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MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins Publisher: Scholastic Press Pages: 400 Source: Purchased Buy on Amazon   MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins Review (5 out of 5 Stars) SPOILER ALERT: This review contains minor spoilers for Mockingjay and major spoilers for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire since I assume you’ve already read the first two books in the trilogy. If you haven’t, start by reading my review of The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games may be over, but in Mockingjay Katniss is still fighting for her life and the lives of her loved ones. Now that District 12 has been destroyed, she and a group of survivors, including her and Gale’s families, have taken refuge in District 13. Peeta wasn’t so lucky and was captured by the Capitol, leaving Katniss feeling grief-stricken and guilty. As the war against the Capitol rages on, the rebel leaders look to her to become the Mockingjay, [...]

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AUTHOR: Jose

POSTED ON:

Aug 26

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: Reviews

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Everybody Loves YA Books, Right?

Pamela Paul recently wrote an essay for the NY Times Sunday Book Review about how popular Young Adult books are among adults. I have to admit that my first reaction to this topic was to roll my eyes and think about how this has been discussed to death over the past ten years. The NY Times isn’t always the most relevant source either (case in point: their recent article about these newfangled things called blogs). The thing is, the author so eloquently talks about her love of the YA genre and her obsession with The Hunger Games, that I realized she is woman after my own heart. I appreciate that she doesn’t act embarrassed or apologetic about her tastes in literature. She also really nails the appeal of YA books, which is basically that they have fresh, engaging storytelling that lacks the cynicism found in adult books. I couldn’t agree [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Aug 16

2010

COMMENTS: 2

CATEGORY: Book Chat

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I AM NUMBER FOUR by Pittacus Lore

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore Publisher: HarperCollins Pages: 448 Source: Publisher Buy on Amazon   I AM NUMBER FOUR by Pittacus Lore Review (3.5 out of 5 Stars) If you haven’t already noticed all the buzz surrounding the latest YA book-to-movie adaptation, I Am Number Four, you probably will soon. The book only came out last week, but filming on the movie, which is being produced by Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg through DreamWorks Studios, is already underway. I Am Number Four is written by Pittacus Lore, a pseudonym for authors James Frey and Jobie Hughes, and is the first book in their Lorien Legacies series. In a departure from all the vampires, werewolves, and wizards that have dominated YA books lately, I Am Number Four is about a group of teenage aliens who have come to Earth to escape the enemy who destroyed their home planet of [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Aug 15

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: Reviews

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LINGER by Maggie Stiefvater

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater Publisher: Scholastic Press Pages: 368 Source: Purchased Buy on Amazon   LINGER by Maggie Stiefvater Review (4.5 out of 5 Stars) Linger is the follow-up to Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, and it is the second book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy. If, like me, you have only recently discovered Shiver and Linger, don’t worry, this is going to be a spoiler-free review. In Shiver (read my full review here), we meet Grace, a normal human girl, and Sam, a member of the local werewolf pack. In this mythology, the weres involuntarily transform into wolves when temperatures are cold, so they spend their winters as wolves and their summers as people. Sam desperately wants to stay human and have the opportunity to live a normal life with Grace, but the werewolf curse seems to keep getting in their way. Linger picks up where Shiver left off [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Aug 11

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: Reviews

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SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks Pages: 400 Source: Purchased Buy on Amazon SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater Review (4 out of 5 Stars) Maggie Stiefvater puts a mature spin on YA paranormal romance in Shiver, the first book in The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy. It’s told from the alternating viewpoints of Sam and Grace, star crossed lovers separated by the fact that Sam isn’t entirely human. He spends the cold Minnesota winters as a wolf, and is only a boy in the warm summer months. He loves Grace from afar, hanging around outside of her house in wolf form, watching her from a distance. Likewise, Grace has been obsessed with the wolves that roam the woods behind her house for years, particularly with the wolf with the yellow eyes, only recently realizing that they were anything more than wolves. Sam has never had the courage to talk to [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Aug 9

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: Reviews

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ALCATRAZ VERUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS by Brandon Sanderson

