Stuff I Got This Week

For Review: Thanks HarperCollins!

The Wig in the Window - Kristen Kittscher

(I'm super excited to read this one. It's one of the debuts I gushed about here.)

Best friends and seventh graders Sophie Young and Grace Yang have made a game out of spying on their neighbors. On one of their midnight stakeouts, they witness a terrifying, bloody scene at the home of their bizarre middle-school counselor, Dr. Charlotte Agford (aka Dr. Awkward). At least, they think they do. The truth is that Dr. Agford was only making her famous pickled beets! But when Dr. Agford begins acting even weirder than usual, Sophie and Grace become convinced that she’s hiding something—and they’re determined to find out what it is. Soon the girls are breaking secret codes, being followed by a strange blue car, and tailing strangers with unibrows and Texas accents. But as their investigation heats up, Sophie and Grace start to crack under the pressure. They might solve their case, but will their friendship survive? Perfect for fans of The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Wig in the Window is a smart, funny middle-grade mystery with a REAR WINDOW twist. 

Bought:

Kindle Fire HD 7"

(YAY! New Gadgets!)

So that's what I got this week. What did you all get?

Ever wonder about how a book is made?

Now you don't have to. Head on over to Where Do Books Come From and check out the great videos about the entire book process. The series starts out with the lovely Lauren Oliver, so seriously check these out! I've put the first video below, just to tempt you...

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic is:

Top Ten Books I recommend the most...

Angus Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison (my review)

How I Live Now Meg Rosoff
Do yourself a favor and listen to this on audio!

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz (my review)

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (my review)

Her and Me and You Lauren Strasnick (my review)

And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky (my review)

It's Kind of a Funny Story Ned Vizzini
Such a great story and the movie ended up not being half bad either.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (my review)

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt 
Such a lovely story. If you ever read adult books, you should check this one out.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (my review)

The Broke and the Bookish is a group of college aged and twenty somethings that have an unhealthy obsession with reading and would spend every last penny on books even if it meant skipping a few meals. We are the people  who lurk in the library, buy handbags based on how many books can be stashed in them, and who refer to characters in books as if they are personal friends.

We sought after other bookish college students to share in our love for reading and were brought together by the College Students group on Goodreads that was created in September 2008. Our desire to share great books with each other in and our tendency to be opinionated and passionate about all things book related naturally led to the birth of The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010.

Middle Grade Monday| Review: The Ultra Violets - Sophie Bell

Middle Grade Monday is a feature started right here at Reading Nook. It's a way to share news or reviews of middle grade novels on a blog that doesn't exclusively post middle grade content. Feel free to join any time and link up. 

Where I got it: ARC from publisher

Rating: 2.5 stars  

Cover Rating: 3 stars (They look like
Powerpuff Girls, complete with no real feet. Except Scarlet.)

Genre: Middle Grade

Publication Date: March 5, 2013

Publisher: Razorbill

Page Count: 290 p.

Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon

Add it: Goodreads

Four young girls were best friends and their moms all worked as scientists. At a sleepover one night, their babysitter accidentally spilled a substance all over them. The friends had to move away and lost touch. Then one day Iris's hair turned purple, for no known reason. Then the girls end up moving back to attend the same school. After another sleepover, they realize that they are all a bit different. They can now do things that they couldn't before. They need to figure out how to use their powers for good and keep them a secret. Maybe they'll even find out why it happened.

This was a cute novel, but there were just too many things that I didn't like about it. There were way too many puns. There were some puns that were subtle and clever, but then there were some that were just obnoxious. Some of the puns seemed like they would go way over the head of middle school students. Kids just wouldn't get some of the references. For me there were just entirely too many puns and such. They even changed the name of Truth or Dare while referencing Truth or Dare.

The other thing I didn't like was how the mutants were treated in this novel. The girls called the ugly and disliked them and attacked them with little or no provocation from the mutants. I don't think that we should encourage tweens to be judgmental based on how someone looks. Granted these are very crazy mutations, animal/human mixes, but still. I just didn't think this sent the best message. I never really felt like their was a reason for them to be the bad guys, because they never really attacked.

