Cover Reveal Monday: The Uprising(The Forsaken #2) by Lisa M. Stasse

The Uprising by Lisa M. Stasse

Hardcover, 400 pages

Expected publication: August 6th 2013 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

 

 

Synopsis:

 

In this dystopian sequel to The Forsaken, Alenna has survived the brutality of life on the wheel—and now she’s going back for more.
Alenna escaped. It was expected that she would die on the wheel, the island where would-be criminals are sent as directed by the UNA—the totalitarian supercountry that was once the United States, Mexico, and Canada. But Alenna and her boyfriend, Liam, made it to safety. Except safety, they will soon learn, is relative.

In order to bring down the UNA, they must first gain control of the wheel. If the mission succeeds, the wheel will become a base of revolution. But between betrayals, a new Monk leading a more organized army of Drones, and the discovery of a previously unknown contingent, Alenna, Liam, and their allies might be in over their heads. One thing Alenna knows for sure: There will be a reckoning. And not everyone she loves will make it out alive.

 

My Thoughts:

 

Okay, I don't know if you guys knew that the cover came out for this book but it looks absolutely amazing, that I just had to blog about it. I found out about it on wednesday when I visited someones waiting on wedneday post. (Sorry I can't remember whose post I visited.) It looks absolutely spectacular and matches completely with the first book, which I still have not read yet. I am kicking myself for not reading it yet. It is very high on my tbr list and I plan on reading it really soon, especially with this book coming out in August. Can't wait to dive into this story. 

Let me know what you think about this cover in the comments. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

Thanks for visiting

 

and

 

Happy Reading. =]

 

-Michael 

Follow Friday(29)

 

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop event hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

This week's Question is:

Q: If you could choose one supernatural being/creature to really exists what would it be and why?

 

Okay, first off there is no way that I could pick just one. I would want a ton of supernatural beings/creatures to exist. It would just make our world ten times cooler if they did.

 

First off, I would want witches/wizards to exist. I have always wanted to go to Hogwarts to learn magic and it would be amazing if it was real.

 

A creature that I would think would be really cool to exist would be the Pegasus. Who wouldn't want to ride on a flying horse, they could be the new mode of transportation.

 

Another thing I would want to be real would be the things from mythology. Like the Greek/Roman Gods and Goddesses and different legends and things like that. It would be cool to learn that things from history and legend actual exist.

 

P.S. CAPTCHA: If you have CAPTCHA word verification enabled on your blog, please take it off. It makes it much more difficult for readers to comment. Please look at Alison's CAPTCHA Eradication Post to learn how to get rid of it. Link me up to your Follow Friday's and I will be sure to follow you back. =]   Thanks for Visiting and Happy Friday =]   -Michael

Waiting on Wednesday: Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

 

For those of you who don't know "Waiting On" Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The purpose is to let others know which book you are anticipating and can't wait til it comes out to read it.

 

Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

Hardcover, 256 pages

Expected publication: July 23rd 2013 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

 

Synopsis:

 

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret...

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

 

Why I am Waiting:

If you read the synopsis, then you know why I am waiting. A blind princess raised to be a human sacrifice. Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people. A book based on Beauty and the Beast mixed with fantasy and intrigue, sign me up. And the cover looks awesome with that rose and blood coming from her hand. I really can not wait for July to read this book. It sounds like an amazing read. =] 

 

 

Link me up in the comments to your WoW pick. =]

 

 

Thanks for visiting and Happy Reading.

 

 

-Michael 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Reading Goals for 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. They love to share lists.

 

Top Ten Reading Goals for 2013

 

Okay I don't have that many goals for 2013 but I am gonna try to get 10. =]

 

1) Read 50 Books.

 

2) Read all books that have a movie coming out based on it before the movie comes out.

 

3) Try to go to at least one bookish event.

 

4) Try to read all the books on my shelf before buying more. ( I already broke this one, so I will need some encouragment) Changing this to--Get through my current TBR list before buying more books.

 

5) Try to read/finish book series that are more than a year old.

 

6) Read an Anthology.

 

7) Read at least one classic.

 

8) Get more organized with my books and blogging. (i.e. a schedule of posts and what I want to read) 

 

9) Create an official review policy for my blog. ( I really have been meaning to do this.) 

