It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (16)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, is a bookish meme hosted by One Person's Journey Through a World of Books, where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It’s a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list. So hop on over to Journey and join in...and leave a comment here so I can check out what you are reading.



Books I Read Last Week:

Across the Universe by Beth Revis


Yay! I finally made time for Across the Universe, and I am so glad that I did! :D I loved this book, it was mysterious, and just amazing. I loved the characters, and I loved all of the futuristic things that we got too see. :)

• Cloaked by Alex Flinn

This book was just as adorable as I thought it would be, I'm so glad that I read it this week. It was funny and sweet, and I loved all the little shoe quotes, they were such a cute touch. :D

The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman

This book was another really sweet one, but it was definitely one that pulled at your heartstrings too. It alternated POV between the two main characters, June and Wes, and loved both of them.


Reading Now: 

 The Logogryph by Thomas Wharton


Reading this one for school. I think it's a bunch of short stories all kind of connected to the idea of the Logogryph, but I'm not sure yet. :P lol

• Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead (edited by Nancy Kilpatrick)

I just started this anthology and I'm really enjoying the stories. I've decided I like anthologies with short stories...as long as they aren't ones I have to read for school. ;) lol

 Pegasus by Robin McKinley

I've kinda been ignoring this book this week...oh well, I'll get to it this week hopefully. :)


Books I Want to Read This Week:

I'm gonna wing it this week, I'm not sure what I want to read yet. I'm not sure if I'll finish what I'm reading already, so we'll see. :)

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And what are you reading???

Feel free to check out One Person's Journey Through a World of Books to find out what everyone else is reading. :)

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur

Review: Darkest Powers Trilogy by Kelley Armstrong (3-in-1 Review)

With the Gathering, book 1 in Kelley's new YA Darkness Rising Trilogy, getting closer to release I thought it would be a great idea to share my reviews for The Darkest Powers Trilogy. These reviews aren't very long, they're short and sweet. :)

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The Summoning (Darkest Powers #1) by Kelley Armstrong

(Click here to go to The Summoning's Goodreads page.)

This book is amazing! It's the first book in the Darkest Powers trilogy, and it takes you for quite the ride. We as the readers get to learn about the Supernatural world along with Chloe, and it's full of twists and turns. The Summoning is the book that got me into reading Kelley Armstrong, and boy am I glad I found it. She has a way of getting you into a story with her words, and before you know it, you're halfway through the book and not nearly sated enough. I can't help but always want more of her stories after I finish. The Summoning was a refreshing change from reading stories filled with vampires, which I do like to read about, but it was definitely nice to see the other paranormal species get some action. A fantastic story, well worth getting caught up in.

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The Awakening (Darkest Powers #2) by Kelley Armstrong

(Click here to go to The Awakening's Goodreads page.)

I loved all of the Darkest Powers books, this one especially because there were more moments where Chloe and Derek got some alone time. Just by that last sentence it's pretty clear that I'm a Derek fan. He's quite the guy that's for sure. If you like paranormal books with a heroine who's not afraid to speak her mind, even if she is in fact, afraid at the time, then this is your type of book and Chloe is the heroine for you! Chloe's a heroine to be admired, and it's nice to see someone who isn't eager to be a damsel in distress, but is willing to accept the help when she knows she needs it. She also has a very unique perspective that keeps you on your toes, particularly when she relates a pivotal moment in her life to how a scene would play in a movie. Amazing, and definitely worth reading. 

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The Reckoning (Darkest Powers #3) by Kelley Armstrong 

(Click here to go to The Reckoning's Goodreads page.)

I loved this book. The final book in the Darkest Powers trilogy, but don't fear Chloe and her friends will be back, we may even see them turn up in Kelley's next YA Trilogy, The Darkness Rising Trilogy, but that might be for a while. Until then, we can all reread Darkest Powers to get our fill. I for one, was extremely satisfied by this book. I'm not going to go into too much detail because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but it was just as amazing as the others, if not more. I got this book the day it came out, and finished it in the next couple days...I would've been done the night I got it, but I had class the next day. A must read for all paranormal fans.