I liked how each of the characters were different, but they were still all friends. They weren't all that nice to Opal though. I think each character gives girls a different person to relate to. It was a cute story, a bit like the Powerpuff Girls. A teeny-booper kind of read. I think middle grade kids will probably enjoy it more than grumpy old me.

First Line:
"It was a dark and stormy morning."

Favorite Line:
"...avoiding Candace's begoggled glare and scanning the digital matrix for sock distress signals instead."

This is a Middle Grade Monday Post feel free to link your middle grade reviews/news below :) 

(doesn't have to be posted on a Monday)

Stuff I Got This Week

Bought:

Finale - Becca Fitzpatrick

(Hush, Hush review) (Crescendo review)

So that's what I got this week. What did you all get?

Review: Level 2 - Lenore Appelhans

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 3 stars  
Cover Rating: 4.5 stars (Besides the weird glare thing over her face, this cover is flawless.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: January 15, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Page Count: 281 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Felicia is dead. She knows she's dead and their is something that isn't right, but whenever she thinks that she just goes back to plug in. Apparently being dead puts you into these hive-like, stark white places. You plug into machines of some sort that allow you to re-watch your memories from earth. You can also buy other people's memories when you've had enough of yours (or if you don't have that many good ones). When the rebellion comes for Felicia she has already started to find that she doesn't like this hive any more and wants something beyond these white walls. Though she doesn't know who to trust, she at least hopes that once she's out she could always go off on her own. But, she may be the key for this rebellion to work...or fail.

This was a pretty interesting novel. A different take on the afterlife. I really enjoyed the world building in this novel. It seemed a bit dizzying and that, I think, was the point. I was glad there was plenty of backstory to make Level 2 really come to life. It wasn't just this place that was and always will be. It was mutated to be turned into something different than how it was originally intended.

There were quite a few surprises which was really great. I thought I had things all figured out and then...the tables turned. It was like a complete shocker, but it was definitely not what I was expecting. I appreciate when a novel can surprise me, it isn't just following the same formula as other novels.

Felicia was kind of an all over the place character. I never really felt all that connected with her. I don't know why, there was just something about her that never really made me click. Perhaps it was the way the story was structured.

At first I really enjoyed the flow of the story with the memories interspersed. I thought it was a great way to get some backstory with the characters without having to start back in time. Unfortunately I found that this dramatically slowed down the action in the last half of the book. There would be lots of things happening and then...memory time. Some of the memories worked, but some of them just caused the action to grind to a halt.

I was also a bit disappointed with her big tragedy  The big thing she did wrong and the alleyway scene. They seemed to be built up to be much worse than they were. Not that either of them weren't awful, they just weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be.

Despite my complainants I was quite enjoying this book; but then, a few pages from the end was "'Don't look with you eyes. Look with your soul,' he says."...I just don't like that at all. How cheesy that is. Near the end, in the middle of all the action. BLEH! Besides that infraction though, this was an enjoyable novel. I will probably check ou the next one, though I was satisfied with the ending of this one. 

First Line:

"I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Favorite Line:

"'You know, beekeeping is a serious business,' he scolds."

Movie News: Daughter of Smoke & Bone

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE

Universal Pictures

• Stuart Beattie will adapt the screenplay to the celebrated young adult fantasy novel, “Daughter of Smoke & Bone,” written by New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award Finalist Laini Taylor.  The highly sought after property was acquired by Universal Pictures in December 2011. 

• Beattie previously wrote the screenplay for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra for Paramount and Collateral for DreamWorks.  Beattie wrote and directed the Australian hit feature Tomorrow When The War Began and is currently awaiting release on I, Frankenstein, which he also wrote and directed.

