Wishlist Wednesday 1

#wishlistwednesday

For my first post I am going to chose a book different from any other book that is on this list. A cookbook. Why? The food looks tasty and so does its author....yummy!

Paperback: 256 pages

Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 3, 2006)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0696233940

ISBN-13: 978-0696233944

So what do you need to do to join in the wishlist fun?
 •Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
 •Please consider adding the blog hop button to your blog somewhere, so others can find it easily and join in too! Help spread the word! The code will be at the bottom of the post under the linky.
 •Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get to put on your shelves.
 •Do a post telling your readers about the book and why it's on your wishlist.
 •Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of this post.
 •Put a link back to pen to paper (http://www.pentopaperblog.com) somewhere in your post, and a note saying that Pen to Paper is the host of the meme.
 •Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published September 4th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

ISBN 0316207782 (ISBN13: 9780316207782)

Series: Fairytale Retellings #3

Rating: 3 (3.4)

My Review:

Fathomless is a retelling of The Little Mermaid. It is not at all how I thought it would be because I was thinking of the Disney version. However, it is based on the Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid. All the basic elements of the original story is there with Pearce's added twists.

Celia is the youngest of a set of triplets. She is able to see a person’s past with just a touch. Her sister Anne can see the present and the other sister Jane can see the present. She don’t see the value in her gift until she meets Lo.

Lo is an ocean girl. She don't remember how she became an ocean girl and she don’t remember much of her life as a human. Each day they grow older and more beautiful until the day they drift away and become angels…or so they believe. When a new girl joins them they tell her that the only way to become human again is to have a boy fall in love with her and then take his soul as her own. All the ocean girls have fallen for this story but Lo can not bear to see it happen. She saves the boy. Taking him to the shore where Celia is.

Throughout the story Celia is learning how to be her own person while balancing the triplet bond. Jude the boy they saved coming to terms with his near death experience and falling in love with Celia. At the center of this story is the ocean girl with multiple personalities. Lo is the ocean girl. She loves the water. She loves the other ocean girls. She wants to grow old and eventually become an angel. Lo is also Naida. Naida is who Lo used to be…the human girl. Naida longs to be human again. She wants to go back to her family, back to the life she once had.

In the end, Lo finds out that the ocean girls don’t become angels but monsters. They become the same monsters made them into ocean girls, in the first place. Celia finds out that it was Lo but Naida’s desperation that may end her life. All involved learn that to find peace you have to first be okay with yourself.

Challenges:

2012 Fairy Tale Challenge

2012 Support Your Local Library

2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge

Monday Meeting 4

#mondaymeeting

Riding out Hurricane Sandy up here on the Northeast. I have a small car so the wind was definitely pushing me across the road as a drove home from work. Once I got home the power was off but lucky it didn't take long for them to fix the problem. Of course, it can always go out again before this storm is over. Oh, did I mention I have the mother of all headaches right now. On to book news.

I hope to have done this week. Posts for Fathomless, a couple of Shoot the Breeze post. And a couple of other posts of books I have read but haven't reviewed yet.

Lusting For Covers 9

#lustingforcovers

*Do I really need to say why?!

From Goodreads:
Brandon was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He is the son a now deceased drug lord and an ex-heroin user as a mother. Because of that, he had sworn off the drug life. He made his living stealing cars. The money was okay, but it wasn’t enough to keep the mother of his children happy. When his manhood is tested because of his decision to stay away from the drug life, Brandon decides to give the streets a shot. He loved the money that his best friend from childhood was paying him to be his right hand man. After learning the ends and outs of that lifestyle, Brandon began to build his own empire. What he didn’t know was that the street life comes with a price tag. He had more than enough money to pay, but the price was his life. He was only in it to make money, but he had to learn the hard way that he wasn’t the only one looking for a come up. Can Brandon survive this lifestyle?

Lusting for Covers is a weekly meme, held on Sunday, that allows bloggers to share their current cover obsession with fellow book lovers.

Here's what you do:

1- Take the graphic (code for it is below) to use on your post. Remember to give credit to the original host (TBQ).

2- Choose your own book cover that you've fallen in "lust" with in the past week. It can be new, old, a reprint, or even a book that is not yet out-- it's all up to you! If you find a cover that catches your eye, then showcase it on your blog, and let others see the pretty covers out there.

