Follow Friday/ Book Blogger Hop (10)

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee!

This week's question is:

If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you 

HAVE to include if you only had space for ten?

First of all, can I just say how much I LOVE this question! It's tough, but I'm always thinking of things like this, so this is totally my question this week!

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K.Rowling
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
3. Looking for Alaska by John Green
4. Plague by Michael Grant
5. Lies by Michael Grant
6. Darkness be my friend by John Marsden
7. Burning for Revenge by John Marsden (these two are the next books in the Tomorrow series that I haven't read yet)
8. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (the first book)
9. The Death Cure by James Dashner, from my TBR pile (amusing that it's out)
10. Divergent by Veronica Roth, from my TBR pile

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books!

"Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?"

I'm afraid I'm gonna have to take the boring route and say that I don't actually have a summer release I'm looking forward to at the moment.

Right now I'm still buzzing from the cover release of The Death Cure by James Dashner, which I can't wait for!

This is out in October (that's summer, right?)

Cover release! The Death Cure by James Dashner

The Death Cure is the third book in the Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner, and is due for release on October 11th 2011. 

And here we have the much anticipated cover of The Death Cure:

I love the Maze Runner and the Scorch Trails, and I love this cover! Looks like the Gladers are going somewhere cold in this final installment of the trilogy! 

In the UK, they released The Maze Runner with a different cover to the US version, but then never did it for The Scorch Trails, and I'm guessing not for The Death Cure anytime soon. So my trilogy is likely going to look pretty patchy for a while.

But anyway, I really like this cover, there's not much more to say.

What are your thoughts? 

Review: The Dark Hollow Places

Title: The Dark Hollow Places
Author: Carrie Ryan
Published: 2011
Pages: 384
Rating: 3.5/5

Annah knows she has a twin sister, but she forgot her long ago. Back when they went to play in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, she and Elias lost her, and after that there was no going back to the village. Life's been hard, but Elias has taken care of her, and living in the Dark City can help one to forget the horror of the Unconsecrated—if you try hard enough. But when Elias disappears, Annah's world crumbles. To her, life isn't worth much more than the walking dead who roam the wasted world she lives in. It's not until she meets Catcher that she cares to start living again. Yet Catcher has secrets. Dark, terrifying secrets that link him to a past she's longed to forget and to a future too deadly to consider. Annah must decide: Can she continue to live a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the answer to all her problems?


This third book in the Forest of Hands and Teeth series follows the actions of the main character, Annah. The twin sister of Gabry (formally Abigail) who is the main character of the second book, The Dead-Tossed Waves, who's mother, Mary, was the lead in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. 


I wasn't sure what I was expecting from this third book to the trilogy(?). I loved the Forest of Hands and Teeth, but I didn't love The Dead Tossed Waves nearly as much. I would say that I enjoyed this one more than the second, but not as much as the first. 


As a stand-alone book, I really enjoyed this and thought it flowed well. But as the ending to a trilogy, I wasn't impressed. I felt as though the ending rounded things off for the one book well. But as a trilogy it didn't, as I felt like it should of gone back to some of it's old roots from the first book. 


The first two books proved that Ryan likes to put her lead characters through hell, and this book was no exception. Annah has had an even harder time physically than the previous leads, though I don't think she has as much weight on her conscience. I liked the strength in Annah. But overall I found her to be winy and surprisingly vain. There is not a chapter gone by where she doesn't talk about how much she hates the scars on her face or blames them for something. Even though it cannot be nice, there are far more things of colossal importance. I also hated how after one look at her sister, she spent the whole time moaning about how much more perfect than her she was, even though she knew nothing about her. But alas, she does develop well as the book goes along, and the vanity dies down. 


The plot-line of this book seemed to be split into three: the love square of the four main characters, the Unconsecrated and the Recruiters. This book was set in the Dark City, where Elias and Annah had been living since being broken up from Gabry in the Forest all those years ago. Our four leads go to the last possible resort to survive the Unconsecrated, and have no choice but to do what the cruel and evil Recruiters say. I also think that I liked the character Gabry in this book a lot more. Though that's probably because we weren't in her head this time.   