• “I’m thrilled to have Stuart Beattie adapting ‘Daughter of Smoke & Bone’; it’s been fantastic to delve into the world of the book with a screenwriter of such insight and experience,” said Taylor. “Between Stuart, Joe Roth, and Universal Pictures, we’ve got a team with massive epic flair, and I can’t wait to see what unfolds as we move toward bringing Karou, Akiva, Brimstone, and the world of ‘Daughter of Smoke & Bone’ to the screen.”

• Joe Roth will produce alongside executive producer Palek Patel.  Roth produced the epic action-adventure, Snow White and the Huntsman for Universal which was one of Universal’s highest grossing films of 2012.  Roth’s Oz: The Great and Powerful starring James Franco and Mila Kunis was the number one film in North America last weekend, and Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie will be released in the summer of 2014.

About Daughter of Smoke & Bone (my review)

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.  In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.   And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.   Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.  When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

I don't know that I'd say I was thrilled to have Stuart Beattie adapting. It's just that his past movies haven't been any thing amazing. Pirates of the Caribbean,  G.I. Joe? Meh. This movie has to be AMAZING. I guess we shall see how things turn out...

Review: The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

Where I got it: My collection
Rating: 4.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 4 stars (I don't love it, but I don't hate it in any way. It's just a touch boring is all.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: January 10, 2012
Publisher: Dutton Books
Page Count: 313 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Yeah sure, this is a cancer book, but, it's not about cancer. It's about strength and fun and books. It's about how a novel can transform you and sometimes amazing books are written by terrible people (looking at you OSC). It's about a girl named Hazel and a boy named Augustus and all the people that care about them. It's about blind and one-legged teens egging a car. It's about finding happiness where you can. It's about moving on. It's about making this day your best day.

"My thoughts are stars I can't fathom into constellations." That's a pretty good review for this book right there...

Seriously though, this was such a great book. So many lines that just kick you right in the gut. It's surprising  because this book is really funny too. So you'll be reading along, chuckling at the banter between the characters and then all of a sudden BAM! This shit just got serious. It totally works though, because that's how lots of people deal with hard things. They wrap it up into something funny and more manageable.

Hazel was a great character. She just felt so real and honest. I loved how she was addicted to a novel. I've never been that obsessed with one novel before (yet) and it just seems amazing and wonderful. The only problem is this novel is fictional and now I want to read it and I can't. Fairly disappointing  but I guess less disappointing than if I read it and it was awful. Back to Hazel though, it was great having her be our main eyes and ears and brain for this story. She was a really honest narrator and she picked some pretty great people to hang around with. She acted real with her parents too. Not all "I hate you!" or "We're BFFs for LIFE!" but a nice mix in-between. It was easy to like Hazel, because she was nice person all around.

I feel like this review needs to mention how amazing Isaac is. The Fault in Our Stars is always talked about HAZELANDAUGUSTUS!!!! which is fine, but ISAAC too. He lost his eyes to cancer and he was worried about his love life. He was just a really great character too and I wished he was in the novel a bit more. He really changed the outlook of the novel. He was so spirited that it didn't make his situation seem utterly depressing. I mean it still completely sucks having eye cancer I imagine, but he made himself into a person that could get past that and live life. Although, I have no idea what was going on with him internally this whole time, maybe he was miserable...secretly.

Now Augustus. For how much charm he seemed to exuded, he also seemed incredibly awkward. He definitely tried way too hard a lot of the time. I have to agree with Hazel, that when he let all that slide away he was a much more awesome person. He was much more love-able without all that stuffy charm.

The last few sentences of this novel were a bit flat. I felt like there should have been something more EPIC. But, life is a bit flat I guess.

The last third of this book had me flailing my arms around much like a giant squid of anger. Life is so unfair. I know nobody ever said it was fair and it's childish(hopeful) to think that it is, but still. I mean WHY!? It just so awful that good people have to suffer while there are terrible, terrible people out there who get to live happy lives doing all their terrible things. They should be the one-eyed, one-legged, oxygen bearers of this world, not teens who are good people.
“It’s not fair,” I said. “It’s just so goddamned unfair.”
“The world,” he said, “is not a wish granting factory,”

So yes, please read this book. When you get to the end throw this book. Smash this book, tear the pages from this book to wipe your face with. Afterwards buy a new book and place it on your shelf for next time.