3- Copy the direct link to your own L4C post into the Mr. Linky widget at the bottom of this week's post and allow others to come and see what you picked!

4- (OPTIONAL): Besides posting the picture of the book cover you chose, it's nice to provide the book summary, title, author, or a website link for the book. It's not required, but it can help you readers' to add more books to their own list! A brief "Why I choose this cover" is also appreciated, but not required.

Also, if you wish to post your links or talk about L4C on Twitter, please use the tag #LustingForCovers so that we can easily find all tweets about it. :)

Stacking the Shelves 2

#stackingtheshelves

today I went to my local library and checked out:



today went to the library book sale in the city next to me and bought for $2 each:


and

Freestyle Friday 1 - Harry Potter Questions

#freestylefriday


Harry Potter Questions from Alison Can Read

1. Dumbledore did, in a way, raise Harry up like a pig for slaughter. But in the end, how much do you think Dumbledore cared about Harry?
   
   I think that Dumbledore cared for Harry from the beginning. He were fond of Harry’s parents. First has students and then as members of the Order of the Phoenix. He did not use Harry. He heard the prophecy that Professor Trelawney made and knew that Harry would have to face off with Voldemort. Therefore, he had no choice but to prepare Harry for the battle.

2. How do you think Snape truly felt about Dumbledore - and vice versa?

 

I think that Snape revered Dumbledore afterall he was the one wizard that Voldemort feared. He was comfortable with Dumbledore to speak frankly with him because of the secret they had together.


3. What parts of the series make you cry?

None. This wasn’t that type of book for me. I have to say that there aren’t many books or movies, for that matter, that can make a tear fall from my eyes.

4. Whose death do you think was the saddest?

I wasn’t expecting Fred to die though it was leaked that a couple of main characters would die during the series. The saddest death for me was Dobby. He was so kind, loyal and optimistic. And to be honest, he’s one of the bravest characters because it went against all the traits and expectations of he species to warn Harry in his first appearance in the series.

5. If Voldemort hadn't killed Snape when he did, how do you think that Snape could have gotten Harry to learn his story?

There was any other way to convey that message to Harry. He would not have reveal that information otherwise. Unless Dumbledore to his memory with by force or unbeknownst to Snape.

We could say occlumency but Snape shut that down.

6. Do you think Snape would have been happy that Harry named a son after him?

I think he would have though he wouldn’t have shown it. Assuming that he revealed his memories to Harry, I think he would have known that Harry did not name his son after Snape because of how Harry felt about he but because of how Snape felt about Harry’s mother.

 

I will be re-reading this series again and again. I just can’t get enough. Thanks to Alison Can Read for these great questions. Click the link to check out this post and her answers.

Follow Friday 5

#FF

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

 

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

 

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

Click here or here for the rules

 

Q: What writing device or trick most irritates you when reading a book? For example, if an author employs an omnipotent narrator that is sometimes considered bad form.

Freaking cliffhangers! A great series is a book that leaves you wanting the read the next one but can also stand on its own. I should anticipate the next book but I should also be left satisfied with the ending of the book I just read.

Lusting For Covers #8

#lustingforcovers

*Love the stormy background scene. And the reaper tattoo that you can miss if you are not really paying attention.

From Goodreads:
The day I turned 16, my boyfriend-to-be died. I brought him back to life. Then things got a little weird...

Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper-and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she’s shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath. Who seems to hate her guts.

Rath will be watching closely to be sure she completes her first assignment-reaping Rick, the boy who should have died. The boy she still wants to be with. To make matters worse, students at the academy start turning up catatonic, and accusations fly-against Molly. The only way out of this mess? To go through hell. Literally

Lusting for Covers is a weekly meme, held on Sunday, that allows bloggers to share their current cover obsession with fellow book lovers.

Here's what you do:

1- Take the graphic (code for it is below) to use on your post. Remember to give credit to the original host (TBQ).

2- Choose your own book cover that you've fallen in "lust" with in the past week. It can be new, old, a reprint, or even a book that is not yet out-- it's all up to you! If you find a cover that catches your eye, then showcase it on your blog, and let others see the pretty covers out there.

3- Copy the direct link to your own L4C post into the Mr. Linky widget at the bottom of this week's post and allow others to come and see what you picked!

