Top Bookish News of The Past Week

Here are all of the top bookish stories, blog posts, pictures, and videos I found this past week. I put this post up every Sunday so come back again next week for more bookish awesomeness. 

Click away and enjoy your Sunday!

ARTICLES

Who wouldn't want to eat at a literary restaurant? These are amazing! A lot of them are not in the U.S. but the one in Denver, which is my favorite from the list, featuring a cafe, book store, and bar all in one, happens to be in the same state my brother lives in. I think I see a road trip in the near future. Which of these are your favorites?

You know all the news about the NSA going on right now? Well, there has also been an unusual spike in sales for the classic book 1984. haha

I have yet to read Lauren Graham's novel and it is apparently already being adapted for TV. I need to read this book sooner rather than later. What do you guys think of this news? I'm not really surprised by this news but it's exciting all the same.

BLOG POSTS

Is your novel the next big YA book? Check out this post for information about a contest you can enter to get your book published! Good luck.

If you ever get the blogger blues you should read The Bookshelves' Tips on Surviving The Blogger Life. There is some good advice on here. Plus, its a funny read.

You must read Jamie's post where she created a book inspired date night. It's a great idea and a really fun post. I need to read this book and then do this date night!

PICTURE

VIDEO - For The Hobbit Fans (I'm especially fond of Legolas)

Blog Tour: Hidden by M. Lathan (Review)

Hidden (#1) by: M. Lathan (2012)

240 pages

Genre: YA Paranormal

Source: I received a free copy from Xpresso Book Tours and the author!

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | Amazon | Smashwords

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Leah Grant has given up on being normal. She’d settle for stopping the voices in her head, intrusive visions of the future, and better odds of making it to her seventeenth birthday.

That’s the thing about pretending to be human in a world where magic used to exist – at any moment, her cover could be blown and she’ll be burned to death like the rest of the witches.

Everything changes when she loses control of her powers and flees the orphanage she grew up in. She desperately wants to be invisible but finds her face plastered on every news channel as humans panic over the possible resurgence of her kind. And now the hunters won’t give up until they find her.

Making friends for the first time in her life and falling in love with one of them drives her to discover why she is unlike any being she’s ever met – human or otherwise. The dangerous powers inside of her that would repel Nathan, her new, handsome reason for living, are priceless to some. The locked up forever kind of priceless. And to others, they are too dangerous to allow her to live.

Let’s hope she can stay hidden.

My Review

Hidden is a very interesting paranormal young adult novel that has a shaky start but picks up and has some unique qualities, making it a nice refresher from the norm. It's a fun enjoyable read with some great OMG moments.

(Although I sound a little harsh about the beginning of this book, I want you to know that it gets better and I really did enjoy reading it.) Now I’m going to be completely honest, this book was kind of a drag at first and a little confusing. I wasn’t a fan of the main character Leah, she had such low self-esteem it drove me crazy, it was due to her raising and having no knowledge of who she really was, but it was hard for me to read about her at first. Also, she is bullied relentlessly by mean girls at the orphanage and no one does anything about it, this drove me crazy since you would think the Sisters at the orphanage would have done something, anything. I was worried because I wasn’t enjoying the first 30ish pages, but then something happened that completely changed my mind.

There is a turning point in the book, when she leaves the orphanage, and this is when the book gets really really good and I start to really like Leah. We get to meet more supernatural people and Leah finally starts to get some answers about who she is. I love her friends and find all the secondary characters interesting, complex, and the friends that Leah really need.

Hidden features a world where witches aren’t a secret but were deemed evil and gotten rid of, giving Hidden a unique edge in the paranormal genre. There is way more than meets the eye in this novel. There are some good action scenes, fun moments with friends, and shocking secret reveals, basically a whole lot of stuff is going on in this first novel in this series, keeping me very entertained. The ending left me wanting more and I can’t wait to get a hold of the next book, which comes out later this month. I want to see how everything plays out.

This is a good investment for fans of young adult paranormal books that love action and romance, not to mention some pretty memorable characters.

** Thank you Xpresso Book Tours and M. Lathan for a free copy of this book! This in no way affected my honest review.

RATING 3.5/5

Author

M. Lathan lives in San Antonio with her husband and mini-schnauzer. She enjoys writing and has a B.S. in Psych and a Masters in Counseling. Her passion is a blend of her two interests – creating new worlds and stocking them with crazy people. She enjoys reading anything with interesting characters and writing in front of a window while asking rhetorical questions … like her idol Carrie Bradshaw.

WEBSITE | GOODREADS | TWITTER

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Review: Night School by C.J. Daugherty

Night School (Night School #1) by: C.J. Daugherty (2013)

400 pages

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (Harper Teen)

Genre: YA

Source: I received a free copy from Goodreads First Reads.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Allie Sheridan’s world is falling apart. Her brother’s run away from home. Her parents ignore her. And she’s just been arrested.
Again.
This time her parents have had enough. They cut her off from her friends and send her away to boarding school, far from her London friends.
But at Cimmeria Academy, Allie is soon caught up in the strange activities of a secret group of elite students.
When she’s attacked late one night the incident sets off a chain of increasingly violent events. As the school begins to seem like a very dangerous place, she finds out that nothing at Cimmeria is what it seems to be.
And that she is not who she thought she was.