As I said before, I loved the story-line as a book alone. There was plenty of action, and Ryan really went into exploring how human's have degraded since the Return. And overall, I liked it, and thought the book came together well. My only problems were some of the traits of Annah and the fact that I didn't finish of the trilogy for me. If you were a fan of the previous books, however, I think you'll enjoy this.  

Teaser Tuesday (6)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should be Reading!

• 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!

'A figure stumbles toward me from the direction of the water and it takes me a moment to remember where I am. What I'm supposed to be doing.'

Review: Paper Towns

Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Published: 2008
Pages: 306
My Rating: 4/5

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life--dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge--he follows. After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues--and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew. Printz medalist John Green returns with the brilliant wit and searing emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers. Enigmatic 
Margo is dramatically captured in a unique dual-cover treatment.


I have very recently fallen in love with John Green's writing, after only having read Looking for Alaska. So, as you can imagine, I jumped to start on Paper Towns. I was not in any way disappointed in Paper Towns. I actually quite enjoyed it. But I couldn't help comparing it to Looking for Alaska.


Paper Towns is set in three parts, the first named The Strings, the second The Grass, and the third The Vessel. The bulk of the story being in the second part, with the first and last being the starting event and climax respectively. I found that this book was actually more a thought-provoking mystery than anything else. And I also loved how the main character, Quentin's, view changed and developed as the book went along. By the third part, you can tell that he is a changed person willing to do a lot more than he would of to begin with.


Quentin was a good solid main character, very much so like Miles from Looking for Alaska. I also found that Margo, Quentin's and the book's focus character, bore some strong similarities to Alaska (from Looking for Alaska, obviously). But I found that I didn't like Margo nearly as much. I think this was because I was seeing her mainly through the thoughts of Quentin for a large majority of the book. 


Friends of Quentin's that are prominent throughout the book are Ben, Radar and Lacey. The four characters together had brilliant and believable chemistry, and was actually one of my favorite parts of the book! Surprisingly, even though he was a bit of an idiot, Ben was my favorite character! I found him and everything he did hilarious! I don't think I laughed so much at a book as I did during some of his highlight scenes. 


During the second part, I got a little bored and I found that solving the mystery didn't seem to be getting anywhere. I think this was to do with the fact that I was more interested in Ben and Radar than I was in Margo. But none the less, it was still very interesting. And the third part was by far my favorite! I loved the ending as it was completely unpredicted in my mind. The events leading up to the very end during the third part was my favorite part of the book!


Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It was a quite light-hearted, but also very thought-provoking. With well set-up parts and laugh-out-loud parts. I shall be looking forward to reading John Green's next novel (most likely Will Grayson, Will Grayson). 

In My Mailbox (6)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren, where we share what books we got during the week!

Books: 

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Escape  by Robert Muchamore

Secret Army by Robert Muchamore

The Dark Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

Follow Friday/ Book Blogger Hop (9)

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee!

This week's question is:

What is currently on your playlist?

Interesting question. I actually do have a few playlists, because when I'm at work, I don't get a chance to stop every few minutes and change to a song I like. Therefore, I have loads of playlists of the songs/bands that I'm into at that time.

At the moment it consists mostly of:

Bon Iver

The Strokes

Frightened Rabbit

Queen

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy for Books!

This week's question is:

If you find a book that you love, do you hunt down other books by that author?

Yes, most of the time. I don't necessarily rush into reading every book that the author has. As sometimes it might be more of the story or the concept that I loved the most. But I do definitely have a look at their other works to see if they interest me.

Interview: Peter Plasse author of Ravenwild

I am pleased to introduce Peter Plasse, the author of the new YA fantasy book, Ravenwild! I was lucky enough to be able to ask him a few questions regarding his new book, Ravenwild, published March 12th 2011.

I hope you enjoy this interview, and would like to thank Peter for participating! 

