Bout of Books 2.0 Starting Lineup and Updates

Button by TaraSG

Bout of Books 2.0 nearly here and I'm so excited that I'm going to tell you all about what I'm planning on accomplishing this time around!  But first... Go check out Amanda @ On a Book Bender, our outstanding host for this read-a-thon...

Quick Reminders from Amanda:

• Sign up! I will leave sign-up open through Friday 10/28.
• You must be signed up and on the Master List to qualify for challenge prizes.  Co-hosts will check the list to verify.
• Check out the Bout of Books schedule
• Say hi to other Bout of Books readers.
• Find Bout of Books participants on Twitter.
• See what everyone is tweeting.  Use #boutofbooks in your tweets.
• Look for a wrap up post (and survey; we want to know what worked or didn’t) atOn a Book Bender on Monday, 10/31
• If you choose to have a starting line post with goals, please PLEASE include how much you intend to read.  Not everyone can read the entire week, so it is helpful to know when (or how much) you can read.
• Submit a link to your starting line post at the end of this post.
• And most importantly: HAVE  FUN.

Okay, so I'm not a super fast reader, and have a lot going on this week, but my goal is to read 3 books! I wish I could be a speed demon reader like most of the girls in this challenge, but 3 books in a week would be pretty awesome for me,

Time Devoted to Reading:

I will devote at least two hours a day to reading!

To Read:

The Summoning (currently half way through, want to finish it)

Succubus Dreams

The Awakening

Updates:

I will be updating here on the blog and since this is my first bout, I'll be using Amanda's daily update template:

10/24
Number of books I’ve read today: 1
Book Title: The Summoning
Total number of books I’ve read:1
Pages read since last update: 227
Today #insixwords: Necromancy, Sorcery, Werewolves, Witches OH MY!


10/25
Number of books I’ve read today: 1
Book Title: The Awakening
Total number of books I’ve read: 2
Pages read since last update: 251
Today #insixwords: Just one more chapter? Yeah right!

10/26

Number of books I’ve read today: 0
Book Title: Working on Divergent
Total number of books I’ve read: 2
Pages read since last update: 227
Today #insixwords: blah blah blah blah blah blah :)

10/27
Number of books I’ve read today: 1
Book Title: Divergent
Total number of books I’ve read: 3
Pages read since last update: 264
Today #insixwords: I got no words for today...

10/28
Number of books I’ve read today: 0
Book Title: Started Pretty When She Dies
Total number of books I’ve read: 3
Pages read since last update: 45
Today #insixwords: Sucky attempt at reading today, dang!

10/29
Number of books I’ve read today: 1
Book Title: Pretty When She Dies
Total number of books I’ve read: 4
Pages read since last update: 340ish
Today #insixwords: Read four books seven days, yay!!!

Follow Fridays #69!

Back this week with my 2nd FF! I'm having so much fun finding new blogging friends! Please feel free to follow and leave me a comment, I'll follow right back!

Question this week:

If you could have dinner with your favorite book character, who would you eat with and what would you serve?

Since I've been obsessed with the Georgina Kincaid series lately, I'm going to go with my man Seth! I imagine we'd have mexican food (tacos of course!;) and margaritas and he'd pledge his undying love to me! 

I'm looking for more Twitter friends! My handle is 80adh80, add me!:)

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you.
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers
7. If you’re new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday! Follow it up with your twitter address if you want to get that one out!
This is a Blog Hop!

Fangtastic Friday Read-a-long: Pretty When She Dies

This book, Pretty When She Dies, looks pretty awesome so I decided to join this read-along going on for the month of November! 

Check out Ashley's blog "The Bookish Brunette" for the details! 

Can't wait to read this one!!

Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth (Divergent Series #1)

Divergent

By Veronica Roth

Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian

Sexual Intensity: None

My Rating: A+

Synopsis from B&N.com

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

My Thoughts

I think, after reading this book, I need to add a few more "+'s" to my rating system. I don't think I've read a better book all year long! I mean, I've read quite a few so it's hard to say that, but DANG I loved this book! At almost 500 pages long, it was a BREEZE to read. I was snagged from the very first page.

