Waiting on Wednesday #5

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we just can't wait to get our grubby fingers on.

This week, I'm anxiously awaiting:

The Renfield Syndrome by J.A. Saare.

Vampires, and werewolves, and demons, oh my. 

I  don't want to post the entire description here, since it will spoil the first book which you have to read. Review coming later today or tomorrow, but now I can not WAIT until this book's release. Unfortunatly, it's only in August :(

What are you waiting on?

 

Read-a-Thon: Mini Challenges 3 and 4 plus UPDATE

So, the Read-a-Thon is so much fun! More than even I thought, and I had high expectations. Here are mini-challenges three and four, update at the end of the post.

Mini Challenge from YA Bliss:  

So, for this one you will have to post on your blogs your top 3 LOVE TRIANGLES.

Great concept. Good love triangles, where you can't decide who to root for, are so hard to find! Nonetheless, here are my 3 faves:

1. Archer vs. Cal in Demonglass.

2. Eric vs. Stu in the Katie Connor books (reviews to come!)

3. Eponine vs. Cosette in Les Misérables

All of these I simply could not decide who should get the girl (or guy), since I loved both characters.

Mini Challenge from The Bookish Type:

Pick any book from your readathon pile and write a fake synopsis based solely on the cover. The synopsis does not have to be related to the actual book at all, just the pretty, pretty cover.

First of all, what an AMAZING idea! I love it, thanks so much! So, my entry:

When Nua Carter is sent to a secretive and elite university by the father she had never seen, her entire life and everything she knew starts unraveling before her eyes. Nothing is what it seems and Nua learns shocking truths about her father, her mother and her destiny. Because Nua is special, Nua is needed and the task that Nua must preform will save the world - and unravel Nua's very existence.

And now I have inspiration for a new story! Yay! Thanks!

RaT UPDATE: Finished Impulse and Paranormalcy, starting Evermore.

Current book: Evermore (Immortals #1)
Books read: 3/6
Hours read:  +-17
Pages read: 818
Mini Challenges completed: 4

Let me know how your challenge is going!

RaT Mini Challenge #2 and update

Mini-challenge hosted by IBBookblogging



So here's the chellenge:

Mini Challenge Question 1:
What is your favorite type of myth (Greek, Roman, Egyptian etc)?

As a scholar in Latin, I have a deep and abiding love for the Greco-Roman mythos so that will always be my first choice. However, I've always been intrigued by far-eastern cultures, although I know next to nothing about them. Also, I found Celtic and Norse mythology through reading and I love it.

Mini Challenge Question 2:
What is your favorite book with some type of mythology in it?

Difficult question, there are so many, some with made up in-world mythologies and some drawing from known traditions.

Interpreting the question as "known traditions", I think I'd have to go with a series, The Fionovar Tapestry. It takes together all of the main mythologies into a "master" world where all myths and legends originates and is the richest and most complex exploration of mythologies I've yet seen.

Edit: Of course, made from scratch mythologies goes to Terry Pratchett. Obvs. If I were a Discworld goddess, I'd BE Annoia.

UPDATE: I'm done with Dead Reckoning and it turns out that Impulse is written in verse and was a quick read. I'm on page one of Paranormalcy now - can't wait to read it!

Yay Read-a-Thon kickoff!

Yay, it's time for the Read-a-Thon! If you haven't already, click on the pic to sign up and read, read read!

Books I plan to read:





This is the first time I'll be doing a read-a-thon, so I'm sooo excited. I'll keep you updated as I finish my books and the challenges (I plan to do them all, how's that for overly ambitious?), and the twitter hashtag for this is #OUreadathon, if you want to hang out.

What are you doing for the read-a-thon?

Review: The Vampire Diaries 1 & 2

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle


Title: Vampire Diaries: The Awakening & The Struggle
Author: L.J. Smith
Series: #1 & #2 of The Vampire Diaries
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy
Age restriction? Teens, 12+
Published: 26 June 2007

Overcoming an incredibly unlikable main character to become a mediocre yet satisfying girl meets vampires story.

DESCRIPTION (via Goodreads:): Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to possess her. ...more

REVIEW:  I almost threw the damn book right across the room. I think if I hadn't already been invested via the TV show, I would have, so word to the wise: Don't expect book Elena to be anything like show Elena. At all.

Elena was really that annoying in the beginning, so fair warning. She's the blonde beauty, the ice princess, the Queen Bee and knows it, and when she meets Stephan, who is trying to outrun his past and find his humanity, her resolution to get him has nothing to do with love initially: she's just pissed that a guy is not showing interest in her.

Yuck, right?

Luckily, it improves dramatically. Through the course of the first book, Elena changes her attitude drastically, which meant I finally got to relax and enjoy the story. So, the plot is nothing new, except for the bizarre bit with Katherine looking exactly like Elena, and I quite enjoyed the deviation from the TV series in that Stephan spends most of the first book wondering if it was him killing those people after all. Good times.

I've always been a sucker for ye olde siblinge rivalry, so I enjoyed the story arc with Damian and Stephan's relationship immensely. I also appreciated the way they were total polar opposites - though sometimes the author intrudes grossly to point out just how different they really are. 

I think one of the real saving graces of the series, for me, was Meredith and to a lesser degree, Bonny. They are so much fun and very well-rounded and real. They made me giggle at inappropriate times and often provide Elena with opportunities to redeem herself.

All in all, fun to read and enjoyable, though not exactly what you'd call breakthrough or original.

Back from Vaycay, AKA Let the Games Begin Commencing

Yay, vaycay is over. It was great, I did a lot of reading (when I wasn't working through the nights, that is) and I got a lingering flu. At this stage, I think this flu has decided that we were Meant To Be Tee Em, so it's taken my voice in trying to get me to submit. Or something.

So, reviews coming up:

• Dead Undead
• Vampire Academy
• Before I Fall
• Kate Connor series
• Vampire Diaries series

See ya during the week!

On Vacay!

Due to academic and work demands, I have to take a vacay, but I'll see you again next week!