To get started, would you like to tell us five facts about yourself?
1) I am five foot, ten inches tall, and have brownish hair that is starting to grey a bit at the temples.
2) I work as an Emergency Room physician in a Native American hospital in the Southwest, and am blessed to still love what I do for a paycheck. Nothing in my world is more rewarding than giving someone their life back, who presents to the ER literally staring into the jaws of death, and with a few simple interventions (nothing I do is rocket science) is pointed in the right direction and on the road to recovery. And while this doesn't happen every day, it did last night. Honest. It was way cool.
3) My favorite recreational pursuits take place outside: SCUBA diving, fishing, boating, camping, those sorts of things. As far as inside stuff goes, I love to read, and write of course. I also compose music on the computer using music composition software, overtracking live guitar, piano, and voice. I try for an Elton John, Beatles sort of sound. My favorite compositions invariably feature french horns and the oboe with a large orchestral backdrop. 
4) I am a rabid NFL fan, with the New England Patriots being my favorite team. Or anybody who happens to beat the New York Jets. But I don't really take it all that seriously. It's just a lot of fun to follow the games and the standings, leading up to the superbowl.
5) It is my belief that honor is the most important principle by which a person needs to live his or her life, starting with honoring oneself to keep one's "loaner" body as fit as possible in order to be able to enjoy all that this life has to offer. After all, it's tough to have an absolutely fantastic day when it is spent in the confines of an I.C.U. 



What first sparked the idea to write Ravenwild?
Nothing more than the simple notion that hit me in the head one day that I would like to write a fantasy-
adventure story that my kids might someday enjoy reading.

Did you read any fantasy fiction or Young Adult books as research for Ravenwild? If so, any favorites?
I have been reading Sci/Fi fantasy, or just plain fantasy drama ever since I was in high school. But not for "research" purposes. It is just that I love to read, and Fantasy drama is the genre that appeals to me the most. Authors that immediately come to mind are: Asimov, Bradbury, Brookes, Goodkind, Herbert, Heinlein, Jordan, Lewis, Rowling, Tolkien, and Zelazny. It is 0300 as I write this, so I am sure I have left several out. If I had to name an all-time favorite it is without question Terry Goodkind. His "Sword of Truth" series is as good as fantasy writing gets. I have read every one of these, beginning with Wizard's First Rule, more than once, some of them three or four times. They are just magnificent. 



There are many different characters in Ravenwild. Are any based on real life people? If so, are they people you know personally, or historical figures? 
As for the Strong family, the names of the characters are based upon the names of the members of my own family, with the exception of Blake. The same applies to Ryan and Gracie, who truly were the best friends of Orie and Stephanie at the time I began writing Ravenwild. Since all the kids were actually much younger than the characters that are meant to  portray them in the book, I had to kind of extrapolate to come up with certain personality traits, and behavior patterns and such, so as to mold the characters into recognizable individuals, but that was  a lot of fun. A good example would be  Jacqueline. She really is an animal empath of sorts in real life, and were she to transport to a world where the animals really do talk to each other, she would be one of the ones doing the talking. I have no doubt. 
I was once told by a Navajo man that the universal language of the animal kingdom on Earth is Navajo. And if that is the case, Jacqueline, on Inam'Ra, would be fluent in the universal language of that world.

What was your favorite part of writing the book?
The challenges. There are so many. Coming up with a compelling storyline. Putting the characters in life-and-death situations and getting them out of it in a way that is, a) believable, and b, (hopefully) clever. An example of this is when Blake and Jessica are being transported as captives by the Gnomes to the Trolls to be handed over to them as foodstuff, Blake turns things around in a matter of an hour or so by operating on the Eye of Captain Pilrick, the Gnome Captain of their squad, saving not only his eye, but his life. So they become friends. And I have always secretly hoped that the astute reader might appreciate the irony of an ER physician saving his own life, and that of his wife even, by saving the life of one of his patients.