This book takes place in Dystopian Chicago, where the city is divided into 5 factions. Each faction lives by a certain virture. There is Abnegation (the selfless), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).  When children turn 16 years old, they are allowed to choose which faction they want to live in for the rest of their lives. Beatrice Prior shocks herself and her family when she chooses to move to Dauntless. Being raised in Abnegation, she's still unsure whether or not she even belongs there. She doesn't feel selfless and in fact, feels like she's being held back. So she chooses to live among the brave.

It's not quite as easy as just moving to a new faction. Initiates must compete for top honors among other initiates to become full-fledged members of their new factions. If they don't make the grade, they are turned away and live factionless. This is equivelant to being a bum on the streets and having no family to turn to. This raises the stakes a bit!

Throughout the book, we follow Tris (Beatrice's new chosen name for her new life) on her journey through the initiation phase. She makes friends, finds love in an unlikely boy, and finds herself. All is not sunshine and roses though as you'll see Tris fight for her life. What comes after the final initiation celebration took me by surprise and now I can't wait for the 2nd in this series, Insurgent, to come out in May 2012!

Review: The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong (Darkest Powers #2)

The Awakening

Darkest Powers #2

By Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Young Adult

Sexual Intensity: None

My Rating: C

Find it here: Barnes and Noble or Amazon

Synopsis from B&N.com

If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets. A living science experiment not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters, I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control; I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.

Now I'm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.

My Thoughts

This starts back up where The Summoning left off. Chloe and her friends have been captured by the Edison Group, the group of scientists who have been conducting experiments with the supernatural teens. 

I liked this book significantly less than the first book because nothing really happened. The whole book, all 350 something pages is of the teens trying to find Simon and Derek's father. The whole book is the journey, I really don't feel like it moved the story along at all. Almost none of my previous questions were answered and left me with even more. There is only one book left so hopefully this series gets wrapped up nicely in the next book. I'm taking a tiny break from this series though. 

Review: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong (The Darkest Powers #1)

The Summoning

Darkest Powers #1

By Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Young Adult

Sexual Intensity: None

My Rating: A

I just finished this book about 10 minutes ago, and before I dive into The Awakening, I wanted to get my review done so I don't confuse books in my reviews!

I read this book in a day, a very quick, easy, fun, and entertaining read. The lead character is Chloe Saunders. She's 15, a seemingly normal teenager going to an Art school. She has dreams of becoming a screenwriter and director and sizes up all situations as if they were parts of a movie. The normality of her life ends the day she starts seeing ghosts. 

The day she sees her first ghost occurs at her school. A few teachers try to calm a very frightened Chloe and it seems Chloe is fighting the teachers, when in reality, she's trying to fight off the ghost. The school has her carted off to a hospital, and then she's sent to a group home, The Lyle House.  

Here at the Lyle House, Chloe meets other troubled teens. Liz--her roomate, Derek and Simon--unseparable brothers, Tori--the mean girl, and Rachelle (Rae). The day in-day out life at the Lyle House is pretty mundane. School during the day, chores and homework at night. A visit with the resident shrink falls somewhere in there each day. The kids are rarely allowed time to be alone, forced instead to be among each other. 

As the days go by, Chloe sees more ghosts and tries to hide her abilities. Her doctor has diagnosed Chloe with Schizophrenia. Chloe believes that if she goes along with the diagnosis, takes her medication, and agrees that she has this disease and tries to get better, the doctors will release her back to her own home with her Aunt. 

Chloe learns that her fellow residents may also have some supernatural powers and through the book, the   teens are trying to figure out why strange things have happened in the house, and why the five of them are all coincidentally in the house at the same time.

I really enjoyed this book. It grabbed me from the very beginning and wouldn't let go until I finished it. I plan on starting the next book in the trilogy, The Awakening, as soon as I publish this post!