4- (OPTIONAL): Besides posting the picture of the book cover you chose, it's nice to provide the book summary, title, author, or a website link for the book. It's not required, but it can help you readers' to add more books to their own list! A brief "Why I choose this cover" is also appreciated, but not required.


Also, if you wish to post your links or talk about L4C on Twitter, please use the tag #LustingForCovers so that we can easily find all tweets about it. :)

Shoot the Breez #4

#shootthebreeze

Rants Disguised As Fiction

I came across this topic on Ensconced in YA. I understand what she means by actual rants disguised as fiction. You know, those books where the characters go on and on about a particular subject that you know that the author is trying to get something off his or her chest. With that said, I think that most dystopian novels are an author point of view of what will happen if a certain "something" gets out of hand. The author's warning of hey we better pay attention or this will happen. Let's look at some examples of what I mean.

The movie The Matix. The warning is our dependence on machines will be our downfall. Also the premise for I Robot, and the Terminator movies.

Matched Trilogy. The warning is creating a perfect society where everyone (well those the society leader see fit to include) is happy and taken care of create a society that has lost its freedom.

Jennifer Government (loved this book!). The warning is an all capitalist society will do anything for money and those without money might as well don't exist. A review on this book is coming soon so you can see just what I mean. Many people see the world in this book as far fetched. I see it as an all too real possibility, again see my review.

I love reading these types of books. Ensconced in YA is right though. It is a tedious read if the book just drones on and on in a non stop rant narrative sprouting out the authors propaganda. Hey, we are readers, we want to read your take on what would happen to the world but we bought a book of fiction not an essay so give us a story to follow along with.

Jennifer Government by Max Berry

#throwbackthursday

Jennifer Government by Max Berry

Paperback: 321 pages
Publisher: Vintage (January 6, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400030927


From Kobobooks:
Taxation has been abolished, the government has been privatized, and employees take the surname of the company they work for. It's a brave new corporate world, but you don't want to be caught without a platinum credit card--as lowly Merchandising Officer Hack Nike is about to find out. Trapped into building street cred for a new line of $2500 sneakers by shooting customers, Hack attracts the barcode-tattooed eye of the legendary Jennifer Government. A stressed-out single mom, corporate watchdog, and government agent who has to rustle up funding before she's allowed to fight crime, Jennifer Government is holding a closing down sale--and everything must go.

A wickedly satirical and outrageous thriller about globalization and marketing hype, Jennifer Government is the best novel in the world ever.

My Review:
Let me tell you that I love this book. I have read it at least five times. I'm finally getting around to write a review for it. I must warn you now, this will be a long one. Let's go.

The characters in the book can be rather annoying. Most of them have a one track mind. This is actually a book that if you love it you love it for everything other than the characters. In the world of Jennifer Government. Capitalism rules. Everything has a price tag. Why I love this concept is because it as far fetched as one may think. In the book, everything is a sue able offense and let's face it, you can sue for just about any reason now and have a good chance at a payday.

With money being the most desirable item in Jennifer Government that mean having a job ranks as number 2. Everyone is born with a first name only. A person surname is the company they work for or the school they attend. If you do not have a surname then that means you are unemployed and thus looked down on. This part reminds me of slavery in America. Slaves last names were the name of their owner. If they were sold then the name changed to the new master. I don't know if this was intentional by Mr. Berry. I saw it as people being a slave to their jobs.

Hack Nike work as a Merchandising Officer. A position that is pretty low. He signs a contract (he was pressured into not reading it or keeping a copy) and learns that he is now obligated to kill 10 people. The killing is to hype up the new sneakers the company has coming out. Hack unable to do so outsource the job and things go downhill from there. Hack is not a likable character at all. He is a whip, a pushover. At the end of the book he becomes more assertive but really he's just turned into a guy with a chip on his shoulder.

John Nike is all about dollar signs. He doesn't see anything wrong with doing whatever is necessary to make money even if that means killing people. For most of the book, people admire him for this quality as it is having a positive effect on profits. However, John Nike soon learns that even he is only as good as the results he is able to obtain.

By the end of the book, a war between the two loyalty companies break out. And John Nike learns that he really isn't above the law. Jennifer Government is way too consumed with her job but the book doesn't make it seem as if she learned to value her time with her daughter any more than she did in the beginning of the book. In fact, there is no mention of whether or not the world of commerce changes in this book or not. So if you are looking for that they you'll than likely be unsatisfied.