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The Darkest Powers Trilogy is filled with amazing characters, and takes its readers on a crazy adventure filled with a supernatural world you can get lost in. It's a short series, so it's a pretty quick read. It's definitely a great way to get introduced into Kelley's Otherworld too because just like Chloe, you start out pretty clueless about the whole supernatural world around you. If you've been considering reading this series, I wholeheartedly recommend it, it's short, sweet and full of action. :)

Have you read the Darkest Powers Trilogy? Do you have a favourite character? Wanna share something else? Share away, I'd love to hear it. :D

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur

Teaser Tuesday (15)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• 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!

My Teasers:

"Suddenly, the alley is alive with the noises of hundreds of scurrying feet. I feel something against my ankle."

- Cloaked by Alex Flinn, p.86

I'm loving this book so far. :D 
Anyone want to share their own teaser? I'd love to hear it :)

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (15)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, is a bookish meme hosted by One Person's Journey Through a World of Books, where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It’s a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list. So hop on over to Journey and join in...and leave a comment here so I can check out what you are reading. All links go to Goodreads. :)

Books I Read Last Week:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain


In case anyone was wondering, I totally managed to finish reading Huckleberry Finn in time for my night class! I was very proud, and kind of upset that it was over to be honest. I started to really enjoy this story. Once you get used to the slang and get into the story, it's very easy to get caught up and lost in it. It definitely won me over in the end. :)

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton


I've had this book waiting for me on Netgalley for a long time now, and I finally read it! I'm actually kind of mad at myself for waiting so long to read. it :P It was an amazing story, and I'm going to get myself a hard copy of this book sometime soon because it just came out last week. I'm waiting until next month though...I promised myself I wouldn't buy any books this month (notice I picked the shortest month...I figured it'd be easier lol). Anyways, I loved this story! I was so wrapped up in it and I'm now officially a bigtime Will fangirl! ;)

Red Glove by Holly Black


I loved White Cat! I've been so anxious to read Red Glove, that when I saw it on Simon and Schuster's galleygrab newsletter, I kind of freaked out a bit. I love Holly's Curse Workers series, it's like a mystery, paranormal and mobster mix, which just totally combines to make awesome. A soon as I started Red Glove I was totally absorbed in the story. It was constantly on my mind until I finished it. I just had to know how this book turned out for Cassel, so I zoomed through it and loved every minute of it. If it isn't already obvious, I'm telling you all now...I totally love Cassel, and I have a major soft spot in my heart for him. :D

My Boyfriend is a Monster: #1 I Love Him to Pieces by Evonne Tsang and Janina Gorrissen


I'm not a big graphic novel reader, but I saw this one on Netgalley and thought it looked awesome. It's about a zombie outbreak caused by a fungus that usually only affects insects. It was funny and pretty cute at times too. And come on...zombies! I love me some zombies! I probably won't review it on my blog, but I'll definitely think of something to post about it on Goodreads. :)

Reading Now:

Pegasus by Robin McKinley

As I said last week, I got this one from the library. I just started it, but I haven't gotten too far, I was pretty absorbed in Angelfire and Red Glove to be honest. lol

Cloaked by Alex Flinn

Just started this one last night. It's funny so far. I'm on like chapter 4 and I'm definitely enjoying it. :D

Books I Want to Read This Week:

Howards End by E.M. Forester


This week is my Reading Week, also known as Spring Break for some schools, so I'll be reading a couple of books for school. This is one of them. I need to read the first 16 chapters for my night class.

The Logogryph by Thomas Wharton

I need to read this book for my other Making Books English class.The author of this book, Thomas Wharton, is a professor at the University of Alberta, so he's actually going to be coming to our class when we talk about his book, so that'll be really neat, also kind of nerve-wracking if we don't like it. :S It's a very pretty book, which is the kind of thing that we focus on in that class, the book as a physical object. :)

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I'm hoping to read way more than just this over the next week because I have it off, but we'll see how it goes. I hope that everyone else with the week off has an awesome and refreshing break! And if it's not too refreshing...I hope you at least have fun. ;D

So...It's Monday, and what are YOU reading? :)

You can check out what others are reading at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books.

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur

Valentine's Day Books With Love Giveaway Hop Winner!

So the Valentine's Day Books With Love Hop is officially over and it's time for me to announce the lucky winner! 

The Winner is....

Justine

I also have a surprise! During this giveaway hop I passed 500 followers, and since you're all so awesome, I decided to add another winner!