Follow Friday {10/22/11}

Okay, since I'm new to the book blogging world, I've been surfing book blogs all freakin' day, haha! I have found some really amazing ones, how will I ever find the time to read all the books I have piling up on my list? I found this cool feature on parajunkee's blog and thought it would be an awesome way to meet new friends! So let me know if you're out there so I can come visit your blog:)

Review: Succubus on Top by Richelle Mead (Georgina Kincaid #1)

Succubus on Top

by Richelle Mead

My Rating: A+

Synopsis from B&N.com

"Love hurts, and no one knows it better than Georgina Kincaid. If she so much as kisses Seth Mortensen, the shy, sexy writer she's been dating, she'll drain his life force. Admittedly, the shapeshifting and immortality perks of a succubus are terrific, but it's completely unfair that a she-demon whose purpose is seduction can't get down with the one mortal who accepts her for who she is. . .

It's not just her personal life that's in chaos. Doug, Georgina's co-worker at a local bookstore, has been exhibiting bizarre behavior, and Georgina suspects something far more demonic than double espressos. She could use an assist from Bastien, an irresistibly charming incubus and her best immortal friend, but he's giving Georgina some highly distracting come-hither vibes. Georgina is going to have to work solo on this one—and fast, because soon, Doug's life won't be the only one on the line. . ."

My Review

 I didn't know I was going to love these books so much! They read so much easier than alot of the PNR I've read lately. There are no complicated names to remember and no ridiculously elaborate world building, just a few supernatural characters and a whole lot of fun!

Georgina is a Succubus. In order to survive, she has to sleep with mortals and in so doing, takes their essence and many times, years off their lives. Its what feeds her. Now, I didn't know what to think about a book about a woman who has to seduce men to survive, but Georgie hates that she has to do it. In the previous book, she'd only seduce the scum of the earth because she didn't feel so bad stealing their lives. But after her boss, Jerome, did her a favor, she had to promise that she'd start sleeping with good, moral humans as well. 

There were a couple things going on in Succubus on Top. First, and most importantly (to me, ha!), we see Georgina and Seth's relationship grow deeper, and more complicated. Not only are they falling in love with each other, but their sexual chemistry is sizzling and they have no way to burn off that lust together. If Georgina even kisses Seth, she begins to steal his essence, so as you can imagine, they try to remain as chaste as possible. 

Seth is such an incredible character. First of all, when I read his character, this is who I think he looks like:

It's Steve from Sex and the City!! LOL! I don't know what it is. Seth isn't blatantly hot, but he has that quiet, geekish, clumsy personality that I seem to love! He's so loyal and treats Georgina so well. I sometimes don't think she deserves him. I don't know how this series will shake out, but I sure hope things do work out for the two of them, I just don't see how it can. If any author can make it happen though, it's Richelle!

Another plot going on in the book has to do with Doug, Georgie's co-worker from the bookstore. He's been acting much differently lately. Very out of character for his normally fun-loving, quirky personality. I don't want to spoil the book, so I won't discuss this with much more detail, but to say that where the story went was quite predictable. 

Also, Georgina's friend (an Incubus) Bastien has come to Seattle on a little project of his own.  He's made mistakes in the past and has found himself in some hot water. In order to save his career, he is trying to bring down the leader of a political organization in the area.

 Even though I didn't like this book as much as the prequel, I'm giving this book a full A+ for the sheer fact that I can't get this series out of my head and want to do nothing but read about Georgina and Seth! The ending to this book was quite possibly the hottest ending I've ever read in a book *wink*

A book blog of my very own!

This year, I've really gotten back into reading in a big way. Not a day goes by that I don't at least read SOME. I'm one book away from my Goodreads Reading Challenge of 60 books for the year. That's the most books I've ever read in my life, ha! 

I really love to read book reviews and surf around all the pretty book blogs and thought I'd give it a spin. I want to actually review the books I read and not just give them a star rating like I've been doing at Goodreads. I'm not sure how often I'll have books up here for review, I guess it all depends on how fast I read. Hopefully I'll fall into some kind of structured schedule soon! I'll be joining the Bout of Books challenge this month and hope that gets me going!

I started out reading mostly mysteries by author's like James Patterson, John Sanford, JD Robb, Nora Roberts, etc...but this year, find that my heart belongs to the Paranormal genre. I just can't get enough Vampires, Werewolves, Shape-shifters, or Demons!