2011 End of Year Book Survey!

Hy Readers,
THE LAST DAY OF 2011! Is today. I should be scrambling to finish reading things for the Readathon, but here I am.

I feel like EVERYONE is posting "Best of 2011" posts on their blogs, so I wanted to at least do ONE. Luckily, I remembered the Best of 2010 survey I did last year!

So, this is what I've decided to do this year again! But this year, I'm not going to do the blogging part, just the books part. This was started at The Perpetual Page-turner, so go check it out! :D

Here we go!

1. Best Book You Read in 2011?
IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION. But I have narrowed it down to:

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Shatter Me by Taherah Mafi
Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
Don't Stop Now by Julie Halpern

2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?
Ehhh....The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. I think I said it well enough in my review, but this book just wasn't what I wanted it to be. I can live without owning it for a long while. Also, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. I DID like that book, but still...

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?
Hmm....I think it was Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky! I almost didn't want to read it, and didn't expect it to be much, but then I did and WOW. I just adored it. Definitely didn't expect to like it so much!

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?
Divergent. Shatter Me. Books by Jackson Pearce and Meg Cabot. The Mortal Instruments series!

5. Best series you discovered in 2011?
Speaking of The Mortal Instruments...! It was definitely that. Lovelovelove.

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?
Cassandra Clare, Julie Halpern, Stephanie Perkins.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
Hmm...I think I'll say Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor. Rented from the library. It was very high fantasy and...well, actually it wasn't really anything in particular. It was it's own thing, and not something I'd usually read!

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?
Oh dear, this is going to make so many parts of this list, but...Shatter Me by Taherah Mafi. DAMN, guys. Could not even entertain the idea of putting that one down. Freaking awesome.

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?
City of Fallen Angels! Also, Sweetly by Jackson Pearce. <3

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?
It's a tie between Anna and Mara Dyer:

11. Most memorable character in 2011?
I think Lola from Lola and The Boy Next Door takes the cake on this one. ;)
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver. Perhaps it's not beautiful in the definition you're thinking of, but it's beautiful all the same.
13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011?
Possibly Between by Jessica Warman, or Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky.

14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?
Anna and The French Kiss! Also, the Maximum Ride series. Super fun, should've read it sooner!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011?
"It's easy to talk about things we hate, but sometimes it's hard to explain exactly why we like something." --Lola and The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

16. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012?
There are way too many...I'll probably read a good chunk of them! :D

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

Um, everything in Clockwork Prince? ;D Also, Shatter Me, yet again! And City Of Fallen Angels, while I'm at it!


Sooooo it looks like that's it, guys! I'll be back tomorrow with a wrap up of my Readathon, and then there will be some more posts next year as well. ;D

Hope you had a wonderful 2011--and have an even better 2012!

Book Review: The Disenchantments (ARC) by Nina LaCour

Hey Readers,

I'm back already! I just finished the first book in my TBR list for the Readathon, and I decided to write the review right now, while it's still fresh in my mind.

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev's band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she's abandoning their plans - and Colby - to start college in the fall.

But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev's already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what's next?

Morris Award—finalist Nina LaCour draws together the beauty and influences of music and art to brilliantly capture a group of friends on the brink of the rest of their lives.

Once again, this is an ARC provided by Around The World ARC Tours. I decided to sign up for this tour because of three reasons. One, I'd been hearing some pretty great things about this book. Two, that cover is so pretty. And, three, I thought the summary was a bit reminiscent of Don't Stop Now by Julie Halpern, which I, of course, adored.

But to be honest, this book was a bit of a letdown from what I've heard. First off, because I feel like you readers might need to be informed, Colby is a guy. I already knew this, previous to reading it, so that wasn't what threw me off. I have heard that most people were very surprised by this as the cover is obviously very girly, Colby can be a girl's name, and the summary doesn't say otherwise. So I thought I'd let you know that, before we get to the rest of the review.


And now, let's talk about the story for a sec. Colby's traveling with his three friends, who are in a--crappy, which I found funny--band called The Disenchantments. Bev, his best friend he's been in love with for practically forever, then Meg and Alexa, two adopted sisters Bev and Colby became friends with when they joined the band. Their plan is to tour the Northwest for a week,  playing a show a night, then ending the week by dropping Meg off at college. After that, Bev and Colby are off to Europe, to travel instead of heading to college. This plan has been set for ages...except that on the first day of their tour, Bev informs them that she'll be going to college, and that the plans for traveling after the tour are canceled. Nice friend, right?


