In My Mailbox (31)

[Lets give props to Kristi (The Story Siren) for her amazing meme that allows us to drool over what books people got in their mailbox. If you want go get in on the IMM Magic check out Kristi's blog ]


Library:


The Pull of Gravity

Hourglass

Then I Met My Sister

Bought:


Why I Grew My Hair Out

What I Wore to Save the World

How I Found The Perfect Dress

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Keeping the Moon

Sloppy 1st

Elsewhere

Won:


Outside In

For Review:


Falling for Hamlet

Past Midnight

Guardian of the Dead

Daughter of Smoke and Bones

What did you get in your mailbox?

just sayin,

-Kare

Vanish By Sophie Jordan

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

In bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever.

These three photos remind me of something very important or something that I liked in the book.

Picture #1:
The eye reminds me of how the Draki can change from human form to Draki when ever they want to.

Picture # 2:
The Dog and Cat relationship here reminds me of how Jacinda and Will can be togetherjust like the Dog and Cat.

Picture # 3:
This Dragon is how I picture the Draki in there Draki form.


Ratings:


Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Voice: 4/5
Intensity: 5/5 
Humor: 3/5 


Average: 4.4/5 or 22/25

Daily Dose (28)

Daily dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly 

Pyromania Edition

What inspires you?

just sayin,

-Kare

Happyface by Stephen Emond

Description:

Cute girls dig him. He has his own fan club

But he wasn't always this awesome. He used to be Mr. Comic Book, a resident of Lonelyland. So when he swtiched schools, he slapped on a grin and went from big nerd to big shot.

Meet Happyface. This is his journal.

This unique combination of text and fully integrated art follows the journey of a dorky, quiet, artsy kid as he reinvents himself after moving to a new town, where he's nicknamed Happyface. Peek in his journal and see the world through his hilariously self-deprecating eyes as he learns to shed his comic-book-loving, computer-game playing ways. Join him as he makes new friends, tries to hide from his messy past, forgives the people who have hurt him most, and ultimately learns to face the world with a genuine smile. 

• I loved the drawings. Happyface is an artist and he draws the people in his life and certain scenes. I’m a huge fan of random things in a book (like in Amy and Rogers Epic Detour) and they are on like every page in Happyface. Doodles FTW!
• Chloe- I thought she was sweet and good-hearted.
• Happyface- Sometimes it’s a good philosophy to just grin and bear it. This is Happyfaces’s new attitude. But perhaps you can take it over board.
• Everyone can relate to happyface. Everyone had been there. Yeah it’s a slight depressing read but it’s also light and silly.
• I love when an author leaves out a part that happens and it hits you and your like *sputters* WHAT? WHEN? WHY DIDN'T I CATCH THAT??? Yeah that happens here.
• Happyface is a kid that you can relate to, because he is lonely. Raise you hand if you  haven't ever been lonely? (Really? Put that hand down!!) 
• Oh and don't forget about the crazy twists and turns. 

Fails:

• Not a fan of Gretchen, at all really.

Overall:

A silly but really good book about how to deal with life. It’s A-Okay with me :D

Also:

just sayin,

-Kare

Daily Dose (27)

Daily dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly 

Harry Potter Again (and possibly again) Edition

yeah it's got secrets...

What inspires you?

just sayin,

-Kare

The Good, The Bad, and The Potter

So as you may or may not have noticed we haven't been posting much lately. While I was on vacation my charger cord broke and it wasn't until today that I have found myself with access to a computer.

I sort of feel like this...

And this too....

And I am sure I am being dramatic but this one could apply too...

So basically I never know when I will be able to post. BUT never fear I will try my hardest to get post scheduled when I can!! I hope you can understand.

Second order of business.

 Did anyone see Deathly Hallows Part 2? WE DID!! Today actually. It's not word for word to the book but honestly they did a great job. Also: The epic people in our theater clapped at all the good moments. Like when Neville did that thing with the sword or as Mrs. Weasly's greatest moment commenced.  I don't know about Dallin but I was crying like the whole time, but only because I knew what was coming.

I hope if you did see it you loved it as much as I did and if you haven't seen it I hope you do! :D

That is all... except DFTBA!!

just sayin,
-Kare

Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Description:

All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.

Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it….

Wins:

• First let’s address the cover, please take a moment to scroll up and witness it’s remarkable qualities. Are you back? Were you not just blinded by it? I was.
• Elizebeth- I mean Chelsea- she had a fun personality and I loved reading the book through her eyes/brain/voice.
• I liked her work place. It was a cool reenactment place, where the workers are dressed up as people from the 1770’s and acted like them.  This setting was very cool to person who is a history buff.  Also: Bonus points for originality!
• The idea of a war between teens from two different reenactment places was totally mind blowing.  The war was legit too, like prank war status.
• Dan- Practically perfect, the guy who makes you giddy in a story the only problem? He is a Civil Warrior , as in the enemy .
• Fiona- Honest, spunky, and a total flirt come to mind with Fiona. She is Chelsea’s  best friend and has joined her for the summer to earn money.
• Her parents- Her dad is THE history buff who talks- a lot. Her mom is a history buff too , but she doesn’t talk about it too much.  They bothe have been working at the reenactment place for ten years. During those  years Chelsea joins them for the summer.
• The way Chelsea thinks about history and time. How it is all happening at the same time.

