Sorry for Neglecting Ya'll!

As most of you know, I'm going to be applying to grad school- so I've been studying like a mad woman for the GRE (which I am going to take on May 18th). I haven't been the best at posting lately because of it, and I'm sorry for neglecting the few people who read my blog!

With that said, I have still been reading and noticed one thing about the characters in my recent reads- most of them are named Lena/Leena. I'm not kidding, out of the last 6 or so books that I've read, at least 3 of the characters had the same name, sometimes with a different spelling. I've never even met somebody named Lena/Leena then, BAM there it is in print, multiple times!

I just finished an advance copy of a book and will be posting my review of it this weekend. I also just started the book Cinder by Marissa Meyer- it's pretty good so far! Feel free to read it with me, I love book talk! Welp, that's about all that's going on with me at the moment...so until next time....

What I've Been Reading

Lately, life has been a little hectic, but I have managed to finish 3 books in the last week and a half-ish. I thoroughly enjoyed each of them, and decided to share them with you!

Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

Who doesn't love a good old fashioned reimagining of a timeless Shakespeare classic? I LOVED this story, and can't wait for the next in the series.

Amazon Summary

 The most tragic love story in history . . .

Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.

 

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

I have always been a fan of historical and paranormal fiction. The author does a great job of incorporating a time period, and magic into this adventure! Fans of A Great and Terrible Beauty will enjoy this story!

Amazon Summary:

Blessed with a gift...cursed with a secret.

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship - or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia (Caster Chronicles #3)

The third installment in this series definitely left me on a cliffhanger! For more info on the series, check out my previous post on my favorite YA series http://peerpressuredreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/awesome-ya-book-series.html

Amazon Summary:

Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena's Claiming. Even Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals is affected - and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What - or who - will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?

My Big Plans

This particular post is not about books you should read- it's an update on my life! If you don't really care, feel free to ignore the post, no hard feelings.If you do care, keep on reading!

So for those of you that know me, you are aware that I have been wanting to go to Library School to get my MLS for a while now...and I am actually going to do it! This Friday I will be registering for the GRE exam, and am planning to apply UNT for the fall semester! For as long as I can remember, books have played a huge impact in my life, so hopefully I will be accepted so that I can help others find stories to change their lives.

Wish me luck :)

Book Review: The Peculiars

The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry
Publisher:  Amulet Books
Release Date:  May 1, 2012

I must say that I don't fully understand the genre of "Steampunk" and did not have very high hopes for The Peculiars because of it. Shame on me for judging a genre for not fully understanding it! I now know of at least one steampunk book that I like- and it's The Peculiars!

Lena is a different girl, living in a late 1800's world, where people like her are ostracized from society. Abanonded by her father at a young age, strange young Lena receives a letter from him, and sets off on a wild adventure to the land of Scree. Scree is inhabited by "peculiars" who are people that have genetic abnormalities such as wings, goblinism, etc. Leaving behind her grandmother and mother, Lena boards a train to find out who she is, and meets a new friend along the way- Jimson.

Jimson a young aspiring librarian who has no formal training, is traveling to his new position as librarian of a private library.  Not far from their destination, trouble boards the train: a prisoner escapes, Lena's purse is stolen, AND she meets young marshal Thomas Saltre who knew her father!

Now, because I don't want to ruin the whole book for you, I will summarize the rest of the story as best I can without any spoilers!

After reaching their destination, Lena and Jimson go their separate ways, only to end up reunited a few days later at the Zephyr House (owned by Mr. Beasely, Jimson's employer). Lena takes a position as Jimson's assistant,  and from there, adventure, murder, romance, and intrigue ensue.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Peculiars, though I will admit that it took me a little while to get into the book. Once I did though, I couldn't put it down! I loved the characters- I'm probably biased though, because I want to be a librarian. The dialogue was witty, the story was well paced, and the steampunk was integrated beautifully! Overall, I would recommend this to anyone experimenting with the Steampunk genre, or anyone looking for a good adventure!