Yeah, it was annoying. Our protagonist, Colby, was pissed about the whole situation, as one might imagine. With those plans canceled, he has no idea what to do, but he still can't help but be in love with Bev, and I never really got why. I didn't even like her at all, not even at the end, really. She never seems to be very nice to anybody, especially not Colby, and we were never told why she canceled the plans until the end of the book. It wasn't that great of an explanation either. In fact, I kind of wanted to slap her. I didn't really feel any empathy or sympathy for her, and so that brought down a lot of the book for me, as a big part of it was about her.


But other than Bev, there were a lot of other fun characters that they randomly met during their tour, not to mention Colby, Meg and Alexa themselves. Colby is a pretty normal guy, an artist and kind of philosophical. It was kind of interesting to read through a male's point of view, for the first time in a while. Meg and Alexa were pretty cool girls, and they were pretty different, but I have to say that I often got them mixed up, though it never really mattered. The other people they met were so random, yet so believably real, no matter how silly they seemed. I liked this tattoo artist, Jasper, a lot, and also this one guy at their first show who helped Colby decide what kind of beer he should drink (because that part was just so ridiculously hilarious).

As you might've guessed, this book has quite of bit of music talk in it, mostly about girl bands like The Runaways and Heart. There's also a bit of history with Colby's dad and uncle who were in a band as well, which influences the story as well. I mention this, so that I can say that I'd recommend this to some retro music fans.


This may seem odd, but this book reminded me a lot of Paper Towns, rather than Don't Stop Now. The male main character, in love with this strange, sad girl, the clever and philosophical writing style, and the funny side characters. I think if you really loved that book, you'll probably enjoy this book at least a little.

But overall, I felt pretty disconnected from this book, but I have to say, I did like it. The ending was satisfying, though not what I would've predicted. Even so, I feel like I could've not read this book and my life wouldn't be any different.

Rating: 3.5/5

Thanks for reading! I'm off to start my next book for the Readathon. Be back soon!

Wrapping Up 2011 Readathon TBR

Hey Readers,

Remember how I said I'd be signing up for Jessie's Remarkable Reads Wrapping Up 2011 Readathon? Well, I am doing that now. A little late, I suppose...

Anyway, this is a Readathon that started on the 22nd and ends at midnight on New Year's Eve. I definitely should've signed up earlier, because now I only have (counting today) about 5 days left. O_O

In these five days, I'm hoping to:

Finish The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour (this is an ARC, so you can expect a review!)

Read Legend by Marie Lu (also expect a review!)

Read Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt.

And also read these two library books that are due, but I'm not sure if that will actually happen! Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi, and How To Say Goodbye In Robot by Natalie Standiford.

Yes, all those in five days. Don't think it'll actually happen, but you never know! I'll be back soon with an update post, but if you want more up to the minute updates follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/slightlymaddz, or with the hashtag #WU2011R. Let me know if you're also participating! :) 

December Update!

Hey Readers,
How have you been? I've been neglecting you, I know--only using you for reviews... This is something that will change at the end of this month, and into the new year! Right now, though, I am going to give you guys a little update on some things, in between all the cookie-making and present-wrapping that's going on at my house today. :)
Thing #1:
I never ended up telling you guys, really, but...I won NaNoWriMo (for more info on what that is and what I planned, click here!) :D :D

THIS is going in the sidebar, under last year's. :)

My novel is currently and poorly titled Try Not To Think. The plot is pretty complicated to explain, but there IS one, don't worry! xD My goal was 25,000 words and that completed at least 2/3 of the novel. Almost there! I plan to finish it very soon. Then edit it. I HOPE. That's the plan, at least.

How did you guys do?

Thing #2:

This may not be interesting to most of you, but I submitted a short story to this magazine, Teen Voices. (You can visit their site here, if you like: http://www.teenvoices.com) The short story is called To Have Drifted. I only just submitted it, but if it actually DOES get on there, I'll link you all to it. If that interests you. So.... 

Thing #3:

I don't know if you've all been following the progress of the upcoming The Hunger Games movie, like I have....Isn't this all so exciting?! (the trailer, omgggg). Being on Twitter, I follow a lot of bookish people, so I get most of my news from there, lol.

Yesterday I was surprised to hear that the first single of the soundtrack (written for the movie?) was released. And it was by Taylor Swift.