And what was the hardest part of writing it?
Wielding magic in a way that is, a) plausible, rational, almost, and, b) (somehow) not "hokey" or "Corny." Magic, it's origins, and the command of it by certain groups of the mythical characters of Inam'Ra was challenging. It might interest your readers to know that I will delve deeper into the origins of magic, and in particular how some of the characters go about the business of learning to command it, in the sequel.

Do you have any favorite books or authors?
I have listed some of my favorite authors in the Sci/Fi fantasy, fantasy drama. some of the  great books they have written would include: The Sword of Shannara series, Dune, Stranger in a Strange Land, Every Book Rowling Has Ever Written  The Lord of the Rings series, although I found his writing style cumbersome at best, and the Nine Princes in Amber series, just the first five. The sixth, with the replacement of the lead character with his nephew didn't work for me. But the first five were brilliant.

If you could sit down and have dinner with one person, any person dead or alive, who would it be?
Wow. A list of no less than 10 would have been a lot easier. But, this said, 
Steven Spielberg. 
That would be a night to remember.

Thanks for the great interview Peter! 

If you would like to learn more about Ravenwild visit here:

Author's Corner/Artist's Corner/About Ravenwild

Amazon /Goodreads

Review: Looking for Alaska

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Published: 2005
Pages: 267
My Rating: 4.5/5

Miles "Pudge" Halter is abandoning his safe, boring life. Fascinated by the last words of famous people, Pudge leaves for boarding school to seek what a dying Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Pudge becomes encircled by friends whose lives are everything but safe and boring. Their nucleus is razor-sharp, sexy, and self-destructive Alaska, who has perfected the arts of pranking and evading school rules. Pudge falls in love with her. When tragedy strikes the close-knit group, though, it is only in coming face-to-face with his problems that Pudge discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally.




I've read a lot of fiction that is purely there for the story and entertainment purposes. I've also read fiction that addresses important themes and meanings in it's writing. But this is the first fiction book I've read that addresses such important, larger-than-life questions so directly. It probably would've made me cry if I wasn't sitting there thinking in bewilderment about the philosophical questions it brought up.


The main character, Miles 'Pudge', was a character that I think most teenagers who would read this book can relate to. All the characters were believable with no typical stereotyping thankfully. I loved Alaska. I could almost feel her spirit radiate from the pages. I really felt for all of them.  


The first half of the book, the 'before' is funny, witty, clever and highly entertaining. I laughed out loud at points, and cringed at others. The second half, the 'after' grows very somber. And although it's still entertaining and the pace doesn't lack, this is the point where it grows deep and addresses the important questions I mentioned earlier.


I've always been very interested in Philosophy, and I think way too much about issues, including, 'Why are we here?' and 'Where do we go when we die?'. This book addresses these questions head-on and I think that's why I loved it so much. It actually had me re-thinking some of my beliefs. It's definitely going to stay in my heart for a long time.


Here's a couple quotes from near the end that I wanted to share:


"I still think that sometimes, think that maybe 'the afterlife' is just something we made up to ease the pain of loss, to make our time in the labyrinth bearable."


"When adults say 'Teenager's think they are invincible', with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don't know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail." 

Teaser Tuesday (5)

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should be Reading! Got a great book-lovers related quote here!

• 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!

'I thought of the one thing about home that I missed, my dad's study with its built-in, floor-to-ceiling shelves sagging with thick biographies, and the black leather chair that kept me just uncomfortable enough to keep from feeling sleepy as I read. It was stupid to feel as upset as I did.'

Review: Ravenwild

Title: Ravenwild
Author: Peter Plasse
Illustrated: Mike Longenecker 
Published: 2011
Pages: 494
My Rating: 4/5


Returning home from another grueling shift of E.R. work, Dr. Blake Lee Strong comes across a downed motorcyclist and stops to help, but little does he know that his world and that of his family will soon be turned upside down. Duped into being transported to another planet called Inam'Ra, Dr. Strong and his family are thrust into a medieval world populated by Trolls, Gnomes, Elves, Dwarves, Humans and other alien beings. An epic odyssey begins as the Strong family fights for not only their own survival, but also for the continued existence of the citizens of Ravenwild.