This is perhaps the only book I have read so far where to concept of the story made me love the book because the characters did not. This definitely a book where you have to read it for yourself to see if you would like it or not. If you are the type of reader who want characters you can root for then bypass this.

Challenges:
2012 Support Your Local Library
Dystopia
Mixing It Up 2012

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

#seriessunday


Hardcover, 374 pages
Published October 31st 2008 by Scholastic Press (first published 2008)
ISBN 0439023483 (ISBN13: 9780439023481)


From Kobobooks:
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen who lives alone with her mother and younger sister regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival for her is second nature. Without really meaning to she becomes a contender. But if she is to win she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Acclaimed writer Suzanne Collins author of the New York Times bestselling The Underland Chronicles delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy adventure and romance in this searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present.

My Review:
Okay, so I saw the movie before I read the book. I must say that it did make a difference in the experience of this book. I applaud Katniss for having enough love to take her sisters place. The world in which Katniss lived in isn't as relate able as other books I have read but the way it is describe and the characters made it believable. The Hunger Games is cruel and sadden. It's a fight to the death while everyone in the districts are required to watch. The people behind the games can manipulate situations to make things more interesting which usually means more dangerous.
So the part that got to me the most (because of the movie) was anything that had to do with little Rue. The girl in the movie resemblance my nieces so much that I cried when she died (both when I saw the movie and again when I read the book). I was not surprised that she died for two reasons. One, she was the youngest. I mean what chance does a twelve year old have against eighteen year old, especially eighteen year old males. Sorry to the feminist out there but you have to admit a twelve year old female against and sixteen to eighteen year old male will lose every time (in a physical fight). Second reason I knew she was going to die, she's black. We usually don't make it to the end of the movie. (Not a racist comment, not a race card [though I could give some examples of a couple things in the book that rubbed me the wrong way]...just many years of observation. Check out any thriller or horror movie if you want proof.)
The love story in the book didn't interest me at all. I honestly didn't care who she ended up with. I will read the second book as I am interested in what the Capitol has planned since I am sure that they will try to make her pay for the stunt she pulled at the end of the games.

Challenges:
2012 Support Your Local Library
2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge
Dystopia

Lusting For Covers #7

 

#lustingforcovers

*I like the the colors. The butterfly eye mask is beautiful and a little mysterious.
 

Allegra Fairweather: Paranormal Investigator

By: Janni Nell

Carina Press, June 2010

Allegra Fairweather here. Paranormal investigator. Got problems with specters? Shapeshifters? I'm the woman to call. Just don't call me a Ghostbuster. The last guy who did that ended up flat on his back with my boot at his throat.

With my 99.5% success rate, solving the mystery of a bleeding rose that has sprung up on the shores of Loch Furness should have been an easy gig. But already I've heard the shriek of the local banshee, discovered two bodies (and then lost two bodies), and had a near-death encounter with a three-hundred-year-old ghost. And perhaps most dangerous of all, the hot pub owner who hired me now wants to show me exactly what's under his kilt.

Luckily, I'm ably assisted by my very own guardian angel. I'm grateful for his help-but he's also drop-dead gorgeous. A bit distracting when I've got a mystery to solve, and the clock is ticking...

Lusting for Covers is a weekly meme, held on Sunday, that allows bloggers to share their current cover obsession with fellow book lovers.

Here's what you do:

1- Take the graphic (code for it is below) to use on your post. Remember to give credit to the original host (TBQ).

2- Choose your own book cover that you've fallen in "lust" with in the past week. It can be new, old, a reprint, or even a book that is not yet out-- it's all up to you! If you find a cover that catches your eye, then showcase it on your blog, and let others see the pretty covers out there.

3- Copy the direct link to your own L4C post into the Mr. Linky widget at the bottom of this week's post and allow others to come and see what you picked!

4- (OPTIONAL): Besides posting the picture of the book cover you chose, it's nice to provide the book summary, title, author, or a website link for the book. It's not required, but it can help you readers' to add more books to their own list! A brief "Why I choose this cover" is also appreciated, but not required.