I'm a fan of Taylor Swift and all, but I didn't except her to be the one for this movie. Yet, I have no complaints, because this song is SO. BEAUTIFUL. Even if you don't like Taylor, you must listen:

I remember tears streaming down your face,
When I said I'll never let you go.
When all those shadows almost killed your light,
I remember you said don't leave me here alone,
But all that's dead and gone and past tonight.
Just close your eyes,
The sun is going down.
You'll be all right,
No one can hurt you now.
Come morning light,
You and I'll be safe and sound.
Don't you dare look out your window,
Darlin' everything's on fire.
The war outside our door keeps raging on,
Hold on to this lullaby.
Even when the music's gone, gone...
Just close your eyes,
The sun is going down.
You'll be all right,
No one can hurt you now.
Come morning light,
You and I'll be safe and sound...
Just close your eyes,
You'll be all right.
Come morning light,
You and I'll be safe and sound...

AHHHHH I'M IN LOVE.

Thing #4:

I'm signing for the Wrapping Up 2011 Readathon, at Jessie's Remarkable Reads! More info on that in the next post. :)

Thing #5

I recently just signed up for a library card, and started going to my library. I'm addicted, guys. They have so much stuff I can READ for FREE without PAYING FOR IT. (You think this would be obvious to me, but I'm still so happy about it. Expect reviews (eventually!) on books that aren't ARCs. :D

Thing #6:

You can also expect more videos in the new year. But I have a question--do you guys even like videos? xD

Thing #7:

Happy holidays! :)

I'll be back soon with a readathon post...

Book Review (ARC): Shatter Me by Taherah Mafi

Hey Readers,
I'm back, just like I said. :D A double-review day today! This next gushfest book review is on the fabulous book...

Shatter Me by Taherah Mafi

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

 

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

 

Juliette has to make a choice. Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

 

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel – with a paranormal twist – that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

THIS BOOK, you guys. Holy wow.

I was hesitant to read this at first, because I didn't know if I'd like it, and I didn't want to sign up for a tour for a book I might not like. I don't like reviewing books I don't like, obviously. There was so much hype around this book, which made me even more hesitant. Then I saw the book trailer, and I just thought, "Why not? I'll give it a shot."

I had to finish A Temptation of Angels (see my review!) first, though, so by the time I got around to reading Shatter Me, I only had a weekend left to finish it, before I had to mail it on.

Turns out I only needed a day.

I picked it up randomly, just after my grandmother had left after her visit for Thanskgiving and was reading it out on my back porch (great weather!). And then I just couldn't stop reading it. Seriously! I only took a break for lunch and dinner, lol!

Shatter Me grips you from the first page and doesn't let go. It's written in a "stream of conciousness" style which is basically just like you're in the main character's head. I didn't know if I'd like that--As I Wake was written similarly and I couldn't stand that book--The style goes perfectly with this book. It makes you really understand the character, and how being locked up for 264 days has really gotten to her. There are all these strike-outs which some people may find irritating, but I loved. Juliette struck out all the things that she didn't want to think, didn't want to admit, and it was really cool to see how they started to be struck out less and less as the book went on and Juliette's character grew.

The book starts out when Juliette finds out she is getting a cellmate. And then she finds out...he's a boy. His name is Adam, and I love him. xD Seriously, can I just freak out about him for a minute? Because, wow. I liked him from his very first line. I thought the book was going one way and then it went another, so then I didn't like him. And then I loved him. It was insane! It was a very interesting and fantastic romance they had going on in this book. <3

But then we have Warner. The antagonist. He wants Juliette to be a weapon, basically, but he's also fascinated by her, obsessed with her and maybe even in love with her. Warner is the best kind of villain. You hate him, he's a horrible, horrible person. But at the same time, you kind of love him. It was so weird, but I just loved his character, and was almost rooting for him. I know! He's a sick, twisted person, but he's also fantastic.The things this book does to me, I swear. Taherah Mafi does a great job of making a likeable villain! (As if this weren't obvious by now!)

(Random side note: something awkward? Warner's character is only 19, but I didn't know that when we were first introduced to him, so my mental image of him is some thiry year-old man. Which made it creepy at times. xD It's very hard to change a mental image of a character once you already have one!)