Ravenwild is the story of a modern day family suddenly thrust by a not-so-trustworthy wizard into a fantasy world at war, inhabited by Humans, Dwarfs, Elves, Trolls and Gnomes - among other weird and wonderful creatures. The family finds themselves lost and split up in the unpredictable and dangerous world of Inam'Ra, and each must fight to survive in order to be reunited with each other once more.

One of the things I loved most about this book, was the fact that it was a family that we were journeying with. Not just the usual one teenage lead and their love interest. Each member of the family was unique and clever with their own personality and off on their own adventure. There was Blake and Jessica; the determined parents, Stephanie; their teenage daughter who is believed to be vital to the future of Ravenwild, Orie; the teenage son who first travels there with his friends (Ryan and Gracie) and Jacqueline; the youngest daughter who is transported there with her cat, Cinnamon.  I also think that having all these characters better enabled the reader to explore the far reaches of the fantasy world of Inam'Ra.

This book was definitely one of those books that got better and better as it went along. The story starts off with just the Strong family. But as we get farther in and the Strong family are broken up, the branches of the story start to split off into this complex but exciting tale. But it is not only the Strong family that we learn about. We are also introduced many other characters like Jared, the kind and lonely human who lived out in the woods of Ravenwild for years, and also the evil troll Emporer Malance, who cares nothing of the creatures of Ravenwild, and would probably rather have them for dinner!

It was great to see a perspective from not only the 'good' side, but the 'bad' side as well. I also loved that even the enemy species of the book (the Trolls), had a good variety of individuals in them. These ranging from the most evil Emperor to the kind and helpful Daria and Forrester who do everything they can to help the Strong family. I thought it made characters a lot more believable in that sense.

About half way through, the story turns, and we are taken even more in depth into the world and histories of the Trolls and Gnomes. I found it extremely interesting to learn about all these different characters that were so well though-out. There could almost be a separate book alone about the Troll and Gnome civilizations! As interesting as it was to learn about these different aspects of the world, I did find it quite hard to follow at times. There were a lot of characters with a lot of their own situations to learn about, and sometimes I would have to go back and remind myself of who certain people were and what was going on with them.

But this being said, I thought that the characters were one of the strong points of the story. They were so well thought-out and complex with their own traits and histories to them, and I found myself eagerly turning the pages to find out what happens to them. Characters in particular that I liked being; Daria, Uri Gall, Orie and Cinnamon.

The story was brilliantly written, and flowed smoothly from page to page. The descriptions were vivid and colorful, but not too long that they took away from the pace of the book. I found the illustrations spaced throughout the book to be a real treat, especially the wonderfully drawn character sketches that really bring out the personality of the character they represent.

Overall, I really enjoyed Ravenwild. The characters were endearing, even if they did become a bit hard to follow and the writing flowed well. It was a great change to go back to the creative medieval fantasy, with so much of this Urban Fantasy around these days. I really recommend this book. It would especially be a real treat for any fantasy fans!

If you would like to learn more about the upcoming Ravenwild Trilogy, visit here.

In My Mailbox (5)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren!  Pretty good haul for the last two weeks!

Books:

Ravenwild by Peter Plasse
Looking for Alaska  by John Green
Paper Towns by John Green
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green
The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
The Dead  by Carlie Higson
Stolen  by Lucy Christopher

Follow Friday/ Book Blogger Hop (8)

It's that time again! Happy Friday everyone!

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View!

This week's question is:

Do you have anyone that you discuss books with IRL? Tell us about him/her.

Well......not really. Finding another person my age who reads is quite a rarity. Though, recently a guy in my class at college took an interest in the book I was reading. He then went on to discuss books that he's read (these include Mortal Instruments, Northan Lights etc). I was pretty shocked, as he doesn't seem like the type to read much. We don't talk often, but it is nice to have someone else who likes that sort of thing. 

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books!

Question coming soon!