The Surprise Winner is...


♥ttlyoverit17♥♪

 Congratulations! The winners have been emailed and have 48 hours to respond and claim their prize. The winners were selected using Random.org. If you're one of the winners and you didn't receive an email feel free to email me at ambiepie_6(at)hotmail(dot)com.


I'd also like to thank everyone that entered my giveaway for the blog hop, there were 550 entries! 
Thanks so much for your support, and I'd like to thank everyone who left a comment on the form, some of them were so sweet, and you guys totally made my night as I was sorting through entries!
Since you guys all seemed to like the way I organized this giveaway I'll probably use it again, and I'll keep some suggestions in mind as well. Oh, and someone mentioned using my giveaway idea, go for it, I don't stake any claim on it, and I'd be happy to see it all over the place. :D

Thank you all for being so awesome! 
I hope that everyone had a great Valentine's Day. I personally went to McDonald's on Valentine's Day with my best friend, and I had a most fabulous McChicken, and some pretty awesome fries. Then we went and wandered around Wal-Mart and bought each other some candy hearts. It was a pretty good day! Anyone feel like sharing their day??


Happy Reading, Thank-You, and Congrats once again! :D


♪♫ Ambur


PS. In case any of you were wondering...
I totally finished Huckleberry Finn in time for my night class! Yay! :D

Teaser Tuesday (14)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• 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!

My Teasers:

"The pegasi spent most of their time wandering through the high wild meadows that were their private country --as specified by the treaty--and foraging, and sleeping out of doors wherever the end of day found them; although they grew and tended certain crops for food, paper, dyes and paints, and weaving. These were planted around the shfeeah, which Sylvi tentatively translated as a kind of small village, where the craftspeople lived, and where other pegasi stayed for a time to help with the crops."

- Pegasus by Robin McKinley, p.76

Sorry about this posting without my teaser before, I forgot to add it last night before I went to bed. I gave you guys a couple of super long sentences to make up for it. lol

Anyways, that’s what I’m reading, so what are you reading?

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur

Sweet Venom Cover Reveal!

Release Date: October 2011 

Teaser:

"Three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in a world where monsters lurk in plain sight."

 The three main characters are Grace, Gretchen and Greer. Here are some character collages that Tera made: 

Some links for you: 

• Sweet Venom's Goodreads Page
• Sweet Venom's Facebook Page
  
• Sweet Venom page on Tera's website
  
• Link to the Character Collages for Grace, Gretchen and Greer
  

 So....what do you all think??

I personally love it, and I can't wait to read this book, I'm a big fan of mythology, so it'll be interesting to see what Tera does with this story. I'm loving that all of the main characters names start with a 'G' too, since Medusa was a gorgon...alliteration rules :P lol

Happy Reading!! 

And be sure to comment, I'm sure Tera would love to hear your thoughts, you can even go to the Facebook Page and comment there if you like  :)

♪♫ Ambur

Valentine's Day Books With Love Hop - My Giveaway!

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!
Today is the day you can gorge yourself on chocolate and no one will judge you for it, oh and I guess it's all romantic and stuff too, but anyways, I'd like to give a shout out to Once Upon a Twilight and Good Choice Reading, they're the lovely hosts who've come up with the Valentine's Day Books With Love Hop! :D

Don't forget to stop by their blogs and to check out the rest of the hop, the linky is at the end of this post. :)

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For this blog hop I've decided to give you all a choice of what you'd like to win!
That way you won't be stuck with a book you don't want and also you can enter even if you already have some of these books! :D

You get to choose between: 

• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
• The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
•  Marked By Passion by Kate Perry

(All links go to Goodreads.)

Now onto the details for this giveaway!

• It's INTERNATIONAL, as long as the Book Depository can ship to you, you can enter :)
• There will be 1 Winner who gets their choice out of 5 books from the Book Depository
• 1 extra entry for Twitter followers (My Twitter Profile)
• 1 extra entry for GFC followers
• You have to be 13 or older to enter
• This giveaway goes from February 14th until February 16th (@ Midnight M.S.T.) 
• The Winner will be chosen using Random.org and they will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

*** This Giveaway is now CLOSED.***

I love comments, but they won't count as entries. :)

If you have any questions feel free to contact me,
and Good Luck everyone! :D

Now here's the Linky code for the rest of the giveaways:

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (14)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, is a bookish meme hosted by One Person's Journey Through a World of Books, where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It’s a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list. So hop on over to Journey and join in...and leave a comment here so I can check out what you are reading.