Fails:

• She kept hanging on to Ezra like he was some idol or something. But sometimes we only see what we want.

Overall:

A deeper story then I assumed it would be, a very good book. I wanted to read this book because of the cover (yes how awful of me) then I read it and now I am convinced everyone should read it. It offers a glimpse into history, a look at the present, and a hope for the future. 

just sayin,

-Kare

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

Description:

Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life: Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.

There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long — and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous, and that is . . . the emerald is cursed.

Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all, she has her best friend — the gorgeous Hale — and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses and realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.

Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.

Epic Wins:

• Message: Sure you might think you can handle things on your own but really you need a crew to back you up.
• The stakes are higher and the cons are more complex.
• I love being sucked into Kat’s world. The thieving for a good cause, the way her character develops, but most of all I love her mind set.
• The Crew- Again insane and funny.  Their personalities mash together so well. Every one of them brings something fresh to the table.
• Carter is amazing at creating kick butt characters, ones that you want to know and can’t really get enough of!
• The writing has that sucking effect. It is so good that you are transported into the story.
• I loved Heist Society in all its glory and I thought it would be hard to come up with a better story, that this one might fall flat next to Heist Society. I was wrong on so many levels.
• Hale- He is something else. One thing he never does is give up on Kat.
• The Twists and turns. One had my jaw on the floor; the other made me say ‘REALLY? But-but-but it’s so simple. You’ll be surprised.
• It took me a while to write this review because the book was so awe-inspiring and breathtaking it took me a week to really gather my thoughts.

Epic Fails:

• Maggie- What a conniving, heartless woman!!

Overall:                                                                                                                                                                                               

 Absolutely breath-taking, thieving-madness that you can't help but gobble up. 

just sayin, 

-Kare

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Description:


When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre...to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria...to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving "the life" for a normal life proves harder than she'd expected.

Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster's art collection has been stolen, and he wants it returned. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.

For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s (very crooked) history—and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

Epic Wins:

• The concept that the family business is being a thief.
• It had that spy-ish feel to it, like making epic plans to break-ins and such.
• Kat was very kick butt. She was raised a thief. She doesn’t really want to be one but she ends up back in the business but this time with different motives.
• Kat’s society. Each character brought a fun element to the group. Simon- The computer/techy guy. Gabrielle- The inside woman.  –The newcomer.  The Bagshaw twins–The Blower-upers. Hale- The resource/money man,  and cutie.  Kat- The planner.
• The settings. They were all over the map. Oneday in New Yar, the next in Paris and the next in Italy or London.
• The way Kat wraps you into her story, such a compelling character, one who only wants to go good.
• The things you don.t see coming, in essins the twists of the plot.
• Hale. He was amazingly loyal and willing to do anything for Kat.
• I am going to sound insane here, but I forgot this guys name and he was one of my favorites. The guy she is reminded of  when she drinks the hot coco with melted snow in it. (Urg! I wish I could remember the name.) Anyway he was really interesting character.  I REALLY liked this man but for the life of me I can’t recall his name.  :(

Epic Fails:

• Aurtoro - He was some kind of evil. You could feel it, down to the bone. He may have put on a coy demenor but really he was no good. Slimy. 

Overall:

A bright story with a steadfast main character who has the world at her fingertips. I can’t wait to see what is cooked up next for Kat. 


just sayin,
-Kare

Red Moon Rising By Petter Moore

Being only half-vamp in a high school like Carpathia Night makes you a whole loser. But Danny Gray manages to escape the worst of the specists at his school. Thanks to genetic treatments he had as an infant, most people assume Danny's other half is human. Which is a good thing.
Ever since the development of synthetic blood – SynHeme – vamps have become society’s elite, while wulves like his father work menial jobs and live in bad neighborhoods. Wulves are less than second class citizens; once a month they become inmates, forced to undergo their Change in dangerous government compounds.
For Danny, living with his vamp mother and going to a school with a nearly all-vamp student body, it’s best to pretend his wulf half doesn’t even exist. But lately Danny's been having some weird symptoms — fantastic night vision; a keener-than-usual sense of smell; and headaches, right around the full moon.
Even though it's easy to be in denial, it's hard to ignore evidence. There's only a month until the next few moon, and Danny's time is running out.
Peter Moore speaks to adolescents in a voice that will have them laughing, set in a world that will get them thinking.

Report # 3

This is my sculpture of a Red Moon. In Wulf form, Wulves see a Red Moon.

My Ratings-
Charaters: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Voice: 5/5
Intenisty: 4/5
Humor: 3/5

Average: 4/5 -or-  20/25

Daily Dose (26)

Daily dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly 

The Many Faces of Marshmallows Edition

What inspires you?

just sayin,

-Kare