Soul Screamers: My New Favorite Series

When it comes to ghosts, I'm a believer. I also really enjoy entertaining the thought that paranormal creatures live among us in secrecy. Let's chalk it up to the fact that I am an avid reader with a VERY overactive imagination. Because of this, paranormal romance is by far my favorite genre, and I read every book on the subject that I can find. Werewolves, vampires, fairies, banshees, mermaids...I love them all!

One of the CL's I work with suggested I try a series called Soul Screamers, and I LOVED them. The series revolves around a 16 year old girl named Kaylee, who is a banshee or bean sidhe. Like traditional banshees, she screams when someone near her is going to die. Kaylee grew up not knowing what she was, and when she meets Nash (who is VERY cute, AND a male bean sidhe) they begin trying to solve supernatural crimes to help keep people from dying. The imagination that the author Rachel Vincent has is wonderful- I love the characters she has created, and I devour every installment in the series.

1. My Soul to Take (August 2009)
2. My Soul to Save (January 2010)
3. My Soul To Keep (June 2010)
4. My Soul To Steal (January 1, 2011 )
5. If I Die (September 20, 2011)
6. Before I Wake (2012)

I highly recommend this series to anyone that likes paranormal romance/fiction!

Kill Me Softly Book Review

Kill Me Softly
by Sarah Cross
Publication date: April 10, 2012 from Egmont USA

HOORAY, this is my first official book review! I was lucky enough to receive this as an advance copy in e-book form-exciting right? So without further ado, here is my review :)

Kill Me Softly has adventure, romance, magic, and a fresh, modern interpretation of traditional fairy tales. It is a great read for fairy tale fans of all ages. 

When Mira runs away to her hometown of Beau Rivage, she gets way more than she bargained for. Soon after beginning her search for her parents graves, Mira realizes there is more to Beau Rivage than meets the eye. Determined to unravel the secrets of her past and present, Mira must embrace her destiny to ensure her future. 

As a heroine, Mira is admirable because of how dedicated she is to figuring out exactly who she is. She is also extremely infuriating due to her poor choice in boyfriends resulting in a perfunctory love triangle. As far as the supporting characters are concerned, I would've preferred they be developed a bit more, because I found them interesting. The story itself was well paced, and suspenseful making for a page turning read. 

 An adventurous coming of age story, Kill Me Softly will appeal to teens everywhere as they go with Mira on her adventure to find herself. I think it will also appeal heavily to fans of the television show "Once Upon a Time." The similarities are numerous, and I couldn't help but compare the two the entire time I was reading it. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Kill Me Softly. Though the concept of fairy tale retellings is not new, author Sarah Cross manages to bring a breath of fresh air to a popular genre.

Tales of Survival: These might come in handy!

So as some of you may know, I live in Dallas, and we had a pretty scary day today. At about 1:30 this afternoon we had to evacuate our entire library and have all our patrons come into the basement, in the event of a tornado. The tornadoes got really close to us-too close to comfort! However, I did get to be stuck in a basement with lots of librarians, which led to a discussion of how everyone wanted to be stuck with me because I could take care of them.

Let me elaborate- my entire life I have been certain that I will eventually be stranded somewhere and need to survive. After I read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, I became obsessed with hoarding pocket knives, flashlights and little baggies of food(which drove my mother crazy btw). Because I have always been paranoid of being stranded, I learned how to do lots of survival type things- like knowing where all the exits on a plane/train/automobile are, assessing what I have on my person...weirdo things like that. Regardless of my weirdness, I read as many books on the subject as I could (all fiction of course, which is kinda dumb, cause it's made up lol) and I feel like they REALLY prepared me and fueled my paranoia. I wanted to share my list of "survival fiction" with you, just in case you need to prepare yourself for survival too!

Hatchet- Gary Paulsen
Brian's Winter-Gary Paulsen
Brian's Return- Gary Paulsen
The River- Gary Paulsen
The Cay- Theodore Taylor
My Side of the Mountain- Jean Craighead George
Far Side of the Mountain- Jean Craighead George
Incident at Hawk's Hill- Allan W. Eckert
Island of the Blue Dolphins-Scott O'Dell
The Sign of the Beaver- Elizabeth George Speare

These were all I could think of off the top of my head...happy reading!