In My Mailbox (April 29, 2012)

In My Mailbox credit goes to The Story Siren

For Review:

Between the Lines by Jodi Picout & Samantha Van Leer | Goodreads

Never Enough by Denise Jaden | Goodreads

Surrender by Elana Johnson | Goodreads 

The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent | Goodreads

Burn For Burn by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian | Goodreads

Envy by Elizabeth Miles | Goodreads

Rotters by Daniel Kraus (not pictured above) | Goodreads

Bought:

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Matched by Ally Condie

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks

Water For Elepants by Sarah Gruen

Gift:



Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday (Not pictured here, because it's upstairs where I read it!)

Thank you so much Simon & Schuster for the lovely package of books, thanks Random House for keeping me on top of my book club, and thanks to my family for my book and letting me spend a bit of money at our favourite used book shops!

Spotted: Cover of The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Holy crap! This is probably the best news...ever!

The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2) is to be released October 23rd, 2012 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

There's more....We have a synopsis, here it is:

From Goodreads:
Two days after Mara walks into a police station in Miami at the close of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, she is committed for psychiatric treatment for what her parents believe is a mental breakdown. But what seems like a hallucination to everyone else is a chilling reality for Mara. Someone from her past has discovered her strange, disturbing secret and that some wants her to pay. But she's about to discover that the price is more than she can bear.
Dark and thrilling, suspenseful and passionate, The Evolution of Mara Dyer will have readers breathlessly turning pages to find out what will become of Mara Dyer next.

I for one cannot wait, I LOVED The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer so much! I was lucky to get an ARC of it, I spread the word about the book to everyone, bought a finished copy, gave one away on this blog and even won a singed archival print of the cover! (The best prize EVER!) I'm so excited!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking The Spine, to show readers what we are anxiously waiting for!

Between The Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

To be published June 26, 2012 by Simon Pulse

What happens when happily ever after…isn’t?
Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.

And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.

I'm a huge fan of Jodi Picoult and I'm so excited to read this one. It's her first YA book, and she's teamed up with her daughter! Can't wait to read Between The Lines.

Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Publish Date: October 31st, 2008
Publisher: Scholastic Inc
ISBN: 978-0-439-02348-1
Pages: 374
Series: The Hunger Games, #1
Source: Gift

Goodreads Synopsis:
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

My Review:
This is one of those books that you know you will read over and over and never get sick of it. The story is so fast-paced and well written that I flew through it in a few sittings. Ecspecially once the actual games begin, the book got so intense that I was holding my breath while reading.

From the first page, Katniss really pulled me in as a character. Her love for her younger sister, Primrose is so evident in everything that she does. Katniss takes care of her family and friends who mean so much to her. And when she volunteers to take Prim's place in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, it brought tears to my eyes to see her love go that far. Throughout the book, Katniss is such a strong heroine and I really liked her character.
Gale Hawthorne is one of my favourite characters in The Hunger Games. His friendship with Katniss is like no other. I loved reading about the two of them out hunting and sitting together talking and when Gake mentioned about the two of them running away, I was like "Go Katniss, this boy is the one to be with, just take off with him!" because I would. I like everything about Gale. He is kind, supportive, strong and brave. And together, Gale and Katniss could go a long way. I'm so glad that it wasn't Gale that became the tribute. I really had a lot of sympathy for Gale as the story went on. His feelings toward Katniss became so evident and he had to deal with her being hunted in the arena, and deal with the little change of events between Katniss and Peeta.
You can't help but fall for Peeta too. He has such innocence to him that made me feel sorry for him. He really doesn't seem like the tough, fighting, survival of the fittest type but he has no choice but to be thrown into the arena and try his hardest to win. I really liked Haymitch as well, he brought so much into the story and added some comic relief as well. Rue was another of my favourite characters. She was a sweet girl and really helped Katniss see the whole picture of what the Capitol was doing.

Collins is able to write a story and draw the readers in as if we are there for the horrible reaping, it's as if we are in the arena trying to survive. It's really amazing, her writing. She will make you feel one with the characters, you will feel their pain, physically and emotionally. Collins raw and intense scenes will leave you needing more, it's a page turner for sure. If you haven't read The Hunger Games yet, I highly suggest that you do. I can honestly say that I haven't run into anyone who hasn't enjoyed this book yet, it's that good.