Books I Read Last Week: 

• The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

 I absolutely loved the Gathering! I loved the characters and I loved the way that the story unveiled itself. It was like a mystery, one that I kind of anticipated because I've read Kelley's other books, but a mystery nonetheless. I also loved that this one was set in Canada, I totally have a soft spot when my home country is mentioned in books. It makes me smile :)

Reading Now: 

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

I've got to finish this book by Wednesday...I have a feeling that will not happen. I'm kind of just trudging through this one. I definitely have to buckle down and get it done. Fingers crossed!

Books I Want to Read This Week:

•  Cloaked by Alex Flinn

I can't wait to start this one. I'm hoping I'll finish Huckleberry Finn fast this week and be able to start this one. :D

Pegasus by Robin McKinley

I ordered this one from the library and it just came in, it sounds like an amazing story, so I'm really excited for this one. :D

And what are you reading???

Feel free to check out One Person's Journey Through a World of Books to find out what everyone else is reading. :)

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur

Review: A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

(Click here to go to A Kiss in Time's Goodreads page.)

I absolutely loved Beastly, so I was really excited to read A Kiss in Time because like Beastly, it was another retelling of a fairytale. A Kiss in Time retells the story of Sleeping Beauty, and places it in an imaginary country and kingdom, and once Talia, the sleeping beauty in this case, awakens 300 years later it's in our time.

I absolutely loved A Kiss in Time! It was a fast-paced read, it was funny and it was also incredibly sweet. The story alternated between Talia and Jack's points of view, and I thought that Alex Flinn nailed it! I thought the alternating POV's worked perfectly, and they complimented each other once it got the part where it swapped between Jack and Talia.

Both Jack and Talia were easy to relate to and they were very well defined and believable. Talia was naive and innocent because she was used to living a sheltered life, and since it had occurred 300 years earlier it was even more sheltered than usual. :P Jack was more of a lose cannon, he acted out to get attention because he thought his parents didn't care about him. I loved them apart and I adored them together. I think Jack and Talia have easily become one of my favourite fictious couples. :D

Despite the story being about Jack and Talia's budding romance and the whole sleeping beauty concept, it also had a large focus on the whole parent-child relationship, which was subtle and very well done. And since it was a story about teenagers, it covered the popular topic of growing up and deciding what you want to do with your life. It even made me think of a short essay I read in an English class about fairy tales. This essay talked about a bunch of stuff, but the thing it reminded me of was how it said the idea we should take away from Sleeping Beauty is the long period of sleep she undergoes rather than the kiss. It referred to a theory about how the sleep represents a period of growing up and realizing what you want rather than what your parents tell you to want, and I think Talia did do that. She clearly had the thoughts before she fell asleep, but it was only after she woke up that she realized she should actually do the things that she wanted to do. Even Jack seems to go through his own period of 'awakening' in this story. It really was a story about growing up, and about following your heart, in more ways than one.

 I also loved the 'witch' in this story, Malvolia. She was much more than just your stereotypical 'bad guy' and I like that she became more than just a cliche. The other minor characters like Meryl (Jack's sister), Travis (Jack's best friend), and both Talia and Jack's parents, may have been smaller characters, but they all stood out to me. Talia's father, I'm never going to forget because he was described as looking like the Burger King. I also loved Meryl's character, she was pretty much an outcast, and I loved how Talia interacted with her. :)

I loved A Kiss in Time, and I think it's a story that everyone will love, especially if you're like me and have a huge soft spot for fairy tales. :D

Now I'm curious, what's your favourite fairy tale?  Do you prefer Disney versions, retellings or the more original stories like the ones the Grimm's Brothers? I personally love anything by Disney...I don't even know if I could choose a favourite. I'm a big Little Mermaid fan, and I love Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty too :D

 Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur

Teaser Tuesday (13)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• 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!

My Teasers:

"Miss Charlotte she held her head up like a queen while Buck was telling his tale, and her nostrils spread and her eyes snapped. The two young men looked dark, but never said nothing."