So much happens in this book, it's almost like three books in one. Most reviews you read about this book are probably just as vague as the summary. But I don't want to spoil anything else about this book. You just have to experience it. It may not be for everyone, but for it was so perfect. I've read some really great books lately, but this was the one that I honestly could not stop reading, one I couldn't stop thinking about after it was over, and one that I reread all the good parts multiple times afterwards. I am so obsessed with this book, you guys. You don't even know. I am--to borrow a word from foreveryoungadult.com--suffering some major TEABS (The End Of An Awesome Book Syndrome). Thank GOD there is a sequel coming out next year (as part of a trilogy), or I would explode.

All in all, Shatter Me is 100% perfect, so just take my advice and read it. <3

Rating: 5,000/5

Great news! Shatter me is out now. But I don't own it. *despair* It's going on my Christmas list!!

Book Review (ARC): A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink

Hey Readers,

There are going to be TWO REVIEWS today! Aren't you excited? Also, hopefully TOMORROW, I will finally have a wrap-up of NaNoWriMo this year. :) But until then....

A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink

Even angels make mistakes in this page-turning epic romance…

When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen-year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world’s past, present, and future. Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility. Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong, because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel.

I decided to sign up for this book, because (of course) that cover is so gorgeous. When I saw this on the tour site, I loved the cover, and then actually read the summary. It sounded very Cassandra Clare-like to me, so I was really interested.



Besides that, the only other thing I knew about this book was that it was written by Michelle Zink, who wrote that Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy a few years ago, that I never read but was apparently super popular. So really, I am oblivious to any kind of hype about this book. In case you were wondering. Even so, I feel like I should keep this review relatively spoiler-free.

I had trouble getting into it at first. It was intriguing and all, and I was liking it, but it's written in third person. Sometimes that is just an invitation for my mind to wannnnderrr. I don't know why. It is just something that has been happening lately!

But as I read more, I became increasingly interested. After we were introduced to the "angelic brothers protecting her," Darius and Griffin, I started to really like it. I wanted to know how their relationships would develop, particularly the possible romance between the Helen and Griffin.
Perhaps when you read the part of the summary that says, "she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her" you might have groaned. You're probably sick of love triangles in YA books, right? Well, this may be spoiler-y, but I did not really think this was much of a love triangle. That part of the summary doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means. It is more of an allegiance thing really, although they did try to sneak in some feelings for the childhood friend guy. I didn't like this at all. Firstly, because Griffin is all Helen even needs (seriously, he's wonderful) so why would she want this other guy? And secondly, the childhood friend guy was barely present in the story, until the end. He didn't seem interested either, so I didn't get any feelings there might have been for him. In fact, I thought that, while he had an interesting part in the story, he was mostly annoying.

I guess the moral of that paragraph was "don't expect a ridiculous love triangle because there really isn't one".

Anyways. The characters! As mentioned, I didn't really care for the childhood friend guy all that much (I feel like saying his name would be a spoiler, for some reason). The rest of the cast was pretty great. I liked Helen quite a bit--she was very peculiar sometimes, but she was a good main character. Griffin was wonderful, as I also said, but he said some things every once and a while that made me not like him as the love interest. Darius, I found him pretty plain and stereotypical somehow, the way he just didn't like Helen at all. But he was still all right, especially with Anna.
The writing was pretty straight-forward, old-fashioned to keep with the setting, but I really liked it. It was very well done, especially the way she seamlessly wove memories into it. And as for the plot, I thought it was very unique. You might think this is just another angel book (there seem to be quite a few popping up on YA bookshelves), but I haven't really read much to do with angels, let alone angel guardians. It was really cool to read about, even if it was a bit confusing at times. It did remind me a lot of Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, because of the writing style, and also the characters sometimes.

The ending was all right. There was an awkward dismissal of the other guy as a love interest, which made me wonder why the author bothered to introduce him as such. But it was summed up quite nicely, tying up loose ends. Although, I would not object to a sequel! I don't know if there are plans for this to be a trilogy or what, but I would love to read more.
I read this book in two days basically. Well, that's not true. It took me a few days, a few pages at a time, to get interested in it, but once I did become interested, I had trouble putting it down. Not just because I had to mail it out to the next person in the tour. I kept saying, "Well, I'll read until this next chapter" but then I kept making excuses to keep reading! It was kind of awesome. I was outside reading on the back porch for hours.
Overall, I would really recommend this one. It was just a really fun, unique and interesting read that I didn't want to be over. I think I will definitely check out Michelle Zink's Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy next! :D

Rating: 4.5/5

A Temptation of Angels comes out March 20th, 2012. Check it out!Thanks for reading! I'll be back later. ^_^