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks Pages: 320 Source: Purchased Buy on Amazon ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS by Brandon Sanderson Review (5 out of 5 Stars) Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians is probably the best book title EVER, and chances are that you’ve already decided that you must have this book based on the title alone. But wait, it gets even better. The book is about a cult of evil librarians who control our world (The Hushlands) by controlling the flow of information because, as you know, information is power. The librarians have managed to conceal the existence of three additional continents, the Free Kingdoms, whose citizens oppose their control. Like most Hushlanders, thirteen-year-old Alcatraz Smedry is oblivious to what’s really happening, that is until he gets recruited for a mission to infiltrate the librarians’ headquarters—the downtown library. It’s a dangerous undertaking and Alcatraz [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Jun 29

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: Reviews

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Book Review: WITCH AND WIZARD By James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

Book Title by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet Publisher:Little, Brown Books Pages:320 Source:Purchased Buy on Amazon WITCH AND WIZARD by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet Book Review(2 out of 5 Stars) Witch and Wizard is a book by James Patterson for young readers (grades 5-9). It tells the story of a brother and sister pair, Whit and Wisty. While the adults of their world were busy not paying attention to the nightly news, a new government (New Order) got elected right under everybody’s noses. The bad news is this new government is basically like the Gestapo. One night, troops raid the home of Wisty and Whit and imprison them for being a witch and a wizard. They are sentenced to death and taken away from their parents and placed in jail.They must work together to escape prison or else Whit will be executed in less than a month (on his [...]

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AUTHOR: Amie

POSTED ON:

Jun 21

2010

COMMENTS: 0

CATEGORY: Reviews

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THE SHORT SECOND LIFE OF BREE TANNER by Stephenie Meyer

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Pages: 192 Source: Free from breetanner.com Buy on Amazon THE SHORT SECOND LIFE OF BREE TANNER by Stephenie Meyer Book Review (3.5 out of 5 Stars) When Stephenie Meyer announced the release of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner earlier this year, the fan reaction was “ZOMG, a new book in the Twilight series!!!!!!” I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I think fans need to dial it back and understand a few things about the novella before they buy it. Basically, it’s more like a bonus feature on a DVD than a new entry in the Twilight series. Meyer never intended to publish this as a stand-alone book—it’s something that developed out of editing process, a glimpse into the life of the newborn vampire that is killed by the Volturri [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Jun 9

2010

COMMENTS: 2

CATEGORY: Reviews

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Retro Reads: CHAIN LETTER by Christopher Pike

CHAIN LETTER by Christopher Pike Review (5 out of 5 Stars) Chain Letter by Christopher Pike Release Date: May 1986 Publisher: Avon Books Pages: 185 Source: Library Buy on Amazon Lately I’ve been rereading the books I liked when I was younger, and, back in the day, Chain Letter by Christopher Pike was definitely among my favorites. Similar to I Know What You Did Last Summer, the story is about a group of kids who run over a guy with their car on the way home from a concert (the Beach Boys, if you’re curious). Because they’ve been drinking and messing around, they don’t want the police involved, so they bury the body and try to forget it ever happened. The following year, one of the girls in the car, Fran, gets an anonymous chain letter from someone calling himself/herself the Caretaker, claiming to know what happened that night. If [...]

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AUTHOR: Kristen

POSTED ON:

Apr 14

2010

COMMENTS: 3

CATEGORY: Reviews

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“The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” – A New Stephenie Meyer Book

Stephenie Meyer broke some exciting news on her website yesterday. On June 5th, she is releasing a new book called “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” (Pre Order on Amazon here) . The book tells the tale of a newborn vampire, Bree, that is briefly mentioned in the Twilight series. According to Meyer, the book is “more of a novella than an actual book”. If you were like me, you are thinking : “WTF is a Novella?” Turns out it’s just a fancy way of saying a short story. Here’s where this news gets even better. Two days after it’s released (June 7th), the book will be available for FREE. Just visit www.breetanner.com and Stephenie will be giving back to her fans by treating us all to a free download of the book! No, this is not an early April fools joke, it’s actually true! Just when you think [...]

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AUTHOR: Amie

POSTED ON:

Mar 31

2010

COMMENTS: 5

CATEGORY: Featured, News

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