Review: Plague by Michael Grant

Title: Plague
Author: Michael Grant

Published: 2011
Pages: 525
My Rating: 5/5

Eight months after everyone over the age of fifteen disapeared from the town of Perdidio Beach, California, the stakes are still rising. The kids in Perdido Beach are still starving. Yet despite the simmering unrest left behind by so many battles, power struggles, and angry divides, there is a momentary calm in Perdido Beach.

But enemies in the FAYZ don’t just fade away, and in the quiet, deadly things are stirring, mutating, and finding their way free. The Darkness has found its way into the mind of its Nemesis at last and is controlling it through a haze of delirium and confusion. A highly contagious, fatal illness spreads at an alarming rate as sinister, predatory insects terrorize Perdido Beach. And Sam, Astrid, Diana, and Caine are plagued by a growing doubt that they’ll escape—or even survive—life in the FAYZ. With so much turmoil surrounding them, what desperate choices will they make when it comes to saving themselves and those they love?

May contain spoilers from previous books.

This book was undoubtedly one of the books I'd been most looking forward to coming out. After reading Gone, Hunger and Lies, the Gone series shot up to one of my favorite books series of all time. Everything from the writing and characters points of view to the adrenaline filled survival plot just blew me away. After the amazing first three books, I had high expectations for Plague. Fortunately, I wasn't let down.

The book starts off with Astrid's younger autistic brother, Little Pete's, point of view. He is the only character, who's been present during the whole series to not have had that yet. By the end of Lies, you know that Little Pete has a huge part in the mystery surrounding the FAYZ, and that he has a big role to play yet. His chapters are dotted about during the book, giving teases of what his abilities hold and his perception of the outside world. These chapters were deliberately written in a vague tense that just had me begging for more.

The next big problem that the kids of the FAYZ have to deal with is the oncoming epidemic causing people to develop potentially fatal coughs, as well as a new rapidly evolving parasite that grows under the skin and gives life to thousands of metallic bugs that cause devastation wherever they go. This is by far one of the grossest problems that have come to light during the Gone series so far. It gave me shivers right down my spine. At first, I did find the bugs to be a little too far-fetched but as the book went along, I realized how well they fitted in with the whole 'plague' theme of this book.

Even though conditions in the FAYZ get worse and worse in each book, Grant still managed to find a way to bring light and humor at excellently timed points during the book. I was extremely pleased to see that our hero, Sam finally gets a little bit of a break in this book. But that's not saying he doesn't play an important role in it either. 

Unlike the last book, where one of the biggest problems is how the inhabitants of the FAYZ have to survive each other as gangs and rivals form, this book brings opposites and past enemies together as they learn it is the only way to survive what is occurring in deep in the FAYZ.

I had to spread out reading this book over a few days so that I could savor it, rather than reading it in one night, which is what I nearly did. I was not disappointed in this book. It was just as exciting, mysterious and heartfelt as the last three. I was also surprised to see that this book even tackled religious themes, as well as giving us one huge clue that could lead on to explaining the cause of what is happening in the FAYZ. 

If you haven't read the Gone series yet, I really can't recommend it enough. The writing is brilliant. The characters and their actions are completely believable. The story is beyond epic and a must read for any sci-fi fans. As you can see I have given this 5/5, but I would give it 6/5 if I could. It's going to be torture waiting for the next installment of the series, Fear.

Teaser Tuesday (4)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should be Reading!

• 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!

'Now that they had their alliance, based on an oath of trust, it came down to logistics. It came down to planning.'

Non-weekend Book Blogger Hop!

This is the first non-weekend Book Blogger Hop, and it is hosted by Crazy for Books!

The question is:

Outside of books, what is your guilty pleasure?

This is actually pretty hard. I don't really have any guilty pleasures that aren't books.

 Can I say buying books are? 

It's Monday What are you reading? (7)

Monday's What are you Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey!

First of all, I must apologize for the slow blogging lately. I've been pretty busy with coursework, work and other things. So I haven't had much time for reading or blogging. 

I also still need to write up my Plague review, among other things. So yeah, sorry about that.

