesh. And at this Game, Michael and Patrick are very good. But The Game is changing. The Bellows are evolving. The Game Master is leading Michael and Patrick to other survivors—survivors who don’t play by the rules. And the brothers will never be the same.

Bio:

T. Michael Martin is a novelist and screenwriter who holds a B.F.A. in Filmmaking from University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He was inspired to write his debut novel, The End Games (Balzer + Bray 2013), by his own younger brother, Patrick, and their shared love of zombie movies. He currently lives with his wife in West Virginia.

Connect:

Goodreads | Website | Twitter | YouTube

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much everyone for stopping by!!!!!

{Review} The Fault in our Stars by John Green

The Fault In Our Stars
by John Green
Pages: 313
Release Date: January 10, 2012
by Dutton Books (an imprint of Penguin)

Goodreads / Purchase

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

As a complete book, it isn’t hard to find the right word to describe this story: phenomenal.  But it is hard to describe the little details that made this book phenomenal.  But I’ll try.  The writing, I have to mention right off, was beautiful.  John Green is an amazing writer, and you immediately get sucked into any of his books.  The whole story was just beautiful, if not heartbreaking.  I loved the way the romance grew, I loved the way that Hazel and Augustus talked to each other, I loved the way they made jokes and talked about the universe and had intelligent conversations.  I just loved the book.  It’s those little things that made this book as amazing as it was.  And, even though I spent literally thirty minutes, while I was reading, sobbing, actually sobbing, this book was amazing.  The way the romance grew, and the way the story line flowed and made the book an adventure for Augustus and Hazel was just beautiful.  And heartbreaking.

These characters were the reason I loved this book.  Even though cancer had ruined both of their lives, they remained strong.  Augustus was awesome.  He was so funny and adorable and cute and smart and loving and caring…and gosh just perfect.  The way he treated Hazel and the way they really loved each other was so beautiful to read about.  Hazel was a great main character because she was actually more affected by cancer than he was, in my opinion.  She remained strong and defiant and she was a really intelligent main character.  The ending of this book killed me.

At times I actually found it very hard to write this review because I was thinking of the book and all that happened in it and I know it sounds so cheesy but I almost started to cry several times.  It took me a while to write this review, and I don’t think it does the book justice, but I hope I got across how amazing I thought it was.  I’m actually kind of dreading the movie coming out because I think seeing this book will be worse than reading it, emotion wise.

5 stars

{Review} Looking for Alaska by John Green

Looking for Alaska
by John Green
Pages: 231
Release Date: December 26, 2006
by Speak (an imprint of Penguin)

Goodreads / Purchase

Before: Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.
After: Nothing is ever the same.

This was the first book by John Green that I’ve ever read, and I wasn’t sure what to expect…but it definitely wasn’t what happened in this book!  This book was dark, entertaining, emotionally scarring…and kind of awesome.  First off, John Green’s writing is absolutely beautiful.  The way he described the characters and the setting was just amazing, and the story line flowed perfectly.  I honestly thought I had this whole book figured out, and I thought I knew how it would end…but I was so wrong.  So, so, so wrong.  I couldn’t believe that ending.  [SPOILER: When he was counting down the numbers till some day the whole book I was expecting it to be when Pudge would tell Alaska that he loved her, not when she would die.  That completely threw me, and gosh it was sad. ]

This book has some really awesome characters.  One thing that I think YA lacks is really flawed, messed up characters.  Like in Silver Linings Playbook, Pat and Tiffany are so messed up, but they’re two of my all-time favorite characters.  This book had some really messed up characters, and it was hard to read about them, but I enjoyed it, if that makes sense.  Pudge was a good main character, and he really developed over the course of the story, turning from a weak, anti-social loner to a stronger, has-3-best-friends kind of guy.  Alaska I really liked.  She was strong, she was confident…but she was also crazy, and even though I thought that, I really appreciated her as a character.  The Colonel was a big part of the book as well, and I really loved his character.  He was a good, strong supporting character who had his own issues, and made the book very interesting.

I was very impressed with this book, and I know that John Green is a very popular author, so I will definitely be reading his other books.  But seriously, if all his book are as heartbreaking as this one…I’m going to need some therapy.

3 stars

{Review} City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

City of Lost Souls
by Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments #5
Pages: 535
Release Date: May 8, 2012
by Margaret K. McElderry (an imprint of Simon & Schuster)

Goodreads / Purchase

The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon. What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?
Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

This series just keeps adding to itself. At this point, the world is so well explained and the story is so complex that you really have to concentrate to pick up everything. And this book added so much to the series. A lot of crap went down in this book, and it was absolutely crazy. After the ending of the last book, one big thing had to be fixed or else I was going to throw this book across the room and cry forever (those of you who have read this series know what I'm talking about). And, thankfully, it was all fixed. So great. The writing was, as usual, pretty good. However, I did get kind of annoyed with all the different romances going on, and when Clare would switch points of view and go to Jordan and Maia, who basically had nothing to do with the story. The story line, staging, and explanations for the events were all very well done and very well explained. And omg that ending! Gosh I felt like I couldn't breath as I was reading it. Also, I will forever remember this book because of the last lines of the last page. Best finish ever.

As you all may or may not know, Jace is my fictional boyfriend. I don't care what you say or who tries to take him away from me, he's mine. He's a smart-ass, blond god who has a great personality and is totally full of himself. Plus he's sexy and kick-ass. So I've come to the conclusion that if I can't find a blonde Shadowhunter sometime in my life that I am going to die alone. Thank you Jace for ruining my life. Clary keeps on growing on my as the series goes on. Even though she made some really stupid decisions in this book, I really like her strength, drive, and personality.

I can't wait for the last book. Seriously, WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN! Ugh the suspense is killing me!!