First Line:
"Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house and spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death."

Favorite Lines:
"His every syllable flirted."

"In the end, we both lost. So it goes." 

"Augustus and I were together in the Improbably Creatures Club: us and the duck-billed platypuses."

"It seemed like forever ago, like we'd had this brief but still infinite forever."

"I owed a debt to the universe that only my attention could repay, and also that I owed a debt to everybody who didn't get to be a person anymore and everyone who hadn't gotten to be a person yet."

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic is:

Top Ten Books on my Spring TBR list...
(yeah I may have switched this week and last week...oh well)

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans - Fellow blogger and a dystopian, check.

The Archived by Victoria Schwab - Libraries and Schwab, check.

Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz - She writes these faster than I can read them, so I need to get caught up.

How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller - Just caught up with the Kiki Strike books, so on to this!

Mind Games by Kiersten White - Just realized I haven't read Endlessly yet...oh well, new series!

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner - Before I bought this, I thought it was a graphic novel. It sounds really interesting. Very different and a bit unsettling.

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepard - I've been told this is amazing by a friend, so I shall read it. Plus, I always love a re-telling.

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff - I liked Brenna's other novels, so on to the next.

Then You Were Gone by Lauren Strasnick - This just sounds really fantastic.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - This one sounds so cute and fun. We shall see!

The Broke and the Bookish is a group of college aged and twenty somethings that have an unhealthy obsession with reading and would spend every last penny on books even if it meant skipping a few meals. We are the people  who lurk in the library, buy handbags based on how many books can be stashed in them, and who refer to characters in books as if they are personal friends.

We sought after other bookish college students to share in our love for reading and were brought together by the College Students group on Goodreads that was created in September 2008. Our desire to share great books with each other in and our tendency to be opinionated and passionate about all things book related naturally led to the birth of The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010.

Middle Grade Monday

Middle Grade Monday is a feature started right here at Reading Nook. It's a way to share news or reviews of middle grade novels on a blog that doesn't exclusively post middle grade content. Feel free to join any time and link up.

This week I want to share a teaser from 
The Ultra Violets by Sophie Bell

Meet four best friends. They’re not super…yet.

IRIS: Visionary, artist, leader--the glitter-glue that holds the group together.

CHERI: A girly-girl on platform roller-skates who's never met a rescue puppy she didn’t immediately-and-madly love.

SCARLET: Short enough that you won’t see her sneaking up behind you. Freckled enough that you might mistake her for innocent. But look out! She can pants a bully faster than you can say O-M-Jeepers! 

OPALINE: Loveable, huggable, supershy, sweet as pie…or is she? 

And introducing CANDACE. Not just any babysitter—she's a Teen Genius, thankyouverymuch! What happens when four best friends find themselves splattered with mysterious purple goo during a routine sleepover? Iris, Cheri, Scarlet and Opaline are about to become…THE ULTRA-VIOLETS!

Page 107:
"'Grape googly moogly,' Scarlet muttered, spotting the pastel bulldog.
'Iris, did you just color in Cheri's rent-a-puppy?' Opal murmured.
Iris felt dizzy, even a little sick, like some invisible wave had knocked the breath out of her. But she was beginning to get the hang of this color-changing thing. 'Yes,' she whispered back, 'though I was trying for deep purple!'"

This came out on March 5th and it is a fun read so far. I'll have my review up next Monday!
ALSO!!! This is my 1,000 post! So that means contest time!
Leave a comment below telling me what middle grade novel you would love to win and I will pick one lucky winner to get their book choice! 

This is a Middle Grade Monday Post feel free to link your middle grade reviews/news below :) 

Stuff I Got This Week

Bought:

Rotters - Daniel Kraus

Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Savages - Don Winslow

So that's what I got this week. What did you all get?

Blog Tour / Review: Escape Theory - Margaux Froley

Where I got it: Netgalley
Rating: 2.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 4 stars (Fitting.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: March 12, 2013
Publisher: Soho Teen
Page Count: 288 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Devon is at Keaton School on a scholarship, so she has a hard time fitting in with the kids there. She manages to find a few friends and get by. For her junior year she decides to be a peer counselor (the only one), which is now a needed position since a student, Hutch, killed himself. Devon is a bit thrown by this, because she has to lend support to the people who cared about him, and she is secretly one of those people too. Based on what she hears while counseling, Devon begins to wonder if Hutch even did take his own life or if it was something more sinister than that. Hutch committing suicide doesn't fit with who she knew, and it doesn't seem to fit the Hutch others knew either. Devon decides it's up to her to figure out what is really going on.

So the first thing that seemed strange to me is the obituary in the beginning of this novel. It mentions that Hutch committed suicide. Usual in obituaries they tend to avoid mentioning cause of death in that case and it seems especially strange since Hutch's parents are high profile people.

The mystery part of the story was pretty good. It kept me guessing, because the evidence only narrowed down some subjects. There were so many factors and that made it a bit trickier to pinpoint what happened. Some things were kept a "mystery" for too long though, and it made Devon seem a bit incompetent.

Also Grant was such a weird guy. I just wasn't sure what was going on with him. What roll did he play? Did he actually like Devon at all? She mentioned them being friends for a while. It seems strange not knowing the relationships between Devon and most of the other characters. Like, really, one night with a kid two years ago and you think you are connected on some super deep level even thought you didn't (maybe) talk at all for the next two years. Like what the hell!? Why didn't Devon and Hutch just hang out? Why weren't they at least friends? What is going on there? Why does Devon have all these sort of friends and no backstory or anything? Why should we care about Hutch? Devon seemed like an okay character. Sort of a Bitch though. A little crazy maybe? Most people in this novel seemed a bit crazy though. Hutch started to be fleshed out as some sort of Charlie Bartlett type.

There was too much that just didn't make sense. There were totally obvious things that Devon couldn't put together and I don't understand how friendship works apparently and why if you really liked the company of someone you would just not speak to them.

I didn't hate reading this book, but I wished that it made a bit more sense. I just had a hard time making connections because nothing seemed to be connected. People came in and out of the story with little more than a name introduction. It was just strange. I will probably read her next book, and hope that the relationships are worked out and explained a bit better.

First Line:
"Jason Reed Hutchins 1996-2012
Jason Reed Hutchins, 16, of Marin County, died Wednesday, September 5th, 2012, of an apparent suicide at the Keaton school in Santa Cruz, California."

Favorite Line:
"He finished and looked to Devon with that crooked smile of his. She now understood that this is the face Hutch made when he was proud of himself."

Margaux Froley is a Southern California native and a boarding school grad. She spent the last few years working her way through the Hollywood ranks to become a television writer on CW's Privileged. She then moved to New York to become a development executive at MTV Networks. Escape Theory is her first novel.
Follow her:
http://www.margauxfroley.com/
@MargauxFroley

Review: Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 4.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 2 stars (Very meh.)
Genre: Adult
Publication Date: August 16, 2011
Publisher: Random House
Page Count: 374 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

The world in 2044 is not a place many enjoy living in, that's why many escape into Oasis. Oasis is an online life simulation. You can be anyone and do anything (almost) and it's probably better than your real life. When the Oasis creator dies, he leaves his vast fortune up for grabs. All someone has to do to win it, is play one last game. They have to find three keys and open three gates then they will find an egg and they will gain control of the company and the money that comes with it. Wade comes from a poor family and since his parents died he's been living with his aunt. Oasis is the perfect escape and this game, the perfect excuse to stay in Oasis nearly permanently. He joins millions of other's in the quest for the egg. But competition is tough and Wade may find out that some people are willing to do anything to win. He's going to have to pull out some tricks of his own if he's going to be the winner and stay alive.

This was such a great read. Wade was just a magnificent character. I could read books through him all the time. It's not that there was anything in particular about him, he was just so real and plain. The 80s references made my day when I got them and showed me lots of new things when I had to look them up. Definitely made me miss my Atari. ;)

This would be a great pick for boys who play video games and don't read much (really this is a great read for everyone). The novel flows very nicely, so you don't get stuck in any slow parts.

There's a light touch of romance thrown in (maybe unnecessarily) but it's not overwhelming and it fits Wade's character. I don't want to say too much and spoil the novel for anyone, but if you're looking for something fun to read grab this. Ready Player One was engaging and just a complete joy to read.

First Line:
"Everyone my age remembers where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the contest."

Favorite Line:
"For a bunch of hairless apes, we've actually managed to invent some pretty incredible things."

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic is:

Top Ten Books I HAD To Buy...But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread

Raw Blue by Kirsty Eager - I wanted this so badly that I imported it. From Australia. Alas, it sits on my shelf unread.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer - Bought this when it cam out, still haven't opened it.

The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld - My boyfriend bought me the last two books because he saw I had the first two (back when people still bought me books). I haven't opened any of them yet.

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson - After Suite Scarlett I just had to have this book...so it could sit on my shelf next to the other one.

13 Curses by Michelle Harrison - Really enjoyed 13 Treaures and bought this one right as it came out.

All You Desire by Kirsten Miller - Loved The Eternal Ones! Still haven't read this one.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - I know!

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - Loved Anna, have a signed copy of this and yet it sits untouched on my shelf...WHY?

Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz - I love all of Hannah's books, but I'm nervous that eventually I will be disappointed one person can not posses so much amazingness. Can they?

Damned by Chuck Palahniuk - Really the last few Palahnuik books hang out on my shelf together, unread. I don't know what to say.  

The Broke and the Bookish is a group of college aged and twenty somethings that have an unhealthy obsession with reading and would spend every last penny on books even if it meant skipping a few meals. We are the people  who lurk in the library, buy handbags based on how many books can be stashed in them, and who refer to characters in books as if they are personal friends.

We sought after other bookish college students to share in our love for reading and were brought together by the College Students group on Goodreads that was created in September 2008. Our desire to share great books with each other in and our tendency to be opinionated and passionate about all things book related naturally led to the birth of The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010.

Middle Grade Monday

Middle Grade Monday is a feature started right here at Reading Nook. It's a way to share news or reviews of middle grade novels on a blog that doesn't exclusively post middle grade content. Feel free to join any time and link up.

This week I want to talk about... Loki's Wolves by K.L. Armstong and M.A. Marr

In Viking times, Norse myths predicted the end of the world, an event called Ragnarok that only the gods can stop. When this apocalypse happens, the gods must battle the monsters—wolves the size of the sun, serpents that span the seabeds—all bent on destroying the world. 

The gods died a long time ago. 

Matt Thorsen knows every Norse myth, saga, and god as if it was family history—because it is family history. Most people in the modern-day town of Blackwell, South Dakota, in fact, are direct descendants of either Thor or Loki, including Matt’s classmates Fen and Laurie Brekke. 

However, knowing the legends and completely believing them are two different things. When the rune readers reveal that Ragnarok is coming and kids—led by Matt—will stand in for the gods in the final battle, he can hardly believe it. Matt, Laurie, and Fen’s lives will never be the same as they race to put together an unstoppable team to prevent the end of the world.

So, not only does this novel sound amazing, but it's written by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr. Yes and yes! 

This releases on May 7th, so make sure you add it on Goodreads that way you don't forget to grab it in a few months.


This is a Middle Grade Monday Post feel free to link your middle grade reviews/news below :) 

Review: Saving June - Hannah Harrington

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 2.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 3 stars (I don't mind it.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: Novemeber 22, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Page Count: 322 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Harper's sister June has killed herself. No one is sure why. She didn't seem unhappy and she was always the good daughter. Now Harper is left in the wake of this tragedy. June had always wanted to go to California, so when Harper hears that her parents are planning on splitting up the ashes she steals them. Now all she needs is a road trip crew. Her best friend Laney is in, but her car dies before they can even really think about California. That's when Jake appears. Jake knew June too, though Harper isn't sure how. Now though, they have an entire road trip to find out that and about themselves and about life.

This is a great book if this is exactly the topic you like to read about. It was cliche and predictable at times. Most of my drive to keep reading it was so that I could figure out why June would kill herself.

I don't really have a lot to say about this one, it was typical. The writing wasn't anything special, so it didn't really stand out against other books. Each person was a caricature of the character they were playing. I mean the young rebellious daughter who's always asked "Why can't you be more like your sister?". The best friend who ends up needing help. The cute rebel/mysterious boy. The road trip (now don't get me wrong I love a good road trip story, but...). The relationships, the drama...Maybe I'm getting to old for YA ;-P

It wasn't a bad story, but I know it will fade in my memory with all the others like it. I don't mind the same story as long as there is something that sets it apart. There were even some great parts to it. I enjoyed the music conversations, which I guess could set it apart. This book almost seemed to mash two perfectly good books into one and the result was less than amazing. If you enjoyed The Sky is Everywhere and don't mind the same story but with a road trip instead of grief, check it out.

First Line:
"According to the puppy-of-the-month calendar hanging next to the phone in the kitchen, my sister June died on Thursday, exactly nine days before her high school graduation."

Favorite Line:
"'You'd have to have no soul to not like Johnny Cash,' he says."

Middle Grade Monday

Middle Grade Monday is a feature started right here at Reading Nook. It's a way to share news or reviews of middle grade novels on a blog that doesn't exclusively post middle grade content. Feel free to join any time and link up. 

This week I want to talk about... Sure Signs of Crazy by Karen Harrington.

Not every person responds to words the same way. Some words are trouble words. A trouble word will change the face of the person you say it to. Love can be a trouble word for some people. Crazy is also a trouble word. I should know. 

You've never met anyone exactly like twelve-year-old Sarah Nelson. While most of her classmates geek out over Harry Potter, she writes letters to Atticus Finch. Her best friend is a plant. And she's never known her mother, who has lived in a mental institution since Sarah was two. Sarah and her dad have spent the past decade moving from one Texas town to another, and she's never felt truly at home....until now. This is the story of one extraordinary summer in which Sarah gets her first real crush, new friends, and the answers about her family she's always been looking for.

A story about a girl who writes letters to Atticus Finch in order to try and come to terms with her mother illness and life. Yes. This is bound to be wonderful.

This releases on July 16th, so make sure you add it on Goodreads that way you don't forget to grab it.


This is a Middle Grade Monday Post feel free to link your middle grade reviews/news below :) 

Stuff I Got This Week

Bought:

Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion

(my review)

Noticed that I didn't own this yet and knew I had to. 

Game of Thrones the Complete Second Season on blu-ray

So excited!

So that's what I got this week. What did you all get?

Fangirl Friday: Book Covers

So, book covers. The first thing you see about a book (most of the time) and it makes a different as to your attitude towards that book. I now if a cover looks very homemade, I tend to feel as though the book can't be that good either. Regardless, today is a day to share book covers that I adore that have popped up recently. Enjoy!

While slightly generic, I completely adore these new covers. The grainy gradient and the bold text with the shapes and the cityscape in the background!!!! They are just totally gorgeous.

(my review of Anna)

I really enjoyed this story. However I was not much of a fan of the previous cover. This on is a lot more eye-catching and a bit less strange. I quite like it.

I very much like that they are keeping the same theme for these book covers. 

They will look all nicey-nice side by side. I like the color of this one it's eerie. 

This cover is just fantastic. There's kind of a lot going on, but I love the covers and the layout and everything. This one sounds and looks fantastic!

So those are some of the book covers I've seen and admired lately. What do you guys think? Are there any new covers that you simply adore?