Also, if you wish to post your links or talk about L4C on Twitter, please use the tag #LustingForCovers so that we can easily find all tweets about it. :)

The Initiate by Megg Jensen

#freestylefriday

From Kobobooks:

Before Anathema...

Before Sleepers...

There was The Initiate

Over a thousand years ago, the gods left Eloh's people and took their magic with them. To win back their favor, her people sacrifice ten female initiates every ten years. No has ever survived. There has never been a Chosen One.

Forced into becoming an initiate, Eloh will try to find a way to beat the odds, stay with her boyfriend, and survive the fires that threaten to consume her. But will her lack of faith in the gods and her disbelief in their magic doom her to a painful death?

The Initiate is a novelette that bridges the bestselling Cloud Prophet Trilogy (Anathema, Oubliette, and Severed) and The Swarm Trilogy (Sleepers, and two more novels coming in 2012).

The Song of Eloh Saga:

The Initiate, Book 1 - a novelette bridging the Cloud Prophet Trilogy and The Swarm Trilogy

Cloud Prophet Trilogy:
Anathema, Book 2
Oubliette, Book 3
Severed, Book 4

The Swarm Trilogy:
Sleepers, Book 5
Afterlife, Book 6
The Sundering, Book 7 (coming fall 2012)

My Review:
This book does what it is supposed to do. It got me interested in reading the two series or at least the first one in the Cloud Prophet Trilogy. Not having read any of the books I had to ask myself a couple of questions while reading this. Was Eloh beaten by her parents and why? Are the people of this world only desire two children? Is the only reason her parents did not want her is simply because she is another mouth to feed?

In this short story Eloh is being prepared to go to a sacrifice ceremony. Each town choose to girls in hopes that the gods will chose one thus they (the Gods) will return and bring back magic. Eloh has never believed in the gods so she knows that she is getting all dolled up to die by fire. But she is wrong. The gods do exist but has never chosen a girl because the ceremony is not right and the time is not right. Eloh is the chosen one. There is a catch however, she did not believe in the gods. So she will have all that she ever wanted but a a punishment she will not have the time to enjoy it.

If you are in a reading funk and need a quick read to jump start this definitely consider this. It will keep your attention until the end and short enough to read with a couple of hours or one day at the most.

Lusting For Covers #6

#lustingforcovers

 

Inkubus - Dominated in Her Dreams

By: Sidonie Spice

Spice It Up! Publishing, July 2012

 

*I like the tatto on her arm. Does this picture make you think of Christina Aguilera's video Dirty?

From Kobobooks:

Sex with an incubus comes at a price...

Jess' fevered dreams are haunted by an incubus: sexy, charming and inexplicably terrifying. As she sleeps, Mathias awakens her darkest, most hidden desires, indulges them until she screams for mercy and then begs for more. As he vists her more often, Jess craves his control, his orders, the glorious pain and intense pleasure he can inflict on her. But upon waking, Jess finds Mathias' mark upon her - a beautiful tattoo that wraps around her body, searing her skin and spreading more every time.

Can Jess resist the heady pleasure he gives her, or will Mathias complete his mark and stake his claim to her - for eternity?

This erotic romance novella contains BDSM scenarios, dubious consent and plenty of wild, searing sex! Not for the faint of heart, but if you like it hot, you're in the right place!

Lusting for Covers is a weekly meme, held on Sunday, that allows bloggers to share their current cover obsession with fellow book lovers.

Here's what you do:

1- Take the graphic (code for it is below) to use on your post. Remember to give credit to the original host (TBQ).

2- Choose your own book cover that you've fallen in "lust" with in the past week. It can be new, old, a reprint, or even a book that is not yet out-- it's all up to you! If you find a cover that catches your eye, then showcase it on your blog, and let others see the pretty covers out there.

3- Copy the direct link to your own L4C post into the Mr. Linky widget at the bottom of this week's post and allow others to come and see what you picked!

4- (OPTIONAL): Besides posting the picture of the book cover you chose, it's nice to provide the book summary, title, author, or a website link for the book. It's not required, but it can help you readers' to add more books to their own list! A brief "Why I choose this cover" is also appreciated, but not required.


Also, if you wish to post your links or talk about L4C on Twitter, please use the tag #LustingForCovers so that we can easily find all tweets about it. :)

FrightFall Read-a-thon