-The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, p. 168

Well that’s what I’m reading, so what are you reading?

----♣----

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur

Reminder! Valentine's Day Blog Hop Sneak Peek!

Hey everyone! 

I hope you've all had an amazing weekend, and aren't too sad that it's Monday, but if you are I've got some fun news for you! :D

Remember how I've been mentioning that upcoming Valentine's Day Books With Love Blog Hop, the one that starts next Monday, on Valentine's day...well I've finally decided what I'm giving away!

I've decided that instead of giving you the option of one book, I'm gonna let you decide out of five books which one you want if you win! That way, if you've already read the others, or don't like a certain type of book you still have the chance of winning something you want. :)

Now, it's a Valentine's Day Hop, so the stories should involve love or romance, but I let that guide my choices in a very general way...I mean almost any story has at least some romance in one way or another. :P

So the five books I've chosen are:

1. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare



2. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

4.Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

5. Marked By Passion by Kate Perry

The links all go to their Goodreads pages, and keep in mind, all of the books will be in paperback form.
I wanted to stick to the first books in the series, so that if you haven't started it yet, you can or if you've only gotten them from the library, you can start collecting your own now. Oh and I included Kate Perry's book in case anyone isn't a huge YA fan and prefers adult romances. I've read all of these books, and I loved them all, so hopefully you'll all be interested in reading at least one of them! :D

Also, there will be 1 winner and this giveaway will be INTERNATIONAL. There will be no requirements, but I am going to have the option of a couple of extra entries for Twitter and GFC followers. This giveaway will run from Monday (Feb.14th) until Wednesday (Feb.16th @ Midnight M.S.T.).

If you want to start following my twitter early so you don't have to do it next week, here's my Twitter Profile: http://twitter.com/#!/AmburHostyn
I'll also be posting an event on Goodreads, and I'll be inviting all of my Goodreads friends, here's my profile if you want to add me and be invited as a reminder: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4121388

So what do you guys think?? Does that sound like a good giveaway??

♪♫ Ambur

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (13)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, is a bookish meme hosted by One Person's Journey Through a World of Books, where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It’s a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list. So hop on over to Journey and join in...and leave a comment here so I can check out what you are reading.

*All links take you to the books' goodreads pages.*

Books I Read Last Week: 

•  Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines

 I expected to like this book a lot more than I actually did. It was a great story, but I wasn't a big fan of how it was presented. The dialogue was done in a weird way that just annoyed me and took away from my reading experience. It was an interesting story, and I did like it, it just didn't leave me as satisfied as I would have liked.

• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

 So, I did it! I finished it in time for my night class last Wednesday! :) And I have to admit, I was pretty sad after I finished Great Expectations, it's definitely not a happy-go-lucky story. I was also kind of sad that it was over, but in my imagination everyone's ending was a little happier than Dickens would have had it. :P

• A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

 I absolutely loved this book! :D I'm thinking of writing a review for it, but we'll see if I get motivated enough this week. All the reading I've had for school lately has left me kind of drained, and I'm sorry for the absence of new reviews, but I really liked this one, so I'm thinking I'll get my butt in gear and start writing! Anywho, this was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but the author who also wrote Beastly, which I absolutely loved. Talia and Jack were amazing characters, and I loved the contrast between Talia's naivete and Jack's apathy. The two characters worked really well together, and this was one of those times where I absolutely loved the alternating point of views. :D

Reading Now: 

•  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

 Another one that I'm reading for my night class. I have to read half of it by Wednesday, fingers crossed! :P

• Across the Universe by Beth Revis

 I just want to drop everything and dig into this book...but I know that would be bad, so I haven't. I did leave it in the city when I came home this weekend though because I didn't want it to distract me from doing homework. Of course, I've been procrastinating with or without it here. :P

Books I Want to Read This Week:

I'm feeling like this week I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch...so, I'm gonna leave this part blank, but I am gonna share a couple of awesome books that Scholastic sent me this week. :D

• NUM8ERS by Rachel Ward

• The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman

I probably won't start these for a little bit, so I'm not gonna talk about them yet, but aren't they gorgeous? And they both sound really good. :D

So, now I'm gonna ask: what are you reading???

Feel free to check out One Person's Journey Through a World of Books to find out what everyone else is reading. :)

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur