In My Mailbox (December 26, 2010)

In My Mailbox credit goes to The Story Siren

I know this is a few days late - I'm sorry! With it being Christmas and all, I've been busy, but I figured an IMM was better late than never!

Bought:

Need by Carrie Jones - saw this on a YA bargain shelf at Chapters (Which I had no idea existed until now! Yippee)



Gift:

Sugar and Spice by Lauren Conrad

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - now I can start the series soon!

The Maze Runner by James Dashner - I've heard great things about this one.

Darklight by Lesley Livingston

A very super cool home personal library kit

Bookmarks that I can take notes on

My favourite type of notebook - spiral bound with a quote on it to take notes and write my reviews in

Two new bookshelves!! (I was in dire need of these, not only to hold my phone, which normally sits on the floor, but to shelve my books I have yet to read!

So this week I had a very very exciting week!
Thanks to Santa, and my family for getting these wonderful gifts and for building my lovely bookshelves for me.

What did you get this week?

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year...

How exciting is this!? It's Christmas Eve here today, and my family and I are so very excited. Stockings are hung, gifts are wrapped and we're just about to bake yummy cookies for Santa. This is one of my favourite times of the year. I love everything about it. So in light of that, I wanted to say thank you and Merry Christmas to all of my followers - new and old.

Happy Holidays everyone, have a safe and fun New Year! 

Top Ten Tuesday - My Top 10 Books I Hope Santa Brings

Top Ten Tuesday credit goes to The Broke and the Bookish

With Christmas less than a week away, this is a great Top Ten! I can't wait to see what Santa actually brings me!

So here they are, in no particualr order...

  

1. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

2. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

3. The Vampire Diaries (#3-4) by L.J Smith

4. It's Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini 

5. The Book Thief by Marjus Zusak

6. Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia

7. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

8. Bright Young Things by Anna Godberson

9. The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

10. Matched by Ally Condie



That's what I want Santa to bring me!

What about you guys?

**Merry Christmas**

Love Is The Higher Law by David Levithan

Published: August 25, 2009
Publisher: Random House

Summary: First there is a Before, and then there is an After. . . .

The lives of three teens—Claire, Jasper, and Peter—are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him.

Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.

David Levithan has written a novel of loss and grief, but also one of hope and redemption as his characters slowly learn to move forward in their lives, despite being changed forever.

My Review: First off, I just want to say that what happened in New York on 9/11 was such a tragedy. And writing a book about it like David Levithan did was a very courageous thing to do.
I live in Canada so the events didn't quite affect me the way that it did for the actual New Yorkers involved, but I still remember the day that this happened. I was at school, 13 years old and to be honest, I had no idea what The World Trade Towers were. I heard the news from my sister and her friend at the time, and I probably shrugged my shoulders, thought "that's really awful" and went on with my day. It was just a short while after that than the school turned on the news and I saw the whole thing play out on tv. It was shocking and so unbelivable! When I got home that day, my mom had the news on, and we just sat and cried and watched the news wishing that we could do something right then and there. I will never forget that day - and I think that Levithan wrote a great book for those who were around when this happened and for those who weren't. Obviously a book of any kind will never compare to the actual event and severity of it all, but it lets readers understand and remember a little more.
David Levithan has exceptional writing. From the first page of this book, I was hooked. Love Is The Higher Law is so intense and powerful. The characters come to life while reading. Claire, Jasper and Peter are so different, yet they come together because of the events of 9/11. The 3 characters are equally strong and well written. I can't really say much about the 'storyline'  - whether it was believable, far-fetched, etc - because I think this wasn't so much a 'story' as it was a look back into the events of 9/11 and the things people did to help one another on this very tragic day, and the friendships/closeness that begun as a result.
Overall, the characters, the writing and the book as a whole was flawless. Devid Levithan outdid himself with Love Is The Higher Law. I think that this book will be read by many in the years to come. Everyone should read this novel, you will cry, you will get emotional and most importantly, you will remember.

In My Mailbox (December 19, 2010)

In My Mailbox credit goes to The Story Siren

This week was a slow week - it may be due to the fact that Christmas is 1 week away!!! Crazy, really. But I'm so excited.

Bought:

(I really enjoy my library book sales - 2 books for .50 cents!)

Purge by Sofi Oksanen

Evermore by Alyson Noel

That's it!!

What came in your mailbox this week? Leave a link and I'll check it out!

Happy Holidays everyone :)

And the winner is....

My first ever giveaway is now closed! Thanks to everyone who entered.

Without further ado, the winner of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick is...

.

.

.

Charlie!!!

I've sent you an email!

Winner has 48 hours to claim their prize!

Congrats, and thanks for entering my contest!

*winner was chosen by random.org*

Top Ten Tuesday - My Top 10 Most Anticipated Books of 2011

Top Ten Tuesday credit goes to The Broke and the Bookish

My top 10 most anticipated books of the new year are:

(in no particualr order...)

1. Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

March 8, 2011

2. Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

February 8, 2011

3. The Iron Witch (Ironbridge Chronicles #1) by Karen Mahoney

February 1, 2011

4. Awakened (House of Night #8) by P.C & Kristin Cast

January 4, 2011

5. Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare

September 2011

6. Bumped by Megan McCafferty

April 26, 2011

7. City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4) by Cassandra Clare

April 5, 2011

8. Wither (Chemical Garden #1) by Lauren DeStefano

March 22, 2011

9. Destined (House of Night #9) by P.C & Kristin Cast

May 5, 2011

10. Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

March 2011

That`s my list! Show me yours!

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

Published: November 2, 2010
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company


Summary: 
Some schools have honor codes.
Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.

In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it.

My Review: The Mockingbirds is on my Contemps Reading Challenge, so that is why I chose to read it. Plus, I've read mixed reviews, and as always I like to make my own call see and see what I think of it. I'll be honest, I've been struggling a little with writing this review. Why? Because there was a huge part of this book that I didn't quite enjoy. Because of that, I've had trouble writing my reasoning. For those of you who haven't read The Mockingbirds, it's about a young girl, Alex who is in high school. She is out one night, gets drunk, and gets date-raped. She doesn't remember anything at first, but things slowly keep coming back to her. Because of this, she turns to an almost secretive group, The Mockingbirds, at her school. The Mockingbirds are basically the school police, the school court, and justice system, since the teachers pretend the students are perfect, and do not need to enforce rules or anything of that nature. The part of the book that I didn't enjoy and couldn't wrap my head around was the whole idea of Themis Academy (the school in which Alex attends) not having any clue as to what is going on at the school. And the students are aware of this, hence the beginning of The Mockingbirds. For some reason, I have a very hard time imagining this whole situation. I think that in real life, teachers are aware of things happening (whether they want to be or not). I don't know - maybe it's just me, but I remember being in high school and thinking that they teachers knew too much, and I mean, they would be aware of an 'undercover' / 'underground' court system happening in their school.

But getting to terms with the oblivious teachers and students who can be lawyers and try cases in high school (and have students obey trial rules and consequences), the rest of the book was okay.

Alex, the main character is a strong girl and I like her a lot because of that reason. She has to deal with the very unfortunate mishap of being a victim of date-rape (without ANY adult support), but after coming to terms with it, she is an even stronger female character who I think many of us can gain strength from. She shows us that speaking out can be tough, but in the end, it can be worth it. 

Alex was the only character that really stuck out and made an impression. The writing in The Mockingbirds was well done, and it was fairly obvious from early on that this book was drawn from Daisy Whitneys own personal experience. I believe that Daisy was so courageous to be able to write about that experience, I'm sure it couldn't have been easy. But I cannot get past the the lack of adult acknowledgment and support to enjoy this book as much as I was hoping.

Needless to say, I'm glad that I only borrowed this book from the library. I don't imagine I'll re-read this any time in the near future. Though I do plan to keep an eye out for more novels from Whitney, as I like her writing style, and I truly just think that this novel was not my cup of tea. BUT - I do think that some will enjoy this book, and I encourage them to pick it up and read.

"Epic Contest of Epic"

Beth Revis, author of Across The Universe is hosting the "Epic Contest of Epic"!



Picture taken from Beth Revis website - this is NOT my picture.

 That right up there is 100 prizes! That's right, Beth Revis is giving away 100 prizes! How fantastic is that?! You should head over to her blog and enter this contest. You'll have a pretty good chance at getting a little something extra in the mail this holiday season curtesy of Beth Revis.
Hurry - contest ends December 20th!

Good luck to everyone who enters!

In My Mailbox (December 12, 2010)

In My Mailbox credit goes to The Story Siren

(This isn't how it all came packed, this was after we unwrapped it all.)

 What a fun week I had! The Broke and the Bookish hosted a really fun secret santa this year, and I signed up back last month. Earlier than I was expecting (yay!) my gift arrived in the mail. My daughter and I had lots of fun opening it. (We have pictures of us opening it - but didn't post due to all of the other pictures I have on this post.) I had no idea what to expect, so we eagerly opened the box and we found...

-some delicious chocolates (this had to be my daughters favourite part of the gift)

-festive candy canes

-really cute pencil

-3 knit cloths - very cute!!

-red reusable bag (perfect for when I go book shopping!)

AND

-Signed copy of Echoes From The Other Land [Stories] by Ava Homa

-The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

HOLY CRAP, right? I'm so lucky! So thank you to The Broke and the Bookish for organizing this great event, and thank you so much Jen from a writer's blog.

Even more stuff still this week! Yippee :)

Bought:
(Thanks to my local library book sale - $1.25 for all of these)
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut
Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Girls Night Out stories by some best selling women authors

Won:
ARC of The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards

Thanks to Penguin Group (Canada) for the prize!

My First Ever Giveaway!

I've got an extra copy of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick to give away to one of my followers in Canada or The U.S.

To enter:
(you'll get 2 entries just for entering)

- follow me via Google Friend Connect*

- leave a comment (including email address) telling me you want to enter, that's it!*

Extra entries are available for those who would like:
(post links in comment)

-post contest on your sidebar +2 pts

-grab my blog button +2 pts

* required entries
Contest open until Dec 17 (This will NOT be delivered in time for Christmas, so please don't plan to use this as a Christmas gift!!)

Good Luck to everyone who enters!