 

10) Try to find more memes and bloggish stuff to get involved in. (i.e. Blog Tours, Guest Posts, Interviews and other memes and challenges)

 

Wow those goals came more easily then I thought they would.

 

Let me know in the comments what your goals are and link me up to your TTT.

 

Also let me know of any advice you might have to give me for me to be able to reach my goals. =]

 

Hope you enjoyed my list.

Thanks for Visiting

 

and

 

Happy Reading

 

-Michael 

Review: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Paperback, 401 pages

Published May 3rd 2004 by Mariner Books

 

Synopsis:

 

Pi Patel is an unusual boy. The son of a zookeeper, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior, a fervent love of stories, and practices not only his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.

The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional-but is it more true?
Life of Pi is at once a realistic, rousing adventure and a meta-tale of survival that explores the redemptive power of storytelling and the transformative nature of fiction. It's a story, as one character puts it, to make you believe in God.

 

My Thoughts/Review

 

I bought this book a few years ago meaning to read it but it just sat on my shelf and I never got to read it. Then I saw that the movie was coming out so I planned to read it before it came out. But that got delayed a little bit because I wanted to listen to it on audiobook from my library. The wait was very long so that is why I haven't finished it until now.

 

 Can I just start off by saying that this book completely took me by suprise. I loved the simpleness of it and how it is such a standard type of story that takes you on an adventure at sea. I didn't think I would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars but the ending completely changed the rating for me. It was completely unexpected when I should have expected it.

 

This is a simple story of a boy lost at sea after a shipwreck with a 450 pound bengal tiger who fights for survival, who wouldn't want to read that story, just to find out what happens. I loved every part of this book. It is broken up into different sections. The before, which tells a history of Pi Patel's family zoo and the life he lived before and his search for religion, which was only simply touched upon. The middle, with the shipwreck and everything that happens. And the after, which is what changed the whole story for me. If you read the book you know what I am talking about, and the ending really renewed my whole sense of why I love this book.

 

Pi Patel was such an amazing character. I loved going on his journey with him and how he had to fight for the courage and strength to survive on that lifeboat. All of the things he had to go through to survive for a long time in the ocean was just a spectacular feat to me. This story truly is "a modern classic, combining grand story telling with a profound exploration of ageless themes: faith and truth, fact and fiction, man versus nature and innocence and experience." The ending and Pi's faith in God, are two of the things that really have kept this book in my head after I have read it.

 

I loved that Pi believes in many different religions and keeps his faith through out the book. Also I love how the ending makes you look back at everything that has happened and makes you question it and look at it in a whole different light. In the end, this book lets you have a choice, and everyone gets to believe what they want to believe. I am so glad I read this book and I absolutely recommend it to everyone. If you have even the slightest interest in reading it you must read it because it is definitely worth it. I now really can not wait to see the movie and I hope it will be as spectacular as the book was. =]

 

Overall, I give this book:

Spectacular, adventurous and magical is what sums up this awesome book. I am so happy that I got the chance to read this book before it comes out in April. Hippocampus really takes you on an adventure that you don't want to leave once the book ends. As you read you learn about Trey Atlas and what happens to him thoughout his journey. You get to learn all about the lost city of Atlantis and all the wonders it has to hold. The one negative about this b

"An amazing story of survival and faith that you have to read to believe." =]
5 out of 5 Stars

Links to Check it Out:

 

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Thanks for Visiting

 

and

 

Happy Reading. =]

-Michael

Goodreads Goal and January TBR List

141,938 Participants

8,896,898 Total Books Pledged

62 Average Books Per Challenge

30 Challenges Completed

 

The 2013 Goodreads Reading challenge is in full swing. I was disappointed in my self last year when I didn't make my goal. So this year I have set the same goal as last year, which is 50 books, just in case you were wondering. I plan on smashing my goal this year. So I am making a master tbr list and will change it around every month or so and keep you guys updated here to my progress.