4.5 stars

Deception Blog Tour Stop

Deception
by C.J. Redwine
Series: Deception #2
Pages: 480
Release Date: August 27, 2013
by Balzer + Bray (an imprint of Harper)

Goodreads / Purchase

Baalboden has been ravaged. The brutal Commander's whereabouts are unknown. And Rachel, grief stricken over her father's death, needs Logan more than ever. With their ragged group of survivors struggling to forge a future, it's up to Logan to become the leader they need—with Rachel by his side. Under constant threat from rival Carrington's army, who is after the device that controls the Cursed One, the group decides to abandon the ruins of their home and take their chances in the Wasteland. But soon their problems intensify tenfold: someone—possibly inside their ranks—is sabotaging the survivors, picking them off one by one. The chaos and uncertainty of each day puts unbearable strain on Rachel and Logan, and it isn't long before they feel their love splintering. Even worse, as it becomes clear that the Commander will stop at nothing to destroy them, the band of survivors begins to question whether the price of freedom may be too great—and whether, hunted by their enemies and the murderous traitor in their midst, they can make it out of the Wasteland alive.
In this daring sequel to Defiance, with the world they once loved forever destroyed, Rachel and Logan must decide between a life on the run and standing their ground to fight.

Excerpt:

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get to know C.J. Redwine:

About The Author

C. J. Redwine lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her four beautiful kids, an amazing husband, two fairly crazy cats, and a dog. She has books in every corner of her house, an impressive Harry Potter memorabilia collection, and a bunch of really cool friends she doesn't get to see nearly as much as she'd like to. She is also the author of Defiance.

Visit C.J. via her Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr

Follow the Tour!

8/23- Carina's Books, interview with Rachel

8/23 -  Curling Up With a Good Book, excerpt

8/24- Mundie Moms, review

8/26- Two Chicks on Books, playlist

8/27 - YA Sisterhood, review

8/27- Fitshun, interview with Logan

8/28 - Reading Teen, Top 10s List

8/28 - Fangirlish, review

8/29- Ex Libris, author interview

8/30- Page Turners Blog, review

8/30 - Emily's Crammed Bookshelf, excerpt

8/31 - Peace Love Teen, excerpt

{Movie Review} The Town

The Town
Release Date: September 17, 2010
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, John Hamm
Director: Ben Affleck
Rating: R
Genre: Crime Thriller
Run Time:  125 minutes

IMDb / Trailer

As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down.

*Review contains spoilers throughout*

I do realize that this movie came out a long time ago, but I feel like I just have to talk about it. It was the only movie in my Jeremy Renner collection that I hadn't actually seen. And, like all of his other movies, it was amazing. Some things were kind of iffy, but others were really great. I felt like some of the shots were kind of unnecessary, because we would get random looks at tattoos and signs and stuff, and none of them had anything to do with the movie. I also felt like there were almost too many swear words and f-bombs because at times it made me take the scene less seriously. However, the story line was absolutely amazing and the conflict and situation was very difficult to deal with, both for me and the characters. I wasn't sure how this movie would end, and I think that in the back of my mind I knew Jem was going to die, but at the same time I was trying not to think about it. The scene where he dies was very emotional, very surprising, but also (and I know this might sound weird) Jem went out like I think he would have wanted too: still fighting, ready to shoot more cops.

Jeremy Renner (Jem Coughlin)

Jeremy Renner is my favorite actor ever. I am semi in love with him. Not only is he freaking sexy, but he's also an amazing actor. His character, Jem, didn't get much face-time in this movie, but the few scenes he got Jeremy really made count. There was a kind of darkness in Jem, that's for sure, and he was willing to do anything, literally anything. But he also really cared about his gang. That was proven when he shot the man that was going to kill Dougie, his best friend. And also when he yelled “NO” when the guy stood up and was shot through the head. He was a very deep, troubled character, but also funny, and definitely a firecracker.  His basic attitude for the whole movie was "I'm so above this shit".

Ben Affleck

I haven't seen many Ben Affleck movies, but I think he did pretty well in this one. His Boston accent was a little weird at times, so that kind of threw me off, but I think he did a great job. Dougie, his character, is not really a criminal at heart, I don't think. He's really a nice guy who made some wrong choices. He's really emotional and has a big heart. You could tell by the way he looked for his mother when she left, and how he saved Claire in the first robbing and then let her go, then went to make sure she was okay, and fell in love with her. The thing that made the scene where Jem dies so emotional is that Dougie was right there when it happened, he saw it. But he didn't – couldn't – do anything about it.

Rebecca Hall

I have never seen a Rebecca Hall movie before, but think she did a very good job with her character. Claire is the love interest in this movie, but also was kidnapped in the first robbery shown. The way Hall acted and put emotion into her acting and character really depicted the aftermath of that kind of trauma in a very realistic, touching way. I think her reactions to the kidnapping, and also finding out that Dougie was the one who kidnapped her, were very realistic and well done. But the ending was so sad when she says “It's like one of my sunny days” and I knew that meant that another person that she loved would die, meaning Dougie, and when they had to say goodbye it was so sad.

Favorite Scenes

I have two. One is when Dougie and Claire are having lunch together and Jem walks up and he recognizes Claire as the one they kidnapped and then starts talking to her, asking how she met Dougie, where she works, oh yeah that's the bank that was robbed, I read that in the paper, and the whole time Dougie is just shooting daggers at him. Hilarious.

And then, for some reason, the scene when Jem dies is just so good. I think because it is how I think Jem would have wanted to die, and it just had a lot of emotional impact, for some reason. And, I'll admit it, I cried.

Overall

Great movie, great casting, great actors, Jeremy Renner is the sexiest man alive, the end.

5 stars