My Review

Night School was a very enjoyable read. This is a perfect book for those that like the boarding school setting with an air of mystery. Just so you know in advance, this is not a paranormal book so please don’t expect one.

The school grounds sound amazing, I wish they were real. The school is in an old type castle with secret passageways and rooms and wings that certain students aren’t allowed to enter, not to mention the amazing library.

The school has a set of rules that everyone must follow, sadly we as the reader never get to see this full set of rules only a small portion, but the few we do get a chance to read seem only semi-normal. This book is weird, but creepy and interesting at the same time. We never get answers to everything but that may be because this is the first book of who knows how many. The mystery and suspense in this novel was excellent, but at times frustrating. Now let's talk characters.

Allie suffers from being a new student. Then she makes friends, gets some boy attention, and then all hell breaks loose. Allie was a complex character with some secrets of her own. There is however a love triangle that was executed okay but not amazing. There was one scene in particular toward the end that ruffled my feathers a little bit, if you read it you will know what I mean. Feel free to talk to me about it so I can gripe. There were also several really cute scenes that made me giddy like a school girl. So I guess I’m just 50/50 about almost everything in this book.

This was an enjoyable read that I finished within 24 hours. Although it was a little slow at times it was still intriguing enough to keep my attention. I wish I went to this school, even with all the weirdness and craziness that is happening. I mean they play different games at night in the dark with glow and the dark equipment and there is a library to die for. What more could I want?

Sorry this review is so vague but I didn't want to give anything away about this mysterious school.

Like I said, read this if you are a fan of mysterious boarding school campuses and the drama inside its walls.

Top Bookish News of The Past Week

Here are all of the top bookish stories, blog posts, pictures, and videos I found this past week. I put this post up every Sunday so come back again next week for more bookish awesomeness. 

Click away and enjoy your Sunday!

ARTICLES

Suzanne Collins will indeed be writing more books for teens in the near future! Well, I know I will read them probably no matter what they are about. (Thanks Foil the Plot for bringing this to my attention.)

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops, a book I mentioned a little bit ago on a bookish news post, has a Tumblr! So enjoy some laughs and read what crazy customers are always asking and awesome other bookstore things. (Thanks Buckling Bookshelves for sharing this with me.)

There is a Penguin Book Truck? A mobile bookstore that holds over 500 books! Crazy awesome. See where it will be traveling to this summer. It sounds pretty cool and their traveling path is pretty bookish and unique.

BLOG POSTS

Check out this awesome Young Adult Crush Tournament over at The YA Sisterhood. Who wouldn't want to vote on their favorite fictional male characters? It starts soon so check it out.

Ink Reviews shares with us a new bookish shop on Etsy, Wrecked Writings. It's pretty interesting. I'm really digging the book jewelry box. 

Do you need some FREE Photoshop alternatives? Bookmarked for Later has a great post with lots of information. I use picmonkey now for the most part when I do try to spice things up a little. 

VIDEO

As a book blogger I hate to admit this, but I haven't read the books. Therefore, this is how I felt during that last episode of Game of Thrones. 

My One Year Blogiversary Giveaways!

I know I already have a full post on this... but just in case you missed it here is the link to enter my giveaways to celebrate my blog turning one! Thanks you wonderful readers!

My One Year Blogiversary Giveaways!

That's right folks, today my blog turns one! 

To celebrate I am hosting two, that's right two, giveaways for all those fellow book lovers out there and for my awesome followers! But first, I have a few things to say.

Time Sure Does Fly

I can't believe a year ago today I started this blog. 

I have learned so much about the book industry and blogging during that time. I love my blog and I enjoy every day that I work on it. I had a few times where I felt overwhelmed, heck I still do, but in the end it has totally been worth it. I have enjoyed this experience so far and can't wait to see what the next year brings.

To My Followers

A big thanks to every single one of you for being awesome! 

Hope that GIF wasn't too creepy for you. I have a wonderful group of followers that have supported me and continue to bring interesting and insightful comments to my posts. I want to make a quick shout out to a few of my awesome blogger friends who I have grown close to: Christine over at Buckling Bookshelves, Nicole over at The Quiet Concert, and Nikki at Foil the Plot! Check out their blogs if you haven't already!

The Giveaways

Now let's get down to it, the thing that you have been waiting patiently for... I am having two giveaways! 

I have selected some of my favorite books (only ones I have reviewed on this blog since it is my blogiversary) in several different genres for you to choose from. That way there is something for everyone, or you could try something new. There will be one winner that receives a physical book of their choice from my first list. Another winner will receive an e-book of their choice from my second list. (I wanted to highlight some pretty cool self-published authors with this list.) The very simple rules are below along with the list of books and the raffelcopter form at the end of each list. Feel free to enter both or just one of the giveaways. Note: If you don't live in a country where The Book Depository ships for free you can only enter the e-book giveaway. To learn more about the book just click on the cover. This is my first giveaway (well I guess my first two) on the blog that I have hosted myself and I'm super excited about this!

Rules:
- No cheating please! I'll be checking the entries.
- Anyone who lives where The Book Depository ships for free can enter. Here is that list.
- Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules:
- No cheating please! I'll be checking the entries.
- Anyone (US & International) can enter!
- Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ARC Review: The Testing by: Joelle Charbonneau

The Testing by: Joelle Charbonneau (June 4, 2013)

336 pages

Genre: YA/Dystopian
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books

Source: I received a free copy from Houghton Mifflin Books for my honest review.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble |  Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Isn’t that what they say? But how close is too close when they may be one in the same?

The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next generation’s chosen few who must rebuild it. But to enter this elite group, candidates must first pass The Testing—their one chance at a college education and a rewarding career.

Cia Vale is honored to be chosen as a Testing candidate; eager to prove her worthiness as a University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies--trust no one.

But surely she can trust Tomas, her handsome childhood friend who offers an alliance? Tomas, who seems to care more about her with the passing of every grueling (and deadly) day of the Testing. To survive, Cia must choose: love without truth or life without trust.

My Review

The Testing is a dystopian novel that will give you something to talk about. A gripping read with a heroine that can outsmart the best of them. The Testing shouldn’t be passed up, plunge in and take a deep breath, you will feel the stress of the characters as they embark on The Testing, the hardest test they will ever take. Sharpen your pencils and prepare to fight for your life.

Some may say that the parallels between The Testing and The Hunger Games are too similar, but being a huge Hunger Games fan this didn’t bother me, because I loved The Hunger Games so why wouldn’t I love a book that is similar? There are still enough unique elements in The Testing that the similarities shouldn’t bother you, if anything it should make you love the book even more, but everyone is different.

You know that saying, curiosity killed the cat? Oh boy, I was so overly curious about everything going on in this novel right there with the characters, and sure enough curiosity can get you killed in The Testing. They just want you to follow their rules and play their game. Step out of line and who knows what is waiting for you on the other side.

The female heroine, Cia, is everything you could want in a strong central character. She is clever, nice, strong, and will do anything and everything to survive. I was rooting for her from day one and was awed by her cleverness and how well she played the game. Although her love interest, Tomas, isn’t overly amazing and their relationship is somewhat strange at times, he still adds a little something to the story. Cia’s family is an interesting bunch and I wish we would have had more time with them, I think her father holds the key to some of the secrets surrounding the government and their test. There are several other minor characters and all I can say about them, be careful about who you trust.

The Testing is filled with suspense and action. My palms were sweaty and I was on high alert while reading the whole book. Be warned, some of the scenes are brutal and bloody. There are several WTF moments and many moments where I had to ask myself, did that just happen? Don’t worry, although this is an intense novel, there are several points of humor done well and used when needed to add some comic relief.

Oh and the ending will have you wishing the next book was already out. I have no idea how I’m going to be able to wait a year before the next book. The Testing turned out to exceed my expectations and give me hope in the dystopian genre. Heck, the second book may even be better from the first, and that is saying something. Although this novel isn’t perfect I still feel the need to give it five stars because I enjoyed it so much.

So what are you waiting for? Get a copy of The Testing and see for yourself how this new dystopian trilogy is better than many.

** Thanks Houghton Mifflin Books for an ARC copy of The Testing!

RATING 5/5 

Top Bookish News of The Past Week

Here are all of the top bookish stories, blog posts, pictures, and videos I found this past week. I put this post up every Sunday so come back again next week for more bookish awesomeness. 

Click away and enjoy your Sunday!

ARTICLES

I'm not the only one that judges a book by its cover. This article discusses the importance of a good book cover and how indie book covers are getting better and better. I'll admit that if a cover doesn't look professional or well made I'll pass that book on by.

ew.com Image Credit: Jason Bell

Are you a Bridget Jones fan? If so, then you may want to read this to see what the next book in the franchise will be titled. There is even an excerpt from the new book. I enjoyed the books and were good for a few laught, but they weren't great. What about you?

Do you ever buy an ebook almost solely because it is only 99 cents or some other great deal? I don't normally do this unless the book looks really promising, but I mean it is only a dollar so if I don't like it I didn't lose much. If you think this is an interesting topic you should read One-Day Deals Making E-Books Bestsellers. 

A 5-year-old girl read 875 books during the school year. I give this girl one big round of applause. I love seeing young kids that really love to read. Read the article about her and see how cool this is!

BLOG POST

Patti has a post up this week over at Parajunkee about Barnes and Noble and how they should really have better pricing because online deals are so much better than what they offer in the store. This is a nice well written and thoughtful post that I agree with.

PICTURES

The cover for House of Hades by: Rick Riordan plus the synopsis has been revealed! 

This cover is amazing! 

And for a good laugh...