 

So without further ado here is my TBR list and the links to the books I want to read. The numbered ones are the ones that I am hoping to read this month. My list is full with notes and the dates that some books are coming out so I can prepare to read them in the future. Some of them are interchangeable with each other and I can choose to read whichever one I want. those that are crossed out are ones that I have read already within the month. If I don't read them all they will carry over into the next month. =]

 

January

1) Life of Pi by Yann Martel--Audiobook

2) Vortex by Julie Cross--Comes out Jan. 15th

3) Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

3) Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

3) The Archived by Victoria Schwab-Comes out Jan. 22nd

Shades of Earth by Beth Revis--Comes out January 15th

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer-Comes out February 5th

Fuse by Julianna Baggott--Comes out February 19th

Dualed by Elsie Chapman--Comes out February 26th

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas 

The Forsaken by Lisa Stasse

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Starters by Lissa Price

Falling for You by Lisa Schroeder

 

Notes:

(Falling for You by Lisa Schroeder comes out Jan. 1st, Make Plans to Buy/Read)

(Warm Bodies comes out in theaters Feb. 1st Read Before then)

(Beautiful Creatures comes out in theaters Feb. 13th Read Before then)

(Possibly reread The Host, movie comes out in theaters March 29th)

(The Mortal Instruments comes out in theaters August 23rd)

 

There is my list. I hope you guys cheer me on and keep me on track with my goal. I am really hoping to smash my goal this year. Link me up to your January TBR lists if you have posted one. I am really interested to know what others are wanting to read. =]

 

Thanks for Visiting

 

Happy Reading. =]

 

-Michael

Review: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Hardcover, 496 pages

Published December 18th 2012 by Disney Hyperion

 

Synopsis:

 

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

 

My Thoughts/Review:

 

I am so glad that I started this book right away when it came out this month. It was so worth it and satisfying. I knew I would love this book from the start. Any books that have a premise with people or children with powers or starts comparing it to the X-men you can bet that I will love it. This book had everything in it, that I just knew I would love, from the characters to the premise to the love and to the corrupt government and world. 

 

 Alexandra Bracken has an amazing voice and talent in writing. She draws you in and takes you on a tumbling adventure filled with characters that pull on your heartstrings. I fell in love with every single character, they really jumped off the page and into my mind. I loved watching how Ruby grew from the beginning to the very end. She shows how much a person can gain courage and self-esteem with the things that you have to go through to learn. I did like that things moved at a fast pace from one place to another.

 

One thing, in the beginning, that I didn't like so much was the confusing use of flashbacks and going back and forth. The book starts with a prologue and then it flashes back to before things start to happen and then goes back to present day leaving us with wanting to find out exactly what happened with Ruby's parents. Then later in the book it goes back to show us exactly what happened with her parents. What I didn't like exactly was the harsh flashbacks, there was nothing leading up to the going back and forth, it just happens. I liked where the flashbacks where put into the story, I just wish they were more seamlessly flowed into the book.

 

Liam, Chubs and Zu (short for Suzume) become Ruby's friends in the book and it is one of the reasons why I loved this book. They all have there own little spark and brought so much character to the book. The adventure they go on is so thrilling and exciting when all they want is for life to be normal, like the disease never happened. The story brings you on an adventurous roadtrip with a bunch of kids that just happen to have extraordrinary abilities where they are against all odds trying to fit into the world they live in.  

 

I loved the uniqueness that this story brought and how you get to go on a mind blowing adventure with all of the surprises and how the twists and turn overwhelm you just as they do the characters. The situation with the Slip Kid and his character was completely unexpected to me and added to the story. It really gives the story another dimension and path to go in. I really want to know how he will play into the next book. The ending, with everything that happens, is so shocking that you will definitely be surprised even if you guess it before hand, because you don't actually think that that will happen, because why would Ruby do that. I hated how it ended but it is what makes the story so good and what makes me want to read the sequel immediately. 

 

This is one of the best series I have read in 2012. If you haven't bought it yet, you most certainly need to. I recommend it to everyone of all ages. I am really looking forward to the second book in the series, so badly. Definitely check it out, you will not be disappointed. =]

 

Overall, I give this book:

Spectacular, adventurous and magical is what sums up this awesome book. I am so happy that I got the chance to read this book before it comes out in April. Hippocampus really takes you on an adventure that you don't want to leave once the book ends. As you read you learn about Trey Atlas and what happens to him thoughout his journey. You get to learn all about the lost city of Atlantis and all the wonders it has to hold. The one negative about this boo

 

"An adventurous roadtrip of a read that just happens to include teens with extraordinary abilities, an amazing mindblowing read that was very hard to put down." =]
5 out of 5 Stars

Links to Check it Out:

 

 

Barnes and Noble

 

Amazon

 

Thanks for Visiting

 

and

Happy Reading. =]

 

 

-Michael