Read last week:

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Reading now:

Ravenwild by Peter J. Plasse

Up next: 

Looking for Alaska  by John Green

The Dark Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

On my wishlist (3)

On my wishlist is a weekly meme hosted by Book Chick City!

Books on my wishlist today:

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Battle Royale  by Koushun Takami 

The Dark Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

Follow Friday/ Book Blogger Hop (7)

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee!

This week's question is:

Do you judge book's by their cover?

Yep! I'm the number one criminal of that offence. The 'Don't judge a book by it's cover' is a good saying metaphorically, but not so much when it applies to books in my opinion. These days, a book cover is what sells the book to you when you're in a book shop. There are whole teams of people to work on book covers. That's why I think there's no excuse for a bad cover, or one that either doesn't match the story or live up to it.

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy for Books!

....and today's question isn't up yet. Not to fear, it'll be up soon.

Teaser Tuesday (3)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should be Reading!

• 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!

' He left the shotguns. They were big and clumsy and he'd never fired one before.'

Short and sweet!

Top Ten Tuesday (3)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

This weeks Top Ten is Top Ten Covers I'd redesign. 

I have to say that this Top Ten is the Top Ten for me! I am constantly guilty of judging a book by it's cover. 

1. The Gone Series (US covers)

Okay, I know that lots of people are really not going to agree with this as I just read an article where people were saying how much they liked them. But I think these covers do nothing for the brilliant story that it holds. I would never pick up a book with a cover like this if I was in a shop. I think it's mainly because I have a strong dislike in book covers with models on the front. I also think that the composition is terrible.

People seem to think that the UK covers are dull. But I LOVE them, they are some of my favorite covers around. I think they are simple but effective. They also have a sense of drama and mystery that totally represents the pure awesome of the book. I would be interested in it if I saw it in a shop.

But hey, that's just me. 

2. The Replacement 

Again, this is just me getting angry at the vocal point of the cover being the model. I feel like they've coped out on this one by just sticking a good looking guy on the front. And there's really nothing else that's very interesting about the cover either. I also love the US cover a lot, I think it's really interesting.

3. The Hunger Games 

This is just The Hunger Games first book UK version. I don't mind the other two books and I think the general design is quite exciting. But it's just the illustrations of Katniss and Peeta. As nice as they are,

 are they supposed to look 11 years old?

Also, when the Hunger Games first came out. The Peeta version seemed to be the only ones on the bookshelves in the shops, giving me the false impression that that was Katniss despite the blonde hair. 

I love the US versions of the Hunger Games covers though, I'm considering getting them.

4. Unwind

I remember thinking that this cover was quite cool and clever when I saw it on the internet. But in person I think it looks very tacky. I understand the concept that they are trying to get through here.....I just don't think it was pulled off very well.

You can't tell from this picture, but the font used in the bottom left corner and also on the back is a font that I swear used to be used in children's textbooks while I was at Primary School.

5. The Enemy

Okay, I admit; this cover does sort of suit the book. But I do think that it is a little over the top and does make the book look kind of cheap.

6. Inside Out (US version)

This is quite a nice cover, but I just don't think it suits the book whatsoever. I understand the concept they are trying to bring across again, but I just don't think it's been pulled off very well. 

I think one main reason I don't like this is because I LOVE the UK cover. It was the cover alone that made me pick it up in the shop and read it. 

7. Wake

Admittedly, I haven't read this yet. But this cover......really?

8. The Uglies (US covers)

Faces. Models. It's too much. I think the first one is kind of okay (apart from the fact that I think she looks more gorgeous than the girl in the Pretties cover which can't be right). I also particularly hate the composition of the Pretties cover. I'm not a huge fan of the UK covers either, but at least there are no models or faces.

9. Across the Universe

Okay, I do think that this cover is very pretty, and I love the space part. But I just feel like the two people's almost kissing faces give it such a romance-y feel that does not represent the book at all in my opinion. 

10. Numbers

I just think they did a bad job of trying to fit numbers into the word Numbers.